“Mighty God”
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - What a mighty God we serve Angels bow before Him heaven and earth adore Him what a mighty God we serve. Having grown up in the church I heard that song a lot. It was and still is one of those songs that gets you excited, makes you feel good, and lets you know you had that good ole hand clapping, foot stomping church. The problem is so often we become so conditioned to something that we will forget the importance of it, the meaning of it, and the power of it. That’s what happened to Uzzah when he reached out to steady the Ark of the Covenant and when he touched it, he died. See Uzzah was the son of Abinadab, the Ark of the Covenant had been in Abinadab’s house for 20 years, Uzzah grew up around the Ark, he was comfortable around the Ark and his comfort and familiarity caused him to forget the importance of it, the meaning of it, and the power of it. So, when he reached out and touched it, he died because he forgot.
So often we will read scripture and because we are familiar with that scripture, we have memorized that scripture, we can quote that scripture we will become comfortable with that scripture and even miss something very important in it. This week while studying I read a verse I know as I am sure most of you know by heart. Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”. There are times this scripture has been read so fast that we miss important things. There is a comma after Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince if peace. I looked at this verse and was dealing with the 5 names. If you have heard especially lately my sermons, you know I have been dealing with this number 5 for a while. The number 5 symbolizes God's grace, goodness, and favor toward mankind. Grace is mentioned 318 times in Scripture, 3+1+8 =12 which is Divine Government. Five is the number of grace, and multiplied by itself, which is 25, is 'grace upon grace' John 1:16. The Ten Commandments contains two sets of 5 commandments. The first five commandments are related to our treatment and relationship with God with the remaining one concerned with our relationship with other people. There are 5 primary types of offerings God commanded Israel to bring to him. 1.) Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1; 8:18 - 21; 16:24), 2.) Sin (Leviticus 4; 16:3 - 22), 3.) Trespass (Leviticus 5:14 - 19; 6:1 - 7; 7:1 - 6), 4.) Grain (Leviticus 2) and 5.) Peace Offering (Leviticus 3; 7:11- 34). The Book of Psalms is divided into 5 major sections. Section 1 (Psalm 1 to 41) refers to the Passover, Israel's beginning, and the start of the God's plan of salvation that centers on Christ. Section 2 (42 to 72) sings about a unified Israel in the land and pictures the creation of the New Testament Church. Section 3 (73 to 89) bemoans the destruction of both God's Temple and Jerusalem. This section also hints at prophecies regarding the End Time Great Tribulation. Section 4 (90 to 106) rejoices over the 1,000 reign of Jesus and shows Israel gathered again. Section 5 (107 to 150) pictures a time when Judah (representing all Israel) shall again be delivered. There are five books of God's Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) commonly referred to as the Pentateuch ('Penta' means five). The 4 Gospels plus Acts equals five books that, as a set, can be designated as "the New Testament Pentateuch." They reveal Jesus' teachings concerning the Law and the Prophets. The apostle John wrote 5 books centered on the grace of God and eternal life (the gospel of John, 1John, 2John, 3John and Revelation).
But what really stood out to me was the 3rd name, the Mighty God, wrapped in the middle of Grace. The number 3 conveys the meaning of fullness. Past, Present, Future, Outer Court, Inner Court, Holy of Holies, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Death, Burial, Resurrection, Joseph had 3 coats the 1st is father gave him, 2nd Potiphar gave him, the 3rd Pharaoh gave him, Dave was anointed 3x, 1st to be King, 2nd King of Judah, 3rd King of all Israel.
Today I want to talk about “The Mighty God”.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURES: - Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”.
Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”.
What is the meaning of the phrase Mighty God?
God - This name is the compound Hebrew title El Gibbor, and both parts of the name need to be understood. The first part of the title is El, the singular form of the word Elohim - God. In the Old Testament this referred to the one true God now on occasion it was used of mighty heroes, or even false gods but that is spelled with a lower-case el. Even though Jesus Himself pointed out that the title is sometimes used of mighty sons of men John 10:34, the title is so often used of God and only God, that the prophet Hosea used El to set God in contrast to man in Hosea 11:9 says “ I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city”. In Isaiah 9:6 he was prophesying of the One who would be far more than a man is indicated by the fourth name “Everlasting Father” and by the New Testament record of Christ. The Christ who walked on water, died voluntarily for our sins, and then physically rose from the dead is the One who also said in John 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I am”. He is the One of whom John wrote when He said in John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made”.
Mighty - The other part of the name is Gibbor, which means strength, power, hero. That right there is enough said! In a world where heroes are often determined by athletic prowess, personal talent, or financial power, we are told that the only One truly worthy to be called “hero” is the One whose might be unparalleled. My brother has a T-shirt with Superman, Batman, Hulk and a few others and a representation of Jesus on it and the caption above the Jesus figure says, “And that’s how I saved the world”. Jesus is truly the HERO.
The focus of Isaiah’s prophecy is El Gibbor, the mighty God the one true hero that is power and strength. What Isaiah anticipated some seven hundred years before, the New Testament confirms. Because the Messiah would be God manifested in the flesh, He would have God’s power but to Isaiah the amazing thing was that the Messiah would not only have the power of God, but He would also be the God of power!
Jesus Christ is El Gibbor the “Mighty God”?
Jesus by His perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection, He showed we could trust Him, though most of His own people rejected Him. John wrote, John 1:11 “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him”.
But if I could call on a few witnesses to testify about Jesus Christ being the Mighty God I would call:-
1st the Noble man, whose name is not given, but his story is in John 4:46-54. I would ask him Sir why do you say Jesus is the Mighty God. I believe the man would say, “My son was sick to the point of death, but I asked Jesus to heal him and Jesus said unto me “Go thy way, thy son liveth”. My son was healed that very hour that’s why I know He is El Gibbor – the mighty God.
2nd I would ask the demonic man of Capernaum whose story is found in Mark 1 and Luke 4, I would ask why do you say Jesus is the Mighty God. I believe he would testify “I was possessed by an unclean spirit that tried to destroy my body and my mind, but one day Jesus was teaching in the synagogue were I was and when he just looked at me that unclean spirit that had control of me came out of me with a scream, Jesus set me free, He changed my life and gave me the victory that’s why I know He is the Mighty God.
3rd I would ask the Leper that healed that came back to Jesus to say Thank you Lord in Luke 17. I believe he would say “There were 10 of us that had been sick so very long then Jesus told us to go and show ourselves to the priest, as we walked along the way my hands began to look new, my feet did too, my skin became soft again, I was no longer sick, I was no longer dying, after all the stuff that I had been through He cleaned me up, gave me a new look and a new point of view. I had to run back and tell Him Thank you. That’s why I know Him as El Gibbor the Mighty God.
4th I would Bartimaeus his story is found in Matthew 20 & Mark 10, why do you call Jesus the mighty God. I believe he would say, “I was blind, begging on the side of the road, when I heard Jesus was passing by I began to cry out Jesus thou Son of David have mercy on me. They tried to keep me quite, people tried to push me aside, nut Jesus had compassion on me, opened up my blinded eye, changed my life, gave me a new start, took away the stain, the shame, the stigma. He did what no other power could do that’s why I call Him the Mighty God.
5th Just because I like to deal with grace, I would ask Lazarus whose story is in John 11. Lazarus why do you call Jesus the mighty God. I believe Lazarus would say I was dead sleeping in my grave; my body had begun to stink my situation hopeless and helpless. But Jesus called my name, death lost its grip, the grave clothes lost its hold, the rotting stench of my body had to leave, life came back into me. Get it I was dead, but Jesus turned it around that’s why I call Jesus the Mighty God because can’t no body do me like Jesus. Can’t nobody do me like the Lord. He is the Mighty God.
Can I give my testimony! I was on my way to hell living a life contrary to the will of God. You Bishop a preacher’s son – yes. The devil was trying to destroy me, I looked down the barrel of a gun that did not go off, I took the sleeping pills that didn’t work, I found myself in situations I had no business being in all because the devil was trying to steal my life, kill me, and destroy any hope of salvation. But one day Jesus got a hold of me said it’s time to stop running He picked me up turned me around as one song writer said put a clapping in my hands and a running in my feet and I have been running for Jesus now a long time and I’m not tired yet, He keeps me in times of trouble, He never leaves me, He comforts me. Like David said The Lord is my Shepherd that is my protection. I shall not want that is my provision, He leadeth me beside the still waters that is my guidance. He’s more than amazing, more than miraculous, more than wonderful and that’s why I call Jesus the Mighty God.
You have your own personal experience and reason why you call Him Mighty God.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
