Would you turn to Hebrews chapter
11? We're going to observe the Lord's
table after the service tonight, and after that we're going to
have a dinner together. And there is a buffet for the kids 12 and
under. And you parents make sure that's
the direction your young children go. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. We're going to talk more about
that next week. For before his translation, he
had this testimony. This is God's testimony regarding
this man Enoch that he pleased God. Now, I don't think of myself
as someone who pleases God. I just don't think that way.
I think of Him being aggravated with me. But according to this
passage of Scripture, this is true of every believer. This is not just Enoch. This
is every believer in Christ, every believer pleases God. Todd pleased God. God looked at Todd just like
he looked at Enoch, just like he looked at every believer and
he can find nothing but that which he is pleased with. That's a powerful gospel, isn't
it? Verse 6, but without faith it is impossible to please him
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him now without faith it's
impossible to please him not very difficult not unlikely not
hard but impossible now what I want to deal with tonight is
things that are impossible. Things that are impossible. The scripture points out to us
that there are things that are impossible. And I have found
ten that the scripture actually points out, things that are not
possible. And I pray that God will cause
this to be food for our faith. Things that are not possible.
Would you turn to Hebrews chapter 6? I'm going to read them. I'll give a few brief comments
regarding all of these things. Verse 18, that by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie. Now there's something
that is impossible. It is impossible for God to lie. Why? Why? Because the living God cannot
act contrary to his nature. That's why it's impossible for
him to lie. Somebody says, but can't God
do anything he wants? Yes, he can. He can do anything
he wants. He has no limitations. But he
cannot lie. He can't act contrary to his
nature. Now, whatever God is, he can't
change. He cannot act contrary to his
nature. For instance, he cannot not be
holy. He cannot not exercise sovereignty. He cannot not be in complete
control of everything. He cannot not be all-powerful. He always exercises His power. He never relinquishes that. He
cannot not love. The Scripture says He is love.
It's His nature to love. He cannot not be gracious because
He is gracious. That's His nature. He cannot
not be just. That's why if Jesus Christ died
for you, God can't punish you. He can't punish you. He cannot
not be just. God cannot act contrary to His
nature. Well, I don't want to put God
in a box. I'm not too worried about you putting God in a box.
I'm not worried about that at all. But God cannot act contrary
to His nature. He cannot act contrary to His
attributes. That's why He cannot lie. Isn't
that comforting? He lacks the ability to lie. And you know the same actually
is true of us. We cannot act contrary to our
nature. For instance, the natural man, what I am by nature, cannot
not sin. I can't say, I'm not going to
sin. I'm not going to do it. It can't be done. I cannot act
contrary to my evil nature. That's why the very idea of free
will is so ridiculous. And this is what most folks believe.
Well, I've got a free will. I can choose to be good, or I
can choose God, or I can choose the gospel. No, you can't. You
can't act contrary to your nature. It's an evil nature that controls
the will. The very idea of free will is
ridiculous. A natural man cannot rise above
his nature. That which is born of the flesh
is what? Flesh. You can never rise above your
nature. That which is born of the Spirit Spirit. And this is
equally true with regard to the new man, the new nature, the
holy nature birthed by God. That's why the Scripture says
it can't sin. It can't sin. He that's born
of God cannot sin. God's seed remains in him, the
Scripture says. So you can't act contrary to
your nature. Now, that's a real challenge
to understand that, to be saying I have an evil nature and a holy
nature. And as far as what I see, I can't
look at something and say, well, that was holy, but that wasn't.
No, no, no. But I know this. If I have a
holy nature, which every believer has, it can't see. And that's
what scripture says. We can't act contrary to our
nature. God cannot lie. It's impossible for him to. It's
contrary to his nature. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. For it is not possible, that's
the same word, it's impossible, that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins. Sin cannot be taken away. And this is what I need. My sin
is most real. Most real. And the only hope
I have is for it to be taken away. For it to be removed from
me. Now, sin cannot be taken away
by any religious ceremonies. It can't be taken away by the
blood of bulls and goats. It can't be taken away by baptism.
It can't be taken away by The Lord's table, it can't be taken
away by anything you do. No religious ceremony, nothing
you can do can take away sin. Fasting, religious pilgrimages,
no religious ceremonies can ever put away even one sin. It is not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. It's not going to happen.
But thank God, sin is taken away. Now it's not possible to be taken
away by religious ceremonies, but Now hath he appeared once
in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Turn to Matthew 24. It's not possible for God to
lie or God to act contrary to His nature. It's just not possible. That's who God is. He can't act
contrary to His nature, neither can you. And it is not possible
that any religious ceremonies in any way, to any degree, can
take away sin. Now look here in Matthew chapter
24. Start reading verse 22. And except those days should
be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's
sake, those days shall be shortened. Then, if any man shall say unto
you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall
arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great
signs and wonders. I mean, they're going to perform
miracles. You're going to see them do things and you're going
to say, how could they do that? There's going to be much power in what
they do. They're going to show great signs
and wonders, these false prophets. And look what our Lord says,
insomuch that if it were possible, they'd deceive the very elect. Is it possible? It is impossible for one of God's
elect to finally be deceived. It's impossible. Now who are
God's elect? They are the ones God chose before time began to
be saved. God decreed their salvation,
God purposed their salvation, and anything God decrees must
come to pass. That's why it is not possible
that any of God's elect be deceived. God's decreed their salvation,
their sins have been taken away, and they have a sheep's nature.
Now, I've got a hearing ear. I can discern. I can hear the
difference. Now, that's a God-given gift,
but it's what all of God's people have. He said, My sheep hear
My voice. I know them, and they follow
Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.
I and My Father are one. Oh, the security of God's elect. I can't be deceived. And I'm
not saying that presumptuously. I ask the Lord to teach me, to
preserve me, to keep me from being deceived. But it is not
possible for one of God's elect to finally be deceived. Now,
they can be, no doubt, deceived temporarily. I think of when
Absalom took over David's place and all Israel went after him. But they didn't stay after him,
did they? God's elect, it is impossible for them to be deceived. Turn to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, verse 39, And he went a little
further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, Oh my father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Now he's talking about bearing
the weight of the sins of his people. He's talking about bearing
the wrath of God. And when he thought of this,
and I, you and I don't under, we can't enter in much into this.
You know, there's a very real sense which everything went on
the cross. We were just shut out. This was,
this was the Lord and his Father. And he says, oh, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Was it possible? Was it possible? God purposed it. Whatever God
purposes must come to pass. God had decreed it, Revelation
13, verse 8. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. It was not possible for the elect
to be saved without this. Now, if it were possible for
God to save His people without this, don't you reckon He would
have spared His Son? You know He would have. But it
was not possible. God's purpose must be fulfilled.
Christ must have his bride. Sin must be punished. Justice
must be satisfied. So the Son says, the cup which
my Father hath given me to drink, shall I not drink it? It was
not possible. Turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, and this is Peter
preaching on the day of Pentecost, and he says in verse 22, You
men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be holden of it." It was not
possible for him to stay dead. Now why is that? First of all,
because of who he is. He's life. He said regarding
his death, he said, no man takes my life from me. I'm not a victim
in this thing. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it up. I have power to raise yourself
from the dead. The Lord Jesus, you couldn't
say that about anybody else, but the Lord Jesus Christ, He said,
I have power to lay it down. You know, the fact that He could
die, the God-man, is a great mystery, isn't it? It's a great
miracle. But not only does He have power to lay it down, He
has power to take it up again. He can't stay dead because of
who He is. Because He rendered, here's why
He can't stay dead, because He rendered complete satisfaction
to the Law of God as the sin-bearing substitute. You see now, the
Law, has been fulfilled. All of his answers have been
met. And now the law itself demands
my salvation. Take the Ten Commandments. He's
captain. He has no sin. He's got life. Raise him from the dead. It was
not possible for him to remain dead. You see, sin was put away. Sin is God. There's no reason
to stay dead. Now, there's only one reason
for sin, isn't there? What's the one reason for sin? Or what's
the one reason for death? Sin. That's the only reason.
But when sin is taken away, he must be raised from the dead. Turn to Romans 8. Verse 3. For what the law could
not do, and that actually reads in the original, what was impossible
for the law. What was impossible for the law,
what it could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Now, what is impossible
for the law? What is it that it can't do?
Because of the weakness of the flesh, because of me and you,
well, it can't save. It can't justify. It can't impart
life. God's law can't do anything but
expose to you and I what we are. Now it gives the true picture,
but it can't do anything. It's impossible for the law to
do anything for our salvation. It's impossible what the law
could not do. Now turn to Mark chapter 10. This comes from that passage
of scripture I opened with, Mark chapter 10, verse 17. And when he was gone forth into
the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked
him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There's none good but one that
is God. Now why did the Lord say that
to him? Isn't the Lord Jesus Christ good? Of course he is,
but he knew that this man was simply coming to him as another
man. He said, why are you calling
me good? What can I do to reach your level of goodness? What
can I do? That's what he's asking. He's
coming to the Lord as a man. That's why the Lord corrects him. He
said, there's none good but one That is God. But if you want
to come in that light, what you can do to inherit eternal life,
thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false
witness. Defraud not. Honor thy father
and mother. And he answered and said unto
him, Master, all these have I observed. from my youth." Can you imagine
being able to say that? I mean, he said regarding all
of God's commandments, every one of them, I've observed from
my youth. That's a pretty impressive resume.
Now, you'll notice the Lord gave the second table of the law,
our responsibilities toward men. Don't lie, honor your parents,
don't kill, don't steal, and so on. But you know the one he
left out? He left out one. You know what it was? covetousness. He didn't mention anything about
covetousness. You see, covetousness is not something you can keep
outwardly. It's something that's only done on the inside. And
he didn't mention anything, but let's keep that in mind. Now
let's go on reading. Verse 21, Then Jesus, beholding
him, loved him. I have no doubt that this man
ended up being saved. Have no doubt at all. Anybody
the Lord Jesus Christ loves, he saves. I've got kind of a
theory about this guy. I think he was the Apostle Paul.
I think this was the Apostle Paul. That's why he hated him
so much until the Lord saved him. But this is where he was
first confronted. And here's why I think this.
I know this is speculation, and probably shouldn't speculate
about things, but I'm going to speculate. Who are the only two people in
the scriptures to claim to have kept the law? Paul and this man. And it says the Lord loved him,
so you know he ended up being a believer. And what was Paul's
problem? He said, I've not known sin except
the law said thou shalt not covet. And now, let's look at this fellow.
Verse 21. Jesus, beholding him, loved him,
said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, and come and take up thy cross, and follow me.
And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he
had great possessions. He was eaten up with covetousness.
And Jesus looked round about them, and saith unto his disciples,
How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom
of God! And the disciples were astonished at his word. But Jesus
answered again, and said 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
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? If this fella can't be saved,
who can be? And look what our Lord says. Verse 27, And Jesus looking upon
them saith, With men it is impossible. Salvation. With men it is impossible. You know, the Lord said in John
chapter 6 verse 44, no man can come to me. He lacks the ability
to come. No man can come to me. Now, I
can look at everybody in here and say this, you're commanded
to come to Christ and you can't do it. Will God
hold me to be responsible for something I can't do? Yes, he
will. Yes, he will. You can write that down. You're
commanded to come to Christ, and you can't do it unless God
the Father draws you, brings you in by His grace. With men,
every aspect of salvation is impossible. If God leaves you
to yourself, if He leaves me to myself, if He withdraws His
Spirit from me and just lets me alone, I cannot be saved. With men, it is impossible. What? Salvation. But look what
He says next, but not with God. For with God, all things are
possible. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? He said, is my hand shortened
that it cannot redeem? That it cannot save? You see, God saves. He can pay my sin debt. He can
remove my sin from me and place it upon His Son. He's got the
authority to do that. He can take the very righteousness of
His Son and place it on me to where it becomes mine, to where
God is actually pleased with me, just like He was with Enoch. He can impart unto me spiritual
life. With me in salvation is impossible,
but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Isn't
that optimistic? Isn't that glorious? With God. All things are possible. So don't
despair of yourself. Don't despair of anyone. Ask
the Lord to save you. Ask the Lord to have mercy on
you. Ask the Lord to reveal Christ to you. You see, with God, all
things are possible. I turn to Hebrews chapter 6. I suppose there's two passages
of scriptures in Hebrews that used to scare me to death before
I knew what they meant, and this is one of them. Beginning in
verse 4 of Hebrews chapter 6. For it is impossible. There's
the word. For it is impossible. For those who were once enlightened and have tasted of 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.
If they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, and they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to
an open shame." Now, I remember looking at that passage of Scripture.
It doesn't sound good. And I remember reading some commentaries on
it, and they said, this shows how close Somebody can come and
still miss Christ If that's what it means I'll
miss it I'm sure that if that's what it means I'll miss it But
that's not what it means Catch this word impossible Impossible
You see If I'm once enlightened If God gives me light concerning
who I am and who He is, it's not to tantalize me. It's not
to let... God enlightens. He reveals Himself. He's not going to pull that back.
And if tasted of the heavenly gift, I've tasted of the freeness
of the heavenly gift. Oh, the gift of His grace, the
gift of His righteousness, Christ. I've tasted of this gift and
oh, what a glorious taste He is to know that salvation is
the gift of God. And we're made partakers of the
Holy Ghost. This is what happens when God
births somebody into the kingdom of heaven. They're made a partaker
of the Holy Ghost. I have the Spirit of Christ,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. You can tell me somebody can
be a partaker of the Holy Ghost and end up perishing? It's not
going to happen. It's impossible. Go on reading,
verse 5, and have tasted the good word of God. This is the good word of God.
The gospel, this is good news. This is the good word of God.
And you've tasted of the powers of the world to come, the power
of God unto salvation. You understand that you're saved
because of the power of God. It's not your power, it's His
power. You understand that. Now, you can't enter into that
and end up being lost. Paul's saying it's impossible.
If this person would be lost, Christ would have to die all
over again, and that's not going to happen. That's not going to
happen. It is impossible. It's impossible
for them to fall away. Luke chapter 17, two more. Verse 1, Then said he unto the
disciples, It is impossible, but their offenses will come.
Now you can look at this in two different ways. First, if I'm in it, there's
going to be offenses. There's going to be scandal.
There's going to be sinful actions. I don't care who you're talking
about. It is impossible, but that offenses will come. Now
he's also, and he goes on to say, but woe unto that man by
whom that offense comes. He says it would be better for
them for a millstone to be tied around their neck, and that they
were drowned in the depths of the sea, then they should offend
one of these little ones. But it's impossible. It's impossible,
but the defenses shall come. I tell you this also, it's impossible
to preach the gospel and not offend people. If I don't, if
I'm not offending anybody, I'm not preaching the gospel. I'll
tell you what, it is a blessing to me in preaching the gospel.
And I'm not talking about, understand what I'm saying, I want people
to be offended. I want them to hear what I'm saying. Now, I'm
not talking about I want them to be offended by me, by me acting like a jerk.
I'm talking about the truth of the gospel. I want to see men
and women offended. I'll tell you what, until you
get mad, you're never going to get glad. You haven't really
heard. You haven't really heard. It's impossible, but that offenses
will come. And then our text in Hebrews
chapter 11, would you turn back over there? Hebrews chapter 11. Verse 5,
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death,
and he was not found. Because God had translated him.
For before his translation, he had this testimony. And this
is God's testimony concerning him. He pleased God. And this
is God's testimony regarding every believer. He pleases God. But, without faith, now do you
hear this? Without faith, it is impossible
to please Him. I believe that the Bible teaches
that God chose... I know the Bible teaches that
God chose who'd be saved. And those people were justified
in the mind and purpose of God before time began. I believe
in eternal justification. God's people have always been
justified in His sight. Now, if anybody hears that and
thinks, well, is faith not necessary? Yes, faith is necessary. You
will not be saved apart from faith. And if someone hears of
God's justifying work and thinks somehow I can be disobedient
to the gospel, you've missed it. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. But what's faith? Lord said to those blind men,
do you believe that I'm able to do this? And they said, yes, Lord, that
is faith. Do you believe he's able to do
this? Yes, Lord, that is faith. Now without faith, It is impossible
to please God. Now, let's see two men in the
Niagara River. They're going toward the falls. They've fallen out of their boat
and they're getting swept by the current. They were powerless
to get themselves out. Here they are, swept to go over
the falls. A man on the shore throws out
a rope. And one fellow grabs that rope.
And the fellow beside him, he grabs a log. going on. And he holds it just as tight
as that fellow with the rope. Now, what good did grabbing that
log going down the stream do him? Absolutely nothing. But faith
connects us. This is God's way of connecting
us with the Lord Jesus Christ. That one who grabbed the rope,
and that's what faith is, He is the one who's connected to
the man who keeps him from going over the Niagara. Faith connects
me to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I've said this before. Faith
doesn't save me. Christ saves me. Faith didn't
die for my sins. Christ died for my sins. Faith
didn't establish a righteousness before the law for me. Christ
established a righteousness before the law for me. Faith believes
that. And the only evidence that Christ
has done anything for me is faith. Faith in Him. Without faith,
it is impossible to please Him. Now we're going to observe the
Lord's table together. And the Lord said, This do in remembrance
of me. This do in remembrance of me. So as we observe the Lord's table,
I pray that God will give us the grace to remember when we
take the bread, we remember His broken body. We remember the
wrath He endured. We remember that this is what
I had coming and He took it for me. We remember the wrath he
endured. And when we drink the wine, we
remember the salvation he secured. I am rejoicing in that God's
pleased with me. Like Abel, I'm righteous. Like Enoch, I please God. Isn't it wonderful what the work
of Christ does for His people? So this is a celebration all
believers are to partake. Let's pray.