And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18:may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19:and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. The eventual trouble with those who spend so much of their Christian lives in "the shadows and miseries" of doubt and vagueness and hesitancy, is that they have never really understood this first essential principle. 1. What can we do to remove any obstacles of weakness that we tend to inadvertently place in our own way? 4. Paul is describing this power of God as "the energy of the strength" of the God to whom nothing is impossible. INTRODUCTION: Today’s message needs a little set up, so that you all will understand what is going on in this text. Paul is trying to make the Ephesians (and us too) see and realize—that the greatness of God's power is in us, what He is doing is in us. Do we truly realize the exceeding greatness of His power in us? For example: How and when the world was created. He has made us alive; and if we are alive we are no longer dead. It is completely different. Rather, his message was discernible by the power of God. His Word was enough; and He made everything out of nothing. And that is what is happening to us; this eternal, illimitable might of God has been working energetically in us. It must be one or the other. But if we are Christians that is no longer true; we have been made alivetogether with Christ, the life principle has come in, and we have been, and are being, renewed. The Holy Spirit brought it into their hearts with deep conviction. But the rest of the book shows us clearly who the Alpha and Omega is talking about. It also helps to show our spiritual union with Christ. Paul did not want the saints remaining spiritual babies; he wanted them to become spiritually mature. Power is something that a lot of people in this world desire. But 22:12-16 makes it clear who the Almighty Alpha and Omega is. 1:7-10) b. And He did not merely make them and then leave them; He is still energizing them. O Hades, where is your victory?" It follows then that if we are in Christ, then, in a way, what is true of Him is also true of us. Instead of rushing ahead, David calmly waited on God, because faith and patience always go together. When Christ was raised, we were raised with Him (in a manner of speaking). Some talk about the power in someone's personality. The greatest show of His power of deliverance is in the area of our individual calling and conversion to His truth, to His way of life. The Power of HIS CROSS; 3. •• There is irresistible supernatural power in God's word; it will … In this sense, we are "made alive together with Christ.". Christ not only died and was buried, God "raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named.". Our calling, conversion, and ultimate salvation are concrete demonstrations of God's power. Our calling, conversion, and ultimate salvation are concrete demonstrations of God's power. The name of God, Yahweh or Jehovah, refers to the whole Godhead in scripture, which is a topic we will discuss in the lessons on the trinity at the end of this series. The disposition is the thing that determines how the faculties are to be used. 1:18) Introduction: Our theme for today’s sermon is “the gospel, the power of God”. God's Love and Teachings for His Children. The preaching of the gospel is God’s power and strength that He uses to tear lost people away from the enemy and to make them members of Christ’s church. The word of God has the power to reveal to us certain things that we could not know in any other way. God Wants to Do the Impossible “God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. We have been called to receive the Holy Spirit. When we find ourselves pressured by the enemy, our first response is usually to pray that God will change them, when our best response would be that God would change us and enable us to overcome. His power will resurrect us on the last day. Paul uses Christ's resurrection to illustrate God's might because it is the proof of the fact that every obstacle, hindrance, and enemy set in our path will be overcome. We can advance spiritual strengthening by dependence on God. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 18. In other words, Paul is telling the Ephesian Christians that he is praying for them to know the effectiveness of the force of God's strength, or for them to know the energy of the might of His strength towards them. He was actually risking his life to obey the Lord. The universe is dying, and it is only God who can sustain it. They trembled and feared as they thought of this power that was there waiting to receive them. God’s power is only accessible to us and will only protect us if we have faith. It is interesting that Paul illustrates the might of God by the resurrection of Christ rather than by the Creation. It is not a matter of "I plus the power of God." He has the power to mold us more and more into his image. In Paul's eyes, preaching is of no value unless it is in "demonstration of the Spirit and of power.". And then, in verse 19, he emphasizes the power of God working in us. For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!". We cannot do any of these things on our own strength and power. Here are three keys that I have found over the 34 years I have been a believer in Jesus that I think will help you release God’s supernatural power in your life. Let's pray and thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to be our guide. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.'. What is new is a new disposition. He has called people for salvation out of a world that is completely (except for us) cut off from God since Adam. This morning we want to hear from God about “The Power to Change.” This morning I want to show you the resources that are already yours in Christ by which you can break free from those fleshly patterns that have a grip on you. That is why it is so important for each and every one of us to pray for the messages that we are going to receive on the Sabbath. 3. Just before His ascension to heaven, Christ told the apostles. No human can make himself a Christian; God alone makes Christians. He is looking at the same thing, but he sees something absolutely different. That reason was that God had indicated to them the path of truth and safety, but they chose not to follow it, and refused to put confidence in Him. Often God brings trials—he often allows us to be humbled in order for us to experience his power. We can advance spiritual strengthening by dependence on God's grace. The Holy Spirit is also God-given spiritual power to overcome. So here is the important question: what does all of this mean for you and me? "This has happened to everybody who is truly a Christian. People are by nature destitute of holiness and exposed to destruction. We can be filled with the Holy Spirit by trusting God to produce in us the fruitful life he has promised as we live for him. Occasionally, He exercises power to deliver His people from danger. Amen.”. Although God has given limited authority and power to mankind, He still often actively intervenes showing His power in miraculous works, especially of deliverance. God is the author of creation, and Christ is the Word or the instrument by which He does it. God's goodness never ran out, because David could go to God in prayer and receive all he needed. Through God's Holy Spirit, we are … See what over 145,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. It is the faith of Christ, the same faith with which Christ performed miracles, now given to us—placed within us. , have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches.”. For our warfare, God does many things. Paul uses the best terms available, the surpassing greatness, the "exceeding greatness,"but they are not a sufficient description, so he adds to them by saying, "according to the working of His mighty power. This is one way the power of God is described in the scriptures. The response of the Thessalonian converts was a supernatural work of God, not a natural response to a clearly delivered sermon. We know that Jesus gave us His authority and we are told in Acts 1:8 that after the Holy Spirit comes upon us we will be given His power to be witnesses, yet many Christians live a life that seems to be missing the power of God. He said, "Power," and he said it with a horribly demonic voice. Hundreds of years later, Isaiah reminded the doubting Israelites about the same principle. This truth is fundamental to an understanding of the Christian. The God of heaven is. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. God has the power to forgive and defeat sin. And so, mankind has a great deal of God-given power over the earth to care for and properly use it. Through God's Holy Spirit, we are empowered to receive and understand Godly knowledge, enabling us to develop righteous godly character and a new spiritual disposition, directing our existing faculties in an entirely different way, enabling us to become a new creation, connected miraculously to the body of Christ. Principle 1: The process of Christian conversion and ultimate salvation is a demonstration of the power of God in us. It is the dominant quality, or qualities, distinguishing a person. True power belongs to God alone. Paul is speaking of the power of God working in him. Of course we have to strive: to study, pray, fast, obey, and to overcome. So, if when we think of the glory and the perfection and the wonder of what is awaiting us, and then feel that we are so unworthy and so weak that we have no hope of enjoying it, here is the answer: The God who is working in us will keep us while still here, and make us fit for the future indescribable glory. All we know is that we were blind to understanding God's truth, and now we can understand it. We will look at two main principles that Paul emphasizes here in Ephesians 1. That is the first step to seeing and believing God's power. It is not that we should not be striving. The result should be that our fears vanish, and we should have a new confidence and assurance with respect to our salvation. This verse describes God as the Great Ruler and King that has eternal dominion over everything. “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him” (. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The true nature of God. Whatever may be true of our experience, whatever may be true of the world and its darkness, whatever may be true of the seeds of decay and of illness and of death that are in our bodies, and however great is the power of the enemy, we can be certain and confident that nothing can prevent the carrying out of God's purpose with respect to us. God attaches a condition to having his presence in our lives. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. But he learned from this experience the lesson that pervades his letter: divine power is best demonstrated against the backdrop of human weaknesses, so that only God is praised. God is not a theory, He is real, He is full of life and power. There is never a moment in life when God has abandoned … . Has there been anything more momentous than a manifestation of God's power in the flood, when God opened the windows of heaven and the mountains were all covered with water? What happens to us after we die. Also referring to his own preaching, Paul tells the Colossian members: Colossians 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. We are dynamic members because of the dynamic nature of God and His power. Grayson Baptist Church – Aug. 18, 2013. World leaders, governments and experts in various fields are seeking for ways to deal with the myriad of problems facing the world today. The power of God, the principle of life that is working within us, in a sense, in spite of ourselves is influencing us, molding us, guiding us, convicting us, and leading us. The life of the Head goes through the members. "To make alive," means "to impart life. But, scripture seems to say that God's power resides in us. When God delegates His authority to human beings there is a certain power that it provides. It is He who is doing this, not we ourselves. It was not on human terms and initiative by seeking a sign or wisdom, but on God's terms that man found what he needed, the power of God and the wisdom of God. When we consider our frail bodies with seeds of decay in them, we know that they are susceptible to illnesses, and we find it almost impossible to believe, or even to imagine, that we could enjoy a state of glory. 1. Even after spending a week in prayer and fasting, we may still feel like we don’t have the power to do God’s will in our lives. I too often am just a big wimp spiritually. No one can have any conception at all of that inheritance, that glory, to which we are going, without immediately becoming conscious of certain things. Peter says that we are “, protected by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”. The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). So the difference between the sinner and the Christian, between the unbeliever and the believer, is not that the believer, the Christian, has certain faculties which the other person lacks. God uses promises in much the same way, to change us in the present, to give us hope in the midst of despair, to anticipate something greater and better when we have little to base any joy on in the moment. I Samuel 30:6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. The all-powerful, sovereign God is with us. When God uses His power to call us into His church, we keep the same eyes and we look at the same things that we looked at before, but we do not see them as we used to see them. Disposition involves customary moods and attitudes toward the life around one. Or why did Paul not use the comparison of God's power and might as exercised in the design of the universe? If we do not pray for the messages, then we will not receive all that is meant for us. Romans 6:19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. This power is what raises us into a new life. There is a new power working in him and guiding his faculties. A Christian is a new creation; and there is only One who can create, namely God. No, what happens is that this new disposition given to the Christian directs his faculties in an entirely different way. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. In describing the power of God, Paul seems to struggle with human language to describe the power God uses. All these spinning spheres in the heavens are maintained and sustained by God's power; everything is ordered by Him. This display of God’s strength and power is what gives us the hope that we have. Acts 5:12-29. Again, in writing to the Philippians, Paul says in Philippians 1:6, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Paul explains that what makes us Christian is that we are a new creation. Sometimes I think to myself that my faith is so weak in this all-powerful God. 20:Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us… In other words, life may be full of all kinds of hurts, disappointments, challenges, difficulties, and problems. May these sermons be a blessing to you in your personal study of God's word. and 2:28, which means the same thing as “the Alpha and the Omega. The word used by Paul that is translated into English as "exceeding" can also be translated "surpassing." And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." It will always be totally inadequate, but he tries. Even after the great demonstration of God's powerful Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost of the first church era, the apostle Paul found it necessary to encourage the church with regard to the "exceeding greatness of God's power.". God's power not only surpasses our power of expression, it surpasses our power of comprehension! It affects our hearts, it affects our minds, and it affects our will. We may generally understand it, but we cannot fully explain it. I set out to learn how to have the supernatural power of God flow through me. "O Death, where is your sting? Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He has always had these; they are his servants, his instruments, and his members, as Paul calls them in the sixth chapter of Romans. “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 17. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. The Power of HIS WORD; 2. What a person in sin needs is not new faculties, but a new disposition. 6. The psalmist discovered that God's grace was all that he needed. “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and, only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, , who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. It also has the power to keep us moving in the right direction against tremendous odds. It can raise us out of any sin. Faith that is not based on the Word is not faith at all; it is presumption or superstition. As you recall, God gave the apostle Paul a constant reminder of his weakness. "This is God's power at work. Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Jesus made the promise to give us this power and authority in Matthew 16:18 when he said to Peter: "The gates of Hades will not be able to withstand or withhold the advancing church." 2. It is kinetic power, manifested power, the energy working itself out and permeating everything. He still sees the same bottle, yet it is not the same. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation … Fifth, the power of God toward us now is like the great might that God worked when he made the church, “his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (verse 23). He would walk in the way of God's truth and avoid the enemy's way of deception. Paul is not using words here in a haphazard manner; there is a definite gradation in their use. Next. We can advance spiritual strengthening through: (1) dependence upon God, (2) by having the joy of God, (3) by prayer in accordance with God"s Word, (4) by gaining wisdom, (5) by quietness and confidence in the promises of God, (6) by waiting on God, and (7) by dependence on God's grace. We were dead; now we are alive. These are the thoughts that crowd into our minds, and they come especially to those who see most clearly "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. It was not possible because God's mighty power cannot be overcome, conquered, or prevailed over by anything. This collection of sermons on God's power by Dr. Jim Feeney is a continuation of his sermons on the Power of God listed at our Pentecostal Sermon Index. Throughout Psalm 119, the writer makes it clear that he is suffering because of his commitment to God and His Word. He expresses it by asking a series of rhetorical questions: To whom can we liken God? For example, take all the dictionaries of the world, exhaust all the vocabularies, and when you have added them all together, you still have not begun to describe the greatness of God's power. Athletes desire power and the ability to accomplish the things that they want to accomplish. And although we are all given a human spirit when born into this world, there was no divine spark in anybody because we are born children of Adam, born without God's Holy Spirit. We have to know "the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.". We can advance spiritual strengthening by having the joy of God. The disposition is the thing that governs and organizes the use of the faculties, which makes one man a musician, and another a poet, and another something else. In addition, we realize that between us and that glory there lays the fact of death (the last enemy) and the power of death and the grave. After great lament and his men's threat to stone him, David inquired of the Lord through Abiathar the priest concerning His will in the matter. It is God's action. The secret of Christian joy is to believe what God says in His Word, and act on it. As we see in the New Testament, the emphasis of God's use of His power shifts more to the spiritual. God doesn't always use the most important people. So today I’d like to address … I Thessalonians 1:5-6 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. God has given us new life. It can work in us to stamp out temptation. A better word than "working"would be "energy." “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”. A similar description of God's power is given by Isaiah in his prophecy. 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