Let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, as we again have come together, we ask that you would, by your Spirit, take your word, which is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And Father, that you would apply that word to our lives and that our lives would not be the same as a result of the renewing that comes about as we study your word. So, Father, work what is pleasing to yourself in us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. We've been looking at the Lord Jesus Christ as God's yes or amen to all the promises of God that are found in Scripture, recognizing that he alone is the entryway into the blessings of God and into the actual partaking of the promises that God has made. And there's no other way. There's no other entrance. There's no way you can get in on those promises apart from coming through the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Savior. And we've been looking of late at the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who unlocks the power of God in our lives. Scripture has a lot to say about the power of God. And it's described as this awesome, awesome power. Beyond our ability to comprehend the power, the really power that it took to raise Jesus Christ from the dead and do the things that God did on our behalf is the power that's available to us. And I want to remind myself and you also of why is this power necessary? What do I need all that power for? You know, many areas of life where you look around and you say, that's way more power than a person needs. You know, somebody comes up with a thousand horsepower engine in their car, you know, you say, well, do you really need that? If this incredible power of God is available to us, there must be a necessity for it. There must be something in our lives, some things in our lives that make it necessary to have this power. And it immediately becomes very, very clear that our power isn't enough. Whatever power it is, whatever meager power we possess in and of ourselves, it's not enough to get the job done or else God wouldn't have had to unlock for us the power that's available in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, let's start by going to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We start in verse 7. As he's talking about the treasure of the gospel, the treasure of Jesus Christ as our Savior, he says, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels. In other words, we carry this treasure in these bodies which are pictured as pottery vessels. So, you think of how much power is there in a Clay pot. Okay. Not especially known for producing power. He says we have this treasure. And then he says this. But think about that. Think about your body and the ability of your body to get done the things of God. And if you think correctly, you're going to see that I can't do this. If you try to live one day in your own power, you'll find you're failing all day long. You don't want to get angry, but you do. And you don't want to say the wrong thing, but you do. You know, on and on and on. You don't want to think the wrong thoughts, but you do. And so, it says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that, in order that, the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God. God could have. Now think about this. Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the word of God, is going to be made exactly like Jesus Christ in his glorified humanity. That's your future. You're going to have a body like his with all that power. And so here's the question. Why didn't he do that the moment you were saved? He could have. He could have just made you right then, not only in your forgiveness and righteousness and your position in Christ, but in your experience, so to speak. He could have just given you a pop, a glorified body. And then you would have had the power. But he says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. He didn't give us that glorified body yet. And then he says, here's why. That the surpassing greatness of the power. Think of those words. You know, Paul's always stacking up words. And he said, surpassing, going past, greatness. of the power. It's hard for us to even grasp the enormity of what he's talking about as far as powers. It goes beyond greatness of power. That the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God. What does he say? And not from ourselves. So there's the whole thing. God has chosen to have us live the Christian lives. our Christian lives in this body of clay that still has a sinful nature. In order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be from God and not from ourselves. So we're absolutely limited as to our own power, but unlimited power available through Jesus Christ from God. Then he goes on and he starts describing his life as an apostle and the other people around him, and he says, we're afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Why? That the surpassing greatness of the power. He said, most people, if you lived, I think if you lived a month in Paul's body, In your own strength, you'd say, enough is enough. I'm not doing this anymore. I'm sick of being beaten. I'm sick of being in prison. I'm sick of being misunderstood. I'm sick of being slandered. You know, on and on and on. Everywhere he turned, you know, either people loved him who were the believers, who were walking with the Lord, or people hated him. The Jews detested him. They hated him. They would go out of town to attack him. They put people together to go before rulers in the Roman Empire, called them, this man is a real pest. Well, he says, we're afflicted in every way. You know, a little bit of affliction hits us and it's not in every way. I mean, it's just affliction in this area, affliction in that area. And a lot of times it just takes the wind right out of our sails. Afflicted in every way. but not crushed, perplexed, don't always know what God's doing, not even Paul, but not despairing, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. I think I wonder if he's remembering the time they took him and dragged him out of town and stoned him to death, left him for dead under a pile of stones. struck down but not destroyed, always caring about in the body the dying of Jesus, dying to ourselves and living to Christ, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Why do we need the power? Because we've been caught. Here's the thing. The Christian life is not you and I just trying to do better. Now we're Christians and we're going to just try and do better. You know, we're just going to upgrade a little bit. And that's what it's about. It's not about that. It's about a whole new life, a whole new standard, a whole new requirement, a standard of holiness the likes of which we couldn't begin to grasp in our own strength. But God has said it before us. He's called on us to live holy, righteous lives. That's what it's about. It is may not be popular in the church today, but that's what it's about. It's not about me. It's about God. It's about serving him. It's about Jesus Christ. It's about living righteous lives, not about me being blessed. God may do that. He may not. So let's go next to Ephesians, chapter four, verses one and two, just these two verses, suppose, and I hope it's true. But suppose it's your intent, my intent, very, very focused intent to live out these two verses starting right now. OK, let's read them. I therefore, Paul says, the prisoner of the word. Don't you love that? Paul would be imprisoned by the Romans, but he never said that. He always said, I'm the prisoner of the Lord. Why? Because he was serving Jesus Christ and he knew I wouldn't be in prison if it were not God's sovereign will that I'd be in prison. So he never said he was. They're just tools in the hand of God. So Paul never saw that somehow some terrible thing had happened that he was in prison. He knew it was terrible on the part of man, but he also knew that Jesus Christ, the head of the church, his head wanted him in prison. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk, have your habit of life now. How are you going to live? That's why it's such nonsense to think that this Christianity that we have in Jesus Christ is a Sunday morning thing. You know, you put on your good clothes and you come to church and you smile and you treat everybody and then it's over for the week. That's nonsense. This is a way of life. This is how you think. This is how you live. Paul says, I entreat you, urge you, call on you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've been called. You've been called, in other words, by God into his family for all of these magnificent things that are beyond our comprehension throughout all eternity. And the message here is, Paul says, I want you to live in accordance with your salvation in accordance with your calling, in accordance with what God has prepared for you. And then he says this, with all humility, that one of our greatest enemies this week, if we were to live this, is simply pride. We're proud about everything we do. We're proud about things that we have no right to be proud about. You know, what do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? God made you. He gave you the abilities you have. He put you in a place where you could have and display those abilities. And every once in a while, you know, you see somebody just such a sad, sad plight. You know what I mean? Maybe they can't walk. They can't talk. They can't see. You look at that and you say, that could have been me. Do you understand that? That could have been you. You have no credit whatsoever that that's not you. None. You didn't do anything different than they did. Do you know what I mean? You can't go there, well, this father and mother must have sinned or they're, you know, because that's what the disciples did with Christ. Remember when they came across the man born blind from birth? And the disciples turned to the Lord and they said, who sinned, this man or his parents that he should be born blind? And what did Jesus Christ say? Neither. He said it was born blind so that he could display the glory, so that the glory of God would be displayed in his life. And he was healed that day and he was saved that day. And you can be sure you may not like the story, but you can be sure that he's not disappointed with how the Lord planned his life. With all humility. Did that take power? Think of the power to humble a person like me. And I'll add you there, too. Think of the power that it takes to actually be humble, not walking around saying things that sound like you're humble, but actually to be humble. Try it. It's not that easy. And try it when you've just, by God's grace, been successful, wonderfully successful in some area of your life. You know what I mean? Where you've done really, really well. All right. With all humility and gentleness. Another one. Are you gentle? I'm not a naturally gentle person. That would be how I would be described. I'd be sharp, quick, to take power, to be gentle. Patience. How's that one? Patience. When things are developing at a rate far, far inferior to your expectations. Patience. Patience when you're waiting. Take power to be patient. These are not things that God says, well, I'd be nice if you were like this. This is God saying, this is the standard. You get what I'm saying? This is the standard. This is what Jesus Christ is. This is the standard. If you're going to be a godly person, you don't get to define, and I don't get to define, what godliness is. Scripture defines what godliness is. And if you give godliness, by the way, is giving God his rightful place in your life, where he holds sway over your life. And if you are going to be a godly person, this is what you'll look like. Humility, gentleness, patience, showing forbearance to one another in love. That word forbearance to me is a little bit scary, because it means bearing with something that I don't like. It means putting up with something that's grating on me, and maybe it's just touching a very, very raw nerve and it just makes you want to come unglued. And you know, you don't even know when these things are going to happen. The other day I had a kid be so disrespectful of me. It took everything I had to not come across that table and throttle that kid. I was surprised even that that was my reaction. With patience, showing forbearance, bearing with one another in love. That's godliness. That's what God intends for us to have. Does that take power? How much power to do that verse, that second verse, to make you and me like that? What kind of power are we talking about? I'll tell you what, it's way more power than it takes to do an earthquake. This is power on a level that's huge. Over in Colossians chapter 3, we'll start in verse 5. It's telling you about our new position in Christ and we've been raised up with Him and so forth, all these wonderful truths of what God has done to save us. And in verse 5, he says, therefore, looking back on your position in Christ and all the things, he says, therefore, consider the members of your earthly body, your body parts, as dead to immorality. Put all these together, dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed. You think about those things. Are you in the flesh dead to those things? No, not at all. But it says on the basis of your new position in Christ, how we're supposed to think that we've been crucified with him. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality." Listen, if you're dead to immorality, are you going to be immoral? Is a dead person immoral? Can a dead person break the law? No, no. Dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed, which amounts to idolatry. And then the Lord says this, So it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come. The wrath of God is coming, by the way, and it will be because of these things that it comes. And then he says this, and in them, in those things, you also once walked. You used to live there. You weren't dead to immorality. You were alive in immorality, so to speak. You lived there. You thought about it. You pursued it. And in them you also once walked." What is he talking about? Before you were a believer in Jesus Christ and began to be renewed in the spirit of your mind and made a new creature in Christ and all of those great things that God has done, that was your way of life. That is what we all did. You had to let lesser degrees or more degrees, whatever, it doesn't matter. We were all sinners. in these areas. Like I said, some people have more of a battle with greed than immorality, but we're all sinful people. And whatever that area of sin was that you walked in, you still have a very strong temptation to walk there now. It says, and in them you also once walked when you were living in them. And you were, and I was. But now you also. Put them all aside. Lay them aside. Let me ask you this. Is this something God wants you to do or not? You know, is this his will or not? Is this what godliness is or isn't it? Let me ask you this question. Is there such a thing as being truly born again and not at all caring about what this says? As soon as somebody says to me, well, I just don't care about it. It's not for me. I right away am going to think, I don't think I have the right to think Jesus Christ said, by their fruits you shall know them. What's their life look like? I can't see in your head. You can't see in my head. What's your life look like? But now you also put them all aside, lay them aside. Anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech from your mouth. Abusive speech, foul words. False speech, that which doesn't edify or build up, that which doesn't glorify Jesus Christ. It's lamicide. And it goes on and says, do not lie to one another. I was reading this morning, that verse that says, no lie is of the truth. We've been born again through Jesus Christ. The truth of the gospel, the truth of the word of God. No lies of the truth. You know, this nonsense that goes around today that there's, you know, a white lie is an okay lie. And I don't know, is there black lies? But there's white lies. You know, if you tell a person that they're, who's dying, you don't want to disturb them. So you don't tell them they're dying. You tell them, I hear this kind of thing all the time. Oh, you're doing fine. You're getting better. It's a lie. That's a lie, and it robs a person of the opportunity to think correctly about the situation they're in. Which is exactly, if it's a believer, that's what you want. You want a person to have to grapple with the things of truth so that he will come to Christ. Do you want to make it all seamless? I probably shouldn't even go there, but it's one of the things that really concerns me about the drugging of our children. You know, they got this little problem or that problem, and maybe it's a big problem. So they put them on Ritalin, they put them on this, they put them on that. And I think about what a genius act of the deception of Satan. Give them a pill so they don't feel what they were feeling. And yet it's through those things that God works. It's through the difficult things. It's like taking away consequences. It's like I know that's a huge area. Okay. Don't be mad at me. But I've seen it. I'm old enough now to have seen it long enough period of time. It doesn't quite work the way people think it does. And by the time you're down the road, it can be too late. It was dear girl. I just love this girl. She lives somewhere else in the country. And this girl had a horrendous background, just bad background. all kinds of sinful behavior. Met a believer, she was saved. Her mother didn't know how to cope with her young age, put her on these drugs. I mean, the kind that the doctor gives. And she could tell. Now, Wynn was talking to her all the time on the phone, helping her. And she could now start to see that I can't live the Christian life the way I'm supposed to and be still on these drugs. So now, as an adult woman, Having done it all those years, she laid it aside. You know, you can't, maybe you can, but the impact in her life, the upheaval of trusting in that, not trusting, but depending on that all those years. And now she's, if I let myself think about it, I'll just weep. She had such a time. And then she was back and she could, you know, and she was in danger of going back into alcoholism and all kinds, but you know, the Lord is faithful. She stuck it out and I'm just so proud of her, you know, because she's living a godly life, having come out of things that were so horrendous. I don't even, my life's been a piece of cake compared to what she's had to deal with. Took the power of God in her life to do those things. So it says, do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self, your sinful nature, with its evil practices, we all have it, and have put on the new self, put on the new man, made like Jesus Christ, created, Scripture says, in righteousness and holiness of the truth, and have put on the new self who is being renewed, that's a work in progress, to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, uncircumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, sithian, slave and free man, but Christ is all and in all. I want you to go over to Philippians chapter 3, verse 8, talking about the power of God available to us through Jesus Christ. Paul, having given his own testimony here, says this, more than that, I count all things to be lost. in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. It may be found in him, there's a great statement, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. That's how righteousness is given by God, faith in Christ. But that which is true faith in Christ, trusting him as your Savior, to be all that he says he is, to be all that the word of God says he is, died on the cross for your sins, rose again the third day. But that which is true faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God, not from me, but from God, God gives it to us. The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Now, notice what he says next. That I may know him. Here's Paul's heart cry. I want to know. I want to know him better, that I may know him. And then he says this, and the power of his resurrection. Where do you see the showing forth of great power? Where there's a great need for it. You know what I mean by that? It's not like you just go out and stand on a plane and watch a bomb go off and you just say, oh, there's a lot of power there. We're talking about power in the Christian life is revealed in a situation where that power is needed. So really, when Paul says, I want to know the power of his resurrection, what's he saying? I want to be in places where nothing but this awesome power of God will win the day. I want to be in places where I learn in my experience and see for myself the power of God in my own life. And that's a prayer for some terribly difficult things. You know what I mean? If God is going to bring you that kind of power and the demonstration of it, it's not going to be just having you stand off to the side somewhere and watch some wonderful miracle and somebody else. This is Paul talking about in his own life where he had no power to do the things that needed to be done. When we sing, he giveth more grace. So to giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater. You want greater burdens? He sendeth more strength when the labors increase, to add an affliction. You want to add an affliction? He added his mercy to multiplied trials, his multiplied peace. His love has no limit. His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men. For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth and giveth again. Now, come to the second verse, which is my favorite. Because this is us, this is me. When we have exhausted our store of endurance, isn't that great? We think, I can endure and I will endure. So the hymn takes us all the way to the end of, we just ran out of endurance. We had our little, you know, six pounds of endurance and it was gone inside of 14 minutes. OK, this is when we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed, ere the day is half done. I love these verses because they're so real. So the day is half over and I'm already done. You ever been there? It's such a difficult thing you're facing. You're just totally exhausted at noon. OK, here's my favorite phrase. When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, No, we've been hoarding, we've been storing this stuff up to have in case something like this happens. And now our herded resources are gone. We had them, we had it all stocked up and we were ready and now it's gone. This is this. Our father's forgiving has only begun. That's where the Lord starts. Now, I don't mean he doesn't do force before that, but that's where the power of God is evident because everything up until then, I'm going to take credit for it. Oh, I took care of that with my hoarded resources. I took care of that. I've been able to do that in the past and I just did it again. You know what I mean? Back to Philippians. Notice what Paul says, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection And then he says this, and the fellowship of his sufferings. Where do you really get to see the power of God? When you are suffering all the things that can befall a Christian for the cause of Christ in this wicked world. Paul says, The Father has given the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ has given me the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that enabled the Son and His humanity to withstand these terrible attacks and these terrible, terrible things. Paul says, I want to do that. I want to see that. To me, it's like it's Paul's way, in my estimation, of saying what Moses said, Lord, show me your glory. I want to see it. But Paul's saying, I want to see it in my own life. I want to live it out. I want to see that power in the evangelizing of the world. I want to see that power when I'm being beaten. I want to see that power when I'm being stoned to death. I want to see that power when I'm on a ship for days, in fact, weeks, that is in a storm and it's going to go down or it's going to break up. I want to see that power. I want to see everybody. Remember Paul, how he prayed? He asked the Lord that the Lord would spare every single person. I can't remember the number. I think it was 271 or something like that, roughly. And the Lord said, I'll give you all those people. Now that's power. For a ship to break up in the storm on a coast and not have anybody lost. Paul would have to see this power again and again. He's fixing a fire. Remember that? He's fixing a fire because it's raining and it's cold. When they land there, I think it was on the island of Malta, and they land there on that island and he's fixing a fire and he grabs a bunch of sticks and puts them on the fire and a poisonous snake comes out, grabs onto his hand and everybody's looking, oh boy, he's going to die. Shakes it off into the fire. They're all waiting for him just like they do in that part of the world. You know, somebody gets bit and they just wait for him to keel over and die. And he never did. So then he thought, well, he must be a god. They had it wrong either way. But the thing is, all of that is God's power. He got to see it. Most of us would rather hear about Paul's power, if you know what I mean. Sit in the living room, be comfortable. But Paul says, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death. dying to himself, living for Jesus Christ, raised up to newness of life. Wonderful, wonderful passage. Father, how we thank you for the power that you have made available to us to live godly lives and to see great issues that we face resolved by your power. May we view each difficulty in our life, each traumatic thing in our life, each overwhelming thing in our life, Father, as simply a playing field for the display of your power as we live according to your word, led by your spirit, righteously desiring to have what you want for us. We'll thank you for it in Jesus name. Amen.