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Sunday, July 26, 2009

by Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman


“ Power at work Within”


In Ephesians 3:20--21 (NIV), we find:


20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us,
21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever
and ever! Amen.


Of course, I was raised on King James--
In it, Ephesians 3:20--21 says:


20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without
end. Amen.


God has given us power. We are born with power. A baby’s crying at
birth is powerful, and welcome. It shows everything is alright. That
baby’s cry stirs up all kinds of activity.. . For a lifetime.


Even insects have power. If an angry bee or a wasp were to get
loose up here in the pulpit, it would likely turn out the choir stand!
But, me and Rev. Stancil would stand tall. I’m sure!


Even microscopic and invisible viruses have power. Right now,
In fact, the whole world is wrestling with “H1N1”-- short-hand for
the “Swine Flu” pandemic that is quietly sweeping the world.
Power permeates the planet. Power permeates the universe.


Baby’s have it. Insects have it. Viruses have it. And You and I have
it. All power is from God. “All things come of thee Oh Lord..”


1 Chron.29:11-13, David celebrates as follows ---


11Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and
the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the
earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as
head above all. 12Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou
reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine
hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13Now
therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.


“Power?” It is the ability to act or to produce an effect.


“ Power at work Within” is our theme.


Now, power can be patent or latent. Latent power is buried power.
Unused power. Like the servant who buried his one talent in a
handkerchief in a field, instead of taking it to the market place, and
getting a bigger yield for his master, who was away. He had power
represented by the talent, but he buried it out of fear that he
would lose it. He was therefore an unprofitable servant. Now, his
fellow servants who were given 2 talents and 5 talents, respectively,
were able to double the yield on their talents for their master.


They exercised patent power. So, when he returned, he rejoiced at
their diligence, their open and faithful use of the power he had
given them. As for the servant, who had buried his talent, his
power, the Lord took the one talent from him that he had and gave
it to the man with ten talents…There will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Both sets of servants had power. Both had potential. One
set chose to exercise, even in the absence of the master. The other
one got scared, and his hid power, his privilege out of fear.
Matthew 25:14-30 is where this scripture is found.


But, God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7


We live in an era of “success” merchants. Napolean Hill, Og
Mandino, Deepok Chopra, Tim Robbins, and many others, assure us
constantly that we can “conceive, believe, achieve” anything we
want in the realm of material riches. I do not condemn them. In
fact, I have read them, in whole or in part.


But, whenever you get through, God can do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh
in us. Above all that we ask or think or are capable of conceiving
God is able to do.


1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him.”


We are living in the midst of proof. There are folks here who in
here right now, who remember and probably experienced
segregation, Jim Crow, lynchings, real police brutality. Yet, they
lived to see Jackie Robinson break baseball’s color barrier. They
were able to move south of 27th street. They saw the integration of
the armed forces. They lived to see Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the
implementation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights
Act of 1965. They lived to see Thurgood Marshall go to the Supreme
Court. They saw Malcolm X. They danced in the streets to Motown.
They marveled at Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfree, Gen. Colin
Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and now President Barack Obama. In fact,
I was living when Nelson Mandela went to jail and when he got out
and became the President of South Africa!


And God ain’t through. He’s still working through me and you.


So, don’t resist the power, church. “Don’t fight the feeling,” as
Geraldine would say! Who is Geraldine? She is Madea’s
grandmamma! She was created by comedian Flip Wilson, just like
Tyler Perry created “Madea.”


Scripture says, Romans 13:1-2--Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be
are ordained of God.

13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation.


Don’t resist the power in you. Don’t fight the feeling in you. There
is power in you clamoring to go to work, clamoring to be used.
That power is from God. All power is from God. Go with his flow,
God’s flow.


But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8.



Continue to be witnesses for Christ Jesus, church. Continue to work the God-given power within
Thank and God bless you. Amen.