Don't live without God's presence...

 

Why do we place such importance on the need for God's Presence in our gatherings?

I have a friend who runs the largest ministry in the country where he lives. I was once invited to preach at their mid-week prayer meeting, where approximately 250,000 people attend. If I had gone to preach at that time, it would've been the largest crowd I've ever spoken to. WOW! 250,000 people gathering for a mid-week prayer meeting!!!

When he and his wife stayed with me in St Louis, I wasn't fully aware of the scale of his ministry at that time, which was good. Being clueless put me at ease. However, when they came to stay I had to arrange some flights for them as they had some important lunch meetings to make with some of the "biggest" minister names I had heard of. I then Google'd to see if he was legit, and he was! 

When it was time for him to speak at our church on a Saturday night, I had totally underestimated the kinds of crowds he was used of preaching to. 100,000's and even millions of people in single services. Most of our people were away and we ended up only having 5 people in the church. I was so embarrassed. It was a good job we livestreamed because thousands watched the livestream. He preached powerfully and it was a good evening. At the end I apologised profusely for the lack of people in attendance, and he said something to me that changed my thinking forever,

"Joe, I have been in church services with 10, 20, 30,000 people and the Holy Spirit was not there. The Holy Spirit was here tonight with us, and He's the only One we care about turning up. As long as the Holy Spirit shows up, it doesn't matter how many people show up"

This is hard to describe to people who regulalrly attend church where the Holy Spirit is not present. There are many criticisms thrown against charismatics, and a large chunk of them I agree with, I ceased to use that phrase years ago, as I have phrases such as "Born Again" christian etc. If pushed, I simply refer to myself as a follower of Jesus. I'm tired of the sullied reputation of the church (small "c"), and wish to be identified with what it is all about, Jesus, and being a follower of His life and teaching. 

When it's about a denomination (or non), then it is institutional and professional. However, when it's about following Jesus, it's intimate and personal. There is a personal, central, figure involved and not a corporation. That is how Christianity is supposed to be, a family, and not a franchise.

Here's a bold claim, but one I stand with 100%—if a person does not know the presence of God, no matter how much biblical knowledge they have, they do not know what they are talking about! 

It is His presence that brings perspective to our knowledge. Without His presence, we simply have data, not dunamis. We have strayed so far from a "presence" based Christianity that we have deluded ourselves into thinking that knowledge is king. Intellect has been elevated above experience. In the Gospels people EXPERIENCED Jesus, and today we have KNOWLEDGE of Him, void of experience. So, how do we experience Jesus? Through the person of the Holy Spirirt!

Jesus said two powerful things in this context,

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you"
(John 16:7)

"He (Holy Spirit) will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you" 
(John 16:14-15)

Jesus left this earth realm because He was limited (maybe?) to one human body, but now by His Spirit He can fill all of His Church. This is a profound reality. MOST of the Church would choose to have a physical "Jesus" than the Holy Spirit. The truth is that the Holy Spirit brings Jesus into our midst. He reveals Jesus to us, and conveys the heart of Jesus for His Church, for our lives, and for the nations. Therefore, making sure that we know the "presence" of God in our gatherings should be of paramount importance. Without His presence, we are just a christian club, but with His presence we are a gathering of His ekklesia (called-out ones). 

Granted, I have seen many who know the "presence" of God who become obssessed with miracles, healings, signs & wonders etc. and this is equally egregious as a lack of the presence of God in our gatherings. I have seen this in those who are "presence" junkies, although it it not about the presence but the manifestations that sometimes accompany the presence of God. They too have detached themselves from the person of the presence in pursuit of the produce of the presence. 

The reason why I emphasise the presence in our gathering, is because I understand that His presence is all we need. Because it's HIM, He is the "presence". It's the very presence of Jesus in our midst, by the power of the Spirit. We then lean heavily on the leading of the Holy Spirit to help guide us where Jesus is taking us, just as if He were physically here, and we are following Him along a physical path. The Holy Spirit leads us on eternal paths, and if we would lose sight of our doctrines we would go to places we have never been before. That is why those who have never "gone off script" have no idea what they are talking about, because everything has been written out instead of walked out, step by step, in the presence of Jesus. 

“If we think of the Holy Spirit as so many do as merely a power or influence, our constant thought will be, 'How can I get more of the Holy Spirit,' but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a Divine Person, our thought will rather be, 'How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?'”
R.A. Torrey

I pray that in these coming seasons that many pastors, who reject the work of the Spirit in their churches, would repent and allow Him free-reign to build Jesus' Church. That they would allow His presence in their midst. 

Equally, I pray that the manifestation-maniacs would learn a respect for the presence of God, and that it is not about them getting another fix, or seeing miracles as another notch on their gun, but rather they would welcome the transforming power of God's presence as He conforms us into the image of Christ in greater measure.

Mwy Arglwydd...