Power Failure

[0:00] Please be seated. Now, some while back, there was a massive power failure.

[0:13] 150,000 South Australian homes without power.

[0:32] Thousands of people are without power in South Australia. I was reading another article. It said at one time there was 155,000 homes blacked out in South Australia.

[0:46] South Australia's got this kind of reputation nationally now. And, of course, we've got the world's biggest battery. But power failure. It's a big problem, isn't it?

[0:57] I put to you there's tens of thousands of South Australians without power today. God's power. God's power.

[1:09] Power failure. It's one of the biggest problems we face, isn't it? Power failure. How are our spiritual batteries? Are we spiritually drained?

[1:20] Is it time for a recharge? You know, you see, 5%. Oh, I better plug it in. How are we spiritually? Spiritually.

[1:32] In many churches, there's a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. And in some ways, it's even more the case that I put to you in some churches that brag on or talk a whole lot about spiritual power.

[1:47] But they've adopted some fleshly substitute for the power of God. It's not the real power of God. It's just some, you know, crank up the sound system. It's all about the sound system rather than the sound doctrine.

[2:00] It's almost like, where's the power gone? It's left long ago. We've just got some carnal substitute today. What is the strength of the church, of the individual Christian?

[2:12] How strong are we spiritually, each one? Each one of us who believe. Is there a power failure? We must realise the greatness of God's power.

[2:23] He's awesome. One of his names is the Lord God Almighty. He's omnipotent. He's all-powerful. Think of him. The one who spoke creation into existence is the one that we can know, personally know, personally know.

[2:40] And he is our source. If you go to Ephesians 3, he is our source of this awesome power. But many are powerless. There's a power failure.

[2:51] Thousands of people are without power in South Australia. It's still true today. It's true now. Many, many churches are without power. Many profess religion.

[3:05] Yet they know not the power of God. The power of his salvation. The power of the one whom to know is life eternal. They don't know him. They're missing it. The greatness of God's power.

[3:16] He is our source of that ultimate power that we need to know him. Ephesians 3. And from verse 16.

[3:35] Paul's saying, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's praying here, verse 16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.

[3:56] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height.

[4:12] Sounds like a cross, doesn't it? To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

[4:23] Now unto him that is able to do exceeding, abundant, above all that we ask or think, according to the power, power that works in us.

[4:37] Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. The amazing truth is God is able.

[4:51] Able to do exceeding. Able to do exceeding abundantly. Able to do exceeding abundantly above. Able to do exceedingly abundantly above all.

[5:03] All that we ask or think. What's more, it says, his power works in us. In us. In you. In you. In you.

[5:13] In us. Is God's power working in us? Or has there been a malfunction? I've had a few malfunctions here and there. We're used to that.

[5:26] You know, plug it in, turn it on. What's wrong? Check the fuse box. A power cut. A power failure. A malfunction. Thank God when we are weak, he is strong.

[5:41] God strengthens us. And I was talking with someone just earlier on. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Even when it's sounding awful.

[5:52] The joy of the Lord is your strength. Amen. Amen. You know what it's saying in Habakkuk? You know, everything's going to pieces.

[6:03] You know, the trees aren't blooming and there's no stock in the yard. And yet will I rejoice in the Lord. Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. God the Lord is my strength.

[6:14] God the Lord is my strength. And Paul says, I can do all things. All things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

[6:24] That's Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. One of his very names is the mighty God.

[6:35] Do we grasp that? The mighty God. The everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. The mighty God. Now, there's more than one power. At times we're engaged in this ultimate power struggle.

[6:49] There's the power of darkness. And there's the power of God. There's a power struggle going on. And it rages within us.

[7:01] I think even as a believer there's a struggle. The right, the wrong, God, his spirit and the enemy. See, there's battle between the power of God and the power of darkness.

[7:13] There's grappling. There's wrestling match. There's battle that rages on the inside of us. You know, it's, we're all human. It's like Trent was praying, you know, what are we?

[7:24] We are nothing without him. None of us. We've got nothing to claim. There's no one who can say I'm above another here today. We're all, the ground is level at the foot of the cross, isn't it?

[7:34] And God is gracious, so gracious. God is holy and righteous. What matters is that we realise he is Lord.

[7:46] Sometimes we use that phrase so glibly, that term Lord. He is Lord, Master, the Captain, the Commander-in-Chief, the Almighty God.

[8:01] We must submit to the Lordship, the kingship of our great God and King to realise he is Lord. He is supreme. What are we? But a speck of dust.

[8:12] When you think of the expanse of the cosmos and what are we? You know, one of the psalmist said he felt like a worm. You know, there's a sense where God is so huge and massive, supreme.

[8:26] And sometimes we don't fully grasp what we are part of. I know there was a funny video clip that I was sharing here and there where there was a pastor saying, telling about, you know, as a Christian really, what he's part of.

[8:41] And he sat next to a woman on the plane and he said, oh, what do you do? And she told him and then she said, oh, what do you do? And he said, how did he put it now?

[8:52] I'm part of a global enterprise with outlets in every country in the world. And, you know, we've got education, we've got, you know, hospitals and all kinds of services.

[9:07] And we help people from the womb to the tomb, from birth to the grave. And he's talking and she said, what is this? This organisation, she was blown away.

[9:18] And he said, it's the church of God. It's the church of God. We are part of something that is very powerful because God is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

[9:31] Of course, we know there's churches and there's churches, but God helping us will be a church that God will be pleased with, that God will be honoured by and esteemed and reverenced in and feared by his people who know him.

[9:44] The real church is the people of God who know him. And we are part of the most powerful force to be reckoned with, the very church of God, the very church that our Lord Jesus is building.

[9:56] That is what God wants us to be. And he is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We're meant to be a mighty force to be reckoned with.

[10:09] One of the names of the Lord is the Lord of hosts, which means it's the Lord of armies. There's a sense where we, this is a spiritual army. You know, sometimes we don't look very much like it.

[10:19] We're more like maybe weekend warriors, you know, the army reserves, just part-time soldiers. But honestly and truly, we're really a full-time spiritual army that God is raising up.

[10:31] And to the honour of our commander-in-chief, our great God and saviour. And the life of the believer is meant to be an overcoming life. We're meant to be spiritually powerful.

[10:44] But we know, I put to you, I know I've experienced it, power failure happens, doesn't it? We're meant to possess a holy boldness.

[10:55] We're meant to be gung-ho and full steam ahead. And yet, sometimes it's lacking. We're not where we want to be, where he wants us to be.

[11:07] And let's consider these truths of, how can I regain that power, the power of God? How can I know the power of God in my life?

[11:19] And I put to you that we're meant to possess a holy boldness, that we can boldly enter in and pray. Anyway, the God who we serve, he doesn't wait till 10 o'clock Sunday morning for us to have an audience with him.

[11:35] You know, to make an appointment with God. To have some select holy time. And we can meet with our God all the time, can't we? And anywhere we are.

[11:46] So even your home, your lounge room can be a holy place where you meet with God. And you know him. And we can boldly enter in and pray. Not to come to some holy place with some spiritual, you know, holy glass in the windows and holy icons around us.

[12:05] And some holy smoke or holy water. You know, I saw some picture of some fellow in the Philippines. And he had this holy water.

[12:16] And he was throwing it over the people. Now, I won't do that to you this morning. But you don't need that. You don't need holy water splashed all over you like that. It's not going to make you more spiritual. And even getting baptized isn't going to make you more spiritual.

[12:28] It's about knowing him. The baptism portrays the spiritual work done in the inside of you. If you get baptized without knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you'll just get wet.

[12:41] You won't get saved. It's only as you trust and call on him that you're saved. The baptism is a picture of that which God does on the inside of you. But I put to you, we can boldly enter in and pray.

[12:52] It says in Hebrews 4.16, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[13:04] Thank God mercy's here. Amen. Mercy. We can find mercy. We can obtain mercy. We can find grace to help in time of need. Can't we? We can come boldly unto the throne of grace.

[13:15] Available 24-7 by 365. And God can intervene in your situation. God is able. Able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think.

[13:29] According to the power that worketh in us. We can know the power. And I'll put to you that it's the power of prayer. The power of prayer. Prayer is powerful.

[13:44] Prayer is powerful. There's the prayer meeting. There's prayers in the meetings. And there's prayers in your car as you're driving along. You can say a prayer. You don't have to say some holy words or make it sound flowery.

[13:58] And make it sound like trying to impress people who might hear you. It's addressing your heavenly father. The Lord who loves you. Your saviour who saved you.

[14:12] It's words of love between you and God. And they can be simple words. But the point is the power of prayer. The power of prayer. And we can know the power of praise. Praise.

[14:23] The power of praise. You know, there's some folk that have written books about the power of praise. And how we can praise even from prison to praise. The sense is where we can in everything give thanks.

[14:34] There's a sense that we can praise God. And know that power of praise. It's meant to function no matter what our circumstance can be. The power of praise.

[14:45] Acts 16 verse 25. And at midnight. Paul and Silas, they'd been thrashed and beaten. And they were bleeding and bruised.

[14:57] And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed. They were in prison at this time. Locked up because they stood up for Christ. Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God.

[15:11] And the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. So that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened. And everyone's bands were loosed. Paul and Silas prayed.

[15:24] You know, they could have... It would have probably been more appropriate, worldly speaking, for them to have moaned. And thought, oh, ouch. You know, miserable. What are we doing in this miserable dark dungeon in this horrible place?

[15:38] And getting beaten up because we've not been ashamed of the name of Jesus. But no, they prayed. And they sang praises.

[15:49] And they sang praises loud enough that all the prison heard them. And God heard them. Amen. The power of praise. There is power failure when we fail to praise.

[16:00] Isn't there? When the circumstances make us such that we think, oh, woe is me. Have our little pity party. And we don't praise. The devil wants to stop your praising.

[16:13] But God says in Psalm 150, Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power.

[16:24] Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. For every believer we have the power of praise. And we can take time out from the busy and the distracting things.

[16:37] And the difficult things to know. Praise God. He loves me. Praise God. He saved me. Praise God. He's with me. Through all of what's going on.

[16:49] For every believer we can know the power. The power of praise. And then there's the power of his word. Wow, this is powerful. Wow. It's a bit too hot to handle. Some countries they wouldn't let you have one.

[17:01] Yeah, you know. And even when Tyndale's Bible was published, if they found one of his Bibles in their home, they would take the man and kill him.

[17:13] The man of the house. To have the Bible. It's too hot to handle. Back in those days. It's too hot to handle. In many countries around the world today. The word of God. The precious word of God.

[17:24] And in our hands we have the most powerful words ever written. The very word of God. The words given unto us by the Lord. This is precious. The word of God.

[17:35] And this word has authority. There's no other book like it. No other book can tell you the way to heaven. No other book can tell you of prophecies. As we've heard. 700 years.

[17:46] Isaiah. He saw the one who was wounded. The one who was bruised. The one who was beaten. Scourged. Marred more than any man. For us. No other book has prophecy like that.

[17:59] Fulfilled. And yet to be fulfilled. This book. Tremble at his word. Take it seriously. The authority of the word of God. Words given unto us by the Lord.

[18:10] This is God's love letter to you. You know. Julie and I. When we were courting. I was some. Hundreds of kilometers away from her. And we would write love letters to each other.

[18:23] And I used to get in trouble for that. Because. You know. Julie doesn't like me saying. But. You know. On the back of her love letters were. Sealed with a loving kiss. You know.

[18:34] S. W. A. L. K. Sealed with a loving kiss. You know. When I was away. When the. In the old days. Before email. She used to email. Rather send me. These love letters.

[18:45] And I would. I would read them. Very carefully. And. And. And. And. Write. Gushing words of love. Back to her too. And. You know. If you think of these times. This is God's love letter.

[18:57] And. Do we care about it? Do we take it. In our hands. And. Really. Ponder. And. Receive it. God's mighty power.

[19:08] His precious promises. Are here for us to read. To take to heart. To take in. To believe. To put into action. And. Dr. J. Wilford Chapman. Was once asked. What was the secret.

[19:18] Of his power. He was a powerful man of God. And he replied. I find that. I have power. Just in proportion. As my soul. Is saturated. Through and through.

[19:29] With the word of God. Now. I was talking with. A sister this morning. Saying she's trying to. Remember some Bible. Verses. And that's a good thing. That we try to remember. Some Bible verses.

[19:40] And. Try to hide it in our heart. And try to. Read it such that we. We take it in. And remember it. Be mindful of it. When situations arise.

[19:50] We can. Bring it to mind again. The precious promises of God. And that was the secret. Of this man's power. And it says in Colossians 3.16. Let the word of Christ.

[20:01] Dwell in you richly. Let it dwell in you. Take up habitation. Take up residence in you. Richly in all wisdom. Teaching and admonishing one another.

[20:12] With psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Singing with grace in your hearts. To the Lord. Let it dwell in you richly. Richly. There's power. Power in his word.

[20:23] And may we not underestimate. The life transforming. Faith imparting word of God. Hebrews 4.12. For the word of God. Is quick. In other words alive. Now there's the quick.

[20:34] And there's the dead. I'd rather be quick. Wouldn't you? This word of God is quick. It's alive. It's living. It's life in it. It's not the dead words of men.

[20:44] It's the living word of God. For the word of God is quick. It's powerful. And it's sharper. Than any two-edged sword. Piercing even. To the dividing asunder.

[20:56] Of soul and spirit. Of the joints and marrow. And it's a discerner of the thoughts. And intents of the heart. This book is alive. There's life here. There's life.

[21:07] Life eternal. God's message of life. In a world full of death. And destruction. And evil. And darkness. There's life. There's light. It's powerful.

[21:19] And it's got God's powerful message to men. The gospel is powerful. God shows his awesome power to save. Paul says Romans 1.16. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

[21:32] For it is the power of God. Unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first. And also to the Greek. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

[21:43] I'm not ashamed of. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Christian. I believe Jesus is my saviour and Lord. I believe his word. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. He paid for my sin.

[21:55] He rose again. And he's my ever living Lord and saviour. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. The good news of Christ. It's the power of God. Unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

[22:08] We see this power demonstrated in conversion. Often a word gets just lodges in the conscience. And we've got to get right with God.

[22:21] Because the word. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word. Of God. The word speaks to us. As it did in. The case of Jonathan Edwards.

[22:33] A man who was saved. Became a mighty man of God. Used of God. Jonathan Edwards. He was suddenly converted. As if by a flash of light. You know.

[22:44] His words bring light. Don't they? It brings light. Wow. I've been in the dark so long. And wow. I can see now. God. And it was brought in that reading of a single verse.

[22:54] One verse of the Bible. He was at home at the time. He was hindered from going to church with the family. And he. Excuse me.

[23:05] He had some time on his hands. And he was flicking through the library. And he saw this. This. Book that just had a leather. Binding.

[23:16] And he wasn't sure. He didn't even know what it was. And he opened it at random. And. His eyes caught on these verses here. It was a Bible. And it said. Now.

[23:27] Unto the King. Eternal. Immortal. Invisible. The only. Wise God. Be honor. And glory. Forever. And ever.

[23:38] Amen. Now. Unto the King. Eternal. Immortal. Invisible. The only. Wise God. Be glory. And he tells us. As he recounts that day.

[23:49] Of the effect of that one verse. The King. Eternal. Immortal. Of the vastness. Of the majesty. Of his creator. Of the sovereign.

[24:01] Of the universe. And how. A mighty. Transformation. Took place. In his soul. Now.

[24:12] I've got a sermon file in here. Because I've got my pages all mixed up. But. Maybe God doesn't want you. Oh. Here it is. Maybe God doesn't want you to hear this.

[24:22] But no. And. He felt that pain. Of his guilt. That he had resisted. Such a monarch. So long. And how he had served him.

[24:33] So poorly. And he realized. His own wickedness. The King. Eternal. And he felt that. Deep. Conviction. Of his sin. I must know him.

[24:44] I must. Pledge my allegiance. To this king. The king. Of my soul. And friends. We must succumb. To the saving power of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

[24:55] It's the power of God. Unto salvation. To everyone. That believer. But. As a church. Across the world. We see a. Power failure. The gospel isn't there.

[25:07] You know. We're talking with some friends. Of late. And. That. It's sadly lacking. The gospel. It's. There's something missing. There's. It's not there. And as a church.

[25:18] We see this power failure. We see many Christians. Struggling. Weak. Just. Barely. Getting through. It's a power failure.

[25:30] Isn't it? We've lost that reliance. Upon the spirit of God. We failed to rely. Upon the power. Of God's spirit. We failed. By and large. I'll put to you. As a worldwide.

[25:43] Impact. On the church. That there's a struggling. Going on. Because we've lost. The power of prayer. The power of prayer. We don't depend on God anymore. We've got all the gadgets.

[25:54] And the technology. And all the whiz bang things. That get in the way. Of prayer. Prayer. Seek God. Seek his face. The power of prayer. What about the power of praise?

[26:06] Oh. If things aren't going right. I just have a. Moaning session. Just like everybody else does. I don't stop to say. Praise God anyway. Praise the Lord anyway. Praise the Lord.

[26:17] Whatever. Praise the Lord. What about the power of his word? Do we neglect it? Is it just dusty on the shelf? Where we scarcely open a page? The power of his word.

[26:28] It's untapped power. What about the power of his spirit? The power of the spirit of God. He gave us the power. To be his witnesses. The hand of the Lord was upon the early church.

[26:40] And we have his power today. Thanks to his grace. You know. It must be such that. As we humble ourselves. Under the mighty hand of God.

[26:51] He will lift us up. Realize how. Dependent we are. You know. I like to say we're a God dependent church. A God dependent church. To be a God dependent people.

[27:03] That God will empower his church. And that we'll realize we are nothing. Without him. He is all. All in all. He is our sufficiency. Our sufficiency is of God.

[27:14] And unworthy as we are. Yet he grants us his grace. Doesn't he? He grants us his strength and power. To be a victorious Christian. And it all hinges upon his grace.

[27:25] It hinges there. God's grace is enough. 2 Corinthians 12.9. At the time Paul's talking about the thorn in the flesh.

[27:36] We can all think of something that's hindering. That's difficult. And Paul besought the Lord.

[27:48] Take it Lord. Take it Lord. Take it. God said no. No. No. And he said unto me. My grace is sufficient for thee. And my strength is made perfect in weakness.

[28:00] Most gladly therefore will I rather glory. In my infirmities. That the power of Christ may rest upon me. Human weakness. God's strength. Join together.

[28:12] Don't they? God is able to make our human weakness. To affect his grace. And work in us.

[28:23] To do a work. Notice in 2 Corinthians 12. It's God saying my strength. My grace. They're hand in hand aren't they?

[28:34] My strength. My grace. Our weakness. Grace makes up for our lack. Whenever you're feeling like you're inadequate. Unable.

[28:45] Join the club. None of us can be. We're all sinners saved by grace. Saved by grace. That's what makes the difference. Grace makes up for our lack.

[28:57] Our weakness. Our frailty. Grace works when the heart is humble. When we realise I need God. I can't do it on my own. I can't be able of myself.

[29:13] I must have Christ to save me. Grace makes up for our lack. Grace works when the heart is humble. Grace works in the God fearing. When we realise. Lord I need you.

[29:24] I need your grace. I need your strength. Grace works when we flee to the refuge. We don't try to make our own little refuge. A refuge of lies. A refuge of our own making.

[29:36] A refuge of some makeshift works of our own doing. But his refuge. He is our refuge and strength. When we flee to the refuge we find grace.

[29:47] And God's power is greatest when we're at our weakest. When you realise I'm a lousy sinner. And there's nothing I can do. And I'm never going to measure up. That's when God steps in.

[30:00] And he receives your humble heart. And he receives your repentance. He receives and grants your forgiveness. He says my grace is sufficient.

[30:11] For thee. For thee. For thee. For thee. Each one. Individually. Me. Me. Me. His grace is sufficient. For thee.

[30:22] When grace works. God gets all the glory. Doesn't he? That must be what happens. And I put to you believer. Whatever's going on right now. His grace will sustain thee.

[30:34] He will sustain thee. God uses human weakness. I saw a good illustration of this. Talking about the ancient Japanese form of art.

[30:46] Called kintsugi. It's apparently an art form where broken pieces of pottery are joined together. With gold or some precious metal.

[30:59] And it's like it literally means golden patchwork. So that these cups and bowls and plates are put together into their original form. These broken pieces joined by this golden glue.

[31:13] And the seals, they're sealed with gold. But they don't hide the gold. Because it's just to show that this cup or bowl is more beautiful than a cup or bowl that is unbroken.

[31:27] And friends, I put to you grace is like that, isn't it? That God sees our brokenness, our lack, and he puts us back together. He puts us such that his grace makes us even more glorious a vessel for his working.

[31:49] So I put to you that weakness does not disqualify you. In fact, it makes it even more fitting for the master, doesn't it?

[32:00] When we come to the end of ourselves. Because when we get so, as I can, anyone of us, I put to you, can get kind of high and mighty.

[32:11] Think that, oh, I've achieved this or that. But God has got a way of bringing us back, back to earth again, doesn't he?

[32:25] He's got a way of reminding us we are but clay. And we need to come broken before God. Realise our lack, our need of him.

[32:38] And his grace makes up for our weakness. Weakness does not disqualify you. There's an article I read, all God's giants have been weak men. Hudson Taylor, he was a man who, in that day, China was some vast continent that no one dared set foot in.

[32:59] And, you know, just leave them to it. But Hudson Taylor had the burning message of the gospel in his heart. And he knew the secret of strength through weakness. And he went beyond the bounds of what was accepted at the time.

[33:17] He went into this unexplored place to a land in heathen darkness and brought the gospel light. And someone was talking to Hudson and asked him how this was so.

[33:34] And Hudson said this, it seemed to me that God looked over the whole world to find a man who was weak enough. Weak enough to do his work.

[33:45] And when he at last found me, he said, he is weak enough, he'll do. It's getting weak enough. It's just saying, Lord, I'm an empty vessel.

[33:56] I've got nothing to bring of merit, of worthiness of my own making or doing. I need you, Lord. I need your grace. And all God's giants have been weak men.

[34:07] Weak men and women who did great things for God because they reckon on his being with them. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

[34:21] God is able. Do we stop and consider that, that God is able? God is able to use the weakest of the weak. God is able to empower every one of us to works of faith and service, to works exploits.

[34:39] God is able to empower by his spirit any and every one of us. Think of the three Hebrew children. At the time, the whole populace was bowing down to this statue of gold.

[34:55] This glory of man, the ruler of the day, wanted everyone to pay homage to his image.

[35:05] And these three Hebrew men said, no, I'm not going to bow down. I will not bow down. And they were taken before the king and thrown into the burning, fiery furnace.

[35:20] This is Daniel chapter 3. And the king questioned them. And they said, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us.

[35:33] Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. Our God is able to deliver us.

[35:44] Isn't he? God is able. Isn't he? He made the universe, the expanse of stars, every human, every flower, every creature, every cell.

[35:59] And in him, we consist. We held together. He is able. Sometimes we don't consider how great our almighty God is.

[36:10] Galileo tells of the sun and of its power. The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes.

[36:25] As if it had nothing else in the universe to do. Isn't our God more able to do whatever he wants to do? God is able. When we humanly think, oh, it's beyond.

[36:39] But God is able. And 2 Corinthians 9 verse 8, it says, And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, having all things, all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

[36:53] God is able to make all grace abound towards you. God is able. He's able to take the weakest and make them strong. He's able to make the most powerful, the most weak, weakly and powerless powerful.

[37:07] The weakest of his saints. He can take them and make them strong. The king checked in on Daniel. Daniel had prayed and prayed and prayer became illegal, but Daniel kept praying.

[37:21] And then Daniel was hauled to the king and thrown into the den of lions. And the king checked in on Daniel after a night in the lion's den.

[37:32] This is Daniel 6 verse 20. Daniel 7. And when he, the king, came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice, Daniel, Daniel, oh, Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions?

[37:52] Daniel, is thy living God, the one you continually serve, able to deliver thee? Daniel 7.

[38:26] Daniel 7. Daniel 7. You have that same power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead. You've got the power of prayer. The power of prayer. The power of praise.

[38:39] The power of his word. Truly the power of God. Think of the power of God. As we think of a time where there's dreadful power failure all across this state.

[38:49] All across this land, this nation, this planet. A power failure. Truly the power of God must be the power that we seek after. To know him. The power of his spirit.

[39:01] And not some spooky kind of goose bumpy type power necessarily. But to know the power of our loving saviour.

[39:13] His personal saving power. And the power of his grace. To transform, to save, to set free. And let's be honest today.

[39:24] When we think of the power of God. The power of his spirit. Have you experienced a power failure? You know the lights suddenly go out. I could have engineered someone to shut everything down.

[39:35] Whoa, what's happening? Sometimes we don't even realise. The power's out. We need to be recharged. To be reignited. Re-fired. The answer to our power failure problem is to seek after God.

[39:51] You know D.L. Moody, an old time preacher. People questioned him because he made much mention of the power of God's spirit. And of seeking the filling of God's spirit.

[40:03] And to seek the filling of God's spirit afresh. And D.L. Moody was asked, he was sort of questioned, sort of challenged on this. And why do you keep talking about being filled with the spirit?

[40:15] Why do you keep talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit so much? And his response was, I leak. We need the filling of the spirit because we leak.

[40:26] You know, there's a seepage. That battery dwindles. You know, we need the old time power, don't we? The old time power. Not some new time power. We need the old time power.

[40:37] The old time book. The old time zeal of apostolic times. We need that refreshed again. And our Lord promises such to those who will tarry and wait upon him.

[40:47] Of course, we know in the context of speaking of Pentecost, Luke 24, 49, the Lord says, Behold, I send you the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high.

[41:03] That's the kind of power we need, isn't it? The power from on high, the power of heaven. The power that we need is not worked up from us, manufactured as if our sweat and toil and straining and effort and energy of flesh can make it happen.

[41:20] It's not man manufactured. It's heaven sent power. Where does it come from? Power from on high. And Acts 1, verse 8, we see the promise, but ye shall receive power.

[41:33] After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And then what? Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

[41:47] Even where there has been a power failure, the power can be restored. Isn't that good news? You know, it's saying South Australian homes without power, the power's been restored.

[41:59] Thank goodness for that. You know, but what about spiritually though? When we lose that sense of God in us, is his power working in us?

[42:13] The power can be restored. We can seek after God. He can do it again. Do it again. He can refill. When we're leaking, he can refill. And his amazing power is just as available now as ever it was for us to fulfill his will, to be used of him.

[42:30] And we may feel so empty, so lacking, so weak, and so we ought to feel because we need God. We need to depend upon him. And the Lord can grant us a refreshing.

[42:40] I'm drawing to a close here just to think of these things today. And Isaiah 40 verse 28, we read of another encouraging passage that tells of seeking after God.

[42:55] Isaiah 40 from verse 28. Amen. Has thou not known? Has thou not heard? That the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary, neither is there searching of his understanding.

[43:14] He giveth power to the faint. Amen. He giveth power to the faint. He gives power to the faint.

[43:41] Amen. Amen. You might say, preacher, I'm just at the end of my rope. I saw a good little illustration of that. If you're feeling like you're at the end of the rope, you're just hanging by a thread, make sure it's the hem of his garment.

[43:57] Amen. If you're hanging by a thread, make sure it's the hem of his garment. Hold on to him. Hold on to Jesus. And that power can be renewed. You can renew your strength.

[44:08] And be not weary in well-doing. Brother, sister, do not faint. Press on. But not on your own strength. Lean on his. Wait upon the Lord and you'll renew your strength.

[44:20] And consider the direction you're headed as well. It's been truly said, direction determines destination. Direction determines destination. Make sure your direction is right.

[44:32] And then that goal, that heavenly aspiration, that spirit of God. Seek after God. And it tells us in the word of God, Paul writes to young Timothy, he says, For God has not given to us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

[44:53] The spirit of power. The spirit of love. The spirit of a sound mind. May this be our resolution, our motto, our confession. May we set our sail such that the spirit of God drives us in his direction, where he wants us to be, to press forward.

[45:12] Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Ephesians 6, verse 10. And just to recap again. Now unto him that is able, God is able.

[45:24] 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.

[45:36] Wow. Why would God's power work in me? It says it does. It says he does. His power. The power of his spirit. And to him be glory in the church.

[45:48] By Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Friends. It might seem like you're powerless. There's a power failure.

[46:01] God is able. He's able. He always has been, is now and always will be. He is the rock. The Bible says God is our rock. He's our strength.

[46:11] He's our refuge. The rock doesn't move. Amen. There was a sailor in a shipwreck thrown around and he was clinging onto this rock. There was great danger.

[46:22] There's big thrashing waves. The tide eventually went down. And someone said to him, Jim, didn't you shake with fear when you were hanging on that rock? He said, yes, but the rock didn't.

[46:35] The rock doesn't shake. We might feel shaking. We might feel weak, weary, tired, worn. The rock doesn't shake. God is our rock.

[46:46] He is our rock. We can be assured that we are planted on the rock. And we cannot be shaken because God's power is unshakable. And God is able to hold us steady and settle us.

[46:59] Friends, I've been telling of the God who is able. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Do you know him?

[47:11] It starts with that. That simple step of saying, I am weak. You are strong. I am sinful. You are a saviour.

[47:22] I deserve hell. You've paid for it all. Paid it in full by the blood of the cross. And I trust you now. I receive your saving grace and love. Thank you, Lord, for saving me.

[47:36] As you trust him. That power failure can be a reconnection, as it were.

[47:46] That power failure can be a power restoration. And believe the hear tonight, today. Likewise, when you're feeling weak, hear strong.

[47:58] Hear strong. The power of prayer. The power of praise. The power of his word. The power of his spirit. Let's thank God for what he can do. And his power works in us.

[48:10] He's not divorced from us. He's not separated, distant from us. He's very much in us. His power dwells in us. His power works in us. Let's pray.

[48:22] Lord, we thank you. Your word is powerful. Powerful words of truth. Help us, Lord, to put our trust in you. And to know that whatever weakness we may feel, you are yet strong.

[48:35] And your grace is sufficient, even for us. That can trust you, Lord. Your grace is sufficient. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.