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Before I get to preaching, I want to invite you to shift your posture. Don't think to yourself, "I'm just here to receive." Think to yourself, "I'm here to wage war."
Stand and say, "God, I came in one way. I don't expect to remain the same. I want to walk out a warrior, someone here to change a nation, to change a city, to change my family." If you just came to be, then chill. But if you came believing the Spirit of the Lord is here to impact and to change nations, believe with me. Trust God to speak a fresh word to you today.
This morning I want to speak to you about the fact that Jesus isn't coming back for a pathetic, sleeping, sanitized church. He's coming back for the church of Jesus Christ that is impactful — able to bring about change.
Many of us find ourselves in a context where the world feels uncertain. There are wars taking place. Things don't feel safe. People all over the world tell me, "I can't afford to live anymore." It's a worrying time.
There's an anxiety among the next generation too. For the first time, we may be living through a season where the next generation will be poorer than their parents. That's historic — because as parents, we hope our children will do better than us. And then a virus shut down the entire globe, leaving us all thinking, "What is going on? I can't predict what's coming next."
Here's the first piece of good news: it's not the first time in history this has been the case.
Before the full revelation of Jesus, the Israelites were walking around thinking the same things. Taxes were going up. They had a governor who didn't feel like he was on their side. Multiple religions were springing up everywhere. Their only prayer was, "If only the Messiah would show up, take over, and make things better."
They hoped the Messiah would be a military general who would come, rescue everyone, and wipe out all their problems. They were sitting in the same space we are.
Let me pick on Luke 4, because in some ways it tells the introduction of the story of Jesus.
Being filled by the Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness. (paraphrased, Luke 4:1)
Let me get a few concepts right. Being filled by the Spirit, your first appointment is in the wilderness — and the rest of it is about confronting the devil.
When you and I are filled by the Spirit, what is the first place we think we ought to go? Honestly, being filled by the Spirit feels like an invitation to float out of church. It feels like walking into an air-conditioned Bentley with angels singing, everything I've prayed for happening immediately.
I don't naturally think that being filled by the Spirit means my first appointment is the wilderness — where I'll be hot, hungry, miserable, and on top of that, have to confront the devil.
Many of us keep praying for the Spirit of God to fill us, but we ask to be filled so we can be comfortable. I wonder whether, in a time such as this, being filled by the Spirit is really a call to go into the very places where people are experiencing hell — to confront what the devil is doing, look him in the eye, and say, "Greater is He that is in us."
Being filled by the Spirit, we move from comfort to confronting the work of the enemy.
I come from Africa. We see things. You can never win a natural battle until you've won it in the supernatural struggle. As it is in heaven, so shall it be on earth.
Some of you have been battling sickness and disease. Some of you have been in financial difficulty. When you thought, "I must budget better, I must do this better," maybe what you really need to do is get into a private space, kneel before God, look at the devil, and say, "I'm here to take you apart, because God has purposed for me to take you on."
There's a family here whose child has been confronting drugs time and again, and you've tried everything. I believe by the power of Jesus that thing is demonic. Stare it in the eye, begin to cast it out, and watch what happens with your son.
Even when the devil offers Jesus loaves of bread, Jesus speaks of supernatural provision. It gives me hope to know my resources are authored in heaven before they manifest on the earth.
After the wilderness, Jesus returns:
Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about him began to spread quickly through the whole region. (Luke 4:14)
Marketing isn't just about clever posters — it's about the outworking of the Spirit of God.
Then, in Nazareth, the scroll of Isaiah is handed to him:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim that the captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come. (Luke 4:18–19)
So the second principle is this: Jesus' identity is not merely born on earth to a woman — it comes from heaven. And you and I are citizens of a different kingdom.
Why does this matter today? I could tell you how great it is to be an African — and it really is. But even so, I have to say: my culture and my preferences are secondary to the Spirit of God.
On Friday night at Wembley there were two concerts — one at the arena, one at the stadium. You could tell who was going where just by how they were dressed. Then Darlene came up to lead Shout to the Lord, backed by a large choir. And it struck me: I come from a continent that was in the Bible before the Bible was in Africa.
Why does that matter? Because even before people could fully read or name God, the Spirit of the Lord was already operating on the continent. The Spirit of the Lord is not a respecter of culture, race, or economy. The Spirit confronts even before people can identify it as Jesus.
All over the world today, even Muslims are saying, "I'm experiencing something loving, caring, secure, that I've never experienced before." I'm telling you — that's the Spirit of the Lord, because it will confront before it gets anywhere.
Jesus and His Spirit are beyond our preferences. You might say, "I prefer this style of church, this style of worship." But heaven is going to be a completely different vibe — all nations and all tongues gathered to worship the King of Kings.
Before I get into what I prefer, I ought to know that if the Spirit of the Lord is more powerful, I can walk into any context and know that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. The Spirit breaks through every cultural barrier.
So the question is: are you a product of culture, or a product of the Spirit of God?
When you establish authority from heaven, you realize the Spirit is able to transform even our culture and our laws.
I grew up in apartheid South Africa. Apartheid taught everyone that if you were black you were less than, and if you were white you were above. That system was evil — it has been declared a crime against humanity.
Yet there was a church that said, "Hold on — the Bible says He made them all equal. He made them male and female. He made them in His image." Archbishop Tutu puts it beautifully: "When I look at you, I see the image of God." Let me say this, and you can kick me out for saying it: to be racist is to hate God, because every person is made in His image.
I look at my own family — my wife is half Welsh, half Lebanese; my kids are mixed race. I don't look at them and think, "You're black, you're white, you're mixed." I look at them and think, "Isn't this God?" I could have had my own preference, but the Spirit of the Lord brought us together.
The first white people I ever met were Catholic priests who arrived in the township asking, "How do we help black kids learn?" One from Ireland began teaching us. A Catholic nun spent afternoons with me saying, "Mmusi, it's not enough what the government is teaching you. I want you to go beyond that." She'd joke, "Don't say you were playing on the grass — say you were playing on the lawn. Use the Queen's English."
The system told me I was less than. But she had a revelation that I was made in the image of God, and she thought better of me. And now I stand here — a child from Dobsonville with a PhD, chairing the budget in South Africa. Not because I'm clever, but because powerful believers said, "God is able to do something," and confronted it.
Jesus' proclamation in Luke 4 is a commission to set the captives free. I wonder if there are believers here who will say, "We've won battles in the supernatural. We belong to a different kingdom. We are coming to confront injustice."
I'm tired of Christians who feel the culture of the day is what we must bow down to. Not all laws are evil — but my daily question is: Is this law subject to the values of heaven? Because that is my ultimate authority.
What Jesus proves is the order:
If you reverse the order, you become just an NGO or a political party — thinking that if we simply keep doing good, everything will work out. NGOs and good works matter. But if the hope of the world is truly the church, we must realize we need the Spirit of God and the anointing of God to confront these things first in the supernatural, so they can be transformed in the natural.
Micah 6:8 says it beautifully:
What does the Lord require of you? To love mercy, to do justice, and to walk humbly with your God.
My problem with too many of us — particularly evangelicals — is that we add words that aren't in Scripture. When the Bible says feed the hungry, we say the spiritually hungry. When it says clothe the naked, we say the spiritually naked. We're comfortable saying "let's pray" but uncomfortable going out as educators and nurses and workers.
Could you ask the Spirit of the Lord to fill you, so that when you walk into a hospital or a school, you are confronting the reality that education isn't the altar — the presence of God is what transforms? All healing comes from God. All wisdom comes from God. I am here on the earth to change the earth, so that what was made in the image of God returns to looking like the image of God.
When your culture stems from heaven, you become not only Spirit-filled but Spirit-spilled.
If it wasn't for the Methodist church setting up in the Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela — a village boy — may never have become a global statesman. It took the body of Christ, animated by the belief that it will be an acceptable year of the Lord when we position ourselves in places desperate for change.
Let me tell you a story. A young man felt God had called him to speak to the National Party government — the party in charge of apartheid. He was invited to the cabinet room. He looked at the prime minister and said, "The Lord says you need to repent of the sin of apartheid. End it now, or you will be removed."
The cabinet around him said, "No, this is a false prophet. He must go. We will back you, prime minister." And so, under pressure, the prime minister stayed put.
A few years later, that prime minister became sick — I think he had a stroke — and the cabinet had no choice but to remove him. They looked around and chose F.W. de Klerk to lead. And de Klerk remembered the day that word was given.
De Klerk said to the man, "I was in that cabinet meeting when you gave the word of the Lord. Come and speak to our cabinet again." The man said, "I'm going to pray and hear from God." He knelt, and the Lord said, "Tell the president that if he wants to speak to Me, he must come to My house."
That's brave. He sent word: "Come to my house. If he comes, I'll know he's willing to hear. If he doesn't, it's no loss for me." Having the president come to your house is a mission — sniffer dogs, clearing out the place. But de Klerk came.
De Klerk sat down and said, "I was there the day you gave that word, and I know you hear from God." The man looked at him and said, "My Bible tells me apartheid is a sin. Go back to Parliament, unban all the political parties, declare a peaceful election, and end the laws of apartheid."
In 1990, F.W. de Klerk addressed Parliament. His cabinet screamed against him. But he told the nation: "I'm here to release Nelson Mandela, release all the prisoners, and bring this to a close."
The war against apartheid was fought politically in many ways. But I'm telling you, there was a young Afrikaner who had received a word from the Lord: that his culture is from heaven, that he was here to confront an evil system, that he belonged to a different kingdom — and so he spoke the word of the Lord.
I'm not saying it was only him. But I wonder how many of you are sitting in this room with a word God has placed in you. It may not be for a country — it may be for a family, a school, a hospital. But I wonder whether God loved Manchester and the UK so much that He placed you here, so that through you He can make the blind see and set the captives free.
I don't like clichés, but I love this one: you and God are the majority. The same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you. What would you do if you were given that level of influence to walk in and say, "God, I'm here to speak Your word and power in this place"?
As I close, here is my challenge to you. Jesus is not coming back just for us to be blessed and filled. He's coming back for a dangerous church — for believers willing to confront the enemy right at the door.
When I started in politics, I used to hide the fact that I'm a Christian. Today I can preach before you, and I don't care where it ends up — I will tell them that every knee will bow.
Like Joseph, you may go to Pharaoh and say, "The Lord has given me an economic plan for your nation." Had it not been for Joseph, that economy would have tanked. Like Daniel entering Nebuchadnezzar's court, "the people who know their God will do great things."
I pray God blesses you. I pray that one day your tombstone might say more than "Here lies James — he had a Bentley." I pray it will say that a city, a community, a nation was impacted, because a Spirit-filled child of God did something to see change.
We are going to see the full revelation of the sons of God in this period, in this time. It's not a time to be fearful. It's a time to be filled by the Spirit of God.
