Matthew 1:23 (KJV)
God With Us
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
John 14:15-27 (KJV)
God Sends Us the Holy Spirit, in the Name of Jesus
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 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.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Luke 17:20-21 (KJV)
The Kingdom of God is Within Us
20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Acts 8:14-17
Receiving the Holy Spirit
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 19:1-8
Paul in Ephesus on the Holy Spirit of Jesus
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
1 Corinthians 3:16 (KJV)
We Are the Temple of God
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Galatians 3:14
The Holy Spirit and Faith
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
1 John 1:9
Confess Your Sins
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The Temple of the LORD has changed over the years...It used to be that the Tabernacle, the tent, where Aaron ministered was the Holy Temple...Solomon built a Great Temple for God where the people worshipped Him...That Temple was probably destroyed by the Babylonians, when they captured and exiled the Jews around 587 b.c...Then a second Temple was built around 561 b.c. as a place of worship for our LORD...The Romans destroyed the second Temple around the year 70...
The Temple of God seems to have changed with the birth and life of Jesus, our Savior...When Jesus was born, He was also called Immanuel, which means God with us...So as Jesus lived, and later taught God has been with us...Jesus tells us in His teachings that His Father would send us the Holy Spirit, and send it His name...Then He teaches us that the Kingdom of God is not something we can just look at and see and observe...It is something indwelt...We now start to see that the Holy Spirit (at least to me) is mysterious...Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is within us all...So the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost is in the name of Jesus and it is in us all...This is because Jesus is the way to the Father, and His Kingdom...So we must not trust only in His Father, but we must also trust in His Son, who He sent to us and for us...
The Holy Spirit is God's Presence...It seems since Jesus' death and resurrection that the Holy Spirit is now the Temple of God...St. Paul asks us, if we realize that all of us are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit of God lives in us?...(It is in us, but how do we get the Holy Spirit out and working in our lives)...So we are now God's Temple according to St. Paul...It also seems that early on the placing of hands on another believer helped one in receiving the Holy Spirit...St. Peter in the Acts prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit...Before this, never had anyone in Samaria been given the Holy Spirit...And St. Luke writes that some of the believers in Samaria had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus -but still had not received the Holy Spirit...But the Holy Spirit had not yet come to the new believers in Samaria...Then Peter and John placed their hands on the new believers...Then they received the Holy Spirit...St. Paul in the Acts, when he was in Ephesus, tells us that you can believe and not have the Holy Spirit...Then Paul also placed his hands on the new believers, then the Holy Spirit came to them...Jesus had given these apostles the tools and authority to touch others and to allow the Holy Spirit to enter their lives...
It seems St. Paul and St. Peter and St. John maybe implying that we need help from Jesus to receive The Holy Spirit that God sent in His name and is in indwelt in us...As God is with us...But the touching of another believer also helped those in Samaria and Ephesus receive the Holy Spirit...But regardless of the process of receiving the Holy Spirit other people see God and His Presence through us, since He is residing in us and is with us...All this seems confusing and it is...
Like God and His Son, the Holy Spirit remains a mystery very much today...Some say we receive the Holy Spirit, when we are baptized...Others say it is when we first believe...Others say it is when the Holy Spirit decides to come (and He decides)...Some say it is when a believer's faith matures...And others say that the Holy Spirit comes when God allows it to come so one can do His good works...
What it seems as we read about the Holy Spirit is we must first be believers and trust in both the Father and His Son -to receive the Holy Spirit...The promise of the Holy Spirit is through faith...St. John tells us to confess our sins to help purify us from all unrighteousness...It seems we need a readiness and willingness and want of the Holy Spirit, as did the believers in Ephesus and Samaria had...I think praying for God and His Son's help as the disciples did in Samaria helps to bring on the Holy Spirit...And we need to read about all the different verses on the Holy Spirit in the Bible to learn as much about the Comforter as we can, so that He may fill our hearts...