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Depending on the Dollar
30 Plays1 month ago
Mark 10:13-31
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Transcript
Introduction to Sermon Series
00:00:01
Speaker
After last week's wildly popular sermon on divorce, I thought I would follow up this morning with a sermon on money.
00:00:13
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As pastors say, this is the double whammy.
00:00:18
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But it's the beauty, friends, of teaching straight through the Bible, teaching straight through the book. Somebody asked me last week, that boy, that was ah that was a tough one.
00:00:30
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You gave us. And I said, well, that while I'm the mouthpiece here, we're simply working our way through
Money in the Bible: Comfort and Discomfort
00:00:38
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Mark. Just so happened to be last week was on divorce.
00:00:41
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This week is on money. And I thought to myself this week, ah really, Lord? Really?
00:00:51
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Why is it any time we talk about money, people get funny? It doesn't matter... how much money you have or how much money you don't have or how you made your money or if you inherited your money if you're old money or if you're new money or how much money you saved or how much money you haven't saved or those investments that you made or how much money you give to the church or don't give to the church anytime we talk about money people get funny
00:01:30
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And yet, it's one of the most widely discussed topics in the Bible.
Attitudes Towards Money: Right or Wrong?
00:01:35
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Money. All throughout the Bible, we're told that we're to have this right attitude when it comes to money, but what is that right attitude?
00:01:45
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All throughout the Bible, we're warned of the dangers that come from a wrong attitude about money, but what is that wrong attitude that we're to have or can have about money?
00:01:57
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Probably one of the most often misquoted um passages when it comes to money, people will tell you money is the root of completely wrong.
00:02:10
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It's the love of money or the dependence on money or this need to cling to our stuff that is this dangerous thing.
00:02:23
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attitude that is this dangerous position that you and I as Christians can often take. To counter this, to battle this need to hold on to our stuff, we're encouraged to simply, as the song said today, give freely.
00:02:43
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Everybody say that with me. Give freely. Sounds great from the pulpit, let me tell you. I love telling you to give your stuff freely.
00:02:55
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But friends, the hard truth is we like our stuff.
00:03:00
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We cling to our stuff. We place a certain amount of trust in our stuff. A false sense of security that that stuff brings us.
00:03:13
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So the big question as we jump into Mark chapter 10 this morning, friends, is this. What am I clinging to? What am I depending on?
Mark 10: Dependence on God vs. Money
00:03:24
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What is keeping me from depending on God?
00:03:29
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And that's where we're going, Mark chapter 10. You'll see from your outline today, we really are just looking at one word. It dependence. But we're going to see these two ideas in the scripture here.
00:03:40
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Two ideas, the first being the wrong idea, which is dependence on money or dependence on our stuff or possessions. And then the right ideas are dependence on God.
00:03:51
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And then we're going to follow that at the very end with how can we develop an eternal perspective on God. our resources. And when I say money today, I'm really meaning the three T's, our time, talent, our treasure. Those are the three things that God has ah blessed us with and which we're going to see how do we have a right yeah attitude when it comes to our time, talent, our treasure.
00:04:17
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Mark chapter 10, if you will, turn with me there. We're going to continue on. You'll remember, if you've followed us these last couple of weeks We said discipleship, this following of Jesus, is counter-cultural.
00:04:31
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That what the world said is important, God's kingdom, it says that's not quite as important. That if you want to have power and you want to have position in the kingdom, you're not going to be the first, but you're to the last.
00:04:46
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Not only are you going to be the last, you're going serve the least. That's how it's done in the kingdom. And if you follow Jesus, there will be a cost, we said, that there will be some suffering involved.
00:05:00
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But as you're navigating discipleship, we we looked at last week, if you're doing that married, what does it look like to navigate that discipleship together?
00:05:11
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And we're going to continue again this morning and in the rest of 10 here. that following Jesus on this discipleship journey will require you to depend on something.
00:05:27
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We'll see what that something is here as we jump in. Let's look at this first account. This is the wrong idea. this is the wrong dependence. And in your Bible, chapter 10, starting in verse 17, probably has the title this, the rich man.
00:05:45
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your Bible has a title that says the rich man, will raise your hand just so I can see? Who is the rich man before I start reading? You are.
00:05:57
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Just keep that in mind before I start reading. Because oftentimes, friends, what we do is we read thinking that's somebody else that he's talking to. Everybody here today, he's talking to you. Verse 17 says, As Jesus started out his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him and knelt down before him and asked, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
00:06:21
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Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments. You must not murder. You must not commit adultery.
00:06:32
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You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. You are to honor your father and your mother. Teacher, the man replied, I've ab obeyed all these commandments since I was young.
00:06:47
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Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love
Internal Obedience and Transformation
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for him.
00:06:53
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Saying there is still one thing you have not done. Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.
00:07:05
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at this the man's face fell anyone away said for he had this this account the rich man is often noted in your bibles as the rich man the rich young man the rich young ruler depending upon where we're at um All three synoptic gospels refer to this guy as rich.
00:07:41
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Mark says he's rich. Matthew says he's young. Luke says he's a ruler. But here Mark simply says a man ran up to Jesus eagerly and knelt before him referring to Jesus as the good teacher. Hey, good teacher, I have a question for you.
00:08:00
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And he asks this fantastic question. What must I do to inherit life? How many times have we heard this question as we've studied scripture before, right? This is a pretty prominent question.
00:08:15
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I think today on the day when we're talking about possessions and money, inheritance means something. From a rich man, when you think to yourself, how do I inherit something?
00:08:29
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What do I do? My translation says, I must do something to inherit eternal life. He's asking Jesus here. So i just want to pause real quick. What are we doing to inherit something?
00:08:44
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What do you do when you inherit money, typically, in your family? Do you do anything to inherit money? Or is that money given to you? It's normally when somebody what?
00:08:55
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When somebody passes away, when somebody dies. Keep that in mind as we as we read on here. He says, what do I do to inherit eternal life?
00:09:08
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What must I do to be saved? What must I do to enter the kingdom of God? Which Jesus says, all you need to do is the following. And he starts listing out the latter half of the Ten Commandments here.
00:09:21
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The latter half of the Ten Commandments were all about our relationship with one another in light of our relationship with God. right The first five are all about you and God. The last half are all about you and others. He says, if you want inherit eternal life, all you have to do is follow this.
00:09:39
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Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness.
00:09:45
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Don't defraud, which is interesting, right? Because the real real command there is don't covet. But Jesus replaces that with here, don't defraud anybody.
00:09:57
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like Covetness is at the core of what happens when you have something and you want more of something, and you covet it. It's this internal struggle.
00:10:07
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I must have more. I must cling to more. And he's saying here that internal coveting will often exhibit itself as defrauding others.
00:10:20
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Some commentators will but even say, maybe Jesus is hinting at how this guy became rich. Maybe he became rich by defrauding others. Jesus' response to this young man is simply be obedient to the law.
00:10:37
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Obedience, however, is more than just an external compliance, right? Y'all were reading about that Leviticus today, I believe. Right? Obedience, the heart of love towards God that produces this internal transformation. Right? This is why we obey. We don't simply obey just for the sake of obeying. We obey because there's been an internal heart change within us.
00:11:01
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To which is, man, you have to love his response. Well, teacher, I've obeyed all that since I was young. all I have to do is obey those commandments? Oh, I've done that.
00:11:14
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Do I think this man is earnest in his questioning of Jesus? I sure do. I don't think he's like the Pharisees. I don't think he's trying to trick Jesus. I think this is a man who's coming to Jesus and kneeling down in this position of submission saying, I want to learn from you, teacher, good teacher, rabbi, what am I to do to inherit life?
00:11:36
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Jesus said just follow those commandments. And he says, I've done all that.
00:11:44
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Verse 21, I love this. Look with me at verse 21 what it says here.
00:11:50
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Gazing at him. This loving gaze. You almost have to picture it on Jesus' face as he looks to this guy like,
00:12:01
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really?
00:12:04
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Really? Because he knew something else was going on internally with this guy. Oh, externally you've been following the rules? He says, well, There's one thing you haven't done. And Jesus drops this bombshell on them, right?
00:12:19
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You lack one thing. And he goes on like Jesus does, and he lists four things. Right? don't you like that? You're missing one thing, but here's the four things, four imperatives. Go, sell, give, follow.
00:12:32
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If you're somebody who highlights or underlines or circles in your Bible, you might want to circle that. Verse 21. Verse 21.
00:12:41
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There's one thing you have yet to do. Go, sell, give, follow.
00:12:51
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What was this man's problem internally? He's clinging to his stuff. He says, if you really want to follow me, if you really want to be a disciple, Jesus tells him, all you simply have to do is stop depending on that stuff and start depending on me.
00:13:09
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How do we know that? Well, he says... Sell, go, sell, give. All of that's wrapped up into one. And when you do that, come and follow me.
The Cost of Discipleship
00:13:20
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This is the way of discipleship. You must go and sell and give up that thing which is most costly in your life. And we can tell this was a struggle for the man because it says in verse 22, look with me, this man's face, what?
00:13:38
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Fell. Fell. Right? So you can picture it. He's looking. Jesus. You know, he's eager. He comes to Jesus. He's at his feet. Jesus, just tell me what I need to do to have eternal life.
00:13:49
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What I need to do to inherit it? Just follow the commandments. Sell everything that you have and come and follow me. And so as the guy's face went from this to this, right?
00:14:04
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It's this posture of defeat because he cannot let go of that stuff.
00:14:15
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And I just put a note to myself before we're real quick to judge that guy we're all that guy.
00:14:26
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And I thought to myself this week what do we depend on? What are we clinging to? What are we putting our trust in and our stuff? I just put down a couple examples. How about that 401k plan that you're that you love to look at every so often online.
00:14:42
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Is that thing going up? Is that thing going down? Am I investments wise? Am I making money?
00:14:50
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Financial advisors call that your safety what? Oh yeah, your safety net. And I'll just put a note to myself. What if Jesus required you to give that up today to follow him?
00:15:07
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What about that savings account? Those of you Dave Ramsey followers who have your envelope of money that you're not spending. You're waiting for the apocalypse to come so that you can have all that savings.
00:15:21
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Is that savings going to save you?
00:15:29
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Now, don't get me wrong, those of you who have stuff, which is all of you
00:15:39
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Those things in and of themselves are not bad things. Jesus is not telling you that wealth is evil. He's not saying you can't have acreage, to which all the farmers are like, thank you, Lord.
00:15:53
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But it's when that property begins to own you, when that bank account begins to own you, when that 401k plan becomes something you depend in and trust on.
00:16:11
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Instead, we need to do something else here. We need to place that trust. we need to cling on something else besides just the almighty dollar. That's why we put it at the the front of this sermon, depending on the dollar.
00:16:25
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right The dollar is your treasure or your time or your talent. All three of these are your God-given resources.
00:16:39
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I just also put, this is not a message also on the other side, this is not a message of poverty. This is not saying all Christians, if you want to follow, must go and sell everything, if you want to follow. This was for these people at this time.
00:16:55
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But it's a message that speaks to you and I if we have a problem with stuff, if we have a problem letting go of stuff.
00:17:06
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It says at this moment this man's face fell fell and he was sad and he left because he had many things. It's this picture that discipleship does indeed have a cost if we want to follow.
00:17:18
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For this guy the cost was too high so he just said he didn't follow.
Lessons from Children: Humility and Trust
00:17:22
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He didn't go like Jesus said. He didn't go sell everything. He didn't give it to the poor. And he didn't go follow Jesus. It says he turned and and left.
00:17:33
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So instead of depending on our possessions, what should we do? Well, he gives us this beautiful picture here at the beginning of chapter 10, verses 13 through 16.
00:17:44
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Look with me. He says, instead of being like the rich man, The heading for your section in in on verse 13 says Jesus blesses the children. right Instead of being like the rich man who had the wrong idea when it comes to your stuff, he says rather be like the children. Verse 13 reads, One day some parents brought their children to Jesus.
00:18:08
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so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. And he said to them, look let the children come to me.
00:18:20
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Don't stop them. For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth. Anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
00:18:36
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And then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their head and he blessed them. So two different pictures here, right? You have the rich man who's doing the wrong way and we have the right way to counter that story, if you will.
00:18:48
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He says, let these children come to me, verse 14, for the kingdom of God belongs to not... These children, don't ah don't misinterpret that. He's not saying the kingdom of God belongs to these five or six that are right here.
00:19:04
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He's saying it belongs to those people, you and i who are like these children. He says, I tell you the truth, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. So what does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a child?
00:19:21
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That's the question you should be asking yourself right now. It's this characteristic of children that enables them to accept everything as a gift. It's what he's talking about here.
00:19:34
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Let me give you a ah picture. Young children, when it comes to the dinner table, rely on their parents for food, don't they?
00:19:45
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They don't come with any presuppositions or assumptions when they come to the dinner table. They have nothing themselves to offer to the dinner process. They come to consume.
00:19:56
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They are completely dependent upon somebody to provide them with food. He says, in this way, children who are to receive the kingdom of God come without presumption, without assumption that they deserve anything. They are simply coming in humility, acknowledging their total and utter dependence on the person providing that food.
00:20:21
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Who is that person and in our story here? He says, let the children come to me, Jesus says. Right? So we're no longer depending on our stuff. We're no longer clinging to our stuff. He says the right attitude here to have is to be just like these children.
00:20:37
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If you want to enter the kingdom of God, you have to come in utter dependence, clinging to, depending on, trusting in not your stuff, but Jesus.
00:20:52
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So there's obviously two things going on here, right? There's Am I going to depend on my stuff or am I going depend on Jesus? And I put down as a note,
00:21:14
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Because they've been with him all this time. They've seen what it takes to be a disciple up to this point. But look with me, jump down here to verse 23. Just when you think the disciples get it says Jesus looked around, verse 23, and he said to his disciples, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. right This is this guy who just said, what do I need to do?
00:21:36
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Give up everything and follow me. The rich man says, I can't do it. He says, how hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, to which the disciples were amazed.
00:21:48
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Dumbfounded is really the word here, right? They're shocked. Wait a second, if this guy who's rich can't make it into heaven, what about the rest of us? That's what's going on here, right?
00:22:00
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Because in Jesus' time, divine blessing was just that. If you had a lot of stuff, it meant God was blessing you. And his disciples are like, wait a second, this guy's got all the stuff he can't make it in?
00:22:15
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What's happening here? then Jesus kind of doubles down, and I love this. Look, verse 24, it says, Dear children, it's very hard to enter the kingdom of God.
00:22:26
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And then he gives this great picture. And I'm just going to tell you, anybody who's been written who and raised in the church, you've heard this before. Let me give you this picture. He says, In fact, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person entered the kingdom of God.
00:22:40
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And I'm going to tell you for a long time, that was baffling to me. Is that baffling to anybody? Just don't understand that illustration?
00:22:49
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It might be because the word for camel and the in the word for rope are very similar. And I'm not saying that Jesus didn't say camel here. But if you think, if you've ever taken a needle and you've seen just how small that eye of the needle is, it's hard enough to get a piece of thread in there. And I'm to tell you, with eyesight bad, it's even worse.
00:23:12
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Now imagine shoving a rope in there. Right? and you're like, impossible. Now, follow with me. Now, imagine a camel walking through there, right?
00:23:25
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This picture somehow of a camel making it through the eye of the needle. Impossible, right? He's saying it's easier for that big rope to be shoved into that eye of the needle or for the camel to go through that eye of the needle than what?
00:23:39
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Than that rich man who's clinging to his stuff, who's depending on his stuff for that guy to enter the kingdom of God.
00:23:49
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To which his disciples, it says verse 26, they're astounded. Who then among us, who then in the world could possibly be saved? To which Jesus looks at them intently and says, well, humanly speaking, it's impossible.
00:24:05
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But it's not and impossible for God.
God's Ability to Do the Impossible
00:24:08
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Because everything is possible with God. see What's he saying here in this in this picture?
00:24:19
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He's saying, if that possession, if that stuff you've collected over your lifetime is so weighty and you have a real hard time letting it go that's going to be a hindrance for you getting into the kingdom of God.
00:24:37
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And for some of you, if you are in that position, you may have to shed or loosen that grip on some of that stuff so that you can free yourself. it's a It's a picture, friends, of what giving looks like.
00:24:55
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And I just put a note to myself. Cling to God and not our stuff. Doesn't seem like a shocking proposition, but it's so shocking for a lot of people. Because if I asked you right now how much money do you have in your bank account, that would be pretty offensive to many people. I'm not telling you that.
00:25:13
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Why do you need to know that? Because when it comes to money, people are funny.
00:25:22
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So what do we do with this passage today? Well, Jesus kind of kind of gives us not a summary, but he kind of says here in verse...
00:25:35
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20, well, I don't even want to read. look Yeah, i'll read I'll read all of 29 and 30 just because it'll help fill in what's going on. He says, i assure you everyone who's given up a house or a brother or sisters or mother or a father or children or property for my sake and for the good news will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses or brothers or sisters or mothers, children or property.
00:25:59
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And I like this. And along with prosecut persecution. Persecution. right You give it up now. but We just talked about this couple weeks ago. Suffer now, glory later. right Same concept he's saying now.
00:26:11
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Give it up now. Don't cling to your stuff now. Jesus is saying in eternity you're going to be blessed hundredfold.
Resources as God's Loan
00:26:22
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But it says, but many, 31, but many who are the greatest now will be the least important then and those who seem The least important now will be the greatest of that. right It's this flip of what the world's view is.
00:26:36
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So what do we do with this today? What do we but do we take away from this passage? How do we develop this eternal perspective on our stuff?
00:26:48
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I made it easy for you. I did a bunch of looks. right Look above, look at, and look ahead. Look above means it it all comes from him. It's this attitude, if you haven't grasped it yet, if nobody has taught it to you yet and your in your biblical education, is that everything that you have comes from him.
00:27:11
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I'll say that again. Everything you have, all of your stuff, comes from
00:27:19
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And when we acknowledge that all that stuff, our money, our homes, our cars, our property, everything originates from him, it's all a blessing from him, then very easily makes my money become his money.
00:27:34
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Because it's his money in the first place. Does that make sense? But pastor, I earned that money. I've heard that before.
00:27:43
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Really? Or did he allow you to earn that money that was his in the first place. But I'll get to that just a second.
00:27:54
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My money is his money. Repeat after me. My money is his money. We look above. And when we take that perspective, it's a preventative measure from us having what I like to call the Klingon disease.
00:28:10
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It's not a Star Trek reference, all you nerdy Star Trek people out there. not talking that type of Klingon. We're talking about this type of Klingon that holds on to our stuff for dear life because we think somehow that's going to save us or cushion us or I don't want to give it up because I don't know if it's ever going to be replaced.
00:28:34
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good friend of mine says you can never out give God.
00:28:43
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How do we develop this eternal perspective on our stuff? I think it begins with looking above, knowing that all comes from him. Second, look at. It's all on loan to you. but He's giving you that stuff, your time, your talent, your treasure, so that you can use that for his glory.
00:29:06
Speaker
All throughout the Bible we see examples and parables about what God expects from you and I when it comes to our time, talent, and our treasures. All three of these are ah resources on loan to you and I so that we will take those and use them for kingdom work and when we do, he blesses us in that sense.
00:29:28
Speaker
It comes from him, it's on loan to you, what do we do with it? That's the question that you're going to take home this week. If it's all his in the first place and he's given it to you to use for kingdom purposes, we're going to look ahead.
00:29:42
Speaker
How do we use that for kingdom purposes? I put one surefire way we can develop an eternal perspective on our money, on how we give money today, is that we look ahead.
00:29:53
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Meaning, what type of ministries am I supporting now they're going to pay off later?
00:30:03
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What impact are those organizations that we support, both here at the church and you personally, what impact are those organizations going to have to the next generation and the next generation and their generation?
00:30:18
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so Because that's the power of your stuff now when you realize it's his stuff and it's just on loan to you and you're going to use it for his kingdom. He's just going to keep blessing that and it's just going to go generation after generation after generation.
00:30:34
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You and I are called to be good stewards of that money that's on loan to us. And the best way we can do that is that we give sacrificially. We give sacrificially knowing that he's going to refill that.
00:30:49
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He's going to give back to you some way. Now this is not, I want to be real mindful here. Listen to what I'm not saying to you. I'm not saying give money now and you're going to get tenfold back.
00:31:00
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Because that's a televangelism thing. Pastors, downfall right there. right It does say, however, if you have the right attitude when it comes to God's resources and you're giving back those resources knowing where they came from and you have this eternal perspective, it says it's lot easier to let loose of the things that aren't really yours to begin with.
00:31:24
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If I find $10, I'm much easier and more apt to give that $10 away because it wasn't mine in the first place. Guess what? All that stuff you have isn't yours in the first place.
00:31:36
Speaker
God's allowed you to have it, and he's testing you and I to see, are we going to be good stewards of that money? Are we going to give it away? Are we going to be sacrificial, knowing that he's going to be obedient in blessing you and I? What does that look like? I don't know what that looks like for you and today in your house, but I just put a note to myself, maybe I should be looking a little closer how I spend my money.
00:32:03
Speaker
Maybe I should do a financial audit of my stuff.
00:32:10
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I don't know if that's you today, but I just put down
00:32:15
Speaker
Do I really need that safety blanket, that safety net? And I put a question mark. That's for me. I don't know if that's for you, if that's for somebody here today. But you have this false sense of security when it comes to that bank account or that savings account or that account.
00:32:30
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I'm just telling you that there's there's something about what God is saying here today that we've got to give up whatever's hindering us. All just want end with this.
00:32:43
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When it comes to money, I don't want us to be I don't want us to be funny. I don't want us to be weird about what the Bible says when it comes to to the money and the blessings that come from it.
00:32:56
Speaker
I also want us to be confident that what God has blessed us in the past, he's constantly blessing us right now in the present, and he will be blessing us in the future. And I just put down, can we be a people? Can I challenge you this week to be ah people, a congregation, First Baptist Church, who doesn't cling to our stuff
00:33:19
Speaker
but rather we cling to him. And all God's people said.