Real Riches (Mark 10:13-31)

Why aren't you investing in tax liens?

All passive, no effort, double digit returns guaranteed.

Outperforms the stock market by a wide margin.

That's from an ad I heard this week.

Why am I not investing in tax liens?

Well, for one thing, because I have never heard of them.

For another, if you're out there selling it to me on the

Internet, it probably isn't as much of A slam dunk as you're

making it out to be. My guess is those returns are

not nearly as guaranteed as you say they are.

That zero effort probably involves more effort than you're

telling me. It's probably a lot more hidden

risk than your tidy advertisement and the class

you're trying to sell is going to acknowledge.

Lots of us want wealth. Sometimes we want it fast.

We often want it to come easy. Not only do we want more money,

sometimes we want lots more. We want lots more.

We want it now, and we want to get it without having to work

hard for it. Best of all, it's a guaranteed

payout. All you have to do is put in X

amount of cash upfront. Do you want more money?

If you do, how do you plan to get it?

How you relate to money is one of the most revealing tests of

your character. What would you do to get more

money? What do you do with the money

you have? How do you respond when you lose

money? We don't like to admit it, but

money has a way of burrowing its roots deep into our hearts.

There's a lot we're willing to give up in order to gain money,

and money is often very hard to give up.

This morning we're continuing our series in Mark's Gospel with

chapter 10, verses 13 to 31. If you don't have a Bible, you

can raise your hand and someone will bring you one right now.

And if you don't have a Bible, because like you don't have one,

you can read at home, you can keep it, take it home with you,

read it. We'd be delighted for that to be

our gift to you. In our passage for this morning,

Jesus continues teaching on the demands of discipleship and what

being His follower means for your daily life.

What does it take to be His follower?

What do you have to give up in order to become His follower?

And what do you stand to gain if you want to follow Jesus?

What do you get to demand? And what is following Jesus

demand of you? Consider those questions as I

read Mark chapter 10 verses 13 to 31.

Mark 10:13–31

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them.

And the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was

indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me, do not

hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.

Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God

like a child shall not enter it. And he took them in his hand.

He took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands

on them. And as he was setting out on his

journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, Good

teacher, what 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. You know the commandments.

Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not

bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and

mother. And he said to him, Teacher, all

these I have kept from my youth. 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. Disheartened by the saying, he

went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How difficult

it will be for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of

God. 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.

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.

And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,

Then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said,

With man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are

possible with God. Peter began to say to him, See,

we have left everything and followed you.

Jesus said, truly. I say to you, 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.

Here's the point of our passage in one sentence.

A follower of Jesus gives up everything for Jesus, then gains

everything from Jesus. A follower of Jesus gives up

everything for Jesus, then gains everything from Jesus.

We'll unfold that truth in three steps as we walk through the

passage. What does a follower of Jesus

give up and then gain? To be a follower of Jesus is

2.1. Demand nothing.

Demand nothing. That's the main point of Jesus's

interaction with children in verses 13 to 16.

To be a follower of Jesus is to make no demands, to assert no

rights. Why?

Because you have none. You have no status or standing

before God. You can make no claim on Him.

Instead, you can only receive His salvation as an act of His

sheer grace. Look first with me at verses 13

and 14. And they were bringing children

to him, that he might touch them.

And the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was

indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me, do not

hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.

Verse 3 doesn't specify who was bringing children to Jesus.

Presumably it was mostly parents, but it could have

included other friends or family members.

They wanted him to lay his hands on the children and pray for

them to pray a blessing over them.

Just a quick encouragement to parents here.

Parents, what can you do to bring your children to Jesus?

Let me encourage you to practice regular family worship.

Read scripture and pray and sing with your kids.

Bring them to Jesus by preaching the gospel to them over and over

again. Your highest priority as a

parent should be to bring your kids to Jesus.

But the disciples didn't understand that.

They rebuked the people who were bringing their kids to Jesus.

Why? The text doesn't say so

explicitly, but whatever the reason, the disciples clearly

thought Jesus had more important things to do than spend time

with children. The disciples clearly thought

there were more important people for Jesus to pay attention to

than children. But that's not what Jesus

thought. Verse 14 tells us Jesus was

indignant with the disciples. He was angry with them.

And so he rebukes them for rebuking others.

He commands them to let children come to him.

And what reason does he give? He says, For to such belongs the

Kingdom of God. So Jesus receives and welcomes

children, kids in the congregation.

Jesus embraces you. Will you embrace him?

Jesus welcomes you. Will you welcome him?

Now, Jesus doesn't exactly say that the Kingdom belongs to

children. Instead, when he says the

Kingdom belongs to such, he means the Kingdom of heaven

belongs to people who are like children.

Jesus embraces children, and he uses those children to teach his

disciples a lesson about how to receive the Kingdom.

What is that lesson? Here's verses 15 and 16.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of

God like a child shall not enter it.

And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands

on them. So what does it mean to receive

the Kingdom of God like a child or in a childlike way?

Again, the crucial thing to remember, as we saw a few weeks

ago, is that in Jesus day, children had no status.

They were totally subject to the will of others.

They had no legal or social standing to make claims or

demands on anyone. So Jesus is not appealing to

some allegedly innate quality in children like that.

They're innocent or trusting or humble.

Instead, he's pointing out that children can make no demands

because they have no status. They can make no claims.

In other words, to receive the Kingdom, to enter into a right

relationship with God, to receive the salvation Jesus is

offering, you have to die to yourself.

To receive the Kingdom, you have to lower yourself, lower

yourself down to the level where you will make no demands

whatsoever. To receive the Kingdom, you have

to realize that what you bring to the table is only lack, only

need, only emptiness. When you realize that, you

realize that you have no standing by which to make

demands. Every parent knows the

difference between a request and a demand.

Not every child seems to know the difference, so parents have

to teach them. Mom, dad, Gimme.

No, you say, Mom, Dad, may I please have You don't demand you

ask politely. That simple lesson is at the

heart of what Jesus is teaching here in order to get right with

God. You may not say Gimme.

You may not bring a list of demands.

You can't say to God, all right, I'll sign up and play for your

team if you give me XYZ, if you make the deal sweet enough, if

you make a better offer than some of these other teams that

are out there competing with your team, I'll trust you and

keep your word. If you promise you give me this

and let me keep that and I get to hold on to this other.

You do not get to negotiate favorable terms for your signing

with God. Total self surrender is the only

way to become a Christian. To follow Jesus is to demand

nothing. Self negation is the shape of

the Christian life. The less you assert yourself

before God, the more your heart and will will align with God's

heart and will. The Christian life is no demands

all dependence. The Christian life is no

assertion of rights, all reception of grace.

You can't come to God and say I deserve that, because all you

can do is cast yourself totally on his mercy and on his care.

The central dynamic of the Christian life is that you have

no claim on God, and yet he gives to you with infinite

generosity. You have no demands.

He has all abundance. Recognizing that should lead you

to be loving and generous toward those who have no claim on you,

those who can make no demands on you, those who do not stand to

enrich you or elevate your status in any way.

Jesus illustrates his point about the Kingdom by his own

compassion and kindness toward children.

So the main point is that we should become like children and

having no demands, making no status claims before God.

But Jesus illustrates that by his own kind, compassionate

embrace of children. So how should we emulate that

attitude where Jesus welcomes and embraces those who are

least, including children? A few practical encouragements.

Married couples, if you don't yet have children and you've

been intentionally seeking to avoid conception, let me

encourage you to embrace the gift of children.

Children are certainly a burden, but even more than that, they

are a blessing. Children change you in ways you

didn't know you needed to be changed.

Children bless you in ways you didn't know you needed to be

blessed. Children are the natural fruit

and fulfillment of marriage. They're part of what marriage is

for. They're a gift to be embraced

with open arms. If you don't want children, what

do you want more, and what does that say about your heart?

For all of us in the church, whether married or single

parents or otherwise, let's embrace the children of our

church. God has blessed us richly by

blessing us with almost as many children as we have members.

That's a gift. That's a blessing.

It's something to be celebrated and thank the Lord for.

It's a blessing that we have so many kids and it seems we have

more kids coming by the week. Talk with kids at church.

Engage them in spiritual conversation.

Get to know them and their families patiently, cheerfully.

Bear with the distraction that children bring.

A church that's noisy because it's full of children is a whole

lot better than a church that is quiet because there are none.

The noise is a sign God's blessing.

Consider how you can serve the children of the church.

Engage them in spiritual conversations, ask them

spiritual questions. Or you could even consider

volunteering to teach in our children's ministry.

Jesus welcomes children, and so should we.

But again, the main point is not what to do with children, but

the way in which we have to become like children.

Have no status. Make no demands.

If you demand nothing, that means you will be willing to

point #2 give up everything. Give up everything.

We see this in verses 17 to 27. To be a follower of Jesus is to

be willing in principle to give up everything in order to gain

Him. It's to be willing to part with

anything in order to obey Him. To be a Christian is to forever

give away the right to say no. Jesus, you can't take that.

Jesus teaches us this in his encounter with the rich man that

begins in verse 17. Look first to verse 17.

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt

before him and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to

inherit eternal life? We'll only learn later in the

passage that the man is wealthy. The Gospel of Luke adds that

he's a ruler, meaning a leader in the synagogue.

And Matthew tells us that he's young, so he's often called the

rich young ruler. But this man doesn't just have

wealth and social standing. He's also earnest and zealous in

his approach to Jesus. He he kneels before him, he

implores him, indicating humility and a genuine desire to

hear Jesus answer to his question.

The question he asks is sober and serious.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

That is the best question anyone has asked Jesus in the entire

gospel so far. He's off to a good start.

This is a crucial question. Most Jews of Jesus's day

believed in a coming resurrection and new creation on

the far side of God's final act of judgement.

So that naturally raises the question, who will make it

through that judgement into the resurrection and the new

creation? What do I have to do to inherit

that eternal life? If you're not a believer in

Jesus, we're glad you're here. We're delighted you would come.

We hope you'll make friends with others in the church, find

people you can talk to about whatever spiritual questions you

have. I would encourage you that the

most important question you could ask this morning is this.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

That's a better question than any of the dozens of questions

that might be jostling around your head right now, competing

for your attention while I'm preaching this sermon.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

Notice also how this man addresses Jesus.

He calls him good teacher. That's an unusual way to address

a rabbi. We don't really find that in

Jewish literature. It's more than usually polite

and Jesus answer seems abrupt. Verse 18 And Jesus said to him,

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

I think Jesus is acknowledging that the man has at least a

partly right understanding of who he is, but he's testing him

to see just how right. Note that Jesus doesn't strictly

issue a denial. He asks the question, then he

adds A theological truth to put the question in context.

Why do you call me good? It's as if he's asking, just how

good do you think I am? What kind of goodness do you

think I have? And he reminds him, no one is

good except God alone. So Jesus raising the stakes.

His wording alludes to Deuteronomy 64, the Shema, the

central confession of Israel. You could bring out that

illusion by translating Jesus reply as no one is good except

the one God, or no one is good except God who is 1.

There is a goodness that belongs to God alone.

Only God is infinitely good, only God is good without limit

or defect. Only God is perfectly good, and

only God is the source of all the other goodness that exists.

All creaturely goodness, whether goodness in a human being or

goodness in this world, is a participation in God's goodness

and reflects God's goodness. So, rich young ruler, how good

do you think Jesus is? What kind of goodness is it?

Then Jesus begins to answer the man's question.

How can I inherit eternal life? Verse 19, You know, the

commandments do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not

steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor

your father and mother. Here Jesus quotes the

second-half of the 10 commandments, often called the

second table of the law. These are the commandments that

have to do with how we treat other people, and they're

summarized in Leviticus 1918 As you shall love your neighbor as

yourself. Jesus quotes them out of order

because he's just summarizing. It's just kind of a short,

casual reference to shared common knowledge.

And also instead of the 10th Commandment, you shall not

covet, he puts in you shall not defraud.

I think what's going on there is that defrauding is a concrete

application of coveting. If you have an inward inordinate

desire for something you shouldn't have or something that

doesn't belong to you, if that goes unchecked, it will lead you

to do harmful things toward others to get that thing you

want. So I think it's an application

of coveting. It's important to recognize that

from the very beginning of his response to this man's question,

Jesus is setting out a test. First, he tests how well the man

knows Jesus. That's verse 18.

Now in verse 19, he begins to test how well the man knows

himself. The man asked him a question.

Jesus pings it back to him as a test of his self knowledge.

Now in verse 19, Jesus holds up God's law as a mirror.

That's one of the purposes of God's law is to serve as a

mirror for all of us. You will learn more about

yourself by staring into the mirror of God's law then you

will by just gazing into your own thoughts.

If you want to know yourself better, gaze into the mirror of

the law and then look at yourself, and then look back at

the law and then look at yourself.

By comparing yourself to God's law, you will gain a kind of

self knowledge you will not have any other way.

So Jesus holds up the mirror of the law and asks the man to tell

him what he sees. Verse 20.

And he said to him, Teacher, all these I've kept from my youth.

Now, it's important not to jump to the conclusion that the man

is a hypocrite. I don't think we're meant to

think that he's lying. He's sincere.

He's a very moral person. He's upstanding.

He's a religious leader in the community.

He knows the law. And as far as he knows, he's

kept the law. He hasn't murdered anybody.

He hasn't stolen anything. He hasn't committed adultery.

He hasn't defrauded anybody. Jesus.

Yeah, I know the commandments. I love the commandments.

I do the commandments. I've kept them my whole life.

So he's very upright. He's sincere, but he's also

ignorant. He doesn't know God's law like

he should, and so he doesn't know his own heart as he should.

He doesn't understand that God's law addresses not only outward

action, but inward desire. The law is not only outward and

moral, it's also spiritual. By implication, the command not

to murder prohibits sinful anger.

By implication, the commandment not to commit adultery prohibits

lust. That's exactly what Jesus

teaches in a sermon on the mound in Matthew 5.

And when Jesus does that, he's not like coming up with some

magical spiritual insight that nobody ever could have had

before. He's just teaching the true

meaning of the law. God's law prohibits murder, and

so it prohibits everything that could possibly lead to or

contribute to murder. If murder's prohibited, anything

that sets you on the path is prohibited.

God's law prohibits adultery. So anything that would set you

on the path, anything that would weaken your defense, anything

that would begin to pull you in that direction is also

prohibited. That's the true meaning of God's

law. If the man knew the true

spiritual reach of the law, he'd have a whole different knowledge

of his own heart. He'd know that even if he's kept

all the commandments outwardly, he has not kept them inwardly.

If he knew the law better, he'd know that sin is everywhere in

his heart. It's in his thoughts.

It's in his reflexes. It's in how he responds to an

insult. It's in how he feels when

someone gets something he really wants but doesn't have.

He may not have defrauded, but he has coveted.

We all have. I have, You have.

Do you know God's law? Do you know your own heart?

In verse 21, Jesus continues the test and he ratchets it up to

the next level. He continues to test not whether

the man is lying, but whether he knows the truth about himself in

the 1st place, verse 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. Jesus looks at the man lovingly

because the man is earnest but ignorant.

He's sincere but he's self deceived.

So Jesus pities him. He has compassion on him and he

expresses that compassion in the form of an insanely demanding

command. The command is meant to shock

this man into spiritual life. Jesus challenge is as loving as

his look. Jesus is testing how badly this

man really wants eternal life. Do you want it so badly you're

willing to give up all your earthly wealth now?

Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?

Literally, you say you want eternal life.

OK, give up all your money in such a way that it'll only pay

off in eternity. You want eternal life?

I'm showing you how Jesus has divinely discerned the single

point on which the fate of this man's soul will turn his wealth.

How does man respond? Verse 21 Disheartened by the

saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

What's the one thing this man lacked?

He lacked the willingness to give up everything in order to

follow Christ. He lacked a heart fully

surrendered to God in Christ. You might say he lacked the

willingness and the ability to put to death his love of money.

What does a man response show? It shows that he hasn't kept

God's law at all. For one thing, he sure hasn't

kept the command not to covet. If he chooses to keep his wealth

at the cost of his own eternal soul, that shows he's in bondage

to covetousness. He loves wealth so much he would

rather die forever with it than live forever without it.

So he's broken the 10th commandment for sure, but he's

also broken the very first commandment.

The first commandment and the 10th commandment go together.

You shall have no other gods before me.

What God has he put before the true God?

Money. Jesus's command to sell

everything and give all the proceeds to the poor is not a

command that he gives to all people, but a specifically

tailored command to meet this one man's spiritual need.

This command alone could expose the man's heart to himself.

Why? Because he had made wealth an

idol. He'd made wealth something he

worshipped. He was unwilling to part with

his wealth even it cost him eternal life with Jesus.

This man saw enough good in Jesus to come to him and fall

before him and ask him an earnest question, but he did not

see the fullness of Jesus goodness, otherwise he never

would have left him. If he knew how good Jesus is, he

would have known. Jesus is worth giving up

everything for. This is not arbitrary.

This is not some like bizarre spiritual game where the rules

just change around in ways you can't predict.

Jesus is worth giving up everything for.

That's what Jesus teaching this man.

That's what he's teaching all of us.

To be a follower of Jesus is to be willing and principle to give

up everything for him. It's to decide in advance that

following Jesus word that even if it costs you everything, if

being a Christian isn't costing you something, you're doing it

wrong. If being a Christian isn't hard,

you're doing it wrong. This man made a tragic choice.

He chose wealth over Jesus, money in this life over infinite

bliss in the world to come. He chose the treasure that will

disappear over treasure that will never fade.

He chose uncertain joy for a short time over certain joy

forever. Why should you give up

everything to gain Jesus? Because Jesus gave up everything

to purchase you. God is our Creator.

We owe Him everything. We owe him our lives, our

hearts, ourselves. And the essence of sin is

putting other things in God's place.

The essence of sin is living for what we want and making it

something other than God. That racks up an infinite debt

that we can never repay. It's an infinite offense.

It's not like the traffic toll I have to pay that only cost $0.92

and just somehow it's taking me like 1/2 hour to try to get

through the system and pay. Our sin is not like a 92 cent

traffic toll. Our sin wrecks up an infinite

debt. And Jesus became Incarnate and

lived a perfect life and endured hardship, had nowhere to lay His

head, had no permanent possessions of His own, gave up

everything and gave his very life to pay the debt of the sin

of all those who had turned from sin and trust in Him.

And then he rose from the dead, entering into glory, entering

into a whole new mode of life that'll never lose anything,

that'll never be threatened by death, entering into glory to

say this is what glory you'll have if you turn from sin and

trust in me. If you've never turned from sin

and trusted in Jesus, he's worth giving up everything for.

All you have to do to get right with God and inherit His Kingdom

is turn from sin and believe in Him.

The gospel is a promise of endless gain, infinite gain, and

it's based on a great exchange. Jesus took on our sins so that

we could have His righteousness. Jesus took on our poverty so

that we could have His infinite wealth.

If you're not a believer in Jesus, put yourself in the shoes

of this rich young ruler. If you came to Him, said, Hey,

what does it take for me to get right with you?

What question would he ask you? What would he ask you to give

up? Here's another way to get at

that question. What would you find hardest to

give up in order to start following Christ?

What would you least want Jesus to demand?

No Jesus, please, not that. How about something else,

Anything else, but not this? However you'd answer that

question, you need to hear Jesus's call.

Give it up, sell it off, give it away, kill it, die to it and

come follow Him. If you are a believer in Jesus,

what's your most dangerous temptation?

What's your desire, your attachment, your value, your

commitment that is most in danger of turning you away from

following Him. In verses 23 to 25, Jesus begins

to teach his disciples the lesson that they should learn

from this man's tragic choice. And Jesus looked around and said

to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have

wealth to enter the Kingdom of God.

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. 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. For hundreds of years people

have attempted to make Jesus's saying in verse 25 seem more

reasonable. If you've come to church for a

while, you've probably heard a story along the lines of there's

this gate outside Jerusalem and it's called the needle gates.

And it was very narrow and animals that would pass through

it had to take off all their baggage in order to fit through.

And so it kind of symbolizes that a rich person has to humble

themselves and get rid of the baggage of their wealth in order

to enter God's Kingdom. Problem is, that interpretation

only began to arise 1000 years after the time of Jesus.

Somebody just made it up. There is no gate called the

needle. When Jesus says 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, he is inviting you to imagine this

teeny tiny space and large animal.

He is inviting you to draw the conclusion that is impossible.

He is not saying it's hard for a rich person to enter the

Kingdom. He is saying it's impossible.

And if that sounds crazy, you got to know that's how the

disciples heard it essentially. That's crazy is what they said

to him. So we got to sit here for a

minute. We're we're going to see some

resolution. The pictures going to clarify.

But first you have to hear Jesus says it's impossible.

There are plenty of religions, some even they call themselves

Christian, that treat wealth as an infallible sign of God's

blessing. The world assumes wealth and

possessions are only an asset. Jesus here declares that in

spiritual terms, wealth is a massive liability.

He treats wealth not as a blessing, but an obstacle.

If wealth keeps you from entering God's Kingdom, then it

is no better for you than a millstone around your neck.

So we need to sit with this warning.

How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter

the Kingdom of God. Why?

Why is it difficult for those with wealth to enter the Kingdom

of God? It's because wealth is an

all-purpose God substitute. Money is a uniquely versatile

idol. Some idols can only play one

position. Wealth can play them all.

Power, pleasure, prestige, protection on their own.

Each has its limits, but money can get you power, pleasure,

prestige, protection, and whatever else you want.

Money's an idol that can grant you access to whatever idol your

heart serves. Money's like a genie that can

get you whatever it is your heart is enslaved to.

Money's like a shape shifting superhero idol.

It can turn itself into whatever it is you most want.

Money is hard to get out of your hands and hard to get out of

your heart. If you do have wealth, leave it

to your own conscience to answer for yourself.

If you do have wealth, don't set your heart on it.

Beware the temptation to give it ever greater time and effort,

ever greater attention, ever greater affection.

Beware of lifestyle creep every time your pay raises, so do the

price tags on all the stuff that you need to have just to have a

normal life. Beware of appetites that grow

with or that grow faster than your paycheck.

If you do have wealth, what should you do with it?

Give it away generously. Use it to bless and serve

others. Whether it's a nice car or a

nice house, only buy something you'd be glad to let others use

or borrow. Only buy something that in good

conscience you can use openly and give generously.

You can also consider imposing a cap on how much your family will

live on and save and then give the rest away.

Or you could consider steadily increasing the percentage of

your income that you give away. The point is this, money wants

your heart. Don't let money get a hold of

your heart. Instead, show Jesus you love Him

more than you love money by what you do with money.

So does Jesus here single out wealth?

It's kind of a yes and no. He points to the unique

temptations of wealth to teach us all a lesson about what we

have to give up to follow him. To be Jesus follower is to be

willing to give up everything. And the disciples are shocked.

They're stunned. A rich person barred from the

Kingdom isn't that backward. Isn't wealth a sign of God's

blessing? Look at verses 26 and 27.

They were exceedingly astonished and said to him, then, who can

be saved? Jesus looked at them and said

With man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are

possible with God. The disciples thought the rich

young ruler would have been a prime recruit.

He's got standing in the community, he's got a good

reputation, He's got plenty of resources we can leverage for

Kingdom purposes. Surely Jesus, this is a keeper.

This is not time for catch and release.

Why are you turning this dude away?

Think about how much good he could do for us.

But Jesus turns worldly values on their heads like Mary sings

in Luke 153. He has filled the hungry with

good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

Beware of thinking that someone is a prime recruit for the

Kingdom because of any wealth or status or resources that they

have. Beware of paying insufficient

attention to somebody who might be in spiritual need or might be

spiritually open because they seem to have nothing in worldly

terms. Verse 27 is really a key to the

whole passage. With man it is impossible, but

not with God, for all things are possible with God.

Salvation is humanly impossible and divinely possible.

Only God can give eternal life. Only God can grant someone faith

and repentance. Only God can grant someone's

heart to break free from the love of money.

Only God can make someone willing to give up everything in

order to gain him. Eternal life not only has God as

its goal, it has God as its beginning, its source.

The salvation of a rich person is a miracle.

The salvation of any person is a miracle, and God specializes in

miracles. No one can save themselves and

no one is beyond the reach of God's grace.

So what should you do? To paraphrase our church

covenant, Evangelize boldly, pray fervently, and leave the

results to God. Point #3 Gain everything.

To be a follower of Jesus is to gain everything.

That's what Jesus promises will happen to every believer in

verses 28 to 31. Every sacrifice you make in

order to follow Jesus and help others follow Jesus will be more

than repaid both now and in eternity.

Prompted by Jesus encounter with the rich man, Peter begins to

reflect on the sacrifices the disciples have already made in

order to follow Jesus. Verse 28 Peter began to say to

him, see, we have left everything and followed you.

In other words, hey Jesus, we, we've pretty much already done

what you just told that rich guy to do.

What's going to happen to us? What do you we've left

everything. What do you have for us now?

The fact that Peter and the other disciples have left

everything doesn't necessarily mean they've sold everything.

They were fishermen. Some of them still had boats.

That's how they travelled around the Sea of Galilee.

Another evidence that they didn't necessarily sell

everything is that the house Jesus used for ministry in

Capernaum over and over again was very likely Peter's family

home. So not all his disciples sold

everything, but all 12 who were travelling with Him throughout

his earthly ministry had turned their backs on their whole

previous life. They'd left homes and jobs.

They had no security beyond what came direct from God's hand.

Whatever Jesus would eat is what they would eat.

However Jesus got provided for is how they would get provided

for. Wherever Jesus was able to sleep

is where they would be able to sleep.

They left their jobs, their income, and the use of whatever

possessions they had in order to follow Jesus and join him on his

mission. Jesus here essentially

interrupts Peter verse 28. Peter began to say if he had the

chance to finish his thought, it probably would have been

something like, what about us? What is there for us now?

What do we get who've given up everything?

Jesus says, I know Peter, I know what you've given up and I know

what you're about to ask. Verses 29 and 30, Jesus said,

truly, I say to you, there's 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. When I read those words, it's

hard not to think about specific people, specific names and

stories. A dear sister who came to faith

as an adult, whose dad's a militant atheist, and she is

wondering what her conversion's going to do to her relationship

with her dad. A dear brother whose parents

were missionaries, who grew up on the mission field, and who in

8th grade, survived a terrorist attack on his Christian School.

A dear family who have served in very hard places in the Middle

East for 10 years, who survived an explosive being thrown into

the home where they were staying because the people there knew

they were Christians. What's the cause of this leaving

for my sake and for the gospel? It's to become a Christian and

to help others become Christians.

That's why Jesus gives 2 causes, for my sake and for the gospel.

Jesus has in view the sacrifices we make in order to follow Him

and to help others follow Him. Sometimes becoming a Christian

will jeopardize your relationship to your family.

Sometimes becoming a Christian will cost you your job or even

make you unhireable in the entire city where you live.

Becoming a Christian can cost you financially.

It can cost you your reputation. It can cost you your friends.

And there are even more sacrifices we make in order to

proclaim and advance the gospel. Some of those are sacrifices we

make or risks we run. Whenever we share the gospel

with somebody, how are they going to respond?

What are they going to do to us? What are they going to think of

us? But there are some sacrifices

that are uniquely made by those who devote their lives to making

Jesus known where he is not known or little known.

What do those Christians give up who in our terminology become

missionaries? Often they give up a career,

financial security, a house and a home, a way of life they may

have known for decades, a sense of stability and security, often

times relationships with extended family at least making

them a whole lot harder. What have you given up for Jesus

sake and for the gospel's sake? Whatever those sacrifices are,

Jesus promises to repay them in two ways.

At 2 times. He promises to provide

abundantly in this life and to satisfy you perfectly in the

next life. Look at the phrase in verse 30.

Now in this time again, verses 29 and 34 context, truly I say

to you, 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.

How do you receive all this? First and foremost, every

believer in Jesus receives this hundredfold of family members

and houses and physical provision in the local church.

Whatever family you lose for Christ's sake, you gain even

more of in the local church. The local church is where we

find 100 brothers and sisters and mothers.

The local church is how we receive 100 houses and lands,

which means that as a church, we should share all that we have

with our fellow church members. We should share our very lives.

We should be family to each other.

We should be family for each other, especially for those who

have in any sense left their natural families in order to

follow Christ. These words of Jesus are also

fulfilled in how churches care for those who are sent out to

proclaim Christ's name. They're fulfilled in how we

support missionaries. But the list is not all

positive. You might have noticed one of

these things is not like the others in Jesus list.

There's also with persecutions. In this life we should not

expect paradise, but wise and loving Providence.

Providence that mixes blessing with suffering.

What should you do if you feel like you have given up

relationships and riches for the sake of the gospel, but you

haven't experienced this hundredfold provision?

Lord, you know how much I've given up for Jesus sake and for

the gospel. Where's my 100?

I don't see it. If that's you trust the Lord,

Ask Him to open your eyes wider to what He's already provided.

Ask him to provide still more and trust that Jesus will keep

his promise. Whatever lacks we endure in this

present age, remind us that ultimately Jesus will keep his

promise in the new creation. Looking at the the end of verse

30, in the age to come, eternal life, every, every sacrifice you

make now is ultimately worth it because of what you'll receive

then. When Jesus comes, when he raises

you from the dead, when he gives you a glorified body to live in

a glorified universe, Jesus promises provision and

consolation now and infinite reward later.

God will care for you now and he will reward you then.

God will sustain you now and he will satisfy you beyond

imagining then. No one has ever lost by giving

up everything for Jesus. What principle orders your

priorities? Is it for Jesus sake and for the

Gospel? Or is it to have a stable,

comfortable life? Or is it to put family first?

Or is it to have a fulfilling career?

What would it look like to make for Jesus sake and the gospel

your highest priority? What Kingdom good might God do

through you if you were willing to give up more for his sake and

the gospels? Is there something you've never

thought about giving up that if you did, might open up a whole

new venue to glorify God? Is there something you could

sacrifice, some offering you could hand over to the Lord that

might make sense for Jesus sake and for the Gospels and for no

earthly reason. To be a follower of Jesus is to

demand nothing, give up everything, and gain everything.

There's one last little part of the passage we haven't

considered, and we'll close with this verse 31.

But many who are first will be last and the last first.

Jesus saying don't judge final outcomes by present positions.

Don't take your bearings by who's got the most now.

Don't live for wealth, it'll disappear.

Live for wealth that will last. What wealth are you investing

in? When do you hope for that

investment to mature? Are you investing more for

retirement or for eternal life? Minor keys to Zion City, where

beside the King I walk, For there my heart has found its

treasure. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the promise that the first

will be last and the last first. May we all be willing to be last

in whatever ways we need to in order to gain Christ and eternal

happiness in Him. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.