In the 19th chapter of Matthew's
Gospel, as in Mark chapter 10 and Luke chapter 18, we read
the account of a young man coming unto the Lord Jesus and asking
how he may have eternal life. In verse 16 it says, Behold,
one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing should
I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that
is, God. But if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. And he saith unto him, Which?
Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother,
and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith
unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up, what
lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow
me. But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then said Jesus under his disciples, verily I say unto you that a
rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again
I say unto you, 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. When his disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. With men this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible. All things are possible. And here before us in this passage
is presented unto us the impossibility of salvation. The impossibility
of salvation. Now you may hear something of
the gospel of Jesus Christ and have some knowledge of it. But the reality of salvation
The reality of our state before Almighty God is that man is so
lost, man is so depraved in his sin, man is so dead in his sin,
dead in trespasses and sins, that he cannot be saved. He cannot be saved. He does not
come unto God. He does not seek God. He does
not care for God. He does not care for salvation. He cannot make himself savable. He cannot walk before God aright. He is not righteous. Here came
a religious young man unto Jesus. A zealous young man. and said,
how may I have eternal life? How may I have eternal life?
How may I be saved? And Jesus directs him back to
the law and says, you shall live perfectly. If you are to live
forever, if you are to avoid the condemnation and the penalty
of the law against your sin, you shall walk before God perfectly. so he reminds him of the law
which God gave unto Israel to show unto Israel and to show
unto mankind that we are sinners and that we cannot walk before
God perfectly we cannot walk before God in righteousness because
we're full of sin and everything we do is full of sin so Jesus
reminds this young man the commandments. Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not kill in deed or
in thought. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
honour thy father and thy mother and thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. And the young man proudly says
unto Jesus, all these things have I kept from my youth up,
what lack I yet? The reality is that none of these
things he had kept from his youth up. Outwardly, yes. Outwardly,
he may never have stolen or be seen to have stolen something.
Outwardly, he may never have borne false witness. Outwardly,
he might not have murdered. He may have outwardly kept the
commandments, but the reality is that in his heart he broke
them all every day. We see something of the foolishness
and folly of mankind in his answer, that men and women think that
before God they are living a righteous life. Their idea of morality,
their idea of righteousness before God is so low, brought down to
such a low level, that they think that they are upright. All these
things have I kept from my youth up, he says, what lack I yet?
Because all he can see is the surface. Outwardly he's not committed
any crime that people have seen. Jesus knew his heart and in his
heart he'd broken all these things. So Jesus then turns onto something
that outwardly, even this one, failed it. But again, there's
an inward reality to what Jesus directs him to. Jesus said unto
him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and
come and follow me. But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Everyone has some food. in which
they fell. Now this young man outwardly
felt that he was keeping the commandments. He had a great love for the riches
which he'd been given. And he was not prepared to give
up those things in order to follow Christ. So when Christ told him
to give them up and follow him, give up everything for God. Be willing to give up everything
for God. Be willing to give up all that
is in this world and of the world. All that you might grasp and
handle and have. All the riches that you may have. Whatever sort of riches. Physical
riches. Material riches. Or other riches. Your talents. Your time. Your
ability. Your fame. Your acclaim. Your
pride. All that you may gain and have
in this world, that you may trust in, all your self-righteousness,
give it up. Own that you are nothing and
have nothing before God. And follow me, says Jesus. And
this man, having great riches, went away sorrowful. Now in reality behind the surface
in this passage behind the surface of him keeping the commandments
and believing that he kept the commandments lies the riches
which he had which he could not give up. whatever physical riches
he may also have had, this young man's problem was that he felt
before God that he was righteous. He felt, he believed that he
was keeping the commandments, that he kept all these things
from his youth up and lacked nothing. The riches he had that
he would not give up was his own belief in his own righteousness. He felt he was righteous before
God. He felt he was zealous. He felt
he was obedient. He felt he had merit before God. I've done all these things. I've
lacked nothing. Surely I deserve eternal life
as a result of how I live. Those were the riches. which
Christ really saw him having, and which Christ knew he could
not give up. He trusted in his obedience. He trusted in his own morality. He trusted in his own uprightness. He trusted in his self-righteousness. As revealed by his attitude,
all these things have I kept from my youth up. What lack I?
What lack I? I don't lack anything. I'm rich. When it comes to the law, when
it comes to righteousness before God, I lack nothing. There was no penitence here.
There was no understanding of his own depravity. There was
no confession that in him dwelt no good thing. In his flesh there
dwelt no good thing. He did not feel like he was nothing,
penniless, bankrupt before God. No, he felt he lacked nothing. Those were his possessions. He could not give up. Oh, he
might physically have had riches too. And he might have gone away
sorrowful, not willing to give them up. But even if he'd come
to a point of being willing to give up the physical riches,
the reality is, is his heart attitude to his own morality,
to his own righteousness, was his problem. He could not enter
into the kingdom of heaven. whilst he strutted around feeling
like he lacked nothing before God in terms of his life, in
terms of his righteousness, in terms of his religion. Oh, how
good I am. I'm not like these others. I'm
not like those over there. I'm not a sinner like he is.
I've never been in trouble with the law. I've never fallen into
the gutter. I've never been a drunk. I've
never been a drug addict, I've never been a criminal, I've never
been behind bars for shoplifting, I've never done this, I've never
done that. Oh good, how good I am. How zealous I am, how religious
I am, how often I read the Bible, how often I go to church, how
often I do this. I lack nothing. And it's that attitude that Christ
exposes here. And Christ goes on to speak to
the disciples. Verily I say unto you that a
rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whilst
you have this attitude, until you know you're nothing, you will never enter it. Again,
I say unto you, 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 when his disciples heard
it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Because
they knew that everybody has something And everybody thinks
they are something in some way. However lowly our attitude may
be, and however poor we may be, we all have something. And we're
all capable of something. And we all think that we do some
things right. So they see that this didn't
just expose this young man. And Christ's words about the
rich hardly entering into the kingdom of God didn't just expose
the very rich. But really it found out everybody.
You and I included. Who then can be saved? Jesus
beheld them and said unto them, with men this is impossible. With men this is. Impossible. And that is the answer to the
young man's question. What good thing shall I do that
I may have eternal life? With men, this is impossible. It is impossible that you or
I or anyone else can do any good thing that we should have eternal
life. It is impossible that we should
be saved. And we see this all around us.
We see this in the generation in which we live. Who wants to
be saved? Who cares about the gospel of
Jesus Christ? Who desires to worship God? Who around you in society? Who do you know in your workplace? Or in your school? Or in the
government? Or anyone that you come across?
Who do you know who's willing to give up all that they have? And all their reputation? and all their pride to confess
that they are nothing and have nothing before God. Who do you
know? Who of them want to hear the
gospel? Who do you come across that want
to know the one true and living God? Who do you come across that wants
to come and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to know more
of Christ and to seek Christ and to know Christ? With men this is impossible.
How impossible it is for hardened sinners to believe the gospel. They don't. They can't. They don't wish to. You don't. You can't. And by nature, you
don't wish to. You don't want to seek God. You don't want to know God. You
don't want to know Jesus Christ. You don't care for Christ. You
don't care for his ways. You don't care for salvation.
It's absolutely irrelevant to you. and so it is in the world
around us. You read any newspaper? you see
any broadcast on a television, you see anything that the media
broadcasts, you see anything that the government states, there
is nothing directing men towards God. There is nothing counseling
men and women to seek Almighty God, to seek out salvation, to
flee from the wrath to come. There is nothing in this world
that advises people to prepare for eternity. The government
may advise you to plan for your retirement. People may advise
you to save. People may advise you to find
work. People may advise you to seek
help if you have this problem or that problem. They may tell
you what to do to live healthfully. They may tell you what to do
to be fit. They may tell you what to do
to look after your mental health. They will give you advice for
this, that and the other, but you don't hear anything in this
world. that warns you that your life
is but a moment, is brief, and you will one day stand before
your Creator. There is nothing to prepare man
for eternity because man does not care for it. Yes, there is religion scattered
around. And yes, in the message of this
religion, whatever name, shape or form it takes, there is mention
of God, there is mention perhaps of a world to come. But no man
by nature cares for it. Except it is that religion that
promises something based on his own works. So yes, like this
young man that came unto Christ here, you will encounter those
who are zealous in religion. You will encounter those who
will live a certain way. You will encounter those who
might have an understanding of a creator and a God before whom
they're accountable. You will encounter those who
wish to live a certain way in the hope of eternal life. But
all their hope is built upon all their own riches, all their
own deeds, all their own righteousness, all their own glory. And should one say unto them,
as Christ said unto this one, if thou wilt be perfect, go and
sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. then they will
go away sorrowful. Because none seeks after the
one true and living God. It is impossible. It is impossible. Yes, you'll encounter some religion,
but it's all on this premise. You do, and God will bless you. You do, and you will earn. You
can save yourself if you live a certain way. But the rich man, full of his
own self-righteousness, cannot and will not enter into the Kingdom
of God. But you'll find that outside
of these, most that you will encounter have no time whatsoever
for the Gospel. You see how hard sinners' hearts
are? They are not interested They
are not interested. They don't care for God. They
don't care for righteousness. They don't care about eternity.
They're not interested. It's impossible. It's impossible
to gain their interest. They're not interested, naturally
speaking. They don't care. And we see in
this how powerful the gospel must be. How powerful a gospel
is needed to bring dead sinners, hardened hearts, unto repentance. How powerful a force there must
be in the gospel to bring a man to repentance, to change his
mind. to give him a change of thinking. Because the natural man says,
away with God. The natural man shuts his ears
to the gospel. The natural man has no time for
these things. no time whatsoever you could
go and knock on your neighbor's door and ask him about Jesus
Christ and he'll slam the door in your face then how powerful
a gospel is needed to change his heart and to change his understanding
and to change his thinking to give him repentance a change
of mind metanoia a complete turning around of the way he thinks because
man by nature is walking away from God and for man to be turned
around to walk unto God and have his thinking, his understanding
completely transformed what a power is needed how opposed the natural
heart and mind is to the things of God no one, no one acknowledges
the truth Their minds are set against it. All their peers around them tell
them to ignore it. All the world around them mocks
at the truth, scoffs at it, scorns it, ridicules it, ridicules the
gospel. So how few are prepared to even
show any interest, even if individually in their heart there was some
kindling or awakening to the truth, some desire to know. They're
so afraid of everybody else. They're so afraid of the attitude
of men around them. They're so afraid of being laughed
at that they don't even inquire. Peer pressure is a massive effect. People are so afraid of how others
will view them that they don't even enquire or ask questions
or be seen to be seeking after God. No one acknowledges the
truth. Their minds are set against it.
To them it is foolishness. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians,
the preaching of the cross It's foolishness to the Greek. Foolishness. But unto those that
are saved, it is the power of God. But to the natural man, he scoffs
at it, he laughs at it. It's impossible to draw him to
the truth. With men, it is impossible. You don't believe the gospel
because you can't believe the gospel. You will not. And that is not because the gospel
is irrational or unreasonable. The reason you will not believe
the gospel is not because it is an irrational message or an
unreasonable message. The atheist will tell you that
it is. The atheist will tell you that
he believes in rationality. He believes in reason. He follows
after reason and he will state that the gospel of Jesus Christ
is unreasonable and irrational. He will say that he cannot see
God, therefore God isn't. He cannot see the air that he
breathes. You'd soon know if the heir was no longer there.
No, the reason you do not believe the gospel is not because it
is irrational or unreasonable. No, it is the most rational and
reasonable message you can hear. The reality is, is that the gospel
of Jesus Christ is the most rational, the most reasonable message you
can hear because it is the truth. and there is no fact, no scientific
principle that can stand against it because it is the truth. The world that you stand upon
was created by Almighty God. The creation around you witnesses
to that fact and it witnesses to His existence and it witnesses
to His eternal power and Godhead. You may deny that, You may laugh
at that, you may try to argue against that, but that is simply
your fallen heart, your fallen sinful nature rejecting the truth. It is not because that truth
is unreasonable or irrational. I am not going to seek to counter
every argument in an attempt to make you see how this truth
is rational and reasonable. There are some that do. There
are some that will enter into apologetics. And they will take,
as it were, the atheist or the evolutionist on their own ground. And they will counter every argument
that's presented against the truth. And they will deal with
this question and that question and this point and that point.
And you can go along that path. And you can disarm a person. You can, with reason, answer,
provide an answer for every objection. And you can bring a person, mentally
speaking, to have to consent that the truths of the Gospel,
the truths concerning Almighty God, are reasonable. And they
can't answer every point. And they may be brought to a
point where they have to mentally ascend, yes, there must be a
God. And these things must have happened.
I can no longer argue against it. But that doesn't save them.
That doesn't save them. The devils believe and tremble. Satan knows there's a God. Satan knows the truth of the
gospel. Satan knows exactly what has
happened in time and eternity. Satan knows what's going on because
it's true. But he doesn't believe. And he
doesn't follow. and I could answer your every
objection in a reasonable and rational manner and deal with
every point of science you might bring up and every argument that
men may conjure up to try to establish the lie of evolution
and dismiss the truth of creation, for example. We could deal with
every aspect and you could be brought to a point of having
to give up your false arguments. and give up your ammunition of
science, falsely so-called, and accept that there is a Creator
and this world is created and you do live before Him and you
will stand before Him. But that won't make you believe.
That won't make you give up your own self-righteousness. That
won't make you own the fact that you are nothing before Almighty
God and that He will rightly condemn you. you will go away
sorrowful you might be brought to a point like this young man
of being able to say well yes now I accept that there's a God
I believe there's a God I believe this I believe that I believe
you I believe in Jesus Christ I believe that Christ came I
believe he died on the cross I believe this and I believe
that but when Jesus says unto you
in that case If you will be saved, give up all that you have and
follow me, you will then go away sorrowful. Because it's not salvation
to live in what you may think is a moral fashion. And it's
not salvation to intellectually believe the facts of the gospel,
or to give mental consent to the facts of the gospel. There's
no merit in you saying, yes, I believe the world was created.
You're a fool not to. There is no merit in saying,
oh yes, I believe there is a God. You're a fool if you don't. There
is no merit in following outwardly in the commandments of the law. You're right to. You're a fool
not to. And you're condemned if you don't.
You're a sinner if you don't. But there's no salvation in such
a pathway. There are many zealous religious
people who've lived all their lives believing in God, believing
in eternity, trying to live a moral life. who will go to the grave
in condemnation because ultimately they stand before God and their
hope for eternal life is on what they know and what they have
done and what they are, in which they see some merit. And they
say, God must save me because I've done all these things from
my youth up and I lack nothing. It's impossible for a rich man
to be saved. This gospel is the most rational
and reasonable and truthful message you will hear from anyone anywhere
ever. It is the truth. But you don't
believe it because your fallen twisted sinful nature rejects
the truth and all reason in relation to it. It loves darkness rather
than light. It believes a lie rather than
coming to the truth. Salvation with man is impossible. To Timothy, Paul writes, the
servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all
men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that
oppose themselves. If God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. and that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will. We preach the gospel, we declare
it faithfully, regardless of what you think, because through
the gospel, God may bring you to hear. He may instruct you
who oppose yourself. He may, peradventure, give you
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. The gospel, by
God's grace, may bring you to say, I was wrong, and God is
right. It may turn you around. It may
turn you around from your folly, from your foolishness, from your
unbelief, to acknowledge the truth. And having acknowledged
the truth, it may bring you to life, to believe in Jesus Christ,
and to give up all that you have and all that you are, and follow
Him. because until God does that,
until God does that, you are in the snare of the devil. You are taken captive by him
at his will. With men, this is impossible
because you cannot stand against the power of the devil. You're
fallen in sin, you're under his snare, and you're taken captive. And that is why you do not, by
nature, acknowledge the truth. It has nothing whatsoever to
do with facts or reason or thinking. It is not because the truth of
the gospel is unreasonable or irrational. It's because you
are under the snare of the devil who deceives you with a lie and
who has you follow those lies because you are taken captive
by him at his will. Now you may not like me saying
that because that takes all the power and glory and pride out
of yourself and shows you to be nothing. You think you stand. You think you stand upon your
own ability. You think you stand upon your
own reason and intellect. Oh how well you've studied. Oh how great you've reasoned.
Oh how mighty you are. When the reality is you're nothing.
And until God delivers you from the snare of the devil, you're
in the devil's hands. You believe a lie because you're
in his grip. And you will only believe the
truth when you're in the hands of Jesus Christ. With men this
is impossible, but with God all things are possible. How may
I have eternal life? Who then can be saved? You will have eternal life if
God intervenes. You will be saved if God grants
you repentance. You will acknowledge the truth
if God is pleased to change your understanding. With you it's
impossible, but with God all things are possible. With God,
all things are impossible. We see this throughout the scriptures,
how God has done impossible things. In the creation itself, God brought
this world and the universe around it out of nothing by the words
of Christ's lips. He spake and it was. He spake and it was. Now the evolutionists will tell
us there was a big bang, some random event that brought these
things out of nothing. But they speak nonsense, because
there was no nothing out of nothing. Their big bang came out of gases,
which were there before. Who put the gases there? God
spoke and brought this world out of nothing. The impossibility
of the creation came about because of God, not because of chance. We read in the scriptures of
countless miracles that God performed. When he led his people, the Israelites,
out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, he brought them over the Red
Sea. And there they were with the Egyptians behind them chasing
them down and they were trapped. In front of them was the sea
in which they drowned. Behind them were the Egyptians
who would slay them. They were trapped. They could
not do anything. But Moses stood up and said unto
them, stand still. Do nothing. and see the salvation
of the Lord. And the waters were parted before
them and they walked through that sea on dry land and having
passed through, God drew the waters of the sea back again
and the Egyptians who tried to follow perished and drowned in
the midst. That event was impossible. Yet God made it possible. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. Likewise, having journeyed through
the wilderness for 40 years, Jordan stood before the people
of Israel and the promised land, and Joshua again brings them
to the river Jordan, and again they pass through that river
dry shore. God parted the river, and again
miraculously they went through the river on dry ground into
the promised land. Stand still. and see the salvation
of the Lord. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. Don't work. Don't look to your
own righteousness. Look unto God. These events were
impossible, but God made them possible. When Christ came into
this world, He was born of a virgin. Born unto Mary. Born of the Holy
Ghost. Without earthly father, but a
heavenly father. Born of Mary. And when God said
unto Mary, what would come about, it was unbelievable. And the
angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour
with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt 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 for ever, and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall 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 of 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. So it reads in Luke chapter 1.
With God, nothing shall be impossible. Before the birth of Christ, John
the Baptist was born of Elizabeth, an old woman way past the age
of conceiving, and she brought forth a child in her old age,
just as Sarah had brought forth Isaac for Abraham, who was promised
a son by Sarah, and both he and Sarah knew that this was impossible. Yet God brought it to pass. And Abraham believed God. Because God opened his eyes and
put faith in his heart to believe that God could do the impossible. And as with Elizabeth and as
with Sarah, Mary has promised a child. But with Mary it's even
more impossible. It was an age that prevented
it. She had no husband. God was the
husband. God brought forth the child in
her womb. And what God promised unto Mary
on this day came about. With God, nothing shall be impossible. This child that Mary brought
forth, whose name was called Jesus, went about doing the impossible. early in his ministry he went
to that wedding at Cana and he took water for they had run out
of wine and he turned the water into wine and the people had
never tasted wine so good and he showed the miraculous nature
of the gospel that God can take nothing and bring life where
there's nothing The same God who created the heaven and the
earth could take that water and make it wine. The same God that
created the heaven and the earth could take a dead sinner and
make him live. Who then can be saved? With men it's impossible. But
with God, nothing shall be impossible. All things are possible. Jesus
made the water Into wine. He made the blind to see. He touched the eyes of those
born blind and made them see. He caused the lame to walk. He
caused the deaf to hear. He caused the dead to rise again. Lazarus, come forth. He said to that one who'd laid
four days in the grave, and Lazarus came forth. Yes, this Jesus,
so named for he shall save his people from their sins, has the
power to speak and dead men live. He causes dead sinners by his
gospel, by his speech, to be quickened to life, to have faith,
to believe the gospel. As Paul states in Ephesians,
And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
devil. who snare your under, who takes
us captive at his will. You walked according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind. and were by nature the children
of wrath even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, have quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved, and have raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What a salvation
and what a power This God does the impossible. He takes fallen
sinners dead in trespasses and sins and by one word he brings
them to life. Lazarus come forth, live, believe. He quickens us by his spirit
through the gospel. those who are just as dead as
anyone else children of disobedience having conversation in the past
in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind our mind goes one way and the way it goes by nature
is against God we need a new mind We need a new heart, we
need a new understanding and we can't change our mind. We
can't change our heart and we won't change our understanding. We will not believe. Yet this
God can take his gospel and speak but one word of it to our souls. And we who are dead will turn
and look and live. Yes, the Gospel. The Gospel. The power of God under salvation. What kind of a power does it
take to bring dead sinners unto life? Who then can be saved? How shall we inherit eternal
life? By the Gospel. Through Jesus
Christ. Through the death of God's Son. We who are dead need to live. We who are dead in sins need
to stand before God righteous and there's only one way that
dead sinful creatures like you and I can stand before God righteous
and alive and that is if one takes our sins. and takes them
away and blots them out and pays the price in judgment that they
have earned. That is if one dies in our place
taking the penalty of God's righteousness and his holy law against sin
upon himself. The only way we can be spared
that judgment, spared that penalty, spared that condemnation is if
one stands in our place and takes it. And the only way that we
can stand before God righteous is if one clothes us in righteousness. Having taken away our sin, He
causes us to be righteous before God. And in the Gospel, In the
gospel we find the answer. Who then can be saved? Those
for whom Christ died. How can I inherit eternal life? Through Jesus Christ and his
blood. Because he came. Because he was
born in this world that he created. Born of Mary. Born of the Virgin
by the miraculous power of God who does the impossible. Because
he lived as a man. God walking upon the earth, the
Son of God as a man, because He came where we were, because
He took our sins upon Him, because He took the sins of His people
upon Him and bore those sins, and bore the wrath of God against
those sins, then He could deliver us. Deliver us who had no hope. Deliver us who have no strength. Deliver us who have no righteousness. He could deliver us. He could
wash us clean in his blood. He could bring in righteousness
for us and say unto God the Father, these for whom I died are without
sin. They are without guilt because
I've taken it away, I've blotted it out. They have no price to
pay because I've paid it in their place. They are righteous and
holy because I've washed them in my blood. And they are in
me, and I am in them. And I bring them unto you, O
my Father. I bring them unto you as perfect. That is what Christ did, that's
what he came for, and that is the truth of the gospel, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom I am
chief, says Paul. Can you say with him, of whom
I am chief? Did Christ come for you? and
having come for you and having died in your place and having
suffered the wrath of God that you deserve because of your rebellion,
your unbelief and your rejection of the truth does He lead you
forth by faith under His Father with everlasting life. Oh this
Gospel is the power that you and I need if the impossible
is to be made possible. We cannot be saved. We will not
inherit eternal life. We will go away clinging on to
our own self-righteousness, our own riches. Our own filthy rags
of self-righteousness will cling on to them to the end. We will
hope in them to the end. We will hope that God will be
pleased with us. We will go away sorrowing for
we cannot give them up. We cannot give up all that we
are. And we will not come to God as nothing. But in the gospel,
God will strip us naked. God will bring us under Christ
barren and empty, with nothing, knowing all we have is sin and
all we can give is sin, but in Christ all we receive is the
righteousness of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the
grace of God, the salvation of God. He takes all that we have
and all that we are and He washes us clean. He takes the filthy
rags and He throws them away and clothes us again. He takes
the judgement against our sin and brings it down upon his own
son and he clothes us in his righteousness and he says unto
us, thy faith hath made thee whole because in the gospel as
he declares that gospel unto us he gives us faith In Romans
10, Paul speaks of this gospel and the effect of the gospel.
If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall
they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except
they be said as it is written how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things Here's God's answer for the impossibility of your
salvation. He sends his gospel to those
whom he will save. He sends a preacher with that
gospel. That preacher delivers that message
that you may hear. And he causes the dead sinner
to hear and to believe. To hear and believe. They have not all obeyed the
gospel. As I have said, Lord, who have believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. I say, have they not heard? Yes,
verily their sound went into all the earth, and their words
unto the ends of the world. Did not Israel know? Have you
not heard? You may hear with the outward
ear. You may hear, as that young man did, much religion. You may
have much knowledge of this Gospel. But you need the faith that God
gives by the Gospel. You need to hear inwardly, not
outwardly. You need the same faith that
Christ has. You need God-given faith. You need that faith that carried
Christ through the grave, that carried him through the hours
upon the cross, that trust in God though all is taken away. Though all your riches may be
stripped from you, though all your garments of self-righteousness
may be stripped from your back, though you may feel like you're
dying and perishing before God, you need to be given that faith
by the Gospel. that in such a state, having
nothing, being brought to know that you are nothing, that you
look out of nothing, out of the darkness, out of the pit, out
of the brink of falling into hell, you look up and see a saviour. who's trodden that pathway before
you who's drunk the cup of God's wrath for you who's delivers
you by His grace and mercy you need to look up by faith God-given
faith by His gospel by the hearing of faith through the Word of
God you need to look up by faith unto Him who walked by faith
unto Jesus Christ and you need that faith of Christ, the faith
of Jesus Christ, to follow him from faith to faith, to hold
him, to cling on to him and to be led by him as he takes you
in his hands and leads you forth from this world unto the next,
from the grave unto life, from darkness unto light, from the
world and its wisdom unto the wisdom of God, out of the foolishness
and depravity of sin, the mind of man into the mind of Christ. You need to follow. Hebrews 6,
13 tells us, when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear
by no greater He swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will
bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after
he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Sarah conceived. Isaac was born. God did the impossible. For men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath of confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. that
by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to
lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil. wither the forerunner is for
us entered even jesus made an high priest forever after the
order of melchizedek are you dead sinner if you're to know
salvation if you're to know eternal life god must by this gospel
give you this faith to follow this forerunner jesus into the
glory of God. Oh may God have mercy upon your
soul and do the impossible for those for whom by nature it is
not possible. With man it is impossible but
with God all things are possible. With God nothing, nothing shall
be impossible.