The Holy Spirit: The Indwelling Of The Spirit (Part 1)

Review

Turn to John 14:16-17.

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The baptism with the Spirit was a supernatural work of God in fulfillment of His promise to empower the early church. After Pentecost, this work was limited to the apostles’ ministry and it ceased with their passing.

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The Holy Spirit: The Indwelling Of The Spirit (Part 1)

There are at least two questions that we want to answer through this Bible study:

How is this doctrine different from the baptism with the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit? Answering this question will help our series on the book of Acts.

Why is it significant to us today?

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament era, God the Holy Spirit did not personally indwell those that lived by faith in God. (There may have been a few exceptions to this.) Instead…

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In the Old Testament era, if a person wanted to be close to the presence of God, they had to go where God was. Unless God supernaturally revealed Himself to man, man had to follow God’s conditions and go to where God’s glory was manifested.

Can you think of any examples of this? Can you think of any examples where man had to go somewhere to enter the manifest presence of God?

Adam and Eve - Garden of Eden

Moses - Mount Sinai

Israel - the Exodus - the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire

Israel - the Tabernacle/the Temple

The twelve disciples/Israel - Jesus

That pattern completely changed in Acts chapter two when the Spirit began to personally and permanently take up residence in man.

In the Old Testament, indwelling was:

Preferential - selective, only those chosen by God (even Balaam - Numbers 24:2).

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Numbers 24:2 KJV 1900

And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.

Prescriptive - it was when needed to perform what God wanted done, then the Spirit would depart - Saul, Samson

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Judges 14:5–6 (KJV 1900)

Then went Samson down…and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand…

Passing - having a brief duration (Temporary not permanent) as a passenger

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1 Samuel 10:10 KJV 1900

And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

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1 Samuel 18:12 KJV 1900

And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.

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The Spirit was especially upon the following individuals:

Moses - Numbers 11:17.

Joshua - Numbers 27:18. Deuteronomy 34:9.

Elijah - 2 Kings 2:9; Luke 1:17.

Elisha - 2 Kings 2:15.

David - 1 Samuel 16:13, Psalm 51:11.

Others?

Any questions about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament before we move on to the New Testament?

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament

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Jesus promised the indwelling of the Spirit - John 14:16-17.

Read John 14:16-17.

In John chapter fourteen, Jesus is in the upper room celebrating the Passover before his crucifixion. He is sharing his heart with his disciples. He knows that his hour of trial is about to come. He says, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter…”

Question: who is this Comforter? The Holy Spirit/the Spirit of Truth

Even the Greek grammar confirms that this is the Holy Spirit.

“He shall [future tense] give you another Comforter…”

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The Greek language has at least two words that are translated “another”:

ἄλλος - another of the same kind

ἕτερος - another of a different kind

In this verse, Jesus uses the word ἄλλος, another of the same kind.

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King James Version (Chapter 14)

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter [of the same kind as me]

Jesus was saying, “I will pray to the Father and He will give you another Comforter that is just like me - He is Divine, He is personal and He is a real Person - just like Me!”

Application: The Comforter, also known as the Holy Spirit, is just as much God as Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is just as personal as Jesus is. He is as much a distinct Person of the Trinity as Jesus is.

Question: Why did Jesus say that God would give them another Comforter? Hint: look at the last phrase in verse sixteen. That he may abide with you forever.

When the disciples heard these words, some heads exploded. Some jaws hit the floor. I say this because at this moment, they were scared to death that Jesus was about to leave them.

Read John 13:33-36.

Jesus had been preparing them for this moment. He had been warning them, “I am about to leave you and where I go, you cannot come.”

The disciples couldn’t bear this! They knew by now that they were in the very presence of Emmanuel - God with us. They knew that they were experiencing something special. For thousands of years, if a person wanted to be close to the presence of God, they had to go where God was. But now, in their lifetimes, God had come and walked among them. They had worshiped at His feet! They had seen the blind receive sight! They had been taught the Scriptures by the God that wrote them! Now He was saying that He would soon be leaving and they could not go with Him!

In this, in their moment of fear, Jesus makes them a glorious promise. “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter of the same kind.” Why? “…That he may abide with you forever.”

This was our Savior’s promise: “I go to prepare a place for you. Soon, I will not be with you in body, but don’t worry, I will not leave you comfortless. I will be with you through the Spirit of God that will indwell you personally and permanently. He will be with you forever.”

Application: Church family, the Old Testament saints would be in awe at the thought of God dwelling within them. They would wonder at us, who are so privileged as to have the Spirit abiding with us forever. If you are a child of God tonight, you can rejoice in this promise! You can accept this promise by faith that God now abides with you forever!

The Scriptures teach the permanence of the indwelling