Just a few words tonight about ministering and operating in the holy Ghost

Just a few words tonight about ministering and operating in the holy Ghost. The first thing we have to realize if we want to see people healed, set free, and impacted in their faith, is to NOT TRY to do the works of God. "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (Jn. 6:28,29). What Jesus was saying is that they COULDN'T do the works of God, but rather to believe on him for the works to be done. Jesus is the doer of the works of God, and he has never taken a break from doing those works. This is the account of what happened after Jesus went back to heaven: "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mk. 16:19,20). This was also concurrent with what Jesus had told his followers while he was yet with them: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it" (Jn. 14:12-14). Now that's just the way it is with Jesus, and it's simply up to us to believe what he said. The only thing that keeps any of us from doing the works Jesus did is failing to totally believe that he WILL DO what he said he would do. There's nothing complicated about any of it, it's just a matter of believing that Jesus will do what he said he would do. He said that we will do the works that he did because it is STILL HIM DOING THE WORKS! Our job is to BELIEVE in him to do the works that he naturally does. He's never quit and he's never taken a vacation from doing the things that he did when he was here. Peter gave us an emphatic description of the works that Jesus did when he was on earth: "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him" (Acts 10:38).

Jesus knew that people were going to be healed when he declared it, because he knew his Father was with him to do it. He knew demons were going to leave people when he told them to because he knew his Father wanted those demons out of the people. He knew that the dead would rise when he told them to, because he KNEW it was his Father's will to do it in those cases. He knew that he would see the secrets of people's hearts and lives when he looked in the Spirit, because he knew his Father was showing him these things. He had no doubt about his Father's will toward mankind, therefore he could do all the works of the Father because he knew the Father was doing them. That's what it comes down to for us, to do the works of God by believing and knowing that Jesus is with us to do them. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; [which] the world cannot receive, because it seeth [it] not, neither knoweth [it]: but ye know [it]; for [it] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (Jn. 14:16-18). If we have been baptized by Jesus with the holy Ghost and fire, then Jesus is not only 'with' us, he is also 'in' us. Note how he said he would send the Spirit to them, and how he also said "I will come to you." That is because the holy Ghost is the very life substance of both the Father and the Son, and therefore the Spirit of God is the very presence of Jesus in this world since he went away. That is how the apostle Paul could make the following statement: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). And this one as well: "Now the Lord is that Spirit" (II Cor. 3:17). This is also how Jesus could make this statement just a few verses after those I've quoted from John 14: "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and WE will come unto him, and make OUR abode with him" (Jn. 14:23).

Not only is Jesus in us and with us by means of the Spirit, but so is the Father who was in him when he was here. So it comes back to our being able to do the works that Jesus did because we can know and believe that both he and the Father are with us and for us to do these things. Neither have ever changed their mind about the world that Jesus suffered and died to save, and both are still in the same miracle business that they have always been in. The only thing that has ever stopped anyone from doing the works that Jesus did, is to simply not believe that he will do them. The thing we have to eliminate from our minds is, "What if I pray for their healing and their not healed?" And, "What if I tell the demon to leave and it doesn't leave?" Or, "What if I tell them something about themselves and it's not true?" All of that is just doubt, fear, and unbelief, and any of the above can block Jesus from doing what it is his will to do. We must simply believe that he IS DOING the same works that he did when he was here, and cooperate with him by faith in him do do them. We're not waiting for him to do anything. He is waiting for us to LET HIM do his works by means of us believing that he WILL DO THEM! It's not a gamble to believe that Jesus will heal or reveal the secrets of someone's life. It is a guarantee if we will just not doubt or question that he will do it. Why wouldn't Jesus do these things? It's what he's about, as Peter said in Acts 10. It's what he did when he was here, and it's what he said he has ordained for us to do. He plainly stated the following in regard to these things: "That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mk. 11:23). Yeah, that's a tall order indeed, but nonetheless he said it and that means it's the truth. So how much more will he do the things that pertain to "doing good, and healing all that are oppressed of the devil?" He does and he will, and we will experience him doing these things through us as we make up our minds that it is just that way, and believe it. Nothing complicated, just easy math. Just eliminate everything that questions why he might not do these things. God bless.