The Text

“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. When his disciples heard it, 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.” (Matthew 19:23–26)
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23)

My subject this morning is The Impossible Made Possible. Our Lord taught his disciples with questions, so I am going to ask three questions.

Question One: Can a Son of Adam Do Anything Good Before God?

Can he change from bad to good — from black to white? Never. Here are six reasons:

First: He cannot change his nature. That which is born of the flesh is flesh — it will never be anything else. The Ethiopian will stay black, the leopard will stay spotted, and the sinner will stay a sinner.

Second: His will is diseased. He cannot change because he will not. He cannot because he does not want to. His will is to do evil. Our Lord said: if those who have died in their sins could come back to the earth, they would still love sin — for they will not be persuaded though one rose from the dead.

Third: The strength of habit. Sin forges chains on people that grow stronger as they get older. They are so accustomed to sinning that sin grows stronger and stronger.

Fourth: He loves the passions and appetites of his natural flesh. The sinner loves himself. He loves his sin. He does not love God. He cannot change.

Fifth: He is blind. The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. They love themselves, they love their sin, and they are blind.

Sixth: Even the outward means of religion cannot melt a heart of stone. He can fast, he can pray, he can study — but he cannot repent. Not by himself. As one old writer said: “I may try, but I cannot repent — though I endeavour often, this stony heart will not relent. I may try, but I cannot love, though pressed by love divine — no argument has power to move a heart as cold as mine.”

Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Impossible. Can the leopard change his spots? Impossible. Can a man born in sin do good in the sight of God? Impossible.

Question Two: If Dead Hearts Cannot Change, Why Preach?

Three reasons:

First: The Lord commands us to preach. He said: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The inability of the flesh does not change that commandment.

Second: God has ordained the preaching of the gospel to save sinners. That is the means. The inability of the sinner does not change the means. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Nothing else will change them — but that Word will.

Third: We preach to warn men, to drive them to despair, to show them how impossible it is for them to do anything good — to shut them up to Christ.

“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:22–24)

Question Three: Can the Dead Sinner Be Given Life?

Yes. Because all things are possible with God. With men, salvation is impossible — but with God, all these things are possible.

First: Faith itself is a gift of God. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Second: The Spirit of God has power to save anybody. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. That is an operation of grace by the Spirit of God.

Third: This is the reason our Lord came to the earth. He came to seek and to save the lost. The angel said: He shall save his people from their sins.

Fourth: Through the preaching of the gospel, we have been changed — and we can sing eternally unto him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious blood.

Closing: What Shall We Do?

When Peter preached at Pentecost, those who heard were pricked in their hearts and cried out: What shall we do? I believe I have an answer to that question.

First: You can plead your need of a Saviour. I was preaching on television and a young coal miner named David Kline turned it on looking for good music. The first thing he heard me say was: “You and I have a lot in common — I'm a wretched sinner and so are you.” He got up and turned the television off. Then he sat back down and thought: Maybe I am a sinner. That old leper ran to meet our Lord and fell on his face and said: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. You can plead your need.

Second: You can plead the Lord's mercies. God says: I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. The Canaanite woman came to our Lord. He ignored her. He told her she was not of Israel. He said it was not right to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. She said: Truth, Lord — yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. And our Lord answered: O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Fall on his mercy. Look to it. Believe it. Trust it.

Third: You can plead his precious blood. Did not the Lord say to Israel: When I see the blood, I will pass over you?

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

Let the legalists go to Sinai. We go to the Lamb. Let the Catholics go to the manger. We go to the Lamb. Let the scholars go to their creeds. We go to the Lamb. And when we look to the Lamb of God, he taketh away the sin of the world.

Fourth: You can plead the Lord's commandment and promise.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29)

With the commandment comes the power. Our Lord looked up the tree at Zacchaeus and said: Zacchaeus, come down. And he skedaddled down that tree. With his commandments come the power to obey them. Come — and I will give you rest. He promises it. Trust him. Believe him.

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