You can, you can go on and sit down. Thank you, Mary and Mary. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. And Lord, we ask you now for help as we open your word, as we look into your word, Lord, that you Make it clear to us. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
So in the song Penelope Judd by pastor, theologian, and rapper Shylyn, we hear a story of a little girl who lived in a town called Mud. In this town there were no adults. The oldest person was only 12 years old. We're told that all the adults had washed away in a flood and that these kids are bad. They lie, cheat, steal. They use bad language. They hurt each other's feelings all of the time. And every day Penelope cries. And she has hope, though, that it will get better because her grandfather had written her a letter. And the letter says, 'Penelope, it's great news that I bring. On the mountaintop, there lives a great king. And the king has a son, and being a proud father, he's going to throw the prince a huge party in his honor. But the good part—and I hope it gets you excited—Penelope Judd, you're officially invited. He's sending a dove, and he'll tell you all you need to know.' Just have your bags packed and be ready to go. The song goes on to say that one day the dove came and she was so happy and she ran inside and grabbed her knapsack and took off on this journey following the dove. And the dove said, 'Hey, keep your eyes on me and I'll be your guide.' And they take a long walk and they take a walk up the steep mountain and they finally get to the palace. And the dove flies away. She rings the bell. And a huge angel comes and answers the door, and he won't let her in. He says, 'I'm so sorry. There's no way I can let you through these doors. The king won't let anyone.' Dirty up his floors. She didn't understand, so without coming near, he reached into his pocket and he pulled out a mirror. And for the very first time, she saw that she was dirty. The palace was spotless. She knew she wasn't worthy.
And in much the same way, this passage today highlights for us the unworthiness, the inability of someone who it looked like had all the abilities to get to the kingdom, his complete inability to enter in. It highlights for us the impossibility of navigating life on our own terms and arriving into the kingdom of God and being allowed entry. Into the palace. When we look into the mirror of God's Word, we see that we are unworthy, that we are covered with mud, and we can't be allowed entry. And it highlights for us the reality of how one enters the kingdom, and it's not the way that we often think. This passage shows us that salvation, which is entry into the kingdom, is the gracious gift of God.
And we'll see this truth as we look at two sections here, the exchange between Jesus and the rich young man, and then the very hard saying of Jesus. And when taken together, these two things reveal salvation is a gracious gift of God. So let's look at the exchange.
Verse 17, 'And he was setting out on a journey.' And a man ran up to him, knelt before him, and 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 murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your mother and father.' And he said to him, 'Teacher, all these I have kept.' since my youth.
So he's leaving the region of Judea and, and on the other side of the Jordan from Jerusalem, and he's going somewhere. Now, where is he going? He's going to Jerusalem, to the cross. This is the final journey on his way toward Jerusalem, and this is This is the section of the book, kind of the hinge where we go from Jesus' ministry up to what we call the Passion Week and him going to the cross.
6 · Cultural-background exposition explaining that the man's running and kneeling were culturally shocking behaviors for someone of his social standing, highlighting his desperate urgency
And this man comes running up to him with a burning, burning question. Now Luke tells us that he was a young ruler, more than likely a ruler of the synagogue or a member of the Sanhedrin, okay? These guys in the first century, They did not run. Okay? It was like, hey, that's not respectable etiquette for a guy like that. You wouldn't even see this guy running like you might catch me running, you know, a couple times a week, few times a week when I'm not feeling lazy, like to get in shape. Like, not even like that. And this guy runs up to Jesus. And then when he gets there, he falls down on his knees. That's something else. That is not worthy of a man of his stature and standing in the community.
7 · Exposition of the man's question, identifying both its legitimacy (asking about eternal life) and its fundamental problem (asking what he must *do*, revealing self-dependence)
And then he says, 'Good teacher.' Like you can kind of hear it. Like he runs up there and he falls down. He's like, 'Good teacher, good teacher.' Like he's kind of flustered. He doesn't want Jesus to leave. Like, 'No, I gotta catch him before he goes. What must I do?' to inherit eternal life? See, the man had the right question. And the question reveals that even though he's a holy man, even though he's well-respected, even though that he has means at his disposal, he has questions about if he's good enough, if the things that he's done and the things that he has are good enough to get him into the kingdom. To get him to eternal life. This question also reveals the dependence on himself that he had. 'Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
8 · Exposition explaining Jesus' strategy: pointing the man to the second table of the law (commandments governing human relationships) while the theological framework understood law-keeping as the path to righteousness
And Jesus points him to the law. You see, keeping the law was seen as the way of being righteous. And the righteous ones are those who are accepted by God. And if you're accepted by God, then you have eternal life. And so Jesus is like, 'Okay, what must you do? You know the law. Do these things.' Where he points him is what theologians call the second table of the law. So the first four commandments deal with how we relate to God, and that's what they call the first table. The second table deals with how we relate to one another. And he's like, 'Hey, here you go. Do all those things.'
9 · Exposition of the man's confident claim to have kept all the commandments, and Jesus' cryptic question about being called 'good,' which the man completely missed as a claim to deity
The man says, 'No problem. Since I was a boy, I've done all those things.' The crazy thing is that his answer also highlights the fact that he didn't even understand his address to Jesus and also Jesus' response to him. He comes up and he says, 'Good teacher,' and Jesus says, 'Why do you call me good? No one's good but God alone.' See, the Jews had it very foremost in their minds that the only one who is good is God. And Jesus is saying, 'Hey, yeah, you're calling me good. That's right.' But why? You know only God alone is good.
10 · Exposition exposing the man's underlying presumption: he saw himself as good enough to recognize Jesus' goodness, expecting mutual recognition of righteousness—a complete misunderstanding of both his own condition and Jesus' identity
Here's why the guy was calling Jesus good. You know, back when I was a kid in my neighborhood, we used to say like, hey, real recognize real. Nowadays they say what? Game recognize game, right? Yeah. He's like, Jesus, I called you good because, hey, I'm pretty good and I recognize your goodness. And also, also, you're going to recognize mine because I'm good. And just in case you missed it, let me tell you, all that stuff, oh man, since I was a boy I've done that. It's almost like he's saying, child's play, what else you got? All those since I was a boy.
11 · Direct application asking the congregation to identify with the rich young ruler's self-righteous approach, offering concrete examples of modern 'merit lists' people bring to Jesus
What about us? That's a question this text raises. Where do we come to Jesus on our own merits, with our own abilities, with our own list of things saying like, 'Hey, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' This list is enough, right? Like, I serve in the church. I teach kids ministry. I give. I serve and give to parachurch organizations. I support missionaries overseas. That's good enough, right, Jesus? I've never stolen anything. I've never cheated on my wife. You know, like, I mean, maybe I've lied. I mean, they're like white lies. They're not like I've lied about, like, you know, who I am or anything, but, you know, It's harmless. That's got to be good enough, right, Jesus?
12 · Exposition of Jesus' loving but devastating response: commanding the man to sell everything and follow Him, exposing wealth as the idol keeping him from the kingdom and revealing Jesus' love-in-action even in hard truth
And then Jesus, in the masterful way that only he can, he sets the man up with the law. And why did he do that? Well, Paul tells us what? That the law is a tutor that leads us to Christ. That the law cannot provide righteousness, but the law highlights our unrighteousness. Paul said, 'When the law said, 'Do not covet,' it awakened all sorts of covetousness in me.' And he's saying, 'Hey, here you go. Go to the law.' Because Jesus knows that the law is insufficient to save, but it can certainly condemn. And then we see this amazing and loving response of the Savior to this self-righteous young man. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, 'One thing you lack. Go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.' Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful. For he had great possessions.
13 · Direct pastoral address stepping outside the exposition to reassure the congregation that Jesus' hard words are expressions of love, not cruelty, because love always tells the truth and acts for the beloved's good
You know, all that Jesus does is loving. All that he does is good. All that he says is right. And maybe today you're having trouble feeling the goodness of God. Maybe you're having trouble believing in his love. Maybe you're having trouble feeling that what he says and does is good for you. Well, let Let this sentence encourage you and show his love. Let it be an expression of his love and how he loves his people. This was the last thing this man wanted to hear. When he came up with his resume, he expected Jesus to say, 'Hey, good job. Good job. Keep doing what you're doing. You'll be fine. It's all good, man.' No, one thing you lack. He never expected to hear that. And Jesus loved him and said to him— see, love always is expressed in action. Jesus loved him, so he's going to tell him the truth. God's what? So loved the world, he gave his only Son. Jesus says, hey, as I have loved you, so you love one another. By that all will know You are my disciples. See, there's actions that are going along with that so that people can see the love expressed and then go, oh yeah, they belong to Jesus. He loved him, and he said to him, there's one thing you lack.
14 · Exposition connecting Jesus' command to the biblical-theological pattern of God calling His people to abandon idols and worship Him alone, from Exodus to the prophets to Jesus in the flesh
Sell all that you have and give to the poor. And then, 'Come follow me.' You see, when Jesus comes to us, he reveals something about us to us, right? He comes with the mirror and he says, 'Hey, look at yourselves. Look at yourself.' You can't trust yourself. You can't follow yourself. Your abilities, your standing, your influence, your affluence, whatever it is that you might be thinking, 'Hey, that's good enough to get me there.' Jesus comes with his mirror and he says, 'No, don't trust that. You gotta trust me.' And this man, while keeping the second table of the law, he had failed to keep the first. And Jesus is saying, 'Hey, man, you got that part right. You shall have no other gods before me. You got that part wrong.' He's highlighting that this guy has bowed down and worshiped another god instead of the one true God, and because of that, Jesus is trying to reorient his heart. He's trying to help him shed those false narratives that he believes about who God is and what God's blessing and mercy looks like. And he's saying, 'No, man, forget all that stuff. Follow me. You called me good. You know I'm God if you said that. Follow me.' And Jesus basically pulled out a mirror for this guy. And he saw he was covered in mud and he was unworthy. In love, Jesus revealed his heart, but he didn't stop there. He gave him the remedy. He said, 'Follow me. Put away those false idols. Remove those idols and follow me.' And that's what God does. When he brought his people Israel out of Egypt, what did he say? 'Put away the false idols that your fathers had worshiped. Put those things away. Don't worship them anymore.' Worship me. When he comes to his people and calls them back, what does he say? Put the idols out of your house, the things that you're bowing down to, and follow me. And now Jesus, God in the flesh, is telling this man, put away your false gods, follow me. And through this man in this text today, he's telling us Put away your false gods and follow me.
15 · Brief exposition stating the man's tragic response to Jesus' call
The man was disheartened and went away sorrowful because he had great wealth and possessions.
16 · Series of diagnostic questions applying the text's idol-exposing function directly to the congregation, moving from general to specific and reframing the discomfort as Jesus' love
Question for us today is, what is keeping us from following Jesus with our whole heart? What is it that's deterring us from loving the Lord our God with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength? What's handicapping us from serving and following our Savior in every part of our life? Maybe the real question is, where is Jesus lovingly exposing our idols today?
17 · Propositional assertion restating the sermon's controlling thesis with additional clarity about the incompatibility of idolatry with receiving God's gracious gift
You see, you can't earn salvation. You can't buy it. You can't achieve it. It is a gracious gift of God, and it will not be given if you're following a false god, if you're worshiping a false god and putting your hope in that. It's just not going to happen.
18 · Structural transition announcing the shift from the exchange with the rich young man to Jesus' teaching to the disciples
And this now brings us to Jesus' hard saying.
19 · Narrative exposition recreating the scene after the man's departure: Jesus deliberately makes eye contact with the stunned disciples before delivering His hard saying about the wealthy and the kingdom
The young man has gone away sorrowful, and Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.' And the disciples were amazed at his words. So again, the young man has gone away. Everyone's stunned. If that guy is lacking— like, this is what's going through their mind— if he's lacking, what about me? What does that mean about me? And it's pin-drop quiet as they're all mulling this over in their minds. And Jesus, it says, looks around. Like, I can see him making eye contact with He's looking around. Wanting to make sure they're paying attention. He says, 'How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.' And the disciples are astonished. They're amazed at his words.
20 · Cultural-background exposition explaining why the disciples were astonished: first-century theology equated wealth with God's favor, making Jesus' statement a complete theological reversal
Why? Well, because in the first century wealth was seen as evidence of God's blessing, evidence of God's love. There was kind of a health and wealth or a prosperity bent toward their theology, and they're like, man, this guy is experiencing God's love and God's grace and God's mercy in his life. Look at what he has. He has money. He has a nice house. He has all of these things and the accoutrements that come with it, and he's a leader, and he's respected. And that guy lacks. Now look, Jesus turned that on its head for him very quickly. How difficult it will be for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.
21 · Exposition clarifying what Jesus is and is not saying: not that the wealthy cannot be saved, but that wealth creates spiritual handicaps by fostering false trust and distraction from dependence on God
Now look, is Jesus saying that rich people can't come into heaven? No, that's not what he's saying. That is not what he's saying at all. And for that, we are grateful. Why? Because in America, you know, last 10 years kind of culturally, we've talked about the the 1%, right? And we sometimes talk about this redistribution of wealth and like, hey, we gotta take from the rich man and give to the poor man. We got this Robin Hood mindset. Sorry, if you're in America, you're in the rich 1% of the world. You can be living in poverty in America and you are still in the rich richest 1% of the world. So we are grateful that Jesus isn't saying, hey, rich people, not allowed, denied. Go find a different place because it ain't heaven. No, that's not what He's saying. And we're grateful for that. But He says it's difficult. Why? Well, we see from the rich man here that he went away sorrowful. Why? Because he was trusting in his wealth. He was trusting in his own abilities. He was trusting in his means and his influence and his affluence to get him into the kingdom, to earn or inherit eternal life. And Jesus is saying, 'Hey, wealth is a handicap. It'll make you limp on that journey.' Because there are things that come with that that can be distractions.
22 · Personal illustration demonstrating how even small possessions (a cell phone) can distract from spiritual disciplines and subtly shift trust away from God
One example, my cell phone. Sitting there in the morning trying to read my Bible. My phone goes, 'Mm, mm.' And I think, 'Oh, ooh, I'm important. Somebody needs me.' Oh, it's really nothing. Then you end up on Facebook, and then you're on Instagram, and then before you know it, 30 minutes have passed, and you're like, 'Oh, that's right, I was reading my Bible.' Mm-hmm. Hmm, I'm pretty important. And that's just one example. There are a lot of those things that can pull us away from the Lord, right? That's just one comical yet real example. It's funny because it's true, right? Yep. And before you know it, we get to the point where we start trusting in those things and putting our faith in those things.
23 · Exposition highlighting Jesus' rhetorical intensification: after stating the difficulty for the wealthy, He removes the qualifier and declares entry into the kingdom universally difficult
But he says, man, how difficult it is for us to enter the kingdom of God. And that should amaze us just like it did the disciples. And then, you know, Jesus— whenever Jesus like drops one of those like mic drop moments, you know, and you're like, Oh, maybe he's going to like back off a little bit. What does he do? He grabs another microphone and he like doubles down. And he's like, oh, just in case you didn't understand me, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. This time he didn't put the qualifier of a rich man or a wealthy man. He's like, let me tell you, it is difficult to get in for everyone, universally difficult.
24 · Exposition of Jesus' hyperbolic image (camel through a needle's eye) emphasizing the utter impossibility of the wealthy entering the kingdom by their own power
And then he goes back to the rich people. 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. Now again, these guys have that mindset of, man, if anyone's a shoo-in, it's this guy. And Jesus is using him as an object lesson of, no, even that guy, it's extremely difficult. It's easier for something impossible like a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for that guy to come into heaven.
25 · Propositional claim synthesizing Jesus' teaching: no human resources—power, influence, moral achievement, or wealth—can earn kingdom entrance; everyone needs divine help
He says, hey, no amount of power or influence or standing or right living will earn a person entrance to the kingdom. How difficult it is. No one can enter the kingdom on their own, not even the the rich. That's what Jesus is saying. See, in our American mindset where we sometimes look at the rich people and say, oh, well, you know, love of money is the root of evil. Well, that's what the Bible says. I'm sorry. We say money is the root of all evil, right? We get it wrong in our American context all the time. And so we think, oh, being rich is bad. And in Jesus' day, it's like, no, no, those were the guys that were easy ends. And he's saying, 'Yeah, not even that guy. Not even that guy.' The one you think, 'Oh yeah.' Like, so put in your mind the most holy person you know, and Jesus is like, 'Yeah, not even that guy. Not even that guy. You gotta have help.'
26 · Exposition of the disciples' ultimate question and Jesus' definitive answer: salvation is humanly impossible but divinely possible
And Jesus told this young man where the help was. He said, 'Hey, put away your false god.' and come follow Me.' And they were exceedingly astonished and said to Him, 'Then who can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.'
27 · Exposition emphasizing the absolute nature of human inability and divine ability: no human qualifies, but God can save anyone
See, the disciples' astonishment, it finally reaches like this fever pitch where they're like, Jesus, throw us a bone, man. Who can be saved? No one. No. No one. With man it's impossible to be saved, but not with God. They're like, 'If this rich man who's well respected and all that can't get in, who can?' And he's like, 'Not y'all. Nobody.' But with God all things are possible, including the salvation of man. God in his grace is doing for man that which he cannot do for for himself.
28 · Extended theological exposition explaining the three-fold impossibility facing humanity (enslaved to sin, unable to pay sin's penalty, unable to produce required righteousness) and how God in Christ accomplishes all three, bringing the kingdom in His person
Why can we not do it ourselves? Well, we're shackled to sin. See, we're slaves to sin. We can't free ourselves from it. We can't break loose from it. Let's say we could. Well, now we've got to pay for that sin that we've committed. And if we attempt to pay for it, we're done. We're gone. But let's say we could pay for our sins. Like, let's say that we paid for our sins and we were done, but we're only at ground zero, man. What does God require? He requires righteousness. And so now you're dead. You can't achieve that righteousness. But God, God can do all of that. God can do all of that. And through Jesus, the good teacher, he has done that. See, Jesus is telling the young man, hey, no one is good but God alone. He's pointing out the truth that salvation is a gift of God. Like, you can't earn it. You can't get it. You're not good enough. But in me, it's come. Follow me. Follow me. Salvation has come. Why? Because the King has come. And if the King has come, that means the kingdom had come. And we know it's come. Why? Because in Mark chapter 1, Jesus said these words, 'The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'
29 · Propositional claim asserting that the gospel is not merely individual forgiveness but incorporation into the kingdom of God, where Jesus presently reigns
You see, the gospel is never less than individual. Forgiveness of sins. Through the gospel, yes, my sins have been forgiven. Ricky's sins have been forgiven. Rod's sins have been forgiven. But it's so much more than that. See, God doesn't just save us to be individuals with him. He saves us and brings us what? Into his kingdom. Oh, man. Like, it's crazy. An admittance to the kingdom. Is the proof of the forgiveness of sins. It's proof of the repentance from sins. It is the surety of Christ standing in the place of judgment for his people and bringing them into his kingdom. That is the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus brought to earth. That's what Jesus was offering to this man, and that is where Jesus reigns presently.
30 · Exposition of Peter's question ('what about us?'), humanizing Peter as representative of all believers who wonder about the cost and reward of discipleship
See, God's Gracious gift of salvation is present because Jesus had come, and he's calling this man out. And the crazy thing is, like, if the gracious gift of salvation— it's almost like to God, it's like, 'Yeah, that's not enough. That's not enough.' The grace keeps coming. Peter began to say to him, 'See, we've left everything and followed you.' You know, you gotta love Peter, man. You gotta love Peter. Like, for a lot of years as a Christian, I was like, man, Peter, what a bonehead. What a bonehead. But as I read more and I get to know Peter a little bit more, Peter's me. Peter's all of us if we're honest. You know, and he's like, you just told him to leave everything and follow. Dude, we've left everything. 'I don't even have a boat anymore. John and James, they left their dad's fishing business and we're here with you. Matthew was a tax collector. He had an easy life. Well, you know, mostly an easy life. He couldn't come to the synagogue. We left all that and followed you.' Peter's saying, 'Hey, what about us, man?' What about us?
31 · Exposition of Jesus' promise of hundredfold return in this life (with persecutions) and eternal life in the age to come, asserting the promise's truthfulness for the congregation
And she said, 'Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time.' Houses and brothers, a hundredfold of these in this time, that means in this life. Houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions. And in the age to come, eternal life. He's saying in no uncertain terms that those who leave behind the world and follow him, they get so much more. So much more. And church, it's true. It is 100% true.
32 · Historical example from the preacher's previous church illustrating how the family of God provides the hundredfold return Jesus promises—homes, food, and family support in times of need
When we were at one of our sister churches in LifeGate in Seguin, one of our elders stood up one day and shared something with the church. He was repenting of his sin. He stood up and he said, hey, he talked about his business struggling and he was, you know, worried about how he's going to pay his bills, how he's going to feed his family, and looking at having to possibly sell their home and downsize, which they had a lot of kids. and that was going to be, you know, a difficult thing for them. And he was stressed and worried. And that day in church, the Lord revealed to him that he was more worried about a standard of living than an actual living. And here's the part. Here's the part that highlights the truth of this receiving a hundredfold in this time. He said, 'The family of God will not let us starve. The family of God will not let us be homeless. It may be hard, but we will be able to survive. The Lord has provided us with homes and food and family to share those with. Please forgive my lack of faith.' That's the right way of looking at this passage. The Lord provides a hundredfold.
33 · Extended personal testimony illustrating Jesus' promise through the preacher's own experience of leaving everything to serve in Prague, Louisville, and now this congregation, receiving hundredfold family and spiritual fruit alongside real persecutions and losses
And you know, when we left to go to Prague, man, we experienced this promise firsthand. So we went there and what did we get? We got aunts and uncles and brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers. We have homes that have been opened to us there that are still open. When we went from there to the PC in Louisville, we experienced the same thing. We have mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and lands and homes that the doors have been thrown open to us. And then guess what? We left Louisville and we came here. We get you. We get mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and lands and houses that the doors have been thrown wide open. The blessing of God. The rest of that promise is true too. We get persecutions. Don't worry, I ain't leaving that part out. You know, we've even had people in our own family that are like, 'Hey, if you sell everything, then you're going to be poor. Who's going to take care of you?' The Lord. That's who we're following. That's who we're trusting in. Hey, you're doing your kids a disservice by taking them to an unsafe place. That may be. What's more important, following the Lord or our safety? We've had people say, you're going to be poor. You're going to miss so much. You're going to go through all these hardships. And they were right. They were absolutely right. We've been poor. Missed a lot. We've missed a lot of firsts. We've missed a lot of births. We've missed a lot of deaths. We've missed cancer treatments. We've missed family members. Being away from family as they've gone through divorce and not being able to be there to help pick up the pieces. And it's been hard. But man, we wouldn't have it any other way, church. We wouldn't have it any other way. Why? Because we've received so much more family, so much greater family, so much of a bigger family. And we've gotten to see the Lord work in ways that we would have missed, ways that we never would have been able to fathom. We've seen people come to faith. We've seen people's lives changed. We've seen people put on a different trajectory that is going to end them up at the palace door ringing the bell, and that angel's going He's going to say, 'Man, come on in.' Not that there's really an angel at the palace door. I'm just— it's a song. It's a song, okay? We've seen the Savior drawing people to himself. We would have missed out on that. That's far more of a blessing than the disservice of being poor or experiencing hardship or having to persevere in persecution and missing family. Those things are real. They're hard. But they pale in comparison to the goodness that we've experienced from the Lord. We've received so much more, and you can and will too, because salvation is a gracious gift of the Lord, but he gives even more after that gracious gift is received, and it's amazing.
34 · Return to the opening Penelope Judd illustration, completing the story to show the prince (Christ) providing his own robe (righteousness), making entry possible through grace
Picking up the story of Penelope Judd, Shai goes on to rap as the angel continued, 'I'm sorry, little friend, but a voice inside the party said you can let her in.' The next thing she knew, the prince himself was at the door. He looked at her and smiled and said, 'There's room for one more.' He reached out and touched her, and instantly she was clean, wearing the brightest robe that she had ever seen. If the mud kids had seen it, they would have gone blind. Where'd you get it? she asked. He said, actually, it's mine. That's the kind of help that we have. That's the great Savior that we have who died to make the way possible for us.
35 · Propositional claim establishing Christ's substitutionary work: He left heaven's glory to accomplish what no human could—paying sin's penalty, enduring God's wrath, and purchasing our salvation
See, we have the one who did exactly what he was asking the rich young ruler to do. He left all the riches of glory. He left the the praise of angels. He left heaven to walk this place. And look, we know this place ain't all that great sometimes. As Tom said, we live in the surface of the sun, very similar to Palestine. The one who made all of that and left all of that, he came to reveal the Father. We have the help of the Savior who made the stars and the sun and all that we see. He came to give His life as a ransom for many. The one who was worthy of all praise and glory came to be whipped and spit upon and beaten and crucified and endure the wrath of God. He came to do that. We have the one who was so amazing that He created the tree on which He would be crucified. To pay for our sin in order to purchase and ransom a people for God. See, that's the one who came to help us, the one who did exactly what he's asking us. He's like, 'I'm going to leave all that I'm actually worthy of, and I'm asking you to leave all the falsehood behind and come follow me.' That's what he's saying.
36 · Propositional claim linking Christ's ascension to the Spirit's ministry: the Spirit guides believers past false trust into the kingdom and grants faith that clothes them in Christ's righteousness
That's the one who came to— help us along to get to the kingdom. And you see, he's a guide and he's so much more. He's the Lord, and the cross is his invitation. And then as he ascended, what happened? He sent the dove, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the faithful one who would help us to not get snared by the deceitfulness of riches or the lies of our ability or the falsehoods of our affluence influence and our thinking of like, yeah, look at this list, it's great. No, the Spirit would lead us faithfully to the kingdom of God. The Spirit who gives new life, that's the touch. When he touches us and gives us faith, what happens? Oh man, we get the brightest robe we've ever seen that's not ours. We get the righteousness of Jesus by faith. And he says, 'Yeah, actually, that's mine.' And we say, 'Yeah, it is, because it's impossible for me to make a robe this way.' You see, with God all things are possible. Salvation is a gracious gift of God. It can't be earned, grabbed, attained. It is given by grace. God.
37 · Direct application issuing the sermon's final charge: abandon false trust, follow Jesus, rely on His gracious salvation, and be ready for whatever call He issues—whether to stay or go
So what about you? What about me? What about us? This passage comes to us with a call and a challenge. The call is to follow me. It's what Jesus says. That's the challenge or the call. Follow me. And the challenge is leave behind all of that stuff that you trust in, that you think is is going to help you on the way, because it won't. He left all that he was worthy to have in order to come and get us, to come lay hold of us. So let's follow him and rely on his salvation that he graciously gives to those who are his. And as Penelope's grandfather said, have your bags packed and be ready to go. Let's have our bags packed. Maybe he'll call us to stay here, to follow him here. Maybe he'll tell us to follow him somewhere else. I don't know. There are two couples in this church that I know are ending up places that they never would have dreamed they would end up. And it's crazy. God is still doing this. He's still calling people, hey, forget about those things that that provide comfort, and come follow me.
38 · Closing prayer synthesizing the sermon's main claims and interceding for those who have been trusting in false gods, asking God to grant new life and faith
Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for this reminder that salvation is a gracious gift given by you, accomplished by Christ and his works, not our own, accomplished by the gracious and merciful Savior. Not by our abilities. Father, maybe there's someone here that today is the first time they've heard that message, and they've been trusting in their own righteousness, in their own abilities, in their own false gods. Father, we pray you would touch them by your Spirit, that you would give new life, that you would grant faith and give them that new robe It belongs to Jesus. We pray all these things in his name. Amen.
39 · Incomplete sentence fragment indicating transition to closing worship (manuscript appears truncated)
Well, church, sometimes we sing songs that proclaim