I’m wrestling a bit this morning with a statement that I know is concerning Christ but I feel like applies to me as well. A truth that concerns the uniqueness of Jesus but which I feel is also true of all believers. A spiritual dynamic that not only played out in the Lord, but that I think is intended to find a greater and greater reality in His people too.

The context is John’s response to his disciples who are getting a bit bent out of shape over Jesus’ ministry which is gaining a following. Having been used to being the only “revival meeting” in town, they are seeing more and more people flocking to see Jesus. Jesus’ following is increasing while the size of crowd that John is commanding is getting less and less. And John’s disciples are struggling with it.

And John responds to His disciples that that is precisely how it should be, “It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” (John 3:29-30 NLT). And John goes on to instruct them in the supremacy of Jesus’ ministry as He who has come from above . . . as He who has come to testify of what He has seen and heard in heaven itself . . . as He who has come to speak the words of God . . . as He to whom the Father has given everything into His hands . . . the Son being the way of everlasting life (John 3:31-36).

And in this context, John makes the statement that has caught my attention . . . “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.” (John 3:34)

Jesus was unique among men in that He was Immanuel . . . God with us. Embodied in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth was the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9) . . . Father, Son, Holy Spirit . . . Triune God contained bodily. And, in that sense, God does not give the Spirit by measure. When Jesus was baptized by John and the Spirit descended upon Him . . . though He was seen as a dove . . . a small, finite, vessel . . . it conveyed the unity and completeness of Father, Son, and Spirit in this Man in the Jordan. And so, in a sense, Jesus “received” the Spirit like none other . . . operated in a fashion apart from any man as He, in the fullest sense, was God incarnate. Unique . . . One of kind . . . true statement.

But what of the statement that “God does not give the Spirit by measure?” As a vessel indwelt by the Spirit this morning do I have all of Him . . . or just some of Him. Does God give just a “cup of Holy Spirit” to believers to start with . . . and if we seem to be able to handle ok, He might give us a bit more? Or, is John’s statement a statement of universal and eternal truth? . . . that the Holy Spirit isn’t apportioned . . . not distributed bit by bit . . . but instead, when you receive the Holy Spirit . . . You receive the whole of the Holy Spirit?

Now to be sure, the degree to which the Holy Spirit is seen in a believer’s life increases over time. Unlike Jesus, who was perfect man and posed no opposition to the Spirit’s leading, we sinners-saved-by-grace have the Spirit introduced into a life that needs to learn to crucify the old man and learn to respond to the Spirit more and more. Our old man has a tendency to oppose and resist the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). So I don’t think it’s a matter of how much Spirit we have, but how much room we’ve allowed the Spirit to control. Truly, like John, we need to decrease, so that He might increase . . . but I don’t think we need more of the Holy Spirit . . . God does not give the Spirit by measure.

When Jesus promised to send a Counselor and Comforter to believers in order to lead us into truth and empower us for kingdom living, I’m thinking that, just as the Son came fully upon the place of His earthly inhabitation, so too does His Spirit. He doesn’t measure out an “amount” of Holy Spirit . . . instead He pours out the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17-18) . . . in fact, He pours Him out abundantly (check out Colossians 3:4-6). The Spirit without measure . . . indwelling this finite man . . . seeking to transform him more into the image of the Son of Man. Oh, that He might increase and that I might decrease . . . that His fullness would be evident in me . . . for His glory . . . amen?