MATTIE'S CHRISTIAN PAGES

The Rich Young Man

 

 

Matt 19:16-30 And, behold, one came and said unto him, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”  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.”  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, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”  The young man saith unto him, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”  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.” 

 

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, ‘That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.’  And again I say unto you, ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.’”  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, “Who then can be saved?”  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

 

Then answered Peter and said unto him, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.  (KJV)

 

Matt 20:1-16  “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

 

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

 

And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, ‘These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.’  But he answered one of them, and said, ‘Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.’”  (KJV)

 

This rich young man wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life and came to Jesus and asked him that question.  This is the question that we all want the answer to, is it not?  We read in Matt 19:16-30  ‘And, behold, one came and said unto him, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” ‘

 

First of all, what is eternal life?

a.       Perpetual

b.      Never-ending

c.       Without end

 

How do we get it?

a.      Faith in God and His provision for sin (John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.  (KJV)

b.      Accept the sacrifice given for that sin

c.       Hold fast to that “salvation” to the end (Matt 24:9-14 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.  (KJV)

 

When can we receive it?

a.       Now when we believe and accept Him as our Savior

b.      As we walk this live and live it as best we can for Him

c.       In the future when we are resurrected or go to be with Him at His coming

 

Matt. 19:21 And he said unto him, “Why callest thou me good?  There is none good but one, that is, God: (As Jesus knew that he didn’t believe on Him, Jesus left the first part of the commandments that had to do with his faith and worshipful service to God behind with only a reproof.  Would He do the same with us?) but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”  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, Honour thy father and thy mother: (five of the commandments, which has to do with our character and service to others) and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” {Found in Lev 19:18  "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.  (NIV)}

 

The young man saith unto him, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”  Jesus did not reprove this young man and say that he hadn’t kept these commands so we know that he probable did as he said.  Jesus went to the heart of service however when, ‘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.”  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.’  (KJV)(Emphasis the author)

 

Most of us Christians believe that we not only love God with all our heart, even as this Son of the Covenant did; but that our service to Him is loving and self-sacrificing and we, with this young man stand and say, “All these things have I kept from my youth up.”  Do we lack anything more? 

 

Jesus listed those for us that we probably keep fairly well or at least we try to.  Would we, like this young man, be saddened if we knew more was expected of us?  ‘Jesus said unto us/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.”  Many times we think we have done that very thing; but let us examine and see if we have anything more to give!  I would like to examine three questions.

 

1. What does it mean to “sell all that you have?”

a.       We must first of all have something to sell.

 

1)      What do we have?

Security, food, clothes, houses, cars and gas to go with them, husbands, wives, children, shoes, coats, grandchildren, shelter, jewelry, comforts of all kinds, TV, radio, air conditioners, easy chairs, stoves, lights, gas for winter to keep us warm, etc.

 

b.      What we have must be worth something in order for it to be sold.

 

1) We cannot be in poverty if we are to sell anything.  So we are to work and not be lazy in body or spirit.  “Jesus said to work while it is still called “day” for “night” comes when no man can work.”

 

c.       What we have to sell must be something that the poor would want.

 

1) Does our life, lived for Him, make anyone want what we possess?  Do we possess anything of value in order to sell?

 

2. How do we “give it to the poor?” There are many ideas about giving to the poor, such as: 

 

a.       Giving to the church and to missionaries who are preaching the gospel is “giving to the poor;” but what if the Church isn’t helping to feed or ministering to the poor? 

b.      Give the poor only spiritual help and don’t be concerned with the physical help “let the government do it”.  If this reasoning is correct, why did Jesus say to “give it (what you sell) to the poor?”  The young man wouldn’t have had to ‘sell all’ to minister to the poor spiritually.

c.       The storehouse was set up in every synagogue to minister to the needs “of the (poor) widows and orphans” as well as to the “strangers within thy gates.”  So from this we learn that we are indeed to minister to their physical needs as well as to the spiritual needs.  Jesus said, “The poor you will have with you always.”  Have you ever wondered why?  It is our opportunity for service.

 

3.  How do we “come and follow me?”

 

a.       We must do one and two.  Read them again.  Now, read them one more time.

b.      We are to count it all as nothing even as Paul did.  (Phil 3:8-11 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. (KJV)

c.       We must never regret our giving it all up for Him and coming to follow Him

d.      Now we are ready to follow Him wherever He may go.  We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  (KJV)

e.       We know that it will lead to our death (you must die that He might live in us as well as our physical death for following Him is to the death, to the end!)

f.        We must never look back for Jesus said in: Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.  (KJV)

 

Have you given all you have to Jesus?  Have you sold it all for Him?  Have you held anything back and hidden it in your closet?  Has He called you and you have not responded to that call?  Have you followed Him wherever He has led you without complaint?  Have you had faith that He cares and sees and goes with you and that He has given you the victory or are you still looking at the devil and believing that he can stop whatever God has planned for you?  Do you believe that God will win out?  Many say, “Oh, yes, some day!”  But the word tells us that this is “today and the victory is for now not someday!”  If you have anything that you are holding back and want to give it to Him right now then bow your heads and tell Him so and surrender your all to Him even right now!  Be Blessed