As you can see on the screen
this morning, we're going to go over two different attributes
of God's character. And some of these things can
be a little difficult for us to, as they say, wrap your mind
around. But they're so in scripture.
God tells us. And so we need to address them, look
at them, and maybe grow. in the grace and knowledge of
who God is and how He saves a sinner by Christ and Christ alone. And you would think that of all
the things that the Bible says about this omnipotent God, that
we could trust Him. Trust Him to do what He says
He'll do in His Word. Our God is omnipotent. And that
simply means that he's all powerful. Look at what Job said in Job
42. I know that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can
be toward it or be prevented from happening. No obstacle can
stand in the way of what God has determined to accomplish. And if you look in Psalm 62,
it clearly states, God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this,
that power belongeth unto God. It says that power belongs to
God. And therefore, he's all powerful. His power, on the one
hand, has to do with his authority. And we see this under his sovereign,
sovereign, sovereignty. But his power also has to do
with his ability. He not only has the right and
the authority to do what he wills, but he has the ability to do
what he wills. As a matter of fact, what good
would it be if he had that authority if he didn't have the ability
to back it up? Illustration that we're given
in scripture is of a potter. that has power in the sense that
he has the authority to mold and to make a vessel of his choosing.
But he also has the ability to make those vessels. In Romans
9, for the scripture saith the Pharaoh, even for this purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout the earth. Therefore have he
mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
The Apostle Paul addresses the objection by some, after he had
made the statement that I just read, that God will have mercy
on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hearteneth.
Their reply to Paul after this previous statement was, then
why does God find fault with us then? For who hath resisted
his will? Romans 9, 21, beginning at verse
21, Here it says, hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel under
honor and the other under dishonor? What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endureth with much longsuffering
to the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction? And that he
might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had aforeprepared under glory. That means God has the
right, he has the power and the authority to do what he will. Now in order to accomplish what
he just spoke here of the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction
and the vessels of mercy, he not only has to have the power
in the sense that having the authority but he has to have
the ability as I said He not only has to choose and to prepare
and to plan, but he has also, he's got to act on it. And the
power of God, as we just read in those verses here, takes two
directions. It has two objectives. On the
one hand, it has to do with the salvation of those vessels of
mercy, God's elect, and his power and grace in saving them. And
also, on the other hand, it has, at the same time, it also has
to do with the judgment that's brought against those who are
described as vessels of wrath. His power and grace is equal
to his power and wrath. In other words, he can do and
does do with regard to those people that he saves, which are
vessels of mercy, just as much so as he can do and does toward
those vessels of wrath, because God's all-powerful. As a matter
of fact, James describes him in this way. James 4 says, there
is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. James says here that God's able
to save and he's able to destroy. And were it not able to convert
a sinner and to actually save these that he called vessels
of mercy, then surely he would not have the power to condemn
and to judge those he called vessels of wrath. He has to have
power to do all these things. And if he can be prevented from
doing what he wills, if he can be kept from carrying out his
purpose, if he can be kept from glorifying himself, if he can
be kept from saving those he desires to save, and if he can
be held at bay in any way, then he is not the mighty God that
scripture says he is. But we know he is. But when we
look over here in Revelation chapter 19, one of the things
that a great blessing to the elect of God and shall be, not
only in time, but all eternity, and a thing that we rejoice in,
it is this very thing in Revelation 19. And a voice came out of the
throne saying, praise our God, all ye saints, And ye that fear
him, both small and great, and I heard, as it were, the voice
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, hallelujah, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. We praise our God, and we rejoice
here on earth with those already in his presence. Not quietly,
but loudly to the praise of his name, that the Lord God Almighty
reigneth. He rules and he does so with
this power that is totally and absolutely his own. There is
no power except that which belongs to him and that which he delegated
by him. Most of you know the story of
King Nebuchadnezzar. You might as well say in his
day, he was the most powerful and absolute king in the world.
The story is he cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a
fiery furnace because they would not bow down to his God. And
immediately afterward, he found out that the true God had saved
them from that furnace. He called Daniel in to interpret
the dream that he had. Daniel interpreted the dream
and he told him that his kingdom would depart from him and he
would be as the beast of the field and would eat grass as
a beast. Now Nebuchadnezzar found out
that God is all powerful and he found out in a very clear
way, which ought to be a real lesson to every person who would
hear this because when God got through dealing with him, This
is his confession, King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. Says, and all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand and
say unto him, what doest thou? Here even Nebuchadnezzar put
himself in this state before God and everybody else in the
world. In God's sight, as it relates
to God's power, the entire world is counted as nothing in this
sense. That means that no one can stop
his hand and no one can stop the hand of this omnipotent God.
They cannot in any way raise up a power to equal his, and
neither can they say unto him, what doest thou? No creature
can question God. He is absolute in his power.
And so Paul writes and expresses it this way in Ephesians 3. Now to him that is able to do
exceedingly, exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think
according to the power that worketh in us. We can't even by faith
acknowledge him unless he has the power working in us. God's
power is absolute power. Look at what Christ said in his
response to his disciples concerning the salvation of this rich young
man who claimed that he had kept the law from his youth up. Christ
said in Matthew 19, It says, Jesus said unto him, if thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow
me. But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And of course, in Matthew 19, beginning at verse 25, it says,
when his disciples heard this, They were exceedingly amazed,
saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
You and I don't have power to save ourselves, but God has power
to do it all. He has absolute power. And it is control only and exclusively
by his own desire. It is controlled by his own will
and purpose. And not only that, his is original
power and it's not derived. He didn't get this power from
anybody else. He doesn't have anybody that
he has to answer to or get permission or ability from. He didn't get
the power from anybody, anyone else. Only he possesses this
omnipotent power. You remember what our Lord said
to Pilate. And what he said to Pilate can be said of every person
that lives in this world and has ever lived in this world
outside of himself. In John 19, then said Pilate
unto him, speakest thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus
answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except
it were given to thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered
me unto thee hath the greater sin. And you know here, we are
in this world today. The politicians, our government,
and so forth, we're fretting over what's going on and how
it would seem that our country is being completely destroyed. And it is at this time. But it
is the same with those that are in temporary power today. They
could have no power. They can do nothing except it's
given unto them from above. As a matter of fact, if you look
back at Job chapter one, you'll see the devil there, Satan himself,
hamstrung and unable to do anything unless unable to touch Job or
anybody else except God giving that permission. You and I are
no match for the devil. We're not like these preachers
running around and up and down the land rebuking the devil.
It says that the archangel did not even dispute over the body
of Moses with the devil. But though Satan is like a roaring
lion going about seeking whom he may devour, at the same time,
he can't do anything except what Almighty God has determined to
allow him to do, just like he did with Job. Folks, God is in
complete control, and that includes Satan himself. Even false Christianity
would say that God's in control, but let's go a little further
and say that not only is God in control, but he has determined
all things. The Bible says Satan can only
do what God allows him to do. God is almighty, and every power,
every government, every ruler, and every person, whether they
are promoted to a foreman, on a job, or even the President
of the United States, or even a dictator, are totally controlled
by this omnipotent God. Having a sovereign God is something
that the natural man just doesn't want to hear about. By nature,
we don't want to hear that there are higher powers than us. You
get up and you drive to work and you run around and you come
up with one of these higher powers. Maybe it's tax time. Maybe it's
license plate time. Everywhere you turn, you run
up with these higher powers. But God said, be subject to them.
Romans 13 says, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of
God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. Now, why? For there is no power
but of God. The powers that are here today
are ordained of God. Now, it didn't say how these
people get into position of power. It didn't say whatever kind of
secondary cause, or whether it was an election filled with fraud
and abuse that put them in this position, or whether or not it
was an opponent position. The powers that be are ordained
of God, because all power is of God, all derived and received
of God. And this power and ability that
God has is essential to all of God's nature and to all his attributes. He not only has to be God, he
has to act like God. He has to do like God. He has
to be this almighty, omnipotent God. And the very first thing
that we see in this book, in this Bible, when we open it up
in the very first page of the book of Genesis, The very first
being that we are confronted with is this omnipotent God. How powerful is he? Well, let's
look at this almighty and all-powerful God as we look at the book of
Genesis, where God created the world out of nothing. That which
he made was made out of that which did not exist before. As
a matter of fact, God speaking, let there be light, and there
was light, is just said for our poor benefit. They call that
the divine fiat, which is really not to even have to utter a word,
just to will it into existence out of nothing. Jeremiah says
in Jeremiah 32, Our Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arms. And there
is nothing too hard for thee. Thou showest loving kindness
unto thousands and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into
the bosom of the children after them. The great, the mighty God,
the Lord of hosts, is his name. As a matter of fact, this same
omnipotent, omnipotence, this same power, as it's demonstrated
in God creating the world, reveals a sufficient amount of knowledge
that men will be accountable for, just on what God displayed
in this power of creation when he created the world. There's
not anybody sitting out somewhere that don't know something about
the power of God. Romans 1 beginning verse 19 said,
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For
God had showed it to them, for the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made. By the things that are invisible,
God has manifested a sufficient revelation of himself in the
things that he has made, because that When they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain,
and their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. This
clearly shows that even through creation, God's revealed himself
enough that sinful man should search out this omnipotent God.
This also includes even his eternal power in Godhead. so that all
men are without excuse at judgment. Now, if you walked into the front
end up here this morning and you saw a pile of sawdust on
the floor, a bunch of wood chips, and a new beautiful table sitting
there that had been made, been sanded and polished up nice,
you would realize that somebody had been here and made that table. Therefore, you would more than
likely begin to inquire as to who made that beautiful table.
Well, the same thing applies to God's creation with the sun,
the skies, the trees, everything else in this glorious creation,
which all shows God's eternal power in Godhead. And so it is
with every man that will be without excuse. and will be held accountable
based on what he has refused to search out after seeing all
this. Search out in this revelation
of the creation of this world that God has given of himself. In Colossians 1, it says, for
by God, for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities and powers. All things were created by him
and for him. The rite of Hebrews, Hebrews
11, says, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. Men today think that they're
so intelligent especially university professors and scientists, among
a lot of other people. They put themselves on such a
high pedestal. Just think about what's going
on the last couple of years with this virus. Two years later,
we find out that so many of these things that these so-called intelligent
scientists told us about the virus have been disproven. The
world, and especially China, has played God with this virus,
and in the process, has killed millions of people with them
playing God with these things. All of this just proves what
a sinful world that mankind has created and continued. But in
all this, God's in control, and he is determined to make sure
that sinful man can only go so far. in their own destruction. It is God's power that sustains
this world. Sinful man likes to think that
we are the reason why everything carries on as it does. Not so. Our God is before all things.
Paul says in Colossians 1, and he is before all things, and
by him all things consist. Now if I didn't believe that,
you might be able to dupe me into this global warming thing
that they're pushing these days. You see, at the root and heart
of all these ridiculous things, made up in the natural sinful
mind of fallen man, is not only a denial of God, but a mockery
at the word and character and power of God. You say, well,
this world just can't go on unless we do this or that or the other. Folks, we had nothing to do with
bringing it into existence to start with, and we have nothing
to do with sustaining it. Though we are to be wise stewards
of everything that God's given us here, but when we get to thinking
that it's up to us to make sure that this earth will not be destroyed,
That's when we're on God's territory. God's all powerful. I can't even
imagine the depth of God's power, but it says in Hebrews, upholding
all things by the word of his power. He is the sustainer of
the universe. But most especially, this power
is brought to light in the grace of God to his people through
the salvation in and by Christ. How should our Christ be described?
Should he be described as this little baby Jesus in a manger? Or the sweet little Jesus boy
in a carpenter's shop in Nazareth? Or this sweet little Jesus walking
in sandals by the Sea of Galilee? No. The one that's described
in scripture is he who is mighty to save. You see, he's described
in his birth in Luke 1, and the angels answered and said unto
her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also, the Holy Thing,
that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called
the Son of God. And this Son of God has got to
be a man that's born in this world, the Messiah. And he can't
be sinful. Therefore, he can't have that
sin nature, sinful fallen nature of Adam. So it says, a virgin
conceived. Man had nothing to do with this,
with this conception. This conception is of the highest,
the power of the highest. And Christ himself is described
by the Apostle Paul when he writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. Here he's described this same
one as Christ, the power of God. Christ has the authority for
sure, but also the ability of God. When Christ walked on this
earth as a man, who looked just exactly like any other man of
his day. He didn't have a halo over his
head that you could identify him by, didn't have a pretty
face necessarily, although we don't know how he looked really.
He looked like any other Jewish man, but everywhere he went,
he did things that no other man could do. In other words, whatever
could be counterfeited by the devil, He did in such a way that
was unmistakably the power of God. So much so that the worst
of his enemies could not deny what they saw. They could not
deny what he did. They tried to just call him a
healer, a teacher, and a man sent of God because they couldn't
deny what he did. Even Nicodemus said, and John
here, The same came of Jesus by night, speaking of Nicodemus,
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Christ not only healed the sick,
he raised the lame, he raised up the paralyzed, and he opened
the eyes of the blind to show what miracles of grace he would
perform. in the saving of his people.
Now, even raising his elect from spiritual death. And Christ didn't
go everywhere and do that to everybody, which really showed
that he had the authority as well as the ability. But he came
and he did those things to accomplish the will of the one who sent
him. He demonstrated power and the
resistance of sin right down to when he was going to the cross.
especially in the time when it looked like he had the least
power. He demonstrated the greatest
power. And John 10 says, therefore, does my father love me, Christ
speaking, because I lay down my life that I might take it
up again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have
I received, of my father. Christ said, no man taketh it
from me. You say, well, those Roman soldiers
were right there pretty much taking it from him. No, they
didn't take, they didn't. Christ says, but I lay it down
on myself. I have power to lay it down,
power to take it up again. Now, he in that power lived that
life, and he in that power died that death, and he in that power
was raised from the dead. Paul says in Ephesians 1, and what is 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. And then Christ ascended into
glory. He is the Almighty God, and in His accomplishment it
says that the Father has given Him power over all flesh, that
He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. One of the last things Christ
reminded his disciples, and he told them in a way that they
had no perception of it prior to that, but he said, before
he's sent it back to the Father, Christ said in Matthew 28, and
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given to
me in heaven and in earth. And that includes a right and
a power to forgive sins. And not only that, but he has
the power to make spiritually alive all his people who were
spiritually dead, just like he did with Lazarus, who was physically
dead. I dare to say that if you had
been there on that occasion and had known of the fact that this
man, Lazarus, was dead, undeniably dead, and three days old and
even stinking dead. You beheld Christ standing at
the tomb door saying, Lazarus, come forth. You would have been
impressed, but I can tell you this, great and glorious as that
may be, raising Lazarus from the dead, that's nothing compared
to what it takes to make alive one who is dead in trespasses
and sins. and who has not the life of God,
he has no faith, he has no understanding of spiritual things, has no eye
to behold the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, no desire to
be saved, and no desire to know God, self-righteous, loathing
with that stench that's an abomination in the nostrils of God. But God
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, comes to that sinner, that ungodly
sinner, ungodly by nature, in practice. And that sinner that God has
loved, He loved him with an everlasting love. And He redeemed him by
the blood of His dear Son. And He says, He says, Live, and
live they do. He has the power in this demonstration
of omnipotent grace. I love that term, omnipotent,
all-powerful grace. Let men have their grace that's
goodwill and nice feeling and a benevolent attitude and a clearly
disguised system of work, salvation. give me omnipotent grace, all-powerful
grace. Christ has his grace and the
power of his grace. He gets the gospel to his people,
and he gets his people to the gospel. He does so, he does so by that means which
he calls the power of God under salvation. What's that? Well, it's the gospel. It's the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and a salvation that's sure and
certain. And it's not based on our works, but based entirely
on the righteousness of Christ alone. Do you think for one minute
that the gospel would even be whispered anywhere in this day
if it were not for the power of God in keeping it there? Do
you think There would even be a copy of the scriptures anywhere.
Atheists after atheists have said over, in over 100 years,
nobody would even know what a Bible is. But God's word is still here
today because he's almighty. And he brings such poor and pitiful
human instruments to preach it. And he brings them to preach
to such dead sinners and he causes his elect to believe. Paul says
in 1 Thessalonians 1, for our gospel came not unto you in word
only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance. And why did the gospel come?
Because this omnipotent God delivered it to his children, those he
chose from eternity, give to Christ, Christ come, died on the cross, shed his blood
for him, sent the Holy Spirit, and one day sent the gospel to
him. This is power over the so-called
free wills of man, because God's people shall be willing in the
day of his power. This is also power to apply every
promise, power to assure that everything's fulfilled, and power
to preserve is redeemed. Peter says in 1 Peter, who are
kept, speaking of God's elect, kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Kept by what? It's kept by the
power of God. You see, it is through faith,
yes, but it is God who gives faith. And our God, our Lord
said, I know my sheep. I love my sheep. I lay down my
life for my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They
follow me. I give unto them eternal life
and they will never perish. Christ said, no man can pluck
them out of my Father's hand. Why? Because that is the hand
of our omnipotent God. To God alone belongs all power. I'm just glad he demonstrates
that power to save a poor sinner like me and to sustain this poor
sinner in this fallen world until he comes again.