Exactly. This is why I have a little bone to pick with his statement:
"All the gifts and power and manifestations mean nothing to me if I don't see the fruit..."
I get that we need to develop in character and fruit. But you hear the power side downplayed all the time against the 'fruit' as if one is more important that the other. Is character/fruit or power more important? Well I guess that would depend you who you asked. If you had a person with terminal cancer that didn't have long to live I guarantee you they couldn't care less about whether the person walks in love all the time, or has character flaws, or has some sin in their life they're having a problem with, or whatever else, all you care about is do you operate in the power of God so I can be healed? I won't belabor the point but there are many examples I could give. That's why we have the blood of Jesus because NONE of us are perfect. And if we're waiting to be perfect to walk in the power then then we'll be waiting until we die.
I've said this before and I'll say it again, holiness is not the key to the power of God, FAITH is. Am I downplaying holiness? Not at all. But I'd rather have a Christian less holy that walked in the power of God that could get me healed rather than someone that is 'holy' but couldn't get me healed. Peter said about the man at the gate called Beautiful, "It's NOT by OUR power or HOLINESS, but HIS NAME THROUGH FAITH IN HIS NAME that has made this man whole."
I love this clip by Bill Johnson. All I can give is the link to the Instagram post, but worth watching. In a nutshell (well I basically ended up quoting the whole thing) he says what is more important, to not grieve the Holy Spirit or quench the Holy Spirit? They are of equal importance. To grieve the Holy Spirit is about sin. To quench the Holy Spirit is about power. To grieve the holy spirit is focused on character. To quench the holy spirit is focused on power. Those are two legs we stand on. They must be of equal length.
IT DOESN'T MAKE ME A NOBLE PERSON TO EMPHASIZE CHARACTER AND NOT EMPHASIZE POWER.YOU'LL GET APPLAUSE FROM THE RELIGIOUS CROWD, BUT IT DOESN'T PRODUCE ANYTHING TO BRING ABOUT TRANSFORMATION TO THE CULTURE ITSELF.
Bill Johnson Ministries on Instagram: "Have you ever wondered the difference between grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit? Listen to the full sermon "The Gate of Heaven" at the link in my bio. #TheGateOfHeaven #BillJohnson #Bethel"
This sounds familiar as if I said this same thing awhile back somewhere. Anyway, just one of my soap boxes.