Sermon #: 1222

Title: Seven Things God Cannot Do

Text: Malachi 3:6

Readings: Office: Mark Henson Auditorium: L. Campbell

Subject: The Character of God

Date: Tuesday Evening - February 20, 1996

Tape #: S-27

Introduction:

I know that the Lord our God is totally sovereign in all things, and that he is infinite and incomprehensible. Every attribute of his glorious Being is infinitely greater than we can imagine. I know that God made all things, rules all things, and disposes of all things according to his own sovereign will and pleasure. He is God.

“None can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

“Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”

“Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.”

That is the language of the Bible. God almighty is totally sovereign. He has the right to do whatever he is pleased to do. He has the power to do whatever he is pleased to do. And he always does exactly what he is pleased to do in all things and with all things. He says, “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me...My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure...I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”

Any god whose word can be broken, whose will can be frustrated, whose power can be resisted, whose purpose can be thwarted, or whose pleasure is not accomplished is no God at all. Such a puny, pigmy god is nothing but the idolatrous figment of man’s imagination. The God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, the God we know, love, and worship is a God of total, absolute, universal sovereignty. His power cannot be resisted. His pleasure can never become displeasure. His purpose can never be overturned. Is that perfectly clear? We worship God in the beauty and glory of his sovereign character with wonder, admiration, gratitude, and joy. But, hear me well, we do not, and we must not, press the issue of God’s sovereignty beyond the bounds of Holy Scripture, to the exclusion of or in contradiction to that which God has revealed in his Word.

Proposition: There are some things which God cannot do.

I want to show you Seven Things God Cannot Do. Here are seven things revealed in the Bible which the Lord our God cannot do.

I. GOD CANNOT CHANGE OR BE CHANGED.

· Malachi 3:6

· James 1:17

A. In His Being

B. In His Purpose

C. In the objects of His Love

II. GOD CANNOT LIE.

· Titus 1:2

If God has said anything, promised anything, or threatened anything, you can bank on it. God cannot lie. And Paul tells us plainly that God promised eternal life to some people before the world was made.

A. To whom was the Promise Made? - Christ (II Tim. 1:9).

B. For whom was the Promise Made? - God’s Elect.

C. What was the Condition of the Promise? - Christ’s Obedience.

III. GOD CANNOT SAVE A SINNER WITHOUT A SUITABLE SACRIFICE.

· Hebrews 9:22

God cannot forgive sin without blood atonement. And atonement cannot be made without a suitable sacrifice. The sacrifice must be...

A. Innocent.

B. One of Our Nature.

C. A Man of Infinite Merit.

IV. GOD CANNOT TAKE ANYONE TO HEAVEN WHO IS NOT PERFECTLY RIGHTEOUS IN HIS SIGHT.

· Matthew 5:20

· Hebrews 12:14

He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. “It must be perfect to be accepted.” The holy God requires perfect holiness. Christ is our righteousness, holiness, and sanctification (Rom. 5:19).

· Imputed Righteousness.

· Imparted Righteousness.

V. GOD CANNOT SEND ANYONE TO HELL FOR WHOM CHRIST SUFFERED AND DIED

· Isaiah 53:11

· Romans 8:1, 34

· Galatians 3:13

· Hebrews 9:12

“Payment God cannot twice demand,

First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,

And then again at mine!”

A. The wisdom of God won’t allow it!

B. The love of God won’t allow it!

C. The goodness of God won’t allow it!

D. The justice of God won’t allow it!

VI. GOD CANNOT SAVE A SINNER APART FROM THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL.

· I Corinthians 1:21-24

· James 1:18

· II Pet. 1:23-25

I hear men say, “God can save men with the use of means, without the use of means, or in spite of the means used. He is sovereign. He can do whatever he will.” Now hear me: God is sovereign. He can do anything he wants to do. But God cannot lie. He cannot do that which is contrary to his Word. He cannot do that which he has said he will not do. Neither can he not do what he has said he will do . And God has sworn that the gospel of Christ is his ordained means of communicating saving grace to dead sinners.

A. God will not save anyone apart from the preaching of the gospel.

B. God will not save anyone by the preaching of a false gospel.

· Galatians 1:6-8

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God!”

VII. GOD CANNOT FAIL TO SAVE ANY SINNER WHO TRUSTS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, HIS DEAR SON.

· John 3:16, 36

God, who cannot lie, has promised eternal life to every believer. Faith in Christ is the fruit of election, redemption, and regeneration. And faith in Christ is the evidence of election, redemption, and regeneration. Will you now believe? Will you trust the Son of God?