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Yeah, I get it, that was good. All right, let me bring up the outline because we're progressing. We are in part two, the ministry of the servant, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ, and you notice that we're actually on sea, the journey to Jerusalem. In Mark chapter 10, verses 1 through 52 is what we've been going through. And we took a week off last week, but let's go to Mark chapter 10 this morning, and we're going to look at verses 23 through 34. Mark chapter 10, verses 23 through 34. And I'm going to propose a question based on this particular passage of Scripture. Can the wealthy get saved? Can the wealthy get saved? And, of course, you already know the answer to that. But it is with great difficulty, and the Lord is going to address that issue. Maybe you can walk the mic down just a hair for me. It's a little bit hot. Thank you. Mark chapter 10 verses 23 through 34. This is what the Bible has to say. And Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. By the way, what did we talk about two weeks ago? The rich young ruler came to him, right? And asked the Lord, what should I do to obtain eternal life? And the Lord began to address that. And finally he said, you've got an idol in your life, and it's your riches. Go give it all away, and then you come follow me, and you'll obviously come to know what it means to be saved. Well, he turned away, didn't he? He went away with great sadness, because he had great wealth. So Jesus uses this as an opportunity to deal with idols in the hearts of people. But, I want you to look at very carefully, have you ever wondered When did the disciples get saved? And at this point in time, how many of them do you think are truly saved? So I want you to think about that as we're looking through this passage of scripture, because I'm going to suggest them to you. Some of the core disciples are not believers yet. They're followers. And they're committed to discipleship. But I don't think that some of them are actually born again yet. And he says in verse 23, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answereth again and saith unto them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." By the way, many of the liberals have tried to say that what Jesus was really referring to there is a camel going through the needle gate into the city of Jerusalem, which was a smaller gate, and it kind of got down on his knees and crawled through. That's not what he's talking about. We're going to look at that in great detail. He's talking about, you know, a little sewing needle. running a camel through that. That's what He's going to be talking about. And so that's why, notice what He said, that's why they were astonished in verse 24. But verse 26, again, and they were astonished, out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but with God for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and followed thee." That's one of those key verses in the Insight about Peter's true spiritual condition at this point in time. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake, and the Gospels, but shall receive an hundredfold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last first." Let's pray. Lord, our world lies in deception from the evil one and from our own minds conjuring up methods of salvation which you never proclaimed. And how easy it is, Lord, because of our sinful pride, to want to say that we had a part in getting ourselves to heaven. But you, through the Apostle Paul, you instructed him as he was out in the wilderness, that salvation is by grace through faith alone. You are the Savior. And so help us to exalt you today and clarify these issues. And may those who are within the hearing of my voice on Sermon Audio and on Facebook and here in this auditorium, Lord, I pray that they would listen carefully to examine themselves to make sure that they're in the faith. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. When the rich young ruler departed from the Lord, he did so because he was grieving over the fact that he had an idol in his life, and the idol was his wealth. And it was keeping him literally from becoming what he should be for God. Trusting Christ as his Savior and letting his life be turned around. But when Jesus turned around, he looked at the face of the disciples. And you know what else? He saw a similar response in their faces. The real reason is because of the greedy nature of people. Back up to verse 22. And it says, the rich young man, he was sad at that saying and went away greed, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, remember the Lord did not say to the rich man that if he went and sold his possessions, He would attain eternal life. He never said that to him. Jesus was driving home the point, and I don't want you to miss this, that if you truly are gonna know Christ as your Savior, there needs to be two aspects of salvation that you must understand. Salvation is not just calling out, Jesus, I want you to take me to heaven after I die and become my eternal fire insurance policy. Salvation by the work of the Holy Spirit revealing unto you begins with repentance. The Greek word metanoia. You must turn from your sin. And it is God that will bring you to that condition. And when the Apostle Paul begins in the book of Romans to deal with that, in Romans chapter 3, he drives that truth home, doesn't he? Romans chapter 3 and verse 10, as it is written, there's none righteous, no not one. Verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is something that we must recognize in and of ourselves. We must recognize our sinful state. That not only do we need saving, but secondly, that the despicable state that we find ourselves in spiritually, that we cannot do anything about it. We cannot save ourselves. Well, the rich young ruler came and he said, you know what, I want to know what I need to do to get eternal life. We focused on that word do because that represented a false theological premise that was popular at that day. And by the way, is it popular today? It certainly is. It's very popular today, but it's just as wrong today. The idea, what can I do to gain eternal life? And the answer to that is, Nothing. There's nothing you can do to gain eternal life. Absolutely nothing. If it were possible, then why did Christ ever come and die? But, to begin the process of really coming to Christ, it means that you've got to set aside the, what can I do, because really coming from a sinful heart is really coming from a prideful heart. And you need to mark the idols in your life. What are the idols in your life? Well, they may not be mine, and yours might be different than somebody else's, but the fact of the matter is, is there's idols in everyone's heart. For the rich man, it was obviously his riches. And now the Lord is gonna challenge the motives of the disciples, listen very carefully, on achievement-based Christianity. God the Father will never accept you by what you do for him. Dramatic pause. God the Father will never accept you by what you do for him. He will only accept you on the premise of what Christ did for you. That is the only premise of acceptance that you will ever have before God. Well then you say, Ross, then why should I go on and live for the glory of God? You live for the glory of God for what we talked about last week out of a grateful heart. Grateful that Christ has saved you. And wanting to glorify Him and thank Him with a life spent for His honor and glory. But that life that you will even spend, you know, if you're a missionary, if you're a faithful servant in the local church, all that you're ever going to do is never going to achieve, build upon, or in the sense that gain you salvation. It will never accomplish anything in that particular way. And that is going to be the point of what Christ is going to drive home in this lesson here in just a few moments. And by the way, the disciples aren't going to do very well at learning this lesson. You're going to see that in just a moment. So the future of the gospel. In order to keep the gospel clear, the need for willing learners to pay attention to what Christ is teaching. The great mainline denominations, most of them, especially in Protestantism, all began with preaching the gospel, didn't they? If you were to listen to the Wesley brothers, you would hear the ringing out of the gospel. All you have to do is read some of their sermons. One of the classes that I took when I was in Bible college had stacks of sermons from Wesley and many of the old-time preachers, Whitefield, and what we had to do was go through and read them. They were stenographically recorded, meaning that they had no outline, and we had to go and pick out their outline to force us to think sermonically in outline format and to be able to reverse that process and bring that to you. Well, the Wesley brothers clearly preached the gospel Martin Luther clearly preached the gospel That's why he went and and nailed that that you know the 99 thesis on the door at Wittenberg saying that Josh shall live by by faith. Salvation is by faith through grace alone. And so, we understand that the beginning of these great movements was with a pure and a true gospel. But through time, it has degenerated from what Christ did for us to what we can do and cooperate with Christ to now. We can do it, and if we do it, then Christ will somehow, well, that's okay, then I'll give you salvation based on what you've done, whether that's baptism, whether that's giving to the church, whether that's indulgences, whether that's communion, whether that's, you know, you name it. Isn't that sad that it's degenerated to that? Well, don't be surprised. The Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching and preaching the exact same thing. And yet the Apostle Paul makes it very clear. How did the old patriarchs get saved? Did they get saved by keeping the law? No, the book of Hebrews nails that absolutely not. Abraham, it was accounted unto him he believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. Abraham was saved by grace through faith, just like we are saved by grace through faith. And so Jesus is going to drive this message clearly home. Look at verse 23, and as Jesus looked round about, he saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Now, the look of sadness, we're going to see two things that are going to cause Christ to respond, and he's going to do it in a very compassionate way. And I want you to see that. Look at the beginning of verse 23, and Jesus looked round about. Now drop down to verse 27, and notice that mark, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, emphasizes it again, and Jesus, looking upon them, saith, Right now, I want you to know that Jesus is looking down from heaven, and he sees you in this room. He sees your real needs. He sees into your mind and into your heart. Thou, God, knowest everything. God sees me, and He sees the need. Jesus watched the young man depart and looked at the faces of the disciples to see their reaction. His locking of eyes with them captured their mind. You know, sometimes it's good for us to use our sanctified imagination, and just picture the throne room in heaven, and there's God the Father on the center throne, and seated at the right hand is Jesus, and the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, that's biblical, because when Stephen is stoned in the book of Acts, it says that the heavens opened before him, and he actually saw that picture, didn't he? He saw that setting in heaven and that Jesus was standing at the very moment of Stephen stoning. Picture Christ is there, and what is He doing right now? He's looking down at you. He is monitoring us. He is paying attention to us. Well, Christ saw that their reactions were, and this is a very sad description, they were astonished. Ekpleso in the Greek, meaning that it was like it slapped them across the face. Look at verse 23, and Jesus looked round about and he says, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And in verse, he says, verse 24 at the end, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? And it says there that they were grieved, and then later on it says that they're absolutely astonished, and the idea is literally if Christ would have slapped them across the face. Now, what is that exposing? It's exposing a couple of things. It shouldn't have been like a slap across the face because they should have recognized the greater the idol of pride in the human heart, the more difficult it is to repent of that and to see the need of Christ in your life. And riches are one of those intrinsic, difficult things to overcome. Why? Because if you can buy your way, why should you pray your way? If you think you've got everything, you know, I don't need you, I don't need anybody else because I have riches in the bank, and I can just go, I can provide for myself anything that I need. I don't need you if you're independently wealthy, like that young man was. But your money doesn't spend in heaven. Your money has no merit with God. Your money cannot purchase that which Christ alone is going to talk about in the next few verses, that Christ would provide by dying on the cross of Calvary. So Jesus, his teaching on our sinful nature needs to be driven home in our heart, because if you don't understand your sinful nature, you truly can't understand what it means to be saved. You can't understand what it really means to trust Christ as your Savior. So in the second part of verse 23, notice what he says, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. By the way, you'll notice there, the kingdom of God, he's using that because he's talking to the children of Israel, and he's using that synonymously with the gospel, and I'll deal with that a little more in just a minute. The end of verse 24, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? You'll notice he reiterates that twice. Why would he do that? It's because obviously the disciples really aren't getting it, are they? They're really not on page. They're really not, and I think, let me, can I bring you into the story? Jesus, the rich man, the rich young man departs and Jesus, you know, said, how hard is it for those that are rich to enter into the kingdom of God? And literally it was like Jesus slapped him across the face and they go, Jesus looks at them and he sees the response and so he says it again and he sees that they're even more awestruck and so what does that say to the Lord? I haven't got through to you. I haven't got through to you. And now I'm going to press this home because, and by the way, historically the setting, the timing, How long is it before Jesus is going to die on the cross of Calvary? And is it significantly important for them to understand what salvation is really all about because he's going to provide that? You're talking just a short period of time, days. It is days away before he's going to go to the cross, and yet his core disciples still don't have this down. The Bible says that it's hard for a rich person to be saved. Jesus, for the sake of the gospel, is going to equate here. The fact that the kingdom of God and all those who will one day go into the millennium Are going to be what they're all going to be saved The bible tells us in romans chapter 11 and verse 26 and all israel shall be saved I put it out to you in the prophecy study that we did when you get into the tribulation period by the time you get to the end of the tribulation period there's the judgment of the sheep and goat nations when Christ returns to this earth, Revelation chapter 19. And this is the very beginning of the setting up of the 1,000 year millennial reign. And it spoke about in Matthew, in Mark 13, in Matthew 24 and 25, and it says, and two shall be working in the field, one shall be taken and the other left. That is the judgment of the sheep and goat nation. By the way, the one taken is literally cast into hell. The one that is that left is the believer that will actually go into the Millennial Kingdom. Believers that have been reached by the 144,000 Jewish witnesses during the Tribulation period. That's the judgment of the sheep and goat nation. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 11, verse 26, that at the beginning of the thousand-year Millennial reign, we're going to be there to rule and reign with Christ. The Tribulation saints that die to be resurrected, they'll be there. But those that live through the tribulation, only the saved, get to go into the thousand-year millennial reign. So Jesus is equating, when he's talking about the kingdom of God, what do the disciples think is about to happen? that Christ is about to establish his earthly millennial kingdom. Now, obviously, he's not going to do that. There's going to be a post-moment. He's got to go to the cross and pay that price. But in the minds of the disciples, he's using the thoughts that they would be thinking, hey, we're going to go into the millennium, and Christ is saying, you can't go, because you're not what? You're not saved. You cannot go. You're not going to be able to go. And Jesus' teaching that riches, as well as our sinful nature and anything else you place as an idol in your life, is a handicap to seeing the need for trusting Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. You know, the rich young ruler had conquered many things in his life, had he not? Because Jesus said, and he quotes, remember he quotes from the Decalogue, the Law? And he said, yeah, I've done really well in several areas. But Jesus turned around and said, but what about your wealth idol? And of course he said, no, I'm not willing to trade my wealth idol for God. And so he walked away very, very sad. Well, Jesus had a special burden. This is something I want you to recognize. Jesus had a special burden for the rich and their false security. Pastor Shane and I were talking one day, and he says, you know, God has really given me a ministry to the down and outers. He said, God has allowed me to touch the, you know, the street people and those whose lives have been a wreck, and I've been involved in that. But he says, God has really given you the ability to reach into some very wealthy people's lives. And down through the years, by God's grace, that has been true. I've been able to meet at least two billionaires and had ministry with several millionaires and influence them and impact them. One millionaire down in the Twin Cities I told you about, he called me into his office and he said, hey, you know, I'm restructuring my businesses. Can you help me? I can help you with spiritual matters, but I have no clue on the business side. Don't ask me those things." And he said, but I trust you as a spiritual leader. And I said, if I give you advice, that trust would end really quickly here once you apply that to the business road. That's like the other millionaire said, I'm building a road. Can you help me design that road? Papa passed. No, I can't help you design that road. But God has allowed that influence with rich people. And I want you to know that rich people are very unique. If this is what I've found with the millionaires that I've developed relationships with to get the gospel into them, when they finally accept you into their circle, man, they accept you all the way. Once they know that your motives are pure and you're not after their money, let me tell you, they will really, really become loyal. You can tell them, hey, you're ugly today, and I think you're stupid, nigga. Well, you know, I appreciate your opinion. I mean it, they'll just, when they finally buy into a friendship, and I think it's because there's very few people that they can trust at faith value, because they know a lot of people are just after their money, and they'll say nice things to them, they'll be nice to them, but in reality, they know it's all for one thing, so that you'll get a check in the end. And so when they find somebody who's really not for that, they develop that trusting relationship, and obviously it's a wonderful opportunity for us to do what? To bring the gospel to them. To bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives. So Jesus reiterates, and then he gives instruction in verse 24. Now the disciples, notice what it said, they were astonished at his word. But Jesus answered and said again, children, how hard is it for them that trust in the richest to enter into the kingdom of God? And they're like, no, no, no, you don't really mean that. And so Jesus is gonna say something that, he's gonna drive it home and he's gonna say, oh yeah, yeah, I really mean this. Look at verse 25. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now first I want you to note in verse 24 he addresses them as children. I mentioned to you before, there are multiple Greek words that describe the different ages of development within the Greek language. There's brephos, technon, padeion, huios, which is the adult. This one, you'll notice he uses the term technon, which means a young learner. And so he's trying to communicate to them that I'm teaching you, but you are very You're very young in this particular area. But he doesn't mean it's a bad thing, because if you'll remember, just before in chapter 10, he said, except you, if you don't accept the kingdom of God as a little child, you never will. Remember when the disciples said, keep the children away, and he was still in the house, and that's where he taught unto Morris, and the dads and the moms tried to bring their children to Jesus, and they said, no, Jesus didn't want it. They said, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And he picks up on that and he says, you are my little children, just like those little ones that came in unto me. And I love you like that, but you need to have their kind of trusting heart. You need to have their willing response. You need to be willing to do what I'm asking you to do. And by the way, this is the only time in the Gospels, in the entire New Testament, where this designation, technon, in the Greek, child, in the Greek, is used of the twelve disciples. And he says, now, I want you to know that there's a problem, and he says, how hard is it for them to, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say, how hard is it for them who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God? God is not saying that he disapproves of wealthy people. As a matter of fact, some of the most godly people I have ever met were millionaires, were absolute, I mean, extremely wealthy. The one who started Northland was running two orphanages in foreign countries and investing. He not only started Northland Baptist Bible College, but was funding one of the other major Bible colleges. And he was making $800 an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And when I knew him at that particular time, he was worth over $60 million. And his whole goal was to see how much he could invest it to the glory of God and give it away and to serve God. One of the most humble men I've ever met. But notice what it says in the end of verse 24. This is critically important to pay attention to the phrasing by the Holy Spirit, them that trust in riches. He doesn't say that you have riches, it's an issue. He is saying that those who have put their faith and trust in riches, and by the way, there are people who can put their faith and trust in their moral goodness. Was that not also the problem of the rich ruler? Wasn't that young man, didn't he have a problem in that particular area? You can put your trust in many things and think it's gonna all work out. But the Lord is trying to teach here that it's the trust in those riches as if it's going to take care of you, not only for time, but eternity. 1 Timothy 6.10 says, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Now, Jesus has taken up a segment of the society that is going to find it very hard to see the need for salvation. The idols of riches, though, are just one example that we need to understand. What are some of the other, what are some of the idols that keep people from Jesus Christ? What about power? to be a powerful person. Those get involved in politics. What about selfishness? What about laziness? What about pride? What about rebellion? What about the desire just to live an independent, selfish life? What about stubbornness? What about religious pride? All of these things can keep us from seeing the need of trusting Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. And so Jesus is going to drive home this very poignant illustration of the idol of riches that are keeping people from salvation. And so he says, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now, a camel to go through the eye of a needle. I want to give you a little historical understanding as to why Jesus used that particular phrase. And, by the way, it's going to go way back in history. Way, way back to the time of the Babylonian Talmud. This is a common proverb of that day, and the ancient Babylonian Talmud twice mentions a similar one, But you know what the ancient Babylonian Talmud, by the way a Talmud is a translation of that particular time and putting into language that twice mentions it, but it was an elephant. going through the eye of a needle, in the Babylonian case, okay? So it's even more difficult, okay? You might be able to squeeze the little camel through there, but I'll tell you what, you bring an elephant, it's really gonna be tough. So anyway, the camel was the, and the reason Jesus used that, it was a proverb, a maxim of the day, the camel was the biggest animal familiar to Palestine, so Christ used that particular proverb. The idea is complete impossibility. You can't put a camel through a sewing needle's eye. unless you're Messiah. You see what he's driving home? You can't do that unless you're creator. Who controls the elements? I'll talk about that in a minute. This statement, by the way, the camel going through the eye of the needle is also found in the book of the Quran. And it is still used amongst the Arabs today. in their reference to Allah. Now the disciples' response to this instruction, it's easier to go through, you know, a camel to go through the eye of a needle, for a rich man to be saved, look at verse 26, and they were astonished out of measure. The idea behind that meanings that they're just feelings of utter bewilderment. Okay, then, and by the way, were the disciples rich? Some of them were fairly wealthy. Some of them were. The fishing business of Peter, James, and John, you know, hey, that was a great business that they were in business with their father. And now, what about Matthew? What about Levi? Was not he a wealthy man, being, you know, from what he was doing before? You bet. Some of those guys, they had resources. So they're astonished beyond measure, and they were completely, verse 26, they were shocked at the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus is saying, hey, you know, it's easier for the camel to go through an eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to be saved. But can God save a rich man? Can God do these miraculous things? Wouldn't it have been a good time for them to remember about Jesus walking on the water? Wouldn't that have been a good time right about then? Wouldn't it have been a good time for them to remember Jesus feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000, breaking the loaves and the fishes, and how the elements of those things just kept reduplicating themselves? Wouldn't it have been good? Hey, wouldn't it be a good day today for you to remember how great your God is? Isn't every day a good day to remember how great your God is? So the struggles and limitations of our lives that are beyond our control to handle, Why do we worry? Why do we, why are we upset? Why are we astonished? And how do we think, man, this is so impossible, it's never gonna work out. Wouldn't it be good if you remembered about that time Jesus walking on the water, beating the 4,000 and the 5,000. God can do these things and he can take care. The disciples display their limited theological thinking in that they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved? Their thinking was unbiblical about salvation, because if the camel needs to go through the eye of a needle in order for for a rich man to be saved, how on earth could that ever possibly happen? For anyone to be saved from their sin, it would be absolutely, utterly impossible to be saved, and that is the point that Christ is driving home. For you to get your sins taken care of, it would be easier for me to bring a camel here into the front of the auditorium and say, okay, all of us are gonna work together to try and get that camel through a needle's eye. Jesus said, it's easier for you to put the camel through the eye of that needle than it is for you to solve your sin issue. You can't solve your sin issue. We can't solve our sin issue. And he's driving this home to the disciples. For anyone to be saved from their sin, Jesus Christ is going to have to die. Which, by the way, in verses 32 to 34, which we'll pick up on next week, he's going to drive that home to the disciples. He's going to say, listen, the only way that any of you get saved is if I go to Jerusalem and die for you. Are they going to get it? No. You look up in verses 35 on, you know, they come to him and said, hey, can we sit on your right hand in the kingdom? I meant deer in the headlights. They do not get this at all. The disciples' poor responses again met by Christ's loving and longing look in verse 27, though, and Jesus looking upon them. By the way, I would have found it very difficult that day to look on them with any compassion. I would have wanted to grab them by the hair and say, you knotheads, haven't you listened to anything that I've been teaching you? We did the four-month tour way up north above the Sea of Galilee, and you haven't got anything that I've been trying to tell you. But that's not the inference of the language in verse 27, and Jesus looking upon them, and it is a look of compassion, it is a look of sadness, it is a look of a desire to see them be what they should be. Salvation, literally, is only made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ, and they must recognize Even though they left all, they left their nets, they left the tax booth, they left doing all the things that they were doing, and they said, we're going to follow Christ, and he's going to deal with that in just a minute. But he's going to emphasize that with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Can I take you somewhere? I want to take you somewhere where immediately you're going to go, okay, it is possible. I want you to picture before there was a sun, before there was a moon, before there was the stars, before there was a universe, before that there's anything, the only thing that exists is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And God the Father takes the blueprint of all material creation, and he hands it to the Son. And out of nothing, those Latin words, ex nihilo, out of nothing, Jesus Christ speaks, and some people believe sings, sings into all the subatomic particles, creates every little subatomic particle that exists, that is gonna be the entire universe on a macro sense and a micro sense. And then, not only did he bara it in the Hebrew, means he brought it into being, he asad it, which means he fashioned it and put all those little, All those little subatomic particles together to form quarks, to form atoms, to form molecules, to form everything that there is. Jesus strung all that together and he made the entire universe. So if you recognize him as that creator and Jesus says, listen, I brought all this into being. Now I'm gonna take a camel and I'm gonna run it through the eye of a needle. Jesus very easily could take the elements of that camel and literally string them out just like He did a creation, run them through the eye of a needle, and bring them out the other side. That would be easy for Him to do. If you see Him as Creator, if you see Him as Messiah, if you see Him as the Savior, they were not seeing Him for who He was. That was the entire point. They're not seeing Him for who He was. Salvation, God the Father planned it. When did He plan it? Acts 2.23, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken by wicked hands and have crucified and slain. Salvation was planned just like the universe was before the universe was ever started, before it was ever created. God the Son provided it, John 3.16, 2 Corinthians 5.21, 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. And then God, the Holy Spirit, by His power, is the one who regenerates us, makes us alive. Ephesians 2, 1, and you have to be quickened, made alive. We're dead in trespasses and sin. And so the gospel message is that you can't save yourself. Your old sinful nature is so bad that you can't save yourself. So the question that was postulated by the young guy, hey, what must I do to gain eternal life? is the wrong question. You can't do it. Only the Creator, Messiah, Savior can do it. He's the only one. Now, do you want to see whether Peter got it and the rest of the disciples got it? Look with me in the next verses, 28 to 31. And Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and followed thee. What is the subject? Salvation. What is the question? How do I gain it? Peter just said, Lord, we left our nuts, we left our family, we left all, and we're followers of you. And what is Peter's obvious expected conclusion? Doesn't that gain us eternal life? Well, Peter's sudden, impulsive outburst, which, by the way, it means that right in the middle of Jesus is saying, with God, all these things are possible. Literally, Peter blurts out, and the reason we know that is, in the Greek, there's no connecting participle. It's an attempt to show the difference between the rich young man and the disciples. And so he said, haven't we left all and followed you? Interesting grammatically, the word left all is aorist, meaning that we did that, we broke with our old lives a long time ago, we abandoned them and we're following you. And the word followed there is present tense, meaning that we're still doing it, Lord. We're still following you, and that ought to merit something. So Peter, some believe that Peter, at this point in time, and I probably would have to agree, that at this point Peter probably is not saved, and points out to Christ what they have done instead of relating, you know what, you have saved us, we're looking to you as our Savior. But Lord, in the subject of salvation, has anybody done more for you, Lord Jesus, than we have done? Therefore we should receive what? What is the automatic logical conclusion to Peter's argument? We should be the ones to be saved. Matthew's parallel account of this account is, we shall, what shall we have therefore in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 27, revealing the 12, we're still thinking in terms of material rewards, and spiritual rewards based on what they have done. And this is going to be evident by what James and John request in verse 37. It says, Grant unto us that we may sit on their right hand and the other on their left in glory. They didn't get it, did they? Jesus is going to respond. And this is very important now, because there are many people who go to a passage of Scripture like this and say that Jesus is teaching that if you do things for Him, you can gain eternal life. And nothing could be further from the truth. So I'm going to navigate this for you very carefully as we go in verses 29 and the following. Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake. And look at the last three words, and the The Gospels say following Jesus Christ is not going to make you a Christian. Adhering to the gospel and then following Jesus Christ is going to make you a disciple, a servant of Jesus Christ, but the gospel is going to transform you, and that's the only way that you can do it. So Jesus responds to their question from the point of view of the rich young ruler and from their desire, and Christ points to, notice what it says down in the end of verse 30, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and land. How's he going to do that? because of the close fellowship with brothers in Christ. He isn't saying that you're necessarily going to get that, but in Christ, you share the blessings of other brothers and sisters because of that salvation relationship. But notice what he ends with. He said, you're also going to receive persecutions, but in the world to come, if you'll do the last part of verse 29, and that is what? Embrace the gospel. In the last part of verse 30, you'll experience what? Eternal life. The gospel is the segue to eternal life. And this is the only way that you're ever going to get that. And how do I know this is true? Because in the next verses, Christ is going to make it very, very clear. How is the gospel going to be provided? Look at verse 32, and they were on their way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed as they followed Him. And what does He say? Verse 33, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him. Remember in chapter 9, Jesus said, I must die. I must die for the people. Notice the last part of verse 34, and the third day rise again. What does that signify? We know from the rest of the New Testament, right? What does that mean? That means it is finished. That means the gospel needs to be finished by going to the cross of Calvary. In verse 31, Jesus says to the disciples a warning as he's trying to get their attention to understand this, but many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first. What is he talking about? You remember back when he allowed the little children to come in and the disciples literally got in their way. The Greek says that they held out their hands to stop the little kids. And Jesus said, don't do that. Let the little children come in unto me. He said, because of such is the kingdom of God. In other words, the disciples are saying, you know what? We're going to be the important ones in the kingdom, right? And in just a moment, they're going to ask Jesus if they can sit on the right hand and on the left hand. We're the really important ones. And Jesus said, no, you let those little trusting ones come into me. You let the little trusting ones, because you're going to find out something. The trusting ones are going to be the ones that are going to be first in the kingdom of heaven. And those who aren't, You're not there. And look at the picture, verse 31. But many that shall be first shall be last, and the last shall be first. You want to be first in line? Then you become a trusting child in the gospel. You trust Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And by the way, I'm about to go to Jerusalem. This is the next verses. I'm about to go to Jerusalem, and I'm going to suffer, and I'm going to die, and I'm going to rise again from the third day, and that is going to provide the gospel for you. Did they get it? No. They didn't get it. It's very sad. In verse 35, in James and John, the son of Zebedee came unto the master and he said, Lord, we want you to do whatever we ask. Can you imagine the hope in Jesus' heart? What should they have asked at that time? Dear Lord Jesus, please be my savior. You just told me you're going to go to Jerusalem and you're going to die and you're going to rise again from the dead to fulfill the gospel. I want you to be my savior. But no. Lord, when you establish your kingdom, totally ignoring what he just said about the death, burial, and resurrection. When you establish your kingdom, can I be on the right hand and my brother on the left? How do you think Jesus felt about their statement? How do you think he felt about that? How do you think he feels about us when we put the idols of our lives in the place of service for him? We grieve Him. We hurt His heart. The Bible, by the way, did the disciples ever get this? Did they ever understand it? Please take your Bibles and turn with me over to a familiar portion, but I want you to listen to it in light of what we just read. Did the disciples at that point in time, did, maybe some of them did, I don't know. But did they overwhelmingly get it that salvation was through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and not doing for Him, not giving their lives to Him, but, you know, in just being a follower of Him? Turn to Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 and the following. As I submit unto you that Matthew at some point in time got it. He got it very clearly. And when he writes his gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I want you to see what he says. And obviously, the Spirit of God enlightened his eyes. He had trusted Christ as his Savior, and now he knows the difference. Because in Matthew chapter 7, in verse 21, he says, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. He got it, didn't he? He got it. He said, just because you say, Lord, Lord, and you leave the nets and you become a follower of Jesus Christ doesn't mean you're going to go to heaven. Many was saying to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? Have the disciples done that? Had they been sent forth? Had they cast out demons? Had they preached in his name? Had they done many wonderful works? You know, Matthew said, I used to think that way. The verse 23, and then while I profess unto them I never knew you, depart from me that work iniquity. What were the disciples concerned about? Power, position, and authority. Jesus calls that working iniquity when it's not done for the glory of God. So He gives us this beautiful instruction, and look what He says in verse 24. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man that built his house upon the rock." And who is the rock? Go back to the Old Testament. Who is the rock of our salvation? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Petra. He is, upon this I will build my church, and Jesus is that rock. He said, I'm gonna liken this unto a wise man which built his house upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and what he would do, the death, burial, and resurrection, that's the rock foundation. And how do I know it's true? First Corinthians 311, for there is no other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of eternal life. Verse 25, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not, because it was founded upon what? That person had true salvation. It was founded upon a rock. In other words, adversity, difficulty, persecutions, pain, which he talked about over there in Mark 10, came true. Verse 26, and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, They don't embrace what? They don't listen to the gospel. They don't listen to what he said. Shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. What is that sand foundation? That I can save myself by being just a follower of Jesus Christ. That I can save myself by being just baptized or taking communion or being religious. That I can save myself. That is just a sand position. And it says in verse 27, and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and it beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall thereof. because it did not just fall on earth, that life is pictured as a poor house, fell directly into eternal fire and hell. Powerful passage. So, I want you to be encouraged. Did Matthew get it later on? Did Matthew get it? He got it. Matthew clearly understood this. Verse 28, it came to pass when Jesus said in these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. But look at verse 29, for He's taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes. Where did He get that authority? Because He is the eternal Son of God. He is the Messiah. He is the Creator. Why did Jesus walk on the water? Why did Jesus feed the 4,000 and the 5,000? to build within our minds the truth that He is the only one who has control over all creation. And in that, He is the only one that can be the Savior of the sinners who have fallen in creation. He's the only one. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Who said those words? The former Pharisee, the Apostle Paul. Do you think he understood the other? teachings that were wrong, that the disciples were being submissive to at that time? Well, you bet. That's why Paul drives it home so clear. That's why Paul wants everybody to know, therefore by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Jesus alone can save. Can a rich man be saved? Sure he can. Can Jesus run a camel through the eye of a needle? it would be easier for him to do that than the creation of the whole world, even though I don't think one would be harder and one would be easier. God can do all of those things, it's simple. So today, if I brought a camel to the front of the auditorium and I held up a needle and said, dear Jesus, would you run that camel through the eye of the needle and bring it out to perfection on the other side, he could do that. And we'd all go, wow! Dear Jesus, can you save that sinner that's in the room today? Can he do that? Can He do that? He's the only one that can do that. But He can do that. But in order to do that, He had to die for you on the cross of Calvary, shed His precious blood, and rise again from the dead. Brothers and sisters in this room, join me. Join me in helping bring this message to the religious lost friends and neighbors that we have. Can you imagine trusting in your baptism, trusting in church membership, trusting in goodness, only to die one day and hear the words that Matthew said, depart from me, cursed. I never knew you. I never knew you. But Lord, I did. And he said, it's not what you did. It's what you didn't do. You didn't repent of your sin and you didn't trust me as your savior. And so all of us in this room who have done that, I'm often asked, you know, in the context of witnessing to someone, do you really know that you're going, do you really have assurance that you're going to go to heaven? I said, I'm so positive I'm going to go to heaven, it's as if I'm already there. And immediately they conclude that I am prideful because of my position as a preacher. They said, no, you misunderstand. You see, the certainty of my salvation is not based on me, but upon Him. And because it is based on Him, I know I'm going to heaven, because He's the one who saved me. It is rock solid. Let's bow our heads together.
Can the Rich be Saved?
설교 아이디( ID) | 819202247257414 |
기간 | 50:20 |
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카테고리 | 일요일 예배 |
성경 본문 | 마가복음 10:23-31 |
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