So How Does One Get To Heaven? Series

A Study of the Book of Luke

Sermon # 50

“So How Does One Get To Heaven?”

Luke 18:17-27

Previously in Luke chapter eighteen, Jesus has just told the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which is the two prayers of the two men which present two contrasting views of how to approach God; one on the basis of supposed good works and the other on the basis of God’s grace.

Now in verse seventeen, the Lord is still dealing with the subject of how one gets into the kingdom of heaven, Jesus now makes a jarring declaration,

“Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." In this verse he sets forth the truth that for one to be saved there must be a recognition of one’s total helplessness, coupled with a corresponding dependence on God.

The young man that we are about to be introduced to may have the distinction of being the only man recorded in the gospels who came to the feet of Jesus and went away in worse condition than when he came. He came to the right person, asked the right question and received the right answer, but made the wrong decision.

In verse eighteen we read, “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Here we are introduced to the story of what has come to be known as “the rich young ruler.” All the gospel accounts must be considered to get the complete picture. Mark says he is rich. Matthew says that he is young (Gr. Neaniskos – less than 40 yrs. of age), and Luke says he is a ruler.

Jesus immediately probes the motive of this man’s statement in verse nineteen. “So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. Jesus wanted this man to think about what he had just said. Is this mere flattery, or does he really believe that Jesus is God?

Jesus wanted this young man to face the hard facts that there are only two possibilities, “If you want to call me good, you must be willing to call me God. If you won’t call me God, then you can’t call me good!”

Jesus now turns to him and in verse twenty says, “You know the commandments: ’Do not commit adultery,’ ’Do not murder,’ ’Do not steal,’ ’Do not bear false witness,’ ’Honor your father and your mother.’" (21) And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth."

When Jesus reminded this young man of

God’s commandments, He in effect responded by

saying, “Been there. Done that!” It seems incredible to us that anyone would claim, as this young man did, to have kept all the command-ments perfectly. He, like so many others, did not understand that keeping the commandments was a matter of the heart, not mere outward actions. He saw himself as a basically good person. There are a lot of people in this world who are counting on their goodness to get them a place in heaven.

I want you to notice with four things that we learn from the rich young ruler.

First, His View Of His Goodness Was Superficial And Empty.

There are still individuals today who think that they are keeping the Ten Commandments. Perhaps you are on of those persons.

If that is what you think, then I want you

to do a little experiment with me. I am going to list the Ten Commandments for you and I want you to count off the ones you have never broken. Then at the end I want you to tally up the ones you have never broken and let’s see how good you have been.

(1)"You shall have no other Gods before Me." If

you have always put God 1st in your life. Nothing has ever taken precedence over Him… Count that as one you’ve never broken.

(2) "You shall not make for yourself a graven image and bow down to it." Now here is one that we all feel pretty good about. If you’ve never fashioned an idol and bowed down and worshiped it you can count that as one you’ve never broken. Aren’t you glad that one is in there? We’ve all got one.

(3) "You shall not misuse the Name of God." If you have never used the name of God or the name of Jesus in a profane way, never even used the popular phrases; "Oh, Go; Or Oh, my God!" If in all your life, you have only used God’s name with the highest respect, then count this one.

(4) "You shall keep the Sabbath Holy." Now, since we are Christian’s, we need to make that the Lord’s Day. If you have always used Saturday night or Sunday in a way that always honors God, you’ve never skipped church for your own pleasure or your own convenience, when you’re here you’ve never wished your were somewhere else.. then count this one. Amen or Oh me!