Great Powers

GREAT POWERS

Luke 7:11-17

INTRO.- ILL.- Three boys at school were bragging about their fathers. The first boy said, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, and they give him a $100 for it.” The second boy said, “That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him a $1,000 for it.”

The third boy said, “My Dad can top that! He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes six men just to collect all the money!”

MONEY IS POWER. It represents power to some people.

ILL.- Bill Gates is the chairman of Microsoft Corporation, which is the worldwide leader in computer software. Microsoft had revenues of $22.96 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2000. However, I also read that Bill Gates is worth over 60 billion dollars. He is the world’s richest man! AND MONEY IS POWER! At least, to most people it is.

Most people think that if you have enough money you can buy anything, go anywhere, and do anything you want. BUT THERE IS A LIMIT TO WHAT MONEY CAN BUY! TO WHAT MONEY CAN DO!

Matthew 16:26 Jesus said, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

No man, including Bill Gates, can buy their way into heaven! So there is a limit to the power of money!

ILL.- Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! IT’S SUPERMAN! Fasting than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! IT’S SUPERMAN!

When I was a child, Superman was a super hero! And he was a man who represented great power! He could do almost anything. He was unstoppable! Man of steel. Man of power.

ILL.- In 1972 I got to go to the Olympic Weightlifting trials in Detroit, Michigan. I witnessed a weightlifter by the name of Ken Patera, 6’ 3” 315 lbs., lift 502 lbs. over his head in the clean and jerk lift. IT WAS AWESOME! The people roared with applause after his lift. He was the first American to have officially lifted over 500 lbs. overhead! KEN PATERA WAS A MAN OF GREAT STRENGTH AND POWER! And unlike Superman, he was the real thing, the real deal!

Great physical strength is impressive to some people, but there is a limit to what it can do.

ILL.- Even though the O.T. hero Samson could tear a lion apart with his bear hands (Judges 14:6), he couldn’t tame a woman named Delilah! She was stronger, more powerful than he.

There is a limit to what physical strength can do. And in other ways too.

I Timothy 4:8 “For physical training (or perhaps physical strength) is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Physical strength has a limit. It can only do so much. And it certainly can’t get us into the door of heaven!

In Luke 7:11-17, we have the meeting of two sons. They were the only sons of their father. One was alive, but was destined to die. And the other was dead, but was destined to live. Jesus raised the widow’s only son from the dead. Talk about power! Jesus demonstrated great power.

And Jesus is still at work in our world today. Please don’t be a skeptic! Please don’t be faithless! Jesus is at work in people’s lives. He is still raising people from the dead. He is raising to life those who are dead in their sins. JESUS IS POWERFUL! He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world!

PROP.- In this text, there are three other powers that we want to examine:

1- The power of death

2- The power of love

3- The power of tears

I. THE POWER OF DEATH

ILL.- Some dear friend from Southern Illinois sent me an article about “the benefits of growing older.” They are:

- Kidnappers aren’t very interested in you.

- No one expects you to run into a burning building.

- Things you buy won’t wear out.

- You can eat dinner at 4 p.m.

- You have a party and the neighbors don’t even realize it.

- You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.

- Your eyes won’t get much worse.

- Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.

- Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t remember them either.