 we're in Mark chapter 10 we're going to look at verses 17 through 31 we're looking at the story of the rich young ruler also I would consider the rich young fool and you'll see why I call him that or mention him in that way in just a moment we'll begin reading at verse 17 in Mark chapter 10 I'll read to verse 22 and we'll get into our study Mark chapter 10 beginning at verse 17 reading to verse 22 Mark writes now as he was as he was going out on the road one came running knelt before him and asked him good teacher what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life so Jesus said to him why do you call me good no one is good but one that is God you know the commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness do not defraud honor your father and your mother and he answered and said to him teacher all these things I have kept from my youth then Jesus looking at him slapped him in the face no then Jesus looking at him loved him and said to him one thing you lack go your ways sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me so as I normally do I'm going to give to you a context I'm going to lay a foundation for you so you can see what is taking place here in this particular event that is recorded for us in the gospel of Mark the Bible reveals to us that God is a God who desires to have a relationship with his creation he desires to have a relationship with people and it is his desire to save all who come to him all who come to him in genuine faith in 2 Peter 3 verse 9 the apostle Peter said the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some as some understand slowness instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance not wanting anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance in Ezekiel 33 verse 11 in the Old Testament say to them as surely as I live declares the Lord God I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live turn turn from your evil ways for why should you die oh house of Israel again in Isaiah 45 verse 22 turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other so the Bible teaches that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance the Bible teaches us that God desires a relationship with man and even though we've turned away from him the Bible also reveals that he seeks for us we see it in the Garden of Eden at the in the in the beginning in the first book of the Bible when God called out to Adam and when God called out to Adam he simply said where are you in Jeremiah 7 25 it reads from the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them day after day he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance he seeks them out from the Garden of Eden to this day in the New Testament Jesus is revealed as the seeking Savior searching for and calling the lost when you read the the book of Luke the gospel of Luke chapter 15 you see this as this portrayed in a series of parables you see it when the Lord seeks out the lost sheep when he seeks for that lost coin you see it when he seeks for that lost son in Luke 19 verse 10 it simply says the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost so God reveals himself as a God who seeks but he also commands us to seek him in first Chronicles 16 verse 11 seek the Lord in his strength seek his presence continually in Isaiah 55 verse 6 seek the Lord while he may be found calling him while he is near so it is God who seeks us but it is also God who puts it into our hearts to seek after him in John 6 44 Jesus said no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day so the important part is that under his prompting we seek him and we do so with sincere faith in Deuteronomy 4 29 you will seek the Lord your God you will find him if you search for him with all your heart and all your soul now there are many who have said that they sought God but they could not find him and that's not because God couldn't be found it's because very often they have their own agenda and this is what we see here when confronted with a choice this man decides to walk away the story is a story illustrating man's unwillingness to trust the Lord and notice with me though he initially appeared to be hungry for a truth the fact is he really wasn't at first he seemed to show great interest in spiritual things but even so we must remember that interest is not ascending him for complete trust and faith so today we're going to be looking at a man that everybody has heard of the rich young ruler I simply referred to him as the rich young fool because he turned away and didn't follow the Lord so beginning at verse 17 once again it says as he was going out on the road one came running knelt before him and asked him good teacher what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life now this particular story is mentioned in Matthew in Mark as well as the gospel of Luke and by combining the accounts of the story we get a more complete picture of what is taking place so I'm going to kind of outline these very quickly to you so you can see what's taking place and get a better picture of it again mark 10 17 says that he came running which would seem to reveal eager interest in chapter 10 verse 17 it says he came and knelt before him in Luke 18 18 it says he called Jesus good teacher which reveals respect and reverence in mark 10 22 mark informs us that he was very rich having great possessions in Matthew 19 verse 20 he's a young man because he says all these I have kept the young man said again in Luke 18 in verse 18 it reveals that he's a synagogue ruler revealing he's an extraordinarily devout young man he was between the ages of 21 and 28 and he was known for sincere religious devotion he was the spiritual leader who chose those who read the Torah the law in synagogue services it was he who gave the sermon he's the one who supervised the services of the synagogue and one commentator said that this implies that he was part of the council called the Sanhedrin the most respected rabbis in Israel in mark 10 17 in asking what he should do to inherit eternal life this reveals that he's a Pharisee he's spiritually unsatisfied which seems to have propelled him to Jesus Christ notice with me when Jesus says keep the commandments he claims to us that he has so what we have is a rich respected reverent religious young man who is spiritually unsatisfied he had everything that should have made him happy but he's lacking something and it's this emptiness that left a nine hunger in his soul it's this emptiness that kept him awake at night it's this emptiness that causes him to come running to Jesus and to kneel at his feet and after everything is taking place here Matthew sums it up in chapter 19 verse 20 by saying that the young man said to Jesus I've kept these things but what do I still lack I've done all these things what do I lack I've done my best to do everything in the right way but I'm empty so Jesus is going to answer that profound question what do I still lack it says in verse 17 he was going out on the road and in Matthew 19 16 Matthew says behold one came and said to him so when Matthew chose to use the word behold he treats it as if it's something that is unusual which it really is a young religious rich young man realizes he's lacking something and he comes for help that's unusual because those who are rich and those who are young normally do not recognize the need this is an absolute fact we know it those of us who are growing older and life realize that when you're young you've got everything when you're young you think that nothing will ever go wrong when you're young you're going to live forever when you're young all your dreams are going to come true when you're young you take chances you're daring you do things that that an older person wouldn't do you think the older people are just afraid but you're courageous in reality you're just impetuous and they've already learned their lessons so when you're young you think you're going to live forever and if you have money you've got it made I'm young and I'm rich I've got everything that I need I don't need anything else Ecclesiastes 1019 says it like this money is the answer for everything I've got my youth I've got my health I've got everything I've got religion I'm well respected I'm a man of prominence I'm a young man like it says you know when it refers to as a young man commentators more than one commentator were pointing out that the way that was presented means that his age would have been somewhere as I mentioned between 21 and 28 those of you who are above 28 and admit it ask yourself did you not know everything when you were 21 ask yourself you know it's like what Mark Twain said when I was 17 my father was an idiot when I turned 21 I was amazed at how much the old man learned in four years when you're young you've got it made and when you're young with cash and religious on top of that and people respect you they ask you for your advice and you're a spiritual and you're a devout man you've got all of that going for you that's the condition of this young man he's a person who's got everything that his society would have promoted as being good everything and so this is a young man who's got money he's got youth and not only that he's a man with dignity a man with dignity during the time of Christ a man with dignity and influence would never run in public you might find that interesting but a man of dignity wealth influence never would run in public you have this in verse 17 where it says as he was going out on the road one came running and now before him one came running that's an unusual thing that's why Matthew would emphasize it by saying behold the reason that the men of dignity would not run is because it was humiliating for them to have to lift their long robes and expose their legs in the Jewish culture that was a humiliating thing to look at an old man's legs he's also sickening but that's why we should never wear shorts but it was humbling it was humbling to gather up their long robes and expose the legs that was considered shameful that was considered undignified and by the way just as an aside that's one of the aspects of the story of the prodigal son that sometimes people miss because in the prodigal son when that son had taken his portion and had gone to a far off land and had used it up in wasteful living there's a long story I don't know if I should go into it I'll give you a little bit of it it's not part of my study I just wanted to emphasize one aspect of it but in the story of the prodigal son you can read it from what is called a western theologian's perspective or you can look at it from the Middle Eastern theologian's perspective and when you read it from a Middle Eastern perspective you see a lot of cultural things that you don't you don't necessarily see with the western eyes and when this young man took that which was of his father's and asked for it in advance the normal normal thing was for the young man to receive his inheritance after the father dies and so when he says give me that which is mine he's actually saying I can't wait for you to die I want my money now that's what God everybody's so upset and so when he humiliated his father in that way and he took off and wasted his father's inheritance on on on bad living well there was a council in the village that was called it was they would have what is called the ritual of katsatsa and what that is is that they would they would pronounce this young man as the council elders to be dead and so he was not to come back to the village and if he came back to the village great harm could be done to him that's why the father is portrayed as watching out looking for the son now the son is there wasting all of his father's inheritance and just wasteful living and he would have eaten the the food that pigs ate and he came to himself and he said I'm going to go back to my father because even in my father's house servants are doing better than I am now that isn't the place of repentance for him that's another scheme for him to come home because he's not living well right now so he chooses to come and he's already resourced his speech father I'm not worthy to be called your son make me as one of your servants it's already rehearsed his scheme but the scripture tells us while he was yet far off his father saw him so in Luke 15 20 the son had decided to return home and he rose and came to his father but when he was still a great way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him now that people would not understand we westerners don't realize it the father saw him and ran to him it's a picture of humiliation the prodigal son was a was a portion of scripture that muslim scholars would debate christians in because they said there's no incarnation in this particular story the boy turns and says I'll come back to my father and he's welcome back with open arms but the middle eastern understanding would have been this no when that father lifted his robes and ran in public to embrace him and protect him against the judgment that was coming that's a picture of the humiliation of christ he took upon himself human flesh dwelt amongst us and bore our sins and so for this father to run in public that's one of the things in the aspect of the story that that is so amazing that a man ran the father ran it's the only time you see god run in scripture and he ran to embrace the son to embrace him and hold him and protect him against the judgment that was coming for what he had done and that's why when that son says I no longer deserve to be called your son he doesn't have to go any further because that's where his point of true repentance took place when I saw my father humiliating himself to protect me from judgment to come I have sinned and I'm no longer worthy and that's when the father just says no kill the slot slaughtered the calf the fatted calf my son who was lost has come back to me so that's a beautiful picture of voluntary humiliation in the Jewish society the an older man would never lift his robes and run because that was a picture of humiliation and that is what's taking place here with this younger man a man of dignity a man of prominence even as a young man would never run somewhere so this is not an accident that mark and mark includes that description again in verse 17 when it says he was going out on the road and one came running it's a picture of an eagerness is actually an outward picture of humility even a willingness to be taught so he respectfully approaches Jesus notice that he calls him he calls Jesus good teacher he acknowledges in other words that Jesus is a great and respected rabbi only he acknowledges that Jesus is an expert in the Old Testament that he's a teacher of truth now he may have called him good teacher in order to flatter him to gain favor that's a common tactic even to this day to politely flatter someone to disarm them well he says in verse 17 what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life so the young man believes in an afterlife he desires to enjoy it he thought that eternal life was something he could obtain by religious works that's why he says what shall I do what is the most important good work that I can perform to win eternal life now in spite of all his good works his religious zeal an effort that he's making to be righteous he's still empty what shall I do to have spiritual satisfaction what must I do to have knowledge of God you see eternal life is not length of life eternal life is quality of life that extends in Romans 14 17 it says God's kingdom does not consist of food and drink but of righteousness peace and joy produced by the Holy Spirit what must I do to have quality of life John 17 3 says this is eternal life that they know you the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you've sent it's a quality of life that is built on fellowship with God that's the answer to the question but for this man how can I obtain eternal life how can I be saved I'm spiritually empty I need to be filled how can this occur in my life I deserve this kind of life but I don't know how to go about getting assurance of it well in another place this kind of question was asked of Jesus in John 6 28 and 29 they said to him what shall we do that we may work the works of God and Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent what is it that I must do you must believe in the one whom he sent you must believe in Christ now notice with me this is an open door and yet Jesus doesn't take advantage of it instead he seems to make it even more difficult to come to peace with God by his response Jesus even appears to be a bit antagonistic so Jesus questions him verse 18 why do you call me good no one is good but one that is God why do you ask this question he's searching out the man's state of heart he wants to reveal the motives of this man's question he's forcing the man to see what he is really hiding in his own heart very often when Christ would ask questions it wasn't because Jesus didn't have an answer when a rabbi would ask questions it was in order to draw out from that person what they think that's what questions do so he's not playing with him he's asking him something to reveal the state of his heart why do you call me good tell me what you think now when Jesus asks questions again it's intended to draw them out and we've seen this several times I chose just to look at a few of the questions Christ asks as we've gone through mark I haven't listed all of them they're quite a number of them but for example in mark chapter 8 Jesus had asked a question who do men say that I am who do you say that I am he asked the question what will it profit a man if he gains a whole world loses his own soul in mark 9 what was it you disputed among yourselves on the road again in mark chapter 10 verse 3 what did moses command you when he asks the question it's not because he doesn't have the answer when he asks the question he wants you to supply the answer which causes you to look within yourself to see what you really believe that's why rabbis would ask questions he's probing to find out what this man thinks about him you see the young man came to Jesus in a moment of strong emotion it reminds me of another story in Luke chapter 9 of a man who came to Jesus and what this man said to him in Luke 9 57 it says as they were walking along the road a man said to him I will follow you wherever you go well it seemed like he was ready to be a disciple but Jesus responded in an interesting way and in Luke 9 58 Jesus replied foxes have dens birds have nests but the son of man has no place to lay his head you don't know what the cost is to follow me and so I'm coming to you I'm asking you a question what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life and Jesus's response after the man had called him good he says again in verse 18 why do you call me good are you applying useless flattery to me do you really believe I am who I am it would seem the young man was applying a polite title to Jesus he was saying that Jesus was a good teacher that he recognized that he was one who had come from God but by asking this question he's provoking Jesus is provoking him to rethink the word good people can be relatively good people are bad but only God himself is absolutely good so do you see me for who I actually am God in the flesh or are you just being polite you see in verse 18 no one is good but one that is God in Psalm 34 verse 8 taste and see that the Lord is good bless is the one who takes refuge in him some 107 verse 1 give thanks to the Lord for he is good his love endures forever there's no one good but one that is God but he goes on in verse 19 you know the commandments your synagogue ruler you're you're steeped in in scripture you know the commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness do not defraud honor your father and your mother you know the commandments now notice how he refers to certain commands he wants them to consider what these commandments actually mean he does this once again to reveal to him that even though he knows them he doesn't understand them you see Paul came to understand that Paul came to understand that the law demands perfect obedience in Romans 10 verse 5 Moses writes that the laws way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands so God's commands revealed what we were to do but they also exposed our weakness the will is present but the ability to perform that which we desire is not we can't obey them that's a whole point we have a weakness a sin nature weakness of our flesh and that's when Paul realized that the law led us to faith in Jesus Christ in Galatians 3 24 it says the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith in John 5 39 and 40 Jesus said you diligently said to the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life these are the scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life see the law was intended to expose many things there's so many things you see in the law i'm just touching on one thing but it was intended to expose our weakness our inability to do that which we claim to desire to do the law says this to us so it exposes and even gives a name to the things that we're doing and lets us know that these are not pleasing to God so committing adultery you wouldn't know it was wrong until God said it is wrong to steal you wouldn't think it was wrong sometimes you might even think it's a smart thing to do to hurt somebody you think it's the right thing to do we could we could we could go in and justify pretty much everything we do but the law says you're not to steal you're not to kill honor your father your mother these are things that expose our hearts our hearts are not prone to do those kinds of things now remember this young man had just asked him what shall I do and Jesus says keep the commandments he says keep the commandments to awaken him to his inability to do so you see it's that failure to do so that produces dryness and dissatisfaction in his life that's why he's saying all these things i've done for my youth up and i'm still lacking something so again in verse 19 you know the commandments if you attempt to keep them they will reveal to you how unsatisfied you are but the young man immediately responds verse 20 teacher all these things i've kept from my youth once again that is an aspect of youth because when you're young you think you're better than you are it's just the way it is you haven't had that long to do more sins when you get older you realize you're quite sinful is the story of when the woman was caught in adultery and and she was brought before the feet of christ this woman was caught in adultery in the very act moses in the law said that such should be stoned but what do you say that's when jesus wrote on the ground and that's when he said the one without sin let them be the first to cast a stone at her you know the story and as they were standing there holding these these rocks in their hands the bible tells us from the older to the younger they began to drop the rock from the hand and walk away from the older to the younger it wasn't the younger the younger think that they're better than they are the older realized they're not that good that's how it works in life again when you were young many of you are still young many of you think you are when you were young you were much better you were much faster you're much stronger much smarter much more ambitious much more plans i'm going to succeed much much much more then you go through life you learn lessons as you grow older you begin to realize i didn't succeed in all the things i attempted i didn't do the things that i wanted to do i never accomplished things that i want so you end up buying gold chains in a corvette no i'm just that's my generation now as you grow older you begin to realize that life in many ways did not turn out the way you wanted it to but when you're young your future is still way in front of you the road before you is still very long when you get older the road behind you is long but the road before you is very short and you're coming to the end of that road it's nothing wrong with that that's aging you come to realize i have less time before me than i have behind me what did i accomplish but when you're young you can speak with resolution this young man said all these i've kept from my youth up what do i still lack i've done all these things i've never failed at them i've never committed adultery i haven't murdered i haven't stolen i don't bear false witness i haven't defrauded i honor my father and my mother i'm keeping all of these things but i'm still lacking again matthew 1920 adds what do i yet lack well what he lacks is the assurance of salvation this young man is like people who have been raised in christian homes with no conversion experience there are quite a number of people young people who were raised in a christian home who think that they're christian because they went to church they're christian because mom and dad followed god they're christian because they were raised in sunday school dedicated by the pastor involved in youth and the whole nine yards they think they're safe but in fact they're dry they go to college and it takes one semester for some atheist professor to talk them out of any faith that they claim to have that happens all the time unfortunately they've been raised in a christian home but they don't know what the world's all about they find out the world seems to be much more attractive than they ever heard that's actually a revelation of his youth he thought he actually kept these commands he was sincere but he was wrong he could not have kept all the commandments yet they had an effect on him so notice verse 21 jesus looking at him loved him and said to him one thing you lack go your way sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me one thing you lack now i want you to notice how verse 21 says this jesus looking at him loved him so it's the love of christ for this young man that motivates jesus to reveal the young man's own heart to himself it was a young man's lack of love for jesus that motivated him to walk away you see in matthew chapter 19 verse 19 matthew adds the commandment love your neighbor as yourself you see true faith is expressed through concern for the welfare of other people so he tells this young man get rid of everything and follow me give to your neighbor give to the one you need come follow me he says come take up the cross follow me that's a demand a demand to follow him in luke 14 verse 33 it says any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple he's saying you need to be fully committed to me the thing that is holding you back is your wealth and your trust in it you say that you have love for others how deep is your love going to be towards them let's find out give up what you have give to the poor follow me you'll have treasure in heaven but verse 22 and this is interesting how it says it this way it says he was sad at his word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions that word grieved when it speaks of going away sorrowful or grieved that word means to be wearing a frown in his face it's a picture that that shows the way he's looking as as he's walking away he's frowning because he had great or many possessions the word great possession great means many the word possessions i looked these things up in the original language i wanted to see precisely what he was speaking about the word possession speaks of estates this man had many estates he had much land and and holdings is what he is a man with a great great accumulated wealth and and his love of wealth and all that he possessed was too powerful to give up now sometimes when people think of wealth and our society is very guilty of this when people think of of wealth when people think of people being financially off well many will say that's that's evil that's the evil one percenters in this and that just briefly touching this the bible doesn't teach that it's a sin to have wealth abraham was wealthy david the king was wealthy solemn was wealthy joseph of ermithia was wealthy zakias was out was wealthy many in scripture had great wealth the possession of wealth often indicated that god was blessing somebody's life in proverbs 13 21 it reads misfortune pursues the sinner but prosperity is the reward of the righteous so wealth in and of itself isn't the problem this man had great wealth but that wasn't the problem it's materialism it's greed it's the attachment to riches that can be sinful in ecclesiasties 5 10 whoever loves money never has money enough whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income this too is meaningless the rich man has asked how much is enough and the rich man says a little more it's this desire for more it's the thing that the accumulation and very often not even spending it but it's the accumulation of wealth and all that it gives that that's where people make the biggest mistake because when you trust in wealth it produces a false security you see when you don't have any money for a doctor bill prayer becomes a greater tool doesn't it it's true when you don't have a lot of money you can't afford to go to the doctor you're on your knees a lot more that's a fact and i'm not saying that's bad it's just a fact when you have money or you have insurance and you know i'll just go to the you don't think about it so what we have is americans it's a lot of prosperity without even realizing it and i've shared this before if you have more than one pair of shoes you're actually very wealthy if you sleep in a bed and you have a blanket over you you're very wealthy if you eat two times three times a day you can snack you're very wealthy if you have a car even two or maybe three you're very wealthy you just don't realize it because we have a tendency of looking at people like ilan musk and others who have so much we think oh i'm poor no all we have to do is look outside of america for a while even go into some places in la or even in our own neighborhoods and you'll see those who really don't have so many of us are very wealthy without knowing it we just don't realize it and and we we trust in those things you know i have my insurance i have my finances i have these things well this this man he trusted in his wealth that's what he did and according to first timothy chapter six verse 17 uh paul said to timothy command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth which is so uncertain but to put their hope in god who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment you can have an awful lot of money and then the stock market just crashes and you lose it all simultaneously so don't put your hope in wealth and that's something that goes all the way back two thousand years plus so the real danger is that when we trust in in wealth we are blinded to eternity in luke 1215 jesus said to them watch out be on your guard against all kinds of greed life does not consist in an abundance of possessions in other words a man's true life is measured by what he is and not in what he has so this young man's possessions and prestige blinded him to eternity he loved these things more than he loved the god who had blessed him with these things so jesus reveals to the young man that he had failed to keep the command to love his neighbor if he couldn't keep these commands he's certainly not keeping the first four because these commands that we find in verse 19 these these commands are man's duties to other men these are what are called the second table or second tablet these are man's duties to man the first tablet was man's duties to god if you're not keeping your duties to man you're not keeping your duties to god because your duties to god as you obey those things produces the fruit of caring for others if you love god you love your neighbor as yourself and seeing that you're not doing these things it's demonstrated that you're really not keeping any of them well this man here is having a tough time here notice verse 23 jesus looked around and said to his disciples how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of god and the disciples were astonished at his words but jesus answered again and said to them children how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of god it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god and so he speaks to them he looks around verse 23 says and he's saying it's hard because they love the security they have in this life and they trust in the riches the idea of giving them up to follow god is difficult for them to do well the disciples in verse 24 are astonished they're amazed they're astounded at what he said and so it went on to say it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle when you trust in riches you're not trusting in the lord they exclude one another it's impossible for a camel to do this and it is impossible for us to trust in two masters so you make a choice you need to choose what you're going to ultimately rely on because whatever it is that you you choose to rely on becomes your master in Matthew 6 24 no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else would be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and earthly riches mammon it is not difficult to enter into the kingdom of everyone you do that without Jesus it's impossible well again verse 26 they're astonished beyond measure who thing can be saved since riches are often assigned up god's blessing and give advantages who can be saved well riches aren't the issue dependence on riches is and so that's why in verse 27 looking at them Jesus said with men it's impossible not with God because salvation is a work of God from beginning to the end in Jeremiah 9 23 and 24 thus sayeth the Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom let not the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these I delight sayeth the Lord delight in knowing me well here comes the apostle Peter once again he's he's taken a foot out of his mouth to insert the other one in verse 28 Peter began to say to him see we have left all and followed you so Jesus answered and said assuredly I say to you there's no one who has left house or brother or sisters or father or mother or wife or or children or lands for my sake in the gospels who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life but many who are first will be last and the last first we've left all verse 28 we followed you Jesus this rich young man wouldn't leave anything but we left everything and Matthew 19 27 adds therefore what shall we have we left everything but they still have a need they have a need of discipleship we've left everything physically but remember with me they were still arguing about who is greatest they still needed to learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and so Jesus in verses 29 and 30 says sometimes coming to me is going to cost you it'll cost your family it'll cost your friends you may lose many who at one time you thought to be your friends which is true isn't it when you came to faith in Christ perhaps you paid a price like I did when I came to faith in Christ as a young man I had a number of friends we used to have we used to have a large group of friends I had a lot of a lot of people who hung around together I grew up in a neighborhood where there were a lot of young guys my age boys my age I went to school with them from kindergarten all the way into high school and they didn't move it was a time when people would actually keep their houses and pay them up my mom and my dad had one house for for 30 years and then they finally when I moved out here they finally sold that home in Norwalk and moved out here but when you bought a house at one time you actually stayed in it you didn't use it as a starter home to build up what you did is you built you you got a house it became your house it was your forever home and that's the way it worked and so in the neighborhood I came from and perhaps like many of you may say the same thing pretty sure you do you're able to say the same thing we grew up in the neighborhood so we knew all the kids we knew the kids who were a year or two above us because we played little league with them or were in the Cub Scouts or whatever we knew them we went to school with them and the ones who were younger one or two years younger and a lot of times we'd hang around I had groups of friends we had numbers of friends a lot of guys we'd hang around we do stupid things we grew up together it was it was actually like the wonder years this old show that was on many years ago that was really my life I had friends I had friends like that we gave them nicknames you know we had friends then you come to faith in Christ and suddenly these who at one time were your close buddies the ones that you shared adventures with hung around with and went hitchhiking to the beach with and talked about your first dates and what am I going to do one day when I grew up I want the ones you dreamed with the ones you would speak about what you wanted to do as you grew older I I had friends I'd say oh one of these days I want to have this I want to do that I want to go here I want to do this oh I one day want to go to Europe and one day I'm going to go to Hawaii one of the end you talk like that that's what you did what kind of girl do you want to marry oh she's going to be this or she's going to be that you talk about plans you're going to go to school I don't think I want to go to school I think I went I'll go in the army or I'll do the Navy or what you had plans you talked that's what it was well that's how my life was perhaps you had something similar and then you come to faith in Christ and when you come to faith in Christ and you start telling your friends look what happened man I gave my heart to Jesus all of a sudden these friends that you were like brothers with they just start fading away they don't want to hang with you anymore some of them might be so bold as to tell you what I was told you're a bummer man you used to be fun what happened to you that's how it went with me you used to be a lot of fun now you just bum me out what happened to you what do you mean what happened to me you're not the same guy I'm not supposed to be what you want me to stay the same all the time do you stupid and do stupid things with you no I grew up but I gave my heart to God and they didn't want anything to do with me and you see them peeling away many of you have experienced that that happens because you made a choice I'm going to follow the Lord and they didn't want to and so Jesus speaks about that but he says there may be some that you lose and some of you don't realize this so I'll say it like this if you look around here these people who are seated around you that you don't know you're in one side over here you're in one side over there you don't know everybody in between you may have the dearest friend you've ever had in your life sitting somewhere in here yet you just haven't discovered that I found that out in a group of people who were strangers to me I found my dearest friends because they were family in Christ because we shared the same things we have the same father they became my brother they became my sister they became my family that's what Jesus is saying you may lose some but you gain so many more you may have one home but when you have a brother or a sister who loves you their home becomes your home you go and visit them they make a meal for you they come and visit you you make a meal for them you hang around you enjoy life you raise your children you grow old together there's nothing like that guys there's nothing like that my my daughter-in-law whom I love so much I love all my my kids I shouldn't say it like this but my carina has friends and we were talking a while back and I said you know you you love and I named it some of her girlfriends that I love very much myself and said these are your dear friends and she goes yeah they are you know having babies at the same time raising your kids hanging around at the park those are good things yeah I said Marie and I have friends like that one of my friends I've had for 65 65 years I have other friends that I've had for over 40 years over 40 years in this church they're family to me they're dear to me I gained those things even though there were people who were at one time I would have done all I could to be of help to them who no longer wanted to be my friend I lost but I gained not only do you gain family but he says you need to understand that following me is going to be difficult because you receive all these blessings but you also verse 30 they come sometimes with persecution because it's going to be hurt there's going to be pain there's going to be loss you may lose some that you at one time thought of as your friends but you do gain in Psalm 2710 it says when my father and my mother forsake me then the Lord will take care of me because of the love of Christ and the family you're going to be blessed in many ways but verse 31 will close many who are first will be last and the last first you may appear now to be the last due to persecution and loss you may lose all that you have the day will come when you gain everything well those who thought they had everything will find that in reality they had nothing in reality it is they who will be the last in Psalm 73 verses three through five it says this I envy the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked they have no struggles their bodies are healthy and strong they're free from the burdens common to man they're not plagued by human ills he goes on in verses 12 and 13 to say this is what the wicked are like always carefree they increase in wealth surely in vain have I kept my heart pure in vain have I washed my hands in innocence then he finally says in verses 16 through 19 when I tried to understand all this it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God then I understood their final destiny surely you place them on a slippery ground on slippery ground you cast them down to ruin how suddenly are they destroyed completely swept away by terrors so you see the rich who reject christ will be spiritually poor forever but the poor who receive christ will receive spiritual riches that last forever Psalm 16 11 you make known to me the path of life you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand you have never given up anything you have gained everything is what Jesus is saying and this rich young fool went away grieved because he had great possessions he didn't use material wealth material wealth used him the power the prestige the honor all the privileges and pleasures that he had on the face of the earth were more important than eternal life jesus doesn't tell every person to do exactly that you may not have great estates you know what he's saying is you need to yield whatever is is is trapping you and you need to pursue the things that are eternal and the things that are eternal while there's no way that you could ever do anything better than having what god has for you so don't be a rich young fool be a follower of jesus christ father we ask that you would work within us