The Spirit is WITH you
John 14:17 - 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.
At this level, the Spirit was with them but not yet in them. The Spirit comes upon people to open their eyes, touch them and bless them, convince them of the truth, and bring them to faith.
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. (John 16:8)
The Spirit is IN you
The second level of The Spirit’s activity is to come into us at the new birth. From then on He lives in us and never leaves. He does not come to visit but to stay and abide.
John 20:22 - And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Just as God breathed into the first man Adam to give him life, so too He breathes on us now to bring us to new life. In this, we are regenerated. From this moment on He never leaves us or forsakes us.
The Spirit is UPON you
The third level of His activity is to flow through you through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 - But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Here the activity of the Spirit is to clothe you with power as on the day of Pentecost. The presence of the Spirit in us is for us “to be”, but the presence of the Spirit on us is for us “to do”. In other words, the anointing is given for a purpose or a task.
In our ministry we have had thousands and thousands of people baptised in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This equips them for the ministry.
However, I have found it is important to make these distinctions. To be baptised in the Spirit is not to receive the Spirit. Believers already have Him dwelling within. It is to overflow with the Spirit. Jesus said: “Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:38).
Don’t let your tank run dry!
Beyond this I have emphasised that it is necessary to receive a fresh anointing. In Acts 4 the disciples received a “further” outpouring after the “first” one in Acts 2. For every new task the Lord has a fresh anointing. Don’t let your tank run dry. You will need to fill up with the Spirit regularly. The apostle Paul instructed believers how to “refill”.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (Ephesians 5:17)
By speaking and singing in the spirit we are refilled and refuelled in the Spirit. May this be your experience in the coming days.