Please turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18, and our text begins at the top of page 1039 in the Pew Bible. Page 1039 in the Pew Bible. Luke chapter 18, and we're going to begin our reading with verse 18, reading through verse 30 this morning. This is the word of God, receive it with a believing heart. A certain ruler asked him, that is Jesus, 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 this 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. Thus far God's word and may he add his blessing to it as we consider it this morning. One of the things which we prize and which we cling to as human beings is our sense of capability. We very much value the ability to get things done. We rely very much on the use of our minds, the use of our bodies, and of course this is one of those things that becomes, this is one of the things that frustrates us when we become sick or as we become older and weakness begins to beset us, we begin to realize that we are perhaps not as capable as we thought that we were. We're not as strong. We're not as resilient as perhaps we thought we were. And really what we've read this morning revolves around this idea of human capability, and actually it revolves around the idea of human incapability. And the good news, in a story that seems kind of like a downer, the good news is that it brings us face to face with the nature of the gospel, and you could use the statement that Jesus makes in verse 27 really as a shorthand for the gospel, a summary in one sense of the gospel. What is impossible with men is possible with God. And that is the joy of every believing heart because for the believer, we have come up against the reality of our incapability. We have come up against the reality of the impossibility of saving ourselves or of reconciling ourselves to God. And that point of weakness is the beginning of great strength because that point of weakness is what ought to bring us to our knees and to recognize that while salvation is indeed impossible with man, it is possible with God. That's our theme this morning, possible with God. And as we consider this theme, we're going to consider, first of all, a misguided question. And we see this misguided question in verse 18. We read, a certain ruler asked Jesus, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now notice the context, right? The last time that we were here in Luke's gospel, we were talking about the incapability or the incompetence of children. And that being at the very heart of what Jesus was teaching when he said, let the little children come unto me. And when he taught the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, it belongs to the incapable, it belongs to the incompetent. It seems from what we read, this transition, there's a seamless transition from verse 17 to verse 18. It seems like this ruler was there the whole time. It seems like he probably heard what Jesus was saying, and yet it becomes clear with the question that he asked that he has not yet understood the very point that Jesus is making. that the gospel is for incompetent people, it's for incapable people, it is for weak people. And so he asks, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now, while that's a misguided question, on the other hand, we ought to approve the sentiment behind it, right? Because this man has a desire for eternal life. It would appear that there is at least some kind of a desire for relationship with God or for the blessings of the eternal kingdom of God. But he's focused on himself. Notice how horizontal That question is, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus' response to his question is fascinating, right? Because as we've noted before, Jesus very customarily answers a question with a question. And Jesus' question often takes us in a direction that we didn't anticipate when we read the question that precedes it. And so Jesus asks this man, why do you call me good? And then he goes on to say something that might seem baffling to us. He says, no one is good. Except God alone. You see what he's doing, what he's doing is he's beginning to do an x-ray of the heart of this this young ruler in front of him. And what he's especially probing is the question of goodness, the question of righteousness. What does it mean to be good? And what we're going to see in just a few moments here is that Jesus knows precisely what he is about, and he is diving right to the heart of the matter with this young man. Because one of this young man's problems, there are a few actually, Jesus says to him in verse 22, you still lack one thing, but there's actually a couple of things that Jesus uncovers in his conversation with this young man. And one of the chief problems that this young man has is that he is clinging to a sense of his own goodness, a sense of his own righteousness. And Jesus hears that even when he addresses Jesus as good teacher. By the way, notice that this is a very unusual way in which to address a rabbi. because Jesus speaks accurately according to the Word of God, but also according to the Jewish tradition. And in the Jewish tradition, only God and the Torah are considered to be good. No man is good. And so Jesus is probing on the one hand to understand what this man thinks about goodness and about righteousness, but at the same time, I believe that he's probing to Seek what this man understands about Jesus. He has some knowledge of Jesus, right? He has some awareness. If he addresses him in a way that you would not customarily address a rabbi, that means that he sees something of the glory of God, the goodness of God, reflected in God's Son, Jesus. And it's not as if this man is ignorant. When we read that he is a ruler, we might readily think that he is a civil ruler. We might readily think that he's a government official, but almost certainly this word ruler refers to the fact that he's a religious authority, that he's one of the rulers of the Jews, that he perhaps may even be on the Jewish religious authority called the Sanhedrin. This man knows something, and he's reflecting even in his address of Jesus that he understands that Jesus is different than other rabbis. But there seems to be some misunderstanding about goodness. So Jesus goes on to probe further. Verse 20, he says, you know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, Honor your father and mother. Boys and girls, I'd love to ask you if we had the opportunity which commands these are, right? You know that these are some of the Ten Commandments, but you know that this isn't all of the Ten Commandments, because there's not ten of them. In fact, there's only five here, and that is notable. Notice that the ruler's response to Jesus' detailing of these five commandments is, all these I have kept since I was a boy. But it's notable what Jesus leaves out. Because Jesus refers to the fifth commandment, sixth commandment, seventh commandment, eighth commandment, and ninth commandment. That means that we're missing commandments one through four, and we're missing commandment ten. And so this tells us two things. Number one, there's a notable lack of verticality to what Jesus is addressing with this man. This man, in his own eyes, he's faultless. He's keeping the law. He's doing pretty good in terms of the horizontal plane. He's doing good toward his fellow man. We read in other accounts of this same incident in the other Gospels, we read that he's noted for his generosity toward the poor. He's noted for the way in which he cares for other people. But there's something fundamentally wrong. There's something out of whack, if I can put it that way. about his relationship to God, which is precisely what Jesus is bringing up when he doesn't mention the four vertical commandments, the first table of the law. This man is not in a right relationship to the living God. But notice that Jesus also doesn't bring up the 10th, and the 10th is a sticky wicket. Right? Because what place does the 10th commandment have in the law? Well, if we have any question, all that we have to do is we need to go to Romans chapter seven. And Paul, he has some things to say about the 10th commandment. And what Paul teaches when he takes up the 10th commandment is that the law is spiritual. That the law isn't primarily, it's not first and foremost about what you do and what you don't do. It's about the desires of the heart. It's about what you love. It's about what you treasure. It's about what you want. And there's something wrong here with this young man. There's something wrong with him at a deeply internal spiritual level. He is, and he's blind to that, right? Because he can actually say without blushing, I take this to be without blushing, he says, all of these I have kept since I was a boy. What a bold statement. And a statement that could only be made without blushing by somebody who is very, very spiritually blind. One who sees the law externally and not internally. One who is primarily measuring himself against his neighbor rather than against the living God. And he's so unaware. of the sickness that is in his heart. Paul was once such a man, too. For Paul says, actually, in Philippians 3, verse 6, he makes a statement very much like this man makes. He says that as for legalistic righteousness, that is, as for faithfulness from an external point of view to the law of God, Paul says he was faultless. But in the context of Philippians 3, Paul understands that his faultlessness, according to the law of God from an external perspective, really says nothing about him. And so he says in Romans 7, verse 18, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. The point here, the lesson for us as we look at this rich young ruler is that there are none so blind as those who are righteous in their own estimation. the law of God correctly understood reveals what Paul says in Romans 3, quote, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. And so to answer the question that the rich young ruler asked of Jesus, there is nothing you can do to inherit eternal life. But as we're going to see, that's actually great news. That's wonderful news. It seems like awful news. This feels heavy, and yet this is the best news ever, that there is precisely nothing that you can do to inherit eternal life. That's really where the gospel begins. But we see that Jesus goes on from addressing this man's misguided question to give him an impossible command. Notice that Jesus does not rebuke him. Jesus doesn't challenge him on what he says in verse 21, that all these I have kept since I was a boy. Jesus doesn't say, you know, Man, I put my finger on your problem and your problem is that you're not in a right relationship to God. No, Jesus goes one step further and He gives a command that's not precisely in the law. And in so doing, He actually reveals the problem. Because He says in verse 22, 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. And this is a test, you see, because this is ultimately a test of love. The question is, what does this man love most? And the answer, as we see in verse 23, is this man loves something more than he loves God. Verse 23, when he heard this, he became very sad because he was a man of great wealth. Notice this, that the command that Jesus gives, we're nowhere told in the Old Testament law, or for that matter, nowhere are we told in the New Testament, that God's command to every person is to sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, and follow Christ. Yes, follow Christ. That's a command given to all. But you see, the point isn't that possessions are bad in and of themselves. The point isn't even that wealth in and of itself is bad. We read of various individuals in the Old Testament, like Abraham, for example, that he was a man of God, but he was also an abundantly wealthy man. But what's going on in this context is that Jesus is giving this command specifically to this man in order to draw out the truth of what's going on in this man's heart. And what he's asking implicitly is what do you love more than you love God? And what do you want more? than the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. And his response, you see, it reveals the idolatry of his heart. His response reveals what he truly loves. We read that he became very sad. In one of the parallel passages, we actually read that he left. This was too hard for him. It was too hard for him. And notice that the idol isn't the same for every person. Really, at its very essence, the question that Jesus is raising is what is more valuable to you than the kingdom of God? Who or what competes with God for your love and devotion. Do you say to yourself, I would do anything for God, but I won't do that. Lord, I would give you anything, but don't ask that. And then you see that there can be a wide variety of idols of the heart. There can be a wide variety of things or people to which we are more devoted than we are to God. Things that seem more important to us than does the kingdom of heaven. But we also see here the very real danger of wealth as one potential false god. Jesus has earlier said, Matthew 6, verse 24, no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. And the question is, what are you serving today? Can you say, God helping me, I am serving God. God helping me, I desire God, I love God more than I love or desire anything that the world can offer. Can you say that I love and desire the giver more than the gift? And then Jesus goes on to say, verse 24 he 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. Here, Jesus is using an illustration which deals not only really with wealth, but the illustration, the point of the illustration is that it underscores, it emphasizes the impossibility of the flesh inheriting the kingdom of God. Now, many of you have probably heard an explanation of this eye of the needle referring to a low gate at which a camel would have to bow and its burdens would have to be removed in order for it to pass through. That's not what Jesus is talking about. And we know that that's not what Jesus is talking about because of the response of those who were standing there. Those who heard him. or who heard this asked, who then can be saved? Notice that the misguided question, what must I do to inherit eternal life, has now been corrected, and the correct question is being asked now by the people. Who then can be saved? If this is what is required for entry into the kingdom of heaven, who can meet that standard? If, in fact, what I have to do is whether literally or simply at the level of the heart, that I have to give up allegiance to everyone else and everything else. If what I have to do is be willing to sacrifice my very life in order to follow Christ, if it will cost me everything, then who can possibly do this? Who then can be saved? Well, that brings us thirdly and finally to a promising conclusion. Notice the comfort of Jesus' statement in verse 27. What is impossible with men is possible with God. Boys and girls, how many days do you think it would take you to get a camel to pass through the eye of a needle? You've seen needles. So there are different sizes of needles, right? Take the biggest needle that you ever saw and try and bring a camel through that hole at the top of the needle. How many days do you think it will take you to get a camel through that hole? It will never happen. But what is impossible with men is possible for God. Do you see what Jesus is doing with this young man? We're actually told in Mark's gospel that Jesus looked at him and loved him. Jesus isn't being a big meanie and he's not being a big spoil sport. He's not turning away a well-qualified candidate for the kingdom of heaven. He's loving this man enough to bring him face to face with the reality of his inability, that try as he may, think as he may, work as he may, that he cannot do anything to inherit eternal life. What Jesus is doing is, is he's bringing this man, or would be bringing this man, speaking to him the truth of God, in order to bring this man to his spiritual knees, to bring him to the point where he cries out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Like the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7. Because that is the place where anyone who would be saved must ultimately come to. We must come to a point of despair in ourselves. We must come to a point that we recognize that we are spiritually incapable, that we are spiritually incompetent, that try as we may, we cannot do this for ourselves. But, as the Apostle Paul says, Romans 8, verses three and four, for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature God did. What the law was powerless to do, God did. And he did it by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man. Notice this, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us. You see, this man, in his spiritual blindness, he actually has the self-perception that he's a pretty good dude. And if you were to go around and do a survey on our street or in the neighborhood around here, what you would generally find is that people would say that people are generally good. But Jesus, as Jesus says, no one is good but God. The law cannot justify a man. It can only pronounce condemnation. That's what Paul says in Romans chapter three, that in the day of judgment, when the books are opened, when a person stands before the judgment seat of God, the only thing that the law can do is it can only pronounce judgment, condemnation, and death. but Christ has fulfilled the righteousness of the law in our flesh to be our substitute. Notice then, But this isn't just a word for the unbelieving and those who are yet outside the kingdom of God. It is a word for you if that describes you. If you do not know the Lord, if you are in the position of this rich young ruler, notice this, that God's call in Christ, the gospel call is forsake everything and follow me. An impossible command. but a command which a man, a woman in the power of the Spirit can do. For the Spirit works faith in the heart. But for those of you who know this, who have believed this, take comfort this morning that your piddly righteousness of the last week isn't what's the basis on which you are standing before God. you have a much stronger foundation than that, and that's the righteousness of your Savior. Praise God that when he looks at you, he doesn't see your middling at best attempts, but he sees the infinite righteousness of his Son. And he says, behold my Son, behold my daughter in whom I am well pleased. That's the wonderful news of the gospel. That we're not gathered here on the basis of our own merits, on the basis of our own righteousness, but we're gathered here as a lot of incapable people. acknowledging that our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth, and that our righteousness is in him, and that our future is secure in his hands, which is the final note here in this text. You have Peter responding on behalf of the disciples, declaring that he and the other disciples have left all that they had to follow Christ. Now, what are we to make of this statement? Or is this like a, is this a brag? Could be. It's very difficult to determine precisely what point Peter is making, though it's clearly in line with the teaching of the text. And Jesus' response to him is simply this, that no one outgives God. that as steep as the gospel demand is, forsake all to follow Christ, the reward of the gospel is even greater than that which we forsake. And he says that these rewards are both here in the world, no one who has left home and so on for the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, but the reward is also for the future and in the age to come eternal life. Brothers and sisters, some of you may have disrupted relationships in your family. You may know in a very keen way what it is to separate with a family member because you worship the living God by faith in Christ and your family member is an enemy of God. You may have felt the sharp edge of the gospel division But the reward, first of all, is sitting in this room. This family of God unto which you are called and into which you are called. There is a fellowship among the people of God that transcends the sweetest fellowship with the family of our flesh. A fellowship that is wrought in the Holy Spirit. It's sealed by the blood of Christ. and manifested in mutual love for the same father and reception of each other as brothers and sisters. But notice this, that there is yet a far greater reward that is stored up for you. Are you hurting because of the gospel division in your life? Take heart. Because when you enter into that kingdom, you will see that it was all worth every sacrifice that you have made. You will not be disappointed. You will not be ashamed. Have you ever had one of the challenges of being a person with high expectations? I confess I'm a member of that club. is that you're often disappointed in life. There's this great buildup of expectation, and then when you get whatever it is that you were building up to, so often you say, eh, wasn't what I thought it'd be. You will not feel that way when you enter the new heavens and the new earth. It will exceed your wildest imagination It will exceed the greatest expectation that you had of it in light of God's word. It will be far more than you have yet hoped for. Yes, the call of the gospel, the price of the gospel is extreme. It will cost you everything, but the reward is even greater. because you cannot out give God. Let us now pray. Gracious Father in heaven, we come to you this morning thanking you for your word and for the ministry of your word. We thank you for this account which you have seen fit to record for us and we confess, Lord, that even as we have read of the x-ray that you performed on this man's heart, our own hearts are x-rayed and what we see in our hearts dismays us because we earnestly long to be one thing people as was the psalmist who confessed, one thing have I desired and that will I seek after that I may behold the glory of the Lord and the beauty of his tabernacle all the days of my life. Lord, that is our desire in the Spirit. We confess, O Lord, that our hearts are yet so often divided. We pray that you would forgive us. We pray that you would turn us unto repentance again. And we pray, Lord, that we may grasp by faith the promise of the gospel, that though the call to follow Christ costs us everything, yet the reward is so worth it. Lord, give us eyes of faith. Give us eyes like our father Abraham had to seek that city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. For we ask this in the name of Christ and for his glory, amen.