Good morning.
When I left the house this morning, I was a lot less wrinkled. But Grayson had a good nap during the meeting. I am not sure who was sweating more, me or Grace. But he was snoring more, I can assure you of that.
I found a good spot, though, right in front of those big air returns we have there. Boy, that was a salvation. His hair and my little bit of hair were blowing in the breeze—a cooling fan. So, the big drool spot and the wrinkles are not the way I normally go to places.
Just a quick explanation before we get started. Well, there are some verses I would like to read.
Philippians 3:10-11. This is what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi:
To know Him,
and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death,
if in any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead.
Then I would like us to turn to Ephesians. I think these are also very familiar verses: Ephesians 1:17.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the full knowledge of Him,
the eyes of your heart being enlightened.
Now, there is a reason we talk so often of needing revelation, and there is a purpose for it. It says in Ephesians 1:18:
So that you should know what is the hope of His calling,
and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
And I want you to pay attention to this part in verse 19:
And what the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe,
according to the working of the might of His strength,
which He wrought in Christ in raising Him from among the dead.
And He set Him down at His right hand in the heavenlies,
above every principality and authority, and power and dominion,
and every name named, not only in this age but also in that to come;
and has put all things under His feet,
and gave Him to be Head over all things to the assembly, or the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Lord, we are thankful that You have given us this unshakable truth of Your Word. Your Word is so precious. We tell You again: Your words are spirit and life, and how dependent we are on You speaking to us in a living way.
We know that if it is left to man to speak, there will not be any lasting benefit. But we know when You speak, things are made real.
So we say, like the Apostle Peter in that day, when so many were offended, so many turned away, and You looked at them and said, “Will you also go?”
We say to You, beloved Lord, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Speak. We wait in Your presence.
We ask the Holy Spirit to take these things that are upon our heart and speak in a living way, that we may see the Lord Jesus as we ought to see Him, in all of His glory. We ask it for Your sake and in Your precious name. Amen.
Now, I think you probably know that about a month ago, I began with this burden from Philippians 3:10—this single verse: to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
We said a month ago that Paul had a very special relationship with the church at Philippi. As a matter of fact, he shared his deepest secrets and his highest passions with that church in Philippi.
It was a relationship that lasted to the end. It was a fellowship that continued right through to the end. This letter, above everything else, is a love letter.
Our brother Stephen said this once when he gave a message, and I repeat it from last time: of all the letters written by the Apostle Paul to the churches, this is the most intimate letter written by him.
It was a relationship of love. They were bound together in the purpose of God, but there was a love between the church in Philippi and the Apostle Paul where he could share his deepest secrets and his highest passions.
That is the reason, when you read this book, it is not doctrinal language. It is in the language of love.
Now, I know some of you young people know there is a very popular book about love languages. I think Justin asked me one day not that long ago, “Dad, what is your love language?” I did not know what to say.
But supposedly there is a big thing about love languages. And in this book, there certainly was a big thing about love language.
When Paul began the letter, he said in Philippians 1:8:
For God is my witness,
how I long for you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
That is not ordinary language. It is reserved for those you are closest to.
And when he concluded the book, at the end in Philippians 4:1, he said:
So then, my brethren, beloved and longed for,
my joy and crown.
This was the language of this book. This was the language in which he shared his deepest secrets and his highest passions.
This was the last letter he wrote to a church. The remaining letters he wrote were to Timothy and Titus—individuals—but this was the last letter he wrote to a church. I think we do well to pay heed to the things he brought in that last letter to a church.
The Lord Jesus loves us with an everlasting love. We talked about that. And the Lord Jesus and God the Father share with us Their deepest secrets. They do not hide anything from us. Is that not incredible?
Look at John 13:1, just for an example. You know the scene. It was the closing hour just before the crucifixion. It was when the Lord was gathered at the table.
Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come
that He should depart out of the world unto the Father,
having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.
What an everlasting love.
But then, in this whole section where He is talking about His care and His love for His own, He tells them what He will do—how He will share His deepest secrets and His highest passions with them. Look at John 15:15.
I call you no longer bondmen,
for the bondman does not know what his master is doing;
but I have called you friends,
for all things which I have heard of My Father I have made known to you.
Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you,
and have set you that you should go forth and should bear fruit,
and that your fruit should abide.
Our Father shares with us His deepest secrets. He calls us friends. He wants to bring to us the knowledge of His highest passions, and for us, just as the Apostle Paul did for the Philippian church, to enter into those things and be ever changed by them.
That is the sense of the book of Philippians. That is what the Apostle Paul is trying to do in the letter to the Philippians.
Last time, we talked about knowing Him. I do not think there is a more important thing in Christianity. We have demeaned that and lessened that. We often say to people, “Do you know the Lord?” in sort of a casual way. But the Apostle Paul is talking about anything but a casual reflection of the Lord Jesus.
He is talking about his deepest passion. He is saying, “The one thing, the only thing, above everything else, is that I might know Him.”
For that, I have counted everything else as loss. For that, I have counted everything else as rubbish. He went so far as to say everything else was as dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Knowing Him—there is not a more important thing. Sometimes we believe that this is the coming to the Lord, that first knowledge. But, brothers and sisters, this is not first knowledge. This is deep knowledge.
This is an experience of ongoing life where we know the Lord Jesus as everything. And that is our great need. So, that was the subject we touched upon last time.
You can almost hear, as the Apostle Paul utters these words, the divine affirmation from heaven—when the Father could no longer hold back, and He broke through the heavens when the Lord Jesus was baptized; when the Lord Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration—and He said:
This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.
Knowing Him is the most important thing in a Christian’s life. It is the deepest secret.
We talked about several things: the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; knowing Christ as our life; and knowing Christ as everything.
Brothers and sisters, I do not want to repeat much of what I said, but I just want to tell you: if we leave that first passion, that first secret of the Apostle Paul, if that is not part of our ongoing experience, we are not entering into a life of fullness. That is the burden that has been laid on my heart.
Today we want to talk about the power of His resurrection. Again, we will look at three things.
I tell you, I am at a loss, because I know you cannot look at these things in great depth. I appreciate what Brother Nee said when he spoke on the power of resurrection. He said it is impossible to look at this great subject with any depth in such a brief time. But we can at least touch on it.
I hope maybe a few things will be retained. If those things are retained, they just may have the opportunity to transform our life with the Lord Jesus.
We will look at three things:
You have to know the promise of His resurrection. You have to know the position of resurrection, or you will never overcome. You will always be struggling. You will always come up short.
And then, finally, you need to know the power of His resurrection. That was the secret the Apostle Paul brought to the Philippian church. He said, “And to know Him, and the power of His resurrection.”
He knew it was the key. He knew it was the way through. He knew it was the secret to endure all that he must endure. And he knew it was the way to overcome.
Let us begin by sharing on the promise of His resurrection. I would like to use some strong words. You have known me in the past; I do use strong words. That may not surprise you.
Resurrection defines Christianity.
You might say the cross defines Christianity. You would not be too wrong. But, in fact, it is resurrection that defines Christianity.
I want to use stronger words than that: without resurrection, there is no Christianity.
Do you understand that? If there were no resurrection, there would be no Christianity. Without it, there is nothing. But with it, we have what we call Christianity and the Christian life.
Now, resurrection is a New Testament word. It would not surprise you, I guess, to realize that it never occurs in English in the Old Testament. It is a New Testament word. It is the new covenant. It is what God had in His mind always.
Let me backtrack. I did not plan on doing this, but I will do it just for a moment, because you know I am apt to do those things.
Man shared the created life when he was created. Man did not share resurrected life. That is the difference.
The tree of life is representative of resurrected life. When you take of that tree, you live forever. That is what the tree of life means.
Man shared created life. God’s intention was to bring him into resurrected life. And to do that, you have to eat of the tree of life, which is the Lord Jesus.
Without resurrection, you do not have Christianity. This separates Christianity from every religion in the world.
Ashoka, the old emperor of India, took Buddha’s ashes in little minuscule parts and shared them around to eighty-four thousand shrines of Buddha in India. You go to those shrines to worship the dead ashes of the leader, Buddha.
But we worship the risen, living Christ. And the risen, living Christ is in us by the Holy Spirit. That is the power of His resurrection.
That is the separating difference—the defining difference—from every religion known to man. They end at the grave. Christianity begins with the grave.
It is the start of the new life. It is when He overcame all that was before Him, and He rose in power from the grave to that place by the Father. That is the distinction of what we believe.
Without it, there is no Christianity.
Consider this promise just for a moment, if you will. The promise of His resurrection is the power that saves us.
Turn to Romans 10:9. Now, I know all of you have already memorized this, so I do you a disservice by reading it. But nevertheless, let me do so for the sake of the few who might not know what I am talking about.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from among the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
And Romans 10:10:
For with the heart is believed to righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.
The promise of the resurrection is the promise of our salvation. It is what saves us. Because we believe in the resurrection, confess the resurrection, and confess Jesus as Lord, we are saved. It is all because of the promise of the resurrection.
The promise of His resurrection is the promise of eternal hope. You do not believe me? Turn to John’s favorite verse. I did not mean John the apostle; I mean John Blanchard.
Turn to 1 Peter 1:3-4.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who, according to His great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance
reserved in the heavens for you.
The promise of His resurrection is the promise of eternal hope. Brothers and sisters, we are not a hopeless people.
Linda called me a pessimist this morning. I took great umbrage at it. It was only a joke about traffic—I was pessimistic about something so worldly. But we are a hopeful people.
We know the end. We know the One who has overcome. We know the One who has been raised from death unto life, and it is our eternal hope.
We were born again from above because of the resurrection into a state of eternal hopefulness. That is the Christian life.
Remember the Apostle Paul. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 15. I hope I do not wear you out with Scriptures this morning.
You know the chapter. It is that famous chapter on resurrection. A more perfect thing has never been written than what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:12.
Now if Christ is preached that He is raised from among the dead,
how say some among you that there is no resurrection of those that are dead?
But if there is not a resurrection of those that are dead,
neither is Christ raised.
But if Christ is not raised, listen to this hopelessness. Contemplate it for just a moment:
But if Christ is not raised,
then indeed vain also is our preaching,
and vain also is your faith.
If this is not our eternal hope, every preaching is in vain. If this is not our eternal hope—this promise of resurrection—then your faith is vain, and you are dead in your sins. Would that not be hopeless?
He goes on to say that he and the apostles would be found false witnesses of God, because they had testified that God raised Christ.
But if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain;
ye are yet in your sins.
Then indeed also those who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
Think of the hopelessness. Listen to what he says:
If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.
What a statement. That is the hopelessness without resurrection.
But thank God. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:20:
But now Christ is raised from among the dead,
firstfruits of them that are fallen asleep.
For since by man came death,
by man also resurrection of those that are dead.
For as in Adam all die,
thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive.
Brothers and sisters, this is our eternal hope. Because of the resurrection, we are the most hopeful people in the world.
Because we have been born again, we will never die. There is an old saying you may have heard in Christian life: “Once born, twice die; twice born, never die.”
Now, that is a riddle if you have not thought about it. But what that means is that if you are only born once, naturally, you will die twice. You will die your natural death, but then you will die an eternal death—the second death referred to in Scripture.
But if you are born twice—born naturally and born again by the Spirit of God—you will never die. That is our future hope.
You may go to sleep, but who dislikes sleep? Grayson sure got into it in a big way. That is the hope.
There is so much more we could say about the promise of His resurrection. It is a settled fact. It is our eternal hope and our certainty. It is not guessing. It is not wishing.
The famous scientist Sir Michael Faraday—now, for those who are not nerds, he may mean nothing to you, but bear with a short history lesson—for those who know electrical and chemical reactions and all the things he discovered about electricity, Michael Faraday is a god with a little “g.” He is a very important man.
One time, in his later years, when he was dying in weakness, some reporters came to him. They said, “What is this speculation you have about living again?”
Michael Faraday, that scientist—remember, scientists do not deal in speculation—in his moment of weakness reacted in the strongest terms. He said, “Speculation? I do not believe in speculation. I believe in certainties.”
And I know that my Redeemer lives,
and I shall live with Him.
As he quoted Job. Brothers and sisters, this is the promise of His resurrection. How great. We are dealing with certainties here. We are not dealing with guesses. We are not wondering if it might be. We know it will be.
The promise of His resurrection is our settled justification. Look at Romans 4:21. I told you I might make you read too much today.
And being fully persuaded
that what He has promised,
He is able also to do.
Notice that phrase: fully persuaded. Remember, we are dealing with His promises.
Wherefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
That is speaking of Abraham. Now, it was not written on his account alone that it was reckoned to him, but on ours also:
Believing on Him who raised from among the dead Jesus our Lord,
who has been delivered for our offenses,
and has been raised for our justification.
It is reckoned. Brothers and sisters, your justification is a settled issue. Never doubt that.
I think our brother Steve has made that very clear in some messages he has taught on Romans. It is a settled justice. It is a settled thing.
The promise of resurrection is that you are justified. It is not something you hope to be. It is not something you will be. It is something you are in Christ Jesus, simply because of the resurrection from the dead.
Let me put it another way: judicial righteousness. That is what justification is. It says, in God’s sight, Mari Bareford is righteous. Can you believe that? Even better, can you believe that?
Settled righteousness. Settled justification. It can never be taken away because the sacrifice was accepted after the resurrection. That is the key.
We could go on and on, but the promise of His resurrection is the message that changed the world. You remember how, in the book of Acts, when they were contemplating replacing Judas among the apostles, they said, “We need one to be a witness with us of the resurrection.”
That is what they did. That was their message. That was the message this one hundred and twenty used to transform the world, and it was never the same. It was the message that changed the world.
So, if you consider the promise of His resurrection, you see how vast it is. We could go on and on, but I know you do not want me to go on and on.
Let it suffice to know that the promises of His resurrection are exceeding great and precious promises, as Peter stated.
A. B. Simpson said this about the resurrection and its significance:
The significance of His resurrection is impossible to exaggerate.
It is the fundamental proof of His Messiahship and the truth of Christianity.
It is the evidence of our justification.
It is the source of our sanctification.
It is the guarantee of our future resurrection.
It is the pledge of all power that we can ever need in this present life.
The power of His resurrection.
That is the first point. I hope I did not bore you with too many details. But unless we see the promise of His resurrection, we do not realize what we have in Christ Jesus.
We need to be the most buoyant—buoyant—hopeful people on the face of the earth. What can separate us from the love of God? Who can separate us from the love of God? His promises remain sure.
There is another thing I wanted to touch upon: the position of His resurrection. You may not right now understand what I am talking about, but I am hoping that in a few minutes I can make some clarity of it.
Resurrection is not just a future promise. The Bible teaches an extraordinary thing. If it were not over and over in the pages of the Bible, we might say, “I cannot believe it. It is too wonderful to be true.”
But when Christ died, something tremendous happened: you died also.
Do you know that? We struggle so with ourselves and our sins, and we need that wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him to discover this certain truth—this certain truth of our position in Christ.
When Christ died, you were in Christ Jesus, and you died. And even more blessed is this: when Christ rose, a remarkable thing happened. You were raised in the power of His resurrection.
Do you know, brothers and sisters, this is Christianity? We are not left here to struggle all by ourselves and in our own means.
We have been included in the death of Christ. We have been included in the resurrection of Christ. Good grief.
It is the message of Romans 6: knowing that every one of us who has been baptized has been baptized unto His death. And just as we are in the likeness of His death, so also we are in the likeness of His resurrection.
Is that not incredible? God did a wonderful thing. He put you in Christ many, many centuries ago, and that gives us hope because the old man was once and for all dealt with.
Now you have a new position in resurrection that you never had before. Do you understand? You have a new position in resurrection that you can stand in.
You can agree with God. You can come alongside and say, “Lord, if my feelings and my experience are not true, Your Word is true.”
I am crucified with Christ;
I no longer live;
Christ lives in me.
And the life that I now live in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me.
That is Galatians 2:20. This is the position of resurrection. Is it not tremendous?
Could you imagine if the Lord said, “I am going. Wish you the best. Ta-da.” I know you think that is irreverent, but can you imagine? “Stiff upper lip,” the British might say.
He has put you in a new position in Christ Jesus. If you read the book of Ephesians, it is remarkable. It says we have been raised in Christ Jesus, and we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
Is that not incredible? Can you imagine such a position? You are no longer on the earth.
Now, you may say, “Brother, you must have had too much of the communion wine, because I am on the earth.” But no, no, no. Do not live as though you are on the earth. Live as from above.
Live in a new position in Christ Jesus, and you will find out that your members on the earth can be yielded to Him. You will find out then that you can overcome the things you could never overcome before.
You will discover, when you stand in that vaunted, glorious position of resurrection, that you have an ability now in Christ Jesus, for the first time, to overcome.
I do not know if I am making it clear, but resurrection is not just a promise. It is a whole new ball game. You are in a position where you are now seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
I see some of you looking at me like you do not believe me, so turn to Ephesians 2, and I will try to convince you.
Ephesians 2:4-6:
But God, being rich in mercy,
because of His great love wherewith He has loved us,
we too, being dead in offenses,
has quickened us with the Christ—
ye are saved by grace—
and has raised us up together,
and made us sit down together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, confuse your family next time you see them. When they call and ask where you are, say, “I am in the heavenlies, seated with Christ in the heavenlies.”
You will not be lying. You will be confessing the absolute bedrock truth of Christianity.
It is because we died—that is what our baptism means. It is because we were raised that we now have this new position in Christ Jesus.
It is not a singular event that the Lord alone experienced. It is an inclusive event that included us.
You might ask how He did it. Without going into much depth, think again of 1 Corinthians 15. He did it by taking Adam—that old man. Adam is who the old man was.
That old man was crucified in Christ, and you were included because all are in Adam. Then there was a second Man, and that second Man is Christ. You were likewise included in Christ.
Therefore, in this new heavenly position, just as Adam failed in sin, you can overcome in victory in Christ. Brothers and sisters, think of it. It is a position Adam never had. He never even dreamed of it.
When they were looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if it had just crossed their minds what that tree of life represented. But it did not.
Often we do not see. We see only through our passions and our lusts, and that is what entrapped them—what was good to the eye.
This is the message of Colossians. You know, we have been studying Colossians. Look at Colossians 2.
We have been studying it on Friday night. I like what Jeffrey did on Friday night. We began Colossians 3, and he went back to Colossians 2:20. I think, when any of you get to chapter 3, you ought to do the same.
It says in Colossians 2:20:
If ye have died with Christ from the elements of the world,
why, as if alive in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances:
Do not handle,
do not taste,
do not touch—
things which are all for destruction in the using of them?
Brothers and sisters, we have died with Christ. But look at Colossians 3:1. This is an accepted fact:
If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ,
seek the things which are above,
where the Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
Have your mind on the things that are above,
not on the things that are on the earth;
for ye have died,
and your life is hid with the Christ in God.
When the Christ is manifested, who is our life,
then shall ye also be manifested with Him in glory.
What a new position. What a victory it affords.
Brothers and sisters, if we could only have that spirit of wisdom and revelation about what God has done in placing us in Christ, it would transform the way we live. It would transform the way we walk. It would transform everything about our life.
We are no longer subject to that old man. We have been raised with Christ in the heavenlies.
I will not borrow Lance’s illustration. You know it. Jeffrey said he had talked about one Friday night ten thousand times. I am not sure this has been ten thousand times, but the great old saints that said, “Look down,” knew something.
We as Christians need to know the position of resurrection. It will absolutely transform your life.
It gives you the ability to stand in faith against all that is seen and all that you experience, and stand with the Lord until that transforming work is complete.
That is the position of resurrection. It is not a future event. It is a present reality. It is not just waiting for a promise; it is living in the life. There is a difference.
You remember Lazarus, the whole story of Lazarus. By the way, people say Lazarus was resurrected. Lazarus was not resurrected; Lazarus was resuscitated. Ask the medical person—she knows the difference.
His whole being was not transformed into this heavenly being. He was the same old Lazarus. There are resuscitations throughout the Bible, but there is only one resurrection, when the nature of One was changed and the heavenly glory of that One was manifest.
You know Martha, all upset. You could imagine—she loved her brother. That is a lot more to say than for a lot of us, I would think. She loved her brother.
She said to the Lord, “I believe in the resurrection in the last day.” She believed in the promise.
That was not the point the Lord wanted her to see. He looked at her, I am sure, square in the eyes, with all the love He could muster, and said:
Martha,
I am the resurrection,
and the life.
It is a new position. It is not just a future hope.
I am sure you get the point. I hope that is clear. We have to know the promise of His resurrection. We have to know the position of His resurrection.
But we must know the power of His resurrection.
It is more than a promise. It is more than a position. It is a reality.
It is the very source that Paul knew in his life to take him through the most difficult, the most trying, the most extraordinary circumstances in his life. It was the power of resurrection.
It was Paul’s secret. It was a secret he knew was all-sufficient in every circumstance.
You remember, he was chained to a Roman guard in a Roman prison—some say twenty-four hours a day. Here was this apostle in the darkest of circumstances, yet in this letter of Philippians, in closing, he said to the Philippian believers:
I can do all things through Christ,
who gives me power.
Brothers and sisters, here is one who knew the power of His resurrection. He knew it in every circumstance. It was his secret.
It was what he wanted to bring to those he deeply loved. He said, “Listen to me. You need to know something more than just the promises. You need to know the promises. You need to know something more than just the position. You have to know the position. You need to know the power of His resurrection.”
That is what I long for.
Ephesians, which we have already read, says that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.
Verse 18 is the key. It says, “So that you should know,” and then he goes into three things:
The Authorized Version puts it this way:
The exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
according to the working of the might of His strength,
which He wrought when He raised Christ Jesus from among the dead.
Brothers and sisters, this is the way the Apostle Paul described this power of His resurrection. He used words that were superlative. He said, “It is the exceeding greatness of His power.”
And he says a remarkable thing: it is to us who believe. Can you imagine? Can you take that in?
The God of glory has given us the exceeding greatness of His power as the source by which to live. Is that not incredible?
I often think of the hymn writer and that line, “I scarce can take it in.” When I think that the God of glory gave us the exceeding greatness of the power of His resurrection as our source and supply for everyday life, I scarce can take it in.
But that is the truth that the Apostle Paul tried to bring to the Philippian church. Brothers and sisters, how we need to know this secret. It needs to be our secret.
It is not your power. It is not your might.
Do you remember Zechariah 4? Zerubbabel saw this vision of the lampstand and the olive trees of gold. He said, “What are these, my Lord?”
God said, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel.” You would think He would begin to explain what the olive trees are, what the bowls are, what the lampstand is, and what the golden oil is. But He does not.
He says:
This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
Not by might,
nor by power,
but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.
That is the secret. That is the power of resurrection. That is what you have been given to live by.
Not your own resources; not left to your own whims; not your own determination and grit; not your own steadfastness. What you have been given is the innumerable power of the universe, which is the power of His resurrection.
That was the secret of the Apostle Paul, and that is the reason he could overcome in every circumstance.
Every power for every situation—for us who believe. Do you believe it?
T. Austin-Sparks said, talking about our great need, “I think it is profound, and we should settle this one thing, if we have not already settled it: that whatever may be our need in these end times, the need above other things is to know Christ in the power of His resurrection.”
Take it from Brother Sparks.
Hebrews 7:16 talks about the power of an indissoluble life. Now, that is probably not a word you use in everyday speech with your mate or your children: indissoluble.
But it literally means indestructible. It literally means incapable of being annulled. It literally means it cannot be undone or broken.
That is the power of His resurrection.
Brothers and sisters, we should worship God for giving us such resource: indescribable power, unbelievable power, the ultimate power.
This is how we can live the Christian life. This is how we can do the impossible.
Paul’s testimony in this prison was:
I have strength for all things
in Him that gives me power.
This was his deepest secret. This was what he came to know as his inexhaustible and endless supply.
Do you believe it? Is it a fairy tale? No. Sometimes I think we just do not believe it.
There was a lady in England, Lady Anne Grimstone. I did not know her; she lived quite some centuries ago. But she did not believe in the power of resurrection, and she scoffed at it.
She boldly said, “I shall live again as surely as a tree will grow from my body.”
She said, “Prepare me a vault—an unbreakable vault—marble so thick, a slab so thick, iron unbreakable. I will never live again.”
Then a seed of a tree fell in that vault. Then this tree began to grow. Over years, this tree shattered that marble vault and broke those iron bands.
They say—some who reported the story say—it is one of the greatest trees in England. It overcame the death that was in that vault.
That is the power of resurrection. Do you think old Lady Anne Grimstone knew she was going to be a testimony forever about the power of life and resurrection?
“Surely a tree will grow from my body.” Well, there you go. True fact.
The power of His resurrection, brothers and sisters, is a very practical thing. This touches where we live.
Every day, we need to say, “Lord, I am facing this day. It is impossible. But You have given me a power that exceeds anything known in the universe. I take that power today.”
Brothers and sisters, it begins with little steps of faith. It begins when you discover you cannot live the Christian life. It begins when you discover you do not have the power.
It begins when you simply ask, “Lord, give me the power of Your resurrection.”
Let it be our daily prayer and our practical guide as we go through life. It will take you through every circumstance.
Watchman Nee, when he was in that prison and passed away in 1972 with that enlarged heart and chronic pain, served five years past his sentence and was in an impossible situation.
Yet he wrote his sister-in-law at the end—his elder sister, he called her—and he said this simple thing:
But I maintain my joy.
So please do not worry.
That is just like the Apostle Paul. If you read the book of Philippians, you discover the chief word is joy—rejoice.
How can there be rejoicing in those circumstances? It is by the power of resurrection. That is the key.
Well, I think you get the point. May the Lord help us to daily lay hold of that power. May we have a new appreciation of that power.
May we be those who know the promise of His resurrection. What great promises.
May we be those who know the position of His resurrection, and because of that stand against everything that is seen, for the unseen to be manifest.
May we be, in the end, those who know Paul’s deep secret and can say at the end of our life, “What got me through was the power of His resurrection.”
Brothers and sisters, I am in agreement with Brother Sparks. I think this is our need for this hour.
I think we are coming into some difficult days ahead, where being a Christian will be more difficult than it has ever been in world history.
Look at the Middle East. Consider those dear ones in Mosul. Consider those ones who were in Egypt. Consider those ones who are in Syria. Consider those ones who are in Nigeria with that demon-possessed Boko Haram.
There is one thing that can surely get us through: the power—the power—of His resurrection.
Lord, we come to You only knowing in part, only seeing in part. Thank You for what You have shown us.
We ask together for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him like never before, so that You can show us these great things.
Lord, we want to be people—the most hopeful people. Forgive us; we have not believed in the promise of Your resurrection.
Lord, thank You for what You did at Calvary when You died and were raised. We want to be people who understand the power—who understand, Lord, simply understand—the position of Your resurrection and live in the good of it.
Lord, we want to daily discover the power of Your resurrection. Help us, Lord Jesus.
We yield these thoughts to You, incomplete as they are, and ask You to have mercy to lead us into a greater discovery of these things.
For we ask together in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.