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Mark 10:17-31 - Part 2 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Continuing our verse-by-verse exposition of the Gospel of Mark.
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! And last week we dealt with verses 17-31 in some part,
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! And this week we're going to look at the other part, the second part of this text.
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Let's begin by reading it.
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Beginning at verse 17 of chapter 10.
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And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him,
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Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
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And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
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You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness.
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Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.
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And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.
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And Jesus said, looking at him, I'm sorry, Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him,
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You lack one thing. Go sell all that you have and give to the poor,
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and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.
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Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
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And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
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How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.
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And the disciples were amazed at his words.
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But Jesus said to them again, Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.
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It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
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And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him,
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Then who can be saved?
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Jesus looked at them and said, With man it is impossible, but not with God,
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for all things are possible with God.
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Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you.
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Jesus said,
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Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel,
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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.
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But many who are first will be last and the last first.
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This is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Let's pray together.
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Father, I have no good thing in me apart from you.
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The gifting that we would call natural only has its proper effect when you work powerfully in me.
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The gifts that you have given me were ultimately given for the church,
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and so I would pray that you would use them this morning.
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Use me beyond my giftedness to speak your word with clarity and conviction to your people.
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Father, we would ask this morning that you would have the word properly work in our hearts,
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convict us of sin, turn us to repentance and further belief.
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Make us this morning long for Christ all the more as we hear the preaching of your word.
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And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
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Now, as I mentioned, this is part two of us dealing with this text.
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Last week we dealt with the more evangelistic aspect of the text.
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You remember that we have here, aptly subtitled in most of your copies of the word,
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the rich young man or the rich young ruler,
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a man who comes up and interrupts Jesus as he's setting out on his journey,
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his journey towards Jerusalem.
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We're in the months leading up to his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.
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And he's trying to pack in the last bit of teaching that the disciples need to receive,
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the things that he's trying to build into them that he promised he would bring to their remembrance
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by the power of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
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So he's setting out on this journey and he's interrupted.
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We get from the context of the parallel passages in Luke chapter 18 and in Matthew chapter 19
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that he's this rich young ruler, likely a ruler of the synagogue,
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which would have been a very esteemed religious position.
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As a young man, he would have had to be incredibly pious by the culture standards
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to be able to hold this position at that age.
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And it was also a position that came with a lot of wealth.
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He would have had great possessions.
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And we see that in verse 22 of our text.
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He had great possessions.
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He knows, though, that he's lacking something.
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He gets that the equation is not quite completed
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as we see him come in an apparent act of humility
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and come to Jesus and say,
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Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
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And in fact, he runs to him,
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which is a thing that rich people did not do in this day,
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and he kneels down before him.
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But Jesus gives him a curious response.
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Most of us would have wanted to just preach the gospel to him,
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give him the very clear repent and believe.
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But Jesus instead gets at his very heart.
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And he knows where this man stands as he calls,
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he throws around this term good.
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He uses it very flippantly of a man who he knows is a teacher,
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but he doesn't know that he's the Son of God.
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He does not know that he is the Christ.
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And so Jesus sees that his intention is not really a humble intention,
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but what he wanted to do was to add to the things that he already had.
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He didn't come to him seeking God himself.
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He came seeking what could be added to his account.
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He wanted to see what he could gain from God.
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This is evidence in the way he responds as Jesus tells him the thing he's lacking.
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This is what you lack.
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The thing that you treasure,
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the thing that you are holding so dear to,
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is your material possession.
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And if you're to worship the one true God,
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you have to stop worshiping this thing,
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and the command he gives to him is,
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therefore, get rid of it.
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Prove it.
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Prove that you don't worship the things that you have
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by giving it away to the poor.
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And come follow me.
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And the young man we see goes away disheartened.
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So we dealt with that primarily last week.
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Jesus' evangelistic strategy in this case.
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Today we're going to look and see what true wealth is in God's economy.
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What true wealth is in God's economy.
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Now we have to be really, really careful, I think, when we talk about money.
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The scriptures have a lot to say concerning the matter.
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And it's very easy to get on the pendulum and swing from one extreme to the other
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and not walk the proper balance of the doctrine of money
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and how it is we're meant to deal with it as followers of Christ.
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Because the Bible does not condemn the right of private property.
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The Bible has been used throughout history to make claims of socialism
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and more severe forms of the same.
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But the Bible doesn't condemn the right of private property
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but actually assumes the rightness of it.
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In the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20.15 says,
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You shall not steal.
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Why?
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Because those are other people's possessions, not your possessions, right?
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They rightly own those things.
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Therefore, don't take it from them because it's not yours.
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Another wonderful example of this, if you'll turn to Acts chapter 5,
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is the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
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This is early days of the church.
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And we see at the beginning of chapter 5, verse 1,
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But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property.
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And with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds
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and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
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If we were to stop here, it would seem that the right and proper thing
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for all Christians to do is to sell things we have, give to the poor.
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I'm going to make a case to that later, but not on this text.
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Look at what Peter says in verse 3.
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But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit
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and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
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So the lie here is against God, against the Spirit.
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Verse 4, while it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?
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It was yours. It was your property.
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Was it not yours?
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And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?
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Was it not your possession to do with it as you please, is what he's saying?
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Why is it that you contrive this deed in your heart?
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You have not lied to man, but to God.
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We see shortly after, the two of them dropped dead in the presence of Peter.
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The issue at hand was not that they didn't give all of the proceeds,
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but that they lied about giving all of the proceeds.
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That they did this good act to mount on themselves a claim for being so devoted to the early church,
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when in fact, they sold it, kept some for themselves, and said,
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here's the proceeds from the selling of that land.
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So Peter affirms that they had a right to the personal possession.
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Now there are other teachings, of course, in the Scriptures about this.
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Let's look together at what the Proverbs, just the Proverbs, right?
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The challenge of preparing for this is narrowing down what text we're going to use.
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Let's look just at the Proverbs together, what they say concerning possessions,
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because they both commend the having of wealth
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and give strong warning concerning the having of the same wealth.
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They do both.
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There's a balance struck here.
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Proverbs 10, verse 15.
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A rich man's wealth is his strong city.
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The poverty of the poor is their ruin.
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So wealth has a place.
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It serves a purpose.
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It gives to us security.
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It is the way in which we deal in the world.
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This is what this Proverb is saying.
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Proverbs 10, verse 15.
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However, on the other side of the coin,
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Proverbs 18, verse 11,
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says,
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A rich man's wealth is his strong city.
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Notice the same phrasing.
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And like a high wall in his imagination.
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So this Proverbs says that it would seem to those who have wealth
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that they are in fact secure
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when the reality of it is that their security comes from a higher place.
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God uses their wealth as a means for their provision.
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So you see the two sides there.
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The proper way to think about wealth as a security.
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All right.
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Again, chapter 10, verse 4.
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A slack hand causes poverty,
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but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
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Here, a positive thing for working hard,
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for not being lazy,
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because if you are, you will be impoverished.
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But if you're to work hard,
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you will be rich.
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But, Proverbs 11, verse 4,
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So, we're being commended to be rich.
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However, 11, verse 4 says,
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but they're not going to profit you in the end.
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But righteousness is what delivers us from death.
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And the Proverbs go on.
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And again and again and again,
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the Proverbs are full of encouragements to generosity.
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Chapter 19, verse 17.
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Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
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and he will repay him for his deed.
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Proverbs 11, verse 24.
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One gives freely, yet grows all the richer.
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Another withholds what he should give,
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and only suffers want.
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They're being commended to give,
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not necessarily to receive monetary wealth,
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but that will be richer in another way,
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which we'll talk about shortly.
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Right?
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But the ones who withhold only suffers want.
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It's lacking.
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Proverbs 28, verse 27.
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Whoever gives to the poor will not want,
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but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
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So there's a proper balance to strike here,
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especially as we look at our text before us today,
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and see that Jesus gives a very pointed,
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unavoidable command to the rich young ruler.
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In his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount,
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James Montgomery Boyce,
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who was a 20th century Presbyterian pastor,
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commentator, as I mentioned,
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wrote this,
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Now someone will ask,
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Aren't we to sell all that we have and give to the poor?
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After all, this is how Jesus instructed the rich young ruler.
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Boyce writes,
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Yes, he did.
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But we must also note that he did not say it to Mary or Martha or Lazarus or to John the Evangelist or to Zebedee.
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He said it to the rich young ruler because his chief obstruction to a life of following Christ lay in his possessions.
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He proved that by turning away.
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For such a person,
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and there are many today,
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don't catch,
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miss that phrase,
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for such a person,
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and there are many today,
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many in this room,
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the loss of their possessions would be the most significant blessing of their lives.
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The best thing they could do would be to give them away.
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This does not mean, however,
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that possessions in themselves are wrong.
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It's the people and the way we use the possessions that's wrong,
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not the possessions themselves.
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They're amoral.
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Or, for that matter,
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that poverty is a particularly blessed form of Christianity.
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God has not called us to poverty,
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but he has told us how we should deal with our wealth.
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In a very particular way.
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So let's look together first in our text at the poverty of possessions.
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Beginning in verse 23.
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Jesus looks around after this encounter with the rich young ruler,
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and he makes some very big statements.
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How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom.
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Right?
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They're amazed by this.
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Verse 24.
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Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.
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It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
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than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
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He keeps raising this.
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He says in verse 24 how difficult it is,
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and he goes on to use this analogy of a camel going through the eye of a needle,
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which was a popular saying of the day,
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and it meant, simply, it's impossible.
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There are many people that try to get around this,
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many commentators that make up all sorts of things
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about there potentially being in Jerusalem.
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A gate called the needle gate that they took camels through
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that they just barely fit through.
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There's no archaeological evidence of that.
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It's absolutely insane to think that anyone would try to stuff a camel
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through a small gate rather than taking them through the big gates
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that were conveniently located around the exterior of the city.
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No, what he is saying is that it's impossible.
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That is what he is saying to them in our text so far.
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Why is it particularly impossible for wealthy people to enter the kingdom of God,
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which is his address?
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And that is because it is easy to love the things that you have.
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It's particularly easy to love the things that you hold in your hands.
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You can love things either way.
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Don't miss that.
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You can love and worship stuff and not have much at all.
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But it's especially easy when it's in your hands to love it.
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A number of years ago, I don't remember how many exactly,
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but we were preaching something similar about wealth
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and holding on to material things in this world.
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I've come to a place in my life where I'm pretty open-handed with the things that I have.
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And I can't say to you this morning that I always am.
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I struggle just like you do, loving stuff too much sometimes.
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But for the most part, I'm pretty open-handed.
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I have plenty of things taken from me.
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I've lost things.
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I've come to realize that my goal is to be eternal and not temporal here.
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But there's one thing in this world that it would just break my heart to lose,
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and that's my wedding band.
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My wife gave me this wedding band.
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I really can't replace it.
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I could get another wedding band, sure,
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but it wouldn't be this wedding band.
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I really, really like this.
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It's not worth a ton of money, right?
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Maybe you could sell it for $100, right?
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But it's really precious to me.
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And after we had gotten done with this sermon,
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I talked quite a bit about holding so tightly to Jesus
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that we didn't have anything else, no other room in our hands for anything else.
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We went out, and it was the 4th of July,
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with her parents out onto the lake to watch the fireworks.
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And we pulled around the front of this island close to the dam
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where the waves are three feet tall because everyone's out on the lake
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renting their massive houseboats and causing quite a commotion out there.
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And her dad, who has this old pontoon boat and doesn't have a proper anchor
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that drags and catches you in the sand when you're trying to sit in those kinds of ways,
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you boat people know what I'm talking about,
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but instead had an old set of barbells with a rope tied to it,
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which would roll along the bottom because they were round,
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was trying to get us off the bank, and we were smashing into the bank,
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and so I thought it'd be helpful.
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I hopped up on the back of the boat, pulled the rope up,
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and gave it a good heave-ho out there.
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And the rope actually made my ring spin on my finger,
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and it spun straight up right off my finger
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and then dropped, I mean, an inch from the edge of the boat.
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And I was standing on the edge, I mean, you know, phone-in pocket and all that,
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and I didn't catch it, and it went into the bottom of the lake.
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I promptly threw everything out of my pockets and jumped in after it,
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but the water was so murky, and I'm really not a fantastic swimmer,
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that I spent 20 just desperate minutes trying to find my ring on the bottom of the lake
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and finally had to say, well, oh well.
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And as I gave up and got out, climbed up out of the water onto the boat,
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the thought that went through my mind was, prove it.
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Everything that I had been saying that very morning,
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God was saying to me, show it to be true.
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Even your wedding band, you have to be okay.
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With this.
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Praise God, two days later, actually it took me a couple days to kind of settle on it all
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and say, well, it is just a thing.
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It is temporal, right?
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It's fading away like everything else in this world.
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It is, in fact, a temporal thing.
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Just about the time I had become okay with that,
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her dad had really graciously gone back out with a triathlete from his church
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and a much better swimmer than myself is the point I'm making,
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and he dove a hundred times and found my ring.
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So I got it back.
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I got to tell the story the next Sunday, and I had it off my finger as I'm telling the story,
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so people are having heart attacks, and then I put it back on my finger.
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So this is the ring, still on my finger.
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Here, I have it back.
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Right?
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But are we willing to let go of all those things that we have?
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And it's just so easy when it's in your hands to love it.
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To absolutely love it.
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And to not want to give it up for the sake of Christ.
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1 John 2, verse 15-17 says this,
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Do not love the world or the things in the world.
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If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
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For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life,
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is not from the Father, but is from the world.
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And the world is passing away along with its desires.
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But whoever does the will of God abides forever.
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And a lot of people want to stop at this point.
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And they want to say,
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Yes, it's okay to have things as long as I don't worship those things.
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And if I were observing a life that seemed properly oriented,
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that in all ways said,
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I love Jesus more than these things,
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I would say,
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Amen, I think you've got it right.
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I think you're walking the balance just so.
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But most of the people who will say that,
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don't live that way.
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By all appearances,
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they love their stuff much more than they love Jesus.
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John goes on to say in 1 John, in chapter 3, verse 17-18,
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But if anyone has the world's goods,
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and sees his brother in need,
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yet closes his heart against him,
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how does God's love abide in him?
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Little children,
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let us not love in word or talk,
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but in deed and truth.
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We live in an incredibly broken world.
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Sin is ravaging across the face of our planet.
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One of the major ways it does this is in poverty.
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And there's a lot of factors that go into poverty
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there's a lot of factors that go into bringing people out of poverty.
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But it's a reality.
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It exists.
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And we all know that it exists.
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We very conveniently hold poverty at an arm's length
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because we pay taxes
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and we have social welfare programs in place in our country,
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which we all know are horrible failures.
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They don't do the work
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because they're not accompanied by love and truth.
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Just money.
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It's not accompanied by love and truth.
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There's all kinds of statistics out there
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about poverty in the world.
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I'm just going to give you a couple.
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Gallup did a world poll
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where they actually asked individuals these questions.
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And of course, it was a broad study.
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I think you guys all know how statistics work, though.
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But they say,
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self-reporting,
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33% worldwide say they don't have money for food.
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They're lacking money for food.
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38% say their living standards are poor.
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39% say they are in difficulty.
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So there's a big issue out there of poverty.
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And the way in which we can go and minister and love on people in difficult situations,
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the tool that's used to accomplish that is financial.
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The means are necessary to get these types of things accomplished.
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And we live in a world,
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American evangelicals give on average 2% of their income.
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2%.
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Which means there's probably many who don't give at all,
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and there's a lot that give way beyond.
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But the average, it averages out.
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American evangelicals,
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those who say that we follow Christ,
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and we follow Christ in such a way
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that we know we need to share our faith.
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That we want to bring people into the church.
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That this is our goal.
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The Great Commission means something to us.
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Give 2% of their income.
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And they live on the rest.
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We live in a nation that's indebted.
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The average American household
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has $15,000 in credit card debt.
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$15,000.
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So not only,
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we would include Christians in that category,
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not only do we only give 2%,
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but we live beyond our means just the same.
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It's a sickness.
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And it's the sickness of our souls.
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Now in these things,
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just writing checks and throwing money around
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is not the solution.
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And I'm not suggesting that.
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We don't have time today
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to talk about a proper methodology of giving
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and therefore helping issues like this.
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It's not the time for that type of thing.
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However,
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there's a high calling for us in Christ
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to give,
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not just materially,
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but also of our time,
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of our energy.
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To really love people out of these situations,
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we're going to have to enter into relationships with them
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and love them with the truth.
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We've pursued them with everything that we have.
23:51
Another case by Paul in 1 Timothy 6.
23:56
He instructs at the end of his letter to Timothy,
23:58
beginning of verse 17,
23:59
As for the rich in this present age,
24:02
charge them not to be haughty,
24:03
nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,
24:06
but on God,
24:08
who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
24:11
You've probably heard this verse in your life.
24:13
It's another one that likes to be flagged,
24:17
heralded as a way of saying,
24:19
See,
24:19
I can have stuff.
24:20
The stuff is good.
24:21
The stuff is for me to enjoy.
24:23
That's why God gave it to me.
24:24
He richly provided it for me to enjoy.
24:25
I just can't hope in it.
24:26
I've got to hope in Him
24:27
and not in Him.
24:28
I've got to worship the giver,
24:30
not the gift.
24:31
But read on.
24:33
Context here.
24:35
What's the instruction that Timothy's meant to give to the rich?
24:38
They are in fact rich.
24:39
Be rich.
24:40
But what are you to do with that?
24:42
Verse 18,
24:43
They are to do good.
24:45
To be rich in good works.
24:48
To be generous and ready to share.
24:50
Which necessitates sharing.
24:51
Not just ready,
24:52
but sharing.
24:53
You're ready to share so you do.
24:55
Verse 19,
24:56
Thus,
24:57
storing up treasure for themselves
24:58
as a good foundation
25:00
for the future
25:01
so that they may take hold of that
25:03
which is truly life.
25:06
So does God give us things to enjoy?
25:08
Yes.
25:09
He does
25:10
by enjoying Him.
25:12
By being engaged
25:13
in His kingdom work.
25:15
He gives money
25:16
to people.
25:17
And let's face it,
25:18
even you college students in the room,
25:20
we are wealthy.
25:21
We are wealthy by the world's standards.
25:23
And in fact,
25:24
most of you,
25:25
socioeconomically,
25:26
from your background,
25:27
are wealthy by American standards as well.
25:29
You're doing better
25:31
than a lot of people.
25:33
We have
25:34
so that we can enjoy Christ.
25:37
So we can get the thing
25:38
that's ultimately enjoyable.
25:39
Wouldn't God be a mean God
25:41
if He is the greatest thing
25:42
that He could possibly give us?
25:44
Himself,
25:45
the Creator,
25:46
and instead He says,
25:47
Here, go play with these toys.
25:49
Don't spend time with me.
25:51
Don't be around me.
25:52
Don't be involved in my work.
25:53
But instead,
25:54
go be distracted by cars
25:56
and fancy vacations
25:57
and clothes
25:59
and stupid jewelry.
26:01
He'd be a horribly mean God
26:02
if He doesn't give us Himself.
26:08
Dietrich Braunhofer,
26:09
an early 20th century
26:10
German Lutheran pastor,
26:11
theologian,
26:13
who was an anti-Nazi dissident.
26:15
He was part of a plot
26:16
to murder,
26:18
to assassinate Hitler.
26:20
He was also a martyr.
26:23
He said,
26:23
Earthly goods are given
26:24
to be used,
26:26
not to be collected.
26:27
Hoarding is idolatry.
26:31
Now there's some
26:32
in our world,
26:35
certainly in our country,
26:36
that teach
26:37
that a camel can squeeze
26:39
through the eye of a needle.
26:40
Jesus is very clear about this.
26:41
It's impossible.
26:43
A camel cannot squeeze
26:44
through the eye of a needle,
26:44
but many teach
26:45
that a camel can.
26:48
It's most commonly called
26:49
the prosperous.
26:50
prosperity gospel.
26:52
And it is a special type
26:54
of devilish heresy.
26:57
It's being exported now
26:59
from our country
26:59
into other countries,
27:01
into incredibly impoverished countries.
27:05
Proponents of it
27:05
are false teachers.
27:07
They're absolutely false teachers
27:09
who say true things at times
27:10
which only proves
27:11
that the devil does in fact
27:12
come as an angel of light.
27:15
Joel Osteen,
27:16
Joyce Meyer,
27:17
T.D. Jakes,
27:18
Benny Hinn,
27:19
Creflo Dollar,
27:20
to name a few of them.
27:23
Heretics,
27:24
cut off from the faith.
27:25
We ought not listen
27:26
to such people.
27:28
If I just shattered
27:29
your world
27:30
with any of these names,
27:31
please come talk to me.
27:32
Stop.
27:33
Stop listening
27:34
to these teachers.
27:35
They are false.
27:36
They're leading you astray.
27:39
And the shame is
27:39
that it's more subversive,
27:41
but I think much
27:43
of this teaching
27:43
has crept into
27:44
a lot of our
27:44
evangelical churches
27:45
as well,
27:46
primarily in the form
27:48
of silence.
27:50
We just don't talk
27:51
about it that much.
27:52
People are afraid
27:53
to get into
27:54
that area
27:55
of people's lives
27:56
because they know
27:56
the idol
27:57
that it is.
27:59
As Paul says,
28:00
I seek not
28:01
what is yours,
28:02
but you.
28:04
I want you
28:05
to have the greatest
28:07
and highest joy.
28:08
I want you
28:09
to be caught up
28:10
in the mission of God
28:11
and not sit around
28:12
playing with toys.
28:15
I seek not
28:16
what is yours,
28:17
but you.
28:20
The Bible's not
28:21
silent on this matter
28:22
and neither
28:23
should we be.
28:25
I want to encourage you
28:26
to begin to read
28:26
your scriptures
28:27
with the idea
28:28
of money in mind
28:29
and just see
28:29
all the many places
28:31
it's dealt with.
28:32
And this is the case
28:33
because we're all
28:34
going to encounter it.
28:35
This is not a situation
28:36
that's unique
28:36
to any of us.
28:37
Not all of us
28:38
will walk through cancer
28:39
in our lives,
28:40
but we're all
28:40
going to deal
28:41
with money
28:41
and we all
28:42
need to deal
28:43
with money
28:43
rightly.
28:46
Now as it concerns
28:47
false teachers,
28:48
whether so
28:49
out in the open
28:51
or more closeted
28:52
on the matter,
28:53
take some courage
28:53
in this.
28:54
2 Peter 2,
28:54
1-3
28:55
But false prophets
28:57
also arose
28:58
among the people
28:59
just as there
28:59
will be false teachers
29:00
among you
29:00
who will secretly
29:01
bring in destructive
29:02
heresies,
29:03
even denying the
29:04
master who bought them,
29:06
bringing upon themselves
29:07
swift destruction.
29:08
Not swift by my standard,
29:10
but swift by God's standard.
29:12
And many will follow
29:12
their sensuality
29:13
and because of them
29:14
the way of truth
29:15
will be blasphemed.
29:17
And in their greed
29:17
they will exploit you
29:19
with false words.
29:20
Their condemnation
29:21
from long ago
29:22
is not idle
29:23
and their destruction
29:24
is not asleep.
29:26
There will be damnation
29:27
for people
29:27
who lead people away
29:29
from the true and living God
29:30
to worship things.
29:31
Who say to them
29:32
that if you add Jesus
29:33
to your life,
29:34
you will gain
29:35
materially.
29:36
No.
29:37
You will gain spiritually.
29:39
You will have joy
29:40
abounding.
29:41
You will have peace
29:42
in Him,
29:43
but it does not come
29:44
with money.
29:46
If you have been
29:47
given things,
29:48
you have been given
29:48
things to get more
29:50
of Him.
29:51
To get more of Him.
29:54
The gospel's not cheap.
29:55
It's costly.
29:58
Jim Elliott,
29:59
famous missionary,
30:00
Christian martyred
30:01
by the people
30:02
he went to go
30:03
share the gospel with,
30:04
famously said,
30:05
He is no fool
30:07
who gives what
30:07
he cannot keep
30:08
to gain that
30:10
which he cannot lose.
30:13
Are we fools,
30:14
beloved?
30:16
Jesus in today's text
30:17
is really just elaborating
30:19
on the general call
30:20
He made to the crowd
30:22
in Mark chapter 8,
30:23
verse 34 through 37.
30:25
You remember this?
30:26
If anyone would come
30:27
after Me,
30:28
let him deny himself
30:29
and take up his cross
30:31
and follow Me.
30:32
That is to die.
30:33
That is to die
30:33
to our own desires.
30:35
For whoever would
30:36
save his life
30:37
will lose it.
30:38
But whoever loses
30:39
his life for My sake
30:40
and the gospel's
30:41
will save it.
30:43
For what does it
30:43
profit a man
30:44
to gain the whole world
30:45
and forfeit his soul?
30:47
For what can a man
30:48
give in return
30:50
for his soul?
30:52
It costs us something
30:54
to follow Jesus.
30:56
It costs us
30:57
our self-determination.
30:58
It costs us
30:59
our desires.
31:01
But praise God,
31:02
He makes our desires
31:03
into His.
31:04
He shapes us
31:05
into one who wants
31:07
to worship Him,
31:07
who wants to give up
31:09
these things.
31:12
Discipleship is costly.
31:13
It asks everything of us.
31:16
We are to be men
31:18
selling all that we have
31:19
to buy a field
31:20
and merchants
31:21
selling everything
31:22
to have the pearl
31:23
of surpassing value.
31:25
You recall these parables?
31:27
Mark chapter 13.
31:29
Back to back,
31:29
the kingdom of heaven
31:30
is like treasure
31:31
hidden in a field
31:32
which a man found
31:33
and covered up.
31:35
Then in his joy
31:36
he goes and sells
31:36
all that he has
31:37
and buys that field.
31:40
Jesus is the treasure.
31:42
Again,
31:42
the kingdom of heaven
31:43
is like a merchant
31:43
in search of fine pearls
31:45
who on finding
31:46
one pearl
31:47
of great value
31:48
went and sold
31:49
all that he had
31:50
and bought it.
31:52
Willing to give up
31:53
everything
31:53
to have this
31:54
greater prize,
31:56
this greater treasure.
31:58
That's found in Christ.
32:00
Now again,
32:02
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
32:03
to quote,
32:05
the previous quote
32:05
was from his book
32:06
The Cost of Discipleship
32:07
that I would really
32:08
commend to you.
32:09
He talks a lot in there
32:10
about cheap grace
32:11
versus costly grace
32:13
and let me read you
32:14
an excerpt
32:14
from that book.
32:16
Cheap grace,
32:17
which is what's being peddled
32:19
so often today
32:20
in American churches,
32:21
means grace sold
32:22
on the market
32:23
like cheap jacks wears.
32:26
The sacraments,
32:27
the forgiveness of sin,
32:28
and the consolations
32:29
of religion
32:29
are thrown away
32:30
at cut prices.
32:32
Grace is represented
32:33
as the church's
32:34
inexhaustible treasury
32:35
from which she showers
32:36
blessings with generous hands
32:38
without asking questions
32:39
or fixing limits.
32:42
Grace without price,
32:44
grace without cost.
32:46
The essence of grace,
32:48
we suppose,
32:48
is that the account
32:49
has been paid in advance
32:50
and because it has been paid,
32:52
everything can be had
32:54
for nothing.
32:55
Since the cost
32:56
was infinite,
32:57
the possibilities
32:58
of using and spending it
33:00
are infinite.
33:01
What would grace be
33:03
if it were not cheap?
33:05
What he's saying is
33:06
the way we tend to think
33:07
about grace
33:07
is that it's this free gift
33:09
and because it's a free gift
33:10
bought by Christ,
33:12
we can just presume upon it
33:13
and presume upon it
33:14
and presume upon it.
33:15
We can go say
33:16
some trivial,
33:17
trite little prayer
33:17
and never respond.
33:20
We can never live
33:21
in a different way.
33:22
We can never say
33:23
God has rescued me.
33:26
He's made me a child.
33:27
He's put me into his kingdom
33:28
and now I'm meant
33:29
to live a certain way.
33:30
I'm meant to worship him
33:31
with everything that I am.
33:33
That's cheap grace.
33:36
Cheap grace is the preaching
33:37
of forgiveness
33:38
without requiring repentance.
33:40
Baptism without church discipline.
33:42
Communion without confection.
33:44
Absolution without personal confession.
33:47
Cheap grace is grace
33:48
without discipleship.
33:50
Grace without the cross.
33:51
Grace without Jesus Christ
33:53
living and incarnate.
33:56
Costly grace
33:57
is the treasure hidden in the field.
34:00
For the sake of it
34:00
a man will go and sell
34:01
all that he has.
34:02
It is the pearl of great price
34:04
to buy with the wife
34:05
which the merchant
34:06
will sell all his goods.
34:07
It is the kingly rule
34:09
of Christ
34:10
over our lives.
34:11
For whose sake
34:12
a man will pluck out the eye
34:13
which causes him to stumble.
34:15
It is the call of Jesus Christ
34:16
at which the disciple
34:17
leaves his nets
34:18
and follows him.
34:21
Costly grace
34:22
is the gospel
34:23
which must be sought
34:24
again and again.
34:25
The gift which must be asked for.
34:26
The door at which
34:27
a man must knock.
34:30
Such grace is costly
34:31
because it calls us
34:32
to follow.
34:33
And it is grace
34:34
because it calls us
34:35
to follow Jesus Christ.
34:38
It is costly
34:38
because it costs
34:39
a man his life.
34:41
And it is grace
34:41
because it gives
34:42
a man the only true life.
34:45
It is costly
34:46
because it condemns sin.
34:48
And grace
34:48
because it justifies
34:49
the sinner.
34:51
Above all
34:51
it is costly
34:52
because it cost God
34:53
the life of his son.
34:55
You were bought
34:56
at a price.
34:57
And what has cost God
34:58
much cannot be cheap
35:00
for us.
35:02
Above all
35:02
it is grace
35:03
because God
35:04
did not reckon his son
35:05
too dear a price
35:06
to pay for our life
35:07
but delivered him up
35:08
for us.
35:09
Costly grace
35:10
is the incarnation
35:12
of God.
35:13
God
35:14
means something.
35:17
It is going to require
35:18
things
35:18
of us.
35:20
Jesus is just
35:20
further developing
35:21
this idea.
35:23
He very soon
35:24
in our text
35:24
in Mark 10
35:25
is going to once again
35:26
foretell his death.
35:28
And once again
35:28
the disciples
35:29
are not going to get it.
35:30
They have been debating
35:31
all along
35:32
what does it mean
35:32
that Jesus is going to die.
35:34
How can this be?
35:35
We don't want you
35:35
to have the suffering.
35:36
We just want you
35:37
to have the glory
35:37
because we want the glory.
35:39
We don't want the suffering.
35:40
We don't want to have
35:41
to give up anything
35:42
to follow you.
35:43
We want to be us
35:44
like the rich young ruler
35:45
to have all that we have
35:46
and just add to it.
35:47
Just give me a little extra
35:48
for eternal life
35:49
and not be willing
35:50
to give away anything
35:51
to gain it.
35:53
Do you recognize
35:54
that you can have
35:55
all that this world
35:56
has to offer
35:57
every bit of it
35:58
and still be
35:59
impoverished?
36:01
That this life
36:02
is fleeting.
36:03
You're passing through it.
36:05
It's a vapor
36:05
in the wind
36:06
and that your mind
36:07
should be set on things
36:08
eternal
36:08
and not those things
36:10
that are temporal.
36:11
Everything you can
36:12
see right now
36:13
besides the souls
36:14
of the people
36:14
you're looking around at
36:15
is finite.
36:17
It's going away.
36:18
It's not infinite.
36:19
It will all be turned
36:20
to dust one day.
36:21
It will all be tested
36:22
by fire.
36:25
Do you recognize
36:25
that wealth
36:26
has been given to you
36:27
for the sake
36:28
of eternal joy
36:28
and not just
36:29
your temporal joy?
36:31
If Jesus were to say
36:33
to you,
36:34
you lack one thing,
36:36
go sell all
36:37
that you have
36:37
and give to the poor
36:38
and you will have
36:39
treasure in heaven
36:40
and come,
36:41
follow me.
36:43
Would you go away
36:44
disheartened
36:44
or would you gladly
36:46
trade it all
36:47
to gain him?
36:50
Now in response
36:51
to this,
36:52
verse 26,
36:54
the disciples
36:55
are exceedingly
36:56
astonished.
36:58
Exceedingly
36:59
astonished.
37:00
Then,
37:00
who can be saved?
37:02
And we have to
37:02
understand why
37:03
they were exceedingly
37:03
astonished.
37:05
The common
37:06
teaching of this day,
37:07
and I'll thank
37:08
John MacArthur
37:08
for spelling this out
37:09
in his sermon
37:09
on this very text
37:10
for me.
37:11
Saved me a ton
37:12
of time.
37:13
The common
37:14
misconception of the day,
37:15
which was from
37:15
the rabbis,
37:16
the teachers
37:16
that had worked
37:17
through time
37:18
over the previous
37:19
400 years,
37:20
is that the way
37:21
in which you
37:22
gained redemption
37:23
is through the
37:24
giving of alms,
37:25
which was giving
37:25
to the poor.
37:26
This is the thing
37:27
that Jesus has
37:27
asked them to do.
37:29
They said that
37:29
with alms,
37:30
one purchases
37:31
his redemption.
37:32
A couple of
37:32
examples for you.
37:33
One writing taken
37:34
from Tobit
37:35
says this,
37:37
It is good
37:37
to do alms
37:38
rather than
37:39
to treasure up
37:39
gold for alms,
37:41
deliver from death,
37:42
and this will
37:42
purge away
37:43
every sin.
37:45
Syriac 3
37:46
says,
37:47
alms will atone
37:48
for sin.
37:49
The Talmud
37:49
says,
37:50
almsgiving
37:51
is more excellent
37:52
than all offerings
37:53
and is equal
37:54
to the whole law.
37:56
If you give
37:57
to the poor,
37:58
then this is
37:58
an equal thing.
38:00
And who was
38:00
most able
38:01
to give to the poor?
38:03
For the rich.
38:06
Here,
38:06
even Jesus
38:07
gave the command
38:07
to this young man
38:08
which he was
38:09
unwilling to do.
38:11
But what Jesus
38:12
was telling him
38:12
to do
38:12
is not to do
38:13
a good work
38:14
that he might
38:14
gain righteousness,
38:16
that he would
38:16
have his redemption,
38:17
that he would
38:18
be justified
38:18
before God
38:18
because of the action.
38:20
He was telling him
38:21
to give up an idol
38:22
and to worship
38:23
Jesus,
38:24
to follow him.
38:26
That's the key
38:26
distinction here.
38:27
It's a matter
38:27
of the heart.
38:28
Not that we go
38:29
through some works
38:30
in order to gain
38:31
our salvation
38:31
which is an impossibility.
38:33
None of us
38:33
can keep the whole law.
38:34
You can't do it.
38:36
Don't try to amass works
38:38
in order to gain salvation.
38:39
Be saved,
38:41
respond to the gospel,
38:42
and then do works
38:43
as a response to it.
38:46
The disciples got this,
38:48
but they got it wrongly.
38:49
They went too far
38:51
with the cultural understanding.
38:53
And as such,
38:54
Jesus broadens
38:55
the impossibility.
38:57
Look at him
38:57
broaden it out.
38:59
They say,
38:59
then who can be saved?
39:02
Jesus looked at them
39:02
and said,
39:03
with man it is impossible,
39:05
but not with God.
39:06
He doesn't say
39:07
with rich men
39:08
it is impossible,
39:09
but not with God.
39:09
He says,
39:10
with man it is impossible.
39:12
You cannot save yourself.
39:16
God can save you
39:17
if he so desires.
39:19
If you have some working
39:20
in your heart
39:21
to respond to the gospel,
39:23
see it as the Spirit's work
39:24
on your behalf
39:25
and respond to it.
39:28
Jesus says to them in this
39:29
that man is spiritually
39:30
impoverished,
39:31
whether they're rich or poor,
39:33
they're spiritually impoverished.
39:34
We have nothing to offer God
39:36
for the dimptive of our souls.
39:37
This is why we need grace.
39:40
It's why we need a Savior.
39:42
We cannot save ourselves.
39:46
That's the bad news side
39:48
of the gospel
39:48
which makes the good news
39:49
so good
39:50
because Jesus did it
39:52
on our behalf.
39:53
He paid the debt
39:54
for us
39:55
that if we would believe in Him,
39:57
we would have eternal life.
40:00
Paul puts it this way
40:00
in Ephesians 2,
40:02
verse 8, 9,
40:02
grace given as a gift to us.
40:04
For by grace you have been saved
40:05
through faith.
40:06
And this is not your own doing.
40:08
It's the gift of God,
40:09
not a result of work
40:10
so that no one may boast.
40:14
So proper living
40:15
is a response
40:16
to the work
40:17
that God has wrought
40:18
in our hearts,
40:19
the way in which
40:19
He has changed us.
40:22
So we looked at
40:22
the poverty of possessions.
40:24
Let's look now together
40:24
quickly at the possessions
40:26
of poverty.
40:29
Verse 28,
40:30
Peter began to say to Him,
40:31
and I really love this
40:32
just because I'm musing about it.
40:34
Mark seems to cut Him off.
40:35
Peter was always
40:36
the wordy one.
40:37
You see Him constantly
40:37
interrupting
40:38
and opening His mouth
40:39
when He shouldn't have.
40:40
So He just says,
40:41
Peter began to say to Him,
40:42
see if we have left everything
40:43
and followed you.
40:44
I would imagine
40:45
that He went on
40:45
to elaborate
40:46
on that point.
40:48
And Jesus responds to Him
40:49
with His rather amazing truth.
40:52
Truly I say to you,
40:53
no one is left,
40:55
and I won't read all those
40:55
for the sake of time,
40:56
for my sake
40:57
and for the gospel.
40:59
Not left those things
41:00
that they might gain more things,
41:02
but for the sake
41:02
of Jesus Christ
41:03
and the good news
41:04
of Jesus Christ
41:06
who will not receive
41:07
a hundredfold
41:08
now in this time
41:09
all those things
41:10
with persecutions
41:12
and in the age to come
41:14
eternal life.
41:16
He says to us again,
41:17
but many who are first
41:19
will be last
41:19
and the last first.
41:21
The one who wants to leave
41:22
might become a servant.
41:23
The one who wants to leave
41:24
the gospel of all.
41:26
Look at this proper response
41:27
of Peter.
41:28
John chapter 6
41:29
beginning in verse 65.
41:33
Jesus just said
41:34
some very difficult things
41:36
to the larger group
41:37
of disciples.
41:38
He's talked about
41:39
drinking His blood
41:41
and feasting on His flesh
41:43
and they just don't get it.
41:44
And He says to them,
41:45
not all of you believe.
41:47
Not all of you believe.
41:48
No one can come to Me
41:49
unless the Father sent Me
41:50
and draws them.
41:50
He's using this type of language.
41:52
Verse 65.
41:53
This is why I told you
41:54
that no one can come to Me
41:55
unless it is granted Him
41:56
by the Father.
41:58
Verse 66.
41:59
After this,
41:59
many of the disciples
42:00
turned back
42:01
and no longer walked
42:02
with Him.
42:04
Verse 67.
42:05
So Jesus said to the twelve,
42:07
Do you want to go away as well?
42:09
Do you also want to leave?
42:10
Is this too hard for you?
42:13
And Simon Peter answered Him,
42:15
Lord, to whom shall we go?
42:17
You have the words
42:18
of eternal life
42:18
and we have believed
42:19
and have come to know
42:20
that You are the Holy One
42:22
of God.
42:24
You can put these texts together.
42:26
We have left everything
42:27
for Your sake.
42:29
Right?
42:29
Where are we going to go?
42:30
We've left it all behind.
42:31
We know that You're the Christ.
42:33
Why would we leave?
42:37
Look at some improper responses.
42:39
Luke chapter 9,
42:40
beginning of verse 57.
42:41
As they,
42:43
Jesus and the disciples,
42:43
were going along the road,
42:44
someone said to Him,
42:45
I will follow you
42:46
wherever you go.
42:49
And Jesus said to him,
42:50
Foxes have holes
42:50
and birds of the air
42:51
have nests,
42:52
but the Son of Man
42:53
has nowhere
42:54
to lay His head.
42:58
It's presumed at this point
42:59
that the man did not follow Him
43:01
because of this saying.
43:02
Verse 59.
43:03
To another,
43:03
He said,
43:04
Follow Me.
43:05
But He said,
43:06
Lord, let me first go
43:07
and bury my father.
43:08
And Jesus said to him,
43:09
Leave the dead
43:10
to bury their own dead.
43:11
But as for you,
43:12
go and proclaim
43:13
the kingdom of God.
43:15
Yet another said,
43:16
I will follow you, Lord,
43:17
but let me first say farewell
43:19
to those at my home.
43:20
Jesus said to him,
43:21
No one who puts his hand
43:22
to the plow
43:22
and looks back
43:23
is fit for the kingdom of God.
43:26
We must set our sights
43:27
fully on Jesus Christ.
43:31
Whatever may come,
43:32
whatever may fall away,
43:33
here you have men
43:34
who are leaving Judaism
43:36
to follow Jesus.
43:37
This happens in our day as well.
43:39
Many of you college students
43:40
experience this
43:41
with unbelieving parents.
43:42
You become strange
43:43
to your parents.
43:44
Your parents don't want
43:45
to spend time with you
43:45
the way they did.
43:46
The decisions that you're making
43:47
are counter-cultural.
43:49
They don't want you
43:50
to enter the ministry.
43:51
They want you to have a career.
43:52
They want you to make money.
43:53
They want you to take care of them
43:54
in their old age.
43:55
It puts you at odds with them.
43:58
This is a common thing.
44:00
The gospel often divides people
44:02
because people become devoted
44:04
to Christ
44:04
and others just don't get that.
44:06
What are we to do with that?
44:09
He gives us a promise.
44:10
This is the way
44:11
in which we leave behind
44:12
houses, brothers, sisters,
44:14
mother, father, children, lands.
44:17
He says he'll give to us
44:18
a hundredfold in this day.
44:20
How is that the case?
44:21
What does he mean by that?
44:23
What he means
44:23
is that in this age
44:25
he'll give us the church.
44:28
He'll deliver us
44:29
into a community,
44:30
a faith family,
44:32
that we might love each other
44:34
the way in which
44:35
a family is meant
44:37
to love each other.
44:38
Praise God,
44:38
many of you have
44:39
believing parents
44:40
and this has not been
44:40
the case for you.
44:42
But we as a church
44:43
need to do better
44:44
at loving each other
44:45
like a family loves.
44:47
Because there are people
44:48
amongst us
44:49
that are hurting in that way
44:50
who need spiritual fathers
44:52
and mothers
44:53
and brothers
44:53
and sisters.
44:55
How do you have
44:55
houses and lands?
44:56
Because you have my house
44:58
and you have my lands.
45:00
Right?
45:00
You come over
45:01
and you can eat with me.
45:02
You need a place to crash?
45:03
Let me know.
45:06
Not just me.
45:07
There's other people
45:08
in this church too
45:08
that have houses
45:09
and lands.
45:12
I don't want to run
45:13
a bed and breakfast.
45:17
Look at an example
45:17
of this from the scriptures.
45:19
Acts 2
45:19
is after the day
45:21
of Pentecost.
45:22
We have seen
45:23
thousands,
45:25
3,000 is the number
45:26
I believe in verse 41
45:27
recorded of people
45:29
added to the early church
45:30
and most of these people
45:32
would have been pilgrims
45:33
from Jewish settlements.
45:34
They would have traveled
45:34
to Jerusalem
45:35
and they didn't want
45:37
to go home.
45:38
The only church
45:40
at the time
45:40
was this group of people,
45:42
these thousands of people
45:43
that were gathered
45:43
in Jerusalem.
45:44
They didn't want to go back
45:45
to their towns
45:45
where there were no Christians
45:46
and so they lingered.
45:48
They stuck around
45:49
for a little while.
45:51
We see beginning
45:51
in verse 42
45:52
and they,
45:53
all these new Christians,
45:54
devoted themselves
45:55
to the apostles' teaching
45:57
and the fellowship,
45:57
to the breaking of bread
45:58
and the prayers
45:59
and all came upon
46:00
every soul
46:01
and many wonders
46:01
and signs were being done
46:02
through the apostles
46:03
and all who believed
46:05
were together
46:05
and had all things
46:07
in common
46:07
and they were selling
46:09
their possessions
46:09
and belongings
46:10
and distributing
46:11
the proceeds to all
46:12
as any had need
46:13
and day by day
46:14
attending the temple
46:15
together
46:15
and breaking bread
46:16
in their homes
46:16
they received their food
46:17
with glad and generous hearts
46:18
praising God
46:20
and having favor
46:21
with all people
46:22
and the Lord added
46:23
to their number
46:23
day by day
46:24
those who were being saved.
46:25
So you see that these people
46:27
crashed on the couch.
46:29
They wanted to stick around
46:30
and they were glad to have them.
46:31
All these new baby Christians
46:32
got together
46:33
and they were so hungry
46:35
to hear the teaching
46:35
of the apostles
46:36
to know more about Jesus Christ
46:37
that they got really practical
46:39
about it
46:39
and they shared things
46:40
and they sold lands.
46:43
Ananias and Sapphira,
46:44
the failures in this thing,
46:45
but that's what they were about doing
46:46
in this process
46:48
of providing for
46:49
and being a family
46:51
together.
46:52
So for those of us,
46:55
for those of you
46:55
who are leaving behind
46:57
these types of things
46:58
to follow Jesus,
46:59
giving up that kind of stuff,
47:00
it's being granted to you,
47:01
it's being given to you
47:02
in the church.
47:05
But he includes in here
47:06
also
47:07
that persecutions
47:08
will come.
47:10
Isn't that curious?
47:11
He talks about
47:12
all these things
47:13
but he includes
47:14
all these other things
47:15
in this age
47:16
that are going to be
47:16
given back to you,
47:17
families, brothers, sisters,
47:18
with persecutions.
47:21
Why would he include this here?
47:24
It's because he wants them
47:24
to know that life's not
47:26
going to just get easy.
47:27
You've left behind
47:28
this family,
47:29
I'm giving you
47:29
a different family,
47:30
there's going to be
47:31
limitless resources,
47:32
you're going to have
47:33
so much fun,
47:34
it's going to be great.
47:35
No,
47:35
you'll be persecuted.
47:37
Matthew 5.10,
47:38
Blessed are those
47:39
who are persecuted
47:39
for righteousness' sake,
47:41
for theirs is
47:41
the kingdom of heaven.
47:43
Blessed are you
47:43
when others revile you
47:44
and persecute you
47:45
and utter all kinds
47:46
of evil against you
47:47
falsely on my account.
47:49
Rejoice and be glad
47:50
for your reward
47:50
is great in heaven.
47:52
For so they persecuted
47:53
the prophets
47:54
who were before you.
47:56
It's a wonderful response
47:58
that the apostles
47:58
are recorded for us
47:59
in Acts chapter 5
48:00
after the apostles
48:01
are beaten by a council
48:02
of Sadducees
48:03
in these early days
48:04
of the church.
48:05
It says,
48:05
Then they left the presence
48:06
of the council rejoicing
48:07
that they were counted
48:08
worthy to suffer dishonor
48:10
for the name.
48:11
One of the ways
48:12
we'll know
48:12
that we're following Jesus
48:13
is if we're persecuted
48:16
for his name,
48:17
rightly,
48:17
not in some of the
48:18
bizarre political ways
48:19
we see in our day,
48:20
but rightly persecuted
48:21
for sharing the gospel
48:23
of Jesus Christ.
48:27
So how do we
48:28
in this day
48:30
properly
48:30
manage our money?
48:34
All I can say to you
48:35
is what the scriptures
48:36
say to you.
48:37
Work hard.
48:38
Gain it.
48:39
Please,
48:40
young people,
48:41
go after it
48:42
because the church
48:43
needs it.
48:44
Our church needs it.
48:45
Other churches need it.
48:46
The work of God
48:47
needs your resources.
48:48
Be generous.
48:51
Recognize
48:51
that you're given money
48:53
to live on
48:54
for your needs,
48:55
the temporal things,
48:56
and take the excess
48:57
and give it
48:59
freely
48:59
to the kingdom.
49:00
Gain Christ.
49:01
Buy more of him
49:03
with your money.
49:04
Not the salvation,
49:05
but the experience
49:06
of him.
49:07
Be involved
49:08
in what he's doing
49:09
around the world
49:09
with your finances.
49:12
It used to frustrate me
49:13
that the scriptures
49:14
seem to be so vague
49:15
on some issues.
49:16
Like,
49:16
I just want the list.
49:18
Just give me the budget.
49:19
I want the percentages.
49:20
Just tell me exactly
49:21
what it is I'm supposed
49:21
to do in every area
49:23
of my life.
49:25
And I've come to the point
49:25
where I believe
49:26
that God does not do that
49:27
because he wants us.
49:30
He wants to know you.
49:31
And he wants you
49:32
to know him.
49:33
He wants you to align
49:34
your desires
49:35
with his desires.
49:37
Right?
49:37
If I was given a list,
49:38
I would ignore him
49:39
altogether.
49:39
I'd stop asking.
49:40
He already gave me the list.
49:41
I know how I'm supposed
49:41
to send in my money.
49:42
He wants us to go to him.
49:43
He wants us to go to him
49:44
on our knees humbly,
49:46
recognizing that nothing
49:47
that we have
49:48
belongs to us ultimately.
49:50
It was given to us
49:51
as a gift
49:52
by his provision.
49:52
He gave it.
49:53
He could certainly
49:54
take it away.
49:55
Pay attention to the story
49:56
of Job on that point.
49:58
And he gave it back.
50:00
Why is he giving it to us?
50:01
What is the point
50:02
of him giving it to us?
50:04
It's that we might
50:05
enjoy him forever.
50:08
He also promises here
50:09
that this gifting,
50:12
this giving,
50:13
will have some effect
50:14
in the age to come.
50:15
And that is eternal life.
50:19
Our grace can't be cheap.
50:21
There must be a response.
50:23
There's a cost
50:23
to following Jesus.
50:25
And how do you know
50:26
if you're a disciple
50:27
of Jesus Christ?
50:28
How do you know?
50:29
Don't pin it on a date.
50:31
Don't pin it on some card
50:32
that somebody handed you,
50:33
a little placard,
50:34
or a date you wrote
50:35
in the front of your Bible.
50:37
I grew up in a church
50:38
that told me constantly
50:39
if you ever doubt your faith,
50:41
if you're ever not so sure
50:42
that you're saved,
50:43
remember the date
50:44
that you were saved.
50:47
This is entirely anti-biblical.
50:49
It's not in the Scriptures anywhere
50:51
to pin it on a date like that.
50:53
Rather,
50:55
pin it on the fact
50:56
that you're growing in holiness,
50:57
that you don't love
50:58
the things of the world,
50:59
but you love the things of God,
51:00
and that you're growing
51:01
in that way.
51:03
Test your faith.
51:05
If you don't know
51:06
that you're a Christian,
51:07
I plead with you,
51:08
repent and believe.
51:10
Repent and believe.
51:11
If you are a Christian,
51:12
there's room for repentance
51:13
and belief as well.
51:15
Let me close by reading to you
51:16
a psalm.
51:17
Psalm 73.
51:18
Let me ask you to turn there.
51:19
I'll finish quickly.
51:24
I had every intention
51:25
of not going this long today.
51:26
Psalm 73 is a psalm of Asaph.
51:38
He's a songwriter.
51:39
Some of my favorite psalms are his.
51:42
He says,
51:42
Truly God is good to Israel
51:44
for those who are pure in heart.
51:46
And so,
51:46
God is good.
51:47
I'm setting that up
51:48
as the very premise of this psalm.
51:50
For those who are pure in heart,
51:51
God is good to us.
51:53
Verse 2,
51:53
But as for me,
51:54
my feet had almost stumbled.
51:57
My steps had nearly slipped.
51:59
For I was envious of the arrogant
52:01
when I saw the prosperity
52:02
of the wicked.
52:04
For they have no pangs until death.
52:06
Their bodies are fat and sleek,
52:07
which would have been a good thing
52:08
in this day.
52:10
They are not in trouble
52:11
as others are.
52:11
They are not stricken
52:12
like the rest of mankind.
52:14
Therefore,
52:15
pride is their necklace.
52:16
Violence covers them
52:17
as a garment.
52:18
Their eyes swell out
52:19
through fatness.
52:20
Their hearts overflow with follies.
52:22
They scoff and speak with malice.
52:24
Loftily,
52:25
they threaten oppression.
52:26
They set their mouths
52:27
against the heavens
52:27
and their tongue struts the earth.
52:30
Therefore,
52:30
his people turn back to them
52:32
and find no fault in them.
52:33
And they say,
52:34
How can God know?
52:36
Is there knowledge
52:37
in the Most High?
52:39
Behold,
52:40
these are the wicked,
52:41
always at ease.
52:43
They increase in riches.
52:44
So see,
52:44
he's recognizing
52:45
the folly
52:46
and the error
52:47
of these men.
52:49
But that these men
52:50
are followed by other people.
52:52
People look to them
52:53
for leadership.
52:53
They think they've got it
52:54
all together
52:55
because they're fat and sleek.
52:56
Because they have wealth.
52:57
Because they're not suffering
52:58
at all in this world.
53:00
He says,
53:00
My feet almost slipped.
53:01
I almost bought into this.
53:03
I almost thought
53:04
that was a better way.
53:06
We brought this
53:07
into our current context.
53:09
We could throw the word
53:09
American in here
53:10
a few times.
53:13
Verse 13.
53:15
All in vain
53:16
have I kept my heart clean
53:17
and washed my hands
53:19
in innocence.
53:20
For all the day long
53:21
I have been stricken
53:22
and rebuked
53:23
every morning.
53:24
If I had said
53:25
I will speak thus,
53:27
I would have betrayed
53:27
the generation
53:28
of your children.
53:30
There's that summation
53:30
of the way he was feeling
53:32
and the things he was thinking.
53:33
The way he almost aired.
53:34
Verse 16.
53:35
But when I thought
53:36
how to understand this,
53:38
it seemed to me
53:39
a wearisome task.
53:40
How is it that
53:40
these people,
53:41
these evil people,
53:42
these adulterous people
53:43
have everything?
53:44
And those who
53:45
keep their hands clean,
53:47
who try to follow God,
53:48
don't have things?
53:51
It was a wearisome task
53:52
to understand this
53:53
until I went
53:54
into the sanctuary of God.
53:56
Then I discerned
53:57
their end.
53:59
Truly you set them
54:00
in slippery places.
54:01
How they are destroyed
54:01
in a moment,
54:02
swept away utterly
54:03
by chairs,
54:04
like a dream
54:04
when one awakes.
54:05
O Lord,
54:05
when you rouse yourself,
54:07
you despise them
54:08
as phantoms.
54:10
Their eternal destruction.
54:12
He understood
54:12
their eternal destruction.
54:13
His eternal life,
54:14
their eternal destruction.
54:15
Verse 21.
54:16
My soul was embittered
54:17
when I was pricked in heart.
54:18
I was brutish and ignorant.
54:20
I was like a beast towards you.
54:23
Nevertheless,
54:24
I am continually with you.
54:26
You hold my right hand.
54:27
You guide me
54:28
with your counsel.
54:29
And afterward,
54:30
you will receive me
54:31
to glory.
54:33
Whom have I in heaven
54:34
but you?
54:35
And there is nothing
54:36
on earth
54:37
that I desire beside you.
54:38
My flesh
54:39
and my heart
54:40
may fail,
54:41
but God is the strength
54:42
of my heart
54:42
and my portion
54:44
forever.
54:47
For those who are far from you
54:48
shall perish.
54:49
You put an end
54:50
to everyone
54:50
who is unfaithful to you.
54:52
But for me,
54:53
it is good
54:54
to be near God.
54:57
There's the wealth.
54:58
There's the true wealth.
55:00
There's the possession
55:03
of poverty.
55:04
God himself.
55:06
I have made the Lord God
55:07
my refuge
55:08
that I may tell
55:09
of all
55:10
your works.
55:12
Let's pray together.
55:13
God bless.