Totally Immersed and Engulfed with the Holy Spirit... The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us Romans 5:5 Just reading the above title and verse, does it not bring on an all out, I-want-more! What a gift that has been given to each one who believe, and relies with faith, on the words from the Son, Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus the Messiah. For all the above, thus far, explicitly declares what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is all about! We read in John 14: John 14:15-21 15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever 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. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Such powerful and exciting news given from Yeshua just hours before His crucifixion. He has now promised a gift revealing that His own Spirit is to be given to each Believer! So where is the power and excitement today? Why has the spiritual abidance of the Holy Spirit become so diminished to such a degree that the typical Believer no longer care or concerns their selves to commune or even acknowledge the very existence of He, Who lives within? How grieving. Scripture declares that this is exactly what was to happen; let us read: 2 Tim 3:1, 2, 4-5 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be... unholy, 4... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. That is exactly where we are in this very day. Let us stop here and together pray with one heart: Father God, we are truly sorry for our lack of requiring good common spiritual sense with understanding. Please allow this writing to glorify Your Spirit that abides within the spiritual Holy Place of our body temples. In Yeshua s name this is lifted to You, Elohim. This writing is written in order to take a deliberate look at the indwelling and baptism of the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us from both the Father and the Son. My hope is that I will be able to give it its just deserve. With that being said, let us begin. 1
His Role with Mankind The Holy Spirit is omniscient and omnipresent, for He is God, our Elohim! So magnified is our understanding once we recognize that His Spirit is multi-dimensional. For His dwelling place resides within the Believer; yet at the same time Yehovah s Spirit is also, always and forever, before the Throne of Yehovah in the heavenly realm! It is through the Spirit that we are able to communicate with Yehovah from the Holy Place within our own body temples that point directly to the heavenly Throne in Heaven. So sacred, truly wonderful and glorious, is this understanding. Before the Throne in Heaven, the Spirit intercedes as He renders interpretation of our prayers in the heavenly realm. What a gracious act being carried out on our behalf from the Holy Spirit of Yehovah! According to Romans 8, it states: Rom 8:26-27 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of Yehovah. A Seven-fold Spirit Revelation 4:5 and 5:6 speak of the Spirit of Yehovah that dwells in Heaven. And of His Spirit, in both scriptures, it speaks of the Spirit as being seven-fold. Being seven-fold does not mean that the Spirit houses seven different spirits; but that there are seven given characteristics of the one Holy Spirit. So in order to grasp a fuller meaning of the seven-fold Spirit of Yehovah, we must first find what traits the seven-fold Spirit characterize. In Isaiah 11, prophecy is given concerning the coming of the Messiah. It is here that we read: Isa 11:2 2 The Spirit of Yehovah shall rest upon Him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of Yehovah These seven given attributes of the Holy Spirit are characterized in this scripture as being that of: 1. Wisdom 2. Understanding 3. Counsel 4. Might 5. Knowledge 6. Reverence and 7. Obedience These above mentioned attributes are an eternal part of His Being. What then becomes so 2
magnificent is that these same qualities are able to manifest themselves and live in us, because His Spirit now dwells within us. Think of the possibilities that this allows. We no longer are our own. So the more that He increases within us the more these attributes will abound and become a greater significant part of us. The Fruit of the Spirit As these characteristics begin to blossom into the new creature that we have become, something truly amazing outpours from us His fruit. These qualities are visible and exhibited outpourings of the Spirit which are directed to those that we come into contact with during our everyday lives. The letter to the Galatians reveal the personal qualities that we begin to produce as being the result of His indwelling. They are called the Fruit of the Spirit. Let us read: Gal 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 1. Love 2. Joy 3. Peace 4. Patience (longsuffering) 5. Kindness 6. Goodness 7. Faithfulness 8. Gentleness 9. Self-control Two other spiritual outpourings from the Spirit are presented in Ephesians 5, where it states: Eph 5:9 9... for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth... 10. Righteousness 11. Truth Reading in Ephesians 4, and then in John 20, we read of yet another spiritually produced fruit: Eph 4:32 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. 3
John 20:22-23 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 12. Forgiveness For myself, sometimes it becomes very necessary to have everything where it can be seen all at once. This is one of those times. I want to be able to see the seven-fold characteristics of the Spirit alongside with the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. Together they bring a correlation of connection with one another. Something is here that we all need to see a complete wholeness of the Holy Spirit who lives in us! Seven-fold Attributes of the Spirit Twelve-fold Fruit of the Holy Spirit script. ref: Rev.4:5; Rev 5:6; Isa 11:2 Gal 5:22-23;Eph 5:9; Eph 4:32; John 20:22-23 1 Wisdom Love 2 Understanding Joy 3 Counsel Peace 4 Might Patience 5 Knowledge Kindness 6 Reverence Goodness 7 Obedience Faithfulness 8 Gentleness 9 Self-control 10 Righteousness 11 Truth 12 Forgiveness The above mentioned are the Spirit-given attributes that dwell within each of us as Believers in Messiah. Awesome and amazing for sure! The indwelling should never be taken for granted; but rather, we should allow His presence to continually grow within us, ever increasing! This is the result of being baptized in the Holy Spirit! It is a total covering over, being immersed and engulfed with His traits which then produces in us His wonderful fruit! 4
The Gifts of the Spirit Once receiving Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus the Messiah, and accepting the baptism of His Spirit to dwell and become a part of us, we then begin to spiritually walk as a child of the Light. In this walk, we should always be ready to be openly used to edify and define the true and living God. During Yehovah s appointed times, the Holy Spirit will empower the Believer. The gifts imparted upon the Believer are diverse and numerous. These Spirit-gifts given to Believers become Yehovah s manner to manifest Himself to the outside world. Think of it like this... the gifts of the Spirit are Heavenly realm elements shining through the spiritual Believer who still exists within the confines of the Earthly elements. These events are made evident that they are spiritual in nature and could never be accomplished without the help of the Holy Spirit stepping in to complete. Therefore, becoming a miracle each time a spiritually-gifted event is put into action. Reading in 1 Corinthians, it states: 1 Cor 12:11 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. It is absolutely necessary to keep ourselves willing to be open at all times for the opportunity of being empowered through a gift of the Holy Spirit. With holy reverence, Spirit-given gifts need to be regarded with humble intent and purpose. NEVER allow any gift to be used for self-serving opportunities; AND, we must be very careful not to sensationalize the gifts given from the Spirit. Exhibiting a gift does not mean that a person is more empowered by the Holy Spirit than another. For we all share the indwelling of the same Spirit, Who is Elohim, our Creator, a triune God able to reveal Himself at any given moment at His own will. Therefore, exhibiting a gift of the Spirit only reveals that a Spirit-filled person was willing to be used at the appropriate time when Yehovah planned a manifestation for His own purpose. A gift will ALWAYS glorify Yehovah. At the beginning of this writing, scripture was given as Yeshua began to reveal to His devout the plan of sending them this Heavenly gift. Let us continue just a bit further in that chapter, as He continues the introduction of the coming Spirit: John 14:22-23 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, 5
and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. That first generation of Believers manifested the fulness of the Holy Spirit. They lived their lives passionately in love with Him, the One who now resided within them! But we who sit 2,000 years after that first generation, we have become so despondent to His indwelling. Often times we do not acknowledge or realize the experience that His presence is even within us. We have become so complacently satisfied and self-serving; requiring so very little of Him. This revolting condition has now reached a point that, for most, we no longer have any knowledge concerning the holy power possessed within us. Reading once again from 2 Timothy: 2 Tim 3:1, 2, 4-5 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be... unholy, 4... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. As stated at the beginning of this writing, that is very descriptive of the Body of Messiah today! But it does not have to remain that way. The very same Spirit that entered into the place where the disciples awaited His promised coming, this very same Spirit which came in the form of tongues of fire to rest above each head that blessed morning, He continues to desire that each chosen one of Yehovah be manifested with this same power even today. He is right here among us Right now! Here! At this present time! Totally Immersed and Engulfed in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Fall in love with Him. Require of yourself a need to know Him. The more you fall in love, and the more you sense a need, the more He gives of Himself to each one who desires. Our desire is the determining factor of how much He reveals Himself to those whom He calls His own. Do you desire just a little of Him? Or, do you require a lot of Him? Decide within your own self how much you want and that is exactly what you will receive! If you desire a need for His fulness, expect that He will bless that request which is made in the Son s holy name. This is the full meaning of being covered over with the baptism of the Spirit! Oh, how He loves and desires to be a part of us. We have such a gift that resides within our body temples. Let us find our way back to the passionate ways of that first generation of Believers and know what it is like to know His fulness! Let us put an end of taking for granted this possession that we carry within our own spiritual hearts. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is an awesome gift given from Yeshua to His betrothed! Read with holy reverence: 6
Rom 15:13 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things... John 16:13... He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. And lastly, the following scripture confirms the validity of this indwelling gift from Yehovah to be our assurance concerning all truth that is revealed to us. For it states in 1 John: 1 John 5:7 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. In Conclusion At the time of our acceptance of Yeshua s blood sacrifice for the remission of our sin, we then are to be immersed in water baptism. Also at the time of our acceptance, His seven-fold Spirit comes to reside within the holy tabernacle of this new creation inside a house not built by man. Living within a spiritual human being, the seven-fold Spirit begins to make known to the new Believer sweet attributes of His own personality traits; and through these new attributes, spiritual fruit begins to flourish. This fruit of the Holy Spirit consistently demonstrates to the outside world impressionable God-given reactions, which are consistent in nature within the Believer, but are not usual or typical responses within the nature of man. As a person spiritually and fruitfully matures, the Spirit continues His increase; enabling and empowering a child of Yehovah with special and diversified holy gifts. These gifts are given as Yehovah prompts and appoints opportune times to manifest His true nature to mortal beings through the use of one of His empowering gifts. All this taken together, along with water immersion which we have obediently undergone in order to identify ourselves with Yeshua, explains the fulness of being baptized in His Spirit. Baptism of the Holy Spirit becomes our covering as He completely engulfs His attributes by manifesting Himself within each one of us. Which is then exemplified in our every day walk to the outside world. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is allowing His control over our lives to become the norm. A very wise man once said, He must increase, but I must decrease. 1 Thank you, Father God, for this timely teaching a gift in itself! 7
For further understanding concerning the Holy Spirit s indwelling within us, there is another study presented on this website called, The Tabernacle of Man. It expounds in great detail how our body temples point directly to the heavenly Throne of Yehovah. If you found this topical study to be helpful, might I suggest you move on to research a bit deeper concerning the Holy Place within our body temples which houses the Holy Spirit of Yehovah. Go to: Tabernacle of Man Endnote: 1. John 3:30 8