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Scripture Reading: Acts 1:5, 8; 6:3; 7:55; 9:4-5; 11:24; 13:52; 16:6-7
We have seen something of the indwelling Christ in the four Gospels. Now we must come to the book of Acts. We may think that this is a book of the preaching of the early apostles. However, it is just a record showing us how the early disciples were those who were baptized into the Triune God, and within whom the Triune God was living. In the Gospel of Matthew we are told that all the disciples are to be baptized into the Triune God. Then the Gospel of John tells us that this Triune God is today the life-giving Spirit to dwell within us. We are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in us.
Now in the book of Acts we see that all the early disciples were those who were put into the Triune God. At the beginning of Acts, they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit. They were put into the Triune God. Following this, we see that the Triune God was living within them. Many times in the book of Acts we read that they were full of the Holy Spirit. This simply means that these disciples were people within whom the Triune God was living. The Triune God was filling them and living within them. By this we clearly see that in the book of Acts the early disciples were baptized into the Triune God, and on the other hand, the Triune God as the life-giving Spirit was living within them.
It was by this that they became a certain kind of people. They were people who had God Himself mingling with them. We know that we need to preach the gospel and reach the unbelievers. Yet we should not do this in ourselves. We must be a kind of people who are put into the Triune God and who are filled with the Triune God. On one hand, we must be in the Triune God, and on the other hand, we need to have the life-giving Spirit living within us. This is the kind of people the early disciples were.
To be full of the Holy Spirit means to be in the condition of being continually filled with the Triune God. This was the daily situation, the daily walk, and the daily condition of the early disciples. At this time, the Holy Spirit is the full realization of the Triune God, the real embodiment of the Triune God. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, it means that we are filled with the Triune God. This is why the Lord Jesus did not tell them that they were to be preachers, but witnesses: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (1:8). They were not preachers but witnesses, because they were in the Triune God, and the Triune God was in them. They and the Triune God were one. In other words, the indwelling of Jesus was their daily living, so in such a condition they were full of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians today have been confused and complicated concerning the filling of the Holy Spirit. To be full of the Holy Spirit, they feel, is rather difficult. But it is not that hard. It is as simple as breathing. I was once asked, “How can we abide in Christ, and Christ abide in us?” I answered by using the air as an illustration. All the time we are in the air, and the air is in us. And today the Lord Jesus as the life-giving Spirit is just like the heavenly air. We are in Him and He is in us.
First Corinthians 1:30 tells us clearly that God has put us in Christ: “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” To be in Christ is something of God. God has put us into Christ, and God also has made Christ the life-giving Spirit. To be full of the Spirit is not such a difficult thing. As long as we open ourselves and confess all our sins so that there is no offense in our conscience, we can be full of the Spirit. If we confess and apply the blood to all our sinfulness, we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We should not be complicated by so many kinds of teachings about the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit. According to the record of the Bible, to be filled with the Spirit is really as simple as breathing. Jesus is not far from us. Rather, He is very nigh unto us. We know that He is indwelling our spirit. He is waiting within us in order that we may open up to Him and give Him the ground. As much ground as we will give to Him, He will fill. We only need to open ourselves to Him and make a thorough confession of anything that is sinful or condemned in His eyes. Then we must apply His redeeming and cleansing blood. If we do this and keep calling on His name, we are spontaneously in Him, and He will spontaneously fill us. Then we will be in the situation that is described by the book of Acts as being full of the Holy Spirit.
Suppose you are a Christian who loves the Lord, yet you would not be dealt with by Him. You have some sinful things in your life, yet you would not confess and apply His precious blood to cleanse you. If so, you are just insulated from Him. Electricity is a good illustration of this matter. We apply the electrical power by engaging the right switch. But if the electrical wire is insulated at the point of contact, there is no way to receive the electrical power. It is the same with the Lord. Just a little insulation will keep us from the heavenly power. If we would deal with all the insulation, we would get into the flow of the power.
This is simply a matter of practice and a matter of faith. We must practice to open ourselves to Him and deal with all our sinfulness. Whatever bothers our conscience, we must confess to Him. It is simply a matter of making a thorough confession. There is no need for us to stay in that kind of condemned situation. We only need to pray, “Lord Jesus, forgive me in this matter. I am wrong and I need the cleansing of Your blood.” Hallelujah for the redeeming and prevailing blood that cleanses us and sets us free! Under the blood there is no condemnation; we are released from all kinds of condemnation. Then we will say, “O Lord Jesus. You are my life, You are my person. Now I know that I am in You, and You are in me. Hallelujah! I know now that You are abiding within me.” Then we are full of the Holy Spirit.
We should not be so confused, distracted, and complicated. I am afraid that even after reading this, some would still think that to be full of the Holy Spirit is difficult, requiring much fasting and praying. But to be filled with the Holy Spirit is part of the gospel, and the gospel is absolutely free. It is not difficult, and we do not need to do so many things. What we need to do is to open ourselves to the Lord and confess whatever is condemned in our conscience. Then we apply the cleansing of the precious blood. Our conscience then will be free, and there will be no offense. We will have a conscience void of offense. We will have boldness to call on the Lord and be filled by the Lord. The more we call on Him, the more we will be filled. We will be a person full of the Holy Spirit. At this time it will be so easy to preach the gospel. We will not speak to others by exercising our mind to think what we must say. We will preach to others by exercising our spirit to flow out the living Christ.
By reading the book of Acts carefully, we see that the early disciples did not have much knowledge or preaching. But they were people full of the Holy Spirit. Day by day, they were filled with the Triune God. When they reached out to others, it was by the outflowing of the indwelling Christ. This is exactly what is mentioned in Matthew and John. In Matthew we are told that the disciples of Jesus were baptized into the Triune God, and John tells us that Jesus would be living within them. Now in Acts we see such a group of people. All the early disciples were those who were put into Christ, and Jesus was living within them. They did not have all the things that people think we need today. When we are reaching others, what we need, strictly speaking, is not power but the outflowing of the indwelling Christ. The real gospel is the outflow of Jesus from our spirit. It is not a matter of learning much but of continually being full of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 6:3 and 5 we see that the deacons chosen by the apostles were men full of the Holy Spirit: “Brothers, look for seven well-attested men from among you, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint over this need...And the word pleased all the multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.”
Then in Acts 7:55 we see that Stephen, while he was being stoned to death, was full of the Holy Spirit: “Being full of the Holy Spirit, he looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”
In Acts 9 we read that Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the early disciples. Then Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. “He fell on the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (vv. 4-5). Saul was surprised when the Lord said that he was persecuting Him. But the Lord made it clear that to persecute the disciples was to persecute Him. While Stephen was being persecuted, he was full of Jesus. All the persecuted disciples were one with Jesus. They had been put into Jesus, and Jesus was living within them. Therefore, when they were persecuted, Jesus was being persecuted. This is why Jesus asked Paul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” All the disciples were in Jesus, and Jesus was in them. To persecute them was to persecute Jesus, because whatever they did, it was Jesus doing it in them. When they were persecuted, Jesus considered that He was persecuted. Actually, it was not Peter, John, or Stephen who was persecuted, but it was Jesus who was indwelling all the disciples.
Wherever we go, we must be a people who are full of the Holy Spirit. We must be those who are in Jesus and who have Jesus living within us. It does not depend upon what we say. Eloquence in gospel preaching has never saved anybody. It is not our utterance that can impart life to others but the pouring out of the indwelling Christ. We must learn how to be full of Jesus and to release Him from our spirit. Jesus wants to save others out of us, not out of the heavens. We should never let Him be stopped within us. All the time we must learn to release Him by opening ourselves and making a thorough and absolute confession of all our sins. Then we will have the boldness to call on Him to be filled with Him and to share Him with others.
We really need to have faith in this matter. We should not doubt in the least. We should be fully assured that when we open ourselves and make a thorough confession to the Lord, applying His precious blood, we are in Him and He is in us! We must exercise our faith and say, “Amen, Lord Jesus, I am one with You, and You are one with me. Hallelujah!” This is the exercise of faith that we must have. We should not try to preach but every day exercise our faith to be filled with Christ.
When the apostle Paul was thinking of going to Asia from Phrygia, he was going there for Jesus. He was about to turn in one direction, but the Spirit did not allow him: “They passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” (16:6-7). On the one hand, the Holy Spirit forbade them, and on the other hand, the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. This shows that in the early days the apostles and disciples spread the gospel by being one with Jesus. It was not something done by themselves or according to their understanding but something done by the indwelling Jesus. They were one with the Triune God, and this Triune God in Acts 16 is called both the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit is the embodiment and realization of the Triune God, and this Triune God was living in Paul. Paul was fully mingled with the Triune God. This is why he preached the gospel in such a living way. Wherever he went, we can be sure that it was the decision of the Triune God within him.
I wish that we all could be so simple to be recovered back to the ways of the early disciples. We should not care so much for doctrine, preaching, or talk. We should only care for the outflowing of the indwelling Christ. We must learn to exercise our spirit and to exercise our faith. Then we will have the assurance that we are one with Christ, and He will flow out of our spirit.
To reach the unbelievers and to chase away the darkness requires a real exercise of faith. We all must learn to exercise our faith to deal with Satan. We are full of the Holy Spirit, so all the darkness and unbelief must go. We must challenge the enemy because we are not there by ourselves. We must tell the enemy, “Satan, I am not here by myself. Jesus is one with me, and I am full of Him!” Then we will see the enemy flee. We should not be bothered by today’s Christianity, thinking that it is hard to be full of the Spirit. Whenever we are preaching the gospel, we should say, “Lord Jesus, I open to You. Whatever You condemn, I condemn. Whatever You allow, I allow. Whatever You like, I like. I do believe that I am in You, and You are in me. Now that I am going out to preach the gospel, You have to go with me, and I have to go with You.”
When we go out to reach others, we must have the assurance that we are really one with Jesus. This is what it means to be witnesses unto Him. We are not only going to preach the gospel; we are going out to be the Lord’s witnesses. And we are not going to witness to the Jesus who is in the heavens but to the Jesus who lives within us. He is in us, and we are in Him. We are just one in the Spirit. We have full assurance that we have been put into Him, and He is living within us. We are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in us. Then when we contact an unbeliever, we must exercise our spirit to release the living Jesus, and we must exercise our faith to deal with all the darkness. “Satan, you have to go! Jesus is here!” This is the way to be the real witnesses unto Jesus.
To be full of the Spirit as described in the book of Acts is a condition that is easy for us to attain. If we open our heart and make a thorough confession of all our sins under the cleansing of the blood, we will be full of the Spirit. Then we must realize that we have been put into the Triune God, and we have the Triune God continually living within us. We are in Him, and He is in us. We should never look at ourselves or our background. We have to forget all these things and realize that we are under the cleansing blood. All our past has been covered by the blood. We should never take away the covering of the blood to look at our past. Instead, we must declare that all our past is covered by the blood of Jesus! Now under the covering of the blood, we are enjoying the Triune God, and we are being filled with Him. This will make us the real witnesses.
This is the indwelling of Christ in the book of Acts. We see a group of people in whom Christ was living daily and through whom Christ was poured out as the gospel preaching. The real outreach is just the indwelling of Christ. And the indwelling of Christ is so simple. He is the processed God as the life-giving Spirit so nigh to us. Moment by moment we open ourselves to Him, confessing all our sinfulness. Then we will be under the cleansing of His blood, and we will be filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
