Release of Power
Holiness in character is the manifestation of the power of God touching the nature of man. Holiness also affects the human body with healing. That's why it says,
"The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" Mal. 4:2.
Holiness demands expression, and that expression is the manifestation of power. This gives language to what the Spirit of God is doing. The Lord was "declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead" Rom. 1:4.
Miracles like the resurrection are a normal expression of holiness. At times our love for God is measured by what we hate. He is still the judge and will always condemn whatever interferes with love. How much has God hated sickness? As much as He hated sin. They are dealt with almost as one and the same. What sin is to my soul, sickness is to our bodies. He hated sickness enough to allow His Son to experience such a brutal beating. The blood covers our sin, but the wounds paid for our healing. That is how much He hates sin or sickness. We cannot be tolerant of those things, because what we tolerate dominates us.
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31
He said to them,
"It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:7-8
Picture this well-known story in Jesus' life: The streets are crowded with people who are hungry for more. Some are in pursuit of God; others just want to be close to this man who has become so famous for wonderful things. He has raised the dead, healed the sick, and has become the single subject of a whole town. People followed Jesus anywhere and everywhere. As the people are walking down the road, a woman, a very desperate woman, sees her chance for a miracle. She has carried her affliction for many years without any hope of recovery. She presses into the crowd until Jesus is within reach. But she is way too embarrassed to talk to Him or even get His attention. She merely reaches out to touch the edge of His clothing.
Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." Luke 8:43-45
It's important to understand at the beginning of this story that power in the Kingdom of God is in the form of a person. It is not a separate entity apart from God Himself. Jesus realized that anointing, the person of the Holy Spirit, was released from Him by the demand of somebody else's faith. This really is amazing. Now it's one thing to become aware of the Presence of God in worship, and quite another to realize when the Holy Spirit is released from us in ministry. There are times when we can feel the anointing of the Holy Spirit released from our hands when we pray for someone for healing. It's so encouraging. But it is a whole new level to be so aware of the Holy Spirit who rests upon us that we notice when someone else's faith has put a demand on what we carry. It can be said that she made a withdrawal from Jesus' account. How aware of the person of the Holy Spirit do we have to be to notice such a release of power when it flows from us? Add to this equation that Jesus was walking and talking with others when this happened. This is astonishing. He is conscious of the Presence even when He is talking to others or listening to their comments and questions. Our hearts long for this. A withdrawal was made from the One who has been given the Spirit without measure. An anointing cannot be depleted. It wasn't the lack of anointing He discovered. It was the Holy Spirit moving that He recognized, the Holy Spirit changed direction. The point of absolute surrender to the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit, the anointing acting on a faith to bring a testimony around a miracle. Similar to Israel following the cloud of the Lord's presence in the wilderness. The Israelites had no control over Him. He led, and the people followed. Wherever He went, supernatural activities took place. If they departed from the cloud, the miracles that sustained them would be gone. Can you imagine what would have happened if our fear oriented theologians had been there? They would have created new doctrines explaining why the supernatural ministry that brought them out of Egypt was no longer necessary to bring them into the Promised Land. After all, now they had the tablets of stone. Then, as today, the real issue is the priority we place upon His presence. When that's intact, the supernatural abounds, but without it we have to make up new doctrines for why we're OK as we are. In New Testament terms, being a people focused on His presence means that we are willing to live beyond reason. Not impulsively or foolishly, for these are poor imitations for real faith. The realm beyond reason is the world of obedience to God. Obedience is the expression of faith, and faith is our claim ticket to the God realm. Strangely, this focus on His presence causes us to become like wind, which is also the nature of the Holy Spirit
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
His nature is powerful and righteous, but His ways cannot be controlled. He is unpredictable. As church leaders, this hits us at our weakest point. For most churches, very little of what we do is dependent upon the Holy Spirit. If He were not to show up, most churches would never miss Him.
"Ninety-five percent of today's church activities would continue if the Holy Spirit were removed from us. In the early Church, ninety-five percent of all her activities would have stopped if the Holy Spirit were removed."
Billy Graham
Planning is biblical. But our diligence and vision must never include usurping the authority of the Holy Spirit. The Lordship of Jesus is seen in our willingness to follow the Holy Spirit's leading, even if it means pushing our sermon to one side. He wants His Church back! But how can we follow Him if we don't recognize His presence? The more pronounced His presence, the more unique the manifestations of our God encounters become. Although the manifestations we experience while encountering Him are important, it's God Himself we long for. Are we willing too completely surrender to the Holy Spirit? It's up to us to move towards Him.
