Matthew 19:23
The Bible says in
Matthew 19:23-25, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you,
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of
heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
In dealing with the
question of going to heaven or not going to heaven, Jesus said that it will be
especially difficult for one group of people to get
to heaven. It will be difficult for them
to go to heaven because it will be difficult for them to turn their hearts away
from their riches and to Christ. If you were to do an opinion survey of what
kind of a person was least likely to get to heaven, some people would probably
think that the greatest of sinners would be the least likely to get to heaven.
For example, sinners like murderers, and the whoremongers, and thieves, and
homosexuals must be the ones who are least likely to find salvation and to end
up in heaven. Jesus said no, it is not these great sinners like you and me who
are least likely to end up in heaven, but it is those who are rich who
are the least likely to go to heaven.
Why is it that rich
people are the least likely to end up in the
Riches of themselves are
not evil, but the love of riches is evil. Even heaven is said to be made of gold and precious gems, etc. Neither is it wrong to
be rich. Many godly people have been exceedingly wealthy, such as Abraham, King
David, and King Solomon. It is part of God’s plan for some to be rich, but
riches also bring a greater responsibility. The day will come when everyone
will give an account of what they have done with the resources that God has put
into their hands.
Listen to the warning
that James gave to rich people who heap up their riches for themselves instead
of using their riches to do good. James 5:1-3 says,
"Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl
for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your
garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them
shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were a fire."
When Jesus said “that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of
heaven”, the disciples were amazed and wondered out loud how anyone
could be saved. The reason that rich people have such an obstacle to getting
rightly-related to God is because of their material
self-sufficiency, and temptation to love riches more than God. Why were the
disciples surprised to hear Jesus’ teaching about riches? Perhaps the disciples
had seen rich people give large sums of money in the temple, and improperly
thought, as many do today, that the more that is given, the more that one gains the favor of God. Of course this is not
true, because the favor of God is given freely by grace through Christ to those
who trust in Jesus for the salvation of their souls.
Jesus seemed to indicate
that in His day there was a lot of false
teaching about the giving of money. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warned against giving in order to be seen of men. He said to give
so discreetly that even our left hand does not know
what our right hand does. When Jesus saw rich men giving gifts to the
temple treasury, He said that a poor widow who cast in two pennies had given
more than all the rich men; because they gave out of their abundance, but she
gave all that she had: 100%.
None of us can truly
follow Jesus unless we are willing to give everything. The key word is
"willing". Anyone who becomes saved and
becomes a follower of Jesus Christ, they surrender their will and their life to
God. If you have never done that, then you have never been saved. The reason
that Jesus told this rich young man to sell all that he had and give it
to the poor was because of how much the young man loved his riches. In his case
riches were a stumbling stone to keep him from God and to keep him from heaven.
His only chance for heaven was to let go of the riches, so that he could find
God. Everyone will have something that they will be
asked to give up if they are to go with God, because everyone has their own
selfish will. We
give up our will in order to find His will.
On the other hand, never
think that some material sacrifice that you make will cause you to be more
pleasing to God. Samuel said to King Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice." If God wants you to sacrifice something, it
will be so that you can better serve Him. God’s favor cannot be purchased; it
is found by faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ. God’s favor is given freely
and is unmerited because we are incapable of earning the favor of God, and
because God’s favor towards us was purchased already by the blood of Jesus
Christ our Savior.
Unfortunately for the
rich young man mentioned here in Matthew chapter 19, he continued to love his
riches more than God. The disciples were exceedingly amazed at the statement
made by Jesus “that
a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven,” and they asked "Who then can be saved?"
They were perhaps disheartened and troubled. They started to think negatively. In response to the disciples’ negative question, it
says in verse 26, "Jesus beheld them".
The word "beheld" speaks of gazing intently. Jesus beheld the
disciples intently as soon as they started thinking negatively and said to
them, "With
men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Any negative statement
by the disciples was countered by a positive
one by Christ. After all, Jesus was teaching these men to live by faith. They needed to learn the same lesson that we also
sometimes find so hard to learn. They needed to be reminded, that it’s easy to be negative
in a sinful world, but we must learn to live by faith. It’s easy to be negative
when those around you are hard-hearted, deceitful, and unspiritual. However, we
must be careful not to be so negative when looking at sinful human nature and
thinking of all the things that cannot be done because of the
limitations of men. Instead we should think about God,
and the power of God to do anything. Watch yourself.
Counter every negative thought with a positive one. Jesus gave an essential
idea to the life of faith. He said, "with God all things are possible."
The disciples were often negative, specifically in regards to people
being saved. It’s no wonder that Jesus was quick to show them their error.
These were the men who were to take the gospel to the Mediterranean world and
beyond. They were to endure great hardships for the
spreading of the gospel. They would have a hard time enduring the hardships
ahead if they were negative and thought that there was little chance that
people would be saved upon hearing the gospel. The disciples were learning that
there is enough power in the gospel of Jesus Christ to save everyone in
the world and to transform the world. Paul said in Romans
Jesus made
it very clear in His conversation with the young rich man
that salvation requires a total commitment. No one becomes a follower of Jesus
by making a half-hearted or partial commitment.
When someone decides to walk with God, they
will lose or forsake something in this world. If you go with God, you will go a
different direction in life than you otherwise would have gone, and you will go
a different direction than the world is going. Peter thought that he and the rest of the
disciples had given up a lot in order to follow Jesus. But if you were to ask
him today, Peter would probably say that he did not lose anything by following
Jesus Christ, and that he and the other disciples
gained infinitely more than he could have conceived. For example, they gained
heaven instead of hell. They gained the tremendous privilege of walking with
and talking with Jesus for three years on the earth. They gained the
power and the authority of apostles. They gained the invaluable opportunity to
be the key figures in the spread of the gospel throughout much of the world. And the apostles gained great rewards when they
went to heaven. On the other hand, anyone who chooses
not to follow Jesus has lost everything of lasting value.
It turned out to be just
as Jesus said in Matthew
There are two important
ideas to remember about forsaking things in this world in order to follow the
Lord. The first thing to remember is that if you sacrifice or give up anything
for Christ, it must be God’s calling for you to do
so. It must be God’s will. The apostles did forsake all that they had and
followed Jesus, but that is because it was the will of God for them. When
Christ was on the earth there were only twelve apostles, but there were
hundreds, if not thousands of other believers during the ministry of Christ.
Most of the believers did not forsake their homes or their occupations like the
twelve apostles did, because it was not God’s will for them.
The second thing to
remember is that you must be willing to forsake anything that you have: any
possession and any relationship, if it turns out to be the will of God for you.
If there is anything that you love more than God, or if there is anything that
you are not willing to do if God wants you to do it, then
you are making a serious spiritual mistake.
When man
allows his selfishness and stubbornness, which we are all heir to, to dominate
him; he will resist going God’s way. On the other hand, if we understand what
Jesus did for us by His death on the cross, we will be willing to follow Him.
Our sins were very great until the mercy of God took them away. We would have
suffered an eternity in hell if it were not for our Savior. It is a very
logical and natural thing to forsake all and follow Jesus. When we follow the
Lord, at first it might appear that we shall lose, but we end up gaining. When
we go our own way, we are tempted to think that we shall win, but we end up
losing. It says in the Proverbs, “There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is
the way of death.”
How vain we humans can
be to think that we know more than the loving and all-knowing God. God loves
you, and He wants to see the best possible things happen to you. If God wants
you to give up something or someone and go in a certain direction in life, it
is for your good and for your happiness. He is trying to get you to give up something that will be
harmful to you. Never forget that He knows the end from the beginning.
God’s ways are not man’s
ways. Jesus said, "But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall
be first." This is not the philosophy
that we hear from the world. The world has a strange and inordinate affection
with everything and everyone that comes in first place. This desire of some men to come in first sometimes reaches
ridiculous proportions, and is often self-defeating. When coming in first
becomes the most important thing to a person, what
often happens is that other things that are important become neglected. And
then sometimes the things that are neglected help to insure that you will not
truly win. For example, if the desire to come in first causes one to ignore teamwork or cooperation or
self-discipline, damaging blows can be made to
the ability of the entire group to achieve and to perform.
Instead of having an
emphasis on coming in first for our own selfish gains, we should have an
emphasis upon doing our best. Christians should dedicate everything that is
done to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should do all things for His
glory and not for our own glory. Colossians 3:17 says,
"And whatsoever you do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by
Him."
The issue of coming in
first is really the issue of competition. Learn to compete with yourself
instead of with others, and you will have a more
noble and more productive kind of competition. The most important issue
is not how you compare with others but how to learn
to improve yourself and your abilities through self-evaluation and by doing
your best for God. Using this yardstick, when you see a contest, the
person who comes in last may actually have outperformed the one who came in
first. The one who came in last may have dedicated what he did to God and may
have achieved the limit of his abilities, while the one who came in first may
have done what he did for purely selfish reasons and may not have done his
best. Make it your goal to never do less than your best, and to always dedicate
everything that you do to God and to His glory. Remember that God will hand out
the prizes at the end of the race of life. Jesus knows all things, and we are told that one day the tables will be turned on
who will be in first. Jesus said, "But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall
be first."
In order to illustrate
this point, Jesus told a very long parable in Matthew chapter 20, verse 1-16.
He said, "For
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out
early in the morning to hire labourers into his
vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers
for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the
third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And said unto
them; Go you also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.
And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and
did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others
standing idle, and said unto them, Why stand you here all the day idle? They
say unto him, Because no man has hired us. He said unto them, Go you also into
the vineyard, and whatsoever is right that shall you receive. So when even was
come, the lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the
last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh
hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed
that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a
penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the
house, Saying these last have wrought but one hour, and you have made them
equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered
one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me
for a penny? Take what is yours and go your way: I will give unto this last one
even as unto you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is
your eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first
last: for many are called, but few are chosen."
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Copyright; 2008 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved