Self-serve Salvation

As always, the passage is there
in its entirety and a spot for particular notes this morning. Now, I may warn you, no cat calls
from the younger drivers in the crowd. I will be aging myself
here instantly when I begin to tell you about driving and how
things have changed, specifically the price of gas. And for those
of you who are whining that you have seen gas in your lifetime
climb from $2 a gallon to nearly $3 a gallon, may I point out
that when I began to drive, gas was approximately 26 cents per
gallon. So I have faced substantial change
in my day. And I told you that that would
age me. And I was reminded this past week of another change that
has taken place as I pulled into a little gas station in the middle
of Wyoming and I pulled up to the gas station and right there
placarded at the front of the island was the little sign self-serve
only. And I just the curiosity got
me and I just had to look at not only island number two, but
island number three and number four, all of which were placarded
with the same sign, self-serve only. And that is really it’s
almost a sign that doesn’t even need to be posted anymore. They’re
all self-serve only. But for those of you who are
new drivers, what would that be? 30 years and younger, you
probably have never seen a full serve gas station. I can remember
when I was young, I can remember a full serve gas station. And
let me describe it to you, for those of you who are new. You
would pull in and you would stay, remain seated comfortably in
your car, turning the ignition off. The attendant would approach
your car and he would ask you how he could help you for the
day. He would proceed to put the gas in your car, air in your
tires, cleaning your windshield. This was all in the price of
gas, mind you. Check the oil, the whole bit. Well, all that’s gone. It’s all
self-serve. And at the risk of using a cheap
analogy, essentially, that is what many people have when it
comes to their perspective of salvation and God. They want
a self-serve religion. They want a self-serve salvation. They want salvation. That much
is for sure. They just want to be able to
contribute to it. They wanted to be able to do it themselves. That’s how old I am. I remember
self-serve gas stations. Now you know. If you would, let’s
pick up this passage. Luke 18, beginning in verse 18. A ruler questioned him, that
is questioned Jesus, saying, good teacher, what shall 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 commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor
your father and mother.” And he said, all these things I’ve
kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said
to him, one thing you still lack. Sell all that you possess and
distribute it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven.
And come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became
very sad for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him
and said, how hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter
the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of God. I entitled the passage, Self-Served
Salvation, And mind you, there at any time I’ve ever preached
on these passages of this nature, there’s a passage in the book
of James that talks about the rich man. There’s a passage in
Timothy. The tendency is for Christian people to tend to think
that anyone who is rich is bad and anyone who is poor is by
virtue of that good. It’s the opposite of the health
and wealth movement. They think that riches are unspiritual
and that it’s spiritual inherently to be poor. And that’s not the
case. That’s not what Scripture points out. That’s not what Scripture
presents. Abraham was a rich man. Joseph
of Arimathea was a rich man. David was a wealthy man, none
of whom were chided for their wealth alone. It’s not about the fact that
the man was rich, as we’ll see. It’s the fact that the man’s
heart wasn’t right. The man’s theology was off. The
man’s understanding of himself was off. And ultimately, his
view of salvation was off. And what may have contributed
to that was his wealth. It may have insulated him from
some of the difficulties that most face in life. But it wasn’t
just that he was inherently wealthy or just that he was wealthy and
that that was somehow inherently evil. Self-serve salvation, it is. That is the tendency, not just
of our society, it’s the tendency of humanity in its history. That if you give us some means
of trying to work our way to heaven, some means of trying
to attain or pay back or earn Or somehow compensate God for
all that God’s done. We love those kinds of things. And every one of the world religions
is fraught with those kinds of errors, not just in thinking,
but in practice and actually instituting certain things, certain
observances and practices that must be obeyed in order to secure
salvation. And so the man’s question isn’t
all that off base. It certainly wasn’t off base
from Judaism, who had a system of merely obey the law and you
will live. And they believed that God graded
on a bell curve and you could live to the law some better than
others, varying degrees of success. You could live to the law and
earn salvation. It was a pretty straightforward
equation. I’ve isolated for us this morning
six considerations for those who would work for heaven. And
I don’t doubt that there’s some in our midst. I don’t doubt that
there’s some in our midst because it is a common malady of humanity. That we have a tendency as humans
to desire to work, to pay for or pay back God for all that
He’s given to us. The doctrine of justification
by faith alone has been spurned by humanity since before it was
even articulated. To think that we could just be
right before God’s eyes, perfectly right, just because of what Christ
has done on the cross by our faith in Him. It’s tough. It’s tough for even us good Christians
to think, is that really all? I know that’s all, but maybe
I could add just a little bit just for insurance. Six considerations of those who
would work for heaven. And I think there’s a lot more
of us than just this one wealthy man. First of all, let’s observe
the desire of man-made religion. The desire of man-made religion.
Look at verse 18. A ruler questioned him saying,
good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? We don’t
have a whole lot of data on who the man was. Matthew calls him
a young man, and that’s why typically he has been known as the rich
young ruler. Luke here just identifies him
not necessarily as a political leader or ruler, not as a king
per se, just as a leader of sorts in some capacity. And that is
what led many people to conclude that perhaps he was even the
ruler of the local synagogue. They had, as it were, a president
of the synagogue. It wasn’t even when you call
him young, it doesn’t mean that he was a teenager. It just means
he was a younger man, possibly even in his 40s. Which certainly
positioned him, especially as a wealthy man, for being in charge
of the synagogue. And he begins to ask his question,
he calls out to Christ, good teacher. Which to our ears sounds like
an extremely polite address. Jesus will react to it in a moment,
but suffice it to say, the title good was never addressed to rabbis
by their pupils. It just wasn’t done. And in that
sense, the address was perhaps even a patronizing attempt by
this man to get Jesus’s attention. Now, I stopped short of criticizing
the man too much because in Mark’s gospel, he literally comes up
and throws himself at Jesus feet as if to worship him. I believe
the man’s heart is sincere. I believe his theology is off
base. And we’ll see that in a moment.
But note his question, let’s get to the question, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life? Unless You’re unclear about the
nature of the question. Matthew clarifies it even more
when he says what good thing he’s talking about, an act of
benevolence, some kind of, you know, giving to the poor, some
kind of magnanimous gift that he can give. The problem was that his question
proved. Without a shadow of a doubt that
he was of this mindset that believed that the way to God, the way
to be right with God was through the path of doing good, good
works. Proved himself. His problem was
apparently that even though he had paid strict attention to
the law, he really, as we’ll see, believed that he had lived
up to it. He believed in this list that,
as it were, he was checking off and he had checked it all off.
He had done it. But there was something in his
conscience that kept him searching for more. He wanted to know,
all right, I’ve got that done. What’s next? Because I don’t
sense the peace of God, I don’t sense the peace of knowing for
certain, the hope in Christ of knowing for certain that I’ll
be in heaven. I felt that he was coming up short.
But still, he thought that it’s got to be something he must do,
and that’s why he calls out to Christ. I think the man was desperate. I think the man was longing for
salvation. He was longing for that assurance.
And he approaches Christ, falls at his feet and begins pleading
with him. What can I do? What’s next? Some act, some act of benevolence,
some act of kindness. The problem was he had a faulty
view of himself. And it wasn’t just a faulty view
of himself. It was a faulty view of humanity. It was a faulty
view of our own ability. Certainly a faulty view of his
own ability. J.C. Ryle said it this way one
time. He said, there are very few errors
and false doctrines of which the beginning may not be traced
up to unsound views about the corruption of human nature. In other words, all theology
goes astray when we misunderstand our own nature. And what he misunderstood
was the doctrine basically of total depravity. Total depravity
or total inability that his will, that everything in him was affected
by the fall. And he had no way to incline
himself to God, no matter how much good works he did. That
was his oversight. That’s what he was unaware of.
J.C. Ryle again. There are very few
errors and false doctrines of which the beginning may not be
traced up to unsound views about the corruption of human nature.
Wrong views of a disease will always bring with them wrong
views of a remedy. Wrong views of the corruption
of human nature will always carry with them wrong views of the
grand antidote and cure of that corruption. Do you get J.C. Ryle’s point? In other words,
if you believe the human nature has the ability to remedy his
own cause, then it will be a works righteousness religion every
time. The problem wasn’t that he was
working. The problem was that he believed
that his workings could secure his salvation. It was a wrong view of the disease.
It was a wrong view of himself. R.C. Sproul, in a book that Friedrichs
and I spoke about just in the hallway, R.C. Sproul said it
this way. He said, historically, there
have been three generic types of theology. One of my favorite
books in this chapter sums it up. In fact, the chapter, if
I can think of it. Yeah. One of my favorite sermons is
by Jonathan Edwards, as you know, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God. Well, Sproul turned this chapter and said, called it God
in the Hands of Angry Sinners and basically says what we’ve
done to God, look what we’ve done to God. Here are the three
basic theological systems he lays out. There’s Pelagianism.
This is where this says man is good, inherently good. He needs
no God. There is semi-Pelagianism, which
says man is sick. He needs God’s help. He’s OK.
And he can do it himself. He can lend God an aid. He can
come to God’s assistance in the matter. But he’s basically good
in nature and he will incline himself to the good, generally
speaking. And then there is Augustinianism. Pelagianism is a naturalistic
religion. Sproul goes on. Giving no credence
to supernatural things in its present form, he calls it liberalism. Semi-Pelagianism, on the other
hand, lives today in the form of Arminianism. He goes on, and I’m trying to
narrow down how much we get into, but essentially this semi-Pelagian
view is this ability that we can incline ourselves to God. That there’s enough good in us
that we can grasp hold of the goodness of God and pull ourself
up the rope, as it were, to salvation. Another leading theologian said
it this way, the leading idea is that divine grace and human
will jointly accomplish the work of conversion and sanctification.
And what is more common thought than that in our day? that man has the sovereign right
of accepting or rejecting God’s grace. It affirms that man is
weak as a result of the fall, but it denies that all ability
has been lost. Man, therefore, merely needs
divine grace to assist his personal efforts. Or to put it another
way, he is sick, but not dead. He cannot help himself, but he
can engage the help of a physician. Essentially, that’s what this
man was doing. He wanted Jesus to give him an antidote. He wanted
to write him a prescription. Here, go do thus and such and
you’ll be fine. Sit up in bed and take this medicine
and you’ll be OK. That’s what led A.W. Pink years
later to characterize the view most people have of God. Now, this was almost 70 years
ago that A.W. Pink said this. The God of the
20th century is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the respect
of no thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is
the creation of a maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day
pulpit is an object of pity rather than awe-inspiring reverence.
To argue that God is trying his best to save all mankind, but
that the majority of men will not let him save them, is to
insist that the will of Creator is impotent. And that the will of the creature
is omnipotent. To argue that man is a free moral
agent, the determiner of his own destiny, that therefore he
has the power to checkmate his maker, is to strip God of the
attribute of omnipotence. God is now a practical spectator. And this man, his problem was
not that he was working. His problem was that he had a
faulty view of anthropology, the study of men, the faulty
view of himself and his ability to incline himself to God. Not
only did he not know his own heart, his own ability, he didn’t
know God. He had no earthy idea what the
standard was or how precise it was, as we’ll see. There’s a
second consideration of those who would think to work for heaven. Not only the desire of man-made
religion, they desire salvation like the rest of us. I believe
every person ever created ultimately deep down desires, longs for
that. They know there’s a God. Romans
one says it. They are without excuse. They
know deep down there’s a God and they long to be right with
him deep down. Secondly, the decrees of man
made religion, what is the standard? What is the standard? Jesus says
he doesn’t tell him anything new. says, why do you call me
good? No one is good except God alone.
We’ll come back to that in a moment. You know, the commandments do
not commit adultery, do not commit murder, do not steal, do not
bear false witness. Honor your father and mother.
The second half of the law, the 10 commandments he gives him.
Let’s back up. Jesus pauses and says to the
man, and this is really fascinating stuff. Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
Was Jesus denying his deity? Because if that’s the case, I
quit. We should leave. If Christ isn’t
God, this whole thing is phony. Christ wasn’t denying his deity.
Christ was challenging the man about his view of humanity. To
him, Christ wasn’t the God-man, the Savior of the world, the
perfect man, the only perfect man that ever lived. He wasn’t
good in that sense. He was just one of the better
men that the man had ever met. Oh, good teacher. And Jesus calls
him on it. Jesus didn’t mean that he wasn’t
entitled to be addressed as good teacher. He merely asks, why? What is it that motivates you
to call me this? Because I don’t believe that
you know who I am, is essentially the nature of Jesus’ reply. He
points out to the young man that only if he regards him as the
son of God, only if he regards him as being one with God, only
then can he truly call him and sincerely mean it that he is
good, good teacher. Jesus was challenging his theology,
the same theology that had him believing that he could work
to heaven. Basically, he saw himself, as it were, on a ladder,
he was far above most men, but he saw above him another man
who was better, a good man. And he wanted to latch hold of
that man. He wanted to pass up Christ is what he did. He wanted
to at least equal Christ in his goodness and be known himself
as a good teacher. And isn’t that like us? Isn’t
that our nature of Christianity a lot of times? That our standard
so often isn’t Christ. Our standard is merely the next
Christian who sits there next to us. And our favorite Christian
is one who is struggling because then we look that much better. were that much higher on the
ladder. Jesus reminds him that God is
the source of all goodness. The man had too high a view of
himself, too high a view of man in general, too high a view of
himself specifically. Likewise, he just views Christ
as just a very, very good man. Jesus knew And when he addressed him as
good teacher, it was just this superficial, patronizing little
epithet that he threw Jesus way. And that if this rich man, if
this young man really believed with all his heart that Jesus
was truly good in the highest sense of the term, he would have
fallen on his face and not even been able to utter a word. If
he really believed that this was the Christ, the God man,
He wouldn’t have patronized him with his title. But Jesus graciously
responds to his questions. He says he doesn’t belabor the
point, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
He doesn’t engage in a dialogue with the man. He merely calls
into recollection of what goodness is and where goodness emanates. He goes to his question, you
know, the commandments. Here’s your answer. The young man had simply asked
what he had to do, and Jesus just points in the 10 commandments,
you know, God’s law. And that if the man basically,
Jesus lays out that if the man simply observed these things
throughout his whole life, perfectly mind you, without deviation,
without ever a failure, a single failure. He would inherit eternal
life. That has always been God’s standards.
Do this and you will live. But God’s point in saying that
from the very beginning was to set forth the impossibility of
the deed, doing this and doing this perfectly and doing this
perfectly every day and doing this perfectly every day without
fail. And there, God would have to
give you salvation. Jesus wasn’t giving him the law
with this delusion that, oh, well, maybe he has lived up to
it. Maybe he just needs to be reminded
of these things this morning, and he’s just happened to have
been very fortunate to live according to the law all the rest of his
life. Jesus wasn’t saying that at all. He was pointing these
things out to the man as a means of pointing to him that, you
know, really, honestly, you haven’t lived up to any of it. Your money has become your God.
You have forsaken the first commandment, the second commandment, and so
on and so forth. In a sense, you’ve committed
spiritual adultery. In a very real sense, you’ve
murdered your brethren in not caring for their needs. You’ve
stolen from them. He lays all of this law at the
man’s feet. In fact, Mark adds at the end,
do not defraud. And in so doing, I believe that
he accuses the man just basically of his view of money as being
his own, of defrauding his neighbor. Matthew adds a very related commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. No doubt that he loved himself.
He was pampering himself at every turn with his money and Christ
knew it. So Jesus mentions these 10 commandments
purposely aimed at laying them at this man who thought that
these were the easy ones. And the man thought that he had
lived up to these and thought that he could attain to salvation
by the means of living up to the law. And Jesus points out,
you know what, you haven’t even touched the basics. Why are you
coming asking for extra credit when you haven’t even lived up
to the basics? There’s a third consideration
for those who would work to heaven, not only the desire and the decrees
of man-made religion, but the delusion of it. The delusion
of it. Look at verse 21. And he said,
all these things I’ve kept for my youth. Check that off. I’ve done it. I’m good. Good
there. I think it was a joyful moment
for the guy. I think he really believed in
his heart that he had arrived. And if that’s all there was.
I’m going and I’m good with God. Some seeing this, that it’s not
so much a boast, the man does go on to ask, what am I still
lacking? I’ve done this. What am I still lacking? What’s
next? There’s got to be something more. He wanted to be told of
something special. He wanted some big challenge. One Puritan said, an answer more
full of darkness and self-ignorance, it is impossible to conceive.
I mean, can you imagine the fact this isn’t just a theology lesson
digging his nose into God’s Word. He’s standing face to face with
the Savior. He’s standing face to face with
God Himself in the flesh and he has the audacity to say, look
at my life. I’ve lived up to your law every
day of my life. Unbelievable. This man. He could have known
nothing rightly, the Puritan goes on, either about himself
or God or God’s law. And there are thousands, it may
be feared, in our own congregations who do not have the least idea
of the spiritual nature of God’s law. And consequently, they know
nothing of their own sinfulness. We may break the commandments
in our hearts and thought, even when we do not break them in
outward actions. And the very thought to think
that we could even make it through the day, much less our life, is sheer audacity. It’s audacity. And that’s why I said not only
did the man not know himself, he didn’t know God. He didn’t
know the nature of God. He didn’t have any idea of the
nature of these commands because he didn’t know the God behind
them. Some years ago, A.W. Tozer said
that the history of mankind will show that no people is ever above
its religion. And man’s spiritual history will
positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater
than its idea of God. Did you get that? I mean, if
you think that this life, this Christian life is a breeze and
no big deal and, you know, yeah, I mess up every once in a while,
but God loves me. Jesus loves me. And we always
call him by his first name. Maybe just maybe your view of
God isn’t quite what it ought to be. He goes on and says, worship
is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts
of God. For this reason, the gravest
question before the church is always God himself. Theology. What is God really like? And
once we know what God is really like, we will see that when God
says what he says, he means what he says. And that it isn’t just
the letter of the law, but the spirit behind it that we have
to attain to. The gravest question before the
church is always God himself. And the most pretentious fact
about any man is not what at any given time he may say or
do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. Who’s God? Because once you have
an accurate picture of God, you immediately have an accurate
picture of yourself. There’s a fourth consideration.
not only the desire and the decrees and the delusion, but fourthly,
the demand of man made religion. When Jesus heard this, when he
heard the man’s answer, he said to him, one thing you still lack.
Sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor and
you shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. Now,
lest you think that Christ has cut his ties with this man and
is just merely trying to give him these impossible standards
to run him off. You have to consider this little
insertion by Mark himself, this tender little observation that
Mark alone wrote down. Mark 10.21 says that. When he
heard this and looking at him, And you can just picture for
those of you who know Christ, you know, this look, I’m not
talking about a physical stare, you know, the heart of the Savior
in this look. And looking at him, Jesus felt
a love for him. I mean, can you imagine Christ
and the mercy that is exuding from him in looking at this man
who has just claimed to have lived up to the whole law and
now wants extra credit homework? believing that he has lived according
to God’s perfect standard and all he wants is something else
to go do and then he can secure his salvation. And Christ looked
at him. And I imagine a drawn out, protracted
gaze that the Savior gave the man, pleading for the man to
reconsider his statement, pleading for the man to reconsider his
God and his theology, pleading for the man to reconsider his
condition. Jesus felt the love for him. He didn’t write him off. Not
like we so often do. If somebody’s theology is bad,
boy, they’re done. Jesus saw that there was something
sincere. There was something in the young
ruler’s eagerness. There was a longing for salvation.
There was a longing for spiritual things. He was yearning for God’s
law. even if his standard was low.
And Christ, knowing his heart, the very One that knows all human
hearts. He knows yours and He knows mine.
And how often did He reveal the secret intentions of people’s
hearts when He confronted them? And He does no less with the
rich young ruler. He knew his heart. He knew that
stood before Him somewhat of a seeker, But he knew that in
his heart was this great roadblock, this huge obstacle. And it was
his money. He loved his money more than
he loved people. He loved his money more than
he loved God. And so the command that he gave him was a special
command. This wasn’t a universal command. The book of Acts, we
saw a similar scene play itself out. They were never commanded
to go sell everything and give to the poor. It was just something
that people were tending to do. The apostles had done this, but
they got no special commendation from the Lord for it. Left all their nets, left their
fishing boats. But for this man, Jesus knew
this was the test. This is where his heart lay. And Jesus, in hopes, was going
to lay his deception right out in front of him and show him
his desperate condition. And in so doing, hopefully the
man would see what he had become and turn and repent. And he didn’t. That was the demand. That’s how
exacting the law was. Oh, now we get it. That’s what
it means. Do not murder. Do not steal.
Do not bear false witness. Do not commit adultery. Love
your neighbor as yourself. That’s what it meant. That’s
the demand of the law. And the fifth is the discouragement
of man-made religion because that’s all it can produce. That’s
the only thing that man-made religion can ultimately produce
is discouragement. And the man had already spoken
it. All this I have done, I’ve kept
from my youth. What do I lack? He was already
feeling this discouragement. He was already feeling this conviction
in spite of his effort. Look at verse 23. When he had
heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely
rich. He knew that these things had
a hold of his heart and he knew that he couldn’t let them go.
Mark and Matthew add some incredible detail here. Mark just says that
his face fell. Now, our faces are all falling
a little bit at a time, but this guy’s fell at once. Mark and
Matthew both say that he was grieved. And this is almost like
a family member had died, that kind of a heart feeling. He was
grieved for he was one who owned much property. You see, Jesus
knew that in his case, his attachment to worldly riches was the stumbling
block to keeping him from God. It was the stumbling block from
keeping him from hearing Christ’s voice as a Savior. And so this
struggle ensues. It’s a struggle for his soul,
in his own heart. On one Part of his life and mind,
he’s yearning for salvation, even expressed it. He fell at
Christ’s feet. He asked what else he had to
do. He knows that there’s an eternity. He knows that there’s
a God. He knows that there’s a standard
and he knows that he hasn’t measured up. And he wants it. But on the other hand, he has
this wealth. And it’s got such a grip of him.
To such a degree that he couldn’t obey Christ’s command. He knew
that he had no hope of standing and selling everything that he
had and following Christ. This was a command specially
crafted for him. He wanted to follow Christ, but
the cost and the final analysis was too great. And how many of
us have seen those like that? How many of us came that close? to opting for the cherished thing
in our own hearts and lives. The man was deeply pained, the
Scripture says. As I said, almost like one who
was experiencing a death. And the discouragement turned
into finally the disappointment of man-made religion. Because
the man went away unsaved. And that is the disappointment
of manmade religion. It never will save. It cannot
save. In the final analysis, we are
left empty handed. In the final analysis, we do
walk away with our heads hanging. With no Christ and no eternity
and no God, look at verse 24. Jesus looked at him and said
how hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom
of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
We’ve seen similar hyperboles that Christ has used. You strain
of the gnat and swallow a camel, a very similar analogy. It was
a simple analogy meant to speak of the difficulty. Paul said
it the same way. Not many wise, not many noble,
not many wealthy. I remember hearing of a rich
woman that ended up coming to Christ and she said that she
was saved by the letter M. God doesn’t say not any. He just
says not many. The object of Christ’s words
here was to express this human impossibility that how difficult
it is, how insulated we become. By earthly wealth. And the man
had this thought that all he had to do is keep working, keep
his efforts up. He had insulated himself by his
wealth from every human difficulty. He was so completely out of touch
that the thought of selling all and following Christ couldn’t
even be entertained. In the human sphere, as one said,
apart from the special grace of God, it would be certain that
those who have riches would be led to trust in them and so would
fail to enter the kingdom of God, which requires absolute
humility, ungrudging generosity and constant self-denial. Jesus wanted to point out to
the man that riches were a snare. They had snared his soul. Jesus
longed to see this man repent. Jesus longed to see this man
follow Christ and give his life fully to Christ. And I wonder
how many of us, if it isn’t riches, if it isn’t that, it’s something
in many cases. Many people would rather have
this than Christ or that than Christ. If it’s anything other
than an absolute surrender, and pursuit of Christ, it’s in the
way. Absolutely in the way. Let’s examine our hearts before
Him. Our merciful God, how gracious
you were in the very same way to look on us lovingly and patiently
and point out to us what stood in our way, what object, what
idol, What love other than Christ? Father, we thank you for clearing
the obstacles of our own lives. We thank you for this example
of the rich young ruler that you knew his heart. And father,
for those who are in our midst, who in their own heart and mind
know that they do not know and do not follow wholeheartedly
Christ. We pray that you would show to
them their ultimate obstacle. They would give them every means
of clearing away that obstacle. Our prayer is, Father, for their
salvation, that they would truly come to know Christ and would
follow him wholly. That nothing would be too precious
to set aside. For the purpose of following
Christ and knowing him as Savior. We thank you and we praise you
in Jesus name, Amen. you