Setting Your Priorities
Moving Through Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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*Last week in the beginning of Matthew 19 we see that Jesus has not made his way across the Jordan River back into Judea. And understanding this means that we know he is headed to Jerusalem. Ahead of him in Chapter 21 he will make his entry into Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna from the people, but just days later, they would be shouting “Crucify Him.”
*Jesus is on the final part of his journey to the cross…to his death. And if you knew anyone who was on his way to death, you would be sad, you would be grieving. But HIS death, we know from the Scriptures had a purpose. His death equals life for us. His death equals hope. His death equals salvation. His death equals the answer to the worlds biggest problem....seperation between the Creator God and his beloved creation....mankind.
His death would be horrifying…His death would be cruel....his death would be undeserved....BUT his death would bring life to those who would seek him and follow him. Jesus is the answer…and it can only come through his death.
*Last week Matthew recorded a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees where they asked “is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”(Matthew 19:3)
Now they were not asking about it being lawful from the government or the cultures view, they wanted to know, was it lawful according to the Law of God for the Jewish people.
Jesus had one answer, and then we talked about how Scripture gives an additional answer to the question of divorce.
Jesus answered: Matthew 19:9
Matthew 19:9 (ESV)
9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Then the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians shows us one more possible reason:
1 Corinthians 7:14–15 (ESV)
14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.
We talked about it last week, this wasn’t God’s design for marriage. He wants us to marry for life. He hates divorce. Divorce doesn’t honor him.
One day when God brings you that man or that woman who you want to marry, remember that you entering into a covenant relationship that God does not want to be broken. And even though marriage is not easy, when you stay together and you and yoru spouse put God at top of your marriage relationship, we can help you work through any problem. And in that you will honor him.
++++++CREED++++++
Open your Bibles to Matthew 19:13-30
13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away. 16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 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.” 18 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, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “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.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
This morning we could split this area of Scripture into two sections:
Jesus’ Response to the Children
Jesus’ Response to a Young Rich Man
Even though they were different people, one being children and the other being a grown man....there is a theme here for the rest of Chapter 19 and Chapter 20 which we will see in 2 weeks. The them is this: YOU CAN”T BUY SALVATION.
That is why I have title this message Part 1, because as we move into Chapter 20 in two weeks, we see the same message… YOU CAN’T BUY SALVATION.
This morning, our text shows us Jesus receiving and Jesus rejecting. He gladly receives the children, but rejects the young rich man. Why. Let’s see.
At the end of his words to the disciples and marriage and how it is not for everyone, people began to bring children to Jesus. The people knew who he was, it least they though they knew who his was. A teacher, a healer, a prophet? I don’t think they thought he was the Messiah, but they did know the power to heal that he had (Matthew 19:2 “And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.” )
So as the children were brought, the disciples rebuked the them for doing this. Not the children, but the people bringing them.
Why did the disciples do this? Was their memory short? It was just in the last chapter when Jesus said that ...Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:4)
Jesus again reminds his disciples about humility.
Jesus receives the humble.
Just like looked at the child back in Chapter 18 and said “unless you turn and be like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
You see salvation begin when we turn away from who we are. When we give up ourself , our desires, our plans, and look to him and say take it! It’s yours. You can have my life, I don’t want it anymore. What I want for my life, is not what you want Jesus. That is true humility.
To be humble before the Lord means to give up what you want. To free yourself from your own selfish pride, and with humility come before him and say…truly, my life is yours. Mold me, make me, for your purpose with one goal…to glorify you!
I remember when I was your age. I couldn’t wait to finish school, begin my life on my own. I was going to do what I wanted to do all the time, I was going to go where I wanted, do what I wanted, make the decisions I wanted. It was my life and I was going to be the one who was in control.
God has a word for that… sin. Pride.
And the Bible has something to say about pride: Proverbs 16:18
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Another translation puts it this way…
First pride, then the crash—
the bigger the ego, the harder the fall
When someone comes to salvation, the things that really identifies their heart before God is humility.
Jesus receives the humble .
Jesus rejects the proud.
The second part of what we read was Matthew retelling the encounter Jesus has with a rich young man. He came to Jesus and asked, what GOOD thing can I do to enter eternal life.
If you look at the Bible, going all the way back to the Old Testament, there was this idea that to be accepted by God meant you had to do something.
Now God did say that the Israelites should bring sacrifices to the temple as an atonement for their sins. But these sacrifices never took the place of them giving themselves to the one true God Jehovah. They were only meant to cover their sins.
In fact, speaking through the prophet Hosea, the Lord made this very clear… Hosea 6:6
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
The real sacrifice that God wants from us, is the a genuine love given to him. And genuine love is a sacrificial love. A sacrificial love means that you give everything to Him, holding nothing back.
That’s what Jesus told this rich young man.
He told him first, obey the commandments. The man said which ones?
Jesus told him the last ones: don’t kill, don’t commit adultly, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love yoru neighbor.
The man said.....check, check, check… I’m good. I have done all of those. So what still remains for me to do?
Jesus said, give everything you have to the poor…then… you will obtain your treasure in heaven.
Jesus said…everything that you have, all of your possessions, yoru money…give it to the poor and then you can enter eternal life.
Matthew writes…he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t bring it upon himself to part with his money and all his possessions. He was rich, and he didn’t want to give it all up. And he went away sorrowful.
Jesus rejected him because of his pride. His treasure was the things he possessed. He could not let them go. He could not let go of his pride. He rejected Jesus because of the things he could not give up, but sadly the bigger rejection came from Jesus towards the man. Jesus rejects the proud.
This reminds me of the words the prophet Samuel spoke to Saul when he rejected God:
22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Saul was more interested in his own desires and the Lord rejected him as King. This man was more interested in his wealth and pride, and Jesus rejected him.
Today, that man, as far as we know, is in hell. His things were more important than his eternal life. He walked away from Jesus.
But Jesus uses this conversation with the rich man to teach his disciples something.
He tells them that it is only with great difficulty that a rich man can enter the kingdom of heaven.
Let me tell you something, this statement from Jesus that it would be very difficult for a rich man to enter heaven blew their minds!
Verse 25 says that they were greatly astonished! They were surprised. They couldn’t understand. He is rich, surely God’s favor is upon him and he is going to heaven.
Why would they think this? To be rich is to be on your way to heaven. They had good reason to think that. If you look into the Old Testament, obedience to God was rewarded by blessing. And many, in not all of the time, blessing meant wealth. Money, animals, great houses. Think about Job, he was blessed by God because of his obedience. He was very wealthy.
But with the New Testament and and the New Covenant through Jesus Christ, wealth was not a sign of blessing from God. In fact, wealth can be a hindrance to one coming to Christ. Paul wrote:
1 Timothy 6:9–10 (ESV)
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Paul point, even Jesus’ point here in Matthew 19 is that when we focus our our own desires, money, fame, whatever it is, pride enters and block our passions from Jesus. And when that happens, Jesus rejects.
I see this all time. It’s all about priorities. It happens all around the world. But because I am standing here in Nigeria, let me just talk about Nigeria.
In Nigeria, It’s all about money. The focus is money. Money is more important than anything. Money is what drives corruption. ANd everywhere you look there is corruption. Sometimes when you hear the word corruption you thing of the government. You can pick up the Vanguard newspaper or look online at their news and there are always stories of money going missing. Political officials who have been caught taking money…eating it. And many more that are doing it have not yet been caught.
But it isn’t just those big government , it’s everyday people you will see walking around. Before we moved here, someone told me that a person in America sent 400,000 naira to pay for one of our kids hospital bills. At that staff member, who is not here anymore took the money. They never paid for the hospital bill. 400,000. It is all about the money.
Focusing on money, focusing on getting what you want. That is pride. And pride leads to destruction. I say this all the time… this time on earth is so small. But your eternity is forever. It will not end. If you are trying so hard to make yourself comfortable and happy now, you will sacrifice the time that is truly important.
Jesus receives the humble.
Jesus rejects the proud.
Jesus opens the door to eternal life.
Peter asks Jesus, who can be saved? (Matt 19:25) He goes on to say that we have left everything to follow you. Then he sounds a little bit like a Nigerian… What will you have for us?
Jesus answers that in the new world (vs 28 , also translated as regeneration) you will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
Now this “new world” or regeneration as I said it was translated points to the time after Jesus comes back, defeats Satan and the anti-Christ, and then establishes the New Jerusalem on earth (Rev 21).
But then Jesus turn his attention from the disciples and their future and says this:
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
What does this mean? Am I to turn my back on my Mother? My brother David? Or even Mom? If I do that, then I can go to heaven? No that is not what he is saying.
Again. it is all about priorities. When Jesus becomes THEE Most important thing in your life… then eternity with God awaits you.
IF other things get in the way. Money, your own desires and passions, every love for family…it anything rises above your love for God… then I think your life would look like the rich man:
....he went away in sorrow.
The words of Jesus in verse 30 remind us of our priorities: Matthew 19:30
30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
What are you putting first in your? You? Your wants? Your desires? Your plan? Like I asked on a Tuesday night not long ago… Who is the king of your kingdom?
You may say, I am. I make the discions for my life. I determine want I do. That may be true. But your kingdom will end here on earth. One day you may die king, but you will find your eternity serving Satan and asking yourself....if I had only given my whole self to God then I would be enjoyed eternal life.
Jesus said earlier in Matthew 10:39
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
I pray that you lose your life. I pray that you let go, make him the King and receive what the rich man never did....eternal life through Jesus Christ.