So let's stand together. Jesus is the one thing needful,
I without Him perish must. Gracious Spirit, make me heedful,
Help me in His name to trust. And with pleasure, and with pleasure
In Him as my portion boast. In the counsels of Jehovah, He
was needed much indeed. There to stand a mighty lover,
In the church's room and stead, As her surety, as her surety,
everlasting head. He is needful in all stations,
while in this world I reside. All my springs and consolations
in Him as my head abide. And in glory, and in glory, I
shall sing to him that died. Please be seated. John Davis
is going to come and bring some special music. Hello everyone. It's nice to be down this way. Me and Michael were talking about
a little bit, just a little bit ago about, you know, get puffed
up a little bit, we'll be sure the Lord's going to bring you
down. And I was a little anxious about getting up here, about
trying to play pretty and sing. Well, just sing. And so who is sufficient? I'm a nothing. Lord's gonna cause me to triumph
through Christ and So I pray he does that Stop You know moose parks has
his song that he sings wherever he goes and this is I guess is
my song that I sing wherever I go and it's that justified song, people call it. Complete in thee. And isn't it
good news that a sinner is complete in the Lord Jesus Christ? Christ
has done all the work that there is to do, and he even causes
us to believe. I mean, that's just amazing.
He gets all the glory for everything. All right, I'll hush. Completing
the No work of mine may take, dear
Lord, the place of Thine. Thy blood hath parted, bought
for me, and glorified I too shall be. Yea, justified, O blessed
thought, And sanctified, salvation wrought, Thy blood hath pardon
bought for me, And glorified I too shall be, Complete in thee,
no more shall sin, Thy graces conquer, drained within, Thy
voice shall bid the tempter flee, And I am now complete in thee. Yea, justified, O blessed thought,
And sanctified, salvation wrought, Thy blood hath pardoned, bought
for me, And glorified I too shall be. you Complete in thee, each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied, Since thou my portion, Lord,
wilt be. I ask no more complete in thee,
Yet justified, O blessed thought, And sanctified, Salvation wrought,
Thy blood hath parted and bought for me, And glorified I too shall
be. Dear Savior, when before Thy
bar All tribes and tongues Among the Sambodar, among thy chosen
will I be. Thank you, music lovers. Would you turn to Luke chapter
18 Verse 26 and they that heard Said Who then can be saved? And he said, the things which
are impossible with men are possible with God. I've entitled this
message when inability. meets omnipotence. Inability. With men, it's impossible. Utterly and completely impossible. Omnipotence. With God, all things
are possible. when inability meets omnipotence. Verse 18 of the text, And a certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life. Now we know from Mark's account
that this certain man came running and came kneeling very sincere,
very respectful, and in dead earnest, very earnest. He wanted to know what he could
do. That's what he was interested
in. He wanted to know what he could do. Now he demonstrates
an ignorance that all lost men demonstrate. I want you to listen real carefully.
This man demonstrated an ignorance of the person of Christ. He said, good master. And the Lord rebuked
him as we go on reading in this passage of scripture. He said,
why do you call me good? Why do you call me good? There's
none good, but one that is God. Now, why are you calling me good?
The Lord knew this man was coming to him as a good man. You're
a good man. What can I do to reach your level
of goodness? And that is why the Lord rebuked
him. He demonstrated a complete ignorance
as to who Christ really was. Nothing more than a good man. He demonstrated an ignorance
of himself. He really thought there was something
that he could do. There was something that if he
just got the right information, he could do it. He demonstrated an ignorance
of what he needed. Good master is good teacher.
What I need is to be taught. If I'm given the right information,
I can do whatever it is I need to do. And he demonstrated a complete
ignorance of the thing that everybody by
nature is ignorant of. He demonstrated a complete ignorance
Of, well, put it this way. He mixed law and grace. That's
what he was doing. What good thing shall I do to
inherit eternal life? Now, is there any good thing
you do to inherit anything? No. The only reason you inherit
something is because somebody willed you to have it. That's
the only reason. How many no good people have
had vast inheritance simply because of the, somebody said they could
have it. You don't do something to inherit
anything. And this is what this, what good
thing can I do to inherit eternal life? He was mixing grace and
works. And then the Lord says to him
in response to this question, and Jesus said unto him, why
call us me good? None is good, save one. That is God. Now the Lord knew
he was coming to him as a man, and that's why he says this.
And I love what he says next, and here's what's very interesting.
The Lord is going to meet you and I on the ground we come to
him. He always does. Read with me
in verse 20. The Lord answers his question.
Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false
witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. Now this man comes on the ground
of doing And he meets him on that ground. If you come to God
on the ground of doing that is where he will meet you. And he speaks of the 10 commandments.
He only mentions five of them. He doesn't even speak of the
commandments of the first table of the law that shall have no
other God before me. And then the commandment forbidding
idolatry. which shows how glorious God
is to make an image of him or likeness to him is only to bring
him down. He can't be compared to any but
one. He's so glorious and altogether lovely. The command regarding
taking his name in vain, to even take his name without the proper
reverence is great sin before God. The commandment regarding
the Sabbath day. And then he mentions the other
commandments, the commandments concerning Our responsibilities
toward men, verse 20, you know the commandments do not commit
adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness,
honor thy father and thy mother. Now, did you notice that he left
one of the commandments out? Which commandment did he leave
out? Thou shall not covet. He didn't even mention that commandment. Now let's go on reading. Look
what this young man said. And he said, all of these have
I kept from my youth up. Can you say that? Now this man, I suppose is about
the best humanity has to offer. All these have I kept from my
youth up. Now I remember when I was a boy
trying to look over the 10 commandments. And I remember one time I thought,
well, I've kept seven of them. Now, what do I demonstrate by
that? Complete ignorance. Now that is where this man was. He was completely ignorant. He demonstrated a complete ignorance
of the law of God. All these have I kept from my
youth up." What a low view he had of the law of God. If he
thought he could keep even one commandment. Paul said, we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. He demonstrated a complete ignorance
of the character of God, thinking God could accept something that
he did. What an ignorance he displayed
of himself. He didn't know that he was completely
sinful and completely unable to keep any commandment. And yet he makes this bold assertation. All these have I kept from my
youth up. Now it's interesting. The Lord
does not say, no, you didn't. He's still meeting this man on
the ground. He came turned back to Luke 10
for a moment. This is the way the Lord does Luke chapter 10. Verse 25 and behold, a certain
lawyer stood up and tempted him. So we see his motive was bad
saying same question that the rich young ruler had. Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, what's
written in the law, how readest thou? And he answered, said,
he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And I can almost
see him swelling with pride as he gave this answer. Verse 28, and he said unto him,
thou hast answered right, This do. This do. And thou shalt live. You've given the right answer.
Now do it. And you'll live. Now the Lord
is meeting this man on the ground he came. Verse 22. Now when Jesus
heard these things, he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing. sell all that you have and distribute
unto the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come
and follow me and when he heard this he was very sorrowful for
he was very rich now The Lord was dealing with this man where
he was, and this was a man that was eaten up with and in captivity
to covetousness. Covetousness. If I say to you, don't covet, what do you do? What's the first thing you do?
You begin to covet, don't you? First thing you do. Now the Lord gives this man something
to do that he could not do. He was eaten up with and dominated
by covetousness. He was a rich man. He was a wealthy
man. And the Lord said, sell everything you have. What if
the Lord told you to do that right now? Sell everything you
have right down to the shirt on your back. Sell it all, give
it to the poor, then you'll have treasure in heaven. Come follow
me. You know, I've heard preachers take this passage and use it,
you gotta be willing to give up everything. You got to be
willing to give up everything. Well, I'm not going to deny that.
But what did this fellow do? He saw this as something that
I cannot do. He couldn't come up with the
goods and he went away very sorrowful. You know, that's the same word
that's used with regard to our Lord in the garden. When he said,
my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, he was torn
up, but he just could not do this. I guess he was a millionaire.
Verse 24. And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful. He said, how hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. For it is easier
for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of God. If you're rich, you know what
that means? You're not poor. That's what it means. You're
not poor. Only the poor will be saved. Blessed, our Lord said, are the
poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Only. The poor will be saved. Now there've
been many materially rich men that have been saved. Abraham,
Job, David, Solomon. I mean, these men were wealthy,
wealthy, and they were saved, but they were poor. They were
poor. When you're poor, you don't have
anything. You don't have anything to bring
to the table. You don't have anything to recommend you to
God. I mean, nothing, nothing. You're absolutely without merit,
without resources, without anything to recommend yourself to God.
You don't have anything that you can give him that would cause
him to look your way. You're poor, poor, without resources. Again, in Mark's account, it
says how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter
into the kingdom of God. You see, the riches aren't the
problem, the trust is the problem. And someone who has nothing to
trust in, in and of themselves, they're poor. They have nothing
to bring to the table. Look at the scenario. The Lord
gives in verse 25 for it is easier. It is easier for a camel to go
through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Now, it's interesting, I've heard
red men say, well, what this is talking about is these entrances
in the wall of Jerusalem where the camel, it was a real low
entrance and the camel would have to take all of its stuff
off and then get down on his knees and kind of squeeze through
the hole. Oh, how difficult that is. That's not in the Bible.
Why would anybody say it's not in the Bible? The biggest animal any of these
people had seen was a camel. They didn't have elephants there.
Biggest animal they had ever seen was a camel. And the smallest
entrance they'd ever seen is a needle's eye. Under what possibility
could a camel enter through a needle's eye? It is impossible. Utterly, it's not going to happen.
It's not going to happen. And it is easier, easier for
a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man, somebody
who has something to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, when the disciples heard
this, And let me remind you who they're talking about. They're
talking about a man who said in honesty, he didn't know it
was a lie. He really believed it. He said
regarding the commandments of God, all these have I kept from
my youth up. I've never lied. I've always
obeyed my parents. I've never committed sexual sin.
I've never coveted. I've never stole anything. I've
never killed anybody. He thought with his ignorance
of the law, he actually thought he kept it from his youth up.
I doubt that anybody in this room would say something like
that. Like I said, this is the best humanity has to offer. In this rich young ruler, he
comes to Christ in dead earnest, kneeling, seemingly respectful,
seemingly desirous to do whatever it takes to enter the kingdom
of heaven. Oh, what promise this man shows. And yet, look at the
way the Lord turns him back. And when the disciples saw this,
they asked this question in verse 26. And when they that heard
it said, who then can be saved? If this man can't be saved, who
can be saved? Good question. And our Lord answered in verse
27, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. And two questions of vital importance
are dealt with in this narrative. Number one, what can I do? Well, the answer is nothing. You saying I can't hear, I can't
read. I can't come into the house of
God. Sure. You can do all those things and sure you should. There
are a lot of things a lost man can do. You can be here to hear
the gospel. What can I do to be saved? Nothing. It's absolutely impossible. Well, who then can be saved? If I can't do anything to save
myself, you're putting me in a position where, I mean, nothing
I can do. How can I be saved? If it's impossible
for me, can I be saved? How can I be saved? Now, what
the Lord is dealing with, the fact that with men salvation
is impossible, is what is known as the doctrine of total depravity
and total inability. Now, you've heard those words
before, total depravity and total inability. I'm going to quote
some scriptures to you. You can look these up if you
want, but, um, I quoted this one last night, Genesis six,
five, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart. was only evil continually. Every, only, and continually. In Romans chapter three, verses
10 through 12, it says, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understands.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. No, not one. Romans chapter eight, verse seven,
the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God. Neither indeed can be lacks the
ability to be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot. Please, God. The natural man,
Paul said, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they're foolishness unto him, neither indeed can he know
them, for they're spiritually discerned. Our Lord said in John
chapter six, verse 44, no man can come to me. He didn't say no man may come
to me, you may. He said, no man can come to me. No man has the ability to come
to me, except the father, which has sent me draw him. Now here's my question. I'm not asking you if you believe
that the Bible teaches the doctrine of total depravity and total
inability, because obviously it does. I'm not asking you if you believe
that the Bible teaches the doctrine of total depravity and totally
inability. This is the question I'm asking
you. Are you totally depraved? Are you without ability? What does total depravity mean?
Well, it doesn't mean that everybody's out murdering and raping and
all those things. It doesn't mean that. You would,
and I would, apart from the grace of God, but it doesn't mean that
everybody is out committing these horrible crimes. What does it
mean? Well, we're made of a mind. We have a will. We have affections. My mind is completely corrupt. What I think is wrong. My will
is chained to sin. What I ought to hate. I love
what I ought to love. I hate. And that's what total
depravity means. It means every faculty, my mind,
my understanding, my affections, they're under the dominion of
sin. That's what the Bible teaches.
But I find that it's true regarding me. Total inability, let's put
it this way. If you're totally depraved, that
means all you do is sin. If you're completely unable,
That means you're completely unable to not sin. Try it. Close your eyes and keep
your mind pure for five seconds. No, don't, don't, don't. If I'm totally depraved and totally
unable, that means I don't have the right to stand in judgment
on anybody for anything. Romans 2.1 says, Thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for you that judge do
the same thing. Do you believe that about yourself? Somebody who's totally depraved
and totally unable, they've got no claims on God.
They know that if God left me to myself and sent me to hell
without ever giving me mercy, holy, just, and Reverend is his
name. Let me say this about my total
depravity and total inability. All my sin is all my fault. Remember what Adam did when God
confronted him? The woman that you gave me, she
gave me of the fruit and I did eat. In other words, this is
all your fault. If you wouldn't have given me
this woman, none of this would have taken place. Now, don't
say with regard to your sin, God could have kept me from this.
Ultimately, this is God's fault. No, your sin is all your fault. Regarding my total depravity
and my total inability, if my salvation is dependent in any
way, to any degree on me doing anything or stopping doing something,
I will not be saved. Nor will you. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also
do good that are accustomed to doing evil. And all of this is
all my fault. God did not make me this way.
The devil did not make me this way. My mouth has been stopped
and I stand guilty before God. This mess I'm in, this mess of
being totally depraved and totally Unable is all my fault. And if I don't take complete
responsibility for this mess that I'm in. Two things. One, I'm saying it's
God's fault. And number two, I'll never ask
for mercy. As long as I'm a victim, I'll
never ask for mercy. I ask for mercy when it's all
my fault. Now, let me tell you two things
that are true regarding anyone who believes in his own personal
depravity and his own personal inability. First. The doctrines of grace
become the doctrine of necessity. The doctrines of grace. Do you
know that anytime the word doctrines is used in the Bible, it's always
with reference to false doctrine? every single time. But when you're totally depraved
and totally unable to do anything about it, the doctrines of grace
all of a sudden become the doctrine of necessity. Now what do I mean by that? It is absolutely necessary for
me for God to freely choose me as an act of His sovereign will. If He doesn't choose me, I will
not be saved. It is absolutely necessary for
Christ to actually bear my sin and put it away. He's got to
do it. I can't get Him to do it. He's
got to do it. The only hope I have is for him
to do that for me. It won't do me any good if he
doesn't actually take my sin and put it away and cause it
to not be to where it is no more. That's absolutely necessary.
If you're totally depraved and totally unable it is. It is absolutely
necessary for me, for God's grace to be irresistible and invincible
and overcome my deadness and inability. He's got to give me
the grace to believe, to repent. He's got to give me life. He's
got to do it. This is absolutely necessary. And it's absolutely necessary
for me to hear as well. Now, if salvation is impossible for you, it is
absolutely necessary for God to do everything. God is omnipotent
and that's what you need. If you're totally unable, you
need the omnipotence of God to do that, which you cannot do.
Now turn with me to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one. Now, who then can be saved? With men, it's impossible. Not improbable, impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Beginning in verse 26 of Luke
chapter one. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth
to a virgin. a spouse to a man whose name
was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art
highly favored. The word is graced. The Lord
is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, fear not Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and shall bring forth a son, and shall call his
name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How? Can't you imagine when you say
this? How? How should this be, seeing I
know not a man? And the angel answered and said
unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that Holy
thing which shall be born in thee shall be called the Son
of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth,
she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her who was called barren, for with God,
nothing. shall be impossible. A virgin can have a child. But with God, nothing shall be
impossible. And that child is nobody less
than the Son of God. For with God, Nothing shall be
impossible. And that son stood as a surety
for those who God foresaw would be totally depraved and completely
unable and guaranteed their salvation for with God, nothing shall be
impossible. And that child who was God grew in wisdom and stature and
in favor with men and with God. And for 33 years, kept the law
perfectly for somebody else. Remember when he said, John the
Baptist at the opening of his public ministry, when the Lord
came up to John and said he wanted to be baptized. And John said,
I have need to be baptized of thee and cometh out to me. And
the Lord said, suffer to be so now for thus it becometh us. to fulfill all righteousness. You see, God can keep the law
for somebody else for with God, nothing shall be impossible. And this God-man took upon himself
the sin the sins of everybody that God gave him to represent. How could that be done? With
God, nothing shall be impossible. And when he said it is finished
and actually died, how did the God-man die? I don't know, but
with God, nothing shall be impossible. And in his death, he actually
made the sins of everybody he represented to be no more. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. And this glorious one who mysteriously
died, opened his up, up his eyes in the grave, still dark. I love to think about that. All
of a sudden him just opening his eyes for with God, nothing
shall be impossible. And he walked out of that tomb,
having achieved salvation for all who believe for with God,
nothing shall be impossible. And in time, he came to this
one. who was totally depraved and
totally unable and said, live. And I lived for with God, nothing
shall be impossible. And this center standing here,
looking at you and trying to preach to you one day, will stand
before God perfectly conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. What is the hope of a totally
depraved, totally unable sinner. It's only found in the omnipotence
of God. With God, nothing shall be impossible. I was thinking, as you read that passage from
Luke 1, Todd, that it's no less a miracle for Christ to be formed
in us than it was for Him to be formed in Mary. No less a
miracle. There was a time in my life when
I, shame to tell you, worshipped Mary. I worshipped her. But the miracle of grace, when
Christ is formed in us and we see Him as our hope of glory,
is no less a miracle. Oh, might God be pleased to do
that for us. Let's stand together. Tom's going
to come and lead us in, I know whom I have believed and I'm
persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him, against that day, number 224 in your hardback teminal,
number 224. I know not why God's wondrous