[0:00] Today we'll see in Luke chapter number 18, if you'll turn there with me, a rich young ruler, as he's been known, had every reason when he left an encounter with Jesus to praise the Lord.
[0:11] But he's going to leave sorrowful and what a real shame. This is a life that is wasted in him having to see Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe, face to face and walking away sorrowful.
[0:25] This lesson in Luke chapter number 18, the story that is told by Jesus, is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And it's in all of those stories together that we get each one of those descriptions, the rich young ruler.
[0:39] So far in Luke we've seen the kind of people that are not in the kingdom. We've seen a Pharisee and a publican praying together. That's the first scene that was set and they were praying together.
[0:49] One of them beating his chest and in his pride believed that he could pray his resume to enter into the kingdom. But that poor publican said, have mercy upon me, a sinner. That God and sinner brought together in that one verse with the word mercy.
[1:05] And so we see the kind of people that won't enter. We also see the kind that will enter into the kingdom. Jesus bringing the children and saying, bring them to me, forbid them not. They will inherit the kingdom.
[1:15] And those such as these children, those that come to the Father with that same humility, without any pretense to say, Father, you have done the work. And now we will see those that are barred from the kingdom, those that will not enter into today.
[1:31] This is not a parable. This is a real account. The story starts with a character that we can all envy. He appears to have everything that we at all want. Wealth, youth, and power.
[1:44] And he is reaching for the kingdom. Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're going to see a man now reach the day, but he's unwilling to let anything go.
[1:59] He is going to fall short of the glory of God. Verse number 18 of Luke 18. It says, And then he answers the man's question, which is, Thou knowest the commandments.
[2:23] Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. And the man was ready for that question.
[2:34] And he was ready to give an answer to that. And this was going according to his plan. And he was proud to admit, he said, And he said, All of these I have kept for my youth up.
[2:47] Jesus, not debating with him on these things, Verse 22 says this, Now when Jesus heard these things, The answer that is, He said unto him, Unto that rich young ruler, Yet thou lackest this one thing.
[3:00] Sell all thou hast, And distribute unto the poor, And thou shalt have treasure in heaven, And come and follow me. And when he heard this, He was very sorrowful, For he was rich.
[3:16] Now when Jesus saw that he was sorrowful, He said, How hardly shall they that have riches Enter into the kingdom of God? For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye Than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
[3:31] And they heard it and said, After hearing that description, Those around him said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men Are possible with God.
[3:45] Then Peter, Who's always anxious to say something, right? Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all and followed thee. And he, Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that has left house, Or parents, Or brethren, Or wife, Or children, For the kingdom of God's sake, Or laid down their lives In missionary service, Who shall not receive manifold more In the present time, And in the world to come, Life everlasting.
[4:12] Three things I want you to see In this passage today. First of all, Life can be eternal, Starting now. And I'll explain that. That money can be damning If mishandled.
[4:23] And that Jesus is abundantly clear When he calls us to follow him. Heavenly Father, I ask that you would make, Lord, Me removed from this equation.
[4:33] Your word is so clear. Lord, I pray that your word Will have its intent In the heart of those That are listening. Lord, I know your word Will come today Upon those that are believing in you.
[4:44] And you have a lesson for us, Lord, You have a message for us today. You have direction for us As we follow you. Father, Maybe in this room And maybe listening online Or maybe someday in the future Someone will hear this Who has yet decided to follow you.
[4:59] That is now measuring the cost. Lord, I pray that you'll help them, Lord. See, I pray that they will yield To the work of the Holy Spirit In their lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Life can be eternal Starting now.
[5:12] Eternal life Or life eternal, Some variation of that Is used from 50 times In the Bible. The starting point of this story It says, A certain ruler asked, Good master, How do I inherit eternal life?
[5:24] And then it ends With Jesus speaking Who talks about Manifold more In this present time In the world to come Life everlasting. A bookend on this story Talking about eternal life.
[5:37] But what a great question. People, You have one chance To walk up to Jesus. You have one chance To walk up to God And ask a question. This is the question To ask.
[5:47] Who, What shall I do To inherit eternal life? This is a question That all of us Would love to be asked. You know, This seems to be, There's so much Must be going on In this person's life To have this type Of understanding.
[6:02] Years ago In Northern Ireland With Travis, There was a, I've shared about This youth event Where we were at And these kids Were giving us A hard time Saying words That I never heard This said before.
[6:12] Putting words together That I've never heard before. Saying things about my mother That I'd never heard before. And just, It was a tough crowd, Right? Much harder than anything That I'll deal with here On a Sunday morning Even when it's cold And you haven't had your coffee.
[6:26] This was a tough crowd. And Travis, They, If you'll remember At the end, We said, We have counseling rooms. If any of you Have any questions, Let us know. And they all Put their hands up.
[6:36] And we're like, Wonderful! Wonderful! It wasn't wonderful. Alright? They had questions About all kinds of things And they weren't ready To act upon any of them. They came asking questions But they had no heart To respond that day To what they were asking.
[6:53] This man comes And he asks the question, What is eternal life? And let's let Jesus answer that Before we move on. Jesus provides an explanation In John chapter number 17, This is his prayer.
[7:04] The disciples are there. He looks up to heaven And he says, This is life eternal That they might know The only true God And Jesus Christ Whom thou hast sent.
[7:16] Eternal life. It's not talking about A geographic place. It's not talking about A length of time. When given the definition, When Jesus was asked Or was answering What is eternal life? He says, It's this.
[7:27] To know the only true God And Jesus Christ Whom thou hast sent. That is eternal life. Knowing God, The knowledge of God, That's eternal life. Eternal life cannot be separated From God and Christ.
[7:39] It is to know him. 1 John 5 20 And we know that The Son of God has come And hath given us An understanding That we may know That it is true And we are in him Is true even the Son Jesus Christ.
[7:50] That this is true God And eternal life. It can't be separated From God and Christ. It is to possess The life of God. A deep intimate knowledge Of God.
[8:02] In Philippians, Apostle Paul speaks this way When he says in 3 14 I press towards the mark For the prize Of the high calling Of God and Christ Jesus. Let us therefore As many be perfect Be thus minded If anything be otherwise minded God shall reveal Even this unto you.
[8:19] Knowing God As he has been revealed To us In the person Of Jesus Christ. Knowing God As he's been revealed To us today From his word. This is eternal life.
[8:30] It is a life That God possesses In the heart of a man So that that man Can have fellowship With him. It's fellowship with God. In Romans It speaks about A love of God That is shed abroad In our hearts.
[8:43] In 2 Corinthians It speaks of A light of knowledge Of God Shining in the face Of Jesus. In Philippians 4 It's the peace of God That passes all understanding. 1 Peter 1 It's a joy unspeakable And full of glory.
[8:57] Life that makes One spiritually alive That brings us Into true communion With God And it is a life That is unaffected By death. It goes on Forever.
[9:09] It speaks to A quality Of life. I am not waiting For my death For my eternal life To start. It started When I came to know The Father Through Jesus Christ.
[9:21] And so that's What he offers. It says it's a gift Of God For the ways Of sin is death But the gift Of God Is what? It's eternal life Through Jesus Christ.
[9:33] The rich young ruler He didn't have it And he knew That he needed it. It was the last Missing ingredient To an exceptional life. He knew that He didn't know God In an intimate way.
[9:45] He was honest Unlike the Pharisee Who prayed his resume At that temple. He knew he was Lacking something. He knew about God But he didn't know God. He knew he didn't Because of none Of the peace The joy The rest The settled confidence The fulfillment That was there And it is available.
[10:01] When Jesus was answering He said Who shall now receive Manifold more In this present time And in the world to come Life everlasting. Eternal life was available That day For that man And he was looking Right at it.
[10:15] He was invited Into a relationship With Jesus. And how should he receive it? The question What should I do? You know It brings a great sadness To people Who are overachievers That are doers When they're asked When they say What can I do To get something And the answer Is something That's impossible.
[10:33] It's a real problem For many of us Right? It's a real problem For many friends And family People that we meet Is they say Just tell me What to do And I will do it And the answer We give them Is that it is Impossible In your own self To do it.
[10:48] Nobody enters The kingdom of God Through their own efforts Or assets But only as God Does for them What they cannot do For themselves So he's at the right place Asking the right question He even seems To have a right understanding Of who he's speaking to He says Good master They knew that No one was good But the father But he was saying That this man is good That Jesus is good This man is like the father But what he isn't Willing to admit Is that he is not good The rich young ruler Is not good When Jesus said to him Why callest thou me good When there is none that good That is God And then he answers And he says You know the commandments And when he explained These things This man said I am that That is my identity I have kept that From my youth So how does such a young Talented Obedient man Leave from here Sorrowful There's a villain In the story There is an obstacle In a story That you might not Often think about It's money Can be damning Let's talk about
[11:49] Money for a moment Some of you are thinking Well that's not very new For a church right That's what we're kind of Known for On television And all that We talk about money But I'm not talking About money That we might ask That you would bring Into this building We're talking about Money that might drag you Somewhere More than away From this building We're talking about Money that could drag you To hell We're talking about A love for something That is greater than God That can drag you Away from Standing there One day Looking at an invitation By a savior And pull you Away In verse number 22 Yet lackest thou One thing So all that thou hast And distribute Unto the poor And thou shalt have Treasure in heaven And come And follow Me That next line When it says And when he heard this He was so excited Because he came That day Asking for eternal life And there was Eternal life There was the knowledge Of God Right in front of him And Jesus said Go and take care Of a few small things And come and follow me And the guy He hops
[12:50] After Jesus He skips Alright I can't do that On a good day Definitely with all of you Watching I won't try to skip But that would seem to be You ask for something The one that can give it Offers it to you And then you leave sorrowful Which tells you about something It tells you about What had gripped his heart It tells you something About his identity Such an incredible invitation Come and follow Me This is life This is knowing God Isn't this exactly What he had been looking for But unfortunately not He was very sorrowful Because he was Very rich None Very rich Rich has become Part of our identity A documentary A film Made by Jamie Johnson Who is the heir To the Johnson and Johnson Wealth He looks at the children Who were born Very wealthy Among the Vanderbilts The Trumps The Bloombergs He talks about The difficulty That these children have In coming to A personal identity As their sense Of their selves Can be compromised
[13:50] Or lost By their wealth The documentary says That the kids Of extreme wealth The kids of a rich Young ruler Often can't separate Who they are From what they have There was a time That this man Was not called A rich young ruler He was just called A child That all those things In his life Hadn't yet gripped His heart His identity Wasn't found in it I don't know If he came from A wealthy family Or not Very likely He did But that wasn't Who he was That wasn't his Identity But as we grow Older What we have Often becomes Who we are And that's what Happened to this man There's a danger With the ability To accumulate wealth You see the danger Of money Is it appears To validate Our ability To be good At living But it doesn't mean That we're going To be good At dying Your accumulating Of wealth Says that you're good At playing the game Of life And you're better Than most And congratulations To that
[14:50] But it says Nothing about Your ability To be ready For death But often people Think there's a Connection between The two That I'm good At living So I must be Ready to die And I ask you Parents in here What if we leave Our kids with Material possessions That will cause Them one day To be sorrowful What if in the Pursuit of making Life easier for them We make it hard For them To enter into The kingdom This is not just Among the kids Of wealthy people Stephanie and I Have had children In our home Throughout the years Being involved In foster care Who have lost Almost everything And what they Immediately begin to do Is to find a corner That is theirs And then they begin To gather things That have become them Because they seem To lose every sense Of identity And rebuilding Their identity Is made up Partially Of material things Upon this earth Because that's What we do Rich and poor As we find Our identity And what we Have It's easy for our Lives to revolve Around this What we want Really It isn't paper That's so important
[15:50] Right It isn't just We're not like Ducktales Anybody Get a ducktales Reference in here We don't want to Just have all of Our coins Alright And just jump Into it Off a diving board With all these Coins Like Scrooge McDuck Does Right It isn't about Having the money And holding the paper Or the metal What it is Is the goal Isn't more money The goal is Living life On our own terms That's what I like So much about money Is that money Gives me options I have money So no I do not Have to eat this thing That was served to me I'll go buy something else Right I have money So yes I can live Where I want Drive what I want Do what I want I want to live life On my own terms And that's what this man Had been doing He'd been living life Unto his own terms And so we should Teach them Our children How to handle finances How to make the most Of their youth How to use their God given influence But not to find Their identity In it Normal Christianity Looks radical today I'm going to read Something I wrote Right when Thatcher Was being born Some 14 years ago
[16:52] About knowing That I was going To raise my kids In a wonderful city I love this community But it is also A place in which It's hard to develop A proper world view The horror of The American suburbs Is that having met All of our primal needs You know real needs Not just needs With an Apple logo on them We have not turned With still full hands To the world Instead Like the rich man In Jesus' parable We have built bigger barns So that we can go on Meeting our primitive needs In a high tech manner Has there ever In human history Been a people Who spent so much Energy, money, and time On something so based As the satisfaction Of our own personal desires For comfort We have eaten to the full And have not thought Of the hungry Instead We have thought of dessert I'm proud to be an American We are supposedly people Who live in certain Unalienable rights Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness It does not seem That we have replaced The pursuit of happiness With the pursuit of opulence If a desire for a house
[17:53] With a two car garage White picket fence Boat, vacation home And whatever else You've been told To add to this list Is the American dream Then I would like to be Un-American in this aspect If my dream only affects The quality of my life It seems more like A selfish nightmare What if suburban kids Were taught Like good princesses Are taught That they were born Into extreme privilege For the good of many What if instead of Uncomfortably avoiding The less fortunate We show them how Limiting our own lifestyles Enables us To benefit The less fortunate See we don't just Teach our kids About generosity So that the needs Of underprivileged kids Are being met But we teach them About generosity So that they know That their greatest needs Are never going to be met By material wealth That if we don't handle Finances properly It could be something That drags them From this building It's something that Could drag them From knowing the kingdom It's something that Could drag them
[18:53] From knowing our savior But Jesus is abundantly clear If you'll note The assumption here That what the man asked That eternal life Would depend on something He could do That's the way he looked Very practical kind of guy I'm good at doing What do you have That I can do Jesus And Jesus answers In a very practical way But he goes beyond morals He goes beyond ability And he demands An all embracing Personal commitment That's what Jesus Was asking him that day Was an all embracing Personal commitment to him Verse 22 When Jesus heard these things As he said unto him Y'all lackest one thing Which is to recognize That he was the treasure That he was the one That was worth Selling everything for I found the disciples Remember when Michael Jordan Went to play for the minor league Baseball team And if I'm on that Minor league baseball team I'm like We would love to have Michael Jordan Play for us He may not be a very good Baseball player But I bet our buses Are going to get a lot nicer
[19:54] When we have somebody like that On our minor league team I imagine Brother Bateman If I'm one of those disciples I'm like Come on man We would really like To have somebody With your skill set On our team We'd be glad To ride out on the chariot That you rode into That day But instead of finding Acceptable terms And conditions for him Jesus introduced him To something That was absolutely Unacceptable to him Which is why He is going to walk away Sorrowful And instead of making it Easy for him To believe and be saved He made it impossible For him to be saved So much that those That are listening Said who can be saved By Jesus' personal mission He says it is impossible But thankfully It doesn't stop there Right It is impossible For men This command of Christ Is impossible But it is not insane It is rather sanity Preached to a planet Of lunatics One of my favorite quotes there Is that this Command of Christ Is impossible
[20:56] But it is not insane It is rather sanity Preached to a planet Of lunatics So it is here That I fear That we often do A great injustice To our neighbors To our family To our community And to this world When we have to answer This question Charles Spurgeon Addressing this passage With his congregation In 1882 Says this A very great portion Of modern preaching And revivalism Has been more a curse Than a blessing Because it has led Thousands to a kind of peace Before they have known Their misery Restoring the prodigal To the father's house And never making him say Father I have sinned How can he be healed Who is not sick Or he be satisfied With the bread of life Who is not hungry The old fashioned sense Of sin Is despised Everyone in this age Is shallow The consequences That men leap into religion And then leap out again Unhumbled they came to church Unhumbled they remain in it And unhumbled They go from it
[21:56] Let us never do Our friends and family The injustice By answering the question Of how can I inherit Eternal life With any words Other than the words Of Jesus Jesus was not concerned About charity He was concerned About a commitment Because he had already Told us Here in the book of Luke That no man Can serve two masters He's either going to Hate the one Or he's going to Love the other He's going to Value one And that his love For the one Will be exalted To such a place That it would seem As hate to the other And you cannot serve God and mammon You cannot serve God And material gain And so we hear An example of a man Who just seems He walked up that day He had everything In his hands Rich Young Influential Everything that the world Had to offer He had it He had it in his hands And he walks up to Jesus Grant would you come Be Jesus today Alright He loves that Alright Never sitting on the Second row again Alright So you'll be Jesus here
[22:57] And he walks up to Jesus All these things Into his hands He says How to inherit Eternal life He was staring Eternal life In the face The knowledge of God Knowing him Is where eternal life Was going to begin And Jesus said Come and follow me Set down what you have In your hands And embrace me I'm going to Grant I know you're British But here I come Alright And then he said Embrace me here And this man here All he had to do Was set those things down So that he could embrace Eternal life But those things That he had in his hands That you grant Have become part of his Identity And so he misses it Within feet Within inches He will walk away That day Sorrowful And then as I told you Peter can't wait to speak He's always speaking Who does Peter speak for?
[23:54] The disciples It says that Often Peter spoke But he was speaking On behalf of the disciples He's also speaking for you He often says What we would say In the same scenario And then Peter said Lo We have left it all Lord And we have followed you And Jesus not congratulating him Said Verily I say unto you There is no man That you've left nothing Who will not receive Manifold more In this present time And the world to come Beyond that He wasn't saying I'm going to multiply The wealth you set down By ten He was going to say What you set down Doesn't compare in value To knowing And following Me And that's why I offer you the day Based on God's word I get to be part of Offering you Eternal life Jesus is inviting you To come And follow him So how he won away With life Without life eternal Matthew 9.22 And he Matthew The cross reference to this Same story It says He won away sorrowful For he had great possessions Or another way to say it is
[24:55] He won away sorrowful Because great possessions Had him Walking away from Jesus Is always walking towards death One of the first verses You'll ever learn If you ever come into a building Or church like this Is that the wages of sin Is death But The gift of God Is eternal life Through Jesus Christ You have sin You have God You have wages You have a free gift You have death And you have Eternal life And as I often say You can walk a narrow path Down a broad road And end up eternally Separated From God You must follow Christ To have eternal life That man says I'm walking a very narrow life You ask me about the commandments I'm doing a good job I'm doing all the things That I'm supposed to do And he's walking a very narrow path Except he's walking In the wrong direction He's not following Christ Which means he's walking Away from life He's walking into death He's walking away from a gift And he's walking into Meriting something It's a decision
[25:56] That will stay with him For all eternity And so we should be like The disciples In John chapter number 6 People were following them Thousands have answered As the rich young ruler has And John 6, 66 Says for the time Many of his disciples Which is simply means students People that have been Around Jesus Many of them went back And walked no more With him Millions of people Billions of people At this point Have done what this rich Young ruler did Which is No I will not Accept eternal life today No I will not Follow you But let us be Just like Peter was When he answered here Alright He speaks for us again This time positively When he says this Then Simon Peter Answered in John 6, 68 And he said Lord to whom Shall we go Thou hast the words Of eternal life Oh I wish I could get There on that story I wish I could get Between Jesus And this rich young ruler And stand up to the side And just plead with him
[26:56] And say he has The words of eternal life He is eternal life What he has spoken to you It will provide you Exactly what You've been asking for But he answers Differently doesn't he He goes back to life On his own terms He goes back To his own possessions He goes back To what he believes Is good Doing right Making money Pretending that he's Good at life Hoping that will mean That he's good at death He goes completely Unprepared For the life to come And as it fades The picture out As this man Walks away sorrowful And Jesus is teaching The disciples He tells them And he reminds them That following him Is worth walking away From everything He reminds them That following him Is life Everlasting I'm going to ask you To pray with me Here in a moment But some of you Are right here Some of you today Or some they may Listen to this someday Is Jesus is standing Right here You know that you Don't have that You know that you Know about God You know that you've
[27:57] Kept some of the rules That you've been taught Through the years But that intimate Knowledge of him You know that's not Happening You know that he Doesn't live inside of you And you've been Following him Through guidance And the question is What is it that you're Holding in your hands Today that you need To sit down and say Whatever this is This pride that maybe I'm having Or all these things That I've had I'm willing to set These down I want to set them down Because the identity That I currently have I hate In comparison To having a Relationship With him And I plead with you Today to make that Decision Heavenly Father I thank you For how clear your word is If left of me Lord I would never Be able to explain These words Of eternal life But you gave it to us So clearly today And just like you Were present in this story Lord I know Through the conviction Of the Holy Spirit You are bidding People today To come And to follow you You've extended That invitation And now there has To be a response
[28:58] Father I pray That no one would Walk away sorrowful Today Eternal life Lord is not I know it's not Something we wait For upon death But it's something That you are offering To us Right now With every head bowed Every eye closed Eternal life Is available for you Today John 5 24 Verily verily I say unto you He that heareth my word And believeth on him That sent me Hath everlasting life And shall not come In the condemnation But is passed From death Unto life Believe his words Obey him Follow him Put your belief And faith In him Today And Jesus prayed For you Jesus on his Earthly ministry Prayed for those That would follow So as I pray For you today Know that Jesus Already has When he said In John 17 20 Neither pray For I these alone But for them also Which shall believe On me Through their word Would you believe
[29:59] Today I'm going to ask That you stand With me Continue to pray There in your seat As you stand The altar is open To you If you would like To pray But as you're standing I would With every head bowed And every eye closed If you're in here today And you know That you're standing At that same place In life That that rich Young ruler was And you know What it is That is in your hand That you have To set aside Would you be honest In the story And say I don't want to Walk away sorrowful Today I want to cry out To God And I want to Receive that knowledge Of eternal life There's no one Looking around Every head bowed And every eye closed But if that's Your story today If that's where You're at Would you raise Your hand So that I could Pray for you And you would Make that acknowledgement Before the God Of heaven Those of us in here Profess to be believers Be following Christ Let's be reminded today That we have left Nothing that he has Not already repaid us Many times over There's such great Joy in that There should be No murmuring
[31:00] There should be No complaining We have left Nothing to follow him And when he calls us To take another step Of obedience And following him Why would we ever Question Because we know That he has more For us Than we could ever Imagine Help us Lord Take inventory today Not just upon What we own What is in our Checking accounts Or what we Have available to us But Lord Help us make sure That the things Of this world Do not entangle us Help us Lord Raise children Who see that Following you Is of greater value Than anything That they could ever Own in this world One, two, three Where would Believe this event Or will Come in Blessed Take One, two, three Two One, two, three Did you Stand To After To I Don't In fluctuationstand Of
[32:01] Two Clinique From Where another You est Step Up