When I was a boy, there was a
TV series on, I think it came on every week, called Mission
Impossible. I don't understand they've made a movie by the same
title in recent years. I haven't seen that, but I used
to watch that TV program occasionally. And there were some super agents
of some kind who every week were assigned impossible missions
to accomplish. And they, with great punctuality
every week, accomplished their impossible mission. Obviously,
the missions weren't impossible. But there are some things that
are impossible. I mean impossible. And I want
to talk to you this morning about some of those things. As I prepared
this message, I was really very surprised. to discover how sparingly
the word of God uses this word impossible. It's used very, very
seldom in either the Old or New Testament. In fact, it's not
even used in the Old Testament, only in the New. And I want to
show you several things declared in this book that God says are
impossible. We'll begin in Matthew chapter
19. Matthew 19. You know the context. Our Lord
Jesus has just had an interview with a rich young ruler, a man
who was rich materially and a man who thought he was rich spiritually,
a man who had a lot of money in his pocket and thought he
had a lot of goodness in his heart. And the Lord Jesus, after
speaking to this man and him going away sorrowful because
he had much with riches, declared it's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of heaven. And the disciples looked at that
man and looked at one another with astonishment. And they said,
if this fellow can't make it, if this fellow can't make it,
if he is a lost man, if this man cannot enter into the kingdom
of God, who then can be saved? Look at verse 26. Jesus beheld them and said unto
them, with men, this is impossible. With men, this is impossible. Now let's go back up and begin
reading in verse 26. Behold, one came and said unto
him, Good master, good master, what good thing shall I do that
I may have eternal life. Now that's the arrogant presumption
of all men. All men by nature presume that
they can do something good by which to inherit eternal life
from God Almighty. Verse 17, Matthew 19, 17. And
the Lord Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? Why callest thou me good? Have
you ever, I know you have, noticed how often, how regularly our
Lord's dealing with men, the way his apostles and disciples
dealt with men, is totally contrary to the way the religious world
deals with men. Preachers these days bow and scrape and grovel
before men and women as though somehow God Almighty just could
not continue to live if they didn't come and do him a favor.
When men came to our master, he dealt with them plainly. He
confronted them always at that point where they were most rebellious. He dealt with them always at
that place where they were most in opposition to the gospel of
his grace. Not one time did he sidetrack,
and not one time did he go around, and not one time did he try to,
well, let's use a little sugar and get folks to listen to us. But rather, he dealt honestly
with men's souls. And this man comes to him and
says, good master. Well, what was wrong with that?
By doing so, the man was expressing, he was expressing his own hypocrisy,
for he was not one of the master's disciples. And at the same time,
he was dealing with things that were beyond what he said, and
the Lord Jesus confronts him. He said, now why'd you call me
good? Why did you call me good? He said, you know there's none
good but God. Now then, are you prepared to
confess me as God? That was the issue. Don't come to me and call me
a master while you deny my divinity. Don't come to me and call me
a good teacher while you deny that I'm God Almighty. Why callest
thou me good? There's none good but one, that
is God. But if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. This young man came to the master
and said to him, now I want to know what it is that you would
have me to do that I may inherit eternal life. And the master
said to him, all right, you want to work your way to heaven? I'll
tell you how you do it. Here's what you do. You keep the commandments. And this fellow said, well, which
one? What are you talking about? Well, I've always kept the commandments.
I've never been a drunk. I've been going to church all
my life. I've never been an adulterer. I've never been a thief. I've
never been a liar. I've never been a cheat. I've
been to church all my life. What are you talking about? Which
commandments? And the master said to him, Thou shalt do no
murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother,
and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And the fellow said,
well, I've always done that. I've always done that. You haven't told me anything
new. And then the Lord Jesus stuck his finger in his heart. The man said, what lack I yet?
The master said, if you'll be perfect, go and sell everything
you have and give it to the poor. Let's see if you love your neighbor
as yourself. Come on now, let's see. Well, I didn't know the
commandment meant that. Yes, it did. I didn't know God
required perfection in this man. I didn't know. God demanded absolute
surrender in this thing. Oh, that's what you didn't know.
And the master stuck his finger right in this one. He said, all
right, now you go sell everything you've got. Give it to the poor
and follow me. Verse 22, when young men heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful. How come? He had great possessions. He had He had a lot of money
in his pocket, and he had a lot of righteousness in his heart,
and he wasn't willing to give up either one. Then said Jesus
to his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall
hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say unto
you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Now, I've
told you this before, but it's worth repetition. When you read
notes being put in the bottom of Bibles, they'll tell you that
it's talking about a little hole in the wall where they call it
the needle's eye going in the city of Jerusalem where a camel
had to unload him and he had to kind of stoop down and squeeze
through that hole. That's not what the Master's
saying, because the camel can't get through that hole. He's saying
it's easier for a camel. to crawl through the eye of a
needle you can't get a piece of thread through. And it is
for a rich man that it came with heaven. It ain't going to happen. It ain't going to happen. Well,
who then can say that this is how the Master responded with
men? This is impossible. Now, there
are many, many reasons given in Scripture why a man cannot,
a man cannot, no man. You listen to me, you young people,
Older as well. Nobody here can enter into the
kingdom of God if it's left up to you. All you've got to do is exercise
your will, fine. All you've got to do is make a decision for
Jesus, give it a shot. All you've got to do is say a
little prayer, everything will be all right. Our Lord said no man can enter
into the kingdom of God unless he's born again. He can't even
see it, much less enter into it. He doesn't see his need. He doesn't know he's a sinner. He doesn't know there's anything
wrong. He doesn't know anything about
the Redeemer. He knows nothing about righteousness and atonement.
He knows nothing about God. He can't see much less enter
into it. Now there are many, many reasons. Let me give you
just five. Five that are particularly relevant in this passage. First,
no man, no man is able to obtain God's salvation is left to himself
because he hates God. That's the problem. You see,
unbelief is not just a sort of passive thing. Unbelief is not
just something that men either have it or don't and it really
doesn't matter. Unbelief, Lindsay, is man in his heart with his
fist shoved square in God's face saying, I will not bow to you. Unbelief is, I'm the captain
of my soul. I'm the master of my soul, the
captain of my faith. Unbelief is the heart's enmity
of a man that says, no, I will not bow to Christ as Lord. No, I will not surrender. No, I will not have him as my
Lord. If I were to get men and women
to be honest, here or anywhere else, if I could persuade anybody that
all there is to this business of salvation is you say, I believe
in Jesus and you're going to heaven, and you quit doing a
few bad things after all this, you're getting old enough, you're
smart enough to know that you can't be a drunk or a dope head
all your life. You're smart enough to know you can't function in
this world if you're living promiscuity all your life. So you straighten
up. You say, well, that ain't too
bad. That's all right. Rex, that's not the problem.
Never has been the problem. The problem is that men won't
submit to the dominion of Christ. That's what faith is. That's
what faith is. People make a little decision
for Christ and they say they believe in Christ. Gina is about to confess him
in believers baptism. This is what we confess. He's
my Lord. He's my Lord. That means he calls
the shots. That means he's boss. That means
I surrender to him. That means my life, not mine.
I'm not my own. I've been bought with a price.
That's what faith is. No man, if left to himself, will
ever be saved. Because the depravity of our
nature means we have no ability to come to Christ. I know preachers
everywhere will tell you that, you know, salvation is like this. God's done everything he can,
and now it's up to you. Others will say, God's done everything
he will, now it's up to you. Let me tell you something. If
God's done everything he will and you're still lost, You're
lost forever. If God leaves you to yourself,
you're going to hell. If God leaves you alone, you
will never come to Christ. I don't care how many evangelistic
meetings you go to. I don't care how many revivals
you hear. I don't care how many times you say the sinner's prayer.
I don't care how many times you've been baptized. If God Almighty
leaves you to yourself, you will perish forever under the wrath
of God. How come? Our Lord said, no man
can come to me. You don't have it within the
realm of your ability left to yourself to come to Christ. Can't
be done. Can't be done. You see, man's
dead. Dead man can't do anything. He's
not just weak, he's not just sick. Man by nature is dead in
trespasses and in sins. If anything is done by him, he
must first be given life. Otherwise, he remains dead. The
only way a sinner will ever come to Christ is if the Lord Jesus
Christ comes to the tomb of your dead heart and says as he did
at the tomb of Lazarus, come forth. And if he speaks the word of
grace to you. You will come forth unto life
everlasting. But there's another reason. The
bondage of our will prevents us from coming to him. Not only
is it true that no man can come. You shouldn't get too upset with
that because you don't want to anyhow. You know what it said
in John 5 order? You will not come to me. You'll
come to the church. You'll come to the water's baptism,
you'll come to a preacher, you'll come to an author, you'll come
to a morning's bench, you'll come to Mass, you'll come to
the Pope, you'll come to a priest, you'll come to some mystic, you'll
come to some filthy guru sitting on his knees in India, dressed
in a dirty robe. But you won't come to Christ.
You won't do it. How come? Because you've come
to Him. You've got the knowledge that
you've got to have Him. You come to Him, you've got to
acknowledge that He is the only way you'll ever find acceptance
with God. His blood alone can put away
your sin. His righteousness alone can make
you stand accepted with God Almighty. Coming to Him means you shut
everything else out. You will not come to me. And fourthly,
man's love of the world won't let him come. Why won't men come? Because they
love the way things are. It's not just loving money Larry,
it's loving the world. The whole thing. The whole thing. Why won't you come? I know why
you won't come. Because you like living just
exactly like you live. You like having just exactly
what you have. You like the way things are now.
Oh your conscience troubles you a little, you'd like to get rid
of that. You sometimes have trouble sleeping at night, you'd like
to put an end to that. You have a little trouble thinking about
judgment and eternity, you'd like to fix that up. But you
love the way you live, and so you stay right where you are. And men won't come to Christ
because, really, in their own eyes, they don't have any need. I sure would like to be saved.
You're lying. You're lying. I sure wish I knew the Lord.
You're lying to yourself. Lying to me. That's not so. That
just isn't so. If you wanted him, you'd drink.
If you wanted the bread of life, you'd eat. If you wanted a master,
you'd fall at his feet and you'd cry like that leper, Lord save
me. If you will, you can make me whole. But the fact is, you
really think you're pretty good. You really think, you know, you've
got some trouble, but you really think that after all, when you
stand before God, I feel messed up a little bit. I know I've
done some bad things. I know I ought not to have said
the things I said. I ought not to have done the
things I did. I ought not to have been in places I was, but
I ain't that bad. I ain't that bad. Let me tell
you something. If you were the most strict,
upright, righteous, moral, holy man who ever lived on this earth,
except that one who is the God-man himself, the very best goodness
you've got, Bob Duff, is enough to send you to hell forever.
It's filthy rags. Filthy rags. You see, the penny that makes you think you're fit
for God's acceptance is your rebellion and hatred of God Almighty. We live for ourselves, and if
God leaves us alone, we'll die for ourselves. With men, this
is impossible. Oh, but thank God he didn't leave
it there. But with God, Even you'd be saved. With God? Old Don Fortner? Yeah, him too. With God? All things are possible. There's no such thing as a sinner
beyond the reach of omnipotent mercy. There's no such thing
as a sinner beyond the reach of God's outstretched arm. There's
no such thing as a sinner God can't save. No such thing. I don't care if you find them
in the whorehouse, the jailhouse, or the church house. There's
no such thing as a sinner beyond the reach of mercy. All right,
turn to Luke chapter 17. Here's something else that's
impossible. I deliberately stayed there most of the time. I'll
run through these next, but I think you'll find them instructive. Then said he unto the disciples,
it is impossible, but the offenses will come. And let me tell you Listen to me, my brothers and
sisters. Listen to me now. Young and old, listen to me. It's impossible to follow Christ
and not a fan man. It's impossible. It's impossible. Our Lord tells us by the Apostle
Paul, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution. Now you look at that and consider
what it means. Do you mean that a man will suffer persecution
if he doesn't steal? I don't think so. Do you mean
somebody's going to suffer persecution if they don't lie? I don't think
so. Do you mean a person's going
to suffer persecution if they Don't dress like everybody else
does if women don't run around naked with the rear end showing?
Men don't run around with earrings in their nose and in their ears?
Don't think so. Don't think so. You men first are going to suffer
persecution if they're not murderers or adulterers, harlots, whoremongers,
thieves. No, no. But you will suffer persecution
if you plainly declare before men, Merle Hart, Your only hope
before God is free grace in a substitute. That's what it is to live godly
in Christ Jesus. Remember, I told you the whole
religious world was dead wrong about everything. All it'll take for you, Lindsay,
tomorrow morning to have everybody in your office riled with you.
So mad they could bite nails into and kick you out on your
ears if they thought they'd get by with it. is to declare to
them their God is no God at all, and their righteousness is nothing
but filthy rags, and the only way they can ever stand before
God Almighty is in this substitute. Well, I believe. I believe they're
coming along. I hear folks all the time, well,
I believe he's coming along now. I believe he's making progress. You come along into religious
deception. We declare to men the claims
of Christ in the gospel, demanding, I demand in the name of God that
you bow to the authority of Christ and bow to his righteousness
and bow to his blood or you're going to hell. That's all there
is to it. Now let's see how far along you
come. We won't have that. We won't
have that. You can't talk to me that way. You see, the offense of the cross
has not ceased and it's not going to cease. Religion is not offensive. Self-righteousness is not offensive
to anybody but God. Your imaginary goodness is not
offensive. Nothing offends, nothing offends
except the gospel of free grace. For the gospel declares the only
way you'll ever know God is if he makes himself known to you.
But preacher, I'm smart. With regard to spiritual things,
you're dumber than a box of rocks. You don't know anything. Nothing.
When you start, when you try to minister to folks, no point
in arguing with them, Bobby. No point in trying to reason
with them. They don't know. You got to begin at ground zero.
So you just declare the truth to them. They don't know. Well,
that offends man's pride. That's what I'm saying. If God Almighty passes you by,
you're going to hell. Well, you can't talk to me that
way. Who do you think I am? You're God's property. He can
do with you what he will. It's exactly right. The only
way on this earth you can ever have any atonement for your sin
is by the blood of God's Son. That's all. The only righteousness
there is in this world that God Almighty will smile upon, accept,
and approve of is the righteousness that he himself has established
in the obedience of his son as a man. And either you'll be robed
in his righteousness, or you'll bear his frown forever. All right,
thirdly, look in Acts chapter 2, verse 24. And learn this, it was impossible
for the Lord Jesus Christ, when he had borne the wrath of God
as our substitute, to the full satisfaction of divine justice,
to remain in the tomb. Impossible. That's 224. Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, Because it was not possible that he should
be holding the dead. Wasn't possible. Peter is here
preaching on the day of Pentecost, declaring that Christ is that
one of whom David was a titan. That he's ascended up into heaven.
The Lord has shown him the path of life. He would not allow his
souls to see corruption. But on the third day raised him
from the dead because it was not possible for death to hold
him. I'll give you one very good reason.
Just watch. How come the Lord Jesus had to
come out of that tomb? How come? How come his body had
to be raised from the dead? Preacher, you surely don't believe
that he really came out of the tomb. Why, sure I do. If I didn't,
I'd close this book up and go do something else. Sure I do. How come he had to? Tell me what
death is. Anybody know what death paid
me for? The wages of sin is death. And when he had paid the debt
and sin was no more, death couldn't hold him. It couldn't hold him. He had to come out of the tomb. What's so significant about that?
I hope you don't have to ask, but let me tell you anyhow. It's impossible. Are you listening to me? It's
impossible for the grave to hold this man. Ain't gonna happen. Ain't gonna
happen. In fact, death for the believer
is no longer death. But rather it is entrance into
life and but the resting place for this body until resurrection
glorious. And it's not possible. You'll
take me out one of these days if the Lord doesn't come first
and you're going to lay me in the ground. I hope maybe a few
of you care to be shed so I shall remission. But smile how you
do and understand he's not dead, he's living. And soon he's coming
up again. How come? Because of God no sin. The debt's been paid. Justice
is satisfied. The preacher you tell us all,
tell me how sinful you are. You understand what I'm saying,
don't you? I've got no sin before God. No sin in the record books. No debt on the ledger. Everything's
clear. And debt cannot hold that one
whom God declares to be freed from sin. Look in Hebrews chapter
6. Verse four. It's impossible for apostates
to recover. Impossible. Impossible. I can't tell you
how I fear and tremble for the souls of men, when I
see them gradually begin to decline in the world, it just keeps pulling,
tugging, pulling, tugging, pulling, tugging. And they're gone. And it's not often It's not often,
not even very seldom. I've seen many abandon the gospel because of immorality. I've seen
it happen a few times, but not often. Or abandon the gospel
because they decided to become outlaws. Or abandon the gospel
because suddenly they became drunks. But the cares of the world. Raising
a family. Taking care of a family. The
deceitfulness of riches. I got to get this. I can't let
this go. Choke out the word. And I'll tell you what I've never
seen. I'll tell you what I've never seen. In 30 years pastoring,
I've never seen one forsake Christ and the worship of God the gospel
of God's grace and come back. I've never seen it happen. I've
never seen it. I see Ms. Colbert, you're older
than I have been around this thing a long time, have you?
I've never seen it happen. Never. Hebrews 6, 4. It is impossible for those who
were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and
were made protectors of the Holy Ghost. and tasted the good word
of God and the powers of the world to come. They know what
this is all about. They've acknowledged it. If they
shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, seeing they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to
an open shame. Sixth, skip down a few verses
to verse 18. Get hold of this one and rejoice.
It's impossible for God to lie. But to immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation
who fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
Now what does that mean? God can't lie. This is what that
means. Every sinner in all the world
who trusts God's Son has everlasting life. That's what it means. Do you
believe on the Son of God? Right where you are right now,
do you believe on the Son of God? Well preacher, I don't have
much faith in me either. That's what I want to ask. I
said, do you believe? But preacher, I'm so weak. I wouldn't want
to ask. I said, do you believe? But preacher, I haven't repented
enough. I wouldn't want to ask. Do you believe? Doth thou believe
on the Son of God? Bobby Estes, lock, stock and
barrel, for every shred of hope I had before God Almighty, the
only hope I have is Jesus Christ the Lord. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. God said it. And God can't lie. What does that mean? That means that those who stand before God as believers
to whom he's given life everlasting, what was described back here
in verse four, will never happen to them. They shall never perish. Oh, they'll fall. They'll stumble
around. They're messed up. They'll acknowledge
they're messed up all the time. But the Lord said, I give them
eternal life and they'll never perish. And they're going to
keep on holding on to me because I want to keep on holding on
to them. That means that God Almighty will never, ever, ever charge us with sin. Because he charged our sins on
his son. And he said, your sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. God can't lie. God can't lie. Now, I might remember them. I wish I could forget, but I'm
not good at it. I'm good at forgetting things off to remember, but things
off to forget, I'm good at remembering. But God Almighty won't remember
your sins against you if he puts your sins on his son. God can't lie. That means he'll
never leave you. He'll never forsake you. He'll
never turn away from you to do you good. That means he will
cause all things, all ways to work together for your good,
everlasting good. That means he'll keep you by
his grace, make you triumphant over all your enemies, and bring
you at last into glory. God can't lie. It's impossible. Look in Hebrews 10 verse 4. It's impossible for sin to be
put away. except by the blood of Christ. It is not possible that the blood
of bulls and of goats should take away sin. That's why Christ
came. He didn't come down here to just
give a display of goodness. He came down here because God's
just. And God Almighty cannot forgive sin apart from the satisfaction
of justice. Therefore he said, Lo, I come,
and a body hast thou prepared me, and the volume of books is
written to me. I do like to do thy will, O my God, by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ. The only way God in justice can forgive any sin is by infinite
satisfaction through the merits of an infinite substitute who
died under the infinite wrath One last thing, look in verse
six of chapter 11. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Without faith, it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he's the rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him. Some of you here are yet without
faith. And there's something that bothers
you. Something that bothers you. You
might not know what it is. I'll tell you what it is. Will
you listen to me for just a couple of minutes? I'll tell you what
it is. In your inmost being, in your
heart of hearts, in your conscience, when you give any thought at
all to eternity, you know that God almighty frowns
on you. He disapproves. Now you can bear me disapproving. You can bear mama and daddy disapproving.
But you can't bear God disapproving. God disapproves. God disapproves. And if God disapproves, you're
going to hell. And in your soul, You have no rest because you
know God disapproves. Look here, look here, look up
here. There's never been a mortal man who more fully earned God's crown
than one talking to you. But God smiles on me. Because I please Him. I do. I please Him. I please Him. I please Him. How on earth can
you please God? I believe His Son. And I offer
God, James, everything God requires. I offer him everything he is.
Perfect righteousness. Perfect satisfaction. Perfect
justice. I offer him his son. And the Lord God looks on believing
sinners through the merits and blood and person of his darling
son. And all he sees is his son. He says, this is my beloved son. In whom? In whom? I'm in him. I'm in him. In whom? I am well pleased. And that's what keeps me going.
That's what gives me peace. That's what sails my boat. That's
what calls you to walk out those doors and face a frowning world
with rest in your soul. May God give you faith in his
son. Amen.