In this exciting new series, Carl explores whether God’s power is still available for us today, in the church age. He focuses on an important distinction between the Old Testament, when the Spirit was “upon” believers and the New Testament spiritual indwelling, granted at salvation (prophesied in Ezekiel 36). While all Christians receive the Holy Spirit and authority through Christ at salvation, Carl emphasizes a second experience—the ‘baptism’ of the Holy Spirit—described as “rivers of living water.” This additional outpouring, first evidenced in Acts 2, empowers believers for ministry, and especially, for victory over demonic forces, which the Body of Christ must enforce.
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Friend, I want to welcome you and we’re talking about the power of God today, the power of God. What does it mean in this dispensation, the church age to be moving in the power of God? Could we do it today? Is that even legal? Can we do that? Or did all the power pass away with the disciples and the apostles at the end of the first century? Hmm, good question. Let’s look at Acts chapter 1 verse 8. It says, but you, that’s you friend, will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be witnesses, telling people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. That’s the New Living Translation. Friend, there was an additional outpouring of the Holy Spirit required for the disciples after the cross, after the resurrection. In their current state, there was an additional measure of power that Jesus required, otherwise he would not have said, go and wait in Jerusalem, which ended up being 50 days. We’re going to get into this today, friend. There seems to be a mystery about the power of God and it shouldn’t be a mystery. There’s a difference between the Spirit upon and the Spirit within. Now remember in the Old Testament, God’s Holy Spirit came upon people in order to perform tasks.
Remember Joshua and Samson and all of these men and women of God. The Spirit of the Lord came upon them, it would often say. They performed tasks that God desired, but the Spirit of God did not reside with them permanently because Christ had not yet come. He’d not yet died, gone to hell, was resurrected. Amen? And then we have the duties of the king, priest, and prophet. There was a measure of the Holy Spirit with them because they were anointed to perform official decrees endued by God. And so you could argue that the king, priest, and prophet had a more permanent residing of the Spirit upon them. However, the Spirit was not dwelling in them. You see today, when you repent and receive Jesus Christ, friend, into your heart or become saved, the Spirit of God dwells within you. This is called being baptized into Christ Jesus or sealed by the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 22. So you see, friend, when you are saved, you are baptized unto Christ. And there’s several mentions of baptisms in Scripture. We’re going to cover the baptisms mentioned in Scripture and the baptisms available to the Christian. But remember the words of John 4 14 when Jesus said, But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Friend, there is a well available for eternal life spoken of in John chapter 4. It’s the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and it’s for you. It’s your personal measure of the Holy Spirit at salvation. And this indwelling is equivalent to being baptized into Christ Jesus as we talked about. It says it in Romans 6 7. This well is for your benefit so you may access eternal life.
It’s not for somebody else. Now the Holy Spirit is symbolized as oil and water and a dove. These are the three most common symbols for the Holy Spirit in Scripture. But friend, did you know the book of Ezekiel in chapter 36 verses 25 through 27, God actually prophesied that his Holy Spirit would actually indwell you once Jesus had come, died on the cross, and was resurrected. Then he would facilitate the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within you. Let’s read that verse now. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you. This is God talking to you. And you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away and you will no longer worship idols. But you’d say, Pastor, I don’t worship idols. Friend, self is an idol. Verse 26. And I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit in you and I will take out your stony stubborn heart and give you a tender responsive heart and I will put my spirit in you. That’s capital S. That means he’s talking about the Holy Spirit. So that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Friend, if you’re saved, then God has sprinkled you with clean water and you are made clean by his word. It says that in John 15 3 and Ephesians 5 26 and in Titus chapter 3 verse 5. It talks of a washing of regeneration when we’re born again. So just recap right now. The Holy Spirit has sprinkled you clean and he has washed you and he has put his spirit in you. This was prophesied hundreds upon hundreds of years prior to Jesus going to the cross. He has given you a new heart when you become born again. Remember, all things have passed away. Behold, all things become new.
It mentions that in 2nd Corinthians 5 17. But of course, the physical body doesn’t become new when we’re born again. It’s talking about the spirit man, the spirit man on the inside of you. Friend, as you recall, we are tripartite beings. We are spirit, soul and body, right? Three parts. Your born-again spirit goes from death into life. Then the soul is transformed in this lifetime in the process of sanctification that you may be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus and your body friend. Well, that’s up to you. We make it a living sacrifice. However, I talked about that in previous broadcasts. We make our body a living sacrifice in the temple of the Holy Spirit. But if you want to exercise and look after it and cut down on your sugar and everything else that we all know about is good for us. Transformations can be made in the body also. And you know, it’s a temple of the Holy Spirit and we need to steward our bodies. Amen. So friend, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you when you are born again. Let’s look at Luke 10 19. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. The word power is used twice in this verse. But when we look at the Greek, the first usage of power is actually exousia, which means authority. So in fact, Jesus is saying, behold, I give unto you authority and power over the enemy and friend the serpents and scorpions.
They’re not creatures that wander in the desert. We’re talking about typology of the demonic realm. You have authority over the demonic realm. And the point is Jesus gave authority to the disciples before he went to the cross. Right. So make note of that. They had a measure of authority over the demonic and elsewhere in Mark 16 17 and elsewhere when he talked to the 70 and sent the 70 out, he gave them authority over spirits and a measure of power. So friend, we don’t need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit in order to use the name of Jesus or have a measure of authority. All Christians have a measure of authority and power granted to them by being a part of Christ’s body and a capacity to use his name. Now, we are Pentecostal slash charismatic. We believe in the infilling of the Holy Spirit, also called the gift of the Holy Spirit, also called the promise of the father, also called the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This is an additional outpouring that Jesus said to tarry for in Jerusalem and was outpoured in Acts chapter two. And we’re going to cover that friend. But the point I’m making right here is if you’re in Christ Jesus, you have authority and you if you are a Christian, you can use his name. Amen. However, the measure of power that was granted in the intertestamental period between the old and the new, which would be the was not enough. Otherwise, Jesus wouldn’t have said you disciples who I’ve given authority still need to tarry in Jerusalem because there’s another outpouring coming. I want you to get that friend. What is the dilemma of Jesus? Well, I’m going to give the church all this authority, but if they don’t take it up and use it, wow, it could be wasted. And that is the dilemma of Jesus Christ. He’s seated at the right hand of the father today, and he’s given us so much authority and power.
But if we don’t use it as the body, then he is constrained on the earth. He’s even restrained to an extent. How can the head walk down the road unless the body takes it? We are the body friend, not the head. Jesus is the head. But we have a part to play in these last days. We have a part to play to influence our family members around us for Christ Jesus. He is seated at the right hand of the father because his work is finished. Any works by Jesus are done by his body on earth today by using his name and applying his word. Now, friend, remember the 70 I talked about. That’s in Luke chapter 10, verse one. And it says this is again in reference to Christ. After these things, the Lord appointed other 70 also and sent them to and to before his face into every city in place, whether he himself would come. So he sent them out before he actually went into those regions. They were preparing the way you could say in Luke 10, verses 17 through 18, it says, and the 70 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through your name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
And then he goes on to describe the very falling of Satan that Jesus witnessed. OK, but the point is, in the early part of Luke chapter 10, Jesus gave power and authority to the 70, and they came back rejoicing because they had exercised that authority and they had subdued demons and cast them out and healed the sick, etc. So we have the disciples of which there were 12, and then there were 70 also that had received a measure of power before Jesus went to the cross. But it wasn’t enough as far as Jesus was concerned, because he said in Luke 24, several chapters later, that they were to receive power from on high, better known as the promise of the father, and that they were to wait in Jerusalem. Friend, my question to you, regardless of what church you go to, whether you go to church or not, have you received power from on high? It’s available today for all those who believe. All those who believe can receive this power. It didn’t pass away with the end of the apostles, no friend. It’s still available to us today. No matter how many people have written commentaries talking about how the Holy Spirit is dead today, or doesn’t do any miracles, or doesn’t heal the sick, or demons don’t exist because we’re in an enlightened Greek mindset of belief, where, you know, post-Renaissance, post-Enlightenment, post-Reformation, those demons, they just don’t exist in the West, friend.
That was for the simple people who walked around Palestine. The demons believe in you, friend, whether you believe in them or not, and are ever present today. The spiritual world is still alive and well, and actively involved in the affairs of man, machinations to oppose Christians, and to do evil in this world. Friend, I would tell you right now that some sickness is still demonic in origin. We cannot discount the spiritual side of sickness, and I would say to you that you need to look internally, if you’re in that condition, and really seek God out of some of the things that you have agreed with in your mind down the years about sickness, and break the power of the demonic over your life, and take up that authority, and command those symptoms of sickness and disease to leave in Jesus’ name. But friend, my point is this. There’s a difference between having a well of living water versus rivers of living water that are flowing out of you. There are two outpourings of the Holy Spirit. One is for salvation. Every single person who’s saved in Christ has a measure of the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and Jesus made this very clear in John 4.14, and we’ve talked about that. But there’s also, friend, in John 7 verses 37 through 38, an additional outpouring which is described as rivers of living water. And I said rivers, plural, not a river. That’s more than enough for you and for others. Rivers are for those who already believe in Christ Jesus. And about 631 million people on this planet, representing a quarter of Christianity as a whole, have received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. They’re Spirit-filled. They’ve gone beyond just salvation, but they’ve been endued with power from on high. Join me tomorrow for part two of The Power of God.
Title: The Power of God: Part 1
https://www.apostolicfaith.org/doctrinal-and-historical/the-baptism-of-the-holy-ghost-in-depth
https://carljosephministries.com/podcast/we-serve-a-healing-god/
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Six Frequently asked questions:
1. Is the power of God still available to believers in the church age today?
Yes, the power of God is still available today and did not pass away with the apostles. Acts 1:8 makes it clear that believers would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and this promise applies to all who believe in every generation of the church age.
2. What does Acts 1:8 mean when it says believers will receive power?
Acts 1:8 refers to supernatural power given by the Holy Spirit to enable believers to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. This power is not merely authority but an endowment from on high that equips believers for ministry, boldness, and spiritual impact.
3. What is the difference between the Spirit within and the Spirit upon a believer?
The Spirit within refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at salvation, giving eternal life and spiritual regeneration. The Spirit upon refers to an additional outpouring of power, often called the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which empowers believers for service, ministry, and supernatural works.
4. Did Old Testament believers have the Holy Spirit living in them?
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon individuals temporarily to accomplish specific tasks, such as leadership, prophecy, or deliverance. However, the Spirit did not permanently dwell within believers until after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and the fulfillment of the New Covenant.
5. Do all Christians have authority, even without the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Yes, all believers have spiritual authority through their position in Christ and the use of Jesus’ name. Scripture shows that Jesus gave authority to His disciples and the seventy before Pentecost, though the baptism of the Holy Spirit provides a greater measure of power to operate in that authority.
6. What are the “well” and the “rivers of living water” Jesus spoke about?
The “well of living water” refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit received at salvation, providing eternal life for the believer. The “rivers of living water” describe a subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit that flows out of believers to impact others, empowering them for ministry and witness.
