Untitled Sermon (14)

POWER:

The gospel is the power of God (), and

Jesus said his followers would be “clothed with power from on high” ().

On the day of Pentecost, sure enough, “suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind” ().

That power didn’t come from the pastor, the people, or the praise band.

It came from heaven, suddenly, without explanation except that God was in it.

How can we take up the name of Christ without the power of Christ?

If our purposes rise no higher than what we can attain by our own organizing and thinking, then we should change our churches into community centers.

But if we are

weary of ourselves and our own brilliance, if we are

embarrassed by our failures, then

we are ready for the gift of power from on high.

Too often we regard God’s power as an added ingredient that turbocharges our own efforts.

The early church didn’t think that way.

They thought of God’s power as a miraculous intervention without which they were dead in the water.

Not even gospel words were expected to work in an automatic way.

The apostle Paul defined authentic ministry among the Thessalonians like this: — because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit,

The coming of the gospel provoked an encounter, a clash between the claims of Thessalonian culture and the claims of an eternal kingdom.

It turned the Thessalonians from their self-invented idols to serve the living and true God ().

The idea that God might enhance their powers merely by adding his power was the furthest thing from the minds of these believers.

How can we press more deeply into the power of God today?

The answer will always be simple.

All we can do is go back to our Lord and His grace: — You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Does that answer seem too easy, even a letdown? Then try it. It is never easy.

It means deliberately rejecting every other source of strength but the grace of Christ alone.

Such rejection is counterintuitive to self-assured, get-it-done, pragmatic Christians like us.

Our cleverness always seems to promise more impact.

But that cleverness, in fact, is a liability brilliantly disguised as an asset.

The real battle being fought in our times is so profound it can be won only by the grace that is in Christ Jesus alone.

All other weapons of war lead to flight, defeat, and disgrace.

But strengthened by his grace, we will stumble forward into victory after victory.

Once received, the Word advances through those who received it.

This was especially evident in the Thessalonian church where the word was at work in the believers (), the word was ringing and sounding forth () running ahead ().

This language indicates evangelistic activity.

Ortlund, R. (2014). The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. (M. Dever & J. Leeman, Eds.) (pp. 105–106). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Ortlund, R. (2014). The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. (M. Dever & J. Leeman, Eds.) (pp. 104–105). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.