Latest / HBCWestminster / 10.10.21 Luke 18:15-30 Pastor Danny Gardner

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10.10.21 Luke 18:15-30 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Luke 18, our text this morning is verses 15 to 30, 15 to 30. I'm going to read our text. If you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that now. I'll read our text. We'll pray and begin. Verse 15. Now they were bringing even infants to him that they might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Jesus called them to him saying, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them for such belongs the kingdom of God.
• 0:30
  Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And a ruler asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And he said, well, all these I've kept for my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, one thing you still lack.
• 1:00
  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, Then who can be saved? But he said, What is impossible with man is possible with God.
• 1:31
  And Peter said, see, we have left our homes and followed you. And he said to them, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come. And dearest Lord Jesus, ruler of the nations, be magnified in our study, be magnified in our worship. Lord, indeed, your name is like honey.
• 1:59
  on our lips, and your spirit is like water to our souls. And so, Lord Jesus, allow us to drink deeply from your fountain of truth. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. There is a best-selling author of multiple books. He's a popular teacher and speaker who gave an interview in 2019 at a church. I'm going to put church in quotes, and if you're tuning in on audio online, make sure that you hear the quotation marks, all right?
• 2:30
  I say the word church because that word adorns their front door, but don't think of a church like our church. It is a church that preaches a different gospel than the one that we do. And this man in this interview at this church defined the difference between what he calls liberation theology and saving theology. In his sermon, which was really in the form of an interview, he stated that Jesus did not come to save the world from sin. Rather, Jesus came to revolutionize it.
• 3:01
  In his view, Jesus should not be thought of as a savior per se, but as a revolutionary, whose goal it was to liberate the politically and socially oppressed, not to save people from their sins. Now, in case you think I may be misrepresenting him, let's hear it in his own words. He said this, Jesus was a revolutionary. The job of the Christian is to revolutionize society. The job of the Christian...
• 3:30
  is to liberate society from the powers on earth that are oppressing humanity. Modern evangelicals, that'd be you and I, the ones who believe in what he calls Savior theology, believe that the job of the Christian is to go out and to save those individuals who are behaviorally deficient. We would call those individuals sinners. Can I get an amen from the sinners in the room?
• 3:56
  right we're all here you guys we're all represented the sinners and now you can call that being behaviorally deficient if you'd like but i know my own heart it's way worse than that all right it's way darker it's way grosser than calling it behaviorally deficient those are his words in other words he says to bring those sinners into the church that's what people who believe the saving gospel think
• 4:20
  You go and get the sinners, you get them into the church. Those individuals who are doing all these evil, sinful things. Heal them. Save them. Okay? Savior theology teaches, he says, that the reason many people are struggling on earth is because what they're doing is behaviorally wrong. It says, rather, liberation theologians, what he preaches, fundamentally reject this Savior theology.
• 4:43
  liberation theology rather breeds a common humanity against the structures of power that oppress us all now in this interview he openly admits that his doctrine is at odds with orthodox christianity like you think he is therefore preaching i'm going to use the word peddling he is peddling another gospel which according to galatians 1 is really no gospel at all galatians 1 and verse 6 the apostle paul says i'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you into the grace of christ
• 5:13
  and are turning to a different gospel like wait there's more than one gospel yes church make sure you hear this oh yeah there are a lot of different gospels preached by a lot of different people the problem is only one of those gospels saves only one the one that jesus preached who by the way is the savior of the world can i get an amen saving theology okay so
• 5:42
  So the Apostle Paul, and this is early, this is first generation Christians, brand new New Testament church. In fact, Galatians might have been the first letter the Apostle Paul ever wrote. Brand new Christian church now being born. And he writes this, he says, I can't believe you're leaving the gospel that was preached. You're chasing after another gospel. And he says, not that there is another one.
• 6:07
  You're chasing after this other form of a gospel, which is not good news, which does not save. There is no other gospel. He continues, but there are some false teachers who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Now, the most important question any of us will ever grapple with in our lifetime is dealt with in verse 18 of our text this morning. If you look at verse 18.
• 6:32
  Where the questioner asks, what must I do to inherit eternal life? That is the most important question you will ever answer in your lifetime. Or, probably its closely related cousin question, more often asked this way, what must I do to be saved? Now, according to liberal theologians, liberation theologians, these questions are irrelevant. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Has nothing to do with Jesus.
• 7:01
  What must I do to be saved? He says, irrelevant. They have nothing to do with the purpose of Christ's coming. The problem with that kind of theology, it's really only got one problem. The problem with that kind of theology is the Bible. Can I say that? I'm assuming because only one person chuckled, nobody else is paying attention. That was funny. They've only got one problem. The problem is the Bible.
• 7:29
  When John the Baptist, who was the forerunner and even cousin of Jesus, was literally imprisoned. Do you remember this? He was actually in jail. When he was in jail, he sent emissaries to Christ asking, and I'm going to paraphrase, what gives? You're supposed to liberate us. So what gives? I'm sitting here in prison. Get about the liberation. You remember Jesus' reply? It was kind of startling for John. He said, I didn't come to free you from jail. I came to free you from sin.
• 8:02
  Historians estimate that at the time of Christ, about a quarter, 25% of the citizens, inhabitants of the Roman Empire were slaves. Can you imagine? One in four people who lived in the Roman Empire were slaves. I believe that number spikes dramatically when you consider the inhabitants of the early church. Consider for a moment the audience.
• 8:22
  that Christ had in mind when he preached. We have said this as long as we've been going through the gospel of Luke, that the gospel is for the outcast, the gospel is for the sinner, the gospel is for those who are poor, not only in spirit, but also even financially, the poverty stricken. That's who the gospel is for. That's the gospel that it appealed to those kinds of people, not the wealthy, not the influential.
• 8:46
  And so when you consider the audience that Christ had in mind when he preached, it could be that even a majority of those first-generation believers could have been slaves. Can you imagine? You go to a church where maybe more than half of those early church members were literally slaves. And the language of the New Testament capitalizes on that truth when it defines salvation in terms of slavery. Romans 6 says this,
• 9:13
  But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. And now, having become set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Do you see what he says? Just because you stopped being slaves to sin doesn't mean you stop being slaves. Now, rather, you just have a different master. We'll come back to that in just a moment. Now, let me be very clear at this point. Everybody tune back in. Everybody listen.
• 9:43
  It would be very clear that nowhere does the Lord condone slavery in the Old or New Testaments. Human ownership is a sinful tragedy. It is an offense to human dignity. More importantly, it is an offense to God. And yet it was a prolific reality in Bible times. It was a reality that the New Testament church had to deal with every day. And so you get passages like Ephesians 6, where the Apostle Paul hits slavery head on.
• 10:14
  There were slaves, real ones, in the church at Ephesus. And the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 6, and this becomes a problem passage for liberation theologians. Because the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5, if you're a slave, be a good one. Like, wait, that doesn't fit with liberation theology. If you're a slave, be a good one. A few verses later, he says, but if you're a master, you better be a good one. Be a good one. You represent...
• 10:45
  The Lord? Again, don't misquote me on this. Scripture does not promote human ownership. It doesn't promote human trafficking or slavery the way that modern society defines it. But the Lord dealt with it according to the needs of his people. You say, okay, well, what does the Bible say about us in terms of slavery? You know, the Bible actually says that we are all slaves. We're all slaves. That's what Romans chapter 6 said.
• 11:16
  We're all slaves to sin because we can't stop sinning. Anybody else in here struggling with sin? I'm assuming, right? Anybody else feel like a slave to sin? Like, can I ask you, like, raise your hand. If you would like to sin no more, if that would be your genuine desire, like, I never want to sin again. Raise your hand. Everybody in here, right? Like, I'm done. Anybody else done? Like, I'm done. If I could just choose to flip off that switch, I would do it in a heartbeat. I'm done.
• 11:51
  Listen, church, great news. If you don't want to sin anymore, just stop sinning. Like, it's not that hard. You just stop. Stop doing those things. You're like, no, I have tried, Danny, and commitments to the Lord and confession. I have poured out and bared my soul to the Lord in the late watches of the night, crying and with tears and passionately. I'm done with sin, Lord. I don't want to do this anymore. Sanctify me. And then the next day, there I am again, complaining, angry.
• 12:23
  What gives? Impatient? I don't understand. I mean, I really do understand what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7, right? Remember when he was just lamenting? All the things I don't want to do anymore, I keep doing. All the things I want to do, I don't keep doing. He says, who will rescue me from this body of death? Praise be to God that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen? Amen, because we're all stuck. We're slaves to sin, and we can't stop doing it. It's like we're addicts.
• 12:53
  To sin. We can't stop. No matter how hard we try, no matter what we want to do, the Bible describes sin as more than just our actions. It's more than just what we take part in. It's more than just what we say. It describes sin as almost like a power over us. And it manifests itself in actions, but it's more than just those actions. You can stop saying mean things and you're still a sinner.
• 13:21
  You can stop doing bad things and you're still a sinner. There is this power that resides in us. And not only does it reside out of us, right? There are external powers that fight against us and tempt us and want us to sin, certainly. But even that power, that darkness actually resides. It emanates from us. It comes from so depraved, so debauched are we that that sin actually emanates from our own hearts. We are slaves to it.
• 13:50
  The Bible says that Christ breaks the bonds of sin through our faith and by his grace, and we are set free. So we have genuine freedom in Christ. Amen? Did Christ come to set us free? That was not enough yeses. That was like 12. Did Christ come to set us free? Yes, depending on how you define freedom. Like, wait a minute. Freedom in every aspect? Then why am I still struggling to pay the bills? Why not financial freedom?
• 14:26
  What about social injustice? What about that kind of freedom? What about oppression? What about tribulations? What about trials? I don't want to read James 1. You guys remember James 1? Consider it joy? Consider it joy when you experience trials and tribulations of many kinds? I don't want to consider it joy. I want to consider myself free. I'm free from those things. And the Bible says, well, not yet.
• 14:56
  You will be free from those things. But for now, you're free from sin. And so depending on how you define liberation, I suppose, yes, Christ came to liberate us. But really the freedom that we enjoy is freedom from sin. And so the questioner in our text this morning asks that greatest question in humanity. What must I do to be saved?
• 15:27
  How do I get out of that? How do I break the bonds of death and sin in my life? How can I have eternal life and never die? But Christ's answer is probably different than we would expect. And you'll notice we begin first with an encounter with a bunch of babies. Look at verse 15. Now, they were bringing even infants to him. We assume the they is the infant's parents, all right? So a bunch of parents are bringing their newborns that Jesus might touch them.
• 15:57
  The disciples see it. They rebuke the babies. Get out of here. A bunch of kids. The teacher doesn't have time for you. This rabbi doesn't have time for you. You're wasting the teacher's time. Don't you know who this is? He doesn't have time for you, you kids. Get out of here. Go back home. But Jesus, verse 16, called them back to him, called the babies to him, saying, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
• 16:24
  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall never enter it. Now, in these few verses, Christ continues his preaching on the kingdom began in chapter 17. We started talking about the kingdom. He continues it here. It should be the desire of every parent to bring their children to Christ. Amen. In verse 15, we get a picture of great parenting. There it is.
• 16:52
  Bring your kids to Christ. That's all it says of these parents. And if that's all they ever did for their kids, they did enough. Bring your kids to Christ and thereby bring them into the kingdom. Our greatest concern, parents, for our children should not be how are they behaving or what school will they attend or who will they marry or what will they do for a career? These are all important. They're just not most important. Rather, our greatest concern for our kids should be which master will they serve?
• 17:24
  Will they spend eternity in heaven or in hell? And to that end, Christian parents pray, don't we? We fast, we fight for the souls of our kids. We teach, we instruct and protect. We give them the truth of the gospel before they can even speak, before they can even talk. We're in there next to their little cribs and we're singing, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.
• 17:52
  I mean, they're hearing about the love and goodness of God from before they can even utter any words, before they can even understand. We're telling them the good news in the hope and in faith that when their kids, our kids are old enough to understand, maybe they themselves will make a profession of faith and be saved. That's our hope. And Christ in verse 16 answers the question that was being asked. The question implied here is to whom does the kingdom belong?
• 18:20
  Who's going to be in the kingdom? Now you're going to recall from last Sunday, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. You guys remember that? The Pharisee goes up into the temple to pray and the wording there was funny. He prayed to himself, about himself. Remember he said, God, I thank you. And you're like, well, it starts pretty good. And then it degenerates fast. God, I thank you that I'm not like all of these other sinners.
• 18:46
  God, I thank you that I'm not like the extortioners and the adulterers. God, I thank you. And literally points at the guy. I thank you that I'm not like this lowly tax collector. God, look at how good I am. I mean, he is praising himself in the temple. And Jesus basically says, well, I'll tell you who's not in the kingdom. That guy. It's probably those who think it belongs to them the most. The Pharisees, the self-righteous, those super religious, those who think themselves sufficient of themselves.
• 19:16
  Those who think they need no Savior and who therefore reject the gospel. I said last Sunday definitively, there is no Ikea furniture in heaven. There's none, right? Ikea furniture looks good on the outside, fake on the inside. Church, I get quite a bit of feedback after my sermons. And I got quite a bit. I got an outpouring of well-meaning, I'm sure, Ikea-loving women in our church, offended, however.
• 19:48
  I did notice that their husbands were oddly silent. And so I assumed by that, that that means that their husbands are probably in agreement with me about the Ikea furniture. I thought that was funny. He said, well, what does Christ mean then when he says in verse 17, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child shall never enter it. You know what he was saying? He was saying this, that only those who recognize their inability to achieve a righteous standing before God by their own effort.
• 20:17
  Only those who recognize that they therefore cannot be saved by their own merit because they are slaves to sin, those are the ones who will inherit the kingdom, like the tax collector in last week's sermon. Those who would be saved must confess their utter dependence upon the Lord's grace. It's not because we're good enough. It's because He's good enough. And there is nobody...
• 20:44
  Nobody better at illustrating that reality, the reality of total dependence, than what group? What group is better at illustrating total dependence than any other group? Babies, infants, newborns. Newborns are helpless, completely helpless. They can do nothing for themselves. About a week ago, I had the privilege of officiating a wedding up in the mountains.
• 21:19
  I shared some pictures with the Wednesday Thrive crew. You guys got to see those, and it was cool. It was a cool wedding, very small, about eight of us up in the mountains. But the groom asked the Bucher family to join us up there, Jordan and Claudia. Claudia is our children's director. They've got two awesome kids, Jonathan, who is two years old, and then Lizzie, who is a newborn. And at the time, the day of the wedding, Lizzie was 12 days old. She was 12 days old. And so...
• 21:44
  And we all go up to the mountains together. Jonathan, little two-year-old, is supposed to be the ring bearer, you know. And we're getting married. The marriage is happening in the mountains, like in the middle of nowhere. And so we're up in the mountains. And, you know, this two-year-old's trying his best to hold still. Like, we're in the mountains. Why do I have to stand here? Like, why can't I go run? I want to go run around and play and have fun the way God intended, you know. But I'm standing here with my box, you know. And so he's standing there. He's doing his best. His parents are doing their best to wrangle him and to make sure that he's doing his thing and that he hands up the rings at the right time and whatever. Claudia.
• 22:14
  who, by the way, after last week, in my opinion, is an absolute super mom, has a baby, 12 days later is sitting with said baby on a rock in the middle of the mountains. So she got this 12-day-old in the middle of the mountains sitting on this rock trying to comfort the baby, trying to make sure that she's not screaming to spoil the wedding that's going on right here, you know? And so she's holding this baby, and I was just, I was so impressed by her and by her.
• 22:40
  fortitude and how they cared for, how Jordan and Claudia cared for their kids was just awesome. Because, and I won't even go into the details, all of the horrible things they had to deal with that day, but you can imagine taking babies to the mountains and what babies do, what babies do do all the time. And so you can imagine, I mean, this is the toughest woman alive.
• 22:59
  You know, she's handling this thing on a rock. Like, what in the world? You know, so we're listening to them say their vows and all of this. All the while, there is, you know, diaper Armageddon happening on the other side. And I just thought, again, how helpless newborns really are. I mean, that baby Lizzie, adorable. She's so cute, but she can't feed herself. She can't change herself.
• 23:26
  She can't clothe herself. She can't even roll over by herself. Like even the simplest human functions, she cannot do. She is helpless. If left to themselves, newborns would perish quickly. I don't even know if they'd make it a day. One day. And they're goners, you know. They need everything that they need in their lives is provided for them.
• 23:56
  By their parents. Now, follow me here. We, I think, tend to erroneously believe that because we grow physically, we automatically grow spiritually. We get older and stronger and more self-sufficient physically. Now, at this point, we can care for ourselves. Now, at this point, we can feed ourselves. Right? And I am thankful for the help and support of my beloved bride, who really...
• 24:22
  feeds us and takes care of us and everything else but there are weekends when that is tested when she goes away with all of you to women's retreat and for those three days the only promise I can give is when you come home we will all still be alive I'll make sure the boys survive until you get home I can't promise we will eat well or healthy or anything else because normally it's when mom is gone it's like well boys it's dinner time what do you want and it's like whatever they want that's what we go and get cold stone for dinner absolutely let's go do it
• 24:49
  You can probably live for quite a while on that. We can survive till Monday. But think about the absolute dependence of babies. We assume that because we grow physically, we automatically grow spiritually, but that is not the case. Just because we mature physically doesn't mean we are automatically maturing spiritually. In fact, we remain spiritual newborns. If you want to think of it that way, we are helpless completely.
• 25:18
  And so when Jesus kind of asks this question, what must a child do? What must an infant do to be saved? What's the answer? You guys all right? What must an infant do to be saved? Nothing. They can't do anything even if they tried. What does baby Lizzie have to do to stay alive? Like, what is her responsibility in this? Nothing. Claudia literally has to do it all. All of it.
• 25:52
  Nothing. In order for her to survive, nothing. Even if she tried, she couldn't do it. And so he gives this answer. You've got to come like a baby. And so this guy comes up to him in verse 18 and says, well, good teacher, what about me? I mean, that's nice for babies. What about me? What must I do to inherit eternal life? Verse 19, you notice here there's a clear, clear claim to deity where Jesus says to him, why do you call me good?
• 26:22
  No one's good except God alone. Now, there are some who think that Jesus in this statement was actually denying being God, but the exact opposite is true. You'll notice he does not deny being good. He also does not deny being God. The guy comes to him and says, good teacher. And he's like, well, why are you calling me good? You guys, you know that no one is good except God alone. And therefore, if you're calling me good, you must be calling me God. And so Jesus is like, okay, as long as we're clear, as long as we're clear on who you're talking to, you understand who you're talking to.
• 26:53
  And then Jesus says, well, you know the commandments. Don't commit adultery. Don't murder. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. I mean, you know the commandments. He quotes the Ten Commandments to him. The guy says, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, well, you understand that nobody is good except for God. And the guy says, yeah, I understand that. And then he says, okay, then be good. You catch that? It's awesome. No one's good except for God. He says, if you want to inherit eternal life, go be good.
• 27:24
  Go be perfect. And notice the guy's reply. Look in your own Bibles. What does he say? Done. You know the commands. Do all of these things. Be good. Be perfect. And the guy says, check. I've done those things. From the time of my youth. Can you imagine? I've done those things. Sinless. Perfect. Yeah, that's what I've done, Jesus. I've done it. So I can assume then that I've inherited eternal life. That I will live forever. And Jesus says, nah, you have one big glaring problem.
• 27:57
  One thing you lack. Now, church, I'm of the opinion that the one thing that is lacking probably would have changed depending on who Jesus was talking to. He points out the problem of wealth in this man's life. This man was loaded, corroded, okay? This dude had a lot of money. The problem was not that he had a lot of money. The problem was that that lot of money had him.
• 28:21
  All right? So he points out the man's wealth. Now, I'm of the opinion that if Jesus were talking to somebody else, that one thing they lacked might have been different. Maybe it was lust. Maybe it was cheating. Maybe it was lying. One thing you lack, you're a liar. You don't tell the truth. Right? But for this guy, he tells him, one thing you lack, keep yourself from idols. His idol was wealth. He says, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And then come.
• 28:50
  and follow me now we know that salvation does not come through our care for the poor church should we care for the poor yes again let's should we care for the poor yes of course we should but are we saved because we do no well what about sacrificial giving sell all that you have he says give it away what about sacrificial giving should we be sacrificial givers yes
• 29:24
  Will we be saved if we are? No. What about our aggressive fight against social injustice? If there are injustices in our society, should we aggressively fight against those things? If you see that there's something wrong, should you do something about it? Of course. In fact, listen to James 4, verse 17. He who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins.
• 29:51
  So if you see, if you're confronted with something, one of our societal ills, and you're like, this is not a reflection of the heart of God. Should you do something about it? Of course you should. But will you be saved because you do? No. I mean, those are all good things. They just don't save us from our sin. What does? It's the very end of Jesus' command. Give everything away, and then he says, and come and follow.
• 30:22
  me and that we find out is what the man was unwilling to do verse 23 when he heard these things he became sad he was extremely rich he wanted to worship his wealth instead of worshiping the lord you say okay well what must a baby do to be saved the answer was nothing even if they wanted to they couldn't do anything about it but what about an adult what must an adult do to be saved what is jesus response what's he say
• 30:56
  This guy comes up to him and says, I want to be saved. Jesus says what? Do everything. Do everything. Be perfect. Like, well, I can't be perfect. Exactly. Even if you wanted to do everything, you couldn't do it. For a baby, do nothing. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't do it. For an adult, do everything. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't get there. And so Jesus offers up this illustration. It's a famous one. Verse 24, seeing that he becomes sad.
• 31:29
  This guy's leaving sad. He says, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Again, raise your hand if you've ever heard that phrase. You guys have heard that phrase, camel through the eye of a needle. At some point in your Christian walk, you've heard a sermon on this. I have heard pastors try to soften the boldness of Jesus's claim here. You're like, well, I know what a needle is.
• 31:59
  and I know what the eye of a needle is, and I know what a camel is, and there ain't no way a camel's getting through the eye of a needle, right? That is impossible. Everybody knows that, right? And so you've probably heard some pastor at some point try to soften that by saying, well, you know, maybe it's a metaphor. Maybe it's allegorical. You know, perhaps you've heard a sermon that said it's a reference to a small opening.
• 32:23
  giving independent access, egress, through a much larger city gate. You know, they had these big city gates, they had these walls, these big, massive wooden doors that were very difficult to open and shut, and so if a weary, lonely traveler's coming along in the middle of the night, he bangs on the city gate, he needs some place to stay, they can't open the full city gate to him, and so maybe there was this kind of side door, a much smaller door.
• 32:46
  a side door that they could open, the small access that would allow him to come in. And that was called the eye of the needle. And so it would be like a traveler saying, well, it would be hard to get my camel through there, especially if my camel was carrying anything. So you've got to take off the bags and the saddles and anything else you brought. And so what this guy is telling the rich guy is, if you want to get in through heaven's door, you've got to take off everything that you're carrying, like your wealth. I've heard pastors say that.
• 33:15
  Others, maybe offering kind of a more modern softening, will say, well, maybe the Greek wording was misunderstood. I mean, the word for camel, kamilos, maybe what Jesus meant to say, the intended word, was something very similar sounding, kamilos, meaning rope. And so some commentators, some pastors would argue that Jesus was saying, well, it's easier to pull a rope through the eye of a needle. And you're like, well, that could be done. Small enough rope.
• 33:45
  big enough needle. You might be tempted to think maybe that has some merit. The problem is it doesn't fly with the text. Look at verse 26. How do the people respond? They're hearing Jesus say this. Now, if he intended to say, you know, it's just real, real hard. It's real hard. You got to get rid of everything in order to squeeze through the gate. Or it's improbable. It's improbable that a rich guy can get in. That's not what they assume. Those who heard it said, then who can be saved? Nobody.
• 34:19
  then nobody can be saved. Is that what you're saying, Jesus? It's impossible to be saved. Is that what he's saying? Apparently. That's exactly what he's saying because look what he says next. Look in your Bible. You got them there? What does it say? What is impossible with man is possible with God. Did he just say it's impossible to go to heaven? Yep. That's exactly what he said. And then he said, but don't worry. Our God specializes in the impossible. Our God.
• 34:55
  does the impossible. I was having a conversation this last Wednesday right after Thrive Bible Study right over here in the back of the sanctuary. We just finished. Bunch of dads all standing around. That guy that just got married was with us. And so he's been married for five days. He got married on a Friday. He's in Thrive Bible Study on Wednesday. They've just gotten back from their honeymoon. He comes. We're all talking to him. A couple of dads are kind of ribbing him, you know, because already they're like, hey, it's been five days. When are you guys having kids?
• 35:23
  You know, like we're kind of making fun, you know, like poking him. He's like, whoa, you know, like this five days old, you know, relax. Like, let's pump the brake a little bit. You know, in the Lord's timing, he's saying things like this. And, you know, one of the guys says, well, how many kids are you planning on having? You know, eight or nine. Those are kind of the two options you can choose between the two. He's like, let's just, you know, let the Lord do his thing, you know. And he says, you know, for now, we're just going to wait. We're going to see what the Lord does. And then one of the dads goes, you know, our youngest, we thought we were done.
• 35:51
  We were actively, and all of you parents can fill in the blanks for the young kids. We'll just not get too graphic. We'll say, we were actively trying to prevent another pregnancy, but God does what he wants, you know, so he's kind of joking with this new dad. Like, you know, it could happen to you. It could happen to you too. Whole bunch of little third graders in there. Their parents thought they were done too, you know. And praise God, we love all of our kids, but Lord, if you're going to bless another one of us with a kid, let it be that guy and not me. You know, like we were kind of all joking.
• 36:19
  And so I said, you know, you guys, the reality is he doesn't actually need any of us to get a baby in there. He doesn't need any of us. You guys remember Jesus here in verse 27 is actually quoting another person from the New Testament. This is not the first time this phrase has ever been uttered in the New Testament. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Jesus is quoting somebody else. You guys remember who it is? Who said that before? Nobody? It was Gabriel.
• 36:56
  The angel Gabriel comes to the Virgin Mary and says, you have conceived. There's a baby in you. And she says, that's impossible. I've never been with a man. I can tell you right now, that's not true. That's impossible. I've never been with a man. And Gabriel replies, oh, what is impossible with man is possible with God. It's possible with God. And if the Lord can cause the virgin to conceive, which is impossible.
• 37:25
  then he can bring new life to sinners. It's equally impossible. He can reconcile sinners, us, to the Father. That is equally impossible. And yet the Lord can do those very things. And perhaps you're here this morning carrying some impossible loads. Maybe you think your marriage is done. You're like, you know what, nothing can salvage it. It's impossible.
• 37:49
  Your employer is impossible. Paying your bills is impossible. Church, don't forget that God can drag a camel through the eye of a needle. Equally impossible, not improbable, impossible. And Peter says, see, we've left our homes and followed you. Verse 29, Jesus says, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life.
• 38:19
  So this guy's thinking, well, if I give everything, if I sacrifice everything, if I sell it all and give it all away, is Jesus going to take care of me? And Jesus says, yes. There are eternal promises given in the form of everlasting life. There are even temporal promises given in the form of even new spiritual family. You'll be grafted in to a new spiritual family. Even if you've left family to follow Christ, he says, you will find new family. And I believe that's even found in the church.
• 38:47
  And with respect to those who are trying to redefine Jesus, who are redefining the gospel, I must vehemently disagree. Jesus came to do the impossible. He came to save. He came to reconcile those who have no hope, those who have no help, those, you and I, who could never squeeze through the eye of a needle on our own. And God, I pray that we would leave reminded of this truth, that you are the God of the impossible, God, and so we rejoice all the more.
• 39:18
  Our salvation, our forgiveness was not just improbable, God, it was impossible, and yet that's what you specialize in, where virgins can conceive, where seas will part, where food can fall from heaven, where even the dead can be raised. God, you proved it again and again and again, and you prove it in our own hearts too, where we who are absolutely babies spiritually, who cannot help ourselves or feed ourselves or save ourselves or clothe ourselves, Lord,
• 39:48
  We just lean wholly on your grace to do those things for us. You get all the glory for it. You get all the worship for it. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.