7168

Save as #7168

Mark 10:17 "And when He was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to Him, and asked Him, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

We will see shortly that this man had everything else, but he wants eternal life.

Mark 10:18 "And Jesus said unto him, "Why callest thou Me good: there is none good but one, that is, God."

Jesus is asking this question of the young man to get his thinking process started. Jesus is checking this person out, and reminding him that when you see the Son, you have seen the Father.

Mark 10:19 "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother."

Jesus is checking this young fellow out by repeating some of the commandments. We have five of the ten commandments here, all those that deal with man's actions against other his fellow man. The one commandment that I will draw closer attention to here is the commandment; "Do not kill."

Kill in the Greek text is #5407 in Strong's Greek dictionary; "phoneuo;, fan'-yo-o; from 5406, to be a murderer (of), kill, do murder, slay." So lets go to the prime meaning for the word that Jesus used. # 5406; "phoneus, fon'-yooce; a murderer, always a criminal, [at least intentional] homicide, while #4607 is a specific term for a public bandit], murderer."

Many places in the King James English, it is all translated "kill", instead of the true intent of the word. It is on this basis that many do not believe in capital punishment. They are wrong to believe this. They just don't understand what the word kill means. To kill against the commandment of God is always a criminal act, intentional murder, and criminal homicide. It does not apply to the act of war, nor the killing of animals for food. It also does not apply to the taking of another's life in defense of your own, or a member of your families life. There is quite a bit difference to the putting a criminal to death in the enforcement of the law, and the act of premeditating to commit an homicide. So Jesus is saying that you should do not murder.

Mark 10:20 "And he answered and said unto Him, "Master, all these have I observed from my youth."

Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."

This young man was very sincere in the way he lived his life, and dedicated himself to the commandments of God. Jesus was telling this man to give up his ill-gotten wealth and come and be His disciple. Remember in verse nineteen where Jesus was giving five of his ten commandments dealing with sin against his fellow man, Jesus added "Defraud not", because many people that are rich partake in ripping off a brother before they can rip him off. Their riches are from ill-gotten gains. Christ can look right into this man's mind, and he knows the what his weakness are. Jesus is telling this man that his ill-gotten gain will never do him any good.

Mark 10:22 "And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions."

No doubt those possessions cause the young man grief, for he had to make the choice between the following Christ, and his possessions. Did Christ hate this young man? No Christ loved him.

Mark 10:23 "And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto His disciples, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"

This is not talking about riches that come from God's blessings, but this is talking about ill-gotten gains from defrauding our brothers and sisters. God expects you to enjoy those blessings and riches that He sends your way, for doing things God's way. When you do it God's way, He will add those things to you when you do His Work. But if you defraud somebody, that is what this young man was doing.

Mark 10:24 "And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, "Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"

Many times as you learn to love the Lord, and center your interest in Him, He will add the riches to you. If your interest is not in the riches, than your methods will not be there either.

Mark 10:25 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

What this refers to at the time of this writing, was a door called "the needle" standing along side the entrance gate entering into the city. After hours, the main gates were closed, and the side door or "the needle" was opened to allow for entrance into the city. At night there were not a large number of guards there to watch those entering into the city. When a rich man would enter the needle gate at night, he had to get off his camel, and remove all his goods from off the camel to enter by the guards into the city.

There is one thing that has to happen before this man could enter into the city through that needle gate, he had to remove the load of riches off the animal he was riding, and come through by his own walking. This is what Christ is talking about, if you have any ill-gotten gains, you will have to get rid of them first, and then you can go through.

John's Note: All of the above may well be true, But, here is something else you need to consider when reading verse 21, above. Do you think Christ was explaining this on the physical or the spiritual level?

I believe we Christians all too often think in the physical terms when we should be looking at the spiritual! Let's read it again.

What shall you give to the poor,
in order to gain treasure for yourself in heaven?

From Pmphlet #3023
(Later we will learn the answer to the above question in Matthew 11:5)

Christ is now going to tell the young rich man
what to do about what he "lacks",
which is "perfection" which means maturity in the Word of God.

Take note of the word "IF" used again in this verse for it is a matter of choice...
your choice!

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Unfortunately, this statement went right over the head of the rich man,
as it does with most Christians who are blinded by the traditions of men.

Even the disciples did not think this out on the spiritual level Christ was explaining,
which is simply the same thing He stated before which was IF the man
truly wanted to be "perfect", complete and mature,
then he needed to keep the commandments,
which is to do God's will.

All Christ is doing now is expounding upon the will of God,
which is to do the work His servants were sent here to do... which is what?

Pop quiz time again!

Remember Mat. 13? Go "sell all you have"
and purchase the field full of spiritual riches and that pearl of great price.

Matthew 13:44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth,
and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."

Then, once he or she "is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven"
that servant becomes as an householder
and is to take of that precious treasure and bring it forth to their household!

Matthew 13:52 "Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."

Again, what does a true servant of God do?

Does a servant of God spend most of his or her time going to church
and helping out with all sorts of good charities
like raising money and canned goods to feed the poor?

Don't get me wrong,
there is nothing wrong with helping people who are down and out,
as long as those who are down and out are intent
on raising themselves back up to the level of self-sufficiency.

And it goes without saying that the handicapped
and those who are unable to provide for themselves are another matter.

However, just giving money to the poor
does not help the poor beyond the moment.

The old adage
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,
but teach a man how to fish and you feed for a lifetime"
is true indeed.

Do-gooder liberals like to feel good (and righteous) by giving of their possessions,
or better yet giving of yours (like your tax dollars or charitable donations)
to those who are willing to play the roles of victims and accept freebies and handouts.

Many there are who are infected with the social disease "Itsnotmyfaultism".
True Christians accept responsibility and pay their own way.

Now let's go back and reread what Christ said to the rich man.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

What is it that the man was to "give to the poor"?
All his material goods that he possessed?

Again, will giving material goods to the poor
"lay up treasure in heaven" for you?

No, it will not!

The poor are to have the precious pearls of wisdom and truth
given to them by those who possess the keys to the kingdom.

Because you see,
Christ is not talking about the materially poor
but rather the spiritually poor,
the poor in spirit!

Hello!

What is it that makes one rich and gives one life?

It is the Living Word of God, the gospel of truth!

Matthew 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

What has the subject been all along here?
Salvation to the poor, to the blind, to the lame,
to those LOST children of the house of Israel
who wander blindly to and fro in the wilderness.

Christ came to save the lost!

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross to make all of this possible.
Let us continue the good news
and the giving to the poor the precious pearls of His truth
that they may come to know Him and be set free.

The "meek" to whom the "good tidings", i.e. the gospel,
are preached are the "poor" in spirit, not the materially poor.

Remember we read of those materially rich people of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-19)
who "art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" indeed!

In contrast, those of the church of Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11)
who are one of the only two churches out the seven found pleasing to Christ
for the works they do in keeping His Word, are just the opposite.

In other words,
they may not be materially rich but they are spiritually rich!

Rev. 2:9 "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)..."

We could go on and on covering again what the
"kingdom of God is like unto"
but the fact is that one cannot have his or her heart set on studying and teaching Father's Word
and still be consumed with coveting the material things of this world.

Remember we learned that one cannot serve both God and mammon.
One or the other as a matter of priority has to go.

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Which will it be for you?
You see, what the rich man served was the god of gold and silver,
so what he really needed to "sell" was the idol,
the golden image in his head,
and "buy of Him gold tried in the fire"
that he might become rich spiritually!

Then he could give to the poor of those riches and lay up store for himself in heaven.

Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

The young rich man was consumed (as in coveted) with laying up treasures on earth.

[20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

If your heart is in giving the true spiritual riches of His Word to the poor,
then you shall lay up treasures for yourself in heaven.

The ironic part is,
that those who love bringing forth out of their treasure
the new and old riches to their household,
do not do so for the purpose of laying up treasure in heaven.

They do it because they love the Lord
and they love their brothers and sisters
who are held in bondage by man's traditions.

The question for all to ask,
"Where's your own heart?"

This is the generation wherein Jeshurun waxes fat (Deut. 32:15),
meaning that it is a time of peace and prosperity.

Many do not realize that peace and prosperity
brings about a greater spiritual testing (a greater tribulation)
than do times of war and conflict.

In other words,
people are real quick to turn to God
when they find themselves frightened in a foxhole
or in danger from hanging upside-down in a well.

But when they are safe and warm and fat and happy with money in the bank
and a fancy car in the driveway,
they are quick to turn from God!

That is the story of this generation
as outlined in the Song of Moses
which the overcomers sing in Rev. 15.

Here's how the sad story goes:

Deut. 32:15 "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of His salvation."

And so it is our people in times of peace and prosperity
are drawn away from the Word of God
and do lightly esteem the Rock of His salvation,
Jesus Christ.

Again,
where is your heart?

What is foremost on your mind everyday when you wake up?

[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also