The Kingdom of God!

 

Chapter 154

 

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been talking to you about the power of God that is available to the Church. It is available to us because we make up the Body of Christ and Jesus is the Head of this body. We became a part of this body because of the good news of what the Son of God did for us on the cross.

 

When you heard the message of the good news about what Jesus did on the cross for us, the Spirit of the Lord quicken you spirit (made alive to God) and the measure of faith that the Lord gave you become alive, and you believed and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ! Something happened inside of you, and you opened your mouth and declared that you believe what Jesus did on that cross.

 

Heb. 3:12 says,

 

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

 

This word, (Quick) means alive! Heb. 4:12, (NIV) says,

 

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

 

When we speak the word of God, it has the power to penetrate the thoughts and beliefs of those who hear it. Paul said in 1 Cor. 1-5, (NIV),

 

"When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power."

 

Paul was a highly educated man. In Acts 22:3, (NIV) Paul says,

 

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today."

 

This Is the same as say today, "I studied Law at Harford and graduated Super Cum Laude, meaning, in the top 1% of your graduating class. So, Paul could well have come to the Corinthian people with eloquence of human wisdom as he proclaimed to them his testimony about God. However, he chose not to use his education to tell the people about what Jesus did on the cross! Instead, he chose to demonstrate to them the Holy Spirit's power!

 

Of all the churches we have in our country, there are only a remnant of churches, where the power of the Holy Spirit flows in every service! Most churches have never seen an outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

 

Why is this not happening? Because, despite what the New Testament says, they have been taught against the power of the Holy Spirit being manifested today! Most of this is because they have been taught by carnal men and women against the baptism of the Holy Spirit and especially, speaking in tongues!

 

I was raised in a church that taught that these things passed away when the last Apostle died. The carnal mind chooses to disregard the promises in The Kingdom of God because it doesn't understand or has been taught that these things have passed away. I was thirty-four years old and studying what the word had to say about the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

I was going to Canada with some friends of mine, who attended the same church as I did, to fish and one of them ask me if I believed that the Holy Spirit baptism was for us today. I told her that I had been doing a lot of studying about this and I see no evidence that this was no longer available to those who believe. She said that she had a friend that spoke in tongues. So, I asked her if she would get me in touch with her.

 

When we got back home, she called me and asked me if she could bring her up and talk with her. I had a long talk with her and she invited me to attend the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship with her and there I met the president of FGBMF and he invited me to attend his Friday night prayer meeting. I did and it wasn't long there after that I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 

If you are truly seeking the Lord, He will open doors for you that you could never imagine, and you will find yourself doing things for the Lord and meeting other great men and women that you never thought possible. I could write a book about how the Lord has led me and ordered my life in service of His Kingdom!

 

The good news is that He wants to do the same for you if you are willing to follow His leadership. Dottie Rambo wrote a very powerful song called "Sheltered in the arms of God!" The first verse says, "I feel the touch of hands so kind and tender leading me in paths that I must trod! I'll have no fear for Jesus walks beside me for I'm sheltered in the arms of God! So let the storms raise high, the dark clouds rise but they don't worry me for I'm sheltered safe within the arms of God! He walks with me and naught of earth can harm me. For I'm sheltered in the arms of God

 

How very, very true this statement is, and it had a lot of impact on my life because I was seeking His will for me! I was astonished to hear a teacher tell me that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus! That was something that I really wanted to have! He talked about what Paul had said in Col. 1:25-27, (NIV)

 

"I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness"the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 

The carnal mind really has a tough time trying to understand what Paul is talking about here! The reason for this is because we take everything the Bible says literally! The Bible is not a literal book written by the mind of men, but it is a spiritual book inspired by the Lord. If you are to understand the Bible, you must allow the Holy Spirit to teach you! You will be judged by how you listen to Him and do what He tells you to do! Jesus said in John 14:15-17, (NIV)

 

"If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever;the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

 

If you are aware of the Holy Spirit living in you, you will be able to know when the words that come out of your mouth is the Lord speaking through you and there is power in His words. The carnal mind can speak the same words and there is no power in them. A good illustration of this is the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:13-16, (NIV)

 

"Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.'

 

If you come across someone who is possessed with evil spirits, you better have faith in the name of Jesus, or the same thing might happen to you. These evil spirits have no power over you! John said in 1 John 4:4,

 

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world."

 

There is power in Jesus Name and there is power in the blood of Jesus because it is the blood of God, or the life of God! How often have you sang this song in church, "There's Power in the Blood?"