Kingdom Rules vs. Rich Man Rules

Matthew chapter 19, begin reading in verse 16, and read through chapter 20 in verse 16.! Now a man came up to Jesus and asked,! Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied, There is only one who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. Which ones? the man inquired.

Jesus replied, Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.

All these things I've kept, the young man said. What do I still lack? Jesus answered, if you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.

When the young man heard this, he went away sad. Because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to 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 God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, Who then can be saved?

Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Peter answered him, We have left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us?

Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits 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 fields, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.

He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day, and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out, and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.

So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour, and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?

Because no one has hired us, they answered. He said to them, You also go and work in my vineyard. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired, and going on to the first.

The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.

But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These men who were hired last worked only one hour, they said.

And you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them, Friend, I am not being unfair to you.

Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?

Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last. I want you to do something for me.

Close your eyes where you're at. Close them. And I want you to imagine a millionaire. See his clothes, his car, his watch.

See his house and his furniture and his yard. So do you have your picture? Now erase your picture and open your eyes.

The reason I told you to erase your picture was because it was probably wrong. The average millionaire, the average, is normally the last person that you expect to have a million dollars in the bank.

According to a book I've read, it's called The Millionaire Next Door. The average millionaire grew up poor or middle class. He worked hard in school, very hard in school.

And then he started some bland company like a welding contractor or a farmer, a rice farmer or something like that, or maybe the owner of a mobile home park.

How's that sound for millionaire status? He works long hours. He lives way below his means. And he saves a lot of money.

And he would say that his favorite charity is himself. So do you have your picture? Do you have the picture now? This is someone that's totally different than what we would normally think of as a typical millionaire.

And maybe it's you. Except for the fact about being your favorite charity. Maybe you're not a millionaire yet, but you're on your way. You're doing the things that are right.

You're saving money. You're working hard. And it's just a matter of time. If your plans work out, before you'll have quite a sum of money in the bank.

And of course, if we compare ourselves to the rest of the world, the poorest one here is exceptionally rich.

So I wonder, as I think of those things about who we are and where we're at in this world, I wonder why Jesus said, I tell you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Why is that? Why is it so hard for a rich man to be saved? I want to know because I have financial goals. And I've actually pushed them out there.

And that means if all my plans go right, I'll be very wealthy, sort of. At least for me now. I mean, if I'm not a millionaire, I might have some financial security.

I might have a little extra money sitting in my bank account for a rainy day. And I'll have some money to pass on to my children. And I'll have my house paid for.

And so for most people, I'll be rich. Why then does Jesus say that it's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven?

Well, the passage that we have in front of us explains why it's so hard. The basic answer is that rich people have a set of rules that they live by.

And those set of rules are totally different than how the kingdom of God works and the kingdom of God's rules. Rich people want to do things one way.

And the kingdom of God is doing things the other way. It operates very differently. And I want to say here, at the very beginning, I don't want anyone to mistake me for saying it's...

I'm not saying it's wrong to work hard or to save or to invest wisely. I'm not critiquing that at all. Not at all.

The Bible teaches those things. The book of Proverbs is replete with you work hard and you save and that's how you prosper. But there are spiritual differences.

And that's what we're talking about this evening. There's... The way rich people usually, and I say usually work, is opposed to how the way, how God works in His kingdom.

And also, before we get started on the sermon itself and into the passage, I want to show you why Pastor Aaron read so much. I feel like I have to make an apology because that was a lot of reading to do.

The passage that we had read for you, or Pastor Aaron read for you, is one unit of thought. It's one section.

If you look at chapter 19, verse 30, you'll see the connection. It says, But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

And that statement concludes all the statements that He said to the disciples about this situation, this run-in that He had with this rich young man.

And after He's done talking about what happened with the rich young man, the rich young ruler, He says, The first will be last, and the last will be first.

And then, immediately, chapter 20 starts with for. You'll see that. For, or because the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner, and so on.

The parable is a story that explains what Jesus was saying to the rich young man. And the parable explains to us how the kingdom of God works, and why it's so different, and so opposed, to how the average rich man works.

So we have a rich man, and he has this blueprint in front of him. This is how he's going to build his life. These are the rich man rules. And the first of the rich man rules is this, that you work to earn.

You work to earn. Now, there's nothing wrong with working. There's nothing wrong with working to earn things that you want, things that you need.

There's a lot that's right about that. Now, the problem is, is when you make the transfer, when you go from the economic world to the spiritual world, so these guys wake up early.

They're out on the job site early. They have their boots on. They're ready to work. They have a plan, and they roll up their sleeves and do it. And the problem is, is when they take that approach to God, and how they're going to relate to God, it falls apart.

So, we're up at dawn, and we go down to the town center, the town square, and there they are. They have their boots on. They have their equipment.

They're ready to go. These workers. Now, a landowner comes down to the center of town, and he owns a large vineyard, and he's looking for men to work in his vineyard, and so he sees these guys.

They're ready to work. They're ready to go. And he says, will you work in my vineyard? And they want to know, well, what are you going to pay us? He says, I'll pay you a denarius.

I'll pay you a day's wage. And so they come to an agreement. I'll work for so long, and you'll pay me so much. So the deal is struck, and off to work they go.

Now, those men had a need. They needed money. They needed food. And they had a desire. And so they went about, and they had a plan to go and accomplish what they wanted.

And we appreciate that attitude, don't we? There's so many people in the world that just want life handed to them, but not these guys. They're ready to work for it. And like I said, the problem comes when that attitude finds its way into our relationship with God.

We see our sin. We see our guilt. and we instinctively say, okay, I need to work in order to get rid of this.

I need to work so that God will forgive me. Somehow we think, if I do some work, I can buy God's mercy with my good works.

And that's the attitude of the rich young man that we see. Look at chapter 19, verse 16. Now a man came up to Jesus and he asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

So do you see his question? What do I have to do to get eternal life? I'm ready to do it. My boots are on. I'm ready to go to work. Tell me what I need. What do I need to do?

And Jesus said, if you want to enter life, obey the commandments. Obey the commandments. Obey the commandments. And without blinking, the young man says, which ones?

Have you thought about that? Which ones? That's a funny question. Let me ask you, which of God's commands should you obey? All of them, right?

But you can tell this man, he didn't have that heart. He wanted to know what specifically he had to do. What do I have to do to get what I want?

And so, Jesus gives him the commandments. Numbers 5-9, and then that really easy one, love your neighbor as yourself.

And I've kept all those, the young man said. What do I still lack? What do I need to do? Obviously, I haven't done enough yet. What do I need to do? Do you hear his mercenary tone?

He wants to do something. He wants to come to an agreement with God. And so, by working, God will give him mercy. And the thing is, rich people, opposed to what a lot of people think, are used to working hard for their money.

They're used to working hard for what they want. They're used to sacrificing themselves to get what they want. And so, they like to see a business hum. They like to see their customer list grow.

And they like doing it themselves. They want to be independent. And so, when it comes to their relationship with God, it is no different. They want to do it themselves.

They want to work to earn. And that's the first rule. So, now we're looking back at the blueprint, the rich man's blueprint. And the first thing says, work to earn.

And the second rule is, keep your earthly stuff. Keep your earthly stuff. What you've worked so hard for, you never let it go.

And you keep it. So, the rich young man just said, what do I still lack? What am I missing? And Jesus answers, go sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come, follow me. And it's almost like you can hear the music stop. It just comes to a screeching halt and the young man thinks, what? What?

Give to the poor my stuff, my possessions for treasure in heaven. What? And the young man went away sad.

Jesus' command to sell everything that he had went right across the grain of how that man operated. He worked to earn and then he wanted to keep his stuff to himself.

His things were what he lived for. His things were what he worshipped. He worked to have and when he got what he wanted, he kept it at all costs.

So, the rich young man worshipped the things that he had. His earthly stuff. Now, when you worship earthly things and things that you can buy with money, you're not worshipping God.

God. And that's the fundamental problem this young man has is he's an idolater. So, if your heart is set on something earthly, that's where your treasure is.

That's what you want. That's what you value. Now, Jesus' words to that young man were impossible for him to comprehend because in his value scheme, what you could see and what you could touch was what really mattered.

His treasure was stored up here. And, if he could get the whipped cream of eternal life on top of that, well, that's good. But, what is solid and what is substantial and real was here.

So, in that time, they didn't have sophisticated banking like we do. and if you had money, you kept your money in land and houses, things like that, and real estate.

But, today we have 401ks and Roth IRAs and money market accounts where we keep our wealth. And, I ask you, do you have the same attitude as that young man?

That you work to see that balance go up. and you work to make that 401k number go higher and higher.

And, if Jesus came to you and said, cash out your retirement accounts, cash out your IRAs, cash out your bank accounts and give it all to the poor and come follow me, how would that sound to you?

Would your reaction be the same as that young man? Would you go away sad? That would be hard for me to do. Because, I too often live like that rich young man.

I live according to rich man rules. I want to do things my way and I want to work and I want to keep my stuff. So, my money is basically mine.

It's not God's. And, when you think that way, you're thinking exactly like the rich young man. He worked to buy things and then he kept them. And, I worked to buy things for me and mine and my world doesn't get very much bigger than that.

And, when I'm thinking like that, my treasure, I'm acting like my treasure is on earth and not in heaven. So, that's the second rich man rule.

Keep what you've earned. And, the third rule is simply this. I'm number one. I'm number one. Or, we could just say pride. Pride. The rich, because of their riches have many opportunities.

You don't see a lot of BMWs broken down on the side of the road because the man couldn't afford it. Afford to tow it away or get it fixed. They have lots of opportunities.

They have lots of power. They have options. When there's trouble in their life, they can take care of their problems because they have money. And, they don't feel the stress of not having money.

And so, they don't feel their need for God very much. They can take care of themselves. And, because they can take care of themselves, they feel better than other people, than other men.

And, they're proud. We can see that in the parable. The landowner came back at 9 in the morning and then at noon and then at 3 and then at 5.

And, he brought more and more people to the vineyard to work. And, at 6 p.m., well, you know the story. He had them line up from last to, from first to last, from last to first.

And so, the last ones hired were the ones that were going to be paid first. And, the last ones hired, the ones that had only worked one hour, received a whole day's wage.

And, you can imagine, they had to be happy about that. They were expecting hardly anything and they received a day's wage. Well, when the first, the first men hired saw that, their expectations started to rise.

They started to think, we're going to get more. We're going to get more than even what we agreed to. But, it didn't work out that way.

They too received a denarius. And, were they satisfied? Were they satisfied? No. Look at verse 11. 20 verse 11. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

The word is mutter. And, maybe you've seen that at your work, where the boss tells the guys to do something and they don't like it and they, I'm going to do this.

And, they mutter. They complain. And, this is what these men said. These men who were hired, they worked one hour and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.

You have made them equal to us. They're not as good as we are. We're the ones that have been slaving away here. And, you treat them like we're the same.

We are not equal. We are better than they are. Doesn't that complaint sound a lot like another character from a parable of Jesus?

Do you remember the self-righteous brother in the story of the prodigal son? the brother who stood for the Pharisees? He was self-righteous. He was proud.

And, he said to his father, all these years, I've been slaving for you and you never gave me anything. And, when that son of yours who spent all your money on prostitutes comes back, you kill the fattened calf for him.

so, I've been slaving away and he's been wasting your money. And, it was that same spirit of self-righteousness and pride that was at work in the older son and the Pharisees and the men who worked all day in the heat of the day.

It was present in the rich young man as well. And, so often in us when we work and we do something in the church, we want people to see it and notice it and think, wow, that was really good.

He really helped us out. He's a great person. Well, rich people may be more susceptible to pride and to selfishness and to self-sufficiency thinking I'm number one, but don't we all have that tendency?

Are we really that different than the young, the rich young man? Too often we act and think like that young man.

When we sin, we want to somehow buy God's favor. If I just feel bad enough, if I am sorry enough, then God will see my sorrow and He will have mercy on me.

We want to be number one. We want things to go our way. And we want to get our stuff and we want to enjoy it and we don't want to share it with others.

So, if that's true, if we are really a lot more like the rich young man than we are used to thinking, we need to rethink what Jesus said about rich people.

He said it's hard for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God. And Jesus isn't talking about someone else. He's talking about us. He's talking about people like us who have our plans, who have money, who have resources.

Jesus is saying that without God's intervention, without God working for us, we will never enter the kingdom of God. He's not talking about the rich out there. He's talking about us who are proud and who are self-sufficient.

And He says it's impossible. And it is impossible. It's impossible for you and I to make our way into the kingdom of God without God helping us.

And so by nature, we are operating on a totally different set of rules than the kingdom of God. But by nature, we want to do things our way. And we want to keep our stuff. And so those are the rich man rules.

And that's bad news because that's the way we often act. And that's the way we often are. And if you're unsaved, that's how you are all the time.

But the kingdom of God doesn't work like that. And that's the good news. The kingdom rules are different. So how does the kingdom of God work?

Rule number one is this. You come needy and you leave full. You come needy and you leave full. So let's go back down to that town square where we started.

And there we are. This time you're a day laborer. You're not just looking on. You're actually the day laborer. And the landowner comes and he hires some men at 6 a.m.

You're there with him. He hires those guys. And you see them go and you're still waiting. And at 9 o'clock it happens again. And at noon. And at 3. And you're still standing there.

No one has hired you. You haven't been lazy. You just no one's hired you. And you have food. Or you have a family that needs food. Can you imagine in that situation where you are dependent on working and there's no work for you to do?

Can you imagine your fear and your helplessness? You know if it's 5 p.m. now that you have one hour and if you're not hired in an hour you're going home empty handed to kids that want food and a family that needs money.

Well at 5 p.m. the landowner comes and he says I need more workers. Why have you been standing around all day? Well and you say no one's hired us.

Well you come and also you work in my vineyard. And so off you go and you're thankful that you get to work. Isn't that a sort of a different attitude than the first guys?

You're just thankful that you can go and do some work. And you put in an hour's work and then you're standing in line. And you're at the front of the line.

And that's a little bit different because the way it works in our world is first come first serve. But here you are you're at the front and the foreman comes up and hands you a denarius.

a whole day's wage. And you can't believe it. Is this a mistake? I didn't do anything to deserve this.

What's going on here? And he says this is for you. And you take it and you go on your way rejoicing. You were empty. One hour ago you were empty and now you leave full.

And that's how the kingdom of God works. We come into it empty and we leave full. We don't have anything to say for ourselves. If you have entered into the kingdom of God you didn't have anything to say for yourselves.

You were like those men that were hired at 5 p.m. You didn't have anything to say. You didn't do anything to deserve any favor. You were empty and God filled you.

You were sinful and he made you righteous. you were needy and he helped you. So we were like those 5 p.m. workers. We didn't give God any reason to love us.

We didn't give God any reason to be obliged to us where he has to do something for us. We didn't do anything. We were helpless and needy and he had mercy on us.

So, see how this is different? Rich man rules you work and you earn and you plan and you scheme and you get what you want. But the kingdom of God is for those people who haven't planned.

They haven't made good decisions. They're not so smart. It's not so easy for them in the world. So they are filled not because they can do something but because the Lord is good.

In the kingdom of God, you don't work to be filled. You receive open-handed without any work. So you don't come to God saying, look what I've done.

Will you feed me and fill me? He does it by his own mercy. So the kingdom of God works the exact opposite of how the rich man works.

The second rule is this. The last will be first. The last will be first. first. So Peter sees this young man and he goes away sad.

And then Peter hears Jesus say it's impossible for a rich man to be saved. And he hears Jesus say something about heavenly treasure and earthly treasure.

And I think it made Peter a little concerned and a little confused. He's not sure what's going on because he just had one of his paradigms blown away that if you're rich then God's blessing you.

And Jesus is saying no on the contrary it's not that. So look at chapter 19 verse 27. So Peter's confused and he's concerned.

He doesn't know what to think. And he says we have left everything to follow you. What then will be there for us? What then will there be for us?

So he just heard that it's impossible for man to be saved apart from God. And he's heard Jesus say to that young man, go sell all your possessions.

And he's wondering how those things go together. There's a little confusion and a little doubt in his mind. And he knows me and the other guys, we've sold everything and we've followed.

But what does that mean for us? Well, Jesus gives a very comforting answer. He says this to his disciples, at the renewal of all things, you will reign with me.

And if you've left houses and mothers and fathers and children and fields, if you've left anything like that, you will receive a hundredfold and eternal life.

So what does that mean? It means, yes, you are giving up something. When you enter into the kingdom of God, you are giving up something. You are giving up your pursuit of this world.

But what are you gaining in return? You're gaining an abundance in return. So you've traded like mere rocks for diamonds.

You've traded things that don't last for things that will last forever. You've traded one thing to get a hundred things. So if you left a mother, you'll have a hundred mothers.

If you left a field, you'll have a hundred fields. If you left a house, you get a hundred houses. And as Jim Elliott put it, a man is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

And Jesus is saying, Peter, guys, you've made the right decision. Don't worry. The last will be first, and the first will be last.

first. You are the poor of the poor now, and all men look down on you. You're the scum of the earth. You have no respect in this world. You're always taking the last place.

And Jesus is saying, don't worry, there's coming a great reversal when the last are going to be moved up to the front of the line and the first are going to be pushed down to the bottom.

see, the humble will be exalted. That is how the kingdom of God works. Those who lift themselves up are pushed down, and those who lower themselves are lifted up.

And so, they've turned their backs on this whole world and on all their possessions, and they followed Jesus. So have you?

Have you made that great change from pursuing this world to pursuing Jesus instead? And if you have, then whatever the circumstances are, you have not made the wrong decision.

You are no fool. The last will be first. And that thought was comforting to me a few weeks ago. I was driving in Indianapolis, and I was in one of those nice neighborhoods in Indianapolis, and I looked at some of those big houses, and there so big, and so elaborate, it's like my house could fit in the attic of those houses.

And the thought came into my mind, sure it would be nice to have one of those, but I'll never be able to afford one.

You know, if I become a pastor, I'll never be able to afford one. That's a little self-righteous, self-pity. And so I thought in my self-righteousness and my self-pity, I'm giving up this house to be a pastor, like I already had the house.

But then God brought to mind, the first will be last, and the last will be first. There is coming a day when if I want one of those houses, if I want it, I'll have a hundred of them.

That's what Jesus says. God is not going to be a debtor to anyone. So what's the problem with giving up the possibility of something like that for the certainty of abundantly more?

So God, Jesus is saying, seek first the kingdom of God. And when you seek first the kingdom of God, all those things will take care of themselves. God will give you what you need.

And in eternity, what will they give us? No eye has seen, no ear has heard. So don't go running after those things. Men are piling up treasures on this earth, aren't they?

Even in this recession, men are making millions and millions and billions of dollars, and they're piling these things up. They're striving to be number one. So that's what they're working so hard for.

And what will happen to that? Well, they'll die and they might be able to pass some of it on to their children. And their children might pass it on to their children, and so on and so on, and then all their things will be burned up.

It will wither in the flames. And so the ones that are crawling all over each other, trying to get to the top, they want to be the top in the company, the top in the country, they want to have the most money, they want to be on Forbes top 400 or whatever, they are all going to be thrust down.

Because Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth. So don't be envious. Don't be envious of those who are pursuing themselves in this world.

Because the last will be first and the first will be last. So that's the second rule of the kingdom. The third kingdom rule is God is number one.

God is number one. And that probably could go without saying. It's his kingdom. He's setting it up. He's the king. He's going to do what he wants.

He's deciding how it's going to work. And so he sets up his kingdom so that in everything, he is in the first place. So he's the first one to receive glory.

He's the one that's worshipped and honored. Now, with the rich man, with their rules, if you do something great, you get the glory. If you start up a company and it makes lots and lots of money, you get the glory.

You get the respect. And let's suppose that that rich young man came to Jesus and he said, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus gave him something manageable to do.

Something that he had within his power that he could do. And he did it. Who would receive the glory? Well, that young man would.

And God would be somewhere on the sidelines, somewhere in the background. But that's not how the kingdom of God works. The kingdom is designed so that all the focus is on God.

God will have the first place. Now, when those 5 p.m. hires, the guys that were hired last and only worked one hour, when they were brought in and the landowner met their needs and he gave them abundantly more than they deserved, who was exalted?

Was it those guys that received? No, it was the landowner. They were poor and they needed someone to help them. And he helped them. He provided way beyond what they deserved.

And so they went away rejoicing. They went away rejoicing at the landowner's generosity. Their opinion probably, if you were in that situation, isn't it probable that your opinion of that landowner would have gone through the roof?

You would have thought, this guy is great. He is concerned for me. He took notice of me when there were so many others and he was generous and he was kind.

I didn't have a job all day. I was going home empty handed and now look, because he is so good. Well, it's that same way.

It's the same way in God's kingdom. God saves us. God brings us into the kingdom of God. God, and it's impossible for us to do.

Jesus said it. It's impossible with men, but he does it. And so we rejoice in God's grace to us, because we came in empty and he filled us.

And so he gets the glory, because those who are needy don't get the glory. So if you're lost here tonight, do you see what kind of God you're serving or not serving?

He doesn't expect you to work in order to find favor with him. He doesn't expect you to make yourself better and get into the position where you can enter into the kingdom of God, because you can't do it.

It's not possible. Jesus said it was impossible. So do you hear what I'm saying? It's impossible for you to be saved in your own strength.

But you have to be saved. You have to be saved. You can easier shove a camel through the eye of the needle than to save yourself.

You can't save yourself, but you must be saved. And so if you're lost here tonight and you've been living like the rich young man, you've been living for this world, you've been living, to please God because you're so good.

You've been living for me. I'm number one. You've made an idol of yourself. You love yourself too much to be of any use.

You will never get into the kingdom of God with that attitude. But do you see why the kingdom rules are good news? Because God is offering salvation apart from works.

Where you don't do something. So you go and you buy without money and without price and without work. He's taking the undeserving.

He took those 5 p.m. people and he brought them in and he treated them way better than they deserved. And that's the kind of God he is. He's taking people that are undeserving and he's treating them like his son deserves to be treated.

He's treating them like children of God and he's making them children of God and he's making them righteous. He's making them to be brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and so he's filling people up.

He's taking the broken hearted and he's fixing them and he's helping them. He's pulling people out of the ash heap. And so he's doing what is impossible for you to do.

So what does that mean? What do you need to do? Turn away from this world. It's vanishing. It is vanishing so quickly.

It's all vanity. Turn away from your way of doing things. Your rich man rules. I want to be number one. Turn away from that because it's getting you nowhere. You run to Jesus.

Jesus. Because he is the way into the kingdom of heaven. Through his blood, through his cross, he dies and the sinner is justified and is set free.

So run to Jesus. Run to the cross in faith, in prayer, and believe and find mercy. He can't save you because what is impossible with men is completely possible with God.

Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace to us. Thank you for seeing us through another Lord's day.

Thank you for your word. Thank you that you've revealed yourself to be this kind of God. The God who takes the needy and the broken and the useless and making them into something useful.

And you are treating people better than they deserve. Thank you that you are a gracious God. And it's in your grace that we stand in the grace of Jesus Christ because we have nothing to show for ourselves.

And we rest entirely on our Lord Jesus. I pray, Father, that you would work in someone's heart tonight to save them, to make them forsake their ways and turn to Jesus.

Everyone here knows the truth. They know the facts. They know the gospel. Father, I pray that you would make that gospel real to them and make Jesus sweet and powerful to them.

Father, we don't pray that for our sake or even so much for that person's sake, but for Jesus' sake. Will you make him glorious in the salvation of the lost?

And do that person good then for Jesus' sake. And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.