Pre-Service Message:
Come Breath of Life
Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-tD-Mct5n8
Can these dry bones live? This was the question presented to the prophet Ezekiel when the Lord took him to the Valley of Dry Bones. The Lord told Ezekiel to say to these dry bones.
“Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” And the word of the Lord was, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” (Ezekiel 37:4, 9)
The Lord made it known these dry bones represented His people, and what was true back then is true today. Today the church is pretty much a valley of dry bones. The power and passion have dried up, and all that’s left is the cold embers of a fire that once swept across this land. And so, the church today is a pale comparison to what it was.
So the Lord is saying, “Speak to the Breath, speak to the Holy Spirit and say, ‘Come Holy Spirit, and breathe Your breath of life so that Your people can once again live and be a holy fire.’”
The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.” (2 Timothy 1:6 NIV)
The spark is there. What we need is to ask the Holy Spirit to fan that spark into flame, and fill the church with His power
This is what the Lord did with the first church as Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. And as they were praying “there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:2 NKJV) And it fanned into flame the spark inside them, and there appeared a flame of fire over each one.
Prayer: “Come Holy Spirit, come O Breath of Life, and breathe new life into these dry bones, and fan into flame the spark within.”
The Kingdom of God
“Kingdom Riches”
Mark 10:23-25
In our past studies, we’ve seen the various difficulties about the Kingdom of God and the many misconceptions concerning its nature and character and what a person must do to enter it.
The Bible clarifies God doesn't allow unrighteousness within His Kingdom's borders. (Revelation 22:15; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5)
Let me quote the first part of 1 Corinthians 6:9 so you can see it for yourselves. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9a NKJV)
But here’s the catch: not only is unrighteousness not allowed, but as we will see … goodness isn’t either. And we find this in what Jesus said in our signature verses in Mark's gospel.
“Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, ‘Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter 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 the kingdom of God.’” (Mark 10:23-25 NKJV)
Now you may wonder about my statement because Jesus is talking about riches, not goodness. But stay with me. It gets good.
Again, what we see is that Jesus isn’t all that seeker friendly. Jesus is here commenting on what just happened when a rich young ruler came seeking what it would take to get into God’s kingdom. But once Jesus tells him, the guy left sorrowful.
People seem to have this idea that the one thing necessary to enter the Kingdom of God is to be a good person. Forget about doctrine, forget about what Jesus and the Bible have to say. If you’re good enough, you’re in, and if you’ve lived a good and moral life, that’s all God demands
The case of the rich young ruler is extraordinary and also misunderstood. Misunderstood because many think that this is a message against riches seeing how Jesus condemned the rich guy. But this message is for everyone, rich and poor.
Out of all the people who came to Jesus, this is one of the most surprising. Here we think we have the type of guy Jesus would want to have following Him.
This guy is practically perfect in almost every way. A Mary Poppins sort of guy. Yet he is outside God’s Kingdom. This is so astonishing that even the disciples couldn’t wrap their minds around it. This guy was one of those people where you’d say, “This is a perfect example of a Christian, and if he’s not one, then I have no idea who could be.”
They were not just astonished at Jesus's statement, they were “Greatly astonished, saying among themselves, ‘Who then can be saved?’” (Mark 10:26 NKJV)
What Jesus was saying is that 99% is still not good enough. A person on his or her own, no matter how good we may consider them to be, will never enter, because no one ever can be good enough for God.
Again, we see Jesus emphasizing that the Kingdom of God is different from everything humanity has ever thought about it.
This man had been living a very good and moral life, it would seem. Yet the best thing about him is that he knew he needed something more, which is why he came to Jesus asking, “Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17b)
Somewhere, a nerve got exposed when Jesus taught. This rich young ruler realized he didn’t have eternal life, and he wanted to know how to get it. And for this, he needs to be commended. Further, he did something about it. Notice how he approached Jesus.
“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him.” (Mark 10:17a NKJV)
First, he came running. There’s an eagerness and zeal to get right with God, which is something we all need. He didn't come saying, “Let me listen some more.” Instead, he realized he had a problem that needed to be dealt with right now.
This is the type of eagerness and zeal we need. We need to come running to God. When we realize we have sinned, we need to run to Jesus, because if we don’t, then we’ll get complacent with our sin, and soon it won’t bother us at all, that is, until we get burned.
In the book of Proverbs, it says, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared?” (Proverbs 6:27-28 NKJV)
We need to run to Jesus when we realize we’ve sinned, or when something isn’t right in our lives.
But this man did something else; he knelt in humility before the Lord. He was rich and some sort of ruler having prestige and power, not to mention possessions. These are everything the world says we need to be happy, if not successful. But he humbled himself before the Lord.
Again, this is how we need to approach the Lord in complete humility and submission. We need to bow our knees, hearts, and wills to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus.
The Apostle James said, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10 NKJV)
And when we come to the Lord in this manner, in eagerness and all humility, Jesus looks upon us the same way he looked upon this rich young ruler.
“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” (Mark 10:21a NKJV)
Jesus loved him. He loved his question and attitude. So why did this guy go away? It’s because he didn’t understand about God’s Kingdom. He thought that goodness and keeping the law was sufficient.
Therefore, I’d like to look at some reasons this man left sorrowful, and why many leave the same way today.
First, it’s because of what Jesus didn’t say.
What Jesus Didn’t Say
This man was expecting Jesus to say certain things or to give a particular answer. He expected Jesus to confirm what he already thought. And we all do the same thing when we come to Jesus. We come to Jesus with our preconceived ideas and then want Jesus to confirm that we were right all along.
This rich young ruler was thinking Jesus would tell him something he hadn’t thought about, something that would be within his reach. He thought Jesus would say he just needed to add this or that and he’d get in.
Remember, he knew something was still missing, which is why he came to Jesus in the first place.
But Jesus didn’t say that, and He never does. Many people think Christianity is an add-on religion. That we can add Jesus onto everything else. But it never has been, and it never will be. There’s something explosive about the Kingdom of God that smashes our own ideas and ideals, which is what happened to this young man.
Christianity isn’t a matter of simple arithmetic, adding Jesus to what we already have. It’s altogether different. It means being “Born Again,” and starting off brand new. And that’s because whatever we have is useless in God’s kingdom. (Story of the guy taking gold into heaven)
Our righteousness is like filthy rags and worthless, according to the prophet Isaiah. God doesn’t want us to add our filthiness to His righteousness.
Christianity isn’t about adding on, rather, it’s about losing it all and then receiving God’s all in return. (Story of the little girl and her Teddy Bear)
Further, this guy was expecting Jesus to tell him something he could do. He believed that entry into God’s Kingdom was something he could achieve. And when Jesus told him what to do, he was unwilling to do it. He realized that God’s Kingdom was beyond his capacity.
The fatal fallacy of religion is that it believes that men and women can earn their salvation and make themselves right with God.
But this is not something Jesus said, so this young man left sorrowful.
Second, this young man left sorrowful because of what Jesus said.
What Jesus Did Say
What Jesus said is that morality and goodness are not enough.
Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18 NKJV)
Jesus told him he had to obey the commandments, not all of them mind you, only those dealing with others, or the last six commandments. And this young ruler said that he always obeyed these.
But then Jesus said the fatal words, “One thing you lack,” or “It isn’t enough.” While this young man may have been right with all these other commandments, they were not enough. Goodness and morality aren’t enough. They don’t get us in.
Therefore, the young man left sorrowful because Jesus told him the truth about himself, and such truth always cuts deep and cuts through our own self-righteous standards.
We need to come to Jesus the same way this young ruler came, but not with the same expectation. We need to hear God’s words with no preconceived ideas. And we need Jesus to expose the depth and center of our hearts and expose the actual need.
What Jesus said exposed this young man’s deception, and that’s because He knew this young man better than this young man knew himself. Jesus told this young man the one thing he would not do, because money and possessions had a hold on his life.
The problem isn’t the money or possessions; rather, it’s our love for them. Jesus said that it was hard for those with riches to enter the kingdom of God, but not impossible. The problem is not money; rather, it was this ruler’s attitude toward it, his reliance upon it, and his trust in it.
This has always been one of the great temptations that has wrecked the faith of many.
Paul said, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10 NLT)
The writer of Hebrews warns us not to covet, but to be content with what we have.
“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.” (Hebrews 13:5a NKJV)
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 NKJV)
It’s not like this guy was a hoarder. By what he said, it would seem he did a lot of good with it. He probably kept the law of the tithe and maybe helped the orphans and widows.
The problem was his reliance on it. He probably also got great pride and satisfaction out of helping others with what he had. Such benefactors fund many grand projects. The problem went to motive in that they were the ones to decide where and how the money was to be used.
This young man didn’t love God with his whole of his heart, because he gave a good part of his heart over to the love of money and possessions.
However, we need to be careful not to limit this lesson to money. A person doesn't need to be rich to have an attitude of covetousness. They can covet power, a job, a person, or many other things.
And so, Jesus exposes our hearts. He says, “One thing you lack.” In our own power or understanding, we cannot do it, but God can.
This leads us to the third reason this young man left sorrowful, and that’s because we can only enter the Kingdom of God the way prescribed by God.
Must be Entered God’s Way
God decides how we enter, we don’t. What we need to do is submit, obey, and follow. We need to make an absolute surrender to God. The way of entrance isn’t up to us, rather it’s up to God, and that is where the offense comes in, and why the rich young ruler left sorrowful.
What is God’s Way? The Cross
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV)
Humanity doesn’t like to hear that it’s the cross of Christ that saves, because it’s foolishness and a stumbling block. The cross is the offense. But it's the only way. It’s Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
But this offends people, and why so many turn away sorrowful. But Jesus is the one who decides.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 NKJV)
Jesus tells this young man to take up his cross and follow (Mark 10:21).
?The question is, where was Jesus going that calls for us to take up His cross and follow? Well, it’s the way of death. To take up the cross means to go to one’s death and symbolically, it means dying to self and living for Christ.
Finally, this rich young ruler left sorrowful because he left in order to go his own way.
Went Away from Christ
Like so many, this rich young ruler didn’t understand not only how lost he was, but that he was under God’s wrath as well. He didn’t realize that he was helpless and hopeless, and outside the Kingdom of God.
The trouble with those who turn their backs on Christ, who walk away from Him, is that while they may be good people, they don’t realize it’s not enough. They don’t realize they’re lost sinners in need of a Savior. Further, they don’t realize what’s waiting for them. If they realized their condition before a holy and righteous God, they would never leave.
If only this young man had realized his true need and condition, and that this was the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, he would never have left.
He also failed to realize the truth about the treasure that awaited him in heaven. He was an expert on earthy treasure, but ignorant of heavenly treasure.
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20 NKJV)
Conclusion
The lesson we learn from this rich young ruler is that it’s dangerous to rely on anything: ourselves, money, intellect, morality, good living, or good behavior. If we are relying on anything other than Christ, we are outside the Kingdom of God.
To turn away from Christ always leads to sorrow. We will never find true happiness in this world apart from Jesus Christ.
When he turned his back on Jesus, Judas was sorrowful to the point of hanging himself. Therefore, to leave Jesus is to commit spiritual suicide. Why is that, because to leave Jesus is to leave our last and only hope, with nothing remaining but grief.
As I was closing out this teaching, the Lord reminded me of two Parables Jesus taught about God’s Kingdom that directly applies to our teaching today.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44 NKJV)
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46 NKJV)
Both these kingdom parables are taught by Jesus together, as if they were one. This signifies that they both teach the same general lesson,
And that is, the incomparable worth and ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God in the life of a believer.
The sole point is that the Kingdom of God is worth everything we have to gain it. It’s about how the kingdom of God is worth whatever sacrifice we have to make in order to gain it. But not only is it of incalculable value, but it demands immediate action on our part to obtain it.
It is where we put away everything we hold and value to gain this immeasurable treasure.
We see this very thing in what Paul tells to the church in Rome.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV)
And so, true kingdom riches come from God’s trust fund. It comes when we place our dependence upon Jesus Christ and take up our cross, denying ourselves daily, and following Him.
This is true kingdom riches, because in the end it brings peace and joy, which we never seem to have enough of.
