7 Sermon Illustrations on Divine Power

Years ago, before we became conscious of ecology, tourists at Yosemite Park were treated to a nightly display that never failed to please the huge crowds that gathered to witness this demonstration. High over the valley floor, the park rangers would set a number of logs on fire and wait downstream near one of those marvelous precipitous waterfalls that grace that magnificent valley. When the hour of darkness had finally arrived, the sonorous voice of a park ranger would ring out from the valley floor: "Let the fire fall!" Then the moment would come which all had waited so patiently to witness; a hail of sparks and flames would appear as the waters carried the burning logs over the brink of the falls and down the steep descent of several hundred feet to the valley floor and the waiting stream. The crowd loved it. The fire fell along with the water. It appeared to happen as if it were solely at the command of one man with a booming and demanding voice-as if he had some special contact with heaven itself. If that is how it appeared to these campers in Yosemite Park, how must if have appeared to those somewhat skeptical Israelite fence-sitters who refused to adopt whole-heartedly Yahweh or Baal as their God? For just as surely as the park ranger called, "Let the fire fall," so this rustic from the backwoods area of Israel called to the living God. He did not rig his demonstration-this was the real thing. It was so real it was terrifying. Anything that would eat up rocks, dust, water, animals, and all has got to be some sort of supernatural display. Accordingly, God gives us three "demonstrations" of His power in 1 Kings 18. He demontrates His power through his messenger Elijah in verses 1-20; in His actions by sending fire to burn the sacrifice (verses 21-40); and in His answers to prayer when he relieves the drought in verses 41-46. Where God Ain't He was just a little lad, And on the week's first day, Was wandering home from Sunday School, And dawdling along the way. He scuffed his shoes into the grass; He found a caterpillar; He found a fluffy milkweed pod, And flew out all the filler. A bird's nest in a tree o'head So wisely placed and high, Was just another wonder That caught his eager eye. A neighbor watched his zigzag course, And hailed him from the lawn; Asked him where he'd been that day, And what was going on. "Oh, I've been to Sunday School. (He carefully turned a sod And found a snail beneath it); I've learned a lot about God." "M'm'm, a very fine way," the neighbor said, "For a boy to spend his time; If you'll tell me where God is, I'll give you a brand new dime." Quick as a flash his answer came! Nor were his accents faint- "I'll give you a dollar, Mister, If you tell me where God ain't."

In an English dock-yard, a great ship was to be launched. An immense multitude assembled to see it glide down the slides that were to carry it into the water. The blocks and wedges were knocked away; but the massive hull did not stir, and there was disappointment. Just then, a little boy ran forward, and began to push the ship with all his might. The crowd broke out into a laugh of ridicule: but it so happened that the vessel was almost ready to move; the few pounds pushed by the lad were only needed to start it, and away it went into the water.

Pompey boasted, that, with one stamp of his foot, he could rouse all Italy to arms; but God, by one word of his mouth, can summon the inhabitants of heaven, earth, and the undiscovered worlds, to his aid, or bring new creatures into being to do his will.

"Now, when the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, heard of his conversion to Christianity, she reproached him, and told him it would have been better for him to have followed the God of the Jews than the God of the Christians (for Helena at this time inclined to Judaism). And Constantine wrote to her, that she should bring with her the wisest of the Jewish rabbis, and that they should hold an argument with Sylvester. So she repaired to Rome, bringing with her one hundred and forty of the doctors most learned in the law; and the emperor appointed a day on which to listen to them. He named as arbitrators two famous Greek philosophers, Crato and Zeno; and it was wisely decreed beforehand, that only one should speak at a time, and all the others should keep silence till he had finished. And Sylvester, being inspired by the Holy Ghost, clearly convicted these men out of the Scriptures, and put them to silence. Then the most learned among the doctors, who was also a magician, defied Sylvester to a trial of the power of his God, and said to him with scorn, 'Dost thou know the name of the Omnipotent,—that name which no creature can hear and live? I know it. Let them bring me a wild bull, the fiercest that can be found; and, when I have uttered that name in his ear, he will fall dead.' Then they brought in a fierce bull, which it required a hundred men to restrain. And when Zambri the magician had whispered that terrible name in his ear, he rolled his eyes, and fell dead to the ground. Then the Jews cried out aloud, and threw themselves with fury upon Sylvester. The two philosophers were struck dumb; and even Constantine was staggered. But Sylvester said calmly, 'The name which he has pronounced cannot be that of God, but of Satan; for Christ, who is our Redeemer, does not strike dead the living, but restores life to the dead. The power to kill belongs equally to men and to wild beasts: lions, tigers, serpents, can destroy life. Let Zambri restore with a word the creature he has slain; as it is written, "I will kill, I will make alive."' Therefore the judges desired Zambri to restore the bull to life; but he could not do it. Then Sylvester made the sign of the cross, and commanded the bull to rise and go in peace. And the bull rose up as tame and as gentle as if he had been in the yoke from the hour of his birth. Then the Jews and the doctors, and all others present, being confounded by this miracle, believed and were baptized."