Today I want to talk to you about the work of the Holy Spirit. He is real. He is powerful. He is the secret dynamic of vibrant faith. He is the agent of divine action on earth. He is God’s gift to you!
For centuries believers have misunderstood this often-neglected member of the Trinity. Yet in the past 100 years, the Holy Spirit movement has gained miraculous momentum. Modern theologians have described it as “the most dramatic development of Christianity this century.” We are seeing a surge of Holy Spirit “revelation” and an explosion of Holy Spirit “revolution.” And I am writing to encourage and remind you that you can be a part of it all.
The Holy Spirit is God in action. He is the third person of the Trinity who works on earth today. Everything that God does here is by the Spirit.
The apostles needed the Spirit, and so do we. The supreme work of the Holy Spirit is salvation. In Bible times the world had 300 million people – all un-evangelized. Today there are more than seven billion on earth – and most of them are unsaved!
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD IN ACTION
We must do the same works as the apostles. And when we do, God will give us what He gave them. What we read in the book of Acts was not the peak of Holy Spirit power. It was simply the recorded beginning of how the Holy Spirit would flow through His servants on the earth from that day forward.
Jesus Himself, when describing His own miracle-working power by the Holy Spirit, told us clearly that we would see and do even greater things than Him: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing; He will do even greater things than these.” John 14:12
And the reason He made that promise is found in the rest of that verse: “... because I go to my Father in Heaven.” He goes on to explain that when He would physically depart, then the Holy Spirit would come.
THERE IS NO MAXIMUM
Reinhard Bonnke has often said, “There is no maximum.” The story of the early Christians is simply a sampling of the possibilities of Holy Spirit ministry. The field is wide open to us all. Paul the apostle prayed, “That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.” Ephesians 1:18-20
God never intended for us to fight the powers of darkness, the world and the flesh with our own resources. The Gospel is the “power of God” (Romans 1:16). That power is the Holy Spirit. But we cannot experience that power when we ignore Him. Think about how much preaching today sounds as if the preacher had just come out of the upper room with the apostles? Today we are privileged to hear ministry that actually sounds as if the Gospel is the power of God. Ministers who talk to their congregations like doctors in their clinic, without passion, give the Holy Spirit no chance. Our job cannot be done effectively without the Spirit’s anointing.
HE IS THE MOTIVATOR AND MOTIVATING POWER
“Be filled with the Spirit!” is our instruction in Ephesians 5:18. It is popular to talk about being “Purpose-driven” ... and I do love that idea. But we must never lose sight of the fact that the New Testament pattern is to be “Spirit-driven.”
The Holy Spirit is the motivator and motivating power that makes the dynamic difference in every setting and situation. You can know that the half million words of the Old Testament are God’s treatise on the Holy Spirit. It demonstrates that whole nations tread the road of tragedy when they ignore the Spirit of God.
In ancient Israel, the Holy Spirit only occasionally came upon a person, but otherwise the nation was on a slippery downward slope. When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, everything changed. Suddenly, we had a supernatural Gospel that was confirmed with supernatural results.
THE SUPER BECAME NATURAL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is not a rare experience for withdrawn mystics. He is now available and should be the natural expectation of us all. He desires us to desire Him.
The Spirit is the producer of all things visible and invisible. All things exist by the Holy Spirit. To Him, nothing is more natural than the supernatural. From our Holy Spirit perspective, the surprise should be when we do not see miracles rather than when we do see them.
The Spirit spun the world and all its essences out of God’s hands. He made them and can remake them. He can heal, save and perform signs and wonders. With Him, it is impossible to do otherwise.
CHRISTIANITY IS THE SUPERNATURAL OPERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Whatever God does on earth, He does through our actions as we partner with Him by faith. That means if you do nothing, then God will do nothing through you. But when you say “Yes” to God’s leading, the Holy Spirit comes through your action and makes it a miracle motion.
This is the day and now is the time when we all should respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit with acts of obedience. When you move it allows God to move. When you give ... it allows God to multiply and bring blessing. He wants to use you and flow through you in more ways than you can imagine.
True Christianity consists of the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit. That is the only kind of Christianity the Bible teaches. No matter how we read the Scripture, it is impossible to see the Gospel without seeing the supernatural. I am excited to see the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in even greater ways in our midst!
