May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let's
turn to the question in the 18th chapter of Genesis and the first
part of verse 14. The book of Genesis chapter 18
and reading the first question or the question in the 14th verse. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? It was an amazing occasion in
the life of Abraham on that day when he sat in the tent door,
musing no doubt upon various things but then there were three
men that appeared and came and he ran to meet them not of course
knowing what was going to occur what they'd come for but as we
read through this chapter the first part we've seen how they
brought that message, an amazing message, that Sarah would conceive
in her old age and would bear a son. Well, it was difficult,
of course, for Sarah to believe, difficult for Abraham to believe. But we are thankful to know,
as we can read in the New Testament, that Abraham was given faith
to believe that that which was impossible with men was possible
with God. And so that which was spoken
to Abraham indeed did come to pass. Sarah thy wife shall have
a son, Well, naturally speaking, it was impossible, but not with
God. And we have this here as a wonderful
illustration of the power of God. And so, as we have this
question before us this morning, is anything too hard for the
Lord? And that is a comprehensive statement
It does say, is anything. And we should realise that we
have a God that nothing is impossible to bring to pass. Nothing. Because Almighty God is Almighty
God. And although we can read the
many accounts in the Bible that testify to the great truth of
this, Sometimes it comes down to our own individual lives that
we need to continue to prove that we have a God, that nothing
is too hard for him to perform. What a good thing it is then
to know that that is true in Jeremiah. Again a prophet of
the Lord where we're told there is nothing too hard for thee. There is nothing too hard for
thee. The question is, is there? Well
in Jeremiah we're told there is nothing. And it's good surely
for us to have that appreciation and faith like Abraham was blessed
with to believe the word of God. And so if God in his sovereign
love and mercy speaks to our soul. Let us be clear, God does
still speak to the Church of God. He does still speak to us
as individuals. And when that word is spoken,
may we have the realisation that it has emanated from Almighty
God. And we may be tempted, that it's
our imagination. We may be tempted, it's not of
the Lord. But let us remember then this
great and simple question, is anything too hard for the Lord? And of course the answer was,
at the time appointed, I will return unto thee according to
the time of life and Sarah shall have a son. God's purposes do
come to pass. That which he has spoken will
come to pass. Not often in accordance with
our time scale. Not often in accordance with
our little plans. The things that we work out in
our mind. But God has a right time scale. He has a perfect plan for you
and me. If we are indeed his children,
every second of our life has been planned from eternity past. And we can often just look at
ourselves and look at our lives and think we want this to occur
and that to occur. Well, God will bring to pass
All that which is good and right for us, and above all things,
that which will be for the honour and glory of our God. And so, is anything too hard
for the Lord? And we should be able to come
and say, Lord, I know that nothing is too hard for Thee. And may that be an encouragement
to us. We call this Lord's Day Remembrance
Sunday, a day to remember in the history of our nation. Men often refer to that which
men have done, given their lives, which is true. But the great
truth is that we have a God who has indeed appeared for us in
amazing ways. And we should not forget it.
that nothing was too hard for the Lord. We can look back to
the last war when, naturally speaking, our country and many
countries had their backs to the wall. There didn't seem to
be any possibility of deliverance. But the Lord appeared. Nothing was too hard for him.
You may remember when there was that need for that great miracle
for the people to be rescued from Dunkirk. And the Lord brought
about an amazing change in the weather. He also changed the
mind of Hitler to go in opposite direction. And we have to say
it was the work of God and so we thankful that so many were
brought back safely to our land and we could go through the war
that had been books written on the many wonderful deliverances
of our God not only in that war also in the the First World War
again wonderful deliverances and we can go back to the time
of the Spanish Armada and that was a time of a a wonderful deliverance
when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne. And what was the
deliverance? Again, the Lord brought the weather. So there
was a great storm in the channel, and the Spanish Armada were scattered. All their ships were scattered.
Yes, and they had to flee from the weather, and they tried to
shelter, but many were destroyed. What a wonderful mercy, what
a wonderful blessing that was. No one could control the weather.
We can't control the weather today. And again, what a blessing
it is to realise that we have a God. And we can therefore concur
that nothing is too hard for the Lord. So we have that in
the deliverances of our nation. but also may we be able to look
into our own lives and see how God has appeared for us. It may be in the lives of each
one of us, from the young children to those of us who are old, we
may have seen God do great things for us, perhaps in our school
days, perhaps in our university days, perhaps in our working
days, We've seen God appear for us. There were difficulties.
There were problems. We didn't know how they were
to be solved. But we proved there was a God
who lived and reigned and was able and did deliver us. Yes, it's good to remember perhaps
the occasion of David when he was in the presence of the king
and there was that battle to be fought and that individual
battle to fight with Goliath and he was able to testify to
the king these words he that means God will deliver me. And God did deliver him in a
very amazing way. We read the account, don't we,
of David slinging that stone which entered into the temple
of Goliath. But, you know, it wasn't David's
natural skill. He may have been a very able
slinger, but it was God that directed the stone me. That great
giant could have easily just moved his head at that very moment
and the stone missed. But no, God directed it. God
did it. And so, is anything too hard
for the Lord? But David had a confidence in
his God. And again, just to run through
one or two examples, we can think of Daniel in the lion's den. An impossible situation naturally. And yet you see God shut the
lion's mouths. God shut the lion's mouths. Is
anything too hard for the Lord? And then in that same book, in
that wonderful account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who preferred
to obey God rather than man, were thrown into the fiery furnace
and were delivered and were brought out of that fire. with not even
the smell of fire upon them. We see the great works of God
and there are very many examples of God, amazing deliverances
in the Word of God and amazing help given. It's wonderful to
think of it and perhaps we can look at the New Testament and
we can realise how The apostle Peter was wonderfully delivered
when the prison gates opened and he was brought out of prison.
The apostle Paul and Silas, again it was an earthquake and the
prison gates were broken open. God delivered. God appeared. Both situations naturally appear
to be impossible, but we see God did great things so in our
little lives let us not be unmindful of what God has done and may
our confidence be in God. Well we have the many evidences
then of natural things but we should also remember we have
a great God who does great things spiritually and we may ask the
question is anything too hard for the Lord in saving our souls? redeeming our souls, we may think,
well I'm just too bad, I'm just beyond any possibility of being
saved from all my sins. Remember God is able to do great
things and it's good sometimes to cast our mind back to that
occasion in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned grievously
against God, who had put them in that wonderful environment,
that wonderful, peaceful situation, that situation where God himself
came and talked with them in the cool of the day. And yet,
you see, they were left to listen to the evil Word of Satan in
the form of a servant. How easily they were taken in
and they sinned against God in disobeying the Word of God. Well, all of us have also fallen
into that snare and all of us have sinned against Almighty
God. And the Word of God tells us
very clearly that our sin deserves eternal punishment. Our sin deserves
that you and I should be cast out of the sight of God forever
and spend eternity in that terrible place of hell. What was to happen? Deliverance was needed. Is anything
too hard for the Lord? Well, the Lord planned from eternity
a great deliverance. And he spoke to Adam and Eve
after their sin. to tell them the seed of the
woman would bruise, would squash the serpent's head. There it
was in prophecy. What was it about? It was about
a saviour, a saviour who would come and that saviour would bring
about that great salvation. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? It was a great blessing, it was a great favour that the
Lord came and spoke to Adam and Eve in that Garden of Eden. That wonderful promise. My friends,
that promise was to be fulfilled. And it was fulfilled in time
to come. But we have to realise how many
things had to be worked out in the history of the world before
the fulfilment of that promise. And it just reminds us of the
great truth of God's word. Your time is always, but my time
is not yet. You see, God had a perfect time
for the redemption of mankind. to be so clearly revealed. But
it was some 2,000 years before it was, what, it's not
correct, from the time, it's more than that, probably almost
4,000 years from the time that promise was given to the time
the Lord Jesus came. and was born in that wonderful
way to the Virgin Mary. Nobody could have anticipated
how the Lord would come. And yet down through the Old
Testament, you and I can trace out here and there the wonderful
prophecy of the birth of the Saviour, where it would be, how
it would come, Yes, and there was a fulfilment of it in God's
time. And when it did appear, it was
a time when the true Church of God was at a very low ebb. How many had turned their back
upon God. Although there had been many
wonderful deliverances, And it's good sometimes just to stop and
remember what the Lord has done for his people. Is there anything
too hard for the Lord? Remember how the Lord graciously
delivered his people, Israel, from that time of captivity in
Egypt. And we see the great plan of
God who had spoken to Well, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,
what the future would hold. And yet, you see, there was the
occasion when there was that deliverance from the famine.
And in the purpose of God, Joseph was there in Egypt under the
auspices of Pharaoh because of what God had caused to occur
in the life of Joseph, being able to interpret the dream of
the King, nothing had come by chance. It was all ordained. Wonderful it is to read. Is anything
too hard for the Lord? All part of God's great and wonderful
plan of deliverance, but also to bring about that time when
the Savior would be born. Because as we think of that deliverance,
there was tied up in that deliverance the institution of the Passover. What a wonderful picture that
was of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Lamb slain
and we can go back right to the Garden of Eden when there was
the picture of the shed blood when those animal skins were
given to Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness Blood was shed. It was the significant statement. Without shedding of blood, there's
no forgiveness, there's no remission. It occurred and it occurred and
it occurred. Yes. Is anything too hard for
the Lord? The Lord was to bring deliverance
for his people. He was to bring that wonderful
remedy of the forgiveness of sin. and that was set forth in
the shedding of blood and finally it was brought to pass in the
wonderful and glorious holy death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon
that cross at Calvary. The work of God was completed
when Christ died when he finished the work that his father gave
him to do. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? No. The salvation of mankind
was planned. Salvation for you and me was
planned. Sure that is a very humbling
realisation to think that We weren't born into this world
by chance. Our birth, naturally, was ordained
by God. And what a mercy it is if we
have the wonderful evidence that you and I have been born again,
spiritually. Yes, that we possess that new
birth. And it's because of what Jesus
did. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Well, perhaps we're wondering
this morning, will the Lord have mercy upon me? Will the Lord
save my soul? Will the Lord show to me that
I am born again by the Spirit of God. Will the Lord show to
me that the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, did die
upon Calvary's cross in order to save my soul? My friends, is anything too hard
for the Lord? No, it's not. Let us be found praying to God
that he will reveal to every one of us the wonderful truth that you
and I are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And when we come to the knowledge of the great need that we have,
Because we cannot save ourselves. We cannot redeem ourselves. We have no ability. What a mercy
to have the evidence that Lord Jesus came to seek and to save
that which was lost. And what a mercy then if you
and I have the evidence that we are lost. And the Lord Jesus has come to
seek us. Well, what a mercy, if that word
is true. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God, he to save my soul from danger,
interposed his precious blood. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? You may think, well, that's all right for everyone else,
but not for me. Well, my friends, we should be
encouraged and you should be encouraged to seek unto the Lord
in a time when he indeed may be found. Yes, you and I are
still on praying ground. We should never give up. We should
never give up. We should realise we have a God
who hears and answers prayer. We have so many, many illustrations
in the Word of God of this, how God is wonderfully gracious and
how the Lord comes sometimes, indeed, often unasked for. unasked for. The hymn writer says, he saw me ruined,
lost, ruined in a fall, that fall through Adam and Eve, when
they sinned against God. He saw me, we were with them,
we were there through Adam's sin. And yet to know, he loved me. notwithstanding
all. See, the love of God is so glorious. And my friends, it's the whole
Church of God, and it's to you and me personally, if we are
part of the family of God, to know
that Christ loved us so much. bad as we were, bad as we are. No one can be too bad. We have some glorious examples
in the Word of God spelled out very wonderfully and very carefully
and we should always be very appreciative of the illustrations
we have in the Word of God to encourage us. And we have that
case of Manasseh who was the king. The king, a very important
position in those days. And we read about in the Kings
and also in Chronicles how wicked he was and how sinful he was
and how he disobeyed God. We're told in the beginning of
chapter 33 in the second book of the Chronicles, Manasseh was
12 years old when he began to reign. Yes, he was the son of
Hezekiah, a very godly king. But you see, godliness doesn't
follow hereditary. No, it's the personal work of
God. Just because our parents are
godly people doesn't mean to say we will be. We need the personal
evidence. And so we're told Manasseh was
12 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 50 and
five years, a very long time in Jerusalem. But did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations
of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children
of Israel, For he built again the high places which Hezekiah
his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Balaam,
and made groves, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and
served them. And he built altars in the house
of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall
my name be forever. And he built altars for all the
hosts of heaven, And in the two courts of the house of the Lord,
you can go on and you can read it in the 33rd chapter of Chronicles,
all the wickedness that he did. But you know, it's very wonderful
as we come down in this same chapter to verse 12. And this
is what we read. And when he was in affliction,
he besought the Lord his God. What a change. an evil man, no
desire after God. But you see, the Spirit of God
came upon him. The Spirit of God came upon him
and he besought the Lord his God. That means he earnestly
prayed to his God. And what a blessing if you and
I earnestly pray to our God. And he humbled himself. He humbled himself greatly before
the God of his fathers. What a mercy it is when God brings
that into our hearts so we humble ourselves. What does that mean? It means we come to God and we
confess our sins, all of our sins. We confess how bad we are,
how evil we are, How wretched we are. What a sinner we are. And then we're told he prayed
under him. He prayed under God. It wasn't just words. He prayed
from his heart. That's the difference. You and
I may have prayed from a child perhaps, just words from our
head. But what a blessing when the
Spirit of God convinces us that we are a sinner
and that we're a lost sinner and we need a Saviour and we
need our sins to be forgiven and we come to God and we pray
to Him and this is what the Word of God tells us about Hezekiah
and he was entreated of him. It means God listened and God
heard and God answered and heard his supplication and brought
him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that
the Lord, he was God. Well, you can go on and read
the account how the Lord was merciful to Manasseh. He never deserved it. And you
and I never deserve any mercy or any favour from God. What
a blessing it is if God comes and touches our heart and causes
us to pray to Him, pray to Him for mercy. Is anything too hard
for the Lord? Nothing is too hard, my friends.
Never give up. Pray to God that he will have
mercy upon you. Pray to God that he will redeem
you. Pray to God that he will forgive
all your sins. Pray to God that you will have
the evidence that Lord Jesus shared what Peter tells us, his
precious blood on your behalf. so that you and I, by the grace
of God, are indeed complete in Him. Is anything too hard for
the Lord? Then, when that occurs, you and
I can then look back and glorify God for the wonderful provision
He's made in sending His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. It is then that we rejoice in
the Gospel. We rejoice in the Saviour. We praise God from our hearts. It's not words. It is words,
but they emanate from the God-given desire in our hearts to praise
God. Well, what a mercy it is today. In a word, if God tells us this
today, If ye will hear his word, harden not your hearts. What a blessing if the Holy Spirit
on this perhaps Remembrance Sunday, as we refer to it, you remember
your sinful condition, you remember how you offended God, and God
has caused you to seek his face. to pray to him. The time of formal
prayers, mere words, will have passed. You have a great need
for salvation. You have a great personal need
to know that the Lord Jesus Christ has died for you. You may think,
well, it's impossible for me. I'm just Too bad, I've just turned
my back upon God. Too often, I've just ignored
God's voice on so many occasions. Well, just be encouraged this
morning, because here we have this great statement, and it
is a great statement. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? And then don't forget what I've
already quoted about from Jeremiah. nothing is too hard for the Lord. May that be a strength to us
and may we today be able to go on our way rejoicing to know
that we have a God who does not turn a deaf ear to us but who
has an ear ready to hear our cries, to hear our prayers and
to send us answers and to come to us and confirm to us that
great truth again in Jeremiah when the Lord said, yeah, I love
thee, personal application with an everlasting love and with
loving kindness I've drawn thee. There's that amazing change.
when you and I have been turned from following our own sinful
way, our own sinful desires, to truly seek to God for mercy,
seek to God for salvation, and then have the Saviour revealed
to us. And what that will do is this.
Jesus will become precious. He'll become a living reality. He won't just become an historical
figure. He will be your saviour and my
saviour and that one who, by the grace of God, we desire and
hope to be with throughout eternity. It's a wonderful prospect for
the Church of God. And so, this morning, it's not
a long text, is it? It's a pretty short one, isn't
it? But it is a very important question. Is anything too hard
for the Lord? Well, may it be as it was in
Sarah's case, at the time appointed, yes, the Lord returned to her
and blessed her. May there be in our lives times
appointed when the Lord comes and blesses us. Amen.