Ephesians 1:18-20 KJV
…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, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Paul wanted us to know the hope of his calling, the riches of his glory and our main focus which is the exceeding greatness of his power.
The exceeding greatness of his power is towards us who believe. This power is not abstract as it were but it can be seen on you, it can make a difference. In other words, you can experience the exceeding greatness of his power.
It is one thing to talk or teach about the power of God, it is another thing to experience the power of God. If we are going to have experience the exceedingly, then we need to experience the power of God. Every believer is expected to experience the power of God. It is not just the exceeding greatness of his power, it is also a working power. The power of God is working, it is active and operational. It is just not for teaching, beyond the exegesis there is a demonstration aspect, a practical aspect of the power of God.
Paul said “You may know…” so you need to know that the power of God is working for you, it works for you. It is not enough for us to talk about the power it is more important also after knowing to experience the power of God.
The power of God is not for decoration, the power of God is for display so you can be the advertisement of God’s power. The essential goal of the power of God in your life towards you is that you advertise the power of God. Your life is to showcase what the power of God can do. The advertisement comes as the power works through you. The resurrection is the advertisement of the power of God. The same way the power of God was advertised in Jesus when he was raised from the dead likewise the scripture is saying your life should be an advertisement of the power of God that works in you. Your life must constantly advertise the power of God.
1 John 1:1 KJV
[1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
It starts from hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. You have been hearing about the power of God, how it works, and God has worked this power in Christ. It is a progression that we have seen, we have looked upon and handled.
In our realities of spiritual things, we must see, we must handle, in summary we must experience God. Your life must experience the realities of God. There are spiritual realities you are yet to experience, you only talk about them. It is time for you to come into the experience of the word of life, experience Jesus, experience grace and the life of God. It is not enough to hear the word of God, it is more essential to experience the word of God.
David gave us something important concerning this when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
Psalms 63:1-2 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
In the wilderness of Judah is a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.
There is a wilderness experience and there is a sanctuary experience. For David, the encounter came before the wilderness experience.
He needed to bring his sanctuary experience into the wilderness experience. He was taught the power of God.
David found himself in the wilderness of Judah. David asked what he needed in such an experience. He wants to see the things that were taught. He wants to see His power and glory- this is an experience he longed for. Sometimes in life, God prepares us ahead in the sanctuary when we go through the wilderness of life. It was not just a study, it was an experience.
The practice of the word primarily does not start when we are in the four corners of the church. It starts when we are outside the church in an environment where we do life with it. God is exposing, teaching and opening our eyes of our understanding, that we may know the exceeding greatness of His power.
The reason why He is exposing us to the power is that the power will be brought to bear in the issues of life. It will no longer be the revelation, Bible reference and exegesis we know but rather, the calling forth of the power of God to intervene in the affairs of our lives. In this way we are getting to know the exceeding greatness of His power.
We should not be only studying about power but rather, desire the power to be experienced in the affairs of our lives. We do not need the power inside the church, we need it outside. We need to experience the power of God in our ministry, household, career and health. We pray to see the power as we have seen and heard in teaching. This is why the Pastor of the local church is labouring for us to see.
When we find ourselves in a situation of life we should say we are ready to advertise His power. The prayer should be centered around our life being an opportunity to the power of God. The reality is that we all know what we are crying for and waiting upon the Lord for in spite of our outward good composure and smiling faces.
There is an important character in the Bible that depicts how the power of God was shone publicly is John the Baptist.
Matthew 11:1-3 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? The same John that asked the aforementioned is the same man that introduced Christ publicly, as the heavens opened upon Him. In fact John knew his own ministry, in that he said, “…the joy of the friend of the groom is that the groom sees his bride.” He said, “… He increases that I may decrease.” All because of his present moment and his trying time he needed to send those men to ask Jesus.
Matthew 11:4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
Practically, a man cannot be declared as a man unless he has fought in a battle. However, John need not have asked such questions. In the contrary, Jesus honoured him and said:
Matthew 11:7-9 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
This is why in verse 4 he needed to let them tell and show John again what he had once heard and seen.
This is why the issue has always been about the showing of the power, the same way David asked to see His glory and power. Jesus needed him to see again what He had first heard and seen concerning His power again. This is what should have brought him out- He wants him to know that is power is still working.
John the Baptist was in his own deep affairs of life.
There are things we have learnt in the church and which we may not stand with us when are in the wilderness of life. The only thing that will be able to carry us is His word.
In such moments, we can doubt the power of God . All the scriptures that talked about the power of God can become a piece of literature which no longer finds their meaning through us in such a moment. We would keep asking if the power of God is real, if the righteous should be suffering and where is God?
A day will come when we will doubt the existence and reality of God’s power. Jesus said, “blessed is the one who will not be offended in me.”
Having told the two that was sent back to John concerning what has been done through Him, Jesus again faced the multitude and said:
Matthew 11:7-9 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
But what went ye out to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
John was a man who was fervent before he was imprisoned but he is now shaken in faith. John did not raise the dead or heal the sick, but he was to be the greatest among the prophets because he revealed the messiah.
John was n more in the sanctuary therefore the wilderness encounter was beginning to swallow up all the experiences he has in the sanctuary
Act 12:5-12
Peter was imprisoned, it was like his own wilderness but he was so relaxed that he slept between two soldiers. His survival was based on tapping into the sanctuary experience. When the angel of the Lord came to rescue Peter that was when he realised that the sanctuary experience was real. He said in Vs 11, now I know of a surety that the power of God works.
We saw two instances of believers here. Peter and Paul but one of them experienced the power of God work.
Power is not needed in the sanctuary, it is needed in life., during the wilderness experience. We need it when we are out of church. We would meet people that need God’s power at our office, at the market, during business transactions even in our homes.
There are days you will wake up not feeling well in your body, that is when you exercise the power. You should experience this power. You have seen much in the sanctuary and it is time to bring it to life.
Psalm 27:13-14
The goodness of the Lord is the power of God. It is when His power is demonstrated towards you. Advertising his power through your life is his goodness.
I want to experience the exceeding greatness of his power towards me. It will work in me and towards me.
No one experiences the exceeding greatness of his power and enters depression, or faint/weary. The exceeding greatness of his power towards us produces the goodness of God in every area of our life. So there is no reason to faint.
It’s okay to get tired or weary when trying to get results on a particular issue of our life but we can not faint again this year. And the only way we will not faint this year is to see the goodness of the lord.
We can see the goodness of his God when the exceeding greatness of his power comes to our direction. We need to tell ourselves how we fainted in the previous year and that we do not want to faint this year. And the only way we will not faint is to see the goodness of the Lord, to experience the exceeding greatness of his power, to see the power and his glory as we have seen in the sanctuary.
Tell all your worries to God, tell him everything bothering you. Pray that God should advertise his power through your life and situation. We are available for your advertisement, Lord!