“How Vast the Resources of His Power …” No. 1

RESOURCES OF POWER

Our generation has been described as an age of riot and revolt, a time of lawlessness, danger, and confusion. If Elton Trueblood can call it “a cut flower age”, Bob Hope can dub it “a pressure-cooker world”, and Max Lerner “the age of overkill”. Psychologists have come to speak of nations as well as individuals as neurotic. It is an age of the aspirin and tranquilizer. Ours is a nervous world, desperate for some assurance that calamity is not just around the corner. Billy Graham calls it “a world aflame”. Even theologians have begun to speak of God being dead, even if He won’t lie down and get Out of their way!

It is consistent to speak of power in our kind of a world. Thomas Hobbes, the British philosopher, insisted that man is by nature selfish, brutish, and wolfish, and that his only concern is power over others. Frederich Nietzsche, the first to insist that God is dead, saw in human nature an insatiable longing for power, and his idea of man as Superman was so persuasive that it inspired Hitler, who was convinced that Nazi Germany was destined to become a super race.

Yes, men do seek power in every aspect of human relations. Power is sought through political genius, despite Lord Acton’s warning that “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Power is sought in education and intelligence, to which Frances Bacon bears witness when he says: “Knowledge is power.” Bacon could add: “The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.”

Power is sought in money, reputation, and position. It is sought every where, whether by the woman in her sex appeal or by a clergyman in his orthodoxy. But by whomever or wherever we may conclude that history has proved the poet Shelley right when he wrote: “Power, like a desolating pestilence, pollutes whatever it touches.”

This is the power that the world seeks. The natural man wants power as an end in itself, not as a means for doing good to others, but to gratify one’s own pride. “Power is poison” to such a one, to use Henry Adams’ words, and his end is ruin. He is like the man who gains the whole world, but loses his own soul. The power-crazed man destroys himself, for his lust is insatiable.

There is a power, however, that the natural man knows not of. The world neither bestows this power nor understands it. It is like the peace of God that only God can give and the child of God can understand: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give unto you.” (John 14:27) This is the power that Paul speaks of in Col. 1:11: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.”

The Christian is expected by his Lord to be strong; yet it is commanded of him to “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” He is urged to “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Eph. 6:10-11) And so Paul could speak of the Christians “as more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). The theme, therefore, in the letters to the seven churches is one of spiritual power and conquest.

To Ephesus the Lord said: “To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

To Smyrna the Lord wrote: “He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death.”

To Pergamum the Lord said: “To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.”

To Thyatira the Lord said: “He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron . . . and I will give him the morning star.”

To Sardis the Lord said: “He who conquers shall be clad in white garments, and I will not blot his name our of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”

To Philadelphia the Lord said: “He who conquers I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem which comes down from my God our of heaven, and my own new name.”

To Laodicea the Lord said: “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

What blessings these are! How thrilling to contemplate! It is breathtaking to think of eating of the tree of life in the paradise of God; and of being clad in white garments while feasting upon hidden manna; and of inheriting the morning star; and of becoming a pillar in the temple of God; and of sitting with Christ Himself on His glorious throne!

Yet these blessings are for those who have the power to conquer. And we must not forget the terrible truth that only a precious few will be conquerors. “Because wickedness is multiplied most men’s love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mat. 24:12-13) “Nevertheless when the Son of man comes will he find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8) “Many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt. 22:14) “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Mt.7:14)

What, then, are the resources of power that will make us “more than conquerors through him who loved us”? This is the subject of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18-19. Notice the reading in Phillip’s translation:

“This is my prayer: That God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the all-glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realize how great is the hope to which he is calling you —the magnificence and splendor of the inheritance promised to Christians —and how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God. That power is the same divine energy which was demonstrated in Christ when he raised him from the dead and gave him the place of supreme honor in Heaven.”

The New English Bible renders the phrase about power in these words: “… how vast the resources of his power open to us who trust in him.”

Knowledge

Paul prays that the Ephesians will be given “spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him.” Knowledge may not be equivalent to virtue, as the Greek philosophers insisted, but the knowledge that the apostle here refers to is surely a resource of power to the child of God. It is in another prayer in the Bible, one made by the Christ himself, that mentions this kind of knowledge: “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (Jn. 17:3)

To know more of God! How powerful this can be in our lives! In this context we can agree with Bacon that “Knowledge is power”. This is not merely intellectual apprehensions or knowledge of doctrinal statements. One may have his Bible, hymnal, and prayer book virtually memorized, and yet be void of spiritual wisdom and insight, and consequently void of power. Even when our minds are filled with facts our hearts may be like empty shells. Paul wants the intellect exercised with an ever-fresh apprehension of the grace of God, so that the mind will serve as an avenue to the heart and soul. This kind of understanding comes through prayer, study, and meditation, as well as dedication. It is a knowledge inspired by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is a living and constantly growing experience with God, such as the great heroes of the faith experienced:

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth.” (Job 19:25)

“Make me to know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.” (Psalms 25:4-5)

“I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” (2 Tim. 1:12)

“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit.” (1 Jn. 4:13)

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (Jn. 8:32)

Moving in intellectual circles as much as I do as a professor of philosophy, I am constantly reminded of the dangers of what the Bible calls “the wisdom of the world”. Diplomas and degrees and all intellectual achievement may be all right for the Christian so long as they cause him to appreciate the wisdom of ignorance. The right kind of education will humble a man, causing him to say with Socrates “I know nothing.” But, oh, what a tragedy it is when one trusts in his own wisdom! Lest we forget Paul’s evaluation that “the world did not know God through wisdom.” (1 Cor. 1:21)

Even though I have been granted a degree or so by some of our great universities, and am privileged to serve on a university faculty and hold membership in learned societies, I do not hesitate to say that I am suspicious of such things. In all these years in the academic world I have found far too few with a simple faith in the Christ. I am often reminded of Paul’s language in 1 Cor. 1:26: “Consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.”

Only recently I sat with the Southwestern Philosophical Association in Houston where I listened to erudite discourses on logical positivism and platonic metaphysics. One philosopher spoke seriously and profoundly on the thesis that we can have knowledge apart from truth. Oftentimes at such gatherings I am made to wonder how much in common there can be between a Christian and these secular philosophers. Even while I am with them I feel as if I am at war against them. And so with all the world and its wisdom. The child of God, living a life of trust in Christ, is in the world, but is at the same time at war with it.

How unlike the philosophy of Jesus is the wisdom of our secular age: “In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.” (Lk. 10:21)

How many babes are there on university faculties, learned societies, and in positions of honor and prestige? How many are there among the professors of religion and theology, and how many are there in the pulpits across the land? Yea, how many babes are there among us in our own congregations? One great source of power becomes a reality in our lives when we humble ourselves and become as children in our quest of the knowledge of God.

Imagination

Paul prays also for the “inner illumination of the spirit”, which the RSV renders as “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened”. The Jewish translator Hugh Schonfield gives “mental vision” as that which Paul prayed might be illumined. While this is certainly a reference to man’s intellect and mind, it also refers to his feelings and will. The heart refers to the very center of personality. Here the spiritual life pulsates; here the Holy Spirit dwells. What the eye is to the body, so is the mind or heart to the soul. Paul is here praying that our minds might be inspired by God’s grace, so that we might better understand the nature of things as we view God and the universe through the windows of our soul.

One capacity of the mind that can be a great resource of power is the imagination. By means of this fabulous faculty man can live again and again the great moments of his life: his first train ride, his little red wagon, his first day at school, his wedding day. Man’s mind can recall the excitement of the battlefield or the bitterness of his mother’s funeral as if they were yesterday. What mother is there that cannot remember her children when they were but little ones playing at her feet? Through her mind’s eye she can recall how each of her babies looked, even though they have now grown old and have children of their own.

What insights might be ours if our imagination were so inspired by the Holy Spirit that we could recapture the great moments of the Bible as if we ourselves were there. The psychologists call this creativity. With our mental vision enlightened we can create in our own minds a fellowship with the Christ that makes him as real as if he were with us in flesh and blood. We must learn to grasp more intensely the realities of Christian experience that may otherwise be restricted to the printed words upon a page. The world of God is more than ink and paper. It involves a living Person and a communion of minds.

In calling for an enlightened imagination I do not mean, of course, that the mind is to indulge in fancy. It is not the work of grace for the mind to imagine things which never happened nor could happen. We have reference ro an application of the mind to the real, not the unreal. One man can read the Bible and sees only words. Another man reads the same passage and shares in an event. We gain insight through involvement, and involvement is possible by means of enlightened eyes. David’s prayer might well be on the lips of us all: “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” (Psa. 119:18) We do not behold wondrous things from the Bible simply by reading it.

Suppose, for example, that one is reading the Story of our Lord’s crucifixion. We should try to imagine the scene as vividly as we can, employing all five senses as much as possible through our mind’s eye. Can you not hear the troubled prayer of our Lord as he prayed in the garden: “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”? Can you not see the cold and calloused soldiers as they platted a crown of thorns and placed it cruelly upon our Lord’s brow? Can you not feel the hurt and indignity suffered by our Lord as he was scourged by his enemies and led away to be slain like a criminal? Can you not sense in your innermost being the horrors of the crucifixion? And does your soul not thrill at the story of the resurrection? Can you not see the empty tomb with its stone rolled back, and can you not feel with John as he rushed in and found the cloths neatly folded and the body of the Lord gone?

If we take with us an illumined imagination as we study, our pilgrimage through the Bible should be exciting if not ecstatic. Whether it be the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the transfiguration of our Lord, or the raising of Lazarus, there is a very real sense in which all these things happen all over again just for us as we transpose ourselves to the event through mental vision. What a resource of power this can be for us all!

Hope

One of the reasons for Paul’s prayer for enlightened hearts was that they might “know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Hope is thus a resource of spiritual strength, enabling the saint to persevere even in the face of persecution. To the Romans the apostle could say: “Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:2) He goes on to say in verse 5 that “hope does not disappoint us.”

Is it not true that this world offers many disappointments? Life is full of uncertainties. Fame and fortune are never really adequate. Even friends sometimes disappoint us. A long life, which most of us seem to want, likewise proves frustrating, so much so sometimes that we grow weary of living and welcome death. How marvelous it is to live in hope!

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” (l Pet. 1:3-4)

What a tremendous resource of power the hope of the resurrection must have been to Paul, for we hear him saying:

“For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philip. 3:8-11)

What can be more strengthening to the saints than these words in 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

We shall see him as he is! With hope like that it matters little whether we get that new car or get to vacation in Florida, does it? The Christian has no real problems if he believes that he will someday see the Lord in his glory-and will become like him!

And so John could add: “Every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” The saint keeps himself pure through hope, for he knows how pure Christ is, and he has assurance that his Lord is coming again.

Prayer

It is when we turn from self-centeredness and become child-like (though not childish) that we are better able to draw upon the great reservoirs of power. In its purest form prayer is a child talking to his father. And what greater resource of power does a child have than the strength of his father? It is said of our Lord that “he went out into the hills to pray” and he considered his needs so great that “all night he continued in prayer to God”. (Lk. 6:12) If we are so weak, it may be that we pray too little.

It is a sweet reality that our Father knows what we need before we ask him. We can believe that those things we do need he will give. “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and you will.” (Mk. 11:24) It is a simple, child-like trust in God that accepts the difference between what we need and what the Father knows we need. It could be dangerous to pray for what we really need!

Prayer brings men together as hardly anything else can, and it can change their lives like hardly anything else can. In prayer man finds oneness with all other children of God who are yielding themselves to the Father of all. It is lovely to think of how countless sons of God are at any given time lifting up holy hands in prayer to God. There is no greater symbol of brotherhood: a mass of hands stretched heavenward in recognition that God is the Father of us all, regardless of race or color. If we can think of this as a vertical fellowship, then we should be able to direct the power that comes through prayer toward a horizontal fellowship, and thus complete the triangle that has God at the top angle and man with man at the lower angles.

John saw something like this on the isle of Patmos: “When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints”. (Rev. 5:8) Is it not thrilling to think of our prayers presented, like burning incense, before the throne of God?

If your prayers are there (especially if there are prayers for me) and if my prayers are there (especially if there are prayers for you), then ought we not be able to pray together here? Now, really, does it make sense for brethren who have their prayers in the golden bowls of incense in heaven not be able even to speak to each other?

Resources Unlimited

So vast are our resources of power that we can indeed move mountains if we will but tap the wellsprings. Paul found power in suffering itself: “God comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”. (2 Cor. 1:3-4) He found strength in weakness itself: “When I am weak, then I am strong”.

One of our sisters in Christ has been subjected to immense difficulties in recent years, even to the point of her own family falling apart around her. We have attempted to offer some comfort and to sit with her in her loneliness. The other day she sent this poem, her own creation:

Because you do not yield belief in me,

The threat’ning crags that rise my war to bar

I conquer, inch by crumbling inch, to see

The goal afar!

She has found strength even in tragedy. No wonder Paul could write: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance”. (Rom. 5:3)

Oh, what vast powers we have at our disposal. Whether it be the fellowship of the saints, the study of God’s word, ministering to the needy, the worship of God, the disposal of our money, the preaching of the gospel and many things more, they are resources of power for those who trust.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From whence does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth. (Psa. 121:1-2) —the Editor