Manifesting Presence of the Holy Spirit

2Co 3:4-12 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

1Th 1:2-3 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.  We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith, love and hope result in good works, valuable labor and endurance to finish what God has started in us. In all this we understand by revelation knowledge that it has nothing to do with us, rather it is ability that has been given us by God. We are incapable in and of our own. HE HAS MADE US COMPETENT. Our competence in all these things comes from God. 

“We do not have faith because we understand. We have understanding because we have faith.”

Bill Johnson

In other words, what we know by faith has been given us. It has not been concluded or figured out of our own ability. Our understanding is by revelation that is born by faith!

All our good fruit is based upon 1) A faith that must first believe without seeing, then we see. 2) Love, even when not loved back, and… 3) Hope in the knowledge of the Kingdom of God that is to come. To come is defined as that which is to come in heaven and that which is to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Our hope does not have to defer until heaven. From the Lord’s Prayer: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” Therefore the fullness of our hope must be in both that which is to come and that which He brings to us on earth here and now.

Our hope is both in our salvation home but also in God’s manifestation of the Kingdom of God in our midst. More so, I am convinced that the greater hope is for Kingdom power to come to us here today “on earth as it is in Heaven.” This yields perseverance and a supernatural ability to reap a great harvest.

The church has little seen that which could be on earth. It has become complacent in doing only that which is based in the knowledge of salvation and what we might gain in eternity. But God is reminding the church that the power of the Cross is as important as the result of the Cross. Let me say that again, the power of Cross of Christ is as important as the result of it! Namely, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in and upon us in the here and now.

The result of His Cross is Heaven. But the power of his Cross is manifesting from Heaven to us to bring the Kingdom of God to earth as it is in heaven. We don’t have to wait for Heaven to get a bit of Heaven here and now. 

In fact we are commanded by Christ in John chapters 14-17 to be filled with this power before going out and doing anything.

The reason that the church fails so miserably in endurance is because of the lack of hope. Not hope in our heavenly home, but hope for power in the here and now. We must therefore hope not just in our Kingdom to come, but in our Kingdom that Father wants to bring on earth NOW!

Understanding salvation is well and good. But how few really understand that the fullness of Christ’s sacrifice was in the restoration of relationship between God and man in the here and now! In a word, intimacy! Man being restored to the Garden! How great is this hope that arises from our intimacy with God!

Hope therefore results in power, both for our own salvation to come and for reaping a harvest of souls before we go home. 

Our hope must include the harvest we reap! This hope depends on the power of the Cross.

Hope awaits the Spirit’s power. Power results in miracles. Miracles result in a testimony. The testimony results in higher faith. And as in 1 Thes 1:2-3 above, faith results in fruitfulness, the works that bring in the harvest today. 

Power positions us for success. Power sets us in alignment with God’s will. Power equips us for every good work. Miracles reinforce our hope and increase our faith. The result is great encouragement that feeds endurance. So hope for now leads to endurance now. Therefore our hope results in a constantly reenergizing state of alignment with the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. 

These power manifestations feed all three of faith, hope and love. But where the harvest is concerned, the very reward for Christ’s sufferings, we must not rely on our own strength and limited abilities to endure. For such a way always leads to either failure over the long term or outright fruitlessness. 

The only way to long term success in which we will see thousands of souls saved in a day, is supernatural endurance. This only happens in His strength, by His power. This happens when the Kingdom comes upon us again and again. It’s a never ending hope…

2Co 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Ac 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…

Renewal… Revival, these are manifestations of infilling. We need them day by day. And like the manna that goes bad after a few days, we need it fresh, again and again. 

This is how we succeed in the here and now. This is how we reap… Not by what we can do, but by what He gives us in these times of refreshing! This is why the Holy Spirit is called the “Helper”.

Only in this radical supernatural way can we truly manifest the truth of Christ into a dying world. We were made to be naturally supernatural.

Which would you prefer to see? Would you prefer to see one soul saved in a month, after days or weeks of self effort? How discouraging is that! How long would one last doing that. Lest of coarse if in so doing one makes a lucrative earthly living… 

Or, do we HOPE for three thousand souls saved in a day? Do we HOPE for healings, deliverances and raisings from the dead? How greatly encouraging would that be! Would not this instill and increase greater faith and greater hope? This is what Christ moved in. This is what He died for! It’s what he meant when he said we would do even greater things than He. This is what the first church moved in. How should we model ourselves after the first church if we deny the same measure of the manifest Presence that they moved in? 

It’s these very things that the devil and the flesh fight against the most. We, therefore must be operating in the supernatural power of the Fathers love! Faith leads to love leads to hope!

In such a love, we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and laugh with joy! Even though we be greatly persecuted, we endure it… easily! Even when virulently hated, we love. Even when all the arguments are in, we have a faith that is unshaken. Our hope is made firm in the power and truth of revelation! And faith, love and hope regenerate and refresh!

In Heaven, there is no sickness, bondage or death. So, it stands to spiritual reason that when He brings a little bit of that heavenly atmosphere down here to earth, that sickness, bondage and death MUST flee! We cannot do that of our own power! Revelation knowledge, healing power, deliverance from evil and life from death; all these things happen when we hope for the Kingdom to come now. They happen when the Holy Spirit falls. They happen when we are dependent. They happen when we believe. They happen when we die to self. 

Effectiveness in the world only happens when we have spiritual faith, love and hope. But without the power of Christ’s Cross, it’s all for nothing.

Look at the next few sentences of 1 Th 1, verses 4-6a in context with vs 2-3 we have already considered:

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers…”

You cannot have words without the power. No ministry can last that way. Lest the mind of man be yoked to the Holy Spirit, the mind is left open to the world and to the one who rules it. 

Now more than ever, we must be forever filled with the Holy Spirit, who manifests ever increasing faith, love and hope, so that we can manifest good works, supernatural effort and unlimited endurance. To be effective in tomorrow’s works, there is no other way!