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2 Cor. 12:7-10
We invite you to join us on Sunday mornings at 9:30 for worship. This is the concluding message in this series on being strong in God’s mighty power. It is my prayer that you have learned that to be strong in God’s mighty power you must submit completely to God. James 4:7-10 and 1 Peter 5:6, 7 teach us that same principle. Only when we submit and put ourselves under God’s power does His power work in us. All God’s heroes of faith were so mighty because they let God work through them in HIS power, never theirs. Today we are considering
- GOD’S POWER IN HIS DISCIPLES. Someone has said, “the messenger of a man is as the man himself.” Read 2 Cor. 5:16-21. As Christ’s ambassadors we are in Christ’s place, as His representatives to a lost and dying world, here and now. As His disciples, His power is in us, but only activated when we are submitted to Him. Our personal faith and trust in the Person and nature of God is what gives us the ability to surrender totally to Him. In Luke 24:36-49 the “power from on high” is the Holy Spirit. In Rom. 15:17-19 Paul teaches that Christ is present in The Holy Spirit and demonstrates Himself as the power of God. It is amazing that when we submit to God He instantly activates all His power enabling us to do exactly what He desires. Now consider
- GOD’S POWER IN HIS CHURCH. Read 1 Cor. 2:1-5; then Eph. 4:11-16. We must understand that God’s focus is on His Kingdom and His Church. God saves us as individuals, but no Christian is an island to themselves. Hebrews 10:25 warns us that the closer the Rapture gets the more we need the fellowship and support of true believers. The power of Christ to His Church is the power to protect and preserve. Read 1 Peter 1:5 and see that Christians are shielded by the power of God to salvation. In Eph. 1:15-23 we read Paul’s prayer for the community power of God operating in our lives. Col. 1:9-14 teaches us that knowledge of God brings the power of God to live the Christian life. Finally,
- GOD’S POWER IN HUMAN WEAKNESS. Read Ro. 1:1-4 and 2Cor. 13:1-4. Did you ever wonder why some Christians seem to have more of God’s power than others? At first glance the death of Jesus might indicate that He was weak and powerless even though He was God in the flesh. Then the resurrection became historic reality and the power of God is realized in victory and triumph over evil and fleshly weakness. In Phil 4:13 we are taught the key to allowing God’s mighty power to operate through us. Connect to that 2Cor. 12:9-10 and the picture is there. It is God doing the work through us, not us doing what we think ought to be done. We must become totally “weak” or surrendered to God not wanting any part of “self” to win. If we ever say or think “I won that one” we are exalting self over God. Our thoughts and heart desires must be that GOD wins. The reality must be “God won that one through me, I did nothing.” One of Paul’s greatest assets to his success as a Christian was his constant struggle to overcome self (and he did), all the while letting God be his strength. The weaker Paul (self) became, the more of God’s mighty power he saw and felt in his life. God could do things through Paul, Paul could never do in his own strength. The wonderful thing is, all that same principle is true for you, Christian. The same power of God is available to you, if you get “you” out of the way and give God total freedom to work HIS way in your life.
If we can help you with this or any other spiritual matter, call us at (574) 643-9419.
