Posts Tagged ‘God’s power’

His divine power

Posted: November 1, 2012 by Pam Larson in 2 Peter, Devotionals/Commentaries, November
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His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to  his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.—2 Peter 1:3-4

John Piper, from a sermon series on 2 Peter from 1982:

…the way of godliness and the hope of eternal life do not lie within our own power to produce or attain. Therefore, Peter says, “God’s divine power has granted us all things that pertain to (or lead to) life and godliness.” This is a humbling sentence. When it comes to life and godliness, we must have everything provided for us from outside. Of course, this does not mean we are passive. As Paul says, “Work out your salvation . . . for God is at work in you” (Philippians 2:13). But it does imply that we could never be godly or attain eternal life if we do not rely on divine power.

We need to pause and stress this. The Christian faith is not merely a set of doctrines to be accepted. It is a power to be experienced. It is a tragic thing to ask people if they know the Lord and have them start listing the things they believe about the Lord. Brothers and sisters, believing things about Jesus Christ will save no one. The devils are the most orthodox believers under heaven. It is divine power that saves. If the power of God does not flow into your life and make you godly, you are not Christ’s. “All who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The mark of sonship is divine power. And the mark of power is godliness; which means a love for the things of God and a walk in the ways of God.

And Peter says that divine power has been granted to us. Who is “us”? Verse 1: “those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours.” Power is given to those who rely on Christ’s righteousness. But how is this power experienced? How does it become active in our lives? That is the third part of verse 3: “through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” As in verse 2 grace is multiplied in the knowledge of God, so in verse 3 divine power is granted through the knowledge of God. This gives us a good definition of grace. God’s grace is a free power that works in us for our good. And the way it becomes active in our day-to-day life is through our knowledge of God, and one fact about God in particular: that “he called us to his glory and excellence.” But this is not a mere fact about God if you know it as applying to yourself. It is power.

1389.3 Holocaust AIf you are a prisoner of war in a concentration camp, and you have lost hope, and hopeless, have thrown your morality away, and you learn that a prisoner exchange is being planned, and you see the guard coming down the row pointing to individual prisoners and calling them to follow him to freedom and family; it is not a mere piece of knowledge when he points to you and calls you. It is power! The power of hope surges through your body because you know you have been called. So when Peter says that divine power for hope and godliness flows through the knowledge of our call to glory, we can feel what he means. If we could but see the glory and excellence of God and know that our Creator has approached us and said, “You there, come; I’m going to show you my glory and give you an eternal life to enjoy it,” it would mean power! The power of hope and the power of godliness. You know this from experience: when you see the glory and excellence of God most clearly and know he has set his affections on you, then is when you have power to live as you ought.

Why did Jesus say, “Take away the stone?”

Posted: November 16, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, November
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John 11:38-41 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”  So they took away the stone.

J.C.Ryle comments:

lazarus Now why did our Lord say this? It was doubtless as easy for Him to command the stone to roll away untouched as to call a dead body from the tomb. But such was not His mode of proceeding. Here, as in other cases, He chose to give man something to do. Here, as elsewhere, He taught the great lesson that His almighty power was not meant to destroy man’s responsibility. Even when He was ready and willing to raise the dead, He would not have man stand by altogether idle.

Let us treasure up this in our memories. It involves a point of great importance. In doing spiritual good to others–in training up our children for heaven–in following after holiness in our own daily walk–in all these things it is undoubtedly true that we are weak and helpless. “Without Christ we can do nothing.” But still we must remember that Christ expects us to do what we can. “Take you away the stone” is the daily command which He gives us. Let us beware that we do not stand still in idleness, under the pretense of humility. Let us daily try to do what we can, and in the trying Christ will meet us and grant His blessing.

Jesus: Grace and power. Mercy and might.

Posted: October 14, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, October
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So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.  When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”  The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.— John 4:46-50

John Piper, in the conclusion of a sermon, “Go, Your Son Will Live”

And in conclusion, notice that this is exactly what John wants us to see in his healing of the official’s son. He wants to help us overcome these blinding impulses and see the grace and the power—the mercy and the might—of Jesus as he heals the dying boy.

1) Jesus Is Gracious

First, notice the grace of it. He heals this child in a very unbelieving atmosphere. The first thing he says to the official when he pleads for his son is, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe” (verse 48). Jesus does not commend the man or the people around him. He is provoked at the sign-seeking false faith that abounds in Galilee. And in that context, he gives the free gift of healing.

And he gives the gift to a man he’s never met, who has attachments in some way probably with the court of wicked Herod Antipas, and who says nothing about the person or the power of Jesus. He just wants him to come.

In other words, when Jesus decided to heal this boy, it was grace. He was not looking at anyone’s merit or desert. It was a free, gracious gift. “We have seen his glory full of grace and truth, and from his fullness we have received grace upon grace.” If you have the pride of attachment or a sense of entitlement, you won’t be able to see this.

2) Jesus Is Powerful

Finally, John wants us to see not only the grace of the healing, but the power of it. The boy was dying of a fever. The power of Jesus to heal is seen in the fact that he did it with a mere word. He simply said, “Go, your son will live” (verse 50). And at that one word, the physical chemistry of a boy’s body changed.

The power is seen in that distance was not hindrance. The boy was 15 miles away in Capernaum. He could have been 15,000 miles away. It would not have mattered. When Jesus speaks with authority, there are no spatial limitations to his power.

And the power of his healing is seen in the fact that it was immediate. John draws special attention to that. They say in verse 52 that he recovered in the seventh hour—1 p.m. the day before. Then John says in verse 53, “The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’” At the very moment Jesus spoke, it was done.

See His Glory

A dying boy healed with a word, over distance, at once. Such is the power of Jesus. Grace and power. Mercy and might.

We beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. May the Lord remove all pride, all entitlement, all blinding familiarity, and reveal to us the glory of the grace and power of Christ.

See God for who He really is

Posted: October 8, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Jeremiah, October
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  O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to thee shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nought but lies,
worthless things in which there is no profit.
Can man make for himself gods?
Such are no gods!” (Jeremiah 16:19-20 RSV)

Ray Stedman, in a message “To Whom Shall We Go?”

That is what the nations, Jeremiah says, are going to say to God at last. They are going to come to him and confess the emptiness of all the things they trusted in. Jeremiah lifts up his eyes and looks down the course of the ages and sees the end of history. And he says, “Lord, what you’re doing now, though it’s hard for me to bear, nevertheless, I have a stronghold in you, a place of refuge, and I know it’s going to work! One day the nations are going to see the result of their incredible folly, and come and confess to you the emptiness of all the things they had followed.” And he is praising God for this. God’s response is,

“Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.” (Jeremiah 16:21 RSV)

That is, only by the utter collapse of all that men trust in will they ever have their eyes opened to what God has been saying to them. This is why God moves the way he does with individuals — to bring them to the end of themselves, to let them get into trouble and fall apart, and bankrupt themselves in every degree. It is then that both individuals and nations get their eyes open. Then they see who God is — see his power and his might and his love.

God: Needs no carrying. He carries us.

Posted: September 24, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Isaiah, September
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From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.—Isaiah 64:4


John Piper, in a sermon “God Works For Those Who Waith For Him”

The text suggests that in working for those who wait for him, God does something utterly unique. “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him.” No one has ever heard or seen the likes of this God. Isaiah contrasts Jehovah with the Babylonian gods in Isaiah 46:1–4. Bel and Nebo are the Jupiter and Mercury of Babylon, and they are as helpless as their falling images. They have to be carried. Their subjects have to work for them. But the Lord of Israel is the creator, and he does the carrying.

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop, they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am He, and to grey hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save (cf. Jeremiah 10:5).

What sets Jehovah apart from all the other gods is that he does not need to be carried. He has made, and he will carry. He will work for those who wait for him. The distinguishing mark of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus is that he magnifies his greatness by coming down to work for us. It says in Isaiah 30:18, “He exalts himself to show mercy to you.” God aims to be an utterly unique, wonderful, and exalted God, and the way he does it is by condescending to forgive sinners and work for those who wait for him. Therefore, no eye has ever seen the likes of such a God; it is without parallel anywhere that the Creator should come down and work for the creature.

To read or listen to the rest of the sermon, click here:

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Posted: August 11, 2011 by Pam Larson in August, Devotionals/Commentaries, Nehemiah
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In Nehemiah 4, we come to two statements which contain elements of God’s awesome power and soveriegnty, and also elements of our responsibility.  The setting is the rebuilding of the wall and the fierce opposition from the enemies of the Jews.  In verse 9 we read:

And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

And in verse 14:

And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

What is one of the lessons we can learn from Nehemiah?  Remember that we serve an awesome and powerful God, who is able to save us, protect us, and deliver us from our enemies BUT that doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing.  We pray and we set a guard.  We remember Who God is, and we fight in His strength.

Philippians 2:12-13 states it this way, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

 

 

God’s predictions are as sure as He is powerful!

Posted: August 1, 2011 by Pam Larson in August, Devotionals/Commentaries, Ezra
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John Piper, in “A Hunger for God” p 166:
 
Israel had been taken into Babylonian exile. They had been there for decades. Now the time had come, in God’s reckoning, for their restoration. But how could this happen? They were a tiny, obscure ethnic minority in the massive Persian empire. The answer is that God rules empires. And when it is his time for his people to move, he moves empires. That’s the point of the first eight chapters of this book of Ezra. And it is massively hope-giving for the people of God every time we slip back into a mentality of siege. 
Consider, first, Ezra 1:1-2. 
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to ful- 
fill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord 
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent 
a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it 
in writing, saying, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The 
Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of 
the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in 
Jerusalem, which is in Judah.’” 
Do not miss the sovereign rule of God over the mind and will of Cyrus, the most powerful king in the world. God had prophesied by Jeremiah that the people would come back to their own land. “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years havebeen completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My goodword to you, to bring you back to this place’” (Jeremiah 29:10). 
God never leaves his prophesies dangling uncertainly in the will of man. He does not merely predict; he acts to fulfill the predictions he makes.This is why his predictions are as sure as he is powerful. 


God will do it.

Posted: July 18, 2011 by Pam Larson in 1 Thessalonians, Devotionals/Commentaries, July
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Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. —1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

John Piper:

So let’s look at this in our text. Notice three things: the commandments, the prayer, and the promise.

1. The Commandments

Paul has just finished giving a string of commandments in verses 14–22 which comes to an end in verse 22, “Abstain from every form of evil.” So we know that God uses commandments and incentives in the way he sanctifies us. He does not say: “I am the one who sanctifies you, so I have nothing to tell you to do.” The way he sanctifies is not merely subconscious. He deals with our minds and our motives. That’s the first thing to notice.

2. The Prayer

Then in verse 23 Paul shifts from exhorting or commanding us to be holy to asking God to make us holy: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So not only does God use commands and incentives in the way he makes us holy, he also uses the prayers of his people. He not only deals with your mind and motives in the way he makes you holy; he deals with the minds and motives of others so that they pray for you.

3. The Promise

Notice not only the commandments and the prayer, but most important the promise of God. After commanding us to pursue holy living in verses 14–22 and praying that God would sanctify us in verse 23, Paul says the decisive thing in verse 24: “He who called you is faithful, and he will do it.”

This is the way Paul handles the assurance problem. Let it shape your thinking this morning. It is mere human reasoning and not God that says: “Well, he is commanding us to abstain from evil, so it must be up to us to get holy, and therefore it’s not assured.” It is mere human reasoning and not God that says: “Well, he is praying for God to sanctify me, so it depends on Paul’s prayer and God may or may not answer, and so it is not assured.” All that is wrong thinking. It’s not what the text says. Right thinking moves on to verse 24 and says: God’s faithfulness combined with God’s call proves he WILL do it! “He who calls you is faithful, and he WILL do it.” What’s the IT? The “it” is what Paul’s been commanding and what he’s been praying for, namely, sanctification. God will do it.

That is the foundation for full assurance. Paul did not say that you have to make holy living unnecessary to have assurance. He said that God is faithful and he WILL do it. The issue of assurance is: will we trust him not only for the grace to forgive our sins, but also for the grace to make headway in overcoming our sins? Will we believe what verse 24 says: “God is faithful; he will do it”?

Read or listen to the rest of the sermon:

J. C. Ryle: Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Posted: April 20, 2011 by Pam Larson in April, Devotionals/Commentaries, Mark
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J.C. Ryle on Mark 8:1-8-

…with Christ nothing is impossible. The disciples said, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” They might well say so. Without the hand of Him who first made the world out of nothing, the thing could not be. But in the almighty hands of Jesus seven loaves and a few fishes were made sufficient to satisfy four thousand men. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

We must never allow ourselves to doubt Christ’s power to supply the spiritual needs of all His people. He has “bread enough and to spare” for every soul that trusts in Him. Weak, infirm, corrupt, empty as believers feel themselves, let them never despair, while Jesus lives. In Him there is a boundless store of mercy and grace, laid up for the use of all His believing members, and ready to be bestowed on all who ask in prayer. “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.” (Colos. 1:19.)

Let us never doubt Christ’s providential care for the temporal needs of all His people. He knows their circumstances. He is acquainted with all their necessities. He will never allow them to lack anything that is really for their good. His heart is not changed since He ascended up on high, and sat down on the right hand of God. He still lives who had compassion on the hungry crowd in the wilderness, and supplied their need. How much more, may we suppose, will He supply the need of those who trust Him? He will supply them without fail. Their faith may occasionally be tried. They may sometimes be kept waiting, and be brought very low. But the believer shall never be left entirely destitute. “Bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure.” (Isaiah 33:16.)

Ascribe power to God…with delight!

Posted: March 21, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, March, Psalms
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Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.

Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
 —Psalm 68:34-35

Charles H. Spurgeon in the “Treasury of David”:

Let us never by our doubts or our daring defiances appear to deny power unto God; on the contrary, by yielding to him and trusting in him, let our hearts acknowledge his might. When we are reconciled to God, his omnipotence is an attribute of which we sing with delight.

In the words of the hymn writer, Isaac Watts, 1715:

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
[or I sing th’almighty power of God…]
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.

 

 

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