1 Mark 10:28-31 The Infinite Value of Christ and the Earthly Treasures of those who follow him. What are the treasures of those who follow Christ? We saw last week that Jesus told the rich young ruler that if he sold all that he had, gave it to the poor and followed him, he would have treasure in heaven. This was just another way of saying, you will go to heaven and you will have all the rewards that come with heaven. As we look at other parts of Scripture, we could say that if you follow Jesus your sins will be forgiven. The anger of a righteous God will never be upon you. You will have a right relationship with God. You are adopted and given the full rights of a son/daughter. You will have eternal peace forever. You will reign with Christ over all the enemies of God. You will be a citizen of the new heaven and the new earth. According to Ephesians 1:7, you will be the recipient of the immeasurable riches of God s grace in kindness forever. And, above all, God Himself will be your treasure. These are the treasures of heaven. These are the things this young man walked away from when he valued his possessions more than Christ. Now, as we move forward in the story, after Jesus explained the impossibility of salvation and heaven outside the miracle of the grace of God, Peter says in v. 28, See, we have left everything and followed you. Again, it is Peter who opens his mouth. Look Lord what we have done to follow you. To this comment Jesus says, Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and the for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. I have two truths this morning to consider. 1. The Gospel of Christ is infinite in value. I take this point from the entire context with the rich young ruler. When he told the man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow him, he was offering himself in place of this man s valuable possessions. He also says to Peter that those who give up their possessions (even something as grand as real estate) or even their own flesh and blood family, for my sake and the gospel will receive a hundred fold in this life and the age to come. And, by using the word hundredfold he is not saying that if you follow me, I will give you 100 times more than what you had. It is like the 70 x 7 in respect to how many times we should forgive our brothers who sin against us. It is an uncountable amount. Jesus was saying, I am worth it. The Gospel is worth it. It is not just the benefits of the Gospel (which I shared earlier), but the person of the Gospel. Without him there are no benefits. Really, the only motivation that will cause you to leave family, possessions, and lands, is to know and understand that compared to these things, Christ is of infinitely more value. You cannot place value on the eternal Son of God. Consider the worth of Christ for a moment from the book of Hebrews cp. 1. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you? Or again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him. Of the angels he says, He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son he says, Your
2 throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Jesus was saying, Yes, you have left family. Yes, you have left jobs. Yes, you have left your lands. But, as valuable as these things they, they do not compare to Me. I think of Moses, who had the possibility of being one of the richest men in Egypt and even the world, who By faith, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (Heb 11:24 ESV) I think of my friend in Russia who lived on a very small salary. And though he could have saved and purchased things for himself, he chose to live simply, and spend his money on having the Gospel translated in another language. Then, he spent his time (and still does today) delivering these words to every house in the region. I remember another older woman who lived in a remote village of about 300 people. As far as I know she was the only Christian. Every day when she left her house, people made fun of her. She had no respect from her neighbors. But, that was her home. And when we arrived to visit her, she said she had not seen Christians in a long time. But, her smile was evident that Christ was worth it all. I think of another young man who saw the value of Christ. He said, Baptize me today because the river will freeze tomorrow, knowing that when he returned to his village, he would have to leave the most influential job in town, forfeiting most of his cultural roots, even having his own mother disown him, telling him to leave, and on the way out, even the small children spat on him. And, before we left almost 3 years ago, I spent a night with him in his very simple rented apartment, enjoying tea and some bread, and all night he had a smile on his face because he had discovered the value of Christ. Listen to the words of Paul in Phil. 3:8. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. If you have found Christ this morning, you have found God. If Christ is your treasure, your possessions are matchless. They are infinite. 2. There are earthly treasures for those who follow Christ. In v. 28 Peter says, We have left everything and followed you. To which Jesus replies, Truly I say to you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands. With these words in mind, I have a question: What exactly are these earthly rewards? Is he going to replace your mother or father,
3 or your family members? What about your lands? We know we only have one mother or one father and one set of siblings. He can t replace these, can he? Let s think about this for a moment. What are some of the rewards for the believer here on earth? Let s begin with the most obvious. These are the unseen spiritual rewards that the world cannot understand. Consider these verses: Eternal Life - John 17:3 says, And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. The Bible also says those who have the Son have life. If you are in Christ today, you have eternal life. You are seated in the heavenly places with Christ. The Privilege of being filled with eternal secrets from the storehouse of heaven Matt. 7:7 says: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. The Peace of God Phil. 4:7 says, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Contentment 1 Tim. 6:6 says, There is great gain in godliness with contentment. A Hope that is sure - Heb. 6:19 says, We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Inexpressible Joy - 1 Peter 1:8 says, Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory... Special love of God - Rom. 8:35-39 says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wow! What rewards! Even now! God is so good to those who are Christ! Now, I would like to go a step further as we consider these rewards. I believe that these rewards are realized and enjoyed in the community of faith, the church, with the family of God. Here is why I say this. Do you remember earlier in Mark 3 when Jesus mother and brothers were looking for him? And he said, Who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. And, in Rom. 16:13 Paul says, Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. In 1 Cor. 4:15 he also says,
4 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. In Eph. 2:19 he says, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God... In regards to family members and lands, I believe Jesus was saying, You may leave your family, but I will give you thousands more in return. You may leave your lands, but I will give you more lands, even in this life. Do you remember the setting in the book of Acts. Listen to these words about the early Christians, the household faith: And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:44-47). I have met many Christians who have left so much to follow Christ and they would never trade what they had been given in the community of faith. When I lived in Mexico, I served with many young people whose families thought they were crazy for leaving America for the sake of Christ. But when they arrived, they found a common family that loved them. I could recount stories of Central Asian Christians who had left their houses, lands, families, and found a household of faith deeper than what they had ever experienced. The Muslim man who was baptized in the freezing water left everything and found the community of faith to be his only source of help and relief and spiritual nourishment. God even gave him a Christian wife. I ll bet he has a smile on his face today. What about us? I am sure some of you have deeper, more meaningful relationships with others from our congregation than you do with those of your family. Why? Because the earthy rewards are best seen and experienced in the community of faith. I remember after leaving the states and heading to CA. Leaving many of you was difficult to say the least. But, God was faithful in his promise that we have just read. It was as if everything we gave up in leaving family and possessions, God abundantly multiplied. There was an immediate love and bond with Christians in our city that God gave to us. Every time we got together was sweet, whether they were nationals or ex-pats. Concerning our possessions, what belonged to us we shared. What belonged to them they shared. This is one of the reasons we meet together as believers in our homes. There is so much more to Christian fellowship than hearing a sermon on Sunday morning, or going to a Bible study. I would like to end by pointing out a very important word in the middle of verse 30: with persecutions. Remember the context. Jesus had just told the disciples that he would suffer and die. He also told them that they also must take up their cross and follow him. Also, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and knows that he will soon not be with them. He is preparing them for what is ahead. He was saying, I know it will get bad. In fact, most of you who follow me in these days will die. But, I am worth it. Your rewards will be great.
5 I remember our prayer times when we would gather and pray for hours with the believers in our city. What a sweet time it was for us. But, I always remember thinking, Who will knock on our door? Who is listening to our prayers? Although we did not receive the persecution our national brothers and sisters did, there was always this sense of possible persecution for our faith. And I remember praying for our brothers and sisters; wondering what was ahead for them. We always struggled even in our evangelism because we knew that when we shared Christ with people and they decided to follow him, they would possibly lose all status in their homes, their villages, their communities. But, you know, Christ is worth it! If any man finds Christ, He has found all he will ever need for all of eternity. Let me end with parts of a letter sent to me (also published in World Magazine) from a trusted source who has been in and out of the country mentioned for almost the last 10 years. To the International Church of the world... He gives his name and says, Four and half months before by security force of Afghanistan I captured, due to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ savior of the world. The authorities and prisoners in jail did many bad behavior with me about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to say, They beat me by wood, by hands, by legs. Put some things on my head and called me Jesus Christ. They spat on me. No body let me sleep for night and day. I agree with long pension about my faith even for life because I m the most sinful person in the world and acknowledge my sin before the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to ask that he be transferred to another prison. He speaks of his wife and six kids. In the end he says, I will tell the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am true to my word. Then, he pleads for all Christian brothers and sisters to pray. Signed, Your destitute brother in the world. Of such men, the world is not worthy. The world is not worthy of any person who possesses Christ. He is worthy because He is God. And, the rewards that he gives are precious in this life and the life to come.