“The God of the Impossible” Conclusion

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 908 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text

--Brother Phil Enlow:  We are not very honest many times when it comes to what’s really going on in our lives. And there are so many issues that bind us, that hinder us, that drag us like weights in our lives that God wants to set His people free from! And so many times what we do without being conscious of it, we approach the things that the Lord would put His finger on in our lives the same way this rich young ruler approached the problem of his riches. That was an issue that had his life locked down. He was captive of Satan in that area. He just…his affections, everything…it wasn’t just, I can’t do this. It was a ‘will’ problem.

Is that your problem? It is mine in areas. There’s areas where I’ve got a problem with more than just the ability to do something, I’m not even sure I want to sometimes. Are you honest enough to admit that that’s a problem sometimes? God help us. But do you know something? There’s a wonderful scripture in Philippians that talks about working out our salvation. And of course that’s not for--it’s working out. It’s the working out of something God has given to us. That means putting it into effect. What He did at the cross is all we will ever need. It’s done. It’s history. He has given a full and a complete salvation, but there has to be an outworking of that. It has to be put into effect in the different areas that affect my life and yours.

So he says, work it out. That right there tells me there is something for me to do. I have to be willing to act in faith based upon what He has done. It’s not based upon my, okay I’m gonna do it Lord.

That’s where Paul was at. Now, of course, Paul even said, “…to will is present...” (KJV). Paul was past us in that respect. He was talking about issues in his life in Romans chapter 7 where to will was present, but even where that was present, he didn’t find the ability, did he? Why? He says there’s a law that operates down here that just keeps me. It’s like the law of gravity that keeps me on the ground. The Lord says fly, and I try. I can’t. I’ve got a law of gravity that holds me right here. I need a higher law to come into play here. Something else has got to happen.

But Paul wrote in Philippians 2 and he told us…praise God, I started to quote that. I’d better go over and read it so you’ll know where it’s at. Philippians chapter 2, verse 12. “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue...” (NIV). So there is a process, isn’t there? There’s something that happens day to day, to day, to day. “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

Now the fear and trembling there is not meant to suggest that there is a question mark about it--that I’m not so sure that if I fail, God is gonna--God is gonna toss me out here if I don’t quite measure up. It’s not that kind of a fearfulness. But what it is, is a reverential respect for God. It’s a fear of moving in ourselves and being presumptuous and careless, you see? How much fear and trembling did David have when he stayed home from the battle that one time and lounged around his palace and got himself into a world of hurt, because he got his eyes on a wrong woman and one thing led to another and he just went down a terrible path in his life. David wasn’t sitting there with a sense of what his life was about in a fearfulness of himself really.

That’s the guy we’ve got to be concerned about, lest we just simply give vent to what we are naturally, the way we were born in Adam. So that’s where the fearfulness and trembling comes in. There’s a sense of just a holy respect for God where I tremble at His Word. When He says something I take it seriously. That’s what he’s talking about.

But now look at what is undergirding this effort. This is not a self effort that he’s talking about here. He says, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Now that last phrase should knock out what a lot of people try to make Christianity into. It’s God coming to help us fulfill our dreams, our purposes. I’ m trying to carve out a life for myself and I want God to come and help me do it. No. He has a purpose for my life. Salvation is about turning us from our own way to His way, His purpose, His goal. That becomes what life is about.

But the question is, how does that purpose get actually fulfilled in us? That’s what this is about. “…it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Well I can think of areas where I need Him to work in me, not just to act but to will. That’s where the battle is lost many times. My will is so weak in this particular area that I need His--I need His help and it’s easy for the devil to point to that one-two combination. Look I’ve fallen in this. I don’t even want to not fall into it. What do you expect? What are you gonna do? That’s just the way it is. Just live with it. That’s what the devil wants to tell us.

But the Lord’s saying, I am able to deal with both of those issues. If you will just lift your heart, your expectation to me, I will be with you. I will give you the strength. I…you say…you know we…for example, here’s an issue. There’s been a lot said lately and rightly so about our need to surrender. Well, surrender is easier said than done. It’s easy to say, oh, I surrender all. I don’t know that I have the strength to do that, do you? I need God to help me.

But are we willing to come to Him and say Lord, I can’t even will to do the thing that I know I’m supposed to do. God you’re gonna have to come and do this work in my heart and change me. This is an impossibility, what you told me is an impossibility to me, but it’s not with you. Because you have declared. You haven’t said, now if you can just get your will in line, I’ll take care of it. No. He said I’ll work in you to will. We need to get a hold of that truth, lest it be the sticking point.

We have the right to come to God. God knows about that. That’s why He calls it salvation. That’s why He did what was necessary at the cross. None of this is taking Him by surprise. He’s just wanting us to come to the place where we are honest before Him and say, Lord, I’ve got a problem here. Here’s an area where I just…oh let’s just pick one. Let’s say it’s unforgiveness. There’s just something that you just can’t let go. And you know you ought to, but you just don’t really want to. It could be anything, but this is one example that afflicts all of us at one time or another.

But I’ll tell you there’s a God if we will lift our hearts and say, God, here’s where I’m at. But you’ve promised…you’ve said that nothing’s impossible with you and He wasn’t just talking about circumstances there. He was talking about heart issues. Let’s get a handle on that part of it. We love to quote that about circumstances, and it’s true. Here’s an impossible circumstance. It’s out there somewhere, but God, nothing is impossible with you. You can take care of that. That’s well and good.

This is the problem. That’s what…in the context, that’s why I read what I did about this rich young ruler, because his problem was a heart issue. It went right to the core of his being. And that’s where…it was in that context that Jesus said it’s impossible with man. It is possible with God. All things are possible. Every heart issue we come to Him with is possible for God to fix even though I cannot, even though sometimes I don’t want to. God is able to change both of those things. Praise God!

And you just go through the things that God brings to your attention and your life. How many times have you run up on this same issue, or this issue, or that issue? It could be bitterness. It could be a lust. It could be ambition. It could be a thousand and one things, whatever it is that’s part of this old fallen nature. With one it’s gonna be one thing, with another it gonna be something else.

And the temptation is to take care of all the stuff that you can take care of, everything that you’ve got faith for, and then just to settle in. That’s what happened with a lot of Israelites. You know they got themselves in a lot of trouble because they stopped short of conquering all the land. Did you know that? You read the final listing, the catalog of…here’s a tribe that settled in this area, but they didn’t conquer this particular area and they live among the Israelites to this day. And then they go to another people and the same story.

I don’t know about you-- I’m tired of that. I’m tired of this. In my own heart and life I see areas where it’s been too easy just to settle and say, well, I guess that’s the way it is. I’m just gonna have to live with these enemies and live with this thing. And I know that there is…this is not…let me backup and say this. This is not intended to be a spiritual push button, a theological push button issue. There’s no experience that I can offer you where you can come down, and all of these issues will be settled, and you will just coast the rest of your life. Nor is this something where I am standing here because I have arrived at some high level in God and I am able to look down at all you poor people and just explain to you how you can get up here with me. God, there’s a lot of that in religion. But it isn’t that way.

You know it wasn’t that way with Paul. Think about how he exhorted the believers. He told them what his life was about but he said, look, I’m not telling you this because I’ve arrived. I don’t consider…read Philippians 3. I don’t consider that I have arrived. I haven’t obtained all this that I’m talking about. I know what my life is about. I know it’s not about pursuing the Jews religion anymore. I know it’s about coming to know Him and to know Him experientially. But I’m not telling you all these things because I’ve gotten there, but one thing I do know, I’m pressing forward.

So what the Lord is, I believe, trying to encourage us with this morning is not a destination, but it is a road map. It is a way of looking at the problems that we face--I mean the heart level problems that nobody else maybe knows about. These are the real issues that bind our lives. But I believe God wants us to have a different vision, a different view of things that we have, up to this point, considered to be impossible. Well, the fact is that they are impossible to you and they’re impossible to me, but they are not impossible to God.

I don’t believe that God has saved us with a partial salvation. I believe that He means for us to gain ground and it doesn’t mean we are going to gain it in five minutes and coast. It’s going to be a life-long process of confronting issues. But we need to learn to confront issues with faith, not in ourselves, but in a God who says, you trust me. You keep your eyes upon me and I will be with you and you will see enemies fall. You will see your own will set free to do my will. You will see your ability begin to grow. You’ll be able to hear my voice better. You’ll be freer to pray, freer to do the things, freer to let go of things that you’ve held on to in your affections, in your life. These are the enemies. These are the things. These are the real issues that affect us.

God, it’s easy to put on an external standard and have everybody live up to it and they’re a bunch of Pharisees if that’s all they’ve got. But real salvation is what Jesus was ministering, trying to bring this man to see. It’s a heart thing. You give me your heart, I’ll change everything in here. And when I do that, everything else is gonna change.

You know we’ve used many times the example of Peter. And there’s a simplicity about it that I think lends itself to this, because Peter was with the disciples in the boat and Jesus walked up on the water. Well, that’s kind of an impossible thing, isn’t it? There He was, and they all saw Him, and they realized, yeah, that’s Jesus. He said, all right, if it’s you Lord, bid me to come. So the Lord said, “Come.”

That was a real complicated answer wasn’t it! You know before we’d respond to something like that we’d expect Him to say, Come and I will be with you and the water will be like concrete under your feet and nothing should…no fish will eat you. No. Whatever it is…you know we’d expect some long drawn out promise of God. Okay, now I…all right, I’ve checked off my list here--all these possible things. Okay. But Jesus just said, “Come.”

Well, Peter could have sat there, couldn’t he? And if he’d sat there nothing would have ever happened. Now many times that’s where we’re at. When the Lord says come, we don’t come. But Peter came, didn’t he? He got out on the water. So that was so good so far, or so far so good. And he got out there and as long as he had his eyes on Jesus, he was fine, wasn’t he?

But what happened? Suddenly he got to looking around and he said, wait a minute. This is impossible. I can’t do this. What was I thinking? I’m standing out here on top of a raging storm. I mean even if the water was calm, that’d be one thing, but not only that, it’s a storm. This is nuts. Then he began to sink. Well, I’m so glad for the Lord’s response to that. The Lord looked down on him and said, you crazy guy. Just go on and sink. No, He didn’t do that, did He? He reached down His hand and caught him. And I’ll tell you the Lord will do that for us too.

But the lessons are so simple. You know I know we’ve got a Bible full of promises, but I’m gonna say this again. I’ve said it before. When you consider what salvation really is, everything God has commanded us to do is really an implied promise. God didn’t…the Lord did not say to Peter come and then give and elaborate list of promises of what would happen if he did. He just said come, but the implication of His Words was, you can do this if you will trust in my power. There is a power that will come into play if you will trust what my command that will enable you to stand upon the water and to come to me.

Now you think about that in relation to the things the Lord has told us to do--to surrender, to love, to be at peace, to…you know, all the things that afflict everyone of us that are really heart issues. The Lord…do you think the Lord has told us to do something that is impossible? Well it is for us, but that’s the message God wants us to know. Everything that is impossible to you is possible with God.

And I pray that He will continue to burn that truth into my mind so that when I think of things…when He points out issues and He says, I want you to be honest about what’s really going on here. Quit hiding. Quit calling it something else. Quit blaming somebody else. If there is anything that is unChristlike in here, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Look at Jesus. All the stuff He had to put up with and endure, and He had His flesh to deal with too. Yet, by the strength that God gave Him, He was able to overcome. That’s all the example that I need.

Oh, you say oh, that was Jesus. That was different. I’ll tell you, when Jesus lived among us, He walked as a man dependent upon His Father. He walked the same way we have to walk. When He walked on the water He did it because of divine power that God had given to him. When Peter walked on the water that was divine power as well. So I just pray that when we look at problems, when we look at issues, when we’re forced to come to a point where we are honest about a problem and a need in our lives, that instead of wallowing in the impossibility we’d begin to say, Lord, here I am. I can’t even…my will isn’t enough in this issue. I just don’t…it’s just not in me, Lord, I am looking to you. You have promised me a salvation that takes in this issue. God help me and then not to just do it for five minutes and say, oh well, I guess there’s nothing to that. But to learn to think differently, to learn to bring these issues to God with faith and say, Lord, you and your Word have declared that what is impossible with men is possible with God. Do you believe that?

( congregational amens ).

I believe theologically we do. What I find myself needing to do is to take that that I know theologically, Biblically, and begin to say, yes, with this respect to this issue what is impossible with me is possible with God. And Lord, I confess to you what I am, but I’m looking to you right now. I’m depending upon you, just like Peter was looking to Jesus and walking on the water. I’m not looking at the issues anymore. I’m not looking at my history of failure. I’m not looking at all of this other stuff that the devil tries to bring to my mind. I’m looking at you.

You know it’s called a fight of faith for a reason. Because you’re gonna…whenever there’s a call to believe God about something, you’re gonna have everything under the sun thrown at you mentally, and physically, and emotionally that’s contrary to that. And the real fight is which are you going to believe? The Israelites, in many cases, believed more in the giants than they did in the Lord, and so the giants stayed. When they believed God, the giants had to go.

I believe it’s that way with us. God help me. God help every one of us to…not to put this forward as some kind of a super-spiritual destination but a road map. This is the way God has called us to walk. It’s by faith, not in ourselves. It’s an honesty about what’s wrong. It’s a bringing it to Him. It’s a sense--Lord, I cannot but I know you can and Lord I am trusting you. God, I am trusting…I am depending on you to help me even to do the trusting part. Whatever I lack, Lord, you are the Savior and I need to be saved in this area right here right now and I’m looking to you. Because the thing that’s impossible with me is possible with you. Praise God!

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