One of the most memorable events in the life of Hezekiah occurred when Jerusalem was besieged by Assyria and faced almost certain defeat. The Bible says, “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them” (2 Kings 18:13). To understand the gravity of that statement we must remember that at the time of this attack, Assyria was the most dominant power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. We are told that Sennacherib sent a vast army into Judah to lay siege to all of her fortified cities with Jerusalem being the last. The modern day equivalent would be for Russia to surround the cities of Israel without any resistance or allies to come to Israel’s aid.

The King of Assyria sent a commander to Jerusalem with a message for Hezekiah. Essentially, he told them that resistance would be futile. They had just marches across the Middle East and no nation had been able to stand against them. That was a true report and Hezekiah knew it. He also went on to say that none of the gods of these defeated nations had been able to stand against their gods and the God of Israel would be no different. In fact, the commander claimed that the God of Israel himself has sent Assyria to destroy Judah as they had destroyed Israel (the northern kingdom) just months earlier. The demand was open the gates and surrender immediately or die while Jerusalem was destroyed.

There are a few lessons for us in this account. First of all, Hezekiah was a godly king who had done right in the eyes of the Lord for fourteen years. Yet, trouble showed up on his doorstep – not just trouble but overwhelming, massive, unsolvable trouble. God does not always spare the righteous from trouble but his promise is to deliver them from trouble.

In response to the threat and the demands of the enemy, Hezekiah does three things: He puts on sackcloth and commands his other leaders to do the same, he prays, and he asks for a word of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah. Sackcloth represents godly sorrow for sins and repentance. His first response was to take a personal inventory of any sins that might have brought this calamity on him and the nation and then he called his other leaders to do the same. In essence he called for a national day of repentance and prayer.

Secondly, he took the written message delivered from the King of Assyria into the temple and laid it before the Lord. He prayed, “      “O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God” (Isa.37:16-20).

In his prayer, Hezekiah rehearses the greatness of God and confesses that Jehovah is the only true and living God. He doesn’t deny his circumstances or all the victories that Assyria has had but he does defy his circumstances in the name of the Lord. Notice that not only was Hezekiah concerned about his impending defeat but he was also concerned about the name of God. When David faced Goliath, he also declared defeat over the giant because he had slandered and defied the name of Jehovah. A sincere concern for the name of the Lord to be known and held in honor goes a long way in heaven’s courts.

Thirdly, he sends for a word from the Lord through Isaiah, the prophet. He does not take a poll about the odds of victory or call a meeting of his military experts or economic advisors. He ignores the reports of men and seeks the report of God as to whether victory or defeat will be Jerusalem’s lot. Isaiah answers, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria…this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.      By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,” declares the Lord. “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”    Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew” (Isa.37:33-37).

Even the worst or most powerful of men or no match for God and the power of heaven. God did not keep Hezekiah from trouble but delivered him from trouble because Hezekiah served God and sought God in the crisis. He had faith to listen to the reports of God through his prophet and had genuine concern for the name of God. Scripture says that those who honor God, God will honor (1 Sam.2:30). Hezekiah honored God with his life and prayers and God honored him with deliverance.

There is another biblical theme that also runs through Hezekiah’s life. God often allows his people to be placed in impossible situations that require supernatural deliverance so that after the victory, man will honor God rather than himself. Only God could have delivered Hezekiah and he did. Only God could have delivered Goliath into the hands of a teenager and he did. Only God could provide a child to Abraham and Sara when their bodies were long past the age of childbearing and he did. Only God could have brought down the walls of Jericho for a ragtag army of former slaves and he did. You see the theme and that theme is still likely to play out in the lives of his people today. Too often we take the lesser solutions offered by the world rather than seeking the supernatural solutions of God first with faith and with concern for his name to be exalted through our circumstances. Hezekiah points us in that direction – a direction we would do well to follow when the odds against us seem overwhelming.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:16-21

This is one of Paul’s great prayers and praise sessions in scripture. Paul often begins with a teaching that takes his mind to the amazing abundance of God available to his people and then those very thoughts drive him to little pockets of praise throughout his writings. But in these sections we can find spiritual realities that we need to grasp so let’s reflect on this section of his letter to the Ephesians.

Paul had already prayed for a number of things for the church in this letter. Here he prays for two more things: power in our inner man and the capacity to grasp the immensity of the love of Christ. He prays for the church at Ephesus but, by extension, I will apply his prayers to us. He begins by praying that God, out of his superabundant resources, will strengthen our inner being with power. Our inner being contains both our soul and our spirit which need the power or the force of God for strength. We ingest things for physical energy but there is also spiritual energy that sustains us. Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai in the presence of God without food or water. Something in the spiritual realm sustained him in the physical. No doubt we have a part in that. Moses’ part was to stay focused on God and to remain in his presence. Our part is similar. To stay focused on God and to stay in his presence through time in the Word, prayer, and praise. As we do, the Father imparts increasing power to our inner being and I believe even to our physical bodies indirectly.

The second thing Paul prayed in this section was for God to impart power so that we might have faith for Jesus to dwell in our hearts. This suggests that the extent to which Christ dwells in our heart is based on our faith and our faith depends on God’s power to increase it. Of course, we always have our part in this but Romans 12 says, “think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom.12:3).

When we come to Christ we have faith, we have the Spirit indwelling us, and we have Jesus dwelling in our hearts through the Spirit. Each of these is given in an initial measure that can be increased and should be increased as we mature in Christ. There is always more and we should always desire more. Paul’s prayer reminds us that God is the one who ultimately enables that increase. He does so when we press in for more – again with more time in prayer, in the Word, constant repentance that continues to align us with God, more obedience, etc.

Paul’s goal for us in that prayer, however, is not power for power’s sake but rather power to comprehend the vastness of Christ’s love for us. Most humans on this planet hunger for love. They look for it in all the wrong places, medicate when they can’t find it, write endless songs about it, and make movies about man’s search for someone to love him. What we are truly looking for is God’s love because it is only the love of the Father that will not fade, will not die, will not wander, and that is given unconditionally.

To truly grasp, comprehend, or get hold of the immensity of Christ’s love for us would solve our insecurities, our search for significance, our fear of abandonment, our fear of the unknown and even our loneliness. When those needs are met we have peace and the world is looking for peace. Paul’s prayer reveals that our grasp of this love must come to us through revelation, an impartation from God, and personal experiences with Jesus. Let me encourage you to pray for those very things for yourself and others who need to find Jesus or grow in him.

It’s easy to read sections of scripture like this and assume that Paul’s wish for us “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” is simply poetic language that, in reality, is unattainable for broken humans. But, Paul follows that declaration with a reminder that God operates without limitation. Nothing is too hard for him and he can do immeasurably more than anything we could ever ask or imagine.

We often live emotionally and spiritually unsatisfied lives in this world but it is not because God is unwilling or unable to satisfy us. It is usually because we are not really hungry enough to press in or because we keep trying to find the things that satisfy through our own efforts or through sources the world offers us. When those things fail to satisfy us, we blame God for not meeting our needs. Our needs are not met because we keep picking fruit from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil rather than seeking it from the hand of God. We keep drinking from polluted streams trickling from our culture rather that drinking from God, the very source of life and satisfaction.

We would do well to make Paul’s prayers for the church in Ephesus our own prayers for ourselves and for those we know who need more of God. Let me encourage you to read this great letter and discover what Paul had been praying for the church and then begin to pray those very prayers for yourself until God has given you the revelation you desire. That revelation, if written on your heart, will change your world.

In my last blog, we explored the concept of “confession” which I believe is a powerful weapon in the arsenal God has provided for his people. In its simplest form, confession means that I say what God has said about any issue and not only say it but also agree with it. If I confess sin, then I am saying what God has said about an unacceptable trait, thought, or behavior and, hopefully, am agreeing with him about that in my heart. The third area of confession is simply developing a practice of saying what God has said about others and myself in the Lord.

We all know how important it is for faith to be transferred from a person’s head to his heart. To believe something intellectually is not as powerful as believing that same truth at a heart level. Speaking (verbally confessing) a truth facilitates that transfer. Paul says, “       But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom.10:8-9). In this verse, Paul is encouraging us to confess our faith with our mouths rather than just holding it as an intellectual conviction in our minds. He also suggests that the act of doing so facilitates belief in our hearts.

In the Hebrew mind, there is often a causal connection between two things joined together with the conjunction and. For instance, if someone were to say, “I slipped on the ice and broke my wrist,” we would assume that the slipping contributed to the breaking. One helped to cause the other.   In the same way, confessing with my mouth has a connection with believing in my heart. One powerful tool for transforming a belief in my head to faith in my heart is verbally confessing God’s truth regarding any area of my life.

Most of us struggle with our self-image. The world and the enemy love to beat up on us and leave us feeling unworthy, useless, and condemned even as believers. That is not the message of Christ. Jesus came to redeem us and to makes us into something new. That is the essence of being born-again and being a new creation. The New Testament is filled with God’s declarations about who we are now that we are in Christ. Those declarations should form our new identity in Jesus. Phrases such as, “the righteousness of God, fully forgiven, acceptable, worthy, holy, friends of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, empowered, competent, ambassadors for Christ, kings and priests, etc. all apply to every believer. They are part of our new identity that needs to seep down from our heads into our hearts.

The Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Another way of saying that is, “We live up to whatever we believe about ourselves.” Verbally, declaring who we are in Christ, on a daily basis, is a powerful tool for transformation. Speaking the same things over one another (especially our children) is also very powerful. As we agree with God about who we are, those truths are eventually written on our hearts. When they are written there, our view of ourselves changes and when that changes we change.

There is also a prophetic aspect to our verbal confessions. Isaiah declares that when God’s word goes forth it always fulfills its purpose. God spoke and his words created the universe. We are made in his image. When we speak our words have creative power, especially when his words go forth from our lips. When we declare his truth over any situation, we release God’s power to make those truths a reality (on earth as it is in heaven) whether it is shaping our identity, releasing his promises in our lives, or establishing destiny over our marriage or our children.

Confession aligns us with Christ, revokes the enemy’s authority to oppress us, writes his truth on our hearts, and releases the power of prophetic words to shape our hearts and the future. We should exercise this divine weapon often. It is how your authority as a believer is expressed. God gave you authority so exercise it for his purposes in your own life and lives of others. Remember, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb.4:11). Use it against the enemy.

But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow. (Exodus 8:22-23).

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor.6:14-18)

In Exodus 8, as God was in the process of delivering Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, he declared a distinction between his people and all others. Goshen was the region of Egypt where Jacob and his family had settled after they were invited to stay in Egypt because of Joseph’s service to Pharaoh. It was a fertile area of approximately 900 square miles on which one to two million Hebrews lived – first as farmers and ranchers and later as slaves. In the text above, God told Moses that from that point on, the plagues that were impacting Egypt would not touch Goshen nor his people living there. There were several reasons why God would treat them differently from all other tribes and nations. First of all, he chose Israel as a man would choose his bride. A man may treat women, in general, with kindness but he should do more for his wife and do it sooner than for anyone else. That is how God relates to his chosen people.

In the same vein, God treats his people differently because he has a unique relationship with them that is described by words such as bride, household, priesthood, sons and daughters, family, saints, chosen, and even friends. Those are words that describe intimate and even covenant relationships. In a sense, God may know all people, but he is not intimate with them nor does he consider them sons and daughters. In addition, God says that he will make a distinction between his people and all others because he is with them. God is with his people and his presence makes a difference. As they say…membership has privileges and we are members of Christ.

It is clear throughout the Bible that God makes a distinction between his people and all others but scripture also reminds us that we are to make a distinction as well. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians quoted above, he emphasizes the distinction again and draws a contrast between those who belong to the Father through Jesus and all others. Those distinctions are: righteousness vs. wickedness; light vs. darkness; Christ vs. Belial (Satan or a high ranking demon); believer vs. unbeliever; and the temple of God vs. idols. According to Paul, God still calls us to “come out from among them and be separate. Touch no unclean thing.”

In my experience, many Christians don’t see themselves as chosen and distinct from all other people. They don’t see themselves as different nor do they make much of an attempt to be different other than church attendance. God is not calling us to withdraw from society, move into the desert, and form monastic societies. He is not calling us to some form of ritual cleanliness.  What he is doing is calling us to be distinct – first in our own minds and, secondly, in our ways.

What we need is the “salmon anointing” (not a biblical term) that makes us a people who are always willing to swim against the current and the culture of the world rather than embracing it or compromising our faith in order to “fit in.” God has not commanded us to fit in but to be different – as different as night and day. Jesus said we should be “in the world” but not “of the world.”

Sometimes we want God to do supernatural stuff in our lives. But if we want God to “act like God” in our lives with miracles and blessings then we must “act like his people” and as sold out citizens of heaven rather than comfortable citizens of this world. How many “unclean” things do we touch in a day by choice – especially with our eyes and our ears? How often do we compromise our faith “just a little” at school or at the office in order to gain membership or standing with those who don’t know or don’t care about the Lord? How often do we forget that God is with us when we swim with the culture rather than against it?

A church that has forgotten who she is will be a powerless church. If we desire to see the power of God we must remember that power is not given until it is needed. It is not needed as long as we are “going with the flow.” When we remember who we are; when we see ourselves as distinct from all other people; when we push back against the world; when we get busy destroying the works of the devil; ands when we choose to swim upstream toward the source – then, power will be needed. When it is needed it will be released. So…let’s go for the salmon anointing. Let’s swim as hard we can against the current, reproduce ourselves, and encourage as many as possible to swim with us. Then he will be our God and we will be his people. Then we will be distinct from all other people.

From the Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey: As my class in Chicago read the gospels and watched movies about Jesus’ life, we noticed a striking pattern: the more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus. People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons. In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from the more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness. I remarked to the class how strange this pattern seemed, since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth. What has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus’ day? Why don’t sinners like being around us?

I think that is a fair question and although I am sure there are churches where the poor, the broken, and overt sinners feel welcome, I am also fairly certain that those churches would be the exception. If Jesus, indeed, came to heal the broken hearted and set captives free (Isa.61:1-4); if God is, indeed, close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psm.35:18): and if God calls on us to, “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psm.82:3-4) then why aren’t these folks breaking down the doors of the church to get in and why did they respond to Jesus is such a welcoming way?

I have many thoughts on Yancey’s question but I will just share two of them at this time. First of all, Jesus went to the brokenhearted, the sinners, and the irreligious and did not simply put up a sign and wait for them to come to him. No doubt, Jesus went to the religious Jews as well because he was often in the temple compound and in synagogues but he also walked the streets of Jewish and Samaritan cities and rubbed shoulders with the sick, the leprous, tax collectors, hookers, and drunks. Jesus did not participate in their sin but he initiated contact, listened to their stories, and offered solutions. To those who were broken by life and sin he offered hope rather than condemnation. For many, the paradigm of grace that Jesus offered and demonstrated was life changing. Most churches put up a sign to welcome all those who need Jesus but rarely develop relationships with the down-and-outs of their community by going to the poor and broken rather than simply waiting for them to show up on Sundays.

Now let me tell you why I think the church avoids the deeply broken, the addicted, the junkies, the hookers, and the demonized of our society. In most cases, I don’t think it is a lack of concern or compassion or a Pharisee-like self-righteousness. Instead, I think it is a deep feeling of inadequacy and a sense that we really don’t have solutions for the homeless, the junkies, and the broken-hearted of our communities so to open our doors would overwhelm us as the needy of our society poured in like refuges crossing the border of a war-torn third world nation. Additionally, I think the pour and the broken themselves stay away from us because they sense we have no real answers for them either.

So what answers did Jesus have? First, there was hope – not just for the world to come but for this life as well. Mary Magdalene had her life changed forever and became a constant companion of the disciples and the mother of Jesus after seven demons were cast out of her. The demoniac who lived among the tombs went from being a homeless lunatic to a man dressed and in his right mind within an hour of encountering the church (Jesus and the twelve). Undoubtedly he became a useful member of society after that. For sure he became the president of the Messianic Evangelistic Association in Decapolis. Tax collectors turned from extortionists to philanthropists in their communities after encounters with Jesus and beggars who received healing got work and paid taxes after jumping to their feet. Jesus had answers for the poor, the down-and-outs, the demonized, the depressed, and sinners so he did not avoid them but took the good news to them. When they heard that he had real answers they also flocked to him.

When the church begins to experience the power of God once again and begins to offer that power outside the walls of the church, I believe the pattern of Jesus’ day will return. The very religious will, no doubt, continue to be offended but the unsavory characters of the world will feel comfortable in our presence because we will feel adequate in their presence. When the word gets out, they will also come to where Jesus is being demonstrated and may even dig a hole in someone’s roof to experience Jesus of Nazareth once again. He lives in each of us and is yearning to get out.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:16-21)

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Col.1:29)

If you haven’t noticed, the devil had his way in many areas across the world during 2014. The Middle East continued to boil in turmoil. Race issues tore at the fabric of America once again. Russia ruthlessly pushed out to expand “the empire” once more. Washington D.C. couldn’t seem to get its act together at any level. Ebola is still ravaging parts of Africa and economies around the world are shaking.

For some believers, these are simply unavoidable signs of the end that we cannot stand against so we should just bunker in and wait for Jesus. That time may come but, in my opinion, this is not the time because too many people groups and nations have not yet been gathered in for the Lord of the Harvest. I believe that 2015 should be a year of pushing back against the enemy and defeating him on multiple fronts. The problem with such a view is that most of us still feel helpless in the face of such national and global calamities.

As this new year begins, we need to be reminded that there is the same power working within each of us that raised Jesus from the dead, toppled the Roman Empire, and spoke the universe into existence – just for starters. Paul sensed that divine power working within him and framed it as a kind of supernatural energy that enabled him to heal, cast out demons, preach in the face of fierce opposition and keep going when his natural strength had been depleted.

Paul asked the Lord to give the church at Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might be aware of the power, authority, and strength available to them in Christ (see Eph.1:17-23). Interestingly, this power does not flow out of God’s desire for conquest but is rooted and established in love. Our capacity to experience the power of God is directly proportional to our understanding of the depth of God’s love for us and for all of his creation.

In order to walk in the power of God we must understand that his power is distributed in order to bless the people he loves. Jesus healed out of love. Jesus raised the dead out of love. Jesus cast out demons because he loved the people oppressed by the enemy. Jesus fed the 5000 because he had a love for these “sheep without a shepherd” and was concerned that they were hungry. He preached the good news because he loved lost people. He entrusts power and authority to us to be exercised on behalf of the people he loves. If we want an increase in power then we should be praying for an increase in love – a greater awareness of God’s love for us and a greater love for the world he cares about.

Great power resides within every believer but is released in greater ways when the exercise of that power is motivated by love and when that power reveals the love of God to those who have not known it before. My prayers this year will include a request for God to reveal his love to me in greater ways and for me to be an instrument of his love for others. The enemy cannot stand against love and it is love that will release the provision and power of heaven into every “hopeless situation.”

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! (Gal.1:6-8)

Paul began his letter to the believers in Galatia with a stern rebuke of those who would change the character of the gospel. In the case of Galatia, men had come in after Paul had left to plant other churches and had begun to add works from the Law of Moses to the message of salvation. Paul preached grace through Christ alone while those who came after him preached Jesus plus the keeping of the Law of Moses as the path to salvation. Paul made it clear that to change the character of the gospel was to change it altogether and put the salvation of these believers at risk. The character of the gospel can be changed in other ways as well – by adding or taking away form the message.

Millions of Christians live under a gospel of grace without power. Grace is only half the good news. Power is the rest. A gospel without power is an insufficient gospel and leaves believers far short of God’s intended transformation in their lives. In Luke 4, Jesus stood in a familiar synagogue in Nazareth. There He announced and outlined his three-year mission to the world as He read from the scroll of Isaiah (Isa.61: 1-3). Preach the good news. Heal the brokenhearted. Set captives free. Release prisoners from darkness. Raise the dead. Jesus declared that He was the fulfillment of that text and then spent the next three years demonstrating that mission.

Jesus not only operationalized his mission statement for the kingdom of God on earth but also prepared others to continue the mission after his departure to sit on his throne in heaven. He sent out the twelve and the seventy, and commanded them to do what he had been doing. He then declared to his followers, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

We are to do what Jesus did. We are to offer grace and forgiveness of sins through Jesus, but also the transforming power of the kingdom of God. A gospel with power does more than forgive sins. It frees and transforms. For years I have watched faithful, forgiven Christians continue to live in bondage to anger, depression, shame, fear, and lust year after year. They have prayed, cried, repented a thousand times, and sat at the feet of counselors and pastors looking for keys to be set free. At best they have learned to manage their sin or their “issue” but have not truly found freedom. Are they forgiven? Yes. Are they saved? Yes. Are they free? No.

But God’s word says: So, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (Jn.8:37). Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor.3:18).   It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal. 5:1). Christ’s freedom is not just freedom from condemnation but is freedom form all the things that keep us from being Christ-like – holy, joyful, loving, compassionate, etc. Brokenness and bondage keep us living a life that falls far short of those qualities.

Every time the gospel was preached in the New Testament power and authority was on display along with the grace of God. Power allowed people not just to hear about God’s grace but to also experience it. Experiencing God always has an exponentially greater impact than only hearing about Him. Most churches enable their people to hear about God week after week. Not so many allow them to experience Him as well.

When God’s power is manifested, we experience Him. When we experience Him we are set free and changed. Where significant transformation in the lives and hearts of God’s people has not been profoundly experienced, then, perhaps, an insufficient gospel is being preached. That insufficiency, then, puts some believers’ salvation at risk.  Through the years, I have seen a number of believers give up on their faith and their walk with the Lord because they could not overcome their brokenness or bondage. They felt that God was not hearing their prayers or that they were so defective that even God didn’t care about their struggles. A gospel of power could have set them free. Paul declared, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1Cor.4:20). God is not content to simply be talked about. He wants to be experienced. May this coming be a year of greater power and “experience”  in the church and in our own lives than we have ever known before.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.     Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Lk.2:10-11)

The birth of Christ was declared to be good news by the angles who announced his birth. Good news, of course, is the definition of the word gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of Jesus Christ. In this verse, the idea is linked to the title of Savior. If you’re drowning and someone shows up on the scene who can save you – that’s good news. A world drowning in sin and hopelessness needed some good news and that was Jesus! It is still the same today.

The declaration of good news by angels to shepherds in the gospel of Luke was not the first use of that term related to Jesus. In Isaiah 61, the prophet who spoke often of the coming Messiah, declared on behalf of the one who would come, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn” (Isa.61:1-2). This is one of the great Messianic prophecies and it gives us some significant insights into the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Somehow in the past 200 years the gospel of Jesus for many has simply become the message that Jesus died for our sins so that we could be forgiven and live forever in heaven. If that was all the gospel promised, that would be more than enough but the truth is that it offers much more. The “good news” referenced in Isaiah 61 includes the healing of broken hearts, freedom from every form of bondage including sin, release for those who have been imprisoned in spiritual darkness, and the declaration that God is for us rather than against us. Too many believers have lived a Christian life believing that the extent of Christ’s power in their lives was forgiveness. As a result, they live forgiven but not transformed. They live as if freedom from bondage, addictions, fear, depression, and all the other things that hinder the witness of believers is only available after their funeral. They seem to believe that forgiveness is for now but transformation only comes in heaven. But that is not the gospel.

The good news the shepherds heard 2000 years ago was that not only will your sins be forgiven in Christ but the power of Christ will make you into a new creation in this world as well as the world to come. If you were to read the next few verses of the Isaiah 61 passage you would see the word “instead” mentioned several times. The prophecy promises that when Jesus came the lives of people would be drastically changed. In Christ they would exchange ashes for a crown of beauty, mourning for the oil of gladness, and despair for a garment of praise. In each life there would be radical reversals – not just the forgiveness of sin but radical transformation.

Yet how many of us know long-time believers whose lives and conditions are hardly different from those who don’t know Jesus at all. Sometimes, they remain in the same condition in which they met Jesus because they don’t know what has been made available to them through the cross. The announcement of angels that a Savior had been born was intended to communicate that this Savior would not only deliver them from sin but also from their brokenness and their bondage. That is a gift worth celebrating. That is a gift you definitely want to unwrap and yet many believers leave most of the packages Christ has purchased for them under the tree. They leave the gifts unclaimed because they don’t know what’s in the boxes nor do they know that those presents are for them. This Christmas you may want to seriously consider all the gifts in heaven with your name on them and begin to confidently ask God to release those gifts into your life because in the Kingdom of Heaven, every day is a day to celebrate Jesus and every day is Christmas.

Acts 2 describes the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that God would pour out his Spirit on all people. We know from the words of Jesus that this “pouring out” is closely associated with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power that would be imparted through that baptism. The question is whether that was a one-time event for the early church or whether it is available to believers today. We might also ask whether it is a one-time experience for believers or whether it can be experienced multiple times. Let me list several scriptures that may give us some insights to these questions. Notice the language in the scriptures and the ways in which the Spirit manifested in these believers.

Acts 2:1-8                   

 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…(emphasis added)

Acts 4:23-24, 29-31

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God…Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (emphasis added)

Acts 10:44-48

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. (emphasis added)

Acts 8:14-18             

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (emphasis added)

Acts 19:1-7                

 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (emphasis added)

As you look at these verses, several things become apparent. Several phrases seem to be used interchangeably that describe the same experience. In Acts 2, the moment that tongues of fire appeared over the disciples and they began to speak in tongues is obviously the moment that Jesus had pointed them to when they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and receive power for witnessing. In this text, baptism with the Spirit is described as being filled with the Spirit. The same language is used in Acts 4 when the same people who were filled in Acts 2 seem to be filled again. Both “fillings” resulted in miraculous signs and boldness to declare the word of God. In Acts 10, the Spirit is poured out even on the Gentiles so they are experiencing the same manifestation that the Jews experienced on Pentecost. The result was speaking in tongues and praising God just as the disciples had done on Pentecost as well. This “baptism with the Spirit” is also described as the Spirit coming on those believers and having been received by those believers. The same language is used in Acts 8 when the Samaritans responded to the gospel and again in Acts 19 in Corinth.

It appears that “baptism with the Spirit” is a moment when the Spirit comes upon a believer in abundance and when the believer receives something from the Spirit not previously given. The idea of receiving suggests that the believer is open to the experience and, perhaps, even desires more of the Spirit or more of what the Spirit offers than what he/she has already received. This idea parallels 1 Corinthians 12-14 where Paul discusses spiritual gifts (a form of empowerment by the Holy Spirit) and tells us that the Spirit distributes those gifts as he determines and invites believers to ask for more.

In summary, the baptism with the Spirit seems to be a moment when the Spirit falls on a believer and imparts power for ministry in some form. The fact that Jesus said that those who had faith in him would do what he had done and even more, requires that the baptism of the Spirit (the empowering of the Spirit) is still available today. It is often referred to as being filled with the Spirit or the Spirit coming on us or falling on us and can happen multiple times. It seems that our first experience of being filled is often called “baptism with the Spirit” and, indeed, a level of spiritual power or gifts remain in us from that point forward although the Spirit may add to that or magnify what is in us when circumstances call for it.

So what about tongues and prophecy and other miracles being manifested when the Spirit first empowers us? I will talk about that in my next blog.

The expression of power to destroy the works of the devil is inherent in the kingdom of God and is part of the ministry of the Spirit through us. Baptism with the Spirit is directly related to such power. Bill Johnson says that a gospel without power is no gospel at all. I agree. The New Testament model for preaching the gospel was the declaration that the Kingdom of God had come followed by a demonstration of that truth. Jesus declared, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Lk.11:20). When John the Baptist began to question whether Jesus was truly the Messiah, Jesus told John’s followers, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.     Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me” (Mt.11:4-6).

It’s interesting that Jesus did not fit the preconceptions of even John the Baptist when it came to the fulfillment of his mission. Some were being tempted to fall away because Jesus was not using the methodology of the world (power and politics) to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Today, many believers are much more comfortable with the strategies of the world to build churches than the power of the Spirit. Many church leaders are glad to bring on great music, great sound, state of the art media, celebrity testimonies, and global television productions but balk immediately at the thought of healings, deliverance, and raising people from the dead.

John tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn.3:8). Those works were unbelief, disease, demonic oppression, death before God’s appointed times, bondage, physical disabilities, etc. We know those are the works of the devil because those are the very things Jesus reversed over and over again in his ministry and then gifted his church to do the same. To destroy those works requires power and authority.

Jesus told his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they received power when the Spirit came upon them. Having received that power they would then be equipped to be his witnesses throughout the world. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is closely associated with the “pouring out of the Spirit” in Acts 2. Jesus told his disciples to wait. They waited together as they had been instructed. Suddenly the sound of a violent wind was heard, fire appeared above the heads of the believers, they began to speak in languages they had not learned, and boldness entered into their hearts. Peter’s explanation for the event was that Joel’s prophecy had finally been fulfilled. “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:16-18).

In Acts 1:5, Jesus told his disciples that they would be baptized in the Spirit in a few days and that the Spirit would release power in them when they received that baptism. Power was manifested when the Spirit was poured out so the baptism of the Spirit is closely associated with the fulfillment of Joel 2. A close study of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament reveals that the Holy Spirit healed, raised the dead, prophesied, imparted supernatural power, performed miracles, produced dreams, and everything we see him doing in the New Testament. In the O.T., however, the Spirit was reserved for a few prophets, priests, kings, and judges. In the book of Acts that power is poured out in abundance and made available to every believer. In addition, the Holy Spirit takes up residence and goes to work maturing believers so that their character might match the gifts and power God places within them.

I believe this “pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh (all believers)” was the historic moment when the baptism of the Spirit was made available to every believer. Beginning at that moment, every follower of Jesus has the potential to receive great power from the Holy Spirit for boldness and miracles as we bear witness to the reality of Jesus to those around us. (More about that power today in my next blog).