EL SHADDAI: THE GOD WHO IS MORE THAN ENOUGH
Gen. 17:1-8
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Dear God: "Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much." Debbie, 7.
2. Dear God: "Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls? My sister and I want to know." Jimmy, 6.
3. Dear God: "How many angels are there in heaven? I would like to be the first kid in my class to know the answer." Norma, 8.
4. Dear God: "This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn't have any." Angela, 8.
5. Dear God: "Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weatherman." Hank, 7.
B. TEXT
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” NKJV
C. THESIS
1. This is the fifth time God supernaturally communicated with Abram: 12:1 – spoke; 12:7 – appeared to him; 13:14 – spoke; 15:1 – came in vision; 17:1 – appeared to Abram.
2. The word "appeared" means "to see." God appeared in His Shekinah glory (became visible in glory).
3. Abram fell on his face (v. 3). This was the first revelation of God that he had received in 13 years!
4. Purpose: to renew the covenant (people, land, blessings) with Abraham.
I. GOD DESCIBES HIMSELF
A. INDICATES HIS STRENGTH
1. This was the first usage of El Shaddai – "God the Strong or Mighty." This must have been one of God's worldwide titles because it was known to Balaam (Num. 24:4,16) and to Job (used 31 times). It was said in Exodus 6:2-3 to be the name by which God was known to the patriarchs.
2. Not only is God the Creator (Elohim, Gen. 1:1) and the God of salvation (Jehovah, Ex. 6:3), He’s also the God who can compel nature to do what is contrary to itself.
3. The Pulpit Commentary says it’s (Volume 1, p. 232.) He has the power to realize his promises, even when the order of nature presents no prospect of their fulfillment and the powers of nature are insufficient to provide it! He exerts His power to violently wrest nature to His will, if necessary.
4. Why God revealed Himself as El Shaddai now:
a. Gen. 15 – God had promised Abram a specific son.
b. Gen. 16 – Abram resorts to human means, i.e., takes Hagar, the slave woman, and begets Ishmael, father of all the Arabs! (Lot's daughters were the Moabites and the Ammonites. Abraham's fourth son was Midian).
c. Gal. 4:19. Doing things in the power of the flash always ends up being a curse!
5. "El Shaddai" – emphasizes God's might and ability to perform what He's promised, in spite of Abram's "own body now dead" and "the deadness of Sarah's womb." From them came an innumerable posterity.
6. Don't use worldly methods to get things done:
a. Gripe at your spouse. Instead, pray.
b. Run for the pill bottle; instead, pray.
c. Make major decisions by yourself. Pride
7. God is the Mighty One – He's able and willing to fulfill His Word if only we’ll dare to trust Him!
B. CONCLUSION
Taking all this together, God revealed himself hereto Abraham as the "God who is more than enough!"
II. GOD’S REQUIREMENT FOR INTERVENTION
A. “WALK BEFORE ME”
1. Walk in the consciousness that I am with you every moment in supernatural power.
2. Psalm 139:1-4; Matt. 12:36-37; Heb. 4:12-13.
3. We can't fool God. He knows everything. Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks upon the heart.
4. Speak, think, and act – in everything – as those that are always under His eye.
5. Set God always before you (Ps. 16:8). Practice the presence.
B. “BE THOU PERFECT”
1. God wants a holy people, who have set their lives apart and or maintaining a pure and clean heart, mind, spirit, and body (1 Pet. 1:14-16).
2. You're being holy is directly related to how well you can know God.
a. Heb. 12:14, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
b. Ps. 24:3-4, "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart."
c. Ps. 5:4, "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell."
d. Habakkuk 1:13, "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”
e. Mt. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Pure in heart means to see God Now; to live with Him eternally.
God won't cast His pearls before swine! Only those who "diligently seek" Him and "sellout" (Mt. 13:44-46) will gain Him. We will be exclusively His!
3. By commanding perfection of Abraham, God is pointing out that In Some Way, Abraham has come short of it. Ishmael represented compromise. Abram had to send him away. We must too!
4. Compromise is detestable to God.
a. Prov. 25:26, "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked."
b. Mt. 5:13, "… But if the salt has lost its savor is good for nothing!"
c. Rev. 3:15-16, Hot or Cold. God hates lukewarmness!
5. HATE EVIL. Don't entertain a thought of anything which wouldn't glorify God. Avoid all appearance of evil. Allow God to give you a hatred/loathing of evil. Establish by your lifestyle the standard of righteousness. Be aggressive for God. You’re either a missionary or a mission field!
III. THE GOD WHO IS MORE THAN ENOUGH
A. ELISHA WITH WIDOW AND SONS 2 Kgs. 4:1-7
1. When a destitute widow whose sons were to be sold for a debt came to Elisha, he replied, "Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."
2. Elisha told her to borrow all the empty jars she could. Then to take her tiny amount of oil and begin pouring, until all the jar are filled.
3. After she’d done it, he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
4. Not only did God give her enough for her debts, he also gave her extra for their future needs!
B. THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS
1. Jesus told the parable of the 10 Virgins waiting for the Bridegroom (Jesus’ return; Mt. 25:1-13). Each had a certain amount of oil.
2. We usually focus on the Foolish Virgins who ran out of oil. But look at the Wise Virgins: not only did they have enough oil to outlast the night vigil, once they reached the banquet, they found they had more than enough oil!
3. Their lamps were still burning brightly though they no longer had need of them. God is the God of “More than Enough!”
C. JEHOSHAPHAT & THE THREE NATIONS
1. In 2 Chr. 20:1-30, Jehoshaphat put praisers in front of his army to go out and face an army far superior to theirs.
2. The Bible says, “As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab
and Mount Seir” and the 3 nations turned against each other and completely destroyed each other.
3. Again God showed Himself as the “God of more than enough!” Not only did God defeat them, but the Bible adds, “There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.” 2 Chron. 20:25.
4. “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— He who watches over you will….neither slumber nor sleep. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Ps. 121:1-8
D. THE FIVE LOAVES & TWO FISHES
1. Jesus had many thousands of people without food come to hear Him. Would He send them away hungry?
2. A little boy (Jn. 6:1-13) offered his lunch. Jesus blessed it and it fed, not only the 5000 men plus women and children, but afterward…
3. “So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. Jn. 6:13.
4 God wasn’t just the God of enough, but more than enough!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: GOD MULTIPLIED THE FOOD
1. Mark Lemos, AG missionary to Brazil, shared this story about Missionary Orla Spencer Boyer: They were missionaries in the northeastern part of Brazil. No rain had fallen for a long, long time. As a result, the crops were drying up and dying. If rain didn’t come soon, there would be no food for the people to eat.
2. Days passed and still no rain. Finally, Brother Boyer needed to get food for his family. The food in their home was almost gone. So he set out on his mule in search of food. He traveled for several days until he found a sack of rice and a sack of beans that he could buy. He loaded up the food on his mule and headed back home.
3. As he arrived in the town, he could see the looks on the people’s faces as they saw him carrying food on his mule. He had food. They had none. Where could they get food? They had no money and no crops because there was no rain. They would starve.
4. Missionary Boyer knew he didn’t have enough food to feed everyone in town. All he could do was pray.
Missionary Boyer and his family prayed to God for a miracle.
5. As they were praying, Missionary Boyer heard God tell him to put the sack of beans and the sack of rice in the window of his home. He then was to tell the people in the town to come and get what they needed to feed their families. This would mean that his family would have less to eat, but he knew God had spoken and he wanted to obey God.
6. The two bags of food weren’t enough to feed the whole town, but the missionary trusted God for a miracle.
7. All day long, food was given out to the people. Yet at the end of the day, the sacks were still full! This continued day after day and the sack of rice and the sack of beans never emptied.
8. This continued for over a month until the rains came and the crops started to grow again. God miraculously provided for His people. Their lives were spared because God provided food for them to eat. (http://bgmc.ag.org/files/true-missionary-stories/god-provides.cfm)
B. THE CALL
1. God is calling us, like Abram, to a new revelation of Himself. But to note Him in this new way (His divine power), it will require that we:
a. Walk in the consciousness of His mighty power;
b. That we aim for perfection in our obedience and purity.
2. Is there anyone here with unconfessed sin? His or anyone here who currently has a bad relationship? The only way we can ever be perfect is through the blood of Christ and the empowering of the Spirit. We must be born again – a new birth by the power of the Spirit.
3. Who has a need tonight? Stand & let’s pray!
