THE INDWELLING
MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
John 14:17
We come today to what is perhaps the fundamental ministry of God the Holy Spirit – the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Fundamental because it is from this basic position that the Holy Spirit affects all of His ministries in and through the believer.
The significance of His indwelling. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the hallmark of the church age. It marks out this age as being unique and distinct. This doctrine is foundational to the more practical ministries which the Holy Spirit performs daily.
The scope of His indwelling. All believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit - “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:19).
There is no true believer who is not indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
>The Holy Spirit is a free gift – His presence in you is not based upon performance
(John 7:37-39; Acts 11:17; Romans 5:5; I Cor 2:12; II Cor 5:5).
>The absence of the Holy Spirit is evidence of an unsaved condition – (Romans 8:9;
I Cor. 2:14 cf w/Jude 9).
>The universal indwelling of the Father and of the Son is inseparably linked with the
universal indwelling of the Spirit -
•The Father (I John 3:24)
•The Son (Col. 3:11; John 14:17-20; 16:13-15).
In a real but not fully comprehensible sense the triune God has universal indwelling within the church. However, it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who reveals the Father and the Son’s indwelling.
The Permanence of His Indwelling (John 14:16,17)
We see the work of the trinity – Jesus (God the Son) asks the Father (God the Father) to give the Sprit (God the Holy Spirit) who will abide with us forever. You can’t get any more permanent than that! If we have sin in our lives, that sin affects the ministry of the Holy Spirit within us. However, it does not affect His indwelling (Eph. 4:30).
1. There seems to be some Scriptural indication
that obedience is a condition for the indwelling as we see in Acts 5:32 “God
has given…” “to those who are
obeying.” The solution is fairly
simple. The ones who are obedient to
God are obedient because the Holy Spirit indwells them.
2. There seems to be Scriptural indications of
the temporary nature of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - Examples: I Samuel
16:14; Psalm 51:11; Luke 11:13. These
are all pre-Pentecost instances which the Lord, Himself recognized as being
distinct from the new and more permanent ministry of the Spirit who was to
come. The upper room discourse records
the exposition of the ministry of the Holy Spirit for this age (John 14:16,17).
3. The Samaritans seemed to have received the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation (Acts 8:14-17). This passage must be understood in the light of the transition period and the divisive nature of the Samaritans and their religion. The Samaritans and the Jews were rivals. They had different centers of worship. In order to prevent a division in the Christian church and to prove that the Samaritans were partaking of the same faith and the same Holy Spirit as the Jews, it seems evident that God withheld the Spirit from the Samaritans until Peter and John, both Jewish apostles, came to the Samaritans and through whom the Spirit was communicated to them. Both Jews and Samaritans are partakers of the same Holy Spirit.
Beloved, just remember that if you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin, the Holy Spirit of God indwells your person - and He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). What a promise! God bless.
Love to you all in His Name,
Thought for the week: A church that wants a better pastor can get one by praying for the one they have! Are we upholding our pastors daily before the Throne of Grace!