Turn with me to Matthew chapter
19, please Matthew chapter 19 Now as I said, I asked Paul to read
to us mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 31 and Luke 18 verses
18 through 30 this Account This account has marvelous
truth in it, and there's far more than what I'll be able to
cover here this morning. But what I want to read to you
this morning is Mark's account of it, in Mark chapter 19, and
let's begin reading in verse 16. And behold, one came and
said unto him, remember Mark's, or Luke 1 said, came running,
came running, but then it says to Matt, kneel down. Isn't it
amazing how in some places it said men or women bowed down
and worshiped him? Or some bowed at his feet? I
think Matthew realized later he wasn't bowing, he was just
kneeling. That's all he was doing. Behold,
one came and said unto him, good master, what good things shall
I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, that
is Christ said unto this young man, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that
is God. But if thou will enter into life,
keep the commandments. This rich young man said, 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 said
unto him, all these things have I kept for 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. 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. Remember, one
of the other writers said that Christ qualified this when they
really didn't get it. He said, they trust in riches.
They trust in riches. When his disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them. Can you
imagine that? I can see him. Just stop for
a moment. Look around. Look him in the eye. But Jesus
beheld them and said unto them, with men, not with the rich. He didn't say with the rich,
but with men. I have every reason to believe
he means all men without exception here. But with men, this is impossible. How much stronger word could
you get? But with men, this is impossible. But with God, all
things are possible. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall
we have therefore? Now I want you to notice how
Peter talks there. He's not amazed by the fact that he did, when
here's a guy who couldn't, he wants to know how he's gonna
get out of it. See it? See it in its right context.
Here he's just moments before he's a man who then can be saved,
but then turned right back around and said, Lord, we left everything.
What shall we have therefore? Notice he just said we left it.
He didn't say we sold it and gave it away, did he? Jesus said unto them, verily
I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration,
when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
shall also sit upon 12 tribes, judging the 12 tribes of Israel,
and every one that hath forsaken houses, and brethren, and sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my
name's sake shall receive 100 fold, and shall inherit eternal
life. But then all three riders end
up with this, but many that are first shall be last, and the
last shall be first. Now Matthew continues on and
explains exactly what that means. He's the only writer that does.
Mark and Luke do not go on. They all three end with that
statement. Matthew 20, verses one all the
way down through verse 16 goes to deal with that, and he there
rebukes everything that Peter had said out of his heart. I won't even deal with all that.
Like I said, there's a lot here. Oh, there is so much here. I will begin my message by saying
this, our God never wrings his hands over sinners. You hear me? Our God never wrings
his hands over sinners. There are those today who call
themselves Christians, that while they may not say it that way,
that's the God they present, up there wringing his hands in
heaven, just hoping someone would let him save them. Our great
king, think about it now, listen to me, our great king worked
this man over, didn't he? He worked him over, Mason. He
was giving him a what for? He worked him over. He exposed
him. He silenced him. And the man
left sorrowful, grieved, and empty. Didn't he? Now that's what we're told in
the text, right? But this is not about failure
on anybody's part. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
It's not about failure on the young man's part. This young
man was blind as a bat. He had interest, but he didn't
know God. And this certainly ain't about
failure on Jesus. Boy, Jesus gave him a good shot.
He tried his best. That's blasphemous. That's blasphemous. This passage is about impossibilities
with man. That's what it's about. Impossibilities
with man. And then you read in chapter
20 when Matthew gives the account of how Christ summed this all
up. Christ said, all of this is in my sovereign hands and
I give to people as I please. Go back and read that sometime.
But I'm not even dealing with that this morning. It's about
impossibilities with man. This is not about legalism. On
Christ's side. Did you ever notice Christ wasn't
worried about being called a legalist when he told this man what he
told him? Huh? Isn't that amazing? Now I know
there are those of the dispensational ilk that say, well, but back
then you were saved by the law, now you're saved by grace. That's
blasphemous too. It's not the truth. This is not
about legalism. It's not even about legalism
on the rich young ruler side. He was nonchalant about the law,
wasn't he? He was nonchalant about the law.
It's about exposing obfuscation. He said, well, keep the commandments.
He said, well, which one? That's obfuscation. You see it? Trying to muddy the waters. Well,
which one? It's about exposing righteousness
belittled. When he told him which ones,
what did he say? Well, I've kept all those from
my youth up. You know, that's, it's, he's like, it's no big
thing from my youth up. It's about exposing ignorance
about God. And I want to read that one again. And behold, one came unto him
and said, good master. He called Jesus Christ good.
Now, did he not? But notice he puts himself on
the same level with Jesus Christ. How do I know that? What good
thing shall I do? Do you see it? He does not see
Jesus Christ as up there. Positionally, you see? He does
not see Jesus Christ as God Almighty. He sees Jesus Christ as an equal
with him. Just another good man like me.
You see it? And now we know that to be the
case, and it says, and he said unto him, Jesus saith unto him,
why callest thou me good? There's none good but one, that
is God. This man didn't even recognize
it evidently, though Mason's still yet. He's saying to this
rich young man, you are not on equal ground with me, and I'm
not on equal ground with you. I'm above you. I am good and
I'm God. I'm God. It's about exposing
ignorance about God. It's about exposing greed and
covetousness, isn't it? This man was greedy and covetousness
is not just wanting something you don't have, but what you
got, you will not let go of it. That's greed and covetousness
together. Greed causes you to be covetous. You go after, go
after, go after, and then you will not let it go. And you remember
what Paul said about covetousness, don't you? What's he call it?
Idolatry. Why? Because we begin to worship
that thing that we're going after. Or things that we go after. This
case happened to be riches. I said this case happened to
be great riches. One of the writers said, right?
Very rich, something like that. It's about exposing greed and
covetousness, which is idolatry. Look at Luke 18. Let me read
it again. Paul read it, but I just wanted your mind to kind of already
be tumbling over this. Look at Luke 18, verses 21. And
he said, all these have I kept for my youth up, when Christ
told him, keep the commandments. He said, you'll enter into life.
And you know what, Mason? Christ was telling the truth.
He's telling him the truth. The problem is with men, it's
what? Impossible. But this man didn't
know that, did he? All these have I kept for my
youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him,
yet lackest thou one thing. And one of the other writers
didn't necessarily say, well what one thing do I lack? That's
what he was basically saying. Christ brought it up. Here's
one thing you lack. Now let me tell you something.
He lacked a whole lot of things. But Christ knew what the nitty
gritty was. He knew what the real problem
was. Yet lackest thou one thing, sell
all thou hast. And he didn't say use it for
the gospel's sake even. He said sell all you have, distribute
it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. One
writer lets us know, he says then take up your cross and come
and follow me. And when he heard this, that's
the rich young ruler, he was very sorrowful. One of the other
writers said he was also, he was grieved for he was very rich. Now hear me now, hear me now. It's never a bad thing to have
your self hope vanquished. is it? Whatever it is that you're
holding on to more than God and Jesus Christ, his son, it's never
a bad thing to have that thing vanquished right at your feet.
You see what I'm saying? Whatever that thing is, riches,
a family member, your job, your religion, yourself, your freedom,
whatever it is, God is supreme. His son is him through which
God brings to himself all of his gracious, merciful, compassionate
glory and God will be honored in his son and his son only or
God is dishonored altogether. But it's never a bad thing to
have self-hope vanquished and ground in the dust before us,
is it? It's never a bad thing, is it?
It's never a bad thing to be shut up under free reigning grace
in Christ, is it? Is that ever a bad thing? And
none will ever be brought to this place. None will ever be
brought to bow to the authority of Jesus Christ and his glory
until their citadel of me is cast into rubble. whatever that
part of me is. You go back and read what Paul
said, 2 Corinthians 10, four and five, I'm not gonna read
it, but the weapons of our warfare, why, because we're engaged in
this battle. Yes, it's God's war, but God has engaged us in
this battle, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
We're not trying to trick men. We're not trying to play emotional
games. We're just telling men who they are, and we're telling
men who Jesus Christ is, and saying, now, deal with that.
That's what we're doing. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but mighty through God to the what? Pulling down
of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing
that exhausts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing
it into captivity and obedience to Christ. That's a paraphrase,
but that's what he was saying. That's a good thing. That's a
good thing. But my mind thought, but some
might possibly run off. No, some will run off. It ain't some might run off,
some will run off. And when you expose a man or
a woman for what they really are, one of two things will happen. Rolfe Barnard put it this way.
Been trying to listen to Rolfe a little more here lately. Rolfe
Barnard said, when God Almighty confronts you with truth in the
middle of the road, two things will happen. You will have to
stand there and deal with it, or you'll turn around and run. and you'll turn around and run.
No, it's not, it might, some might possibly run off, some
will run off. Some will go away grieved and
sorrowful. Now won't they? That happened
right here. Do you not, does anyone here
not know that our Lord knew exactly what was going to happen here?
And yet he did it anyway. Did he not? He did it anyway. I thought about starting this
out with this question, but I thought, well, I'm just going to give
it all away right to start with. If you got somebody you love,
and you knew if you expose them for what they really are, and
you knew they was going to tuck tail and run away, what would
you do? If you really love them, you're
going to tell them the truth no matter what. True love. for the soul of anyone. Now you hear me. I planned this
message two or three weeks ago. Begin writing it two or three
weeks ago. But you know some other things. True love for the
soul of anyone cannot be cowardice or timid. And God help us if our love is
flesh-centered and not soul and spirit-centered. Listen to me,
look at what it says, Mark 10, amazing thing. Verse 20, and
he answered and said unto him, that's the rich young ruler,
answered to Jesus, Master, all these have I observed from my
youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved
him. Do you see that? He wasn't angry
with him, hmm? Mason, he wasn't trying to just
grind him in the dust just for grinding in the dust sake. Huh? He's telling this rich young
man exactly what he needs to hear for everything about himself
to be broken down in the dust. He said all of this to what?
Loving him. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? This is the title of my message
right there. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him. Loved him. We'll give you seven things. Seven things I've drawn out of
this text. There's a lot more there, but
remember, that's what we're talking. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him.
And go back, remember, look what Jesus did to him. and look where
he finally ended up. Now, you know what? Most people,
I've done this before, years ago, you know what? My concern
was, well, if Jesus loved him, he had to have been saved somewhere
or another. You ever done that? That ain't what this is about.
You know that? It ain't what this is about.
And others say, well, see there, I even heard one man years ago
now preach that this rich young man, this is the rich man that
lifted up his eyes in hell. And he was just all dead sure
that's who this was. Why? Just because he wanted to
prove that somebody went to hell that Jesus loved. That's exactly
why he was doing that. You can't prove either side from
this passage. Can you? You cannot do it. But it's here for a reason. And
when the book says Jesus loved him, you can bet your last dollar
he loved him. Yes or no? Yes or no? Now the
question is not what happened to him way out yonder. The question
is what is taking place now and why? Jesus Christ was bringing
him to the end of himself. He brought him right to that
last thing. Even now the rich young ruler gives up and knows,
I can't do that. How many people do you know in
religion have been brought to that? Huh? You know exactly what
I'm talking about here, if God Almighty saved you by his grace.
If not, I'm talking right over your head and somebody's saying,
I have, what in the world is that preacher talking about?
Here's the seven things. Let me move on. Christ knew this
was the one thing that would send this young man packing.
Now did he not? He's the Lord of glory. He knew
this was gonna send him packing, yet he told him anyway. Yes or
no? And he did it in love, because
that's what the book says. Secondly, Christ knew this was
the one thing this man would know it was impossible for him
to do, right? Everything else, he said, I've
done all that. Christ said, all right, here's
something for you to do. Here's the one thing you lack. And he
said, I can't do that. Yes or no? Let me tell you something,
oh, my blessed brothers and sisters, that's where God brings every
one of us to, no matter what our riches are. No matter what
our riches are. Thirdly, yet Christ pressed upon
this man his sovereign right and his preeminent place. You
sell everything you've got, you give it to the poor, but now
here's the main thing, you take up your cross and you follow
me. Isn't that what he said? Here's the fourth thing. It does
not say here Christ did this in love. It says, then he beheld
him, then Jesus beholding him. And I could see him looking him
in the eye. Don't you figure? He's beholding
him. One thing you lack then. And
he puts this rich young man in the dust of impossibility and
no hope. Yes or no? Now I know there are
thousands that may even preach this very Sunday morning on this
passage or one of the other two sister passages, and they have
no idea that this is what Christ Jesus is doing. They see him
as failing. They see the rich young ruler
just not able to cut the muster. And see Peter, James, John, they
all did. No, they did not. No, they did not. And our Lord
Jesus Christ finally summed it all up with this. He said, but
the first shall be last, the last shall be first. And somebody
said, well, what's that mean? He explained it in one of the
writers. Many are called, but few are chosen. There's the explanation
of exactly what he was talking about. He's saying to Peter,
he wasn't saying this, the rich young ruler done gone, right? He's telling Peter, don't you
dare suppose on God. Don't think God owes you this. Look at what he says in Matthew
20. It's amazing. Even while Christ was preaching
law, he was teaching grace. Isn't that amazing? Think about
it. Old Mason, if I could do that. Even while he was a preaching
law, he was still preaching grace. Why, because the law's meant
to shut our mouths before God and say, oh God, I can't do this. Oh God, give me mercy. Oh God,
give me forgiveness. Oh God, I'm dead, I'm corrupt,
I'm helpless. With me, this thing of salvation
is impossible. That's what this is all about. Here's my fifth point. Anyone
here ever love somebody that way? Huh? That's a tough one, ain't it?
Because we're prone to hang on to those we love like this. And
if I say that, if I say that, they just might. Yeah, they just
might. But remember, God Almighty, it
is, with men, it is impossible. You're not gonna ruin their souls
by keeping stuff back from them. You'll ruin their souls by lying
about it. You tell them the truth, you've
not harmed them a lick. Anybody here ever love someone
that way? Oh God, give me that kind of love. That kind of boldness. Here's the sixth thing. Compromise
the truth. about a man, and I mean about
who a man is to himself. I'm not talking about preaching
in generalities. Preachers do a lot of general preaching, don't
they? Well, we've all seen, come sure, the glory of God. That's
true, but Christ dealt with individuals. That woman at the well, she said,
well, you know, blah, blah, blah, all this. He said, well, you
know, go get your husband. Setting the woman up, wasn't
he? He gonna make her bring this
subject up. And she said, I don't have one. He said, that's for
sure. You've had several before, now you're shacking up with one.
Now, is that not what he told her? He exposed her, did he not? Oh, well, she might have run
off. Yes, she did. Ultimately, she ran off and told
some other folks, I found the Messiah. I found the Messiah. He told me everything I ever
did. And she wasn't pedoed about it, was she? She knew he was
right. Hmm. Compromise the truth about
a man to a man. Compromise the truth about Christ
to a man. Then you compromise that man's
soul. When I say compromise, I mean
just by keeping silent. I'm not talking about going ahead
and denying true doctrine. No, I'm talking about keeping
your mouth shut when you see rebellion. keeping your mouth
shut when you see sin, keeping your mouth shut when you see
men and women, I don't care whether they profess to believe or don't
profess to believe, and you clearly see they're in rebellion against
God, then name it for what it is. And don't be afraid to say,
thou shalt not, because God said that, right? Don't be afraid
of it. Well, I don't want to be a legalist.
You've got more legalism in you and I do too right now than we
ever want. But that's not legalism. The law is good if a man use
it lawfully. What's it do? It's to point out
what sin is. Compromise like that by keeping
your mouth shut and not saying anything, not wanting to cause
waves, that's not love at all. Truth cannot be slipped in ecumenically. You can't LUV people into the
kingdom of God. You love people when you tell
them the truth about themselves and tell them the truth about
Jesus Christ or you don't love them at all and everything else
is nothing but fleshly emotionalism. compromise the truth about these
two things, what a man really is, and who Jesus Christ really
is to a man, and you insult God, you disdain his Christ, and you
backstab those who are trying to stand for the truth. Do you
hear what I said? You insult God, you disdain His
Christ, and you backstab those who are trying to stand for the
truth, because the people you're being silent to will point their
finger at the people who are trying to speak out, and you
don't say a word about it. You let them malk and deride.
God help us. God help us. Now, who among us
can do what Christ commanded this young man to do? Huh? How many of us did that to get
saved? Huh? How many of us sold everything
we had, then gave the money away to the poor, and then took up
our cross and followed him? Peter, James, all of them didn't
even do that, did they? Let's be honest. But now look
at Matthew chapter 19 again. I want you to look at one phrase.
He said, all these things, what lack I yet, verse 20, and Jesus
said unto him, and this is where he said, he said, one of the
writers, remember Mark, he said, loving him, he loved him, right,
he loved him when he said this. All these things that I kept
for my youth, what lack I yet, Jesus saith unto him, if thou
wilt be perfect. Note this young man came talking
about what he could do good. Christ is now talking about being
perfect. Do you see the difference? You
see the difference? But notice what he says, because
he knows this man ain't ready yet. Don't he? He's not ready
to make a profession of faith in Christ yet. He don't even
know who Christ is yet. You see it? So he puts him in
the dirt. He gives him the one thing to
do that he knows he cannot do. Jesus said unto him, if thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, give to the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow
me. And I tell you, if he could have, that would have been true.
But he couldn't. And our Lord, they said, well,
who then can be saved, right? Our Lord said, with men it is
impossible. Who can do this kind of thing?
No man can. And you go on to look at the
parable our Lord Jesus Christ gave, and Matthew is the only
one that goes in through it. Jesus Christ will reward you
according to what he agreed to reward with, and that'll be it.
It don't matter how long you work, it don't matter how long
you, whether you labored all day long or you labored just
an hour or so. Go back and look at it. You see, this is all in
God's hands. A lot of us may have given up
this or given up that, but that's not the point. How are you really
perfect? How that a man is perfect is
not seen in what God even does to a man. Peter's perfection
was not in the fact that he was able to leave and go to the ministry
full hearted. That wasn't his perfection, Mason.
You know that? That wasn't his perfection. How is it possible? With men,
it's impossible, but with God, why does it say? All things are
possible. So how is it possible? He doesn't
answer the question in this context, does he? Matthew, Mark, or Luke,
none of them have Christ giving the answer to that. He gives
antidotes to what's said to him about what happened, right? But
his only actual answer, who then can be saved? Who can be perfect,
right? That goes together, right? He
said, with men, it is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Now let me just give you how
a man or a woman can be perfect. Be perfect, not do perfect. Be
perfect. You remember when our Lord Jesus
Christ died on the tree in John chapter 19 and verse 30, it's
recorded these words. He took that little sip of vinegar,
they refused it, that drink. And he said, it is finished. You know what that word translated
finished is? comes from the same base Greek word as this right
here, be perfect. He said it's perfect. It's complete. It's paid in full. It's a done
deal. It's all over with. There it
is. is finished. And then we read
God's word in Hebrews chapter 10 and verses 9 through 14, and
it says that Jesus Christ in his body and by his death set
a people apart. He sanctified a people. And then
what did he say he'd done for those he sanctified? In his death,
he hath perfected in perpetuity. He hath perfected, same base
Greek word. Do you see it? He has perfected
forever. How is it possible for me to
be saved? Jesus Christ died for sinners, and that's your only
hope. Give up everything for Jesus Christ if you can. Yeah. But let me tell you something,
unless you bow down to Him who accomplished the work, who finished
the work, who completed the work, who perfected the work, you will
perish. I don't care how much you give
up for the Lord. No man can sell out and submit
enough to be perfect. That's the whole thing. No man
can sell out and submit enough to be perfect. He did the perfecting. Do you believe him? Now let us
go out and tell other people, especially those we really love,
let us tell them that very same thing. Right? Oh Father, as we
continue here and we eat together and we fellowship together, Lord
will it. Oh God, comfort our hearts and minds. Teach us that
truth. Many things in your word are perplexing but only because
of our muddled minds. our flesh, our emotions, and
our pride, and our greed. Oh, God, forgive us, but God,
strengthen us too. Give us boldness to speak your
truth in love, totally realizing that the world will not comprehend
that love and will mock it, but Lord, bow us to it in Christ's
name, amen.