Power is the special and distinctive prerogative of God, and God alone. Power belongs to God. God is God: and power belongs to him. If he delegates a portion of it to his creatures, yet it still is his power. The sun in the heavens, although it is “…like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course” [Psalm 19:5], yet it has no power to move through the universe except as God directs it. The stars, although they travel in their orbits and no one can stop them, yet they have neither power nor force except that which God daily infuses into them. The tall archangel, near God’s throne, who outshines a comet in its brilliance, and who excels in strength and listens to the voice of the commands of God, still has no strength except that which his Creator gives to him. As for Leviathan, who causes the sea to boil like a pot that one would think the ocean was white: as for Hippopotamus, who could almost drink up the Jordan in one swallow, and boasts that he can inhale rivers; as for those majestic creatures that are found on earth, they owe their strength to him who formed their bones of steel and made their muscle of brass. And when we think of man if he has might or power, it is so small and insignificant, that we can scarcely call it such; yes, when it is at its greatest-when he waves his scepter, when he commands vast armies, when he rules nations-still the power belongs to God.

This exclusive prerogative of God is to be found in each of the three persons of the glorious Trinity. The Father has power: for at his word the heavens were made, and by his strength all things continue, and through him they fulfill their destiny. The Son has power: for like his Father, he is the Creator of all things; “Without him nothing was made that has been made” [John 1:3], and “in him all things hold together” [Colossians 1:17]. And the Holy Spirit has power.

It is concerning the power of the Holy Spirit that I will speak this morning; and may you gain a practical example of that attribute in your own hearts, when you sense that the influence of the Holy Spirit is being poured out on me, so that I am speaking the words of the living God to your souls, and the power bestowed on you when you feel the effects of it in your own souls.

We will look at the power of the Holy Spirit in three ways this morning. First, the outward and visible displays of his power, second, the inward and spiritual manifestations of his power, and third, the future works of his power. I trust that the power of the Spirit will be clearly presented to your souls.

The power of the Spirit has not been dormant; it has exerted itself. Much has been done by the Spirit of God already; more than could have been accomplished by any being except the Infinite, Eternal, Almighty Jehovah, with whom the Holy Spirit is one person.

The creation of the heavens above us is said to be the work of God’s Spirit. This you will see at once by referring to the sacred Scriptures, Job, chapter 26, and verse 13, “By his Spirit he has [adorned] the heavens, and his hand has formed the crooked serpent” [KJV]. All the stars of heaven are said to have been placed there by the Holy Spirit, and one particular constellation called the “crooked serpent” is especially pointed out as his handiwork. He loosen the cords of

Orion and he joined the beautiful Pleiades. He made all the stars that shine in heaven. The heavens were adorned by his hands, and he formed the crooked serpent by his power.

In addition, the Holy Spirit’s power is displayed in those continued acts of creation which are still performed in the world; such as the creation and birth of men, women, and animals. These are also ascribed to the Holy Spirit. If you look at Psalm 104, verses 29 and 30, you will read, “When you [God] hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your [Holy] Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” Therefore the creation of every man and woman and angel is the work of the Holy Spirit: and the creation of all life and all flesh in this world is as much to be ascribed to the power of the Holy Spirit as the creation of the heavens. But if you will look in the 1st chapter of Genesis, you will see even more clearly presented that special act of power on the universe which was done by the Holy Spirit; you will discover what his special work was. In the

2nd verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis, we read, “The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” We don’t know for certain how long it has been since the universe was first created. Our planet has passed through various stages of existence, and different kinds of creatures have lived on its surface, all of which have been created by God. But before that time came, when man became its principal tenant and monarch, the earth was formless, and empty; and darkness was over the surface of the deep. The Holy Spirit came, commanded the darkness to separate, and as he moved over it, all the different pieces of matter came into their places, and it was no longer “formless and empty;” but became round and began to move, singing the high praises of God-not out of tune as it had done before, but as one great note in the vast scale of creation. This was done by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we could have seen that earth in all of its confusion, we would have said, “Who can make a world out of this?” The answer would have been, “The power of the Holy Spirit can do it. He can make all the things come together. There will be order where there was nothing but confusion.”

Nor is this the only power of the Holy Spirit. We have seen some of his works in creation. But there was one particular instance of creation in which the Holy Spirit was more particularly concerned, namely, the creation of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a woman and made in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet the power that conceived him came entirely from God the Holy Spirit-as the Scriptures reveal, the Angel Gabriel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” [Luke 1:35]. The physical body of the Lord Jesus Christ was a masterpiece of the Holy Spirit. I suppose his body would have excelled all others in beauty; to have been like that of the first man, the very pattern of what the body is to be in heaven, when it will shine forth in all its glory. That body, in all of its beauty and perfection, was formed by the Holy Spirit. He created and shaped the body of Jesus, thus here again we have another instance of the creative energy of the Spirit.

If you have ever studied this subject, you have perhaps been rather perplexed to find that sometimes the resurrection of Christ is ascribed to Jesus. By his own power and divinity he could not be held by the chains of death, for just as he willingly gave up his life he also had the power to take it back again. In another section of Scripture you will find the resurrection of Christ attributed to God the Father: “He [the glorious Father] raised him from the dead” [Ephesians 1:20]:” “God exalted him” [Acts 5:31], and many other similar passages. But, again, it is said in Scripture that Jesus Christ was raised by the Holy Spirit. Now all these things are true. Jesus was raised by the Father because the Father said, “Let the prisoner go. Justice is satisfied. My law does not require any more compensation-vengeance has had its day, let him go.” Here the Father gave an official message which delivered Jesus from the grave. And yet, Jesus still was raised by his own majesty and power because he had a right to come out of the grave and he knew that he had, and therefore he “broke the chains of death: he could no longer be held by them.” But, the actual power that raised his body was the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the power of Holy Spirit by which the body of Jesus was raised from the grave after having laid there for three days and nights. If you want proofs of this you must turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 3:18, “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” And you can find further proof in Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

The resurrection of Christ, then, was achieved by the activity of the Holy Spirit, and here we have a good illustration of his omnipotence. If you could have stepped, as angels did, into the grave of Jesus, and seen his dead body, you would have found it as cold as any other corpse. Lift up the hand, it falls by the side. Look at the eye: it is glazed. There the gash in his side, which was to ensure that all life is destroyed. See his hands; the blood does not drip from them,

They are cold and motionless. Can that body live? Can it rise up again? Yes; it can and will be an illustration of the power of the Holy Spirit. For when the power of the Holy Spirit came on Jesus, as it was when it fell on the dry bones of the valley [Ezekiel 37:4-5]: “He arose in the majesty of his divinity, and bright and shining, astonished the guards so that they ran away, yes, he arose no more to die, but to live forever, King of kings and Prince of the kings of the earth.”

When Jesus Christ was baptized in the river Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove, and proclaimed him to be God’s beloved son. That was what I call a testimony work. And later when Jesus Christ raised the dead, when he healed the leper, when he spoke to diseases and they fled away, when demons by the thousands were cast out from those who were possessed by them, it was done by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lived in Jesus without limit, and by that power all those miracles were accomplished. These were testimony works. And after Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, you will remember the greatest testimony of the Holy Spirit when he came like a mighty rushing wind upon the assembled apostles, and tongues of fire came to rest on each of them; and you will remember how the Holy Spirit testified to their ministry by giving them the ability to speak with tongues, as he gave them utterance; and how, also, miraculous works were produced by them, how they taught, how Peter raised Dorcas, how he breathed life into Eutychus, how great works were done by the apostles just like they were done by their Master-so that Paul could say, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the [Holy] Spirit.” Who will doubt the power of the Holy Spirit after that? Ah! those Socinians who deny the existence of the Holy Spirit and his absolute personality, what will they do when we reveal to them the Holy Spirit’s work in creation, resurrection, and testimonies? They must rush in the very teeth of Scripture. But note this! it is a stone on which if any man falls he will be bruised; but if it falls on him, as it will do if he resists it, it will grind him to powder. The Holy Spirit has omnipotent power-the power of God.

Remember the city where there lived a sorcerer named Simon who boasted of divine power and that he was someone great. Philip then enters that city and preaches the Word of God, and right away Simon loses all of his power and seeks that the power of the Holy Spirit be given to him, even believing that it might be purchased with money.

Now move to modern times, to a pagan country where the inhabitants live in gloomy tents, feeding on reptiles and other wretched creatures; observe them bowing down before their idols and worshipping their false gods, and therefore plunged in superstition, so degraded and debased, that it was questionable whether they had souls or not; Now observe that a Scottish missionary, named Robert Moffat, goes with the Word of God in his hand to these lost people, listen to him preach as the Holy Spirit gives him the words, and accompanies that Word with power. They throw away their idols-they hate and abhor their former lusts; they begin to build houses, where they live; they become clothed, and in their right mind. They destroy their bows, and break their spears in two; the uncivilized become civilized; the savage becomes polite; he who knew nothing begins to read the Scriptures, thus out of the mouths of savages God shows the power of his mighty Spirit.

Now, coming back to our country-go to a household in this city-and we could guide you to many where the father is a drunkard; he has been the most desperate of characters; see him in his madness, and you might just as well meet an unchained tiger as to meet such a man. He seems as if he could tear a man to pieces who would offend him. Note his wife. She, too, has a spirit in her, and when he treats her badly she can resist him; many fights have been seen in that house, and often has the neighborhood been disturbed by the noise created there. As for the poor little children-see them in their rags and nakedness, poor untaught little ones. Untaught, did I say? They are taught and well taught in the devil’s school and are growing up to be the heirs of damnation. But then someone whom God has blessed by his Spirit is guided to the house. Perhaps, he may only be a humble city missionary but he speaks to the wicked man: “Sir,” he says, “come and listen to the voice of God.” Whether it is his own witnessing, or a minister’s preaching, the Word, which is quick and powerful, cuts to the sinner’s heart. The tears run down his cheeks such as never been seen before. He shakes and shudders. The strong man bows down-the mighty man trembles-and those knees that never shook begin to knock together. That heart which never trembled before, now begins to shake before the power of the Holy Spirit. He bends his knees, while his lips utter a child’s prayer, but, although it is a child’s prayer, a prayer of a child of God. He becomes a new creation. Note the reformation in his house! His wife becomes a respectable woman. Those children become obedient and well-mannered, and in due time they grow up like olive branches around his table, adorning his house like polished stones. Walk pass the house-no noise or fights, but rather we hear songs of Zion. Look at him-no more drunkenness; he has drank his last drink; and now renouncing it, he comes to God and is his servant. Now, you will not hear at midnight the drunken shout; but should there be a noise, it will be the sound of the solemn hymn of praise to God. And, now, let me ask you, is there such a thing as the power of the Holy Spirit? Yes, there is, and these persons, just mentioned, have witnessed it and seen it.

I know a village, once, perhaps, the most wicked in England-a village inundated by drunkenness and wickedness of the worst kind, where it was almost impossible for an honest traveler to stop in the city without being annoyed by blasphemy; a place noted for arsons and robbers. One man, the ringleader, listened to the voice of God. That man’s heart was broken. The whole gang came to hear the gospel preached, and they sat and seemed to reverence the preacher as if he were a god, and not a man. These men were changed and reformed; and every one who knows the place affirms that such a change had no other explanation than that it had been accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let the gospel be preached and the Holy Spirit poured out, and you will see that it has the power to change the conscience, to improve the conduct, to raise the debased, to chastise and to curb the wickedness of men and women. The change will be so noticeable that you must the glory to God. I say, there is nothing like the power of the Holy Spirit. Only let that come, and, indeed, everything can be accomplished.

II. Now, for our second major point this morning, THE INNER SPIRITUAL POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

What I have already spoken of may be seen; what I am about to speak of must be felt, and no one will understand the truth of what I say unless they have felt it. Even the unbeliever must confess, and the greatest blasphemer, if they would be honest, cannot deny the outward and visible manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But the inner spiritual power of the Holy Spirit is what the unbeliever and blasphemer will laugh at as being nothing but emotion and the invention of our confused minds. However, no matter what they say, we have a clear testimony. We have a witness within. We know it is the truth, and we are not afraid to speak of the inner spiritual power of the Holy Spirit.

Normally, it is very hard to affect a person’s heart. However, if you want to get at them for any worldly purpose you can do it. A cheating world can win the hearts of men and women, a little gold can win their hearts, a bit of fame and a little applause can win their hearts. But there is not a minister alive, who by himself, can win the hearts of men and women. He can win their ears and make them listen; he can win their eyes, and cause those eyes to look at him; he can win their attention, but their hearts are very slippery. Yes, the heart is like a fish that all gospel fishermen find difficult to hold on to. You may sometimes almost pull it out of the water; but slippery as an eel, it slips between your fingers, and evades capture. Many a minister has imagined that he has caught the heart but has been disappointed. It would need a strong hunter to overtake the deer on the mountains. It is too fast for a human on foot to approach.

Only the Holy Spirit has power over the hearts of men and women. Did you ever try your power on a heart? If any person thinks that a minister can convert the soul, I wish they would try. Let them go and become a Sunday-school teacher. They will take their class, they will have the best books that can be obtained, they will have the best rules, they will draw their lines of defenses around their fortified spiritual city, they will take the best child in their class, and if they are not tired in a week I will be very much surprised. Let them spend four or five Sundays in trying, and in the end they will say, “The young person is incorrigible.” Let them try another. And they will have to try another, and another, and another, before they will manage to convert one. They will soon find it is “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.” [Zechariah 4:6] Can a minister convert anyone? Can he touch the heart? David said, your “…hearts are callous and unfeeling.” [Psalm 119:70] Yes, that is very true; and we cannot break through such a hard heart. Our sword cannot get at the heart, for it is so calloused and unfeeling, it is harder than a millstone. Many a sharp blade has been blunted by the hard heart. Many pieces of the true steel that God has put into the hands of his servants has had the edge dulled by being used against the sinner’s heart. We cannot reach the soul; but the Holy Spirit can. He can give a sense of blood-bought pardon that will dissolve a heart of stone. He can,

He can make Sinai’s thunders audible; yes, and he can make the sweet whisperings of Calvary enter into the soul. He has power over the hearts of men and women. And here is a glorious proof of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit that he has rule over the heart.

“My lord; Will-be-will,” as John Bunyan calls him in his book “Holy War,” is a fellow who will not easily be convinced. The will, especially in some men and women, is a very stubborn thing, and in all men and women, if the will is once stirred up in opposition, there is nothing that can be done with them.

Some believe in freewill. Many dream of freewill. Freewill! Where is that to be found? Once there was freewill in Paradise, and freewill made a terrible mess there, for it spoiled all of Paradise and turned Adam and Eve out of the garden. Freewill once existed in heaven, but it turned the glorious archangel out and a third part of the angels of heaven fell into the abyss. I want nothing to do with freewill, but I will try to see whether I have a free will within me. And I find that I have. I have a very free will to commit evil, but a very poor will to do that which is good. I demonstrate my freewill when I sin, but when I want to do good evil is present with me, and I cannot carry it out. Yet some boast of freewill. I wonder whether those who believe in freewill have any more power over other person’s wills than I have. I know I have no power. I find the old proverb is very true, “One man can bring a horse to the water, but a hundred cannot make him drink.” I find that I can bring all of you to the water, and a great many more than can

fit into this church; but I cannot make you drink; and I don’t think a hundred ministers could make you drink. I have read all about the great preachers, Rowland Hill, and George Whitfield, and several others to see what their secret was; but I cannot discover from them any plan that would work in turning your wills. I cannot coax you; and you will not yield by any other means. I don’t think any man has power over his fellow creature’s will, but the Spirit of God has. “I will make them willing in the day of my power.” He makes the unwilling sinner so willing that he is eager for the gospel; he who was obstinate, now runs to the cross. He, who laughed at Jesus, now begs for his mercy; and he who would not believe, is now made by the Holy Spirit to do it, not only willingly, but eagerly; he is happy, he is glad to do it, rejoices in the sound of Jesus’ name, and delights to obey God’s commands. The Holy Spirit has power over the will.

I hope that my will is managed by Divine Grace, but I am afraid that at times, my thoughts are not. Those who have a fair share of imagination know what a difficult thing it is to control. You cannot restrain it. It will break the reins. You will never be able to manage it. The imagination will sometimes fly up to God with such a power that eagles’ wings cannot match it. It sometimes has such power that it can almost see the King in his beauty, and the land which is very far off. With regard to myself, my imagination will sometimes take me over the gates of iron, across that infinite unknown, to the very gates of pearl, and discovers the blessed home of the glorified. But if it is powerful one way it is also powerful in another; for my imagination has taken me down to the vilest gutters and sewers of the earth. It has given me thoughts so dreadful, that while I could not avoid them, yet I was thoroughly horrified at them. These thoughts will come, and when I feel in the holiest frame of mind, the most devoted to God, and the most earnest in prayer, it often happens that that is the very time when the plagues breaks out the worst. But I rejoice and think of one thing, that I can cry out to the Holy Spirit when these thoughts come upon me. I know it is said in the Book of Deuteronomy, when an act of rape was committed, that if the girl cried out against it, then her life was to be spared. So it is with the Christian. If they cry out there is hope. Can you chain your imagination? No; but the power of the Holy Spirit can. Yes, he will do it, and He does it throughout all of eternity; He does it even on earth today.

Jesus Christ could cry out concerning his own work of salvation-“It is finished.” But the Holy Spirit cannot say that. He still has more to do: and until the fulfillment of all things, when the Son himself becomes subject to the Father, it will not be said by the Holy Spirit, “It is finished.” What, then, are the future works of the Holy Spirit?

There are two kinds of perfection which a Christian needs-one is the perfection of justification in the person of Jesus; and the other is, the perfection of sanctification worked in them by the Holy Spirit. Presently corruption still resides even in the hearts of the regenerate. At present the heart is partially impure. At present there are still lusts and evil thoughts. But, Oh! my soul rejoices to know that the day is coming when God will finish the work which he has begun; and he will present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but, perfect in the Spirit, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. And is it true that this poor depraved heart is to become as holy as that of God? And is it true that my spirit, which often cries, “O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this sin and death!” will get rid of sin and death-I will have no evil things to bother my ears, and no unholy thoughts to disturb my peace? Oh! Joyful hour! May it soon come! At the moment of my death, sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment will I ever claim perfection in myself. But at that moment when I depart, my spirit will have its last baptism in the Holy Spirit’s fire. It will be put in the crucible for its final refinement in the furnace; and then, free from all impurities, and fine like a wedge of pure gold, it will be presented at the feet of God without the least degree of impurities or contamination. O glorious hour! O blessed moment! I think I would still long to die even if there were no heaven, if I might but have that last purification, and come up from Jordan’s stream pure white from the washing. Oh! To be washed white, clean, pure, perfect! No angel will be more pure than I will be-yes, as holy as God himself! And I will be able to say, in a double sense, “Great and Glorious God, I am clean-through the blood of Jesus I am clean, through the Holy Spirit’s work I am clean too!” We must praise the power of the Holy Spirit for making us fit to stand before our Father in heaven!

In a few more years-I don’t know when, I don’t know how-the Holy Spirit will be poured out in a far different way than the present. There are diversities of ministries; and during the last few years it has been the case that the diversified ministries have consisted in very little pouring out of the Spirit. Ministers have gone on in a dull routine, continually preaching-preaching-preaching, and little good has been accomplished. I do hope that perhaps a fresh era has begun, and that there is a better pouring out of the Spirit even now. For the hour is coming, and it may be that it now is, when the Holy Spirit will be poured out again in such a wonderful manner that many will go here and there to increase knowledge-the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth just as the waters cover the surface, when his kingdom will come, and his will, will be done on earth even as it is in heaven. We are not going to be dragging on forever. My heart praises and my eyes sparkle with the thought that very likely I will live to see the out-pouring of the Spirit when “the sons and the daughters of God again will prophecy, and the young men will see visions, and the old men will dream dreams.” Perhaps there will be no miraculous gifts-for they will not be required; but yet there will be such a miraculous amount of holiness, such an extraordinary fervor of prayer, such a real communion with God and so much true religion, and such a spread of the doctrines of the cross, that every one will see that truly the Holy Spirit is poured out like water and the rains are descending from above. For that let us pray: let us continually labor for it, and seek it from God.

Thus I have attempted to speak of the power of the Holy Spirit, and I trust I have shown it to you. We must now have a moment or two for practical application. Oh, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Holy Spirit is very powerful! What do you infer from that fact?

The power of the Holy Spirit is your protection, and all his omnipotence defends you. Can your enemies overcome omnipotence? If they could then they can conquer you. Can they wrestle with Deity, and throw him to the ground? If they could then they might be able to conquer you. But we are safe because the power of the Holy Spirit is our power; the power of the Holy Spirit is our strength.

There is your son. There is that wife of yours for whom you have prayed for so frequently: don’t doubt the Holy Spirit’s power. “Though he delays with an answer, wait for him.” There is your husband, O holy woman! And you have wrestled in prayer for his soul. And though he is ever so hardened and desperate a wretch, and treats you badly there is power in the Holy Spirit. And, you who have come from weak churches with scarcely a bit of truth. Don’t doubt the power of the Holy Spirit to raise you up. For it will be a “pasture for flocks, a den of wild donkeys,” open, but deserted, until the Holy Spirit is poured out from on high. And then the parched ground will be made a pool, and the thirsty land will be covered with springs of water.

And, you who are members of our church! And especially you who remember what your God has done for you, never distrust the power of the Spirit. You have seen the wilderness blossom like Carmel, you have seen the desert blossom like the rose; trust him for the future. Then go out and labor with this conviction, that the power of the Holy Spirit is able to do anything. Go to your Sunday-school; go to your tract distribution; go to your missionary enterprise! Go to your witnessing, with the conviction that the power of the Holy Spirit is our great help.

Why, to me, there is some hope for some of you. I cannot save you: I cannot convince you. I make you cry sometimes-you wipe your eyes, and it is all over. But I know my Master can. That is my consolation. Chief of sinners, there is hope for you! This power can save you as well as anybody else. It is able to break your heart, though it is made of iron; to make your eyes run with tears though they have been like rocks before. His power is able this morning, if he is willing to change your heart, to turn the current of all your ideas, to immediately make you a child of God, to justify you in Christ. There is enough power in the Holy Spirit. You are not weak in him, but in your own hearts. He is able to bring sinners to Jesus: he is able to make you willing in the day of his power. Are you willing this morning? Has he gone so far as to make you desire his name, to make you wish for Jesus? Then, O sinner! while he draws you, say, “Draw me, I am wretched without you.” Follow him, follow him, and while he leads, follow in his footsteps, and rejoice that he has begun a good work in you, for there is evidence that he will continue it even to the end. And, O desponding one! put your trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. Rest in the blood of Jesus, and your soul is safe, not only now, but throughout eternity. God bless all of you who have listened to this sermon. Amen.
 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Spurgeon Collection" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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