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Scripture Reading: Acts 16:6-10
In this message we shall begin to consider 16:6-10, which describes how Paul and his co-workers were led of God to go forth into Macedonia, a province of the Roman Empire in southeastern Europe. We shall pay particular attention to the Holy Spirit in verse 6 and the Spirit of Jesus in verse 7.
Acts 16:6 says, “And they passed through the country of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.” The move of the apostle Paul and his co-workers for the spread of the gospel was not according to their decision and preference, nor according to any schedule made by human council, but by the Holy Spirit according to God’s counsel, as in the mission of Philip (8:29, 39). They intended to speak the word in Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbade them. Forbidding is also a part of the Holy Spirit’s leading.
Acts 16:7 continues, “And when they had come down to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” The Holy Spirit’s forbidding and the Spirit of Jesus’ not allowing indicated that Paul and his co-workers should go directly forward. If we look at a map, we shall see that such a forward direction would be toward eastern Europe, in particular, toward Macedonia and Achaia. Paul, however, did not have the thought of going there. This made it necessary for the Lord to give him a vision during the night, and in this vision a Macedonian call came to Paul (v. 9).
The Holy Spirit’s forbidding Paul to go to the left, to Asia, and the Spirit of Jesus’ not allowing him to go to the right, Bithynia, indicates a straightforward direction for the apostle and his co-workers. Thus they went in a direct course to Macedonia through Mysia and Troas (v. 8).
We need to pay careful attention to two divine titles in verses 6 and 7: the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus. The interchangeable use of the Spirit of Jesus with the Holy Spirit in the preceding verse reveals that the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a general title of the Spirit of God in the New Testament. The Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God, and refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross. This indicates that in the Spirit of Jesus there is not only the divine element of God, but also the human element of Jesus and the elements of His human living and His suffering of death as well. Such an all-inclusive Spirit was needed for the apostle’s preaching ministry, a ministry of suffering among human beings and for human beings in the human life.
We have seen that in Acts 16 Luke first speaks of the Holy Spirit and then of the Spirit of Jesus. In the Old Testament we read of the Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2b: “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” There the Spirit of God brooded over the death waters. Elsewhere in the Old Testament the Spirit of God is called the Spirit of Jehovah (Judg. 3:10; Ezek. 11:5). The title “the Holy Spirit” is not used in the Old Testament. In Psalm 51:11 and in Isaiah 63:10-11 the “Holy Spirit” should be translated “the Spirit of holiness.” The main titles of God’s Spirit in the Old Testament, therefore, are the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah. God’s Spirit is never called the Spirit of Elijah or the Spirit of David. From this we see that in Acts 16 Luke uses two titles for the Spirit of God that are not found in the Old Testament.
The title “the Holy Spirit” was used for the first time at the time of the conception of the Lord Jesus. It was when the time came to prepare the way for Christ’s coming and to prepare a human body for Him to initiate the New Testament dispensation that the term the Holy Spirit came into use (Luke 1:15, 35; Matt. 1:18, 20). In order to understand the first usage of the title the Holy Spirit, we need to see that this title is involved with the Lord’s incarnation. Hence, according to the principle of first mention, the Holy Spirit is related to Christ’s incarnation and birth.
In Acts 16:7 Luke turns from the Holy Spirit to the Spirit of Jesus. As a man, Jesus was first living a human life and then was crucified and resurrected, and He ascended to the heavens and has been made Lord and Christ. The Spirit of Jesus involves more than the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit involves only the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus, but the Spirit of Jesus involves His humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension.
In Acts 16 we see that the move of the apostles in their evangelistic work was strictly speaking not by the Spirit of God. Rather, it was by the Holy Spirit, who was involved with the Lord’s incarnation and birth, and by the Spirit of Jesus, who was involved with the Lord’s humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. These two divine titles indicate strongly that Paul’s move in his evangelical work was not something in the way of the old dispensation. If it had been a move in the old dispensational way, then the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jehovah should have been mentioned. But in Acts 16 there is no mention of the Spirit of God nor of the Spirit of Jehovah. Instead, we are told that Paul and his co-workers were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia and were not allowed by the Spirit of Jesus to go into Bithynia. The fact that Luke speaks of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus indicates that the evangelical work of the apostles was a new move in God’s New Testament economy. As we have pointed out, it is not our burden in this Life-study of Acts to consider all the minor points. Our burden is to see God’s move on earth for His New Testament economy and all the crucial dispensational turning points related to this move.
God’s New Testament economy is carried out through the Lord’s incarnation, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus include these matters. This means that the Spirit who is now called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus is the totality and ultimate consummation of Christ’s incarnation, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. When we have this Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus, we have Christ in His incarnation, in His humanity and human living, and in His death, resurrection, and ascension.
Elsewhere we have pointed out that after His resurrection and in His resurrection Christ has become the pneumatic Christ. The pneumatic Christ is identical to the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17). The Holy Spirit, who is also the Spirit of Jesus, is the totality of this pneumatic Christ. The pneumatic Christ is constituted of certain elements: incarnation, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. In the entire universe He is the only one who possesses these six qualifications. Only He is qualified with incarnation, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. Hence, the Spirit of Jesus is the realization of this qualified Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus is the totality of such an all-inclusive One. In Acts 16 Paul and his co-workers were moving under the direction of such a Spirit, the Spirit who is the totality of the all-inclusive Christ.
What I have been ministering in this message regarding the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus is not a product of my imagination. Rather, it is the result of more than a half century of studying the holy Word and the writings of others, plus observing the experience of the saints and my own experience. My fellowship concerning these two titles of the divine Spirit, therefore, is based upon years of study, observation, and experience.
If we see the significance of the titles the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus, we shall mourn and lament over the pitiful situation among Christians today with respect to understanding these matters. Who knows that the Spirit of Jesus is the totality and realization of Christ as the unique qualified One, the One qualified through incarnation, humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension? We certainly are not proud of what the Lord, in His mercy, has shown us. But we are burdened to tell the truth to God’s seeking people. The depths of the truth regarding the Spirit is not found in traditional theology; on the contrary, it is in the depths of the Word. If we would know these depths, we should not be content to “skate on the ice” of the surface of the Word. We in the Lord’s recovery should no longer stay on the surface in such a way.
We surely need to consider the two divine titles in Acts 16:6 and 7. Paul and Silas were forbidden to speak the word in Asia not by the Spirit of God nor by the Spirit of Jehovah, but by the Holy Spirit, who carried out the conception of the Savior. When they tried to go into Bithynia, it was not the Spirit of God nor the Spirit of Jehovah who did not allow them — it was the Spirit of Jesus who did not allow them to go there. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of the One with humanity, who lived a human life on earth for thirty-three and a half years, who died an all-inclusive death, who resurrected from among the dead to propagate the divine life by imparting it into all His believers, and who ascended to the heavens to be made Lord and Christ. The Spirit who did not allow the apostles to go into Bithynia was the Spirit of this Jesus. This Spirit is the totality and the full realization of the all-inclusive Jesus. These verses prove that the apostles were moving under the direction and guidance of such an all-inclusive Spirit. May we all see the revelation here and not be satisfied with a superficial understanding of the Word of God.
The kind of work we do for the Lord depends on the kind of Spirit by whom we are guided, directed, instructed, and constituted. Paul was not constituted of the Spirit of God nor of the Spirit of Jehovah but of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus. As a vessel containing the Triune God, Paul was fully constituted of the Holy Spirit, who was involved with the Lord’s incarnation and birth, and of the Spirit of Jesus, who was involved with the Lord’s humanity, human living, all-inclusive death, life-imparting resurrection, and ascension. Paul was a person constituted of this all-inclusive Spirit. Thus, when he came out to preach, he could truly preach Jesus Christ.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the kind of work we do for the Lord depends on the Spirit by whom we are guided and of whom we are constituted. Actually, this Spirit should become our constitution. Then our work will be the expression of this Spirit. For example, do you think it would have been possible for Elijah to be led by the Holy Spirit or for him to do a work for Jesus as the incarnated One with humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension? No, Elijah did not have this Spirit. He had only the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah. Elijah may have had a powerful Spirit, but he was not constituted of the Spirit of Jesus. For this reason, he could never do the work of ministering Jesus as the all-inclusive One or convey Him as such a One to others.
In reading Acts 16 it is easy to consider the matter of the leading of the Spirit in a general way. As we have seen, Paul did not carry out his work for the spread of the gospel according to his decision, preference, and schedule but by the Spirit. This understanding is also general. We need the heavenly vision to see what is implied by the two divine titles the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus. In order to understand these titles we need to dig into the depths of the Bible concerning the Spirit. We need to study the Spirit throughout the Scriptures, considering the Spirit of God in Genesis and the Spirit of Jehovah elsewhere in the Old Testament. Then we need to see why the term the Holy Spirit is not used until it was time for God to become incarnated. When we see this, we shall realize that the title “the Holy Spirit” is involved with God’s New Testament economy. In particular, this title indicates God’s coming into man to be one with man in incarnation. In the New Testament the title the Holy Spirit indicates that God is now mingling Himself with man.
We also need the insight to see the significance of the Spirit of Jesus. This title of the Spirit refers to the Lord as the all-inclusive One who was a man, who lived a human life in His humanity, who went to the cross and died an all-inclusive death, who was resurrected for the propagation of the divine life, and who ascended into the heavens to be made Lord and Christ. If we dig into the Scriptures and have the heavenly vision concerning the Spirit, we shall see that the Spirit of Jesus implies the Lord’s humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension.
It is very easy to acquire a superficial understanding of the Bible. Even by reading the Bible through once you can gain some superficial knowledge. But to see the heavenly revelation requires that we dig into the depths of the Scriptures. We also need insight to see what is revealed in the Word. The Lord Jesus had such a deep understanding of the Scriptures when He pointed out that the title “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” implies resurrection (Matt. 22:31-33).
May we all learn to dig into the depths of God’s Word to know the deeper truths that have been buried for centuries. In particular, may we all learn the meaning of the two divine titles found in Acts 16:6 and 7 — the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus.
