Some through the blood, some
through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great
sorrow, but God gives us some in the night season and all the
day long. Aren't those good words? But
I thought to myself, I believe he did lay his hand on me as
a child. I believe he did. Matthew chapter
19. Thank you, Jeanette. This is a good and profitable
study. The Lord deals, first of all,
with little children. Then He speaks to a young man. one-on-one, and then he deals
with his intimate disciples and explains things to them. Verse
13 says, "...there were brought unto him little children." Parents
or whoever brought little children, meaning infants, toddlers, adolescents,
unto him, that he should put his hands on them and pray. And
the other, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this just as
it is in order, the rich young ruler included. And I think it's
Mark's gospel said they brought him, children unto him, for him
to lay his hands on them and bless them, pray for them, bless
them, lay his hands on them and bless them. And the disciples rebuked these
parents for doing it. Now, in Luke's gospel, it says the
Lord was much displeased when they did that, much displeased. And he said in verses 14 and
15, Jesus said, and I'm sure he said it in a very stern voice,
suffer little children or allow little children, forbid them
not to come unto me. For of such is the kingdom of
heaven." And he laid his hands on them and departed and left. How many of those children do
you think were blessed? Every single one that he laid
hands upon. My, my. Now, this is the second
time that the Lord deals with little children in front of the
disciples. You remember that, don't you?
Vital lessons. Evidently, they didn't learn
the first time, did they? And we need them again, too.
This is right just not long after he brought a little child and sat
him in the middle of it, remember? Vital lessons, number one, and
this is the lesson and the very last verse in this chapter, he
says, many that are first shall be last. And the last shall be first.
The number one lesson that we need to learn. And it's one that
we have not learned yet. And will take a lifetime to learn. Is we are nothing. Humility. is the lesson. Always, for all
our lives, we need to learn this lesson, that we are nothing. Now, modern man likes for folks
to feel good about themselves, you know. They think self-esteem
is the answer. No, that's not. One of the old
writers, I think it was John Calvin, John Bunyan or Calvin,
one of the Someone asked him what the three greatest Christian
virtues were. Three greatest Christian virtues,
meaning characteristics of a Christian. What the three greatest. And
he answered that person and said, humility, humility, and humility. We are nothing. I mean, we're
not unique. I mean, we're really not. Have you looked down at a bird's
eye view at a swarm of ants, grasshoppers? Each one individually
is so unique. The scripture says the Lord looks
down on the inhabitants of the earth and they're reputed as
grasshoppers. That's what the scripture says. Now, God Almighty, when Christ
Whoever are his elect, whatever worms he chose, he's going to
someday and has done a wonderful work in them. It does not yet
appear what we shall do. Nevertheless, now they are made
special by him, in and of themselves, just like us. But what makes
God's people special and unique, what makes them to differ? like
the Israelites of old, is the love of God, the sovereign grace
of God, the mercy of God, the revealing grace of God. That's
the only thing that makes them different. The Lord put a difference. If the Lord hadn't put that difference,
we'd be no different. We're nothing. We can do nothing.
That's why we ought to be humble. We can do nothing. The Lord's
going to tell us how impossible Can a camel go through the eye
of an eagle? Well, no. That's impossible. So he's telling
us how impossible it is for a man, a person, to enter the kingdom
of heaven by whatever, by his own effort. We know nothing.
We know nothing. We don't know anything. I mean,
we don't. About God? Nobody's seen him. Nobody in this room has actually
heard his war. We preach in part. I've done
a lot of preaching, but I have the half hadn't been done. We
preach in part, we know in part. We know nothing. So humility
is our greatest need because that's what we are. We're not.
Need to realize that. And that's who God, remember
that in Isaiah 57, he said, I thus say that the high and lofty one
inhabits the eternity. I dwell with him slowly. That's who I'll condescend to.
That's who I'll teach. Those that know nothing and are
teachable, I'll teach them. I'll teach them. Those who need
or are poor and needy, I'll give unto them. OK. And the next thing we need
to learn from this is we've got ears to hear, but they're not
very good ones. These disciples just heard him
deal talk about the kingdom of heaven and receiving it and be
converted like little children. They just heard that, Jenny.
They just heard that. They didn't hear a word he said.
Didn't. They didn't hear a word he said. And we're no different. We have
three services a week. It's not enough. Really, it's
not enough to learn much. We forget so easily. We just forget so quickly. The
Lord said this over and over again, having ears to hear, they
don't hear. And throughout the revelation,
the letters to the churches in the revelation, he said, he that
hath ears to hear, that's the end of every letter, he said,
he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And we, if we could, so many
of our problems could be avoided if we just listen. Had I just
listened to my parents, Parents, well, I'm getting a lot of heads
nodding now. Young people, Joe, did you hear your mom and dad
do this? They were just like you. I'm
sorry, I'm not picking on you, buddy. If I had just, I mean, really
listened to my mother and father, I wouldn't have had to go through
many of the things I went through. That's so. Most of my troubles
are brought on sale. I didn't listen. And last lesson in this and this
is we need to bring our children. To the Lord Jesus Christ for
him to bless. And I know a bunch of people
with denominations and so forth have Abuse this and made a ritual
out of a superstitious ritual ritual superstitious ritual out
of it. Christening, you know, it's practiced
by two or three different denominations where they bring a little baby
and have water sprinkled. That's not in the Bible. That's
not biblical. They made that up. And they have
some man with long garments and all that, some man, some sinful
man who doesn't even know God. And if he did, he wouldn't do
it. Lay his hands on that child's head and bless that child. They're not blessed and they're
not baptized. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Baptism is for older believers. Older, whatever age they can
believe, by God's will. But now, the old saying is, let's
not throw the baby out with the christening water, the bath water. Why not bring our children to
the Lord for Him to lay His hands on? We need to do that. Why not? I mean, literally bring
them where the Lord said he would be. If our children are going
to be saved, they're going to be saved like we are. Right here
in this same gospel. Right? So if it's within our
power, if they are in our presence, bring them. Literally bring them
where the Lord is. And perhaps, maybe, maybe, Maybe
he's already laid his hands on some of our young people. Well,
he has. But some others. Isn't that a
blessed thought, Melanie? What could make you happy that
Abby is one of the Lord's own? That's your goal for her in life. So bring them. If we can't actually
physically bring them, you can in prayer. Bring them before
the Lord in prayer. Lord, I can't. My child, no matter
how old, my grandchild, Lord, their parents won't bring them.
Lord, I bring them to you right now in prayer. Would you please,
please lay your hands on them and bless them. Will he honor that? He's a good
God, isn't he? He delights to show mercy. Is
that a good lesson to learn? He says, of such is the kingdom
of heaven. Of such is the kingdom of heaven,
of childlike, of little children. I believe, I believe that this
is literally so. That the kingdom of heaven is
populated with those who work. All the old writers believe that
Christ will have the preeminent, Christ will have the victory
over Satan in this thing of the salvation of souls. All the old
writers believe, all of them believe that there are more,
this is in keeping with Scripture, they that be with us are more
than they that be against us. that there are more in the kingdom
of heaven than will be cast out in the outer darkness. How can
that be? You know how many there are?
It's the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea, sand of
the seashore. How can that be? At any given
time, there are just a few seemingly believing. How many babies have
been aborted? Now, man means that for evil. The Lord meant it for good. Have you ever thought about that?
The wrath of man shall praise him. Man means that for evil. It's a bad thing. It's not good
at all. But God, His mercy and love and grace shines through
the worst. How many miscarriages? You say,
that's not a child. Oh, yes, it is. Read Psalm 139
for yourself. God knows us before we're formed
in the belly. Absolutely. Brother Daniel Park
sent me a picture of his his new grandchild. Now, that grandchild
is not born yet. He sent me one of these, you
know, ultrasounds of the child he's talking about. You talk
about going to be a silly old granddad. He's already sending
pictures out over the internet that I was not born in. But you can't believe that, can
you, Gabe? You can't believe he saw the picture. You can't
believe it. Two months early. It's the clearest picture. It's
like looking at the face of one of our eyes. Eyes are open. Perfectly
formed. It's amazing. Amazing. That is a human being. And there are ladies in our midst
who have lost children to miscarriage. That's a hard thing to go through. Someday you're going to meet
them. If you're a believer, you're going to meet them in glory. Thank
God that that happened, that he spared that child from this
evil world and took them straight to glory. And you're going to
meet them and say, oh, I wouldn't have done it any other way. Thank
God for letting me be a part of that. of such as the kingdom of heaven. That's what he said, didn't he? Well, behold, verse 16. I want you to turn
over to Mark chapter 10 with me. This is another account of
the story. I like the way Mark wrote this
down. Back in our text, he said, Behold,
one came to it. One. This is such a blessed story,
and I believe this one has a good ending. Like those children,
I think this one has a good ending. Mark 10, it says, verse 17, when
he was gone forth after blessing these children, there came one
running. He's leaving, and this young
fellow is running. Now, is he sincere? Does he want
to meet? He doesn't. He's just Jesus'
teacher. He's running, standing. Seek and you'll find. Now, he
came running and kneeled to him. Now, picture this. The Lord is
walking away, and the disciples are all walking away, and they
come back running up, and they all stop, you know, and this
young fellow hits his knees before the Lord and asks Him. Now, he's out of breath, you
know he is. Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? He's sincere. He's a poor, ignorant young man.
I thought as I read this story, and I've preached from this before,
and I've preached it in just the way that most preach it,
that this ignorant fellow, you know, went away, he had a lot
of riches and Nobody like that's going to enter the kingdom of
heaven. I think you'll see with me, this has a different ending. The Lord is compassionate a lot
more than we are. And I thought to myself, I wish
that I had compassion on young Pharisees. I wish I could have
compassion on young Pharisees. How about you? A young man called me, and I
get calls, I used to get more, Got a call from a young fellow.
Me and he heard the whole conversation. I wish he hadn't. He called me
looking for a church. You know, we got into a conversation
and it ended up being an argument. You ever done that, Brother Henry?
That's not funny. I'm getting mad at myself. Getting
mad at myself. I wish that I was more patient.
I wish I was more patient. The Lord dealt with this young
Pharisee, had mercy on me, had compassion on me. I wish I had. Well, the first words out of
this young Pharisee, he's a rich young ruler. We know that from
all three gospels. Each gospel gives a different
description of him. A young man, Matthew, a young
ruler, and he's rich. A ruler. Back then, the Pharisees
ruled the Jewish people. There was no separation of church
and state back then. People were ruled by Pharisees. And so this young man was a Pharisee. A rich and young, I think maybe
around 25 to 30 years old, Pharisee. And the first words out of this
young man's mouth were wrong. And the Lord deals with him.
Verse 18. The Lord said, Why callest thou me good? There is
none good but one. That is God. Good master, he said. And the
Lord immediately, gently, Compassionately, kindly rebuked him. Why call
us that mean good man? It's not good. But God. The first thing the Lord shows
all of us. Is what's the first thing we learn? There's none
good, no. It's. Can I pick on some Pharisees
in here, some former Pharisees? Genetic and I'm. You'll admit it, won't you? I
mean, shamefully, but you'll admit it. My mother was one,
from a child. I cannot imagine my mother ever
being a sinner. She was born, raised in religion. Raised in a so-called Southern
Baptist Church, she was secretary to one of the biggest evangelists
of the day. Down at Bob Jones University,
she was a secretary to the president. Up-and-coming young star. Just so, you know, like she is now. Seemingly blameless. And. Janelle, you were that way,
weren't you? I mean, you really thought. You
were moral and upright. But a Pharisee. Self-righteous Pharisee. And
the first thing the Lord teaches Pharisees. Is it? You're not good. None are good. My sister was a model child,
she was a model child, she never. If she got into trouble, we never,
she never got caught. If she did, and I think she told
me later, you know, she was just real, well, anyway, let's not
bring that up. My poor brother, my second brother
got caught in everything. Everything he did got caught.
Sammy, what about you? Everything he did got caught. But she, my sister was a model
child. Grew up, you know, in the home. Hard work and all of that. And
she didn't know she was a sinner. And the first thing the Lord
had to teach that young, self-righteous preacher's kid, daughter, model
child, daughter of the American Revolution. You're a sinner. You're not good. What about you,
Jenny? Were you one of those, maybe?
Or did you get caught? You're not good. There's none
good. Not one. That's the first thing the Lord
teaches us from his word. You're a sinner before Holy God.
God's only one hope and good. Not you. Well, he asked, what could he
do to earn heaven? That's what he had, and that's
what everybody thinks, and that's what everybody thinks. that the
good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. How bad? Well,
you must have really been bad these days. Because God loves
everybody, you know, you got to be really, really bad. Yeah, you got to be a preacher
or a litigation lawyer. This man said in verse 19, verse
18, Verse 19, he asked him what he
should do to inherit eternal life, verse 17, and the Lord
said in verse 19, thou knowest the commandments. You've studied
the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor
thy father and mother. In other words, if you want to earn
heaven, keep the law, disdo and live. If you want to inherit
or earn eternal life, get what you deserve, keep the law, be
blameless according to God's holy law, the commandments, keep
them all. Concerning the righteousness
of God, you want to be righteous, accepted by God, now what you
do, then keep the law. And the young man said, well,
I have. from my youth. Jeanette, did you think you had?
I mean, did you really think you had? Please, she's being
honest. See, the Lord is merciful to
Pharisees, isn't he? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? The Lord did save a few Pharisees.
Old Nicodemus was one of the Lords. Wasn't he? He was a closet
disciple at first, and then later on he came out And I begged the
Lord's body and said, I'm one of his. But he was a Pharisee. And this young man, I believe
he was saved by the Lord. I'll tell you why. I'll tell
you why. Now, how ignorant can somebody
be to think that they have actually kept God's law perfectly? How
ignorant can you be? Folks, there are people all over
the world who think that. I really do. And like I said,
I think this is one of the Lord's own. Why do I think that? Because
of verse 21. Look at this. Then Jesus, beholding
him, loved him. Now, years ago, I was talking to a young man
who was a Pharisee himself, an Arminian, and he brought this
verse up to me to try to prove how, see, Jesus loved everybody. He loved this fellow. And I told, I didn't know much
then, Teresa, but I knew this. Whoever Jesus Christ loves, he
saves. What does the scripture say?
Listen to this verse. Having loved, who? His own. Let me repeat that. Who does
he love? Having loved, this is after it's
all over. Having loved his own. Like he said, the same one who
wrote Jeremiah 31, 3, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. God is love. Yes, God does love
men. Not all, but a lot of men. Having
loved his own, he loved them how long? To the end. The end, there's going to be
no end. It's eternal. Right. That's right. He loved this young
man. He must be one of his own. And I'm going to tell you who
I think this is. I believe I know who this is. I first heard this from Brother
Todd Nyburn, and he brought it out. I thought, well, you know,
and then he kept bringing things out. Turn with me to Acts chapter
7. Acts chapter 7. Kept bringing things out. I said,
I know, you know, you may be right. I got excited and he kept,
and I said, I believe you're right. And I said, whoop, you
are right. This is, that's him. Acts chapter
seven, Stephen, this is the story of Stephen being stoned. Oh,
how I love that story. We need to, we need to deal with
this some near date. Stephen. Oh my, when the Lord
stood up to receive Stephen. Well, they, as they were stoning
him, cause of the truth they hated what he was saying. What he what Stephen was preaching.
He said you're no good. He was preaching a bunch of stuff
and he said you know you're stiff necked uncircumcised and hard
ears and so forth and they did not like that. They were mad. And they picked up stones and
began to stone him, and in verse fifty-eight, they cast him out
of the city and stoned him, and witnesses laid down their clothes
at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul of Tarsus, a young
Pharisee, an up-and-coming star in the Pharisee world, the next,
perhaps, high priest, Saul of Tarsus. Who said in Philippians 3, I
was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, as touching the righteousness
of the law, blameless. I kept all the commandments from
my youth up. And what things were gained to
me, I was rich. I got rich in my religion. From
the tithes and the offerings and so forth and other people,
I got rich. What's the end of that story? This young man, Matthew 19, go back there to
the text. He said in verse 21, the Lord
said to him, if thou wilt be perfect, complete, whole, complete,
go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven. and come and follow me." Now
again I ask you, is there anybody in this book
that the Lord Jesus Christ said come to? And they didn't come? Anybody? Oh, you say, well, one
day he stood up and said, come unto me. I guarantee everybody
he was talking to came at Pentecost. Three thousand came. A little
while later, four or five thousand came. Well, if you'll be perfect, complete,
whole, just before God, righteous before God, go sell everything. Sell everything you have. Forsake
all that you have. Except the man forsake all he
has, he cannot be my disciple. Give it to the poor, thou shalt
have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me." Right there's
the key. Come follow me. And I'll show
you how that, what things were gained to you for loss. I'll show you how that you traded
in dung and got pearls. I'll show you how that all that
stuff was just rubbish. It's no good to you at all. It's
lost. And I'm going to show you, my
excellency, the unsearchable riches of me. He did that to
Paul himself. Well, before salvation, always
before salvation, there's conviction, isn't there? Before there's pardon,
there's guilt. That's what's wrong. Well, everything's
wrong with modern day religion, but there's no talk of sin. There's
no talk of needing forgiveness. No talk of that in modern religion.
We're always bringing up sin, aren't we? That's the issue between
us and God. That's what we need taken care
of, not only before God, but within us. That's the issue. That's what plagues us. That's
what our loins are filled with and so forth. That's our whole
problem, sin. That's why Christ came. That's
what the Holy Spirit does. And. So did some woman tell you
one time, Jeanette, didn't she tell you that you don't talk
too much about seeing that you're. She actually told her that. Had she ever read this Bible?
Oh, no, she had. But before there's pardon, there's
guilt, there's guilt. Before there's good news, before
there's a gospel to be heard, good news of, what's the good
news? Pardon. Before there's good news of full,
free, final, eternal pardon, there's bad news. Guilt, death,
punishment, conviction of sin against thee and thee only by
sin. You're going to be just when you judge me. Before there's joy, there's sorrow. Over what? Blessed are they that
mourn. Over what? Sin. Not the sins in the world. Sin
in the heart. This rich young man didn't think
he had any. The Lord in mercy and grace is
talking to him. He said, keep it all. Sell out. You think you... And as he keeps
talking, this is... arrows in his heart. Nine arrows,
David said, are sharp. And this is hitting home with
him. I believe it is. And finally, when it's all said
and done, verse 22, when the Lord said it all, it hadn't all
been done yet. When the young man heard that
say, sell out, give everything away, come follow me, it says
he went away sorrowful. Why? He had great possessions.
Very rich and increased with goods. And he went away sad. I like what old brother Barnard
used to say. You've heard me repeat this many times. Brother
Barnard used to, he told my dad this as a young preacher. He
said, preach for a verdict. Preach in such a way that all
people will come to a verdict. Preach in such a plain way forthright
way, pointed way, that people will come to a verdict
that they'll either go away mad, sad, or glad. I don't like that. At least you
heard something. The ones that puzzle me are the
ones that tell me that's the greatest sermon I've ever heard
and never see him again. Must not have been that great.
You know, there's hope for those that get mad. Saul of Tarsus
heard Stephen preach, didn't he? And he held the coats of
those that stoned him. Yeah, hit him again. Oh, can
you imagine? Kill him. And he got letters
and so forth and went out to persecute. This is why he said,
I'm the chief of sinners. I persecuted the church, I blasphemed,
I preached the name of God, didn't even know God. A young preacher,
a young Pharisee preaching in the name of God, thinking he's
earning heaven, didn't know God. Blaspheming God. Everything I
said about God was wrong. Well, He went away, this young
man, sad, sad. Preached for a burden, mad, sad,
or glad. And Lynn Nyberg, when she was
here, told us this story. And you know, we, Scripture says, Therefore seeing
we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. When people
come in here, it doesn't matter who it is, we're going to call
them a dog. It's a bank for, it's George W. Bush set foot
in here. We'd have to call him a worm.
Yes, we would. Why? Why? How can you tone it
down? No. God said it. God said it. Don't apologize
for God's word, because and because we have such hope, meaning it's
hope only for sinners. It's only hope for sinners. It's
only hope for those who don't trust in themselves, their own
righteous. It's only hope for those who have not. It's only
hope for those who are guilty. It's only hope for those who
have this terrible disease that they can't get rid of, that nobody
else can do anything about it but the great physician. We have
such hope, though. Oh, it's a good hope. It's a
great hope. It's a sure hope, a sure hope. We use great plainness of speech
because we have such a great plain. You're going to call men and
women what they are, what God's Word says. We're going to tell
men and women who God is. How could we not? Can't help
but say things. You've seen her. Really in it for the glory of
God, you know, I hear you preachers say that. And so, therefore, we're going,
Deborah, we're going to glorify God. Yes, sir. Every time we
get here, God's going to get the glory. Christ is going to
get the preeminence. Yes, ma'am. We're not going to
brag on one piece of flesh. No, sir. It is great plainness of speech.
That whatever God says, say it loud and clear. Well, people
don't like it. Say it louder. Say it louder. Lee and I were told this story. A young man started attending,
at the time it was American Avenue Baptist Church, a little place
down in Lexington where God preached. And this young, fresh out of
college with a master's degree in music, young man, brilliant,
named Rich Bird. Anybody know him? You don't? Rich Bird. Young, brilliant young
man. Right now he's a professor of
music at University of Kentucky. He has an ensemble, brass ensemble.
He teaches music. He's brilliant, isn't he? You
know him, Gabe, don't you? Rich Bird. He's the treasurer. and take director. You fellas
think you got it tough. He's both, but that's because
he's just so sharp. He's faithful. Well, he came,
you know, intellectual, religious too. Pharisee, rich young Pharisee. He started coming, and it wasn't
the first or second message. That he came up to Todd and he's
a real outspoken young man and I like people to be like that.
Even if they're wrong. But he came up to Todd, Brother
Todd, and he said, and he's kind of eloquent, he said, Am I to
understand you to say? He said, Did I hear you correctly? That you're saying that Jesus
Christ did not die for everyone but only died for his elect? I'd said that's exactly what
I said. He left and back coming back. Now he really understands. Now
he loves this guy. Now he's a nobody. And all of that, he's a wonderful
man, just a wonderful, dear, dear man. Rich Byrd, I hope you
can get to meet him someday. So I think this young man who
went away sad, this rich young ruler, went away sad. He went
away sad, but rich. I think later on, I think the
Lord met him again on a road to Damascus. And I think the
next time he went away, he wasn't rich, he was broke. But he wasn't
sad. He was real happy. That's what
I think. Is that all right? Wouldn't that
be in keeping with the way the Lord does things? Huh? That's
who the Lord saves in it. I bet you have one of the disciples
said, ain't no hope for that young fella. I bet you Peter's
a prime leader, don't you? Stan, I bet Peter thought, man,
I'm not like him. Ain't no hope for him. Rich fella,
thinks he knows everything. I bet you Simon thought that.
Later on, he was asking him questions, learning from him. That's the
Lord said at the very last verse, the last shall be first. The
last apostle just came up. Well, I got to quit. Our Lord said, in answer to his
disciples, in verse 23, he said, Verily I say unto you, truly
I say unto you, a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom
of heaven. There's hardly going to be any
rich man in heaven or so hardly re-enter. It's hard. He said, in fact, it's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle and for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples heard that.
They finally heard something. And they were exceedingly amazed,
shocked. They were shocked by what he
said. If you ever really hear the truth,
it'll shock you. Well, the truth always, when you first hear a
shock. And you say things like the people
at Antioch or on Mars Hill, they said, this is strange doctrine.
Remember, this is strange doctrine. It's strange to you because people
aren't preaching it, but it's as old as God. This is the truth,
and because people have turned their ears away from it and won't
hear it and they pay preachers not to preach it, you're not
hearing it, but it's as old as God. What you're preaching is
strange. A God that loves and believes
them. What you're believing is strange. A God who's God, but
he's not God. What you're preaching is a strange
man who's in control, but not out of control. That's strange
doctrine. What you're preaching is something
that's paid for. Jesus paid it all, but he really
didn't pay for it. That's strange doctrine, isn't
it? What you're preaching is Christ put away everybody's sin,
but you need to go to a man to put them away again. Now that's
strange. What you're preaching is strange.
God's will will be done in heaven and earth, but man's got a free
one. God can't do anything about it. That's what's really strange. The creator is controlled by
the maggots. Maggots control the creator,
in whose hands we live, our breath is. We're still in control of
him. He can't do anything. That's really strange to me.
Folks will brutally believe some strange stuff. Paul said before
a gripper, I'm not going to quit, I'm going to go on. Paul said
before a gripper, why should it be thought strange to you
that a man should rise from the grave, especially when that man
is God? Why is this strange to you that
God is God? Because you've never heard him.
He's a stranger to you. But once he makes himself known
to you, Kelly, you say, God can't be any other way, can it? The
gospel can't be any other way, can it? Man's man, God's God. That's the way it is. No argument. But, but, but, no
ifs, ands, and buts about it. That's the way it is. God has
an elect. But, but, but what? God said
it. Settles it. And you better hope He settles
it in your heart. If He does it, you'll be settled. Grounded
and settled, won't you, Nancy? What makes people exceedingly
mad, if God reveals it to you, it makes you exceedingly glad.
Who makes the difference? God. That's why I think this young
man is an object of God's saving grace. That's the way he did
things. God took Abraham and abducted a 75-year-old. You can't
teach that. That's impossible. You can't
teach a 75-year-old man anything. God did. He made that 75-year-old
man drop all his idols and follow God, not knowing where he's going. Go up in the mountains. Oh, I
need to settle down here. No, you're coming with me. OK. It made him the father of the
faithful, an example of who and how God sent him. Moses, a man out, you know, come
straight from the throne of Pharaoh. Not many noble are called, but
boy, the one he did led all of Israel. And on and on the story goes
I believe he was one and well they heard this and you know
they were rich. We're rich everybody in this
room is rich. Yes we are you can take the person
in here who doesn't own a home. Who doesn't have any stocks and
bonds. It does not have a savings account.
But you are filthy rich compared to the average Mayan Indian in
Mexico compared to the average Ethiopian compared to the average. Taiwanese you just name some
country name some third world country anywhere name all over
the world billions of people. Groveling in the dirt. Cooking
over a fire absolutely if you if you own anything. Let alone
a car. The Miami Indians do not have
automobiles. They never will. That's beyond
their ability to ever own an automobile. We're rich. And our Lord said,
how hardly shall rich people get into heaven. That's shocking. I wish it shocked more people
in this world. And this country of ours. But thank God. You know, and
the disciples said, Lord, then who can be saved? Who can be
saved? Everybody's pretty well off.
We, including us. He said, and I like this, I've
never noticed this, but he says, but Jesus beheld them. There's a whole lot in the line,
and he beheld them. There, you know, they're talking
among themselves. Oh, man. Oh, John, do you sell those stocks
you have? Oh, I've still got them. Oh.
You still on the part of that boat? Oh, yeah. Oh, man, what
about... And the Lord's watching them,
looking at them, seeing their fears and their doubts and their
frustrations. He's beholding them. He's watching them. He's
listening to them. They get on them and they're
all they're all struggling with this. Oh, what are we going to
do? He said. Beholding them, he loved
them, didn't he? And he beheld them and said unto
them, with men this is impossible. Impossible. Can a camel go through
an avenue? No, it's impossible. A rich person
And over in Mark's Gospel, he said, how hardly shall they that
trust in riches enter the kingdom of heaven. And it's just the
fact, if you've got money, you trust in it. If you've got things,
you trust in it. You trust it to make you happy.
You trust it to provide for you. It's a God to you. It's your
provider. It's everything. It's your happiness.
It's your peace. It's your joy. Trust in it. If you think money,
if you're out after the, what do they call it, the all mighty
dollar, don't they? The almighty dollar. And people do that. And the more
they have, it's nearly impossible. The more you want, and where
your treasure is, that's where your heart is. And that's what
you'll go for. That's your God. With man, it's
impossible. But thank God, Christ said, With
God. He can put a camel to an eye
of a needle. Yes, he can. If need be, move
a mountain. Put a camel to an eye of a needle. My case, let me just tell you
my case. My case was impossible with man. I was an impossible case. Are
there anybody in here? You have any people you know
you have any young men that you know that seem to be it's impossible
I give up man's try I've tried. His daddy and I've tried mother
and I've tried it's impossible we can't do a thing for him. Oh. It's impossible. With God. All things are possible. He can tame wild asses cold.
Yes, he can. You're looking at one. He can
bring particles home. Uh-huh. Make preachers out of
them. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He can tame the wildest. He can
bring down the highest Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus. Oh, yes. Yes, he can. Make the first last
and then take the last and make him first. All things are possible. Can
the Ethiopian change his skin? God can. And does. He takes white men
and turns them black. I mean bigoted, prejudiced white
men and makes black men out of them. Makes slaves out of them. Turns them into slaves and they're
just happy to be one. and takes the most abject slave
and makes them white. Verse 27, and the Lord to Peter
answered and said, Lord, we behold, we forsaken all and followed
thee. What shall we have therefore? Peter's not bragging and boasting.
He's just stating the fact. They did. They wouldn't have
done it if the Lord had caused them to. No way. But they did. They did. They did. I have. I left my own family and everybody
came in. Some of you did. They've left
your family. Not in a gross, not in practice.
Yeah, we have. It don't consider it a loss.
Not at all. Great game. Verse 28, the Lord
did not rebuke him. He said, Verily, truly, I say
unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration,
that is, the making of all things new, when the Son of Man shall
sit in the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. What does that mean? I don't have a clue. I don't. Nobody does. Verse 29,
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my
name's sake, for the gospel, for my sake, shall receive, not
might, shall. A hundredfold Mark says now.
Mark's gospel says a hundredfold now, not later, now. And to top it all off, everlasting life. A hundredfold. But first shall
last, and neither first shall be last, and last first. Remember that. Come right back
to humility. Peter heard that. Peter heard
that. You're going to sit on twelve
thrones, aren't you? What? Don't you think Peter heard
that? Me? Yeah, but wait a minute. Let's go back where we started.
First should be last, and the last first. He's his greatest
servant. Later on, when you're converted,
strengthen your brethren. Don't lower it over and strengthen
them. And that rich young ruler, you're
going to see him again. Okay, stand with me. Lord, thank you for your glorious
word. Thank you for the gospel, the
good news, the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans,
all your word, the good news of so great salvation. through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for
dealing with Pharisees. Thank you, Lord, for having mercy
upon Pharisees. Thank you, Lord. Have mercy upon
us, we pray, that you might keep us from the evil one, keep us
from ourselves, remove this sin in us, self-righteousness. Lord,
help us. Help us. May we be willing to forsake
all for thy sake. We believe we are, but Lord,
let not these things take hold of us. Keep us from the world. Keep us from the evil in it. Keep the world out of us. In
Christ's name, we are met here tonight for his old glory and
honor. Amen. you you Thank you. you