If you will, be turning to Luke
chapter 18, and we'll begin at verse 28. While you're turning,
let me give you a little bit of the background. The disciples
were with the Lord Jesus when a rich young ruler came rushing
up to the Lord and said, good master, what good thing shall
I do that I may inherit eternal life? And the disciples listened. They listened. They didn't always
hear what he said, but they listened. And they heard the master require
of that young man that he go and sell everything he had, give
it to the poor, take up his cross, and follow him. I heard the master say to that
young man, lose your life and you'll save it. Keep your life
and you'll lose it. He said, go sell everything you
have, give it to the poor, take up your cross, follow me, and
you shall have treasure in heaven. And that man because he had great riches. He said, I don't think so. And the Lord Jesus watched him
walk away to hell, possessing his riches. Now in that context,
we read here in Luke chapter 18, verse 28, then Peter said, Lo, we have left all and followed
thee. Luke doesn't tell us this, but
Matthew tells us that Peter said something else. Matthew tells
us Peter said, we've left all and followed thee. What shall
we have therefore? Now, before we get too haughty,
notice that our Lord didn't say anything to correct Peter. He
didn't chastise him. He didn't rebuke him. Peter was
not saying, what shall I have? He was not desiring greatness
for himself. He didn't say, I have left all
and followed you. He said, we, your disciples here, we've left
all and followed you. You promised this rich young
ruler that if he would, he'd have treasure in heaven. What's
it going to be? What's it going to be? Now, frankly,
if I had just heard what Peter had just heard, I expect I would
have asked the same question. In fact, I have often asked the
question. I'm real anxious to know everything I can about the
treasure laid up for us in heaven, aren't you? I'm real anxious
to know what it is that this thing called everlasting life
shall be in its consummation. And then the Master gives answer. Now, in the following words,
there are three very, very instructive things to which I want to call
your attention. First, we have a promise, and
then a prophecy, and then a problem. All right, here's the promise.
The Lord Jesus said to Peter, I say unto you, there is no man
that hath left house or parents or brethren or wife or children
for the kingdom of God's sake. There's no man who's given up
his life who shall lose it. There's no man who left all and
followed me, and watch this, who shall not receive manifold
more. many, many, many times more in
this present time and in the world to come, life everlasting. What a promise. It is not merely
a promise, however, about glory that awaits us. Peter asked him
about that which I has not seen nor ear heard and has never entered
into the heart of man to conceive. But the Lord Jesus gives an answer
here that reaches to this present time. Now certainly there is
a day coming, a day coming when we shall be given a crown of
righteousness, a crown of glory that fadeth not away. There is
a day coming when we shall possess all the treasure of heavenly
glory with Jesus Christ our Lord. That is a treasure beyond imagination. But our Lord's answer and the
promise that he gives here to you and me, his disciples, His
promise concerns primarily this present time. And he says, in
this present time, right now, today, and to the end of your
life in this world, in this present time, if you follow me, you shall
receive manifold, many, many, many times more in this present
time. What is he talking about? He's telling us that we will
never suffer loss following Him. It won't happen. It won't happen. He promises manifold more to
all who forsake all and follow Him. Now, does that mean that
we will have greater riches, greater property, greater fame? better health, greater influence,
greater notoriety, a more tranquil and peaceful life in this world. That's what the wolves in sheep's
clothing you see on television who wear their diamond rings
and their tailor-made suits and they smile and they ask you to
send them some money so you can get more. They say if you'll
do this, you'll get more and more and more, more and more
and more. No. No. They're not talking about
that. He's not talking about that.
He's not talking about that at all. And we see evidence of it
from many who followed him. Paul did not increase his wealth
or notoriety by following the master. Peter, James, and John
did not increase their wealth and notoriety by following the
master. If there's ever any indication
at all that Peter was never the pope, You just have to look at
that gaudy costume that old man wears. Peter didn't have such
wealth. They never, never gained by following
Christ in material things, in physical things, in health, or
even in tranquility in this world. God's people in this world suffer
everything that all other people suffer in this world as far as
their physical life and their various emotional experiences
are concerned because we live in a world of sin. We live in
a world of pain, hurt, sorrow, and woe. And that's just fact. That's just fact. And it's not
going to change. It's not going to get better
because you follow Christ. It's not going to get better.
I promise you. Well, Brother Don, what's he
talking about? This manifold more that he promises refers
not to carnal things, but to spiritual things. Our Lord Jesus
always gives us infinitely better than he gets from us. He here
promises us that he will give us in this present time indescribably
more than we will ever be obliged to give up for his sake. Yes,
we must lose our lives to save them. We must forsake all if
we would have Christ. But giving up our lives is giving
up nothing. What have you got to give? You hear these? Religious folks,
you know, I gave up this and I gave up that. Let me tell you
what I gave up for Christ. Hell. That's all. Misery. That's all. Pain. Emptiness. Nothing. We give up nothing and
get everything. We give up nothing and get Him
who is all. I think for the first time in
preparing this message, I understood the words of Isaiah 55. Come,
he that has no money, and buy milk and wine without money and
without cost. Come and bring everything you
are. It's just nothing. And you get
all Christ, who is everything. Well, that's manifold more. That's manifold more. We come
and sell everything we have to buy this pearl of great price
without money and without price. We lose nothing and find everything
in the Savior. Now, when that Trade is made. When that deal is made, and that's
not being irreverent, that's just how our Lord uses the language
in the parables of the pearl of great price and the treasure
hidden in the field. When we've made that swap, when
we've swapped self for Him, when we've given up everything to
Him, when we've abandoned ourselves to Him for His glory, His will,
to rule us, to save us, to keep us, to be our Lord and our King,
when that's done, We will never lack anything. Never. Never. His disciples found that
so. Turn over to Luke 22. Just a
couple pages over. Luke 22. Look at verse 35. He said unto them, When I sent
you out without purse and script and shoes, I sent you out to
preach the gospel, and I told you, don't take any money in
your pocket. Don't take an extra pair of shoes. Don't take a purse
to carry anything in somebody might give you. Go with nothing. Go with nothing. Lacked ye anything? Well, that's kind of unreasonable,
isn't it? Kind of unreasonable to expect somebody to go out,
serve him. with no provision made for themselves? How are we going to live? You're
my servants. That's my responsibility. I've
assumed that responsibility. You're going to do my bidding.
Now, do my bidding, and trust me to take care of you. Lacked
you anything? Now, watch this. And they said
nothing. Nothing. Now hear me, my brothers
and sisters. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What a store. What a treasure. What bounty. My God who owns
the cattle on a thousand hills, who owns all the silver and gold
in the deep mines, my God, who possesses everything, my God,
who is infinitely rich in that which he possesses, shall supply
all your insignificant puny need according to his bounteous riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. He will give you in this present
time such peace and hope and joy and comfort and rest and
sweet communion with himself that you will never lack anything. The Lord Jesus shall be more
to you than money or property or relatives or friends or all
combined. In our darkest hours, those whose mind is stayed on
Him, He promises to keep in perfect peace. Now, you find me any man
who wouldn't give his right arm for that perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on that. He will give you grace to glory
in tribulation, take pleasure in reproaches. in infirmities
and in persecutions for his sake, just as he did Paul. In your
greatest heaviness, he'll give you such joy unspeakable and
full of glory that you'll count it an honor to suffer anything
for his glory. Peter did. In prison, he said,
well, this is a privilege. This is a privilege. I belong
to the master, and he did this for me. Friends often prove faithless. Great promises which inspire
great anticipation are often broken. Riches have a way of taking wings
and flying away, but never, never, never, shall one promise of Jesus
Christ fall to the ground unfulfilled. He said, you shall have manifold
more in this present time. 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? Now, this is what I'm saying.
No matter how long this present time shall last, No matter what
woes this present time shall bring, no matter how dark this
present time shall appear, the Lord God, our great gracious
Savior, declares, my grace is sufficient for thee. Let's turn
back and look at that passage I just referred to, 2 Corinthians
12. 2 Corinthians 12. You're familiar with it. Paul
has been buffeted. He was exalted to the third heavens,
all things no tongue can describe. And it says in verse seven, second
Corinthians 12. And lest I be exalted above measure through
the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn
in the flesh, a messenger of Satan. To beat me in the face. To beat
me in the face. Now let me tell you what I am
confident Paul is telling us. He said, I'm telling you, the
Lord God took me to heaven and I saw things no human eye has
ever seen and came back down here. I saw things no tongue can describe
and here I am and nobody else ever did. You know what that'd
do to a fella? Man's head wouldn't fit in his
room. I don't care who he is. His head wouldn't fit in his
room. I have a little problem thinking
I know how that watch works and some kid doesn't. His head wouldn't
fit in his room. But God took care of that. He sent Satan constantly to beat
him in the face. Beat him in the face, lest he
be exalted above measure. Now read on. And Paul said, I
can't stand that. I can't stand that. Brother Bob
read a passage in Ezekiel 14. You men, you ladies too who aren't
back there to hear it, read it. After he describes everything,
he does in judgment. And in the saving of his elect
remnant, he said, when I get done, you're going to find out
that everything I've done, I've done with a cause. He sent this
messenger with a cause, sent Satan to his faithful servant
with a cause, because he wasn't about to lose his servant. He
wasn't about to let his servant be exalted above measure. And
Paul said, I can't stand it. I can't stand it. For this thing,
verse 8, I besought the Lord three times that he, this messenger,
might depart from me. And the Lord said to me, the
Lord said to me, I begged him three times, three times, Lord,
take this away, I can't live with it. And finally he got an
answer. The Lord said, my grace is sufficient
for thee. for my strength is made perfect."
Either that means my strength is made perfect in you or my
strength is perfectly manifest. It does not mean that somehow
by our weakness we contribute to his strength. He says, my
strength is manifestly perfect in weakness and I'm determined
to keep you weak. And He's determined to keep you
weak. Did you hear me? But aren't we supposed to be
strong? Yes, strong in the faith. And anybody who's strong in faith
is utterly weak in themselves. I'm determined to keep you weak,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, Paul
replies, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities. That is, I'll rejoice in my weakness. that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Oh, far, far, far better to have
His power rest upon me than to possess any power of my own. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities and in reproaches and in necessities and in persecutions
and in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, Then
am I strong. There is an infinite, superabundance,
overflowing grace and sufficiency of grace in God our Savior to
meet all our needs in this present time and forever. No matter who
you are, No matter what your needs may be, no matter what
your circumstances are, if you're a believer, if you trust Christ
Jesus, the Lord God, our Savior says to you, my grace is sufficient
for thee. My grace is all you need. Do you believe that? Yes, I do. My grace is all you
need. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall never
lack anything. I shall never lack anything,
because He's my shepherd. I like the way a little girl
in Sunday school misquoted it. She said, the Lord is my shepherd.
He's all I want. He's all I want. His grace will
sustain you in trial. His grace will keep you in temptation. His grace will enable you to
do His will. His grace will enable you to
perform whatever it is He calls you to perform. His grace is
sufficient even when you fall. And in your last hour, when you
come to the swelling of Jordan, And you're about to cross over
the other side, you will hear Him declare, I told you, my grace
is sufficient. And when you stand before wandering
worlds in that great day, should the Son of God ask you, lacked
ye anything, you will respond in beaming, rapturous praise. Nothing. Nothing. And you will say, He has done
all things well. I ran across this hymn a few
weeks ago and pulled it out just a few minutes ago. Listen carefully. Now in a song of grateful praise
to my dear Lord, my voice I'll raise. With all the saints I'll
join to tell, my Jesus hath done all things well. All worlds His
glorious power confess, His wisdom and His works confess, but, O
His love, what tongue can tell? My Jesus hath done all things
well. I spurned His grace, I broke
His laws, and yet He undertook my cause to save my sinful soul
from hell. My Jesus has done all things
well. Though oft my Lord his face doth
hide to make me pray and kill my pride, yet o'er my mind it
still doth dwell, my Jesus will do all things well. Soon I shall
pass this veil of death, and in his arms resign my breath.
O, then my happy soul shall tell, my Jesus hath done all things
well. And when to that bright world
I rise, And join sweet eight seraphs in the skies, Above the
rest this note shall swell, My Jesus hath done all things well. Get hold of this promise. Follow
Christ, and you shall receive manifold more in this world,
in this present time. Manifold more. Indescribably
more. Oh, unsearchable riches of grace. Boundless, infinite love. Multiplied mercy and peace. Manifold
more. Manifold more. And let that drive
away despair and darkness and fear. How unsearchable are the
riches of His grace. The Lord will give grace. And
he'll just keep on giving grace. He'll just keep on giving grace. He'll just keep on giving grace. And when he gets done giving
grace, glory too. Manifold more in this present
time. And in the world to come, Peter, you're not quite ready
to get hold of that yet. Just rest assured, life everlasting. Life everlasting. And then in
the next verses, our Lord Jesus gives a prophecy, a detailed,
clear prophecy concerning his death at Jerusalem as our substitute. Look at verse 31. Then he took unto him the twelve. He pulled aside his disciples
to tell them a secret. And he said to them, Behold,
we go up to Jerusalem. Before the world was, he set
his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem. there to lay down
his life as our substitute, bearing our sins in his own body on the
tree. Before the world was, he determined there to suffer and
die at an exact, precise appointed hour. And in the Old Testament
scriptures, he foretold it, and he illustrated it, and he pictured
it time and time and time again. He's already told us many times
that he's going to Jerusalem there to suffer and die. And
he never turned back. He never flinched. He was determined
to save us. Now watch what it says. We're
going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of Man, watch this, shall be accomplished. I love that word. Do you remember
what Moses and Elijah spoke to him about when they saw him on
the Mount of Transfiguration? the death that he should accomplish
at Jerusalem. Who ever heard tell of a man
accomplishing death? This man did. He accomplished
all that was written of him in the Scriptures. He went to Jerusalem
not because he couldn't help it, not because he was forced,
not because the Jews wouldn't let him be their king, because
he was determined to accomplish redemption and accomplish the
fulfillment of Scriptures. Now watch what it says. For he
shall be delivered Delivered by the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God delivered by the purpose of God Almighty
delivered by God's providence Delivered unto the Gentiles the
Jews are going to take him up these men who bragged that they're
free never been any man's servant who are in such bondage to the
Gentiles in Bondage to Caesar they couldn't make a decision
for themselves. They're gonna go deliver him up to the Gentiles
and He shall be mocked spitefully entreated and spit it on and
they shall scourge him and Put him to death and the third day
He shall rise again Things aren't over when you see me Bow my head
and give up the ghost Something else is gonna happen you're going
to see that I have triumphed over death, hell, and the grave.
Let our souls ever be clothed with wonder, amazement, utter
awe before the Savior who so loved us that from eternity he
determined to die for us, to give his life a ransom for many.
Let us ever glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
which we have been redeemed, reconciled to God and made to
be forever heirs of everlasting righteousness. Such love passes
knowledge. It's unspeakable, unsearchable. We may rest in it without fear.
Now, listen to me. Listen to me. Hear me, every
child of God here. Hear me, hear me. If Christ,
our God, so loved us before we ever had a thought of Him, if He so loved us when we despised
His name, if He so loved us when we would not bow to Him as Lord,
but rather wanted to see Him put to death, if He so loved
us, Surely, He will never cease to love us now. His love never
changes. Our Savior's calmness in the
prospect of certain death under the horrid wrath of God is a
marvelous example for us. You see, He came here to deliver
us from the fear of death. And because he died for us, we
shall never die. Because he arose, we shall too
rise from the grave. Because he lives, we live and
shall live forever. And now death has no sting because
the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We have no reason to fear death. No reason. No reason. Now, look
at verse 34. And I want you to see a problem. A very sad problem. But a very
common problem among true believers. Our Lord told them plainly what
was going to happen. He had told them repeatedly.
And they understood. I find this astounding. None. Nary a word. They understood
none of these things. How come? This saying was hid
from them. Neither knew they the things
which were spoken." When our Lord describes His coming
sufferings and death and His resurrection, His disciples didn't
understand a thing He said. It was as though they were absolutely
deaf. Its significance was hidden from
them. They failed to grasp what He
was talking about. They must have stood there looking
at Him. What are you talking about? That
can't be. What are you talking about? In
fact, Peter said, that can't be. He said, that's not going
to happen. I'm not going to let it happen. And the Lord said,
get behind me. You don't understand what you're
saying. Now we wonder at the darkness and blindness of the
Jews. Everything in the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to and prophesied
and predicted at the exact time Christ came into the world that
Messiah would come. Everything in the Old Testament
Scriptures clearly identified this one man who came as the
Messiah and said the Messiah must suffer and die. The scriptures
must be fulfilled. The law must be fulfilled. The
prophets must be fulfilled. Sin must be punished. God must
be just. Justice and truth must meet together
in the sacrifice of his son. But the Jews didn't understand
it. The cross of Christ was to them, as it is to multitudes
today, a stumbling block. They just could not believe that.
Now, I'm astounded at that. But here are 12 disciples. Eleven of them are believers
Save me Save me Men to whom the Son of God said your sins are
forgiven you that tells me they're saved me Men to whom the Son
of God gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven Men to whom the Son
of God said whatever you bind on earth will be bound. Whatever
you lose on earth will be loosed Men to whom the Son of God promised
everlasting life right here in this text, but these men didn't
understand a word he spoke about his coming death. Now, when I look at that, and I stand
back and say, Peter, how could you do that? How could
you not understand? How could you not believe this? My heart is crushed with the
realization of the pride and arrogance which thinks that way. I'm beaten in the face because we too are full of unbelief
and ignorance. And we had better luck than they
had. They had only the light of the Old Testament scriptures,
types, shadows, and ceremonies under the law. They had no written
word from God except the Old Testament scriptures. We have
the full bright noonday sunshine of the complete revelation of
God in this book, and yet we believe not. Our hearts are so
prone to unbelief. Say, Brother Don, I believe God. I do too. Just exactly like these
disciples did. How I want to believe Him. How
I want to learn to trust Him. But they believe not. Their ignorance
is manifest. Their unbelief is manifest. And
their unbelief, like ours. And hear me now, I'm not exaggerating. I'm not using a hyperbole. I'm
not just trying to stress a point. Unbelief is more dishonoring
to God than any outward act of vileness any man can commit. Unbelief. Unbelief. Now why did the Holy Spirit inspire
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and dictate to them that they
record for us in plain unmistakable words the ignorance the unbelief
of all these disciples. Why did he tell us so plainly? It looks like he could have hidden
a little bit, but he tells us that Peter cursed and denied
him. He tells us that they all forsook him. They all forsook
him when he was crucified. He tells us about Thomas. Doubting
is, I will not believe. I will not believe unless I put
my hand in his side. I won't believe. Why did he tell
us those things? He did it to teach us that our
salvation is not dependent upon the greatness or the quality
of our faith. That woman came, oh, what faith
she had. She said, I just touched the
hem of his garment. Peter said, Lord, save me, I
perish. That's not really great faith,
I don't think. That's desperate faith, but it's
faith. Our salvation does not depend on the quality or the
greatness of our faith, but entirely upon the quality and greatness
of our Redeemer. He reveals these things to us
to make us understand that it is not our knowledge that saves
us. We're not saved by learning. We're not saved by acquiring
knowledge, but rather it is Christ whom we know by divine revelation. Salvation is altogether the work
of God's boundless free grace. And God's saints in this world
as long as they live in this world, are just men in sinful
flesh, in constant need of mercy and grace, in constant need of
God's gracious care, constant need of Christ holding us in
His hands. He tells us these things to teach
us that so long as we walk in this world, in this body of flesh,
we must live in this world as sinners, trusting Christ alone as our
Savior and Lord. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Now if ever you come to know
the Son of God, If ever He reveals Himself in you, He's going to strip you butt
naked, just like He did Adam and Eve in the garden. With the
hand of His law, He's going to rip off your fig
leaves. And if ever He strips you, I
promise you Rex, as long as you and I live in this world, He's
going to keep on stripping us because He won't leave us to
ourselves. He won't leave us to ourselves. Brother James is going to make
it. If He's God's, He will because He won't leave you alone. He
won't let you have your way. Oh, sweet grace. Blessed Savior. Faithful God. He won't leave
us to ourselves. Faithful is He that calleth you,
who also will do it. John Newton knew something about
this. He wrote a hymn. And it's a good one. He said,
I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every
grace, might more of his salvation know and seek more earnestly
his face. It was he who taught me thus
to pray, and he, I trust, has answered prayer. But it has been
in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in
some favored hour At once he'd answer my request, and by his
love's constraining power, subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead
of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart, and
let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part. Yea, more. With his own hand,
he seemed intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all the fair
designs I schemed, blasted my gorge, and laid me low. Lord, why is this? I trembling cried. Will thou
pursue thy worm to death? Tis in this way, the Lord replied.
I answer prayer for grace and faith. These inward trials I
employ from self and pride to set thee free and break thy schemes
of earthly joy for this great, great reason,
that thou mayest seek thine all in me." Thank you, Lord. that you will
not leave me to myself. Amen.