The Holy Spirit Then & Now
1️⃣ The Spirit Upon — Empowerment for a Moment (Old Testament)
What we will learn is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in The New Testament is different to the filling or Spirit upon the Saints In the Old Testament, because in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon certain people for a specific purpose and limited time, but it didn’t reside in the saints permanently.
🔥 Samson
📖 Judges 14:5-6 (KJV) Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
So we see here that the Spirit came upon him which gave him super strength, and in the Old Testament the spirit came upon kings, judges and prophets to empower them to do his will.
🔥 king Saul
📖 1 Samuel 10:9-11 (KJV) And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. 10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
Again, the Spirit came upon King Saul but this time the Spirit gave him prophecy, as in the Old Testament the word was carried by prophets, but in the New Testament its carried written by the Holy Spirit.
📖 Hebrews 1:1-2 (KJV) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
So we know that Jesus is the word of God, and it was written by the prophets through the Holy Spirit.
📖 2 Peter 1:20-21 (KJV) Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
And the word of God is now complete, there’s no extra revelations or words of private interpretation, as many false religions would like to believe, but its all complete and in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon them to prophesy his word as we see here with King Saul.
🔥 70 Elders
📖 Numbers 11:24-25 (KJV) And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. 25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
🔥 Bezaleel
📖 Exodus 31:1-3 (KJV) 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,
Also the we see here the filling of the Spirit is the same as the Spirit upon someone, and here it was for the purpose of building the tabernacle of God.
He empowered kings, prophets, and judges to fulfill God’s assignments, but His presence could also depart as with Saul
📖 1 Samuel 16:14-15 (KJV) But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
Even David cried, “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11).
📖 Psalms 51:9-12 (KJV) Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Some people get this wrong, they would say that we can lose our salvation when we sin, but thats not what David is saying here, he didn’t say restore my salvation to me, rather he is saying the Joy of Salvation, because when we sin we lose the joy of God in our lives, when we sin we grieve the Holy Spirit.
📖 Ephesians 4:25-30 (KJV) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Notice the list of sins here that will grieve the Holy Spirit, that grieving will take away the joy of life out of us and I know as we have all been there.
But back to what David was saying is that the Spirit “coming upon us” can be taken away, because in the Old Testament the Spirit didn’t indwell inside the Old Testament saints until Jesus was glorified, as we will see next, but the reason for this is that the Holy Spirit dwelt in the Tabernacle or Temple of God and the people worshipped God through the nation of Israel, where in the New Testament the Holy Spirit dwelt in us and our bodies is the temple of God.
📖 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (KJV) 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? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
2️⃣ The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (New Testament)
Through Christ’s death and resurrection, the Spirit no longer comes and goes He dwells in us permanently.
📖 John 7:39 (KJV) (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 see that the indwelling wasn’t given yet because Jesus wasn’t glorified, so after he die the temple was rent and the Holy Spirit left the Temple and started indwelling all believers. This signified that God was done with Temple system that the Levites took care of, now in the New Testament we don’t need to bring a sacrifice to Jerusalem nor do we have to listen to prophets of old as the teacher (The Holy Spirit) dwells in us.
This means that we all can open our bibles to read and understand.
📖 1 John 2:27 (KJV) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
This is how we know that we are saved and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit if we understand the scriptures when we read them, because the Bible how’s us that the unsaved cannot understand the scriptures.
📖 1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
John 14:16–17 — “He shall give you another Comforter… He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
Romans 8:9 — “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”
Ephesians 1:13–14 — “Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 — “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.”
Explanation:
The indwelling happens once at salvation.
The Spirit doesn’t visit; He moves in.
He marks us as God’s children and seals us until redemption.
What David feared to lose, we can never lose.
Truth:
In the Old Testament, the Spirit rested upon them.
In the New Testament, the Spirit lives within us.
We are His temple, His dwelling place, His vessel of power.
3️⃣ The Spirit Filling — Power for Service (Then and Now)
Like in the Old Testament we believers can be filled with the Spirit of God, this is different from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit happens at the moment of Salvation.
📖 Ephesians 1:13-14 (KJV) 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, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
This is the indwelling, but again, the Spirit can fill us which gives us empowerment to do great things for God which is different from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
📖 Acts 4:31 (KJV) And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
So again the Spirit empowered the disciples to preach during persecutions.
Now we all can get this filling of the Holy Spirit as it’s commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
📖 Ephesians 5:15-21 (KJV) See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
So here to be filled with the Spirit, this happens when we are walking in the things of God which is also known as walking in the Spirit, and its sin that stops the Spirit from filling us and using us mightily.
I also want to note that there is a few other things that help us to be filled with Spirit, and thats singing unto God and giving thanks, also submitting yourselves one to another, these are also important things we must be doing if we want to be filled with the Spirit.
