Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number five from the Gospel Hymn Spiral
hymn book. Hymn number five, Come, Ye Sinners. Let's all stand. Come ye sinners poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, joined with passion. He is able, He is able, He is
willing, doubt no more. He is able, He is able, He is
willing, doubt no more. Come, ye needy, come and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings us nigh. Without money, without money,
Come to Jesus Christ and buy Without money, without money
Come to Jesus Christ and buy Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he is to have a need of Him. This He gives you, this He gives
you, tis the Spirit's glimmering beam. This He gives you, this
He gives you, tis the Spirit's glimmering beam. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised
and broken by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
sinners Jesus came to call. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
sinners Jesus came to call. Please be seated. Oh, I love that hymn. That's
the gospel. Come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised
and broken by the fall. That's us. That's every one of
us. The glory of the gospel and the
work of grace in the heart is to recognize that you're bruised
and broken. That you're a sinner. If you tarry till you're better,
You'll never come at all. It's not for the righteous. The message this morning, this
first hour, is who then can be saved? And the Lord said, with
man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
It's impossible for a sinner, for a man who has not yet been
made a sinner to forsake his righteousness and put all the
hope of his salvation in Christ. That's a work of grace in the
heart. Man by nature is going to hold on to his works, his
wealth, for the hope of his salvation. I pray the Lord will strip us
naked this morning and cause us to find our only hope of salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Abigail Hickman's surgery went
well. We're very thankful for that.
She went home yesterday and is recovering. And I'm sure Caleb
and Bobby are catching up on rest. It's always a very stressful
thing to be in the hospital with your child. But they're also
very grateful for the success of the surgery.
And they'll get, they had to remove a tumor. And it looks
like the tumor was confined to one of her adrenal glands. And
so they'll have to do a biopsy and pathology report, which will
come back next week. Hopefully, it'll all be benign. But that's where we are. We've been praying for them.
And we want to pray now and thank the Lord for his mercy in that
regard. Let's bow together. We're going
to be in Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10. Let's pray. Our merciful
heavenly father, we're thankful that we can come
with boldness before thy throne of grace, confident that we have
an advocate, confident that we have thy righteous son standing
in our stead. presenting himself on our behalf.
Lord, what hope we have to find help in our time of need. For
left to ourselves, we are poor and needy. We are ruined by the
fall, left dead and sinful. But, oh, Lord, to know that we
have a Savior. to know that we have one who
is perfectly righteous, who bore all the shame and all the penalty
of all the sins of all of your people, satisfying your divine
justice. Lord, we ask that you would be
pleased now in this hour to send your spirit in power and reveal
to our hearts more of his glory. Lord, that we would find all
our hope and all our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. We
thank you for your hand of healing and for your mercy towards the
Hickmans and towards Abigail. And we pray, Lord, now for good
reports. And we ask, Lord, that you would
use this in their lives and in ours for your glory. We ask it
in Christ's name. Amen. Mark chapter 10. One of the benefits of preaching
and teaching God's Word verse by verse by verse through books
of the Bible is that it forces you to deal with every subject
that the Lord has given to us. Paul told the elders in Acts
chapter 20 He said, I have not shunned to give unto you the
whole counsel of God. I've preached unto you in season
and out of season. I've rebuked, I've reproved with
all long suffering and with all doctrine. And that's my hope. My hope is that I will be faithful
to give to you the whole counsel of God. And that's the reason why we
try to study God's word one verse at a time without picking and
choosing our topics. And the message this morning
is found in verse 26 of Mark chapter 10, where the disciples
were astonished out of measure They were completely blown away
by what the Lord said to them. And their astonishment led them
to ask this question, who then can be saved? Now what brought
about that question? You remember our Lord just, as
we saw last Sunday, encountered this rich young ruler. And he
believed himself to be righteous. He believed that he had kept
the law faithfully and that he would have acceptance with God
because of his law keeping. And then the Lord rebuked him
for the covetousness that was in his heart, for he was very
wealthy. And the Lord told him, he said,
sell all that you have. take up your cross and follow
me. And the scripture says he went
away sad for he had much wealth. He was trusting in his material
wealth for everything. And so now the Lord's going to
take that experience and use it to teach us. to teach his
disciples and to teach us the importance of not putting one's
trust in their possessions, whether they be material or spiritual. The spiritual possessions that
all men have is their righteousness. It's not men's sin that keeps
them from Christ, it's their righteousness. Men get under conviction even
if it's only their conscience that convicts them. Men have
troubles that they bring into their lives because of their
sin. And there's a lot of folks that
cry out to God for help because of the pain and suffering that
they've brought on themselves as a result of their sin. That's
not salvation. is when you come to see that
your righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God. The best thing
you've ever done is sinful before God. But men by nature trust
their righteousness for their salvation. And that's really
what this story's about. But in being faithful, to the
whole Council of God, I want to speak to you about trusting
in material wealth as well. Because no one has ever lived
in a more affluent, prosperous culture than you and I live in. And never has there been a culture
more discontent than ours. And the Lord speaks to that subject.
And as Paul told Timothy, he said, preach the word, Timothy,
in season and out of season, rebuke, reprove. And one of the
things I've learned over the years is anytime that a word
of rebuke is spoken from this pulpit or from any gospel pulpit,
it is those who have the most tender conscience that are convicted
by it. And oftentimes, the rebuke goes
unheard by those who most need to hear it. But that's just the
way it is. That's the way it is. Actually,
that's the evidence of God's grace. Lord, give me a tender
conscience. Don't let me be dull of hearing. Don't let me not make application
to your rebukes. The Lord says, look at verse
23, Jesus looked around about and said to his disciples, how
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.
Now the riches here are both physical and material, I mean
physical and spiritual. And the disciples were astonished
at his words, but Jesus answered again and saith unto them, children,
how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into
the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle. And I've looked these words up.
This is not symbolic language about a door where a camel has
to unpack itself and get on its knees in order to be able to
crawl in. This is a literal camel and a literal needle. And the
point of the illustration is that it's impossible. It's absolutely
impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. If you missed that, you missed
the whole point. Because that which is impossible
with man is possible with God. God can squeeze camels through
the eye of a needle. And that's exactly what he does
when he saves a sinner. That's exactly what he does. And it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out
of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus
looking unto them saith, With men it is impossible, but not
with God. For with God all things are possible. Now let's don't lose, let's don't
miss Peter's response to this, because Peter still hadn't heard.
He still hadn't heard. Peter began to say to him, Lord,
we've left all to follow thee. Surely you're not talking about
us. Now, Peter thought, you know, we've sacrificed everything in
order to follow you. And Jesus answered and said,
verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house
or brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for my sake and the gospels, but you have received
a hundredfold now in this time." Now, what's the Lord saying to
Peter? Peter, you haven't sacrificed anything for me. Peter, everything
you've given up, I've returned to you a hundredfold. And that's
every believer's experience. Every child of God knows that
whatever division the gospel has brought in their relationship
with their loved ones and their family members, the Lord has
made up for it a hundredfold in the relationships that they
have with their brothers and sisters in Christ. That's just the way it is. That's
the way it is. But you shall receive a hundredfold
now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mother
and children and lands with persecutions. Persecutions are going to come
and in the world to come eternal life. Peter, what have you given
up? I've given to you eternal life.
Peter, you were a hell deserving sinner. You were a God-hating
sinner, and I've given to you freely. What made you to differ,
Peter, from Judas Iscariot? What do you have that you have
not received? And if you received it, why do
you boast as if you earned it? But many that are first shall
be last, and the last first. How hard it is for a man who
trusts in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. You and I
are bombarded every day with the message of this world that
you can't be content unless you have this and have that. And
the more we get, the more we want. Isn't that the way it is? And the Lord's rebuking each
one of us for that. The remedy for greed is giving. That's right. And I don't say that because
God needs your money or the church needs your money. We're doing
just fine. The Lord provides for his people and for his church. But I say that with God as my
witness that you and I need to learn the joy of trusting God
for everything. Men say, well, I trust Him with
my soul. I trust Him for my eternal life, but they won't trust Him
with their finances. It's hard. It's hard for a man
who trusts in material wealth. It's impossible for a man who
trusts in his spiritual wealth. Remember that church at Laodicea
when they said we're we're rich and increased in goods and in
need of nothing and the Lord said, oh, you don't know how
blind and poor and miserable you are, naked you are. How discontent we can become. And with God as my witness, I want to speak from God's Word,
a word of rebuke to each one of us because we need it. We do. Turn with me in your Bibles
to 2 Timothy. 1 Timothy, I'm sorry, 1 Timothy
chapter 6, verse 17. Now, I want to first, 2 Timothy
chapter 4 is that passage where Paul says to Timothy, preach
the word in season and out of season, the whole counsel of
God. And I want to be faithful to
that. And here he says in verse 17, charge them that are rich
in this world. You know Solomon and all of his
glory did not enjoy the comforts, the pleasures of of the flesh
that the poorest one of us enjoys in this world. What I'm saying to you is every
one of us are rich. We're rich. And that God would enable us
to be content, to be thankful. Solomon couldn't walk into a
room and flip a light switch and have lights come on. He didn't
have indoor plumbing. He didn't have central air conditioning.
He didn't have a vehicle he could hop in and go anywhere he wanted.
You see, what I'm saying to you is that we have such affluence
and such prosperity and such comforts. Isn't it shameful? Isn't it shameful? Aren't you
ashamed? I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed about how much more I want. And
the more I get, the more I want. And that's what the Lord's saying.
Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. This is the rebuke. Don't be
high-minded. Nor trust in uncertain riches. Oh, the deceitfulness of riches.
In another place, the Lord calls them deceitfulness. Why are riches
deceitful? Because they promise something
that they cannot provide. That's why they're deceitful.
They promise happiness, and they cannot provide it. Don't trust in the uncertain
riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things
to enjoy, that they do good and that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in
store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that
they may lay hold on eternal life. Oh, Timothy, keep that
which is committed to thy trust." Now that's God speaking to me
and you. And I don't guess there's ever been a generation of people
that need to hear that more than we do. This rich young ruler walked
away sad for he had much wealth, trusting in his riches. You know, when all the bills
are paid and we've got money in the bank, it's easy to forget
how poor and wretched and miserable we really are, isn't it? Turn with me to Psalm 52. Psalm 52. My brethren, I say this with
all sincerity of heart, we all need to learn how to let go.
It's shameful that believers would be in financial bondage,
that they'd be living among their means. that they wouldn't be
giving as they ought to give. As I said, the church doesn't
need your money. But I know this, if we gave like
we ought to give, our offerings would be five times what they
are. They would be. That's just the truth. Why is
that? Because we've gotten caught up in the culture of this world. Psalm 52, verse 7, Lo, and let me say this, I have
no idea and never will know and don't have any interest in knowing
who gives what. I don't know. Don't want to know. Lo, this is the man that made
not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches
and strengthened himself in his, do you see that word wickedness?
It's the word substance. He strengthened himself in his
substance. Lord, let us find our strength,
our hope, our comfort, our security in Christ. We looked at one of the Psalms Wednesday night
and the Psalm starts out with fret not thyself, fret not thyself. And we're all full of fretting,
aren't we? But here's the thing about it, fretting is what we
do to ourselves. It's what we do to ourselves.
Faith is what God gives us to counter our fretting. If we can't trust God with our
finances, with our material wealth that all belongs to Him anyway,
then how can we say we trust Him for the salvation of our
souls? I know that there are people
who are going to hear these comments and they're going to think, well
yeah, just another church, another money-hungry church. Let them
say what they want. I know that that is not God's,
that's not what God's saying, it's not what I'm saying. And
it's not what you believe if you're a child of God. Go back with me to Mark chapter
10 please. That's all I'm going to say about
that subject. But it's a rebuke that we all need to hear because
we've gotten way too caught up in the measurements and the standards
and the values of this world. It is impossible. for a dead sinner to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. What did the Lord say? Those
who trust in their riches, whether they be the material riches,
but most especially their spiritual riches, their righteousness. Those who trust in their righteousness
for the hope of their acceptance before God. It's impossible for
them to enter into the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle. Lord, who then can be saved?
Who then can be saved? With man, it is impossible. For
one who's trusting in their righteousness, it's impossible for them to give
up on that trust. It's impossible for them to forsake
their good works unless God makes them to be a sinner. And what
is impossible with man is possible with God. When the Lord makes
you to be a sinner, you realize you don't have any good works.
You don't have any righteousness. It's impossible for a self-righteous
Pharisee to reject his hope of salvation. It's impossible for
a blind man to see. It's impossible for a lame man
to walk. It's impossible for a sinner
to satisfy the demands of God's law. It's impossible for a leper
to be made clean. or for a leopard to change its
spots, as the scripture says, or for an Ethiopian to change
the color of his skin. These things are impossible,
impossible. But here's the message, here's
the good news. And if we're able to trust God, it'll be because
God gave us faith. What is impossible with man,
is possible with God. In Matthew chapter 24 the Lord
is speaking about the false prophets in this world and he says to
his church if it were possible even my elect would be deceived. Oh, the deceptiveness of the
false gospel is so cleverly framed and so presented that if it were
possible, even God's elect would be deceived by it. But here's
the good news. It's not possible for God's elect
to be deceived. They may turn their heads But
they're not going to be deceived. They're going to see the truth. When our Lord was in the garden
of Gethsemane. And he was sweating drops of
blood. And pouring his soul out to his
father. He said this, he said, Father,
thou can do all things. And if it is possible. let this cup pass from me. Well, there's one thing that
God can't do. God can't stop being God. God can't change his nature. God can't go against his covenant
promises. It was not possible for that
cup to pass from the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to drink it dry
He had to swallow all the bitter dregs of God's horrible wrath
in order to put away our sin. It was not possible for that
cup to pass from Him. It was the cup of judgment. It
was the cup of sin. It was the covenant promise that
He made to the Father in the covenant of grace before Adam
was ever made, before sin ever entered into the picture. And
that covenant promise had to be fulfilled. And so it wasn't
possible. He had to drink it. And when
he cried from Calvary's cross, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Oh, he had drank that cup. And
God's eyes were too pure to look upon sin. And God was forced
to forsake his only begotten son. For the sins that he bore
in his body upon that tree were the sins of his people. It wasn't
possible for the cup to pass from him. In Hebrews chapter
six, turn with me there, Hebrews chapter six. Men have understood this in different
ways, but I'm going to tell you what it means because Hebrews
chapter 10 speaks of apostasy. Hebrews chapter 10 is a message
of judgment against those who have committed the unpardonable
sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. In other words,
they have given testimony of faith in Christ They have heard
the true gospel, but because no change ever took place in
the heart, they walked away from it. They forsook it, and they
denied it. That's not what Hebrews chapter
6 is talking about. Now, that's the sin unto death. And here's the hope. I've had
believers say, Well, is it possible that I've committed the unpardonable
sin? Is it possible that I blasphemed
against the Holy Spirit? No, it's not possible. That's
what this passage is saying. It's not possible. A believer
can't do that. They won't do it because they
can't do it. They can't do it. It is not possible
for a child of God to commit the unpardonable sin. It is not
possible for a child of God to to blaspheme against the Holy
Spirit. And that's exactly what this
passage is saying. Verse 4 of Hebrews chapter 6,
for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and
have tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers
of the world to come. It's impossible for them to fall
away. Where if they were to fall away, how could you renew them
again under repentance, saying they have crucified to themselves
the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame? It's not possible for the child
of God to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. There's one salvation. There's one redemption. And the child of God cannot The
child of God who has tasted of the heavenly gift cannot be lost
ever, ever. What else does God say is impossible?
Look at chapter 6 in Hebrews verse 18. Well, look at verse 17. wherein
God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs a promise,
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." Now,
the previous verses are talking about when God gave to Abraham
in Genesis chapter 15, that covenant promise of salvation for all
of Israel. And you remember what happened,
Abraham was put into a deep sleep And God told him to take these
animals and divide them in half and put half over here and half
over there and a smoking pot and a burning furnace passed
between the two. And Abraham was to keep the birds
that came down and pecked on the sacrifice. He was to chase
them away. And that's one of the responsibilities
that a gospel preacher has. It's a responsibility every child
of God has, to chase away the the birds that would peck away
at the sacrifice. What were those animals representing?
They were representing the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
was the smoking pot That was the prayers of the Lord Jesus
Christ going up to the father on behalf of his church. What
was the burning furnace? That was the wrath of God that
came down upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's referring
to here when he says he confirmed it by an oath. In other words,
he didn't just make a promise. He confirmed his promise with
an oath. He did it with Abraham symbolically. He did it in the Lord Jesus Christ
eternally. that by two immutable things,
the covenant promise and the confirmation of the oath, two
immutable things that cannot change. For 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 that is set before us. Oh, we have a strong consolation
because it's impossible for God to lie. Now, you and I lie all
the time. And we lie because we don't tell
all the truth, don't we? Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth in within
the veil." Now, what was within the veil? That's where the mercy
seat was. That's where Aaron was to go
in once a year on the Day of Atonement and put the blood on
the mercy seat. I don't know how. Yom Kippur
is coming up, I think, this week. which is the Day of Atonement.
I don't know how the Jewish people celebrate the Day of Atonement
because they don't have a blood sacrifice. They don't have a
blood sacrifice. But that veil was rent, wasn't
it? When the Lord's life was given up on Calvary's cross,
the veil which represented his body was rent. The blood had
been put on the mercy seat. God said, here I will meet with
you. We have a forerunner that's gone
before us. This is a beautiful picture.
Whether the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made a
high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself went into that holies of holies and He
put His own blood. Now the other thing that the
scripture says in Hebrews chapter 10, turn with me there, Hebrews
chapter 10, We're looking at those things which are impossible.
It's impossible for a person who trusts in their riches to
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Trust in Christ. And as I said, the remedy for
greed is giving. It just is. It's impossible for
those who trust in their righteousness to trust Christ, to give up on
that. It's impossible for God to lie. It's impossible for God's people
to fall away. And look at Hebrews chapter 10
at verse 4, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin. So all those Old Testament sacrifices
that were done for 1500 years between the time of Moses and
Christ, it was impossible for those sacrifices to take away
sins. They were They were a foreshadowing
of what would happen when the Lamb of God shed His precious
blood. It's impossible, it's not possible for the blood of
bulls and goats to take away sins. Wherefore, when He cometh
into the world, He saith, sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt offerings and sacrifice
for sin. Thou hast no pleasure. All the sacrifices that you and
I are able to make to try to put away our sin, to try to atone
for ourselves. And that's what man-made religion
is all about. It's all about self-atonement, isn't it? And
all the things that we try to atone for, God says, I have no
pleasure in those things. I have pleasure in my son. This
is my beloved son. In him, I'm well pleased. I'm
not pleased with you. I'm pleased with Christ. And
if you're found in him, I'm pleased with you for his sake. Look what
he says, for lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written
of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, sacrifice
and offerings, and burn offerings and offerings, for sin thou wouldest
not, neither had thou pleasure therein, which are offered by
the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified. Now that word means holy, holy. By God's will, we are holy through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. It's impossible for religious
ceremony and religious sacrifices and personal commitments to put
away sin. Christ came. in order to do that
which was not possible for man to do. Who then Lord can be saved? With man it is impossible, but
with God, with God all things are possible. Let me show you
one other passage in Acts chapter 2. Peter's preaching on the day
of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2 Verse 23, him, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, being delivered by the determinant counsel and
for knowledge of God, this was purposed of God, that's why it
wasn't possible for the cup to pass from him because it was
purposed of God and the covenant of grace was all part of God's
purpose. God's purpose cannot be changed.
It's like those decrees that Darius made according to the
Medes and the Persians. You remember that Daniel was
put into the lion's gen and Darius stayed up all night trying to
figure out a way to get him out. And he said, no, no, the decree's
been written. He has to go. Determined to counsel him for
knowledge of God. Does that relieve us of our responsibility? You have taken him by wicked
hands, have crucified. No, God determined it. We're
responsible. Whom God hath raised up having
loose the pains of death because it was not possible that he should
be holden by it. It was not possible for the Holy
One of Israel to be held by death. He conquered death. He defeated
the grave. He destroyed Satan. He came forth. It wasn't possible. It wasn't
possible for him to remain in the grave. Lord, who can be saved? With
man, it is impossible. We're gonna find our contentment
in the comforts of this world if God doesn't do a work of grace
in our hearts. We're gonna find our contentment
in our own righteousness if God doesn't do a work of grace in
our hearts. We're gonna find our contentment in our sacrifices
if God doesn't do a work of grace in our hearts. We're not going to believe the
whole counsel of God if God doesn't do a work of grace in our hearts.
It's impossible with man. But with God, all things are
possible. All right, let's take a break. th th