What is a difference between the Holy Spirit coming upon someone and the Holy Spirit dwelling within someone?
The Lord Jesus told His disciples in John 14:16-17, “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.” In this statement, the Lord acknowledged that the Spirit dwelt WITH each of them. He pointed out that soon He would send the Spirit to dwell IN each of them. That day occurred on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit ascended and indwelt every believer. We read in Acts 2:1-4, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” This was the beginning of the Church.
The Lord Jesus had said to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (the confession of the Lord Jesus) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” At the point, the creation of the church was yet future for Christ said, “I WILL BUILD my church.” It was on the day of Pentecost that the church began, identified by the Holy Spirit INDWELLING every believer. We also read of this truth in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLETH IN YOU?” We also read in Galatians 4:6, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Today, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
This was not true of the Old Testament believers. The Holy Spirit came upon men at times, but they were not ‘indwelt’ constantly with the Holy Spirit. Consider the words of King David in the confession of his sins in Psalm 51:11-12 where he prayed, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” That is a prayer that we do not need to pray today. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and He will not leave us. We read in Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” It is very possible for us to grieve the Holy Spirit by sinning against Him, but we cannot ‘grieve Him away.’ In fact, we are assured that we are “sealed (with the Holy Spirit) unto the day of redemption.” That is, the day of the redemption of our bodies when we are taken to be with the Lord.
We read several times of how the Holy Spirit ‘came upon’ Samson in the Old Testament. Many think of Samson as some sort of a Superman who had superhuman strength. Actually, it was when the Spirit came upon him that he became strong. Judges 15:14 speaks of Samson. It says, “And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD CAME MIGHTILY UPON HIM, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.” We read of Gideon in Judges 6:34, “But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.”
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon different ones to fulfill His purposes. Today, all believers are in Christ’s church (Acts 2:47). We also read in Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” The indwelling Spirit is a token to us that we are truly saved. (377.6)