Sermon Central
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The Rich Young Ruler
Contributed by David Goering on Mar 6, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: How this rich young man came to Christ, and what was the sin that kept him from being converted to Christ.
By telling this rich young man to sell everything that he had he showed him that his great sin was covetousness, he had made a god out of materialism and even though outwardly he may have been morally beautiful, inwardly he was an idolater. Jesus has told us that we cannot serve God and mammon. Colossians 3:5 "...covetousness, which is idolatry"
4.) How did this rich man respond to Christs command?
A. The Bible tells that "he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved" now grieving is something that you do at a funeral when a loved one passes away, but this man had such a love for his possessions that he grieved at the thought of losing them and it made him very sad.
1 Timothy 6:10 "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."
CONCLUSION: There is never a true faith in Christ without repentance from sin, I'm sure if Jesus wanted to he could have easily led this man in a sinner's prayer, or ask him to believe in his name, but Jesus knew in doing that the man would have only believed in vain. Jesus always dealt with people in different ways but he always exposed their vices, this man came to Christ owning his possessions but he left Christ with his possessions owning him, he was a slave to his covetousness. The battleground for the soul is always fought in the heart, it is fought between the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the sinners favorite sins, and covetousness is always the root of all sin. Christ at Calvary died in the sinners place and paid the debt that nobody could and he rose again the third day but the only way we can apply the blood he shed is to be willing to REPENT of our sins and put our TRUST in Christ ALONE.
Mark 10:24 "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!"
Mark 1:15 "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT ye, and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL."
