WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 We're going to be looking at the passage we read in Mark's Gospel chapter 10 and seeking 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:15.320 to hear what God is saying to us as Mark records what Jesus was teaching to his disciples. 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:21.339 It's something we often say here, and you need to recognise, there's not an original 00:00:21.339 --> 00:00:28.240 thought in our heads ever, but it's a famous quote that Jesus, King Jesus is good, but 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:30.399 he's not safe. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:37.280 And that takes us back to the Narnia Chronicles and C.S. Lewis. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.640 But I think the trouble is that so often we tame him very much. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:48.679 And so we find that different places in the Bible that it's very, very provocative and 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:49.840 very challenging for us. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:56.640 That happens in the Old Testament with some of the amazing kind of living parables that 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:01.719 God wanted his prophets, maybe particularly to live out, and sometimes in the New Testament 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:03.799 with the stories or the parables. 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:08.760 And I did wonder, I did think about it, not seriously, but just to give you an idea, I 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:15.359 did think of coming in today to preach with all my clothes inside out. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:18.960 But I knew I couldn't do that because that would be just drawing attention in a wrong 00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:19.960 way. 00:01:19.960 --> 00:01:26.200 But it would have been significant because really to be a disciple of Jesus, that's exactly 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:34.879 what God is teaching through Christ's teaching to the disciples, and Mark is recording. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:44.879 To be a disciple is to be a follower of Jesus is there's a brain and a heart reboot, a transformation 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:50.200 that is counterintuitive to our natures, that turns our lives upside down. 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:54.439 And that is really important to grasp for us in our Christian lives. 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:59.959 It's really significant because at the core of our being, Jesus wants to be Lord and wants 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:01.239 to be our Savior. 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:07.759 Our wills, our egos, our very beings face a revolution that turns us a completely different 00:02:07.759 --> 00:02:10.599 way when we're following Jesus as we're repentance is, isn't it? 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.759 It's one of the aspects of it's turning towards God and Jesus. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:22.319 And that His light and His face in our hearts, it transforms us somehow, somewhere along 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.400 the road. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:30.680 Christianity I think has been perceived as afternoon tea with the vicar. 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:36.840 Christians are sidelined as sweet talking, nobodies, self-righteous, moralists, or clean 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:46.280 living flatliners, bland, unnoticed and safe. 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:50.840 We don't get that from the gospel of Mark, and we don't get that from the teaching of 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.000 Jesus. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:03:00.439 This is a great, this is an incredible God-breathed account that Mark is inspired by the Holy Spirit 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:04.039 to give of Jesus, and we've been seeing that. 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.039 The first eight chapters, I mean, it's very well planned out. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:12.080 The first eight chapters really explain a little bit more about the character of who 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:13.080 Jesus is. 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:20.400 And then in this section that we're looking at, or a wider section of which this reading 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:26.960 is part from the middle of chapter 8 to verse 10, Mark moves from talking about Jesus to 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.879 talking about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, what it means to be a disciple of 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:31.879 Jesus. 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:37.879 You've got this stylized, concentrated, thoughtful explanation, verse chapters 8 to 10, of what 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:45.000 it means to be a disciple of Jesus, what it means to follow Jesus in 21st century Edinburgh, 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:48.360 as well as in 1st century Galilee. 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.720 And this section starts with Peter. 00:03:51.720 --> 00:03:57.880 Peter saying, you are the Christ, you know, making that great claim, that great declaration 00:03:57.880 --> 00:04:01.480 of who Jesus is. 00:04:01.480 --> 00:04:08.440 And then Jesus in his teaching following that great claim blows their understanding of discipleship 00:04:08.440 --> 00:04:11.560 well out of the water. 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:19.920 And he intersperses these teachings about discipleship, as we've seen with three prophecies of his 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.399 death and resurrection. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:24.759 Because he's trying to get that through to them. 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:25.800 This is what's going to happen. 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:27.680 This is the direction I'm going in. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:32.319 My death and resurrection is central to who I am, and therefore so that is central to 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:34.759 what discipleship is about. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:38.720 And he deals with greatness, and he deals with pride and humility and status and prayer 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:42.080 and last week marriage and divorce, we saw. 00:04:42.080 --> 00:04:43.080 But it's not fine tuning. 00:04:43.080 --> 00:04:49.440 It's not just saying a little, we change here, we fine tune here, are we moving of the dial 00:04:49.440 --> 00:04:51.880 in my life and thinking. 00:04:51.880 --> 00:05:00.680 It's an absolute earthquake of character, revolution and change. 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:02.720 How can you describe it? 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.920 How can you describe it in such a way that brings life and vitality? 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:11.960 So I can't, wait a minute, the new birth. 00:05:11.960 --> 00:05:18.560 That's how Jesus uses, that's the description Jesus uses because that is so radical. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:23.520 He says, it's like being born a new, born afresh. 00:05:23.520 --> 00:05:28.240 And it's easy, maybe especially if we've grown up in the church to lose sight of that, to 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:33.639 lose sight of the radical transformation that is happening if we've been brought up in the 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:38.159 church or not, if we've come to Christ, there's a new birth. 00:05:38.159 --> 00:05:44.000 And it's easy to lose the drama of belonging to Christ, the growing pains, but also to 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:52.000 lose the incredible joie de vivre, the joy of living in this new relationship with Jesus 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:57.839 Christ and the transforming power of His love and the Holy Spirit in us. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:05.159 So the following Jesus, he deals with two very real issues here, very challenging things 00:06:05.159 --> 00:06:09.479 and challenges I think probably are concepts, very strongly one way or another. 00:06:09.479 --> 00:06:14.639 First of all, he challenges our concept of goodness and then he challenges our concept 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.199 of wealth. 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:20.959 In this passage, we remember he's talking about discipleship and applying Christ to all our 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:21.959 lives. 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:26.279 And we have here an account of a rich man that comes to Jesus. 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:30.239 Now, it's interesting in the title, it's called a rich young man and in other places 00:06:30.239 --> 00:06:34.279 it's called a rich young ruler because the other gospels give us a little bit more detail. 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:39.079 He's only called a rich man here, but in the other gospels in Mark and Luke, we're given 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:40.079 a bit more information. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.000 He's a ruler, he's a leader among the people and he is young. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.719 So in many ways what you have here is a classic, just a classic good guy. 00:06:49.719 --> 00:06:51.399 He's a good guy. 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:52.399 Okay? 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:53.399 He's polite. 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:54.399 He's respectful. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:55.399 He's moral. 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:56.399 He's religious. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:57.399 He's well spoken. 00:06:57.399 --> 00:06:59.399 He's probably a gifted leader. 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:04.519 I would imagine if he's in that position already as a young man, well presented. 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:08.399 He's got means in all possibilities. 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:11.279 He's come from a good home, believes in eternal life. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.919 He's willing to discuss with a religious leader. 00:07:13.919 --> 00:07:17.079 It's a lot of things going for him. 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:18.079 He's a good guy. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:21.479 He's a guy who come in here and fit in quite well. 00:07:21.479 --> 00:07:22.479 He's nice, respectable. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:28.720 He's kind of per se what I rub shoulders with that you would want to know. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:37.280 But interestingly, even in that early description of him, there's a massive fundamental issue 00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:43.360 that he brings to Jesus, a massive misunderstanding that he brings to Jesus. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:50.360 He says, he thinks that pleasing God and eternal life is within his own grasp. 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:53.840 What must I do, good teacher? 00:07:53.840 --> 00:07:54.840 What must I do? 00:07:54.840 --> 00:08:01.080 What is it that I can do in order to be guaranteed eternal life? 00:08:01.080 --> 00:08:06.240 In other words, his thinking was that he really, he had no problem actually. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:09.920 He's not really asking what he needs to do. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:15.040 He's actually looking for affirmation that he's already good enough. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:23.680 He thinks he can be by his life, by his gifting, by his talent, by his wealth, by his religiosity. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:25.800 He would be good enough for God. 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:30.960 What he's really seeking to do is publicly to vindicate himself. 00:08:30.960 --> 00:08:35.360 Jesus, you know, just point me a little bit in the right direction. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:40.200 If there's anything that needs a little bit of fine tuning in my life, I'm sure good teacher, 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:41.759 you will show me that. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:43.720 Vindicate what I'm already ready doing. 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:45.440 Give me the stamp of approval. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.080 You're a good teacher, right? 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:51.680 You'll do that for me. 00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:53.360 I'm okay, I'm an I. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.440 I'm going in the right direction. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:56.440 He wants affirmation. 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.440 That's very interesting. 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:02.560 It's a huge part of today's society. 00:09:02.560 --> 00:09:06.560 Everyone wants affirmation, that they're doing the right thing, that they're going in the 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:16.679 right direction, but not really wanting affirmation if it involves change. 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:23.439 And that's what Jesus begins to unpack with this rich young man in this story. 00:09:23.439 --> 00:09:29.719 And his response is always slightly enigmatic, as it often is with Jesus. 00:09:29.719 --> 00:09:33.279 Why do you call me good? 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.839 Everyone is good except God, and then he goes on to list the commandments. 00:09:37.839 --> 00:09:44.159 The second table of the law, the way that we're to treat one another, not adultery, not 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:48.480 steal, not bear false witness, don't defraud honor your father and mother. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:52.439 So a provocative question, and then some statements. 00:09:52.439 --> 00:09:58.639 And fundamentally what Jesus is saying to this rich young ruler who has it all together 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:05.480 and is good enough for God, he says, you have no idea what you're talking about. 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:11.600 You have no idea who you're talking to. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.679 No one is good except God. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:19.399 In that statement, he's kind of turning around what... 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:24.439 He's declaring what the rich young man has said is right, but the rich young man didn't 00:10:24.439 --> 00:10:25.960 mean it in that way. 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:31.120 He's revealing himself as God, you know? 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.480 No one is good but God. 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:34.480 Why do you call me good? 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:36.120 You don't really know who I am. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:37.600 Why are you calling me good? 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.680 You don't understand what goodness is. 00:10:39.680 --> 00:10:47.480 This guy didn't realize he was in the presence of God the Son, or why God the Son had come 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.160 to this world. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:58.719 And he's reminding the rich young man and us, not only of who he is, but of absolute 00:10:58.719 --> 00:11:07.839 goodness, and that no one can claim absolute goodness or even inherent goodness before 00:11:07.839 --> 00:11:09.399 the living God. 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:15.360 No one has a right to share with God in the goodness that he has because we fall short 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:24.240 of it because none of us are good by birth and by life in a way that makes us right 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.919 with God and enables us to claim eternal life. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.440 That right was lost in Eden. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:38.800 And the temptation to steal God's divine beauty and glory is too great and was too great 00:11:38.800 --> 00:11:43.879 from the beginning, and rebellion is seeded in every single heart. 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:50.159 And from the beginning onwards, inherent goodness as image bearers was lost. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.519 We can't claim that. 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:56.679 And Jesus then goes on to say that he lacked one thing in verse 21. 00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:01.960 Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing. 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:05.000 And then he told him what to do, sell all that you have. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:08.919 You will have treasure in heaven, come follow me. 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:10.559 He lacked one thing. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:15.159 And what was that one thing? 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:16.879 What was the one thing? 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:22.959 Was it that he was rich and he needed to get, was it poverty that he lacked? 00:12:22.959 --> 00:12:25.959 I don't think so. 00:12:25.959 --> 00:12:33.439 I think what he lacked, the one thing he lacked, which Jesus doesn't say what it is directly, 00:12:33.439 --> 00:12:38.319 he tells him what to do and he tells him to follow him, but he doesn't say exactly what 00:12:38.319 --> 00:12:39.319 he lacked. 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:46.120 I think what he lacked here was that goodness that he thought he had. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:53.440 He lacked the one thing that only Jesus could give him, perfect goodness before God, that 00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:02.160 Jesus had come to give by his death and resurrection and by himself living the good life and then 00:13:02.160 --> 00:13:04.680 dying in our place. 00:13:04.680 --> 00:13:07.480 It's very interesting. 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:10.320 He lacked that one thing. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:11.320 What? 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:14.879 What hope is there then? 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.840 For anyone else, the disciples were absolutely gobsmacked by what Jesus said. 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:22.920 And we'll go and speak about that in a moment. 00:13:22.920 --> 00:13:31.080 But what Jesus was exposing and what he was making clear was that really this rich man, 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:37.039 he looked for his, his functional God was his wealth, of course. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:41.839 And he looked for his security, for his identity, for his happiness, for his reputation, for 00:13:41.839 --> 00:13:44.799 his independence. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:49.279 He looked for it all in his wealth and in his standing. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:55.919 And if it came down to it, if his wealth gave him all these things and he was being asked 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:02.039 to give up his wealth or follow Jesus, Jesus came a poor second. 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:07.599 There was no chance that he was going to give all of what wealth afforded him and the security 00:14:07.599 --> 00:14:10.959 and the goodness that he felt it gave him to following Jesus. 00:14:10.959 --> 00:14:16.319 It was actually quite a common thing for, for people to give up everything to follow 00:14:16.319 --> 00:14:17.639 a particular leader. 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:21.439 So it wasn't particularly unexpected maybe. 00:14:21.439 --> 00:14:24.399 But Jesus was exposing his heart. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:28.839 Jesus was exposing what he really trusted in and what he really loved. 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:37.680 And Jesus was simply not valuable, important or good enough to recognize and follow. 00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:43.920 So in reality, it's not just an abstract goodness that he lacked. 00:14:43.920 --> 00:14:52.440 What he lacked was Jesus himself and following Jesus and recognizing that Jesus' goodness 00:14:52.440 --> 00:15:05.080 alone is what we take in order to enjoy life with God and know eternal life eternally. 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:10.620 Is that the one thing that you lack following Jesus? 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:12.120 Is it the one thing? 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:14.520 Jesus, Jesus points out the one thing. 00:15:14.520 --> 00:15:18.640 Is it the one thing that maybe it's a lack in your life? 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:25.879 What may it be today that God is exposing as your functional God, your functional idol? 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:31.120 What you trust in, what you rely on, what's important to you? 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.799 Is there one thing that you lack? 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:39.360 And Jesus says, ultimately, it's following Him and entrusting your life to Him. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:44.519 With all the radical reality of that and all the sacrifice and all the challenge that it's 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:51.319 going to bring into your day-to-day living and into mine, as we are challenged because 00:15:51.319 --> 00:15:57.039 this is speaking to disciples, those who call themselves followers of Jesus. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:04.240 But it ties in then, secondly, with a great challenge to our own concept of wealth, our 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:09.000 concept of goodness, which is blown completely out of the water. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:16.000 But isn't it true that many, many people that you will meet this week, many people that 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:22.240 if you get into open discussion with them, will put their hope for eternal life, even 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.519 if it's fairly vague, on being good enough for God. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.440 That God will accept me because I'm doing my best. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.159 And that that is what they put their trust in. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:35.879 However, that unravels and unfolds. 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:40.480 And yet the gospel reality says there's no one good but God. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:48.519 Nobody can enter eternal life and know Him and be a follower of Him unless they recognize 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:53.799 that there's no inherent goodness, no work that we can do, no effort that we can put 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:56.759 in that will make us right with God. 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:58.960 But it's a gift. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.759 It's a gift from Jesus Christ. 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:06.559 That's what Jesus is trying to get over here as he speaks about Himself and following Him, 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:12.519 following Him by the way of the cross and the resurrection which He speaks of so freely 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:15.960 in these passages and the disciples didn't understand it. 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:23.480 So anyway, our concept of goodness and then our concept of wealth and speaking here in 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:27.640 the second, so he really deals with a young man versus 17 to 22. 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:32.960 And then for verse 23 he goes on and speaks a little bit more about it to the utter astonishment 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.560 of the disciples. 00:17:34.560 --> 00:17:38.280 And he talks about riches, how hard it is for those who have wealth or riches to enter 00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:39.840 the kingdom of God. 00:17:39.840 --> 00:17:44.840 And riches as it's spoken of here really means anything that enables us to be fully resourced 00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:52.759 in our lives, everything that you need for living a physical materialistic life, the possessions 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:54.160 that we have. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:59.720 Everything that enables us as it were to live the good life that become all-consuming, the 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:04.600 kind of things that we functionally trust in as this young man did. 00:18:04.600 --> 00:18:08.000 Wealth was his comfort that came first. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.680 So for his life there was a real materialistic focus. 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:15.240 And that's a great challenge for us today I think as well to have this incredible materialistic 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:22.880 focus, all this stuff that we can't take with us. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:28.520 The moment that we die it will be completely irrelevant. 00:18:28.520 --> 00:18:37.160 It will have no currency whatsoever in eternal life, none. 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:39.640 Nada, zilch. 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:46.680 So all about this life and living as if all of life just revolves around what we can do 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.960 and achieve and be ourselves. 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:55.440 Kind of that modern phrase that I kind of hate, I'm not right, you're seeing my prejudices 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.440 and stuff coming out here, but that being the best version of yourself, we hear a lot 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.360 of people saying all the time, I speak the best version of ourselves. 00:19:04.360 --> 00:19:07.559 And again there's inherently nothing wrong with that. 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:13.600 It's just speaking about trying to be the best people we can, working hard and living 00:19:13.600 --> 00:19:18.039 in that way, which is of course a great virtue at a human level, nothing wrong with that 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:19.039 of course. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:24.779 And that's the point with God, that being the best version of who we can be is not good 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:31.159 enough for God because He's already gifted us the best version that we can be in Christ 00:19:31.159 --> 00:19:34.359 as we give our hearts towards Him. 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:42.039 It misses the centrality of following Jesus which He's speaking about because He parallels 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:46.240 the riches of this young man with true wealth in verse 21. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:50.640 He says, you know, you will have treasure in heaven if you come and follow me. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:55.839 And the Bible speaks about these spiritual treasures all along. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:03.180 He's talking about true goodness, that He's the one that can possess, that can enable 00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:13.480 us to have the gift and possess that gift, that nothing and nobody else can give us. 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:20.120 Being right with God and knowing divine goodness in our hearts and our lives. 00:20:20.120 --> 00:20:23.339 Nothing material can give us that. 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:31.960 So He's changing the focus of true wealth from materialism, from things to a relationship, 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:35.400 a divine relationship with the living God. 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:43.319 True wealth is peace with God, forgiveness from God, love of Christ in our hearts, acceptance 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:49.960 identity as a beloved child, grace to be transformed to love Him and love other people. 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:57.480 Working on that selfish, greedy, proud, lustful, uncaring heart, victory over evil and death 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:06.279 itself and eternal life in a renewed and glorious material physical creation, remember. 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:08.439 This isn't soul speak. 00:21:08.439 --> 00:21:12.639 This is about His plans and purpose for us, a place of abundance and security. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:14.280 So you've got that great, great transaction. 00:21:14.280 --> 00:21:16.880 I'll mention a little bit more about that just as we finish. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.840 For 2 Corinthians 8, 9, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 00:21:20.840 --> 00:21:28.560 He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become 00:21:28.560 --> 00:21:33.800 rich, speaking about His death and resurrection and the punishment that He received in our 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:36.360 place. 00:21:36.360 --> 00:21:42.440 The concept therefore of wealth and the concept of goodness. 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:46.720 So as we conclude, what is Jesus saying about following Him? 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:52.200 Today, what is Jesus saying about being disciples, about being Christians today? 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:55.720 I'm sure He says a lot more than I'll be able to say. 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:57.000 One or two things from this passage. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:04.279 First is, I think it's important to look in a mirror. 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:10.600 Verse 22, when Jesus had spoken to his young man, He was disheartened by the saying or 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:14.879 literally says, his face fell. 00:22:14.879 --> 00:22:19.399 And He went away sorrowful for He had great, great possessions. 00:22:19.399 --> 00:22:23.000 So there's always the encouragement to look in the mirror of Scripture. 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:25.959 What's your demeanor before God today? 00:22:25.959 --> 00:22:29.039 What's your demeanor as a Christian? 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:33.919 What's your demeanor if you're not a Christian at the prospect of following Him? 00:22:33.919 --> 00:22:36.079 Is it gloomy? 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:40.480 And is your Christian life gloomy? 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:44.120 Is your demeanor gloomy following Jesus Christ? 00:22:44.120 --> 00:22:52.720 Because like the challenge of giving up sovereignty and trusting in yourself and going against 00:22:52.720 --> 00:23:03.440 the flow leaves you gloomy and sad and everything being just a bit miserable and overly difficult. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:10.440 If that's how we understand following Jesus as maybe long-term Christians, it's a lot 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.400 of a drag. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:17.480 Or if you're not a committed Christian, you're here today, it's excellent to be here. 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:19.360 We're loving that. 00:23:19.360 --> 00:23:26.240 But if you think it's, the truth of Jesus makes you gloomy or makes you consider walking 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:33.279 away sad, then can I say your sadness is deeply, deeply misplaced. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:39.720 Because our gloom when we come into the presence of Jesus often confirms what our love and 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:44.360 our heart is and in what we are putting our trust. 00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:53.519 If we can't see His beauty and His goodness and His rightful claim on our lives, if we're 00:23:53.519 --> 00:24:02.680 simply content with being good or better than some other people, then we miss the point 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:06.480 of what Jesus is teaching and what He wants us to understand. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:17.920 And I think it comes down to that amazing phrase where Jesus, in verse 23, no, before 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:22.880 that, Jesus looked at Him and loved Him. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:27.200 I think that's a remarkable statement that we have here. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:31.519 Verse 21, Jesus looked at Him and loved Him. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.200 That's what should change our understanding. 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.360 Here is Jesus, He's looking at Him. 00:24:37.360 --> 00:24:39.680 What a statement of love. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:45.600 And it's not that Jesus looks and loves us in some kind of bland and I don't care how 00:24:45.600 --> 00:24:46.759 you live or what you're going to do. 00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:47.759 I still love you anyway. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:49.519 You can do anything you want. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:54.000 He looked at Him and I'm sure He loved Him with a degree of pathos and sadness because 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:55.440 He knew it was in His heart. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.000 But He loved Him. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.360 He wasn't going to affirm the status quo. 00:25:00.360 --> 00:25:03.319 He wasn't going to say to this guy, yeah, but I'll give you the stamp of approval. 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:05.839 Just on you go, keep it going. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:09.759 He looked at Him and He loved Him. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.039 And that's how you must look at Jesus today, that He looks at you. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:16.720 He looks at all of us and He loves us. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:21.559 But it's often a love that is so honest because He's the great physician. 00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:26.319 He's the great healer and He wants to deal with the things that take us away from Him 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.599 and from one another. 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:29.599 So look at the mirror. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:34.039 Also, I think we learned that the pursuit of riches is a snare to discipleship. 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:38.279 Wow, that's hard stuff, isn't it, today? 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:40.639 But He says it's easier and there's no way of getting around it. 00:25:40.639 --> 00:25:44.279 He says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:45.959 enter the kingdom of God. 00:25:45.959 --> 00:25:49.439 We can't misinterpret, we can't reinterpret that to make it easy. 00:25:49.439 --> 00:25:52.519 He's saying that it's a camel picture. 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:58.480 It's an impossible picture that gives us and He's saying the pursuit of riches will be 00:25:58.480 --> 00:25:59.839 a snare to discipleship. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:07.599 It can make poor people covetous and longing for riches as if to make their life just fantastic. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:09.480 And it can make the rich independent. 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:11.120 I don't need anything. 00:26:11.120 --> 00:26:13.440 I just need what wealth I can have. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:18.599 Well we are called to pursue Christ and to pursue Him first, to love Him with our heart 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:21.000 and soul and strength and mind. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.000 He's to have our heart. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:29.519 We're not to be pursuing or looking for material possessions and wealth in order to satisfy 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:34.720 us and enable us to be disciples. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.240 No one or nothing else can do that for us. 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:39.920 Nothing material can do it. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:48.880 And then again, if the rich man didn't really know what he was saying when he said, you 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:51.039 know, good teacher. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:56.399 And the disciples didn't really understand what they were saying, which was also right 00:26:56.399 --> 00:26:59.920 in verse 26 where they say, who then can be saved? 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:01.119 They asked the question. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:05.599 They were asking it from the point of view of thinking, here's a good guy. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:06.599 He's rich. 00:27:06.599 --> 00:27:07.599 He's moral. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:08.599 He's upright. 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:09.599 Everything's fine. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.319 And they were just, you know, it's really superlative language. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:16.759 They just couldn't understand what was happening. 00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:20.920 They were exceedingly astonished when Jesus said that. 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:23.759 It really blew their minds. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:27.759 You know, if he can't be saved, who can be saved? 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:29.680 And you know, they were absolutely right. 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:34.560 It was the right question from the wrong perspective. 00:27:34.560 --> 00:27:39.240 You know, they thought there's a standard you can meet and the rich guy kind of meets 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:40.240 it. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.840 But if he doesn't, what opens up for anyone? 00:27:42.840 --> 00:27:44.840 And that's exactly true. 00:27:44.840 --> 00:27:45.840 Nobody. 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:51.959 There's no hope for anyone who's relying on these material things or on anything else 00:27:51.959 --> 00:27:54.759 other than Jesus himself. 00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:55.759 It's impossible. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:58.279 A camel can't go through the eye of a needle. 00:27:58.279 --> 00:27:59.720 It doesn't happen. 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:05.199 And yet Jesus goes on to remind us of the economy of the kingdom. 00:28:05.199 --> 00:28:07.679 He said, with man, that's impossible. 00:28:07.679 --> 00:28:12.000 Oh God, all things are possible. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:21.720 And unless we give up any self-righteous claim to friendship with God and eternal life, it 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:24.079 will be impossible for us to be saved. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:29.160 But we're asking for God to bring us from death to life, from blindness to sight to 00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:35.160 rely on, and I'm going to say it again with capital letters, the great big G transaction, 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:40.319 big T, the great transaction that we read about in Corinthians. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:45.480 But we receive the goodness, the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ who lived the kind 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.439 of life nobody can live. 00:28:48.439 --> 00:28:55.079 And he takes, as we give him, our rotten, sinful hearts that face the punishment of 00:28:55.079 --> 00:29:03.159 God on the cross and the wrath of God against sin and against rebellion and against injustice. 00:29:03.159 --> 00:29:05.799 And we receive eternal life. 00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:08.679 And we can know His goodness in our hearts. 00:29:08.679 --> 00:29:09.679 It's impossible. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:10.880 I can do it. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:12.320 You can do it. 00:29:12.320 --> 00:29:13.560 We can do it in our own strength. 00:29:13.560 --> 00:29:15.440 Why do you think we pray together? 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:17.519 Why is Friday morning so important? 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:22.560 Why do you pray when your Christian friends, friends that are not Christians? 00:29:22.560 --> 00:29:24.240 Why do you pray for them? 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:26.240 Because it's impossible. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:30.720 It's impossible for us to change someone's heart, to change our own heart, to be good 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:31.720 enough for God. 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:32.720 It's impossible. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:35.400 But he says it's not impossible with God. 00:29:35.400 --> 00:29:41.400 Jesus is trying to get that across to the disciples that the walk of faith is a radical, 00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:50.720 transformational, God-centered, empowered by Him alone walk of impossibility. 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:56.640 And he also says, we will be losers and we will enjoy true riches. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:02.600 We'll be losers because he gives a great list that when we follow Him and don't rely on 00:30:02.599 --> 00:30:07.519 anything but His grace and His goodness, he says, we receive a lot more. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:11.519 You know, he truly says, you've left house or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:17.279 or lands for the sake of the gospel, for my sake, for Jesus' sake and the gospel, you 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:24.199 will receive a hundredfold now more, see more love, more belonging, more family, more unity, 00:30:24.199 --> 00:30:26.799 more of these things. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:32.879 And material blessings will often come, at least we'll recognize them as from God. 00:30:32.879 --> 00:30:37.759 And he says, persecutions and persecutions. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:43.200 So we'll be losers at one level because we'll be losers in the eyes of many other people. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:50.240 We'll be persecuted if we give up the greasy pole of ambition and wealth, creation as something 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:57.440 we rely on and as if we hold on to stuff when he asks us to hold on to Him. 00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.400 We'll become the servant of all. 00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:03.720 We will be unworthy but we will certainly not be worthless. 00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:08.519 And obedience to Jesus will maybe sometimes leave us on the outside. 00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:15.279 But we will enjoy true riches, family of God and dwelling of the Holy Spirit, belonging 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:19.079 and blessing, victory and joy. 00:31:19.079 --> 00:31:24.480 I'm no lover really, to be honest, and it's a matter of taste of the Beatles music. 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:30.039 I'm sure it was revolutionary and all that, but I do agree with one of their famous lyrics, 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:34.000 Money Can't Buy You Love. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:38.319 It maybe didn't come from a biblical understanding from their point of view, but we can't buy 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:45.679 God's love by our best efforts, by our churchiness, by our inherent goodness that we think we 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:49.160 have by even giving to the poor or serving others. 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:56.680 We can't buy His love, we receive it into our hearts through the rebirth of coming to 00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:59.039 faith. 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:06.519 So I just ask as we conclude, do you still think Christianity is about drinking tea in 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:12.200 an afternoon with a vicar? 00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:20.920 And you hold on to what can never give you goodness and eternal life when it's a gift 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:25.360 that He promises to give everyone who seeks after and follows Him. 00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:26.360 Amen. 00:32:26.360 --> 00:32:33.720 Father God, we pray that we would learn and know and understand more and more about what 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:41.000 is being unfolded and revealed to us here, and that we would know what it means to follow 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:42.400 Jesus. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:33:11.400 Amen.