THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
When we preach the Gospel anointed by the Holy Spirit, the result will be men and women greatly convicted of sins, confessing and repenting, enlisting in God’s great army to bring revival to this nation and other nations.
ELEVEN OF Jesus’ 12 disciples became Apostles after His ascension. While on earth, Jesus was their mentor, He walked with them every day for three years. They observed the demonstration of His power daily as He preached the gospel, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, and worked all kinds of miracles. Indeed He was empowered with the Holy Spirit without measure. He declared in the temple that He was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, 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.”
As He marched on the road of redemption to Calvary, to fulfil His life’s mission and purpose, as He headed to the cross of Calvary to secure salvation for lost humanity, His walk was decorated by daily victories demonstrating His empowerment by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are called to continue the
work that Jesus did and He is requiring greater works from us. If Jesus accomplished His mission by the empowerment of the Spirit of the Lord we cannot in this present time accomplish His work in us without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
THE SOURCE OF POWER
We cannot accomplish God’s will without His power. The source of His power is the Holy Spirit. Jesus instructed His disciples to wait. He instructed them not to start their mission and mandate before they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus highlighted that receiving the Holy Spirit is the prerequisite to demonstrating His power.
“But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both i n Jerusalem and i n Judea and i n Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
(Acts 1v 8).
After the disciples received the Holy Spirit, these simple uneducated men were given the first charge of the Church, to build on the foundation Jesus laid. These mere fishermen, considered to be among the least in the natural realm became Apostles, demonstrating greater works than Jesus.
In Peter’s first sermon, 3,000 souls were saved. Five thousand souls were saved in his second sermon. All ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ today need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. When we preach the Gospel anointed by the Holy Spirit, the result will be men and women greatly convicted of sins, confessing and repenting, enlisting in God’s great army to bring revival to this nation and other nations.
GOD’S GIFT FOR ALL BELIEVERS
As highlighted by Luke in the book of Acts, receiving the power of the Holy Spirit comes first by obedience to God and submission to His divine will. We then must understand and accept that the gift of Holy Spirit is the promise of God to all believers in Jesus Christ. Waiting upon the Lord in prayer, praise and worship, alone or with others of a like mind and mission, will result i n the Holy Spirit descending and filling all vessels available to be filled. While waiting to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the barrier of time must first be destroyed, setting a start time for our wait is vital, but we should refrain from setting a pre-planned end time. The disciples of old had no prior knowledge of the time span of their wait but they waited anyway. Our wait on the Lord ends when He sees it fit to empower us with the Holy Spirit.
As the Apostles of Old emphasised the gifts of the Holy Spirit and waited upon the Lord for His empowerment, the same model is vital for us today. Winning lost souls for the Kingdom of God is our utmost mandate. We cannot win souls without power. The source of our power is the Holy Spirit