Victory is a Matter of Power
By Elder Enoch Ofori Jnr
(Sabbath, Feb. 18, 2012)
Golden Text:
“Say to God, How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall your enemies submit themselves to you” (Ps. 66:3).
Take in the message of the scripture: the main reason why the enemies of God submit to Him is because of the greatness of His power!
They don’t submit because of any of the other attributes of God. Although those qualities are invincible in their own right, the sense we get is that the divine attribute that forces Satan and his evil ones almost immediately to their feet is the infinite power of God Almighty. Because they are no match for the power of God, they have no alternative but to involuntarily submit.
Christ Triumphed by Dint of Divine Power
In His earthly life, the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated over and over again that the way to victory lay in the exercise of the supreme power of God. Because of the greatness of the divine power He possessed:
- Demons submitted to Him with trepidation to the amazement of onlookers (Luke 4:33-36).
- Diseases left their victims with dispatch at His command (Luke 13:10-13; 4:38-41).
- The elements obeyed His rebukes to be calm: “He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm” (Matt. 8:26).
- His very Name struck terror in demons and elicited their immediate submission: “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name” (Luke 10:17).
- The power of the grave was broken after being dead for three days “because it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).
The only language the devil understands is power. That’s why the Lord the seventy disciples after they returned in triumph from their evangelistic programme executed with power: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
Without this power, our “strength is small” and our defeat certain (Prov. 24:10).
Thankfully, the resurrection power of Christ is the same power that has been given to us believers. Hence Apostle Paul prayed that the “eyes” of the believers in Ephesus be “enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:18-20).
Notice an important point the apostle makes: the “greatness of His power” is towards believers but we will not possess it until we gain knowledge of it. So how do we gain greater knowledge of God’s power in all its infinite goodness?
The Believer’s Sources of Power
Just as the devil only submits to God because of His great power, so he won’t submit to us for all we are worth unless we possess and apply the power of God!
The devil won’t give ground to us because we are good looking, intelligent, rich or even regular church-goers. He will only surrender if we wield the great power of God and apply it against Him. So how do we gain possession of the Resurrection power of Christ?
The power is first and foremost imparted through the Holy Spirit sent forth from God to all true believers (Acts 1:8). However, the power needs to be kept alive and burning through the following ways:
- It’s retained through obedience to God (Acts 5:32; Eph. 4:30; Josh. 1:6-8).
- It’s stoked through prayer and fasting (1 Thess. 5:17, 19; Matt. 17:21; Acts 13:2; cp 2 Tim. 1:6).
- It’s stirred by spiritual songs and prayer (2 Kings 3:15-17; Acts 16:25-26; Josh. 6:20; 2 Chron. 5:11-14).
- Although we have the initial deposit at conversion, we should continually seek to be ‘refilled’ as often as we open wide our mouth to God: “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps 81:10; cp Luke 6:12, 17-19).
Once you have done this, you have ‘switched on’ the great power of God in your life, and you are living a life of divine grace (Zech. 4:6-7; Acts 4:33).
The unconquered Tabernacle of David has been set up again (Acts 15:16-18). This is the time of conquest by means of power! This is the time to make your mark. This is the time to have your breakthrough by power; the time to put the devil to flight!
All power belongs to God (Ps 62:11), and the devil knows it. Therefore invoke it, and he will submit to it trembling (Jam. 2:19) because “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Amen!
