When Possessions become Priority they become a Problem

Introduction

Good morning Church. Today, we will be continuing on in our study of the gospel of Matthew and we will be finishing out Chapter 19 here this morning at a message I’ve entitled… “When Possessions become Priority, they become a Problem.”

Last week, we looked at Jesus teaching on the subject of divorce and today we are going to be taking a look first off at another quick teaching from our Lord on children and we’re going to see a side of Jesus that we don’t see too often in scripture.

Then we’re going to be moving on to look at a story about a man most of us I would dare say at some point has heard of in the past…The Rich Young Ruler.

And lastly, we’re going to finish it out by looking at a precious promise from our Lord about prioritizing our priorities.

So, with no further ado, if you have your Bibles turned to Mark 10:13 would you say, Amen.

The Reprimanding of the Disciples — (Vs. 13-16)

I want to start this morning by looking at the reprimanding of the disciples. Look with me if you will at Verses 13-15.

Luke 18:15 KJV 1900

15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

George Macdonald — No one could be a follower of Jesus if the children were afraid to play at his door. — Chuck Swindoll’s Study of Matthew

The Request & Reaction — (Vs. 17-22)

Do you know what I love most about the Bible? I just love how it intertwines within itself and fits together perfectly as pieces of an intricate puzzle to form the most beautiful picture you will ever see!

And one way to show you that, is by looking at this same story in each of the three gospels it’s listed in because I would dare say that the majority of you aren’t even sure how this story got its name “The Rich Young Ruler”.

You see, all three gospels tell us that this fellow is rich but if you only looked at Matthew’s gospel, you would only find that he is a “Young Rich Man” and if you only looked at Luke’s gospel, you would only find that he was a “Rich Ruler” but it says nothing about him being Young. So, when you combine the two you get the title of “The Rich Young Ruler”!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “well you didn’t say anything about Mark’s gospel”. And the reason I didn’t is because other than being rich, Mark’s gospel has nothing to do with the name BUT Mark’s gospel does have one little nugget that is unique in all three gospels!

Only in Mark’s gospel does the Bible say, “Then Jesus beholding him, LOVED HIM”! It says He loved him! Here is a man who is lost and undone and even in his lost state, Jesus loved him!

Can I tell you that Jesus loves you this morning as well! It doesn’t matter what your name is, how much money you have in your account, what position you may hold at the church, if you’ve been saved for 10 years or 10 minutes and maybe you’re not saved at all!

What you need to know is that Jesus loves you!

Now don’t misunderstand me and think that just because Jesus loves you, even though your lost, that you’re going to make it into heaven because that’s definitely not what I’m saying!

What I am saying though is this…Jesus will love a person all the way to eternity but once you cross that threshold from life to death, then your fate is sealed and if your lost, as we are going to look at this morning, you can still bust hell wide open with the Savior of the world loving you all the way!

And it’s with that, I want to give you four points to ponder on as we look at the Rich Young Ruler and I would ask each and every one of you to please pay very close attention to the message, as we are going to be talking about this young man’s soul.

And not only are we going to be talking about his soul, but we are going to finish by talking about yours as well!

I can assure you this morning friend, there is nothing in this world more precious than your soul and no situation more dire, than knowing where it’s going to spend eternity!

With that, the first thing I want us to look at in this message this morning is this young man’s Prestige…

His Prestige

It is very easy to see here, that this strapping young lad had done very well for himself somehow. Some seem to think that maybe he was royalty and maybe even the son of a king and others believe that he had worked his way up the corporate ladder and become the ruler of a synagogue.

Either way, this young man was very bright and talented to say the least!

I mean, he’s the kind of fellow who graduated Valedictorian of his high school class, probably won the most likely to succeed award and then went on to get his PHD from a place like Harvard or Yale!

You ever see those folks whose parents are just so proud of them and their achievements? That’s who this young fellow is and from what the Bible says about him here in Verses 19-20 we also see that he is genuinely a good moral person!

I mean this guy is just one more go getter!

And from the looks of it, you would think he has everything he needs but looks can be deceiving! And as we are going to see here, there was one thing he was missing and it was eating away at him inside!

Maybe you’re sitting here this morning and a lot like this Rich Young Ruler.

From every outward appearance, you have it made! Life has been good to you and you have a little money. Maybe you have climbed up the social ladder a little ways. Maybe your name is well known and you are well thought of in the community. Maybe you are a good person, who has lived a clean, moral life. You may even be a church member, a leader, a teacher, and everyone thinks your life is complete.

But, in spite of all you have, like this young man, there is still something missing in your life! You know you have what it takes to live, but you also know that you are unprepared to die. You have everything you want and need materially, but you do not have peace with God.

Everything looks good on the outside, but on the inside your all messed up! Listen to me this morning friend, not only is that is a terrible way to live, but it is an even worse way to die! – TSN

And if your sitting here and lost, please don’t walk out those back doors in the same condition you walked in!

Do something about it this morning!

Now that we’ve got a little better understanding of who this young man is and His Prestige, now I want us to look at this young man’s Passion!

His Passion-Verse 17

Notice the Bible says in Verse 17- And when he (Jesus) was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

Now there are two important things we can learn about this Rich Young Ruler’s Passion right here!

He came to Jesus Publicly- He was so passionate about his purpose for talking to Jesus, that he wasn’t ashamed where he came to him at! When the Bible says, “in the way”, it is speaking of a road or a highway and I’m sure, as most other times like the Bible speaks of, there were throngs of people following Jesus but it did not stop him! He knew who he needed to talk to and he was willing to do whatever and go wherever it took to get to him!

If only people were like this Rich Young Ruler today! Not caring what it takes or where you have to go to get it to him!

But sadly, in the day and time we live in, people want to come to Jesus in secret like ole Nicodemus did and don’t want the world to know because they are afraid people may look at them funny or they may lose a friend or two! Or maybe their afraid they may get labeled something like a “Jesus Freak” or something of that sort!

Let me tell you something friend, Jesus said, “if you will be ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you in front of the Father”! So, if someone wants to call you a “Jesus Freak”, take it as a compliment because you know where you are going but apparently, they don’t!

And The last time I checked, that little children’s song still says the same thing…. “hide it under a bushel no, I’m gonna let it shine”!

We are to shine for Jesus for all the world to see, not hide in the shadows for none of the world to see! Let your light shine for him!

Now that we’ve seen how he came Publicly, I want you to see how he came humbly and reverently.

He came to Jesus Humbly & Reverently

The Bible says, “he kneeled to him and asked him Good Master”.

Now the thing to see here is that here is a man who seems as though he has it all: he has power, and prestige and possessions but he also understands just who it is he is talking to, to a certain extent!

So many people have a problem with humility. They have a problem with bowing their knee to Jesus!

They feel like they are giving up something when they bow and I’ve got news for you friend, you are giving up something: your pride!

And just in case you didn’t know, let me inform you of this little tid-bit as well: on this side of eternity or the other, every person that has ever walked this earth is going to bow! The Bible says in:

Philippians 2:9-11- 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The choice is yours this morning as to which side of eternity you will bow on! I pray with all my heart that if you’re here and lost this morning, that you choose this one before it’s too late!

Now that we’ve looked at his Prestige and his Passion, I want to move on to His Purpose! Why did this young man come to Jesus to begin with?

His Purpose- Verse 17- Eternal Life

He came to Jesus to find out how to get the one thing he did not have but unbeknownst to him, it was the one thing he could not get on his own!

His whole “Purpose” of coming to Jesus, is ironically still the same reason we come to Jesus today and that is to find eternal life!

This young man’s problem though was that he had a major misconception of how to go about getting it!

Notice he says, “what shall “I” do that I may inherit eternal life”? And in Matthew’s gospel he says, “what “good thing” shall I do that I may have eternal life”?

Can I tell you, that sadly people are still trying to gain eternal life on their own today! They live this life trying to do enough good and give enough to charity and they try to live better than the guy they live beside that goes to church 3 times a week.

They say to themselves, “well, I know I’m living better than ole so and so and that should be good enough to get me into heaven”!

Friend, if that’s your mentality this morning, then you’re on a one way street headed straight for hell and you need to change your way of thinking!

When you stand before an almighty God, he’s not going to stand you beside your neighbor or your best friend and say, “yea you just barely lived a better life than he did so you get to come on in”!

No, he’s going to stand you up beside his dear Son, the one who came to this wretched world and died the most horrible death in that day and time so that you could have eternal life and listen to me friend, he is PERFECT!

How do you think you will stack up against perfection? I can tell you how my Bible says we will stack up…It says in Isaiah 64:6 that our righteousness is as filthy rags and then it goes on to say in Romans 3:10 that there is none righteous, no not one and then in Romans 3:23 it says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!

And if that weren’t enough, it goes on to say in: Ephesians 2:8-9- 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The only thing that any of us can do, in and of ourselves, to obtain salvation is to simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

But that was this young man’s problem! He had spent his whole life getting things on his own and now he’s here, kneeling before the one who can give him eternal life and says, “what must I do”!

If he’d only truly known who he was talking to and heard those famous words that Jesus spoke in:

John 14:6- Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Listen Church, He was the only way then and he’s still the only way today! You cannot obtain Eternal Life any other way!

His Prognosis (His Verdict)-Verses 18-22

As we wind down morning, I want you to lastly look at this Rich Young Ruler’s Prognosis.

Verse 18-Now, you would think that after hearing Jesus say this, that the young man would have forebode his answer in Verse 20 but apparently, he missed the part where Jesus said, “there is none good but God”! Jesus counteracted his answer before he even gave it!

Verse 19-Do you realize anything about the commandments Jesus listed? If you will notice, it’s only a partial list, right?

Now don’t think that Jesus was trying to let this guy go easy by only following part of the commandments. No, No, No…Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he left off the first four!

If you will notice, the ones Jesus listed are only the ones that had to do with man and not God and there was a reason he did that.

He had to get this young man’s attention somehow because even though he came to Jesus the right way in the beginning, he was so misconstrued and blinded by his own inhibitions of how to obtain eternal life, that Jesus had to make an impression that would hit home with him!

Verse 20- Notice his response to Jesus…I’ve kept all these from my youth! And to be honest, Jesus knew that! Notice that Jesus didn’t dispute his claim?

Like we said in the beginning, he was a very religious and moral fellow but Religion isn’t what gains you eternal life, it’s the Relationship!

Verse 21-22-This is where Jesus brings it home! Notice it says, “and Jesus beholding him”.

First off, the reason Jesus only listed those commandments is because he had already looked into the depths of this young man’s heart and seen where his loyalty lied!

That’s what this word “beholding” means! It means Jesus took a second and just looked at him, and not at his physical appearance but deep into his soul to see what was really going on!

Then it says, “he loved him”! This is why I love this gospel more than the rest! Because he loved him! Even though Jesus knew that he wasn’t going to trust him as Lord and Savior of his life, even though Jesus knew he was going to turn away and leave lost, he loved him anyway!

Can I tell you once again that Jesus loves you today! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, all that matters is what you do in the future and the first step you need to take this morning is to believe upon Jesus and trust him as your Lord and Savior!

The Bible says in:

Romans 5:8- But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus told the young man to go sell everything he had and give it to the poor and come follow him and he could have eternal life!

Now listen to me for a second, Jesus didn’t tell him to go sell everything because that’s a part of salvation; he told him this because that’s where his problem lies!

The reason Jesus had left off those first four commandments is because they all have to do with worshipping God. When Jesus beheld this young man, he knew right away what the god of his life was: his possessions!

Was he a good fellow? Yes! Was he a Religious fellow? Yes! Did he come to Jesus the right way? Yes!

But his problem was, he cared more for his possessions than he did God! And that’s why the Bible says he went away sorrowful and grieved and heartbroken!

When Jesus told him what he must do to inherit eternal life, it hit home with this young man and sadly he got up off the ground and left the same way he came…lost, undone and headed straight for a devil’s hell!

This truly has to be one of the most heart wrenching stories in all the Bible because of it’s ending! The Rich Young Ruler may possibly be the only man in all the Bible who knelt at the feet of Jesus but still ended up in hell!

It just goes to show you though, that you can have all the fame, fortune, Religion, morality and power that this world can offer but unless you have a Relationship with the one and only Son of God, Jesus Christ, it won’t do you a bit of good on judgment day! The Bible says in:

Mark 8:36- For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

When you draw your last breath, do you know where your soul is going to spend eternity? Now is the accepted time & today is the day of Salvation…Religion or Relationship: Which do you have?

The Reality Check — (Vs. 23-27)

The Reward of making Christ our Priority — (Vs. 28-31)

Matthew 19:27–30 KJV 1900

27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 28 And Jesus said unto 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, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.