And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that THE LORD WAS DEPARTED from him. Judges 16:20
When the Bible speaks about the Holy Spirit, it often does not clarify whether it is the Spirit upon you, the Spirit with you or the Spirit in you. You have to deduce from the context whether the presence of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit upon you, the Spirit in you or the Spirit with you.
The Spirit upon you is the gift of God. The scripture says that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Therefore God does not take away His gifts from a person.
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Romans 11:29
Since the presence of God is the person of God, you may continue to have the gift but He Himself, the Giver of the gift may not be with you. I can give you a gift but I may not be with you as you enjoy the gift. I can give you my car as a gift but not be with you as you drive the car. On the other hand, I can give you a Bible as a gift and live with you as well.
That is marriage! In my life, I have given many people Bibles as gifts. However, it is only to my wife that I have given the gift of a Bible as well as the gift of my presence.
A number of people illustrate this mysterious principle of having the anointing but losing the presence of God.
Saul
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. But THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD DEPARTED FROM SAUL, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
1 Samuel 16:13-14
This explains the story of Saul who was anointed to be the king and remained anointed as the king to the end of his life. God never took away the anointing of kingship from him. David came near but was afraid to touch Saul, because Saul was anointed. The reason David did not want to kill Saul was because Saul was anointed. However, we read in the Bible that the Spirit of God left Saul. So Saul operated the anointing of kingship to the end of his life but without the presence of the Spirit in a certain way. Saul maintained the gift of kingship to the very end but Saul also lost the presence of the Spirit!
David
Cast me not away from thy presence; and TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME.
Psalms 51:11
King David knew that he could also lose the presence of the Spirit. He had seen what happened to Saul. He knew the presence of God could leave him even though he was still the king. He knew what happened to Saul so he cried, “Do not take away your presence from me.” King David knew that he could be the king alright, but the presence of God would not be with him. He could have the gift of the
throne but would be without the presence of God. He would continue to minister as a psalmist but the presence of God would not be with him.
Samson
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that THE LORD WAS DEPARTED from him.
Judges 16:20
When Samson revealed his secret to Delilah, he put himself in great danger. The presence of God left him. This led to a change in his ministry. He suffered setbacks and his circumstances changed completely. However, true to the word of God, the gifts and callings of God never changed and he was empowered to fight on and do the work of God even in that modified and weakened situation.
And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Judges 16:28-30
READ ALSO EVANGELIST DAG HEWARD-MILLS IN 3 DAY HARVEST FOR SOULS IN DROBO, GHANA.
Today there are many ministers who are in difficulty and are in a “modified” situation. Sometimes, they look awkward in their new circumstances where the presence of God has departed from them. They continue to minister from their weakened, modified situation and are often a far cry from when the presence of God was in full manifestation in their lives.
Samson experienced this. Temporarily, he was unable to fight the Philistines because the Spirit departed from him. But even in his blind fallen state, the power of God came back to him and he was able to fight the Philistines. In a sense the power to work for God never left him till he died. The departure of the presence of God is what changed his ministry. He simply continued to operate in ministry from a weakened state.
Judas
And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
John 13:27
Judas is another person who received the gift of God and became anointed to work for God. He was one of the twelve disciples sent out to heal, teach and freely minister the power of God. Jesus Himself did not strike out Judas because he was one of His anointed apostles and disciples. He warned him several times but Judas took no heed. Judas walked away from the presence of the Holy Spirit. Judas was destroyed when he went away from the presence of Jesus.
But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!
Luke 22:21-22
The presence of God is the goodness of God, and the presence of His person with you. Having a gift and being able to work for God is not the same as having the presence of God with you.
In the parable of the wheat and tares, Jesus revealed a startling truth. He said that the tares and the wheat (those with the presence of God and those without the presence of God) were remarkably similar. If you ever see a picture of wheat and tares you will understand why Jesus warned not to touch the wheat. They are so similar that you will destroy a large portion of wheat in your bid to root out the tares.
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Matthew 13:28-29
Those who carry the presence of God and those who do not, are very similar in their appearance. It is often not easy to tell that the presence of God has departed from a minister. Perhaps the only way you may be able to see this difference is in the fruit. Tares or weeds do not bear fruit. Weeds do not bear fruit!
The sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the early church was the winning of souls and bearing witness of Jesus Christ. Today, the reaping in of dollars, pounds and euros, rather than the reaping of souls, are used as markers of success. We do not need markers of success. We need markers of the presence of the Holy Spirit!
DAG HEWARD-MILLS
THE ANOINTING AND THE PRESSENCE
