The Holy Spirit and Power #8

Holy Spirit Power Overview

In this eighth installment of his series on the Holy Spirit and Power, Pastor William of New Testament Church (NTC Ministries) delivers a rich, doctrinally grounded message recorded on September 14, 2020. Drawing from Titus 3:4-5, Acts 10:38, Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 2:14, and Matthew 13:54-58, the message explores the dual work of the Holy Spirit: His inward work of renewing life within believers, and His outward anointing that empowers Christians to serve and bless those around them. Pastor William draws a clear distinction between those who merely claim the name of Christ and those who genuinely carry the Spirit of God, referencing the Barna Group statistic that nearly 58 percent of professing American Christians deny the reality of the Holy Spirit. Through compelling biblical illustrations, including the life of Joseph, the healing of a drowned child, and the parable of the ten virgins, the sermon calls believers to pursue an intimate, living relationship with the Holy Spirit rather than treating His gifts as impersonal or magical forces. The anointing, Pastor William teaches, is never self-serving but is always directed outward to heal, restore, and prosper others for the glory of God.

Holy Spirit Power Outline

• 0:00:00 – Welcome, Praise, and Opening Prayer: The service opens with congregational worship, a call to praise, and a pastoral prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to inhabit the assembly and move freely among those gathered.
• 0:18:00 – Stewardship and Trust: Proverbs 3: An exhortation to honor God with tithes and firstfruits, grounded in Proverbs 3:1-10, emphasizing that trusting God with finances brings divine direction, health, and abundant blessing.
• 0:30:00 – Testimonies of Healing and Miracles: Two congregation members share personal testimonies: one of cancer disappearing after prayer, and another of a jammed neck healed instantly through a word of knowledge spoken during the previous service.
• 0:45:00 – Do You Have the Holy Spirit?: Pastor William opens the main teaching by challenging the congregation with Paul’s defining question: not whether you call yourself a Christian, but whether you genuinely possess the Spirit of God.
• 0:58:00 – The Inward Work: Newness of Life: Using Titus 3:4-5 and the parable of the ten virgins, the pastor explains that the Holy Spirit working within believers produces fruit, character transformation, and the new birth essential for salvation.
• 1:10:00 – The Outward Anointing: Empowered to Serve: Drawing from Acts 10:38 and Acts 1:8, Pastor William distinguishes the anointing upon believers as a delegated power not for personal comfort but to heal, serve, and better the lives of those around them.
• 1:20:00 – Joseph and the Unrecognized Anointing: The life of Joseph illustrates how the anointing elevates believers through adversity, confounds natural thinking, and ultimately positions them to bless even those who opposed them.
• 1:30:00 – A Child Raised from the Dead: Pastor William shares a firsthand account of commanding life back into a drowned child, demonstrating the practical, miracle-working dimension of the Holy Spirit’s anointing operating through believers today.
• 1:38:00 – Honor the Anointing to Receive Its Benefits: Referencing Matthew 13:54-58, the message closes with a warning that unbelief and familiarity block the anointing, while those who recognize and honor it experience miracle after miracle.

Scripture References

Proverbs 3:1-10, Titus 3:4-5, Acts 10:38, Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Matthew 13:54-58, Hebrews 11:6, Romans 5:5, Matthew 28:19-20

Key Takeaways

• The Holy Spirit performs two distinct works: an inward renewal that transforms character and bears fruit, and an outward anointing that empowers believers to serve and heal those around them.
• Paul never simply asked whether someone called themselves a Christian; his defining question was always whether they had received the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is the mark of genuine faith.
• The anointing of God is never self-serving; like Joseph, those who carry it are positioned through difficulty to ultimately bless, feed, and restore the very people who opposed them.
• Unbelief and familiarity are the greatest obstacles to the miraculous; Jesus could do few mighty works in His own hometown not out of unwillingness but because of the people’s refusal to honor the anointing.
• An intimate, love-based relationship with the Holy Spirit removes the need to muster great faith for every challenge, because trust is the natural overflow of deep, daily communion with God.
• The gifts and power of the Holy Spirit have not passed away; believers today are called and equipped to go, make disciples, heal the sick, and demonstrate the power of God to the ends of the earth.
• Praising God is not a tradition or formality but a spiritual weapon that silences the enemy, invites the presence of the Holy Spirit, and lifts the burdens of everyday life off the hearts of worshippers.

Holy Spirit Power Notes

Two Positions of the Holy Spirit

Pastor William structures the entire message around a foundational distinction: the Holy Spirit works within believers to produce newness of life, and He works upon believers to anoint them for service. Titus 3:4-5 grounds the inward work, showing that salvation itself is a washing and renewal by the Spirit. Acts 10:38 grounds the outward work, revealing that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power so that He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed. Both dimensions are essential, and neither replaces the other.

The Anointing Is Always for Others

One of the sermon’s most practical anchors is the repeated insistence that the anointing is never self-centered. Pastor William uses the analogy of an employee: no one hires you to hand you a million dollars; they hire you to generate value for them. In the same way, the Holy Spirit empowers believers to add value, healing, and prosperity to every environment they enter, whether at home, on the job, or in the church. This outward orientation is the hallmark of genuine anointing, and it stands in sharp contrast to a consumer Christianity that seeks only to receive.

Joseph: Anointing Tested and Proven

The story of Joseph serves as the sermon’s richest extended illustration. Sold into slavery by jealous brothers who could not see the Spirit upon him, Joseph rose to authority in Potiphar’s house, then in prison, and finally over all Egypt. At every stage, the anointing made him a blessing to his environment rather than a victim of it. When his brothers finally bowed before him, Joseph did not retaliate; he fed them. Pastor William uses this to show that the anointing cannot be permanently suppressed by human opposition, and that its ultimate purpose is always restoration and blessing.

Unbelief Blocks the Miraculous

Matthew 13:54-58 provides a sobering counterpoint: Jesus performed few mighty works in Nazareth not because He lacked power but because the people refused to see beyond His humanity. They knew His family, His trade, His background, and they were offended. Pastor William applies this directly to families and congregations today, noting that familiarity often breeds contempt for the anointing on a parent, a spouse, or a pastor. When the anointing is dishonored, its benefits are forfeited. Recognizing and honoring the Spirit’s work in others is itself an act of faith that opens the door to the miraculous.

A Living Testimony of Resurrection Power

Pastor William shares a personal account of pulling a lifeless child from a pond, commanding life in Jesus’s name, and hearing the Holy Spirit instruct him specifically to rebuke the spirit of death. The moment that word was spoken aloud, the child gasped, revived, and the entire family came to faith the following morning. This testimony is not presented as an anomaly but as a normal expression of Acts 1:8 power available to the church today, grounding the doctrinal teaching in lived, verifiable experience and calling believers to expect the same.

Intimacy Replaces Striving for Faith

Drawing on his 47-year marriage as an analogy, Pastor William makes a counterintuitive point: the closer a believer grows to the Holy Spirit, the less strenuous faith becomes. Early in a marriage, trust requires conscious effort; decades later, it is simply the texture of the relationship. The same is true in the Christian life. As intimacy with the Holy Spirit deepens, walking in peace, healing, and supernatural provision becomes less a feat of willpower and more the natural expression of who the believer has become in God.

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