This sermon delves into various key passages from Matthew's Gospel chapter 17, covering the Transfiguration of Jesus, the question concerning Elijah, the man with the demon-possessed son, the impotent disciples, Jesus prophesying his death, and the subject of taxes. It also explores the importance of surrendering all to follow Jesus, the challenges of wealth and discipleship, and the promise of eternal life for those who forsake worldly attachments.

Let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew's Gospel chapter 17. Here in the 17th chapter of Matthew's Gospel, Matthew's going to deal with the subject of the Transfiguration of Jesus, verses 1 to 9. 10 to 13, he's going to talk about the question concerning Elijah. And then in verses 14 to 18, the man with the demon possessed son. Verses 19 to 21, the impotent disciples. Verses 22 and 23, Jesus prophesies again of his death. And then the subject of taxes, verses 24 to 27, and what Jesus has to say about paying your taxes. So chapter 17, actually chapter 17, I believe, begins with verse 28 of chapter 16. You know, the chapters and the verses were things that men have put in there to help you to refer to particular passages. And it's very, very convenient. But I do think that they made a few mistakes in their dividing of chapters and so forth. And this is one place where I think that they made a mistake. I do believe that verse 28 of chapter 16 does belong with verse 1 of chapter 17. And in order to really understand chapter 17 verse 1, you need 1628. So in 1628, Matthew is saying, verily I say unto you, well Jesus, he's quoting Jesus, there are some who are standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. In other words, here some of you are with me, you're not going to taste of death until you see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Well, Jesus died and the disciples all died many years ago and you say, he hasn't yet come in his kingdom. So what did he mean by that? And chapter 17 explains it. After six days, six days after he had said that, he took Peter, James and John, his brother, and he brought them into a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sun and his raiment as white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto him Moses and Elijah talking with him. And then answered Peter and said unto him, Lord, it is good for us to be here. And if you will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And while he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice out of the cloud which said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. Now Moses, of course, represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets. And that pretty much sums up the Old Testament, the law and the prophets. But hear Jesus is what the Lord is saying, the voice from heaven, hear ye him. In other words, Peter is saying, you know, let's make three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, one for you. And the voice says, you only need one. Because God, who in times past spoke to us by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his own dear son. And thus, hear him, Jesus, the final manifestation of God to us and the final voice of God to us. And so that's, you have there in the beginning, the transfiguration of Christ and the commandment to listen to him. So when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and they were afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, arise, don't be afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man except Jesus only. And they came down from the mountain and Jesus charged them saying, don't tell the vision to any man until the Son of Man is risen again from the dead. And so the first portion of Matthew chapter 17 deals with this transfiguration of Christ there on the mount with Peter, James, and John. And then going into chapter, verse 10, the disciples asked him and said, why then say the scribes that Elijah must come first? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall come first and restore all things. But then he went on to say, but I say unto you that Elijah has come already. And they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they have desired. And likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. And so Jesus is saying that John the Baptist was sort of a partial fulfillment of that prophecy in Malachi. And let's see, it is in there Malachi chapter four, verse five, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. And so the promise, in fact, it's the last verses of the Old Testament and God's promise to send Elijah to sort of restore things as far as their relationship with God is concerned. Now, notice that Jesus said, Elijah shall come first. Now, that is this prophecy of Malachi is not yet fulfilled completely, partially fulfilled with John the Baptist. He was a foreshadowing of the coming of Elijah, but is not the fulfillment of the promise there in Malachi of the coming of Elijah before the great notable day of the Lord. So Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things. And so during the great tribulation, there are two prophets that are going to come, two witnesses of the Lord. One will be Elijah, the other we don't know, but possibly Moses. The fact that Moses appeared here with Elijah puts Moses in the running. Some say it's going to be Enoch and others who believe it's going to be one of the other prophets, but we don't know which the other one actually is for certain. But we do know that Elijah will be coming and he will be witnessing there in Jerusalem for a few years until they put him to death and his body will lie in the streets for three days. And then life will come into it and he will ascend into heaven in the sight of all of the people. So those that are on the earth, and I trust you won't be here, are going to see some interesting things, but I'll be seeing more interesting things in the heavenly scene. So then in verse 14, we find that when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son. He's a lunatic and he's sore vexed. Often he falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples and they could not cure him. And then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus apart and said, why could we not cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief, for I say unto you that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you should say unto this mountain, remove from here to yonder place and it should remove. Nothing would be impossible unto you. How be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. And so the disciples, impotent, unable to cast the demon out of this boy. Now in the other gospels, we tell us that when the boy was coming to Jesus, the devil took control, threw him on the ground and caused him to just froth at the mouth and all. And probably that's what happened when he brought him to the disciples. And, you know, the disciples were so overawed with the power of Satan to control this life that they lost sight of the power of God. And I think that Satan likes to do that to us, just impresses so much with what he can do that we get our eyes off of what God can do. But greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Now in verse 22 and 23, Jesus describes his death or prophesies his death. While they were still abiding there in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men and they shall kill him. And the third day he shall be raised again and they were exceeding sorry. He is now beginning more and more to talk about the fact that he's going to be killed and that he's going to rise again. But it's an interesting thing with the disciples. When he mentioned the fact he's going to be killed, their minds just sort of, you know, closed off and they didn't hear the rest of it, that he's going to rise again the third day. And it was just so shocking. It sort of shows to us the problem of having in our minds a mindset that this is the way God is going to do things. Because they knew that with the coming of Jesus that he was, that God had promised the Messiah to reign over the earth. And they were anticipating this wonderful reign of Jesus Christ, which of course is yet future. He is going to reign, but not yet. We're almost there. Soon we'll be, but not yet. And because they were so fixated on the glorious kingdom and his reigning in power over the earth, any talk about his death was just a real turn-off to them. They were looking for positions of power and authority when he set up his kingdom, and they just didn't like any kind of talk of his death. And yet he is beginning to tell them about it. And in fact, in a chapter or two, we find that Peter is going to rebuke him for even suggesting it. Jesus and taxes, verse 24. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the tax money came to Peter, and he said, Does your master pay taxes? And he said, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus presented him, and he said, What do you think, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take the custom or tribute? Of their own children or of strangers? And Peter said to him, Of strangers. And Jesus said to him, Then are the children free, notwithstanding, lest we should offend them. Go to the sea, cast in a hook, take up the fish that first comes up, and when you have opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money. Take it and go give it to them, and for you and for me. Handy fellow to have around, isn't he? I mean, when taxes are due, he can tell you, Well, just go down and go fishing and open the mouth of the fish and you'll find the tax money there. So as we get into chapter 18, the questions of who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, verse 1. Verses 2 to 10, Jesus takes a little child to illustrate his answer. In verse 11, he announces the purpose of his coming. And in 12 to 14, the value of finding one lost sheep. 15 to 17, dealing with offenses that happen within the church. Verse 18, the binding and the loosing. 19 and 20, unity and agreement in prayer, the power that is there. And 21 through 35, lessons on the importance of forgiveness. So at the same time, the disciples came unto Jesus and they said, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? You know, this is an interesting thing. We think of the disciples as sort of perfect, you know, Christians. No, unfortunately, they weren't. They're just like we are, filled with flaws and problems. They were constantly bickering among themselves, constantly sort of vying against each other and trying to determine who was going to be the greatest when the Lord set up his kingdom. And this was a constant kind of a argument among them as who would be the greatest. And that's just so typical of the self-life. And interesting to me and all that, Jesus could use them and did use them in spite of their flaws. I think that so many times when we look at ourselves and we're conscious of our flaws, we think, well, you know, I can understand why the Lord would use Peter and James and John and so forth because look at, you know, the things they did and all. But they were men who are just like us. They are flawed just like we are flawed and still the Lord uses them. I don't know about you, but that encourages me. You know, God uses flawed people and thus I know that God can use me. The flaws do not disqualify me from God using me. So here they are sort of again dealing with this subject, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them. And he said, Verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, you will not even enter into the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one of such little child in my name receives me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he was drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses. It must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offenses come. Wherefore if your hand or your foot offend thee, cut them off, cast them from thee. Better for you that you enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet and be cast into everlasting fire. And if your eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee. Better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven. Interesting passage. The greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus takes this little child and uses it as an illustration and says, you've got to become as a little child. That is childlike faith in him. And then he warns concerning the offenses. You know, offenses are going to come. You can't help it. But woe unto them by whom these offenses do come. And better for them that they be maimed or crippled rather than bringing offense to the gospel. I had a very tragic experience several years ago. I got a call from a father out in San Bernardino who wanted me to come out and to visit him and his son. His son had read this passage of scripture. If your hand offend you, cut it off. You know, better to go into heaven maimed than having, you know, both hands and being cast into hell. And this young son, he was about 16, cut off his hand with the saw. And they called me to come out and to talk to him and to talk, of course, to the family too, who were just devastated because of this action. Hard, hard to deal with that because Jesus did say this and it does sound very, and it is extremely severe. But again, you've got to look at it from another standpoint. And that is, did he mean that literally? And I don't think so. I think that he's just talking about, you know, and I think he meant it for shock value. But I don't think that he was actually advocating that you do that. Because you could cut off the one hand, but you still have your other hand. You could pluck out one eye, but you still got the other eye. And so I'm sure that he's not talking about doing that literally, but just shock value, how important it is not to allow, you know, our bodies to create a breach between us and the Lord. Because of, you know, pornography, loving to look at evil things and so forth, rather than plucking out your eye, just don't buy those magazines. But Jesus said, take heed that you don't despise one of these little ones, for I send you that in heaven, their angels do behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. And I think of that whenever we have problems with a death of children in the church, and little babies who have died and so forth. And I think of this passage of Scripture, their faces do behold the face of the Father, which is in heaven. So then in verse 11, he announces the purpose of his coming, for the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. We were all of us lost because of our sin. He came and the purpose of his coming was to pay the price to redeem us from our sin. So he came to save that which was lost. He goes on to say, how think you, if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them is gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and he goes into the mountains, and he seeks the one that has gone astray? And if so be he finds it, verily I was saying to you, he rejoices more over that sheep rather than the ninety and nine which went not astray. And even so, is it not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish? And so Jesus concerning, you know, the lost sheep, and how important it is that he redeem and capture that lost sheep. Then the discipline within the church in dealing with problems that arise. Moreover, if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault, and between you and him alone. And if he will hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word might be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, then tell it to the church, and if he neglects to hear the church, then let him be to you as a heathen and as a publican. For verily I say unto you, whatsoever you bind in heaven will be bound, or bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. This discipline within the church, if a brother be overtaken in a fall, it doesn't say go out and broadcast and say, did you know what he did? Yeah, I heard you know that he, oh my, you know, and broadcast to everybody. Go to your brother and say, you know, I heard that this was going on in your life, and I wanted to talk and pray with you about it, you know, and you know, is it true? And deal with your brother on a personal level. Hopefully he will repent. Hopefully you can pray for him. Hopefully there will be restoration. If he listens, you've gained the brother. If he doesn't listen, then take a couple with you, witnesses, and again deal with it still in a very intimate, close kind of a way, not openly, publicly. That comes further on. If he doesn't listen, then you take him before the church, and if he won't listen then, he is to be treated as a publican, as an outsider, and to lose really his position within the church. And so it's a sad thing when that is necessary to do within the church, but there are times when it is necessary. But that's the last resort, not the first resort. The last resort is taking it before the church. So binding on earth, bound in heaven. Loosing on earth, loosing in heaven. That's a lot of power that the Lord has made available to us, of binding the works of Satan in the life of an individual, and loosing the works of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual. And it is interesting that this is in the context of the problems that arise within the church, and dealing with them, and binding, you know, the problem that is there, and loosing the work of the Holy Spirit. And so then verses 19 and 20, the power of prayer. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth, touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For, and this is a reason, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Well I think that we can safely say the Lord is here tonight. We're gathered together in his name, and he said where two or three were gathered in his name, he is there in the midst of them. And so, wonderful to know the presence of our Lord with us here tonight. And he is here to minister to our needs. Now, the problem is we can't see him. And you know, if he were visible, wouldn't that make a big difference tonight? I mean if the Lord were visibly here, you could actually see him. If he were sitting up here instead of me, I mean, you'd think, whoa, you know, and your needs and so forth. I mean you'd have such confidence that, oh, you know, the Lord is here, he's here to bless us. Well he is here to bless us. And just because you can't see him, don't discount the fact that he is here. And he is here to minister to you and to help you and to bless you tonight. So whatever your need is, reach out. You know, we're going to be getting to a place here in just a moment where as many as touched him were healed of the problems that they were experiencing. And so I would encourage you tonight, reach out in faith to touch him and just let him minister to you in a very special way. Now, lessons in forgiveness. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Seven times? I think that Peter, in saying seven times, is sort of stretching it in his own mind. I think that he's thinking that the Lord's going to commend him and say, good boy, Peter, you're catching on, you know, this idea of forgiveness. Congratulations, Peter. And I think that Peter was looking for some kudos, some pats on the back, you know, good, good man, Peter, you're getting it. But the Lord answered him and I'm sure the answer just sort of blew him away. He said, I say not until seven times, but until 70 times seven. Aye, aye, aye. 70 times seven. I think that the Lord is figuring that Peter would lose count before he got there and come to the realization that forgiveness is not a matter of mathematics. It's a matter of just the spirit that I have. Just forgiving. Not to hold a grudge, not to hold bitterness in my heart over what someone has done, but just to be forgiving. And so 70 times seven. And then the Lord sort of illustrated it. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought to him which owed him 10,000 talents, or almost a million dollars. But for as much as he had nothing to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that he had, that payment may be made. And the servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay you all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and he loosed him and forgave him the debt, forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence, or you know, $1,700. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me what you owe me. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him saying, have patience with me and I will pay you all. But he would not. He cast, had him cast into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw that was done, they were very sorry. And they came and told their Lord all that had been done. And his Lord, after that he would, had called him, said to him, oh, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you desired me. Should you not have also had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I have pity on you? And the Lord was angry and he delivered him to the tormentors that he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise, Jesus said, shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if you from your heart do not forgive everyone, his brother, their trespasses. I love it how Jesus likes to just sort use extreme kind of illustrations. And in order to get the point across, here's a fellow that owes a million dollars and he is forgiven his debt. He goes out and catches a fellow servant that owes him just a few thousand, has him thrown in debtors prison until he paid it all. And how that, you know, the Lord, when he heard of it, called him in and had him pay proper dues for his evil activities. So getting into chapter 19, verses 1 to 9, the teaching of Jesus on divorce and remarriage. Verses 10 and 12, Jesus further discusses and clarifies this issue with his disciples. Verses 13 and 15, Jesus with the little children. Verses 16 to 22, Jesus and the rich young ruler. Verses 23 to 26, the impossibility of salvation apart from a work of God. And then 27 to 30, Peter's question and the answer of Jesus. So it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee and he came into the coast of Judea beyond Jordan. And great multitudes followed him and he healed them there. And the Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, have you not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? And he said, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall flee to his wife and they too shall become one flesh. Wherefore they are no longer two but one. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And they said unto him, why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away? And he said unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts allowed you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication and shall marry another commits adultery and whosoever marries her, which is put away does commit adultery. His disciples said unto him, if this is the case of a man to be so with his wife, it is probably good not to marry. But he said unto them, all men cannot receive the same except those to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs which are so born from their mother's womb. There are eunuchs which are made eunuchs of men and there are 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 as Jesus is teaching here on the subject of divorce, notice that the question was a lead question. It was tempting him. They knew basically the strict way that Jesus interpreted marriage and how that he was not at all lenient toward divorcing. And so they were trying to get him to commit to this. In the Jewish school of thought, there were two contrary opinions and they were quite contrary. There was the one Jewish rabbi who was very liberal. He taught that, you know, in the law it says if a man finds an uncleanness in his wife, he could put her away or divorce her. And this particular rabbi said that uncleanness was if she didn't fix his coffee to his liking, he could divorce her. Or if, you know, she did any little thing that he just didn't appreciate or like that that was cause for divorce. Then there was this other rabbi, Hillel, and he took a much stronger view. He said, no, you can't really divorce unless there is infidelity within the relationship. And thus you had the two strong opinions by these two different rabbis. And this was at the time of Jesus that they were interpreting the law concerning divorce according to these two different rabbis. And of course, those that wanted the divorce would go with Shammai and the others would go with Hillel who wanted to keep their marriage going. So Jesus is now giving his view on the fact and his view, of course, is very strict. A man shall leave his mother and father, cleave to his wife, they too become one flesh. Wherefore they are no longer two but one. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And they said, then why did Moses give commandments to give a writing of divorcement to put her away? And Moses did give that commandment that if she does not please him, you know, that he could put her away. But Jesus is saying, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to put away your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. Jesus goes back to the original intent of marriage. And the original intent of God for marriage is one for life. And that was God's original intent for marriage. And, you know, God hasn't changed on that one, according to Jesus. And so, but Moses because of the hardness of your heart. Now, I do know that there are people who in their marriages, there's that hardness of heart, and they're not willing to forgive, they're not willing to reconcile. And there are divorces that happen within Christian marriages today. And people that just say, I can't, I can't maintain it, I can't go on. But it is interesting that the Lord does allow for fornication, the divorce for fornication, but not necessary, it's not a requirement. In other words, it isn't that you have to divorce or whatever, but it would be an excuse for a divorce. And if there is fornication involved. So that's the teaching of Jesus on the subject of divorce. And Jesus is saying, all men cannot receive the same saying except to those to whom it is given. And he that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Then in verse 13 and 14, 15, Jesus with the little children. Then they were brought unto him, little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, suffer the little children, forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid on his hands on them and he departed from there. It's interesting to me how that little children were attracted to Jesus and how they love to come to him and how that he would lay his hands on them and bless them. And the disciples, you know, thinking they were helping the Lord, you know, these little children, they're coming up to be touched and blessed. You know, get your kids out of here, you know, don't bother the Lord with them. And Jesus rebuked the disciples. And he said, allow the little children to come to me. Don't forbid them. Of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he took them into his arms and blessed them. In 16 to 22, Jesus and the rich young ruler. And behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And Jesus called him, Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? There is none that is good, but one, and that is God. But if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. Now, this is interesting when he said, good master, what good thing must I do to inherit the kingdom of heaven? Jesus questioned, why do you call me good? There's only one that is good, and that is God. If you will enter into life, keep the commandments. Jesus is saying one of two things. He is saying, I am no good. Or he is saying, I am God. And I think that the question, why callest thou me good? Jesus is actually helping him to realize the reason why you call me good. The reason why you are asking me this question is that you see there is something different in me. In other words, you're recognizing a truth concerning me. You're recognizing who I am. Why do you call me good? Well, the reason why you call me good is because I am God. And I think that that's what Jesus is saying to this rich young ruler. But he said to him, well, just keep the commandments. He said unto him, the rich young ruler said to Jesus, which? And Jesus said, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man said to Jesus, all of these things have I kept from my youth, but what lack I yet? Now notice Jesus gave to him the second table of the law. The first table of the law dealt with man's relationship to God. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second table of the law had to do with man's relationship with his fellow man. Jesus quoted the second table of the law to him, which dealt with relationship with fellow man. And he could say, I've kept all of these from my youth up, but what lack I yet? He realized that there was something still lacking. Now it is interesting that Jesus did not give to him the first table of the law, the decalogue that dealt with his relationship with God until he asked this question, what lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him, if you will be perfect, go and sell all that you have, give to the poor, you'll have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. And when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. And then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And when his disciples heard it, they were exceeding amazed. And they said, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and he said unto them, with men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Salvation for you is impossible. You can't attain to it. You can't achieve it. It's impossible. But with God, all things are possible. God can do for you what you can't do for yourself. And so it is with salvation. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And so it is interesting as Jesus then gives to him, you know, if you will be perfect, go and sell all that you have and come and follow me. You know, distribute it to the poor, come and follow me. You say, well, he lacked poverty. No, no. What his problem was, is that his riches were his God. The Bible says thou shall have no other gods before me. His riches were his God. And thus he was violating the first table of the law in that he had another God that was more important to him than the true and the living God. And that's what Jesus then put his finger on. And when he heard that, he went away sorrowful because he was very rich. Someone said, well, if I was very rich, I'd never be sorrowful. Well, you know, it's not so. You find rich people are often committing suicide. So we finish off this chapter with the question of Peter, then answered Peter and said unto him, behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall we have therefore? What's in it for me? You know, I've forsaken everything, left my nets and fishing and so forth to follow you. And Jesus said to them, verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you shall sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone that hath forsaken houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name's sake shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first. And so Jesus is saying, you know, no one has left, but what they're going to get even more in return and in the life to come eternal life. It's interesting how that when you accept Jesus Christ, it sometimes does create a breach in your family relationships. They don't understand why it is that you have such a trust in the Lord. They don't understand why you are here tonight. You know, why would you want to go and just study the Bible? And, you know, and they just don't understand. The natural man doesn't understand the things of the spirit, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he which is spiritual understands all things, though he is not understood. So it could be that you're accepting Jesus Christ has created sort of a division between you and some of your family members, maybe your parents, maybe your children, maybe a brother, sister, whatever. But no one has left them. But what God is going to reward them a hundredfold and in this life and then eternal life with him in his kingdom. So the teachings of Jesus through Matthew and we'll pick up in Chapter 20 next week as we continue our journey through the New Testament and this going ahead in our study of the word. Father, thank you for your word. A lamp into our feet, a light into our path. May we walk in the light of your truth. Lord, may we become everything you would have us to be. Help us, Lord, to shed the things of the world from our lives and Lord, begin to live for you with all of our hearts, mind, strength, soul. Blessed we pray, Father, this week. Go before us. Keep us, Lord, in the hollow of your hand. Use us, Lord, as you see fit to share your truth and your love with others. May we be instruments, Lord, through which you can accomplish your eternal purposes as we surrender and submit our ways to you. Thank you, Lord, for your people and for the blessings of this family that we can just, Lord, gather together and study your word and worship you and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray these things in his name and for his sake. Amen.