WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.860 Is this better? 00:00:01.340 --> 00:00:01.900 That's good. 00:00:03.899 --> 00:00:07.259 In New Year's Eve last year, I was on my way home from London. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.220 ! I was on my way to the airport, and I got a phone call from a friend of mine asking me over 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:13.220 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.579 some time. I walked straight into the house, and at the back of the house, there's a girl 00:00:35.579 --> 00:00:42.280 who I hadn't seen from school for about 10 years. So I woke up to her. Carly, I haven't 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:48.760 seen you for about 10 years. How are you? I'm doing well. I said, Carly, what have you 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:53.620 done since the last time I saw you? She says, well, you'll not believe it, but although I 00:00:53.620 --> 00:00:59.980 messed about in school, I went to university. I said, well done, Carly. Then what did you 00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:06.459 do? She says, well, I worked really, really hard, and I got my degree, and then I graduated. 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:12.599 That's great, Carly. Then what did you do? Well, then I looked for a job. So I looked through 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:17.759 all the different places to work in Belfast, and eventually I got myself a job. I said, 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:23.000 that's great, Carly. Then what? Well, then I thought I'd go for a better job. So I moved 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:28.099 to London, and now I'm working in London. I said, that's great. What are you doing now? 00:01:28.099 --> 00:01:34.140 She says, well, now I'm back for Christmas. I said, all right. So now you've got your job. 00:01:34.619 --> 00:01:39.739 Now what do you want to do? She says, well, then what I want to do is I want to try and 00:01:39.739 --> 00:01:45.139 climb the ladder. I want to try and get promotion and try and climb up and become more powerful. 00:01:45.699 --> 00:01:52.039 I said, that's great, Carly. Once you get that, then what do you want to do? Well, she says, 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:57.319 well, then I think what I'll do is I'll step out, and I'll maybe try and get married, and I'll 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:02.419 maybe have family. That's great. Then what are you going to do? Well, once I have my family, 00:02:02.639 --> 00:02:08.299 then I'll step back into work, and then I'll try and get a better job. Then maybe I'll move 00:02:08.299 --> 00:02:15.219 to Paris or Singapore or Hong Kong. That's great, Carly. Once you get the better job, then what 00:02:15.219 --> 00:02:21.439 are you going to do? Well, then I want to try and own my own company, own my own firm, and 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:27.120 maybe become an entrepreneur. That's great, Carly. Let's say you get that. Then what do you want 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:33.640 to do? Well, maybe my children will have grown up, and maybe I'll have grandchildren, and 00:02:33.640 --> 00:02:38.719 I can enjoy them. Then what are you going to do? Well, then I'll maybe retire, and I'll 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:46.300 move back to Northern Ireland, and then I'll chill out. This is great, Carly. Then when you're 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:53.100 chilling out, then what are you going to do? Well, I'll probably get old, and I'll probably 00:02:53.100 --> 00:03:00.580 get sick, and maybe I'll go into a home. So then you're sitting in a home. Then what are 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:11.160 you going to do? Well, I'll probably just die. Then, Carly, then what are you going to do? 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:18.840 There's a story in the Bible that you read earlier on, and it's a story of a man who's 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:24.099 got everything most people would want, because the Bible tells us he's rich. In fact, he's 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:31.620 so rich that he's in the top 5% of the richest people in his land. He dies in the finest of 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:37.659 places, owns the nicest of property, travels in the finest of transport. This man's one of 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:42.859 the richest in his land, but he's not just rich, because the Bible tells us he's a ruler. 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:49.340 He's powerful. In fact, he works as a kind of a magistrate. When you have difficulty in 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:54.599 knowing how the Bible applies, you go to this man. He can work out exactly how it should 00:03:54.599 --> 00:04:01.539 apply. He's not just rich. He's not just powerful. This man is young. In fact, he's between about 00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:10.019 25 and 40. He's young. He's rich. He's powerful. He's in the prime of his life. But although 00:04:10.019 --> 00:04:17.219 he's got everything most people would want, the question that this man begins to ask is 00:04:17.219 --> 00:04:29.039 the Carly question. Then what? Now I've got everything. Then what? Well, as Jesus is traveling around, 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:34.980 he comes into this man's area. And as this man hears Jesus travel and Jesus speak, the 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:41.040 one thing this man does not have is the one thing Jesus has. The one thing this man doesn't 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:48.300 have is the capacity to live forever. He doesn't have eternal life. And as Jesus travels throughout 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:54.379 his land, he preaches about the kingdom of God. And in God's kingdom, people live forever. 00:04:54.379 --> 00:05:00.319 And the Bible tells us that as Jesus travels, this man comes up to him. And if you look at 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:09.540 verse 17, it says this, and as he was setting out on his journey, a man, this man, knelt down 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:16.819 before him and asked, good teacher, what must I do to inherently turn away? Jesus, I've got 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:22.139 all the things that most people would want. I'm rich, I'm young, I'm powerful. But the one 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:28.659 thing I don't have is the one thing you have. Eternal life. What must I do to live forever? 00:05:29.259 --> 00:05:37.039 What must I do to have eternal life? How would you answer that question? Someone ran up to 00:05:37.039 --> 00:05:45.339 you and asked you, what must I do to have eternal life? What would you say? What's Jesus say? 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:56.079 Verse 18. Jesus said to him, what do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:03.359 commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not 00:06:03.359 --> 00:06:11.319 defraud. Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, teacher, all these things I've kept from my youth. 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:19.319 This guy asks Jesus, what must I do to have eternal life? And Jesus says to him exactly what this man 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:27.159 wants to hear. He says to him, obey the law. And it's easy. Because this man's a Jew. And from the age of 00:06:27.159 --> 00:06:33.139 five, he would have had to learn off the commandments one by one. If there's anyone who knows the commandments, 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:38.300 it's this man. And in order to become a ruler, not only do you have to know the commandments, 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:44.639 but you have to memorize them and live them out, you have to put them into practice. If there's anyone 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:51.379 who knows the commandments, it's this man. And to become a ruler, not only do you have to know what 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:58.639 they are and know how they apply, but you have to be able to apply them to other people, like a judge. 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:04.139 If there's anyone who knows the commandments, it's this man. And so you can imagine what he thought. 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:09.899 What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus says, obey the commandments. And this man thinks, 00:07:10.479 --> 00:07:18.459 I've done it. It's easy. I must be. So he turns to Jesus and says, I've done it all. Jesus, 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:30.039 is that enough? Maybe like the man, you maybe think the same thing. In order to be a Christian, 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:38.800 what must I do? I do all the things I'm expected to do. I say the right things, use the right words, 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:47.060 wear the right clothes, go to all the church services, do the good things, don't do the bad things. 00:07:47.840 --> 00:07:55.360 What must I do to be a Christian? I just need to obey. Is that enough? What does Jesus say? 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:09.939 Verse 21. Jesus looked at him and loved him and said to him, you lack one thing. You've done the right 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:19.520 things, said the right things, you've obeyed all the commands, but you still lack one thing. Because 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:29.399 what you've done is not enough. Last week, there was a birth of a famous child. You probably heard 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:35.179 the child. Charlotte. Charlotte Diana. Is that right? Charlotte Diana, the new addition to the 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:40.199 royal family. And everybody was very excited. If you're foreign, you're probably even more excited, 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:44.659 probably not excited. But in Northern Ireland, people really aren't that excited. But in England, 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:51.159 they're very excited. But what you may not know is that Charlotte Diana almost was never 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:58.799 born. In fact, her parents, William and Kate, were almost never married. Because although 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:06.939 they started dating in 2003, four years later, William dumped Kate. And nobody could understand 00:09:06.939 --> 00:09:13.319 why. Why on earth would you dump Kate Middleton? She's got the looks, she's got the charm, 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:20.220 she acts the right way. Why would you dump her? Well, two weeks before William and Kate get 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:27.800 married, a guy, Adam Bolden from Sky News, interviewed Prince William. And he asked him the million 00:09:27.800 --> 00:09:34.520 dollar question, William, why did you break up with Kate? And this is what he said. He said, 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:43.300 Kate is from, has a normal life. She wears her normal clothes. She has normal interests. 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:50.520 Kate has normal hobbies. She goes to normal places. And she does normal things. Kate has 00:09:50.520 --> 00:09:58.760 a normal lifestyle. But I don't. Because I have a royal lifestyle. And Kate can plan what 00:09:58.760 --> 00:10:04.560 she wants. She can plan the job she wants. She can plan what holidays she wants to go on. 00:10:04.640 --> 00:10:10.900 She can plan where she wants to travel, what she wants to become. But I can't. Because I'm 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:18.579 part of the royal family. And Kate has her own identity. She's from her own family. She 00:10:18.579 --> 00:10:25.919 has her own kinds of friends. She speaks with her own accent. But I can't have it. Because 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:32.480 I'm part of the royal family. And he said this. He said, the reason I dumped Kate is because 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:41.360 Kate had to decide, was she prepared to give it all up in order to become part of the royal family. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:49.200 Would she give up her lifestyle? Would she give up her plans? Would she even give up her identity 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:56.879 to become part of the royal family? Jesus turns to this man and he tells him, you want to turn 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:05.179 your life? Give it all up. Take your lifestyle. All the money that you have. All the property that you 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:14.139 have. All the things that you own. And give it all up. But not just your lifestyle. Because this man was 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:20.960 young. He could do whatever he wanted. He could go where he wanted and become what he wanted. And when 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:27.220 Jesus tells him to give up all he has. He tells him to give up all his plans and all his ambitions. 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:35.860 Give them up. And he goes even further than that. Because this man, not only in giving up his property, 00:11:36.060 --> 00:11:42.540 he's giving up his land. And this man read his Bible. And he knew that the land he lived on was land that was 00:11:42.540 --> 00:11:49.800 passed to him from generation to generation. And if this man gives it up, he gives up his very identity. 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:56.759 That which goes to the heart of what it is. And when Jesus turns to him and tells him to give it up, 00:11:57.459 --> 00:12:05.199 he tells him, give up your lifestyle. Give up your plans. Give up your identity. And then he says two of 00:12:05.199 --> 00:12:12.699 the greatest words in the Bible. Follow me. See, Jesus didn't just say, give it up. He says, follow me. 00:12:13.379 --> 00:12:19.559 And the Bible tells us that after this conversation, Jesus was on a journey. And eventually that journey 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:27.319 would lead him to a courtroom. And when Jesus says, follow me, he tells this man to follow him into 00:12:27.319 --> 00:12:33.419 the courtroom. And even though this man thinks he's obeyed all the commandments, Jesus says, follow me. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:40.319 As you hear that there are commandments of God's law that you've brogled. Even though you think you've 00:12:40.320 --> 00:13:08.180 followed them, follow me to the courtroom, follow me to the courtroom, follow me. And when Jesus says, follow me, he says, follow me into a grave, into a tomb. For although you should have gone, I'll go on your behalf. 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:36.559 And when Jesus says, follow me into a grave. And then you'll see eternal life. So Jesus turns to this man and says, you want eternal life? Give it up. Follow me. To the courtroom. To the cross. To the grave. Out of the grave. And into eternal life. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:48.839 And let me define your life. And let me define your life. And let me make your plans for the future. And let me give you a Jesus Christ identity. 00:13:48.840 --> 00:14:01.840 Not based on yourself. Not based on yourself. But based on him. Perhaps you're here today. And you wonder, what is it that makes a person a Christian? What is it that gives him eternal life? 00:14:03.019 --> 00:14:13.620 Jesus says, what makes you a Christian? Give it all. Turn to him. Follow him. And let's see eternal life. 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:15.620 Back in 1948. 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:24.899 Back in 1948. There was a famous guy called Jim Elliot. Jim Elliot was a missionary in South America. He was American. 00:14:25.940 --> 00:14:32.100 And Jim Elliot went and preached the same message that I'm sharing with you in South America. 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:41.040 And as he preached it, he was killed. He was killed for telling you what I'm telling you. For telling others what I'm telling you. 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:48.000 But in 1948, people found his diaries and they saw what he had written about his time in South America. 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:55.200 And he wrote down this little quote. It sums up everything he said he wanted to do in his life. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:05.140 It says this. It says, he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. 00:15:06.140 --> 00:15:17.860 He is no fool who gives up the things he cannot keep, his lifestyle, his plans, his identity, to gain what he cannot lose. 00:15:18.680 --> 00:15:19.280 Eternally. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:25.319 This man looks to Jesus and he hears Jesus tell him, give it up and follow me. 00:15:25.959 --> 00:15:36.839 And the question that he now has to answer is, will he give up what he cannot gain, what he cannot keep, in order to keep what he cannot lose? 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:39.139 What's he going to do? 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:41.360 Verse 22. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:52.200 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great position. 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:58.800 This man looks at all the things he has, knows that one day they'll fade away. 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:09.039 And instead of giving up the things he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose, he looks at Jesus and walks away. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.659 And he rejects it. 00:16:12.439 --> 00:16:13.219 He walks away. 00:16:14.719 --> 00:16:18.319 I have a friend who's from North Ireland who's a film director. 00:16:19.219 --> 00:16:25.860 And he tells me if you want a successful film, you've got to make sure the story ends on a high. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:28.699 You've got to make sure it's got a happy ending in a film. 00:16:29.659 --> 00:16:34.899 And if this was a story that was presented to be made into a film, it would flop. 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:41.379 Because instead of having a happy ending, it's a depressing story with a sad ending. 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:46.620 But thankfully this man's story is not the only story in life. 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:53.579 Because just like this man has a story, you and I also have a story. 00:16:53.580 --> 00:17:03.379 And as we hear what we must do to receive eternal life, so too we have an ending to our story. 00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:12.600 And the question, just like this man, that we must face, is are we prepared to give up the things we cannot keep, 00:17:13.259 --> 00:17:19.559 to gain what we cannot lose, or are we like him, going to walk away? 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.960 Today Jesus tells us, give it all up. 00:17:24.899 --> 00:17:25.619 Follow me. 00:17:26.419 --> 00:17:27.859 To the cross, to the grave. 00:17:28.919 --> 00:17:31.500 Out of the grave, to eternal life. 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:37.039 The question for us is, what's the ending to our story? 00:17:38.419 --> 00:17:39.139 Let's pray. 00:17:39.139 --> 00:17:39.139