Are You Rich?

all right happy Father's Day out there to the dads in the room and uh it's a good day we do have some new dads out there and so that's awesome um this is our day you know uh and so someone earlier was like Hey You Picked like your best dad shirt and I was like I didn't intend for that but I guess it looks like I thought it was cool but I guess that means I'm a dad now but um but anyways happy Father's Day to you I know for some it's a day that we Rejoice it's a day that we celebrate uh it's a

day that we're excited about and um because either we had great experiences or we're currently having a great experience as a dad uh but at the same time we know that Father's Day can be difficult for some that maybe have had difficult experiences uh whether that's either becoming a father or um or having a father that was a difficult relationship as well and again we just want to say that you know when when what is not ideal uh Grace abounds Grace abounds and and at the end of the day we can always know that whatever we experience on the earth when it comes to fatherhood

is not a full representation of what we experience with the true father uh but rather what we do experience with the true father is what covers a multitude of sins and a multitude of experiences that we do experience on the earth and so um don't let if you have negative EXP experiences with your father hinder what that relationship with the true father really looks like uh but at the same time because of that true relationship that we have to the father let it impact your relationship whether it is with your father or you as a father or you one day becoming a father because he

is our great example and he is a good and gracious and loving father who Delights over his kids who loves his kids and wants to just lavish us with grace and mercy and so happy Father's Day to the ultimate father uh to God himself and so um as we kind of walk through this message as well I'm going to go give you a little bit of a preface if you see me uh WCE at any point because I'm like in pain uh it's it's not because like oh man that point really got to me it's because I also have shingles and so um I'm I'm

dealing with was is also like a Happy Father's Day because you know you get shingles when you're old um and uh but this is my second round with shingles and so it um at times just feels like someone's just taking a belt sander to your skin and it's um it's fantastic so so I'm also dealing with that so that's in case you see me you know whatever um grab your Bibles Luke 18 is where we're going to be at today Luke 18 we're going to look at verses 18 through 30 and as you're turning there uh according to business today the world's richest five men

are Elon Musk Bernard Arnold I might said that wrong I don't know but Jeff Bezos Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg and among those five men they have more than doubled their wealth since 2020 which is kind of insane to think about just in that uh short time span to where they now are nearly worth a combined $900 billion Just Between the five of them their their Fortune has grown at a rate of 14 million per hour over that span of the the last four years and so to kind of put that into a perspective for us if Elon Musk spent $1 million per day nonstop

it would take 673 years to exhaust his wealth which is kind of insane uh if he spent $5,000 per hour it would take all the way back to the construction of the Great Pyramids in order for him to exhaust his wealth over 5,000 years to do that to put it into an even crazier stat if you make an average salary of $70,000 per year it would take you three million years to essentially create or amass the amount of wealth that Elon Musk has just by himself now when it comes to billionaires in the world the US has around 800 followed by China with a close

close to around 500 and India has around 200 and business analysts say we will have our first trillionaire within the next decade just at the rate of growth that they are currently amassing in their wealth and so uh Elon Musk technically if he's continuing on at that 14 million per hour rate will become the first trillionaire in seven years seven years which is again insane to think about but I wanted to give you these stats because when we read our passage today these are the types of people that we think about when we think about the rich ruler we jump to thinking about the Millionaires

and the billionaires we think about those who live over on Meridian and everyone north of Indie and and and then think we can take the Sunday off when we talk about a message of a rich ruler that Jesus rebukes and says you should sell all your possessions and give it to the poor well we think we're the poor so yes please go ahead sell all your possessions and and give it to us because we need it but this is not a sermon that you can take this Sunday off by saying that um I'll say this a sermon like today certainly does include the Millionaires and

billionaires but it also certainly does not exclude those who are middle class or lower class in an article titled how do Shepherd caramels that was not intentional how do Shepherd camels through the eye of a needle I mean yeah that was Freudian slip right there um how to Shepherd camels through the eye of a needle Ross Lester comments I'm sorry that was just that was good um everyone feels financially induced pressure for the poor it's the lack of wealth for the rich if they are paying attention it's the respon responsibility of stewarding their wealth if you stop and get to know people you will learn

that everyone is under Financial pressure Paul's warning to Timothy is pertinent For the Love of Money is a root of all kinds of evils it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains end quote in other words to Love money you don't have to have lots of $5,000 um can be just as great a snare as $5 million today's message is not about the rich to give away all that they have to the poor and follow Jesus but rather it's really about your heart it's about your heart that leads to what you do with

what you have regardless of how much or little that is so don't check out because you don't think you are considered quote unquote wealthy and to actually be honest according to both MSN money and World Vision if you earn more than $50,000 annually you are in the world's top 1% when it comes to income earning so in the context of the world this passage is for I would probably dare say every person in this room so let's see what the Holy Spirit has for us this morning in relation to who we are what we have and what we do with it Luke 18 I'm going

to start in verse 18 and we'll go through verse 30 and a ruler asked him good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus said to him why do you call me good no one is good except God alone you know the Commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness honor your father and your mother and he said all these I have kept from my youth when Jesus heard this he said to him one thing you still lack sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven

and then come and follow me but when he heard these things he became very sad for he was extremely rich Jesus seeing that he had become sad said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to to enter the kingdom of God for 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 those who heard it said then who can be saved but he said what is impossible with man is possible with God and Peter said see we we have left our homes and followed you and he said to

them truly I say to you there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life let's pray real quick over this passage father we thank you for this word and we pray this morning that your holy spirit that guides us to know your truth and to understand it and to be transformed by it we pray that your holy spirit will do that work in our minds and in our hearts this morning morning God we

pray that we don't you see this passage as a passage that is of them versus us but we see this as a passage that is for all of us to be able to see what it is that we are trusting in what it is that we are putting our hope in what it is that we are ultimately um hoping provides for us satisfaction that only you can provide for us and so father if there is anything in our lives that is keeping us from trusting you holy keeping us from following you because of our affections and desires for it then father I pray that you

would bring that to the surface of our minds and our hearts with conviction so that we can do as Jesus commands us and to repent from that to turn from that and to ultimately trust you and to follow you for the Forgiveness of our sins to follow you for the satisfaction of our souls so that we treasure you above all things especially treasure on this Earth that you are our great treasure and nothing else father that is my prayer for us this morning it's in your name that we pray amen all right we're going to walk through this again kind of as as a narrative

so I don't have like alliterated points for you I like to keep you guessing on what that's going to look like on a weekly basis but this is going to be more narrative so we're just going to walk through it break it down and and just see what the Lord has for us this morning and so looking at verse 18 it says again a ruler ask him good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus said to him why do you call me good there is no one good except God alone so let me set this up um let me set up

a bit of the situation here as we have seen throughout the Gospel of Luke up to this point we know that Jesus has been functioning very much like a rabbi as he um approaches these Villages as he enters these Villages there are moments where he's blessing people there's moments where he's healing people people there's moments where he's providing for the needs of the poor there's moments where he is teaching in the synagogues and and he's acting very much the role of a rabbi which is why when he comes into these Villages and the word that has spread about him they come to him and they

approach him as if he is a rabbi a teacher one that is leading people one that is creating a following of people because again rabbis would have followings they they might have some you know different nuance interpretations of the law and so uh usually some would say I follow this guy or I follow this guy or I'm under his rule or I'm under his authority and so Jesus is kind of creating or amassing for himself a following and so they come to him and and they want something from him they want teaching from him they want blessing from him they want healing from him and

and so you're starting to see that in a lot of this connection but the rabbis also had reputations and so because the rabbis Were Meant To Be interpreters of the law teachers of the law uh to apply the law not only to their lives but to others in the context people would consider them to be good because according to the Jewish system the way in which you are good and not bad is what you do with the law and so if you keep the law you're considered good if you don't keep the law then you're an outsider you're considered bad we consider you a sinner

we don't consider you blessed or under the favor of God and so whenever they view someone that they don't see any fault in or haven't seen any fault in they consider them good like they consider them someone and especially they sometimes they kind of take their word for it if they say I've kept the law and I've not done anything wrong then they would say well then you are a good person you are a good teacher you are a good individual and so this Rich ruler has heard about Jesus he has um perceive that Jesus is not only a rabbi and a teacher but he's

a good one he's a good one and so he walks up and that's the first thing he says to Jesus is good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life because again he's measuring everything on a scale of good or bad um or in God's terms righteous or unrighteous and in all honesty that system of belief is still kind of how our world is operating today our world in all religions except for Christianity views the balance of whether or not you do more good than bad you do more righteousness than unrighteousness and this is one of those moments where you see that um even

spill into like what we celebrate what our art are movies I mean the reason why there are superhero movies is because there's going to be a hero and a villain there's reason why in most story lines there's a protagonist and an antagonist like there's there's going to be this idea of Good and Evil and so Jesus wants to put this on display in this moment that yes there is good and evil but it's not in what you perceive and what I really want to show you is that you don't fall in the category of good nobody falls in the category of good nothing you can

do to land in that category and so that's where Jesus starts off with this guy when he comes up to him and he says good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life Jesus is not responding saying that he's not good but he's showing this man that there are two categories and there's only one that lands in the category of good and so he says to him no one is good except God alone and that's actually an Evangelistic strategy strategy that Jesus has with this Rich ruler is he's wanting him to understand that hey you think you're good because he's about to go there

with him and what he talks about with the law you think you're good but I need to First tell you that no one is good except God alone and that should be something that the Jews actually understand because again they believe that they're following the one true God who is good who is righteous who is Holy who is perfect and has given them a perfect law that if you live by this law you will also be considered good and righteous but again because of their self-righteousness they believe that they've held the law and that they've kept the law and that they've done all the right

things and therefore God should grant them eternal life because they are good so Jesus starts off with kind of a punch in the face when this guy says hey good teacher and he's like hold on a second I know what you're saying you think I'm good you also think you're good and I need to tell you that there's no one good except God alone so that's what he first starts off with and then he kind of gets to this goodness test if you think you're good let me test that you know the Commandments do not commit adultery do not steal do not bear false witness

honor your father and mother and the man responded all these I have kept from my youth so the ruler believes at the end of the day that he is good he believes he has kept all of the requirements for God's favor and blessing since he was a little boy now I want to bring our context back into picture here remember the past few sermons and passages that we looked at for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled this man in this moment right now is saying I'm exalted because I have kept the law I am good because I have done all the requirements that God

has for me so he is placing himself in a position of exaltation in a position of righteousness in a position of favor and that is never a good thing because again as the scriptures tell us for everyone who exalts thems everyone who thinks they're good everyone who thinks they're doing everything that God has asked them to do they will be humbled which also again looking at our context of what we talked about last week um for whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it which is also still kind of saying the same thing for everyone who exalts himself

will be humbled whoever receives or does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it this man is not receiving the kingdom of God like a child children don't work for what their parents provide for them that's what they're saying ultimately in that passage there is pride in this ruler that he does all of the work necessary for himself to be considered good so Jesus in his infinite wisdom has first told this man that no one is good except God alone and now is going to show this man why he is included in the category of not good cuz right now

he still believes that I've kept everything you just told me the the the commands I passed that test I did all of those and I've kept them from my youth so Jesus is saying you know what all of those commands that you just said you've kept are still not at the heart of what you actually care about what actually holds you what actually possesses you and so Jesus goes there knowing this man's heart verse 22 when Jesus heard this he said to him one thing you still lack one thing you still lack you think you're good but this is where you've missed the mark on

actually being considered righteous sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven that that would be your reward come and follow me but when he heard heard these things he became very sad for he was extremely rich you see the message of Christianity when Jesus entered onto the scene is one thing repent and believe the gospel repent and believe the gospel this man kept all the Commandments not to serve God but to serve himself it was never meant as a worship of God but it was a meant as a worship of himself it was never meant

for the gain of others but for the gain of himself so everything about his life up until this point has been living his life based on a heart condition that is selfish and self-righteous and only wanting to serve his own life his own gain his own desires and never anything else it really kind of again brings to light about a month ago the unrighteous judge who did not have any reverence for God and treated everyone else with contempt so he did not care about God he did nothing to serve God and he did nothing for others because everything was about himself well that's exactly who

this man is in this moment and what Jesus is doing now is he's entering into the heart condition of this Rich ruler and saying everything that actually is pointing to your righteousness is only for your own gain not for actual truth when it comes to what God has established how things are to operate and work and so in order for me to get you to understand that I need to attack the thing that you are worshiping which is your material wealth and possessions you think you're good because of what you've amassed you think you're good because of your extreme wealth you think you are favored

by God because of what you have ultimately gained for yourself and so if you think you're good the greatest act of your goodness would be to get rid of everything that you have and give it to the poor benefit others rather than benefit yourself I mean Jesus is really even showing a depiction of of ultimately what he has come to the Earth to do emptying himself of his worth emptying himself of his wealth emptying himself of his position at the right hand of God in order to come and take on the servanthood humanity humbleness to the point of death on a cross to literally exhaust

his Treasure of his righteousness take on our unrighteousness and then pay for our sins in that moment so that he can pay us with his righteousness give us his ultimate inheritance grant for us eternal life because there's this void in in the soul of this man asking this question what must I do to inherit eternal life now I want to believe it's an honest question because at the end of the day even for those who are amassing wealth even those who are thinking that in a system of Works in a system of self-righteousness and a system of just doing good because it never satisfies because

it never actually forgives us of our sins because it actually never brings us into a relationship with God there is a void there is a separation with our creator there is a separation with God and because there's a separation it never actually gets us there I have to believe that this Rich ruler is aware of that to an extent to where when he comes to Jesus he asked the question what must I do to inherit eternal life is there something I'm missing and unfortunately in this story when Jesus shows him what's he what he's missing in his heart he does not repent of it he

still holds on to it he come he becomes incredibly sad because he doesn't want to let go of what he's worked so hard for and he wants and maybe still continues to hope that someday he'll arrive someday this wealth that he has amassed will be what ultimately saves him and In This Moment he goes away sad because he's unwilling to give up his Earthly wealth in exchange for Eternal wealth he just won't do it so then Jesus seeing that he had become very sad said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God for 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 now there's different interpretations of what it means for the am the camel to go through the eye of a needle some historians and theologians believe that in Jerusalem there was a gate literally called the eye of a needle and but it was a really small gate so there was like the main gate but they would close it and at the end of the evenings this kind of separate side door side gate um whenever camels would show up with all of their gear they would uh have

to unload the gear in order for the camel to actually pass through the eye of the Needle And so there's again many historians and theologians who talk about this story but there's actually no nothing in evidence um that there actually was a gate that was called the eye of the needle in Jerusalem but the imagery is still something that applies in the sense that in order for the camel to get through the gate it has to unload everything that it was carrying and so there's still a mindset that what this man is doing is he is carrying the weight of his wealth by by trusting

in it and it's crushing him it's actually like it's it's his soul was never meant to Bear the weight of it trying to provide for him what only God can provide satisfaction enjoyment so he needs to unload his wealth in order to actually see and follow and trust in Jesus truly so there's that idea of the camel passing through this gate but it's got to First unload everything in order for it to come through because it's basically impossible for it to actually get through the gate while it's still carrying this weight the other idea is that they're actually talking about the threat of a needle

and so when you then look at a camel and you look at a needle and you're looking at the eye of a needle and you're like okay that's impossible and so which is more in line with the idea of the imagery that the author and the writer here Jesus was actually trying to get across for us and we believe that because of the way that the disciples respond to this illustration of a camel passing through the eye of a needle when they respond with well then who can be saved who can be saved if it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of

an needle which is an impossible thing than it is for someone to come to know Jesus or at least a rich person to come to know Jesus Jesus and he said to them what is impossible with man is possible with God what is impossible with man is is possible with God and this is where again I'm hoping and I wish that the rich ruler is still present to hear other versions and Mark talks about him leaving but he needs to hear that what you're trying to do in keeping the law what you're trying to do in amassing worldly material and wealth trying to be good

enough is impossible for that to save you there is no system of belief that you earning at the end of the day will allow God to look at you and say Well done good and faithful servant you did everything that I required of you and therefore I'm going to Grant you eternal life when this man asked that question what must I do to inherit eternal life what Jesus is loudly trying to explain to them is nothing what must I do to inherit eternal life nothing you can't you can't do it you have to believe and trust in what Jesus has accomplished for us that he

is the only one who has actually kept the law perfectly since he was a little boy like when this man said I have kept these from when I'm a little boy I can almost like hear Jesus in that moment kind of laughing to himself no I'm the only one that's done that I'm the only one that done that no one is good except God Alone which again this is another one of those moments where they didn't realize it but Jesus is saying just so y'all know I'm God I'm God and I'm here to save who can be saved those who follow me those who follow

me which is why Peter then says in verse 28 see we have left our homes and followed you so P Peter understanding what Jesus is communicating gets excited and says we we that is what we've done like if there is anything to to do it is following you it's trusting you it's believing in who you are and so Peter here getting excited again every once in a while Peter gets it right and here Peter gets it right and he says we've done that awesome like we're following you you and Jesus literally responds in verse 29 truly I say to you there is no one who

has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life so he says you're right Peter like this other man was not willing to leave his life in order to follow me but you were willing to leave your life and follow me and that is what Christianity is are we willing to give up that which we trust in to trust in the one who can actually provide for us the Forgiveness that we need because there is no one good except

God alone and because none of us are good and because none of us can fix that situation Jesus enters into the scene as the only good one who then goes to the cross and because he pays for our punishment because he pays for our sins because he pays the death that we deserve he is then able to grant us when we follow him and trust in him and believe in him he is able to say to us your sins are forgiven and not only that but when we follow him we don't have to work this life to try to amass a worldly material wealth and

satisfaction he also tells us hey guess what guess what you also get by following me and trusting in me you get to be coair with me so you don't have to worry about whether or not you amass wealth here and now you're going to be the richest person in the world for eternity because you get to be a coair with Christ now I will say this before we move on to the conclusion of it those who come to Jesus because they want Eternal wealth are no different than the rich ruler he's following a system believing that what he deserves is just the wealth so that

when Jesus tells him get rid of the wealth he goes away sad because he believes that's his reward that's what he's worked hard for so if we're viewing Christianity as Jesus is a means to become the wealthy then we actually don't treasure Jesus we still just treasure Jesus's stuff we are still just treasuring material world we're treasuring creation rather than Creator we should always view the fact that when he tells us yes you will be adopted Sons and Daughters you will cry out ABA father you get to join into the family of God which also means that as as I like to say it's just

you get access to the pantry of God you get access to his backyard you get access to play in his world for eternity but that is a byproduct of treasuring Christ it is not the goal it is not the target it is not what our focus is on we should be perfectly satisfied with God Alone not everything else that comes with him it's a byproduct it's an in addition to and that's why when Romans 81 12-17 uses some language like this so then um so then Brothers we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh for if you live according to

the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the Deeds of the body you will live again he's just talking about salvation there for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God for you did not rece received the spirit of Slavery to fall back into fear again there was fear that this Rich ruler had in which that's why he's asking the question what must I do to inherit eternal life because I there's a chance I might miss it I don't want to miss it so there's a bit of fear that I have there in what

we receive in Salvation it grants us a spirit that is not fearful of whether or not we are going to inherit eternal life in the end you do not receive a spirit of Slavery to fall back into fear but you have received the spirit of adoption as Sons by whom we cry ABA father again Happy Father's Day to the true father we receive the spirit of adoption as Sons which is the holy spirit testifying and communicating to your soul that you belong to the family of God the spirit himself verse 16 Bears witness with our spirit that we are in fact children of God like

one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to preach to you every single day that you are and belong to the family of God so that you don't have to go through life wondering what must I do to inherit eternal life he's telling you every single day Jesus has already purchased this for you Jesus has already accomplished this for you you don't have to wake up today and earn anything you trust and believe that he has earned everything for you that's what the holy spirit is bearing witness with our soul and our spirit every single day that we are children of God bought and

purchased by the work of Jesus not bought and purchased by anything that we do ourselves and then if children then heirs Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that we also may be glorified with him so right here again scripture is telling us that we are Heirs of God and coair with Christ because we were purchased and brought into the family of God by the work of Jesus Christ himself and so when Peter here says we have left our homes and followed you and Jesus responds to him and said yes you have left house and wife and

brothers and parents and children for the sake of the kingdom of God in this life you will receive many times more what is he talking about there what do we receive in this family of God in this life and then also he says in the age to come eternal life so there are two things that we receive as part of our inheritance by becoming a part of the family of God what do we receive because I think it's important so that we know what to expect well again one and I'll give you five things here real quick one is a new spirit we receive a

new spirit we received the Assurance of Faith that's the work of the holy spirit in your life he's preaching to you you are his you are his you are his he is your father cry out to him he Delights over you he loves you he extends grace and mercy to you every single day he is a loving father I mean he even tells us throughout the scriptures multiple times like how how do bad dads on Earth give good gifts to their children how much more will the good father the true Father lavish his children with love and grace rest in that number two we get

a new family we are children of God who cry out ABA father so not only do we get a father but we also are Sons and Daughters plural we get new brothers and sisters that's why scripture uses that language that we are Brothers and Sisters in Christ and so we we treat one another like Brothers and Sisters in Christ now if you just look at how children under the age of 18 treat one another sometimes that skewes our version of how we should treat Brothers and Sisters in Christ but we are brothers and sisters of Christ like that's a beautiful thing we are a family

of God who are there for one another in addition to that we get a promised inheritance and again I mean it is the new creation it is the new heavens and the new Earth it is the playground that for eternity we get to play in I talk about that often with with my sons because they just ask questions they're like will we see Lions I'm like yeah there will be they'll look wild they're not going to look like the lions that we see at the zoo they're going to have lots more eyes and wings and all kinds of stuff multiple heads like it's going to

be very interesting and they're not even conern concerned about that the next question they ask is do you think we can write them and I said you know what probably maybe I don't know like I would love to there's a chance we'll see when we get there but there's a promised inheritance where we will get to play for eternity in addition to that in this new place and I amen this one because I always amen this one we get the glorification of a new body one that doesn't get shingles one that doesn't break down one that doesn't get sick one that doesn't cry one that

doesn't um experience pain anymore like we get a new glorified body but all of those things again are not the main thing they are a part of the inheritance but the main thing we get is God we get God like we for eternity we get to sit under the authority and Throne of God who loves us endlessly because he shows us that and what he has done in sending Jesus Christ in order to purchase us and adopt us into his family and so when I talk about the the uh I know we always talk about the the the the uh courtroom and God being the

judge and us coming in to kind of defend our case are we good enough have we kept the law enough have we done enough right things like when it comes to morality do we more on the good side than on the bad side and every single time he looks at us and he says no you have it no one is good except me and so then we're like okay well um we're going to go away sad because we've not done anything good enough but Jesus comes in acting as our attorney and says what's the penalty for their sin and Jesus says or or God returns

death for the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23 and Jesus said says on their account they believe in me they trust in me they follow me therefore I've paid their penalty I've paid the death for them they're free to go they are pardoned of this sin they're Justified Justified and as we start walking out of the courtroom God the judge says hold on hold on hold on before you leave Not only was this a courtroom in order to justify of you of your sins but this was also me signing your adoption papers you're mine you're coming home with me Happy Father's Day we get

a new father so we don't even have to just view God as a judge always working out whether or not we're more right than wrong we get a heavenly father who loves us and will love us for eternity again the spirit himself bearss witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then HS HS of God and fellow HS with Christ and here's the other thing that you also get to um inherit when you follow Jesus provided we suffer with him in order that we also will be glorified with him it was going to be suffering for the rich ruler to

sell all of his possessions and give it away to the poor and he wasn't willing to do it there are going to be things that Jesus requests of us in following him that is going to be suffering that is not going to look like what we are ultimately going to receive in the end but in this life in the here and now until the day we are glorified it's not when when or it's not if it's when it happens we will experience suffering suffering because the message that we are proclaiming to everyone around us is that you're not good you're not good no one is

good except God and actually what you need to do is also stop doing everything you're doing doing and turn and trust in Jesus for the Forgiveness of everything that you were doing well guess what there's going to be people that don't like that and there's going to come suffering there's going to come suffering this is the battle and the spiritual warfare that we are engaging in as we are advancing the kingdom of Christ as we are advancing that it is entering the domain of Darkness it is entering enemy territory and we're coming into it and we're trying to help them see that they are actually

enemies of God because we were we were enemies we were not good enough and we needed someone to proclaim the truth to us so that we could see for ourselves and believe it and trust it and follow Jesus and that's exactly what he has allowed us to see here and what I want you to see again is is that even though it didn't go well for this Rich ruler who's also considered like a local official I do want to show you that it does and can go well for someone who would be considered wealthy someone who would be considered local official someone who would be

considered on the path and trajectory to be one of the religious Elite in the day that everyone would want to follow and as many of you probably know I'm talking about the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3: 3-1 a passage that we're working on with Ezra right now to memorize all of it he says for we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh so Paul's saying we put no confidence in the flesh we put no confidence in what we have done or any system of belief that again is us trying

to earn our favor with God we don't put confidence there now listen to this Paul says though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh Also if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law a Pharisee as to Zeal a persecutor of the church he's basically saying the two things that I loved the most and actually I'm just realizing this is not the passage I'm having Ezra memorized that's Philippians 2 but anyways side note I looked

at Kelsey and she's like what anyways um as to as to the law of Pharisee which again the Pharisees believed that they were keeping it perfectly and then as to Zeal a persecutor of the church those who aren't keeping it perfectly those who are in contradiction to what we're doing I wanted to Snuff them out I wanted to persecute them I wanted to drag out the women children and men and imprison them like when it came to those who were like murdering others Paul says I signed off on it like there was no one who hated anything that we were doing more than myself as

to righteousness under the law blameless again he was just like that rich ruler I've kept all this from my youth but hear this whatever gain I had I counted it as loss for the sake of Christ whatever it gave me wasn't worth it in the end now that I see Jesus indeed I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ like it wasn't easy for Paul to repent and believe in Jesus and start following him none

of his life was easy actually like right out of the gate Jesus said to him hey you're you're going to follow me and not only that but I'm going to show you how much you much how much you must suffer for the sake of my name but in that suffering in that new life Paul goes on to say it's the greatest thing that ever happened to me it's the greatest thing that ever happened to me the greatest thing was not that I amassed a great wealth or that I amassed uh Prestige uh when it comes to being of the Hebrews um it it was not

that I was able to be circumcised the eighth day it was not that I was of the people of Israel it was not that I um was of The Tribe of Benjamin like he had every check on the box of why he would have an easy life and consider it a great life but in the end he actually says it was worthless in comparison to to living a life of suffering but having Jesus having Jesus therefore he's willing to get rid of everything for the sake of gaining Christ and in verse n and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that

comes from the law again same as the fair the the the rich ruler it was not a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith again that I may know him and the power of His of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead when you read in church history and you go back to the apostles in first century but then you even the church fathers in second and third Century I

mean they were murdering them up until Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century but when you read the accounts of men like Augustine and ignacius and and and um and Lucius and so forth of the early church fathers any time their head was going to be on the platter they were excited like it's just a weird thing to read like they saw it as a badge of honor to suffer to the extent of how Christ suffered like they considered it like they did not see themselves as even worthy enough to go to a death for the sake of Jesus

because again they were like man God would would think of us to suffer that much that again we would share in that with Christ like again we want to share in the inheritance of Christ we want to be coair with him are we willing to be coair with him in experiencing everything that he experienced or are we still holding on to this is where we check our heart are we still holding on to just wanting his eternal inheritance and not sharing in the same inheritance that he had while he was on Earth would we I mean to be honest we're not willing to be homeless

and poor and to be murdered for our faith at least at least right now in how often times we live our life now my hope is that if and maybe when culture gets to that place where we are literally being persecuted for our faith we're resting in what the spirit of Christ is doing in us where he just Bears to our Bears witness to our spirit your sons and daughters of his you're good you can hang on you can persevere in this it's not that you got this he's got you and he's going to get you through this he's going to help even change your

perspective on what you're experiencing you're not going through suffering just because you're an idiot you're going through suffering because people hate you because you believe in Jesus and so I believe that we just don't actually experience enough persecution to actually apply what it means to suffer with Christ in what he experienced in his suffering because it's kind of easy for Christians in a lot of ways in our current context now you go to other parts of the world it's different but you look at the joy of those Christians they're willing to give up anything and everything for the sake of Christ because Christ is all

they have for us we're the rich ruler and we have an opportunity to make a decision are we willing when push comes to shove are we willing to sell all that we have to give away all that we have to get rid of all that we have for the sake of Christ are we willing to leave our life for him and follow him because he is our great treasure he is our great game are we able to say that I believe for most of us we are it's just it hasn't quite looked that way for us in Western culture which is what's scary because we

don't know if we are the rich ruler or not because it's so easy to live here it's so easy to amass wealth it's so easy to believe we're Christian when we might not be and so when you hear stories or read stories like this ask yourself if Jesus were to come up and say hey are you willing to sell all your possessions are you willing to give away all that you have to the poor and follow me maybe step out in faith and go do something that I'm going to ask of you that's that's not going to be as easy of a life that you

currently have that's where we check our heart and we say what what would we say how would we respond is Jesus our greatest treasure or do we treasure more the comfortable lifestyle and Building Wealth here as we come to this time of communion um I'm going to have you go ahead and stand