Session #6

Matthew 19:16-22

"Real Revealing Real" • 10.27.09 • Jesus Christ: The Man Of God, Session #6

Intro

- When Jesus came onto the scene, there were many other models for success and abundance. Jesus was a man that bucked all the traditional paradigms, and became the new envy.

- There was genuine power and authority in His words. When He spoke, something different happened to people. Of course, as we have seen, there was enormous power in His actions.

- None had ever seen the types of things that Jesus was doing.

- But then, there were those around Him who were exposed. The religious leaders, most of whom had risen from the vaccuum of the inter-testamental period, were at a loss to explain Him.

- When Jesus came on the scene, they were exposed by the reality of life that Jesus carried in Himself. The Pharisees and Sadducees would never have the same type of influence again.

- They were not all who were exposed. Other men came to Jesus, men who should not ever have to come to another men, but especially a man from Nazareth.

- These were powerful men. Men not used to genuflecting to another. Self-made men, who when exposed to Jesus, realized in short manner, the lack in their own life.

- In the natural order of our society, there are men who have everything, but in reality have nothing. They are on top of the world, but they are empty. They have little to show for their conquest.

- These men came to Jesus to seek what they could not have gained without His help, and yes, they did not even know that they lacked it until He came!

- Jesus has a way of deconstructing us all. For those who would fall upon Him to be broken in humility, there are rewards that never end. This brings us to our subject today.

- Jesus is walking along, when He is unexpectedly joined by a man, rushing in to have an audience with Him. He is the Rich Young Ruler. He'll teach us three lessons about abundance.

- If he were with us today, I feel that he would communicate what he learned that day in these three sentences:

I. "Abundance Does Not Come From What We Are!" (v.16,17)

II. "Abundance Does Not Come From What We Do!" (v.18-20)

III. "Abundance Does Not Come From What We Have!" (v.21,22)

Text

I. "Abundance Does Not Come From What We Are!" (v.16,17)

• Matthew 19:16,17 : "Now behold, one came and said to Him, 'GoodTeacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' So He said to him, 'Why do you call Me good?No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.'" : All three of the synoptic gospels cover this same story, so I'll allude to them as we cover each section.

- Mark 10:17 tells us that this man came running to him! There is urgency in this man, a man that is not likely used to doing things himself, but an opportunity has presented itself.

- He is a respectful man, noting immediately who Jesus was. He was "Good Teacher."

- We see the word "good" and think of it as a verb that means "less than great." However, nobody would have used the word "good" to describe a rabbi of that day.

- It implied sinlessness. Those who heard it understood that this is what that meant.

- His question is telling. "What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life." This man is used to accomplishment. He is used to getting whatever he wanted.

- All three stories tell us that he had great possessions. Verse 22 tells us that he was young and Luke 18:18 tells us that he was a ruler.

- Think of the top 10 desires of any person on Earth. If we were to take a survey of any number of people, all the lists would include at least one thing that is represented in this man.

- Most would contain at least 2, if not all three things: Wealth, Youth and Authority.

- Yet for all that he was positionally, he could not find the formula necessary to obtain eternal life. All of what he had accomplished, the mountaintop of his experiences had left him empty.

- There is no position, no accomplishment, no thing on earth that will bring eternal life to us! It is outside of the realm of this existence.

- Testimony after testimony bears this out. You hear of men reaching for something that was never meant for them find in what we are. It must come from an external source.

- Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 3. Solomon was a man that was well acquainted with the vanity of life. Solomon is quoting that song from the 60's, commenting on the existence of men.

• Ecclesiastes 3:9-11 : "What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."

- It's a reality that God has planted in our hearts, but we can never grasp it. In desperation, the Rich Young Ruler comes to find out from a peasant, what the secret was.

- Jesus just asks him, "Why do you call me good?" There is such a truth here that is inescapable. Why does He look to Jesus? Why does He come here and not another place?

- This was not a rebuke, but a leading question. "There is a reason that you call me good. Why do you perceive that?" It’s because Jesus is God in the flesh and this man was right there.

- Because He recognized Christ's deity. He was unable to articulate it, but he sensed it and Jesus is trying to draw him in.

II. "Abundance Does Not Come From What We Do!" (v.18-20)

• Matthew 19:18-20 : "He said to Him, 'Which ones?' Jesus said, 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 'The young man said to Him, 'All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?'" : Jesus' answer from verse 17 to keep the commandments drew a perplexing response. "Which ones."

- This is typical religious thinking. Can I boil it down? Can I find that one activity that approves me to the Lord? Can I find my purpose?

- "Which ones?" as if the commandments can be separated from each other. They are a chain, with separate links, but nonetheless, bound together. If you break one you break all!

- Jesus clarifies by listing what we know as the second table of the law. Each of the commandments that deal with the issue of "loving our neighbor" is covered.

- Jesus leaves out the first table, which are the first of the commandments relating to our relationship to God.

- To the question, the man feels certain that he has kept these from his youth. He had been charitable. He had been kind. He had been honest.

- He is confident that he has done these things. As he understood the commandments, he had been faultless and Jesus doesn’t argue with him.

- He had been taught by the religious leaders of that day that eternal life was to be had by following the law, but that did not bring him what he was looking for.

- Religion never brings peace. It brings a constant question and a consistent shadow of doubt.

- Of course, he had not really kept them. Comparable to every one else, I am sure that he was just as noble.

- I love that he mentions that he had done this from his youth, from his childhood. A very young age. He had been a church kid, taught to think in church ways.

- He had done the exciting things: The camps, the cookouts, the mission trips. All fun and exciting, but they ended and when they did, so did his zeal.

- This may not be the Rich Young Ruler's testimony, but it is mine! I learned long ago that I could not measure my Christianity or anyone else's by their enthusiasm.

- What is of further interest to me here is the move in many Christian circles toward social mission. Cure, feed, care for their need and then give them Jesus.

- It seems as though Christians have come back to believing that their experiences will bring them to a place of fulfillment. If they can cultivate their passion, then they'll have the illusive "it!"

- Don't get me wrong. It is fulfilling to care for the poor. It is God's mission for us to look at others and seek to meet their needs, but only as we do so in harmony with the first table of the law.

- Have we no other god beside God? Are we conscious of His place in our life?

- I don't believe that it's an accident that Jesus leaves that out. There is no amount of spiritual exercise and activity that will replace that void that only God Himself fills!

- I imagine that the Rich Young Ruler had done it all. Charity. Ministry. Outreach. All good, but not the Good, especially when done outside of relationship to God!

- The first table is the priority if the second table is to be the practice! The Rich Young Ruler had not found his purpose because he did not know who was writing it!

III. "Abundance Does Not Come From What We Have!" (v.21,22)

• Matthew 19:21,22 : "Jesus said to him, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." : The Rich Young Ruler is right where Jesus wants him. He is still clueless, but at the highest place of curiosity.

- He is living in the ideal that he will have what he needs most.

- Mark 10:21 says, "Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him." Jesus was not harsh or angry.

- He was not condescending to this man of the world. He loved him. If you get nothing else, remember these words. Rightly represent God's character to the people in your life.

- Be convinced that He loves them and you will love them yourself. When that happens, they'll see you as an extension of God's love to them.

- "If you want to be perfect." That was the issue. The word "perfect" is the word "complete," or "finished."

- Jesus puts this in a volitional condition. If you want to be...Do you really want this? Is what you want worthy of an action?

- One can almost see the Rich Young Ruler, licking his lips, waiting on every word. The next words felll like a bomb: Sell what you have and give to the poor!

- Even as the words were exiting, the Rich Young Ruler's smile was vanishing.

- Many have interpreted this to mean that if one wants to be complete that they need to live in poverty. That's not what is happening here.

- What Jesus has done is to put His finger on precisely what has kept this particular man from having eternal life. For this particular man, the issue was possessions.

- Sell all and give the proceeds to the poor. Notice what Jesus says: You will have treasure in heaven! What is Jesus saying here? Is He saying that you can’t be rich and get into heaven?

- That is not what is happening here. Jesus will never be a debtor to you. Salvation can only, will only come, by the grace of the Lord, through the vehicle of man’s faith in Christ.

- Is Jesus saying that this man will be saved by his work of liquidating his assets and then giving them charitably to the poor? Can that possibly be what is happening?

- That would be utterly inconsistent with the rest of the New Testament and would make Christ’s own work on the cross unneccesary!

- The issue is not salvation. It’s clearly establishing where his loyalties will lie. It’s about shedding the anchor of his soul and investing forward.

- Possessions are what he served. That is ultimately what he loved and lived for the the most.

̊ “How is this man to follow Him? What stands in the way? All the things that have ministered perpetually to his own selfish life. Now, says Christ, put them all away. Do not dream for one single moment that if you are really bent on finding your life, and if you are coming after your King, that you can do so by manipulating the things that have ministered to the self life. By drastic, daring, courageous heroism, make an end of them.”

G.Cambell Morgan

- Jesus is allowing him to follow his own course. The logic is, "You have done so much and are willing to do more? Then do the most! Take it all the way."

- From the very beginning, religion has attempted to offer God the least possible, the least painful thing. Religion says, I’ll give you a day a week. Jesus says, I want every waking breath!

- Religion says I’ll give up this practice. Jesus says, take up my cross!

- Eternal life is at stake. Jesus promises treasure in heaven. Ultimately, we can say that this man wanted less that Jesus was truly offering!

- What Jesus offers is Himself, which brings us right back to His first question: Why do you call me good? It's because you are recognizing who I am. I am God. Come follow me!

- The man heard that and was sorrowful. He was distressed. The Greek word here is much more powerful. He was distraught.

- Think about this. The things that he viewed as freedoms were now his greatest chains. They had always been. He had always been their slave! He just did not know it until this minute.

- His riches, at the beginning of this conversation, represented privilege and resource. At the end, they represented an uncrossable boundary between he and God!

- He could not pay the cost, an irony that hangs thick in the air. The man that could buy anything, could not buy the one thing that would bring him peace.

- When the Rich Young Ruler saw what Jesus pointed to, it was too much for him to give up. It was too costly in his eyes, to lose the temporal in order that he might gain the eternal.

- Let me ask you: What would Jesus point to in your life? Is it a career choice? Is it a relationship? Is it a matter of possessions?

- Jesus says to us, If you would be welcome in heaven, you must not have anything that would anchor you to this earth! There must not be another allegiance or competing love interest.

- He went away sorrowful. He went this way. Jesus did not try to stop him. That is what's really phenomenol to me. Jesus let him make that choice!

- Wait a minute Jesus! You have a guy who has resource, who is influential, who has the potential to underwrite all of your ministry needs. Now you can buy bread and not have to make it out of thin air!

- You might still need to get on a cross, but this man can make it a comfortable road until you get there! Jesus respected the man's decision, as God will never force man to love Him.

Conclusion

- The lesson for us is that if we are to walk with Christ and go to heaven, we must not have anything that ties us to the earth!

- Our positions, passions and possessions are what we seek to define ourselves by. In the end, divorced from Jesus, they are the chains that bind us!

- What are you unwilling to lay at Jesus' feet today? The right answer is anything!