Let us read two verses. Luke 18:27 says, “But He said, The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.” Second Corinthians 12:9 says, “And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.”
In Luke 18:27, the Lord Jesus said that the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. We know the occasion in which the Lord said this word. A young man came to the Lord and asked Him, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 18). Since he asked what he should do, the Lord answered, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother’” (v. 20). The Lord mentioned five items. He told the young ruler that in order to inherit eternal life, God’s uncreated life, through works, one would have to take care of these things. These involve things that one has to do and things that one should not do. The young ruler thought that if inheriting eternal life was only a matter of not doing certain things and performing other good things, he could fulfill those requirements; indeed, he had kept all of them from his youth. But then the Lord said, “Still you lack one thing” (v. 22).
Tonight we do not have time to expound this passage. I will only extract a principle from this passage. When the young man asked the Lord what he should do to inherit eternal life, the Lord told him only five things. Why did the Lord not tell him six things? Why did the Lord not tell him everything all at once? Why after the five things, did He say, “Still you lack one thing”? The only reason the Lord said this was to show him that he could not make it. Eternal life is a gift; it is the grace of God, and man cannot obtain it through any kind of work. The Lord first told the young man five things and then said, “Still you lack one thing,” because He wanted the young man to know that he could not inherit eternal life by works; it is impossible to have eternal life through works. But the young man did not know this; he still claimed that he could make it. From his youth he had kept the commandments concerning not committing adultery, not murdering, not stealing, not bearing false witness, and honoring his father and mother. Therefore, the Lord added, “Still you lack one thing.” The Lord realized that there was one thing that he could not do. The Lord saw through the young man and knew that there was one thing which he could not get through.
The Lord is doing the same thing with regard to the experience of the overcoming life among us today; He is applying the same principle to us. Perhaps some sisters or brothers say that they are not as proud as others or not as jealous or stubborn as others. They may think that they are better than others in many things, but God knows that there is one thing in each of us which we cannot overcome. God allows this one thing to remain with us in order to show us that it is impossible with man. As long as we have not committed adultery, murdered, stolen, or borne false witness, and as long as we honor our parents, we think that we can do everything. If others ask us whether we have overcome, we may say that we have overcome in this or that matter. We may think that everything is fine. But the question today is not how many things we have overcome but whether or not there is one thing that we have not overcome. God allows one thing to remain with us in order to show us that there is still something we cannot do.
Last Saturday evening we saw that according to God’s appraisal we deserve only to be crucified. God fully realizes that we cannot overcome sin and that we can never do good. But even though God says that we are useless, we think that we are still somewhat useful. God is very clear about us, but we are not clear about ourselves. No matter how good we say we are, God will say that we still lack one thing. The temper of some follows them all the time. Stubbornness follows others all the time. Some are not proud or jealous, but their stubbornness never leaves them. They still lack one thing. We will always have one thing that we cannot overcome. We do not have the power to overcome that sin. Some people are not proud, jealous, or stubborn and do not lose their temper easily, but they are full of words; they cannot survive without constantly talking to others. They may boast that they have not committed this or that kind of sin, but the Lord will still say that they lack one thing. Some cannot let go of their money. They never commit any serious sin; yet greed is their sin. It is a filthy spot that remains with them. God says that they still lack one thing. There is still one thing because God wants to prove to us that we cannot make it. We may want to live a perfect life, but there is one thing which testifies that we have not attained to such a life. Brothers and sisters, this is the first qualification—admitting that we still have “one thing.” With some it is pride; with others it is jealousy, talkativeness, or filthy thoughts. Some people may have even more than one thing.
The Lord’s words indicate that salvation is impossible with man, receiving of life is impossible with man, victory is impossible with man, and obtaining the more abundant life is also impossible with man. However, the young man did not believe in his inability. His answer was bold: “All these things I have kept from my youth.” How proud was this answer! How confident were these words! He thought that he had everything. But the Lord said that he still lacked one thing. A man may say that he does not have the sin of pride, jealousy, stubbornness, talkativeness, or any of the sins that I have mentioned, but he still lacks one thing. If he would go home and consider a little, he would realize that there is still one thing.