His answer was, "All I ever did was to remember that greater is He who is in me than he who is
in the world."
Dare to act on that scripture!
This doesn't belong only to preachers. It is not just preachers who are a thousand times bigger
on the inside than they are on the outside. It is not just preachers who have the Holy Ghost in
them.
John was writing to lay members when he said, "Ye are of God, little children, and have
overcome them: because GREATER is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John
4:4). You are not left helpless in this life. The Greater One is in you.
The Role of the Holy Spirit Within
We saw how the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us. Let's look now at what He is going to do in us.
The Holy Spirit Within Results in the Fruit of the Recreated Spirit
It is significant to notice in the Scriptures that there are two groups of nine in connection with
the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer:
1. The nine fruit of the Spirit, which are a result of the Holy Spirit's indwelling Presence.
2. The nine gifts of the Spirit, which are a result of the Holy Spirit's infilling power.
We will discuss the nine gifts of the Spirit in the baptism or the infilling of the Holy Spirit in
Chapter 5. But let's look first of all a t the nine-fold manifestation of the fruit of the born-again
human spirit that is a result of the Holy Spirit's indwelling Presence. Paul lists them in
Galatians 5.
GALATIANS 5:22,23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONG-SUFFERING, GENTLENESS,
GOODNESS, FAITH,
23 MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE: against such there is no law.
In John 15:5, Jesus told the disciples, "I am the vine, ye are the branches. ..." Now where does
the fruit grow? It grows out on the branches!
This fruit, then, that Paul is talking about in Galatians 5 is the fruit of the recreated, born-again
human spirit, growing within the believer's life as a result of the life of the Holy Spirit within.
We see a biblical example of the fruit of the born-again human spirit in Luke 24:51-53 before
the Day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
LUKE 24:51-53
51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up
into heaven.
52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem WITH GREAT JOY:
53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
According to Galatians 5:22, joy is a fruit of the born-again, recreated human spirit. We see in
this passage in Luke 24 that the disciples had great joy, but they were not yet filled with the
Holy Spirit. Therefore, the fruit of the spirit could not be a result of the baptism in the Holy
Spirit, for the Day of Pentecost had not yet come.