Let's turn now to Matthew chapter
19. We'll begin reading in 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, that
is, God. But if thou wilt 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 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. 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 it is impossible, but with God All things are possible. Now this is the story of a man
of means. He's called in the little subtitles
off to the side, the rich young ruler. This was a man of means,
a young man who was just a brilliant man among men. He knew how to
do his business. He was successful. He took his
time. He learned while others were
out doing this and doing that. He buckled down and learned his
lessons, and he was successful. And evidently, he was raised
in a religious home because he was taught about the law, and
he kept the law. He was a very moral man, very
religious man, and a man honored for his integrity and for his
success. And he was the kind of guy you
look at and you say, boy, the Lord blessed him. The Lord really
blessed him. Looked at him in his success
and in his wisdom and how he principled his life and that
type of thing. The Lord has blessed that man.
He paid his bills. He cared for his family. He went
to church. In the eyes of everyone in the
community who knew him, he was a good man. He was a good man. And not only did this man live
an exemplary life, but this man is now kneeling before the king. That's commendable too, isn't
it? He was kneeling before the king and asking in sincerity
what he lacked, what he needed to have eternal life. But when
the conversation's over, this great and well-respected man
is sent sorrowing on his way in despair. And the disciples
could hardly believe what they'd just seen. They thought when
they saw this man kneel down before the Lord, this is one
of them people, I've heard this statement a hundred times since
I've been in the ministry. I'll go to visit a church somewhere
and somebody will tell me, he said, you see that old white
haired lady back there? If ever there was a godly lady
at church, I've heard that a thousand. If ever there was a godly man,
it's old brother so-and-so. Have you heard that? I've heard
that everywhere I go I hear that. And the disciples, when they
saw this man kneel down, that's exactly the thought that was
going through their mind. If ever there was a godly man,
this is him. And they were watching intently.
Expecting the Lord to embrace him. Expecting the Lord to take
him to Himself. And instead, the Lord sent him
away sorrowing. Sent him away in despair. And
they turned and they looked at one another and they said, who
then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Now, if
time will permit, This morning I've got four things in this
story of the rich young ruler that I want you to see. First
of all, this story begins with a declaration and definition
of goodness. This man could hardly get that
first sentence out of his mouth before the Lord stopped his forward
progress and said, why callest thou me good? Do you know what you're saying?
I know you're using terms and you're telling me things, but
let's just stop and discuss this term, good. Because there's none
good but one, God. God. Have you ever thought about
that? Has the Lord ever pressed that
on your mind and heart to think about that? Have you ever been
confronted with that in the Word of God? There is none good but
God. That's where our Lord took him.
He paused him. He stopped him. Stopped him dead
in his tracks. There was all kinds of things
that the Lord might have told him. You're talking about incarnate
wisdom standing before this man. But this wise God, our Savior,
stopped that man in his tracks. And he said, let's talk about
this word, good. Good. Let's address this thing. The Lord stopped his forward
progress. And I'm sure, I'm just certain,
that he wasn't used to that. And he asked him this question,
a very pointed question, a question which would expose him in his
ignorance. And this ignorance, if left alone,
would be fatal concerning his faith in God and in God's Son
who now stood before him. Why callest thou me good? Was there something wrong with
that statement? Was not Christ the very incarnate Goodness of
God. Wasn't He God come into the flesh?
Then what's wrong with calling Him good? Was not Christ the
incarnation of goodness? Was not His every word a manifestation
of goodness? Everything He said was good. He brought good tidings. Good
tidings. Everything he said was good.
Did he not go about doing good? That's what the apostles said
he did. That's where he went. He did good. He did good because
he was good. He was all good. He was goodness
incarnate, goodness in the embodiment of a man. He was the very epitome of goodness. Here stands goodness before this
man. So what's wrong with saying good
master? Well, there's nothing wrong with
it if you know what you're saying. That's why he stopped him. He
said, you don't know what you're saying. You don't know what you're
saying. When you address me as good master,
you're saying that I'm as good as God. I'm going to tell you
something. And I'm bad at it. I'm bad at
it, calling men good. He was a good man. And then I
back up and say, well, you know what I mean. Well, you might
not know what I mean. And I might not should have called
him good because there's none good but God. We need to keep
that in mind, don't we? None good but God. Why would the Lord make it a
point to stop him and make an issue out of this man's greeting? Because unlike the disciples,
the Lord looks on the heart. And he knew what this man meant
when he called him good. Saving faith begins with a revelation
of the character of the one true and living God who alone is good,
who alone is righteous, who alone is just. He told them, he said, you are
they that justify themselves. You justify yourselves. But your
justification is no good because there's none just but God. You're going about trying to
establish your own righteousness, but there's none righteous but
God. God is, this is His name. This
is His character. And to call any man good is to
say he's equal with God. Listen to this. Paul said in
Romans chapter 3, there's none that doeth good. So there's no
need to roll it around in your head and feel good about something
that you did because there's none that doeth good. And this is where the sinner
must be brought in order to be shut up to the mercy and grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has to be stripped of all
goodness in his own eyes. He has to be stripped of all
his righteousness in his own eyes. He's got to be stripped. All of this stuff has to go. And then think about this, if
there's none good but God, then there's none worthy of God's
favor. There's none worthy of His favor,
because there's none good. If there's none good but God,
then I have nothing of my own to offer. What will I offer? It's not good. It's not good. If there's none good but God,
I have no ground on which to approach Him. If there's none
good but God, then all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. And I tell you this, if we miss
the issue here at the outset, then the rest of the story will
make no sense. This is where he pauses. This
is where he stops. And he both defines and declares
this thing of goodness. Goodness. None good but God.
We'll start there, he said. So that's the first thing. A
clear and precise declaration and definition of goodness. None
good but God. All right. Secondly, here's the
next thing. God will meet the sinner on the
ground he chooses to stand on. That's how he's going to meet
you. You come up to Him based on your goodness, based on that
type of thing, you're going to come up before Him, He'll meet
you there. He'll meet you right on that ground and deal with
you on that ground. This man was warned. He was told
the truth. Both his and every man he ever
knew had lost all rights to that title, goodness. He was told
that at the outset, wasn't he? Sure he was. Yet this man chose
to continue on upon the ground of his own merits. Do you remember
the lesson back in chapter 9 of Matthew? The Pharisees saw the
Master eating and drinking with publicans and sinners. Matthew
had a feast there in his home after the Lord called him and
he invited the Lord there and several of his friends over there
and the Pharisees stood back. looking for things to pick at.
And they looked in there, and there he sat with those publicans
and sinners. And they talked about it out
of the side of their mouth. And the Lord said this concerning
their twisted views about goodness. He said, they that be whole need
not a position. They don't need a position, but
they that are sick. Now, he said, you go learn what
this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance." There's not going to be any forward
progress, no success, no comforting words from the Savior's mouth
until we take our place with all the rest of Adam's ruined
race. And I'll tell you this, when
you come to Him, come as you are. Just come as you are. Sinners. That's the way to come. What
do I need to do to approach nothing? Come to Him just like you are.
In my hand, isn't that what the hymn writers sung? In my hand,
no price I bring. Don't bring anything. Don't,
especially don't bring your righteousness. Just leave that somewhere else.
Put it out on the dunghill where it belongs. But this rich, young ruler. with sinners by nature and sinners
by choice and sinners by practice, ruined by the fall, dead in trespasses
and sins. But do you know I've never found
in all the Word of God a sinner being rejected from Christ? This
man didn't take his place as a sinner, and he was turned away.
But you go back there and here's this filthy leper under the judgment
of God. That's how leprosy was identified
in the Old Testament Scriptures. It was the curse of God. And
here's this man. He wasn't even permitted by law
to even mingle with the people, let alone approach the high priest.
And here he is, bawling on his face before Him, pleading for
mercy. And God showed him mercy. But
he came as he was. He came as he was. This rich
young ruler, he sought otherwise. Here was his foundation. What
good thing must I do? What good thing must I do that
I may have eternal life? In his eyes, he'd done many good
things. He'd done many good things. What
about me? What about you? How do you appear
in your own eyes? Is that how you would approach
the Master? Looking back over all the good things that you've
done, seeing in yourself a potential to do any good thing He told
him to do. He was ready, wasn't he? In his
own mind, he felt and believed that he had the potential to
do anything that the Lord Jesus Christ commanded him to do. What
good thing would you have me to do? I wonder how many good things
you and I still carry around in our treasure chest. How many
good deeds do we still consider a testimony of some goodness
in us? This man, though worn, chose
to continue and stand on his own understanding and righteousness.
Let me read something for you here in Romans chapter 10. Paul said, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, for they being
ignorant of God's righteousness. They were ignorant of the same
thing this rich young ruler was ignorant of. Ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness. have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God was
standing face to face with him. And yet in his zeal, he came
and knelt down before the Lord, going about to establish his
own righteousness. That's what he was doing. Just
tell me what to do and I'll do it. Tell me what to do. Isn't
that what folks are doing today? You can go online if you have
a computer, and you can listen to a lot of the churches around
here if you don't believe what I'm telling you. But this morning,
they're telling those people what to say, and the people are
telling the preacher, tell us what to do. Tell us what to do.
Tell us what to do. They're doing the same thing
that Israel was doing. They're going about trying to
establish their own righteousness, but would not submit themselves
to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. All right, here's the third thing. The faith we profess, whatever
ground it is that you stand on, whatever it is that you profess
to have, is going to be tried. It's going to be tried. It's
going to be put to the test. This man asked the Lord what
good thing he must do to have eternal life. And the Lord gave
him the answer to his question. Here's what you got to do. You
have to keep the law. Boy, that shocked me, damn. What
about you? Keep the law. Keep it in its
perfection. Keep it continually. Keep it
honorably. Keep the law. All these things
have I done from my youth up. You see how He appeared in His
own eyes? I've already done these things. What else? What else? Now, there's his profession.
I've already done these things. I've already kept this law. That's
my profession. Here's the trial. All right? Take everything you own and sell
it. Sell it. You ever tried to sell
something in a hurry? You can't get nothing out of
it. They know you're in a bind, and nobody will pay you nothing
for it. Sell it. And whatever you get from it,
give it all to the poor. But that's not it yet. Now, he
said, when you've done that, take up your cross. Actually,
it says take up THE cross. You go back and check me out.
It says take up THE cross and follow me. I can't do that." Then you can't have eternal life
the way you're looking at it. Isn't that what he's telling?
And he bowed his head and went away sorrowful. It's going to
be tried. His faith is going to be tried. Oh, I hope nobody in this place
will ever attempt to even think such a thing, let alone say it
to the Lord. Listen to what Paul says here.
For you know, he said, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He had become poor. Now the Lord is not telling this
man to do something that he hasn't already done. He's telling him,
if you're going to choose to work your way to glory, here's
what you're going to have to do. You're going to have to do
exactly what the Savior did. He was rich, Paul said. He said, you know the grace of
our God, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He become
poor, that we through His poverty might
be made rich. He sold everything He had and
gave it to the poor. You see what I'm saying? He's
not telling this man to do something that he's not already doing. This one standing before him
was one with the Father. Isn't that what Paul said over
there in Philippians chapter 2? He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. took upon Him
the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man? And will He not take up the cross and bear it to the end? If you
are going to seek salvation, eternal life by your works, you
are going to have to do exactly what the Savior did. Because
that is what it takes to save a soul. And no man can accomplish
those things. There's only one man in all the
history of men who ever sold out for the salvation of poor
sinners, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's one more thing before
we leave this point. True saving faith surrenders
itself to Christ. All of its treasures, all of
its hope, all of its desires, all that it glories in, and seeks
to see Him, and to have what He's provided for them. Seeks
to be like Him. Seeks to be like Him who is enthroned
in glory. It pours out everything it has.
Most likely, the Lord will not use much of it. But He's willing
if He does. Everything we have is His, our
future, our calling, our families, our destinies. We come to Christ,
we give ourselves to Him, and along with that comes everything
else we have. It belongs to Him. And then fourthly,
let me show you this. Here's a shocking statement.
Our Lord turns to those men and He said, how hardly can a rich
man enter into the Kingdom of God? How can he do it? He said
it'd be easier for a camel to enter in through the eye of a
needle. And I've heard those old stories about the gate coming
in through the rock wall being the eye. He's talking about the
eye of a needle and a camel. It'd be easier for that camel
to go through the eye of that needle than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God. That's a shocking statement.
And the disciples looked at one another and they said, who then
can be saved? And our Lord tells them exactly
what I told you at the outset. With man, it's impossible. Why? Because there's none good. Huh? That makes it impossible right
there. There's none that doeth good. There's none good. There's
none righteous. No, not one. They looked at this well-behaved,
well-respected, moral man being sent away by the Lord and said,
who then can be saved? If he goes away sorry, where
does that leave us? If this man's life was not enough
to please the Lord, what about mine? And our Lord then made that statement
with me, and it is impossible. He didn't say it was unlikely.
He said it was impossible. He didn't say some might not
make it. He said it's impossible. But, boy I love that word, with
God, all things are possible. Through a representative, a righteous,
through His righteous obedience, through this representative,
a righteous obedience can be accomplished. Through the substitute,
a complete restoration can be made. Complete restitution. Through the God-man. The God-man. A good man. Oh, listen to me. God come down
and robed Himself in human flesh. The God-man become a good man. The only good man who has ever
been. He manifested the goodness of God. And through the gospel
and the power of God's Holy Spirit, men can and do find favor with
God and forgiveness for sin through Him, in Him. And again, this is what the Lord
is teaching in this passage. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. It's of Him in its eternal purpose
and design. It's of Him in its manifestation
to men. It's of Him in its accomplishment.
It's of Him in its application, and it's of Him in its ultimate
perfection with God. All things are possible. They're possible. Will we seek Him? Then come as
you are, confessing what you are, and look to Him. Completely
look to Him. Well, don't I have to look at
it? No. Quit looking around. Just look at Him. Those poison
serpents raining all around back in Israel, God commanded Moses
to take a brazen serpent and put it on a pole and raise it
up. He said, everybody that looks on that is going to live. Look
on this. Don't look around, look on this.
Don't look at the serpent, look on Him. Raised up. Thank you.