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Let your time and your schedule and everything about you revolve around this, that you and I are to develop and continue to develop this ongoing, intimate, wonderful, exciting, satisfying, indescribable, incomparable relationship with a personal God.
"In Touch," the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Next on "In Touch," "The Holy Spirit: His Presence."
It is impossible to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ apart from the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is essential for the life that we live and the work that God has called us to do, to have the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in our life. He is a vital part of our life every single day as a believer, and so if you have a very minute understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, if you have no real understanding of your personal relationship with Him, I want to encourage you to listen very carefully, not only to this message, but this is one of a series of sermons on the on the title "The Power of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer," and the first message was "The Holy Spirit: His Identity." Who is He? He is a person, He's a part of the Trinity, He is the promise of the Father, He is the power of the life of every single believer. And the title of this message today is "The Holy Spirit: His Presence." Do you have the Holy Spirit present within you?
So I want you to turn, if you will, to John chapter 7. And in this particular passage, Jesus is giving an invitation. It is an invitation on the last day of a particular feast of the Jews. And beginning in verse 37 through 39, He brings up a point concerning His presence that I want us to discuss today. Verse 37 says, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, "From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."' But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified."
Now, on this last day of the feast, the scripture says Jesus stood and offered an invitation, and He said, "All of you who are thirsty. If you'll come and drink, I'll give you a drink of something. You won't ever need another drink like it, because it is good forever." He says, "This He spoke of the Holy Spirit," and you'll recall that the woman at the well, He said upon another occasion about drinking, He said, "He that drinks of the water that I give him, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Something happens when Christ comes into our life. And on this occasion, the Bible says He spoke of the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Holy Spirit in those who believed in Him.
Now, there are two phrases in this passage I want us to look at, so we will clear up any question. What did He mean when He said, "For the Spirit was not yet given?" Don't we see the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? And have we not seen Him also in the life of Jesus? And then also He said because Jesus was not yet glorified. What does He mean by these two phrases?
Well, first of all, when He speaks of His glorification, what He's meaning is this, when He said, "For the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified," He was simply saying that the Holy Spirit could not come in the fullness to which He was promised until the work of Jesus Christ in His all-sufficient, substitutionary, atoning death at Calvary for the sin of mankind was completed. He was buried, resurrected, and ascended to the Father. And if you recall what He says in the 16th chapter of John, and I want you to follow me if you will, and you follow sort of quickly and read these verses, because all of them are important. He said in the 16th chapter of John verse 7, "I tell you the truth, it is to your great advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you." So that Jesus had to finish His work on earth in order that and before the Holy Spirit would come, take up the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth in the life of His church.
Go back in John, if you will, to the 14th chapter, and notice there if you will recall in the 16th verse, He said, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him and know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you." Listen to that. He is abiding with you now and will be in you. And so we see the difference here. Now, when you look at that passage, what he's simply saying is this: the life of the minister of the Lord Jesus Christ had to be completed on earth, and sent to the Father, then He would send the Holy Spirit to take up His residence in us and carry on the work of the Lord through His body that is the church in each individual life.
Now, when you think about the second part of that phrase, He says here the Holy Spirit who had not yet been given. What did He mean by that not yet been given when we see Him already in the Old Testament? So what I'm gonna talk about in this message is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Once in a while, you'll have somebody ask you have you ever received the Holy Spirit? Or they may even put it this way, have you received the Holy Spirit since you became a Christian? That is a contradictory statement, and so I want to show you why in just a moment.
So let's begin, and I want us to see the presence of the Holy Spirit in three areas. First of all, in the Old Testament, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus in the New Testament days, and then the presence of the Holy Spirit in this day and age in which you and I live, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life.
Well, if we begin back in the Old Testament, let's look at it this way. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, that was not the beginning of the life of Christ, because He had been living an eternity past, nor was it His first event on the face of this earth, because we find Him in the Old Testament. But He came at Bethlehem to begin an earthly ministry, unlike His other ministries when He would come and go to earth in the lives of different people. And so, likewise, at Pentecost we find the Holy Spirit who has already come in the Old Testament at different times. Now we find Him coming at Pentecost to begin a new work in a different way here on earth.
So let's go back now in the Old Testament and see how we find the Holy Spirit's presence. Well, you and I know in the first chapter of Genesis verse 2, the Bible says the Holy Spirit is brooding, that is the Holy Spirit is moving upon the deep in the creation. Likewise, when the Bible says, "Let us make man in Our own image," we see the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father creating man.
Then what you'll see in the Old Testament that I wanna show you, and I want you to follow these verses, how the Spirit of God works in a very particular and specific way, not only leading and guiding people to prophesy to teach and preach the truth, but in other ways. And so I want us to begin, and I want you to follow me, if you will, because what you'll find is this. He does not come upon the nation of Israel, He comes upon individuals for a specific task. And let's begin, if you will, with someone who is not a preacher. Let's look, if you will, in Exodus chapter 31. And for you who have a particular trade, this might be encouraging to you, because in the 31st chapter of the book of Exodus we find God's speaking to Moses about the building of the tabernacle and the things that are going to be a part of it, and it's very interesting what happens in this first verse. Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him--" listen to this--"I have filled this man--" Bezalel--"with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and knowledge and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and bronze, and the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship."
Now, he's gonna sort of be like the architect and a one who gives guidance and direction to how each part of the tabernacle is going to be made. But here is the man, he's not preaching and teaching the truth, but a man in whom the Holy Spirit comes in order to give design and direction to the building of the Tabernacle.
Then if you'll move over to Numbers chapter 11, and in this particular chapter, what we find is this. Moses now who has the responsibility of governing and guiding and guarding the nation of Israel, some nearly 3 million people who've come out of Egyptian bondage now, and here is one man who has the responsibility of ruling over them. The Bible says that Moses became very, very weary, almost to the breaking point, and listen to what God said. Verse 16, "The Lord therefore said to Moses, 'Gather for me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and of their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.'" Listen to what he says now. "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of--" not all of it-- "of the Spirit--" of the person of the Spirit--"who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you shall not bear it all alone." So we see the Holy Spirit coming now in the area of administration and giving direction to Moses and giving the direction to the 70 elders who are gonna help him guide and lead the nation of Israel. When God the Holy Spirit gives gifts, He always gives a gift to meet a particular need and He has somebody to meet that need.
Then what you'll find most of the time in the Old Testament, you'll find the Spirit of God coming upon mighty warriors. For example, in the 6th chapter of Judges, the Bible says that God came to Gideon and addressed him as "O valiant warrior." And then the Bible says that the Holy Spirit came upon Gideon for the work that God had called Him to do. Then there's a man by the name of Samson that all of us know. The Bible says that the Spirit of God came mightily upon Samson. You know all the feats that Samson was able to perform as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Now I want you to turn to 1 Samuel 16, if you will, because here we come to David, and we're coming back to this chapter again in a few moments. But 1 Samuel chapter 16, you'll recall that Samuel anointed Saul to be the king, and then he anoints David to be the king in 1 Samuel 16:13. "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him--" that is David--"in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward, and Samuel rose and went to Ramah." So we see here the Spirit of God coming upon a man whom all of us know well in the scriptures, that is David, and He came upon him for a specific work that God had called him to do. Now, what was that work? Well, that work ultimately was to be the king following Saul.
So if you'll turn now to Isaiah chapter 61 for a moment. We see Him coming upon these men for kings, for being warriors, and then if you notice the 61st chapter of Isaiah, and I'm gonna give you two examples of this, and there are many others, when the Spirit of God comes upon men to prophesy the word of God. The 61st chapter of Isaiah is the very passage of scripture that Jesus quoted when He stood in the temple on that day and quoted from Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD." So the Spirit of God came upon Isaiah as a prophet to proclaim.
Turn over, if you will, to Ezekiel chapter 2, and here, again, we see the Holy Spirit coming upon a man in order to speak through him as a prophet the Word of God. "Then He said to me," chapter 2, verse 1, "'Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!' And as He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. Then He said to me, 'Son of man, I'm sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. And I'm sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children; and you shall say to them, Thus says the LORD GOD.'"
Now, here's what you'll find in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God coming upon these men for a particular task. When God had a particular task to be accomplished, He found the man, and the Spirit of God would come upon that man, empowering him in such a fashion that whatever the task was, God would make him capable of accomplishing that task. Now, the truth is that when God has a great task for a man to do, He finds him a man who is equipped for the task with the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. When God has a great task for a man to accomplish, He finds a man who has the equipment, who is equipped with the task, and that equipment is the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in his life, whatever that responsibility may be.
What you'll find in the Old Testament here is that God chose these men, called these men. The Bible says the Holy Spirit came upon this man as a craftsman, came upon these 70 elders to help in the administration of the work of the nation of Israel. He came upon these men mightily to perform feats of military success. He came upon kings in order that they may accomplish the task that God has for them. But one of the things I want you to notice very significant in the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is why God chose individuals. Rather than sending His Holy Spirit upon the whole nation, the Holy Spirit would come for the task but not necessarily stay.
Now, I want you to go back to 1 Samuel for a moment, and you'll recall the 16th chapter there. Look for a moment, if you will. Verse 14 of chapter 16 of 1 Samuel says, "Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him." So in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not come to dwell within those men or women all of their life. He would come, and He would go. He would come for the task, and then He would go. So in the Old Testament we see the Holy Spirit working in a very specific way different than you and I are gonna find in the New Testament.
Now, the reason I want to emphasize that is because people will say, "Have you ever received the Holy Spirit since you've been saved?" Or somebody might say, "Well, I used to have the Holy Spirit, but I don't have Him anymore." Now, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came temporarily for a specific task for chosen men to accomplish a given work, but not to remain or to indwell them permanently.
Now, let's look in the New Testament for a moment. In the New Testament, what is the first indication we find of the New Testament of the Holy Spirit? Well, first of all, in Luke chapter 1, verse 35, we find the Holy Spirit in His relationship with Mary, conceiving in her the very person of Jesus Christ. And then also in Luke, if you want to turn to the first chapter, also in Luke we find in the 41st verse, the Holy Spirit is filling, listen, the Holy Spirit is filling Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. "And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb;" and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And in the 67th verse of that same chapter, her husband Zachariah, who was ministering there, "And his father--" John the Baptist's father-- "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied." And so we see Him, we see the work of the Holy Spirit, and we see His presence in these persons now. Jesus said He had not yet been given, so what is He referring to here? So that's what I want to clarify.
Now, in the life of Jesus, for example, you'll recall, and I wanna make this very clear that we understand this. When Jesus Christ was born, Jesus Christ was born missing nothing, that is, there was nothing absent in the life of Christ that He needed. When He was born in the womb of the Virgin Mary, He assumed an additional nature, human nature, sinless human nature. That was not His beginning, it was the continuation of the life of Jesus Christ, but now in times past, as He sat at the Father's right hand, He now has assumed manhood, sinless human manhood. And so when Jesus Christ was born, Jesus Christ didn't get born, and one of these days He was filled with Spirit. Jesus Christ was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ was always full of the Holy Spirit. There was no time when He was missing-- listen, there was no time when Jesus was missing anything of the Godhead. So He laid aside a portion of His glory, but He never laid aside His deity, nor did He lay aside the fullness of His godhead. So that when Jesus Christ came, He came fully God, but also fully man.
So, in those early days when He was growing up as a child, Jesus Christ was the absolute, perfect, complete, absolute fullness of everything that a little boy could be from the time He was born until the time He was baptized, and we see the Holy Spirit coming upon Him, why? Because he was always full of the Holy Spirit. He never had to confess a sin. He was always full of the Holy Spirit.
Then we see Him coming down to the Jordan River, to John, to be baptized by him. And the Bible says in Luke also that the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Now, if you'll notice in this passage, if you'll notice in this passage that when the Holy Spirit comes upon Him in the chapter 3, He says He "Descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, 'Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased.'" Chapter 3, verse 22. Now, I want you to notice what happens. That is not the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus for the first time. That is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus Christ to anoint Him for His ministry. The Holy Spirit comes, and God says, "This is My son in whom I am well-pleased," and what Jesus is ready to do now is to begin His ministry. After His baptism, He goes to the wilderness, and He's tempted, and the Bible says He comes back full of the Holy Spirit, and He comes back in the power of the Spirit. So that Jesus was always full of the Holy Spirit, but Jesus was anointed for His ministry at His baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon Him at that time.
Now, all through His ministry, what is He doing? He's operating out of the resource of the Holy Spirit. He said, "I wanna do those things that My Father tells me to do." It's interesting that Jesus continually said to his disciples, "Now, wait, I'm going away, and if I go away, I'll send the Comforter. He'll be in you, with you, and upon you." So He was always reminding them of the necessity of the coming of the Holy Spirit in their life. But now, wait a minute, the Holy Spirit has already been. What does He mean that He's coming? So I want you to listen carefully. The Holy Spirit operating in the Old Testament operated under an entirely different fashion, coming and going, specific men, chosen men, not a nation. Task completed, Holy Spirit left. Now the Holy Spirit in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is working through Him in a very specific way. We read a few moments ago in the 14th chapter of John, he says the Holy Spirit is abiding--is now abiding with you and will be in you. Something is about to happen. So we see the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christ, and we see these promises of His coming.
Then we come to the book of Acts chapter 2. Turn there, if you will. You know what's happening. This is the moment in time when the Holy Spirit comes to begin a different work in the life of individuals. And so the Bible says in chapter 2, verse 1, "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place," these 120. "And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole place where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance."
Now, let me go back to say something about Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in His life, and then let's talk about this new work of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In the life of Jesus, at no point do you see any inclination or any implication where Jesus is growing in the Holy Spirit. He's growing in wisdom and stature with God and man, but Jesus Christ had all of the Holy Spirit He could ever have when He was born. You never see any ecstatic experiences going on in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not trying to get any gift. God doesn't give Him any gift. All of the Holy Spirit has to give, Jesus has always had it. And so, when Jesus said to them, "Tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high," He had something very specific in mind.
Now, if you left out the book of Acts, everything that Jesus said, if we could just leave out his promises, all we would know about the Holy Spirit is what He said. But the 2nd chapter of Acts, Acts chapter 2 is the beginning of a new work of the Holy Spirit, but it's the beginning also of a great deal of confusion in the minds and hearts of many people. I'll probably say this two or three times. Anytime my experience does not match the truth of the Word of God, anytime it doesn't match that, and it doesn't fit, I have to get rid of my experience and stay with the Word of God. The idea of trying to get the Word of God to match my experience is a very dangerous idea. Anybody can find some verse somewhere to prove anything they want to prove. And so the issue is what does the Bible say?
Now, what is this Pentecostal business all about? Well, first of all, when the Bible says in chapter 2, "And when the day of Pentecost had come," or I think in some translations had fully come, remember this, that the word Pentecost means 50. That's the Pentecost today, 50. Secondly, Pentecost was a time of celebration, a time of celebration for the Jews. That is, there had been a day of Pentecost all down through the years as they had celebrated, listen, as they had celebrated the giving of the law of Moses at Sinai. This was 50 days after the Passover. And so the Bible indicates that Jesus had been seen 40 days and so forth with his apostles, and then He ascended, and now this is Pentecost, so somewhere, possibly ten days after He ascended or thereabouts, can't be too sure. On this day of Pentecost, which they had been looking forward to, and not because they thought something was gonna necessarily happen on that day. That was a regular Jewish time of celebration. But on this particular day of Pentecost, something unusual happens, and that is the Holy Spirit of God in fulfillment of the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high, and I will send the Comforter. He'll be in you and with you and upon you. He will abide with you forever." All of these promises of the Holy Spirit came to fruition and came to reality on the day of Pentecost. And so when the Bible says there came this mighty rushing wind, what happens is that God is simply fulfilling the promise that He gave them concerning Pentecost.
Now, what is Pentecost all about? When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, here's what He did. A hundred and twenty in the upper room praying. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13, we know it by heart, but I want you to look at that. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13. Here's the passage again. We'll come back to it often. He says very clearly here in 1 Corinthians 12:13 what really happened at Pentecost and what happens to us. Verse 13, "For by one Spirit--" that is the Holy Spirit--"we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free. We were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many members."
Now, back to Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, as they were praying and seeking the Lord and waiting upon him, and listen, they didn't really understand what was gonna happen. He said you shall be endued with power from on high, but they didn't understand all that that meant. A lot of things Jesus said they didn't know and understand until after it happened. On that day, the Bible says there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind. God came down in the most unusual, miraculous way, and the the Bible says the Spirit of God filled them. The Spirit of God baptized them. Now, here's what happened at Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God baptized, listen, baptized those believers into the Lord Jesus Christ, making them one with Him. And what happens is that Pentecost, that is the birthday of the church. It does not mean that there were not believers before this time, but on the day of Pentecost, the church, that is the body of Christ--when we say the church, the body of Christ, here's what we mean: that all of us who are the saved sons and daughters of God, all of us make up the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's great body. The church is the physical, listen, is the physical spiritual body on this earth in whom and through whom Jesus Christ is living His life.
So when we say that this is a part of the body of Christ, Jesus Christ, who died, buried, resurrected, ascended said, "It's expedient to you that I go away. If I do not go, I'll not send Him, but if I go, I'll send Him. He'll be in you, with you, and upon you. I will not leave you comfortless." So that today the church is the body of Christ. We're His hands and His feet. We're his eyes and his ears working and laboring in behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilling the great commission. He says, "I'm going away," but he says, "The work must go on, and here's the way the work is gonna be done. I'm gonna send you someone who's gonna be in you, with you, and upon you, and who's gonna empower you for every single work that I call you to do so that the church," every single person who is a believer, is a part of the body of Christ, every single one of us remains here having been saved in order to carry out the Great Commission which God has given to the whole body of Christ.
So at Pentecost, what happens? At Pentecost we have a brand-new relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship is that now we have been baptized into Him, into His Spirit so that, as He said, the sap that runs in the vine runs in the branch, and the branch bears fruit. He says, "You are the branch, I'm the vine." Jesus said you're the branch. We are now living in Him. His life is now living within us. He's our Savior, our Lord, and our life, and it is the life of Jesus Christ moving through us moment by moment, day by day, and the only reason God leaves us down here once we're saved is in order to fulfill a work He left us here to fulfill and gave us the Spirit by whose power we could fulfill it. That makes every single member of the body of Christ somebody very special in the eyes of Almighty God. That's what the church is all about. And at Pentecost, the church was born. At Pentecost, that's the birthday of the church. At Pentecost, nothing was ever the same after that. And so what happens? They worship the Lord as we worship the Lord on Sunday, the resurrection day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything changed at Pentecost.
And so what we find here is this, that from that moment on throughout the book of Acts, what is happening? We see the Spirit of God moving upon men who beforehand were afraid, men who were full of fear. Now we see them preaching the gospel, sharing the Word of God, dying a sacrificial death, dying as martyrs, looking in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ as Stephen, praising God and glorifying Him for the very privilege of dying in the name of Jesus Christ. Something happened to that body. What happened to that body was this: listen, Jesus Christ, who no longer walked with them, was now doing something far more advantageous to them, and that's why He says, "It is to your advantage that I go away, because when I go away, I'm gonna send somebody who's not gonna be with you. I'm gonna send somebody who's gonna be in you and with you, and He's gonna be in you forever and ever and ever." That's what the New Testament church is all about, and that's what Pentecost is all about.
So, my friend, do not let somebody get you all hung up, and the only thing they want to talk about at that Pentecost is tongues. Tongues were given as a gift at Pentecost in order to preach the gospel in many languages to many people who were there for the feast days. "And the Spirit of God came upon the Apostle Peter and others, and they began to speak in the other languages as these other people were listening and then saying, 'Hey, this crowd's got to be absolutely drunk.'" And so Peter said, 'How can they be drunk? You're hearing in your own language the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.'" That was the gift of the Holy Spirit. That was the miraculous working of the Spirit of God on that day to get the gospel to the world of that day. And I've said to you before, and I'll say it again, the primary reason that God sends His Holy Spirit today is in order, that is to fill us, for the Holy Spirit is in order that you and I may witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to share our faith, to share the gospel, that people who've never been saved might know Jesus Christ as Savior. He doesn't fill us to make us happy. He doesn't fill us to give us tongues. He doesn't fill us to give us some other gift. He fills us primarily for the purpose of sharing our faith. That is the work and the ministry of the church, and the gifts of the Spirit are part of our equipment to do the one thing primarily God has called us to do.
Now, that is the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, that is in the Holy Spirit in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the Holy Spirit as we see it here in Pentecost. Now, what I want you to understand is that from Pentecost on, the Holy Spirit, no more coming and going. No more coming and going. The Bible says we've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Now, let's get back to something I said a few moments ago. You hear people say, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" Or they may say, "Did you--have you gotten the Holy Spirit since you've been saved?" My friend, what does the Bible teach us about the presence of the Holy Spirit today? In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come and go, specific men, specific task. In the days of Jesus, He operated out of the power of the Holy Spirit. In the days of Jesus, He said to them, "Wait, you're not ready, you're not prepared till the Holy Spirit comes." And then at Pentecost He comes, and He gifts these men, and He sends them out to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. What you and I are interested in now is how does He work today? That is, can you and I claim the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life?
So I want us to look at several verses of scripture, and I want us to make very sure we understand that. I want you to turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now, we know this passage probably pretty well because of what it refers to concerning our body. But listen, if you will, in verse 19 of chapter 6. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit," next phrase, "who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." Can you do with your body what you are doing and call it glorifying God? And nobody can answer that but you. But my friend, if you call yourself a believer and you say that you're a Christian and that you can pray and answer--God answers your prayer, I wanna ask you again, can you do what you're doing to your body and match that passage of scripture and the Bible says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God who indwells you and who has sealed you as a child of God? Your body is the purchased possession of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that body of yours that one of these days is gonna die and be placed in some coffin somewhere is going to be resurrected in the fashion like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that what you wanna do with His purchased possession? If you'll think, not really. So I wanna say again, this idea that a woman or a man has--they have the rights to do anything they choose with their body, listen carefully, that is correct if there is no God. Then it's correct. You have a right to do anything you want to with your body if there is no God. There is, and that's the problem with sin. There is a God.
Now, the scripture says in this passage. Let's go back to what Jesus said in John 7. He says, "This He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus," was not yet what? Jesus was not yet glorified. Now, the Bible says the Holy Spirit indwells every single believer. In Acts chapter 2, listen to how Peter puts it here. He's preached that tremendous sermon, the way he ends it up, listen to what he says. They get under conviction, verse 38, "And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.'" And the only reason you and I are saved today is the Lord Jesus Christ has called us.
Now, here's what I want you to see. If the Holy Spirit is a gift, what do you do to get it? What do you get this gift? One thing, receive it. The gift is a person, the Holy Spirit. What do you do to get the gift? Receive it. So, therefore, there is nothing you have to work up to to get the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person who comes to indwell the believer, lives in the temple of the Holy Spirit, that is this body.
Now, let's go back to what I've asked you a couple of times. When somebody says to you, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you've been saved?" Yes and no. What do you mean yes or no? First of all, when I was saved, I received the Holy Spirit, and I haven't received Him since I've been saved, because you don't get Him but once. So you don't get the Holy Spirit but one time. You say, "Well, I've had Him many times." No you haven't. No, you only have the Holy Spirit one time. How do I know that? Because look at Ephesians chapter 1 for a moment. Now, you're gonna hear all kind of folks tell you about the Holy Spirit, and you're gonna hear some people that you have lots of respect for, and that's no problem. I understand that. I'm not asking you to respect me. Just believe the Bible. That's all I care about. Just believe what God says. Listen to what he says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 now. He says, "In Hm," that is in Christ, "you also," now look at the sequence of events. "After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed." So first you listened, then you believed. "You were sealed in Him," that is in Christ, "with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory."
Now, here's what he's saying. When you did what? First of all, you listened, then you believed the truth about salvation. You believed the truth, and when you believe, the Bible says the Holy Spirit of God sealed you in Christ Jesus, sealed you in Christ Jesus, and when he says--look at that-- who--that is the Holy Spirit--is given as a pledge of our inheritance. You know what that means? That the Holy Spirit living within you-- listen carefully-- the Holy Spirit living within you is God's immovable, unchanging, unalterable pledge and evidence of that pledge that you belong to Him, that you are His purchased possession, and He says it is with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, that is He is going to remain in you all the days of your life, because you're the purchased possession of God until one day that you stand before Him. The Spirit of God in the Old Testament would come and go. The Spirit of God in the New Testament comes and remains and sets up housekeeping. He's there to stay forever, because He's marked you as a child of God.
Now, here's what I want you to see. If the Holy Spirit comes at salvation, which He does, seals you as a child of God, and sets up housekeeping in your life, that's what that word means, dwell in you, that He's there to stay. Then what's all this coming and going? That's Old Testament theology. Listen, when you were saved, the Holy Spirit of God came to indwell you, and listen, His indwelling you and sealing you is the mark that you are the purchased possession of God. That's why you can't ever go to hell once you're saved by the grace of God. Why can't you? You say, "Well, I know some folks living in sin." Forget it, listen to me. The Bible says God's gonna take care of that sin. The Bible says that you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He's living within you, dwelling in you. The Bible says that He baptized you into Him. The only way you can die and go to hell after you've been filled with the Holy Spirit, or after the Holy Spirit comes to and dwell you is, you gotta take the Holy Spirit to hell with, and you can't do it. Because the Holy Spirit is not gonna separate Himself from you. He marked you. That--listen--that's the proof that you're a purchased possession of God. The moment I said yes to the sacrificial, all-sufficient, substitutionary, atoning death of Jesus Christ at Calvary, God baptized me into the body of Christ, and I'm forever a child of God. And they're gonna say, "Well, now, that's not what I was thinking about." Then you say to them that you need to get your theology to match the Word of God and not some experience. When you got saved, you got all of the Holy Spirit you'll ever get. I didn't say there aren't feelings. I didn't say there aren't anointings. I didn't say there aren't gifts of the Spirit in order to accomplish the work that God has given us, but what I want you to see is the presence of the Spirit of God indwells every single believer, and you are His forever, and the indwelling presence is the mark of ownership. You belong to Jesus. And so, when He's speaking here of the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified, He's speaking of the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost, and from that moment on, from that moment on, the work of the Holy Spirit would be completely and entirely different.
Now, I want you to turn, if you will, to Romans chapter 8. Very clearly he says that here in other places, but Romans chapter 8, look, if you will, this verse, verse 9. Now, there are many verses I'm gonna go back to over and over and over again on purpose. I want you to hear them so many times that, in your mind, they become a part of your thinking so that built into your mental spiritual grid system is truth so that when you hear error, you can spot it just like that, and nobody can deceive you. Listen, verse 9, "However, you're not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ--" that's dwelling in him--"he does not belong to Christ." You don't have the Holy Spirit, you don't belong to God. When you were saved, the Holy Spirit came. You may be looking for some other experience, but when you were saved, the Spirit of God sealed you forever as a child of God.
You say, "But now wait a minute. What about these folks who get into sin?" Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Now, remember we read 1 Corinthians chapter 6 where Paul said the Holy Spirit is in us. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We're His purchased possession, purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look--go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and Paul's having a problem with some folks here in the same church, and this is Corinth. He says in verse one, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as the spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food." He says I'm teaching you the simple things of truth because you can't handle the heavy stuff. He says, "I gave you milk to drink, and not solid food; for you are not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you're not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?" And then he talks about how they had divided up all against-- some loved Apollos, and some loved Paul, and there was division in the church.
Now, so the question comes, can a person--can a person disobey God and be in sin? Now, listen carefully to the distinction. I didn't say be filled with the Spirit. I said have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, that is have the presence of the Spirit in their life. Yes. You can be saved by the grace of God, and that's when the Holy Spirit comes, and then if you get into sin, whatever that sin may be, that doesn't mean the Holy Spirit leaves you, because Jesus said He's gonna be there forever. Jesus said
He will be there forever. But you get into sin, that doesn't mean that the Spirit of God is going to leave you, because this group right here, they were causing all kinds of division in the church and living in the flesh and not in the Spirit. That didn't mean the Holy Spirit left them.
But what happens is the same Holy Spirit begins His work of discipline in the heart of the believer who is living in sin. I want you to turn to Acts chapter 5, because here is a verse that you may find and say, "Ah-ha, ah-ha! Somebody forgot this one." Look, if you will, in verse 32 of Acts chapter 5.
Now, you remember that Peter and the apostles had been preaching and teaching, and they just said, "We must obey God rather than men." And verse 32 says, "And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." Now, if you just take that verse of scripture out of context and isolate it, the implication would be the Holy Spirit is indwelling only those who are obeying Him. That's not true.
What Peter's using here when he says he gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him, he's just using obey here as a synonym for believe, that is those who believe Him. That's what Peter just preached at Pentecost, so he's certainly not gonna change his mind four chapters--three chapters later. But what he's saying is those who believe Him, that is, we receive the Holy Spirit upon exercising faith in Jesus Christ's sacrificial, all-sufficient, substitutionary, atoning death at Calvary, and the moment we do, we're sealed forever by the power of the Holy Spirit in the presence of the Lord God. So when he talks about obeying here, he's talking about believing in Him.
Now, the big question is: Do you have the presence of the Holy Spirit in you? That's the big question. There are only two answers. Yes and no. You can't say, "Well, I have some of the Spirit," mm-mm. No, you get Him all, or you don't have any of Him. You see, we must distinguish between receiving Him-- listen, we must distinguish between receiving Him as a person and the exercise of the Holy Spirit in His gifts. That's something entirely different.
When you were saved, the Spirit of God came within you. We don't say, "Yeah, I got part of Jesus." No, when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ, you got Him all. When you have God the Father, you've got Him all. When you've got God the Spirit, you've got Him all. Now, how He operates in your life, that's a totally different situation.
The question is has there ever been a time in your life when, in the confession, repentance of your sin you said, "I receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I do believe that His death at Calvary paid for my sins. I accept Him as my Savior here and now." The moment you did that, you may not have felt a thing. The moment you did that, the Holy Spirit came into you, sealed you as a child of God forever and ever. He's resided there ever since the moment you gave your life to Christ, and he's been there willing to guide you, teach you, convict you, gift you for the things that you need to carry out the work that God has given you to do.
The problem is most people are ignorant of what the Holy Spirit on the inside of them has been trying to do all these years they've been saved. And the purpose for this series is to get it out here where we can see what is God up to in your life, and who is it on the inside who's trying to do something miraculously dramatic and fascinating in the life of every single believer?
But you see, if I don't understand what the book says about the Holy Spirit, here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna get saved. I'm gonna go through life trying and struggling and fretting and wishing God would use me and wondering why He doesn't use me and why doesn't God bless me, and He blesses others and he doesn't bless me, and I feel so inadequate and so weak and so incompetent. I don't feel like I belong, and sometimes I don't know whether God loves me, and all of that stuff you can put one big pile and throw that in the spiritual garbage, because once you understand who the Spirit of God is in your life, friends, you're gonna get happy. There's no way for you to be sad once you understand what the Spirit of God wants to do in your life, but it begins with His presence.
And the big question is this: Do you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you, having sealed you as a child of God, having written your name in the Lamb's book of life forever? That's the key. Now, let me say one other thing. When the Holy Spirit of God comes in your life, remember we said the Holy Spirit of God brings about a new birth? The Holy Spirit of God regenerates you. The Holy Spirit of God makes you a new creation. You will never be what you were once you're saved by the grace of God. There may be times when you act like it, but let me give you a little warning, and I'll say this again.
If you can live in sin and the Spirit of God isn't really getting you upset, the Holy Spirit of God isn't troubling you, you don't feel any troubling in your heart, you don't feel any conviction from God, I don't know what church you joined or how many times you've been baptized, but I wanna tell you you've never been saved. Listen to me. This is the Holy Spirit living inside of you, and the Holy Spirit speaks and works and moving. He's omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit isn't going to keep quiet while you deliberately and willfully disobey God.
And I'm gonna tell you something, if I were you, and I were not under deep conviction over sin in my life, I'd find me some church somewhere, and I'd run down the aisle and ask the pastor, "Show me how to get saved." Or what I would do is what I wanna tell you what you can do right now, is ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and tell him, God, I thought I was saved. There's no evidence of it. I want to make deadly sure in my heart, God, that I'm saved. I confess my sins to you. I repent of my sins, which means I turn from my old way. I turn my life over to you. God, I'm giving you my life. I'm trusting Jesus's death at Calvary to save me, not my performance, putting all my hope in Him.
You can say it any way you want to say it, but it must involve several things: confession that you're a sinner, the exercise of faith in Jesus Christ who died for your sins, and receiving Him as your Savior, your Lord, and your life. The moment you do that, you'll know you're saved. The Holy Spirit bears witness to your spirit that you're a child of God.
And I want to encourage you if you've got any doubts in your mind, if you've been living in sin and you've not been convicted and troubled, you can sleep good at night living in sin, you need to get saved. But if you're one of those persons every time you do something, the Spirit of God flashes a warning in your life, that's good news, brother. That's good news that you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He's not gonna let you get away with it, and He's gonna keep on convicting you until you get right with God. It is a gift of God given to everyone who will believe in Him.
Lord Jesus, what a wonder you are. And what a wonder that you gave us the Holy Spirit to seal us as your purchased possession. Would you write indelibly upon the heart of every person the truths of this message? Would you seal them tight just like you've sealed our salvation? Would you let them echo in their mind and heart and in their spirit for days to come? And would--week after week, would you build one truth upon the other until when this series is finished, the Spirit of God will be so alive and so real in each one of us, that you'll find the freedom to break out a mighty sweeping movement of your Spirit across this church and across this land, to your glory, praise, and honor in Jesus's name I ask it, amen. ♪♪♪