Today on the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Here is the challenge given by Jesus. Are you ready for it? If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.
Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Today we return to the Book of Matthew to observe one of the greatest personal dramas in all of the Gospels. A young man brings a sincere question to Jesus, and Jesus issues a challenge that remains relevant to this very day. Do you know what it takes to have treasure in heaven? To find out, let's join Pastor John Monroe as he introduces today's lesson.
Today we return to our ongoing study in the Gospel of Matthew and come to chapter twenty as we think about treasure in heaven. We're going to consider a story of great drama where a rich young man has a face-to-face encounter with Jesus. This young man seems to be sincere as he asks, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" In one sense, it was a good question, but clearly, as the story unfolds, the young man is not prepared for the answer. The truth of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is offered to us, and to know Him is to have eternal life. Do you have this assurance today?
Picture this encounter. Will this young man have treasure in heaven?
Now we come to a very interesting section of Scripture. In fact, I think this is one of the great dramas of the Gospel. If I was, if I were a movie director, I'd love to set this up. This would make a wonderful movie, as it were, a tremendous drama. This is a drama which stops us in our tracks.
In answer to a question, a very penetrating question, I think a thoughtful question by a young man, Jesus issues a personal challenge, and the young man, as we're going to read, wavers on the very edge of eternity. Will he or will he not receive eternal life? Surely there is no greater question. Will he enter the kingdom of God? And today Jesus issues a challenge, a fresh challenge to you and me.
Will you hear it? I want you to listen, and I want you to think. What is your response to the question that we will find in this passage? Do you think you're going to enter the kingdom of God? What would give you that assurance?
How would you answer that question if I said to you, "Will you enter the kingdom of God? Are you in the kingdom of God?" Now, we're going to read first of all in our Bibles, Matthew nineteen verses sixteen through twenty-two, where we will learn that eternal life is to be received, not achieved. This is so important. Eternal life. Is to be received, not achieved.
Matthew nineteen verse sixteen, and behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go." Sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.
When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. What a drama! Confrontation between a young man and Jesus. And this man asks very important questions. From the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke, if we put the synoptic gospels together, we know that this man was not only rich; he was young and he was a ruler.
But in spite of his riches, his youth, and his influence, he senses that something is missing in his life. And in that way, he's to be commended. And he comes to Jesus and asks the question, "Teacher," verse sixteen, "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And here Jesus reminds the man of five of the Ten Commandments. He quotes them. I read them in verse eighteen and nineteen.
And then Jesus adds, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." And to our surprise, at least to my surprise, this rich young ruler replies, "Verse twenty, all these I have kept. What do I still lack?" That's pretty impressive, isn't it? But he recognizes that there's a lack in his life. Verse twenty. All these I have kept.
What do I still lack? He senses that something is missing, and the way he asks the question, verse sixteen, "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" suggests that he was depending on his ethical conduct to enter the kingdom of God. Mark tells us, although Matthew doesn't, that when Jesus looked at the young man, it says he loves him. That Jesus loved this young man. I think that's wonderful.
How tender! Here's a young man, and Jesus knows what he's going to do. And Jesus loves them. And he's now going to expose what this young man lacks. What's the first commandment?
You shall have no other gods before me. God must have no rivals at all. Does this man love his riches, his lifestyle, his influence in the community more than he loves God? Have they become an idol to him? And when we're on the subject, what about the tenth commandment, "You shall not covet"?
Is he covetous? Here is the challenge given by Jesus. Are you ready for it? You're standing before Jesus. Here is verse twenty-one.
If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. What a response! The young man has asked the question. Here's the answer.
What do I still lack? Here it is, and can't you sense the young man's intense inner struggles? Can you picture him weighing the cost? Can you picture him thinking through the implications of what it would mean if he would sell everything that he had and to give it to the poor, and now instead of living his own life as a ruler? On the top of the wave, as it were, Mister Cool in the community, as it were.
Now he's got to abandon all of that, get rid of all he has, and furthermore, he's got to come follow Jesus. But here is the way to eternal life. Here is what it means to enter the kingdom of God. The question is asked. There's a dialogue, and now the direct answer to the question is given by our Lord Jesus Christ.
How will this rich young ruler respond? He turns. We can almost hear the swish of his expensive robes, can't we, as he turns? And we read here in verse 22: When the young man heard this. He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Can you see this young man coming to Jesus? Jesus looking at him in love, looking at him. I'm sure, right in the eye, and they have this dialogue. The question is asked, the challenge is given, and the young man there he stands, face to face with the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. This man, this good man, this man, let us concede for the sake of argument that he had kept some of these commandments, and he turns.
Yes, he turns his back on Jesus and walks away.
Sorrowful, for he had great possessions. One of the things all of us want is joy, isn't it? Have you experienced in your Christian life that the closer you follow to Jesus and the more obedient you are to Jesus, the greater your joy? When you get your eyes off Jesus. And certainly, when you turn your back on Jesus, you may think you're going to have happiness.
You may think you're going to seize life. But I can tell you, it's a path of sorrow. And when it comes right down to it, this young ruler, for all of his observance of the commandments, for all of his impressive credentials, when it comes right down to it. He chooses the wealth of earth rather than treasure in heaven. Do you remember the parable Jesus told about the sower going to sow?
He says this: Matthew thirteen verse twenty-two. The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. Here is an individual. Example: First witness, the rich young ruler. He hears the word.
He wants to respond. He's drawn to Jesus. There's something compelling about Jesus. Obviously, he'd heard him. Perhaps he'd seen the miracles.
Something very, very compelling. And the word, the very word of God, the living word of God, is planted. But because of the deceitfulness of riches, there's no fruit. And I can almost hear the Lord turning to his disciples, who had witnessed this amazing scene, as this young man walks away from Jesus, with his back to Jesus. You can almost hear Jesus as he looks at him in love and says, "For what shall it profit him if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?
Do you want the world?" Or do you want Jesus Christ? When Jesus came preaching the gospel, Matthew four verse seventeen, he said, and we've heard this over and over again in this series: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Notice, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This young man hears the word. Is he going to repent? Is he going to repent from the sin of having great possessions more than loving God?
Is he going to repent that he loves his great possessions and his prestige and his power? He loves that more than Jesus. Repent? No, he doesn't repent. Jesus had also said, Matthew sixteen verse twenty four: If anyone would come after me, let him deny self.
Take up his cross and follow me. No to self, yes to Jesus. Want to make yourself the center of the world? Want to go your own way? Go, but don't say you're following Jesus.
Don't take the name of Jesus on your lips if you're turning your back on him and following your own desires, or following the crowd, or your own ambitions, rather than following Jesus. Is this young man ready to deny himself? No. Is he ready to repent? No.
Is he prepared to follow Jesus? No. That's the command, isn't it? Come, follow me. No.
His actions give the answer. He walks away, still grasping as it were his great possessions, but losing eternal life, the kingdom of God. Is to be received as a gift, not achieved by self-effort. Our self-efforts, what we do, trying our best to keep the Ten Commandments and all of that, cannot achieve salvation. Paul says, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a Gift of God, not a result of works that no one should boast.
This young man could boast of what he had done. It's the very opposite of salvation. That we're saved not by what you do, but entirely by what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. Many people, perhaps some of you sitting here this morning, think that if you're good enough or if you work hard enough. You'll get into heaven.
Let me ask you: whatever your background is, whatever your religion is, whatever your own view of life is, how many good things do you think you have to do to get into heaven? And how would you know that you've achieved that standard of goodness that would get you into heaven? I mean, what's the standard? How would you know? I want you to grasp this truth: the kingdom of heaven.
This is beautiful. Think of it. Here's God's grace: the kingdom of heaven is to be received as a gift, not achieved as a reward for your efforts. Think of the contrast with the little children in verses 13 through 15 that Jesus talked about. Think of the contrast between these little children and this rich young ruler.
These little children can do nothing to inherit eternal life, and they have nothing. Yet Jesus says, verse fifteen: "To such belong the kingdom of heaven." A childlike attitude, quality. Of utter helplessness, of total dependence on their parent. A little child is born. What can that child do to survive?
Nothing. Left to themselves, that little baby would die. Left to ourselves, we would be spiritually dead forever. And into our world. Our Lord Jesus Christ comes and offers us the gift, and says to such, "Those like little children, meaning the attitude of little children of utter dependence, to such belong the kingdom of heaven.
The children have nothing but receive everything. The rich man has everything ah but receives nothing." Verse thirty: For many who are first will be last, and the last first. Interesting the way Jesus teaches, isn't it? Makes us think, shakes us up a bit, doesn't it?
Now, Jesus is not saying that the way to achieve eternal life is by selling everything you have and giving it to the poor. That's not the point. That is not a universal command. That is given to this young man in his situation. No, the point is this: that God will have no rivals.
Follow Jesus Christ. He has to be number one. Isn't that right?
So here is the question. What's preventing you from following Jesus? You say, "Well, I'm not. I'm certainly not rich." Well, compared with most people in the world, I think all of us are rich. Think of people who don't have water.
Think of people who don't have homes. Yes, today in our world.
So maybe you're not rich compared with other people. That's not the point. The point is this: What is preventing you from following Jesus wholeheartedly, abandoning as it were everything, so that He is number one? Notice the central point, verse twenty-one at the end of it. Don't miss it.
Come, follow me. Have you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and are you following Him? I love the fact that Jesus says, "Follow me," because you can say, "Well, I've come," but here's the test: Are you following Him? You listening to Him? Are you following Him?
Eternal life is to be received, not achieved. Secondly, as we look at verses twenty-three through twenty-six, in the kingdom of God, there is surrender, not compromise. Verse twenty three, and Jesus said to the disciples, "This is intriguing, isn't it? Don't you love reading your Bible? You always think, 'What's going to come next?' Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven." Again, I tell you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" Some of us are asking the same question, right? I've already told you that all of you are rich compared with Billions of people in this world today, who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible." In the kingdom of God, there is to be no compromise. There is to be surrender.
It's difficult for the rich. Jesus is saying to enter the kingdom of God.
Now, in the first century, not entirely different from the twenty-first century, but in the first century, certainly wealth was regarded as a sign of God's blessing.
So here is this rich young man. People would look at him. God has blessed him. Look at him. He's a ruler.
He's an influential person, and he's got great possessions. Whether he had inherited them, whether he had invested wisely in olives or whatever it is you'd invest in in the first century, I made a lot of money. Isn't the point? He had great possessions.
So, in that culture, people would look at him as he walked into the synagogue and say, "God's blessing is on this man." If you're rich, God is blessing you. You know that from the story of Job, don't you? That when God withdrew His riches, people said, "Ah, God is cursing you." And now Jesus is saying that it's difficult. With difficulty, the rich (verse 23) will enter the kingdom of heaven. Rich.
And he makes it worse by saying it's almost impossible for the rich to get into heaven. And the disciples, verse twenty-five, were greatly astonished. This was radical teaching, which undermined the religious worldview. If God was blessing you, you were rich. We have that in the prosperity preachers today.
Have you heard them? Follow Jesus, and you're going to be wealthy. Put in a hundred dollars to the collection, and praise God. God's gonna give you a thousand dollars. God wants you rich.
God wants you in the best job, and so on and so forth. We call that prosperity gospel. Can I say a terribly false gospel? Don't fall for it. Don't do it.
This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment.
So stay with us. From matters of truth and identity to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. But to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled "Eternal Security: Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World." Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony along with a careful examination of Scripture to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? I know that you haven't kept all of the Ten Commandments, although you may seek to do so. But the question is this: Have you received eternal life through knowing Jesus Christ? Will you acknowledge that, however good you are, you're not good enough in your own power to enter heaven? You need a Savior, one who has died for your sins, risen from the dead, and now offers you eternal life.
Will you receive this gift in Jesus Christ? Treasure in heaven. We'll continue this story next time. Thanks for joining us today on the Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies.
Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
