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2/18 Reading Portions: Exodus 1; Luke 4; Job 18; 1 Corinthians 5
Luke 4:36
And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word?
For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
POWER
Even those not yet saved by God’s grace recognized the power and authority of the Lord Jesus’ words. “Be silent and come out of him!” said the Lord to the unclean demon; and the vile spirit had no other option but to come out. The demon may fuss or throw a fit, as it did with the man it possessed; nevertheless, it must do as Jesus commanded and come out it did. The written Word of God is ever and always truth; however, its power and subsequent impact are from the authority and power He commands. The crucified, resurrected and ascended Jesus, through the Holy Spirit abiding in us, must speak with powerful authority to the hearer. My words preached on Sundays are nothing unless they are borne along to the hearer’s ear in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. In other words, the omnipresent and ascended Son of God must speak those words by the Spirit of God. It is, likewise, the same when you are sharing or ministering with others. It is not by the cunning of our own intellects, nor by the passion of our imparted words, neither by the persuasiveness of our arguments (though it is a tremendous witness for Christ to be renewed in our minds by God’s Word, passionate for Christ and His truth, and persuasive in our arguments to compel others to come into the kingdom); it is, however, by the power of Christ’s presence and the all-authority of His kingship which amazes men and saves souls— powerful enough to cast out demons, convert souls unto salvation, and call saints for ministry in His kingdom. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Jesus spoke with power when
He cast the demon out;
Through the Spirit He still must speak,
Of that, we must not doubt.