“The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass” (Isa 40:7).
The Church is heading into its finest hour! Unfamiliar, virgin territory beckons those who will be led by the Spirit and walk in the newness of Kingdom life. There is a sound as a rushing, mighty wind blowing over those who yearn to know what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Unquestionably, we are experiencing a fresh, new move of the Spirit of God; a move that rejects comparison on the very basis of its newness. The breath of the Holy Spirit of God is removing from us all man-made religion that has obscured our vision and is giving us eyes to see and ears to hear. He is saying to us, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:13-14).
This invisible work of the Spirit will usher a people who will experience His person; a people who will experience the power of God in a dimension unknown to mankind. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor 4:7). God is breaking the vessel that the treasure might be revealed.
The progressive dealings of God are purging, purifying, and equipping a people through whom His nature and character will be manifested: purified, and processed until we are “as He is” (1 John 4:17). Many times, we find that the unique workings of God include testing and processing which are totally unfavorable to the desires of the flesh. It is at that moment that we realize that there must be a negative and a positive to produce light; in this revelation we concede, “not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
For some time now, the ‘anointing’ of God has been interpreted and confused with the ‘gifts’ of God. People have taken direction for their spiritual well-being under the false assumption that if the gifts are in operation, God has dominion. The fact is that the gifts can operate without His presence, “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29).
In this hour, God is removing the spirit of the world out of the Church so that God’s presence may rule. He is demolishing the religious system, cutting off its power. There may be some noticeable movement simulating the declining motion of a fan once the power is turned off, but this movement is by momentum only. It is quickly coming to a dead stop.
Our omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God is on the move. The Kingdom is on a forceful advance. God is gathering to Himself a remnant, quickening them by His Spirit. He is preparing a people who will not be afraid to blow the trumpet in warning against a spiritless, lifeless Christianity which has numbed the hearts and minds of so many. He’s making ready a people, a Kingdom people, which will be so full of His presence and power that the world and the Church will not be able to ignore them. These saints of the Most High would have come to a perfect understanding that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within their innermost being; they have learned to restore and not condemn. They will truly be a House of Restoration. “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own” (Rom 8:19, PHILLIPS).