The Power of God’s Holy Spirit

God's Holy Spirit, brethren, has many characteristics. You know, when you're reading Galatians 5, 22, and 23, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. It also has many gifts. When you're reading 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11, that it is through God's Holy Spirit that you understand the things of God. It's like you only understand the things of man because you're not the spirit of man. God's Holy Spirit also has gifts like wisdom, understanding, sound preaching. The Bible calls it prophesying, but it's a capability of speaking God's grace and goodness. Some people have a wonderful opportunity talking to one another in the group, and some people can mention things that are very encouraging, uplifting, and build up one another and declare God's goodness and grace. So God's Spirit gives us that. God's Spirit gives us hope, and faith does have gifts from God. But you know when you read about those gifts from 1 Corinthians 12, then it goes on to straight on to 1 Corinthians 13 and says, well, look for the better gift. And then it says, they are the three. You read that at the end of 1 Corinthians 15. You know, there are three, which is faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of one is love. How to gain concern for one another. That is the greatest gift. You also know that you read, for instance, in John 14, that God's Spirit is our helper. We mean our helper. It helps us in the sanctification process of us becoming more of a friend. It's our helper. It's also the Spirit of truth. It's also the convicting agent. It's the agent that, and you read that in John 16, verse 8, it's a convicting agent, convinces us of sin that says, hey, I've got to repent. And there is another important characteristic, let's call it, or attribute of God's Holy Spirit, that it begets us as children of God. It's God's Holy Spirit that begets us as His children. And so, and you read that in Romans 8, so we have His children, and this is the Spirit of sonship that we try to gain out of. But there is another very important characteristic of God's Holy Spirit. And God's Holy Spirit is tremendous spiritual, dynamic, supernatural power that can be part of our minds, can be in us. It's God's very nature. It's very essence in us. Maybe in modern languages, like it's God's own DNA in us, and it's His mindset. And it's with us before we baptize, and it's in us as well when we are baptized. So God's power through His Spirit is an enormous power. Turn with me to Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Acts chapter 1 verse 8.

And here is Christ telling the apostles just after He resurrected during those few days before He ascended to heaven in Acts 1 verse 8.

It's 1 verse 8 because He says, wait for the thoughts of the Spirit, wait in Jerusalem for it. It's only the wrong pages. Acts 1 verse 8. And then He reads, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. When you and I receive God's Holy Spirit, we receive power, and that's the power from God. So today, brethren, I want to focus on one of God's Holy Spirit's characteristics, and that is God's power.

Now, let's turn to Matthew 19 verse 26. In Matthew 19 verse 26, we see a situation where a man, which was rich, and he turned down a calling, which probably was a calling for him to be one of the apostles. And then Christ says, well, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of an eagle, you know that section, Matthew 19 verse 26. And then the disciples says, well, then if that is the case, who can be saved? And then in 26 says Jesus, looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. That is a demonstration of God's power. All things are possible. Let's look at Psalm 62 verse 11. Psalm 62 verse 11. Psalm 62 we see that talks about who does the power belong to. And so in Psalm 62 verse 11, God has spoken once, twice I've heard this, that power belongs to God. Real power that makes everything possible to God is from God. And when you consider that when you receive God's Holy Spirit, you will receive a little bit of that power. Not all of it. You're not a spirit being yet. You're not going to be able to create other things. Maybe you are the sons of God. Maybe God will give us that power too as well. But he has power. It belongs to God. And look at another interesting scripture as well. And that is in Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32 and verse 17. Jeremiah 32 verse 17. 17. Ah, Lord God, you have made heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched on. There is nothing too hard for you. I, in my mind, I might be wrong, but in my mind, I compare this outstretched on to God's Holy Spirit. It's like it's how God reaches beyond through his Spirit. So it's how God through his Spirit. That's how he's able to reach and go all over, because it's the Spirit that reaches everywhere. And then we read in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3, in Hebrews, which is the 5th chapter, and Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3. By 5th, we understand that the walls were fraying by the Word of God. So God spoke. And that's his authority, that is his power. And through his speaking, he then used his power to actually create them. He frained. The walls were frained. So this is spoke, and let's call it his creative energy.

He created the physical world. Just amazing how God has found it. This is backed up by a number of other scriptures. Let's also look at Psalm 148 verse 5. Psalm 148 verse 5. Psalm 148 verse 5. Psalm 148 verse 5. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded, and they were created. So, you know, you can see, praise the Lord from the heavens, from the heights, and all these angels, and all these hosts, and sun, women, stars. So it's an allegory, of course, but it says, he spoke, and everything is created.

He commanded. He gave that instruction, and his power executed that. He's power. And when you and I read a Genesis in chapter one, and we're going to read start in verse one, Genesis chapter one, verse one, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But, you and I know, a lot of things happened, and it's not my purpose today to explain all that in detail, but a lot of things happened.

And we know there was a rebellion, and because of that rebellion there was great destruction. And therefore the earth became, or was, without form and war, to you and both. Everything became like an atomic explosion had occurred, and the world became an absolute desolation. When God creates, he doesn't create a disaster. He creates beauty. That's God's mind. He creates beauty. But then, because of Satan's rebellion, the church became, and it came to a stage that then it was that way, without form and void.

And darkness was upon the face of the earth. It's like a nuclear winter. When you have a nuclear explosion, you've got these clouds, and it's just this vapor and stuff in the air that light can't shine through. It's just complete darkness, complete darkness. And so that's how the earth then became. But then, God gave the instruction to actually start to recreate the earth, as you and I know, and he did that in six days. And through that recreation, he then used his outstretched arm, his power, his Holy Spirit, and then we see the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

So there was this vapor, dust, both, that no light could come through. And then there was this water covering the earth like a flood. Geologists actually prove that they were two floods. There was the Noah flood, and there was the earlier flood. So this is the first flood, people know. So the waters cover the earth. And then God said, let there be light. And there was light. So God's Spirit, which was hovering over the face of the earth, God's power, God's outstretched arm, changed that environment so that the light starts shining through to the earth, and there was light.

It still needed a bit more cleansing for it, for it, as an observer that would be on earth, would then be able to see the sun, the moon, and the stars. As you know, it was later. But we know that day and night already existed, that 24 hours already existed. So the sun, the moon, and stars were already there. You just could not see it, because it says that was the first day. Night and day. So there is that cycle that happened. So it just shows God's power. And then we see in, also, we see the creation process, or the re-creation process, but then it did create animals, and it did create mankind.

And then we're reading Genesis 2 verse 7, and it says a little bit further down, when it says it's repeating what happened on the sixth day. And it says in Genesis 2 verse 7, and the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground. Now think about God's power. His outstretched arm, through obviously God, through the instruction he gave to Christ, which was the Word, and the Word then used the spiritual power which proceeded from the Father.

The Word used this power, and then he formed man. Now what do we have here, brethren? It's basically a corpse. At first, it's a corpse. We formed man. So God created this physical being with all the organs in his body ready to be switched on, ready to be activated. It's like you go to Walmart and you buy a computer, it's there, but it's not working yet.

It's just you haven't plugged it in, you haven't switched it on yet. So there was this body so intricate so intricate and so interconnected of all its organs in the body, but they were not yet activated. They were not yet switched on. For instance, he created a heart and all the circular system, it was there, but it was not working yet. It created a lungs and a whole breathing system, but it was ready to be switched on.

But it wasn't switched on yet. It created the stomach and all the mechanism from the mouth all the way to the stomach and from the stomach to the intestines and that whole capability of eating and digesting food and absorbing all good nutrients that will then go into the bloodstream and the capability of throwing away all unused matter.

And I don't have to explain more details than that, but throwing away all unused, all that system was there, ready to be activated. It created also the kidneys and all its system to filter the blood and to keep that blood fresh so it would then, when it would circulate, it would then feed all the cells all the way down to every little cell. So it created all that and it created the brain. Yes, that being Adam was at the brain.

It's like in the computer you've got what? The processor, but it wasn't switched on yet. It created the brain, but it did not have, like in a computer, the software loaded. The operating system wasn't loaded yet.

And so what God created was this body of flesh, potentially with great capability, but was not alive yet. And then, as you read in verse 7, he says, he says, and then he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.

That means that body became alive. The switch was turned on. It started breathing. The blood started pumping. The mechanism started working at a physical level. But at a spiritual level, God gave man at that moment a spiritual capability to make the brain think like the brain of a human being. And that's what you and I call the spirit of man. Amen. The spirit of man. Amen.

So the brain now is functioning and able to think at the level of a human being. So when you turn for instance at 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 11, I'm sure it's up there quicker than me. My fingers are slow.

Right. It says, for what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? You see mankind for many years ago, mankind was always puzzled. How come the brain of certain animals is just as mechanically, physically, the physical characteristics of that brain are so similar to the capabilities of a human brain in the words of the processing power?

But it cannot, in an animal, that brain cannot think of the things of a man because it requires a special, let's call it, an operating system in that brain that makes that brain function like a man, which is what we call the spirit of man. A man, like a dog or a cat, has got its own, let's call it, operating system that the dog acts like a dog. It's got its own version of capability to make that brain. We are brained in a way it is. You look at some birds, they're born and moment they're born, they know exactly where to fly and whatever it is and roots, whatever it is, they've been pre-programmed, let's call it that. But we are not pre-programmed. We have the capability of learning. We are different. We have a spirit of man in man. And we read that in verse 11, even so no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. And there is an amazing thought. Think about it. Let's for instance, you go to a monkey at the zoo and speak to that monkey and tell him about algebra and about Beethoven or or about artificial intelligence or whatever it is about computer programming. And I think you'll become a lot more intelligent, won't you? What you want because it does not have the spirit of man.

Likewise, if some human being, some person comes to church and you try and or a person in the street and you try and convince that person about all the things you know in the Bible, they'll say, hey, you're nuts. Unless God's spirit is working with them. When God's spirit is working with them, then they start saying, yeah, you make sense. Then I'm going to ask you a few more questions. You see, that helps to understand that the spirit of man in man makes our brain think at a human level. But for you and I to think at a God level, you need an additional bit of spirit, which is the spirit of God, to make that, to bridge that gap. So I'm deviating here. But the point is, the point is, without the spirit of man, we are nothing as far as human beings. We have to have the spirit of man. You know the story of Nebuchadnezzar, that he became proud and God somehow kind of short-circuited that his spirit of man wasn't functioning correctly. And then he acted like an animal going out to the field for a number of years. And when God says, okay, fine, let you repent now. And then he became a human being again. I mean, I'm trying to simplify it, but just to help him to understand this. So getting back to the creation of man, which we covered in Genesis 2 verse 7, God's power, God's power through his outstretched arm that is used by Christ because it comes from the Father, but he delegated everything to Christ. God's power in that was executed through Christ. And God then, through the power of his Spirit, created mankind. God's Spirit, therefore, is everywhere. Because that's God's outstretched arm. It's everywhere. Look at Psalm 139. Psalm 139.

Psalm 139. And we're going to look at verse 7 and 8.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? You see, you can't go anywhere from God's Holy Spirit because God's Holy Spirit is everywhere. It's God's outstretched arm is how God is able to reach everywhere. Where can I flee from your presence? If I send into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, you are there. In other words, there's no place you can go. No place. God's Spirit is everywhere. Look at Nehemiah chapter 9. Nehemiah chapter 9.

Sometimes my fingers are slow.

It was early on today. Anyway, there is Psalm. Thank you. Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 6. You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and everything in it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord God. You chose Abram, and you brought him out of Ur and the Chaldaeans and gave him the name of Abram. You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to the land of the Canaanites, the Etyts and Amorites and things of that. You are righteous. So God is everywhere. He's made the heavens. He made everything, and he preserves everything like you see in verse 6, and you preserve them all. God has made everything and preserves everything. So God's power is amazing. We also see that in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3. It says, talking about Christ, who is in the brightness of his glory, that's the Father's glory, and expresses the image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power. His upholding, his preserving everything by the word, by his authority of his power and his power is exercised through his Holy Spirit. So it is important for us to understand also that the Father is working through Christ. That when God is working, he gives an instruction and he's delegated everything to Christ. Let's look at Luke chapter 10 verse 22. Luke chapter 10 verse 22. You also find that in Matthew 11. But Luke chapter 10 verse 22. All things have been delivered to me by my Father. Everything has been delegated to me by my Father. This was when Christ was still a human being. So you're saying everything has already been delegated to me. It was delegated to him right at the beginning when the tooth was discussed and this plan was drawn out.

And we also read that in Matthew 28 verse 18 after Christ was resurrected. He says, all authority has been given to me. Matthew 28 verse 18. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So the Father has delegated all this mission critical of creating human beings to be sons of God. He delegated this job to Jesus Christ. That's why Christ says, I'm the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is doing it all. And you read in other scriptures that at the end he'll say, when he's completed, he will then say, he'll hand it all to the Father. Like saying, the Father, Yahya is mission accomplished. So, but Christ is using the power that God has given me, God's Holy Spirit, which is His power, to do all the creating. Look at Psalm 66 verse 7. Psalm 66 verse 7. Psalm 66 verse 7. He rules by his power forever. His eyes observe the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. Selah means, think about it, meditate on it. So, every time you see the word Selah, it means, hey, just pause and think about it. Give it a thought. So, God's power rules forever. His eyes can see everything through His outstretched arm, which is His Spirit, His extra capability that He has. So, He controls the whole universe. He sustains everything all by His power. You read in Romans chapter 1 verse 20. Romans chapter 1 verse 20. When it says, you should know the things that God exerts by what He created. You know, and then in verse 20, it says, the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and glory and divinity, so that they are without excuse. You know, if you just look at the beauty of the creation, of everything God has created, of the human body, of animals, how so many things are interrelated, and what they call them symbiotic, that one could not live without the other. It's just amazing. It is God's great mind, and scientists that really know the truth, they don't want to admit it, because then they would not give themselves an excuse to disobey and practice an immoral life. But one day, when there lived God in the face, when Christ is judging them, they left no excuse. There would be no way to duck out. No, He'd be there. God gave me a human reasoning. Hey, you know better. And God knows the heart, and He says, and God will be able to kiss them. Yeah, but why is that in your heart? They will have no excuse. So, God's miraculous power and divine nature is revealed by His creation.

You read scriptures like in Job 37 verse 5. Let's look at that. Job 37 verse 5. Job 37 verse 5.

God thunders marvelously with His voice. He does great things which we cannot thank Him. God speaks. God sees instruction, and things happen. As a side, as a side, it's interesting. If you study a little bit about the genetic code, do you know that genetic code is actually instruction, verse, action, and therefore causes cells to behave this way or that way? It's like God's word instruction is written into that genetic code, and therefore that cell behaves that way. Maybe it's coincidental. Amazing. So, God speaks, and through His power, He makes great things.

Look at Luke chapter 1 verse 37. Look at chapter 1 verse 37. I know it's a bit of a Bible study, and it's written into a lot of scriptures.

It's God's word, and it says, For God, for with God, nothing will be impossible. God's incomprehensible great power is so great that nothing is impossible to Him. If this is will, it will be done. Nothing is impossible to Him. But the interesting point is, do you know that a little bit a part of that power can be in you?

You see, God has many characteristics and attributes, and those through His Spirit, we have went through them, we show the number of them, love, joy, peace, and others, and wisdom, understanding. And we look at how God is powerful. God's Holy Spirit helps us to make understand the things of God. He's the Spirit of truth. He's our helper. He's our convicting agent. And as we read in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, we receive that power when the Holy Spirit comes to us. We receive God's Holy Spirit. We receive a portion of that power. Now, what portion of that power He gives us? He gives the portion of His power that helps you and I change ourselves, our helper. He does not give a portion of His power for us to change our spouse or anybody else. He gives a portion of His power for you and I to change me, myself, and I. Put your name in it. In other words, He's that power of sanctification. It's our helper to overcome.

You know it proceeds from the Father. You know John 15 verse 26. Let's look at it. It's important for us to read that in the Word rather than just me mentioning it. But John 15 verse 26. For when the helper comes, whom I send to you, I Christ send it to you. Everything's been delegated to Christ. And when I Christ sent to you the power, so it's Christ that baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, not the minister of God. The minister of God baptizes in water for repentance. Then the minister of God lays hands on you and asks God to honor His promise to give His Holy Spirit. God knows your heart. And if you have indeed repented and you trust in Him, or you can deceive the minister, but you don't deceive God, and if God therefore sees that you have indeed repented, then Christ will baptize you with the Holy Spirit according to the promise. Because that's what God wants to do on the condition that you and I have indeed repented. So it says, yeah, when the helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who which perceives from the Father. God's Holy Spirit comes from the Father. That's why He is our Father, because that Spirit begets us that He is our Father. Not Christ is our Father, the Father is our Father. But Christ is our intercessor that which gives us God's Holy Spirit. So the Spirit proceeds from the Father. And God only gives the Spirit to those who obey Him. Acts 5 verse 32. That God gives His Spirit to those that obey Him. So that's why God's Holy Spirit convicts us, and we have to repent, and we have to commit through baptism, which is a commitment, which is a vow to God, that we are going to live now a different life, go from the old man to the new man. And then God gives us His Holy Spirit, because we are obeying. And as long as we obey, He gives us more and more of His Holy Spirit.

That's why it says, repent and believe, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit. But you have to indeed repent and commit to obey. So brethren, you and I can have that power of God, which it's enormous. But God today is only giving you a little portion of that power to help you overcome yourself, to change yourself. I don't know how much of His power you give when you become a spiritual being. Maybe to some people who give some talents or capabilities through His power, and to other people who give other talents or capabilities. Like today, some people have talents to play music, lovely music we have. Yeah, other people have other talents. That's up to God to give His power as He wishes into the body. But you and I need to consider carefully that we need to repent. That means change. That means commit to abide. It's no good to just have hope and no action. There gotta be fruits of repentance. We gotta be becoming better and better and better at obeying God. Then He graciously gives us, because of Christ's sacrifice, the gift of God's early Spirit, the gift of God's love, power. And He gets us as His true children. With a tremendous spiritual power that can be part of our minds and in our brains. That's God's very nature, essence, and mindset, which therefore helps us to overcome and truly become His children.