Spirit Power Volume I. None Grace Dola Balogun None

beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if children, then heirs; and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Rom. 8:16-17.

      The Holy Spirit is given as a pledge, as a promise. God promised all believers eternal life if they confess their sins and ask for the Savior Jesus Christ to come into their hearts. Their sins have been forgiven and they have been offered the promise to be with God for all eternity.

      God offered this salvation to both Jews and Gentiles. Then, remember what the Lord said: “Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”

      Forasmuch then, God gave them the same gift as he did to us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, “What was I, that I could withstand God?” Acts 11:16-17. Peter told the leader of the early Church that God gave the same gift to the Gentiles as he gave to the apostles.

      The disciples believed in Jesus Christ and they were regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The Gentiles were also included in Christ when they heard the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation. Once they believed, they were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing their inheritance until the redemption of those who are in God’s possession and praise His glory.

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      Breath of the Son of God

      “Receive Ye the Spirit.” John 20:22. Christ elevated the apostles when He breathed on them, and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost. This sign not only show them, by this breath of life, that he himself was really alive, but to signify to them the spiritual life and power which they should receive from him.

      As the breath of the Almighty God gave life to man and began the old world, same the breath of Christ signifies the power of his grace; the Spirit is the gift of Christ that Christ gave to the apostles, he conferred the Holy Spirit by the breathing for He is the author of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

      He gave them the Holy Spirit then and the Spirit began working on them before the day of Pentecost. The breath of the Lord, at that time, was how He gave the apostles the power of the Holy Spirit, just as how Moses had laid his hands on Joshua in the wilderness to continue leading the Israelites to the promised land. The breath transfers the power of the Holy Spirit to the apostles so that they may be able to obey and stay in Jerusalem before the day of Pentecost.

      The breath also symbolizes how Elijah transferred power to Elisha before the Chariot of fire and horses of fire took him to heaven. “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

      And he said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And he took the mantel of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.” 2 Kings 2:9-10, 14.

      We can easily see the power of the Holy Spirit in transporting Elijah to heaven by the whirlwind wind is one of the signs of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Spirit of God was hovering in the beginning of creation, all the apostles witnessed a rushing wind on the day of Pentecost when the power of the Holy Spirit descended upon them. The breath foreshadows the promise that would be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The breath empowers the great commission of Our Lord: “Go ye into all the nations.” Luke 24:49.

      The breath of our Lord causes the Spirit to be born in their hearts. The Holy Spirit hovered in the hearts of the apostles to bring them to life before the day of Pentecost; without the Spirit power we cannot obey the commandments of God.

      Jesus connected the Holy Spirit to the forgiveness and repentance of sins, teaching the apostles of the preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins. “And that repentance and the remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47.

      When Jesus breathed on the apostles, they received the Holy Spirit but were not empowered until the day of Pentecost. As God breathed on Adam and Eve, “and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7.

      They became living beings; Jesus refers to the creation of the first man when he breathed His breath into the Apostles. He made them new creations, born of the Spirit of God. He repeated what He did in the Garden of Eden. God the Father spoke, God the Son created new life and God the Holy Spirit helped to sustain the new life by producing all the fruit of the Spirit that is needed for living a new life.

      The breath of God the Father gave life to Adam and Eve and made them living beings; in the same way, Christ the Savior of the universe breathed on the apostles for the creation of a new world, which also indicated the Son’s power on earth, as well as the gift of grace to all mankind.

      The apostles became a new Spirit-filled, created being; Christ made them alive in Him. This was also applied to everyone who was present on that day, not only to the apostles. It has been shown from then on that in order to be a true Christian or believer of Jesus, one must receive the Holy Spirit regenerated, made alive, which we call born again.

      Throughout the three years they spent following the Lord, they did not have the indwelling of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God worked within them, producing the fruit of patience, strengthening them, increasing their faith, and making them true and strong in the Lord so that they could live a spiritual life.

      The Spirit of God made the Gospel alive in their heart. The Spirit opened their understanding of the Gospel Scriptures and enabled them to teach others or explain them to other people around them.

      Otherwise, on the day of Pentecost, they would not have been able to preach to people to the extent that three thousand people were converted on that day. For example, Thomas was not with the Apostles when the Lord breathed on them. Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. But he said unto them, “Unless I shall see in his hands the print of nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” John 20:24-25b.

      “After eight days the disciples were gather together and Thomas was with them: then came, Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.” John 20:26.

      While Jesus was talking to Thomas, He opened his understanding and the Spirit of God was upon him Jesus made him alive in Him. This continues to happen even until today; many people are struggling to live a Christian life. Because they did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they are always confused, with guilt and doubts.

      Some of them will say they believe in God but not in Jesus, and they usually remain like that until someone prays for them and opens the Scripture to them. Then, the Holy Spirit will be able to manifest His power to them as He did to the sinners.

      This makes it clear what the Bible says, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, and he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. The first blessing of our Lord after His resurrection and before His ascension was the blessing of new birth, or, the regeneration of the apostles. Christ breathes on them and they become new creations, Spirit-filled beings.

      The Spirit of God brought back the apostles to spiritual life from their spiritual death; they received forgiveness of all their sins and began Holy lives. God’s breath made the first creation. Likewise, Jesus’ breath made the new creation and God’s breath to Adam gave him life.

      In the new creation, Christ breathed into the apostles and gave