EPHESIANS 1:15-23 RECEIVE GODS GREAT POWER TOWARD YOU2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ephesians 1:15-23 Receive Gods Great Power Toward You

You are listening to Fervent Word, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017.

This morning we're going to be here in Ephesians chapter 1, and we're looking at the Apostle Paul's prayer for the Christians who are located in Ephesus. And so he's writing to this group of believers, and he's praying for them.

He says, "I want you to know what I'm praying for you," and he gives some details of part of the prayer that he has for the Ephesian church. Now, as he's praying for them, there's lots of details in here that we're not going to get into. There's lots of incredible, you know, just good nuggets, we like to call them,

just so much about God and amazing things that we can pray for one another as we look at the example of Paul's prayer. But I want to zero in and focus on just a couple of verses here in this prayer to get a picture a little bit of what God has for us this morning.

And so I'm going to look again at verse 18 and read that to you.

It says, "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power." Now,

this is pretty typical of the Apostle Paul, that he writes these incredibly powerful passages, but they're like these long run-on compound sentences that just kind of like overlap and intertwine, and there's all these details. And so in his prayer, he says, "I'm praying that God would open your eyes, that you would be enlightened,

and that you would know three things." First of all, he says, "I'm praying that you would know," in verse 18, "what is the hope of his calling." And there's some incredible truth there that we're not going to talk about today. The second thing he prays that they would know is that they would know what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

That's also in verse 18 and also not what we're going to be talking about today, but we're going to talk about the third thing that Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know. And what is that? It's found in verse 19, "The exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe." This was Paul's prayer for the Christians at Ephesus.

And as he extends it to those who believe, this is Paul's prayer for all believers. And you today, as a believer in Jesus Christ, this is Paul's prayer for you that you would know the power of God that is working on your behalf. He prayed that you would know the working of his mighty power,

he says, and the exceeding greatness of his power.

It's my prayer for us this morning as well, that we would know God's great power, but not just know it intellectually, not just believe it theologically, but that we would receive and operate then, live in that power which God provides for us and works on our behalf.

And so I've titled the message this morning, "Receive God's Great Power Toward You." And I want to encourage you this morning to grasp hold of these truths and take action according to the power of God that's working on your behalf. Now, Paul describes this power as exceedingly great.

How exceedingly great is God's power? Well, there's a lot of things that you could talk about to demonstrate the power of God. You could look around you at creation. You could look at this world and be amazed at the exceeding great power of God. As you look at the ecological system,

as you look at how things come and go and the seasons and how everything works together, it's incredible how God has designed this world that we live in. But you could look beyond this world and to the stars. And then as you looked at the stars, the heavens began to open up, and you can't really see it around here. But if you ever get out of Southern California,

look up and you'll see these lights in the sky called stars. And it's pretty amazing as you look beyond our world and the galaxy that God has created. The solar system we live in is incredible. Then the galaxy that we live in is incredible. But then beyond our galaxy,

there's a whole bunch more. Astrologists estimate, their best guess, that there are 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. So we live in one galaxy, which is comprised of all kinds of stars and systems of all sorts.

But they look around, they do some calculations, 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, recognizing that there's more than we can observe that exists. And you could look at that and think, wow, God's power is exceedingly great. There's other things you could look at as well,

but Paul focused on not those things, but one thing in particular. What's the demonstration, the ultimate demonstration of God's power? Paul refers to it in verse 20.

As he talks about this great power which works towards us, he says it's this power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at hisright hand in the heavenly places. Paul is an example of the great power of God, the exceedingly great power of God.

He says, just look at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God took Jesus who had been crucified and laid in a tomb, and he rose him from the dead. His body was dead, but he resurrected him. He raised him from the dead. And then not only that,

but he brought him into the heavenlies and seated him at theright hand in hisrightful place there at theright hand of the Father in heaven. And Paul says this is an incredible demonstration of God's exceedingly great power because he could raise Jesus from the dead.

It's been said that the love of God was once and for all demonstrated by the death of Jesus. And here Paul says, the power of God was once and for all demonstrated by the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into heaven. And we reflected this past week on Friday.

We call it Good Friday, that day where Jesus was crucified. He died upon the cross. And here Paul, at a later passage in Romans chapter 5, verse 8, he says that God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us. Paul would hold up the cross and say, look, this is the ultimate demonstration so that you can know that God loves you because he sent his only begotten Son. You can know that Jesus loves you because Jesus, being God, became a man.

And as he became a man, he was a man on a mission. He didn't just become a man for fun, like, hey, you know, I'm God, and I wonder what it's like to be one of my created beings. And so let me go check it out. Just try it out. I just want to see what it feels like. That's not what was going on. He became a man on a mission for a purpose. And it was to come to this point,

to live a sinless life

and go to his execution as a sinless, perfect Savior and sacrifice on our behalf. And so Jesus died upon the cross. It was a horrible and gruesome death physically, but spiritually it was even worse. Because there on the cross,

he was offering himself as a sacrifice for the sin of all humanity that had ever gone before him and all humanity that would ever come after him, you and I. He offered himself in our place and said, you know what? They deserve great punishment for their sin. All human beings deserve judgment for sin.

But you know what? I'll sign up and take their place. And all the punishment that should go to them, I'll take it instead of them. And there upon the cross, that's what was taking place. Jesus offering himself as the sacrifice, the ultimate demonstration of his love, of the Father's love for you.

Because he is God, his death has infinite value to pay the price for our sin. And so even while we were sinners, while we wanted nothing to do with God, while we couldn't care less about God, he loved us so much. He came and died for us anyways. He didn't say, okay, once you guys get your act together,

then I'll come and do something for you. But even though we would never have sought God, even though we would have never loved him, even though we would never have gone after him, he demonstrated his love by initiating and saying, you know what? I'm going to go make a way so that you can be forgiven of your sin.

He was crucified. He was laid in a tomb. But then, of course, today we celebrate the fact that on the third day he rose again. And so the cross demonstrates his love for us.

But Paul tells us in Romans chapter 4 or chapter 1, verse 4, that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection proves, authenticates, demonstrates the power of God as well as the fact that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, the Son of God, the Savior, the only way to the Father,

the way, the truth, and the life. And so we find that God's love is demonstrated by the cross, but God's power is demonstrated by the empty tomb. And as Paul was praying for the Ephesians, he said, I pray that you would know what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe.

As we consider the resurrection today, it's an opportunity for us to know to a greater degree and to understand better the power of God at work on our behalf, the power that was demonstrated at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, the point is not just that God is exceedingly powerful.

It's not just that he has this ultimate power and can do whatever he wants, although that is true. But the point is that that incredibly, exceedingly great power, well, God is working that on your behalf for those who believe in him. And so again, this morning, I want to encourage you to receive God's power toward you.

What is needed in your life is God's power. And I would ask you to consider, what do you need that requires more power than resurrection from the dead? Every problem that we have, every issue that we face is lesser than that problem.

God is able to handle everything that happens in our lives. He has the power for everything that we need, and he is making that power available to those who believe.

You can see on the slides that I've chosen the illustration of a solar panel to go along with what the Lord has for us this morning.

Now, I'm not any kind of expert in these things, and probably I will explain it very poorly technically, but I think it does serve as a good illustration for us because basically what a solar panel does is it receives the sun. Now, we are also called to receive the sun,

and there's power that's generated. There's power that comes as we receive the sun. I was looking around and getting a little bit more information about solar panels so I would not be too foolish. And I found this simple explanation I thought was pretty good.

It said, simply put, a solar panel works by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free of atoms, generating a flow of electricity.

It's pretty simple. But also I was kind of like, okay, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. But here's what happens. The light comes in and it knocks electrons free, and it begins this flow of electricity. That's simple. Not even 101, but 0.101, you know, level understanding of it. And you can talk to an electrician later to get a better understanding.

But the point is, all the solar panel, it doesn't have to generate electricity. It doesn't have to generate power. It doesn't have to come up with power. It receives the light, and that is what starts the power. It begins the flow of power in the same way.

You and I are like solar panels, are to be aimed at the sun and focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the more we know him and the more we receive him and the more we allow him in, the greater power we have working through us and in us.

Receive God's great power toward you as you consider the resurrection of Jesus. I want to give you a few examples of the power of God that's at work on your behalf. And so I'm going to run through a couple of different examples and from a couple of different passages. The first one is found in Romans chapter 1, verse 16.

You don't have to turn there, but you can if you'd like. Point number one is receive God's power to save you. Ultimately, our greatest need is that of salvation, that of deliverance.

Because again, our sin demands and requires that we receive judgment, and we cannot escape that judgment, and we cannot do enough good. We can't do anything on our behalf to not deserve that judgment.

And so when Jesus Christ came and he brings forth an offer of salvation, it's through the gospel message.

Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1, verse 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Now, why would he be ashamed of the gospel?

Well, in reality, the gospel message in human terms is a foolish message. Paul says so in writing to the Corinthians as well. He says, look, the message of the cross is foolishness.

It's a simple message, and it seems like foolishness to those who don't accept it.

The gospel message that Jesus, being God, became man to die upon the cross for our sins so that, well, whoever believes in him might have everlasting life. It's a very simple message. It's not complicated. The kids who were singing just a few moments ago could share with you and receive that gospel message.

It's a foolish message in that sense. But here Paul says, I'm not ashamed of it, even though it sounds foolish, even though it might be mocked at, laughed at, might be ridiculed because it's such a simple message.

Paul says, I'm not ashamed of it because that exceedingly great power of God has been attached to this message so that those who receive it, well, it's the power of God to save them, to bring deliverance from that judgment.

We're headed towards certain doom on our own. You know, we're like on the river, the cliffs there. You know, we're about to go down the waterfall to our certain death. And Jesus, you know, is there, you know, swinging in on a rope to save us, to catch us, to rescue us out of that course that we're on,

the judgment for sin and the gospel message. God said, I'm going to choose that message. I'm going to attach my power to it.

And those who believe that, those who accept that message, well, the great power of God will be at work to bring deliverance from sin, to bring deliverance from that judgment, to bring forgiveness for all sin, to release the burden of guilt and the bonds which hold people in place,

the salvation message, the gospel message. I'm going to attach my power to it so that it breaks everything. It breaks all bondage and it sets people free, and it gives people the release from judgment and sin. And notice what Paul says in Romans 1:16. He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

It's the power of God to salvation for nine out of ten people. No, it doesn't say that,right? Everyone who believes.

It's not, you know, people who aren't as bad as that other guy or aren't as bad as you are. You know, for most people, it's powerful enough to save you. It's for everyone who believes, including we can use the Apostle Paul as an example, because he was not always the Apostle Paul.

It wasn't that far back from him writing this that he was Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the church, the one who went around murdering Christians like we're seeing Christians murdered in the world around us today.

It was one of those radical guys who thought murdering Christians and getting them to blaspheme and getting them to denounce the name of Christ. That's the mission that God has given to me. That's what Saul thought, just like many think that today.

And the power of God was demonstrated as Paul received the gospel message and was transformed, delivered, changed forever, never to be the same again.

It's for everyone who believes, even murderers and blasphemers and, well, whatever you might be dealing with in your own mind and heart, there's no exception here. The exceedingly great power of God is attached to the gospel message so that anyone who believes,

no matter what they've done, no matter how bad they've been, no matter how long they've been bad, the power of God is able to save, receive God's great power towards you like the solar panel. Just let the sun in. You don't have to do the work.

You don't have to generate the power. You don't have to do the cleanup. Well, he will call you to do stuff, but it's his work. He will give you the power. He will bring the deliverance. God, his exceedingly great power is at work to deliver you.

Well, another example for us to consider, point number two this morning, is to receive God's power for resurrection.

This is linked together with, and you could combine it if you want, but resurrection is something that we are promised as believers in Jesus Christ, and it's attached to the power of God in resurrecting Jesus Christ from the dead. And those who believe in Jesus,

first of all, they believe the gospel and they have the power of God at work for salvation. But they also have that promise that the power of God will be at work for resurrection. That is, well, this life, this body, this breath, it will end, it will cease.

But there is life after this life. And his promise to those who believe is that his great power will be at work to resurrect you from the dead. Paul tells us in First Corinthians chapter six, verse 14, he says,

God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Just as the Father raised Jesus from the dead, Paul says, you will be raised from the dead. That same resurrection that Jesus experienced,

you will experience as a believer in Jesus. The power of God is at work to guarantee you life after this life, everlasting life. And this resurrection is not like, well, there are other accounts of resurrection in the Bible, but this one is unique.

This one is different. The resurrection of Jesus was not like the resurrection, let's say, of Lazarus, where Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, and he had been in the tomb for four days, but Jesus resurrected him. But it wasn't the same kind of resurrection that Jesus experienced. The commentator William MacDonald puts it this way.

He says, the resurrection of Christ was the first such event in human history. Others had been raised from the dead, but they died again. The Lord Jesus was the first to rise in the power of an endless life. You see, there were other resurrections prior to this.

You see some in the Old Testament. There's a few accounts in the New Testament where the power of God was demonstrated in someone who was dead. Their heart stopped beating, their brain stopped working. You know, they were dead, and yet they were raised up again. But aside from Jesus,

all of those examples, those people who resurrected, again, Lazarus, who was raised just a few days earlier, he would later on have to go through the process of death again.

Jesus was raised into what we call the resurrected body. That is this perfect body that is everlasting with all of the promises that there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain, no more heartache, that there's this incredible future that God has promised. But Lazarus,

he was raised from the dead, and he had more heartache and more tears and more sorrow, and he got sick again. And, you know, later on he would have to die again. It wasn't a permanent resurrection. But what Jesus experienced, the power of God in his resurrection, was that once and for all, everlasting life resurrection.

And that is the same resurrection that God has planned for those who believe in him. Receive God's power for resurrection. Let the sun in. Receive that promise of this kind of everlasting life. I was thinking about the conversation that Jesus had with Martha in John chapter 11.

This was on the occasion when her brother Lazarus had died, and Jesus was about to raise him from the dead. But before he did, he tells her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

He says, do you believe this? You see, it keeps coming back to that believe. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe Jesus at his word? And he says, if you do, if you believe in me. In verse 26, he says, you'll never die. But then in verse 25,

he says, though you die, you shall live. And so you kind of go, well, what is he talking about? You're never going to die. You're going to die. Which is it? Well, both. The fact is, this body will die. This body is not permanent, but you will never die, that you're more than this body.

Even though it doesn't feel that way most days, you're more than this body.

Your spirit will continue on. And Jesus says, if you believe in me, you will not die, even though this body will cease. Your spirit will go on, and I will resurrect your body into a new body, a resurrected body. And again,

you'll have these promises of no more pain or sorrow or heartache or brokenness. It's that promise of resurrection that's fulfilled by the power of God at work in your life. And that's pretty exciting. And we look forward to that. And yet at the same time, there's a resurrection, spiritually speaking,

that we get to experienceright now because Paul tells us in Second Corinthians chapter five, that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. You get a brand new start as a believer in Jesus, a brand new start. The old things have passed away.

He says, behold, all things become new. Receive God's power for resurrection. Receive the new life that God has for youright now, spiritually.

And as you enter into eternity, you'll enter into the rest of the fulfillment of God's promise of resurrection for you. All you got to do is let the sun in. You don't have to come up with a plan to live forever. You don't have to find the fountain of youth. You don't have to fix everybody around you so that you can have eternal peace. All you got to do is let the sun in.

Receive the power of God for resurrection. Well, the third point, the third thing to consider this morning is found in Second Corinthians chapter 12, verse nine. Point number three is receive God's power for affliction. Now, I'm sure you are probably familiar with God's power for salvation.

You've probably heard about God's power for resurrection, and you might even be familiar with God's power for affliction, but just not as excited about it. But it's an important one for us to consider here in Second Corinthians chapter 12. The Apostle Paul has what he describes as a thorn in the flesh. Have you ever had a thorn in the flesh?

I'm talking about physically. You get pricked with a thorn, maybe a rosebush or something, or, you know, as a kid, I don't know that I don't see them around very much, but there's always those little spiky things that were just like magnets to your bare feet running around as a kid,right? And you would get them and, oh, man, they would hurt. They would get stuck and break off and you'd be trying. And every time you step, you feel that that pinch, you know, you feel that pierce.

It's that thorn in the flesh. Paul, Paul had a situation in his life, and we don't even know exactly what it was, but he described it that way as a thorn in the flesh. It's painful. Every time I bump against it, every time I, you know, use that limb, every time I'm in that situation, oh, it hurts so bad, Paul is saying. And so because of this painful situation,

he prays to God and his prayer is, Lord, would you remove this thorn from me? Pull out the splinter because it's painful, because it hurts. I can't take it. I can't handle this pain any longer. And Paul says he prayed this three times.

Now, don't think of that as like, Lord, please take this away. Lord, please take this away. Lord, please take this away. Not like three times like that. But he's talking about like three seasons of times where this was really difficult. And he's praying for days, weeks, maybe months. We don't know, but he's praying for this season and it's not taken away.

And then that painful thing comes up again later on, and he spends time in prayer again. Lord, please take this away. I can't. I can't take this. This is too much for me. And it's not removed. The third time he comes again to this situation and it's unfolding and there's pain and it's hurt and he's praying. And this time God responds.

He doesn't take it away, but instead he tells them this in Second Corinthians chapter 12, verse nine. God says, My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness.

So Paul says, Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Paul prays, Please take it away. Please take it away, Lord. And the Lord says, You know, my grace is sufficient.

I'm able in my grace and in my power to provide you what you need to endure this situation. I can help you overcome and last through the midst, even though it's painful, even though it's difficult, I can give you what you need to make it through.

And so Paul brings him to a conclusion. He says, Therefore, I will boast in my infirmities so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You see, he's receiving the power of God to endure the affliction that he is facing.

I was thinking of it in this way. It's kind of like a tank. If you think about a military tank, what were they built for? Battle. They got thick armor. For what? To be able to endure severe battle. Now, it wasn't that long ago.

A bunch of you were out in the fields of poppies, taking pictures and putting them all over Facebook and write like, Oh, it's so beautiful,right? Tanks were not built to put in fields of poppies and take beautiful pictures. It might be kind of a cool picture, but that's not what it was built for,right? That's not the ultimate demonstration of that tank's power there in a picture, you know, in a field of poppies.

That's that's not what it's for. Where is the power of a tank really demonstrated? In a battle. Where is the endurance of a tank really demonstrated? Where's that armor demonstrated the most in the midst of battle,

when the bullets are flying, when the rockets are launching, when when the things are happening? Where's the firepower of that tank demonstrated best? Not in the field of poppies, but in the midst of war.

And, you know, sometimes God calls us to be tanks. Of course, we would choose the field of poppies. Give me that on Facebook all day long. Sure. No problem. I love it. Well, maybe my allergies are kind of okay. So, Lord, maybe maybe a different kind of field. But you get the point,right? Of course, we'd pick something nice and lovely and beautiful.

And yeah, let's just take the easy stuff. And, but you know, sometimes God says, I want to take you through a battle, and my power is going to be at work in you. It's going to be demonstrated and manifested by how much you can endure, how much you can take,

and how much you can give in the power of God. Now, we consider that it's a difficult concept for us to grasp hold of. We'd begin to think about, well, how about the power to remove affliction? Like, can't you just like, you could do that,right, God? That's the power I want.

Jesus, when he sent out his disciples, he gave them power to cast out demons, to heal diseases, to do all kinds of miraculous works.

God still has the power to heal. He still has the power to change our situations. He could remove that thorn in the flesh. He has the power to do that. And sometimes he chooses to do that. But sometimes he chooses for us to be the tanks he created us to be.

If you'll look back here in Ephesians chapter one with me for a minute, I'd like to read a couple of verses after we've been talking about the great exceeding power that's at work towards us, demonstrated in verse 20, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at hisright hand in the heavenly places. Notice in verse 21,

far above all principality and power. So this is where he seated him far above everything, all dominion and might, every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. Verse 22. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Here is Paul prays that we would know the power of God working towards us, the power demonstrated in Christ being raised from the dead, but not just raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and then all things being placed under the authority of Jesus Christ.

And that authority of Jesus Christ is what I want to focus on for a moment. Because again, our prayer would always be, Lord, with your exceedingly great power at work towards me, take away my issues, take away my afflictions, take away the things that hurt me, take away the things that bother me. Get rid of it all, Lord, with all your exceedingly great might.

You're powerful. You could do it. And God could. But the question is, what does he want to do? Because all things are in his authority now, and he gets to choose. Now, of course, we want the power of God at work towards us for anything that we want.

But that's not how it works.

Maybe you're more interested in Jesus Genie than Jesus Christ,right? Like, let me just rub the lamp. Allright. Boom.

Phenomenal cosmic powers.

Itty bitty living space. Remember that from Aladdin? That's what we want,right? Put God in this little itty bitty space. Let me rub the lamp. Okay, God, you do what I tell you to do. Remove this affliction. Take care of that. Strike that guy. You know, do the things that I want, God, and then get back in your jar.

That's not where God is. He's on the throne in heaven, in charge of all things, Lord, over all things. He gets to choose how his power is used.

It's at work towards us on our behalf. It's for our good, but it's not always what we would choose. It would be what we would choose if we knew everything that God knows, but we don't know everything that God knows. And so it's called faith. We have to trust him.

Receive God's power for affliction. Sometimes that means deliverance out of the affliction as you ask God for deliverance.

But sometimes it means endurance through the affliction as God demonstrates his power in the tank that he's created you to be by how much you can endure in his name. Let the sun in again. The point is, you don't have to generate the endurance.

You don't have to muscle up the determination and, you know, get in the great discipline that is needed and to be able to endure the hardship and suffer the pain and deal with all those people. And you don't have to come up with the resources for that. Here's what you need to do. Let the sun in.

Receive what Christ will provide and the power that God will provide through faith in Jesus Christ. And sometimes that'll mean deliverance, and sometimes that'll mean endurance. It's up to him. And that's part of the deal.

To believe in Jesus is not just to accept these facts or to agree that Jesus died or agree that Jesus is God or agree that this is what took place. But to believe in Jesus is also a submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You're seated at theright hand of the Father.

Your will be done, not mine. Receive God's power for affliction. Well, one last point to make as we finish up here. Point number four. Receive God's power for all things. This is really point number four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. You know,

there's tons more things that we could consider, but this kind of just sums them all up and wraps it all up pretty nicely. In Second Peter chapter one, verse three, the Apostle Peter tells us that God's divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue.

Here, Paul tells or not Paul, but Peter tells us, talking about the divine power, the exceedingly great power of God that we've been talking about, has given to us everything you could say that we need, everything that pertains to life and godliness.

So everything you need for life. What do you need for life? You need to do a good job at work. You need a promotion so that you can cover the bills. You need better parenting skills. You need better husband skills or wife skills. You need wisdom.

Do you need direction? Do you need help to serve the Lord in the way that he's called you to serve? Do you need help to be a witness to him? Do you need freedom from addictions and things that have bound you? Do you need help in the spiritual battles that are real and are taking place all around us? Here's what Peter says. Everything you need for this life and for godliness.

So for good character, for Christ likeness, for everything that you need to be like Christ and to live this life and to deal with this world. God's divine power has provided for you everything you need. And notice what Peter says. Through the knowledge of him who called us.

Again, how does the solar panel work? It just lays there and soaks up the sun. The light comes in, it penetrates, it begins the work, it generates the electricity. The solar panel's job is to receive it in the same way.

You and I, we have the power of God accessible to us for all that we need for life and godliness. All all our part is, is to know Jesus. It's found through the knowledge of him who called us.

This is how we plug in to this power that God offers to us by getting to know Jesus. And I would ask you to consider, how well do you know Jesus? You have opportunity to know Jesus because we celebrate today that he is resurrected from the dead. He's not dead. He's not physically hereright next to you,

but he's here. And he's given us access to know him, to walk with him. He's given us his word where he reveals himself to us, showing us his character, his nature, but then also speaking to us directly by the Holy Spirit. He's given us access to know him.

How well do you know Jesus?

How much time do you spend in the sun receiving the power that he has for you? Pastor Dave Guzik says, with this mighty power available to us, there never needs to be a power shortage in the Christian life.

The exceeding greatness of God's power towards us. Paul says, I pray that you would know it because it's far more sufficient than you need. It's it's far greater than any problems or issues or anything that you might face. You have access to everything that you need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And so there never needs to be a power shortage in the Christian life. And yet, at the same time, we think we would all recognize it doesn't always seem that way,right? I mean, here we are in a room with a bunch of people who show up at church on Easter Sunday saying we're celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

And yet, as you look around, I wonder, do we see the demonstration of power, or do we see evidence of power shortages? Now, I'm not asking you to judge everybody around you. I'm just saying it's inexperience. There's there's not a lot of demonstrations of power.

It seems to be there's more occasions of power shortages. Why is that? I want to share one last passage with you. Would you turn with me to Second Timothy chapter three? Second Timothy chapter three. To wrap up this morning and to consider why?

Why is it when we have the access to the power of God and Paul's prayer was that we would know the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe? Why is it that we experience in our lives power shortages? Why is it that we see that's kind of common for there to be power shortages for those who go to church,

for those who have called out to Jesus Christ? Second Timothy chapter three. Paul, the Apostle, writing to a young minister named Timothy in Ephesus, where Paul was writing the previous letter we were just looking at. But here's Timothy ministering at this church, and Paul gives him some warnings about what is to come.

In Second Timothy chapter three, verse one, Paul says, But know this: that in the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,

unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away.

Paul gives Timothy a warning and says, Hey, in the last days, this is what's going to happen. There's going to be people. And he lists all these things. They love themselves. They're proud. They're blasphemers. They're disobedient to their parents. They're unloving. They're unforgiving. They're traitors. They're lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

But then notice in verse five he says, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Paul's point to Timothy is that in the last days there's going to be a lot of people who look like Christians, who call themselves Christians, who would say that they're followers of Christ.

They have the form of godliness, but they deny its power because God has the power to transform you so that you are no longer this list of things that Paul includes here, so that you no longer live as lovers of money and boasters and proud and blasphemers,

and so that you no longer have the power of God at work to those who believe in Jesus. But he says, there's going to be a lot of people who have the form but deny the power. They go through the outward. They go through the emotional. They go through the experiential. They go through the things on the outside,

but they've not received the power by actually following Jesus Christ and turning to him. I have a flashlight here and hopefully another one. Yep. Here. Okay. Two flashlights,right? They look pretty identical, pretty close, about the same form.

One of them has light, as you can see. The other one, no light. It's the form of a flashlight, but with no power. It's a shell. There was batteries, but I asked the flashlight if it wanted the batteries. It said, No, thank you. So it doesn't have any power. This one received the batteries.

It has power in the same way. Hey, we can all come to church. We can all be religious. We can all go through rituals. We can all say prayers and read our Bibles and do all kinds of things.

But the power comes

from receiving Jesus Christ. The power comes from submitting ourselves to the authority and lordship of Jesus Christ.

The power comes from receiving what God has done for us, not from putting on a show for other people, not from trying to earn or work our way to earn God's favor or approval, because we can't do that. It comes by approaching God in the way that he has prescribed for us. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And whether you've never done that or whether you've done that 100 times and you've walked with the Lord for many years, it is our constant state of needing to be basking in the sun like a solar panel. That's our position. That's our role.

We need to continually receive from Jesus the power that we need for salvation, for resurrection, for affliction, for all things in this life. And this morning, I want to encourage you to make sure you've received that power.

Don't just have the form. Don't just look like a good Christian.

But is God transforming your life? Do you see the exceeding great power of God at work in your life? If not, you need to go back to the Father and check your heart.

And there are different seasons where God works, you know, dramatically in some ways, and sometimes his work is more behind the scenes and we're not even aware of it. So there are those seasons in our lives, but it's worth checking.

We need to check in with the Father and ask the Lord, Where am I? Do I really know you? Because we have all things necessary for life and for godliness through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We need to get to know Jesus, and we can because he is alive.

Amen. The worship teams are going to come up and close us in a song, and we'll finish out in prayer in just a few moments.

But as they close us out of this song, I would just encourage you to check in with the Father and maybe even let's stand together. And as we sing this song, let the sun in. Worship Jesus. Receive from Jesus.

Call out to Jesus and let him provide the power that is needed for whatever you might be facing in this life. Let's worship the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word.

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