Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. Today I'm going to be preaching
on this subject. The title is to have eternal
life. To have, to actually possess. The title is to have eternal
life. And I'll be teaching from the
book of Matthew. This is Matthew chapter 19. I'll
begin with verse 16. And this subject is illustrated
here and taught from an episode in the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ when a young man who was some called the rich young ruler,
some call him, one of the gospels calls him a lawyer, which means
this was a religious young man who had risen in the ranks of
the Jewish religion probably a member of the sect of the Pharisees,
and a member of the Sanhedrin, or close to that, which was the
High Court. So this is a person, a young
man, who was a shining star in the Jewish religion, and he approached
the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the issue of eternal life. And
he says in verse 16, it says, and behold, this is Matthew 19,
verse 16, behold, One came and said unto him, unto the Lord,
good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal
life? What good thing must I do that
I may have eternal life? Now, let's stop and think about
his question and how he approached the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus
Christ, His attitude, His thoughts, we can tell because of how the
Lord answered Him. And He speaks of eternal life.
What is eternal life? We're gonna talk about that.
Somebody said one time that eternal life is more about the quality
of life than it is about the length of life. Well, that may
be true. It certainly has to do with a
quality of life. But it also has to do with the
length of life. It has to do with living forever
and ever and ever, not experiencing what the Bible calls the second
death in the book of Revelation. You see, the second death is
eternal death, perishing, eternal damnation. It is appointed unto
man once to die. That's the physical death that
we experience as a consequence of sin. And he said, but after
that, the judgment. And at the final judgment, it
will be declared who will experience the second death, which is condemnation. And all who stand at judgment
before God in the Lord Jesus Christ, washed in his blood,
clothed in his righteousness imputed, will live forever and
ever. They have, they possess eternal
life. And that's what this young man
here is interested in. Listen to what he said again
in verse 16 of Matthew 19. One came and said unto him, good
master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal
life? Now obviously the man felt like,
thought that eternal life was something to be gained, maintained
and possessed by something he did. Something he did. Now we could filter that down
and talk about the works of man. Somebody might say, well, what
kind of works? Well, here's the key. If you believe that salvation,
everlasting life, eternal life is conditioned on something you
do, then you're just like this young man here. What good thing
shall I do that I may have possessed eternal life? Now that's salvation
by works. Now today, people parse that
and translate that so many different ways to try to cover up what
I think is a cleverly disguised system of works. You know, just
about everyone today will talk about salvation is by grace. But in many circles and in many
denominations and in many professions of Christianity, what they call
grace is in reality a cleverly disguised system of works. For
example, do you believe that salvation was conditioned or
is conditioned on you, what you do or, listen to this, what you
decide? Oh, I made a decision for Christ.
People today, preachers will tell you, God loves everybody,
Christ died for everybody, made it possible for you to be saved
if you'll do something or if you'll decide something. And
my friend, that is not the scripture. And I'm not saying that just
to be cruel or mean or to be exclusive. I'm saying that because
it's the truth. Salvation is not conditioned
on what I do or what I decide. Now, is what I do and what I
decide important? Well, of course it is. Because
the doing and the decision of a person who is saved is an evidence
of salvation. It's not the cause of salvation.
It's not the ground of salvation. And it's not the condition that
I must meet in order to attain or maintain salvation. Do you
understand that? Christ met all the conditions
of the salvation of His people. And His death, burial, and resurrection,
which is the putting away of the sins of His people, which
is the establishment of righteousness for His people, ensures that
they will come to see Him, know Him, believe in Him, and follow
Him. You see, most people, what they
think today is that their decision is the cause of their salvation,
the cause of their new birth. It is not. If you truly know
Christ, the Christ of the Bible, and the salvation that He has
accomplished and freely gives to His people, then you'll know
that your decision for Him, your believing in Him, your repentance
of your sin is the fruit of what he did. And that's why I say
that. Well, this man said, what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? I want to live
forever. And I want that quality of life
that the Bible describes as eternal life. Well, listen to Christ's
answer. And this is very significant
here. He says in verse 17, Christ said unto him, why callest thou
me good? There is none good but one, and
that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. Now think about what he's saying
here. First of all, here's this young man. As I said, he was
a religious man, probably a Pharisee. And he says, good master. Now how did he approach Jesus
of Nazareth? Well, he approached Jesus of
Nazareth merely as a man. In other words, he did not look
at Jesus of Nazareth, this prophet, this miracle worker. This young
man did not see Christ as the Messiah. He did not look at Christ
as God in human flesh. Who is Jesus Christ? The scripture
tells us. He is God manifest in the flesh. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Isaiah
9, 6. That's the God-man. Great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is the eternal Word. which was before this world ever
began. He was in the beginning, he was
with God, he was before all things, he has the preeminence, he's
the great I am, he's God, man. But here's a man who recognized
something in Jesus of Nazareth that he approached him with this
question. What must I do that I may have
eternal life? And he said, good master. Well,
this man, this young man, not knowing and believing that Jesus
is God in human flesh, God-man, well, the Lord just approaches
him on his own level. And he says, well, then if you
don't think I'm God, why would you call me good? Why would you
say good master? He said, there's one good. And
that's God. And this is something that is
so important to our understanding of the scripture. When we talk
about goodness, this is a good person. This is a good person. What are we talking about? And
are we speaking strictly according to the Bible? And usually, no,
we're not. We look at a person who is very
immoral. a lawbreaker, a criminal, what
the New Testament calls a malefactor, a criminal. And we say, well,
that's a bad person. He or she deserves to be in jail,
even punished with the death penalty. And we all know people
like that. But then we look at someone who's
trying to do their best to be a good citizen, to be responsible,
to be a good family member, father, mother, son, daughter, to be
a hard worker, someone even who goes to church and is sincere
about it. We say, well, now that's a good
person. Well then, how in the world can you look at a scripture
like this? Matthew 19, 17. And here's what the Lord says.
Now listen to it. And he said unto him, Why callest
thou me good? There's none good but one, that
is God." The Bible says in Romans chapter 3 in verse 10, There
is none righteous, no not one. And it even goes on to say, There
is none that doeth good, no not one. Well, you have to make some
distinctions here according to what the standard of goodness
is. You see, as we compare ourselves
with ourselves, we can talk about here's a good person and here's
a bad person. But when we take that standard
of goodness and raise it unto God and talk about that standard
as making us have a right relationship with God, we are way off base.
Because when it comes to salvation for sinners, when it comes to
the justification of a sinner before God now, not before men,
not as we compare to others, but to God, when we talk about
goodness according to God's standard, and listen, according to God's
requirement, here's the reality. There are none good. No, not
one. That's right. We have all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. That glory of God, that's
Romans 3.23. You've probably quoted that verse. I've quoted it. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Well, what is the glory of God?
The glory of God there is the standard of God's goodness that
can only be found in the person and the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Can't be found anywhere else.
You can't find it in me. You can't find it in yourself.
You can't find it in others. You pick the best person that
has ever lived on this earth or ever will live on this earth.
And if you say they are the standard of goodness, talking about human
beings now, just mere human beings, The standard is too low, there's
none good, no not one. And what the point that the Lord
is making here is this. Among sinful human beings, fallen,
we fell in Adam, ruined by the fall. And we're born dead in
trespasses and sins. And even in that spiritual deadness,
we can be religious, we can be moral according to man's standard,
we can look good in the eyes of men, and we can be sincere
about it. But in that spiritually dead
state, there are none of us who can be good enough to be saved,
to gain or earn or merit eternal life. There's none of us. You
cannot listen. You cannot be good enough to
make yourself righteous before God, no matter what you do. That's the plight of man. And
that's why salvation and a right relationship with God can never
be by the works of men. It's by grace through Christ. But let's go on. This is what's
happening here. Christ, you know, I've heard
people go to this verse, verse 17, and they say, well, he's
denying his deity here. No, he's not. He's simply putting
things in the proper perspective to show this young man that your
standard of goodness is way too low. What good thing must I do
that I may have eternal life? How good do I have to be to have
eternal life? How good do I have to be to go
to heaven? So listen to what he says. Well,
first of all, he establishes the standard of goodness, the
standard of righteousness. There's none good but God. We're
sinners. But, he says in verse 17, now
listen to this, but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Now, what commandments is he
talking about? Well, let's read on, verse 18.
He saith unto him, this is the young man responding to the Lord,
he says, which, which commandment? 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. Now this is an amazing
thing. Because what the Lord did here,
do you notice this is the second table of the law known as the
Ten Commandments. This was the covenant, you see
the Ten Commandments, was the foundation of the Old Covenant
law given to Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. This is the Old
Covenant. And Israel was under that. You
see, that Old Covenant lasted about 1500 years from Mount Sinai,
where Moses received the law, to the cross. where Christ said
it's finished. And that law, it involved more
than just the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments was the
foundation of it, but it also had the ceremonial law, the law
of sacrifices and priesthood, the law of the tabernacle, the
temple, had civil laws, all of that. Some, I think some theologian
years ago counted them up as over 650 of them or something
like that. I don't remember the exact number,
but there were a lot of laws that the nation Israel was, it
was imposed on the nation Israel. They were rebellious people.
So are we by nature, all right? So he quoted in the second table
of law, which is summarized in his last word there, he says,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, why didn't he
quote the whole law? Why didn't he quote all 10? Well,
the law is summarized in two laws, two statements. Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Love God perfectly. And love your neighbor as yourself.
And the first four commandments have to do with a person's relationship
with God. Love God. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord God in vain. All of that. That has to do with
a right relationship with God, and it's summarized in love God
perfectly. The second table, the last six
commandments, they involve man's relationship to man, how we should
treat our neighbor, summarized in love your neighbor as yourself.
Why did he just quote that part? I'll tell you exactly why. You
know, you've got all kinds of people in this world who run
around claiming they love God. Oh, we love God. It's easy to
say that. Now we don't. Somebody said,
well, I do love the Lord. I can say I love the Lord, but
I don't love him perfectly. I'm still a sinner. I'm a sinner
saved by grace. And I can say, I love God. I
can even say I love my neighbor, but I want to tell you something.
My love is nothing to brag about. Salvation is not conditioned
upon my love for God or my neighbor. Salvation is conditioned upon
God's love for me in Christ. But here's the thing, it's easy
for us to say we love God. Look up in the sky and say, oh,
I love God. Look out at nature, I love God.
Look at some idolatrous icon. But when it comes to everyday
living with our neighbor, and remember our neighbor includes
our worst enemy, according to the scripture, then how does
it go? I love that person who hates
me, who would do me harm. That means to never get angry,
never have any thoughts of vengeance. You see what I'm saying? Now
here's what he says. Look at it in verse 21 now. Or
verse 20 rather. Now listen to this. The young
man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth
up, what like I had. I've done this, he said. I've
kept the law. Do you believe you've kept the
law? Well, let's put it to the test. And that's what Christ
does to this young man in verse 21. Jesus said unto him, if thou
wilt be perfect, complete, a finished product, you claim to have kept
the law. Love your neighbor as yourself.
That's perfection now. He's not talking about, well,
have you tried your best? Bible says man in his best state
is altogether vanity. He says, if you will 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. Let's put your
love to the, you claim to love God perfectly and love your neighbor
as yourself, let's put it to the test. You go sell everything
you have, give it to the poor and you follow Christ. Do you love God perfectly? You
don't. No man by nature loves God. If
we do love God, it's by the power of the Holy Spirit in the new
birth who brings us to see our sinfulness and our depravity
and our need for Christ and his blood and his righteousness alone.
The grace of God. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a what? A wretch like me. And people
go around saying, well, that's true, but after I'm saved, now
I keep the law. Not perfectly. You know what
the scripture says in Galatians 3.10? Cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do this. You that desire to be under law, do you
not hear the law? This man didn't keep the law.
Look at verse 22. He says, but when the young man
heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possession. In other words, he wasn't willing
to give up everything and follow the poor and give to the poor
and follow Christ. Well, verse 23, now the disciples
were there hearing all this. And 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 in to the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom
of God. You say, well, the problem this man had was money. Well,
he did. We all have that problem in some
degree or another, some form or another, but you know, a person
can be rich in a lot of different things. Person can be rich with
money. Person can be rich with other
possessions. Person can be rich in religion. Good works. And here's what he's
saying, is that nothing can take the place of Christ and His blood
and His righteousness. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood. Everything
else is useless. Dumb. What righteousness do I
need to stand before God? It's not my works. It's not my
efforts. It's Christ's work. His obedience
unto death. His death, burial, and resurrection
alone. I stand before God in nothing
but the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed. And
this is what happened when the verse 25 says, when his 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.
Well, who then can be saved? How can I have eternal life?
Well, with men it's impossible. I don't care what you do. Listen, you can try to keep the
law. You can try to serve God. You can join a church. You can
get baptized. You can give your tithes and
your offerings. You can earn the Sunday school
pen, but you cannot be saved. You cannot possess and have eternal
life. by your best efforts to keep
the law. It's impossible. Well, how is
it possible then? Well, look at John 17. I could
go to so many scriptures here. But listen, this is the Lord's
high priestly prayer in John 17 and verse 1. It says, these
words spoke Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. Verse two says, as thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he, Christ, should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And verse three
says, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God. and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." Eternal life is a gift of God based upon the finished
work of Christ. Look at verse 4 of John 17. He
says, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do. The Bible says that as sin hath
reigned unto death, this is Romans 521, as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And when a sinner is brought
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth to know God, through Christ
as the one righteousness, the one good that I have before God,
then that is the evidence of having eternal life. What good
thing must I do to have eternal life? No, I can't do anything
good enough to have eternal life. It's all what Christ did. in
his death, burial, and resurrection, his obedience unto death. Hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.