~~INTRODUCTION
In today’s study we will examine the subject of the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer in the new birth from our text.
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. 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.”
Focus will be on that last phrase of John 14:17:
". . . For He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
Being born again is not just an experience; rather, it is receiving the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit, a Divine Personality, who comes to make His home in us.
BELIEVERS ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Of all the mighty truths in connection with our redemption, the apex is the reality of our redemption is this: that after God Himself recreated us and made us new creatures in Christ and made us His own, and then He, in the Person of the Holy Ghost, makes our bodies His home! Let us consider a few verses of scriptures that spell this out.
1 Corinthians 3:16 (AMP) says:
“Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God’s temple (His sanctuary), and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]?”
1 Corinthians 6:19 (AMP)
“Do you not know that your body is the temple — the very sanctuary — of the Holy Spirit who lives within you, whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own?”
2 Corinthians 6:16 (AMP)
“What agreement (can there be between) a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the Living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
So we see here that God no longer dwells in the earth-made Holy of Holies but our bodies have become His temple.
WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?
This happened when at the cross Jesus said: “It is finished”. The bible says in (Matt. 27:51) that at that moment the curtain that partitioned off the Holy of Holies in the Temple was rent in two from top to bottom. Signifying that from then, God's Presence would no longer be kept shut up in the man-made Holy of Holies but instead, under the New Covenant, God would dwell in the believer (See Jer. 31:33,34;Heb. 8:6-3;10:1-17).
And so from that day God's Presence which had been kept in the Holy of Holies, moved out of that earth-made Holy of Holies and God has never dwelt in an earth-made Holy of Holies since.
THE CHALLENGE
Relatively few Christians are really conscious of God in them — dwelling in their hearts and bodies as His temple. If men and women were conscious of God in them as His temple, they wouldn't talk and act as they sometimes do. Some Christians constantly talk about their lack of power, and their lack of ability. But if they realized that God is in them, they would know that there is nothing impossible to them. The reason for this is because instead of believing what the Bible says, too many believers believe only what they feel.
THE SOLUTION
A realization of Jesus’ promise; in John 14:16 He said, ". . . that he [the Holy Spirit] may abide with you forever"
The Holy Spirit didn't come as a guest to stay for just a few days. He didn't come on a vacation to dwell inside of you for just a short time. He came to dwell in you to be at home in you forever. The Holy Spirit's home in this life is in your body — God's temple.
THE BENEFITS OF HIS SPIRIT
1 John 4:4 says, "ye are of god, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." who is the "He" that is in the world? That is Satan, the god of this world.
But He who is in you - the Holy Ghost is greater! The Greater One is in you if you are born again. God Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit lives in the born-again believer. All that God could possibly be to you and do for you, the Holy Ghost through His indwelling presence is to you and for you and in you.
CONCLUSION
If we were really conscious of the Greater One in us, then we would have no fear of the devil. We would have no fear of "he that is in the world" because "He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world." Why? Because God did not give us a spirit of timidity; not a spirit of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear, but the spirit He gave us is that of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP) – Rephrased.
Kenneth E. Hagin’s book; The Spirit and His Gifts was used as a guide for this study.
Contributor: Isekhua Evborokhai
