Greater Power

Part three of “How Great is our God”

Ephesians 3:16-21

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I love the way the power of God and the love of God flow together!

How great is our God!!!  Today, we are going to look at a true story that displays the power of our God.

As you turn to 2 Chronicles 32, let me set the stage for you.

Hezekiah is the King of Judah, and he was a man who was set on serving God.

Unfortunately, the enemy came against him.

The enemy – in this case – was the King of Assyria, Sennecherib.

Sennecherib ruled over a large kingdom. It stretched across what is now most of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, northern Israel and portions of Saudi Arabia.

Large territory. And he had a powerful army. He had over 200,000 troops.

But the only territory they had not conquered was the Southern Kingdom of Judah – the last stronghold of Israel and the last hope of God’s chosen nation to survive.

This evil king of Assyria was very intimidating against King Hezekiah. After all, their army was much, much larger than Hezekiah’s and it seemed as though Hezekiah’s army did not stand a chance.

2 Chronicles 32:7, 8

⁷ "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. ⁸ With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

The Lord has Greater Power . . .

1) than the arm of fleshIn water-safety courses, a cardinal rule is never to swim out to a drowning man and try to help him as long as he’s thrashing around. As long as a drowning man thinks he can help himself, he’s dangerous to anyone who tries to help him. The reason why is because his tendency is to grab the one trying to help him and the result is he ends up taking them both under the water in the process. The correct way to rescue someone who’s drowning is to stay far enough away to where he can’t grab you. And then you wait. And when he finally gives up and quits thrashing around, you make your move. At that point the drowning man won’t work against you. Instead he’ll let you help him. The same principle applies in our relationship with the Lord. As long as we are living life with our own arm of flesh, we are not receptive to the Holy Spirit stepping in to help.

But when you give up flapping your own wings, then the Holy Spirit steps in to give you GREATER POWER to overcome! The Lord has Greater Power than the arm of flesh.

Some people choose to fight their battles on their own.

King Hezekiah chose to fight his battle with the GREATER POWER of the Lord.

The Lord gives us wisdom and courage to handle our battles.

King Hezekiah responded to the enemy in three ways:

a) He stopped the water. (2 Chron. 32:3) “he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him.”

The enemy was surrounding the city and they were dependent on the water. So, King Hezekiah stopped the water flow.

That’s wisdom.  Common sense.

Let me tell you about a couple who did not have common sense. Dale & Leilani Neumann, 47, and he claims to be a "full-Gospel Christian." Recently, he was charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the 2008 death of his daughter Madeline Neumann. The girl died from undiagnosed diabetes on March 23, 2008, surrounded by people praying at the family's rural home in Weston in central Wisconsin.

Prosecutors contend Neumann recklessly killed the youngest of his four children by ignoring her deteriorating health. They claim the girl was too weak to speak, eat, drink or walk and Neumann had a legal duty to take her to a doctor. An Oregon jury convicted a father of misdemeanor criminal mistreatment for relying on prayer instead of seeking medical care for his 15-month-old daughter who died of pneumonia and a blood infection in March 2008.

Common sense tells you that if you are sick, you seek professional help. You go to the doctor. Common sense. 

When the enemy is coming against you, you are to do things to stop him from getting his way. Hezekiah had the common sense to stop the water flow to the enemy’s army.

b) He strengthened the walls. 2 Chron. 32:5   Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.

c) He strategized for war. 2 Chron. 32:6, 7    He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: ⁷ "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. ⁸ With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

I love King Hezekiah’s attitude. He had a great attitude. Not everyone in life has a good attitude.

A pastor was on vacation and he was visiting a church in another city. He loved the way that church had a time in their worship service to greet the people.  (shaking hands, smiling, etc.) Well, he thought he should begin to implement it at his church. So, on the Sunday that he returned, he was getting ready to close and announced to his people, “Next Sunday, we will begin to show friendliness more visibly. We will be asking you to shake hands with others and greet them with smiles.”

After he finished his announcement and finished praying to dismiss, one man turned around to the lady behind him and said a cheerful, “Good morning!” She looked back at him with shock at his boldness and said, “I beg your pardon! That friendliness business doesn’t start until next Sunday!”

He army was greatly outnumbered. The army of Assyria was very intimidating. But Hezekiah didn’t get discouraged. He did not allow negativity to control him. He had confidence and he gave his army confidence.

The Lord has Greater Power . . .

2) to disgrace the enemy

Whenever the power of God is displayed, the enemy is always disgraced.

2 Chronicles 32:20, 21

²⁰ King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. ²¹ And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.

Sometimes, the enemy can be intimidating.

Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name was synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883, he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Bart did it all without firing one shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. How did he do all of this? He used FEAR to paralyze his victims. FEAR.

Kind of reminds me what I Peter 5:8 says, “The devil prowls around like a roaring lion.”

But, when we stand up to the enemy, the enemy will be disgraced.

Look at verses 20 and 21 . . .

Did you notice how Hezekiah carried out God’s plan?

- He surrounded himself with Godly people (Isaiah, Zechariah, his father-in-law)

- He cried out to God in prayer.

   v. 20 – they cried out in prayer

   Isaiah 37:1  - He tore his clothes and went into the temple.

   Isaiah 37:15  - Hezekiah prayed to the Lord.

Persistent in prayer. That reminds me of the 3-year-old boy who went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered the grocery store she said to him, "Now you’re not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, so don’t even ask." She put him up in the cart and he sat in the little child’s seat while she wheeled down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. He saw the chocolate chip cookies and he stood up in the seat and said, “Mommy, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I told you not even to ask. You’re not going to get any at all.” So he sat back down. They continued down the aisles, but in their search for certain items they ended up back in the cookie aisle. “Mommy, can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I told you that you can’t have any. Now sit down and be quiet.” Finally, they were approaching the checkout lane. The little boy sensed that this may be his last chance. So just before they got to the line, he stood up on the seat of the cart and shouted in his loudest voice, “In the name of Jesus, may I have some chocolate chip cookies?” And everybody round about just laughed. Some even applauded. Some bought chocolate chip cookies and handed them to the boy. That day, due to the generosity of the other shoppers, the little boy and his mother left with 23 boxes of chocolate chip cookies. Great things happen when we pray in the Name of Jesus!

Hezekiah was persistent in prayer.

- and the Lord responded by sending an angel to annihilate the enemy.

The Lord has Greater Power . . .

3) to take care of His people

2 Chronicles 32:22   ²² So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side.

Have you ever wondered why God allows our faith to be tested?

There are many reasons – but one of the reasons is that God wants an opportunity to display His GREATER POWER!

Let me explain it to you this way:

God could have easily kept His people safe from any attack.

But instead, God allowed this attack on them so that they could see God’s hand of deliverance.

So, today, you may wonder why God is allowing the enemy to attack your home. Your marriage. Your finances. Your relationship. Your ministry. Your health.

Yes, He could keep you safe form any negative attacks. But then, you would never get to know that the Lord gives you GREATER POWER!!!

Scripture says that God took care of His people on every side. But just remember that the way He takes care of you may be different than the way you might think He is taking care of you.

Today, many Americans have a spirit of fear when it comes to the economy. Fear has gripped us. It is a problem? Yes, it is a problem.

But to allow fear to rule our actions is not the proper response.

I like what Dave Ramsey said at the recent Town Hall Meeting he had.

He gave us three things we should do . . .

(1) take action, (2) ignore the loser talk, and (3) learn to give again.

There is not a better time for us to live our faith when others are afraid. We are to act differently than the world. We are a people of faith, not of fear.

The Lord will take care of you!!

Do you realize that God extends to you . .  GREATER POWER?

24 year old Danny Simpson was sentenced to 6 years in jail for robbing a bank. Danny got 6 years in the clink for stealing $6,000. But the gun he used in the robbery ended up in a museum. The .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic turned out to be an antique made in 1918 by the Ross Rifle Company. His pistol was worth up to $100,000 on the collectors market. If Danny Simpson had known what he had in his hands, he would not have ended up in jail. Many Christians live like this. They spend their lives searching for God’s power and presence, not realizing it’s already in their hands.

Today, he extends to you . .  GREATER POWER!