Sunday Sermon Summary: “The Power Of His Word!”
Praise Tabernacle International
Mother Greene, The Mother of the House
The key verses of today were from Ephesians 1:15-20 (KJV):
Thanksgiving and Prayer
“15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,”
Thee Word became flesh (John 1:14). Jesus is alive. Jesus has risen. The promise of GOD has been fulfilled by Thee Lord. Jesus was the perfect example and sacrifice. His death satisfied the removal of our sin. If Jesus had not died for our sins, we would have had to.
Power, and victory comes to all who believe in Christ, and have faith in the finished work of the cross.
Paul, the writer of Ephesians, established churches everywhere he went, and promoted the Word. At the time of him writing Ephesians, Paul was in prison. There were Believers in Ephesus, and Paul was concerned about their welfare. When someone has a concern, they will pray for you. Many prayers go up that people do not know that are for them. You must have knowledge of why you are here. Many come to church without knowing why they do. “It’s what we do on Sunday.” Know who you are, and what you believe in.
There is great wealth of power in Jesus Christ. The House of GOD is to fellowship, hear the Word, and to know HOW to live. To have a concern is a spiritual need of the Believers. Prayer deals with the spiritual condition of man, and not the material needs of the body. In the terms of spirituality, do you know GOD? Do you REALLY know Him? To be enlightened is to know things, and receive education. We live in a time where nations want to know everything.
Paul expresses his desire in two parts of enlightenment:
A. It comes from the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2).
There is wisdom and revelation in the Word (Bible). With our natural minds, we cannot understand GOD. We need the Holy Spirit. He gives wisdom of the Word, and how to apply it:
Power- to practice the truth
Love- to be in the fullness of GOD
B. It is in the heart of the Believer.
It is inside if us—the inner man. Our heart = the inner man. This is the part of us that no one can see, but Jesus.
The heart is able to hear the inner man: Matthew 13:9 (KJV):
"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
The heart is able to see the inner man: Psalm 119:18 (KJV):
"Open thou mine eyes, that I may hold wondrous things out of thy law.""
The heart is able to smell the inner man: Philippians 4:18 (KJV):
“…They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”
The heart is able to taste the inner man: Psalm 34:8 (KJV):
“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
The heart is able to touch the inner man: Acts 17:27 (KJV):
“that they should seek the Lord, if in any manner they might reach out to touch him and find him though he is not far from each one of us;”
To see spiritual things are at the arms of the heart. Only the Holy Spirit can open the arms of the heart.
Paul has four request in his prayer of enlightenment:
1. That you might know GOD.
2. That you might know His calling.
3. That you might know His riches.
4. That you might know His power.
To know GOD is the HIGHEST knowledge possible.
Many understand “Bible knowledge,” and then get a big head. Some feel that knowing scripture will place them above others; but what about knowing the life of Jesus? Knowing what the Word is what we are supposed to do, but we are suppose to receive the truth, and apply it to our everyday lives (Philippians 3:10).
The Believer must know, and grow in the knowledge of GOD.
To know GOD personally is salvation.
To know GOD increasingly is sanctification.
To know GOD perfectly is glorification.
Willingly ignorant is society not being interested in knowing GOD. Ignorance leads into corruption, deception, idolatry, and indecency (Romans 1). This begins in not wanting to believe in GOD. We were made in His image. It is better to know Him, so that we can know each other, and understand who we are. Salvation brings a change. The better we know, the more satisfied our spiritual lives will be. It WILL change your life.
To know GOD’s calling on your life, is to know hope. We have a holy calling. We have been called out of darkness, but into His marvelous light. As humans, there is nothing that we can do to make things right. We cannot fix it; it has to be the power of GOD. Hope assures us of eternal future. Hope is not hoping, but assured of it. Hope comes from the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus we have a living hope that is pure, obedient, and faithful (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
To be enlightened in His riches is not what we automatically think wealth is. You know, money, cars, houses, land—the materialistic things of the world. The Word says we are wealthy in the riches of GOD; riches of the glory of the inheritance (key verses 18-19). Believers in Thee Lord looks to the future. We—Believers, are GOD’s inheritance. What inheritance? The inheritance of external life! It begins on Earth when you accept Jesus Christ [both as Lord and Savior]. Again, we are His inheritance. Look at what GOD invested in: Jesus Christ for OUR sake!
In verse nine, in the above key verses, where do we see GOD’s mighty power? In Jesus’s resurrection in the tomb. Through this power, we have been made His inheritance. There is mighty power working within us! The same power GOD used to resurrect Jesus from the dead is in us.
Today we have a power shortage in our personal lives.
GOD is available.
Jesus is alive.
Grace, and mercy is here for you.
The Power of the Word, is in the Word.
Selah...
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(Picture courtesy of https://citizenheaven.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/life-giving-spirit-of-power.jpg)
