Elias Williams denied. I talk to you about assurance, assurance in
Christ. Assurance, confidence of salvation
and eternal life, found in Christ our Lord, always in Christ, never
apart from Christ. If we believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have eternal life. And we're free from sin. There's
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. We're free from the
law of works. We're free from judgment. We're
free from death and hell. And I read in Galatians 5, I
want you to turn there for a moment, I read in chapter 5 of Galatians,
verse 5, that we, it says here in Galatians
5, verse 5, that we, through the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, resting in Christ, looking to
Christ, we wait, not work for the hope of righteousness, but
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, by faith in Christ
alone. And this faith is not an idle
faith, it's not a dead faith. But it says here in verse 6,
for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but a faith which works. This faith is not idle, it's
not dead faith, it's a faith that works, it's a faith that's
actively motivated, not for acceptance, not for approval, and not for
reward, but because of love. Christ, verse 1, set us free,
free from sin, free from condemnation, free from judgment. And verse
5, we wait for the hope of righteousness, the crown of righteousness, Paul
said, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that
day, and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearance.
But this faith is not an owl faith. James condemns that. It's
not a dead faith. It's not in doctrine only. It's
not in creed only. It's a faith that works. But
it's a faith that works by love. Now tonight, you heard Brother
Ronnie read this 16 verses from Matthew 20. And this talks about the kingdom
of heaven. This talks about our glorified
state, our state of glory and the reward of faith. Now, that's my title tonight.
Last week was the assurance of faith. Now, this week, the reward
of faith. The reward is the reward of faith,
not works. It's the reward of faith. It's
our state in glory. And this illustration is given
by our Lord. He starts out verse 20, For the
kingdom of heaven is like, and he gives this illustration. And
this reward is solely of grace, like faith, like salvation. It's not of works. It's not of
our deeds. It's not even our service, no
matter how long or how short, you remember the reading, no
matter how long or how short, beginning of the day or end of
the day. No matter the sacrifice involved, the reward is the same. But we've got to begin, as I've
told you so often, there's no way to interpret this this parable
here in chapter 20, without beginning back in chapter 19. We just have
to begin there. So I want you to look at verse
16, chapter 19. See the paragraph beginning,
that little paragraph, in verse 16. This is the subject here,
the beginning of the subject. Behold, one came and said unto
him, Good master, what good thing shall I do? that I may inherit
eternal life, I may have eternal life. Is that what we're talking
about? What good thing shall I do that I might inherit eternal
life, that I might enter the kingdom of heaven, that I might
have the reward of the righteous? Well, Luke, this parable is in
Matthew and Mark and Luke. And Luke calls this man a certain
ruler. We found out he's not an ecclesiastical
ruler, he's not a teacher of the scriptures, he's a civil
magistrate. He's a ruler. Nicodemus was a
ruler, ecclesiastical. This man is a civil magistrate. But he's a very religious man.
You'll find that out in a moment. He's a man who believed in a
future state. He believed that he wasn't a
Sadducee, because they didn't believe in the resurrection.
But this man believed in the resurrection of the dead. But
his question indicates his character. Very religious, very strict,
very moral. But he's a man who's seeking
righteousness and eternal life by what he does, his deeds and
his works, solely, completely. He expected to earn eternal life. That's what he asked our Lord.
What good thing," boy, that put me plain, what good thing shall
I myself do that I may have in return eternal life? Well, verse 17, our Lord
answered him. Our Lord said, Why callest thou
me good? There's none good but God. There's none good but one, that's
God. Our Lord didn't say he wasn't
good. He is the good master. He didn't say he wasn't good. He's as good, he's good because
he's God. He's perfect goodness. He's goodness
itself. He's good as God, he's good as
a man. He's good. This title certainly
applied to him and nobody else. But the reason he answered this
man in this fashion, why do you call me good? The reason is because
this man didn't regard Jesus of Nazareth to be anything but
a man, like himself. He was an important man, he was
a civil magistrate, and he was addressing Jesus of Nazareth,
who was regarded by most people a good prophet. So he calls him
a good master. But he regarded him only as a
mere man. And that's why Christ is saying
there's no good man. There's no man that's good. There's
none good. No, not one. Well, there's one,
and that's God. Now, that should have answered
his question, wouldn't you think so? He comes up and says, What
good thing shall I do? And Christ says, There's none
good. But God, you can't do anything good, because you're not good.
There's nothing good in you. It's only your feet to the top
of your head. But the Lord knew that wouldn't satisfy him. So
he said this in verse 17, but if you will enter into life by
doing something good, by your works, by the law, keep the commandments. If you would enter into life
by doing good, keep the commandments. That's what God told Adam. That's
the covenant of works. You can eat of all the trees
of the garden and live. But you eat of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, you die. Keep my law, keep my commandments. That's the covenant of works,
and that's what Christ said to him. If that's the way you plan
to enter heaven, then keep the commandments. Not one of them,
not many of them, not most of them, all of them. Keep the commandments. Keep them spotlessly, perfectly. Well, he answered. Now, he looks
a little bit arrogant, doesn't he? Which? But one of the writers
says he may be referring, he may be honest here, he may be
truthful, he may be referring to which of the commandments? The ceremonial commandments or
the moral commandments? There are a lot of commandments.
Which? The ceremonial Which, the written or the oral
commandments? Which, the commandments of God
or the commandments of all these elders and teachers and pharisees? Which? Well, Matthew doesn't
give here what the other two give, Mark and Luke. Mark and
Luke both say that when he said that, which, our Lord said, you
know the commandments. Thou knowest the commandments."
You know what they are. And then he 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, Thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. The second
table, he didn't even mention the first table. have no God
before me, no graven image, and I take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain. Worship God, fear God." He just
talks about the second table having to do with his neighbor.
The first poet loved God with all your heart, mind, soul, and
strength, the other your neighbor as yourself. He said, there they
are. There they are. Now in verse 20 we get a real
good look at this young man, a real good look. The young man said unto him, All these things," now think
about this, "'All these things have I kept from my youth up.
What lack I yet?' I'll tell you what this man is.
He's a Saul of Tarsus. He's exactly like Saul of Tarsus
before he met Christ. Turn to Philippians 3 and listen
to Saul of Tarsus. in Philippians chapter 3. He
said the same thing. I've kept these from my youth
up. Saul of Tarsus in Philippians
3 verse 4. Though I might have confidence
in the flesh, if any man thinketh that he hath whereof he might
trust in the flesh, I more. I was circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of Hebrews, is touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal,
persecuting the Church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. That's what this young man is
saying to Christ. I've kept all these laws from
my youth up. What did I lack? What do I lack? Well, our Lord
said to him in verse 21, listen, now the Lord is going to expose
the true nature of this man at the point most disagreeable to
him, at his weakest point, vulnerable point, his possessions. The Lord
is going to touch him right where he needs to be touched, his possessions. Listen to the Master. Now if
you would be perfect, go and sell what you have, and
give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven,
and you come and follow me. Now a lot of people preaching
about this rich young ruler, they call Picture him as a godly
man who was trying to find God and eternalize, but reluctant
to part with his possessions. But this young man had a God. He had a God. His God was his
possession. This was his God, and Christ
knew it. And that's the reason Christ
touched him here. He could have touched him anywhere.
This thou shalt not kill. He could have touched him there.
He could have exposed his hatred, violence. He could have touched
him on adultery. He could have touched him on
covetousness. He could have touched him on
bearing false witness. He could have touched him anywhere,
because he can touch any of us. But he went straight to the point.
This man had a God already. His God was his possession. Let
me show you the opposite of that. Stay right there a minute. Christ
said to him, if you would be perfect, go sell what you have,
give it to the poor, and I shall have treasure in heaven, and
come and follow me. That is the key. Follow me. You can't have two gods. You can't serve God and man. You can't serve Christ and possession. Man can't have two gods, that's
what he said. This young man had a god. I will show you another
young man. Turn to Luke 5. I want you to
hold these two passages. Luke 5, verse 27. Let's go back
and read about this young man. He had great possessions. He was dabbling around with eternal
life and heaven, resurrection, these things. But he had a God. And Christ
said to him, let's read it again, verse 21. Jesus said to him,
if you'd be perfect, go sell what you have, give it to the
poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me,
follow me. But when the young man heard
that, he went away sorrowful. He had great possession. This
man is a powerful, wealthy man, with great possession. Now, let's
read Luke 5, verse 27. Here is a different man entirely,
a different story, a different response. The same commander.
After these things, he went forth and he saw a public Not a moral
man, not a religious man, a publican named Levi. Who is that? Matthew,
sitting at the receipt of customs, tax collector. He said to him,
follow me. And Matthew left all and arose
and followed him. And Matthew made a great feast
in his own house. invited people to come and hear
his master, hear his Lord. And there was a great company
of publicans and others that sat down with him, and you know
the rest of the story. I preached on that long ago.
There is a difference. Matthew, follow me. He just pushed it back, Father
Crosby. This young man who had inquired,
he had Christ went to Matthew, this young man came to Christ,
he'd inquired what he could do, and Christ said, you can follow
me. And he went away. He had great
possessions. Matthew had great possessions.
He had a great house, he made a great feast, he was an important
man, but he bowed to Christ. And that's the difference. So
when people want to come along and talk about this young man
in a commendable fashion, forget it. His God was materialism. That was his God. And he was
faced with the same commandment that our Lord gave Matthew, follow
me, that he gave James and John. They were fishing with their
father. They had a fishing business with
their father. And he came down and said, follow
me, and they left their nets and fucked with him. That's it. There's the key. Follow me. Follow
me. And then said Jesus unto his
disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man, a man taken
up with possessions, a man whose God is possessions and riches,
like this young man, shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Again, I say unto you, it's easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than a rich man, taken up with his possessions,
to enter the kingdom of God. Why did our Lord say it was difficult
for a rich man to enter into heaven? Job was a rich man, but Job's riches was not his
God. God was. Abraham was a rich man. But Abraham's riches and wealth
were given him of God, and God was his master and Lord. Solomon
was a rich man. David was a rich man. But this
young man, his problem, his possessions, that's his God. He has no place
for the Lord. And I'll tell you, I'll give
you five reasons. I'll give you five things. Why
it's hard. Why it's hard. I say it's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man in his kingdom of heaven. I'll give you five reasons. Now
here's the reason. And you know, you know some wealthy
people in this world, unbelievers who have taken up with the things
of this world and their wealth, possession, materialism, that's
their God. Number one, they make the mistake
of placing their happiness and contentment in these comforts
of the flesh. The believer, whether he has
much or little, Christ is his comfort. Christ is his peace. Christ is his Lord, not these
things. Secondly, people make the mistake
of feeling secure. Secure from poverty, secure from
war, secure from disaster. Because they have the means wherewithal
to take care of these disasters, or this poverty, or this need.
They're not anxious about food, they can buy it. They're not
anxious about clothing, pick out what they want. They're not
anxious about shelter, they can build another one. That's like
the rich young man saying, I'll tell you, eat, barge down, build
me two or three more. He doesn't need God. But the believer, his security
is not his possession, but his Lord. See the difference? That's the difference. That's
the reason Abraham, Abraham might have had just as much as this
young man. But his Lord was his comfort
and his peace. His Lord was his provider. His
Lord was the one who supplied every need. Turn to Psalm 52,
this is an interesting scripture here. Psalm 52, verse 7. Watch
this now. "'Lo, this is the man that made
not God his strength.' but trusted in the abundance
of his riches, strengthened himself in his substance. That's where
he found his comfort and peace and security in what he had. That's the danger. All right,
here's the third reason that riches are deceitful. They mislead people. These riches
and possessions and honors that the world has in the wealthy
people, it causes these unbelievers to be proud, to be high-minded, frequently,
most often looking down upon the poor people, the less fortunate.
And they may not have a an attitude like Isaiah said, holier than
thou, but they do have an attitude better than thou. Smarter than
thou. Richer than thou. Stronger than
thou. And this is abomination to God. Turn to the book of 1 Timothy
6. This type of person can't enter
the kingdom of heaven. 1 Timothy chapter 6, listen to
verse 17. charge them that are rich in
this world, 1 Timothy 6, 17, that they be not high-minded,
proud. It's just when folks get something, become a lawyer, a doctor, a
rich sports figure, they just get so arrogant, so proud, so
high-minded. Not trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy,
that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready
to distribute, willing to communicate. That's what riches, that's the
deceitfulness of riches. They cause people to be proud,
lifted up with their success. Here's the fourth reason. Many people that are rich in
possessions, often their time is completely, completely taken
up with gaining riches, investing, and keeping riches. I had a young
man in our home not so awful long ago, college graduate, but
he was His ambition was to be a surgeon, to be a doctor, but
he claimed to love the gospel and love the truth of God, and
he says, I'm going to be a surgeon. I said, well, I'm going to tell
you something now, and you may be, but how many doctors and
surgeons do you know that have time to worship God, to sit at the feet of Christ,
to fellowship with the people of God. How many do you know? Count them on one finger or two
fingers or three. How many of these people that
are powerful and wealthy, they drive their big, huge homes and
drive their big cars and run around with people that hate
God? And that's where you'll wind
up, nine times out of ten. You may be different, but I haven't
seen many. Isn't that right? You see, Moses considered the
reproach of Christ to be a greater treasure than the riches of So
I'll tell you, a man selecting his vocation, and I know we talk about our
boys and girls, we'd like to see them succeed in life, but
I just don't know. I just don't know. The temptations
of treasures and riches and possessions and being involved and embroiled
vast lane of investments and securities and riches and wealth. But I've been preaching here
49 years. Where are they? Where are they
in this congregation? They're busy. Too busy for God. But that's the danger now. That's
the danger. How hurriedly shall a rich man
who finds his comfort in his riches, who says, I'm rich and
increased with goods and I don't need you or anybody else. If
I want it, I'll buy it. He's proud and lifted up. That's
right. High-minded. He's so taken up
with his business and his investments and his securities and his vocation
that he doesn't have time on Sunday morning to sit with the people of God
and worship the living God. You say, well, he's busy. Okay. Okay. I'm telling you, isn't that right
what I'm saying? He's busy. But he'll find when he calls
on God, God's going to be busy. God's going to be busy. And I
won't hear Then the fifth thing about these things is why it's
so hard, why it's so difficult. It's found in Psalm 49. It would
be much better, I tell you, it would be so much better if our young people just made
a living. Support your families and worship
God. Walk with believers. Live their
lives in the fellowship of the gospel. So much better. Evil companions
corrupt good manners. But here are two words in Psalm
49. that make it difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom
of God. Psalm 49, verse 6. They that trust in their wealth.
We trust in Christ, don't we? We trust in Christ. They trust
in their wealth. And here's the second word. They
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. And this young
man, when he heard Christ say, You just think about this now. Follow me. And he turned and
walked away. Why? He had great possessions
as his God. He had... I'll tell you this. If he had got rid of all of them
and followed Christ, he would have really had great possessions,
and he would have been an heir of God, a joint heir of Jesus
Christ. All of his possessions someday
would be like waste paper in the streets. All of his diamonds
would be like sand on a seashore. All of his bonds and stocks would
be not worth the paper they were written on. And when the disciples,
verse 25, when the disciples heard this, they were amazed.
Oh boy, they were shocked. They said, well who can this
be? Rich or poor? Listen, listen
to me, just a moment. These unbelievers who are rich
and wealthy, taken up with their riches, trust in them, boast
of them. But the poor do not have riches,
yet they covet them. Most poor people today, they
spend their time trying to win a lottery. I see them all the
time, spending their money trying to get rich. The rich man's got
it. The poor want it. They're just
a lot. The rich man finds his happiness
in riches, the poor man would be happy if he had them. He thinks
he would. He's not happy now. The rich look down on the poor,
their high mind didn't look down on the poor, but the poor hate
the rich because they're rich. Who can be saved? Who can be saved? With such unregenerate,
wicked hearts, who can be saved? Well, Christ tells us, we know
the answer. And Christ beheld his disciples
and said, listen to me, with men it's impossible. Salvation's
impossible. If men and women are left to
themselves, nobody will be saved. Nobody. You can talk about the
rich man whose God's his possessions, well the poor man, his God's
something else. But they've all got their false
God. Unbelievers. And with men it's impossible.
The Ethiopian can't change his skin and the leopard can't change
his spots. But listen, but with God all
things are possible. God can make a man like Solomon
wealthy. Sometimes you sit down and read
Solomon's possessions, but you read Solomon's love for God.
Almighty God can give a man a new heart, and take away pride, and
take away love of possessions and wealth, and give him a broken
heart, and trust in Christ and not in his possessions. And God
can take a poor man with a covetous, evil heart, with a covetous,
wicked heart, and make him still to be poor in spirit, but rich
in grace! Rich in grace. God can do it, only God can do
it. Paul says, I know how to abound,
and I know how to be abased, but I'm content in whatsoever
state I am, because I have Him, my Lord, my Redeemer. But God
made the difference. Then Peter answered and said,
Lord, we've forsaken everything and followed you. What shall
we have there for? He's got a little ambition, too,
hasn't he? What shall we have? What are
we going to get out of it? We've given up, we've forsaken
everything and followed you. What are we going to get? And
I Lord comforted him, and I watched this. The Lord, I say unto you,
Peter, that you followed me in the regeneration. That word is
the Reformation. He didn't follow Christ in regenerating
people. Peter couldn't regenerate anybody.
That's God's work. That's the Spirit's work, to
give life. But you follow me in the Reformation. That's what
that means. What is the Reformation? Well,
you follow me in the time when we went from tithes to the fulfillment. We went from promises to the
fulfillment. The promises of the Old Testament,
the types of the Old Testament, the pictures of the Old Testament,
now fulfilled in Christ. You were with me when God brought
about this almighty, wonderful reformation, from promises to
reality, from pictures The person of Christ, the work of Christ,
you follow me in the Reformation, from the promises of the priesthood
to the revelation of our great high priest, to the doing away
of the priesthood, doing away with circumcision, doing away
with the Sabbath days, doing away with all these things, and
Christ takes away the first and establishes the second. You've
been with me. And listen. And when the Son
of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, And I'll tell you,
he was taken up from them, these twelve disciples. Paul was the
twelfth one. But he was taken up from them
in clouds to heaven, and sat down. He said, I go to my father
and to your father. And he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty of heaven. And he left them down here. And he left them down here to
sit on twelve thrones. Judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. Now that's not what they're going
to do in eternity. All judgment is given to the
Son. But this is these disciples,
they judged Israel, doctrinally, practically. These disciples
wrote the inspired word. He left them here. He said to
them one time, he said, greater works than I do shall you do.
I go back to my father. And as my Father sent me, I send
you." And these disciples, these twelve men, wrote the scriptures. These twelve men were judges,
they were apostles. Paul wrote to a church one time
and said, Now, you do this, don't make me come down there. You
remember, he said, I'll come down among you. But you do what I told you to
do. I can't talk that way. Paul could. He's a judge. He's
a writer of Holy Scripture. He's an apostle. He's been given
gifts to raise the dead, heal the sick, give sight to the blind.
They ruled. Christ said to Peter, what you
bind on this earth will be bound in heaven. What you loose on this earth
will be loosed in heaven. That's the power you've got in
that gospel I'm giving you. Oh, he said, you left all and
followed me. You've been with me in the Reformation,
and I lay in your hands a power. He hears you, hears me. He refuses
you, refuses me. If you go into town, they won't
listen. You shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against
them, and I'll judge them. I can't do that. Don't you try it either. And every one of you, he says,
that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or mother,
or father, or children, or lands, for my sake shall receive a hundredfold."
And Luke says, right here on this earth. I'll give you mothers
everywhere, and brothers everywhere, and sisters everywhere, and homes
everywhere. And on top of that, you'll inherit
everlasting life. But a little bit of farness will
be lost. Don't you count on a special
place and position. Beware of falling into a legal
spirit of rewards in heaven, of carrying on this. What you
are now, judge at that, no second. This is a legal spirit of rewards
in heaven, positions in the kingdom of God. Sit on the right hand,
the left hand of the Lord. A place in heaven based on merit,
a length of service, a sacrifice. This is a legal spirit. He said,
don't you entertain this. The last will be first, and the
first will be last. You're the first. You're going
to be last. The last will be first. See, a legal spirit looking for
position in heaven, or rewards in heaven, or a special place
in heaven, aborts someone else. That's a spirit that denies the
grace of God, denies our unworthiness, robs God of His glory, and robs
Christ of His preeminence. There are absolutely no degrees
in glory, and that's the reason our Lord gave this Matthew 20. He said, the kingdom of heaven. Not now. There's authority here,
there's laws here, there's judges here, the kingdom of heaven. It's like a man that was a householder. Let's read this and just comment
on it. He went out early in the morning to high laborers. They
didn't come to him, he came to them. You see that? He came to
them. They didn't come to him. They
weren't looking for work. He found them. And he hired them
in his vineyard. How did he find them? Idle, doing
nothing. And when he agreed with the laborers
for a penny a day, he sent them to his vineyard. His vineyard.
And he went out the third hour. First, he went out six o'clock
in the morning. First hour, six o'clock. Third
hour, nine o'clock. He went out nine o'clock in the
morning and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. Same
place he found these others. Doing the same thing, nothing.
He found them. He said, go you also into the
vineyard and whatever is ripe I'll give you. They went their
way. He went out to six hours, that's about noon. And then to
nine o'clock, that's three in the afternoon. You see, the Lord
saves his people. He may call one at early age. He said, Timothy, if I'm a child,
you've known the Holy Scriptures make you wise to salvation. He
may save one at twenty. One at 30, one at 40, 50, 60 in the late evening of life,
70, 75. That's right, verse 6 says he
went out the 11th hour, one hour before darkness. 75 years old. Found him in the
same place where he found these young ones. marketplace, the
world, doing nothing, idle, worthless. They weren't seeking him, he
sought them. And he said to them, you go and
work in my vineyard, and what shall I, that's what I'll give
you, I'll give you what's right. So when the evening was come,
it's six o'clock now, the evening, work is over. The Lord of the
vineyard said to his steward, the man in charge, his foreman,
he said, call the labors and give them their hides, beginning
with the last. Pay the last first. This is the
kingdom of heaven. All God's children are saved
the same way, elected, called, redeemed, washed in the blood. They all love the same. They're
sons of God, they're joiners with Christ, they're all conformed
to the image of Christ, they'll all reign with him, there's no
difference. Start with the last one. And when they came, they
were hired about the 11th hour, they received every man the same
day. But when the first came, they'd been working since 6 a.m.,
12 hours. Saved when they were 18, worked in the church, and sang
and played the instruments and led the singing and gave their
money and worked all their lives until they died at 75. And this fellow, the Lord Savior,
when he was 75, he gets paid off first, he gets rewarded first. And this fellow came first, he
supposed that he should receive more. They likewise received
every man opinion. When they received it, they murmured.
They said, now that's not right. It's not right. It's not right
when you're talking about this world. But it's right when you're
talking about grace. Grace is grace. Grace is grace. Salvation by grace.