 Hello, this is David Digger Hernandez and you're watching Spirit Church here on the EncounterTV network. What was it that caused the early church to rise? What is it that causes the martyr to lay down his life and say, Jesus is Lord? This power, this unstoppable force is the power of the Holy Spirit and this same power was active in the life of Jesus, who is our ultimate example on how to surrender to the Holy Spirit. I want to share with you by continuing now on my series on the Holy Spirit by talking to you about the power of the Holy Spirit. But first, Stephen Moctezuma is here with me. He's going to lead you to some very anointed worship and then we're getting right into this message here is Stephen Moctezuma. Holy Spirit is the key to the empowered Christian life. The power of the Holy Spirit is the key to the miraculous, but the key to the power of the Holy Spirit is the presence of the Holy Spirit. There is no formula that you can apply, no method that you can enact. There is no man-made way of causing the power of God to be cultivated in our lives. It's simply the presence of the Holy Spirit that brings about his power and we have no greater example of this than Jesus himself who allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to work in him and around him. Today, sadly, many Christian ministries and many churches are shying away from the power of the Holy Spirit because they imagine that the Holy Spirit is some problem or is something that gives them bad PR. And because they don't want to look strange, because they don't want to be mocked, because they don't want to turn people off to the gospel as they would say, they shy away from the power of the Holy Spirit, embarrassed at the very thing that is the foundation of the church. He knows how to build the church better than the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit's power should be welcomed in our lives and in our ministries to work in that way which only God can work. So, the Holy Spirit's ministry, as we will see right now, was active in the life of Jesus and Jesus, of course, is our example. He's our standard. He's the one we want to emulate. Jesus first and foremost was conceived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Second Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 where the Bible says, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Now don't let that terminology throw you off, Holy Ghost, that word ghost is just an older translation's word for spirit, it means the same thing and don't worry about the conspiracy theorists who would tell you otherwise. But the Bible makes a very powerful statement here and it tells us that the Holy Spirit was the one who caused the conception of Christ. The Holy Spirit was the one who miraculously brought about the body of the Lord. Now I want you to really think about that. We're talking about the word, the incomprehensible God, eternal and eternity himself placed in a body. The Holy Spirit opened this impossibly tiny door and through it the Creator stepped into His creation, that's true power, that He could take the incomprehensible God, all His knowledge, all His power, all His love, every aspect of His nature and form it to this seed. His work was so detailed, so precise, so perfect that the Bible says in John chapter 14 verse 9, Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how saith thou then show us the Father. In other words the work of the Holy Spirit was so complete, so full, that Jesus was able to say if you've seen me you've seen the Father. That was the power of the Holy Ghost who caused the conception of Christ. Now the Scripture declares in Colossians chapter 2 verse 9, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Holy Spirit took the fullness of the Trinity, the Godhead, and put that into a body. What a tremendous thing He did, and sometimes I think we overlook these miracles that the Holy Spirit performed, but here we see my main point, the Holy Spirit was the one who caused Christ to be conceived. Jesus Christ was born of the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. That's the mystery of the Incarnation, that Jesus was truly God and truly man, and here I must interject this point. At no point in his life did Jesus cease to be God. Jesus was, is, and will always be God. The word was, is, and will always be God. So I want to make that point very clearly right here right now so that there's no misunderstanding about what I'm about to say. Jesus was divine, Jesus is divine, Jesus always will be divine. He is God, and there was never a moment in Jesus' life where He wasn't God. But the Bible says here in Philippians chapter 2, in verses 6 through 8, though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. So Jesus was man in nature but God in identity. He did humble Himself and He chose to limit His own power. I think of Luke chapter 2 verse 52 where the Bible tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and with man. Now I want you to think about what the scripture says there. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and in favor with man. Jesus grew in wisdom. The word grew in wisdom. God grew in wisdom. How does God grow in wisdom? In stature, that's talking about His physical body. In favor with God and with man. How does God grow in favor with God? My point here isn't that Jesus wasn't God. My point is, of course, Jesus is God. Jesus was God. Jesus never ceased to be God. But here we see that Jesus Himself limited His power, limited His ability. He chose to do this for the sake of His purpose. You can't kill God, yet Jesus died. God is complete and eternal, yet Jesus grew. Jesus chose to strip Himself of these certain abilities. So where did His power come from? Well, Jesus received His power from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit rested on Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. Matthew chapter 3 verse 16 says, After His baptism as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were open, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. Also, Isaiah the prophet tells us that the Holy Spirit was the one resting on Jesus. Isaiah chapter 11 verses 1 through 2 say, Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of counsel and strength. The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit, in fact, enabled Jesus to do many things. In Isaiah chapter 61 verse 1 the Bible says, The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me. For the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. Jesus even cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. He says it himself here in Matthew chapter 12 verse 28. But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived among you. Jesus healed the sick by the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 10 verse 38 says, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed to the devil, for God was with him. In Isaiah chapter 61 verse 1 we read that Jesus even preached by the power of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, and this one is very interesting, Jesus was even resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans chapter 1 verse 4 says, And he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans chapter 8 verse 11 says, The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead. The Holy Spirit was the one who did this, lives in you. Hebrews chapter 5 verse 7. Well, Jesus was here on earth. He offered prayers and pleadings with the loud crying tears to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Now think about the trust that Jesus had to place in the person of the Holy Spirit. I want to paint for you a picture. The Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit had never before had their fellowship broken. And even though time does not apply to them, this is the best way I can word it, for all of time they had never been separated. They lived in a continual state of being in unity. But when Jesus died on that cross, he said, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And into your hands, I commit my spirit. Both the Spirit and the Father turned from him, left him, abandoned him. Jesus alone on the cross experiencing death, God allowing himself to be taken by the grave. God himself allowing that death to come over him. Now, this is interesting to me because the Holy Spirit was the one who rescued Jesus from that death. He was the one who raised him from the dead. So Jesus, having chosen to abandon the power to raise himself, took a trust fall backward into the grave and trusted that the Holy Spirit would catch him. That's trust. That's surrender. That's reliance. If Jesus trusted the Holy Spirit, how much more should we? If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit, how much more do we? It's perfectly Biblical to say that because Jesus chose to lay down his power, had it not been for the power of the Holy Spirit, he would not have been able to perform one miracle, cast out one demon, heal one sick person or rise from the dead. We just read in the Scripture that was all the power of the Holy Ghost. Now, we read an interesting verse in Romans 8 verse 11 where the Bible says, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. So that same power rests on you. We need to be more supernaturally minded. We think too naturally. Now, the Holy Spirit is not a reward for the super spiritual. If ever there was such a group, the Holy Spirit is the only chance that we have that being spiritual. This is what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10 verse 8, heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received. Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 say, Jesus came and told his disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth, therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you and be sure of this, I am with you always even to the end of the age. Here we see clearly in the book of Matthew that Jesus is commissioning us, he's telling us go, and when he tells us to go, he sends us with the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power which he used. Now in Mark chapter 16 beginning at verse 17, the scripture says this, and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them. Taking up serpents is talking about authority over the demonic and drinking any deadly thing is not, this is not an encouragement to go and drink poison. This is just a description of divine protection that comes on the life of those who believe. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere. The Lord working with them and confirming their word with signs following. Now here the Bible says these signs shall follow who? Them that believe. Believe what? The message that the disciples preached. He wasn't saying and these disciples shall lay hands on the sick. He said these signs shall follow those who believe. Well do you believe? Well then these signs shall follow you. When you live in the power of the Holy Spirit, you don't have to go following signs, signs will follow you. When you live in the power of the Holy Spirit, you don't have to search for an atmosphere, you become an atmosphere, you become heaven on earth, you become answered prayer in the earth. God's will in action. That's your life when the power of the Holy Spirit gets ahold of you. A single moment spent in the presence of the Holy Spirit can transform your life. But a life spent in the presence of the Holy Spirit can transform the nations of the world. So the Bible says these signs shall follow them who? Believe. Now the Lord tells them I'm going to be with you always and then he goes up, he ascends, and the Bible tells us the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. How was he working with them? He was working with them by the power of the Holy Ghost. John chapter 14 verse 12, Jesus says, I tell you the truth. Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done and even greater works because I'm going to be with the Father. Now I don't know what these greater works are. I don't know if Jesus was talking about a greater level of miracles. I don't know if Jesus was talking about a more widespread reach or a more widespread impact. I don't know if Jesus was talking about something completely different than that. But I do know that we are to do what he did and there's something to be added to what we're doing because of the power of the Holy Spirit. I personally believe that this greater work is preaching the gospel as someone who was saved by the gospel. That's one thought, but I'm not dogmatic on that. The main point here, you shall do the same works I have done. How is that done? He said, because I'm going to be with the Father. Why does that matter? Because I'm going to be with the Father. Well, John chapter 16 verse 7 says, But in fact, it is best for you that I go away. Because if I don't, the advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. In essence, Jesus is saying these greater works you're going to be able to do because I'm going away to my Father and sending the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit was never meant to finish with Jesus. The word became flesh. That flesh might become the word. Everything that the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus to do while he was here on the earth, the Holy Spirit continues to do in and through you. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. The same power which rested on Christ himself. And that's it for the lesson. I want to pray with you now. I want to ask a fresh touch of God's power to come on your life. That you might do the things that Jesus did. So Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift that one now asking for your power. And I pray in the name of Jesus that they would be endued with power from on high. Let it be a fire that is shut up in their bones. Cause them, Lord, to be stirred by the Holy One. Cause them, Lord, to be stirred by your Spirit. And I pray, Lord, that a fresh touch of your power would come on them now. Cause them to do greater works in the name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say amen. That is it. As I said for the lesson, I want to welcome now the new members of Spirit Church. There you are up on the screen. We love you. We are praying for you. I always say that because I always sincerely mean it. If you like information on how you can join the Spirit family, go to davidhernandezministries.com slash spirit church. You basically are signing up to become an online member. You'll get a free weekly teaching fresh from heaven every single week to your inbox. Also, Steve and Mark the Zuma will have a new worship cover for you. And the best part, you can reply to that email for prayer support from our ministry staff. Join the Spirit family today. Again, davidhernandezministries.com slash Spirit Church. I want to read your comments now. And again, this is a series that I'm doing. This is part three, The Power of the Holy Spirit. And the first lesson was the person of the Holy Spirit. The second lesson was the nature of the Holy Spirit. And this lesson was the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, last week, I taught on the nature of the Holy Spirit. There's a difference between knowing someone's actions and knowing someone's nature. And I want to talk to you about that difference. So be sure to go back and watch part two, The Nature of the Holy Spirit. And while you're at it, be sure to also subscribe to this channel. Make sure you click the notification bell if you're watching on YouTube so that you can receive the notifications of when we release content. So that's where these comments are from from The Nature of the Holy Spirit. And if you'd like me to potentially read your comments next week, then go ahead and leave a comment in the comment section right now. Again, the comments from The Nature of the Holy Spirit. Al Solar writes, This is my church. I receive every message with clarity. May God continue to bless you to save and alert the remnant of the Church of Christ. Donna McLeod writes, Thank you, Brother David, for this message. I needed this word on the Holy Spirit. Love and prayers for your ministry. Stephanie S writes, Thank you for your videos. I found more peace thanks to what you've taught about the Holy Spirit. Imno101, the final comment I'm reading. I love the message. Thank you for being the instrument of the Holy Spirit. He brought me to this channel. Thank you so much and God bless you. And indeed, this is the Holy Spirit's channel. Help us keep all of the content free and help us keep all of our events free. I don't want to charge for the content. I don't want to charge for events. This is something you and I are doing together. The ministry is growing. Events are growing. Media reach is growing. I always say that because every month, as I said, miraculously, the Lord just brings us growth month over month over month. So here's what I need you to do. Consider giving right now a one-time gift to this ministry or a monthly gift to the ministry. Sign up to become a $30 a month partner. Right now we're looking for 500 new $30 a month partners to help us expand the ministry where the Lord is leading us to take it. And if you can't do that, then go ahead and sell a one-time gift. Give a monthly gift of any amount. Give a one-time gift of any amount. Your support is what keeps this going. It helps us to keep everything free. Pays for all the production. Pays for the staff. Pays for the events. This way, I don't have to charge registration and I don't have to charge people to watch this content. I don't want to do that. I don't think that's biblical. The biblical way to do it is to let the people of God give in response to the message, give in response and in faith. And so that's what I want to challenge you to do. Maybe you're watching this and you're financially you're struggling right now. Maybe financially you're doing well. But if you're believing God for increase, and that is biblical, look, I don't preach the extremes of the prosperity gospel. The Christian faith is not all about what you can get from God. He's the master, we're the servant. But sowing and reaping is a biblical principle. You reap what you sow. And it's easy to hang on tightly. But the problem is this, sometimes we're so focused on keeping what's in our hands that we fail to reach out for what's in God's hands. And God is looking for people of faith. You may say I've been frustrated or I wanted to see growth, or maybe not seeing growth in your ministry and your business and so forth. Well do for others what you want others to do for you and you watch God open doors. I challenge you today. So one time gift into the ministry or become a monthly supporter. Do that right now. Sign up. Go to davidhernanisministries.com slash donate. You can give a one-time gift there or a monthly gift. Do that because you love the Lord. Sign up today to become my partner for $30 or more a month. And I will send you either carriers of the glory, encountering the Holy Spirit in every book of the Bible, or 25 truths about demons and spiritual warfare. It'll be my gift to you. It'll be my way of saying thank you for supporting the ministry. Get involved. Get involved and help us win more souls. Raise more believers. Disciple more believers. And we do it all through media and events. Again davidhernanisministries.com slash donate. Go and do that right now as the Holy Spirit is leading you to do it. Well that is it for this edition of Spirit Church here on the Encounter TV Network. Until next time remember, nothing is impossible with God. Read the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. 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