Strength In God's Power
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Theme: Lessons From 1 Corinthians.
Hope: To understand the doctrines mentioned therein all the more.
In this great book of 1 Corinthians we find so many wonderful topics and lessons to discuss.
As we have said from the beginning of these lessons that the thrust of Paul’s message is defined in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2.
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Paul knew, like you and I know, that the only way to be please to God and correct any wrong doing is to “know nothing…except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
This is why we have examined, over the last few weeks, the contrast between man and God.
God’s Wisdom Vs Man’s Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
God’s Spirit Vs Man’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-13).
Man’s Spirit Vs Man’s Nature/Flesh (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).
If we know nothing except Christ we won’t get caught up in mankind’s mess.
Now, for tonight I want us to back up just a moment and focus in on 1 Corinthians 2:3-5.
After Paul makes it clear that Christ must be our focus he then elaborates on that in the next few verses.
1 Corinthians 2:3–5 (ESV)
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
The strength of our faith rests not in ourselves or in any other people but in our God’s power.
Paul would say it this way in Philippians 4:13…
Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The question then is “How does God strengthen us through his power?”
It’s unfortunate but far too many in the church lack the confidence and strength mentioned by Paul in these two passages that he found in God.
So again, “how does God strengthen us through his power?”
There are three sources from which our faith receives strength from our God.
The first we will discuss is…
The Word Of God
The Word Of God
More Equals More.
More Equals More.
The more we are in God’s word, reading God’s word, studying God’s word, and meditating upon God’s word the more our faith is strengthened in God’s power.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
The more we know of God through his word the more strength we have in our daily life.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
This is because the more we study the more God abides in us.
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
A perfect example of this is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossian church.
Paul, begins his letter by pointing out that he prays for the church there because he has heard from Epaphras of their love and obedience to the gospel, i.e., God’s word.
Colossians 1:3–5 (ESV)
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
Colossians 1:6–8 (ESV)
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Paul then tells them of his “never ceasing prayer for them” is to be filled with God’s word so as to be strengthened by God through it.
Colossians 1:9–11 (ESV)
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy
Summary
Summary
The point is this, the more God’s word is “written on our hearts” because we have put in significant time, learning and understanding it, the more God is able to strengthen us in this spiritual battle we are in.
If we put in the proper study of God’s word the power of God strengthening will guard us against any adversary brought against.
18 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
The second source of our strength from God’s power is found in…
Prayer
Prayer
We Receive Wisdom From It.
We Receive Wisdom From It.
Wisdom should be most sought after by God’s faithful children.
It is far better than jewels.
11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. 12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
This is why wisdom is to be valued so highly.
1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
Because it is the “LORD” who gives wisdom James tells us to not be shy about asking God for it.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Now why is asking and receiving wisdom through prayer so important?
Because through wisdom comes strength to overcome trails and temptation.
Proverbs 2:10–12 (ESV)
10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, 15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.
16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, 17 who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; 18 for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed;
Proverbs 2:19–20 (ESV)
19 none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. 20 So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.
Summary
Summary
Through prayer we gain wisdom and through wisdom we have “God’s power” against the sinful desires or lusts of this world.
Praying for wisdom is like receiving a super power against sin, because it will “deliver us from the way of evil” so that “we will walk in the way of good and keep the path of the righteous.”
Thirdly and lastly we find our last source of strength from God’s power in our…
Fellow Christians
Fellow Christians
A Formidable Fellowship.
A Formidable Fellowship.
Our fellowship with like-minded brethren provides for us the benefit of bearing each other’s burdens.
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
Bearing each other’s burdens by helping the wayward, encouraging the fainthearted, and helping the weak can only be a source of strength for us when we find ourselves struggling.
We we find ourselves in sin, fainthearted, or weak.
Through the bonds of fellowship Christians are able to build a strength that will survive the fiercest of Satan’s assaults.
In Romans 16:1-16 Paul begins to list a number of people that he was in fellowship with and had helped him through his mission of teaching the lost.
In Romans 16:17-18 Paul warns the church in Rome to watch out for those that would cause division in the fellowship of the saints and not fall for their deceit.
We then find this in Romans 16:19-20…
Romans 16:19–20 (ESV)
19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
With the help of our fellow brothers and sisters who love us enough to tell us when we are lacking wisdom and acting foolish we can crush Satan..
The God of peace uses our fellowship with our brethren to crush Satan under our feet through a mutual “building up of each other.”
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Summary
Summary
It’s unfortunate how many simply do not understand the great value fellowship in the brotherhood is.
We need each other to “get through this life and make it into the next.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
How does God’s power strength us as Christians today?
By scrutinizing God’s word every day.
By praying daily without ceasing.
By seeking and loving the fellowship of our brothers and sisters.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.