Attributes of God. And today
we'll be looking at the power of God. The power of God. Let's
read in Psalm 62. We'll read verses 1 to 12. And
again the lessons of power of God. The power of God. This is
lesson number 6 on the attributes of God. The power of God. Psalm 62. We'll read verses 1
to 12. Truly my soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. How long will you imagine mischief
against a man? You shall be slain, all of you,
as a bowing wall shall be and as a tottering fence. They only
consult the cast him down from his excellency. They delight
in lies. They bless with their mouth.
but they curse inwardly, see law. My soul wait thou only upon
God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my
salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be moved. There's a wonderful verse for
us to put the memory. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory, the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust
in Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us, see law. Surely men of low degree are
vanity, and men of high degree are a lie, to be laid in the
balance. They are altogether lighter than
vanity. Trust not in oppression. and
become not vain in robbery if riches increase, set not your
heart upon them. God hath spoken once, twice have
I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. And unto thee, O Lord,
belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his
work. Take note of verse 11 there.
God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth
unto God. Today I would like us to consider,
in our study on the attributes of God, the power of God. Power of God. God has spoken
once, twice have I heard this, that power belonged unto God. Now one cannot have a right conception
of who God is unless we think of Him as all-powerful. All-powerful. God is sovereign
over all. He's all-powerful. He's God. He's so far above us. So far
above us. He's all-wise, all-knowing. And
He is absolutely sovereign, beloved. He's absolutely sovereign. This
is the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible, not the
God of man's imagination, but the God of the Bible has all
power. and he does whatever he pleases.
The scriptures plainly declare this, that he does whatever he
pleases in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
this world. And not only does he have all
power, but he has all power to do what he wills, to do what
he wills. What he deems to be right, he
has the power to do. What he deems to be right, he
has the power to do. He has the power, beloved, to
execute his will. Now, we we sometimes want to
do something, but we don't have the power to do it or we don't
have the ability to do it. That's not so with God. That's
not so with God. He has all power to do whatever
he pleases. He has the ability to do whatever he pleases and
he can execute his will as he pleases. Now, what is the power of God?
The power of God, again, is the ability and strength to bring
to pass whatsoever God pleases. Whatsoever God pleases. Whatsoever
His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever His will has resolved
to do. Stephen Shonarch, a Puritan writer,
of all brings this forth about God's power. As holiness is the
beauty of all God's attributes, so power is that which gives
life and action to all the perfections of the divine nature. How vain
would be the eternal counsels if power did not step in to execute
them. Without power His mercy would
be but feeble pity, His promises but empty sound, His threatenings
a mere scarecrow. God's power is like himself.
Infinite. Infinite. Eternal. Incomprehensible. We can't wrap our minds around
it, beloved. Incomprehensible. It can either be checked or restrained. His power cannot be checked or
restrained by any one of us. No. It's absolute power, beloved. It's absolute power. Cannot be
restrained or frustrated by the creature, end quote. So he is
bringing forth that the power of God is unstoppable. Unstoppable. God saves whom he wills, doesn't
he? And no one can stop him. And no one can resist him. That's the God of the Bible.
It's wonderful. That's what makes salvation so
incredible. Because I know in my natural
state, I remember before the Lord saved me, and you all remember,
we remember, Brother John, we shook our fist at God. You all
remember? We shook our fist at God. But
God, with his irresistible grace and his irresistible power, moved
in our lives and brought us to Christ. And it's marvelous. It's absolutely marvelous, marvelous. That which is impossible with
man is possible with God. Now think of the divine power
of God. The divine will determines its
exercise. The divine wisdom directs and
regulates the exercise of it. And God exercises His power according
to His will. according to his will, according
to his wisdom. And it produces the effects that
he has determined. It produces the effects that
he has determined. This is why the scripture declares that God
acts according to his good pleasure. We know that from the book of
Ephesians. Just read chapter one. God works according to his
good pleasure and according to the counsel of his will. That
means God acts freely and wisely with power according to his purpose
and will. That's what that means. Actually,
let's turn there. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter
1. Ephesians chapter 1. We're looking at verses 3 to
19. This is scripture we're all familiar with. But with this
thought in our minds, let's marvel at what the scripture says before
us here. Let us marvel at this. We see God's power exercised
according to His will, according to His wisdom, and according
to His purpose. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ. Note, in Christ. He has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love That means exactly what it says. God
has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world having
predestinated us Unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ look
at this to himself According to the good pleasure of his will
it pleased God to do this beloved It pleased God to do this And
then look at verse 6. This is a cry of a believer.
To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. Now who is the Beloved? Christ.
Christ. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself.
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven
and which are on earth even in him in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according again to the purpose
of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will that we should be to the praise of the glory who first
trusted in Christ whom ye also trusted. After that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel was preached, the Holy Spirit
revealed Christ to us, we're born again, it's made effectual,
the gospel of your salvation, it's the gospel of the believer.
Christ is all our, everything we have. He's all our salvation,
beloved. In whom after, also after that you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession and
to the praise of his glory. Notice that he just keeps saying
to the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also after I heard
of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all saints, cease
not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers,
that the God of of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and
knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of his glory of his inheritance
and the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power. Oh, how great is our God's power
to us were to us were 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 heavenly places. Notice in verse 5 we see the
purpose of God brought forth according to the good pleasure
of his will. Notice in verse 6 we see the
exercise of his power wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. So we see the purpose set forth
according to the good pleasure of his will and then we see the
exercise of that power. wherein he hath made us accepted
in the blood." This is a work of God. Notice in verse 9, again,
purpose of God bought forth according to his good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself. And then take note in verse 10,
again, the exercise of his power that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ. Note in verse 11, we see the
power of God again exercised again, this time at the beginning
of the verse, in whom we also have obtained an inheritance.
In the latter part of the verse, we see that it was all according
to God's will and purpose, being predestinated according to the
purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will. Verse 13 brings forth that this
is all by the power of God. As God's people are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, and what? We believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're granted faith to believe.
We know that from Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9. It's a gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. But it says here,
after that, we're sealed. After we're born again, we're
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is, again, God
exercising his power. Notice in verses 17 and 18, we
have the power of God. on full display in the fact that
he gives his people wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him. Verse 18 expands on this even
more, as for the believer, the eyes of our understanding enlightened. We were blind, beloved, dead
in trespasses, and now we see Christ. And then look at this,
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling. Who's our
hope, beloved? It's Christ and Christ alone.
Verse 19 again brings forth According, this is all according to the
greatness of God's almighty power. So he has all power to do whatever
he pleases. Beloved salvation. What this
is proclaiming is salvations of the Lord. It's God's work.
It's God's doing. And it's marvelous. So we see
the the the the according to the good pleasure of which he
had purposed himself. God purposes it. And then his
power brings it to come to pass. Every believer who's born again,
God's power has been wrought out on us. We're saved, we're
born again all because of what God's done in us. Not because
of anything we've done. My, note in verse 20, the same
power that raised the Lord Jesus Christ is the same power that
raises us from our natural state of spiritual deadness. We're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We're born, we know from
Ephesians 2 verses 1, we're born dead in trespasses and sins.
But look what it says here, which he wrought in Christ when he
raised him from the dead and set him on his own right hand
in heavenly places. And you tie that in with, let's
read 19 and 20 together. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his
mighty power, And then look at this, the same power which raised
Christ from the grave raises us from our spiritual deadness,
beloved. Which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from
the dead and sent Him at His own right hand in heavenly places.
This is marvelous. This is absolutely wonderful.
So you who are redeemed of the Lord, you who are His blood-bought
people, marvel in your salvation in Christ. Because it's all according
to God's purpose. It's all according to God's purpose.
It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Which
he purposed in Christ in eternity. And we're saved and born again.
How? By the almighty power of God. It's a work of God. It's
not a work of man. We can't do anything. We're born
dead. Ephesians 2.1, we're born dead
spiritually. We can't do anything. But as
we read this passage, we see that it's all the work of God.
It's all His almighty power at work. And that's why Paul is
continually giving praise to the grace of God in Christ. Praise of the glory of His grace.
Because He's done it all. He's done it all. Let's go back
to our text in Psalm 11. Psalm 11 and never forget that
Christ died on the cross all according the scripture says
to the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God Why did
Christ die on the cross to redeem his people from their sins? To
redeem his people from their sins Look at our text here Remember Remember what our Lord
said the pilot? When he said you don't have any
power Except from above. Look what it says here. Psalm
62, 11. God hath spoken once, twice have
I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Power belongeth unto
God. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
beloved. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His Word, God's
power, is never abated. Never. Never. It's never under
challenge. You ever think of that? God's
power is never under challenge. No matter what's going on in
this world. God's power is never under challenge. Never. Never. He's sovereign. He's almighty. Almighty power he has because
he's the almighty one. No one can thwart God. No one. No one can thwart God because
he is the almighty one. Turn, if you would, quickly just
to Daniel 4.35. We'll read that quickly. I'll read Psalm 89.6.
It says this. For who in the heaven can be
compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of mighty
can be likened unto the Lord? Beloved, our God's power and
authority is unchanging. Unchanging. Look at this in Daniel
4.35. with all this in mind, with the
fact that God's power can never be challenged, it'll never abate,
it'll never be thwarted. Look at this in Daniel 4.35.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as what? Nothing. That's in God's eyes. We're just a bunch of animated
dust. In God's eyes, All the inhabitants,
now this is talking to, and remember who's writing this, remember
who's writing this. This is Nebuchadnezzar, he's a king. He knows what it
means to be a king. He knows what it means to rule.
He has one of the largest kingdoms of his time. And he has absolute
dominion in that kingdom, doesn't he? He says that person's gonna
die, what happens? That person's gonna die, right?
He says that person's gonna live and be pardoned, that person's
pardoned. He has all power and authority. And he's been eating
dirt for a while. Right? But he's come to his right
mind. And look at this. And all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth
according to his will. We saw that in Ephesians 1, didn't
we? He does according to his will, beloved. He doth according
to his will in the army of heaven, that's amongst the angels, whether
they be the elect angels or fallen angels, he does whatever he wills. In the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and look at this, and none, that
means you and I, and none can stay his hand. None. None. or saying to him, what doest
thou? You know why none can stay his hand? You know why none can
say, what are you doing? Because he has all power. He's
the almighty one. And no one can thwart his hand. This is the God of the Bible.
And God's people, we bow to this. We look at this in wonder and
awe, knowing that this is the God who saved us. This is a God
who saved us from all our sins. And think of this was not the
power of God on full display when our Lord did the miracles
that he did when he raised the dead, when he when he calmed
the stormy sea with just a word. And remember, even the demons
acknowledged who he was. They knew who he was. They know
who they know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. They know he has all
power. They bowed down before him. He
cast those demons into the swine out of the gathering demoniac.
At just a command. Just like that. And what? They had to obey, didn't they?
Why? Because he has all power. The
Lord Jesus Christ is God incarnate in the flesh. Come on. Think of the leper who came to
the Lord. Now remember, in order for that leper to get to the
Lord, he had to go through the town crying, unclean, unclean. And he comes to the Lord and
he says, Lord, if thou will, thou can make me clean. And what
did the Lord say to him? I will. Be thou clean. And what does the scripture tell
us? Immediately the leprosy was cleansed. He's got all power. He's got all power. And is this
not what he's done, what he did for that leper? Is that not what
he's done for us? We who are sin sick like that
leper? Leprosy is a picture of sin in
the scripture. And has not the Lord said to
his people, I will. Be thou clean, and we come to
him, don't we? We do. We're made willing. We come to
Christ. We say, Lord, Lord, if thou will, God have mercy on
me. Oh, we come just like that publican,
don't we? God be merciful to me, the sinner. The Lord says, I will. What a God, what a Savior is
Jesus Christ our Lord. And what do we say? We say with
Paul, we're washed clean in the precious blood of Christ. And
we say with Paul, glory to his name. Glory to his name for what
he's done for us. Praise his mighty name. We say
power belongeth unto God just like the psalmist does. We say
that. Belongs to God and God alone.
There's not a creature in the entire universe that has an Adam
power to save. Only God. Only God. He saves. All power belongs unto Him. All
power belongs unto Him. And His power does not depend
upon any recognition by any other authority, because there's no
other authority that's above Him. This power belongs to God and
God alone. God's power is like himself.
Self-existent. Self-existent. Self-sustained. And the mightiest of men cannot
add anything to our omnipotent God. He needs no one, beloved. He needs no one. Spurgeon said this. God's court
is not maintained by his courtiers, nor does it borrow its splendor
from his creatures. He is himself the great central
source and originator of all power. He's God. He's God. Now all things, think
of this though. So he's not dependent upon anyone,
is he? But all things are dependent
upon his power. All things are dependent upon his power. Saved
and lost. Saved and lost. The breath that
we breathe comes from him. Breath. He gives us this breath.
Think of this. He causes things to flourish
and to grow. He has the rain fall on the just and on the unjust,
doesn't he? He gives to the just and the
unjust food and drink. All which comes from his abundant
hand. His power is so mighty that it cannot be limited in
any way. In any way. Turn if you would
to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32. We're seeing God's
power on full display. I remember preaching a message
on this one night. This is an absolute, what a joy
it was to study this scripture here. Jeremiah 32. And to see
what God has done. And to see that not only does
God save me, but God keeps me. He keeps me. This is absolutely
wonderful. Jeremiah 32, look at verses 38
to 41. And we see God's full power on
display. Look at this. And His sustaining
grace we also see. Look at this. And they shall
be my people, verse 38, and I will be their God. Now look at those
words there. And I will give them one heart
in one way, just one way. Not multiple ways, just one way. That they may fear me forever
for the good of them and of their children after them. And I will
make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn
away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. And we
know that Israel in the Old Testament is a picture of the church. Now,
notice here, though, in this text, four promises of of sovereign,
sustaining grace are right here before us. And know that as we
look at these, that these are all accomplished by the power
of God, by the power of God left to ourselves, what would we do?
We're gone. That's what we do. Well, we're
honest with ourselves. We'd be gone. But this is all
what we're looking at here is all accomplished by the power
of God. And take note of these precious promises, you who are
the beloved of God. Take note of these and just cling
to them. In verse 38, our almighty God
proclaims that we shall be his people. And he will be our God. Think of how all the promises
of God to us, our people, are summed up in this. I will be
your God. I will be your God. All His wisdom,
His love, we'll see to it that it'll be so. That we will be
His people and we will remain His people forever. This is sustaining
grace all by the power of God Almighty. Then note the exercise
of our God's power as He promises to change our hearts, which means
to be born again. Change our hearts. And if God
has to do this, this means that it can't be accomplished by ourselves,
beloved, and it can't be. It's a work of God. Salvation
is of the Lord, Jonah wrote. It's a work of God by his almighty
power. You must be born again. You must
be born again. Look at verses 39 and 40. And
I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me
forever. for the good of them and of their
children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. Note who's, I will, it's God
who says this. I will, I'll do this. That I
will not turn away from them. What a wondrous portion of scripture
right there. We know in the New Testament
that it's written that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake
us in Hebrews chapter 13. He'll never leave us nor forsake
us. To do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts,
look at this, that they shall not depart from me. Here's sustaining
grace. This is sustaining grace, beloved.
This is a promise from God. This is a promise from God for
the believer in Christ. An exercise of his almighty power.
What he says, he makes to come to pass. And it's all come to
pass according to his own will. Why do God's people not depart
from him? Because he keeps us. That's what
it says right there. But I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. That's wonders. That's
absolute wonders. Remember what the hymn writer
wrote, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the
God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and
seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. but I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. It's wondrous. Wondrous. Sustaining grace. Sustaining
grace. It's the grace of God that saves
us, and it's the grace of God that sustains us. Deuteronomy
says this, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and
the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine
heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. Deuteronomy
30, verse 6. That speaks of the new birth.
The circumcision of the heart. And let us take note in verse
40 here. Again, here, let us turn away from Him. And I'll make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. But I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. This is a work of God,
beloved. It's a work of God and God alone. It's the exercise of His power
and authority. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning to end. From beginning to end. It's all
by the grace of God and all by the power of God. And then take
note that God rejoices over the work which He's done. Look at
verse 41 in Jeremiah 32. He rejoices over the work that
He's done in His people. And again, this work is all done
by His sovereign power. Now look at this and think. We're
a bunch of sinners who are saved by grace. And yet God rejoices
over the exercise of His power in our lives. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good. Oh my, I don't think I'm ever
going to get over that. Oh, and I will plant them in
this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Think of that when the Lord saves us, we grow in the grace and
knowledge and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then one day
He takes us home. He takes us to the promised land,
doesn't he? To be in the presence of our Savior forever. Forever. Oh, it's wondrous. So we've seen
God's promises, that they're according to His will and purpose,
and that we who are born again have experienced the mighty work
which God has done in us. We're born again by His almighty
power. It's not our doing. It's by the
power of God. It's by the power of God. We're
redeemed. We're purchased. Our eternal
souls are purchased by the power of God, by the power of God. Lord laid his life down for us.
It's a work of Christ. It's his work. God incarnate
in the flesh did this, and therefore we rejoice. We rejoice. and proclaim that salvation is
of the Lord. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 3 to close. And we, knowing about the power
of God and experiencing it in our lives, the believer proclaims
the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid.
That's what we proclaim, isn't it? Because of the power of God
which is being exercised in our lives. Look at Ephesians 3 verses
20 to 21, we're closed with this. And remember, it's all about
God's power and what He's done. Now unto Him that is able to
do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Why? Because He has all power, beloved.
According to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the
church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank
Thee. as we study the scriptures and
we see thy almighty power. And we who are your blood-bought
people, we who are born again by the Spirit of God, know that,
know that the work which you've done, know that it is an exercise
of your power that we are saved, and we are saved by thy grace
from beginning to end, and we praise thee, O Lord. We give
you all the glory and honor and praise. Be with us through the
rest of the service today. It's in thy name we pray, amen.