The Power Of The Holy Spirit

The Power of the Holy Spirit

Introduction

John 4:24 ESV

"God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

John14:26 ESV

But the Helper (KJV: Comforter), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you...

God is Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is the energized, activated power of the living God. When the Bible speaks of God in action it speaks of Him as the Holy Spirit. From the time God created the space-time continuum, His Spirit has filled and pervaded all that exists. The Holy Spirit is responsible for the acts of creation. The Holy Spirit has always been present at every twist and turn of history. He has been there moving upon and energizing believers and those whom God has chosen for specific purposes in each particular era.

1. Our Story Begin With the Holy Spirit

We only know our story, the story between God and us. There may be glimpses of other stories in the record of creation and in Scripture, but we only know what begins in Genesis 1:1 and the Holy Spirit was there at the beginning:

Genesis 1:1-3a ESV

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said..."

Job 26:13 NKJV

"By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent."

Psalm 33:6 NKJV

"By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the Breath of His mouth."

Understanding the way that the Bible begins holds the key to a moving of the Holy Spirit throughout the story of human history.

God moved into the thick empty blackness of the chaos at the beginning. It is almost as if it attracted Him.

The psalmist wrote that "Deep calleth unto deep." Someone said that the opposite is true as well, shallow calls to shallow. When we are deeply hungry and in need, God answers the depths of our need by the depth of His Spirit. Paul writes in Romans 8 that the Spirit groans along with us in the moments of our deepest sorrow, in the middle of our story. We know that all creation groans, and we know that ultimately God will work all things together for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. There is a whole lot in between the here and now and the world to come that we do not know. The Holy Spirit does know! He comes alongside us. He prays in us and through us. In the depths of the darkest places of our lives, He breathes light.

In Genesis, there was darkness "over the face of the deep." Water is pliable, sensitive, yielding. When we find ourselves in the darkness, in over our heads, God will move on our behalf. He is attracted to our emptiness. He responds to our deepest needs. The chaos, the emptiness, the darkness of our lives can create an opportune setting for the Spirit of God to move upon us.

2. The Spirit Works in the Old and the New

The Holy Spirit is always there at the beginning and the end. In the Bible, He is the Book End. When we read through Genesis we find that close to the end when God is working to protect His purpose in the nation of Israel, Pharaoh acknowledges that the Spirit of God is in Joseph (Genesis 41:38). Joseph is anointed to bring order to the coming abundance and the chaos and emptiness that will follow.

When God gives the plans for the tabernacle to Moses, He places his Spirit in Bezalel to have the wisdom to build everything (Exodus 31). The closing chapter of the Bible says that the Spirit of God is calling, inviting whosoever will to come and drink of the waters of life freely (Revelation 22:17)!

From beginning to end and at every place in between, the Holy Spirit is present.

In Acts 2, on the birthday of the church at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is there creating once again. The New Testament creation was the Church of the Living God!

There are many parallels between what the Bible says about the work of the Holy Spirit in the OT and in the NT. We can discern the work of the Spirit drawing the animals to the ark before the flood. Jesus said that no one could come to Him unless they were drawn by the Holy Spirit draws them (John 6:44). The Spirit moved upon Moses, Abraham, Saul, Samson, Isaiah, and the other OT prophets. Peter said that the Holy Spirit was in them, speaking beforehand about Christ's sufferings and glory (1 Peter 1:11).