Now we're looking at Luke chapter
18, and I want to try to look at verse 28 down through verse
34 of Luke 18. I'm entitling the message from
these verses, Luke 18, 28 and following, with the outline for
the message. And here's the title. I'll give
you the extended outline in just a minute. We see a promise, we
see a prophecy, and then we see thirdly a problem, a problem,
a pretty big problem. So in verse 28 through verse
30 we see a sweet promise given. He said, who shall not receive
He said, receive manifold more in this present time. That is
a sweet promise. And then secondly, from verse
31 down to verse 33, the Lord tells of his death that he should
accomplish, shall accomplish. And there we see a sure word
of prophecy. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I will do it. And then verse 34, the third
point in the message will be this, verse 34, they understood
none of these things. And here we have a common problem. By nature left to ourselves,
the natural man Receiveth not the things of God. We have, by
nature, we have no understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's why it's called a mystery.
A mystery, something has to be revealed. Now, remember in the
context of the last part of Luke 18 that we've been studying,
The disciples heard what the Lord said to this young rich
ruler to forsake his idols, to forsake his riches, and to give
everything away. And then he said, you come and
trust me and follow me. And they watched that man turn
away from the Lord, refusing to let go of his idols, refusing
to let go of his riches. Verse 23 of Luke 18, And when
he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. He loved his riches more than
he loved his own soul. His riches became his idol. Our Lord said in Mark 8, verse
36, What shall a man profit if he gain the whole world and lose
his soul? Now you think of some of the
richest men in this world. When they die, where are they
gonna leave? Everything. Everything. And they'll go to meet God Almighty
in judgment. For it is appointed, and a man
wants to die, and after that, judgment. I do not want to face
God without the Lord Jesus Christ. What shall I profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" Now, which is more
important? If you have a lot of things and
riches here, they're just temporary. They'll fly away very soon. And
when the disciples said then, when the Lord said, with men
it is impossible, they said, when they heard that, When they
heard the Lord say, how hard shall they that have riches enter
into the kingdom of God? It'd be easier for a camel to
go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God. And when they heard it, they
said, well, who then can be saved? And the Lord said, the things
which are impossible with men, thank God they're possible and
dead, absolute, certain in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
with men, deliverance from sin, righteousness that justifies
regeneration by the will and power of men is impossible. There is no such thing as salvation
by free will. Man's will is not free. Man's
will is in bondage to his rotten nature. Salvation is of the Lord. The things which are impossible
with men, redemption and regeneration, resurrection, How about resurrection? Let's see you bring yourself
out of the grave. With men it's impossible, but
not with God. With God all things are possible.
Salvation is of the Lord, we know. That's when Peter, verse
28, Peter said, Lord, we have left all and followed
you as it says over there in Matthew 19. Now, what do we have? Lord, we have forsaken all. We
have forsaken all. And we are following you. Now,
what about us? Are you going to take care of
us? Pretty good question. Pretty good question. That's
when the Lord gives this sweet, sweet promise found in verse
29. Verily, which means truly, I
say unto you that there is no man, now get a hold of that,
no one, no person that has left house, parents, brethren, wife
or children for the kingdom of God's sake,
for the gospel's sake, taking a stand for the gospel who shall
not receive manifold more in this present time and in the
world to come everlasting life, life everlasting. Now, a sweet
promise. All the promises of God in Christ
are yes, Amen. And in him, the Apostle said
in 2 Corinthians 1, Peter writes in his epistle, 2 Peter, that
God has given to us exceeding great and precious promises. By these we have been partakers
of a divine nature. The whole Bible that you have
in your hand, you have a Bible in your hand. The whole Bible
is full of glorious promises. Glorious, true, and eternal promises
from God who cannot lie. For it is impossible for God
to lie. As we study in the book of Romans,
let God be true in every man. What? A liar. Let God be true. Now some years ago, someone said,
The Word of God hedges believers about with warnings, warnings
lest they presume, and promises lest they despair. And that's
a good saying. I've used it over the years.
Warnings lest we presume. I don't want to presume upon
anything. I want to, by faith, believe
the Gospel. and then promises lest we despair. The Lord assures every believer
who has forsaken all and is following the Lord Jesus Christ that we
shall not want for any good thing now or forever. He said, who shall not receive,
that's as a gift of God. Everything we have from God is
a gift. We've received from God manifold
more in this present life right now. Right now we have all things
in Christ. The Lord assures every believer
who has forsaken all and is following the Lord that they shall not
want for any good thing now or forever. As I say often, God
gives all grace now. I am what I am by the grace of
God. And then he gives us glory forever. Forever. Psalm 23. Remember? You can all quote it,
can't you? Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want for any good
thing. Someone Quoted that verse this
way, the Lord is my shepherd, that is all I want. I thought
that's pretty good. The Lord Jesus Christ is my shepherd
and that is all I need, that's all I want. I have him, I have
all things. It's recorded in Mark 10, 29
and 30. Verily I say unto you, there
is no man that hath left house, brethren, sister, father, mother,
wife, children, or land for my sake and the gospel, but he shall
receive a hundredfold now in this time." Houses, brethren,
sisters, mothers, children, lands. You see, believers have all things
in common. Your house is mine, my house
is yours. Your land is mine, my land is yours. We have all
things in common. And he says, with persecutions
and in the world to come eternal life. We through much tribulation
must enter into the kingdom of God. If you take a stand for
the gospel of God's grace, I guarantee you this, you try it out at work
in the morning. If you take a bold stand for
the gospel of God's sovereign electing grace, You'll have a
fight on your hands. I'm guaranteeing you. I've been
there, done that many, many times. Used to go around picking fights
just to make religious people mad. Don't do that anymore. I've grown a little bit. When
I was young and zealous and I would just find some religious person,
I'd go pick on him and I'd get him fighting mad. And I'd argue
with him. Didn't accomplish anything. Didn't
accomplish a thing. But if you take a stand for the
gospel, when God opens the door and you take a stand, you'll
have a fight on your hands. In this world you shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome. Every believer
who is trusting the Lord Jesus Christ and looking to Him for
salvation shall not want for anything. Listen to this promise. Philippians 4.19, My God shall
supply all your need, singular, need, according to his riches
in glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a great need for Christ,
don't you? I have a great Christ for my
need. Let me give that to you again. I have a great need for the Lord
Jesus Christ. I have a great Christ that meets
all my needs. He's the Christ of God. He's
the Christ sent of God. We shall receive manifold more
right now in this present time, and this refers mainly to spiritual
blessings we have in Christ right now. I enjoy all spiritual blessings. God's not going to give me one
more spiritual blessing than I don't enjoy right now. Right
now. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. He's made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Everything I
need to stand before God now and through eternity, we already
have in Christ. That's right. And then he says
on top of that, if that's not enough, he said when this present
time and when this present life is over, We have life everlasting. We have eternal life in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, this is eternal life
that you might know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. I don't turn because you're familiar
with this, but let me read it to you. In John 14, verse 1,
he says, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Talking about going
to the cross and preparing us for the place. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto
myself that where I am there you may be also. Remember our
Lord told that dying thief. He said, today you'll be with
me in paradise. When we die, we're going to glory. That is, believers are. What
a glorious promise He gives us in Christ. He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,
shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
life. Life everlasting in Christ. That's a sweet promise, is it
not? That's what we have in Christ. That's what He's given to us
by His grace. He is called the God of all grace
and the God of all comfort. We have all things, all blessings
in Christ. Now, the second point in this
message is a sure word of prophecy. Verse 31. Then He took unto Him
the twelve, Now, underscore that, because it makes a very valid
point. This is James and John, the twelve
apostles. And he said unto them, Behold,
we are going to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a city set on high
ground. We go up to Jerusalem, and all
things that are written by the prophets starting with Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the things in
the scriptures concerning himself, all things that are written by
the prophets concerning the Son of Man, whom we know is the God-man
mediator, Son of Man, Son of God, a real man, God and man
in one person. all things written by the prophet
concerning the son of man, excuse me, shall be. I noticed shall be, not might
be, not could be. I mean, he's not saying to Peter
and John, I'm gonna go and, you know, if things go right and
we have a good day, salvation might be accomplished. That's
not what he's saying here. shall be accomplished. Now that word accomplished means
perfected. It's the same word that's given
when he says, it is finished. Accomplished, accomplished, accomplished. Verse 32. Now I want you to think
about something. How can his death be considered
an accomplishment? Not a defeat. His death is an
accomplishment. For he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, now that referred to the Roman soldiers, they crucified
him, he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked,
remember they mocked him, hail, king of the Jews, they put a
crown of thorns on his head, they mocked him in his kingship,
spitefully entreated, and they spit on him. I can't
think of a, you know, when you go, one thing you better not
do, if you go to the courtroom and you stand before the judge,
how far do you think you'll get if you spit on the judge? I reckon they'll put duct tape
on your mouth. Sometimes you see people come
to court with a mask around their face. You know why? They spit. That's a degrading thing. These
wicked men spit in the face of God. You think how wicked we
are. And that's what we would do.
And they shall scourge him that is whipping his back Sometimes
those prisoners were scourged and whipped more than 39 save
one, 40 save one according to the law. Some say that the Lord
was beaten according to Roman law of which there was no number
a man could be whipped. Sometimes people were scourged
so brutally that they died before they were crucified being whipped. and then put to death, and the
third day he shall rise again." Now here we have a sure word,
a sure word of prophecy. 2 Peter tells us this, we have
also a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well to take
heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until a day
dawn and day star arise in your heart." We have a sure word. The covenant of grace is ordered
in all things and is sure. We have a sure word of promise. The atoning death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's what he's talking
about. The atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ was no accident. Remember when they came to arrest
him in the garden? He said, here I am. I'm ready. I'm ready. The hour has come. was not an accident. The Lord
Jesus Christ died on purpose at the appointed time, now get
a hold of this, at the appointed time for the appointed people,
at the appointed hour for the appointed purpose to put away
their sin. He dies on purpose according
to the eternal decree of God. He dies, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we read in 1 Corinthians 15, how he died for our sin according
to the scriptures. God planned the cross. Before
Adam ever sinned, before Adam ever fell, before the creation
of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety of the
everlasting covenant and His bloody sacrifice was a guarantee
of our salvation before we even sinned in Adam. And Adam all
died. Before Adam fell, the Lord stood. as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. God planned the cross. This is
the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. God presided over the
cross. Who was in charge that day? Pilate
thought he was in charge, didn't he? Didn't Pilate say to the
Lord, don't you know I have power over you to crucify you or to
let you go? You remember what the Lord said? You don't have any power over
me except that which God gives you. All power is given to God. Our Lord said, no man takes my
life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. God planned the cross, God presided
over the cross, God participated in the afflictions of the cross.
Now stay with me. A lot of people look at the wicked
things men did, and they did as we read, they did wicked things
to the Lord. But it wasn't the nails that
the Roman soldiers put in his hand, nor it was the spear that
the Roman soldiers thrust in his side. It wasn't what wicked
men were doing at the cross, it's what God was doing there
at the cross. God made him guilty for the sin
of God's people, and God punished him with the wrath of His holy
justice, putting away the sin of God's people. God participated
in afflicting his dear son. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. That's an amazing fact, is it not? The Lord Jesus Christ
makes full atonement for the sin of God's elect, according
as the Lord our God decreed in the Word of the Lord. Turn to
Luke 24. When He's risen from the dead,
this is what He says in Luke 24. Turn there, verse 44. The
messenger from heaven said, Call His name Jesus, Savior. He shall save His people from
their sin. In Luke 24, verse 44, He said
unto them, Now this is the risen Lord speaking unto those apostles. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalm concerning me. Now watch it. Then opened
he their understanding, we'll come back to this in a minute,
that they might understand the scriptures. And said unto them,
Thus it is written, thus it behooved Christ to suffer, to rise from
the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sin
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. So the Lord Jesus Christ dies
according to the command of God. Now, look back at Luke 18. So he dies according as it is
written in the prophet concerning the God-man mediator and the
death that he shall accomplish. Notice that. His death was not
a defeat, it is an accomplishment. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now we
preach a particular definite atonement and a particular redemption. We do not preach a universal
amnesty. That is, we do not say that Christ
died for all the sins of all men in order to give them a shot
or a chance at deciding to be saved. What a terrible thing
to say. You mean the whole atoning work
of the Lord Jesus Christ only works if I add my part to it?
No, sir. The Lord Jesus Christ died a
definite death, an atoning death for a definite people to put
away their sin. We call that limited atonement. We call that definite atonement.
We call that particular redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ as the
shepherd of the sheep shall lay down his life for the sheep. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. You see, if you say that Christ
died for all the sins of all men, and then you say, well,
most of those men wind up in hell anyway. Now think about
that. What does that say about his
death? Well, his death didn't get the job done, did it? You
see, that's why, but the scriptures, more importantly than that, the
scriptures teach what we call particular redemption. He shall
save his people from their sin. He shall lay down his life for
the church. So his death is an accomplishment.
The Lord said, it is finished. He bought us with his own blood.
He bought the church with his own blood. And then the second
thing he says there, he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles,
verse 32. He shall be delivered. We read
in Acts 2.23. Why was he delivered to the Gentiles? We read in Acts 2.23. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. God delivered him up to be crucified
for the sin of God's elect. He delivered him up, God who
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for his people. How shall we not with him also
freely give us all things? And then it says there thirdly,
verse 33, they shall scourge him and put him to death. Now, why did he die? You know,
under the law, you read back through the law, those who were
taken in adultery and those who committed offenses that required
death, under the law, normally, you were stoned to death. You remember the woman taken
in adultery, they were ready to stone her to death? You remember
Stephen when he died for preaching the gospel, they stoned him to
death? Why was the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified, not stoned to death? That the scripture might be fulfilled. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. That's why he died upon a tree. To show that he was accursed
of God. To show us that he was redeeming
us from the curse of the law, being made the curse for us.
For as it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the
tree. The wages of sin is death. The Lord Jesus Christ died a
brutal, horrible death because he was guilty of the sin of God's
elect that was laid upon him. Do you understand that? That's what happened at Calvary.
It wasn't what men were doing. Men could not make Him sin for
us. God took all the sins of God's
elect and laid them upon the Lord Jesus Christ and charged
them to His account. He bared our sin and His own
body on the tree. The just suffered for the unjust
that He might bring us unto God. Sin demands death. The Lord Jesus
Christ died. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, in this fourth thing, the
last part of verse 33, and the reason I read 1 Corinthians 15,
and the third day he shall rise again. Now, how important is
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? If he doesn't walk
out of that tomb on the third day, he's an imposter. That's
right. If he doesn't walk out of that
tomb on the third day, he's a liar and truth not any. If he doesn't
walk out of the tomb on that third day, we are yet in our
sins. Is that right? If he doesn't
walk out of that tomb on the third day, we have no salvation. We have no forgiveness of sin.
Thank God He was delivered for our offenses and raised again
because He justifies us. You see, His resurrection declares
that His sacrifice is what? Accepted of God. That's why this
notion that people say in religion, accept God, accept Christ as
your personal Savior. That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. Show me in the Word of God where
it says that. It says we are accepted in the
Beloved. You see, the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ is not offered to men. It's not. The sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ is offered to God. This is God's sacrifice
for sin. You see that? This is God's Lamb
that must satisfy Him. It's His Law that has been offended. When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Why? Why did He sit down? You go back
and read about the Old Testament Aaronic priesthood, there was
not one chair anywhere around that tabernacle. Their work was never done. They
never sat down. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He
made that one offering for sin forever, Not only was he risen
from the dead, but 40 days later, he ascended to glory, and there
he is right now, the God-man mediator, sitting on the throne
of God. Wherever that is, he's on it,
and he's coming back. Scripture said he's on his way.
Now, here's the last thing. Look at verse 34. Here's a common
problem. Here's a common problem with
all men everywhere. They understood none of these
things. Now, we're talking about Peter,
John, Andrew. We're talking about the 12, including
Judas here at this time. They understood none of these
things, and this saying was hid from them neither knew they the
things which were spoken." Now, we can get a little bit of help
on that verse if we turn back here to Matthew 16. Remember, the Lord is answering
Peter's question. Lord, we have forsaken all and
we are following you. Now notice this, in Matthew In
Matthew chapter 16 verse 21, From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem,
he must suffer many things as the elders chief priests scribe,
and be killed and be raised again the third day. Now the Lord told
them that more than once. And Peter took him and began
to rebuke him saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not
be unto thee. Can you imagine such a thing?
Lord, we're not gonna let you go to Jerusalem. We're not gonna
let you be scourged. And we're not gonna let you be
put to death. You remember Peter, when they came to arrest him,
you remember Peter drew out the sword, was gonna defend the Lord,
cut off that servant's ear. He wasn't aiming for his ear,
he was aiming for his head. And the Lord said, you put up your
sword. I can defend myself. Now look what it says here. Matthew
16, 23. But he turned and he said unto
Peter, you get behind me, Satan. For thou art an offence unto
me, thou savourest not the things that be of God, but of men."
The things that be of God, Christ and Him crucified. That's why
Paul said, I'm determined to know nothing among you, but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Now, keep your place there in
Matthew 16 for just a minute. Hold your place there. You know
the Lord is sovereign in creation, right? Created all things by
the word of His power. The Lord is sovereign in providence.
What He has decreed from all eternity, He brings to pass in
time. Of Him, through Him, and to Him
are all things. And the Lord is sovereign in
salvation. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. But now stay with me. He is also
sovereign in revelation. Matthew chapter 11, turn there. He's sovereign in Revelation
too. He's hid these things, these things were hid from them. Matthew
11, 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you've hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me and my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father.
Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him." The gospel of the mystery, we'll
never understand it until God is pleased to reveal it unto
us. Stay right here in the book of
Matthew, look back at Matthew 16 one more time. Matthew 16, 13, when Jesus came
into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do
men say that I am? Who do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? And they said, Some say you are
John the Baptist, some Elias, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the
other prophets, and he said unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord
said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is
in heaven. Now Peter had a sovereign revelation
of the person of Christ, but until the Lord revealed unto
him the accomplishment of his redemption, he didn't have understanding
in these things. Now here's a common problem among
all men. No man has a right understanding
of the mysteries of the gospel until it is revealed or understanding
is darkened. That's why the preaching of the
gospel to those who are perishing foolishness, but unto them which
are called Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. The Lord must give us an understanding
in the things of the gospel, or we'll never believe the gospel
to the saving of our soul." Now, don't turn. You can if you want
to, but if you can find 1 John 5. If you don't want to turn
there, let me just read it to you. 1 John 5, 20, And we know
that the Son of God is come, And He's given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that
is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. He must give us an understanding,
He must reveal the gospel unto us, or we'll never lay hold of
Christ. Now, do you remember what I read?
Over here in Luke 24, remember I told you we'd come back and
look at that again in just a minute. Luke 24, 45, remember we read,
"...then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures." He has to open our understanding. Now how do we
know when the Lord has given us an understanding? How do we know the Lord has given
us an understanding that they might understand the Scriptures? When we see in the book revealed
the beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He's altogether
lovely. When we see in the book revealed
our need of Him who is the Lord our Savior, the Lord our salvation. When we see that Christ in salvation
is all and in all. that we are complete in Christ. That's when He opens our understanding,
when we see the glory of God shining in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. How do we know that the Lord
has opened our understanding? When we believe the gospel. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. We believe the gospel according
to the working of His mighty power. May God be pleased to
open our understanding and to reveal the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ unto us that we might rest in Him and see salvation
accomplished in Christ. In Christ.