Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

THE DAY OF GOD'S POWER

1. Look and listen wherever you please, and you are made aware of some kind of power:
   1. The radio.
   2. The television.
   3. The very atmosphere seems charged with some kind of power.
2. Our age is rightly called:
   1. The age of the atom.
   2. The space age.
3. Who can doubt that God has His hand in the manifestation of power in this power conscious age?

1. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness":
   1. What is to be regretted is -
      1. That men discover and harness the powers in nature; yet, morally they are, by and large, slaves to immorality and lawlessness.
      2. Violence plagues the nations - Luke 21:25, 26; 2 Tim. 3:1-13
   2. The world has produced mental giants, who are, in many instances, victims of vice and corruption.
   3. Even God's professed people profess impotence in the face of worldliness and temptation.
2. But our text points to the day of God's power:
   1. When the beauty of God's holiness adorns the saints.
   2. That was true in the days of Pentecost - Acts 1:8; 2:1-17
   3. That will be true in the time of the end - Rev. 18:1; Acts 2:17
   4. The loud cry of the third angel is the revelation of the power of God to close the work of the gospel of Christ.
   5. Bible prophecy focuses upon our day as the outpouring of the early and the latter rain. This is the day, dear friends - Acts 2:17

1. God's power, manifested in the lives of God's people, is His saving grace:
   1. Power of moral character that defies sin and temptation - EXAMPLES -
      1. Joseph in Egypt - Gen. 39:1-22
      2. Daniel and his friends in Babylon - Dan. 3:6
      3. Peter and Paul in the face of persecution; also, Stephen.
   2. Power of prayer - EXAMPLES -
      1. Elias prayed and heaven was sealed against rain - Jas. 5:17, 18
      2. Elisha prayed and an army was blinded - 2 Ki. 6:18, 19
      3. Peter prayed and Dorcas came back to life.
2. Channels of God's saving power:
   1. The Holy Spirit - Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8
   2. The Word of God - Heb. 4:12; Jer. 23:29
   3. The blood of Jesus Christ - Rev. 12:11
   4. The transformed lives of God's people are a channel of God's power. No other agency is as convincing as a transformed life.
   5. Think of the words found in 1 Pet. 2:9; Acts 3:1- 9; John 4:22-28
3. Effect of God's power:
   1. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of God's power - willing to sacrifice; willing to undertake for God; willing to endure hardship for the cause of truth."
   2. The church needs this power to set it on fire to finish the work of the Lord.
   3. We need John the Baptist, of whom it is written that he was a burning and shining light - John 5:35
   4. We need the experience of the prophet Isaiah, who experienced the power of cleansing and the grace to say, ". . . here am I; send me." - Isa. 6:1-11
   5. Our attitude toward the work of God will attest to the power of God in our life.