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Cannots In The Bible Introduction: There are certain things that just cannot be. We sometimes want to things that are diametrically opposed to each other. We want our children to grow up but stay the same, you cannot line up in a straight circle, you cannot line up alphabetically according to height, etc. Reminds me of an article "Found --A Preacher To Suit All" Found - - A Preacher To Suit All At last, the perfect preacher has been found. After hundreds of years, a model preacher has been found to suit everyone. He preaches exactly 20 minutes and then sits down. His lessons are deep and shallow. He condemns sin, but he never hurts anyone's feelings. He works from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in every type or work, from preaching to custodial service. He makes $60.00 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books regularly, has a nice family, drives a good car and gives $30.00 a week to the church. He also stands ready to contribute to every good work that comes along. He is 26 years old, has been preaching 30 years, and was 55 his last birthday. He is tall and short, thin and heavy-set, and handsome. He has one brown eye and one blue one. He parts his hair in the middle. The left side is dark and straight; the right side is brown and wavy. He wears a mustache only on the right side of his upper lip, with the other side bare. He works tirelessly with teenagers, and spends all his time with older folks. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that is keeping him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls a day on church members, visits all the sick in the hospitals and at home even when he doesn't know they are sick. He spends all his time evangelizing the "unchurched," and is never out of his office. He is not married but his wife is a wonderful helper in his work and is well loved by the whole church. He has no children, but his kids are the meanest ones in the church! He expects nothing from those in his Bible classes, but the members where he preaches are the best Bible students in the area. -Author unknown with some revisions and additions by jpn. In the Bible we read of things that cannot be. By cannot we mean they will not be. I) One Cannot Serve Two Masters At The Same Time, Luke 16.13 A) We are often having to choose who or want we are going to serve. 1. What does it mean to serve or be a servant? 2. Dictionary. com gives the following -- to act as a servant, wait on tables, to be useful of, work for. a. There are choices we must make in life that determines who or what we are going to serve. b. The Apostle Paul decided he was going to be a servant of Christ, Romans 1.1; Philippians 1.1; Titus 1.1; Philemon 1.1. c. One cannot serve two masters at the same time. B) Are we going to serve the world or God? 1. This choice is mutually exclusive. James 4.4 2. To serve God means to place Him first in our lives and do what He says. a. Faithfulness requires total obedience, all the time. b. No such thing are partial obedience. II) Cannot Put Your Hand To The Plow While Looking Back, Luke 9.57-62 A) Looking back hinders us from going forward 1. Have you ever tried to plant a field while looking behind you? Causes the row to not be straight. 2. I know there are times we remember the past and learn from those events but in this case Jesus is talking about letting the past hinder our obedience to Him. B) To obey Christ we cannot 1. Allow past relationships to hinder our obedience to Him. Specifically He is talking about burying one's parents or saying good bye to one's relatives. 2. We all have "baggage" that will stop us from obeying Christ, if we allow it to do so. Past sins, problems, relationships, etc. 3. Do not allow the past to ruin your future. III) Cannot Fellowship Light And Darkness At the Same Time, 1 Corinthians 10.20-21 A) People often want to be a little holy and a little sinful at the same time 1. To be good enough to get to heaven, but not be a "saint" a pure person. 2. God is an exclusive God and requires an exclusive people. B) Christians were trying to be in fellowship with God while fellowshipping error. 1. In this particular case it was idolatry. a. Idolatry was based on superstition as opposed to knowledge of the truth. b. Idolatry was often sensual and carnal as opposed to spiritual. 2. How can one claim to love the truth while endorsing error? 2 Corinthians 6.16 IV) God Cannot Be Tempted By Evil, James 1.13 A) People have blamed God for their sins 1. Sinful nature, God made me this way, or God puts stumbling blocks in my way. 2. At the same time the Bible tells us that God does not want us to sin, he does not provoke us to sin. B) God allows temptation but does not make us sin 1. God tested Abraham 2. God gives us freedom of choice and we decide what we will do. 3. God is pure and does not sin; therefore He never wants or desires us to sin. He places no evil characteristics in us, He does not make us sin. V) Unless One Is Born Again, He Cannot Enter The Kingdom of God, John 3.3-5 A) Different ways to salvation is taught in the religious world. 1. One is saved by Mohammad, Buddha, Jesus. 2. One is saved by grace only, faith only; one must believe, one must repent, etc. 3. There are some who believe any method or plan of salvation is enough to save you. B) Jesus says one cannot enter heaven without being born again 1. He is talking about a spiritual and not physical rebirth. 2. Two elements: water and the Spirit. 3. Paul describes this in Ephesians 5.26 "the washing of water by the word" in Titus 3.5. a. The Holy Spirit is involved. He came to reveal all truth, He inspired the Apostles and prophets. b. What they taught was due to the Holy Spirit. c. They taught the Gospel of Christ; they taught one must be baptized in order be saved. Acts 2.38 4. A person who believes Jesus to be the Son of God, repents of their sins, confesses Jesus, and is baptized for the remission of sins, is born again. A spiritual creature different from the old man. 2 Corinthians 5.17. Conclusion: Do not get yourself into a "cannot" situation. You can put God first in your life, you can look at the future and not the past, you can be in the light, you can be free of sin, you can be born again and have the hope of heaven.
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