1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,160 You would turn your Bibles, please, to Matthew chapter #28 8 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:29,880 Matthew chapter 28. And once you have done so, if 9 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:34,760 you put your ribbon in your Bible over at Ephesians chapter 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,560 #1 we'll be going back and forth between these two texts. 11 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,080 You want to remain in Matthew chapter 28, but we will also be 12 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,440 going to Ephesians chapter 1. So you can put your marker 13 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,480 there, and then we'll be going back and forth. 14 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:47,760 If you don't have a marker in your Bible, grab that envelope 15 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:49,920 that's right in front of you can put that right in there as well. 16 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,200 Just make sure, you know, you give it back when you're done. 17 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,400 You know, it's a just, you know, put it back in the, the, the 18 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,320 rack there. But if you need to do that, 19 00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,360 you're certainly more than welcome to do so. 20 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:02,600 We do have another special this morning that I'd like to give to 21 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:03,480 you. You didn't know that there was 22 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:04,840 going to be one more special, did you? 23 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,120 But I'm going to give it to you right now because I think it 24 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:08,440 goes along really well with the message. 25 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,280 Are you ready? Oh, Diane's not up here. 26 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:11,640 So I guess I'm have to do it by myself. 27 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:12,960 Here's goat. Are you ready? 28 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,320 My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. 29 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:19,880 There's nothing my God cannot do. 30 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,680 There you go. All right, man, I felt really 31 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,480 exposed here. And Justin help me out there. 32 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,240 The mountains are his, the rivers are his. 33 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,600 The stars are his handiwork too. My God is so great, so strong 34 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,920 and so mighty. There's nothing my God cannot do 35 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,000 for you. All right, that's pretty good. 36 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,080 All right, Well, I didn't say. I mean, I'm pretty good, but I'm 37 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,480 just saying that's the special right there. 38 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,400 You know, that's the kind of song that the ladies would teach 39 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,720 in the back and probably do teach to the young people in our 40 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,000 Sunday school and our junior church. 41 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,200 And you know, we teach this to the kids and they really believe 42 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,240 it that our God is so great, He's so big, so strong and so 43 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,960 mighty. There's nothing my God cannot 44 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:05,520 do. And I will tell you that those 45 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,120 children back there, particularly the ones who have 46 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,960 called upon Jesus Christ their Savior with childlike faith, 47 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,280 they really believe that. I'm so thankful that they have 48 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,280 that belief. But something happens from when 49 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,360 we're that age and to when we get to this age where 50 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,160 theologically we believe. What I just saying 51 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:30,440 theologically, we believe the truth of those words, but yet we 52 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,800 don't truly show it by the way we live our lives that God is 53 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,720 omnipotent, that God is all powerful. 54 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,480 This morning I believe there's a disconnect between how big 55 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,120 people God or how big people believe. 56 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,360 People believe God's big. This is not a good start. 57 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,640 This is why you don't sing before you start preaching. 58 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,680 People believe God's big, but don't live like God's big. 59 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,640 So what's the disconnect? And how can we make sure we live 60 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:02,560 our lives in a way that is theologically correct, that 61 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,800 Christ is, Here's our word this week, omnipotent. 62 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:07,600 Would you please stand for the reading of God's Word? 63 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,040 We're in Matthew chapter 28. We'll begin reading verse #18. 64 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,240 It says, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 65 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,720 power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 66 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,280 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 67 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,400 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 68 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,600 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded 69 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,200 you. And lo, I'm with you alway even 70 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,920 unto the end of the world. And all God's children can say, 71 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,200 Amen. Heavenly Father, be with us this 72 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,920 morning as we look at this text. Lord, help me to be able to say 73 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,440 what needs to be said about this issue of Christ in His power. 74 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,760 Lord, thank you for his power. Thank you for your power, the 75 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,720 power of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 76 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,920 Help us to not just know it, but to live it. 77 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,280 Help us to understand it as best as our finite minds can, but 78 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,280 then to act it out in our day-to-day lives. 79 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,720 We thank you for it all and we ask your blessing upon it in 80 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,000 Jesus name, Amen. Thank you may be seated. 81 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,840 Psalm 147 verse 5 says great is our Lord and of great power. 82 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,760 His understanding is infinite. There's a lot of powerful 83 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,200 things, a lot of powerful forces in this world. 84 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,040 A wildfire consumes everything in its path. 85 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,840 You've ever seen the destructive nature of a wildfire? 86 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,200 You know of its great power. We talked this morning in Sunday 87 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,320 school about the power of a volcano. 88 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,320 It releases the force of the Earth's interior, erupting with 89 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,560 molten rock and pressure capable of burying cities and altering 90 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,480 geography. A hurricane can unleash winds of 91 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:51,600 sustained nature and storm surge over vast regions, moving 92 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,760 oceans, destroying structures with relentless organized power. 93 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,040 We even look outside of our world and consider the power of 94 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,360 even a supernova, an explosion so violent that in a few seconds 95 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,800 it releases more energy than our sun, lighting up space and 96 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,680 tearing the star apart. Those are all powerful forces, 97 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,480 whether it's a wildfire of volcano, a hurricane, or yes, 98 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,080 even a supernova. But yet none of these are more 99 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,120 powerful than God. Hebrews chapter one verse one 100 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,320 through 3 says God, who had sundry times and in divers 101 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,160 manners spake in times past, under the fathers, by the 102 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,680 prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, 103 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,400 whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made 104 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,800 the world's, Who being the brightness of his glory and the 105 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:45,360 express image of his Person, and hear this upholding all things 106 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,520 by the word of his power. What does Jesus Christ do? 107 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,720 He upholds all things by the word of his power. 108 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:55,520 You can consider a wildfire, you can consider a volcano, a 109 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,760 hurricane, all of the stars that you find in the sky and all of 110 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:04,680 their power simultaneously is upheld by the very power of the 111 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,960 word of Jesus Christ. The Triune God is not just 112 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,000 powerful, He is the source of all power. 113 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:12,840 Now let me run that by you one more time. 114 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,960 He is not just powerful, He is the source of all power. 115 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,760 He is the power plant, if you will. 116 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,160 But unlike a power plant today that would need a source of 117 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:27,000 energy to be able to have it produce power, to be able to 118 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,640 convert that energy from one thing into something else, He is 119 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,600 the source of power. He is the very essence. 120 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,520 There is nothing that needs to power up our Lord. 121 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,600 He needs no batteries. He doesn't need to be plugged 122 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,480 in. He is the very source in 123 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,920 Genesis. Reality as we know it is spoken 124 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,400 into existence by 4 words. Let there be light in 125 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,280 revelation. All the enemies of God amassed 126 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,920 upon the entire world will fall in a moment slain, as the Living 127 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:03,240 Word returns with the words. King of Kings and Lord of Lords 128 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,160 is upon him. He shows his power in Genesis. 129 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,800 He manifests his power. Revelation and the other 64 130 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,800 books in the middle all show the great power of God and that 131 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,080 power will also be manifested for all eternity as well. 132 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,200 Before we get deeper into our text today, we need to ask 133 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,560 ourselves this question. I mentioned that the title of 134 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,600 the message is Christ is Omnipotent, but what does 135 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,000 omnipotent mean? It's a word certainly that 136 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,600 theologically we use sometimes, but what does it mean if Christ 137 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,440 is omnipotent? Well, it's really easy for us to 138 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,760 just break this down into two different parts and understand 139 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,280 each part of the word. The word Omni means all these. 140 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,560 There are many Greek theological terms that use the word Omni. 141 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,120 In fact, there's three that are often used in churches to 142 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:54,480 describe who God is. Omniscient being all present, or 143 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,880 rather omnipresent being all present, omniscient being all 144 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,520 knowing and then omnipotent. So all is Omni but potent. 145 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,680 What does that mean? Well that word potent literally 146 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,040 means power. When you consider a medication, 147 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,560 what is its potency? That means what is its power? 148 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:14,280 And so as we consider who God is, he is omnipotent, mean, he 149 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,280 is all powerful. He's not partially powerful. 150 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:24,960 He is not at sometimes powerful in all times, in all ways, God 151 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,040 is powerful. And again, that ought to make 152 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:32,440 all God's children say Amen. Now this is the place in our 153 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:37,320 message where we want to kind of look at our text and not just 154 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,240 look at the Word. OK, we have an understanding of 155 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,799 the Word. We saw power was in our text 156 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:44,800 here just a few moments ago in this telling of the Great 157 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,560 Commission by Jesus Christ. And in verse 18 we do see the 158 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,080 word power. And Jesus came and spake unto 159 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,280 them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 160 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,840 But we ask ourselves this question, why is Jesus talking 161 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,640 about his power? Why is this important as he's 162 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,520 about to give? What is the Great Commission? 163 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,680 Now I will say that the newer versions that you'll find out 164 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:11,000 there of the Bible will take the word power and actually take it 165 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,560 out of Scripture and will replace it with the word 166 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,200 authority. Now this is a grave error 167 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,960 because there's a difference between having the word power 168 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:21,840 there and the word authority there. 169 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,560 Some people have authority but don't have power. 170 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,960 You ever had a boss? Maybe I should stop right there. 171 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,760 You're at a boss that had authority but had no power. 172 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,760 I remember when I worked both at the jewelry stores in college 173 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,840 and Gordon's and at Kay Jewelers, and both of them 174 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,720 required that we were to get a credit application today, that 175 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,400 from our customers, we were to have someone to sign up for a 176 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,560 Gordon's credit card or a Kay's credit card. 177 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,280 And at the end of the day, in both companies, we had to call 178 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:56,640 over to the Home Office to our district manager and we had to 179 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,560 tell them amongst our sales statistics how many credit 180 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,160 applications we had taken during that day. 181 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,840 And I remember this was not something that I like to do. 182 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,640 What does it naturally come into conversation and say, oh, by the 183 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:10,040 way, would you like to get into debt with this ring? 184 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,520 It's not really something that I want to talk about, but I had to 185 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,680 because it was part of it. I remember for a while I really 186 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:18,200 struggled. I had to make those calls. 187 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,000 But you know what I found out after a while? 188 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,800 I had to report those numbers, but the district manager never 189 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,480 did anything about it. Never called back and said, hey, 190 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:28,640 you need to do more. Never said you're going to be 191 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:30,520 under suspension. Never said, hey, if you don't 192 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,280 get this right, you're not going to be of a job. 193 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,280 I found out that this district manager had a lot of authority 194 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,440 but didn't exactly have the power that I thought that they 195 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,520 had. The Greek word for power here is 196 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,920 exousia, and it means the power to do something, and it was a 197 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,280 technical term that was used in courts. 198 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:53,160 Just the word power alone gives the connotation of authority. 199 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,320 It's not that authority is not here, but if you just put the 200 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,120 word authority there, it removes the very fact that Jesus Christ 201 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,800 has authority but has the power to back it up. 202 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,000 Jesus Christ does have all authority today, but He also has 203 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,800 the power to be able to do that which He has authority for in 204 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,800 the 1st place. And there are many that walk 205 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,240 around and pretend to have authority these days. 206 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,000 There are many who walk around and are paper tigers. 207 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,120 But no, Jesus is no paper tiger. Jesus is no paper champion. 208 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:25,760 No, He is the one who has authority and has the power to 209 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:27,640 back it up. It's why it's important that we 210 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:32,800 see here that all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 211 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,360 Charles Spurgeon said power in the hands of some people is 212 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,280 dangerous, but power in the hands of Christ is blessed. 213 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,360 Oh, let him have all power, Spurgeon says. 214 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,600 Let him do what he will with it, for he cannot do anything but 215 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:53,240 that which is right and just and true and good. 216 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,480 There is no abuse of power with our Savior. 217 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,080 There is no lack of power with our Savior. 218 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,560 There is no lack of authority with our Savior. 219 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,920 He is the one who has all power. Now, as we look at verse #18 you 220 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,560 might be bothered by or concerned by the phrase that 221 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,000 immediately follows the word power. 222 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,720 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 223 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:22,960 Did you notice that as we were reading it? 224 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,680 And maybe that bothers you a little bit because you think, 225 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,920 well, does that mean Jesus didn't have power? 226 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,200 And now at this moment, he did have power. 227 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,400 Well, I'm going to set your fears at rest before we get into 228 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:37,600 what it means here in just a moment. 229 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,840 You do understand that Jesus Christ has always had power, 230 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,040 that it wasn't just at this moment, that power had been 231 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,720 conferred upon Him by the Father that we already mentioned a few 232 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,320 moments ago. Hebrews chapter one verse 3. 233 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,600 But also consider John one verse 3. 234 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,560 All things were made by Him and without him, without anything 235 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:00,760 made that was made. Jesus was an active part of 236 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,880 creation, by the way, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all active 237 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,240 within that of creation. What about Colossians chapter 2, 238 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:24,280 verses 9 and 10 for Colossians, pray for your 239 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,840 pastor, Amen. Pray for your pastor's wife. 240 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,400 Amen. Colossians 29 and 10. 241 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,920 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, 242 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,640 and ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality 243 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:40,400 and power. Which looked at that in Sunday 244 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,880 school a few moments ago. Revelation 1 verses 1718. 245 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,560 Fear not, I am the 1st and the last. 246 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,720 I am he that liveth was dead, and behold, I am alive 247 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,520 forevermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and death. 248 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,520 No, you do not need to be concerned that Jesus Christ was 249 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,120 just conferred power when He came to this world. 250 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,760 You do not have to be concerned that Jesus Christ was conferred 251 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,640 power as He's giving the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 252 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,080 28. Jesus has always been powerful 253 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,400 because Father and Son and Holy Ghost did not just appear in 254 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,960 Genesis 11. They have always been and they 255 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:20,160 have always been powerful. So that's what's not being said. 256 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,360 So the question is what is being said? 257 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,320 Because it does say all power is given unto Him. 258 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,160 You'll give it unto me in heaven and earth. 259 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,920 And the answer is important for us to be able to understand how 260 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,680 this deals with ourselves. And remember when I told you to 261 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,080 put your ribbon there in Ephesians chapter #1 Why don't 262 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,640 you go ahead and turn there now like a waste any time we're 263 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,160 going to write to Ephesians chapter 1 and pick up in verse 264 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:48,720 #17 But the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 265 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,360 glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation 266 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,520 in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being 267 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,640 enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, 268 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,800 and what the riches of His glory, of the glory of His 269 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,440 inheritance in the Saints. And what is the exceeding 270 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,560 greatness of His power to us Word who believe according to 271 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,320 the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when 272 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:14,240 He raised Him from the dead. Now stop there for a moment. 273 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,120 You say it's saying that the Father raised Christ from the 274 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:19,960 dead. And the answer is yes, that the 275 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:21,680 Father did raise Christ from the dead. 276 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:23,640 But you know who else raised Christ from the dead? 277 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,840 Christ. Why would you say that, Pastor? 278 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,600 Well, Jesus made clear in John chapter 10. 279 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,560 He says I lay my life down and I pick it back up again. 280 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,360 But it's also the Holy Spirit who is involved in the 281 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,160 resurrection of Christ, as we find in Romans chapter #8 as 282 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,000 well. It seems to be that Father and 283 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,120 Son and Holy Ghost were all actively involved in the 284 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,240 resurrection of Jesus Christ. So don't be concerned there when 285 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,760 it says He raised him from the dead, meaning the Father that it 286 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,040 was Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all together. 287 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,120 We're not talking about 3 different gods here. 288 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,720 We're talking about the same God far above principality, verse 289 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:03,520 21. Far above all principality and 290 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,560 power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, 291 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,960 not only in this world, but also in the world to come. 292 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,840 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the 293 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:19,000 head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the 294 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,400 fullness of him that filleth All in all. 295 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,760 Back in our text, when Jesus says all power is given unto me 296 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:33,080 in heaven and in earth, what he is saying is he's imparting some 297 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,520 of His final words to the church. 298 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,040 And yes, he is speaking to the church here. 299 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,600 Why is that important if he is just speaking to the disciples? 300 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,160 As soon as the disciples are gone, the Commission is gone as 301 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,080 well. He's speaking to the church 302 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,240 which he founded in the Gospels when He called His disciples. 303 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,040 That church which had already formed that church which He 304 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,320 spoke of in Matthew chapter 16. In that Church of which he spoke 305 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,320 of in Matthew chapter 18, that church that had already held the 306 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,160 ordinances. That church had already had a 307 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:01,840 business meeting in Acts chapter one. 308 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,200 That church in Acts chapter 2, when 3000 people got saved, they 309 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,440 were baptized and added unto them being the church. 310 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:12,839 Jesus is talking to His church there on that mountainside as 311 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,720 it's about to go, and he says all power is given unto me in 312 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,319 heaven and earth, meaning as I'm about to depart from you, 313 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:26,560 understand that I am the power, I am the authority of the 314 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,720 church. And it says it right there and 315 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,800 has put all things under his feet and gave him to behead over 316 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,680 all things to the church. What he's saying here is I have 317 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,560 been assigned to be the head of the church. 318 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:41,600 No, this shouldn't bother us here this morning. 319 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,560 Just as it's one of his tasks, as the Holy Spirit has a task of 320 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,040 being a comforter, and the Holy Spirit has the task of being our 321 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:52,440 guide and teacher. He is saying in go back to 322 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,040 Matthew chapter #28 leave your ribbon there, but go back to 323 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:56,920 Matthew chapter 28. All power. 324 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:58,200 Nobody went back there, but that's OK. 325 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,320 All power. You think I can't watch you and 326 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:03,160 hear you, but I hear nothing's happening. 327 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,600 All right. All power is given unto me in 328 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:11,000 heaven and earth saying this. All power is given to me to be 329 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,680 the head, the chief cornerstone of the church. 330 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:20,200 It's not that he wasn't powerful before, but he is exerting his 331 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,840 authority over the church. This is his church. 332 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,040 Liberty Baptist Church belongs to him. 333 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:32,320 Every Bible preaching church that preaches the truth is His 334 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,120 church. And he says all power is given 335 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:40,080 unto me in heaven and earth. And he says it's important that 336 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,440 you know this. Why is it important? 337 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,640 You know? This text we're looking at in 338 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:47,920 Matthew 28 is commonly called the Great Commission. 339 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,600 The Great Commission is given in different forms in Matthew, 340 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,480 Mark, Luke, John, and the beginning of the book of Acts. 341 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,000 Perhaps Matthew is the one that we quote the most, but there's a 342 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,440 word in verse #19 that's so vitally important. 343 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,400 And if we quote the Great Commission, as I often do, it's 344 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:07,840 a word. Sometimes I accidentally omit, 345 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:13,600 and it's the word therefore. Now I want to help you with a 346 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,320 principle of Bible study this morning. 347 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,520 If you see a word therefore in your Bible study, you need to go 348 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,560 back and see what the therefore is. 349 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:26,760 Therefore, look, I know I can have a coughing fit every 5 350 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:28,600 minutes or so, but I'm not crazy about this, OK? 351 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,200 If you see the word, therefore you want to see what the 352 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,520 therefore is. Therefore why is it there? 353 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,320 Well, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. 354 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:45,880 Therefore go ye into all the world, teach all nations, rather 355 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,080 baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of 356 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,200 the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 357 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,920 I've commanded you. Lo, I'm with you alway even unto 358 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,520 the end of the world. Amen. 359 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,880 He's saying because I am the authority of the church, 360 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,120 therefore I'm telling you, I want you to go. 361 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,120 And as I tell you to go, this is important. 362 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,160 As I tell you to go, understand when you go, you will have 363 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,200 power. We're having a soul winning 364 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,680 conference this week. What's that about? 365 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:23,440 We're trying to teach people how to be able to win people to 366 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:25,920 Christ. To be able to tell friends and 367 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,760 neighbors, loved ones, strangers about Jesus Christ. 368 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,920 This is the task of which He's called us to do. 369 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:38,080 How incredibly cruel would our Savior be to give us a mission 370 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,920 and then not give us the tools that are needed to be able to 371 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,040 accomplish the mission? I mean, maybe you've been in 372 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:46,880 that situation before where a boss asked you to fulfill a 373 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,280 project, but then didn't give you the tools that you need to 374 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,480 fulfill the project, and then you got in trouble when you 375 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,720 didn't do the project. It was really the person that 376 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,160 was the authority. It was the problem. 377 00:20:57,680 --> 00:20:58,880 Pretty quiet. So I guess that's happened to 378 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,000 many people here. Or just waiting for me to call 379 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:01,600 off again. I don't know. 380 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:06,240 We could be one of the two. How cruel would our Savior be? 381 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:11,680 They go and give the components the Great Commission when people 382 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,280 to Christ, baptize them, disciple them. 383 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:17,960 That's distilling the Great Commission right there. 384 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:19,640 And what do we disciple them to do? 385 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,640 Well, to live a victorious Christian life, to come more 386 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,080 like Christ, and also to reach other people as well so that it 387 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,160 can continue to perpetuate. How cruel would our Savior be to 388 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,800 say, I want you to do it, but you're on your own. 389 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:36,120 But that would be pretty lousy. But First Thessalonians chapter 390 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,480 #5 and I mentioned this last week, I believe it says faithful 391 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,360 is he who calleth you who also will do it. 392 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:42,920 He does. He doesn't call you to do things 393 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:44,440 of which he will not equip you to do. 394 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:50,920 And God as the authority, Jesus Christ as the authority of the 395 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,520 church says this. I'm going to send you, But as I 396 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,880 send you, I will give you, what's the word power? 397 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,520 So you think that you can't share your faith with someone 398 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,560 else, But he says I'll give you power. 399 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,800 You think you don't know what to do, but he says I'll give you 400 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,920 power. You think nobody will listen to 401 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,920 you because it's 2026, so I'll give you power. 402 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:15,080 You think the message isn't palatable anymore? 403 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,680 But sure, you received it, but how are you supposed to give it 404 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,400 to someone else? But he says He will give you 405 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,160 power. Why is this important? 406 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,520 Because this is His church. God didn't just authorize us to 407 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,240 reach the community, but He empowers us to be able to reach 408 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,640 this community as well. There is no other organization 409 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,960 that you can find on this earth that is well equipped to be able 410 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,200 to reach the World like the local church. 411 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,200 Oh, there's other groups that are out there, but the Boys and 412 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,880 Girls Club can't do it. A A can't do it. 413 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,760 The Rotary Club can't do it. No town hall can do it. 414 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,040 You say, pastor, are you saying those are all bad people? 415 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:57,120 I'm saying that they are not authorized and equipped to be 416 00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:01,840 able to reach this world like you and I are, to reach this 417 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:06,840 community for Christ. But go back to Ephesians for 418 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:12,960 just a moment, because I can see this doesn't really excite you 419 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,840 yet. But be honest, be honest. 420 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:16,920 It's OK. We're not. 421 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,320 We're not excited about it. Maybe that's good. 422 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,080 Belinda's, that's good. I like that. 423 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:25,480 That's a new believer right there, Amen. 424 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,520 I love that. That's good, That's good. 425 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:29,760 And we need to be back to that, Amen. 426 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,280 But I think in some ways, maybe that seems like it's kind of a 427 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,680 pie in the sky. Well, this deals with the 428 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,520 church, This deals with Liberty Baptist Church. 429 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,680 Maybe you even think it just deals with me as the pastor. 430 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,880 But may I remind you that the pastor is not Liberty Baptist 431 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,320 Church? May I remind you that this 432 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,640 pastor will not always be the pastor of Liberty Baptist 433 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,160 Church. The pastor? 434 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,640 You can't say that. Do you think I'll live forever? 435 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,040 What I'm saying is this. The Chief Cornerstone is not a 436 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,920 pastor. If it is on a faulty foundation, 437 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,760 Chief Cornerstone don't want the power and the authority is Jesus 438 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,880 Christ. But let's go back to Ephesians 439 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:16,440 chapter #1 go back to verse #19 and what is the exceeding 440 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,200 greatness of His power to to who? 441 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,600 Usward who believe according to the working of his mighty power. 442 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:26,160 We'll stop there for just a moment. 443 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,640 If the church is given power to be able to fill the Commission, 444 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,240 who makes up the church? Usens. 445 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:39,480 It sounds kind of King James does it, but it's not. 446 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:46,440 It's South, it's southern. He has given us the command, 447 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,720 which means this. He has given us power as well. 448 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,120 And you see what it says, because of his mighty power, 449 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,160 that he has given us power as well. 450 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,880 It stands to reason because of the Church has power, we make up 451 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:07,240 the church. Do you realize that the power of 452 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,760 God Almighty abides inside of you today? 453 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,040 No, I'm not talking about some weird kind of doctrine here this 454 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,640 morning that the Holy Spirit, who is God Almighty, the Spirit 455 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,440 of Christ, abides in you today. And it's not just the fact that 456 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,520 we have been given the Commission and empowered to go 457 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,840 do the Great Commission, which we have been, but that power 458 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,880 also extends to every part of our life as well as we try to 459 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,320 live the Christian life. You can't live the Christian 460 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,880 life on your own. You don't have the ability to do 461 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,280 that which God has called you to do on your own as a believer. 462 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:49,880 But it's Christ in you, the hope of glory, who can help us to be 463 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:51,920 more like Christ. If you're struggling with 464 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,200 habitual sin, what do we see? That the power of Christ abides 465 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,520 on you, and you can break the bonds of habitual sin, not 466 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,280 because of you, but because of Jesus Christ. 467 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,280 God has given you the power to overcome a terrible past. 468 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,720 God has given you the power to overcome fear. 469 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,640 God has given you the power to overcome the situation that you 470 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,000 don't know how you can untangle yourself from. 471 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:19,840 God has given you the power to overcome the emotions that seem 472 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,120 to run your life instead of being controlled by the Spirit. 473 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:28,120 That power is within you. That power is not you, but it is 474 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,400 within you. And for some reason we act like 475 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:36,120 we're powerless, toothless, and sometimes even gumless. 476 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:42,200 There's nothing we can do. And yes, half of that is true. 477 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,680 There is nothing you can do except to throw yourself at the 478 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,720 mercy of the one who saved you and say, I can't overcome sin, 479 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:56,840 but I know by your grace you can help me on my own. 480 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,120 I've tried to do what Christ has told me to do, but I keep 481 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,880 failing. But you can help me because that 482 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:09,600 power that belongs to him has also been given to me so I can 483 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,720 reach a lost world for Christ, but so that I also live more for 484 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:19,200 Christ in my day-to-day life. Are you tired of trying to be a 485 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:28,160 good Christian and missing out? Let me change that. 486 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,560 You are tired of trying to be a good Christian and missing out. 487 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,800 Oh, now you agreed. OK, I just, I had to change the 488 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,960 way I said it. Apparently you're making me work 489 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,040 today. I'll tell you you're tired of 490 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:41,880 it. Maybe the problem is that you're 491 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,800 the one that's trying to do it and it's not Christ. 492 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,440 Where's the power? He has all power. 493 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,760 It's been given to him and it manifests itself in the church 494 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:58,480 and also manifests itself in the Christian who makes up the 495 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,240 church. And we should understand that 496 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,920 that power is great. First John 4 verse four year of 497 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,240 God little children and have overcome them because greater is 498 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:11,240 he that is in you than he that is in the world. 499 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,600 I will say this that power does not just well up inside of you 500 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,760 because of who you are. You must be born again. 501 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,400 You must know Jesus Christ as your savior force whosoever is 502 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,080 born of God. First John 5/4 For whosoever is 503 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,040 born of God overcometh the world. 504 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:33,600 And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 505 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,360 faith, that's where it starts. So maybe today you feel like 506 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,920 you, you have no power. Could it be that you're not 507 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,000 saved? No, I'm not trying to say if you 508 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,280 have no power, you are not saved. 509 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,280 But I'm, I'm saying today that maybe you have never even taken 510 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,880 that step in your life, that you recognize that you're a Sinner, 511 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,560 that you recognize there's a real judgment to come, that hell 512 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,440 is real, that the lake of fire will you abide forever is real. 513 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:03,440 Yet Jesus Christ bore the penalty on the cross so you can 514 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:08,800 be saved. But then after that, what do we 515 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,880 see? If we're not careful, we can 516 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,120 still live very powerless lives before the Lord. 517 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,440 But I say this today, lift your head, believer. 518 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:23,320 The power of an omnipotent Christ has been granted unto 519 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:26,200 you. I'm not trying to be weird about 520 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,360 that. I'm saying this. 521 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,240 That power has been given to you. 522 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,760 We don't have time to go there, but you go to Acts chapter 1 and 523 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,960 we see that the power was given to us to fulfill the Great 524 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,520 Commission. All power is given unto you to 525 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,720 do what? To go to Jerusalem, Judea and 526 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,000 Samaria and the other most parts of the earth. 527 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,520 That God has given us power to fulfill the gospel, but He's 528 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,080 also given us the power to be able to live the life of a 529 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,240 person who can go and give the gospel in the 1st place. 530 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,200 So I can't do it. Well, through Him you can. 531 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:05,880 I can't beat Sin through him, you can. 532 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,800 I failed too many times. Through him you can do right? 533 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,560 Yes. Through him, in your own power, 534 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:15,960 no. Through him, yes. 535 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,040 So what do we need to do today? Let me give you 2 very practical 536 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,880 ways to help you here this morning and we're almost done. 537 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:25,400 What do you need to do when it comes to this issue of power? 538 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,520 First of all, number one, check your source. 539 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,160 Check your source for power. You know, if I was to have an 540 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,760 extension cord up here and I neglected to actually bring one 541 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:37,920 up here, but Dave, please don't go grab one, all right? 542 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:40,080 He would probably go and grab one for me. 543 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,320 He probably unplugged the computer back there and bring it 544 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:43,400 to me. And so we don't want to do that. 545 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,560 But if I was to have a power cord, an extension cord up here 546 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:52,920 today, imagine that I had a 10 foot cord and I had the one end 547 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:58,600 and I had the other end and I put them together and I'd say 548 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:04,400 go. You say, well, why? 549 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,680 Why is this working? Well? 550 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,840 Because it's plugged into itself and no power can emanate from 551 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,360 itself. It could only be a conduit from 552 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,080 a power source to something that needs power. 553 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,640 And I found a lot of Christians do, a lot of Christians are 554 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:22,000 plugged into themselves for power. 555 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,360 And you know what? They got nothing. 556 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:30,120 Why do we say you need to read your Bible every day to plug 557 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,760 into the power? Why do we say that you need to 558 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,080 pray not just every day, but every hour? 559 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,200 I need the every hour the song goes well, why? 560 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:40,920 Well, because we need to plug into the power. 561 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,040 Why do we need to meditate on God's word? 562 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,760 Why do we read a Bible verse? And sometimes I think we just 563 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,000 get to the point where we say pastor says read your Bible, 564 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,080 read your Bible, read your Bible. 565 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,360 Why are we reading our Bible? So you can check it off the 566 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,520 list. No, so it affects the rest of 567 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,240 your day. So did you find a verse that 568 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,640 really helped you? And maybe you set an alarm on 569 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,440 your phone that goes off every couple hours and that verse pops 570 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,960 up, you type it in and it's just a reminder stop. 571 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,360 Selah. The Psalm says meditate on this. 572 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,600 Think about it for a little bit, or else we get to the point 573 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:14,160 where we're just the independent Baptist say, well, I'm. 574 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:15,200 Going to read my Bible today Why? 575 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:16,400 Because I got to read my Bible today. 576 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:17,680 Why So I can read my Bible today? 577 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,040 Why so I can read my Bible today like. 578 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,520 That don't make any sense. I want to read my Bible today so 579 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,680 I can be like Christ. We'll plug into the power. 580 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,000 Too many believers that I've seen, they plugged in 581 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:30,760 themselves. You know why? 582 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,440 They don't want to go to church. They plugged in themselves. 583 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,240 You know, I found him. When I'm plugged into him, I 584 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,000 want to be here. I don't make excuses not to be 585 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,320 here. I make excuses to be here. 586 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,080 Why? Because I'm plugged in, right? 587 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:47,960 But I think a lot of Christians have trouble with the source, 588 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,880 but they also have trouble with sustainability. 589 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,040 Be this. They'll do it for a little while 590 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,240 and then unplug. They'll do it for a little while 591 00:32:56,600 --> 00:33:00,520 and then unplug. Like in 1989, as a young lad 592 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,880 living in Tampa, we had a disaster, a state of emergency. 593 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:08,920 And that state of emergency where temperature sustained at 594 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:13,080 32° for about a week. Yeah. 595 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,800 Yeah. It, it, it is, this is real. 596 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,120 In fact, I want to make sure that my memories of this were 597 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:21,560 not incorrect. And so I looked it up this week. 598 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:23,400 It's. It's all online. 599 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:30,320 So, you know, it's true. But anyway, 1989 what happened 600 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,240 was so many people were using their heat pumps and that's what 601 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,960 people would use in Florida still do to be able to heat 602 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,440 their homes because it's so rare to need to heat. 603 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,560 And the electrical grid was not prepared for the amount of 604 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:45,680 people using their heat pumps for three days or four days. 605 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,760 From around December 23rd until the 25th or 26th, depending on 606 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,440 where you were in Florida, there were rolling brownouts or 607 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,840 outright blackouts. Meaning this you had to be able 608 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,080 to use your power for a few hours and then it would turn off 609 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:01,680 and about 3 hours later it would turn back on. 610 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,360 Do you know how hard it is to cook a Christmas Turkey? 611 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,320 I remember my mom trying to, as soon as the power went on, cook 612 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,760 everything. And you can do that except for 613 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,280 the Turkey. You got to pull it back out. 614 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,199 The Turkey had to go back in and out, I believe at least once 615 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:23,280 because of the rolling Browns and nothing worked, nothing made 616 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,239 sense. Christmas, you get these gifts. 617 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:26,920 Oh, they got to plug in. There's no battery, you got to 618 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:28,320 plug it in. Oh, I get to play it for two. 619 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,840 Oh no, I'm done. Let me tell you, little 7 year 620 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:38,000 old Adam was very disappointed at that Christmas because of the 621 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,960 rolling brownouts. You can't do anything. 622 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:41,880 How can you do anything like that? 623 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:43,480 You do it for a minute, you stop. 624 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:48,199 You do it for a minute and stop. Does that sound familiar to 625 00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:51,320 anybody here? You know, I'm not talking about 626 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,600 your power at your house. I'm talking about your Christian 627 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,600 life. You're really excited about 628 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:58,840 church for a while. I think you're not. 629 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:01,920 You're really excited about reading your Bible for a while, 630 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:04,960 and you're not. You're really excited about holy 631 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,080 living, about doing right, about the things you watch, the things 632 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,040 you listen to. Well, then you're not. 633 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,720 You're really excited about listening to the Spirit and then 634 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:14,800 you're not, you know, listen, I understand that the Christian 635 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:16,840 life says peaks and valleys. There are times that we do well 636 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:18,560 and there are times that we struggle a little bit and that 637 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,480 is natural. I do want to recognize that. 638 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,640 But I would also say there is an issue with sustainability where 639 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,440 we willing to plug in, but then something bad happens and we 640 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,120 unplug. Can I help you with something? 641 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,200 If you're struggling in your family, the place you need to be 642 00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:40,760 is here, not away from here. If you are struggling with 643 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:44,080 personal sin, what you need to do is not watch more TV to dull 644 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:47,920 the pain, not listen to more podcasts or more music. 645 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:50,520 You know, unplug it all and get in your Bible. 646 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:56,360 You know, how is it strange that we could watch a 2 hour movie 647 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,680 and not even blink, but we asked someone to read their Bible for 648 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,200 two hours? It would be considered cruel and 649 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:07,000 unusual punishment. No, I'm serious. 650 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:11,200 But if you're struggling and you start a Bible study, I'm going 651 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,720 to read this. I see where this verse follows, 652 00:36:13,720 --> 00:36:15,800 and I'm going to go here. I'm going to think about I'm 653 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,040 going to stop. I'm going to pray for a while. 654 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:18,720 I'm going to get a notebook and I'm going to write this. 655 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,200 I'm going to do that. Do you know how incredibly 656 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,040 helped you could be? And just that one sitting, let 657 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,280 alone sustaining Say, pastor, you saying we OK, we're not 658 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:29,480 supposed to do anything else but it. 659 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:33,960 You know, I'm saying that when we tap into the power, not the 660 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,040 power within, you give the power to be a champion. 661 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,120 I have the power to wreck my life and everything else around 662 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:45,640 me, but through Christ, I have the power to be able to live 663 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,280 like him. Not through some performance, 664 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:53,680 not like showing off in some pharisaical way, but by saying I 665 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:56,360 need to be plugged in the source and it's not me. 666 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,680 This is not going to work. I got to be plugged into him, 667 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,440 the power source, the originator of power. 668 00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:07,400 But also I need some sustain, sustainability. 669 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:11,240 I can't unplug and replug and unplug and replug and unplug and 670 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:14,520 replug. Now listen, if you unplug and 671 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:16,880 you get away from the Lord for a while, don't take what I'm 672 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,000 saying as well, don't even replug, what's the point? 673 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:21,360 No, I'm serious. There's some people who feel 674 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:22,440 like that in their discouragement. 675 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:23,960 And who do you think is whispering that in their ear? 676 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:26,320 The Holy Spirit saying, don't come back to me. 677 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,360 That's Satan friend. That's what that is. 678 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:35,600 But stay plugged into him. And when you start to feel like, 679 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,840 I don't know that this is what I want to do, ignore your 680 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,000 feelings. Ignore your feelings. 681 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:44,600 I'm thankful God created feelings because we can feel 682 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:50,160 things, but those feelings when they guide our life, will guide 683 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,680 you right into the wall. Don't be guided by your 684 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,720 feelings. Be guided by faith. 685 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,040 Faith is this. I don't know that I want to read 686 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:04,520 my Bible today. You say pastor, people say that 687 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,840 if you haven't yet, you will. This pastor says it. 688 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,240 Sometimes I don't know if I want to read my Bible. 689 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:14,320 I got too much to do. I'm too busy or sometimes it's 690 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:16,720 the night and I realize I didn't even read it today. 691 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:22,440 It does happen sometimes I'm not I'm I'm not I don't like it. 692 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:27,200 I'm trying to be transparent with you, but the best thing 693 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,120 that you can do is to understand I have plug into Christ. 694 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:34,960 I stay plugged into Christ and if for some reason I unplug, 695 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:37,680 I'll run back in and plug in as quickly as possible. 696 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:42,480 Are you tired of living a powerless Christian life? 697 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,040 Says right here. The power was given to the 698 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:48,320 church. We could be a powerful force. 699 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,640 Even though we're a small group, say pastor. 700 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:52,440 We're a growing church. We are a growing church, but 701 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,440 compared to some, we are a small group. 702 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,200 Compared to a town of 25,000 we are a small group. 703 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:03,280 Do you realize it was a Church of 120 in Acts chapter #1 that 704 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,560 by the end of the book of Acts that turn the world upside down? 705 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:09,320 Why? Because those people were so 706 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:10,240 great? Who? 707 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:17,240 You mean like Peter and Paul who had baggage but God used them? 708 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:19,600 Why? Because it was him. 709 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:25,640 If God could use a man who says I don't know who Jesus is and 710 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,280 cursed at people for saying I don't know who Jesus is. 711 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,680 If God could use someone who had the baggage of the apostle Paul 712 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,560 who tried to destroy the churches and then become the 713 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:41,720 apostle to them. If God could use them, you think 714 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:44,200 he can use you? Why? 715 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,640 Because it's not about you, it's about his power. 716 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,600 Hey, plug in the right source, stay plugged in. 717 00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:53,480 Sustainability. It's all about him. 718 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:58,120 He is omnipotent. Thank you for listening to the 719 00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,720 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 720 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,360 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 721 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,480 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 722 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:12,360 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 723 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:16,280 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 724 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:19,320 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.