Your Strength is Your Weakness

(Suggested reading: The Kingdom of God)

There have been many sermons preached and many lesson taught from the following passage of scripture. It's the story of the rich young ruler, the story is told in three of the four gospels. Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 are the three places that it can be found. I'm going to ask you to read these passage as if you've never read them before, and keep your mind open for some new ideas, and lets see if we can learn something new.

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?

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

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.

20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

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 treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

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

23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God

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

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.

26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospels,

30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Read verses 17-20 again and imagine what it must have been like to be there. Jesus has just held a meeting in Judea (Mark 10:1) and He is leaving town when a young man comes running up to Him and falls at His feet. Gasping for breath the young man asks "What do I need to do to have [my part in the Messiahs kingdom] eternal life?" Jesus gave a fairly standard answer "Keep the commandments." Now watch in verse 20 the young man knows that there has to be more, he's not satisfied with the answer Jesus gave him and he pushes for more. We are going to have to break verse 21 down to see what is going on in the rest of this passage.

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 treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Beholding (emblepo) Strong's #1689 means to look into earnestly and deeply. Loved (agape) Strong's #25 denotes an undefeatable benevolence and unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the highest good in the other person, no matter what he does. It is the self-giving love that gives freely without asking anything in return, and does not consider the worth of its object. One thing thou lackest Matthew 19:21 says "If thou wilt be perfect" This young man was hungry for God in his life, and if I were to paraphrase his question it would read "What must I do to have a personal relationship with God in my life." Keeping the commandments wasn't doing the job. Religion wasn't the answer; it couldn't fill the void in this young man's life. Jesus looked deeply into this mans soul, seeing his desire for God was moved with agape (the immeasurable love of God) and saw that there was only one thing between him and God, this man's trust in money.

Jesus told His disciples in verse 24 that it was impossible for a rich man who trusts in his riches to enter into the kingdom of God on his own. It takes the help of God himself to break the bonds of living in this world by its rules, and to move into operating by His rule in this world. It doesn't matter what your strength is, with this young man it was his money, with me it was my ability to solve problems. You see according to Colossians 1:13 when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior the rules controlling your life change. Colossians 1:13 says "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves." God gave this young man the riches that he had, read Deuteronomy 28:1-15. It says that if you follow the law that God will bless you going and coming, and all the way around. The problem came in when he got the wealth he started trusting in the provision instead of the provider. I was running from the Lord for ten years, solving my own problems. Why? Because I could, I was doing fairly well until the last 6 months or so, and it all caught up with me. Every decision I made was wrong, and I dug a hole so deep that I couldn't even see the top. My strength was my weakness. I could have turned to God ten years sooner, but I thought I could handle things on my own, I trusted in my own abilities. The rich young ruler trusted in his wealth. What are you trusting in? You might say, "I've been saved 20 years." That's not the question I asked. If you're not trusting and relying on God in every area of your life, them there is room for improvement. I'm not here to beat you down; I'm here to lift you up, to challenge you to move up to the next level. I challenge you to sit down and make a list of all of the things that you are depending on and trusting in more than God. Pray about what areas you need to improve in, and dedicate to make the change. Remember that with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

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