Introduction
This week I want to talk about the three P’s that might be preventing you from taking a do-over or returning to God. We are told in Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel to your Lord your God. And as I told you in past sermons in this series, you can take out the name “Israel” and replace it with your name. There are some in this room today that need to return to God.
I got the title for today’s sermon: “The three P’s” from a TV commercial that appears during the local and national news between the 5 and 6 o’clock hour. In that commercial, Colonial Penn Life Insurance spokesperson Alex Trebex tells the audience you need to know the three “P’s” of life insurance. They are price, price, and price. A Price you can afford; a price that cannot increase; and a price that fits your budget. Anne and I have seen that commercial so many times that we can repeat the three “p’s” along with Alex. Some of you if you have seen that commercial as much as we have probably can also repeat the three “p’s”.
But if I were to ask you to tell me “the three P’s” that prevent you from taking a do over or returning to God, most of you cannot tell me what they are. These three “P’s” are the ones every Christian should remember and not some goofy “three P’s” of life insurance. So, it is my hope and pray that as you leave this church house you will have etched in your mind the “three P’s” that hold you back from returning to God once you have drifted away.
So, if you have your Bibles turn with me to Matthew 19: 16-22. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Scripture
Matthew 19:16-22 (NIV)
16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18 “Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
20 “All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Background Information
In our passage today, we see a young man who literally interrupts Jesus; a young man who wants to connect with Jesus to ask Him probably the most important question that could be asked of Jesus. What must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I add to my life in order to spend eternity in heaven with you? And Jesus does not tell the young man to add something to his life; Jesus, instead, tells the man you need to take somethings away from your life. In other words, Jesus looked into this man’s heart and saw that there were somethings in this man’s life holding him back from truly turning to Jesus. And in our lives, there may be somethings holding us back from returning to Jesus. Let’s be honest, sometimes we must let go of the baggage that we are holding firmly to in order to move forward with God. And that were the “three P’s” come in. The “three P’s” tell us the type of baggage we hold on to.
POINT #1
I MUST RELEASE MY POWER; I NEED TO KNOW THAT I AM POWERLESS WITHOUT JESUS.
Look at verse 16: “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" It assumes that there is something in this man’s power that he feels that he can do to inherit eternity. Afterall, he is referred to as a rich young ruler. We all know that money makes things happen in this world; and he is rich. The only problem is that money does not make thing happen in the spiritual world. And he is a ruler which means he orders people to do things for him and they get done. But we know that even the most powerful ruler in this world does not get to order God around.
And in our very own lives even though we are not rich or rulers, we all feel we have some sense of power even if it just a small sense of power. And what happens is when a problem occurs in my life and instead of immediately going to God to get Him to handle it; what do we do? We attempt to handle it with whatever measure of power that we have. And when all else fails we turn to God.
We must release that sense of power that we have. That is a man in the New Testament by the name of the Apostle Paul that released that sense of power in his life which means that we can do it in our lives also. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
We cannot rest in our own power; we can only rest in God’s power. Some of us need to give up that “P” in order to return to God.
Point #2
I MUST RELEASE MY PAST WHETHER IT BE MY SUCCESSES OR MY FAILURES.
Look at verses 18 “Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
20 “All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
The rich young ruler says that I have done those things in the past. “All these I have kept”. Note that he does not say “and I will keep today and will continue to keep”. He is trying to have a present and future relationship with Jesus by what he done in the past.
What do I still lack? In other words, what other thing do I have to check off as having done.
And so many Christians live their Christian life that exact same way. That is like someone saying, I have a good relationship with God today because when I was a young boy, my mother had me at church every time the door was open. My question is: How is that past helping you to have a good relationship with God today? It is not!
As a pastor, I will ask someone how is your relationship with Christ? And I will hear, it is good Brother Dave. I was baptized when I was thirty years old. As I gotten older, church is not my thing; I never could read the Bible but my relationship with God is good. Let me tell you: Living off an event in the past to say that your relationship with God is good today is deceiving yourself.
I have learned that it is good to learn lessons from my past successes and past failures, but I must leave them in my past and get on with my daily relationship with Christ. Paul says forgetting what lies behind, I press on the upward call in Christ Jesus.
Just like some people will use past successes to claim a good relationship with God; some people use past failures to claim that they cannot return to God. What I did, no way would God forgive me and so they convince themselves that they can not return to God. They deceive themselves because God can forgive anything they have done.
Some people cannot return to God and allow Him to bless them because they do not want to give up what they have against another person. They are holding on to the past. If they return to God, they must give up what they are holding against someone else. Little do they realize the greater blessing comes from returning to God and giving up what they have against someone else.
We must release the past whether it is good or bad. Some of us need to release that “P” in order to return to God.
Point #3
I MUST RELEASE MY POSSESSIONS; IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO PROVE TO MYSELF THAT THEY DON’T POSSESS ME.
Look at 21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
What is interesting to me is that this young man who the Bible describes as rich and having great wealth and in spite of his age is a ruler over people knows that what he has is not sufficient to have eternal life. Remember the question that he asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus’ answer to him is to let go of your possessions. And the Scriptures says that he went away sad.
And what that says about this rich young ruler is his possession actually possessed him. He not in control of them; they are in control of him.
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
If you go to a gym, you may work out with some weights that purpose is to build up and tone those muscles. But in life there are other types of weights that sole purpose is to hold something in place. That was the type of weight the rich younger was dealing with. His riches held him in place. And God says to let it go but he could not. He could not leave it all and follow Jesus. His money was weighing him down right where he was.
But you know what, do not be surprised if you have some weights in your life that sole purpose is to hold something in place in your life, and God might ask you to let them go. It could be a house you love, a child, a job that you really enjoy and the savings account you have built up. And God says can you let it go.
We must release the possessions that God ask us to release. Some of us need to release that “P” in order to return to God.
Conclusion
It would be wonderful this morning if we had a let go party down at the altar, so that we may return to God. Some of us may have to release our power; others may have to release their past, and some may need to release their possessions. I can promise you this: no matter what you gave up, God will give you more grace than what you had to give up.
