SPIRIT THAT EMPOWERS

Jesus told His disciples, “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and shall be witnessess unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,  and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” Acts 1:8). But before this time, he had told them to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy ghost came upon them, they received and were endued (clothed) with supernatural power to preach and teach the word of God. When That happened, they went out and began to speak, knowing that the Holy spirit would impregnate thier words with power to save those who heard them.

Peter knew that power had come. That was why he could tell the man at the Beatutiful Gate, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6), and when the man didn’t respond, he grabbed him by the hand and lifted him up. Then his ankle bones received strength and he began to walk. Peter knew he had power; he knew the spirit of the Lord was upon him.

Let me remind you that the same spirit that was upon Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone, is upon each one of us living stones. Jesus said in Luke 4:1819,

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, becuase he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Did you catch the point of this? It means that when the spirit of the comes upon you, he anoints you to tell the good news. And when you tell it, it doesn’t come to your hearers as mere words but with the divine power and ability to give life.

Some Christains only know to read their Bibles, teach, preach, sing, pray and go their way. They’re in the “meek and queit” camp. Child of God, there’s more to your life than that. You’ve got to have some power in your life!  The Bible says the Kingdom of God is not in Word only, but in power also (1Corinthians 4:20).

 

There’s nothing as uninspiring as a Christian who preaches power without demonstrating it. Paul said, “I didn’t come with words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the spirit and of power; that your faith shouldn’t stand in the wisdom, but in the power of God” (1Corinthians 2:4). Therefore, get some power; get to know the spirit of the lord!

Many times before I minister, I wait for the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord to come on me. When it does, I know more than an ybody else that something has happened. Sometimes, when I’m praying alone, I can tell Ezekiel, that the spirit of the Lord just entered me. It feels as if his hands and legs have just gone into me mine. I can tell it’s not just me moving anymore, but “Someone” moving in me. I can tell that he wants to lay hands through me and do mighty things through me. Said, Pastor Chris, that’s power of the Holy Ghost. Get empowered by the spirit. Glory to God.

Also tells a story, when he was preaching at a crusade sometime in 1985, and that was one of the first times he began to observe this manifestion of the spirit. A strong wind began to blow and it looked like the heavens were about to come down.The place was sandy, so the wind raised so much dust and sand and brought it against the people.

He was grieved in his spirit all the time this was happening. You know, sometimes you can be grieved in your spirit about something but you can’t do anything about it yet, because you don’t want to do something dumb. He kept thinking to himself, what’s going on ? what am I going to do about this?

Some people were trying to shield themselves from the billowing dust. Other started going away becuase it was so cloudy. It was obivious there was going to be a heavy downpour. By this time his jacket was already flying in the wind, but he kept on preaching and many tried to listen.

Then suddenly, that unction came and he uttered some words. I only remember that the people started clapping. According to him, he said he didn’t know what he said untill he later heard it on the tape. He said “Wind, not this way. Turn around and go that way!”When He spoke those words, He saw the wind turn 180 degrees and go in other direction. Calm returned, the people were able to recceive the message, and had a glorious meeting.

In another meeting in 1986. He was preaching at a meeting and there was this crippled young man sitting in the front row with his crutches beside him. He had just started preaching and hadn’t quite gone ten minutes into his message when, suddenly, he was full of the spirit. He hadn’t planned to do this, and he hadn’t even thought about it, but right in the middle of his message, he turned abruptly to that crippled fellow, got hold of him and said, “Walk, in Jesus’ Name!” He pulled him up, and he started walkig! Of course, everybody was shouting, rejoicing and praising God to the high heavens. The meeting went on that night and had more miracles and manifestions of the spirit.

That’s what happens when the spirit of the Lord takes over. You don’t think about it. You don’t reason it out and wonder, what am I going to do now? He just moves you to act.

When He caught Philip away, He didn’t wait for him to prepare specially for it. Philip didn’t have the time to announce to the eunuch who was with him, “Now I’m about to journey to Azotus. No, he wasn’t squeezing out faith. The spirit of the Lord just caught him and took him away.

When the spirit of theLord comes upon you, you may not be talking but you’ll start seeing things. There’ll be a new boldness in your soul. That’s what the prophet Micah meant when he said’ “I am full of power by the spirit of the lord and of judgement, and to Israel his sin” (Micah 3:8)

Some think of the spirit of the Lord as “a still, small voice.” That’s because they don’t know Him He’s not a still, small voice; He’s the spirit of dominion. He welled up in Paul when Elymas the sorcerer challenged him, and the Bible tell us that “Paul, filled with the Holy spirit (the spirit of the Lord), glared angrily at the sorcerer and said, You son of the devil, full of every sort of trickery and villainy, enemy of all that is good, will you never end your opposition to the Lord? And now God has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be stricken awhile with blindness. Instanly mist and darkness fell upon him, and he began wandering around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him” (Acts 13:811 TLB). Now that doesn’t sound like a still, small voice, does it?

Some say when you pray hard enough that’s when the power comes. No, it’s got nothing to do with praying hard but everything to do with your hunger. You see, the Holy spirit doesn’t force Himself on anybody. The question is: How much do you want him?

If you want Him, He will fill you. He never goes where He’s wanted, except when He shows up. We don’t shake Him up to get Him to do things. Instead we prepare for Him. The bible says if you’re a vessel that’s prepared, you’ll be ready and fit for the Master’s use (2Timothy 2:21).

God wants to use you, but He wants you to be ready for Him. He wants you to be cleansed separated, and sanctified. Then you’ll be ready for Him to use you.

October 11, 2008