WBS.187
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE HOLY SPIRIT - VII
1 Corinthians
2: And I,
brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of IAUE.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Yahushua
Messiah, and him crucified.
3 And I was
with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of IAUE.
How do you get to the love of IAUE? You get there through the Spirit of IAUE’s
might who conquers every enemy of IAUE in your life. Disciples, we must move past this idea of the
Holy Spirit simply being a comforter to us.
We should be the comforters of those around us by demonstrating the
Spirit of Might who is in our lives; setting the captives free and advancing
the gospel while the Kingdom is still approaching. Once it is here, there is no longer time for
the lost to be found in right standing with the King.
We have been studying the nature and aspects
of the Holy Spirit. This is our third
week examining what it means for Him to be the Spirit of Might (the Spirit of
Power). The Scripture’s focus on the
power of the Holy Spirit is His superiority over the enemy’s might and ability.
Now, I know I have been saying things
you have never heard, and possibly have never imagined; but isn’t that what we
saw the Scriptures teach us regarding the Holy Spirit? He would show us things which IAUE has
prepared for us who love Him; things that eyes have not seen, ears have not
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man to imagine.
These things are not hidden to us. In fact, they are in plain sight in the Scriptures. We have been too timid or fearful to believe
them. What do you suppose would happen
if we stepped out of that timidity and fear and acted on the Word of IAUE? Do you suppose we would experience the same
kind of miraculous consequence we experienced when we dared to believe that
IAUE sent His Son to die in our place to cut a new covenant with Him and then
open the door to all who would believe upon Him? What happened when we dared to believe the
Word of IAUE regarding the Savior? We
were transformed. Our spirit was united
with the Spirit of Yahushua, and the life and light of IAUE came flooding into
our hearts for the very first time. All
we did was act on a single verse of Scripture, John 3:16. The Scripture says that when we first trusted
in Messiah, IAUE exercised the exact same POWER toward us that He did when He
raised Yahushua from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20). And what, exactly did that
POWER do to us?
Colossians 1:13 Who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of
his dear Son:
The Spirit of Might delivered us, rescued us
out of the grasp and hold of the enemy of our soul. He conquered and overwhelmed the darkness’
authority over our lives and plucking us out of darkness, He placed us into the
Kingdom of Light. This was the act of a
warrior. This was a demonstration of a
conqueror’s invincible power. It happened when we dared to believe the Word of
IAUE; and we did not even know what to expect to happen. We certainly had no control over what would
happen. We simply dared to believe. Everything else, absolutely EVERYTHING else
was not OUR part to do. It was the
Spirit of Might acting on or behalf, activated to demonstrate The invincible
might of IAUE.
The gospel, in its purest form, is “Repent,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
So, the messengers of that gospel do not expect you to believe them
because they say so. They expect you to
believe it because of a demonstration of the Spirit of Might, so you can know
that you are dealing with a power that is great enough to separate you from and
deliver you from every single hold and assault of the enemy against your life.
1 Corinthians 2: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of IAUE.
2 For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Yahushua Messiah, and him
crucified.
3 And I was
with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power:
5 That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of IAUE.
This is a pretty well-known passage of
Scripture; and yet, it does not seem to have much impact on our preachers and
evangelists, today. Completely contrary
to this principle of Paul, virtually all contemporary preachers and teachers
and so-called evangelists absolutely DO expect you to believe in their wisely
and cleverly crafted words and stories.
They expect you to make a life-changing decision based exclusively upon
your readiness to believe that what they are telling you is true. The problem
is, there is only one way they can PROVE that what they are saying is true; and
that is by a demonstration of the Spirit of Might.
Let’s look at a few more examples of the
Spirit of Might in the New Testament.
Romans 8:15 For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.
2 Timothy 1:7 For IAUE hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.
The Spirit of Might overthrows the enemy’ greatest
weapon against man: fear. When we draw upon this aspect of the Holy
Spirit and He eradicates our fear, we will no longer be too timid to act upon
the Word of IAUE and to begin doing what we have always been expected to do.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of IAUE dwell in you…
The Spirit of Might is the overcoming power of
IAUE that delivers us from our own flesh.
2 Corinthians
3:17
Now IAUE is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of IAUE
is, there is liberty.
The Holy Spirit brings freedom, not
bondage. He is a deliverer from
evil. He is not a consoler in the midst
of evil. Why would the Holy Spirit
attempt to console you while you muddle around in sin and sickness and disease
and wrong thinking and fear? He is the
power of IAUE to destroy the works of the enemy.
Romans 15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the
Spirit of IAUE; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have
fully preached the gospel of Messiah.
Notice what the apostle Paul says in this verse. Late in his ministry, he tells the disciples
in Rome that he has fully preached the gospel of Messiah; but HOW, did he
preach the gospel? “Through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the
Spirit of IAUE.” He preached the
gospel by demonstrating the might of the kingdom of IAUE. It does not require many words to communicate
the conquering power and authority of the coming King when once you have
demonstrated it.
Let me use an illustration from any number of
movies or TV shows you have likely seen.
How many times have you watched a representative of a coming army or
faction enter a city and try to explain that their people are coming and
everyone needs to be prepared to show full obedience and compliance? There is resistance at first; but the moment
one of the representatives pulls out and fires a sophisticated weapon using
technology so superior to what the people can even imagine, there is an
immediate breaking of the will and a readiness to submit. What caused the change? It was a demonstration of the power of the
coming force.
The world is in the kingdom of darkness, and
their every decision in life is influenced by fear. If you go into their cities and villages and
say, “The King is coming. Repent and obey the king,” they are going to wonder
why they should risk angering the harsh taskmaster who currently rules their
life. Why should they risk standing out
and becoming the focus of his wicked retaliation simply because you say they
should do so? When you destroy the works
of the devil before their eyes, they see that the power and might of your King
is great enough to free them from their current bondage and set them free and
protected against the devil’s retribution.
This life is about a conflict of
Kingdoms. Most disciples never quite “get
it.” This isn’t about getting “saved”
and “going to Heaven when you die.” This
isn’t about seeing who can prosper the most in this world and die with the most
toys. It is about allegiance,
commitment, loyalty, service and, yes, it is about combat. It is about rescuing men and women from a
dark kingdom, and bringing them into the light.
The wonderful thing is, there is no power or authority that can stand against
the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Might of IAUE, Himself.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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