ISAIAH 9:6
MIGHTY GOD!
#3 - Our Wonderful Lord
I have some Bible Trivia for you this morning.
1. Fill in the blank In the beginning
(God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1)
2. What natural phenomenon occurred at the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? (An earthquake - Matthew 28:2)
3. After the Children of Israel left Egypt, how did God feed them? (With supernatural provision manna and quail)
4. What did the Lord do to the sun to help Joshua win a battle? (He made the sun stand still. Joshua 10:12-13)
5. What did God do to a sacrifice, the wood and even the altar of stone that Elijah offered? (He consumed it with fire. 2 Kings 18:38)
6. What did God do to help a poor widow who only had a little oil? (Multiplied the oil and filled every pot she had and could borrow. 2 Kings 4:1-7)
Did you notice that every one of the trivia questions have to do with the power of God? And we know that God is powerful.
Isaiah 40:28 - Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Jeremiah 32:17 - Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
We have been preparing for Christmas during our Sunday Morning messages. We have been looking at Our Wonderful Lord based on Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
We have seen Jesus as Wonderful, everlasting Father, and Counsellor. This morning we want to see Him as Mighty God.
If Jesus is the "Mighty God" that means He can help us with any problem. Let us look at some of the ways Jesus is mighty.
THE LORD JESUS IS:
MIGHTY IN STRENGTH
MIGHTY IN SUPPLY
MIGHTY IN THE STORMS
MIGHTY IN SACRIFICE
MIGHTY IN SUPERIORITY
There are many Scriptures we could use to prove each point, but we will concentrate on one Scripture for each example.
MIGHTY IN STRENGTH - Luke 7:11-15
Luke 7:11-15 - READ
A widow was burying her only son.
This would have had economic implications as well as emotional.
The lady had already lost her husband, now her only son.
Who would provide for her.
Jesus reached down, and touched the liter carrying the dead man and told him to arise.
The man sat up and started to speak.
What a miracle!
What a display of Jesus' power as mighty God!
Jeremiah 32:27 - Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Luke 1:37 - For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Is Jesus still using His power today?
The answer is yes!
Every time a soul is saved, it is an evidence of His power!
And every time a prayer is answered, it is an evidence of His power.
John 14:13-14 - And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
It is as if Jesus has signed a blank check and has said, "Fill it in!"
When we ask something in Jesus' name, we ask believing that it is something that He approves of. And when we ask for things that He as God approves of, we have an answer to our prayer.
1 John 5:14-15 - And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: [15] And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
About a year into the ministry at our last church, things didn't look so good. Several people had left. And we began to pray that God would send us 10 new families within a year. He did!
We look around and see the great number of unsaved people.
We are asking God for 10 new believers by June of next year.
It is God's will that they be saved. Will you join me in prayer?
A few young people I know of have been brought up in the things of the Lord have departed from their faith. They need to be restored. If you would like a name of two, see me later. Will you pray with me that they will return?
And what sticky problem are you facing that needs the power of the Lord Jesus? Bring the request to Him in faith.
Mark 11:23-24 - For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. [24] Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
JESUS IS MIGHTY IN STRENGTH
MIGHTY IN SUPPLY - Matthew 15:29-37
Vss. 29-31 - Read
Vs. 32 - Notice something very important here. It is the quality that motivated Jesus to do many of the things he did. Jesus was and is a God of compassion!
We already saw His compassion on the Widow of Nain.
Earlier in Matthew we are told of Jesus compassion on people who had spiritual needs.
Matthew 9:36 - But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Jesus also had compassion on the sick.
Matthew 14:14 - And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
Jesus, as God, cared about people. He had compassion. This challenges me, that if I call myself a Christian, I too, need to have compassion on people caring about their physical and Spiritual needs.
Matthew 15:32-37 - I am encouraged by this story. If Jesus cared about the physical needs of the people who gathered to hear him preach, He will also care about my needs.
Jesus, as mighty God had the ability to feed 4,000 people.
Jesus, as mighty God has the ability to take care of my needs.
Philippians 4:19 - But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Matthew 6:28-34
I have seen God provide for our needs on many occasions.
Christmas has often been a time when God has shown his care.
In our first church, we were wondering how we would ever buy Christmas presents one year. One of the church ladies showed up early and gave us the Christmas gift from the church, figuring we could use the money before Christmas Eve, when the gift was to be given. And this year the church council has given us a Christmas gift that has helped provide for Christmas and we are grateful.
As long as we have our priorities straight, the mighty God will provide for our needs.
JESUS IS MIGHTY IN STRENGTH
MIGHTY IN SUPPLY - Matthew 15:29-37
MIGHTY IN THE STORMS - Luke 8:22-25
Luke 8:22-25 - Read
If there is anything we are going to face as Christians, it's storms!
I don't mean the storms of thunder and lightning that we experience or even snow storms.
We are going to experience spiritual, emotional, and physical storms that are going to challenge our faith. Another word for these storms is trials.
2 Timothy 3:12 - Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
James 1:2-4 - My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; [3] Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. [4] But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
It is the storms that mature us and help our faith build.
Each time we watch as Jesus calms a storm, we will see our confidence in Him grow.
Note some interesting things from the passage that we just read:
· The disciples were on the sea when the storm hit, because Jesus told them to go to the other side of the lake. When we face our storms, let us make sure that we face them because we are following Jesus' direction.
· Also note that Jesus was with them in the boat. It would be foolish not to have Jesus in the boat we call life.
Make sure that you have accepted Him as your Savior and that He is present in your life.
· Although Jesus may appear to be "asleep", He isn't. Sometimes He takes His time in bailing us out to test us all the more. There will be a time when he arises and proclaims peace. It doesn't always mean the problem goes away, but He will give you peace during the storm.
· There is an underlying principle for any storm. The principle is, don't panic but trust! But your faith square on the Lord Jesus.
Edwin Markham:
At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky
And flinging the clouds and the towers by,
Is a place of central calm;
So here in the roar of mortal things,
I have a place where my spirit sings,
In the hollow of God's palm. - Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 8429.
George Macdonald - In life troubles will come which seem as if they never will pass away. The night and storm look as if they would last forever; but the calm and the morning cannot be stayed; the storm in its very nature is transient. The effort of nature, as that of the human heart, ever is to return to its repose, for God is peace. - Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 8444.
Psalm 30:5 …weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
What storm are you facing? Jesus is the Mighty God.
Let Him speak peace to you in the midst of the storm.
THE LORD JESUS IS:
MIGHTY IN STRENGTH
MIGHTY IN SUPPLY
MIGHTY IN THE STORMS
MIGHTY IN SACRIFICE - 2 Corinthians 5:21
When I was in eighth grade, finances were not too good in the Peters family. The class had recently been on a field trip, and then the teacher decided to take us to see Ben Hur. I remember my mother telling me that I could not go because of finances. In the end, I went. Why? Mom somehow found the money. She made a sacrifice in some way that enabled me to go.
But that was a miniscule sacrifice compared to the one Jesus made for us.
As you probably know Jesus was born so that He could die.
As you probably also know, we have all failed God and deserve punishment instead of Heavenly bliss.
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Ezekiel 18:4 - Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
God is a loving God, but He is also a righteous God.
Somebody had to pay for the violations that we have made against His holy law.
Jesus, in His strength as the Mighty God, did the unthinkable.
He gave His life on the cross to die for our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The only way that we could be declared righteous enough to enter God's Heaven was for Jesus, who is sinless, to bear our sins upon the cross. God the Father can declare us righteous based on the death of Christ for our sins.
Jesus paid for every one of your sins on the cross.
He requires only one thing of you and that is your faith.
Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Jesus is so mighty that He arose from the dead.
Jesus is so mighty that He is able to save you, forgive you, and give you eternal life.
Jesus is so mighty that all He wants you to do is trust Him.
MIGHTY IN STRENGTH
MIGHTY IN SUPPLY
MIGHTY IN THE STORMS
MIGHTY IN SACRIFICE
MIGHTY IN SUPERIORITY - Ephesians 1:19-23
Vs. 19 - Paul was telling the Ephesians how he prayed for them.
In verses 19-23, Paul is praying for experiential knowledge for the Ephesians. There were some things that Paul wanted them to know.
Paul wanted the Ephesians to know the exceeding greatness of God's power towards us who are believers.
Vs. 20 - This is the same power that God used towards the Lord Jesus.
Jesus is so mighty that He is risen from the dead.
Jesus is so mighty that He sits on the right hand of God in Heaven. And do you know what's so neat about that?
He is there in our behalf.
Hebrews 4:14-16 - Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. [15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Anytime we have a need we can come to the throne of grace where the Lord Jesus is there on our behalf.
Anytime we are tempted to sin, we can come the throne of grace where the Lord Jesus is there in our behalf.
Anytime we need mercy or grace we can come to the throne of grace where the Lord Jesus is there in our behalf.
Vs. 21 - Jesus is so mighty that He is above everything, both now and in the future.
Vs. 22 - Everything is under His feet. There will be a day when according to Philippians 2:10-11, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And notice who the head of the church is.
It's not Billy Graham.
It's not the Pope.
It's not Jack Peters.
IT'S THE LORD JESUS!
He is to have absolute rule in this church!
Vs. 23 - The church is His body and He fills it!
He is preeminent.
He is Lord of all.
John MacArthur - "He is completely over us, and completely in us, our supreme Lord and supreme power." John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - Ephesians, ©1986, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Page 49
You and I do not have a wimpy God.
We have an all-powerful God.
We should live accordingly.
Jesus is the Mighty God!
MIGHTY IN STRENGTH
MIGHTY IN SUPPLY
MIGHTY IN THE STORMS
MIGHTY IN SACRIFICE
MIGHTY IN SUPERIORITY