Where The Holy Spirit Dwells (Trinity Sunday)

WHERE THE HOLY SPIRIT DWELLS

Text: I Corinthians 6:19 - 20

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,  (20)  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Today is Trinity Sunday which falls the Sunday right after Pentecost every year. What does that mean? Is it just an abstract concept? Is it something that we just learn in Sunday School? What does it mean to our every day lives and everyday living? For centuries people have tried to explain the Holy Spirit.

Many have wrestled with the concept of the Holy Spirit using shamrocks (which has three leaves), eggs (the shell, the egg white and the yolk) and water (liquid, solid as ice, and steam which happens when water gets boiled). (David N. Mosser. ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2010. Melissa Scott. “The Community of God”. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2009, p. 176). That is an elementary example example of the infinite God in three persons, our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer.

In the Christian faith, we believe in what we call the Holy Trinity----God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible never specifically mentions the Holy Trinity but the Bible does mention how God works in ways that go beyond our ability to understand because God is infinite and we are finite.

Today we want to explore how the gift of God’s Holy Spirit helps us. We want to explore the indwelling, consecration and liberty.

INDWELLING

What does the word indwelling mean?

1) Address: Where you live is also where you dwell. By itself, the word dwell means to take up residence.

2) Empty houses: Have you ever heard of a squatter? A squatter is usually described as an unauthorized person who takes up residence in an empty house. Just as squatters do that with empty houses, evil spirits do that with souls that have not allowed God to be the Lord of their lives. Now consider what Luke 11:26 tells us,  Then it [a evil spirit who was evicted] goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first” (ESV).

3) Souls: Ezekiel 18:4 tells us that “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die” (ESV). “The word “souls” must not be understood in terms of disembodied spirits. The Hebrew soul (nepes) represented the totality of the person or the life-force within him.” (Taylor). (David Guzick’s Commentary).

4) Free Will: But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, death ruled over all human beings, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God's command. Adam was a figure of the one who was to come (Romans 5:14 GNB). God allows us to choose or not to choose Him out of our own free will. That is why through Jesus Christ, we can choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19) and become a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17).

5) By invitation only: The Lord enters our hearts by invitation only. Consider Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  That means that Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts and we are the only ones who can open that door because the door knob is on the inside of our hearts!

What did Jesus tell His disciples about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

1) Helper: In the KJV Jesus called the Holy Spirit a Comforter. The Greek word used to describe the Comforter aka as Helper and Advocate in other translations is parakletos. Consider what Jesus was saying in John 14:16 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Helper” which He describes as the Spirit of truth in John 14:17:  Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you (ESV). Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit three more times in John’s Gospel (John 14:26, 15:26 and 16:7).

2) Paraclete: Has anyone ever told you that they have your back? Hold that thought. Someone (Gordon Dalbey) once said “…when Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as Helper,” He uses a Greek word, Paraclete, that `was an ancient warrior’s term. ‘Greek soldiers went into battle in pairs…so when the enemy attacked they could draw together back to back, covering each other’s blind side. One’s battle partner was the Paraclete.” Our Lord does not send us to fight the good fight alone. The Holy Spirit is our battle partner who covers our blind side and fights for our well being.’’ (Edward K. Rowell ed. Fresh Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching. Grand Rapids: Baker House, 1997, p. 110). Have you ever thought of how the Holy Spirit has your back? >>>> We exercise wisdom when we “walk with the Holy Spirit” (Galatians 5:16 ESV) who has “our back” and who also who guides us into all truth (John 16:13).