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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 12:28-30; 14:39
The experiences of the Holy Spirit as life within and as power without are different aspects of our experience, but they are the work of the same one Spirit, not two Spirits. According to the New Testament, the one Spirit works upon us, with us, and in us in different steps. In the first step, the Holy Spirit comes in to regenerate us, and as the last step, the Holy Spirit comes upon us to be power. We need to experience the Spirit in all these steps.
The Holy Spirit within us is the Lord, the living person who directs us, and the Holy Spirit upon us is the power that we direct by the inner life. On the one hand, the Spirit is the Lord Himself to be life to us within, and since He is our Lord, we need to honor and obey Him. On the other hand, the Lord Himself is the Spirit as power upon us to be applied and directed by us. The Holy Spirit within us as life requires that we follow Him, but the Holy Spirit upon us always follows us as the power under our direction. As a result, the Lord is in us, we are in the Lord, and we and the Lord are mingled together. On one side, we obey the Lord and honor Him as the Lord, and on the other side, the Lord is under our direction for us to apply as power. This is the full, complete work and experience of the Holy Spirit.
We must experience this Spirit up to the last step. We may not feel that we need to experience the Holy Spirit as power, but day by day we do need this experience. To come to the prayer meeting, the fellowship meeting, and the Lord’s table meeting, we need power. Many times the brothers and sisters come to the meetings in a quiet way. They do not have the release, the liberty, or the power. They may think that when they attend the meetings, they do not need power; they can simply go to sit, look, listen, and say Amen. Some have told me that the meeting is a happy, restful time for them. After working all day, the meeting is a good time for rest. For them, to sit and listen to a nice message or some nice prayers is like enjoying music. However, even when we come just to enjoy the meetings, we still need power. If we come to the meetings with power, we will be released; we will have release and liberty.
As a brother who ministers the word to others, I need the listeners to have power; then I can minister in a better way. The more you are powerful, the more I am powerful. We may illustrate this by considering what would happen if there were only chairs, not people, in the room. If I came to minister to a room full of lifeless chairs, I could not minister for more than five minutes; because the chairs are lifeless, I will be lifeless. The more the listeners are living and powerful, the more the minister is living and powerful. There is a living response and reaction within him. If we come even to a message meeting with power, we will be a great help to the meeting. We will release the meeting.
To have power is to be released. If we have power, we are released from darkness, from the evil force, which is the kingdom of Satan. Many times when some brothers and sisters come to the meetings, a part of the kingdom of Satan in darkness is there; the evil force comes in with them, causing a battle. If each one, however, comes into the meeting with power, there is a great release. To come to the meeting, we need power. We should come in power because we are coming to serve the Lord. We must not think that the meeting is the business, the job, of the ministering brother. Rather, we all must come in power.
There is a difference between life and power. Life is for us, ourselves, but in order to minister life to others, we need power. Even to contact one another and fellowship in our daily life, we need power. Without power, we may have life, but we cannot minister what we have to others. Power transmits what we have as life to others. Then when others receive it, the power becomes life in them. When we preach the gospel in power, for example, the audience is moved by this power, and when they receive the gospel, the power becomes life within them. The power and life are of the same Spirit. Power is not life, but power is for life.
Even though we have the Holy Spirit, we may not apply the power because we do not realize our need for it. However, even to render a thanks to the Lord for a meal requires power. We may think that it is a small thing to return thanks to the Lord. We may simply say, “Thank You for the food. You are so good to us.” However, we may not sense the need for power to give thanks. If we sense our need for power, we will realize our need for it even in small matters. Then we will deal with the Lord.
We need power to contact others, to fellowship with the saints, to come to the meetings, to listen to a message, to pray, and to praise the Lord. We should not think that only the apostles such as Peter and Paul need power. Rather, every Christian needs power. Day by day we need life within and power without. Even when we pray in our room, we need power to pray, and when we read a book, we need power to read. If we realize our need of life within and power without, day by day and moment by moment, we will claim it and apply it.
The outward aspect and the inward aspect eventually meet and mix together. The inward aspect is like a reservoir of water, and the outward aspect is like the rain. The rain and the reservoir join together until we cannot tell which is which. Both are the same water. We have the inward bubbling reservoir and the outward rain. This is the normal Christian life. If someone has only the outward rain, after a certain time there will be nothing left. We need to have the full experience of the indwelling of the Spirit and the full experience of the outpouring of the Spirit. Day by day we must be persons filled with the Spirit within and clothed with the Spirit without, persons in the Holy Spirit and with the Holy Spirit in us. This is the one Holy Spirit within and without, for life and for power. This is the proper issue of our experience.
Let us pray that we all will be brought to the point that we have the infilling and the outpouring. Then whenever we come together, there will be something powerful upon us and through us toward others. This is the proper position, condition, situation, and issue. May we pray in this way that we may be enabled to realize how much we need the Holy Spirit within and without, for life and for power. If we pray in this way, whenever we come together, our meeting will be changed much. We will honor the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will be with us. When we come together, we will be full of the Holy Spirit within us, among us, upon us, and outside of us, and in whatever we do there will be the presence of the Holy Spirit. Even if we have a little talk after the meeting, we will be full of the Holy Spirit. The outsiders will sense that there is something different with us. The real Bethel of Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:12-19 will be fulfilled in us. Heaven will be opened, and this place will be the very place of God’s dwelling. People will sense the presence of the Lord, and this will be the real place for the stones to be poured upon with oil, that is, with the Holy Spirit.
We should not say that we do not need power. In all Christian matters we need life and we need power. Therefore, we must go to the Lord to pray and deal with this matter. Certain ones should not read too much. They should close their books and use more time to pray for the experience of the infilling and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then when they come to the meeting, they will be very different. Their prayer will not be dry; it will be full of the living water and full of the oil. By listening to our prayers, people can realize to what extent we experience the Holy Spirit.
I do not look down on knowledge; rather, I respect and value knowledge. However, all our knowledge must be in the Holy Spirit. If it is not in the Spirit, it is merely knowledge in letter with no reality. I respect the proper knowledge, but I do not care for so-called theology with every kind of “ism.” Let us forget about the “isms.” We need to exercise our spirit to pray more to experience the Spirit. Then we will be living and powerful whenever we come together.
Many people have told me that when they come to the meetings, they are very impressed, not by the teaching or doctrine but by the living atmosphere, the living water, and the oil, the anointing. However, I am still not satisfied with our Lord’s Day meeting. Many come to this meeting in a loose way. They should not think that they have no responsibility for the meeting. They have responsibility simply because they come to the meeting. If the brothers and sisters come to the meeting with power, even before the ministry starts, there will be the moving, the current, the flowing of the Holy Spirit in the meeting place.
Between 1941 and 1943 in northern China, every time the brothers and sisters came together, even before the meeting started, we could already sense the Spirit. In 1943 we had a continual meeting for one hundred and eight days, day by day. It was wonderful. When people came into the meeting, they would begin to weep. No one would talk lightly. Instead, many would sit there and weep without speaking. Eventually, the unbelievers realized that if they came to our meeting place, they could not resist the Spirit. When they came in, they fell down, not physically but psychologically and spiritually. They were subdued by the living power. Some people were even saved by walking past the meeting place. A certain unbelieving schoolteacher rode a bicycle past the meeting place and noticed a verse painted in large characters on the wall. He was very moved by it, and he stopped, took off his hat, and prayed a short prayer, saying, “God, I am a sinner. Save me. I believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior.” After a few weeks, he came to be baptized and told us his story.
A number of others were saved through dreams. One man was the husband of a sister, a deaconess, in the church. He came to a gospel meeting, and he and his friend were saved. The night before this friend came to the gospel meeting, he had had a dream. Then when he came to the meeting, he saw the meeting hall and said, “Last night I saw this in a dream. What I saw was exactly the same as this.” On that day at that very moment, he repented with tears and was saved. This happened due to one reason: most of the believers among us at that time were very much under the power of the Holy Spirit.
In that meeting place there were many rooms, but there was no noise. Instead, everyone was praying much in groups of three or five in each room. There were not many voices; the saints were silent but were praying all the time. During the preaching of the gospel, some would kneel and pray until the message was over. After that, they came out to take care of the after-meeting work.
I cannot relate how wonderful this situation was. However, I did not observe that even one person spoke in tongues. We do not oppose speaking in tongues; rather, we are open to it. Yet there was none at that time, but the situation was very prevailing and powerful. By this we should realize that we do need the power of the Holy Spirit. If we all experience the power, our coming together day by day will be different. It will be another kind of situation. The release, the liberty, the power, the presence of the Lord, the living water, and the oil will always be ministered to others, and there will be a living flow in the meeting.
In those years in China, whenever we came together, we sensed something flowing and moving. At that time, no one could resist the Lord’s table meeting. Whoever came was melted by that meeting. I cannot relate how wonderful the presence and anointing of the Lord was.
Once during the one hundred and eight days, I gave a prayer before I ministered. I could not stop praying. I prayed for more than a half hour. The words came out like a waterfall. At a certain point, I lifted up my hands, although I did not notice it. A brother who was taller than I came to the platform to help support my arms. Later, people told me that the whole congregation also lifted up their hands. That was a unique and wonderful time. The words and sentences of that prayer shook the heavens, shook the earth, shook the hearts, and shook the families. We witnessed that nearly everyone was filled with shaking. The shaking and prayer went on for more than half an hour with no repetitions but with different sentences and utterances. This was a marvelous manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
This is the kind of Christian meeting we should have. I expect that one day our general Lord’s Day meeting will be like this. Therefore, we need power to come to the meetings. What happened in China was the ultimate issue of the work of the Spirit, the outward working of the Spirit mingled and mixed together with the inward working. This was the complete, full work and experience of the one Holy Spirit.
What I have spoken in these messages is the compilation of many good teachings of the past, including those of the Brethren, the mystics such as Madame Guyon and Father Fenelon, and the inner-life teachers such as Mr. Stockmayer, F. B. Meyer, Andrew Murray, and Mrs. Penn-Lewis. We have also received from others’ experiences and even from the Pentecostal movement, and we have had our own experiences. I have studied the subject of the work of the Holy Spirit for more than thirty years, and I have the full assurance that our attitude is the moderate and right one.
In Christianity there are two groups of people with regard to the work of the Holy Spirit. One is the fundamental people with the Brethren teaching. They say that all the supernatural gifts and miraculous things are over and that there is no more divine healing or speaking in tongues. After studying this for thirty years, we conclude that we cannot go along with this teaching. It is too extreme. We have studied the Word carefully for this purpose, and we cannot find even a hint to support this teaching. No one can point out a verse to prove it. Rather, we found out that among the Brethren there was much divine healing. They themselves received such experiences, but they used different terms to describe it. They said it is not the healing of gifts but the healing of grace. This is simply a matter of terminology. If we call a man a dog, a cat, or a fish, he is still a man. In the same way, whether the Brethren call what they experienced divine healing or something else, it is still some kind of divine healing.
On the other hand, there is the Pentecostal movement, especially the movement for the speaking in tongues. I am bothered about this movement. It also is too extreme. We do not agree that speaking in tongues is over. Who can tell us that it is over? It is still here. However, people in the tongues movement insist that everyone has to speak in tongues. I recently read in a magazine related to this movement that they realize tongues is only one gift out of many. In 1 Corinthians 12:28 the apostle Paul says, “God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” In this list, tongues is the last item.
Verses 29 and 30 continue, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all have works of power? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret tongues?” However, although certain persons have realized that there is such a word in the Scriptures, they still insist that everyone must speak in tongues. They have found a way to reconcile their teaching with the Scriptures. They say that in the church gatherings, not all the believers have the anointing to speak in tongues. Only a few have the anointing. That is why Paul indicated that not all speak in tongues. However, they say that every believer in his or her private devotional time must have the anointing to speak in tongues.
How can it be that in a private time everyone must have the anointing to speak in tongues, but in the gathering of the church it is possible for only a few to have the anointing to speak in tongues? This is not logical. Verse 29 asks, “Are all apostles?” We cannot say that some are apostles only when the church comes together, but outside of the church gatherings they are not apostles. If some are apostles in the meetings, they are also apostles outside the meetings. In their private devotional hour they are apostles, and in the hour of meeting they are still apostles. In the same way, if one has the anointing, the gift, to speak in tongues in the private hour, to be sure he will have it in the meetings. Likewise, if he has it in the meetings, he will have it in the private hour. It is not logical to say that everyone must speak in tongues in their private devotional hour, but only a few have the anointing to speak in tongues in the meeting. Some say this simply to insist that everyone must speak in tongues. This is too extreme. My intention is not to oppose speaking in tongues. It is simply to help you not to be extreme.
To say that we must speak in tongues creates trouble and causes many to be disappointed because they cannot obtain this gift. It also gives rise to many human imitations. The magazine I read insists that everyone must speak in tongues, but it admits that everyone who speaks in tongues doubts that what they speak is genuine and real. The reason people who speak in tongues doubt their experience is that the tongues movement influences people to imitate tongues by using a different kind of voice.
After people are influenced to speak in this way, they doubt that what they have done is real. I had the same experience in 1933, but a few years later I dropped it. After speaking in tongues in a miraculous and supernatural way on the day of Pentecost, did the disciples doubt their speaking? They did not doubt it, because what they had was the real item. The reason a person doubts his speaking is that it seems even to him that it is not miraculous or supernatural. He simply opens his mouth and uses his tongue to speak something. Then he doubts whether it comes from the Holy Spirit.
Although many people in that movement say that they speak in tongues, the tongue they speak in is something doubtful even to themselves. Every person who speaks in tongues has this experience. I do not oppose anyone, but I must be faithful to the Lord and to His children. I wish to help you to be released. Do not be frightened away from seeking the real experience of the power of the Holy Spirit, but do not be troubled to think that you must speak in tongues. There is no such need.
Not all speak in tongues, just as not all are apostles or prophets and not all have the gift of healing. We must leave this matter open to the Lord in a general way. We should not oppose it or insist on it and push it. If the Lord gives us this gift, we receive it with thanks, but we do not insist on it. Then we will be open and general, and we will not go to this extreme or the other extreme. We do not say that all miraculous and supernatural things are over, and neither do we say that everyone must speak in tongues, forcing and influencing people to imitate and do something false.
In 1 Corinthians 14:39 Paul says, “Do not forbid the speaking in tongues.” Therefore, in chapters 12 and 14 he indicates both that not all speak in tongues and that we should not forbid speaking in tongues. We must be general and open in a proper way. I say once again, forget about the manifestation. Leave this matter to the Lord. Perhaps He will give us to speak in tongues. If so, we should be thankful and receive it, but if He would give us other aspects of the manifestation of the Spirit, we receive those. We leave this to Him. The most important thing is that we experience life within and power without.
Some may say that even if speaking in tongues is not real, it helps people to seek the Lord. Still, it is not necessary. I have seen a church of one thousand people experience the Lord in a good way, even better than those in the tongues movement, but we never insisted that they speak in tongues. Perhaps only one or two out of one hundred had the real experience from the Lord of speaking in tongues. I also have had good experiences of the Lord, especially in those years in China, but I did not speak in tongues at that time.
I reasoned in this way with a brother who was very much for speaking in tongues. In his district many people were saved, but in another district many more people were saved who did not speak in tongues, and they became more spiritual than the ones who did. They even opposed speaking in tongues, but they were more prevailing than the others. This proves that the power is not in the speaking in tongues. Some had speaking in tongues but not the power, yet others did not have the speaking in tongues, but they had power. In this case, the speaking in tongues that the first group had is questionable.
As a rule, it is doubtful that speaking in tongues is a proof that one has power. If someone speaks in tongues but does not have power, he should doubt his tongues. What kind of speaking in tongues is this? If one has the genuine speaking in tongues, it must bring him power. There is no need to oppose anything, but we must help others. Do not be bothered by the wrong teaching to be forced to imitate something. This is too extreme. Let us be moderate, general, and open.
We need the real experience of the Holy Spirit within as our life and without as our power. We must seek this with a sincere heart and pray more that we will experience the Holy Spirit more in the proper way.
