As we consider together the various attributes of our God, I think it's fitting that on this particular day we talk about the one that is before us tonight, and that is the omnipotence of God. This is one of those omnis that we mentioned last week. Potence or potent refers to power, so we're talking about the universal power of God, that all power belongs to Him.
We see this throughout the Word of God, of course, but there are a couple of verses that we refer to on the outline that you received as you came in tonight. Revelation 19.1 is the text which Handel employed in part in writing the great chorus entitled the Hallelujah Chorus, where it states, Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. So we have that word used, omnipotent. And then in Psalm 62.11 it says, power belongs with God.
May I further remind you of what is said in Romans chapter 1 verse 20, in which relating the condition of the pagans throughout the world who have no record of God's written revelation. They are nonetheless by the creation itself confronted with certain aspects of God's being, one aspect being His eternal power, Romans 1.20. Now whereas there are in fact energy shortages in our world, and there are power shortages which are common, there is no power shortage when it comes to God.
All power is still His, and though He continually exercises all power, He never becomes weaker. There is no diminishing of His strength. Furthermore, He is still on the throne in this world. And if there be times when it appears that man is having his way, or Satan's schemes seem to be accomplishing what he desires, never forget that the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
One of the names by which God has been pleased to reveal Himself in that early in the Bible, the first name used of Him, is the name Elohim, which means the Almighty One. And so even in His very name, He reveals the fact that all power belongs to Him. Considering the state of the world in which we live today, I think there would be great cause for pessimism if one were a humanist. But we are not humanists.
We are theists who believe in a personal God, and a God who is interested in the affairs of men, and who in fact ultimately controls the affairs of men. And because of that truth, we have no fear. Let's think for a few moments tonight about the omnipotence of God. Dr. William Evans says that omnipotence is the attribute by which God can bring to pass everything which He wills. Can you do that? Neither can I. There are many things that I will and wish that I can never bring to pass.
In fact, most things that I will, I cannot actually control. Evans goes on to say, God's declaration of His intention is the pledge of the thing intended being carried out. If God says it, it's going to be done. It's just that simple. I review with you some of the statements of scripture relating to God's omnipotence. In Genesis 18, 14, is there anything too hard for the Lord? That's a great thought. Of course, there is nothing that is too hard for Him.
There are some things outside His purposes which He will not do, but there is nothing that is too hard for God. And then in Job 42, verse 2, that ancient godly man said, I know that thou canst do all things and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. A great statement of faith, especially after all he had been through. And then in Matthew 19, 26, our Lord said, with God all things are possible. In Jeremiah 32, verse 17, the last part of the verse, there is nothing too hard for thee.
And so the scriptures are replete with explicit statements telling us of God's omnipotence that He has all power. And then the scripture is also filled with illustrations of God's power. Just think of some of the realms in which God expresses His power. Perhaps the most obvious realm is that of nature itself. In Genesis chapter 1, we have the record of the beginning of all things, the creation of the world.
There are those who say that that is but a poetic setting for something that took place very naturally. But I say to you that there is no natural way to explain Genesis chapters 1 and 2. We either have to accept it for what it says or reject it, and in rejecting it, reject the whole Bible and the God of the Bible. God supernaturally brought into existence everything that is. And He did that not through a long process of time, but by the word of His mouth.
He said, let it be, and it was, that fast. Turn with me to Psalm 33 as we see some of His power in nature described. Psalm 33. Look at verse 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars. That's kind of an amazing statement, isn't it? Can you imagine all the waters of the sea in jars? Well, the idea is that He stores them up.
He puts the deep into storehouses, referring here to the reservoirs of water within the world, deep within the earth. God has put them there. It says, let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the people of the world revere Him, for He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm. And so we see God's power in nature. We see it expressed even in the Lord Jesus when He was with His disciples on a couple of occasions on the Sea of Galilee.
And He stood in their presence and spoke to the supernaturally whipped up storm. And the language certainly implies that this was not a normal storm, though there are severe storms very naturally on the Sea of Galilee because of the condition there with the mountains and so on. But this is a storm that was satanic in its origin. It was one of the attempts of Satan to kill Christ. And so He stood and spoke and literally what He said was, hush, be muzzled.
He speaks to the sea as though it were a wild animal. And He says to it, just be muzzled. And immediately there was calmness. Before the boat stopped rocking, the sea was like glass. His power in nature. That is why I like the words and I think most of you do too, that great hymn, How Great Thou Art.
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the roaring thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed, then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art. We see His power revealed in nature. And then we see the power of God in another realm and that is in history. I would invite you to turn with me to Daniel chapter 4. In the book of Daniel there is occasion after occasion when the power of God is manifested.
And I don't mean in little insignificant ways, in amazing ways, what a tremendous book this is. In Daniel chapter 4 we have the record of a dream by King Nebuchadnezzar. We're going to have to cut into this in the middle of it for time's sake.
It says in verse 28, and this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar, 12 months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? Now there's a guy with a good healthy ego. And it says the words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, this is what is decreed for you King Nebuchadnezzar. Your royal authority has been taken away from you.
Notice, not will be, it has been. He hadn't just realized it yet. It says you will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle. Seven times, representing seven years, will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from the people and ate grass like cattle.
His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Here's a king that just went to the birds. He is driven away from civilization. He goes mad because of the judgment of God upon his pride. He lives like an animal for seven years until to look at his hair was to look like an eagle that was molting. Another very pretty picture and the nails of his fingers look like the claws of a bird. Can you imagine that?
Then it goes on to say in verse 34, at the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my sanity was restored. It always helps sanity when we raise our eyes toward heaven. Then I praised the Most High. I honored and glorified him who lives forever. Now listen to the words of this king. His dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him, What have you done? At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisors and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the God of heaven because everything he does is right and all his ways are just and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. There it is. One of the many records of scripture of God's power when it comes to history, the realm of history.
Nebuchadnezzar boasted of his ability to build and to construct for his own glory and his own purposes and God over the process of seven years completely broke and humbled that pagan king until he was willing to confess with his mouth that God is control of all history. He does what he wants to do. In other places it says that he raises up people when he's ready for them and he puts them down when he's through with them. History truly is his story and not man's.
It is the outworking of God's purposes and personally that's why I enjoy history, reading about history. Because behind the events, even of our own day, the hand of God moves toward certain purposes that he has predetermined and nothing will stop his hand. He will accomplish what he has set out to accomplish.
As we consider even the potential war over the Falkland Islands, as we consider what happened today in Jerusalem, there in that Arab mosque, as we consider the potential of warfare there in southern Lebanon. And all the events that seem to take place as a part of history, let us never forget that everything that happens is moving toward God's decreed end. Not that he causes everything to happen that happens, but there's nothing that can stop his decreed end from being achieved.
He proves his power in history. And then he proves his power in another realm and that is in the plans of ordinary men. James has some instructive words to us in the fourth chapter of his letter in the New Testament, James chapter 4 and verse 13. Now listen, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. It sounds like he lives in 20th century America. He says, why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. Instructive words to all of us as we lay our plans. We are in fact responsible for planning our lives, for our families, for our church. God expects that we will prepare for the future. That's part of our stewardship in this world.
But our preparation should always be with the understanding, if the Lord wills, we will do this or that. I am reminded of that very wealthy farmer that Jesus told about. He had an excellent year. It was quite unlike the present farm situation in our country. He made a lot of money. In fact, it was so much money, he did not know what to do with all of it. He did not know how he was going to contain the crops that he had gathered in his harvest. And then he said, I know what I am going to do.
I am going to tear down these barns and build bigger barns. And then he said, I am going to take it easy, eat and drink and be married. Isn't that the attitude of most of the people that are out there in the world today? And yet that night, the voice of God came to him and said, you fool, because your soul, your life is now required of you. And whose will those things be that you have gathered together? You see, that night he died and stood before God.
And all of his magnificent plans came to an abrupt end as he was called in the presence of God. He went out of the world with just as much as he brought into the world, nothing. And yet how often we prepare and we plan and say, I am going to do this, I am going to do that, always it should be with the understanding. If the Lord wills, we will do this or that. Because you see, even our personal plans are subject to the power of God.
And then there is another realm in which our God expresses his power. It is in the spiritual realm. We read the verse I am going to refer to in Daniel chapter 4 verse 35 where it says, he does according to his will in the powers of heaven, the army of heaven. It is referring to the spiritual realm, the angelic realm. That is a realm that is very mysterious to us. We cannot see it. It is not perceptible by our eyes and our feeling and our hearing.
It is another dimension of reality that exists beyond our ability to perceive. In that realm, the spiritual realm, the heavenlies, as Paul calls them in Ephesians. In that realm, God does what it well pleases him to do. He is in control of the armies of heaven. Yes, there are armies of angels. And yes, there is warfare in the spiritual realm. There are the clashing of the forces of good and evil. We see that in Daniel.
Daniel chapter 10 records one of those incidents when there was warfare expressed. This warfare that takes place now on some kind of scale will be greatly intensified during the tribulation period that is to come upon the earth. Revelation chapter 12 talks about that. I personally believe that some of the events that we see take place in history are nothing more than the overflow of warfare that is unseen in the spiritual realm. But God is in control in that realm too.
And although Satan boasts of his power and he is like a roaring lion, says the Bible, who walks about seeking whom he may devour, he nonetheless works within strict limits that God has put upon him. He cannot do anything he wants to do. For example, in Job, he comes before God along with the other creatures in the angelic realm. And God has a conversation with him about Job. Do you remember that? And finally Satan says, well, it's no wonder Job praises you because he gets anything he wants.
You have blessed him and I can't touch him. And so God says, alright, you can touch everything he has, you can't touch him. I will draw the boundary a little tighter, I'll put it right around him, but anything he has you can touch. Over the process of time, Satan took all of that away. And what was Job's attitude? The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. What do you do with a guy like that?
Well, a period of time later, Satan again was before the Lord and again they considered Job and Satan said, well, it's no wonder he praises you, you won't let me touch him. So God said, alright, then we'll put the hedge in a little tighter and we'll prove Job and his faithfulness. He said, you can touch him, you can't take his life, but you can touch him. And so he got all these boils and sores on his body.
And Satan took away everything but his wife and she was a thorn in his side during that time. The devil knows what to take and what to leave sometimes. And with all this tremendous pressure that he was under, we must never lose sight of the fact that Satan could only do what God allowed him to do. And what he did accomplish God's purpose, not Satan's, it was only for a limited time and as a result of it all and his faithfulness, Job was greatly rewarded.
So you see, the whole story does not tell anything about Satan's power, it's all about God's power. How God is in control even in that realm. And there's a day coming when Satan himself is going to be bound by God and cast into the bottomless pit. For a thousand years he's going to be chained there, unable to do anything. And then when God's purpose is accomplished, he'll let him out for a little time.
And then again when God's purpose is accomplished in that, he's going to throw him into the lake of fire. You see, Satan's whole future is already told to us in the word of God. And it will be accomplished and the devil knows that and it's greatly frustrating to him. God is in control in the spiritual realm. You and I don't have to run afraid of Satan. We need to respect his power, to recognize what he can do and to recognize what he can't do and to claim our position in Jesus Christ.
We don't have to be afraid of him. What we are commanded to do is to draw near to God and resist him and then he'll flee from us. And then God is in control when it comes to death. The psalmist said, my times are in thy hands. It is true of all of us. We are essentially immortal in this world until God's purpose for us is accomplished. There's nothing that is going to take your life a minute sooner than God's purpose.
Your life will be extended to the point that God wants it to be and then there's not a thing in the world that's going to keep you here a minute longer. Our lives are in his hands. Now of course that is balanced somewhat by the fact that if we get out of God's will and live in sin as Christians, we can commit sin unto death. Which simply means persistent, deliberate rebellion against God of which we refuse to repent and confess.
And when we live in that so long, there is an end to the patience of God and he will call us home early. That happened to some of the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And I think it's possible for us to be very foolish and careless and end our lives sooner than God really had expected that we would live because of our own mistakes. But in a general sense, I am saying that God is in control and that our lifespan is what he determines it to be. We walk in the will of God.
He's in control of death and we need not fear it. There is a day when God himself is going to call death to account at the great white throne judgment and death is going to be cast into the lake of fire also. And so he is powerful in the realm of death, he is powerful in the realm of judgment. All judgment belongs to him. And that is expressed again and again in the word of God.
Whether you are talking about Israel or you are talking about the church or you are talking about the world at large or you are talking about specific nations, judgment is in the hands of God. And frankly that ought to frighten us a little bit living in the country that we do because of the condition morally of the nation in which we live and of which we are citizens, most of us.
Because God is a just God and what is taking place in this land in terms of the sin that is promoted, the rejection of God himself, the exaltation of man, all of that has a price tag to it and that price tag is judgment. We have an illustration of God's judgment in Pharaoh don't we? That man to whom Moses said let my people go and he said I will not. He hardened his heart and God judged him right then, God hardened his heart even more judicially. And again and again that took place.
Pharaoh hardened his heart and God hardened his heart even more. He hardened his heart again and God hardened his heart even more until finally Pharaoh was judged and his army was all drowned in the sea, the Red Sea. God is able to bring this nation into swift judgment as well. There is a lot of speculation as to why the United States has not mentioned end time prophecy, specifically at least.
There are some references that some people I think stretch a little ways to say that that refers to the United States. I see no clear reference to the United States and end time prophecy and there must be a reason for that. The only one that comes to my mind is the fact that the United States by that time and that time may be close, becomes such a small power in the world if not completely subdued by some foreign power that it is insignificant in terms of what happens in the world.
Right now we are second in power in the world and God's judgment folks can fall upon us so quickly that we won't know what happened. You remember when God was going to bring the enemy upon Israel and judge them, take them away in captivity? And they said, Lord how can you do that? For they are more wicked. They are all of their works and yet God brought that power upon Israel, his people, and judged them and took them away into captivity.
Oh yes, he ultimately dealt with the other nation too, but God used that horrible nation to bring judgment upon his people. And though we may call ourselves a Christian nation, we are not a Christian nation. We are a humanist nation and God is able to bring anything upon us that he desires to do and we probably deserve it. Let me change that, we do deserve it.
I believe that there is only one thing that can change that and that is for the people of God in this nation to humble themselves before God and for a spiritual awakening to occur in this land. Unless we see that, we are surely doomed to judgment and that may be very soon within our generation. That is a fearful thing. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, but judgment is in his hands and all power belongs to him.
Now in light of all that we have said, what are some of the applications that we can quickly draw and will be done? One application is this, that as a child of God I need fear, no enemy. Isn't that a great thought? Psalm 27, the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? The angel of the Lord encamps round about those that fear him and he delivers them.
We consider the possibility of judgment in our nation, the possibility of the collapse of Western civilization as we have known it for hundreds of years. We are safe, not that we would not suffer, but we are safe within God's power. He will care for us and we need fear, no enemy. Sometime on your own, read Nahum, there is a book in the Bible with that name. Nahum, chapter 1, verses 2 through 8. And notice the words of comfort there regarding God's care for his people.
We need fear, not even Satan himself. We need not fear the world system that controls the population of unsaved men on this planet. The only one we need fear and that with reverential respect is the Lord. Apart from him we fear no enemy. And then there is another application, because of God's power I can be assured of my eternal safekeeping. Let me remind you of a verse in John chapter 10. I think a lot of you probably know this, but some of you may not.
In John chapter 10, these words of our Lord Jesus Christ. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me. Remember we talked about that this morning? That we are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Here Jesus says, My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
We are absolutely secure and safe within the power of God. We are shielded by the power of God and kept for the salvation that is just about to be revealed. Referring to the rapture. That said in 1 Peter chapter 1. And then a third application, and with this one we'll close. God is all-powerful. He is my Father and yours if you trusted Christ. And so our prayers are heard by an omnipotent Father. Jeremiah 33.3. Do you know that? Let's say it together if you can memorize that.
Call unto me and I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Do you know Jeremiah 33.2? No, that wasn't on the card I memorized from. Well let me just read that verse to you. This is the verse that comes before Jeremiah 33.3. That's why it's called Jeremiah 33.2. This is what the Lord says. He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it, the Lord is his name. Call unto me and I will answer you.
You see he points out his omnipotence, the great power that is his, and then invites us to call out to him in prayer. And he will respond by showing us great and unsearchable things that we do not know. In 1967 J.B. Phillips published the book Your God is Too Small. The title of that book alone is thought-provoking, isn't it? How big is your God, my fellow Christian? How big is your God in your prayers? How big is your God in your problems that you're facing tonight?
How big is God in your plans? How big is God in your personality problems? How big is your God? I think that most of us would have to confess with Phillips that our God is too small. So we need to enlarge our vision of God's power and understand what he can do. There is another truth that runs with this, and that is that God will limit himself in our lives to just the size that we want him to be. Or he will increase as much as we allow him to increase.
Although God is all-powerful, he will limit himself in his activity in our lives if we keep him small because of unbelief. Do you remember the time that Jesus went back to Nazareth? He had been out doing miracles everywhere. He comes back to Nazareth and he could do no mighty work there. Why? Because of their unbelief. He was small to them. They did not believe him. And so he did nothing there.
I don't know about you, but I long for my life to bring glory to God by God doing in me and through me things that can be explained only in terms that God did it. Don't you? I don't want to be known by things that I can accomplish. I want my life to be a magnifying glass of God's power. Now if that's going to happen, part of the responsibility is on me. I have to believe God for big things. I have to be willing to step out and take risks. Apart from risks, there is no such thing as faith.
We come together. Are we willing to risk it all, to put it all on the line and trust God? We need to do that as a church too. We've got some big things before us. Wonderful opportunities God has given us. But those opportunities involve some big steps that are going to require faith. I believe that God wants us to get started on a building program. I don't know about you, I'm tired of parking on the lawn around here. I'm tired of seeing our children in classes, in hallways, and in corners.
I believe that God wants us to get into a facility that can house us. Now for that to happen, it's going to require a great step of faith. As you know, financially speaking, we are making it on our own, month by month. God is blessing. But for us to get involved in a building program and buying the property around here, that's a big step. Already our elders have been working in this direction, giving us leadership.
I think I can say that all the homeowners around us have been contacted, and all of them have indicated they're willing to sell. We're talking prices with some people, and on the long range plan, we're talking about tying up property immediately around us, I think it's nine parcels, by sometime later this summer. And the possibility of beginning a building, the nature of which is yet unknown, by as soon as this fall. Now for all that to happen, it takes money to tie up parcels of ground.
To talk about building a building, we're talking in terms of maybe a million and a half dollars or more. Probably more. Even for a simple building. We're not talking about an elaborate cathedral. How can we see that happen, when right now we're just making it go with what we have? There's only one way we can do it. God's going to have to show himself powerful. Will God do it? If it's his pleasure that we be in that building program, there's no question he will do it, if we trust him.
That's the condition. Are we willing to risk all? Are we willing to sacrifice, willing to do our part, and then say, now God, we've done everything we can do, show us great and mighty things. And God will. You see, when it comes to this matter of God expressing his power in our lives, it's the heart that's the secret. It's the heart. Where our hearts are filled with faith.
Paul Rees makes, I think, a probing statement when he says, I can count on God to let power loose in my life, when I am ready to let something loose. In other words, the hurtful habit, the crippling compromise, the unsurrendered ambition. What is it that limits God in our lives? Well, it's those sins that so easily beset us. The attitudes of unbelief, the compromises that we make, the unsurrendered, self-centered ambitions that we have.
Are we willing to put those on the altar and say, Lord, it's all yours. It's all yours. I want your power in my life. Vance Havener said, God is using you as much as he can, but not as much as he could. How much would you have him use you? It's up to you. Heavenly Father, as we stand back and look at this doctrine of your omnipotence, it is grand. It is far beyond what we can comprehend. We confess that.
But as we begin to focus that upon our lives and how you need to work in our homes and in our personal lives, and in our church, it becomes very relevant. God, we don't want to be known as a church like Nazareth was known, a place where you can do no mighty work because of unbelief. We want you to do great and mighty things here in our midst.
I pray that you will cleanse us and humble us and give us the kind of faith that is willing to see you work, the kind of courage to take risks, calculated, careful risks to see the power of God unfolded. I pray that you will take our hands off the reputation and off the glory of it all and receive that all for yourself, for you alone are worthy. Lord, from our hearts tonight we shout hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
And we offer unto you our worship and thanksgiving for that blessed doctrine and truth. May it help us to live tomorrow in the light of it. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I thought it would be fitting for us to close this evening by singing a verse of number 238, this song by the Gaithers entitled, Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow. We can, folks, because He lives and because He's all-