One of the most overlooked areas in the life of a believer is the area of power. It is often not even mentioned in sermons, nor is it brought up in connection with the Holy Spirit. In some Christian circles it is considered wrong to think of ourselves as having any power at all, and others that it it is possible to operate in power, but only once-in-a-while when God feels like it – and therefore it is not reliable or consistent. All of these different ideas and opinions on the power of the Spirit have given rise to generations of believers who are quite literally living in defeat and confusion, and feeling helpless against the advances of the enemy in their life.
In this study today, we will be examining the truth of what the scripture says regarding the power of the Holy Spirit, and specifically the power that Jesus came to give us. It is important to see that it is not wrong to look at these things; in-fact they were written down for us precisely so that we would know and understand them. And by seeing the truth directly from scripture, we can start living in the power which Jesus paid for us to have.
As we begin our study today, the foundation must be laid that Jesus has indeed given power to us, because if He hasn’t done so, we are just wasting our time here. As I stated, there are entire denominations today that deny the power of the Spirit and a lot of people are stuck in various forms of bondage today because they haven’t realized that they have power with which to be free. So let’s take a quick journey through scripture and see what it says regarding the power that we are supposed to have… starting with 1st Corinthians 2:1-5:
“And I, brothers, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
These words of Paul are quite astonishing when we take time to consider them, and verse 1 in-particular runs counter to what we often see from today’s Christian leaders. Paul says that when he came to the Corinthian church, he did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom (that is, man’s wisdom) declaring the testimony of God. When Paul came to them, he wasn’t a great orator – he didn’t use impressive words and catchy sayings, using the wisdom of men to make his points.
In-fact in verse 2, we see that he threw out all of that “junk knowledge” and determined himself to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified – That’s something we all can take to heart, because there is a line of thinking today that says we need to learn all of this Bible trivia and we need to learn all of this extra stuff to be effective and people end up going round-and-round trying to fill their heads with all of this useless knowledge and they end up missing Jesus entirely and all of it is the way that seems right to man, but in the end leads to death (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)
Verse 3 says that Paul was with them in weakness, and fear and much trembling – and some people today use this verse to try and say that Paul was sick or infirm in some way and they use it to deny healing and such things, and while the Greek word used for weakness can be used for sickness, it can also be used for any imperfection, in this case and context of the previous verses, together with the three Greek words used: ἀσθ., φόβος, and τρόμος, depict not a physical infirmity or sickness, but an emotional state of meekness; a kind of shyness when seeing himself surrounded by the vastness of Corinth. Paul was in awe and amazed and in a sense taken aback by the size and scope of the Corinthian enterprise.
Now with that said, take a look at verse 4, because here is where things start to pick up. Paul says that his speech and preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom… that must be important because it’s the second time in four verses that he has mentioned it; he did not come with cleverly crafted words of man’s wisdom. How did he come then? …in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Today we think of demonstrations of the Spirit and His power are fringe, or worse yet we call them demonic, but as we study the scriptures we see that the Spirit’s power was actually a normal part of life for believers. Notice verse 5, why exactly did Paul come to them in this way?
So that their faith would not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. Paul was not satisfied with mere head knowledge about God, Bible trivia or man’s opinions and abstract theology. He didn’t want their faith to be baseless and powerless, he wanted them to ground their faith on nothing less than the power of God! The word “power” used in verses 4 and 5 is dunamis (δύναμις ), a word which conveys the miracle-working power of God, it is where we get our English word “dynamite” from. So Paul wanted the believers at Corinth to comprehend and base their faith on the dynamite miracle-working power of God. And this was not just Paul’s idea…
In 1st Corinthians 4:20 we see that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (dunamis). This is the power of the Kingdom of God, the very power and authority that Jesus spoke of when He healed the demon-possessed man and the Pharisees accused Him of doing it by Beelzebub – but Jesus makes a point in Matthew 12:28 that He casts out demons by the Spirit of God, and that the Kingdom of God has come upon them.
This is the Gospel in action… sick people being healed, infirm people being made whole and well, demons being cast out, the dead being raised. This is why Jesus said in Luke 10:9, to heal the sick in the city and tell them the Kingdom of God has come. And isn’t it interesting that Jesus says there, to heal the sick first and then tell them the Kingdom has come… now why? Because the ones being sent should have the power. Oftentimes we put the burden on the sick person to have the faith and the power (and Jesus does commend people for their faith), however we should never disqualify the sick or infirm from receiving, or put a faith-barrier in-between them and their Savior. Jesus healed both those who had great faith, and also those who knew nothing except to cry out to Him – He is no respecter of persons, an equal opportunity Deliverer.
Jesus came in the dunamis power of the Spirit according to Luke 4:14. And as a side-note, dunamis often refers to divine healing power as you trace its usage through the book of Luke and the book of Acts, remembering that it is the miracle-working dynamite power of God. And this very same dunamis power – not a lesser-quality – has been given to us. 2nd Timothy 1:7 says the following:
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
I find it very interesting that the dunamis power of God is mentioned even before love and sound mind. It must be something that God wanted us to notice and be sure of. We also see that the contrast to fear, is power, love and a sound mind. Once you grab hold of the revelation that the Spirit of God is a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind, let me tell you that fear will go right out the window!
Now some say that this power was only given to the apostles, and that all miracles and gifts of the Spirit have ended, that the dunamis is no more.
Yet we can be absolutely sure beyond all doubt that healing was not limited to only the apostles by looking at Phillip the evangelist (Acts 8:5-7) and Stephen the deacon (Acts 6:8). This of-course goes right along with the promise of Jesus that those who believe on Him will do the same works as He has done in John 14:12; let’s read it now:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.”
Notice that Jesus gives us a double affirmation. “Truly, truly”, now being God, who does not lie (Titus 1:2) does He need to give us this double assurance? No, of-course not. Yet He does so, simply for our own edification… so that we can be absolutely sure in our own mind and have it settled in our spirit that what Jesus is about to say is totally reliable. And look at what He says:
He that believes on me… so we know that it is open to everyone who believes, not limited to a certain class or people group, simply he who believes on me.
Well, what about them? …the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father. Wow! Pretty amazing!
Now look right at the text, forget about your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings and forget about the opinions of men. Look right at the text, the words spoken by Jesus. Is there any qualification or prerequisite to doing the works of Jesus and even greater works, other than believing on Him and Him going to the Father?
This last part “because I go to my Father” segue’s us into part 2 of our study, regarding how to live in this power. We have laid the foundation, that God does indeed want us to have power, and that Jesus has indeed given us power. Next week we will continue our study by answering the questions of why so many Christian’s seem to lack power in their lives, and how we can live in this dunamis power always.
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