in the book of Jeremiah chapter
32. In the first verses of this chapter,
this part of the book of consolation, this great prophecy of Christ
and the new covenant, the first 15 verses, God the Holy Spirit
through the prophet Jeremiah set forth what I referred to,
what the scripture here calls in verse 8 or verse 7, the right of redemption. And
God used Jeremiah, in an object lesson here, to set forth one
of the most beautiful types that you'll find in the scripture,
the kinsman redeemer, who's the one who had the right of redemption,
Christ our kinsman redeemer. And the assurance, this is assurance
for the nation of God's promise to return them to the land that
they were being banished from at this point in time. And in
this picture of the kinsman-redeemer, the Lord sets forth how He will
save His chosen people. How He will save His elect people
through redemption. The kinsman-redeemer paying the
redemption price for spiritual Israel, redeeming us from our
sins by the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
our kinsman-redeemer. And what is illustrated here
is that nothing as pertaining to the salvation of a sinner,
nothing at all as pertaining to that great redemption and
salvation of God's people is too hard for God. And that statement
is posed twice in this portion. In verse 17, Jeremiah's prayer. He makes the statement, there
is nothing too hard for thee. There's nothing too hard for
God. What seems impossible to us and what is impossible with
us, there's nothing too hard for God. And then over in verse
27, it's posed in the form of a question, but it's a rhetorical
question, one that's posed to make a point, not to get an answer
or to get information. And it says, is there anything
too hard for God, for me, he says. The title of the message
is, Nothing Too Hard for God. Well, after this commandment,
I called it last time, God's Strange Work, Jeremiah bursts
forth, as he's inspired by the Holy Spirit, in a prayer. This is Jeremiah's prayer, beginning
at verse 16. He says, He says, now when I
had delivered the evidence of purchase, now that's the deed.
You remember the title deed. The kinsman redeemer has the
right and title. Christ the Lord has the right
and the title deed of ownership of his people. Aren't you glad
that you're not your own? That you belong to him. And that's
what Jeremiah is talking about himself as far as buying that
land in Anathoth. That's a picture of Christ who
bought His people, His nation, spiritual Israel, with the price
of His precious blood. And He delivered the evidence
of the purchase unto Baruch, that's His secretary, the son
of Neriah. I prayed unto the Lord saying,
look at verse 17, All Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm. All of
that is indicative of a God who is so high above us and so powerful,
and there is nothing too hard for thee. The point that is being
made here, as Jeremiah acknowledges God as the maker and controller
of all things, as the Lord God Omnipotent, and as in the name
of God here implies, Jehovah, that He is the God of great grace,
sovereign grace, great mercy, sovereign mercy. Salvation is
of the Lord. We have no problem understanding
that creation is of the Lord. But for reasons of self-righteousness
and natural pride, fallen, unbelieving, unregenerate man wants to take
part and to take some credit for salvation. But this whole
construction here in this prayer and the picture that brings this
prayer out says, no, no, God is the God of creation and the
same God is the God of salvation. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. He is the same God. And He is
a God of sovereign grace, sovereign mercy. He said, I'll be merciful
to whom I'll be merciful. And I'll have compassion upon
whom I'll have compassion. It's not of Him that willeth.
It's not of Him that runneth. But it's of God that showeth
mercy. And He's a God of strict justice.
He's a God of wisdom, great counsel and power and an omniscient and
righteous being. And if He's able, listen, if
He's able to create this world as He did, then He's certainly
able to preserve and restore this insignificant nation, insignificant
in the world's eyes, to restore them out of captivity and back
into their homeland. And if he's able to do all of
that, then he's certainly able to save his people from their
sins. And that's the whole point. We
can think of all kinds of possibilities when it comes to God and His
holiness and man and his sinfulness. It's posed in the book of Job
in several different ways and several different questions.
Ask yourself this question. Can a man a sinful, wretched,
fallen, depraved man be just before a holy God? How is that
possible? Well, certainly not by the works
or the will of men. Can any who are born of woman
be clean in the sight of God? The heavens are not clean in
His sight. He puts no trust in His saints,
His sanctified ones. Can such people who are born
dead in trespasses and sins, ruined in Adam, fallen, coming
forth from the womb, speaking lies. Can such people be clean
in the sight of a holy God? And then here's another seeming
impossibility for us. Can God, can He in His very glory
and His justice and His truth, can He be just and still justify
such wretches as we are? justify the ungodly? And of course,
the question has already been answered, even just recently
in this episode of the Book of Consolation in the Kinsman Redeemer. Job said that. He said, I need
a near kinsman. I need an umpire. I need a mediator. God is able to save. But this
salvation is totally of God, from God, by the power of God,
the grace of God, and the goodness of God, and has absolutely nothing
to do with man's goodness, which he has none, or man's power,
which he has none. Nothing. God is able to save
his people in Christ. There's nothing too hard for
God. I think about when the angel came to Mary and revealed to
her that she was going to have a child. And she said, how is
it possible? I've not yet known a man. And that's the same thing.
The same thing was said to Mary in Luke chapter one. It said
right here, there's nothing too hard for God. God can do it. Do you know that that babe in
her womb was the very reason that this world was created?
That's the purpose of God that Paul was speaking about in Ephesians
chapter 3. The disciples after the Lord
dealt with that rich young man who was a moral, upstanding citizen,
and a very religious man, and the Lord exposed him as a sinner
who had no goodness of his own. You remember the disciples said,
well, who then can be saved? And our Lord said, as recorded
in the book of Matthew, well, with men it's impossible, but
not with God. For with God all things are possible.
You see, you don't look to man for salvation. You don't look
to self, you look to God alone. I think about Abraham and Sarah
when God told them that they would have a child and time went
on, they went past the age of child conceiving and child bearing
and yet it says, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness. What was counted unto Abraham?
The promise of sending a Messiah to fulfill righteousness in Abraham's
stead, the kinsman redeemer. You see, the only way is God's
way in Christ. God was in Christ. Reconciling
the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Look
back here at verse 18. He says, Thou showest loving
kindness unto thousands. Now that thousands is an interesting
word. You know, people get all hung
up today about the thousand years and thousands and sometimes in
the translations it's kind of go either way. It could be thousand
singular or thousands plural. But I can tell you this much.
If you interpret Scripture with Scripture, the number thousand
to the Hebrew mind just simply was a way of expressing a number
that only God knew. Man doesn't know the exact number. It's like a little child almost
saying a million billion. He has no idea what he's saying.
But he knows it's a lot. And that's the way this is. This
is an indefinite number in the minds of men. Only God knows
the exact number. And God's love in Christ is to
thousands, He says. Thou showest loving kindness.
That's covenant love. Unto thousands. And then he says,
he recompenses 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. You see in that old covenant,
he visited the iniquity under the children of the sins of the
father. Why? Because it was a national
covenant. It was a conditional covenant,
conditioned upon the people, upon the nation. And they fail,
just like all of us would fail under a conditional covenant
if that covenant is conditioned on us. But you see, only God
can do this because God is the only wise God, the only omnipotent,
the only omniscient God. He meets out loving kindness.
This verse here is almost like saying, Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated. It's of God, that's the point.
And he says in verse 19, great in counseling, mighty in work,
God's doing, 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. What he's saying here is God's
justice is inflexible in every way. And people take verses like
this, and you know I thought about this, verses like this
and verses that have to do with judgment. I thought about this
particular one over in John chapter 5. Where Christ is telling them
in verse 28, John chapter 5, He says, Marvel not at this,
for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall
hear His voice and shall come forth, they that have done good.
unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil
unto the resurrection of damnation." You know, people take verses
like that, and they'll either use those verses to portray salvation
by the works or will of man in some way, at some time, in some
fashion, or they'll use those verses to try to set up a system
of works by which Christians are going to be rewarded based
upon their efforts, And this verse back here in Jeremiah 32,
nor any of those verses on judgment teach that at all. All he's simply
saying here is that God is just and He's going to recompense
every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his
doings. That's what he says. I'm going to be recompensed that
way, you're going to be recompensed that way. And this thing, listen,
God's justice is inflexible. What is he saying here? Here's
what he's saying. He's not saying that you can earn your salvation
or your blessings by your works. No. In fact, you look at that
John chapter 5 passage, he said, them that have done good. Now
I can show you other passages where it says there's none good.
No, not one. What's he talking about? Well,
it goes back to the law of sowing and reaping. That's what it is. Look over at Galatians chapter
6. You know how people deal with this. Verse 7 of Galatians chapter
6. He says, Be not deceived. God
is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. Verse 8. For he that soweth to
his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. Now what I'd
ask you is this question, is as a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, as a sinner saved by grace, as one washed in his blood
and clothed in his righteousness, are you so into the flesh? Now
we can do fleshly things, don't get me wrong, we're sinners.
But what's he talking about? You know what he's talking about
in the context here? He's talking about supporting the ministry. He's
talking about supporting the gospel. What do you promote and
support? The gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace in Christ, or salvation by works? Now if you
promote and support salvation by the works of men, you know
what you're doing? You're sowing to the flesh. And you're going
to reap. You're going to reap corruption.
Because that's all that can come of that. When a sinner promotes,
whether with his money, or his time, or his prayers, or his
lifestyle, salvation by the works of men, What's he doing? He's
sowing to the flesh. You're going to reap corruption.
But what are you sowing tonight? You're sowing the grace of God.
And what does he say here in Galatians 6 and verse 8? He that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Not because you earn it by your works. Because you can't do that.
Life everlasting is not an earned or merited thing. It's a gift
of God's grace. What are you sowing? We're sowing
grace. We're sowing grace and back here
in Jeremiah 32 19. What does he say? He said in
according to the fruit of their doings. What does that tell you?
Their doings what he's saying here is their doings Expose their
standing and their relationship with God It's not what our works
do for us or earn for us. It's what our works say about
us That's what he's saying That's the issue In the Old Covenant,
for example, this is the obvious outcome of a performance-based
covenant, works-based covenant. That's right. Salvation conditioned
on the sinner. What's going to be the outcome
of that? Death. In the New Covenant, it becomes
the evidence of a new relationship with God through Christ by His
grace. the fruits of love, the fruits
of grace, the fruits of gratitude. Godly living is not the basis
of that new relationship with God, it's the fruit of it. It's
the product, the results, it's the evidence of a new heart.
Remember Jeremiah said over in Jeremiah 31, God said, I'll give
you a new heart, a new spirit. Well, the evidence of that is
our doings in worshiping God. trusting Christ, resting in Him
for all of salvation. Good works are the confirmation,
the evidence of the grace of God in saving us and keeping
us and bringing us to glory. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus Unto not because of unto good works which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them And that's
what this is all about look at verse 20 of Jeremiah 32 From
here to verse 22 he recounts the wonderful things God had
done for the people of Israel God had been so so good to them
He says, which has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
God did that. Do you remember all that He did
when He sent Moses there? Even unto this day, and in Israel,
and among other men, has made thee a name as at this day, and
has brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt
with signs, just miracles, with wonders, and with a strong hand,
and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror, fear of
the Lord. and has given them this land
which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them." He swore
it to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. They didn't earn the land. They
didn't deserve it. But God gave it. Why? Because He promised.
A land flowing with milk and honey. And that's what it was
back then. No matter what it looks like
today. Did you notice there in verse 20? There's a little phrase
that I know the first few times I read this, I kind of passed
over. Read verse 20 again. It says, which hath set signs
and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel,
and among men. That other is in italics. Or among other men. Now it's
all right to put the other there. What's he talking about? Well,
I believe this is a specific reference to the fact that God
is active in the lives of the physical descendants of Abraham,
but he also has a wide interest and a widespread plan among men,
among other men. That would be mankind for all
his covenant people, Jew and Gentile. In other words, what
he's saying there is this isn't just for one nation. All that
he's doing through that nation, all the good things and the miraculous
signs that were worked through that nation, it wasn't just for
that nation. Well, that makes sense, doesn't
it? Didn't he tell Abraham? He said, In thee shall all nations
be blessed. You see, God will have His name
and His glory known among all the nations. For what reason? So that all whom he gave to his
son before the foundation of the world may come to him. Christ
said it. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Remember what he said? This is the will of him that
sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing
but raise it up again at the last day. He said in John chapter
10, he said, other sheep I have that are not of this foe, this
Jewish foe, them I must also bring. Look down at verse 23. He says, they came in and they
possessed it, but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked
in thy law. And notice this, they have done
nothing of all that thou commandest them to do. Therefore thou hast
caused all this evil to come upon thee. Now this confesses the ingratitude
and disobedience of Judah, which is the cause of their destruction
and their captivity. But right there you see the problem
with any conditional covenant made with sinners. You see, this
is why we glory in Christ and in the new covenant by him. You know, it says they have done
nothing of all that thou commandest them to do. What's the problem? Well, that's man by nature right
there, isn't it? None good, no not one. None righteous,
no not one. Sinners. We've never done anything
righteous in God's sight. Now that includes the best of
us and the worst of us. You hear what I said? We have
never done anything righteous in God's sight. Now I didn't
say we've never done anything accepted in God's sight. But
anything we do that's accepted in God's sight, how is it accepted?
In the beloved. Washed in the blood. You see
what I'm saying? Christ is our righteousness.
He is the only good thing, righteous thing, righteous person that
we have to offer unto God. Our best efforts will not measure
up. Now this is covenant language.
You know there were times that the nation from the king on down
and the majority of the people were obedient to the terms of
the covenant. But those times were short-lived
and very few and far between. But this is addressed to the
whole nation. And the whole nation in every generation for 1,500
years from Sinai to the cross was a nation of disobedient people. And the hope of a bright future
of salvation could not come from a better class of people because
we're all sinners. We've all sinned in Adam. We're
all born dead in trespass. None of us have done anything
righteous in God's sight. None of us have ever done anything
to earn or merit salvation from God. That's what it says. So where is our hope? You see,
our hope is in Christ who is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe. There was not one law, one command
observed by them as it ought to have been. And yet these people
were always prone to... You think about that. Here it
is. God says they've done nothing
of all, nothing of all that thou commandest them to do. And yet
these are the people who considered themselves righteous in God's
sight by their works. That's man by nature. Sought
justification. by what they could do. And then
he says in verse 24, behold the mounts, they are come unto the
city to take it. What that's referring to is the
Babylonian army building dirt mounds outside the wall and they
had a device that they would knock down the walls on top of
that. He says the city given into the hands of the Chaldeans
that fight against it because of the sword and of the famine
and of the pestilence and what thou has spoken has come to pass
and behold thou seest it. And thou hast said unto me, O
Lord God, buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses,
for the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans." In light
of all that's going on, this destruction, their imminent defeat,
God told Jeremiah, go buy that field. You know what he's saying
there? In the midst of all this disobedience,
and the wrath of God, and the destruction that Jeremiah was
witnessing, Christ is still coming. The promise is still sure and
certain in Christ. The Messiah that was promised,
the salvation that is promised is in Him the surety. And look
what He says in verse 26. Here's God's indictment against
Judah. He says, 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? And the answer is no. God shows again Himself to be
sovereign and omnipotent, able to do what He pleases according
to His nature. Verse 28, He says, Therefore
thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the
hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon. He'll take it. Notice how He's
going to take it. Oh, I know He had armies. I know
He had swords and horses and chariots and all that. But let
me tell you how He got it. God gave it to Him. And if God hadn't given it to
him, he wouldn't have it. And the Chaldeans that fight
against this city shall come and set fire on this city, burn
it with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense
unto Baal. This is what Judah did. They
offered incense to Baal. Poured out drink offerings unto
other gods to provoke me to anger. See, this is God's indictment.
It's like he's reading the charges. The children of Israel and the
children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth,
for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with
the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath
been to me as a provocation of mine anger and my fury from the
day that they built it, even unto this day, that I should
remove it from before my face." You know that shows here that
the destruction of the city because of sin, the city of Jerusalem,
A national Israel, the old covenant, its elements were never intended
to be permanent. He said, this is the way it was
from the beginning. It wasn't God like, well, I have to come
up with another plan because, you know, things have changed.
No. No, it was given. Listen, why was that old covenant
given? Because of the transgression. To show that by deeds of law
shall no flesh be justified. Look at verse 32. because of
all the evil of the children of Israel, of the children of
Judah, which they've done to provoke me to anger, they, their
kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, and the men of
Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Is there anybody left
out that stands above the crowd? No. Covers everyone in each generation. Now in each generation, God had
his remnant according to the election of grace, but the nation
was disobedient. What had they done? They turned
their back. Verse 33, they have turned unto me the back and not
the face. They should have faced God. They
should have come to God in humble adoration, but they turned their
back on God. Though I taught them rising up
early and teaching them. In other words, this is not a
Johnny come lately message. This has been early on. And they
have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their
abominations in the house which is called by my name to defile."
The very temple they set up idols. Listen to verse 35, they built
the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the sons
of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through
the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into
my mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to
sin. This was serious, wasn't it?
This is how far man goes if his depravity is left unchecked.
Untied. God allowed them to go that far.
And in the midst of all that, what man deserves by nature,
us too, God promises restoration. Look at verse 36. Now, therefore
thus saith the Lord, The God of Israel concerning this city,
whereof you say it shall be delivered unto the hand of the king of
Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by pestilence. Behold,
now here's a statement of the new covenant. Behold, I will
gather them out of all countries, whether I've driven them in mine
anger, in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them
again into this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They
shall be my people, and I will be their God. There's that marriage
covenant language again. Now this was fulfilled in a limited
way temporally in the nation Judah when they came back, but
not in an eternal spiritual way. That's only in the church. The
redeemed of the Lord. I'll be their people. I'll be
their God and they'll be my people. And I'll give them one heart
and one way that they may fear me. That's worship Him forever,
He says. For the good of them and of the
children after them and I will make an everlasting covenant
with them. that I will not turn away. You see, there will be
no rejection here because it's all in Christ. There can be no
rejection of the people of God here because Christ is the surety. Christ is the kinsman redeemer.
Christ is our righteousness. And he says, I will not turn
away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their
hearts. Remember the New Covenant over
in Jeremiah 31. that they shall not depart from
me." Now what does he say about the people here? They will not
depart from God. Who's he talking about? He's
talking about the seed. He's talking about Abraham's children.
He's talking about the redeemed. He's talking about the remnant
according to the election of grace. Yea, I will rejoice over
them to do them good like the bridegroom rejoices over the
bride. And I will plant them in this
land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
You want to know God's heart and soul? It's the salvation
and the security of his people. For thus saith the Lord, like
as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will
I bring upon them all the good that I have what? Promised them. All the promises of God are in
Christ and in him, yea and amen. And the field shall be bought
in this land whereof you say it is desolate without man or
beast. It is given into the hand of
the Chaldeans. You see, there'll be a redemption here for the
people of God. And it'll be prosperous. Verse
44, men shall buy fields for money and subscribe evidences.
They'll have title deeds. You know what our title deed
is? To salvation, to heaven itself, Christ and him crucified and
risen. He has our title deed. Signed
and written and sealed in his blood. And he says, and take
witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the places about Jerusalem
and in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the mountains.
Everywhere, you see, not just one place. And in the cities
of the valley and in the cities of the south, for I will cause
their captivity to return, saith the Lord. Now, is there anything
too hard for God? No, sir. Not in this manner. He's the savior of his people.
All right. Hymn number 126, Rock of Ages.
Cleft for thee. 126.