Incomparable Power

Incomparable Power

Ephesians 1:15-23

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength…” Ephesians 1:18-19

This sermon series that we have been doing at The Seed is based on the “Presence --- Promise --- Power --- Possibilities – and the Power of God!” We’ve looked at the wonderful hope we have in having the presence of God. The first week of the series, we heard powerful passages that God is with us, will never leave us and we don’t have be afraid. Last week, we learned to stand on the promises of God. This week will take a few moments and connect to the power of God.

In my readings this week, I read a story about a young man by the name Heinrich Schliemann. On January 6, 1822, the wife of a poor German pastor had a son, never dreaming that he would one day achieve world renown and great wealth. When Heinrich Schliemann was seven years old, a picture of ancient Troy in flames captured his imagination. Contrary to what many people believed, Heinrich argued that Homer’s great poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were based on historic facts and he set out to prove it. In 1873, he uncovered the ancient site of Troy, along with some fabulous treasure which he smuggled out of the country, much to the anger of the Turkish government. Schliemann became a famous, wealthy man because he dared to believe an ancient record and act on his faith.[i]

It is my prayer that we can dig deeply into God’s Words and find the truth of God’s presence, promises, power, possibilities and purpose all throughout the scriptures.

Let us listen to God’s Word to us today from Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. I pray that as we hear these words that we will let them soak and saturate our hearts and minds, that we will be able to understand and comprehend the deep, deep love of God found in Christ Jesus. May the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead fill our hearts and lives. Amen

Ephesians 1:15-23

15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Fred Craddock, a pastor and teacher, tells a story about a young pastor who goes to pray with an older woman. She's near death; she's in the hospital lying on the pillow, gasping for breath. He visits with her, and then he says, "I need to go, but would you like to have prayer before I go?" The old woman says, "Yes." He says, "Well, what would you like us to pray for today?" And she says, "I'd like to pray I'd be healed, of course."

The young pastor gasps but goes on, "Lord, we pray for your sustaining presence with this sick sister. And if it be thy will, we pray that she will be restored to health and to service. But if it's not thy will, we certainly hope that she will adjust to her circumstances."

Suddenly the old woman opens her eyes and sits up in bed. She throws her feet over the side of the bed. She stands up. She says, "I think I'm healed!" And she strides out the door. The last the pastor sees, she's striding down the hall toward the nurses' station, saying "Look! Look at me!" The pastor goes down the steps, goes out to the parking lot. Before he opens the door of his car, he looks up to the heavens and says, "Don't you ever do that to me again!"[ii] The poor, young pastor was totally surprised by the power of God!

So often I think we are like the late newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst, who invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world. One day Mr. Hearst found a description of some valuable items that he felt he must own, so he sent his agent abroad to find them. After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures. They were in Mr. Hearst’s warehouse. Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures he already owned! Had he read the catalog of his treasures, he would have saved himself a great deal of money and trouble.

Let us not miss the power of God in our lives!

Today we are going to talk about “power!” What comes to your mind when you hear the word “power?” I went to the web to look up the definition of power and there were over 3 billion different hits for power. There is even a Department of Water and Power.

When Paul gets to this section of this magnificent prayer, he prays that we will know the “hope” to which you have been called and he prays that we will know the glorious riches of our inheritance. Then his prayer moves to power! He prays that we will know the “incomparably” great power for us who believe!

GREAT POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE --- GOD’S POWER

What do you know about God’s power? What do you believe about God’s power? Paul uses a specific word to describe God’s power by throwing two Greek words together: “huper” which means “over” and “ballo” which means “to throw.” “Huperballo” has been translated with English words like “incomparable, exceedingly, immeasurable, to go beyond, to excel, to throw beyond, and to surpass.” This is the same word that Paul uses to try and explain the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

What is this incomparable power of God?

Maybe, just maybe, Paul was thinking of all the stories that he had heard as a boy in Sabbath school. Stories from the Old Testament scrolls that spoke about God’s power:

v The power of God to save Noah and his family through building an ark before the flood and enduring the season ON the ark…and then rebuilding afterwards!

v The power of Joseph to interpret dreams for Pharaoh and to survive being sold out by his own brothers!

v The power of God in Moses and Aaron and the plagues to Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea and the power of God in the deliverance of the Israelites into the Promised land after 40 years of wandering the wilderness—all millions of them.

v The power of God given to a little shepherd boy by the name of David when he faced a giant by the name of Goliath--with five smooth stones and a slingshot.

v The power of God when Daniel is trapped in a lion’s den!

v The power of God with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in a fiery furnace!

v The power of God as God brought Jonah out of a belly of whale and sent him to Nineveh to preach the Good News of repentance!

v The power of God when the prophet Elijah confronts the false prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel!

v The power of God when he strengthens Esther as she is called to speak to King Xerxes!

v The power of in Ruth…a foreigner to be in the line of the King of Kings.

Paul used four different words for “power” when he tried to describe this incomparable power. He used the Greek word “δύναμις [dunamis /doo·nam·is/]” from which we get the words “dynamo” or “dynamite.” This “dunamis” power is “ἐνέργεια [energeia /en·erg·i·ah/]” the working, the effectual working of the “κράτος [kratos /krat·os/]” might and strength of God. The last word that Paul used in this prayer is the Greek word “ἰσχύς [ischus /is·khoos/]” which means strength, ability, might and power. Paul tried his hardest to describe the amazing power that is available to anyone who believes.

When W.J. Bryan tried to describe the mystery of God’s power in a lecture he gave on the “The Price of Peace,” he used an illustration of a watermelon. Bryan said, “I am not so much of a farmer as some people claim, but I have observed the watermelon seed. It has the power of drawing from the ground and through itself 200,000 times its weight, and when you can tell me how it takes this material and out of it colors an outside surface beyond the imitation of art, and then forms inside of it a white rind and within again a red heart, thickly inlaid with black seeds, each one of which in turn is capable of drawing through itself 200,000 times its weight—when you can explain to me the mystery of a watermelon, you can ask me to explain the mystery of God.”[iii]

Paul doesn’t use a watermelon; he tells the faithful gathered to hear his prayer that this incomparable power is at work in us and it is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. Stop and think about that for a minute! The power that is at work in you is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead!

YOU’VE GOT THE POWER

In the movie “Bruce Almighty” Jim Carey goes around singing, “I’ve Got the Power!” Isn’t that what is wrong with our society today? We all go around thinking that: “I’ve got the power.” We tend to want to go in the power of our own strength, our own wisdom, and our own resources. So often we go on our own attitudes and mindsets. We think we know what is best. We act out of our fears and our frustrations. We do it MY WAY.

What is this surpassing greatness of God’s power toward us who believe? Paul is talking about a divine, dynamic, eternal energy that is available to us 24/7/365!

John D. Rockefeller was the world’s first billionaire. It is said that for many years, he lived on crackers and milk because of stomach troubles caused by worrying about his wealth. He rarely had a good night’s sleep, and guards stood constantly at his door. John D. Rockefeller was wealthy—but was miserable! When he began to share his wealth with others in great philanthropic endeavors, his health improved considerably, and he lived to be an old man.[iv]

I have a good friend who spent several months helping his mom clean up her brother’s estate. My friend’s uncle passed away in his home. It was several days before anyone found him. He lived alone in an upstairs apartment that he owned. He was a bit of an introverted recluse who left behind seven different properties, three warehouses full of stuff, which included over 100 cars and trucks and seventeen motorcycles and enough car and truck parts to build a few more. He left quite an estate to his only surviving sister, now in her eighties. Listen to this, this man lived in an apartment without running water because he didn’t want to pay a water bill.

I ask the question, what good is it to have wealth if you are too afraid to use it or if you are too afraid of someone stealing your wealth that you can’t really enjoy it?

So What?

This past week I was working on different things for the leadership teams of our church --- The Seed. I came across some pretty interesting facts about seeds. Do you know turnip seeds, under good conditions, increase their weight 15 times a minute, and in rich soil turnip seeds may increase their weight 15,000 times in a day. There is no force more powerful than a growing squash. A squash that is 18 days old has been harnessed in such a way that in its growing process it lifted 50 pounds on lever—19 days later it lifted 5,000 pounds. (HUH?) Do you know that in a medium-sized mustard plant there are 85 pods? The average number of seeds in each pod is eight. Since two crops in a given year mature, a gardener figured that it was possible in the interim between February and mid-October to produce a yield of 462,000 seeds--all from one original plant. Turnips and squash aren’t alone, either. Within every seed lies “incomparably great power!”

Take a look at the verse picked to be the foundation for The Seed Christian Fellowship: “You have been born again not of perishable seed but imperishable through the living, enduring word of God.” (I Peter:23) Friends, this is what Paul is talking about. The same incomparably great power that lies within every earthly seed also lies within the living, enduring WORD OF GOD.

“So what” is the power that you choose to live with? What kind of power lives in THE SEED CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP? What kind of power lives within each one of us? Do we live in the power of our own wisdom? Do we live in the power of our own strength? Do we live in the power of our own resources? Do we live in the power of our own choices? Do we live in the power of our own bitterness and brokenness? Do we live in the power of our fears and frustrations? Or—are we growing more and more each day in the incomparably great power of the living, enduring word of GOD? The Word of God is right here before us and it is a seed that is promised to produce more than we can ask or imagine.

Let’s go back to our scripture and the Apostle Paul. The early church in Ephesus was facing trials and persecution. They lived in fear! They lived in a city where the goddess Artemis was worshipped and glorified. The temple to Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the World at the time of Paul’s writing. Whose power would these early believers turn to? Would they turn to the power of Artemis or would they turn to the power of the Holy Spirit of God?

Whose power will you turn to? It’s the same old question all of these thousands of years later? It may not be Artemis today…but what power will we turn to?

One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was that this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With all of its vast oil resources, this tiny little float in the Rose parade was out of gas.[v]

I believe that as Christians we have this vast reservoir full, overflowing, going beyond what we can ask or imagine, waiting for us to tap into. We have this incomparably great power at our fingertips, yet we often run out of gas. I believe that sometimes we are like the young pastor who goes to pray for someone and we then are surprised by God’s miracle-working power. Or maybe we are like John D. Rockefeller sitting at home worrying about our wealth and making ourselves sick—so sick that eating soda crackers and milk is all we eat. How unfortunate it is to sit on a stockpile of power and never use it for the power of good. My friend’s uncle lived like a pauper but he was a millionaire.

If your life feels like it is being flooded and you don’t know if your boat will float, do me a favor and trust that the incomparably great power that helped Noah float his boat will help you float yours. If you feel like you are in a lion’s den then be like Daniel, and trust the incomparably great power that saved him will also save you. If you feel like you have been swallowed by a whale, trust that the same incomparably great power that rescued Jonah will also rescue you. Are you facing a giant right now? Trust and believe that the same incomparably great power that helped David will help you. Does your life feel out of control? Are you overwhelmed with heartaches, hurts, fears, frustration, pain and/or confusion? Get this into your head and heart: the same incomparably great power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and seated Him in Heaven--is given to you! This power lives inside of you because you believe.

The power lies within the seed. Ask any watermelon, turnip, squash or ear of corn! Do you own one of these? (Hold up Bible.) Then I am here to tell you: YOU GOT THE POWER!

Let us pray ---16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

The Seed Christian Fellowship

Rancho Cucamonga, California 91730

www.theseedchristianfellowship.com

February 17, 2019

Pastor Dave Peters

[i] [i]Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 14). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[ii] "Evangelical Laughter," Preaching Today, Tape No. 137

[iii] Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : Garland TX: Bible Communications.

[iv] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

[v] Steve Blankenship, Edmond, Oklahoma. Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 1.