Now Luke chapter 6 verse 6, Luke
chapter 6 verse 6, and it came to pass also on another Sabbath
day. Whenever we read this statement
in scripture and it came to pass. It didn't just happen by luck,
fate, or chance. It came to pass on purpose. God has an eternal purpose and
that purpose will be done. He said, I've spoken it, I've
purposed it, I will bring it to pass. It came to pass also
on another Sabbath that he, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, entered
into the synagogue. It was the assembly place of
the Jews. And he taught in the synagogue. And there was a man whose right
hand, there was a man whose right hand was withered. Here we see the great physician
and his patient. Here we see the great shepherd
of the sheep and one of those sheep for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died and he crossed there, he crossed his path and he made
him whole. I'm entitling the message from
this glorious story of this man whose hand was withered, gnarled,
useless. His hand was made whole, and
the title of the message is, Doing the Impossible. Doing the Impossible. This man could not heal his hand. No doubt he had dreams about
having a hand, a right hand that was healed, but he had no will,
power, or ability to heal himself. Our Lord taught in John chapter
15, our Lord said, without Me you can do nothing. Nothing. Mark it down. Without the Lord
Jesus Christ, we can do nothing physically, but especially spiritually. Without Him, we cannot believe.
Without Him, we cannot repent. Without Him, we cannot come to
the Lord Jesus Christ in saving mercy. Not without Him. The things
which are impossible, you remember the disciples asked, who then
can be saved? The things which are impossible
with man are possible with God. You see, with God, all things
are possible. Someone asked this question in
Scripture, anything too hard for the Lord? Come on, bring
it up. Anything too hard for the Lord?
He spoke this whole world and created this whole world with
the Word of His power. Now again, we find the Lord Jesus
Christ always going about doing the Father's will, doing the
Father's work. Remember He said in Luke chapter
2, I must be about my Father's business. Remember He told the
disciples, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and
to finish His work. Now notice carefully that the
Lord Jesus Christ is called the Lord of the Sabbath. Did you see that in verse 5?
He said unto them that the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. He is Lord of all things. There
in verse 5, He declared that He is the Lord, not only of the
Sabbath, but He's Lord of creation, Lord of providence, and Lord
of salvation. He's Lord of all things. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places. Whatever
the Lord does, mark it down, it's right. Everything He does
is right. He's the Lord of all things. The Son of Man is also the Son
of God. Being so, He's Lord of all things. He declared His Lordship. Now
in these verses following, He's going to demonstrate that He
is Lord. He declared it. Now He's going
to demonstrate the glorious fact that He indeed is Lord of all
things. The Apostles declared His Lordship,
this same Jesus whom you crucified is both Lord and Christ. of him, and through him, or to
him, or all things, to whom be glory both now and forever."
And the Apostle says, Amen. Now here's the first point. Notice
again in our text, verse 6 and verse 7, that the Lord healed
this man on the Sabbath day. Verse 7, the scribes and the
Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath
day that they might find an accusation, a reason to accuse him of being
a vile, wretched man. That's exactly what they thought.
They called him a wine-bibber and a gluttonous man and a devil. The Lord chose to do this miracle,
miracle of mercy, on the Sabbath day. Many of the Lord's miracles
of healing were done on the Sabbath day that He might aggravate them
in their own self-centered religion. I mean, He got under their skin.
He did this on purpose. Everything God does, He does
on purpose. And I thought about this. Why
did the Lord do this, these healings? And we're going to see this many
times. that he did these healings on the Sabbath day. Three reasons. To confront and expose the hypocrisy
of the self-righteous Jews. They were more interested, now
think about this, they were more interested in observing the day
than to show mercy to this poor sinner. They excused their meanness
in the name of honoring their God, and yet they didn't know
God Almighty." That goes on in our day, doesn't it? So much
goes on in the name of the Lord, and it's nothing but mere pretense
and hypocrisy. Our Lord said to these people,
turn to Matthew, the same crowd, Matthew 15, turn over there.
He called them hypocrites. He called them vile, wretched
men. And he exposed their hypocrisy. And they hated him for it. You
know it's the truth that will set us free. Matthew 15 verse
7, you hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, this
people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, they honor me with
their lips, but here's the problem, your heart, your heart is desperately
wicked and dead. Your heart is far from me. With a heart, man believeth unto
salvation. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. He did these miracles
of mercy on the Sabbath day to expose their pure hypocrisy. Turn over to Luke 16, verse 15. The Pharisees, in verse 14, who
were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him.
And he said unto them, You are they which justify yourselves
before men, but God knows your heart, that which is highly esteemed
among men, is an abomination in the sight of God. They were
so careful to observe that day in the way that they thought
would recommend them to God, or at least remove God's wrath
from them, and the Lord exposed them for what they really and
truly were, just hypocrites. The second thing, reason the
Lord did these miracles of mercy on the Sabbath day. This came
to pass on purpose that the Lord of the Sabbath might demonstrate
that He is Lord in salvation. All miracles of healing demonstrate
to us that the Lord alone can save sinners. It's His business. It's His doing. I am not in the
business of saving sinners. That is not my purpose. Matter of fact, I have nothing
to do with that. All I do is declare that salvation
is of the Lord, and the Lord saves his people by his grace. We know that this is a faithful
saying, worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that
which is lost. God always crosses the path of
His elect and saves them by His purpose and His grace. It was
no accident that the Lord, the Great Shepherd of the sheep,
ran into this man who had the withered hand on the Sabbath
day. And my friend, it is no accident
that you and I believe the gospel of God's sovereign and saving
grace. purpose and grace given us in
Christ. Every sinner whom God is pleased
to save by His wise and sovereign grace, He does so by His purpose. God never saved a sinner by accident
or happenstance, always by purpose. God works all things after the
counsel of His own will and purpose. Thirdly, the reason the Lord
did these miracles upon the Sabbath day, miracles of mercy, to demonstrate
to us that He is our Sabbath rest. I pointed that out in the
last message. The word Sabbath means rest. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Lord of our rest. He is the Lord of our salvation. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled all the law of God for us, saving us from the curse
of the law, redeeming us by His grace. You see, He finished all
of salvation, therefore we rest in Him. I'm not going about to
establish a righteousness of my own. I trust that you aren't
either. The believer saved by the grace
of God is resting in Christ our Sabbath who finished salvation
for us. He finished all of salvation
for us. He finished salvation. He fulfilled
salvation. He put an end to the law. For
the elect of God in the fact that He honored the law of God,
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believe it. Our blessed Savior said it is
finished. I must be about my Father's business.
What did He say at the cross? It is done. It is finished. Now here's the second thing.
Verse 7 and 8. The scribes and Pharisees watched
him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might
accuse him. But he knew their thoughts. And
said to the man which had the withered hand, you stand up. I'm going to demonstrate something
here. And stretch forth, stand up, and rise up and stand forth
in the midst. And this man didn't argue with
the Lord, did he? He spoke with such authority
and command that no one questioned His authority. This man didn't
question His authority. The scribes and Pharisees didn't
say, now wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold on. No one objected
to what He said because the Lord when He speaks, speaks with absolute
authority and all power. Rise up. Stand forth. And he
did. He stood forth. The Lord Jesus
Christ, it says there in verse 6, he taught. He taught in the
synagogue and they watched him. They watched or observed him
that they might accuse him. They did not hear a word that
he spoke. You know, it says in Scripture,
turn over here, they should have heard him. Turn back to Luke
chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, you remember when He was in His hometown
synagogue of Nazareth? When He declared unto them the
gospel from Isaiah 61. In Luke chapter 4, He said in
verse 21, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all
bear Him witness and wonder at the gracious words which proceeded
out of His mouth. And they said, Well, this is
Joseph's son, but his words are a gracious word. His words are
powerful words. They should have heard him. Grace
pours forth from his lips. They should have heard the message,
but instead they were watching to accuse him. Now, notice this
in verse 8. He knew their heart. their thoughts. Again, the Lord
demonstrates to us His deity. Who is omnipotent but God? Who is omniscient but God alone? He knew their heart. And you know what? Turn to Hebrews
chapter 4. This is the God with whom we
have to do. This is a God before whom you
stand. This is a God to whom you shall
give an answer. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. The Word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
of thunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and mower, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and the intent of the heart.
The Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God, the Living Word. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. God knows us through and through
better than we know ourselves. He knows our thoughts before
we think them. You see, He is truly God. He is more than just a mere man,
although He is truly man. Let us never forget that He is
God Almighty, the One with whom we have to do. He is God Almighty,
manifest in the flesh. The Lord who chose Those who
choose to deny the Lord's deity also deny the gospel of God altogether. There are some who say they are
Christian and yet deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
deny that He is God. Are they Christian? Absolutely
not, they're pagan, they're idolaters. Those who choose to deny the
Lord deity also deny the gospel of God altogether. Those who
say that Christ is not God deny the very heart core, heart beat
of the gospel of God. The gospel of God is concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. God bought the church with His
own blood. It's who He is that gives infinite power and merit
to what He did. The fact of the Lord's omniscience
is most comforting and humbling to the believer, isn't it? We can say with Peter, Lord,
you... Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. And he asked him the
third time, Peter, do you love me? Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you. That's comforting that the Lord
knows our heart. He knows our frame. He knows
that we are but dust. But Lord, we do believe Thee.
We do love Thee because You first loved us. You see, this is comforting
to the believer, but it's terrifying to the hypocrite. We do love the Lord because He
first loved us. We don't love Him. Like we should,
or like we want to, or as we will one day, but we can say
with Peter, Lord, you know all things. You know our heart. You know that we love thee and
that we trust thee for all of our salvation. Now here's the
third thing. The Lord commanded this man to
stand up, stand forth. Now, look at verse 10. And looking
round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth
thy hand. And he did so. And his hand was
restored whole as the other. Here we see the effectual, almighty,
powerful command of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen carefully.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not invite this man to stand up.
Did he? He didn't say, now, if you want to, I mean, really,
you don't have to, but if you want to, you could stand up. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
invite this man to stand up. He said, rise up, stand forth,
and do it right in the middle and in the face of these Pharisees.
The Lord did not ask this poor man if he would stretch forth
his hand. Did he? He said to the man, stretch
forth your hand. He commanded him to do so, and
it says there in the text, and he did so. He did so. And his hand was restored whole
as the other. Now, let me ask you a common
sense question. Did this man have any ability
to stretch forth his hand in and of himself? Well, you know
the obvious answer. is no. This man had no ability
to stretch forth his right hand because it was withered, useless,
impotent, and he was helpless to do anything about his hand. He was helpless, wasn't he? He could not will his hand to
be healed, could he? He could not will his hand to
be made whole. He could not make a decision.
Well, I'm going to make a decision tomorrow. My hand is going to
be whole. He didn't make a decision to heal his hand. He was impotent,
helpless, hopeless to help himself. Why are you emphasizing that?
Because that is us by nature. That is us by birth. We are impotent,
dead sinners, guilty before God. Now how could this man do the
impossible? The answer is obvious, isn't
it? I mean, it wasn't because this man made a decision. It
wasn't because this man willed to make his hand. This man stretched
forth his hand because the Lord of Glory commanded him to do
so. And with the command of God came
the ability that God gave him. Stretch forth your hand. And he did so. With the command
of Almighty God, came the ability. He did what the Lord commanded
him to do. He did so, and his hand was restored
and made whole. The point I'm making is this.
Find two scriptures with me. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn to Psalm 33. Let me show
you two scriptures. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not a mere invitation for you to make a decision for
Jesus. That's not in the Word of God.
The gospel is not a mere invitation. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is a command. The king doesn't invite his subjects
to come to the palace, do they? Psalm 33, verse 9. The king,
in his kingdom, when he decrees that everyone come to the palace,
come to the throne, they're going to come. David, when he came
to the throne in Israel, when he was determined to show mercy
to the house of Jonathan, to that cripple, Mephibosheth, he
didn't invite Mephibosheth to come to the king, to the throne. He said, go down and fetch him,
bring him. You see, a king commands, and
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a command to come to
him, to bow to him. Psalm 33 verse 9, For He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For
He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to not He maketh
the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the
Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord, and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. He speaks, and it's done. One other psalm, find Psalm 71.
Psalm 71. Verse 1. In Thee, O Lord, do
I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in Thy righteousness,
Psalm 71, verse 2. That statement right there is
made many times in this Psalm. Deliver me in Thy righteousness,
and that's Christ. Cause me to escape, incline Thine
ear unto me, and save me. Be Thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress."
You see, God saves sinners by His command, His Word, His will,
His way. We have seen this before, haven't
we? You remember back in, turn one page back, Luke chapter 5.
We've seen this before. When they brought that man on
a stretcher, the four friends brought that paralyzed man, In
Luke 5, verse 24, "...but that ye may know that the Son of Man
hath power on earth to forgive sin. He said unto the sick of
the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, go into
thy house. And immediately he rose up before
them, took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own
house, glorifying God." You see, the Lord commanded deliverance
for him, and he was restored and made whole. What this is
teaching us is the effectual, irresistible call of the gospel. We've seen this in many Scriptures. But when the Lord walked before
Matthew, when he was sitting at the receipt of custom, collecting
his taxes as a publican, the Lord said to him, Matthew, follow
me. And he closed the books and followed
the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, when the Lord walked in
a certain place and saw another publican who was up that sycamore
tree. And he said, Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down, for today is the day of salvation and I
must abide at your house. And Zacchaeus skedaddled down
that sycamore tree, didn't he? Someone said that's why there's
not much bark on the sycamore tree. Zacchaeus skinned it all
down. Make haste, come down! And he
came down. I guess the best example of what
we're talking about is the effectual, irresistible call of God. I guess
one of the best examples is that of Lazarus, who'd been dead four
days. Someone said he's dead and stinking. Don't take that
stone off that grave. He's been in there four days.
He doesn't smell very well at all. He'd been dead four days,
and the Lord said, remove that stone, and he stood before the
grave of that dead man, and he said, Lazarus, if you would like
to, maybe it would be good. It'd make Mary and Martha happy.
I mean, why don't you just raise yourself from the dead and come
out of that tomb? You see how ridiculous that is?
That's ridiculous, isn't it? You see, we're dead like Lazarus
spiritually. God must speak with a command
and give life. Lazarus, come forth. He just
didn't say come forth. Everybody in that graveyard would
have come forth. He personally, affectionately
calls his sheep by name and they come out. Lazarus, come forth.
And it says he that was dead came forth. That's what we call
the irresistible command of God. Many others were called, and
all for whom He calls come this exact way. The Lord calls His
sheep and gives them life, and they cannot perish. Let me show
you another example of that. Turn to John chapter 10. all that the Father giveth to
me, they shall come to me, and those that come to me, I will,
and no wise cast out." But did you ever notice here carefully
in John chapter 10, verse 22, and it was at Jerusalem, the
feast of the dedication, and it was winter. It was a cold
day. And the Lord Jesus walked in
the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
him, that same crowd that wanted to Throw stones at him. The same crowd, it says in this
same chapter, they picked up stones to stone him again. Then
came the Jews, round about him, and said unto him, How long dost
thou make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. And the Lord answered them, I told you, and you believe
not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness
of me, but you believe not. because you're not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep, they
hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me. 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. Then the Jews took up
stones again, to stone him. You see, you do not believe,
the Lord said, because you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my
voice, and they follow me. This again is the gospel of Christ
in illustration and example, and this man whose withered hand
was healed. It is an instructive picture
of almighty grace and the effectual, irresistible call of the gospel. Let's turn back to the Psalms
again and look at Psalm 65. Psalm 65. Verse 4, "...Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest, and causes to approach unto thee, that he
may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." Blessed is
the man whom God has chosen and causes to approach. unto thee. He loved us with everlasting
love, and with loving kindness He does draw us unto Himself.
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere invitation
from the Lord, it's a command to bow to Christ and believe
the gospel. By the preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord sends out the command to
His elect to come to Him. By natural ability of the sinner,
no man will come. By the natural ability, no man
will come to Christ. It's only as He makes us willing
in the day of His power. Turn to John chapter 5. And that's
what he does in the day of his power. He makes us willing to
come to Christ. Left to ourselves, we'll never
believe the gospel. God must command us to live and
command us to believe. We believe according to the working
of his mighty power. John chapter 5 verse 39. Search the Scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life. They are they which testify
of Me, and you will not come to Me that you might have life. Let another come in his own name,
and you'll give him a hearing. One page, John chapter 6 verse
44. No man can come to me except
the Father which sent me. Draw him, I'll raise him up at
the last day. It is written in the prophet,
they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that have
heard and learned of the Father, they come unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the effectual call of the
command of the gospel to the elect of God, in the powerful
hands of God the Holy Spirit, He gives resurrection life to
the sinner, He raises us from the dead and causes us to believe
Him. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. In salvation, that is, of the
Lord, He gives the will of faith. the will of faith, thy people
shall be willing in the day of his power. He gives us the mind
of faith, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and
finisher of our faith. He gives us the heart of faith,
to stretch forth the hand of faith, to lay hold of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Faith is a gift of God. This
poor man with the withered hand was made whole and restored. With God, all things are possible. And this is a picture of how
God saves sinners. He restores us. Did you notice
that phrase there in Luke chapter 6? And He did so and His hand was
restored whole, complete. as the other. In the Lord Jesus
Christ, He restores us. In Adam, all died in Christ,
were made alive. He reconciles us to God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes us whole and complete.
In Him dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and we stand
complete in Him. Now, that's good news. Is it good news to you? It was
good news to this man whose hand was healed, wasn't it? Woo! Wow! He went out there dancing
and singing praises to the Lord. But there were some other folks,
in verse 11, here's the last thing, they were filled with
anger. I can't hardly wrap myself around
that. This man was known by these Pharisees
and scribes. They saw this man every day,
walking around with that useless hand. And here this man's hand
is restored and whole and full of strength and vitality, able
to work and provide for his family, and they were filled with anger.
You see, the carnal-minded enmity against God. And they communed
one with another what they might do to Him. And it says in Matthew
12 and Mark 3 as well, they went out and held counsel how they
might destroy Him. We're so depraved and so sinful. Some were glad and some were
mad. The disciples were blessed and instructed, and the Pharisees
were enraged. Some were filled with gladness,
some were filled with madness. You see, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ will always divide and unite. It says in Scripture
there was a division because of him. He said, I didn't come
to bring peace, I came to bring a sword. The gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ will always divide the sheep from the goats. It
will always divide the chaff from the wheat. It's always a
saver of life or a saver of death. But the gospel also will unite
the sheep and the shepherd. The gospel will always unite
and bring together, in union together, the bride and the bridegroom,
the church and the Lord of the church. You see, the gospel always
divides and it always unites. It unites believers and divides
the sheep from the goats. May God be pleased, it's so work
in our hearts, to always cause us to rejoice in Him. There was rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner that repented. Can you rejoice in your salvation? I trust that you can. And that
you can say with the Apostle, We worship God in the spirit,
we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in the
flesh. None whatsoever. Salvation is
of the Lord. Salvation is all His doing, all
His work.