GOD INHABITS THE BODY

When God gave birth to the Church, the greatest miracles that had happened from the beginning of time began to take place. When God birthed the Church, He didn’t birth another organization, denomination, or religious institution. When God birthed the Church, for the first time since the beginning of time, God actually came to inhabit the physical body of mankind.

Prior to the inception of the Church, the Spirit of God had anointed men and women for specific periods of time. The Spirit of God had been with His people. But now, for the first time in history, His Spirit actually came to dwell within His people:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:16-17)

Jesus told the disciples, “He dwells with you, but He will be in you!” For the first time, God now lives in us!

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

The world is in a desperate condition spiritually. Only eight percent of Great Britain’s population attends church. Only two percent of all Europe goes to church and a scant two percent of people in the 10/40 Window go to church.

Here in America, we close down over 30,000 churches a year. Last year, there was virtually no church growth in America — it was less than of one percent. What might be called “church growth” was actually transfers of membership, not new conversions.

This world is in desperate spiritual condition and there is only one thing that will meet these challenges. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We must come to the place where we get desperate and declare…

“God, I will not go one step further without Your presence. If Your presence doesn’t go with me, if the manifestation of Your glory doesn’t go with me, I am not going. We don’t want any more self-help. We’ve tried it. We don’t want any more human effort. It has failed. We don’t want any more seminars on how to do it. God, if Your glory doesn’t come, we don’t want to go a step farther!”

As Israel when they went up to possess their land, we must have the presence of God. We can no longer face our daily circumstances without it. We cannot go to battle without it. We cannot reach a dying world without it. We must have God’s presence!