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Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-13
In 2:1-13 we see the Jewish believers’ baptism in the Holy Spirit. Verses 1 through 4 are concerned with the economical filling of the Holy Spirit. In this message we shall pay particular attention to these four verses.
Acts 2:1 and 2 say, “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly there came a noise out of heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” In the Lord’s resurrection, the Spirit of resurrection life is likened to breath, breathed into the disciples (John 20:22) for their spiritual being and living essentially. In the Lord’s ascension, the Spirit of ascension power, poured upon the disciples, is symbolized here by the wind for the disciples’ ministry and move economically. The essential Spirit of resurrection life is for the believers to live Christ; the economical Spirit of ascension power is for them to carry out His commission.
We need to see clearly the difference between the breathing in John 20 and the blowing in Acts 2. The breathing in John 20 is for the imparting of the life-giving Spirit into the disciples essentially for their spiritual being and for their spiritual living. But the blowing in Acts 2 is for the pouring out of the economical Spirit of power upon the believers, who have already received the essential Spirit into them. The pouring out of the Spirit of power is not for the believers’ spiritual being or living; rather, the outpouring of the Spirit of power is for the believers’ ministry and move. Therefore, the essential aspect of the Spirit is for living, and the economical aspect is for ministry. It is important for us to differentiate these two aspects of the Spirit, for then we shall understand the Gospels and Acts in the right way. Otherwise, we shall be confused.
Many years ago, a certain highly respected minister said that the breathing in John 20 was not a fact but was merely a performance that indicated that the fact was yet to come in Acts 2. According to his understanding, after the performance in John 20, it was necessary for the disciples to wait fifty days to receive the fact. In the view of this minister, both John 20 and Acts 2 refer to the same thing, the difference being that one describes a performance and the other describes a fact. This concept is altogether wrong. As we have pointed out, there is a difference between the breathing in John 20 and the blowing in Acts 2. Breathing is for life, but blowing is for power.
In the Gospel of John the Spirit of life in resurrection is likened to water for us to drink. John 4:14 says, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life.” John 7:37-39 says, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive.” In Luke 24:49 the economical Spirit is likened to clothing that we put on: “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you, stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Water is for life inwardly, and clothing is for work outwardly.
Let us use a policeman as an illustration of the difference between the essential Spirit for life inwardly and the economical Spirit for power outwardly. A policeman does not put on his uniform in order to quench his thirst. Thirst cannot be quenched by putting on a uniform. A policeman clothes himself with a uniform when he is about to go on duty, that is, when he is ready to work as a policeman. Suppose a policeman drank something to quench his thirst and then went to work without his uniform. If he did this, no one would pay attention to him as he tried to give orders on the street. No matter how much he may drink to quench his thirst, a policeman still must put on his uniform when he is about to work as a policeman. If he is clothed in his uniform, others will respect him. Through this illustration we can see the difference between drinking and being clothed. Drinking is inward, but being clothed is an outward matter.
It is a serious mistake to say, as did that minister years ago, that the breathing in John 20 is a performance and the blowing in Acts 2 is a fact. This kind of interpretation comes from the shortage of proper knowledge and leads to confusion. The proper knowledge we need requires not only the study of the Scriptures but also heavenly enlightenment along with adequate experience. It is not accurate to say that in John 20 Peter did not receive the Spirit of life into him. The Lord’s breathing in that chapter was certainly not a performance. According to John 20:22, the Lord Jesus “breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is not a performance — it is an accomplished fact. Here we have the fact of the breathing of the life-giving Spirit into the disciples on the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The divine breath in John 20:22 is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God reaching His redeemed people. In particular, this reaching took place in John 20.
The New Testament reveals that the Triune God became incarnate. The Triune God was manifested in the flesh. This means that the One who was incarnated was the complete God, the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, not merely the Son. To say that the complete God was manifested in the flesh means that the complete God was incarnated. The Triune God became a man, lived on earth, ministered, entered into death, conquering and subduing death, and came forth from death in resurrection. In resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, the Triune God, who became incarnated, who lived on earth, and who entered into death and came out of death in resurrection, has become the life-giving Spirit.
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh,” and 1 Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The “flesh” in John 1:14 is “the last Adam” in 1 Corinthians 15:45. Now the last Adam has become the life-giving Spirit, and this Spirit is the transfiguration of the incarnated Christ.
We need to realize who it was who became incarnate. The incarnated One was the Triune God to be a man as the last Adam, and this last Adam in resurrection has become the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, on the day of His resurrection, He appeared to His disciples, breathed upon them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Who is this Spirit? This Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God reaching His redeemed people.
We all need to see the vision of the Triune God becoming the last Adam, and the last Adam becoming the life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God reaching us. Concerning this, we do not care for councils, creeds, or traditional theology. We care only for the pure Word of God. The Word reveals that the Triune God became the last Adam, and this last Adam became the life-giving Spirit. Praise the Lord that the processed Triune God has reached us as the life-giving Spirit! On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit was breathed into the disciples.
Fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, something further happened. On that day the ascended Christ poured Himself out as the Spirit economically upon the disciples to be their power, authority, and uniform. A policeman in uniform has authority. No matter how powerful your car may be, you still must obey the policeman’s authority. His uniform is a sign of his authority. On the day of Pentecost the one hundred and twenty were clothed with the economical Spirit as their heavenly uniform.
In Luke 24:49 the Lord told the disciples to wait until they were clothed with power from on high. When they were clothed with power on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up to speak with authority and power, and the people were subdued. Peter could speak with authority because he was clothed with a heavenly uniform.
We should not take any inaccurate teachings concerning the Holy Spirit in John 20 and Acts 2. We praise the Lord for the breathing of the Spirit in John 20 and for the blowing of the Spirit in Acts 2. The breathing is for life, and the blowing is for move. Furthermore, the breathing gives us inner strength, and the blowing gives us outer authority. Through the breathing and the blowing we are fully equipped.
Just as the crucifixion is an accomplished fact, so the breathing of the Spirit of life and the blowing of the Spirit of power are also accomplished facts. We should simply believe the report and take the facts. Where is the report? The report is in the Bible. What are the facts? The facts are that the Lord has breathed the Spirit of life into His believers and has blown His Spirit of power upon them.
When some hear about believing the report and taking the facts concerning the essential and economical aspects of the Spirit, they may say, “I don’t feel that the Spirit of life has been breathed into me, and I don’t feel that the Spirit of power is upon me.” If someone said this to me, I would reply, “Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus died for you? Certainly you do, even without feeling anything. You believe it because the Bible tells you so. Likewise, you need to believe that the Lord Jesus has breathed Himself as the Spirit of life into the disciples, including you. You also need to believe that the Lord Jesus has blown Himself as the Spirit of power upon us all.”
Let us all believe the facts of Christ’s breathing and blowing, just as we believe the fact of His crucifixion. Do we have the Spirit of life essentially? Yes, we have the Spirit of life. How do we know? We know it because the Bible tells us so. Do we also have the Spirit of power upon us economically? Yes, we have the Spirit of power upon us. How do we know? We know this as a fact because the Bible tells us so. Praise the Lord for His crucifixion, His breathing, and His blowing! Praise Him that we know these facts because the Bible tells us so!
Acts 2:2 says that the wind filled the house where the one hundred twenty were sitting. The Greek word for “filled” here is pleroo, a word that means to fill inwardly, as the wind filled the house.
Verses 3 and 4 say, “And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which were divided and sat on each one of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in different tongues, even as the Spirit gave them to speak out.” The Greek word for “filled” in verse 4 is pletho (also used in 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9; and Luke 1:15, 41, 67). This Greek word means to fill outwardly. According to its usage in Acts, pleroo denotes to fill a vessel within, as the wind filled the house inwardly in verse 2; and pletho denotes to fill the persons outwardly, as the Spirit filled the disciples outwardly in this verse. The disciples were filled (pleroo) inwardly and essentially with the Spirit (13:52) for their Christian living, and they were filled (pletho) outwardly and economically with the Spirit for their Christian ministry. The inward filling Spirit, the essential Spirit, is in the disciples (John 14:17; Rom. 8:11), whereas the outward filling Spirit, the economical Spirit, is upon them (Acts 1:8; 2:17).
Every believer in Christ should experience both aspects of the Holy Spirit. Even Christ as a man experienced the same thing. He was born of the Holy Spirit essentially (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20) for His being and living, and He was anointed with the Holy Spirit economically (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18) for His ministry and move. The essential Spirit was within Him, and the economical Spirit was upon Him.
The outward filling of the poured-out Spirit was the ascended Head’s baptizing His Body into the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish believers, the first part of His Body, were baptized; and in the house of Cornelius, the Gentile believers, the second part of His Body, were baptized in the same way (10:44-47). By these two steps He baptized once for all His entire Body into the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), who is the application and realization of Himself. It was to baptize His Body into Himself that He baptized it into the Spirit. This was the accomplishment of the baptism in the Holy Spirit promised by Christ, the Head of the Body, in Acts 1:5.
I encourage you to study carefully this matter of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In 2:1-13 we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples economically. That was the step of baptizing the Jewish believers in the Holy Spirit. Later, in the house of Cornelius, Christ baptized the Gentile believers in the Holy Spirit. Through these two steps Christ, the Head, has baptized His entire Body in the Holy Spirit once for all.
