Romans 1:16
Power Today for Your Life

Let me begin by asking a question - "Does God have power?"
     1. God did create this world out of nothing, did He not?
     2. And after He created the world, He created man and put into him the
         breathe of life, did He not?
     3. And after that, God selected a people to Himself, Israel first and then
         the church, a people whom He nurtured and cared for, did He not?
     4. Even to the place that He gave us His Son, Jesus, who did rise from the
         dead, did He not?

So let’s refine our question.  "Does God have power - TODAY?"
     1. I know we are a smaller, country church, but still we see the hand of
         God, do we not?
     2. Even last night, have we not seen how God has used our little church
         to powerfully share the saving news of Jesus with others?
     3. Have we not heard testimonies about God’s saving and changing power,
         how that God saves from the gutter most to the uttermost!
     4. Through missionaries and others have we not seen that God still wins
         the hundreds, if not the thousands, to Himself?
     5. Have we ourselves not be permanently and powerfully saved?

Lastly, we ask, "Does God have power TODAY for MY life?"
     1. Now, we get down to the nitty-gritty.
     2. Does God answer your prayers?
     3. Does God seem concerned about your needs?
     4. If you needed God to show up in your life today before 12 noon, do you
         believe He would?
     5. Is the power of God available for YOUR life TODAY?

Today’s message is POWER TODAY FOR YOUR LIFE. I would like to share three simple
truths with you this morning:

    I. God’s power is available for YOUR life TODAY.
        A. I know that first because the Bible says so.

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. …And lo, I am with you always.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in
power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of
men we were among you for your sake.

        B. However, just because the power is available, that does not mean you
            know how to use it.
            1. The power IS there, however, you must know how to get it.
            2. If we brought a person from the 18th century into this world and
                told him that there was a power called electricity flowing through
                the walls of this church, he might believe us, but that doesn’t
                mean he would know how to get at that power or what to do with it
                when he got to it.
            3. So it is with the Child of God.
                a. God has given us ample power.
                b. Yet we must learn how to get at it.
            4. Getting to that power is not just an issue of DOING the right
                things.
            5. It is also an issue of BEING the right kind of person.
        C. One of our biggest problems in this era is that we do not know what
            the power of God is given for.
            1. God does not just give of His power to anyone for any reason.
            2. There are some uses for the power of God that you will not find
                in the Bible.
                 a. God’s power is not given for personal promotion. It is not
                     given so that you can win the lottery, become rich, get a
                     job promotion, or otherwise advance yourself.
                 b. God’s power is not given for personal comfort.  It is not
                     for you to free yourself of every sickness, trouble, or
                     hardship.
                 c. God’s power is not given for personal bragging. It is amazing
                     how many supposedly spiritual people want to use spirit
                     blessings to enhance their image.
            3. The Bible gives us illustrations of what God’s power is given for.

1Kings 18:30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all
the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was
broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the
sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy
name:
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a
trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on
the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt
sacrifice, and on the wood.
34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he
said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with
water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of
Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy
servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD
God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the
wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the
trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The
LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

            4. As this text demonstrates, it is given for the following:
                a. God’s power is given to withstand evil!
                   (1) Ahab and Jezebel, along with the prophets of Baal, were
                        corrupting the entire nation!
                        (a) They had instituted false worship,
                        (b) child sacrifice,
                        (c) and violence and greed were rampant.
                   (2) "If ever America needed God’s power, it needs it
                         to combat the evil abounding in our world today!"
                        (a) I am quoting that statement from a message I first
                             preached in 1995.
                        (b) If America looked in bad shape then, it looks even
                             worse now.  Since then…
                             i. American has become gay.
                            ii. We have been attacked on our home soil by
                                 religious terrorist.
                           iii. We are presently occupied in two wars and an
                                 unlimited number of military actions.
                            iv. Our government leaders have socialist,
                                 implementing government takeovers of our banks,
                                 our airlines, our auto industry, and our health
                                 care.
                             v. A "Hate Crimes’ bill was signed into law that
                                  will eventually require this church to
                                  compromise or to be closed.
                            vi. Sadly, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
                     (3) This is the kind of wickedness that Elijah used the power
                          of God to fight against.
                          (a) Sadly, many people of our day do not want to
                               see God stop the demise of our nation any more
                               than the people in Elijah’s day wanted to see
                               wickedness stopped. 
                          (b) Like Elijah, we are not just fighting the wicked
                               leaders of our day but the wicked people of our
                               day as well.
                  b. God’s power is given to witness to the lost!
                     (1) Notice the challenge issued to the people by Elijah
                          that day.

1Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt
ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then
follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

                     (2) This was not a display to promote Elijah.
                     (3) It was a demonstration to promote God to the unregenerate.

                    c. God’s power is given to give God glory!

1Kings 18:39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and
they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

                     (1) In the end, the reason God does all that He does is
                          that He might be glorified.
                     (2) God has stacked the deck.  No matter what you do, He
                          will be glorified.
                          (a) He will be glorified by your repentance and
                               salvation.
                          (b) Or He will be glorified when your defiance and
                               rebellion is punished.

   II. The means of getting that power has always the same.
        A. A lot of people ask the question, "Why doesn’t God do today what He
            did in the past?"
            1. It is a good question.  I have asked it a lot myself.
            2. The specific answer is not given in the Bible.
        B. However, I think there are several answers.
            1. We are not the kind of Christian God had in the past.
                a. That may sting a good bit, but I believe it is true.
                b. We are a very "carnal" generation of Christians (and I
                    include myself in that number).
                    (1) We are pleasure oriented.
                    (2) We are self-absorbed.
                    (3) We are self-righteous.
                    (4) We know very little of praying, sacrificial giving, and
                         self-denying.
                c. Most Christians are like the politician I saw on the news
                    this week.
                    (1) He had a preacher or two at his side,
                         was described as being a 30-year Sunday School teacher,
                         announced that the two week ordeal he has been through
                          had "interfered with his Bible study."
                    (2) Yet, there he stood, convicted on 60 counts of
                         malfeasance with a variety of vulgar and profane words
                         coming out of his mouth.
                    (3) Somehow, most of us have lost the connection between
                         our religion and our life! 
            2. We are not doing what God commanded for this kind of power to come.

Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

                a. It might do us good to remember that these words were spoken
                    to those who would be called apostles.
                b. Yet, even they were powerless without prayer and fasting.
                c. God doesn’t manifest this kind of power to just anyone.
                d. God only gives it to His closest friends.
                e. By-the-way, I am not certain you can pray and fast enough to
                    get this kind of power.
                    (1) I am not certain anyone can approach God for anything
                         with a "work-ethic" attitude.
                    (2) I rather expect that you will have to pray and fast for
                         the desire of being WITH Him not, for what you can
                         RECEIVE FROM Him.
        C. A question must be raised at this point.
            1. Is it possible that in the last of the last days, God has
                withheld His power to allow Satan to rise?
                a. We  understand from the Scripture that there will come a day
                    when evil will rise, and God will let it.
                b. These may be those days.
            2. The answer is possibly yes.
            3. However, while it is a possibility, I believe that the evil ast days
                will come because God’s people quit seeking Him, not in spite of it.
                a. In other words, I believe that as long as the people of God
                    keep doing what they are supposed to do, those evil days will
                    not come.
                b. That would mean that the promise of 2Chronicles 7:14, is a very
                    literal promise.

2 Chronicles 7"14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal
their land.

   III. God is always looking for a vessel through which He may display
         His power.

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole
earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect
toward him.

        A. This verse makes it clear that God is looking for a person through whom
            He may show Himself to be a powerful God.  Let me point out:
            1. That verse was spoken during an evil day.
                a. In fact, the prophet who spoke it was immediately placed in
                    prison for speaking it.
                b. Yet in that day, God was looking for someone to demonstrate His
                    power through.
            2. And God is looking for someone to show His power to today.
        B. What kind of person is God looking for?
            1. God is looking for a lost person that wants to be saved.
            2. God is looking for a broken person who wants to be comforted.
            3. God is looking for a confused person who wants to understand.
            4. God is looking for a concerned person who wants to help.
            5. God is looking for a dedicated person who wants to make a
                difference.

The question today should not be, "Is there power from God for my life today?"
It should be, "Am I willing to be the kind of person God will give His power to?"
and "Am I willing to do the things required for God to give me His power?"

<Outline Index>  <Close Window>