← Back to sermon library

We can turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19, as we continue 
our exposition of this first gospel, we find ourselves in 
the section dealing with the rich young ruler in verses 16 
to 22. I will begin reading in chapter 
19 at verse 1. Now it came to pass when Jesus had finished 
these sayings that he departed from Galilee and came to the 
region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed 
him and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came to him 
testing him and saying to him, is it lawful for a man to divorce 
his wife for just any reason? And he answered and said to them, 
have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made 
them male and female and said, for this reason a man shall leave 
his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two 
shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two 
but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined 
together, let not man separate. They said to him, why then did 
Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away? 
He said to them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, 
permitted you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning 
it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces 
his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery. And whoever marries her who is 
divorced commits adultery. The disciples said to him, if 
such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to 
marry. But he said to them, all cannot 
accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. 
For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's 
womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and 
there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom 
of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, 
let him accept it. Then little children were brought 
to him that he might put his hands on them and pray. But the 
disciples rebuked them, Jesus said, let the little children 
come to me and do not forbid that for of such is the kingdom 
of heaven. And he laid his hands on them 
and departed from there. 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 is good, but one that 
is God. But if you want to enter into 
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 things I have kept from 
my youth, what do I still lack? Jesus said to him, if you want 
to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor and 
you will 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the Word of God and we thank you for the 
Spirit of God and we pray that now he would guide us, that he 
would illumine our minds and our hearts, that you would lead 
us into all truth, that you would again cause us as believers to 
appreciate the glory of Jesus Christ, the blessedness of the 
covenant of grace, the reality that you have saved us from utter 
destruction, and for any and all here that think they're good, 
that think they're righteous, that think they have a standing 
with God because of what they do or have done. Lord God, may 
you humble them. May the law of God crush them. 
And may the gospel of God come to them by the Holy Spirit. We 
ask this for your glory's sake. We ask this for the strengthening 
of your people and for the salvation of sinners. And we pray through 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we have noticed 
in our study in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18 is matters of the 
church or relationships among the people of God. We might say 
that chapter 18 deals with ecclesiology. Here in chapter 19, he's dealing 
with ordinary daily life. He's dealing with family matters. He's dealing with those things 
that affect us on a routine basis. One commentator said, having 
treated marriage and the related subjects of divorce, single life, 
and children, the gospel turns next to money, the other great 
domestic consideration. Now when we compare Matthew, 
Mark, and Luke, it's substantially the same account or the same 
wording and language that is used there, but in Matthew he 
is identified as young, in Luke he is identified as a ruler, 
and in all three of the narratives he is identified as rich. Hence 
the name, the rich young ruler. You'll notice in that Matthew's 
account It's not called a ruler, we're just bringing that particular 
title to bear as it is most common to all of our minds. Well, I 
want to get straight away to the exposition under two main 
headings. First, the question posed by 
the young man in verses 16 to 21, and then the assertion made 
by the young man in verses 20 to 22. Telling Mike this morning, 
there are many ways you could structure a sermon like this. 
The young man actually asks three questions, so it wouldn't be 
inappropriate to sort of look at each of those three questions. 
But I think the structure that I'm using here highlights the 
reality. The young man questions and the 
young man asserts. It is Jesus who is responding. 
in each of these instances to show him ultimately his sin and 
his need for a redeemer. So let's look first at the question 
posed by the young man. Notice he comes to Jesus in verse 
16 and addresses him as good teacher. In Mark's gospel it 
says that he knelt before him. There was something about Jesus 
that was evident and obvious to people who we even see here 
are unconverted. This man goes away sorrowful. 
We have no indication whatsoever that he ever repented. God willing, 
he did. God willing, he believed. God 
willing, he came to Christ. But as we have the narrative 
in our Bible, there is no indication that he did so. Nevertheless, 
the goodness of Jesus was obvious. The goodness of Jesus was evident. 
The goodness of Jesus was manifested. in his life and in his doctrine. 
So much so that this young man kneels before him. Now note the 
specific question that he poses to Jesus. Good teacher, what 
good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Now this question 
is both legitimate and illegitimate. It's legitimate because this 
is something everyone should ask. This is something that I 
hope you, at least at some point in your life, have asked or will 
ask. Do you understand that there 
is eternal life to be had and eternal punishment to be had? 
Do you understand that there is the glories of heaven and 
the terrors of hell? Do you understand that when you 
die and your body is placed into the grave, the soul lives on? At least this young man had some 
inkling of this reality. I wonder at times how many, even 
in this room, ever give thought to this reality. I'm going to 
die. I'm going to stand before God. 
I'm going to have to give an account to the Lord. I'm going 
to have to say all the things that I've done, in the body, 
whether good or ill. I need to stand before the just 
judge of all the universe. And I need to ask the question, 
what must I do that I shall have everlasting life? It is legit 
to wonder about these things. It is good to wonder about these 
things. You young people and children, 
we don't say these things every Sunday. And I trust your parents 
are saying these through the week to bug you. or to harass 
you, or to make you feel weird, or to make you feel awkward, 
or to make you feel bizarre. These things are asked with a 
specific purpose. You need to think about this 
truth. You need to think about this reality. You will one day 
draw your last breath and you will stand before the presence 
of God Most High. If you haven't asked this question, 
if you haven't taken Scripture's response, if you haven't fleed 
to the Lord Jesus Christ, then on that day, ultimately, you 
will not hear, well done, good and faithful servant. You will 
hear one of the most terrifying words in the entirety of the 
Bible. Depart from me, for I never knew 
you. Depart from me is what Christ 
will say. And imagine that. Imagine the 
reality for those who have heard the gospel. Imagine the reality 
for those who have had parents that bring them to the throne 
of grace. That have fathers and mothers that we saw last week 
that bring their little ones to Jesus for blessing. Or those 
who have come to church, or those who go to a church, where the 
gospel is proclaimed. Not a happy life, not a fulfilled 
life, not a better you, but a righteousness that comes from God, received 
by faith alone. A righteousness that man desperately 
needs to be clothed with before he ever enters into eternal life. 
Imagine that! And you have rejected, and you 
have resisted, and you have refused. Some of you haven't even asked 
the question. Some of you, when preaching, 
come stop up your ears. If we could see your hearts, 
it would look like this. Thankfully, you don't do that 
because it'd be rude and awkward in a public assembly. But if 
we were able to peer into the hearts of men and women and boys 
and girls, when the gospel is proclaimed, would we not see 
that very thing? It's almost as if arms would 
grow out of the heart and bar up its ears so that it cannot 
hear or cannot receive the truth of God. This young man's question 
on the one hand is legitimate. What thing shall I do that I 
may have eternal life? Now, it is illegitimate because 
he is looking to garner favor from God by what he does. What 
good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? We need to 
understand what this passage is about. This passage is not 
a believer coming to Jesus and saying, how can I be more holy? How can I be more godly? In that 
instance, I suspect or I know the Lord Jesus would point us 
to his law and say, I want you to do these things, remember? 
The law drives us to the cross, the cross sends us back to the 
law. That's not what's going on here. This man is asking the 
question about acceptance with God. What good thing shall I 
do that I may have eternal life? I love the way the Geneva Bible 
explains this. He says, they neither know themselves 
nor the law that seek to be saved by the law. We're going to see 
that fleshed out in this passage this morning. This man comes 
looking to do in order to earn God's favor. This man looks for 
that thing that he can accomplish so that he can secure favor with 
God. I hope the youngest in this room would say, yeah, that is 
wrong. That is illegitimate. We've heard enough how holy God 
is and how sinful man is that there aren't enough good works 
that man can do in order to earn his favor with God. Man has a 
fundamental problem and it's sin. Man needs redemption. Man 
needs remission. Man needs a righteousness that 
is not his own. Man needs to be clothed by God 
Most High in the righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ. So it is on the one hand legitimate. You should ask the 
question. So I do that I might have everlasting life. But on 
the other hand, it's illegitimate because he's looking to what 
he's doing. He's looking to his own sufficiency 
and his own ability. Keep this quote from the Geneva 
Bible in your mind. They neither know themselves 
nor the law that seek to be saved by the law. Now note our Lord's 
response to the question posed by the young man. And there are 
three things we ought to observe here. First, the standard of 
goodness the specific direction and the particular illustration. 
Notice the standard of goodness. There's a bit of a difficulty 
in the text here between one text type and what we find in 
Mark and Luke. Suffice it to say that what Jesus 
says in verse 17, why do you call me good? No one is good 
but one. Some have suggested that Jesus 
here is denying his impeccability. Jesus is denying his sinlessness. 
That's not what Jesus is doing. Some have suggested that this 
is an argument for the deity of Jesus. Why do you call me 
good? Only God is good. If I am good, 
therefore I am God. With Calvin, I say that's a little 
bit of a difficulty for me to grasp. The ins and outs of why 
Jesus says, why do you call me good? No one is good but one. 
That is God. I think the primary emphasis 
that we ought to appreciate is this. The young man says, what 
good thing shall I do? And I think Jesus is suggesting 
to him, I don't think you have any concept of good. You don't 
understand what good is. There's only one good and that's 
God. This whole narrative is designed 
to show this young man his sin. And Jesus starts at the outset 
by questioning the assumption that this young man even knows 
what goodness is. We are sinners. Even the best 
of us cannot claim a goodness. Even the best of us cannot say 
that we're good. You hear this in the world sometimes. 
Man is essentially good. The Bible begs to differ. The Bible tells us that the wicked 
go estranged from the womb, speaking lies as soon as they are born. 
I don't suggest you go see the new baby in the hospital and 
say, wow, look at that little wretch. Everybody's saying how 
good it smells and how cute it is. You say, well, it's a wicked 
thing. It speaks lies from... Don't 
do that. Don't ram your Reformed theology down the new mother's 
moment. That is what Scripture says, 
isn't it? Man is not essentially good. God is essentially good. Jesus is pressing this young 
man with a standard so that the young man will see how desperately 
he needs the Lord Jesus Christ. The commandments are good because 
they are from the one who is good, namely God. Now note the 
specific direction that Jesus gives him. The end of verse 17, 
but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. If you want to enter into life, 
keep the commandments. Now you have to see what Jesus 
is doing. This man approaches Jesus based on the covenant of 
works. What good thing shall I do that 
I might have everlasting life? Jesus says, keep the law. Right? Wasn't that the admonition? Wasn't 
that the formulation? Wasn't that what God said to 
Adam? Keep the law. Don't eat of the tree. If you 
eat of the tree, you will die. The implication is obvious. If 
you don't eat from the tree, you will live. There is life 
to be had in obedience. There is life to be had in law-keeping. Jesus is talking to him on the 
same level in terms of the covenant of works. The young man wants 
to know what good thing, and Christ points him to God's good 
law. You know, or he says, if you 
want to enter into life, keep the commandments. Paul deals 
with this in Galatians chapter 3 when he's highlighting differences 
between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. Galatians 
3.10, cursing is everyone who does not continue on all things 
which are written in the book of the law to do that. It's a 
quote from Deuteronomy 27. Galatians 3.12, yet the law is 
not of faith but the man who does them shall live by them. You approach God based on the 
covenant of works, you approach God with this idea that what 
thing shall I do in order to gain salvation, then you need 
to do it the way the good God specifies. Partial obedience, 
part-time obedience, haphazard obedience, that is not what is 
demanded in the law of God Almighty. Spurgeon, before that, with our 
confession of faith, it demands personal, entire, exact, and 
perpetual obedience. That's what's required if you 
approach God in terms of what do I do in order to get. Now, 
let's just take this home. How many of you think this? Or 
how many of the world think this? If I just do good things, God 
will let me in. Am I speaking to corpses this 
morning? Is anybody resonating here? Do 
you understand that this is man in sin? He thinks that he can 
do enough good things so that God will say, well done, enter 
into the joy of your rest. No man can do that. I'm shocked 
at the amount of Protestant interpreters that handle this passage, neglecting 
the reality of total depravity. We're not reading a Pauline construct 
into a particular narrative. We are understanding the holistic 
Bible. Man is desperately wicked. His 
heart is deceitful above all things. He can't even understand 
it. There are persons who actually think that they can approach 
God through the covenant of words and hear, well done, good and 
faithful servant. And they're probably not just 
out there. They're probably in this room. Well, I don't do really 
bad things. God's not going to say, well, 
you've satisfied my law because you haven't done really bad things. 
You haven't armed yourself to the teeth and gone down to the 
Cottonwood Mall and opened fire on everybody. Good for you. Excellent. Welcome into my kingdom forever 
and ever. I haven't done anything really 
bad. I remember this in my own experience 
when somebody would preach the gospel to me. Well, I'm a pretty 
good guy. I've never committed murder. I've never committed 
adultery. I didn't know at the time that one of the most godly 
men in the world had committed murder and had committed adultery. 
And it's the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, that washed us from 
our sins. You see, this is a reality today. 
Persons try to enter into the presence of God based on this 
works principle. I'm gonna do. You hear it with 
the world. Christians do some pretty wretched 
things sometimes, and they are, by God's grace, forgiven. Imagine, 
just for a moment, if we lived at the time of 2 Samuel 11 and 
12. Imagine if you flipped on CNN, or you looked on your internet, 
you looked on Fox, want to be even keyed here, give equal treatment, 
or your, you know, the other media that are out there. I'm 
not saying you got to watch one or the other. And you happen 
to read that the king of Israel committed adultery, was found 
out in that adultery, so he committed murder in order to hide his tracks. 
And then you watch to the end of the segment and you find out 
he found forgiveness with his God. What does the unbeliever 
say? That's not fair. That's not right. Of course it's not fair. It's 
grace. I heard President Obama at that 
funeral the other day say, make us worthy of your grace. The 
whole point of grace is that we're not worthy. Isn't it? You're not worthy for grace. 
You're not worthy of the blood. You're not worthy of mercy. You're 
not worthy of righteousness. You're not worthy of heaven. 
You're there because of amazing grace. And it was and it is a 
sweet sound. I recommend you don't listen 
to the president sing it because you'll never get that image out 
of your head. Men, approach God through the 
covenant of works. C.H. Spurgeon says, yet on the 
ground of the law, if he would desire eternal life as a reward, 
he must be as good as God and keep the commandments to perfection. 
Thus the rugged way of works was set before him. Not that 
he might attempt to win eternal life thereby, but that he might 
perceive his own shortcomings and so feel his weakness as to 
look for salvation by some other method. Brethren, Jesus is preaching 
the law to him in that second use. It is a pedagogue. It is 
to drive him to Christ. It is to show him that his self-righteousness 
is wrong, that he is not a good man, that he is not a law-keeper, 
that he needs help from outside of himself. He needs salvation 
wrought by the Son of God. Jesus is not prescribing a new 
way of salvation. Sell your stuff, give to the 
poor. He's pressing the law. That'll 
be obvious as we move through the passage. John Gill says, 
You see, that's God's demand. That's what God requires. If 
you choose law keeping, it must be perfect. It must be exact. It must be 
entire. It must be perpetual. That's 
what Christ rendered. We either do it ourselves or 
by God's grace believe on the one who did it. And in case of 
the least failure, he goes on to say, curses and condemns to 
everlasting life. Now notice the particular illustration. He said to him, which ones? And 
we read that and we say, well, come on, of course it's the Ten 
Commandments. You know, the Jews saw 613 commands in the Old Testament. 
People again say, oh, the Bible and all of its legislation. I 
wish we only had 613 laws to deal with from our federal government. 613 is a nice small number compared 
to the amounts of legislation that are heaped upon the people 
in today's world. We have a radically unbiblical 
view of the Bible. Oh, that Old Testament, it's 
so harsh and everything's regulated. No, it isn't. You don't talk 
about hyper-regulation. Try to put up a fence. Try to 
do anything without getting some approval from the state. But 
anyways, they had 600... I digress. I got some Supreme 
Court in my head this morning. Please forgive me. Let me get 
rid of it. 613 commandments, which ones? What do I do? Notice what Jesus 
does. He preaches the Decalogue to him. He preaches the commandments 
of God to him. And note the order that he does 
so. He gives him the 6th, he gives him the 7th, he gives him 
the 8th, he gives him the 9th, he gives him the 5th, and then 
he gives them the summarizing principle that a man is to love 
his neighbor as himself. Intriguing, isn't it? 6, 7, 8, 
9, 5, And then the love command. Again, 
a summarizing statement. Jesus gives him the second table 
of the law. He doesn't say, you shall have 
no other gods before you. You shall not make for yourself 
an idol. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain. You remember the Sabbath day 
to keep it holy. He doesn't do that. Why does he give him the 
second table of the law? I think Matthew Henry is spot 
on here. Reflecting Calvin as well, Henry 
just says it in a little bit more of a pithy way. He says, 
though first table duties have in them more of the essence of 
religion, yet second table duties have in them more of the evidence 
of it. How do we know that a man loves 
God? It's by the way that he loves his neighbor. How do we 
know that a man has been justified freely by grace? Because he goes 
out and does what God says. It's a matter of evidence. Henry says, our light burns in 
love to God, but it shines in love to our neighbor. So you 
see Jesus' method here. Now, don't forget that he doesn't 
give him the 10th commandment. That's going to be important 
in about seven minutes. He doesn't mention the 10th word. 
What's the young man's problem? It's the 10th word, isn't it? 
He doesn't give that to him on a plate and say, you shall not 
covet. He gives it to him in a bit of 
an illustration or a way of pointing his or putting his finger on 
the young man's particular sin. But again, we'll see that in 
just a moment. brings us to consider the assertion made by the young 
man. If you want a detailed explanation of each of those commandments, 
I invite you to attend our evening services. Tonight, we'll be looking 
at the second commandment in the series. So, God willing, 
we'll get to that second table later on in the summer. But notice, 
Jesus preaches the Decalogue, which indicates it has binding 
authority for Jesus. It's not gone. It didn't come 
to abolish. He didn't come to get rid of 
it, but the utility of the Decalogue carries into, obviously, the 
New Covenant situation. Now, note the assertion made 
by the young man. I want to consider the assertion 
stated and the assertion answered. Note first, verse 20, the young 
man said to him, all these things I have kept from my youth, what 
do I still lack? Now, anybody who's a student 
of the Bible, Reformed theology, or has the bare understanding 
of sin and law, depravity, sees that as a shocking statement, 
don't they? How does a man make it through puberty without ever 
having broken the seventh commandment? How does a man ever make it through 
life without breaking the sixth commandment? Now, he doesn't 
go out and cut people's throats, but he certainly gets angry. 
He's certainly full of impatience. All these things I have kept 
from my youth?" There are several things we ought to observe here. 
First of all, this is an amazing claim that he has obeyed successfully 
the second table of the law. Now remember, the obeying of 
the second table of the law is not according to the Pharisees. 
It is according to the original intent expounded by Jesus in 
the Sermon on the Mount. If you look upon a woman to lust, 
you have broken the commandment. If you say of your brother, fool 
or raka, you have broken the commandment. You see, it's not 
just about this external compliance, it never was, but it goes to 
the very heart. This is an amazing admission 
by this man. A second thing we ought to observe 
is the young man proudly parades his self-righteousness. This 
is a proud statement. Can you imagine hearing somebody 
say this? You ever shared the gospel with 
somebody and told them you're a sinner? They say, well, I'm 
not a sinner. Are you kidding me? You're not a sinner? You 
love God and you love your neighbor all the time, always? No, you 
don't. Here's what Calvin says, but 
intoxicated with foolish confidence, he fearlessly boasts that he 
had discharged his duty properly from his childhood. Interesting 
that in this passage, the humility of children is set forth in chapter 
18, verses 1 to 4. And then again, when the little 
children come to the Lord Jesus, such as these is what the kingdom 
is about. This man shows just the opposite. Thirdly, the young man has not 
properly reflected on the comprehensiveness of the law. Sinners rarely do. Sinners are content with the 
thought that if they don't cut throats, they're somehow not 
guilty. Sinners are content with the thought that as long as they 
haven't actually engaged in the act of adultery, then they haven't 
broken the law. Sinners actually think that if 
they haven't gone into Walmart and put something up their shirt 
and made it past the security cameras, that they haven't violated 
the Eighth Commandment. Sinners actually think that if 
they don't go up on a witness stand and tell a bold-faced lie, 
then somehow they're compliant with the Ninth Commandment. I 
don't know how any sinner can think that he's good on the 10th, 
but that's a different story. He hadn't reflected upon the 
comprehensiveness of God's law. Listen to Ryle. So utterly ignorant 
is he of the spirituality of God's statutes that he never 
doubts that he has perfectly fulfilled them. How dark must 
his mind have been as to the nature of God's law. How long 
must his ideas have been as to the holiness or how low rather 
must his ideas have been as to the holiness which God requires. I've already said this, it bears 
repeating. He hasn't reflected It's properly on the nature of 
God's law, but on the nature of His own sin. Remember the Geneva Bible. They 
neither know themselves nor the law that seek to be saved by 
the law. And it is intriguing. I just 
was thinking about this this morning, going over this passage 
again. Notice what the young man says in verse 20. All these 
things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack? I remember 
when I got converted. Again, a little autobiography. 
I don't like a lot of autobiography, but my biography is the only 
one I know, so I can only share that. I can't tell you about 
you when you were younger, because I didn't know you when you were 
younger. But I remember when I got converted. My brother-in-law 
led us in the sinner's prayer. And I believe God saved me. I 
don't believe it was because of that sinner's prayer. I believe 
it was because of the active and passive obedience of our 
Lord Jesus. But I went through a period of 
time of reading gospel tracts and I would notice that each 
version of the sinner's prayer was a little bit different. So 
I'd pray that one too. I wanted to cover my bases. There 
was not satisfaction or a contentedness until all of the bases had been 
covered. It seems to me that the law, 
seeking salvation by it, provides some of that instability as well. Notice, I have kept these things 
from my youth. What do I still lack? What else 
is there? Point me, good teacher. Guide 
me, good teacher. Tell me what to do, good teacher, 
and I will do it. I think by way of a corollary 
application we might observe that the law keeping it on to 
salvation will never provide stability, it will never provide 
security, it will never provide that comfort that we are going 
to be with our God. Contra blood, contra the righteousness 
of Christ, the reality that nothing in my hand I bring, simply to 
thy cross I cling. The reality that foul I to the 
fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. There's a comfort and 
an assurance and a stability when we look outside of ourselves 
and our law-keeping to the one who kept the law perfectly, to 
the one who died as a sacrifice and a substitute, and to the 
one that rose again on the third day. Our comfort is sure because 
He is sure. Our comfort is solid because 
He is solid. Our comfort is real. Christ is satisfying. In the first place, Jesus acknowledges 
that the young man is not perfect. Jesus said, if you want to be 
perfect, what is that? You're not perfect. for all of 
your blathering to the contrary, for all of your desire to do 
good things in order to have everlasting life, for all of 
the blathering concerning your fastidious attention to all of 
the details of God's holy law ever since you were young. If 
you want to be perfect, he tells it. Now, I should say that some 
have seen in this passage a twofold discipleship. There's the type 
of discipleship that we mostly find ourselves in. We have stuff, 
we have wives, we have kids, and we believe in Jesus. But 
if we really want to be perfect, then we'll shave our heads, that's 
not part of it, but we'll sell everything, we'll give all that 
to the poor, and we'll be on that extra high plane of Christian 
discipleship. That is a nonsensical interpretation 
of the passage. Remember, Jesus is using the 
law as a child tutor to show this man his sin. Remember that 
Jesus had not recited the Tenth Commandment. Jesus didn't forget 
the Tenth Commandment. Jesus is going to tease it out 
of him now with this personal illustration. Notice, the Lord 
does not prescribe here salvation by poverty and following him. This is indeed a particular application 
to this man's situation. How do we know that? How do we 
know that Jesus is not telling us 21st century New Testament 
Christians to sell our stuff and follow him? You know, get 
rid of your shoes, wear sandals, wear robes, do whatever with 
your hair and follow him. Because the rest of the Bible 
does not validate such a position. The love of money is a root of 
all kinds of evil, according to Paul. As well, the money obtained 
by the selling of the possessions in this pericope was to be given 
to the poor. If money is necessarily bad, 
why would we give it to the poor? Why would we hinder them and 
their spiritual well-being? Why would we sell our stuff, 
hand it to a poor person and say, now it's your problem? No, 
we wouldn't do that. It's seen as a good thing. What's 
the larger context in chapter 19? The larger context is marriage. 
Man, one man, marrying one woman, not another man, not a few women, 
not an animal, not a tree, but a man marrying a woman and that 
forever, permanently. How does a man provide for his 
wife if he sells everything and gives it away to the poor? How 
are these parents supposed to provide for their children if 
he sells everything and gives it to the poor? That is a nonsensical 
interpretation as well. We'll visit that when we come 
back to the application. What the Lord says here is to 
identify the young man's breach of the tenth word. Does the Bible tell you to not 
have a computer? Does the Bible tell you to not 
have a TV? If you put yourself in this pericope, 
it might be something like that. Pericope just means a small section 
of narrative. Looks like pericope, but it's 
pericope. For some reason that's in my 
head. Jesus might say to some of you young men or young women, 
He might have recited the sixth word, the eighth word, the ninth 
word, the tenth word, and then the love command. Say, where's 
the seventh word? Did He forget? You say, oh, I've 
kept all these from my youth. What do I lack? Let's go back 
to that seventh word. You get rid of your computer. 
You get rid of that phone. What's the implication? You quit 
looking at porn and breaking that seventh commandment and 
you follow me. What's Jesus doing? He's preaching 
the law there. He's showing you that you have 
not kept the law from your youth. He's showing you that you are 
bankrupt, that you are immoral, that the goodness that you esteem 
yourself as having is not a goodness at all. Because those guilty 
of the seventh word, in my illustration, or those guilty of the tenth 
word, in Jesus' illustration, are guilty of breaking the entirety 
of the law. That's what Christ is doing. 
He's not telling you that the way to heaven is by selling everything, 
getting a tambourine and hanging out at the airport. He is pressing 
this man's conscience with the law of God that the man boasted 
of keeping. That's a problem. You cannot 
look for salvation in your strength. The Lord uses this as a rhetorical 
device. as a means, an argument to expose 
the reality that this man was covetous. Notice, if you want 
to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor. 
And you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. C. H. Spurgeon says, if we love 
our possession more than we love God, we are idolaters. And if we will hug our property 
so as to let the poor hunger, we cannot be said to love them 
as ourselves. In a sense, this argument or 
this rhetorical device that Jesus employs shows or highlights and 
demonstrates not only a violation of the tenth word, He hasn't 
loved his neighbor as himself, if he's a covetous, greedy man, 
but it's a violation of the first word. He's had another God before 
God. He doesn't neglect the first 
table of the law. Jesus, by way of argument, by 
way of a rhetorical device, by way of teasing out of this man 
the reality or the knowledge that he is guilty before God, 
gives him this little story. You're so holy, and you're so 
good, and you're so righteous. Did he think Jesus was going 
to congratulate him? Pat him on the shoulder and say, 
wow, I'm impressed. I've yet to meet a law keeper. 
Jesus takes the law of God and presses it upon his conscience 
to show him something of his own sin. And then notice, finally, 
the response in verse 22 of the young man. He was sorrowful, and he departed. It's sad, isn't it? It's sad when we come together 
as a church, and you know that the gospel has been preached, 
and you suspect that people depart never to come to Christ. It's 
sad when you're rearing your children, and you're pressing 
upon them the glory of the gospel, and you're pressing upon them 
the law, and you're telling them that Jesus saves to the uttermost. 
And you look at them and they've got this blank gaze and they 
go out and do whatever it is they were going to do in the 
first place. It is grievous to see people depart from Jesus 
Christ. He heard what Christ said. He 
understood the reality. He was sorrowful as a result, 
but not so much that he would flee to Christ. You see, sorrow 
without repentance is without benefit. You may cry yourself 
to sleep at what a wretch you are, but without fleeing to Christ, 
there's no relief. You're not going to go to heaven 
because you sorrow over your tears. You're not going to go 
to heaven because you feel bad over your sins. You're not going 
to go to heaven because you feel bad and you haven't done those 
things that you ought to do. We go to heaven because of Christ. 
We go to heaven because of His blood and His righteousness. 
It is grievous to see the incident here recorded for us. D. A. Carson 
describes it this way. He leaves because if a choice 
must be made between money and Jesus, money wins. Jesus already 
spoke to this in Matthew 6.24. There's a lot of sermon on the 
mount in this particular narrative, by the way. We don't have time 
to tease it all out. If you have to make a choice this morning 
between the tenth word and Christ, may I encourage you, Christ, 
Some of you young people struggling with the seventh commandment 
that still have that phone in their pocket, that still have 
that computer, may I suggest get rid of it and flee to Christ? 
May I suggest that the Lord of glory is the one alone who can 
save you from your sins? Do not depart sorrowful, rather 
fly by faith to the Son of God who gave himself for sinners. Royal says, one idol cherished 
in the heart may ruin a soul forever. One idol cherished in 
the heart may ruin a soul forever. You know, sometimes people say, 
well, what's the big deal? It's just one sin. Yeah, so get 
rid of it. You want to be holy? Just move 
it into the realm of the normative use of the law. You want to be 
godly? You want to be righteous? Get rid of those things that 
violate. Get rid of those things that 
you degrade yourself with. Get rid of those things, because 
Jesus is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, to be sure. Bruner makes this comment. I 
think he's reflecting one of the church fathers. He says that 
he does not have money It has Him. That is profound. He does not 
have great possessions. The great possessions have Him. It's grievous. It's the exposition. The young 
man asks the question. Jesus answers according to the 
covenant of works. Jesus presses the law so that 
the young man will see indeed his need for the Savior. And 
instead of coming, taking Christ, what he does is he departs. I 
do want to conclude with a few observations and then we'll close. The first is that this text does 
challenge an affluent people. I have said and I stand by the 
reality that this is a particular application for a particular 
individual that somehow thought that he was spotless in terms 
of his good adherence to the law of God. His problem was money. So Jesus says, get rid of your 
money and follow me. So I stand by that interpretation. But on the heels of this, the 
disciples ask about money and about riches. And if we reflect 
upon this passage, we have to reflect upon other passages as 
well. Matthew 13, what is one of the things that chokes out 
the seed in a man's heart? It is riches. Riches. Wealth. Possessions. They present a challenge to an 
affluent people. Gundry makes this wise observation. He says that Jesus did not command 
all his followers to sell all their possessions, gives comfort 
only to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command. Let me just repeat that again. 
Wake up, pay attention. that Jesus did not command all 
his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort to 
the kind of people to whom he would issue that command. I'm 
thankful he didn't issue that to me. I'm thankful that he doesn't 
tell me to get rid of my possessions. I'm so thankful that it is a 
particular application. I'm thankful that our dear beloved 
pastor pointed that out. So I can go home to my stuff. 
That stuff can present a challenge in following Jesus. That stuff 
can create obstacles in a pursuit of a kingdom righteousness. That 
stuff can present temptations and issues and problems and dilemmas 
that can choke out the one who has received the Word of God. 
We need to be mindful. It's interesting. In our passage, 
he had great possessions. It could also just be many possessions. Our possessions may not be great. 
We don't have gold and silver, but we have many. RT France makes 
the wise observation that this text speaks to just about everybody 
in the West. It is not a respecter of persons 
that way. I mean, you certainly wouldn't 
bring this to bear upon those in the Sudan or those in Ethiopia. Oh, you've got great possessions. 
No, but in America and Canada? That is a challenge, brethren. 
That is a difficulty. cited before or alluded to before 
that quote from Lewis. He says many times, a young man 
says, he's making his way in the world when he doesn't realize 
that the world is making its way into his heart. Watch and 
pray. God has blessed us. We are to 
bless Him back. Blessed be the Lord who daily 
loads me with benefits. Thank you for the food. Thank 
you for the shelter. Thank you for the clothes. Thank 
you for the house. Thank you for these good gifts. 
But God, let me not hold on to them with a death grip. Should 
Jesus say, give it all up, I ought to be willing to give it all 
up. Should Jesus call me to follow in a particular path that is 
untoward in my estimation, God give me the grace to do so. May 
we actually pray and may we actually sing and may we actually mean, 
riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance 
now and always. Thou and Thou only, first in 
my heart. High King of heaven, my treasure, 
Thou art. Good thing to reflect upon as 
an affluent people. We are wealthy, even the most 
unwealthy among us. Go to Sudan, go to Ethiopia, 
go to some places in the world. In the second place, we ought 
to appreciate something of the methodology of our Lord Jesus 
in this passage. The young man's question demonstrates 
his approach to life through the covenant of words. The Lord 
answers him accordingly to show him his inability to enter via 
that avenue. Pressing his conscience. Bringing 
the law to bear. Listen to Calvin, this reply 
of Christ is legal because it was proper that the young man 
who inquired about the righteousness of works should first be taught 
that no man is accounted righteous before God unless he has fulfilled 
the law. And Calvin rightly says, which 
is impossible. And some of the modern seem to 
forget total depravity. They almost make it sound like 
if you just stop doing your sin and follow Jesus, everything's 
great. Who's going to stop doing their sin, shy of sovereign grace? Who stops looking at porn? Who 
stops coveting? Who stops murdering? Who stops 
engaging in that manner of wickedness who hasn't first come unto Jesus? Calvin goes on to say, that convinced 
of his weakness, he might betake himself to the assistance of 
faith. John Gill. He says, this Christ 
said in order to show that it is impossible to enter into or 
obtain eternal life by the works of the law since no man can perfectly 
keep it. Love what he says here. And to 
unhinge this man from off the legal foundation on which he 
was. This man needed to be unhinged. This man thought everything was 
good. This man thought he could earn his salvation. Gil says 
Jesus brings Sinai to bear upon him to unhinge him from that 
legal foundation. You see, brethren, the preaching 
of the law does that. This idea that has been introduced 
that we don't need the law is absolutely diabolical. We need 
it in its civil use. We need it as a pedagogue to 
show men their sin and to show them the glory of the Savior. 
And we need it in its normative application for our day-to-day 
Christian living. Gil goes on to say, to unhinge 
this man from off the legal foundation on which he was that he might 
drop all his dependence on doing good things and come to him for 
righteousness and life." The Lord uses the law in its pedagogical 
sense to show the man his need. The third thing I want to look 
at is the kindness of the Lord. The kindness of the Lord Well, 
he's preached the law to him. He didn't say, you know, I love 
you and I have a wonderful plan for your life. That would have 
been kind, wouldn't it? In Mark's narrative, it tells 
us specifically, then Jesus, looking at him, loved him and 
said to him. Isn't that beautiful? I wonder 
if when we witness and when we evangelize or when we testify, 
we love the people we're talking to. Jesus in His humanity looked 
at the man and He loved him. How is this an act of love? In the first place, the preaching 
of God's truth is an act of love toward sinners. It is unloving 
to tell the homosexual that God made them that way. It is unloving 
to suggest that somehow it's a mental disease, or it's a shortcoming, 
or it's a problem with their wiring, or that it's no problem 
at all. It is loving to tell them it 
is a sin, but there is a Savior for sinners. There are some diseases 
out there medicine can't cure, but sin is curable through the 
blood. This is an act of love, brethren, 
to tell the greedy man he's greedy. This is an act of love to tell 
the perverse man he's perverse. Not to make it the law of the 
land and to make it acceptable, which can never happen. It is 
never to be acceptable when God the Lord has legislated. He is 
the Supreme Court. But when we tell persons the 
truth, what greater act of love can there be? I'm thankful that 
somebody in my past told me the truth. You're thankful that somebody 
in your past told you the truth. Sinners all over the globe are 
thankful that somebody told them the truth because they have found 
remedy in and through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It 
is unloving. to explain away sin. It is unloving 
to charge something as genetic that is clearly depravity. It 
is unloving to lie to people and tell them that they're okay 
when they are miserable, God-offending sinners that deserve His wrath. 
Not just homosexuals. Heterosexual fornicators. The 
guy that lives next door that is vicious to his wife. Sin is 
sin is sin is sin! And the gospel alone is the remedy 
in each and every instance. And the preaching of God's truth 
is not only loving, but crucial for sinners. Listen to Paul's 
experience. What shall we say then? Is the 
law sin? He says, certainly not, on the 
contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for 
I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you 
shall not covet. Paul was thankful for the pedagogical 
use, wasn't he? Certainly not, I'm glad that 
somebody told me, you shall not covet, because I wouldn't have 
known lust unless the law had rose up and told me and declared 
to me this reality so that I would seek aid outside of myself. Machen 
said this in his book, What is Faith? The new and more powerful 
proclamation of that law is perhaps the most pressing need of the 
hour. Men would have little difficulty with the gospel if they had only 
learned the lesson of law. Isn't that the case? You tell 
a man, be a better you. Well, I'm already pretty good. 
You tell a man, be a wealthier or a happier you. I'm already 
pretty wealthy and happy. You tell a man that he's a sinner 
in the sight of a holy God, justly liable to everlasting punishment, 
and perhaps then he'll say, what do I need? Machen goes on to say, so it 
always is. A low view of law always brings 
legalism in religion. A high view of law makes a man 
a seeker after grace. Pray, God, that the high view 
may again prevail. Underscore that and encourage 
you to pray that as well. We preach the gospel. We preach 
the law. We preach the entirety of God's 
word. We neglect Leviticus 18, Leviticus 
20. We neglect Romans 1. We neglect 
1 Corinthians 6. We neglect 1 Timothy 1. Passages 
that speak clearly against the sin of homosexuality. We are 
not dealing faithfully with them. We are not loving them. We are 
not caring for them. We are not helping them. What 
we have to preach is a savior from sin. If we redefine it and 
say that it's not sin, we have no savior to preach to them at 
all. And then finally, I want to end 
where we began. This is a legitimate question. 
May I press it upon you this morning to think through these 
things? You need to ask, how do I enter everlasting life? How do I enter eternal life? 
It is a legitimate thing to consider. It is the most important thing 
to consider. It is what you should be occupied 
with. It is what you should not finish 
this day without having given thought to. You could die today. You could be vaulted into the 
presence of God today. You may go out of this world 
today. Doesn't Edward say that in his 
sermon? Sinners in the hands of an angry 
God. He says there are innumerable ways of men going out of this 
world. Persons die in ways you would 
have never imagined. You know, big, strong, muscle-bound 
guys. They get hit by cars. You've 
got people that have chronic illness and disease and they 
live to 95. Sometimes it's very perplexing 
the way things work. Remember Sam Waldron saying concerning 
young men, especially, there's this arrogance. You act like 
you're 8 foot tall and you're bulletproof. Nothing's ever going 
to happen to you. You're 8 foot tall, you can take 
on any comers, and you're bulletproof. Nothing can stop you. The voice 
of God Most High can stop you. The one who holds the keys to 
death and Hades can stop you. That Lord God Almighty. You need 
to give thought to this question. What must I do to have everlasting 
life? Hopefully you have seen it's 
not about what you do. It's about upon whom you believe. As well, you need to not take 
comfort with the fact that, well, I do think about these things. 
I haven't believed the gospel, but you know, my friends and 
I, we talk about these sorts of things. I like what Manton 
says. He says, men may go very far 
in a sense of religion and yet come short of true grace. Ask 
the question, hear the answer, and flee to the Savior. That's 
it. Believe. Believe the gospel of 
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Do not engage in wretched, proud 
self-righteousness. But I'm a good guy or a good 
girl. Do not underestimate the totality 
of the depravity you find yourself in. Do not neglect the spirituality 
of God's law. And even if you aren't engaged 
in the actual act, if you are entertaining it in your mind, 
you are guilty before the court of heaven. You need to think 
through these things. You need to come to the Savior. 
You need to believe on Him. There you find everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
I pray that today sinners would not depart, but they would come 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that you are a God full 
of grace. In the next section in Matthew 
you say that all things are possible with God. We ask our Lord that 
you would open hearts, that the Spirit of God would apply that 
today would be the day of salvation for child, for young person, 
for adult, for any and all who have come here this morning, 
strangers to the covenant of grace. We pray God most high 
that you would do this for your glory and as a demonstration 
of your sovereignty and may you do this for the good of people 
here. Grant us grace the rest of this 
day to glorify and to honor you and we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.