6. The Holy Spirit

6. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit


When a person becomes a Christian the Holy Spirit comes to indwell them forever.

Of course this was not always the case. In Old Testament times when the God had something very special for someone to do then the Holy Spirit came upon them specifically so that they might be empowered to do something for God that they would never normally be able to do.

Lets think about a few examples.

Bezalel – Exodus 31v2-3. ‘See l have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And l have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design the artists work …Etc etc.

This man was given the task of designing and teaching the craftsmen to make the articles of the tabernacle.

Gideon – Judges 6v34. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, then he blew with his trumpet and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.

Gideon was especially gifted to lead the people of God.

Samson – Judges 13v25, (Samson) the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson was a judge of Israel and he was empowered by the Spirit to do the most amazing feats of strength.

14v6. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat.
v19. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and eh went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men …etc etc.
15v14-15. When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then eh Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burnt in the fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out with his hand and took it and killed a thousand men with it.

Samson is a typical and interesting case as we see the Spirit of God coming on him on occasions, specifically to do feats of strength. However his relationship with God was based on obedience and holiness which was based on his Nazarite vow. The Nazarite vow was a special vow from birth to never cut ones hair and never to dink alcohol. Samson had never drunk wine or cut his hair because of his Nazarite vow.

We all know the story how that Delilah found out his secret and cut his hair and then Samson had a surprise….

16v20. And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you Samson!’ So he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as before at other times and shake myself free’! But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

The Spirit of the Lord not only came upon him when the Spirit was needed, but if his fellowship with God was broken then the Spirit of the Lord left him.

This was the case with all the Old Testament saints.

When Christ came the same thing was happening. We read that the apostles were empowered by the Holy Spirit to perform all the same miracles that Christ did.

Matthew 10v1 And when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power [against] unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

This power of the Spirit of God remained with the Apostles while they did their special work. However Christ promised that they would have a greater experience than this later.

John 11v16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Now l want you to notice that the passage says that…

I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.

The coming of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, was a one off experience of the Whole Church in which Christ baptised the whole company of believers into the Holy Spirit. This was an experience that no believer subsequently experiences personally, except that when they become a christian they become indwelt by the Holy Spirit once and forever.

The Old Testament experience in which the Spirit came and went, is not the same today. Every believer in Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Paul said that, ‘If a man does not have the Spirit of God then he is not a christian’.