The earthly abode of the Holy Spirit

[methinkshe]

I have a question (or two or four!!)

Where is the earthly abode of the Holy Spirit?

1) In the atmosphere, i.e. everywhere/somewhere/anywhere He pleases?

2) Within regenerate believers?

3) Both 1) and 2).

Please reply with supporting Scriptures inasmuch as that is possible.

a) Following on from the above question, if your answer is 2) can we infer that at the Rapture the Holy Spirit will depart this earth with raptured believers?

and that...

b) thereafter, the Holy Spirit will only be found by special annointing as in the O.T. when prophets, for example, were filled with the Spirit to enable them to prophesy.

I look forward to hearing your replies as this is a subject that has been niggling away at the back of my mind for quite a while, and came back to me forcefully yesterday in church as we celebrated Pentecost.

[PeterH]

First, the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of God. God is omnipresent so I believe that the Holy Spirit is

everywhere.

Ephesians 1:13-14

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

This tells we are sealed with the Holy Spirit who guarantees our inheritance. Which means he attest to that he is working in us to produce his fruits.

In John 14 we can find Jesus telling us that Holy Spirit dwells with us and in us along with the Father and Jesus and we live in them.

John 14

15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

So yes the Holy Spirit lives in us but I don't think he is limited at all.

As to the second part of your questions. I'm assuming your coming from 2 Thessalonians 2:7

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

The "he" I don't believe is empirically stated as the Holly Spirit it is only assumed by some scholars to be so. It could very well the the He there is the Holy Spirit but it could be that he is referring to of the angels of God as well. I don't know enough of the original language to really dive deep into this maybe someone else here does though.

We do know though people will be saved even during the tribulation. Rev 7 talks about 144 thousand Jews being sealed and the uncountable multitude they bring to Christ during the tribulation. So if people are getting saved in the tribulation I tend to lean towards the Holy Spirit will be working in those saved people during that time.

Edited June 13, 2011 by PeterH

[Anguspure]

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit resides within and is the result of the relationship that exists between The Father and The Son.

The Spirit is the relationship itself. When our relationship with God begins the Spirit begins residing within us.

To grieve the Spirit is is to grieve God which harms the relationship between us.

We are full of the Spirit when we are righteous and in good relationship with our Heavenly Father and he is thus able to work through us.

Thats my thoughts anyway. Not on my own computer otherwise I would back it up with some scripture.

[methinkshe]

Thank you for your replies.

Perhaps I should explain exactly what is bothering me.

Some of the choruses we sang at church last Sunday (Pentecost) and some prayer content, did not sit well with my spirit. The ones that "call down" the Holy Spirit as though at our command, and the ones that call down "fire" by way of inviting the Holy Spirit to manifest His presence in the congregation.

I have given this much thought and this is where I have arrived to date.

If the Holy Spirit is present in believers, then wherever believers gather together, the Holy Spirit is there, so why the need to call Him down?

Also, the Holy Spirit is not under the authority of men he is sent by the Father at the behest of the Son: John 14:16

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; "

As for calling down fire, my understanding from Matthew 3: 10 - 12 is that fire represents God's judgement on the wicked:-

"10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11

[OneLight]

You are correct in stating that the Holy Spirit is already with us, but some believe they can be "refilled", as in ensuring you have enough oil for your lamps, where the oil is the Holy Spirit and the lamp is us. Personally, I believe that when we neglect God in our lives, we begin take back parts of our lives we once gave to His Spirit. He is always there, but we only allow Him to have only so much of us to work with. The rest we keep to "ourselves". The more of us we give to God, the more the Holy Spirit fills us. Seeking the refilling of the Holy Spirit actually is a way of recommitting our life to Him, releasing that part of us that we had been holding onto.

When the Day of Pentecost came to the Upper Room, there sat upon each believer tongues of fire. Fire not only represents judgment, but also purification.

Hope this helps.

[methinkshe]

Thanks for your response, OneLight.

I am grateful for all contributions. Thank you for taking the time to help me.

Also.....

.......I think I've just found some answers from this book:

http://www.acts1711.com/Contents.html

"God the Father, as a Person, is in the highest heaven. His presence is manifested in men as the "Spirit of the Father." Christ the Son is in heaven as a Person, His presence in men is by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of the Father, and of the Son, is on earth in the Church, which is the Body of Christ; and manifests the Father or the Son, in, and to believers, as they are taught by Him to apprehend the Triune God. Hence Christ said "I will manifest Myself," to those who loved and obeyed Him; and later "We will come, and make our abode with him" (John 14: 23) i.e. , by the Holy Spirit to be given on the Day of Pentecost."

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Why "waiting meetings"--that is, "waiting for the Spirit" until He descends in some manifested way--have been so profitable to deceiving spirits, is because they are not in accord with the written Word, where it is set forth that (1) The Holy Spirit is not to be prayed to, or asked to come, as He is the Gift of Another (see Luke 11: 13; John 14: 16). (2) The Holy Spirit is not to be "waited for," but to be taken, or received from the hand of the Risen Lord (John 20: 22; Eph. 5: 18); of Whom it is written, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Matt. 3: 11). [This is] out of line with the truth of the Scriptures, therefore prayer to the Spirit, "trust in the Spirit," "obeying the Spirit," "expecting the Spirit" to descend, may all become prayer, trust, and obedience to evil spirits, when they counterfeit the working of God, as we shall see later on.

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But is anyone sufficiently familiar with this book "War On The Saints" by Jessie Penn-Lewis with Evan Roberts to vouch for its integrity when measured against Scripture?

I just came across it while trying to find answers to my above questions and have only quickly read through the first few chapters from where I extracted the above quotes. They support my understanding of what Scripture teaches on the matter but I am always aware of my fallibility and how easy it is to deceive oneself.

I'd be grateful for any comments on the above linked book and the quotes I have extracted from it.

Many thanks.

[nebula]

Has anyone else ever puzzled over this one?

Acts 4

23 When they [Peter and John] had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL 25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, 'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS ? 26 'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.' 27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. 29 "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

This happened after Pentecost.

[methinkshe]

You are correct in stating that the Holy Spirit is already with us, but some believe they can be "refilled", as in ensuring you have enough oil for your lamps, where the oil is the Holy Spirit and the lamp is us. Personally, I believe that when we neglect God in our lives, we begin take back parts of our lives we once gave to His Spirit. He is always there, but we only allow Him to have only so much of us to work with. The rest we keep to "ourselves". The more of us we give to God, the more the Holy Spirit fills us. Seeking the refilling of the Holy Spirit actually is a way of recommitting our life to Him, releasing that part of us that we had been holding onto.

When the Day of Pentecost came to the Upper Room, there sat upon each believer tongues of fire. Fire not only represents judgment, but also purification.

Hope this helps.

Dear OneLight,

Belatedly, I have just realised I need to correct your above statement that I have underlined.

Acts 2:3

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. NIV

or

"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them." KJV

So the manifestation "seemed to be like tongues of fire" or was "LIKE as of fire" rather than they WERE tongues of fire.

I know it is a small difference but I really need to get into the detail at the moment, therefore I must get the detail correct in my mind.

I hope you understand that I am not trying to be pedantic but rather to discover the WHOLE counsel of God, from Genesis to Revelation, and to do this I must be very careful that I accept only that which is said in God's Word as opposed to loose transliterations.

Your sister in Jesus,

Ruth

[methinkshe]

Wow! This book - "War on the Saints" - is a real eye opener.

It was written 100 years ago but is so apposite today that it might have been written yesterday.

I am now on chapter 6 and all those discomforts I have known in my spirit (which, tbh go far beyond what I have voiced in my o.p., since 2 of my children are caught up in an "emerging church" type fellowship within which I have been unable to find any unity in the Holy Spirit) have been answered, so that I am beginning to understand the hows and whys of my spiritual unease with their ways.

Please. please, has anyone else read this book and examined it in the light of Scripture?

It answers so many of my questions that I cannot believe that it has entirely escaped the attention of the church of Jesus.

What think you, my Berean brothers and sisters?

[nebula]

The ones that "call down" the Holy Spirit as though at our command,

I always thought of those as prayers, not commands.