This was The Power of God Part
1 and tonight is The Power of God Part 2. Now this morning we looked at
the Philippian jailer in the 16th chapter of the book of Acts
where we saw the almighty power of God at work. Both in providence
and also in restraining the prisoners Brother Neil brought something
out that was wonderful at the end of the message as he was
leaving. He says, I wonder if those guys a couple days later
thought, why didn't we run for it? Why didn't we take off? Well, they were restrained by
the mighty power of God, weren't they? They were. They were restrained,
so they could not run away. My, but we saw the power of God
on display, didn't we? In the earthquake that he sent,
and also in the restraining of those prisoners, Not taken off,
because again, we know what would happen without the restraining
hand of God on those prisoners. They would have been gone. They'd
been gone. And then we also saw the almighty
power of God in the conversion of the Philippian jailer. Again,
he woke up an idol worshiper that morning, didn't he? He did. He was an idol worshiper that
morning. And by night time, he was converted, baptized and believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ, all by the mighty power of God, beloved. All by the mighty power of God.
Let's read those verses again there in Acts chapter 16. We'll
read verses 25 to 34. And at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the
foundations of the prison were shaken. So this wasn't just normal
earthquake, this was a whole, this was an earthquake that shook
the foundations of that prison. And what happened as a result
of that? Well immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's
bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awakened out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. Again, he was responsible for
those prisoners and it was, Death, if you fell asleep on any kind
of post in the Roman army, you were dead. You were dead. They
would execute you. So he thought, well, I'm gone.
Well, here again we see the restraining hand of God. But Paul cried with
a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we are all here.
Then called he for a light and sprang, and came trembling. He's
trembling. fell down before Paul and Silas,
and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved in thy house. And he took them the same hour
of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized he
and all his straight away. And look at this in verse 34,
when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before
them and rejoiced. He's rejoicing with them, believing
in God with all his house. miracle of God right before us
in these scriptures. And we see again that this text
says that there was a great earthquake. We know that that was sent by
God. We know that. He's sovereign
in all things, beloved. And it shook the jail to its
very foundation so that all the bands of the prisoners just fell
off. And all the doors swung open. They were all open. And again we see the restraining
power of God in that none of the prisoners fled. And then
we see again that the jailer would have taken his own life.
But Paul cried out that they were all there. And then this
jailer comes in, he comes in just trembling. He comes in trembling. And he falls down before Paul
and Silas. This man being bought to an end
of himself, beloved. He's been bought to an end of
himself as we looked at this morning. And how's that happen? How is he being brought to an
end of himself? All by the power of God Almighty. All by the power
of God. The same way that he brings every
sinner to an end of ourselves. We're hemmed in to Christ. We have nowhere to go. We have
nowhere to go but to Christ. And again, this is all by the
power of God. Now think upon this, too, as
we consider the almighty power of our great God. This has all
come to pass. All that we read there has all
come to pass according to God's divine will. According to God's
divine will. And all by His power. So what
He wills comes forth by His almighty power, beloved. By His almighty
power. He doesn't just say he's going
to do something and then don't do it. Now we do that. Often we have good intentions,
don't we? Often we do to do things. We often have good intentions.
But we either lack the power or the ability to do those things.
God doesn't lack those things. He has all power and He has all
ability to do whatever He wills. Whatever He decrees will come
to pass. Bring that right home to your
salvation, beloved. It was the will of God from eternity
that He would be saved. My, I just can't get over that.
I can't get over that, I'll be honest with you. It just leaves
me in awe. You ever get down, just start
thinking of that. Think of that everlasting love that God has
for you. That's been set upon you from
eternity. Undeserving! Oh my. It'll warm your heart amidst
the hardest trials. Amidst the hardest trials. Oh,
so we've seen the almighty power of our great God in this text. Again, all this that we've seen,
the earthquake, the restraint of the prisoners, the conversion
of the Philippian jailer and his family has all come to pass
by God's will and by God's power. And all according to His purpose.
Because He purposed these things in eternity. See, we can't fathom
that, can we? Like I said earlier this morning,
it's hard for the finite, we who are finite, we who are locked
in time and space, to comprehend He who is infinite, who is outside
of time and space. And is restrained by absolutely
nothing. That's our God. He's restrained
by nothing, beloved. Nothing restrains Him. Absolutely
nothing. My, that's the God who saves
us. That's the God who left the glories
of heaven to come to this sin-cursed world to redeem us with his own
blood. And now he's in glory. What's
he doing? He's sitting at the right hand of power. My, and he did all that for us,
for his people. My, oh my. So God has planned and purposed
all that we've read here to come to pass. And again, He has the
power and the ability to make that which He wills come to pass.
And our Lord had planned and purposed that on that very night,
on that very night in our text, that very night, not a night
before and not a night after, that very night that the Philippian
jailer would be saved. He would be saved. And also his
household we read in the text. They were converted as well. It was their time of love. They were objects of His eternal
love. Do you think they knew that in
the morning when they woke up? Nope. They didn't have a clue. No. But they were. They were objects of His eternal
love. His love was set upon them from eternity. Just as it is
set upon every single sheep of God. Now let that sink in, eh? My goodness. My. And just like our dear brother
John Penn, he loved us. We love him because he first
loved us. My oh my. And His eternal love was manifested
when Christ redeemed us on the cross. God's eternal love for
His people was manifested when Christ shed His precious blood
on the cross, beloved. That's a manifestation of the
love of God for His people. My, oh my. Again, this Philippian jailer
and his household, they had no idea that they were lost sheep
of God. They had no idea at all. No idea
at all. But the Lord knew them. And Christ had paid for their
sins on Calvary's cross. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 13. You know, the events that occurred
in our text was our great God, all by his almighty power. And
do you know that God had prepared the heart of the Philippian jailer?
Do you know that God prepares the heart of every single one
of his people? Do you know the Holy Spirit tills
the ground of the heart of every one of
God's lost sheep? Because what does that seed have to fall on? It has to fall on good ground,
doesn't it? It's being tilled. It's good ground. It's prepared
ground, beloved. It's prepared. Who's the one
who prepares it? Surely not the sinner, we can't
prepare ourselves, can we? No, God prepares the heart. God
prepares the ground, makes it good ground. It's all by His work, all by
His almighty power, beloved. We see that in this text here
in Matthew chapter 13. God was preparing this sinner's
heart to be saved, just as He does for every one of His sheep. As the seed, again, which the
sower seeds, when it falls on good ground, it's prepared ground,
it's tilled up, beloved, by the Holy Spirit of God, and all by
His almighty power. All by His almighty power. And
it's good ground, it's made good ground, it's ready to receive
the seed, which we know is the Word of God. Look at Matthew
chapter 13, look at verses 3 to 9. When he spake many things
unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to
sow. And when he sowed, some seeds
fell by the wayside. And the fowls came and devoured
them up. Just devoured those seeds. Some
fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth. And
forwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. When the sun was up, they were
scorched. They were scorched. And because they had no root,
they withered away. They withered away. And some
fell among thorns. And the thorns sprung up and
choked them. Just choked them out. But some, but other fell
into good ground, prepared ground, tilled ground, and bought forth
fruit, some as hundredfold, and some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. Paul will cast the seed out,
beloved, when he proclaims, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. There goes the seed, beloved. Oh, and thou shalt be saved in
thy house. And beloved, this gospel seed,
it fell on good ground. It fell on prepared ground by
the Holy Spirit of God and by the power of God. And this man
was born again by the Holy Spirit of God. He received faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe the command, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And this is what happens to every
one of God's sheep. Our hearts are tilled by the
Holy Spirit of God and the ground prepared and it is God who gives
the increase. All by His almighty power. All
by His almighty power. Why? Because salvation's of the
Lord. It's of the Lord. And the divine plow of the heart
by the Holy Spirit of God is necessary. It's necessary. And God will save all His sheep. So he brings the sinner to an
end of themselves. And remember that our God has
all power. All power and might. And this
was displayed in the great earthquake. And this is displayed when the
jailer was brought to an end of himself. And that seed fell
on good ground, tilled by the power of God, beloved. And he
was given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
did. Turn, if you would, to John 17.2.
John 17.2. Remember who has all power. Remember
who the Scriptures declare has all power. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He has all power, beloved. That's
not my opinion, that's what the scriptures say. See, we as believers,
we can say, well this isn't my opinion, this is what the Bible
says. Because really, I always tell
folks, and it's a good thing to tell folks, I don't really
want to hear your opinion, tell me chapter and verse where that
is. Because you know what men do? They twist what the scriptures
say. Chapter and verse. Show me chapter
and verse. What do we bow to? We bow to
Scripture, don't we? We bow to the Scripture. We do. Unfortunately,
man likes to give their opinion on things that aren't even in
the Scriptures. Look at this, John 17, verse 2 and 3. All power,
beloved, was given to our Savior. And we know our Savior is God
incarnate in the flesh. Look at this John 17, 2 and 3.
And thou has given Him, who's given Him power? The Father.
And thou has given Him power over all flesh. All. There's
no one left out. Notice that. All power. Why? Because He's God in the flesh.
Right? If our God in glory has all power,
then God in the flesh has all power. Because He doesn't change, He's
the God-man. He's the Word of God incarnates.
That's what He is, and look what it says. All power, given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life. It's
Christ who gives eternal life. To as many as thou hast given
Him. To as many as the Father has given Him. And this is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, in Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. Eternal life is only in Christ.
And it's God the Father who sent Him to this world to be a propitiation
for the sins of His people. And our Master also proclaimed
over there in Matthew 28.18, turn there if you would, look
at this one, the lips of our Master. Again, those were the
words of our Master in John 17. And then over there in Matthew
28.18, again, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power. Note that. Not some. Not power over creation, but
not salvation. No, beloved, all power. All power. He's got all power. That's my
Savior. He's got all power. All power,
it says. All power is given unto me, and
where? In heaven and in earth. That
means, beloved, he's over all things visible and he's over
all things invisible. He's got all power. So you see
the very one who saves our souls is the one who has all power.
Hallelujah. Because we have no power and
no ability to come to Christ. We're made willing in the day
of his power, beloved. Born again by his almighty power,
given faith to believe by his almighty power. What a savior
we have. What a Savior He has. Again,
we looked at Psalm 62.11 this morning, it said, God hath spoken
once, twice, have I heard this, that power belongeth to God.
Belongs unto God. So we see then in these scriptures
that our great God has all power. Only He can make a rebel a son.
Only He can make a rebel a son. Only He can save a lost sinner. And when we're bought to an end
of ourselves, we desire to be rid of our sin, don't we? And
the Lord saves us from our sin. He doesn't save us from the presence
of it though, does He? We still sin even after we're
saved. But one day, we look forward to that one day when we will
sin no more, beloved. But He's paid, bought and paid
for all our sins. Oh, He's the only one who can
save a lost sinner. I can attest to that, and I know
you who are born again can attest to the very same thing, can't
you? And only He, and only He alone can save a lost sinner.
And we know He does that all by His almighty power. All by
His almighty power. Only God's able to bring a lost
sinner that's a rebel by birth, nature, and choice to a full
hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we saw in this
text. He brought this Philippian jailer Right? To a full hope in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And only God's able to do that.
And again, He does it all by His power. And sinner friend
and beloved of God, only God can do that. Only God can do
that. He can do that which is impossible
with men. We can't save ourselves. But it's possible for God to
save a lost sinner who cannot save themselves. And He does,
doesn't He? God's people say, Amen, He does.
He does, all by His almighty power. And so let us marvel at
this text here before us, which we looked at this morning and
tonight with the Philippian jailer. We can see the mighty power of
God at work. in the fact that God sent this
great earthquake, all by his almighty power, and that this
was used of God to bring this poor, helpless, hopeless sinner
to the end of himself, and that by God's providence, Paul and
Silas were in that prison at that time? In that jailer's jail? And then
let us consider tonight the power of God. Now, one cannot have
a right conception who God is unless we think of Him as all-powerful. We cannot have a proper conception
of God unless we think of Him as all-powerful, beloved, all-powerful,
all-wise, the One who is absolutely sovereign. This is the God of
the Bible. All-wise, absolutely sovereign,
all-powerful, does as he wills in the armies of heaven and all
the inhabitants of the earth is reputed as nothing to him. And he has all power to do what
he wills, what he deems to be right. And he has the power to
execute his will as he pleases. He's got the power to do it. Again, we may desire to do something,
but we may lack the ability or the power to do these certain
things. But that never happens with God. That never happens
with God. He has the ability and the power
to do all things that He wills to do. Now again, what is the
power of God, beloved? The power of God is the ability
and strength to bring to pass whatsoever God pleases. Whatsoever
He pleases. Whatsoever His infinite wisdom
may direct in whatsoever His will has resolved to do. He has
the power to do it all. He has the power to do it all.
Now there's not a single creature in all this universe that has
a particle of power except that which God has been pleased to
give him or give them. Because God alone has all power.
God alone has all power. Turn if you would to John chapter
19. John chapter 19. We'll see this in regards to
the fact that God gives power to whom he wills. And what our
Lord told Pilate in regards to the power he holds. Power he
holds? And remember who's talking to
Pilate? God incarnate in the flesh. The one who has all power,
beloved. All power in heaven and earth.
Pilate's not talking to some mere man like he would be talking
if he was talking to you or I. No, he's talking to God incarnated
in the flesh. But he don't have a clue he's
talking to him. Look at this, John 19, verses
8-12. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the judgment
hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Jesus the Lamb bought He's silent
as a lamb. Then Pilate saith unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me? Knowest thou that I have power
to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? Pilate thinks
he's something. Pilate thinks he's something.
John 19, verse 10. He thinks he's something. Look at that. Then Pilate saith
unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee? and I have power to release thee?
Look what our Lord says back to him. Jesus answered, thou
couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given
thee from above. There's the source of all power. And he says, therefore he that
delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And look what, after
the Lord said that the Pilate, and from thenceforth Pilate sought
to release him, He didn't want to have nothing to do with him
after that. Oh my. You probably never heard a man
speak like that. But the Jews cried out saying,
if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever
maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. And Pilate being
a politician, he didn't like those words that they said to
him. Because he knew anyone who would go against Caesar would
lose their head. But look at that, the power possessed
by man, the power possessed, think of this too, the power
possessed by Pilate here, the power possessed by any man in
this world, the power possessed by angels, the power possessed
by all things visible and invisible, all come from our great God. All come from Him. Not one creature, not one man,
not one angel can ever add to God's power. We add nothing to
God's power. We take nothing away from God's
power. God's power is not acquired and
it's underrived. Now think of, again, who's talking
to Pilate. God incarnate in the flesh. The Word of God, the second person
of the Trinity. He knew that he must die for
his people on Calvary's cross. He knew he must go to the cross
to redeem his people from their sins. And he brings forth that
Pilate has absolutely no power except that which is given to
him from above. And never forget that Christ
died on the cross according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. to redeem God's people from all
their sins. And no one gives power to God. No one gives power to God. He
alone is the God of all power, all majesty, and all power comes
from Him. And this, if you're one of His
people, this is the God who saved you. Now that can bring us some comfort,
can't it? Oh my! Vicki and I were talking
about this this afternoon, and how I just shake my head, why
do I get worked up when I study about our God who has all power?
Oh my! I just have to get my mind back
on this each time that happens, don't I? We all do, don't we?
Lord, help my unbelief! Help me, Lord, help me! Help
me just to trust in You, and knowing that You have all power.
Help me to remind myself of this precious truth. God has spoken once, twice have
I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. It belongs to Him,
beloved. It belongs to Him. Think of this,
as holiness is the beauty of all God's attributes, so power
is that which gives life and action to all the divine perfections. of the divine nature, how vain
would be the eternal counsels if God's power did not step in
to execute them. Without power, without God's
almighty power, His mercy would be but feeble pity. Without power, His mercy, again,
would be but feeble pity. His promises without God's power
would be an empty sound. And think of this, as one commentator
said, His threatens without God's power would be a mere scarecrow. Beloved of God, our God, has great power, more than we
can even imagine. More than we can even imagine. His power is infinite and eternal. Infinite and eternal. And absolutely none can stay
His mighty hand. None. So think of folks that
shake their fist at him. No wonder the scripture says
he laughs. You have him in derision. All beloved, our great God's
power is like himself, infinite, eternal, and incomprehensible. Just like him. Just like him. God's, think of this too, God's
almighty power can either be checked, restrained, or frustrated
by any creature. By anything visible and invisible. It cannot be checked. It cannot
be restrained. It cannot be controlled. You
ever hear people, when I was in religion, people used to say,
let's gang up on God. Well, basically, they were saying that. They didn't
say that with their mouths, but by saying, well, if we get enough
people to pray, you know, God will change his mind on that.
God's power is unrestrained, beloved. It's not controlled
by a man. It's not controlled. Now, we
pray to our God, don't we? And we pray, oh, Lord, if it
be thy will, knowing if it's his will, it'll come to pass
by his almighty power. And we say glory to our great
God. And think upon this. Our God
is absolutely sovereign. He's all-powerful. Our great
God is omnipotent. We cannot have a proper conception
of God unless we see Him as all-powerful and all-wise. Now the words omnipotent,
omnipotent comes from the Latin words for total, omni. Omni is
total. And power, potent. Beloved of God, our great God
has total power. Total power. Total power. Almighty power. And again, we
can't even fathom the power of God. We try to, but what we learn
in the scriptures just leaves us speechless, doesn't it? Just
leaves us speechless. And we cannot even come close
with our finite minds understanding the Infinite One, the God of
all power. Think of the divine power of
God. The divine will determines its exercise. Divine wisdom directs
and regulates the exercise of it. God exercises his power according
to his will and according to his wisdom. Producing the effects
that he has determined. That he has determined. Bring
it home to your salvation. He determined that you'd be saved.
And he executed it by his almighty power. Oh, what a savior. What a savior. This is why the
scriptures declare that God acts according to His good pleasure
and according to the counsel of His will. God acts freely
and wisely with power according to His purpose and His will.
God's people say, praise His mighty name. Now think of this. Think of this.
Here's something for us to chew on. He who cannot do all that
He wills, and do all His pleasure, cannot be God. He who cannot do all that He
wills, and He who cannot do all His pleasure, cannot be God.
Because the God of the Bible, beloved, has all power to do
what He wills, when He wills, according to His almighty power
and will. And I ask you, would God be God
if He did not have the power to do what He wants to do? Well,
we know the answer is no. So we can conclude then that
the God preached from modern prophets today who wants to save
but cannot unless you let Him. Well, that's not the God of the
Bible, because He don't have all power, does He? Beloved, our God has all power.
All power. That's who we rest in. That's
the one who Paul said to that poor Philippian jailer, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on the one who has all power.
Now the Philippian jailer didn't know he had all power, but he
was trusting his soul to him, didn't he? And he probably learned
as he grew in grace, the great things about our Savior. He knew
this, he knew he had a need, and he knew there was only one
Savior, because God had tilled the soil of his heart, beloved. And that seed fell upon good
ground, beloved. So religion has it wrong. Religion
actually has it backwards, beloved, because we sinners have no ability
to come to God on our own. Because one, we lack the power,
and number two, we lack the ability. But God, but God being the God
of all power, and the God of all ability, has the will to
save His people from their sins. And He does. Again, all by His
almighty power. And He makes us willing. We're
regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and made willing to flee
to Christ. And praise God that our great God has the will, the
power, and the ability to save His people from their sins. And
to give us a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this is exactly what He did for that Philippian jailer. The power of God is the ability
and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatever He pleases.
Whatever He pleases. And He has the power to give
mercy and to show mercy to whomever He wills. And that's what He
does. Now, I don't have a clue who
God's elect are, so I preach the gospel to everyone. God does
the saving. He does the saving as He's pleased
to do. Gospel preachers are just like that sword, just casting
the seed out. And you're hoping and praying
it's going to fall on good ground. Oh my. And some does. Some does. And it's God who gives the increase.
It's God who gives the increase. And the Lord saves His people
according to the good pleasure of His will. And by His almighty
power, the born-again, blood-washed child of God is accepted in the
Beloved. Accepted in Christ. Oh my. What a great God we have. What
a great God we have. We're sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise all by God's power. According to the greatness of
God's almighty power. The believer has a hope in Christ,
a hope in Christ. The eyes of our understanding
are enlightened. We may know what is the hope of His calling.
You know that the same power that raised Jesus Christ from
the grave Is the same power which raises us from our natural state
of deadness, spiritual deadness, to spiritual life? Listen to
what the scriptures declare. 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. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 19 and 20. All by the
power of God. All by the power of God. Heaven
and earth shall pass away, beloved, but his word abideth forever.
And God's power is never abated. There's never a time when God's
power is abated. Never. Never. God's power is absolutely
never under challenge. Never. Again, man shake their
fist, right? I don't believe that. Doesn't
change the fact that he has all power. Doesn't change the fact
at all. You hear someone say something
about our God? Doesn't change that he's still on the throne,
beloved. And be thankful that God took us out of that same
state. I had something happen last week. Where I heard a man, it was in conversation with a couple
other guys, and this man started cursing the Lord's name. And
I said, why are you cursing the name above all names? And he started again, and I said,
well, I'm going to leave. And I walked into the church
here, and I got in those doors, and you know what hit me? You
were just like him, Wayne. And I thought, oh, Lord, praise
you for your grace and mercy that you did not leave me where
you found me. Our God is good to us, isn't
He? He's merciful, beloved. He's so full of mercy and grace.
Oh my. And His power and authority is
unchanging. He's the Almighty One. He has
all power. Now let's quickly look. Eleven
times the phrase, the power of God is used in Scripture. Let's
look at these. Let's first turn to Matthew chapter
22. Matthew 20, we're not gonna look at all 11. We're not gonna
look at all 11. We're just gonna look at a few of them here. 11 times, though, the phrase,
the power of God is used in scripture. So let's consider some of them.
Matthew 22, first of all. We'll read verses 23 to 33. The same day, verse 23, came to him
the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and
asked him, Saying, Master, Moses said, if
a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife,
and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven
brethren, and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased,
and having no issue, he left his wife unto his brother, likewise
the second also, and the third unto the seventh. That's a lot of husbands. And
last of all, this woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection,
whose wife shall be of the seven? For they all had her. Jesus answered
and said unto them, You do err not knowing the Scriptures, nor
the power of God. Oh, they err because they don't
know the Scriptures, and they don't know the power of God. For in the resurrection they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven, but as touching the resurrection of the dead.
Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. Well, they're all in glory, beloved.
They left the land of the dead, and they're now in the land of
the living. And when the multitude heard
this, they were astonished at his doctrine. But note there,
he tells those Sadducees, you do err not knowing the Scriptures,
nor the power of God. Oh, they were the blind leading
the blind, beloved. Now turn to Luke, if you would.
Chapter 22. Luke 22. We'll read verses 66 to 71. And we see our Lord Jesus Christ
before the council of Jewish elders. Look at this, Luke 22,
starting in verse 66. I put this in chronological order
so we We wouldn't have to flip from one book, we'd just go right
through, straight through as we go. Make it a little bit easier
for us. Luke 22, verse 66, And as soon
as it was the day, the elders of the people, the chief priests,
and the scribes came together and led him into their council,
saying, Art thou the Christ? Tell us. And he said unto them,
If I tell you, ye will not believe. You see, our Lord knows who His
sheep are. Look at that. He says, I'm going to tell you,
but you're not going to believe. And if I ask you, you will not
answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of Man
sit on the right hand of the power of God. Look at that. The
power of God. Our great Savior seated on the
right hand of the power of God. Then said they, art thou the
Son of God? And he said unto them, ye say
that I am. And they said, what need we any
further? For we ourselves have heard of
his own mouth. They did not have a clue who
he was. They did not have a clue that he was God incarnate in
the flesh, and that he had all power. And at the very breath
that they were breathing, to spit out insults at him, he gave
them that very breath, beloved. And He put them in the power
that they were at. All the power they had came from God. And they
did not even know. They had no clue that standing
before them was the Word of God incarnate. My. Now turn to Romans chapter 1
if you will. Romans chapter 1. And look what
Paul writes about the power of God here, beloved. The power
of God. Oh my. Romans chapter 1 verses
16 and 17. Paul says, for I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. And every believer can say amen.
It's the power of God unto salvation. Oh my. What? To everyone that
believeth. Look at that. To everyone that
believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Now turn, if you would,
to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. Again, Paul writes about the
power of God. The power of God. 1 Corinthians
1, look at this. We saw there, Paul's not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, where it's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. Now look at this in 1 Corinthians 1, verses 18 to
24. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. Foolishness. But unto us, which are saved,
it is the power of God. It's the power of God manifested,
isn't it? Oh, my. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Think of all
these Greek scholars all through the years. Where are they? They're
gone. They perished. They were dead in trespasses
and sins when they were here on this earth, and they perished
in their sins unless God intervened in their life. My, they're gone. Where's the scribe? Where's all
the famous speakers of Paul's age? Well, if Christ didn't save
them, then they're in hell for eternity. Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, The world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. For the Jews require a sign and
the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
under the Jews' stumbled block and under the Greeks' foolishness.
But under them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
what? The power of God, there it is
again. And the wisdom of God. Now, go over one chapter. Go
over one chapter and we see here Paul again, and remember these
words are penned by Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Look at this here in 1 Corinthians
2, verse 5. That your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of a man, but in the power of God. Our faith doesn't
stand in the wisdom of a man, does it? It stands in the power
of God, beloved. Now go over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 13, 2 Corinthians. Again, Paul penned in 2 Corinthians
that Christ was raised by the power of God. And do you know
that we who are His people, we who are Christ's sheep, we live
by the power of God. We don't live by our own power.
Look at this. 2 Corinthians 13, verses 3 and
4. Since ye seek a proof of Christ
speaking in me, which to you word is not weak, but is mighty
in you. For though he was crucified through
weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are
weak in him, right? We are sinners saved by the grace
of God, beloved. 2 Corinthians 13, 4, look at
this wonderful verse. For though he was crucified through
weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are
weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God
towards you. And then, over in 2 Timothy,
our dear brother, Again, Paul writes Timothy, and we'll read
verses seven to nine in 2 Timothy, chapter one. Look at this. Look at this. This is a wonderful
portion here. 2 Timothy 1, verses seven to
nine. For God hath not given us a spirit
of fear. I've been thinking about this.
You ever notice that this world is driven on fear? We're noticing
that more and more. People get things all hyped up
and everybody gets all worried and worked up. The news is real
good at that too, isn't it? Hyping everybody up, spinning
us like a cork. It's incredible. Like a top.
That's how the world works. They work on fear. Look at this. God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but a power of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner,
but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according
to the power of God." Look at that! The afflictions of the
gospel? So that means the trials and tribulations that we go through?
Yes. Brother Roy and I are doing a
devotional, and he read this one tonight, and this was magnificent.
I've got to share this, especially one right here. The writer wrote that every trial
that comes our way, God has already prepared us for that. And the
need is already, or the need to make it through that trial
is already supplied. And he will carry us right through
it all. Now we don't see it coming, do
we? We never see it coming. But he always takes us through
them, doesn't he? And sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it's
really hard. But He always, always takes us
through by His almighty power. Look at that. But be thou a partaker
of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God,
look at this, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, and we know by His power, right? We know by His
power, which was given us in Christ before the world began.
Look at that. Go over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. Our dear brother Peter pens about
this power of God. And remember, he's writing to
suffering saints. He's writing to saints who are
going through this world, trials and tribulations. Just like we. Just like we. Nothing new under
the sun. Nothing new under the sun. Look
what Peter writes here in chapter 1. Look what he writes here in
verses 3 to 9. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope, a living hope, beloved,
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. My! Look at this. Who are kept by what? Well, religion
tell you you're kept by yourself and by what you do, right? Look
what the scripture says right here. Who are kept by the power
of God, by the power of God, through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein he greatly rejoiced,
do now foresee, and if need be, you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. And oh man, some things we go
through are heavy, aren't they? that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto the praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom heaven
not seen ye love, and whom though ye see him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith and the salvation of your souls. But
note there, note there, in verse 5, who are kept by the power
of God, saved by the power of God, as we saw with that Philippian
jailer this morning and tonight, and kept by the power of God,
taken home to glory, beloved, by the power, and don't forget,
it's the almighty power of God. It cannot be restrained, it cannot
be controlled, That's God who saved us. And the scriptures declare in
Psalm 62 11 again that power belongs unto God. It belongs
to God and God alone, not in a creature, not a creature in
the entire universe has an atom of power save that which God
delegates. God's power belongs to Him. It
does not depend upon any recognition by any other authority. Beloved,
it belongs to God and it belongs to Him inherently. God's power is just like Himself.
Self-existent. Self-existent. Self-sustained. And the mightiest man cannot
add anything to our Almighty God's power. You know He needs
no one. He needs no one. Always remember
what Spurgeon bought forth. He said, God's court is not maintained
by his courtiers, nor does it borrow its splendor from his
creatures. He doesn't have no advisors. Our president and other
leaders in the world, they have advisors and counselors they
can go to. Beloved, our God has absolutely no counselors. No
one tells him what he can do. That's our God, that's the God
who saved us. The one who has almighty power. And do you see how we can say?
The sinners believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. If it's God's will to save you,
you will be saved. And all we do is look. And even
after we're saved, what do we do? We just keep looking. Right? We just keep looking to him.
One day we'll see Him face to face. Praise His mighty name,
we'll see Him face to face. Turn if you would quick to Jeremiah.
We're going to close with these little verses here. Look at this. Our great God, He's the central
source and originator of all power, beloved. And all things
are dependent upon His power. Saved and lost. Breath we breathe
even comes from Him. He causes things to flourish
and grow. He has the rainfall on the just and on the unjust.
All by His almighty power and command. And He gives the just
and the unjust food and drink. And it all comes from His hand. And His power is so mighty. Let
us say this. His power is so mighty that it
cannot be limited in any way. No way His power could be limited.
And that's the God who saves His people from their sins. Look
at this in Jeremiah. We're close with these words,
but look at these here. Just a few words on this. Look
at this. Jeremiah 32, verse 38. And look at the power of God
on display in these words. As well as His sustaining grace,
which we know all comes from His almighty power. Jeremiah
32, verse 38. And they shall be my people.
God has a people. And they shall come to him, and
not one of them will be lost. Not one of them. And I will be their God. And
I will give them one heart, and one way, there's only one way,
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That they may fear me forever,
for the good of them and of their children after me. And I will
make an everlasting covenant with them. The unchanging God
has made an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from
them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts and
they shall not, look at this, they shall not depart from me.
Why? Because remember in 1 Peter there, they're kept by the power
of God. That's why they'll never depart. Gay, 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. Notice here in this text
four promises of sovereign sustaining grace and know that it's all
accomplished by our great God. Notice this, they shall be my
people and I'll be their God. I'll give them one heart in one
way that they may fear me. I'll make an everlasting covenant
with them. I will not turn away from them. but I'll put my fear
in their hearts, and look at this, and they shall not depart
from me. Oh my goodness. They shall not
depart from me. My. So the promises of God to
his people can be summed up with this, I
will be your God. I will be your God. Oh my. And I just can't get over that
last part now. What a promise from God. They
shall not depart from me. This is a promise from God, beloved.
And remember who it's a promise from. We're gonna close soon. Remember who it's a promise from.
It's a promise from the one who has all power. God Almighty. Unrestrained power. Uncontrollable
power. That's our God. Glory to His
name. Heavenly Father, again, we thank
Thee for allowing us to be here together. And, O Lord, as we
look into Thy Word, as we see Thy majesty and Thy power, Your people are left speechless. We are left speechless in the
fact that You've saved us by Thy grace and drawn us to yourself,
and that you'd have mercy on sinners such as we. And oh, what
comfort, what comfort we can glean from these words of scripture,
knowing that you who have saved us, you who have saved us as the
God of all power, and that none can stay your hand, oh Lord,
and that you do as you will, and it was your will to save
your people from their sins, and oh Lord Jesus, you've done
that. And now your lost sheep, as the Holy Spirit of God tills
the soil of their hearts, they're born again by thy almighty power
and given faith to believe by thy almighty power and then kept
by the power of God. And we who believe have experienced
that almighty power, Lord. Knowing that we can never save
ourselves, and knowing that we are saved by the pure mercy and
grace of Thee. O Lord Jesus, glory to Your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.