Over the years, many believe that Warren Buffett has emerged as the greatest investor in American history.
For example, if you had invested $10,000 in “Berkshire Hathaway” when he took control in 1965, your holdings would be worth more than $50 million today.
However, being the second-richest man in the world -
• He still lives in the same house he bought three decades ago for $31,500
• He still drives an old Lincoln Town Car
• He still drinks many cans of Coca-Cola every day
He took control of Berkshire and turned it into one of the largest empires in the world. By the time he was 35, Warren Buffett had amassed 7 million dollars. At 50, he had over 200 million dollars.
Many folks do not agree with Warren Buffet on many political issues, but I admire him because he made his wealth, not on his looks, but by using the intelligence God gave him. It would indeed be an honor to talk to such a man and shake his hand.
The Lord talked with all kinds of people, some were poor and some were rich. In our text we read of a rich young man the Lord encountered!
This young Rich Man represents many in our churches today. They have a desire to be saved, but they have no understanding of what genuine, biblical salvation is all about.
In this passage, the Lord wanted to enlighten this young rich ruler and let him know what he must do to be saved.
First, we need to look at -
I. THE MAN
Look at verse 17, we read, “And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
We do not know the rich young ruler’s name, but we are told that he was very wealthy, he was young and he was powerful. He was living the good life.
Illus: He reminds me of what Yakov Smirnoff said when he first came to the United States from Russia. He was amazed at the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores.
• He said, “On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk…you just add water and you get milk.
• Then I saw powdered orange juice…you just add water and you get orange juice.
• And then I saw baby powder and I thought to myself, what a country!”
God must have thought it was important that we get to know this young RICH MAN, because He records it in three of the Gospels.
Illus: Sometimes we might have pictures of our wife:
• One doing household chores
• One holding a child
• One all dressed up
In every picture it is the same person, but every picture sheds some light on who she is. All of the Gospels reveal the same Savior, but each one sheds more light on WHO HE IS.
Mark tell us:
A. HE HAD YOUTH
Youth can be good and bad. It is bad because a young person does not have the wisdom of age. This is why adults look at some of the decisions that young folks make and we do not say anything because we know it probably would not do any good. We just look at each other and shake our heads! Why? Because we know that they do not know what they are doing!
Illus: This reminds me of a young man that agreed to baby-sit one night so his single mother could have an evening out.
• At bedtime he sent the youngsters upstairs to bed and settled down with a bowl of popcorn to watch a football game.
• One child kept creeping down the stairs, but the young man, with anger in his voice, kept sending him back to bed.
• At 9 PM, the doorbell rang. It was the next-door neighbor, Mrs. Brown, asking whether her son was there. The young man said, “No.”
• Just then a little head appeared over the banister rail and shouted, "I'm here, Mom, but he won't let me come down so I can go home!"
Youth has the disadvantage of lacking the ability to make good decisions because of a lack of knowledge.
B. HE HAD WEALTH
There is nothing wrong with having wealth, but there is something wrong when wealth has us.
In 1 Tim. 6:10, we read, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
We live in an age where wealth is an important thing. We now have a television program called, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”
Illus: That reminds me of the a woman named Barbara who appeared on, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”
• Regis: "Barbara, you've done very well so far - $500,000 and one lifeline left. The next question will give you the million dollars if you get it right ... but if you get it wrong you will drop back to $32,000 -- are you ready?"
• Barbara: "Sure I'll have a go."
• Regis: "Which of the following birds does not build it's own nest? Is it... a Robin, a Sparrow, a Cuckoo, or a Thrush?”
• Barbara: "It's a cuckoo."
• Regis: "Is that your final answer?"
• Barbara: "It is."
• Regis: "Barbara.....you had $500,000 and you said the Cuckoo bird. Well....you're right! You have just won ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Here is your check. Audience please put your hands together for Barbara."
• That night, Barbara called her friend Carol and they went out to celebrate her win. Her friend turns to Barbara and says, "Tell me, how did you know that it was the Cuckoo bird that does not build its own nest?"
• Barbara said, "It was so simple, Everybody knows that Cuckoo birds live in clocks."
We live in an age where many have one ambition in life and that is to become a millionaire. They will:
• Kill for money
• Steal for money
• Embezzle for money
• Lie for money
• Cheat for money
• Go naked for money
• Prostitute their body for money
• Sell dope, liquor and beer for money
There is nothing they would not do for money.
This rich young ruler seems to have gotten his wealth doing the right thing.
The Lord gave him a list of good things a person should do.
Mark 10:19-20, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, ALL THESE HAVE I OBSERVED FROM MY YOUTH.”
We have looked at THE MAN, but also let’s look at-
II. THE MISSION
Look at Mark 10:17, we read, “And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
As this young man, on a mission to find answers, comes to Jesus, he gets several things right. Notice:
A. HE COMES TO THE RIGHT PERSON
In spite of all he has going for him, he still had an itch he could not scratch!
• He had found that his youth left him unsatisfied
• His money left him unsatisfied
So, he comes with haste to Jesus. He falls down before the Lord and he cries out to Him. He was smart enough to know to come to the right person to find what really satisfies.
Today, many of our schools have changed the system of teaching.
When many of us were in school, they taught us to memorize facts. And if we had a good memory we could make a good grade. As we grow older, I would certainly hate to take a test on my ability to remember things.
Illus: That reminds me of a patient that went to his psychiatrist:
He said, “Doctor, I can't remember anything! I forgot what happened yesterday. I go shopping and I can’t remember where I parked my car. I see people I know, but I can't even remember their names anymore!”
The Psychiatrist said, “How long have you had this problem?”
The Patient replied, “What problem?”
A good memory is a wonderful thing to have.
Illus: It is said the Indian named Sitting Bull, had a wonderful memory; he did not forget anything. A man was telling another man what a wonderful memory he had. He decided he would test his memory.
• He asked him what he had for breakfast in 1942. He said, “Eggs!”
• The man skeptically said, “Anyone could say they had eggs!”
• 30 years went by and he saw the Indian again. He walked up to him and said, “How!”
• The Indian said, “Scrambled!”
This young rich ruler knew the right person to come to for the answer he needed.
B. HE COMES IN THE RIGHT WAY
Notice that he came running! Being rich and making good investments, he knew that timing was important.
Illus: Have you ever heard someone say, “Years ago I was going to buy this piece of property for five hundred dollars, but I did not act on it.” Then they say, “The other day they sold it for five hundred thousand dollars.” Timing is everything!
He came running, because he knew the urgency of the situation. Hell will be full of people that intended to get saved, but they never got around to it. You see Hell will be full of “believers”; they all believed but they believed too late!
We have looked at THE MAN and THE MISSION. Now we need to look at -
III. THE MISTAKE
This is a young rich ruler and he was used to the idea of buying anything he wanted!
He thought salvation came from something we do.
• He wanted to have a hand in it
• He wanted to be involved
• He wanted to get his salvation like he had gotten everything else in life….he bought it!
Many people still make this same fatal mistake. They think that salvation is based on something we “do”. They must “do something” to get it.
• Join a church
• Get baptized
• Teach Sunday school
• Preach
• Give
• Live a good moral life
Listen, these are the things we do because WE ARE saved, not because we are trying to get saved.
Salvation has everything to do with what JESUS DID, not what WE DO!
• The reason Christ cried out, “It is finished!” was because when he died for our salvation IT WAS FINISHED!
• He did not cry out it, “It is half finished.”
• He did not say, “I did my part and now you do your part!”
He said, “IT IS FINISHED!” He did it all and there is nothing you or I can do to add to it or to get it on our own.
Illus: The Philippian Jailer had the same question for Paul and Silas, in Acts 16:30, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul’s answer to him was that there was nothing more to do but to believe! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ…” Acts 16:31! Nothing has changed!
This young rich ruler:
• Could tell of good things he had done
• Could tell of all kinds of things he possessed
BUT THE LORD KNEW THERE WAS ONE THING HE LACKED.
That is:
• He not only had money; he loved money
• He not only had money; money had him
Money was his god and he was not about to turn from this god in his life.
The Lord is not saying that everyone who has money should give it away when they get saved. He is advocating it for this young rich ruler because money had become the god he served.
The New Testament teaches that we have to rid ourselves of things that we can not control. This is one of the things the Lord had in mind in Mark 9:42-48, when He said, “If thy hand offend thee, cut it off:…” and “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: …”
• Some people need to rid themselves of television channels that promote evil
• Some people need to rid themselves of places they go on the Internet
If there is something you can not control, you need to get rid of it. PLUCK IT OUT OF YOUR LIFE!
His sin was his wealth, and for God to save him, God wanted to wash away the lust he had for money.
God is not interested in cleaning up a sinner only on the outside; he wants to clean him from WITHIN ALSO!
Illus: You can wash a pig, put lipstick on him, perfume him and put a ribbon around his neck, and he looks clean. But, you turn him loose and he’ll head straight to the mud hole to wallow. Why? He is a pig and that is what pigs do!
The young rich ruler was not willing to pay the cost of following the Lord Jesus, so he could not reap the benefits!
Illus: Did you ever see the commercial on TV where a man is sitting in the chair at a tattoo parlor expressing his love to Donna by getting her name tattooed on his arm?
• Part way through the procedure, he asks how much it will cost. $50 says the tattoo artist.
• He pulls out his cash and says, “Oh, I only have $41.00!”
The tattoo artist stopped his work and said, “This is all you get for $41.00.”
• The camera cuts to the couple outside on the sidewalk, Donna is storming off and the guy is yelling after her “I’ll get it fixed.” The camera zooms in on the tattoo that reads, “I love Don.”
Jesus expects us to fix some things in our life. We can not leave things as they are!
Illus: Suppose a man tells a woman he loves her and wants to marry her. But he says he needs to tell her something before he marries her. He says, “I have another woman in my life and I love her too.”
Listen, the Lord is not going to allow us to make Him ONE OF THE MANY loves we have!
The modern church says, “Come to Jesus on your terms and live as you please.” This young man felt God required something He could not do.
Look at verse 22, we read, “And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.”
He chose his possessions over Jesus! He loved his money more than he wanted to be saved.
Conclusion:
Jesus will allow you to make the same choice.
Lost person you need to ask yourself this question: “Is the sin you are clinging to really worth dying and going to a devil’s hell for?”
I hope not! I pray not! But perhaps some here might make the same mistake and walk away sadly because you are not willing to come to the Lord to save you.
If you want to have a home in heaven, come to the Lord today…HE WILL SAVE YOU!
We have looked at:
I. THE MAN
II. THE MISSION
III. THE MISTAKE
