PHIL. iii. 10. “That I may know the power of His resurrection.”
THE power of His resurrection may signify the power
which effected it, or the power of the fact itself as a
Christian fact, or the power with which Jesus Christ was
endowed at His resurrection.
Paul found Christian life not very easy but very difficult.
So it was the object of his life to know the power of the
resurrection, and with him Christian objects were always
primary.
What did Paul mean by knowing as a matter of per-
sonal experience and as a point in spiritual life the power
of Christ’s resurrection?
1. The resurrection of Christ is an example of the mighty
power of God. To know the power of His resurrection is
to be conscious of the same power at work within ourselves.
2. To know the power of the resurrection is to feel
assured that the Son of Mary is the Christ of God.
3. It is to see the Gospel of Christ sealed, not by His
blood only but by His hand in the newness of His glorious
life.
4. The resurrection of Christ is adapted to strengthen
our trust in Him. How entirely we ought to trust our-
selves with one who died for us and rose again.
5. It is to become the subjects, by its influence, of new
and enlarged expectations and desires.
6. It is to feel our souls lifted thereby into newness of
life.
7. It is to feel strengthened in heart to endure all the
will of our God.
8. It is to have removed from us the fear of death. It
certifies to the believer that he has the life of God, and
that he will live in a yet newer and a yet higher life.
Samuel Martin
Unless the Holy Ghost blesses the Word, we who preach the gospel are of all men most miserable, for we have attempted a task that is impossible. We have entered on a sphere where nothing but the supernatural will ever avail. If the Holy Spirit does not renew the hearts of our hearers, we cannot do it. If the Holy Ghost does not regenerate them, we cannot. If He does not send the truth home into their souls, we might as well speak into the ear of a corpse.
C.H. Spurgeon