| | Can I Give It All? (c)
Sarah Fram
June 25, 2008
A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
Luke 18: 18-23
I. The Ruler asked a good question
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
II. The Ruler had good actions: He had kept the Law
“All These I have kept since I was a boy.” (The Law didn’t mean you had to be perfect, the Day of Atonement settled any ‘outstanding’ sins.)
III. Good (Law) isn’t enough: Jesus took it to the heart
“Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
What could I NOT love God without?
Or
What keeps me from completely selling out?
(I’d go, but…)
1. Money/fear for provision
2. My plans
3. My relationships
‘1. God says He will provide. Do I believe it?
Matthew 6: 25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
‘2. Mans plans are crooked and lead to death. Planning for our future without taking God into the equation is foolish. Only God knows the future. Do I believe it?
Proverbs 16:25
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Luke 12: 16-21
“And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' “Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Proverbs 20:24
“Man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?”
‘3. Our relationship with God ought to be the most important.
Matthew 10:37
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
What other things are there that make you hold back?
IV. The Ruler Went Away Sad
The Ruler went away from this encounter sad:
περίλυπος
1) very sad, exceedingly sorrowful
2) overcome with sorrow so much as to cause one's death
The man’s wealth was holding him back, but he was sad to leave it. Even when he knew that he would inherit eternal life, he regretted having to give it all away.
Sometimes I know, but my heart is not in it. So the question is:
Was the ruler sad because he knew he couldn’t/wouldn’t give it away?
Or
Was the ruler sad because he knew he would give it away?
Did he give it away?
Verse For Memory:
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39
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| | Posted 6/25/2008 12:48 PM - 30 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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