#475 – Reevaluating The Power Of God

From the 21 Century we can look back over 2000 years and assume we know what the “Power of God” actually means. However, there are so many different concepts about the power of God from culture to culture, denomination to denomination, and tradition to tradition. For example; Some denominations believe the power of God is not a current reality in the church today because it was just manifested for a few years to get the church started. Some believe that only the Apostles were granted the “gift” of power for the time in which they lived. The say that the “power” passed away when the last Apostle died. Many of the Pentecostal groups believe the Power of God is synonymous with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Luke 5:17 And it came about one day that He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And behold, some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in, and to set him down in front of Him.

Jesus was teaching a large group of villagers and Pharisees UNTIL the power of God came in their midst to perform healing. He stopped preaching or teaching and started to heal the infirm etc. In this scripture it seems the “power of God” is not ALWAYS present to perform healing. The “power” to heal was not something that Jesus had or carried with Him but He must be led by the Holy Spirit like everybody else. Today, we pray for healing without knowing if the Power of God is present to heal. Even the gift of healing does not always work when we pray for the sick so some assume that healing has passed away. However, in this study we want to investigate some of the different realms of the power of God because we must not use one or two verses to evaluate His Power.

Mark 5:29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

Now, to prevent us from making a doctrine from one verse, we need to see that power and its manifestation is not limited to one event or even one dimension. It is certainly not limited to one verse or one place or one condition or one situation. This Power is still under the authority and will of God. However, is there another dimension of Power? This Power was inherent within Jesus and had gone from Him to heal without His initiating the healing. Therefore, we can assume that the “power” was from the Living and Abiding Word of God by which He was conceived OR from the Holy Spirit who was in Jesus after His baptism.

Mark 9:1 And He was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

Here He relates ‘power” to the Kingdom AFTER it comes. This is, obviously, power in another realm connected to the Government of God and to God’s sovereignty. This Power is part of the Kingdom “package.” Then we might ask if that “power” always worked in those who were living within the Kingdom Government. There is probably a difference between the Kingdom coming with Power and the Power of the Holy Spirit or the Power to heal. Still there is only one source of the Power and that is God but that “power” is manifested in different realms and intensities.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.

In this verse it is clear that the “power of the Most High” is directly related to the Holy Spirit. We know that what was imparted on that occasion was the “Sperma of God” which is the Living and Abiding Word of God. This Power ,then, is also related to the deposit of this Life Giving Sperma and the conception that conceived Jesus. Is that “power” available to us to receive the same sperma today? Yes!

Luke 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry.

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.

Jesus went into the wilderness being “filled with the Holy Spirit” but following His Consecration and wilderness experience He returned in the “Power of the Spirit.” I think sometimes we think that since He is the Son of God that He has special powers, wisdom, gifts, insight and ministry very much more advanced and unique than is available to us. As the “prototype man” He had to develop in the same way we must grow up into Christ and develop our new Life and ministry. If that was not true how would we know how God has called us and anointed us and manifests His glory and power through us? Jesus IS Our Example of how the person of God grows, develops, is trusted with ministry and does the whole will of God.

Luke 6:19 And all the multitude were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

During our Christian growth period it is essential that we know IF JESUS is the prototype man, our example, or is He the extraordinary Son Of God who lived and died as God among men. Was Jesus just a super man totally different from us? Of course not. He was “man” like us in order to fulfill scripture. Did the miracles come from the God / Man or from Jesus, the man, who was just like us AFTER we are born from above? If He is NOT the prototype man then how can we expect to do the “greater works” than He did?

When we look closely at this pitiful person in Romans 7 who is hopeless and helpless and unable to serve God or live the Christian life or even do the will of God, we wonder if this is the Normal Christian Life. This obviously was not what Jesus meant when He said “I will build my church.” If God had provided no more power than we see in the Romans 7 limitation of the natural man, it is clear that dozens of scriptures can never be fulfilled. If Romans 7 is the best that we can hope for in this life, the Romans 7 person will have a wonderful excuse to live like the visible church. If Jesus IS the Prototype Man, who lived and died as a genuine example for us of how we will be able to fulfill the purpose of God, then we need to adjust to the experience of this Pattern Man. If the Power of God and the Kingdom is a genuine reality for the real church then there will be no excuse, that is valid before God, to live in the flesh.

We need to be convinced that what He did as the Last Adam was just by the authority, dominion and power that God gave the first Adam to rule over the earth and everything that moved upon it. Did He have special powers, ability and authority that are not offered to first Adam? I don’t think so! Why? How could He judge those of the first Adam for their failure if He had special powers that they didn’t have? No! He must first fulfill the commission given to first Adam. Then because sin came by man, redemption also had to come by man. Because death came by man, resurrection and life had to come by man.

1Cor 15:21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to

stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Here, again, is a small mystery that maybe we can solve with the scriptures. What does it mean that “You shall receive Power?”

Act 1:7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Strong’s Number 3144 μάρτυς martus mar’-toos Of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally [judicially] or figuratively [generally]); by analogy a “martyr”: - martyr, record, witness.

This “power” is certainly of a different kind than the power to heal. It is the “power to witness” or to die as a martyr. It could mean the power to record these things. This is power in an entirely different dimension and reveals the diversity of this concept of power. This power would be continuously upon them to complete their function in the church. This “power” was giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord.

Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

Act 6:7 And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. :9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10 And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

We may not realize that great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. Others were resisting the Truth of the gospel they were preaching and began arguing with Stephen. However, Stephen was ministering something from the Holy Spirit and they had no defense against his response to their argument. This aspect of the anointing should be normal for those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Why? Because, this “wisdom and Spirit” is not presented as something unusual or miraculous.

Rom 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Paul says that the real evidence that Jesus is the Son of God comes to with “power” is because of His resurrection from the dead. However, Paul says this is not his evaluation but is the witness of the Spirit of Holiness. His witness is that Jesus Christ, the Lord, is the Son of God because of the resurrection. Still, in surveys it is reported that about 18 percent of people that attend church do not believe in any life after this one. That in incredible because the whole Christian experience is based upon the resurrection. Paul says in 1 Cor 15 that if Christ did NOT raise from the dead then you are still in your sins.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Here, Paul relates the gospel to the power of God that provides “salvation” to everyone who believes this gospel. We usually think of salvation as a “decision” rather than as the result of the Power of God released through the gospel message.

1Cor 2:5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

In this example Paul relates faith with the Power of God rather than to someone who preaches a gospel from out of the natural wisdom of men. For example; It is better to go to heaven than to go to hell so how many here will make a decision to go to heaven? This “faith” is based upon the wisdom and logic of natural men rather than upon the Power of God.

2Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves;

Here, Paul says that this tremendous “treasure” is contained in dirt / earthen vessels (our current bodies) so that it will be evident that the power that is manifested is not coming from the earthen vessel but from the Power of God.

2Cor 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me

Now Paul adds another dimension of “power” {the power of Christ} that he expects to dwell in him! However, for this “Power” to be manifested it was essential that Paul, himself, would be there in weakness. The contrast is between a “strong Paul” and a weak manifestation of the power of Christ in him. If this is the requirement then Paul said he would rather be weak because he needed that power of Christ to dwell in him.

Eph 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;

If we continue the study of more verses we soon understand that God never intended the “Power” to be something just in the outer man. God has designed the “Power” to be something attached to the new inner man. In that case, the weakness of the outer man is essential so the power of the new inner man can be manifested.

2Tim 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

In 2 Cor 11 Paul relates so many different dangers, sufferings, persecutions, he was stoned and shipwrecked and several times he was beaten with lashes and rods to the “power of God” that was manifested. We cannot understand how he could suffer these things by the “power of God” but it made sense to him.

Heb 7:16 who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

Here is still another dimension of the Power of God that is related to the power of an endless, indestructible Life. The power of this Eternal Life is not easily defined because we usually don’t relate power to life. Therefore, maybe we should attempt to see if our definition of power is correct and if it can fit into all these verses. The problem is not with the scriptures or with the power of God so the confusion must be in our interpretation of the definition of what the Bible calls Power. For example;

2Pet 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

After reading these few scripture it is clear that we must redefine “power” based upon its complete diversity and different realms of its manifestations. From the Pentecostal viewpoint we could say that the “power of Pentecost” is in casting out demons, healing the sick and with doing miracles. However, the disciples did all those things BEFORE Pentecost. Nevertheless, Jesus said you will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Therefore, He must be speaking about a different kind of power from what they had experienced when they were speaking in the name of Jesus, before Pentecost.

Recognizing or understanding the “power of His resurrection” was not possible BEFORE the resurrection of Jesus. Still, the “power of an indestructible Life” could not be known before this “new Life” became available to man. In that same way suffering for the gospel according to the power of God was not possible before there was “suffering” taking place in the church. Being strengthened with power in the inner man was not possible before there was a genuine new inner man that was born from above.

Therefore, we might conclude that the power of God should be evaluated as it applies to the church as seen AFTER Pentecost. This may adjust our focus away from the outward manifestations and redirect it toward the new man and an inner manifestation. This moves us from the visible realms of power to the invisible realms of power that is related more toward the next restoration. For example; We know very little about these dimensions and intensity of power that have to do with this invisible realm of the Priesthood ministry or how that power works. Example; The Power of an indestructible Life.

If the inner man gains ascendency over the outer man what power would apply? Could we relate that power to what happened to Phillip after he baptized the eunuch in the wilderness and suddenly found himself in another city far from the wilderness?

The point I am making is this; As we move forward into this next restoration we need to be aware that old patterns, old doctrines and old experiences will not be valuable in evaluating the current situation. The Lampstand Church will be viewing everything in the next dimension of Light that is coming from the Seven Spirits of God. The Showbread will be opening up revelation and exposing the mysteries that have been hidden from past generations. The current system of church and ministries will become obsolete in the next dimension of illumination. If we can’t see this and we insist upon remaining in the status quo we will soon be walking in a relative degree of darkness. The Outer Court Ministries that are only focusing upon the Outer Court dimension of ministry will soon find themselves without a valid ministry.

It is my opinion that the seriousness of the situation, with the lack of vision in the ministries, has never been this critical since the early church. In all past restorations we have not seen the transition from one measure of light to another, that is totally different, like we see is about to take place in the visible church. Of course He has ALWAYS been building His church in the Holy place dimension. Still, the visible church has not been confronted with the illumination and the fulness of the Seven Spirits of God as is about to happen. Those who refuse to make the transition will soon find themselves in more irrelevant activity and losing their best believers to the next restoration. Those believers who are dissatisfied and are desperate today for new life will be looking for the ultimate reality. Thousands will soon be asking the way to Zion.

Jer 50:5 “They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.