"The First Will Be Last And The Last Will Be First"

Would you open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 19?

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

Hannah, thank you.

Maybe you've heard this before.

That's so wrong.

Unfair.

How can they treat me like that?

Grumble, grumble.

You know what, honey?

We deserve way better than this life group.

Grumble, grumble.

You know what?

If this church would just realize what we have been contributing sacrificially over the last months and years,

you know what?

A little recognition would go a long way.

Grumble, grumble.

I expect to be treated in a little different way than that.

Grumble, grumble.

To grumble.

Webster says it's to mutter in discontent.

Grumble, grumble.

When something happens to you that you perceive as some kind of injustice, you're tempted to grumble.

Grumble.

When you don't get something you want, you may be tempted to grumble.

Grumbling is almost always born of comparing yourself to others.

And so at the heart of grumbling is this sense of you.

Me.

My rights.

What's due me?

You know, cancer can metastasize in a body.

And it can wreak havoc in a body.

Grumbling is the metastasizing of pride in a body.

And it can do a local body great harm.

God has no place.

There's no place for grumbling in his people.

But you know what is fitting among God's people?

Gratitude.

Humble gratitude that is in constant amazement at God's grace.

And so this morning, the sermon of this title, if I were to rewrite it,

it would be God's grace for your grumbling heart.

We're going to move through quite a section of scripture this morning.

And I want you to see first a stark contrast.

And then Jesus is going to make some sobering clarifications.

And then we're going to end in a parable of God's grace.

And what I want to help you to see this morning,

and what I believe God is wanting to address us with this morning,

is that God's grace compels us to say no to grumbling

and to say yes to gratitude.

And so what I'm going to do is I'm just going to walk us through

a lengthy chunk of scripture here,

but we're just going to move quickly through it

and make points along the way.

So I hope you're looking at Matthew chapter 19.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

If you would be looking at verses 13,

we're going to start with a stark contrast

between two different kinds of hearts,

a humble heart and a prideful heart.

And so in verses, chapter 19, verses 13 through 15,

Jesus gives us a lesson on a humble heart.

Here's what's going on.

In verse 13, we have parents bringing their kids to Jesus.

And if you look at verse 13,

at the end, the disciples are rebuking these parents.

They're saying something like this.

Sorry, Jeremiah's real cute,

but the master doesn't have any time for your little babies, okay?

He's got time for big image bearers,

not little image bearers.

And Jesus hears them,

and he says to them,

let the little children come to me

and do not hinder them.

You see that in verse 14?

Why not?

For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.

A couple weeks ago,

Billy preached a great sermon

out of Matthew chapter 18,

Matthew 18:3

verses 3 and 4.

And if you just page one back

and look at Matthew 18, 3 through 4,

Jesus is bringing something to our minds.

And Matthew, who's organizing all this,

is setting up a comparison.

And in Matthew 18, 2, 3 and 4,

we read,

Truly I say to you,

unless you turn and become like children,

you disciples will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child

is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

So the kingdom of heaven values humility.

And so Jesus is saying,

hey, you guys,

would you stop keeping the little children

from coming to me?

Let them come to me,

because they are a living parable

of a kingdom value.

Humility.

They're dependent.

They're devoted.

Unassuming.

Trusting.

Jesus is saying,

don't stop these children from coming to me.

They picture something

such as them.

The kingdom of heaven

throws wide open

its doors of grace

to the humble.

Wide open.

And so what we see happening

in verses 13 through 15

is that Matthew

is emphasizing childlike humility.

It is a distinctive trait

that characterizes

a follower of Jesus.

Humility.

And it's not the first time

that Jesus has talked about this.

Back in Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

the Sermon of the Mount,

the Beatitudes,

remember,

blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are the mourned.

Blessed are those who are meek.

Blessed are those who hunger

and thirst after righteousness.

These are all different ways

of talking about humility.

Disciples are those

who are God-reliant,

not self-reliant.

We come low to our God.

We come recognizing our need

to our God like children.

So as followers of Jesus,

we are dependent on God's grace,

not our own ability.

So what we see happening

at the end of verse 15

is that after Jesus does this rebuke

of his disciples,

the children come to him

and you see what he does?

He puts his hands on them.

He prays for them

and he blesses them.

So here's what I want to get

into your heads right out of the gate.

Here's what Matthew is saying.

The kingdom emphasizes humility.

God delights in humility.

So much though,

that Jesus moves towards the humble.

God in his grace

moves towards the humble.

He lays his hands on the humble.

He moves towards the humble.

humility

and grace,

when they intersect,

there's an explosion of gratitude.

Where humility and grace intersect,

you've got gratitude.

So this comparison,

this contrast starts up with

childlike humility

humility.

And then,

in contrast,

in walks

a living parable

of pride.

And this is in verses 16 through 22,

the other side

of the contrast.

A young man comes in.

Here's what happened.

This guy walks in,

comes up to Jesus,

he asks a question,

he and Jesus have a dialogue,

and then he walks away sad.

So let's see what happens here.

In verse 16,

a man walks up,

according to Jesus,

and what we learn later

is that he's a young man,

and he's a rich man.

Luke tells us

he is a ruler,

he's a powerful man,

and apparently he's a polite guy,

because he's very nice

in addressing Jesus.

He might be the kind of guy,

dads,

he might say,

hmm,

kind of guy I like

for my daughter.

So this young man

comes up to Jesus

in verse 16,

and he says,

teacher,

what good deed must I do

to have eternal life?

And all of a sudden,

Jesus is smelling something.

Have you ever opened up

your refrigerator,

and you see in the back

a bottle of milk,

and you're like thinking,

oh man,

when did we get that?

What will you do?

You do the sniff test.

You pull it out,

you open it up,

and you just go,

and what are you smelling for?

Sour milk.

And as soon as you know

it's sour milk,

especially if you smell

sour milk,

you're like,

this is out.

This man's question

has the smell of sour pride

in the nostrils of Jesus.

Jesus smells something here.

What this guy is saying is,

what good deed must I do

to have eternal life?

This man thinks that he is capable

of gooding himself

into eternal life.

That's what's behind the question.

It's stinking thinking.

So Jesus picks up on the word good

and attempts to steer this man

to God in verse 17.

Do you see him do it?

Why do you ask me about what is good?

There is only one who is good.

And who is that?

That's God.

In other words,

you ain't good, man.

Only God is good.

Why do you think you can do good

when you're a sinner?

And then in verse 17,

Jesus says,

if you would enter life,

if you would get saved,

you want to be saved?

Here.

Keep the commandments.

Now I'm guessing

some of you right now

are like,

I'm smelling something sour myself.

Hmm.

Is Jesus teaching us salvation

by works right here?

Hmm.

Is he actually saying that

obey the commands

and you will be saved?

Is that what Jesus is saying?

Well, he's not saying that.

Here's how we know.

This is just the beginning

of Jesus' response

to this rich young man.

Jesus is starting to probe

this young man.

Let's wait for the rest

of what Jesus says.

You'll see what he does.

Jesus puts on a bit

of a clinic here.

Now,

depending on how this man

responds to this

will be very telling.

For example,

Jesus says,

keep the commandments.

And if this young man said,

you know what?

Oh, last week,

I was just trying to,

you know,

not murder.

And then I realized

I hate people in my heart.

And I realized

there's just no way

I can keep this one commandment.

I am,

I can't do it,

Jesus.

I can't keep the commandments.

Now,

if he said that to Jesus

right now,

Jesus would be like,

we're cooking with gas.

You're talking to the right guy.

But look how he responds

in verse 18.

Keep the commandments.

Oh yeah,

which ones?

There's a little sour smell

to that.

A little sour pride

to that.

Which ones?

Not quite the humble response.

And then Jesus says

in verse 19

some very interesting thing.

He points them

right to the Bible.

He points them

right to the latter half

of the Ten Commandments

of interrelationships.

Okay?

And so now,

here's what I would do

if I was a cinematographer.

If I was putting this,

this little section

into a movie,

here's how I'd do it.

I'd have a kind of

close-up lens on Jesus

when Jesus would say,

well,

you shall not murder.

He says that.

And then I would,

I would go over

with my lens

to the rich young man

who would then say,

never.

I go back to Jesus

who then says,

you shall not commit adultery.

And that camera

would go back

to the rich young ruler

who would be like,

I didn't even think

about that.

Heaven forbid.

Back to Jesus.

And Jesus says,

you shall not steal.

To the young man

and the young man

says,

not even once,

not even a toothpick.

Back to Jesus.

Jesus says,

you shall not bear

false witness.

It goes to the rich young man.

He says,

I'm not a crook.

Back to Jesus.

And Jesus says,

honor your father

and your mother.

To the young man,

I rise up in the gate

and call my mother

blessed.

Back to Jesus.

Jesus says,

love your neighbor

as yourself.

The young man says,

master,

I walked old lady Ruth,

the widow,

across the street,

coming to here.

I love my neighbor.

This guy's like Teflon.

Nothing sticks.

He says,

all these I have kept.

What do I still lack?

Are you smelling it?

He's talking to Emmanuel.

God incarnate.

The one who came

to save his people

from their sins

by dying for them

on a cross.

He's got a problem.

What do I lack?

Jesus would have been fine

if Jesus said,

humility.

But Jesus doesn't.

Look what he does.

He's not done.

He's just setting this guy up.

He has him right

where he wants.

Just a bigger principle.

The law

brings us to Jesus.

The law

exposes

our sinfulness

and shows us

our need

for Christ.

Jesus

fulfills

the law.

So look where he goes.

Jesus

you want to be perfect?

George 21

you want to be perfect?

You want to be complete?

What he's saying is

this is the Shema

Deuteronomy 6

you want to

love God

with everything you got?

You want to be like that?

Rich wrong man

says oh yes

yes I do

as a matter of fact

yes that's why I'm here.

Jesus says

go.

Oh I can go.

Yes I can go.

And sell.

Oh I can sell.

What do you want me to sell?

All that you got.

Excuse me.

Not only sell

all that you have

and then give to the poor.

Go on eBay

sell all of your stuff

when it comes into PayPal

take all the cash

and give it to the poor.

Jesus is exposing

the true God

of this young man.

wealth.

Riches.

Possessions.

Jesus isn't done.

Remember in

Matthew 16

Jesus

is talking about

being a follower

of him

and to be a follower

if anyone would

come after me

he must

deny himself

take up his cross

and follow me.

That's what he's doing

right here

with this rich young man.

Deny yourself.

Deny the God

you're worshipping

so that you can

follow me.

He's calling him

to repent.

Jesus doesn't

swoon at the feet

of this rich

powerful young man.

He calls him

to repent.

He sees

through him.

and so he says

hey you want to

follow me

repent of your

false God of money

give it all away

and then come

after me.

And then in verse 22

as soon as he hears it

he goes away

sorrowful

for as Matthew

says

he had great

possessions.

Remember when

this is part of a

contrast

remember the humble

of heart

they come to

Jesus

and Jesus

moves towards

them

he puts his

hands on them

he pours out

his grace

on them

what does this

guy do?

Jesus says

come follow me

he goes the

other way.

Verse 22

when the young

man heard

he went

away

sorrowful

for he had

great possessions.

Here's what

that all means

he would

not follow

Jesus

because he

was unwilling

to give up

his stuff.

So he goes

away sorrowful

which is very

ironic

because I thought

that money

is supposed

to make you

happy.

No.

Do you

remember the

rich young

man's original

question?

What good

deed must

I do

to have

eternal

life?

Jesus'

answer about

keeping the

commandments

was just

the beginning.

He was

exposing this

man's

sinfulness.

He was

exposing the

false god

he worshipped

in order for

this man to

have eternal

life meant

that he had

to deny

himself and

follow Jesus.

The answer

to the

question

what must

I do

to inherit

eternal

life is

come follow

me.

Jesus is

the source

of eternal

life.

So here

we have

in this

first section

a contrast

between the

humility of

a child

and the

pride of

a young

man.

One

this

humility

of the

child

Jesus

welcomes.

The pride

of the

young man

he walks

away.

God

opposes

the proud

because the

proud

oppose him

and he

gives grace

to the

humble

because the

humble

come to

him.

so here

we have

a contrast

humble

or prideful

and it's

all a part

of this

section

that's

going to

get summarized

in a

parable.

the

disciples

are watching

all this

happen.

And so

in verse

19

Jesus

makes a

major

clarification.

So we've

looked at the

contrast

let's look at the

clarification

starting in

verse 23.

Now

there are two

clarifications

in this

passage

and you can

see them

with the

word

truly

in verse

23

and verse

28.

Let's look at

the first

clarification

on riches.

Jesus

says

truly I

say to

you

only with

difficulty

will a

rich person

enter the

kingdom of

heaven.

He's

talking to

his

disciples

with

difficulty

it's only

with

difficulty

a rich

person

will

enter

the

kingdom

of

heaven.

And a

little bit

background

of this

culture

at this

time

it was

believed

that wealth

and possessions

were seen

as signs

of God's

blessing

on your

life.

It was

kind of a

first

century

kind of

prosperity

gospel

of sorts.

It's like

hey man

you're

loaded.

Oh man

God

favors

on you.

We see

it showing

up nowadays

and it's

like oh

you've

got a

church

of 9,000

people.

God's

blessing

you.

Oh

you've

got a

church

of 14

people.

Here's

a book.

What Jesus

is going

to get

right here

is that

wealth

is no

reliable

indicator

of God's

favor.

In fact

wealth

is a

liability

to get

into the

kingdom.

So verse

23

truly I

say to

you

it's like

Jesus

said hey

let me

clarify

something for

you my

disciples

only with

difficulty

can a rich

person enter

the kingdom

of heaven

and they're

like what

are you

talking

about?

it's

counter

cultural

it's not

a sign

of God's

favor

it's

a liability

to entering

the kingdom

here's why

wealth

possessions

riches

they can

become a

God

unto

themselves

it's

what

someone

can

live

for

it's

it's

what

someone

can

say

oh

the

love

of

money

I

want

to

love

money

with

all

my

heart

soul

mind

and

strength

there are

some

serious

warnings

about

the

love

of

money

in

our

Bibles

1st

Timothy

6

6

the

love

of

money

is

the

root

of

all

evil

but

you

remember

this

one

from

Matthew

6

Jesus

says

you

cannot

serve

both

God

and

money

it's

one

or

the

other

only

one

thing

can

control

your

heart

what

controls

your

heart

controls

your

life

and

what

controls

your

life

conforms

you

to

it

and

in

verse

24

Jesus

makes

a

rather

ridiculous

comparison

it's

crazy

now

if

you're

sitting

in

here

I'm

like

oh

well

man

I'm

glad

I'm

not

wealthy

I'm

glad

I'm

not

rich

man

this

guy

next

to

me

is

rich

I'm

glad

I

hope

he's

hearing

it

well

let

me

ask

you

this

are

you

worried

about

next

month's

house

payment

oh

you're

not

are

you

worried

about

groceries

next

week

no

transportation

all set

up

you got

health

insurance

is that

taken

care of

according

to the

world

you are

like part

of the

two

percent

of the

wealthy

this is

a sober

warning

for

anyone

so

we're

left

questioning

how

difficult

is it

for a

rich

man

to

enter

the

kingdom

of

heaven

how

difficult

Jesus

and

then

he

gives

us

this

this

really

ridiculous

example

look at

verse 24

again

I tell

you

it's

easier

for a

camel

to go

through

the

eye

of

a

needle

than

for

a

rich

man

to

enter

the

kingdom

of

God

so

here's

the

comparison

as far

as

entering

things

goes

a

camel

which

is a

thousand

pound

dromedary

from the

Middle

East

it's

easier

from

that

thousand

pound

beast

to

get

into

maybe

one

eighth

of an

inch

hole

in a

needle

than

for a

rich

man

to

enter

the

kingdom

and you

know what

you're left

saying

well that's

impossible

well this

week I've

been thinking

about that

it's not

impossible for

a thousand

pound

dromedary

to get

into

an eye

of a

needle

here's

all you

need to

do

we have

a

ninja

liquefier

at our

house

you could

liquefy a

camel

and have a

funnel

into an

eye

of a

needle

and spend

four years

dripping it

in

that's

the only

way

it's

impossible

Jesus

is not

he's making

a statement

so this

understanding

that there

is this

eye of the

needle gate

in the

wall of

Jerusalem

and only a

camel needs

to bow

down

and you

take

everything

off

that's

an

attempted

explanation

there's

no eye

of the

needle gate

in the

wall of

Jerusalem

Jesus

is saying

it's

impossible

and the

disciples

get it

look at

verse 25

when the

disciples

heard this

they were

greatly

astonished

that's

shocked

flabbergasted

what

who then

can be

saved

if the

rich folks

can't get

in

who can

that's

exactly

where Jesus

wants them

because it's

not only

wealth

that will

keep you

out of

the

kingdom

it's

any

idol

anything

that you

worship

above

God

it's

impossible

who can

be

saved

nobody

can be

saved

no one

has the

ability

to save

themselves

no one

in verse

26

Jesus

then says

something

that is

incredibly

incredibly

important

we first

read

but Jesus

looked at

them

and that

would have

been his

divine

x-ray

vision

into the

souls

of his

disciples

they would

have been

like

and he

says to

them

with man

this is

impossible

that anyone

would be

saved

but with

God

all

things

are

possible

with man

salvation

is

impossible

man

man can't

save

himself

only God

by his

impossible

grace

is able

to save

sinners

there is

only one

who is

good

there is

only one

who can

save

and so

what we see

Jesus saying

here is

what's

impossible

for you

is impossible

for God

his grace

alone

saves

and what we

know as

Christians

is this

what Jesus

did on the

cross

on Calvary

that made

the impossible

possible

his grace

his power

on display

on the cross

that makes

our salvation

possible

there is no

other way

so here

Jesus

clarifies

wealth

is not

a sign

of God's

favor

but actually

it's a

major

liability

it can

keep you

out of

the kingdom

everyone's

sin

keeps them

out

of the

kingdom

if it's

not

loving

wealth

maybe

it's

loving

sex

maybe

it's

loving

power

maybe

it's

loving

what

other

people

think

about

you

that'll

keep

you

out

because

you're

elevating

it

above

God

only

God

can

save

grace

and grace

alone

the

second

clarification

shows up

in verse

28

but it's

it's

a response

to Peter

verse 27

then Peter

said in

reply

see we

have left

everything

and follow

you

what then

will we

have

hey

the rich

dude

he walked

away

but Jesus

remember

on the

beach

he asked

me to

follow

you

I dropped

my nets

my livelihood

and I've

been following

you for

two and

a half

years

what about

us

what does

this mean

what will

we have

future

what will

we have

what's in

it for

us

and Jesus

response is

to clarify

what's coming

in the future

a future

grace

a future

inheritance

God's grace

saves us

and God's

grace awaits

us

he says

truly I

say to

you

in the

new

world

let me

clarify

you

in the

new

world

and what

he's

talking

about

there

in verse

28

I think

truly I

say to

you

in the

new

world

he's

talking

about

when

Jesus

comes

back

and

the

whole

heavens

and

the

earth

are

made

new

again

sin

the

curse

is

gone

on

that

day

when

he

makes

all

things

new

he

sits

on

his

glorious

throne

he's

reigning

on

high

the

kingdom

has

been

consummated

in

full

on

that

day

when

that

happens

you

will

receive

your

future

grace

you

will

receive

your

inheritance

notice

he calls

himself

the

son

of

man

when

the

new

earth

when

I

sit

on

my

glorious

throne

the

son

of

man

Daniel

7

he's

given

all

authority

dominion

over

all

nations

at

that

time

at

that

time

you

will

receive

your

future

inheritance

Jesus

says

nowhere

of

when

just

it's

out

there

it's

undefied

gap

between

his

first

coming

and

his

second

coming

we

don't

know

when

he's

coming

back

but

the

inheritance

is

there

he

then

clarifies

the

inheritance

itself

he says

to his

disciples

in

verse

28

on

that

day

new

earth

I'm

on

my

throne

you

who

have

followed

me

will

sit

on

twelve

thrones

judging

the

twelve

tribes

of

Israel

now

this

isn't

the

easiest

thing

to

explain

so

here's

what

we

know

for

sure

when

Jesus

comes

back

and

there's

a

new

heavens

and

new

earth

and

he's

sitting

on

his

throne

his

disciples

are

going

to

play

a

prominent

role

in

establishing

the

new

kingdom

consummated

kingdom

it's a

position

of

prominence

and

he's

speaking

of it

as

inheritance

it's

coming

Jesus

recognizes

that

for those

of us

who

follow

after

him

who

deny

ourselves

take

up

our

cross

follow

him

he's

saying

I've

got

you

there's

future

grace

that

awaits

my

grace

that

saves

you

there's

more

grace

waiting

in

verse

29

he

broadens

the

scope

he

says

and

everyone

who

has

left

houses

everyone

would

include

us

everyone

everyone

who

follow

after

Jesus

everyone

who's

left

houses

your

greatest

possession

everyone

who

leaves

brothers

and

sisters

father

mother

or

children

your

most

precious

relationships

everyone

who

leaves

them

who

leaves

your

lands

potential

inheritance

from your

parents

everyone

who

leaves

those

things

for

my

name's

sake

to follow

me

will

receive

a hundred

fold

and will

inherit

eternal life

you notice

the future

will receive

will inherit

it's waiting

it's coming

Jesus

understands

that we

give up

our homes

and we give up

relationships

and we give up

possible

future

inheritance

to follow

him

we get

cut out

of wills

because we're

followers of

Jesus

and Jesus

says

you're in

my will

Jesus is

directing

Peter's gaze

to the

future

return and

reign

when he's

on his

throne

I'll take

care of

you

in verse

30

we read

this

but many

who are

first

will be

last

and the

last

first

and I

don't know

about you

you read

that and

you're like

is Jesus

speaking in

code right

now

I don't

know what

he's

saying

and it

seems out

of place

doesn't

it

he's

just

talking

about

future

what's

this

mean

the

last

will be

first

and the