GOD IS TOO MUCH! 6-29-08 am - Pastor Thomas
Psalm 113:1 “Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name [is] to be praised. 4 The LORD [is] high above all nations, [and] his glory above the heavens. 5 Who [is] like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 6 Who humbleth [himself] to behold [the things that are] in heaven, and in the earth! 7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, [and] lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8 That he may set [him] with princes, [even] with the princes of his people. 9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [and to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.”
Intro: Words are often empty attempts to convey thought from one person to another. They are easily misunderstood. But we cannot hope to understand principles and truths without them. Words seem inadequate when speaking about the greatness of the Lord. Why? It is because God is too much. Our finite or limited minds cannot entirely comprehend our infinite God. The gospel song "The Love of God" has as its last verse these words: “Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made: Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, tho' stretched from sky to sky.”
These words even though they are so beautifully put, don't adequately express the magnificence of the Lord. (By the way I read that the words from the hymn were found on the walls of a mental institution.) To properly sum up all the things about the Lord, this statement applies: GOD IS TOO MUCH.
When talking or writing about the Lord, we really do Him and injustice if we think one sermon is enough, or one book, or one lifetime of explanation. Joh 21:25 “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
God is way to much to explain. In theological studies we have the doctrine of God which attempts to explain Him, and it does paint an interesting portrait of Him, but it is in no way comprehensive or adequate. How can we who are finite sinful creatures in any way shape or form identify with Him who is infinite? Atheists cannot comprehend Him because they are too short sighted and blind to see what is infinite. Agnostics cannot appreciate Him because they are uneducated in the spiritual. Unbelievers are not able to conceptualize God because he doesn’t fit into their narrow scheme for life. Besides that, it take a revelation from God personally for anyone to come to the knowledge of the truth.
This Psalm is one of pure praise, and contains but little which requires exposition. Its subject is the greatness and superior goodness of the God of Israel, as exhibited in lifting up the needy from their low estate. With this Psalm begins the Hallelujah of the Jews, which was sung at their solemn feasts.
When this Psalm was read to the people, they responded after each pause by saying “Hallelujah.” Let’s try that right now.
So today in my very limited way and words, I want to try to tell you why God is too much. This message should be one of cheer to the heart when we come to the reality that God is too much.
I. GOD IS TOO MUCH BECAUSE HE IS INEXHAUSTIBLE.
Psa 90:2“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
1. His power is inexhaustible to control everything. Eph 3:7 “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”
Nothing catches the Lord off guard. This includes what men have termed, the “acts of God”. Nothing comes into our lives that He does not either send or permit for wise reasons. If it gets past God then comes to us, it must have come that far for a good reason. We’ll will just have to trust God for that.
2. His power is inexhaustible to complete. The Lord never leaves anything undone. Talk about unfinished projects. People promise the Lord that they will finish some project they’ve started. Either they get bored with the project or must go to something that is more important or that project is left undone. The Lord is never that way. What he starts, He finishes.
Phil 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”
Each of our lives is unfinished, but the Lord is still working on us to make us what He wants us to be. We resist many times but the Lord knows the end result will be what pleases Him.
3. His power is inexhaustible to cleanse. There is no heart that is stained so deeply with sin that God cannot cleanse it completely. I John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Has anyone told you that God wouldn’t forgive them of the kind of sins they’ve committed? This is the furthest from the truth. The truth is, they don’t want to be changed because they love their sin so much. Jesus can cleanse from all sin. His death, burial and resurrection guarantee this.
4. His power is inexhaustible to convict. No matter how tough a person may seem, God through His Word can convict that person of sin. Heb 4:12-13 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” What I do is this, I just preach the word, just turn it loose, and the Lord does what He wants with it. And it will NOT return unto Him void.
5. His protection is inexhaustible. Psalm 91:1-10 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”
(1.) He protects us during sin with a way to escape before it becomes inescapable. There is a window of opportunity for us to escape from sin before it tries to enslave us and ruin our testimony.
(2.) He protects us from Satan. All the devil can do is worry us. Nothing happens to the child of God without God’s knowledge and permission.
6. His Promises are inexhaustible. Psalm 77:8 “Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?” the implied response, is an undeniable, unequivocal, NO!
(1.) His promises are true. The Bible is full of both promises that have been fulfilled and some that are waiting to be fulfilled. No man has ever found a promise of God untrue. It is sinful unbelief in us which seems to assume a promise of God is untrue.
(2.) His promises are trustworthy. They are trustworthy because they are as eternal as God is.
(3.) His promises are treasures. They can be stored up or used when needed the most.
(4.) His promises are tried and proven. Someone have said that there are approximately 3000 promises in the Bible. That means that we need to dig for them and find out ourselves that they can be tried and proven to be true, trustworthy and treasures.
7. His propitiation is inexhaustible. Rom 3:25 “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance (longsuffering) of God” I John 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” There is blood to save EVERY PERSON who will come claiming it. Jesus died for ALL who will trust Him for salvation.
(1.) The definition of propitiation has to do basically with the reconciliation of man to God. We could never be reconciled to God without the sacrificial substitutional death of Jesus Christ.
(2.) The depth of propitiation. Heb 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Who can be reconciled to the Lord? Everyone who seeks for the propitiation can be reconciled to the Lord.
(3.) The delight of propitiation. It makes for us an eternal home. John 14:2,3 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
(4.) The debt of propitiation Rom 1:14,15 “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.”
I can never buy my salvation or even pay it back. But I can do the work of God in order to show my gratitude to the Lord for saving me.
II. GOD IS TOO MUCH BECAUSE HE IS INCOMPARABLE.
II Sam 7:22 “Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”
1. No one can compare with His love. Eph 2:4 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us”
His love is marvelous, majestic and mysterious. All this is true but my favorite is this: His love is mine.
2. No one can compare with His labors. We see it in creation. Just look at your hand for a moment. The way your fingers move, the skin that protects your hand and the cells that make up your hands shows that nothing can compare to His labor.
3. No one can compare with His likeness. No one or nothing is holy like He is. No one or nothing is honorable like He is. No one or nothing is holding me like He is.
III. GOD IS TOO MUCH BECAUSE HE IS INDESTRUCTIBLE.
Remember now that Jesus was God in the flesh. John 20:19a “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.”
There were five lies Satan would have liked the discouraged disciples in that room to have believed.
1. Satan would have had them to believe he had ENCIRCLED Christ's person leaving Him without defense and destroyed forever.
2. Satan would have had them believe that he had ERASED Christ's performance of 3 years ministry now nullified and ineffective. All this seemed to have been in vain on this day. The Devil was no doubt working on their minds telling them this lie also.
3. Satan would have had them to believe he had ERADICATED Christ's peace which he said he would leave with them. The only kind Jesus gives. Phil 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”.
4. He would have had them to believe that he had EMBARRASSED Christ's people. They had given Christ their lives. They had given Christ their love. They had given Christ their labors. But now He was dead.
5. He would have had them to believe he had EXHAUSTED Christ's power. But in a few moments all of those considerations were nullified when Christ came and spoke THESE FOUR WORDS: “PEACE BE UNTO YOU.” You talk about, “shock and awe!” That was it!!! Jesus was there in person, in body, in living color and truth. Thomas, it is I, be not afraid.
One sat alone beside the highway begging,His eyes were blind, the light he could not see. He clutched his rags and shivered in the shadows Then Jesus came and bade his darkness flee.
Chorus. When Jesus comes, the tempter's power is broken; When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away, He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory, For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
In four words, Jesus showed His disciples that he was indestructible. His personage was intact, His performance was still done, His peace was beyond what a person could ask or think, and His power was beyond that all could understand or know. Why? It is because God is too much.
IV. GOD IS TOO MUCH BECAUSE HE IS INDESCRIBABLE.
Psa 40:5 “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”
1. Graciousness may describe a lady but it does not adequately describe the Lord's workings.
2. Greatest can describe a sport champion but it does not adequately describe the Lord's wooing.
3. Good can describe a cake but it does not adequately describe the Lord's wisdom.
4. Glorious can describe a song but it does not describe the Lord's Word.
5. Gentle can describe a mother's touch but does not adequately describe the Lord's ways.
But as I said in the beginning, words are all that we have to communicate our Lord to others. But He is really beyond description. Why? It is because God is too much.

Conclusion: God is too much. But He is still reachable.
Isaiah 55:6 “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” The message of Jesus is, “repent and believe the gospel.”
He is only a prayer away. If you are not saved, the only plea that the Lord wants to hear from you is God, be merciful to me a sinner. It is not the repentance that saves us, it is Jesus. It isn’t the plea that saves us, it is Jesus. It is not the prayer that saves us, it is Jesus. It isn’t the asking of the Lord that saves us, it is the believing that He will. It is not a persons faith that saves him, it is Jesus. It isn’t our trusting that saves us, it is Jesus. It isn’t our calling upon Him that saves us, it is Jesus. It isn’t the seeking Him that saves us, it is still Jesus who saves. It isn’t our coming to Christ that saves us, it is Jesus. The repentance, the plea, the prayer, the asking, the faith, the trusting, the coming, the calling, and the seeking are simply the channels by which we express our desire to receive the Savior and to have salvation with forgiveness of our sins, everlasting life, and an eternal home in heaven.
Any one of these good things or all of them put together DO NOT SAVE US, But we WILL NOT BE SAVED without them! They are the means appointed by the Lord by which we are to come to JESUS and when we get there, it is ONLY JESUS THE SON OF GOD WHO SAVES US. And He saves all who repent, trust, plea, pray, ask, come, call, seek, have faith. So I must say to you, DO NOT put your trust in any of those things you do in coming the Jesus to save you. Once we arrive to that place in our experiences that we desire to be saved, IT IS JESUS WHO SAVES US. He isn't too busy to save even today.
Now, Isn’t that just too much, amen!
If we are saved, then we need to worship this inexhaustible, incomparable, indestructible, and indescribable God. I know He is too much to completely understand him, but the journey is sweet and joyous. We need to take the time to worship His majesty, marvels, might and mercy.