Matthew chapter 19, let's begin
reading at verse 16. And behold, one came and said
unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest
thou me good? There is none good but one and
that is God. Did this young man think that
Christ was God? If not, why did he call him good?
But if thou would enter into life, keep the commandments.
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 saith
unto him, All these things have I kept from 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, 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 should 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 heaven. 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. As you are probably aware, this
is recorded not only here in Matthew, but two other times. It's also recorded in Mark chapter
10 and in Luke chapter 18, three times, and with good reason. It deals with the subject of
great importance. It answers this question. The
Lord himself answered this question, who then can be saved? The disciples asked, who then
can be saved? If this young man, whom they
were obviously very impressed with, if he could not be saved,
then how could anybody be saved? And our Lord answers that all-important
question, how sinners are saved. The question was the response
of the disciples, as we said, to our Lord's words concerning
the salvation of sinners, but particularly this rich young
ruler. They watched him come to Christ. Not many mighty, not many noble
are called. This young man did what very
few in his position had done. He came to Christ and they were
impressed by that. Mark 10 in his account tells
us he came running to Christ. Our Lord was leaving where he
was at and this young man ran to him to overtake him. He also
tells us he kneeled down to him. Can you picture that? Can you
picture that? This young man came to Christ
and kneeled down to him, outwardly, outwardly. Seeing this picture
in our mind's eye, outwardly, it's very impressive, isn't it?
It was to his disciples. They were impressed by what they
observed. And this young man, his actions, his words, he seemed
so sincere. But God does what we can't do
and Christ the God-man did on this occasion what the disciples
couldn't do. They looked on the outward appearance
but God and Christ the God-man looketh on the heart and that
revealed an entirely different picture that He came with this
question in verse 16 again. Good master, what good things
shall I do that I may have eternal life? And it seems that he really
didn't feel. He really didn't feel that there
was much that he hadn't already done to inherit eternal life. He says that, doesn't he, in
verse 20. In response to our Lord's words
to him concerning the commandments to his neighbor, to his fellow
man, the young man said, all these things have I kept from
my youth up, what lack I yet. And if he liked anything, he
felt he could make up the difference quite easily. It wouldn't be
a problem. But again, God looketh on the
heart and help us to ever remember, salvation is a heart work. It's not accomplished by what
man does outwardly. Religion deals with the outside. Religion takes men and makes
them, as our Lord told the religious leaders of his day, two-fold
more the children of hell than they were before. It gives them
a false refuge and gives them a false hope. And it says, taste
not and touch not and handle not and wear not and go not.
It deals with the outward. Oh, but the axe, the axe must
be laid to the root of the tree. The problem goes much deeper
than that. A man can change his outward
conduct. He can become more moral. He can quit doing certain things
and begin doing certain things. Oh, but the problem is within. It's a heart work and only God
Only the great physician of souls can reach in and correct that
problem by giving men a new heart, a new nature. This young man
was exactly like those that Paul talked about in his day, those
whom he loved, his kinsmen, his brethren. He speaks of them in
Romans chapter 10. Let's turn there for a moment.
This young man would fall into this category with these that
Paul speaks of because he, like them, had yet to learn the law's
purpose. The law's purpose was never intended
to save. When our Lord quoted these commandments
to this young man, he very well knew the young man hadn't kept
them and he couldn't keep them. That's not why he gave them to
them. or to him rather, it was to show
him that he couldn't. The law doesn't save, it shows
us our need of a savior. It shuts every mouth. That's
the proper use of the law. It shuts every mouth that everyone
should become guilty before God. Here in Romans 10, Paul writes
in verse 1, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved, just a sidebar, so to speak. I've heard people say, if you
believe in election, if you believe in effectual redemption. If you believe in irresistible
grace, it kills a desire for the salvation of souls. It kills
your burden. It destroys a real zeal for evangelism. Did it this man? Paul, the apostle,
he wrote more, as Peter said, about those things than any other.
Oh, but listen, listen. Does he not sound burdened? In
chapter nine, he uses even stronger words. Brethren, my harsh desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
I want them saved. I want them saved. For I bear
them record. They have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge. Again, picture that young man.
Does he not fall into this category outwardly? Outwardly, he had
a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Verse 3, for they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. He's the law's purpose. He's
the law's consummation. The law leads us to Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. He's the fulfillment
of the law. Our Lord speaking to the church
at Laodicea said, you say that you're rich again, like this
young man. and increased with goods, and
you have need of nothing. Don't you know? Christ said,
don't you know that you're really blind and naked and miserable? You're not what you claim to
be, just as this young man was. True riches are the grace of
God. Oh, Mike, isn't that the true
riches? lie down in your bed tonight
and the bank account might be empty. Oh, but my heart is full
because I know whom I have believed and as John read a moment ago,
he has purged all my sins away, that's treasure in heaven. Oh,
to know him whom God has seated there at his own right hand,
ruler and king over all. The Lord very wisely proves that
this young man, that rather what this young man claimed was not
so. You claim to love your neighbors
as yourself? You claim to have fulfilled the
second tablet of the law? Then let's just see if that's
so. Go and sell everything you've got. You have this love for a
neighbor as much as yourself, then sell everything you have
and give it to them. Give it away. Ouch, ouch. I heard someone once say that
they used to exhort people to give till it hurts, and they
found out folks are so easily hurt that they quit doing that.
So this young man, ouch, he said. Now, didn't plan on that. Sell all that I have, give it
away and come follow you. Is that necessary for a man or
woman to be saved? Did Christ say that to anybody
else? The problem with this young man
was that was his love. That was his God. His gold was
his God. And our Lord, like he did the
woman at the well when he said, go call your husband, he put
his finger right on the sore spot, right on his love, right
up on his point of rebellion. Christ says, let's deal with
the real issue, the real problem. And he must be, as all sinners
must be, willing to give that up if Christ commands him to
do so. No man, Christ says, that doesn't
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. He cannot
be my disciple, my soul. That sure goes in the face of
what we hear so much today, doesn't it? Oh yes, you can be my disciple,
preachers say. You just won't have a greatest
reward in heaven as other dedicated believers. Christ said, no, no,
no. You cannot be my disciple. What Christ requires, what he
required of this young man, and of every sinner that comes to
him is bowing to him. Bowing to him. Every rebel, before
he extends the scepter of pardon and touches that sinner saying,
thy sins are all forgiven thee, that rebel is going to bow to
King Jesus. If he doesn't bow, he won't be
forgiven. That's just so. That's just so. That's what our Lord was telling
this young man. Christ requires every sinner
that comes to Him to bow down before Him. Not outwardly. He
did that. He did that outwardly. But inwardly,
a complete surrender. Without surrender, there's no
salvation. Come down, sinner. Come down from your high horse.
Zacchaeus, come down. Saul of Tarsus, come down. Come down and bow or go away
sorrowful. And our Lord didn't chase after
him, did he? He didn't chase after him. He
let him go away. There can be no compromise. One hymn writer put it this way,
run, run and work the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor
hands, much sweeter news the gospel brings, it tells me Christ
did everything. Oh yes, that is indeed sweeter
news. Paul made this statement, strong
words in Galatians 2. And he wrote that epistle dealing
with legalists, Judaizers, who came in and told the young believers,
well, now, you're doing all right as far as you're going, but we
can't kick Moses out. Go ahead, worship Christ, profess
faith in Christ, but let's mix it with Moses. And Paul said,
if an angel from heaven comes telling you that, let him be
a curse. Paul said, if righteousness came
by the law, Jesus Christ died in vain. Now think about that. That's pretty strong words, isn't
it? If righteousness came by the law, Jesus Christ died in
vain. If salvation can be achieved
by anything, the sinner does. If salvation can be accomplished
by anything the sinner does, then yes, Jesus Christ died for
nothing because his death wasn't necessary, if that's so, but
it's not. It's not. Oh, thank God. Thank God for his saving grace,
his unspeakable gift, the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this
world The mission of the Son of Man was to save sinners. To save sinners, and he has and
does. The message will consist in answering
the question, who can be saved? Consider first, and we'll be
brief on each point, there's only a couple. Consider first
the need of salvation. Consider man as they are by nature. Look at man. Look at the condition
he's in and then ask yourself, in light of that, if man is as
God describes him in his word, who then can be saved? Who then
can be saved? Because by nature, the scriptures
tell us plainly, we're dead in trespasses and sins. Dead. My soul, brothers and sisters,
if anything depicts our utter inability, if anything portrays
our utter helplessness, it must be death, nothing more so than
death, and that's where we are spiritually. What can we do? Ezekiel chapter 37, you're familiar
with this, but we read here in Ezekiel 37 verse 1, The hand of the Lord was upon
me and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me
down in the midst of a valley which was full of bones. That's
a picture of what we are by nature. helpless, a picture of absolute
hopelessness, and caused me to pass by them round about. I walked
around this valley and looked down at this mass, this pile
of dead bones, and behold, there were very many in the open valley,
and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? Now, modern day religion says,
yes, it's easy. It's not a problem. As a matter
of fact, it's easy as ABC. All you got to do is raise your
hand or walk up here and repeat after me. Say the same words
that I say and all will be well. There's no problem. Well, that's
not what we read here. Son of man, can these bones live?
And I answered, O Lord, thou knowest. What's the answer? Joe, what's the answer? What
happened to you, Joe? What happened to you? When you
one day saw the lie that you were raised to believe, and you
begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness. When in your heart
of hearts it was revealed to you for the first time in your
life, you did not know God. You weren't saved, you were a
lost man. What happened to you? God Almighty
came to you, just as he says here. Can these bones live? Here's the answer. Verse five,
thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, behold, I will cause
breath. You can't do it, Ezekiel. Neither
can any other prophet or preacher or priest or man. Thus saith
the Lord God unto these bones, behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and ye shall live. The same thing we read
in Ezekiel 16. I saw you polluted in your own
blood. I saw you dead, helpless, and
when I passed by thee, I said to you, live, and you lived. You lived, and I spread my skirt
over you, and thou becamest mine. Mine. That's what happened. Paul
in Ephesians 2 said, you were dead in trespasses and sins. and had your conversation like
all other men, the way you live, like all other men, not giving
God a thought, what happened? But God, who was rich in mercy
for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us, gave us life together with
Christ, for by grace are ye saved. In addition to this, You have
the Lord's plain answer. His plain answer in words that
can only be misunderstood deliberately. With men, notice his answer,
is in the plural. It's not only true concerning
this rich young ruler, but true of all men. This is impossible. Who can be saved? With men, this
is impossible. I remember hearing Brother Henry
talk one time about preaching somewhere and making the statement
in his message a few times that man by nature is dead, that he's
totally depraved. And after the service, a woman
came up to him and said, did I understand you to say that
man is totally depraved? And Henry said, yes. And she
said, I always knew that was true about men. Henry said, it's
true about you, too, men and women. All died. In Adam, all sin. In Adam, we all fell. And if we were ever raised up,
God Almighty, Jesus said, the hour is coming that those who
are dead will hear the voice of who? The preacher? The priest? The pope? No, they'll hear the
voice of the Son of God. When he says, live, they'll live. When he says, Lazarus, come out
of there, what happens? Lazarus came forth. made alive
by the power of God's mighty grace. The lost man can do nothing
to save himself. Therefore, if that's true, is
that not what our Lord says here? With men, it's impossible. So
if that's the case, then it is. Therefore, a decision is not
salvation. Coming forward is not salvation. The altar call. Ooh, Larry. You're dealing with a golden
calf now. The altar call? Well, that's the climax of every
service. I mean, that's what everything is geared to in churches
all around us. You mean you don't believe in
the altar call? I certainly do not. I certainly
do not. Nothing done by man can bring
salvation. If it could, I'd use it. Secondly,
consider what salvation is. How God's Word describes salvation. It's a resurrection. Sounds like that's beyond my
doing. That's beyond my power. It's a new creation. 2 Corinthians
5 and 17, if any man be in Christ, now he can be in a church and
be a Baptist or a Calvinist or a blah, blah, blah, but if he's
in Jesus Christ, only by that is he a new creature. Nicodemus,
our Lord told that Pharisee, that teacher of Pharisees, you
must be born again. And Nicodemus looked at him like
a calf, as we say, looking at a new gate. What? Where did that
come from? What does that mean? You must
be born again. How can that be, Nicodemus said?
It's the spirit that quickeneth. You must be born from above. The flesh profiteth nothing.
One of the sad consequences of that other gospel that is preached
in our day, telling men salvation is easy and that it's something
that they can do, is that it not only deceives multitudes,
but it robs God. It robs the glorious and high
and holy, lifted up, mighty God. It makes salvation to be such
a small thing. And that's so sad. Where's the
wonder? Where's the miracle? necessary
for me to make a decision. Where's the wonder in me walking
up an aisle? That involves no wonder, no miracle. That will never cause a sinner
to bow down and exclaim from his heart, of him and through
him and back to him is everything to whom be glory forever. ever
and ever. Oh, I long to see that in our
day, that God Almighty would be pleased to bring this religious
generation in which you and I live back to a knowledge of the true
and living God. Not until then will men bow down
and will again hear the cry, Oh, what must I do to be saved? Only by the power of the mighty
God. Last of all, the answer to this
question, who then can be saved? With men, no one. Our Lord said
impossible, but in Mark's account he said, but not with God. But, there's that word again,
brother Loyal, but. I was dead, but. I was lost,
but. Grace found me, but not with
God. Salvation is God's doing. It's
his great work of grace that brings salvation that doesn't
offer to save. He says, to the uttermost. Paul, in writing to Titus, said,
the grace of God that bringeth salvation, oh, grace alone puts
me on. Grace puts this sinner on a sure
footing before God. Man, grace puts me on that solid
rock that Christ says the wind can't blow me off. The storms
can't sweep my soul out to sea, oh no, because on Christ the
solid rock I stand, and he said, Larry, the gates of hell won't
prevail against it. That's the church. That's the
foundation of the church, Jesus Christ himself. Bestowed without
money or price, the poor of the vow may now rejoice. Pardon in
life and grace are free to wretches poor and vow as me. Salvation, what a joyful sound.
The church redeemed in Jesus' crown. Proclaim it to a fallen
race. Salvation's free, the gift of
grace. Salvation is impossible with
men. And I hope, I hope, that I care enough about the immortal
souls, your immortal souls, and all those that I come in contact
with to tell them the truth. If salvation were easy, I would
say so. If you could be saved by an altar
call, I'd start using it after this message. If salvation were
dependent upon doing your part, I would urge you to do your part. But I read these words from my
heart. Lord and master, the captain
of my salvation who called me to preach the glorious gospel
to the blessed God and he says with men it's impossible and
I believe him, John. I believe him. I know that's
contrary to all that we hear around us, but I believe him. Therefore, I preach the truth
about who God is, who you are, and pray God make it effectual. Oh, to look to Christ. Look unto
me, he said. Look unto me. Don't look unto
those idols. Don't look to those traditions
that cannot save. He said, look unto me, and if
you do, When you do, you'll be saved. You'll be saved today. You'll be saved tomorrow. You'll
be saved forever. You cannot give yourself life
or faith or a new heart, but God can. And bless His name,
He does. Who then can be saved? Those
that God Almighty has purposed to save. Paul, in writing to
the church at Thessalonica, Against the backdrop of that apostasy
and religious ignorance, false profession abounding on every
hand, Paul said, Oh, I can just imagine that there
was some amens. Praise the Lord and glory to
God went up from that crowd when they read, but God had from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit. Who then can be saved? Those that Christ died for. He
did not die for a maybe. No, no, no. How degrading to
our Redeemer to say such a thing. He shall see it through the veil
of his soul and he shall be satisfied. He himself exclaimed concerning
the salvation, the putting away the sins of all of his people,
the bringing in an everlasting righteousness, he said, it's
finished. How dare any man say that it's not. Those that the
Holy Spirit calls, they shall be saved. God's salvation is
a miracle. It's a wonder. Remember, wonder. Those four friends brought that
crippled man to where our Lord was in chapter 9 of this gospel. And they couldn't get to Christ,
so they took the tiles off the roof and led him down by ropes,
tied to that stretcher in the midst of Christ. And Christ looked
at him and said, Here's the true treasure. Christ dealt with the
real issue, the real need of that man was. The greater need
of that man was not to rise up and walk, but Christ said, thy
sins be forgiven thee. Oh, glory. That's grace. That's glory. And the religious
folks said, well, who does he think he is? And Christ says,
what's greater? What's greater? To say, thy sins
be forgiven thee? or to say, take up your bed and
walk, which is greater. And he said, but that you may
know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the man, arise, take
up thy bed and walk. And he walked out, walked out,
but more than that, he was walking a new creature in Christ Jesus. In this day of charismatic, as
they call themselves, foolishness, Pentecostal nonsense, the talk
of signs and wonders. Come here, come to where we're
at and see signs and wonders. Do you believe in miracles? I've
been asked. Man, I am a miracle. Do I believe in miracles, Joe?
I am a miracle. You're looking at a miracle of
God's sovereign grace. God Almighty saved this sinner. My soul, what a wonder is that? How does speaking in some kind
of unknown jibber jabber nonsense compare to me being made a new
creature in Christ, being raised up from the depravity of my sin
and helplessness and hopelessness and placed upon the solid foundation
of Jesus Christ? Man, I am a miracle. Our Lord's
answer is still true today. With men, it's impossible. We
want our loved ones, don't we? We want them to experience the
true grace of God. We want our children, our loved
ones, to know Christ. We want them to come to Him. Not the church, not the preacher,
not the priest. I want them to come to Him because
He's able. I'm not, but He's able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. In Mark's account,
in answer to this young man's question, what do I like yet? Our Lord said, one thing thou
likest, the one thing needful, faith in Christ. Being justified,
we now have, being justified by faith, we now have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins. Oh,
sweet forgiveness. Sweet peace with God. The peace
Christ said that the world didn't give you and the world can't
take away. Sinners, salvation is impossible, but
with you, but not with Him, because He's mighty to save. Oh, that
our children, let's pray for those meetings that will be here,
the Lord willing, in a few weeks, that those who may come, that
don't know Christ will be brought by the power of sovereign grace,
that's right, sovereign grace, nothing else will do it, to bow
down before him and seek his mercy because he delights to
show mercy. This fellow who is so feebly
attempted to preach to you this morning is proof that he delights
to show mercy. There's pardon, there's pardon
for transgressions past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And oh my soul, oh my soul, with
wonder of you, for future sins, there's pardon too. What a wonder, what a miracle,
what grace, what a mighty savior. Amen. God bless you.