Powerful Sermon on The Rich Young Ruler

The Gospel as the Church’s Public Witness

Hey, everybody, I'm Pastor Jeff Durbin with Apologia Church. I want to thank you all so much for watching the content right here on Apologia Studios channel. What you're about to watch is a sermon, a message from Apologia Church's worship service.

And again, I want to thank you all so much for watching, for liking, for commenting, for sharing the sermon itself. We truly believe that it's important for the Christian church to have an engagement in the public square with the Word of God.

So we thank you so much for partnering with us to send this out across the world. I just wanted to say something before you actually watch this, and that is that I'm not your pastor, though I'd love to be, I am not your pastor.

And it's very important as you're watching this, you know that it's God's design for individual Christians to be part of a local Christian church under the care of qualified, faithful, biblical elders.

And so as much as we love all of you watching these sermons, and we're thankful to God that God uses them to bless you, to encourage you, I do want to encourage you as a minister of the gospel to get plugged into a local body of believers, particularly I think important a reformed church would be best.

But we want to encourage you to get plugged into a solid biblical church where you can fellowship, where you can worship, where you can serve, where you can be connected. That is vitally important and actually a biblical command.

And so as much again as we love for your participation, your partnership, and we are so thankful to God that He's using these in your lives, we want to encourage you to get plugged into a local church.

You can, though, actually partner with Apologia Church as we proclaim the gospel and provide a defense of the biblical gospel all around the world. You can do that by going to ApologiaStudios .com. You can partner with us by becoming All Access.

When you do, you help to make all of this possible, and you get all of our TV shows, our after shows, and Apologia Academy, all of that, and you're a part of all that God is doing with us in the world to proclaim, herald the gospel of the kingdom.

You can partner with us. And I want to say one last word about that. Do make sure that none of your giving and partnership towards Apologia Church interferes with your giving, your worship, your tithes, your offerings to a local body of believers in your area.

So thank you again so much for watching these and sharing them. God bless you.

The Rich Young Ruler and the Law’s Use in Evangelism

And again, I tell you, it's easier for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a poor person to enter the kingdom of hell. And I want to say one last word about that. And again, I want to say one last word about that.

Do make sure that none of your giving and partnership towards Apologia Church interferes with your giving, your worship, your tithes, your offerings to a local body of believers. And again, I tell you, it's easier for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a poor person to enter the kingdom of hell.

It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to. It's not based upon our own goodness because we don't have any but based upon your sheer loving kindness and grace.

Father. I pray that you would help me to Convey your word and handle your word correctly rightly dividing the word of truth so that your people would be edified your people would be blessed your people would be Changed and challenged and sanctified by your perfect word.

I pray that you would help me to decrease so that you would increase and everything about me would be forgotten. I would really just be a conduit for your word For your message and that all things that I say tonight would would only be for your namesake.

We'd only be for your glory so that you would be More loved and more honored More obeyed. It's in Jesus's name. We pray and everybody said Amen, so I titled this Sermon today. I'm gonna be moving through it pretty quickly.

Jesus the evangelist. As you just read there's a whole lot going on in these ten verses much more than I can Even hope to convey in the time that we have but super crucial to truth. Just a couple of the topics that have come up inside of the verses that I just read is superficial religiosity.

Selfish sinking seeking the complete inability to be saved by your own works or your own efforts. And improper understanding of goodness. A proper understanding of goodness. Spiritual blindness and delusion.

Idolatry and spiritual blasphemy. The hindrance of wealth worship. But really what I want to focus on is you can focus on many of these different topics. I come up. It's how Jesus is using the law here and really an example of evangelism how Jesus uses the law to communicate the truth as pastor Jeff was saying that the law has a manifold practical application inside of the life of the believer and Concerning the unbeliever, but what you see clearly is that Jesus is Demonstrating the crucial use of the law of God to expose sin to expose guilt and Condemnation that is the crux.

I really I believe that's the focus and we must be in the witnesses that Jesus has called us to be. Being the faithful Christ followers as Jesus called us to be we must declare and explain the law of God To the lost in our efforts to evangelize them if we don't have the essential component of the law in our efforts to witness and evangelize we're not going to evangelize in any way effectively or Potently with the power of God.

That's how crucial it is this aspect of declaring the law and explaining the law. If the law is not an essential component of our evangelistic efforts, whatever they may be Then as I said totally ineffective we're really just Wasting our time.

But if we desire to leave people to Christ as I hope each one of us are because we've been given that Commission. We've been given that Commandment. Jesus has told us to go out and be the light in this world right to preach the gospel to all creation.

Mark chapter 16 verse 15 if we desire to lead the lost of Christ that is accomplished by the law as We explain the law I'm gonna say that again That is accomplished by the law as we explain the law. So if you take the law out of your communication of Jesus Christ to your lost loved ones brothers Sisters family members, whoever it may be. You're not going to lead them to Christ.

That is the focus of the law. Galatians 3 26 is clear Says therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ. So that we may be justified by faith no law in your communication of the gospel.

No leading to Christ. Understand that we don't lead people to Christ by baiting them in or schmoozing them or any other Tactic God is clearly outlining explained to us what we do to lead people to Christ.

That's that's through the law. The American Evangelical Church is a vast population of false converts. Unfortunately, it does. Much of the American Evangelical Church churches are filled with false converts tears because what the American Evangelical Church has done in so many and so many parts of our nation is try to use carnal means.

To grow a church or to reach the lost and all you do when you do that is you create a church of the tears? But one of the big issues and why the American Evangelical Church has fallen off the Cliff and evangelism in so many ways is Because the law of God has no place in evangelism and the law of God has no place within the life of the church.

We are in the state that we are now as a Christian Church in the nation because the people of God have said no. We don't want anything to do with the law of God. It has been done away with a very unbiblical type of philosophy, but we're kind of reaping the whirlwind because of our Denial the law of God because of our dismissal of the law of God because of leaving the law of God out of our lives and out of our evangelistic efforts.

False converts really are those who pray a prayer to receive Jesus and because the law of God declares him and depicts him as judge and King if you if you eliminate the law of God out of your discussion of Jesus to the loss.

What you're gonna do is you're gonna convert people to a life coach or a motivational Speaker a spiritual add-on in life a genie-in-the-bottle. You see many people are saved to a Jesus who's really not the Jesus of the scriptures as the law Depicts and defines but he's an idol that is powerless to save anyone.

The law leads the loss to Christ as Savior. Because it exposes us as sinners condemned damned and hell-bound. And so if the law is operative and the law is being exposed and declared rightly we're gonna run Jesus as Savior because the laws made us aware of our horrible situation our Condemned status and the hell that awaits us if we don't.

We're not saved by him and him alone. So Jesus come to Jesus or sorry the loss come to Jesus as he truly is as we would declare the law. So let's go ahead and um, let's just dig into these verses. Contextually Jesus is on the east side of the Jordan.

He's in a place called Korea. You can go to Matthew chapter 19 16 through 26 right now in your in your Bible. I'm just gonna kind of just expound and and go through these verses kind of line by line. But Jesus is in the latter part of his ministry.

He's about to head into Jerusalem. Actually, he's making his way into Jerusalem where he's gonna die. Rise again, he's gonna be crucified. So of course. The truths that he's imparting are incredibly important.

Not that any of any of the truths that Jesus imparts is lesser. But of course these truths that we see here in the scriptures are absolutely essential. So binding so absolutely important. The question I guess as we look at the story of the richer and young rulers.

Who is this guy? Now mark 10 and Luke 18 also give this account of Jesus's encounter with this with this really interesting man. But taking all the taking all their accounts together. We know that this guy is young.

He's really got it all going. He's super wealthy. It's property owner. He's got great. He's has much possessions. The Bible says he's distinguished. Super driven to be young and to accomplish all this in such a you know a young age.

Ambitious and he's a ruler and really what you can only gather as the scriptures say that he's a rulers. He's got to be a ruler of a synagogue. It really only makes sense in that kind of socio-economic climate and he would be kind of the senior position.

He'd have the most senior position as a lay leader. That's who this rich young ruler is and that's that's kind of odd. And I asked a question as I've been studying this is how can this young guy? You know attain such a position as a As a ruler in the Senate synagogue because that position was mainly held for young for older men the wise.

Right. That was a position for the older men, but somehow He got the he got the job. And he comes running to Jesus right? He comes to Jesus and It's very commendable in the way that this rich young ruler.

We don't have the name of the guy. I'm just gonna call him guy from from now on but he comes Running to Jesus he comes kneeling and he comes in humility. And this is super odd about this story, too, because distinguished Middle Eastern Gentlemen who are dignified who have status in high position don't do this these types of things.

They don't come running. They don't come kneeling and they don't come humbly. But this is. This is exactly what this man does. Matthew says behold and that word were there in the Greek is kind of tantamount to whoa.

Like would you take a little just get a load of this? Would you look at this? This is super out of the norm for some guy like this. So highly revered and In honor to come like this, so he comes running comes kneeling comes in humility but he also comes really boldly because Jesus is an outcast a Jewish rabbi that a Ruler in a synagogue should not have anything to do with because he'd be kicked out of the synagogue.

Remember Nicodemus came in John chapter 3 at night because he was he was afraid but this guy's not afraid. He's not afraid of the stigma. He's not afraid of being attached to Jesus. And so this is super commendable about how he approaches him.

He's moral. He doesn't he doesn't get to where he is without being moral. He's very religious in his terms and what he says to Jesus and he comes to the right Source for the right answer. He's come asking.

For he's coming to ask for eternal life that is on his mind that's in his heart. That's what he wants to possess. So he comes to eternal life. Jesus is eternal life to learn about eternal life and to see how he can possess eternal life first.

John 520 says and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true and his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and Eternal life is coming commendably.

It's coming humbly. He's coming honorably. He's coming fearlessly and he's coming to the right source and he's coming to Christ for something. Matthew 1916 again and behold a man came up to him saying teacher.

What good deed must I do to have eternal life? And so this is what we're hearing. This is the this is the question of a bold ambitious man. Who's really pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. I mean getting all that he has the position the prestige the popularity the wealth the respect the possessions.

They're all his and he's done it. By the hair of his chinny chin chin. Actually, I don't even think that applies at all to that. Elbow grease elbow grease that's the right one. But they don't they don't seem to satisfy Him they don't seem to satisfy.

He's got it all. Can you imagine the wealth that he had the position the accolades respect the praises. They just don't seem to cut it. He's looking for something else. How do we know that? It's because of the Jewish understanding of his eternal life.

The Jewish understanding of eternal life is not quantity of life. It's not a duration. He didn't come asking Jesus. Hey, I want to live forever. How can I make that happen? He wanted the God type of life.

Eternal life according to the Jewish mind was the quality of life. Because he didn't find the quality of life in the realm of all his accomplishments and the stuff that he acquired. Just didn't satisfy.

He's looking for something else and now what he wants. He wants the ultimate inheritance. But he wants the ultimate inheritance and this is so crucial to understand as we go through this and as you understand what Jesus is.

Conveying here. He wants it by his own efforts. He's trying to gain it in his own strength by his own merits. That's the focus and If you look at him, he's kind of an evangelist dream come true. Because people don't usually come up to you when you're out in the streets sharing Jesus running up to you asking How can I have eternal life?

They don't do that. This guy's not flipping you the bird and spitting on you and cussing at you threatening you with death and violence. Laughing at you or mocking you everything that we experience at the mill and other places.

Almost weekly if not monthly, but this guy's not doing it. He's running up to you in humility. Now I've got a question for you. What would you do if a wealthy man of stature? Came up to you. Asking you about eternal life.

What would your response be? Would you lead him in a sinner's prayer to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior? Would you try to win him because of all the money that he could bring into the kingdom maybe Kiss up to him a little bit.

Would you first listen to his story or maybe fulfill a felt need that he has. Maybe do you would first spend time to build? a relationship With this man so that you can have authority to speak into his life.

Well, hopefully you said no to all of those but those are very typical evangelistic methods in the American Evangelical Church. But that is not what Jesus did. He responds to this guy's request and At a first glance super just oddly.

We got to explain the things that he is saying because so many people take it out of context. At the 1917 and he said to him. Why do you ask me? What is good? There is only one who is good if you would enter life keep the commandments.

So in Mark and Luke, he comes up asking him good teacher. So pulling all these together pulling all the accounts together. He's calling Jesus a good teacher and asking what good deed he can do to inherit eternal life.

Now the most important word in understanding all of this Matthew 19 and 16 through 26 is the word good. That is one of the most important words in all of life in all the scriptures one of the most important words for you to understand that is Really life or death that is eternal significance is The word good we have to understand that that word good that this man uses is from the Greek word Agathos.

In that word Agathos and what he's saying. He said Agathos good teacher. What Agathos deed? Can I produce to inherit eternal life and that word means internally virtuous good to the core good through and through.

Someone who is good at the heart level. Kalos or Kalos is another word for good and that just means good-looking like Josh Haskins sitting right here, you know. So he's not using Kalos. He's using it's true.

It's true especially the beard beard envy. But he's asking what good can what good deed what what good deed can I produce out of my internally virtuous?

Self.

To produce Eternal life. What can I do? To inherit eternal life flowing out of the goodness within me. I think that's if you would really look at the original language, that's what he's saying and Jesus says something.

Something so cutting and I remember when I first read this really kind of beguiling or puzzling. He says why are you calling me good? Only one is good and only God is good. We know Colts and different people who are not exegeting the scriptures.

Correctly mainly because they're not in dwelt with the Spirit of God who gives a spiritual understanding. They've taken this out of context and said see Jesus is saying that he's not good. Is Jesus telling us he's not good and therefore not God.

Is that what he's saying? No, he's not saying that that is absolutely The opposite of what he's saying, but Jesus is responding to this man with a full knowledge that this man is not Understanding who Christ is he's not coming up to rabbi Jesus with the understanding that he's the all-reigning omnipotent creator of all things Incarnate God in the flesh.

That is not how this man views Jesus and Jesus is Replying to this man with the full knowledge of how this man is questioning him he believes Jesus to be a Mere man and he uses good in a super loose way and in an absolutely incorrect way he believes himself to be good in all men to be good and You know, I'm not going to be speculative at all.

But I feel like this man has gone to religious leaders and rabbis and just kind of threw that word around. And maybe that's the reason that he is the ruler that he is. But of course the Bible silent about that.

That's just kind of my thoughts as I've been thinking through this. But what he is doing is he is not referring to Jesus as God in the flesh. So what did you what's Jesus saying Jesus is saying? Why are you using that word to apply to a man?

You don't even know me, right? So you're calling me good. You're calling yourself good. You're thinking you can produce any type of goodness to an inherit eternal life. You don't even know what you're talking about.

And.

Being a ruler of a synagogue. Have you not read the Psalms right? He's a ruler in the synagogue. He should know what the Psalms say a couple of these psalm. Psalm 14 once is the fool said in his heart.

There is no God. They are corrupt. They have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. Psalm 36 1 through 3 transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes.

For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. The words of his mouth are wickedness and to see he has ceased to be wise and to do good this rich. Young ruler coming up to Jesus with the position that he had should have known that's why Jesus is responding.

Why are you why are you saying this? Why are you calling me good? You should know this by now. So what Jesus does is he stops him dead in his tracks and he confronts his understanding of? Good, and that is what we must do in our evangelism like Christ.

We must confront a lost person's natural misunderstanding of goodness. It's absolutely vital. It's absolutely crucial and the work that God has called us to do be though to be the witnesses that he's called us to be.

Absolutely. Why? Here's the answer. Because fallen man trust in his own self perceived goodness to gain eternal life and to justify himself.

Before God.

Fallen man trust in his own goodness to be saved. It was it was great going out on Friday night with Wade and all the rest of the guys and and as we would sit There in the rain way would do something cool as people would pass he'd hand out gospel tracts and he'd say hey What's gonna happen after you die?

Are you gonna go to heaven or hell? Do you do you believe in heaven or hell? And I don't know about you if you've ever talked to people about Jesus but about 99 of the time if you ask them if you were to stand before God on the day of your judgment you were to.

Ask you why should I let you into heaven? What did you say? And what do people say? Because I'm a good person. That's what they say. They are trusting they're leaning in Their own goodness and it will not save them.

We asked someone you want to hear the gospel I'm a Christian and what do they say? I'm good now. I don't think they're saying I'm internally virtuous and therefore, you know. Because of that I can gain my own eternal salvation, but it's just kind of weird you see you hear it all the time I'm good, but man believes he's good.

That's what sin is. So absolutely deceived. Lost fallen man to where we believe are good that we are good. We're not the lost man. Desperately needs to see himself as God sees him. He does not see himself as he truly is sin is so deceived.

Our self-perception is absolutely deluded. Proverbs 30 12 6 speaks to this there are those who are clean in their own eyes. But are not washed of their filth. Proverbs 16 2 says all the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs motive.

Have to see ourselves as God sees us so we can go to God. And save your revelation 317 for you say I am rich I have prospered and I need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiful poor blind and naked.

That's a man. He's good. So you your Jesus thing your Christian walk, you know, that's good for you. How many times have you heard that now if that if that floats your boat? That's good for you. But that's not why if that's the crutch that you need to lean on it's good for you.

It's it's not good for me. So he's so deluded in his own self-perception. Believing that he can stand before a just and holy God on the day of his judgment and think that that is somehow gonna Protect him from the wrath of God.

That his head is his way is a scary. It's it's a terrifying thing to think of. There is not one good person and this is what Jesus is saying on the face of this earth. Everyone is radically corrupt totally depraved and headed to a very literal hell.

We need to know that. About the people that we were up shoulders with Romans 3 19 through 18. What then are we Jews any better off? No, not at all for we have already been charged that all both Jews and Greeks are under sin.

As it's written none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good not even one their throat is an open grave.

They use their tongues to deceive the venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood in their paths are ruining misery in the way of peace.

They have not known. There's no fear of God before their eyes. So this guy should have known this why is you know. Romans chapter 3 is constructed. Paul constructs Romans chapter 3, of course carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Taking from Psalm 14 53 5 140 1035 in Isaiah 59. The guy should have known what he was talking about. That's why Jesus stops him. This is. Why are you calling me? Good the lost desperately needs to know about himself.

In order to run to Jesus the Savior. We need to believe this about the lost in order to gain an urgency to witness to them.

In.

This will help motivate you in your evangelism and kind of get us out of the apathy or that we might have or a sluggard Ness that we have or a lack of urgency to really go out and proclaim the gospel when we see people in The way that God sees them when we see them as completely enslaved and self-deluded and dead spiritually dead headed to hell.

But we kind of don't see that way naturally. We we think people are nice and because they're nice then therefore they're good. We use nice we use nice a lot, but We can't apply good so loosely and haphazardly nice people are not going to make it to heaven based upon their niceness.

Grandma Janie who never swore and baked apple pies for you your whole life is not a good person, even though she She never said nothing never did nothing to you, right? You got it. You got to see grandma Janie is not good.

Little orphan Annie not good. The ultra nice Mormon neighbor who do anything to help you right bend over backwards, you know. You're you get a flat tire and he's already jacking up the car right after you got the flat tire.

He's he's not good. Romans 3 23 says for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God man is not good or he's an absolute guilty criminal before God. Gotta show the loss of reality their reality and their sinful condition before God.

Here's a good question for you. I was thinking about evangelism so we just do we show the lost about their sins by getting big old neon signs and placarding different sins on that sign and bringing them to them or have a neon shirts.

With different sins written all over them. Is that how we evangelize correctly to tell people that they're in their sin and that they're lost and and not good before God. Is that the right methodology?

What do you think? No, no, that is so absolutely self-righteous it is.

Why.

Because when we reveal sin when we expose sin to people without Appealing to God's standard of righteousness in his law. It's self-righteous. Self-righteous who are we to do that when we're sinners ourself fallen ourselves.

So when we are exposing it's not going up to someone Just pointing your finger in their face and saying you sinner. No, that's not how you do it. There's no power there. That's just that's a that is a effort and futility.

Exposing sin without appealing to God's standard righteousness embodied in his law is self-righteous. How do we do it? We do it like Jesus did we use the law. Matthew 8 19 18 through 19. If you would enter life keep the commandments he said to him.

So if you really want to save yourself and do it by your own efforts and you have to keep all the commandments perfectly. He said in which ones and 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 mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. If you're gonna do this and this is Jesus talking to him you're gonna do this based upon your own efforts.

Which is absolutely impossible. You better keep them all. Perfectly from birth without fail because if you fall in one point of the law. If you transgress even one of Jesus's commands one lessful thought even stealing a little things to seal beef jerky when I was a kid From Kmart was a came where I remember thrifty.

I can't remember it was from When I was in I tell myself it's just beef jerky even one little thing that you steal or even think about stealing. You have fallen short of it all. James 2 10 says for whoever keeps the whole law, but fells in one point has become accountable.

For all of it.

So Jesus is referring to the deck log and the extra deck log as he uses the law to expose this man's sin. And he refers here in Matthew only the second table of the law that has to do with loving our neighbor only it's super interesting as as He is you see him do that.

You talk to a guy in your evangelism. And you ask him as Wade did so well and the other guys did so well you ask him why God should let them into? Heaven when they die and When he says that he's good, and he's fine without God.

He's in no need of Jesus. He's just Gonna be justified based upon his own standing. So many people will tell you you know what God is the judge. And I'll just wait for that day to be judged by him. That is a fearful thing to hear.

What what we can respond is this so you're good? According to what standard you think God's gonna judge you based upon? Your own standards or his. So you expose that to the to the person that you're talking to you.

You explain to them that God is not waiting for them to die. So that he can have their own definition of who he is. God is not waiting them. You ask them. I mean you think God is really waiting for you for you to explain life and and.

And who he is his standards of righteousness because that's what? Autonomous man thinks that he can live you know based upon his own relative understanding of truth. No, God is not gonna judge us based upon our own standards if we've ever lied like I said we're guilty.

Lusted in our heart guilty stolen something guilty coveted. Guilty the law is a mirror that we graciously and lovingly hold up in front of the face of the unbeliever. And they don't see their own deluded wrong.

Self-perception when you share the law with them and let them know that they're guilty of it. They see themselves as God sees them a lawbreaker a criminal. Headed to hell and that's how they need. To see themselves guilty corrupt lost not good.

But evil that is the purpose of the law. Romans 7 7. What then shall we say? That the law of sin by no means. Yet if it had not been for the law I would not have known sin so important for I would not have known what it is to covet.

If the law had not said.

You shall not.

Covet.

So what's this man's response to all this is. Jesus uses the law to exposes his sin. And I think it's safe to say it's it's one of the most self-deluded statements in all the Word of God. This man is so deluded by his own sense of goodness his own self-definition of goodness.

This is gotta be one of the most self-deluded statements all scripture. He says All of these I have kept. What still do I lack. You imagine that that's that's the blindness of sinful man. That's the pride and arrogance of sinful man to stand before Jesus.

Say I've done it all. I've kept it all. Sin has completely deceived him. It's completely delusional about his own goodness first. John 1 8. We say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

The most damning delusion that you can believe about you yourself and Anybody else is that you're good when you've been confronted with the perfect standard of God's righteousness. Most damning delusion.

The most damning belief that a person can hold in this in this life is that they're good and They can measure up to God's standards. Totally deceived, right? It's the law. That is the light that shines through that darkness.

It's the law that exposes that not you. Not sure whatever you want to do to try that make you can't make it happen in the life of a dead. Spiritually dead sinner you have to use the law and allow that to shine brightly into their life to expose The delusion that they're living in.

He believes that he's hitting he's flawlessly kept the law, but he doesn't understand the depth of the law. He you know waking up that morning. He might not have stolen anything. He might not have committed adultery, right?

He might not have used the Lord's name in vain. But Jesus goes to show on the Sermon of the Mount that it's the depth of the law right that the Lord Not only weighs our outward actions But examines the heart really that man before he ate breakfast broke the law and how many who knows how many ways?