“The Comfort of God’s Power” Job 26

Well, turn with me in your Bibles to Job chapter 26. This morning, I’m going to speak about God’s power.

As I was sitting there on Wednesday evening, early Thursday morning, sitting out on our front porch watching the hurricane come through, watching the rain and the wind and just seeing the immense power that was on display there in the middle of the night as these winds were coming through. It really is impressive. And even as you see the coverage and even the tornadoes that came through the state on Wednesday, and you see all the destruction and the power that was seen in a storm like this. And God’s power ought to bring about a variety of feelings and reactions for us.

We should be fearful of God’s power. We should tremble at the display of just how powerful God is. But what I want to kind of, where I want to get to this morning and kind of impress upon you is that we should find great comfort in the power of God. And it can be difficult at times, like in the midst of a great display of God’s power in nature, like a hurricane, to be comforted. God’s power has implications to it, and that is what should bring comfort to us as His people. And really Job 26, where we will begin this morning, is really just a way of introducing this topic this morning. I want to consider what Job has to say concerning God’s power in Job 26. But really, you need to begin in Job 25.

Job 25 is a very short chapter, and it is his friend Bildad speaking to him. In Job 25, starting in verse 1, it says, then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, rule and dream belong to him. Who makes peace in his heights? Is there any number to his troops? And upon whom does his light not rise? How then can mortal man be right with God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? Behold, even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less mortal man, that maggot, that son of man, that worm.

This is an interesting chapter in the Bible because on the one hand, Bildad is right. Bildad’s understanding of God’s power is accurate. Bildad’s understanding of God’s greatness is what it should be, but it’s his conclusions from those things where Bildad goes astray. He is right that rule and dread belong to him. Who makes peace in his heights? Is there any number to his troops? Upon whom does his light not rise? but his conclusion that man is no more than a worm and a maggot in his sight. So why should we expect anything other than what Job was going through from God? That is a wrong conclusion.

Job, you remember, had everything taken from him. Job was a very wealthy man. He had a big family. He had a big estate. And God allowed that all to be taken from him. And in his misery and despair, this is what his friend has to say to him. Yeah, Job, God’s great. He’s much greater than you, so why should you expect any different? Well, Job’s initial response to his quote-unquote friend, Bildad, is, well, thanks a lot. And he says, what help are you to the one with no power? How have you saved the arm with no strength? What counsel have you given the one without wisdom? What sound wisdom have you abundantly made known? To whom have you declared words, and who is breath comes out from you?

Job says, that doesn’t help me much, Bildad. I know you’re trying to be helpful here, but you’re really not. you reminding me of God’s power and then telling me that I should expect no different than what I’ve gotten, that doesn’t help me. But the reality is sometimes we are left in this spot, that we know the truth about who God is. We can read who God is from his word, and yet I don’t seem to find any comfort in this. This doesn’t make me feel any better. Well, that’s what we need to consider this morning.

We’re gonna begin here in Job 26, five to 14, where Job reflects his own understanding of God’s power. And then we’ll look at elsewhere in scripture that also speaks to the greatness, the unlimited nature of the power of God. And then we will close with how we can find comfort in that. how God’s power itself should be comforting to us. Job’s understanding of God’s power is shown in verses five through 14. In verse five he says, the departed spirits tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. Naked is Sheol before him and Abaddon has no covering. So here Job begins with God’s power over the grave. God’s power over the grave. Naked is Sheol, or the grave, before him, and Abaddon has no covering.

Sheol and Abaddon were the Hebrew terms for the grave, where people go when they pass away. And the grave has power over every living thing on this planet. There is no living creature who has power over the grave. Every single living thing will die. Every single person is going to die. And yet, it has no power over God. It stands naked before Almighty God. That’s what verses five and six tell us. Naked is Sheol before him and Abaddon has no covering. They are powerless before our Almighty God.

And in verses seven and eight, Job moves to God’s power over the universe, over the atmosphere. He says in verse seven, he stretches out the north over what is formless and he hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds and the cloud does not break out under them. God hangs the earth upon nothing. Do you realize that if our planet shifted off of its axis, even just a fraction of a measurement, that it would not be able to support life? It would be like all the other planets who are either too hot or too cold to support human life. And the Lord hangs the earth upon nothing. He keeps it exactly where it needs to be so that the world can sustain the life that he created. Nothing but God’s power alone keeps the earth exactly where it needs to be. He created the laws of nature, the laws of physics, the laws of gravity, all of these things in order to sustain the creation that he made.

In verse eight, he says, the clouds and the rain are produced by the power of his hand. He wraps the waters in his clouds and the cloud does not break out under them. The clouds do not form or rain one drop of water without his command. Think of that in regard to Hurricane Milton this week. Not one drop of water fell in your yard without God’s purposed hand putting it there. God purposed every raindrop that we saw this week. Job paints a picture for us. He says, he obscures the face of his throne and he spreads his cloud over it. The clouds are like curtains hiding the throne of God from us. This is a picture Job is trying to get us to see. As great as the clouds and the sky and the atmosphere of the earth is, they hide us from the true greatness of God’s throne room.

Psalm 147:8 says, he is the one who covers the heavens with clouds. He provides rain for the earth and he makes grass to sprout on the mountains. We read that earlier. He does all this. This just doesn’t happen by chance. And Isaiah puts it similarly in Isaiah 66:1, he says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool of my feet. Where then is the house you could build for me? And where is a place that I may rest? The earth is nothing but a footstool to the throne room of God. This is why scripture tells us the heavens declare the glory of God. They don’t show us his full glory, but they declare it in a way that we can see glimpses of who he is.

And then in verse 10, Job tells us God’s power over the seas. He says he’s marked a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness. So this is his power over the day and the night and the seas, the circle over the waters. God has marked the very limits of the ocean. You want to talk about rising sea levels? Not without God’s say-so. The sea levels rise exactly to where he wants them to. He sets their limits. He tells the tide where to stop.

Both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton brought devastating storm surge where the oceans came in farther than they usually do. Some areas saw up to 15 feet higher than normal levels of ocean water that came in. Well, guess what? God had power over that too. Those waters rose to the very inch that he set for them. God was not surprised by the levels of the ocean. He determined the levels of the ocean. The seas are a power on this earth that are almost unrivaled. Really, man just tries to harness the power of the seas and to use them for our own benefit. But we cannot control the seas and what they do. But the power of the sea is no match for God’s almighty hand. He is the one who sets their limits.

In verse 11, Job continues and he gives us another picture. He says, the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. Now the pillars of heaven here, it’s a euphemism for really the atmosphere of the earth, the area in which the earth is existing. And it says the pillars of heaven tremble. This was often used to describe what happens in natural disasters, whether it’s earthquakes, or it could be hurricanes, or great storms, or tempests on the sea. They would describe this as the pillars of heaven are shaking.

And Job continues and says they’re astonished at his rebuke, at God’s rebuke on them. This is a reference to natural disasters and the phenomena of God’s creation, the things that we can’t quite understand. Stephen Charnock, the Puritan, he describes this this way. He says, the power of God is seen in those commotions in the air and the earth by thunders and lightnings and storms and earthquakes, which rack the air and make the mountains and hills tremble as servants before a frowning and rebuking master. Natural disasters are not out of God’s control. They are his slaves. They do exactly what he tells them to do.

And we see the effects of these things upon the seas in verse 12. He quieted the sea by his power, and by his understanding he crushed the storm, or Rahab, as some versions say. He quiets and controls the sea with his power. In an instant, the worst storm that you could ever see could be quieted by the rebuke of God. By God’s power, storms are churned up, and by his wisdom, they are quieted. In some versions here, it says that he crushes Rahab. Again, some versions have the storm, but this term Rahab was a term they used to describe natural forces that bring devastation on the earth. It was an ancient myth that there was a great sea monster by the name of Rahab that would supposedly be responsible for these great storms on the ocean. This sea monster would stir up the great storms that would create havoc for the people that inhabited the area around. It was this mythical monster. And Job’s saying, no creature, real or imaginary, is beyond God’s control.

Even those powers that overpower the natural order of creation sometimes, they are overpowered by God. In verse 13 he says, by his breath the heavens are made beautiful. His hand has pierced that fleeing serpent. This is the calm after the storm. This is God quieting the storm by his rebuke. And the heavens are made beautiful. And that supposed serpent that created this storm is pierced. God is all-powerful. He makes the storms come, and He makes the storms flee. Even great storms like we’ve witnessed here in the last few weeks, they don’t do a single thing without the command of God. Not one drop of rain, not one wind that blew. No aspect of these storms is outside of the complete sovereign power of God.

And then verse 14 is a profound verse in the Bible. It says, behold, these are the fringes of his ways. And how only with a whisper of a word Do we hear him? But his mighty thunder, who can understand? As much as we could say about the power of God, about the greatness of God, about God’s immensity, as much as you could write down and try to understand about who God is, these are just a fringe of his ways. It’s just a whisper of a word. The power, the unimaginable power that’s on display in the natural disasters and phenomenon that we see, that’s just the fringe. Just the fringe of God’s power, God’s ability. Just a small glimpse. More is revealed in the depths of the throne room of God, but we can’t see that. We couldn’t understand it even if we could.

And man in his arrogance thinks he understands the way things work. We think we know how all of this happens. We think we can predict and even perhaps control what’s gonna happen with the weather. We have channels and apps that tell us how the weather’s going to be. And with these storms, they tell us how the storm’s gonna go. And we watch trustingly in this technology to tell us how things are gonna be so we know. And we see that there’s 35 different models of possibilities where the storm might go. And then the next hour update, they’re all different. And as it goes, we just, we keep reading and watching and watching and we have no idea. Not really. And we still, we want to know, we want to understand these things. And in the end, we’re left with the same realization that the wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound and you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

Our God sits in the heavens and he directs these things. And he laughs at our arrogance to think that we are the ones who know. We only know the fringes of his ways. And what can be conceived of God are just crumbs and fragments of who he really is. It’s like a drop in the ocean. It’s like a whisper in a thunderstorm. Job says, his mighty thunder, who can understand? The answer is no one. His mighty power and the greatness and immensity of his strength and power testified to us in miracles, in nature. Thunder itself is a mark of God’s power, Job says. One commenter explains it this way, as thunder pierces the lowest places and alters the state of things, so does the power of God penetrate into all things whatsoever. Who is able to understand the depths of God’s power? What little we have in God’s word that shows us who he is, it exceeds our ability to even understand that. And that’s just the fringes. Again, Stephen Charnock says, his power shines in everything and is beyond everything.

So Bildad has tried to use God’s power as an indictment against Job. How dare you think anything different? And Job answers, what do you know of God’s power? What do you know of God’s power? Job 26 is a lofty declaration of God’s infinite power. And this is just the introduction into our focus this morning on the power of God.

So I want to take a few minutes and just look at what else scripture has to say about the extent of God’s power before we consider how this great doctrine It should comfort us. But God’s power is immense. That is to say His power is beyond our ability to even understand. Some say it this way, that He is omnipotent. It means He’s all powerful.

Psalm 145:3 says, great is Yahweh and highly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. It’s unsearchable. It’s beyond finding out. There is nothing over which God’s power does not have authority. There’s nothing he cannot do. In Genesis 18, God promises the impossible, that Sarah, a woman beyond childbearing years, would in fact bear a child. And she laughs at the idea. That’s ridiculous. That can’t happen. That’s absurd. And God’s response to her laughter at him is, in Genesis 18, 14, is anything too difficult for Yahweh, for God? And then he says, at the appointed time, I will return to you. At this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Even the absurd is possible because of God’s power.

The prophet Jeremiah says, God speaking through him says, behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me? The answer is, of course, no. There is nothing too difficult for God because he is all powerful. In the New Testament, when Mary’s told that her relative Elizabeth will miraculously have a child, the angel says, nothing is impossible with God.

And Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 19, which we’ll look at more in a minute. With people, this is impossible. With God, all things are possible. And the Bible often describes God’s power in connection with his creation, because that’s how we understand it. God made the heavens and earth by the power of his might. He brought Israel out of Egypt with signs, wonders, and a strong hand. Jesus, the son of God, and the creator of all things, demonstrated his power over creation by calming a storm, by walking on water. These are all displays of the power of God. And with his power, Colossians tells us, Jesus Christ holds all things together. The God who created and controls the world can indeed do all things. God’s will, His desires are never frustrated. He accomplishes what He chooses to because He can.

Psalm 115:3 says, Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. God, by His very nature, can and will always do what needs to be done. He is wise. So he knows what to do. He is good, so he always chooses to do what is right. And he is all powerful, so he is able to do exactly what he wills. And God’s power is even seen in the things that he cannot do. Like he cannot make a rock so big that he cannot lift it. That’s logically absurd. But the Bible tells us of different things that he cannot do because of who he is.

He cannot be unjust. Deuteronomy 32, verse four says, the rock, his work is perfect, all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he. God cannot repent like a man, the Bible tells us. In Numbers 23, verse 19, God is not a man that he should lie. nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said that he will not do it? Or has he spoken and will not establish it? God cannot fail to do what he has said, what he has promised. Hebrews 6.18 tells us that. He cannot lie. He cannot deny himself. He cannot be tempted by evil. He cannot change. And these are not weaknesses. These are not limitations to God, but they’re strengths. They even more display the power of God. Even what he cannot do reveals his power.

As Augustine said, he cannot do some things for the very reason that he is omnipotent. All power belongs to God. Not only is he all powerful, all power itself belongs to him. There’s several places in scripture that tell us this. Psalm 62:11, once God has spoken, twice I have heard this, that strength belongs to God. Psalm 96 verse seven, ascribe to Yahweh, oh families of the peoples, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. The word ascribe means give him credit for it because it’s his. These things are true of God, all glory and strength.

The book of Revelation has a lot of doxologies in which they always praise God for his strength. Revelation 4.11, worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. Because of your will, they existed and were created. You receive all honor and glory and power. Why? Because of your majesty in creation and your upholding creation. Similar things are said in Revelation 5.12. Worthy is the Lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength. Revelation 7-12, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever. All power is God’s.

And all of this is but a brief look at what scripture has to say about the power of God. But I hope at this point it’s been impressed upon you just how immense God’s power is. I hope you stand in awe. of God’s power. Because whatever your idea of God’s power is, it’s way, way beyond that. However strong and powerful you can conceive God to be, he’s even stronger and powerful than that. That’s how the Bible speaks of God’s power to us.

Now, what good is that to us? What does that mean for us? Now, just a realization and understanding of the immensity of God’s power is good for us, but what does that mean for my life? And mainly what I want to consider this morning is how does that bring us comfort? How do we find comfort in something like the infinite, unmeasurable power of God? How does that bring us comfort in times like this?

Well, as the power of God is like an ocean that you cannot measure the depths of, we don’t have technology to measure the depth of that ocean. Even so, the comfort that flows from that ocean cannot be measured. unfathomable comfort to the child of God to be wrapped in arms as powerful as His. So I want to consider four areas that God’s power can bring us comfort. And the first one is God’s power is a comfort in our suffering.

God’s power is a comfort in our suffering. Our sufferings can never be so great that God cannot deliver us from them. Our suffering is not so great that His power is not greater. The same power that brought the world out of chaos can bring order to our confusion. God’s power is over all things. So the suffering that you are experiencing in your life comes under God’s power. And it is a comfort that God has power over our suffering. Because on the one hand, he could end it at any minute. He has the ability to do so. And that may be God’s will for you, that your suffering could come to an end in a moment because He wants it to. But on the other hand, the fact that you’re suffering and God has the ability to stop it, but He doesn’t, that means He has a purpose in it. There’s a reason why He hasn’t stopped it yet. There’s a reason why He hasn’t delivered you from your suffering yet.

Think of this in relation to the destruction and devastation we’ve seen in this last week. Yes, God has power over these hurricanes and natural disasters. He has power over all of the destruction it caused. He could have prevented all of it. But he allowed it for a reason. If God was not powerful over these things, then there is no purpose in suffering. There is no reason behind it. And if there is no reason for the bad things that happen, then we have no hope. If God has no authority over even the bad things that happen in life, then we have absolutely no hope. We have no one that can save us, unless God is powerful over all things, including our suffering.

Jesus Christ, our Savior, came down in human flesh, and in his humanity, he found himself in the very same limitations that we have. He found himself in the very same sufferings that we face. He faced the ultimate suffering on the cross where he hung and bled and died for our sins. And he found his greatest distress in the separation in his humanity between him and the Father. As Matthew 27:46 records, about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, there’s a lot going on in this passage. You can see the anguish and the hurt and the despair in the heart of our Savior. as he feels that separation between him and the Father because of our sin. But in that moment on the cross, Jesus quotes Psalm 22.1, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And what he’s doing in that moment, when his breath is very limited, even then he’s trying to tell people who he is. He’s pointing everyone to Psalm 22.

Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm about the crucified Savior. And one of the things that he’s doing there, besides crying out from the anguish in his heart as he’s telling us, Psalm 22 is about me. Further down in Psalm 22, verses six through eight, it says, but I am a worm and not a man. A reproach of men despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They smack their lip and they wag their head saying, commit yourself to Yahweh. Let him rescue you. Let him deliver him because he delights in him.” That’s describing what happened at the cross. Because back in Matthew chapter 27 where we just read the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

A few verses earlier. Verses 41 to 43, in the same way, the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, he saved others, he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusts in God, let God rescue him now, if he delights in him. For he said, I am the son of God. And moments later, moments later, Jesus quotes from this very Psalm that told us this would happen.

And you’ve got to remember, this is before there were chapter and verse numbers in the Bible. And the way they would refer to something in the Old Testament is they would quote a passage from it that was very familiar. And it would bring to the mind of those who had memorized the Old Testament exactly where Jesus is talking about in the Bible, and he says, What you’re doing right now is found in Psalm 22 because Psalm 22 is about me. I am the Messiah being crucified for you.

And why do I bring all this up when we’re talking about the comfort of God’s strength in our suffering and in our weakness? Psalm 22 goes on to describe the suffering of our Savior. In verses 14 and 15 it says, I am poured out like water. and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws, and you lay me in the dust of death.” That’s Christ suffering on the cross. This is what he’s going through.

And what’s going through his mind when he points us to Psalm 22, as his strength is poured out, he has no strength left. right in the middle of Psalm 22, right in the very center of it, as if it’s the point. Verses 19 and 20 say, but you, O Yahweh, be not far off. O my strength, hasten to my help. Deliver my soul. O Yahweh, O my strength. As our Savior hangs there in the greatest suffering ever experienced, Psalm 22 points us to the hope that God is my strength. When I have no strength of my own left, God is my strength because he is all powerful. The way that Jesus endured suffering on the cross is through the strength of God, the strength of the Lord. It’s as if he’s saying, I don’t have any strength left in my human body, but God is my strength.

It’s like the psalmist says in Psalm 121 verse 2, my help comes from the Lord. who made heaven and earth. My help, my strength comes from the one who has all strength and power. That is how God’s power is a comfort to us in our suffering. Because if we’re depending on our own strength to overcome our suffering, we will fail. Suffering was not intended to see how strong you really are. Suffering was intended to make us depend upon God. To make us realize how weak we really are. How much we cannot do it ourself. But no suffering is too great for his power. Not even the greatest suffering of all time. Christ on the cross.

So number one, God’s power is a comfort in our suffering. Because he has a power over suffering, And suffering’s intended to drive us to Him, to rely on His strength and not our own.

The second comfort we find in the power of God is number two, that God’s power is a comfort in our temptations. In our temptations. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he tells us to guard against the attacks of Satan in chapter six by putting on the armor of God. And to preface that explanation of the armor of God, in verse 10 of Ephesians 6, Paul says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. We need to be strong against the temptations of Satan, but we are not to be strong in our own selves. We are not to be strong in our own strength. We need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His strength.

By His power, we conquer temptation and the schemes of the devil. By His power, we triumph over our own lusts and desires, too strong for our own strength to resist. By this strength, we deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. If you’re having trouble overcoming temptation, it might be because you’re doing it in your own strength. You’re not putting on the armor of God, the things he tells us to do to fight the temptations of Satan. And Jesus, in a warning to his disciples about what it will cost them to follow him.

In that passage I read earlier in Matthew 19, He says, he’s speaking about how hard it is for people in their own strength to get into the kingdom of God. Matthew 19:24-26, he says, again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And when his disciples heard this, they were very astonished. And they said, then who can be saved? And looking at them, Jesus said to them, with people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

By human standards, money and wealth give you a lot of power. The most powerful people in the world are powerful because of their wealth. And that is nowhere near enough power to get you into the kingdom of God. The disciples were right to be astonished at the words of Jesus. If anybody has the power to force their way into the kingdom, it’s the rich. You see, they’re thinking in human terms still. They’re thinking of their own abilities. They do not have enough power. Only with God is it possible to enter the kingdom.

There is no resistance to the kingdom that God cannot overcome. There is no stronghold that he will not overpower. There is no tower of Satan that he will not level, because God’s power is sufficient in our weakness. We do not have the strength to overcome our own temptations. God does. and we need to rely on His power, on His wisdom, the wisdom that’s foolishness to the world. God’s power is a comfort to us in our temptations because His power is our only way to overcome temptations.

Thirdly, God’s power is a comfort in fulfilling His promises. God’s made a lot of promises to us in Scripture. And it’s because of His goodness that He makes promises. He promises us good things because He is a good God. But it’s by His power that He keeps them. It’s by His power that He’s able to keep the things that He’s promised. It’s only by God’s power that we can trust that He’ll come through on His word. Psalm 146:6 says, God made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and God keeps truth forever. Nothing can resist God’s will.

In Isaiah 14, for Yahweh of hosts has counseled. He’s decided something. Who can thwart it? As for His outstretched hand, who can turn it back? When God has decided something, nothing can keep Him from accomplishing what He’s decided. Nothing has the strength to overturn God’s decision. God’s Word is inalterable, unchangeable, because His power is invincible. So it’s because of his power that we know that he can and will keep his promises.

What promises do we see in scripture? Well, in Deuteronomy, as the people were going through the wilderness, he tells them in Deuteronomy 31:8, Yahweh is the one who goes ahead of you and he will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed, he will be with you. If there was any ability that Satan had to keep that from being true, he would. But God will be with us because nothing can stop him from being with us.

Isaiah 40, verse 29, he gives power to the weary and to him who lacks strength, he increases his might. He can do that because all power belongs to him. Isaiah 43 verse 2, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flame burn you. Why? Because God is more powerful than all those things.

In Isaiah 54 verse 10, the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but my loving kindness, my mercy will not be removed from you. And my covenant of peace will not be shaken, says Yahweh who has compassion on you. You cannot remove God’s loving kindness from his people. because he’s more powerful than anything that it could ever try.

Jesus’ promises in the New Testament, Matthew 11:28, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus is stronger than any burden we carry.

First Peter, chapter two, verse 24, who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. so that, having died to sin, we might live to righteousness, by his wounds you were healed.” You were healed because God’s power on display on the cross. That promise comes true because nothing can stop it. from coming true. Nothing can overturn the power of God in fulfilling His promises.

And the greatest promise, perhaps in the whole Bible, Romans 8.28, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. for those who are called according to his purpose. Now how can all things work together for good unless God is more powerful than all things? That promise only comes true because of the power of God.

And I could go on and on reading the promises from scripture, but none of these promises have any hope of coming true unless God is all powerful. if not for the infinite strength of our God. The third comfort we find in God’s power is His ability to fulfill His promises.

The fourth comfort is that God’s power is a comfort as the ground of our assurance. The ground of our assurance. It’s because of God’s infinite power that any of us are saved in the first place. And it’s only by that same power that we remain saved.

In John chapter 10, Jesus speaks of being the good shepherd and of his sheep. And in verse 29 he says, my father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Do you realize what Jesus is saying in this verse? My Father who has given them to me, God’s power over salvation. God is the one who gives everyone who will ever believe to Christ. God has power over that. God has power over the fact that you would ever become saved. He gives them to Him, and not only that, He is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. He’s saying that if you could lose your salvation, you would. If you could lose it, you would. But because the Father is greater than all, because the Father is greater than Satan, who is trying to snatch you out of the Father’s hand, He can’t. Why? Because you are being held by the strongest hands imaginable.

Not only did He pluck you up from the mire that you were laying dead in, to give you to Christ, He holds you in His infinitely powerful hands, and He’s greater than all, so that no one can snatch you away. Our keeping is not by our own weak hands. Our staying saved, our remaining in Christ is not by our own weakness. It’s by the all-powerful hands of the Father.

As one Puritan said, in all fears of falling away, shelter yourself in the power of God. Paul in Romans 14 says, who are you to judge the servant of another? It’s to his own master that he stands or falls and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. Anyone who is the Lord’s will stand because the Lord will make him stand. That’s the assurance of our salvation.

It’s by the power of Almighty God that we are able to remain in Christ and we will remain in Christ. But not only that, Christ will continue to build his church. It is only by the power of God that Christ will build his church. And as he tells us in Matthew 16, 18, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. They would if they could. In all the history of the church, all the terrible things that have come about in the lives of people who are Christ’s, if Satan could make any progress, he would. But he can’t.

If God was not all powerful, the gates of hell would certainly overpower the church. But because our God is all powerful, because of the greatness of his power, we can find comfort in the fact that he will keep us and he will build his church. God’s power is a comfort as the ground of our assurance. So as we’ve seen today, God’s power is seen in the mighty working in his creation. As you witness the devastating power that God’s creation can have, yes, we should tremble at the thought of God’s power. But we ought to take comfort in it, too.

There’s many things to be comforted in the unlimited power of God. It’s seen throughout scripture as he tells us about himself. And God’s power can bring us comfort in our suffering, in our temptation, in the fact that he fulfills his promises and has the ground of our assurance. God’s power is an incredible blessing to those who are his, to those who are in Christ. But God’s power ought to be the most frightening reality in the world if you are not his. Because if you are not a believer in Christ, you’re on the wrong side of God’s power.

If you don’t trust Christ as the savior for your sin, then God’s power will be poured out on you for eternity in hell. Hell is a real place. And God’s punishment is a real outcome for many, many people. And God’s power will be fully unleashed on all those who reject Him for eternity. So if you are not yet a believer in Christ, you need to come to Him today. The power of God on display in the things that we can see is nothing in comparison to His eternal wrath. So before you leave here today, you need to come to Christ as your Savior.

But if you are a believer, if you are in Christ, you can rest in the fact that you’re on the right side of God’s power. You can find great comfort in the power of God. All of those comforts we’ve talked about today and even more are yours in Christ. And not only that, but these are the fringes of His ways. And only a whisper of a word do we hear Him. But His mighty thunder, who can understand? His power is even greater than that.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the way that you’ve revealed yourself, that we can take comfort in who you are. We can take comfort in how you’ve revealed your power in your word, in creation, in the things we see around us that give us fear and worry and anxiety. Help us to remember the comfort we have in you, the peace we have in you. We thank you for the great truth that is ours because of what you’ve done through Christ. And I pray that if there’s anyone here this morning who has not yet trusted Christ as their Savior, that you would bring them to yourself. that you would show them their need for you. You would convict them of their sin and that they are deserving of your wrath, but that your wrath was poured out for all those who trust in you and your son on the cross. Pray that if there’s anyone here this morning that does not yet know Christ, that you would have them talk to somebody here today who could show them their need for Christ. Thank you for who you are. We pray that you are glorified in our worship here this morning. We pray all this in Christ’s name. Amen.