LUKE 18:18-30 WHAT JESUS WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 18:18-30 What Jesus Wants For Christmas

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. Of course, in a few days we will be celebrating Christmas, which is the time that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

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And as we prepare our hearts for Christmas this year, I want to encourage you to consider what Jesus wants for Christmas. You know, it is his birthday that we're celebrating, although it's not the actual day of his birth. But it's the day that we've chosen to celebrate and remember his birth.

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And so as I was studying Luke chapter 18 in preparation for this service, the Lord began to highlight some things that, you know, this is what Jesus wants. And if you think about, you know, a birthday, usually we give the birthday person the presents, right? Well, Christmas, we give each other presents in remembrance of the gift that was given to us.

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But it's appropriate to consider what does Jesus want for Christmas? It's his birthday. It's his day that we're celebrating. And so what is it that we can give to him? What is it that he wants from us? And so we're going to work our way through Luke chapter 18 verses 18 through 30. And so

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There's going to be four points in this passage as we go through it together. The first one we find in verse 18 and 19. And would you look at that with me as I read it? It says in verse 18, Now a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good but one that is God. Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, as we consider this passage that you've set before us this morning,

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I pray, Lord, that you would prepare us to celebrate your birth. Lord, prepare us to be able to give to you what you want for Christmas. Lord, that our hearts would be completely sold out to you, that we would be on fire for you. Lord, that we would be pleasing in your sight. And so I pray, Lord, that you'd pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, that we would understand your words and exactly what you're saying to us, that we might be responsive as you speak to our hearts.

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And so minister to us by your word, we pray in Jesus' name. What does Jesus want for Christmas? Point number one, as we look at verse 18 and 19, is that Jesus wants you to know that he is God. Jesus wants you to know, of course, Jesus is God.

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But he wants to make sure that you know that he is God. That it's not just the reality that he is God, but that you need to know the truth about Jesus. Now we see this come about as this certain ruler, it says in verse 18, comes to Jesus.

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This guy is talked about also in Matthew chapter 19 and Mark chapter 10. And with all the information we get from these three passages, we refer to him as the rich young ruler. Because these are the things that we find about this guy. He was rich. He was wealthy. He was young. It says that a couple times. But then he also had authority. Right?

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Now this makes this guy very interesting because he has what so many people are working hard to obtain.

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He has the things that people are searching for. You know, you talk about the American dream, right? That's what he has. He's youthful, right? People work to be, you know, to stay youthful or to go back to youthfulness. They do different treatments and things. And in order to have that youthfulness and to extend that time of life,

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People are seeking to be established financially, that there's this desire to be able to not have to worry about what you're going to eat and, you know, to be able to have some extra luxuries and things like that. There's this pursuit of wealth that we aspire to and then power. That's something that people strive for as well.

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And so much of what, you know, our culture and our society is seeking for, this guy already has. On top of all that, we find also in this passage that he's very religious. And he keeps to his religion. He keeps the laws. He keeps and follows the things that are outlined in the law of Moses. Although he has all of these things, we see from this passage that he still lacks.

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He recognizes, you know, I'm not satisfied. I'm young. I'm rich. I have authority. I'm religious. But there's things that are missing in my life. I'm not fulfilled. I'm not satisfied. And particularly, he's expressing that he's not secure in his eternal condition. He's not so sure about eternity. He's not confident that he has eternal life.

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And so he approaches Jesus with this need, with this expression of this need that he has. And he says, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What shall I do to inherit the kingdom of God? Now his question was definitely appropriate, you know, for his background, for his culture.

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He was, you know, living in the time where the law of Moses was in effect. This was before Jesus Christ died upon the cross. And so he's thinking in terms of the law. He's thinking in terms of sacrifices. And he's thinking, what can I do? Because I already keep the law. So what else is there? What can I do to inherit eternal life? He's coming with the mindset that he can earn eternal life.

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He's thinking, maybe there's like one big act, you know, one just, one big great sacrifice and that will guarantee eternity for me. He's doing his best to keep the law. He's offering the sacrifices. He's doing the things that God prescribed. And yet, he's still in the place where he's thinking, there must be more than this.

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And that question, that need drives him to Jesus. He sees there's something different about Jesus. He has the answers that I need. He has, well, the way to be fulfilled in this area that I lack. And so he approaches Jesus and asks him, can you help me, Jesus? Can you help me figure out? I need to understand. What else do I need to do? Because something is missing. Now Jesus responds to him in verse 19 saying,

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And he says, why do you call me good? No one is good but one. That is God. So he says, hey good teacher, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life? Jesus puts the eternal life aspect aside for a moment. And he says, let's think about what you just said. You called me good teacher. Why do you call me good? Jesus asks. Now,

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I particularly find it interesting when Jesus asks questions. Because Jesus doesn't ask questions in order to educate himself. He doesn't ask questions in order to get information. He asks questions to help the people that he is relating to. Jesus wants this man to think about what he's just said.

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The guy was just using it as an introduction, just like, hey, you know, how you doing? And then to go on to his question. The question is the important part, but Jesus says, let's stop and think about the way that you referred to me. And so Jesus wants to make sure he thinks about this reference to Jesus. And God as well

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took care to include this account three times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke because he wants us to think about this. This is why Jesus says, why do you call me good? Good teacher, he says. Why do you call me good? What is it that you call Jesus? You know, there are many people today who would call Jesus a good teacher, just like this man. What is it that you call Jesus? How do you refer to him?

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The interesting thing about that is if I claimed the things that Jesus claimed, nobody would call me a good teacher. They would call me insane. They would call me crazy. They would call me all kinds of things, but they wouldn't call me a good teacher if I claimed for myself the things that Jesus claimed for himself. And so when we understand Jesus as a good teacher, well, not only do we not have the whole truth about who Jesus is, but

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we kind of misunderstand the way that we're actually using this idea or understanding what it means for him to be a good teacher. Jesus was much more than a good teacher. And so he goes on to say, no one is good but one that is God. Why do you call me good? He says, there's only one who's good and that is God. Now this causes some people to struggle. Like what does Jesus mean here?

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There's basically two options. Either Jesus is saying that he is not good or Jesus is saying that he is God. Those are your choices as you wrestle with this verse. Either Jesus is saying, don't call me good because I'm not good or Jesus is saying, I am God and that's why you called me good. Now as we talk about this word good and good teacher, why do you call me good?

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I think it's pretty clear. They're using this word a little bit differently than we do. When we talk about something being good, oftentimes we're talking about, you know, just really being good enough or mostly good. You know, when we say things like, you know, he's a good kid.

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We're not saying that the kid is perfect. Like, we would recognize that, right? We're not saying that's a perfect kid. We're just saying, you know, he's got his faults and he messes up, but he's got a, you know, heart that's in the right place. He's a good kid. That's kind of the way that we use this word good. But that's not how they used the word good. Good was something that was, well, it was a reference to

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perfection. It was a reference to the entirety of something is good. David Guzik points out that there is no instance in all of the rabbinical writings, the Talmud, there's no instance of rabbis being called good teacher. They reserved that word good for things that were fully good. Not mostly good, not good enough, but fully good.

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And so this wasn't just a common saying, common, you know, the way to approach teachers. This was something unique. When he says good teacher, he's saying something more than, you know, you make some really good points. He is referring to Jesus as, well, something that's perfectly good, ultimately good. And so Jesus here is highlighting this. He's calling the man's attention to what he said. He says, you called me good.

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Now think about what that means. You know the truth. You're recognizing, even if you don't fully understand it, you're recognizing that I am God. You're recognizing that you called me good teacher because I am good and there's only one who is good and that is God. And so we see that Jesus wants you to know that he is God.

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Before he deals with the eternal life question, he says, let's talk about this because I want you to know that I am God. Now, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas in a few days, this is something that Jesus wants you to know. The child that was born to Mary was not simply an above average kid. He wasn't just, you know, someone who had very high morals, right?

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Or was mostly good. The child that was born is God himself. He's more than a good teacher. He's more than a prophet. He is good. He's perfect. Sinless. Holy. Because he is God. And that's what makes Christmas so amazing. That's why we celebrate. Because Jesus Christ being God became man. He humbled himself.

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infinitely humbled himself greatly he became man in order to address the sin condition that we have it's what john 3 16 is all about for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life

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This is what makes Christmas amazing. This is God loving you, loving me so much that he sends his only begotten son. This is Jesus volunteering and saying, I will go. I will leave my eternal glory, my place where I belong here in eternity with God, here in heaven with God, the Father. I will humble myself. I will become man again.

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I'll grow up. I'll become man as an infant. Not even just, you know, appear as a full-aged adult. But I will humble myself to go through diaper changes and adolescence and puberty. And I'll have humble beginnings. I'll be unknown. I'll learn how to be a carpenter. I mean, he humbled himself greatly, yet he is God. And that's why this guy says, good teacher.

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Now Jesus will go on from here. He's like okay. You thought about that. You understand that I'm God. That's good. Now he'll go on to deal with this issue of eternal life. And here we find point number two. As we go on into verses 20 through 23. Point number two. Is that Jesus wants your whole heart. What does Jesus want for Christmas? First of all he wants you to know that he is God. Secondly he wants you to entrust to him.

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Your complete and total heart. Check out verse 20. He says, you know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. So the guy says to Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, you know the commandments. This rich young ruler was religious.

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He knew the law of God. He knew what God required. And so Jesus lists here five of the Ten Commandments. He lists five of those Ten Commandments and says, these are the things you know that you're supposed to be doing. Do not commit adultery. Don't be involved in sexual immorality. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not be involved in bearing false witness or lying. Do not commit adultery.

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And honor your father and mother. Do these things, Jesus says. Now, the religious young man replies in verse 21. He says, all these things I have kept from my youth. What must I do to inherit eternal life? I'm still lacking something. Jesus says, alright, here's some five commands. You know the commandments. Do these things. He says, I do these things. But I'm still lacking something.

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I still don't have the security in eternity. I don't have that hope of eternity like I think I should have. I keep those things already. I already do that. I don't know. I mean, I wasn't there obviously, but I just imagine Jesus chuckling a little bit here. You already do that, okay? You keep the commandments. Now, I'm sure he thinks that he keeps them.

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Or he might be saying, well, I keep the commandments, but when I break them, then I offer the sacrifice that the law prescribes. So in that way, I keep the commandments. You know, maybe he's not claiming to be perfect, but just that he's following the sacrificial system that was established. Because we know that it's actually not possible to keep the commandments. Jesus just listed five of the Ten Commandments.

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And even if you were to take just those five and try to keep and live those commandments, you and I could not do it. We would not be able to live in perfect compliance to these commandments. Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 5 as he was delivering the Sermon on the Mount that these 10 commandments are much more than just the outward keeping of these things.

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In talking about murder, he said, you know, you've heard it said, you shall not murder. But he goes on to say, but I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Jesus reveals that God, when he said, you shall not murder, he's not just talking about, you know, keep your arm from striking. He's talking about your heart. In the same way, when he says to not commit adultery,

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Or to not covet your neighbor's wife. Jesus says, whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. That's Matthew 5.28. And so we cannot keep these commandments because even if we do the outward keeping of these commandments, our hearts are not there. We are sinful within. We have sinful hearts. But this guy says, hey, I've kept those things.

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I've done those things. I follow the law. I keep the law. Which we know he couldn't perfectly. He couldn't completely. Just like you and I cannot. So Jesus responds here in verse 22. It says, when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, you still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. I like this. Jesus instead of

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Trying to discuss whether or not this guy actually does keep the commandments. He just accepts it. He says, okay, you still lack one thing. There's still one thing that you're missing. What is that? He says, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven. Sell everything that you have and give it to the poor. What Jesus is doing is he's cutting right to the heart of this rich young ruler. Right?

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You recognize you need. You recognize you lack. You're not fulfilled. So here's what you need to do. Now Jesus is not introducing here a new command, you know, for every person. This is not his instruction to every believer. It's the appropriate command for this particular person, the rich young ruler.

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We know that because this is the only time that anybody is commanded to do that. If this was Jesus' command to everybody, well, we would find it taught throughout Jesus' messages. We would have it throughout the epistles, through the book of Acts. That's not the message of the gospel. This is not the way to be saved. But for this man, this is the command. Not because having money is a sin, but

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Or because having lots of money is a sin. That's really not the issue. You can look at some biblical examples of godly men who were very wealthy. Like Abraham, like Lot. They were righteous. But they were also wealthy. The issue then is not simply the money. But it becomes an issue when money or the wealth is too important in our lives.

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And really anything becomes an issue when it becomes too important in our lives. And so for you and I today, it might not be a financial issue that we need to consider. It might be something different. It might be a relationship issue. It might be a career issue. It might be, well, you probably know if there is something that Jesus is seeking to address in your life. Well, what that thing is.

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And if there's anything that's so important to us that we're not ready to do the next thing that Jesus says, then it's an issue. And Jesus is calling us to let it go. Because Jesus said, sell everything you have, distribute to the poor, you will have treasure in heaven. And then he says, and come, follow me. And so Jesus is looking into this man's heart. He's spotlighting the issue of

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That is really going on there. And he calls him. Turn from those things to follow me. Now this is an essential part of Jesus' command to this guy. Because it's not that poverty saves people. He doesn't say become poor and then you'll be saved. He says sell everything, give to the poor and then follow me. Now this commandment.

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Maybe sounds like two things or three things, you know. Sell everything you have, give to the poor, and then follow me. But Jesus says this is one thing. One thing you lack. This is a good description of what repentance is all about. See, the issue at his heart is he is attached to his vast resources. So he's in this direction. Attached.

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To these vast resources. Jesus is saying repent. That is do a 180. But repentance is not just turning away from the bad things. Repentance is then pursuing. The things that God is calling us to. And so he's saying sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. And follow me. This is the call. The follow me part. Is a call to every believer. Every person is called to follow Jesus.

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You can replace the issue of the finances to whatever it is that's really important in your heart. What's really big in your life. What's so important that you're not able to let it go. And Jesus says, repent of that. Let it go and follow me. How are you doing in your following of Jesus? How well do you follow him?

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This is something important that we need to consider because following Jesus is not just a one time I said a prayer type of thing. Following Jesus is, well, it's walking with him. It's becoming like him. It's getting to know him. So that's studying his word.

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Spending time with him in prayer. Following Jesus is, it's an ongoing process of walking with him. Becoming more and more like him. So how are you doing in your following of Jesus? Because Jesus wants your whole heart. He wants you to follow him wholeheartedly. As you think about what to give Jesus for Christmas, for his birthday, consider this.

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What he desires is your whole heart. Without anything being held back, he wants you to follow him completely. To be fully sold out for him. And so he gives this command to this rich young ruler. And in verse 23 it tells us, when he heard this, he became very sorrowful for he was very rich.

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He was as sorrowful as he was rich. Very rich, very sorrowful. You can see there's an anchor here. There's a direct relationship between his sorrow to his wealth because that's where his heart is at. Jesus gave this command to the young man for a reason. Not because Jesus wanted him to walk away.

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In Mark chapter 10 verse 21 in this same account, it says that Jesus looking at him loved him and said, one thing you lack. Jesus wasn't trying to get rid of the guy. He loved him. Because he loved him and wanted what's best for him, he highlighted, he brought to attention the real issue of his heart. Because he knew the condition of his heart.

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Now here's this guy. He's rich. He's young. He's got authority. He's religious. He knows he lacks something. So he asks Jesus and Jesus gives him the answer. Seems like a done deal. Alright. Now I got to do what Jesus said. But he doesn't. Instead he walks away very sorrowful. He knows that Jesus is God because he called him good teacher. He recognizes that

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You're not just a normal rabbi. You're not just a normal teacher. You, you're much more than that. And you have the answer. I have a need. You have the answer. But he's not willing to obey. He's not willing to hear what Jesus says. Listen, Jesus wants your whole heart. He wants everything. Complete surrender to him. It's not enough to believe that God exists.

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To acknowledge that there is a God, that does not save you. That's not sufficient. It's not enough even to know and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God. It's not enough to just acknowledge that Jesus died upon the cross for sins. It's much more than an intellectual, you know, I know or I accept this information that's being presented. He wants your whole heart. He's calling for repentance. Turn to

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From those things and follow me. It caused me to consider and maybe you should consider as well. What could Jesus ask of you that you would say, that's just too much. I can't do that. What would Jesus ask of you? What could Jesus ask of you that would cause you to walk away sorrowful? It's something to consider. What is so important in your life that if he asked you to give it up, you would not be willing to?

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He wants your whole heart. There's some people who are content to be Christians as long as it fits within their parameters. Within these boundaries, you know, then I think it's a good thing. But yeah, go outside of that. I'm not so certain this is for me anymore. If it means that, hey, I go to church once a week and I'll, you know, do my best to live a good life. Okay, yeah, I'll be a Christian.

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If it's, you know, well, I could still do these things and those things, then yeah, okay. If I could still do that, then I'll be a Christian. Really, what we're saying when we have that mentality is that we just want to be religious. We're not really desiring to be Christian with the meaning of what that is. We're just, it's a religion that we're choosing.

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I want to follow that religion. It's comfortable. It fits within, you know, the kind of lifestyle I want to live. That's not what Jesus is asking for. He's asking us to follow him, to know him, to be more like him, to obey his commands. And that many times is going to require some radical steps, some radical decisions. Jesus wants your whole heart.

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And that means that there cannot be anything that is too important for him to ask it of you. There cannot be anything that would hold you back if he said, here's what I want. Our hearts need to be in a place where we say, okay, I'm going to follow you. Now that doesn't mean it's always easy. That doesn't mean that, you know, it's always our first choice. But that we surrender to him and say, you know best. I'm going to follow Jesus.

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Now here's the thing to understand. Again, Jesus didn't say this to the guy because he's like, I don't want to hang out with that guy. He's going to bug me for a long time. So I'm just going to tell him this and get rid of him. That's not the heart of Jesus. I would liken it, if you need a picture, to walking up to a child and smacking poison out of their hand. Is that mean? You know, they're about to take a bite and you smack it out of their hand. Is that mean? Is that mean?

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The child thinks it's absolutely mean, right? Because they thought it was candy. They were like, I'm going to enjoy this. How could you, how dare you take that away from me? But you as an adult, you see more clearly, you understand this will destroy you. And so you take it away. In the same way, Jesus in dealing with us and asking for our whole heart, it's not so that, you know, he's saying, you know, man, I really want to make these people miserable. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to ask God,

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And some people feel that way. Like, oh, don't say you would never do that because then that's what he's going to do. You know, he's not out to get you. He's not out to make you miserable. But he does want to protect you from the poison that will destroy you. And so he says, I need your whole heart. I need you to follow me completely because, yeah, maybe you could enjoy the American dream, but maybe that will cost you your eternity. Maybe you could enjoy that relationship, but it will destroy your life.

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Maybe you could enjoy those things. Maybe you could have that lifestyle. Maybe you could go that way. But it will destroy you. So repent of those things. Give me your whole heart and follow me. Again, thinking in terms of a child. If given the choice, a child would consume things that are not good for them. You know, hey, would you want to eat ice cream for every meal, whenever you want?

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Yeah, of course. I mean, I want to, right? It's like, I know better, but it's still a struggle. It's like, I want what I want. And we will consume ourselves with things that are not good. We'll fill our lives and pursue things that are not good. And Jesus is saying, you consume yourself with that and you will die. It will destroy you. So what you need to do is fully surrender to me. Let go of the things of this life.

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And follow Jesus. Jesus wants your whole heart. Well as we go on now into verses 24 through 27. We see point number three. Is that Jesus wants to save you. The whole point of all of this. Is that Jesus wants you to have eternal life.

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He wanted this young man to have eternal life. Verse 24 says, and when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, he said, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus sees him become sorrowful. And so he begins to give some commentary to his disciples, those who are around him. He says, hey guys, check this out. You see him? He walked away sorrowful.

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That's because it's very hard for someone who has riches to enter the kingdom of God. Now this statement would have been so shocking for the people around Jesus. Because they equated riches with God's blessing. Specifically God's blessing for righteousness. Their mentality was rich people must be righteous and poor people must be sinful and rebellious. Because God rewards people.

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People who are righteous with riches, and he punishes those who are not faithful with poverty. That was the thinking, that was the mentality of the day. So when Jesus says, riches make it hard for a person to be saved, that's curious to them. They don't understand that. In fact, you'll see in a moment, they say, well then who can be saved? Because they're rich, because they're so righteous. But that's not the way that God works. That's not accurate to what's really going on.

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There are righteous rich people and there are righteous poor people. And there are rebellious rich people and there are rebellious poor people. The financial standing of a person is not a statement of their eternal condition. But when he says that it makes it hard for them to enter the kingdom of God, you could probably consider a couple reasons. First of all, it's hard because they don't think that they need it. It's like someone who refuses to go to the doctor even though they're sick.

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Because they don't think that they need it. Now, it doesn't matter if they don't think they need it. If they need it, then they're going to be hurting, you know, if they won't go to the doctor. Because that's what they need. But they don't think they need it, but they won't go because they don't think they need it. In the same way, someone who has riches, Jesus is saying, this guy, he's less likely to call out to the Lord because he can satisfy himself with so many other things and it'll just be temporary, but then he can try something else and try something else and try something else.

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Just like Solomon did in the book of Ecclesiastes. So it makes it hard because they don't think they need it. Or it makes it hard because it's so hard to let go of those riches. You remember the classic illustration of how to catch a monkey? Maybe you've heard that. People, when they want to catch a monkey... I don't know if you could try this because we don't have a whole lot around here. When they would want to catch a monkey...

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they would set out a jar or a coconut, something like that, that has a hole in the top. They would put some food inside of it so that when the monkey would go in to grab the food, he'd grab the rice or the peanuts or whatever's in there. And then with the fist, you know, clutching onto that food, it was unable to be removed from the hole in the top. And so he's like, I can't. If he let go, he'd be able to pull his hand out.

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But he put his hand in. Do they call it hands or paws? I don't know. But he has it in there, right? And he can't get out. He won't let go. And so then the hunters are able to catch the monkey as he's stuck in this jar, this coconut. It's that kind of thing that sometimes, again, you can substitute riches for anything that's super important in your life. And we can hold on to those things forever.

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To our detriment. And if we would just let go, we would be safe. But because we won't let go, we're trapped. We're caught. We're destroyed. And so Jesus says how hard it is for those who have riches or whatever else we're clutching on to, to enter the kingdom of God. Verse 25. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Understand what Jesus is saying here.

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He's saying it's impossible. What would it take for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? You know, you're sewing with this needle. You've got the eye that you thread it. I mean, it's kind of hard with the thread. You've got to kind of... Usually takes me a few times. How hard would it be to get a camel slightly bigger than a piece of thread, right? What would it take? A really good blender. The Vitamix 5200, man. It's...

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It'd still be a lot of work. It'd be messy. Take a lot of time. It is gross. But that's the point. It's not possible. And so in verse 26 they say, those who heard it said, who then can be saved? If it's that hard for a rich person, like a camel going through the eye of a needle, if it's that hard for a rich person to get saved, again in their mind they're thinking riches equal righteousness.

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So if it's that hard for them to be saved, then what hope do the rest of us have? Because we don't have those kinds of riches because we're not that righteous. That's their mentality. That's what they're thinking. And so they're thinking it's impossible. Now, a lot of their thinking is incorrect, but their conclusion is accurate. It's impossible. Who can be saved? And so Jesus says in verse 27, but he said, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

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So he agrees with their conclusion. Yes, it's impossible with men to be saved. It's impossible for you and I to be saved. Because no matter how many good works we do, it's not enough. No matter how many bad things we refrain from, it's not enough. No matter how religious we are, that's not sufficient. No matter how many commands we obey, it's not enough. It's impossible.

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For us and our own strength and what we can provide and what we have to offer. It's impossible for us to be saved. And that's why we celebrate Christmas. Because that's why Jesus came. To resolve what is impossible for us. Making it possible because He, being God, sinless, perfect and holy, became man and died upon the cross for our sins. Why did He come? Because He wants to save you.

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It's impossible to save yourself. Remember Jesus in the garden prayed, if there's any other way, rather than me go to the cross, Father, if there's any other way for these people to be saved, then let's do that instead. But Jesus went to the cross because that was the only way. That's why Jesus came. It was the only way for us to be forgiven of sin.

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He loves you so much. He loves me so much that he humbled himself, became a man, suffered and died. And so when Jesus asks us to put him first, to give him our complete and total heart, it's not because he wants to make us miserable. It's because he wants to save us. He wants us to experience what he came to accomplish.

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He wants us to have everlasting life. He has your best interests in mind. He wants what's best for you. And so when he says, let go of that and follow me, that's what's best for us. That's what he wants because he loves us so much. Well, the final point in verses 28 through 30 is that Jesus wants to bless you. Verse 28 says, then Peter said, see, we have left all and followed you.

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So Peter's watching this whole thing unfold, right? Here's this guy. He comes. What must I do? Jesus says, give it all away and follow me. And Peter says, hey, that's what we did. Now, is he boasting? Possibly. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, right? It wouldn't be the last time. But, you know, Jesus doesn't rebuke Peter here, which is kind of interesting. He kind of affirms, yeah, you have left everything. And there's great reward in that. Check out verse 29.

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So he said to them, assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who shall not receive many times more in this present time and in the age to come eternal life. Jesus says, yes, you have left everything. And let me tell you, I've got great things in store for you. Yes, following Jesus will cost you.

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But what you receive as you follow Jesus is far better than what you would hold on to instead of following Jesus. The disciples did leave everything to follow Him. Remember, Peter, James, and John left behind that amazing catch of fish. They left their business behind to follow Jesus. Matthew, he was the tax collector. He left his profession. He just got up and left. He didn't even give two weeks notice.

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They left all to follow Jesus. And Jesus says, you will have great reward. In the present time, but then also in the age to come. You're going to have abundant life now, but also you'll have abundant life for the rest of eternity. And so yes, it may cost you greatly.

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But the rewards, the blessings are far greater. And that's why Jesus told this rich man to let go of his riches because, well, he wanted to give him much more. Abundant life for now as well as for eternity. Please understand though that Jesus is not saying everybody should abandon all their responsibilities. He's not saying that everybody, you know, needs to quit their job. But maybe he is saying for a particular person,

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Yeah, you need to let that go. That's too important. I have other things in store for you. He's not saying that we should abandon our families. He's not saying, you know, just cut them off, get rid of them, get out of there. Don't abandon your responsibilities. Don't abandon your families. But follow Jesus. And if that costs you, your family, then follow Jesus.

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Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Hey, if you're a believer and your spouse is not a believer and they're not willing to live with you as a believer, let them go. Be at peace. Let them go. If they're willing, then stay together. So he's not saying, you know, everybody needs to split up. He's saying, if you following Jesus is going to cause other people to remove themselves from you, then let them go. You follow Jesus.

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Even if they will walk away. Even if it will cost you. Or he might also be saying it's going to cost you your family in the sense that well I do want you to move overseas. And so yeah you're going to miss out on that close relationship of being in the same town being next door or whatever. But I want you to be a missionary. Or I want you to be in this area. I want you to be doing these things again because that's what's best for you. It might be costly to you.

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It might cost you your family. But Jesus says, He will provide. He will reward. He will bless abundantly. Jesus wants to bless you. And that's why He says, Give me your whole heart. I want you to have abundant life. And what you're holding on to right now will not provide that for you. It's not sufficient to give you the life that you're yearning for and desiring.

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If the rich man would have done what Jesus asked, he would have had great reward. He would have had treasure in heaven, Jesus said. There would have been great blessings for him. He doesn't ask us to give up things so he can make us miserable. He asks us to give up and surrender our hearts to him so that he can provide great blessings. I love Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 2.9.

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He says, I have not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Think about that. You've not seen, you haven't heard, you haven't even dreamed and imagined what God has prepared for you, but there is a condition to this. He says, for those who love Him.

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Again, this is the idea of putting Him first. That means you have given Him your whole heart. That you've put Him first at the expense of everything else. And He may include those things in your life or He may not include those things in your life. But regardless, He's first. And when you love Him, when you love Him first, when He's most important in your life, eye has not seen nor has ear heard anything.

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nor has entered into your heart or your imagination the things that He has prepared for you. God wants to do great things in your life. But so many times we're like the monkey with our hand in the jar. We've got our grip on those things that are going to destroy us. And Jesus is saying, here's what I want for Christmas. You want to honor me? You want to bless me this Christmas as you remember my birth?

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Let go of the things of this life and follow me. Let go of the things of this life and follow me. Listen, you need to know Jesus. And I don't mean you need to have a little bit of a knowledge about Jesus. I mean, you need to hear his voice. You need to talk with him and walk with him and commune with him. I think there's a lot of people who are religious Christians, but they don't really follow Jesus.

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I know I lived that way for many years as well. It's an easy trap to fall into. And we try to fulfill and satisfy ourselves with different things. We need to follow the example of the rich young ruler and come to Jesus and say, okay, something's lacking here. Something's not working. I'm still not satisfied. I'm not fulfilled. I don't have abundant life. This doesn't mean that

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We will never struggle or have issues. But even in the midst of those things, we can have an abundant life because we have regular encounters with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And He is the Prince of Peace. And He gives us peace even in the midst of disaster. There's so much more than just the outward motions of things. And you know it, just like this rich young ruler knew it. But what Jesus asks is peace.

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Are you willing to let it go? That thing that's so important to you. Are you willing to let it go? Are you willing to follow me? To give me your whole heart? I want to save you. I want to bless you. I want to do things in you and through you that you could never even imagine. But you got to let go. You can't keep holding on to those things. Again, this guy was riches. You can substitute what's important in your heart.

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What would it take for Jesus to say, let that go, and you would say, okay, that's it. I can't do this anymore. I'm going to go to a different church. I'm going to go to a different religion. I'm going to do something else. What would it take? Jesus must be first because he loves you and he wants to bless you. Let's pray. Lord, as we've seen your challenge to this young rich man, I pray, Lord, that you would highlight in our hearts, Lord, if there's anything that is

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An issue for us like it was for him. Where you've been calling us to let it go. And we've been unwilling. Maybe it's our pride. Maybe it's our lust. Maybe it's our greed. Maybe it's our loneliness. Whatever it may be. I pray Lord that you would allow us to see clearly. Just as you called it out clearly for this young man. That you would speak to our hearts. To show us those areas where we're holding back.

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And I pray, God, that you would help us to surrender to you, to let those things go, to put you first, to follow you, to really know you. Lord, that we would no longer say, I don't have time to read the Bible or pray or spend time with you or serve or be involved. I don't have time to do the things that you've called me to do. Lord, forgive us for putting other things first and help us to really follow you.

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That we would be fully obedient no matter what the cost. That we wouldn't try to make our vision for this life happen. But Lord, that we would surrender to your vision for our lives. Knowing that what you want is best. And you have greater blessings for us than we can imagine when we follow you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.