Title: Kingdom Bound: What s the Holdup? Matthew 19:16-30 Aim: How things we won t let go hold us up, but unnecessarily. Intro: A great majority of old oater movies westerns - involved stagecoach/train robberies (because carried strongboxes of gold or currency), or bank robberies (weren t nearly as secure as now). These robberies were called holdups, because the thief/gang would tell everyone to hold up your hands (reach for the sky), to make sure no one would try to fight back, & because it held up business as usual. Robberies are still called holdups. What s the holdup in your life? Have you ever taken an honest assessment of your life to consider what is holding up progress/growth? Spiritually speaking, do you have anything in your life that is holding you up, slowing or stopping your spiritual growth? Is there anything keeping you from fully following Jesus? If not yet a believer, what s holding you back from embracing Christ by faith & following Him? Theme: KB for the eternal kingdom, by grace of God thru faith in Christ; by, in that the kingdom of God & the reign of Christ the King must mark our lives here/now. I would submit to you today that anything that you can t let go will hold you back spiritually, but it s totally unnecessary, because you can t lose when you let go of everything but Jesus. Matthew 19:16-30 [READ] A man came up to Jesus this account is found in all 3 of what s called the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark & Luke (called so because they each seemed to follow a similar pattern of Jesus life & ministry & contained much the same material, tho each wrote w/different style & to a different audience). Matthew tells us in vs22 that this was a young man. Luke records that he was a ruler of some sort, over some territory or lands, etc. Each of them noted that he was rich. So, by the world s standards, this man had it all. He was rich, young & a ruler w/status, influence & power. But as we will see, instead of his having it all, it (especially his riches) had him & held him up. Came to Jesus w/what seems to be a sincere question don t think he was trying, as some did, to entrap Jesus in a controversy. I think he really wanted to know what he could do to have eternal life. I think it good that even as a young man, he had concerns about eternal matters, as we all should at any age, because we don t know what today or tomorrow brings. Evidently this young man 1
understood that his riches & influence could not avail to provide him a place in the kingdom of God. But he misunderstood the concept of goodness & how anyone can be saved from the wrath of God we deserve & be given eternal life. What good deed must I do? Jesus challenged his understanding of good. Both Mark & Luke record that the man called Jesus Good Teacher, perhaps flattery or sincere honor. But Jesus asked him, Why do you ask Me about what is good/call Me good? There s only One who is good. Only God is truly good (which is imp to remember), so did this man understand to whom he was talking? Did he recognize Jesus as the Messiah of God, as Son of God/God the Son? I think he did not. This young man was depending on good works to earn eternal life/salvation, just wanted to make sure he had done all the right things, & hoped Jesus, a good man/teacher, would assure him he had. Jesus challenged him on the basis of his understanding If you would enter life, keep the commandments. Mind you, if keeping the 10 commandments or any of the commandments of God would save us, it must be understood that you would have to keep them perfectly. And, no one but Jesus ever has or ever will. So if you re depending on your own goodness to earn salvation/eternal life, you re up the proverbial creek w/out a paddle. You can t be good enough, unless you are perfect - & only God is perfectly good. And, like this young man, your misunderstanding of the means of salvation is holding you up/back from a right relationship w/god & the assurance of eternal life. In his misunderstanding, maybe feeling good about his chances, the young man asked, which ones (commandments)? Jesus, knowing the young man s heart, only referenced the 2 nd half of the 10 commandments that have to do w/our dealings w/our fellow man & then included Lev.19:18 - love your neighbor as yourself. This seemed to bolster the young man s case, because he could say, I ve kept all those commandments. I m not a murderer or adulterer or thief or liar, & I ve always been careful to honor my parents. Is there anything else I still lack? He had the sense there was more he should do, but what? Why did he still feel that he fell short? Because he did. Jesus then went to the heart of the matter for this young man his riches. If he really loved his neighbor as himself, then 2
he would not only not sin against them, but seek to help them. He had the means to help the poor, & he should, but even that was secondary. The real crux of the matter was following Jesus. His riches held him back from following Jesus. If this rich, young ruler would have eternal life, then he must recognize his need for a Savior, recognize Jesus as that Savior, & recognize Jesus as Lord over all, including his life. Jesus told him to sell all had, give to the poor, & follow him leave all had behind & follow Him. Jesus wasn t saying to this man that it was wrong for him to be wealthy. Abraham was wealthy, as was David, Solomon, Joseph of Arimathea & Barnabas. God certainly blesses some w/riches & uses them to support His work in the world & help others in Jesus name. Most of us in America are rich, compared to the rest of the world, & we re to be good stewards w/what God has entrusted to us. Jesus could have told this young man to use his wealth to help the poor, but He knew that this man s riches held him. He lived for his riches, set his heart upon his riches. David Gudzik wrote that Money was his god; he was guilty of idolatry & so his riches were the holdup in his life. They held him back from following Christ. What s holding you back? Some are being held back from knowing Christ as Savior/Lord. Some may be Christian (& that may be questionable), but are being held back from total surrender, following Christ. Could be a lifestyle you ve chosen, life patterns; could be wounds of the past & so distrust God; could be habitual sin sexual immorality, pornography, selfish pride, sinful anger; could be guilt, unforgiveness, fear, doubt. What do you need to lay down in order to follow Christ? May say, I m following Jesus, but are you following w/out reservations/fine print? Fine print tells us what the restrictions are. I ll follow you, Lord, but don t send me to Africa, don t ask me to (fill in the blank). After the young man left, Jesus took the opportunity to make something clear to all who heard Him. II)He declared the impossible: salvation. Salvation from God s righteous wrath is impossible, except to God. Only w/difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Then gave an illustration of the impossibility of the matter. Easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. I ve heard some say & have thought it possible that the eye of the needle was a 3
low, narrow gateway in the wall of Jerusalem, which could be passed thru, even by an animal the size of a camel, but not w/out crawling thru on its belly. Don t know if such a gate existed, but those who espoused that view made the point that only by humbling one s self before God & accepting by faith the work of Christ on his behalf could a rich person or anyone be saved. However, I think what Jesus meant is just what He said if a camel (largest common, domesticated animal) would be able to go thru the eye of a needle (smallest imaginable hole), then maybe a rich person could enter the kingdom of God. Practically speaking, it is impossible. Now, Matthew tells us that the disciples were astonished at this, probably because, as French wrote, they lived in a culture where wealth was regarded as a sign of God s blessing. Then who can be saved? Good question if those we see as having it all together, or having it all, can t be saved, then what chance do the rest of us have? Jesus said, W/man this is impossible We need to understand that not only is it impossible for a rich person to be saved by their riches or good deeds, but it s impossible for anyone to be saved by what they do or who they are or what they have. But thank God for that 3 letter wd. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.6:23). But w/god all things are possible. God can make a way where there seems to be no way. Man can t, you/i can t, but God can! Salvation belongs to our God, who sits upon the throne, & unto the Lamb! That chorus we sang this morning comes from Rev.7:10, & is a declaration of the great multitude from every nation & tribe & peoples & languages. Our God is to be praised because He is mighty to save! He has set forth His eternal plan of redemption & worked it out thru Christ, who took on our likeness, lived perfectly righteous, & died in our place on the cross. The risen Lord, our great High Priest, is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God thru Him (Heb.7:25). Salvation is impossible for us to attain, but not for God. So, depending on anything else but the atoning work of Christ & the mercy/grace of God is foolish. Pray for those who think they will somehow have enough merit to be able to stand before the Almighty, holy God, because they did their best, tried to live a good life. Now, don t misunderstand: Jesus did call the rich young ruler to follow Him; 4
& He calls each of us to follow Him, be His disciples. We re called to surrender our lives to Christ, give ourselves away to Him, once for all & again & again. But following Jesus is not what saves us, else we could argue our own merit. Salvation, by the grace of God thru faith in Christ, is what enables us to follow Him, which is the expression of our faith in Him. If we re not following Christ, we are missing the mark & casting shadow of doubt upon our faith. We are to deny self, take up our cross (die to self). & follow Jesus. We re to seek 1 st the kingdom of God & His righteousness. But all too often we hold onto the façade of control of our lives, we hold onto what we have, our idols, what we think we have to have, not realizing that what we have has us. But it s totally unnecessary, because we never lose when we give it all to Jesus. We only gain when we surrender all. Peter good old Peter, asked Jesus the question the other disciples wanted to ask, but didn t dare. We ve left everything & followed you (& they did). What then will we have? Then Jesus spoke of III)The Reward of faith in Christ & following Jesus vs28-29. The apostles, w/the subtraction of Judas, who betrayed Jesus, & the addition of either Matthias, who was chosen to replace Judas, or Paul, the apostle converted & chosen by Christ to preach to the Gentiles Jesus said that they would have the special honor of sitting on 12 thrones & judging the 12 tribes a special role in the future judgment (not sure how that will play out). And, as Gudzik wrote, there will be universal honor for all who sacrifice for Jesus sake; whatever has been given up for Him will be returned to us 100 times over, in addition to eternal life. I think that is a principle that touches our lives in the here/ now aspect of kingdom life. You simply cannot out-give God. Whether it s tithing, giving to missions or someone in need, sacrificing for the sake of Christ/the gospel, giving of yourself/time to serve your fellow believers, or being mistreated because you stand up for Jesus, etc. You can t out-give God. It may not come back to you 100 times over in the same terms as you spend, but God will bless the one who surrenders to Christ, denies self & follows. Matthew Poole wrote of some ways we might get our 100 fold: Joy in the Holy Spirit, peace of conscience, the sense of God s love, contentment, the supply of our needs & wants, or the restoration of what we count as loss. Whenever we give to God or 5
surrender to Christ, we don t lose; rather we gain. Your reward is much more than you could surrender. And that s just on this side of eternity. When Jesus comes again & brings to final fruition the work of redemption He accomplished by His death & resurrection, then all things will be made new, restored to its proper order. We who are in Christ, if we have died, shall be raised, & if we are still living on this earth when Jesus comes, we will be changed, given eternal life in bodies like unto Christ s resurrection body. We will live & reign forever w/christ our King, in that place where all tears will be wiped away, death will be no more, & all things that bring sorrow here will be done away. Sin will be extinguished & our fellowship w/god will be unhindered. It really will be worth it all when we see Jesus! Life s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ! One look on His dear face, all sorrow will erase; so bravely run the race, til we see Christ! Paul said that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing w/the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom.8:18). The sacrifices we might make in this life for the sake of Christ, the struggles we may have here, are but slight momentary affliction that is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So, surrender to Christ; follow your Lord & King. You won t regret it. It s interesting that Jesus added what we know as vs30 to what He was saying. It goes back to God s economy again & again. God s economy is not like man s. In God s economy we re not rewarded simply according to our apparent success, but by what God sees. In God s economy, if you humbly follow Christ, if you willingly surrender to Him & sacrifice all for His & the Church s sake, you will be rewarded. Put yourself 1 st, you end up last. Put Christ 1 st, & you end up at the head of the line, honored, rewarded. Bro/sis, we are Kingdom Bound. Let us learn to think as Jesus thinks kingdom minded, King Jesus focused, letting nothing hold us back from following Hi. 6