3 Realities Of The Holy Spirit

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

Indwelling Presence

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

Manifest Presence

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

Some New Testament Examples, During The Life Of Jesus, Of The Manifest Presence Of God

Some New Testament Examples, After Pentecost, Of The Manifest Presence Of God

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.”