May it please the Lord God to
be with us and bless us this evening as we meditate in his
word. Let us turn to the Gospel of
Luke, chapter 18, and we'll read verse 27. The Gospel of Luke,
chapter 18, and verse 27. And he said, the things that
are impossible with men are possible with God. These are not vain words. These
are the words of the Saviour himself. And they are indeed
very wonderful words and they are very true words. And they've
always been true and they always will be true. And therefore we
should be thankful that in our lives We may perhaps sometimes
think of situations which exist and think that, well, the way
ahead is impossible. There seems to be no solution.
There seems to be no way that the things perhaps that we've
desired will ever come to pass. Well, let us be given that faith
to believe in Almighty God. Because we have so very many
instances in the Word of God which direct us to realise that
this statement of the Saviour is very true. The things which
are impossible with men are possible with God. And what a wonderful
blessing it is. These words were brought about,
we might say, because of the things which had been spoken. And the previous verse tells
us this. And they that heard it said,
who then can be saved? And that's a very simple statement,
isn't it? But it's a very real statement
and it may be a very real concern in even our hearts. perhaps placing
it in a more personal way, rather than a general way like this,
where it says, who then can be saved, to have that question,
can I be saved? And we might think, I think that's
impossible. We may think, I've just wandered
away too far. I'm just too bad. I just don't
think there's any hope that I can be saved. Well, just be very
encouraged because immediately following that question, the
Lord says the things which are impossible with men are possible
with God. And we only have to read in the
word of God the many wonderful cases where the Lord did great
things in the hearts of many people and there were some wonderful
and glorious conversions. I suppose we only have to think,
do we not, of the Apostle Paul himself who walked so contrary
to God and he thought he was doing God's service. He thought
he was doing that which was right because he was brought up a Pharisee
because he was very familiar with the law and he was following
it very accurately in accordance with the Jewish traditions. And
that was very satisfying to him because he was looking to his
own works, the works of the law. And what he was doing, on the
other hand, was to speak against the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet on that never-to-be-forgotten
day in the life of the Apostle Paul, the day that Almighty God
had determined to bring spiritual life into his soul, as the Apostle
was traveling on that road to Damascus, He saw that tremendous
light above the brightness of the midday sun so powerfully
come into his heart that he sunk down onto the ground and desired
to know, what must I do? What must I do? Yes, that was his concern. Well, as you probably know, the
Lord said he was to go and to preach the gospel. And the Lord
raised him up and gloriously blessed him as he preached the
gospel. And he was very successful in
his preaching. But he had very many difficult
things to endure, much opposition in his natural life. But nonetheless,
God blessed him indeed. And I suppose if you and I had
been alive at that time and had been familiar with the Apostle
Paul and his lifestyle, and we'd heard that there had been this
conversion, we would have probably said, oh, it's impossible. Well,
it wasn't impossible. And God therefore came and called
him to be a true servant, a true preacher,
a man who would be wonderfully blessed and willing to be a true
servant and to serve his God. And so in his case, the things
which were impossible were possible and indeed came to pass. And we read together, it's a
very full chapter, this chapter is. It has many little accounts. And it has the accounts of the
Pharisee and the Publican. And as we read, they both pried. But they both pried very different
prayers. Very different prayers. And first
of all, The Pharisee's prayer is described and we're told he
prayed with himself. He didn't pray to God. He prayed
to himself. And he was very satisfied with
himself. He was pleased with what he was
doing. I thank thee that I am not as other men, are extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publicum. I fast twice in
a week, I give tithes of all that I possess, and that was
his religion. He was satisfied with it, and
he was able to point a finger of scorn at the publicum. But, you see, we then have the
other side, and we see Republican, his position, and what he was
like. And what did he do? Well, he
was standing afar off. It was too embarrassed, really,
to come too near. And he wouldn't lift up his eyes
to heaven, but he smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful. to me a sinner." There was no
self-exaltation, was there? He wasn't looking around and
saying, well, I'm better than this person or that person. It
was just a testimony of what he said to his God. And as far as he was concerned,
that was the only relevant and important thing. And so he was
able to pray this very simple prayer, God be merciful to me,
a sinner. And as I've often said, I'm sure
this is a prayer that every true believer prays. And it's something
they don't pray once in their life and then forget about it
and say, well, I need to pray that again, because we continually
need God's mercy. as we travel on through our life. And so how thankful we should
be that there is recorded in the Bible a very simple statement
like this. God be merciful to me, a sinner. And then Jesus speaks and says,
or compares the two people. And he says, I tell you, this
man, the publican, And of course a publican, as a tax collector
was then, went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. We might say how appropriate
this is to these words which we have before us. The things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. Man might
stand back and natural man might have stood back and said, well,
of course, the Pharisee is a righteous man and his prayer will be heard
and the publican, well, doesn't really count. But you see, it
was the complete opposite. And what a mercy it is. How encouraging
it should be for us today. to realise that here we have
a God who hears and answers prayer. That which may perhaps seem impossible. Then of course at the end of
the chapter we read the account which is referred to in another
of the Gospels as blind Bartimaeus. And this man sat by the wayside
begging. And he asked who it was, what
was all this commotion about? And he was told, Jesus of Nazareth
passeth by now. He must have been told who Jesus
was, perhaps previously. He'd heard of what Jesus had
done, the wonderful miracles that he'd done. So what does
he do? What does he do when he cries
out, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me and
it's very significant the prayer when he cries because he speaks
here of Jesus thou son of David and we know of course through
the Old Testament and it was through David that the line to
Christ followed and Jesus was indeed the son of David so here
we might think well here's a poor blind man But this poor blind
man obviously had a certain knowledge, a good knowledge, of who Jesus
was. And therefore he came crying
out. In very, very similar words,
Jesus Have thou, son of David, have
mercy upon me. And what was the result? Well, the result was, I suppose,
what many of us receive today from many people who say, well,
it's not worth praying and just be quiet. That's what they effectively
said here to this man. And they which went before rebuked
him that he should hold his peace. Well, he didn't. It's a good
thing when you and I don't hold our peace, when we pray to our
God, and we keep on praying to our God, and we don't give up
praying to our God. And so he cried out, so much
the more. Such a rebuke didn't have any
adverse effect upon him. It may have encouraged him more.
So much the more. He cried, Thou son of David,
have mercy on me. Jesus stood still. Jesus had
heard his cry. And the good news is today, Jesus
hears our cries today. Yes, however bad we may feel,
however far off we may feel, We can still cry to our God,
because we have a God who hears and answers prayer. And we may
think, well, it's not worth me praying. God will never hear
my prayers. Oh, yes, He will. Because He
has said, seek and ye shall find. That's the promise of God. And God's promises are true. and God's promises come to pass. So seek and ye shall find, even
if it seems an impossibility. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. And so Jesus commanded Bartimaeus
to come saying, what will thou that I should do unto thee? And
he said, very simply, Lord, I may receive my sight. Now, of course,
how relevant that was to him, how relevant it may be to us
in a spiritual sense, that we desire God to give us spiritual
sight. And that really means to understand
the Gospel, and to believe that Jesus came to seek and to save
that which was lost. He came to hear our prayers. He came to redeem our souls. He came to die that sin-atoning
death upon the cross at Calvary in order that we might be forgiven
and live eternally. And immediately he received his
sight and followed him, glorifying God. Now, the reaction was so
good and right and true. And if God does come, and if
God does perhaps hear our prayers, and if God does that for us,
which perhaps we were thinking was impossible, should heed these words. What
did he do? He followed Jesus and glorified
God. Yes, he didn't just forget about
it and just pass on and carry on his life. No, it had a wonderful,
wonderful effect upon him. and we can be very thankful today
that still today the Lord appears, the Lord does great things, the
things which are impossible with men, perhaps we think that would
never come to pass, the Lord would never look upon me, the
Lord would never bless me, the Lord would never favour me, the
Lord would never hear my prayers. Well just remember The things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. Surely that should be a very
encouraging statement for us today. You see, the Word of God
never becomes out of date. It never becomes old-fashioned. It's always up-to-date and it's
always relevant. So what a blessing it is to have
such a statement like that to encourage us and to be a blessing
to us. Jeremiah was an Old Testament
prophet, a man of God who had a very difficult life, not an
easy life at all, but God was indeed with him. And we can read
in the prophecy, and we can read in the 32nd chapter, where the
prophet says, Our Lord God, behold, that's verse 17, 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. Now, it's good to read a verse
like that in Jeremiah, because Jeremiah had a very difficult
life. He was a prophet of the Lord.
He was a faithful prophet of the Lord. He spoke all that the
Lord told him to speak, and very often It wasn't liked. They didn't want to receive the
truth of God. How that is so apt today. People don't want to believe
the Bible. They don't want to believe the
truth of God. And you see that's why people
today are persecuted. People are jeered at. They're
ridiculed. Things haven't changed. And they
haven't changed in this perspective either. Ah, Lord God, behold
thou hast made the heaven and the earth. So that's a good statement
to begin with, isn't it? That shows very clearly what
Jeremiah believed. He believed in the greatness
of God. And what a mercy it is for you and me, if we truly believe
in the greatness of God. Thou hast made the heaven and
the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm. He had
no problem with believing this great, we might say fundamental
truth. And then he says, and there is
nothing. too hard for thee. Well, that's
an encouraging word, isn't it? And further on, in this same
chapter, verse 27, the Lord answers. And the Lord
answers in a very specific way. This is what he says. Behold,
I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, And then he really answers
in a rhetorical way, is there anything too hard for me? No, there was nothing too hard
for Almighty God. And let us remember that. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God because nothing is too hard. In our lives, there is nothing
too difficult that God cannot do. Very simply because he is
the almighty God. He is the creator of all things. And that's why the things which
are impossible with God, impossible with men, are possible with God. natural way if you read again
many things in the Old Testament you think of the children of
Israel what a wonderful picture we have there which shows us
so clearly those things impossible for men possible for God you
think of Moses there stuck in the wilderness for 40 years and
prior to that thinking he was the very person to lead Israel
out of Egypt But after 40 years in the wilderness, God appeared
to him in a bush that burned and burned and burned. And it was not consumed. It was
a very wonderful picture and a wonderful scene for Moses who
drew near. The Lord told him to take off
his shoes, because the place where he stood was holy ground. And then the Lord spoke to him
and told him that he was the person now to lead Israel out
of Egypt. Well, he couldn't really believe
it. He couldn't really understand it, because dear old Moses had
been brought down from a high opinion of himself to a very
adequate man. to a very inadequate man. And
you see, that was the time then the Lord determined to use Moses
and also his elder brother to bring the Egyptians out of Egypt. And no doubt you are familiar
with those plagues that were brought upon Pharaoh in the land
of Egypt, how amazing they were. And then, of course, the Lord
brought that last plague upon all the firstborn son, which
culminated in Pharaoh letting the Israelites go. What had appeared
to be an impossibility was possible with God. And then, very shortly
after, they came to the Red Sea, and this really looked like an
impossibility. How were they going to venture
now? There were the Egyptians behind
them, the sea in front of them, The mountains either side, no
escape. There was. There was. In our lives, we sometimes might
think there's no escape. There's no way out. There is. God wrought a miracle. And my
friends, still today, in our measure, God brings about miracles. Things that we may have thought
were impossible, are possible with God. This is the great God
we have. This is the great God that we
can preach of. This is the great God that we
can believe in. You know, these things, as we
might perhaps say, in one sense are relatively small, and I was
going to say relatively insignificant, compared with the great and glorious
salvation of our souls. Because We are born dead, spiritually
dead, in trespasses and in sins. Everybody in this world is born
dead, spiritually. And I'm sure we all understand
that naturally a dead person, in a physical sense, can do nothing. If any of you have seen a dead
person, you'll realize that you can shout and yell and push and
touch, absolutely no effect. They remain a dead person. Now that is just the same in
a spiritual life. We are spiritually dead until
until, just like the time of the Apostle Paul on that Damascus
road, until the Lord gives spiritual life. And that's why, as we read
here, who then can be saved? Who then can receive spiritual
life? Is it possible? Yes, it is. Not by any skill of our own,
You know, we've seen it sadly, sadly, sadly. We've seen people
who worship God outwardly. They may have come to chapel
or to church all their life. And yet remain spiritually dead,
no life at all. So the preacher can't produce
life. The people can't produce life. They can say wonderful things,
they can say true things. But it is the Spirit's work. And the reason why it's the Spirit's
work is very simple. God will have the honour and
glory. That it is His work. It's not
man's work. God sometimes uses men. Sometimes he uses preachers as
the ordained way to bless souls. But my friends, it's God's work. What a wonderful thing it is
to know that the things which are impossible with men are possible
with God. And we know this from the Word
of God. The Lord only has to speak to
bring a dead sinner into spiritual life. And then they are alive
for evermore. Isn't it a wonderful gospel to
know that we have such a God who just speaks into our heart
there is then spiritual life. What are we? A new creature. We're a new person. There's life
within. It's God-given life. And aren't
we thankful for it? And aren't we humbled because
of it? Why should God have loved such
an unruly rebel as me? Why should God have ever looked
down from heaven upon me. We have to recognise it's because
He's loved us with everlasting love. Just like, again turning
to Jeremiah and in the 17th chapter and the early verses of the A,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. And therefore, with loving
kindness, have I drawn thee. And the prophet tells us this,
the Lord has appeared of old unto me saying, yea, yes, I have
loved thee. Well, dear old Jeremiah, that
must have been so wonderful. And it is today. If God speaks such words into
our heart, yea, I have loved thee. Do you know, in essence,
we do need that. We do need the reality of God
speaking to our souls and telling us that he's loved us. And indeed,
he's loved us so much that He was willing to come into this
world and to die in our place, to die to take away all our sins,
so that we are redeemed, and so that one day, by His grace,
we shall be with Him in glory forever and ever and ever. Well, the Lord said the things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. And so may we indeed have the
wonderful evidence from God that those things which we may have
thought were impossible would never come to pass, just too
bad. Too far off from God. However,
can God have mercy upon me? Well, God puts a prayer in our
heart. God be merciful to me, a sinner. It's a real prayer. Into my heart. God doesn't turn us away. He
doesn't shut the door. He hears and answers our prayer. The door of his mercy stands
open all day and night to the poor and the needy that knock
by the way. And it's a good thing when you
and I come down to be poor and needy in our own eyes, in our
own estimation. And we look only to one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look unto me and be saved all
the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else.