Acts 1:1-8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Notice especially these words in this verse of scripture. After we are saved God has promised us---But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
God is a God of power!!! And that power is given to us once we become a child of God.
One of the attributes of God is that God is Omnipotent!!!
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
The words OMNIPOTENT come from two words:
• Omni, which means “all”.
• And potent, which means “powerful.”
God has ALL POWER!!!
When we say God is Omnipotent, we are talking about one of the attributes of God.
There are many other attributes of God.
To name a few:
• Omniscient which means God knows all. There is not anything He does not know.
• Omnipresent which means God is present everywhere. There is not a place we can go that God is not already there.
It is essential for God to have these attributes for many reasons.
Such as when we are judge by Him:
• Him being Omniscient
He knows everything there is to be known about us. EVERYTHING!!!
• Such as He is Omnipresent?
He can Judge us fairly because He can say I was there when you said everything you said and did everything that you did whether it be good or bad. Absolutely!!!
But today we I want to preach about the attribute that God is OMNIPOTENT. He has ALL POWER.
Illus: Sunday school teacher was asking her students some questions after a series of lessons on God's omnipotence.
• She asked, "Is there anything God can't do?
• All was silent. Finally, one boy held up his hand.
• The teacher, on seeing his hand go up, was disappointed that young boy had missed the point of the lesson.
• She said Johnny, "Well, what is it you think God can't do?
• The boy replied, "Teacher He can't please everybody."
Illus: A young boy, traveling by airplane to visit his grandparents, sat beside a man who happened to be a seminary professor.
The boy was reading a Sunday school take-home paper when the professor thought he would have some fun with the lad.
• "Young man," said the professor, "If you can tell me something God can do, I’ll give you a big, shiny apple."
• The boy thought for a moment and then replied, "Mister, if you can tell me something God can't do, I’ll give you a whole barrel of apples!" (Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 43.)
But there is one thing that God cannot do!!!
Now telling you God is ALL POWERFUL makes me sound like I am contradicting myself.
When we talk about the Omnipotence of God, we do have to keep in mind the fact that He also has other attributes that limit Him from doing some things we might ask Him to do.
For example, one of the attributes of God is that God is a God of holiness.
He is not part holy; He is a 100% holy. HOLINESS is one of His attributes.
That is being omnipotent
• God can do everything that is in harmony with His Holy character.
• He cannot do things which are contrary to His Holy character.
For example, Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, and Hebrews 6:18 teach that He cannot lie.
God lacks the ability to lie because lying is contrary to His moral perfection
So if God is a God of holiness, if He was to sin He would be violating His other attribute - that He is a holy God.
Illus: For example, someone might do you wrong and you ask God to turn them into burnt toast.
God could do that if he wanted to. But you have to remember God is a God of Love, kindness, and patience also.
To answer our prayer He would have to violate His attributes of LOVE, KINDNESS AND PATIENCE.
WE HAVE LIMITATIONS ALSO….
When we want to do something, we have to keep our limitations in mind, and so often we can not do what we want to do because of our limitations.
Illus: I would love to sing like Brother Kenny but I have this limitation when it comes to singing. I HAVE ACCEPTED THIS LIMITATION IN MY LIFE AND THIS IS WHY I DO NOT SING SPECIALS IN THE CHURCH SERVICE!
God can do anything He wants to do if it does not violate His other attributes!
It is clear that nothing is too hard for the Lord.
• The Psalmist said in Psalms 62:11, “…That power belongeth unto God.”
• Jeremiah proclaimed in Jer. 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:”
• Jesus spoke in Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
It is important that we know that the God we serve is OMNIPOTENT.
But is also important that we recognize Satan is not OMNIPOTENT!!!
Illus: When I was growing up in the church my Sunday school teachers and preacher did not make that clear to me as a young person!
I thought throughout my childhood that Satan
was ALL POWERFUL AND HE COULD DO AS
HE PLEASE WHENEVER HE PLEASE!!!
And I did not want to make him mad at me.
Did you know that Satan cannot do anything to
Me unless God allows him to touch my life.
We do not have to live a life of fear of him!!!
Satan can only do what God allows him to do.
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT?
Remember the story of Job. God had blessed him abundantly.
Satan wanted to attack Job but he could only do it if God allowed it.
We do not have the whole story between God and Satan but we can assumed that Satan was telling God Job does not love you.
The only reason he serves you is because of your blessings on him. Take away these blessings and he will no longer serve you.
God knew that Job loved Him…
• He said to Satan in Job 1:11 “Stretch out Your hand now and touch all that Job has, and he will curse You to Your face.”
• The Lord said to Satan Job 1:12, “All that he has is in your power; only don’t touch Job himself. (life)”
Satan wasn’t ALLOWED to touch Job, only what Job possessed. SATAN HAD TO ABIDE BY THIS RESTRICTION GOD PUT IN PLACE.
This situation in Joh’s life shows us that Satan doesn’t have power equal to God’s power. SATAN CAN ONLY DO WHAT GOD ALLOWS HIM TO DO.
And if God allows it the Word of God tell us HE GIVES US THE GRACE TO OVERCOME WHAT HE ALLOWED!
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
HOWERVER God can do AS HE PLEASE WHENEVER HE PLEASE…HE IS OMNIPOTENT!
Why is the OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD IMPORTANT TO US?
It is important that we the children of God recognize that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with THIS GOD WE SERVE BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS IN OUR LIFE THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR US TO DO.
We all face problems WITH OUR LIMITATIONS but the God of this Bible is Omnipotent, and we do not have to wonder if GOD CAN DO WHAT WE CANNOT DO!!!
For example…
Illus: In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had made a decree that everyone was to worship a golden image he had made and the punishment for not obeying the decree was certain death.
There were three young Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to obey the decree.
As a result they were bound and cast into a fiery furnace.
Now you talk about problems; those three young men had a problem.
Probably no one here has ever come close to having such a severe problem.
But, they knew they worshipped and served an OMNIPOTENT GOD.
They told king Nebuchadnezzar, verse 17, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king."
And that is exactly what the OMNIPOTENT GOD did!
He miraculously delivered them out of that fiery furnace.
Often, when we think our problems are big, if we will compare them to the problems of God's people in the Scripture, our problems seems small.
Compared to:
• What Daniel had to face to be thrust in a den of lions?
• Sadrach, Meshag and Abenego who was thrust into a fiery furnace.
• David facing a giant almost then feet tall.
• Moses having to cross the red sea.
• David having to flee for his life from King Saul.
Why does God put all these Bible characters in the scriptures with all their problems?
To show us that God is Omnipotent!!!
If this Omnipotent God could deliver them from there impossible situations He can deliver us out of our impossible situations.
Listen, the God of the Bible is immutable. That means HE DOES NOT CHANGE!
He tells us in Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not…”
GOD IS OMNIPOTENT we are saying He HAS ALL POWER!
What great comfort that is to us here today.
Illus: Remember the story of the three little boys who were visiting Niagara Falls. As they watched all that water come over the falls they were amazed at how big and beautiful it was, and they felt proud.
In fact, they felt so proud that they began to brag. They did not have anything themselves to brag about so they began to brag about who had the greatest dad.
-The first little boy, whose dad was an engineer, said, "My dad is so great that he personally dug the Grand Canyon out by himself."
-The second little boy, whose dad was a carpenter, was not about to let his dad be outdone.
He pointed to the beautiful Niagara Falls and said, "See that beautiful water falls. My dad built that by himself!"
-The third little boy, whose dad was a plumber, was not going to let those two fellows make his dad look bad so he said, "My dad is the greatest plumber in the entire world! (He pointed to the falls) See that leak; he could stop that nasty leak in a few seconds!"
So that we might come to know Him as the omnipotent God of the Bible, let me take a few minutes and brag about MY HEAVENLY FATHER!!!
WE SEE HIS OMNIPOTENCE IN CREATION.
The reason the theory of evolution even exists today is because people do not know the God of the Bible.
There are those who believe in the existence of God, but they do not have the faith to believe that God created the heavens and the earth by SIMPLY speaking things into existence.
How do we know that?
Because the Word of God said He did!
Look at Col. 1:16 tells us, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, AND FOR HIM."
-Psalm 33:8-9, "Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast."
-Psalm 135:6, "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places."
God's Word states clearly that He is ALL POWERFUL and by that power He spoke into existence the world in which we live.
Listen, it is easy for me to place my faith in the Word of God which has proven to be accurate over thousands of years.
Illus: This Bible contains prophesies of how countries, like Chaldea, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, etc would come into existence and how they would fall hundreds of years before the events took place.
The Word of God has been 100% accurate in every prophecy.
Illus: This Bible contains prophesies about Christ 700 years before He came, telling us...
• He would be born of a virgin.
• He would be born in Bethlehem.
• He would be born in a stable.
• He would be rejected by the mobs and denied by his own disciples.
• He would be hung between two thieves.
God's Word was 100% accurate on all of these.
Yes, His Word has proven to be accurate through the centuries.
Illus: I have an easier time placing my faith in His Word than in any science book written by people who put forth a ridiculous hypothesis that scientists cannot even agree on among themselves.
Knowing the OMNIPOTENT GOD of the Bible, we do not have a hard time believing in His creating the universes by speaking them into existence.
What is difficult for us to believe is that anyone could believe anything else.
Illus: Suppose I took an unabridged edition of Webster's dictionary and placed it before you and I told you that all the letters it takes to make up all the words in that dictionary were just floating around in space?
Then suppose I told you that one day there was a big "Bang" in space and every letter began falling into place and after several million years the letters became words (English, mind you).
Then they conveniently sailed in the office at the time of the printing press was invented.
Neat huh?
Could I sell that story to you? I would hope not!
If I told you that, you would want to know what I had been smoking!
I suppose I could tell you I had been smoking the same thing that our educators have been smoking that promotes evolution.
Illus: You might ask, "Preacher, don't you believe in the "Big Bang" theory?"
Sure I do! I believe God looked out across empty space and spoke everything into existence and "Bang" there it was!
Believing in The Creator is sure much easier than believing in all of that evolution nonsense.
Men who do not believe in an omnipotent God, a God Who can speak things into existence, have invented this hypothesis, and been allowed to cram this into the minds of children as if it were factual.
Illus: For something to be factual it has to past three tests:
• Hypothesis (Educated guess)
• Theory (Some facts)
• Law (All the facts)
Evolution is called a theory yet proven to be a theory…IT IS ONLY AN EDUCATED GUESS and a bad one at that!!!
A law is something proven over and over again.
Illus: For example the law of gravity has proven to be a law.
That is if I had a pencil in my hand and threw it up it would fall to the ground every time. Not sometime, BUT EVERYTIME!
That is why we call it the LAW OF GRAVITY.
I am not sure who should be the most insulted that they should claim that man descended from monkeys, the MONKEYS, or MAN.
Illus: The story is told of three monkeys sitting in a tree, discussing evolution. One is credited as having said, "Listen, you two, There's rumor going around that can't be true - that man descended from our noble race. Why, the very idea is a dire disgrace...You'll never see a monkey build a fence around a coconut tree and then let all the coconuts go to waste, forbidding all others to taste.
Here's another thing a monkey won't do; go out at night and get on a stew. Or use a gun or a knife to take another monkey's life.
Yes, man may have descended - that ornery cuss, but brother, he didn't descend from us!"
All of creation teaches us that THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS OMNIPOTENT.
The Bible says in Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."
The Bible declares that GOD IS OMNIPOTENT.
As the children of God we are NOT A POWERLESS PEOPLE, we are POWERFUL!
If we only knew that…
• WHAT LIES BEHIND US, AND
• WHAT LIES BEFORE US,
…are small matters compared to WHAT LIES WITHIN US.
HOW HAS GOD EMPOWERED OUR LIVES?
I. God has empowered us by giving us the Holy Spirit to live WITHIN US.
John 14:17 “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for HE DWELLETH WITH YOU, AND SHALL BE IN YOU.”
The Holy Spirit empowers us with His MIGHTY POWER.
The apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
WHAT KIND OF POWER DOES HE EMPOWER US WITH?
He gives us the POWER TO LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Illus: Sometimes we witness to lost people and we ask them if they would like to accept Christ as their Savior, and they will say, “No, not today, I am not able to live the Christian life yet!”
When they say that, they are telling the truth. Because none of us are able to live the Christian life within ourselves.
It is only after He saves us that He fills us with the Holy Spirit of God, and HE EMPOWERS us to live the Christian life.
Look at John 14:17, again, we read, “…HE DWELLETH WITH YOU, AND SHALL BE IN YOU.”
Illus: Remember the cartoon of Popeye the sailor man. He was always taking a beating from this other sailor “Bruto”.
But once he opened that can of spinach, he became a different person. He became a powerful force that was more than adequate for the situation.
Illus: POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN: Insect to Injury (1956) (Remastered) (HD 1080p) | Jack Mercer
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Dec 3, 2013
by 8thManDVD.com™ Cartoon Channel
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Once God empowers us with the Holy Spirit, we become endued with HIS POWER and we then have the power to live the Christian life as it is suppose to be lived.
God who is ALL POWERFUL now lives within us. As the children of God, our life now reflects certain things. We now can live -
I. THE PLEASING LIFE
Before we accepted the Lord we certainly were not living a life that was pleasing to the Lord.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to live a life that is PLEASING TO THE LORD.
Notice, God does not empower us to spend the rest of our life sitting on a church pew.
Illus: That would be like buying a new car that is loaded with horsepower, then keeping it parked in the garage all the time.
That car was not made just to be PARKED; it was made to be DRIVEN!
God saved us, not for the purpose of being PARKED on a church pew, but to be empowered to live in such a fashion that we will bring glory to His name each day of our life.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Illus: One New Year's Day in the Rose parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas.
The amusing thing was that this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas. Someone neglected to put gas in the gas tank.
Much of the time we Christians are “sputtering” and “parked” because we are not filled with the Spirit of God. But, once we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can live a life that will PLEASE GOD
Much of the New Testament is instructing us how to do this.
Look at 1 Thess. 4:1 "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to WALK and to PLEASE GOD, so ye would abound more and more."
God gives us power to live a life that is PLEASING TO HIM.
This is not something we can do within ourselves.
Illus: Every January, there are people who make New Year’s resolutions to stop doing some things, and to start doing other things.
But most of the people who make these resolutions are back doing the same thing they vowed they would not do within a few hours or a few days.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
The problem is that sin has a grip on their life, and they have no power to break that grip.
God gives us the Holy Spirit to live within us so that we can overcome these sins.
Illus: It is only when a branch has been grafted into the tree that it can bring forth fruit.
It takes the POWER OF GOD in our lives to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
We within ourselves do not have SUCH POWER, but as a child of God we all have ACCESS TO THIS POWER.
Once we have been EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit of God, we can live THE PLEASING LIFE.
But also, we now can live -
II. THE PRODUCTIVE LIFE
This power that we are given by the Holy Spirit produces something in our life.
What does the Power of the Holy Spirit produce in our life?
It is-
A POWER THAT PRODUCES CLEANLINESS
Rom. 6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."
Notice, we are made free from sin, and now our life is producing, “…Fruit unto holiness…”
• One of the most DISGRACEFUL THINGS that can be said about a person who professes to be saved, is that they are an “Unholy” person.
• One of the most COMPLIMENTARY THINGS that can be said about a person, who professes to be saved, is that they are a “holy” person.
Illus: When it comes to sin, only the Savior can save us from sin. No drug, no doctor, no hospital can do it. If it has to do with sin, only the Lord Jesus, the Savior, can help you.
When He is within us He will PRODUCE HOLINESS! The Power of the Holy Spirit produces holiness in our lives.
But the power of the Holy Spirit also is -
B. A POWER THAT PRODUCES CONVERTS
Look at Acts 1:8 again. The evidence that we are Holy Spirit filled is this; “But ye shall RECEIVE POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: AND YE SHALL BE WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
You can go into any church in the world, and in a few minutes accurately determine if that church has the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THERE!
HOW CAN YOU DETERMINE THAT?
God Word says, “YE SHALL RECEIVE….AND YE SHALL BE WITNESSES.”
Notice, the Word of God does not say:
• Ye shall receive power after you shout all over the church.
• Ye shall receive power after you speak in tongues as some teach.
The Word of God tells us YE SHALL RECEIVE AND YE SHALL BE WITNESSES UNTO HIM.
Listen; do not go around telling people that you are Spirit-filled if you are not actively seeking to win the lost.
The Holy Spirit of God produces HOLINESS in our lives, and uses us to CONVERT a lost world to Christ.
Conclusion:
God has given us POWER, now we must use that power to live for His glory! As the children of God, our lives reflect that power. We should have:
I. THE PLEASING LIFE
II. THE PRODUCTIVE LIFE
A. A POWER THAT PRODUCES CLEANLINESS
B. A POWER THAT PRODUCES CONVERTS
