1. “Comforter...with you forever” (John 14:16).
The Holy Spirit’s living in us and being with us is not temporary but forever. Once the Holy Spirit begins to live in us, He will be with us forever, never to leave. Contrary to what some people think, He will not leave us when we disobey Him and grieve Him. Our disobedience, trespasses, and offenses can only cause Him to be grieved and sad (Eph. 4:30); they cannot cause Him to leave us or forsake us. Once He is with us, He is with us forever. Praise the Lord!
2. “The Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
The Holy Spirit abides in us as the seal of God’s ownership as well as the pledge of our heavenly inheritance unto the day of redemption. The day of our redemption is when the Lord returns and when our bodies are transfigured to enter into glory. Therefore, the Holy Spirit lives in us and is with us to do different works in us and to manifest various functions in us until the Lord comes, and we are raptured and transfigured.
We are responsible to the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
1. “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thes. 5:19).
The first responsibility we bear concerning the indwelling Holy Spirit is that we should not quench Him. The original meaning of quench implies dousing fire with water. The Holy Spirit moves within us like a burning fire; we should not pour water on the Holy Spirit to quench His inspiration. For example, when we draw near to God in prayer, the Holy Spirit may touch us to confess to others. If we suppress this feeling and reason against it, we will quench the feeling, pouring “water” over it. We should never do this.
We should not fear the intense moving of the Holy Spirit within us. The more we allow the fire of His inspiration to burn, the more intensely He will burn. We must obey His moving within us. If He touches us not to wear a certain piece of clothing, we should obey and not wear it. If He touches us not to do a certain thing or say a certain word, we should obey by not doing that thing or speaking that word. If we obey and do not quench His move, He will burn us and cause us to be revived.
2. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30).
Our second responsibility to the indwelling Holy Spirit is to not grieve Him. He is the oil of exultant joy (Heb. 1:9), anointing us within. If we are obedient, He will make us joyful. If we neglect, disobey, quench, and go against His anointing and moving within us, He will be grieved, making us gloomy and unhappy.
Christians should be joyful, but many brothers and sisters are depressed and unhappy because they do not obey the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; rather, they grieve Him. Whenever the Holy Spirit is joyful in us, we will be joyful. Whenever the Holy Spirit is grieved within, we will be gloomy. Our being joyful or gloomy is the evidence that we are those who obey the Holy Spirit or those who go against the Holy Spirit. Our being joyful or gloomy is the proof that we have obeyed the Holy Spirit, making Him happy, or that we have gone against the Holy Spirit, grieving Him.
3. “Walk by the Spirit”; “Walk...according to the spirit” (Gal. 5:16, 25; see also Rom. 8:4).
On the negative side, we must not quench or grieve the indwelling Holy Spirit; on the positive side, we must walk according to Him. There is no brother or sister who has absolutely no inspiration and movement of the Holy Spirit within. It is crucial to submit to the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and move. If we obey the move and touch of the Holy Spirit, we will be more enlightened, more keen within, and will more readily understand the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and move. The Holy Spirit will also give us further feeling and moving. If we continue to obey the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and move, walking according to the Spirit, we will not lose His leading and guiding, His caring and strengthening.
4. “Mind...the Spirit” (Rom. 8:5).
On the positive side, regarding the indwelling Holy Spirit, we should not only walk according to Him, but we should even mind Him. To mind is a function of our mind. If our heart loves the Lord and desires to please Him, to fellowship with Him in His Spirit, and to allow His Spirit to lead us in our walk, we must mind the Spirit. Our mind controls us the most. If our mind minds things other than the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to walk according to the Holy Spirit. To walk according to the Holy Spirit, we must consider Him and mind Him. If we consider Him and mind Him continually, we will not lose the sense of His presence; rather, we will fully enjoy sweet fellowship with the Lord.
5. “Be filled in spirit”; “Filled...with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 5:18; Acts 13:52).
It is also our responsibility to be filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit. “Be filled in spirit” is a commandment from God that we are responsible to obey. We must seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we must allow the Holy Spirit to fill us. We must let Him remove sin, the world, the flesh, and all that is outside of the Lord so that He may have His full place in us. We must allow Him to possess and fill our whole inward being.
6. “Full...of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5, see also v. 3; 7:55; 11:24; Luke 4:1).
Not only are we responsible to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but we are also responsible to be full of the Holy Spirit. A person is full of the Holy Spirit after he is filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to pass through a gate at a certain point of time; to be full of the Holy Spirit is to maintain a constant condition. We not only must arrive at the infilling of the Holy Spirit temporarily, but we also must constantly maintain a condition of being full of the Holy Spirit. Although we are filled with the Holy Spirit and are full of the Holy Spirit, we may lose the infilling we have obtained if we are careless or unfaithful. To keep what we have obtained by the Holy Spirit’s continuous filling, we must be responsible to always be full of the Holy Spirit. We must allow the Holy Spirit to deal with and remove all that can cause Him to lose His place in us. To maintain the condition of being full of the Holy Spirit, we must allow the Holy Spirit a free way in us.