When you turn back to Second
Corinthians, chapter one. While you're turning there, we
need adults to volunteer to help us with vacation Bible school
this week, there's a sign up sheet in the foyer and also there's
a sign up sheet for the activity that's going to take place on
Thursday afternoon, whatever kids going needs to sign that.
I'm looking forward to this week. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, I've entitled
this message, A Good Death Sentence. A Good Death Sentence. Let me read my text once again. Verse 8, For we would not rather have
you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were
pressed, burdened down, out of measure, above strength, insomuch
that we despaired even of life. We had the sentence of death
in ourselves. That we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raiseth the dead. A good death sentence. Now this message has nothing
to do with our view of capital punishment, either for or against. The death sentence is the sentence
that Paul speaks of when he said, we had the sentence of death
in ourselves. Now what a blessing when someone
is enabled. by the Spirit of God to pass
this sentence on themselves. And it's my prayer that everybody
in this room is going to pass this sentence of death on themselves
this morning. And without this taking place,
faith is impossible. We cannot believe, apart from
this death sentence, that Paul speaks of in this passage of
scripture. In verse 8 of our text, Paul
said, For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble
which came to us in Asia. Paul tells us something about
something that took place in Asia. Perhaps it was a series
of trials. We know that in Asia he was stoned. in Lystra, and we know that there
was a big uproar and riot in Ephesus. Everywhere he went he
was persecuted. He was hounded from city to city
by the Jews. And it also appears that at this
time he was very physically sick, and he carried with him that
thorn in the flesh that he speaks of in this same book. So he says,
During this time in Asia, we were pressed. We were burdened
down. We were weighted down beyond
measure. We could not take the weight.
It was beyond our strength to cope. And this is Paul the Apostle
saying this. It was beyond our strength to
cope to the point that we were brought to despair. We saw no
way out. Paul, where's your faith? Why, you yourself are the one
who wrote in Romans 8, 28, we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the cause according
to His purpose. Where's your faith? How can you become so
overcome? that you speak like this. You know, if we knew ourselves as
we should, we'd never ask somebody else that question. We just wouldn't. Verse 9, But we had the sentence of death
in ourselves That we should not trust in ourselves but in God
which raiseth the dead. But, I love the word but in the
scriptures. It's sometimes translated, nevertheless,
it's a very special word in the Bible. Although that we were
brought into such a state of distress and despair, being overcome,
but we had a sentence of death in ourselves. A death sentence.
A death sentence. You know what a death sentence
is? When someone's sentenced to death, that's it. We had a
sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raises the dead. We were brought to not
trust in ourselves any more than we would trust in a dead corpse
to do something for us. We had the sentence of death
within ourselves. We can't trust ourselves in any
aspect of our salvation any more than we can trust a dead corpse. We had the sentence of death
within ourselves. Now, self-trust, it's a great
evil. Self-trust. It's the child of
self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is any righteousness
that comes from self. It's a killer. It's a lie. Self-righteousness is the biggest
lie that there ever was because there is no righteousness that
comes from the self. And if I trust myself, I'm trusting
that which is filthy and obnoxious to God. Are those words too strong? We should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raises the dead. Self-trust is a great evil
we're all liable to, and it brings us under the curse of God. Listen
to this scripture from Jeremiah 17, verse 5, Thus saith the Lord,
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his
arm, whose heart departed from the Lord. In Philippians chapter
3, verse 3, Paul said, We are the circumcision which worship
God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. Did you hear that? No confidence
in the flesh. Now by the flesh, he's not just
talking about this stuff we feel. My flesh, my skin, my bones,
my blood, and so on. He's talking about fallen human
nature. That's what he's talking about
when he's talking about the flesh. He's talking about the way I
was born. The way I came into this world. Fallen human nature. We have no confidence in the
flesh. We do not have any more confidence
in ourselves in doing anything to save ourselves. Any more than
we have confidence in a dead man to get up and walk. We have
no confidence in our flesh. Our confidence is in God who
raises the dead. Now, if you died and I mean graveyard
dead, I mean, die, you don't breathe anymore, your heart's
not pumping, you're dead. If you died, how much ability
do you have to raise yourself from the dead? And that's an
easy question to answer, isn't it? We have absolutely no ability. Ephesians 2, 1 says, and you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now,
this deadness speaks of our inability, our complete lack of ability
to do anything to please God, to do anything to save ourselves.
Dead! Dead! The sentence of death in
yourself. You can't look to yourself for
a thing. dead in trespasses and sins. Go to the dead man and
say, now, if you of your own free will decide to live, you
could live. What would somebody say to you? They say you're crazy.
That's wrong. What's the difference between
that and preachers getting up before people and saying, if
you of your free will decide to believe you can live? There's
really no difference. No difference. But while no man has any ability
to raise the dead, God does. Look at our text again. But we
have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not
trust in ourselves, but in God, which raises the dead. Who is the only one who can raise
the dead? You know the answer to that question.
Everybody in here knows the answer to that question. No man has
the ability to raise anybody from the dead. But God does. And in the Bible, we read of
three resurrections. We read of the bodily resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was laying in a tomb, dead.
I don't understand how that can be, how the God-man died, but
there he lays in that tomb, dead. And all of a sudden, he opens
his eyes. He's raised from the dead, and
he walks out of that tomb, having been raised from the dead. And
then we read of the spiritual resurrection of the believer. And you, hath he quickened, hath
he raised, hath he given life to, who were dead? dead in trespasses
and sins. That's a spiritual resurrection.
It's what's called being born again, being born from above. It's the new birth when God puts
life in you who were dead, the spiritual resurrection. And then
we read of the final resurrection when the dead will be raised. Now, in all of these resurrections,
it is completely the work of God, isn't it? The main thought in verse 9,
that we have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should
not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead, the
main thought is that we have, me and you, all men, without
any exception, We have no strength, no ability, and we are completely
dependent upon God to do that for us, which is impossible for
us to do ourselves. While things are impossible for
us, all things are possible with
God. Now, if you've never had the
sentence of death passed upon yourself, you're not going to
like this message. And I don't want to say that in some kind
of cocksure, arrogant way. I want to say this in a way of
brokenness. Now, I've been thinking about
this thing of preaching. The only way to preach, first
of all, is with boldness. May God grant me boldness, but also
with brokenness, with a broken heart. And I want to preach that
way. But if you haven't had this sentence of death in yourself,
you're not going to like this message. And the reason you're
not going to like this message is it's going to say what you're
hoping. It is no good. That's why you
won't like this message. You'll find it offensive. I know
that if you've not had this sentence of death in yourself, you're
going to be offended with this message. But if you've had this sentence
of death in yourself where you can't find anything in yourself
that would make you think God would save you, this message
is going to be glorious to you. Now, it's my prayer that this
message will be glorious. to every person here. Now, with that in mind, there's
three scriptures I want us to consider. Now, remember the thought
of Paul. We're not to trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raises the dead. That means we're completely
dependent upon him. Totally dependent. We can't look
for a thing out of ourselves. We're totally dependent upon
him. Now, with that in mind, turn with me to Matthew chapter
19. Matthew chapter 19, verse 16 of Matthew chapter 19. Now, remember, before we read
this passage of scripture, what we're thinking about, we're thinking
about what's impossible with men raising the dead. And what is possible with God
raising the dead, keep that in mind, verse 16. And behold, one
came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall
I do, that I may have eternal life? And he saith unto him,
Why callest thou me good? There is none good, but one That
is God. Now, somebody may be thinking,
why did the Lord say this? He's good. Well, the Lord knew
that this man was coming to him as another man. Good master. You're a good man. What can I
do to bring myself up to your goodness? He knew that this man
had no idea that he was God manifested in the flesh. He was just a good
man. And that's why the Lord rebukes him for calling him a
good man. Verse 18, verse 17, there's none good but one that
is God, but If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. I love the simplicity. Okay,
if you want to do something good, keep the commandments. 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. honor thy father and mother,
and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto him,
All these have I kept from my youth up. What lack I yet? If you're familiar with the Ten
Commandments, before I go on reading, did you notice one that
is not mentioned, thou shalt not covet. Verse 21, 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. He was a very rich man, a very
covetous man. Yet, seemingly a good man, I
mean, he said regarding these commandments, all these have
I kept from my youth up. He didn't, but he thought he
did. He thought he did. He didn't understand what the
commandments really were. Verse 23. Then said Jesus unto 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 an eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. When his disciples
heard, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can
be saved? Here is the best example we have
of humanity. This fellow? This respectful,
rich, young ruler who said, All these have I kept from my youth
up. He can't be saved. When he can't be saved, who then
can be saved? Verse 26, But Jesus beheld them, and said
unto them, With men this is impossible. With men, salvation is impossible. If it's up to men, salvation
is an impossibility. Now would you please listen to
me very carefully. All God has to do is leave us
alone. And every one of us will split
hell wide open. That's all it takes. All he's
got to do is leave us alone. If any aspect of salvation is
dependent upon man, nobody will be saved. If any part of salvation
is dependent upon you doing your part, you and I will not be saved. Now, do you hear that? Well, can't I decide to be saved? What about free will? It's a lie out of hell, forged
by the devil himself. Now, do you hear that? This notion
of free will is a lie from hell, forged by the devil himself. It's what he tried to use with
Eve in the garden. That's the temptation he used.
Why? If you eat this fruit, you'll
be just like God. You'll know good and evil and
the difference between the two. And you'll be able to make the
choice of the good over the evil. And that's what will make you
like God. See, right now, you're nothing but a robot. But if you
eat this fruit, you'll have a glorious free will. And you'll be able
to choose the good over the bad. And that'll make you like God.
And she bit the hook. She bit the hook. You know, this
very idea of free will I can choose to be saved. I can choose
to believe. I can choose. If you believe in free will,
you've never once asked God for mercy. You believe salvation
is in your hands. You believe somehow you've got
some control of this. And that is not so. Free will is a lie. And if you
believe free will, you do not believe the gospel. Now, underline
that. Write it down. You believe three
will, you do not believe the gospel. There's not a thing I can do
to save myself or make myself more likely to be saved with
me, and it's impossible. Turn to John 6. I want you to
see this. John 6. John chapter 6. Look what the
Lord says in verse 44. No man can come to me. Do you see that? No man has the
ability to come to me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. There's not
a thing I can do. I can't even come to Christ unless
He causes me to. I can't believe. I can't repent.
I can't love. I can't think a good thought.
I can't do a good thing. All I am in and of myself is
sin unless God, well, that's what I am. And my only hope is
for God to do something for me. Salvation is impossible. Do you hear that? Salvation is
impossible for the natural man. If God leaves me to myself, I'll
split hell wide open. Who then can be saved? With men,
it's impossible. And until I see this, I'm living
a lie. Preacher, you're not giving us
any hope. Well, not in this flesh. I'm not giving us any hope in
this flesh. The Bible doesn't give us any hope in this flesh.
But look at Matthew chapter 19, verse 26. But Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." With God, all things are possible. That sets us up to the second
scripture. Turn to Luke 1. Luke 1. And this is when the angel came
to Mary. Verse 30. Now, remember, Mary is a virgin. She has never known a man. She's a virgin. Now, humanly
speaking, how possible is it for a virgin to have a baby? Under no circumstance, under
no scenario, humanly speaking, can a virgin have a baby? It's
impossible. But look what the Lord says,
verse 30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for
thou hast found favor with God, and behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and 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 forever 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? If some young woman in this congregation
became with child and says, I've never known a man, we wouldn't
believe him, would we? We wouldn't believe them. How can this be? He's saying, I've never known
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 hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this
is the sixth month with her who is called barren. For with God
nothing shall be impossible. Now with man salvation is impossible,
but not with God. For with God nothing shall be
impossible. How can a virgin have a child? With God, nothing shall be impossible. God became flesh. How? With God, nothing shall
be impossible. God in flesh kept God's holy
law. God in the flesh dies. God in the flesh is raised from
the dead. With God, nothing shall be impossible. Now, remember what Paul said.
He said we had the sentence of death within ourselves that we
should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raises the
dead. Now, because the impossible took
place, God became flesh. God in the flesh died. God in the flesh was raised from
the dead. Because the impossible took place,
a sinful man, like me, can be without sin before God. A guilty man, like me, can be
without guilt before God. A dead sinner can be born again. A believing sinner will be perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ, saved from sin. Now let's go
back to this thing of Christ dying. I want to talk about that
for a moment. When Paul had this sentence of
death in himself, it was that he might not trust himself but
with God which raises the dead, which is a reference to the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did Christ die? What's your answer to that? Why
did Christ die? He did die in the flesh. Why
did he die? There's only one reason for death.
What is that reason? Sin. That's the only reason for
death. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ never
committed a sin in his person. He said, which of you can convince
me of sin? The scripture says he knew no
sin. He never, ever committed a sin
in his person, yet he died. Remember, the wages of sin is
death. You see, the sins of his people
became his. God did not treat him as if he
was guilty and then punish him. He punished him because he was
guilty. My sin became his to this extent. He was guilty. And when God poured
his wrath upon him, it's because he deserved it. It's hard to
say that, but it's so. You see, God's just. God will
only punish the guilty. He won't punish the innocent.
He didn't look at Christ, I know you're innocent, but I'm going
to treat you if you're not. No, that would be unjust on God's
part. The Scripture says he that justifies the wicked and he that
condemns the just, they both alike are an abomination to God. Christ died because of sin. My sin became his. And why was
he raised? Because my sin was put away by
what he did. And now the impossible takes
place. Now you listen to me real carefully.
One thing that's impossible for me to be is holy. But with God, nothing should
be impossible. Because of what Christ did, I
am holy. That means I don't have any sin. That's impossible. with God. But with God, all things are
possible. I can be what I'm not. And that's
really what I am. That's the mystery of godliness.
And I cannot be what I am. But with God, all things are
possible. I am in and of myself nothing
but sin. That's just the truth. In my
flesh, like Paul said, dwells no good thing. That's what I
am. But in Christ, I am without sin. I'm perfect. I'm justified
before God. With God, nothing shall be impossible. This is the glory of the Gospel.
This is the great divine mystery of godliness. How God can be
just and yet justify the ungodly. I've been talking about man with
man. It's impossible. As far as me doing anything to save
myself, it ain't going to happen. It's impossible. Not with God. For with God all things are possible. I can be just before, I am just
before God through the gospel. Is that possible? Well, is it
possible for a virgin to have a child? Humanly speaking, totally impossible. But not with God. For with God
all things are possible. This leads me to the third scripture.
Turn to Mark chapter 9. This is what we'll close with. Mark chapter 9. Who then can be saved? With men,
what is it? Impossible. Impossible. That's God's testimony. But not
with God. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. Now, turn to Mark 9. Let's begin
reading in verse 14. And when he came to his disciples,
he saw a great multitude about them, and describes questioning
with them. And straightway all the people,
when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, running to him, saluted
him. And he asked the scribes, What
question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath
a dumb spirit. And wheresoever he taketh him,
he teareth him, and he foameth and gnasheth with his teeth,
and pines away. And I spake to the disciples
that they should cast him out, and they couldn't do it. He answered
him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I suffer you? What do you think of the Lord
being here on this earth? Bring him to me. There's the
remedy right there. Bring him to me. And they brought
him unto him, and when he saw him straightway despaired, Terry,
he fell on the ground and wallow foaming. And he asked his father,
how long is it ago since this came into him? He said of a child
and oft times it had cast him into the fire and into the waters
to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything. Have compassion on us and help
us. Now, wait a minute. Who's he
talking to? He's talking to God, the son.
If you can do anything. Nothing shall be impossible with
God. He's speaking to God. If thou
canst do anything, let's go on reading. The Lord turns the tables. Verse 23, Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, All things
are possible to him that believeth. Look at the honor the Lord places
upon faith. All things are possible to him
that believeth. The Lord said several times to
people, thy faith, thy faith. have saved thee, thy faith hath
made thee whole. If you have faith as a grain
of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence
to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be
impossible to you. Now why does the Lord place such
honor upon faith that he says, Thy faith has saved thee? I can answer that question. Because
faith puts all the honor upon him. And it rests completely
in him. Paul the Apostle put it this
way. In 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse 12, he said, I know
whom I have believed. He didn't say I know what I believe.
I know what I believe. Well, do you know whom you believe?
I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that He is
able. I am convinced that He is able
to keep that which I committed to Him against that day. Here's
what I committed to Him. The salvation of my immortal
soul. My hands are off. I mean, I have
no, nothing to do with this. It's what He does. And I'm persuaded. I'm convinced He's able to keep
that which I've committed to Him against that day. I'm persuaded
that He's able to present me before God on Judgment Day, and
God's going to look at me and say, He's perfect. He has no
sin. Are you persuaded of that? Are you persuaded that He is
able to save you with no help from you? Now that's what faith is. It's
believing his ability. Now look what this poor fellow
says after the Lord says this to him. Verse 24. If you can believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried
out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine Unbelief. You see, I believe. And there's not a time when I
do not have unbelief in my spirits. You see, I've got something called
an old nature and that old nature never believes. But the new nature
does. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Now, have you had this sentence
of death in yourself? I want you to deal with this.
I want me to deal with it. We had the sentence of death
within ourselves that we're not going to look to ourselves in
any aspect of salvation any more than we would look to a dead
corpse with no life at all. What can he do for you? Absolutely
nothing. We should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raises the dead. And God has raised the
dead. He raised Christ from the dead.
And the reason Christ was raised from the dead was because he
did what he came to do. He put away the sins of all that
he represented. God raised Christ from the dead.
And the fact that I believe the gospel right now tells me he
raised me from spiritual death. And one of these days, I'm going
to be raised perfectly conformed to the image of his son. I've
had the sins of death in myself that I should not trust in myself,
but in God, which raises the dead. May the Lord work that
in our hearts for his glory. Let's pray together.