Restoration of Power: People of the Spirit

John 7: 37, 38 :On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. (NKJV)

The Spirit is being poured out on the church to release the anointing resident in every believer. John wrote in 1 John 2:27 “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you...” This is that river of life, which Jesus said would flow out of our innermost being. This river will flow out of all who believe.

Signs and wonders are a knock at the church’s door. When they appear we have a responsibility to get up from our routines and welcome the visitation of God until everything is accomplished that He intends. Remaining open and patient is essential to flowing with the evidences of the Spirit’s move. To quench the Spirit, to ignore the Spirit, to resist the Spirit, to not allow the Spirit, and the move of God, but to rather insist on the status quo will give hindering spirits a foothold and block and stop the move of God in your life and in the church’s life. Many churches have a visitation from God only to let it die away.

Have you ever seen a visitation from God and not responded in the proper way? God is in our midst, He meets with us, He visits us when we gather together. We have a visitation from God every time two or three are gathered together in His name. God visits us to stir us, to awaken us from our slumber. He wants us to be awakened from our sleep, to be resurrected from the dead. He comes to do something in us, to stir up the anointing that is in each one of us! Then, the river that He has placed within us would be allowed to flow freely out of us. “He that believes in me...in his innermost being”, as Jesus said “his belly” signifying the internal part of man, out of the internal part shall flow a river of living water. John subsequently identifies that river as the anointing of the Holy Ghost! Out of each person should flow the anointing that is within.

In order to understand and to launch, to take hold, we need to talk revival. We need to teach revival. We need to preach revival. We need to pray for revival--until the presence of God becomes our passion and our pursuit. God is with us, in our midst, but somehow, sometimes, we are not quite plugged into Him. The anointing is within us but always it is not flowing out of us. Jesus said, though, that out of our innermost being would flow rivers (plural) of living water. Life is to be coming out of us, not just our own thoughts and our own ideas, but rather the life of God, which is the very life of the Holy Spirit that is within us.

He desires to restore power to the church. We are His church, His house, and His people. As we read and study through the book of Acts, we see that there was power in His people. As we study church history, we can discover that there was power in His people. The power was there to overcome, to change, to be delivered, to receive healing, to be saved, and to see men and women raised from the dead! In Hebrews 11 we can see some of the ways in which the power of God moves and what He accomplished: “who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.” (Hebrews 11: 33,34 NKJV) These are signs that should be following believers. Of course, everything that took place was not wonderful from our perspective: “...And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance” (v. 35 ) Why? Because they had the anointing of God within them! “...That they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,” (35-39 NKJV) They did not have the promise that you and I have in this day! That is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, the anointing that is resident within every believer! The people of faith written about in Hebrews 11 saw supernatural events transpire; yet they did not even have what we have.

What is wrong with us today? Many times we are a people who have not made room for Him. We have room for all of our “stuff” but we do not have room for Him. We must make room for the Holy Spirit or He will fly away. The anointing within us can dry up, die out, so to speak. With the pressures of the last days harvest and the pressures of the last days battle we need the Holy Spirit operational in our lives as we never have previously. We desperately need the restoration of power in the church of the living God. Note that it is the church of the living God and not the church of the dead God. He is alive and well and within us as His people.

Are you desirous to see the supernatural and faith in action as Hebrews 11 describes? There are places in the world today in which events such as described are taking place. There are people laying their lives on the line for Jesus Christ this very day. Some do not accept deliverance from the persecution because the anointing that is within is enabling them to withstand the evil that is around. There are many people, even in this day, that have given their very lives for the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Often, though, our biggest decision is where we are going to eat lunch on Sunday afternoon; Should it be a fatburger or skinnyburger? While we are trivializing with such decisions, other believers around the globe are wrestling with “am I going to lay my life down for Jesus or deny His name?” Of course, we are grateful for the freedom that we have. Evil, though, will get worse and worse. We need to have backbone for the days ahead. We must be prepared, now is the time to prepare.

We have the anointing within, as John tells us. Jesus said that we have this river that is within us. Out of us should flow this river of living water. Without making you feel guilty, you must realize that believers live far beneath their privileges. There are many things that we could tap into but we do not because we are not attuned to His Spirit. Acts 1: 1-8 (NKJV) “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The church has been given power! We have been authorized. After the Holy Spirit has come upon you and takes up residence in you, you shall have power. The power that He gives enables you to witness about the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what the world needs and the message that the church must proclaim! You shall be witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth, even right where you are, Los Angeles or Timbuktu! We are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.

We have that power given to us. Jesus said this is that river that should be flowing out of us, it is the restoration of power to the church. Jesus has already empowered us but for some reason we have somewhat let this awesome power lie dormant. The anointing is within us. Paul told Timothy “son, I have laid hands on you, so stir up the gift that is already within you.” You see, we have the gift but often we need it to be stirred up.

I like to grill. I have a charcoal grill and a gas grill in the backyard. I prefer the old charcoal grill, though. First I put the lighter fluid on those charcoal briquettes. After awhile, I can put the cover on the grill and the smoke begins to swirl out. I can take the lid off and sometimes I need to stir the coals. They are still hot, but they need to be stirred and it is as though they come back to life. The fire begins to come back into them. Air touches them and the fire begins to manifest again. This analogy relates to what Paul has said to Timothy “Stir up the gift that is within.” Each individual believer has that fire within. The metaphor of the Holy Spirit is one of the fire, or the river. We have Him within us. Sometimes we need to release Him, stir Him up, or rather stir ourselves up that He may be released out of us.

During the time of the events in the book of Acts, there was no medical insurance. But what the people had was the power of God. People who allowed God to move in them and through them. Sick people were laid out in the streets in the hopes that the shadow of one of the followers of Jesus would touch them and they would be healed. That is nothing less than the power of God!

I believe that we are in the last days and it is going to become more difficult to stand. We are going to need the power of God in our lives in such a degree that we have yet to experience. What is going to happen here in the United States, if and when the economy fails and we no longer have all of the perks that we are blessed with now? We better have some people that know how to pray and touch God. It is imperative that there be power in the church. For too long we have set back and allowed people such as Madelyn Murray O’hare to push their liberal agendas and the government take ungodly stands. Believers have taken the attitude much too often of “well, hallelujah, God knows and is in control anyway”. The church needs fortitude and men and women with power operating in their lives. Thank God that we are getting to the place where we have had enough of spineless Christianity.

In the last days the harvest and the battle will be difficult. We are going to see a great harvest but it will also produce some unique challenges for the church. We will see men and women come to know the Lord, for in the midst of a great falling away, there will also be a great revival. In whom do you think the revival is going to manifest? The answer is that it will be with those that have always been affected by revival: the down and outs, the drunkards, the prostitutes, the drug addicts. Those are the types that the religious people accused Jesus of hanging out with. But these are the very ones that listened to Jesus and accepted Him. I have no evidence that leads me to believe that it will be any different in the last days. These overlooked and often dismissed people will come to know Jesus and we, as the church, must be equipped and filled with the power of God to be able to teach, train, and show them the life and power of the living God!

Jesus was able to take twelve men and train and teach them. When He left he told them to go to Jerusalem and stay there until they were filled with power from on high. They cooperated with Him and remained there until they were filled. From that point on, everywhere they went, the scripture tells us, they turned the world upside down. They were turning the religious world upside down by teaching Jesus and Him crucified and resurrected on the third day. Jesus was working with them through signs and wonders. The religious people did not like it but the down and outers embraced it!

I believe there will be a great revival and harvest but it will produce some unique problems for the church. We must know how to disciple and teach those whom God brings to us. We need to know the Word and take time now to prepare. We do not need to delay until next week, next month, next year, or sometime in the future. We need to prepare NOW. When the harvest comes, we want to be able to help. At the same time there will be an intense battle. The world system already does not like the church. Oh, it likes the church as long as it is weak and wimpy and vanilla-like. The world does not like the church to be empowered and for the church to preach against sin or for the church to have any kind of backbone. As the church rises up in strength and power and might, the world will oppose it in an even greater measure. This is not because of who we are, but because of the Jesus that is within us.

There is always resistance to the power of God. Even the church, generally, has resisted the inner and outer workings of the Holy Spirit. We have resisted the move of God. Let’s face it: we like to walk into our buildings, sit on our padded pews in comfort, and feel as though we have fulfilled our religious duty. What we do not like is to be challenged and to be made uncomfortable or for the Holy Spirit to deal with us and the Word of God to hit us. Therefore, we just kind of resist. We can quench the Spirit and resist the Spirit but He does not change to suit us. His Word does not change to suit us. Most of what is outside the traditions we have accepted are rejected when they are from God. We have accepted many traditions within the church but when God comes along and begins to move us beyond our traditions, quite often we refuse to go along with it.

God desires to take us out of our “cookie cutter Christianity” and take us to a deeper place in Him. This is a place where we can be filled with the Spirit over and over again. This is a place where we do the things that He has called us to do without resisting Him. Have you ever resisted the move of God? Have you ever resisted the power of God? Within us God has placed the oil of His Spirit, this river of living water. He has filled us up with Himself. Most of us are fine looking containers and we are predominately filled with the things of God. The key to this, though, is the release of what has been placed within us. He hasn’t filled us so that we can just say we are filled. God desires for us to release His anointing, to let it come out. As Jesus said, out of the innermost being something is to come forth. Of course, we know that something is the living water that He has poured into us. We are containers of the Holy Spirit of God.

In Ephesians 5:18 we are admonished to be filled with the Spirit, indicating a repetitious act. In other words be filled again and again and again and again with the Spirit. Be consistently, continuously filled. As it goes out, as the river flows out, there most be an inflow. The Spirit of God is constantly renewing you as He moves from glory to glory. You are filled, you release, you are filled, you release, and out of your innermost being flows the power of the living God. Notice that it is rivers of living water. The only way that the water remains alive is if comes out. If the water stays in, it then dies. Water that doesn’t move and doesn’t flow becomes stagnate and will not support life. The only way it remains alive is for it to freely flow. We must allow this living water out of us.

The apostle, John, referred to this river as that anointing that is within us. We have the anointing within us. This anointing is to produce the kind of results that we looked at in Hebrews chapter 11. Kingdoms were subdued by the power of God. Lions had their mouths stopped by the anointing and the power of God. Are you ready for an outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit? Do you want to be filled but not just filled but to allow release as well? We are not only to be filled, but we are to let it go. The Word states in Hebrews that they believers worked righteousness, obtained promises. Those are the kinds of deeds we will be seeing as the power of God is restored to the church.

As we release the power and anointing of God, out of our lives we are going to see these awesome and supernatural acts taking place. Out of weakness, we are going to be made strong.