Impossible People, Possible God

Secular -

A man was talking to God and asked, "Lord, what is a million years to you?" God said, "To me, a million years is like a second."

The man asked, "And what is a million dollars to you?" God said, "To me, a million dollars is like a penny."

The man thought for a moment and said, "Lord, can I have a penny?"

God smiled and said, "Sure! Just wait a second."

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 19:16–30 NKJV

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. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And 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.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Salvation is a gift we can’t earn, we must follow Christ with a heart that rejects 'pet sins' and a hand that serves all people.

Life Point- The Myth Of Works Salvation

Exegetical -

Matthew 19:16–22 BSB

Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?” “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?” Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.

Homiletical -

This is an interesting translation at the beginning of this block of scripture.

Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?

man, especially, someone who has grown up with a Judeo-Christian ethic, inherently knows that eternal life is a good thing. Man knows by what we call the general revelation of God that he is evil and cannot do things good perfectly. So this man asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life.

Jesus answers and says why do you ask me what is good? some translations say, why do you call me good? Only God is good. So you should get your answers from Him. He is trying to get the man to think about why he is asking Jesus about what is good since the law of Moses was given to the people. Jesus is pointing to the authority of scripture to guide one’s life. The scriptures or the special revelation of God.

Speaking of general and special revelation. General revelation speaks to the complexity of the life around us. All of creation points to a creator and to worship anything other than the creator is sin.

So those that do not have the special revelation of God, which we call the Bible, will be judged on what they were given. Exactly how that works, no one knows for sure because God didn’t reveal that. We just know that it is that way.

Notice also that the man is asking for something that he can do to obtain salvation. Folks, Biblically speaking there is nothing you can do to obtain salvation.

Ephesians 2:8–9 BSB

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

This is radical thinking. All throughout human history man has been focused on acts that they can do, but we are told it is not by acts. But by grace through faith, not of works lest anyone should boast.

Because of his thinking Jesus says to keep the commandments. If a person could keep all the commandments perfectly, then they would be saved from their sin. But notice this, NO ONE CAN KEEP ALL THE COMMANDMENTS PERFECTLY. There was and is only one person who did that and His name is Jesus.

Now this guy, knowing he can’t keep them all, asks Jesus which ones to keep.

Jesus lists some and summarizes the rest.

Now the man is arrogant and says to Jesus he has done this since his youth. What must he do next?

So Jesus tells him to go sell all he had, give it away and follow Him and he will be made perfect.

Why would Jesus do that?

Because He knew just how selfish the man was and pointed it out by showing his love for money.

Each one of us has a pet sin, something that is hard or was hard to let go of. We treat it like a cow in India. We worship it, but it is useless to do so as it is sin it will come back to haunt us.

The young man heard this and went away. He was sorrowful because he had great wealth. In other words, he didn’t want to give up his pet sin and so he left Jesus.

How many times do people do that today. They aren’t Christians because they have the pet sin and they want play with their pet and love their pet rather than get rid of it for the sake of the Gospel. For the sake of getting to know the creator of the universe.

No they would rather have their Holy Cow, than slaughter it.

Illustration -

Think of the story of Jonah who thought he could take a quick detour. He believed he could run from responsibility and avoid God’s calling. But every time we ignore even the smallest temptations—our little 'pet sins'—we’re paving the way for larger issues. Folks, your pet sins will take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay.

Life Point - All Things Are Possible

Exegetical -

Matthew 19:23–26 NKJV

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And 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.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Homiletical -

Why is it hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Because a lot of times they are too attached to their stuff in the sin of selfishness and they don’t see it.

So what’s with this camel going through the eye of a needle?

I have heard this explained a thousand different ways even stating that the door next to a big gate was called they eye of the needle and they would have a difficult time getting their camels through there.

That explanation is just poor exegesis. Meaning poor Bible study habits.

What it says is what it actually means. Jesus was using ancient humor to get the point across. He was bringing some levity to the subject.

The disciples here this and they are absolutely amazed. Who can be saved then?

If a rich man can’t do it, then what chance is there for me?

Jesus foreshadowing the future looks at them and says to them. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

I don’t care how good you think you are, you will never be God good. You will never earn your way to salvation. It is not a matter of how hard you try, but it is a matter of ability. A sinner, which is all of us before salvation, can do nothing but sin. That is his nature.

But thank God, getting to heaven is possible because of Jesus. Otherwise there would be no hope for us.

Will you spread the Gospel so that others may have hope?

Illustration -

In the days of ancient Rome, a common saying went, 'All roads lead to Rome.' But here's the twist: while many paths might converge, they all eventually lead to one gate. In our journey to heaven, there might be various beliefs and attitudes, but the truth is Jesus is the only gatekeeper. While others might say there's many ways, Jesus makes it clear: it's Him alone. Only through Him is it possible to go to heaven

John 14:6 BSB

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Life Point - Call All People

Exegetical -

Matthew 19:27–30 NKJV

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Homiletical -

So Peter was there for this whole interaction and He is like what about us Lord? What will have. We have given everything up as well!

So Jesus tells the disciples that those that follow Him will sit on 12 thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is a specific promise to those specific disciples about the nation of Israel specifically.

But the next part is for all believers. Anyone who has left everything to follow Jesus for His name’s sake will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life.

But many who are first will be last, and last first.

You know God seems to do things opposite of what the world does. Money and power in the world, well that is opposite of what God does. He takes the least and makes them the head.

We are told to emulate this behavior as believers when dealing with people.

James 2:1–10 BSB

My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called? If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Christians sometimes do the exact same thing today. They show honor and fawn over the person with money or authority and the poor person gets left behind. They get ignored.

According to scripture we should be seeking them out.

In the parable of the wedding feast none of the well-to-do people would come. They all had excuses. So the servants were told to go to highways and byways and bring in the poorest of the poor so that they may enjoy the wedding feast and there would by rejoicing found there.

We are good about talking about it but bad about implementing it. Let’s implement it.

Life Principle– Salvation is a gift we can’t earn, we must follow Christ with a heart that rejects 'pet sins' and a hand that serves all people.

Call to Action – altar call….