Approaching Christ (Part B)

In his case, his wealth cost him service to Christ. It could be something else. Maybe with you it's not wealth. Maybe it's just, you're just lazy.

I don't know. Maybe there's something else that's getting in the way. A hobby. Maybe it's your family. Maybe you're too into your family to have any time left for Christ. Maybe it's your career. You're too into your career.

Maybe you're bashful or shy. Whatever it is. Get rid of that. Whatever's stopping you from serving, you've gotta get it out of the way. This is what the story is about.

Here's what one commentator says. He felt Jesus, felt great compassion for this sincere truth seeker who was so hopelessly lost. You can only get that if you're a Calvinist, I guess. Then he says God does love the unsaved. Yeah, he does.

And he does something about them being unsaved. And I'll open this up a little more. Now, you may disagree with me.

It's okay. I've had people be wrong before and I still love you. You know, that's one of the perks of having a pulpit.

You get to say those kind of things more often than others in an audience. So anyway, this one thing you lack said after the man said these things that I do. Now, Matthew gives us a little bit more information. And I mentioned that helpful to the story are the witnesses of the other evangelists, Matthew and Luke. Matthew chapter 19 in Matthew's account of this. When the young man said to him, all these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack?

Jesus said to him, see, the man brings that up. I've done this, Lord, but I'm still empty. I'm not fulfilled.

Something's missing. Then Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, that is matured, teleos in the Greek, finished. If you want to be perfected, go sell what you have, give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. So now this becomes not so much a discussion of eternal life, but it is present service. I've done what you said for inheritance, but I'm still lacking. Jesus says, well, you need to follow me, get rid of that other stuff, come follow.

You want to get to the next level? Then this is what you do. Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor. This is, again, as I read it, not to do directly with salvation. He was saved, but like so many, he was unfulfilled. How many Christians have we met over the years that know who Jesus is, submit to that, but do nothing? They do absolutely nothing for Christ. They're still going to heaven.

They're just not going first class. Okay. I couldn't think of anything else and I felt it was a good moment to say something very witty because I have nothing else, but very witty to a kind of slow congregation. Selling and giving will not save a single soul. Christ is not saying, if you sell your stuff, you'll get saved. That's ridiculous. And it's not New Testament theology.

It's not what the Bible teaches at all. This is something other. Because then you'd have to say this to everybody.

Get this with a formula. His riches robbed him of availability to serve. And that is one of the big reasons why some people don't serve. They just don't have the time. They're too busy. The operative words, too busy.

Too busy for Christ. So we've got to be careful of these things. You say, oh, now I'm getting conviction. Well, that's part of what coming to the house of God is about, is the Lord kind of singling us out and saying, listen, you won't take this from a man, but you'll take it from my word, won't you? And he lays it out the way we're doing it right now. This is why the three synoptic gospels are so beneficial to reconcile and harmonize the story so that we really get how the exchange took place. He says, and you will have treasure in heaven.

That's rewards. He does not say, and you will get into heaven. If you sell your things, come follow me. You'll get into heaven.

That's not what's going on. Remembering this is not after Pentecost, still under the law of Moses. And he says, and come take up the cross and follow me. A direct calling to this man. He gave this calling to the twelve and they took it when the fishermen were fishing and Christ said, come follow me. I'll make you fishers of men.

They dropped their nets and they followed him. This man's not doing it, but it doesn't mean he's damned in his soul. The cross, he mentions, take up the cross.

They don't know, they don't understand Christ is going to the cross to save us from our sins. But nowhere in the New Testament has God promised to make the believer's life easy and comfortable if we obey him. God does not say in the New Testament, if you obey me, I'm going to make your life wonderful.

He did say something like that to the Jews in the Old Testament. You follow my commandments. I will bless your harvest. I will bless the fruit of your womb.

I will bless you if you stay with me. And it didn't work overall. But in the New Testament, it's take up your cross. OK, that didn't work.

Let's try this one. Verse 22. But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.

His wealth, in his case, his wealth cost him service to Christ. It could be something else. Maybe with you it's not wealth. Maybe it's just you're just lazy.

I don't know. Maybe there's something else that's getting in the way, a hobby. Maybe it's your family. Maybe you're too into your family to have any time left for Christ. Maybe it's your career. You're too into your career.

Maybe you're bashful or shy, whatever it is, you got to get rid of that. Whatever stopping you from serving, you've got to get get it out of the way. This is what the story is about. Augustine. Augustine was very articulate in the days before the Roman Catholic Church really got bad. And Augustine said, unjustly is anything loved which is from him if he be forsaken for it. If God blesses you with wealth and you don't and you let that get in the way of serving God, that's unjust.

You're committing a crime with God. This young man, he had come so excited. He just ran in front of Christ.

And, you know, just good teacher. But his priorities were not in the right order. He had something between him and serving the Lord.

And that's where the conversation went. Had he just said all these I have done for my youth, thank you very much, that would have been it. Unless God, you know, called him out on something else. From him, wealth made him, for him, wealth made him unavailable.

He went away sorrowful, came running excited, left sorrowful. Demand was more than he anticipated. We know something about that. We are anticipating something and it's something not what we expected. Doesn't mean it's wrong.

It just means we may have been caught off guard. He was and he didn't recover well. Not at this day. Who knows what happened afterward. I believe we'll see him in heaven.

I'm not, again, looking to bulldoze him into hell because of this exchange. He says, for he had great possessions. No sin in that. A lot of Bible characters had great possessions. Boaz was rich, for example. Abraham was rich. Solomon was filthy rich. So there's nothing wrong with the possessions.

It's what do you do with it? He was not ready to break free. Another Augustine quote.

Since I pulled up my Augustine file, I look for a few more. Because I am not full of you, I am a burden to myself. It's well said. That's what this young man could say when he got home, when he prayed on his knees. And so before we rush to judge this man, we must ask ourselves, what would I have done if Christ asked me to part with something that was precious to me? To go serve him.

Would I do that? Because Christ, he asked us to depart from sin to come serve him, but not things, not directly. They will come if we come follow him, of course. And so I don't rush to judge him. And I'm a little cautious about someone who smugly condemns this man in regard to, yeah, well, he's still going to hell.

So, boy, I hope I don't mess up around you. Anyway, not all sins tempt us. Money does not really do it for me. I mean, money is a good servant, but it's a vicious master. But always, with all of us, there's at least one prevailing sin that really does hound us. At least one. Some of you may have more than one because you're greedy. That's a joke. It's a funny joke, actually. You should be holding your belly. He's so greedy, he has more sins than everybody else. Because he's greedy. All right, I'm pushing it and you think it's embarrassing me, but this is on.

It's on now. So I'm taking it. So let's summarize this. This was a man hungry for God. He ran in front of Jesus and said, you know, good teacher. You know, he just was devoted here in fulfilling the law. He was devoted to fulfilling the law.

He had nothing else at this time. We have the New Testament, grace, and we have so much more. Well, Jesus told him what to do in his answer.

He affirmed, I have done this. Again, Matthew 19, 20. The young man said to him, all these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? Man knew there was more to it.

This couldn't be it. Even in his 30s, he knew there was more. And the church proves this all the time. There's so many people that love the Lord, they're good Christians, but again, they are letting something, getting the way of serving them, and so someone else fills them.

You know, one thing I've known that Christ will do to get someone to serve is say to them, fine, I'll get somebody else. Man, who wants to hear that? I don't want to hear that. Get in the mood, I'm good, I'm sick of this. Okay, I'll get somebody else.

No, no, no, no, you won't. We're built that way. And Christ says, okay, I can use that.

I'm not, you know, you messed up that way, but I can use it. So Jesus told him what to do. He fulfills it by faith, but he says, but if you want a higher level, this is what you've got to do, and it is explicitly stated that Jesus loved him, looking at him. Nothing can undo that statement.

It is a sublime, simple statement that the Lord loved on him, because the Lord saw that he loved God, just had some issues that he had to work through. And who hasn't? Everybody that comes to Christ has got something to work through, and it's a rolling thing. You know, you may have something in your 20s, and then by the time you get to your 30s, you've got something else. You get to your 40s, the thing that was in your 20s is back again. Oh, the cat came back.

He wouldn't stay away. So be ready for that kind of stuff. Don't be so, oh, look, I'm doing it again.

Yeah, surprise. Well, anyway, the kingdom of service was primary, but it goes on that Jesus is going to take this moment. Let me expand on this. Verse 23, Jesus looked around and said to his disciples how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God, because it is.

It's difficult. Boys, while I've got your attention, you see this young rich man? Wealth gets in the way. It creates an ally with the world, and that causes friction between the spirit and the flesh that you otherwise would not have. Paul said money is a root of all evil. And, you know, when you get it, you start, you get this mindset, fine, I'll buy another one. And the dependency on God begins to diminish, because you become self-sufficient, in contrast to the little children that are totally dependent on God. And so we have to receive and say, okay, God has blessed me with this. I'll get to Proverbs 10, 22, the blessings of Yahweh makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. So if God blesses you with wealth, you don't have to feel guilty. That's what the proverb is saying.

It's a blessing. But what are you going to do with that blessing? Are you going to make it serve the Lord?

Are you going to make it serve yourself? And that tail wags the dog, you got a problem. So Jesus looked at his disciples, and he brings this up. He does not say, this man is doomed and going to hell because of his money.

He says, it's just difficult for those with money. We're not told that Jesus rebuked him, which he would have, if this were such an issue of the soul, I think he certainly would have made that painfully clear. Well, verse 24, and the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.

So this is what you, you know, one of those two birds with one stone. The rich man comes up to him, Christ deals with that, but then he understands that his disciples think, as people did at that time, if you had money, then you were good with God. That is the problem that Jesus is bringing to the surface.

It was contrary to the Jewish concept of divine approval at the time. And this is from Deuteronomy 28, where God says, you do this, I will bless you. Well, in time, they twisted that to mean if I acquire wealth, I'm good with God. Never mind obedience. I've got the wealth. That's the proof. I don't need to obey.

I've got the wealth. And that is where the big problem came in. They were ignoring obedience to the Lord, but the die was cast in the minds of people. When Job, it's even spilled into the Gentile world. Job's accuser said, Job, for you to lose your fortune, you must be really bad.

That's the whole argument of his friends against him. And Job would not back down. And thank God, Job even told God, I'm not going to give up my integrity. I see it this way. I can't lie to you and tell you I see it another way.

This is how I see it. And God dealt with Job a little bit, too, but not like the friends. He told the friends, you better go to Job so he can pray for you.

I'm about to deal with you. And they were scurrying over there. The little camels were pooped. Anyway, Jewish thinking summarized this mindset this way. Whom the Lord loves, he makes rich.

Sounds like one of those prosperity teachers, doesn't it? That is a hellish teaching that if you're poor, God is not finding favor with you. Jesus said, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

I have no home. Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. In other words, he didn't have any money.

Largely, many of the women contributed to him financially. Well, he says, children, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. He's emphasizing this. He says it twice.

He's very serious about this. It is good to have things money can buy so long as you don't lose those things money can't buy, which is your salvation, which is righteousness, which is love and truth, and all of the attributes that come with pursuing the Christ-like life. Verse 25, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. What if you put a lot of grease on that needle?

Do you force them through? Getting into heaven through wealth, this is what he is saying, getting into heaven through wealth is not possible. You can't buy your way in. Now, there are those that will take this. Well, there was a little gate and a door on the gate, and there's no proof of that.

It came out of the 1800s. This is best to take just as he said it. In fact, there's a Persian proverb, the same thing, but instead of a camel, it's an elephant. Well, the largest animal in Israel was really the camel, and so the Jews adopted it and said it's easier for a camel to go through when they wanted to say that something was impossible.

And so those interpretations about there was a little gate called the eye of the needle, and you had to take the burden off the donkey to get, that's just not necessary and not it. Verse 26, and they were greatly astonished saying among themselves who then can be saved. Again, because they had this mindset, if you're rich, you've got to be good. If you are following Yahweh, of course, they wouldn't apply this to a pagan. If a pagan was rich, they wouldn't say, well, he's good because God's blessed him. But prosperity is not attached to salvation, not financial or material prosperity. And despite God's blunt denial of this wrong idea, the teaching still persists. There are still people who think that if you have money, God loves you.

And if you don't have a lot of money, you're not loved so much. Anyway, it takes the whole scripture to make a whole Christian and not fragments of the scripture. And that's how they promote their lives. They take the piece they cherry pick. Verse 27, they don't only cherry pick, but that's one of the big tactics. Verse 27, but Jesus looked at them and said, with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are impossible. Well, can't that be said about anybody? Isn't that true about anybody? God is impossible for a poor person to be saved without God.

It is not possible. But these men needed a special class because, again, their theology was borrowed. What I mean by borrowed theology, they learn things about God from hearing somebody else without ever investigating it themselves.

And then they repeated it. We see this all the time. We see people say, God helps those who help themselves. Show me that in the Bible. There's truth in it, but not the whole truth. And borrowed theology is something we want to be careful of.

And that's why you bring your Bibles to church and do your own research and have your devotion time and your study time. Salvation is beyond morality. There are atheists that are moralists. They believe in, you know, human decency. But they're going to hell because they're rejecting Christ, willfully rejecting Christ.

So it's got to be more to it than that. Ephesians 2, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Not by works, lest anyone should boast. Nobody's going to stand up in God's face and demand to be in heaven. I've earned my way. You better open them doors. We're going to open doors all right.

But they go south. It is alarming to hear people suppose that their sins and their faults are somehow excused by a holy God just because they compare themselves in that relative goodness compared to the other guy. God says this about man's morality without him. But we are all like an unclean thing. And all our righteousness are like filthy rags.

We will fade as a leaf and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. The great prophet Isaiah said, on my best day I'm not good enough for God. And this is emphatic language in the Hebrew. When he says filthy rags, it's a very emphatic word. He's saying it's really bad compared to the purity of God.

That is the context. And salvation, of course, is whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. My point for reading that verse is this. Those who have a borrowed theology and are wrong about Christ, if they're going to get right about Christ, it's going to be through what we say to them and how we live around them. We have an active role in the salvation of souls. And to disagree with God is to not walk with God. We agree with God, though we may fail to carry it out all the time. We agree with him. Verse 28, we're about done, but we'll make it.

We're going to make this. Then Peter began to say to him, See, we have left all and followed you. Well, Peter picked up on this. You told him to leave his wealth and come follow you. Well, you told us the same thing and we did do this.

So we're good, right? And the Lord does not directly say to Peter, Yes, Peter. He does not directly say that. He doesn't have to say that. And that's significant because we're so quick to question our own salvation, which is an act of faithlessness. If you've done something wrong and you can repent and you're working to fix it, God understands that versus the person that thinks that their sin is just tolerant. You know, it's okay.

I don't really have to deal with it. That's something other. So this is allergies.

Somebody is wearing pollen. Would you please stand up? Verse 29, I'm giving his productions a lot of work to edit the sermon for radio just to keep them on their toes.

Hi, Josh. Anyway, back to verse 29. So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels who shall 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. We all see that curve ball, don't we?

He's like rolling along apples, oranges, brick. I mean, what is with the persecutions? Could you just like skip that for another time? If anybody is thinking, you know what, I'm just going to follow the Lord to get these goodies and then he throws in this to kind of straighten everybody out. This verse is about dedication of the life. It's not about just in that salvation only. It has to do with going forward and leaving behind things that are in the way of answering the call. Serving Christ has its rewards and it also has the opportunity for persecution.

Spiritual rewards are primary. He says or wife singular, which is a slap in the face against polygamy. And there are still those out there that are trying to use the Bible to support polygamy and not just the Mormons.

So you can't. That's one verse. He would have said or wives if there was some tolerance for that.

Father in verse 30 is omitted because we have our Father in heaven. And he says with the persecutions, of course, blessed are you when they revile you, persecute you, say all kinds of evil against you, and here it comes, falsely for my name's sake. The early church was accused of all sorts of things. They're meeting, you know, at night because they won't want anybody to see that they're cannibals. That's why they drink the blood and eat the flesh.

We're almost out of here. So the early church was accused of these things, but they were false. And, of course, that's a very important thing. Now we come to verse 31. But many who are first will be last and the last first. Notice that he said many and not all. It is a proverb. It is not an absolute.

Sometimes the first will be first. And it's helpful to remember that. I think there's been a lot in this chapter to consider. For me, I like that whole part about the relative goodness versus the absolute goodness of God because I think that it needs to be stressed more when we speak to unbelievers.

Yeah, you might be good next to him, but it's not next to him you're going to be judged. It's next to the Jesus Christ of the Bible. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark, right here on Cross-Reference Radio.