Hi all,
How can you tell the difference in the ‘feel’ of the Father, or Son, or Spirit?
The Father is the Source.
He is the giver of every good gift*, He created us to be the first fruits of His creation, He so loved the world He gave His Son*…so His presence is weightier, more ‘dense’ or ‘thick’. It is the Father who deals with core issues in our hearts like who we are, what is our purpose, why were we put on the planet. Very often just being in this ‘thick’ holy presence allows Him to do a work in our being that our minds don’t ‘pick up on’. But most people recognize we need to sit, be still, and be quiet during these times. *James 1: 13-18, John 3: 16
In a service for instance, while in prayer or worship when the Father starts dealing with core heart issues, those are the times it feels like to say anything, or to move about, would be somehow wrong. It is a very hushed atmosphere. Silent, just soaking, sitting, sensing Him. Often it feels like your feet at planted in concrete, you just cannot move when His presence is so thick and He is dealing with core and very private issues in people that our minds don’t often perceive.
The presence of Jesus
The presence of Jesus is lighter, more in the soul and emotional realm. It is quite comfortable and ‘normal’ feeling in His presence. What you feel right now in your spirit, is the exact same when He is actually there, but intensified and magnified. Your spirit man recognizes Him and will often ‘leap’ or ‘get excited’ or even feel overwhelming peace, is the only way I know how to describe it. The first time I saw Him in a teaching visitation, which was October 1, 1986, my mind kept wondering why my spirit man was excited like butterflies in my spirit, yet not the nervous kind – just excited – then I saw Him.
He is quite obvious when He is around if you have trained your mind to switch attention to your spirit man. But a person has to accustomed to switching their focus to their spirit man, before they will ever sense their presence. Train yourself.
All this is through the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is recorded in Acts as speaking several times to people, and maybe you’ve heard His voice too! To people who are unaccustomed to hearing Him, they often report that it sounded like an audible voice, or loud, or both. But in fact in about 99.9% of the time from my experience listening to people I’ve talked to, it has been the Holy Spirit they heard and it wasn’t audible, they just had never heard Him before. He is always clear, concise, direct, and arrests your attention.
Remember that Jesus told the disciples in John 16: 12-13: “I have many things to say to you, but you can’t grasp them now. However when the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth for He will not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, that is what He will speak. And He will show you things to come.”
After the angel had spoken to Philip in Acts 8: 26 to travel down a particular road by Gaza, we read this in v29-30: “The Spirit said to Philip; ‘Go near, and join yourself to that chariot’. And Philip ran…”
The Holy Spirit doesn’t speak of Himself, so the true author of the instructions the angel gave Philip to take that road, and the One from heaven directing Philip, was the Father or the Lord. We aren’t told, but we are told the Spirit merely repeats what He hears. Philip would have heard within him, loud, direct, concise instructions – look at that verse and see how direct it is.
In Acts 10: 4-6 an angel appears to the Roman Centurion named Cornelius, and tells him to go to Joppa and inquire at the house of a man named Simon who was a tanner of leather, and lodged there was a man named Peter. And he would tell Cornelius what he needed to do.
After Peter saw the vision of the sheet with the different kinds of animals, which had nothing to do with dietary things, but rather that all people were cleansed by the Lord and able to hear the gospel, Acts 10: 19-20 records: “…the Spirit said to him; ‘Look! Three men are looking for you. Go with them nothing doubting, for I have sent them.’ Then Peter went…”
The Holy Spirit in prophecy
In Acts 13: 1-3 we have 5 men, prophets and teachers by function in the body of Christ, fasting and praying and waiting on the Lord. They are a very international and interracial group: Barnabas from the island Cyprus, Simeon “that was called Niger (dark skinned, from central Africa)”, Lucius from Cyrene (eastern Libya), Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul from Tarsus (of Cilicia, southern coast of modern Turkey).
As they ministered to the Lord it says: “The Holy Spirit spoke saying, ‘Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.’ And when they had fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them on their way.”
The Lord never changes, so what He does now in our midst is what He did then. Therefore noting we are told these 5 men were prophets and teachers, it is clear someone had a prophetic word, hearing the Holy Spirit say those words. And Luke who wrote it down for us focused on the message rather than the messenger. The ultimate speaker from heaven was again, either the Father or the Lord Jesus, but as with Philip and Peter above, we are not told which.
Another example of the Holy Spirit in prophecy
In Acts 21: 11 the prophet Agabus takes Paul’s belt in illustration saying: “This is what the Holy Spirit says (as he wraps his own hands and feet), ‘This is what the Jews will do to the man who owns this belt, and turn him over to the Romans.’ And when we heard these things…”
Here we are told that Agabus heard the Holy Spirit Himself speak those words. For me personally, that is what happens when I give someone a prophecy or words of wisdom – Usually I hear the Holy Spirit Himself, directly. Who is behind the Spirit can often be perceived by the one hearing the message, for being the Spirit of Truth, He accurately and precisely repeats what He hears.
If you remember what I said above about the ‘heavy’ feeling of the Father and the lighter, more soul oriented presence of Jesus, that is what I sense when I hear the Spirit speaking. So I can tell if it is the Father or the Lord speaking via the Holy Spirit. Sometimes though it is the Spirit speaking, I hear the Father doing the speaking, and sometimes the Lord. Get to know the differences by experience in your own time of worship and prayer and ‘the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’.
I realize for many reading this it seems to be deeper than what most teachings get into. But at the same time, many will be able to think back over their lives and remember times they sensed the Father or Lord, or even heard the Holy Spirit.
For me, when I first wake up I tell the Father good morning, usually compliment Him (praise) on a beautiful morning, and ask if He has anyone He wants me to pray for. But what I love more than anything, is always feeling Him inside me – that presence, that warmth of His being in my spirit. I’ve learned to continually shift my attention between the natural senses and my spirit man, for so the Lord commanded me to do so during that first teaching visitation of 10/1/86. It changed my life.
We’ll pick it up here next week: The vague ‘witness’ of the Spirit, and knowing the difference between an angel and the Spirit.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
