The issue the Jewish leaders had with Jesus was not one of power since the miracles he did were undeniable. It was his right to exercise that power which unsettled the status quo. The ‘raw’ power of the Spirit of God still scares those who believe that it exists but have not witnessed it in the form of undeniable miracles. Their reaction to such instant miracles and such unexpected outpourings of the Holy Spirit is immediate — and reactive!
A good friend of mine from Los Angeles saw a miracle of deliverance that took place when I prayed for a tribal chief in the Philippines, and he was stunned! “I have never seen God do such a thing,” he gasped, adding, “– If it was God!” The last words were involuntary! He knew that it was God, but it was too much for him to handle.
In Cornwall, UK, a pastor described the things I had done in a meeting the evening before as “over the top”. What had I done? I had simply preached on the initiative shown by the woman who touched the border of the Lord’s robe in faith and had been healed. Three ladies were suddenly baptized with the Holy Spirit, and I had prophesied over their pastor after the Spirit of God ‘dropped’ on him and laid him out on a French style lounge.
The pastor of a Pentecostal church on the Channel Isle of Jersey loved it when the power of the Holy Spirit ‘dropped in on’ the Sunday meeting and the floor of the church was strewn with Christians who had “fallen under the power”. He later said that he would love to have me back but the unexpected outpouring (which had been as much a surprise to me as everyone else) had offended a person of some standing. Years later I returned to the church, and that person welcomed me. No problem: meantime I had preached elsewhere.
The authority in our mouths and hands is the Name of Jesus Christ, and the power to back up this authority is the Spirit of God within us. The authority question arises in the wake of ‘raw’ miracles of God’s power, and the Name of Jesus legitimizes outstanding, and often unexpected miracles.
It is why the first battle in the Book of Acts was over the right of the apostles to heal the cripple at the Temple Gate. The high priest asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Peter answered: “Let it be known to you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole.”
Every authentic miracle of healing that takes place through ministry to the sick points beyond the display of power and the person healed to the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ. I love it when the Lord moves in power and does undeniable miracles of healing. It upsets some nice people, but I’m usually gone by the next day. I’ve witnessed such sovereign outpourings and instant healings many times around the globe, and I fully expect to see many more.
It is so good to see multiple baptisms in the Holy Spirit and entire congregations of Christians dropping to their knees or with faces to the floor in deep repentance. Or when everyone suddenly speaks in tongues spontaneously when the Spirit of the Lord sweeps into a meeting and it’s as though all Heaven has broken loose!
So good for dry meetings governed by orders of service — and if a bit unsettling, so much the better! The Lord heals sick people often in our living room. Life is busy but that’s better than boring!