GOD IS ABLE
Eph. 3:20
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A minister in Texas lamented that it was difficult to get his message across to his congregation. He blamed it on the good weather.
2. He said, “The weather’s so wonderful this winter that heaven doesn’t excite them and it’s so hot here in the summer that hell doesn’t scare them.”
B. CENTRAL IDEA
1. God is not confined to the box of our imagination. God won’t be defined by our boundaries or limits. God is bigger than our box. Life in the box is confined, limited, seems safe, “normal”…but there is more.
2. ‘Life in the box’ is not where God is; God’s bigger than our box! God wants to expand our minds beyond the natural. What is it that you would like God to do for you?
3. TEXT. Paul said, “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph. 3:20-21. The NIV says God is “able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine...”
4. GOD ALONE IS ABLE. Why? ALL Power is concentrated in God; He has the legal right to all power because it originates in Him. By His power He shapes all creation and future events. At times He delegates some of His power. He alone has the inner virtue capable of exercising limitless power beneficially.
5. The title of this message is “God is Able.”
I. WITH GOD, YOU GET MORE!
With God you always get more! The kids sing, “My God is so Big, so Strong and so Mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do.” We need to revive some of the children’s praise songs.
A. STORY OF THE XRAY GLASSES
1. Pastor Dennis Mcconnaughhay writes, “When I was a kid – I used to read Comic Books. Superman, Batman & Robin. One of the best parts of the Comic Book was the Advertisements in the back. They had the coolest stuff…there were Gadgets & Gizmos, there were practical jokes, there were magic tricks, everything that a kid needed. One was an ad for X-ray glasses!
2. I remember saving and saving for X-ray Vision Glasses. In the advertisement, there was a cartoon of a guy looking at his hand – you could see the outline of his hand, but you could also see all of the bones of his hand. A skeleton – all right. I had to get a pair of those X-ray Vision glasses. Then I could see the bones of everyone I looked at. I saved and saved, then I sent off the order. Weeks went by.
3. Finally there was a package in the mailbox; it had my name on it! I opened the package and there it was -- my pair of X-ray Vision Glasses! I was going to have X-ray Vision just like it said in the advertisement. Comic Books don’t lie!
4. I put the glasses on. I stared at my hand…I blinked; I just saw my hand, no bones. I went outside in the sunshine, I went in the bathroom and turned off the lights – I just saw my hand.
5. That was the first of many experiences where I learned the disappointment of getting less than what you expect. It happens all the time in adult life. We get less than what we expect. It is the rare thing when you get more than you expected!”
B. GOD EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
1. With God – You get More. You always get more than you expect. The NIV says, “Now to him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than all we ask or imagine....” The KJV puts it, “Now unto him that is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or think...”
2. That’s an interesting phrase in the original language. Paul uses a double compound word; he even makes up his own word phrase, trying to describe the BIGNESS and AWESOMENESS of God. He ran out of words so he stacked words on each other in an attempt to express his vision.
3. God is not just Big, He’s... Incredibly Incredible; Extravagantly Extravagant; Awesomely Awesome; Outrageously Outrageous; Fantastically Fantastic; Amazingly Amazing and Infinitely Infinite – all the time.
4. THE ACTUAL GREEK (Vines) SAYS – “huper (over) - ek (from) – perissos (abundant)” and it means “exceedingly abundantly” or as the NIV says, “immeasurably more.” One scholar says, “The excess of God is denoted by a double term of abundance, as if the apostle wished to fill our minds with the idea of the absolute infinity of gracious power in God.” [Pulpit, V.20, p. 109]
5. Here’s what I believe the point is – There Ain’t no box, no concept, big enough to describe the Person of our God! Our words can’t express or contain ALL of WHO HE is and ALL of what He can do. Our God is Indescribably indescribable.
6. God is Able! There’s nothing that God can’t do! That should make our hearts beat with confidence, faith, and glow with praise because our God is so inconceivable! God Exceeds Expectations!
a. God not only forgives Sin – He Forgives ALL your Sin!
b. God not only loves you when you’re good – He loves you when you’re bad!
c. God not only gives you the Hope of Heaven Today – but hope of Heaven for All Eternity
d. God not only gives us our daily bread – He gives us Steak and potatoes, corn & peas, beans & corn bread, hot apple pie and a scoop of your favorite ice-cream…and if you’re still hungry – he’ll give you a Krispy Kreme donut for a snack!
7. He provides at just the right time, in just the right way, with everything we need and then some more. God is the God of – “and then some more.”
a. God didn’t make just a single drop of water, He made Oceans of water;
b. God didn’t create just 1 star, He made Galaxies!
c. God didn’t just make a single kind of bird; God created 1,000s kinds of birds.
d. God didn’t just make one hill – God made the Andes, the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the Himalayas, and more!
e. God didn’t just make the Sun, He made Sunsets and Sunrises too! He Exceeds all our Expectations!
II. WHAT IS GOD ABLE TO DO?
A. THE BIBLE SAYS “GOD IS ABLE” TO...
1. Make the weak Christian stand. Rom. 14:4;
2. “Make all grace abound toward you,” 2 Cor. 9:8;
3. “Do immeasurably more than we” need, Eph. 3:20.
4. To “save us to the uttermost,” Heb. 7:25.
5. “To keep us from stumbling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” Jude 24
6. “My God shall supply ALL your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” Phip. 4:19.
B. PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. There are No Limits to His Love;
a. No Boundaries to His Blessings;
b. No Fences to His Faithfulness;
c. No Guardrails to His Grace;
d. No Containing His Compassion; and
e. No Restrictions on His Righteousness!
2. IF God’s able to do all that – what can He do with YOUR Life? What can He do with your Heart? Your Hands? Your Talents? Your Gifts?
3. What can He do With Your Family? With your Friends? At your School? With you at work?
4. What can He do with your Future? With your Potential? With your Love? With your Challenges? With your Weakness? With your Problems? With your Disappointments?
5. He can make a BIG difference!
III. RECEIVING HIS POWER
A. DO YOU HAVE A POWER SHORTAGE?
1. “The only limits that we know that God has, are the limits that we put on Him,” Nick Vujicic.
2. Nothing is wrong with the Church going out into The World, but something Is wrong when the World starts coming into the Church, because “Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world!” 1 Jn. 4:4.
3. The power inside us ought to be greater than the worldly influence outside us. If not, we need to see where the power shortage is!
4. You have all the Power you need – but the Power is of no value unless you are plugged in and switched on!
B. ARE WE TAPPING INTO GOD?
1. Max Lucado related a story about a lady who had a small home on the seashore of Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. She was quite wealthy, but very frugal.
2. People were surprised when she was among the first to have electricity installed in her home.
3. Several weeks later, the meter reader came to her door. He was concerned and asked, "Are you using any power?" "Certainly, each evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles, then I turn them off."
4. She had the power but didn't use it! Have you trusted Jesus Christ for salvation, but haven’t "turned on" the power of His Holy Spirit in your life? What would happen in your life if you left the ‘light/ power’ on?
5. We’ve got to get connected with God; there IS a connection necessary to make the Power flow.
6. POWER ONLY USEFUL WHEN DIRECTED. No horse gets anyone anywhere until he's harnessed, no steam or gas drives anything until it is compressed, jet engines are powerful because they focus their force, no Niagara ever turns anything into light or power until it is channeled, no life ever does great things it is until focused, dedicated, and disciplined.
7. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8.
8. It's the nature of the flame to burn away the oil by which it is fed. So there’s an outgoing of oil; and if there’s no incoming oil, the flame won’t burn for long. So it is with us!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: God's Bigger Shovel
1. A farmer was known for his generous giving, but his friends could not understand how he could give so much away and yet remain so prosperous.
2. One day a spokesman for his friends said, "We can't understand you. You give far more than the rest of us and yet you always seem to have more to give."
3. "Oh, that is easy to explain," the farmer said "I keep shoveling into God's bin and God keeps shoveling into mine, but God has the bigger shovel!"
4. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can, or it can be channeled through the engine of a CAR in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power.
5. The Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost, he exploded on the scene; But He also works through the church—powering us for the long haul
B. THE CALL
1. Christ is our “I AM.” Are they weak? I am strength. Are they poor? I am riches. Are they in trouble? I am comfort. Are they sick? I am health. Are they dying? I am life. Have they nothing? I am all things. I am wisdom and power. I am justice and mercy. I am grace and goodness.
2. What do you need from the Lord today? PRAYER.
[This is a rewrite of Dennis Mcconnaughhay’s message of the same title.]
