There is a difference between our soul-power and the Holy Spirit's power.

Peter once told the Lord, "You are the Christ the Son of the living God." Jesus immediately replied saying, "Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you." In other words, Peter did not discover that spiritual truth by his soul-power - his human cleverness or shrewdness. Our soul (mind) cannot give us Divine revelation. If we are intelligent, we can get clever thoughts from the Bible. And we can share those thoughts with others in the church and impress the undiscerning. But clever human thoughts and Divine revelation are as different and as far apart from each other as earth and heaven.

Paul preached with fear and trembling, because he was afraid of using his own cleverness in preaching God's Word - lest the faith of others rest on his wisdom rather than on God's power (1 Cor.2:1-5). Humanly speaking, Paul was ideally suited to work among the Jews (since he knew their Scriptures), and Peter among the Gentiles. Yet God gave them exactly the opposite ministries (Gal.2:8), so that they would depend on the Holy Spirit and not on their own abilities. Clever thoughts are usually what we think of to preach to others to get their honour. Revelation, on the other hand, makes us fall on our faces before God. With our cleverness, we can impress people. But with Divine revelation, we can help them.

When Isaiah got a revelation of God's glory, he didn't think of his vision as a point for his next sermon!! He fell down and worshipped God. The same thing happened to John in Patmos. It is only after both of them fell down before the Lord that He told them to take His message to others. We must worship God before we can serve Him.

Soul-power is also seen in the ministry of those preachers who, through hypnotic power, make people fall down, laugh hysterically and give their money to the preachers. People with psychosomatic illnesses (illnesses caused by wrong mental attitudes) are also "healed" at such meetings. All this is done by human soul-power, but using the Name of Jesus - and so, even many believers are deceived. As servants of God, we must be bold to expose these counterfeits. Soul-power can also be seen in the way many Christian leaders dominate their followers and overwhelm them by their personalities. People stand in awe of such leaders and respect them as "holy men of God". And these leaders love such admiration from their followers.

Music also has tremendous soul-power. It can stir our emotions. But we must not be deceived into thinking that that is the Holy Spirit's power. We can draw many people to our churches with good music. But whom will we draw? Not the poor in spirit who are seeking for help to live a godly life, but the cultured and the sophisticated ones who are proud of their understanding and their musical tastes.

I remember, one Sunday, when a musically-gifted couple came to our meeting in Bangalore. They found the music to be below par, and so never came again. We were thankful for being preserved from people who were looking for a musical church and not a godly one!! What we need in the church is not a good orchestra but the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter did not draw the crowds on the day of Pentecost with a keyboard and a drum-set, but with the anointing of God. It is when this anointing is gone that believers seek to replace it with fine music, humorous sermons and grand buildings, etc.

Electronic gadgets can also be a snare. Bible-teaching tapes by anointed servants of God can certainly help us in our spiritual growth. But we have to be careful that we don't begin to depend on such tapes more than on the Holy Spirit when we want to hear God speak to us. Even if we had tapes of the apostle Paul with us, we would not be able to build the Body of Christ with them!

Money is another thing that has tremendous power in the world. And we can easily lean on it. Almost every Christian organization today speaks of the need for money and sends out newsletters and magazines to rake in the "almighty dollar" from simple and sincere (but gullible) believers in Western countries.The apostles, on the other hand, never once asked believers for money for themselves or for their work. They urged believers only "to remember the poor" (Gal.2:10) and to help those who were in need (2 Cor.8& 9). But alas, what the apostles never spoke of even once is spoken of all the time nowadays in Christian work. God says, "If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and all that it contains" (Psa.50:12).

What about us as servants of this God? When we are in need - of food or of money - what do we do? Do we tell our heavenly Father or do we tell men? If we are truly called of God, we will never have any lack of earthly necessities. God has no lack of money. What He lacks is broken, humble, faithful and trusting servants. God is looking for broken, humble people whom He can empower with His Holy Spirit and use to build the church.

God is a jealous God. He will not give His glory to another. He will not build the church with any power other than His power. God's work is done even today, as in days of old - not by soul-power or by electronic power or by financial might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit!