All or Nothing

And as he was setting out on his journey, a ruler ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?"

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. [And] Why do you ask me about what is good?... If you would enter life, keep the commandments."

He said to him, "Which ones?"

And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

The young man said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "If you would be perfect you lack one thing: go, sell what you possess, all that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

But when he heard these things, he became very sad, he went away sorrowful, for he was extremely rich, he had great possessions.

And Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, looked around and said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will those who have wealth enter the kingdom of heaven.” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

When the disciples heard this, they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left our homes and left everything and followed you. What then will we have?"

Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Good Teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?

Throughout this account, we learn that this ruler is young, he is pious, and he is exceedingly rich!

He is earnest in his religious effort.

Whatever you want me to do, buy, or conquer, I’ll do it.

The first thing Jesus notes is the young man’s worship and calling Him “good.” Jesus retorts,

"Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Perhaps another way to say that, is “If you don’t acknowledge me as God, then don’t acknowledge me as good.”

Certainly the man’s position and recognition of authority would gain him acknowledgement. Jesus strips away that idea and any pretense by giving God all the glory!

[And] Why do you ask me about what is good?... If you would enter life, keep the commandments."

The young man was zealous for God and kept the law, as well as any human could we suppose. Jesus knew he was earnest and did not pick apart all the ways this young man had fallen short and had not kept the law and that he was in desperate need of a Savior. He didn’t need to though, because the young man knew that everything he had tried, every ritual that he obeyed, every law that he kept, would not gain him eternal life.

He was still lacking. He was still missing something.

He was not perfect.

That word perfect in the Bible means mature or complete.

Jesus recognized that the man’s possessions were in the way.

Jesus said, “one thing you lack,” then He gave the man a two-step direction.

It’s easy to get stuck on the first step and think that to enter (or inherit) life he must sell everything he has and distribute it to the poor.

That still wouldn’t have done it.

He needed to follow Jesus.

But there was STUFF in the way that he needed to get rid of in order to effectively follow Jesus.

So many try to skip the first step.

We need to come to Jesus empty and dry with nothing.

Does that mean we must sell everything we have.

No. This wasn’t a universal commandment.

The man went away sad.

We don’t know if he eventually did what Jesus said. It seems doubtful that he did. This is sad because people asked to follow Jesus and He told them they weren’t cut out for it. This guy … Jesus told Him to “come, follow me.”

All he had to do was obey… but something was holding him back!

His position and possessions were not his. He did not own them. He was owned by them.

Remember? “Possession” goes both ways.

When we “own” something, it takes up real estate in our affections. This is why it’s hard to get rid of stuff and clean out. Emotional attachment. Even the things we acquire that they may serve us - we find ourselves serving them!

Jesus wasn’t saying that rich people can’t make it to heaven.

He was saying that none of can enter the Kingdom of Heaven possessing (or being possessed by) anything!

When we are born again and become like children we have no worldly possessions!

When we surrender all to Jesus, it all becomes His.

We must relinquish control or possession and obey the Holy Spirit as to what to do with God’s stuff.

When the disciples heard this, they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Jesus was saying, ‘it is impossible for man, in his own effort, to enter the Kingdom of the Heavens!’

We need to follow Jesus.

We need to go where He leads and do what He has us do.

We need to relinquish everything that holds us back and follow Him.

Scriptural examples of all or nothing commitments:

Noah’s family and the ark,

Lot’s family and the destruction of Sodom

Lot’s wife and not looking back

The Israelites leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea

Joshua leading the Israelites into the new land

David and Goliath - no room for retreat

Elijah on Mt Carmel

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

The Apostles were hunted down, captured, beaten, and killed for their testimony

Revelation 12:11 ESV

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Only by the Blood of the Lamb can we overcome!

Only by testifying of the Lamb can we overcome!

Only by forsaking our very lives, our fleshly desires, what this world offers, the comforts of life and even family, even unto death can we overcome!

We must move beyond ourselves!

Jesus didn’t die for your prosperity in this life, He died so that you may have life, true life, and have it in abundance, overflowing, and eternal.

He overcame the world! He died that you may overcome!

If you don’t have an “all or nothing” commitment to Christ, you will have had an “all for nothing life.”

If you are not 100% SOLD OUT for Christ, you will SELL OUT to something else.

The rich ruler didn’t have enough pedigrees or law degrees or religiousity or money to inherit, earn, or buy his way into heaven.

There is only one way and it’s through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His shed blood on the cross, and His Resurrection. Jesus the very very Good Teacher! The on of God and Son of Man! The conquering King the sacrificial Lamb! The one who was and is and is to come! The Alpha and Omega! The Great I Am! The Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls!

Yes salvation is a free gift, like the Rich Young Ruler, You could never earn it, but it was bought at the most precious price!

Simply receiving this gift is all it takes.

But to fully receive it, your hands and heart must be fully empty!

You can’t hold onto to anything in this life and receive eternal life!

So what will become of me if I forsake all and count it as nothing for the gospel of Jesus?

What is there for the person who gives up their fortunes, their fame, and their families?

Thousands of people are saved around the world everyday. About 1,600 every day just in the Assemblies of God.

Many of these people end up ostracized and persecuted for their confession of faith. Their own families not only reject them, but beat them, sometimes leaving them for dead.

Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left our homes and left everything and followed you. What then will we have?"

There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The disciples/apostles each get a throne. How that will work out exactly I don’t know. I assume Matthias takes Judas’ place. I don’t believe that EVERYONE who follows Him gets a throne over the 12 tribes of Israel. He is speaking specifically to His disciples.

BUT then He broadens it to EVERYONE who has left EVERYTHING for Him and for the gospel.

I received this email from Thierry the other day,

In the December newsletter, I mentioned briefly about 'Jak' (not his real name), a former muslim friend in Indonesia, that is considering a call to ministry. He was unexpectedly contacted by his mother, whom they haven't been in contact in a while now. This time, she was telling Jak that he has made hers and their family lives difficult and was asking him to remove them from his life. The trigger was that the extended family, especially on his mother's side, had not known of Jak's new faith in Jesus up until now. One family member found out from Jak's social media and spread the news. Upon hearing of Jak's faith in Jesus, his grandmother fell ill due to the shock of it. Jak is considered to have been the indirect cause of this. Both his mother and brother has been contacting Jak asking him to remove them from their life for all the pain he is still causing them. In all of this, I am blown away by the resolve of Jak to follow Jesus with or without his family's love. In our conversations, he texted me Matthew 4:19-22 followed by these words: ”Just like James and John, I decided with heavy heart to leave my family for Jesus because God’s love and grace is simply too great to be not taken." Let us pray for Jak, for the encouragement of the Spirit to rest on him; his family for a healing of the grandmother, and a change of heart towards God and Jesus that Jak is following.

We will receive 100 fold!

Houses!

Brothers!

Sisters!

Mothers!

and Lands!

with persecution

NOW. IN. THIS. TIME.

and better than all of that… ETERNAL LIFE

Because what’s mine is His and what His is yours and whats yours is His and what’s His is mine.

The family of God is way bigger than my natural family,

and we have houses and land and stuff that we gladly share because we’re crazy about Jesus and each other.

This is only possible through the cross.

There had to be a crucifixion of the flesh of the Son of God in order for there to be a resurrection!

He is the resurrection and the life.

There must be a crucifixion of the desires of your flesh, and even persecution, if there is to be a resurrection.

There must be a resurrection to obtain eternal life!

I want to point out the contrast here between entering the Kingdom of Heaven and walking and living in the Kingdom.

We must be born again and become like little children being made new by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But we don’t remain that way.

Hebrews 6:1 ESV

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Hebrews 6:2 ESV

2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV

20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

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