The Kingdom of God in Power

Q: What does the Bible say about the power of God in salvation?

The Bible teaches that the kingdom of God is not in word but in power, emphasizing the necessity of divine intervention for salvation. The Apostle Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 4:20 that the kingdom of God is not merely expressed through words but is rooted in the power of God. True religion cannot exist without this divine power; if a person has not experienced the transformative touch of God's grace, their claims of faith lack genuine reality. In Romans 14:17, we find that the kingdom of God consists not in external rituals but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, highlighting that true faith is deeply rooted in an inward change brought about by God’s power.

Q: How do we know the doctrines of grace are true?

The doctrines of grace are grounded in Scripture, revealing God's sovereignty and power in salvation. The doctrines of grace emphasize that salvation is entirely the work of God, who is sovereign over all aspects of redemption. For instance, Ephesians 1:4 mentions that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, affirming His eternal purpose in salvation. Romans 9 further details this divine choice, declaring that God has mercy on whom He will and hardens whom He will. This illustrates that God's sovereignty is fundamental to understanding our salvation, challenging the notions that humans can influence their status before God without His enabling power. Thus, the truth of these doctrines lies in their fidelity to Scripture and their revelation of God's glorious grace.

Q: Why is understanding the Kingdom of God important for Christians?

Understanding the Kingdom of God emphasizes God's sovereignty and our reliance on His power for true faith. For Christians, understanding the Kingdom of God is essential because it reveals God’s sovereign reign over the hearts of His people. In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is not about external signs but resides within us. This means our faith and relationship with God must be empowered by His Spirit to be genuine. As stated in 1 Corinthians 4:20, the Kingdom is characterized not by mere words but by the active power of God in transforming lives. Recognizing this empowers believers to live in light of God's grace, reinforcing their dependence on His sovereignty for spiritual growth and perseverance.

Q: What does it mean that the Kingdom of God is within you?

It means that God's sovereign reign and authority operate internally in the lives of believers. The phrase 'the Kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21) indicates that God's rule is exercised within the hearts of believers rather than in outward, observable phenomena. This highlights the transformative work of God through the Holy Spirit in the regeneration process, as noted in Romans 14:17, where the Kingdom of God is identified with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Thus, for Christians, being part of the Kingdom signifies an inward reality of being under God's sovereign authority, empowering their lives to reflect His will and to bear the fruits of genuine faith.

Q: Why does true religion not consist in words alone?

True religion is rooted in genuine faith and the power of God, not just in verbal profession. According to 1 Corinthians 4:20, true religion is characterized by power rather than mere words. This indicates that proclamation alone—in the absence of the accompanying work of the Holy Spirit—lacks substance and does not lead to salvation. The kingdom of God is inward and must be evidenced by a life transformed by God’s grace. In Romans 14:17, it is clarified that the essence of the Kingdom includes righteousness, peace, and joy, which cannot be achieved merely through verbal declarations. Thus, a true relationship with God involves a heart transformed by His power that produces genuine evidence of faith in action.

I've been meditating for some
time on verse 20 here in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, and I believe the
Lord has given me something to say to you this morning, and
I hope that our hearts are prepared to receive the Lord's message. This is a very, very important
time, I believe. I think, of course, that every
day, every minute in the life of a child of God is important. I think that you, having been
made by God, having been put here into this world, I believe
your time is very important. I remember the scripture that
said, redeem the time because the days are even. I hope this
morning that you will be enabled by the Spirit of God to listen
and to listen very carefully to what we have to say. Now,
I believe this morning that the Apostle Paul very much burdened
for the church at Corrie. You remember that, as he explained
here in verse 15, he said, For though ye have ten thousand instructors
in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus
I have begotten you through the gospel. Now what he means by
this is that he was the instrument that God used to bring them out
of the depths of sin into the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He had preached the Gospel of Aaron. You might recall when
this had happened, back in the 18th chapter of the Book of Acts,
we recall how the Apostle Paul, under the leadership of the Holy
Spirit, had went to Corinth, and the Bible says that he preached
there, and Christus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed
on the Lord with all his house, And many of the Corinthians,
hearing, believed, and were baptized. That's in Acts 18 and verse 8. Then spake the Lord to Paul,
denied thy vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and
hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man
shall sit on thee to hurt thee. For I have much people in this
city. I have much people in this city.
And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the
word of God among them. And so it was at this coming
of Paul to Corinth that many of the Corinthians, hearing the
gospel, believed and were baptized. And so Paul was their father
in Christ. They had been converted, they
had been saved through his instrumentality. And so he was greatly burdened
from there. Wherefore, he said in verse 16, I beseech you, be
imitators of me. You imitate me because I'm your
father in Christ. I'm the one that God used to
bring you out of your sin. I'm the one that God used to
enlighten you. I'm the one that God used by
his power to quicken your hearts and to bring you to the knowledge
of a son of God that descends forgiven. So you be an imitator
of me. Now he goes along to say there's
some here in this church that are fucked up. Now some are fucked
up in verse 18, as though I would not come to you. Now Paul is
faithful, being submissive to the Lord, and he recognizes that
there's some problems in the church at Corinth. And they have
gotten rather high and mighty, some of them, and Some of them
were living as kings. He accused them of that. He said,
I wish that truly you were reigning as kings because if you were
reigning, of course, with God's permission and in God's time
and according to God's purpose, then of course we being children
of God would be reigning with you. And this church had kind
of gotten out of hand and there were some things there that were
not just exactly as they ought to have been and some were lifted
up against Paul and some were thinking more highly of men than
what was written as he accused them and told them not to do
this. And so Paul, some of them would
say, well, there's some things lacking and wanting in Paul,
and they were puffed up, and they were speaking against Paul
and against his authority as an apostle. And so he said, now
some are puffed up, and they say, well, Paul won't come back
here. Paul just won't do that. He's
not really an apostle, but he said, but I will come to you
shortly. I am coming back to call him. And he said, if the
Lord will. Now Paul was subject to God's
will in all things. And I think that any man who's
a servant of God certainly would say like the book of James teaches
that if the Lord will, he'll do this or that. He'll never
be out saying, I'm going to do just what I want. I'm an old
master. No, a man who's a servant of
God moves as the Lord moves him. And so here we find Paul saying,
if the Lord will, he says, I'm coming back to call them, and
will know not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the
power. I'm going to come back. And he says here, what he means
to say here is, he said, I'm going to put these men to the
test. I'm going to put them to the test. And it's not what these
men could say, but what they really are, what they really
were, what they did, Paul says, is going to be the test. I'm
going to find out whether there's any power. I'm going to find
out whether they're all talk or whether there's some power.
I'm going to find out whether there's just a semblance or whether
there's reality. Now, beloved, remember this.
I want you to notice in verse 20, he says, For the kingdom
of God is not in word, but in power. Now this is a tremendous
statement. There can be no power in religion
apart from the power of God. There can be no reality in religion
apart from the power of God. If God's power has not come upon
your life, if you've never been touched with the finger of God,
if God has never come to you and done a work in your heart
by his grace and power, then there's no reality in your life
as far as true religion is concerned. Now, this phrase, you'll notice,
if you will, in verse 20, he mentions the kingdom of God.
He said, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Now, what he means here, and
what this phrase seems to mean in the New Testament, he's talking
about the royal authority or the dominion exercised by God
for Christ. That is God's kingdom, where
He exercises His authority and His dominion. Now, and also it
refers to those over whom that authority extends, or who recognize
and submit to that authority. Now, in Matthew chapter 18, if
you want to turn back there, follow me if you will in a few
of these scriptures that I want to mention to you. I'm talking
just a little bit about the kingdom of God. Because Paul here is
referring to that sphere in which all of the children of God are.
He's referring to that place where God rules and where God
has dominion. Now the Bible, if you remember,
says that here in verse 3, I want you to look at verse 3, or 2
and 3 of Matthew 18. And Jesus called a little child
unto him and set him in the midst of them. And it said, verily
I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now
the term kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God is used interchangeably
in the scripture. And Jesus says, except you become
little children, you can be converted, you cannot enter into this sphere
where God has dominion and where God reigns. The only way that
you can get into this sphere, into this area, where God has
dominion and control, is that you be converted and that you
become as a little child, become teachable, become as a disciple,
where that you will listen, become a learner to the Lord Jesus Christ
and will you be submissive unto his dominion and his reign. Now,
I want to call to your attention some other scriptures here in
just a moment. You recall the Bible says, Thy
kingdom come, in that prayer where our Lord taught the disciples,
and it really is the disciples' prayer, it's not the Lord's prayer
because he taught them to pray it. Thy kingdom come, thy will
be done, on earth as in heaven. Now the kingdom of God is where
the will of God is being done perfectly and completely. And
we know that the will of God is now being done in heaven perfectly
and completely. We know that on earth the only
place where the kingdom of God is ruling and having dominion
perfectly is in the heart, in the spirit. in that spiritual
nature in God's people. Now, I know there's two natures
in the people of God, and I know there's still rebellion in your
flesh nature. I know there is. But in that
spiritual kingdom where there is no sin, and in Christ there
is no sin, and in this new nature that the new nature cannot sin,
and in that nature, God does reign, and He reigns supremely.
But now, hear me out this morning. On Earth, we see rebellion. We
see it even in our own flesh natures, as we mentioned. But
on earth, there is sin and there is rebellion. But in the Kingdom
of God is where God rules, where He has dominion, where He sovereignly
rules. Now, of His Kingdom, the Bible
says, there is no end. God's Kingdom is not going to
end. There is coming a time, the Bible
says, He must reign. until all enemies are made his
footstool, until God puts down every rebel, and until every
rebel against God is put into hell, God will reign. So of his
kingdom, there is no end. Now the end of the kingdom of
God is the end of where God reigns supreme. Have you entered there?
Well, my friend, let me say to you this morning that you cannot
enter there apart from regeneration, apart from conversion, and you
cannot enter there apart from the power of God coming to bear
upon your soul. Now, the kingdom of God is not
in words. The kingdom of God is not taught. The kingdom of
God is not you adopting a language and taking the language of Canaan
and making it yours. That's not the kingdom of God.
It's not to be in the kingdom of God. That's not salvation.
That's not to be born again. That's not life. The kingdom
of God is not in words. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful
if we could not live or if we could not talk better than we
live? But in my soul, we can't all talk that way. We can all
talk, we can become familiar with terminology, we can become
familiar with theology, we can become very familiar with the
terms that men use to make them look real good and make them
look outstandingly religious. But beloved, the kingdom of God
is not in word. And oh, we've heard so much word,
have we not? We've heard so much word, we've
heard so much, we've heard men talk and we've heard them say
things, but the kingdom of God is not in word. Now, Romans 14
verse 17 says, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now,
when a man is in the kingdom of God, there's something inside
of him. Turn to Luke 17 and look at verse 20 and 21. Listen to
what the Lord Jesus said here. In verse 20 and 21 of Luke 17,
the Lord Jesus said, And when he was demanding the Pharisees
when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said,
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. meaning that
the kingdom of God does not come without a good show. In other
words, it's not going to be a bunch of soldiers march down the street
and take over and the reign of God, the reign of man put down
and the reign of God put up and set up so that all the world
is going to see it. Not in this day. The kingdom
of God cometh not with observation. Neither, shall they say, will
here or will there, for behold, he said, behold, The Kingdom
of God is within you. The Kingdom of God is within
you. Meaning that God sets up His reign in men. God sets up His dominion and
authority in men. That God comes into men and women's
hearts and there is His sovereign rule and dominion in the heart
of man. Now this happens In regeneration,
it happens when God saves a man. The kingdom of God is within
you. The kingdom of God is within you. Now listen to me now. Unless
the kingdom of God is within you, you are not a child of God. You are not one of the covenant
children. You do not have the whole of the gospel in your breast. Not unless the kingdom of God
is within you. And the only way to be put there
is by power. And I'm going to show you that
this morning. Only by the power of Almighty God. Now you're still
lost, and you're in your sins, unless this power has come to
bear upon your life. You say, well I can talk the
language. Yes, but the kingdom of God is not in words, but in
power. And we must remember that. Now
then, what this verse of scripture is saying, when I read to you
Romans 14 and 17, where it says, The Kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. This is equivalent to saying
that true religion does not consist in external observances, but
in inward graces. But in inward graces. Inward
graces. Do you have the inward grace
of God? Do you have something, has something
happened in here? That's the thing. Heart work.
Have you had a heart work? Have you really been affected
by the power of God, the grace of God in your heart? Has something
happened in here? Well, if not, then you are not
in the kingdom of God. Where the Bible says, or Paul
says, this is power, not word. Now then, God's reign is demanding
the heart, for true religion does not consist in professions
or mere words, but in reality. In reality. Reality, that's the
thing we want to get to, isn't it? Reality. Are we really God's
children in reality, or are we just talking it? Are we just
saying that we are? Are we just professing that we
are? Is it just mere words, or is there power in our lives?
Now, here's what Paul says, I know not what these men say, but what
they really are, for the kingdom of God or true religion, does
not consist in what is apparent and outward, but what is inward
and real. It's not a semblance, it is a
reality. Are God's children in your hearts? Is the Kingdom of God set up
in here? That's the question. Well, why must the Kingdom of
God be in power? Why must it be in power? Well,
this is a very fundamental question, and I think in order to answer
what? or why the kingdom of God must
be in power. I'd like, if I could this morning,
to ask another question and try to answer that question. And
that is, what is a doctrines of grace church? What is a doctrines
of grace church? I mean, what is it that people
that say they believe in the doctrines of grace, what is it
that's different about them, their beliefs? than people of
the Arminian persuasion, people that do not believe that God
is absolute, sovereign. What is this difference? Now,
in order to get this message across, I believe it's necessary
for me to add these things this morning. Listen, if you will,
very carefully. You're not going to understand
why it's necessary for the kingdom of God to be in power unless
you understand something about the doctrines of grace. Now,
hear me out. I won't explain it this way.
Let me say, first of all, I have five things I want to mention
quickly. Man is 100% responsible for his
condition. Now, this is often misunderstood. People do not
believe that we, as those who hold to the doctrines of grace,
that we believe that man is responsible. Man is absolutely, he is 100%
responsible for his condition. But, man is also 100% incapable
of changing his condition. I'm going to answer why it's
necessary for the kingdom of God to be in power. But other
man is 100% unable to change his condition. He is dead in
sin, he's lost. Without love and hope in Christ,
he is in a state where he's bound to perish forever unless power
comes to bear upon his condition, and that's the power of God.
Now, I want you to understand that man is a rebel who put God
off of the throne in his own way and has set himself up to
be his own God. That's exactly man's condition.
Now, number two. What is a doctrines of grace
church? Why is it necessary for the kingdom
of God to be in power? Number two, God is a sovereign
in the exercise of his mercy. And in the exercise of his preterition,
bypassing, God is sovereign. Now Romans chapter 9 says, God
says, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion. And God
says further, I will harden whom I will. I will harden whom I
will. Now then, beloved, God is sovereign in the exercise
of mercy. Now if God must have mercy upon a man, then we can
see the necessity of divine action. We can see the necessity of God
coming to the sinner and God bestowing upon him that strong
right arm which is able to deliver a sinner out of his sins. God
has mercy upon whom he will, and whom he will, he hardens,
he bypasses. Now then, let me thirdly say,
before the world began, God decreed to save sinners, the number of
which cannot be added to by even one, nor subtracted from by even
one. Now, this is what the Doctrines
of Grace Church believes. That God, according to Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 4, we read there where God from the beginning
chose us unto salvation. And in Acts 13 verse 48, as many
as were ordained to eternal life, believed. They must first have
been ordained to eternal life in order to live. We see God
in His sovereignty, we see God in absolute control, in His salvation,
we see Him in eternity fast, and in 2 Thessalonians 2.13,
that God has from the beginning. chose us for salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and the belief of the truth.
I'm telling you that God has before the world began to create
the same centers, the number of which cannot be added to by
even one, nor subtracted from by even one. Can we say an end
to that? Do we believe that? Well, we
believe that if we believe the word of God. Now then, fourthly,
Let me say that God's redeeming love in Christ is greater than
all the sin and the stubbornness of His people. Ah, some people
have difficulty with this, but the Bible says they shall be
willing in the day of my power. God saves sinners. Now you hear
it. God saves sinners. He does not
take the disabled and leave them to their wicked hearts to make
the right decision. Some people are under the impression
that God just simply sent Christ into the world to make men savable. This is not true. God Almighty
sent his Son into the world by our redemption to pay for our
salvation, and God meant to save everybody for whom his Son died,
and every one of them will come to salvation. Now this is what
we believe. Now this cannot come to pass
apart from power. apart from divine power, and
the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Now, fifthly,
the Holy Spirit, who began the good work in us, is sure to accomplish
his purpose of conforming us to the image of his Son. Philippians
1 says, the scripture says there, that he that hath begun the good
work in us, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now,
beloved, this is what I'm saying when I'm saying that a doctrines
of grace church is a church that believes that the kingdom of
God is not word but power. It's a church that believes that
God and his power must come and work in the hearts of men and
women or else they are lost and sure to die the eternal dead. The dead that never dies, they'll
die apart from eternal power, divine power. Now, I want you
to know the practical working of this power. I want to give
you about five things here, and I'm just going to preach on one
of them. But I'm going to give you five things here in which
we see the practical working of this power. Now, look in the
eyes of the sinner to see his true state and his standard.
Beloved apart from the power of God, man will never know who
he is. He'll never know what he is.
He'll never know his true state. He'll never know what he is,
a man in sin, a man in a lost condition, a man in a hopeless
and ruined condition, apart from the power of God. No man can
do that. No man can do that. You might
as well shake a handkerchief over a grave and expect that
man is going to come out of that grave because you shook the handkerchief
over to believe that man is able to deliver himself, able to show
his own heart, his own true state and nature. And where does a
man stand before God? My soul. And most people think
that they stand pretty well before God. That they stand tall before
God. they do not know what God thinks
of them. They do not understand what the
Bible teaches about how God sees them, that they're loathsome
worms before God, that they're a stench in the nostrils of God
Almighty, that they're lawbreakers, and that they are deserving of
the wrath of God, the wrath of God upon them for all eternity.
They do not know this. And they'll not know it apart
from the working of the power of God. Now, Number two, this
power of God works faith in the heart of the sinner, enabling
him to lay hold on the Savior. Nobody can lay hold on Jesus
Christ. Nobody wants Christ. I mean,
the Bible says that the well, they don't need a physician.
Nobody wants a physician except a man who's sick. Nobody is going
to want the Savior, lay hold to the Savior, embrace the Savior,
and as the Bible says, with violence, take the kingdom of God. No man is going to do that, apart
from a man who recognizes that unless he lays hold of the kingdom
of God, unless he gets into the kingdom of God, unless he is
able to get ahold of Christ, on the Savior, unless he is saved
by Christ, he'll be lost. And it's the power of God that
works faith in the heart. Now, you say this morning, I
don't want to believe. Oh, my friend, listen. You will
never believe apart from the power of God. But when God gives
you the power, and I've read of men who struggled, and I've
done a little struggling myself. Have you ever struggled to believe?
Have you ever struggled to believe? Have you ever felt like you were
slipping away, and unless you believed God and believed His
word that you were going down? Well, let me tell you something.
Then the power of God comes and enables you to believe. No man
has ever believed. From Abraham down to this day,
no man has ever believed God except by the power of God. No man has ever been saved. Let
the Arminians say what they want, but no man has ever been saved
apart from the power of God. It's the power of God in the
soul, the dunamis, the dynamite of God in the soul that enables
a man to believe on Christ. This is the work of God. Number
three, I'm talking about the practical outwork of this power
of God. It revives the work of God in
our souls as we travel on in our pilgrimage. Beloved, it's
a miracle that anybody's a Christian. It's a miracle. It's a miracle
of power. It's a miracle of power that
you hold to your way. It's a miracle of power. No man
by just word only. All he's got is the language.
That's not going to keep him in the way, and that's not going
to enable him to go through the battles, the trials, the tests,
the afflictions, the difficulties of this life. He's not going
to be able to be a Christian in every situation. Paul said,
only your conversation be such as become of the gospel of Christ.
How are you going to? That's Philippians 127. How are
you going to have a behavior, network conversation of behavior?
How are you going to have a behavior that's becoming to the gospel
of Christ the heart through divine power? How are you going to do
that? Well, you're going to be a hypocrite. You're going to
be two-faced. You're going to talk out of one
side of your mouth the things of God and out of the other side
of your mouth it will be evident that you're not at all subject
to God or to his reign or to his movements. It's evident that
you're not. You're a rebel still. Now let me say this. The practical
outworking of the power of God and the kingdom of God is that
it enables the believer to travel on in our pilgrimage and it revives
the work of God in us day by day in our pilgrimage. And if
you think that you're on your own, and that you've made it
to this point, your own strength, you're a fool. The Bible says,
he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. We've made it thus
far by the power of God in ourselves. The kingdom of God is not in
word, but in power. Power. Okay, so revise the work. Have you ever experienced this?
My friend, God's people are weakness. God's people are poor, helpless,
defenseless sheep. And we all, we all have had times
when we were breathing out and crying out prayers unto God that
he would revive the work in us and that he would hold us up
and that he would strengthen us and keep us. If that's not
the cry of your heart, you don't know anything about experimental
religion. You must cry to God, and you will cry to God, because
it's this power that enables us to travel on in the pilgrim.
And then I want to say, fourthly, that it's this power that is
displayed under trying circumstances in the life of God's people.
Now, beloved, listen. Little do we know the trying
circumstances that seem to lie for our brethren and sisters
in the Lord. Little do we know. And I will tell you this, that
if it should be uncovered this morning, the trials and the tests
we have, if they should all be uncovered, if they should all
be exposed here. And you should be able to see
the trials and afflictions and the trying circumstances under
which this poor soul operates day by day. My soul, brother,
sister, you would wonder. You'd be amazed. You'd be astounded. And probably if you saw them
clearly, You would glorify the God of the Bible when you go
out the door saying, only God can stand. Only God can cause
a man to stand when he's being thus tested and thus tried. And I'm sure it'd be the same
with everyone. God is trying your soul when
you have situations and tests and adverse situations in your
life that you can hardly bear up under them. But it's this
power. It's this power, the power of
God that's displayed under trying circumstances. Don't ever forget
that. We don't hold ourselves up. We
just cannot. I'm not here because of who I
am. I'm not here because there's something different about me
than there is about other men. I'm here because of the grace
of God. I'm here because of the power of God. I'm here because
God asked of this hour, help me up. When God ceases to hold
us up, There won't be anything. I won't be here. I'll fall. I'll
go under. I'll go under. David said, let
me not sink into the heart. And that, my brother's sister,
is the cry of my heart hour by hour. Let me not sink into the
heart. Lord, give me this power in my
trying circumstances. Well, lastly, I said I'm going
to give you five things, and then I'm going to preach on one
of them a little bit. Fifthly, it will attend us in the hour
of death. Have you thought much about your
death? Have you thought about the fact
the Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die? You've
got to die. You've got to die. Have you thought
about that? Well, this hour will attend us
in the hour of death when heart and flesh fail. God will then
be the strength of our hearts in our eternal portion. God will
be. Now, beloved, I believe that
the same God that's held me up in life that the same God who
holds my soul in life, that the same God who's delivered me over
and over and over and over again. I don't fear, I don't fear the
hour. I don't fear the hour of death, the hour of departure
from this life. I don't fear it. My soul, why should a child
of God who has experienced the deliverance of God over and over
in his life, why should he fear departing from this life and
going to be with the Lord? With a sick man, I mean a sick
man. I mean somebody that's desperately
ill. Critical condition. If you were
to come to him and say to him, tomorrow you'll be well. Tomorrow
you'll be whole. Tomorrow all will be well with
you. Would that man, would he cry? Would he be sorrowful? Would he mourn? Would he languish still in mourning? Would he? No, no, no. He'd say,
you mean tomorrow I'm going to be well? Oh, I should a child
of God, a poor child of God. afflicted, tested, child of God. Why should a child of God, who
is pressed here in this life, pressed by the sin and his own
corruption, and pressed by the corruption of others around him,
and by this world of sin, and the force of wickedness and evil
in this world, why should he lament the hour of his deliverance? Why should he lament the day
when he's going to be well, perfectly well and holy, from forever on
holy, to be in the presence of God without sin, no more sin,
no more sin, forever and ever, and to be free from it in his
own life, and to be free from the presence of it, never to
hear it again, never to see it again, free. Well, why should
a child of God dread that day, dread that hour? Why should he? I want to tell you this. I believe
that in that hour, the power of God will attend us. And that in the hour of death,
when the heart and flesh fail you, that God will be right there.
He'll be our strength and He'll be our shield. We'll be able
to go on and be with the Lord. And we'll do it with a triumphant
spirit. Why? Because the kingdom of God
is not, is not word only, but it's power. It's power. It's the power of God. All right,
now, I said I'm going to preach just a little bit on one of these,
and I'm going to let you go. I want to especially deal a little bit
with this power in the quickening of the dead sinner, in this power
that awakens a man, that brings him into the kingdom of God,
gets him in the kingdom of God. I want to deal just a little
bit with this. I'll illustrate. First of all, let me give you
a quote from Thomas Goodwin. Thomas Goodman said this, he
was one of the purest. And what power must go, he says,
to quicken one that is pure. Dead in trespasses and sins,
sins of all sorts, dead and dead again with 10,000 deaths. For
every sin, he says, is a death. Like a body filled with mortal
stabs and wounds. I hope this morning that we have
eyes to see man in his condition. If your eyes have been opened
to see your condition, then you know the condition that others
are in. You know the condition of some here in the service this
morning. Hopelessly, helplessly lost in
the death of sin. Now let me illustrate, if I can,
something of this power that God uses to quicken a dead sinner
and to bring him in life and light. Let me illustrate it. Turn back to the book of Exodus,
if you will, chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4. And let me
read to you verse 22 and 23. Exodus 4. I'm going to illustrate briefly
here how God brings the sinner by power out. You remember the
call said to the Thessalonians, he said, Our
gospel came not to you in word only. I know the gospel is preached by
word and mouth. But the gospel come not to you
with word only, but in power. In power. So there's got to be
this power. Now listen to me. And thou shalt
say, in verse 22 and 23, Exodus 4, thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son. even my firstborn and
I say of thee Let my son go that he may serve me and if thou refuse
to let him go behold I will slay thy son even thy firstborn now
keep that there and turn to the sixth chapter and I want to read
you the first three verses of the sixth chapter then the Lord
said to Moses Now shall thou see what I will do to favor them. For with a strong hand shall
he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out
of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and
said unto him, I am the Lord. And I appeared unto Abraham,
and to Isaac, and to Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but
by my name, Jehovah, was I not going to them. I want you to
look in the first verse here where he said, now, he says to
Moses, he said, now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh. You're going to see what I'm
going to do to Pharaoh. Now, there's about three things
here which I'll quickly mention. I want you to get them because
this illustrates how God brings the sinner. out of spiritual
death unto life. Now, beloved, I believe that
the children of Israel, that God's deliverance of them, as
we'll see, is typical of God's deliverance of us poor sinners
from Satan. God had a people in Egypt. He
had a people down there in Egypt. They were his own by choice.
God had chosen them. And he said there in the 22nd,
23rd verses, he said, thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son. Israel
is my son, even the firstborn. And I say to you, let my son,
let my son go. God had a people down there.
They were typical of all of the elect in every day. And the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the objects of the gospel,
is to gather out from among the nations a people whom he foreknew. People who we did predestinate
whom he actually needed to himself to be his peculiar heritage The
gospel is finding those people and breaking them out on the
cross Now the work of rescuing perishing sinners out of the
present evil world this present world is as worthy of God as
his delivery of ancient Israel out of Egypt. Worthy of God only. Beloved, you cannot get sinners
to come to Christ, to believe in Christ, to have an inward
principle of holiness and a desire toward God and a craving for
the things of God in eternity apart from God doing it as much
as he did in delivering the ancient Israelites from the land of Egypt.
They were in bondage and they were steeped in bondage in an
awful state and God broke them out. The right hand of Jehovah,
glorious in power, released the sons of Jacob from Egypt. And
that same right hand, glorious in power, delivers sinners from
Satan. And you know the Bible teaches
this. In heaven, we're going to sing the song of Moses, the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Now you know what
that means? It clearly indicates that the
redemption out of Egypt was always meant to be a leading time of
the redemption of God's people from out of the midst of the
world. That's what that means. Other words, we're going to sing
as the scripture says, come let us sing unto the Lord, for he
hath found gloriously the horse and the rider he hath thrown
into the sea. And you know the scripture says
that Christ loved the church and gave himself for unto him
who loved us and gave himself for us. He redeemed us by blood
out of every nation, kindred, and tongue. And in heaven there's
going to arise a glorious song. of all the people of God, with
joy and jubilation, the people of God will be singing throughout
eternity about this glorious right arm of the Lord, who had
gotten himself to victory, who brought us out, who delivered
us out of sin, snatched us from the burning, and brought us into
a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in the
process of bringing the people out, there seems to be three
things that are very noticeable. Listen to this. Number one, there's
the voice of God. The voice of God. Listen to what
he said. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Israel is
my son, even my firstborn. He says, you're going to say
to him, let my son go, that he may serve me. That's number one.
Number two, you have the voice of man. Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
you're going to be an instrument by him. Now listen, God has revealed
his gospel. Hebrews says that God in these
last days has spoken unto us through his Son. The gospel is
revealed. God has given us his last words. This is the testimony of God.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life, for the right of God
abideth on him. This is the testimony of God.
Turn ye, turn ye, Father, when ye die, I say of the Lord. Repent,
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Repent, except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish. God hath commanded men everywhere
to repent. This is the word of the Lord.
Thus sayeth the Lord. Now hear me out. There's this
voice of man. Thou shalt sing. Now, this human
instrumentality, I said Paul was the instrument to bring the
Corinthians to Christ. And God uses men. Yes, he does. Well, why doesn't God go to sinners
himself? Well, he does go to them because
the voice of man is the echo of the voice of God when God's
pleased to bless the man. The scripture says that God is
chosen through the foolishness of preaching to save and believe.
God blesses. God comes with power through
the voice of man. Oh, the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, John the Baptist. Somebody says, well, it was John
the Baptist. It was his voice. It was. But he was the voice
of one crying in the wilderness. Who was the one? It was God Almighty
that was crying in the wilderness through the voice of John the
Baptist. And I'm here to tell you today
that in our voice and through our voice, you must hear the
voice of God. Thus saith the Lord. Let my son
go Israel is my son Israel is my son you must hear God's word
through the voice of a man I believe that this three persons necessary
conversion. There's God Almighty There is
the preacher and there's the center and those three persons
are there they are every time a sinner gets converted There
are three people there And only as God is there, and only as
the Word of God, God uses the mountains. Now hear me. God can
send angels to speak to men, but he doesn't do that. He doesn't
do that. No, no, no. God's going to confound the mighty
and the wild and use the biggest things in the world. God's going
to take a man, a wiggly maggot, and he's going to say, who will
go for us? And then Isaiah will say, Lord
send me, send me a man who will go and he'll go with the word
of God in his heart and the word of God on his tongue and he'll
go with the grain of his heart filled with the gospel seed and
he'll spread that seed and God will bless it and God will save
him. He'll save him. He'll bring him out of the sins.
God uses means to save sinners and we have that right here but
that does not diminish The fact that the kingdom of God is with
power, not in words. Oh, those words are right, but
that's not all of it. It must come with power. It must
come with power. God must accompany it. Okay? And then we have this third thing,
and that is the power of God, which was to go with the voice
of the man. He said, I will be with thy wrath.
I will be with thy mouth. And he said, and thou shalt see
what I will do to favor. You're going to see what I'm
going to do to Pharaoh. You know what God does for Pharaoh,
don't you? Well, old Moses went, said, you thus say of the Lord. God said, you let my people go.
And Pharaoh said, well, who's the Lord that I should obey him?
And you know what happened? Plagues started coming. I mean,
the plagues started coming. And let me tell you something,
things wasn't the same in Egypt after Pharaoh said, who is the
Lord that I should obey him? Things wasn't the same anymore
after that. And I want to tell you what, God continued to send
his pledge until Pharaoh let the people go, until God finally
slew the firstborn. God said, you let them go or
I'm going to slay your son. You let my son go or I'm going
to slay your son. And God in mighty power came
through those pledges, delivered the children of Israel. And they
went out of Egypt, you remember. They went out with the jewels
of gold and jewels of silver. They went out with the Egyptians
warming them to gold, pressing them to gold. They went out.
And the Bible says that there was not a hoof left behind. And
the Bible says there was not a cur dog that opened his mouth
when all of them two million Israelites marched out of Egypt
on that day. Not even a dog get down. God
shut their mouths even to the cur dogs. They went out victoriously
in power. You'll see, God says, what I'll
do to Pharaoh. You let my son go that he may
serve me, that he may serve me. You see what we have here is
that God Almighty, that he had ordained the destiny of these
people. He said, they're going to serve me. They're going to
be my spokesmen in Europe. They're going to speak for me.
They're going to live out my glory. And I'm going to work
with them and through them. And I'm going to show all the
world that I'm God, that I'm a sovereign God, and that I've
said that I was. And I'm God all my life. I'm
Jehovah God. I'm going to show the world who I am. And so their
destiny had been ordained by the Lord. He demanded their unconditional
freedom. With imperial authority, he claims
his own. And he demands their unconditional
freedom, liberty. He demands it. He does. And by power, he secures it,
he gets it. And now in Exodus 15, I'll quickly
read here a couple of verses. Exodus chapter 15. I like this. This is wonderful. This is that
song that I told you, Moses. And then St. Moses and the children
of Israel, this song, verse 1, to the Lord. and spake, saying,
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.
The horse of his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord
is my strength in song. He has become my salvation, my
deliverer. He is my God, and I will prepare
him a habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host
have been cast into the sea. His chosen captives also are
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottoms of stone. Listen to this sixth verse. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become
glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. It happened one day in my life.
Oh, I've met a few of them Egyptians since then. I've run into a few
of them. But I want to tell you this.
I've not been in dominion. I've not been under their dominion.
And I've not been under bondage to any of them Egyptians. Because
God had delivered me from this dominion and bondage of sin,
which Egypt was a typhoid. Ah, there was a day when sin
let loose, and through the grace and power of God born of great
victory, my wife had become a child of God, converted, ransomed by
the power of God. Listen, the kingdom of God, you
don't get in it anyway except by power. Has God translated
Jesus out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear
Son? Has He done that translating yet? That's the only way to get
out. You can't get out any other way. Power! Only God can save
you. That's my Son I've chosen for
all eternity, for all eternity. My Son Jesus has died in His
room and stepped in place. that he might be free from his
sin, the Holy Spirit comes and with mighty power arrests that
sinner and brings him to a saving knowledge of Christ. And he rejoices
in the power of his God, in the saving efficacy of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm going to read a poem. I left
my book over here. Excuse me while I get it. I'm
going to close it here. I like these words. Ne'er hadst thou felt the guilt
of sin, or sweets of pardoning love, unless thy worthless name
had been enrolled to life above. Now hear this boldly, hear this
boldly. God is my everlasting king. God
is my strength, and I will sing. His power upholds my feeble frame,
and I'm victorious through his name. Devils retreat when he
appears, Then I arise above my fears, and every fiery dark repel,
and vanquish all the force of hell. Through the Redeemer's
precious blood, I feel the mighty power of God. Through the rich
and divinely given, I rise from earth and soar to heaven. Dear
Lord, thy weaker saints inspire, and fill them with celestial
fire. On thy kind arm may they rely,
and all their foes shall surely fly. Now Lord, thy wondrous power
exert, and every ransomed soul support, give us fresh strength
to wing our way to regions of eternal day. There may we praise
the great I Am, and shout the victories of the Lamb, raise
every horse to his blood, and triumph in the power of God. Father, we thank you this morning
that you've allowed us to gather in the name of Jesus, in awe
of the commandment power of that name might be felt here in our
nation. Lord, if there be a poor sinner
here struggling hard with sin, a sinner here who feels unfit
and who feels our Father abandoned and lost hopelessly, might they
be enabled by power this morning to embrace the Savior in faith,
trust Him for eternal life, give joy to thy people, those who
have been redeemed, those who have come to know Christ, give
them joy, that through this power that we've been speaking about
this morning, they shall be kept, preserved, and at last shall
be received into eternal glory. Father, bless thy people. Give
us all victory through the name and power and blood of the Lord
Jesus, our Redeemer. We praise you for him, and we
ask that you receive our worship this morning, and our prayer
in his name. Amen.

The Kingdom of God in Power

What does the Bible say about the power of God in salvation?

How do we know the doctrines of grace are true?

Why is understanding the Kingdom of God important for Christians?

What does it mean that the Kingdom of God is within you?

Why does true religion not consist in words alone?

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The Kingdom of God in Power

What does the Bible say about the power of God in salvation?

How do we know the doctrines of grace are true?

Why is understanding the Kingdom of God important for Christians?

What does it mean that the Kingdom of God is within you?

Why does true religion not consist in words alone?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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