Now, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Mark. Mark chapter 10. We're looking
at verse 17 through verse 30 this evening. And I title this
message, An Impossible Salvation Accomplished. An Impossible Salvation
Accomplished. The Scripture says in verse 17
of Mark chapter 10, And when he, Christ, was gone forth into
the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked
him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? Now this man that is running
here, this man that is coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, this
history is not only given to us in the Gospel of Mark, but
it's also given to us in the Gospel of Matthew and in the
Gospel of Luke. And it's by these Gospels, each
one of these Gospels, are given a picture of who this man was. Who this man was. If you were
to go to Luke, Luke chapter 18, the Scripture says in verse 18,
he was a ruler. A certain ruler came saying,
good master, what shall I do to inherit Eternal life. So this man that came seeking
this question was a ruler. But if you go to Matthew's Gospel,
in Matthew 19 and verse 20, it says that this man was young. He was a rich ruler. He was young. But we also notice
from Mark's Gospel here that this man was rich. If you look
in verse 22, when he was sad, but the saying, he went away
greed, for he had great possessions." This man was the rich, young
ruler. Now, the man before us truly
is what the world would call a successful man, wouldn't he? This is what the world deems
a successful man, a rich, young ruler. First of all, he was young. How many elderly people envy
young people in what they can do? I saw a man jogging the other
day and he was running. Boy, he was doing a great job. And I looked at that and said,
if I could even get in the best shape possible I am at my age,
I could never run like that again. It's just not possible for this
body to do that again. He's young. And how many older
people spent all of their life gathering riches? And yet this
man had great possessions while he was young. Solomon said, it's
a great evil, isn't it, to gather these possessions and then be
so old you can't even enjoy them. How many people envy that? Rich
people. Old rich people. And then you
think about this. This man was not only rich and
young, he was a ruler. He had great authority. He had
great dominion. And he was looked up to even
by elders. Even by the elders. This man
had it all. He had it all. He was not only
rich and young and a ruler, but according to the text here, he
was moral. Jesus is going to ask him in
a minute. I'm going to show you this. He said, what can I do to inherit
eternal life? And Jesus points him to the law. And he said this,
all these things have I kept from my youth up. This man was
a moral man. He was a moral man. He was a
religious man. Jesus said, don't commit adultery.
Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Honor
thy father." And so boldly he said that. Can you imagine standing
in front of the Lord Jesus Christ and actually boldly saying that?
A believer knows we couldn't. But this man did. If you have
a daughter, would this not be the man the world wants? If you want your daughter to
marry somebody, he was moral, he was rich, he was young, and
he was a ruler. He had it all. This man was envied
by everyone. Listen, this is the best that
the world can offer. This is the best a natural man
can do. This man. This man was the best
that the world and the natural man could ever hope for. This
is what all men desire to be. He was very rich. He was exceeding
wealthy. He was exceeding moral. And yet
this man came to Jesus. He came to Jesus with a great
need. Look how he says he comes in
verse 17. This man's rich, he's a ruler,
he's young, he's got morality and religion, but there's something
missing here. Look what it says. And when he
was gone out forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled
before him." This man came running. He came running to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was something that his money,
his power, and his religion could not do for him. And recognizing
this, he needed eternal life. He said, What shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life?" He had it all, youth, riches, religion, yet
he knew something was missing. His conscience could not be quieted
by these earthly fleeting treasures. His conscience could not be quieted
by his morality and religion. He came running. He had a need. He was on a mission. He didn't
realize it was mission impossible. It was impossible. He didn't
realize that yet. The one he was asking, the way
he was asking it was impossible for him to accomplish. But he
knew he had a need. He had a need. Why? Because he knew his riches would
perish, his youth would fade, and he would die and have to
face God. That's true of every man, isn't
it? It doesn't matter if you're young, or you're rich, or if
you're powerful. Listen, all of that is fading,
it's fleeting, it's going faster than you think. This man came to Jesus understanding
his mortality. that no amount of wealth or religion
could stop His march toward the grave and eternity. Have you
been made to see that? Have you been made to see this
truth concerning yourself? Don't think about others. Think
about yourself. Consider ourselves. Have we been
made to consider our mortality? Are you aware that all flesh
is as grass? And the glory of man is as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth away." What is grass? Grass is our life. It's here
today and it's burned up tomorrow. It's gone fast. What is the flower
of the grass? Well, that's what this man had.
Riches, youth, wealth, religion, good deeds, good works. All of
these are as the grass of the field that appears for a while,
and whose petals fall quickly to the earth." It withers. Over in Ecclesiastes, I'll read
this to you. Ecclesiastes 2. The wise man said, I turned myself
to behold wisdom and madness falling. For what can a man do
that cometh after the king, even that which is already done? Then
I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, far as light excelleth darkness.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, the fool walketh in darkness.
But I myself also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it
happeneth even to me. And why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, this
is also vanity, for there is no remembrance of the wise more
than the fool forever, seeing that that which now is in the
days to come shall be forgotten. And how dieth the wise? As the
fool. This one event happens to us
all. Death. Death. What will your
riches and treasures and powers and family profit you when you
are ushered into the presence of God to be judged? How shall
you inherit eternal life? How shall you stand before God
and be accepted? How shall you be accepted of
Him and enter into His kingdom?" This man had an important question.
He had an important need. He came on a mission, and he
was running to find this out. He knew he had a great need.
If this is your desire, to be accepted of God, to inherit eternal
life, that He alone can give, don't you think it would be good,
first of all, to know who God is? You see, this man came with
a need, a need that only God could give, and he didn't know
who God was or what He required. To inherit eternal life, friends,
you must know God. Isn't that what Jesus Christ
said? This is eternal life. That you might know the Father
and Jesus Christ whom He sent. That's eternal life. Every man
by nature, listen, they know there is a God. That's true. Every man knows there's a God.
If you ever encounter an atheist, you know what you've encountered?
A liar. That's a man that lies to his
own conscience. That's a man that lies to his
own heart. He knows there's a God. And I'll tell you this, there
are no atheists in Hale. All right? There are no atheists
in Hale. So those men disregard them. They're fools. They have
a refuge of lies. But every man knows that there
is a God. But no man by nature can know
Him because we are depraved. Depraved. In 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 14, it says, "...the natural man receiveth not the things
that are of God." for their foolishness unto Him, because He is spiritually
judged. He is spiritually condemned.
He is spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. This night, I am preaching
to some who are dead, who have no ability to understand God. They know there is a God. They
know they must stand before God, but they don't know God. And
they definitely don't know what He demands of them. This man
was no different. He had no idea who God was. Now, man can know God by looking
at creation. Isn't that right? In Romans chapter
1, the Apostle Paul tells us this. In Romans chapter 1, in verse 18, it says, "...for the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, for who hold the truth in unrighteousness?"
Because that which may be known of God is manifest to them, for
God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse." All men know there is a God.
But what do men do with this knowledge? Do they serve God? Do they worship God? No. They change, look at this verse
23, they change the glory of the uncorruptible God into the
image made like an incorruptible man, to birds, to four-footed
beasts, creeping things. They make God, the God they know
by creation, to be like themselves. In Psalm 50 and verse 21, God
made this declaration, "...thou thoughtest I was altogether such
in one as thyself." The God of the natural man is too much like
Himself. Man by nature is not without
religion, but he is without knowledge of God. I like this. I read it a long time ago. An
archaeologist said this, you would sooner find a civilization.
Archaeologists dig up those past civilizations that are no longer
here. And he said you would sooner find a civilization without a
language or a way of communicating than you would find them without
a temple or a God. Man is religious. Yet, who God is and what God
requires of His creatures can only be revealed in one way,
by Jesus Christ. That is the only way knowing
God. That is the only way to know
who God is and what God requires is by Jesus Christ. The Scripture
says, "...eyeth not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the
heart of man the things which God prepared for them that love."
No one knows God or His salvation naturally. Naturally. I've met some parents who were
quasi-religious when they were growing up, and then they just
say, well, I'm going to let my children choose. They're going
to be worse off than you. They're not going to be any better
than you. They'll be worse off because they don't know. You
don't know God. They naturally aren't going to
know God or desire God. The only way to know it is through
Jesus Christ. Paul says that in that same chapter
in Romans 1. He said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. Why? It is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth. For therein, in the gospel, is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The righteousness
of God. You know what God requires? Righteousness. Absolute perfection. Where then
is that found? It's not found in religion. Man's religion doesn't require
perfection. Man's religion requires the best
efforts that you can put forth. That's what man requires. But
God requires perfection, righteousness. And this righteousness is only
found in the gospel even because God is only revealed by the man,
Jesus Christ. In the gospel of Christ is God
manifest to be righteous. And only by Christ is righteousness
that God requires fulfilled. The only way that you can see
what God requires and see how to obtain what God requires is
in the man Jesus Christ. That's the only place to see
it. Now look at what this man... Go back to your text. Look at
what this man... He said, Good Master. What shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? Verse 18, Jesus said unto him,
Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one. That
is God. That is God. If one sees this
man who sees his mortality and desires to be accepted of God,
he must know who God is and what God requires. And this man knew
neither. How do I know that? He did not
recognize God in front of him. He was speaking to God and he
did not know it. He called him good master. And
Jesus was a good master. There's no doubt about that.
He could have been called that. But he saw Jesus only as a good
man or a good teacher. He did not see that he was God
manifest in the flesh. John says, "...in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
And in verse 14, "...the Word was made flesh." In 1 Timothy 3.16 it says, "...without
controversy." This is without argument. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was standing right before
him. How many people did Jesus talk to? They didn't recognize
Him. They didn't know who He was. They didn't see Him as He
is, as God. He said, why are you calling
Me good? I am the good Master, but you don't know why you're
calling Me the good Master. You don't know that I am God.
God is good. That's why I'm the good Master. He did not know Him. He did not
see deity when He saw Christ. He did not see He was the only
One who could give this eternal life He was asking for. If any
man was to know God, I listen, the only way is by Jesus Christ. You're not going to know God
any other way. You're not going to know God in nature. You're
not going to know God by looking at other people and other men.
You're not going to know God by looking within yourself. That's
a lie going about today. They said, well, if you want
to know God, you've got to look inside. No, He ain't there. But
naturally, not naturally, He has to come and possess us. He has to come and house Himself
in us for us to know Him. Look at Matthew chapter 11. Look
at Matthew chapter 11. Verse 25, "...At that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things." What things? The Gospel. You
know God hides His Gospel from people? That's not taught in
modern religion. They think God wants everybody
to know. Listen, if God wants you to know
this Gospel, you'll know it. He hides this gospel from who?
The wise and prudent. Those who are wise in themselves. Self-professed wise men. Self-righteous men. Proud men.
Boastful men. But who does He reveal it to?
And has revealed it unto babes. unto babes." Back in our text,
just before this verse of the rich man, young ruler coming,
Jesus had those babies brought to Him. And He said, if anyone
would enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he must become as a little child. It must be like a little child.
What does that mean? He must come to Christ helpless. He must
come to Christ dependent on God for everything. A child comes
and he has no ability to take care of himself. That's how a
sinner comes and God reveals life to them, those who cannot
do it themselves. Those are dependent on Christ
alone. And then next he says, "...even
so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered
unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son save the
Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and
to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." So the only way to know
God is how? By Jesus Christ. Behold, Jesus
is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His
person. Now, this man could not inherit
eternal life because he didn't know God. Nor did he see the
righteousness of God, which is only manifest in Christ. You
see, he didn't come asking Christ for righteousness. He came asking,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He was working, and he
knew that it wasn't enough, so he came to Christ wanting more
works. What more must I do to inherit
eternal life? If he knew who Christ was, he
would have asked Him for righteousness. He would have asked Him for eternal
life. Isn't that what he told the woman?
The woman at the well, he said, if thou knewest who it was that
asked thee, you would ask of Him, and He would give you eternal
life. If this man came running saying,
Lord, give me eternal life, He would have given it to him. But
no, he was wanting something to do. He didn't know God. He didn't know what God required.
Friends, Jesus is the good Master because He is God, very God in
human flesh. And listen, He came to obtain
righteousness. He came to obtain eternal redemption. To finish the transgression,
it says in Daniel. To make an end of sin. To reconcile
the iniquity. To bring in an everlasting righteousness. He came to give eternal life. To acquire everything God required
of you. He came. And He came so close. Didn't this man come so close?
He came so close. He came to the very One who could
give Him life. And instead of asking Him for
it, He said, what more must I do to inherit eternal life? What did Jesus do? Look back
at your text. What did Jesus do? If you want to earn eternal
life, this is what Christ will tell you. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, nor defraud, not honor thy father and thy mother."
Then see the self-righteousness of this man. You can tell very
clearly in his next statement, verse 20, and he answered and
said, Master, all of these I have observed. In other places he
says, I have kept from my youth until now. He's looking deity
in the eye. You got this? He's looking God
who knows His heart. And He boldly says, you can't
find any of these things that I've not done. I'm blameless.
Blameless is the man's cry. But the one commandment Jesus
withheld is most obvious is this, thou shalt not covet. He withheld
that commandment on purpose because he was about to expose it. Now,
he could have called him to task on any of the other stuff, couldn't
he? Because the man surely thought wicked thoughts. Surely the man
had evil in his heart. This man surely did not obey
his parents from the heart. We know that. This man was a
sinner. He didn't call him to task on
those, but he exposes his sin by that commandment in this verse
21. Jesus then beholding him, loved
him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell
whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven. And come, take up thy cross,
and follow me." He said, Son, there's one thing you're missing.
And then he turns to him and he says, Take all that you have.
He's going to expose his unrighteousness. What this man lacks is righteousness.
So Jesus calls and proclaims his proclaimed righteousness
to task and says, now prove it. He says, I don't want you just
to leave your stuff. Now there's been one thing, hasn't
there? He said, just leave your stuff and come and follow me.
He said that to several men. Matthew, he said that too. He
didn't tell Matthew to sell all he had, but Matthew did it anyway.
But this man, he said, sell all you have. That's something, isn't
it? He said, not only are you leaving it, but I want you to
sell it. And when you get all that money from selling it, then
I want you to give it to the poor who can't pay you back. I want to give it to those who
didn't earn it. Those who didn't merit it. Those
who didn't work for it. And I want you to give it away.
Free. I want you to give it freely
to them. Isn't this exactly what Christ
did? Isn't this exactly what He did?
In Matthew chapter 13, the Lord... I'm going to read this to you.
Matthew chapter 13 and verse 44. It says, "...the kingdom of heaven
is likened to a treasure hidden in a field." which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy goeth and selleth all that
he hath, and buyeth the field." Listen, the kingdom of heaven
is likened to the treasure. You see, listen, God's people
are His treasure, His peculiar people, and they are hidden in
the world. You know what Christ did? He
sold all that He had, and He bought the whole world so that
He might save them. so that He might have them. They
were His peculiar treasure. Jesus, the eternally youthful
ruler and creator of all things, left His Father's throne above,
came to buy His church with His own blood. He became a servant. He became a servant. Behold My
servant, God says, whom I uphold, Mine elect. In Psalm 40, verse
6, it says that He was made a servant. He said, Mine ear hath thou opened. That's speaking of that bondservant
that loved his wife and children that the Master bore his ear,
marked him to be a servant forever. And God, Jesus Christ, said,
mark me that I might have my bride and my children. And so
Jesus willingly sold Himself into servitude. What? For poor
sinners. And listen, isn't that exactly
what He does? He sold all that He had Himself and He gave it
away. He gave it away. That's what
He did. He did for His people. He provided,
obtained righteousness by His own faith and obedience to God. Paul said, but now the righteousness
of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. It was obtained
by the faith of Jesus Christ. And listen, it is unto all and
upon all them that believe. That righteousness then is freely
distributed. That's God. That just freely
gave you that righteousness. He freely gave it. We were poor. We were broke. We couldn't have
it. We didn't have any righteousness. And He freely gave it. He was
picturing Himself. He said, look, you want to do
what I'm doing? You can't do what I'm doing.
That's the only way to inherit eternal life. By law, I'm the
only one that can do that. This man, he didn't understand
that. Therefore, when He offered Himself
without spot to God, God imputed all our vile sins to Him. And justice, the unmeasurable,
eternal vengeance and justice of God fell on Christ, the Lamb
of God, to forever satisfy His justice, to redeem us from all
our sins, so that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. That's what He did. The reproach
of them that reproach thee fell on me, Christ said. Behold, sinner,
there is none righteous, none of Adam's race, who has ever
given anything that is not God's." You realize that? That this man
gave all that he gave. Would he not just be giving what
God gave him? So if you and I give everything
we've got, What does that procure for us? What does that buy? Nothing. It's not ours to give. If you
give your life, what is that? God gave you life, you're just
giving back to God what belongs to Him. So by our giving, this
man, Jesus is not saying if you give away your treasure, you'll
be saved. That's not salvation. The thing that this man lacked
was faith in Christ. He said, come, take up your cross
and follow Me. There's salvation. There is salvation. When men fail to see that their
wealth and their youth and their power of this man and goodness
and morality could not do anything because it was what God gave
him, what men fail to see is that if we give all that we have,
it is just giving back what belongs to God. See then that there is
nothing. Nothing we can give to inherit
eternal life. Nothing we can do to obtain righteousness
by our works. No obedience to the law could
ever atone for our sins. Yet this man, notice this, his
response to Jesus saying this. He said in verse 22, he was sad
at the saying. and went away greed, for he had
much possessions." This man went away sorrowful because he was
rich. In other words, he weighed out
what the Lord said it would cost. And he willfully chose the riches
of the world rather than the eternal life he needed. He willfully went away. Sinners
see that we have nothing with which to please God. We cannot
merit heaven. The riches of this world are
fleeting. Youth is fleeting. Power is an
illusion. Oh, that men would forsake all
that they have and follow Christ by faith. This one thing the
man lacked was faith in Christ. believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and now shall have treasure in heaven." This man believed he would be
the loser to follow Christ. You get that? Why do men not
follow Christ? Listen, why are you who do not
follow Christ, why is it you would not follow Him? It is because
you believe you would be the loser for following Him. If I
had to follow Christ, surely I'd have to give up all of this
wonderful stuff, this wonderful thing. Sin. I'd have to give
up my sin. Oh, what wonderful. How men think
of sin is so wonderful. They do. By nature we do. And
yet they say, well, what? You know, they weigh it. But
take heed. Faith in Christ. Everyone who
believes in Christ surely is the winner. Surely is the winner. And now I want you to know this.
Faith in Christ is no mere acknowledgement of Him. That's not faith. But
faith, friends, is a gift of God's grace. Faith is the only
evidence of the new birth. Faith in Christ. Following Christ. This man could not believe because
he was dead. He would not follow Christ because he had not been given
faith. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. Yet faith is a gift of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast." Now notice what Jesus
said about this. Look at this next verse. And
Jesus looked around. He looked about and said to His
disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished
at the words, but Jesus answered again and said unto them, Children,
how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into
the kingdom of God? For it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God." It is easier for an a camel to go
through the eye of a needle. And so what did they say? What
was their response? Look at the next verse. They
astonished without measure saying this to themselves, who then
can be saved? What did they know? They knew
this. It was impossible for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle. Listen, sometimes I think it's
impossible thread should go through the eye of a needle. Have you
ever tried? It's almost impossible. I can't ever get it. I've got
to get Cheryl to get it through the needle. I can't do it. How
much more impossible a camel through the eye of a needle?
Now there are some religious men who tell you that's a gate
in Israel. Don't listen to them. That's foolishness. They made
that up in order to fit their religion. Needle's eye is not
a gate in Israel. It's a needle that threads. That's
exactly the word here used. A needle. That's why they said,
who can be saved? Who can be saved? That's a good
question, isn't it? Jesus follows up with this affirmation. Look at the next verse. He said,
Jesus looking to them saith, with men it is what? Improbable? No, that's not what
it says. It says impossible. You see,
what this man, Jesus was doing by this man is showing them the
impossibility of what this man was trying to achieve. He was
trying to achieve eternal life by something He could do without
coming to Christ. It is impossible! It is impossible
for man, but with God. But not with God. For with God
all things are possible. Salvation is impossible for men
to do. There's nothing they can do to save himself. There's nothing
man can do to buy his redemption. Peter said this, We are bought
with the precious blood of the Lamb. Not with silver and gold
of our vain conversation, but with the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. That's how redemption is wrought. Do you see that salvation
is impossible for you? That your works are full of sin?
What should you do? Forsake them. Abandon them. Is your religion of works failed
you? Good! Forsake it. Abandon it! Do your riches and pleasures
fail to help you face God? Then forsake them, and follow
Jesus Christ by faith in Him, for this is the only way of salvation. This is the only way possible
for men to be saved, is through Jesus Christ. Behold what you
cannot do, Christ has done. What you cannot do, Christ has
already accomplished. Righteousness, redemption, sanctification
are already accomplished by Jesus Christ. Therefore, let the rich
forsake his riches, their vanity. Let the youth forsake their youthfulness. There is no trust in that. Boast
not thyself of tomorrow, thou knowest not what a day may bring.
Boast not in the power of rulers. for you are powerless to save
yourselves. You got that? The most powerful man in the
world cannot save himself. He cannot. It's impossible for
him to save himself. Abandon it! Oh, you religious men, forsake
your works and free will religion and cleave to Christ as all your
salvation. In Matthew 16 verse 26 it says,
"...for what shall a man profit if he gain the whole world and
lose his own soul?" That is the most weighty thought. I think it is the most profound
words in such few lines ever written. What will it profit
you to get all that you want here and lose your own soul? What will you give in exchange
for your soul? Will you have eternal life? Will
you inherit the kingdom of God? Will you be accepted of God?
If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever shall save his
life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for My sake shall find it. Listen to what Christ tells us,
those who would follow Him. Those who would believe on Him.
In this next verse, Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have
left all for Thee. Friends, there is no greater
suffering in hell than those who just make a mere profession
and will not forsake all to follow Christ. How many are doing that
right now? They made some profession to
follow Christ and yet they still set anything and everything above
Him. Remember how those Jews said
they believed in Jesus in John chapter 8? It says many Jews
believed on Him, but when Jesus put it to the test, He said,
if the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. And
they were offended. They were offended at His saying, we be
Abraham's seed. We're not in bondage. Even so,
some profess to believe in Christ and say, how dare you say we
need to leave all? and follow Christ. How dare you
to say I need to leave my wealth and security to follow Christ?
How dare you say I need to forsake my family and friends? Surely
if I'm saved by grace, I can still have all of these things?
Sure. A believer can be young, a believer
can be wealthy, a believer can be a ruler. They can have all
of these things. But if our faith is of God, If
any of these things interfere with our worship and love for
Christ, they must be forsaken. Isn't that right? Anything that
interferes. If you truly believe in Christ,
we are willing to forsake all and follow Him. Will the believer
in Christ ever then be the loser? Will he ever be the loser by
setting Christ above? We that believe say, never. No, never. Look, Peter said that. We've forsaken all. And what
did Jesus say to him? Jesus answered and said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, there is no man hath left house, or
brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands for My sake and the Gospels. But he shall receive
an hundredfold now in this time houses, and brethren, and sister,
and mother, and children, and lands with persecution. and in the world to come life
eternal." I tell you, believer, that we are by no means the loser. Jesus plainly tells us there's
no man that hath left anything that will not receive manifold
more in this life and in the world to come life everlasting. Have you not found this to be
true? You who cleave to Christ. You who found that salvation
is only possible through Him. You that cleave to Him and find
that He is all your righteousness, all your sanctification, all
your redemption. Have you lost anything by forsaking this world
and the things in it? Can we not testify to this truth? Yes, we can. That all we have
ever left or forsaken for Christ has never been to our hurt, but
only for our good. Isn't that right? Now listen, I became your pastor
several years back. Several years. Twelve years,
I believe. And I've left my home. I left my family. Now listen,
I didn't leave them in the way that some have to. In this day,
I know this, there were many persecuted by their families,
and they had to flee their families because their families were against
them. I know this one woman, and by the grace of God, she's a
very encouragement to me. She married a man who professed
to believe in the gospel, and then he went after a false gospel. And this woman was forced to
leave her husband because he would not allow her to worship
Christ. He forbid her to worship Christ. And she must of necessity leave
him for Christ. What a great pain that was. What
a great difficulty. She loved this man and she must
of necessity have to leave. He refused to let her worship
Christ. I tell you, I have not left like
that. I've not suffered that yet, but surely, I know this,
I have gained much more than I've left. I have many more mothers
now than I left. I have many more sisters, many
more brethren. I surely have left the comforts
of a career and money, but I tell you this, I've not lacked in
any earthly means. You know, it's a running joke
among us, but obviously I didn't take this position for the salary. But I've not lacked anything.
Even as Christ has said, I have received hundredfold than what
I've ever left for Him. And even more than that, I have
this promise to inherit eternal life. You know, the Scripture
says this to all of us who have left everything for Christ. All
things are yours. All things are yours. Righteousness
of God is yours. Justification before God is yours. Redemption by the blood of Christ
is yours. Sanctification of the Holy Spirit
in the new birth is yours. Wisdom by faith in Christ is
yours. Eternal life and peace with God
are yours. Therefore all who believe confess,
for Jesus Christ I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord." Do you not truly count
all things but loss? All things but loss for Christ?
You know, that's the desire of faith. The desire of faith is
to count all things but loss and to win Christ. My desire
is to be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but to have His righteousness, the righteousness
of God, which is by His faith. That's what I want. I want His
righteousness by His faith. How do you have this? Through
faith. Through believing in Him, continually
believing in Him, continually counting all things lost for
Christ. And let us be sure God will try
our faith. Notice that it says in that,
He said, You shall have lands and mothers and childrens with
what? With what? Persecutions. That's a promise,
isn't it? You will have persecution. He
will try your faith so that you and I might see what sort of
faith we have. Our faith will be tried. Like
Abraham. Isn't that right? He said, Abraham,
take your son, your only son whom you loved, and go kill him.
Abraham surely could have raised some objections. He could have
debated. He could have had a lot of people
sympathize with him and side against God. But you know what
the Scripture says, by faith he rose up early. He was already
dead in his mind. Even so, his true faith mortifies
everything for Christ. gives up everything for Christ. Believer, let you and me always
count all things lost for Christ, and we must be ready and willing
to suffer the loss of all things, and count them but dung that
we may win Him and be found in Him. That we may obtain the resurrection
of Christ. That we might be in fellowship
with His sufferings. You know what that means, fellowship
with His sufferings? It means union. I want to be in union
with His sufferings. I want His life to be my life.
His death to be my death. His resurrection to be my resurrection. His acceptance to be my acceptance.
I want fellowship with Him. I want union with Him. And only there is it possible
to be accepted with God. Only in Christ. Is He not worthy of all praise
and obedience? You bet He is. Let me finish with J.C. Ryle
who wrote this. He said, We must be willing to
part with anything, however so dear it may be, if it stands
between us and our salvation. We must be ready to cut off the
right hand, pluck out the right eye, to make any sacrifice, to
break any idol. Life, we must remember, eternal
life is at stake. Life that is only found in Jesus
Christ. One leak neglected is enough
to sink a mighty ship. One besetting sin obstinately
clung to. is enough to shut out the soul
from heaven. The love of money secretly nourished
in the heart is enough to bring a man in other respects moral
and irreproachable down to the pits
of hell. May God therefore expose our
sin, break our hearts so that we might receive Christ alone. Listen, friends, this man He
found out it was impossible to obtain salvation by His works. Therefore, He willingly left
the only one who could give Him that salvation. For what? For what? Didn't His youth fade? Didn't His riches go? Didn't
He cease to be ruler someday? All that power He lost. I'll tell you this, anyone who
believes in Christ, they must sacrifice everything for Him.
Not to obtain salvation, that was something He already obtained.
But we willingly let these things go because Christ is all our
hope. With man, it's impossible. But I'm talking about somebody
who didn't just make it possible, he actually accomplished it. And everyone who believes in
Him, you pay attention, they shall be saved. And anything
they lose in this life is nothing. What have you lost if you lost
everything? We've lost nothing. We've lost nothing. In Christ
we have everything. Oh, may God give us faith to
continue to count everything but done to win Him. To be found
in Him, accepted of Him. I pray that God would.