Raimer Rojas
The Holy Spirit is actively operating in this world in three ways: Omnipresence, Indwelling Presence, Manifest Presence. And therefore with an understanding of these three realities and their distinctions, we can help a congregation be aware of, expectant, and seeking the full gamut of the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The congregation of a church can greatly benefit from these understandings as they encounter worship songs and hymns that speak of the Holy Spirit active in each one of these three ways. A song may express one or two realities in its message, but it is likely giving only a partial view of Holy Spirit. Believers need this full-gamut understanding to make sense of the context of the focus of the songs they sing. We can educate a congregation, through short exhortations, as to the realities of the Holy Spirit, as seen through these various Holy Spirit lenses.
Omnipresence
The Holy Spirit is present everywhere
That God can be in all places simultaneously is a key attribute of God. “However, the Bible specifically teaches that God is both everywhere at once and transcendent (above all) or outside of His creation.”
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." - Psalm 139:7-10 NIV
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good." - Proverbs 15:3 ESV
"For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do." - Job 34:21 NLT
“'Am I only a God nearby,' declares the Lord, 'and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?' declares the Lord. 'Do not I fill heaven and earth?' declares the Lord." - Jeremiah 23:23-24 NIV
"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” - Matthew 18:20 NLT
The Holy Spirit dwells within believers
"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27 ESV
"This is how we know that we live in him and He in us: He has given us of his Spirit." - 1 John 4:13 NIV
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own." - 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'” - 2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV
"But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you." - Romans 8:9-11 NLT
At times, the Holy Spirit will give a more experiential, powerful, and tangible sense of the presence, power, and glory of God, sometimes individually or in a corporate fashion
There are indisputable moments in the Bible when the presence of God comes powerfully upon an individual or group of people. Probably no believer would contest this reality in the Old Testament. But many are not aware of this reality still continuing to happen in the New Testament. There are signs in the NT of this happening as well and I am not just talking about Pentecost (when the Spirit came like a rushing wind, the impact visibly seen and heard by those in the room and those outside > Acts 2). That is to say, not just at the very start when the Holy Spirit was first poured out on what would become the birth of the Church, but in future contexts as well. And then there is the experience of the Church over the ages outside Biblical times, where global reports of the manifest presence of God coming down into a room or other locale, region, have been recorded.
Old Testament Examples Of The Manifest Presence Of God
Elijah Kills the 450 prophets of Baal after a power encounter showdown (1 Kings 18) - "...Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God... " "'Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!'” - 1 Kings 18:18,37-39 NIV
The Tabernacle Completed and Dedicated (Exodus 40) - "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels." - Exodus 40:34-38 NIV
The Dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8) - "When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple." - 1 Kings 8:10-11 NIV
Some New Testament Examples, During The Life Of Jesus, Of The Manifest Presence Of God
Jesus' Baptism (Matthew 3:13-17) - "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” - Matthew 3:16-17 ESV
The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13) - "After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. 'Get up,' he said. 'Don’t be afraid.' When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, 'Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.'" - Matthew 17:1-9 NIV
In Jesus' Miracles Of Healing, And In His Signs And Wonders - Think of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus walking on water or calming the storm, and this one—among so many others: "A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all." Matthew 13:30 NLT
Some New Testament Examples, After Pentecost, Of The Manifest Presence Of God
The Believers Pray for Boldness in Witness (Acts 4:23-31) - "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." - Acts 4:29-31 NIV
Peter Released From Prison by Angel - (Acts 12:5-17) - "So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, 'Put on your clothes and sandals.' And Peter did so. 'Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,' the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, 'Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.'” - Acts 12:5-11 NIV
Paul & Silas in Prison (Acts 16:25-40) - “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” - Acts 16:25-26 NIV
Jesus Appears to Paul on the Road to Damascus - "About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’" - Acts 26:13-18 NIV
As one person put it... “God's presence is everywhere, at all times, and with all of us, believer and unbeliever alike. Likewise, His Holy Spirit indwells believers at all times. But His manifest presence is something that occurs in our lives as He chooses to reveal Himself.”