Sermon: The Power of the God you serve!!! ROME & CHATT 9/5/15

Do you really trust God? Do you deeply believe in the power of the God that you serve? Man does have some great power awesome power.  The world was awed by the blast that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And yet these atomic bombs flattened two cities but people just a few miles away were oblivious to the blast.

I’m going to talk to you today about the power of the God that you serve!

In the East Indian Ocean there is a small island named Krakatoa. Krakatoa was a volcanic island about 18 mi.² in the Sunda Strait, and what was then known as the Dutch East Indies between Java and Sumatra.  Today it is called Indonesia.  

Early in the spring of 1883 were warning signs of smoke and steam poured out.  I will read from “Our amazing world of nature on page 243”.

When the East Indian island of Krakatoa blew up on August 27, 1883 the whole world knew about it. The noise was heard 3000 miles away and the great waves of the explosion caused in the sea reached the shores of four continents and was recorded 8000 miles away. And the airwave generated by the blast traveled clear around the globe not once but several times. And where had been a mountain half a mile high was now a whole thousand feet deep and miles across.

Red-hot debris covered an area the size of Texas to a depth of sometimes 100 feet on land for nearly a year afterwards the dust of the explosion, blown upward for 30 miles, fill the high atmosphere over almost the whole load even though there were no large towns within 100 miles of the volcano 36,417 persons lost their lives according to the Dutch Authorities, but probably a more accurate count is upwards of over 120,000 individuals lost their lives.

The biggest blast in history was caused by nothing more mysterious than the old-fashioned force that rattles the lid of a teakettle but the fire under the kettle was a mile-long pocket of seething lava and it changed a cubic mile of ocean into superheated steam the lid blew off and the kettle exploded as well.

Early in the spring of 1883, there were warning signs smoke and steam poured from the recent fissures in the rock. A river of lava cut a wide swath through the tangled jungle. But the Dutch in Java and Sumatra when the alarm. Had puffed and rumbled before. Even when the Dutch Captain Ferzenaar arrived in Batavia in August with a report that two new volcanoes had appeared on Krakatoa the Dutch were not impressed. There were scores of volcanoes in the East Indies, besides Krakatoa was almost 100 miles away.

“The ground was so hot it burned right through the soles of my boots.” Captain Ferzenaar said.  And present are with the last white man to set foot on Krakatoa before the interruption by this time navigation through Sunda Strait was big becoming difficult several skippers turned back when they saw the Narrows covered with a foot thick layer of senders but the captain of one American freighter battened down the hatches and calmly sail through the hissing see in escargot was kerosene. No one after him attempted the passage. By now Krakatoa’s rumblings had grown to a continuous angry roar along the entire coast east coast of Java 61 miles from Krakatoa people were seeking shelter from what they thought was a gathering thunderstorm.

R. D. M. Verbeek wrote in his description of the catastrophe in the afternoon of August 26 “the low rumbling was interrupted by sharp, reverberating detonations. They grew louder and more frequent. People were terrified people.  Night came, but no one thought of sleeping. Toward morning the incessant noise was drowning out every other sound. Suddenly, shortly before seven, there was a tremendous explosion. Building shook, walls cracked, and doors flew open as if pushed by invisible hands. Everybody rushed into the streets. Another deafening explosion, and then everything was quiet as if the volcano had ceased to exist.”

The volcano had ceased to exist.  Seething with the expansion of its gases the white-hot lava found temporary outlets in the two craters seen by Ferzenaar which normally acted as safety valves but pressure became too great and unimaginable energies were straining against hundreds of feet of solid rock overhead.  The rock eventually buckled on the evening of August 26 and cracked open like the wall of a defective cauldron.

With all of the fury of a primordial cataclysm, a stream of lava burst forth in a deafening roar. Seconds later the ocean rushed into the opening. On contact with the hot lava, the water changed into superheated steam. Colossal blocks of granite and obsidian rocketed upward amid a cloud of dust and smoke. Again the ocean rushed in, battling the pent-up lava, changing into expanding, exploding superheated steam, breaking down barrier after barrier of rock

No one knows how many times the white-hot magma push back at the ocean and how often the ocean turned the assault but in the end the water won. Early in the morning of August 27th the ocean rushed to reach the volcanic center of the island even the fury of the previous explosion was but a faint prelude to the final cataclysm as the heart was ripped out of Krakatoa and 14 mi.³ of rock shot upward into the sky.

The sun was blotted out behind the curtain of ebony torn by jagged lightning. Miles away, Krakatoa’s pyrotonics all amazed sailors of the British ship Charles Ball, who saw the island shoot up over the horizon shaped like a pine tree brilliantly illuminated by electric flashes. The sea was covered with innumerable fish, floating belly up the churning water.

Long afterwards came the noise, the loudest ever heard by human ears.  “Concussions were deafening,” wrote Lloyd’s agent in Batavia.  They hammered every eardrum in Java and Sumatra and put fear into the hearts of Borneo’s headhunters.  People in Victoria Plains Australia, 1700 miles to the eastward, were startled by what seemed to be artillery fire the sound waves traveled 2968 miles westward to Rodrigues Island near Madagascar.  The noise was so loud that Sailors eardrums burst while aboard ships over 40 miles from Krakatoa.  The blast was so loud that the sound wave circled the entire globe 3 to7 times.

With the noise, concentric waves of air started on their way around the globe a day and a half after their explosion the first of them hit London from the West and then a second wave rushed over the city from the East four times the eastbound wave swept over London and over Berlin St. Petersburg and Valencia as well – and three times it swept back. The stratosphere seesaw continued for more than 10 days before the blast had spent its force far more violent were the effects of the eruption on the sea.  On the West Coast of Java, a retired sea captain suddenly noticed that a new island had bobbed up in the Straight.  But in the next moment, he was running for his life. The island was a wall of water, 50 feet high, advancing across the Narrows at incredible speed, battling down the wharves, engulfing Anjer, racing uphill, smashing everything in its path.  The wave flung a log at him, and he went down.  When he regained consciousness he was setting up on the top of the tree half a mile inland, stripped of every shred of clothing but otherwise was unharmed.

He was one of the few who saw the wave and lived to describe it. Anjer had vanished.  The wave raising to a height of 100 feet, wiped out scores of villages and kill thousands of people. On the coast of Sumatra, the wave tore the warship Beroun from its mooring and drove her, anchor dragging, 2 miles inland leaving her stranded in the jungle 30 feet above sea level.

The wave raced across the entire width of the Indian Ocean: when it reached Cape Town, 5100 miles away it was still going.  It rounded the Cape of Good Hope, turned North West into the Atlantic, along the coast of Africa, and last spent itself in the English Channel. Whole districts of Indonesia were buried under ash: the sky was so filled with ash that for a time lamps were needed all day in Batavia. What covered the land and the sea was only a small part of the volcano.  Most of Krakatoa’s solid rock and been pulverized and blasted into a height of 150,000 feet - that is 28.5 miles. Ash was hurled an estimated 50 miles into the atmosphere.  Clouds of volcanic dust hung suspended in the stratosphere for months.  Air currents carried them across oceans and continents.  All over the world the rays of the sun were filtered.  In Paris, New York, Cairo, and London the setting sun appeared blue, late green and copper colored and at night the earth was steeped in light of its green moon and a green stars.

The phenomenon lasted into the spring of 1884 there the colors faded and Krakatoa’s magnificent shroud disappeared the final chapter in history seem to be over.  Krakatoa was utterly dead. Nothing was left of it but a few square miles of rock buried under a mountain of ashes all plants and insects and birds and mammals had been dissolved in a fiery cloud. 

Job 26:7–14 “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. 8 He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it. 9 He covers the face of His throne, And spreads His cloud over it. 10 He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, At the boundary of light and darkness. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble, And are astonished at His rebuke. 12 He stirs up the sea with His power, And by His understanding He breaks up the storm. 13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

Psalm 65:6–13 “Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; 7 You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. 8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. 9 You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. 10 You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. 11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. 12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. 13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.”

Psalm 93:1–5 “The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. 4 The Lord on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters, Than the mighty waves of the sea. 5 Your testimonies are very sure; Holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, forever.”  God’s great and awesome power.  

Nahum 1:2–7 “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, And the flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. 6 tWho can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him. 7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.”  God will protect his loved ones.

Psalm 115:9–18 “O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great. 14 May the Lord give you increase more and more, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!”  Trust in the Lord you will be blessed.

Psalm 135:1–14 “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord! 2 You who stand in the house of the Lord, In the courts of the house of our God, 3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant. 4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure. 5 For I know that the Lord is great, And our Lord is above all gods. 6 Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places. 7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries. 8 He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, Both of man and beast. 9 He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, Upon Pharaoh and all his servants. 10 He defeated many nations And slew mighty kings— 11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, And all the kingdoms of Canaan— 12 And gave their land as a heritage, A heritage to Israel His people. 13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever, Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations. 14 For the Lord will judge His people, And He will have compassion on His servants.”  God is powerful.

Isaiah 43:1–13 “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” 8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.” 10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. 12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God. 13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

Vs 15“I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.”

Vs18–21 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. 21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”   God will protect you! You are a witness which is an awesome responsibility!  There is a God.  I don’t believe there is a person that really realizes how important you are to God.  He has the price of a God invested in you.”   

Matthew 8:23–27 “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”  Jesus Christ calmed the sea – that is the power of the God you serve! 

Psalm 66:1–20 “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! 2 Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. 4 All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah 5 Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. 6 He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in Him. 7 He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah 8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard, 9 Who keeps our soul among the living, And does not allow our feet to be moved. 10 For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. 11 You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. 12 You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment. 13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, 14 Which my lips have uttered And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, With the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah 16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. 17 I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!”  God hears your prayers.

Matthew 6:25–34 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  Have faith in God.

Hebrews 4:13–16 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We are to come boldly before the throne of God: the power of God!  Call on the power of God.  God is big enough to get the work done.  People are a religion unto themselves –. 

God is a God of power and might - That is the great God that you serve. 

Isaiah 40:11–31 “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? 19 The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. 20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

God is Powerful!!!  Krakatoa wasn’t even a sneeze compared to the power of God.    That ls the Great God that you serve.