Early in my Ministry I had the strong ambition and desire to be a great preacher.
I have heard some great preachers in my lifetime, and my life has been influenced and impacted by them. And I'm very grateful for the impact and godly influence they have had in my life.
So for much of my life there's been a desire and an ambition in my heart to be a good preacher, to preach the word under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
I think that's a good ambition. I think it's a worthy ambition and desire.
But as I mature and as I feel the weight and the responsibility of my calling, my desires are shifting, and I no longer feel so much of a desire or need driving me to be a great preacher, but I feel that I must be a good communicator.
I feel that the most important thing that I can do, is to be able to present the truth that I have received from God, to your hearts and your minds, in such a way that you can understand it and retain it.
I feel like if I can do this then I have accomplished what God has put on my heart.
But I have to say that even this does not meet the full measure of what I believe is my calling and my responsibility at this stage of my life.
I not only want to communicate truth to you, but I want to communicate the anointing of the presence of God.
At this stage in my life I am keenly aware of the necessity of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I am also fully aware of the fact that without him I can do nothing.
My aim and my focus is not just to present truth to your minds for your consideration, but it is to bring you to an encounter with the tangible presence of God.
Before I seek the Lord for the message that I am bringing to you, I seek the Lord for his presence.
It is not the message or the scriptural content in itself that changes lives, but it is the presence and the power of God in the message, and in the sermon.
John chapter 6:33 Jesus said... it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto thee, they are Spirit and they are life.
If I am able to bring to your minds great volumes of truth, but I am not able to bring near to your heart the presence of God, then I have failed.
Paul the apostle said in 1 Co 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [2] For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. [4] And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, "but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:" [5] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
There is no question that the Apostle Paul was a man of great wisdom. There is no question that he could speak with great eloquence, and he could impress people with his ability to communicate.
But Paul the Apostle had made the determination that his goal was not to sway people with his great communication skills and knowledge of truth. But rather to effect them and impact them with the power of the Gospel.
Our Gospel must be more than words, or it is not the gospel that Jesus preached, and it is not the gospel the apostles preached, because their gospel produced results.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
The reason our gospel must be more than just words, is because Satan's kingdom is wreaking havoc upon this earth. Hell is belching out every kind of evil it can manufacture.
And if there is no kingdom of God on the earth, then there is no restraint against the devil and all his demons.
But thank God there is...
1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
In other words the Apostle is saying that the kingdom of God is here, and that it is a kingdom of power, and the kingdom of God produces results.
Romans 14:17 says... For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost.
When the gospel of the kingdom is preached, we are to expect the manifestation of the kingdom.
We are to expect kingdom results... The sick being healed, the bound being delivered, captives being set free, freedom, and joy, and peace, excitement, enthusiasm, fire, and celebration.
Acts 8:5-8 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. [6] And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. [7] For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. [8] And there was great joy in that city.
What did he preach? He preached Christ the king, and the kingdom of God is here.
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
At 63 years of age, I am not concerned with impressing any one with my preaching ability or style, but I am very concerned that my preaching and my teaching, and my books bring people into contact with the kingdom of God.
In that kingdom there is no sickness or disease.
In that kingdom there's no poverty and no lack.
In that kingdom there's no fear, no depression or anxiety, and no stress or worry.
In that kingdom is salvation, healing, deliverance, freedom, and joy.
In that kingdom is prosperity and abundance.
That kingdom is available right now.
Jesus said that we are to pray to our father that his kingdom would come, and his will would be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
In heaven there is no theft, no murder, and no rape, no pedophiles, and no homosexuality, or transgenderism. There's no child abuse, or spousal abuse. There's no cancer, or heart trouble, or diabetes, or arthritis. No blindness, or deafness. No muscular dystrophy, or kidney or liver disease. There's no divorce or broken homes. There is only... Peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Ghost.
That's what the kingdom of God looks like.
Jesus message was not repent so you can go to heaven. But repent so you can enter the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is not particularly heaven. But the kingdom of God is the government of heaven manifested on the earth.
So the kingdom of God was here when Jesus came to the earth, in fact he brought it from heaven. And it is here now, and it is also in heaven.
We are to contend for the kingdom of God to be manifested on the earth, and for God's will to be done on the earth as it is in heaven.
There's no devil in heaven, so God's will is never contested in heaven.
But there is a devil on the earth, and he has a kingdom that directly opposes and resists the kingdom of God.
The devil will work his evil plans and purposes on the earth, any where and everywhere he is uncontested.
Our job as ambassadors of the kingdom of God, is to throw up a stop sign to the procession of hell. And to announce that the kingdom of God is here, and to overthrow the devil and his works.
Most Christians believe that God has a kingdom, and that it is real, but the problem is... They think they have to die to get there.
But the truth is, Jesus died so we could get there. In fact Jesus died for us, for our sins, so he could make our hearts ready to receive his kingdom.
Luke 17:20-21 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: [21] Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, "the kingdom of God is within you."
The devil loves it when we look at the kingdom of God as a place somewhere over the rainbow where we go when we die, because that gives him free reign on the earth.
Friend's, the devil will do anything and everything we let him get away with.
Why do I say that? Because God is not coming down here to fix everything for us, because his kingdom is already here in us. Now it's up to us to let it out.
It's up to us to let the king manifest his power and his authority through us.
The church is the visible manifestation of God's kingdom in the earth.
Whether you know it or not, if you are full of God's spirit, you are a kingdom carrier... Not just a kingdom crier announcing the kingdom, but also a kingdom carrier through which his kingdom is manifested.
That's why Jesus said... Behold I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.
And he said, in my name shall ye cast out devils, and take up serpents, and ye shall lay your hands on the sick and they shall recover.
Jesus said,
Matthew 28:18-20... All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
All power in heaven in earth is given unto me, now I send you under my authority, go and I will be with you.
Do you know how I know without a doubt that the Kingdom of God is here right now? Because the king lives in my heart. And the king is not a king without a kingdom.
When king Jesus took up residence in your heart and my heart, he brought his kingdom with him.
When we pray for his kingdom to come, that does not mean that his kingdom isn’t here. It is just calling for the manifestation of the kingdom in our present reality, whatever circumstances that might include.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of power!
