"HE IS ABLE"
This phrase answers the question "Is anything too difficult for the LORD?" (Ge 18:14-note ) Below is a simple Sola Scriptura compilation based on the phrase GOD IS ABLE . As as aside, Buddha said "he is able who believes he is able." If Buddha had capitalized the second "He," his saying would have been spot on. Believers are able, ONLY because HE IS ABLE and because He has graciously granted each us our eternally indwelling supernatural "Enabler ," the Holy Spirit.
It is notable that every occurrence of ABLE in the passages below is related to the Greek word dunamis/dynamis (word study) (The root of English words dynamic, dynamo, dynamic). Dynamis speaks of inherent ability or power to accomplish a task or goal. May our Father strengthen you with power (dynamis) through His Spirit in your inner being (Ep 3:16-note ), as you meditate on what GOD IS ABLE to accomplish in and through you, His beloved son or daughter (1Th 1:4-note)….
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One WHO IS ABLE to save and to destroy and IS ABLE to humble those who walk in pride. Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him WHO IS ABLE to destroy both soul and body in hell (for) GOD IS ABLE from these stones to raise up children to Abraham (and) IS ABLE to graft them in again. (Abraham) considered that GOD IS ABLE to raise men even from the dead. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the WORD implanted, WHICH IS ABLE to save your souls, (for) HE IS ABLE to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (and by) the WORD OF HIS GRACE IS ABLE to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Jas 4:12- note , Da 4:37- note , Mt 10:28- note , Mt 3:9- note , Ro 11:23- note , He 11:19- note , Jas 1:21- note , He 7:25- note , Acts 20:32- note )
" GOD IS ABLE to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed . Since He (Jesus) Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, HE IS ABLE to come to the aid of (boetheo = literally to run to us upon hearing our cry!) those who are being tempted (tested). HE IS ABLE to guard (phulasso) what (we) have entrusted to Him UNTIL THAT DAY (which includes) our citizenship in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with His glorious body, according to the working whereby HE IS ABLE even to subject all things to Himself." (2Cor 9:8- note , He 2:18- note , 2Ti 1:12- note , Php 3:20-21KJV- note )
"Now to HIM WHO IS ABLE to establish you by my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, (and) IS ABLE to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy (and) IS ABLE to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power (dynamis) that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." (Ro 16:25-note, Jude 24 - note , Ep 3:20-21 -note)
Beloved, remember that whatever you are experiencing this DAY, there is coming a better DAY, a GLORIOUS DAY, because our GOD IS ABLE "to guard what we have entrusted to Him UNTIL THAT DAY!"
UNTIL THAT GLORIOUS DAY MAY WE...
Sing praises to God, sing praises.
Sing praises to our King, sing praises. (Ps 47:6 -note )
Glorious Day by Casting Crowns
One DAY when Heaven was filled with His praises
One DAY when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my Example is He
Word became flesh and the Light shined among us…
His glory revealed
Refrain
Living He loved me. Dying He saved me.
Buried He carried my sins far away!
Rising He justified! Freely forever!
One DAY when Heaven was filled with His praises
One DAY when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my Example is He
Word became flesh and the Light shined among us…
His glory revealed
Refrain
Living He loved me. Dying He saved me.
Buried He carried my sins far away!
Rising He justified! Freely forever!
One DAY He’s coming!
OH, GLORIOUS DAY! OH, GLORIOUS DAY!
One DAY they led Him up Calvary's mountain.
One DAY they nailed Him to die on a tree.
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He.
Hands that healed nations,
Stretched out on a tree
Took the nails for me!
Refrain
One DAY the grave could seal Him no longer.
One DAY the stone rolled away from the door.
Then He arose, over death He had conquered.
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore.
Death could not hold Him!
The grave could not keep Him,
From rising again!
Refrain
One DAY the trumpet will sound for His coming!
One DAY the skies with His glory will shine.
Wonderful DAY, my Beloved One bringing!
My Savior, Jesus, is mine!
Refrain
by James Smith
"The exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all" (Eph. 1:19-21).
"I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily" (Col. 1:29).
"When I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).
This is a great thought, the invisible and Almighty God working in us—His believing people—and through us, accomplishing all the good purposes of His will. It is God who worketh in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
I. What God is able to do for us. He is—
1. ABLE TO SAVE US (Heb. 7:25). For this He came, for this was His Name called Jesus, for this He died and rose again. He saves from wrath, from sin, from the world, from self, from the Devil, and from death and the grave.
2. ABLE TO DELIVER US (Dan. 3:17). He delivers by shutting the mouths of our enemies and quenching the violence of their fiery passions (Heb. 11:33, 34).
3. ABLE TO MAKE US STAND (Phil. 3:21). This is a great comfort in these slippery days, when men will not endure sound doctrine. We will be able to stand if we are able so say, like Elijah, "The Lord God of Israel, before whom I stand" (1 Kings 17:1).
4. ABLE TO KEEP US (Jude 24). He can even keep from stumbling. In Christ, we are kept in the Father's hand, where no thief can steal. "Kept by the power of God through faith" (1 Peter 1:5).
5. ABLE TO SATISFY US (2 Cor. 9:8). What a treasure is here! "All grace abounding toward you, that you always may have all-sufficiency in all things." Is it so with you? Why not? God is able—able to do exceeding abundantly.
6. ABLE TO RAISE US (Heb. 11:19). He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him—spirit, soul, and body. Joyful anticipation—this mortal shall put on immortality. What a change—a body like unto His own glorious body.
7. ABLE TO PRESENT US FAULTLESS (Jude 24). What a joy to Jesus! What a consolation to the Father! What a prospect and privilege for the Christian!
II. What God is able to do in us. He is—
1. ABLE TO DWELL IN US (Eph. 3:17-20). Know ye not that your body is the temple of God, and that God dwelleth in you? Christ dwelling in us by His Spirit in the inner man is to be the power that worketh in us, as the sap worketh in the branch.
2. ABLE TO SUBDUE (Phil. 3:21). If Christ reigns within, the enemies within will be subdued. He will subdue the lusts of the flesh, the fiery temper, and the hasty tongue.
3. ABLE TO SUCCOUR (Heb. 2:18). Temptations are common. If we are in fellowship with Christ we shall be succoured with His sympathy in the hour of trial. "He knows what sore temptations are."
4. ABLE TO STRENGTHEN (2 Tim. 4:17). Abiding in us by His Spirit, we are conscious of Him standing by us. A sense of His presence inspires with freshness and vigour.
5. ABLE TO BUILD UP (Acts 20:32). The inner life and character need building up—the new man—whose builder and maker is God. He builds up the believer by revealing the truth through the Holy Spirit, which is able to build us up into the image of His Son (Col. 2:7).
6. ABLE TO FILL (Col. 1:9). What a precious portion is ours, "Filled with the knowledge of His will" (Col. 1:9); and again, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). God has reserved to Himself the right to fill a human soul.
7. ABLE TO WORK (Heb. 13:21). Sweet thought, that amidst all the stubborn material within He is able to work in us that which is pleasing in His sight. Yield all, and all will be well (1 John 4:4).
III. What God is Able to Do Through Us. He is—
1. ABLE TO REVEAL (Gal. 1:16). If His Son has been revealed in us, it is that He might be revealed through us. If the light hath shined in our hearts, it is that others might see it and glorify God (1 Cor. 4:6). The treasure is put in the earthen vessel that the power may be of God.
2. ABLE TO RECONCILE (2 Cor. 5:18-20). What a responsibility that God should commit unto us the word of reconciliation! What a privilege that God should, through our feeble ministry, reconcile sinners to Himself 1
3. ABLE TO MINISTER (2 Cor. 3:16). Able to serve others through His consecrated servants. May He give us the tongue of the wise to know how to speak a word to the weary!
4. ABLE TO OVERCOME (Eph. 6:11). Our defeat is His dishonour. When we, clothed with the armour of God, get the victory over the wiles of the Devil, it is Christ conquering through us.
5. ABLE TO BEAR FRUIT (Col. 1:10). Walking worthy of the Lord, He will make us fruitful in every good work. The vine needs the branches to bear its fruit, so Christ needs His people to show forth the riches of His grace (John 15:5).
6. ABLE TO DO HIS OWN PLEASURE (Phil. 2:13). God worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He is shut out from the hearts of the ungodly, but may His will be done in us as it is done in Heaven. We are "workers together with Him" (2 Cor. 6:1). We "dwell with the King for His Work" (1 Chron. 4:23).
"Oh, to be filled with life divine;
Oh, to be clothed with might;
Oh, to reflect my Lord, and shine
As shine the saints in light!"
James Smith - Hebrews 7:27.
1. He is Able to Save.
2. He is Able to Save those that come.
3. He is Able to Save those that come unto God.
4. He is Able to Save those that come unto God by Jesus Christ.
5. He is Able to Save them to the uttermost.
6. He is Able to Save them to the uttermost because He ever liveth.
Robert Neighbour - The Followers of the Faith Shall Be Presented
"Now unto Him that is able to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24).
1. He is able to present us. Who is there who did not rejoice in the day that he presented his bride to his earthly father? What joy will fill the heart of our Lord Jesus, the Heavenly Bridegroom, as He presents us, the Heavenly Bride, before His Father. There is a blessed day coming, and we are hastening toward it. It is the day that we love to sing about as "glad day." It is the day when we shall bid farewell to the world. It is the day when we shall receive our new bodies, being changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. It is the day when we shall be like Him, and when we shall see Him as He is. It is the day of our glorious presentation.
2. He is able to present us faultless. The word faultless carries our minds back to the Cross, because it was there that our sins were washed away, and we were made "the righteousness of God in Him". It is by virtue of that Cross, and the work finished for us, thereupon, that Christ will, by and by, be able to present us faultless before the presence of His glory.
When the Church is raptured Jesus Christ will present it without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing". Thank God, our garments will not be "spotted by the flesh"—we will be robed in raiments made white in the Blood of the Lamb.
We read that even in the sun there is a spot to mar its glory. There will be no spot in us.
3. He is able to present us before the presence of His glory. Christ prayed once: "I will that they * * may behold My glory". Blessed be God, we shall see this prayer fufilled. What glory His Coming will bring! I want to be there, don't you?
4. He "is able to present us with joy". We will rejoice, the holy angels will rejoice, the Father will rejoice, the Lord Jesus will rejoice.
Hearken to the words! "Let us be glad and rejoice, * * for the marriage of the Lamb is come".
Hearken again! "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross".
Yes, there will be joy.
God Is Always Able
Once we were able, and now we're not. You know what you used to be able to do. I remember somebody at the Sunday school picnic who had been quite an amateur baseball pitcher in the early days—little league champs, you know. He hadn't played for about ten years, but he knew how to pitch.
All the kids are playing, and along comes Father. He shows how he can still put them in low and away and still get in a few curve balls. Oh, he finishes in triumph. All the kids think he's great. "I showed the kids a few things. The old fella hasn't lost his touch."
Then he wakes up the next morning, about seven o'clock. He reaches up his arm. "Ahhhhh!"
His wife says, "What's the matter?"
"Don't touch me. Don't touch me. My back's gone. Uh, it's my spine. It's broken. Get the doctor, the police, the ambulance. Call 911. Bring everybody. I can't move."
"What's the matter?"
"I think I'm paralyzed. It's my back. It's my shoulders. It's my neck."
Then the wife says lovingly, "It's probably the baseball."
"Don't be silly. I've played baseball all my life."
"Well, you know, dear, you did go out pretty strong."
"I pitched six innings once without a break. O-o-h-h-h, don't touch me." Then eventually he crawls out of bed, and the wife's right. You see, there was a time when he was able, but the body is just telling him he's not able now.
The marvelous thing with God is that down through the centuries he was able, he is able, he will always be able. I may be disabled, but he is able. I may be incapable, but he is capable.—Stanley Collins
I Know Whom I Have Believed
—Daniel W. Whittle
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
Refrain:
But “I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”
Paul's Persuasion
A man was dying during the war. He was asked of what persuasion he was. He replied—
"Paul's."
"What! are you a Methodist? They all claim Paul."
"No."
"Are you a Presbyterian then? They claim Paul, too."
"No."
"Of what persuasion are you then?"
"I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
Adrian Rogers
Since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested. Hebrews 2:18+
Don't get the idea that when you get saved, you won't be susceptible to temptation any longer. You will be tempted. Being saved does not make you immune to temptation, and being tempted is not a sin.
But the person who is in the greatest danger is the one who is trying to fight temptation in his own strength. He thinks, "I don't need to read a book on temptation. I can overcome it." But without Christ you cannot. God has to make your way of escape for you. His plan is not to remove all temptation from you or to give you immunity, but to give you victory.
Read the He is able statements (See also GOD IS ABLE) -
Hebrews 7:25+ Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Romans 16:25+ Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
Ephesians 3:20+ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
2 Timothy 1:12 + For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.
Jude 1:24+ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
Indeed, He is Able! Hallelujah! (Study these other passages on divine enablement and be encouraged that you serve a mighty God Who is able! Acts 20:32+ Mt 3:9+, Mt 9:28+, Mt 10:28+, Ro 4:21+, Ro 11:23+, Ro 14:4+, 2Co 9:8+, He 11:19+, Jas 1:21+, Jas 4:12+,). In short, Jesus is able, because He understands temptation, having been tempted with an intensity we cannot even imagine and yet not once caving in to the easy, deceptively gratifying way out! And so Jesus is able to come to our aid, because He understands what we are experiencing when we are being tempted.
James Montgomery Boice comments that the words He is able are "especially important, for they are a way of talking about God's sovereignty. Some years ago I prepared a special series of Sunday evening messages for Tenth Presbyterian Church titled "The God Who Is Able." They were based on seven Bible verses in which the words God is able (or their close equivalents) occurred. The titles were:
- "Able to Save" (Heb. 7:25),
- "Able to Keep" (2 Tim. 1:12),
- "Grace Abounding" (2 Cor. 9:8),
- "Able to Help in Temptation" (Heb. 2:18),
- "How to Grow Spiritually" (Eph. 3:20),
- "God Is No Quitter" (Jude 24), and
- "Able to Raise Our Bodies" (Phil. 3:21).
There were so many relevant verses that I didn't even use this text from Romans. My point was that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," as Paul told the Ephesians (Eph. 3:20). For that is where it all begins and ends. We saw that when we studied the doxology at the end of Romans 11: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen" (Ro 11:36). (Romans 4 Volumes - James Montgomery Boice)
THE DOUBLE DEPOSIT
He is able to keep that which I have committed [my deposit] unto him against that day. 2 Timothy 1:12.
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. 2 Timothy 1:14.
It is not enough to have faith in the bank, we must make the deposit. Paul had deposited everything, all he was and had, to God to keep. God keeps all we deposit with Him until the Judgment Day. If it is safe that long, rest assured it will be safe from there on! On the other hand, God has given us a charge to keep, a treasure in earthen vessels.
Have we been true to the trust He left us?
Do we seek to do our best?
If in our hearts there is naught condemns us,
We shall have a glorious rest.
FANNY J. CROSBY
Jesus is the Great Physician Who knows! He is able. He is ready to come to your cry for aid. Cry out beloved. His is the same One today Who yesterday said...
Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness... (Isa 50:2)
Vance Havner - Paul's Calendar
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. II Timothy 1:12.
Someone has said that Paul's calendar had only two days, "today" and "that day." The man who is ready for that day is ready for any day. But we need to wear our spiritual bifocals and see both days. Some of the saints are near-sighted. Some are far-sighted. Paul may have had trouble with his physical eyes, but he had no spiritual astigmatism. He had good bifocals; he saw the near and the far.
Do not busy yourself today with "wood, hay, stubble," and fail to build with "gold, silver, precious stones" against that day. For "the day shall declare it," and some lives will go up in smoke!
On the other hand, do not so contemplate eternity that you waste today. Some people think they are Mystics when they are only Mistakes!
"Today if ye will hear his voice" (Heb. 4.7).
GENESIS 45:1-8
"You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20).
I am thankful and reassured that God is so wise and so powerful that nothing, absolutely nothing, can cause His purposes to fail. In fact, HE IS ABLE to take even those things meant for evil and make them work for good.
Joseph's brothers hated him so much that they plotted his murder. Instead, they sold him as a slave to some Ishmaelite traders. In Egypt he gained the favor of Pharaoh, who gave him a position of responsibility second only to that of the king. During a famine, his brothers came to him for food, not realizing who he was. When Joseph finally identified himself, he spoke this assuring word to them: "Do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life" (Gen. 45:5). Later he said to his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about, as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Gen. 50:20).
To me, that's both exciting and encouraging. I am reassured to realize that no matter what someone might do to harm me, the Lord is able to turn it into my benefit and His glory.
When we are discouraged because of distressing circumstances, we can rejoice in God's wisdom, power, and sovereignty. Romans 8:28 is still true. God is working all things for our good. —R.W.D. (Reprinted by permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries. Please do not repost the full devotional without their permission.)
Setbacks pave the way for comebacks.
Vance Havner - Confidence and Committal
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. II Timothy 1:12.
Paul's confidence in Christ led to committal. In the home town of my boyhood days we had two banks. I had confidence in both, but committed my money to only one. A man might have utmost confidence in a bank but it will not keep his money until he deposits it. Paul made the deposit.
The housewife who, when told to endorse a check, wrote, "I heartily endorse this check," was not unlike some of us in spiritual matters. We endorse the Bible as God's Word and Jesus as God's Son, but we do not actually "sign our name," we do not make it personal. We believe, but we do not commit all we are and have to it.
Have you made the deposit? He will keep what you commit. Be sure your faith is confidence plus committal.
“Some persons have mere empty titles, which confer but little power and little authority. But the Man-Christ Jesus, while He has many crowns and many titles, has not one tinsel crown or one empty title. While He sits there He sits not there pro forma; He does not sit there to have nominal honor done to Him; but He has real honor and real glory. That Man-Christ, who once walked the streets of Jerusalem, now sits in heaven, and angels bow before Him. That Man-Christ, who once hung on Calvary, and there expired in agonies the most acute, now, on His Father’s throne exalted sins, and sways the scepter of heaven—nay, devils at His presence tremble, the whole earth owns the sway of His providence, and on His shoulders the pillars of the universe rest. ‘He upholdeth all things by the word of His power.’ He overruleth all mortal things, making the evil work a good, and the good produce a better, and a better still, in infinite progression. The power of the God-Man Christ is infinite; you cannot tell how great it is. He is ‘able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him.’ He is ‘able to keep us from falling, and to present us spotless before His presence.’ He is able to make ‘all things work together for good.’ He is ‘able to subdue all things unto Himself.’ He is able to conquer even death, for He hath the power of death, and He hath the power of Satan, who once had power over death; yea, He is Lord over all things, for His Father hath made Him so. The glorious dignity of our Saviour!
—Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from his sermon “Christ Exalted,” preached on Sunday morning, July 6, 1856
OUR GOD IS ABLE: J Ellis
To save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).
To succor them that are tempted (Hebrews 2:18).
To perform what He hath promised (Romans 4:21).
To do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
To keep that which I have committed to Him (2 Timothy 1:12).
To make all grace abound (2 Corinthians 9:9).
To build you up, etc. (Acts 20:32).
To subdue all things unto Himself (Philippians 3:21).
To keep you from falling (Jude 24).
To present you faultless (Jude 24).
“Believe ye that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28).
What Jesus Is Able to Do
And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.—Matthew 9:28.
“Able even to subdue all things unto himself.”—Phil. 3:21. “Able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”—2 Cor. 9:8.
“Able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”—Jude 24.
“Able to succor them that are tempted.”—Heb. 2:18.
“Able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.”—Heb. 7:25.
“What he had promised, he was able also to perform.”—Rom. 4:21.
“Able to make him stand.”—Rom. 14:4.
“Able to keep that which I have committed unto him.”—2 Tim. 1:2.
“Able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”—Acts 20:32.
“Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”—Eph. 3:20.
“Believe ye that I am able to do this?”—Matt. 9:28.
Joni Eareckson Tada - He Is Able Pearls of Great Price: 366 Daily Devotional Readings - Page 27
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. — HEBREWS 7:25
Able … able-bodied … disabled … disability. As a quadriplegic, I am very familiar with the word able. There is so much I am not able to do, whether it’s playing the piano, embroidering, vacuuming, holding a pen or pencil, or peeling an orange. My muscles simply aren’t capable (another one of those words with able in it).
This is why I love the many verses in Scripture that describe our God as able. Today’s verse reminds us God is able to save completely. Because Jesus lives and is no longer subject to death, he is able to utterly save and to extend his salvation to anyone who comes to God through him. Second Timothy 1:12 assures us God is able to keep saving us all the way until the day we go to glory. First Chronicles 17:10 tells us God is able to subdue all of our enemies, including the powers of darkness who try to erode our joy and peace of mind. Philippians 3:21 reminds us God is the authoritative ruler, able to subdue all things to himself. Finally in Matthew 9:28, Jesus asks a troubled blind man, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
I want to be like that blind man. I may have a disability, but my confidence rests in the Savior. I say with the blind man, “Yes, Lord, have your way in my life.”
If you have a disability, God can be your “ability.” Plan a study around the verses listed today and celebrate Ephesians 3:20 – 21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine … to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Lord Jesus, there is nothing missing in your character or your ability to save, sustain, succor, and subdue. I praise you because you are ABLE!
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. (Jude 24)
Take that word keep and hold it close to your heart tonight and tomorrow. It is one of the great and magnificent messages of the Gospel—“He is able to keep you from falling.” Put into the word you all the weakness, all the unworthiness, all the sinfulness which belongs to man since the Fall; yet, He is able to keep you. He does not underrate the disadvantage of its being you when He bids His messengers say He is “able to keep you from falling.” It would be impossible, utterly impossible, were it not undertaken by Infinite love. Look out, and up, then. Look up “from the depth”—the vast depth of your weakness, perhaps of your mysteriously inherited weakness. Look out of your failure under some temptation, inward or outward, inherited so to speak from yourself, from your own unfaithfulness in the past. Look up, out of your ruined purposes—unto Himself.
Being what He is, Keeper of Israel, God of the promises, Lord of the Sacrifice, Prince of life, present Savior, indwelling Power, He is able to keep you, that your feet shall not totter. They shall stand “in a large room”; they shall hold on straight, until at last they enter, step by step—for it is one step at a time even then—“through the gates into the city.”
“He shall never give thy feet to tottering.” H. C. G. MOULE
We may step firmly down upon the temptation which Another has crushed for us, and we are conquerors in Him.
Behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadows
Keeping watch above His own.
Adrian Rogers - The Infinite Infant - click for sermon and go to page 71
Main Scripture Text: Isaiah 9:6
Introduction
I. By His Attributes He Is Shown to Be the Everlasting Father
A. Eternality
B. Holiness
II. By His Adoration He Is Shown to Be the Everlasting Father
III. By His Abilities He Is Shown to Be the Everlasting Father
A. He Is Able to Save
B. He Is Able to Subdue
C. He Is Able to Satisfy
D. He Is Able to Secure
Conclusion
Charles Haddon Spurgeon writes concerning "JESUS SUCCORING.
He is able to succor them that are tempted. In this we note His pity (mercy), that He should give Himself up to this business of succoring them that are tempted. He lays Himself out to succor them that are tempted, and therefore He does not hide Himself from them, nor pass them by on the other side. What an example is this for us! He devotes Himself to this Divine business of comforting all such as mourn. He is Lord of all, yet makes Himself the servant of the weakest. Whatever He may do with the strongest, He succors “them that are tempted.” He does not throw up the business in disgust; He does not grow cross or angry with them because they are so foolish as to give way to idle fears." (The Biblical Illustrator)
H Spurgeon commenting on "He is able" in Hebrews 2:18 notes that Jesus
"(1) has the right, acquired by His suffering, to enter in among sufferers, and deal with them.
(2) He has also the disposition to succor them. He obtained that tender temper through suffering, by being Himself tempted.
(3) And then He has the special ability. Our Blessed Master, having lived a life of suffering, understands the condition of a sufferer so well that He knows how to make a bed for him."....
In this we note His pity, that He should give Himself up to this business of succoring them that are tempted. He lays Himself out to succor them that are tempted, and therefore He does not hide Himself from them, nor pass them by on the other side. What an example is this for us! He devotes Himself to this Divine business of comforting all such as mourn. He is Lord of all, yet makes Himself the servant of the weakest. Whatever He may do with the strongest, He succors " them that are tempted." He does not throw up the business in disgust; He does not grow cross or angry with them because they are so foolish as to give way to idle fears. (The Biblical Illustrator)
He Walked in Our Shoes
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:18
Today's Scripture & Insight: Hebrews 2:10-18
To help his staff of young architects understand the needs of those for whom they design housing, David Dillard sends them on “sleepovers.” They put on pajamas and spend 24 hours in a senior living center in the same conditions as people in their 80s and 90s. They wear earplugs to simulate hearing loss, tape their fingers together to limit manual dexterity, and exchange eyeglasses to replicate vision problems. Dillard says, “The biggest benefit is [that] when I send 27-year-olds out, they come back with a heart 10 times as big. They meet people and understand their plights” (Rodney Brooks, USA Today).
Jesus lived on this earth for 33 years and shared in our humanity. He was made like us, “fully human in every way” (Heb. 2:17), so He knows what it’s like to live in a human body on this earth. He understands the struggles we face and comes alongside with understanding and encouragement.
“Because [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (v. 18). The Lord could have avoided the cross. Instead, He obeyed His Father. Through His death, He broke the power of Satan and freed us from our fear of death (vv. 14-15).
In every temptation, Jesus walks beside us to give us courage, strength, and hope along the way. By: David C. McCasland (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
Lord Jesus, thank You for “walking in our shoes” on this earth and for being with us. May we experience Your presence today.
Jesus understands.
Illustration of the great truth that Jesus Who Suffered as a Man is thus "Able to come to our aid" - Bob Weber, past president of Kiwanis International, told this story. He had spoken to a club in a small town and was spending the night with a farmer on the outskirts of the community. He had just relaxed on the front porch when a newsboy delivered the evening paper. The boy noted the sign Puppies for Sale. The boy got off his bike and said to the farmer, "How much do you want for the pups, mister?" "Twenty-five dollars, son." The boy's face dropped. "Well, sir, could I at least see them anyway?" The farmer whistled, and in a moment the mother dog came bounding around the corner of the house tagged by four of the cute puppies, wagging their tails and yipping happily. At last, another pup came straggling around the house, dragging one hind leg. "What's the matter with that puppy, mister?" the boy asked. "Well, Son, that puppy is crippled. We took her to the vet and the doctor took an X ray. The pup doesn't have a hip joint and that leg will never be right." To the amazement of both men, the boy dropped the bike, reached for his collection bag and took out a fifty-cent piece. "Please, mister," the boy pleaded, "I want to buy that pup. I'll pay you fifty cents every week until the twenty-five dollars is paid. Honest I will, mister." The farmer replied, "But, Son, you don't seem to understand. That pup will never, never be able to run or jump. That pup is going to be a cripple forever. Why in the world would you want such a useless pup as that?" The boy paused for a moment, then reached down and pulled up his pant leg, exposing that all too familiar iron brace and leather knee-strap holding a poor twisted leg. The boy answered,
"Mister, that pup is going to need someone
who understands him to help him in life!"
Crippled and disfigured by sin, the risen, living Christ has given us hope. He understands us--our temptations, our discouragements, and even our thoughts concerning death. By His resurrection we have help in this life and hope for the life to come. (Brian Bell, Calvary Chapel, Murrieta)
The moral of this illustration is that Jesus is able to help because He understands. He is like the young lad, who was able to sympathize with the crippled pup because he had been crippled.
To the uttermost. (Heb. 7:25) - Springs in the Valley
John B. Gough, the world’s greatest temperance lecturer, was given a text by his godly mother, which indeed became like buried treasure, for it lay hidden within his heart for seven long years of dissipation. It was
He is able to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him.
His sins rose mountain-high before him; they seemed indelible; the past could not be undone! But he met Jesus Christ and found that His Blood availed for even him. “I have suffered,” he cried, “and come out of the fire scorched and scathed with the marks upon my person, and with the memory of it burnt right into my soul.” He likened his life to a snowdrift that had been badly stained; no power on earth could restore its former whiteness and purity. “The scars remain! The scars remain!” he used to say with bitter self-reproaches.
Giant Yesterday pointed to the black, black past derisively; held it a threat over the poor penitent’s bowed and contrite head; told in tones that sounded like thunderclaps that there was no escape.
Wounds of the soul, though healed, will ache;
The reddening scars remain
And make confession.
Lost innocence returns no more,
We are not what we were
Before transgression!
Jesus is able to save to the uttermost. Says a writer, “God paints in many colors, but He never paints so gorgeously as when He paints in white.” The crimson of the sunset; the azure of the ocean; the green of the valleys; the scarlet of the poppies; the silver of the dewdrops; the gold of the gorse: these are exquisite—so perfectly beautiful, indeed, that we cannot imagine an attractive heaven without them. But in the soul of John B. Gough we feel that the Divine art is at its very best.
Forty-four years have passed away since he had that grim struggle with sin. Gough is again in America, addressing a vast audience of young men in Philadelphia.
“Young men,” he cries, perhaps with a bitter memory of those seven indelible years. “Young men, keep your record clean!” He pauses—a longer pause than usual, and the audience wonders. But he regains his voice.
“Young men,” he repeats, more feebly this time, “keep your record clean!” Another pause—longer than the previous one. But again he finds the power of speech.
“Young men,” he cries the third time, but in a thin, wavering voice. “Young men, keep your record clean!”
He falls heavily on the platform. Devout men carry him to his burial, and make lamentation over him. His race is finished; his voyage completed; his battle won. The promise has been literally and triumphantly fulfilled. The grace that saved him has kept him to the very last inch, of the very last yard, of the very last mile; to the very last minute, of the very last hour, of the very last day! For “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him”! SELECTED
James Smith - SALVATION CERTAINTIES. 2 Timothy 1:12.
1. Revelation. "I know Him." "Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death" (v. 11).
2. Faith "I have believed."
3. Surrender. "I have committed."
4. Assurance. "I am persuaded."
5. Confidence. "He is able."
6. Experience. "I know."
7. Testimony. "I am not ashamed"
James Smith - HE IS ABLE Psalm 145:14-21
1. To Uphold the fallen (v. 14).
2. To Raise the bowed down (v. 14).
3. To Give Meat in due season (v. 15).
4. To Satisfy the living (v. 16).
5. To Fulfil the desires of them that fear Him (v. 19).
6. To Save them that cry (v. 19).
7. To Preserve them that love Him (v. 20).
Vance Havner - The Three "Thats"
"For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Tim. 1:12
I am persuaded that He is able to keep..." There is the ability of the keeper. My assurance is what it is because of who he is. Christ is able to save (Heb. 7:25), able to keep (Jude 24), able to succor (Heb. 2:18), able to subdue (Phil. 3:21).
"He is able to keep that which I have committed." As much as faith commits he will keep. How can we commit our souls to him and yet dare not trust him with the smaller issues of our daily lives? If he keeps the greater, will he not keep the less? It is up to you to say how much will he keep. "According to your faith be it unto you." The measure of your daily peace and assurance depends on how much you commit into his hands and leave with him. How much is "that" which you have committed? The only thing to worry about is what you have not committed and the way to quit worrying about that is to commit everything to him.
"He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." There is my eternal certainty. If he keeps it until the day of my glorification, I know I am safe from there on so that settles it for here and hereafter. All the justified are glorified so "I cannot get beyond the circle of his love."
Robert Morgan - 2 Corinthians 9:8 (KJV) My All in All: Daily Assurance of God's Grace - Page 1
Missionary Amy Carmichael attended a meeting featuring the renowned preacher Dr. Andrew Bonar. "He was very old and could not speak very plainly or strongly," she recalled. "The hall was full, and I was near the back. I could not catch a single word he said, except this word all. He read 2 Corinthians 9:8 and he put every bit of strength he had into it, so that the one word rang out—all—always—all—all. I have forgotten thousands of great sermons, but that 'all' I have never forgotten, and it has helped me countless times."
The context of this verse involves giving to the Lord's work, yet the promise is larger than its context. The words God is able represent a recurring divine promise:
• He is able to establish us (Rom. 16:25).
• He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or think (Eph. 3:20).
• He is able to keep what we have committed to Him (2 Tim. 1:12).
• He is able to aid us in temptation (Heb. 2:18).
• He is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24).
• He is able to deliver us (Dan. 3:17).
• And He is able to make all grace abound to us in all ways at all times for all things.
Our God is able! Throughout this year, He isn't going to impart some grace or some sufficiency in some things for some good works. It's all—all—all—all!