January 13, 2019.
How do we gain eternal security if we are seeking God? 1) Divest ourselves of what hinders us from finding true security in Christ, that "one thing" 2) Invest in the kingdom of God, which is the only thing that will last, and leave the rest. The first will be last and the last first. Follow Christ. He will take care of all of our needs. What this world counts as wealth and what God counts as wealth are two different things.
In Mark 10:17-31, we discover Jesus’ teaching on wealth and reward in the kingdom of God. But it is also God’s call for seeking Him, to know how to come to Him, and to trust Him.
To hear the audio click on the YouTube image at the end of the manuscript.
Text Mark 10:17-31
Mark 10:17-31 CEV As Jesus was
walking down a road, a man ran up to him. He knelt down, and asked, “Good
teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. You know the
commandments. ‘Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not
tell lies about others. Do not cheat. Respect your father and mother.’ ” The man answered, “Teacher, I have obeyed all
these commandments since I was a young man.”
Jesus looked closely at the man. He liked him and said, “There's one
thing you still need to do. Go sell everything you own. Give the money to the
poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come with me.” When the man heard Jesus say this, he went
away gloomy and sad because he was very rich.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “It's hard for rich
people to get into God's kingdom!” The disciples were shocked to hear this. So
Jesus told them again, “It's terribly hard to get into God's kingdom! In fact,
it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
person to get into God's kingdom.”
Jesus' disciples were even more amazed. They asked each other, “How can
anyone ever be saved?” Jesus looked at
them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do
anything.” Peter replied, “Remember, we
left everything to be your followers!”
Jesus told him: You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or
brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the
good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given 100 times as many
houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land,
though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have
eternal life. But many who are now first will be last, and many who are now
last will be first.
I want to describe
two people to you this morning. I think
you'll recognize both of them.
Here’s the first guy:
He’s rich. Italian shoes. Tailored suit. His money is invested. His plastic is platinum. He lives like he flies – first class. He’s young. He works out at the gym. His belly is flat, his eyes sharp. Energy is his trademark, and death is an eternity away. He’s powerful. If you don’t think so, just ask him. You got questions? He’s got answers. You got problems? He’s got solutions. You got dilemmas? He’s got opinions. He knows where he’s going, and he’ll be there tomorrow. He’s the new generation. So the old had better pick up the pace or pack their bags.
He has mastered the three “Ps” of life today. Prosperity. Posterity. Power.
Who is he? He is the top salesman in his district, making it up the career ladder. She is the rising lawyer who was just made a partner at her prestigious law firm. He’s the successful real estate broker who has more listings than he can handle – except he can handle them just fine. In the Bible, he is the rich young ruler. Until today, life for him has been hang gliding in a clear, blue sky – but he runs into Jesus. He has one question, What’s in it for me, and what do I have to do to get it?
Here is the second person? He serves as an elder and a Sunday school teacher. He knows his Bible. He is committed to the Great Commission. He shares his faith. He is a true man of prayer. He is raising his family in the faith. He is a disciple of Jesus Christ. But he also struggles. He struggles with one question, What is in it for me? Since I have given You so much, what can I get in return? I want health. I could use more money. I just want You to make my kids turn out all right. I just want to retire early.
He is every Christian who has come to think of a relationship with God as a deal – I will give You my life, but what do I get in return? To some degree he is probably all of us who have left all to follow Christ. In the Bible, he is Peter.
Here’s the first guy:
He’s rich. Italian shoes. Tailored suit. His money is invested. His plastic is platinum. He lives like he flies – first class. He’s young. He works out at the gym. His belly is flat, his eyes sharp. Energy is his trademark, and death is an eternity away. He’s powerful. If you don’t think so, just ask him. You got questions? He’s got answers. You got problems? He’s got solutions. You got dilemmas? He’s got opinions. He knows where he’s going, and he’ll be there tomorrow. He’s the new generation. So the old had better pick up the pace or pack their bags.
He has mastered the three “Ps” of life today. Prosperity. Posterity. Power.
Who is he? He is the top salesman in his district, making it up the career ladder. She is the rising lawyer who was just made a partner at her prestigious law firm. He’s the successful real estate broker who has more listings than he can handle – except he can handle them just fine. In the Bible, he is the rich young ruler. Until today, life for him has been hang gliding in a clear, blue sky – but he runs into Jesus. He has one question, What’s in it for me, and what do I have to do to get it?
Here is the second person? He serves as an elder and a Sunday school teacher. He knows his Bible. He is committed to the Great Commission. He shares his faith. He is a true man of prayer. He is raising his family in the faith. He is a disciple of Jesus Christ. But he also struggles. He struggles with one question, What is in it for me? Since I have given You so much, what can I get in return? I want health. I could use more money. I just want You to make my kids turn out all right. I just want to retire early.
He is every Christian who has come to think of a relationship with God as a deal – I will give You my life, but what do I get in return? To some degree he is probably all of us who have left all to follow Christ. In the Bible, he is Peter.
Mark 10:28 CEV Peter replied,
“Remember, we left everything to be your followers!”
Common to both the
rich young man and Peter is the question that I am posing today – What’s in it
for me?
What’s in it for me is a major theme with some ministries that claim to be Christian. There are some ministries, and don't need to mention names, where the message is that if you have faith in Christ, you will have wealth galore. If you just give more, God will heal more. If you give more to this ministry God will give more to you. It all plays to the question on the heart of an unbeliever or a believer – What’s in it for me?
Here in Mark 10, we discover Jesus’ teaching on wealth and reward in the kingdom of God. But it is more. It is God’s call for seeking Him to know how to come to Him and for us believers to know how to trust Him.
What’s in it for me is a major theme with some ministries that claim to be Christian. There are some ministries, and don't need to mention names, where the message is that if you have faith in Christ, you will have wealth galore. If you just give more, God will heal more. If you give more to this ministry God will give more to you. It all plays to the question on the heart of an unbeliever or a believer – What’s in it for me?
Here in Mark 10, we discover Jesus’ teaching on wealth and reward in the kingdom of God. But it is more. It is God’s call for seeking Him to know how to come to Him and for us believers to know how to trust Him.
We've all gotten
things in the mail or our e-mail gives you tips on increasing your wealth, But
what I am giving you is not tips but truth that will set the record straight on
wealth and reward in the kingdom of God.
The Way to Have Eternal and Worldly Security Is to Divest or get rid of some things.
The Way to Have Eternal and Worldly Security Is to Divest or get rid of some things.
In our text we see
that Jesus tells this young man he needed to divest.
We call him the
rich young ruler because when we put Matthew, Mark, and Luke together, we get
the whole picture. In Matthew 19:16-22, verse 22 says that he is young.
Matthew 19:22 CEV When the young
man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.
In Luke 18:18-22 he
says in verse 18 that he is a ruler.
Luke 18:18 NKJV Now a certain
ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?”
In all three
accounts, he is rich, but he needed to get rid of some things in order to have
eternal life.
He needed to get
rid of a zeal or excitement that was without knowledge.
There can be no mistake, this man had zeal. He ran to Jesus. He called Jesus Good Teacher. But did He really know who Jesus was? The Lord calmed him down with a strong dose of caution. “Only God is good.” Jesus was not denying the claim but was showing that this young man had zeal but lacked knowledge.
The Bible speaks about people who have excitement without knowledge. Paul wrote this about his countrymen:
There can be no mistake, this man had zeal. He ran to Jesus. He called Jesus Good Teacher. But did He really know who Jesus was? The Lord calmed him down with a strong dose of caution. “Only God is good.” Jesus was not denying the claim but was showing that this young man had zeal but lacked knowledge.
The Bible speaks about people who have excitement without knowledge. Paul wrote this about his countrymen:
Romans 10:1-3 CEV Dear friends,
my greatest wish and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.
I know they love God, but they don't understand what makes people acceptable to
him. So they refuse to trust God, and they try to be acceptable by obeying the
Law.
Zeal can be an enthusiasm that is not biblical, and it can actually stand in the way of our relationship with God. Being excited about religion is not the same as trusting in Christ as Savior.
Having a zeal, running to Jesus but not trusting in Christ alone for eternal life is a hindrance. You and I must divest ourselves of zeal without knowledge.
Jesus probes deeper into the heart of this man, just as Christ does us. He does this because He loves us. I know that because this text tells us that Jesus loved this man who eventually went away sad and would not accept Him.
Zeal can be an enthusiasm that is not biblical, and it can actually stand in the way of our relationship with God. Being excited about religion is not the same as trusting in Christ as Savior.
Having a zeal, running to Jesus but not trusting in Christ alone for eternal life is a hindrance. You and I must divest ourselves of zeal without knowledge.
Jesus probes deeper into the heart of this man, just as Christ does us. He does this because He loves us. I know that because this text tells us that Jesus loved this man who eventually went away sad and would not accept Him.
This young man needed to
divest himself of self-righteousness.
Jesus saw that this
young man was proud of his accomplishments, so the Lord said, “You know the
law.” Jesus listed six laws dealing with the outward commandments associated
with our fellow man.
Mark 10:19 CEV You know the
commandments. ‘Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not
tell lies about others. Do not cheat. Respect your father and mother.’ ”
This man said,
“Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
I’m sure that he had kept the law outwardly. He hadn’t murdered, committed adultery, stolen anything, lied, defrauded anyone. I have every confidence that he was the perfect, obedient child. He prides himself on a careful attention to the outward things of life.
I’m sure that he had kept the law outwardly. He hadn’t murdered, committed adultery, stolen anything, lied, defrauded anyone. I have every confidence that he was the perfect, obedient child. He prides himself on a careful attention to the outward things of life.
It was here that
Jesus told him, “You lack one thing.”
Mark 10:21 CEV Jesus looked
closely at the man. He liked him and said, “There's one thing you still need to
do. Go sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have
riches in heaven. Then come with me.”
Based on what he
had done, this rich young ruler thought he had it all.
This young man was
relying on his own righteousness – What must I do to be saved. But what about the inner man?
In His sermon on the mount, in Matthew 5-7, Jesus showed that a man can keep the law outwardly and still be a sinner. Paul said that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
In His sermon on the mount, in Matthew 5-7, Jesus showed that a man can keep the law outwardly and still be a sinner. Paul said that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23 CEV All of us have
sinned and fallen short of God's glory.
Jesus said that the
Holy Spirit would come to convict the world of sin and righteousness.
John 16:8 NKJV And when He has
come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
In our text, Jesus shows us the folly of our
supposed righteousness and our need of His righteousness. Either you can keep
the law and earn God’s favor or else you are a sinner and need a Savior. Jesus
came, in fact, because you and I are sinners.
We cannot come to God based on our righteousness. He says our righteousness before Him is like filthy rags.
We cannot come to God based on our righteousness. He says our righteousness before Him is like filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:6 NKJV But we are all
like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all
fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
So we have to
divest ourselves of self-righteousness, which is unbelief and it is a sin
against Christ and the blood He shed for sinners. We come to Jesus, just as we
are, without one plea and cry out to Him. It’s called repentance.
We must also divest ourselves, of what Jesus called “one thing.”
We must also divest ourselves, of what Jesus called “one thing.”
I love the scene in
the movie City Slickers where Billy Crystal's character, Mitch, is alone with
Curly, played by Jack Palance. Curly is giving Mitch some life advice.
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
[holds up one finger] This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean nothing.
Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?"
Curly: That's what you have to find out.
Jesus looked at the young man and loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing.” The thing keeping him from God was his wealth.
Jesus went on to teach His disciples that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. They were astonished because they associated God’s favor with physical blessing. After all, Abraham was rich, David was rich. Having money wasn’t bad. And they were right – except that wealth can become a great stumbling block. When you have it all, you don’t need God. Wealth can become the “one thing.” Security in other forms can become the “one thing.” If your security is in anything other than God that is the “one thing” you need to divest yourself of.
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
[holds up one finger] This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean nothing.
Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?"
Curly: That's what you have to find out.
Jesus looked at the young man and loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing.” The thing keeping him from God was his wealth.
Jesus went on to teach His disciples that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. They were astonished because they associated God’s favor with physical blessing. After all, Abraham was rich, David was rich. Having money wasn’t bad. And they were right – except that wealth can become a great stumbling block. When you have it all, you don’t need God. Wealth can become the “one thing.” Security in other forms can become the “one thing.” If your security is in anything other than God that is the “one thing” you need to divest yourself of.
What to invest.
We have been talking about divesting ourselves of things
but we also need to make investments.
Jesus’ investment advice is contrary to the way most invest today. Most people look at all the data and what the experts suggest and follow their lead. However some of the most successful people do just the opposite. When they see people buying Apple stock because the price is soaring they don't buy. They buy when the news is bad and the price is down, and they hold it. When the price goes up then they sell with big profits. That's investing as a contrarian.
Jesus’ investment advice is contrary to the way most invest today. Most people look at all the data and what the experts suggest and follow their lead. However some of the most successful people do just the opposite. When they see people buying Apple stock because the price is soaring they don't buy. They buy when the news is bad and the price is down, and they hold it. When the price goes up then they sell with big profits. That's investing as a contrarian.
They don't follow
the crowd. They leave them and go
to the back of the
line where the investing is good.
Peter and the disciples needed to learn about contrarian investing and how it works with the Lord and so should we.
Peter and the disciples needed to learn about contrarian investing and how it works with the Lord and so should we.
You see, Peter was
upset. Jesus had told the rich young ruler to give it all away and follow Him.
The disciples had already done that. Peter was asking, What’s in it for me?
Mark 10:28 CEV Peter replied,
“Remember, we left everything to be your followers!”
Then Jesus told him
that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Mark 10:31 CEV But many who are
now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first.
What does it mean,
“the first shall be last and the last first?” The man who has invested in
temporary things and looks to be on top of the world, but who has not humbled
himself before Jesus Christ, will be bankrupt on the day of judgment, which
will happen first when he dies.
His priorities
can’t help him deal with his sin before a Holy God. On the other hand, the man
who is poor in spirit, who may or may not have vast financial holdings, that
man who quietly gave his all to Christ and to His work, who placed God first in
his life and, thereby, made himself last in the world’s eyes, will receive
great reward here, even through persecution, and eternal reward in heaven.
Matthew 5:3 NKJV “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
This is the
Christian contrarian way to wealth and reward in the kingdom of God. Jesus was
teaching that following Christ is not subtraction. It is multiplication. Not
just tenfold. Jesus promises a hundredfold.
Mark 10:29-30 CEV Jesus told
him: You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or brothers or sisters or
mother or father or children or land for me and for the good news will be
rewarded. In this world they will be given 100 times as many houses and
brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land, though they
will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have eternal life.
So how do we gain eternal security if we are seeking God? Divest ourselves of what hinders us from finding true security in Christ. Invest in the kingdom of God, which is the only thing that will last, and leave the rest. The first will be last and the last first. Follow Christ. He will take care of all of our needs. What this world counts as wealth and what God counts as wealth are two different things.
So how do we gain eternal security if we are seeking God? Divest ourselves of what hinders us from finding true security in Christ. Invest in the kingdom of God, which is the only thing that will last, and leave the rest. The first will be last and the last first. Follow Christ. He will take care of all of our needs. What this world counts as wealth and what God counts as wealth are two different things.
Let's stop asking
What’s in it for me?
Let's pray,.
Father, I divest my
life of all pretensions of holiness. I turn from seeking to please you through
my righteousness. I want to invest my life and my all, because I am overwhelmed
that you would do that for me. And I follow you no matter what. And I trust you
no matter what comes. You are my only security. You are my treasure.”
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
What is the “one
thing” that keeps you from Jesus Christ? What is the “one thing” that keeps you
from giving your life to Him today?
This rich young ruler was zealous but without a knowledge of God and man. His question – What must I do to inherit eternal life? – was the wrong question. He should have asked, Lord, how could a sinner like me ever stand before a holy God? It is not what I can do, but what God will do. He kept that law because you could not keep it, and when you come to Him by faith, He will lay your sins on His Son and impute His Son’s righteousness to your life.
This rich young ruler was zealous but without a knowledge of God and man. His question – What must I do to inherit eternal life? – was the wrong question. He should have asked, Lord, how could a sinner like me ever stand before a holy God? It is not what I can do, but what God will do. He kept that law because you could not keep it, and when you come to Him by faith, He will lay your sins on His Son and impute His Son’s righteousness to your life.
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