Some catch a feint glimpse of heaven who never enter in. This rich young ruler saw enough to know that he very much wanted eternal life, and it was a thoroughly good thing. He had run after the Lord to ask for it. But the world was still in his heart, and he could not let go, and as he began to be torn in two, he backed off and made his choice and decided to do without heaven. That was an exceedingly foolish choice, but covetousness blinded him. The one who approaches Christ needs to understanding fully what is at stake. He is in a very vulnerable position. He dare not trust his own feelings, and he must recognise the pull of the world on him, and pray very earnestly, with all his heart, to be delivered from it, for his desires are stronger than he is. Unless the Lord draws him, he is bound to go back.
So these barriers to coming to Christ, impediments, what are they? It may be that there is a great barrier in your mind, in your life, which prevents you from sincerely coming to Jesus Christ, and it's this: your independence is king, your power of self-determination, your right and liberty to set your own course and determine everything that happens to you yourself. That may be king, that may be lord of your life. ‘I would like eternal life, I would like to have my sins forgiven, I would like a new nature, I would like to walk with God and have his blessing, but I want my independence. I don't want God to rule me, I don't want to be under the rule of the Bible, I don't want that. So it may be that an impediment for you is this hunger, this longing to keep your independence.
Or it may be that like the rich young ruler, property and possessions is king. You would like to come to Christ. When you hear the gospel, you feel your need, but you have got to make your pile; you have got to make money; you have got to have things. These are really what you love far more.
It may be for some people that pleasure is king, including much sinful pleasure. You can't become a Christian, you can't turn to the Lord because you've got to fill your life with earthly entertainment, recreation and pleasure and this is everything to you.
It may be that pride is king, what people think of you – ‘I think about how high I can rise, what esteem and applause I shall get. I have got to do something that will get people to applaud me and think well of me. I have got to be famous.’ Maybe that is king for you. You can't come to Jesus Christ because you've got another objective, and it's absolutely in the way.
It may be that there is some addiction that is king, some sinful habit, something which holds you back. Maybe you have godless friends, and you want to stay with them. You want to do the things that they do, and you don't want to be excluded from their circle, and that means so much to you that you cannot come to Jesus Christ.
In the case of the rich young ruler it was his wealth, but what is the impediment with us? Maybe one of those things, maybe several of those things and they prevent us coming to Christ. They are barriers. Must everything be forfeited as in the case of the rich young ruler? No. Only the barriers, only the things that prevent you wholeheartedly and sincerely coming to Jesus Christ. Your sins, things you put above the lord, things that are distasteful to him, things that are just for yourself and to feed your pride. If these things have got a grip on you, then you need to go to God and ask him to release you from them, so that you can come to Jesus Christ. It's impossible for you but this is how you do it. You come to Christ and you say, ‘Lord, this thing has got hold of me; this thing rules me; this thing is more important to me than anything. I cannot just pluck it out and throw it away. But Lord, I come to thee. Lord, I trust thee to help me. Set me free from these things. Take my heart, forgive me, and make me thy child’, and if you long to get rid of that thing which rules you and reigns over you, God will enable you to get rid of it. He will deal with it and you will find that you are able to give that thing up.