NATIONAL HOLY SPIRIT CONFERENCE
LABONE SECONDARY SCHOOL
POWER FOR SERVICE: THE HOLY SPIRIT’S MANDATE
OPENING TALK: POWER FOR SERVICE
1986

SYNOPSIS: This talk defines the Holy Spirit’s mission: to be the believer’s Helper
(Comforter) and to endue the church with power for effective service.

The 3rd National Holy Spirit Conference opened with great expectations this morning. My
aim in this first talk of the seminars is to attempt to define terms and present an overview
of the proceedings.
In doing so, our objectives shall be two-fold; first, to provide a floor base for the
discussion ahead and second to assist participants in mapping out a path or guiding light
for the discussion.
The coming of the Holy Spirit according to Jesus Christ is for two purpose;
1. To act as Comforter, Helper or Companionship of the saint in their walk and work
in the world; (John 14: 12-20)
“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my
commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye
know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no
more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know
that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
2. To endue the Church with power for witnessing (Luke 24: 46-49; Acts 1:8)
“And said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and
to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And
ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father
upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
from on high.” (Luke 24:46-49)
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
You may remember in this connection that before the church was commissioned, the
Lord had already carried out what I call a pilot project with the disciples and satisfied
Himself that the church can work the works of God and build the Kingdom of God in His
absence (Luke 10: 1-24). Then He said in verse 22
“All things have been delivered tome by My Father and no one knows who the
Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son and the one to whom the
Son wills to reveal Him.”
This is the main foundation rock of the Great Commission. The Authority and Power of the
Son, the exalted position of Jesus Christ in all spheres, both of creation and purposes of
God. (Eph. 1: 20-23; Col. 1: 12-20; Matt. 28: 18-19; Acts 2: 32-36). Please note the special
position of the church in God’s scheme of things. (Eph. 1: 22, 3: 9-11, 20-21; Col. 1: 24-
27). Thus, the power base of Christian service can be said to be the exalted position of
Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in the church and with the church.
The exalted position of Christ is simply put: In the Name of Jesus (John 14: 12-14; Acts
4: 12: Phil 2: 9-11). “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
All we do is to ask or speak out what we desire and seal it with the seal of authority “in
the Name of Jesus” then every creation must bow or respond to demanded of it. It is
obvious that you cannot use this spiritual seal until you believe in Jesus as a person and
in authority given Him by God, and hence His Name. For example, you cannot be BornAgain and share His son ship until you believe on His Name: (John 1: 12-13).
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Your faith in Him is the key or authority for working the works of God (John 6: 27-28)
“Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto
everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the
Father sealed. Then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might work the
works of God?
Now faith comes by the Word, and the Word of God is the mechanisms of creation, the
power of which God created all things (Heb. 11: 3).
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Faith in Jesus, His Name and the Word of God constitute the basic or fundamental power
base for Christian life and service. Faith helps the believer first to receive the Word, stand
upon the Word and ascribe or apply the Word to produce or create desirable effects. The
Word in this respect serves not only as a foundation rock but also as raw material in the
creative process. We receive and see manifest what we believe in our hearts and confess
with our mouth.
Now, Christian service is no more than the revelation of God to men and creation and the
working out of His will in the world – living in the divine realms and manifesting the divine
or supernatural power of God in human affairs. So, all will know, acknowledge and
worship God, then will the knowledge and glory of God cover the earth as the waters cover
the sea. Thus, fundamental to Christian service is the relationship of the divine character
or nature and divine or supernatural power. It is for this cause the Holy Spirit came to
impart the divine nature and divine abilities to the believers for their witness of Christ or
revelation of God to all creation. The Holy Spirit has not come merely to reveal creation
of human species – who can live, walk and work, yea do things as divine beings, yet in
their mortal or fleshly garment. He has come to impart divine attributes to the chosen
ones of God. Men can now live as divine beings just as Jesus Christ though divine lived as
human being. Also, the Holy Spirit has come to help and direct the church in her tasks.
The ultimate end is to make the chosen ones to be like Jesus, fully divine; (Rom. 8: 29;
2nd Cor. 3: 18; 1st John 3: 1-2). The divine attributes which we receive from the Holy Spirit
for Christians service can be classified into two: The Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22-23). “But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” This is the True Divine Character
which all Christians must exhibit as proof of their new birth. The second are the Gifts or
Divine Graces of the Holy Spirit (1st Cor. 12: 1-11). The first works, on the whole, upon the
inner being or spirit within the believer whilst the latter operates mainly upon the outer
being, manifesting through the faculties and members of the believer.
In talking about Power for Service then we must of needs consider not only the external
manifestation of the Holy Spirit anointing upon a believer in works of faith, miracles or
utterance, but also the manifestation of the Divine Character, the real growth path in the
perfect image of Christ.
As we know, Power is essentially ability to have influence upon or cause desirable effects.
We have been chosen to witness of Christ and reveal God to all creation. This is our
service to God and fellow men and creation. It is God’s desire to reveal Himself to men.
Men are searching everywhere for God, for the Truth about God and His ways. The
Church, we the chosen ones are standing in the place of God with Christ to meet both
needs. It is only by the dual process of the manifestation of the Divine that men can know
the true God and His glory to manifest. To this are we called and changed. For this the
Holy Spirit come.
Accordingly, in our discussions of Power for Service, we will only call attention to the
fundamental divine attributes – Faith, Hope and Love, which the Holy Spirit imparts into
the believer. These three graces are the basic divine character as well as the basic means
for the manifestations of the divine supernatural power. Faith, essentially, is confidence
in the testimony of another; for our purpose, confidence in the testimony of the Father
and His Son, Jesus Christ as revealed in the written word, and ministered unto us by the
Holy Spirit. Except we believe the written or spoken Word, there can be no faith and there
can be no works or fruit acceptable and pleasing to God. Indeed, there can be no
‘revelation’ of God to men or real service without a fundamental faith in God. If a man
says he is working for God and does not accept the testimony of God and His Son, as
revealed in the Bible and confirmed by the Holy Spirit, he is only deceiving himself. Jesus
Himself said in John 6: 29, except we believe in Him, there can be no works of service. His
testimony as the Word.
The written or spoken word is therefore a power base in belief, being not only the
mechanism for God to transmit faith to His chosen ones but also the means by which the
believer can work the works of God to prove or reveal the reality of God, His creative and
transformative power to men. The Word of God, written or spoken is the source of
Knowledge of God. It is also the main weapon for the building of the Kingdom of God.
However, the faith that God Himself has is not from someone’s testimony, written or
spoken. It is the confidence that He has in Himself. It is this confidence that makes it
possible for Him to speak out the Word of Creation and of faith. Things that exist did not
come from things that existed. He spoke them out or made them with His hands.
Hallelujah!
This basic divine nature is manifest in fallen man, created first in the image of God. But
when men are regenerated with the Divine Seed, and then endued afresh with the Divine
Power, the divine confidence of God in Himself is passed into the being and upon the
saint, so he can walk and work in the realms that are purely creative or supernatural.
Consider the gifts of faith, healing, miracles and utterance, tongues, prophecy and
discernment of spirit (1st Cor. 12: 9-10). These are manifestations of the supernatural
power that becomes re-ignited or quickened in man.
Faith then constitutes a basic divine attribute which breeds confidence and hope in the
believer. The writer of Hebrews says ‘faith’ is the substance of things hoped for…. The
evidence of things unseen. When faith launches out into the unknown, and unseen, it is
hope that seals or provides a supernatural covering, so the things spoken do not blow up
in the air or faith does not weaken in the face of obstacles, delays or whatever on the way.
Paul says in Romans 8: 24-28
“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still
hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it
with perseverance. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know
what we should pray for us we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us
with groaning which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the heart knows what the
mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will
of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who are the called
according to His purpose”.
The basic manifestation of the divine attribute of hope is in Patience. It is the Holy Spirit
also that imparts the divine attributes of Hope into the believer which essentially is the
evidence of the Divine Self-Confidence. “I know I have prayed. I know whom I have
believed. I know my redeemer liveth”. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within the heart
of the believer (Eph. 3:20; Col. 1:29). There is power that worketh in us supernaturally.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20)
“Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me
mightily.” (Col. 1:29)
The Holy Spirit by Paul writes in Col. 1:3-6, 9-12. You may appreciate from this that hope,
and love are the basic divine attributes which the Holy Spirit imparts unto the believer to
form in him/her the divine character or transform him/her into the perfect image of Christ
(Rom. 5:1-5).
Love, we know from 1st John 4: 7-9, 13, 16, is the Basic Divine Nature, hence the main
measure of our growth into maturity in Christ and for God’s purposes. Love is the Fruit of
the Holy Spirit working in and upon us. It is also the evidence of actual dependence upon
the Holy Spirit. Love is divine power for the Divine Service of love, for God so loved the
world that He gave the Son, and the church, that whosoever believeth should not perish
but have eternal life.
Before concluding, let us consider briefly the issue of spiritual battle in the service of
God. As we know, the ultimate end of our calling is the establishment of the Kingdom of
God. This implies spiritual battle, battle against principalities and powers who hold men
and creation in bondages. As Jesus emphasised in Luke 4: 18-19, the Spirit of God or the
Holy Spirit has come upon the church to set men at liberty, to heal, deliver and set
captives free. Jesus rejoiced when the church proved capable of this aspect of the work.
(Luke 10: 17-21)
“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject
unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but
rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. In that hour Jesus
rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”
For the battle, we need arms and ammunitions, we need the armour of God and weapons.
Our Chief weapons are the Name of Jesus, the Word of God and tongues, our main
armour are Faith, Righteousness and Holiness and the Spirit of Peace or Reconciliation.
We receive power, strength, knowledge of the enemy and confidence in prayer. It is on our
knees, in prevailing prayer that we fight the battles of our warfare. Prayer gives power with
God and power with man, spirits and all creation. The Holy Spirit helps and renews us in
power, love confidence, faith and hope through prayer and praise or worship. The Holy
Spirit calls and directs us to Christ for salvation, sanctification and power for service. He
then accompanies us to make real the Divine Presence in Christian life/service. The Word
of God administered under the anointing and with the Holy Spirit, Himself by the believer
constitute the main base for Power for Service. But the real power base is the exalted
position of Christ. In His Name……
Fundamental the Christian service is the Divine Character, and Divine or Supernatural
Power. These manifest in Faith, Hope and Love, the basic Divine Attributes which the Holy
Spirit Imparts into the believer through the process of regeneration, Holy Spirit Baptism,
Preaching and Study of the Word, Prayer and Praise, and special manifestation of Christ
to His faithful servant.
With the Word in the heart and the Holy Spirit by the side of the believer, the saints can
always do valiantly revealing God in His love, His power and His glory. Hallelujah! (John
14: 12-13, 14-17).