POWER by Ed Pruitt

Matthew 28:16-20

Power
Sunday March 25, 2001
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them still doubted!

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth.

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The subject we are going to study today is POWER.

Jesus said that All power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth.

As we study this subject today we pray that you will see that God has all power;

God has always used His power to protect His people; and that power is available to you today.

It’s yours for the asking!

God has all power:

Let’s go to the book of Genesis 1:1-31
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.


2 The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface.


3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.


4 And God saw that it was good.

Then he separated the light from the darkness.


5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

Together these made up one day.

6 And God said, “Let there be space between the waters, to separate water from water.”

7 And so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below.

8 And God called the space “sky.” This happened on the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear.” And so it was.

10 God named the dry ground “land” and the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant.

And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit.

The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And so it was.

12 The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind.

And God saw that it was good.

13 This all happened on the third day.

14 And God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night.
They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years.

15 Let their light shine down upon the earth.” And so it was.

16 For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth.

The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars.

17 God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth,

18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 This all happened on the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”

21 So God created great sea creatures and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God saw that it was good.

22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Let the fish multiply and fill the oceans. Let the birds increase and fill the earth.”

23 This all happened on the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal—livestock, small animals, and wildlife.” And so it was.

25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to reproduce more of its own kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves.

They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals.”

27 So God created people in his own image;
God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and told them, “Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals.”

29 And God said, “Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

30 And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food.” And so it was.

31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.

Here in the account of creation, you can see the power of God demonstrated.

The awesomeness of this power is beyond human thinking or understanding.

Power to create a universe.

Power to create light.

Power to create life.

To think of some way to measure this power is to think of an impossible task.

And our Lord, Jesus Christ, tells us that all power is available to Him.

There is nothing that He cannot do!

God has always used His power to protect his people:

Let’s look at,
Psalm 111:1-10

1 Praise the LORD!
I will thank the LORD with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.

2 How amazing are the deeds of the LORD!
All who delight in him should ponder them.

3 Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.

4 Who can forget the wonders he performs?
How gracious and merciful is our LORD!

5 He gives food to those who trust him;
he always remembers his covenant.

6 He has shown his great power to his people
by giving them the lands of other nations.

7 All he does is just and good,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.

8 They are forever true,
to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.

9 He has paid a full ransom for his people.

He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!

10 Reverence for the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom.

The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey him.

Praise his name forever!

And then over in, Jeremiah 31:33
33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD.

“I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

This is the covenant or agreement that God makes with us today.

He writes His law in our hearts when we surrender our lives to Him.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, has all power in heaven and in earth.

That power is available to you to deliver you from sin and temptation.

Let’s look in Colossians 1:24-29 and see what the apostle Paul had to say about us and Power
24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the church.

25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles.

26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people.

27 For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too.

For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory.

28 So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ.

We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.

29 I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

He tells us right there that we will have the power from Christ!

We find that if we look in Ephesians, Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
Ephesians 1:15-23
15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere,

16 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,

17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding,

so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called.

I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.

19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him.

This is the same mighty power
20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come.

22 And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.

23 And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.

It is the same power that that has worked thousands of miracles down through the ages of time.

That same power that raised Christ form the dead is extended to every one that believes in Him.

This is the same power that Jesus gave to his disciples during His ministry on earth:

Luke 10:1-20
1 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit.

2 These were his instructions to them:

“The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few.

Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields.

3 Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.


4 Don’t take along any money, or a traveler’s bag, or even an extra pair of sandals.

And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

5 “Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing.

6 If those who live there are worthy, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.

7 When you enter a town, don’t move around from home to home.

Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide you.

Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

8 “If a town welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you

9 and heal the sick. As you heal them, say, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’

10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say,

11 ‘We wipe the dust of your town from our feet as a public announcement of your doom.

And don’t forget the Kingdom of God is near!’

12 The truth is, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.

13 “What horrors await you, Korazin and Bethsaida!

For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon,

their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago,

clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.

14 Yes, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the judgment day than you.

15 And you people of Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?

No, you will be brought down to the place of the dead.”

16 Then he said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me.

And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me.

And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me.”

17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning!

19 And I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.

20 But don’t rejoice just because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”

Power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and power over all the power of the enemy.

So you can see that when you take Jesus Christ as your Lord,

He will give you the power you need to live a Christian life for He gives you power over all the power of the enemy.
This does not mean that the enemy does not have any power for he surely does have plenty of power.

What it does mean is that your Lord, Jesus Christ, has more power and that He gives that power to you.

As you learn His word and follow His teachings, you will learn how to use this power to live a Christian life.

For example when you are being tempted by the enemy to commit sin, do as the Bible instructs you in James 4:6-10
6 He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,

“God sets himself against the proud,
but he shows favor to the humble.”

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites.

9 Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done.

Let there be sorrow and deep grief.

Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.
10 When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

You will also learn how Jesus resisted the devil and the devil did flee from Him in,

Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil.

2 For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry.

3 Then the Devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People need more than bread for their life;
they must feed on every word of God.’ ”

5 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,

6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He orders his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you with their hands
to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ ”

8 Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory.

9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will only kneel down and worship me.”

10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God;
serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.

You can see that Jesus was able to resist the devil through the power of God.

Jesus knew what the Bible said and He understood the Word of God.

As a Christian, you need to also understand the Word of God.

That is what Church services are all about.

It is a time for you to learn about God.

It is time for you to gain understanding of God’s Word.

It is a time to check on your own study and meditations to see if you are making progress in a clear understanding.

It is a time to have your soul fed.
It is a time to show your Lord your appreciation for His power turned loose in your life.

Yes, God has all power.

Power to create and to change any thing.

With God all things are possible.

A power beyond human understanding.

God has always used His power to protect and deliver His people.

When you obey Him and keep His commandments, He uses His power to protect and change your life.

Jesus gives you the power to live a righteous, holy, and Godly life in this present world.

He teaches you how to resist the devil so that you also can live without being overcome with sin.

Is the power of God working in your life today?

If not, then why don’t you take advantage of this opportunity to seek the Lord and His power in your life today?

God’s power can deliver you from sin just as it delivered the Children of Israel from the slavery of Egypt by parting the Red Sea.

God’s power can part any hindrance that is keeping you from enjoying living in the Kingdom of God.

A Kingdom of Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost.
 

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