The first time that the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) is specifically mentioned is in the 2nd verse of the Bible. Genesis 1:2 says, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the SPIRIT OF GOD moved upon the face of the waters.” The Spirit’s function in the Old Testament is somewhat different than His function in the Church Age that we live in today.

Let’s read Ephesians 1:13 which says, “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. Now, let’s compare that with Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” If we consider both of these verses together, we understand that as believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are all sealed with the Holy Spirit and He will remain with us until the “day of redemption.” According to Romans 8:23, this speaks of “the redemption of our body.” When the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit He said that He “dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:17)

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon men, but they were not INDWELT with the Spirit like we are, and they were not SEALED with the Spirit like we are. The Holy Spirit would come and go as He saw fit. A good example of that is Samson. While some think of Samson as a historic Superman, in reality he only had great strength when the Spirit came upon him. We read in Judges 14:5-6, “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. 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.” We read again in Judges 14:19, “And THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.”

Let’s consider David’s prayer as he confessed his sin to the Lord. Among other things, David prayed in Psalms 51:11, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” That is something that we WOULD NOT pray today. The Lord has promised that He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5), and He has told us that we are sealed with the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).

Today, although we are INDWELT with the Spirit, we are instructed to be FILLED with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 tells us, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.” How do we do that? First we have to empty ourselves of SELF, so that the Spirit might take over completely and FILL us completely. We can rejoice that we are INDWELT of the Spirit, but are we FILLED? May the Lord lead us to that filling!

Was Adam filled with the Spirit? The scriptures do not tell us directly, but as we consider how he lived after the original sin, we certainly see evidence that he was LED of the Spirit. In Genesis 4, we are told of how Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the Lord. Adam must have been led of the Spirit to teach his sons about the proper sacrifice, although Cain did not follow his father’s instructions and offered an unacceptable sacrifice to the Lord. So, in every act of obedience of Adam, it is manifested that Adam was led of the Lord. We read in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” To even have the desire to serve the Lord comes from the Spirit of God Who moves us to “do of his good pleasure.” (329.4)