Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler

In there, we'll be spending most of our time in Luke 18 and the passages before that.

At this time in the book of Luke, Jesus is coming to the end of his ministry.

He is definitely faced towards Jerusalem.

Him and the disciples are headed that way.

And he has some urgent things still that he wants the disciples to know,

particularly concerning salvation and how men are to be saved.

And so today in our passage in Luke 18, starting in verse 18, we have a narrative account.

Something that actually happened.

This is not a parable, but something that happened.

And Jesus uses this again to teach his disciples about salvation.

Starting in verse 18, it says,

A certain ruler asked him,

Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Why do you call me good? Jesus answered.

No one is good except God alone.

You know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not murder.

Do not steal.

Do not give false testimony.

Honor your father and mother.

All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him,

You still lack one thing.

Sell everything you have and give to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come follow me.

When he heard this, he became very sad because he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus looked at him and said,

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Those who heard him asked,

Who then can be saved?

Jesus replied,

What is impossible with men is possible with God.

Peter said to him,

We have left all we had to follow you.

I tell you the truth, Jesus said to them.

No one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children

for the sake of the kingdom of God

will fail to receive many times as much in this age

and in the age to come eternal life.

So this is a pretty intriguing passage,

and it's one that's found in all three of what we call the synoptic gospels.

It's found in Matthew 19 and also in Mark 10.

And this guy comes, he has a good question.

It's one that's, you know, if we had one question to ask Jesus

and knew that we would get the truth,

this is probably as good a question as you could ask of Jesus.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

It's not the first time we've heard this question.

You guys remember a few months back,

Samir preached out of Luke chapter 10

Luke 10 · chapter mention

when a lawyer came up trying to trap Jesus,

and he asked the same question,

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus asked him, and he gave the commandments,

and then Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.

This young man seems to be coming with a different agenda on his mind.

By looking at all three passages,

we've learned a little bit about who this young man is.

First, in Matthew, we learn that he's young.

It doesn't mention that in Luke here,

but in Matthew, it talks about a young man coming to Jesus.

Here in Luke, we see that he's a ruler,

and therefore, we get that part from the Gospel of Luke.

And then all three of them talk about the man's wealth.

In the interchange there, it says that he went away sad

because he was very wealthy.

So we take all that together and we put it together,

and we have the rich young ruler.

Even though he's not called that in any of the passages,

he's known as that because of the three passages put together.

We also know a few other things about this young man.

He comes in Mark.

It talks about him running up to Jesus and kneeling before him.

So we know that he has this question.

He's very eager to know the answer.

He has a question that has to be answered.

Again, Jesus has been ministering in this area for a few years,

and perhaps this man has heard Jesus' teaching,

and he's finally come to the conclusion

that if anybody knows the answer to this question,

it's got to be Jesus.

And so I have to have this question answered.

And so we would say he's an eager young man.

We also would say that he's reverent.

In Mark, it also talks about him running up to Jesus

and kneeling before him to ask this question.

And so he's acknowledging that Jesus has some authority

and he has some weight to him.

I mean, even in his address to Jesus,

he calls him good teacher.

That's not something that was normally called of the teachers at that time.

The rabbis certainly were people that were asked questions,

but they generally wouldn't call them good teacher.

It would be like teacher or rabbi or something like that.

And like I said, he seems to have a very different agenda.

When some of these rulers and people from the area,

like the Pharisees and the scribes who come to question Jesus,

they came trying to trap him.

This man has a different purpose.

He needs to know the answer to this question.

And so we see him coming up and asking Jesus this question,

and we immediately think to ourselves,

if any of us have done any evangelism,

this looks like a pretty good prospect.

He's a hot lead.

He wants to know right away.

And so we have to ask ourselves then why he asked this question.

Out of all the questions, again, that he could ask Jesus,

he chose this one.

And like I said, I think it's a good question

and an important question.

But apparently there was something in him

that was needing an answer to this question.

I mean, apparently he was looking for some type of peace or joy

or just assurance, assured hope in something.

But definitely something was missing in him.

You know, he had the wealth.

He was a man of position.

We don't know exactly what it means to be a ruler, that Luke calls him,

but very possibly he was a ruler in the local synagogue

or possibly part of the Sanhedrin or something like that.

We tend to think he was part of the Jewish community there, probably not a Roman.

Just in his familiarity with Jesus and in the way he asks his questions,

he seems to be familiar with the commandments.

So he's probably a local Jewish ruler,

and that would kind of limit things in that time

since they were under the rule of Rome.

So he's looking for something.

And like I said, he seems to be familiar with Jesus

and also with the Old Testament.

It kind of brings to mind, perhaps you've heard some quotes.

St. Augustine, he talked about men being restless

until they find their rest in God.

And Blaise Pascal, he talked about men having a God-shaped hole in their heart

and that only God could fill that.

And so this man seemed to have that sense about him.

He had all these things.

There was money in the position.

He even seemed to have an upright moral character about him.

And yet all this did not satisfy him.

There was still something missing.

And so he asked this question about inheriting eternal life.

And so what is he asking for there?

What is this eternal life?

To understand that, we really need to, again,

Jesus talks much about eternal life,

and he talks about the kingdom of God.

And these two terms are used interchangeably,

even in these passages that we're looking at.

And so it's talking about something that is more of a quality

than a quantity of life.

Oftentimes we think of eternal life,

and we think of that time after we die that we are going to live forever.

And it's either going to be eternal life,

or it's going to be eternal death.

And that's what this young man seems to understand, that difference.

He understands that there's something missing,

and he wants that eternal life.

But again, it's more of a quality thing.

Before the fall of Adam,

when Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the Garden of Eden,

men had perfect fellowship with God.

They were able to commune with him and enjoy his presence,

have joy in his presence,

just to talk to him and walk with him,

and just fellowship and commune with God.

After the fall, we are no longer able to do that.

The Bible says that we are spiritually dead,

so we don't have this ability to commune and fellowship with God

and to seek after him.

And so the Jews, they understood this,

and they believed that God was eventually going to restore all things,

as he promised.

And they begin to think of that as the age to come.

They were looking back to that age before the fall,

and now they're in this period where because of our sin and our deadness,

we are no longer able to fellowship and commune with God.

And so they're looking for the time when God would restore things

and bring about that age to come when we would have, again,

that fellowship and communion with God.

And so they even talked about it as being that divine life,

that they could participate in God's life,

that life free from sin.

It's free from just the bindings of sin

and free from the bindings of time even.

And it's an eternal life that God possesses,

and yet he's going to impart that with us as well.

And this is what the Jews became to think of.

Jesus even tells us it's something more than just living forever.

He talked in John 3,

Nicodemus came and Jesus began to talk to him about the kingdom of God

and how one had to be born again to be a part of this kingdom of God.

So he's talking about a different life than we currently are living.

And so he's showing that, and this is what they believed,

it's much more than living for a long time.

And it's about living in a world like God dwells in

and being able to communicate and commune and fellowship with him

and just experience life the way God intended us to.

So that is behind what his question is.

When he says, you know, how do I inherit this eternal life?

He's asking for more than something, just life after death.

He's looking for something much greater than that.

And so then Jesus begins to answer him in kind of a strange way.

He asks the man a question right off the bat.

Why do you call me good?

Jesus answers.

He doesn't give him a chance to respond to this,

but Jesus is doing something here.

Again, he's not just answering the man's question directly,

but he's trying to show him something.

And I also would encourage you to remember that the disciples are watching this very closely.

And so Jesus is showing them something as well,

as the way he goes about dialoguing with this young man and answering his questions.

And so Jesus is, first off, he's saying, why do you call me good?

Only, no one is good except God alone.

And he's trying to show him that this young man, that he has a, in a sense, a wrong perception of what good is.

He, like most of us, tend to think of good as a relative term.

You know, we keep most of the commandments.

We only break a few.

We tend to think of that as good.

Or, you know, we're better than that person who, you know, has murdered five people or five million people or whatever.

We're better than them.

Therefore, we can call ourselves good.

But Jesus is saying that this is not how God views good.

When we talk about God being good, it's something totally different than that.

Only God is good.

All the rest of us, because we have sinned, because we have fallen short of God's standard,

have fallen short of giving him glory, we are not good.

We are evil in all that we do.

And that's what Jesus is trying to, first and foremost, get to, because he knows where this is going.

And he knows that this man is not seeing this rightly.

And probably thinks of himself as good.

And he wants, right off the bat, to communicate to this young man that you're not good.

And he's beginning to systematically kind of take apart this man's foundation for why he perhaps believes that he's very close to eternal life.

So he begins by talking about that.

Why do you call me good?

And like I say, he doesn't give him a chance to respond, because he's just trying to make a point there.

But then he goes right into, in a sense, answering this man's question.

And again, he does it in a way that perhaps we would not think to do.

Again, if you've done any evangelism, somebody comes up and asks you this question, you're going to have, you know, you've got a ready answer.

You know, oh man, he's wanting eternal life, he's wanting salvation.

He just needs to believe in Jesus and be saved.

And we tend to oversimplify it.

But again, Jesus knows this man's heart, and he knows that this man is not actually seeking what he seems to be seeking.

He's seeking something different.

And so Jesus doesn't say any of the things that we would say.

He doesn't say, whosoever calls on the Lord shall be saved.

He doesn't say what Paul said to the Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

Jesus could have quoted Isaiah 55, 6 through 7.

It says, seek the Lord while he may be found.

Call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

And let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him.

And to our Lord, to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

So we have all these things he could draw on.

And we've seen Jesus already in the Gospels.

He talks about if anyone thirsts, come to me, and I will satisfy.

He says things like, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

And so when he comes to this answer and he tells the man, you know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not murder.

Do not steal.

Do not give false testimony.

Honor your father and mother.

That doesn't seem like Jesus is preaching a gospel.

It sounds like he's preaching law here.

That somehow this man could be saved by keeping the commandments perfectly.

Again, that's not something where we would go.

We tend to emphasize, oh, no, salvation is a free gift.

You don't have to do anything to earn salvation.

You have to just believe.

And, you know, we want to emphasize that free gift so often because, you know, that'll hook them.

That'll draw them in.

Everybody wants something free.

And eternal life, that sounds like something really good.

So we offer them that and think that, wow, you know, they want that.

Surprise, surprise.

Who doesn't want something free?

And then so we just kind of lead them through a prayer and, well, you know, kind of pronounce them as saved.

But Jesus is saying that it's not always as it appears.

He's going to dig a little deeper into this man's heart and show these things, show us some things about so-called seekers.

And we say, you know, Jesus believes all those things that I just said.

You know, those are all perfectly true.

And like I said, Jesus pronounced some of these things himself in that it's just believe and you will be saved.

But, and he's believing those things.

And at the same time, we can say that just because he tells this man, you know, do these commandments, keep these and you'll be saved.

He's not distorting the gospel.

Again, he's using the law in a different way.

He's not using the law to show this man how to be saved.

But in a sense, he's using the law as the way Paul describes it in Galatians 3.24 as a tutor to teach us that we need to be saved.

He's using the law for that purpose.

Romans 7 through 13 says,

The law is good.

It is holy.

And the law helps us to know what sin is.

So, again, he's telling these to this man so that he can see the incredibly high standard that is required by God and also see the impossibility for any man to keep that standard.

Jesus wants this man to see that he had broken God's laws and was a sinner.

This man was not coming with that posture to Jesus.

He's coming with, see what I have, see all the good things that I have done.

What else do I need to do to have eternal life?

And Jesus is saying this is not the right posture to come to God in.

And we'll look at that a little bit more.

But Jesus knows that this is not going to save this man.

But what he wants to do, again, is to show this man that he has broken God's law and is a sinner.

Paul says the same thing in Galatians 3.10 through 14.

He says,

In fact, anyone who does try to keep the law actually is under a curse.

And only Jesus can redeem us from that curse.

And it's by faith that we gain that eternal life.

So Jesus shares God's law with this ruler.

And the young ruler says, at first, he says, he has kept the law.

So in his mind, again, he's not thinking that he's guilty.

And I'm probably looking at these externals of the five that Jesus mentioned in this passage.

He probably thinks, I have been faithful to my wife if he's married.

I haven't committed adultery.

I haven't murdered anybody.

I've never stolen.

He's a very rich man.

Why would he need to steal?

Perhaps he has honored his father and mother.

Perhaps he hasn't given false testimony.

And externally, all these things he probably has kept.

If he had been at the Sermon on the Mount, he might have heard Jesus talk more about how these things come from the heart.

And begin to have a take place in the heart that we break these commandments.

When Jesus says, you have heard it said, thou shalt not murder.

But I tell you, if you hate your brother, you have murdered him already.

And he would say things like, if you lust after a woman, you have already committed adultery.

And so Jesus gets much more internal.

And we might expect him to do that here.

To kind of like, okay, we've got to bring this down so that we can see that this is at a heart level.

But he lets the man just give his response.

I've kept all these commandments since I was a boy.

In verse 21 it says that.

All these I have kept since I was a boy.

But I suspect that if he knows about Jesus' teachings, he probably knows there's something more there.

And he still is waiting for the answer from Jesus.

Because this hasn't satisfied him.

He hasn't received this assurance that, oh, I've kept all these, therefore I must be inheriting eternal life.

There's still something missing in his heart.

So he needs more.

And then Jesus kind of goes right for the kill on this one.

And he says to the man, you still lack one thing.

Sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come follow me.

So Jesus doesn't deal with whether he had actually faithfully kept those five commandments or not.

He now goes for the most foundational commandment that there is in the first commandment in the Ten Commandments.

He knew that this man was not convinced that he was a sinner here.

And he knew the heart of this young man.

And so instead of going over these, he goes right to it and basically is showing this man that his possessions are a god to him.

We see his response says, when he heard this, he became very sad because he was a man of great wealth.

And it talks about in the other passages about him walking away with sadness.

So Jesus says, in a sense, successfully demonstrated to him that he had a different god.

He was not ready to serve God the way the first commandment said to have no other gods before the one true god.

He had this god of possessions.

And so Jesus, by giving him this requirement, knowing that he will not do it,

he shows that he has this one basic commandment that he has broken.

Essentially the first commandment, as the lawyer had talked about in Luke chapter 10,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

This man was not doing that.

And I think it's interesting that he went away sad.

There was a sense in that he knew Jesus had the authority to command that and to say, to follow me.

And he went away sad.

You've got to think that if he just disagreed with Jesus that this wasn't the right thing to do,

he would get mad and just kind of dismiss Jesus.

But the fact that he went away sad gives us a sense that he knows that that's true,

and yet he can't do it.

He's not going to be able to sell his possessions and follow Jesus.

And that's what Jesus begins to tell to the disciples.

First of all, we see this command of Jesus telling this man,

you need to sell all you have and give to the poor and then follow me.

And we see from Scripture that that's not a requirement to be saved.

I mean, there's plenty of other people, accounts in the Scriptures where Jesus pronounced people saved on the basis of their faith.

If you look just over in Luke 19, we're not going to read through that passage,

or perhaps you're familiar with the passage where Zacchaeus, the tax collector,

he has Jesus over to his house.

And Jesus just coming to his house causes this man to have such joy that he wants to, in a sense,

make up for the sins that he committed.

He's going to repay all the money that he had stolen.

He's going to begin to do things to help the poor.

It says that he sold half his possessions.

And Jesus declares that salvation has come to this house.

He didn't sell all his possessions.

He hasn't sold anything yet.

He's just saying, I'm going to sell half my possessions.

I'm going to repay what I've taken.

But Jesus says salvation has come to this house today based on the change that he saw in this man's life.

He was turning from what he had formerly done as a wicked tax collector

and defrauding people and lying to people and stealing from people.

And now he's turned into a person that wants to do what Jesus wants him to do

in repaying that and following after him.

And so it's not a requirement that he do all this,

but it's definitely a demonstration that there has been repentance in the heart of Zacchaeus.

And Jesus is able to say salvation has come to this house.

And there's other people that come to Jesus and demonstrate faith in various ways,

like the centurion who demonstrates a knowledge of authority.

And Jesus says, this is such great faith I haven't seen in the whole country of Israel.

And we get a sense that this man is saved and others are saved on the basis of their faith.

They didn't have to sell all their possessions.

But at the same time, there are times where Jesus requires some people.

You need to, he'll say things, you need to deny yourself.

You have to take up your cross and follow me.

You know, he gives an example of where some people come up with excuses as to why they can't follow Jesus.

And he basically says, you know, depart from me.

You're not ready to follow me if you're not ready to give up your family and your possessions and all these things.

And he's not saying that those things are requirements,

but those would definitely be demonstrations of repentance.

And that's what he's asking from this rich young ruler.

So I just want to make sure that you understand that this is not what was required.

What's required is that we worship God first and put him first,

that all these other things become secondary, lesser priorities.

None of us, to my knowledge here, have been asked to give up our family in order to be saved.

But there are countries in this world where that's, in a sense, what these people are being asked to do.

For Muslims to become Christians in some nations, they're going to have to give up their families.

Some of them are going to have to give up their jobs.

It's going to cost them a lot to become Christians.

It might cost them everything.

It might cost them their lives.

But that is certainly not the requirement in order to be saved.

It might be something that will happen to these people.

And that will be an opportunity for them to demonstrate repentance

and that they're willing to pay this cost.

And so we see that though this is not a requirement,

it's certainly within Jesus' right to demand everything that we have.

If we are going to follow him and confess him as Lord and King,

everything we have is his.

Our lives, our possessions, our reputations, everything belongs to him.

And so this is part of what this man understands,

is that Jesus has this right to demand this,

and he leaves with sadness.

Again, showing two things.

I think showing that he understands what Jesus is saying,

but also showing that he has an idol in his heart.

There's something that he is worshiping before the true and living God.

They're, like I said, violating the first commandment,

to have no other gods before God.

And so he leaves in sadness and walks away.

And Jesus can see the sadness on him.

Oop, I'm going to turn the page and lost my spot.

Okay.

So Jesus, in verse 24 now,

this is where Jesus really is turning his attention to the disciples

and teaching them and trying to explain to them

what has just happened and what they should be taking away from this.

And Jesus looked at him and said,

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle

than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

So he has this great illustration just showing how hard it is.

And in fact, it's impossible for men to be saved,

for these rich men to be saved.

And it's actually impossible for men to be saved.

And so he's trying to teach this to the disciples.

And he has this illustration of trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle.

It's impossible.

It's just not going to happen.

And the same way, a rich man in and of himself is not going to enter the kingdom of God.

And you'll see that.

That's kind of where he uses that interchangeably.

The young man asked, How do I inherit eternal life?

And Jesus now is talking about entering the kingdom of God,

just showing that those two things are the same.

When Jesus is talking about these, he's meeting the same things.

And so this prompts a question to be asked.

Who then can be saved?

And Jesus hears this question.

These people hear this, and they ask perhaps amongst themselves,

perhaps to Jesus directly, Who can be saved?

You know, they looked at this young man.

He's rich, wealthy.

He's got the position.

He's a ruler, you know, perhaps in the local synagogue.

He has everything going for him.

You know, they just heard, in a sense, how he testified to being morally upright,

that he's kept all the commandments.

And again, they're looking at this young man and just thinking,

if he can't be saved, who can be saved?

You know, in that culture, wealth especially, was viewed as a blessing from God.

If you were wealthy, you were blessed by God.

And so they're looking at someone, and they're thinking,

man, he's got extreme blessing from God,

and yet he's not going to enter the kingdom of God.

Who can be saved if he can't?

And so Jesus takes this opportunity again to teach,

and he just makes this statement.

Verse 27, Jesus replied,

What is impossible with men is possible with God.

And so we've got to understand, why is this so hard?

Why is it impossible for men to enter the kingdom of God?

And we have to understand, again, what Jesus was showing,

is that there is a heart there that has a defect.

It's dead.

It cannot worship the one true God.

And Jesus, in his teachings throughout the Gospels,

he talks about men needing new hearts.

He's saying out of the heart is where the sin comes from.

So that's where it comes out,

and that's what causes us to be dead

and are unable to come to God.

That's why he talked about, again, to Nicodemus in John 3,

you have to be born again.

You have to have this new life, this new heart

that can follow after God,

that can worship God as he ought.

And so we see over and over again in Scripture,

way back in the Old Testament,

it was prophesied even in Ezekiel

that God is going to come,

and he's going to sprinkle with water

and cleanse people's lives

and give them new hearts,

hearts that can serve God and follow after him.

And so Jesus is building on this

and just showing them that, again,

the disciples is like,

salvation is all of God.

This is not anything that man can accomplish on his own.

He needs a new heart.

He needs something done in his life

so that he can come to God

and repent of these things

and follow after Jesus.

And so we see this

and then Peter says to him,

kind of a strange statement.

He says,

we have left all we had to follow you.

I'm not really sure what Peter's getting at.

He's saying,

well, are you sure about that, Jesus?

Because we came to you

and, you know,

I'm not sure if he's just trying to get some

pat on the head,

like, yeah, you did a good thing, Peter.

But Jesus just keeps going

and showing him that, again,

salvation is all of God.

He says,

I tell you the truth,

Jesus said to them,

no one who has left home,

or wife,

or brothers,

or parents,

or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

will fail to receive many times as much

in this age

and in the age to come,

eternal life.

So in a sense,

he's saying to Peter,

you know,

God has given you all these things.

You've brought,

yeah, you've brought what you have

and you've given it to God,

but it's like,

you know,

complaining about spending a dollar

and hitting 500 million on the lottery.

Look what I had to spend

in order to win this 500 million dollars.

It's nothing in comparison

to what God has done

and what God is doing

in this life

and in the life to come.

Again,

that eternal life

encompasses all of that

from that moment

that we come to Jesus

and in faith.

He gives us that new heart

and at the same time,

a new life

that is able to fellowship with God

and commune with him

and follow after Jesus in that.

And so we see that

he's just,

all through this passage,

just trying to show these disciples

and the people who are listening

that salvation is a work of God.

You have to come to him

knowing that we are unable

to follow him

apart from the work of God

and all the blessings that follow

are God just pouring out

goodness

and multitudes of things

into our life.

Again,

not in response,

not because of anything

we have done,

but because of what God

has done in our lives.

So how do we respond

in this

if we're unable?

Jesus gives us some teaching.

Again,

this is right in the middle

of a section,

right before Jesus

is going to Jerusalem

to be crucified.

And so he's got some

intense teaching going on here

that he's doing

with these disciples.

And right before this

in Luke chapter 18,

Luke 18 · chapter mention

we have a couple

of passages

that help to demonstrate

a little more

of the proper response

to God.

Right after this,

we see,

I talked about the passage

with Zacchaeus

where, again,

Jesus is showing

this is the way people

are to respond to God.

There's going to be a change.

There's going to be repentance.

But here,

and before this

in Luke 18,

he has a couple

little parables

and another little

narrative passage

that kind of show

of what coming

to God

is going to look like.

So if you want to

just back up a little bit

there in Luke 18

to verse 9,

it says,

Jesus is directing

this parable

to some who are

confident

in their own righteousness.

It says,

to some who are

confident in their own

righteousness

and look down

on everybody else,

Jesus told this parable.

Two men went up

to the temple

to pray.

One a Pharisee

and the other

a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood up

and prayed about himself.

God, I thank you

that I am not

like other men,

robbers,

evildoers,

adulterers,

or even like

this tax collector.

I fast twice a week

and I give a tenth

of all I get.

Then we also have

this tax collector

who's there.

He's in the distance

and he says,

the tax collector

stood at a distance.

He would not even

look up to heaven

but beat his breast

and said,

God have mercy

on me,

a sinner.

I tell you

that this man

rather than the other

went home justified

before God.

For everyone

who exalts himself

will be humbled

and he who humbles himself

will be exalted.

And so we're seeing

kind of a contrast

here already.

We saw the passage

where that rich young ruler

came and we can see

that he came

more like the Pharisees.

He came talking

about himself

of what he had done.

or at least

we sense

that he's thinking

I have done

these things.

I have great wealth.

I have this position.

I think I'm pretty close

to eternal life.

I just need one more thing.

What good thing

do I need to do

to get eternal life?

And then we have

this tax collector

and he's more

of a demonstration

of how this man

should have come.

He should have come

just knowing

I'm an idolater.

I love my possessions.

I love my position.

I love the power

I have, the prestige.

And I know

this is an offense

to God.

These are keeping me

from him.

I need God's mercy.

And so this tax collector

these were the

these were kind of

considered the lowest

in society.

These were men

who were considered

traitors to the Jews

in that they served

the Roman occupying

government there.

They would collect

the taxes

and the Romans

really didn't care

how they went about it

and so they would

they could do it

in the most wicked

ways possible

of collecting

way more taxes

than they needed to

of defrauding

the people

in any way they could

but basically

they were considered

the worst sinners

of the people

at that time.

So when Jesus

talked about

a tax collector

that's what the people

would think

oh he's a bad guy.

He's just full of sin

and wickedness.

There's no hope

for him

but the way

he came to God

the posture

that he had

of beating

beating his breast

and just saying

God have mercy

on me

a sinner

I'm a wicked sinner

and I am totally

in need of God's mercy.

Jesus is in that

Richard Young Ruler

passage showing

this is the posture

that that man

should have come to.

He's just basically

again telling me

he told this parable

to people who were

trusting in their

righteousness

and he's just

showing them

that being righteous

and their righteousness

was according

to their own standards

not to God's standards.

He's not talking

about people

who are righteous

according to God's standards

but their own righteousness.

They thought themselves

righteous

because of the way

they conducted

their lives.

Perhaps they thought

well we go to the temple

every week

we pay our tithe

you know like

they said

I fast twice a week

I give a tenth

of all I get.

There's so many

religious things

that we do these days.

We give our offerings

who come to the worship service

there's many that

believe that's enough

that's the good works

that they are doing

and they believe themselves

to be righteous.

Some people just

because they're not involved

in certain types of sins

you know I don't do drugs

I don't get drunk

I'm not immoral

I'm not cheating on my taxes

so therefore I'm righteous

I'm doing things

the right way.

Also maybe some

just because of the type

of church they go to

you know I go to

a Lutheran church

or a Baptist church

or you know

a Buddhist church

whatever

just belong to a

Bible believing church

whatever it is

they equate that

with righteousness

and think I do these things

therefore I'm righteous

but understand

these are all

man's standards

this is their own righteousness

they've declared

themselves righteous

God has not

declared them righteous

according to their standards

his standards

none of them are righteous.

we do these good deeds

to make ourselves

look righteous

but they come from

a sinful heart

and they're offensive

to God

they have selfish motives

involved in trying

to make ourselves

righteous

and that is just

compounding

the wickedness

that we have.

If we get into

this conundrum

of trying to do

enough good works

to please God

you never know

when you have enough

there is nowhere

in scripture

that says

this is how many

good works you must do

to enter the kingdom

of heaven.

I mean Jesus set

that standard

pretty high

you have to keep

all the commandments

perfectly.

A few years ago

I had some

Jehovah's Witnesses

come to the door

and the first

I didn't want to talk to them

Jasmine had been

they had been coming

during the week

and having talks

with Jasmine

and so this was like

I think it was a holiday

like Labor Day

and of course

they don't like

celebrating holidays

so they go out

and do some door to door

and you know

they came to our door

and I was like

I don't want to deal

with them

I was busy

doing something

but Jasmine invited them

and she had

been regularly

talking to them

and somehow

they drew me

into the story

into the conversation

and they told me

I needed to do

good works

to be saved

and I asked the lady

I said

well how many

because I don't want

to do more

than I have to

and she's just

kind of like

what

I'm like

I understand

I've got to do

some good works

to be saved

but how many

do I have to do

you know

can you show me

in scripture

you know

just where the line is

I just want to

kind of ease

over the line

and you know

be saved that way

and she just

didn't know

what to do

with me really

but she took me

to another passage

in Matthew

where Jesus talks

about good trees

producing good fruit

and bad trees

producing bad fruit

and she said

here don't you see

you need to produce

good fruit

and I said

okay

so you're saying

I'm a bad tree

and she's like

yeah

I said

so how do I

produce good fruit

and she's just like

I'm like

how do I become

a good tree

and she goes

well you do good

you produce good fruit

I said

but I'm a bad tree

I produce bad fruit

how can I produce

good fruit

and when you get

into that works

righteousness

there's no assurance

you don't know

where the line is

you don't know

have I done

enough good works

have I done

too many bad works

and you realize

there's nothing

in scripture

that will show you

where that line is

because the line

is way high

only Jesus has kept it

and everybody else

falls short

whether you've done

one sin

or a billion sins

you still fall short

you're a sinner

condemned by God

and that's his standard

and so we are all

in need of mercy

just like that tax collector

he's no more wicked

than we are

apart from God

we are all

fall way short

of God's standard

then Jesus has

another story

there

right after that

in Luke

starting in verse

18 verse 15

it says

people were also

bringing babies

to Jesus

to have him touch

them

when the disciples

saw this

they rebuked them

but Jesus called

the children to him

and said

let the little children

come to me

and do not hinder them

for the kingdom of God

belongs to such as these

I tell you the truth

anyone who will not

receive the kingdom of God

like a little child

will never enter it

and so we hear

again we're seeing

an aspect of

how do we come

to Jesus

and this one's

kind of troublesome

because we don't

really know exactly

what Jesus is saying

and he's come

as a little child

you know some people

have suggested

well maybe

you know children

are pretty humble

maybe we gotta go

in humility

and I'm like

I don't know

I have a two year old

and there's nothing

humble about him

as

you know at times

if he doesn't get

what he wants

he would kill you

if he could

he gets that angry

he wants his way

so bad

so I'm not sure

that there's a humility

there that we want

to emulate

in children

and same thing

you know people

will say like

well children

have such pure faith

and the reality

is children

will believe anything

they are very gullible

it's not a faith

based on knowledge

it's just

you know

it's one of the

conundrums of doing

Sunday school

and evangelism

with children

is that it's very easy

to get them to pray a prayer

if that's what you're aiming for

if you can

you know

there's so many

vacation bible schools

and things like that

where their whole goal

is to get that child

to pray a prayer

and then kind of like

pat them on the head

and oh good

you've inherited

eternal life

and these kids

can grow up

thinking that

and they're

believing a lie

because they haven't

repented of their sin

and followed

after Jesus

so

but one thing

that we do see

in here

is that people

were bringing

the babies

to Jesus

there was a common

Jewish practice

for the parents

to bring

their one year olds

usually

to the local rabbis

or to a local official

to receive blessings

and these parents

were bringing

these helpless

children

to Jesus

and wanting

blessings from him

and I think

that's more the aspect

of what Jesus

is going after here

that these are

helpless

children

they're coming

to God

helplessly

they're actually

being brought

to God

they're being brought

to Jesus

in much the same way

we have to be brought

to Jesus

we are helpless

to go there

we won't seek

after him

apart from

a work being done

and so

we see

these two aspects

of how these people

came

the tax collector

he comes

just in search

of mercy

and coming

like a baby

is just coming

with helplessness

God I cannot

change myself

only you can do that

and we come

to him

looking for

that eternal life

and so as we

close today

I just want to pray

that some of you

are feeling

restless

perhaps

maybe you know

that you don't yet

have eternal life

and like this rich

young ruler

you need to have

that question answered

what do I have

to do to have it

I just want to say

I know you're in need

of God's mercy

all of us

are in need

of God's mercy

and all of us

are helpless

to do anything

about it

but I believe

that today

like those

helpless infants

that the parents

were bringing

to Jesus

God has brought

you here today

he has brought

you here

to hear

from his son

and I'm just

telling you

that Jesus

today

he's asking

the same thing

he's asking

to repent

and believe

and I'm telling

you too

he's asking

you to do

something

that's impossible

for you to do

but with God

all things

are possible

and so even

as Jesus

would tell

there's a passage

in Mark

where Jesus

tells a paralytic

this man's

never walked

before

his friends

had to come

and lower him

down through

a hole in the roof

and Jesus

tells the man

rise up

take your pad

and leave

he asked the man

to do the impossible

but the man

immediately

rose up

rolled up his pad

and left

the same time

that Jesus

asks you

to do the impossible

he gives you

the ability

to do the impossible

he will give

you a heart

that can

repent of your

sins

and follow

after him

he will help

you to turn

from those

false gods

of possessions

and power

and pleasure

and to follow

him

and so he's

asking you

to do the impossible

but let me tell you

it's possible

with him

perhaps there's

also some

here today

that think

they believe

but are really

trusting in

themselves

they're like

the Pharisees

they have this

pile of good

works

that that's

what they're

trusting in

and I just

ask you today

to ask these

questions

where is your

hope

when you ask

why do I

have eternal

life

do you immediately

start listing off

a list of things

that you have

done

or do you

think immediately

of what God

has done

for you

in your life

do you know

God's peace

and rest

are you looking

for that one

more thing

to help me

have assurance

that I have

eternal life

I know that God

will not let you

have that rest

if you are not

fully trusting

in him

so if you're

having that

lack of peace

and lack

of rest

about that

please ask

God to

what is it

that is keeping

me from

Christ

and come to him

again helpless

to change

but knowing

that we are

in need of

change

we are great

sinners

in need of

salvation

I know there's

some of you

that are already

following Jesus

and we just

give praise to God

and rejoice

that he did

the impossible

for us

that he has

made us a

disciple

and yet

at the same

time he calls

us to make

more disciples

so we need

to spend

a lot of

time like

those disciples

just meditating

on those passages

of how a person

is saved

and what a

right way

to come to

God is

we need to be

finding those

lost and

bringing to

Jesus

just the way

that the

parents brought

their helpless

children to

Jesus

and then we

just kind of

like Jesus

to try to

help them

understand their

need for a

savior and

point them to

Jesus who is

the way the

truth and the

life

so let me

pray for us

now

dear heavenly

father again I

just do give you

thanks that you

do save sinners

father that

as we follow

after Jesus

and see the

way he lived

his life

father and as

we follow him

all the way to

the cross

and we see that

place where

where Jesus was

crucified and

died for our

sins

father and then

we continue to

follow and we

see him raised

from the dead

with victory

over sin and

death

father and we

see that he

is who he

says he is

the lord Jesus

Christ and the

one whom we

should follow

and worship

father we just

thank you for

making that

known to us

father I also

just pray for

those this

morning who

who you have

caused to hear

the gospel

preached

father as they

you cause them

to see your

son as the

one who calls

people to

repentance and

belief

father I

pray that you

help them

now help

give them

hearts that

they might

come and

repent of

their sins and

turn to

Jesus

father again we

just thank you

for this time

pray to you

continue as we

sing in worship

to help just

empower our

worship to you

as it is due

father I thank

you that

just pray that

you would

again by your

spirit cause

your words

that they're

here in the

scriptures to

have power in

people's lives

to change

them power

to just cause

your disciples

to do the

work that you

have called us

to in making

disciples

father but in

all these things

we rejoice that

you are great

that you love

us and that you

are full of

mercy towards

sinners

let's pray these

things in Jesus

name

amen