Have You Received Power?

Thank you so much for joining us today. We pray the Lord will use our teaching to encourage and strengthen your walk with the Lord. Eric

The church, believers in Jesus, has been given the responsibility to proclaim the gospel throughout the world. (Mark 16:15). Unfortunately much of the church has become powerless in their effort. I believe the Lord wants me to share some of the reasons why this is so.

Let's begin by looking at an encounter Paul had with some disciples he met on his way to Ephesus. When he found the disciples, Paul asked, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." Paul discovered they became disciples through a baptism of repentance (John's baptism). Paul told them that John had told the people to believe in Jesus. When they heard this, "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied." (Acts 19:2-6).

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit when John baptized Him in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove from heaven and He was filled with the Holy Spirit The Spirit then led Him to the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil. (Luke 3:22 and 4:1). When Jesus left the wilderness after resisting the temptations, Luke 4:14a reveals, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power (dunamis ) of the Spirit." 'Dunamis is miraculous or miracle working power. At that point, in His life, Jesus was a man completely empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit,

Hebrews 1:1-3 reveals, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power (dunamis), when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The world was spoken into existence by His power, or dunamis. “The power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit refers to the divine energy and authority that proceeds from God working to accomplish His purposes in creation, redemption and in the lives of individuals. This power is intimately connected with the Holy Spirit, who is described in Scripture as fully God, carrying out the will of the Father and the ministry of the Son. It is through the Holy Spirit that believers receive supernatural enablement to live, serve and grow according to God's design." (Bible Hub).

In Acts 1:8, when Jesus appeared to the apostles following His resurrection, He told them they would "receive (dunamis) when the Holy Spirit would come upon them." In Acts 2:1-4, we read that indeed, the disciples did receive the power of the Holy Spirit. This was the beginning of the church age. The word 'receive' in Acts 1:8 is defined as: "to actively lay hold of, to take or receive - properly to lay hold by aggressively (actively) accepting what is available. You must choose to receive the power that the Holy Spirit offers.

This Greek word for ‘power’, dunamis (miraculous power) is used 120 times in the New Testament in the context of the believer's ministry. According to HELPS Word-studies, for the believers, "dunamis is power to achieve, by applying the Lord's inherent abilities or "Power through God's ability."

One reason why the church is so powerless today is that like those disciples Paul found, many have not heard of the Holy Spirit or the power of the Holy Spirit. In other-words, they have a lack of knowledge. There are many churches and denominations today that do not teach the truth of what the Word of God presents to us, regarding the Holy Spirit, nor the power of the Spirit.

Secondly, there are those who have seen the evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit and because of their lack of understanding, it frightened them. Because of their fear, they refused to consider it as a gift from God. My wife, Donna, recalls vividly the first time she heard singing in the Spirit, when she attended the church of one of the workers at her college. It was somewhat frightening to her and she recalls thinking, "What is this?" However, she did not allow her fear or confusion about it to keep her from accepting the truth of what it was when, years later, she heard a teaching on it.

When we were pastoring at our last church, a recently released prisoner who visited our church, approached us after service and said, "There was something in there (pointing at the sanctuary) and it scared me." We explained that he was experiencing and sensing the power of the Holy Spirit for the first time.

Thirdly, the enemy of the gospel, the devil, spread the lie that the miraculous ministry of the modern church was of the devil and caused many to cast it aside.

In addition to that lie was the deception that the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit passed away with the early church and is not relevant in the 'modern' church today.

Brothers and Sisters, we are part of the same body of Christ that ministered in the early church. The enemy of the Lord continues to try to destroy the Lord's kingdom and followers by using the same deceptions, deceit and lies he has always used.

You see though, according to the Word of God, there is no reason (or excuse) for the body of believers in our time to not be experiencing that same Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s power we read about in the lives of the early church. God's Word has not changed nor lost it's power to change hearts, minds and lives.

Let's look at some verses that reveal the truth about the Holy Spirit and how the early believers ministered through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:37 and 38 reads, "You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached-- 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him." 'Anointed' echrisen in the Greek, means: "rubbing or pouring olive oil on someone to represent the flow (empowerment) of the Holy Spirit; to present someone as divinely authorized (appointed by God) to serve." (HELPS Word-studies Bible Hub). Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power! Note the phrase, 'because God was with him.' The divine presence of God is the source of Jesus' authority and the effectiveness of His ministry. Jesus provided a model for believers who are also empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In 2 Corinthians 1:21 (BSB), Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, "Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us." The same divine action that set apart the Messiah (the anointing) now sets apart all who are 'in Christ.'

Again, power (dunamis) was given to His believers for ministry while they were spreading the gospel. (Acts 1:8)

Ephesians 3:20 reveals that the power of the Holy Spirit that works within us will accomplish more than we can imagine!

Paul ministered in the power of the Holy Spirt also. 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 reads, "I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." The words ‘demonstration of the Spirit's power' in verse 4, refers to the tangible evidence of the Holy Spirit's work such as miracles, spiritual gifts, transformed lives, true faith and conversions. “All of these events are the result of the Holy Spirit's work - not human persuasion. Your faith is not to rest on men's wisdom but on God's power. And this power is not just a historical event but is active in the lives of believers through the Holy Spirit. The power of God is transformative, enabling believers to live out their faith in a way that human wisdom cannot achieve." (Bible Hub Study Bible). Praise God! He knew that in order for us to succeed in what He calls us to do, we need His Spirit's power!

Here is part of a wonderful prayer Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 1:18-20, " I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms" Paul prayed that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened in order that they may know...His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.

This prayer is for us! He prayed that we, (those who believe) would know the power He wants us to operate in, through the Holy Spirit. It is vital that we be led by the Spirit also so that we minister according to His leading and will. "This power is not earned - it is a gift of grace accessible through faith in Jesus Christ." (Bible Hub Study Bible).

Before Jesus returned to the Father, He informed the believers He would have the Father send 'another' Advocate (parakletos), helper and assistant. He would be another just like Jesus. The Holy Spirit was destined to take the place of Jesus here with we believers, to lead us to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth. He provides us with the divine strength and power we need to continue the work Christ began when He was here.

It is not a fluke that we are called the 'Body of Christ.' We are to carry out the message of the Gospel, just as Jesus did. How? By being empowered by the Holy Spirit! Jesus told His followers, "As the Father sent Me, I am sending you." (John 20:21).

The evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence and power in the New Testament is plentiful. As we read of the ministry of Jesus and His followers, we read of deliverance, healings, water being turned into wine and storms calmed by a word. We also read of gifts of the Spirit which were given for the building up of the church. The ministry help provided by the Spirit of God includes: Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues.

Brothers and Sisters, the church needs to return to its roots and operate in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do not be one of those who by a lack of knowledge, fear or believing a lie (deception or deceit) allow yourselves to be hindered from doing the work of the Body of Christ!

The time is short and the church needs to lead the world to Christ. This can only be done His way - in the power of His Holy Spirit. It is only through His power that we have become children of God and have victory over the enemy of our soul, can minister effectively to those in the church and to fulfill His directive to share Christ with the world.

Do not ignore, deny or discard the Holy Spirit. It is only by His power, His miracle working, dunamis power in us, that we will be able to accomplish the work of Christ!

If you have not already done so I encourage you to choose to receive the Holy Spirit and His power into your life today! Just ask Him for it. Luke 11:13 reads, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him

Hallelujah!

Unless noted otherwise all Scripture was taken from the New International Version.

BSB Berean Standard Bible