Date: November 20, 1935, 3 p.m.Place: Chuenchow
After you have received the outpouring of the Spirit, you must take control of your spirit every day. God is not a God of confusion but a God of peace. You must obey God and at the same time not allow your spirit to go unchecked. You have to be responsible for this matter and never allow your spirit to go unchecked. The outpouring of the Spirit is not for your entertainment. If you do not need it, do not ask for it. There was a brother in Chefoo who received the outpouring of the Spirit. Later, while he was sitting down at a meal, he was about to experience another outpouring. Since he did not need it, however, he rejected it. At another time, he halted the outpouring again while he was riding in a car because there was not the need for it. He is a powerful brother and has saved men whom others cannot save. In principle what he did was right. We should only receive the outpouring of the Spirit when we need it and should not consider it an entertainment or a spiritual enjoyment when we do not need it.
I believe our first experience of the outpouring is often genuine. However, subsequent experiences of the outpouring are sometimes doubtful. The Bible says that if we being evil still know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). If we stand upon this verse and ask the Father, He will surely give us the Holy Spirit. Many people have improper motives before the Lord. They ask for the outpouring of the Spirit out of curiosity or to prove that they are good and spiritual. This leads to the deception of evil spirits. We must be careful and not seek for the outpouring of the Spirit out of curiosity. We should seek because there is the need for it.
We also have to test the spirit that is upon us. Whenever we experience the outpouring of the Spirit, we have to apply this test. We have to do this every time because we are no match for the evil one in the spiritual realm.
In working for the Lord, the outpouring of the Spirit cannot take priority over prayer and faith. We still need prayer and faith in God's work. The outpouring is to empower us, but we cannot use this empowering as a shortcut. We cannot replace prayer and faith with the outpouring of the Spirit. During this conference many people have become very wild. Some think that the wilder they become, the more spiritual they will be. As a result, they bring in many problems. The release of the Spirit begins from our spirit and goes through our soul into our body. It is dangerous for those who have not been dealt with by the cross to receive the outpouring of the Spirit. The first thing one receives after experiencing the outpouring of the Spirit is the power of the Spirit. After this the power of the body and the power of the soul are released as well. This is like underground water which is clean but which becomes contaminated as it passes through different soil layers. Similarly, when there is no dealing of the cross, the spirit becomes impure when it is released through the soul and the body.
How do we know if the power manifested in us is indeed that coming from the outpouring of the Spirit? We can test this by the cross. The soul-life and physical life must first be subdued by the cross. When the Spirit pours out, spiritual power is released. However, those who have not been dealt with in their soul-life and physical life will discover that all the energy of their spirit, soul, and body will be released at the same time when they experience the outpouring. Consequently, when some people experience a strong outpouring of the Spirit, they find their soulish and physical energy mixed up in the manifestations. One sure test is to ask, "What does a person do when he is freed and no longer under any bondage?" Those whose body has not been dealt with by the cross will jump around uncontrollably when they experience the outpouring of the Spirit. The same can happen to the soul — those whose souls have not been dealt with will find the latent power of their souls released. I should warn the co-working brothers and sisters that we should be particularly alert for the release of the soul power. Those who are lacking in physical strength will allow their soul power to easily be released. When the Spirit is poured out in a meeting, those who have been dealt with by the cross can discern the ones who are merely releasing their soul power. You can cheat a thousand novices, but you cannot cheat one person who has been dealt with by the cross because he knows the real condition.
The Bible mentions two kinds of power. One is the resurrection power (Phil. 3:10), which is within man. The other is the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4), which is outside of man; this is the power that accompanies the outpouring of the Spirit. If one has the power of the Holy Spirit but not the power of resurrection, soulish and physical strength are released along with the Spirit's power. Those who are experienced can readily discern the two streams. This is not what we want to see. We want only one stream — a spirit that is pure and without mixture.
We must also know what the resurrection life is. The resurrection life is a "resuscitated" power. Resuscitated power means a power that has passed through death. All of us have our strong natural merits such as our soulish power, our emotion, our ability to make others cry, etc. All of these need to pass through death. Only those who have been dealt with by the cross can render a pure spiritual supply to others in the meetings. The help they give to others is pure, and does not carry any mixture of the soul or the flesh.
There was a servant of God in China who was a very dear brother. He was very powerful and had saved many people. One day I saw him pouring oil on the heads of thirty to forty people and then hit their faces and kick their bodies. They were eventually healed of their sicknesses. You cannot say that he had an evil spirit. This brother had the power of the outpoured Spirit, but he did not have the inward power of resurrection. As a result, his actions did not match the pattern of the cross. The outpouring of the Spirit gives us power and blessing, and the cross purifies this power. The cross stands in the way of the old creation. With the cross the old creation is halted. Those workers who have passed through the dealing of the cross have the power of resurrection within and the power of the Spirit without. Therefore, even though we are on the subject of the outpouring of the Spirit, we cannot separate this from the truth of the cross which we previously preached. The truth of the cross is very necessary. It will lead us to the way of purity.
After we return home from this conference, we must first help others to have the overcoming experience and then bring them into the experience of the outpouring of the Spirit. The order cannot be reversed. Without the power of resurrection within, it is very dangerous to have the power of the Spirit without. Before a man receives the outpouring of the Spirit, we have to tell him that he needs to take control of himself and not be wild. We must help others become sober and not be loose. We should only teach others to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. If a man will not cooperate with the Spirit, we would rather teach him more important truths.
Today I have to confess my mistakes. When we experienced the outpouring of the Spirit, our meeting was too wild. Actually, I did not initiate that meeting; the saints initiated it. I have repeated many times that we must test the spirit every time we receive the outpouring. We cannot be loose in this matter.
Let us consider again the difference between the outpouring and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of the Spirit is for every believer, whereas the infilling of the Spirit is for a special group of people — those who are emptied. In studying the Bible we have to realize that every term can be paired with a corresponding term. For example, resurrection goes with death, and filling goes with emptiness. We must consider all the corresponding terms before we can understand a word accurately. Those who have been filled with the Spirit are those who are emptied because filling and emptiness correspond to each other. Before the day of Pentecost, the one hundred and twenty disciples were gathered together. They were all clothed with the Spirit and filled with the Spirit. They could be together for ten days and pray together in one accord because they had all been dealt with by the resurrected Lord. The three thousand people at Pentecost also received the outpouring of the Spirit, but the Bible does not say that they were filled with the Spirit. The one hundred and twenty received both the infilling and the outpouring, whereas the three thousand received only the outpouring. Later, the five thousand also received the outpouring of the Spirit without receiving the infilling of the Spirit.
How do we know that the three thousand and the five thousand only received the outpouring of the Spirit? If the whole church had been filled by the Spirit, there would not have been any dispute in the daily dispensing of the food. But when the widows were overlooked in their portions, there were murmurings and disputes (Acts 6:1). This proves that the disciples were not filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the apostles appointed seven deacons to take charge of the table. These seven were filled with the Spirit (v. 3). If the whole church had been filled with the Spirit, there would not have been the need for a selection. However, because not everyone was filled with the Spirit, seven had to be selected. This proves that many people had the outpouring of the Spirit, but not the infilling of the Spirit.
The outpouring of the Spirit comes upon us as a result of our faith in the ascended Lord. It has little to do with our measure of life. The infilling of the Holy Spirit comes as a result of our obedience to the resurrected Lord within, and this demands that our life be sanctified within.
If you want to have the infilling of the Spirit, you must come to the meetings empty, hungry, and dissatisfied. If you do this, you will be filled and satisfied when you go home. You must be empty and hungry all the time before you can be filled with the Spirit all the time. You should not be satisfied with what you have received from this conference. You must allow the cross to deal with you daily. This will bring in the daily filling of the Spirit. Whenever you are not victorious, you do not have the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you have the infilling of the Holy Spirit today, it is because you have experienced the dealing of the cross and are living an overcoming life.
Once I was invited to a brother's house for a meal. At the end of the meal I said, "This is enough." But the brother kept adding more rice and food to my bowl. This went on twenty or more times. I thought, "When is he going to stop?" This is the way we experience grace. God's bountiful supply is still waiting for us. The grace we enjoy is an abounding grace, which adds grace upon grace. We may have experienced victory and may have received the outpouring of the Spirit. We may even have experienced the infilling of the Spirit many times, but we should not be satisfied with these experiences. The Holy Spirit can fill us up again, and the degree of filling will be greater when we are filled the second, the third, and the fourth time. The deeper the cross works in us, the more we will receive the infilling of the Spirit. The deeper the cross cuts through us, the deeper we will be filled with the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit sometimes brings heartbreaks and sufferings, and sometimes it brings hardships. However, all these are the digging work of the cross. They are for the purpose of increasing our measure and making us bigger and richer. Under these circumstances, we should not be afraid to shed tears or grieve. If we go through these breakings, the Lord will use us. But if we murmur in our heart and argue with God, the overcoming life will cease immediately. When it ceases, even the outpouring of the Spirit will be useless. Before the Lord, whenever we allow the cross to dig and cut through us, more of what we love and aspire for is removed. This removal is the work of the cross, and it is for the purpose of increasing our measure. The more our measure is increased, the more grace we will receive.
Some people think that they already have experienced the cutting of the cross and already have been filled by the Spirit. Actually their measure is just the measure of water in a seashell. This is not true suffering and not true filling. Our measure is being expanded whenever we encounter something that runs contrary to our will. We are allowing the cross to cut through us and allowing the Spirit to fill us up whenever we submit to God's will.
We must be sanctified in the eyes of sinners and even in the eyes of Christians. If we have not passed through the cross and are not filled by the Holy Spirit, and if we can only show men such things as head covering and baptism by immersion, I will be the first to declare that I have nothing to do with such a sect. We must let others know about God's full counsel and God's center. We have to let others see that we have consecrated ourselves to God for the purpose of accomplishing His will. We are here to pursue the one high will, not miscellaneous things.
After we return home from this conference, we should not auction away our victory cheaply. After we have received the outpouring of the Spirit, we have to testify more concerning the Lord. We have to testify how He has delivered us from our sins and is living for us. If we do this, others will be hungry and thirsty to seek after the Lord. In order for our work to be effective, we must generate a genuine hunger in others. If the Lord leads us to speak, we must properly and clearly explain how the Lord has become our overcoming life, and we must help others to empty themselves and experience the infilling of the Spirit.
We must pay attention to one more thing: We should not advertise the outpouring of the Spirit as a thing of curiosity, and we should not make it a point of propaganda. We should only testify when the Lord leads us. What happened during the past few days was an exception. In the future, we should not do the same thing in other places because it will stumble others. If there are some people who need to experience the outpouring of the Spirit, we can take them home and gather three or five people to pray together and seek for the outpouring.
