Now, if you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you cannot say to God, I can't.

If you are a Christian, you have that Holy Spirit.

Paul said, my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in

demonstration of the Spirit and in power, you might want to dispute that.

As you read the epistles of the Apostle Paul, you see that the words that he used manifest

at an extremely high degree of wisdom, and they are indeed persuasive.

But what he's saying is that my words are not simply powerful in themselves, but they

are powerful in so far as the Spirit of God attends them and uses them and carries them

home.

I remember a story that I read.

I think the first week I was a Christian, the story of this forensic contest, a contest

for prize and prestige and all of that for rhetorical abilities, for electrocution and all

of that.

And two men had selected for their dramatic reading the 23rd Psalm.

When the first came out, and he spoke like Charles Lotton, and he recited the 23rd Psalm

in absolutely letter-perfect diction, everything he did was just massive eloquence.

And then this other man came out who was unlearned, unlearned, who was not dressed really

appropriate for the occasion.

He did not have the gift of speech that the other man did, but he said the 23rd Psalm

from the context of one who believed it, and the people were stunned.

And he won the prize.

And afterwards they asked this golden-tunged orator why it was that he lost in spite of

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