From Riches to Wrath

Matthew 19:16-30

Our text this morning is an evangelistic one. I always feel a great burden when I come to a text like this. I believe that it is by the providence of God that we are preaching this this morning. I believe there are people here who need to be saved.

As a preacher I always want to be filled with the emotion of the text. The emotion in this text is sorrow. When you read this you come away with burden for a man you have never met and who has been dead for many years.

It is important that the preacher preach evangelistic messages.

Because:

1) There are lost people present. Goal is you will leave here saved or sorry (22).

2)The people of God need to understand the urgency of salvation.

If the pulpit doesn’t care about souls the pews will not either.

If you are saved and hear a message like this one you should leave with a holy burden to see people saved.

The preacher who spends all of his time cleaning the fish will soon run out of fish to clean. The preacher isn’t called to merely preach toward sanctification. The preacher is called to also cast the net.

This morning we cast the gospel net.

We hope and pray the Lord will drag some poor soul to the bank.

What can we learn from this text?

1. Not every soul will be won.

We have no reason to believe this man ever got saved.

There are those who preach universalism. They do not get that doctrine from the Bible.

There’s no hint of hope for the man in our text. He abandoned hope. He stood inches from the door to heaven but turned and walked away.

He could not have had a greater preacher.

He could not have heard a greater message.

He could not have had a greater opportunity.

“Follow Jesus” invited by Jesus to follow Him.

Could have had his story recorded for generations and been noted for his great sacrifice rather than his great selfishness.”

There are some who blame their unwillingness on:

Preachers- I don’t like him

Sermons- I don’t believe that

Opportunity- It’s just not time

They are blinded by the god of this world. They will not come for the same reason this man would not come. They are simply unwilling.

It breaks my heart, but as a believer of Holy Scripture I must admit that not every soul will be saved.

People I love will not be saved.

People I am kin to will not be saved.

People I go to church with will not be saved.

I want you to notice how this man responded to the gospel. He didn’t say “No.” He simply went away. Look at verse 22 and you will see that.

That’s how most are.

They don’t say much of anything. They simply go away.

Christ says “Come unto Me!”

The Spirit says, “Come unto Christ.”

The church says, “Come to Christ.”

They go away.

Where did this man go? What does it matter? He went away.

He could have gone to the:

Beach

Bar

Mall

Market

College

Career

It doesn’t matter where he went because he went away from Christ. Whatever you do in life will not matter if you walk away from Christ.

Do you care if this man was successful in life?

Are you concerned with how he prospered or what his accomplishments may have been?

No. You read this, and you are sorry. Nothing matters about him because he walked away from Christ.

What does it profit……?

Heaven could have rejoiced on this day but instead hell rejoiced.

When he crossed the finish line of his life there was no one there to say Well Done. There was no Welcome Home. He came to the end of the broad road and fell into everlasting destruction.

A lost soul!

What is worse than this?

2. Those who seem so promising often become a disappointment.

A. He was zealous in religion.

Mark 10:17 says he came running and kneeling to Jesus.

None of the other disciples had done this. Jesus approached Peter, Andrew, James and John when they were fishing. Jesus went to Matthew’s tax booth.

This man seeks out Jesus. It’s like going fishing and the fish just start jumping in the boat.

This man rushes to Jesus calling Him Good Master. He’s not hostile like the pother religious leaders. Many scholars believe this man was the ruler of a local synagogue. Yet he sees the worth of Jesus.

This man asked the right question. His motive was not:

To see a miracle

To trick Jesus into saying something that could be used against Him.

To get food.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

This is every soul winners dream. He looks like the perfect candidate for salvation.

B. He was a man who had a lot to offer.

He had time. He was a young man. He could give his whole life in service.

He had talent. He was a ruler (Luke 18:18). He had leadership skills obviously.

He had treasure. He could give to the work of the Lord.

If this man visits your church people will speak to him. Someone will ask the preacher “Did you see who was here today?”

He’s getting a card.

He’s getting a phone call.

He’s getting a visit.

I think the disciples were a little upset with Jesus. Look at verse 25. They thought if this man couldn’t be saved then no one could.

They would have probably enjoyed having them on their side.

Have some influence over those in the religious establishment.

Have someone who could help with expenses.

Jesus was not concerned with false fruit. He already had one fake following Him, He didn’t want another.

Souls are to precious to trifle with.

I read a quote from Spurgeon this week. He was talking about a pastor who had convinced some young talented men to join his church. The pastor did not seek their conversion but simply sought their church membership. He said they all eventually turned into ungodly men. Listen to this quote from the late 1800’s, it sounds as if it could be said today:

Some of the most glaring sinners known to me were once members of a church; and were, as I believe, led to make a profession by undue pressure, well-meant but ill judged. Do not, therefore, consider that soul winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms, and the swelling of the size of your church. What mean these despatches from the battle field?

"Last night, fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and eight received full sanctification."

I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime.

It doesn’t matter how talented, how rich or how young you are, if you will not offer God your repentance you have nothing to offer God at all. You may be of great use to the world but you are of no use to the church.

Look toward the gates of hell with me:

Yonder goes a Valedictorian!

Yonder goes a CEO!

Yonder goes a Doctor!

Yonder goes a Gold Medalist!

Yonder goes a humanitarian!

Yonder goes a President!

Applauded on earth pitied in eternity.

Everyone wanted to be you on earth.

No one wants to be you in eternity.

If you die without Christ you will be an eternal disappointment.

3. God wants us to think seriously about eternal things.

A. That’s why Jesus ask this man the question.

Why do you call Me good? There is none good but God.

Is Jesus saying He isn’t good?

Is He saying He isn’t God?

No. Jesus called Himself the “Good Shepherd” in John 10:11. In fact Hebrews 13:20 calls Jesus the “Great Shepherd”. In John 8:46 Jesus challenged the people to find one sin that He was guilty of committing and they could not. So clearly Jesus is not saying that He is not good. In John 14:9 Jesus says if we have seen Him we have seen the Father. There are many other places the Bible declares Jesus to be God. But the point is that this verse is not saying that Jesus is not good and it is not saying that Jesus is not God.

Jesus is confronting this man’s hypocrisy. He is asking “Why do YOU call Me good?” He is saying the same thing He said in Luke 6:46. Jesus asked, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord and do not the things in which I say?”

We will see this man says one thing with his mouth but another with his life. He says Jesus is Good and Jesus is His Master but when Jesus gives Him a command He isn’t going to listen.

B. That’s why Jesus gives the commandments.

Jesus lists off the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 5th commandment. He adds Leviticus 19:18 to it “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

These commands come from the Second Tablet of the Law. Second tablet dealt with our relationship with man. We’re going to see in a minute that he doesn’t appear to care about the poor nor does He care about God.

The young man insists he has kept all of those commandments for years (20).

Jesus in essence just told this man to be perfect and he responds with “I am.” That’s why Jesus lists the commands. This man doesn’t see his sin. He is self-righteous. He thinks he is a good person. He thinks he is like God.

The ironic thing is he knows he is lost. He knows he lacks something. He admits it in verse 16 and verse 20.

There may come a day when he doesn’t know he is lost but at this moment he does.

There are many people like this man. You believe you are a good person but in your heart you know you’d be in trouble if you stood before God. God wants you to think about that.

C. That’s why He Jesus turns up the heat in verse 21.

We’re about to find out if this man loves God or not.

Jesus tells Him to sell everything he has give the money to the poor and come follow Him.

This man c couldn’t even answer Jesus when He told him that. He just turned and quietly walked away. Why? Look at the end of verse 22.

“For he had great possessions.”

God expects us to turn from our sin when we come to him. This man had a love for money. That was a sin that kept him from following Jesus. Some people can follow Jesus and be rich. This man could not. His money was his god.

Jesus will put His finger on your sin. He will show you your sin and demand that you leave it behind. Many people love their sin more than they love God.

If God expects me to quit drinking, I can’t follow Him.

If God expects me to give up my homosexual lifestyle, I can’t follow Him.

If God expects me to give up my Sundays, I can’t follow Him.

Here is the real question:

Do you want to be holy?

Do you want to live a Christlike life?

Many want to go to heaven on the broad road but it’s not possible.

Listen friend, if you’re riding with the devil he’s not gonna drop you off at the gates of heaven.

Before you decide the cost to follow Christ is too great put your ear to the Bible and hear:

Solomon say “Riches profit not in the day of wrath”

Paul say “The love of money is the root of all evil…”

The man who built bigger barns cry out from the grave “Thou fool, this night thy soul is required of thee.”

Think seriously about eternal things.

4. Too many think of what they will lose at salvation rather than what they will gain.

A. Most people demand reward on this earth.

This man couldn’t imagine life without his money. Jesus said it was difficult for the rich to be saved. It’s like trying to thread a needle with a camel.

In other words, it’s impossible. The point is you would sooner pull a camel through the eye of a needle than save your soul with money.

Most people in Jesus day thought the rich were saved because they believed wealth showed the favor of God rested on you.

If you were poor God was mad at you.

If you were rich God was happy with you.

That was the thought.

That’s why Peter asked, “Who then can be saved?” (25)

People have convinced themselves that God wants them to be rich and happy and healthy no matter what they have to do to accomplish those things.

If it makes me happy, it makes God happy. That’s the mindset.

I don’t know what they do with the book of Job or the life of Jesus.

This man thought he would come to Jesus and do some religious thing and be saved. Then he could go about his business. He could enjoy heaven for eternity and indulge in the sinful pleasures of this world.

When faced with the choice of the two he chose the pleasures of this world.

Some have deceived themselves into believing what this man believed.

They think if they:

Say a prayer

Join a church

Get baptized

Give some money

They can go on about their life with no regard for the things of God, die and go to heaven.

B. The thrust of Jesus command to this man “Come follow Me.”

It’s not sell

It’s not give

It’s “Follow Me”.

This implies sacrifice. It means Christ becomes my life, not just a box I check.

People can’t imagine living life for someone other than themselves. They can’t imagine not being their own Lord. We spend our life trying to be free from any authority:

Let me grow up so I can leave my parents.

Let me retire so I can leave this job.

Following Christ doesn’t appeal to the natural man.

C. What will we gain if we follow Jesus?

Look back at verse 21. There is a promise given to this man. He is promised treasure in heaven. He still gets treasure. The difference is it’s eternal. He must wait a little while on it, but the return is astronomical.

Look at verses 28-30

The disciples are promised:

A position in the eternal kingdom.

Multiplication of family.

Multiplication of land.

Eternal life.

Exaltation.

We let goods and kindred go and we get all of this!

Nothing in our hands we bring and we get all this!

God wants to make a transaction with you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ:

Your righteousness for His righteousness

Your riches for His riches

Your citizenship on earth for His citizenship in heaven.

Don’t be confused, neither the rich nor the poor can be saved without God. Every salvation is a miracle. Jesus said its impossible with man but possible with God.

This mans story ended in sorrow. Yours can end in celebration.

You may think Christ is not worth all of this. Let me remind you what Paul said in 2 Cor. 8:9:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Christ has done more for you than He is asking you to do for Him. Think of all He has promised you. Think of all you have waiting on you if you come to Christ. Do not waste another moment.