Today we want to look at something that the Holy Spirit has prepared aforetime, very time for our situation on the earth today. The Lord has a word for us and it is titled: Power-Driven Discipleship. Last week, the Lord opened our eyes to see Vision-Driven Discipleship. Do we still remember that? And I want us to look at the book of Luke chapter 4 and we will read verse 14. Of course, there are important things before verse 14, but for the sake of time; we will just read verse 14 to see something very symbolic there.
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"Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region."
"Then", and that is very important for us to note. "Then" means after certain conditions have been fulfilled, then this is the outcome of it. So what we are seeing in verse 14 is only an outcome or a result of a process that Jesus began before that moment. If you start your reading from verse 1, you will see something. Bible says in Luke 4:1. "Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, (Just like many of us in the church today) returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness," Romans 8:14 says "For as many are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit was led into the wilderness by the same Spirit, and was tempted by Satan. God didn't tempt Him, but the Lord led Him to be tempted.
Haven been tempted, there is a verse in verse 13 which says "Now when the devil had ended every temptation,.." Now, that tells you there are different kinds of temptations. "When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." Then, because devil had left Him, haven found no fault in Him, after Jesus had been tested, the issues of pride had been searched in His life and were not found, the issues of insecurity and fear for life, just like we are afraid today, were searched in Him and were not found, after the thirsts and hunger for survival were tried in Him, were searched in Him and were not found, then He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit.
He was filled with the Spirit, He was led into an experience. Bible says for forty days and forty nights, He did not eat. And after He received victory, Bible says He returned in the power of the Spirit that led Him. So, power is only an aftermath of certain things that had or must have been done. If those things are missed or omitted, even though you could desire power, you will never have it. The question is: How many of us could bring ourselves to the place where the power of God would be visible in our lives? Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit just like you. Now, being filled with the Holy Spirit, He allowed Himself to follow the leadership of the Spirit. So, when the Spirit was leading Him, that was not demonstration of power, isn't it? But it was the Spirit at work in Him.
It is like the power of God only becomes visible in your life after the Spirit has had His perfect work in you. You know, we are examining Power-Driven Discipleship. Now, Jesus was led by the Spirit. So, who was leading Jesus? The Holy Spirit. So, when one is in front and another one is following, what do you call the one who is following? The follower or a disciple. So, Jesus was simply a disciple of the Holy Spirit. So, He was filled with the Holy Spirit in the sense that, the Holy Spirit came upon Him to exercise authority on Him, in Him and through Him. And the first layer of the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in Him is in the area of leadership. The Holy Spirit did not begin on Him by demonstrating power. The Holy Spirit power was demonstrated in Him via leadership; command instructions and obedience.
When the Spirit came into Him, the Spirit didn't start by stirring waters around Him, the Spirit did not come by parting the red sea. When the Spirit came upon Him, He came as an instructor. You know, Jesus said "I will not leave you as orphans. When He comes, He will guide you into all truth." It is important for us to note that because the Holy Spirit is the one who guides us into all truth, this does not mean He is weak, or like an anybody who is a random teacher on the earth; a lecturer. No! The holy Spirit is not just an instructor. But when He comes into your life, He comes first to instruct you. And if you do not pass through the process of being instructed and being an obedient follower, you will not graduate to the point where you will begin to see His power at work in you.
The Holy Spirit does not lack power. The Holy Spirit will not later have power. The Holy Spirit is the power of God in your life. However, when that power comes into you, it does not start by manifestation or demonstration, it starts in submission and in followership. You must follow. So, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, and He was led by the same Spirit into the wilderness. So, His discipleship began properly. Before then, what happened between Jesus and God was not written for us to know. But at this point, it is written, so that you can see an example of a life that you must replicate on the earth. If you must see the power of God ever in your life, it must be a product of a process that has started even in the backyard.
At the time when the Spirit came upon you and He did not scatter the roof of your house, all He did was just to instruct you, to wake up to pray, to sit up and read. It just comes like that. And the same Spirit that is telling you those things is able to do much more even in your life. But it does not start with demonstration of power. Do we understand that? Because it is important we know this as believers. Sometimes we think like the occult groups do that put spiritual powers in their waists or in their hands. No! And the fact that you do not see all those things does not mean that there is a power that is missing in your life. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? It is a question! What produces power is already in you, but it begins with you following in a process that is called discipleship. The Holy Spirit must become your discipler telling you what to do, where to go and how to conduct your affairs.
Haven satisfied that conditions, then you can see His power at work in you. If that is missing, if discipleship is missing, the power of the Holy Spirit can never be manifested in your life. Those pastors who are looking for occult power today in the work of ministry are simply dodging that phase of being discipled by the Holy Spirit. Because when the Holy Spirit is discipling you, did you see Jesus demonstrate power in the forty days experience in the wilderness? He was not. The Holy Spirit was in Him. The devil came to Him and said "turn stone to bread." If He had done that, wouldn't that be a demonstration of power? But He did not do it. Now, let me tell you the difference between when the Holy Spirit is discipling a man that He may demonstrate His power through, and when demons are discipling their own people that they may also demonstrate their powers through.
Now, when demons are discipling people, they allow them and make them to show power even in the process of discipleship. So, it means a man who just joined an occult group will start showing power the same day he joined. Do we see? Now, for a man of God, so to say, He needs to go through a walk with the Holy Spirit. And now that walk, the duration is determined by the Spirit. If you read 1 Corinthians 12, the Bible talks about the Spiritual Gifts. And they are the manifestations of the Spirit which are for the profit of all. They are manifestations because it is the Spirit manifesting out of you, and it is not for your own gain, it is for the gain of the church. So, when you will manifest the power of God is not your prerogative, it is the Holy Spirit prerogative. However, the people in the world can demonstrate their power at will so to say. They can demonstrate their power even when they just got into a process of trying to know who is leading them.
Now, believers who don't have the patience, who cannot endure, who cannot suffer for a while, will not consider walking with the Holy Spirit till power begins to manifest in their lives to be a waste of their time and they are not even sure if the Holy Spirit will eventually show His power in them. So to make sure they are able to coordinate the process, they seek for alternative powers outside the Lord. Do you understand? It does not mean they are the ones that have power, because what they have is not even the real power. The real power is in God, and that is what we saw there. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, He did not manifest power until the appointed time. Because we believe when the Spirit comes upon us, it is for a show in the flesh. But it is not for a show in the flesh because the Spirit of the Lord is a Spirit that loves a place that is humble or a humble abode.
In Isaiah chapter 66, God said "Which house will you build me? All these things my had has made." But this is the one that I cannot look away from. One who is of a poor and a contrite Spirit. What does that tell us? Until you are a person that the Holy Spirit finds humble, the Holy Spirit cannot even walk in you or walk through you. How can the Holy Spirit know that you are humble? He has to take you through a process. For Jesus, He was tempted. Those things that we call temptation were examinations. He passed part one, part two, part three. Jesus finished all the processes of graduation. He graduated into the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit became His teacher, the Holy Spirit brought an external examiner unto Him.
How do you show really that you are a good teacher? Do you teach somebody and test the person by yourself? So the Bible says Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness. The goal was simple, to be tempted. Do we understand? The Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted through an external examiner to test Him. So the devil came to Him, show your power by turning this stone into bread. Show whether you will be arrogant or not. Jesus said "Man shall not live by bread alone." Because He passed, He was allowed to go into the next phase. Please for those of us who think and who have thought that all those three things were the only temptation that Jesus faced in His life, we are wrong.
The Bible says in verse 13 that "the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." The devil actually came again. At the point Jesus was praying to God to take away the cup from Him, do you think it was the Holy Spirit that was producing that prayer? The devil was tempting Him at that moment. "Nevertheless" Jesus said. Sometimes we think the word "Nevertheless" came instantly to Jesus. I believe there was a time lag between. It was perhaps when the Holy Spirit reminded Him of the things they had discussed in the past, then He uttered that word, "Nevertheless not as I will, but your will be done." You think it is automatic to have power. You know, what happened? He graduated from part 1-3 and Bible says He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit. So, He was an authority. But after the last temptation on his life, after the devil came to tempt Him and He won, He submitted to the will of God to be crucified. Bible says on the third day, that is what we read in Romans 10 that if you believe in the Lord Jesus that God raised from the dead. And another place in Romans says "if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead." Can you see it is all about the Spirit. It is the same Spirit, that Spirit that led Jesus to the wilderness is in you, He will quicken your mortal bodies. Why? Because He quickened the mortal body of Jesus.
So, when Jesus came up, He rose up in full authority. So, it means the authority that Jesus had before that moment, that last examination, was different from the authority he had after it. Later He said "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me" not because He just slept and wish it, No! He passed! He was instructed by the Holy Spirit, He was examined by Satan; and He had victory on the earth, so He said, "all authority on the earth has been given unto me." In Philippians chapter 2, at a point Bible says "for this reason God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every other name, that at the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of the things in the earth and under the earth and the things in heaven." Every knee should bow! And every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord at the mentioning of that name.
He has a name that is greater than every other name. That name so to say did not start manifesting even after the three trials He went through under Satan. It was after He submitted to the will of God completely, to die for the sins of the world. So, He entered into the realm of unequaled power on the earth and in heavens. He rose above principalities and powers, He was able to strip devil naked. Why? Because He has done the will of God, He has been instructed by the Holy Spirit and He was found faithful. He has been tried, He has been tested and He has been found faithful. Therefore, the power of God can be entrusted into His care.
Do you want to demonstrate the power of God in your life on the earth? It is not just by you fasting and praying. You must submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. You must make Him your discipler, follow Him to every where He takes you to. You must follow Him. He must be able to instruct you and command you. Until you have done that, and you are being examined on daily basis on the earth, either by Coronavirus or by economies on the earth; would you stay with God or would you compromise because you are afraid? Because the only reason Jesus would turn stone to bread was because He is afraid of His life. He does not want to die of hunger. Do we remember?
So, God by His Spirit will teach you. God by His Spirit will comfort you. God by His Spirit will help you. However, you will be tempted. Until you are tempted and you succeed, you will not see the power of God at work in your life. Let us keep that very close at the back of our minds. What made you to weigh the power of God is that you have been found faithful by God. When God comes to examine you, either through Himself or through external examiners, Abraham was examined, Satan was not engaged. it was God Himself that told Abraham, "go and kill your son, the one that you love." Satan was not engaged for that, do we remember? This one is an in-house matter. When Jesus was to be tried, there was no in-house that was enough. All the Pharisees tried, it did not work. So, an external examiner was engaged.
All the trials, temptations and tribulations that confronts your life, they are to check out whether do Holy Spirit has succeeded with you or He has failed. When the Holy Spirit succeeds with you, His power will be manifested in your life.
Mark 16:14-18 – "Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief (just as the Lord is rebuking the unbelief of many people) and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, (as the Lord is telling each and every one of us, don't go into self isolation of social distancing to the point that you abandon the reason why you are on earth). “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is discipling nations. If the devil has been your examiner, but you have failed, even though the Holy Spirit has taught you, would you be able to go to anywhere in the world? That is why it is Power-driven Discipleship. You require power to go to the nations. You cannot have power until you are properly discipled by the Holy Spirit. That is the word. But let us continue.
"He who believes." Sometimes, there are some statements made in the world and some people just doubt it, they disregard it. That is why we will have different experiences on the earth. You believe, somebody does not believe. Your experience can never be the same. So, even thought the gift of God in salvation is available to all, one by one we believe, one by one we are saved, one by one we are exempted. Only those who believes. It says "He who believes" and not they that believe.
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe:" The believers would have these signs, these are not the signs of an apostle for the apostolic work, these are the signs of believers. Because some people believes being a Christian or a man or woman that follows Christ, is a small thing. It is not a small thing, it is actually a big deal. You have so much authority just because you believe, and let us see the authority because that is what the Holy Spirit have captioned in this area; "The Five-fold dimension of Disciples Power on Earth."
It says in verse 17, "and these signs." There is a way other versions of the Bible puts it. In the place of signs they used power in that area. When you hear signs, it is about power. "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name.." Whose name? Jesus! Let us be bold to mention this name please. At this point when Jesus was saying this, the apostle had not yet written Philippians 2. Do we know that? This is the gospels, this is just an account of a follower, or somebody who learnt about Jesus and wrote about it. And apostle Paul, in another place said; God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every other name. Jesus Himself said "In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;" Another version says "New languages." There will be multiple expressions. You know sometimes some people want to speak, but they can't speak, but you just know what to say. Don't forget God has commanded them to go to the world. So, when you are going to minister to nations, you need the ability to connect with people across languages, across culture.
"In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;" Some people don't understand this, but I desire to manifest new tongues in my generation. Do we understand? "They will take up serpents." Why didn't the devil say they will take up lion or dog or any other animal? This is symbolic and I want us to note it. "And if they drink anything deadly," You know, the worst case scenario is to drink a deadly substance. What we are having in the world now is not drinking Coronavirus. People are even afraid of being touched, they are afraid of being closed to someone infected.
But Jesus said "In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents, And if they drink anything deadly," and which shows any. Any means “Any!” If they drink any deadly substance, any poison, it will do them no harm. Is it going to be because they have a stomach that has bacteria or acid, No! What is going to bring about this? It is the power of God that will be demonstrated through these disciples, and it is because they believe. Those who believe will be saved. The process of being saved has discipleship in it, not by men; but discipleship by the Holy Spirit. They must submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, they must follow Him to wherever He takes them to, they must hearken to His instructions. And when this happen, as they are going from places to place, it says these signs shall follow. It will not stay with them on the bed, it will follow, their lives will not be stagnant, they will continue to make impact. And as they are making impact, they speak in new tongues, and as they are making impact, if they drink or eat anything deadly, it will do them no harm. Even as they are making impact, if they encounter demons, they will cast them out. That is the word of God to you.
If you drink deadly substance, it will by no means harm them. To me, this is like the crux of the matter and this is where many of us, if not all of us, believers in the world have been exempted. But the area we are not yet aware that we have responsibility is this. It says: "they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” You lay your hands not because you are sick. If you are sick, maybe you need to go and find out why. But that you are not sick is not the big deal. That you are blessed is not enough. The power of God is beyond exempting you from shame, reproach and evil. It is even about you praying for those who are in reproach, those who are in affliction and to get them out of it. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. And when you lay your hands on the sick, Bible says they shall recover.
Somebody is having a disease, you pray for the person, they will recover. Why? Because you believe. The power of God is following your belief. And I want us to note, the power of God is not following you. The power of God is following your belief, another word for that is faith. The moment you stop believing, even though you are a pastor or a prophet, you will lack the power of God. The power of God is not following you, Bible says "these signs shall follow them that believe." It is your belief that is the ultimate object that draws the power of God. In the book of Acts of the apostle chapter 19:11-16, it is a story we are all familiar with. Bible says God worked unusual miracles. That shows us no man of God has power on his own to do miracles. "Come to me, and you will be healed." "Come to me and you will be delivered." You are not the one who would work the miracles. Jesus said "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." It is Christ they come to, except you are not a servant of Christ.
The Spirit of God at work in you is the one healing them, not you! Bible says God did unusual miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs and aprons from his body were brought to people and the diseases left them. For those who did not know the meaning of Covid-19, it actually means Coronavirus of 2019. That is the meaning of Covid-19. So, Covid-19 is a virus and it is a disease. And Bible says aprons were brought from his body to the sick. Today, you don't want to touch the body of those who are sick, but when the Holy Spirit begins to manifest His power in you, even things that are taken for granted in your body will become virtues that can heal others of their diseases. Now if you like, believe. If you like, don't believe. We will meet in the future. The future will tell those who really believe and those who do not because our experiences can never be the same. And then, don't envy others, it is your belief that has brought you to where you are.
If apostle Paul never believed, this incident will never be recorded. He was not sick because the power of God at work in him exempted him from sickness and diseases. And those who were sick got their healings because aprons that were taken from his body became healing virtue that remove diseases and sicknesses from them. The power of God is real! Apostle Paul also had his moments where the Holy Spirit led him to different places. There was a time he was in Arabia for three years. What was he doing there? Learning at the feet of the Holy Spirit. You cannot demonstrate power if you have not been taught by the Holy Spirit. Those who saw it, the seven sons of Sceva; they loved it. Discipleship missing, but they wanted to show the power. They said: "We exorcise you in the name of Jesus Christ whom Paul preach." And the demons said: "Jesus we know, Paul we know, Paul is the disciple of Jesus. Who are you? Whose disciple are you?" This power is only for the disciples. It follows the disciples only. You cannot demonstrate this power if you are not a disciple. You cannot wish it, you cannot see it and be admired by it.
When Peter was in the same situation, Simon who had just giving his life to Christ had not yet being discipled, because we must see the sequence here. Some people can claim they are born again now, and they want to start manifesting the power of the apostles like right away. It is only demons that can do that for you because their power is not to help you, it is to destroy you. You cannot wield so much power in your ignorance, you will kill yourself. It is like a man who is young, but you are giving the person something that can shock. Even though the young person can hold it, can he know how to protect himself from it when he is ignorant?
Power is not the biggest deal in the hand of God it is your own issues of ignorance. God does not have issues giving you power, all power belong to Him. God is an embodiment of power. It is like when you are a river, and people are complaining that you are not giving them water. Rivers don't have issues giving you water, do you have a cup? That is the truth! You don't go to Atlantic Ocean and just be wishing it gives you water, is it possible? What does the Ocean have to do with water? Oceans even have water that is too much and sometimes they overflow their bank. The power available in God is unimaginable. If God should allow a tiny portion of it to come on the earth, the earth will shake, the earth will skip. No wonder when God is saying He is moving on the earth now, some of us should be shaking and quaking. Because God is full of power. Never doubt the power of God. Those that you are afraid of, they only have a tiny portion of what God gave them, a corrupted version of what God gave them. The real thing was not even real; it is still corrupted but they still have it, and that is what you are afraid of. What about the one who gave them such power?
God does not have problem given you power but lest you become like Satan, you must be tried and tested. Lest pride take over you, you must be tested. Don't say because you are being tested, there is no power in view for you. There is power for you really. The first thing that power does it to exempt you from evil. And this we take for granted. That you are alive is because God has exempted you from evil, and that is the power of God at work in you. You are not alive because the devil loves you. You are alive because God loves you and He is exempting you from evil. There is a layer of power where God will now use you to help other get out of trouble. That is the one we all love. But what about the one that get us out of evil, we don't thank God for it. So, there is the power of God at work in you and that is the truth.
In the book of Acts of the apostles chapter 5 from verse 12-16. "And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people." Do you see that word "through?" "Through" is different from the source. The apostles were not the source of the power. They did not own it, they didn't have power until a moment. There was someone that was producing power in them. But what was happening? The power was released to people through them. Let us continue.
"And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch (Isolation). 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed."
Healed by Peter? No! Healed by the Holy Spirit through Peter. But lest people take the glory from God, you must be prepared. You must be tested. Haven succeeded, the power will be available to you. Jesus said to His disciples in the book of Acts 1:8. It says: "But you will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you" not before. The power is not your power, it is the power of the Holy Spirit. See, after the Holy Spirit has left you, you will be without power. So, the coming of the Holy Spirit is what ushers in power into your life. The departure of the Holy Spirit is what made the power depart from your life. "And you shall be witnesses unto me." So, until you have power, you cannot witness. And you cannot have the power without the Holy Spirit.
There is something I wrote here and I want to read out. It says: "Until you become a true disciple and a witnessing disciple, you will not fully realize the potent power of God available in the Spirit and locked up in you." Two things: You become a disciple. And another thing, you become a witnessing disciple. It is one thing to follow the Holy Spirit, it is another thing to tell people that there is Holy Spirit that is worthy of being followed. And you begin to demonstrate the power of the Spirit in your daily living. When that happens, the power of God that is in you will be released. If you do not become a witnessing disciple, the power will be locked up in you.
These signs will follow those who believe. You must go somewhere, you must tell somebody, you must do something with the power that is locked up in you. There is power available in you. I know you know, but what is happening is that you are enjoying the power for your daily living. You have not started releasing it. The power of God is available and you can access it.
Amen!
