If you would please open your
Bibles to the Gospel according to Luke. Yes, I've got to turn
this thing on, don't I? All right. make the Scriptures that I put
before you this morning any more understandable than
you already understand them, yet I see a glorious parallelism between the passage
in Luke 18 and the other that I will give you in just a few
minutes. But my subject this morning is one that I Maybe last Sunday, might have
been this Sunday before. Could have been a month ago,
I don't know. But I took the same subject at home and worked
on that a little bit for Bible class and Sunday morning and
Sunday night. Hadn't got it out of my craw
yet. But the title is this, Too Good to be Saved. There's no such thing as being
too bad. But it is that we consider ourselves
to have something that God needs to offer Him at least for a part,
maybe a small part, but for a part of our salvation. And salvation
is entirely 100% of the Lord, No doubt already know. I'm not
here to tell you things you don't know. But here in Luke chapter
18, beginning at verse 18, is the account of the rich young
ruler who comes running according to Mark's gospel to Christ and
falls on his knees. And in Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
this passage is prefaced by our Lord contradicting his disciples
who were turning away small children that were being brought to Christ,
and he said, simply forbid them not. And the very next thing
in our Bibles is the rich young ruler, a man who had no capacity,
nor do we, to become small in our own sight, to see ourselves
as nothings and nobodies, and needing from God everything that
he's put in his son. We cannot do this, we will not
do it, until God works it in us. So let's look at this passage,
reading verses 18 through 27. This is to give us, I read it this morning, to give
us a sense of just one thing. No, I'm not going to tell you
what it is yet. Let me read it first. All right, Luke 18, 18. And a certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This man has a problem with the
definition of good. If the dictionary were correct,
it would say good and God, period. That's all. So our Lord said,
Why call you me good? Do you mean to say that you see
God in me? None is good but one, that is
God. Notice his question in verse
1. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life. There, at the very outset, is
the fatal flaw. What must I do to be saved? Verse 20. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false
witness. Honor your father and your mother. And Matthew, I believe it is,
adds, and loves your, if this is not enough, love your neighbor
as yourself. And with absolute ignorance,
he said, all these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things,
He said unto him, Yet lack you one thing. Sell all that you have, distribute
unto the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And
come, follow me. Follow me. And when the young man heard
this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. One of
the other Gospels said he had great possessions. But don't get hung up on possessions. There are spiritual riches and possessions that men
will not part with for Christ, as great or greater than this
man his literal riches." Don't forget that. You can be poor
as a church mouse and still be rich in your own eyes before
God. When he heard this, he was very
sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God! And they that heard it said,
Who then can be saved? And our Lord said, The things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. Salvation, eternal life, is a
miracle of God in every last single instance. There are no
exceptions to this. If God saves us, He'll have to
do the saving. Now, what is the overriding message
of these verses? It seems to me that it's nothing
less than this, a profound ignorance of spiritual things. That, my friend, is the disease
of all of Adam's descendants. It's mine. It's yours. It was his. Ignorance of who
God is, of who I am, of what grace is. Ignorance of the law. Ignorance
of what God requires and what He'll accept. And the answer
to that is, He accepts only what in grace He gives. If He doesn't
give it to me, I'll never possess it. Though I might think I'm
rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing according
to Revelation 3, verses 17 and 18. Now I thought to start with
last few days that I was going to try to preach from this text,
but I have opted to... I don't know that I opted, but
I think the Lord pointed me in this direction. You may not think
that after you hear it, and that's fine. I can understand because
I probably won't think it either after I get through. But if you'll
turn to John 4 and just hang on to that passage, That's where
we'll be the remainder of the time. But I've got to establish
just one principle, overriding principle over this whole matter
of sinners coming to Christ and God overcoming in us our goodness
to make room for His grace. Too good to be saved. All right, while you hang on
to John 4, I want you to reference. I'm not going to say I won't
reference anymore, but I'll make a liar out of myself, sure enough. But I want you to see this statement. 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter
4. I think I could have quoted you
this, but I want you to see it on the page of your own Bible. in this matter of spiritual things
of which we are utterly, utterly in ourselves ignorant. Here is
the starting point, the continuing point, and the ending point. This principle pervades every
spiritual subject to be named, no matter what it is. If it's
coming to Christ for salvation, if it's living on Christ as our
salvation, if it's dying in the faith, don't ever forget this
single solitary statement. 1 John 4.19. We love Him because He first
loved us. Now look at it again. We love
Him. Why? Because He first loved me. This is true in every aspect
of divine things. We must settle this once and
for all. This is how it is. When it comes to seeking God,
Romans 10 verse 20 declares, quoting Isaiah, I was found of
them that sought me not. Yet we are born believing that
if we seek God, we'll find Him. We ain't going to find Him until
He finds us. Just take 1 John 4, 19. We seek Him when? When He seeks
me. There's a stanza to a great hymn
that says, I sought the Lord and afterward I knew. He moved
my soul to seek Him seeking me. It was not I, O Savior true,
that found, O Savior true. No, I was found of Thee. So who found me and you? We find
ourselves, or did God find us? That, my friend, is the issue.
1 John 4.19, don't let that verse escape your mind. It is so vital
and so important. Second aspect of this truth not
only has to do with seeking, but with finding. And I'm coming
to that in John chapter 4, if you're back there. But before
you get there, I've got to remind you of one other thing. the subject
of faith. When it comes to believing, can
we say that we believe Him because He first worked this belief and
faith into us? 1 John 5, 1 plainly says, whosoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ, you have to say this about Him.
is born of God. Believing Christ is not the cause
of the new birth. Oh no, it's the glorious outcome.
It's the result. We must understand this or we
remain utterly, utterly spiritually ignorant all our days. Now the
clearest, plainest portrait to set these things forth is none
other than John chapter 4. I love the statement Brother
Mahan makes, I heard make about this passage, or it could have
been some other, but it has helped me to see this one more than
I ever have. He simply said, we did the running,
He did the catching. And that's exactly right. We love Him because He first
loved us. Now in John chapter 4, The Lord
Jesus goes into Samaria, near to a city called Sychar, where
Jacob's well was, and verse 4 of John, chapter 4, says about our
Lord Jesus, and He must needs go through Samaria. You and I will be saved when
this divine needs be. applies to us. If all you hear
is a preacher, you won't ever get well, you won't ever be cured,
and neither will I. God must speak. Take up his own
cause within our own souls and prosecute it until the work is
done. Done. Here's a picture of the
Savior seeking a sinner. Now we saw in Luke chapter 18
that not all men who seemingly come to Christ receive grace
and mercy. This man went away sorrowful
because he had great possessions. And many, many, many, many, many
leave the hearing of the gospel because they're already too rich
in religious things and cannot bring themselves no way under
the sun to cast them overboard. Yet if they are to be saved,
the loading of the ship, like Paul, had to be tossed away. Let me see if I can walk through
this thing. I just want to deal with certain statements in it,
but to give you some continuity about the matter. Let me just
start at verse 4. And the Lord Jesus must needs
go through Samaria. Then comes he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that
Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus,
therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the
well, and it was about the sixth hour, right in the middle and
hottest of the day. There comes a woman of Samaria
to draw water. I don't know if you can see this
or not. You may not believe it if I say it. And I ain't going
to try to make you believe it, but I'm going to say it. The
Lord went here on purpose to find this woman. And when we are saved, it is
precisely the very same. God does everything on purpose. Nowhere is that more true than
in the manifesting and saving of his people, showing them his
glory. This woman comes to the well.
No other women came to the well at 12 o'clock in the day, but
she did. And he said to her, give me to
drink. Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to do what? To buy meat, food. Not to beg it, not to say, the
master needs it, we'll take it free. Buy it. Buy it. Then said the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me,
who am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans.' Jesus answered and said unto her," now this
is probably the most important statement in this chapter. If
it's not the most, it is certainly equal to all the others, "'If
you knew the gift of God and who it is that says unto
you, give me to drink, you would have asked of Him and He would
have given you living water. Why don't we ask God in Christ? for the water of life because we don't know who it
is. We don't know how desperately
we need it. It is a matter of utter ignorance
that keeps us from asking. We must be brought to a deep
abiding sense of need. Or we simply ain't coming. If we knew the gift of God, and
that gift is in His Son, and His Son is that gift. If we knew
the gift of God, and who the Lord Jesus is, we would ask Him
to give us the water of life. The water of life. Give me to
drink. Why did he say that? Oh, I'm
sure he was thirsty, but there's more to it than that. To teach us what to say to him. Lord, give us that water. Now we begin this little thing
of This woman trying to get off the hook and wanting to talk
about this subject and that subject and the other one. Lord Jesus
keeps hedging her in. He knows exactly what he's doing.
He knows why he's there. He knows who she is. And he's
certainly under no mistake about who he is. The woman said to
him, now what are we talking about right now? spiritual ignorance. We don't know who Jesus Christ
is. We don't know who God is. We
don't know who we are. We don't know how desperately
we need Him. Verse 11, she said, Sir, you have nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that
living water? This woman and you and me, by
nature, understand things on one level. It is the level of
the flesh. And the flesh profits nothing. Nothing. This woman cannot think
any higher than literal water and a literal well. And that
is our difficulty. That's where we are. This is
a portrait of all mankind. She's locked in. She looks at
him. He's got no rope, no bucket. How is this man going to give
me any water to drink? She cannot see beyond material,
physical, fleshly things, and that's our state by nature. That ignorance continues. Here's
another one in verse 12. In verse 11 it has to do with
the flesh and the spirit, and in verse 12 it has to do with
just flat, plain ignorance, period. Are you greater, she continues,
are you greater Than our Father Jacob? Now how far did she miss the
target? A country mile. As far as it
can be missed. How far do we miss it? The very
same. The very same. Beloved, we need help. And we need it from above or
we shall not be saved. Are you greater than our father
Jacob who gave us this well and drank thereof himself and his
children and his cattle? Look at the condescension of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus answered and spoke unto
her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. But
whosoever shall drink of the water which I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life." So the woman says, Sir, give me this water. Why do you
want it? to save me a lot of work." Her
answer is utterly human because it is completely selfish. No thought of glorifying God. No thought of falling at the
feet of His Son. Ah, we just want what we can
get from Him. That's all we want. Sir, give me this water. that
I thirst not and don't have to bother about coming out here
to draw it." Jesus said unto her exactly what
he said to the rich young ruler, though we didn't read it in Luke's
gospel. He said to that ruler, go sell everything you have.
To this woman he said, go call your husband. It could have been dozens of
different things, but this is where the Lord puts his finger. Right there. Go call your husband,
and come here. The woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have well
said, I have no husband, for you have had five, and he whom
you now have is not your husband. In that said you truly. Now she
sees an escape. She's still trying to get away.
I'm telling you, if he doesn't do the finding, we won't be found." The woman said, Sir, I perceive
that you are a prophet. I've got some questions I want
to ask you. Where's the right place to worship?
Is it down here in Samaria or up there in Jerusalem? My dear friend, it's not a matter
of where, it's who. Our Savior said in verse 22,
you worship, you know not what. That's me and that's you. I mean, apart from Christ and
grace, I'd be the dumbest of the lot. I was. Lord, I think
I still am. You worship. You don't know what you worship. You think it has to do with a
place, and it has to do with a person. We know what we worship, he said,
for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is,
when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, and here it is, for the Father seeks such to
worship Him. And that's what he's here doing
right in front of our eyes. Well, you say he ain't having
a lot of success. Well, just hang on a minute. God is a spirit and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. She ain't through yet. Here's
another question for the prophet. I mean, she's elevated her thoughts
about him a little bit, but she's still a long way from where it
has to be. She said, I know that Messiah comes. I'm looking for
the Messiah to come, which is called Christ. I know what his
name will be. Christ. The Anointed One, when He has come, He will tell us all things. Now pray tell me, what has He
been telling her? Everything she needed to know. And thank God He still does. Yep, when he comes, I believe
in the second coming, don't you? Oh yes. We better content ourselves with
the first coming. We have not begun to know, to love, to understand. This woman is a portrait of me
and you. And no sooner does she finish
the statement about the Messiah that she's looking for than the
Lord Jesus says in the simplest words ever uttered, I that speak
unto you am he. She's standing there looking
at him face to face. Does not know him. Cannot see
God in him. But the Lord Jesus, unlike the
rich young ruler, the Lord Jesus knew her. He knows his own sheep
by name. She's confused, but he isn't. And that's still the rule of
thumb. It's still how it is. It's how it is. This is the state
of affairs under which we live and under which man has always
lived. I that speak unto you am he. And if we ever know him, he'll
have to do the same for us. I mean, if this ain't how it
is, it can't be sure to all the seed. But this is how it is. All right, quickly, let me read
you a few more verses. Here's another picture of ourselves,
not in the woman, but in the disciples. Look at verse 27. And upon this, at this most opportune
time now, The woman's just talked about her expectations about
the Messiah and the Lord Jesus has plainly revealed and declared
himself unto her. We don't know at this point in
the passage if she's truly found him because he's found her. So
these bumbling, stumbling disciples intrude on such a holy occasion. And they marveled, verse 27,
that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, What seek you,
or why talk you with her? I won't dare comment on those two
questions, but you can consider them for yourself. The woman
then left her water pots and went her way into the city, and
said to the men, the men, come, see a man which told me all things
that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Indeed it is. The question is, do we know Him? If we know Him, we love Him. And if we know Him and love Him, we absolutely must worship Him. I'm glad I didn't tell you we
weren't going to turn to another one, but if you'll turn to Romans
chapter 10 real quick, I'm winding down. So after the introduction last night,
the fellows were sitting up in the balcony. Chris, I believe. Is that right? Yeah. You know,
I just got my introduction in and I said, you know, I don't
know if I got anything else or not. They took me literally.
They wouldn't start to get working on the food. I said, man, I'm sorry about
that, but people at home, they wouldn't pay me any mind. What is the cure for spiritual
ignorance? What is the cure? Four things. All of them start with how? Romans
10, verse 14. Now this is where the rubber
hits the road. How then? He just said in verse
13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. That's lovely. That's wonderful. But my friend,
for dead, helpless sinners, Got to be more to it than that. Here
they are. Number one, how then shall we
call on Him in whom we have not believed? Calling is the result
of believing. Second how? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? You cannot believe what you have
not heard. And you've heard it, and I've
heard it, and I'm sick of hearing it. People talk about finding
God apart from the gospel and a preacher of the gospel, and
I tell you, there ain't no such thing. And I think I shall have
to prove it to you. Not that I'm debating with you,
but I want to get this out of my craw. I don't know if I can
find it. 1 Corinthians chapter, well,
maybe it's 2 Corinthians. It's in the 3rd chapter of 1
or 2 Corinthians, if I ever get there. No, it's in 1 Corinthians. Excuse me. I didn't think of
this verse this morning. Verse 5, 1 Corinthians chapter
3, Who then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers, preachers, by whom you believed? And here it is, even as the Lord
gave to every man. Now, you tell me that you don't
have to hear the gospel to be saved? I don't think so. That's not what that said. God
sends a preacher. Now, mind you, if that's all
he sends, we ain't no better off. All right, let's finish the house.
How shall they call? on Him in whom they have not
believed? How shall they believe in whom
they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how can any preacher preach
to the salvation of sinners if God has not put His own self
and His power and His grace into that declaration to that person's
soul? How can this poor woman in John
chapter 4 know the Savior, he must make himself known." Well, that's a little on the
confusing order, but that's it. Thank you so much.