God has made His followers to be filled and full of power. He has put His power within us. But power within may not benefit anyone even the carrier, except it is put into use. This message is to charge and propel us to understand that we are by far more powerful than we may know; and for us to put that power into action.
Dunamis is a Greek word meaning “act of power”. Dunamis is said to occur 121 times in the New Testament. It connotes ability, power, abundance, strength, meaning, might, violence, virtue, mighty deed, wonderful work, mighty work, a worker of miracle, miracle and mighty.
Everything about Jesus is dunamis. The conception of Jesus Christ is different from that of any other being because of the dunamis involved (Luke 1:35).
The ministry of Jesus was again different from other teachers of the law of His time because His ministry was characterised by dunamis (Mt. 13:53-54).
When Jesus returned from the wilderness after 40 days of fasting and prayers, the Bible says He returned in the dunamis of the Holy Spirit. No wonder His fame spread quickly throughout the region (Luke 4: 14; 36).
Dunamis is a sign that you have been anointed of God (Acts 10:38).
Dunamis is a sign that a man has received the approval of God (Acts 2:22).
Dunamis is transferable (Mk 5:30; Lk. 10:19).
God never asked us to do anything He knows we cannot do. Jesus told His disciples to go into the world and preach the gospel to all creatures. To them, this task must have seemed difficult and impossible. Considering the fact that they were illiterate, poor, few, lack, Jewish, monolingual, etc. but the doing was in the power that was made available to them.
Jesus instructed His disciples to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they would go out. We also need this baptism today to obtain the necessary power.
To us who have received this baptism, it is not for us to just feel good or cool about it, but to use it for service. It is to turn us into effective witnesses unto Christ.
It is the Holy Spirit that can help us to fulfil the great commission. No man can do it on their own. He grants passion for souls and spreading the gospel. Peter lost passion for the kingdom business after Jesus left. But after the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that passion came back.
He was no longer afraid of death. He stood before the Sanhedrin that killed Jesus without any form of fear. That same power is what we have received. If you don’t have the passion for souls, you need the fresh unction of the Holy Ghost.
He gives us the eyes to see people in the same way that Jesus see them. The ears to hear the brokenness of their lives; He put in our heart love and compassion for the lost soul. Sinners commit sin. We are not to judge sinners, we are to reprove the sin.
The Holy Spirit grants mastery of a skill. He grants us the ability to perform successfully. The sermon of Peter on Pentecost day was a master class. It can only be by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The presentation; the citation and the delivery was super. Again, it must have been the anointing of the Holy Ghost, not by being smart.
Jesus told His disciples, “But you shall receive power,…”. In the English language, sentences don’t usually start with the word “But”, something must have been said before. Having checked the scripture, I found out that the sentence “But you shall receive power” came up after two premises:
– First, Jesus had just warned the disciples not to go out of Jerusalem; they were to stay within as outside was dangerous. Jesus knew that they were not yet adequately prepared for what was outside.
– Secondly, the disciples asked if Jesus was ready to transfer the sovereignty of Israel back to them now. Jesus, however, told them to keep quiet and that it is not for them to determine when that will happen, but for God to determine.
It was based on those two conversations that Jesus gave them good news, that though outside may be dangerous; and the Kingdom of Israel may not be in their hands yet, but power (dunamis) from the Holy Ghost is coming upon them soon, with that power they will be able to witness unto Him anywhere and everywhere.
Witness meaning: one who can give a first-hand account of something seen, heard or experienced; an attestant to a fact, statement, or event; testimony. It would have taken the power of the Holy Ghost to do that, as Christ body was purported to have been stolen by His disciples.
For us to witness that today, it can only be by the power of the Holy Ghost, as none of us has seen Jesus physically before.
You are here, it may be that outside is dangerous for you and possibly you have lost your sovereignty to another, I have a good news for you from Jesus, He asked me to say to you, “But you have received power”.
Basically, from my little knowledge, power can come in two ways: it can be generated internally/within or it can be received from an external source. Like electricity can come from a mobile generator; or received through transmission from a power grid.
The only Being that can generate power by Himself is God.
Acts 1:7
Every other entity receives their power from external sources, including Satan who happens to be the highest negative power.
Ezekiel 28:12-17
Satan had become evil, apportions power to other fallen angels and wicked people to do evil. God has been good, apportions power to those who seek Him to do good.
Since power is the ability to do something. The power that is unused can lead to self-destruct. E.g. Depot arms store from civil war almost blow up. I thought Nigeria had been invaded. I pitied myself…
The power that God first gave man was to be fruitful, to multiply, replenish the Earth, subdue it and have dominion over things in the air, in the sea and on land.
After man sinned, the power was lost to Satan. But when Jesus came, died and resurrected; the power was once again restored back to the believer. We then become ambassadors of Christ on earth.
Acts 10:38
When Jesus was anointed with power by the Holy Spirit, He went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed of the devil.
In Luke 10:1-12, when Jesus empowered His disciples, they were sent out to use the power and they did. We too have been given the same power, we ought to go out there and use it.
It is possible to witness at least in three ways:
By one’s mouth – Acts 2: 14-41
By one’s life – Acts 5:13 (11 apostles).
By one’s hands – Acts 5:12
As God’s children, filled with the Holy Ghost, these are things we should be doing with the power that God has given us.
Jesus told the disciples where to witness. They were to start in Jerusalem; then in all Judea; then in Samaria; and to the uttermost part of the earth.
Many believers prefer to witness in church. They just want the microphone. They want other people to do the job of bringing people and they can ‘witness’ to them. The downside to that is that everyone in the church ought to be witnesses of Christ already, so that much power is wasted. What we do here is to encourage one another as the day is fast approaching, and to train up disciples. The only place we can witness is in the city.
In Acts 8:1-40, we read how a disciple called Deacon Phillip whose assignment was to serve food for widows was able to witness Christ first from Jerusalem, then to Samaria and to other parts of the world.
– He preached Christ and people of Samaria gave heed to what he said.
– His life convicted even a sorcerer called Simon.
– God also performed mighty miracles through His hands.
These are things that the power of God in our lives can do.
Some only try to preach with their life, the max score they can get is 34%. Would that make you happy?
In Acts 9:8-18, we read how the great apostle Paul was prayed for by Brother Ananias, as he was probably the nearest disciple where Jesus met Paul. Paul sight was restored and he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, not by an apostle! What a power he had received! But we have received the same power. What are we doing with it?
The book of Hebrews 11:1-39talksk about heroes of faith. They were people who experienced impartation and/or indwelling of the Holy Ghost power and such affected their generation then and even ours of today for good.
Heb 11:33-39
This can only be by the power of God. But we have received the same power. What are we using the power to do?
Do we want to be like Adam and Eve who received power and mess about with it? No wonder the bible skipped their names.
In Ephesians 3:20, Paul the apostle told the church at Ephesus to give praise to God who is able to make us accomplish more than what we can think or imagine through His mighty power that is at work within us.
That tells us that we have the power that can make us do the unthinkable and unimaginable. If we are not doing that, the problem is not with the power nor the Giver of the power, but with us.
Many of us are not even doing the thinkable and imaginable yet, talk less of the unthinkable and the unimaginable. I pray that we will put that power to use in Jesus name.
Primarily the power of God upon our lives is to witness for Him; to stimulate godly attraction; and to draw sinners to Christ. We can do these by combining speaking to people; by demonstrating acts of faith and by our lifestyle.
Psalm 67:1-7 – The blessings of God upon you is supposed to be a means of witness unto God. The ends of the earth can fear God because of the mercy He has shown towards you.
What has God bless you with? In which or what way are you using that blessing to witness unto Him? Or are you using the same blessing to witness against Him? If not for so and so, I would have done this and that for the Lord. God however cannot be mocked…
Prayers
I decree that the city of Leeds and United Kingdom come under the authority and leadership of Jesus Christ.
I decree the pulling down of anything that is contrary to the will and purpose of God for my life and the lordship of Jesus over this city.
Father, let your reign and power be made known in the city of Leeds through us.
Acts 20:38
Father, let the fresh anointing of the Holy Ghost power come upon me.
Father, let your presence and power be vivid upon my life.
Acts 1:1 – Father, grant me a great experiential encounter with you and help me to pass that experience on.
Job 5:12
Father, break up, disrupt and frustrate any imagination, thought, idea, spoken word or intentions against my life.
Father, render every conspiracy from Hell against my life to come to nought.
Jer. 1:10
Father, terminate every contract, covenant, an agreement that exist between Leeds City and spiritual wickedness.
Col. 2:3
Father, by the power in the Blood of Jesus, obliterate every handwriting and ordinance that had been programmed in the heavenlies against my life.
The sermon, But You Have Received Dunamis – Power, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye, was delivered on September 23, 2018.