Let's open our Bibles again to
Matthew chapter 19. Matthew 19. Go back and read just a few verses
here beginning in verse 23. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven. 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 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, all
things are possible. The title of the message this
evening can be found in verse 25. Who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? So let's look at this passage
of Scripture together this evening. I just want to consider a few
points as we begin This study, the first is found in verse 22
of our text. We read that this one who came,
we read he was a young man. Now, I know of no wrong time
to come to Christ. We read of men and women, old
and young in the scriptures. I think of Simeon. Picture him
there as an old man. When that infant was brought
into the temple, you can just picture Simeon holding him in
his hands and lifting him up, just holding him in close tight. He said, let thy servant depart
in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Simeon was an old man when he
saw Christ. It's truly a great mercy, a great
mercy that the Lord would be merciful to any of us at any
time, at any age. But here in our text, we see
that this was a young man, a young man. In Ecclesiastes, we read,
remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, as a young
person. Lamentations, it's good for a
man that he bears, the yoke in his youth. We read Josiah back
in the Old Testament said that while he was yet young, while
he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of his father
David as a young man. So here we see this fellow, he
came at the right time. I can't think of Anyone who stood in this place
and offered up prayer unto God that doesn't ask God to be merciful
to our young ones. Isn't that just our constant
prayer that he be merciful to our children? So we see that
he came at the right time. He came as a young man. Second,
he came to the right person. I don't know if he realized that
or not. He called him He called him good
master, but he came to the right person.
He truly came to Christ. Isn't that what we want men and
women to do? Come to Christ? Isn't that what
we cry? Come to Christ? Come to Him?
Third, he came with the right purpose. He came seeking eternal
life. And again, But he says there
in verse 16 that I might have eternal life. And then fourth,
he came with a sense of urgency. Now, we don't read that in Matthew's
account, but over in Mark's account, we read he came running. He came
running to our Lord. When I read about this young
man, I can't help but think about his sincerity. You know, we have family members,
we have friends, we have co-workers in religion. Most of them are
very sincere. You can't question their sincerity.
But sincerity is not what saves a man. Christ saves a man. Christ is where salvation is
found. And despite their sincerity, despite the fact that they may
talk about a man named Jesus, and despite the fact that they
may talk of eternal life, sadly, they remain lost in their sin,
lost in sin. This young man, we read in verse
22, he went away sorrowful. Well, I don't want us to leave
this place tonight sorrowful. I want us to leave this place
like, remember the Ethiopian eunuch? Remember after Philip
preached Christ to him, it said, we read in the scriptures that
he went on his way rejoicing, rejoicing. So let's look at this
passage of scripture together this evening. So we see this
rich young ruler. He, again, he came to the right
person, but he came to him as just a man. He called him good
master. He gives him a title of respect.
That title was reserved for the teachers in that time, kind of
like we might refer to someone as doctor in our day. And earthly
men in our vanity, we love titles, don't we? We love titles. Men like to be referred to this
today. But our Lord corrects him. Why do you call me good? There's
one good. There's one good, and that's
God. Over in Psalm 50, the psalmist writes, he said, you thought
I was altogether such a one as yourself. You thought I was just
another man. And men today, you drive by these
buildings and you'll see the most holy whoever or reverend
so-and-so. But there's only one. There's
only one who's to be revered. There's only one who's sovereign
over all things. And that's Almighty God. That's
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This rich young ruler, he stands
before the King of Kings. He stands before the Lord of
Lords. He whose name is Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. Yes,
Jesus Christ is a man, but he's Almighty God. He's the God-man. He's the God-man. Turn over to
Philippians 2 with me. This is a familiar passage of
Scripture. Look beginning in verse 9, it
says, Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow of things in heaven, things in earth, things under
the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Let's go back to our text. Let's read on here in verse 16. Here we see how a man or a woman
or a young person is not saved. First, how they're not saved.
This young man, he says, what good thing, what good thing shall
I do? What good thing shall I do? is not in what you or I do. We read in Romans 3.20. Turn
over there. Turn to Romans 3.20. Any question about it? Is it in any
good thing that I do? Here we read in Romans 3.20.
Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall be no flesh. justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin." What good thing? Let me ask you
that. What good thing? What good thing
can a man do for Almighty God? He who created all things, He
who is holy, who is just and right in all that He does, what
good thing can a man do before God? That's foolishness, isn't
it? What can a sinful man do? What
can a sinful man do before a holy God? In the Old and New Testament,
it's repeated. There's none that doeth good.
In case you missed it the first time, no, not one. Not one. The problem here, even our best,
the best we have to offer, the best, the best on the best day,
we wake up early and we eat a good breakfast, the best we can do,
In the sight of Almighty God, it's filthy rags. Filthy rags
in His sight. Our Lord tells him, He says,
OK, if you're going to be saved by what you do, then you keep
the commandments. You keep them. And you keep all
of them. Well, imagine this. You know,
we're rough on this fella, but this is every one of us. This
is every one of us by nature. He says, he says, which, which
one, which one of these, which, which one? Keep the command,
which one? Well, our Lord, our Lord says,
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. Thou shalt love thy neighbors
thyself. And remember, remember, whosoever shall keep the whole
law, yet offend in one point, guilty of, there's no credit
for just getting a little bit done, is there? To offend in
one point is to be guilty of the whole law. Well, here we
see something of this young man's blindness, something of this
young man's ignorance of his own sinful condition. He says,
I've kept all these from my youth up. Since I was just tall enough
to know anything, I've kept these. Now, he may have convinced himself
of this, and we may do the same. You know, we can convince each
other of some pretty good things about ourselves. All we can see is the outward
appearance. Almighty God looks on the heart.
He looks on the heart. And over in Jeremiah 17, I've
got this written down here. Jeremiah 17, the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the rains, even to give
every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of
his doings." God looks on the hard. God looks on the hard. And our hearts are deceitful. They're desperately, desperately
wicked. Now listen. Listen to what our
Lord says to this rich young man here. He says first, He says,
Thou shalt not do it. Don't commit murder. Now, as
I look around this room here, I don't think I can find anyone
here who's guilty of murder. But turn over to Matthew 5. Maybe you're sitting there thinking,
why are you saying this to me? I've not killed anyone. I'm not
a murderer. Look at Matthew 5, beginning
with verse 21. And here our Lord speaks. He
said, You've heard it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the
judgment. But I say unto you, whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause. Ever been angry with
a brother? Better yet, have you ever been
angry with a brother without a cause? We're guilty of the same thing,
aren't we? He says here, "...shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother Raca, a vain fellow, shall be in danger of the council.
Whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Thou shalt not do any murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Back in Matthew, our Lord said, to look upon a woman with lust
in your heart, he's committed adultery already. Thou shalt
not steal. To take something that doesn't
belong to you. Take something that belongs to
someone else. I can remember, I think it was
Henry that said something about picking up an ink pen at work
or something like that. Big sin and little sin, it's
sin. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Thou shalt not lie. White lies,
black lies, they're all lies, aren't they? He says, honor thy
father and thy mother. That means to respect them. That
means to show them reverence and respect. Respecting their
opinions, even, it's easy to do that when we agree with them,
but even when we don't agree with them. And to provide for
them when they're sick and up in years. He says, honor thy
father and thy mother. And yet, I look around this room
and every one of us, every one of us, just those few commandments
there, every one of us are guilty. Every last one of us are guilty.
Guilty in the sight of God. But this young man, he says,
all of these, all of these I've kept from my youth up. Oh, the heart is deceitful, isn't
it? Deceitful. My friends, we couldn't
keep one rule. We talk about The Ten Commandments,
we can't keep one. Adam proved that all the way
back in the garden. God told him, He said, Of every
tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For
in the day ye do, thou shalt surely die. Adam sinned, and in Adam we've
all sinned. Adam fell and we fell in him. We read, therefore, by the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law, by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now let's read on in
our text, back to our text. Here in verse 21, Christ says
that that would be perfect. You want to be perfect, you want
to be complete, you go and sell everything you have, and you
give it to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Come
and follow me." The Lord said in chapter 22,
Matthew, he said, "...for to love the Lord our God with all
our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind." Nothing is to come between us
and God. Whosoever will come after me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. He says, sell what you have,
give it to the poor, and come and follow me. Turn to a few
scriptures with me. Turn to just back to Matthew
9. Matthew 9. Look at verse 9 of
Matthew 9. Brother Mike read Mark's account
of this. Look back in the study. Look
at verse 9 of Matthew 9. Jesus, as Jesus passed forth
from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt
of custom, and he said unto him, follow me. Follow me. What did he do? He arose and
he followed him. I picture Matthew sitting there,
probably a big basket of money, collecting taxes. Our Lord looks
at him and he says, follow me. He got up and he followed him. He followed Christ. Turn to John
chapter 1. John 1 beginning in verse 43. The day following, Jesus would
go forth into Galilee and he findeth Philip. And he said unto
him, Follow me. Philip was of Bethesda, the city
of Andrew and Peter. And Philip findeth Nathanael.
And he said unto him, We have found him with whom Moses And
the law and the prophets did right. Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him,
Can there be anything good come out of Nazareth? And Philip said
to him, You come and see yourself. Turn back to Matthew 4. Matthew
4. But they are beginning in verse
18 of Matthew 4. And Jesus walking by the sea
of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, follow me, and I will make
you fishers of men. And what did they do? Straightway
they left their nets, and they followed him. the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then just read on down there
in verse 21. And going on from this, he saw
two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother,
in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets, and
he called them. And they immediately left the
ship and their father, and they followed him. Peter and Andrew,
the fishermen, they left their nets. Those things mean nothing
to them now. And then here we read James and
John. They not only left their nests,
they left the ship and they left their Father. They left all to
follow Christ at His command. But this rich young ruler, we
read, he went away sorrowful. He went away sorrowful for he
had great possessions. He turned away from the Savior.
This one that came again as a young man, this one that came to Christ,
this one that came seeking eternal life, this one that came with
such urgency, this one that ran to him, he now goes away sorrowful. Those things, those riches, those
possessions, whatever they might be, that was his treasure, wasn't
it? That was his treasure. Matthew,
Philip, Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Well, they followed,
and we could go through the list through the ages of those that
had followed Him at His command. Well, why is that? Why is that? What's the difference? Who maketh
thee to differ? Our Lord said in John 10, He
said, My sheep, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them And
they follow me. They follow after me. Oh, that
we might be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. That we might
count all else as nothing and follow Him. Well, back to our
text here in Matthew 19, verse 23, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily
I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom
of heaven. 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. In Mark 4 we read that parable
of the sower, that seed that was sown among the thorns, such
as hear the word, only hear it with the cares of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches. and the lust of other things
enter in and they choke out the Word and it becomes unfruitful. Well, verse 25 of our text, the
disciples say, who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Well, first, God's elect. God's elect will be saved. Turn
to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, let's read beginning
with verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Second, who then can be saved? Every sinner. Every sinner bought,
redeemed, and purchased. by the precious blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Romans 8. Let's read a few verses here,
beginning with verse 31 of Romans 8. What shall we then say to these
things? Who can be against us? He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies
it. Who is he that condemns it? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God." Don't miss that last piece, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Who then can be saved? All who
are called by the Spirit of God. That personal, effectual, irresistible
call that goes forth to all of his sheep. Zacchaeus. I'd love to have seen Zacchaeus
come down out of that tree. I fell out of a tree one time.
I bet Zacchaeus come down out of there quicker than somebody
falling out of a tree. He said, Zacchaeus, come down.
What Zacchaeus did, he came down. He came down. Lazarus. He that's,
that one that's dead in the grave, that one that he's laid there
so long he stinks. Can he come up out of the grave?
Can there be life in a dead man? If Christ calls him out, he can,
by the power of the Spirit of God. Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead, came forth. Matthew, Philip, Peter, Andrew,
James, John, follow me, follow me. And they left all, they left
all to follow him. Back in Psalm 110, we read, thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Who then, who then can be saved? All of God's elect, every sinner,
every sinner bought, redeemed, and purchased by the blood of
Christ, all who are called by the Spirit of God, and fourthly,
every sinner that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be
saved. This young man, his problem though,
he's not a sinner. He says, I've kept all these
things. I've kept all these things from my youth up. Turn to a few more scriptures
with me. 1 John chapter 5. These things, look at verse 13
of 1 John 5. These things have I written unto
you that you believe. That you believe on the name
of the Son of God. That you might know that you
have eternal life. And that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. And then one more passage of
Scripture. Turn back to Matthew 19. Turn
back to our text. This matter of salvation. Look
at verse 26. Our Lord looked at His disciples
and said He beheld them and He said, with men, with men, this
is impossible. This thing of salvation, if you
think you're going to save yourself, if you think your works, if you
think you've got something to offer a holy God, if you think
that's what's going to save you, what's He say here? With men. This is impossible. Just count
that out. Just forget about that. Just
get that out of your head. With men, this is impossible,
but see that word, that next word, B-U-T, but. Well, we like
to see that in Scripture, don't we? But, but with God, all things
are possible. Even the salvation, even the
salvation of the sinner, all things are possible. Hebrews
7.25, Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost them that
come to God by Him, seeing that He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Well, cease from your works and
cling to Him. Cling to Christ. Salvation is
of the Lord. It's completely of Him. Look
to Him, follow Him, rest in Him.