Taking God's power

21 Pages·1978·0.23 MB·English

by  Morris Cerullo

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
The Greatest Power in the World
Chapter Two
The Utter Exhaustion of Self
Chapter Three
A Message of Hope
Chapter Four
Faith... A Purposeful Act
Chapter Five
The Reality of God's Power
Chapter Six
A Dynamic Difference
Chapter One
THE GREATEST POWER IN THE WORLD
To hear top government leaders around the world and media services tell it,
the earth is in the grip of impending disastrous depletions of energy and power
resources that have sent scientists and explorers scuttling feverishly to find new
sources of supply for vital human needs.
The age in which we live is very power conscious. We speak of the relative
power of our war missiles in comparison with those of other countries. We speak
of the horsepower in our cars and aircraft and the accomplishments made
possible through modern-day industries based on power-driven tools and
machinery.
So, when we think of a loss of energy, the natural man is alarmed and
threatened.
The area of power I want to talk about, however, is not in the area of natural
power or natural resources but it is the greatest power that there is or ever has
been.
There is no way, shape or form in which this power can be depleted or
diminished. There is a foolproof, dynamic pipeline that we, as human beings,
have by which we may tap the resources of this power for our own lives our own
needs.
That greatest power in all the world is God's power.
The means by which we may take that power, use it and have it as a
constantly flowing, undiminished resource in our own lives, is the greatest
power which we as human beings have: the power of our faith.
When I speak of natural resources, I am speaking of things that exist on this
earth such as water, oil and gas, but, in reality, these also all have their source
and their beginning with God.
While these are resources, what we have in and from God is the source. Even
Webster's dictionary notes the difference.
On the other hand, "source" is listed by Webster as "the point of origin" or "a
generative force". This is the beginning of all power, the source, or origin...and it
is generative and self-sustaining. All-powerful. Everlasting. Forceful. Life-
changing.
We have the power, permission, means and encouragement from God
Himself to plug into that power source and obtain from the very point of origin
the generative force and supply that we need for every facet of our lives.
One of the greatest miracle stories in the Bible is that of a widow who not
only was able to see where the source of power lay to have her needs met, but
was able to use the power that she had within herself to obtain the answer to the
most vital need in her life, to see her impossibility not only made possible but
completely accomplished.
This woman's story is told in Mark 5:24-34: "And Jesus went with him; and
much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had
an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many
physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather
grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and
touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be
whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in
her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in
himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said,
Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the
multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked
round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and
trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and
told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee
whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
As we study the ministry of Jesus Christ, it seems that Jesus specialized in
doing the impossible, bringing healing of sicknesses that seemed incurable and
solving problems that seemed absolutely insolvable in the natural.
This woman found the impossible accomplished in her life and I would like
to share with you three things that happened in her experience that led her to the
place where she was transformed from a poor, hopeless, drained, desperate
individual into a strong, healthy, dynamic testimony of the miracle-working
power of Jesus Christ.
In the natural, we might think that the experiences this woman had in the
past were terrible experiences but in reality it was a marvelous thing that had
happened to her for it paved the way for a tremendous miracle in her life.
What happened to her was simply this:
This lady came to the very end of herself and when she did, it opened the
way for her to lay hold upon the greatest power in all the world...the
transforming, inexhaustible positive power of Almighty God.
Chapter Two
THE UTTER EXHAUSTION OF SELF
In John 12:24, Jesus tells us: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit." The woman we read about in the fifth chapter of Mark had come to
the complete end of herself and of every natural resource and supply she had.
"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had
suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and
was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse..." (Mark 5:25-26).
This woman was on her way home to die. She had spent all her money, she
had tried every remedy, and she was going home to die.
It is not very easy for a person to come to that point.
Unless we come to that place of death of self, our life, our corn of wheat, is
not productive at all.
Let us look at that four-letter word called "self." What might there be in that
little word, as it related to us, that might hinder the working of the Holy Spirit in
our lives?
I ask God by the power of the Holy Spirit to put a mirror before us today and
let us look at ourselves. On the surface, there are many things that we have to die
to.
I can deal only with the surface. The Holy Spirit and you yourself have to
deal with the depth of your death to self.
One of the things that so many of us need to die to is our traditions.
We must die to them before the Holy Spirit can come into our lives and do
something new and miraculous for us.
Often in our special healing services, we see people being slain under the
power of God on a platform or the Holy Spirit coming and moving upon an
audience in a unique way.
One morning, in such a service, there was an overflow crowd in the building.
Among the many healed was one little lady who was sitting a great distance
away from me.
This lady had a left leg that was much shorter than the other. The power of
God came upon her and she was slain under the power of God right out in the
aisle, maybe 40 or 50 feet away from the platform where I stood.
I am sure that "they don't do it like that" in many churches but we have to be
willing before God to die to tradition if we are going to see the miraculous move
of God.
That lady could have planted her feet and folded her arms and said, "Well, if
God is going to heal me He has to do it in a more dignified, sophisticated way."
That lady would still be in the same condition she was when she came into
the building but she was willing to submit to what God had for her and, as she
submitted to Him, God healed her.
I will never forget a man from a nominal church background who was
seeking the infilling of the Holy Spirit. He was having a very difficult time
trying to shake the unwise people who were around him. They were well-
meaning folk...but "well-meaners" often get in the way when God is trying to do
something!
Someone would come along and lay hands on this poor man and say, "Let
go."
Then someone would come along and say "Hang on."
Another person would come by and say, "Let go."
Then somebody would come with garlic on his breath and breathe on that
poor man.
Can you imagine this poor person, filled with all his "religious" background
and religious tradition, trying to break through to a new experience in God...and
having such "help" as this?
The man came to me and said, "Brother Cerullo, I believe you are a servant
of God. Can you help me?"
I said, "I can."
I said, "When you get to the place in your life where you are willing to die to
yourself and when you are willing to say, 'God, I don't care if they massage my
back or if they blow garlic in my face. I don't care what happens to me. All I
want is this glorious experience of the Holy Spirit'...when you say that, you will
receive the experience that you are seeking."
Well, it happened. This man went to that exact place. He died to self and to
all the things which had annoyed him. When he died to self and began to seek
God with all his heart, he received what he was seeking from God. Many people
are filled with the Holy Spirit in a relatively quiet way. My point is that we must
be willing to go God's way no matter how He leads.
Something else we have to die to is our preconceived ideas, backgrounds and
environments in which we have been raised.
We are products of our environments and that leaves so much to be desired
to help us break through to new spiritual horizons. That's why the Bible says that
the natural man receiveth not the things of God; they are spiritually discerned (I
Corinthians 2:14).
Many of us would like to receive healing in a nice quiet little corner
somewhere. We would like to have someone come and make a sign over us or
touch us with a little bit of oil. We think that is the way it must happen.
It could happen that way. Many times it has. I pray to God right now
wherever you are, that anything of self...any preconceived idea...any product of
your environment...any philosophy or theology or tradition of your church or of
your denominational pray to God that it will be so submerged under the power of
the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit will have His free course to do the work of
God in your life.
In the case of the widow who touched Jesus, I am sure that it was a new
thing for someone to press through a crowd in that manner to seek help. I'm sure
that it was not part of the Jewish tradition.
It was not part of the religion of the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the elders
for someone to get down and crawl on the ground to press through, reach out and
take the power of God.
I'm sure this was not part of the tradition...but it happened!
Coming to the end of ourselves perhaps means having spent absolutely all.
The Bible says that this dear little lady spent everything she had. She was
spent out.
She wasn't spent out of money alone...she was like hundreds of
people...completely spent out. Out of strength, out of hope, out of help, every
resource was completely gone.
Many people today are completely spent out.
We have sicknesses we can't cure. We have family problems, financial
problems and personal problems pressing our lives that we can't solve.
People are not in this condition because they haven't tried. They've tried.
You've tried. God knows, you've tried.
This woman tried. She went to the doctors. She spent every penny she had on
medicine, treatments and help. She tried.
We are not religious quacks. We believe in medical science. I thank God for
good doctors who are doing their best to take away the suffering and the pain of
humanity. I am a firm believer that God works through medical science and I
thank God for each doctor who is used in this way.
But what do you do when you're like this little lady who was spent
completely out?
The doctors could not help her.
It wasn't that she did not try...she tried.
You are not sitting in that wheelchair because you want to sit there...you
have tried. You have been to every doctor that you know about whom you think
could help you.
You are not sitting in your home with cancer because you want cancer or
because you haven't tried...you have tried!
You are not bound with arthritis and rheumatism because you enjoy walking
around with pain...you have tried!
You say, "What do you do, Brother Cerullo, when you have tried everything
that you know how to do in the natural and nothing works? What do you do?”
I'll tell you what not to do:
Don't give up!
This may be the last day that you will ever have to swallow another pain pill.
This may be the time that you never again will have to take medicine for high
blood pressure.
This may be the time when all the pieces of your life finally come
together.
Don't give up, because God is on the throne...and when there is nothing
else that man can do for us, God specializes in the impossible.
This woman was ready to give up and go home to die...but something
happened to her that has happened to you and is happening to you right now:
At the end of herself, having tried everything there was to try, instead of
giving up this woman heard...a message of hope!
Chapter Three
A MESSAGE OF HOPE
This woman had spent all that she had and, hopeless, was on her way home
to die in loneliness and pain when something happened that kept her from giving
up completely. It sent her a step further along the ways of plugging into God's
inexhaustible power source so that her impossible need could be met.
She heard a message.
"When she had heard of Jesus,..." (Mark 5:27).
That message was Jesus and what He could do and what He was doing.
The message of hope is still the same today.
I started this book out by talking about missiles and bombs and power
machinery. We have seen great changes in the world in our lifetimes, great
progress, great improvements.
But some things never change and the message of hope is the same today as
it ever was: Jesus is alive and able to meet human needs.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).
That message needs no improvement. There is nothing greater, will never be
anything greater, than the power of the living God.
Take a good look at what man can do for you and then remember what I am
going to tell you right now.
You don't have to Pentecostal to understand it. You can be Jewish, Catholic,
Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian or not have any church
background at all and understand what I'm going to tell you.
With all the wonderful inventions and advancements and achievements that
man has made, take a good look at how limited he is... and remember what this
servant of God tells you in these pages:
Man does not have the final word!
Doctors may have sent you home and told you that there is nothing else they
can do for you but man doesn't have the final word.
The wheelchair is not the end. The last diagnosis, that last X-ray...is not the
last word.
Why? Because the final, absolute, last word is not in the hands of any man.
I tell you in the Name of Jesus that the final, absolute, last word is in the
hands of God Almighty!
This woman heard a message. Walking down the street going home to die in
a hopeless, helpless condition, she heard a message.
The message was simply this: "You don't have to go home and die. Out
there, in the middle of that crowd, is a Man called Jesus, the Son of the living
God, and He is opening the eyes of the blind. He is unstopping the ears of the
deaf. He is causing the crippled to walk. He is doing the impossible.
"You don't have to go home and die...go to Him and take God's power for the
need in your life."
This is the message.
Jesus Christ, in His own body, was beaten and bruised, not for himself, but
for you and for me.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
When they took Jesus off Pilate's porch, they led Him down into the
judgment chamber.
A Roman soldier took the scourge (called the torture weapon), a whip made
of 13 leather straps with dozens of pieces of metal teem embedded in each
thong.
Jesus was strapped to a whipping post and His robe was taken off Him,
leaving Him naked to his waist. The Roman soldier brought that weapon down
time and again and lashed His back...700 years after the Prophet Isaiah wrote the
prophecy "By His stripes we are healed." In His suffering, Jesus bore every
sickness, every disease, every infirmity for us.
The message is this:
You don't have to bear your load of sin.
You don't have to carry your problem.
You don't have to bear your sickness one moment longer if you will take
God's power.
Why?
Because God sent Jesus Christ to this earth for that purpose: to lift your
burden, carry your problem, change your situation, carry your sickness, bear
your disease, and take your sins.
He came here for that purpose. He paid the price. The work is done. You
don't have to do one thing more except to take God's power.
Can't you just see this little woman?
She heard the message of the psalmist in the 103rd Psalm: "Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who
healeth all thy diseases" (Psalms 103:2-3).