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Scripture Reading: John 20:22; 1 Pet. 1:3; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4, 2:36; 11:15-16; Psa. 2:6; 1 Cor. 12:13
At the end of the four Gospels and the beginning of Acts, there is a crucial transition. We also must pass through the same kind of transition, not merely in the knowledge of these matters but even more in our experience.
As we have seen, the four Gospels show us a picture of the Lord Jesus living, walking, working, and acting on the earth by the divine life and in the divine Spirit. In Acts there are thousands of persons as His Body, the church, who live, walk, work, and act in the same life and by the same Spirit. The persons have changed, but the life and the Spirit are still the same. The change is not one of life; it is one of persons. This is the crucial transition from the Gospels to the Acts.
This change in persons was accomplished by the Lord’s resurrection and ascension. Resurrection is a matter of life, whereas ascension is a matter of authority and power. Because many Christians today are not clear about the Lord’s resurrection and His ascension, we need to speak something further concerning these two points.
As we saw in previous chapters, by His death and resurrection the Lord imparted Himself into us as our life. When Christ was resurrected from the dead, we were raised up together with Him, that is, resurrected with Him (Eph. 2:6). Moreover, 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” God has regenerated us through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Before His resurrection Christ and we were separate, but by His resurrection Christ came into us to be our life and our very nature.
John 12:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” The Lord Jesus as the one grain of wheat became many grains through His death and resurrection. For a grain of wheat to fall into the earth signifies death, and for it to grow up out of the earth signifies resurrection. Moreover, the grain of wheat grows up not merely by itself but with many other grains. Many grains are raised up and brought into life by the growth of the one grain, which signifies resurrection.
We were raised up with Christ by His resurrection and in His resurrection. Some may ask how we could have been raised with Christ before we were even born. We should not argue with the Bible. It also tells us that we died with Christ on the cross long before our birth (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20a). With God there is no consideration of time; He considers everything from eternity.
As we have seen, 1 Peter 1:3 says that we have been regenerated by the resurrection of Christ. Second Peter 1:4 goes on to say, “Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature.” By His resurrection, Christ imparted Himself into us not only as our life but with His divine nature. In this way we partake of the divine nature.
The resurrection life imparted into us is the inward aspect of life. There is also the need of something outward for authority, equipping, and qualification. All things in nature are types and signs of the spiritual things. Our physical life, for example, is a type. Although we may have a strong physical life, it is only for us to live. Our physical life is not the qualification, equipping, or authority to exercise an office. In order to carry out an office, we must be qualified, equipped, and authorized. Even though a person is living and healthy, he cannot go into the street and act as a policeman without the proper authorization. He must do something further to be qualified before he can act as a policeman with authority.
The resurrection of Christ enables us to be regenerated. It imparts Christ Himself into us as our life and nature, but His resurrection is not sufficient to equip us, qualify us, and authorize us. Therefore, we also need His ascension. Whereas resurrection is a matter of life, Christ’s ascension is a matter of position, and position is a matter of authority. If we do not have the position, we can never have the authority. We can compare our position to the presidency. In the United States the president must be inaugurated. When he is inaugurated into office, he is put into a position that authorizes, equips, and qualifies him to act and exercise the power of the presidency.
By raising up Christ from the dead, God testified that Christ is life. Death can neither subdue nor hold this life (Acts 2:24). This life is an indestructible life, which can never be destroyed or damaged by anything (Heb. 7:16). This was proved and testified by Christ’s resurrection. By Christ’s ascension, however, God testified that Christ is the Lord, the Head, and the King (Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:22; Rev. 19:16). In reference to this, Psalm 2:6 says, “I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” Christ is the Head, the Lord, and the King of kings. As the anointed One, all power and authority have been committed and entrusted to Him. He is the very center of God’s authority, power, administration, and government, and now He is on the throne. This was accomplished in Christ’s ascension. Hence, resurrection is a matter of life, and ascension is a matter of headship, lordship, kingship, authority, government, enthronement, and power.
In the evening of the day of resurrection, the Lord came to the disciples in a very mysterious way; that is, He came to them as life. He came not openly but privately to the room where the disciples were meeting in a hidden way. None of the Lord’s followers knew what was about to happen, but in a very secret and mysterious way He came to breathe Himself into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). From that moment on, the disciples had this wonderful One within them as their life and nature. However, although these disciples were enlivened, regenerated, and raised up with Christ, they were still not qualified, equipped, and authorized, because Christ Himself had not yet been enthroned. Not until He ascended into heaven was He enthroned. Ephesians 1:20-22 tells us that God raised Christ up and seated Him in the highest place as the Head over all things. He was enthroned and entrusted with all authority. Resurrection, therefore, is a matter of life, and ascension is a matter of authority.
Today Christ is the Head and the center of all authority. After His ascension He descended as the Spirit of power to inaugurate His disciples on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). According to the Old Testament, whenever apprentices assumed the priesthood, they needed to be anointed. This anointing was equivalent to their inauguration. In the same way, Christ inaugurated the disciples on the day of Pentecost. That day was their inauguration day. At that time they were authorized, equipped, qualified, and placed into the position of power, and on that very day they began to assume their function.
This is the real meaning of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the inauguration, the anointing, of the church. Moreover, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not for individual believers but for the Body (1 Cor. 12:13). The Head has inaugurated the Body, not the individual members separately. In other words, He has appointed and authorized the Body to function.
First, the Triune God — God in Christ as the Spirit — came into us as our life and nature. Second, this very Triune God who accomplished everything and put everything into Christ’s hand, giving Him all authority, came down upon His Body, including all the believers, as their authority and equipping. Inwardly we have the Triune God Himself as our life, and outwardly we have the Triune God Himself as our authority. Thus, from within to without we are thoroughly mingled with the Triune God. He is our life and also our authority. We have Him not only within as our life to live Him but without as our power and authority to act, to work, and to do things.
Our mingling with the Triune God has not been fully realized by many Christians today. Although many know something about being regenerated and having eternal life, they do not see clearly that this eternal life is the very Triune God Himself within us as our life and nature. Likewise, although many realize that on the day of Pentecost the Spirit came down and baptized the disciples with power from on high, they may not realize that this power from on high is nothing other than the Triune God Himself.
By the time of Christ’s ascension Christ had accomplished many things. God had mingled Himself with man in the incarnation and brought Himself fully into man. Following this, He died a wonderful, all-inclusive death on the cross, and in resurrection man was brought into God. Now divinity is in humanity, and humanity is in divinity. Now a man with all His accomplishments has been brought into the heavens, where He has been glorified and enthroned. The man Jesus, who is in the heavens, became the very center of all authority. This man, who was enthroned, glorified, and anointed, was appointed the Head of the universe, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. In this way, God and man, divinity and humanity, were brought into one.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down with all the elements of His divinity, humanity, God being brought into man, man being brought into God, the Lord’s human living on earth, and His death, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement. The Holy Spirit with all these elements may be compared to a dose of medicine that is rich and all-inclusive, containing every kind of vitamin and germ-killer; He is the full dose of everything we need. Such a Spirit, who is none other than the Triune God with His many elements and attainments, descended upon the church to authorize and inaugurate the church into its office and function. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the “inauguration ceremony” that brought the church into its office. Now the very Triune God Himself is our life within and our authority without. This means that we are fully one with the Triune God.
On the day of Pentecost the Head, Christ, did not inaugurate many individual believers. Rather, He inaugurated the Body. He baptized the Body into the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4; 1 Cor. 12:13). Therefore, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a matter of the entire Body.
Moreover, the baptism in the Holy Spirit was accomplished over nineteen hundred years ago. Concerning this matter we must realize that when Christ was crucified on the cross, we were crucified with Him. Also, when Christ was resurrected, we were raised up together with Him (Eph. 2:6a). Even when Christ ascended, we ascended with Him (v. 6b). Not only so, we, the church, were baptized in the Holy Spirit over nineteen hundred years ago.
Acts 1:5 says, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Verse 8 continues, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” These two verses refer to the same event, but in verse 5 it is called the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and in verse 8 it is called the coming of the Holy Spirit. Since this portion of the Word tells us that the Holy Spirit comes upon us, it is outward, not inward. This word was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.
What transpired on the day of Pentecost, however, involved only the Jewish part of the Body. Ephesians 2:15-16 tells us that Christ on the cross created a new man, which is His Body, out of two peoples — the Jews and the Gentiles. This is typified in the Feast of Weeks in the Old Testament (Deut. 16:10). At the fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks, on the day of Pentecost, the children of Israel offered two loaves of bread as a wave offering (Lev. 23:15-17), typifying the two sections of the church, the Jewish part and the Gentile part. On the day of Pentecost the Head, Christ, baptized the Jewish part of the Body into the Holy Spirit. Then the Gentile part of the Body was baptized into the Holy Spirit at Cornelius’s house in Acts 10. In 11:15-16 Peter says concerning the house of Cornelius, “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as also on us in the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” In verse 15 Peter refers to the day of Pentecost, indicating that what happened in the house of Cornelius was also the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
In the New Testament only two cases of the outpouring of the Spirit — the case on the day of Pentecost and the case in the house of Cornelius — are called the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; 11:15-16). Other than these two, no other cases are spoken of as the baptism in the Holy Spirit. By these two steps Christ the Head baptized His Body, both the Jewish part on the day of Pentecost and the Gentile part in the house of Cornelius, into the Holy Spirit. Hence, the baptism in the Spirit is an accomplished fact.
For this reason, the other cases of the outpouring of the Spirit, without exception, required only the laying on of hands. In Acts 8 Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritan believers (v. 17). In the following chapter even Saul of Tarsus did not receive the baptism directly from the Head; he received the experience of the baptism through the laying on of hands by a small disciple, Ananias (9:17). Later, Paul laid hands on the Ephesian believers (19:6).
This indicates that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is already accomplished on the Body, whereas the experience of the baptism was later obtained by the new members who were added to the Body. The new members needed some older members to represent the Body to bring the new ones into the Body. This identification of the new members with the Body is continuing all the time. Therefore, there is no need for another baptism in the Holy Spirit, because the Body has received it already. What we need today is the experience of what the Body has received. The way to experience it is to realize the right relationship with the Body, which is the principle behind the laying on of hands.
The baptism was accomplished by the Head Himself directly on the Body. On the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius the ascended Head directly baptized His Body in the Holy Spirit. However, with all the other cases involving new members being added to the Body, there was the need of an indirect contact through representative members of the Body who laid hands on them to identify them with the Body. The laying on of hands is not a mere form or practice. Rather, it represents the principle of the right relationship with the Body. When we are right with the Body, knit with the Body, and standing with the Body, and when we realize that we are living members of the Body, we receive everything that is of the Body.
In this sense, the laying on of hands can be compared to baptism in water, which also is not a mere form. We need the form of baptism in water, but the form does not accomplish anything in itself; its significance is its principle and reality. In the same way, the laying on of hands is a principle representing the reality of the right relationship with the Body. Ananias, for example, would not have laid hands on a child who was not yet saved. This is because that child has no relationship with the Body. The laying on of hands is based on and represents a relationship with the Body.
The most important matter is that we have a heavenly vision to see the real significance of the Lord’s resurrection and ascension. Resurrection means that the Triune God — God in Christ as the Spirit — has come into us as our life and nature. By His ascension the Triune God has come down upon us as authority. Therefore, we have the Triune God within as our life and without as our authority. Now, in order for us to experience this authority, this inauguration, we must realize the reality of the Body. We must realize that we are members of the Body, and we must have a proper relationship with the Body. If we are in the Body, with the Body, and for the Body, we are in the position to claim whatever is of the Body.
Thus, it is easy for us to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit. To experience the baptism is not a matter of speaking in tongues. The experience of the baptism is a matter of authority and power. Many believers have never spoken in tongues, but they do have the authority. This indicates that they have the very experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. They have the authority and the power, and they are qualified, equipped, and authorized to do something for the Head in the Body.
Romans 6:3 and Galatians 3:27 speak of being baptized into Christ. This is different from the baptism in the Holy Spirit. To be baptized into Christ refers to our baptism in water. Although we were born in Adam, through faith and baptism we came out of Adam and into Christ. According to the King James Version, John 3:16 speaks of believing in Christ. However, the Greek preposition here is better translated into, as in Romans 6:3, in which Paul tells us that we have been “baptized into Christ Jesus.” We believe into Christ and are baptized into Christ. We get into Christ by faith and baptism. The real meaning of water baptism is death and burial. On the positive side, faith indicates that we are one with Christ, and on the negative side, baptism indicates that we are dead to Adam and buried.
We are not saved by baptism in water alone. Salvation by the water of baptism alone is a superstition similar in principle to the teaching of the Catholic Church that the bread and wine of the Lord’s table become the actual body and blood of Christ. Rather, baptism by water is a symbol that we are identified with Christ. It is the death and resurrection of Christ implied by the water of baptism that saves us, not the water of baptism in itself.
Thus, there are two kinds of baptism — the baptism with water and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism by water is a burial, a thorough clearance. The best clearance that we can have is to be buried. After we are buried, all natural relationships, bondage, and other negative matters are terminated. Romans 6:3 and 4 show us the proper meaning of baptism. It is to be buried with Christ.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit, however, is an inauguration, which is something positive. Inauguration is related to power and authority. Although we are identified with Christ by baptism in water, we are not inaugurated by baptism. We were baptized in water as a symbol that we died with Christ and were buried and resurrected with Him, but this is a matter of life, not of power or authority. In chapters 6, 7, and 8 of Romans there is no mention of the Body of Christ. It is not until we come to chapter 12 that we have the Body. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a matter of the Body. The Body of Christ as the church was inaugurated by the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
By the resurrection of Christ, the Triune God has come into us as our very life for us to enjoy. Moreover, in Christ’s ascension this very Triune God has come down upon the Body of Christ as authority. Now we must experience this full authority by keeping a proper relationship with the Body. We must be right with the Body, stand with the Body, live in the Body, and act in the Body and for the Body. Then we have the ground, the position, to pray and claim whatever has been accomplished on the Body. Now whatever has been accomplished on the Body is our inheritance, our heritage. We simply enjoy it. Christ is our life within and power without. He is for our inward regeneration and our outward inauguration with authority.
Since the day of Pentecost there is now a group of persons on the earth who have the Triune God within them as their life and upon them as their authority. They live by this divine life within, and they act, move, and work by this authority without. This group of people is the church, the Body of Christ. If we have this vision, it will be easy to have a living and prevailing faith. Whenever we need power, since we are in the Body and for the Body, we have the position to claim as our portion whatever the Head has accomplished for the Body. We may claim whatever we need for our experience.
We must learn always not to live by ourselves but to reject ourselves, to deny ourselves, because within us is the living One, the Triune God. He was incarnated to be a man and lived on this earth as a man. He passed through human living on the earth and suffered many things. He died on the cross, was resurrected, and as a man was brought into God Himself. This wonderful One today is in us as our life. Therefore, we must learn to live by this living One, not by ourselves or by any teaching or doctrine. What we need is not mere teaching but the real knowledge of a living person, Christ, the Triune God, who lives in us today as our life. We must know how to reject ourselves in order to live by this living One, not according to teaching or regulation but according to the inner anointing.
Then we must also realize that we are members of the Body, which has been authorized, anointed, and inaugurated by Christ the Head with all His attainments and obtainments. Since we are members of this Body, we can stand in the position of the Body, for the Body, and with the Body for whatever we need. By praying, we can claim for our experience whatever has been accomplished on the Body.
We should not care for what the manifestation of the Spirit upon us will be. Instead, we will simply have authority and power. Then we will not speak things in a vain way with empty words. When we speak, we speak with authority. We will work and do things with authority, not by ourselves but by the One in the heavens. In this sense we will be like policemen who act with the backing of their government. Those who oppose us will find themselves in trouble, because we do things not by ourselves but by our “uniform,” our authority. This is the real significance of the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
If we are clear about this matter, we will change our way of prayer. We will pray, “Lord, here we are as representatives of Your Body. We are doing things here not on our own but by Your authority. Therefore, You must bring people to us.” We must pray in this way and claim by faith. We may compare our bold speaking to that of a policeman; a policeman speaks with authority, and others must obey him. We must exercise the faith that comes from our vision. We see the vision that the Body has been inaugurated with authority on the day of Pentecost, and we are the members of this Body, living and acting in the Body, for the Body, and with the Body. We do not do things by or for ourselves. In this way we have authority and power.
The book of Acts is the record of a group of people who are regenerated by the Triune God and inaugurated with authority by the Triune God. These people have the Triune God within them as their life and upon them as their authority and power. They act in this way and live by the life within. This is the basic thought of the book of Acts. The situation in Christianity today, however, is full of darkness, and there is little impact and authority. The believers mentioned in Acts moved and worked with authority and power, not as many do today.
We must realize the significance of the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, including both the breathing of His breath into us on the day of resurrection and the rushing of the violent wind on the day of Pentecost. Now we have the breath within us and the rushing wind upon us. We have the Triune God as our life within and the very same Triune God as our authority without. As such, we are the church. This is the critical transition in the book of Acts.
We must stand in the position revealed in the Acts, and we must pray, even with fasting. Many times troubles have come to me, and I have prayed in a simple way, “Lord, You must come in to vindicate the situation. You must come in to interfere.” At these times, the Lord did come in. We all can tell the Lord, “Lord, we are not here for ourselves. We are here for You. We are here acting not on our own but as Your Body. You must honor this and do something for Your Body.” We need to deal with the Lord in this way. We must be the real Jacobs and not let Him go (Gen. 32:24-26). It is difficult for nice people to fight a battle. In order to fight the battle, we must pray in an aggressive way. Then we will see something happen.
The Triune God is within us as our life and upon us as our authority. If we read the book of Acts again from this point of view, we will see this more clearly. This must be our experience. Today this very Jesus, in whom is all that the Triune God has and has obtained, is within us as our life, and this very enthroned One is upon us as our authority. If we live by Him and for Him, we will be different persons, and the church where we are will be different.
