Untitled Sermon

Introduction

There is a story about a Sunday School teacher who was examining her pupils after a series of lessons on the omnipotence of God. She asked, ''Now that we've studied all about the greatness of God, is there anything God can't do?''

Well there was dead silence. Finally one little boy held up his hand. The teacher couldn't believe it. She had hammered for weeks and weeks about the omnipotent power of God. She looked at that young man and said, ''Well, Sammy, just what is it that God can't do?''

The little boy said, ''Well, He can't please everybody.''

Its one thing to say that God is all powerful, and its another to truly and deeply believe it!

The bible has many examples of disbelieve or doubt about exactly God is capable of . When God told Abraham that Sarah would give birth in her old age, she laughed. When the Israelites were in the wilderness they complained to Moses that they rather have died in Egypt as slaves than trust God would guide them to the promise Land. And in the time of Jeremiah, the people of Judah shrugged off the message to repent and God’s coming judgement.

This attitude lives on today. Christians sometimes doubt what God can do and is willing to do. Can God or is God willing to do this or that? Does he keep His promises, etc. You would think these questions only come from unbelievers, but they are asked by Christians just as much. To all doubts and questions God would say what he said to Jeremiah (27),

27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

The New International Version Chapter 32

I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

The easy answer is of course not Lord! But just like with Jeremiah, God really wants to know if you fully believe and trust in His power to deliver. Lets see what God’s words say about those questions.

Does God Care?

This question is and can be the lead in to the Gospel itself. Does God care about mankind or has he washed his hands of us. The answer can be found in ,

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The New International Version Chapter 5

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

Does God care, lets see. He sends His only Son Jesus into this world to be in cased in weak flesh and live in a sin infested world. He preaches truth but is rejected, he is betrayed, beaten, wiped, humiliated and suffered crucifixion which is one of the most painful ways to die.

And He did all this, despite the fact that we as humans have lived a endless cycle of sin and disobedience, for all of us - because He loves you! So does he care YOU BETTER BELIEVE HE CARES!

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

“Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

So does God care? Hes does, even when we doubt Him and even when we were sinners he still dies for us. God is a holy God and just God but he is also patient and loving. I think of God love for us when ever I see this picture: (Old man holding umbrella for wife)

I'm sure our sin and doubt upset God all the time but he still loves us and is faithful to us when we repent.

Where is God’s justice?

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

“Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

The age old question of why do the bad guys always win, or will God punish evil. In this life apart from God’s promises it looks like they do always win, and that there is no prefect justice. The Writer of the 73 Psalm, Asaph, started to think the same thing.

12 This is what the wicked are like—always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.

19How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!

20They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.

21When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,

22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

The New International Version Psalm 73

12 This is what the wicked are like—

always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

and have washed my hands in innocence.

23Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.

24You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

25Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

We have all been there, it appears living a godless way id more properious and fun.

Yet in the same Psalm, Asaph reflected,

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. 19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! 20 They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. 21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

The New International Version Psalm 73

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

20 They are like a dream when one awakes;

when you arise, Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

In our limited perspective, it looks like bad guys win, but there time enjoying sin is short and in their unrepentance God is allowing them to destroy themselves. The fact is those who obey and trust God will be reward with eternal life, those who do not face eternal punishment. God can and will bring ultimate justice to this world.

Can God Forgive Me?

Usually this is asked when we are so ashamed of our sin we can not comprehend God being able or willing to forgive us. For this Lets’s see what Paul says about the status of his own forgiveness. In 1 Timothy,

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul is s positive of the fact that Christ will save anyone who will repent that he places himself as an example. Paul was before his conversion the definition of anti-Christ, He persecuted the Church and approved of Christians being executed. His mission was to destroy the body of Christ.

Despite that Jesus not only showed mercy but raised him up through the power of the Spirit to be one of the greatest missionaries and evangelist ever! If God has the power and willingness to forgive a repentant Paul don't you think He can forgive your sin as well!

James Garfield is so far the only preacher to have become President . It is said he could simultaneously write Greek, with one hand and Latin with the other.

In 1880, he was elected president of the United States, but after only six months in office, he was shot in the back with a revolver. He never lost consciousness. At the hospital, the doctor probed the wound with his little finger to seek the bullet. He couldn't find it, so he tried a silver-tipped probe. Still he couldn't locate the bullet.

They took Garfield back to Washington, D.C. Despite the summer heat, they tried to keep him comfortable. He was growing very weak. Teams of doctors tried to locate the bullet, probing the wound over and over. In desperation they asked Alexander Graham Bell, who was working on a little device called the telephone, to see if he could locate the metal inside the president's body. He came, he sought, and he too failed.

The president hung on through July, through August, but in September he finally died-not from the wound, but from infection. The repeated probing, which the physicians thought would help the man, eventually, killed him. So it is with people who dwell too long on their sin and refuse to release it to God. He has the power and is willing if you repent and turn to Him!

Conclusion

Is there anything too hard for God? Anything He cannot do? The answer is a hard NO! The bigger question is do you believe it with all your heart?

God asked this of Jeremiah because he wanted to make clear He would punish Judah through His power, and later through that same power bring His people back to rebuild the Kingdom. Both Things happened because nothing is beyond God, he keeps His promises, and He always delivers!

God can destroy and create, He can punish and forgive. He is our maker and re-molder. When we believe in His Son we must also trust in the absolute power of God, doing so helps erase all doubt!