Transcript

God of The Impossible

Matthew 19:23-30
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith

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It might be the only incident when someone in the Bible came up to Jesus requesting salvation. As a leader in the synagogue he was already moral and religious. As a successful young man he was already ambitious and devout. The man knew what he wanted and went to the right Person to fulfill his request. "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" (Mt. 19:16).

There should be no doubt after this encounter that he walked away a child of God. Yet we know from last week that the "rich young ruler" departed in grief (Mt. 19:22) without receiving the request that he desired. I cannot overstate how essential it is to understand what went wrong.

There are two primary components that this man failed to fulfill.

First of all, salvation is based on the fact that we need a Savior. We need a Savior to bridge the gap between God's holiness and our sinfulness. Apart from acknowledging the reality that we have sinned against God, we will never flee to the One who died on the cross to remove our debt. We will never pursue Christ as Savior. The young man in our account wanted something that he was missing in his life, but he never acknowledged his sinfulness even after Jesus repeatedly presented him with the commandments (Mt. 19:18-19). You recall his response: "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" (Mt. 19:20). I don't think so!

Second, salvation is based upon an absolute submission to Christ. Divided hearts are not permitted. As the first commandment states, God will not share our heart with competing gods. If we are not prepared to have all of Him and Him alone to meet our deepest desires, we cannot have Him at all. The young man in our account worshipped the god of money, and because it was an idol in his heart Jesus told him his money must go. "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Mt. 19:21). He wanted eternal life, but not that badly.

So the man left without receiving the request he desired. In his effort to maintain his self-righteousness, he forfeited the righteousness of Christ. And while clinging tenaciously to his love of money, he let the love of Christ slip right through his fingertips. He departed with his pride and riches intact, but his barren soul was never filled nor was he granted the eternal life he sought. He made a tragic decision that had immediate and eternal ramifications.

This lengthy review is necessary not only because of the essential need to understand our Lord's demands for salvation, but also to prepare us for today's material as the dialogue that Jesus now has with His disciples is a follow-up to what just occurred. They were no doubt filled with questions after witnessing this event. So Jesus uses the opportunity to explain exactly what happened to the rich young ruler and to clarify the true realities of salvation.

1. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE

First of all, Jesus makes it clear that salvation, if we are to achieve it ourselves, is impossible.

Staying within the context of the rich young ruler our Lord says in verse 23, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." How hard is it? It is impossible. Verse 24, "Again I say to you, 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."

Some commentators have tried to soften the blow. They explain that there was a gate into Jerusalem called the "eye of the needle." They claim that this gate was so small that a camel without gear could just squeeze itself through. Unfortunately there has been no evidence that such a gate ever existed. Furthermore this interpretation does not take into account what Jesus will say in verse 26.

The point is impossibility. What Jesus used was a familiar proverbial saying of the day. What Jesus had in mind was a camel (the largest animal in the area) and the eye (or opening) of a needle used for sewing. The probability of a camel passing through the eye of a sewing needle is the same as a rich man achieving salvation on his own. Again, impossibility!

Now this may come as a shock to us. It came as a greater shock to the disciples. You see the theology of the day was that riches were a clear indication of God's blessings. It is no different than some wrong religious thoughts today - the more money you have, the more God's favor is shining upon you. Therefore it was assumed that the rich would be the first ones lining up at heaven's gates. So when Jesus said the wealthy have the most difficulty being saved, it turned everything they believed upside-down.

This is clearly seen in verse 25: "When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, 'Then who can be saved?'"

Permit me to make a few comments:

First, let's save ourselves a lot of guessing. Allow me to single out the rich from this congregation that Jesus is speaking to. Everybody stand up! If we seek to determine if we are rich, the comparison must not be made with Bill Gates and Nelson Rockefeller. The comparison must be made with the rest of our world's population. The Bible says if we have anything beyond what we need for contentment, food and shelter, we are considered rich. Therefore we are all, 1 Timothy 6:17, "the rich in this present world." So when Jesus is saying that misappropriated riches could be very detrimental to our spiritual life, He is speaking to each of us. It is always easy to say wealth is a problem, and wealthy people need to give more of it away when we think our Lord is speaking to someone else. Barring an extreme exception, He is talking to everyone in this room!

Second, we must state the other side of the potential contradiction. Jesus said it is impossible for rich people to be saved and yet we know from the Bible (and the demonstration just conducted) that wealthy people and very wealthy people have received salvation. Look no further than Solomon. And if you want more examples consider Abraham and Job and Moses and David and Zaccheus and Joseph of Arimathea. I will explain how rich people can be saved in a moment, but for now I want you to understand that wealth is not an absolute prohibition to heaven any more than poverty is an absolute admission to heaven.

Third, while the rich may be saved, it is definitely harder for them to be saved. Here is why. Like we saw with the rich young ruler, wealth has the tremendous potential to be an unmovable and overwhelming idol in our lives. Why depend on God when I can depend on my money? Why pray when my money has achieved for me all that I need? Why be concerned about the future when my money has given me security? Why devote my life to God when my life is devoted to making, keeping, protecting and spending my money?

Money keeps people away from God because it fuels the temptation to materialism, greed, jealousy, coveting, worldliness, self-reliance and joy apart from God. Jesus described it perfectly in Mark 4. "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but…the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mk. 4:18-19). Not always, but wealth has kept people out of the kingdom and wealth has produced some the most unproductive and uncommitted people in the church.

And fourth I come back to the point made by Jesus. Though it is harder for the wealthy to be saved, it is impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom of God on their own. Regardless of the specific barrier whether it be money or something else, we all have the problem of sin. And because of our sin, we do not seek God on our own nor are we able to enter God's holy kingdom based upon our own efforts regardless of our willpower, religion, good deeds and decisions.

I know it is an overused illustration, but it bears repeating. Imagine we departed from this sanctuary, went to the beach and stood along the edge of the ocean. And then when prompted, we all attempted to jump across the Atlantic. Sure, some of us might make it further than others, but none of us would even come close to reaching the other side.

Every world religion says "do." Christianity says, "You can't," God is too holy and your sinfulness is too great. When a camel can fit through the eye in a needle is when you on your own accord can achieve your own salvation.

So is there any hope?

2. IT'S POSSIBLE

From "It's Impossible" we go to the second point, "It's Possible." Verse 26, "And looking at them Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"

Again, the context of this comment is salvation. We cannot achieve our own salvation. It is impossible. But God can do the impossible and achieve salvation on our behalf. How is that?

God can make salvation possible by sending His Son to remove our sins. And then God can call those who are dead in their sins and raise us up with Him (Eph. 2:5-6). God can open our heart to the Gospel (Ac. 16:14). God can draw us to Christ (Jn. 6:44). God can cause us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3). God can grant us faith (Eph. 2:8-9). God can grant us repentance (Ac. 11:18). God can take away our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Eze. 36:26). And God can keep us clinging to Him when every force in the world pulls us in the opposite direction (Jn. 10:28-29).

That is why we can read how it is difficult for a rich person to be saved and then read about the filthy money-loving tax collector named Zaccheus and recall those memorable words of Jesus: "Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Lk. 19:9-10). The Holy Spirit can incline even the richest of the rich to seek treasures in heaven. Remember Moses? "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward" (Heb. 11:24-26). Evidence of God's working in one's heart.

The rich young ruler proved the point. We cannot be saved on our own terms, but with God the impossible is indeed possible. So do I believe God still does miracles? Absolutely! You see one every time a person gets saved.

3. IT'S PROFITABLE

So on the one hand, by our own efforts, salvation is impossible. On the other hand, by God's grace, salvation is possible. As we move to the third point, let's see how salvation is profitable.

You knew it would not take long for Peter to speak after a topic like this. He may have missed the miracle of salvation point, but he did not miss the sacrifice point. In other words, he saw the rich young ruler walk away with his worldly treasure at the expense of forsaking Christ. But on the other hand, the twelve disciples were following Christ and in doing so it caused them to leave much behind themselves. So the question, "What's in it for us? What do we get for making the right sacrifice?"

I want to come back to that word, "sacrifice," but for now allow me to share with you our Lord's answer. First in verse 28 He says, "[They] shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Second in verse 29 He says they will inherit "many times as much" with a wonderful church family for all that they left. And third in verse 29 He says, "[They] will inherit eternal life." So our Lord's response is simple. We do not come to Christ to get all this stuff, but when we do come to Christ, the rewards far outweigh the so-called "sacrifices." Even when we, as Peter said, leave everything and follow Christ.

So here is my question. Though we often use the term are we really making "sacrifices" to follow Jesus?

Listen to what John Piper said from Desiring God: "What was Jesus' attitude to Peter's 'sacrificial' spirit? Peter said, 'We have left everything and followed You.' Is this spirit of 'self-denial' commended by Jesus? No, it is rebuked. Jesus says, 'No one ever sacrifices anything for Me which I do not pay back a hundredfold - yes, in one sense even in this life, not to mention eternal life in the age to come.'" Piper continues, "The response of Jesus indicates that the way to think about self-denial is to deny yourself only a lesser good for a greater good… In other words, Jesus wants us to think about sacrifice in a way that rules out all self-pity" (p. 202).

Many of you made tremendous sacrifices when we had our building campaign. Look around; was it really a sacrifice for what God provided? Was it not exciting to partner with God in a significant moving of His grace? And when you consider the eternal riches you stored up for yourself in heaven according to Jesus' words in Matthew 6, there is no way in eternity you will ever use the word "sacrifice." Again, as Piper said, when we place a lesser good in God's hands we always receive a greater good from God's hands. Oh how much happier and God glorifying our lives would be if God would do the impossible and give us the faith to believe this.

I weep for the people who love this life (in the spirit of the rich young ruler) more than the one to come: investing their money solely in earthly gains, refusing to use their gifts and talents for God's kingdom, flippant in their attitude toward Bible reading, prayer and church attendance, unmoved by the condition of the lost with a general unwillingness to share their faith.

The Christian life is like a gymnastics routine. We can give it all we've got leaving nothing on the table or we can get on the balance beam and cling to the wooden plank for our life exerting no effort until our assigned time for the routine has expired. Who will have more confidence when they dismount and stand before the judge? Second Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."

J.C. Ryle said, "We may rest assured that no man shall ever be a real loser by following Christ. The believer may seem to suffer loss for a time… But let him rest assured that he will never find himself a loser in the long run (Ryle, Commentary, Chapter 19).

According to J. Campbell White, "Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ's purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ's undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards" (The Laymen's Missionary Movement, 1909).

No matter how it is sliced, the sacrifice is not ours. The sacrifice is God's, the very One who gave up His Son so that we might be delivered from hell and granted eternal life. How can we not submit fully to Christ's lordship and joyfully follow the example of "sacrifice" He set for us?

The gain is ours. We will appear to be "last" in the eyes of the world and sadly to some in the eyes of the church, but as Jesus concludes this section in verse 30, we will in reality be "first" in this life and in the life to come. And we will see a lot of changes around here if we all have the faith to believe that!