Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ of the present period is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, even as it is written, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1:13-14). The indwelling Spirit is the seal of God’s work in the soul, the earnest of what yet awaits us, and is the divine anointing by which we enter into the truth of God, and the power by which we are able to walk for God’s pleasure and carry out His will in our lives and service for Him.
Old Testament Saints
Although saints before the coming of the Lord Jesus were used by the Holy Spirit, He did not indwell them as He does now. David was used by the Holy Spirit as a vessel of inspiration, saying “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2), but David could also say, “take now Thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). Balaam would fain have cursed Israel, but “the Spirit of God came upon him” and compelled him to say of Israel, “Blessed is he that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses thee” (Num. 24:2, 9). In the Book of Judges we read of the Spirit of God coming upon Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson, and upon Saul in 1 Samuel, before an evil spirit afflicted him.
John the Baptist
John Baptist was a special vessel with a special mission, and before his birth the angel of the Lord said to Zacharias his father “he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). This was not the indwelling of the Spirit that belongs to the Christian, but a special filling of the Spirit that prepared the Baptist for his mission as forerunner of the Lord, and enabled him to fulfil what the Lord had given him to do. How very faithful John was in his testimony to the Son of God, and for it he received the commendation of Jesus, who said of him, “he was a burning and a shining light” (John 5:35).
Elisabeth, the mother of John Baptist, on hearing the salutation of Mary, “the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost” (Luke. 1:41). This filling of the Spirit was for the utterance of the inspired words that Elisabeth spoke to Mary, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (verses 42–44).
When the lips of Zacharias were opened to give to his son the name of John, he “was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied” of the Lord visiting and redeeming His people, according to the Old Testament prophecies, and of how his son John would be called “the prophet of the Highest,” going before “the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation…through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on high has visited us” (Luke 1:53–80). How very wonderful it is to see the father, the mother, and the child all filled with the Holy Spirit, a remarkable prelude to the intervention of God in the Person of the Son.
What Mary said in response to Elisabeth is the more remarkable as not given as the utterance of one filled with the Holy Spirit. This delightful expression of a heart overflowing with praise to God bears the same divine character as the words of Elizabeth and her husband, as she extols the mercy of God towards her, and His favour, being rich in the apprehension of the ways of God. It is the outflow of a heart in communion with God, and that has learned in secret with Him the marvel of His ways.
The Aged Simeon
Simeon, like Zacharias and Elisabeth, belonged to the little remnant “that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38), a company that was evidently well known to the aged Anna. Just and devout, Simeon was waiting “for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him” (verse 25). He belonged to the Old Testament generation, but the Spirit being upon him was a sign of the divine approbation of his godly life, and of his desires after the One who would bring blessing to God’s people Israel.
Another sign of God’s pleasure in this devoted saint was that “it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (verse 26). What joy must have filled his heart when he received this divine revelation! Moreover, “he came by the Spirit into the temple” just as the parents of Jesus brought Him in “to do for Him after the custom of the law” (verse 27). This saintly man has the Spirit upon him, has a revelation by the Spirit, and is led by the Spirit to see Jesus, and is enabled to say, “mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (verse 30).
The Life of the Lord Jesus
How perfectly, and uniquely, are the actions of the Holy Spirit seen in relation to the Son of God. He is conceived by the Spirit, anointed by the Spirit, is led by the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, being “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), returns “in forty days, being “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), returns “in the power of the Spirit into Galilee,” and beginning His publicly ministry says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:14, 18).
All the activities of the Lord Jesus of which He spoke in the synagogue at Nazareth were the evidences of the Spirit of God being upon Him as the Anointed Man. His works of power for the blessing of men, his casting out of demons (Matt. 12:28), His preaching of Glad Tidings and of the acceptable year of the Lord, all manifested that He was the vessel of the Spirit of God in a unique way. Having been justified by the Spirit (1 Tim. 3:16) in His life of perfect obedience and devotion to the will of God His Father, the Lord Jesus “through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14), shedding His precious blood to purge our consciences, so that we might be able to “serve the living God.”
The Book of the Acts
This Book has been sometimes spoken of as the Acts of the Holy Spirit, for the actions of the Spirit are prominent throughout. In chapter 1 the Lord Jesus gave commandments unto the apostles through the Holy Spirit (verse 2), and He told them that they would receive power after the coming of the Spirit (verse 8), after being baptized by the Spirit (verse 5). In verse 16 Peter recalls the Scripture concerning Judas which the Holy Spirit had spoken by the mouth of David.
In chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit came down “they were all filled with the Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (verse 4), the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise, but also fulfilling what had long before been spoken of by the prophet Joel (verses 16–21, 33). When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost he exhorted the people, saying, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (verse 38).
The Lord had said to His disciples, “When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you” (Matt. 10:19-20). There was a fulfilment of this when the apostles were apprehended, and brought before the rulers of Israel, for it is recorded, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them…” (Acts 4:7–12). Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit can not only speak forth God’s word with power, as seen in Acts 2, they can also meet their opposers without premeditating what they shall say, for they receive from the Lord, as evinced here, “a mouth and wisdom” which all the adversaries are not “able to gainsay or resist” (Luke 21:14-15).
When murmuring arose regarding the daily ministration, the twelve called the disciples together, and said, “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business” (Acts 6:2-3). Whatever service is to be done for the Lord, it will be best done by such as are filled with the Holy Spirit, those in whom the flesh is set aside, and only the will and mind of God engaging the thoughts and the heart.
One of the chosen seven was Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost” (verse 5), and he “used the office of a deacon well” and purchased to himself “a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 3:13). This is seen in Stephen as “full of faith and power” doing “great wonders and miracles among the people,” and when his opposers “were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake” (verses 8–10).
When before the leaders of Israel, Stephen is privileged to give to them the testimony of the Spirit of God to the exalted Son of God whom they had crucified and slain, for being “full of the Holy Ghost (he) looked stedfastly into heaven…and said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56). In sealing his testimony with his blood, Christ’s faithful witness manifested the Spirit of Christ in interceding for his murderers, and when he commended his spirit to his Lord.
“Be filled with the Spirit”
Extraordinary words were spoken, and great works wrought by those filled with the Holy Spirit, but we have also seen that even what may be viewed as ordinary, as in serving tables, can be best done by those filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not something reserved for special service to the Lord, but is for all true believers in the Lord Jesus, so that the Apostle Paul, in writing to the saints at Ephesus, exhorted, “be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). The drunk man is controlled by what he has imbibed, the Christian is to be controlled by the Spirit of God which sets aside the desires of the flesh so that we might carry out the will of God.
The first mark of those that are filled with the Spirit is that they sing, but what they sing is very different from the songs of those that are filled with wine. With melody in their hearts, even if there is little melody in their voices, those filled with the Spirit sing praise to God, in the rich variety of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They praise as having experienced the grace and goodness of God in their pathway, as having learned of the ways and counsels of God, and as viewing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and knowing the love of the Father and the Son.
The second feature of being filled with the Spirit is “giving thanks always for all things to God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 20). Of the heathen it is written “neither were (they) thankful” (Rom. 1:21), but the Christian should abound in thanksgiving, as seen in Colossians 1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:15, 17; 4:2. Most Christians are able to give thanks when things are going well for them, but those who are filled with the Spirit are able to give thanks for all things, and at all times, whether the path is smooth or rough.
The third trait of those filled with the Spirit is that they submit themselves “one to another in the fear of Christ.” We ought never to be self-assertive, but ever willing to submit to others. This does not mean that we are to submit to anything that will compromise the holy Name of the Lord, but rather that when no divine principle is involved we do not press our own ideas. Our submission is to be “in the fear of Christ,” which means that we submit with our eye on Him and what secures His honour.
We may not be called upon to speak great things as filled with the Spirit, like John Baptist, Zacharias, Elisabeth, Simon Peter and Stephen, or to do great deeds like the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, and the Apostle Paul and other devoted servants of the Lord; but if not called to any special service for the Lord marked by what is extraordinary in the eyes of others, we can all answer to the exhortations on Ephesians 5, if we are filled with the Spirit. We can be marked as a praising people, as those who are ever thankful whatever our circumstances may be, and as always submitting to others while maintaining the honour of the Lord’s holy Name.
R. 23.1.69