Wherefore I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you,
and the love which ye have toward all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him;
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that ye may know what is the hope of His calling,
what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,
according to that working of the strength of His might
which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come:
and He put all things in subjection under His feet,
and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
of whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
unto Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you:
and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judaea and Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Lord, we are most grateful for what Thou hast done for us on Calvary’s cross. We are thankful that Thou hast called us unto Thyself. Thou hast even invited us to Thy table. Truly, Thou art our very life, our very all.
We praise and thank Thee today that we can stand on the new covenant that Thou hast covenanted with us, sealed with Thy blood. Lord, we do thank Thee for all that Thou hast done for us.
Now we look to Thee that by Thy Spirit Thou wilt bring all that which Thou hast accomplished to us and make it real in our lives. Lord, Thou knowest how we need deliverance from ourselves, that we may know Thee in a real way.
Lord, we commit this time into Thy hands, acknowledging that this is a work that only Thou canst do. So we hand ourselves over to Thee and trust Thy Holy Spirit to do that work, to the praise of Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Thank God for gathering us together again this morning. There is no doubt that God wants us to know His power.
We need power to live—to live as Christians, to live as members of the body of Christ. We need power to serve, to serve the living God in a living way. God knows we need power. He has not only promised that we will receive power; He has actually given us His power.
Spiritual power is our inheritance. It is our birthright.
If we live weakly, if we serve ineffectively, we bring shame to Almighty God, to the God of power. Our lives and our service are to reflect our Lord Jesus. Therefore, if we do not live a powerful life, it reflects upon Almighty God. If we do not serve effectively, it also reflects upon the power of God.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, I think we need to be clear that it is the will of God that we live powerfully and serve powerfully.
Now the question is, why is it that we do not seem to possess our possession? Why is it that our lives seem to be the very opposite of what God has ordained us to be? Why is it that our service to Him is not what it should be, that which would really bring glory to God?
We cannot say it is God’s fault. We cannot say that the finished work of Christ is not complete. We cannot say that His promise to us is not fulfilled. The work on Calvary’s cross is finished. It is finished, complete. The Holy Spirit of promise has come. Then why is it that our lives and our service are not what they should be?
Of course, there are many reasons. But to me, I think probably one of the basic reasons is the lack of knowledge of spiritual power and the knowledge of its law. We do not really know what spiritual power is, and we do not know the way to that power.
We mentioned before about spiritual authority. We said that spiritual authority resides in God and God alone. There is no authority apart from God. God is authority.
When God delegates His authority to men, it does not mean that authority is like a parcel which God has delivered to man: “Now you have it. You use it. It is yours. When you exhaust that parcel, come back and have a refill.”
Authority resides in God alone. Even if He has delegated His authority to man, authority is still in Him, not in us. A person has authority only when he is in touch, in tune, with the source of authority.
When that fellowship, communion, and communication with the source is cut, authority is gone. Our problem is that, once we have received authority, we separate it from its source. By doing that, we lose whatever authority God may have given to us.
Because we consider that we have authority, we think that we are now authority. Therefore, we continue to exercise authority as if it were still there. But the truth is, the authority we are exercising is no longer God’s authority. It is a pretension, a falsehood. It is our authority instead of God’s authority.
Our authority destroys instead of building up. God’s authority builds up. Sometimes it may look as if it destroys; well, it has to destroy what needs to be destroyed in order to build up. But God’s authority builds up. Any authority other than God’s destroys.
Now the same thing is true with spiritual power. Power belongs to God. There is no power outside of God.
It is true that there are many powers apart from God. We mentioned soul power. We mentioned evil power. But, brothers and sisters, strictly speaking, any power that is not of God, that is not God, is a counterfeit. It does not help; it kills. It destroys.
When we talk about spiritual power, we have to lay hold of one very basic principle: you can never separate power from God.
As long as power is one with God, joined to God, and out of Him, that is safe. But whenever power begins to be separated from its source, then it becomes a problem.
When we are first saved, how do we live in those first days of our Christian life? You may not have heard any teaching. You may not even be conscious of it. But strangely, during the first days of your salvation, you seem to live in heaven and not on earth.
It seems as if nothing is impossible. You are floating on the air. There is nothing too hard. You love the Word of God. When you read the Word of God, you feel that the Father is talking to you, not as though you were reading somebody else’s family letters.
When you pray, you feel that you are so close to Him. When you mention the name of Jesus, you weep. No temptation is too strong. No cost is so costly.
You wonder why your life is so different. It is effortless. It does not make you nervous. It is restful. Why? Because it is the power of the new life in you that is living out.
You are not living by your old life. You are living by the life of the Lord Jesus that you have newly received. And how powerful is that life!
But, brothers and sisters, sadly, to most, if not all, after perhaps a month, six months, or a year—I do not know—you begin to feel that you are falling from heaven to earth. You begin to find your environment difficult to cope with. You find that your life with the Lord seems strange.
You have to make an effort to read the Bible. You have to make an effort to pray. And if there is any demand from the Lord, you struggle. You find that it is very difficult to obey.
Why is it? Is it because the power package is exhausted and you need a refill? So that is why we need revival meetings—another injection, another package to bring home and live on for another month, hopefully?
Do you know the reason why? It is because you begin to separate power from its source. You begin to depend on yourself to live the Christian life instead of depending on the Christ-life in you to live it. Whenever you separate power from its source, you lose it.
The same thing is true with your service to the Lord. When you are first saved, there is first love in you. Service is no labor. It is a pleasure, a privilege, a joy.
Even the smallest thing, the meanest and lowest service, is a pleasure and a joy to your heart. But gradually, you find that service becomes a burden, a struggle. Why?
It is because you begin to separate the power of service from its source. Instead of letting the Holy Spirit be that power in service, you begin to serve with your own energy.
So, brothers and sisters, from the very outset this morning, I feel there is a need to make it very clear and definite: spiritual power is our birthright. When we are born from above, we have it.
But because we do not know what it is, and because we do not know its law—how it works—we unconsciously begin to drift away. Instead of using that spiritual power which is ours, we neglect it, overlook it, lay it aside, and take up the old way. That is the reason why we lose the spiritual power.
Having said this, this morning we would like to talk about the reality of spiritual power. As we mentioned already, we need power to live, and we need power to serve. Life is composed of these two things: to live and to work. Our Christian life is the same. We need power to live our Christian life, and we need power to do our Christian work.
These are the two aspects of life. Now, you remember the parables which our Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew 25. He spoke of the parable of the virgins, and He also spoke of the parable of the servants.
Our Lord Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins.” These ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, of course, there are different interpretations in Christianity concerning the parable of the virgins and the parable of the servants. We are not going to enter into those things.
But to me, virgins always refer to believers. The Bible never refers to worldly people or unbelievers as virgins, because those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus, in the sight of God, are adulterous and adulteresses. They are in communion with the world. They are not pure; they are defiled.
Virgins refer to those who are cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb. They are pure and clean. They belong to God.
As virgins, we are engaged to one Man. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11, says:
For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God:
for I espoused you to one husband,
that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we are separated and cleansed to be espoused to one Man, Christ. As virgins, we look forward to our bridal. We live here as virgins, preparing ourselves and waiting for the day when we shall be united eternally with the Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus.
The virgin’s heart is not on this earth. It is not on the things of this world. The virgin’s heart is toward the One whom she loves. So the Bible says that these ten virgins went out to meet the Bridegroom.
A person who is not the Lord’s will never think of meeting the Lord. On the contrary, he is afraid to meet Him. But a virgin’s heart is toward the Lord. Whether they are wise virgins or foolish virgins, they are virgins, and they all go out to meet the Lord.
They have lamps with oil in the lamps. Spiritually speaking, all of us, on the one hand, are virgins; and as virgins, we have lamps, or, in the original, torches. There is oil in the torches.
The oil represents the inner life, the Spirit of life. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus has oil given to him. There is life given. There is the Spirit of life given. It is by that oil, by that life, by that Spirit of life, that we shine.
We are the lights in this world. The world is dark. We are the light of the world because we have the oil given to us. So far as our life relationship with the Lord is concerned, we are virgins, and we have the light of life within us. We go out to meet the Bridegroom.
But the difference between the five foolish and the five wise is not that the five foolish are not virgins and the five wise are virgins. The difference is not that the five wise have torches with oil in them, while the five foolish do not have torches or oil. No, they are the same.
Every believer in the Lord Jesus has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him or her. Every believer has life, eternal life, the life of Christ. It is given; it is the gift of God. There is no difference whatsoever. And every believer has the desire to meet the Lord.
But the wise virgins have extra oil in their vessels. The foolish virgins, I believe, have vessels too; but they think there are things more important than oil. Perhaps they fill their vessels with gold, silver, precious stones, or other things which they consider more important. They are not thinking of extra oil.
Because the Bridegroom delays, they all go to sleep. At midnight the Bridegroom comes, and they all awake. They try to trim their lamps. The wise have extra oil to pour into their torches and make them burn, so that they can go out and meet the Bridegroom.
But the oil of the foolish is depleted. They cannot put precious stones, gold, and silver into their lamps and make them burn. They do not have the extra oil. This is something that cannot be shared.
They ask the wise virgins, “Share some oil with us.” The wise say, “Sorry, we cannot do that. Not that we do not want to do that, but we cannot do that. You have to buy it yourself.”
The oil in the torch is given as a gift. But the extra oil in the vessel must be purchased. You must pay a cost to buy it. It is that extra oil that makes all the difference.
This parable speaks of our Christian life. We are all virgins. We all have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. He is the light, the source of light, and by this we can walk through the darkness. By the Holy Spirit in us, we are able to live our Christian life.
But the initial oil is given. It is the will of God that this oil should increase and become sufficient. The only way to have this oil increase is to buy it.
Where can we buy it? Of course, we buy it from God. He is the source. How do we buy it? By obeying the Holy Spirit in our daily life. As we obey the Spirit, the oil increases.
But after we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we may care for the things of this world instead of obeying the Holy Spirit in our daily life. What will be the result? Our oil is not sufficient to meet the Bridegroom.
There is another parable: the parable of the three servants. The master has three servants, and he is going away. So he gives the servants talents according to their ability: five talents, two talents, and one talent. In other words, every servant is given a talent.
A servant speaks of the work relationship with our Lord. So far as our life relationship with the Lord is concerned, we are virgins and He is our Bridegroom. But so far as our service relationship with the Lord is concerned, He is the Master and we are the servants.
The servants here all refer to God’s children. If you are not the Lord’s, you are not His servant; you are the servant of the enemy of God. You serve a different master. But if you are the Lord’s, you are God’s servant, and you serve the Lord.
How do you serve? You are given a talent. The capital comes from Him. You do not serve without any talent given to you, as though you had to find your own capital to serve. No. Our Master is a good Master. He is not a hard master who gives you no straw and then wants you to make bricks. He gives us the capital.
Every believer is given talents according to ability. He knows that some can handle five talents, some can handle only two talents, and some can handle only one talent. He will not overburden us in any way. He knows us.
Talents represent spiritual gifts, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is given at least one talent, one gift. There is no servant who does not receive any talent.
So, brothers and sisters, remember this: as long as you are a servant of the Master, you have been given a talent—at least one. Some may have two; some may have five. Talents speak of spiritual gifts.
How can we serve our spiritual Master? How can we do spiritual work? Not by our natural talent, but by the spiritual gift that He gives to each one of us.
With the oil given, He expects that oil to increase. With the talent given, He expects that talent to increase. We are to use the talent to trade with it, to do business with it—not to bury it, but to use it and circulate it so that there may be increase.
The one with five talents used those talents faithfully and increased them double, gaining five more talents. The one with two talents did the same, faithfully serving the Lord with what was given, and increased it double, gaining two more talents.
But the wicked and lazy servant buried his talent. When the Lord came, he dug it out and gave it back to the Master. The Lord said, “Thou wicked and slothful servant.”
Here, then, you find these two sides. So far as spiritual life is concerned, how are you going to live your spiritual life? If He does not give you oil, you cannot live your spiritual life. But thank God, He has given us oil, and it is His will that we should increase that oil.
As God’s servants, how are we going to do our spiritual work? He has given us the talent, and it is His wish that we trade with it and give it increase. That is spiritual service. The power all belongs to God. Whether it is oil or talent, they all come from God.
Your spiritual life comes from God, and your spiritual gift comes from God. Knowing this, we want to consider how we are going to use our oil and trade with our talent—in other words, how we enter into spiritual power, both in life and in service.
The apostle Paul, in the letter to the Ephesians, shares with believers what the Lord has done for us: the riches of Christ, the unsearchable riches of Christ, which are given to us as our possession, our inheritance.
As he seeks to share this with the believers, he feels that it is something the natural man simply cannot comprehend. Even if the natural man tries to figure it out, it is not real. When we really get into the spiritual realm, we are helpless. We have to look to the Lord for His mercy.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever come to that place? When you touch spiritual things, you find that it is as if there is a wall there. No matter how you try, you cannot get through. You may go around it, but you cannot enter into it.
Paul realized that. So, in the letter to the Ephesians, you find how he prayed again and again. Prayer is the indication of our weakness. We know we are helpless. When you get into this matter of spiritual power, you are helpless. You are not able to understand it, not to speak of apprehending it.
Paul prayed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that God would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God.
How do we enter into the wisdom of God, the mystery of God, the eternal purpose of God, the counsel of God, and the work of God? How do we know what is in God’s mind, what is in God’s heart, and what God has done for us? How do we enter into that full knowledge of God?
Not merely some knowledge, but full knowledge. It is epignosis—experiential knowledge, living knowledge. How do we enter into the living knowledge of God? Unless God gives us revelation, we cannot.
When we get into anything spiritual, remember: we need revelation. That is to say, we need God Himself to unveil, to break open, and to show us what is behind—what is in the mind of God, what is really of God.
In that revelation, the eyes of our hearts are opened. The eyes of the heart refer to our minds. When God reveals, He reveals to our spirit. In our spirit we see something; we sense something. But we are not able to explain it or share it with others.
Therefore, we need the eyes of our hearts to be opened. God must shine upon our minds and open them up, that we may know.
Here you find three things mentioned. The first is the hope of His calling. We talk about calling: “My calling is to be a physician. My calling is to be a teacher. My calling is to be a housewife. My calling is to be a nurse.” We speak about our calling.
But, brothers and sisters, do you know there is something called His calling—the calling of God? God calls us. You may have different callings, but there is one calling to which we are all called. We are called to God’s calling.
What is God’s calling? It is very comprehensive, but if we narrow it down to the letter to the Ephesians, we find that we are all called to be the body of Christ.
Even though we are saved individually, we are called corporately. God calls us to be the body of Christ. Oh, what a calling that is.
What, then, is the hope of His calling? Or, to put it another way, what is the hope of the body of Christ? As the body of Christ, what is our hope?
Our hope is that one day, when this body is fully grown, it can be wedded to our Bridegroom. Today we are the body of Christ; tomorrow we become the bride of Christ.
We are not yet His bride because we have not grown to maturity. You cannot marry an immature girl. You need to be mature to enter into a marriage relationship. That is why the church needs to be built up. The body of Christ needs to be built up until we enter into the fulness of the stature of Christ.
Then our blessed hope becomes a reality. We become the bride of the Lamb. Wonderful, is it not? Glorious.
Then Paul says in Ephesians 1: not only the hope of His calling, but also “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
We often talk about our inheritance. Thank God, our inheritance falls in good ground. Why? Because Christ is our inheritance—the riches of the glory of our inheritance in Christ Jesus.
But that is not what Paul says here. He says, “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Do you see the difference?
One day, when I saw this, I said, “Lord, You got a very bad bargain. I got You, and what riches and glory You are to me—unlimited. But what do You get from me? I am Your inheritance. You inherit me. Where are the riches? Where is the glory? I give You shame and reproach.”
“How can this be? It is impossible. I may live for ten thousand years, but still I cannot arrive. I will be getting worse instead of better.”
But, brothers and sisters, there is a revelation. God unveils to us that Christ will have His saints as His inheritance, and it will be as rich and glorious as He Himself is rich and glorious. Wonderful.
The higher the hope and the greater the glory, the harder it seems for us to arrive. So we say, “That is an ideal. It is impossible.”
Can you imagine yourself being part of the bride of Christ, being His counterpart, exactly the same and joined together? Can you imagine that the Lord looks at you and says, “My rich inheritance. What glory you bring to Me”? Can you imagine that?
If I can only put my two legs within the gate of heaven, I am happy enough.
This is where power is needed. Paul continues and says, “What the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” There is His calling; there is His inheritance. But who is going to bring it to pass? Who can make it real? We need power.
It is a power that the world does not know. Atomic power is nothing compared to it. It is the surpassing greatness of His power—not your power, not my power. We do not have this power, but He has the power, and His power is surpassingly great.
I mean, it is beyond description. That power is greater than the power He used to create the universe. And this power is toward us who believe.
If that is the case, there is hope—not only hope, but assurance. His power can help.
This power that works in us has been demonstrated. If that power had never been demonstrated, we would not know what kind of power it is. But in history it has been demonstrated.
According to the working of the strength of His might
which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion,
and every name that is named,
not only in this age, but also in that which is to come;
and He put all things in subjection under His feet.
This surpassing greatness of His power has been demonstrated in Christ Jesus. That power raised Jesus from the dead. It is the resurrection power of God.
Not only did it raise Jesus from the dead, but it lifted Him above all things and put everything under His feet. In other words, it is the resurrection power of God and the ascension power of God.
Our brother last night already mentioned this matter of resurrection. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” On this earth, death seems to be the greatest power. Satan uses the fear of death to enslave mankind.
When death comes, you cannot fight against it. You are swallowed, and once you are swallowed, you are kept. There is no escape. That is the greatest power in this world.
But our Lord Jesus entered into death, robbed death of its power, and came out of it in resurrection. He holds in His hand the keys of death and Hades. This resurrection power overcomes death.
Do you know that the same resurrection power is in you and me? What is the life that we have received? The life that we have received is the resurrection life of our Lord Jesus.
It has gone through death. It has overcome death. It has come out in victory. And that is the very life in you and me: the power of His resurrection. That is what we need to know.
Brothers and sisters, we are surrounded by death. Not only are we surrounded by death, but even within us there is death. Life is a battle—a battle of life against death. Every day is a battle between life and death. If life overcomes, you live; if death overcomes, you die.
Eventually, death overcomes—but not so with us believers. We have a life in us, a spiritual power so tremendous that it can go into death and come out of it in glory.
The world around us, Satan, and all the evil forces around us are agents of death. Do not love the world. Why? Because if you do, it will bring death to you—spiritual death.
The enemy is out to bring us into death, spiritual death. We also have death within us: sin in us is an agent of death. When sin works in your life, you enter into spiritual death.
The flesh—our fallen soul, the works of the flesh—brings spiritual death. Self, this self-life, “I, me, mine,” brings in death. Who can overcome these things?
Thank God, there is a power of life in us. We can overcome sin, overcome the flesh, overcome the world, and overcome the evil forces.
Oftentimes, brothers and sisters, we are brought into death. We see no way out. But strangely, somehow, we come out on top of it. Very often the Spirit of God brings us into death in order that we may know His resurrection life.
To a worldly person, when he enters death, that is the end of it. But, brothers and sisters, to us it is only a testing of the power of His resurrection.
It is by His resurrection life that we live every day. Every time death is overcome, life grows a little more. There is more oil. It is costly; you have to pay a cost in going through, but it is worth it.
It is not only resurrection life; it is ascension life. The life that is in us is an ascended life. We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
As He has been raised from the dead, ascended on high, and seated at the right hand of the Almighty, so are we in Christ. We are seated with Him in the heavenlies. In other words, we are heavenly people—a heavenly people living on earth.
What does ascension power mean? It means that you are above everything, and everything is under your feet.
Our Lord Jesus, in giving up everything, brings everything back to God. In like manner, brothers and sisters, in our daily life we are to experience bringing everything in our lives—every area of life, everything in life—to the feet of our Lord Jesus.
The Bible says that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose. Christians are always above, never underneath, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be.
By His ascension power, we are able to bring everything under His feet.
Here, then, you find this life: the surpassing greatness of His power in us. If you read 2 Corinthians 4, you find that this inner power of life—resurrection and ascended life—is not merely something that enables us to live a powerful Christian life. It also has its ministry.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God,
and not from ourselves.
The earthen vessel has no power. Actually, it is weak. But when it is weak, when it is cracked, when it is broken, the radiance—the exceeding greatness of the power of the life of Christ in us—will shine forth. That imparts life to others. That is Christian ministry.
We have seen how the Lord gives us this power within us to live for Him. Now we are going to see how this power is given to us so that we may serve Him effectively.
You remember the Lord Jesus in Luke 24. He said:
And behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you:
but tarry ye in the city,
until ye be clothed with power from on high.
This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. On that day, when the one hundred and twenty were gathered together in the upper room, there came, as it were, a rushing mighty wind.
In the original, it speaks of a mighty blowing. It was the blowing of God, the breath of God. A mighty rushing wind filled the whole house. Then tongues like fire fell upon the heads of the one hundred and twenty. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the mighty works of God in many tongues.
There is not only the indwelling Holy Spirit, working in us to bring us into life and life abundant; there is also the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us, that we may be gifted to serve the Lord according to His calling.
Why tongues on the day of Pentecost? Because sin was a curse upon mankind. God used tongues to separate and divide mankind. But now God used tongues to unite mankind, so that everybody might know the mighty works of God.
Brothers and sisters, you may differ with me here, but I want to offer you an explanation. Theologically speaking, there is only one Pentecost. Pentecost is a historical fact.
It is in two parts: one part on the day of Pentecost, and the other part in the house of Cornelius. Only in these two places do you have the term “baptism with the Holy Spirit.”
Why? On the day of Pentecost, the Jews; in the house of Cornelius, the Gentiles. In one Spirit we were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. That is the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
I believe that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit in your life is complete. You do not receive the Holy Spirit in bits and pieces.
Yes, in the early days, before the Holy Spirit came, the apostles experienced the Holy Spirit in stages. While Christ was on earth, they experienced the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. On the day of His resurrection, the Lord breathed into them, and they received the indwelling Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit.
But even on the day of Pentecost, the three thousand who believed in the Lord Jesus received the Holy Spirit wholly and completely. They were regenerated, indwelt, and outpoured upon.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit, theologically speaking, is a historical fact. Experientially speaking, however, because of a lack of knowledge, we may enter into what God has already given to us in bits and pieces, in different stages.
Even with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Scripture does not use the word baptism. It uses the word “filled”—filled with the Holy Spirit.
There are two fillings in Scripture: inward filling and outward filling. If you look carefully, there are two different words in the book of Acts concerning the word “filled.” One is inward filling; one is outward filling.
What is inwardly filling is the Person of the Holy Spirit. What is outwardly filling is His manifestations. We need to obey the Holy Spirit who dwells in us because He is a divine Person.
But the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. In other words, you have to control the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. If you do not control it, you go wild.
I believe every believer, when regenerated, receives a new life, and the Holy Spirit dwells in him. You need to know Him.
Many believers do not know that the divine Person, the Holy Spirit, lives in them. Because you do not know, you neglect Him, you quench Him, you grieve Him, and you rebel against Him. But thank God, He never leaves you. He is still there, suffering.
But, brothers and sisters, one day the Lord opens your eyes to see that there is a divine Person dwelling in you. Oh, you need to respect Him. You need to listen to Him. You need to obey Him.
What a change it will make in your life. Many testify that one day, when they realized that the Holy Spirit is a Person dwelling in them, it changed his or her life.
In the same way, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are baptized into one body. You are a member of the body of Christ. It is very evident.
When you believe in the Lord Jesus, immediately there is a relationship between you and God. God is no longer billions of miles away, even if you previously believed there was a God. Once you believe in the Lord Jesus, you cry out, “Abba, Father.”
There is a relationship. You know you are His, and He is yours. You know it. There is no pretense. If you are not the Lord’s, you may pray and say, “Father in heaven,” but you are addressing your father-in-law.
It is clear. There is no hiding. The same thing is true when you believe in the Lord Jesus and meet another believer. You may never have met that person before, but when you discover that he is also a believer, there is a bond between you and that person, stronger even than a blood relationship.
Why? Because you were baptized into one body. You became a member of the body of Christ.
Can you imagine that God makes you a member of His body and does not give you a talent? Can you imagine that there is no gift given to you? No.
I believe that when you become a member in the body, a gift is already given to that member, so that you can fulfil your function. It is a spiritual gift—not a natural gift, but a spiritual gift. Everyone is given a spiritual gift.
That talent is given to you to exercise, to use, to trade with. The more you trade with it, the more you increase it; you earn more.
The problem with believers today is that they bury their talents. Again, it is a lack of knowledge. You do not know that you have been baptized into one body. You do not know that the Holy Spirit is yours. You do not know that the spiritual gift has already been given to you.
That is why you may need an experience of being outwardly filled with the Holy Spirit, so that the gift in you will be activated and you will begin to function as a member of the body of Christ.
The message will not be complete without this last part. Whether it is the increase of the inner power of life or the manifestation of the gifts by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the way to both is the same.
It is the way of the cross.
It is by the cross that our soul-life is put to death, clearing the way for spiritual life—the power of spiritual life—to be released.
Without the cross, your spiritual power is confined and imprisoned within your soul. Your soul is a substitute for that power, and that needs to go to death.
The only way for it to go to death is to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the Lord. If you lose your soul-life, you gain it. If you gain your soul-life today, you lose it. Brothers and sisters, there is no other way.
The reason why our spiritual life does not manifest its power as it should is because we are still living by our soul power. It has to go to the cross. There is no other way.
The same thing is true with gifts. Today people try to bypass the cross. They think that we can become instantaneously spiritual, both inwardly and outwardly. So they try to take a shortcut, bypassing Calvary to reach Pentecost.
The result is confusion. Gifts are abused. Gifts destroy instead of building up. Just like the Corinthian believers: they were gifted in every way, but what confusion, what corruption, what destruction—because they had not gone through the cross.
Unless we are reduced to powerlessness, having power is very risky. You do not put a knife in the hand of a child. A knife is power, but a child does not have the life to handle that power.
People look for spiritual gifts, but they are immature. Instead of using the knife in the right way, they cut people, and they cut themselves.
Oil before talent. Talent must be used under anointing.
If, in seeking spiritual manifestation, you come by the way of the cross, it is not only safe, but it is a blessing.
Finally, I want to share with you what happened to a sister. I think most people here have probably heard of Mrs. Penn-Lewis, Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis.
If you read her biography, you will find that she loved the Lord. She served the Lord for a number of years, but she realized that she did not have spiritual power.
She was naturally a very nervous person. Every time before she spoke, she was in such nervousness. Yet she was a mighty speaker. So she sought the Lord very earnestly for power.
She said that one morning she woke up and saw a terrible light ahead, with a handful of rags in that hand. She heard a voice saying to her, “This is your work, your service.”
Mrs. Penn-Lewis said, “Oh Lord, no. All these years I have consecrated myself. It is all consecrated work.”
But the Lord said, “Yes, it is consecrated self. You plan your own work. You do it in your own energy. Yes, you are for Me, but for yourself.”
She said that she was horrified. She had to flee—flee to the blood of the Lord Jesus. Then she heard just one word: “Crucified.”
She said, “Lord, I am asking for filling, not for crucifying.” Then Romans 6:6-11 and Galatians 2:20 came to her. She rested in the Word of God, and it pleased God to reveal His Son in her, that she might preach Him.
She said, “I know the risen Lord. This is power.”
Dear Heavenly Father, give us grace that we may possess our possession. Open our understanding. Show us Thy way, that we may, through the cross, enter into Thy fulness, that Thou mayest be glorified.
Lord, we seek power, not for ourselves, but for Thy glory. Grant it, we pray, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.