Jeremiah 32. Now three times in the scripture
it says God cannot. Three times in the scripture
It says, God cannot. And like Brother David said last
Sunday night, any time we hear something like that, we need
to tune our ears in and see what's being said. Because that's a strong statement
to make about God. That's a very, very strong statement
to make about God. Look with me here at Jeremiah
32. Verse 27, Behold, I am the Lord, the God
of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for
me? Anything. That's what he asked
Abraham when he told Abraham that Sarah was going to have
a son. Sarah laughed. Abraham laughed. He said, Is
there anything too hard for the Lord? Anything. Turn with me over to Daniel 4
now. Just after Ezekiel, look at Daniel chapter 4. Daniel 4, look at verse 35. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? None can say, what are you even
doing? None can say that to him. All
inhabitants of the earth are nothing. It's all nothing. He
said, don't turn to this, but he said in Isaiah 43, I will
work and who shall let it? Who's going to stop me? He said in Isaiah 45, I am the
Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. None. All right, now turn with
me to Romans 9. Romans 9 verse 20 says, Nay,
but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? This is God we're talking about.
That's the point is we're talking about God. God. The God. So to say God cannot. Well, that's a fearful thing,
isn't it? That's a fearful thing. That's something that every believer
takes seriously. I'm afraid of those two words. As I say them, they roll off
my tongue and I say them fearfully. I say it very carefully. Very, very carefully. We worship
a holy God. A holy, holy God. An all-powerful God. And we always,
by God's grace, we continually acknowledge Him for what He is.
He's the Lord. He's Jehovah. He's the Lord. But those three things that God
has said in His Word that He cannot do, those three things
are our gospel. Alright? Those three times, those
three things, that's our gospel. Now here's the first one. Go
with me to James chapter 1. James chapter 1, look with me at verse 13. Let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with
evil. neither tempteth he any man."
God cannot be tempted with evil. He cannot be tempted with evil. This is wonderful. He cannot
be tempted with evil. Eve and then Adam were tempted
with evil, weren't they? They were tempted. And they willingly
fell into its clutches, didn't they? They were tempted by it
and they laid hold of it. Tempted by evil. But our God cannot be tempted
with evil. His purity cannot be corrupted. Not at all. Not one ounce. Alright, now hold your place
right here and go with me to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew 4 verse 1 says, Then
was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil. The devil came to tempt Him.
Verse 2, And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights,
He was afterward and hungered. He was very hungry. Now He was
a man. Here's the thing to understand.
This is God manifest in the flesh, but he was man. I mean, he was
100% man and he was hungry. Verse three says, and when the
tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command
that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it
is written. That's how he answered him. It
is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." What he's saying
is, now I'll wait on the Lord. I think I'll just wait on the
Lord. Verse 5, then the devil taketh him up into the holy city
and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. And saith unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is
written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, and in
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash
thy foot against the stone." He's saying jump off. If you're
the Son of God, jump off. The angels will come catch you. Verse 7, Jesus saith unto him,
It is written again. This is the greatest way to answer
temptation. It is written. It is written.
When anything comes our way, it's written. Scripture. Jesus
saith unto him, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God. He was not saying, Satan, don't
tempt me. What he was saying was, I'm not
going to tempt God my Father. I'm not jumping off." He said,
jump off, they'll catch you. You know, sometimes we have that
fatalistic view of things, don't we? Well, God's sovereign, so
he said, I'm not jumping off. It is written, thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God. I'm not going to do it. Verse
8, again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain
and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of
them. and saith unto him, all these things will I give thee
if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him,
get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil
leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
God cannot be tempted with evil. I love that. He cannot be influenced
in any way, shape, or form. Alright, now go back to James
1. Look back again at James chapter 1. Verse 13 says, Let no man
say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. That word
tempted means entice. enticed. God will never entice
us with evil. Never. Never. Now He will send
trials to us. He will send trials our way. But those trials are not evil. You know, the Lord sends cancer
to us and we think, well, you know, this is because I did something
and now I'm being rewarded with evil. That's not true. All of
His trials are good. They are all good. Those trials
are producing and increasing faith in us, which is something
we're going to look at in just a minute. Look right here in
James 1 at verse 2. James chapter 1 verse 2 says,
My brethren, Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. That's a different word. He said
be happy when you fall into temptations. That's not enticed. That word
means proofs. Count it all joy when you fall
into these proofs. Verse 3 says, knowing this that
the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have
her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking
nothing." Our God will never entice us with evil. Never. He'll
never send evil to us. Never. He cannot do it. There
is none in Him. There's none in Him. The evil
that is in us, the evil that is on us, the evil that's around
us, that's all the work of our own doing. Look back at verse
14, James 1 verse 14, it says, But every man is tempted when
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. We brought that on ourselves,
that's what he's saying. We do that to ourselves. Why do we
do that to ourselves? Wouldn't it be just wonderful
if we did not do that to ourselves? But we do. Even though we have
ruined, we've absolutely ruined ourselves, And even though we
are completely ruined by evil's corruption, our God can never
be. He cannot be. He cannot be tempted
with evil, and neither tempteth He any man. What that means is
God is good. He's good. Everything He does
is good. Everything He does for His people
is good. Alright, now go with me to 2
Timothy chapter 2. Here's the second thing God cannot
do. 2 Timothy 2 verse 13 says, If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. That's the gospel. That is the
gospel. He cannot deny himself. He cannot do it. Thank God, he
cannot do it. Go with me to Matthew 10. Matthew 10, here's a sobering
verse of scripture. Matthew 10, verse 33, it says,
but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before
my Father, which is in heaven. That's a sobering verse of scripture,
isn't it? Whoever denies me before men. Him will I deny before my
Father which is in heaven." That's His law, that's His commandment.
So let it be written, so let it be done. Alright, now look
over at Matthew 26. Matthew 26 verse 33 says, Peter answered and said unto
him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet
will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, verily I
say unto thee that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice. You're going to deny me three
times. Peter said, I'll never do it. All right, we just read, whoever
denies me, I'll deny before my father in heaven. We all said,
I'm so glad I haven't denied him. Peter said, I'll never do
it. He said, you're gonna do it three
times tonight. Just tonight. Verse 35, Peter said unto him,
though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise
also said all the disciples. All the disciples said that,
every single one of them. When it was all over, we know
what happened to Peter. When it was all over, after Peter
did exactly what this wicked flesh is prone to do, verse 75, And Peter remembered the word
of Jesus which said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. He just went out and cried and
cried. He knew what the Lord had said and he knew what he
had done. Peter told everybody at Pentecost,
you have all denied him. All. All of us. We have all denied
Him. No, I don't choose Him. I don't
want Him. Consciously, unconsciously, this
flesh denies Him. I would rather not... No, He's
not as important to me as... We have all denied the Holy One
and the just and desired a murderer to be granted unto us. We have
all cried, Crucify Him." All of us. Crucify Him. But this
is what our Lord said. He said, I and my Father are
one. Isn't that what He said? We're one. God the Father and
God the Son are one. He said, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. Isn't that what He said? We're
one. Romans 8 and Hebrews 7 both say
that He is seated at the right hand of God His Father, ever
living to make intercession for us. Isn't that what He says? Every time one of His children
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Every single time,
God makes intercession to God on his child's behalf. God the Father and God the Son
are one. They are one. If God is interceding
to God, If God is interceding to God,
they're one. God cannot deny God. Just cannot
do it. If that's what God wants, God
will give it to him. They're one. They're one. He cannot deny himself. He just cannot. For God the Son
to plead to His Father, God the Father is pleading to
Himself. He cannot deny Himself. God said, here's what I demand. If you deny me before man, I'm
going to deny you. And you're going to die. Here's
what I demand. That's what God said. This is
what I demand. God said, here's the payment in full. God said,
I'm satisfied. Thank God. Thank God. He cannot deny himself. He cannot be tempted with evil.
He cannot deny himself. Here's the third thing God cannot
do. Go to Titus 1. Titus 1 verse 1 says, Paul a servant of God and an
apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and
the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness in hope
of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the
world began. God cannot lie. God cannot lie. Every promise that he has given
us in this word, every single one, is yes and amen. Every single one. Is this really
true? Is all this really true? Yes. Amen. So be it. Christ said, I am the
truth. I am the truth. He cannot lie
because he is truth. He is truth. When it comes to
eternity, every soul ought to ask himself, do I know the truth?
Every soul ought to ask himself, do I know and am I clinging to
the truth? The answer is, if you're clinging
to Christ, you are. If you're clinging to Jesus Christ,
the man, then you are. All who cling to Christ, he said,
they're going to know the truth and the truth is going to make
them pray. Every single one. These three things right here
that God cannot do, they magnify His glory and they magnify His
gospel. They are His gospel to the infinite
degree. The fact that He cannot be corrupted,
sin will not. Everybody who's going to be in
glory is going to be in Christ. Everybody in glory is in Christ. If a person wants to be in heaven,
they have to be in Christ. Heaven is Christ. Outside of
Christ, you're not in heaven. And Christ cannot be corrupted. Sin will never infiltrate ever
again. And the fact that he cannot deny
himself, hearing those two things, Knowing that He cannot lie, that
gives us hope. That's where our hope comes from.
Hope means expected anticipation. We don't just hope. Man, I'm
hoping. I'm not undoing these. Expected
anticipation. We have hope. We have hope because
He cannot lie. He cannot be corrupted. He cannot
deny himself, and he cannot lie. And that gives us hope. Verse
2 says, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began. Thank God for those three things,
three glorious things. All right, you're dismissed.