Live Interview at the Radiorama Radio Station (Torreon, Mexico) Acts 4:1-22
“By what power or what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:7-10, 12 NIV).
Why does sickness and pain exist in this world? -- It’s never God’s intention or purpose to have His children live in sickness and sorrow. God doesn’t delight in our pains. God wants people to live in happiness. Is there a parent that delights in the sufferings of his child? It’s the same with God. But whenever there is a problem, there is a cause. Once the cause is removed, the problem can be solved. The reason why people are living in pain, sufferings, and sin, the reason why people live according to the wicked ways of the world and lead themselves into death and destruction is because there is a cause for all of this.
God isn’t the only being that exist in the world. In the universe there are three spiritual beings: God, angels, and man. But there are two kinds of angels. There are angles who work alongside God and there are angels who are against God. The latter is called the devil. Also, there are evil spirits, and there are demons. The devil, evil spirits and demons, these three beings are the cause of sickness, poverty and sufferings. The only way to overcome them, the only being that can overcome them is the Creator of the universe, God.
But you need to understand that the son of God is God. Jesus Christ is God. That is why the Son of God, Jesus Christ, overcame the powers of evil spirits and liberated mankind from sickness, curses, poverty and pain. Jesus Christ came to free us. That is why when we believe in Jesus Christ, because we become the child of God, the Holy Spirit that was given to Jesus is equally given to us, to God’s other children. It’s because our sins have been forgiven the very moment we believe in Jesus Christ. By that we are given the Holy Spirit, and this Holy Spirit came in the name of Jesus, and in that name we can drive out evil spirits. And that frees us from the bounds of sickness, curses, poverty and pain.
But many are unaware of this. That which causes sickness in man, that which causes sufferings in man, that which causes man to sin, it is the work of demons, the followers of the devil. It’s the work of deceiving spirits, evil spirits. It’s not because of God or His curses. People are led into destruction because they lack knowledge. It’s because of the devil.
That is why to His children God has given the power to overcome the devil by sending the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. Therefore, pastors, or believers in Jesus Christ, when they’re filled with the Holy Spirit, they are given the special privilege of being freed from sickness, sufferings, poverty and sins, and this is what you and I must both testify to the world.
It’s the work of the devil, evil spirits and demons. God is a God of blessings, and He is waiting for the opportunity to pour out His blessings in abundance. That is why God saves us, even at the cost of having His son die on the cross. But many, unfortunately, misunderstand God. God has given me this disease. God has caused me to become poor. God has caused me to suffer. No, that’s never the case. God is a God who loves us, who blesses us. The devil is the one that curses man. And they can and must be cast out in the name of Jesus Christ.
What is the Holy Spirit? -- The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. Just as the spirit of man is man, the Spirit of God is God. If there was no spirit inside of me, if my spirit were to depart from my body, my body will return to dust. But when my spirit is dwelling in me, my body functions and moves around. And when the Spirit of God enters into my body, my body becomes an instrument of God. If an evil spirits enters into a body, it causes various sicknesses in the body, and leads the person to live in sin and folly.
But if the Spirit of God enters into a body, the person speaks like God, loves all people like God, all things become possible just as it is with God, and is transformed into the likeness of God in every way, the image of God, the image in which mankind is modeled after. It is the very Spirit that Jesus Christ received 2,000 years ago, and this is the Spirit of God, and Jesus was God because He had received this Spirit.
The son of man is a man. The offspring of a dog is a dog. Likewise, the son of God is a God. When we receive the Holy Spirit we become sons and daughters of God. Jesus didn’t keep this Spirit to Himself, but rather, He asked the omniscient and omnipotent God for His Spirit, and in turn, gives it to everyone, and by the power of this Spirit we can cast out demons and live as the children of the Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and it is God.
It is a Spirit of wisdom. It’s a Spirit of knowledge. It’s a Spirit of power, a Spirit of love. Therefore, those who have received the Holy Spirit are given wisdom, power, faith, and all things become possible, they are able to walk in love, loving all people, even their enemies, and become the children of God and therefore a God. We cannot become the Father. We can never become Jesus. However, Jesus is our brother. Therefore we are like Jesus. Just as Jesus addressed God as His Father, we address God as our Father. And this is because we have received the same Spirit (Rom. 8:15-17).
My last name is Lee. My sons are also Lee. And so are my grandchildren. Likewise, the Holy Spirit that Jesus received is the name of the Father. The Holy Spirit that we received is also the name of the Father. That is why Jesus said I have come in my Father’s name (John 5:43). And that is why Jesus is our brother.
Copyright 2002 Jesus Centered Church All rights reserved.
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