Amen. Alright well we’re there in John 7. And on Sunday nights we’ve been going through a series called “By My Spirit”. And what it really has been is a systematic study of the Holy Spirit. We’ve been dealing with some very doctrinal sermons. This is now the 7th sermon in this series. If you remember when we started, the very first sermon was called the Person of the Holy Spirit. We learned about how the Holy Spirit is not a force or an energy. But he is actually a person. The 2nd sermon was about the Holy Spirit as God. Then we talked about the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. We talked about the work of the Holy Spirit. Last week we talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And tonight we’re going to talk about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament vs. in the New Testament. Now it’s the same Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. But his role changed a little bit.
And I want to talk to you about this because what I really wanted to preach tonight, what I had scheduled to preach tonight was a sermon on “the filling of the Holy Spirit”. But as I was studying for the sermon on the filling of the Holy Spirit, I realized that in order to really set up the sermon in the context of the filling of the Holy Spirit, I needed to preach a sermon explaining the difference between the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. So next Sunday I will preach a sermon on the filling of the Holy Spirit.
But tonight we’re going to look at the differences and roles between the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And let me just say this because we have a lot to cover and we will look at a lot of scripture, we have a lot to cover. This is going to be like a Bible study and we will look at a lot of scriptures. But let me say this, the main difference between the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and in the New Testament is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And what that means is that for New Testament believers, the Holy Spirit indwells us. He lives inside of us. For Old Testament saints, that is not the case. And there is a lot of confusion with the filling of the Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament and we’ll talk about the filling of the Spirit next week.
But let’s begin with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And if you would like to take some notes or write that down then you can write that down as the first point. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And let me begin by saying this, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit happens only for New Testament believers. And we can prove that several ways. But let’s just look at it there in John 7. John 7:37 “37 In the last day, that great day of the feast,” So this is Jesus at the feast. Notice what it says. It says “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
So, he’s giving this analogy of the rivers of living water that are going to flow out of a person that believes on him. And John is kind of giving us an editorial note here in verse 39 “39 (But this spake he” Talking about Jesus. “of the Spirit,” So when Jesus said “38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John is kind of giving us his commentary and he is telling us that this spake he of the Spirit. Notice what it says “which they that believe on him should receive:” I want you to notice that future tense. It’s not yet happening. People are not yet receiving the Holy Spirit at the time that John is writing. He says “39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”.
So here we have a very specific text that tells us that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is what Jesus is referring to when he says that he that believeth on me is going to have the source of life inside of him. Inside of his belly will flow the rivers of living water. John tells us that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit has not yet been given because Jesus has not yet been glorified. Now we know that when Jesus died and was crucified, when he was buried and 3 days later he rose from the grave, at that point he was glorified or in his glorified body. And he ascended. And it was at that point that he breathed on the disciples and he said receive ye the Holy Spirit. So I want you to notice that this wasn’t even happening in the ministry of Christ. It didn’t begin until Jesus was glorified.
For New Testament believers, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit happens the moment of salvation or at the moment of salvation. You are indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God when you get saved. Let’s look at that from Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1:13 “13 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,” We’re talking about salvation here. We’re talking about believing on the Lord Jesus Christ which means trusting on the Lord Jesus Christ. When it says believe, we don’t mean believing as existing. But we mean believing that he will do what he said he would do and he is who he said he was. We mean believing as in trusting him. That’s why it says “13 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,”. Notice. “ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”.
So, I want you to notice, the Bible is very clear. When you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Because today, the Pentecostals and Charismatics will say, “oh no, you believe but then getting the Holy Spirit is a different step. It’s a different process. You gotta believe. You gotta repent. You gotta get baptized. You gotta do this. You gotta do that. And then you get the Holy Spirit”. But that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says “13 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,”
So, you got the Holy Spirit as a New Testament Believer, the moment, the hour, the day, that you believed. Notice verse 14 “14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”. Now go to Ephesians 4. Notice what the Bible says. Ephesians 4:30 “30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye” As a New Testament believer. “are sealed unto the day of redemption.” So, the Bible is clear that New Testament believers, the moment they believed, they not only received eternal life. They not only were passed from death unto life. They not only were born again. But all of that happened when the Holy Spirit came to indwell you. In fact, you were regenerated, you were quickened, you were given that new man and the new life through the Holy Spirit.
So, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit happens only for New Testament believers. And we’ll get to this in a sermon in our Ezekiel series. But it’s actually part of the New Covenant that God made when the Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth. So, we know there are 2 major covenants – The Old Covenant and the New Covenant. This is why we refer to the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was part of that New Covenant system. So New Testament believers get the indwelling the moment that we believe.
But please understand this, and go back to John 3. And here’s what you need to understand and here’s what you need to get about the indwelling. The indwelling is a portion of the Holy Spirit, not the entirety of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling is a portion that you get, it’s not the filling that you get. When you get saved, you get a portion of the Holy Spirit. You get enough of the Holy Spirit to make sure that you are sealed and preserved and that you will be redeemed on the day of redemption. But you don’t get the entirety of the Holy Spirit. And let me explain that and it will make a little more sense as we go along. Notice John 3:34 “34 For he” This is referring to Jesus “whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God:” Now notice what it says. “for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”. Unto who? Unto Jesus.
Ok so I want you to notice what the Bible is telling us here. The Bible is telling us that when Jesus came, God sent him, God the Father sent him, to preach his word. And God giveth not by measure. Meaning he’s not measuring out; he’s not giving him a portion. He doesn’t give the Spirit by measure to Jesus. He says that Jesus had the fulness of the Spirit. He had all access to the power and the might of the Spirit. That’s why he was able to do the miracles and things that he did. And God says, the Bible says, that God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. Now here’s the implication. When he says that I don’t give the Spirit by measure to Jesus, the implication is that I do give the Spirit by measure to others. Do you understand? He’s saying look, not everybody gets the fulness of the Spirit.
Now every New Testament believer gets the Holy Spirit. They are sealed with the Holy Spirit. They get the earnest of the Holy Spirit. Everybody gets the Holy Spirit. But not everybody gets the fulness of the Holy Spirit. Now he says that Jesus, that was different. He says God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. So, the idea is that everyone else does get the Spirit by measure. Now go back to 2 Corinthians 1. And let’s look at this idea of receiving the Spirit by a measure. Or in a portion. You get a portion of the Holy Spirit. You get enough of the Holy Spirit to make sure that you will not go to hell. You get enough of the Holy Spirit to make sure that you are sealed. You are identifiable. You belong to God. But you don’t get the fulness of the Holy Spirit. Every believer gets a portion of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 1:22 “22 Who hath also sealed us,” Talking about the Holy Spirit. We’re sealed. “and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”. The Bible says, and I often use these terms, we are sealed and we are given the earnest. We are sealed and we are given the earnest. When you got saved as a New Testament believer, you received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit. And then you were given the earnest of the Holy Spirit.
Now go back to Ephesians. And let me explain to you that term earnest. We’ve talked about this in this series already but let’s talk about it again. The word earnest, when we use the word earnest, we are referring to earnest money. And here’s the definition of earnest money. It is a deposit made to a seller, showing the buyer’s intent to purpose. Often used in real estate transaction, earnest money may be lost if the buyer backs out of the transaction. And here’s what you need to understand, earnest money is not the full payment. If I walk up and say that I like that us, I want to buy that house, in fact I want you seller to take this house off the market, I don’t want anybody else to buy this house. I want to buy this house. I’m going to buy it for this much. Do you agree with that? They say yes, I agree with that. I accept that offer. Well here’s the thing, I don’t want anybody else to take this house from me. So, take it off the market. The seller will say, well wait a minute, it’s going to be 30 to 60 days before you make the full payment for this house. So, what I need you to do is to put down some earnest money to show that you are serious. Because I don’t want to take this house off the market if you’re not serious. And here’s the idea, if you walk away, if you decide to back out of the deal, then I get to keep the earnest money. So, the earnest is not the full payment. The earnest is just enough to show I’m serious and I’m coming back.
This is what the Holy Spirit is. When you got saved, God gave us the earnest of the Spirit. He didn’t give you the fulness of the Spirit. He gave you the earnest of the Spirit just to show that I’m interested. I’m serious. And I’m coming back. Notice what he says. Ephesians 1:13 “13 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,” Notice verse 14 “14 Which is the earnest” Notice how the analogy of a down payment of earnest money applies. “Which is the earnest of our inheritance” Don’t miss this “until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”.
Why does God give us the Holy Spirit? He gives it to us as an earnest to show that I am saved. Look, the purchase has not been completed yet. My soul has been saved but my body is still in sin. My body is still corrupt. The entire purchased possession will happen one day at the resurrection when my body is glorified and my soul is reunited with my body and that new man in the new spirit. But God says that I will give you my earnest just to guarantee. And look, this is why we believe in eternal security. You say, what if God backs out of the deal? Then he loses his earnest. And his earnest is the Holy Spirit. Look, the only way that I will go to hell as a New Testament believer is if the Holy Spirit comes with me. The only way I can get condemned and spend eternity in hell is if God is willing away to walk away from the Holy Spirit. Because he has given the Holy Spirit as an earnest. But an earnest is not a complete or in full. It’s just enough to show I’m serious. I’m coming back. Until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.
So, when we talk about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, this is what we are talking about. We are talking about something that only happens to New Testament believers in the New Testament under the New Covenant. You receive the indwelling at the day of salvation. And it’s a portion. Not the fulness of the Spirit. But because Jesus got him not by measure. But the rest of us get an earnest. We get a down payment. We get a little bit of the Holy Spirit and not to secure our salvation. Now let’s talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit. Go to Acts 1.
And we need to talk about these kinds of separate and then we will bring them together and unite them. But I want you to understand that there is a difference between the indwelling and filling of the Spirit. They are 2 different things. Let’s define some terms. Because sometimes there is terminology that people get confused about. In the Bible you see these different terms used about the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we see this term called the filling of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we see the phrase coming upon of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we see the term of the pouring of the Holy Spirit.
Here’s what I want you to understand, all of those terms are used interchangeably. They are all referring to the same thing. They are referring to the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon an individual in order to do some great, wonderful things for God. Now next week, in our sermon on the filling of the Holy Spirit, we’re going to talk about some reasons why we might be filled with the Holy Spirit. And some things we can try to do to get filled with the Holy Spirit. We’re not going to cover this tonight. But I want you to understand that when we’re talking about the filling of the Spirit, coming upon of the Spirit or pouring of the Spirit, these are referring to the same thing. Now we could prove it a lot of different ways but I’m going to prove it one way in the book of Acts.
Notice what Jesus says. This is right before he ascends. And he is talking to the disciples. Acts 1:8 “8 But ye shall receive power,” Now remember when we are talking about the filling of the Spirit, the coming upon of the Spirit, the pouring of the Spirit, we’re talking about receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. We get the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to do what God has called us to do. Notice what Jesus said. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:”. Alright, now I want you to understand this, in John Jesus already told the disciples in the glorified body, receive ye the Holy Spirit and he breathed on them. They’ve already received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but now he’s telling them that they’re going to receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon them.
Notice. “8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”. So here he says that you are going to receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Now what is he referring to when he says go to Jerusalem and wait until you receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you. Then you’re going to be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, in Samaria and Judaea and the uttermost part of the earth. What is he referring to? He’s referring to the event that happens in Acts 2. He’s referring to the day of Pentecost. Now here’s what’s interesting. In Acts 1:8, he called it the Holy Spirit coming upon you. “8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:”. And he’s talking about the event at the Day of Pentecost.
Here’s what’s interesting, when the day of Pentecost happens, it’s called something. Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all” Notice the words “filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” So, here’s what’s interesting. Jesus said go to Jerusalem and wait, until you get the power, when the Holy Ghost comes upon you. Then when the event happens, the Bible says that they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
What does that prove? The coming upon of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit are the same thing. It’s the receiving of power. It’s the receiving, not just the earnest of the Spirit, not just the measure of the Spirit, but receiving the fulness of the Spirit. You’re filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of God comes upon you. Here’s what’s even more interesting. When the event takes place in Acts 2, and the Bible tells us that they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, then Peter attempts to explain this to the people who are watching them do this supernatural work of speaking with tongues. Notice verse 14. I want you to notice what Peter calls it. “14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that” Notice “which was spoken by the prophet Joel;”
So, Peter said, hey what you’re seeing happen right now at the day of Pentecost, this is already predicted by the Prophet Joel. Now we could go to the book of Joel and see it. But he quotes it for us so let’s just look at what he says. “17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,” Notice. “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:”
So, Jesus said, go to Jerusalem and wait until you are endued with power. And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Then when that event happens, the writer of the Book of Acts, Luke, says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then Peter says hey, if you’re wondering what is happening, this is exactly what the Prophet Joel said was going to happen when he said that the Holy Ghost was going to be poured upon God’s people in the latter times or in the New Testament. So, I want you to notice that all of these terms are used interchangeably for the same event. The coming upon of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit and the pouring of the Holy Spirit. And it’s all referring to receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Go to Exodus.
And let me just say this and show you this from the Bible, the filling or the coming upon or the pouring of the Holy Spirit happened both for Old Testament saints and New Testament believers. This coming upon, filling, and pouring happens in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Now we already saw where the indwelling happens only for New Testament believers. And Jesus talked about it and John gave us his commentary and said, ya but this doesn’t actually happen until he is glorified. Right. And we see Jesus when he is glorified breathe upon the disciples and say, receive ye the Holy Spirit. And if you match that story up to the other gospels, that’s when the Bible says that the scales came off their eyes and they were able to see and understand the things of the word of God. Because that’s what the Holy Spirit does. He guides you in all truth.
What’s interesting is that in the Old Testament but we do see the filling, the coming upon, the pouring, the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at it. Exodus 31:1 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,” Here we see where an individual had not only been given a gift of the Spirit. The ability to do certain works that he was going to be able to do for the tabernacle. But the Bible says in verse 3, “3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God,”. So here we have an Old Testament Saint who has been filled with the Spirit but he has not been indwelled with the Spirit. He has been filled with the Spirit but does not have the earnest of the Spirit or the sealing of the Spirit.
And that’s just 1 example and we could look at other examples. But let’s look at an example of the Holy Spirit coming upon an individual. So, in Exodus we see an Old Testament being filled with the Spirit. In Acts 2 we saw people being filled with the Spirit. In Acts 1 we saw Jesus tell the New Testament believers that you are going to receive power and the Holy Ghost will come upon you. Now let’s look at examples of Old Testament saints of the Holy Ghost coming upon them. Judges 3:9 “9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel”. Othniel is the first judge in the book of Judges. And the Bible says that God raised up Othniel to deliver the children of Israel. “the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.”. So, I want you to notice that here the Bible tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel. We can look at this in a lot of places. Let’s just look at it in Judges since we are there.
Judges 6:34 “34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.” Go to Judges 11:29. ”29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.”. Go to Judges 13. Judges 13:24 “24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.” Notice verse 25. “25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him” Talking about Samson. “at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.”. Whenever Samson had that supernatural strength to do the battles that God had called him to, the Bible says the Spirit of the Lord began to move him. Later it says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Judges 14:19 “19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him,” Talking about Samson. “and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. 20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.”.
Now I wanted to just read that verse to show you that we are talking about Samson. So, in verse 19 it says the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Upon Samson. Judges 13 says the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. Judges 11 says the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. In Judges 11 we saw that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. So, in the Old Testament we see that the Spirit of the Lord came on individuals and they were filled with the Spirit. In the New Testament we see that the Spirit comes upon individuals and people are filled with the Spirit. These are both talking about the same thing. The difference is that in the New Testament you’re indwelled with the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, you’re not indwelled with the Holy Spirit.
Let me give you another thought on the filling of the Holy Spirit. That is this. That the filling or coming upon of the Holy Spirit is not permanent. It happens from time to time. It is temporary. Now if you walk in the Spirit then you can maintain it for a long time. In fact, you can maintain it for a lifetime. But it’s not guaranteed to be this thing where once you have it, you have it. Once you got the power of God, you’ll always have the power of God. No, you can have the Holy Spirit come upon you for certain tasks or you can live in a certain way to just continually be filled with the Holy Spirit. But this is something that can be lost. There’s a major difference between the filling of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit. The indwelling of the Spirit can’t be lost. If you lose the indwelling then God loses the Holy Spirit because it’s the earnest of the Spirit. But the filling and the power can be lost.
Let’s look at an example of that. Judges 16:18 “18 And when Delilah saw that he” Talking about Samson. “had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.”. Obviously, Samson is in a backslidden state here. He is doing things that God specifically told him not to do. Judges 16:20 “20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself.”. He’s very confident. He’s had the power of the Holy Spirit from birth. He’s a unique individual where the angel appears. And predicts his birth and says he will be called Samson. And he will partake of the Nazarite vow. But he will have the Nazarite Vow, not for a short time but his whole life. And as long as he has it, he will have the power of God.
But he walked away from the Nazarite vow, every single one of them. And he broke the last one by having his hair cut off. That’s one part of the Nazarite vow. And Samson wakes up from his sleep on Delilah’s lap. And he thinks that I’m just going to get up and roar and flex my muscles and grunt like I have before. I’m just going to get up and go out as at other times and shake myself. Notice the last part of verse 20. “And he wist not” The word wist means to know or have knowledge. He knew not “that the LORD was departed from him.”. You say well why is that? Here’s why that is. Because the power of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit coming upon you and the filling of the Holy Spirit can be lost. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the seal of the Spirit, the earnest of the Spirit will never be lost. But the power of the Spirit can be lost.
I know we are looking at a lot of references but we kind of need to for this kind of study. 1 Samuel 16:14 “14 But the Spirit of the LORD”. Now here’s what we didn’t read. Earlier, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul. Now in verse 14, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. And an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Now I want you to realize that Saul lost the power of the Holy Spirit. Did Saul lose his salvation? No. Nobody loses their salvation. Salvation is not based on you or on works. Saul is in heaven. Saul went to heaven. If you remember when Samuel appeared to him, he said you’re going to die and be with me. Samuel was in heaven. But he did lose the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon Saul and the Spirit of the Lord “departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.”.
Look at verse 13, the previous verse. “13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil,” Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. “and anointed him”. He’s anointing David. “in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So, Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”. The Bible tells us that David was another one of these special cases where he had the Spirit of the Lord his whole life. He had the power of the Holy Spirit. But I want you to understand something, David was aware of the fact that he could lose the power of the Holy Spirit. He could lose the filling of the Holy Spirit. He wouldn’t lose his salvation. He wouldn’t lose his place in heaven. But he could lose the power of the Holy Spirit.
Go to Psalm 51. Now in Psalm 51, we have that famous Psalm of David. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. And then he conspired to have her husband killed. And Nathan, remember Nathan, shows up and he puts his finger in David’s face. He says “Thou art the man”. And he calls him out on his sin. And David repented of that major sin in his life. Psalm 51 is the Psalm that he wrote as he was confessing his sin to God and getting right with God. In fact, you know what, I was going to read a few verses for you. But let me just read to you more than I have in my notes. Psalm 51:1 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”. So, notice, he is confessing to God. He is acknowledging his sin. Go to verse 10. “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence;” Notice what he says. “and take not thy holy spirit from me.”
You say why is David praying that God not remove the Holy Spirit? Here’s why. Because the Holy Spirit of God came upon him when he was anointed to be king, but David understood that due to this grievous sin in his life, God could take the Spirit away from him. In the same way that he took the Spirit from Saul. In the same way that he took the Spirit away from Samson. In the same way that the Holy Spirit of power can come upon you and leave you. You can be filled with him and then he can leave you. And here David is saying, take not the Holy Spirit from you. Now people will point at this and say, “See, David thought he could lose his salvation”. But notice what he says. He says I can lose the Spirit. He says don’t take the Spirit from me. Keep in mind, Old Testament saints, no indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The only Holy Spirit relationship with man is that he comes upon you, he fills you, he impowers you to do great things for God. David says “take not thy Holy Spirit from me”.
But does David think his salvation is in question? “12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”. Now look, notice what he didn’t say, he didn’t say restore unto me thy salvation. He never lost his salvation. He didn’t say, God restore your salvation. He just said, restore the joy of thy salvation. You say, why would he say that? He said I didn’t lose my salvation. You won’t lose your salvation but you can lose your joy. Sin will take your joy away. Sin will take your peace away. Sin will take your rejoicing away. David is not afraid to lose his salvation. David believes in eternal security. But he says restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
But in verse 11 he says take not thy Holy Spirit. He is well aware of the fact that God can take away the Holy Spirit from him. You say why? Here’s why. Because throughout both the Old and New Testament, the Holy Spirit has a work of empowering people. And that’s called the coming upon, that’s called the filling, that’s called the pouring.
And by the way, and I don’t want to get down this rabbit trail. But the Holy Spirit can even come upon people that aren’t even saved. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit came upon Balaam. And there’s a lot of controversy to whether Balaam was saved or not. I’ll tell you this, I don’t think Balaam was saved. And I think that Balaam might have been a reprobate. Balaam is mentioned in 2 Peter 2 and Jude 1. And if you’re familiar with those passages, those are 2 major passages in scripture. Those are parallel passages in scripture of false, reprobate prophets. And Balaam is mentioned there. He’s mentioned with Cain. He’s mentioned with Korah. We know Cain wasn’t saved. We know Korah wasn’t saved. He went down into the pit. Remember, God opened up the earth and he went straight into hell. Cain wasn’t saved. And Balaam was mentioned in that trio of false prophets. I think Balaam was a reprobate. But even if you don’t think that Balaam was a reprobate, I don’t think there is a lot of evidence that Balaam was saved.
Here’s what’s interesting, the Holy Spirit came upon Balaam and he prophesied. Here’s what’s interesting. Caiphas the high priest, who was an instrumental person in the conspiracy to crucify Christ, the Bible says that he prophesied not of himself. Meaning the Holy Spirit came upon him and he prophesied. But here’s what I want you to understand, not only is the Holy Spirit coming upon someone not connected to the indwelling of the Spirit, it’s not connected to salvation. God had certain kings do certain things in the Old Testament before they were saved or they might even not have been saved. Like Cyrus. Like Nebuchadnezzar. The Holy Spirit and the filling of the Spirit can actually come upon just anyone who God decides to but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that is something that is only for New Testament believers. And that is connected to your salvation and that is your security in your salvation.
We talked about the indwelling of the Spirit. What is that? It happens only for New Testament believers under the New Covenant. It happens at the moment of salvation. When you believe. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And it is a portion of the Spirit, not the fulness of the Spirit. It is the earnest of the Spirit, not the complete power of the Spirit. Then we talk about the filling of the Spirit. We talk about the filling, the pouring, the coming upon are used interchangeably. They all have to do with God giving you his diving power to accomplish and do great tasks for him. We learned that that can happen in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. And we learned that it is not connected to the indwelling or even salvation.
Now let’s talk about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament vs. the New Testament. And let me just say this if you want to write some of these statements down. There was a change with the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament and the New Testament. And honestly when we started this series, I announced that I was going to do a series on the Holy Spirit. And somebody walked up to me and said “Pastor, I have a question about the Holy Spirit. I know that in the New Testament that we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit and in the Old Testament they were not indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Is there a reason for that or does the Bible give a reason as to why in the New Testament we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit and in the Old Testament they were not”?
Now when he asked me that question, I didn’t really have an answer. Now I’ve never heard anyone give an answer or heard a Pastor have a good, definite answer. But in the last several weeks as I was studying the Bible, something became very apparent and clear to me which I think is the answer to the question. So, let’s talk about why there is a change between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Where Old Testament saints were not indwelled and New Testament saints are indwelled. Well let’s look at the passage or the main passage that teaches the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 6:16 “16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Now this is a New Covenant passage. A New Testament passage. This was a change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. A major change from the Old Testament is that God said that in the New Testament, we as believers are the temple of the Living God. And he will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Go back to the book of Exodus. And let me say this, the reason for the shift between the indwelling of believers to the New Testament is because there is a shift between the temple in the Old Testament and the New Testament. See in the Old Testament there was a physical building. At first there was a tabernacle, a tent that was built for the sacrifices of God. Eventually that was made in to a physical building called the temple.
In the New Testament, there was a shift made where we no longer cared about a physical building called a temple. But God says that you, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And he is going to indwell you. And he is going to live in you and walk with you. And we will be his people and he will be our God. Here’s what’s interesting about the Temple. The Temple in the Old Testament was always indwelled by God. In Exodus 25 we have the story of the building of the tabernacle. Exodus 25:21 “21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark;”. So, if you remember, and I don’t have time to get in to all the details, he is giving them the details of the furniture which will go inside of this building called the tabernacle which would eventually be the temple. And part of the building is that he wanted them to build an ark, a box that had certain special things in it. And he wanted that ark to go in to the innermost part of the tabernacle. The inner room called the holy of holies. And he wanted them to put a mercy seat, a throne on the top of the ark.
Notice verse 21. “21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.” God’s word was there. “22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”. So, in the tabernacle, they always had this ark that represented the presence of God. And God said that he wanted to put a mercy seat there. And once a year on the day of atonement when the high priest would enter in to the holy of holies, he would literally meet with God. God said I will meet with you there. And the tabernacle and the temple always had the indwelling of God in the physical building.
Here’s what’s interesting. In the Old Testament, the building, the tabernacle was always indwelled by the presence of God. But from time to time, the building was filled with the presence of God. Let me show it to you. Exodus 40:34 “34 Then a cloud” Remember when they were in the wilderness, a cloud represented the presence of God. “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation,” Talking about the tabernacle that they build. Notice “and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon,” Notice “and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”. So, the tabernacle always had the indwelling of God through the ark of the covenant. But from time to time it had the filling of God where the entire building was filled with the glory of God. Where Moses and the Levites and the priests couldn’t even go in the building because the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Go to 1 Kings 8.
Let’s fast forward to the building of the temple. When they built the physical structure that took place at the tabernacle called the Temple. It had a Holy of Holies. It had the ark of the covenant. It had the indwelling of God. But from time to time, it had the filling of God. 1 Kings 8:10 “10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.” So, here’s what’s interesting. In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, they had a physical building called the tabernacle or the temple. And that’s where the presence of God was. And if you wanted to worship God, you had to physically go to that Tabernacle, to that Temple, make your sacrifices there. Because that’s where the indwelling of the presence of God was. It was always indwelled by God through the ark of the covenant. But from time to time, it was filled with the glory of God. It wasn’t always filled with the glory of God. It was always indwelled.
In the New Testament, the shift happens because now we get rid of the temple and you become the temple. And I become the temple. And now the Holy Spirit indwells me because I am the temple and from time to time I can get filled with the Spirit of God. So, the shift between why New Testament believers are indwelled with the Holy Spirit but Old Testament believers are not, has more to do with the shift in the Temple. The fact that the Temple was always indwelled with the Spirit of God. And it would be filled with the power of God from time to time. But in the New Testament, we are the temple. And now, I don’t need to go to a Priest. I don’t need to go to a certain land. I don’t have to go to a physical place. I don’t have to go and to some voyage to some pilgrimage to go to a certain location to meet God there. I’ve got the Holy Spirit of God indwelling me. Hey, I don’t need any man to mediate between God and man. Before you had to go to the priest and he would mediate for you at the temple. Now we are kings and priests unto God and his father. Why? Because we have the Holy Spirit of God inside of us. And the shift happened because of the shift of the temple.
So, if you want to ask the question of why New Testament believers get indwelled, it’s not because you are special. It’s because the New Covenant made you the temple. And when you became the Temple, you got the indwelling of the Temple. And from time to time, you can have the filling of the Spirit. I don’t want you to miss next week’s sermon because we will talk about the filling of the Spirit. And we will talk about reasons why someone might be filled with the Spirit or reasons why they might have the Spirit come upon them. And more important than that, we will talk about things we can do to be conductive or be available to have the filling of the Spirit.
So, you need to understand this about the Holy Spirit, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, it came upon, it filled, it was poured upon individuals. Sometimes they weren’t even saved. And it had to do with the power of God’s Spirit coming upon that individual. That power, that filling, that pouring could be lost. In the New Testament, we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. You’ll never lose that. But look, you can have sin in your life, you can walk in such a way where the Holy Spirit cannot use you. The Holy Spirit cannot fill you. The Holy Spirit cannot impower you. And we’re going to learn about that and talk about that next week.
Let’s pray.