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.