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keep your Bibles open there to Matthew chapter 19 Matthew not chapter 19 it's a bit of a controversial chapter this time around some quite challenging phrases that was spoken of Jesus Christ but look at verse number eight please Matthew chapter 19 verse 8 the Bible says he's safe unto them Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives the title for the sermon tonight is the hardness of your hearts the hardness of your hearts let's pick it up from verse number one Matthew chapter 19 verse 1 the Bible says and it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these saints he departed from Galilee and came into the coast of Judea beyond Jordan so if you know your geography I Galilee is north from Jerusalem and Judea means he would have had to travel south okay so the reason why he's traveling to Judea now this is toward the end of his ministry we've been going through his ministry for the last 18 chapters now we're getting toward the end of his ministry now he's going on his way to Jerusalem for these final stop right he gets to Jerusalem that's where he's going to be trade that's what he's going to be crucified that's where he's going to pay for our sins so he's now on his way the last journey and it says here at the end of verse number one that he came into the coast of Judea beyond Jordan now just so you guys know we've got access to that document documentary called beyond Jordan okay because our church donated to that project I've started sharing the link we don't have a DVD just yet but I've been sharing the link to some of you guys so once you've watched it well share it to some of the families in the church but it's a documentary called beyond Jordan which basically goes through some of the areas so it kind of gives you a geographic understanding of the Bible so it's pretty effective documentary that's not what I'm going to be preaching about just found interesting that we've got that phrase there beyond Jordan at the end of verse number one that's where it comes from but then look at verse number two and great multitudes followed him and he healed them there so once again we see Jesus on his journey once again he's preaching and he has great multitudes following him Jesus Christ had many disciples every time he went traveling from town to town you guys have already seen he's that great multitudes around him okay just as a reminder because at the end when he gets arrested when he gets crucified on the day of Pentecost there was only 120 people that were gathered in the upper room if you guys remember he had thousands of people following him okay and this is a reality of Christianity there are thousands of Christians okay there are a lot of believers out there but very few actually make it to church and out of those that actually go to church very few of those actually go out door-to-door soul-winning this is just a reality of Christianity we see this in the time of Christ great multitudes believing on him following him but really when it came to doing the great works it was always just a handful of believers will keep reading verse number three the Pharisees also came unto him tempting him tempting Jesus that is and saying unto him is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause now what a question you know the Pharisees come to Jesus so for every reason for every cause can we put our way our wives can we divorce our wives basically for any reason now as you read this in your Bible you're probably thinking well that's a stupid question for every reason or essentially if you can put away your wife if you can get divorced for every cause every reason then really what that means is you can get divorced for no reason it doesn't matter if it's every reason you get get divorced then doesn't really matter it can be for no reason and it might sound like a stupid question but you know what we have this system in our nation today okay I look this up in 1975 our government brought in the no what's it what's it called the I wrote it down the no-fault divorce act no-fault divorce so prior to 1975 if you wanted to get divorced you had to prove that your spouse had committed adultery or was a habitual drinker he was a drunkard or he was insane okay if you if you could prove those reasons to the law then you could legally get divorced in our nation okay now I'm not saying those are the laws of the Bible I'm just saying in our nation okay even in our nation okay we had restrictions okay but from 1975 so before I was born they removed and said well we'll just do no-fault divorce you don't have to prove anything as long as you're separated for 12 months you're not living together that's fine we'll grant you your divorce okay and so in Australia can we divorce for every cause absolutely for no cause absolutely okay and of course when you start changing the fabric of what marriage is meant to represent this is why we have family marriages this is why our divorce rates going through the roof this is why people don't take marriage seriously okay so you know what I as a pastor I get a lot of these questions okay because my generation and even the prior generations our generations have made a lot of mistakes okay because we remove these laws because the preachers behind the pulpit have gotten weaker okay preachers today don't preach against divorce all right before yeah absolutely every church in Australia preached on divorce you know the Protestants preached on divorce the Roman Catholics preached on divorce the Orthodox preached on divorce we are now in a nation where people don't want to talk about this because it's gonna hurt people's feelings look it doesn't matter whose feelings we're hurting at the end of the day we're all sinners and if we go to preach the Bible we're always going to trample on somebody since we're always going to trample on someone's mistakes but the thing I want you to remember is this if you've made a mistake okay you're already in a situation where you've been divorced so you've been remarried these kinds of things and you say well I can't change that now well look appreciate the preaching and teach your kids the right way teach your kids because your kids have not made mistakes yet you know your kids don't have to go through the same struggles the same stress that you may have gone through when you've gone for this situation in your life okay this is why it's important to preach this you know I'm afraid to hurt people not really what I really want is for the next generation to be better than us I want them to hear preaching from the Word of God and know what God has to say about divorce and remarriage yeah I get these questions a lot okay I do I get because there's a lot of people that have made mistakes okay I'm in this situation now so what do I do and everybody has their own situations okay because divorce is very messy okay marriage is super easy it's super clean one man one woman married for life children in that family home simple easy clean makes sense divorce is always very messy and it becomes very messy of course when there's children involved in that okay and so the question often comes what do I do in my situation what do I do in that situation well the best response to that is to see how Jesus responded okay now the Bible is not written for everybody's situation okay the Bible's not written that way the Bible is written to show us God's standard okay the Bible is written to show us his perfect will okay and when you're outside of that perfect will or you can't fix things because you've made mistakes in the past the best thing for you to do is say well this is the situation I'm in this is God's perfect will how best can I make my situation line up with God's perfect will but here's the thing when it comes to marriage and divorce you will never get it exactly how God intended it okay you're going to have to go with plan B in your life and you know what plan B in your life may be even better than the plan a for a lot of people you know if plan B you've made mistakes say well you know what Lord I made mistakes but I want to serve you I want to be in church I want to get right with you I made mistakes that can't change the past Lord but I want to follow after you today hey your plan B can be effective your plan B can please the Lord many of us have plan A's and we don't even serve the Lord of our plan A's okay so there's never a place where there's no hope for people that have made mistakes there's always hope I mean the Bible is filled of people making mistakes okay always making mistakes reminding us how long suffering our God is how merciful our God is all right but how did Jesus answer did Jesus answer every cause or every cause so does he start giving a reason okay in this cause you do this for this cause of married divorce you do this for this could know he focuses on the single cause of marriage Jesus Christ goes back to what marriage represents look at verse number four verse number four so that question was every cause Jesus give us an answer for every cause Jesus look I'll give you an answer for one cause look at this verse number four and he answered and said unto them have you not read that here which made them at the beginning made them male and female what's Jesus Christ quoting here Genesis chapter 1 all right so he's insulting them he says have you not read Genesis chapter 1 I mean I think everyone in this church even if you say to me I've never read my Bible cover to cover I'm sure you've read Genesis chapter 1 all right so he's insulting them right have you not read Genesis chapter 1 where it says God created a male and female in the beginning and it's interesting I mean I shouldn't have to labor these points it should be obvious but Jesus Christ is telling us here that marriage is between one man and one woman I mean in 2019 I actually have to say this behind the pulpit now okay because our society has gotten so you know anti God has got so anti biblical today in our nation men can marry men and women can marry women have they not read Genesis chapter 1 because if they read Genesis chapter 1 if the churches were preaching from Genesis chapter 1 we wouldn't be in the mess we are today in our nation okay I'm not gonna back away from this marriage is between one man and one woman and the whole thing what they call marriage between men and men that's not marriage okay that's an abomination okay it's an abomination it's not marriage all right let's keep reading verse number five and said for this cause now remember that was saying for every cause divorce Jesus look for this cause this is this is marriage all right for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh so Jesus saying look when there's a man and woman when they get married they become one flesh I was going through this with my church up in Queensland the Bible tells us in Genesis 5 that God called their name Adam okay you know yes we think of Adam and Eve but God called their name Adam it's the same idea when I married my wife she took on my name okay Christina Rodriguez became Christina Sepulveda she took on my name we became mr. and mrs. Kevin Sepulveda we became one family unit one flesh when he says there and shall cleave to his wife it's speaking about being glued together okay being joined together that's why you know in in our day and age we say well people say you know when are you going to tie the knots they're talking about when are you gonna get married you know when are you going to join together when are you going to cleave together that's what it means by tying the knot we still use that idea today because you become one you know you become one flesh and then but the Bible says here in verse number six wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh pay attention to that guys if you're married you're not twain you're not two people as far as God is concerned he says you're one flesh he looks at you as one team one unit what therefore God have joined together let not man put asunder so Jesus look marriage is for life let not man put asunder there's no reason that you should get divorced that is not God's perfect will in your life to get divorced okay we should be thinking of marriage as a lifelong commitment till death do us part all right verse number seven they say unto him because now they're asking question right they're tempting him remember it's not like they want an honest answer they come in here to Jesus to find fault and let me tell you this when I started my church in Queensland I started to get random phone calls just weirdos and I thought this was normal I thought maybe maybe all the pastors get all these weirdos calling them the whole calling me what do you believe about divorce what do you believe about alcohol what do you believe about whatever just all these things at first I thought they wanted honest answers but then I started to realize these people are trying to find faults in my answers all right it's the same thing that they went to Jesus trying to find faults to his answer here verse number seven they said it to him why did Moses then command to give them give a writing of divorcement and to put her away so what they're saying is true okay in the Bible Moses did speak about a bill of divorcement there is biblical divorce okay there is something you know like people commonly think about independent Baptists that you're against divorce well by and large we are because when you think about divorce as far as the world standard is yeah we're against the way the world does divorce okay but there is biblical divorce I'm gonna have a look at that soon and then it says here verse number eight so why why did Moses write this verse number eight he's safe unto them Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered or allowed you to put away your wives but from the beginning it was not so so it says look this was not God's intention but because of the hardness of your hearts this isn't what God really wants in a marriage but because you've been hardened men husbands been hardened against their wives wives hearts have been hardened against their husbands God did permit divorce okay in the book of Deuteronomy we're gonna look at that later on but remember what we're talking about biblical divorce okay and biblical divorce is not for every cause biblical divorce has parameters and we're gonna look at that shortly all right verse number nine verse number nine and I say unto you now pay attention to this this is so important I think this is black and white I really think this is black and white I don't think there's any loopholes around this and I say unto you whosoever shall put away his wife except to be for fornication and shall marry another committed adultery and whoso mary her which is put away doth commit adultery all right so Jesus look if you get divorced for any reason besides fornication or if you get married to someone that has been divorced here says you're committing adultery all right so we see the parameter that Jesus gives the only permissible reason to get divorced is because of fornication all right now there's now there's gonna be two thoughts about this because that's black and white okay nobody can really debate about what Jesus says but the question becomes for people that want to try to find a way around this is well what does fornication mean because if we can make fornication to mean several things then we can get divorced for several reasons if that's essentially what it means okay so let's look at the two common options that people talk about when it comes to divorce here now the first thing I'm going to get you to do is please turn to Jeremiah chapter 3 keep your finger there in Matthew 19 keep your finger in Matthew 19 and go to Jeremiah chapter 3 okay because the first argument is well fornication can mean all types of sexual sins all kinds of sexual acts can fall under the umbrella of fornication now I'll just say this I think sometimes yes biblically speaking fornication can be an umbrella term for other sins I believe that okay but I don't believe it's an umbrella term in this chapter okay I'm going to explain to you why but let's go to Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 8 and we're going to see how some people I try to find a loophole in this all right Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 8 God speaks here and he says and I saw when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not but went and played the harlot also so let's think about this this is God speaking about the northern tribe of Israel right he says about them that they've committed adultery okay and because they've committed adultery God has put them away and given them a bill of divorce me okay so the argument there is we'll see God here sorry names adultery here in this passage as grounds for divorce so Israel has divorce has committed adultery God is divorced in Israel over it and therefore God is given Israel a bill of divorcement and so by that passage the conclusion then becomes well if God can divorce over adultery then surely when Jesus Christ speaks of fornication here in Matthew 19 that must also include adultery so if your husband or your wife cheats on you okay they commit adultery that is grounds for divorce so I'm showing you what one interpretation is I don't agree with that interpretation and I'll go through that in a moment okay but I'm just showing you the scriptures behind that so you become aware when people bring up these arguments to you now why don't I accept this because was God married to Israel I mean when we look at the passage that we're looking at here okay one man one woman till death do us part did God actually get married to Israel or like is he literally married to Israel or is this figurative language is God using the allegory of a marriage divorce to speak about his relationship with Israel and himself what do you think do you think this is a literal marriage or an allegory figurative speaking obviously obviously it's figurative speaking right obviously when when when God says that Israel committed adultery he's speaking there of spiritual adultery he's speaking about the nation going and serving other gods the nations of you know turn their hearts against the Lord right and he any uses this extreme case of this picture that he's given them now look do you think there was a bill of divorcement giving this paperwork somewhere that God wrote I'm divorcing you Israel no this is not a literal divorce okay this is obviously figurative language okay so taking this story and applying it between husband and wife one man and one woman you know you're drawing a really long bow there I mean you're trying to apply something that doesn't really apply now let me give you another right let me give you this other idea here so the idea here is well see God divorced because of adultery therefore we can divorce because of adultery now let me give you another allegory or another figurative language here and go to our first Thessalonians chapter 5 first Thessalonians chapter 5 and we're looking basically at a passage of the rapture here first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2 first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2 now this is obviously a passage a lot of you are aware of first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2 it says for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night okay so think about this the Lord is coming as what a thief in the night okay a thief in the night do you think Jesus is literally a thief if he was he'd be breaking the commandments of God all right but let me give you this argument so let's take this picture all right so God divorced Israel because of adultery therefore I can divorce because of adultery well that's like saying I can be a thief I can go and I can go and rob the bank because Jesus is coming as a thief I mean you say so how ridiculous when you take something that is meant to be figurative something that's meant to be like an allegory of some of some greater truth and then you're applying that to a literal you know or a physical literal interpretation you're going to start messing things up I mean if you've read the Bible you start to realize there are certain things that are literal there are certain things that are figurative okay when the Bible says that you know if you go out and you proclaim the you know the Lord about sorry the words of the Lord about the Bible says that the the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing and all the trees of the hills shall clap their hands I mean you think the trees are literally clapping their hands you think the hills and the mountains are literally opening their mouths and singing no of course not right they don't have heads they don't have mouths but this is figurative language to tell us that creation rejoices when the when the the word of the God is is proclaimed throughout the world okay we understand there is figurative language and then there are literal things that we need to base out doctrines on all right so no I do not believe adultery is grounds for divorce okay I don't believe you can take something that's figurative between God and a nation okay with no real literal bill of divorcement okay this is obviously figure language and then apply that between one man and one woman okay I think you're taking it way too far all right so let's talk about what I believe this is talking about go to Deuteronomy chapter 24 please Deuteronomy chapter 24 because the important thing here is that we keep it within context always guys when you're struggling with something stay within the context of the chapter or or refer back to an Old Testament passage which the New Testament is speaking of or stay within the same book that you're reading from quite often the answers are in the same book okay but look at Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1 because this is where Moses taught on the bill of divorcement okay Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1 look at this it says when a man have taken a wife and married her and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes because he have found some uncleanness in her then let him write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house and when she's departed out of his house she may go and be another man's wife here we have a the biblical practice of divorce okay now I'll go into that in a little bit more moment but what I want to notice is when this woman is biblically divorced from her husband is she allowed to be remarried she is allowed to be remarried right but when Jesus Christ is dealing with the Pharisees unbiblical divorce he says you cannot marry a divorced woman okay so we're talking about you know Jesus is addressing their issues for every cause there is a cause okay to get divorced and it's it's found within here in Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1 so I just want you to see that okay when the husband finds some uncleanness in his wife now go to Matthew chapter 1 please Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 we'll just tie it all up together now Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 so a lot of the times guys when you're trying to find an answer I really recommend try to find an answer in the same book of the Bible it's good to compare scripture with scripture it's good to compare different books with different books but the best one to compare to is the same book many times the same book has the answer let's go to Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 the Bible says now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost so pay attention now there espoused together what is a spouse it's a husband or a wife these they're married okay these two are married okay but she's found to be with child right she's found to be with child and it says here that verse 19 then Joseph her husband being a just man what does this mean he's a righteous man he's doing the right thing okay he's found just and look at this and not willing to make her a public example so he doesn't want to embarrass her publicly was minded to put her away privately okay so he wants to divorce her put away is another way of saying divorce and the Bible says what he's doing is just all right let's keep reading oh I'll just leave it there okay what was doing was just so think about this they had not yet come together they had not yet consummated the marriage as husband and wife and before they had come together she was found to be with child and the Bible says he was just to think that he should put her away privately okay so he was just the Bible says he was doing right to think I should divorce this woman okay so what is the grounds of divorce then Bible said fornication didn't that said fornication what do we see in the same book here giving us an example of the same events or the same situation is that if you get married and you find out that your wife has not been faithful okay and has hid that from you you find out you know before you consummate the marriage with that woman then you can biblically divorce her you can biblically give her a bill of divorcement and she will be free to marry another man okay that's the the condition that's the framework of what the Bible speaks when it comes to divorce and say well that's that doesn't ever happen well that's because we're used to our culture right we're used to marriage and on the same day of marriage you know normally husband and wife go somewhere they consummate the marriage immediately and it's done okay but in many cultures around the world you know in Chile South America in other places like Europe many times they're married they're legally married okay but then several weeks or several months might pass before they actually consummate the marriage why because they're first legally married then they might decide to get married you know with a formal reception from a wedding formal party at a church or something that might take longer to prepare and like in South America Chile you cannot get married in a church unless you first show the pastor that you have been married legally okay and obviously there would that be a time that took place there this is the same thing that is happening in these days in Israel they would be legally married but it might take a look several several time a time before they consummate that marriage okay and during that time if she's found to be unfaithful and you know pregnant with a child like Joseph found out then he could divorce divorce so okay at that point but they're already legally married all right if you have any questions about that for me later on please ask let's go back to Matthew chapter 19 I'm not done I'm not done back to Matthew chapter 19 Matthew chapter 19 verse 9 verse 9 let's look at it again and my final reason so I've given you a few reasons now why or where the the the the the boundaries of the framework work of fornication fits in but finally I'm a King James Bible believer okay I believe this book has been perfectly translated I believe every word is pure and I believe every word in this Bible is there for a reason okay now look at this let's look at verse number nine again because if we want to say that fornication is also just another way of saying adultery or something like that then why in verse number nine do our translators or why does God allow the English to be worded this way and I sent to you whosoever shall put away his wife except be for fornication okay and shall marry another commit of adultery they've got the word adultery already in this verse all right and it says and who so married her which put away doth commit adultery twice in this verse we have the words adultery there's got to be a reason in verse number nine why they use the word fornication and I'll tell you why it's differentiate fornication from adultery as a separate act okay so those are my reasons why I believe fornication for divorce is prior to a husband and wife consummate in the marriage all right let's move on from there verse number 10 if you have any questions please ask me out for the service verse number 10 his disciples saying to him if the case of the man be so with his wife it is not good to marry say what they're saying look if this is the case if we can't divorce our wives for every reason it's just better not to get married and say well that sounds ridiculous but again look at our nation no folk divorce you get divorced for any reason doesn't it there's a surprises them that people today don't want to get married there's a surprises today that people would rather just leave it with de facto relationships just just try it out see how it goes and if it works out maybe then get married look people don't respect marriage they like they should okay and and the the statement that is being said here is essentially what's happened to our nations who cares why get married why one woman you know why can't I just enjoy my life and have several and whatever you know what's the point why do I need to settle down that's what happens when you destroy what marriage is about when you don't preach about it till death do us part it starts destroying the fabric of the family in our nation I think about this think about this you say well this hurts my feelings a little bit you know think about this think of your children right if your children grow up thinking well I can get divorced for any reason okay marriage is not important if it doesn't work out I can just get divorced okay if that's how they grow up do you think they're going to when they when they choose their married part marriage partner do you think they're going to take in serious consideration for that you think they're going to really care about who they're marrying when they feel well I can get divorced for any reason if it doesn't work out of course they're not going to take it seriously but if your children grow up in a church that preaches the Word of God that preaches this is death to you know till death do us part don't you think when your child gets to a married age they're going to really think long and hard about my marriage partner hey the person I'm going to marry that's going to be the person I'm with for the rest of my life and and don't you think when when you're married and you start having relationship problems and we all do every married couple here can testify that we've had problems in our marriages but don't you think that when you when you understand this is till death do us part you're going to say well I need to work out these problems we just sort this out because we need to live together we want to be in harmony we will enjoy our lives we're going to sort out our problems of course they're going to fix that when they when their mindset is till death do us part but if their mind is well we can just get divorced for any reason or for no reason of course when the problems come what was the point of sorting it out let's just get divorced and try again with someone else okay so this is important preaching because we want our children to grow up and make serious decisions about who they marry okay let's keep reading verse number 12 verse number 12 I'm sorry verse 11 but he said unto them all men cannot receive this saying save they to whom it is given so they're saying like it's better for not to not get married and Jesus says look all men cannot receive the same in other words most men do want to get married most men want a wife most men want that companionship that help meet for them okay but then he says save they to whom it is given so there is some people some men in the Bible that have the gift of not being married okay they have no desire to be married they have no desire to be with a wife all right now if you say to me you know I yeah I want to get married maybe I'm one of these guys you know they have the gift well you know if you burn for a woman if you have a desire for a woman that's not you okay these men don't have that desire we'll have a look soon look at verse number 12 verse number 12 this is who Jesus is speaking about for there are some eunuchs okay now let's look at this which were so born from their mother's womb and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men and there be eunuchs which have been met who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake he that is able to receive it let him receive it so this is a saying just for some to receive okay to those that can receive it let him receive this saying okay so Jesus speaking about eunuchs these are men that are not married these are men that do not desire to be with a woman all right so let's look at this free eunuchs being described here the first eunuch it says here it says which were born were so born from their mother's womb okay so there are some men that are born disabled there are some men that are born with deformities okay and they cannot you know have that marital relationship okay that's what Jesus Christ is speaking about here okay some people that cannot have that marriage relationship because they've been born like that from their mother's womb there there's some type of deformity some problem with them that they cannot even have that physical relationship okay then he says and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men now this is pretty disgusting but you know in in the olden times you know I don't know if it happens I hope it doesn't happen today but in some of the olden times right when people would conquer other other people when people would conquer other nations sometimes they'll take the men of those other nations and castrate them all right the same way you would castrate a bull so you can have like an ox you know like it's like a karma rocks okay because when you castrate a man a man you know the the hormones change the testosterone doesn't you know develop in their bodies the way it normally would and so you would have a more docile man okay so this is a they they castrate a man so they can serve they can be a servant okay and not sort of be in a position to want to fight back because they don't have those testosterone hormones you know surgeon for their bodies that's pretty disgusting okay but that's what Jesus there are some like that it's happening history Jesus is not saying that's something you should do it's just making a point okay there's a point some people are born disabled some people are castrated from for men okay in that sense but then it says this and this is the one that is really referring to here and it says and there be some eunuchs or there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake he that is able to receive it let him receive it so there are some men who have the ability to withhold themselves from a woman and the reason they can do that is because their desire is for the kingdom of God their desire is to serve God with all that they have for their whole lives and we have an example of this person with the Apostle Paul and you guys know the Apostle Paul wrote many epistles of the New Testament he was used greatly by God he was never married he didn't have any kids okay and he served as an apostle you know he gave himself completely for the starting of churches he gave himself completely for preaching the gospel he didn't have a wife and kids to take care of there was nothing holding back the Apostle Paul he was fully you know serving in the kingdom of God so there are some people yes very few men that are this way they have such a desire for the kingdom that they'd rather not get married and use all that they have to serve the Lord all right now we know the qualifications of a pastor is to be the husband of one wife okay and this is why the Apostle Paul was never a pastor he never pastored a church he served an apostle he was there serving as a missionary but he was never a pastor because he was never the husband of one wife okay let's keep reading verse number 13 then where they brought unto him little children that he should put his hands on them now before I keep reading the rest of it remember last week chapter 18 and the disciples were asking who's gonna be the greatest in the king of heaven what did God do what so what did Jesus do he took a little child didn't he right and brought him in the midst of them all right he talks about how important the little children are and it boggles my mind because the disciples did not learn look what look what happens here and they were brought unto him little children that he should put his hands on them like to bless them to pray for them and and and it says here and the disciples rebuke them okay but Jesus said suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven and he laid hands on them and departed thence so you see Jesus Christ and rebuking his disciples they did not learn from the previous chapter Jesus Christ speaking highly of little children you know having to humble yourself as a little child we saw that last week and here they are making the mistakes again you know not respecting not receiving the little children and just again guys we need to remind ourselves little children are important little children need to hear the word of God little children look we've made mistakes in our lives but we want our children to not make the same mistakes that we've made and we need to show them what the word of God says we need to really spend time with the children they're the next generation okay they're the next generation of Christians and they're gonna grow up in a generation that's gonna be harder for them to serve the Lord than it is for us okay generation after generation it's getting harder and harder to serve the Lord the world is getting more wicked there's more persecution against preaching from the word of God okay we need to be praying for our children we need to be receiving the little children the same way that Jesus Christ did verse 16 and behold one came and said unto him good master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life so we this is a story of the young rich ruler now okay we're now changing gears to a new story this young rich ruler goes to Jesus and this man wants to be saved this man wants to receive eternal life he's gone to the right person he's gone to Jesus ask him the question hey and there's a lot of churches there are a lot of people that claim the name of Jesus today they want to be saved they want to go to heaven and they know I've got to go to Jesus but they make the same mistake the young rich ruler says what he says what good thing shall I do this young rich ruler wants to receive eternal life because he wants to do good works you know he wants to earn his way to heaven and we know in this church that you'll never earn your way to heaven you we know that there's no amount of good works you can do to ever be accepted by God all right this man had the right person Jesus but he wanted to do it by his works okay how many churches are there today that claim Jesus Christ that speak highly of Jesus and they're still preaching a gospel of works they're no different to the young rich ruler all right verse number 17 and he said unto him why call us down me good there is none good but one that is God but if that will enter into life keep the commandments all right now let's think about this Jesus Christ says why do you call me good now was Jesus good I think everyone I mean even non believers generally think Jesus was a good man a good teacher at least right of course Jesus was good so what is Jesus saying that is God says why do you call me good there's only one good that is God therefore I am God is what Jesus got I'm pointing to myself I'm not God but Jesus obviously saying I am God right Jesus is doing that okay and then he says well you know basically if you want to if you want to do good works then this is how you get to heaven you keep the commandments right Jesus is given the answer that the young rich man is looking for you know I need to do worse all right yeah keep the commandments all right let's have a look what are the commandments here this number 18 he's safe unto him which Jesus said well thou shalt not do murder thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness on thy father and thy mother and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself so Jesus quotes some of the Ten Commandments there and then verse 20 the young man safe unto him all these things have I kept from my youth up what lack I yet you believe this do you believe this this young man I know how it is let's say he was 18 or whatever is a young ritual okay let's say he's 18 he says look I've kept all these commandments from my youth up what is he saying I've not I've never disobeyed the commandments I'm sinless is what he's saying he said I've never broken the commands of God is he telling the truth oh nobody can do this I mean I've got ten kids I'm telling you by the age of two they've committed thousands of sins already all right that's what they call the terrible twos for a reason all right because they committed a great amount of sins by the time they get to that age all right verse 21 Jesus said unto him if thou wilt be perfect okay if you're gonna be perfect go and sell that that that that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me now we need to think about this for a minute okay because people get confused this is where people get the idea of works gospel based Gospels okay Jesus says I've got to sell my things I'll keep the commandments and then I can have eternal life that's what Jesus Christ teaching here but just think about this if someone if someone says to you what must I do to inherit eternal life what must I do to be saved what are you gonna say to that person of course you're gonna say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and there shall be saved I mean do you is anyone here truly going to say someone comes up to you what must I do to be saved are you truly gonna say go and sell that thou hast just go and sell everything that you have give it to the poor and come and follow Jesus is that what you're going to say to someone to be saved is Jesus telling this person if you do this you'll be saved now what Jesus Christ is doing is showing him that he does not have God as his priority that this young rich ruler still has his riches above God now these these riches these these possessions his material wealth was his God and not the Lord Jesus Christ he would rather keep his money okay then follow after Christ what Jesus trying to show this man is you are a sinner okay you cannot put aside your money after God if you can't do that hey that's your sin he's trying to show this man that he's a sinner and that's why when we start when we go and preach the gospel door to door the first thing we're trying to do is to show this person you're a sinner and have you have you ever told a lie yeah or you're a sinner you've broken the laws of God you've broken that shall not bear false witness as one of the commandments you're already a sinner you know and then we can go from there Jesus Christ is showing this man you're not sinless you haven't kept all the commandments you are a sinner verse number 22 verse number 22 and when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions and what he should have said was Jesus I can't give up my possessions I love my riches too much is there another way to be saved that's what he should have said and no doubt Jesus would have said to him yeah believe on me okay believe on me okay but let's keep reading verse 23 then said Jesus unto his disciples verily I stand to you that a rich man can hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven and this is so true it's so true on the Sunshine Coast where I am where we we've got our church base there's a lot of rich people in that area there's a lot of people with money a lot of people that have retired they don't have to worry about working they're relaxing that they've got it easy now so unreceptive and if you've been if you've gone door-knocking in places that are rich where people have a bit more money you know how unreceptive those people people are this is a true saying of Jesus Christ that for rich men it's very hard for them to answer the kingdom of heaven like for rich people they really have to come to a point of loss you know a point of like where do I go to now like my life is vain my life is empty this money is empty what what is that for me that's really what a rich man has to get to you know a point of despair in order for them then to call out to Christ and and know the way of salvation but look at verse 24 and again I thank you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God now that this verse is very simple well we know what a needle is people use needles to sew and so the the eye of needles a very small hole we know what a camel is it's a large animal and of course we would say a camel cannot go through the eye of a needle it's impossible okay well that's what we would say right common sense just reading the Bible of course a camel cannot go through the eye of a needle but I just want to show you what's how some people interpret this it just very quickly won't take us too long some people teach you know if you know Jerusalem you know the the ancient cities back then had had like huge walls you know to protect them from the enemy and then at night they would close the gates so the enemy cannot come through you know at night so the story goes that if you were traveling with a camel and you wanted to get into Jerusalem at night they would not open the gates just in case you're an enemy you know and then armies would come into the city but they would open this little passageway you know and this is called the eye of the needle okay this is the this is these are the Jewish fables okay so there's a small little passageway called the eye of needle and the only way a camel could go through that into the city was for the camel to go on to all its knees for it to be completely unburdened and for it to enter in like that so it's very difficult to get a camel through the eye of needle gate okay now that say well that sounds interesting maybe that's true everybody messes this up okay it messes it up completely because you see just like a camel cannot go through a needle cow the eye of a needle salvation is impossible for man you cannot be saved by your own efforts you cannot be saved by keeping the commandments it's impossible for you but if it's speaking about a camel going through a small gate it's very hard but it's achievable so think about the gospel there okay well that gospel would be well getting saved requires a lot of hard work no requires a lot of effort but man can save themselves so you can see how that interpretation just messes up the gospel the gospel is you cannot save yourself that's why you need the Savior okay that's the gospel and this is exactly what Jesus Christ says in verse 25 verse 25 he says when his disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazed saying who then can be saved the disciples know then it's impossible for man to look a camel cannot go for the if a camel could go through a small gates they wouldn't say this they wouldn't ask the question you know that who then can be saved but look at verse 26 but Jesus beheld them and said unto them we've men this is impossible but with God all things are possible with God all things a possible possible the reason you can be saved today the reason you can be forgiven for your sins is because God made it possible okay it was impossible for you you no matter how much hard works you put into it you're not going to make it okay you're not going to make it okay Jesus did all the hard work Jesus paid the penalty Jesus paid for your sins and God makes it easy okay God makes it easy believe in the Lord Jesus Christ accept what he's done for you salvation is easy for us Jesus did all the hard work verse 27 then answered Peter so we need the end now then answered Peter and said unto him behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore so what Peter saying here is well if it's only if it's possible by God it's not possible by man but we've left a lot for you Jesus we know that Peter and the others they left their full-time jobs as you know fishermen Levi's a tax collector they left these jobs to follow after Christ remember that so they left a lot of things for Christ okay and he's asking this question well then what profit like what's the advantage of us doing all this stuff you know and this is where Jesus now turns toward our rewards in heaven you see just because salvation is free just because it's a free gift doesn't mean that God doesn't want you to work hard doesn't mean that he doesn't want you to serve him of course he wants you to serve him of course he wants you to do good works of course he wants you to keep the commandments not for salvation because that's impossible but in order to fellowship to be a disciple to serve the Lord you ought to strive now that you are saved to serve him and this is how Jesus responds to Peter he says there in verse number verse number 28 verse number 28 and Jesus said unto them verily I sent you that year which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the front of his glory you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel so you see Jesus has pointed them to heavenly rewards okay eternal rewards he says these 12 disciples those that have left everything to follow after him he says look you've got an advantage you're going to be rewarded you're going to in the millennium this is what I believe is talking about the regeneration when we have our new resurrected bodies we're and the Lord rules and reigns on this earth that these twelve apostles of course not not Judas you know some people say it's Matthias or Paul but anyway that they will rule and reign with Jesus Christ during those thousand years and each one of them will be ruling over a tribe of Israel okay so they're going to get reward they're going to be they're gonna have high positional authority because they left a lot of they forsake they forsook a lot of things for the Lord and verse 29 and everyone that have forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my namesake shall receive and hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life you see whatever you give up for the Lord okay maybe before this church existed maybe on Tuesday nights you already had other plans you know maybe you already had plans for you know catching up your friends maybe plans to go and play soccer or something or some sporting thing or it right and you said no you know what on Tuesday nights I'm gonna be in church I'm gonna forsake that what I had Jesus says I'm gonna reward you for that if you forsook it for my name whatever you lose in this life for Christ Jesus says you're going to receive and hundredfold okay and and let me just encourage a lot of you guys because maybe a lot of you have not grown up in a Christian home you know you believe the gospel what happens to a lot of people their family disowned them or they just don't want that they you know they hate them they don't want anything to do with them and they feel they feel like you've lost your mind and you might lose those relationships Jesus says you're gonna be rewarded in heaven you're going to be rewarded in the future okay whatever you leave and this for me personally this was an encouragement to me when I went to the Sunshine Coast to start the church in Queensland you know I was I was leaving my my parents I was leaving my friends I was leaving the you know Sydney where I grew up in you know my whole life I was losing all these things where I'm comfortable I was going to a place where I really did not know many people you know the people that I didn't know I didn't really know them that well and I was encouraged by this verse in our world I'm losing these things for the name of Christ and I'm going to receive an a hundredfold in the future now sometimes these sacrifices are important Jesus is a hundredfold hundred times you know you know if you ever if you have a job and you work overtime sometimes your employee will pay you double time you know for doing what Jesus is not he's gonna pay you a hundred time okay a hundred time for the things that you've left in order to serve him and then in verse number 30 verse number 30 but many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first so this parallels the teacher from the last chapter remember again the little child Jesus putting the little child in the midst and saying look you need to be humble like this little child who's gonna be the greatest who's gonna get the most rewards who's gonna have the highest positions of authority in the kingdom to come those that made themselves last okay not those that promote themselves not those that that seek the the praise of men look how much I'm serving the Lord look how much I'm doing no not those people okay the ones that do the most for the Lord are those that just get into the work that just shut up I'm just gonna serve the Lord who cares if I get the praise of men they're the ones the ones that come last to serve other people those that humble themselves and lift up their fellow men they're the ones that are going to come first into the in the kingdom all right so let's leave it there and pray