As believers in Christ who love the Lord and desire to have their life and work contribute to the advancing of God’s kingdom on earth, we need to do everything in ascension, by the Spirit, and in the divine stream.
The Spirit today is both the life-giving Spirit (for us to breath in as the living breath for our life and existence) and the Spirit of power (for us to put on as uniform, as authority and power to work for God) – see John 20:22; Luke 24:49; 2 Kings 2:9, 13-15.
We daily need to drink the Spirit and also to be clothed with the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) so that whatever we do for God would be by the Spirit. Our work for God needs to be initiated by the Spirit as we minister to Him and enjoy Him.
Just as the Lord had a new beginning in His move in Antioch, and from there He spread the gospel in all Minor Asia and in Europe, so today we can be those who give ourselves to the Lord to be the faithful and seeking members of the Body on earth who cooperate and avail themselves to the Head in the heavens.
May everything we do be something initiated by the Spirit, carried out by the Spirit, and be done with the Spirit through our coordination among ourselves under the Head and one with Christ, the Head of the Body!
Inwardly Filled and Outwardly Clothed with the Spirit
Every believer and every genuine Christian needs to experience the inward filling and the outward filling of the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus Himself was born of the Spirit essentially and inwardly for His being and living (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20) and He was anointed with the Spirit economically and outwardly for His ministry and move (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18).
In the same way, we as Christ’s disciples need to be inwardly filled with the life-giving Spirit by drinking Him and breathing Him in (John 14:17; Rom. 8:11) to experience Him as life and life supply for our living (Eph. 5:18; Acts 6:3; 13:52), and we need to be filled/clothed outwardly by the economical Spirit for our work for God (Acts 1:5, 8; 2:4; 4:8; 13:9).
We shouldn’t overemphasize the inward aspect of the Spirit over the baptism in the Spirit, nor should we make the baptism in the Holy Spirit more important than the inward filling of the Spirit.
Rather, we need to daily practice being inwardly filled with the Spirit of life and outwardly being clothed with the Spirit of power – the same Spirit in two aspects for our Christian life and work.
This is our way in working for the Lord: by the Spirit! We don’t work by worldly methods, gimmicks, human techniques, or any kind of other natural ways to preach the gospel. We have the Word, we have the prayer, and we have the Spirit!
Four Simple Ways to be Filled with the Spirit
It is not that hard to be filled with the Spirit – we don’t need to fast for a long period of time or wait for some miracles to happen (like seeing visions or speaking in tongues).
In the Bible we see that only twice there was the mentioning of the baptism in the Spirit – at Pentecost (Acts 2) and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). This shows us how the Jewish part of the Body and the Gentile part of the Body were both baptized in one Spirit.
All the other occurrences of the outward filling of the Spirit are the application of the once-for-all-accomplished baptism of the Spirit!
![In the Bible we see that only twice there was the mentioning of the baptism in the Spirit - at Pentecost (Acts 2) and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). This shows us how the Jewish part of the Body and the Gentile part of the Body were both baptized in one Spirit. [Acts 2:4]](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/acts2-4-inward-filling-outward-filling-spirit.jpg?resize=784%2C440&ssl=1 "In the Bible we see that only twice there was the mentioning of the baptism in the Spirit - at Pentecost (Acts 2) and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). This shows us how the Jewish part of the Body and the Gentile part of the Body were both baptized in one Spirit. [Acts 2:4]")
Here are four simple ways for us to be filled with the Spirit both inwardly and outwardly:
- We need to exercise our spirit. The economical and essential Spirit is mingled with our spirit. We need to exercise our spirit and be burning in spirit when we work for the Lord. The best way to exercise our spirit is to pray – Unceasingly Pray (1 Thes. 5:17)! By much and thorough prayer we pray ourselves into the Spirit and we will experience the clothing of the Spirit!
- We need to deny ourselves and deal with any obstacle between us and Christ as the Head of the Body. We need to be open to the Lord under His shining light to deal with any kind of insulation between us and Him, any sins, problems, or disobedience to the Lord, so that we may be right with Christ as the Head of the Body.
- We must be right with the Body. The Spirit is for the Body and in the Body, and in one Spirit we were all baptized in one Body (1 Cor. 12:13). The church was formed by the Head baptizing the believers into this one Spirit, and today we as members of Christ need to make sure we have the right relationship with the Body of Christ. Once we are properly related to the members of the Body, we are clothed with the Spirit!
- We need to exercise faith to appropriate the power and authority. Take it! Claim it! Don’t beg God for this power, and don’t petition Him with tears – there’s no need to ask, beg, or petition the work has been done, the Spirit has been outpoured, we just need to claim the all-inclusive Spirit as our rightful inheritance! As members of the Body we simply need to claim the economical Spirit when we minister, preach the gospel and work for the Lord.
We need to admit that, even though all believers received some help from the Pentecostal movement, we are still negatively influenced and somehow crippled and paralyzed when it comes to the proper experience of the economical Spirit for power to work for God.
We may still be distracted and frustrated in claiming the already outpoured Spirit due to some of the Pentecostal concepts.
But we need to remember: it is normal to experience the economical Spirit, the baptism in the Spirit, the Spirit of power, the clothing of the Spirit with power and authority when we work for the Lord!
We simply need to exercise our spirit, deal with any obstacle between us and the Lord, be right with the Body, and then claim the power of the Spirit in the Body as you do the work of the Lord!
Note: this article is continued via,
Cooperating With the Spirit to Work for God
(a practical application of Working With God by the Spirit, as seen in Acts 13).
Lord, make us those who exercise their spirit today! You are our living air, the breath of life, and the living water for quenching our thirst and supplying us for our Christian life. Lord, may there be no obstacle between us and You. May there be no problem between us and any member of the Body. Make us those who deal with any problem, are right with the Head and with the Body, and claim the power of the Spirit by faith to work for God!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Minoru’s sharing in the message and portions in, Life-study of Acts (msgs. 4, 30-31, 36), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Unique Work in the Lord’s Recovery, week 3 (entitled, A Work in Ascension, by the Spirit, and in the Divine Stream).
- Hymns on this topic:
# Oh, strengthen my spirit, Lord Jesus, / Oh, strengthen my spirit, I pray; / Oh, strengthen my spirit with power / And spread to my heart today.
# Baptized in the Holy Spirit, / In the Spirit we’re immersed; / All the church is born of Spirit, / All religion is dispersed.
# Now the Lord is the Spirit—that’s how / He can get inside of you right now. / It’s so easy to be filled with Him. / He’s made it really simple.
To have the Holy Spirit upon us is different from having the Holy Spirit in us (John 14:17). The Holy Spirit was breathed into the disciples on the day of the Lord’s resurrection to be the Spirit of life to them essentially. The same Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost to be the Spirit of power economically. As for the Spirit of life, we need to breathe Him in as the breath. As for the Spirit of power, we need to put Him on as the uniform, typified by the mantle of Elijah (2 Kings 2:9, 13-15). The former as the water of life requires our drinking (John 7:37-39); the latter as the water for baptism requires our being immersed. These are the two aspects of the one Spirit for our experience (1 Cor. 12:13). The indwelling of the Spirit of life is essential for our life and living; the outpouring of the Spirit of power is economical for our ministry and work. (Life-study of Acts, p. 31)
I really appreciate that the experience of the Spirit is so simple and clearly presented in these ways: 1) exercise our spirit, 2) deal with any obstacle between us and the Lord, 3) be right with the Body, and 4) then claim the power of the Spirit in the Body as you do the work of the Lord!
I can testify that, to the extent that I've practiced, these four ways really are effective. For example, I really appreciate not having to wait a long time to be filled with the Spirit. By simply exercising my spirit, whenever I open my mouth to pray, preach the gospel or prophesy in the sense of speaking for the Lord, I simply find that the Lord is one with me and anointing me. But this is also conditioned on dealing with obstacles and being right with the Lord's Body. If we've practiced these steps, we can boldly claim the power of the Spirit in our work for the Lord.
Excellent, practical and living! Thank you brother for this article! I need to memorize these points to be reminded to apply them, to counter the deadening effects of certain concepts that I have held in the past that are not substantiated by the word but are indeed frustrations from the enemy deeply rooted in my mind. Thank you for some keys to renew my mind!
This is the most practical way for us to experience, practice, and enjoy the God-man living. Our exercised spirit is the key to open the way for the Lord to make His home in our entire being. Furthermore we need to deal with anything in our lives that would frustrate our relationship with the Lord. We should be one with Lord who is the head of the Body and one with all the members of the Body. Finally we must claim by faith the authority and power of the Holy Spirit for the propagation of the Lords work on the earth to bring in the Kingdom of God on this earth.