True Treasure
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What does it mean to follow Jesus?
To come to church on Sundays?
To go to community groups throughout the weeks?
To get up early and read and study your bible before work?
To have well behaved children? or a clean home?
To listen to Christian radio and read christian books?
You can do all of these things and not follow Jesus
To follow Jesus is to see Jesus as your true and only treasure
To have your entire life submitted to chasing after Jesus
That anything in your life that would keep you from your treasure would be given up and left behind.
To follow Jesus is to see Jesus as your treasure and to pursue him with every aspect of your life.
This view of following Jesus is not popular.
What is our true treasure?
Social standing?
Bank account?
Affirmation
Status
Reputation
This morning is the story of the rich young man found in Matt, Mark, and Luke. Its the story of a young man who wanted eternal life, but did not want Jesus as his treasure.
Read the passage
The Rich Young Man
The Rich Young Man
Who was the rich young man?
We don’t know how he made is money. We don’t know any background information about this man.
What we can gather is that he he knew the law and lived his life as a faithful member of the covenant.
He respected Jesus as a teacher and wanted to learn from him
He desired to live a righteous life, and wanted eternal life
He was
The rich man wants to be part of the kingdom.
Look with me at 10:17
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?”
The man ran up and knelt before him
Shows humility, a posture of someone who wants to learn
Jesus and the disciples also would have seen that this man was wealthy.
He calls Jesus “good teacher”
He recognized that Jesus is not what the pharisees have been saying, but that Jesus is of God.
He asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
he sincerely wants to know how to be with God forever.
He wants to be part of the kingdom he wants to be in right standing with YHWH.
Perfect opportunity to share the gospel
Think about the financial security that he would bring to Jesus and the disciples if he joined up with them.
Think about the future affect he could have on generations if this young man was discipled and equipped to go out and spread the gospel.
Even apart from what this young man could add to Jesus ministry, this opportunity rarely comes when you have someone asking point blank how to have eternal life.
Jesus could have made it really easy for him.
Jesus could have said, follow me and i’ll show you what eternal life looks like.
Jesus could have had him pray a prayer - or say, “ you don’t have to do anything, just believe”
Even for those who get nervous about sharing your faith, this one right here is low hanging fruit.
So how does Jesus respond to the man?
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
Jesus withholds his answer. Why didn’t he just answer the question, instead, Jesus responds with a question of his own
Why do you call me good?
It is helpful to know that in Judaism only God is characteristically called “good”. Teachers or Rabbis had many different titles that they would haply accept, but only rarely was a rabbi addressed as “good teacher” for fear of blasphemy against God, who alone is good.
Perhaps the young man was trying to complement Jesus.
Trying to flatter Jesus, thinking that Jesus would take it as a complement.
We do this in our prayers or in our testimony.
we know the right vernacular
But Jesus sniffed his flattery right away and calls him on it. “Why do you call me good?”
Now, the statement is more true than the man realized. Jesus truly is the “good teacher”
But Jesus wants to find out if this man actually believed what he just said.
So Jesus goes on..
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.’ ”
19-
Jesus calls the mans attention to the 10 commandments quoting commandments 5-9 and adding “do not defraud”
The command not to defraud is not found in the 10 commandments but may have been added because of its relevance to the rich man, since wealth is often gained by defrauding the poor.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Discipleship and Possessions (10:17–31)
To the prohibitions against murder, adultery, theft, false testimony, and dishonoring of parents, Jesus commands the man not to defraud the poor. This commandment is not found in the Ten Commandments but may have been added because of its relevance to the rich man, since wealth is often gained at the expense of the poor
Notice that Jesus did not ask him about the first four - which we will see why in a little while.
How does the man respond?
And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
The man is not trying to convince Jesus that he is somehow sinless by keeping the commandments.
He is not trying to argue a moral superiority over others
nor is he trying to say that God should accept him based off his works.
What the man is saying is that he has been a faithful covenant member from youth.
We often see in the bible the people of God state that they have kept the commandments in this sense,
Covenant faithfulness not sinless perfection
The psalmist walks in the commandments
I am blameless
I am righteous
I walk in your ways
I have kept your commands etc.
Luke talks about John the Baptist parents Zechariah and Elizabeth
And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
Luke 1
This was a very jewish way of talking about those who live lives faithful to the covenant.
So with the rich young man we should not jump to the conclusion that this man claims to be perfect, but that he has been a faithful covenant member.
In the next verse we see Jesus’ love for this young man.
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, 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 loved this young man, and therefore Jesus says the most loving thing he could have said. “you lack one thing...”
Jesus tells this young man the hardest thing he has ever heard.
*so often we think that love is always affirming*
flattery is always affirming - love is not
You see what have misunderstood love for one another as affirmation for one another
A brother or sister in Christ
about to make an unwise decision
If you love me you will support me - Where true love is to say you don’t support the decision
wants to date an unbeliever
if you loved me you would want to see me happy
we think love means to affirm peoples emotional state, while at times the most loving thing you can do is to really upset someone.
This is the approach Jesus took with the rich young man. He was not concerned about his emotions, he was concerned about his soul.
So Jesus tells the man out of love, “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.”
Jesus says, one thing you lack… therefore give everything away
How can this man make up for the one thing he lacks by giving everything away?
How can he gain something by giving everything away?
How can having less actually have more?
What does he lack?
he has everything
He lacks Jesus
To gain Jesus he has to get rid of everything that is keeping him from Jesus
To gain Jesus is to change your allegiance from self, possessions, pursuits and give your full allegiance to Jesus. And if anything is keeping you from that you are to get rid of it.
And for this man, what stood in the way of receiving Jesus was his riches.
The only reason his riches were a problem, was because his riches stood in the way of Jesus
He was so attached to his riches, that he could not attach to Jesus
He was so in love with his riches that he could not love Christ.
Jesus is saying if you want eternal life, He must be your first love. And for Jesus to be your first love you must give up that which stands in the way.
And the man could not do it.
We might say that Jesus was not being nice, that he could have asked the man to give up something that wasn’t so difficult. something that wasn’t so offensive to the man.
Jesus could have won this young man to the k
The man went away disheartened and sorrowful
Disheartened
the word literally means to be shocked and to become dark.
This is not what he was expecting to hear from Jesus.
These words hurt him, caused him to have a dark or gloomy appearance.
Sorrowful
to cause severe mental or emotional distress, vex, irritate, offend, insult.
Jesus hurt this mans feeling - and it was the most loving thing Jesus could have done.
Jesus hurt this mans feeling - and it was the most loving thing Jesus could have done.
Story of sink hole in Organ
Little girl was trapped
The rescuer was trying to get her out
He said, If i pull her i’ll break her arm
The chief said, “Sometimes you have to break them in order to save them”
To break the little girls arm was the most loving thing the man could do.
This is the reality of the gospel
in order to be saved we must be broken.
And the Christian life is an on going breaking and an on going healing.
This man, was unwilling to be broken
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.
The man left, but the story goes on.
After the man left Jesus looked around at his disciples and begins to teach them about what just happened.
Riches and the Kingdom
Riches and the Kingdom
Riches and the Kingdom
Riches and the Kingdom
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.”
Twice Mark tells us that the disciples were amazed or astonished at Jesus teaching.
The first in verse 23-24
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!
The disciples were amazed that Jesus said it was difficult for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom…
The second time in verse 25 when Jesus uses an illustration to prove his point
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.”
Jesus uses humor here as he illustrates the point - its humorous because it is so ridiculous.
Jesus takes one of the biggest animals around, and perhaps being used as they travel to Jerusalem, and compares it to the smallest hole they would have known.
You take this huge dirty, spitting, grungy camel and try and squeeze it through the eyes of a needle.
Its not going to happen!
And finally the disciples blurt out, after being exceedingly astonished by this teaching… “Then WHO can be saved?”
And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”
If the rich are unable to be saved, then who?
You see,
The disciples thought that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing
The disciples thought that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing
that wealth was a sign that rich are favored by God.
the rich are first in society. First in line, if you would, to come to God.
If they can’t be saved, no one can be saved.
If its impossible for them, then its impossible for everyone
That why it didn’t make sense to them. If what Jesus is saying is true, then it is impossible for anyone (rich, poor, middle class, whomever) to be saved.
And Jesus agrees,
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
Mark 1027
The question is, “who can be saved?”
And Jesus says, “With man it is impossible”
it is impossible for man to save himself,
It is impossible for man to enter covenant with God
It is impossible for man to earn salvation
It is impossible for man to be in right standing with God
For example in Mark
It was impossible for the man with the unclean spirit to cast the demon out himself
It was impossible for the leper to cleans himself
It was impossible for the paralytic to heal himself and walk
It was impossible for the man with the withered hand to heal his own hand
It was impossible for the man with the Legion of Demons in him to conquer those demons on his own
It was impossible for the woman with the issue of blood to cure herself
It was impossible for Jairus’s daughter to bring herself back from the dead
This is what Mark has been showing us all along
That Jesus has come to do that which is impossible in order to save his people.
So now, Jesus is saying,
like all the miracles I have been doing, the greatest miracle is the salvation of sinners, and it is impossible for man, but all things are possible with God.
Salvation is impossible for all men, not just the rich
For the rich man to come to Jesus he must give up all that stands in the way
For the poor man to come to Jesus he must give up all that stands in the way
For the anyone to come to Jesus they must give up all that stands in the way
Salvation is of the Lord. We have no room to boast, It is only God that can do the impossible in bringing sinners into his presence and make the saints.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Jesus is the King, and only the king is able to bring people into his kingdom.
mark 10:
And when The king calls you, he calls you away from everything that stands in the way. no matter what it is.
So we must enter the kingdom of god without anything.
He called the rich young man to give up that which stood in the way of serving Jesus with his whole life, and he was unable to do that because he had great riches.
The rich young man was unable to give up his earthly riches in order to gain true riches
Peter hearing these words from Jesus
Peter now hearing Jesus teaching and the invitation given to the rich young man recalls what he and the disciples have given up in order to follow Jesus.
True Riches
True Riches
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.”
Peter says we have given up everything and followed you. To which Jesus responds
You have not given up anything that won’t be returned to you hundredfold in this life, though it will be received with persecutions.
Nothing that is given up for the sake of the gospel will not be restored in a new glorious form.
Jesus
Everything that might be given up in order to follow Christ will be restored in the new society created by the dynamic of the gospel .
if you have to give up your houses you will be given shelter
Not everyone is called to sell everything they have and give it to the poor in order to follow Jesus.
Not everyone is called to give up houses or lands
if you have to give up your lands you will be given lands
Not everyone is called to give up family in order to follow Jesus
But everyone is called to give up something
You see, the call is really not to give up anything, the call is to follow Jesus as king. And whatever would keep you from that call should be given up.
And Jesus is promising that whatever it is you’re giving up, even if its family, even if its houses or lands, Jesus will take care of you and will restore to you what you have lost in a glorious form.
Jesus is not calling us away from treasure. He is calling us to the true treasure.
I can testify to the truth of this promise
Mandee and I knew we were called to ministry around back in 2007
Had to get trained - so we packed up and moved to Chicago
Gave up financial security
Gave up family - and not only that but my family had to give up us as well
Gave up life long friends
Graduated from Moody Bible Institute and moved to Denver to be a youth pastor
Denver is where mandee’s parents live
Worked there as a youth pastor for 2 years - built good friendships
Then God called us to Gordon-Conwell for more training
Again, gave up financial security
Gave up being around family
Gave friendships
We then moved to Massachusetts for me to get my Masters in Divinity
another three years of school
financial pressure
young family etc.
working full time, going to school full time
Though we were back in New England where family was only a couple hours away
Then started praying about where we would go for ministry - to fulfill that call back in 2007
We talked about church planting and through a last minute invitation to come to wichita for a church planting assessment God started to show us where we would end up.
And then 2.5 years ago, after graduating from Gordon-Conwell, we packed up our things and once again
left behind family, friends, security (going to an established church), to follow God’s call to Wichita
And over the last 2.5 years here I, and many of you, have had to give things up over and over again in order to be obedient to the calling to plant this church. There have been persecuting, there have been trials, there have been significant struggles.
And through it all, I can tell you I have experienced God’s blessing 100X over
he has given us a new church family
He has give my wife and I some of the best friends we have ever had in our lives
He has given us a new land
He has given us a new home.
He has given us some of the greatest blessings we have ever experienced by being willing to give up everything for the sake of the gospel and his calling.
Most of you won’t ever be called to give up your family, your home, your land, or your financial security
But he has and is calling you to chase the true treasure, which is Christ, and as you chase Christ you will be called to give up your life, and everything that keeps you from pursuing Christ. And what he gives you in return both in this life and the next is beyond comparison.
Lets pray
Communion