Okay, Doctrine of God, Part 7. We come to the omnipotence of God. You probably know from your prior Bible studies over the years that there are some omnis in the attributes of God. The omnipotence, the boundless power, the almightiness of God, the omnipresence of God, His immediate presence in all places at all times, fully present. and his omniscience, his full and complete knowledge of all things, spoken and unspoken, intended and unintended, everything. There's nothing outside the purview of God's perfect, infinite knowledge. One of the reform catechisms, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, asks the question, who is God? And the answer is, God is a spirit. That comes from John 4, 24. Literally, God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. So we come to one of those attributes of God, the omnipotence of God, His boundless might, His perfect, infinite, eternal, unchangeable might and power. Page one of your notes, we know this, but we'll talk about the implications of these things, and it's of critical importance that we think and meditate upon what this means to us in our worship and in our daily walk with God. But God does what he wills to do. There is no limit to what God can do. He does what he wills. And no one can resist his will. No one can circumvent his will. God does everything perfectly. He does it according to his His nature, he would never, of course, do anything that is inconsistent with his nature. All that he does is just. All that he does is righteous. All that he does is loving. All that he does is merciful. And so all of his attributes are without compromise, without change. The way in which God relates, as you may recall from our previous study, changes. God himself does not change. His plans do not change. his relationships with his creation, of which all of you and I are constituents, changes based upon how we are responding to him, but he always acts in a manner that's commensurate with his nature, with his character. So God does what he wills to do, and it's always consistent with his holy character. What that means to us, and I hope we understand the implications of this, is that God upholds his promises. We'll look at one of the quotations later from Stephen Charnock, but Stephen Charnock, a Puritan author speaking on the attributes of God, I'm doing this from memory now, but he spoke of the eternal decrees of God and what would the decrees of God be if God did not have the boundless might with which to execute those decrees. He spoke of the the mercy of God and what would the mercy of God be if he lacked the power to relieve us in our distress. He spoke, the scripture speaks to us about the judgment of God and what would judgment be if God did not have the power to destroy, to judge, to hold us accountable for all that we do, to punish evil. He spoke of the promises of God. What would the promises of God be, Charnock said, if God lacked his omnipotence with which to fulfill his promises? So all that he promises are sure and certain, number one, because his ways are sure and certain. He is not a man that he would change his mind. We saw that last time, Malachi 3.6. But God is not limited by anything or anyone. He does what He wills, where He wills, when He wills, how He wills. And so there's no limit to what God does. The prime example for us in a tangible way is creation. And, of course, we know that God created all that is out of nothing, ex nihilo, out of nothing, simply by declaration. There was no energy expended on His part, no exhaustion of His power. It was a simple act on God's part of saying, let there be. And immediately, what he declared to be, there was. And so there was light, and so there was everything else that he created simply by declaration, let there be. And so you and I find ourselves sometimes faced with schedules that are beyond full, with jobs that are perhaps beyond our physical strength to fulfill, with distressing situations, and we find ourselves, what will I do? How will I get through this? God has never, in all of eternity, wondered how he would do anything. He simply does what he wills. He always does. But let's look at the scriptures and the titles, the names of God. This is on page one of your handout, The Doctrine of God. So we're going to focus mainly on the first five pages or so of this handout. And then I'll point your attention to some resources at the end that you can look at at your convenience. But the names of God, Genesis 17, 1. When Abraham, or Abram, actually, was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, later changed his name to Abraham, and said to him, I am God Almighty. Literally in Hebrew, God is El and Almighty is Shaddai. So we probably have heard the term El Shaddai. That's actually two names, El, God, and Shaddai, Almighty. I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. Now keep in mind what God was directing Abram. It was a fuller revelation of his covenant. And here was Abraham at 99 years old, and Abram would be the father of nations, and he would be one who would oversee nations. He would have a boundless seed after him. If Abram were left to his own human capacity, of course, none of those things would even be remotely possible. It wouldn't even be something that one could imagine. But when God says, this is what will happen, that's exactly what will happen. And so God spoke to Abram. He confirmed his covenant with Abram and changed his name to Abram. But the Hebrew Shaddai, Almighty, is a title of God's majesty and power, power to bless and power to judge. Other verses, if you're taking notes, Genesis 49, verse 25, Job 37, verses 22 through 24, Isaiah 13, 6. Those would all be other passages that you could look at. In the New Testament, Revelation 4, 8, this is a scene of the heavenly throne. This is the four living creatures before the Lord himself, and each one of them having six wings and eyes all around. And day and night, they do not cease to say, and this harkens back to Isaiah 6, of course, when God revealed himself to the prophet Isaiah, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty. who was and who is and who is to come. A number of things revealed here. Just this last expression, who was, who is, who is to come, speaks of the past, the present, and the future. And of course, speaks of the eternality of God. But the term Almighty harkens back to Genesis 17, the word Shaddai. This word in the New Testament, it only occurs 10 times in the New Testament. Nine of those occasions are in the book of Revelation. But the word that's used in Revelation 4 and actually in Revelation 19 and a number of other passages in the book of Revelation is the New Testament equivalent of the Hebrew Shaddai. If you were to look at the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint as we call it, you would see that the translators of the Old Testament, when they took the Hebrew and moved it into Greek, the word Shaddai became a Greek word. And if you're curious about what that word is, I'll be glad to tell you later. But it doesn't, the important thing is that the New Testament word that is used is the equivalent of the Old Testament Shaddai, Almighty. And so you have the affirmation of the throne room of God, the glory of the king on his throne is extolled and speaks of sovereign power, sovereign might, boundless authority. Revelation 19.6, yet another occurrence. Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder. All of these similes, like the voice, like the sound, like the sound, not just any voice, but a great multitude, not just any waters, but many waters, not just thunder, but mighty peals of thunder, acclaiming, praising God. Hallelujah. Why? For the Lord, our God, who the Almighty, reigns. The King James actually translates it, the Lord God omnipotent reigns. That's a good translation there. That's derived from the Latin equivalent, the Vulgate. It's omnipotence, and they just simply translated it omnipotent. But the Lord our God, the omnipotent, the Almighty reigns. So one of his titles, of course, is Almighty. Page two of your notes, another term, another name, another title for God from Psalm 24. Verse 8, who is this king of glory? Five times that expression is used in Psalm 24, the king of glory. And so the Lord strong and mighty, if you're filling in the blanks, it's strong and mighty. Psalm 24, the Lord mighty in battle. And what's being communicated here is that the Lord is the commander of all of the forces of creation. He is the Lord of hosts. He is almighty. He is omnipotent in every way. Psalm 31, verse 2, if you're filling in the blank there, a rock of strength, a rock. And of course, this is a metaphor. It's a picture of stability, of strength, of immovability, of enduring might, enduring power. The rock of strength, Psalm 31. 2. The psalmist says, incline your ear to me, rescue me. Now it's interesting in Psalm 31, the Lord is implored to be, is asked to be a rock of strength. The psalmist says, be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me. And then the psalmist says in verse 3, for you are my rock and my fortress. And so he goes back and forth. He implores God to be his deliverer. And then he says, for you are in fact my deliverer. And the point here, it's an important thing not to be missed, is that when we pray to God, we recognize him for who he is, and he reveals himself as almighty God, as strong and mighty, as a rock of strength. And this was the psalmist's confidence. He says, for your name's sake, you will lead me and guide me. God never violates his character. If God is a rock of strength, he will always be a rock of strength. He is infinite, eternal, and immutable in his being a rock of strength. For you are, he goes on to say, my strength into your hand, I commit my spirit. And this psalmist understood the implications of the nature of God, because God is a mighty God indeed. And then in Psalm 61, a tower of strength, another picture of strength. Psalm 61, here David, in this case, is feeling lonely. isolated, overwhelmed, and he prays for God to deliver him. He prays for God to help him. David says, hear my prayer, or pardon me, hear my cry, oh God. It is a prayer. Hear my cry, oh God. Give heed to my prayer. Hear and give heed are parallel expressions. From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint, and his heart was weak at that time, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For, he says, you have been a refuge to me. He thinks back to the times when God has been a tower of strength, when God has been mighty. on his behalf, when God has delivered him, he remembers those things. That's the value of remembering who God has been, not only in our lives, but in all of biblical history. He never changes. So if he has been a rock of strength, he is now and always will be a rock of strength. His nature does not change. For you have, he says, been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy. Psalm 61, verse 3. Isaiah 9, verse 6, mighty God, yet another term, mighty God. Isaiah 9, verse 6, of course, a messianic passage, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, a child born, a son given, and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be called, and there's four titles here, wonderful counselor, mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And the phrase that's used here is, when he speaks of mighty God, it's only used of the Lord God Almighty. Other passages where this expression is used, Isaiah 10, verses 20 and 21, Deuteronomy 10, verse 17, Jeremiah 32, verse 18, Zephaniah 3, verse 17. But mighty God. And here it's looking at the second person of the Trinity. This again is a messianic passage, but looking at the Lord Jesus Christ, the child who will be born, a son who will be given to us. And he's described as mighty God. Isaiah 10, 21, a remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to whom? To the mighty God. And the context, of course, if you were to look at this passage in Isaiah 10, it's talking about Yahweh or Jehovah. Mighty God. One more passage, one more title, one more appellation of God, the Mighty One, the Mighty One. In Luke chapter 1, this is the song of Mary. It extends from Luke 1, verses 46 to 55. Sometimes it's referred to, often referred to as the Magnificat. This is Mary's song. For the Mighty One has done great things for me. What she will be doing is focusing upon the past, upon the historic deliverances of God and looking toward God's imminent deliverance of her. Looking back again, what has God done in the past and a source of great strength for what he will do now and in the future. For the mighty one has done great things and holy in it has his name. Verse 51, he has done mighty deeds with his arm. Of course, in anthropomorphism, a condescension to us because we all realize what an arm is. It's how we actually implement our intentions. And that's how God does. He wills and He causes it to happen. He has done things simply by declaring them. He has scattered those who were proud. He has brought down the rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent, past tense, away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, a servant All of these past deliverances are a source of comfort, encouragement, strength to Mary as she extols God for his historic faithfulness, his never-changing faithfulness, and describes God as the mighty one. So all names and titles for God, speaking of his boundless might, his power. So what do they teach? What are the passages that teach about Is anything, and of course you know the answer to this, but let's let scripture speak for itself. The question is, what's beyond or is there anything that would exhaust the capacity of God to do what he wills? Jeremiah 32, verse 17 and 27. Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power. So we start there. Think about that for a second. If God simply declares, let there be and there is, And He's made the heavens and the earth and the seas and all that is simply by making that statement, let there be. Boy, what strength that is to remember and great power by your outstretched arm. Nothing, nothing is too difficult for you. Absolutely nothing is too difficult for you. You have made these things. All power belongs to God. Verse 27, behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. almost a rhetorical question. Is anything too difficult for me? Do you pray like that? Do you go to God like that? Do I go to God like that? We should. It's a reminder to all of us. We should be like Mary. We should remember his past deliverances, the way in which he has shown himself mighty, the way in which he has been a faithful deliverer, the way he has always been consistent with his perfect, holy, wise, merciful nature. Is anything too great for God to do? Nothing is too great. You perhaps have heard this. Our pastor asked for a big prayer request. Remember that? When he sent his email out for his prayer retreat, he said, give me something to pray about that is way beyond your ability to do it on your own, I guess is what we need to pray those things. So many times we pray for things that I think in the background of our minds we think, if God doesn't do this, I guess I'll have to do it myself. And that just shows our own weakness, it shows our carnality when we think that way. But we need to pray, is there anything too great for God? And the answer to that is a resounding no. There is nothing too great for God. Knowing that he does what he wills and what he does will always be perfect and for his glory and for our good. Matthew 19, 26, Jesus says to his disciples, verse 23, truly I say to you, It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, well, then who can be saved? And looking at them, Jesus said to them, with people, this is impossible. But with God, you know how this finishes, don't you? All things are possible. What was being spoken of here? Jesus is talking about regeneration. You realize, of course, that for someone to be saved, whether they're wealthy or destitute, is always a miracle. We're talking about God changing a heart of stone into a heart of flesh to cause someone to be born again. It is literally a miracle. If you were to jot this down and look at it later, but 2 Corinthians 4, 6, 2 Corinthians 4, 6, regeneration is compared to the act of creation. It's the God who made light shine out of darkness, has caused us to be born again. I mean, the nature, if you're a child of God, God has literally done a miraculous act in your life. He hasn't simply changed the trajectory of your life and left you who you were. You're not the same person. If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. The old things have passed away. New things have come. You're not just a rehab job of what you were before. You are a new creation. God has done a miracle in your life. And we should realize that. When Jesus says with God all things are possible, he's not just simply saying, well, God can even change rich people. He's simply saying any heart can be changed because God is the one who changes hearts. regardless of whether the heart of a well-to-do person or a not-so-well-to-do person. Luke 1, verse 37, another passage, the angel says to Mary, don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now imagine this. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. This is the virgin conception of the Lord Jesus Christ and ultimately the virgin birth, but the conception by the Holy Spirit You will conceive in your womb. That has never occurred and will not occur again. This is a miracle that God has done. The second person of the Godhead taking on human flesh. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is a miracle. The incarnation, God himself taking on flesh. Is anything too hard for God? He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David." So Luke 1, verse 37. Is anything too hard for God? Of course not. God is boundless in His power, boundless in His might. Nothing is difficult. The word difficult is not in God's vocabulary. It just simply doesn't exist. One of the most important implications of the omnipotence of God is that it assures us He is able. What does the scripture teach us about these things? Job 42. Job is having a dialogue with God. He's interacting with God. I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I was listening to a message by a good pastor, Brian Boardman. Some of you have heard that name. He's a solid pastor. He said, and perhaps you've seen, he said his mom used to put these little magnets up on the refrigerator, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. How many times have you heard that? God said it, I believe it. He said that's really not right. The answer is, the true statement is God said it, God did it, that settles it. It makes no difference if we believe it. God does what he will. We should believe it. We should take him at his word. But whether we believe him or not, he's going to do it. And so that's the point that he was making. God said it. God did it. That settles it. So when God speaks in his word, he always keeps his promises. And it's incumbent upon us to honor God by believing him. But so you've seen nothing wrong with the little magnets. If you've got those on your refrigerator, leave them there. Those are good reminders. But just remember that whether or not you believe it, the fact that God said it settles it. Okay. But Job says, I know that you can do all things and no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Psalm 115, verse 3, our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he wishes, whatever he wishes. He cannot be resisted. And that being the case, Psalm 135, verse five and six, the Psalmist says, I know that the Lord is great. Remember that word, that expression, I know, because that's the Psalmist frequently will speak of I know certain things and then we'll talk about the implications of that. I know that the Lord is great. That's the importance of filling our minds with scripture. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may do that which is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God. What do you know about God? That's why we're spending time on Sunday afternoon talking about the attributes of God so that we can be like the psalmist and say, I know that our God is in the heavens. I know that he does whatever he pleases. I know that the Lord is great, that he is above all gods and whatever he pleases, he does. And he does it not on whatever he wants, but he does wherever he wants. In heaven, verse six of 135, in earth, in the seas and all the deeps. It's a psalmist way of saying it makes no difference where when, how, or who. God does what he wills. There is no limitation as to where he does his will, how he does his will, when he does his will, any of those things. God does his will when he chooses to do them, how he chooses to do all of these things. Psalm 35, 5, and 6. Isaiah chapter 14, verses 24 and 27, the Lord of hosts, and that's a very powerful expression, the commander of all of God, of his creation, seen and unseen, the angelic forces, all that God has made, the commander of all, the Lord of hosts. Surely, he says, just as I have intended, so it has happened. And just as I have planned it, so it will stand. And later in that same passage in verse 27, for the Lord of hosts, again that same title, has planned and who can frustrate it? The answer, no one. As for his stretched out hand, who can turn it back? No one. No one can resist the purposes of God. We are believers because God is omnipotent and because he has declared that we would be his children. Left to our own devices, none of us would turn to God. We simply don't have the capacity, the inclination in us to do that. Every fiber in our unregenerate being struggles against God. There is none that seeks after God. There is none righteous, no not one. And the fact that we sit here today as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is because God has willed it and because God causes his purposes to occur. And otherwise we would continue in our lost estate. And so we have the mercy of God and the fact that he would choose us to be his children, and his election, speaking of his purposes which have been fulfilled simply because he determined that they would be fulfilled, and he has caused them to be fulfilled through the mighty working of the Holy Spirit and the work of regeneration. So all that God has designed for us, and why has he done that? So that he would receive the power of praise in all eternity, to the praise of the glory of his grace, Ephesians 1. Another passage, Daniel 4, and we've looked at this passage before. The sequence here is interesting. Nebuchadnezzar says, I raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me. We might have said, my reason returned and therefore I raised my eyes. But here he says, I raised my eyes towards heaven. Why did he do that? Because God changed his heart. Because God changed him. He caused him to do that. He caused Nebuchadnezzar to lift his eyes towards heaven. and my reason returned to me. I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever." So God does what he will, and this is a case of a king of a reprobate nation. One of my favorite passages of scripture is Proverbs 21.1, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like rivers of water, he turns it wherever he will. And it's interesting that the passage speaks about the king's heart. It could have spoken about anyone's heart, but when we think about the king's heart, on earth, who resists a king? A true king, not a modern-day king, but a Near Eastern king, an ancient Near Eastern king. No one resisted an ancient Near Eastern king. If he willed that you would live, you lived. If he willed that you would die, you died. And so the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. like channels of water, he turns it wherever he will. So God causes hearts to change. There is no heart that is beyond the grip of God. Look at the Apostle Paul, probably the most unlikely candidate for your evangelistic undertakings. If you were an evangelist back in the first century and you were doing some open air preaching and Paul was in the crowd, he probably would have come after you and sought to take your life. But here it is, on the road to Damascus, Acts 9, goes face down. God changes his heart. You have unsaved relatives? Don't quit praying for them. We don't know what God will do. We do not know and we cannot ordain what God will do. But no heart is beyond the power of God to change. I'm a case in point. You're a case in point. The fact that any of us have been, our hearts have been changed. I wasn't seeking God. God caused me to turn for my son and to turn unto him. Page 3. What a stark contrast, and we've seen this, I'll be brief here, but Psalm 115 is one of those remarkable contrasts between what man does and extols and praises and honors and who God is. Psalm 115, verses 3 through 8, our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. If you were to look at Psalm 115, you'd see a whole string of cannots in the English Bible. Cannot speak, cannot see, cannot hear, cannot smell, cannot feel, cannot walk, cannot make a sound with their throat. I've been in meetings sometimes where people have said, well, I know we know the right thing to do, but if we do this, so-and-so is going to to leave and they're going to take their money with them. And my answer has been, well, show them the door, you know, do the right thing. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I'm not captive to anybody. God is a debtor to no one. But when you hear that kind of pragmatic reasoning, it says their God is a human God, that they're trusting in a human person. to be the deliverer and the provider for them. So do what's right and trust that God will do what is honoring to His name. God never fails. The idols that we make are silver and gold. Those are pretty precious. If someone walked up with a trunk full of silver and gold, you'd say, man, what do I need to do to get it? But it's God's creation. Anything that is fashioned that we have is because God has made it. The most priceless gems, the most priceless Rubies, the most priceless medals on all of creation are there because God has made it. So God is God. He does whatever he pleases. Scary thing. Those who make them will become like them. Everyone who trusts in them, that word is important. Trust, because then that's in verse eight of Psalm 115 and verse nine. Then the Psalmist says Israel trust in the Lord, same word. In verse 8, those who trust in the idols will be like them. In verse 10, or pardon me, verse 9, O Israel, trust in the Lord. You've seen these signs. Believe, you know, whether it's your sports team or whatever it is, believe. You know, the value of your faith lies in the object of your faith. The value, if your confidence, same word for trust, those who trust in these man-made idols or in any human devices, not just, we tend to say, I would never bow down before something I could make with my own hands. Probably not. But we bow down to idols all the time when we think that God is unable to do what he does. and he's unable to uphold his promises, and if we trust in our own self-determination, that's an idol. That's a substitute for God. We substitute things for God all the time in our lives. Idols. Calvin said our hearts are idol factories, not I-D-L-E, like wasteful or slothful, but I-D-O-L. Our hearts are constantly finding surrogates for God. How do you know that? Where's our trust? When your back is against the wall, And when you're facing a very difficult set of circumstances, do you believe, do I believe that God is capable of doing something remarkable and to do something that is beyond the scope of what we would do on our own? Yes or no? That will determine whether you have an idol. And we all do. Don't deny it. We all struggle with idols in our lives. We all do that. Maybe not the kind we fabricate, not little statues, but But remember, Israel, trust in the Lord. House of Aaron, trust in the Lord. You who fear the Lord, maybe you're saying, well, I'm not Israel, I'm not Aaron. How about this? You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. That's got everybody covered. So the admonition is trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Your trust is only as good as where you place that trust. The object of your faith, the object of your trust is what makes all the difference in the world. Number five on page three, the implications of all of these things. What are the takeaways, the implications, the take-home value? Think about this, in Joshua 23, now behold, today I'm going the way of all the earth. This is a parting word of encouragement. And you know, remember we use that expression, you know, go to the bank on this and all your hearts and all your souls. Not one word of all the good words, which the Lord, your God has spoken to you has failed. Not one word. All have been fulfilled, fulfilled, fulfilled for you. Not one of them has failed. Not one word of what God has promised has failed. All of his words have been fulfilled. Not one of them has failed. That's what they were told. That's a word of encouragement. And so what God says never fails, says yes is yes. Everything is yes and amen in Christ. So trust Him. Psalm 121, verses 4 and 5, the keeper's psalm. This is the one, the God keeping Israel. Behold, he who keeps Israel, he never goes to sleep. He never slumbers. In the military, now you know, you got shifts, you got tours of duty, sometimes you got 24-7 watch. Well, in our human weakness, we can't stand guard for days on end without sleep. God stands guard on us from all eternity and he never goes to sleep and he never slumbers and he never changes. We always have his full attention. Imagine, isn't that an amazing thing that all of us as creative beings have God's full attention at all points in time. he never slumbers, he never sleeps, he is one who keeps us. Romans 8 31, a glorious section, you know this, we know, here's that expression again, you know this, how important it is to think on these things, that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Now there's a difference as I taught this on Wednesday night, one night, there's a difference between our confessional theology and our functional theology. Our confessional theology is Do I believe, from a confessional standpoint, if someone were to say to me, if I'm being examined as a member in a church, do you believe that God does all things well and that he loves you? Yes. Okay, do I act that way all the time? That's my functional theology. Do I believe in the midst of my distress, do I believe when I don't get the job I think I deserve, When I am treated in a way that I don't think I deserve, when I fail at something that's important, when my health issues are not what I wish they would be, do I believe in the depth of my troubles that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are... That's your functional theology. And there is this gap in all of our lives, I think, at various points in time between what we confess and the way we live. And that gap always, the goal in discipleship is to narrow that gap. It will occur again. Because, help me, O God, in my unbelief. Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief. And we all need to remember that. There is a difference between what we confess and how we live our lives. But here, we know that God causes all things to work together. For those whom He foreknew, He predestined, and then He called, and then He justified, and He glorified from start to finish. We're looking at Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 today at the five o'clock hour. All of the work of salvation is His work. So what do we say for these things? If God is for us, you know the rest? Who is against us? Who is against us? And the answer is no one. No one. God, you belong to Him. He's in your grip. John 10. Jesus says, no one can snatch him out of my hand, no one can snatch him out of my father's hand. If God has purchased you and you're his, you cannot possibly be lost. Philippians 1.6, I am confident, another way of saying I know and I am trusting and I am believing and I am relying, that's the thrust. I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will continue it, will perfect it. until the day of Christ Jesus. You are a work in progress and God will not give up on you because you belong to Him. You cannot escape His shaping work in your life. Second Corinthians 3, 4, and 5. Confidence. Here there is the word again. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves, You should write that on your refrigerator door. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but what our adequacy is from God who made us adequate. And it goes on to talk about the new covenant. Our adequacy, the great myth is self-reliance. It's good. There's a certain sense in which we need to take responsibility for the way we live our lives and not shift the responsibility to others to say it falls upon me to be faithful, to do my job, to stand in the gap, to protect the innocent, whatever the case may be. I get all that and I honor that. But the whole notion that our lives are ultimately shaped by ourselves is a myth. That's not the way. God shapes our lives. And our job is to be faithful. Be faithful. Our reliance is on God. Our adequacy is not in ourselves. Our adequacy is in God. We should prepare. We should train. We should practice. We should practice as thoroughly as we can, but know that in the Christian life, your adequacy in all of your Christian life is from the one who made you, who sustains you, and ultimately will bring you home safely to himself. Number six, Philippians, you can do all things through him who strengthens you. Number six, just in the interest of trying to move along just a bit, what is our response? Our response to all of these things is twofold, faith and obedience, faith and obedience. Going back to Romans 4, and just in the interest of time, we're going to be talking about Abraham here, and these two passages actually go quite well together, but Abraham He had this promise, and without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated, he thought about his own body, now as good as dead, because he was about 100 years old. He was 99, in fact. And the deadness of Sarah's womb, from a human standpoint, they were not good candidates for bringing forth children. It's an understatement. Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. What's the response to the promises of God? Faith. Belief. He did not waver in unbelief. Why? Because he wasn't looking at himself to perform the promises of God. If he had looked at himself to perform the promises of God, he'd have been shuddering in his boots. But he didn't waver, but he grew strong in faith, grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. Being fully assured that what God had promised He was, what, able to perform. That's omnipotence. If God is omnipotent, and that is an if, and we know that it is true if, since He is omnipotent, God always performs what He promises. His ability is never a constraining factor because there is no limit or bound to God's ability. God does what He wills, where He wills, with whom He wills, how He wills, and no one can resist His will. But God performs all of his promises, all of his promises. God never fails. He was, and therefore it says he was credited to him as righteousness. Was Abraham intrinsically righteous? Of course not. His faith was resting. Remember we said the object of your faith is what's important. His faith was not in his own capacity. His faith was in the capacity of God to perform what he had said he would do. And that was credited to him. It's righteousness. It's the gospel promise. Am I able to save myself? Of course not. Do I believe that Jesus is who he said he is and was and will ever be and has died as a substitute for sin and that his death is satisfactory before a holy God that God might be just and justifier? Do I believe that Jesus saves people from sin? I do. and therefore my faith is correct. I don't have any self-sufficiency before God. My righteousness is in heaven. That's what John Bunyan said. So it's like what Abraham was saying. He looked to God, knew he was able to perform, and therefore it was credited to him as righteousness. So faith, and the object of our faith is God himself, who never wavers, never fails. And back to Genesis 17, again continuing with Abram. Ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, I am God Almighty, and what does he say? Walk before me and be blameless. That doesn't mean perfect without any sin. That would be a command that would be impossible for any of us to fulfill in this life. But walk blamelessly before God. Walk obediently before God. Walk responding to his commands. Ask him for the strength to do what he has told you to do. Be obedient to God. It's Romans 12, 1 and 2, so we transformed in view of His mercies so that we might prove that will of God which is good and acceptable and perfect. You've been bought with a price, therefore you're not your own, therefore glorify God in your body. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, glorify God. Walk before me and be blameless. What's our response to the omnipotence of God? Trust Him. Trust Him. and walk before him in a blameless way. Well, in the rest of your handouts, if you were to look at this, there's just a couple of items. I've already touched on one of them on page four of eight. This quote by Stephen Charnock, I referenced that earlier about what God does in our lives. And then page five of eight, the implications of God's omnipotence, something from Pastor Kuyper, our omnipotent God is to be adored, loved, feared, and obeyed. Secondly, He's to be trusted without reservation and holding back. This is simply reinforcing what we earlier read. And three, talking about our adequacy is not in ourselves, it's in God. We know that the wonderful strength of God is made perfect in our weakness. Remember Paul asking three times that this thorn in the flesh might be removed, and God told him that his power was made manifest in his weakness. Page six and following are names of God. These are things that are items that you should read, meditate upon, names of God. We've touched upon some of these. If you're interested in knowing what the New Testament equivalent of Shaddai is, it's on the top of page seven. And so you have the Old Testament Almighty and the New Testament Almighty. In the Hebrew, it's Shaddai, and here you have the Greek. But you have continuity throughout the Old and New Testament as to the character of God. And then a number of titles. These are wonderful things just to meditate upon, just as you pray. Just think about who you're praying to and address God. God, you are the creator. You are the architect and builder. of my faith. You're the possessor of heaven and earth. Why? Because you made it. You're the potter. I'm the clay. Therefore, you do with me as you will. You're the mighty one. You're the God of all flesh. You're the God of all the earth. You're the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You're a mighty God. You're a great and awesome God. living and everlasting God. These are ways that you can speak to God. Sometimes in our prayer life we fall into patterns of repetition and we use phrases over and over, not that that's a problem necessarily, but be more comprehensive in your prayer by exhausting some of these titles of God. And just in the last few minutes before the chimes come, just a hymn that a couple of stanzas The Lord is King. Lift up thy voice, O earth, and all ye heavens rejoice. From world to world the joy shall ring. The Lord Omnipotent is King. The Lord is King. Who then shall dare resist His will, distrust His care, or murmur at His wise decrees, or doubt His royal promises? Good words for us to think about. The omnipotent God, our Paul, in response to all of these things. Trust Him. Honor Him by trusting Him. He always does what He says He will do. Walk blamelessly before God. Walk rightly before God. Because He is the one who has redeemed you.