One Thing - The Rich Young Ruler

Langford Road 11th November 2001 p.m.

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ONE THING The Rich Ruler LUKE 18:18-30 18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No-one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.’a” 21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” 28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” 29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no-one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” 1

What sort of a difference would a lot of money make to your life? There’s a kind of obsession these days with becoming a millionaire, or winning a fortune. Many people think that having a lot of money would transform their lives for the better. The man who came to Jesus had everything – well, according to most people’s ideas anyway. He was rich and he was young and he was a good person. But when he came to Jesus to ask for the secret of eternal life Jesus went on to challenge the quality of his life. 1The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1984; Publsihed in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996 (electronic edition.) (Lk 18:18-30). London: Hodder & Stoughton.

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Langford Road 11th November 2001 p.m.

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ONE THING YOU NEED He said…

I want you to think about that for a moment. This man is sure there is a secret to eternal life – he is right, but it is an unusual secret. What did Jesus say to him? “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” It doesn’t sound like ONE THING does it? Sell everything Give to the poor Have treasure in heaven Come, follow me… I want to know what it is, that ONE THING. Whatever it was the man wasn’t able to follow it – and he went away sad. So… Is it selling everything and giving to the poor? That’s a very noble thing to do. It would certainly demonstrate that he really, really wanted eternal life – but I get the feeling he wanted his present life too – and the riches he was unwilling to give up. Now that is obviously PART of the ONE THING – but it isn’t the one thing that Jesus means. It’s a measure of how much he was prepared to have the life. Not a suggestion that he could somehow “buy” favour with God. Is it “Have treasure in heaven”? Obviously that is part of it too – but it’s not immediately clear how he is to do that – except for giving away what he already has.

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Langford Road 11th November 2001 p.m.

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So what really is the ONE THING? “Then come, follow me…”

Yes! There is only one way to God, one way to eternal life, one way to heaven and forgiveness and lasting happiness – and the secret is in JESUS Follow ME Down through the years there’s been a witness in this building to this truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only One who can forgive sins, change lives, give real fulfilment here and in the life to come. But as Jesus goes on to explain – in this man’s case it was hard for him to enter the kingdom of heaven – because he was too attached to his possessions. Like people today – he thought that held real happiness. He could not turn his back on his way of life. And if you follow Jesus you have to do that. You have to forsake your own sense of self importance, any idea that you can buy God’s approval with the way you live – you have to REPENT and TURN and FOLLOW HIM. And He goes the way of the Cross. Will you do that? Or will you go away sad?

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