LIFE IN THE NEEDLE’S EYE
Luke 18:18-30, "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting."
This familiar passage of scripture is the focus of our message to the church and to any who would seek to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ to become one of his disciples. Jesus taught some powerful lessons in this short discourse with the Rich Young Ruler. Let us examine it this morning to discover what kind of life is needed to follow Jesus.
I think we should realize first of all that the greatest stumbling block to becoming a disciple of Christ, especially in the United States, as well as every other industrialized and modernized nation on earth, is the prosperity and wealth of those nations.
Please understand that wealth and prosperity are not sin. It is not sin to desire better things in life. It is not sin to be prosperous and to be financially stable. In fact, one of the greatest testimonies that we can give to reach out to the lost is how that God has blessed us abundantly. He saves us by lifting us out of the miry clay of sin. He baptizes us and fills us with the Holy Ghost. Then He continually pours out his blessings of provision and protection in this life as we prepare to meet Him in the next.
Psalms 35:27, "… Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant."
3 John 1:2, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
We can see that God is gracious and desires only the best in life for his children. Prosperity is a blessing until we begin to place prosperity above our love for God and all that he desires us to do. It is at that moment when prosperity ceases to be a blessing and becomes a curse.
How many have we seen come through the doors of the church, or even pass by us in our everyday life, who have the same question that the Rich Young Ruler had? I doubt that you will ever find more than a very few people who would not desire to obtain eternal life. The saddest thing that I have ever seen is when I have met those few whose conscience had already been seared to the point that they had no desire to hear of sin, death, eternal punishment or how to have eternal life. They were already dead, waiting to lie down in their grave and wake up in hell’s flames.
The vast majority, though, will always express a desire to have that eternal life that Jesus promises to those who give their heart and life to him and accept him as their Savior. They will quickly admit that they know of the goodness of Jesus Christ and the fact that he was a great man among men.
Just as the Rich Young Ruler did, they will seek his wisdom and desire the eternal life that Jesus offers but they will be unwilling to surrender everything to Him. Everyone desires eternal life but not many are willing to pay the price of discipleship that Jesus requires for those who would have it.
How many have walking into this church, and every other church, and express their desire to know Jesus and have eternal life, and then turn and walk out those doors, never to return again?
If everyone who ever attended this church for a time, not just as a visitor, but as a regular attendee, would have been willing to go through the eye of the needle with the Lord, our church would be in a major growth and building program right now. But too many people are unwilling to face the eye of the needle. Life promises them so much, gives so little in return, and in the end, if we heed the call of this prosperity of this present world, we will not get that eternal life that we desire so much.
When Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler that it took obedience to the commandments to, not commit adultery, not kill, not steal, not lie, and to honor his thy father and mother, the young ruler had no problem with living by those rules. Those things had already been a part of his life. He was brought up in the synagogue, learned the ways of God and knew that living according to the Law was the only acceptable life there was. To live any other way would mean that he would be an outcast of his own people and that his name and reputation would be such that no one would associate with him. He would be worst than a Samaritan dog. No one wanted to be an outcast from society, so the young ruler chose to live an acceptable lifestyle so that he would be regarded as a good man by his peers. Living in a sociably acceptable manner would mean that doors of opportunity would open to him so that life would be better and he would be recognized as a great leader among men. It just made sense to live according to the rules of the Law.
That’s the way that most people live in our world. Everyone believes that living by the laws that govern behavior in our society is the best way to live. None of us would want to be criminals, breaking the acceptable laws of society. We all want our children to be model citizens and contributors to society.
When we think of the fact that our law is based mostly upon Judeo-Christian concepts, we will understand that, by in large, everyone desires to live by those laws and that’s what they will do to be acceptable members of society.
No one likes to hang out with the alcoholics, drug addicts, bank robbers, murderers, extortioners and perverts. These are unacceptable members of society. We don’t want to be associated with them because it would mean that we are identified with them and our name would become anathema (One that is cursed or damned or one that is greatly reviled, loathed, or shunned)
Like the Rich Young Ruler, we would all say to Jesus, “now Lord, I have kept all those things as much as possible. I have lived by the rule of Law and you can see by my life that I am an acceptable member of society. I’m a good man or woman. I’ve not stolen anything, committed adultery, lied, or cheated and I honor my parents and all of those who have rule over me. Isn’t that enough?”
Let’s first of all examine whether we have really told the truth here? There are probably some sitting here this morning who have thought that they have been “good enough” to be accepted into eternal life because they have not been terrible sinners.
What about committing adultery? Has anyone here been guilty of that? Maybe you have been faithful to your spouse, your husband or your wife. Maybe you have never been found in a sexually compromising situation. But the question goes far deeper than your earthly relationship.
Jesus calls you his “Bride” if you are his disciple. He looks at you as a groom would look at his bride to be who is walking down the aisle in a pure white dress that symbolizes purity and virginity. (I dare say that not many young ladies who are married in our present society have the right to wear a white dress to their first wedding) What would that young bridegroom think if he knew that his bride had already been unfaithful to him and slept with every member of the bridal party before the wedding? I don’t think that there would be a wedding at all!
But we, as the “Bride of Christ”, have often committed fornication and adultery in a greater spiritual sense than that unfaithful bride in the example. We have been unfaithful every time we place anything above God in importance.
Every time we choose to not be in the House of God when we should have and could have, we are unfaithful to Jesus.
Every time we read a book, or watch a movie that keeps us in bondage to sin, and we refuse to study his Word, we are unfaithful to Jesus.
Every time we place a greater importance on having the best of homes, automobiles and other possessions, than we do upon being in the presence of God and worshipping him the way we know we should, we are being unfaithful.
How many people do you know who will work two and three jobs so that they can enjoy the better things of this life and then don’t have time for the Lord, or refuse to be in church when the doors open? They are committing spiritual adultery!
Anything, and everything, including houses, lands, vacations, sports, movies, entertainment of all kinds, children, husband, wife, parents, or whatever and whoever you want to name, that becomes more important than being in the presence of God and serving him the way we know we should, becomes a source of committing adultery in the sight of God. Now how many are innocent? How many of us can claim to be “good” now?
Then we may say, “Lord, I have never killed anyone. I hate abortion. I love life and I know how important life is. I know that you are the Giver of Life and that no one has the right to take the life of another. I’m not a murderer.”
Are you sure that you aren’t a killer? Let me tell you that there are far greater ways that we can kill someone than shooting them, stabbing them or using some other means to take their life.
If looks could kill, how many of you would be alive right now? If daggers coming from your eyes were as deadly to life as real daggers, how many would be breathing right now?
There is an old saying that goes like this, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” It sounds so cute but there has never been a statement more wrong. More people are wounded deeply, their spirit is murdered, their lives are destroyed, their love is spurned, their life loses its meaning, because someone, somewhere, used words that destroyed them completely. How many lives have been ruined by slander and gossip? How many ministries, churches and individual Christians have been utterly destroyed because of a wagging tongue and a false accuser?
We may not murder with a knife or a gun, but we don’t think twice about killing with our tongue! Are you still thinking that you are good enough to obtain eternal life?
Okay Jesus, I’ve never stolen from anyone! Oh haven’t you? What about the tithe, the 10% of your increase that the Bible commands us to give unto the Lord? That’s 10% of your wages, 10% of your time, and 10% of your talents and whatever else God sends your way. Pastor May, are you telling me that I have to give 10% of my money, time and everything to God, that’s a lot to ask of me! I’m not telling you, I’m reminding you that God’s Word has already told you!
Leviticus 27:30, "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD."
Malachi 3:8-10, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Have you stolen from God what belongs to him and then expected him to bless your stolen tithes? Are you wondering why you are getting more money than ever before and it is still never enough? God will bless your 90% and make it to increase, but he won’t bless your 91% and it won’t go as far because it carries a curse with it. Even if you are blessed to have enough to make it without obeying God in giving to him, what good will it do to gain the whole world and lose your soul because of stealing from the Lord?
Lord, I’m still good, I don’t kill, I don’t steal, and I honor my parents and the elderly who have taught me the ways of living right.
I can almost imagine what Jesus would have been thinking right then.
So you honor your parents do you? You honor those who have taught you the right way, do you? What about your ultimate “parent”, your Father in Heaven; have you honored Him? Do you honor your parents all the time, or only when you feel like it? Are you honoring your parents when you sneak around behind their backs to do what you want to because you think that they will never know? Do you listen to what they say all the time or do you only hear what you want to hear?
I wonder how many times that Rich Young Ruler had dishonored his parents by not obeying the rules of the house? I wonder how many times he had dishonored his Father in Heaven by being a disobedient servant? I believe that he was being a dishonorable child right at the moment when he said that he had kept the whole law, because no man could do that all the time.
What about lying? Have you ever lied? Have you ever exaggerated, told fish stories, or told only half truths? Have you ever kept silent when you knew you should have spoken up? By not speaking the truth, you agree with the lie, and that makes you a liar too.
Well, so much for claiming to be “good”. It is no surprise, when we think about all of these failures that everyone has committed, to hear Jesus say that there is none good, no not even one, but God alone.
It’s bad enough that we fail God in everyone of the tests that Jesus has placed before that Rich Young Ruler, but it’s really bad when we can take the attitude that the Rich Young Ruler had and still claim that we are “good enough” and that we have not done anything wrong. Nobody wants to accept blame or fault anymore. We will point the finger of blame at everyone and everything but ourselves. If we are going ever obtain eternal life we must realize that we are not good enough and never will be and place ourselves as guilty sinners upon the mercy seat of God and seek his forgiveness.
It’s at this point, when the Rich Young Ruler claims to have been so righteous and holy, that Jesus drops the atom bomb that burns away all of the exterior show of righteousness and gets to the heart of the matter.
All of your obedience and goodness isn’t enough. Now comes the real manner in which you will come to Christ and be his disciple.
You have to sell out completely, count the possessions of this world as nothing, be willing to give up everything that you hold dear and surrender your life completely to Jesus, being willing to be spent and to spend you life doing his will and giving all that you are, all that you ever will be – and give it all away freely without asking for anything in return. WOW! WHAT A PRICE TO PAY TO BE JESUS’ DISCIPLE!
Now comes the eye of the needle that we must walk through with the Lord!
Some have said that the eye of the needle was a small opening in the wall to the city of Jerusalem that required a camel to be completely freed of all its burdens, placed on its knees and to pass through in such a manner to enter into the city.
Others have said that the eye of the needle referred to a very narrow passage between two cliffs of rock where it was nearly impossible for caravans of camel to pass without being robbed or murdered, but it was possible to make it through.
Others have said that through a minor interpretation error, the camel was not really a camel at all but a rope because the word for camel and the word for rope were very similar and used interchangeably at times. In this argument, the Lord was saying it is easier to thread a rope through the eye of a sewing needle than to enter Heaven as a rich man.
In any case, it seemed that the result was the same. It was something impossible for a man to do. Thank God, impossibilities to us are no challenge to God.
I am convinced that we must give ourselves completely to God, possessions, desires, wealth, dreams, and all that we are! If we give ourselves to him completely, without reservations, without excuses, then, and only then, can God perform the impossible and pass us through the eye of the needle into eternal life.
We must, like the camel, allow the Master to unburden our load and get down on our knees in submission to his will. Only in humbling ourselves before God can we enter into his presence.
We must hold on to his unchanging hand as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death and let the Holy Spirit lead us into all righteousness. He will build a hedge around us and keep from the enemy of our souls that will rob us of eternal life if we let him.
If the ways of righteousness are as narrow as the eye of a sewing needle and our self-righteousness lives are like a wire rope or a cable twisted together in ways that we can’t break free, it is the power of the Blood of Jesus that will free us, give us His righteousness and then make us ready to pass through the eye.
If you think about passing through the eye of a sewing needle, it gives a whole new perspective on the “straight way and narrow gate” that leads to life.
The Rich Young Ruler turned away sad and nowhere in the scriptures, do we ever see him turn back to Jesus. His love of this life and the things of this life was greater than his desire for eternal life. He traded what he wanted now for what he wanted most!
If we are to truly be disciples, if we are going to have eternal life, we must live in the eye of the needle. All of life is a passage through that eye in a continual process of daily surrender to God’s will. We must be willing and we must surrender all to God. It’s not enough to be obedient to the Law. Obedience has no power to save – only to let us know what we have done wrong.
If we are to have eternal life, we must surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must allow his blood to wash away our sin. We must allow God to cut away from us anything that keeps us from passing through the eye. We must let God reign in us.
No matter what we have to give up now – if anything – Heaven will be worth it all! God doesn’t always require us to give up things. If he does then he will give us something far greater in its place.
Are you living in the eye of the needle today? Are you allowing God to continually trim your life of all the things that limit your serving him? Are you giving it all to Jesus? Is there anything in your life that would keep you from passing through the needle’s eye? Jesus says that we are to give it all up, sell out to him completely, live for him only and then we will have eternal life!
Not only does Jesus promise eternal life for those who surrender to him, but he also promises a life here on earth that is more blessed and more abundant than we could ever imagine.
Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
