Three Faith Killers

Title: Three Faith Killers

Text: Mark 10:17-30

Last week we just finished a series on “Who Am I?” It was a very powerful series and my prayer is that lives were changed throughout those weeks spent on that subject. Our life HAS to be changed, not because I am such a great preacher, but because the Word will always change us if we will learn to apply it to our own lives. So, with that being said, I want to wrap up that sermon this morning before getting into this morning’s message, and I want to do that by giving you a review of the Bible and the kind of people that the Lord used.

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember:

Noah was a drunk.

Abraham was too old.

Isaac was a daydreamer.

Jacob was a liar.

Leah was ugly.

Joseph was abused.

Moses had a stuttering problem.

Gideon was afraid.

Samson had long hair and was a womanizer.

Rahab was a prostitute.

Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.

David had an affair and was a murderer.

Elijah was suicidal.

Isaiah preached naked.

Jonah ran from God.

Naomi was a widow.

Job went bankrupt.

John the Baptist ate bugs.

Peter denied Christ.

The Disciples fell asleep while praying.

Martha worried about everything.

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.

Zaccheus was too small.

Paul was too religious.

Timothy had an ulcer.

Lazarus was dead!

No more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are just the messenger.

Although these men definitely had their faults, the Lord still used them because in spite of their feelings, they were still willing to be obedient.

In our text, we find another man that had some faults. However, not like these other men, this man was not willing to submit to the Lord and because of his unwillingness to be obedient, we find a tragic ending. I usually like to preach stories with a good ending, however, I believe this story has some lessons that we can learn from so that we don’t make the same mistakes as this man.

This is a very sad story of a man that was not willing to obey God. The Rich Young Ruler can be a lesson for us all. We find three flaws in the character of the Rich Young Ruler in this story. These three things are actually the very things that kept the Rich Young Ruler from having faith in God. That is why I have called them the Faith Killers. You cannot have faith in God if you have these flaws.

FAITH KILLER #1 – SECURITY IN EARTHLY THINGS

There are some faith killing heart issues that you may have to deal with in your life that have the potential to rob you of God’s best for your life. One of the most obvious stories in the Bible that go along with this point is the story of the Rich Young Ruler. Unlike Peter, who had personality issues that needed to be worked out, the Rich Young Ruler had some faith-killing heart issues that robbed him of his potential with God. It robbed him of a relationship with Jesus Christ. The first faith killing heart issue that he had was his security in earthly things.

Matthew 6:30-34; “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”

Jesus makes it very clear in this Scripture that we are not to have security in earthly things. Truth be known, we are not even to consider these earthly things. We don’t even have to worry about them. The only thing we have to be concerned about it seeking God first and if we will seek Him and His will, He will bring all those things to us. The Rich Young Ruler didn’t get this about Jesus. He couldn’t separate Himself from his things. Things are not wrong, but security or trust in those things is wrong. When we fail to put our security in God it kills our faith. He is our supply. He is our security. We need to learn to put our faith in Him not things that surround us.