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CHAPTER 16
THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT
Introduction
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead.
There is only one God, manifested in three persons: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the active Agent
of the Godhead on earth. He is the great Administrator of
the plan of human redemption.
He regenerates (John 3:5), teaches (John 14:26),
bears witness (John 15:26), convicts (John 16:8-
11), guides into truth (John 16:13), glorifies
Christ (John 16:14), calls man into service (Acts
13:2), speaks (Acts 13:2; Rev. 2:7), directs
men in service (Acts 16:6f.), intercedes (Rom.
8:26), searches out (1 Cor. 2:10), and works (1
Cor. 12:11). (Thiessen, LECTURES IN SYSTEMATIC
THEOLOGY, pp. 96-67).
He exists everywhere in all his power and attributes.
However, he indwells believers in a unique manner.
The Holy Spirit Indwells Believers
The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. (Stanley M.
Horton, ThD, WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
(Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1976), p. 186).
One should be aware of the indwelling presence of the Holy
Spirit and be in constant communication with him. Paul
exalted Jesus, but his "writings also show that the Holy
Spirit was just as real and personal to him as Jesus was."
(Horton, WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT, p. 167).
Ezekiel and Jesus prophesied that the Holy Spirit would
indwell believers:
I [the LORD] will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you; I will remove from you your
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And
I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
(Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV).
I [Jesus] will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Helper, who will stay with you for-
ever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth
about God. The world cannot receive him, because
it cannot see him or know him. But you know him,
because he remains with you and is in you. (John
14:16-17, TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION).
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not indwell
every believer in the sense that he now does. At Jesus'
death, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom,
symbolizing the release of God's presence to indwell every
believer. God would now indwell HUMAN TEMPLES. The veil
was forty feet wide, twenty feet high and four inches thick.
Since it was torn from top to bottom, this was clearly a
divine act--the marking of a higher level of life for the
believer. [Kenneth E. Hagin, "Seven Steps to the Highest
Kind of Faith (Part IV)," KENNETH E. HAGIN FAITH EDITION OF
THE KING JAMES VERSION (Camden, NJ: Thomas Nelson, 1972),
pp. lxvi-lxix).
Paul removes any doubt that the Holy Spirit indwells
believers:
You, however, are controlled not by the
sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of
God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
. . . . And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus
from the dead is living in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in
you. (Romans 8:9,11, NIV).
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's
temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
(1 Corinthians 3:16, NIV).
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? . . . . (1 Corinthians 6:19, NIV).
What agreement is there between the temple of God
and idols? For we are the temple of the living
God. As God has said: "I will live with them and
walk among them, and I will be their God, and they
will be my people." (2 Corinthians 6:16, NIV).
Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--
guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who
lives in us. (2 Timothy 1:14, NIV).
John also confirms the indwelling Holy Spirit:
As for you, the anointing you received from him
remains in you, and you do not need anyone to
teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about
all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in
him. (1 John 2:27, NIV).
You, dear children, are from God and have
overcome them, because the one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John
4:4).
Jesus Baptizes Believers
in the Holy Spirit
Not only is one to accept Christ and receive the Holy
Spirit initially, but he is to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Furthermore, after the believer is filled with the
Holy Spirit, he is to remain filled with and walk in the
Spirit:
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to de-
bauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
(Ephesians 5:18, NIV).
Freeborn comments on Ephesians 5:18,
"Be filled with the Spirit." The verb "be filled"
is in the present, passive, imperative. It
indicates that the believer is commanded to be
constantly filled with the Spirit. He is to be
continually, constantly, completely filled with
the Spirit. (J. Andrew Freeborn, THE EPISTLE TO
THE EPHESIANS (San Antonio: International Bible
College, n.d.), p. 86).
THE NEW TESTAMENT PATTERN. The early church furnishes us
the pattern of being filled with the Holy Spirit. There are
five recorded instances of people being filled with the Holy
Spirit.
(l) The Holy Spirit was initially outpoured on the day of
Pentecost:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit
enabled them. (Acts 2:4, NIV).
(2) Eight years later, the Samaritans received the fullness
of the Spirit:
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and pro-
claimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard
Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they
all paid close attention to what he said. With
shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many
paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was
great joy in that city.
Now for some time a man named Simon had
practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the
people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone
great, and all the people, both high and low, gave
him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is
the divine power known as the Great Power." They
followed him because he had amazed them for a long
time with his magic. But when they believed
Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women. Simon himself
believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip
everywhere, astonished by the great signs and
miracles he saw.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent
Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they
prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come
upon any of them; they had simply been baptized
into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and
John placed their hands on them, and they received
the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:5-17, NIV).
(3) Ten years after Pentecost, Cornelius' household was
filled with the Holy Spirit:
While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
The circumcised believers who had come with Peter
were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit
had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they
heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
(Acts 10:44-46, NIV).
(4) Twenty years after Pentecost, the Ephesians received
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit:
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the
road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.
There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did
you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'
They answered, "No, we have not even heard
that there is a Holy Spirit."
So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you
receive?"
"John's baptism," they replied.
Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of
repentance. He told the people to believe in the
one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hear-
ing this, they were baptized into the name of the
Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in
tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve
men in all. (Acts 19:1-7, NIV).
(5) And Paul was also filled with the Holy Spirit when he
was healed:
In Damascus there was a disciple named
Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision,
"Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.
The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas
on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus
named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has
seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands
on him to restore his sight."
"Lord, " Ananias answered, "I have heard many
reports about this man and all the harm he has
done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come
here with authority from the chief priests to
arrest all who call on your name."
But the Lord said to Ananias. "Go! This man
is my chosen instrument to carry my name before
the Gentiles and their kings and before the people
of Israel. I will show him how much he must
suffer for my name."
Then Ananias went to the house and entered
it. Placing his hand on Saul, he said, "Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the
road as you were coming here--has sent me so that
you may see again and be filled with the Holy
Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell
from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got
up and was baptized, and after taking some food,
he regained his strength. (Acts 9:10-19, NIV).
When one is filled with the Holy Spirit initially,
he is well aware of the change within himself. However, as
time passes it is possible to become less aware of the
indwelling Holy Spirit even though one is filled. When Moses
had lived in the presence of God for forty days, he was not
aware of the Holy Spirit's manifest presence with him:
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with
the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he
was not aware that his face was radiant because he
had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the
Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and
they were afraid to come near him. (Exodus 34:29-
30).
Others may see something "different" about the believer
when the believer may not be conscious of the Holy Spirit
"shining through him!"
The Meaning of the Indwelling
Holy Spirit
Whether or not one is conscious of the Holy Spirit's
indwelling, the objective truth is that the Holy Spirit
indwells the believer. One must believe God and his Word
over his own lack of awareness or feeling. However, one
should seek the manifest presence of God in his life--God
desires to work through the believer.
Only eternity will reveal how much the Holy Spirit
worked in, with and through each believer. God is at work
within the believer, and he works more as the believer
cooperates.
What implication does the indwelling Holy Spirit have
for the believer? E. W. Kenyon shares some insights:
For us to become God-Inside Minded is for us
to become VICTORS [Italics Mine]. As soon as we
become God-Inside Conscious, we will begin to de-
pend upon the God inside. We will know that
"greater is He that is in you than he that is in
the world" (1 John 4:4).
There will be a holy boldness in us, a Jesus-
like fearlessness. No matter what happens to us,
He is inside and He will take us over. We have His
ability, His courage, His strength.
It takes us out of the failure realm and puts
us over into the realm of success. [E. W. Kenyon,
THE NEW KIND OF LOVE, 6th ed. (Seattle, WA:
Kenyon's Gospel Publishing Society, 1969), p. 29].
What an honor--to be indwelt with God himself!
Acknowledging this truth will send self-esteem soaring! Not
that we are great in ourselves, but he has made us of value
by living within us!
ASSIGNMENT: ASK GOD TO BAPTIZE YOU IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
BE AWARE THAT THE KING OF KINGS IS WITHIN YOU AT ALL TIMES!
END
