Preacher: Daniel Kwadwo Akomea-Agyin

Date: November 12, 2023

Scripture: Acts 17: 22-28, I Corinthians 4: 6-7. 16-21

Acknowledgement:

Thank you for inviting my family and me to be a part of your worship experience. I am sure that this will be the beginning of a very good relationship.

Prelude: Power is intoxicating. As irresistible as it is, power, when craved, can be obtained, and when obtained, can lead to the desire for more power, lest we lose it.

It is no wonder that Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power sold more than 1.2 million copies in the US alone. It is said that in US prisons, the 48 Laws of Power became one of the most requested books – to the point that most prisons had to ban it from their libraries for fear of a revolt. The fact that imprisoned persons are looking for power should tell you just how much we crave power and control as human beings.

The very nature of humans in looking for power and control is embedded in our very DNA. You have it, and I have it.

But much like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, our quest for power is futile. The deception is that you and I can find power outside of ourselves when God has already placed it right inside of us. God said, and I am paraphrasing, “Let us create humans in OUR image, in our likeness, so that they may RULE over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So Our quest for power is much like grasping at an elusive shadow. The problem arises when our search for the power is for the purpose of manipulating and controlling other people. This is the origins of war, oppression, and abuse. The power God gave us was to be stewards of the earth – to multiply the resources and improve livelihood for the next person, but somehow, along the line, humans decided to have dominion over people, thus stepping out of our original mandate.

Shall we pray:

Dear Lord Jesus, we are gathered here today to listen to you. To your word that gives us Light, and Life. We invite your Holy Spirit into our midst to do the things that only You can do.

SO Now, Lord, consider the needs and petitions of your children gathered here today and enable your servant, Daniel Kwadwo Akomea-Agyin, to speak your word with great boldness, as you Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through your name that is above all names. In Jesus’ name, we have prayed. Amen! (Acts 4:29-30)

Introduction: Paul commanded a lot of Authority and wielded a lot of power. History has shown us that like Paul, there are many who have come and gone who used their power and authority to oppress and to persecute. I wouldn’t want to go into the details. I am sure that you know these things.

The saddest part of our shared history is that most of these oppressors thought that they were doing God a favor. Paul, regarding himself as THE gatekeeper and vigilant guardian of God’s word and law, resolutely eliminated anyone who DISAGREED with his theology.

For instance, we are introduced in Acts Chapter 6 to a young man called Stephen, whom the Bible says wielded a different kind of power – not of letters and decrees by kings and people in authority as Paul had, but his power was from God in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 6:8 KJV – And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

The Greek word for Miracles is Semeion (say-mi-on) which is the miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the person that God sends. So whenever someone performs these kinds of miracles that Stephen used to perform, the people are supposed to accept that yes this is a person who is from God and thus go ahead and believe in God.

But what did they do? The gatekeepers dragged Stephen to the Sanhedrin, the great theological council at Jerusalem, consisting of seventy-one members, including scribes, elders, prominent members of the high priestly families, and the high priest, who was the president of the assembly.

So Stephen, like any apostle sent by God, tried to use words to explain to them the power that he carried. But his words meant nothing to them. The Bible says:

Acts 7:57-58 Upon hearing his words, the people covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And they laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul – who later became Paul. The very first verse in Acts Chapter 8 says, And Saul approved of their killing Stephen.

You must never underestimate the power of human will. Human will is so powerful that John Wesley said – God does nothing except in response to believing prayer. In other words, HUMAN WILL will prevail so long as nobody prays the prayer of the believer! And we know that the prayer of the Believer is like the Lord’s Prayer teaches us – Thy Will oh God be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Not our will but thy will.

So I believe strongly that Stephen’s last prayer, as he died from being stoned, brought about the transformation of Saul into Paul. God needed a believer to pray in order to override the human will of Saul. And Stephen prayed.

Acts 7:59-60 says, “While they were stoning Stephen, HE PRAYED, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.”

Fast forward to Just 2 Chapters later, in Acts Chapter 9, and Saul after encountering a different kind of POWER than what he was used to, has now become Paul and is preaching, teaching, and proclaiming the same words for which he killed many, including Stephen. Not only that, he is also performing the miracles, signs and wonders for which he stoned many to death. You should notice that the thing that the Words of Stephen just before he was stoned, could not do, an encounter did it. Stephen could not convince Paul with his preaching. But When Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul became convinced and was Transformed. But it took the prayer of Stephen to bring about this encounter.

I sometimes ask myself: – “Why didn’t Stephen pray for fire and brimstone to fall on the people who were stoning him?” Instead, he made the profound choice to offer his prayers for those who were actively taking his life.

We go to Acts 17, and Now, Paul finds himself standing in the very shoes of Stephen – attempting to clarify the very idea he once opted not to hear, but rather led a crusade against it, and not to anyone else, but to people who think the way he used to think about gatekeeping.

But this homecoming (if you would call it) was nothing he had planned for. Having escaped prison by divine power in the previous Chapter, Paul had now become all accustomed to the power of God that goes beyond the proclaimed word. The Bible says at midnight, as Paul and Silas were in prison, they began to utter Words of Prayer and Words of Praise and SUDDENLY,there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. (Acts 16:26, NIV)

Such was the power that Paul witnessed.

But By the time we find Paul in Athens in Chapter 17, he has already escaped two attempts by his fellow Jews to arrest him and perhaps stone him, just like Stephen was stoned under his watchful eye.

You should understand that Athens, however, was not your typical Jewish city. It was a highly pluralistic society. As much as Pluralism in this text refers to many objects of worship and the pluralism of gods, Pluralism here also refers to the plethora of knowledge that was out there in Athens.

No longer the prominent city it was four centuries earlier, in the time of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Zeno the Stoic, Athens still enjoyed its reputation as an intellectual and cultural center that was rife with the latest Philosophies and what the Author referred to as new theologies in Acts 17:21 when he said (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

So here is Paul, a philosopher himself, but one who has also encountered the Power of God in so many ways – and here he is in Athens standing face to face with the renowned Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers. who are ready to challenge his words. You should understand that the Stoics and Epicureans disagreed on a great deal of theology. For instance, they disagreed on the role of pleasure in human lives. Whiles the Epicureans believed that humans must seek pleasure and happiness in this world, although in a non-selfish way, The Stoics on the other hand believed that freedom from human pleasures and passions was the way to virtue.

Today, we can say that the Epicureans were more liberal or progressive and the Stoics were more conservative. And yet they both agreed on one thing – that both denied divine involvement in the affairs of humans –  they denied the power of God at work in the daily lives and affairs of human beings.

So when Paul told them about the power of God to resurrect Jesus from the dead, as proof that Jesus Christ is God, the Bible says they mocked Paul.

The question I have for you is this: Paul, knowing the different beliefs of the Epicureans and Stoics on various aspects of human life, did not focus on these but chose to focus his speech on the Power of God in raising Jesus Christ from the dead that goes beyond words. Why is this?

Because he had experienced this power that goes beyond words, philosophy, theology, and ideas!

He understood that this was the one thing they both lacked, for it couldn’t be imparted through knowledge alone; it had to be lived. And so, he endeavored to convey this truth to them.

So by the time Paul is writing to the Church in Corinth some 2 to 3 years later after his time in Athens, the church is divided about whose theology and teaching is better – Paul’s or Apollos’. Paul reminds them that adding more words and meaning to what is written is not the most important thing. He reminded the Church that their strength is not in the words they hear either from Paul himself or from Apollos, but in the power within the word that is capable of transforming lives. And if they were able to see beyond the spoken or written words, they wouldn’t be choosing sides as to who to follow –  but rather would focus on the power in the word that transforms our lives.

1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

The word for Power used here is Dunamis (Doo na mis), which means. inherent power, or power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature. It is the same word used when Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 10:19 – 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.

It is also the same word Dunamis used in Acts 10:38 when Peter, in the house of Cornelius the Roman Centurion, described to the Gentiles- the reason why Jesus had success on the earth, saying;

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power – dunamis, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)

It is this Holy Spirit – DUNAMIS POWER – that Jesus used to do all the wonderful things He did while on earth, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, doing good, raising the dead and casting out demons.

It is this same Holy Spirit Dunamis Power you and I need in order to function in our original purpose on this earth.

You cannot do good until you have this power in you in the form of the Holy Spirit. Your Dunamis is in you, and it was placed in you at the time of creation. But we needed Jesus to help us to rediscover it. And so by Believing in Christ and accepting His Holy Spirit, ONLY, can we become better stewards of the earth. By Believing in Jesus Christ and accepting His Holy Spirit ONLY, can we love God and Love one another as ourselves.

The purpose of the word in you is to build in you Faith so that when you speak, lives will be transformed. So that when you love, it will be of great effect. Paul knew a lot and he thought that he loved God, but without the Holy Spirit, his love only drove him to kill. It is only the Holy Spirit in you, who can cause you to truly LOVE as Jesus loved us.

Jesus rebuked in love, sat with oppressors to have dinner, and went to the house of Zacchaeus, a well-known oppressor of the people. After spending that small amount of time with Zacchaeus, he was so transformed that he paid reparations to those he had oppressed.

I want to share with you three (3) key takeaways.

1. The 1^st key is that the power of God is in you when you have His word in you. You need the power of the Word to be assured of your own salvation & to live in your purpose.

Romans 10:8-9, “But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Share the story of my testimony: I will start with an encounter I had in 2019.

In late 2019 and going into 2020, I went for a routine malaria treatment in the hospital on a Monday, felt good and well after the administration of medication and even went to my kids’ school to pick them up. Then late in the evening, I just could not sleep and ended up on the hospital bed the same night – the beginning of 4 days of death and life. My temperature would rise so high in the night at one moment, then drop so low at another moment in quick succession. When hot, I would shower with very cold water, turn on the air condition and lie down. Then in a few minutes I would feel cold such that I would turn off the air condition, cover myself with blankets and it would still not be enough. My body temperature kept alternating at such a fast pace, the nurses and doctors did not know what to do to me to give me some comfort. And on the Wednesday night, when all hope was lost in my eyes, I lay down on the hospital bed feeling very cold, when suddenly, I heard a group of believers praying upstairs in the hospital. All of a sudden, I heard a voice that came from the depths of my spirit – join them in prayer on your bed. So I gathered my body, came off the bed and knelt down by the bed and prayed. I was so distressed during this time that till date, I cannot remember the exact prayers I said. What I remember is enjoying my best sleep in those four (4) days at the hospital, after this prayer. I felt so well the next morning that I even requested to be discharged on that Thursday morning. But they demanded to monitor me for at least another day before they discharged me on the Friday. The WORD was near me. The word for me in that moment was the Prayer. The Power to heal me was in the Word of Prayer.

• The power in you has a source and a sustainer.

Just like you saw in the creation story I alluded to earlier in my sermon, the power of the Word inside you has a source. The source is God. And we know that whatever your source is, you have to remain in that source in order to be sustained. The source for the fish is the water and that is where it gets sustenance. The source of the trees is the soil where it gets its sustenance. When you disconnect a tree from its source, it loses its sustainability. Likewise, it is with the Power in you as a human. If you disconnect from Jesus, you lose sustainability. So Jesus said in John 15:5-7 (NIV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

The power in you has a source. So Stay connected to your Source to sustain you.

• The power in you demands your Responsibility.

There was a responsibility placed on us to use our power for the good of humanity. Seek peace because The power in you demands your responsibility to not abuse it but to use it for the collective good of others, whether they agree with us or disagree with us, and also for the collective good of the earth.

So as you go out and live out your true purpose of becoming light to others, may God’s Holy Spirit equip you and sustain you. May you speak life and positivity into the lives of others and May you contribute positively and not negatively to the earth, and may you do all of this in the Love of Christ, not the love of self, nor the love of any other, but in the unwavering love of Jesus Christ. Your identity is found in Jesus and you need to only believe and speak as the Holy Spirit directs you. God richly Bless you!