Every true believer in Christ is born again, has been washed in the blood, and has received the Holy Spirit. These blessings are not something to be attained to by our efforts, but they are consequent on faith in Christ and His work, and are true even of the youngest Christian. When we believe the gospel of our salvation, we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. We have not to ask for the Spirit to come, for He came on the day of Pentecost-sent down by a glorified Christ-and He will remain as an indwelling Spirit as long as the Church remains; that is, until the Lord comes.
We desire to draw the reader's attention, briefly, to two aspects of the presence of the Holy Spirit- first, in connection with the privileges which are ours in consequence of it: and, second, the responsibilities which it entails.
We want the young Christian to clearly lay hold, by faith, on the truth that he is "sealed" and "anointed" by the Holy Spirit, who is also the "earnest" of our inheritance (Eph. 1:1313In 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, (Ephesians 1:13); 2 Cor. 1:21,2221Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:21‑22)). These are facts true of all believers, and it is of the greatest importance that we should know them so that the soul may be established in the truth. God has set His seal upon us and marked us as His own. Then, as those who are redeemed and justified by faith, God brings us into the place of children in His family-sons. Are we left in ignorance or uncertainty as to this blessed relationship? Certainly not. Even in human relationships, if I did not know that a man was my father, how could I have the feelings of a child toward him? But the moment I know it, all the feelings and privileges proper to the relationship are there. Now, our God would not leave us in uncertainty; and so, because we are sons, He has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. He wants us to have the blessed conscious enjoyment of the relationship in which we are-and this is the privilege of the youngest in the family of God; therefore He gives us the Spirit that we may know it.
Again, our Lord when just about to leave the world, spoke to His disciples of a day then future, when the Holy Spirit would not only be "with" them, but "in" them. This "day" is the dispensation or period between Pentecost and the coming of the Lord-this very "Church" period in which we live. The result of this indwelling of the Holy Ghost would be that we should know that as He was in the Father, we are in Him, and He in us ( John 14:2020At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:20)). Thus the Savior, whose divine love to His own was in no wise weakened because of His departure to heaven, would have them, by the Holy Spirit, to enter into the conscious realization of the fact that they were in Him before the Father above and that He was to be in them down here before the world. Blessed high and holy privilege on the one hand, and consequent responsibility on the other, which it is ours to know by the Spirit! The Spirit never leaves us in doubt or uncertainty: on the contrary, it is His place and service to lead us into all truth, to instruct us out of the written Word, so that even the youngest believer may enter in and possess the land; may set his foot firmly down upon it in faith, as the gracious gift of God.
Further, it is by the Spirit that the love of God is "shed abroad" in the heart (Rom. 5:55And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5)). True, we cannot fully comprehend that love, for it is, like God Himself, infinite; but what a wonderful fact, that it should be poured out, so to speak, into the heart of the believers; so that, just as the sunlight warms and vivifies the earth, every crevice of the heart should be filled with its joy and sweetness!
We shall now say a few words as to the responsibilities which flow from the fact that we have received the Holy Spirit. "What! know ye not," says the apostle, "that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?" Weighty truth! The believer is indwelt by the Spirit-his body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. What an incentive to holiness of life-for His temple must not be defiled by the allowance of what is unsuited to the presence of God. But let the young believer never question that he has received the Spirit-rather let him seek grace to walk in self-judgment, to keep the body under, to walk in the Spirit, to live in the Spirit, to refuse and renounce everything contrary to the high and holy privileges which are his.
Again, we read, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." It is just because we are sealed-not for a week or a month or a year-but right through to the day of redemption, that we are not to grieve Him. When we grieve the Spirit by the allowance of what is contrary to God, He becomes within us a reprover, and has to lead us to judge ourselves, instead of carrying on His blessed work of teaching us more of Christ.
Then, further, we have the exhortation, "Be filled with the Spirit." To be "filled" we need first to be "emptied" of self, and those selfish motives which so easily cling to us. It is no question of a second "baptism" of the Spirit-the only "baptism" we read of in scripture took place at Pentecost and is not repeated.
Reader, does the desire go up from your heart to the Lord to be "filled with the Spirit"? It is a blessed thing to be so "filled"-it is the Spirit taking possession of the heart and the mind and affections; and occupying us, not with ourselves and our own selfish interests, but with Christ and His interests.
May every young believer know more of this each day!