Bob Josey - 7 The Other Comforter Lesson #3- Mar 13, 2022

SLIDES

Thriving in Jesus

Chapter 7 The Other Comforter - Lesson 3

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Introduction

How many of you saw the movie the Exorcist in 1973? The movie starred Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, and the newcomer at that time, Linda Blair. The movie is about the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother's attempt to rescue her through an exorcism conducted by a pair of Catholic priests. We know that demon possession occurred a lot Jesus was on the earth. As a matter of fact, it increased more while He was on the earth. Part of Jesus’ ministry was to cast out demons. I guess the question is “Does demon possession occur today?” Evangelicals who have been to other countries say, “yes.” Many think that people like Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, and others like them were demon possessed. Today some think that Vladimir Putin is demon possessed.

The consensus among evangelicals today is since believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, they cannot be demon possessed because God and demons cannot exist in the same body together. There is also a consensus is that while believers cannot be demon possessed, they can be demon influenced. After all, Satan is not omnipresent like God. He cannot be everywhere at the same time. Therefore, it is demons, as Satan’s minions, who influence believers not be obedient and to stray from God.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines possession “as the act of having or taking into control.” The Free Dictionary online defines possession as “Power or control over something” On the other hand, indwelt is defined by the Free Dictionary online as “To exist as an animating or divine inner spirit, force, or principle. To inhabit or reside within as such a spirit, force, or principle.” Dictionary.com defines indwelt as “to abide within, as a guiding force, motivating principle, etc.”

The main difference between possession and indwelling is when something possesses something, it takes control, overpowers it, and continues to have power over it. Indwelling, on the other hand, has something or some power residing within something, but it does not take control unless the thing allows it to.

Today we are going to discuss another ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the last couple of lessons, we have discussed and learned about two ministries of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers today. They are the regeneration and the baptizing of the Holy Spirit into the Body Of Christ. Today we are going to discuss and learn about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and its implications for believers today.

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Before we discuss the indwelling of the Holy Spriit in believers today, let’s discuss the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had a different ministry then He does today with believers in the Church age. Basically, He would come and go from the saints, empowering them for service but not necessarily remaining with them. Let’s look at a few verses. Let’s begin with Moses in Numbers 11:17.

Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take 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 will not bear it all alone.

Concerning Gideon, we read in Judges 6:34, “So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him^” 5Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.

He came upon Sampson several times. One was in Judges 15:14-15. “14When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands. 15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it”.

In Ezekiel 11:5 5 - The Lord came upon Ezekiel to prophecy against some of the leaders of Isarel who had led the nation astray. “Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.”

King David wrote Psalm 51 a year or so after his affair with Bathsheba. Under the Law of Moses, adulty carried the penalty of death for him and Bathsheba. David is also responsible for the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. In this Psalm David confesses his sins to the Lord and pleads for mercy and forgiveness. God forgave David and Bathsheba’s sins by not requiring their death. However, he paid a high price with the death of some of his children and the dysfunctionality within his family. One verse that is misunderstood by some because they interpret it as David asking God not to take away the Holy Spirit which would be a sign that he no longer had salvation.

Psalm 51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Remember that in the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit would come upon leaders and administrators to enable them to do their work that God assigned them. This enablement was usually temporary. The Spriit would come upon them and then leave. The Lord took the Spirit away from Saul when he sinned to demonstrate that He had rejected him as the King of Isarel. This was fresh in David’s mind. David did not want to be rejected by God as Saul was. As we shall see on the day of Pentecost, believers in Jesus were permanently indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

Today when the Holy Spirit comes to indwell a believer, He never departs. Psalm 51:11 has nothing to do with believers in Jesus today.

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament

There are many differences in the blessings that a believer was given under the Old Covenant and the blessings a believer receives under the New Covenant. In the Old Testament the Holy Spriit came upon some but not others. Today one of the biggest differences is the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the moment an individual trusts in Jesus as Savior. The Holy Spirit is given as a gift by coming to inhabit or reside within the new believer. The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spriit in the Church age was designed by the Father, is the result of the death of Jesus, and is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The big transition between the Holy Spirit coming upon a few to indwelling evert believer occurred on the Day of Pentecost.

Several weeks ago, we looked at a few promises Jesus made to the disciples on the evening before His death about sending the Holy Spriit when He ascended into heaven. Let’s look a few other verses that deal with permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

John 7:37-39

37Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

38“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

39But 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.

Romans 8:9

9However, you are 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, he does not belong to Him.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

While Israel was in the wilderness, God resided in the Tabernacle. God instructed that it be in the middle of all the tribes. Today the Holy Spirit is not just in the middle of where we are but resides with us.

1 John 4:13

13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

The indwelling Spirit is now an unlimited Resource who sustains believers in every aspect of human life. The Holy Spirit is the believer’s all-sufficient Resource both for power and guidance. In this age the believer in Jesus is appointed to live by a new life-principle found in

4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

The realization of the Spirit’s presence, power, and guidance constitutes a wholly new method of daily living and is in contrast to that dominance and authority which the Mosaic Law exercised over Israel in the age that is past. The indwelling Spirit is now an unlimited Resource who sustains every aspect of our life in Jesus.

So, let’s now sum up some of the aspects that occur because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

1. Indwelling of the Holy Spriit occurs immediately after one trusts in Christ as Savior. It is instantaneous.

2.All new believers in Jesus are indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

3. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent, not temporary.

4. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes from the approval of the Father, as the result of the death of the Son, and is accomplished by the Holy Spirit Himself.

5. Even though we can sin against the Holy Spirit by grieving Him and quenching His leading, it does not affect the permanence of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer.

6. The Holy Spirit is the believer’s all-sufficient Resource for power, wisdom, and guidance in our Christian life.

Application

I want you to ruminate on these statements for a bit.

The Holy Spirit inhabits you.

The Holy Spirit who is God lives in you.

God the Holy Spirit resides in you.

The Spirit of the Lord makes His Home in you.

The Holy Spirit is alive in you.

You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Give the class time to ruminate on these statements.

On our first trip to Israel in 1993, we went to the Temple Institute near the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. During the tour, someone asked the founder and director of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Yisrael Aril, this question. “If God is Omnipresent, everywhere at the same time, what is the significance of God residing in the Temple in Jerusalem. This is the profound illustration that Rabbi Ariel gave the individual.

Let’s say that one day you went to visit a friend one day at his house, When he greeted you at the front door, he shook your hand. That would be one kind of common gesture that people make to one another. But if your friend met you at his front door but instead of shaking hands with you, he kissed you on the cheek or forehead, that would by fare be a more intimate gesture among friends. God being everywhere at the same time is one thing, but dwelling in the middle of Jerusalem in a Temple where you could personally come and worship Him would be quite something else. It is a much more intimate situation.

For those of us who have trusted in Jesus as their Savior, the Holy Spriit has come to live inside us. The writer of Hebrews wrote in 13:5-6 about our relationship with God.

5 I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

6 so that we confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.

What will man do to me?”

God made this promise to Israel as a nation and also to Joshua as Isarel’s leader. Now, He has made this promise to every believer in Jesus. Therefore, since the Holy Spirit is a believer’s all-sufficient Resource for power, wisdom, and guidance, write down on the notecard some personal implications of this to you?

Give time for the class to write down their personal implications on notecards.

An American and an English gentleman were viewing the Niagara whirlpool rapids. The American said to the English gentleman, “Come and I’ll show you the greatest unused power in the world.” He took the English gentleman to the foot of the Niagara Falls. There he said, “This is the greatest unused power source in the world.” The English gentleman replied,” Ah, my brother, no so. The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the living God.”

Can that statement be made about you?

Selah!