Well, it's good to see everybody
out this morning. I remember those who requested prayer. Larry
Brown passed away the day before yesterday. And the funeral, I
think, is Tuesday. And he's a member of the church
out in Madisonville, Kentucky, where Maurice Montgomery used
to pastor. David Edmondson pastors now.
And I remember the family of David McCoy. Carla Henson, who
is a member of the church at Danville, has been diagnosed
with malignant brain cancer and cancer in the lungs, and so it's
not good for her. She's a sweet girl, whole Henson
family. Believers, strong believers in
God's grace. Her son, Cody, is an able minister
of the gospel. He doesn't pastor a church, but
he supplies for a lot of pastors. does next those families in your
prayers also haven't signed card up here that uh... is for birthday
wishes for doors may turn she's still up in it you have an opportunity
concert Our conference is here, I guess,
for the first 15 or 16 before Henry decided not to preach in
the middle of it because he was tired. But if you have an opportunity,
sign that and wish her a happy birthday. She's back in Ashland,
Kentucky now. She's at an assisted living home
there and doing well. So continue to remember these
folks in your prayers. Remember the Brown family. Larry
was a jewel of a man. He was one of those fellows that
did a great deal for getting gospel published in books. He
published all of mine. He published Sr. Mahan's works.
He published Scott Richardson's sayings. And he did it without
taking any recognition or ever putting his name on anything.
He was one of those servants of the Lord who practiced to
go unnoticed, but was greatly used of the Lord. And he'll be
sorely missed. He was a dear friend, as well
as a brother in Christ. So remember that family in your
prayers. Uh, Malcolm, when we receive the auction point, I'll
have you receive the auction since, since everybody that usually
receives it is gone. You know, you gave it. Yeah. Hello. Get a little, get a little closer
to my mouth. Uh, I forgot what I was going to say. oh i was
going to say that we have six or seven people on vacation of
some sort today but the food looks real good in the other
rooms let's turn to hymn number three hundred and fifty two to
begin our worship service jesus lover of my soul Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the
tempest still is high. ? Guide me, O my Savior, high
? ? Till the storm of life is past ? ? Save into the haven
guide ? ? O receive my soul at last ? ? Other refuge have I
none ? ? Hangs my helpless soul on Thee ? Leave, ah, leave me
not alone. Still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stained. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace is thee is found. Grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams of Thou of life the fountain art,
freely let me take of Thee. Spring Thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. After scripture, reading, and
prayer, we'll sing hymn number 477 at Calvary. You have your Bibles turned to
the 19th chapter, Matthew. A very familiar portion of Scripture. Beginning with verse 16, And
behold, one came and said unto him, Good master, what good thing
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And he said to
him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but God. But
if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. And he
said unto him, Which? And 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 thy mother,
and thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. And the young man said
unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up, what
like I yet? And Jesus said, And even if thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give
to the poor. And thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, and come and follow me. And when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
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 the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God. And when his disciples heard
that, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
And Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible. Let us pray. We are thankful for your word,
which enlightens us and teaches us the truth by the spirit. We
are thankful that it endures forever. Even as we pass away
off this earth, that which is true will remain true in the
face of all challenges. We thank you, Father, that this
word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We
thank you, Father, that because you've given your children faith
to believe and to understand that this word is what they live
by. Father, help us to remember those
who are sick and going through trials, those who are facing
Situations that look like they won't be long in this world.
Pray for the families of lost loved ones. Pray especially for
Carla, Carla Henson, as she's faced with these severe cancers. Pray also for the Brown family,
the loss of Larry. We know our brother is with thee,
and that's where he wanted to be. And we're thankful for the
spirit you gave him in this world. the manner in which he served. Pray for the McCoy family, the
lost and loved one. Pray for Brother Ed as he's sick
with the COVID and those who are awaiting operations. Ask
Lord you to watch over them, keep them. Pray for our congregation. You might be with us. show us
the things that Christ calls us to be a place where sinners
are welcome to sit and hear and not be condemned or judged. We know what we are, Father.
We are sinners saved by grace. Nothing in us or about us that
could ever recommend us to you, even as children of God. there's
still nothing in us that can recommend us save for the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our recommendation for
He is our righteousness and our justification, our sanctification
and redemption. Father, help us this day to worship
you, to truly praise you for your worthiness. You who are the God before whom
all things are possible, We praise you and thank you for your goodness
and mercy, kindness and tender heartedness toward poor, wretched
people like us. Whereas a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knows
our frame and remembers that we are just dust. Help us now,
we pray, to worship you. In Christ's name, amen. in number
477. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not He was for me, He
died on Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary. ? By God's word and that's my sin
I learned ? Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned ? Till my
guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary ? Mercy there was
great and grace was free ? Pardon there was made to apply to me
? My murdered soul found liberty at Calvary ? Now I give to Jesus
everything ? Now I gladly own him as my king ? Now my raptured
soul can only sing of Calvary ? Mercy there was great and grace
was free ? ? Pardon there was multiplied to me ? ? There my
burdened soul found liberty and calvary ? ? Oh, the love that
knew salvation's plan ? Oh, the grace that brought it down to
man. Oh, the mighty gold that God
did spend that Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty. also remember and she's leaving
the rears and headed Appalachian State trickulate finisher college
education her she goes for keep say she's away miss our father In the name of Jesus Christ,
the unspeakable gift that you have given to your children,
and with him have freely given us all things. It is in that
name that we approach unto thee, our Father, to come boldly into
the presence of the Holy God, to make our petitions known. We ask as we render unto thee
these things that belong to you, that you've given to us, and
we are pleased to return to thee. Let us do so with joy and thanksgiving
in our heart. We pray in Christ's name, amen. you you have your Bibles, come with
me back to Matthew chapter 19. We'll be looking somewhat at
this passage, but we'll be dealing with other passages in Scripture.
The title of my message today is No Way, No Way. The old covenant which God gave
to the Israelites at Sinai, which is illuminated in Exodus, Leviticus,
Deuteronomy, and the Old Testament, which deals with the commandments
of God to His people, was a conditional covenant. It was made on a condition of
man's obedience to God. As far as being success, it was
in that it served its purpose because it revealed that when
a covenant is made between God and men, where obedience is required
by men in order to keep the covenant, that covenant is doomed to fail. The book of Hebrews teaches that
that covenant was made to pass away, but it was made to reveal
that if your salvation or deliverance depends upon your disobedience,
you will never be saved. But the covenant did operate
in the realm of opportunity. And sadly, after the new covenant
was established and the old covenant was passed away, most of religion
today still operates under that old covenant. Religion is the
language of opportunity, not the language of accomplishment.
in the world in which we live. Religion and false religion since
time began has always operated in a particular arena and that
particular arena is the arena of possibility. The serpent tempted
our mother Eve with the possibility of becoming God. He said God
didn't really mean you shouldn't eat of that tree If you eat of
that tree, he knows that you'll be like God." And the word there
is Elohim, the all-powerful God. Conscience tempted Adam with
the possibility of covering his sins with the withering garment
of his own making of fig leaves. Pride tempted Adam and Eve with
the possibility of removing personal guilt by blaming someone else
for their sin. and pulpits throughout the world
speak of attributes that belong to God, grace, mercy, forgiveness,
as offers. God is offering you mercy, they
say. God is offering you grace. They
are available commodities, and therefore possible to obtain
by the act of your will. These things are said to be available
and therefore can be purchased with the filthy lucre, the esteemed
currency of free choice. Men are told that these things
are possible. You take away the concept of
possibility and the religion of man evaporates. One silly preacher defined blessing
as the power to gain wealth. Another openly prays God for
the best gift that God had ever given him, the gift of free will. These idiocies exist in the vacuum
of the possible. The gift of faith, a gift that
is sovereignly bestowed or withheld as God is pleased, has been prostituted
to the bordello of possibility. Men take, for example, the metaphorical
speech of Christ when he told his disciples that if their faith
was as big as a mustard seed, they could move mountains. And
men assign it to the realm of possibility of doing great wonders. And they work their rear ends
off to get that kind of faith that's as big as a mustard seed.
Of course, they always fail because nobody is moving mountains today. What Christ was doing clearly
to his disciples was not setting before them the possible power
of enormous faith, but rather the reality of the weakness and
the smallness of their faith. Men believe that power is available
to them by exercising faith. Availability equates to possibility. This gives religion the power
to control men. If they do not produce evidence
of righteousness, do not show the power of faith in it, it
is because they have not taken what is available to them and
thus are made to feel guilty and effectively held in check
like mules chasing after the carrot stick which is held just
beyond their reach. A good illustration of this is
found in Matthew 25. verses 31 through 46 when God
gathers all nations and on the right hand he puts the nations
that he is afore prepared to glory and on the left hand he
puts the nations that he's going to cause to perish and spend
eternity in everlasting torment where the worm dies not and the
fiery fire is not quenched. And he says to those on his right
hand whom he's prepared for glory, he said, you're blessed. You're
blessed because I was hungry and you fed me. And I was thirsty
and you gave me drink. And I was naked and you clothed
me. And I was in prison and you visited me. I was sick and you
came to see me. Therefore, receive what I have
prepared for you. Because inasmuch as you did it
to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it also unto me.
And he looks at those on his left hand and says, depart from
me ye that work iniquity into everlasting torment because I
was sick and you didn't visit me. And I was hungry and you
didn't feed me. And I was thirsty and you gave
me no water. And I was naked and you gave me no cloak to put
on my back. So depart from me because inasmuch
as you've done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've
done it also unto me. You see, faith worketh by love,
and love is revealed in action. The difference between these
two samples here is that those who received the kingdom were
described as acting in love toward the brethren. Those who were
cast out in the outer darkness described themselves as making
their love available. They said, well, if I'd have
known you was hungry, if I'd have known you was sick, if I'd
have known you was naked, They shifted the blame to the brethren
for not using what was available to them. If I'd have known it,
I had it. I had the money if you was poor.
You didn't ask for it. That's today's religion. That's
today's religion. It was possible, they said, for
the hungry to be fed and the naked to be clothed and the sick
to be cared for if they only asked or if they only availed
themselves to what was there for them. This is today's religion. The big guns of religion, the
hellish trinity of godless minds in this day and age, the three
lies that drive the engine of hell-bound juggernaut of religion
is God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, and salvation
is by free will. And let me be very clear, those
three things are not true. God didn't love Jacob, The Lord
didn't love Esau. He said, Jacob have I loved and
Esau have I hated. God hates the workers of iniquity.
This is scripture. Christ didn't die for everyone.
He died. He said, I lay down my life for my sheep. I have
the power to lay it down and the power to take it up again.
I lay down my life for my sheep. Who are his sheep? Those who
hear his voice. Because he said, my sheep hear
my voice and they shall follow me and I give to them eternal
life and no man is able to 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."
Remove the concept of availability and possibility and offer. Remove those things and you reduce
religion to what it is, an empty, groundless wish, a dream, a pipe
dream. One songwriter said, dreams are
nothing more than wishes And a wish is just a dream you wish
would come true. That's what modern religion is
today. The Lord said to this man, this rich young ruler, who
wanted to know. I'm sure he was interested in
eternal life. In one place it says that the Lord loved him.
This may have been solitarsis, I don't know. Some have said
it was. But he went away sorrowful because
he had a great deal. This book, the Bible, the Word
of God puts the skids on possibility thinkers. This book tells us in no uncertain
terms that some things just aren't possible. They simply aren't
possible. Our text makes it clear, Matthew
19, 26, Our Lord Jesus Christ declares that with man, salvation,
eternal life is impossible. The disciples couldn't get it.
They said, Who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Jesus
said, With men it's impossible, but God can do it. With God all
things are possible. Mark and Luke also record this
event. Though there is much to be gleaned from the context,
one lesson is preeminent. No man of himself can ever enter
into the kingdom of God. It is impossible for man to save
himself. Why? Because man's heart is wrong. Deceitful and desperately wicked
is an entity against God that cannot submit to God. The depraved
nature of man excludes the possibility of salvation in himself. No one
can come to Christ except those whom the Father draws to him.
The bondage of man's will excludes all possibility of change, for
a leopard cannot change his spots, nor an Ethiopian change the color
of his skin. man's love for the world will
never point him to Jesus Christ. Men who are rich in their own
righteousness cannot need the righteousness of Christ. Thank
God for these, the conjunction here is but with God, but with
God. All things are possible. Look at Luke chapter 17 in verse
1. Then said unto his disciples,
it is, he said, it is impossible, but that offenses will come,
but woe unto him through whom they come. The Lord tells his
disciples that, to avoid offenses. He said it, don't, the woe unto
them is those who seek to offend people. You don't have to if
you tell the truth. You don't have to seek to do
it. The fact is, all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution, and the cause of persecution is not, however,
the way we live, but rather the gospel by which we live, the
gospel we preach. Our Lord was not hated for what
He did, but for what He said. They never gave any problem for
healing somebody. They didn't give any problem for feeding
5,000 people with a few loaves of fish, a few loaves of bread
and some fishes. They didn't do that. Everybody
raised somebody that was dead. Boy, the crowds crowded all around
him. Didn't he open his mouth? And he told them the truth. The
fact is, the truth gospel, when it is preached, and when you
tell people the truth about God and how He saves sinners, they're
going to be offended if they don't know Christ. Paul said
over in Galatians chapter 5, verse 11, He said, I, brethren, if I yet
preach circumcision or preach the law, why do I suffer persecution? Then is the offensive cross ceased. What he's saying is all I would
have to do for you to get you not to be offended is to tell
you there's something for you to do in your salvation. I preach
keeping the law, or going to church, or walking down to the
front, or repenting, or any of those things. I tell you, you
do those things, everything's going to be all right. That's all I've got to do, and
the fence is removed. You say, well, I can do that,
and sooner or later I will do it. But if I tell you that God
Almighty has finished the salvation for everyone whom He chose before
the foundation of the world to be saved, and that you and I
or anybody else on the earth can do nothing in your salvation. And that if you are saved, you
must attribute all of it, absolutely, from stem to stern, from alpha
to omega, from beginning to end, from pole to pole, to simply
this God has saved me by His grace alone. which means I could
never merit it, I didn't deserve it, I didn't choose it, I didn't
even ask for it until God showed me who He was. That is a disturbing statement,
a disturbing statement, even to those who say they believe
the gospel of God's grace yet apply it to the law for righteousness,
the rule of life. You tell them that means nothing. I remember vividly that old judge
who used to come here and had a great voice, real deep, resonant
voice, loved to hear him read scripture. I don't think he knew
God. But he had a wife who got sick
and was over in Bryson City Hospital, and I went to see her. She's
a nice lady. Went to see her and have prayer
with her, read scriptures with her, and I come out and the judge
was sitting there in the waiting room, and he said, preach, I
need to ask you something. And I said, yeah, go ahead. He
said, you keep telling me that nothing I do matters in my salvation. I said, that's right. He said,
well, I'm taking care of my wife. She's sick, and I'm here every
day, and I'm giving her water to drink, and I'm mopping her
brow. That don't count anything? I
said, in the matter of your salvation, it means nothing. He said, I
just can't buy that. But it wasn't for sale, but he
couldn't buy it. He was offended by that because he wanted that
to count for something with God. But nothing we do is without
sin. So it can't count anything with
God. The gospel which declares that
salvation is impossible with men offends men. It offends man's
pride of intellect because it comes by divine revelation. It
offends man's love of self because it demands self-denial of self,
not self-denial, but denial of self. It offends man's delusion
of merit and self-esteem because it reveals his depravity. It
offends man's presumed dignity because it declares salvation
by the merits of Christ alone and no merits in humanity. It
is impossible to preach the gospel and not offend men as they're
born in the world. The Lord said it's impossible. for you not
to offend. It's impossible. Look at Acts
chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 24 it
says whom God raised from the dead lose the pains of death
because it was not possible that he should be holding thereof.
It was impossible for the Lord Jesus Christ to remain in the
tomb. It was impossible. It was not possible. The old hymn writer wrote, Death
could not keep its prey, he tore the bars away. Why, was it impossible? Though he had made himself a
sacrifice for sin, he, by that glorious act, put away our sins,
and having done so voluntarily, gave up the ghost and died the
death that was due us. Had he remained in the grave,
there would be no good news. And Paul said, I preach good
news. I preach the gospel to you by which you receive, by
which you believe, how that Christ died according to scriptures. and was buried according to scriptures
and rose again on the third day according to scriptures. Romans
5 24 says it was 425 it says he was raised for our justification. You know what justification means?
It means just as if I never sinned. It means before God He doesn't
remember your sins. He doesn't deal with you after
your iniquity. He deals with you after the blood and sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If He came to justify His people,
it's impossible that He remain in the tomb. If He is in the tomb, then He's
a failure. He's a failure and a fraud. But now is Christ risen indeed,
saith the Scripture. Look at Hebrews chapter 6. This is one of the portions of
scripture that Jehovah's Witnesses like to use when they come to
your door to tell you that you can lose your salvation, but
you can't. That's not what it says at all.
In Hebrews chapter 6 verse 4 it says, For it is impossible, impossible for those who were
once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word
of God and the powers to come, the world to come, if they shall
fall away, to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify
themselves to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him
into open shame." Now the Holy Spirit tells us that it is impossible
for apostates to recover. An apostate is someone who has
embraced the truth and then turned from it, then turned from it.
turned away, walked away. As John described them, they
who have left us were not of us because if they were of us
they would still remain with us. It just makes sense. What Paul is teaching the Hebrew
children, remember this is to Hebrew believers this book is,
that all the law was fulfilled by Jesus Christ to return to
the beggarly elements of the law, that is the law for righteousness
baptisms, the different washings they did and such, and repentances
of the Old Testament under that covenant. Those things are the
bigger elements of the world. To do that after you've believed
is to say you're an apostate. It's to leave grace and turn
to works. If a person could do this, then
there would be no possibility of recovery. That's what he's
saying. If you could do this, then you couldn't be recovered.
There can be no doubt that this speaks of nominal believers who
were sent to the truth without love for it and for a time aligned
themselves with the believers but finally turned back. Such
cannot be recovered. Paul said they're like the dog
that returns to his vomit and the pig that returns to his waller.
But in this text, Hebrews, I see also the assurance that it is
impossible. for the child of God, the true
believer, to truly apostatize and turn from the truth. If you
look at verse four, or the first four words of verse four, and
link them with the first five words of verse six, and view
the words between as parenthetical, you can get a meaning of verse
nine. Verse four, it says, for it's impossible, for it's impossible. And verse six is, if they shall
fall away, to renew them again. verse 9 it says, Beloved, we
are persuaded better things of you. Better things of you. In Hebrews chapter 6 or Hebrews chapter 10 In verses it says, for yet a
little while and he, in verse 37 it says, for he shall come
and will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith,
but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him, but we are not of them who draw back. Unto perdition, but unto them
that believe to the saving of the soul. The saving of the soul. Chapter 6 of Hebrews actually
what we just read is saying that if you are God's, it's impossible
for you to fall away. It's impossible. How do I know?
Well, Christ said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. i
came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of
him that sent me and this is my father's will which has sent
me that of all he's given me i should lose nothing lose nothing
lose nothing but raise it up again in the last day and jeremiah
chapter thirty two the lord said i will put in their heart that
they will not forsake me or leave me and i will never leave them
to do them good I'll always do them good, Jeremiah 32, verses
38 through 41. Fifthly, in Hebrews chapter 6,
verse 18, it says that two things immutable, by two things, by
two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to
lie. We might have a strong consolation
who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
It's impossible for God to lie. Now God will use a lie. He used
the lie of the harlot, Rahab. She lied and said them spies
ain't been here, but they'd been there. They'd been there. God
can use a lie for His glory because He made the darkness and He made
the light and He creates good and He creates evil according
to Isaiah 45. God's not like you think He is
naturally. God is who He is. The depth, width, and height
of this declaration is impossible for God to lie as a storehouse
of blessing and grace that can never be used up, exhausted,
or depleted. It's impossible for God to lie.
Every sinner who trusts Christ is saved because God said that. He don't lie. Those to whom He
gives eternal life shall never perish. Never perish. Why? Because He can't lie. He can't
lie. He will remember our sins no
more. What? He remembers our sin. Why? Because He said it, and
He can't lie. He can't lie. God will never
turn away from you to do you good. All things work together
for good to them that love God, to them of the call according
to His purpose. He will keep you by His grace, make you triumph
over all your enemies, and will give you glory. He has promised
all this, and it's impossible for Him to lie. impossible for
him to lie. I've often used that when talking
to people and they say, well, I don't believe that. And I used
to ask them, you ever told a lie? And if they're honest, they say,
yeah. And I say, you reckon you'll ever lie again? Probably will. Has God ever told a lie? Then who am I going to believe?
You who are a confessed liar or God who's never told a lie.
Hebrews chapter 10 in verse 4. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. There's no telling
how many lambs and goats and kids and turtle doves were slain
under the old covenant. There's no telling. There's just
no telling. The Feast of Tabernacles, which
is an eight-day feast, involved the slaying at least close to
a thousand lambs in one week, in an eight-day period. That's
a lot of blood. They cut the throat of them beasts
and let them in. That's just the one feast. There's
eight feasts. And plus, every time somebody
stopped and broke God's law, they'd offer up a blood sacrifice.
If you read the ceremonial law, there's sacrifice upon sacrifice
upon sacrifice, all pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. All
those slain beasts were just a picture, a giant, crimson, coagulated
finger. pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ,
whose one sacrifice perfected forever them that are sanctified. But it is impossible to put away
sin but by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. No man can by any
means on any level redeem his own soul. He has not the wherewithal,
the price of redemption. He cannot redeem his soul by
legal ceremonies, by moral reformation, by religious rituals, by sacrifice
and self-denial, by works of righteousness or by his free
will. Psalm 49 says man cannot redeem himself no matter how
much money he has. Thanks be unto God that His Son,
the spotless Lamb of God, has paid the price of redemption
for all His people and has redeemed them by His blood. He shall save
His people from their sin. That's why I named Him Jesus.
In Revelation 5, 9 and 10, the psalm of heaven is, Worthy is
the Lamb. that was slain, that has redeemed
us by his blood out of every kindred, nation, tongue, and
people upon the face of the earth, and has made us kings and priests
unto our God. He did it all by his blood. What
was the price of your redemption? You must die. You must die, and you'll either
die in yourself We'll die in the substitute of the Lord Jesus
Christ, or have died in the substitute of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
that's the payment for sin. It's death. It's death. That's the payment. That's what
it costs. So the sinner shall die. But
it's impossible for all those goats and kids' blood to put
away sin. God has put away our sin by Christ's
sacrifice. He has put away our sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. of the sacrifice of himself.
Finally turn to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6. It says without faith it's impossible
to please God. Without faith it's impossible
to please God. Now the thing about faith is
no man can of themselves produce it. Now all men have a sort of
faith and a kind of faith. They have faith in themselves,
they have faith in the bank account, They have a kind of a fatalistic
faith that what will be, will be, you know, that sort of thing.
Well, of course, what will be, will be, because it's stupid
to say what will be, won't be, but, you know, people have all
ideas about faith, but they think it's, that it's their faith that
they've worked up, that they have, and that's what the language
is. Well, my faith didn't fail. I still got my faith. Tornadoes
come and wiped out my, but I still got my faith. Listen, if you
have faith in this world, you didn't produce it. You did not
acquire it by anything you did or didn't do. If you have faith
in this world, it is by grace that you have faith, and not
by works. By grace, you're saved through
faith, and that faith is not of yourselves. It's a gift of
God. It's not of works lest any man
should boast. But without it, God's not pleased. What is God pleased by? This is the only thing. This
is the only evidence mentioned in Scripture. This is it. Say,
well, I go to church, God's pleased. It doesn't say that in Scriptures.
Well, I give. That doesn't say it in Scriptures. What pleases God? for you to
trust in the merits of his son for you to believe Christ that
pleases God without faith it's impossible to please God for
whoever comes to him must believe that he is and there is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him you see what you have to
offer to God is at best a human gift and it is not perfect and
god says in Leviticus 21 21 it shall be perfect to be accepted.
I'm unaccepted. God says I'm not perfect. Listen,
he won't accept you unless you're perfect. So I'm not perfect. Knowing yourself, you're not.
But Jesus Christ according to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
14, he hath perfected forever them whom he died for, them who
are sanctified. God has given His people that
which pleases Him. That's the thing, is whatever
God's required of you, if you're His, He's given it to you and
done it for you. Does He require love? He does. We love Him because He first
loved us. Does He require mercy? Yes, but He who's been shown
much is merciful. In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20
and 21 it says, Now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, that's the new covenant,
make you perfect in every good work. Make you perfect. to do his will. How does he do
that? Working in you. That which is well pleasing in
his sight. How am I going to please God?
He's worked faith in you and that's how you please him because
that's pleasing in his sight. Why? Because you couldn't do
it otherwise. You couldn't do it otherwise. well-pleasing in
His sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and
ever." God has given His people faith to trust the merits of
His Son. What does faith believe? It says
we're justified by faith. What does that mean? It means
faith believes we are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ.
That's what faith believes, what God has said. Only faith pleases
God, not the works of men. Therefore, without faith it's
impossible to please God. There's some things in this world
that are absolutely impossible. Absolutely impossible. Finally, I would close with this.
It's impossible for anyone for whom Christ has died to ever
perish in hell. It's impossible. Father, bless
us to understand and pray in Christ's name. Amen.