The Tragedy Of Saying No To Christ

The Tragedy of Saying No to Christ

Sunday September 10, 2000

(Mat 19:16-22) And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? –

17. And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

-18. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

-19. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

-20. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

-21. Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

-22. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. The subject that we are going to consider today is: The Tragedy of saying no to Christ.

In this scripture text we look at our first example of one that said no to Christ.

The result of which says that he went away sorrowful.

God has created you with a need for God.

This need is built within you and you will not be very happy and peaceful without God within you.

God knows that you need Him, sometimes it takes a little longer for us to realize it.

We know that we have a need for something more than we are getting out of life, but we don’t always know what it is that we are looking for.

Like the young man in our text, you can recognize that you lack something when Christ is absent from your life.

You may not understand it and you may try to substitute something else in its’ place, but you will not get the satisfaction that your mind needs with anything but God.

Now there are a number of reasons that people say no to Christ and we will consider some of them today and the fallacy of rejecting Christ.

The ultimate in peace, contentment, and satisfaction in this life is to have Christ living within you as your Lord, your friend, your protector, your guide, your counselor, and your rock

This is the reason that Jesus came into the world, spent his years in demonstrating the power of God, preaching the Gospel, and giving His life on the cross of Calvary.

His prayer for you was that you would say yes to Him and invite Him into your heart and life.

A lot of people never realize that Jesus Christ want the very best for all of us.

He wants us to have everything that heaven has to offer!

It seams to be a real hard thing for people to realize the love that our Father in Heaven has for us!

Now as we go on, let’s turn in our bibles to,

(John 17:20-24) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

-21. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

-22. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

-23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

-24. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Yes, Jesus prayed for you.

You see, Jesus was thinking about you and I before we were ever born.

He prayed for you to be one with Him and the Father.

What is required of you to be one with Him?

This was the question of the young man in our text - what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

When you are not satisfied with your experience, you will naturally question it in a similar manner.

When you are living with Christ as your Lord, you will have the peace and joy of a Christian and you will know that you have eternal life.

And when you don’t have it, you will know that also.

As the young man asked what he needed to do to have eternal life, you may also ask what is it that you must do to have eternal life.