What if the greatest resource for the Christian life is something you already possess? In Part 4 of The Riches You Already Possess, we continue unpacking Paul's prayer in Ephesians and discover how God's resurrection power transforms the way we live, serve, and persevere in Christ.

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Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.

It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.

Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.

And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.

According to your mighty power.

I believe.

Praise his name.

That we believe according to his mighty power.

Now, the second evidence that Paul gives us of the greatness of his power is a resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The first evidence is that we believe.

The second evidence is a resurrection of Jesus Christ in verse 20.

Look at it with me.

Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

Very interesting.

Why does Paul use the resurrection of Christ as an illustration of the greatness of the power of God working in us?

Why doesn't he use an illustration of the power of God from the many miracles that God hath performed?

Maybe Paul could have went back and said, I want to give you an evidence of the great mighty power of God.

Remember how he parted the Red Sea?

Certainly that's a great miracle of God.

Demonstration, manifestation of the great power of God.

Or maybe you remember when Joshua prayed and the sun stood still.

That's a pretty big evidence of the great power of God.

Maybe you remember when the axe head floated in the water.

I mean, I've never seen an axe head float in water.

Have you?

I'd be pretty amazed to see that.

I mean, we could go back in scripture and we can look at the healing of leprosy.

We can look at all these different examples and illustrations that Paul may have taken to choose as an example of the great power of God.

But instead of using any of these illustrations of the greatness of the power of God, he chooses to use the illustration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Now listen, Paul uses the illustration of the resurrection because it shows that God has power over death.

God has power over death.

And death is the ultimate power in the universe that we cannot overcome.

We cannot overcome the power of death.

Death is one thing that you cannot stop.

And folks, we're surrounded with death.

Why have I lost some hair up here is because of death.

I'm dying.

Why are there wrinkles on my face?

Why?

As I get older, I'm 62 years old and I don't look quite the way I did when I was 30 years old.

It's because of death.

Why do I go out and I work today and I get tireder quicker than I did when I was 30 years old?

Because of death.

Death is working in my body and Death is working in your body.

It's something called death.

Listen, folks, we're knee deep in death.

You say, preacher, this is a really encouraging message.

Well, keep listening.

We're surrounded in death.

We're knee deep in death.

Everything is decaying.

Everything is wearing out.

Everything is wearing down.

I have to cut the grass.

Life seems futile.

Every week I cut it, it grows back up.

I cut it, it grows back up.

You go to work, you pay your bills.

You go to work, you got to pay them again.

You keep doing it over and over again.

Everything is seemingly dying.

There's nothing as powerful as death.

And death is the ultimate enemy of you and I.

But Paul says God.

Or we might say, but God.

But God has defeated death.

Has defeated death.

And the power that is working in us, listen, folks, is resurrection power.

It's resurrection power.

How do you measure the power of God in you?

You don't measure it in ounces.

You don't measure it in pounds.

You measure it in terms of resurrection.

That's how we measure it.

If you're a Christian, this means the power of death in your life has been defeated.

It means the power of spiritual death has been reversed.

We're a new creation in Christ.

The spiritual death that was at work within us that I just read about in Ephesians chapter 2, has been reversed because God has moved in with his resurrection power according to his mighty power.

Even physical death.

Folks, listen.

We don't have to fear physical death.

And all of us will physically die unless Christ returns before we die.

But death has no power if you're a child of God.

It has no power over you.

It has no power over me.

What happens to us the minute we die physically, we're with the Lord.

The worst thing you could do to me is the best thing you could do to me.

The worst thing could happen to me is the best thing could happen to me.

I mean, I could die, but when I die, I'm going to be with God.

That's what we have to look forward to.

Praise God.

Wow.

Let me read some verses to remind you.

These again just come to my mind.

But in light of what I'm sharing tonight, it says, for this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

O Death, where is thy Sting, O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is a law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, and hallelujah.

Death no longer has power.

No longer has power.

With a child of God, we no longer need to be afraid of death.

The power that's working within you, if you're a child of God, the power that's working within.

Within me is a resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

The same power that took Jesus from the grave where he broke the bands of death as if they were literally little threads, is now at work in you, so that everything about you is working backwards from death into life.

It's reversed.

And God has given us, as I close here tonight, this incredible and great power to do some things.

Let me say, firstly, he's given us his power, and I'm going to be very brief on this.

To evangelize.

To evangelize.

Now, I remind you of the verse we often quote in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16.

It says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

To the Jew first and also to the Greek.

We have been given power to evangelize, to give out the message of Jesus Christ, the good news to those who are lost.

You know what people today in America need?

They needed the good news of Jesus Christ.

When I counsel couples, when I am counseling homes and we're dealing with families, I know the number one thing they need is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So God gives us the power to evangelize.

God gives us the power to endure suffering victoriously.

Second Corinthians, chapter four and verse seven.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.

We're perplexed and not in despair.

Persecuted but not forsaken.

Cast down, but not destroyed.

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Wow.

God says, listen, I give you the power.

I've endued you with the power.

I've given you.

The power even to be victorious in times of persecution, to be victorious in times of suffering, so that the world might see that you are reflecting the glory of God in your life even in those times.

He gives us the power to evangelize.

He gives us the power to suffer victoriously.

He gives us the power to do his will.

Praise God.

I'll give you a couple verses.

We could think of many.

Philippians chapter one and verse six says, being confident in this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will do what church will perform it.

He will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

If you go over to chapter two and verse 13, Paul says, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

He gives us the power to do his will.

We're endued with power.

Then let me say lastly, he gives us this power to serve Him.

To serve him.

Colossians chapter 1 and verse 29 says, Wherefore I also labor striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Praise God.

So God says, I'll give you the power to evangelize.

I'm going to give you the power to suffer.

If I call you to suffering, and he will call us all to some type, some form of suffering for the glory of God to suffer victoriously.

I'll give you the power to do My will and.

And I'm going to give you the power to serve me.

Hallelujah.

Power, power, Power, power.

There's power everywhere that he gives to us according to the working of his power in us.

Then In Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20, in another prayer, Paul, at the end of the prayer, he says, now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh where church in us.

Wow.

Wow.

No wonder.

No wonder Paul is praying this prayer.

He's praying this prayer for the brothers and sisters in Christ.

He's praying this prayer, and he knows, I believe that this letter will be circulated through the churches.

And he's saying, I know that you're going through suffering.

I know you're going through persecution.

I know some of you are maybe having a hard time surviving, but I'm not praying for all those particular, specific things like that.

What I am praying for is in the midst of all that, that you will know him, that you'll know the greatness of his plan, and that you'll know the greatness of his power the next time, if we get to it, the greatness of his person.

I believe if we meditate on these things, think on these things, it brings great joy to our heart and it compels us to worship God and to give him all the praise, all the glory and all the honor.

And I believe, folks, it's a good prayer.

I know we've done this many times.

Debbie and I have prayed many of these prayers for each other, personalized these prayers.

Put Debbie's name in this prayer.

She put my name in this prayer.

And many times we counsel couples and we say, listen, I know you went through this with your wife.

You went through this through your husband.

Here, pray this prayer.

God gives us these prayers in scripture.

There's nothing wrong with praying scripture.

It's a wonderful thing to do.

And I'd encourage you to maybe take time, as we're looking at this prayer, to pray this prayer for yourself.

Pray this prayer for your wife, for your husband.

Pray this prayer for your children.

Pray this prayer.

We need to pray this prayer for each other that we might really know what we really think we know, but we might really know it.

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