Luke's Gospel

The reading is gonna be from Luke chapter 18 versus 15 to to 30. People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place their hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them But Jesus called the children to him and said, let the little children come to me. And do not hinder them for the kingdom of god belongs to such of these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of god like a little child, will never enter it.

A certain ruler asked him good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No 1 is good except God alone.

You know the commandments. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony.

Honor your father and your mother. All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, you still lack 1 thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me. When he heard this, he became very sad because he was very wealthy.

Jesus looked at him and said, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard this asked, who then can be saved? Jesus replied, What is impossible with man is possible with God. Peter said to him, we have left all.

We had. To follow you. Truly, I tell you, Jesus said to them, no 1 who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of god will fail to receive many times as much in this age and in the age to come. Eternal life. Good evening.

Let's pray. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the son of man? People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage up to the day, Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the son of man is revealed.

I tell you on that night, 2 people will be in 1 bed, 1 will be taken, and the other left. God have mercy or me a sinner. Heavenly father, I pray because sometimes your word is challenging and difficult to understand. So, lord, we need your help tonight. Please would you open our minds and our hearts, open our eyes and our ears to hear your word.

And to put it into practice this week. For we ask in Jesus' name, Armin. Who then can be saved? What kind of people enter the kingdom of God. And what kind of qualities do those people have that God accepts?

Not everyone is going to enter the kingdom of God. Some people will, and some people won't. So you might ask, what are the entrance requirements? And that's an idea that we're well used to meeting in this world, isn't it? If you want to get into a grammar school like Tiffen Boys, then you have to take an entrance exam.

And with only a hundred and 50 places for 1500 applicants, you have to finish in the top 10 percent if you even wanna get in. You could say the same for university, if you want to go to Oxford or Cambridge, then you'll probably have to get more than 3 a's at a level. If you want to go to Kingston, it's a little bit easier to get in. So what kind of people enter the kingdom of God? That's what the rich ruler in verse 18 wants to know.

What do I have to do to inherit eternal life. And when Jesus tells him, the people around ask a similar question, who then can be saved. So what kind of people enter the kingdom? And what kind of people don't enter the kingdom? That is the subject of this part of Luke 18 versus 9 to 30.

Jesus shows you 3 stories to answer that quest Why? Because he wants you to know how you can enter the kingdom. And remember, Luke, wants you to be certain about that. So that's what we're gonna look at tonight, and we're gonna start in verse 15. So firstly, Receive the kingdom like a child.

Receive the kingdom like a child. Have a look at verse 15. People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them But Jesus called the children to him and said, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God, like a little child, will never enter it. Now, Jesus was certainly in the middle of what you might call a busy ministry program. It was like media fast or the c u events week every week, but his disciples seemed to think he simply hasn't got time to be bothered with insignificant people like children. He's far too busy. And in the first century, children were the lowest people in society, no rights, no property, no importance.

It's very different from our culture today. So has Jesus got time for them? Well, yes, he says, let the little children come to me and don't hinder them. Why? Because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Jesus goes further. Anyone who won't receive the kingdom, like a child, will never enter it. Do you see how he goes straight to the point of our big question for this evening? Who enters the kingdom? He's not saying that all children automatically get access to God's kingdom, but he is saying there's something that children easily get right.

A quality they have that's essential. Without this, you're not coming in. So what is it? Having nothing seems to be a good thing here. No rights, nothing to offer.

Perfect. Last week at the Baptisms, we sang an old eighteenth century hymn called rock of ages. Listen to these words. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress, helpless, look to thee for grace, foul I to the fountain fly wash me savior, or I die?

Now that's a good description of children, isn't it? I'm foul. Wash me. But that's an essential attitude for receiving God's kingdom. Go naked, bring nothing to the table.

Let Jesus do everything for you. If you think about it, it's the opposite of the Faracy from last week's story. He tried to bring a lot of things to the table, But remember, he didn't go home in a right relationship with God. But if you've got nothing to offer, you have to ask Jesus to do it for you. And that's essential.

And little children are good at that because they're completely dependent on their parents. They can't move, they can't talk, they can't ask nicely, they just scream at you. They don't have any money, haven't earned their lunch, they can't drive. I asked Millie earlier if she minded me talking about her tonight, and she didn't say anything. So here we go.

Milly can clap. She can babble. She can crawl. She can eat bits of fluff off the carpet. But for all useful things, she's completely dependent on her parents' poor thing.

She has a simple trust that mommy and daddy are gonna do everything for her, and Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Now in 1 sense, he's not really talking about children at all. He wants you to have that same simple, dependent trust in him. But on the other hand, he is saying that children are important because he stops what he's doing in the busy in the middle of her busy life, and he makes room for the lowest people in society. Once again, he's going after the outcast.

And just as an aside, that means that children are important. That means we should invest our time and energy in them. Jesus doesn't just go after the rich and powerful like he will in a minute. And that means that Seoul and rooted are important that TNT and Sunday school and volunteering for insight is important that contagious is important. If Jesus isn't too busy to stop and make time for children, then how can I say that I am?

Who then can be saved? Those who receive the kingdom of God with the attitude of a little child. Simple, dependent trust in their father to do everything for them, people who bring nothing to the table. And this becomes clearer in the next story where a certain rich and powerful ruler asks Jesus a question, Good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life?

Now that's the same question. What have I got to do to enter God's kingdom? Which leads us to our second point this evening. Come follow me. Good teacher.

What must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus's reply is cryptic Now when you stand up to read the bible in church, you've got a decision to make. How do you read verse 19? Because how you say it can lead you down to very different parts. Because if you say it like this, Why do you call me good?

No 1 is good except God. Then it sounds like Jesus is saying he's not God and he's not good. But that's not right. Jesus isn't saying that he's sinful. He Bruce tells us, he was tempted in every way just as we are yet he didn't sin.

But if you really like this, why do you call me good? Then that takes you down a very different path. And although Jesus is God and he is good, He's not really talking about himself here. His focus is on the ruler. So if you put the context together, he's saying something like this, look.

If you really want to enter the kingdom of the good 1, then in a minute, when I put you to the test, show your love for God and show your respect for me by doing what I say. If you really think I'm a good teacher, If you really think that God's word is right, then you'll do it. If you don't think that, then you won't. And a good theme tune for this bit would be our kids song, mighty, mighty, savior. No 1 is good.

No 1 is holy before God. I need someone to save me. Have a look at verse 20. Jesus says you know the commandments, You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder.

You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony on your father and mother. And the ruler replies, all these I have kept since I was a boy. He means, if they're the only requirements, then I'm in. I haven't murdered anyone.

I'm not a cheat. I'm not a thief. I haven't lied in court. I love my mom and dad. But Jesus isn't finished yet.

You see, when Moses comes down the mountain with the 10 commandments on the 2 tablets of stone, That's because there's 2 groups of commandments. The first 4 are about God and the rest are about how we treat other people. God, and other people. That's why when someone asks Jesus what the most important commandment is, he says to them, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.

They are the 2 groups, love the lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Now, the rich ruler thinks that he loves his neighbor. But what did Jesus say was the most important commandment? What's the first commandment? You shall have no other gods before me.

So Jesus puts the ruler to the test to see if he's kept the first and most important 1. Have a look at verse 22. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, you still lack 1 thing. Sell everything you have, and give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.

When he heard this, he became very sad because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him, and said, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? Indeed, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who's rich to enter the kingdom of God. Now, just to be clear, Jesus is not saying to you today, sell everything you have and give to the poor so that you can get into the kingdom. That would mean that you could earn your own salvation without Christ And that wouldn't make sense with the rest of the story or the rest of the bible.

Sure. Give to the poor, but not because you think that's what you have to do in order to get eternal life. So what is going on? Jesus asks him to make a choice. What comes first?

Me or the money? If you love God with all of your heart, come follow me. Let the earthly stuff go. I'll look after you. Do you trust me?

And I think it really comes down to who you think Jesus is. Because if God came down here now in blazing glory and went outside, then we would all leave everything we had and and follow him, wouldn't we? We wouldn't even think about it twice. But if you think that Jesus is just a bloke, then you won't, will you? Particularly, if it involves making uncomfortable sacrifices.

And so the rich ruler becomes very sad because he's very wealthy. He's not willing to part with the cash, and he won't leave it behind. And he won't follow Jesus. The other gospels make it clear that he walked away. He thought he could earn God's acceptance based on his own good works.

He thought that he had kept God's commandments. Now by Jesus definition, he hadn't. But even if he had, he'd only kept 5 of them, and he'd broken the most important 1. Do we ever do that? So Jesus shows him the problem.

God is not really first in his life. The ruler prefers earthly treasure to heavenly treasure. And the reason it's so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God is because it's difficult to leave behind the false security of trusting in wealth. Jesus says it's like trying to thread a camel through the eye of a needle. It ain't gonna happen.

And it is really hard for the rich to enter the kingdom. And if you've ever done any open air evangelism, then you'll know that. If you're out on the street telling a rich person that they need Jesus, then they might well reply. No, I don't. I'm doing fine.

Thank you very much. I've got everything I need. To be honest, my life is very comfortable without God. And that's because there is some security in money. But money lets you down, doesn't it?

You can't buy everything. You can't buy more years for your life. You can't buy good health. And you can't buy your way into the kingdom. And to be honest, you don't have to be rich to struggle with letting go of earthly security.

We're all a bit like that. So in 1 sense, it's no more impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom than anyone. But do notice the contrast with the last story. How, if you're a small child with absolutely nothing. How much easier it is to love Jesus more than the money that you don't have?

So those like children are entering the kingdom, but this guy isn't. So the question is, what does Jesus want from us? What does he want from you? And I think he's asking for absolute allegiance. He wants his disciples to put following him above anything else.

Any other commitment or love. God first. And that's really hard, like beating an addiction hard. Like trying to quit smoking hard. And that's when they ask him the question again.

Who then can be saved? And Jesus replies, what is impossible with man is possible with God? Look at verse 28. Peter said to him, we have left, all we had to follow you. Truly, I tell you, Jesus said to them no 1 who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake.

Of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life. So if the negative example is the ruler, here, the positive example is the disciples. Because they did leave everything behind to follow him. They did leave their homes, their wives, and their families to follow Jesus. God has made this possible for them, and Jesus says that they will receive 2 things.

Firstly, much more will be given back in this life than they have ever sacrificed for him. And secondly, in the age to come, they will the kingdom in all its fullness. Now again, just to be clear, Jesus isn't saying that you should go home tonight and leave your wife and children. They're important, remember, but he's talking to Peter, who did leave everything. Jesus wants you to put him first, and for you, that might mean a different struggle.

And it's worth taking a moment to reflect on what that might be. How are we doing with that? Now we might be doing fine like Peter. Or are we more like the ruler than we think? What would be the 1 thing that you wouldn't give up for Jesus?

If it's not money, What is it? If you were that man in in this story, what would make you walk away sad? What would be the hardest thing to give up? Now, I asked myself that question, and the first thing that came into my mind was my family, But for many of us, I don't think that's what Jesus is asking for. In that sense, he's not making impossible demands on you.

He's trying to show you your idols. Now there are people, and there are places in the world, where to become a Christian, does mean that your family will reject you, and you will have to give them up. But that's often where becoming a Christian means rejecting your cult or your religion. And there may well be a few people here tonight, and that is your story. But for many of us, the battle is somewhere else.

Could there be something else? Something else standing in the way of you following Jesus with all your heart, something that he will call you to give up. A big costly sacrifice not just for the sake of it, but something that's standing in the way. A few examples might help. We live in a world where relationships are so important to us that they might be that thing.

So for example, if you had 1, would you give up your non Christian boyfriend or girlfriend to put Jesus first? A big sacrifice. If you're married, would you always remain faithful to put Jesus first? Would you give up pornography to put Jesus first? If you're single, would you give up sex outside of Christian marriage to put Jesus first.

Now relationships might not be your problem. If so, think about it, what is your money individually for you. What is the 1 thing that if you're honest, Jesus would be right to say, that has got to go. Then come follow me. Imagine Jesus walks into a secondary school.

What's the 1 thing our young people need to give up? Imagine he tells them about the church media fast. Could you live without media for a week just to show that Jesus is first. If you can imagine the shock that would that would cause among teenagers, then you might be able to get into the mind of the rich young ruler. What apps can you delete?

Maybe that's the modern day equivalent for the average person. How many young people would walk away from Jesus' face sad because they couldn't do that? Maybe you genuinely don't know what your big sacrifice is. It could be anything, money, sex, power, career, education, social media technology, following celebrities, comfort. It could be religion, This guy loves his money more than Jesus, but he also thinks he's kept all of God's commandments.

Are we like that? It could be religion, it could be anything. We're all so different. But if you walk with Jesus long enough, then he will show you where you need to let go of the world and come follow him. And even if it sounds impossible, God can make that miracle happen.

What is impossible with man is possible with God. And for those who put Jesus first, there is unimaginable blessing and freedom both now in this life and in the life to come when the kingdom comes in all its fullness. And Jesus is able to be that demanding because that's exactly what he did for us. He's not asking us to do something that he wasn't prepared to do himself, for think about it. Who was the richest ruler?

Who left it all behind to come down here and die on the cross? Who was the 1 who made the most costly sacrifice who gave his very life for us? And now, who is the 1 who enjoys unimaginable, blessing, and glory? God, the sun. Jesus Christ, who says whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Come. Follow me. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit? Their very self. So then, who can be saved?

In this story, it's people like Jesus disciples. Those who put following Jesus as a greater priority over everything else. And that's only possible because God makes it possible. People like the ruler who cling to their idols, who try to be good enough through keeping the law themselves will not enter the kingdom. And once again, Rock of ages puts it nicely, not the labor of my hands.

Can fulfill the law's demands. Could my zeal, no respite no, could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin, the double cure, save from wrath, and make me pure. If you were here last week, you'd have heard the story of the Faracy in the tax collector.

And I think that that story also belongs in this little section. The Faracy has got a lot in common with the rich ruler, and the tax collector has a lot in common with the children. And when you put the 3 stories side by side, it starts to give you a really clear answer to the question who then can be saved. So on 1 side, you've got despised sinful tax collectors, unimportant children and disciples who've left everything for Jesus, and they are entering the kingdom of God to enjoy immense blessing that comes with it. But on the other side, you've got proud pharisees and rich rulers who cannot enter the kingdom because there's a massive stumbling block in the way.

In part, they won't enter because they prefer the way things are down here. In part, they can't enter because they already consider themselves righteous without Jesus. They think they have some religious achievement of their own, which they trust will impress God more than Jesus. But Jesus says no 1 is good except God alone. He says it's impossible for us to enter the kingdom by trying really hard.

And there's all sorts of things in the way stopping people from following him. But what is impossible with man is possible with God. Only by humbly seeking God's mercy, coming to God with empty hands like a little child, and following Jesus as Lord, can we enter the kingdom of God? Let me pray. God have mercy on me a sinner.

Rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. David Prays in Psalm 16. Keep me safe, my god. For in you, I take refuge.

I say to the lord, you are my lord. Apart from you, I have no good thing. Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. Lord, you alone, my portion and my cup. You make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely, I have a delightful inheritance. I keep my eyes always on the lord. With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.

My body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. Nor will you let your faithful 1 see decay? You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Armen.