In verse 29 of chapter 47, we
read, in the time drew nigh that Israel must die. The time had been appointed.
The time is almost there. And there's something very sweet,
if you're in Christ, about knowing that the day of your death has
already been appointed. I would want it to be any other
way, would you? The time drew nigh that Israel
must die. Chapter 48, verse one. And it
came to pass after these things that one told Joseph, behold,
thy father is sick. And this will be his last sickness. And he took with him his two
sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Do you remember they were born
to him in Egypt? Manasseh means forgetting. Ephraim means fruitfulness. And these two boys were born
to him in Egypt, not in the land of Canaan, but in Egypt. And
he took them with him to see their grandfather. And Israel strengthened himself
and sat up upon the bed. Did you notice how Jacob and
Israel are continually used interchangeably? Israel, the next breath, Jacob. Israel, prince with God. Jacob,
deceiver, supplanter. Which one? Both. Both. As long as we're in this life,
it's both Jacob, Israel, the same person. And Jacob said unto Joseph verse
three, God all mighty appeared unto me at Luz. in the land of Canaan, and bless
me." Now, he is referring to an event that took place over
120 years ago when God appeared to him and made himself known
to him. There's a time when the Lord
makes himself known. Now, do I know when that time
was in my case? This was when he made himself
known to Jacob. Do I know when he made himself
known to me? No, I don't. I couldn't even
come close to telling you. But I do know this. When I believe
the gospel, that's when he made himself known. Whenever that
was, whenever I trusted Christ only. Well, can't you remember? Well, here's what's more important.
I'm trusting him right now only. Faith is in the present. But
he talks about this event that took place God Almighty appeared
unto me. Now, you and I will not know
God, El Shaddai, God Almighty, unless He appears to us. We'll
remain blind, we'll remain without understanding, we'll remain dead
in sins unless He is pleased to appear to us. And if he does
appear to us, this we will know. He is God almighty. That's the way he appeared to
Abraham when he said, I am the almighty God. Walk before me
and be thou perfect. Now this is his omnipotence. all powerful. This is who he
is. Now listen to this statement
very carefully. A man's views of Jesus Christ will correspond
to his views of God. Exactly. If my concept of God is not the
God of the Bible, my concept of Christ will not be the Christ
of the Bible. A God that is not the God of
the Bible is a man-made God, which is in fact non-existent. Any concept I have of God that
is not the God of the Bible came from me. My man-made God, a God that's
no different than Peter Rabbit or the Tooth Fairy. A man made
God. And. If my Christ, my view of
Christ is not the Christ of the Bible. I believe in a man made
Christ, a Christ that cannot save a Christ that in fact is
non existent and the God of the Bible. He appears to Jacob as
He appeared to Abraham, as He appeared to Isaac, as He will
appear to me and you if He appears to us as God Omnipotent, God
Almighty. Now, the God of the Bible, He's other. I love saying that
about Him. That's what holy means. He's
other. He's not like me and you. There's
nothing in this created universe that can be used to compare him
to. Any comparison would be idolatry. He says there's none like me.
Who will you liken unto me? If I take anything in the created
world and say God's like this, I've only brought him down. I love it when he said in Psalm
50, thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as yourself. That's
where men's mistaken notions of God come from. They think
he's like we are. No, he's not. He said, my thoughts
are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways. God is other. The second commandment is a commandment
forbidding idolatry. And idolatry, according to that
passage in Exodus chapter 20, comes from those who hate Him. The reason I would make a false
God a God that is not the God of the Bible is because I hate
the God of the Bible and I want a different God, one that I feel
more comfortable with. Charles Spurgeon made this statement.
I'd never heard this first time I read that in preparing this
message. He said, I would rather be guilty of murder murdering
a man than the sin of idolatry. And here's why. If I murder a
man, it's only murdering a man. If I commit idolatry, I'm guilty
of attempting to murder God and make him to be different than
who he is. Now, God reveals to us his character
in his word. Aren't you thankful for the Bible?
I love the word of God. What would we know of the true
character of God without the scriptures? God is sovereign. That means
his will is always done. And you can't take that too far.
Whatever happened, it was God's will. Somebody says, what about
the bad things? Well, I know this God's God and
he brings good out of evil. And, uh, I'm not going to try
to sit there and judge him and say, well, how could God let
that happen? God is all knowing. He knows exactly what he's doing.
He's all powerful. Uh, whatever he does is right.
And I'm not going to try to, um. apologize for anything God
does. Well, why did he let that happen?
Well, you can ask him, but he's in control. He rules. He reigns. He's sovereign. He's all-powerful. You see, his
sovereignty would be meaningless if he wasn't omnipotent. He's
all-powerful. He's omnipresent. He's not bound
by space or time. He's omniscient. He knows all
things. He's independent. He has no needs. He's immutable. He cannot change.
infinite, incomprehensible, eternal, just. I love this, God is love. Not here's love and God fits
that definition, no, God is love. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Now, any concept I have of Jesus
Christ, That does not have all the attributes of God in their
fullness is a false Christ that cannot say in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead. Bodily God, God almighty is the
power, the omnipotence, his all might. Now his omnipotence is
essential to his existence. A God that is not omnipotent,
all powerful is no God at all. Now we have a vague as I got the word vague
in my notes, but a vague is not a good word. We have an erroneous
view of power. I think it's demonstrated most
by Pilate when he said to the Lord, Don't you know that I have
power to crucify you and I have power to release you? The Lord
hadn't said anything up to that point, but now he does speak. You have no power at all over
me, except it be given thee from above. Power belongeth unto the
Lord, but we have these false views of power and we think of
powerful men and women. There's no such thing. He's a
powerful man. No, he's not. She's a powerful woman. No, she's
not. God's powerful. Everybody else is his pawn. He
is completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions
of men. Men do what they want to do.
I wouldn't deny that for a second. You do what you want to do. But
God is sovereign over all of that because God is omnipotent. His power has no limitations. I love it. When Sarah laughed,
when she heard that she would have a baby, she was 90 years
old. And she heard the angel say about this time, she's going
to have a child and she starts laughing. And the Lord says, is anything too hard for the
Lord? A 90 year old woman who's already
gone through the time of life and it's incapable. She's incapable
of bearing children. Is the Lord enabled? Can the Lord cause her to have
children? Sure. Because nothing is too hard for
the Lord. God's omnipotence is his ability
to bring anything he wills to come to pass. Now that's who
appeared to Jacob and Jacob knew it. And if he appears to me or
you, we're going to know this. He is omnipotent. He is almighty. Daniel 4 35 says, He doeth according
to His will. You see, He's got the power to
do it. There's a lot of things I could wish to do that I can't
do. I don't have the power to do. He doeth. According to his will and the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and
none can stay his hand or say, what doest thou? Our God is in
the heavens. He had done whatsoever he had
pleased. His will cannot be thwarted. Nobody can stop his will from
being done because he's omnipotent. To say God is omnipotent does
not mean that he has the ability to act contrary to his nature. If somebody says God can do anything,
no he can't. He can't lie. He can't sin. He can't act contrary to his
nature. That's why he's utterly faithful to who he is. He's incapable
of being unfaithful. He's incapable of change. He's
immutable. He's incapable of being needy. He's independent. He can't be
anything but what he is. Now in that sense, no, God can't
do anything. He can't lie. Scripture says
that. God cannot lie. It's not in his nature to lie. I heard a preacher a local preacher
here in town, reformed. So he said, reformed. And I heard him make this statement.
The only time God quit being sovereign was when Christ was
nailed to a cross. And there he let men do what
they wanted to do. He quit being sovereign. He stood
back and let men do what they wanted to do. for the truth. Against thy holy
child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Does it sound like he quit being
sovereign then? Absolutely not. God is Almighty. Now, without the attribute of
omnipotence, his other attributes could not be. He couldn't be
sovereign without being omnipotent, could he? Because he wouldn't
have the power to make sure his will always comes to pass. He couldn't be independent. If
he were not all powerful, he would have needs, but he has
no needs. He could not be eternal. Were
he not all powerful? He could not be immutable, were
he not all powerful? He could not be omnipresent everywhere
at once, were he not all powerful? I've even heard people say, hell
is the absence of God. He doesn't have any presence
there. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. You can't go anywhere where
he's not. It's his justice that's causing everything to take place.
His decrees would be meaningless had he not the power to bring
them to pass. His mercy and grace would be
mere wishes, unable to perform them had he not the omnipotence
to make sure his mercy and grace comes to pass. Now, when we think
of God being omnipotent, this is how he appeared to Abraham.
This is how he appeared to Isaac. This is how he appeared to Jacob. And this is how he'll appear
to me and you if he appears. You know, I've seen the thief
on the cross. If you would have asked the thief
on the cross, do you understand that God's omnipotent? He'd say,
what does that mean? He wouldn't have any idea what
that term means, but he knew the person and he knew he was
omnipotent. He said, when you come down from
the cross, after you die, you're gonna come back as a mighty reigning
king. Now, the only one that could do that, somebody who's
omnipotent. He understood that. He might not have understood
theological terms that, you know, sometimes I hate the word theology.
Uh, it, it, it makes everything so academic and, and, um, and
this is known who he is. This is, this is not just this,
this is knowing the person when he reveals himself to anybody,
they know who he is. God almighty. Now his omnipotence
is seen in these three areas. Number one, creation. He didn't have anything to work
with. And he spaked the world into existence. There wasn't
a universe, there wasn't time, there wasn't space, there wasn't
matter, there wasn't anything but God. And God willed the universe
into existence, and there it was. Now that takes omnipotence. Oh, what mighty powers displayed. I love what Romans 1.20 says
that the invisible things of Him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead. So that they're
without excuse. There's nobody that is with excuse
because creation says God is, He's eternal, He's all-powerful. Power is seen in providence. Now providence is everything
that happens in time. From the first tick of the clock
when time began to the last tick of the clock when there's time
no more, everything that happens is what he decreed in eternity
and it's taking place in time. You can say this with regard
to everything, it came to pass. He purposed it, it came to pass. The lot is cast into the lap. And when we think of that, we
think of luck and chance and happenstance and the lot is cast
in the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Everything
he is in control of. And why would you want it any
other way? I sure hate to think of anything that he's not in
control of. I'm scared to death if that's the case, but he controls
everything, and it's not difficult for him. That's how we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, because
he's all powerful. It's not difficult for him to
control everything. I mean, when we've got a lot
to do, we forget. We can't remember what to do next. Oh, we've got
so much. It's not hard for him. He's God.
He's God. He controls everything and I
love that passage that says that Christ is before all things. Whatever it is, He's before. By Him, all things consist. All things are held together.
This is who He is. He, His omnipotence is seen in
providence by which He controls every event. Let me take it this
far. The very thoughts that are going
through your mind right now, He's in absolute control of.
Somebody says, I don't believe that. I know, he's in control
of that too. He controls everything. A God
that doesn't control everything is no God at all. He's the God
of absolute sovereign providence. But here's where his omnipotence
is seen even more clearly is in this thing of salvation. I could, I'm going to be as brief
as I can because I believe I could talk a long time about this.
You know, the very first act of salvation of God choosing
the people in Christ before time began tells us that God's God.
He controls everything. Elections is salvations of the
Lord. I love the God of election. I
love the God of absolute predestination. It's who he is. Think of the omnipotence involved
when Drew's reading that passage of scripture in Luke chapter
one, and when the angel said, with God nothing shall be impossible.
That's when he said that woman who's not known a man, she's
going to conceive, have a child. What power that God became flesh. The infinite became an infant. What power he displayed. in keeping the law, never sinning. You know, only omnipotence can
not sin. He didn't sin. What power he
displayed when he died. The fact that he could die in
the first place, I think it's so amazing, he's the God-man.
And that he died, the God-man died. And what did he accomplish
by that death? He accomplished a complete salvation
of everybody he died for. What power, what power was displayed
in his resurrection when he was raised from the dead, every believer
was justified. That means not, having never
sinned. That's what that means, don't
forget that. In heaven, you know who's gonna be there? Folks who
have never sinned. You say, how could that be? Because of what
Christ did. He put away sin. I'm not gonna
remember what it's like to be a sinner when I'm in heaven.
What power, what power to give me life, to give me spiritual
life, I'm dead in sins. What power to preserve me so
that I don't fall away. What power to glorify me and
bring me into, oh, the power of God that's expressed in salvation. Now, there are two things that
are said to be impossible. To make matter, somebody says,
what's matter? Well, I wrote this down. Matter
is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having
a volume. Anything material. Doesn't matter
what it is. It's impossible for matter that
is to cease to be and not be in the universe any longer. And
it's impossible for the creation of new matter. That's what we
think. Well, Christ created new matter.
I mean, it wasn't a problem with him when he made bread that was
not there. But these are the things that
supposedly can't take place. Matter can't be brought out of
existence. You take a piece of wood, set
it on fire, It loses its energy. It turns into ashes. The energy
of the fire goes somewhere, but it's still in the universe somewhere. You can't create new matter. Whatever was created except for
what the Lord created when he made food that was not there
before. That was the creation of new
matter. But take that away. of create new matter. Well, this
is what the Lord did on the cross. He took my sins. And he made them not to be. Like making matter not to be,
he took my sins and he made them not to be. That's so mysterious. That's
so glorious. But it's the truth. He took my
sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary. He suffered and died alone and
he put them away. There's something that is that
no longer is. And he made me to be something
I'm not. Now I was born into this world,
I was born a sinner. I had no love for God. I had
no understanding of the gospel. I was born dead in sins and he
made me to be something I was not before. He gave me a new
heart, a heart that sees who he is, a heart that loves him. Omnipotence is seen in the person
and work of Christ whom Paul called the power and the wisdom
of God. Jesus Christ is almighty God. unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.
He controls everything. And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor. And let me remind you, that's
not talking about what we think of as somebody gives you good
advice and good counsel and helps you with your problems. That
means the one who counsels, the one who decrees, the one who
controls all things. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God. the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Jacob says to Joseph, it is God
Almighty who appeared to me. Now anything less than this is
a false God. A God that cannot save. And if
you know God, you know Him. As God almighty, anything less
is not God. Now look what he says back in
our text. Verse three. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God
almighty appeared unto me. It was in the land of Canaan
and bless me now. Don't miss this word, he blessed
me. He blessed me. Now with his power to bless,
he's God omnipotent and he is the one who blessed me. Verse four, he said unto me,
behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee and I will
make of thee a multitude of people and will give this land to thy
seed after thee for an everlasting possession. Now, God says, I'll
bless you. And he uses two words to describe
his blessing. Now, I want to be a blessing
to you. I want you to be a blessing to
me, but I can't bless you. You can't bless me either. God
is the blesser. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly blessings in Christ Jesus. God is the blesser. And there are two words he uses
to describe his blessing. He said, I'll make and I'll give. I'll make thee a great nation."
Now, God's blessing is what He does. What He makes. 1 Corinthians 1 30 says, Christ
is made unto us. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us. Wisdom and righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. That's what He does. Second Corinthians
521 says, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. I'll bless you. I think of the
blessings of the Beatitudes. Now, when the Lord says blessed
are the poor in spirit, David Moore. They that are meek, they
that hunger and thirst after righteousness, they that are
pure in heart, they that are peacemakers, they that are merciful,
they that are persecuted for righteousness sake. He blessed
them to be that way. What a blessing it is to be poor,
to have nothing but Christ. That's the greatest blessing
you could have is to have nothing but Christ. Do you have anything
other than Christ right now? I don't. I don't have anything
to recommend myself to God, only Him. Well, that's God's blessing.
It's a blessing to mourn over your sin. It's a blessing to
be meek before God and know that whatever He sends your way is
right. Oh, what a blessing it is to hunger and thirst after
righteousness. What a blessing from God it is to have this pure
heart that looks to Christ. That's the new nature. What a
blessing it is to be a peacemaker, not a contentious person, but
a peacemaker. What a blessing to be merciful. Having experienced the mercy
of God, you're merciful. What a blessing of grace it is
to be persecuted for his righteousness sake. These are blessings of
God. He says, I will bless you. I'll make you. And then he says
what I do, he says, behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply
thee. I will make of thee a multitude of people. I will give this land
to thee. You know, everything we have,
he gave us. What do you have that you didn't receive? If you
have righteousness, he gave it to you. If you have grace, he
gave it to you. If you have a new heart, he gave it to you. If
you have love to him, he gave it to you. If you have faith,
he gave it to you. I will give, I will make, I will give, that's
God's blessing. And look what it is, it's an
everlasting possession. You see what he gives you, you
have forever. He never takes it back. You can't
lose it. If you could, you would, but
you can't because he won't let you. He gave it to you as an
everlasting, permanent possession. It's yours. It's yours. What
he gives you, is yours. I love that scripture. Revelation
19, eight unto her was granted, given that she should be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white for this fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. He doesn't say it's the righteousness
of Christ imputed to the saints, although it is, he says it's
the righteousness of the saints. I will bless. I will make, I
will give. And in closing, And now thy two sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt,
before I came into Egypt, they're mine. Now this is the first adoption
in the Bible. I wanna bring a message, Lord
willing, next week on adoption from this passage of scripture,
because this is the first adoption mentioned. Moses was adopted,
wasn't he? Um, Esther was adopted by Mordecai
and really the Lord was adopted, uh, by Joseph. It wasn't his
biological son, but he became adoptions of good thing. It's
a good thing. Oh, and his adoption, he says
regarding you, I love the way he says this. He says, those
two sons of yours, they're mine. Just like Ruben and Simeon, my
firstborn, they're mine. They are too. They're mine. Now. what he says about these two
boys. And now, thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were
born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee,
are mine, as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Now, here's what is yours. Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh is forgetting the non-remembrance
of sin. And the only reason there could
be non-remembrance of sin is because there is no sin. He put
it away. It's gone. When he said it is
finished, it was expunged from the universe. It's gone. It's
no more. Ephraim means fruitfulness. The fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Where does that come from? The Holy Spirit. Life. Life from
the dead. Now this is every believer's
personal everlasting possession. Forgetting. Forgetting. The non-remembrance of sin. And
the nature, being partakers of the divine nature, bearing the
fruit of God the Holy Spirit. What a blessing of grace. And all because God is almighty
God. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you're
almighty. Lord, we're so grateful for all
of your attributes, and we're so thankful that you've made
yourself known to us who you are. And Lord, we see your son as
altogether everything in salvation. We see how he gets all the glory
and all the glory goes to you. And Lord, we're so thankful it's
that way, because that's what makes our salvation secure. It's
not of us, it's of you. And Lord, bless us as we meet
together. We pray for your blessing on
these graduates that you would keep them by your grace, that
you would make yourself known to them. In Christ's name we
pray. Amen. Now after the song, we're
going to have a get together for the high school graduates
after the service.