GOD IS ABLE
The message today is a statement of fact: GOD IS ABLE. This is the Magna Charta of the New Testament Church. God is Able. This is the Emancipation Proclamation of the Body of Christ: God is Able. This is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the Christian: God is Able. Confess “GOD IS ABLE!”
There is a great need for encouragement today. God wants to encourage YOU. He has set aside this day and this moment to BUILD YOU UP and STRENGTHEN YOU and to HELP YOU. HE has position me here and spoken to my heart with the message you need: He is ABLE to deliver you out of your fiery trial and out of your furnace and out of your Egypt. He wants you to know HE HAS EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL and HELP IS ON THE WAY. Hallelujah!!
Some of you are on the verge of doubt and unbelief. Some have given into asking dumb questions. Some are struggling with what seems to be impossible situations…. situations that seem to have no answer and that never seem to get any better or grow any easier to bear. God is HERE TODAY to encourage you and increase your faith. He is HERE TODAY to strengthen you and encourage you in your fiery trial.
“No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper… Isa 54:17
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth them out of them all…” Psa 34
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you…” I Pet 4:12
“When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him… Isa 59:19
“Fear thou not for I am with thee; be not discouraged; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness…” Isa 41:10
How do you stand in the time of great affliction? How do you “endure to the end” so that you may be saved? How do you remain strong in faith when all seems to fail? What do you do when everything goes wrong? What should you do when you do everything right and things get worse? Let’s look at some Bible Characters who STOOD in a time of great TESTING.
I. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED BECAUSE IT IS HARD!
Remember… situations are not supposed to affect the Believer. Believers are supposed to affect situations. Situations changes. God never changes. Situations pass, God’s Word never passes. Remember: It came to pass… not to stay!!
The 3 Hebrews were in a STRANGE LAND far away from home and they were in the company of a pagan tyrant who set himself up as god. They lived in the midst of paganism, idolatry, unbelief and outright blasphemy. They had been taken captive and led away into the headquarters of all that hated their God. Their hopes and dreams were shattered and their future looked bleak. BUT THEY REFUSED DISCOURAGEMENT and they BELIEVED GOD.
Paul and Silas landed in jail because they Obeyed God. They were persecuted, beaten and locked in stocks. But they refused to get Discouraged. Instead they considered GOD. When they considered God they began to SING and SHOUT and PRAISE Him. They were anything but discouraged. How are you?
Daniel wound up in a Den of Lions because he refused to stop praying to Jehovah God. He used one lion for a pillow, another for a foot stool and another for cover. He slept and the lions trembled in fear. Because he refused to be discouraged.
John was left alone on an uninhabited volcanic island to starve and perish in the elements. The boat was not out of sight before John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day and fell out in the Holy Ghost. He saw Jesus. He was not discouraged or defeated. He knew that his GOD WAS ABLE.
Understand that discouragement will breed self-pity and cause complaining. Complaining will lead to murmuring and grumbling. Discouragement will cause you to look at the problem instead of the Answer. DON’T BE DISCOURAGED!!
II. REDEDICATE YOUR LIFE TO JESUS
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were more dedicated and committed at the time of their fiery trial than any time before. Their boldness reveals their commitment. “Go ahead, King Nebuchadnezzer, we are not afraid. Our God Whom we SERVE is ABLE to deliver us out of the fire and out of your hands… and HE WILL!!
This is not the time to quit. This is not the time to compromise. This is not the time to ease up or let up or back up or give up. It is the time to PRESS ON!! The Hebrews didn’t quit. Daniel didn’t quit. Paul and Silas didn’t quit. John didn’t quit. Are you going to quit?
What will it take to make you quit, anyway? Are you looking for a way out? Are you considering a cop out because it is getting “too hard” or “too hot”? You and I have not resisted unto blood yet. This is the hour for commitment. For dedication. For faithfulness. For obedience. For selling out to God. Are you ready to stop playing Church? Playing Christianity? Playing the Spirit-Filled life? God wants me to tell you… “IF you want to live and not die, COMMITTMENT is essential!”
III. REJOICE
Rejoice in your trial. satan is watching and God is waiting. Be filled with Joy. Your fiery trial is but a testing ground for your faith. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you, but REJOICE…” I Pet 4:2.
God likes IMPOSSIBLE situations. God specializes in delivering HIS OWN out of hopeless circumstances. Check out Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Check out Daniel. Check out Paul and Silas.
The trial you are presently in is PURIFYING you and REFINING you and PURGING you and CLEANSING you. Fire burns out the dross and consumes the unnecessary. It forges and it tempers. It hardens and strengthens. It works patience in you and causes you to DEPEND ON GOD. It directs your attention to GOD… it makes you LOOK UP.
Fires are quenched by FAITH. “Who through Faith, quenched the violence of fire…” Heb ll:34 “Above all taking the shield of Faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked…” Eph 6:16
Attack your situation (fiery furnace) with your FAITH. Name your fire, your furnace, your situation. Call it by name. Is it discouragement? Depression? Grief? Disease? Broken heart? Wounded spirit? Physical pain? Family problems? Rejection? Financial difficulties? Fear? NAME IT. Now attack it with your faith. Release your faith to quench your fiery furnace!
YOU WILL MAKE IT!!
IV. KNOW THAT GOD IS ABLE TO DELIVER YOU
“Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us…” Dan 3:17
“Now unto Him that is Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think… Eph 3:20
“Upon this rock will I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…” Mat 16
God has done it in the past and He is able to do it NOW.
Ask Moses
Ask Joshua
Ask David
Ask Gideon
Ask Lazarus
Ask Philippian Jailer
Ask Paul
God is no respecter of persons. If He did it for them, He will do it for you.
GOD IS ABLE!!
dickbraswell 
Leave a comment