So we'll be in Matthew chapter
19, as Ben read to us before. I'll be covering down to verse
26. Now I found myself revisiting
this passage after a short conversation with a family friend, and I love
to read these interactions with the Lord Jesus and sinners. Many
of these people were of lower state and many of them are of
nobler state, like this rich young man in our passage. He's
of more noble circumstances. I think you can tell much about
a man by his approach to the Lord, by his approach to God. I always feel there is great
hope for the soul that approaches God in humility, but less so
for those who come with something they think they should be commended
for. And I'm especially interested
to read the responses of our Lord as he speaks. people, these
inquirers. I often think that every time
the Lord speaks in scripture, we could apply that word sealer
after every time. It happens so many times in the
Psalms, to pause and contemplate the words that proceed from His
mouth. You might recall at one time
there were officers that were sent to arrest the Lord Jesus
and they came back without him. What did they say? They said,
no man spake like this man. No man. This morning, as we look
at this passage together in Matthew 19, I'd like us to focus our
attention on the words of the Lord Jesus found in verse 26. In verse 26 the Lord says, With
men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The title of my message is It's
Impossible. It's Impossible. When we read
that with God all things are possible, there is a governing
principle that we need to understand. Everything that our God ever
does or says is always in conformity with his nature. The nature of
God is never conflicted. It's never conflicted. He is
never contrary to his character. The scripture says God cannot
lie. God cannot lie. It's impossible
for God to lie. To do so would violate his own
character. It would violate who he is. In
Numbers 23 we read that God is not a man that he should lie,
neither the son of man that he should repent. When men lie,
we're just doing what comes naturally to us. Scripture says men love
darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. But God is not a man. God is
not a man that he should lie. That God cannot lie is not a
deficiency in him. It's not a deficiency, it's not
a shortcoming in him. There are no shortcomings or
deficiencies in our God. That God cannot lie is an amazing
attribute, a divine attribute of our God. That verse in Numbers
goes on to say, he hath said, hath he said, hath he said and
shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken and shall he
not make it good? This means that we can trust
all that he says and all that he promises. All he ever does
is tell the truth. And all Satan does is tell lies. He's the father of lies. And
that's what comes naturally to him. So we can take comfort from
the fact that it is impossible for God to change. Our God is
immutable. The scriptures declare his words,
saying, I am the Lord, I change not. In God, there is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. All that he is today, he had
always been, and he always ever will be. It's impossible for
God to change. He can't change for the better.
He's already perfect, and he cannot diminish. God cannot diminish. He cannot change for the worse.
His glory cannot fade. His counsel is immutable. That is, his word is unchanging. And so too are all his promises.
You remember, Abraham was promised a blessing, that God would multiply
his descendants. And this church, this church,
believers, sitting here today, are a testimony to that fact.
God keeps His promises. We're evidence of the faithfulness
of God. It's impossible to break His
promises, and that is a comforting truth and a comforting impossibility. The scriptures use contrasting
terms to picture the great divide between the things of God and
the things of heaven and the things of man. There is a great
contrast between heavenly things and earthly things, between light
and darkness, between good and evil, between works and grace. Belief and unbelief, holiness
and unholiness. In fact, if you take every divine
attribute of our God, you'll find an opposite, an opposition
in carnal man. And here in our passage, we have
the Lord contrasting two things, the impossible and the possible. Things which are impossible with
men, but only possible with God. The miracles of our Lord Jesus
Christ were a demonstration, weren't they? They were a demonstration
of God doing the impossible, doing what man cannot do for
himself. And ultimately, that is the truth,
isn't it? Man is without power to save
himself or even help himself. And the truth is the young man
in our passage is yet to understand these things. There are multitudes
of zealous, religious people in this world, engulfed in religion. And I find they'll tell you about
it quite often. You don't even have to ask. They'll
tell you all about it. They always seem to be busy,
busy in their religion. And like this young man, they
can point to their endless, an endless list of achievements.
Legalistic religion is never at peace. Never at peace. Works religion is never at peace. It never knows when it's done
enough. So when the Lord says with men,
this is possible, we simply say amen to that, don't we? We say amen. We just believe
it's so. And that's the essence. In essence,
the problem for the legalist, for the works doer, They just
don't believe it's so. They just don't believe it. They
don't believe it's impossible. They believe that salvation in
some part, in some measure, is dependent on them. So we need to understand also that
when we speak of law keeping in the scriptures, law keeping
before God, when we speak of works salvation, as this man
in this passage, Law keeping is not just keeping the Bible
commands. We're referring to anything that
you do to merit yourself before God, to commend yourself before
God, that is work salvation. Anything you do, anything you
say, anything you seek to do for God works salvation to commend
yourself. I pray that your testimony is
the testimony with Jonah. Jonah said salvation is of the
Lord. It's not of man to any degree. So let's look briefly through
our passage and see how the Lord deals with this zealous young
man, a man who is rich materially, but he also thought himself rich
spiritually. In Mark's account, we see that
this man came running and kneeled before the Lord. He came with
enthusiasm and he came with outward respect. Here in our passage
in verse 16, Matthew 19, 16, we read, Behold, one came and
said unto him, Good master, what thing shall I do that I may inherit,
that may I have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest
thou me good? There is none good but one, and
that is God. Notice the Lord is not denying
his own goodness, nor is he denying his deity. Straight off the bat,
the Lord is saying to this young man, if you truly call me good,
If you believe that I am good, know that I am God. Know that I am God. And notice, if you will, how
similar this statement of the Lord is to the verse we know
so well in Romans 3, and also quoted in Isaiah. Romans 3 says,
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. And here the Lord
says, there is none good, but one, but one. And that is God. There are religious men in this
world of whom their followers give them the term your holiness.
They call them your holiness. It's amazing to me that they
would call them such a thing when there is no one that does
any good, let alone being holy. Romans 3 is referring to all
men fallen in Adam. There is not a single one of
them that doeth good. But here the Lord is referring
to himself, isn't he? He's the good one. He's the only
good one. What good thing shall I do that
I may have eternal life? The goodness of God is a message
of itself in another day, but we see this young man's approach
to the Lord in ignorance. He's ignorant. He's ignorant
of himself. He's ignorant of his own nature.
He's ignorant of his own absolute inability. The scripture says,
God resisted grace unto the humble. But rather
than approaching the Lord on the basis of grace and mercy,
this man approaches the Lord with his imaginary righteousness
and his imaginary law-keeping. He comes with law-keeping, and
so the Lord tries him against the law. He compares him to his
own standard. The Lord says, But if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments. Oh, he says, he saith unto him,
which, which commandments? As if to say, you just name one
and I've done it. Someone will indeed keep the
commandments. Jesus said, Thou shalt do no
more murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Honour thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. The young man saith unto him,
All these things have I kept from my youth up. What lack I
yet? What lack are you? Little does
this young man know that the one with whom he was speaking
is the only one ever to perform all the commandments of God.
We know the scripture don't we? We know the scripture. For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Romans
10. That means that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled every
law of God perfectly and completely. And having performed it perfectly
and completely, it is finished. It's a finished work. Christ
is the end of the law. righteousness, for your righteousness
if you believe. The problem for the works doer
is they misunderstand. They misunderstand the purpose
of the law. To the works doer, the law isn't
finished. has still got to do it. The works
do it, looks at those commandments. God gave the Israelites in Exodus
chapter 20 and he believes they're given for him to improve his
standing with God. He's not satisfied with the work
of Christ and in doing so he shows contempt. Contempt for
God, contempt for the provision of his son. The works doer has
no idea that the purpose of the law is not to prove our righteousness,
it's to prove our unrighteousness, to prove our utter inability,
to prove our utter depravity. to expose us for what we are,
sinful men that drink water, drink iniquity, I should say,
iniquity like water. Some might ask, what about those
two great commandments the Lord spoke of? When the Lord said, and thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul and with all thy mind and all thy strength, and thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. Surely, Christians should be
aspiring to do these things. And I would ask you, how are
you going with that? Loving the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your mind, all your soul, all your
strength. How are you going with that? My heart is deceitful above all
things. Or loving God with all my mind.
How many of us have ever thought a holy thought? Perhaps in your
own eyes, but not in the eyes of God. The fact is the law must
be kept perfectly. It must be kept perfectly or
it's not kept at all. In Galatians 3.10 we see that
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. If you commit yourself to salvation,
which has any works attached to commend you to God, you are
placing yourself under a curse. It is written, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. Even if we could do them, even
if we could do one, which we can't, that is impossible. Even
if you could do it, that's not enough. You must continue in
all things in the law. The law must be kept at all points
or it is not kept at all. This young man has no idea. about
keeping the law, what's required. It must be kept in its entirety,
or it's not kept at all. It must be kept outwardly, every
word, every deed, or it's not kept at all. And it must be kept
inwardly, every thought and every intention of the heart, or it's
not kept at all. It must be kept all the days
of your life. or it's not kept at all. With
men, this is impossible. This is impossible, but thanks
be to our God. With God, all things are possible. Only God could perform all the
works of the law perfectly and completely, and that's exactly
what the Lord Jesus Christ did, and not for himself. The Lord
Jesus Christ had no need to prove himself before the Father. He
had glory with the Father before the world began. His express image of the living
God. The Lord Jesus said to Philip,
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and the Father
are one. Brethren, this is our gospel,
isn't it? The Lord says, if someone must perform all the law of God,
it has to be me. It can only be me. If someone
must live a sinless life before God, it can only be me. It can only be God. If someone
must bear the sins of God's elect and put them away forever, it
can only be me. Because such a work is impossible
for man. And he did it all as a substitute
for all that the Father gave him before the world began. Paul
says in Galatians chapter 2, for I through the law am dead
to the law, then I might live unto God. Paul says there he
is dead to the law because the law has been fulfilled on his
behalf. Galatians goes on to say, I am
crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Brethren, we've been bought with
the price. We've been bought with the price. We've been bought
with the precious blood of the Lamb of God, the substitute for
His people. And everything he did, we did
in him as our representative, as our substitute. The young man says, all these
things, he said, have I kept from my youth up? What lack I
yet? In verse 21, Jesus said unto
him, O if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and
come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. The Lord
in Matthew 6 tells us that we ought to lay up treasure in heaven. No man, in Matthew 6, he says,
no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. God and Mammon. And that word
Mammon refers to worldly wealth. This young man had great possessions. and to give them up. It was a
hard teaching of the Lord. He had proudly declared that
he'd kept all the commandments. The tenth of those commandments
is thou shalt not covet. But the Lord had exposed him,
hadn't he? He had exposed him as a covetous
man, as only the Lord can do. No doubt the love of money in
this world is a snare to many, but money is a necessary thing
in this world, isn't it? It's necessary to function in
this society. Australia is a wealthy country,
and compared to much of the world's population, we are wealthy people.
I'm sure Angus will tell you of the impoverished souls he
must have seen from time to time in India, who would think that
we people who would consider us
wealthy beyond our dreams. Wealth in and of itself is not
a disqualification from eternal life. It's not a disqualification
from entering heaven. It's our trust in it, isn't it?
The riches of this world constantly entice us It entices us to love
the world. And we have that warning from
John concerning this love of the world. He says, Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but is of the world. The riches of this world are
enticing, but they will not last. They will not last. John goes
on to say, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but
he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. May the Lord
keep us from the love of this world. This world is not our
home and it won't last. We're looking for that heavenly
home which cannot be destroyed or passed away. Let's see what
the Lord says next in verse 23. 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's
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And when his
disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who
then can be saved? Who can be saved? They were confounded,
weren't they, by the Lord's words. If it's impossible for this man,
if it's impossible for this man who is so obviously moral, so
obviously zealous, so obviously dedicated to God, in obeying
the commandments of God, if this man can't enter the kingdom of
God, then what hope have we got? And perhaps we can ask that simple
question, what does a rich man require? What does a rich man
need? And the answer is he needs nothing.
He needs nothing. He has everything he needs. And
this young man had no need. He had everything he needed.
He had all the righteousness in the world. He had plenty of
righteousness. He didn't need the righteousness
of another. He rejected the righteousness
of Christ. The Lord said, I've not come to call the righteous,
but the unrighteous to repentance. We speak much about self-righteousness
here, because it is a stumbling block for many. But we don't
despair, do we? Because with God, all things
are possible. Do any of us doubt that the Lord
God could shrink a camel and go through the eye of a needle?
The problem for this man is he's too big. He's too puffed up,
puffed up with his own righteousness, puffed up with his own pride. God needs to make him small. Everything the Lord does is impossible
with men, especially salvation. And that's what we're talking
about here. Salvation is impossible with men, only possible with
God. You might recall when the Lord
visited Abraham and Sarah and the Lord promised that they would
conceive a child. And Sarah was about 90 years
old and Abraham was about 99. And Sarah laughed within herself
because she thought it was impossible. But against hope, Abraham believed
God. And when Sarah laughed within
herself at the idea, the Lord said, is anything too hard for
the Lord? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? When God promises a blessing for his people, he does it in
a way to make us know that he did it, that he alone did it. And what I find most remarkable
about this account is that the Lord indulges this young man
so far. The Lord had far less patience
with the Pharisees and he scolded them often. but here the Lord
is patient with this young man. And I think the reason can be
found in Mark's account. If you turn with me there, just
to Mark, Mark chapter 10, just for a moment. Marked at chapter 10, verse 19.
Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor
thy father and thy mother. And he answered and said unto
him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. And verse 21, then Jesus beholding
him loved him. Whoever this young man is, we
don't know. But rather than simply recording what was said, Mark
is inspired to write what he saw. Jesus beholding him loved
him. When the Lord Jesus wept for
his friend Lazarus, The Jews saw it and said, behold how he
loved him. This young man is soon to go
away sorrowful. And after this account, we hear nothing more
of him. And we don't know what transpired
after this man left his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. But
we do know many things about the love of God, don't we? We
know that the love of God is free and uncaused. The only reason God loves is
found within himself. He loves from himself, from his
own sovereign will. And we know that God has loved
his people from everlasting, before the world began. And that
means there's nothing in the creature that would cause that
love. There is nothing in the objects
of his love to attract or prompt his love. This young man was
full of unrighteousness. Everything he said, everything,
every word that came out of his mouth was an offence to God.
And yet here we see that Jesus loved him. This young man's path
to salvation was impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. And the truth is that God takes
the vilest of sinners and makes them righteous. Makes them righteous
by the sin attorney work of his son. He takes sinners, dead in
trespasses and sins, and makes them alive. With men, this is
impossible. Salvation is impossible for men,
but with God, all things are possible. At its essence, the
Lord is simply saying, you can't, but I can. You can't, but I can. It's not your will, but by His
will. Salvation is according to His
will. I love that account of the leper
that came to the Lord Jesus Christ for healing, and he worshipped
Him, and he said to the Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand
and touched him. saying, I will, I will. Be thou clean, and immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. What's the lesson for us here?
The lesson is what God requires, God must provide. It's impossible
for men to believe God if God doesn't give them faith. It's
impossible for men to come to God unless God draws them. It's
impossible for men to repent of their sins unless God convicts
the heart of man. And this is by divine design,
that all of our salvation is attributed to him, that it's
all his doing. And if he doesn't do it, it remains
impossible. Everything that God requires
for salvation is impossible for the natural man. To believe God,
to come to God, to repent of your sins, these are things that
God requires, but the natural man is incapable of doing them. The truth is, when God makes
us know that salvation is impossible for us to accomplish, then we
can delight, can't we, in the one who accomplished it for us.
The Lord Jesus Christ is that one, that one who shall not fail.