Well, sit back, hold on, and strap yourself in. We’ve got a powerful lesson today. Actually, I’ll let you decide whether it was powerful or not, but we are going to talk about power.
Ours is tagged as a power-conscious age. Think about it for a moment. There is political power, there is financial power, there is military power. There are people who are referred to as power brokers. And I suppose those are the people who have power lunches. I’m not exactly sure what a power lunch is. I’m not sure that I’ve ever had one. I once worked for a boss who had working luncheons, and that meant that he ate, and we worked! But maybe that is a form of a power lunch.
There are people who power dress. Again, I’m not really sure what that is. I attended a function one time a while back, and someone came up to me and said, “I see you have your power tie on.” And I looked at my tie, checked the back to see what it said. It didn’t say anything about “power,” but I guess it was the color, or something, that indicated that it was a power tie.
In football, there are powerhouses. In basketball, there are power forwards. In the automotive industry, there is horse power, and even as we seek for our laundry detergent, we look for something that is powerful.
In this power-hungry world that we live in, the church ought to be a powerful force, but in order to be a powerful force, the church must be filled with powerful members. Therefore, we as Christians need to seek power, but we need to seek a very special kind of power—a power that enables us to live Christ-centered, spirit-filled lives—a power over ourselves.
Temptation is real, and despite pangs of guilt, good intentions and high ideals, we sin, and often times, we repeat the same sin over and over again. We feel defeated. We want to be like Jesus, but we don’t know how to manage ourselves. We join Paul as he says in Romans, the first chapter, verse 16, “I believe that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” But then we may say, “But how do I apply that to myself? How can I find the power over my restless self? How can I live under the force of this power?” These are painfully legitimate questions—questions to which we search for a solution.
As we search for a solution, though, we don’t always find the right answer, primarily because we don’t look in the right place. Some may suggest that the power we are seeking comes with mind power. This idea goes something like this: If you can quote enough Scripture, if you can recite Bible stories, if you can state your faith in a succinct and precise way, then you will be righteous.
It doesn’t happen that way. NOT because we don’t need to know. After all, Jesus said, “Ye shall know the Truth…,” John 8, verse 32. And as Paul said in Ephesians 5:17, we must not be unwise, but understanding what the Will of the Lord is. [Ephesians 5:17: “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s Will is.”]
But knowledge does not necessarily generate spiritual power, partly because it is so easy for the quest of knowledge to become an end unto itself. The mind power route is destined to fail. Also, the mind power route will fail simply because to know what is right is not always to DO what is right. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “What I understand about the Bible gives me a lot more trouble than what I don’t understand about the Bible.” Someone prayed, “Lord, give us help when we don’t know what to do, but give us a lot more help when we know what to do and just don’t want to do it.”
I heard a story about an elderly gentleman travelling in the city one day by bus. And he was wearing his best white suit. When the man got on the bus, the driver hurriedly closed the door, and it closed on the old gentleman’s arm. The old gentleman said, “That’s all right, son. God bless you. God rest your soul.” The driver hurriedly drove on. The old man wasn’t quite down the aisle and in his seat, and the jerk of the bus starting off caused him to stumble into his seat. And the old man just smiled and said, “That’s all right, son. God bless you. God rest your soul.” When he came to his destination and got off the bus, once again, the driver sped away quickly, and the old man was splashed with water and mud from a puddle near the curb. And the old gentleman was heard to say, “That’s all right, son. God bless you. God rest your soul. And the sooner, the better!”
We can identify with that old gentleman, can’t we? We say, “knowing what to do is one thing, but doing it is quite another.” Paul had the same problem. He lamented, in Romans 7, verse 18, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”So mind power is NOT the power that we seek.
Well, what about emotional power? Some have arrived upon the idea that emotional power is the kind of power that we need, which is the key to spiritual life. The theory is that if one can just be inspired, can agonize or pray through a difficult situation and come to some “mountain peak experience,” THEN you will find God power. That’s the theory, but it doesn’t work in life.
Oh, yes, we need to feel things emotionally. One cannot comprehend Christ, and the majesty of His love without being emotionally stirred. Yet emotion is NOT God power. When we place too great a value on emotional experiences, the net result can be destructive to our spirituality. When one feels that he has a new relationship with God because of some so-called “mountain peak experience,” he may tend to consider himself on a different spiritual plain than others. He may become critical of the lack of “spirituality” of others, and may even lose his taste for worship in what he may feel to be “dead services.”
Lest you think that this is hypothetical, let me illustrate the point. Without being judgmental, without being cruel or unkind, I want to tell you about my wife, Betsy, who had a discussion—a conversation—a while back with someone where we used to worship. This conversation was regarding some of the things, particularly in the worship services, that some of us, as members, found to be objectionable. This person said that our objecting to these things in the worship service was an indication of our lack of spirituality, that those who were on a “higher plain” spiritually understood what “those things” were about, and appreciated them, and knew why they were necessary.
Emotional power is deceiving as well. Think about the fact that tears are shed by some when they are happy, and tears are shed by others when they are sad. No, emotion is too fickle, too shallow to be the power over ourselves which we seek.
Well, then, what about will power? Most of us have tried will power. The point seems to be obvious. If you’re not where you need to be spiritually, change! Do something about it! Set your will! Grit your teeth! Make some resolution—and stick to it!
Now, will power is to be admired. In fact, it’s hard to respect an individual who does not have some will power—say, for example, at least enough to stay awake during the sermon this morning! Yet, once again, we must point out that will power is NOT God Power! Have you ever noticed that will power seems to work best on someone else’s temptations? Plenty of folks find enough will power to keep from stealing, but, for example, not enough will power to observe the posted speed limit when they drive.
May we conclude, then, that mind power, emotional power or will power—in other words, our own human power, will never be sufficient to control our sinful natures? I believe that’s what the prophet Jeremiah was saying in Jeremiah, chapter 10, verse 23. He says, “Oh, Lord, I know that the ways of man are not within himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps.”
How, then, do we find the power for today? And when we find it, how do we appropriate the power? Well, let me suggest the following:
First of all, we must admit that we cannot manage our own lives. This can be painful, but we need to abandon our own blueprint for life. Jesus said, “If anyone will come after Me, he must first DENY himself, and take up his cross and follow Me,” Matthew 6, verse 24.
Second, we must rely completely on a power which is beyond ourselves. Let’s read together from Ephesians, chapter 4—Ephesians, chapter 4, beginning with verse 20, and reading through verse 24: “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the Truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Righteousness is a gift from God, given by God’s creative act. In Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, Paul writes, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.”
Someone might ask the question, though, “But now having seen God, how do I appropriate His power in my life?” The answer is, “it is through Jesus.” HE is the way to the Father, John 14, verse 6. [John 14:6: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”] HE has made God known, John 1, verse 18. [John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only (Who is Jesus Christ), Who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”] And in John 14, verse 7, Jesus says, “If you really knew Me, you would know the Father.” Even as Paul says in Galatians 2, verse 20, “I have been crucified with Christ. No longer I live, but Christ lives in me.”
And we come to know Jesus through the Scriptures. We must yield our minds to the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16, [“‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”] so that we can trace out HIS purpose for our lives—so that our psyche can be programmed HIS way—so that our frame of reference can become Christ-centered, and our life style God-controlled.
Well, how do I live daily under the force of God’s power? Paul tells us in Romans, chapter 6, that having been united with Him in the likeness of His death through baptism, we have newness of life. [Romans 6:1-4: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”]
This new life, patterned after JESUS, is directed by the Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, Who, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, “is in us” and “having been received from God.” [1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;”] We live under the force of Him Who “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us,” Ephesians 3, verse 20.
Let me illustrate this point in the following way: If your car has power steering, then you don’t turn the wheels with your own strength. Rather, there is a power-steering pump, which provides the force to turn the wheels. However, it applies the force to turn the wheels in response to your impulse upon the steering wheel. The wheels will not turn on their own. They must have your impulse.
In the same way, God has provided His power for us to live and control our lives. He will not seize control of our lives—“turn the wheels”, if you will. But He makes available His limitless power resource in response to the impulse of our request. Ours is the impulse. HIS is the power!
But discipline is required here—not the discipline of managing our own lives or manhandling our own sins into subjection through intellect, emotion or will. But rather it demands the discipline of exposing our lives consistently to the source of HIS power, through prayer and meditation upon the Scriptures. Through this two-way communication with God, we keep daily releasing His marvelous power resources into our lives.
Men cannot make apples! BUT, we can plant trees, fertilize and irrigate, thus setting up the condition in which GOD can make apples. Likewise, I cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit in my life, but I can plant, and I can fertilize and I can water. And this sets up the condition in which GOD can produce a bountiful crop in my life.
When we tap into the power of God, and set up the condition for Him to function in our lives, then God’s things will begin to happen in our lives. We will receive “wisdom from above.” Our frail mind power, or human intellect, is swallowed up in the wisdom of God. James said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him,” James 1, verse 5. This is a promise, and God does not break His promises. Now, God may subject me to some painful experience, or He may provide the wisdom through His Scriptures, or perhaps He just may give wisdom to me. But nonetheless, wisdom is a promise of God.
In addition, we will receive God-given love. Then what happens to emotional power? It fades to a shadow beside the love of God, which is shed abroad in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, which is given to us, Romans 5, and verse 5. [Romans 5:5: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us.”]
We are commanded by the Scriptures to “love one another,” and even, as Jesus said in Matthew 5, verse 44, to “love our enemies” and “pray for those who persecute us.” [Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,…”] This is a hard command, and may seem, at times, impossible! After all, our human emotion is a reaction to an impulse—to a stimulus, if you will. But love is ACTION, not a reaction. Agape love, the God-given kind, is the capacity for good for everyone including those who are unlovely toward us.
Notice the great “love chapter” of the Bible. It never describes love as a feeling, but as a pattern of behavior, a plan of action, if you will. The “love chapter”, 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, says, “Love suffers long, love is kind, love envies not,…” [1 Corinthians 13:4]. This kind of love is indispensable to spiritual happiness and to spiritual fruitfulness. But this kind of love is only made possible by the Power of God working through us.
Third, we also receive the indwelling Spirit. Compare that to your will power. We know that human will power is, at best, a “broken reed.” But our capacity will be reinforced and infinitely surpassed when we are “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner being,” Ephesians 3, and verse 16. Let’s look at Ephesians 3 for a moment. This is the text that Lloyd Redman read to us a moment ago—Ephesians 3, beginning with verse 13: “I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are for your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,…” (There is the Spirit turning our weakness into strength.) Verse 17: “…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”(There we have the Father and the Son.) And verse 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, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”Our capacity for good will be reinforced by the POWER that created the universe. HE will give us victory over ourselves.
Let me conclude with another example. When you experience a problem with your electric appliance, or your electronic device, what do you do? Well, we probably jiggle the knobs and maybe check the fuse. We may go out in the garage and check the circuit breaker. We may drop it, or we may kick it, or maybe do both. We may call a repairman. We may do ALL of these things, but what if we fail to check for the most obvious problem? Is it plugged in? In our lives, we may spend a lot of time fumbling with externals, like making resolutions, learning, anguishing, struggling, and so on, but failing to succeed because we can’t get turned on until we are plugged into God’s resources. Intellect won’t do it. Emotional stimulation won’t do it. Will power is too weak. Only when are exposed to the power that God gives will our restless selves be managed. Only then will we find the peace of victory over ourselves, and the power to live spirit-filled lives for God. As Paul says in Philippians 4, verse 7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds IN Christ Jesus.”
Dear friend, if you’re outside of Christ this morning, you are powerless. The kind of power that we have talked about today is inaccessible to you because you are not plugged into the power source. As we already read in Romans, the 6th chapter, …“being buried with Him in baptism, we arise to walk in a new life…,” and then we access the power for daily living. There is POWER in the blood! If you are a baptized believer, but you are experiencing a power shortage in your life, or perhaps even a power failure, then you need to stop fiddling with the knobs and the buttons, and you need to once again get plugged into the real source of power in your life. If you have a special need this morning, and you think we can help you with that need, we invite you to come as we stand together and sing.