Holy Boldness

to walking in authority with God is submission to God. The fear of the Lord is a deep heart-focused commitment to His Lordship and to our personal submission to Him. The fear of the Lord is fundamental to apprehending the full weight of this chapter. He gave them power (authority) over unclean spirits to cast out all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. (Matthew 10:1) At the heart of the preaching of the Gospel is a power encounter. True preaching is not in word only “but in demonstration of the Spirit and in power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4b) . The disciples of Jesus were given a mandate not only to teach and preach but to put on display the Spirit’s activity in the earth. The disciples were commissioned to proclaim an invasion of another kingdom that would put things right in the earth. They were there to declare and display the fulfillment of promises that had been long-cherished but never realized. Authority to cast out demons and unclean spirits was an initial indication of the manifestation of the Kingdom. “And if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom has come upon you.” (Matthew 12:28) But this was only the beginning. Jesus gave His disciples authority over “unclean spirits”. Unclean spirits defile and destroy the beauty of people who are under their control. Unclean spirits are more than a manifestation of sin but are actually spiritual entities who harass and sometimes infiltrate people. In other places, Matthew refers to them as “demons”. They live in a spiritual dimension and so they are usually unseen, however, they impact the natural domains of man. The fact that Jesus had authority over them and also transferred this authority to His disciples declared His intention to deal with unrighteousness in the earth. “If I, by the finger of God, cast out demons, the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20). The casting out of demons was an earmark of the invading Kingdom. The coming and the preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven is a judgment on illegitimate expressions of authority including the demonic. In verse two Matthew names all twelve apostles whom Jesus sent out. The word apostle means someone who is “sent out” such as an envoy or an ambassador. The Priority of the Jews These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “ Go nowhere among the

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