or the scripture that I'll bring
before you this evening is found in Genesis chapter 17 verse 1
the words of the Lord to Abraham or Abraham as he was then I am
the almighty God I am the almighty God the whole verse reads, And
when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to
Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before
me and be thou perfect. Well, from these words, I am
the Almighty God, I would consider with you this evening something
of the doctrine of the omnipotence of God, the omnipotence of God. But before we consider the doctrine,
it's interesting to note that this is the first time that the
name El Shaddai is used in the scripture. And this is the first
time that the Lord revealed himself to Abraham by that name. El Shaddai,
El Shaddai, God Almighty, or Almighty God. El means God, Shaddai
means all-powerful. The word omnipotent, omnipotent,
means all-powerful. Omni, as I'm sure you're aware,
means all, and potent means strong or powerful. It's the opposite,
of course, of impotent, lacking power. Well, the name El Shaddai,
then, expresses the omnipotence of Jehovah. He is the all-powerful
God. He is God Almighty, the Almighty
God. The names of deity express the
attributes of God. They express the very nature
of God. Omnipotence, then, belongs to
the very nature of God. The Lord declares his name to
be El Shaddai, or one of his names to be El Shaddai, the Almighty
God. So, omnipotence then is one of
his attributes. The Lord Jesus Christ, after
declaring his own deity and his sacred humanity, refers to the
Father simply as power. In Mark 14 verse 62, and Jesus
said, I am. there he is declaring his deity
I am and you shall see the Son of Man there is his humanity
and you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand
of power that is God and coming in the clouds of heaven the right
hand of power is the right hand of the throne of God what are
all the idols of this world what are all the statues and images
and paintings Are they not the work of men's hands? They are completely impotent,
completely powerless. But the Lord who made heaven
and earth, the sea and all that in them is, He is the omnipotent
God. And when Abram was ninety years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I
am the Almighty God. Well, as we come to the words
of our text, I am the Almighty God. We shall consider, as I
trust the Lord helps and enables, the doctrine of the omnipotence
of God. And we shall consider the doctrine
briefly in seven particulars. Firstly, We see the omnipotence
of the Almighty God in creation. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. The idolater is without excuse. Only the living God can create
living things. The atheist is without excuse. Men make computers, very powerful
computers. Is there any chance, any possibility,
of a computer coming together by accident, switching itself
on, and working perfectly, even after billions of years? Of course
not. It's an utter impossibility. And yet, that is what the Darwinist
believes, and that is what he expects us to believe, regarding,
for instance, the human brain, which is far more complicated
than the most complicated computer. How many billions of years would
be needed for a car to come together by accident? We all know it is
never going to happen. Not in a billion years. Will a wasp, a bee, an ant, in
fact any insect, is a far more intricate and complicated piece
of mechanical engineering than any car or indeed anything that
man has built. No wonder the apostle says, for
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened. How we need to beware of oppositions
of science falsely so-called. Paul writes to Timothy, O Timothy,
keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane
and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so-called,
which some professing have erred concerning the faith. What a
description of the nonsense spouted by evolutionists, profane and
vain babblings. That's all it amounts to. Man is by nature a creative being. And do we not discern in this
something of the image of God in man? Yes, that image of God
in man, even in its creative aspect, has been marred and vitiated
by sin. But nevertheless, it's still
there, and it can still be discerned. Men can make things that are
useful, as in the case of art, things that are pleasing to the
eye. There is, as it were, this remnant of the image of God in
man. Now, of course, man can only
create something out of the materials that are available to him, but
the omnipotent power of the Almighty God is manifested in this, that
he created all things ex nihilo, out of nothing. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap.
He layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. We read in the first chapter
of Genesis, don't we? And God said, and it was so. And God said, and it was so.
Such is his omnipotence. Such is his power. He creates
all things out of nothing by the power of his word in just
six days. Now, of course, he could have
done that in six minutes or six seconds, but it pleased the Almighty
God to create the world in six days. Now, I like Dr. Gill's comment on this fact.
He says, this time was allotted not on account of God, who could
have done all in a moment, but for the sake of men, who when
they read the history of the creation, there is a stop and
a pause at each work that they may stand still and meditate
upon it and wonder at it. Yes, let all the earth fear the
Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. We see His omnipotence in creation. And secondly, we see the omnipotence
of God in providence. Isaiah speaks of Christ as the
mighty God. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Mighty God and in Hebrews the
Apostle Paul speaks of him as upholding all things by the word
of his God, we are told, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also
he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of his glory and
the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. John says in
the beginning of his gospel concerning Christ that all things were made
by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
We see there in Hebrews that not only were all things made
by him but that all things are upheld by him. and upholding
all things by the word of his power. This world was begun by
omnipotence. It continues by omnipotence. And it shall be brought to an
end by omnipotence. When I shall receive the congregation,
I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof are dissolved. I bear up the pillars of it,
Selah. It is the Lord, the Almighty
God, who bears up the pillars of the earth, the whole structure
of the universe. The world continues to this very
day only by sovereign strength, according to sovereign will and
purpose. and all the events which take
place in this world must be accredited to omnipotence. It is divine
wisdom which plans and purposes all that comes to pass, and it
is divine power which accomplishes that which is purposed. Indeed, there are those events
which can only be attributed to divine omnipotence, such events
as bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, Such
events as turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes. Such events as the plagues which
fell upon Egypt and the deliverance of the children of Israel from
the house of bondage and the destruction of Pharaoh and his
army in the Red Sea. In fact, the whole history of
the children of Israel cannot be understood without reference
to the omnipotence of Jehovah. Remember how it was promised
the children of Israel in the old covenant, if ye walk in my
statutes and keep my commandments and do them, ye shall chase your
enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And
five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put
ten thousand to flight, and your enemies shall fall before you
by the sword. But Israel did not keep that
covenant. They did not walk in his statutes. They did not keep
his commandments. And so instead of chasing their
enemies, they were chased by their enemies. As you read in
Psalm 106, therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against
his people. in so much that he abhorred his
own inheritance, and he gave them into the hand of the heathen,
and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also
oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under
their hand. And so was fulfilled the word
which Moses spoke to them. In Deuteronomy 32, Verse 28,
For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any
understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that
they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight,
except their rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?
Oh, providence, providence is a mighty evidence of the omnipotence
of God. And then thirdly, we see the
omnipotence of God in the gospel. That is in the substance and
subject matter of the gospel, the salvation of lost and ruined
sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Yes, it
is the power of God unto salvation. The sacred and sinless humanity
or human nature of the only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was formed in the womb of a virgin by the power of God. Remember the words of the angel
to Mary. And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. He behoved the Lord Jesus Christ
to assume a sinless human nature in order to fulfill the law on
behalf of His people, that law which they had broken. He behoved
the Lord Jesus Christ to assume a sinless human nature in order
to bear the penalty of that broken law on behalf of His people. That penalty was death. Hear
the voice of Christ speaking in the Psalms. They that hate
me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. They
that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are
mighty. Then I restored that which I
took not away. Then I restored that which I
took not away. He restored that which he took
not away. He rendered a perfect obedience
to the law of God. and he suffered the just penalty
of a broken law. This he was able to do in our
nature as a man because he was without sin. His sinless human
nature was conceived in the womb of a virgin by the power of the
highest. And were not the miracles which
Christ wrought a demonstration of the power of God? In Luke
5 verse 17 we read, and it came to pass on a certain day as he
was teaching that there were Pharisees and doctors of the
law sitting by which came out of every town of Galilee and
Judea and Jerusalem and the power of the Lord was present to heal
them. And what divine power was demonstrated
at the crucifixion, at the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all
the earth until the ninth hour and the sun was darkened. It's as if the very sun in the
sky mourned the death of its creator. Luke continues there in his gospel,
when the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. Now Matthew
informs us that the veil was rent or torn from the top to
the bottom. Jesus, when he had cried again
with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. This was undoubtedly an act of
Almighty God, and it signified the end of all the legal form
of worship, and it signified the free access that believers
have into the very presence of God, both now and hereafter. through the torn flesh of a crucified
Saviour, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath
consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh." Matthew goes on to say, "...and
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were
opened, I like Calvin's comment there on the earthquake and the
rending of the rocks. He says, "...in this way, not
only did the earth bear the testimony to its Creator, but it was even
called as a witness against the hard-heartedness of a perverse
nation, for it showed how monstrous that obstinacy must have been
on which neither the earthquake nor the splitting of the rocks
made any impression." And of course, There were some
on whom these things made an impression. We read there in Matthew 27,
verse 54, now, when the centurion and they that were with him watching
Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done,
they feared greatly, saying, truly, this was the Son of God. Truly, this was the Son of God. Such was the demonstration of
the power or the omnipotence of God. Well, if there was a
demonstration of the omnipotence of God at the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ, then how much more it is resurrection. He was, as
Paul says in Romans, declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. to the Ephesians he writes, according to the working of his
mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead. To the Corinthians he writes,
for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the
power of God. By the power of God. And you
know, without the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from
the dead, there would be no gospel, there would be no salvation,
our redemption would not be complete. If Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. who was delivered
for our offences and was raised again for our justification. The Gospel and the substance
of it being a person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
is a clear, indeed it is a perfect, revelation of the omnipotence
of God. And then fourthly, the spread
of the gospel also reveals the omnipotence of God. When you
think of the small beginnings of the gospel in this world,
the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of this in parable. In Matthew 13,
he says another parable, put he forth unto them, saying, The
kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which
a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of
all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the
greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of
the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Oh, the beginnings
of the gospel were so very, very small. One man crucified, hung
on a Roman gibbet in an insignificant Roman province called Judea,
and then 11 men who declared that he had risen from the dead.
What but the omnipotent power of God can explain the spread
of the gospel to every nation under heaven? And when you think
of the instruments that were used, men such as Peter and John,
who, as it was perceived by their inquisitors, were unlearned and
ignorant men. Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter
4, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. When you consider the opposition
to the gospel in the world, everywhere that the gospel has come there
has been opposition. It's been persecuted. The Christian
religion was, and it still is, the most persecuted religion
in the world. The most persecuted group of
people in this world are Christians. But there is not only opposition
to the gospel from without, there is also opposition to the gospel
from within the professing church, in the form of false teachers
and their various heresies. There was the rise of Antichrist,
the Bishop of Rome, with his false doctrines. And how that
whore of Babylon, the false Church, the Church of Rome, made herself
drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And yet, the Gospel is still
being preached in the world, even to this very day, in spite
of all the opposition. and this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations and then shall the end come." That promise and the performance
of it can only be attributed to the power of the One who has
promised it. We should also note, of course,
the divine sovereignty as to when and where the gospel is
to be preached. we read of Paul and his companions
in the book of Acts, in Acts 16, at verse 6, now when they
had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were
forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. Note that they were forbidden
of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. After they were
gone to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit
suffered them not. And they, passing by Mysia, came
down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood
a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia,
and help us. And after he had seen the vision,
immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto
them." We'll see the divine sovereignty as to when and where the gospel
is preached. The only explanation for the
spread of the gospel throughout the world is the omnipotence
of God. There can be no other explanation. And then, fifthly, the conversion
of any sinner can only be by the almighty power of God. Now
I'm using the word conversion here in its broadest sense to
include the whole process of deliverance from the power of
darkness and translation into the kingdom of God's dear son. This includes regeneration, effectual
calling, saving faith and repentance unto life. The heart of man is
by nature harder than the hardest rock. spiritually speaking, and
it is only divine omnipotence that can rend or break the heart
of man. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh. Regeneration, the new birth, is by the power of God.
Except a man be born again, born from above, as the margin says,
He cannot see the kingdom of God. Faith is described in Colossians
chapter 2 as being of the operation of God. Conversion is described in the
Scriptures as a creation. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. It is the new creation. Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Now, Paul, in that second epistle to the Corinthians, had
previously drawn a comparison between the
old creation and the new. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6. For
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We read concerning
the old creation in Genesis chapter 1 that the earth was without
form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Without
form and void, that is confused and empty. And that is the state
of man by nature in his unregenerate condition. He is confused, he
is empty, he is in darkness, spiritually speaking. Then we
read there in Genesis 1 verse 2, "...and the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light,
and there was light." So it is in the new creation, "...for
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." It is the same
almighty power that created the world that creates a real Christian. and conversion is not only described
as a creation, a new creation is also described as a resurrection
in the scriptures, a resurrection Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6 reading from verse 4, by God
who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, have quickened us together
with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and have
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus." Now Paul Again, I've previously spoken there
in Ephesians of the exceeding greatness of His power to us
who believe according to the working of His mighty power which
He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and
set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. You see
what Paul is saying? It is the same almighty power
which raised Christ from the dead that raises and quickens
a sinner who was once dead in trespasses and sins and quickens
that sinner into new life it is the same almighty power that
raised Christ from the dead that raises a sinner from the grave
of sin and removes the filthy grave clothes of his own works and clothes him in the perfect
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ Conversion is, it can only be,
by the omnipotent power of God. And then, sixthly, the final
perseverance of the saints. The omnipotence of God is to
be seen in the final perseverance of the saints who are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Yes, the saints of the Most High
are kept by the power of God. They are kept in and through
every trial which they experience as they pass through this wilderness
world. They are kept in every temptation. They are kept in
all their tribulations. They are kept from all the allurements
and enticements of this vain world. They are kept from finally
being engulfed and overwhelmed by all the corruptions of their
own sinful hearts. They are kept in the spiritual
conflict between the old man of sin and the new man of grace.
They are kept in the spiritual warfare between the flesh and
the spirit. And they are kept from finally
falling, even under all the assaults of Satan, their great adversary. Saints are kept from final falling. All the glory, Lord be thine,
says the hymn writer. We are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. I remember an old friend of mine met me in the street
once and said to me, why don't you come and join us and give
up Jesus, as he put it. Give up Jesus. I said, I can't
give Jesus up because he won't give me up. It's true! The keeping of the saints unto
the very end is due to the omnipotence of their Almighty God. Remember
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand my father which gave them me is greater than
all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand
I and my father are one kept by the power of God and
then seventhly the general resurrection of the dead at the last day all
that will That is the ultimate manifestation, revealing of the
omnipotence of Almighty God. The resurrection of the dead
at the last day. Remember what the Lord said to
the Sadducees. Remember the Sadducees denied
that there was to be any future resurrection of the dead. Jesus
answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures,
nor the power of God, nor the power of God. Christ is become
the firstfruits of them that slept. And the Lord's people
have this glorious prospect before them. For our conversation is
in heaven, for whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working
whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself, that
is, according to His omnipotence. As Paul said to King Agrippa,
why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God
should raise the dead? And not only do the scriptures
teach this doctrine of the final resurrection and the general
resurrection of the dead at the last day, but creation and providence
teach it too, you know. The fact that we lie down and
sleep at night and awake again in the morning. The fact that
the sun sets at night and rises again in the morning. The fact
that after winter comes the spring again. In the winter there is
the deadness of the trees. There's not a leaf on the trees.
All appears dead and bleak. Ah, but then comes the spring
and the leaves appear. It's as if the earth itself is
resurrected. We see the spring flowers. The same mysterious power that
makes us sleep and wakes us up again in the morning will awaken
us in the morning of the resurrection, that great day of judgment. And I saw a great white throne
and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were
opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Such is his omnipotence and such
is justice too. A world he drowns at once except
a very few. He sends his millions down to
hell and yet is just and holy still." Ah, the prospect for
the believer. The prospect for the believer
is altogether glorious. We have Christ's own promise.
Oh, do you believe Him? Do you believe in Him? He has
promised. He cannot lie. I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. No second death for those that
are in Christ. He that liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. That's the promise of the Gospel. It's eternal life through our
Lord Jesus Christ. The omnipotence of the Almighty
God will ultimately be seen in the general resurrection of the
dead at the last day, on that great day of judgment. Well,
as we draw to a conclusion this evening, it just remains for
me to point out something of the encouragement that there
is in this doctrine of the omnipotence of God. Firstly, is there not
an encouragement to pray and to call on the name of the Lord? Oh, he is El Shaddai, the Almighty
God. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. Nothing shall be impossible.
He is the Almighty God. He is El Shaddai. There is nothing
that He cannot do. There is no need which He cannot
supply. There is no sin from which He
cannot deliver. Thou art coming to a King. Large
petitions with thee bring. For His grace and power are such. None can ever ask too much. now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, Paul
says. The doctrine of the omnipotence
of God is surely a great encouragement to prayer. And secondly, and
finally, there is surely here an encouragement in this doctrine
to trust, to trust, for the believer to trust, not in himself or his
own works or doings, but in the living God. Trust ye in the Lord
forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. He is
El Shaddai, the Almighty God. And you know the name of the
Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.
a sovereign protector I have, unseen yet forever at hand, unchangeably
faithful to save, almighty to rule and command." As believers, do we not feel
ourselves to be as weak as worms? I know I do. We daily feel the
need of the Lord's strengthening grace within us to enable us
to walk worthy of God who have called us unto his kingdom and
glory. We feel our own weakness. We
feel our dependence upon him who is the God of all grace.
We need his grace. We need his enabling grace. To those who feel their weakness
is this word of promise sent. hast thou not known, hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary, there
is no searching of his understanding, he giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even
the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall
walk and not faint. Yes, they shall walk and not
faint. They are kept, you see, by the
power of God unto salvation. You know, it's written in the
Psalms, the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power
unto his people. He not only gives strength and
power to his people, he is the strength of his people. But the
salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength
in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them
and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save
them because they trust in him. Oh, he delivers them from the
wicked, not only the wicked outside, he delivers them from their own
wicked hearts, the old man. It's not until we're brought
to an end of our own native strength, to an end of ourselves and our
own natural strength, that we are brought to know experimentally
the omnipotence of God. So it was with Paul, you remember. For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice that it might depart from me. He's speaking of the
thorn in the flesh. We're not told what that thorn
in the flesh was. There's a reason for that. Because we all have
a thorn in the flesh. For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And he said unto me,
my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me." Well, may the Lord grant us then that grace.
May He grant us grace to call upon His name, Jehovah Jesus,
El Shaddai, the Almighty God. May He grant us
grace to trust in Him, and in his omnipotence, I am the Almighty
God. Amen.