Visitation vs Habitation

When we look at God's people in the Old Testament, the ones who seem to stand out were usually those who had the Holy Spirit's presence at work in their lives for a particular purpose.  They weren't special, just willing to be used because God was with them.

The fact that God was with them made a difference in the saints of old, and He still makes a difference in our lives today.  I want to look at what this presence by the Holy Spirit was then, and compare it to what we have today.  I'll begin with some Hebrew saints of old and what the scripture has to say about their lives.

In the sixth chapter of Acts, we find Steven entering into a dialog with certain Greek speaking Jews called "Hellenists," which were disputing and arguing over how the ministry of the church was being run.  So Steven was chosen to speak to these argumentative men ... and the dialog continues into the seventh chapter with Steven giving them a history lesson including how Jacob's own children sold their brother Joseph into Egypt as a slave.

And then Steven, speaking about Joseph says in Acts 7:9, "... but God was with him."

After the Lord established David as King over Israel, it states in 2nd Samuel 5:10 ... "And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him."    

When Solomon became King, he called for the congregation of Israel to gather together with him as he prays for God ... "who dwells in heaven" ... to keep the promises He made to his father David.  So Solomon prays in 1st Kings 8:26-27 ...

"And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.  But will God indeed dwell on the earth?"  

As Solomon comes to the end of his prayer, he stands and proclaims this blessing upon Israel ... "The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers: let Him not leave us, nor forsake us."  (1st Kings 8:57)

Solomon's prayer was answered by God as we see in 2nd Chronicles 1:1 ... "And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly."

I'm sure that by now you have noticed that in these scriptures about Joseph, David, and Solomon, there is a recurring theme, that God was ... with them.

But there is one more person of interest and perhaps of more importance ... Samson.

He's not more important than the others, but it's what the scripture says about him that I want to point out.  Everyone knows the story of Delilah and how she finally talked Samson into telling her the secret of his super-natural strength.  So she had his hair shaved off and then woke him out of his sleep with the cry ... "The Philistines be upon you Samson."

And then we have one of the saddest verses in the Word of God.  I pray this never happens to any of us.  Judges 16:20 ... "And Samson wist not that the Lord was departed from him."

His strength didn't come from his hair ... it was the presence of the Spirit of the Lord.  (Judges 13:25)  When the Holy Spirit left him, his strength became that of a normal man.  The lesson to be learned here is ... our dependence upon the Holy Spirit must not be overlooked.

I am so glad that today as believers in Jesus, we have an advantage over the saints of old.  The patriarchs, even though they were real men of God, had only the presence of God placed upon them ... hence the recurring theme in scripture ... God was with them. 

The Holy Spirit did not dwell in their hearts, or if you prefer, their spirits and souls as He does today in born-again believers of Jesus.  It was only a "visitation" on them, not a "habitation" or the indwelling, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told His followers that when He is no longer with them on the earth, that God the Father would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit (or as I prefer to say, the Spirit of Christ) to replace His presence with them, and that the Holy Spirit would abide with them for ever ... and when the Spirit comes, He will not only dwell with them ... He shall be in them.  (John 14:16-17)

The Apostle Paul spoke often about the Holy Spirit living in us, saying one time that we even have the mind of Christ.  (1st Corinthians 2:16)  Knowing this ... having the Spirit not only with us, but in us ... should give us a spiritual advantage the saints of old didn't have.  Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:9-11 ...
 
"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.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (make alive) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you."

This in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit is what the saints of old didn't have.  They only had, as wonderful as it was, a ... "visitation" ... of God's Spirit upon their lives.

We are blessed today because we have a ... "habitation" ... of God's Spirit within our heart and soul.  God in the form of the Spirit of Christ is dwelling inside of us.

Wow ... so now we don't have an excuse for sin, do we.


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