Kingdom of Power

I'm going to be preaching about the kingdom of God this morning.

How does that sound? The kingdom of God, which I like to refer to as the kingdom of power.

And early in my ministry, I've been in ministry now for, it's going to be coming

up close to about 20 years now.

Previously, I was a policeman for people who didn't know that,

but I moved into ministry and that's been coming up to about 20 years.

And early in my ministry, it might surprise you to know I had no real ambition

or desire to be a preacher.

My first role in paid ministry, my first role in volunteer ministry was sound

desk and things like that.

But my first role in paid ministry was that of a new people's pastor. pastor.

I looked after the new people and the new Christians and the like and had no

real desire or ambition to be a preacher.

And I've heard some great preachers in my lifetime, who's heard some good preachers,

who's heard some great preachers, yeah?

And my life has been influenced and impacted by them.

And I'm very grateful for the impact and the godly influence that they've had in my life.

After a few years in ministry, I was given the opportunity to preach,

and that started a journey for me.

So for the last 14 years or so, there's now been a desire in my heart and an

ambition to be a good preacher,

to preach the word under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That's been my desire.

And I think that's a good ambition, isn't it? Who agrees? I think it's a worthy ambition and a desire.

But as I mature, in a couple of weeks' time, I actually turned 59.

Can you believe that? 59. That means next year I'm 60.

Lord, Lord. But anyway, as I mature, as I get old, and as I feel the weight

and the responsibility of my calling as a preacher, my desires are shifting again.

He's thinking, is this the goodbye message? No.

And I no longer feel a desire or a need driving me to be a great preacher.

But I feel that my desires are changing to become a great communicator.

A great communicator. I feel that's the most important thing that I can do as

the pastor of this church is to be a good communicator.

And where am I up to? I was just not communicating very well here, am I?

I feel that that's important and I feel that it's the most important thing that

I can do to be able to present the truth to you,

that I have received from God, okay, to your hearts and to your minds in such

a way that you can understand it and retain it.

And who remembers what I preached last week?

You weren't here. No, Julie, did you listen to it though? Walking on water.

Correct. That was in it. That was, was that you? You got it. You got it.

But what I, what my desire is, is that I'm able to communicate with you so that

you understand what I'm talking about, but also importantly, that you retain it.

I feel that if I can do that, then I've accomplished what God has put in my heart to do.

Okay. 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 also want to communicate

the anointing of the presence of God to you.

I believe that's a very important thing. At this stage in my life and in my ministry,

I'm keenly aware of the necessity of the anointing of the Holy Spirit,

and I'm fully aware of the fact that without him, we can do nothing.

My aim and my focus is not just to present truth to your minds for your consideration,

but to bring you into an encounter with the tangible presence of God who's with me.

Before I seek the Lord for messages each week that I'm bringing to you,

I seek the Lord for his presence. I want the presence.

It's not just the message or the spiritual content that in itself changes lives,

but it is the presence and the power of God in the message and in the sermon.

The first song we sang today, I think, starts by singing, Jesus is in the room.

The Saviour's in the room. The King is in the room. The Healer's in the room.

That's the most important thing, that I'm able to communicate His presence to

you and facilitate His presence to you.

In John 6, 63, Jesus says this, It is the Spirit who gives life.

The flesh profits nothing.

The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life.

If I'm able to bring your mind's great volumes of truth, but I'm not able to

bring you near the heart or the presence of God, then as a preacher, I've failed.

And that's my desire, to bring you into God's presence.

Paul, the apostle, said in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 to 5, he said,

1 Corinthians 2:1–5

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech

or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom,

but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not be the wisdom of men,

but in the power of God.

There's no doubt that the Apostle Paul was a great man of wisdom.

There's no question that he could probably speak with great eloquence and he

could impress people with his ability to communicate.

But Paul the Apostle had made a determination in his life that his goal was

not to sway people with his communication skills and the knowledge of truth,

but rather to affect them and to impact them with the power of the gospel.

Our gospel must be more than words.

It's not a gospel that Jesus preached. Did you hear that? Our gospel must be more than words.

Otherwise, it's not the gospel that Jesus preached.

And it is not the gospel that the apostles preached because their gospel produced results.

And that's what we need to do. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 5 says,

1 Thessalonians 1:5

For when we bought you the good news, it was not with words, but also with power.

For the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.

I'd love for people to walk out of here after a church service and go,

what Tim said today, the Holy Spirit has given me assurance that that is true.

I would love that. The reason our gospel must be more than words is because

Satan's kingdom is wreaking havoc on this world at the moment.

He is belching out every kind of evil it can manufacture.

And if there's no kingdom of God on the earth, then there's no restraint against

the devil and all his demons.

But thank God there is. There is the kingdom of God in this place now.

1 Corinthians 4 verse 20 says, For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk,

1 Corinthians 4:20

it's living by God's power.

The apostle is saying that the kingdom of God is here now, is here,

and that this is the kingdom of power and the kingdom of God produces results.

Romans 14, 17 says, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or

drink, but of living a life of goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The kingdom of God is goodness, is peace, and is joy in the Holy Spirit.

When the gospel of the kingdom is preached, we need to expect the manifestation

of the kingdom in our lives.

We are to expect kingdom results in our lives. The sick are being healed,

just like Angela prayed.

If we are having the kingdom in our lives, if we are seeing the manifestation

of the kingdom, the sick are being healed.

The bound are being delivered.

The captives are being set set free. Freedom, joy, and peace,

excitement, enthusiasm, fire, and celebration are here.

Acts 8, a lot of verses this morning. That's all right. Acts 5 verses 5 to 8,

Acts 5:5–8

not as many as Peter when he preaches.

Peter goes, he's thorough. That man is thorough.

We'll have him up here again shortly, won't we, Peter? Yes, good.

Acts 8, 5 to 8 says, Philip, for example, this is an example.

Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. sire.

Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message

and see the miraculous signs he did.

Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims,

and many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed.

So there was great joy in the city. The kingdom of God was present.

What did he preach? He preached Christ the King, and the kingdom of God is here now.

Acts 8.12 says, but now the people believe Philip's message of good news concerning

the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.

As a result, many men and women were baptized.

The power of God, the kingdom of God was present.

So as I said a little bit earlier, I don't want to dwell on it too much,

but in just over two weeks, I'm turning 59 years of age. which,

cake time, Ange, I'm not concerned as I get to the older ages.

Can you pray for me, David, please?

I'm not concerned with impressing anyone with my preaching ability or style,

but I am very concerned that my preaching and my teaching bring people into

contact with the kingdom of God.

In that kingdom, as I said, there's no sickness and there's no disease.

There's no poverty and there's no lack.

In that kingdom, there's no fear.

There's no depression. There's no anxiety.

There's no PTSD. SD, there's no stress and there's no worry.

In that kingdom, there is salvation, healing, deliverance, freedom, and joy.

That's the kingdom of God. In that kingdom, there's also prosperity and there's abundance.

Are you one of those prosperity preachers? You're thinking, yes, I am. Is there any other?

Is there any other if we're talking about the kingdom of God?

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.

Jesus said, he said that, In heaven, there is no theft.

In heaven, there is no murder. There's no rape. There's no abuse in heaven.

There's no cancer in heaven. heaven.

There's no heart trouble in heaven.

There's no diabetes. There's no arthritis.

There's no dementia in heaven. There's no blindness.

Have you thought about this? No blindness. When someone dies of an illness in

this world and they go to heaven, they are completely restored because there's

none of that in heaven. There's no muscular dystrophy in heaven.

There's There's no kidney or liver disease.

There's no broken homes in heaven.

There is only peace, joy, and goodness in the Holy Spirit in heaven.

And that's what the kingdom of God looks like.

Jesus' message was not repent so that you can go to heaven, but repent so you

can enter the kingdom of God.

Guess what's here with us now? The kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is not just heaven, but the kingdom of God is the government

of heaven manifested here on earth.

So the kingdom of God was here when Jesus came to this world,

came to earth. In fact, he bought it with him from heaven and it is here now and it's also in heaven.

We are to contend for the kingdom of God to be manifested here on earth and

for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

There's no devil in heaven either. There's no devil in heaven.

So God's will is never contested in heaven, but there is a devil here on earth

with us and his kingdom, he has a kingdom that directly opposes and resists the kingdom of God.

Our job as Christians, 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 now and to overthrow the devil and all his works.

Get out that lollipop stick, swing it round to stop.

We're stopping the devil in his track.

Most Christians actually believe that God has a kingdom and that it's real.

But the problem is they think they have to die to get there. They don't. They don't.

But the truth is Jesus died so that we could get there.

In fact, Jesus died for us, for our sins, so he could make our hearts ready

to receive his kingdom now, now.

Luke 17, last verse. Luke 17, verse 20 to 21 says, One day the Pharisees asked

Luke 17:20–21

Jesus, when will the kingdom of God come?

Jesus replied, the kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs.

You won't be able to say, here it is or there it is over there,

for the kingdom of God is already among you.

In my Bible, after the word among you, there's actually a little B in brackets.

There's a reference. Go to the label at the bottom or the footnote of B at the

bottom. You know what that says?

That says the kingdom of God is within you and within your grasp. Right?

So for the kingdom of God is within you and within your grasp.

The devil loves it when we look at the kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God and

place it somewhere up there, somewhere up there.

He loves it when we do that because that gives him free reign down here.

The devil will do anything and everything we let him get away with.

Why do I say that? I say that because God's not coming down here to fix everything

for us because his kingdom is already here with us.

Now it's up to us to let it out and to get it out.

It's up to us to let the king manifest his power and his authority through us, through us.

The church, this church, the church is a visible manifestation of God's kingdom

in the earth. That's what I want this church to be.

Whether you know it or not, if you are full of God's spirit.

You are a kingdom carrier, not just a kingdom crier, not just a kingdom crier

announcing the kingdom, but also a kingdom carrier through which the kingdom is manifested.

That's why Jesus said this. He said, said, behold, I give unto you power to

tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.

And he also said, in my name, you shall cast out devils, take up serpents,

and you shall lay your hands on the sick and they shall recover.

Josh, come on up for me. Is this good?

You're going to walk out of here going, what he's saying is true.

The Holy Spirit's telling me it's true.

So Jesus said this, he said, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach, teach those new disciples to obey all the commands commands I have given you.

And be sure of this. I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

All power in heaven, all power in heaven, in earth is given unto me.

Now I send you under my authority.

Go and I will be with you. That's what Jesus says.

Did you know how I know with any doubt that the kingdom of God is right here

now with us? Do you know how I know?

Because the King lives in my heart.

Music.

Heart, then his kingdom is here with us now.

When Jesus took up residence in my heart and in your hearts,

he brought his kingdom with him.

When we pray for his kingdom to come, that doesn't mean that his kingdom's not already here.

He's just calling. It's just calling for the manifestation manifestation of

the kingdom in our present reality.

Whatever circumstance that may include says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

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The kingdom of God is a kingdom of power.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of power. If we have the kingdom of God in our

hearts, if we have Jesus in our hearts, then it's time for us to start using

the power of the kingdom of God. about praying for the sick.

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Getting nods. Praying for the sick. I belong to a church. It frustrates the

heck out of me when people aren't well.

It does. We should be able to just pray it and be done.

That's what the kingdom of power is all about. That's what the kingdom of God is all about.

So why don't we stand right now together and let's start some prayer happening right now.

I want you guys to do some praying as well. I want us all to be praying I want

us all to be calling on Jesus to come and come out of our lives into our hands, into our mouths,

into our bodies as we pronounce his kingdom over this world as we pronounce healing.

Music.