"23 And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
27 Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" 28 And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon 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 farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last; and the last, first."
I believe that stewardship encompasses far more than money. However, the way in which we handle our finances reveals our relationship to the Lord Christ. Whether Jesus is Lord of our life or whether He is merely a religious figurehead is demonstrated through how we handle our possessions and in how we invest my time. If Jesus is Lord of your life, your life will reflect that truth through your commitment to Him. If He is merely a figurehead, that also will be revealed through the manner in which you live your life.
In our last message, we learned about the rich young ruler who wanted to know how he could have eternal life. The young man went away sorrowful because he was unwilling to give up his riches in order to follow Jesus. I believe that understanding last weeks message is crucial to understanding this weeks. Many professing Christians today call Jesus their Lord and Savior, then treat Him as though He were merely only a fire insurance policy, revealed through their stewardship. For many, fame and fortune has become their god.
Like the rich young man in last weeks message, until you recognize your sin, and are willing to submit to Jesus Christ's Lordship over your life, you're not ready to be saved. Making disciples on their own terms is easy, Jesus didn't succumb to his terms. In life, some things are valuable and there are other things that are not. If money were character, there would be a lot of financially comfortable bankrupt people in this world.
Proverbs 13:7-8 tells us "There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing; Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth. The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,but the poor hears no rebuke." That verse really sums it up, a wealthy man will give his fortune in exchange for his life; but the man who is poor, is free of such threats.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
We ask and pray these things in His name
Amen
Today's Message: The Danger of Material Riches and Spiritual Poverty
In our passage today, Jesus continues His teaching about true riches and true poverty. Many claim that wealth is a sign that God is blessing you, Jesus is not saying there is anything wrong with having money, there are many faithful followers of God who are very wealthy. The issue is when we tend to hold onto those possessions that keep us from devoting ourselves to truly following Jesus Christ. Wealth need not become a spiritual stumbling block, God blesses us so that we will have resources necessary to meet the needs of those who are less fortunate, not to hoard it for ourselves. The stakes are high, I believe that it is imperative that we have a correct understanding of the relationship between material riches and spiritual poverty. Having an incorrect understanding can easily lead you to embrace such false teaching as the Prosperity Gospel, which claims that material wealth is a barometer by which spiritual wealth is measured. I would strongly encourage you not to make any rash judgements about someone’s spiritual life based upon their material wealth. That's what Job's friends who had a false and simplistic understanding did. If you're not familiar with Job's story, I encourage you to read Job 4-25, it is amazing.
In John chapter 9, Jesus dispelled that theology "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
Scripture has a lot to say about riches and about poverty, however, nothing is as significant as our Lords teaching here in Matthew chapter 19. O pen your Bibles to the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 19:23-29. I invite you to follow along with me as I read verses 23 through 29.
Let us open our hearts and minds, to see what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us today. .
And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" And looking at them Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life."
People are struggling and fighting their way into the kingdom of heaven, they want to enter on their own terms. In Matthew 11, Jesus says "The violent are trying to seize and take by force the kingdom." That's exactly what He had in mind, everyone is trying to force his way in. It is isn't difficult, it's impossible. "The gate is narrow, and the way is hard, and few there be that find it." It's impossible for anybody to get saved on their own terms, that's the point. Man cannot be saved by himself. Therein lies the problem with rich people, they have a false sense of security. They're self-sufficient. Because they can buy anything they want or need, they have no desire for dependency on God. They're satisfied to trust in their riches, banking on their money. They're not willing to submit everything to the Lordship of Christ. That's the issue with the rich young ruler. He was more concerned with holding on to his own resources, than submitting to the Lordship of Christ. Eternal life does not consist in the abundance of a man possessions, it consists of a willingness to forsake all.
That's the problem with being tied down to this world, everything in this life revolves around it. That's why Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6, "If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness."
In Mark 4, Jesus says "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." In caring for the things of this world, people abandon the truth of the gospel. And so, they live and die for this world, rather than God's kingdom.
That's the problem with superficial Christians, they are bound to the world, they indulge themselves while walking on the broad way, headed for eternal destruction. The church today is full of people who are indulging themselves in the lusts of the flesh, sinful lifestyles making it impossible for them to be genuinely saved. They deceive themselves with a false sense of security. How tragic it will be for them, swept away in all their sin. To them Christ will say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" An end contrary to everything they’d been taught, everything they though they knew. Scripture is clear, it’s impossible to be saved on human terms. All of the church going, Bible quoting and tithing in the world won't get you into heaven. Only those who repent and turn away from their sin, and subject everything in their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ will enter God's kingdom.
When the Gospel is rightly explained, you begin to realize there’s a lot at stake. I don’t believe we can afford to play games when it comes to Scripture and especially in regard to eternal consequences.
Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock."
Let's look at verse 23, "And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." If you put anything before Jesus it will be impossible to enter the kingdom of heaven. With man, salvation is impossible. What glorious news it doesn’t end there; but with God all things are possible. Because only God can change the desires of your heart. When people attempt to come to Christ on their own terms, they're asking for something that is impossible. Only when you come to Christ on His terms is true salvation possible. The rich young ruler came to Christ seeking to be saved on his own terms, Jesus confirmed the impossibility of salvation on man's terms by affirming His own terms and he went away grieving and unsaved. In order to saved, you must subject everything in your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I realize that's not a doctrine of salvation that’s being taught in most churches today, but it should be, because only the doctrine of salvation according to God can overcome a sinful earth-bound mentality. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were both wealthy men, and Jesus
didn’t direct them to sell all their possessions, because He knew they weren’t
obsessed with them.
When we present the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we understand that is all we can do, only God can grant them repentance necessary to the acknowledge the truth. The reality is, we can't be dogmatic as to whether He will or not, so we must present the Gospel to everyone and trust the results to God. The problem is people want easy salvation, so they can live a life of ease. That's why "Just believe, and say a little prayer," is so popular today, sadly, people trust in that false security. That's exactly what it is, false security.
Verse 24, "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And so, like the pseudo Christian, bound to this world, the rich trust in their riches. They accumulate for themselves a mass of wealth, laying up treasure for himself. They to acquire more and more to support their never satisfied lifestyle. They're never content with what they have, they always want what they don't have. When you are a faithful steward of whatever God’s given you, you use it to advance His kingdom. Oh, the rich might give a little away here and there, to make themselves look good, but they're not seeking to advance God's kingdom. A camel is a large animal and the eye of a needle is a very small opening, because the temptation to place what we have ahead of Jesus is so great, He's illustrating how impossible it is for someone who possesses much to come into the kingdom of God. He eliminating the possibility of all man-made salvation.
That takes us to verse 25, the disciples reaction, "When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" They're shocked, rich people could buy all the sacrificial lambs in Jerusalem, they could pay their alms, if rich people can’t be saved, who can be saved? In 1983, Bono, lead singer for U2, expressed the frustration of a generation when he sang "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," he suggested it was influenced by a line from the Bob Dylan song "Idiot Wind," which he wrote the phrase on a piece of paper and handed it to Bono while he was singing, which says, "You'll find out when you reach the top you're on the bottom."
Verse 26, "And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." What’s Jesus saying is impossible? Salvation. Money may buy a lot of things, but it can’t buy forgiveness or eternal life. But with God, all things are possible. What a tremendous truth. Only God can overcome the love of money, self-centeredness and selfishness. Try as they might, the church can’t set its own terms for salvation. There's a lot of people who are going to discover they've been deceived by well meaning clergymen.
Verse 27, "Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" Peter is contrasting their willingness to drop everything to follow Jesus to the rich young ruler, who wasn't willing and went away grieving. Peter's saying, "Hey, the rich guy kept all his riches, and he lost eternity, we left our families, our nets, we have denied ourselves and we came on your terms, what do we gain?" Peter is seeing only salvation as Jesus presented it, he hasn't seen the cross or the resurrection and he's not aware of Judas' betrayal.
Peter has gotten a bad wrap for asking such a question, I believe it's fair question to ask, they abandoned everything with the high hopes that Jesus would bring all that the prophets had talked about, over throwing the Roman occupation, setting up His kingdom. I believe he’s just excited about everything they've been anticipating. He wants to hear it directly from the source what God has prepared for them. Which among you aren't exciting, anticipating heaven? I know I'm excited to say goodbye to this sinful corrupt world, to leave struggling with sin behind, to spend eternity with talking with Christ and the saints of old. To hug my mother and grandmother, my dad and never have to say goodbye for now again.
Verse 28, "And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." The regeneration or the word "paliggenesía," pálin meaning again and génesis meaning birth. The term that refers to when Christ inaugurates His millennial kingdom, its only used one other time in the New Testament, in Titus 3, as it refers to our personal new birth. We're born again now, but we've yet to enter the final state, when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory. Just think of it, I can hardly wait.
That brings us to verse 29, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life." If you ask the average Christian to define the phrase "eternal life" they will probably say something like, living forever. Many Christians misunderstand the term "eternal life," the literal translation is "abundant living into the ages." The only place you’ll find eternal life is in a personal relationship with Jesus.
In Closing..
When you come to Christ, you may have to give up your employment, your family, but you inherited the body of Christ, you come into that family full of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, you inherited the kingdom of heaven and eternal life, that's far more than anything you gave up.
Are you really living? It’s very simple, this world, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can end at anytime. Our nations leaders can speak all they want about the future, but at best, it's temporal, day by day, this world is perishing.
One day soon, God is going to shake this earth like the world has never seen. Hebrews 12, "See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven." This expression, "Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire."
Those of us who are in Christ, will have blessing in the kingdom, the fullness of all that God has prepared for us. For those without Christ, this world with all of its struggles, sickness and sadness is it, followed by an eternity of torment and torture in hell.
So make your choice: Rich now, poor forever; Poor now, rich forever. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you’re poor anyway, not matter what else you have. Compared to that, I'm rich beyond the measure of wealth and worldly possessions. And whatever I have, belongs to God, I don’t own it anyway. I only have it to be used for His kingdom’s sake as He sees fit.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen