Matthew chapter 19 again. Matthew chapter 19. This morning we saw a rich young
ruler in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw him
express a desire for eternal life. This man appeared to be interested
in eternal things. He appeared to be interested
in things of heaven. But sadly he proved that his
heart was truly set on the things of this world. the temporal things
of this life. This man had outwardly obeyed
many laws, but he was unaware of his evil
heart. He was unaware of his corrupt state before holy God. He had a lot of religion. He
certainly was very religious, but he was lost. And so we read
in verse 23 of Matthew chapter 19, Now, we saw that this does
not merely mean a materially rich man, but rather a man who
is rich in self-righteousness. We ended the message by asking
this question. Are you rich? Am I rich? And the fact of the matter is
we're all rich. We're either rich in our self-righteousness,
in our esteem of ourself, or we are rich toward God, rich
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with that being said, I
want you to turn with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. Verse 17. Mark 10.17 says, And when he
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? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and
that is God. Thou knowest the commandments,
do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he
answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from
my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved
him. I believe I saved the best part
for this message. Earlier we saw that this man
went away from the presence of the Lord sorrowful. And if we
go on reading here, it's the same account. He did indeed go
away sorrowful. But it says that Jesus loved
him. And I cannot tell you how that
cheers my soul. We know that God saves all whom
he loves. God does not love everybody.
He loves his people. He loves his people with an everlasting,
effectual, saving love. That means that this man, this
was not the end for this rich young ruler. His time of love
was coming. His time of love was coming.
Soon this rich young ruler would leave it all behind. Soon this
rich young ruler would throw it all away. He'd count it all
done and he'd cling to Christ. I can't help but think that perhaps,
now we do not know, but it don't hurt to think. I can't help but
think maybe, just maybe this was a young Saul of Tarsus, maybe.
Again, we don't know, but we do know this much. He had the
same experience as Saul of Tarsus. No question about it. Paul, you
read what he wrote in Philippians chapter 3. He said, If any man
think he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I am the
Lord. I was a Pharisee. That's what he said. And that's
what this rich young ruler was. He was a Pharisee saved by the
free grace of God. Amazing grace. Amazing grace. Look back at Matthew 19 and verse
26. But Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, With men this is impossible. How is this rich man saved? With
men this is impossible. Absolutely impossible. But with
God, all things are possible. Praise God. Praise God. How can a rich, self-righteous
man be saved? Look at verse 24. Our Lord said,
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. That's impossible. No question
about it. A camel is an extremely large
animal. The eye of a needle, I can't
hardly fit a piece of thread through it. A camel certainly
can't go through the eye of a needle. Do you get the picture? What
does it take for a rich, self-righteous person like myself to be saved?
It takes a miracle of God. Nothing short of an absolute
miracle of the grace of God Almighty. That's exactly what has to happen
in order for any of us to be saved. That's why salvation is
impossible with us. We can't do it. We can't do it. Are you not amazed at the thought
of God saving someone like you? I just can't hardly fathom the
thought that God would look my way. It kind of makes me think
of Mephibosheth. Shameful thing. So what is thy
servant, this dead dog that I am? Can we say with David, what is
man? that thou art mindful of him.
Does that not astonish you that God would be mindful of such
as we are? And can we say with Job, what is man, that he should
be clean? Amazing. My soul. There's a song that
says, it took a miracle to put the stars in place. It took a
miracle to hang the world in space. But when He saved my soul,
when He cleansed and made me whole, it took a miracle of love
and grace. It took an absolute miracle to
save a sinner like me. How can we be saved? It's got
to take a miracle. Verse 24, again, I say unto you,
it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Here the
camel represents all of us by nature. The camel represents
fallen man. And a camel was an unclean animal. We're all unclean by nature.
The needle represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Over in Matthew chapter 7 we
read about the straight narrow way which leadeth unto life.
Few there be that find it. That's Christ. You see, a camel
can only fit through the wide gate, the broad way that leads
to destruction, and many there be which go in there at. Apart
from the grace of God, that's where we're going. That's where
we're headed. Well, how then can this camel
fit through the eye of a needle? The camel must be brought low. The camel must be shrunk. The
camel must be reduced to nothing. And that's exactly what God's
been pleased to do. He must increase, but I must
decrease. How much? As much as I possibly
can. Christ could not possibly increase
enough. You know, He knoweth our frame.
Even now, oh, I've been saved how many years? He knoweth our
frame. He remembereth that we are, right
now, we're still just dust. I thought your dust could fit
through the eye of that needle. If God's not revealed to you
what you are, I pray He would. I pray He'd reveal it to all
of us again. I pray He would pull us. You
think about pulling a piece of thread through the eye of the
Lord. You pull me through. You pull me through that straight
gate. You put me in Christ. That's
my prayer. I want to consider the Apostle Paul. After the Lord
saved him, he gave himself a very prestigious title. He said, I'm
the chief of sinners. I love that. And I think we could
all agree and say, no Paul, that's me. That's me. Turn over to 1
Corinthians chapter 15. We'll see what else he called
himself. 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15 and look at verse 9. He said, For I am the least of
the apostles, that am not meet, am not worthy
to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me." What made Paul view himself so lowly? What was it that reduced
him to this state of nothingness? Grace. Grace. It's the grace of God
that teaches us what we are. It's the grace of God that taught
my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. Growth in grace,
we grow down, don't we? We grow down. This man who used to think so
highly of himself, I'm not talking about Paul. I'm
not talking about this rich young man. I'm talking about me. I
used to think so highly of myself, and if not for the grace of God,
I still will. I still do. But you know, if God never knocked
Paul off his high horse, he would have never been saved. I can just picture him on his
horse on his way to Damascus. He's got his papers. He's got authority to bind them.
God's saints. And if you go read what he ended
up doing, he ended up preaching the gospel. He went to persecute
them. He ended up preaching the gospel
to them. Oh, that's grace. That's effectual grace, ain't
it? Oh, God's grace is never, never in vain. Look back at our
text, Matthew 19, verse 24, one more time. 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. When his disciples
heard this, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can
be saved? Well, that's plum impossible.
Who then can be saved? Is there hope for anybody? Is
there hope for this rich young ruler? Yes, there is. Praise God, there is. Now, the
fact of the matter is, if God leaves us to ourselves, which,
by the way, is what we all wanted, that rich young ruler, he did
not ask the Lord to do anything for him, and neither did we.
If God leaves us there, Not a single one of us will be
saved. No one. No one. If salvation in any way
depends on me, I will not be saved. It's not going to happen. If my salvation, if my hope of
eternal life hinges so much on me making a decision, I might as well forget it. You
will not come to me that you might have life. No man can come
to me, Christ said, except the Father which has sent me. Draw
him." You know what that means? Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
1. Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 9, Except the Lord of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom,
and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah
were destroyed under the wrath of God. And it says, except the
Lord had left on us a very small remnant, except He had chosen
a people, we would have been destroyed. Election. Praise God for election. It does not shut the door. Election
is not bad news. If it weren't for election, we
would have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. Praise God for election. Praise God for election. Who
then can be saved? The elect, the remnant. Turn
with me to Romans chapter 11. If you think election's a bad
word, I pray you'll walk out of here tonight rejoicing in
it. Oh, I do. Romans chapter 11, verse 1. I say then, hath God cast away
his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Know ye not
what the scriptures saith of Elijah, how he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed thy prophets,
and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life. Elijah, he thought he was the
only one left. He thought he was the only believer
left. But look at verse four. You're not the only one. Sometimes
we feel that way, don't we? Well, I'm the only one. Oh no. God has a people. Look at verse 5. Even so, then,
at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. You know, the only people that
have a problem with election are those who don't need to be
elected. I don't know about you, but if
God didn't choose me in Christ, I have no hope. Because I know
I would never choose Him. Never. Never. And you know what election is?
I remember Brother Bruce Crabtree pointing this out. He said election
is God reserving to Himself a people. Does He have the right to do
that? You better believe it. He's God. He's God. Turn back a couple pages to Romans
chapter 9. Romans chapter 9 verse 11. For the children being not 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." God did not choose His people
because He foreknew them. He looked through time and saw
who would believe on Him. No. No. Oh no. He told His disciples. He didn't
say, well, I saved you because you believed on me. He said,
you didn't choose me. You didn't choose me. You've not chosen
me. You said, I've chosen you. I chose you out of the world.
I separated you from your mother's womb. That's what Paul said.
The Lord told Jeremiah, he said, before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. You've been mine forever. God
didn't choose Jacob because he saw the good he would do. He
didn't do any good. God loved him before he did any
evil. And the same goes for you and me. God loves His people
before they ever cursed Him. And He loved them all the while
they cursed Him. Think about Paul. He stood there consenting
to the death of one of the Lord's dear saints, Stephen. And even
while he consented to his death and those men laid his coat at
his feet, God loved him. Yes, He did. God changes not. That's why we're not consumed.
God has loved his people forever and he will love them to the
end. God chose Jacob and God chose all his people that the
purpose of God, he chose them on purpose, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. And so salvation
is not of works, not by something we do, but of him that calleth.
And I rejoice to know that this rich young ruler, soon he was
going to find that out. Soon he was going to learn that.
Praise God. Look here in Romans 9 verse 12. It was said unto
her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then, is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. We shouldn't be shocked that
God hates Esau, but we should absolutely be amazed that he
loves Jacob. Best news I've ever heard. Thou worm, Jacob. God loves you. Oh, brethren, let's be amazed
in the fact that God delights to show mercy to helpless sinners. Who then can be saved? Sinners,
whose only hope is the mercy of God through the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's who can be saved, and
that's only who can be saved. That Pharisee, that rich young
ruler, he had to become a sinner. A sinner. Are you a sinner? An
old hymn says a sinner is a sacred thing. Why? Because the Holy
Ghost hath made him so. Only a sinner needs a Savior.
Only the sick need a physician. Only the lost need the shepherd
to come find them. And he finds all his sheep. The
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
He finds that sheep, he throws it on his shoulder, and he carries
him home. And the angels in heaven rejoice. with their sin in heaven. Praise God. Back at our text,
verse 25. When the disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, with men, this is impossible, but with God all
things are possible. The Lord made it very clear to
this rich young man that he could not save himself. He told him,
you've got to get rid of everything you have and come follow me. He said, you get rid of all you
have, you'll have treasure in heaven. You see, we either have
the things of this world, we either have a false hope in
ourselves, or we have Christ. You see, we're not saved because
we give all our money away. It doesn't mean if you literally
sell all that you have, you'll have treasure in heaven. It means
nothing can stand between us and Christ. You know what my
hope is? Union with Christ. Paul said,
I am crucified with Christ. When He died, He died for the
sins of His people. He crucified my sin. He nailed
it to the cross. And I died in Him. When He was
buried, I was buried. When He arose, I arose. And now, Christ lives in me. In the life that we live, we
live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave
himself for us. Our hope is in Christ. Salvation
is impossible with men because salvation is God's work. It's His work. Salvation is impossible with
men because Christ is the Savior. What was the point in Him coming
if I could do something to save myself? He said, call His name
Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. We need to be
saved from our sins. And praise God, He saved His
people from their sins. He finished the work that the
Father gave Him to do. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's a slap in His face. It's an utter insult to think
that a sinful man or woman like us could add anything to what
He has done. Scriptures say He perfected forever. Perfected forever. All those
for whom He died, all those who are sanctified in Him, He perfected
them forever. You mean we're going to add something
to that? We're going to take some of the glory when He did
it all? Oh no. Oh no. Turn with me to Jeremiah
chapter 13. Jeremiah 13 verse 23. Jeremiah
13, 23. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that
are accustomed to do evil." We can't get rid of our sin.
I can't change my condition, my state. I'm a leper covered
in sin from head to toe and I can't get rid of it. But Christ did. And it's finished. I want to
show you two more verses here in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, before
Song of Solomon, before Isaiah. I pray that we can all rejoice
in this right here. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 14. I know that whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it. And God doeth it that men should
fear before him. That which hath been is now,
and that which is to be hath already been. And God requireth
that which is past." What do I need to do to be saved? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And faith
is the gift of God. It's the gift of God. Job asked
this question. He said, how should a man be
just with God? That's the question. How could
a sinful man like me be just before a holy and just God? With
men, it's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. He is both just and the justifier. It's His work from start to finish. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Oh, no. We worship a sovereign God. He
is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by Him.
His hand is not shortened that it cannot save. If God has saved
us, you know what we are? We're miracles of His grace.
You're looking at a miracle. A miracle of God. and he must
get all the glory. All the glory. Praise be to our
great, glorious, wonder-working God who does the impossible in
saving sinners like us. Amen.