There is an obvious reason for that, we generally talk to people our own age because we feel that we have something in common with them.
For example, I can listen to young people talk and they are talking about singers, athletes and entertainers I never heard of. So naturally, if they want to talk to me about such people, I don’t know what to say because I do not know the people they know.
We refer to this problem as a generation gap. Because of this situation, we all prefer to talk to people of our age level and social level.
But in our text, we find a young rich man that approached the Lord, and we do not see a generation gap or a social gap in their conversation in the slightest.
Each day the Lord walked on this earth, He was on a scouting expedition looking for men and women who would follow Him.
This young man seemed to be the ideal candidate. Jesus sees great possibilities in partnering with each one of us. He says: “Come follow me…”
This young man seemed to be a very good candidate:
• He is sincere in his questions
• He is decent and upstanding
• He is respectful, even humble
But, Jesus saw something in his heart that disqualified him from being a follower of His.
This young man that came running to the Lord and knelt before the Lord got his attention. The Lord looked at him, and notice, the Bible says, “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him…”
Before the Lord said a word to him, the Bible tells us He looked at him and He loved Him. The Lord never met a sinner that He did not love. He does not love their sins, but He loves them!
Perhaps he got his wealth through an inheritance, notice, when he comes to the Lord he wanted to know what could do to inherit eternal life.
This young man told him what a good life he had lived and how he had lived it, but Jesus said, “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
IS THE LORD TEACHING THAT A PERSON CANNOT HAVE WEALTH AND GO TO HEAVEN?
No! Some of the greatest men of God in the Bible were very rich. Such as:
• Abraham was a very wealthy man
• Job was a very wealthy man
• Solomon was a very wealthy man
There is nothing sinful about being wealthy.
BUT HERE IS THE PROBLEM - this young man not only had wealth, BUT HIS WEALTH ALSO HAD HIM. The Lord knew this was the situation in his life, and that is why the Lord told him he would need to get rid of this god in his life.
Nowhere else in the Scripture does the Lord tell any other rich people they must get rid of their wealth. Notice, after the conversation where the Lord told him he would have to get rid of his wealth, the Bible says he sadly walked away.
It was then that the Lord had a conversation with the disciples about this young man. In verses 23-25, we read, “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 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.”
Look at the word “astonished” in verse 24, this means they were “stupefied” about what he said.
WHAT WAS IS IT THAT THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND? The Lord just told them that it would be hard for a rich man to go to heaven. He said, “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.”
You and I know that a camel cannot go through the eye of a household needle. So if that be the case no rich person could enter heaven. But is it believed that the Lord was referring to a passage in a mountain area known as the “Eye of the needle.” In that day they would often load the backs of the camels. When they arrived at this place referred to as the eye of the needle, the camel could go through this small hole. But before a camel could go through, the pack on the back of the camel had to be removed, and the camel would literally have to get on its knees and crawl through.
This could be what the Lord was referring to. The young rich man that was strapped down with the riches of this world was not willing to have those things removed from his life. The god of wealth was something he was not willing to separate himself from.
This young rich man most likely had made many good deals in his life to acquire and keep the riches he had. But on this occasion he makes the worst decision he ever made. EVER! You might say he walked up to the gates of heaven, kissed the gates and then sadly walked away into hell.
He could have had things that money could not buy, but because of this bad decision he eventually:
• Lost his wealth
• Lost eternal life
• Died and went to an eternal hell
This is probably the most tragic conversation Jesus ever had on earth. Just think about it! We find a young man being invited by the Son of God to “Follow Him”, turning Him down.
Money was the god he served, and this god in his life possessed him, it controlled his life.
Money is not the root of all evil, as some proclaim, it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. He loved money! And when the Lord told him he had to be willing to get rid of the god of money in his life, HE WALKED AWAY SADLY.
The same thing that happened to this young man in this conversation, has happened to others. There are folks who will attend church because they want to know how they can have eternal life. But once they find out they cannot have the gods of this world that now control their life, and the true and living God, they also walk away.
This conversation leads us right into the very important conversation he had with His disciples. That is, the rich young ruler wanted to be a disciple on his conditions. But to be a disciple of Christ, it has to be on the Lord’s conditions, not on ours.
Illus: Sometimes you can hear people say, “The Lord and I have this little deal between us!” Some have watched too much television, God does not play, “Let’s make a deal”.
When the Lord compared the chances of a rich man entering heaven to passing through the eye of a needle, they were left “astonished,” or we could say they were “stupefied.” Many today are “stupefied” about the things of God.
Let’s look at two things the Lord deals with in this passage of scripture that people today are “stupefied” over. That is-
I. MANY TODAY ARE STUPEFIED ABOUT SALVATION
The Lord compared the difficulty of the rich man going to heaven to a camel going through the eye of a needle, and they said in Mark 10: 26, “WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED?”
They asked a question in verse 26 and in verse 27 the Lord answered the question.
“And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
When it comes to salvation, we are all glad, “WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”
Through the ages of time, society has given up on some, but the Lord never gave up on them, and He came along and SAVED THEM.
In Mark 5, when the Lord came to the country of the Gadarenes, we read, “And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.”
This was a wild man. Notice, the scripture says, “No man could tame him.” But once the Lord saved him, look at this same man in verses 14-15, “And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.”
Some of the best Christians that ever walked on this earth, at one time were people that society had given up on.
I am here to tell you that WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
• He can take a man that is a slave to the almighty dollar and set him free
• He can take a man that is a slave to alcohol and set him free
• He can take a man that is a slave to gambling and set him free
Perhaps there are some here today who are tired of making New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of January, and before the month is closed, you have broken every resolution you made. If you find yourself in this situation, I have some good news to share with you. YOU ARE AN IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR THE LORD.
The only thing you need to do to get His help, is to BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF and HONEST WITH HIM.
Illus: Dr. Steven McMillen, in his book None of These Diseases, tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst.
To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."
Today God is looking for some followers. The rich young ruler was not willing to follow the Lord on His conditions.
God wants you to understand that He can save from the GUTTERMOST to the UTTERMOST!
When the disciples heard about this rich man they asked, “Who then can be saved?”
The disciples were “STUPEFIED” when it came to salvation, and the Lord wanted them to know that with Him all things are possible.
MANY TODAY ARE STUPEFIED ABOUT SALVATION, and…
II. MANY TODAY ARE STUPEFIED ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP
Look at verses 28-31, we read, “Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.”
Peter, like so many of us, did not know the first thing about discipleship at this point in his life.
Notice, at this time in his Christian life, he saw his good works as a trade off for the blessings of God.
Something we need to learn is that we cannot earn the blessings of God on our life. Everything we get from the Lord comes to us by grace.
The children of God can’t do anything for God, and we can’t trade our good deeds for the blessings of God in our lives. Listen, God is Creator of everything, what can we do for Him that He can not do for Himself?
Illus: Trying to trade our good deeds for the blessings of God would be like the poorest man on this earth trying to buy a gift for the richest man on this earth that has everything already.
You see it is not necessarily the GIFT that God sees, it is what is behind the GIFT that gets God’s attention.
• You can come to church three times a week and it will not do anything for God. What God looks at is WHY YOU CAME.
• You can sing in the choir and it might not touch the heart of God. What God is concerned with is WHY YOU ARE SINGING IN THE CHOIR.
• You can teach Sunday School and God may not be pleased with it. What God is concerned with is WHY YOU ARE TEACHING SUNDAY SCHOOL.
We can not shove anything in the face of God that He does not already have. God looks at the motive behind the sacrifice.
And here comes Peter telling the Lord what He has done for Him. In verse 28, we read, “Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.” BIG DEAL! That is the least he could have done!
How ridiculous we must look when we start to throw something we have done in God’s face.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger’s three-year old grandson came into his office. While he was studying, he gave him a piece of paper and placed it on the floor for him to draw on. This young boy drew a picture for his grandfather and wanted him to hang it on the wall in his office. When he got through, it was lines going everywhere. But when he gave it to his granddad to hang on the wall, this little fellow was so proud. But when people came into his office, and Dr. Belger stood up, the picture was behind him. He said you could see their eyes pass his nose, his eyes, and ears as their eyes fastened to that picture his grandson had drawn.
Now His grandson thought it was really something. But everyone else saw it as ridiculous art.
But to Dr. Belger it was not the gift, it was the fact that his grandson drew it and wanted him to have it.
There is nothing we can do for God or give to God, that God can not do and give better than us. We are wasting our time when we come to the Lord like Peter, bragging about what we have done. He looks at the MOTIVE BEHIND THE GIFT! Listen, the last thing any of us need to do is brag to the Lord about what we have done.
Illus: Our bragging reminds us of the folks who were in heaven bragging they had been in the Johntown flood. As one of them was bragging, someone tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Be careful what you say, Noah is here, you know!”
When we start to brag about what we have given up to follow the Lord, it is not a drop in the bucket compared to what He gave up for us.
Look how the Lord responded to Peter when he told the Lord how much he had to give up to follow him. Look at verse 29, “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's.”
Peter was implying something that many today are implying, but we do not gain eternal life by what we give up in this life. That is, we do not become a disciple of His because of something we did.
The Lord said in verse 29, “No man” had done this. That is, no man had become a disciple of His because he left:
• Home
• Family
• Country
We are all saved by grace alone! If you are following the Lord, that is great! But we can also say, “So What?”
We must not forget, that is what the Lord created us for to start with. When we are serving God, we are only doing what we were created to do to do.
• Can the moon talk to God about how hard it works to carry out His command?
• Can the Sun talk to God about how hard it works to carry out His command?
• Can the Stars talk to God about how hard they work to carry out His command?
The fact is, nothing in the animal world, or the celestial world can brag about what they do, because this is what God created them to do.
And we Christians can not brag about all that we do for the Lord. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
We mortals cannot brag to the Lord about the things we have given up for the Lord, because the fact is that God has created us to do these things. The most we can brag about is, that we are OBEDIENT, and if we are humble as we should be, we won’t do that either.
Conclusion:
There is another reason we will not brag to Him about what we have sacrificed for Him. Whatever we do for the Lord as His disciples, we are amply rewarded for, so we can not brag in the least.
Look at verse 30, we read, “But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”
As disciples of the Lord, for everything we do as His disciples we receive an “Hundredfold”.
Listen, if someone told me that I could invest ten dollars in something and receive a hundred dollars from it, I would be an idiot not to go through the trouble to do this.
Some folks today are “stupefied” when it comes to discipleship. They do not recognize what a wonderful opportunity they have to do something for the Lord.
The Lord has promised that He would richly reward us in THIS LIFE and the LIFE TO COME.
I. MANY TODAY ARE STUPEFIED ABOUT SALVATION
II. MANY TODAY ARE STUPEFIED ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP
II. MANY TODAY ARE STUPEFIED ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP
