How to Inherit Eternal Life, Part 3

Take your Bible and turn with me to Luke chapter 10. I'm going to go back to the story we've been studying the last couple of weeks about the scribe, the lawyer, who comes to Jesus and asks that infamous question, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? I thought about that for a while this week and asked myself the question, Why is it people don't come to us and ask us that question? What must I do to inherit eternal life? Or how can I know that I will spend eternity with God? Why is it people don't ask us questions about eternity?

Could it be that we're too enamored with this life to live the eternal life before them? I don't know. But people really don't come and ask us about eternal life. And I remember the words of the Apostle Paul way back in his last epistle to young Timothy when he said these words in 2 Timothy 4 verse number 1. He says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word. Paul told Timothy, you need to remember your authority.

I charge you in the presence of the king, the living God, the judge of all the earth. I charge you in his presence. Timothy, you need to remember your authority. You are under the authority of God himself. And one day you will be held accountable for all the things that you say. And you need to make sure that you preach the right thing. We told you last week that as Christians we only have one book and we only have one message. Because the book contains one message. That's it. And yet we want to alter the message.

We want to amend the message or some of us even abandon the message. And yet Paul would tell Timothy, remember your authority. And then he says, make sure you reevaluate your priority. Preach the word. Very simple statement, preach the word. But isn't it interesting that we find ourselves in a lot of churches hearing a lot of things that don't pertain to the word. And maybe Timothy was one of those individuals who began to shy away from his responsibility. After all, Paul told him, Timothy, do not neglect the gift that is in you.

In fact he told him to stir up the gift, rekindle the gift. He told him, Timothy, listen, God has not given us a spirit of fear. He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. So Timothy preached the word. And over 20 different times in four chapters in 2 Timothy, Paul tells him, Timothy, you have one of two choices. To either suffer for the gospel or be ashamed of the gospel. That contrast is mentioned 20 different times, over 20 different times in four chapters in 2 Timothy.

Paul tells Timothy, do not be ashamed of me nor of the testimony of the gospel. Preach the word, Timothy. Preach the word, remember your authority, reevaluate your priority. Make sure that the message you give is the message that Christ himself has passed down from generation to generation. Make sure you are preaching the words of Christ. Don't preach your opinion. Don't give stories that don't mean anything. Preach the word. And then he says, make sure you reflect consistency in that preaching. If you remember your authority and you reevaluate your priority, make sure you reflect consistency.

When you preach the word, you do it in season and out of season. In other words, you do it whether it's convenient or it's not convenient. And you know what? For most of us, it's not convenient, is it? It's never a convenient time. There's never a convenient place. But the preaching of the word is in season and out of season. In other words, it's all the time. Whenever you think it's not the right time, it's probably the best time to preach the word. So you reflect consistency. As you reflect consistency, you make sure that you radiate sensitivity because he says these words.

He says, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. It's going to take a lot of work when you preach the word. You've got to reprove people. You have to rebuke people. You've got to be patient with them because it takes a long time for some people. Longer some than for others. But you need to preach the word with great instruction. And then Timothy recognized the urgency. Listen to what he says. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

People won't want to hear sound doctrine anymore. They won't want to hear the truth of God anymore. They want to hear something else, something different. Something that will make them feel good when they hear it. Something that will make them like what they hear. Make them laugh because of what they hear. We want our ears to be tickled. And so, Timothy, it's so important for you to realize that you preach the word, and you do it in season and out of season. You reprove, you rebuke, you exhort with great patience and instruction because there's coming a time where nobody's going to want to hear what you have to say anymore.

They're going to accumulate for themselves people who will tickle their ears, and make them laugh, and make them feel good about what they hear, and what they see that's so true of today. Over 100 years ago, Charles Spurgeon said these words about the church. I fear there are some who preach with the view of amusing men. And as long as people can be gathered in crowds and their ears can be tickled, and they can retire pleased with what they've heard, the orator is content and folds his hands and goes back self-satisfied.

But Paul did not lay himself out to please the public and collect the crowd. If he did not save them, he felt that it was of no avail to interest them. Unless the truth had pierced their hearts, affected their lives, and made new men of them, Paul would have gone home crying, Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day, we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render.

For of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire, and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man, if still he is on the left hand of the judge, and if still depart ye cursed, shall be his portion? Charles Spurgeon, over a hundred years ago, knew that to amuse men was futile. To make them laugh, to entertain them, to let them hear what they want to hear, that they might leave filled and satisfied, when only condemn their lost souls.

He knew that. He learned it from the Apostle Paul. Learned it from the words of the Apostle to young Timothy. Preach the word. It sounds so simple to do, but very few churches ever do it. Anymore. Oh, they might throw a verse in here, or a verse in there, and they'll put it on a screen so everybody can see it, so you don't have to bring your Bible to look at it.

Just put it on a screen. They'll refer to it here, and they'll refer to it there, but they don't preach the word. Half a century later, A.W. Tozer came on the scene. This is what he had to say. This is 50 years ago. So today, we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate producers peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency.

And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it. What Mr. Spurgeon knew and what Mr. Tozer knew, they learned from the great apostle Paul who told Timothy simply just preach the word in season and out of season. Whether it's convenient, whether it's not convenient, you approve, you rebuke, you could exhort with great patience and instruction because there's coming a time where nobody's going to want to listen to sound doctrine anymore. You ever heard people say, ah, doctrine, it's just so heavy.

It's so, oh, it's just so boring. I like to hear about the practical things of Scripture. You ever heard people say that? Folks, let me tell you something.

Doctrine is the most practical thing in all of Scripture because it exposes the truth as well as the error. And therefore men are held accountable. Why do we say that? Well, the reason people don't ask about things concerning eternity is because we don't preach the word that deals with eternity. That's one of our problems. It's the eternal word of God. It's about the eternal kingdom of God. So having said that, go back with me if you would to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. We have a long introduction today to Luke chapter 10.

Luke chapter 4. After one of the most busiest days recorded in the history of our Lord in the Scriptures, it says these words in verse 42. And when day came, he departed and went to a lonely place. And the multitudes were searching for him and came to him and tried to keep him from going away from them. But he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities. For I was sent for this purpose. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. I must preach. It's the divine must.

I must preach the kingdom of God. That phrase is used 30 times in the Gospel of Luke. This is the first time it's used.

The phrase, the kingdom of God. Luke will use it 7 times in the book of the Acts. So 37 times Luke uses the phrase the kingdom of God. Now listen to this. If you go back to chapter 1 of Luke, it says this. Luke chapter 1. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, he says of the Christ child, verse 32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom will have no end.

So Gabriel says to Mary, the son that you're going to give birth to is the king. And he will rule in a kingdom that lasts forever. It's an eternal kingdom. So when Jesus says in Luke chapter 4, I must preach the kingdom of God.

He is talking about that which is eternal. I must preach the eternal kingdom of my God. I must do this. It wasn't, you know, maybe I'll say something to one little village in Judea. And I'll say something to another little village in Judea. And maybe I'll look at the felt needs of Capernaum and talk to them about their felt needs, whatever they may be.

And then when I go to Bethsaida or Chorazin, I'll reevaluate what their felt needs might be. And maybe I'll tweak the message for them. No, it was always about the kingdom of God. The eternal kingdom of the eternal king. That's always been the message. So much so that when he rose from the dead, he spent 40 days talking to his apostles about things pertaining to the eternal kingdom of God. Because that's the message. And so when you come over to chapter 8, verse number 1, it says that it came about soon afterwards that he began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God.

Now remember he told Pilate my kingdom is not of this world. Because Pilate asked him, are you a king? If you're a king, I don't see a kingdom anywhere. And what did Jesus say? My kingdom is not of this world. He's speaking about an eternal kingdom where the eternal one rules and reigns. Because the gospel we preach, listen carefully, has nothing to do with this world. Has nothing to do with today. It has everything to do with tomorrow. Eternity. And that's where we've missed the boat. The reason we don't preach the word, because the word deals with the kingdom of God.

The eternal king who offers an eternal kingdom. And that doesn't appeal to people who are enamored with this life. Who are consumed with today. We're trying to get people to see tomorrow and the effects of their sin and how it's going to affect their eternal destiny. And they are consumed with the events of today. Jesus says I must preach the kingdom.

He went from village to village, from city to city, from synagogue to synagogue preaching the kingdom of God. So when you come to Luke chapter 9, verse number one, and he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Again, it's the rule. It's the sphere where God himself, the eternal God, rules. It's all about the reign of a king. That king is an eternal king and that eternal king offers an eternal life with him forever. And if someone gives their life to Christ without a desire for eternity, they will make a false profession. It's not about today. It's about tomorrow. It's about the eternal kingdom of God. So Christ, his men have heard him preach about the kingdom and now he says, now you go tell people about the king and his eternal kingdom.

You go tell them. And so they go and they preach about the kingdom of God. And then you come to Luke chapter 9 in that infamous passage where somebody says, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus says in verse number 58, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

In other words, if you want to follow me, that's great. My kingdom is not of this world. If you want to follow me, that's great. I got nothing for you today. Nothing. Because it's not about today. It's about tomorrow. And so Jesus says to somebody else, he says, okay, you follow me.

Verse 59, but he said, permit me first to go and bury my father. Well, if it's not about today, then let me make sure I get things set in order for today.

His father's not even dead yet. Let me go bury my father so I can collect the inheritance. And Jesus says, allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.

In other words, he says, forget about today. Because what you're going to give to people has nothing to do with today. It has everything to do with tomorrow, the eternal kingdom of God. And another said, I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.

And Jesus said, no one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is even fit for the kingdom of God, the rule of God. Listen, if you're concerned about your family today, forget about it. Because the kingdom is about eternity tomorrow. You have the wrong focus. You have the wrong emphasis. Your sentimentalism about your family is going to keep you out of the kingdom of God. You must be committed wholeheartedly to me and my kingdom, my eternal kingdom. So much so, that over in Luke chapter 16, it says, now the Pharisees, verse 14, who were lovers of money, were listening to all things and were scoffing at him.

And he said to them, you are those who justify yourselves. You're always trying to make yourself righteous. You're trying to declare your own righteousness. You're trying to justify yourselves before men because they love the approval of man. And that's what we're going to see once again in our story today about this man who came to ask the question. Luke 10. He would seek to justify himself. And Jesus says very clearly, you are always looking to justify yourself.

You always want the approval of man. You are more concerned about what man thinks of you than about what I think of you. And as long as you are concerned about what people think of you today, you will never experience me tomorrow. You ever met people who are so consumed with what people think of them today that that just governs their emotions and their behavior? And the Lord says, look, if you're worried about what people think of you today, how can you be with me tomorrow? But these righteous, so-called self-righteous religious people were always thinking of themselves to justify themselves.

It says, you are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. What you highly esteem, God detests. God hates it. The approval of man. God hates the approval of man. But you're always seeking that. The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since then, the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached. In other words, before John, everything in the law and the prophets pointed to and was a foreshadowing of the arrival of the king.

Now that John the Baptist came, he pointed to the king. Behold, I am a God who takes away the sin of the world. And now, everything is about the king, his presence among you and what he offers you eternally. He also says, and everyone is forcing his way into it. Now, Jesus says, those who come to the kingdom, come into the kingdom by force.

Nobody came into the kingdom easily. You ever hear people say, It's easy to give your life to Jesus. Really? It's just easy to say a prayer. It's just very easy to come to Christ. It's easy to believe in Jesus. It's easy to become a Christian. It's easy. No, it's not. Because in the kingdom, people are forcing their way into it. They're agonizing to get in. Earlier, Jesus would say to a man who asked him, Are there just a few being saved? Saved? He asked somebody, Are you saved? What does that mean?

Are you saved? Saved from what? Well, the bottom line is that you're saved from the God who will judge you if you don't repent. That's what salvation is. You're saved from the God who will condemn your soul to hell if you don't repent of your sins. You're saved from God. That's who you're saved from. God is judge. You're saved from God as judge of the world. And Jesus says to him, Strive to enter.

Strive. Agonize to get in. Because people are forcing their way into the kingdom. It's not an easy thing to get into the kingdom of God because you've got to deny yourself. You've got to take up your cross. You've got to follow the Lord. You've got to lay aside your pride. And the Bible says that the gate is narrow and few there be that find the narrow way.

And once you get to the narrow way, you can't be taking in all the baggies that you have with you. You can't be taking all your sin with you. You've got to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow him and repent of your sin. And the reason you're forcing your way into the kingdom is because you're in the kingdom of darkness as an unbeliever. And you're being transferred into the kingdom of God's dear son. And all the satanic forces of hell are against your conversion. It's not an easy thing.

It's a very hard thing. And yet, Jesus would give a series of parables about the kingdom in Matthew chapter 13. Remember that? He began to teach his men about the kingdom age. Because he wants his men to know that the kingdom of heaven is like a sower who went out to sow some seed. And he begins with a parable of the sower and the soil. Remember that? And there are ones who the word of God never gets to because Satan snatches the seed away. And then there are two soils that one is choked out because of the cares of this world and the seedfulness of riches.

And there's another that's choked out because even though they receive the word with joy, it's when affliction and persecution came. They died by the wayside. But there was one who received the word with joy and brought forth fruit, some 30, some 60, some 100 fold. And Jesus says, this is how the word of God will be spread in the kingdom.

And the majority of people won't believe. Some will profess. Very few will possess. And then he gives the parable about the wheat and the tares. Remember that parable? He says, the professors will be so great and they will be so hard sometimes to understand that they will grow side by side with the believers all through the kingdom age. And you won't be able to separate them because you can't tell the difference until the end of the age. And that's where God himself will split the wheat from the tares.

And then he gives that parable about the mustard seed and how the kingdom of God will begin to grow. The kingdom will begin to spread all across the globe and many will find the kingdom as a place of haven and as a place of rest. But he talks about the expanse of the kingdom of God as it begins to grow. And then he goes and gives a parable about the leaven talking about the permeating influence of the kingdom as it influences people's lives and those they touch. Then he gives the parable about the hidden treasure and the merchant who went searching for a pearl to talk about, listen, the incomparable value of the kingdom.

So when someone goes and they find the treasure or they go seeking for the pearl they find something so valuable that they will sell everything they have to obtain that treasure, that pearl to show you the value of the kingdom. The Bible says that the kingdom of God is such that people are forcing their way into it.

Christ says strive to enter for few there be that find it. Christ says the way is narrow and few will ever find the narrow way.

You got to deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow Christ. You got to repent of your sin and people begin to think wow that's so difficult but Jesus has already said that the kingdom of God is like a merchant who's looking for that most valued pearl or the man who stumbles upon this treasure in a field and finds how the value of it and is willing to relinquish everything to obtain it. Why? Because when you understand the incomparable value of the kingdom there is nothing on this earth you want other than the eternal kingdom of God.

Nothing. You're willing to give it up all anyway. What difference does it make? Because what you have is only temporal. What God has is eternal and there's nothing as valuable as it. That's why the Lord would say in Matthew and in Luke what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? There's a transaction that takes place at your conversion. What will a man give in exchange for his soul? What is the profit of a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? That's no good. So what are you willing to exchange for your soul?

Well if you understand the incomparable value of the kingdom you realize that what this world has to offer is nothing. That you'll embrace that kingdom. You'll embrace the king who rules in that kingdom because it's all about eternity. And that's what you want. And that's the gospel. That's the message that we preach. It's a message about eternity. Because the king who offers his kingdom is eternal. And yes what he does for you today is take you until and motivate you to live for him until that day.

But it's all about tomorrow. It's all about eternity. That's what heaven is. That's what eternity is. That's what the kingdom is. That's what Christianity is. But because we are so bent on the here and now.

We are so committed to today that all we can think about is what can I get today? Someone comes and preaches the gospel that deals with eternity and falls on deaf ears. And so the preachers of today realize that the eternal gospel falls on deaf ears. So what can we do to appeal to them today? To get them to respond today to something. Let's tell them that if they give their life to Jesus they'll be prosperous. Let's tell them if they give their life to Jesus everything will get better. They'll get healthier.

They'll get wealthier. They'll become more wise. Their marriages will be better. Let's just tell them that. And so preachers do. All the while producing false believers who come into the kingdom under the pretense that God will restore their marriage. That God will increase their income. That God will give them great physical health and stamina. That God will give them a new job, a new car, a new house. Jesus never promised that. He said just the opposite. A fox has a hole. A bird has a nest. How much more basic can you get?

The foxes and birds will have more than you do. Follow me. That just doesn't sell today. The good news is is that those who are chosen of God and predestined to follow him will embrace that gospel. Right? They'll embrace it. Because they want eternal life. So this lawyer comes. That's all introductory material to today, by the way. So this lawyer comes and he asks the question, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? This is an assumption. This is the lawyer's assumption. We said it's the lawyer's confrontation.

It's really the lawyer's assumption, I guess. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? So the reason he asks the question, we told you before that this question comes up several times in the ministry of Christ, is because Jesus preached the eternal kingdom of God. Jesus was always focusing people on eternity. Helping them to understand the destiny of their lives. And so it would prompt in people's minds to think about eternity. And we can assume that this man, this lawyer, this scribe, because he gives this interruption, would have been around and heard, don't rejoice that your ministry has going so well, but rejoice that your names are written down in heaven.

That's in Luke chapter 10, verse number 20. I'm glad that your ministry is going well, and the 70 returned, and they were ecstatic about their ministry, and Christ wants them to keep perspective. Keep perspective. He's not trying to throw a damp cloud on the success of that particular ministry. He's just saying, look, you know what? Keep perspective. Rejoice in this, that your names are written down in glory. That must be the sole motivation for your ministry, your life, and your existence. If you are dependent on something else other than the fact that your name is written down in glory, and that you're going to go to heaven when you die, you will have a false motivation.

You will have a temporal motivation, and you will fluctuate up and down, up and down. Your emotions will go up and down all the time based on external circumstances. And Jesus knows that, and so he says, look, you make sure that you rejoice over the fact that your name is written down in heaven. Maybe this lawyer, probably nearby, heard those words and asked the question, I wonder if my name is written down in heaven, because he knows about a king and a kingdom that was promised to father Abraham and to king David that would last forever.

An eternal kingdom. So he's thinking, wow, man, you know, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And the assumption is there is something that can be done on my part that will cause God to approve of my behavior. Well, we know the answer to that. There's nothing you can do. Titus 3, 5 says it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but it's by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the spirit of God. Romans 3, verses 10 to 18 speak about the fact there's nothing good in man, there's nothing he can do to please God, nothing whatsoever.

But the assumption was there's something that I can do. And so Jesus responds to the assumption, which is a confrontation because he came to test him, which was an interruption because he just stood up and began to speak and no preacher likes to be interrupted, especially Jesus. And so Jesus then responds with a question. You tell me. You tell me. What is it you recite every day? How do you read it? I mean, after all, you've got these phylacteries around your wrist, you've got them around your head, you've got these mazouses on your door that carry the law of God.

Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 to 5, the great Shemaal. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. You tell me how you read it. You tell me how you recite it. You tell me what you do every single day. If there's something you can do to get there, then you tell me what you do every day. Twice a day. You tell me. And without hesitation, the Lord gives the explanation. Without hesitation. As if to give the explanation so all could hear, because remember, they love to justify themselves. They love the approval of man.

They love what man thinks of them. Remember Paul said that in Galatians 1, verse number 10, that if you seek the pleasure of man, you forfeit the honor of God. Remember that. Because we, so many times, want man's pleasure. In the invitation of Luke chapter 12, as the Lord begins an invitation to the crowd that began to step on one another because they wanted to hear what he had to say, he told them very clearly, beware the love of the Pharisees. The permeating negative influence of religiosity. Beware of that.

It'll damn your soul. He tells them, do not fear the one who can kill your body. You just fear the one who kills body and soul. And the believer understands that. And these religious people, though, they wanted others to approve of their lifestyle. And so, Jesus says to them, how do you recite it?

How do you read it? What do you do every day? And without hesitation, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength, as if everybody would be taken back by his oratory skills. As if anybody cared what he had to say. But he thought they did. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So Jesus gives this declaration. Do that and you'll live. Do that and you'll live. That's the bottom line of the law. Do that and you'll live.

Can't break the law. But you got to do it perfectly. You got to love God perfectly. You got to love God unconditionally. You got to love God supremely. You got to love God consistently. You must love him with all the human faculties that you possess. You must love him deeply. You must love him significantly. You must love him totally and completely without error. Do that. Love your neighbor as yourself and you will live. Do that and you'll live. You must do it perfectly. If you do, you'll live. You will.

But by the works of the law, no man was ever justified. Isn't that what Paul said? But no one can keep the law. You have to love what the Lord does. He puts him face to face with the law he says he believes. The law according to Galatians was given to us as a schoolmaster. A schoolmaster, a tutor to teach us that we can't keep it. The law was given to drive us to our knees. The law was given so if you obey it, you live. If you disobey it, you die. Well, who can always obey the law of God without error?

Answer, nobody because nobody's perfect. We're sinners. And the Bible says in the book of Romans, the third chapter, by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in the sight for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

The law gives us the knowledge of sin. Christ put him face to face with the fact that he was incapable of fulfilling the law he said he could do. In verse number 21 of chapter three of Romans it says, but now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction for all who sin and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

Every man has sinned and all have fallen short of the standard of God. Nevertheless, the Lord God says to him, you tell me what you recite every day.

You tell me. And he said, he told them, I do it every day. And the Lord gave this declaration, you do that, you will live. Can you do that? The Bible says in Luke chapter 10, but wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, by the way, who is my neighbor?

You notice he doesn't even deal with the love of God part. Now realize that that's not as easy to see, right? He can kind of fool people with the love of God part because no one knows this man's heart. He can debate, well, I love God with all my heart. I love God with all my soul. I love God with all my strength. People say all the time, I love God. Oh, I love Jesus. And we're supposed to say, yeah, you do because you said so. But the loving of your neighbor is the manifestation of how it is you truly love Jesus, right?

Sure it is. The Ten Commandments is a summation of the entire law. Loving God and loving your neighbor is a summation of the Ten Commandments because they're divided into two categories, one dealing with God himself and one dealing with your fellow man, your neighbor. And how you love God, listen carefully, is always demonstrated in how you love your neighbor. It always is. So the man trying to fool Jesus and to pull the wool over the eyes of the people standing around, trying to justify himself, instead of saying, I don't love the Lord God with all my heart, instead of saying, you know what, I try to, but I can't do it.

I can't make it. I'd like to, but I can't. Instead of having a broken and contrite heart that God, by the way, will not despise, his pride rises up and says, by the way, who is my neighbor? Maybe you can redefine my neighbor for me. Because if you can redefine who my neighbor is, I can tell you whether or not I really love God and I'm going to heaven and I've inherited eternal life and my name is there. Who is my neighbor? And what the Lord does is give us a dissertation that none of us are going to like in the most infamous story ever told, the story of the Good Samaritan.

That infamous story about the Good Samaritan will help you understand how much you don't love your neighbor as much as you might profess to love them. It's a very convicting story. It goes way beyond what we think with a cursory reading of the story because the Lord was going to put him face to face with the law of God to confront him on his inability to keep that law because he can't. Just can't. The book of Romans, the 10th chapter, Paul said this, Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

That's Paul's burden for Israel, for their salvation. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God but not in accordance with knowledge, the deep knowledge of God. I mean, that's not just a Jewish nation. That's a lot of people I know. They got a great zeal for God. I love Jesus. I love God. I do. See it on my face. See it on the bumper sticker in the back of my car. I love Jesus. They have a great zeal for God but not according to knowledge, the true knowledge of the Scriptures. Verse 3, They prayed for not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own.

They did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness is to everyone who believes. Instead of subjecting themselves to God's righteousness, they developed their own system of righteousness. Somehow they could be made right with God by keeping this law and that law and this law and that law and God would be pleased with them. But Paul says that at the end of the law, there's an objective for the law and that objective is to show you you can't keep it and you need to cry for mercy to God and ask Him to be merciful unto you, a sinner.

That's the whole story of Luke chapter 18 which is down the road about the publican who came and the Pharisee who came and the Pharisee wanting to justify himself and to make himself right before man began to pray, Oh God, I'm glad I'm not like this publican over there. The publican could not even lift his eyes to heaven but beat upon his breast begging God to be merciful unto him, a sinner. He recognized he was a sinner. He recognized he fell short of the standard of God He recognized that there was nothing but death in his future.

He realized there was nothing but separation from the eternal God forever and he begged God for mercy and that man went out justified before God. That man went out being made right before God because there was no righteousness of his own, no self-made righteousness but there was a God-righteousness that would be given to him because of a broken and contrite heart that God would not despise. Maybe you're here today and you've tried to justify yourself. Well, yeah, I do that and I think I'm good enough for God and I think that the good is going to outweigh the bad in the end.

Listen, all the good you do is still bad even though you think it's good. In the eyes of God, it's like filthy rags. It means nothing to God. Salvation is about the grace and mercy of God. The great compassion and love of God to save man from his eternal destiny. It's a sad story about a man who asked the right question but doesn't want to face the right answer. It's a sad story. It gets even more sad when Christ gives him the story about who his neighbor really is and he leaves in an unconverted state.

He leaves the way he arrives unsaved, dead in his trespasses and sin because when put face to face with the law of God he refuses to cry out for mercy and to beg for God to save him out of humiliation, out of love, out of dependency, out of a broken heart. He refuses to do that because his pride wells up within him. He was too consumed with what everybody around him was thinking about his lifestyle and what he proclaimed to be and he did not want to be broken in public. How sad, how sad. But the truth was made very clear as it has been to you today about eternal life, the kingdom of God.

The truth about the eternal king who rules in that kingdom. Do you know him? Do you understand where you're going to go when you die? Do you understand you won't live forever? And do you understand that all the things you do won't save you? Do you understand that the law of God was given to show you you're a sinner and you are completely separate from God and unless you fall on your knees and beg him for mercy you will die in your sins and spend eternity separate from God, not with him. The gospel has been given.

The question is, will the gospel be received? Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for today and the greatness of your word and this beautiful encounter between a man who asks the right question but does not want the right answer. And I pray, Father, that those who are here today would understand the essence of the kingdom and its ramifications. No one would leave without knowing for certain that eternity will be theirs. I pray, Father, that your spirit would work in and among us that we might follow you completely.

In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.