City of Lydda: Amazed by God's Power

[Music] well i wonder if you have ever tried to make a cake or a casserole and ruined it because you left out a key ingredient i just want to assure you i've never ruined a cake or casserole by living out a key ingredient not a single time i've never tried to make either of those things but i have heard stories and people say you know they've ruined something they're trying to make because of one just ingredient just one thing they've left out there's one and it just it ruined the whole thing that's the point right if you want something to turn out you better include all of the key ingredients and sadly there are a lot of christians that leave out a key ingredient that is ruining lots of things matter of fact there are people in this room whose testimony is ruined i mean that by the fact that they think they have a testimony and they don't because what has been left out is a key ingredient they embraced something but they didn't embrace biblical christianity because this key ingredient was gone there are others of you that are real christians you've got a real testimony and god lives in your life but for some reason because of how you interface with non-christians the things that you say to them in hopes to have them be saved uh it's it's inert it doesn't work it falls flat because uh you've left out a key ingredient they have been there when you were saved but it's not there when you're communicating the gospel to people we need that key ingredient king reading i'm talking about is uh related to an attribute of god it is an attribute of god it's an attribute of god that if you hear me say that you think well i've been well trained i know evangelism and i know you're going to talk about things like holiness and justice and i'll tell you a lot of people do leave those out and they are essential there's no arguing that i'm not talking about either of those talking about another attribute of god that may not be explicitly said with its theological term but it better be a part of what you're presenting to non-christians it better be the thing that that has been clearly and and and obviously embraced in your own life when you say you became a christian because if it's not there i i guarantee you it's not real it's not the real thing we've been studying amazing conversions and we reach a passage very short passage today in acts chapter 9 verses 32 through 35 and i guarantee you this ingredient was there front and center there's no missing it so turn in your bibles i want to show you this key ingredient i want to make sure that you don't miss it i hope it wasn't missed in your supposed conversion and i hope that it's never absent in your discussions with others about the lord jesus christ take a look at this with me it's an amazing conversion it takes place uh in a town that many of you have been to actually if you've ever been to israel with us uh you have been there and you weren't with your you know hat and sunglasses searching through ancient ruins there uh you were just searching for your luggage there because it's uh you know it has been gerion airport the airport there they say it's in tel aviv but it's really not in tel aviv it's about 11 miles from the mediterranean coast and it's in the old town that is named here it's called lidda in the new testament uh it's in the old testament called load lod and if you look on a map today just south of the ben gurion airport you'll see that section the name underneath it same word load right the modern hebrew word is the ancient hebrew word but in this inter-testamental period during the maccabean period between the testimony testaments it was renamed in the hellenization of that area renamed litta and luke uses that as he describes this city and peter's encounter with the people there now he's going to visit christians and we don't know how these christians got there uh we can assume that maybe some came back from the feast at pentecost when peter had preached there initially and they put their trust in christ and they are populating a small segment of that city or it might be it's certainly on the road that philip was doing ministry on perhaps philip won some people to christ there as he met the ethiopian eunuch down the road from here and perhaps we don't know how they got there but peter's going in and out of jerusalem doing what we just saw saul doing going in and out doing all kinds of ministry within the old city and outside of the old city of jerusalem but he's going to go down to litta about 20 plus miles away and he's going to uh minister to the saints he's going to meet the saints but he's going to do some evangelism ways there and certainly the evangelism that made them christians they call them saints they're not canonized people you build statues of that means anybody that has set a part in the body of christ they've been placed into christ they're real christians certainly had this key ingredient present and when peter now is going to win some people to christ in little now they certainly are not going to miss this attribute of god and i want to show it to you let me read it for you in the english standard version beginning in verse number 32. this is luke chapter 9 verse 32 follow along we'll just study these four verses this morning real quickly now as peter went here and there among them all right he's in jerusalem he came down to the saints who lived at litta okay there were christians there and he found a man named aeneas bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed so this isn't a kid right so unlike the congenital birth defects we've seen elsewhere in the gospels and even in acts chapters three and four when we see the paralytic being healed there in jerusalem this guy's been that way for eight years so maybe he had some terrible injury maybe fell off of something maybe it was some onset of some paralysis due to some kind of neurologic issue but he is now bedridden so he can't get up he can't walk on his own you can picture after eight years the muscles in his legs are all atrophied he got little sticks kind of hanging off his body he can't get around he's probably dependent on people's you know welfare their giving their charity their alms and um they all knew this guy right he's he's known he lays around and probably asking for money from people paralyzed and peter said to him aeneas jesus christ heals you rise and make your bed so just that kind of the pattern of christ in the gospels where he said you know to the paralytic take up your mat and walk go right you're there you can't get around it's like the ancient equivalent of a wheelchair so to speak they carried around a cot laid them down bed they would beg there throughout the day it's like no make that all up now you can do this all on your own and you're healed i mean that's a instantaneous miraculous healing you can picture like calf muscles that weren't even there right there's just barely nothing from the knees down and all of a sudden now just a nice plump strong calf muscle bam instantly all the residents of litta and sharon are sharing the surrounding regions there near the plains toward the mediterranean sea they all saw him i mean this was big news they everyone's like witness to this they get to see it and they turned to the lord greek word epistle they it's a it's a synonym to the word repentance metanoia they turned the lord they stopped living the life they were living and they joined the rest of the saints in little and they became christians and it might be that all the residents means you know all without distinction not all without exception or who knows maybe we'll get to the kingdom and find out every last person in town who turned to christ either way this city was radically changed because they became christians you could look at it this way verse 32 peter goes in and out among them at jerusalem he comes down to the saints at litta and then it says bottom verse 35 they turn to the lord okay well there's a bunch in between there what's in between there one thing one thing peter goes says a sentence and a guy is miraculously healed top of verse 35 they all saw it they thought ah i think we ought to follow that person we ought to turn to him we ought to become christians we ought to submit ourselves to him well what was it it was here comes a demonstration of power right that's what it was in theology we call it omnipotence maybe the last time you shared the gospel you didn't use the word omnipotent but you better have left that impression you better make sure they understand you were not talking about you know a plumber you liked and left a you know a positive yelp review right like ah you should try him it's really good he does a great job right jesus will kind of fix you up kind of fix me up be good idea how to try god we heard that in our testimonies this morning right you don't try god you don't try christ like he tried buddha you know you tried hinduism you you tried muhammad just try christ to be good no no he is omnipotent and here is peter coming in town and going bam and you know what they said it's not written there but you can read between the lines they went whoa wow we need to turn to the lord i mean that's huge a demonstration of the power of jesus christ that's huge now before we can ever become communicators of it you better discern it yourself you better understand it you better think about it ought to rise to the top of your thinking so let's put it this way here is this miracle verses 32-34 let's just recognize this it is a demonstration of god's power specifically jesus christ heals you this is a demonstration of christ's power you and i need to start seeing that everywhere when we study the person and work of christ and we ought to start elevating that in our minds that when you pray you think about jesus you pray in the name or the authority of jesus you ought to know how big that is that jesus is omnipotent so i'll put it this way number one you ought to discern the power of god discern the power of god by the way when peter did the same miracle in jerusalem they dragged him before the sanhedrin the supreme court of the jewish people and they said this by what power do you do this right you just did some remarkable thing it's a miracle no one can deny it where'd you get that magic and what name did you do this what power did you use where'd you get the power to do this and of course he says the same thing and he's going to beat him to the punch here so that they have no you know no reason to be confused this is jesus that does it we believe that jesus is all-powerful we believe he is omnipotent he said well if this is so important you should have helped us memorize that when you train us to evangelism you talk about you know holiness and justice and love well i did right matter of fact anyone who's well trained in evangelism ought to start where the bible starts in genesis 1 1. in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth if you've learned to do evangelism around here at least you've learned we start with this god is creator god is creator and you know what comes with that stuff you can't do right he created everything here's how it's put in the bible with a word of his power he spoke things into existence real quick turn to john 1 1 john 1 1. i want us to see that when evangelism is done in the streets of litta it's about a christ who is presented as all-powerful all-powerful he has all power genesis 1 1 in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth that ought to you've got to be like wow just like if you saw a man who seemed like half of his body was dead so to speak come to life and here out of nowhere come muscle fibers in his in his in his calves and thighs you ought to say wow something out of nothing by the word of someone's power that's amazing and you did that in what power the power of jesus so that ought to be a clear place for us to start there's power in being the creator well in the new testament here's the picture of john now echoing that sentiment that idea and he makes it very clear you met jesus you've heard about jesus jesus is now the son of the carpenter you need to know this he is all-powerful matter of fact the echo of genesis 1 1 right here in john 1 1. so take a look at this with me real quick let this just reinvigorate your view of an omnipotent christ in the beginning was the word the expression of the of the power of god he is god that's the whole point of this verse right in the beginning was the word the word was with god the second person that got it and the word was god he kept calling himself the son of god the son of god son of god so the son this god is triune he doesn't exist as one person he exists as one essence in three persons and the father is omnipotent and every jew knew that but then we need to understand what about the sun here and the sun is presented as god himself sharing all the attributes of divinity and he has all power how much power well verse uh two he was in the beginning with god verse three all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made therefore he's the unmade maker right because he's not made is anything that was made right uh he made everything so you're telling me that just like we're supposed to respect the power of the omnipotent god of the old testament now we introduce you to christ i need to make sure you understand his perfect par with the father he kept saying that to us matter of fact in john chapter five we're not far from it let's just turn there as long as we're getting around quickly in the scriptures this morning because i'm talking so fast john chapter 5. you can see that section dropped down to verse 19. you see the heading there the authority of the sun i wish we had time for the whole passage but let's jump into the middle of verse 21. for just as the father for as the father raises the dead and gives them life and there was a few examples of that in the old testament just a handful but we know that god the omnipotent god who created the world when something is is is dead and lifeless he can recreate he can breathe life back into it he says you know just like the father does that so also the son gives life to whom he will what no no i got the same creative power that the father has and by the way just like if i'm the creator of life as we often say in our evangelism we start with god as creator well then therefore we're accountable to him well you are accountable to him but but not just the father the all authority or all authoritative son is the one who is going to do the judging verse 22. for the father judges no one but he's given all judgment to the son you're like wait a minute old testament says god is the judge of all the earth over and over and over and over again it says that okay well now we're really clear yeah you're talking about god the triune god but let's just be real clear the second person of the godhead this one you're trying to introduce your friend to the one you say you relate to and pray in his authority in his name that one is the one who has all authority to judge the father has said hey son you're going to judge the world that's huge so that no one misunderstands his authority and power that all may honor the son that's respecting authority right honor the son just as they honor the father really the same absolutely well that's called blasphemy unless you're talking about god the omnipotent god is put on flesh and dwelt among us that's where it starts back in john 1 right the one who gives life and light to all men he was the light he came into the world though the world was created by him the world didn't even recognize him but that's the difference between non-christians and christians we recognize him we're not saying hey this is a great prophet a great teacher might keep your kids off drugs might make your marriage better you should be a christian follow christ no no no this is the all powerful omnipotent god in human form though he existed in the form of god did not regard equality with god a thing to be hung on to grasp but he emptied himself taking the form of a bond servant so god you're telling me colossians 2 13 god right is now in human form yeah all of deity dwells perfectly in bodily form in christ for the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form here is christ having all the power of heaven and earth and you ought to honor him with the same kind of power that an old testament jewish person would honor the all-omnipotent authority and almighty god that starts the bible within the beginning god created yes we worship christ because he is god we worship jesus because he is god i'm presenting my neighbor with christ because i'm telling him you're not just picking a plumber and i'm giving him a good review this is the ultimate authority and i need to discern that every time i think about christ every time i pray to christ every time i give any impression to anyone that i've got some information about jesus i need to make it clear he is omnipotent you cannot in any way downplay that matter of fact he's so omnipotent that he's on par with the father just like the father gives life he gives life just like the father is the judge no he is the specific judge and not only that you ought to honor him just like you would honor the father the word of god just like when they asked jesus are you the christ are you the christ he said you're going to see the son of man that's what he called himself right at the right hand of the power on high i am the power of god i'm the right hand i'm the extension of the power of god i am god the father and me everything you would attribute to the father you can attribute to me that's huge you understand that no other religion making that claim except for some crazy you know lives in the desert somewhere you know this is huge i'm telling my neighbor you ought to be a follower of christ christ has all authority okay well it says in our passage that they um saw that power demonstrated okay i would like to have that power demonstrated that maybe you i could do a miracle like peter then everyone go wow i should turn to the lord too well you should let everyone see the power of god and i want you to write this down because that's the goal number two point others to the power of god and you're going well great when do i get my magic wand to do the magic so everyone can say look at the power of god okay first of all let me just have you think through this miracles though everyone thinks they're on every page of the bible are very rare they only happen in three major clusters in throughout biblical history right you started with moses and joshua that period of time very short little rash of them there elijah and elisha rash of them there jesus and the apostles a big rash of them there okay everything else is working according to the way god set up the world because if i said to you yep here you go everyone we're going to pass out the magic wands now every time you share the gospel go and do a demonstration of god's power by suspending natural law and showing the power that god has power and sovereignty over all nations over all of nature so you go and if there's someone that's sick or someone that has you know that's paralyzed or someone with a congenital birth defect you just go wave your magic wand say in jesus name and they'll all be healed i just want you to think about if every christian in every evangelistic encounter in every city in every state in every generation all around the world continues to just break natural law to keep showing every person who wants to know who is this jesus and we all just keep doing what peter did walk into a town and heal all sick people i just wonder what kind of world would we live in you do understand that even jesus walked through villages and walked right by a lot of sick people you know i can't be the only person with a problem in litta physically right this was a very selective healing and it was done as a unique break in natural law so that people can say wow this name of jesus he is powerful if miracles were the norm because every christian and every place in every neighborhood and every conversation is showing the power of god just i just want to let you know a miracle by definition is an exception right to the rules that god has set up and i'd say if the norm now is to break those rules what would we have i just want you to think it through chaos so you're telling me to show the power well maybe it's just the pastor so maybe we can bring him to church and you could heal some few people by the way i should step out of this sermon for just a second to say all the shysters and con men that keep telling you that's what they're doing they are not doing it well yeah but i know somebody in the mission field okay i'm talking about the shysters on tv that are standing up and telling you that they're having people's legs grow longer right i just you need to get that completely out of your mind as anything that we should ever go well they're doing in the name of christ they do a lot of things in the name of christ it's absolutely charlatan con men doing nothing but padding their pockets you just need to understand that we have nothing to do with that we have no interest in that and we're ready to call them out as frauds because they are frauds because i've even had the number one i had to have the number one rated miracle-working show on tv and and i don't share this story often his brother-in-law gets in this horrible accident he's in a coma he's up at st joe's off the street i get pulled into this i start ministering to our pastoral staff does the guy's racked up for over a month i forget the exact time and and guess who didn't show up his brother-in-law who's on tv every day telling everyone to get their miracle as long as they'll send him a few hundred bucks not a single time not until he died and i was doing his funeral did that charlatan walk in and sit right here on the aisle on this side and i sat there trying to preach a message that was comforting when i wanted to get off the stage go over there and slap him in the face because he's a con man your family is there and your brother-in-law is dying suffering your mother who i got to know really well in the hospital room is weeping over this man and you didn't have time to show up because you're too busy flying around in your private jet getting everybody's money for the fake miracles you're trying to do on tv i hate it and you ought to hate it too because that is not what god set up as normative if it were normative we would live in a world filled with miracles which would be the norm right doesn't work so what did god do to somehow parallel the paradigm in this passage which hey i'm going to come to town talk about christ you need to see the power of god and turn to the lord how do i do that i'm glad you asked here's what the bible says let me turn let me give you an example from from acts 14 real quick acts chapter 14 paul barnabas they're being hailed as gods and and and they say stop look at verse 15 of acts chapter 14. as paul tries to correct this thinking he says look don't don't try to sacrifice to us don't bow down to us don't venerate us we are also men of like nature with you right we're not gods we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things that you do like bowing down to people to a living god now here's the first thing who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them i i hope you see when job as we were reading through our daily bible reading this year just recently got done with job and he's calling god on the carpet and it starts to get really too big for his britches in the book and god shows up in chapter 38 what does he start doing chapter after chapter after chapter let's just look at the world i made for just a second he pummels him by saying consider the world consider the earth consider the animals consider how this thing works did you do any of that where were you when i laid the foundation of the world where were you i mean you're calling me and putting me in the dock as csolution said you're putting me on trial um let's talk about creation here's one thing when we fall off a ladder and become paralyzed you can't even fix the bottom half of your body you can't do anything about it right we're running to our doctors thinking they know everything you know a lot of doctors physicians in our church they're good people but they don't know if they don't they don't i mean half the time we even know why the medicines work the way they do right yeah they went to medical school i mean we are fearfully and wonderfully made we're doing the best we can to poke our way through the world and when it comes down to it this world is created and it's on a par with a kind of design that is just otherworldly so the first thing i want to do to show the power of god as romans chapter 1 says is i want to see that the world is speaking to us just by the very nature of being here that there is a world right there is the heavens right and heaven and there is earth and there is a sea and all the teeming life in it it is all a testament to god's power well i know how the world got here i read wikipedia great go to the wikipedia page and try and figure out this whole big bang thing real quick just figure that read about it figure out how all the laws of physics and nature microbiology all that came to be in this this infinitesimal tiny little speck of nothing and then all of a sudden we had this explosion and then all the laws of nature started it go ahead now it still leaves us with this i don't get it how do how when where who what right we we all have to say well just uh whatever somehow but that's what we're going to say because of red shifts of radiation in the universe and just ah that's just how it is okay great doesn't solve the problem as philosophers have been saying and we're not smarter just because we carry on iphones in our pocket and watch youtube here's the thing they thought deeply about the fact that there is something here rather than them rather than there being nothing here you got a problem because we walk around can look in the mirror and say here's a person we go out and see mountains and we see oceans and we see the sun this big ball of fusion up in the air and and we say wow there's something where did it come from as hebrews 3 says every house has a builder the builder of all things is god you have to at least go back even to the secular philosophers who've been saying for millennia right there must be an unmoved mover there must be an uncaused cause who caused all of this and i don't care what you think about astrophysicists i don't think about microbiology i don't care what you think about the origins of the universe you've got to get back to the place where you say here is something that god is saying loud and clear i'm powerful because there's something and that something once you start looking at it in detail which paul goes into next he dropped down to verse 17. he didn't leave himself without a witness even though he didn't immediately punish people which is verse 16 verse 17 says he left a witness what witness did he leave this world is amazing right he did good by giving you reigns from heaven and fruitful seasons and satisfying your heart with food and gladness here's something the world knows sometimes the environmentalists know it better than christians know it and that is this that we have a living world a living world just like your body right now is living had a friend die this week really hard think about the reality the fact that the body might be right there but his spirit is not there he's not alive we have a hard time even the four horsemen of the atheists today that go around talking about they struggle with this consciousness with life difference between a dead frog and a living frog we have a hard time figuring out that principle of life that life force that thing that john 1 says is is the light of life where did it come from what is it all the cells are there right biologically we have the same thing but something happens and we have non-non-living body and so it is with the world the world is living right you can germinate seeds in the ground they grow up to be apple trees we eat the apples i mean here is a living planet that the bible says according to psalm 19 is constantly displaying the power of god and we need to turn people to it in other words it's not the exception to the rules of nature that we need to point out because now all sudden everybody's doing it in every evangelistic encounter every mission field in the world that's not what we're doing we're pointing out to the rules that do exist and that god keeps the rains come the seasons come the axis of the earth the elliptical orbit the fact that we've got a moon that is 400 times smaller than the sun and the sun happened to be 400 times further away which means they appear to be the same disc size on the planet there's all kinds of simple things like that you can say these demonstrate the glory and power of god his divine attributes are on display and the bible says that over and over again point people to the planet look at the earth look at how it functions look at what it looks like look at how it has has been presented to be perfectly suited to provide us with light and that is an intentional thing a design thing and even the whole id movement the intelligent design move at least getting to the place of saying well i get this there's got to be something in the irreducible complexity of life that i'm saying there is someone out there who's not just this uncaused cause and this unmoved mover this is actually someone with an intelligent design and the bible says this is not just the god who created but he upholds all things by the word of his power here's hebrews chapter one that christ the son is the exact representation of the nature of god and he upholds all things by the word of his power matter of fact the word translated in the esv is the universe he upholds the universe by the word of his power colossians one right the the scripture itself says christ colossians two everything in him consists and holds together in christ right whether it's heisenberg trying to look at the the atomic action within the nucleus of an atom saying well there's something going on here that is the life force of this entire universe god is at work and that's a power that unfortunately just because you read a chemistry book in high school doesn't mean we've really thought through and put on display the fact that god's power is demonstrated every day in every place all over the world it's been looking at creation well that's not good enough here's something else jot it down no time to look at it second peter chapter three says you know one of the big powerful things you want to show god's power besides god himself being called powerful there's something else he calls powerful and that is his word and his word is punctuated by something that is so powerful and that is predictive prophecy second peter chapter three says don't forget the predictions of the prophets that's powerful we went back five years ago and i came to your house and i sat down and i spent an hour telling you everything was going to happen the next five years not every little thing every burrito you'd eat every time you eat but i just started talking about stuff that would happen things that you didn't think you thought were so unplausible like i looked forward and i said you hey and by the way even in 2020 you're going to be going to you know ralph's grocery store with a mask on your face what no and everyone's gonna be wearing them be like i don't believe that if i said all those things five years ago and they all came true including when you got a promotion and who in your family had a baby and and and that you got a cracked windshield when a rock got picked up on the freeway and hit your windshield and that you got it fixed at this particular place and i gave you all that information and for five years i prophesied all these things i bet you'd say powerful you say wow okay now i'm not going to come into your neighborhood and do a miracle or you're not going to do a miracle to prove to your neighbors that christ is powerful but you've got a book in your hand that's living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and here's the reason according to second peter chapter 3 because it is punctuated by predictive prophecies and the prophecies are not done yet if i said oh go back to that meeting we had five years ago when i told you all the things were going to happen in the last five years but then i said oh and i had another i had chapter two i also gave you but i didn't let you open it until now open it up now that's the next five years of things and here's the things that are going to happen the next five years if i was batting a thousand in the last five years and i said hey you need to realize this there's going to be things like you know 2024 california's gonna have a huge earthquake and fall into the ocean i'll bet in 2023 you'd be looking to sell your house right you'd be like i should move at least to arizona i want beachfront property in yuma so you do something like that you'd say i'm gonna go there because i believe that the power of this person which i would say i'm just the prophet just the mouthpiece the power of the person giving the information through that prophet must be powerful i want to show others the power of god i point them to creation and point them to the way creation works i point them to the bible which by the way when it says is living an act of sharper than any two hundred sword the next verse says and you know what it lays bare our hearts as we read it and really everything is laid bare before god he sees everything the one with him we have to do the one with whom we're gonna have to give an account and the point is this is preparing your friends for what's coming we've got a book that has power show them the bible as opposed to a chaotic universe and world where every christian's doing a magic trick for people the magic tricks have been done right there has been power of in of an invasion of god's working on the planet in about a hundred or less than a hundred cases throughout biblical history where he says god is at work here now he's saying show them the power i left the power of creation power of the fact that there's something rather than nothing that that something is incredibly designed and that he gave you a book that's incredibly designed because i wrote it through people that's huge and some of us don't even read it i've heard testimonies this weekend about yeah i went to church didn't expect to study the bible came to this church they made me study the bible i've just never thought about that going to church study the bible go get a bible and walk your neighbors through it and show them the power of the scriptures bottom of verse 35 in our passage what happens well after seeing it they turn to the lord that's pretty good that's what we want matter of fact i want to think that in my past i turned to the lord well i don't think you turn to the lord unless you recognize the omnipotence of god and once you did if you really did and you're a christian today then i'm going to say this you need to pray number three let's put it this way for all to submit to god's power because that's another way to put turning to the lord that's another way to put turning to the lord is to say i'm submitting to god's power that's how jesus put it luke chapter 14 he said it's like some army some king coming against you with twenty thousand men and you've got ten thousand men so you've gotta concede that he's more powerful than you and that really is what christianity feels like we heard it in the testimonies this morning it feels like this i have to submit to your power you are more powerful i met todd gates when i was 10 years old at the park we had a big park league his flag football league and i thought i was hot shot i came on there i had these 15 ragtag guys with flags hanging off their waist and i said you know i'm going to be in charge of this thing i'm going to be the quarterback i'm going to be in charge so that's what i'm hoping for coach said well wait a minute todd steps up let me let me show you what i got well i didn't want todd to be the quarterback i want to be the quarterback todd could run faster throw farther kick far i mean so okay coach said i want todd you're going to be the quarterback so 10 year old i was you know obviously heartbroken right my life was over right todd had to be quarterback now if i said i don't recognize your authority or your power i don't think you're any better than me i'm going to go to every huddle and i'm going to say i'm going to give the plays matter of fact every time we start a play i'm going to go and kick you out of the way and try and get behind the the snapper right the center and i'm going to i'm going to take the ball it's not going to work right i have to realize todd's like i finally realized that when i'm about the fifth row up in the stands with my trombone and he's the high school quarterback that's when i i realized i think the coach was right todd he did he became an all-star football player quarterback i was really good on the trombone though but let me tell you this here's the thing we have to recognize this your conversion to christ has to be i'm submitting to the power of god i recognize that because god looks all throughout the bible says there are a lot of people that are religious doing the religious thing but because they don't see my authority and submit to it they don't have the real god in their mind you want a better picture that read the last book of the of the new testament book of revelation you want a good picture that read that and then when you're done with that go back to the last book of the old testament malachi and start reading that one and you know what you'll find you'll find the problem of people not understanding the power that is demonstrated in revelation the book of revelation where god reveals his son and his power right in the last book of the old testament malachi it's when they were trying to go about business as usual and they didn't recognize it and god lays into them he says in chapter one hey if i'm a father right where's my honor if i'm a master where's my respect you guys are doing your thing you act like you're my people but you have no understanding or reflection or concept of my power he says my name will be great among the nations get out of the way oh that someone would come and shut the gates that you wouldn't might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar i just wish you'd stop singing songs to me because you don't recognize my omnipotence a missing ingredient some of you sit here you think you're christians you're not christians because you've never really grappled with the omnipotence of the god man jesus christ some of you are sharing the gospel and you're sharing it like you're trying to give someone you know a reference to some auto mechanic you are presenting people with the king of kings and lord of lords and you need to understand his omnipotence that is the ingredient that is key holiness justice love all those are key as well this one though foundational it's where the bible starts it's where we need to start in our thinking in the elevator view of god it's one of our values around here to maintain a high view of god never stop keeping god in his rightful place and the lord jesus christ is rightful place the spirit's role in your life is to try and do that to elevate the view of christ so as the bible says he'll have the name above every name which the father's already endowed him with so the name of jesus every knee will bow every tongue will confess i'm praying for that for your neighborhood your co-workers your friends let's see more people come to faith in christ by submitting his authority let's pray god thanks for this morning the chance that we have just to ponder for a few minutes hear the greatness of your son who will according to the book of revelation take his great power and begin to reign one day right now we're looking at a book that records his power we see in the age of the apostles the expression of that power in unique ways it was going to be unique because that's what miracles are even in the second century god you convinced your church they wrote about it that the age of the miracles of breaking natural law was over and we understand that and so we say god that we know that you are at work in the most powerful ways that are just there working within the laws of nature the miracle of this reality that we live in and most importantly the dynamic nature of this book we call the bible that reminds us from beginning to end that you see everything that you decree everything that you call forth people and nations and purposes and do everything according to your will and you reveal it to us through your prophets we're grateful for that powerful book let us get in it more this week let us share it more clearly let us be unabashed about the power and authority of jesus christ in whose name we pray [Music] amen

Channel: Mike Fabarez

Views: 180

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Omnipotence, Repentance, Salvation, Healing, Creation, Prophecy, Miracles, Acts, Paul

Id: zYnbhNR3BVc

Length: 37min 17sec (2237 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 19 2021