The Man Who ALMOST Had it All
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18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
Introduction: I heard a story one time of a young man who loved collect marbles. He had quite a large collection and treasured them. One day he saw the little girl next-door. She had a box of delicious chocolate. He also loved chocolate and wanted what she had. The little girl offered to make a deal with him that she would give him the box of chocolates if he would give her the bag of marbles in his pocket.
He thought long and hard on that. He went around the corner and took the marbles out of his pocket. He looked at them fondly, but he couldn't stop thinking about that delicious chocolate. He decided that he was going to make the trade but before he did he reached in the bag and took out several of his favorite marbles.
He then approached a little girl and made the trade. He walked away very happy and enjoyed the chocolate very much. Later that evening, he couldn't help but be troubled. He kept asking himself this question: “I wonder if she gave me all of the chocolates.”
Can you say for sure that you have given God all of your marbles? By that, I mean have you surrendered complete control of your life to God?
This man wanted everything that God could give him, but when he came to Jesus, he was challenged to give God everything he had. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. He wanted to keep some of his marbles and eat the chocolate too.
There was a church billboard once that said, “God doesn’t want weekend visits, He wants full custody.” Salvation is free - paid for by the blood of Christ - yet it will cost you everything. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ.
Today, we are looking at the encounter that Jesus had with the man that we know as the rich young ruler. This account shows up in Matthew, Luke, and Mark and each encounter gives complementary details. All three accounts tell us that he was rich. Matthew tells us that he was young. and Luke tells us that he was a ruler.
He might have been the Elon Musk of his day, who knows. When it says he was a ruler, It could be that he was a member of the Jewish Religious council called the Sanhedrin, or he could have been the leader in a local synagogue. He could have been a man of great influence in his day. One thing is for sure, he needed Jesus as do we all. I want to share 4 observations from this story that will help us understand how easy it is to be fooled into believing that we have eternal life.
He Asked the Right Question (v. 18)
He Asked the Right Question (v. 18)
The subject that was on the mind of this man was extremely important: What must I do to inherit eternal life. I believe it is a question that ought to be on the minds and heart of every man/woman/boy/girl until they understand the answer.
Illus. C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Whenever I encounter people who have questions like the one that this man asked, I take it as God at work in them to draw them to himself.
Many times the wealthy and religious people would ask Jesus questions like this to trap him and accuse him of wrong doing. However, I believe he was completely sincere when he asked this question.
Why did he ask this question? We don’t know for sure but here are some possible reasons.
He was getting older and becoming more aware of his mortality. Matthews gospel tells us that this man was young. (Attitude of youth versus the attitude brought by age)
Perhaps he was aware that something was missing in his life and he couldn’t put a finger on it. Like so many people, he was looking for all the wrong things to fill the void in his life. (His riches, his youth, his power)
He believes that eternal life is something that you can earn and he wanted to check the scoreboard. (WHAT MUST I DO…)
Illus. A survey by Ligonier ministries found that most Americans (71 percent), and in particular Black Protestants (82 percent) and Catholics (87 percent), say people must contribute some effort toward their own salvation. Two-thirds (67 percent) say most people are basically good, even though everyone sins a little bit.
I truly wish more people today would ask that question - how do I inherit eternal life. If you asked many of our younger generations the question, “What happens to a person after they die,” most would say nothing happens; You are buried and forgotten about.
The Bible teaches something very different.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
I think it is pretty obvious every person has an appointment with death. 10 out of 10 people die eventually. Everyone would agree with that. It’s an appointment that you won’t be able to cancel, reschedule, or no-show. But the Judgment of God comes next and you have to be present to face that. No soul-sleep as some teach. No unconscious ending or annihilation. It will be you, standing alone before the throne of God with all of your sinful deeds exposed.
But to the soul that has trusted Christ, scripture says this:
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Jesus is our defense attorney. Because of him, we can be acquitted of all charges since he has paid the price with His precious blood.
He Believed His Efforts Were Adequate (vv. 19-21)
He Believed His Efforts Were Adequate (vv. 19-21)
First, something that we need to address. Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? There is no one good but God”
Now Jesus wasn’t denying that fact that he was God in the flesh. Neither was Jesus denying his sinlessness. That just wasn’t a way that you referred to Rabbis in that day. In fact, most Rabbi’s would have been offended because that would have been equated to being perfect and they knew they were not Perfect.
But, we know that Jesus was perfect. So what is the deal here?
Jesus was trying to take the focus off of himself and put the focus on His father. He wanted this man to remember that all goodness came from God and that His standard is the one by which we will be judged, not man’s standard.
JESUS then turned his attention to that standard - the Ten Commandments. Specifically to what they referred to as the second table of the commandments - the ones that deal with how we treat our fellow man.
He said:
20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”
Did Jesus just say that keeping the commandments would save this man? By no means. Jesus pointed him to the commandments because they help us see just how unrighteous we are as sinners.
20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
Illus. Let’s just say that you were driving down the HWY and you were pulled over by the Highway Patrol. The officer came to your car window and said’ “Do you realize that you were speeding? You were driving 75 in a 45 mph zone. But the speed limit was not posted anywhere on the highway. Would that be fair? No. But if you just blasted by 5 speed limit signs stating that you were driving in a 45 mph zone, you would be with out excuse. It would do you no good to say, “Officer, I didn’t know that there was as speed limit here.” He would say, here’s your ticket.
Let’s just run through these commandments real quick.
Adultery, Murder, Stealing, Lying, Honor Father and Mother.
How do you compare? Many people try to use the wrong standard to judge their actions. They look at other people and compare themselves to them.
Illus. Joke about the Mafia brother. Pastor: “Ol Giovanni here was a dirty rotter scoundrel that never did any good in his life, but compared to his brother, he was a saint.”
God judges us based on the highest standard that there is: His one and only Son who was sinless. If we are truthful with ourselves, we will see our need for a Savior.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
This young man still didn’t quite see his need yet.
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
Little did he realize that the wind was about to be knocked out of his sails.
His big problem was that he had the delusion of adequacy.
He Was Convicted Of His Actions (vv. 22-23)
He Was Convicted Of His Actions (vv. 22-23)
21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Notice what Mark tells us about this account? He says that Jesus looked at him and loved him.
Jesus knew what was in this man’s heart. He knows what is in our heart. He knew that there was one commandment that this man hadn’t considered.
“Go sell all that you have.”
He had apparently made an idol out of his riches and God says that you shall have no other gods before me. And he may have been guilty of covetousness as well.
Idolatry happens when we love something or someone else above God.
Truth is, he didn’t own his possessions, his possessions owned him. He would rather hang on to his earthly possessions than repent and receive heavenly rewards.
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What is it that you are unwilling to give up in order to obtain eternal life? The answer will show you what your god is. Is it your possessions? Is it your sin? Is it pride? Is it your religion? (Religion vs relationship)
Illus. On October 28, 1949, a missionary named Jim Elliot wrote these words in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Later on, he and four missionary friends, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint would die at the hands of the people they were trying to reach with the gospel, the Huaorani Indians of Ecuador.
Jesus didn’t tell him to sell his possessions and give to the poor so he could earn his way into heaven, he told the man that so he would forsake his idols. God will not accept second place.
He Walked Away with Heartache (v. 23)
He Walked Away with Heartache (v. 23)
23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
Matthew and Mark tell us he went away sad. Jesus continued on with his Journey but the rich young ruler couldn’t join him. He walked away from the encounter as a miserable millionaire. (You’d probably be shocked at the amount of people that have money, yet are miserable.)
As far as we know, this man never came back to say that he had changed his mind. He likely died without Jesus. The money and possessions that he held on to brought him temporary satisfaction, but the decision he made to walk away brought heartache and eternal regret.
The day he encountered Jesus was the closest he ever came to Heaven.
He probably would have been considered a good man in any community. He was outwardly religious and morally upright. But Jesus showed him his heart trouble. Not physical heart trouble; spiritual. And everyone has this same heart trouble in some form or fashion.
He wasn’t willing to accept that he had a heart problem. He wasn’t willing to hear the truth.
Are you aware of your heart trouble? Are you willing to hear the truth? I encounter a lot of people who don’t want to hear the truth.
Truth is that all of us have sinned and come short of Christ. Sin keeps us from knowing God and ultimately will lead us to eternal separation from God. But Christ died to take the penalty fro our sin. By faith in his death, burial, and resurrection, we can be forgiven and have eternal life.
19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.