Turn, please, to Matthew chapter 19. Just by way of a reminder, last week we preached on the controversial subject of divorce. And I was waiting to hear feedback, what people would say. And most of the feedback I heard was good. I did hear one complaint. And I'll share that with you, because I think it was a valid complaint. They said that the person that shared, who will remain nameless, Irene, thank you. I try to keep confidences better than that. No, it was really a good comment that she made. She said, there's one thing that I think that you may have said better. She said something like that. And I said, well, what's that? She said, well, you likened divorce to going through a death, that the stress levels are very similar. And that's exactly what I did do. That's exactly what I said. The stress of a divorce is very much like the stress of losing a loved one or losing your spouse. And she said, yeah, but I think she quoted James Dobson, who said, divorce is harder because the dead keep coming back. Now you think about that, and it relatively proves to be true. But you know, there's grace there, too. And there's also things that can be done and things that should be done. And we'd always be very glad to talk to you about those issues. But I'm not going to rehash all about what we had to say about divorce and such like that. But it is very stressful. It's very difficult. It's why we encourage people to be very cautious who you marry and such like that, because you don't want to go through that type of heartache. And you don't want to go through that type of pain. And of course, to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, we want marriages that last, marriages that bring forth children, if God is so pleased to do so, and marriages that redound to his glory as we work together towards the kingdom of heaven. Well, I'm not preaching on that today. Instead, I'm preaching on something you already heard about in Sunday school, the rich young ruler. And Jim didn't know I was going to do that. And I didn't tell him. And I kind of suspected he might do that, because he was preaching on evangelism. And that's one of the places that you go when you're dealing with evangelism, is how did Christ deal with others? And how did he deal with the rich young ruler? Well, that's what we're going to look at today. But you can actually find the way that Christ dealt with many, many individuals by reading the book of John. The book of John will take you through. I mean, you have those that are being converted, those that need to be converted. You have the call of his disciples. And the way that he met with them, and the way he talked with each of them, Nathanael in chapter 1. And then you go on into Nicodemus, of course. And then you go on to the woman at the well. And then you see the way that he deals with the crowd in his open air preaching. And open air preaching is something that we talked about in the evangelism segment today in Sunday School. And I would just encourage you, if you've never had the opportunity, to at least go once out to the Planned Parenthood ministry out there, where we do cry out against abortion. But that's not all that we do. The gospel is preached there. And you can hear the good news proclaimed and a way to proclaim it in the open air. You don't have to say anything yourself. You can be there. You can hold a sign. You can encourage. But I would just say that as far as evangelism goes, too. And the Apostle Paul is another one. I think John MacArthur was quoted. I haven't read this, but I'll take your word for it, Jim. John MacArthur was quoted that Jesus would have failed an evangelism course with the way that he dealt with the rich young ruler. And I wouldn't be surprised if that would be the case in many Bible schools and such like that. Same thing happened to the Apostle Paul. Look at the way the Apostle Paul dealt with individuals. And when the Apostle Paul preached on Mars Hill, I remember being told by some that came that Paul really blew it. You know, he tried to be philosophical instead of biblical. I could disagree more, I could not disagree more. I believe Paul really had the right message at the right time and always did that. Look at the way he dealt with the Philippian jailer. Look at the way that he dealt with so many others too. With all that being said and done, in my time of pastor and my time as preacher, I actually have preached on the rich young ruler at least three times I can think of, never from Matthew, as we'll do today, but I've alluded to him often. often in the midst of sermons. And we had about 10 minutes worth in Sunday school, and I've alluded to him, used him as illustration many, many times. And I did put on the back table an excellent book by Walt Chantry that, according to the cover, has been reprinted 16 times since it's been published by the Banner of Truth Ministry. And many of you that have been around a long time have that book. You have that book, Today's Gospel, and it is still influential and helping many to leave what we call easy believism and embrace the gospel and see the gospel for what it is. And so there's a couple of them left. Looks like one of them got taken already. So a couple of them left. So take them while you can. But pay for them. Those are not free. I'll tell you how much it is there. But there is a free book back there that you can look at, too, afterwards. So anyway, the rich young ruler is what we look at today. By way of introduction, he, well, he asked a vital question. He comes to Christ with a question. Mark tells us, as it was read in Sunday school, that he ran to Jesus. I'll be alluding to Mark and Luke a little bit because this account is in both Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and each of them say basically the same thing, but there's slight differences that give you some nuance and some understanding that these are not the exact words and the only words that were said, but this is the gist of what was said, as we always do have in the scripture when we have the Lord Jesus Christ. So, anyway, this young man, we don't know how young he was, but he was under 30. They wouldn't have called him a young man unless he was under 30. He had attained the status of ruler in Israel. That's what Luke tells us. And history and the culture of the day tells us that that would be very, very unusual. I smile sometimes when I think about my encounters with Mormon elders. Have you ever noticed how old Mormon elders are? They're usually 18, 19, 20 years old. And I've always found that rather interesting, because when you think of elder, you don't think of someone being that young. It's not impossible, though. Now, I don't think the rich young ruler was 18, 19, or 20 years old. I have no idea how old he was. And we know that Timothy was young as a gospel pastor. And Paul says, don't let anybody despise your youth, but be an example of the believers. Teach them by the word, and teach them by your example what you're supposed to be. So this young man was respected, and he was rich. And I don't mean anything derogatory by saying this, but it's just true for the culture of that day, that if you were rich, that was God's blessing on you. You had to be a really good guy. That was what they thought. So here's a young man that was respected, he was moral, and he was rich. He had the whole world going for him, so to speak. But maybe not. because he has a problem. There's a difficulty. So much so that he runs to Jesus. Don't know from which direction, but I'm assuming that he probably took him from behind and came up, and that's why he was running. But whatever it was, he wanted to get to Jesus, and he had a very deep question that was deep in his soul. This moral man, this man that others would have said were godly, this man that seemed to have it all together, knew that something was wrong. So let's read the account together, and then we'll make some comments, and then we'll finish the chapter, Lord willing and time permitting. Now behold, verse 16, Matthew 19, verse 16. Now behold, one came and said to him, good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he said to him, Why do you call me good? No one's good but one, and that is God. But if you want to enter into a life, keep the commandments. He said to him, which ones? Jesus said, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, all these I have kept from my youth. But notice this, what do I still lack? What do I still lack? And that kind of an interesting question from a guy that had it all. And even said how moral he was. You know, you're telling me what I already know. You're telling me what I already do. These are the things that really my life is all about. But there's something that appears to be wrong. Is that what he's saying? Well, we'll find out as we go through here. Is there something that I'm missing? Verse 21, Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. So it's really hard as we deal through this and we see the differences. But as we look through there, let's see, first of all, his sincere question. It was a sincere question. There's every reason to think that it is. Good teacher, what good things shall I do? So he acknowledges Jesus as good, as a master in Israel, as a teacher or an instructor. Now, we don't find anything at all to suggest that what was happening here was what often happened to Jesus. A lot of times they came to Jesus with questions, not because they were sincere, but people came to him with questions trying to trap him in his words and make him look bad. That was very, very often what would happen, especially with the Pharisees, especially with the scribes, especially with the Sadducees. This man doesn't appear to be doing that. We have no reason to think that he is. But the key word is do. What good thing shall I do? It's in the future aorist indicative, which means that it's real. And it's in the future. And what should I do? What is it that I haven't done yet that I need to do? It's like he's saying, basically, look, I'm trying really hard, but it seems like something's missing. It seems like I'm coming up short. What is the one thing I can do to make sure that I make it to heaven? And that is what he's saying, which tells us something about this young man. Because not everyone in that day believed in heaven. Not everyone in that day believed in the afterlife. Not everyone in that day, that were even Jewish, believed that that was the case. But the Pharisees did, as you know. The Sadducees did not. And then the people, well, what did the people believe? Various things, I'm sure. So we can see that he's a theologically conservative Jew who believed in the afterlife. And he's asking the question in the context of eternal life. And Jesus acknowledges that and tells him one thing to do. Surprising. The man's asking about works. The man's talking about works. What do I do? So Christ takes him right to the covenant of works. He says, okay, here it is. Do this. But before that happens, verse 17, Jesus asks him a question. Why do you call me good? Now, what Jesus is actually doing, obviously, is questioning the man's definition of good. But instead of waiting for an answer, why do you call me good? He says, only God is good. Only God is good. And at least four explanations have been given. And a theologian named Fitzmeyer has summarized these four for us here. And wait a moment before you decide which one to accept. But at least four explanations have been given. You can pile in the things the commentators have said over the years to show the man that Jesus is divine. He's trying to show forth his divinity. Only God is good, and I am God. Is that what he's saying? Or Jesus is taking good as flattery. So this guy's just trying to flatter me. Is that the problem? Or, and this one obviously is wrong, Jesus is admitting to being a sinner because only God is good. I'm not good. Why are you calling me good? I've got problems too, like you do. Obviously not true. But the one that is true, I think, is the last one. Jesus is saying nothing about himself, but pointing the man to God. And I think that is correct. I think that's exactly what's happening here. Although Jesus Christ is God himself, the rich young ruler wouldn't have perceived that. The rich young ruler would not have understood that. And so basically, I think he's pointing the man to God. And that's almost the direct consensus of all modern conservative commentators. And so I think that is the correct one, too. There are many places where Jesus talks of his deity. But here, to a religious young Jew, Christ points him directly to God's law. And that's what we see happening. Now, you started to read this Table Talk article, Jim. You read the first part. I've got the second part there in my quote. And the only thing that's the same is the first sentence of what you quoted. So let me read it to you. It's on your outline there. from a Table Talk article that, as Jim says, was not referenced by who the author was. The use of do indicates that he thought he could enter God's kingdom by doing good. However, Jesus does not directly castigate him for this belief. Rather, the Messiah responds by asking the man why he was calling Jesus good, for no one is good but God alone. Jesus is not denying his own goodness. He is indirectly forcing the man to question his assumption that he knows goodness, and therefore the Lord. In effect, Jesus is saying, no one is good but God, and therefore you cannot rely on your moral behavior to inherit the life of the age to come. Like anyone else, you must follow me. I think that's a very wise answer there. It's another example of the perfect Son of God giving the perfect answer in the perfect situation and teaching that man a great truth and teaching us a great truth that will stand as long as the world remains. So he gives him a path to life, but it's an impossible path. It's a path that can't be followed. It's a path that's already been destroyed by our first father, Adam. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is the second Adam. He came to actually fulfill the very thing that he's telling this young man that he must do. And he did do that very thing that he's telling this young man to do. That's why we can be saved by trusting in his righteousness, by trusting in what he has done for us. But he challenges the man. and gives him actually an answer that comes straight from what the man would probably have believed himself. Because what we see, keep the commandments. Which ones? Okay. I agree, but which ones? Well, specifically, Christ points out Commandments 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. And so there you go, keep those commandments. And then he summarizes the whole second table of the law by saying, love your neighbor as yourself. And this is taken, of course, from Deuteronomy 19, verse 18. And the man says, I've done this. Kind of interesting. You ever run into somebody like that? Probably not quite as bold as that. But I've run into people like that. You tell them they're a sinner and they're offended. I'm a sinner. I've never killed anyone. I love my wife. I would never commit adultery. He says, I'm not a thief. I don't steal. I've never stole. I'm not a murderer. What are you trying to say? And what they're basically telling you, and this is very common, by the way. I'd be surprised if you witnessed and never had somebody answer back to you. No, I'm a good person. relatively good, and they're comparing themselves against others as the standard of goodness. This man goes a little bit further than I've ever heard anybody say. I've kept the law. I've kept it. But what is that one thing that I still lack? And you know, at least we'll give him credit for realizing that something was wrong. And here in verse 21 and 22, which is the heart of the matter, we find that the heart of the matter really is a matter of the heart. Now, I don't come up with clever things to say very often, so take that for what it's worth. The heart of the matter really was a matter of the heart. And that's what Christ gets to here. If you will be perfect, go sell what you have, give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. But the young man heard that saying. He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Do you really want eternal life? Is God really the most important thing to you? And are you willing to give up everything for the kingdom? Now, Mark mentions, and it was Mark's gospel in Mark 10, 21, Mark mentions, it was even mentioned in Sunday school, that Jesus gave that challenge to him while he was looking at him, and the Bible says he loved him. Now, let me just say this about love, OK? Because it's an interesting doctrine that I think has been some mistakes made over time in the doctrine of love, that agape love is the highest form of love that can possibly exist. And then there's phileo love, which is a lesser form of love. And really, a lot of documents have come out and a lot of studies come out that shows that really there is a lot more connection between agape and phileo than has been believed previously. And that's something that in our century, or even in the previous century, William Hendrickson makes quite a point of this, that really it's been a little bit overly dramatized in our day. But Jesus looked at him and loved him. Does that mean that this man was converted? Well, there's a variety of opinions here. And some speculate that Jesus knew this man was elect and would be converted later. That's a possibility. I'll tell you what Jesus did know for sure. Jesus knew this man was moral, sincere, and troubled. Jesus also knew this man was trusting in his own works in order to be saved. And so out of truth, but not mere truth, out of compassion, and this is the compassion of Christ we see even as he weeps over Jerusalem. He stands at Jerusalem, he looks down at them, and he weeps for his fellow countrymen who are about to suffer the wrath of God and be destroyed, and the temple would be destroyed, and there'd be carnage, and so many of them would die. As a man, he takes no pleasure in that. But this is the way that God works, and the wrath of God does fall on sinners. Jesus gives him the remedy that he needs to see his truly lost condition, and that he was in need of a righteousness outside of himself, which was something this man didn't believe. Did he come to see it? We don't know for sure. We don't know for sure. I think it's hopeful. I think there's hopeful signs that we see here. It's hopeful because Jesus took the time to speak to him. Jesus took the time to actually delve to the very heart of the matter and to this man's heart. The man went away sorrowful doesn't mean that he didn't come to believe. In fact, from the earliest days of the church, there have been many of those that have said that this young man did believe and did come to faith. Well, we don't have a biblical example. We don't have a biblical warrant to say that absolutely. But it's hopeful. Did he eventually come to faith? He did if this man was stripped of his self-righteousness. and if he refused and quit trusting in himself and was willing to give everything up to God. You know, Hendrickson quotes Paul's words here. And Hendrickson, the commentator in his Matthew commentary, says, this young man sounds an awful lot like the Apostle Paul. Now, he obviously wasn't the Apostle Paul, because the Apostle Paul, when he was sold, never met Jesus. So you can't say that it is. But it says, it looks a lot like pre-converted Saul. It looks a lot like pre-converted Paul. He seems to think a lot like pre-converted Paul. And here was a man that was trusting in his own righteousness. But in the book of Galatians, we are told from Paul himself, and I've got that on your outline, I believe, as I'm looking at it there. Got that on the outline. Galatians 2, you don't need to turn there. It's on your outline. 2, 19 through 21, Paul says, for I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. He thought the law was the way to God. So he thought he was doing God's service, even when he was putting Christians to death. And he was putting Christians to death. He was putting them into prison and taking them to other places. Saul was there when the martyr Stephen died. And those that threw the stones at Stephen took their coats off so they could throw the stones more effectively. And it was also symbolic. And they laid him, they laid those coats at the feet of that young man Saul. And then Stephen, of course, went to be with the Lord. I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God." He was very self-righteous. Paul thought that he had the answers. He thought he was godly. But you know, one of the great things about it is when Saul met Jesus on the Damascus Road, what did he do? As he falls to the ground, He says, Lord, what would, and he acknowledges the divinity of Christ, the very Christ that he was persecuting. And Christ says, why are you persecuting me? And he says, basically, you know, well, you know the story. I won't take us there. OK. Then anyway, Galatians 2, 19 through 21. For through the law I died to the law that I may live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That's one of the truths he found out. Why would Jesus say, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me when he's persecuting Christians? For this identity is the reason. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And then he concludes this section by saying, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. If you can save yourself by your works, why do you need Christ? This rich young ruler needed to realize salvation was not by works, but it was by faith alone. And there's very good reason to think that he would come to faith later as this situation played itself out. He may have went away sorrowful that day. But think about your own conversion. For most of us, maybe not every single one of us, but for most of us, there was sorrow before there was joy. There was sadness before there was gladness. There was condemnation and a realization of condemnation before there was acceptance with God. It's the normal way that God works. And faith and repentance do go together. Faith, we heard it today in the catechism that was mentioned. Repentance is a saving grace whereby And of course, we are saved by faith, and it's right to say we're saved by faith alone, but the faith that is alone, but the faith alone is not a faith that is all alone. It's company and graces that come with it. And a realization of our sin is really necessary before we come to faith in Christ. Because why would you come? If you can do it yourself, do it yourself. So this rich young man has the mark hit on him by Christ at his very point of need. What is his problem? I don't lie. I don't steal. I don't commit adultery. I don't murder. OK, then give everything you have. I don't want to do that. Covetousness. He's covetous. The law strikes home. This man was breaking the 10th commandment. And he wasn't just breaking the 10th commandment. What about the first table of the law? The first four commandments? He might have been a really good Sabbath keeper, probably was. But was he loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength according to Deuteronomy 6.5? Obviously not. If there's one thing that he can do, what do I do? Okay, do this. And he won't do it. So like I say, this young man probably understood exactly where Christ was coming from because we can see that he would have understood his Old Testament very, very well. But he was confronted with something. God or riches. OK, I'll choose God and riches. Didn't tell you you got that choice. God or riches. Now, you know, his conscience appears to be pricked. That's always a good sign. But conscience alone will not take you to heaven. Judas is a good example of a man who lived in remorse. And many people live in remorse and never repent and believe. With all that being said and done, let me just ask this. Was this guy characterized by a covetous lifestyle? Well, probably not. In fact, he was probably generous. Even though he was rich, he probably gave alms. And when it came time to give a donation, he was there to give it. But giving it all was just too much. And he went away sorrowful. But Jesus didn't say, just donate it. He says, come and follow me. And that was the other part of it, too. And so in the old American standard version of 1901, Luke 18.23 sums this up by translating it this way. But when he heard these things, he became exceeding sorrowful, for he was very rich. You know, if you have a lot to lose, it's harder to give it up. When you're poor, you don't have that much to lose. If you have Bill Gates type of riches, and I just pick him because everybody knows who Bill Gates is basically. You have Bill Gates riches. Bill Gates, I've been told, is a generous man and gives up a great deal of his fortune. But give up all of your wealth and follow the itinerant preacher Jesus. I think it really is harder, humanly speaking, for a rich man than maybe for a 25-year-old unmarried guy who doesn't even own a house or have a great job or any resources in the bank. Of course, it's impossible for him, too. It's impossible for him, too. But covetousness can be the besetting sin of the rich. Pride is the besetting sin of just about everybody else, including the rich. But the poor can be very proud, too. and unbelief is the common denominator in both. Now, let's move on here, the danger of prosperity, because that's exactly what Christ deals with next. Verse 23, and Jesus said to his disciples, assured I say to you that it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. And it's good because there have been some misunderstandings of this passage. Because the Matthew passage says it's hard. Some have taken it to be, well, yeah, it's hard. It's really difficult, like I was just talking about a moment ago. But it can be done if you try hard enough. And he said, well, I don't care how hard you try, you're not going to get a camel through the eye of a needle. I said, wait, wait, wait. You're not understanding the metaphor here. Now, I don't believe this, but this is what they say. He said, you're not understanding the metaphor. He says, Jesus isn't talking about a camel. And he didn't talk about a needle, a sewing needle. That would be ridiculous. That would be impossible. Verse 26, Jesus looked at them and said, with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So yeah, it's impossible, it surely is impossible. And others have even speculated, no, no, it's not a camel, it's a cable, a real thick cable. He still couldn't do it. But camel. It's camel and it's needle. And Christ is obviously taking one of the largest things that they knew to be alive, and then one of the smallest things that they had. That's the contrast here. But others would say, no, no, it's hard. But you've got to understand that in that day, they had holes in the wall. And they would close the gate at night. But there still were people that needed to get their camels and their merchandise in, even though it was night. It was dangerous to be outside the city walls. And so they had these really small openings. And what you had to do was you had to take all of your load off your camel and set it aside. And then your camel could get down and hunch through, and barely, barely, but ever so slowly, with difficulty, make it through the eye of the needle. They called it the eye of the needle. And then you'd put the load through, and then you'd be safe inside. Well, there's a couple problems with that. Number one, there's no documented evidence there was ever anything like that in the wall in Jerusalem. So just simply hasn't been found and doesn't apparently exist. But then why would the disciples say that who can be saved? I said, okay, that would take a lot of effort, but I've seen it done many times. I've seen it done. I've seen that camel make it through and it's really hard on him. That would be a ridiculous way to do that. So there's a theological truth being taught here that it's impossible. So take it for what it says. God can and does save rich men. God can and does save self-righteous men. God can and does save pharisaical men. God can and does save the most wretched and horrible sinner that you can imagine. You know, you tell people that. You ever had this one come to you? About, you know, that guy's a murderer. He can't be saved, can he? And they might even be to the point of offended when you tell them, well, If a murderer repents and believes the gospel and puts his faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he too can be saved. That's not fair. That's not right. What are you trying to say? That's the reaction that you'll often get. God can and does save the most wretched and horrible sinner. God can and does save some in childhood. God can and does save some of the oldest and crustiest individuals. What I'm trying to say is there is no class of person who cannot be saved if, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, they will turn their hearts to Jesus Christ and look to him in faith alone. No one can save themselves, but God does save all types of sinners. And every sinner that comes to Christ in faith will cry out in one form or another, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. We conclude with the rest of the passage. And the rest of the passage, then Peter answered and said to him, see, we've left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? Now, there's something interesting going on here. I want you to look at verse 23 and then the answer in verse 28. It's really helpful to look at these two things together. Verse 23, then Jesus said to his disciples, assured I say to you that it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And why? Because they wouldn't give up their goods and longings and such like that, as we've just seen from the context and what's going on. Verse 28. So Jesus said to him, assured I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Now, Peter's asking about a reward, okay? Peter answered and said, see, we've left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? In some ways, it strikes you wrong, doesn't it? Because it seems like Peter's saying, hey, that guy, we're better than him. We've done exactly what you've asked us to do. But maybe this time we ought to give Peter a little bit of grace and a little bit of understanding. The truth of the matter is, he had given up his fishing business and followed Jesus. And so had John, and so had James. They actually had given up something to follow him. They had paid a cost, they had paid a price. And so Jesus doesn't rebuke him. The rich young ruler had been asked to leave everything and he wouldn't. The disciples left their home, they left their business, they left their families temporarily. They'd given up a lot. So Christ always knows the perfect answer, and we don't know Peter's heart. We don't know, so I don't think we really need to be harsh and judgmental this time. And Jesus doesn't rebuke him, and Jesus doesn't put Peter in his place. This was the time to show something else, that you can't give up too much for God. You can't. It's impossible. Whatever you do give up, cannot even begin to compare with the great eternal privileges we'll enjoy with Christ Jesus forever. Now, let's look at the passage again, starting at verse 27. Then Peter answered and said to him, See, we have left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? So Jesus said to them, Assuredly I say to you that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And so Peter used the we word, and Jesus answers him with the we word. You twelve, of course exclude Judas, But Matthias became part of the 12. And then, of course, Paul is kind of the baker's dozen. So he's very interesting. Mathematics, trying to figure all that out is interesting. I think these thrones are metaphorical, of course. But you've followed me. We'll sit on the 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That's for them. But then he talks about us in verse 29. Those of us that do know the Lord Jesus Christ, And everyone who's left houses or brothers, sisters or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." And you may have a little bit different reading there, because there are some textual issues. But I'll just deal with what we have here, you know. There's gonna be some surprises in heaven, some things that you don't expect. And we know that to be true from other places in the scriptures. There'll be those that you expected to be there that will not be there, and there'll be those that, well, you're kind of surprised that they are. And that's because we judge, not always righteous judgment, we look at things a little bit differently. And Christ pointed this out very, very strongly when he talks about the widow that gave two mites. They were giving their alms. They were giving their alms. They were giving to the work of the Lord. They were giving in the temple. And then there's this widow who gives two insignificant amounts of money. It's very hard to always try to equate biblical weights and measures and money and such like that with today's world. But let's just say that she gave two very small donations. She didn't have much to give, but she gave it. And Christ praises her, even though, before that, I doubt there was anybody in that situation that even paid that widow any mind at all, or thought anything about her at all. She was insignificant to them. Not important. But every Christian's important. And this young, or this widow, not young, but this widow, well, she was important, and Jesus knew her heart. Rich Young Rule has been dead now for over 1900 years. We have great hope that he came to Christ, but we don't know if he repented of his sins. If that sorrow led to repentance, then praise God for that, and he'll have a tremendous testimony. We'll see him in heaven. But what matters to us today is that riches or things can drag you down to hell. That's the truth of the matter. Jesus is worth everything. And if we own the whole world, if we could own the whole world, and no one's ever pulled it off, but if we could own the whole world, it'd be worth giving it all up to gain Christ. And the truth is, God in his mercy gives us his son. And really, if you come right down to it, he doesn't ask us to give up much of anything, does he? He really doesn't. He doesn't ask us to give up much of anything. But I'll tell you what He does ask us to give up. Our sin. He has to give up our sin and put our faith and trust in Him. So I'll just close with this. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you trusting in Him with simple, childlike faith? I'm not asking you, did you trust in Jesus, you know, 10 years ago? I'm asking you, are you trusting Him today? Right now, are you looking to him by faith alone? Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we do come to you aware that this account that appears three times is an important one and a necessary one. We look at a man who saw himself as lacking something, but he wasn't sure what it was. And when he heard what it was, sorrow filled his heart, for it was what he didn't want to lose. Lord, we pray that we'd not be found in that particular way. Instead, we pray there would be those that look to Christ, trust in Christ, believe in Christ, and look to him by faith alone, Realize that eternity hangs in the balance, that, Father, this world is temporal, this world is passing away, but there is eternal life for all who will look to Jesus and trust in him. So, Father, I pray that everyone under the sound of my voice would be those that would look to you And we know, Father, that there's not a single person that looks to you by faith alone, not trusting themselves, but trusting you, that's rejected. For, Father, there's no rejection at the foot of the cross, at the humility of one that would bow and say, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. We know that salvation will surely come to those that look to you by faith alone. And we give you thanks. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.