Manifesting Presence of the Holy Spirit

 

A Testimony

 

I was at the Toronto Revival at the TACF during the years from 1999 to 2005. I visited there many times during that period because my job as pilot took me there. Our layover hotel at the Airport was within walking distance of the TACF Church.

John and Carol Arnott are two of my all time hero’s of the faith. For they have undergone more criticism and judgment from so many in the Church and still they carry the Spirit of Revival with mercy and with grace. They have taught me what it is to love the Presence of the Lord even in the face of volumes of persecution. I honor them greatly for carrying this great torch of light!

I have volumes of testimonies from my times at TACF! One Sunday service at TACF, the Spirit of the Lord was manifesting right in the middle of John’s sermon. I witnessed this even in person. There were people laughing, people crying and some people were even being quite vocal due to the manifestation of the Spirit upon them. It seemed a little distracting, disruptive, and “out of order”. John very gently stopped mid stream in his sermon. He said this to the audience, paraphrased:

“You know, many of you are here for the first time. Some of you are Pastors and leaders. And some of you might be wondering why I, as the Pastor, am not stepping down to these people who are making these noises and kindly asking them to take it into another room. You might wonder why I am allowing this to go on while I preach this message.

I’m not totally certain that what these people are manifesting is of the Lord. Most times we do know. And when we do know that someone is manifesting darkness, we do make the effort to stop and remove the disturbance. But when I am not sure, I never get in the way to stop it. Because if I choose to step in and stop it, because I might be offended at what I am seeing, who is it that I am getting in the way of (referring to God)? By stepping in and stopping this, I very well might be stopping what Father is doing for this person, or even in this room.

I don’t worry about the devil in this room. Because I know that God created the devil and that Jesus has all authority over him. So I don’t worry about him. If the Spirit is in control in this room and I am not, what do I have to be concerned about? I will never take the chance of getting in the way of God.”

This is why revival remains in Toronto, and is the very reason why revivals have failed throughout world history. Leaders who became offended at the “strange” works of the Holy Spirit, who chose to rend out of God’s hands the reigns of control, stepped in and stopped what the Holy Spirit was doing. I have read about this in many accounts of past revivals. It has happened time and again and from generation to generation.

Revival is never meant to end. Historically, man has brought them to an end by fear, in questioning and stepping in between Jesus and His Bride to stop what they did not understand.

By whatever means we do it, if leadership chooses to not allow Father to lead His meetings by the Holy Spirit, there will be no revival, and whatever revival manifests will quickly come to an end.

This is what is meant by the “Church with no roof”. There no longer remains the religious “coverage”, which filters what God wants to bring down and which filters what the people want to send up to the Father. Leadership gives up the reigns of control and allows the Holy Spirit to come and to lead.

John and Carol Arnott understood this from the start. They would testify that they by no means got it perfectly right… But it was the condition of their hearts to give God full control. And to this day, God continues to respond to that.

And this is the result of 18 years of revival at TACF: Tens of thousands of Church plants, millions upon millions of souls reaped for the Kingdom, thousands upon thousands of healings around the world and hundreds of souls literally raised from the dead. And since 1994, this revival remains. All because two dear leader Saints refuse to get in the way of God even if they do not understand what He is doing or how He is doing it…

As was the fruit on the day of Pentecost, 3000 souls saved… so it is also in places of revival. Life from the dead.

 

The Greatest Product of Revival: Revelation Truth

 

Did the flow of supernatural revelation from Father God stop the day that the writing of the Bible was finished? Certainly not. For to say so is to say that God stopped speaking when the Bible was complete. To say so is to say that God stopped doing new things after the Bible was finished.

The Bible is the unchangeable, inerrant and complete word of God by which God has spoken to the world, and continues to speak to those in the world. By no means do I come against the validity and ultimate importance of the word of God! The word of God explains so much of who God is, what He does and how He does things. However the word of God does not contain God.

What I say here is in no way to add to or take away from the Holy Scriptures of God!

God never violates His word. He just violates our understanding of the word. This is one extremely important reason that Father gave us the Holy Spirit! He would not leave us to our own ability to be guided into truth:

John 14:15-18 “If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

 He was saying, “I will not leave you Fatherless. I will not leave you to conclude on your own. By my Spirit, I will come to you and guide you into all truth…”

One can speak of the absolutely obvious and even perform miracles directly before people, but unless the people have eyes to see and ears to hear, they will not see it. Such was the case when Jesus was ministering before the Pharisees. Such was the case so many times as He was ministering even to His apostles! Therefore revelation truth comes only to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. But revelation truth is absolutely necessary!

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…

John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

If the Holy Spirit is the bringer of all truth, then what truth do we presume to be moving in if it is not first given in times of revelation?

The Apostle Paul received the full gospel of Christ by supernatural revelation, and not by the teachings of any man. It therefore is implied that all he gained in Christ after his initial conversion was by the Holy Spirit’s revelation anointing, not by any mental argument or man based teaching. His understanding came by way of relationship with God and by supernatural revelation understanding:

Ga 1:11-22 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

Who was the bringer of this revelation to the Apostle Paul? The Holy Spirit…

Kingdom revelation knowledge is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is the very aspect that differentiates Christianity from all other religions of the world! For, only in Christianity is there a power that manifests God’s business into this world. Holy Spirit is a supernatural avenue of power that reveals that which is false as being false and that which is true as being true.

Without revelation knowledge, we are left to the conclusions and presumptions of the mind of man. Such is the basis for all error in religion.

While there is error that comes from those who honestly seek supernatural revelation truth within the Church, far greater error comes from those who reject supernatural revelation power out of fear or concern for false theology. Error comes when we reject God’s supernatural transference of Kingdom knowledge.

It, therefore, becomes incumbent upon leadership to seek the manifesting Presence of the Holy Spirit within the Church. For if He is accepted, He will come. But if He is rejected, He will not come.

If it is true that the Holy Spirit is the Counselor who leads us into all truth, then with the Holy Spirit OUT of the Church, what truth is that Church operating in? The answer is, the meaningless conclusions of the mind of man, and a descent into religious error.

Right truth comes by way of the word of God revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ma 22: 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

2 Tim 3:5 …having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Who is the “power” of God? He is the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus said it, the word and the power of God are required to be out of error. Therefore, the word alone is insufficient.

Revelation does not come by reading and knowing the word, then concluding it’s meaning. Satan knows the word of God better than any man on earth today. But for those whose hearts are dependant, revelation comes supernaturally as a gift from God to those who accept the Holy Spirit. Only then does the word come alive in the mind of the believer. Only then can one understand what Father is trying to say.

The Holy Spirit comes into those on the day they have first accepted Christ Jesus. (The Baptism into Jesus). The Holy Spirit comes upon those who understand the need for His supernatural work. (The Baptism into the Holy Spirit)

I like how the New Living Translation speaks this passage:

John 14:17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you…

Two clear manifestations of the Spirit are identified by Jesus in this passage. “With you now” is the move of the Spirit to bring all forms of equipping and teaching. “Later will be in you” is the mark of salvation through the completed work of the Cross. On the day of the Cross, “in you” was established. Also by way of the Cross, and manifested on the day of Pentecost, “with you” became dramatically increased. Those that waited by Jesus direction in the “Upper Room” were baptized into the Holy Spirit. Only then did they understood the truth!

I’m reminded of the state of the minds of the apostles before Christ died on the Cross. Jesus spoke in parables. They did not understand. Jesus spoke plainly and most times they still did not understand. They would argue amongst themselves about Jesus’ true meaning, but most times be completely missing what Christ was trying to say. Even as Jesus was upon the Cross, His very mother Mary still did not understand why. In John 14-17, we hear Jesus giving the apostles His final instructions prior to the Cross. Jesus spoke these words:

John 16:12-13 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Were the apostles stupid? All through the gospels we hear of how continuously the apostles did not understand even some of the most basic of Jesus’ teachings. Did Jesus pick a group of apostles that were intellectually challenged? Of course not! These men and women were endowed with the very same mental capability as we are today. They kept on with arguments that were completely irrelevant and completely out of line with what Jesus was trying to say to them.

What the apostles and followers did not have was the full measure understanding that only the Holy Spirit would soon be giving.

Jesus said, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” They were not of poor intelligence. They were simply in need of the Great Revelator who would lead them into all truth. They could not comprehend God’s understanding, they were only able to make cranial conclusions! And those conclusions were almost always in great error.

Is this not the very state of today’s Church if it is not moving in the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God?

What Jesus was saying to His followers was this: “Right now you are incapable of understanding, because you have yet to receive the Holy Spirit. I have to go and complete what I came to do on the Cross. When I die, the curtain of the inner court will be ripped from top to bottom so that even you can receive the Holy Spirit, so that even you can come directly inside to hear Father’s truth in intimacy. By this, you will be filled with the Holy Spirit upon you. By this, you will understand by supernatural revelation. By this, what you think will become insignificant. By this, you will be able to do supernatural things. By this, you will go out and reap the nations.”

The apostles could not understand Jesus, simply because they had yet to receive the Holy Spirit. All the parables of Jesus were mostly confusing to them. Even the basic teachings were above them. They needed the power of revelation knowledge to understand. Mary did not understand. But when the Holy Spirit filed the upper room on the day of Pentecost, they all understood in an instant!

Today we have a choice to receive the Holy Spirit or not. For the believer who loves Jesus, he has the Holy Spirit within him. But Christ died for more than just salvation. He also died so that we would be supernaturally equipped to understand and then effectively complete our calling before we go to Heaven. He died so that we would receive the Holy Spirit as in the day of Pentecost; the Holy Spirit upon man.

Since the day of the Cross, we have always been given the choice to receive the Holy Spirit in this same way, or to choose not. So we can be in His Spirit or devoid of the Spirit. It is our choice, the choice of the leadership of the Church.

Jesus instructed His followers to wait. He said, “Go to the Upper Room and just wait there.” And they did so. Then the Holy Spirit came. Then they understood. How simple this process of understanding is!

So it is today. Father is calling us to wait. Come together corporately and to wait upon Him. In the waiting, He will come. When He comes we will be brought into unity by One Mind.

Acts 4:31-33 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all…

This is the Church that Father is raising up in this day. This is the Church that will operate in revelation knowledge. Everyone will think alike simply because everyone gets the same Spirit. But it starts with a choice… from the top down.

Lord let this be said of us today?

 

Other Discussions on Revelation

 

Knowing God requires revelation knowledge:

MA 11:27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

All successful works of the ministry of the Lord into this world requires this manifestation of the Holy Spirit:

Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 12 talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the first two are wisdom and knowledge. Daniel understood that these things come by way of revelation:

Daniel 2:20-23 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”

Paul talks about the revelation of wisdom and the secret things of the Father given by way of the Holy Spirit:

1 Cor 2:6-13 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”– but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Revelation brings life. It’s not mans head knowledge. The natural mans mind craves knowledge. That’s information or knowledge of the physical man. But revelation is the language of Heaven and what the Spirit man craves. Revelation is knowledge straight from God which bypasses mans natural understanding. One is Holy, the other, where Heaven is concerned, is meaningless. Reference all of Ecclesiastes.

Where there is no revelation, no one thinks the same! No one is unified. There are endless theological arguments and division within the Church and between man:

Pr 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint…

Revelation knowledge, as defined by scripture refers to revelations of what God knows connected to what God wants us to know. It is a supernatural transference of what is of the Kingdom, in the Kingdom, brought down to us in this world. It is what is the will of the Father, spoken by Jesus that is delivered by the Holy Spirit. It can be summed up like this; the mind of Christ.

1Co 2 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned…  “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

All discernment of Kingdom truth is by the Holy Spirit, not by what we think. And if we choose to operate in what we cranially conclude, that which is spiritual cannot be rightly discerned. Because what is spiritual truth almost always conflicts with what is true in this world. Therefore, God’s “balance” in any issue, as He would define it, rarely aligns with worldly definition or worldly balance!

When the Church operates in man’s wisdom, Kingdom wisdom cannot reside. Leven has entered into former revelations and false theologies ensue. We hear not with an open mind to learn. We hear from a closed mind that has been locked into the tiny box of man’s intelligence.

When the Church operates in revelation knowledge, it is operating in a total state of dependence. This is the way of John and Carol Arnott. They depended in all things upon the Holy Spirit of God, not willing to get in His way.

The dependant heart waits for the next word, moves only as directed and acts upon only that which has been given in line with the Scriptural word of the Bible. This kind of Church has become under the yoke of God. Jesus said this:

Mt 11:29-30 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

To be yoked means to become totally obedient and dependent upon the One who holds the reigns. Our minds are not the driver; Jesus is, by the will of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

But when we, as Church leaders, choose to go a different direction than what the Lord says, or, by the fear of man or the devil, silence what we do not understand, we have cast off the yoke and then run forth in whatever ways our mind chooses. In such cases, and which is the state of the vast majority of today’s religious Church, we run out of control and unyoked. The Spirit departs. We enter into a state of spiritual lack and multiple divisions result. We miss the mark of God’s Kingdom truth. Like an archer wearing a blindfold, we shoot arrows everywhere but at the target, doing damage and establishing wounds wherever our arrows strike.

The religious Church is blind and unspiritual. It has become irrelevant as to Kingdom business for lack of Kingdom truth. Without revelation as its’ life blood, the Church is all but dead. Though God is forever awaiting a way back in… He is always willing to bring renewal to a people who will wait for Him.

Christ died that revelation be given. How we cheapen the cross if we reject the One who brings that revelation to us, the Holy Spirit of God, even if He violates our understanding.

The gospel truth cannot be taught or transferred in any way from man to man outside of manifest workings of the Holy Spirit.

In 2 Timothy 15, we are exhorted to be ones who “rightly divide” the word of God. So many quote this verse in defense of their own theology. How quickly people forget how Timothy was exhorted before this word:

2 Tim 1:13-14 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

And:

2 Tim 1: 6-8 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

Paul was telling Timothy that the only way to success in anything we do to further the expression of the Kingdom of God into this world is successful only by way of the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul understood, the “logos” written word alone is simply not enough. The power behind the word was absolutely necessary.

The right understanding of the gospel truth, for Paul, came by revelation knowledge. As it is with all believers who get it for the first time. The Holy Spirit revealed it…

Therefore inseparable from the truth of Christ is the power of His cross. Inseparable from the written word of God is the Holy Spirit. For one cannot even understand Christ and Him crucified lest the power of His cross manifest the revelation. And again:

Ma 22: 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

This is the beginning of wisdom, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in and upon me; in and upon the Church.

Some get wisdom and others knowledge, and many don’t. Not all are wise men in the church. But the revealed word is not disqualified by those that don’t get it.

Each of us have a part to play and a portion to give within the Church Body. That is why the whole Church Body is required to bring the whole word. But for those who don’t see, how damaging it is to reject the word due to lack of vision or willingness to learn. If I am truly dependent of spirit, then I am willing to receive from another even if it violates my understanding.

Likewise, some revelation words require right timing. For many words are unlocked in due season. In such a case, the rejection of a word can also be damaging. Discernment is the key… NOT by the mind of man, but by the Holy Spirit of God.

The bottom line is this… How pliable and teachable are we? Regardless of how long we have been in the business of doing Church, are we willing to hear the fresh revelation of the word of God? Is not God always doing a new thing? Is He not forever increasing?

Isaiah 43: 18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah prophesying Jesus:

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

God is forever increasing and always doing a new thing. How can we ever perceive it if we are not willing to flow in the revelation knowledge of the Holy Spirit?

May you be filled with the Holy Spirit and with revelation power.

T. Scott Morton