As the Lord may be pleased to
bless us together this morning, I will speak to you from the
32nd chapter in the prophecy of Jeremiah. And really, there
are two parts, very similar, that I want to speak to you about. So the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah,
and first of all, we'll just read verses 26 and 27. So Jeremiah chapter 32 verses
26 and 27. Then came the word of the Lord
unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all
flesh. Is there anything too hard for
me? So in these two verses we have
clearly the picture that the Lord He's speaking to Jeremiah,
and he is telling him he is the Lord, and he's asking him the
question, is there anything too hard for me? And then in earlier
verses in this chapter, from verse 17, on verse 17 it reads
this. Ah, this is Jeremiah speaking
now. The Lord was speaking to Jeremiah in 26, and now it's
Jeremiah speaking. And he says, Our Lord God, behold,
thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power
and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. Well, we go on and make some
comments on the following verses. But first of all, let's just
think about that. Here we have Jeremiah acknowledging
this great and important truth when he says, Thou hast made
the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out
arm. And that is again another wonderful
confirmation for us that God created all things. Many people
despise such a truth as that, but again and again, if you follow
carefully the Word of God, you will find again and again there
are references to the great work of Almighty God and how establishing
that is to the Church of God, how good it is for us to realise
that this is the God that by his grace you and I worship today
he and Jeremiah says our Lord God
behold he wants people to notice behold thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm and what
power there was I'm sure you are very familiar with, because
God just spoke the world and all that it contains into being. That's beyond our comprehension. We cannot imagine how that could
happen. But what a good thing it is if
God gives you and me simple faith to believe such great truths. Because if God gives you and
me simple faith to believe such great truths, then you see we
shall be strengthened and encouraged to believe that God can do therefore
anything, anything in our lives, anything in our natural life
and anything in our spiritual life. That's why Jeremiah is
able to say, and there is nothing too hard for thee. How true that is and how encouraging
that should be for each one of us to know that there is nothing
too hard for God. These are the things which are
impossible for man are possible with God. If we have wrong views
of God, if we have small views of God, we won't appreciate the
greatness and the ability of Almighty God. But what a great
favour if God gives you and me faith to believe in this God
and believe that this God is able to do everything for you
and me in our natural life and everything for you and me in
our spiritual life. This is the God we worship. This is the God that we should
adore. This is the God that we should
love to follow and love to come to and to bring everything to
Him. left to ourselves we try to work
things out ourselves until perhaps we realise that we've forgotten
we have a glorious God who has encouraged us and does encourage
us to come to him with all our wants and all our needs and to
pour out our heart before him to the Lord's ear is always open
to hear our prayer. However low we may feel, however
poor we may feel, however sinful we may feel, we can come to God. There's nothing to stand in the
way because God is merciful. He's full of compassion. He knows
everything about you and me, all our thoughts, all our words,
All our actions, nothing is hidden from Him. What a mercy that is. We may tremble sometimes to think
that God knows all about what we're thinking and sometimes
what we've said. Sometimes we've said things very
foolishly. But the Lord is merciful. We
have a great merciful God. It's wonderful to think that
this is so. And so what a blessing it is
to have such an account like this in the book of Jeremiah.
And you young people, I'm sure you don't need reminding, but
I will remind you not to pass over the Old Testament and not
to pass over the prophecies in the Old Testament. And you may
not always find them very easy to read. But just, you don't
have to rush through them. You don't get any medals for
going fast. You can take it very easy. You
can ponder the verses. And just go through them slowly. And think about them. And pray that God will give you
that right spiritual understanding. What a blessing that is when
God then hears our prayers and opens our eyes to behold wondrous
truths which are contained in the Word of God. So whereas at
one time we may just have rushed through a chapter or through
a book and thought we'd done our duty and that was all that
was necessary, but what a mercy when God gives us what we can
call a hunger and a thirst after spiritual knowledge and therefore
we don't rush through the Word of God but we ponder it and pray
over it so that God then opens it to our understanding and so
to have a truth like this riveted in our hearts that we
come to this God who has made the heaven and the earth by his
great power and stretched out arm. And if we have a right view
of this God, and if we believe it is so, many people will read
it and not believe it. What a blessing if God gives
you and me faith to believe. It's not something which our
natural minds can grasp. It's not tangible to the natural
mind, but God does give faith to believe the great truths contained
in his word and that's not only with regard to the natural world
it's also with reference to our spiritual life to realize that
God looks upon us and God has mercy and it's a great blessing
if God has brought us to that place where we come and cry for
mercy. If God has shown you and me something
of our heart, that means of our mind, what we think, how evil
we are by nature, how many wrong things we think, how many wrong
things we say, and yet we have a merciful God. We have a God
who is full of compassion. And to realise although he's
so great, So great. And again, it's just beyond our
thought, isn't it, to think that this God, who knows everything
about everybody in this vast world, always has done, always
will, down to the smallest detail, graciously condescends to hear
our prayers. It's wonderful, isn't it? What
a God we have. It doesn't cast us away. It isn't
so I'm not going to listen to that prayer. We are encouraged
to come to Him. Come to Him and to pour out our
heart. Every little thing, every great
thing. Remember, this is the God that
we have and there's nothing too hard, too difficult, that you
and I can bring to God. That's wonderful, isn't it? This
is the God that you and I are privileged to worship, are privileged
to bow down to. And if we do have a right understanding
of the greatness of this God, it puts things in a right order. And we treat God then in a right
way. We don't treat him lightly. We
treat him reverently. And we treat him with adoration. To think that this great and
merciful God has looked upon me unworthy as I am. I said I would just go through
the next few verses. Having said this, and there is
nothing too hard for thee, Jeremiah then goes on and says,
Thou showest loving kindness unto thousands and recompensest
the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after
them. The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name,
great in counsel and mighty in work. It seems, doesn't it, that
Jeremiah's not able really to use enough adjectives to describe
the greatness of God. And what a blessing that would
be for you and me if we come in with that same situation.
We come recognizing and acknowledging the greatness of God. To think
that he shows loving kindness, And when God touches your heart
and my heart, we will see how we are utterly undeserving of
the loving kindness of the Lord. Just ponder and think of your
life, and I think of my life, how we walk contrary to God,
just like the Israelites. They walk contrary to God, God
told them how to walk, what to do, how to worship. Did they
do so? Not at all. And that's why we
read in this chapter that the Lord would send the Chaldeans
to destroy Jerusalem and to burn the houses and the roofs where
they burn incense to Baal. It's almost beyond our comprehension
to think of Israel doing that when they had such a glorious
history and a wonderful deliverance on many occasions. And now they
turn their back upon God. But you see, God is not to be
mocked. And my dear friends, let us not
think that we can treat God as one
of us. that we can treat God as a little
God, that we can treat God as one that we can ignore. You and
I cannot ignore God. He is there. He knows. And he is indeed great in counsel
and mighty in work. For thine eyes are open upon
all the ways of the sons of men. to give everyone according to
his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. Well that perhaps would make
us tremble as we look in our lives and see what we've been
doing, what we've done. Has it been for the honour and
glory of God? Has it been just to please ourselves? To satisfy the lust of the flesh
and the pride of life? But I think we have a God who
is wonderfully merciful. And it's good, as Jeremiah does,
to remind them of their history. And he says, which has set signs
and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel,
and among other men, and has made their name, as at this day,
and has brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt
with signs and wonders and with a strong hand and with a stretched
out arm and with great terror and has given them this land
which they had swore to their fathers to give them a land flowing
with milk and honey. Well we know of course that was
so true. God's love to his ancient people
brought about a wonderful deliverance. I often think that sometimes
we don't really appreciate the greatness of that deliverance. And the reason I say that is
this, because when they were delivered and brought out of
Egypt, on that great night of deliverance, the Lord blessed
them with that wonderful institution of the Passover. And that Passover
set before them the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. And that Passover set before
them the blood of the Lamb and the safety there was in being
under the blood. So when we think of deliverance
of God's ancient people from Egypt in a physical way, there
was much more than that. because God showed them the great
and glorious plan of salvation, which was couched very wonderfully
and very clearly in the Passover. And so Israel were, by God's
grace, with just a few intermissions, to carry out that right until
the time when the blessed Saviour himself, the Lord Jesus Christ,
instituted the Lord's Supper in the upper room on, I hope
you remember, the Passover night. That last Passover. Last Passover
of any significance. Because there was no need to
have any Passovers after that. Because the Lord's Supper had
taken its place. What a mercy, therefore, for
us today to realise that we have the Lord's Supper. But also then
to... Here is Jeremiah reminding Israelites
of their great deliverance. And it's again a blessing, isn't
it? If you and I are reminded of the great deliverances that
God has given to us as a nation, and perhaps to us as individuals. If I asked you today to write
down what God had done for you in your life, in a natural way and in a spiritual
way, it's good to think about these things and just to think
what God has done. you young people, he's helped
you perhaps in your examinations he's enabled you to answer questions
he's given you the light perhaps upon questions which initially
may have appeared very difficult God's goodness God's mercy he's
directed you perhaps in your school life directed you from
class to class. Granted that you've met up with
some friends that you've been with, given you that understanding
as you've been taught. And what a great blessing past
those things. When you get older, you see how
God goes before. God does go before, and God comes
And God gives to his children, boyfriends and girlfriends and
husbands and wives. And what a blessing that is. And what a mercy. If you realize
that this great God can do this, you may think, oh, it's impossible. Well, don't forget these words,
which we read, nothing is too hard for God. The things which
are impossible with men are possible with God. Never give up. Never think, well, there's no
opportunity, there's no hope. Never limit God. God's in control. God can bring situations to bear
which you would never have thought of, never have envisaged. Perhaps bring people into your
lives which you never knew. God is great. God is all-powerful. And then to think also how God
gloriously speaks to his children with regard to the spiritual
state. You know, that's the great and
important thing really in our lives. To know that this great
God has looked upon us. And you may think, well, there's
no hope for me. My friends, there's hope for
everyone while we live on this earth. And God sometimes waits
to be gracious, waits to be gracious. And he's told us he will be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do these things. And it may be
that you have to pray very often. And it may be you have to pray again
and again that well-known prayer of the publican, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. It would be a wonderful favour
if this great God does that for you, to cause you to pray unto
Him, like that with a need has shown to you that you are a sinner
because every born-again believer is convicted before God that
they are a sinner and this is the work of God God does it God
does it and it's a great blessing and very humbling To think that
this God looked upon you and caused you to consider your life. Consider where you're going. Consider whether you're right
to go to heaven or whether you're heading towards hell. And you're conscious that you
don't deserve to go to heaven. And you're conscious that your
sins separate between you and your God. And you need God to
have mercy upon you. And you may think, well, I'm
just too bad. No one's too bad. No one's too bad. That's a glorious
truth. And we have many examples in
the Word of God of people that you and I would think were really
bad sinners. Well, God loves to be gracious. He loves to hear and answer prayer. and so what a mercy if you realize
that although you may think you're just too bad no nothing's too
hard for God and how wonderful it is when God comes and touches
our hearts what does he do? he comes to
us where we are. You see, God knows where you
are really better than you and I know where we are ourselves.
I'm talking in a spiritual sense now. You may not always know
quite where you are. God knows. And that's why it's
wonderful to think that we have this God. There's nothing too
hard for him because he knows about you. He's the only one
that does. No one else knows what you're
thinking. No one knows what you're thinking
here this morning. I don't know what you're thinking. But God
does. God knows what you're thinking.
And God knows whether those thoughts are good thoughts or whether
those thoughts are bad thoughts. And God knows whether you are
concerned about your spiritual state. and that you earnestly
desire to know that you are a believer, that you are a child of God. Well, be encouraged. There is
nothing too hard for God. Nothing. And you and I should
never, therefore, fail to realize that. and never failed to come
to God and to pray to him. You see, you and I can speak
to God about things that we wouldn't want to speak to anybody else
about. And God doesn't go around telling
other people all about what we've said. It's between our soul and
God. That's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? This great God knows all about us. Every, every detail. What a wonderful mercy it is. Well, this God is able to do
for us, exceeding abundantly above that we can ask or even
think in the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. We can read that wonderful statement
in the third chapter and in the 20th verse. Well, let me start
first of all. Verse 16 in this chapter. And the desire was that he would
grant you according to the riches of his glory. You see, God is
so rich in everything. To be strengthened with might
by His Spirit in the inner man, that means in your soul, in your
inner being, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,
that ye being rooted and grounded in love, that means there's a
root, there's a beginning, something growing, and then may be able
to comprehend, to understand with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Isn't
that a wonderful truth? according to the power that worketh
in us. Unto him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end. This my friends is the great
God that you and I have and what a And mercy it is that we have
such a God who looks upon us and understands us. Well, then
this morning, let's remember what God says and what Jeremiah
says. Then came the word of the Lord
unto Jeremiah saying, I am the Lord, to confirm to him. Yes, Jeremiah, I am the Lord. The one you've been speaking
about, I am the Lord. the God of all flesh, is there
anything too hard for me? Therefore thus saith the Lord,
behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans
and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall
take it. And so if we read together, you
can go on. He therefore tells what's going
to happen. But what a blessing for us today. to have this word riveted, we
might say, into our hearts and to remember what Jeremiah said. He came, you see, he came to
God and it is good when we come to God acknowledging how great
he is. It's a lovely hymn, isn't it? How great thou art. It's wonderful
to be able to sing that. how great thou art. And so says
Jeremiah, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy
great power and stretched out arm and there is nothing too
hard for thee. So this morning in your life
and my life, let us realize there's nothing, nothing which is too
hard for God and nothing too small to bring to God. Nothing too great to bring to
God. We can bring Him everything,
everything. Sadly we often forget to come
to God. We struggle on, we battle on,
and sometimes by His grace we remember to pray to Him. Well it's a blessing if in our
lives the first thing we do in a time of need, natural or spiritual,
is to pray to God. Our God never sleeps. He never
sleeps. He's always alert to hear and
answer prayer. This is the greatness of our
God. Oh, it's a wonderful thing if
God gives you and me a little glimpse of the greatness of God,
so that we're able to come to Him believing that He will hear
and answer our prayer. We are to come to God in that
way. We're not to come to God doubting. We're not to come to
God thinking, well, you'll never hear my prayer. You know, we're
reading the Word of God about the evil heart of unbelief. We're not to come to God with
an evil heart of unbelief. We are to come and pray that
God will give us faith to believe. as we pour out our heart before
Him, and I tell you this, it's a wonderful relief if you have
a burden, whatever that burden might be, to come to God and
pour out your heart to Almighty God. What occurs then? Your burden is shared, and it's
shared not with man, it's shared with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
That God who doesn't rebuff you. He doesn't turn away from you.
Man might do that. He might rebuff you. God does
not. He hears and answers prayer. But do remember, He answers in
His way. He answers in His time. And He causes us to wait patiently. And it's a blessing if God gives
you grace to come and to wait. Wait upon the Lord. Wait patiently
for Him and believe that He will hear and will answer your prayer. And so this morning, may you
be thankful that in this prophecy of Jeremiah, there's such a great
truth as this. Oh Lord God. This is Jeremiah
speaking. would be a blessing if you and
I can say the same words. Our Lord God, behold, thou hast
made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched
out on, and there is nothing too hard for thee.