Where Your Treasure Is, There Is Your Heart
First B Jackson
2022-04-25

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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That's true. Alright. I'll try. Alright. Hey.

Welcome, everybody, and welcome to another Monday night. And good to have visitors. It's good to have I wanna mention just a couple of things. Number one, food. Barb.

Barb over here and Scott and Ferry, thank you guys so much for for dinner tonight. And and then I wanna make a couple introductions. Well, one that you don't need, the Eon family. So June first Sunday in June will be there last Sunday. But I just want you to know that you can receive emails and get updates from them.

And that little black table right there, if you sign your email address, you can you can get those. And I will personally love getting emails from you and staying informed. And then the other, Dominic and Vasile, could you just stand up just for a second? Please. These folks, I I would love for you to meet at before you leave tonight.

They're a part of a little grassroots organization called Jeeps for Peace. And the best way that I could describe it is Scotland, but that right there. Oh oh, Blake says, no. Not that. Pickup trucks and supplies frontline workers in Ukraine.

Is there a better way to describe Dominic Dominic that you would say in Vasyl? By the way, Vasyl lives in Ukraine, and and Dominic in Edinburgh two met together. And now they are they're right there, front lines rescuing folks who need rescuing from the front lines and getting them to safety, getting supplies because ambulances are are being bombed targeted. And so these guys are are are using these four wheel drive vehicles to rescue people. They are doing a good work.

I got to hear about it this week, and I am so impressed. So would you please check out Jeeps for Peace on the Internet? They're I've got an active group. Heather's working on a a website and domain forum. But I just wanna tell you, I I really believe in what these these folks are doing.

It is it is beautiful what they're doing. Would you add anything to that? Yep. Yep. Thank you, guys, so much.

It's so good to have you. So good to have you. Hey. What do you say? So we're in the gospel, Mark.

It's conversation style. But before we get into that, can we sing just a couple songs together and worship? Here's a psalm. You we wonder, why why are we singing? You know?

Sing psalms and sing, sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with grateful hearts. There's a reason. But also this psalm right here, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. I mean, we've been given breath. Hey.

Why not? Let's sing the one who made us.

All that you need in me is.

And here's what he is.

A comforter, counselor, prince of peace, author, baker of everything, fender, deliverer, king of kings, he is helper and healer forevermore, savior and shelter through every storm, a refuge,

God, we sing of it, but would you show us tonight how all that we're needing, that you are that you are our comforter and our our counselor and our prince of peace, author and our maker of everything. Lord, would you draw our hearts to you? And and, as we, listen to the scripture tonight, Lord, may it do the good work. You do the good work. Nothing that I say that does on either convicting or convincing or any of the persuading, but really it's it's you who does the work in us.

God, would you speak to us how we need to hear from you? And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You can have a seat here for a moment. Let's get into Mark.

Alright. Gospel according to Mark. Here we are. Chapter 10, 17 through 31. I've just been going through book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, just saying what it says, and, there's always something to hear.

There's always. This is where Jesus speaks to the rich young man. And, right now, in the gospel of Mark, Jesus, I'd say, he's really getting to the heart of, the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God and and and how we enter it specifically. So, like, the the verses right before the the ones that we are gonna read tonight.

This is beautiful, by the way, and this is part of the reason why we do, what we do down the hall with Awana. Jesus says, let the children come to me and don't stop them. Like, let's not hinder these kids from from from meeting Jesus. For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. Unless we receive the kingdom of God like a child, we'll never enter it.

And and so we've gotta ask ourselves then, well, what is it about children? What is it about children that we should should emulate? How should we be like them? They don't they don't have status. They don't have power.

They don't have achievements, really, to to speak of. They're totally dependent on others for their needs. And it's like Jesus is saying, yep. Yep. That's that's that's it.

That I I want you to be like that. I I want that childlike humility and that trust and that dependence. That's how we're to enter the kingdom. And that's what I see in this conversation here that follows is with with the rich young man, that following Jesus and entering the kingdom, it's more than checking off boxes. In fact, it's not checking off boxes.

Do this. Don't do that. Be a good person. I what he's really saying here, I think, to all of us is to humbly trust and depend on him. To humbly trust and depend on he's asking this man and this story for God's will to be the treasure of his heart.

So more than the stuff he owns, his possessions, all that stuff, he's he's asking, hey. Will you let God be the treasure of your heart? And so I wanna just go ahead and read, and I wanna make sure we're saying hearing the same thing here. Okay? And, and I'll comment as we go.

And would you please take note of what stood out to you, what you hear in this so we can bounce it around some more at the conversation time and encourage each other with it. So it's Mark ten seventeen through 31. It says it says this, as Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, which is just a huge statement in itself. But what's so amazing about this right here, what's so profound is Jesus is heading toward the cross. He's going to Jerusalem.

He's headed toward the cross. In humility, he is completely depending on God's will for him. So Jesus has not asked us to do anything that he has not done himself. He's setting the example. That's the God we serve.

He's setting the example in humility and depending on God. He's asking us to do that, but he's doing that first. Does this make sense? And that's an encouragement, isn't it? That's good.

Alright. So a man comes running up to him, and he knelt down, and he asked, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? So in reverence, he's asking an honest question here. So he believes Jesus is good. We'll see a couple verses down.

He believes he's pretty good too. But I want you to take a look at this. 18, Jesus answers his question with a question. Why do you call me good? Jesus asked.

Only God is truly good. Which I wonder, I don't know if this is true or not, but I wonder if this was kind of a prompting question from Jesus. Would this guy acknowledge Jesus' deity? That Jesus is God? That Jesus is truly good?

I don't know. I don't I don't understand exactly why Jesus asked the question with a question, but he does say this in 19. To answer your question, mister mister Guy, you know the commandments. You must not murder. You must not commit adultery.

You must not steal. Testify falsely, cheat anyone, honor your mom and dad. So most likely, this guy's a he's a Jewish leader, maybe a a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, dealt with religious issues. Whoever he was, Obviously, some position, prominent position, power of some kind, some wealth. And he's going and Jesus is saying to him, you know these.

They're they're they're not unfamiliar to you. You know them. And the man agrees, verse 20. Teacher, the man replied, I've obeyed all these commands since I was young. So pretty confidently, he's saying, oh, yeah.

I'm I'm doing all the right things. And I I get a sense that he's looking for affirmation here from Jesus. You know, I've been doing all these things since I was young. Jesus said, I'm good. Right?

I've earned a spot in heaven. I'm good. Right? And look at this. Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him.

And that's my favorite verse of this whole this whole thing right here to me because Jesus cared deeply about this man's deepest need. He he he looked at him at a soul level. Are you are you with me? That's how Jesus sees us. He sees us as a soul, not just a person who's checking off boxes and a good list being a good little Christian boy, but he's looking at his soul level feeling genuine compassion and love for him, and he sees deeper.

He sees deeper, I think, than than others could because he says there's still one thing you haven't done. Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven, and then come and follow me. And if I were to say this in my own words, I would say, Jesus is saying to this man, yep, you've obeyed the commands, but are you willing to surrender all that you've put your trust in? So that pride that you have in all your good works and your wealth and your possessions, are you willing to surrender the trust that you've put in those and put that into Jesus and follow him? Are you with me?

Do that, and you'll have treasure in heaven. I think Matthew six really speaks to this. Jesus said, don't store up treasure here on earth. Moth eats them, rust destroys them. Thieves break in and steal.

Store your treasure in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy. Thieves do not break in and steal. This is a I think an important verse that kinda sums up the whole of the teaching. Wherever your treasure is, the desires of your heart will also be. And so I think Jesus gets to the core.

He's he's he's digging deep here. What does this man treasure most? What's in the heart? What's at the center of his being? What are the desires of his heart that make him tick?

Right? And 22, this this is tough. This is hard. At this, the man's face fell, and he went away sad for he had many possessions. And to me, that is the heartbreaking part of this encounter because Jesus genuinely loved this guy.

Right? As we're reading it, we know Jesus genuinely loves this guy. He's looking so deep. He knows just what this man needs, and he's offering him a greater spiritual wealth than the man's earthly wealth could ever give him. And would I get, like, an amen or a yes.

I I agree. Like, I've been offered a greater spiritual wealth than any kind of earthly wealth that I I I've gotten that from God, I can say. But it says that he went away sad. He went away sad because he had a lot of stuff, and he didn't wanna part with that stuff. '23.

Jesus looked around and he said to his disciples, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. In '24, this, it says, it this amazed them. And and we gotta go, well, why would it amaze them? But it amazed them because it was a common belief in that day. And I want I'd like to know if you you if you would agree with me or not.

But a common belief that wealth is an indication of God's favor on a person. So if you had wealth, you had God's favor. And if you were poor, it's a sign of God's displeasure and judgment. I I've heard it. I've I've seen that.

I've seen that kind of thinking, that mentality. It's not true. It is not true, and it's definitely not what Jesus taught about the kingdom at all, but it was a common belief. Jesus said again, dear children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

And the best way that I could interpret that, I'm just gonna I'm gonna interpret scripture with scripture. You know? What Jesus said with what Jesus said is is what he said in in Matthew six. He said, no no one can serve two masters for you will hate the one and love the other. You'll be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. And I I think there it is again. There's that where our treasure is, there our heart is. The disciples were astounded. Well, who in the world can be saved?

They asked. Like, if they've been taught, hey, wealth equals God's favor, The more they give, the more favor they have. And then Jesus says what he says about the camel and the needle. Well, who on earth can be saved? And let's let's see Jesus answer.

He looked at them intently, and he said, humanly speaking, it's impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God when it comes to salvation. So salvation, being saved, having having that spot in heaven. Right?

Having favor, having, a right standing with God. By human effort, biblically, Jesus says, impossible. Impossible. We can't earn our way into the kingdom, and we can't buy our way into the kingdom. We've gotta believe our way into the kingdom.

Everything is possible with God. He made the way. He asked us to believe it. Believe in the one he sent. Paul affirms it in in Romans.

And can I share this? It's a little bit long, but it's for no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. So you think about the rich young ruler. Have I done it? Have I done it?

Am I in? Am I in? The law simply shows us how sinful we are, that we fall short, that we couldn't we couldn't do it. We couldn't meet that standard. But now God has shown us the way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law as was promised in the writings of Moses, the prophet, long ago.

Catch this, 22. We're made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus. And this is true for everyone who believes, No matter who we are, for everyone's sin, we have all fallen short of God's glorious standard. Yet, here's the good news, God, in his grace, that favor that he shows, that undeserved favor, he gives to us. He makes us right in his sight.

And he did this through Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins for God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin. In our place for our sin, he went to the cross. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. That's that's the good news of the gospel. And I think what we're seeing here is that there God requires more than just a reverence for Jesus or as a as a good teacher.

Oh, yeah. He's a good teacher. Jesus asked the the rich young man to trust him and to follow him, not just think of Jesus as good, but to actually trust him and follow him and to submit to God's rule and reign over every aspect of his life. Everything. And, Lord, help us.

Right? That's my that that when I see this, I go, Lord, help me. Because it is a very it is a very difficult thing to do to to surrender every aspect of my life. Right? To submit to God's rule and reign in my life.

But by God's grace and in his power, it is possible. '28. Peter began to speak. Jesus, we've given everything to follow you. Like, we we've given everything.

And Jesus replied, yeah. And I assure you that everyone who's given up a house or brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or property for my sake or for the sake of the good news will receive now in return a 100 times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, property, along with persecution. And in the world to come, that person will have eternal life. I'm not a big rewards guy. I don't tend to focus on rewards.

But if you're the person that is going, well, what if I do? What if I do count the cost? Jesus is saying here, that there's treasure in heaven, 100 times what you've what you've given. Yeah. I I I don't tend to dwell on that part.

I'm more about the follow-up part. That's where I'm gonna end. But it's it's here. It's here. And then we'll end with, 31.

But many who are the greatest now will be the least important then, and those that seem least important now will be the greatest then. So think about this in that context back then. They're looking at these uber rich, religious people, and they're giving a lot, they're going, oh, man. They must have the most prominent place in the kingdom. And Jesus is going, nope.

They don't. They don't. That those who seem least important now, they'll be the greatest. So God's value system is very, very countercultural to ours, and I think we notice that through the Bible, don't we? It's very, very countercultural.

But to summarize, if I were to kinda sum it up, I'd say, where our treasure is, our there there's our heart. There's our heart. And Jesus is really looking under the hood in this story. And what is he looking for? What is he looking for from this this young young wealthy man?

What he's looking I believe what he's looking for is that God's will would be the treasure of that man's heart. That that's what I see in the story. God's going, is God's will the treasure of your heart? So personal application, is God's will the treasure of our heart? I've got a long way to go, my friends.

I'm just telling you. Confessional preaching here, I've got a long way to go. A willingness as his disciples to surrender a pride and possessions alike. Because you noticed in the story, his pride was saying, I've obeyed all those commands since I was young. I'm good.

Right? It's it's our willingness to surrender our pride of, I'm a really good person, and that's all I need, and possessions alike, that my stuff is just stuff, and I can't take it with me And just accumulating stuff, it it it it doesn't lay up treasure in heaven. It's these intangible things that are laying up treasure in heaven. And that's one of the things I I love about Jeeps for Peace is that that's what it's it's it's doing. It's it's part of the kingdom, God's will on earth as it is in heaven, drawing people away from the the front lines who've been injured and hurt.

We're going to war. We're we're trying to grab people out of a very difficult place and love on people the way that God has loved us. So those are just a few thoughts, from the the scripture tonight, and and I would I would love to hear yours too. Well, pass around a a microphone. Please don't be intimidated by that.

It's just it's part of the conversation, and and we record. And in fact, Blake, maybe we could take the recording part out because this conversation could be just for this room and not not it doesn't have to be for for those who are listening at home. I I think it'd probably be best just to to have that conversation right here. But if there's a verse or word of encouragement that you'd like to share, I I do wanna give you an opportunity. But before we do, can I pray one more time?

God, I thank you for putting this this good word in in front of us tonight. And, Lord, would you help us? It is not easy to submit to your rule and reign over every aspect of our life. But when we see what you are offering, life and life to the full measure, that you're offering us a greater contentment spiritually than wealth, just physical wealth, possession stuff could ever offer. Because that's what you do.

You feed and satisfy the deepest longings of us, our soul. Thank you. May we discover and rediscover, God, what you're really offering us and seek that and seek you. Seek your kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen.