OPEN: The first church I served was in a quaint resort town called Hamilton, IN. It was a nice little town. A peaceful and quiet community. Well, except for that one time when the State police sent several officers as well as (pause) a bomb squad to the home of one of the residents there. It seems he had something in his basement he shouldn’t ought to have had. Whether he put it there, or he inherited the house and found these items there, I never found out. But down in his basement there were several boxes of dynamite. Now, outside of the fact that it was illegal for him to own dynamite, these boxes had passed their acceptable shelf-life. You see, the active ingredient in dynamite is nitroglycerin and, while nitro is relatively stable in a stick of dynamite, when dynamite gets too old it becomes highly unstable. According to research I did on this, if you happened to be messing around in a basement with a box of this aged dynamite, all you’d have to do is accidently kick it and you’d probably level an entire city block - and you may as well kiss goodbye the chances of people ever finding a trace of you ever again.
And this man had several boxes of it in his basement. He had a dangerous explosive in the basement of his house, and he had no idea what kind of power he was sitting on.
APPLY: In our text today, we read about a different kind of power. Paul tells the Ephesians that he had been praying for them - that they would understand “… the immeasurable greatness of (God’s) POWER toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.” Ephesians 1:19
The Greek word for “Power” in this verse is “dunamis.” That’s the Greek term that we get the word “dynamite” from. So Paul was praying that the Christians in Ephesus would understand what kind of dynamite power - explosive power - they were sitting on.
It’s important that you and I understand the power that Christ has given us. We need to know (and remember) that power so that we can know (and remember) WHO we are and WHAT we have.
Paul told the Ephesians that he was praying … “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” Ephesians 1:18-19
But why? Why should it matter? Why should it be important for us to know the hope & riches & power we have in Jesus? Well, if I don’t KNOW those things my faith can become dull and listless, and church can end up being nothing more than a ritual and a burden. It’s only in knowing the explosive power of Christ’s grace that I can begin to live like someone who has that power.
ILLUS: I once read a story about an Army Boot Camp. At Boot camp, the military trains its recruits in how to use various weapons… and one of the training sessions was teaching the soldiers how to handle Grenades. To start out with, they’d hand the recruits a dummy grenade (they didn’t want them to blow themselves up right away) and teach them the proper technique for tossing them. Then they’d grade them on how well they did and how far they threw the grenades. THEN they gave the recruits LIVE grenades. One of the instructors noted “You’d be surprised how much farther they could throw those live grenades.”
Now why could the recruits throw those live grenades so much farther? Because they KNEW how much POWER they held in their hands. And it’s the same for us. It’s when we understand how much power Christ has placed in our hands that our lives begin to change, and we do more… because we expect to do more.
So, it’s important to KNOW about the power Christ has given me.
But what can I do that would help me to KNOW about Christ’s power? Well, you can learn to know about Christ’s power in you the same way those soldiers may have learned to know about the power of those live grenades. They’ve either seen these explosives in action, or maybe they’ve read about them.
In the same way, we can learn to KNOW about Christ’s power by what we’ve Him do in our lives and the live of others. AND we can learn to know that power by what we read in the Bible. The Scripture is filled with stories of men and women who experienced God’s power.
ILLUS: I read the story of a man whose father used to read to him from the Bible. And when his dad read Scripture, it was with excitement and anticipation. A lot of times his dad would stop right in the middle of a story – maybe about Shadrach, Meshach Abednego or Daniel in the Lion’s Den - and then say “And what do you think happened next?” By doing this, his dad created an atmosphere of expectation. And because His dad read the story as a man who believed in the power of God that boy grew up to be a man who also believed in a God who had the power to change his life.
You see, that’s the way God wrote Scripture. He told us REAL stories about REAL men and women, who faced REAL challenges, and who experienced the REAL power from on high. THAT’S the kind of power you have in your hand.
Now, quiz time: Where does this power come from? (GOD) That’s right. That power comes from God through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:19-20 says – We have “… the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places”
Now, you’d think that would be a “GIMMEE!” You would think that every Christian would KNOW that God is the source of our power… but too often they don’t!! Too often, too many people treat God as if He’s an ADD-ON or a LEAN-TO to their lives.
ILLUS: You know what a LEAN-TO is, don’t you? A LEAN-TO is a room that is attached to the house, but it’s not the house itself. It’s an addition to the REAL HOUSE that people live in. A lot of people see God as a LEAN-TO. He’s not the MAIN part of their lives. He’s not the MAIN part of HOW they think or how they live. He’s kind of an afterthought!
ILLUS: I had a conversation with a man on Facebook recently about the protests in New York City that I think illustrate this kind of attitude. I had posted a meme that noted that Mayor de Blasio had commented about his policy regarding peaceful protests to be legal and safe but people gathering church were not safe… and therefore weren’t legal. De Blasio’s comment was “It’s not the same.” My comment was “Seriously?” I had nothing against peaceful protests, but you can’t get a more peaceful gathering than a group of people in church.
One man commented on that thread with these words: “Apparently they (Christians) should go to church in protest of the lockdown. When the Apostles were beaten and told to stop preaching the truth in public by governing officials, they continued to preach, brother. But, to each his own. I am not suggesting someone risk getting Covid-19 if they are afraid.”
Now I understood that man’s frustration, but I disagreed with his conclusion. He was saying that Christians ought to get upset AND they ought to PROTEST this injustice. To illustrate his point, he referred to the story in Acts where Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin and commanded not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus. But (he noted) “THEY CONTINUED TO PREACH.”
Well… that’s not entirely true. Peter and John DID go out and preach, and they did go out and preach in spite of in violation of the rulers of the people who said they couldn’t do that! But they did NOT go right out and preach in PROTEST. In fact, they weren’t PROTESTING anything. They were PROCLAIMING the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. They were obeying God. And how do we KNOW they were obeying rather than protesting???
Well, you read the text: “On their release (from the Sanhedrin) Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they RAISED THEIR VOICES TOGETHER IN PRAYER TO GOD.” Acts 4:24
You see they DIDN’T go right out and PREACH. And they didn’t go right out and PROTEST. And they didn’t go right out and DEMAND their rights. No – they went right out and PRAYED!!!
And these were the words they prayed: "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ (quoting Psalm 2:1-2) Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:25-30)
LET ME REPEAT – they didn’t protest and complain and stage civil disobedience. They prayed and then they obeyed God.
Catch what happened right after they prayed this prayer: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31
THEY RECEIVED POWER!
And the power didn’t come from their frustration. The power didn’t come from their anger or their resentment. Their power didn’t come from their desire to protest injustice!!!
WHERE DID THE POWER COME FROM??? It came from God! God literally shook the building they were meeting in, and He filled them with the power of His Holy Spirit, AND THEN they went out and preached.
And notice something – from that point on it wasn’t just Peter and John preaching. “THEY WERE ALL filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31) EVERYBODY went out preached. Not in protest but in POWER! They prayed and then they obeyed. But they obeyed AFTER they prayed. And they did not preach… UNTIL they PRAYED!
Do you catch the drift here? The asked for power, they didn't presume it. They didn't say "Hey! I have a right!" No, they came to God and said "What you gonna do about it? You're the one with the power. What are you gonna do about it?" And they were available for God to use... but the first thing they did was - they went to God, not to themselves. God was not a lean-to. He was not an add-on. He was the main source of their power, just like He's the main source for your power.
This is why we NEED to KNOW the power of God has given us - the power we’re sitting on. We need to know the power we have in our hands. Too often Christians get frustrated and angry because things aren’t working out the way they think they should in the world, or in the church, or in their home. And they end up doing and saying and thinking things they ought not do and say and think. And do you know WHY things don’t turn out the way you may want them to? Because they put their faith in the WRONG things and the WRONG people. God has become an ADD-ON/ LEAN-TO to their faith. So they don’t pray, and they don’t obey… God.
If you don’t KNOW and understand the power of God that you have access to… that’s what will happen.
CLOSE: Sometime back, I read an interesting observation on the power of God by a man named Andrew Wilson in “Christianity Today.” He noted that in the book of Judges, an enemy general named Sisera was defeated with a tent peg and a hammer. A judge named Shamgar defeated the Philistines with a cattle prod (3:31). Gideon beat his enemy with jars and torches (7:19-23). Jericho’s walls were brought down with trumpets (Josh. 6). And Moses brought the Israelites up out of Egypt using a simple shepherd’s staff which shepherds used to guide and protect sheep.
Then he observed: God seems to like common tools – the stuff of cooking, building, farming, to show His power. But why? The most obvious reason is that he wanted to remind Israel - over and over again – that its military security didn’t come from strength, numbers, weapons, or personal ability but from the power of their God who fought on their behalf.
The very strangeness of the tools God had them use was the whole point: Nobody could win with that unless God was with them. It could be a tent peg or a cattle prod. Or a jawbone, a pebble, a stone, or an altar soaked in water that suddenly caught fire. Whatever the means of victory, it rammed home the point - Israel’s success came “not by might nor by power, but my Spirit’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zech. 4:6)
GOD SHOWED HIS POWER IN THE FACE OF OVERWHELMING ODDS. And He defeated those overwhelming odds by things that were common and useless in the face of military might. He used that which was often weak and vulnerable to show His power to the world.
And the BIG contrast - came at the cross. Rome, the most powerful military force the world had ever seen gathered a battalion of soldiers to confront the King of Kings. They were armed, he was stripped. They came with swords and spears; he came with nothing more than the name of God. Their hands were accustomed to the most advanced weapons available. HIS hands were accustomed to ordinary carpenter’s tools - nails, hammers, and planks of wood. And yet … when the dust settled, Rome’s weapons, and their cruelty, and their cross and the punishment and death they could inflict were met with the power of Christ’s resurrection. In the end, the warriors of Rome were no match for a carpenter. (Adapted from an article by Andrew Wilson, Christianity Today, May 2019, p. 28)
Understand and know, that THAT’S THE POWER you have from God. As Ephesians 1:19-20 tells us it is vital that we KNOW “… the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the WORKING OF HIS GREAT MIGHT that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.”
INVITATION
