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Thank you for coming. I can tell you your presence here has already made some people’s day. I don’t know how many other places you can go and have that said about you, but I can say that here. We’re glad you took time out of your weekend to come to our church.
I’d like to tell you about a conversation this morning. It’s a conversation with a sad ending. But it’s a story you’ll participate in and will write your own ending for your own life.
The conversation is in Matthew 19:16-22. A young man has concerns for himself about life after death. It’s everyone’s concern when they bury a loved one. The obituaries are full of conversations just like this man’s. They say she lived a good life. They say he did good and never met a stranger. Interestingly enough, I’ve never read an obituary that said she was evil, but we’re glad she’s in heaven. Or, he was wicked as hell, but now he’s in the loving arms of Jesus.
Tell the account in Matthew 19:16-22.
Facts
- What good thing?
- Why good? Why do people instinctively associate good with blessings?
- Somebody was asked about going to heaven and they said, I hope I’m good enough.
- Everyone has a sense of right and wrong. Everyone has a standard of ethics.
- We all appeal to our good qualities (verse 20)
- But Jesus points out the thing that stands between you and a future hope
- We want to point out why we’re OK. But the LORD points out the sin.
- In this case, it’s greed. He loves his stuff.
Feelings
- What gets in the way of good? If I’m good, why is it so hard to do good? It’s just so much easier to do something wrong. With this young man, it’s so much easier to just keep all his stuff.
- My feelings get in the way of what’s good. I want to be comfortable right now. I want to do what makes me feel good right now.
- But feelings aren’t a way to live life
- Ever felt a certain way about someone only to find out they weren’t who you thought they were?
- Ever been mislead by your feelings?
- Ever felt a certain way about a situation and realized things weren’t the way you thought they were?
- Ever had a dream make you feel a certain way?
- You got what you’re looking for. You get what you sacrifice for.
- What he really wants is his stuff. So he gets to keep his stuff. But he doesn’t get to keep his stuff and participate in eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Faith
- People have three big misconceptions about faith.
- First, faith is not blind. No blind faith.
- Faith doesn’t mean you suspend your reason and throw yourself on the mercy of the unknown. Now, people do that already without faith.
- But faith isn’t you ignoring what’s reasonable. Faith is actually the result of a reasonable, objective, assessment of all the evidence.
- The LORD invites reason, he says Come on let’s reason together. The scriptures present God’s way as what is reasonable. Reasonable means you want to gather all the information.
- God’s not interested in a generational belief
- God’s not interested in belief that came by threat
- God’s not interested in what the masses believe
- The fact that God invites reason says there is nothing to hide.
- Second, faith isn’t just believing something.
- It’s not just a positive attitude about some event we want to happen.
- People say just believe, or just have faith.
- Faith is a response to the words of God.
- Third, God doesn’t need your faith.
- Some smartly asked why does God demand I believe.
- A parent or a coach doesn’t need you to listen to what they say. But you’re better off if you listen to what they say.
- This is the principle of faith. God speaks and people listen.
Following
- Where is Jesus going?
- First to the cross to die. Die for who? The sin of the world. That’s your sin and mine.
- Then to the tomb to be buried.
- Finally, to rise from the grave to life everlasting.
- Early accounts of the resurrection. Jesus Christ’s resurrection can’t be a legend because it’s not something that formed over a long time. Immediately after the resurrection, we have documentation that this is what happened.
- Empty tomb. Where is this man buried who literally changed the world?
- Among researchers and educated people who devote their lives to piecing together history, the belief that Jesus Christ was a real person is nearly 100%. And the fact that Jesus died on a cross is virtually undisputed. This real person named Jesus lived and then died on a cross outside Jerusalem. The Journal for American Medicine published a peer-reviewed paper explaining how Jesus would’ve been dead before the soldier pierced his side. Even the atheist scholar Gerd Ludeman said it’s indisputable that Jesus died on a cross.
- The fact of the empty tomb was accepted by people who didn’t believe in Jesus. Some came up with stories about his body being stolen, but the fact that the tomb was and is empty is universally accepted.
- Eye witness accounts. There are multiple eyewitness accounts, but not only eyewitness records, there are a large group of people whose lives were completely changed by their experience with the resurrected Jesus Christ. Even haters made records of Jesus Christ and his mysterious disappearance after his death. In fact, there is more historical evidence, outside of the Bible itself, for Jesus Christ death and resurrection than there is for Julius Cesar, Socrates, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), and scores of other figures we call historical without as much evidence.
- Since this is true, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in human history.
You know what keeps you from faith and following Jesus Christ. Like this young man it’s something you love. It’s something you don’t want to give up. There’s a Proverb that says Trust in the LORD with all your heart, don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your path.
This story has a sad ending. The young man walks away sorry, but you don’t have to. This man’s greed entangled his soul. But you don’t have to walk away sad. Let the LORD deal with your sin, so that you can trust his death for your sin and his resurrection for your future.
