Motive matters. You can do the right thing for the wrong reason. While we cannot discern the intentions of other's hearts, we certainly can examine our own purposes.
(1 Corinthians 6:19) How strange it would be for someone to live in your house and to never communicate with that person. The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of every believer. Is He at home in us? We must learn what it means to be filled with the Spirit. (0946250220) —-more—-
The Holy Spirit in Your Life
Do you ever talk to the person that lives in your house? On the day you trusted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Himself, came to live in your house. That’s right, in your temple, in your heart. Your heart is His home now. Do you ever talk to Him? Does He have liberty to?
To go and roam into every room and control every part. Is he at home in your house? It would be a strange thing if you married someone and lived with them for 40 years and never spoke to them. That perhaps happens at times and that’s an awful thing. But how awful it is to think that some people meet the Lord, and the Holy Spirit of God comes to live inside of them on the day of their salvation, and they live the rest of their life never talking to that Person and never letting that Person talk to them!
The Mystery and Reality of the Holy Spirit
Now granted, there is a great mystery to the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus said in John chapter 3 verse number 8, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is often likened to wind or breath in Scripture.
And there is a mystery to the wind. You can’t explain all of that, but as surely as there’s a mystery, friend, there’s also a reality. And there is a real person living inside of you at this moment. His name is the Holy Spirit.
Understanding the Person of the Holy Spirit
Perhaps the least understood and most misunderstood person of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit. He’s not a thing. He’s not merely a power or influence, he’s a real person, he’s just as real as the Father and the Son. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” He is just as real as the Father and the Son, and He’s just as real as any person here on earth.
Acts 15:28 says, “It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.” The apostles were saying, “Look, the Holy Spirit is speaking just like we’re speaking. The Holy Spirit is working just like we are working.” I wonder, do you know the Person that lives in your house? All through scripture, we’re introduced to his personality. We learn something about his actions.
The Holy Spirit’s Actions and Reactions
He speaks. Acts 13, verse 2, He literally spoke. He spoke to the apostles. He prompted them. In Romans 8:26, He prays. He intercedes for us. In John 15:26, He testifies. He’s the Spirit of truth. He testifies of Christ.
He commanded in Acts 16. He oversees. In Acts chapter 20, in verse number 28, He guides. Jesus said in John 16:13, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” He teaches. John 14:26, He’s the great teacher. I’m telling you, He’s a Person. He not only acts, he reacts.
Ephesians 4:30 tells us He can be grieved. Isaiah 63:10 tells us He can be vexed. They tempted the Holy Spirit in Acts 5, verse 9. They resisted the Holy Spirit in Acts 7:51. Mark 3 warns us against blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He’s a real person. He has an intellect. He has emotions. He has a will. When you refer to the Holy Spirit, don’t refer to him as an it. Refer to Him as a real Person because that’s exactly what He is.
The Divine Nature of the Holy Spirit
And He’s not only a real person, He is God. He is all God, just like the Father and the Son. We see the attributes of the Holy Spirit all through Scripture, identical to those of the Father and the Son. He is omnipotent, and omniscient, and omnipresent. He is eternal. He’s the Spirit of love, and of holiness, and goodness, and grace, and life, and truth. And when you look at His works tell you He’s God. Remember, He was there in the creation in Genesis 1. He was the Spirit of resurrection power in Romans 8 verse 11.
He is the spirit of regeneration in all of us. Friend, if you’re saved today, it’s because the Holy Spirit convicted you that you were a sinner, revealed to you the person of Jesus Christ, and made you a new person in Christ. You are born again, John chapter 3, of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11 says, “Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” I’m telling you, when you study the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, anywhere you want to study, you’re going to find that the Holy Spirit is a real Person, He is all God, and He is at work at this present hour.
And if that is true, I ask you again, How well do you know the person that lives in your house? How much have you come to understand of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you? And when was the last time you talked to Him?
The Holy Spirit’s Work in Believers
His work is a work in our lives. It’s a deeply personal work. Now, He has a work in this world. John chapter 16 says He reproves the world of sin, of righteousness. There’s no doubt the Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of unregenerate men. Lost people trying to bring them to God. And when we give the gospel, when we preach the truth, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, works in them.
Don’t miss this. The great work of the Holy Spirit of God is not just in the world, it’s in the believer. It’s in us. He started working in you on the day you got saved. He regenerated you. He comes to indwell you. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 says, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Romans 8, verse 9 says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he’s none of his.” I’m not trying to get the Holy Spirit. I was given the Holy Spirit on the day the Lord Jesus saved me. He doesn’t rent, He buys.
And He doesn’t move in and out, He moves in to stay. And when He comes in to change me. To make me more like the Lord Jesus Christ. He baptizes me. I’m baptized in the Spirit. That happens at the moment of salvation. He seals me with the Spirit. He sets me free. He gives me assurance. He strengthens me in my inner man.
He teaches me truth. He guides me. He empowers me. He enables my worship. He prays for me and teaches me how to pray. He shows me how to serve the Lord. He produces the character of Christ in me. Galatians 5 verse 22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.” That’s the Holy Spirit that produces the character of Christ in us. It’s the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12 says, that distributes spiritual gifts to believers. The Holy Spirit’s desire and design is to fill our lives, not just to be there, but to control everything.
Living a Spirit-Filled Life
So my first question is, does the Holy Spirit of God live in you? If He doesn’t, you need to trust Jesus as your Savior. You need to call on the Lord and be saved, and at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit will come to live in your house, in your heart. And if you say, oh yes, the Holy Spirit lives in me, oh yes, I’m a Christian, then my next question is this, “Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?”
Charles Finney said, “He who neglects to obey the command to be filled with the Spirit is as guilty of breaking the command of God as he who steals or curses or commits adultery. His guilt is as great as the authority of God is great who commands us to be filled. His guilt is equivalent to all the good he might do if he were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
My prayer for you today is that you’ll yield your life to the control of the one who already lives inside of you. He wants to rule on the throne of your life. He doesn’t just want to be the resident, he wants to be the president. He doesn’t just want to be there, he wants to control everything. And my prayer for you today is that the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, will be allowed to have His way in your life.
How to Respond to the Holy Spirit
Would you take just a moment at the conclusion of this study and just talk to the Holy Spirit? And say to Him, I love you, thank you for living in my house. Have the key to every room and take control of my life today. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe.
Outro and Resources
We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You’ll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you’ll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.
