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The Focal Point of Spiritual Power 11/26/06 |
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. . . except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14 |
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| If you want
to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your
human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your
personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely
open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be
in you. "Look to Me. . ." (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external
Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t
focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation,
sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are
to preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ). The
proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point
in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention,
they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no
more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God
with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on
the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with
that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness
movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not
on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross. The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption. |