HOLY SPIRIT AND ANOINTING: LEADING BY THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

It was in the Newspapers recently, the story of a General Overseer who was eating and using marijuana to preach and lead in his church. He said “Some of my members do prepare some delicacies with it, which they serve me. I love Indian hemp because after eating Indian hemp, it gives me inspiration, then when I mount the pulpit, you will notice the efficacy of hemp. (Sun Newspaper Thursday 16 May 2013, page 35). Another General Overseer who had a miracle ring and leads a robbery gang was found with Indian hemp.

This goes to show that lots of professed Pastors and church leaders are not leading the church with the power of the Holy Spirit anymore but with strange powers. In most leadership teachings, abnormal silence is kept about the leading role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the leader.

A. Biblical Foundation Acts 1:8; John 7:37-39; Acts 10:38.

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity. He is the Spirit of the Lord and God’s Executive Agent in the world. He is the Vicar of the church.

It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin and converts the heart – John 16:8.
He regenerates the heart and resides inside believers-Rom: 8:16.
He is the One that leads, guides and directs believers-Rom. 8:14.
Believers and Christians must be filled with the Holy Spirit-Acts 1:4, 8.
There are 3 kinds of spirit in the world: spirit of man, devil and God.
Leaders that made spiritual impact were led by the Holy Spirit.
It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in a leader’s life that can make all the difference
Ministering and leading without the Holy Spirit leads to carnal work and lots of struggles

Leaders that lead by their human wisdom can never do spiritual work. Leaders that rely only on their education, connections, acumen and talents will never transform anybody for God. The low presence of the Holy Spirit in a leader’s life will lead to high presence of demons in the church and negative, calamities and shameful things will be rife among the congregation.

B. Presence And Power Of The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is not a personification of divine energy, but a wholesome person. We must not use Him, but allow Him to use us. It is His presence and power in our lives that will make the difference in the church.

Omnipresence of the Holy Spirit – Psalm 139:7-10. He is everywhere and knows everything.
Indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit – John 14:16-17, 23. Being baptized and filled with the Spirit of God. Rivers of living water flowing out of you-John 7:37-39.
Manifest presence of the Holy Spirit – Psalm 114:1-7. This is physical manifestations in literal miracles, signs, wonders and glories of God doing amazing things in the life of people without any gimmicks.

Growth, open heaven, breakthrough and mighty signs and wonders will be a daily occurrence in our lives and ministries when the manifest presence of the Holy Spint is at work (Luke 4.18-19) Jesus led by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles too (Acts 2:17-18).

C. Adverse Effects of Not Leading By The Holy Spirit Today – Isaiah 63:10

Sad to report that too many church leaders of today do not know the Holy Spirit or have vexed, grieved and disobeyed Him and He has left them and He is no longer leading them. Check these out-

Carnal, philosophical, highly educated preachers but spiritually destitute
Worldly, lukewarm, nominal and unsaved people in the church.
Cold, formal, lifeless and powerless worships
Preachers who are filled with human and demonic spirits.
False doctrines, gay living and compromise on every side.
More goats than sheep in churches.
Struggling, fruitless and barren ministries.
Unspirituality of the work and worldliness of the church
Demons having a field day ruining things in churches.
Human gimmicks, methods and ways of doing things.

In too many local churches today, the presence of the Holy Spint is abysmally low because leadership have grieved Him, rejected Him, do without Him and failed to rebuke sins. In the church where the Holy Spirit is absent, it is like a building that has been uninhabited for years, very dirty

D. Communion With The Holy Spirit In Your Life-II Cor. 13:14

Every spiritual leader worth its salt must welcome the Holy Spirit into his or her life and commune with Him regularly. He must be your Senior Partner.

Looking at the word, Communion’, it means eleven (11) things the Holy Spirit wants to do or will do for any leader or church. Taking time to Commune with Him in deep prayers, fasting, holy ving, study of the scriptures and praying in your spintual prayer language will bring His presence o do these eleven things for you:

Partnership

As you commune with the Spirit of God, He becomes your partner in life and ministry As your Senior Partner, He will lead, guide, guard and direct you to the right place of fruitfulness in ministry. He will partner with you to do effective and impactful work for the Lord. The Holy Spirit cannot be your partner and your ministry will be barren. The Holy Spirit cannot be your Senior Partner and you are still confused in ministry.

Fellowship

Your communion with Him will make Him have deep fellowship with you and therefore can reveal the secret things of the Lord to you. He will speak to you in a way you will understand. He will not leave you in the dark concerning anything you need or want to know. Deep fellowship with Him will make Him to open up your life before you and open up any hidden sin, facts and things you need to know that have been hindrances to your life, work and destiny.

Distributorship

The Holy Spirit will become your distributor. He will go to the presence of God, take the blessings you need and come and distribute them to your life and church. He is the One allowed to get the presence of God on your behalf to bring things down for you. He takes the heart, mind, words and thoughts of God from His throne and relay them to us in the way we will understand and until we respond obediently. He is the true distributor of God’s grace, power and mercy to His people.

Helper

Communion with the Holy Spirit turns Him to our helper. He helps and enables us to live right, take right decisions and to stand for what is right in the face of persecutions and adversity The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities and helps us to overcome the flesh. He is the present help in times of trouble.

Empowerer

Communion brings the power of the Holy Spirit into practical display in your life and church. He will empower you to work, serve and back up the word of God in your mouth and life. You will go in His power and your ministry will be in the days of His power. He will empower you to work in His might.

Intercessor

The Holy Spirit is the greatest intercessor. He will pray with you and pray for you with intensity and spiritual fervency. Many times we cannot pray as we should, yet He will come to pray through us and help us to pray in the right way and for the right requests.

Strengthener

He strengthens us with divine strength. He gives the strength to run without fainting and walk without being weary. He will strengthen you physically, spiritually, mentally, ministerially and financially. His will strengthen you with the strength of God to do the impossible.

Nourisher

The Holy Spirit nourishes the body, soul and spirit of the believer. He feeds us with the appropriate food that will help our spiritual growth and consistent walk with the Lord. He nourishes us through challenges, trials, learning process and practical learning of the mercy, favour and goodness of the Lord. He will never leave your sour famished if you truly commune regularly with Him. He will always fill you with the fullness of God.

Protector

He protects and preserves us from the fiery darts and attacks of the enemy. Many times He will ward off the arrows of the wicked and lift up a standard against the flood of the wicked and ungodly men. He protects our heart and spint from the onslaught of evil thoughts and words of men and demonic activities. Sometimes, He reveals the wicked plots of the enemy to us, but many times He destroys them without even showing them to us. What a mighty protector we have!

Sustainer

The Holy Spirit seals and sustains the saints till the day of death or rapture. He is the seal of God in the life of every believer. And as long as we commune with Him, the seal remains sacrosanct in our lives. He keeps the feet of His saints and does not want His labour to be in vain over any believer.

Comforter and Counselor

He brings comfort, consolation, joy and peaceful counsel of the Lord to our heart and life. He brings order out of every chaos and sweetens the soul of those who knows Him

It’s time we call the whole body of believers into whole days of communion with the Holy Spirit like never before. In communion with Him, we leave the direction and leadership in His hands. If our lives are beggarly, shallow and powerless, it is because we have chosen to ignore deep fellowship and communion with the Spirit of life.