GOD AFAR OFF AND NEAR

JEREMIAH 23:2

A. "AM I A GOD AT HAND, SAITH THE LORD, AND NOT A GOD AFAR OFF? CAN ANY HIDE HIMSELF IN SECRET PLACES THAT I SHALL NOT SEE HIM? SAITH THE LORD. DO NOT I FILL HEAVEN AND EARTH?"
  1. With these words, Jeremiah sought to impress God's people:
    1. That it is sheer folly for one to think that God is limited by space or distance
    2. That it is equally foolish to attempt to hide things from God
  2. All in the universe is to Him an open book:
    1. "For thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men" - Jer. 32:19
    2. "For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes" - Jer. 16:17 B. GOD AFAR OFF AND NEAR
  3. Consider first:
    1. The assurance that knowledge gives to the child of God in time of need
    2. When David was in danger of losing his life, he cried, "Why art thou so far from helping and the words of my roaring" - Ps. 22:1
    3. In another place, the Psalmist affirms the nearness of God with these words, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" - Ps. 46:1
  4. Our difficulty in it all is:
    1. To know what is the will of God and what it is not
    2. Man is so prone to attempt to identify God's will with His - Ps. 50:21
    3. Our inability to know the will of God at all times causes us to misunderstand God and we become discouraged - Is. 40:27
  5. There is another ever present danger which besets us:
    1. We are trivializing God; we strain at a gnat and swallow a camel - Matt. 7:3- 5
    2. Our greatest need is to have a different vision of God; we often limit Him to a certain environment or a certain location - I Kings 20:23 C. THE SPECIAL LESSON OF OUR TEXT CENTERS IN THE GLORIOUS TRUTH
  6. That God is ever near to them that trust under the shadow of His wings:
    1. He loves to be near to His children - this wonderful truth is emphasized in the Bible over and over; Examples: Said God to Moses, "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them" - Ex. 25:8; "And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God" - Ex. 29:45-46. The prophet Isaiah says, "I dwell in the high and holy place with Him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit" - Is. 57:15
    2. He proved His love in the person of His only Son by adopting human nature and carrying it into the highest heaven - John 1:14
  7. But it is equally true that the God who is so close to men is also far off:
    1. Space does not limit the infinite one - "I fill heaven and earth" - Jer. 23:24; Is. 66:1
    2. There can be no hiding place to His eyes - Ps. 139:1-16
  8. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?":
    1. The universality of God can be seen in the fact that all creation is upheld by His power - Heb. 1:1-3; Is. 40:26-31
    2. But what is so glorious is that distance has no problem for Him - Christ, the Son of man has become the connecting link between heaven and earth - John 3:14; 12:32; to illustrate: Prayer connects us with the God, who is afar off, instantly - "Before they call I will answer them" - Is. 65:24; when Daniel began to pray, Gabriel was commissioned to speak to Daniel - Dan. 9:21-23
  9. How it awes us to worship God:
    1. Before whom all is an open book
    2. Who fills the universe
    3. And who loves to take his dwelling in them that are of a contrite spirit


Design © John Bryant 2011