Spiritual Power

Speaker: Pastor Darin Browne

John 14:12-14
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Jesus sent His disciples out in Luke 9 and gave them “authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” They went out and spoke God’s words, cast out demons and healed. Jesus gave them spiritual power, and they stepped out in faith and did miracles. We don’t see this much today, and there are several reasons for that…we lack spiritual power.

Have you ever been using your phone and it suddenly stopped working. No calls, no texts, no internet. A dead weight! Why? It has run out of power, and this is where many Christians are at today. We look like a phone, we look like the real deal, but we are not plugged in to the Holy Spirit, and we are uncharged and devoid of power.

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL POWER?

John 14:12
“whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do;”

Interestingly, the Greek Word for works is ERGON, which we recognise as an energy company, and it implies actively working, which takes power. Our power source is the Holy Spirit, so it is not about us working harder, doing more or achieving more. It is us plugging into the power source and flicking the switch. Then we can do what Jesus did…

John 14:12
and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

HOLY SPIRIT POWER

In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon people for a short time, to empower them for a specific ministry task. For example, the Spirit of the Lord came on Joshua (Numbers 27), Gideon in Judges 6, and Samson in Judges 14. But after Pentecost, which we remember on this day, Pentecost Sunday, the Spirit of God dwells within ever believer. When Jesus went to the Father, He sent His Holy Spirit to in well us. We don’t need a specific ministry reason, or a special ceremony, because He lives in us. If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit, but the question is, does the Holy Spirit have you? What does spiritual power bring?

1: POWER TO MINISTER

The Spirit gives us power to minister and grow today. The power of the Spirit is not limited to pastors or people who think they have a healing gift. The power is available to all who trust Him and are obedient to what He wants us to do. The Spirit empowers us, not for our own amusement, but to minister to those around us.

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

2: BOLDNESS TO WITNESS

Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

If we have spiritual power operating in our lives, we can have a supernatural boldness to share the good news about Jesus with others. I remember sitting beside a guy in a small plane going to Wagga and chatting, and he told me he had committed adultery, running away with the woman. When that failed, he wanted to ask to come back to his wife and he was on the way to her. I was able to lead him to the Lord and pray for him.

3: SPIRITUAL GIFTS

1 Corinthians 12:7
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Spiritual gifts are not for you. Prophecy, tongues, healing, teaching, none of it is for you. It is for the common good, for the church. We love to see the gifts operating, but only if they serve the body in humility and truth.

4: FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

The better indication of being filled and empowered by the Spirit is not the gifts (they are simply given, and the Spirit’s discretion) but the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

5: ANSWERS TO PRAYER

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

I can’t do miracles. I can’t heal anyone. But I know someone who can! If you need a miracle today, don’t ask me, ask God. But if Spirit power dwells within me, perhaps I can pray and believe with you for something miraculous. I have experiences miracles of healing, provision and deliverance so often, I just know God is doing things! But the power of the Spirit is not solely for ministry, it is also…

6: POWER TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE

What this world really lacks is holiness. We see churches around the country watering down what God clearly says to try and be popular, but God never called us to be popular, He called us to be salt and light to our people.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Our bodies are the temple, in other words, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Don’t trash the temple! We must keep a clean temple, which means act and think in a righteous way. The Holy Spirit can empower us to love a holy life, so the closer we get to God, the greater our ability to live a moral and Christ centred life.

HOW DO YOU SPIRITUALLY POWER UP?

I heard about a guy in a computer customer service centre, and someone called up saying their computer wasn’t working at all. He went through a check list, and established it was getting no power. He asked the person if it was plugged in and turned on, and she said she wasn’t sure, because it was too dark to see, there was a blackout. Then he told her to pack her computer up and send it back, because she was too stupid to own one.

If you are going to power a device such as a smartphone, you have to do three things…

1: PLUG IN

If you refuse to plug the device in, you aren’t getting any power. Yes, you have a battery, which will run for a short time, but it will quickly lose power then die if it is never plugged in. If you don’t plug it in, the device is a paper weight, regardless of the potential it must work. Your Christian life is the same. You must plug into the Holy Spirit’s power regularly, or you will run down and stop. To plug in, you need to connect. At the end of the chapter about Pentecost, we read this verse about early Christians plugging in…

Acts 2:42
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

That’s how you plug in. Get the teaching from the Word of God, get teaching and fellowship by coming to church, and pray often. Some people think they can be a Christian without going to church. You can, but you’d be a disobedient Christian. He commands us to not give up meeting together, and so we should be obedient. You can be married and not live together, but that’s not normal. Why would God bless and lead you if you are disobedient? Turn up, learn, grow, plug in.

2: SWITCH ON

Going to church or reading the Bible is plugging in, but the device will not work if it is not switched on. I have often been confused as to why a device is not working, only to find it is turned off. Switching on is not just attending church or reading the Bible, it is when you obey, when you put into practice what you learn and know.

1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Talk is cheap, obedience is costly, but this is what switches you on to God’s blessings. Disobedience can lead to disqualification from God’s blessings.

3: CONNECT TO THE NETWORK

Sometimes it is hard to obey because we cannot hear the voice of God. You can plug your phone in, switch it on, charge it up, but it still cannot be used as it was designed to be used if you don’t have a SIM card in it. It must be connected into the network. Turning up at church doesn’t amount to much, unless you connect to God; that’s when you really see results. You can plug in (turn up to church), then switch on, (listen and understand), but the final step is connecting to the network. It is hearing, understanding and doing the will of God. A spirit powered life is a transformed mind.

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The 5G signal is a lot stronger and goes a lot further than 3 or 4G. Many Christians act like they’re on Vodaphone, there are black spots every here. When you allow the world to conform your mind to its mould, when you let social media, movies, the internet, etc shape your thinking, you lose connection to the network. If you let God transform you, you’re on the right network. And how can you be fully connected to God? By renewing your mind…

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

If you want spiritual power in your life, stop filling your head with junk! Fill it with the Bible, with church, with righteous and wholesome stuff, then you’re on God’s network.

WHAT DRAINS YOUR SPIRITUAL POWER?

With your mobile phone, certain apps drain your power. What apps drain the power of the Spirit in your life?

1: UNREPENTANT SIN

Psalms 66:18
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

The Word for cherish in Hebrew is RA’A, which means to look at or study in detail. If you have sin in your life and you know it, look at it in detail and cherish it, that is hang onto it, then your prayers are blocked. Those silent sins no one knows about and you think you get away with, God sees them, and they place a blockage in your life, because God won’t listen. If you know the truth and ignore it, you cannot live in Holy Spirit power. Don’t cover it up, own up, and let the blood of Jesus cover it over.

2: FEAR AND UNBELIEF

2 Timothy 1:7
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Fear, anxiety, worry, it’s the same thing, and it is an app that runs in the background and drains your power as a Christian. Fear knocked at the door, faith answered, there was nobody there. Faith is necessary to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is not faking it. It’s not going to a certain church, and it’s not convincing yourself something. God has given me a simple understanding of faith. It’s assurance, and how do you get assurance, you get to know God more and more.

Faith is knowing God so well you cannot imagine Him ever letting you down.

3: BUSYNESS

Sometimes we are just too busy for God, and this drains our power. Like a GPS on your phone, it sits in the background sucking energy and draining power. That’s what excessive busyness does, and we need to guard ourselves against being too busy for God, too busy to come to church, too busy to do a quiet time.

Ephesians 5:15-16
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Are you making the best use of your time? To be filled with power and not have it drain away, you must plug in and recharge often. Make time for church, make time for reading the Word and prayer, and you can short circuit the power drain of busyness.

4: ISOLATION

Proverbs 18:1
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

Isolating from other believers is never a good idea, and it’s not what God wants. Some people you might need to keep away from, but in general, I see people isolate when they have a difficult time, and it’s the wrong thing to do. If life is tough, plug into church

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

We are better together, and we were never meant to face life alone. That’s why church is so important. Because it can recharge your power.

BE FILLED WITH HOLY SPIRIT POWER

That’s what I am going to do right now. Let me ask you, is your battery fully charged, or are you running on empty? I want to give you the chance right now to plug into the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit. If you hunger for God, plug in and switch on now.

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

Luke 11:13
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!”