I don't know how many of you have ever been to Yosemite National Park in California, but if you have gone there, you know there's El Capitan. El Capitan is a 3,200-foot vertical granite rock face that a lot of people have climbed and scaled through the years. But what I find fascinating is in June of 2017, a 31-year-old at that time, Alex Honnold, became the first person to scale El Capitan without a harness, without ropes. Astounding. And he did it in less than four hours. You know, there's a documentary entitled Free Solo of his whole experience and describes his daily and professional life as a free soloer, and you get the impression that Alex is superhuman. You know, he's able to do and take risks that just seem, are seemingly incredible. Imagine the sheer guts and grit and courage it takes to climb thousands of feet above ground on this granite rock face without a harness. You know, one slip and it's over. There's no room for error, no margin for any mistake. You find that he's amazingly strong and agile, able to contort his body to every shape of the rocks that he faces, and he can hold his entire body up on a tiny nub, no bigger than a fingernail, while being suspended in air 2,000 feet above ground. He has perfect balance, perfect body awareness, enormous mental capacity. And I think of your missions conference theme, which is wonderful, Risk Takers for the Kingdom Advancement. And as you think about that, you go, oh, I get it. God wants me to be a Christian version of Alex Honnold. That's what he's calling us to do. You know? He's looking for people, you know, who are natural risk-takers, who are courageous, highly dedicated, strong in their faith. Well, thank God I'm not one of those people. I'm off the hook. I am no Alex. Right? Alex, by the way, is an atheist, which is astounding. You know, and so, you know, we can easily say, when we think about kingdom advancement, taking risk, taking steps of faith, he said, look, God's not calling me to that. Because I am not very dedicated, I'm not very strong, I'm not very agile, I am quite weak. So I appreciate so much Jeremy's remark. It's a wonderful introduction to what I'm going to say. Do you think that God is looking for people who are naturally strong, who have strong faith, who are courageous in themselves? Oh no, not at all, because there are none. Surprise, surprise, there aren't any. You know, the passage that Jeremy read in 1 Corinthians, you know, God choosing the weak to shame those who are strong. Or I think of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12, 9, when God tells Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made work, perfect in weakness. You see, kingdom advances through weak people, the great, powerful, almighty God working in weak vessels like you and me. There is no other way. This is our God. Why? Because He's in the business of having all glory go to Him. And so, if you feel weak, brother, sister, congratulations, you are qualified. If you feel uncertain and hesitant, wonderful, you're the kind of person God wants to use. You see. These people like you and me, just normal, ordinary people, are the people he uses to advance his kingdom, his rule, and his reign. So this leads us back to the question that I posed last night. And it's really not one of talking about risk-taking, although I mentioned Esther and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and I can multiply all kinds of examples from the Bible of people who did take risks, who did step out in faith. But the big question for us is where does our competency, where does the motivation come, where does the power come, so that we take a step of faith, so that we pray, okay God, I'm scared to death. I'm afraid you might call me to go to Indonesia. I'm afraid you might call me to go to Japan, but I'm willing to go. Where do we get the power? to be able to say, God, I'm here, I'm your servant, do with me as you will. And last night we looked at how Paul presented that to us in Ephesians one, and we looked at how his prayer for us is that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened, so what? So that we could not look at our ability or lack of our abilities, but rather on the hope of his calling. There's an eternal weight of glory and the fullness of salvation that is guaranteed for us. But also, the other thing that ought to motivate us is the fact that we are His inheritance, His prized possession, that He is for us, and He's longing to see us and us to see Him. But now, I want to look at verses 19 to 23, because Paul prays as well that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened to see what? the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ. Power in weak vessels. Let's look at three aspects of that power, and just briefly, it's immeasurable, and we'll see it's resurrection power, but it's also enthronement power. So first of all, The power of God that's at work in you and me, it's immeasurable. That word immeasurable is literally to throw beyond the usual mark. It means to surpass, to exceed. And so Paul is saying that the divine power in us is so great, so vast, that it's beyond human ability to measure. And Paul is trying to get his head around this, so it seems. And what he does, he layers four different words, one on top of each other. And verse 19, to describe this divine power in us. And he uses the word, if you look at your text, the word power. And that comes from the Greek word from which we get dynamite. So it's raw power, but then he uses the other word, might. And now might describes latent power. So think of your pastor Pablo exercising, all right, but then he's finished and his muscles are bulging. He's not flexing, but you just see, you go, wow, that guy looks strong. That's latent power, that's might. But then Paul goes on to say, well, it's great power. And literally, from the Greek, it's the might of his strength. So there's another word, strength. It's the might of his strength. And then he adds to that great might, the might of his strength, that it's working. And from that word, we get our word energy. So here's Paul, he says, you and I who are weak in ourselves, who don't have the native resources to engage in the kingdom advancement for His glory, so that the rule and the grace of Jesus Christ is spread to all our neighbor and all the nations, yet you need to understand this, that God's great, unlimited, mighty, energetic power is at work in you. I hear you, preacher, but I don't feel it. Right? And that's the way I respond when I read this passage. It doesn't seem very real in my life. And the result is, because we aren't experiencing it, we just kind of shrug it off. Yeah, it's a nice thing to say, Paul, but some of us are rather cynical, ironical, sarcastic, and so we don't make much of it, but can I urge you not to shrug this off? If it's there in Scripture, it's there so that you might look away from your inability and your weakness and look to God. and look to God, to who He is, not to who you are, to His ability, to His power, and not to your weakness. So would you pray? As you pray this week, Lord, grant me the grace and the faith to take a step in kingdom advancement. Would you enable me to experience, to taste the power that is at work in me, your power? You see, it's not ultimately missions and advancing the kingdom of God. It's not ultimately about our faith. It's not about our abilities. It's not about what we do. It's about what God does and what he graciously gives to us weak vessels. So we're called to look away from ourselves, from our resources to him. But Paul goes on to describe this power, and in verse 20 he talks about it in terms of the resurrection, its resurrection power. And we know the Lord Jesus, He subjected Himself to the power of death, and He really died. His heart stopped beating, His organs failed, there were no brainwaves. He suffered a horrific death at the cross as he suffered the punishment we deserve for our sins. He drank the cup of the holy and just wrath of God as our substitute. He really died for you and for me. But on the third day, God demonstrated and worked His life-giving power in His Son, Jesus, and raised Him from the grave. He raised this one from death to life. Now that's a display of power. 2005, there was a newspaper report in Nairobi of a peasant farmer by the name of Daniel Mumburugu, and he was tending his crops near Mount Kenya, but he didn't know there was a leopard that was hiding in the tall grass, and the leopard came out and charged and leapt upon him. Daniel Mumburugu was 73 years old. He had his machete, he was cutting the crops. And as the leopard was mauling his wrists and his hands, he had the presence of mind to drop his machete. That's not what I would have done. He dropped his machete and he did something that was very counterintuitive. He put his hand into the mouth of the leopard and reached down into his throat and he grabbed onto the leopard's tongue. And with all the adrenaline that he had, he pulled on the tongue of the leopard until it ripped out. Kids, don't try that at home. And the leopard lay there bleeding until one of Daniel's and Mubarak's friends came and finished off the leopard. But do you see what he did? He put his hand into the very center power of the animal and destroyed it from within. Our Lord Jesus Christ went into the very depths of death and sin and by his death he destroyed death. He put it to death. And the evidence of his victory, the evidence of his conquest and triumph was his being raised by the Father bodily from death to life. And see, what the Apostle Paul wants us to understand is that this power that's displayed in the resurrection is a power that is at work in us, and it's death-destroying power. Power that undoes the curse of sin. Power that reverses the effects of a rebellion. Power that reverses the effect of our brokenness and our suffering. Power that brings life out of death. And you go, well, how does this help me in kingdom advancement? I'll think about it, because many of us are hesitant, not simply because we acknowledge our weakness, but you say, look, I'm rather fearful. You know, I'm not sure I'm willing to pray, God, use me any way you wish, because it may involve risk that may look like giving up some comfort, my health being at risk, suffering physically, or even dying. But let me suggest something to you. What if our understanding of kingdom advancement, our understanding of mission, was undergirded not by a sense of our power and our ability, but rather by a theology of suffering suffused with the hope of the resurrection? That's counterintuitive, isn't it? A theology or understanding of kingdom advancements undergirded by a theology of suffering suffused with the hope of resurrection. I think of what Paul wrote in Philippians 3.10 after thinking about the righteousness of Christ that was given to him. He says about Jesus, he says, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death. The Apostle Paul wants to know Jesus more intimately. He wants to experience a more profound union with Jesus. And he goes, I understand that this may involve sharing in his suffering, even dying. And that word sharing that he uses there in Philippians 3.10 is that word koinonia, the participation, the fellowship, a communion. He says, I'm willing, I'm willing. I know what you have done for me, Jesus. I know you went to the cross and you took on my sin at the cross and you were punished in my place. I am willing to share in the suffering that you may bring in my life. See, he doesn't shrink back from suffering. He leans into it. Why? Because he had this encounter with Jesus. The risen Jesus. You see, for the Apostle Paul, for you and for me, as we serve him who lives, Jesus lives. He is alive. And even if in our service to him it involves challenges and hardship and suffering and even death, we do so in communion with the living Jesus, in fellowship with him. And it could be that in God's providence, you may be called to a risk that may involve hardship, but do so. Do so, understanding that whatever happens, God, by His Spirit and His powerful presence, will raise you from that suffering on a glorious day. That suffering, physical, emotional, will not prevail. It will be undone. All that is sad will become untrue. The dead will become undead. That's why in Hebrews 11, a wonderful chapter, the author talks about those women whose children were put to death. And what does the author say? They were awaiting a better resurrection. Some of you know who Helen Rosevere was, an English missionary who served in the Congo and Africa in 1953 to 73. She endured imprisonment and horrific torture during the Civil War in that country. And at one point, the trauma that she experienced led her to say, if I had prayed any prayer, it would have been, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And she recalled after thinking that, she said, suddenly there was God. I didn't see a vision, I didn't hear a voice, I just knew with every ounce of my being that God was actually vitally there. He stretched out his arms to me, he surrounded me with his love, and he seemed to whisper to me, 20 years ago you asked me for the privilege of being a missionary, this is it, don't you want it? These are not your sufferings. They're not beating you, these are my sufferings. All I ask of you is the loan of your body. Who would have thought that the kingdom would be advanced that way? And she wrote, an enormous relief swept through me when I sensed those words from the Lord. One word became unbelievably clear, and the word was privilege. He didn't take away pain or cruelty or humiliation. No, it was all there, but now it was altogether different. It was with him, for him, and in him. And he was actually offering me the inestimable privilege of sharing in some little way the edge of the fellowship of his suffering. Somebody shared their testimony earlier today and talked about fear. Do you have fear? Fear is suffering. But what if you began to see your suffering for the sake of Christ as a way of being intimately in communion with Jesus? This Jesus who gave his life for you this Jesus who was raised from that suffering and from that death and promises to you and to me, I too will raise you, you will be with me. That's a very different way of looking at kingdom advancement, isn't it? You see, it deals with our fear of loss, our fear of suffering, because everything we've lost, the risen Lord says, we will get back and so much more. And so much more. And finally, there is what Paul, what I describe as enthronement power. What Paul says is like this, that God seated him, Jesus, at his right hand in the heavenly places. Verse 21, far above all rules and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet. And you know that after Jesus' death and resurrection, For a period of 40 days He appeared to His disciples, and later the Father manifested His power in lifting Jesus physically, bodily, from the earth. And so that Jesus ascended into heaven as Lord of all, He's enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, keep this in mind, as the Son of God, Christ was always Lord over all. There was never a time when He was not Lord. He was Lord in the manger. He was Lord of the cross. He was Lord in the tomb. Always Lord. But now, after his period of humiliation and incarnation and sacrifice, he is exalted by the mighty hand and power of God, and he's seated at the Father's right hand. And you know that phrase, right hand, is a metaphor for the position of unparalleled honor and authority and universal rule, so that all the world comes to recognize his Lordship. And he's seated at that right hand, because unlike the priests of the Old Testament, whose work was never finished, thus they never sat down. But this crucified, risen, ascended, and exalted Lord sat down because his redemptive work on earth was finished. It is finished. Doesn't mean that he's finished, though. He's still ruling. And he's seated far above all rule and power and authority and dominion. He put all things under his feet. In other words, he's not simply, our Lord Jesus, right now, is not simply in the position of ultimate authority, but he is exercising authority and power over these hostile spiritual powers, over these evil angelic rulers, which probably includes the human, evil human rulers and wicked political structures that these evil powers influence. All these things, all these things that we fear in governments, in structures around the world, Jesus says, I rule over it all. His name is above every other name, whether it be a king, a princess, a prince, a potentate, a dictator, a governor, a prime minister. No, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ and He alone is Lord. Now, do you believe that when it comes to kingdom advancement? Or do you feel like maybe you're the Lord and that's why there's so much fear? Oh, you know those words by Abraham Kuyper, there's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry. Do you see the one who sends you and me, the one who calls us to take a risk, the one who calls us to take a step of faith, the one who calls us to make his name and his glory known throughout the nations? He says, it's all under my feet. I'm in control. I know you're not. It's all under my feet, it's mine. So, I'm telling you what you already know. You can trust him. You can trust him. And if you are like me, you like to feel like you're in control, any control freaks out there? Well, it's hard, right? It's hard to think about taking a step of faith or taking a risk because that's so unpredictable. You get anxious and Jesus says to you, oh dear son, daughter, I have all control under my authority, under my feet. I will work out all things for your ultimate good. You could not be more secure because Christ rules. So if you're insecure, may the eyes of your heart be enlightened to see Jesus reigns. But you know, some of us struggle with confidence. And I think in verse 22, it's so helpful, that little phrase, Paul writes, And he put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things. And notice that little phrase at the end, to the church, to the church. You see, Jesus as King and Lord is exercising his authority and rule, not for himself. It's not for himself, he's doing it for the church, his body, his inheritance, his prized possession. And he will ensure, he will ensure that not death, nor angels, nor rulers, nor power, nor height, nor depth will separate you from his love. All right, here's a question for you. How does Christ execute the office of a king? Short of catechism question 26 How does Christ execute the prophet his office of a king he subdues us? Hallelujah that he subdues us and may he subdue us this this day He defends us and he restrains and he conquers his and our enemies. Do you believe that? That's what he's doing now his purpose will not be thwarted and that's why these Ephesians are If you look in Acts 19, before these brothers and sisters in Ephesus, before they had come to faith in Christ, they had engaged in occultic powers, magical arts, harnessed demonic forces. But they had been set free by the power of the gospel so that in Acts 19, what did they do? Luke tells us they burned all their occultic books valued at more than 50,000 pieces of silver. Five and a half million dollars more or less. Why? Because they had the confidence that those evil powers and spirits were under the feet of Jesus. Several years ago I had a young lady call, she called our church and she wanted to speak with a pastor or a priest, anybody, because she was scared to death. See, several weeks before she had gone to one of these stores and shops and she bought this amulet, this talisman and got involved in some paranormal activity. And for several weeks, there were some weird things going on in her house. She was scared to death. She says, I cannot sleep. I just know there's evil all around me. And so we met, and I shared with her the gospel. We read scripture together. I pointed her to Jesus. And I told her about Jesus' triumph over all evil, over sin, and that she was to put her trust in him. And she says, what do I do with this amulet? There's this little thing about like that. And it says, give it to me. And I'm scared to death. I said, look, I've had some experience with the evil ones. I'm not messing with this stuff. And so she said, what are you going to do? I says, I'll destroy it. And so I took it around the house, and I found a sledgehammer, and I smashed it to pieces. And then I put it in my neighbor's trash bin. Just in case. No, I didn't do that. I put it, that was my step of faith. That was my risk. I put it in my own trash bin, and I go, and I prayed like crazy. Even the things that scare you are under the feet of your Savior. What scares you? What frightens you? You see, there is no excuse, my dear friends. Is he not worthy? Is he not beautiful? What more can he do for you? And he's already done. He's given his life, he's shed his blood, and he rules and he reigns. He's not only saved you, but now he defends you and he governs you and he sustains you. What more do you want? What are you waiting for? Oh, I know. You're waiting for Him to come back. And so am I. But until then, would you not pray that He would transform you and me? Some of us struggle with selfishness, self-centeredness, with pride, a sense of superiority, with racism. and we think, ah, I can never serve. I'll never be one who would be involved in advancing the kingdom of God because I have so much sin inside my heart. Do you think the Lord does not know that? You see, the very fact that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, that He has conquered sin and death and the devil, means that He rules your life, not your flesh, not the world, not the devil, but King Jesus. This Lord who by His Spirit will surely renew you and transform you. And that is what's being done. You are being conformed to the image of Jesus. You are being changed from glory to glory to that day that you see your glorious God and Savior. What would hope? What hope? In 1984, Kim, my wife and I, but she wasn't my wife then, we went to South Africa. Now, in 1984, apartheid was legal and alive there, and apartheid is basically government-sanctioned and sponsored racism, segregation. And we were part of a team of missionaries, of Americans, Afrikaners, Dutch, English, and black Africans from various tribes. And one day we had a worship service together, and it concluded with the Lord's Supper. The fellow, after reading the words of institution, he took, we were all sitting in chairs around a circle, and he took the bread, and he broke it, and he passed it around, so each one of us took a piece of bread, and we passed it to the person next to us. And then he took the cup, after it was blessed, and passed it around. Now it was a single cup, and we're all to drink from this single cup. And he made a way around the circle, and it came to a South African man by the name of Jean. Well, he's Afrikaner, actually. And Sean, what he did is he looked at the cup, and he looked at the man that had just given it to him. It was a black African man who gave him that cup, who drank from that cup. He looked at the cup, he looked at the man, and I'm sure in his mind he's thinking, I grew up in a family that told me I was superior to black Africans. They served me. I would never drink, and my parents taught me never to drink from the same cup, eat from the same plate. But here he is, holding the cup, looking at the man. And all that that represents, the blood of Christ. shed for him. It was a glorious moment when he took that cup and he pressed it to his lips and he drank. Do you know what the power of the crucified and risen Christ can do? It can root out sin in your heart. It can transform you from glory to glory so that we see the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. That's what's at work in you, and that's the power that will enable you and me and this church to be risk takers for the kingdom of God. It's about Jesus, and I know that in your, there'll be a little voice inside of you, maybe it's from the pit of hell, the enemy of your soul will tell you, you don't have what it takes. You're too weak, you're not disciplined enough, you're not dedicated enough, you don't have enough gifts. You know, you just don't have enough money to be generous to those in missions. You don't want to do those things. You don't want to talk with somebody, you know, who's a different ethnicity or a different political or theological bent for you. The enemy of your soul will say, you don't have enough. You don't have enough. You don't have enough. And I'm telling you, do not listen. You have enough. Your God is enough for you. the one who calls you, the one who reigns, the one who's given you life, the one who sustains you. He is enough. Lean, lean wholly on Jesus' name. And we'll see the kingdom of God come. Let's pray. Our Lord and our God, forgive us for how often we look to our own power and our own strength grant us to look away from ourselves, to look to the resurrected, the crucified, resurrected and ascended and exalted Lord, the one that we will see on that glorious day enthroned with a multitude around him, singing, salvation belongs to our God. Oh Lord, help us to do that even now, to tell others of that great salvation, to live it out, to proclaim it near and far. We pray for your glory's sake, amen.