When Men Come Up Short

by

MESSEGE TITLE:           WHEN MEN COME UP SHORT

                                        (The Ministry of the Holy Spirit)

PREACHER:                     PG. NDU

TEXT:                               Luke 1:26-35,  John 16:12-15 KJV

LUKE 1:26-35

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

JOHN 16:12-15

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

  • Every one of us have been purposefully created and called by God to fulfill a divine assignment here on earth.
  • But like Mary, we all have limitations, inadequacies and short-comings
  • Nevertheless, God-the-Father, the faithful and all-knowing one has given us the ministry of the Holy Spirit…….OUR HELPER
  • He helps our in adequacies and makes up for our short-comings & Limitations.
  • In order for us to live a life of victory and to fulfill purpose and destiny with gallantry, beauty and dominion; we have to understand and take full advantage of The Ministry of the Holy Spirit.
  • The Holy Spirit is the third person in the God-Head (Trinity)
  • He is the ‘POWER’ component and dimension of God.
  • He is the chief custodian, operator and dispenser of the power of God.

I CALL HIM…

  • THE GAP-FILLER
  • The Equalizer
  • The Difference Maker 
  • The Can-Do Man
  • The Doer Overdo
  • The Chief Operations Officer (COO)
  • The Chief Execution Officer (CEO)
  • The Commander in Chief (C-in-C)
  • The Chief Doing Officer (CDO)
  • The Completer
  • The Finisher
  • The revealer of truth
  • The Helper and Lifter of men
  • He is the head of heaven’s C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) and
  • He is our Chief Intelligence Officer (C.I.O.)
  • Our ‘INSIDE MAN’ —The Revealer according to John 16:13

13 “… for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Though we come short in various ways and may not be able to do anything on our own; the HOLY SPIRIT comes to our aid and helps our LIMITATIONS.

EVEN JESUS AS MAN –

needed the ministry of Holy Spirit to effectively fulfill His purpose and assignment here on earth.

  • It took the help of  Holy Spirit for Him to be born … Luke 1:35
  • When He was commissioned for Ministry at Jordan He was announced by the Holy Spirit.. Luke 3:22
  • He led into the wilderness and strengthened by the Holy Spirit…Luke 4:1
  • To begin His ministry, He was filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit….Luke 4:14
  • While in Ministry, His works and teachings were validated and confirmed by the Holy Spirit ….Luke 5:17
  • To prosper and excel in ministry, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit …Acts 10:38

SO HE WAS HELPED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY:

  • Born of the Holy Spirit
  • Commissioned and announced by the Holy Spirit
  • Led and strengthened by the Holy Spirit
  • Filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit
  • Validated and confirmed by the Holy Spirit
  • Anointed and Used  by the Holy Spirit

When the Holy Spirit COMES UPON you

  • It vetoes your every limitations and empowers you to do what hitherto were unable to do.

‘COMES UPON you’ …..is akin to;

  • Divinity coming upon humanity
  • The supernatural coming upon the natural
  • The limitless coming upon the limited
  • The victorious coming upon the defeated
  • The capable coming upon the incapable
  • This is more than able coming upon not able
  • This is the more than enough coming upon the not enough
  • This is healing coming upon the sick
  • This is fruitfulness coming upon barrenness
  • This is resurrection coming upon the grave
  • Life coming upon death
  • This is long life coming upon un-timely death
  • This is RAIN and SUPPLY coming upon DROUGHT and FAMINE.
  • THIS IS GOD COMING UPON MAN….HEAVEN COMING UPON EARTH

How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ……….The HOLY SPIRIT shall come upon thee, and the power of the MOST HIGH shall overshadow thee:

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US  ”POWER TO DO”:

ACTS 2:3-4:

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it SAT UPON each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

John 1:12

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he POWER TO BECOME the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Deut. 8:18

18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee POWER TO GET wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye SHALL BE WITNESSES UNTO ME both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Psalms 23:5

5 …thou anointest my head with oil; my cup RUNNETH OVER.

  • When the power of God or the anointing of the Holy spirit comes upon a person; such a person receives divine ability to do extraordinary things.
  • Accomplish a feat which ordinarily wouldn’t have being the case and
  • The life of such a person bears a mark as well as yields the kind of result that only God can make happen.
  • A result that can only be attributed to God (The Holy Spirit) unequivocally

LANDING:

John 15:26 AMPC:

26 But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.

7 ATTRIBUTES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:

  1. Comforter
  2. Counselor
  3. Helper
  4. Advocate
  5. Intercessor
  6. Strengthener
  7. Standby

Ephesians 1:17-23 AMPC

17 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,

18 By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),

19 And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power IN and FOR US who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,

20 Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],

21 Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.

22 And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],

23 Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and WHO FILLS EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE WITH HIMSELF].

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS INDEED

  • The GAP-FILLER
  • The COMPLETER
  • The DIFFERENCE MAKER
  • The ENABLER
  • The POWER to EXCEL and
  • The POWER to DO EXPLOITS

ISAIAH 32:15: 15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

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