Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 28, 2025 | Ephesians - The Power of Christ

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September 28, 2025 | Ephesians - The Power of Christ · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know how many of you follow uh intricately the world of powerlifting, okay?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um all three of you.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: But uh a couple a couple months ago the world deadlift record was broken.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: This guy named Half Thor Bjornsson lifted 510 kilograms, which is 1,124 pounds.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just picked it up off the ground, right?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Crazy stuff.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it there was kind of this battle going back and forth, you know, between him and another guy, and because 500 kilograms had been set a couple years ago.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: What's funny to me about this whole world is that um not only is it just staggering the amount of weight that they lift in any of these kinds of things, right?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: My back hurts watching them lift that barbell off the ground.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but it's that this title that they have, like right now, he is the world's deadlift champion, right?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's that that title can pass around as soon as somebody beats him by one pound, right?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And how quickly these titles exchange hand.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: What were the rec, you can see this in the Olympics, right?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're always tracking what's the world record, what's the meat record, what's the American record, what all of these things.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we're always just looking for a little bit of improvement.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever it is, whoever is on top of the mountain is usually not on the mountain just a year later.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that there are a lot of things in our life where we often feel like we can be on the top of the mountain, we're doing things are going well, we're succeeding, and then and you know, the snap of a finger has just gone away.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what does it feel uh like to be powerless, to be overwhelmed, to feel anxious, and how far we can fall from those highs when everything seems to be going well?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's an interesting idea in the Christian life about what it means to find power in this world.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to have power?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do with that power?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, what does it mean to uh have the world's power and what does it mean to have Christ's power?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's a big difference between those two.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: They're not the same thing.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Paul, in the letter to the Ephesians and to the surrounding churches of Ephesus, is has been praying for them.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And last week, if you heard Jim and his message, he shared the three areas where Paul was praying for the church in Ephesus.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the third area that he tells them, he's going to be praying for them about, is that they would have, they would understand the immeasurable riches of Christ, the immeasurable power of Christ that has now been directed towards them.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's this idea, this concept that is very hard to imagine, which is the power that rests within Christ now being shifted toward the Christian.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul's saying that because the church in Ephesus is, like many early churches, was going through a hard time, right?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: They're clearly they've lost their cultural influence, they're no longer in the social majority, some of them have lost their livelihoods in a matter of years, though not exactly when Paul wrote this letter, but a couple years after that, the Roman government is going to begin to persecute them, and then eventually, by the time we get to the book of Revelation, where the church in Ephesus is mentioned, we see that they are being applauded and really recognized for their ability to endure persecution.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it brings up this big question, right?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Why would Paul want to tell people who were struggling in their faith, who felt like the world was turning against them, that they had power?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, when he had the opportunity to share that message of power with them, why did he only talk about Jesus and not any of the things they could have done to try and regain some of that power in the world?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: As you'll see, the answer is because the only place that we can put our hope in this world for power, for security, for prestige is in the cross of Jesus Christ.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so as Paul explains that in Ephesians chapter 1, you're going to find out that there's really three areas that he's going to talk about.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: One is what does it mean to have resurrection power?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Two, what does it mean to have for Jesus to have all authority over heaven and earth?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And three, how do those things come into the local church?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: How do they affect you and me?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So if you will, we're in Ephesians 1.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start in verse 20.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it is gonna seem like we're picking up in the middle of an idea, but keep in mind, Paul has said, I'm praying for you in these ways.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And his third, the third part of that prayer was that you would know the immeasurable, immeasurable power of Christ that is now extended to you, and then he is now explaining what the immeasurable uh power of Christ is.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's where we kick off.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: The Father exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every ruler in authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: As Paul gets started here, the first way that he is going to speak of this power, right, is he's going to start describing the things that God has done.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: See, the power of God can't be measured in pounds and kilograms, right?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a force that is multiplied in some way that we can track.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's not on a graph.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The only way for Paul to begin to explain the immeasurable power of God is to start talking about the things that he has done.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: That is the closest glimpse we can get to it, right?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know what the maximum power of something is, but we can get an idea based upon the things that it can do.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul says, well, first of all, you need to understand the power of God that was exercised in the resurrection of Christ.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in the Bible, there are actually quite a few people who get brought back from the dead.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and Jesus did it more than once, and he sent out his disciples to do it.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: We have prophets in the Old Testament who were bringing people back from the dead.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's not as rare of an occurrence, certainly rare, but not as rare as you might think it was.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: But the difference for all of those individuals is that they were brought back from the dead and then they died again.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't actually defeat death, right?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: They sort of pushed it back for a little bit.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Christ displayed his power over death multiple times, but it was not until the resurrection, right?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: He is murdered on the cross, he is sent to the tomb, three days later he rises again, and this is something that he did to display his final and complete power over something that had been afflicting humanity since the Garden of Eden.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: For when Jesus rose from the dead, he did not rise to die again, he rose permanently.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is an unbelievably important concept that Jesus is alive right now.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: It underlines all of the things I'm going to talk with you about.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because what we are saying about Jesus is not referring to a figure 2,000 years ago.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: We are describing an individual who is living and breathing right now.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that means that he is ministering to you and loving you and desiring a relationship with you in real time.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: It is not something that occurred long, long ago.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so this resurrection power that is displayed, Paul goes, Well, that's one of the first ways.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: But really, that was just kicking off.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: That was the starting gun.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because then Paul says, Well, all of you, you've seen him raise up into the heavens.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: But see, Jesus isn't just hanging out there waiting for you.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: He's not just biding his time until God sends him back.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says he was placed upon a throne.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: He was placed upon a throne, and in fact, his rightful place upon this throne.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: See, Jesus is the Messiah or the Christ.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Those are two different words and different languages for the same thing, that he is the anointed one or the king.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is uh Savior is one of his titles.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: King is another one.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And for Paul, he begins to move from one to the next, and he says, He is not just the one who defeated death, but he is the one who now, reigning forever on the throne, is seated at the right hand of the Father.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: This power is displayed as this God who defeated death is now in heaven and ruling as the Holy King.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of background to that identity and what it means for Jesus to be sort of the prophesied Messiah that all the prophets and people in the Old Testament were talking about.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, this idea that he is king, he is not just Savior, was so important that when Peter, the Apostle Peter, was speaking to the church, the early like infant church in Jerusalem, and he was trying to help them understand this concept, right?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: He he dove in and he began to quote the Old Testament because he said it was so important that people would understand they were worshiping a God who was currently reigning.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: He was not just awaiting them in heaven, he didn't just do a neat parlor trick and then disappear somewhere.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: He defeated death and now put on a crown.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Peter says in Acts chapter 2, God has raised this Jesus.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: We are all witnesses of this, like you and me.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: We saw it happen.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but David says, The Lord declared to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, quite the dagger to the crowd, both Lord and Messiah.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Peter quotes Psalm 110, which was written by Christ's ancestor David.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: King David wrote about this promise that God gave him that there would be a king that came from him that would reign forever.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: He would not be a king who ruled for 40 years or was over this plot of land, but he would be a king that reigned forever.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter picks up on that trail and he says, Yeah, the guy that you killed, he was that guy.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you killed the wrong guy.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: But when you put a crown of thorns on his head, you thought you were mocking him.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: In reality, you were it was a coronation of the king and his divine rule that he has now taken place.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so now that Jesus is seated in these heavenly realms, Peter is saying, and then Paul later, he's like, this is a power that was made evident to us.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: We recognize these things.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: We bear witness to it.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like you saw him come back from the dead, you saw him go up to heaven.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hundreds of people saw it.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a shock to them.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's why Peter goes, like you and me, we witness this.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so, as Paul is explaining to the church of Ephesus, many of whom might not have seen Christ bodily, physically rise from the dead.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: They just heard it from firsthand witnesses.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Peter explains to them, it's kind of a, you had to be there, guys, if you could only see it, but the resurrection of the Messiah from the dead to seat him on the throne, this is one aspect of God's immeasurable power.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is just one way in which God shows us what he is doing.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Both the resurrection and the coronation of Christ show us that we trust in a living Savior and King who is currently reigning in the heavens.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And from that foundation, all of the other things come forth.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you have a king who is overall and is alive right now, then when you begin to talk about the power of the king, it's much more interesting, right?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm reading a biography right now on Alexander the Great.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, he rose up, he was the king of Macedonia, and he conquers the Greek peninsula, and then he basically conquers the rest of the known world.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes into Asia Minor and Egypt and Persia and then on to India.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And when he finishes all of this, he is ruling over the largest empire the world has ever seen.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: But what does that matter, right?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was 350 BC.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: At the moment that he died, it was divided up amongst his followers.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was something that lasted for only a couple years.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was a flash in the pan.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most impressive feats the world had ever seen was gone in the blink of an eye.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, now we're talking about a king.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: What real power does our king have?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: This becomes a big question that Paul addresses.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he was placed far above every ruler in authority, power in dominion, and every title given, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: He subjected everything under his feet.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul says, Well, this great king that we now worship, the one whose power is extended to you, he is over all.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: His kingdom has no boundary.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, in terms of time, it will not change.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: That is, that he is the Lord over all, both now and in the future.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Interestingly, what Paul does not say is that he is the only power.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, he says he is over all of these other powers.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's an idea that Paul will really hammer home in Ephesians chapter 6, this concept of spiritual warfare.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: But see, the the church in Ephesus, they've got one of the seven wonders of the world in their backyard, this temple to Artemis.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's magnificent, it's huge, it is uh gigantic.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: It had been rebuilt multiple times.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Ironically, it burned down the day that Alexander the Great was born, but that's just sort of a fun fact.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at the temple of Artemis, you have got the epicenter for the worship of a false god happening in their backyard, and the early church in Ephesus is doing so much work with the gospel, and God is spreading it so far and changing the community so fast that the silversmiths, the people who are making the idols for the temple at Artemis, begin to start a riot because they're losing their jobs.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Not enough people are worshiping Artemis.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul doesn't say there's no power over there, right?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: See, the way that the Bible qualifies these gods and goddesses is it says, well, they are powerful, they do have a measure of you know influence, but it's not Artemis, it's not Zeus, it's not, you know, all of these other figures that we attach to it.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's demons with the faces of marble and wood that we've constructed around them.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And they do have power.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Demons do.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: The spiritual world is alive and real.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: But what Paul says here is that Jesus is above every single one of them, and he is over them all.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: He has conquered them, and there is not a single power in this world that can compare to the divine king.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Over every power and dominion and every title given.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then there Paul goes, not only in this age, but in the one to come.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: We broaden the scope, right, of investigation because for so many, and particularly for those that Paul is speaking to, who are understandably focused on the difficulties of the life that they're living right then and there, Paul goes, Well, the rule in the reign of this king goes beyond the life that we're living.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: The rule in the reign of this king is not just in this age, though it is, it is also in the one that is coming in the future.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that becomes something that is very important as this idea of the king develops in our mind, and we talk about what his power looks like and what it can do, we actually go back to Psalm 110, the Psalm that Peter quoted when he was just speaking of the coronation of the king, seated at the right hand of the Father.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: But Peter did not keep going in Psalm 110.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: He stopped short.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: The part that comes after Peter's message speaks about the power of Christ in the age to come.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord is at your right hand.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: He will crush kings on the day of his anger, he will judge the nations, heaping up corpses, he will crush leaders over the entire world, he will drink from the brook by the road, therefore he will lift up his head.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: God the Father has given God the Son authority over all the world.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of all things, the king goes into battle, and he comes out with his forces and goes to fight against all that is evil, both in heaven and on earth.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, in the blink of an eye, when Christ returns, is when all things, cosmic forces, all powers and dominions, all earthly rulers and otherwise, every single piece that he is over currently will be finally placed under his feet.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, this was something that Jesus told us he was going to do.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a surprise.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: This identity as the great king and messiah.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of the reasons that he was killed.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because he said that that is what he was going to do.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Two thousand years ago, after Jesus had been arrested and was facing the Jewish authorities who were trying to throw anything they could at him to say that he was worthy of death because it was a sham trial, when they're talking with Jesus, one of the questions that they ask him is they say, Tell us if you're the Messiah, the Son of God.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And implicit in that question is, are you saying that you are the king that has come from David that we've been waiting on?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, are you the anointed one?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Are you saying that you are equal with God because you are God?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's a loaded question.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: And for them, if you would answer in the affirmative, it would be blasphemy.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Blasphemy deserving of a gruesome death.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: And in response to their all-important question, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Are you the King?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: You have said it, Jesus said.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I tell you, in the future, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I would hazard a guess.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: If I were one of the Jewish officials in that room who had uttered that question with confidence, I would be shaking in that moment.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: When they thought that they were putting a mocking crown of thorns on this man, what they were doing was inaugurating a kingdom that had no precedent and would transform the entire world, not just what is seen, but what is unseen as well.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: When Jesus spoke these words, he was not yet the king that he is right now, not in the same way, because the Father lifted him up.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: He had completed his trial, he was faithful and obedient to the cross.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And through that, God lifted him up and seated him at this place of authority and power over all things.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: In this moment, Christ's kingdom was coming to fruition.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now there is a tension here that we have to wrestle with, which we'll get into with our final point, which is there is a difference between this age and the age to come, obviously, right?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean that Christ reigns now as king, and yet in the future all of his enemies will be put under his feet?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what it means right now is that in the infinite wisdom of God, there are certain things that are happening in this world that Christ has the power over, yet they are allowing to happen, so that as many people as possible will come to faith in Christ.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: As many people as possible will trust in Jesus as their Savior, because they do recognize that this world is not the way that it should be, and that there is something greater that is coming.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because when Jesus does return on the clouds of heaven, as the king who is coming to put all of his enemies under his feet, the time is up.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's no more conversation about will they, won't they.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: The king is going to lay claim to all of his territory.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer to what is all of Christ's territory is all of creation.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind, two weeks ago, you might recall that, we uh Paul was saying, What does it mean to be in Christ?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Well, the revelation that came through Christ that God has just recently told us about is the fact that through Jesus all of creation is going to be redeemed.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: And now we see his rightful role and place as doing that as the king.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: This great power, though, if it is going to place all of its enemies under its feet, if that is what's coming in the next age, then what about this age?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: What about the pain in this world?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: What about the difficulty?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is where, as Paul finishes, he says, Christ has another role.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: He has been appointed as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: God's power is revealed first in the resurrection and enthronement of the divine king, and then in Christ's authority over all things seen and unseen.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: And now, in this age, one of the ways that we might experience and witness the unmeasurable power of Christ is through the local church.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul here is speaking not just of a church like Ephesus, the Ephesian church, but rather he is saying the capital C church, the universal church, that the way that Christ's power is seen in this age is through the expansion of God's kingdom taking place within the church.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that the role and function of the church, as it is, sharing the gospel, bringing people to Christ, leading them to life, standing up against the evil of this world, all of those things, that that is where we see Christ most presently in this broken age.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's good to distinguish, too, right, that there is an individual component here, meaning you and me.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that in just a second.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul's point, make no mistake about it, is that Christ is seen when Christians are moving and working together in the local church.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Becomes a huge theme that Paul will develop in the letter to the Ephesians, one of unity in Christ.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So what does it mean for the church to be empowered by God then?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: If TBC and if all other churches across the world that are faithfully proclaiming the gospel are empowered by the unmeasurable power of Christ, what does that look like?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Does that mean that the church is always thriving?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Does it mean that it's always growing?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Does it mean that it's always winning the culture war?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, it doesn't.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean those things.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, it becomes very difficult for us when we begin to attach the systems and powers of this world to the church and define it through that lens.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you an example.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Right now in Nigeria, there are about 30 Christians being killed every single day.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: It is the most dangerous place in the world right now to be a Christian.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Since the beginning of 2025, over 7,000 people have been killed because of their faith by kind of an Islamic offshoot of Boko Haram.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: And not just 7,000 people have been killed, but over 8,000 people have been abducted just since the beginning of 2025.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for the power of Christ to be made manifest in the church in Nigeria?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good question to ask because if you were asking how Christ's power is made manifest in America, we would probably answer that a certain way.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you begin to take that answer and apply it to a different location that is not experiencing the same kind of prosperity, you struggle for an answer.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those powerful, strong, godly people who are fighting right now for their lives simply because they have trusted in Christ, they have a kind of faith that frankly, I don't know that any one of us can really match up against unless we have also gone through the same kind of persecution that they have.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: A Nigerian mother confessed, if I stopped being Christian, maybe my life would be easier.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I cannot.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: My mother taught me this faith, and my children sleep under crosses.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Faith is everything, but faith is heavy now.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: A local pastor there declared, even if just ten people come next Sunday, I will preach.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: The church is not just a building.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: As long as one believer remains, there is hope.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Those are not the words of defeated people, right?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Those are not the words of people who have been crushed in their soul, though they have in their body.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for the power of Christ to be made manifest in places where persecution is most prevalent?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: What it looks like is that no matter what the scheme of Satan is, that is moving and active currently in our world, is that the faith of these Christians will never be extinguished, that the church will never be overrun completely, and that there is nothing that the powers of this world can do to overcome the plan of God.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now it might seem that way by what we are looking at, the news reports we read, the headlines in our news, what is happening here in America and elsewhere.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: It might seem like there is this constant barrage, but if you have the gift of hindsight, you're able to look back at other times when the church was facing persecution, and ironically, what you come to understand, though we're detached from the emotion of it, right, what it felt like to walk through persecution and martyrdom and all of those things, is that when the church was experiencing those moments is actually when the gospel shin the brightest.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: It is not when the church was the cultural force that as many people were coming to Christ as later on.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at the early church in Rome, right, it is well before Constantine makes it the uh national, the empire's state religion that Christianity explodes.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is under Nero and all of the other uh Caesars that were trying to kill the Christians that it just scatters and spreads like a wildfire.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: That is the power of Christ made manifest.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a power that reckons like world powers.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a power of influence, it is not a power of financial prosperity, it is not a power made in social acceptance, it is not a power made in majority opinions, it is a power based in the resurrection and ascension of Christ and his authority over all things, even those things which are afflicting the church.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does that mean?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: It means that we must adjust our expectations.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: That Christ said that his church will be attacked, but that she will not be overcome.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's his great line to Peter, right?
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Peter, in that all-important statement of faith, Jesus says, I will build my rock upon this church, after Peter expresses that he is the Christ.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, I will build my rock upon this church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is still the promise that Christ has today, but oftentimes we attach other things to that promise by saying, Well, that also means this.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: The gift of this moment is that these people, one, let me tell you something, they have a reward in heaven that is greater than what we can imagine for the persecution they have endured.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: God's taking care of them.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: They might continue to experience unimaginable difficulty in this life, but it is this age.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is not the age to come.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Second of all, they are not down and out by any means.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, what is happening and what will continue to happen is the name of Christ continues to be spread as his people must scatter and go into other places.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: That is one of the tools that the Father uses in his infinite wisdom.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that it's good to watch or we love to see it happen, but rather that this is one of the ways that Christ is going to use what was bad, intended for bad, and bring it to good.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: And third and finally, it gives us a matter of perspective for what we are going through in our world.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at the Christians in Nigeria, these widows, these husbands and wives, the children who are being abducted, all of these things, frankly, it puts a bit of a temper on how we define persecution in our own lives.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Helps us understand a bit more deeply what it means to trust in the power of Christ when things seem dim.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: But the flame will never, ever go out.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: That is the promise that this power has given us.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do we do with that, right?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do with that information?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for you?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for the church?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: Paul expresses to the church in Ephesus, right?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: He says, We are not powerful, but we have a God who is.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And in his great wisdom, he has chosen to extend that power to us now.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Individually and as a church, you and I, as Christians, if we've trusted in Christ, the same power that brought him back from the dead rests on your shoulders.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty wild.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, what does it mean for you and me?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, when you were growing up, you might have had somebody come up to you, maybe they were angry, and they said, My dad can beat up your dad.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm a big guy.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: My dad's bigger than I am.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I never worried if somebody said that to me.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, no, he's not.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: My dad's bigger than your dad.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a little bit of this attitude that we need to adopt for ourselves.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit of this confidence that comes from resting in the power of our Father, who is over all things, who has placed Jesus on the throne even right now as I'm speaking, he's sitting there.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think we need a little bit more confidence in what it means to say, My dad can beat up your dad.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: But this doesn't mean that we become overconfident in ourselves.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, it's the place that this confidence begins is in a respectful fear.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus was speaking to his disciples, and he was sending them out into the surrounding cities to share the gospel, and not just that, but gave him some of his power to raise people from the dead, heal the sick, and to cast out demons.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: And as he was sending out the disciples, he gave them what should be an encouragement, though it sounds a little harsh at first.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they went, That was the pep talk?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, right on.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: But what is Jesus saying there, right?
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: He says, He, I mean, he jumps from zero to ten.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, You're gonna go out there and you're gonna face people that want to kill you.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: And at some point in time, for the majority of you, they're gonna be successful in that attempt.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: You have people that want to kill you, want to hurt you, want to stop this message.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you what, they can destroy the body.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: They can destroy the body, they can take your life, they can spill your blood.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: But they can't do what my father can.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: He is the one who is over both body and soul.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you what, you want to be backed by the big guy who controls both body and soul.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so his encouragement to the disciples is he goes, do not fear, right?
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: That is the encouragement.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Do not fear, because the one who is more powerful than any force that you are going out to witness and experience, the one who is able to destroy both body and soul, he's in your corner.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: He is for you, not against you.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: He loves you, he desires a relationship with you, he has empowered you, he is walking with you every step of the way, he is with you wherever you go.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: That guy who is on the throne right now, he is for you.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so the encouragement, like the foundation of this idea then becomes this awe and reverence for this immeasurable power, but then it gets flipped and goes outward because we recognize that it is for us and it is supposed to be used by us ultimately to carry out God's will.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is why Paul, a man who knew persecution probably better than anybody else that he was writing to, spoke so often of what it meant to trust in the power of God.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: I would say it's probably why he chose to finish Ephesians chapter 1 with it, in this prayer.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Of all the things that I can share with you, let me talk to you about the power of God.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: In his letter to the Corinthians, his in 2 Corinthians, Paul communicates this idea.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: He says that God's power is made perfect in weakness.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not God's power is made perfect when we are perfect, not God's power is made perfect when we seek out power.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: God's power is made perfect when we are weak.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Later on in chapter 12, verse 10, he says, When I am weak, then I am strong.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: That is not a strength that comes from within himself as if he was able to grasp it like a brass ring.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: It is a strength that comes because Christ's power is now made manifest in Paul because he recognized his weaknesses.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of those ways that the kingdom flips ideas on its head, right?
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: We think that we seek power and find security when we go and we and we chase after the things the world says are powerful, whether it's positions or ideas or attitudes, whether it's the influence that we can gain, so many places that the world says, this is what it means to be powerful, right?
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: You lift 1,100 pounds, you are the strongest person the world has ever seen, or at least that we've known about in the last 60 years, okay?
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like you are amazing, you are fantastic.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then you recognize in reality how frail the human body is.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: How weak and bruised, how in a matter of decades those feats of strength and power are completely taken away.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: You go, what does it mean to rest in a power that never goes away?
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: In order to do that, you have to say that you are weak.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: You have to submit to the idea that Christ's power comes through when you admit that you are weak, not when you are strong.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: There are going to be times in your life where the world congratulates you and celebrates you because you seem to be strong in their eyes.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there's going to be a temptation to feel that God has given you that kind of power, but that is not the kind of power that Paul is speaking of here.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: The power of Christ is not made manifest in anything other than our weaknesses and human frailty.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is part of the reason why the gospel message, the introduction to it, is we've messed up.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then the power of Christ comes in and saves souls.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does the power of Christ mean for us?
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: This week, don't hide your weaknesses.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: During a time of prayer, name one area where you feel powerless and invite Christ to display his strength through it.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: Submit to the idea that the solution isn't fighting for yourself, but letting your God fight for you.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it'll feel a little funny at first, because we don't like admitting we're weak.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: But then you will find a strength that nothing in this world can compare to.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: And frankly, it might be a strength that is known most fully in the age to come as you understand more deeply the hope and promises of God upon this world.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, what does the power of Christ mean for the church?
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a bit of a tricky subject because the church is so different across the entire world.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we have to do is we have to find the common denominator, right?
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: What do we share with the church in Nigeria?
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: What do we share with the church in Ephesus?
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: And how do we define Christ's power for us through the church through those means?
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: In America, we often conflate the idea of Christ's power in the church with the earthly power of our world.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, a church or a denomination is considered powerful because it is big, because it has money, because the pastors talk on the radio, because it influences elections.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that, the power of Christianity, and I would use quotes there, is often defined by the moment-to-moment acceptance within the broader culture.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: We become satisfied to see Christians gaining influence because we have placed oftentimes our greatest hope that that is how we will regain power and influence.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Not saying that those things aren't important or that those things aren't even good endeavors, but rather it's a matter of priorities.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is the power of Christ that is made manifest in our weakness our number one priority?
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we striving after the things that this world says mean power to their eyes, but aren't true for all churches everywhere?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: We must look again at these struggling churches and see that they don't possess influence, cultural acceptance, majority opinion, or financial freedom, and yet they still have the power of Christ.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I would lay all the money in my bank account that if you would go and speak to some of these saints who have lost a brother or a sister, a father, mother, a child because of their faith, and you would hear how they continue to persevere, you would hear their endurance.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: You would be moved beyond anything that you can comprehend, because it would be the closest thing in this world that you are going to get, and I am going to get to witnessing the power of Christ unless it would happen to us individually, which of course we always pray against.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, for some of these people, and you can read their stories and their biographies of those who went through immense persecution, you find this ironic change in their attitude that the deeper and deeper they go into this place of pain, they go, the more and more I was finding Jesus, the more and more I was finding his power, the more and more I was finding security in who I was and confidence in where I was going.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is often those who are the most comfortable in their Christianity, and the way that the world accepts that Christianity, that have a very anemic view of what it means to believe in the power of Christ.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul reminds us that the true power of Christ is not found in cultural prestige or earthly authority.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is found in a crucified and risen king, and in his church that bears witness to the gospel in every age, whether celebrated or rejected.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the rub, isn't it?
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: That you and I, we have grown up in an environment, in a culture, certainly if you're from around here, where Christian things and Christian principles were lauded in the past more than they are now.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: That people led in ways that aligned more with biblical standards than they do now.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: And we grieve that as the tide seems to be going out.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: But the difficulty as the church is to say that the power of Christ is often made best known when the tide is going out.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: That is when all of the beautiful things are uncovered, because we have the opportunity to lead from behind and to show people what it means to love thy neighbor, to treat them with grace, to share a gospel message that by definition is offensive and called foolish by the world.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so we should expect persecution.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it feels weird and it feels like you're putting on a different skin because we have been in a privileged position for so long, for so long, to have what we believe, generally speaking, aligning with the outside world.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: And what we have to recognize is that is the historical anomaly.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time that doesn't happen.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we begin to shift and understand that that's what's going on, there is going to be a desire to grab after the things that would keep some of that power.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to question ultimately, not that those things aren't good pursuits in their own right, within reason.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: But where is ultimate power found?
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: It is not in things that influence this age, but it is chasing after the one who is over the body and soul in this age and the one to come.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what does that mean for us?
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think it means to choose one small act of faithfulness week that may look weak in the world's eyes, whether it's sharing the gospel with a neighbor, serving someone in quiet humility, or praying for the persecuted church.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Christ's power is seen when we abdicate oftentimes our insistence upon ruling, and rather say that we know who the real ruler is.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that I can do to make him more on the throne than he already is.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that I can do that makes him more powerful than he already is.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I want to point people to him as much as I possibly can.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: In the end, God's power is not an abstract idea, it is a concrete reality based in Christ's resurrection, his authority of king as king, and role as the head of the church in this age.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is not found in the same places that our world seeks power, but rather in our personal weaknesses and complete trust in a king who has already conquered.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're not waiting for him to conquer.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: He is already conquered and we're waiting for it to be finalized.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_00: You get what I was saying, right?
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is the hope that we have in Christ.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the hard part is we have to accept that it is found and made perfect in our weakness.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: So as Christians, let us be okay with being a little bit weaker so that we might see Christ's power a little bit more.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you today.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Lord over all, you've placed Christ on the throne.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: He reigns there right now.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: You've given us your spirit, he empowers us, he strengthens us for every good work that you have called us to do.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we recognize that this world is not our home.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: We recognize that you are the king over this age, though oftentimes it doesn't feel like it when we see all of the headlines, the persecutions, the disasters, the attacks.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, let us be reminded over and over again that you are still in control.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: You have never not been in control.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, in the age to come, all of the things which afflict us now will be placed under your feet.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, Lord, might you strengthen us to be reminded that it is okay to be weak.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: It is okay to lose a measure of influence as the world defines it.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because, Lord, we know your gospel has always been rejected, and yet we stand behind it.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to have courage to say the things that need to be said for your kingdom, to stand up for the things that need to be stood up for in terms of Christ and the cross and the power of resurrection and the truth of your word.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, Lord, help us to navigate the difficulty of this life as it does feel like the tide is going out.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to do it well.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to do it in a way that brings you glory and honor.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: Have a good week.