The Power Comes From God

“THE POWER COMES FROM GOD!”

Matthew 17:14-21

14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,

15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

16 “So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”

18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

21 “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence was born on August 16, 1888 in Wales. Popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence became famous for his exploits as British Military liason to the Arab Revolt during the First World War.

The desert raids of British officer T.E. Lawrence and his Arab rebels tied down many Turkish troops who could have been fighting the main British armies in the Middle East.

Lawrence of Arabia’s struggle against the Turks during World War I was a classic of guerrilla warfare, and his personal account has become a classic of world literature.

And, of course, many of you have seen the movie about the life of Lawrence of Arabia.

Lawrence wrote about his Arabian adventures in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

During the war, Lawrence formed close friendships with many of the Sheiks of Arabia.

After the war, he brought some of these Sheiks back to England to show his appreciation for their support against the Turkish domination.

They had a wonderful visit, appeared before the Joint House of Commons and Parliament, had an audience with the Queen.

On the last night of their visit, Lawrence offered them anything they wanted to take back with them to their desert homes.

They led him up to the hotel room, into the bathroom, and pointed to the faucets in the bathtub and said that they wanted to take faucets with them that would provide them with running water in the deserts.

They didn’t realize that the faucets were superficial.

Behind them was plumbing, a hot water heater, an energy source that heated the water, a city main that supplied the water, and from the city main went a line to an outside source of water!

The magic is not in the faucet!

It is what is behind the faucet that gives the water!

The faucet can be 24 carat gold, but if it’s not attached to a water supply, its useless!

The magic is not in the faucet, the power comes from what is behind the faucet!

Things that are not visible to the human eye, but are there nonetheless!

If the pump, or the plumbing, or the reservoir ever to out of service, the faucet is useless!

It’s what’s behind the faucet that gives it its power!

THE FIRST THING I WANT TO SAY THIS MORNING IS THIS;

THE FAUCET IS NECESSARY TO GET THE WATER TO WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE.

I don’t want to minimize the importance of a vessel!

God needs faucets!

God has always worked through human vessels.

In fact, most of the time, God works through the most unlikely vessels!

God Can Use Anyone

Moses stuttered.

David’s armour didn’t fit.

John Mark was rejected by Paul.

Timothy had ulcers.

Amos’ only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.

Jacob was a liar.

David had an affair.

Solomon was too rich.

Abraham was too old.

David was too young.

Peter was afraid of death.

Lazarus was dead.

John was self-righteous.

Naomi was a widow.

Paul was a murderer.

So was Moses.

Jonah ran from God.

Miriam was a gossip.

Gideon and Thomas both doubted.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog;

Just kidding -- he was depressed and suicidal.

Elijah was burned out.

Martha was a worry-wart.

Mary may have been lazy.

Samson had long hair.

Noah got drunk, and that’s not all.

Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?

But God doesn’t require a job interview.

He doesn’t hire and fire like most bosses, because He’s more our Dad than our Boss.

He doesn’t look at financial gain or loss.

He’s not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging,