God’s Limitations
To most of you this title may seem a little improper. How could an Almighty God have limitations?
Do we not teach that God can do anything?
After all, God is omnipresent (everywhere at once), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omniscient (all-knowing).
So if God is all of that, and He is, how can there be things in which God is limited?
How can there be things that God cannot do?
We used to sing quite often that old chorus, “My God can do anything, anything, anything, My God can do anything. He made the earth and all its fullness and all that time shall bring. My God can do anything.”
So how can we say that God has limitations?
Now, when we say God has limitations we do not mean that God has weaknesses, imperfections, or shortcomings.
But it means that God has boundaries, or borders that He has established for Himself.
No one has limited God! The angels did not limit God! The devil did not restrain God or place perimeters that God cannot cross.
But because of God’s great love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and faithfulness, He has set His own boundaries that He will not cross!
Those boundaries were established from the beginning of time and they will never change.
1. First of all, God cannot fail.
He will never let you down.
He will never disappoint you.
He will never break down.
He will never go under.
He will never go bankrupt.
He will never go out of business.
He will never fall short.
He will never miss the mark.
He will never go on the blink.
He will never diminish, dwindle, or decline.
De 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
De 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Joshua 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Listen, God cannot fail you, and He will not fail you!
1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
1Th 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
2Th 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Listen, God is trustworthy, dependable, reliable, dedicated, committed, true, and constant!
2. Secondly, God cannot lie!
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Jesus told doubting Thomas, “I am the way, the Truth, and the Life…”
God cannot lie because He is truth! Not only does He tell the truth, but He is Truth!
Ps 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Ps 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
God cannot lie! He always keeps His promises! God’s Word is truth!
If God cannot lie, then;
Heaven is real
Hell is real
We are going to live forever
We need a Savior
Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God
Without Jesus, there is no way to heaven
Jesus is the only way to God
If God cannot lie, then;
We can believe and trust in His Word
We can receive healing for our bodies
We can receive deliverance
We can have hope and assurance
He will meet our needs according to His riches in glory
He will bless us
God cannot lie! He will keep His promises!
That means you can count upon God.
You can totally rely on God.
You can depend upon God.
You can bank upon God.
You can fully and comprehensively trust in God!
3. Thirdly, God cannot leave you nor forsake you!
What a consolation!
Heb 13:5 I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
De 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Joshua 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Ps 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Now, why is it that God cannot leave or forsake us?
Because He cannot lie!
He promised that He would never forsake us!
He will not turn His back upon us.
He will not disown us.
He will not abandon us.
He will not give up on us.
He will not renounce us.
He will not withdraw his companionship with us.
My friend, God is faithful and will never leave or forsake us.
I remember the story about an elderly woman who always liked to include in her testimony where the Lord promises “I will never leave thee.”
Her pastor pointed out to her one day that the original text could be literally translated, “I’ll never, no never, leave thee.”
When she showed no surprise the pastor asked, “Doesn’t it make you feel better to know that God makes it doubly sure that He won’t forsake you?”
She said, “Oh, no! I know God says it twice, but that was so some of you preachers could understand it! Once is enough for me!”
Listen, no matter what you are going through, God will not forsake you!
No matter how rough your road may be, God will not leave you.
No matter how dark your trials may become, God will not forsake you!
No matter how many friends may turn their back upon you and say, “I’m not your friend anymore” God will never turn His back upon you.
People will disappoint you.
People will give up on you.
People will disown you and leave you standing all alone.
But God will never forsake you, and He will never leave you!
He will keep you! He will sustain you! He will preserve you!
He will take care of, care for, tend, look after, and watch over you every moment of your life!
Sometimes the teens will use the phrase, “I’m going to hang out with you!”
God will always hang out with you my friend, so you don’t have to worry, you don’t have to fear, and you don’t have to feel all alone. God will never leave nor forsake you!
4. Fourthly, God cannot slumber or sleep!
Psalm 121:4 “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Man sleeps; a guard may slumber on his post by inattention, by long continued wakefulness, or by weariness;
a pilot may slumber at the helm of his ship;
even a mother may fall asleep by the side of the sick child;
but God is never exhausted, is never weary, is never inattentive.
He never closes his eyes on the condition of his people, on the wants of the world.
A number of years ago a Captain commanded a vessel sailing from Liverpool to New York, and on one voyage he had all his family with him on board the ship.
One night, when all were quietly asleep, there arose a sudden squall of wind, which came sweeping over the waters until it struck the vessel, and instantly threw her on her side, tumbling and crashing everything that was moveable, and awakening the passengers to a consciousness that they were in imminent peril.
Everyone on board was alarmed and uneasy, and some sprang from their berths and began to dress, that they might be ready for the worst.
The Captain had a little girl on board, just eight years old, who, of course, awoke with the rest.
"What’s the matter?" said the frightened child.
They told her a squall had struck the ship.
"Is my father on the deck?" said she.
"Yes; your father’s on the deck."
The little thing dropped herself on her pillow again without a fear, and in a few moments was sleeping sweetly in spite of winds or waves.
Fear not the windy tempests wild, Thy bark they shall not wreck; Lie down and sleep, O helpless child!. Thy Father’s on the deck.
Praise God! Our Father is always on the deck!
No matter how rough the waves and winds of life become, I can rest peacefully knowing that my God never sleeps or slumbers.
He never sleeps so that I can!
He is always on alert, seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day!
5. God cannot save one soul that does not accept His Son Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
1 Timothy 2:5,6
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
There is a lie that Satan uses all the time; “there are many roads to heaven.”
No my friend, there is only one road to heaven!
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 10:1 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
