It is the same with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gift that has already been given based on the work of Christ. After His crucifixion the Lord rose, and by His resurrection the Lord brought the Spirit of life to us. On the evening of the day of resurrection the Lord came to His disciples with the Spirit of life. He breathed into them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). By His resurrection, Christ imparted the Spirit to us, and we were regenerated by the Spirit.
Following this, Christ ascended to the heavens, and by His ascension He poured down the Holy Spirit of power. In Acts 2:33 Peter said, “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.” In order to preach the gospel, we must preach the Lord’s death, the Lord’s resurrection, and the Lord’s ascension as the three steps of His work. By His crucifixion Christ bore our sins and redeemed us from sins; by His resurrection He imparted the Spirit of life into us; and by His ascension He poured down the Spirit of power upon His Body, including all of us as His members.
All this has been accomplished. Now we only need to realize these facts. If we are sinners, we must realize that Christ has died for our sins. Redemption has been accomplished, and all we have to do is receive it by saying, “Lord, I thank You. You have died for me.” We realize the fact, and we take it to receive remission of sins. Following this, we realize that Christ has resurrected, and by His resurrection He has imparted life to us through the Spirit of life. All we must do is receive it, saying, “Lord, I praise You. You have resurrected, and You are the resurrection life.” In this way, we receive the Spirit of life. Then in the same principle, we realize that the Lord has ascended and poured down the Holy Spirit. Now we simply receive by faith what the Lord has accomplished. May the Spirit open our eyes to see that He is ours already. There is no need to pray or ask for the Spirit. Rather, we simply acknowledge the fact and apply it.
I have read the histories and biographies of many people who had this kind of experience. Formerly, they had a certain knowledge, but they did not have a revelation. One day the revelation came to them, and they saw that the Holy Spirit was theirs already. Then they had a living faith, a claiming faith, and an applying faith, and they thanked the Lord. When they received this revelation and exercised living faith, they received their first experience of the Holy Spirit being poured upon them. Others have had a different experience. They saw the revelation and they received it, but it was only at a later time, not right away, that they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. I have seen brothers and sisters in our meetings have this kind of experience, and many years ago I myself began to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. The most important thing is to see, to realize, that the gift of the all-inclusive Holy Spirit, not only the indwelling Spirit but also the outpoured Spirit, has been given and is ours already.
We need to realize these facts, but we also must sense our need for them. We may realize that the Holy Spirit is ours, but do we need the Holy Spirit to be power to us? If we feel we do not need the Spirit, even if we have Him, we will not apply Him. We may have a large store of food, but if we are not hungry, we will not use it. Do we sense the need for the Holy Spirit as power? We must deal with our need, and we must deal with our indifference. We must not say that it does not matter whether or not we experience the Spirit in this way. Rather, we must have a positive attitude. We should say, “Lord, I must experience this. I am not satisfied with my present situation, with what I am today. I need something more.” Then we can realize that the work of the Spirit has been accomplished, and the Spirit has been given. The entire, all-inclusive Holy Spirit is ours. However, only when we realize our need do we exercise our faith to apply the Spirit.
The first thing we must be clear about is that all things have been accomplished. Christ has died, resurrected, and ascended. Sins have been dealt with, and the Spirit has been given as life and poured down as power. We have repented, believed in the Lord, and have been baptized. Now all these things are ours. If we realize that all these are ours and we sense the need for them, we will apply them and enjoy them by faith. There is no need to pray that the Lord give us the Holy Spirit or pour Him out; He has been given and poured out already. All that remains is for us to realize what the Lord has accomplished, to realize that the Holy Spirit has been given, and to realize our need.
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