One of the things that Paul sought to set in order among the Corinthians was misuse of tongues in public worship. He did not condemn the use of tongues; actually he claimed that he spoke in tongues more than them all. Like the Corinthians, many people still think that speaking in tongues is the only purpose of the Spirit of God. As important as speaking in tongue is, it is no more than our introduction to vast benefits derivable from the Spirit. Speaking in other tongues is not the sole manifestation of the Spirit’s presence in a life. Strangely, too, someone could speak in tongue without a trace of the Spirit’s presence in his or life. This is possible because there are counterfeit tongues too.
A good way to test the Spirit’s presence is divine revelation. Our text states that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon. One of the things that the old man enjoyed was divine revelation. “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Luke 2:26 NKJV. Speaking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said that He would reveal things to come. The Spirit of the Lord is a revealer. If you submit fully to the Spirit of God in your life, you will be blessed with revelation both through Scriptures and other means. Reading further, the Bible reports that Simeon “came by the Spirit into the temple”. That means when the Spirit is present, enjoying continuous guidance becomes possible. Since the Spirit is to abide with us forever, we should enjoy the benefits of divine disclosure and guidance continually.