Matthew 19:16-24
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
The word gain means to “acquire something, become greater, profit, or earn something. “
The word lose means the exact opposite. It means “have something taken away, make somebody forfeit something, or to experience a reduction in something.”
In this story, a man asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus said to keep the Ten Commandments. The man said that he kept them since his youth. Jesus then said, “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” It kind of rubbed the man in the wrong way so he walked away sorrowful because he had great possessions.
God wanted to see if this man would actually give up everything to live for him or to see if the man loved his riches more than he loved God. Remember, you gain when you lose!! If you totally sell out to God (or lose everything), then you will receive (or gain) riches in heaven.
Luke 12:33-34
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The treasure in this scripture is whatever you count valuable. It will consume your thoughts and your time. The heavenly treasure I’m talking about is salvation. Wherever you are in your walk with God, that’s where your heart is going to be. If your treasure is in heaven, that’s where your heart will be. If your treasure is in the opposite direction, then that’s where your treasure is going to be and you’ll spend eternity there.
Matthew 16:26
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Is gaining the whole world, treasures and riches, just to lose your soul? The answer to this question is no! What in this world is more valuable than having an eternity with Jesus? The answer to this question is nothing!
This world didn’t give the Holy Ghost to you and the world can’t take it away unless you freely give it up.
When you’re earthly wants and desires become more important than you’re spiritually walk with God, there’s something wrong. The things of this earth will pass away. You can rest assured that nothing will happen to your spiritual or heavenly treasures.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Before you have old things, things that Jesus doesn’t want. When you come to Jesus, you are a new creature. The things that you had or done before are old things, they pass away. When you get filled with the Spirit of God (Holy Ghost), everything becomes new.
Matthew 19:21-22
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Are you willing to go and sell EVERYTHING you have, not even keep a thing, and follow Jesus? What’s more important, your soul or your possessions?
This man because sorrowful because God asked him to sell everything and follow Him. We may have some valuable things at our home.
We may have:
1. Coins
2. Model cars
3. Stamps
So on and so forth that could possibly be worth lots of money down the road. But are you willing to give it up for your soul?
Mark 8:35
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
This scripture says that if we save our life, we will lose it. But if we lose our life for His name sake and the Gospel, our life will be saved.
Mark 9:30-35
30 And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.
31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
33 And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?
34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
Jesus told His disciples that someone was going to betray Him, that He was going to be killed, and He would rise on the third day. The disciples didn’t have any idea what Jesus was talking about. The disciples were arguing among themselves who was the greatest or the most important of them all. They came to their destination, Capernaum, and He asked them what they were arguing about and He told them if you think you’re more important or greater than anyone else, you will be last and you will be a servant to everyone.
You may GAIN the popularity of the world, but you will soon LOSE it all. God doesn’t like anybody to think their more important than anybody else. We are all guilty of it sometimes, but we repent of it and move one.
There is no denying that we will one day lose in this life. But we got to remember that after life, we gain in the next one. Whether it is in Heaven or the other place, we all gain our reward.
John 12:25-26
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Philippians 3:8-11
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Paul gave up EVERYTHING, and won the greatest prize.
What’s more important than Heaven? Are the things of this world more important than your relationship with Jesus? Are your possessions more important or are your possessions in Heaven more important?
The rich young ruler went away sorrowful because he had many possession, things that he didn’t want to give up. If Jesus was to ask you to sell EVERYTHING you got and follow Him, how many people would do it?
Jesus don’t ask very much of us, but He does expect us to not let the things of this world keep us from Him.
Matthew 16:26
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Spend your life in pursuit of a heavenly treasure and you are a rich man. Spend your life in pursuit of a worldly treasure and no matter how much you gain you will be a poor man.
