The Power of God - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, March 24. Nothing in heaven or on earth is remotely like the supreme strength of God. Today's podcast helps us understand what Scripture says about the power of God. Would you turn please to Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19, the first six verses. We're talking tonight about the omnipotence of God. And in this particular passage, we see God's delivered children in heaven. And there's one verse I want you to see because herein, our Heavenly Father is described as an omnipotent God. And after these things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.

For true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia, and her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and 20 elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne saying, Amen, Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

And I heard as it were, and he's trying to describe what he heard. And I heard as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Now, there are a lot of folks who have a hard time praising God, but you know why they do? It isn't because of the church they go to, it's because of their concept of who God is. When you recognize who God is and what he's like, you're going to be in some way in some expression every day of your life, you're going to be praising the Lord.

Verse five, and a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. When a man understands that God is holy, something will happen to his life. When he understands that God is omniscient, something will happen in his life. When he understands that God is omnipresent, you'll see a difference in the actions of his life.

When a man comes into the reality to believe that Almighty God is all powerful, you're going to see something happen in that person's life. Now watch this, it is one thing to assent intellectually to the fact that the Scripture that God is omnipotent, it is something else to emotionally believe in your heart that God is an omnipotent Almighty God. The three things I want to say about his omnipotence.

The first one is this, I simply want to give a definition or description of what that means. To say that God is omnipotent, and that word means all powerful, simply means that God is capable of doing anything and everything that is in keeping with his moral attributes. And the reason I say it that way, or we could just put it simply for children, that means that God can do anything he wants to, anywhere he wants to, anytime he wants to without any reservation or any hesitation or any resistance from anyone else.

But let me say it a little bit clearer for those of you who understand a little bit deeper. When we say that God can do all things that are in keeping with his moral attributes, that puts no human limitation upon God. To say that God is omnipotent says that within the self-existent being of God, and that's what the word Yahweh means, Jehovah, that he's self-existent.

That means he's dependent upon no one at any time for anything. Which says to us that all power within God is generated from God and is not dependent upon anything else. Because he's self-existent, he leans upon no one and looks to no one for anything. Well, aren't you glad that God is an absolute infinite resource of supernatural power and there'll never be a spiritual blackout of power with God. Because you see, his power knows no limitation whatsoever.

No human limitation can be placed upon God. Dependent upon no one for anything, therefore, all power, that is every single iota of power, every atom of power, all power in the whole realm of the universe is to be found in one person and that's God. So when the scripture says, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, here are those who have been delivered from this world, they're in the presence of God, they are bowing before his throne and praising him. And what are they praising him for? Praising him, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Why are they giving testimony to his omnipotence because those saints who have been delivered from the trials and the tribulations of this world had seen from the world point of view having been here and now they're looking from heaven having been delivered from all of that, having experienced the omnipotence of God of having been translated from this earth into heaven and seated in the presence of a holy God, they are describing and praising God for that attribute as they have seen him bring the whole of history to one gigantic climax and that holy God rule and reign over all the satanic forces of the earth. That's why they can say, praise be unto the Lord, praise be unto God, the Lord God omnipotent ruleth and reigneth over all the universe. And when man thrust himself against God, as if he is going to deprive God of his omnipotence, he is going to wrench from God which only God contains and holds and uses to accomplish his purpose.

Who is man? When man defies God and resists God and uses the holy name of God in vain, he does not understand nor does he acknowledge the fact that God is supernatural, that God is omnipotent, that all power belongs to God, even the capability of lifting your voice has to find itself ultimately from the power of God. And you see, we cast his name around and we act as if we are in control. God is sovereign. God is in control. And my friend, if God is not omnipotent, all of us are in trouble. Now the scripture teaches us that God is omnipotent.

There are many, many verses to refer to that and we will in just a few moments, but something else I want us to see. You see, his omnipotence, now watch this, his omnipotence is a foundation for the other attributes of God. For example, we have said that God is omniscient. He knows everything, but what good would it do him if he were not omnipotent? What good would it do for God to know your future, what you're going to do, the way you're headed, the troubles you're headed toward, if he couldn't do anything about it? What good would it be for God to be omnipresent if he couldn't do anything about the very things that were happening around him?

What is the mercy of God except mere pity if God does not have the power to perform redemption in a man's heart? You see, as you look at the attributes of God, you put them together and God's all consuming power must rest as the foundation or God is a helpless, impersonal being in the heavens floating out yonder somewhere and is of no value to us. He's omnipotent.

That means all of the universes of the universe that God has made is subject not only to his finger, to his hand, but also to his spoken word. Now you say, well, are there any limitations on God? Yes, there are limitations on God.

So how can he be sovereign and have limitations? There are no human limitations on God. The Bible says God cannot look upon iniquity. The Bible says that God cannot lie. The Bible says that God cannot be tempted to do evil. The Bible says that God cannot deny himself. Listen, the only things God cannot do are those things that would violate his moral attribute of holiness, righteousness and truthfulness. God will not do anything that is ridiculous and in opposition to his own character. You see, there are laws that God has set in the universe.

There are certain principles that are true. He is self-existent, that is he is self-contained. There is nothing he rests upon. When God said, I cannot lie, then God cannot lie. When God said of himself, I will not deny myself.

I will be faithful to every promise I've made. Then God can't do otherwise. So the only limitations that God has upon himself are those limitations that are in keeping with his character. Now, the second thing I want us to notice here is the demonstration, a demonstration of the omnipotence of God.

We said, here's the definition of it. That is, there are no human limitations upon God resting upon no one, the self-existent all powerful one from whom all power in the universe exists. But let's think about how God has demonstrated his omnipotence. For example, all you have to do is to go back to the first book of the Bible. If you'll turn to Genesis chapter one for just a moment, can you tell me anyone else in the whole world, Satan and all of his demonic powers or all the angels in heaven who above or beyond God could ever say this? Chapter one, verse three, let there be light and there was light.

Everyone in order to create or to make anything has to have something to start with. Wood, steel, cement, he must have tools, but God with nothing in his hand. The scripture says by the word of God, the worlds came into being. He spoke and the very word of God. Listen, when omnipotent God said, out in nothing, let there be light. Light came.

Where did it come from? It came and its source was from the mouth of a holy righteous omnipotent God. He spoke and the worlds were framed. How do you and I account for the perfect design and not only is the design created, but it is constantly sustained and the scripture says that the omnipotent God can speak and one word from him can bring all of that to total disintegration. Why because he's omnipotent. Well look at the scripture for a moment. You know, they laughed at old Noah. They called him a fool, said he was absolutely insane until an omnipotent God ripped the canopy around the earth and the whole canopy of the heavens fell and flooded this whole earth.

You see, man can defy, man can discover, man can make, but man ultimately cannot defy the omnipotence of God. When the children faced the Red Sea, what happened? Why surely Moses and the nation of Israel would never have been able to make enough boats to get across. When they came to the Red Sea, God said to Moses, Moses lift up your rod and what happened? God spoke and if the wind blew at that particular time, it was because God blew the wind. If all of a sudden the waters just raised back on their side, it's because God lifted the waters and man can just rummage through his carnal mind trying to explain away the supernatural in the scripture, but every time he comes to the point of saying and after that what then and there is no answer for it.

When you look at the scriptures, for example, let's take the wall of Jericho and if you'll notice how the wall fell, the scripture says all they did is just march around it. Now I want you to get a hold of this. Now, watch this.

Don't miss this. If you and I will obey God, watch this. If you and I will obey God when it is necessary for the omnipotence of God to intervene in our life to accomplish the will of God, he will do for us in the same supernatural power that brought down the walls of Jericho that he did for Joshua. It is his unlimited power that is available to his children and we walk around like we're just scared to death and we're subject to the world.

We are the sons and the daughters of an omnipotent king and we act like frightened children not knowing where we're going. You remember when the storm was about to sink that little old ship and those disciples were scared out of their wits. The Lord Jesus said, he didn't get him a big arm full of water. He just said, peace be still. And those gigantic waves on that sea that rose over the sides of that boat and washed their bodies with that water, the scripture says it just all calmed down to glassy tranquility.

Why? Because he just spoke the word. You see, omnipotence doesn't need to do anything else but speak and everything obeys but man. Look around you for example, you remember what Paul said in the eighth chapter of Romans? He said the whole earth groans and man today talks about all of his defenses and we are so power conscious today.

But listen, if God wanted to, all he'd have to do is to start a few earthquakes and just let them crisscross across this nation and what do you think you could do about it? Listen, we ought in a very humble sort of way, in a humble sort of way, walk and stand before God with all the humility of our soul. You and I are the servants and the children of the king who has all power at his fingertips and all he has to do is to speak and whatever he wants can take place. Well you and I could talk about all the miracles in the Bible, the raising of Lazarus, all the rest, but you know one of the great things is the fact that you and I experience more than we realize the omnipotence of God in our daily life. I think of all the things in your life and mine, let me ask you something. Who could save you except God?

Nobody. When it comes to saving a man's soul, it takes the omnipotence of God to do it. Only God can do that. When he says for example, that he makes us a new creature, who can make a new creature?

Let's take for example, here's a 60 year old man who's lived 60 years in disobedience and defiance to the will of God. He drops upon his knees at this altar and crying out to God to save him and forgive him of his sin. Listen, can you tell me where is there a man, where is there a preacher or a healer or a philosopher who can do one thing for that man apart from the supernatural power of God to forgive him of his sin and write his name in the Lamb's Book of Life, not a man? On this side of the altar comes a six year old boy.

He gets on his knees and he asks the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive him of his sins and to come into his heart. And I'm going to tell you, there are not enough mothers in the world who can save that little six year old boy. It takes the same omnipotence of God and the same shedding of the blood of Calvary to save a six year old boy and a 60 year old man. It takes power beyond human reason and beyond human power. And you know, one of the most powerful things, one of the most powerful things that God has is love.

You know, it's sort of like somebody saying you've got to have the strength to hit the golf ball easy. God in his omnipotence does what? He always works from the heart of love. He's God omnipotent. Thank you for listening to The Power of God. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.