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WISDOM & WONDER, Season 8 Finale
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Before we dive into God's Word, I want to take a moment to thank all of you who have been praying for my wife and me. Many of you know that my wife lost her mother unexpectedly during Thanksgiving week. The last two weeks have been very difficult for our family as we've navigated funeral planning and an out-of-state burial during the holidays.
I want to be transparent: we are tired, and we are a little weary. We are not machines; we are human beings. Thank you for your text messages, phone calls, and prayers. Your support has meant everything to us.
We are in the final three messages of our series called "Wisdom and Wonder," where we've been walking through Matthew chapters 12-20. Today we'll be studying Matthew 19:16-30—a passage so important that three of the four gospel writers recorded this particular encounter.
As I've been reflecting on this text, I've been struck by one of the most difficult emotions we experience as human beings: the feeling of inadequacy. For some people, this feeling comes from a lack of affirmation. For others, it stems from deep insecurities. For still others, it comes from life circumstances—job loss, divorce, or other hardships.
But there's another place where inadequacy shows up, and it's mingled with deception. This is when inadequacy becomes entangled with religion.
There are millions of people—both in America and around the world—who are trying to earn things from God that they cannot earn. They are caught in exercises of futility, trying to get things from God, trying to perform for God, or trying to earn approval from Him through good behavior. This is crippling because there is no healing for this without proper theology. There is no bottom to this pit. Human beings will never know when they have done enough to please God.
This is the struggle of billions of people around the world. This is the struggle of millions in the United States. And this is the struggle of the man at the center of today's text.
Matthew 19:16-17: And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
Matthew tells us that a man came to Jesus asking what good deed he must do to have eternal life. Mark and Luke provide additional details: this man is young, he is wealthy, he is a ruler—likely a member of the Sanhedrin, a political figure with status and clout.
Notice his question: What good deed must I do to have eternal life? He is seeking to earn salvation. He wants to know what he can perform or achieve to ensure that he will end up in heaven.
Jesus responds with both correction and teaching. First, He corrects him: "Why do you call me good?" There is only one who is good—God alone. The word "good" here in Greek means moral perfection and moral excellence. Jesus is saying there is no human being with moral excellence; there is no human being with moral perfection. As Paul writes, "All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory."
When people say, "I'm a good person; I deserve to go to heaven," they have been deceived. According to Christ, no one is good except God alone.
Then Jesus tells him: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
Notice the word "if." This is a conditional clause. There is a cost to entering heaven. In America, we've made heaven automatic upon death. More than 75% of Americans believe that when people die, they automatically go to heaven. We don't want to deal with the reality that some people will not make it there.
But Jesus is clear: if you would enter eternal life, there is something you must do.
The young man then asks, "Which ones?" And Jesus quotes six commandments to him:
"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."
PayAttention to which commandments Jesus quoted. Notice what He did not do: He did not say, "God loves you." He did not emphasize grace. He did not offer an easy path to salvation. Instead, He quoted the moral law—the commandments that people can see you keeping.
These are the visible commandments. If someone sees you not murdering, not stealing, not committing adultery, not lying—they assume you are a Christian. They think you are saved. These are the commandments you can keep and fool people.
Verse 20: And the young man said to him, "All these I have kept from my youth; what do I still lack?"
He feels assurance. He feels maybe a little pride. He has checked off all the boxes. He is thinking, "I've done everything I need to do for eternal life."
But then Jesus does something remarkable. Mark tells us: "And Jesus, looking at him, loved him." And in loving him, Jesus pulls out the knife.
Many of us only equate love with good feelings. We never see conviction as love. We never see the Holy Spirit confronting us as love. But Mark shows us that Jesus loved this man—and precisely because He loved him, He confronted him about his deepest sin.
Verse 21: Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me."
Jesus is talking to a rich man, and He is giving him the greatest invitation anyone could ever receive: Come and follow me. But first, He exposes the one commandment this man has broken—the one nobody could see: the first commandment.
"You shall love the Lord your God and have no other gods before me."
This man's wealth was his god. He was violating the very first commandment—the one that people cannot see, the one that governs the heart. His idolatry was invisible, but it was absolute.
Jesus was showing him: You are not perfect. You need a savior. Without surrendering his idol and following Christ, he would be separated from God for all eternity.
Let this sink in: The criteria for heaven is perfection. Moral perfection. Perfection as if you were God Himself.
This raises the obvious question: Who then can earn their way to heaven?
The answer is: No one. Nobody.
This is why those of us who are saved should never be prideful or arrogant about our salvation. You and I who are heavenbound are heavenbound because of the work of Christ. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We have nothing to boast in except the cross.
Sin cannot dwell in the presence of God. Since you are not morally perfect, you must be clothed in the moral perfection of somebody else. That somebody is Jesus Christ.
This is why Scripture says we must take off the old man and put on the new man. We must put on Christ. When the devil comes accusing you, you remind him: I've been clothed in Christ. Yes, I failed, but I'm clothed. Yes, I fell down, but I'm clothed. Yes, I have insecurities, but I'm clothed in Christ.
Our church clothes are not suits. Our church clothes are the righteousness of Christ.
And notice what Jesus gives this man: the greatest invitation any human being will ever get in this lifetime: Come and follow me.
There is no greater invitation than an invitation from Christ to say, "Just come and follow me." I've got insecurities? Come. I've got brokenness? Come. I've got issues from my past? Come.
And I want to remind some of you: He knew what He was getting when He told you to come. He already knew your failures. He already knew your weaknesses. He already knew your insecurities. Nothing in you surprises Him. As Scripture says, "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it."
Verse 22: When the young man heard this saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
This man walked away from a personal invitation to follow Jesus. He turned down the greatest invitation he would ever receive. Why? Because his wealth was more important to him than Christ.
For some of us, the Lord says: Sell everything. For others, He says: Be a good steward. But for this man, whose money was his god, the Lord said: Surrender that god, and then come and follow me.
Verse 23-24: And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."
People with great possessions struggle to enter the kingdom because they place self-reliance in resources. They think their money will keep them comfortable for eternity. And because we don't preach the gospel properly, we tell wealthy people, "Jesus will make your life better," and they hear: "I don't need your god; my life is already good."
Jesus uses the image of a camel passing through the eye of a sewing needle—a physical impossibility—to show us that it is impossible for anyone to get into heaven on their own merit. The same way you cannot force an animal through the eye of a sewing needle, you cannot earn your way into heaven through your own works.
Verse 25-26: When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
In the first century, people believed that if someone was wealthy, God had blessed them. So the disciples thought: If a rich person can't get in, then nobody can get in. But Jesus corrects them: With man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.
God can save anyone. No one can save themselves.
Verse 27-28: Peter said to him, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" And Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life."
Peter is asking a legitimate question: We have sacrificed everything for You. Where is our reward? This is for everyone who has sacrificed for the Lord—who has moved, who has given up jobs, who has come out of bad relationships, who has given up possessions—and feels like: Where is my reward? Why are the wicked prospering while I struggle to pay bills?
Notice what Jesus does: He redirects the disciples' focus from rewards in front of them to rewards in eternity. You might get blessings here. You might get married. You might fulfill some of your aspirations. But what if you do not? Your reward is eternal life.
Verse 29-30: But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
There will be a great reversal. Those who are comfortable now will be last. Some of them will not get in at all. But those who are last now—those who suffer now—they will be first. They will be exalted in the age to come.
Let me be direct: In the West, some of you are thinking, "Eternity? That's not good enough for me. I want a husband. I want a wife. I want money. I want a big ministry." But let me show you why eternity is more than enough.
Revelation 20:11-15 describes the great white throne of judgment:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Nobody gets away with nothing. Everyone will stand before God and give an account.
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
If you think salvation is not good enough, if you're chasing after wealth, status, and recognition instead of Christ, then you don't want what Christ is offering. But the alternative is burning for eternity.
Revelation 21:1-7 describes the reward for those who are in Christ:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
No more funerals. No more aging. No more sickness. No more disease. No more mourning. No more crying. No more pain.
And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son."
Is this good enough? A new world. New water. New trees. New animals. No sickness. No disease. No funerals. No death. No famine. No insecurities. No failures. No guilt. No strife. No issues. No problems. No tears.
What in this life is greater than that? Nothing.
Your sufferings now are temporary. Your labor is temporary. All your heartache and frustration—it is for a moment. But eternity is forever. Your hope should be for eternity, not for the fleeting things of this world. You're going to get the house and still feel empty. You're going to stand on the platform and still feel empty.
My mother-in-law came here with nothing from the Philippines. She accumulated houses, cars, money, and retirement. But what mattered ultimately was the state of her soul. Where was her eternal reward?
In the last season of her life, she was in a nursing home. My wife was concerned about her salvation. I was crying out for her salvation every morning at 4 a.m. We rushed to be with her when she was transitioning, only to find we arrived too late—she was taking her last breath.
But in those final weeks, a young woman from our church—a 2819 disciple serving as a volunteer in that nursing home—had been sitting with my mother-in-law every Tuesday for four hours. This woman asked her about her spiritual condition and began to share about sin, repentance, and God's standard for righteousness.
That disciple led my mother-in-law into a renewed, real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In her final weeks, we saw a radical transformation. She was reading the Bible. She was praying. She was loving. She was confessing sin.
Where we could not get there, where her daughter and I could not reach her, God in His providence raised up a disciple from this church to lead her to the Lord. This woman saw her assignment in a nursing home as a missionary assignment for Christ. She had the sensitivity in the moment to lead an elderly woman near death to the Lord.
When I stood at my mother-in-law's funeral, I did not speak with platitudes or false comfort. I spoke with confidence that she made it in. And so I pray that we would wake up and be agents on mission wherever we are—understanding that time is running out and that we must spread this gospel together.
For those of us living for Christ and sacrificing for Christ, our greatest reward will be the crown we lay down at His feet—not the stuff we're chasing down here.
To anyone listening right now who is far away from God—any atheist, any skeptic in this room or watching across the camera: Feel God wooing you to Himself right now. Just confess your sin right there where you are. Tell God you're sorry. Surrender your life to Him. He's giving you an invitation: Come. Follow me. Just tell the Lord: Forgive me for my sin. I surrender my life to you right now.
And for those of us who already belong to Christ: May the Holy Spirit deepen our love for the cross and the work of Christ. Jesus should be the hero of our hearts. May we be sensitive to the times we're living in and be agents of the gospel wherever we are—not with lies and pixie dust, but with the truth about sin, judgment, and a Savior who died for us.
May we be faithful proclaimers of the biblical gospel. And may we be grateful for the rewards coming in eternity. For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed.
