Middletown Bible Church

Last week we saw Jesus, walking out in front of His Discilples on His way to Jerusalem. His face is like a flint, Isaiah said. He is fixated on the cross that awaits Him there. I want us to read this passage again, and then I want you to notice the jarring contrast between what is on Jesus' mind, and what is on the Disciples' minds in the next verses-

I realized this week that we've been studying Matthew's Gospel for over 6 years now, and God continues to use this Gospel, to strengthen our faith and increase our love for the Lord Jesus Christ, dosen't He? Week after week, this is food for our souls. We're just going to look at the next three verses this morning to prepare us to come to the Lord's Table-

Jesus isn't teaching on labor relations here, He's talking about salvation and the math is completely different.

Let's turn once again to Matthew's Gospel, and hear what Jesus says to His astonished Disciples as they watch a very religious young man, eager for eternal life, walk away from Jesus-

Lest you think my sermon title was just for shock value, I'm saying exactly what Jesus said: It's impossible for rich people to be saved. Didn't Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven only belongs to those who turn - convert - radically change - and enter like little children? They are the only ones small enough and humble enough and baggage-free enough to enter through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life. You don't get in any other way.

Guest speaker: Greg Reed

You can have eternal life if you come and follow Jesus. It's that simple, and it's also that hard - impossible, Jesus said, apart from God. We need to see why.

Next week we will dig in and see what Jesus was up to when He talked to this rich young ruler the way He did. But this morning, I want us to stop and ask the question that Jesus asked His men over and over and over, "Are you getting this? Do you have ears to hear? Do you have eyes to see? Do you understand what I'm saying? Or have you become dull, hard of hearing, slow to understanding?" And Jesus asked these questions because He is a caring Shepherd to His sheep, and He isn't going to let them get away with being superficial, lightweight, lazy followers. He loves us too much to allow us to skim along the surface when we should be digging deeper.

"I love the Book of Hebrews because from beginning to end, it's about Jesus. And you can sum up what it says about Jesus in one word - better. Jesus is better than the angels. He's better than the prophets. He's better than Moses. His priesthood is better than Aaron's. His new covenant is better than the old covenant. His blood is beter than the blood of bulls an goats."

From the beginning, God intended that the union of one man and one woman should be a parable of Christ's love for His Bride, the Church. Divorce ruins the parable, and the Devil knows this, so he's at war against marriage. The church needs to be at war against divorce. It's a Gospel issue.