What are the Limits on God?
Jeremiah 32:17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too [c]hard for You.
19 You are great in counsel and mighty in [d]work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. 20 You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself a name, as it is this day.
26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
What are the limits on God?
Today we begin our prayer emphasis; 40 days of prayer for revitalization. I’ve handed out prayer guides to everyone who wanted to participate. Participation means that each day, for the next 40 days, you will read the devotional, and the accompanying Scripture, consider the truths being presented to you, look inside at your Christian walk, consider our church, and pray according to the prescribed prayer in the devotional.
We are praying for God’s guidance concerning the future of our church. Now we know that we are sinful human beings; our thoughts are not God’s thoughts, our ways are not His ways. So, as has been done in the Bible, when the nation of Israel faced a challenge, they were called to a time of repentance and prayer.
Exodus 19: So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
God told them through Moses to spend some time getting themselves ready to hear form the Lord. And that’s really what we are doing. And we don’t just want one or two of us to hear from God, and report it to the rest of you. Just like with Moses, God gave messages to him to pass on to the people. But on this occasion it was important that the people also experience the presence of God, so there would be no doubt about God’s direction or instructions.
So, this prayer guide is a roadmap designed to get us all to the same place at the same time. For example, let’s look at day one of the prayer guide. If you are participating with us, sometime tomorrow, you will read the Day 1 page, it’s on page 8. The devotional is about Jesus’ hometown, and the scripture says that Jesus did not do many miracles in His hometown, “because of their unbelief.” Jesus came to Nazareth. He had performed many miracles in other places. He was able to perform many miraculous healings in His hometown, among His own people. But it says He didn’t do many miracles there, “because of their unbelief.”
So, our unbelief can affect God’s work among us.
After reading the devotional, you will thoughtfully consider the questions on the page; When Jesus looks at your life what does He find? A robust faith or unbelief? Do you believe Jesus can work renewal and revitalization in your church? Do you believe He will? Are you praying for Jesus to bring renewal to your church?
After those questions, the first devotional asks you to spend some time in prayer. It says, “If your unbelief is a roadblock to Jesus working in your church, confess the sin of unbelief. Ask God to strengthen your faith in Him.”
That’s day one. And we are asking you to make a commitment to 40 days of devotions and prayer.
And each week, over the next 6 weeks I will be taking some of the truths from the devotionals for the following week and preaching over them. Well, that’s what we are doing over the next 6 weeks. Today we are going to look at some of the truths found in this first week of devotions.
prayer
As I looked at this first week’s devotionals I came away from them with a question for us; What are the Limits on God? Put another way; what can God not do? And probably the first answer that you would give me is,
I. Nothing
There are no limits on God. There is nothing God can’t do. God can do anything. That idea is woven into the very fabric of our faith.
God can do anything, but fail. Matthew 19 With God, all things are possible.
The verses we just read.
Jeremiah 32:17 17 Ah 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:
Ephesians 3:20 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
There’s a Christian song.
God can do anything with
anything
He can heal any hurt, any suffering
Every cross, every care, every burden He bare
For anyone, anywhere
God can do anything
He turns nothing into something
He's the giver of life
He's hope to the hopeless
And a sight to the blind
And He makes impossible, possible
When there's no other way
He makes the blackest sin, white as snow
That's why we can say
The idea is everywhere in Christendom. But, at the risk of being called a heretic, God can do anything if He chooses, but there are many things that He won’t do. God limits Himself. He limits Himself based on His nature and His plan. And so, for example, in the church, Did you know that God doesn’t accomplish all that is in His perfect will to do? And that’s where we come in regard to limits on God.
Did you know that there are actually things that we do that put limits on God? Because God chooses to limit His work by doing it through sinful people, sometimes the work doesn’t get done.
Let me illustrate that with my own profession. I am a preacher. I preach the gospel. And sometimes I ask myself, “Why would God choose preachers to get His message out? Let me ask you this; Could God get the gospel message out without preachers? Yes, He could. You know I often look at what I do, and think, “God, I’m not doing such a bang-up job here.” “Why don’t you use a more effective method, or a purer or more efficient vessel to carry the gospel? I think, why doesn’t God just fill the sky with a multitude of His angels and tell the story of Jesus. Or better yet, why doesn’t God Himself just thunder the good news across time and space so that every creature would hear and believe.
Why does He choose, as Paul calls it, “the foolishness of preaching?” I don’t know why. But God made that choice. He decided how He would do it. He decided how much of His power He would display. He limited Himself.
Now that illustration has a direct correlation to the limits we place on God’s work. As a preacher…, The chief means He chooses to spread His Word is the Church. But if the Church is unbelieving, prideful, or sinful, God will choose not to manifest His power in that assembly. If any of those conditions exist, He is not going to use an angel plan B. So, what we do limits what is done in the mission.
Three things about ourselves that place limits; our belief/unbelief, our humility/pride, our purity/sinfulness.
II. Our belief/Unbelief
The first day’s devotion in this book begins with this verse.
Matthew 13:58 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
What were the circumstances around the statement of this verse? Well, Jesus had started His healing and preaching ministry in Galilee, and in different regions of Israel. He had done miraculous things everywhere He went. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. But on this occasion, He has returned to His hometown; the place He grew up as a boy.
His intent was to teach, preach, and do miracles there, just as He had throughout Israel. But instead, it says that He did not do many mighty works there, “because of their unbelief.” It says that they couldn’t get over the fact that this was the child who had grown up in their community.
“Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, [h]Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him.
It’s amazing to think about. But they caused a condition that limited the miraculous in their town. So, here’s the question; Could Jesus have done many miracles there? Yes, He could have chosen to do miracles, despite their attitudes and unbelief. It’s not that He couldn’t choose to do miracles. He limited Himself by their belief. Why did He do that? Because of His nature and purpose. It is God’s nature to give us free choice. And someone can choose to reject Christ, and He will not force Himself on them.
And He limited Himself because of His purpose. Because his first purpose in coming to the world was to bring repentance and Spiritual salvation, the miracles He did were designed to illicit real faith. If the miracle was not going to bring real faith, He chose not to do it. He saw their hearts. There was no real change there. There was no belief there. They just wanted the goodies. Just like when He multiplied bread for the 4,000 and 5,000, they followed Him to get another meal. They came back for more, but they weren’t after Spiritual food, they just wanted another freebie.
Amazingly, God often limits His work according to our belief.
“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief…” (Matthew 17:19-20)
Our church can fail to fulfill all of God’s purposes for us because of our unbelief.
Sometimes when we start talking about revitalizing the church, the conversation disintegrates into all the reasons why it won’t work.
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Are we limiting God because we have given up on the possibility of revival?
Can God do a work in our church even though we don’t believe? Yes, He could. But He chooses not to. God often chooses to work according to our faith.
Our belief/unbelief, now our pride places limits on God’s work.
III. Our Pride
One of the devotionals opens with this verse.
Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Where did this verse come from?
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be [d]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This parable is about God choosing a man who humbled himself over a man who was full of pride. The Bible repeatedly states this truth about how God works.
James 4:6 “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Here’s the basic idea.
God chooses who to exalt. He doesn’t choose on the basis of our goodness, beauty, or riches. He chooses based on our humility. And He chooses to debase the proud.
Probably the best example of the exaltation of the humble was Jesus.
Philippians 2: 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it [b]robbery to be equal with God, 7 but [c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You Jesus humbled Himself to the extreme. He was in the highest of the high positions; the throne of God, and He humbled Himself to the lowest of the low positions; a sacrifice by death for all of humanity.
So, if Jesus, who committed no sin, He is perfect, chose to humble Himself, then shouldn’t we?
1 Peter 5:6 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
Probably one of the best examples of pride was the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelations.
Revelation 3: 14 “And to the [i]angel of the church [j]of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works,
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.[l] Therefore be [m]zealous and repent.
A message for them… Jesus didn’t point out any specific activity that they were involved that would bring judgment. He didn’t say they had fallen into idolatry, or false doctrine. As far as we know they believed all the right things. They believed in God as the Creator. They believed in the 10 commandments. They believed in the atoning death of Christ on the cross and the literal resurrection from the dead. They believed Jesus would come back. They believed in heaven and hell, judgment and reward.
So, if they had all of their beliefs straight, what was their problem? They were lukewarm and proud. They were content in their mediocrity. They thought that because they had nice clothes and houses, and they were polite and said please and thank you that God was happy with them. They were proud of themselves for being good people. And because of their pride, their church would be shut down.
Pride can limit the work of God in a church. When it’s all about us and “our church” and “our legacy.”
Sometimes we spend our time in revitalization talk discussing why we’re better than other kinds of churches. We say, “We don’t come to church to be entertained. We value the old hymns of the faith. We are workers. These other new churches are full of people who want to see a show and want no commitment. We’re declining because they are seducing the young people away from us.”
There’s pride in those statements. But really, we don’t know the details of all these other churches. We don’t know the hearts of those who started them. Yes, most certainly some churches grow based on entertainment, but not all of them do. But we need to humble ourselves. Not compare ourselves to other churches. We need to exalt the Lord.
John 3:30 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Remember who said that? It was John the Baptist. Some people came to him to inform him that more people were going to Jesus’ church meetings than to his. Even though he was the first Baptist congregation. But John was a humble man. He wasn’t preaching the message of repentance to gather a crowd to himself. He knew that it was all about exalting Jesus. So, John the Baptist response to them was, “He must increase, I must decrease.” And that the attitude of humility we need to discover God’s will for our church. No matter what path we go down, “Christ must increase, and we, Parkview must decrease.”
Could God bless a church despite their pride? Yes, but He chooses rather to exalt those who exalt Him, and humble themselves before Him.
Amazingly, God limits Himself based on our pride or humility. He limits Himself based on our belief.
IV. Our Purity
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew 5:8 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
How many of you would like to see God? How many would like to see God do a miraculous work of revitalizing this church? Well Jesus here says that God is seen, He manifest Himself, He reveals Himself and His power among the pure in heart.
The opposite is also true. God chooses not to do His work among the impure in heart.
So, if we want to see His work among us, then we need to seek to be pure in heart.
What does it mean to have a pure heart?
It means that not only are you actions and words pure, but your motives for those actions and words are also pure.
It means that you truly desire what God desires, even if you don’t entirely know or understand it. And when you see in yourself some impurity, you sincerely want to be different. Like the psalmist you pray,
Psalm139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
The story of Saul in the Old Testament, in the Old Testament is a good illustration of impure motives. Remember that God sent Saul and the army of Israel to punish the people of Amalek. Saul was instructed to destroy everybody and everything. But he didn’t. He didn’t destroy all the people and animals as instructed. Then the prophet Samuel is sent to confront Saul for his disobedience. And Saul offers an excuse.
1 Samuel 15: 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
We kept some animals back to sacrifice to God. That’s a good thing. Isn’t that a good thing.
Now first off, I don’t entirely believe Saul here. I think he got caught with flocks and herds that they had taken from Amalek, and he had to think of an excuse.
That reminds me of an old comedian’s routine. He talked about telling his preschool child not to eat the cookies before dinner. The next thing he knows, his preschooler has climbed on a chair, on the cabinet to get into the cookie jar. The dad said to the child, “What are you doing?” The child replied, “I was getting a cookie for you.”
Saul said, “I was saving the animals to sacrifice to you.”
To which Samuel responds
22 So
Samuel said: “Has the Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the
voice of the Lord? Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
You see Saul had decided what was good, and tried to substitute his “goodness” for obeying God’s direct commands. His heart was not with God’s heart. He didn’t desire to know and follow God’s commands. So, he ended up being replaced as the king of Israel. God sent the prophet Samuel to look for a new king among the sons of Jesse in the town of Bethlehem. Jesse brought 7 sons before Samuel to consider, but God said about all seven, “This is not the one.”
1 Samuel 16:7 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have [c]refused him. For[d] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Could God have continued to use Saul, even though he had an impure heart? Yes, and He did in some measure. But He chooses to manifest His greatest power among the pure in heart.
When the church desires revitalization they need to ask themselves if their heart is in tune with God’s heart. If your motives are not pure, if the desire for revitalization is anything less than the glory of God, then God’s work will be limited.
Does that mean we have to be perfect in order to be used by God? No, it means that we realize we are not perfect, that our motives come out of a sinful heart, so we ever seek for God to direct us, purify us, and that He do His perfect work through us.
Limits on God; our belief, our pride, our purity.
Let us Pray:
Lord we know that You can do anything that you choose to. As we enter this week of prayer for revitalization, help us to get ourselves right with you for whatever you will do among us. We pray with the psalmist that you
Psalm 51:10 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Help us Lord to get over our unbelief and pride. Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
We want you exalted and praised in this church. We want you to be glorified here, regardless of what happens to us. Use us as you see fit.
Lord, but even as the people cast lots, a random and imperfect means of finding your will, to make decisions in Scripture, we know that the way we make decisions is imperfect and flawed. So we ask that you will be in the middle of our quest for your will and that you bring us to unity in our decision-making. And we pray this for your glory and honor, and in Jesus’ name, Amen.