The Kingdom Of Power

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.