Divine Ability
Scripture Reading: Genesis 18:9-16
Alternative Reading: Daniel 3:12-18
Scripture Text: Genesis 18:14a “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?”
Introduction:
You might want to ask yourself whether you have a big God or a little God? A little girl listened attentively as her father read the family devotions. She seemed awed by her parents’ talk of God’s limitless power and mercy. "Daddy," she asked, placing her little hands on his knees, "how big is God?" Her father thought for a moment and answered, "Honey, he is always just a little bigger than you need."
How big is your God?? Is He big enough to meet your every need regardless of what it may be??
Little Suzie finished her prayer and said:
Dear God, Before I finish, I want you to take care of mommy, take care of daddy, take care of my sister and my brother and please, God, take care of yourself, because if you don’t we’re all sunk. Amen!
Without the power of God in our daily lives, we are all “sunk”!!
However, as Christians, we serve a God who is all-powerful and able to do whatever needs to be done.
I. God’s Ability Is An Established Fact In The Scriptures.
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Job 42:2 [Living] "I know that you can do anything and that no one can stop you.
Matthew 19:26 ....but with God all things are possible.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
II. All Of Nature Is Absolutely Subject To God’s Will And Word.
Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Psalm 33:6-9 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. [7] He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. [8] Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. [9] For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
A. Other Examples.
1. The calming of the sea (Matt. 8:26).
2. The feeding of the multitude (Matt. 14:20).
3. Walking on the sea (Matt. 14:25).
4. The coin in the fish’s mouth (Matt. 17:27).
III. Some Who Trusted In Divine Ability.
A. Moses knew his God was able when he faced the Red Sea.
B. Noah trusted in God’s ability when the floods came.
C. David knew that God was able to deliver him from the giant.
D. Elijah knew God was able to send the fire on Mt. Carmel.
E. Paul trusted in God’s ability to keep him and declared, “I know whom I have trusted, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day...”
F. John Knox - Martin Luther - John Wesley- D. L. Moody, etc. trusted in God’s ability when they turned the world upside down for Christ.
G. J. F. Rowlands knew that God was able to save sinners when he preached in South Africe for six years without a single convert, but then saw 176 Hindus saved in one night.
H. Do you know that God is able to do anything? Are you persuaded?
IV. Do You Have A Need? God Is Able......
A. To Save.
Hebrews 7:25 [Living] He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Illustration: Dr. A.T. Pierson once wrote, "In a paper mill what a contrast between the heap of filthy rags at one end and the pure and spotless white paper at the other! What a trial the rags go through before they emerge in this new form! Torn to pieces and ground to pulp, bleached with chloride of lime ’til all stains are removed, washed over and over; submitted to another bleaching by the action of chlorine and alum; washed again, ’til the pulp or stuff is white as cream or snowflakes! Caught upon a wire cylinder, after the severe shaking by the Fourdrinier process which crosses the fibers and gives compactness and firmness to the fabric; and then passed between and around the hot surfaces which makes the paper smooth and even -- how like the Divine discipline by which our filthiness is cleansed away; how like the tribulation out of which all come up who have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb!"
B. To Help.
Hebrews 2:18 [Living] For since he himself has now been through suffering and temptation, he knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and he is wonderfully able to help us.
C. To Understand.
Hebrews 4:15 [Living] This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned.
D. To Undergird Us.
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
E. To Establish Us.
Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Psalm 40:1-3 [Living] I waited patiently for God to help me; then he listened and heard my cry. [2] He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path, and steadied me as I walked along. [3] He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him.
V. God Is Able To Do More Than We Can Ask Or Imagine.
Ephes. 3:20 [Living] Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of--infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.
Matthew Henry: It is proper always to end prayers with praises. Let us expect more, and ask for more, encouraged by what Christ has already done for our souls, being assured that the conversion of sinners, and the comfort of believers, will be to his glory, for ever and ever.
Conclusion:
God can do anything!! Why not come to Him through Christ and let Him meet your every need; whatever it may be??
