Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew 19. Matthew 19. We just had a Bible
study from Matthew 19. We're going through this book.
And we looked at verses 16 to 22. And we are now going to look
at verses 23 to 26 for our message. But let's begin reading in verse
16 again. And behold, one came and said
unto him, good master, What good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest
thou me good? There is none good but one, that
is God. But if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus
said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery,
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor
thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. The young man saith unto him,
all these things have I kept from my youth up, what lack I
yet? Jesus said unto him, 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."
Now what we just looked at in the Bible study is even though
this particular man said that he had kept all of these things
from his youth up. No man or woman has ever kept
all of these things from their youth up. No man or woman. not in the depth and the degree
that God requires us to keep them. And if I'd kind of like
to just add 30 minutes to this message and repeat everything
I just said, this is why I say it all goes together. There was
a lot of things that were said that I'd like to say again right
now, but we'll keep going. People naturally think, and I'm
telling you, you will find this is so. People people, masses
of people, naturally think that what the Lord said right here
applies outwardly and that it only applies outwardly. Don't murder outwardly. Don't commit adultery outwardly. And people truly do believe in
their hearts. I have never done those things
because I've never done them outwardly. But what we just saw in the Bible
study is God does not see things the way man sees things. Man looks on the outward appearance,
but God looks on the heart. God looks on the heart. And even
though there really are many men and women on this earth who
have never physically committed murder and never physically committed
adultery, every soul on this earth has committed every one
of these things in the heart. Every soul on this earth has
committed every one of these things in the mind. in the inner
being where sin originates. This is where sin originates. So this rich young ruler, as
he's referred to, he was deceiving himself in thinking that he had
kept all of these things from his youth up. And many people
today are deceiving themselves in thinking that they have kept
these things from their youth up. They'll put up a Ten Commandments
sign. All right? Check. Got it. People
deceive themselves in thinking that they have kept these things
from their youth up, just like this man. He didn't. We haven't. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And the fact of the matter is,
it doesn't say that he kept the final thing that the Lord told
him to do. The Lord told him, he said, you
know, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't
lie, love your neighbor as yourself. And he said, all these things
have I kept for my youth up. What do I lack? What else? The
Lord told him to go sell everything that he had and give it to the
poor and follow Him. And it does not say that the
man did it. We, you know, maybe sometimes
we assume the man did it. It doesn't say that he did it.
It just says that he went away sorrowful because he was very
rich. And we end that in a moment ago.
We, in the Bible study, we saw a beautiful picture of the gospel
in there. Let me give you a picture of reality right now. That's a picture of what will
happen to every man and woman who tries to go stand before
the judgment throne of God on the merit of his or her own good
works. Bringing obedience to the law. I kept the commandments. What
gives you the right to be here? What gives you the right to come
into my kingdom? Well, I obeyed your commandments.
I kept your commandments. No man has, not in the depth
and degree God requires, And therefore anyone who approaches
God on that merit will hear, depart from me, I never knew
you. And they will go away sorrowfully,
eternally sorrowfully. And that is the understatement
of the century. I mean condemned in eternal judgment. But that is an illustration of
any soul who tries to come before God, the judgment throne of God,
on the merits of his or her own words. They're going to go away
sorrowfully. The problem for all men and women
is, in our nature, in our natural condition, We are not acceptable
to God. You know how, I'm sure you've,
you know, done a job and you're pretty proud of it. And you say,
come see what I did. And, and whoever your judge was said,
that's not acceptable. Do it again. That's how I learned
how to vacuum our house. I had to do it four times before
I, I mean, I'm the best vacuumer there is now. Honestly, because
I don't want to go do it again. I move everything. You understand
what I'm saying? That's not acceptable. Here,
see what I did? Not acceptable. In our flesh,
we're not acceptable. That does not cut the mustard.
You don't hold up. You don't stand up. Not acceptable. And in our flesh, We never will
be. Okay, well then so I need to
try harder. That's what I was doing with vacuuming. And to
man, to my mother, she finally said, okay, that's good enough.
But God doesn't see things the way man sees things. And man
thinks, okay, I'll try again and I'll do better this time.
And in our flesh, we never will be. We never will be. Isaiah wrote, all of our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. The apostle Paul said, in my
flesh dwells no good thing. David said, man at his best state
is altogether vanity. And when a person really understands
this, the first thing that it brings is sorrow and fear and
horror. And it causes men and women to
say the same thing that the disciples said when they heard this. Verse
22. But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.
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 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." Our Lord doesn't lie. Our Lord does not exaggerate.
He doesn't write with trickery. Everything He said is absolute
truth, and this is what He said. It would be easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of heaven. He means what he's saying here. Now let me say again that that
does apply physically to some degree. When men and women are
very rich and increased with goods, they have pretty much
everything they think they need. If they don't have it, they just
go get it. If they can't do it, they just hire somebody to do
it. A man or a woman in that condition
generally is in need of nothing, especially no need for Christ.
And for that reason, 1 Corinthians 1 does say, and this is so, not
many wise. We're not that wise. I know we
think we are, but I'll never figure out how to
put a man on the moon or not many wise. Not many mighty, not
many noble. Our Lord said right here, not
many rich will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But let me remind us here that
even though there is a physical application, this was the whole
point of the Bible study. God is looking on the heart.
God is talking about the heart. Out of the heart of the issues
of life. This is all about the heart. Our Lord here is talking
about the inner man. Abraham was rich. He was rich. He had cattle and he was a rich
man. God said, Abraham is my friend. David was rich. God said, David's
a man after my own heart. Solomon was rich. The Queen of
Sheba was rich. Joseph of Arimathea was rich. Many people throughout the scripture
who belonged to the Lord, they were rich. They were very rich.
And I'll tell you this, even though we don't think we are,
because most everybody here is living paycheck to paycheck,
we're barely making it through this life and through this world,
but even though we don't think we're rich, we are. compared to most places in this
world. We are. And I do admit, I do
acknowledge, it is a real hindrance. Riches are a real hindrance. But the money itself is not the
problem, and we can't put the blame on the money for our lack
of desire and need for Christ. We can't blame the money. Try
to put the, well, you know, it's money. No, it's not the money.
That's on us. Our love of the money. That's
what he said in one of the other accounts. It's us loving riches
more than loving Christ. It's us trusting in riches more
than trusting in Christ. It's an inner thing. That's where
the problem lies. That's where the problem lies.
That's what will keep a man or a woman from the eternal life
of God, that inner richness, that inner worth. It doesn't
matter whether a person is filthy rich or filthy poor. Inside the
nature of every human being on this earth, there is a value
in men and women that they think they have before God. It doesn't
matter how much money they have or how much money they don't
have. Every soul possesses a value inside that they believe they
have before God. Every soul naturally believes
in the heart that God sees worth in them. I'm going to save you
because I see worth in you. That's what people believe. Every soul naturally believes
they possess something that God needs and God desires. They believe
they have something to offer God. They believe they have the ability
to do for God. Oh, you can't do it here. Let
me take care of that for you. That's what they believe. God
can't do it, so we better take care of it for him. It's the riches of works, the
riches of the goodness of works. People naturally see themselves
as being spiritually rich and increased with good, goodness,
good works. And it's not until the truth
comes that all of that is stripped away from men and women. It's
not until the truth comes that all of that gets stripped away.
But here's the point of this message, okay? It is that stripping away of
all of man's worth and all of man's works and all of man's
ability. That stripping away is the bringing
in of the remedy. That recognition of the problem.
That is the bringing in of the remedy. 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
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. When his disciples
heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can
be saved? They said, Lord, you have stripped
all ability away from all of mankind. If what you're saying
is so, there's not a soul on this earth that can attain eternal
life. Lord, if what you're saying is
so, then what hope do we have? Who then can be saved? The disciples
were saying, even us. You've stripped everything out
from under us. Who then can be saved? Verse 26, but Jesus beheld
them. I love that. I love that so much. I love it when our Lord looked
His people right in the eye. He just squared up with them.
They're asking Him, you know, who then can be saved? And I
love those moments when our Lord, He just turns and looks at His
disciples. He gets their attention. Looks at him in a way as to say,
I'm about to tell you something. I'm about to tell you something. May God look at us that way today.
I mean this. I mean what I'm saying right
now. I pray, Lord, behold us. I mean what I'm saying right
now. I care about us. I care about you all. Front pew
to back pew, left to right. Old to young, I care about you. I care about me. I care about
us. Lord God of heaven and earth, behold us. Turn your countenance
toward us. Get our attention. Get my attention. Get the attention of these little
ones. Get our attention with the eyes of faith through Your
Word. Tell us something. That's my
prayer today. Lord, tell us something. This
is what our Lord told His disciples and this is what I pray God will
tell every soul here today. If God will tell us this, we
will get it. If God by His Spirit speaks to
us right now, We will get it. We will understand what he's
saying. When God opens the ears and says here. God's people here. In your heart, ask him to speak
to you right now. In your heart, ask him to speak
to you right now. I'm asking him to speak to me
right now. Ask him to teach you this. Ask him to show you this.
Ask him to cause you to understand this right now. OK. Verse 25. When his disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said
unto them. Now let's see if God will teach
us this right here. With men, this is impossible. I pray God will teach somebody
that right now, and I pray it's me. I pray that we will learn what
that meaneth. I pray we'll see what that means. People naturally read that, and
this is the natural response. With man, it's not impossible. You know what God said? With
men, this is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. What's the subject matter of
the day? How to attain eternal life. How to attain eternal life. Lord, please don't let this go
in one ear and out the other. Please don't let me assume that
I know what this means. Teach me, show me, reveal this
to me. He said, if a man tries to do
it, it'll never happen. But if God does it, how can we
be saved? If a man tries to do it, it'll
never happen. But if God does it, and if God
joins you into a union with Him doing it, you'll attain eternal
life. How can a sinner be saved? Only
one way. We must be joined together with
Christ, Jesus Christ, our God. We must be joined together into
a union with what Christ did. into a union with everything
that he did. And the good news of the gospel
is all of God's people were. All of them were. Turn with me
to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2 verse 20, it says, Wherefore, if you be dead with
Christ, what a big line that is. If you be dead with Christ,
and you are. If God the Father gave you to
Christ, you died with Him. You died with Him. When He died,
you died. You know, how to attain eternal
life? Everybody knows we're going to
go stand before judgment. Some are going to live, some
are going to die. Some are going to be welcomed in, some are going
to be condemned in sin. The wages of sin is death, eternal
death. If God the Father gave us to
Christ when He died, we died. Suffering the punishment and
the penalty for breaking God's commandments. The Apostle Paul
said, I am crucified with Christ. I'm crucified with Christ. If
I'm crucified on my own, there's no hope for me. But Paul said, I'm crucified
with Christ. That is such glorious news. The
scripture says it is appointed unto all men and women wants
to die one time. And Paul said, that's where I
died. I was crucified with Christ. If a man or woman tries to endure
the judgment of God alone, he never going to make it. The only
hope we have is that we bore that judgment with Christ. And that doesn't mean we're in
a cooperation with Him. That means we were the ones that
He was bearing the judgment on behalf of. That's what it means. When He died, He was dying for
me. He was dying for you. We died
with Christ. What's your hope of eternal life?
It's that when Christ died, I died with Him. That's my hope. When Christ was judged, I was
judged with Him. Judged in Him. Now look at Colossians
3 verse 1. It says, If you then be risen
with Christ, and you are. If God the Father
gave you to Christ, You arose with Him. Ephesians 2 verse 5
says, even when we were dead in sins, He quickened us together
with Christ. The only hope that we have is
that when God was satisfied with the payment that Christ made
and raised Him up from the judgment of that death, the only hope
we have is that God was satisfied with us In him. With him, our hope is
not in the fact that God is satisfied because of what we did. But satisfied
because of what Christ did. We died with him. We arose with
him and look right here at Colossians 3 verse 3. It says you are dead. and your
life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory."
With Christ, with Him. We live with Him. We live with
Him. Romans 8, 17 says we are joint
heirs of God with Christ. It all hinges on Christ. It all
hinges on Christ. Outside of Christ, it's impossible.
Trying to add anything to Christ, it's impossible. Trying to enter
into a cooperation with Christ, it's impossible. Outside of Christ
alone, it's impossible. But in Christ, that means if
Christ did it all, Not only is it possible, it's
certain. It is certain. I'm done. I think that's my last
page of notes. Got a little bit more written on it here. Let
me just say something to you. Let's get rid of everything that
we believe in our hearts is valuable before God. Let's throw it all
away. Let's throw it all away. And
let's all cling to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's throw it all away. It is the only way. That's the
only way. Men and women are going to find
that out so soon. That's the only way. Our Lord
said a poor and a contrite spirit and emptied and a broken heart.
That means a bankrupt sinner. who sees that he has one need
in this life, no matter how much money he has in his account.
I don't care how much money you have in your account. If a man or woman sees they have
one need in this life, and that's Jesus Christ alone, there's hope
for that sinner. There's hope for that sinner.
God will accept a sinner who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ
like that, broke, emptied, and bankrupt. God will accept a sinner
like that and the reason is because God is the one who made the sinner
to be like that. God is the one who broke the
sinner. God is the one who emptied the sinner. God is the one who
revealed the need and the inability to the sinner. God is the one
who drew the sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ. With man, it's
impossible. I'll leave you with this. With
man, it's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Thank God. Thank God. Let me read this article to you
right here. Years ago, a man named Jack Shanks
wrote this. I love this. You say you are unworthy of the
least of God's mercies. Aren't you glad Christ is worthy?
And that the redemption he accomplished was for the unworthy. You say
you have no goodness or merits to claim? Aren't you thankful
God accepts sinners based on the goodness and merits of His
Son? You say the law affords you no
hope? Right you are. But the gospel
declares that the mercy and grace of God is freely given to sinners
because of the doing and the dying of His dear Son. This is
the only salvation worth having and the only one worthy to be
proclaimed. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Let's all get rid of everything
that we think we have that's of any value before God and let's
cling to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only hope we have.