Well, good morning. Welcome to
our continuing Bible study in Luke. And we're in chapter 18. goldmine of wonderful things
about grace in this chapter so far. We had the example of the
two that went to the temple to pray, and that Pharisee that
said, I'm pretty great, and thank God I'm not like those other
guys. And then that poor old publican that just beat on his
breast and said, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Lord, apply
the atonement to me, the sinner. Then we had the episode with
the children. This is a block of scripture
starting in verse 18, the rich young ruler, and that title is
kind of a compilation of the three different gospels that
report this scripture. Luke calls him a ruler, and Matthew
calls him young, and Mark calls him rich, so that's kind of the
compilation there. So let's read through here, starting
in verse 18 of Luke chapter 18, And a certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None is
good, save one, God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, honor thy father and thy mother. And he said,
All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard
these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing, sell
all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. And when he heard
this, he was sorrowful, for he was very rich. And Jesus saw
that he was very sorrowful, and he said, And he said, the things that
are impossible with men are possible with God. Then Peter said, lo,
we've left all and followed thee. And he said unto them, verily
I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or parents
or brethren or wife or children for the kingdom of God's sake
who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and
in the world to come, life everlasting. So there's kind of a several things that are covered
here in this scripture, but the title of today's message is,
What Shall I Do? What Shall I Do? That just seems
to be a common phrase that unregenerate man, it's the oft-repeated query
of the unsaved. They're not saved by graces yet
and steeped in their own false notions of self-righteousness
and some kind of self-worth. And he starts off calling him,
good Master, what shall I do? And he didn't really understand
what he was saying there. And we find that a lot of times
the Scriptures The Lord causes people to say things that they
don't really understand, but it reveals a biblical truth,
a scriptural truth. He calls Jesus good master, yet
he didn't really comprehend from Psalm 14 what that really meant. Because Psalm 14 says there's
none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven to
see if there were any. on the earth that in their own
natural state that did good, that understood, that seek God.
And so Jesus says, well, it's kind of like saying, well, you
know what you're saying when you're saying that I'm good.
You're really saying that if I'm good, then I must, I must
be God. And yet the scriptures say, unless
you're born again, you can't see the kingdom of God. Even
if he's standing there having a conversation with you, you
can't see Him. So, you know, the Apostle Paul
was kind of from the same stock as this rich, young ruler. And basically, we all do. But Paul said, after it pleased
God to reveal His Son in him, he says the things that he formerly
trusted in, that he relied upon as he was taught, He counted
as dung. And sometimes we call that the
doo-doo religion. It's full of doing. But Paul said it's just dung. And
he was exactly like this one whom Paul calls a ruler, and
Matthew terms young man, and Mark describes as rich, and even
Luke here mentions earlier that he was very rich. And he declared
himself, well, I'm a keeper of the law. But he missed the mark
entirely about God in that whole description there. And, you know,
Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 3, and he's explaining this whole
thing. He said, in Philippians 3, verse
4, it says, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh,
like this young rich ruler. I've kept all, I'm doing everything
right. What lack I? What else do I need to do to
be saved? I've done all the things. As though I might have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might
trust in the flesh, I more. I was circumcised the eighth
day, check that box. I am of the stock of Israel,
check that box. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin,
check that box. I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and touching
the law, I'm a Pharisee. I'm the absolute epitome of keeping
the law. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, and touching the righteousness which is in the
law, blameless. That's how he thought of himself
concerning the law. The righteousness that's by the
law, the way that he understood it, before he was saved, I'm
blameless. I haven't killed anybody. I haven't
done any of those things that were written in the law. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. I gained by all those
things. I gained by telling everybody
I kept the law. I gained by being a Pharisee,
I gained by being inherited a Benjamite of the stock of Israel. I profited
by all that. He said, but what things I counted
gained me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss. for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ."
Man, when he got a hold of grace, when he got a hold of God's sovereignty,
when he got a hold of Christ being revealed in him, being
born again from above, he just saw everything in an entirely
different view. And he said, this is all temporary. This all means nothing. And it
just changed his whole viewpoint on sin. It changed his whole
viewpoint on his self-righteousness. It changed everything for him. Galatians 1, verse 13 says, You've
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how
that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted
it, and I profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals
in my own nation. being more exceedingly zealous
of the traditions of my fathers. That's what he relied on. That's
what he trusted in. Those were the things that he
counted on for his existence in eternity. And he says, but
when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace, When it pleased God to reveal His
Son in me that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood." Boy, what a big change
happened to him when that happened. And in spite of all their supposed
works, their ancestry, their zeal for what they thought God
was, it always seems to fall back to, what must I do? What
must I do? What shall I do? What more do
I need to do? You know, back when we were studying
Luke 10, verse 25, a certain lawyer stood up tempting him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And
a few verses later when Jesus told him, he says, he was willing
to justify himself in verse 29. That's what it boiled down to.
He was willing to justify himself based on his perception from
an unregenerate state. I'm doing everything I need to
do. What more?" It was kind of a
test question. And I think that perhaps he was
kind of hopeful that Jesus would say, Oh, you're doing good. You
have checked all the boxes. You are fine. You don't need
to do anything else. Just stay the course and you're
good. But yet he says, What shall I
do? In Luke chapter 3, there was
three different groups of people that came to John the Baptist.
And after he said, bring forth fruits or evidence of repentance. Show how you've been turned from
idols, those things that you previously put the most trust
and effort in. Turn from those to the true and
living God. Immediately after that, People
come up to him and says, well, what should we do? What should we do? We haven't
been doing any of that other stuff. What do we need to do?
And then the publicans came up to him and says, well, I know
that answer was good for them. What should we do? And then the
soldiers came up and said, well, I know that answer was good for
them. What should we do? And he told each one of them
kind of the same thing that Jesus was telling this rich young man.
Well, yeah, you're kind of missing the mark totally. You know, you
say you're doing all these things, but your heart's far from me
and you're still hung up on. And each time he picks out the
one thing that they're the most stuck on. Well, you're really
rich, so you need to get rid of that. anchor around your neck."
And he went away sorrowful because he was very rich. And the soldiers, he says, well,
quit extorting people and threatening to throw them in prison if you
don't pay up to the public. And quit charging people taxes
on stuff that you aren't supposed to charge them taxes on. exact
no more than what the government tells you to exact, and on and
on, you know. He hits them right in the bread
basket each time with the thing that they're most dependent on
in their own realm of their own self-righteousness. And so, what
shall we do? What shall we do? What shall
we do? And everybody has that in their unregenerate state.
Everybody has that kind of thought in their head, what do I need
to do? And there's never any end to it. There's never no quitting
from it. Each in their own mind came to
the conclusion that was what was told to the previous group
didn't apply to them, which is go to Christ. And well, what
do I have to do? They each needed instructions
that they thought were valid for them. And each time John, the same as the
Lord, pointed out their shortcomings and their failure to do anything
worth of merit in their life. And you know, the human nature
is very adept at ignoring or rationalizing behavior. We're
just, that's just the way we're born into this world. We have
the ability to say, well, you know, I know that's not right,
but everybody's doing it, so therefore, they can't throw all
of us in jail. So it's okay. I never committed
those commandments. All these I've kept from my youth
up. I didn't kill anybody. I'm doing a lot more good than
bad. So that should be weighed in my favor. I'm an Israelite of the tribe
of Benjamin. I'm a member of this church.
I've been baptized. I contribute. I tie the vault. All these things that have the
I in front of them that we do to justify our righteousness,
our self-righteousness, and yet they all miss the mark about
God and His righteousness. And that's what Paul told in
Romans. They, going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. They tried to substitute their
own perception of that, and we can read that here in a minute.
You know, the deceitful heart always tells you that you're
pretty good, or at least that you're not bad enough to deserve
hell. I'm doing a lot more good than
bad, so that should be weighed in my favor. And in the end,
that philosophy which begins in works of necessity requires
always more works. And you never can do enough to
satisfy your stony heart that it's really worthy of salvation. It tells you you're okay, but
kind of down there you know that Probably not. And you just keep
thinking, OK, well, tomorrow I'm going to do this, or next
week I'm going to do that. It never ends. And it always
comes back to how you feel on a particular day. what your relationship
with God is, it's never 100% dependent on Him being the sovereign
God Almighty, having mercy on whom He'll have mercy, and just
throwing all of everything on Him, and trusting Him. It's always,
well yesterday I did something I shouldn't have, or thought
something I shouldn't have, so therefore I'm not saved. or tomorrow I'll think good thoughts
and I'll read my Bible all day and then I'll be good and I will
be saved. And it's always based on what
you do or don't do and what must I do. And so all these things I've kept from
my youth up and you know in Matthew the Lord says, depart from me,
you workers of iniquity. I never knew you." And they said,
well, why? Because when did we not do all
these things? When did we not do? When did
we not do? When did we not see you hungry and feed you? When
did we not see you in prison and visit you? When did we not? And the regenerate people just
said, I don't know why I'm here, but it's only because of your
mercy." I didn't remember doing any of
that stuff. And he says, here's the kingdom
prepared for you to inherit it. What must I do? In all the answers that were given
by Jesus, by John, by Paul, by Peter, The things in which they
answer the people were always the things which they could never
do in themselves. And that was kind of the point
of it all. And it's just like the law. The law was just a schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ to say, you can't keep all that stuff.
And yet the people persisted in saying, all that thou sayest,
we will do. And said, OK, well, here's some
more stuff. Okay, we'll do that. And then
they just immediately started not doing it, and yet claiming
that they did it. It's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.
He cannot and will not give up the riches within his natural
heart. That's where he That's where
his natural sense is taken was, well, I'm dependent on these
things. These are the things that I trust
in. I don't know what I'd do if those are gone. So I'm not
selling them and giving them to the poor. I don't trust you. And that was the point. If that
guy would have come to realize that, then he would have been
reborn. But he loved the things that he trusted,
the things that he supplied himself, he loved them more than he could
love the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his
mind. John said, Abandon all that false
religion and bring forth evidence the Spirit has given you a heart
to believe." That's what he said, really, when he was talking to
those folks. Bring forth some fruit. Meet
for repentance. Show me that you've turned from
what you believed yesterday to what you believe now, like Paul.
All that stuff that you counted on is now done. Due to religion, this what-shall-I-do
presumes that what God the Father has declared was the only acceptable
means of coming to Him is not valid because they believe it
so. Well, my way is just as good
as God's way. I don't see what's wrong with
my way. And He's pretty narrow-minded if He doesn't see my point of
view. And if that's the way he feels
about it, heck with him. I don't need him. And that's
just how we are. That's our enmity toward him,
disguised as we really want a relationship with him, but we don't want it
with him, who he really is. And all through history, it's
been the same. Adam surely said, what shall we do? Well, I know,
let's make those fig leaf aprons. Those will work. That was just, that just astounds
me that that was a good idea. I mean, even if you had a fig
leaf, how long could it last in the form of an apron? It's
like, they're pretty fragile covering, wouldn't you say? And
probably a little scratchy. The whole thing is just ludicrous,
but that's what he did. He came, he looked about and
said, here's my resources and here's what I can do to cover
myself. And he said, yeah, that's good
enough. That'll work. And Cain surely
said, what shall I do? I'll bring, I know I'll bring
an offering of my own hands. He said, I'll bring to God the
works of His own hands. There's nothing new today. The picture was the same in Paul's
day. And he said, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved,
for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. They talk
about God all the time. God this, God that. God for Israel. God this. but not according to knowledge.
They said the word God a lot, but they didn't know anything
about Him, and they didn't really want to know about any kind of
a God except the God that they had created in their own minds
that fit their perception of what God should be, and He should
just come and throw that Roman yoke off and make them a prosperous
kingdom, and they just go on doing what they've been doing.
I bear them record they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge." Romans 10, 2. Does anyone here know a religious
zealot, yet doesn't really seem to know the Lord? They're really
zealous toward God. They just, God all the time,
and yet they don't really seem to know much about Him. only
more rules and things to more do. And one time the Lord says, yet you
leave the weightier things undone. You leave the weightier things
undone. You worship me with your lips, but your heart is just
far from me. And they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, in Romans 10, 3, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. They've not come to, and you
can never do that until you're born again. You can never come
to grips with what God required for righteousness. You just can't.
You can't see it. It's just foreign to you. He
says, for Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to everyone
that believeth. And you only come to that conclusion
when you've been given the new birth from above. Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. John 10, he said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door, which is him,
to the sheep bowl, but climbeth up some other way, the same as
a thief and a robber. Pretty plain. When works of any
kind are presented to God instead of coming solely in the merit
of Christ and His finished work on the cross instead of His people,
Him dying in their place, taking their punishment, The response
from God is always going to be the same. In Genesis 4-5, unto
Cain and his offering, he had not respect. He has not respect. He doesn't accept that offering. Generous as it might have been
he saw I brought you the best out of my garden that I grew
with my own hands I tilled the soil I planted the seed I weeded
the weeds I did this I did that and I picked the best squash
or I picked the best melon and the best carrot the best fruit
and put it all in a nice pretty basket and I Carried it over
here with my own two hands on my own feet and brought it before
you And you're saying that's not good enough Well, that's
the same thing we say. I did all this stuff, and it's
not good enough? He had not respect for that because
it didn't picture the Lamb slain from before the foundation of
the world. That's what God said. That's what's going to satisfy
my righteousness and my justice in the place of those people
that I gave Christ to redeem from before the foundation of
the world. When works are substituted in place of Christ, it's an insult
to God as much as says what you provided isn't
good enough. Or it doesn't suit my needs. And I feel it's necessary that
I contribute some, if not all, of my own righteousness. I feel
I need to do something to kind of earn part of it. And it's a slap in the face to
God who supplied all our needs in Christ when we were unable
and we were unwilling. In Christ is perfect rest and
trusting only in Him for all of our salvation. In works, you
can never stop. You can never rest. You just
got to keep doing, doing, doing, doing. And when you stop doing,
then you think, oh, I haven't done enough. You know, God is speaking in
that picture of the Sabbath in Hebrews. He said, He that enters
into his rest has ceased from his own works. He recognizes
that all that is done, counted for nothing. The Scriptures are pretty unwavering
in regards to what shall I do? Works for salvation. Ephesians
2.9 says, Not of works, lest any man should boast. Because
that's what we do. I'm saved because I gave, and I gave, and
I gave, and I gave. And I spent every Sunday down
in front of the post office with my sign up, or I marched here,
I marched there. I went door to door in four towns
and visited. There was a missionary in Alaska
that said, I visited every home in the entire state of Alaska
and tried to... Well, I'm afraid not. That did not happen. Titus 3.5, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Hebrews
6.1, Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. We're going on from there and
relying on faith toward God. Romans 9-11. The children not
being yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. Galatians 2.16 Knowing that a
man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by works of the
law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified, Romans 9.15, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I'll have
compassion. So then, because of that, it
is not of him that willeth or him that runneth, but God that
showeth mercy. Romans 11.6, if by grace it's
no more works. 2 Timothy 1.9, who saved us,
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began." You know, you just can't
see that. Even though it says it all those
times, I just read a few of them. The Bible is pretty blunt from
A to Z. Not of works, not of works, not
of works, not of works. By grace, by grace, by grace.
And yet you can't see that unless you're born again. reports the
question of some disciples in verse 18. Well, this rich young
guy, he seemed to have checked all the boxes. He's rich and he's a ruler among
the Jews. And he kept all the law. If that
doesn't qualify him for salvation, well, what does? And so they
say, well, who then can be saved? And you know, it just points
out what a work of grace that it needs to take one from all
these things have I kept from my youth up to God be merciful
to me, the sinner, to say, God, please, In your loving kindness,
you've drawn me. Please, Lord, apply the atonement
to me, the sinner," is what it said in Luke 18, 13. So there's nothing left then
but to come to Christ as the sinner because it says that's
who He came to save. He didn't come to save the ones
that said, I've done all this. He didn't come to say, I've kept
all these from my youth up. He didn't come to save all the
ones that were willing to justify themselves. He didn't come to
save those that need no physician, that need no righteousness outside
of their own selves. He came to save sinners, and
that's how we have to come to Him. And like Augustus' top lady
said, He was fighting that same thing in his day with Charles
Wesley. The Wesleys were trying to get people to do stuff. And Augustus' top lady took one
of his messages and turned it into the Rock of Ages hymn. And
he says, in my hand no price I bring. There's nothing I can
bring except being a sinner. In my hand no price I bring. Could my tears forever flow?
That isn't going to work. Thou must save, and thou alone."
So we'll stop there. Come to Christ as a sinner. That's
who He came to save. So come to Him and be free. Thank
you for your attention. Until next time.