I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neidert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I've entitled this morning's
message, Word or Power. In 1 Corinthians chapter four,
verse 19, Paul said, but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord
will, and will not know the speech of them which are puffed up,
but the power. Four, the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power. Word or power. Now, when Paul says in verse
18 of this same chapter, now some are puffed up, inflated,
an inflated ego. a high view of themselves. We've all been in the room with
that person who thinks they're the smartest person in the room.
Well, evidently, many of the people in Corinth were like this. And he says to them, some are
puffed up, some of you are puffed up as though I would not come
to you. You think I won't, I'm intimidated by your criticisms
of me and I won't come, but I will come. to you shortly, if the
Lord will and will know. Not the speech of them which
are puffed up with this inflated view of their own gifts and understanding,
but the power. For the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power. Now I'm going to read eight or
nine verses of scripture that led up to this. I'm going to
make very little comment on it, but Paul is using some biting
sarcasm toward these people who were his critics and judges when
they should have been listening to what he was saying. He says
in verse eight to these people from Corinth, now you are full. Now you are rich. You have reigned as kings without
us. And I would to God you did reign,
that we might also reign with you, for I think that God has
set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death.
For we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to
men. We're fools for Christ, but you
are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we are
despised. Even in this present hour, we
both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have
no certain dwelling place. You know, Paul didn't even have
a place of his own to go home to. He would sleep on somebody
else's property. He could have been considered
a street person. The Lord didn't have a place
to lay his head. You know, when I hear preachers talk this health
and wealth gospel, I think, you must not have read the Bible.
There's no vindication for that. He says, we labor, working with
our hands, being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suffer
it. Paul knew that wherever he went, he would be persecuted,
tied to a pole and beaten because of his preaching of the gospel,
but it didn't stop him. Being defamed, we entreat, we're
made as the filth of the world and the offscoring of all things
unto this day. I write not these things to shame
you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you, For though you have
10,000 instructors in Christ, oh, everybody's ready to spout
off their particular brand of doctrine and show you this and
show you that. Though you have 10,000 instructors
in Christ, yet have you not many fathers in Christ Jesus? For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten
you through the gospel. You were born of God through
the preaching of the gospel. God was using my preaching to
beget spiritual life in you. It doesn't have anything to do
with me. It's God's word. But the Lord used me to bring
you to a knowledge of Christ. Wherefore I beseech you, brethren,
be followers of me. For this cause have I sent unto
you Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord,
who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways. Which being Christ,
as I teach everywhere in every church, he had the same message
wherever he went. Now some of you are puffed up,
swollen, inflated views of yourself, as though I would not come to
you, but I will come to you shortly if the Lord will, and will know
not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. Now what does that mean? That's
not taking away the importance of speech. The gospel is never
understood apart from the message. I must hear the message and there
are particular words in that message that must be preached
or there will be no salvation. This is not talking about words
are not necessary and we can just live a good example and
people will be saved by watching our example. It doesn't mean
that at all. The message, the content of the gospel must be
preached or no one will be saved. What's Paul mean when he says,
I will not know the words, but the power. Here's a powerful
example. The words, I love you. are either
the most meaningful or meaningless words that can be spoken dependent
upon the action that is behind them. I've heard preachers say, God
loves you, and I do too. Well, what does that mean? The
action behind the word determines what it means. For God so loved
the world that he gave. There's the action behind the
word. God so loved the world, this
wicked, unbelieving world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. I don't want to simply hear the
words. I want to see the power, is what
Paul says. And then he says, for the kingdom
of God, verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 4, this is the text. For the
kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. The kingdom of
God." Now, what is meant by the kingdom of God? That is a phrase,
the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven that we read over 100
times in the New Testament alone. What is the kingdom of God? It's a factual statement. Kingdom
of God's not in word but in power, but what is meant by the Kingdom
of God? Well, sometimes it's an abstract statement about the
reign or the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. For instance, in Daniel
chapter 4, verses 34 and 35, it says, his dominion is an everlasting dominion. It's a dominion, a control that
it never had a beginning and it will never end. And his kingdom
is from generation to generation. It's an eternal kingdom. And
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he
doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand or
say unto Him, what doest thou? This is a statement with regard
to His absolute reign and sovereignty. And sometimes the word kingdom
or kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven can be used in a more
concrete term. For instance, Paul said in Romans
14, verse 17, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Remember when
the Lord said, my kingdom is not of this world, this is the
kingdom he's speaking of. It's not meat and drink. It's
not do's and don'ts. It's not rules and regulations. You can go here and you can't
go there. You can eat this and you can't eat that. You can do
this and you can't do that. That's not the kingdom of God.
That's the religion of men and their rules and regulations. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. The kingdom of God is righteousness. the righteousness of Jesus Christ
given to all who believe so that a righteous God can accept them. The reason I do not fear judgment
is because I have the righteousness and merits of Christ as my personal
righteousness before God. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, it's righteousness and peace. The peace that comes
from knowing the sin questions taken care of. I have no sin,
I have the righteousness of Christ. And the joy that comes from that. Now the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power. The power to produce results. God's power. God is all powerful. omnipotent. He has a monopoly
on power. Power belongeth unto the Lord. Whenever I hear men speak if
he's a powerful man or they have power or somebody thinks they
have power, I think of what the Lord said to Pilate when he said,
don't you know that I have power to crucify you and I have power
to release you? And the Lord looked at him and
said, thou couldst have no power at all over me, except it be
given thee from above. Power belongeth unto the Lord. Psalm 62. And the Lord Jesus
said, all power is given to me. He didn't simply say, power is
given to me. He said, all power is given to
me. Whatever power the Father has,
That power the Son has. Whatever power the Son has, God
the Holy Spirit has. The three persons of the Godhead
are omnipotent. Now, omnipotence, power, is essential
to His being. A God that's not all-powerful
is inconceivable. I repeat, the Scripture says,
power belongeth unto the Lord, His power. Now, what is meant
by His power? He said to Abraham, when Sarah
had laughed about her bearing a child when she had already
gone through menopause, and she laughed, and the Lord said to
Abraham as he heard Sarah laugh, is anything too hard for the
Lord? Now this speaks of his power. Does he have the power
to make someone who has gone through menopause to have a child?
Of course he does. He's God. He's all-powerful. He's omnipotent. Now, there are
things he cannot do. He cannot lie. He cannot act
contrary to his nature. He'll never do anything that
is contrary to any of his attributes. He's always sovereign. He's always
holy. He's always just. He's always
all-wise. He's always everywhere at once.
He'll never act in any way contrary to his attributes. You know,
I've heard people say, I want to put God in a box. And I think,
oh, so you can do that. God can't be put in a box. God's
God. But let me say this. He's utterly
predictable in the sense that he always acts in accordance
with his attributes. We can be sure of that. He is
the faithful God. Oh, the omnipotence, the power
of God, he has the ability to do whatever he is pleased to
do. David said, whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he. In earth and sea and all deep
places. Our God is in the heavens, he
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Now that can only be
true of an omnipotent God. Now God's omnipotence is displayed
in these three areas. First, creation. I love to think
of this. There was a time when all there
was was God. There was no universe. There
was no time. There was no space. All there
was was God and God willed the universe into existence. He spake and the universe was. What power is displayed in God's
creation? Listen to this, I believe the
Genesis account of creation. Everything the book of Genesis
says in the first two chapters, I believe that's God's account
for us of his creation. Now, many people would have us
believe that all forms of life came from one common ancestor. You can't get that from the Bible,
unless you say all forms of life come from God, that's true. But
God, there's not one form of life that came up in some kind
of primordial stew and all the forms of life have evolved from
that and here we are. God said in his creation account,
and God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after
his kind. Now that is said nine times in
Genesis chapter one, after his kind. And the cattle and creeping
thing and the beast of the earth after his kind. And it was so. There was not an evolutionary
process. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind.
And the cattle after their kind and everything that creepeth
upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that it was good.
The same is said of the trees and the seeds. Everything God
created, He's not a deist God who just started something and
set back to wait and see what would happen. He created the
heavens and the earth as an act of His omnipotence. I love that
scripture in Romans 1.20, the invisible things of Him from
the creation of the earth are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power. and Godhead
so that they are without excuse. You can look at this creation
and know that someone all-powerful made this and no one made him
because he is eternal. Creation is a declaration of
the power of God. Now the second declaration of
his power is seen in this creation. It's called providence. Providence is everything that
takes place in time. The Lord Jesus said, not a sparrow
falleth to the ground without your Heavenly Father. He didn't
say, without your heavenly Father knowing it. He said, without
your heavenly Father. The Lord controls everything
in providence. I don't care if we're talking
about an empire being raised up and brought down, or the wave
of a dust going through the air by the wind. He controls everything, and it's
not difficult for Him because He's God. What power He displays
in controlling everything by His own sovereign will. The wise
man said in Proverbs 16, 33, the lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Every event,
He's in control of. And somebody says, well, what
about the bad things that happen? He's in control of those too.
Shall there be evil in the city, and hath not the Lord done it?
I am the Lord, I make peace, I create evil, I the Lord do
all these things. Isaiah 45, seven. Now, the Lord's
in control, and I trust his character. Whatever he does is good, he
brings good out of it. I might not understand it all,
but he controls everything in Providence, and that's why all
things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose. Now where God's power
is most clearly seen is in salvation. Yes, it's seen in creation. Yes, it's seen in providence.
But how God's power is seen in salvation. God purposed salvation
before time began and carried all of it out and His will is
always done. Now God purposed salvation in
eternal election when He gave Christ a people. And Christ took
full responsibility for their salvation. And such is the power
of Christ. He's called the wisdom of God
and the power of God that the salvation of the elect was sure
before time ever began. Christ is even called the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And how the power
of God was displayed when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the eternal
God, God the Son, took residence in a womb and lived there for
nine months. and the whole time in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." In his body, we have
all the fullness, every attribute of God. What power that God should
become a man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. What mighty power he demonstrated. What mighty power He demonstrated
when He lived 33 years upon this earth, having never sinned. Perfect holiness. He never even
thought of sin. He never had a bad motive. Perfect
righteousness before His Father. What power it took for Him to
live this perfect life. And I think of the power that's
demonstrated in His death. I am mystified how Jesus Christ
could die in the first place. He did. He did. The God-man died. But I'm mystified
by how that could happen in the first place, that the God-man
would die. He did. And look what was accomplished
by His death. In His death, He made full satisfaction
to God. He made it to where a holy God
can be completely satisfied with this sinner that's talking to
you. that God can look at me and say, I'm pleased with Him
and everything about Him and everything He's ever done. He
rendered complete satisfaction to God because He completely
put away my sin. He put away the sin of everybody
He died for so that it is no more. He did this. By His death,
He made sin not to be. By one offering, He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And what power he displayed when
he raised himself from the dead. And do you remember when he said
to the Pharisees in John chapter two, destroy this temple and
after three days I'll raise it up? He didn't say God will raise
it up, although God did. God the Father raised him from
the dead. God the Spirit was involved in raising him from
the dead, but he also raised himself from the dead because
the three persons of the Trinity never act independently. They're
one. He raised himself from the dead.
What power. that He was raised Himself from
the dead, that He was resurrected from the dead in the first place.
But listen to this scripture, Romans 4.25, He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. What power
in His resurrection that everybody He died for was made to be before
God justified. without guilt, sinless. Now, the same power that was
used in the resurrection of Christ was used in the spiritual resurrection
of the believer. We read in Ephesians 1, verse
19, 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. If you believe,
the same power that was used in raising Christ from the dead
is used to give you life and saving faith. What mighty power. What about the fact that the
believer perseveres? Now, every believer will persevere
to the end. There's no such thing as a true
believer who will fall away, and here's why. Peter tells us
we're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Oh, what power will be displayed
in that final resurrection when the Lord returns and every believer
is raised incorruptible in perfect conformity to the image of His
Son. What power, the power, the omnipotence
of God is displayed in the gospel. How truly the Kingdom of God
is not in word, it is in power. Now, I want to read a passage
in closing from Titus, or 2 Timothy, chapter 3. And we read, beginning
in verse 1, This know also that in the last days perilous times
shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
Boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers,
incontinent fears, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
Now, these are preachers he's speaking about. What a gruesome
description of these men. And it's what we all are by nature,
I realize that, but he's talking about men who have a form of
godliness but deny the power thereof. He goes on to say with
regard to these men, for this sort are they which creep into
houses and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away
with diverse lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. That sounds like the average
TV preacher. trying to creep in and steal money from people,
unsuspecting people. But notice what it says about
these men, having a form of godliness, a form, but denying the power
thereof. Now, how do you deny the power
of godliness? Number one, by denying the source
of that power, the sovereign choice and will of God, the redemptive
work of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit and salvation. Second,
by denying the means of that power, the gospel. It's the gospel
that's the power of God into salvation. And then to deny the
reality of the power. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Now, a gospel without the power
of God can never produce a heart broken over sin. A gospel without the power of
God can never bring somebody to where they have no righteousness
at all. A false faith will always have
something to brag in. A false faith, a gospel without
power, can never truly acknowledge that salvation is altogether
of the Lord. Now if you're saved, You know
that God did all the saving. You don't take credit for anything,
and only the power of God can produce that. And a gospel without
the power of God can never make a man look to Christ only. to where he doesn't look anywhere
else. And he dies looking to Christ only. He never graduates
past looking to Christ only. It is only the power of God that
can produce that. Paul said the kingdom of God
is not in word. It's not just what you say, it's
the power of God. The same power of which Paul
said in Romans 1 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. To receive a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.neidert
at gmail.com or you may write or call the church at the information
provided on the screen.