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  • Dr. Charles Stanley: Money can do some things; it can do

  • many good things in the right hands.

  • But it can't satisfy the longing of your soul.

  • It can't satisfy the longing of your heart.

  • It can't satisfy that which God has placed in you that only He can fill;

  • and that is a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus.

  • male announcer: Next on "In Touch," "Is Something Missing In Your Life?"

  • Dr. Stanley: When you think about your life,

  • what would you change if you--if you had the

  • privilege of changing anything, what would you change?

  • Would you change your income?

  • Your health?

  • Your job, your profession?

  • Would you change where you live, what you drive?

  • Would you change who you're married to?

  • That would be dangerous.

  • Would you change where you live?

  • Would you change some areas of your life that are personal and

  • private?

  • What would you change in your life, if you could just change

  • something, or if you feel the need to change something because

  • something's missing?

  • Maybe you don't know what it is, but deep down inside something's

  • missing.

  • Because you have a good job, maybe.

  • You have a good income.

  • You like where you live.

  • You've got good health; happily married maybe.

  • And so on and on you go but there's something hanging out

  • there that you can't put your finger on.

  • Something's missing.

  • You've tried this and this and this.

  • You've been here and yonder.

  • And people make changes in life that's not the real change they

  • need; but there's something missing in their life and they

  • want to find out what it is.

  • Well, that's what our passage of scripture's all about, somebody

  • who had it all, and yet something was missing.

  • So I want to encourage you to listen carefully and to turn in

  • your Bible to Mark, chapter ten.

  • And I want us to read these verses.

  • And I want to give you a little something right up front.

  • Sometimes people read this passage of scripture and they

  • say, Well that doesn't apply to me because I'm not a rich person.

  • Well, you don't know whether that applies to you or not till

  • you listen.

  • And so I want to encourage you to listen carefully because

  • there are messages from this passage of scripture maybe

  • you've never seen.

  • And I can tell you one thing: there is a message here for

  • everybody, everybody.

  • And it just may be that you're one of those persons who wants a

  • change in your life and you can't figure out what it is.

  • It just might be that you figure out what it is in this

  • particular passage.

  • So, let's begin and let me say right up front, in the--in your

  • Bible in this passage there's probably in dark, a little bit

  • larger print a title called the Rich Young Ruler.

  • But if you read that passage, you say, Well, where is that in

  • here?

  • And in Matthew, he's called a young man.

  • In Mark, this fellow's called a man.

  • And in Luke, he's called a certain ruler.

  • So we have a certain, or a rich young ruler.

  • That's however they get that title.

  • So let's begin in this tenth-- seventeenth verse of the tenth

  • chapter, "As He was setting out on a journey," Jesus that is, "a

  • man ran up to Him and knelt down before Him, and asked Him, 'Good

  • Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'

  • And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good?

  • No one is good except God alone.

  • You know the commandments, "Do not murder, do not commit

  • adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not

  • defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

  • And he said to Him, 'Teacher, I have kept all these things from

  • my youth up.' Looking at him, Jesus felt a

  • love for him and He said to him, 'One thing you lack: go and sell

  • all you possess, give to the poor, and you will have treasure

  • in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But at these words he was

  • saddened, and he went away grieved, for he was one who

  • owned much property.

  • And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, 'How hard it

  • is, and how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to inherit

  • the kingdom of God!' The disciples were amazed at

  • these words and-- But Jesus answered again and

  • said to them, 'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom

  • of God!

  • 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.'

  • They were even more astonished and said to Him, 'Then who can

  • be saved?' Looking at them, Jesus said,

  • 'With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things

  • are possible with God.'" Now, you look at that passage

  • and you say, Well, you know, I'm not rich.

  • I don't know what in the world that has to do with me.

  • Well let me just say right up front you can have everything

  • the world has to offer.

  • You can have it all and yet something missing in your life.

  • And this is where many people are.

  • They have it all; and yet there's something out there that

  • sort of gnaws at them.

  • It just sort of hangs in there.

  • It won't go away, some need that they have.

  • And so when you think about this young man, the scripture says he

  • was rich, he was young, and let's say he was healthy and he

  • was a ruler.

  • So think about this.

  • Isn't this what most people, this generation, younger folks

  • coming along, what do they want?

  • They want riches.

  • They want some authority, some power, some position.

  • And they want to be able to get along in life and they want it

  • usually pretty fast and they want it to come their way while

  • they're young.

  • And there's nothing wrong with having desires for your life.

  • But what do those desires do in your life when they become

  • fruition?

  • And so the scripture says he was a rich young ruler and he had

  • all that you'd think he would possibly need, all he thought he

  • needed, rich, young and authority; position in life.

  • And so it sounds like he lived in the twenty-first century.

  • So if I were to ask you, Would you like to be rich, young and

  • have position?

  • If you were honest, most of you would raise your hand.

  • Well is there anything wrong with being rich, young and

  • having position?

  • No, there's not.

  • You see, the truth is we are not thinking properly about life,

  • and we're short-sighted, if we think gold, money and so forth's

  • going to satisfy us, position and good health and

  • opportunities are going to satisfy us, there's still going

  • to be something missing.

  • It was true in this young man's life in the scripture and it's

  • true in life.

  • The second lesson I want us to notice is this.

  • That our love and desire for material things can cause us to

  • miss the most important thing in life.

  • People don't realize that money is dangerous.

  • Somebody says, Well what could be dangerous about money?

  • It's what it does.

  • It's the attitude people have, that if I have enough money, I

  • can go where I want to go, do what I want to do, marry who I

  • want to marry, wear what I want to wear, drive what I want to

  • drive, live where I want to live, eat where I want to eat

  • and on and on and on it goes.

  • That may be some of the things that money can do, but that

  • doesn't satisfy you.

  • But think about this.

  • You can have all the money in the world you want; if you don't

  • have good health, you can't buy it.

  • If you're not, listen.

  • If you don't have anybody to love, you can't buy it.

  • If you don't have anyone who loves you, you can't buy it.

  • In other words, you don't--you can't buy peace, joy, happiness,

  • contentment; and you certainly cannot buy eternal life.

  • Money can do some things; it can do many good things in the right

  • hands.

  • But it can't satisfy the longing of your soul.

  • It can't satisfy the longing of your heart.

  • It can't satisfy that which God has placed in you that only He

  • can fill; and that is a personal relationship with God through

  • His Son, Jesus.

  • You may be one of those very, very wealthy persons.

  • You have it all.

  • You have the prestige and the prominence and the popularity

  • and the position, the power.

  • You have the money, you can buy anything you want, go anywhere

  • you want to go.

  • But deep down inside there's something missing.

  • And that something that's missing is a personal

  • relationship with the Son of God.

  • And this young man had all of it.

  • You could say, Well what is it that you need?

  • He didn't need anything.

  • He had everything.

  • But if you'll notice, he'd become so desperate when he

  • heard about Jesus, the Bible says this young man ran to him

  • and fell on his knees.

  • Somebody told him, Here's the man who can satisfy the longing

  • of your heart.

  • Here's the man who can give you eternal life.

  • And he ran to Jesus.

  • And in those days, running in public was sort of a--if you had

  • any dignity at all, you didn't run in public.

  • He's running to Jesus, falling down before Him and what's

  • happening?

  • He simply says to Him, he asked Him, "Good Teacher what shall I

  • do to inherit eternal life?" So, that in spite of all he had

  • and all he was and all his relationships he finally

  • discovered that what he didn't have was the one thing his money

  • couldn't buy.

  • His popularity couldn't provide for him.

  • And none of his efforts seemed to make any difference.

  • He desired eternal life.

  • So he comes running to Jesus and says to Him, you know, "What can

  • I do to inherit eternal life?" And I would say to you, The gift

  • of eternal life is not the result of our good works.

  • In other words, you don't get there by good conduct.

  • And if you'll notice how Jesus approached this.

  • So, He didn't condemn him, when He said to him, He said, "What

  • shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

  • And look what Jesus does.

  • He begins with the commandments.

  • He skips the first four about loving God and so forth; and the

  • Sabbath, He, he skips those.

  • And then He skips the last one.

  • And then He says to him, He says, "You know the

  • commandments."

  • He starts out with, "Do not murder."

  • See, He's just talked about how he lived.

  • He says, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal,

  • do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father

  • and mother.' And he said to Him, 'Well

  • Teacher, I have done all these things all of my life,'" huh!

  • Well, then if that's it, why don't I have any peace and joy

  • and, why am I running to You and kneeling down before You and

  • asking, "What can I do to inherit eternal life?"

  • Because I've done all these things.

  • Well, notice Jesus didn't say, Thou shall not covet at the end.

  • He skipped the first four and the last one, because Jesus knew

  • what his problem was.

  • He was very wealthy.

  • In fact, in Luke He says he was extremely wealthy.

  • And so he says, "I have kept all these things from my youth up."

  • Then what he was expecting Jesus to say, well, if you've done all

  • those things, you can have the gift of eternal life.

  • But Jesus didn't tell him that.

  • And so the scripture says that "Jesus looked at him and, felt a

  • love for him and and said to him, 'One thing you lack,'"

  • there's something missing in your life.

  • "Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you'll

  • have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

  • Now, his whole idea was that if he did enough good things, he

  • would be saved.

  • Listen to me.

  • The majority of the world had the same--has the same idea.

  • If I'm a good person and I don't steal, I don't lie, I don't

  • cheat, I'm a good husband, I'm a good wife, or I give a little

  • bit to the church, I do all these things, then surely I'm

  • going to be saved.

  • When the Bible says so clearly, not by works of righteousness

  • which we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us.

  • If a person could be saved by doing good, Jesus wouldn't have

  • had to die on the Cross.

  • And so, he is coming to Jesus on the basis that here's what I've

  • done, so therefore I ought to have the gift of eternal life.

  • And the Bible says that Jesus looked at him and loved him.

  • Watch this, He didn't condemn him; He loved him because He

  • knew he was totally deceived.

  • He thought that all this he'd accumulated and all the good

  • reputation he had would get him into heaven.

  • And when Jesus gave him the Commandments and was bringing

  • him to the point to realize there was sin in his life, he

  • just--watch what happens, the Scripture says, "Jesus felt a

  • love for him and said to him, 'One thing you lacked: go and

  • sell all your possessions, give to the poor and you'll have

  • treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.'"

  • Now let's clarify one thing.

  • That's not the way you get saved.

  • In other words, he's not saying if you give all this, you'll get

  • saved.

  • What he was dealing with here is this fact the sin in his life,

  • this covetousness that he was depending on all of this to save

  • him.

  • And he's simply saying here's what you do.

  • Now does that mean to, in order to be saved, or that Jesus meant

  • in order to be saved, sell everything you got, give to the

  • poor?

  • No, because, watch this, this was an incident.

  • This was one occasion in which what he needed to deal with his

  • covetousness and his sin, and his understanding was that the

  • thing that stood between him and salvation was his greed, his

  • covetous spirit, his dependence on material things rather than

  • upon God.

  • So in this given occasion for him, salvation meant look you're

  • not going to get there by earning it.

  • You've got to get there by surrendering everything to Me

  • and trusting Me as your Savior.

  • And so what did he do?

  • He absolutely turned down eternal life.

  • Listen, he tried to hold onto something he couldn't keep, when

  • he could have had something he couldn't lose.

  • And so people don't realize if they spend their time trying to

  • accumulate this that and the other to get peace and happiness

  • and satisfaction, they'll end up missing the very thing that they

  • spent their life trying to receive.

  • Because you just see, to some people it's a prideful issue,

  • you mean to tell me, and I've had people tell me, You mean to

  • tell me that all I have to do is accept Jesus Christ as my

  • personal Savior?

  • What else am I supposed to do?

  • I said nothing.

  • No-no-no.

  • They can't accept it.

  • You know why they can't accept it?

  • It's pride and here's the pride, listen, I must do something in

  • order to be saved.

  • You see that's absolute pride.

  • They want to do something that they think to take credit for in

  • order to be saved.

  • No, when I was twelve years of age, I didn't have anything to

  • take credit for.

  • And no matter who you are whenever you were saved, you and

  • I came as sinners and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save us by

  • His grace and love and mercy, not on the basis of anything

  • we'd done, going to do, had, going to give, have given,

  • nothing.

  • And that's the wonderful thing about salvation.

  • It is a gift of God, it is not something that you and I own.

  • So, Jesus loves us even when we make the wrong choices.

  • The Bible says that Jesus looked at him and loved him for he

  • said, "Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to

  • him, 'One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, give it to

  • the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven; come, follow

  • Me.' These words he was saddened, and

  • he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much

  • property."

  • And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, 'How hard it

  • is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!'"

  • He says it's hard.

  • Why?

  • Because what they own becomes their security and the truth is

  • they don't think beyond this life.

  • Death, when death comes, listen, it doesn't make any difference

  • how old you are or how long you've lived, how much you own.

  • Life is very insecure.

  • Everything around us is changing but one thing, our personal

  • relationship with Jesus Christ has settled once and for all

  • when we die, we will be with Him.

  • And then if you'll notice in this passage, Jesus acknowledges

  • that it's very difficult for wealthy people to get to heaven.

  • He makes it, listen, he makes it very clear.

  • Listen to what He says.

  • He said, in verse twenty-four, "Well, Jesus, looking around,"

  • Him in verse twenty-three, "looking around Him, He said to

  • His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who are wealthy to

  • enter the kingdom of God!'" You know what?

  • Listen.

  • That's a warning.

  • How difficult it is for very wealthy people to get to heaven,

  • "The disciples were amazed at His words.

  • But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children, how

  • hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

  • It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than

  • for a rich man enter the kingdom of God.'

  • They were even more astonished and said, 'Then who can be

  • saved?'" Listen to what Jesus said,

  • "Looking at them, Jesus said, 'With people it is impossible,

  • but not with God; for all things are possible with God.'"

  • And so you think about this.

  • If you're one of those persons who's very, very, very wealthy,

  • it doesn't mean that you've sinned to get that way.

  • And you've trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, He's blessed

  • you.

  • But remember this.

  • You are very, very, very blessed.

  • You are saved because God saved you.

  • God worked in your life in such a fashion to open your eyes and

  • your heart, and to get you to confess your sins and receive

  • Him as your personal Savior.

  • He says, Only God can get a rich man into heaven.

  • That's how hard it is.

  • But what does wealth do?

  • It gives people a sense of false security.

  • I have this much and that much and that much and that much.

  • And I give this much and I give that much and I give the other,

  • but listen.

  • Whatever it may be, you're still betting on the fact that what

  • you're giving to God and what you're giving to the church, and

  • what you're giving, giving, giving is going to atone for

  • your sin.

  • The only thing that'll atone for your sin is the blood of Jesus.

  • When He went to the cross, He went to the cross because that

  • was the only way that a person can be saved.

  • Jesus shed His blood for the sin of all mankind, which makes it

  • possible for anybody and everybody, rich and poor,

  • whoever it might be, to go to heaven.

  • It just so happens that those who are the blessed, so to

  • speak, with the most, or whom God allows to accumulate the

  • most, have the most difficult time getting to heaven.

  • He says it's like putting a camel through the eye of a

  • needle.

  • So all of you who have just been saying, I gotta have, gotta

  • have, gotta have, gotta have, you ought to lay that down.

  • You don't gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta have anything.

  • What you've got to have is Jesus, and everything else is

  • superfluous to that.

  • So, I would ask you once last question.

  • Is there anything missing in your life?

  • Well, the one ultimate question is, can you look back in your

  • life and point to a time when you said I know that this time

  • in my life I made a commitment, I trusted Jesus, I believed in

  • Him, that is, I accepted Him as my personal Savior?

  • I know that I've trusted Him as my Savior, now some people, now

  • I remember Dr. Graham's wife said, I couldn't tell you the

  • time, but I know at some point I gave my life to Christ.

  • You may not be able to know the time, but you know for sure that

  • at some point in your life you made the most important decision

  • in your life; the decision that determined your eternal destiny,

  • the decision that nobody can change, the decision that nobody

  • can steal from you under any condition.

  • You're saved by the grace of God.

  • Amen?

  • And Father, we thank You that You made it simple and plain,

  • placing our trust in You.

  • Thank You that You warn us in Your Word not to be betrayed or

  • deceived or accept the lies of the world that we can be good

  • enough within ourselves.

  • For all of us are sinners, all of us have sinned against You,

  • all of us come to the same Cross and all of us are washed in the

  • same blood of Jesus.

  • We love You and we praise You dear Father and we ask You this

  • morning if there's anybody here who is not certain of their

  • salvation, that'll settle that right now.

  • And that they can settle it by simply asking You to forgive

  • them of their sins and making this commitment to You, I commit

  • my life to You, Lord Jesus, as my Savior and my Lord.

  • And make that full surrender to You.

  • And I pray Father for those who maybe are uncertain that

  • whatever's necessary that they will take time alone on their

  • face before You on their knees and settle that issue.

  • To know that from that moment on, their security is not based

  • on who they are and what they have, but on who You are and

  • what You've promised.

  • In Jesus' name, Amen.

  • announcer: If you've been blessed by today's program,

  • please visit us at INTOUCH.org.

  • announcer: Leading people worldwide into a growing

  • relationship with Jesus Christ and strengthening the local

  • church.

  • "In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley" is a presentation

  • of In Touch Ministries.

  • This program is made possible by the grace of God and your

  • faithful prayers and gifts.

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