Let us turn in our Bibles to
2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and beginning
in verse 10. Therefore, I endure all things
for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful
saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him. If we deny him, he also will
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance,
charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words
to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. The title of my message this
morning is What Then Are We to Do? What then are we to do? Now these verses which we've
just read here contain the last of Paul's four faithful sayings,
but I want to call our attention especially to the last words
in verse 13. He cannot deny himself. He, of course, refers to God. God cannot deny himself. Dr. Peter Connolly, he used to
say there are only two things that are larger at birth than
at death. And those two things, and he
was talking to preacher students, those two things, first red wasp,
a red wasp, and second, a preacher. Now, I can't vouch for the wasp,
but I can for the preacher. There's only two things that
are larger at birth, a preacher. When we began to preach, we know
everything. Just ask us. And I mentioned
that this morning to give you an experience that I had years
ago, 60 years ago. I was given the opportunity to
preach on Saturday evenings at what is called a rescue mission
in downtown Houston on LaBranche Street. And they had a lighthouse
built out in front of that old house that they had bought using
for a place for people to come that were down and out, people
that were on the street, so to speak. I didn't know the director
that well. He was a young man like I was,
and his wife was young, and of course, my wife, she was young. And I think we had two children,
Winna and David, at the time, and we were all there on Saturday
evening, and before the time to begin the service, we were
talking with this director, and he made a statement, something
like, well, you know there's things that God cannot do. And of course, being the staunch
defender of the sovereignty of God that I was at that time,
I started to say, wait a minute, wait a minute. And then he pointed
out to me, I think, these three scriptures. God cannot lie. God cannot change, and God cannot
deny himself. And since then, of course, we
have recognized there's a fourth one as well in Habakkuk. God,
thou art of pure eyes, and to behold evil, and canst not look
on iniquity. Now, since that time, as I said
60 years ago, I've come to realize that all of these things that
are said that God cannot do, they're all included in this
one statement here. God cannot deny himself. God is faithful. That's what
this scripture tells us. He's faithful. And for him to
be unfaithful, then he would deny himself. He would deny his
nature. God is holy. When God created
Adam and placed him in the garden and commanded him not to eat
of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and
Adam disobeyed God, then God had to put him out of the garden,
had to drive him out of the garden. Why? He cannot deny himself. You know, as parents, sometimes
our children will do things that we've told them not to do, but
maybe we'll just overlook it, or maybe we'll give them a second
chance, so to speak, you know. No, God is holy, and for Him
not to keep His word would mean that He would abdicate His Godhead. He would no longer be God. God
cannot deny himself. And that's such a wonderful truth,
isn't it? Isn't it? I mean, he cannot change. His word doesn't change. His
purpose never changes. He will do his will. in heaven
and in earth and under the earth and in the seas, in all places. Why? Because he is God. He cannot deny himself. And what a, what a pillow to
lay your head on at night, believer, child of God. Even as this verse
of scripture tells us, if we are unfaithful, and we are many
times, But he's never unfaithful. He cannot deny himself. What a comfort for the children
of God. But I haven't forgot that experience. But this past week, I was reading
an article and I started thinking about the things that man cannot
do. Those are things that God cannot
do. But I want to mention six things
in the Word of God that man cannot do, that I cannot do, that you
cannot do. The Word of God declares this.
Six things, and there are more things that we cannot do, but
think of these six things that you cannot do. If you've not
accepted this before, do so now. Hear me now. Here are some things
that you cannot do that I cannot do. Number one, man cannot please
God in the flesh. Romans chapter eight and verse
eight declares, so then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God. Well, what does it mean to be
in the flesh? It means to be just like we are
when we come into this world. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It's to be what we sometimes
call a natural man. A person who has never been saved
by the grace of God. A person who is separate from
the work of the Spirit of God in his heart. They that are in
the flesh cannot please God. No matter how much we might try,
We're all born of the flesh, and those things that we do,
even our best deeds, preaching. You say, well, if you're preaching
in the flesh, if you're preaching as an unconverted man, my preaching,
no man's preaching can please God. Give all your wealth to
charities and to help people in this world. That doesn't please
God. Not if you're in the flesh. Not if you've never been born
of the spirit of God. The flesh cannot please God. It's an impossibility. That's
the reason the scripture says the plowing of the wicked is
sin. Man goes out and he plows his
field. He's trying to take care of his
family as he should. But without recognizing God and
knowing God, even the plowing is sin. In other words, everything that
the natural man does, everything he touches, everything he says,
is tainted with sin. This is illustrated to us in
the Old Testament. concerning an altar. God gave
commandment to the children of Israel about building an altar. That's a good thing, isn't it?
Let's build an altar. And on that altar, we're gonna
sacrifice unto God. Surely that's a good thing. Yes,
but God said, when you do that, when you build an altar, Don't
you take a hammer and chisel and start squaring those stones
and making it all just right, you know, and beautiful to look
at? Why? Not because there's anything
wrong with things being beautiful, but because when you lift up
your hand and take that chisel and start squaring those rocks,
you taint, you taint that. It's tainted with your sin. Because
everything that we are, the natural man, we cannot please God in
the flesh. I wish people could get that,
don't you? I wish people could understand
that. Man just thinks, well, you know,
if I just turn over a new leaf, if I just start going to church,
if I just start giving money, if I just start doing whatever. That's gonna be pleasing. God's
gonna be pleased with me. He really is. No, he isn't. No, he isn't. None of those things
are bad. But in the flesh, man cannot
please God. A second thing that we cannot
do, man cannot keep God's holy law. He cannot keep God's holy
law. I want you to turn with me in
your Bibles to Mark, just a moment, back here to Mark, chapter 12. In this passage, we have a man
who was a student of the law. He spent his life studying the
law. Mark, chapter 12, verse 28. And one of the scribes came,
and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that
he had answered them well, asked the Lord Jesus, which is the
first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the first
of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.
And the second is like namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. There's none other commandment
greater than these. And the scribe said unto him,
well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there's one God
and there's none other but he, and to love him with all the
heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with
all the strength and to love his neighbor as himself is more
than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus
saw that he answered discreetly, he said, unto him, Thou art not
far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask
him any question." Now we have the same incident recorded in
Matthew's gospel, parallel passage, and there the Lord said, on these
two commands hangs all the law. To love God with all our heart,
all our soul, all our mind, all our strength, and to love our
neighbor as ourself. All the law of God and the prophets,
he said, they all hang on those two commandments. But I wanted
us to turn here to Mark's gospel to look at this because of what
the Lord said to this man. Thou art not far from the kingdom
of God. Why would the Lord say that?
Now, I thought about this, and I know he could read that man's
mind. We know he did that when he told
that layman, thy sins are forgiven thee. And they said, well, he's
blaspheming. They didn't say it. They thought
it in their mind, didn't they? He's blaspheming. No one can
forgive sins but God. And the Lord said, listen. Is
it easier for me to say thy sins be forgiven thee, or take up
thy bed and walk? But that thou may knowest that
the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, I say
unto thee, take up thy bed and walk." They never expressed,
they never voiced their thoughts. Their thought was he's blaspheming
because he told this man, thy sins are forgiven thee. Is that
the case here? No, because the scripture here
says, and when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, what
does that mean? He answered discreetly, honestly,
honestly. Brother Ralph Barnett, I remember
preached a message one time that I heard honest men don't go to
hell. That's true. Honest men don't
go to hell, because honest men agree with what God says, if
they're honest. And this man here, he was not
far from the kingdom of God. But I thought, well, you know,
if you're right next door to the kingdom of God, what good
is that going to do you? We need to be in the kingdom
of God, not close to it, not near to it. And I thought, well, when the
Lord is working a work in a person's heart and will translate them
into the kingdom of God from a kingdom of darkness, this is
usually where he begins. And that is to convince a man
that he can't keep the law, that he's a sinner. This law, the
Lord Jesus Christ said, In these two things, thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all the heart, all the soul, the strength of
mind, and thy neighbors thyself. Can anyone, would anyone even
dare to say, I've done that? I've done that. No, the truth
is we cannot do that. We cannot keep the law. That's
my point. Number one, In the flesh, man
cannot please God. Number two, man cannot keep God's
holy law. And you see, this is where unbelievers
sometimes run into trouble. They think, well, if God commands
us to do something, then we have the ability. No, no you don't. When God commanded Adam not to
eat of that fruit, he had the ability to obey. But when man
lost that ability to obey, God did not lose His ability to command. And His command hasn't changed.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. That's
His law. Man cannot obey that law perfectly. Number three,
man cannot produce the righteousness that God demands. He can't. He cannot produce the righteousness
that God demands. God demands a righteousness that
He will accept, that is pure in His eyes. You know, the scripture
says He charges even His angels with folly? That the heavens
are not pure in His eyes? God, the thrice holy God, demands
a righteousness Man cannot produce. He just can't do it. You read
that in Romans chapter three. There's none good. No, not one.
There's none righteous. There's none that understandeth. Number four, man cannot put away
his sin. Oh, yeah. People try. People try. But the scriptures
reveal man cannot put away his sin. For the scripture says,
without the shedding of blood is no remission. He cannot put away. You say,
well, what if he gave his own blood? He wouldn't put away any
sin. He'd just add sin to sin if he
takes his own life. That's all he would do. No. Man cannot put away his sin. And number five, man cannot escape
the judgment of God. It is appointed unto man once
to die, but after this, the judgment. No one is so foolish to think
they can escape death. No one. I mean, most people are
reasonable enough to know, yes, One day I'm going to die. It's
going to be way off in the future, sure, sure. But one day I am
going to die. Well, know this too. One day
we all are going to stand before God Almighty. It is appointed
unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment. And number
six, man cannot endure the eternal condemnation. He cannot do that. The Lord Jesus described that
condemnation, that hell, as where their worm doth not and the fire
is not quenched. What does that mean, their worm
doth not? Those in hell, their worm doth
not. Well, most believe, and I do,
that that refers to the memory, man's memory, because Abraham
told that rich man in Luke chapter 16, remember thou in thy lifetime,
man's memory will never die. And how that memory will torment
a person along with the fires of hell, the separation from
God. Man cannot endure that, but he
has to. He has no choice. Eternal death is not being extinguished,
the life being extinguished. Men will continue throughout
all eternity, either in heaven with the Lord or in hell with
the devil and his angels. There's no choice. And man cannot
endure that. He must endure it, but he can't. I'm tormented. I'm tormented
in these flames. Abraham, send Lazarus and let
him just dip his finger in some water and put that drop of water
on my tongue. I'm tormented in these flames. He cannot endure the condemnation
of God. And that brings me to my second
point. What then shall we do? Seeing these six things are true,
and I hope each and every one of us here, you recognize these
things, don't you? You recognize these things are
so. These things are true. In the flesh, you cannot please
God. You cannot keep God's holy law. You cannot produce a righteousness
that God will accept. And you cannot put away your
sins. And you cannot endure that condemnation. What then are we to do? That's a good question, isn't
it? You ever thought about that?
Do you think about that? What then are we to do? Our condition, our situation,
could it be any worse? What then are we to do? Well, turn with me back to Isaiah
chapter 45. I'm so thankful that I've got
The answer. What then, what am I to do? What
am I to do? My soul, what am I to do? Isaiah 45 and verse 22. Look unto me and be ye saved. All ye ends of the earth. Think about that statement just
a moment. All ye ends of the earth. Doesn't that include everyone? Is there anyone that's not included
in that? In all the ends of the earth? Well, sure, that includes everyone. Look unto me and be ye saved,
for I am God, and there is none else. Look back, or look ahead to Isaiah
55. What then are we to do? Well,
God says, look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the
earth. There's no one in this room today
that's not included there in all ye ends of the earth. What
are you to do? Look. Look. We sing that hymn sometimes,
look and live. There's life for a look in the
crucified one. Look, as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in him, looketh unto him, shall
be saved. Here in Isaiah 55, ho, everyone
that thirsteth, Oh, I'm so thirsty. Are you? I see my plight. I see my condition. I'm so thirsty. Come ye to the waters. Oh, I
don't have any money to buy with. He that hath no money, come ye.
You're invited. Come, buy and eat. Yea, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. The gift of
God, and it is a gift of God, is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. The wages of sin is death, yes,
but the gift of God is eternal life. Wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Now notice, incline your ear,
and come unto me. Hear! Oh, is there anyone here
today who's hearing the voice of God? You hear my voice, I
know that, my old creaky voice. But is anyone hearing the voice
of God? Hear, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have
given him, that is Christ, for a witness to the people, a leader
and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run
unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One
of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return. unto the
Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon. Now, now, look what's next. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts. You mean after I've lived a life of sin that God
is just going to freely forgive me, wash me, cleanse me, justify
me, Simply by looking to Christ? By looking? Yes. God says, for
my thoughts. Well, I wouldn't do that. Man
wrongs me time after time, year after year, and all I'm going
to do is have him look to me and ask me, and I'm going to
wipe all that out. God said, listen, my thoughts
are not your thoughts. That's not the way man thinks,
but it's the way God thinks. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. I'm gonna demand something. You've
wronged me, you've offended me, you're gonna pay for it. That's
man's ways, not God's. God's way is I freely forgive
you all. Just look, hear, come. They all mean the same thing,
don't they? Trust, believe. For as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that
it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. What then shall we
do? Seeing these things are so, what
then shall we do? Look unto Christ. Because these
six things that I mentioned, he did every one of these things. He pleased God. I cannot please
God in the flesh. He pleased God. This is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. He perfectly kept God's law. He brought in an everlasting
righteousness by His obedience. He was justified, or He put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He was justified from all our
sin which He bore in His body on the tree when God raised Him
from the grave. He endured God's eternal condemnation. You say, well, He was only on
the cross for three hours. And eternal condemnation, it's
eternal. How could He have endured eternal
condemnation in three hours? Because of who He is. He's God manifest in the flesh. He did all of this as a substitute for all who look
unto him. Now our text said, God cannot
deny himself. Go ye therefore and preach the
gospel to every creature. Whosoever believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Whosoever believeth not shall
be damned. God is faithful. You believe,
you trust in him, He's not going to deny himself. His word is,
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Both are true. He that believeth
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Why? God cannot deny himself. May the Lord bless this word
to all of us here this morning.