David Diga Hernandez - The Power of the Holy Spirit

Well, I’m going to ask you to continue to stand here. As I said, we’re honored to have our evangelist, David Diego Hernandez. This is a son of this house, Praise Chapel Paramount, and he was discipled here. God is just flourishing his ministry, and I’m sure he’ll share about that. But why don’t we honor David Diego Hernandez as he comes up? Let him know how much you love him. Let him know how much you appreciate him tonight.

Well, God bless you this evening! How are you doing? And welcome to those of you watching online; we appreciate the many of you who are visiting with us. I want to minister a word tonight concerning the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re going to get into the Word, and I really want to dive deep into this subject. Sometimes, we can become so used to reading the Word that we fail to appreciate some of the deep treasures that can be found there. So, I really want to help you understand the dynamics of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life and really show you what Christ came to model for us. When I talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, I think there are certain images and ideas that come to mind. While those images and ideas may be correct, we must remember that the power of God was bestowed upon your life for very specific purposes. The power of God was given to you so that you might live holy. The power of God was placed on you so that you might be a bold witness. The power of God was granted to you so that you might be able to demonstrate His love to others. I truly believe that if we can grasp a greater understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit and how that transforms our lives, we can begin to model that which Jesus modeled for us.

So, hands lifted, eyes closed, everybody praying in the Holy Spirit, please, all across this room. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your Word, Lord. We pray tonight that You would take Your Word and transform our hearts. Let us be more like Jesus today than we were yesterday. Let us love You more than we did yesterday. Father, look at everything that displeases You and remove it from us in the name of Jesus. Transform our hearts, Lord; give us the character and the nature of Christ. In the name of Jesus, we pray, and everybody said.

And then, Steve, just be ready whenever. Of course, my brother, Mr. Stephen Montezuma, is here with me, so you can give your fingers a little break for now. I’m going to teach for a bit and then we’ll find a flow, but stay here because you never know where we’re going. How many appreciate Stephen’s worship ministry? He is working on an album, by the way. I got to hear a lot of it. I heard the whole album in its infancy stage, so I’m sure he’ll be developing more on that. We love his worship ministry!

Okay, so I want to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, and as I said, we are going to be in the Word tonight, so get your Bibles, get your phones, get whatever you need to reference with me. I’ll primarily be reading out of the New Living Translation and the King James Version. We must remember that the ministry of the Holy Spirit first came through Christ. The ministry of the Holy Spirit was first demonstrated in the person of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the key to the empowered Christian life. The Holy Spirit is the secret to holy living. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers you to pray consistently and fervently. The Holy Spirit is the one who enables you to forgive the unforgivable and to love the unlovable. He gives you the grace to carry the nature and the character of Christ.

We can talk about power; we can talk about speaking in tongues; we can talk about healing; we can talk about deliverance. But the greatest proof that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your life is the character and nature of Christ within you. What good does it do to demonstrate power in a moment if you’re not demonstrating Christ with your life? What good does it do to point people to Jesus if our lives distort their image of Jesus? You see, the way you live matters. The way you love matters. Being patient, being kind, being humble, being gentle—all of that matters. As Christians filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, we ought to be the most loving, patient, and understanding people on earth. That should be the case. Sadly, it’s not always true. But we do need the power of the Holy Spirit, and in this day and age, churches and ministries are turning away from His power and treating Him like He’s an embarrassment or a liability, rather than the power to live holy. They treat Him as if He’s a problem.

They welcome the Holy Spirit, but with reservation. They say, «Take just enough to bless me—never enough to challenge me. Take just enough to transform my situation, but don’t take enough to transform my heart.» We want the power of the Holy Spirit on our terms. We want the power of the Holy Spirit to work.