Sermon

Do You Know ”The Power of His Resurrection”? | Philippians 3:10-11 | Pastor Ben Nistor | 4/12/2026

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  1. Well, last Sunday we looked at the the

  2. fact that Easter is not just an abstract

  3. holiday, but Easter points to knowing

  4. the risen Christ. Pastor Andrew, um, who

  5. is with Marcy right now with their

  6. daughter Cheryl and Zach, their

  7. son-in-law, and, uh, has graciously

  8. allowed me to preach this morning. Um,

  9. and they're they're probably watching

  10. live or worshiping at Kelargo Baptist

  11. Church. Uh, but Pastor Andrew helped us

  12. know the risen Christ last Sunday. And I

  13. didn't want to reinvent what Pastor

  14. Andrew did, but all all throughout his

  15. sermon last Sunday and throughout this

  16. week, I was thinking about this idea,

  17. the power of his resurrection. That

  18. phrase from Philippians 3:10. He

    Philippians 3:10

  19. preached from Philippians 3:8-11 last

    Philippians 3:8–11

  20. Sunday, knowing the risen Christ. But I

  21. want to go and unpack that phrase,

  22. the power of his resurrection.

  23. Uh he emphasized knowing Christ, the

  24. risen Christ personally. Do you just

  25. know about him or do you know him? Today

  26. I want I want you and I to look at that

  27. phrase the power of his resurrection

  28. from Philippians 3:10-11

    Philippians 3:10–11

  29. because

  30. the church that Paul wrote to the the

  31. church at Philippi was wrestling with

  32. something that I think we as Christians

  33. can sometimes wrestle with that in the

  34. face of suffering or in the face of

  35. problems we look to perhaps

  36. philosophical answers or we look to u

  37. practical answers to help us deal with

  38. suffering. And Paul says, look, both

  39. have their place. It's true that

  40. abstract theology can help you. Uh

  41. knowing that God is trinity, which is

  42. not just abstract, it could be

  43. practical, but knowing those things that

  44. God is in control of the universe, that

  45. can help you, but so can a couple of

  46. dollars to fix a flat tire, that can

  47. also help you, too. And Paul knows that

  48. he is straddling this beautiful unseen

  49. world with this world that he lives in.

  50. In Philippians, for instance, in the

  51. first chapter of this letter, Paul is

  52. commending the believers for being such

  53. a joy to work with. And he says, "You're

  54. joyful." And how does how do they

  55. express their ministry? They they give.

  56. They're generous. The Philippians are

  57. generous people. They have received the

  58. gospel. They're growing. They're

  59. abounding in good works. The gospel is

  60. building many roots in their lives.

  61. Well, Paul also knows that the

  62. Philippians might wonder about his

  63. condition, that he's in jail when he's

  64. writing this letter. And so perhaps Paul

  65. needs money. That's that's what's going

  66. to help Paul deal with his imprisonment.

  67. And Paul tells them plainly in

  68. Philippians chapter 4, look, I I don't I

    Philippians 4 chapter mention

  69. don't need money. I've learned to be

  70. content with little and with a lot. Uh I

  71. I have Christ. That's what I really

  72. need. And really what I also need is for

  73. you all to continue in obedience. This

  74. is what he tells them. This this

  75. fledgling church. You and I can be

  76. tempted in our very nature to rely

  77. either on the abstract

  78. on theology, philosophy, or this is just

  79. the way to think about these things.

  80. Maybe you grew up with certain

  81. principles and you had a principal

  82. childhood. Or maybe you didn't have any

  83. principles growing up and you just kind

  84. of try to figure it out as you went. Or

  85. some of you might be tempted to just be

  86. practical whenever solving any problem,

  87. even a spiritual problem. You think, for

  88. instance, that uh bringing my kids to

  89. church is going to guarantee their

  90. salvation because you're pragmatic.

  91. But you might not have thought about the

  92. spiritual dimension at all. So whether

  93. you're only spiritually minded of and of

  94. no earthly good, which I would argue

  95. that if you are spiritually minded, you

  96. should be of earthly good, or you're so

  97. earthly minded that you are of no

  98. spiritual good. Paul is trying to target

  99. both of these. And the way he does it is

  100. with the resurrection. I love that he he

  101. bridges the gap between heaven and earth

  102. with the resurrection. And it is with

  103. this phrase here, the power of his

  104. resurrection. Are you tempted to be so

  105. heavenly minded that you're of no

  106. earthly good? Or are you tempted to be

  107. so earthly minded that heaven is not

  108. even a thought? Well, this question

  109. here, do you know the power of the

  110. resurrection will help you know where

  111. you stand this morning? And I want to

  112. answer that in a couple of ways. I want

  113. to look first at that phrase on the box

  114. in the text here. Philippians chapter 3

    Philippians 3 chapter mention

  115. 10-11 says Paul is writing. He says, "I

  116. may know him

  117. and the power of his resurrection." So

  118. you see how he separates knowing Christ

  119. and knowing the power of his

  120. resurrection. And then he continues, he

  121. says, "I want to know him and the power

  122. of his resurrection and may share his

  123. sufferings, becoming like him in his

  124. death." Verse 11, "That by any means

  125. possible I may attain the resurrection

  126. from the dead." From this text, you

  127. could tell very quickly what is Paul's

  128. goal? It's to attain the resurrection.

  129. So, is he heavenly minded? Oh, yes. But

  130. is he earthly minded? Look at what he

  131. says. I want to share in Christ's

  132. sufferings.

  133. >> He's earthly minded, friends. He knows

  134. that his time on earth is a time of

  135. suffering. And he says, "Gladly, I'll do

  136. it because if I do it, I'll attain the

  137. resurrection." But what does he mean

  138. still by that phrase, the power of his

  139. resurrection? He says it plainly that I

  140. might know the power of his

  141. resurrection. The the thing that Paul

  142. points to

  143. when he talks about the power of his

  144. resurrection, which is by the way the

  145. only time this phrase is used in the

  146. Bible, it's here in this verse.

  147. He looks at the resurrection of Christ

  148. and he understands that it is the

  149. resurrection of Christ

  150. that enables Christian living.

  151. If you're a Christian, it's because of

  152. the resurrection.

  153. This is a beautiful bridge between

  154. heaven and earth. The resurrection,

  155. the resurrection is so heavenly. It's so

  156. pure. It's so perfect. It's so

  157. transformative.

  158. It points us to that final day of glory,

  159. but it's practical, too.

  160. Paul says, "I want to know that power

  161. now while I'm suffering with Christ. I

  162. want I want to know the power that

  163. sustains my Christian living."

  164. And so,

  165. I want to give you the definition up

  166. front of what this phrase means. And

  167. then, we're going to unpack it. And

  168. we're going to look at the rest of the

  169. New Testament to see what in the world

  170. did Paul mean by this expression, the

  171. power of the resurrection. So look at

  172. that paragraph on the first page. The

  173. power

  174. of his resurrection,

  175. that phrase, that phrase means this. It

  176. is the effective

  177. lifegiving work of God the father

  178. that he accomplishes through the Holy

  179. Spirit

  180. who raised the son Jesus Christ from the

  181. dead and who now the Holy Spirit that is

  182. directs that same power to work in

  183. believers

  184. until they attain the resurrection from

  185. the dead. So let's be plain and simple

  186. here. If we want to bridge heaven and

  187. the realities that are beautiful, the

  188. spiritual realities of heaven with the

  189. earth earthly practical realities of

  190. being a Christian in this day and age,

  191. what do we need? We need the power of

  192. his resurrection in our lives, which is

  193. this. Look at that big all caps with

  194. that equal sign. The power of his

  195. resurrection

  196. is this. God's lifegiving work in

  197. Christians through the Holy Spirit.

  198. Do you want to experience the power of

  199. his resurrection? Friends, we're not

  200. saying anything less and we're not

  201. saying anything more than this. The

  202. power of the resurrection is that

  203. lifegiving work that God works in you as

  204. a believer through the power of the Holy

  205. Spirit. And you can have that. So, let's

  206. continue on and define what is this

  207. power of his resurrection. Number one,

  208. notice here that any power that

  209. Christians experience, belongs to God.

  210. Nothing that you have ever experienced

  211. in your life, powerfully experienced,

  212. comes from you. Nothing that you've

  213. powerfully experienced, comes from

  214. others. It comes ultimately from God.

  215. Notice this. The power of his

  216. resurrection.

  217. That's an important pronoun because

  218. resurrection is not yours and it's not

  219. mine. It's his.

  220. >> That's what I base my hope on. His

  221. resurrection, his power. 1 Corinthians

    1 Corinthians 1:18

  222. 1:18 says it this way to us who are

  223. being saved. The gospel is the power of

  224. God. This is why we can't ever move on

  225. beyond the gospel. This is why if you've

  226. been to Sheridan Hills and you're new,

  227. we keep saying the same thing over and

  228. over and over on Sunday

  229. because the gospel

  230. is the power of God for us who are being

  231. saved. 1 Corinthians same chapter verse

  232. 24 says this, Christ

  233. the subject of the gospel is the power

  234. of God and the wisdom of God. Do you see

  235. that bold? The power of God. Do you see

  236. how he is using these expressions?

  237. Power, power, power. He shows us that

  238. the power of the resurrection flows from

  239. the power of God. Who is that power? The

  240. subject of it is Christ. He is the power

  241. of God and the wisdom of God. Look how

  242. Ephesians chapter 1 says this so

    Ephesians 1 chapter mention

  243. beautifully.

  244. Paul says that we have the immeasurable

  245. greatness of his power aimed at us who

  246. believe according to the working of his

  247. great might that he worked in Christ

  248. when he raised him from the dead. So

  249. this power is centered in Christ's death

  250. and resurrection.

  251. If you want power in your Christian

  252. life, the resurrection is that practical

  253. power that God gives you to attain that

  254. real spiritual power demonstrated in a

  255. new body, in a new life, an eternal

  256. life. And then Romans 1:16, you know

    Romans 1:16

  257. this well, Romans 1:16, the gospel is

    Romans 1:16

  258. the power of God for salvation. Why

  259. would I want to tell anybody else

  260. anything else except for about the power

  261. of God? What else is there to salvation

  262. other than the power of God? It's not my

  263. wisdom. It's not my wit.

  264. It's not my humor. It's not my power.

  265. It's not my eloquence. It's not my

  266. words. It's not my example that's going

  267. to save people.

  268. It's

  269. the power of God through the gospel.

  270. Why? Because that power comes from God,

  271. not me. I'm a channel for that power. Do

  272. you see? You're a channel for that

  273. power, but we are not the power itself.

  274. But number two, the power of the

  275. resurrection

  276. is experienced. Christians experience it

  277. through Christ's resurrection. I love

  278. this. Notice the power of his

  279. resurrection.

  280. Now, it doesn't say the power of his

  281. cross. We sing that song. Oh, the power

  282. of the cross. We sing that beautiful

  283. Getty song. You can go listen to it. You

  284. can write off to the side. The power of

  285. the cross. YouTube it for later.

  286. It's better than any of the junk you

  287. hear at Coachella.

  288. the power of his resurrection.

  289. Romans 1:4, listen to this.

    Romans 1:4

  290. Christ Jesus was declared to be the son

  291. of God in power. How? By his

  292. resurrection from the dead. Do you see?

  293. It's not just the cross where God shows

  294. his power to forgive sins. It's through

  295. the resurrection that affirms

  296. that sacrifice. It's the resurrection

  297. that puts the stamp of approval

  298. on the cross.

  299. Which is why your sacrifices will never

  300. be enough to please God

  301. because you've not been raised from the

  302. dead.

  303. But I know somebody who has been. Jesus.

  304. When he offered a sacrifice to God, holy

  305. and acceptable, he was raised because

  306. God said, "Payment accepted,

  307. perfect sacrifice,

  308. worksbased

  309. salvation. Trying to be good enough to

  310. earn God's salvation

  311. will never be enough because you're

  312. still here and you're not raised.

  313. It's only Christ who is raised, which is

  314. why his sacrifice is the only one that

  315. matters for you and for me. But notice

  316. this in 1 Corinthians 6 as well, verse

  317. 14. God raised the Lord and will also

  318. raise us by what power?

  319. >> By his power.

  320. 1 Corinthians 15 says that the

  321. resurrection will happen happen in a

  322. twinkling of an eye. Your corpse, my

  323. corpse will be transformed. Which is why

  324. it doesn't matter if you're buried or

  325. cremated. Amen.

  326. >> Because your corpse will be made new,

  327. whole, perfect

  328. by the power of the resurrection. Look

  329. at what 1 Corinthians 15 says. It that

  330. is our flesh is sown in weakness, but it

  331. is raised in power.

  332. Number three, Christians experience

  333. power daily and actively through the

  334. Holy Spirit's presence.

  335. This is really where we're going to

  336. spend the bulk of our time now. We're

  337. going to continue to look at this. What

  338. did Paul mean the power of his

  339. resurrection? Well, Paul could not have

  340. meant I want to experience the

  341. resurrection now because he says later

  342. on in chapter 3 11 that by any means

  343. possible I may attain the resurrection

  344. from the dead. So in other words, what

  345. he's saying I want to know the the power

  346. of the resurrection is a channel to

  347. attain the resurrection. So the power of

  348. the resurrection is not the same thing

  349. as the resurrection at the end when you

  350. and I and our bodies will be

  351. transformed. It's not the same thing.

  352. Paul is referring to this Christian

  353. experience in number three. The the

  354. power daily and actively that we

  355. experience through the Holy Spirit's

  356. presence. That's what he's getting at.

  357. He's saying, I want to know Christ and I

  358. want to know the power of his

  359. resurrection. That power that was at

  360. work in me through the Holy Spirit.

  361. That power that surges through everybody

  362. who's a faithful believer. That power

  363. that raised Jesus from the dead. I want

  364. that power experientially, practically

  365. lived out in my faith today. Notice that

  366. he says that I may know. This is an

  367. intimate knowledge. Just like he he

  368. wants to know the risen Christ. He wants

  369. to know this power. He wants to be

  370. acquainted with this power.

  371. He wants to be acquainted with the

  372. spirit.

  373. Let me show you this. In Ephesians 3:16,

    Ephesians 3:16

  374. Paul writes there, he says in his prayer

  375. for the Ephesians, he says, "I'm I'm

  376. going to pray for you that you might be

  377. strengthened with power."

  378. >> Through who?

  379. >> Through his spirit

  380. >> where in your inner being. You see,

  381. that's how knowledge comes. Being

  382. strengthened by the Holy Spirit in your

  383. inner being. What does Paul want? He

  384. wants to be strengthened by the Holy

  385. Spirit for practical Christian living so

  386. that he can attain spiritual realities.

  387. You see, he is earthly minded and

  388. heavenly minded. He understands

  389. realistically that he faces pressure on

  390. earth. He faces tragedy, calamity, he

  391. faces sickness, he faces despair,

  392. poverty, but he also knows the way to

  393. eternal life is through the power of the

  394. spirit at work in him. In later on in

  395. that chapter, Ephesians 3:20, he says

    Ephesians 3:20

  396. that all of these uh prayers will be

  397. answered according to the power at work

  398. within us. Who's that power at work

  399. within you, friend? That is the Holy

  400. Spirit. It is the spirit's work in us.

  401. So Paul wants to know the risen Christ.

  402. Yes. And

  403. the powerful working of the Holy Spirit

  404. in his life.

  405. One other thing we can see is that God

  406. accomplished the resurrection of Jesus

  407. through the Holy Spirit. Look at the

  408. bullet point there on your page. Romans

    Romans 1:4

  409. 1:4 says this plainly. He was declared

  410. to be the son of God in power according

  411. to the spirit. Do you see there? You can

  412. circle the spirit. How was Jesus raised

  413. from the dead? It is not enough to say

  414. God raised him. The Bible tells us God

  415. raised him through the Holy Spirit.

  416. the father, son, and spirit working

  417. together to raise Jesus from the dead.

  418. Romans 8:11 says it plainly, even more

    Romans 8:11

  419. clearly. If the spirit of him who raised

  420. Jesus from the dead dwells in you, did

  421. you see that? Did you catch that? Don't

  422. miss it. It's a conditional statement.

  423. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus

  424. from the dead dwells in you, he who

  425. raised Christ from the dead will also

  426. give life to your mortal bodies through

  427. his spirit

  428. who dwells in you. You see that the Holy

  429. Spirit, the power of the resurrection is

  430. this beautiful daily and active

  431. presence that you and I experience as

  432. Christians.

  433. Now, this is not something new. This is

  434. not just after the resurrection. This is

  435. also throughout the life and ministry of

  436. Jesus. Look at this. In Acts chapter 10,

    Acts 10 chapter mention

  437. we're told that the spirit of God was

  438. with Jesus. God anointed Jesus of

  439. Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with

  440. power. See there again, Holy Spirit and

  441. power.

  442. The Holy Spirit was also with the

  443. disciples. In Acts chapter 1:8, it says,

  444. "You will receive power

  445. when the Holy Spirit has come upon you."

  446. The these two words, Holy Spirit and

  447. power, are also linked in Paul's

  448. ministry. In Paul's ministry, Paul says

  449. in 1 Corinthians 2:4, he says, "My

    1 Corinthians 2:4

  450. speech and my message, the gospel I

  451. preached to you were in demonstration of

  452. the spirit

  453. and of power." So what is what is the

  454. power of the resurrection? What does

  455. that phrase mean? It means simply this.

  456. The work, the lifegiving work of God

  457. that he accomplishes through the Holy

  458. Spirit in me and in you, friend. That is

  459. what that power is. Now,

  460. I love that. I love that answer. It's

  461. very theor theoretical, abstract.

  462. But now, let me ask you this. Do you

  463. have this power?

  464. Now,

  465. just like we don't want to heir

  466. in the way that the Philippians aired by

  467. overemphasizing the spiritual realities

  468. that were of no earthly good,

  469. practically speaking,

  470. my treasure is laid up in heaven. I

  471. don't need to be generous on earth. My

  472. treasure is all there. I have nothing to

  473. give anymore.

  474. I don't think anybody really ever says

  475. that.

  476. But we can also be so earthly minded

  477. that heaven doesn't really make a

  478. difference. What's the point of heaven

  479. even? We might think, "No, my my kids

  480. are here. I I've got a job. I've my life

  481. is good. I don't

  482. nothing could top this."

  483. We have some newlyweds in in the life of

  484. our church. And the first week after

  485. they get married, they're like, "What

  486. could top this?" You know, what could

  487. top being married newly and experiencing

  488. new things and enjoying life together

  489. with your wife and your husband and so

  490. on? What could be better than that?

  491. They're so earthly minded and and then

  492. it's just them two and it's them against

  493. the world. Esther and I we got married.

  494. I remember we would say this phrase and

  495. we still do. We're married. We can do

  496. whatever we want now, you know. And what

  497. that meant was that we just could enjoy

  498. the things that we wanted to enjoy

  499. together. We don't have to ask

  500. permission from anybody. We could just

  501. do whatever we want. And you could be so

  502. earthly in that thought and the the the

  503. view of heaven just disappears

  504. completely.

  505. And there's many other instances of

  506. where that could happen where you're so

  507. earthly minded that there that you're of

  508. no heavenly good. So the question is, do

  509. you have this power? Now I don't want

  510. you to answer this question by talking

  511. about an experience that you've had that

  512. was strange. The answer to do you have

  513. the power of the Holy Spirit is not to

  514. give me strange answers to what this

  515. means. Some people like to talk about

  516. the Holy Spirit and experience strange

  517. things in their lives that are not

  518. biblical.

  519. They have an experience of the Holy

  520. Spirit. They claim where they saw

  521. something or did something or they

  522. teleported somewhere and they want you

  523. to believe their experience is where the

  524. power lies. What did I tell you before?

  525. The power is in whose?

  526. >> It's in his resurrection. It's in his

  527. name. It's in in God himself.

  528. >> So your power does not come from your

  529. experience. It comes from God first and

  530. foremost. So we don't want to experience

  531. strange things. We don't want to do

  532. things that God does not allow like

  533. Aaron's two sons when they offered

  534. strange fire and were killed because

  535. they did not obey God or other strange

  536. manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Today

  537. in the church today there are people who

  538. claim lots of things that the Holy

  539. Spirit does without any biblical

  540. warrant. For instance, people speak in

  541. tongues without an interpreter.

  542. >> Amen.

  543. But 1 Corinthians 15 says if 14 says if

  544. we want to speak in tonesues we need an

  545. interpreter. Otherwise how will people

  546. know what you're saying? And so there

  547. are people who claim that the power of

  548. the Holy Spirit is demonstrated in

  549. speaking in tonesues without any

  550. interpretation and claim that that is

  551. where the power is. It's not in speaking

  552. in tonesues friends. It's in God. Not in

  553. your tongues but in God. There are

  554. others who claim that the work of the

  555. Holy Spirit is manifest

  556. somehow apart from his salvation plan

  557. for years and my life. They think they

  558. have some special dispensation from God

  559. to just go doing whatever they want. You

  560. see this with false teachers all around.

  561. They claim to know Jesus, but they

  562. desire, they love wealth, they love

  563. money, which goes contrary to what the

  564. Holy Spirit would do in a person's

  565. heart. Paul says the Holy Spirit, the

  566. power of his resurrection is not loving

  567. money. It's being content when you have

  568. little. And in our case, friends, being

  569. content when we have a lot. You're an

  570. American. Many of you are. You have a

  571. lot. You represent 3% of the world

  572. world's world wealth.

  573. We're richer than 97% of the world.

  574. The wealth that we have

  575. calls for contentment. Friends, you want

  576. to have the power of the Holy Spirit

  577. surging in you, learn contentment.

  578. That's difficult.

  579. But as we go into this, do you have this

  580. power this question? I don't want you to

  581. think subjectively. I want you to think

  582. objectively.

  583. Objectively. And where do we get this

  584. objective list from? We get this from

  585. the answer to these questions. We get

  586. them from the scriptures. Key question

  587. is this. What are some key markers the

  588. Bible identifies to show that a person

  589. has the Holy Spirit? Again, I don't want

  590. you to rely on your experience. Don't

  591. rely, please, on my experience. Rely on

  592. the markers that the New Testament gives

  593. us to see if we have the power of the

  594. Holy Spirit surging within us. There are

  595. six that I want to identify. You're

  596. probably a better student than me.

  597. You'll probably have 10 by the end of

  598. this. But I want you to just latch on to

  599. one of these or two of these and put an

  600. arrow next to it if it resonates with

  601. you. But look at this. Here are some

  602. marks of a person who has the Holy

  603. Spirit. Number one, a new spiritual

  604. birth has occurred. A person who has the

  605. Holy Spirit is regenerated. This is

  606. regeneration.

  607. The old has gone. You heard it this

  608. morning. The new has come.

  609. There's a newness.

  610. There's a beautiful rosecoled glasses to

  611. being a Christian.

  612. There's an appropriate level of

  613. excitement, of eagerness, of

  614. anticipation.

  615. That's what happens with a new birth. I

  616. don't know about you, but I've never

  617. gone to a hospital where there's a new

  618. birth and the baby is healthy and happy

  619. and whole and the parents are just

  620. weeping and mourning. I've never seen

  621. that. Have you? I've seen healthy, whole

  622. babies and they're celebrated. There's

  623. joy in the room. Why? Because birth

  624. brings joy and so does new spiritual

  625. birth. There's regeneration. John 3:5-8

    John 3:5–8

  626. says that nobody can be born of God

  627. unless they have the Holy Spirit. The

  628. second thing that I want you to see as a

  629. mark of the Holy Spirit's power in your

  630. life is that a prof a person confesses

  631. Jesus as Lord. Now listen to this. 1

    1 Corinthians 12:3

  632. Corinthians 12:3. No one can say Jesus

  633. is Lord except

  634. in the Holy Spirit. That's what 1

    1 Corinthians 12:3

  635. Corinthians 12:3 says. This is lordship

  636. salvation.

  637. What does that mean? That means when you

  638. become a Christian, you are not running

  639. the show anymore. It is Jesus who's

  640. running the show.

  641. And how is he doing that? He's doing it

  642. through the Holy Spirit in your life.

  643. Amen.

  644. >> Nobody can sin and say at the same time,

  645. Jesus is Lord. Unless they're lying and

  646. denying the power of the resurrection.

  647. It is so integral to your life as a

  648. Christian to have this power in you so

  649. you can say Jesus is Lord over my life.

  650. It's not a verbal formula. We're not

  651. trying to teach our kids, hey, just say

  652. these magic words and you will just

  653. automatically go clean your bedroom.

  654. These are characterrooted

  655. issues. Issues that only the spirit can

  656. change. When a person sins, the only

  657. thing that can stop that is the power of

  658. the resurrection through the Holy Spirit

  659. who then whispers in our hearts, Jesus

  660. is Lord. Jesus is Jesus truly in control

  661. of your life.

  662. That's how you know that you have this

  663. power surging in you. Number three,

  664. another marker in the New Testament is

  665. there's an ongoing war against sin. Yes,

  666. Jesus is the Lord of my life. He's in

  667. control. And now there's war.

  668. Now, I don't know if you noticed, but

  669. did you see how it went from eagerness

  670. and new birth and joy to all of a sudden

  671. war?

  672. When you initially become a Christian,

  673. there's a joy and excitement. And then

  674. you take that joy, that momentum, that

  675. excitement, and you go fight a war. And

  676. that war is not across the ocean.

  677. That war is in your own heart. Perhaps

  678. even this morning. This is

  679. sanctification.

  680. Galatians 5:17 says, "The desires of the

    Galatians 5:17

  681. flesh are against the spirit, and the

  682. desires of the spirit are against the

  683. flesh." So the presence of a spiritual

  684. conflict is evidence of the spirit's

  685. power in your life.

  686. Now, this is this is really interesting

  687. to see because some people don't have

  688. any idea that they're under attack. They

  689. just live life without knowing that

  690. they're under attack. I have so much

  691. compassion when people are under attack.

  692. They don't even know it. They're

  693. Christians. They're walking. They're

  694. they're joyful. They're eager. They're

  695. excited. But there is an attack pending

  696. and you can see it.

  697. And they can't see it yet. I'm not

  698. talking about I'm not talking about that

  699. type of battle where where you are being

  700. attacked. Remember Peter didn't know

  701. what Satan wanted to do to him. Jesus

  702. came to tell him.

  703. Remember Jesus said to Peter, "Satan has

  704. asked to sift you like wheat."

  705. Peter didn't know about that battle.

  706. And Jesus came to him and said,

  707. "When

  708. you are restored, not if you are

  709. restored, because Jesus had the power to

  710. restore Peter."

  711. Jesus has the power to restore you, too,

  712. friend. And Jesus has the power to

  713. prepare you for battle.

  714. How are you going to fight the battle?

  715. You going to go, Are we going to go

  716. dressed up in our own military gear?

  717. You're not strong enough, friend. You're

  718. not strong enough to conquer your own

  719. flesh or Satan, but I know somebody who

  720. is. The Holy Spirit's power in your life

  721. is not a bad sign. This is not a bad

  722. sign. It's a sign that the spirit is

  723. actively waging war against your flesh,

  724. your heart.

  725. It's a good sign. It's a good thing. So,

  726. the presence of spiritual conflict is

  727. evidence of the spirit's work. Don't

  728. don't grieve the spirit. He He hasn't

  729. brought this upon you. Your flesh has

  730. brought this upon you. He's helping you.

  731. He's helping you win the battle. Now,

  732. number four, the fruit of the spirit in

  733. your life is growing. That's because

  734. you're bearing fruit. Another mark of a

  735. person who has the Holy Spirit, the

  736. power of the resurrection is that they

  737. are bearing fruit. It's worth reading

  738. Galatians 5:16-24. I've put it on your

    Galatians 5:16–24

  739. outline there. You can follow along with

  740. me. But I just want you to carefully

  741. underline where you see this balance

  742. between the spirit and the flesh or I

  743. should say the imbalance. Verse 16 says

  744. this. I say walk by the spirit and you

  745. will not gratify the desires of the

  746. flesh. For the desires of the flesh are

  747. against the spirit and the desires of

  748. the spirit are against the flesh. For

  749. these are opposed to each other to keep

  750. you from doing the things you want to

  751. do. Can you underline that? Why does God

  752. give you the Holy Spirit? to keep you

  753. from doing the things you want to do,

  754. which is what? Sin.

  755. You want to wage war against God in your

  756. flesh. And God gave us the spirit to

  757. protect us. Verse 18, if you are led by

  758. the spirit, you are not under the law.

  759. Verse 19, now the works of the flesh are

  760. evident. sexual immorality, impurity,

  761. sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, emnity,

  762. strife, jealousy, fits of anger,

  763. rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,

  764. drunkenness, orgies, and things like

  765. these.

  766. I don't know if any of those resonate

  767. with you, but you can circle like these

  768. because I'm sure there's something there

  769. for you.

  770. I warn you, as I warned you before, that

  771. those who do such things will not

  772. inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 22,

  773. but the fruit of the spirit is love,

  774. joy, peace, patience, kindness,

  775. goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

  776. self-control. Against such things, there

  777. is no law. And those who belong to

  778. Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh

  779. with its passions and desires. Do you

  780. see that being in being filled with the

  781. Holy Spirit having the power of the

  782. resurrection

  783. results in bearing fruit? That's a sign,

  784. friends, that you have the Holy Spirit.

  785. I love ver I love number five here. The

  786. the sign that you have the Holy Spirit,

  787. the power that raised Jesus from the

  788. dead surging in your life is that there

  789. is a cry of sunship

  790. toward God, adoption.

  791. God is not some abstract theological

  792. exercise.

  793. You see, you're not so heavenly minded

  794. that you're of no earthly good. You're

  795. not you're not just thinking about God

  796. theoretically.

  797. This this doctrine right here, the

  798. doctrine of adoption,

  799. is one of the most rich, often

  800. overlooked doctrines in the New

  801. Testament. Look at Romans 8:15-16.

    Romans 8:15–16

  802. You have received the spirit of

  803. adoptions as sons by whom we cry, "Aba,

  804. Father." The Spirit himself bears

  805. witness with our spirit that we are

  806. children of God. If you've ever thought

  807. about God as your father, you as his son

  808. or daughter, thank the Holy Spirit.

  809. Because apart from the Holy Spirit, you

  810. would not know that you are a son or

  811. daughter of God.

  812. A person living in power relates to God

  813. with intimacy and closeness,

  814. not ignoring God.

  815. I loved Dr. Todd's prayer.

  816. We go to God because he's our father.

  817. Where do we go? We go to him. He's our

  818. father. He's He wants to know our cares,

  819. even if they're small. He wants to know

  820. our concerns. He wants to know our

  821. battles.

  822. Any good dad would. And God is not a

  823. good dad. He's a perfect dad.

  824. Does God want to know you as a son and

  825. daughter? He does. If you have the power

  826. of the Holy Spirit, you can relate to

  827. God intimately and with closeness. And

  828. then finally, the gospel produces

  829. assurance and perseverance.

  830. The gospel produces assurance and

  831. perseverance. That's because the Holy

  832. Spirit through the power of the

  833. resurrection

  834. gives us the power to endure. 1 John

    1 John 4:13

  835. 4:13 says this, "By this we know that we

  836. abide in him and he in us because he has

  837. given us his spirit." You can have

  838. assurance of faith if you have the Holy

  839. Spirit of God, the power of God that

  840. raised Jesus from the dead surging in

  841. your life, you can have assurance of

  842. faith. But not only assurance knowing

  843. that you belong to God, but because you

  844. belong to God, you can endure. You can

  845. endure life's challenges. In fact, look

  846. at what John says in chapter 5. Everyone

  847. who has been born of God overcomes the

  848. world.

  849. You don't just have the power to live a

  850. Christian life. You have a power to

  851. overcome the world.

  852. Look at what he goes on to say. And this

  853. is the victory that has overcome the

  854. world. Our faith. Who is it that

  855. overcomes the world except the one who

  856. believes that Jesus is the son of God?

  857. You want to overcome the world? believe

  858. that Jesus is the son of God. So, do you

  859. have this power at work in your life?

  860. Can you say, "I've been born again?" Can

  861. you say, "Jesus is my Lord?" Could you

  862. say, "I am being made holy day by day

  863. through his power?" Could you say, "I'm

  864. bearing fruit. There's evidence." Could

  865. you say, "He is my father, I am his son,

  866. or I am his daughter." Could you say, "I

  867. will endure to the end because it's

  868. God's power at work in me." Could you

  869. say that? If you could say that, then

  870. you are filled with the power of the the

  871. Holy Spirit. You know his power. Now, if

  872. you do not have the Holy Spirit of God,

  873. I'm going to invite you now to repent

  874. and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.

  875. Believe him. Let him work the same power

  876. that raised Jesus from the dead in your

  877. life. Receive the Holy Spirit through

  878. faith. It is by faith that you can

  879. receive the spirit of God. Now, if you

  880. do have the Holy Spirit of God, if you

  881. can resonate with any of these six

  882. things, remember Romans 8 11-14.

  883. Look at this together with me. Romans 8

  884. 11-14.

  885. Verse 11. If the spirit of him who

  886. raised Jesus from the dead dwells in

  887. you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the

  888. dead will also give life to your mortal

  889. bodies through his spirit who dwells in

  890. you. So then, brothers, we are debtors,

  891. not to the flesh, to live according to

  892. the flesh. Verse 13, for if you live

  893. according to the flesh, you will die,

  894. but if by the spirit you put to death

  895. the deeds of the body, you will live.

  896. Let's read verse 14 out loud together.

  897. Clear your throat really, really quick.

  898. Here we go. Verse 14. For all who are

  899. led by the spirit of God are sons of

  900. God.

  901. know the power of his resurrection.

  902. Why? So that you can attain the

  903. resurrection.

  904. If you don't know what this power is, go

  905. home and review what we talked about.

  906. The power of the resurrection is that

  907. God that that lifegiving work that God

  908. accomplishes through the Holy Spirit. Do

  909. you have the spirit? Well, there are

  910. markers that can show you.

  911. There are practical ways you can know

  912. that Christ is living in you by his

  913. spirit. If you don't know the spirit,

  914. repent, believe, trust in him, and if

  915. you do know it, remember Romans 8. Let

  916. God teach your heart that the spirit

  917. that raised Christ from the dead is at

  918. work in us. Cheran Hills, there is no

  919. greater joy and greater news than

  920. knowing that Jesus Christ is at work in

  921. us through the power of the

  922. resurrection. We can know it. It's not

  923. abstract. It's practical. And we can

  924. live it for his glory and for our good.

  925. Amen.

  926. >> Amen.

  927. >> Let's stand now and let's get ready to

  928. sing a beautiful hymn. On Christ the

  929. solid rock I stand. All other hope is

  930. sinking sand. You want the power of

  931. Christ in your life. Sing this song with

  932. joy, with confidence, knowing that the

  933. Holy Spirit is at work in us. Let's

  934. pray.

  935. Oh, Father, how we want to, like Paul,

  936. know the power of the resurrection.

  937. How we want to know that lifegiving

  938. power that you work in us through the

  939. Holy Spirit. We don't want to be weird

  940. or disobey you and claim that it is a

  941. work of the Holy Spirit.

  942. We instead, Lord, want to see these

  943. marks in our lives. We want to be

  944. regenerated.

  945. >> We want to bear fruit,

  946. >> keeping in accordance with holiness.

  947. Lord, we want to call you, Father, in

  948. faith as your sons and as your

  949. daughters. And Lord, we most importantly

  950. want this power, this gospel to help us

  951. endure until we attain the resurrection.

  952. It is this power, this power of the

  953. resurrection that we want in our lives.

  954. So Lord, we ask that you give it to us

  955. today and allow us to continue to know

  956. it intimately. Not so that we will be so

  957. heavenly minded of and of no earthly

  958. good or so earthly minded that heaven

  959. and the attainment of resurrection

  960. disappears, but Lord that we would be

  961. balanced looking to you for strength. We

  962. pray all these things in the name of

  963. Jesus. Amen.