Let us turn in our Bibles to
Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. We'll begin our reading in verse
number 18 and read through verse 27. And a certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is
God. Thou knowest the commandments,
do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, honor thy father and thy mother. And he said,
All these things, or all these have I kept from my youth up.
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest
thou one thing, sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come,
follow me. And 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! For it is easier for
a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said,
Who then can be saved? And he said, Things which are
impossible with men are possible with God. All three of the Synoptic Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, record this encounter the Lord Jesus
Christ had with this man. And by way of introduction this
morning, I want to make three comments from what each of these
gospel writers tell us that the others don't. First of all, Matthew
tells us that he was young. He was a young man. And this
should remind us of the great blessing it is for young people
to have thoughts on eternity. This man did because he asked
the Lord, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Most people, sad
to say, but it's true, and you may be in this situation this
morning, but most people go through life and never concern themselves
with eternity. They're very concerned about
this life, and that is very sad, because this life will last at
the longest for just a few short days, but eternity is forever. And the Lord Jesus Christ made
it clear. He made it ever so clear that
there are only two places that people go when they leave this
world. There are only two places where
men and women will spend eternity. One place, and our Lord spoke
about this place more than any other person in the scripture. A place called hell. A place
that he said is a place of torment. Where men will be punished for
their sin, for their rebellion, for their unbelief. For not believing
God. Don't ever think of unbelief
as just something minor. Unbelief is a very wicked sin. Because if you do not believe,
you call God a liar. And that's serious business. The other place our Lord called
paradise, and the one who was crucified the same day that he
was crucified, he said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And we really don't have the
ability, the words in our language, all the languages put together
really, to describe the beauties and the glory. of paradise, of
being forever with the Lord. But what a blessing, this young
man, he was concerned about eternity. Remember in the book of Ecclesiastes,
the wise man said, remember now thy creator. Actually that word
is in plural, remember now thy creators. In the beginning we
read, and God said, let us make man in our own image. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. Remember
now thy creators and the days of thy youth before the evil
days come upon you. Now, that's what Matthew tells
us that Mark and Luke do not. He was a young man. Mark tells
us that he came running to Christ. He didn't just kind of slouch
his way into the presence of Christ. This man came running,
running to Christ. And this should remind us that
delay in coming to Christ is an awful sin. It's an awful sin
for anyone to delay To say like Felix told the Apostle Paul when
Paul preached the gospel before him. Felix said, go thy way for
this time. When I have a convenient season,
I will call for you. Now is the day of salvation,
the scripture says. Boast not thyself of tomorrow,
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. And not only
do we not know what is on tomorrow, we do not know what's going to
take place in the next few minutes or the next few hours. But we
live in a world where men and women are hurried out into eternity,
day after day, never expecting it, being together. We saw this a few weeks ago.
over in Orlando, Florida, and I heard some who survived, they
testified and said, we had planned to party all night. Was it 50
of them were in eternity before the sun came up the next morning.
This man came running. Do not put off to tomorrow, for
you do not know what tomorrow may bring. You know the Bible,
it closes with these words. These are almost the last words
in the word of God. Let him that is a thirst come. Is there anyone here today thirsty? Anyone here today thirsty? Let him that is a thirst come. And in the book of Isaiah, the
word goes, Ho, everyone that thirsts, Everyone who thirsts,
come ye, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
you, buy and eat. You see, the Lord gives eternal
life. The water of life. Our Lord told
that woman, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.
That is, the waters of this world wherever you seek pleasure, wherever
you seek satisfaction, you will thirst again, but the water that
I shall give unto thee shall be in you, a well of living water
springing up unto eternal life. Now Luke tells us, we saw that
Matthew tells us he was young, Mark tells us that he came running,
and Luke tells us that he was a ruler. Notice that, I believe
that's in verse 18 where we began our reading. He was a ruler,
yes, a certain ruler. And this should remind us that
every one of us, every man, woman, boy and girl, is either under
the rule of grace or the rule of sin. There are only two masters
in every one of us. are under one or the other there's
only two masters make no mistake about this men imagine themselves
to be free there used to be an old song free as a breeze and
I will do as I please just to bumming around that song before many of you
were born some of you remember it probably But that's the way
men think. Free as a breeze, I'll do as
I please. Man doesn't realize that he's
either under the rule of grace or he's under the rule of sin.
Let me show you that. Keep your place here, but turn
with me to John chapter 8. In John chapter 8, And our Lord
is here speaking to some religious men. John chapter 8 and verse
34. The scripture says, Jesus answered
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin
is the servant of sin. Have you ever committed sin? Whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in
the house forever, But the Son abideth ever, if the Son, the
Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, if the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. Now back to our text. I want
us to observe this weighty, weighty question this man asked our Lord. Good Master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life? That's a weighty question, isn't
it? I have three parts to the message. First, there is none
good but God. Notice our Lord responded, Jesus
said unto him, why callest thou me good? None is good save one,
that is God. In other words, why do you call
me good? You approach me, you say unto
me, good master, why do you call me good? Unless you recognize
that I am God. Because only God is good. And only God can answer your
question. The philosophers, They had lived, the most famous
philosophers, they had already come upon the scene and passed
away. They cannot answer your question.
The worldly wise men cannot answer your question. And the religions
that are man-made, they cannot answer your question. The only
one who is able to answer your question is God. What must I
do to inherit eternal life? Most, if you ask this question
to most, they will tell you that the gate is wide, and the way
is broad. But I tell you, the gate is straight,
and the way is narrow, which leads to life, and few there
be that find it. I tell you eternal life, you
ask about eternal life, I tell you eternal life is to know God
and He whom He has sent. You ask about eternal life, I
tell you that eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let me ask you this morning,
Everyone here, just think for a minute. Do you believe our
Lord's answer to this man? Do you believe what he said?
There's none good but God? Do you believe that? There's
none good but God. What does that mean? What does
that mean? There's none good but God. Goodness
is essential to God. Just as God is light, that is,
He is holy, just as God is love, so God is good. If He ever ceased to be holy,
He would cease to be God. If He ever ceased to be love,
He would cease to be God. And if He ever ceased to be good,
He would cease to be God. Only God is good. That is inherently
in Himself good. You say, what about the holy
angels? Aren't they good? They are good. But their goodness
has been given unto them by He who is good. There's none good
but God. When Moses asked the Lord to
see his glory, you remember Moses had seen a great deal, but he
wanted to see God's glory. He had seen miracles. He had
seen signs and wonders. He had seen the Red Sea. He had
seen the Red Sea open up, and the waters stand, and the nation
of Israel go through on dry ground. But yet he knew he had not yet
seen God's glory. Show me thy glory. And the Lord
said, make a place for you in the rock and I will pass by and
I will proclaim the name of the Lord and I will proclaim my goodness. Now you can read about this in
Exodus chapter 34 when God passed by He did proclaim his goodness
but not as a single attribute He proclaimed His goodness because
He proclaimed He is merciful, He is gracious, He is long-suffering,
He is truth, He is faithful, He is just, and He is holy. And all of this proclaims His
name, His goodness. Only God is good in Himself,
and all the goodness in His creatures comes to and is derived from
Him. Now, men are relatively good. There's no doubt about that.
But their goodness comes from God. This world, this world doesn't
appreciate God. Now, that's all there is to it. Most people do not understand
that any goodness that they've ever experienced came from God. And men deny and say, I don't
believe there is a God. Why? Because man hates God. Man would love to believe that
there's no God, but God has put something in every man. that
witnesses to Him. There is a God, and there is
eternity, and there is a judgment. This man knew that, as blind
as he was, but he knew that he needed something he didn't have
if he were to have eternal life. Now here's the second. So first
of all, none is good but God. Number two, there is none, now
listen, There's none of Adam's fallen race able to meet God's
holiness. In verses 20, our Lord, beginning
there, said, Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do
not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother.
And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus
heard these things, he said unto him, Yet likest thou one thing,
sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. And when
he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. There is
none of Adam's fallen race able to meet God's holiness. Now this
man did not accept that only God is good. He didn't believe
that. He believed that he was good.
He really did. When our Lord said, keep the
commandments, he was convinced that he was good, that he had
kept all of these commandments from a youth up. I've kept these
commandments. Now I've heard a few, and I've
read a few men who believe that this was none other than Saul
of Tarsus, this young man. Well, I doubt that's true, but
I do believe this, that Saul of Tarsus, before he met the
Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he could have responded
just like this man. All these commandments I've kept.
Look with me in Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, in this
chapter the Apostle gives somewhat of his own testimony, his own
experience. And in verse 9, he describes
this young man, I was alive once without the law. That's what I was, Paul says. That's what this young man said,
this young ruler. I'm alive. I was alive once without
the law. Now what does he mean without
the law? He was brought up in the law. He strictly knew the
law. And he strictly observed the
law. But what he did not realize is
the spirituality of the law. Look down in chapter 7 verse
14. For we know that the law is spiritual. This young man said, all of these
things I've kept. Paul would have said the same
thing. All of these commandments I have kept because I did not
realize that the law is spiritual. But notice what he says. He concludes
that statement. For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came, the commandment is the
law. When the law came to him, oh,
it had come into his head before. I would imagine Saul of Tarsus
could quote most of the Old Testament as a Pharisee. Oh, it had come
to him. But it had never come to him
in power. And many people, they believe
that they've kept the law. That's what they're trusting
in. And if you were to ask them today, they would say, sure.
I've kept the law. I've always tried to treat my
neighbor as I would want to be treated. The golden rule, I've
lived by it. I've been a church member most
of my life. We've got all kinds of refuges
that men will run into when the gospel comes. But Paul said,
when the commandment came with power, Or when the commandment
came and it came with power, he said, I died. And Paul tells
us here in Romans 7, it was the same thing that got this young
man. It was covetousness. The same
thing, Paul said, when he was made to realize the Scripture
says, Thou shalt not covet. You didn't have to do any of
these things outwardly if you just had the desire in your heart. you were guilty Paul when he was a Pharisee as
most of those men I'm sure he believed if anyone gets to heaven
it'll be me and he based all of that on his observing the
law and it was all sinking sand It
was a foundation that would not support him. It was a cover. You know, the scripture speaks
in Isaiah about that bed that's too short to lay out on. And that cover is too small to
cover yourself with. And that's true of every man-made
religion. And every work and works that
men do to earn, to merit eternal life, the bed's too small, the
cover's too little. No, there's only one refuge. There's only one upon which we
may rest our weary souls and find cover. Refuge to save us
from the wrath of God. And that's in Jesus Christ. Now,
here's the third. There's none but one, that is
God, who is able to do what is necessary for any to inherit
eternal life. Let me say that again. There's
none but one, that is God, who is able to do what is necessary
for any to inherit eternal life. That's what our Lord told his
disciples. If you look in verse 24, And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel
to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said,
And these were his disciples, who then can be saved. And he
said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. The Lord didn't say it was difficult. Some men try to make this fit
into their belief that salvation is of man and not of God and
they'll tell you, well there was a special gate There's a
special gate there in Jerusalem, and it was called the Needle
Gate. And for a camel to go through that gate, he had to get down,
they had to take all the baggage off of him, and he had to just
make his way through it on his knees, you know. Our Lord didn't
say it's hard. He said it's impossible. He's
not talking about a gate that was difficult to get through.
He's talking about the fact that no man is able to do what is
necessary to inherit eternal life. With man, it is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. What must be done? What must
be done that is impossible for man to do to inherit eternal
life? Number one, God's law must be
honored. God's law must be honored. That
means from birth to death, never having a thought, a word, or
an action contrary to God's law. God's law must be honored. Number two, God's justice must
be satisfied. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Number three, God's wrath must
be propitiated. Don't let anyone tell you that
God is not angry with the wicked because the scripture says that
he is. And he would not be the holy Lord God he is. if he was
not incensed against sin, because it is against him. God's wrath
must be propitiated, must be appeased, must be turned aside. Number four, man's debt must
be paid. His sin debt, it's got to be
paid. And number five, the enmity that
is between God and man must be slain. It must be slain, must
be killed. And number six, man must be reconciled
to God. All of those things, and I'm
sure there's others that could be mentioned here, but I just
thought of these. These are all impossible for
man. And yet, all of these are necessary
if man is to inherit eternal life. God's law must be honored,
God's justice must be satisfied, God's wrath must be propitiated,
man's sin debt must be paid, and that enmity which exists
between God and man must be slain, and man must be reconciled to
God. Is there then no hope? Is there
then no hope for men to inherit eternal life? What did the Lord
say? He said, the things which are
impossible with man are possible with God. God to do these things had to
come into this world as a man. The Word was made flesh. And
he had to do each and every one of these things that I've mentioned.
He had to honor God's law. He had to satisfy God's justice. He had to propitiate God's wrath. He had to pay the sin debt of
men. And that enmity which existed
between God and men was slain in his own body on the cross.
And he is the only one who is able to reconcile you to God. Me to God. Turn with me to 2
Corinthians chapter 5 and I'll close here. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Beginning in verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature or a new creation. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. I stand before you this morning
as an ambassador of Christ and I beseech you, I beseech you,
I beg of you, if you are here this morning and you have never
surrendered to Jesus Christ, I beg of you, be reconciled unto
God. You say, well What must I do? Lay down your arms. Surrender. Surrender. Be reconciled unto
God. Say unto him, O Lord, take me. Here I am. I'm all yours. Have
mercy upon me. Be reconciled unto God. Let me say as clearly as I can,
if you do not, you are fighting a battle that you're going to
lose. You're fighting a battle you're going to lose. There's
only one hope for you, for me. Lay down your arms and surrender
to the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace to do
so.