And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
—John 14:16-17
He “shall be in you.” In these simple words, our Lord announced that wonderful mystery of the Spirit’s indwelling that was to be the crown of His redeeming work. For this, man was created. Throughout the ages, the Spirit struggled in vain to achieve God’s mastery within the hearts of men. It was for this that Jesus lived and died. Without this mastery, the Father’s purpose and the Spirit’s work would fail to accomplish their task.
In writing to the Corinthians, Paul had to reprove them for their terrible sins. Yet he said to all, including the weakest and most unfaithful believer, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Paul knew that if this truth were given the place God meant it to have, it would be the motive and the power to live a new and holy life.
To the backsliding Galatians, Paul asserted that they had already received the Spirit by the preaching of faith. God had sent forth the Spirit of His Son into their hearts. They had life by the Spirit in them. If they could only understand and believe this, they would also walk in the Spirit.
It is this teaching the church of Christ needs in our day. I am deeply persuaded that many believers are ignorant of this aspect of the truth concerning the Holy Spirit. This is the cause of their failure to have a holy walk with the Lord. Many Christians pray for the Holy Spirit’s power and confess their entire and absolute dependence on Him. However, unless His personal, continual, divine indwelling is acknowledged and experienced, failure will continue.
The Holy Spirit wants His resting place free from all intrusion and disturbance. God wants entire possession of His temple. Jesus wants His home all to Himself. He cannot do His work there, He cannot rule and reveal Himself, unless the home, the inner being, is possessed and filled by the Holy Spirit.