The rich young man
Behold, one came to him and said, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sad, for he was one who had great possessions.
A young man came to Jesus wanting to have eternal life. By that he meant that he wanted to live forever and not have to be punished for his sins. There are many who feel this way.
The first mistakewas his motivation for calling Jesus “Good” Did the young man know Jesus is the Saviour God? Or was he just trying to get favour with Christ by some flattering words…
He came to Jesus and asked what he had to do to get it- this eternal life. This was hissecond mistake.The young man thought he sould somehow earn eternal life. Perhaps he thought he could buy it..
His third mistakewas that he thought he was good enough. Jesus tells the young man that he maust keep the commandments. The young man thinks he has kept all the commandments from his childhood and is in a good position to get the eternal life.
We are all in this position. We want something from Jesus and think we can do something good enough to get it.
For some strange reason we also think we are good enough to get to heaven. We are not as bad as other people and so have a better chance of getting in.
The Bible tells us quite a different story.
No one is good enough to get into heaven on their own merits.
No one has any merit in the first place. We are all condemned and all dead in our sinful selves.
We do not want God or to stop living our sinful lives.
The “good” things we do are tainted by our bad motives and therefore we cannot offer them to God.
It’s like someone who lives on the street for years, never washes, never changes their clothes, and knocks on Buckingham Palace wanting to move in. They want to move in but still hang on to the filthy clothes.!!
They might be allowed to come in but they would have to be cleansed.
An illustration
This young man looked good, because he had lots of money and priviledges, but Jesus saw him as he really was… like the tramp in dirty clothes.This young man thinks he has some good points, but he doesn’t. He is contaminated by the sin that is part of his being. He must have the sin dealt with and his rottenness cleansed before he can enter into eternal life and heaven.
Jesus sees the main sin that is holding this young man back. The young man loves his life and his money and his priviledges, that’s natural…
But Jesus requires us to leave our life, our hopes and dreams, and give our lives over to Him. He wants all of us. He wants to deal with all our sin and take it away. We must be willing to give it up.!
Jesus says to this young man…
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Jesus is asking him to give up his money.
Jesus knows that this is the one thing the young man loves above anything else. Jesus knows the young man will choose the money above HIM.
The young man doesn’t think too long about his reaction. He cannot give up his money for Jesus. This is his sin. He loves the money more than Jesus.
The fourth mistakethis young man makes is tragic.
It is such a sad moment.
The young man turns away and walks away from Jesus.
And the frightening truth, is that Jesus let him go….
Jesus knows our weaknesses, and He knows the things we love.
The question is, do we love Him more?
The love of sin and the love of stuff, will keep us out of heaven.
Sin and stuff only last for our short lives and then there is eternity… Eternity is forever.
Why would we give up the joy of knowing Jesus and of being in His presence forever, for clothes, cars, games, popularity, success..?
It is very foolish, and yet so many do…
This young man made a lot of mistakes.
- He came to Jesus to get something for himself.
- He thought he could earn it.
- He didn’t realise how sinful he was.
- When Jesus showed him, he couldn’t give up his sin and repent.
- So the tragedy is, he lost his soul. He kept his money and lost eternal life.
Did he really want it in the first place?
It would seem not. He was not willing to give up whatever it would take to get the eternal life.
We need to think carefully about our motives for doing things, and what we really think about Jesus. He sees our hearts, but we are very easily tricked even by our own thoughts.
Do not miss your opportinity to believe.
If you want eternal life, then you must count the cost.
Don’t let the message of forgiveness pass you by.
Give up your life to Jesus, you will not be sorry.
He is a loving Saviour and will bring you to heaven and will walk with you all the rest of your life on earth.
It is too easy to become used to the challenge of the gospel and not get round to doing anything about it.
You know who Jesus is, so listen to His voice and respond….
Lettsom Inn 