First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland, a Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast and remember, there's power at the park.

Romans Chapter 8 is where we turn our attention in verse number 11. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Amen, you may go to your seats around the building.

In this service, I want to talk about Power Got Up. Power got up. Last night I preached Buried but Not Broken. And then in the earlier service, You Shouldn't Have Counted Me Out. And this service, we look at Power Got Up. Early that Sunday morning, Jesus got up. And because he got up, we're still getting up. And here's the shout: he didn't leave the power in the grave. The same power that moved the stone, shook the ground, defeated death, didn't stay in the tomb.

It moved and according to Romans 8:11, it moved into you. Don't miss this. That resurrection power has moved and moved into you. Let me say it the way I feel it. Jesus didn't just get up for you. He got up with something for you. He didn't just get up for you. He got up with something for you. The emphasis on with. We're not spectators. And I need to ask you a real question this morning. And here's the question: what if the power you've been praying for is already living in you?

Back it up, let me say it again. What if the power you've been praying for is already living in you? Because a whole lot of believers love Jesus, celebrate Easter, shout over resurrection, but still live like we are powerless. Paul says the Spirit of God lives in you. That means you're not empty. You're not helpless. You're not defeated. Power got up with you.

Paul is writing to the church in Rome, a church surrounded by pressure, persecution, and a pagan culture. And he's helping them to understand you're no longer controlled by your flesh. You are now led by the Spirit. And the same Spirit that raised Jesus lives inside of you right now. Boy, that ought to make somebody jump on that one. That it did all of that and that power resides in you.

This is not symbolic. This is not some symbolism, some mythical story. This is spiritual reality. He's alive. He's alive and he lives inside me. Well, let me give you some driving instructions of where we're going. Number one, resurrection power is personal. I'm not living my life on the testimony of my parents. I've got my own testimony and I've seen God answer prayer, move in situations, make a way out of no way.

Resurrection power is personal. Secondly, resurrection power changes your present. My present is changed because of resurrection power. Yeah, it's not my coffee, it's not my Red Bull. No, resurrection power changes your present. And thirdly, we look at this time together, resurrection power guarantees your future. And I'm not living in my future. I'm living in my right now, but resurrection power blesses me now and forever. It's lasting and of course we're grateful to God that we can come and realize resurrection power.

Power got up with me. It wasn't your alarm clock. If your alarm clock did it, you could take it over to Harmony Cemetery, set it out there, ain't nobody getting up today. Folk gon' be going riding up there, dropping flowers outside, all that. No, but I thank God when you've got resurrection power and matter of fact, every day and every one of us is closer to our funeral, but I'm not trying to scare you on that reality, but I am trying to tell you that every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

Here it is: resurrection power is personal. Paul doesn't say the Spirit is around you. He don't say that. What he says: the Spirit lives in you, lives in you, lives in you. There's an author by the name of Dr. Henry Cloud and he teaches real change happens when truth moves from being external to internal. A lot of people know about resurrection, but they haven't embraced it as their reality. Let me break it down for you. Y'all got time, right? You haven't set your brunch appointment too early, did you?

Listen, we've got to make this thing internal, not just external. Because once it becomes internal, I don't have to wait for Easter to come to church. Now I'm glad you're here, I really am. But what I really want you to make sure, that when you get this eternal power, every day is Easter for me. Every weekend is Easter for me. Every day I get up, resurrection power. When the external becomes the internal reality.

Matter of fact, my parents could tell me about Jesus, but then when I met Jesus for myself—thank my parents can go on to be with the Lord, but I'm still gonna give God praise 'cause I know what the Lord is doing in my life. The external becomes the internal and power gets me up. And people ask me all the time, they say, "Rev, how you preach all those sermons and it doesn't ever seem like you're tired?" That's not me. It's the power within. And when you get the power within, you've got to go for broke every time you get 'cause you don't know if it's ever gon' be your last time.

External becomes my internal reality. And then once it becomes my internal reality, it doesn't matter what clothes I've got on. Come on, somebody. Something's on the inside. It's working, it's working, it's moving, it's making a way out of no way. And so we look at a people who know about resurrection, but they haven't embraced it as their reality. It's one thing to shout, "He got up!" but it's another thing to say, "He got up in me!" Thank God Jesus got up. But is he getting up in you?

1 Corinthians 6:19, your body is the temple of God. Colossians 1:27, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Stop looking outside for what God has already placed on the inside. We've got to tap in to the oil well of blessings that God has deposited on the inside. Yeah, you've got to know the power of prayer. You've got to know that God can make a way out of no way. You've got to know—I tell people all the time, I can question your biblical knowledge, but what I can't question is your relationship with the Lord.

What I can't question is what the Lord has done in your life. What I can't question, that when you were at one time in darkness but God moved me into the marvelous light, I can't question that. Now I could, but what is the truth for you is that you could question it, but I know what the Lord is doing in my life. I know that the Lord is opening up doors. I know the Lord is closing doors behind me. I know the Lord is making a way out of no way. I know the Lord is blessing me right now. That's my reality. We serve a right now God and on time God. A God who keeps blessing me over and over again. I wish I had a witness in here. I woke up this morning with my mind.

Power got up. But the second thing you need to realize, when that power becomes personal, resurrection power changes your present. This power is not just for heaven. It's for right now. Matter of fact, scripture said it gives life to your mortal bodies. We're mortal. Every one of us, we need food, we need water, we need sleep. Those we need 'cause we're mortal. We're not machines. And even a machine, you've got to recharge it. Come on somebody. Your phone, you've got to make sure you've got a good charger for your phone.

And you've got to make sure the light is on. And not just future resurrection. It's present transformation. Yeah, you can't keep the same patterns and expect a different life. Ooh, somebody ought to catch. You can't keep doing what you've been doing and you're gon' keep getting what you've been getting. You've got to make a transformation. I'm gon' read my Bible, I'm going to church, I'm gon' get serious about my faith. I'm not going to have a special occasion faith. I'm going to have an all season faith. That no matter what the season, I'm going to give God praise.

Whether it's cold outside, windy, sunny, no matter what the temperature is, I will bless the Lord at all times. Power got up in me. It's in me, it's in me. But 'cause resurrection power gives you the ability to break cycles. Resurrection power gives you the ability to shift habits. Resurrection power gives you the ability to renew your thinking. I'm thinking differently. You don't have to stay stuck. I wish I had a witness in here. You don't have to stay bound. You don't have to stay in what tried to break you. Because power got up with you.

Come on somebody. Romans 12:2 says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "I put this treasure in jars of clay." What used to control you doesn't have the same authority anymore. I was once controlled by a different mind and a different spirit. But now I've taken what was, I've turned it over to God. And when I turn it over to God and put it in his hands, then God can transform me. So that I no longer think like I used to think. I no longer move like I used to move. I no longer react in the same way.

Because once I give my life to God, he starts shaping and moving and building me up and preparing me. So yeah, I'm gon' run into some stuff, but I'm not gon' run into it with the same spirit I ran into it before. And when I run into it, I'm not running into it by myself because the Bible said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So even if I have to face a giant, no matter if I have to face all kind of evil, I put my trust in the Lord. Power got up with me. I'm grateful for that power. I'm praising God for that power.

And if it's working in your present, resurrection power guarantees your future. Here it is. Paul says he will give life to your mortal bodies. I'm right in the text. This is both now and later. Now is dealing with my spiritual life. Later is dealing with my physical resurrection. My spiritual life, my physical resurrection. So here it is. Folk gon' look at you once you totally give yourself over to the Lord, you gon' have a glow. You can't get it at the makeup counter. You can't get it online. Amazon can't deliver it to you. The glow that I have, it can't be manufactured any other place but from God.

A God who can make something out of nothing. A God who can raise us up. A God who could do more than we could ever imagine. Same God who can do all of that is the same God who can move in you. He's moving. And when you start moving this way and flowing in this spirit, you walk into rooms in a different way. You walk into your house differently. You walk onto your job differently. When you're dealing with a problem, you can look problems in the face and you can know I'm going to get through this, I'm going to get over this, I'm going to come out celebrating! Power! Power!

Got up with me. Thank you for that power. Thank you for getting up in me. Because people thrive when they have a future they can see. When you are confident about your future, you operate different in the present. Many of you know I pastored in Harlem, spent seven years in Harlem, corner of 111th and Lenox Avenue. Every now and then, when we would go home from church, I would see folk and they would cross the street and they would cross Lenox Avenue and they wouldn't look left or right. They would just walk across the street.

And they basically were sending the message. The message is: if you hit me and take me out of here, you might be doing me a favor. If you hit me and you've got good insurance—come on somebody—and I survive, Amen. If you've got a phone, you've got a lawyer. Top Dog Law. Come on somebody. So if you hit me and you take me out of here, I'm not worried. But if you hit me and I survive and you've got good insurance, my life is going to be better. But this is my point. When life becomes valuable to you, you look at life differently. Value.

I graduated from high school and when I graduated from high school, my mother took me down because she wanted to get me an expensive watch. And I told my mother, I said, "You don't want to get me a watch. I go through watches all the time. Watches get stolen, watches get put down, watches... you don't need to get me an expensive watch." "No," she said, "No, I'm going to take you down." So we went into the watch store. Man said, "Here's the watch, this is a nice watch." And it was a nice black-faced watch, no numbers on the side, you know that kind of Movado touch. And it had a diamond inside.

Oh yeah, but that's a whole other story, I'm not gonna go deal with that. But anyway, it was a diamond in the watch. And the man told my mother, she said, "If you get him this watch, he's not going to lose it because of its value. He is not going to lose it." I still have that watch today. Now I did mess it up, I messed up that watch. But I messed up the watch with a good memory. I messed up the watch baptizing my first candidates. I thought it was waterproof.

But that was a day, but I still had the watch. But I messed it up baptizing my first group of candidates. What I'm telling you, when God places value in your life, when he lets you know how valuable you are, that you're not trash, that you are special in the eyesight of God, when you walk into rooms with a new attitude... I'm not looking down, I'm looking up and I'm looking forward because God has shown me my future. I used to dream about y'all. I saw y'all in my dreams. I saw you in my dream. I saw you in my dream. First church I pastored, we had six people in the choir. Six. And they all couldn't sing.

But I would ride to church and I would turn to the gospel station and I would hear the Mississippi Mass Choir. The Mississippi Mass choir. And I would say, riding to church, "That's my choir." Introducing the Mississippi Mass Choir. What I'm saying is that when God deposits in your present, he can let you walk confidently into your future even though I have not seen the prayer answered yet. But I'm walking with confidence, walking believing, walking trusting God. People thrive when they have a future they can see.

The resurrection gives you certainty beyond your current situation. That's what resurrection does for us. It resurrection takes me beyond right now. And this is not how my story ends. This is not where my life stops. This is not the final chapter. John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life." Philippians 1:6, "He who began a good work..." oh, come on somebody. Don't start nothing won't be nothing. He who started a good work is going to see the work to the end.

And I feel this one because somebody came in here this morning feeling like life had drained you. I know it's Easter morning, but you came to church, but I've come to announce: Power got up with you. I wish I had a witness in here. You might not have realized it, but Power got up with you. And if you know it, you ought to shout it today! Power got up with me! When I was weak, Power got up with me! When I was tired, Power got up with me! When I didn't think I could make it, Power got up with me! They thought it was over, but they did not know Power got up with me!

Because early Sunday morning, yeah, he got up! And when he got up, strength got up, joy got up, peace got up, victory got up! And if he got up, everything connected to him can get up too! Yeah! And if you're here today, you've been living—some of us beneath our privileges. Some of us have been living beneath your power. Some of us have been living beneath your purpose. I got good news: you don't have to go get power. No, you just have to receive! Yeah! The one who already lives in you. Because when Jesus gets your life, Power gets up with you!

Do you love him today? Power gets up with you! I will bless the Lord at all times! Power gets up with me! I will lift up my hands, I will throw back my head, I will give God the glory because Power—wonder working power, soul saving power, healing power, delivering power—Power got up with me! I left the house, but the power got up with me! Got up with me last night when I came here and preached, got up with me this morning, and he's getting up right now. And sometimes you can feel drained and weary, but I want to tell you: God wants to give you a key to release the great things he's already deposited in you. You've got to say, "Lord, come into my heart."

You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park and Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655. Or visit us on the World Wide Web, FBHP.org. And remember, there's power at the park.