David Platt Messages
David Platt Messages is a podcast that highlights sermons from teacher, author, and pastor David Platt.
David Platt Messages
The Gospel Demands Radical Abandonment - Part 1
If Jesus asked you to give up all your money and possessions in order to follow him, how would you respond? Is your allegiance to money greater than your allegiance to Jesus? In this message from Matthew 10:17–31, Jesus exposes the idolatry of the rich young ruler. While not every Christian is called to give up all their possessions, Jesus’ words should cause every would-be follower to examine their own heart. Our allegiance to Jesus must be greater than our allegiance to money. However, as David Platt points out in this message, the reward Jesus offers is greater—infinitely so!—than any earthly treasure that the world may offer
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You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. We're going to read Mark, chapter 10, starting in verse 17. And let me side note as you look at your notes, some of you may be a little worried at this point, but I'll just go ahead and give you a warning we're not going to get through all those notes today. This is going to take at least two weeks to get through this text, and so we may get halfway through those notes. So just let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Okay, verse 17, mark, chapter 10.
Speaker 1:As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. Good teacher, he asked what must I do to inherit eternal life? "'good teacher' he asked "'what must I do to inherit eternal life'. "'why do you call me good' Jesus answered "'No one is good except God alone. "'you know the commandments. "'do not murder, do not commit adultery. "'do not steal, do not give false testimony. "'do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. "'teacher' he declared "'all these I have kept since I was a boy.
Speaker 1:Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said go, sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again 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. The disciples were even more amazed and said to each other who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Peter said to him we have left everything to follow you. I tell you the truth. Jesus replied no one who has left home or brothers or sisters, or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in the present age homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields, and with them persecutions and, in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last. First. Father, we pray that you would, by your Spirit, help us to understand this text today, that you would guard us against any misinterpretation and, god, that you would bring this text to life in this room. You'd bring this text to life in our lives and you would show us, by your Spirit, the implications of the story of the rich young man for us as a people who, as we have talked about, are a very rich people in this world. Give us grace to hear from you and to obey you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:I think there's two common errors in interpretation in this passage that we want to be careful to avoid as we think about it this week and next week maybe longer. Two errors of interpretation these are not in your notes, just a little side note. But one error is we want to be careful not to universalize this passage. What I mean by that is we don't see in this passage indication that what Jesus is telling this rich young man to do go sell all you have and give it to the poor is a universal command that every follower of Christ of all time is to go sell all they have, give it to the poor, even the disciples who are with Jesus, who are followers of Jesus. We have evidence of the New Testament that some of them, at least a couple of them, probably still had a home, maybe still had a boat, still had means of support in some different ways. And so even the disciples who had given up much and who say we've left everything to follow you still have a couple of things.
Speaker 1:This passage is not telling us that if you're a follower of Christ you can have absolutely no private property, no possessions. It's not what this passage is teaching. We've got to be careful not to universalize this text. At that point we breathe kind of a sigh of relief when we think, okay, well, that's good, as long as he's not telling us to go sell everything we have and give it to the poor. And this is where we have to be careful about going to the other error of misinterpretation. We want to be careful not to universalize this picture and say, well, jesus is telling every follower of Christ of all time to do this. But we also want to be careful, on the other hand, not to minimize this passage, because Jesus does tell some followers of his to go sell all you have and give to the poor. So if you're a follower of his. Is it possible that Jesus would say these exact things to you? Absolutely, it's possible. In fact. The reality we have seen over the last few weeks is that every single follower of Christ is called to renounce everything he has, in a sense, to give up everything he has Luke 14, 33,. To pick up your cross and follow him Luke 14, 25 through 27. This is a picture of renouncing your life.
Speaker 1:We've talked about this. We are rich people even in uncertain economic times, like we've seen over the last few weeks, and even in what I know are we've seen over the last few weeks, and even in what I know are struggling financial situations represented across this room. The reality is we are still all incredibly wealthy compared to the rest of the world. We have water and we have plumbing, and we have roofs over our heads and we have vehicles and we have medical care. We have all kinds of different things that make us in the very top percentage in the world when it comes to wealth and, as a result, this passage has particular implications for us when it comes to what it means to renounce all that. We have to follow Him, because we've got a lot of stuff, much like this man did.
Speaker 1:So we want to be careful. We're not universalizing this passage, but we're also not minimizing this passage, and so what I want to do with those two errors out there, I want us to avoid those. I want to avoid going off the road into either one of those ditches. What I want to do is I want us to dive into ten truths in the coming weeks that we see. There's just so much in this passage. It's just one thing after another. We're going to spend some time turning to other places to help us to understand what Jesus is saying here, and we want to be careful because we've got to dive into this passage One of the biggest dangers in a passage like this and it deals kind of with that second error.
Speaker 1:What we want to make sure we don't do is we don't want to say, well, what Jesus really meant in this passage is and we start to twist this passage. And really meant in this passage is, and we start to twist this passage, and what we usually start to twist it into is we twist it into something that fits better with our lives. You feel the tendency to do that. Okay, well, he's not telling us to go sell everything we have, so this is what he is telling us to do, and this squares with me better and we begin to take Scripture and adjust Scripture to fit our lives. We've got to avoid that. We've got to see what Scripture is saying for what it is. And so we're going to dive in in depth to this text and let these different truths that are just all over this text kind of rise to the top as we study it together. So let's start with a radical approach. First truth here Jesus' call to salvation demands total surrender. Jesus' call to salvation demands total surrender. To this point I want us to be honest with each other.
Speaker 1:According to contemporary seminary standards and I know I've taught in that context according to contemporary seminary standards, jesus Christ would absolutely flunk personal evangelism class based on the tactics he uses in Mark, chapter 10. When you have somebody come up to you, this eager and this guy runs up, bows down, is respecting Jesus what must I do to have eternal life? Now, this is a young, eager seeker who wants to follow Jesus, wants eternal life. He's expressing that with every bit of his actions and his words. He's young, he's wealthy, he's got influence. This. This is something the best evangelist in the world worst evangelist in the world could not muff this one. This is just that good of an opportunity and you don't want to let this one get away. This is a prime prospect. I mean, if this guy becomes a follower of Christ, think of how we could put him on the circuit and we could get him speaking and sharing his testimony and maybe even write some books and sign them, and he could raise all kinds of money for the cause. We've got to get this guy in the picture.
Speaker 1:And Jesus looks at him and says go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor. That's weird. It's just not what we would expect. This is a radical approach. There's no raise your hand, pray this prayer, open your eyes and look at me at this particular moment. He doesn't do any of that. Instead, he says here's the commands, you know what the commands are? And then he lists some of these commands, basically the second half of the Old Testament law, the Ten Commandments, second half. And then Jesus says go sell all you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. It is clear that Jesus is calling this man from the very beginning. We think about how heavy some of these texts are that we're looking at during these weeks.
Speaker 1:Put yourself in the shoes of these people in the first century. This was their introduction to Jesus. No wonder, no wonder, when he left this earth, only 120 people had actually stuck with him and trusted him and followed him. You see how the masses wanted nothing to do with what he was saying. This was hard stuff, but this is how he was introduced. This is Jesus' evangelistic preaching. This is his introduction. Here's what it means to follow me.
Speaker 1:Radical commands like this. This is so counter, not just counter-cultural, it's counter-contemporary Christianity. We all have felt needs and the whole church growth picture and Christian marketing picture that you see in our culture today is built on appealing to our felt needs. And Jesus cuts through all of that and goes to the man's deepest need, and it's to renounce everything he has in order to follow Christ. This is a radical approach. Now I want us to see how he does this. How does Jesus bring this out in this man's life? And he does it by putting these commands before him. What are the commands? And then brings it to go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor. What he's showing us here and you got this in your notes is that salvation is never a matter of external reformation. This is what Jesus is establishing Salvation is never a matter of external reformation.
Speaker 1:The man asks what must I do to inherit the kingdom, to inherit eternal life? And Jesus points under these commands. This guy says I did all those. He had a good Jewish upbringing. Likely when he was about 12, 13 years old. He would go through a process where he becomes a son of the commandments and he says since that time I've kept the commandments, I've obeyed these laws. He's checked off the boxes, so to speak. I've done those things. So Jesus takes it deeper than he ever could have imagined and says go sell all you have and give it to the poor. Now think about this with me. This man has just asked how do I inherit eternal life? And the first two things Jesus has said to him deal with obeying his commands. Do you think Jesus is preaching a workspace salvation? What must I do to inherit eternal life? You know the commands, obey them. I've done that. Well, then go sell all you have and give it to the poor. Is this Jesus saying this man is going to earn salvation by doing these things? Absolutely not. This is what Jesus is doing throughout the Gospels. Sermon on the Mount is a perfect example.
Speaker 1:Matthew, chapter 5. Jesus, what he does is he goes through the Old Testament law You've heard that it was said this, but I say this. And what he does before his Jewish hearers is he says you've been living according to this law right here, and thinking okay, I got that box checked off, so I'm okay. But there's a much higher standard than you ever dreamed of. And he's continually calling them to a higher standard. You see this at the end of Matthew, chapter 5, because at the very end he says be perfect verse 48,. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Speaker 1:What Jesus is saying is is if you want to have eternal life, you've got to be perfect, you've got to live according to the most perfect of standards. That's what Jesus is saying in an effort to show this man that there is no way he can do anything to inherit eternal life. This is why, when you go back to John, chapter 6, you see a group of people coming up to Jesus. They say what must we do to do the works God requires? What do we need to do in order to be acceptable before God? And what does Jesus say. He says this is the work of God to believe in the one he has sent. This is the work. Not check off this box, this box, this box, this box. Believe in me. This is the work. Not check off this box, this box, this box, this box. Believe in me, believe me, trust me. And that's exactly what he's telling this man.
Speaker 1:Salvation is never a matter of external reformation, because salvation is always a matter of internal transformation. Believe me, trust me. Now bring that picture back to the rich man. Here Jesus says go sell all you have, give it to the poor. Is Jesus saying you need to do these things in order to earn your salvation? No, don't miss it. Please follow with me here. This is huge. He's not saying you need to do these things. If you go sell all you have, give it to the poor, then that will earn your salvation. Instead, what he's saying here, internal transformation is if this man who has so much would go sell all he has, give it to the poor, that would be clear evidence that an internal transformation has happened in his heart. It would be clear evidence that he does believe Jesus. He believes in Jesus, he trusts Jesus enough to do whatever Jesus says. And this is the outflow of an internal transformation in his heart. He's not going to do whatever Jesus says. And this is the outflow of an internal transformation in his heart he's not going to do these things in order to earn salvation.
Speaker 1:Now think about how that relates to this whole journey that we're walking through in the text that we are looking at. So what we were talking about last week. We looked at Luke 16,. We looked at James 2, what good is my brother's man claims to have faith and has no deeds. Faith without action is dead. 1 John 3,. We looked at these things to see.
Speaker 1:Does caring for the poor earn us salvation? Absolutely not. We are not saved by caring for the poor. That is not the grounds of our salvation. But what we saw last week is that when we care for the poor, we show evidence of an internal transformation that has occurred in our hearts, because the God who cares for the poor and Christ who cares for the poor is living in us. And when we care for the poor, that's an external manifestation Don't miss it An external manifestation of an internal transformation that has happened in our hearts. Does that make sense? It's not what earns us salvation. It's not the grounds of our salvation, but it's a manifestation of an internal reality that is in us and what Scripture talks about is, if that external reality, if that manifestation is not there Now, follow with me if it's not there, just like it's not here in the rich young man, then obviously there has not been an internal transformation, that has happened in his heart and this is why he walks away. The same picture this is what we talked about last week. If we indulge ourselves and we ignore the poor, then we are not showing a manifestation of the reality of Christ in our hearts. As a result, what we talked about last week is that caring for the poor is necessary evidence of our salvation, not grounds for our salvation.
Speaker 1:What is the grounds by which you or I are acceptable before God? The finished work of Christ on a cross and his resurrection from the dead. It's the only way you or I could be acceptable before God, the only way. It's the only way you or I could be acceptable before God, the only way. And when we are accepted before God and when Christ comes into our hearts and he changes us and he transforms us, then that has effect. It's not something. We make, this decision, we pray this prayer and everything looks the same afterwards. We're leaving that kind of gospel cheap gospel, unbiblical gospel behind. Because when Christ changes our heart, changes everything about us and we begin to show the presence of Christ in our lives, not because we are earning our salvation, but because we are experiencing the effects of our salvation on a day-by-day-by-day basis. And one of the effects of that salvation is deep compassion and concern for the poor. It's what we've seen in Scripture and what we said last week is is if we're not caring for the poor, then there's reason. If we are continually indulging ourselves and ignoring the poor, there's reason to question whether or not Christ is really in our hearts.
Speaker 1:Now, this is where I want to be very careful, very, very careful. Follow with me here. Let me use another example. Let's just leave the poor over here for a minute.
Speaker 1:Let's think about sexual immorality. Imagine somebody who claims to have a relationship with Jesus, who claims that Christ is in their heart, but they live, day after day after day, a deliberately sexually immoral lifestyle. Deliberately sexually immoral lifestyle. Maybe they have multiple sexual partners, maybe homosexual and heterosexual partners. Maybe it is just a gross immoral lifestyle when it comes to sexuality that this person is living and they continue in that, day after day, week after week, year after year, and when confronted by the word of God, they still continue in those things. If that's the case, do you think we would have question, at least reason to question, whether or not Christ is really in that person's heart?
Speaker 1:1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 10 says the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God. That is a warning. It's very clear. Same thing 1 John 2, 3-6 says If any man says I know him but disobeys his commands, he is a liar and the truth is not in him, not saying that this person is apparently not earning their salvation. I'm not saying that this person is apparently not earning their salvation, but there doesn't seem to be evidence of an internal reality that is showing itself in this manifestation. Now we would say that over here with gross sexual immorality, which is a little more taboo.
Speaker 1:Let's bring that over here into what we're talking about in this series. If someone says they have Christ in their heart but they live their lives week after week, month after month, year after year, indulging themselves and ignoring the poor, which we saw last week, is direct disobedience to God and Christ. And they continue in that over and over and over again. Then all we're saying and we're seeing in Scripture is there's reason at this point to question whether or not Christ is a reality. This is what 1 John 3, 17 and 18 says. It says If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God even be in him? It's a rhetorical question in 1 John 3 to say there's reason to question if the love of God is even there, if there's no effect of that here Now.
Speaker 1:Thankfully, you and I are not the judge of this person or this person over here. I'm not saying that I need person or this person over here. I'm not saying that I need to be or you need to be the judge of any one of us. But the reality is Scripture tells us very clearly that when Christ is in you it will be evident to the world. And what we're seeing here is that salvation, not a matter of external reformation, trying to do things. I would not say to the person over here you need to get things right so you can earn your way to God. That would be an unbiblical way to counsel that person. It would also be unbiblical over here to say in this series you need to start giving to the poor, stop indulging yourselves ourselves so that you can get to heaven. That's not what Scripture's teaching. That would miss the whole point.
Speaker 1:But we do want to say I would say to this person right here I would encourage you, look at what the Word says. It says disobedience to Christ. I would encourage this person to repent and to turn to Christ and to ask Christ to change their hearts so that they would live in a way that brings honor to Him and experiences the reality of Him in their life, in the same way that we are seeing in these texts during this series, the word saying to us in this room you and I. We need to repent, ladies and gentlemen. We need to repent, brothers and sisters, because there has been an indulging of ourselves and ignoring the poor in our hearts and this is not from Christ. And if Christ is reality in our hearts, we need to turn to him and ask him to change our hearts. In either situation I would say make sure Christ is a reality in your heart and if he is, ask him to purify and refine your heart, change you and transform you and mold you, and that's what we're doing. That's what we do week by week in the Word. This is what we do in the Word.
Speaker 1:The last thing I want to do is, whether in this series or in any way in preaching before you as your pastor, is to leave us walking out of this room every single week thinking I've got so much more to do. I just can't live up to this. I can't live up to this. I want to preach in such a way that you see in the Word what the life of Christ looks like. I want to show myself and us areas where our lives or where our church does not reflect the life of Christ, and call us to repent and not try to do better, to repent and run to Christ. Run to Christ. Walk out of here saying now I don't need to do this or this or this better. Walk out of here saying I want Christ more in my life. I want Christ to change me more and transform me more, mold my thinking and mold my desires more in line with who he is. I don't want to earn salvation. That's what we're walking out of here with. We're walking out of here saying I want to experience the reality of who Christ has made me to be, and we walk out of here together saying we want to be a church that experiences the reality of Christ in us. We don't want to play games and we don't want to try to check off boxes. We want to know Christ and experience Christ. That's the picture here and I hope, I hope, I hope we see that this is the key.
Speaker 1:Again, it all comes back to wanting Christ. This is why I just can't plead with you enough, brothers and sisters, to be with Christ during the week, to take what we've studied together and to go to Christ. Spend concentrated time with Christ, spend hours with Christ. He is good for bringing this to life in us. We don't have to manufacture in our hearts a desire to care for the poor. Christ is in us to do that. He does it. So let's go to him.
Speaker 1:What the danger is? That's not easy work to go to him and to wrestle with him. We want a check-off list that says how can I do these things to make sure I'm okay? And that's exactly what Jesus is warning against with the rich young man. Go to Christ and ask him to change our desires and change our hearts so that his life becomes a reality in us more and more and more, and it shows, in this community in which we live, salvation never a matter of external reformation, always a matter of internal transformation. That plays out externally, but it starts internally and it all revolves around the person of Christ. This is the key for the rich young man. When he came to Jesus, did you hear how? He called him, acknowledged him? He said good teacher. He asked verse 17. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Verse 20, he replies teacher. All these I have kept since I was a boy.
Speaker 1:I want you to look at a fundamental flaw in the way the rich young man perceived Christ Boy. I want you to look at a fundamental flaw in the way the rich young man perceived Christ. Jesus is not, ladies and gentlemen. Jesus is not merely a respectable teacher. This man came to Jesus respecting Jesus for his thoughts and his opinions. And Jesus responds he says why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. He's just hinting at the fact that this man had no clue. This guy had no clue who he was talking to. Jesus is not merely a respectable teacher. Jesus is the sovereign Lord. The rich young man was willing to have Jesus as a teacher to respect but not as a Lord to obey. As a teacher to respect but not as a Lord to obey.
Speaker 1:I fear that the way we are approaching in contemporary Christianity the person of Christ is more as a respectable teacher to give us advice on our lives and the church, instead of the Lord who determines everything about our lives and our church. If you are a follower of Christ in this room, you have sacrificed the right to determine the direction of your life. You do not determine the direction of your life, christian. You do not determine the house you live in. You do not determine the car you drive. You do not determine the clothes you wear. You do not determine the schedule you keep. You do not determine the way you spend or the way you save. Christ determines every single bit of that. We have sacrificed the right to determine the direction of our lives. He does not give us financial advice. He has financial lordship over every facet of our lives. He is not a respectable teacher. He is the sovereign Lord. Nowhere in scripture and nowhere today does Christ intend to be a piece of advice in our lives. He intends to be Lord over everything in our lives and that makes all the difference. It's a radical approach and it sent many people away, not just this rich young man in the first century. So who will respond to this radical approach today? A radical approach Second, a radical affection.
Speaker 1:This is where it just gets really, really good. Second truth Jesus calls us to give sacrificially because he loves us, because he loves us. This is where I want you to go with me, to verse 21. Jesus gives this command, and it's a hard command Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Can you imagine hearing that this moment? Your life and your family. That's a hard command. When we think about selling our possessions or giving our possessions away, changing our lifestyles to revolve around the lost and the poor, these are hard commands. This is Jesus going right for the jugular here. This is not an easy command and it seems hard to us, but I want you to see the beginning of verse 21. Did you catch it? Underline it Jesus looked at him and what Loved him. This is huge.
Speaker 1:Jesus calls us to give sacrificially because he loves us. This is the message we need to see during these weeks as we look at tough texts about caring for the poor and being a rich people who do not indulge in ourselves while we ignore the poor, but spending ourselves for the sake of the poor. What we need to see is that Jesus loves rich people. Jesus loves rich people enough to tell them the truth. Jesus loves us enough to tell us the truth. He is saying these things that are hard sayings, not because he doesn't care about us. He's not saying these things to the rich young man because he's not giving him this ultimatum, because he doesn't care about him or wants him to have a tough, miserable life. He's saying these things because he loves this man.
Speaker 1:I want you to hold your place here with me and go over to Luke, chapter 12. You've got to see this, luke, chapter 12. Jesus just wants brothers and sisters. Jesus wants the best for us Sisters. Jesus wants the best for us. Write that down. We would get our minds and our hearts around this. Jesus wants the best for me and Jesus wants the best for you. When he says things like this, he wants the best for us, not worst for us. He wants the best for us. I want you to look at Luke, chapter 12. Look with me in verse 16.
Speaker 1:Jesus tells a parable about a rich fool. I want you to hear this. This is again a strong picture. Actually, the end of verse 15, he says watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. He's warning against the danger of possessions, which we'll talk about some next week.
Speaker 1:And he told them this parable the ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. I've got so much I don't know what to do with it. Then he said this is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry. I give you a picture of the American dream. God said to him you fool. This very night, your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich. Toward God. Hard saying, hard saying Again.
Speaker 1:We talked about this last week to a religious people who were wealthy. And what he does right after this is he starts talking about how you don't need to worry about stuff. Your Father will provide for you. And I want you to go with me to verse 32. Listen to this Verse 32, luke, chapter 12. Jesus says, amidst these hard sayings look at this verse. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom and we're gonna come back to that verse in just a second but look at verse 33.
Speaker 1:Sell your possessions and give to the poor. This is what he tells his disciples. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be. Also, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Is that an easy command? Let's be honest. When we think, okay, I'm supposed to sell my possessions and give to the poor, immediately all kinds of thoughts come up in us. There's an insecurity that comes in us. There's fear that might come in us. There's anxiety that comes in us. There's an insecurity that comes in us. There's fear that might come in us. There's anxiety that comes in us I'm supposed to sell my possessions and give to the poor, and all kinds of thoughts and emotions begin to resist that. And Jesus knows that there's fear and there's insecurity that would come into our minds at that moment. He knows that this is not an easy decision to sell your possessions that you have worked to acquire in this culture and give to the poor. And so what did Jesus say right before that? He says fear, not little flock. Don't be afraid, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. It's like he says this little piece of encouragement and then he says, in light of this, don't be afraid, your father is pleased to give you the kingdom. In light of this, therefore, don't be afraid, your father is pleased to give you the kingdom. In light of this, therefore, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Why sell your possessions? Because your father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Don't miss it.
Speaker 1:Luke, chapter 12, verse 32 is the dynamite that explodes the God of materialism in our lives. Please don't miss this. Luke 12, 32, the dynamite that explodes the God of materialism that infuses and consumes the culture in which we live, including us. This verse explodes it, because what Jesus says is the key to the whole picture is you let go of your things because you know you have a Father who loves you and you don't have to fear selling everything you don't need or giving away everything you don't need and giving to the poor instead, because the reality is you've got a Father who wants the best for you and he's telling you to do these things. Look at the picture he gives us of God here. Jesus says God is a shepherd who protects us.
Speaker 1:Little flock, you sense the endearment and the protection that's there. When do you say words like this? I know, with my boys, I talk about my little guy. Or when we went to get little guy Caleb over in Kazakhstan. Or when little guy Joshua surprised us when we got back from Kazakhstan and these are terms of endearment, I'm talking about my boys with affection, my little boys. Or when one of them is in some sort of danger or is afraid. The other day we were out in the yard and there was a snake in the yard. I think my wife was in a little more fear than maybe Caleb was at that moment, but I want to pull into myself during those times and say, hey, little guy. I'm bigger than you. I'm bigger than the snake. We can take care of this. I can protect you from this.
Speaker 1:There's endearment, there's protection here Jesus is saying it is not going to be easy for you to sell your possessions and give to the poor, but I care for you like a shepherd cares for his sheep, and you don't need to worry because you're small and there's all kinds of big obstacles out there, because I'm bigger than every single one of them. He is a shepherd who protects us. Not only a shepherd who protects us, but he's a father who delights in us. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has been pleased to give these things to you. How do you sell your possessions and give to the poor with great confidence when you know you have a father who's pleased to give to you, not an employer, not a slave master. He's a father.
Speaker 1:If he's our father father, what does that make us children, sons and daughters? This is the whole picture, even back in Mark, chapter 10. What can I do to inherit eternal life? This is what sons and daughters get from a father. This is the whole picture we saw last week in Matthew, chapter 25. Come, you who are blessed by my father. Take the inheritance that was prepared for you since the creation of the world. Is that not an awesome thought? There is an inheritance stored up for you and me, as not followers, sons and daughters of God, that is waiting since the creation of the world for us to receive.
Speaker 1:Romans 8 says we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. This is a picture. We have a father who is ready and he's not going to give it to us begrudgingly. Oh, I guess I have to pass this down to you, since you're my son or my daughter. He's given it to us gladly. We have a father.
Speaker 1:There's almost a tinge of self-serving mentality here. Sell your possessions and give to the poor because you got something better coming. Materialism is not only sinful, it's dumb, because we have a father who says I have a kingdom to give you. He is a shepherd who protects us, a father who delights in us and a king who provides for us. He is not an employer who gives us money. He's not a career planner who promises us status. He's not an agent that will provide us with fame or an investor that will give us more stuff. He is a king who will give us a kingdom.
Speaker 1:What in this world, what in this world can you acquire that is as good as that? What in this world can you acquire that is as good as that? What in this world can you acquire that is as good as that? Go sell all you have, give it to the poor. You've got a kingdom. I'm a shepherd, a father and a king over you. Therefore, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. It's radical affection. Jesus calls us to give sacrificially because he loves us. Please, even in these hard texts, god, help us, help me to communicate, help us to see your love behind the whole picture. A radical approach and a radical affection. Third, a radical command, a radical command.
Speaker 1:Jesus gives commands, not considerations. This is the truth here. Jesus gives commands, not considerations. Come back with me to Mark, chapter 10, verse 21. One thing you lack, he said go See if you can count the number of commands here. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me, count them. Five commands. Go, sell everything, give to the poor. Come, follow me. Five different commands. This one sentence, one verse, is loaded with commands. Now, this is where we're going to come back to those errors we have to avoid. We've already established that Jesus is not saying. These are direct commands for every single follower of his you go sell everything you have and give to the poor everything. But again, this is where we have to be careful.
Speaker 1:I think one of the most dangerous misinterpretations of this verse and this passage at this point comes to life and it's all over the place. Almost inevitably you will find people saying well, what Jesus is saying here is that we must be willing to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. You know what the only problem with that interpretation is? It's not true. Like if that's what Jesus meant, he was fully capable of saying that. Don't you think Rich young man, be willing to go sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. That's easy for the rich young man, and I think that's why we like this interpretation. I think it's a dangerous thing and now that there's not a grain of truth to this, I mean. The reality is this is basic Christianity. We've talked about it already.
Speaker 1:If you're a follower of Christ, you're willing to do everything that he says to do. That's an automatic. That's an assumption. You're a follower of Christ. That's very clear already, it doesn't need to be said. Jesus is telling this man to do something and it's very easy for any one of us to say, well, I would be willing to sell this or that, I'd be willing to give this or that away. We all know it's a whole other ballgame when we sell this or that or we give this or that away, and that's what Jesus is calling this man to do, commanding this man to do. And so, yes, should we be willing at all times? Yes, let's just get that out on the table. We need to be a people who are willing to do whatever Jesus says to do. But the picture is he says command, go, sell all you have, give it to the poor. And it is easy to hide behind. I'm willing to do it and to sit back in sentiment and fail to obey. As followers of Christ, we do not consider options. We do not consider options when Jesus speaks. We do not consider options. As followers of Christ, we obey. We obey period.
Speaker 1:One writer said that Jesus the fact that Jesus did not command all of his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command. Let me say that one more time. The fact that Jesus did not command all his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command. You think, well, I wasn't comforted by it. I wasn't comforted when we started this series.
Speaker 1:The first Sunday of the series, if you were here we had some time where we worked through different passages no-transcript before we would study them and this is one of the passages that we looked at and there was a question that we were working through. I wanted to remind you of what that question was. The question said do you think Jesus was literally telling this man to sell all he had and give it to the poor? I think we've established that he was telling him to do this. This was a command. Do you think Jesus would say the same thing today to you if you were to see him? Do you think Jesus would say the same thing to you today if you were to see him? If he did say that, how would you respond?
Speaker 1:Now, it's one thing to respond and say, okay, I'm willing, but here's what I want to encourage you in I want to encourage you to go with a blank check to Jesus and to say what do you want me to sell, jesus? What do you want me to sell or to give away? Ask him. Ask him not with a follow-up of your opinions. Ask him not with a follow-up of your thoughts on the subject. Ask him with a heart that says I will obey as soon as you tell me. And when he tells you, you wait, wait, and you may not come immediately, but you ask him until he tells you. What do you need to sell, what do you need to give in order to care for the poor and the lost? The picture we're seeing in Scripture. And you wait for him to show you. And when he shows, you do not consider whether or not it's a good option or not. Obey, show you. And when he shows, you do not consider whether or not it's a good option or not. Obey. What happens when a faith family full of followers of Christ is in the prayer closet saying in this culture and in this community, what do you want us to sell and what do you want us to give? I'll tell you what happens. The resources of heaven are opened up for the glory of God to be proclaimed in this community and in this world. So let's ask him as followers of Christ. Let's ask him when he speaks. Let's not consider our options, let's obey.
Speaker 1:This is a radical way to live. You think that's risky? Look at the next truth A radical reward. Jesus does not want to strip us of our pleasure, he wants to satisfy us with treasure. Like how that rhymes. Jesus does not want to strip us. It's not intentional, it just kind of happened. Strip us of our pleasure, he wants to satisfy us with treasure. This is what's so great in Mark 10. It says go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor. That sounds risky, doesn't it? Until he says and you will have and we've talked about this some already with the kingdom and you will have treasure in heaven. You catch that again. This is a self-serving mentality in a sense here. Sell everything you have because you got something better out here. Go with me to the left.
Speaker 1:Go to Matthew chapter 13. You gotta see this, matthew chapter 13. This is a radical perspective on the reward of following Christ and the reward of sacrificing and renouncing all things. Look at Matthew, chapter 13. Look at verse 44. Underline this verse in your Bible. This is an incredible picture here. Matthew, chapter 13, verse 44. Underline this verse in your Bible. This is an incredible picture here. Matthew, chapter 13, verse 44.
Speaker 1:Listen to what Jesus says talking about the kingdom of heaven. Listen to his words. He says Matthew 13, 44,. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again and then, in his joy, went and sold all he had and bought that field. Is that good? Can you imagine? You got the treasure. You're looking around. Nobody else sees the treasure. Cover it back up. Coolie, walk away. Go back into the community. Sell your house. Go back into the community. Sell your house, sell your car, sell everything you got.
Speaker 1:Everybody's saying you're crazy. Even the religious community is saying you've lost your mind. I know, I know, but it's something I need to do. So you get ostracized. Everybody says, well, that guy's going to have nothing. You walk around. Once everything's sold, you wander back out in the field. You say I'm going to buy this one. You want this field. Yeah, you may not think it looks too valuable, but I've just got a hunch that this thing is worth it. The guy thinks you're crazy, but I'll give you the piece of land. You know there's a treasure there. This makes complete sense To the rest of the world. It looks crazy, but it makes complete sense. Why? Because you're confident in treasure, but it makes complete sense. Why? Because you're confident in treasure.
Speaker 1:Are we a people who is bought into what the rest of the world says is treasure? And we run after the treasure just like everybody else, and we're missing what's in the field over here. And you see what happens when we see what's in the field. When the people of God, when followers of Christ in this room, realize the treasure, it says with joy, in his joy, he went and sold all he had. Then you sell everything you have and you give everything you have away because you got joy in you. Why? Because you know there's treasure. Jesus is not calling us to forsake pleasure. He's not calling us to forsake pleasure. He's not calling us to forsake treasure. He's calling us to start living for treasure. Brothers and sisters, start living for treasure, real treasure, real treasure, not stuff. World will think you're crazy, but you know. You know there's eternal fountains of joy in that field. So go and, with joy, sell everything you've got, give to the poor and come and enjoy the treasure that is there. This is the whole picture.
Speaker 1:Keep turning to the left Matthew, chapter 6. This is the question we've all got to ask. You've got it in your notes there as you're turning to Matthew 6, which one do we want, brothers and sisters? Which do we want? Do we want short-term treasures that we can't keep? Houses and cars, and gadgets, and toys and memorabilia and trinkets and clothes and stuff? Do we want short-term treasures we can't keep, or long-term treasures we can't lose? This is why Jim Elliot said it right before he died he is no fool, he's a martyr. In Ecuador People said he was crazy. He said he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. It's smart. It's smart. Which one do you want? Short-term treasures we can't keep, or long-term treasures we can't lose? Which one do you want?
Speaker 1:Unpredictable investments? Don't we know this? Isn't this part of the design of God, this point in our lives? I'm not claiming to have some prophetic word about how this deals with the end times. That's not what I'm talking about. But follow with me here. There's no question that part of the design of God in our lives over the last few weeks is to remind us that any investment in this world is temporary and is unpredictable. God, help us to learn this, and not just in the stock market Anything in this world unpredictable. Do we want unpredictable investments or inexhaustible savings? Which one do we want? Because every deposit you make in the kingdom treasure is eternal.
Speaker 1:This is what he says in Matthew, chapter 6, verse 19. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where the thieves do not break in and steal. This is what he's telling us to do Store up treasure, seek treasure, run to treasure, but real treasure, not fake treasure. G Campbell Morgan says these words to us. He says you are not the child of today, you are the child of tomorrow. You are of the eternities. You are not the child of today, you are the child of tomorrow, you are of the eternities. You are the offspring of deity. You belong to the infinite.
Speaker 1:If you make your fortune on the earth, poor, sorry, silly soul, you have made a fortune and stored it in a place where you cannot hold it. Make your fortune, but store it where it will greet you in the dawning of the new morning, jesus is apparently telling us here there are two ways to live. There's a way to live that stores up treasures on earth and there's a way to live that stores up treasures in heaven. And lest we think that there's a way to have one foot in this and one foot in the other, jesus makes very clear in this passage here in Matthew 6, no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or despise the one and be devoted to the other. You cannot serve two masters. So which are we living for? Treasure on earth or treasure in heaven? How do you know? How do you know which one you're living for? How do you know this morning if you're living for earth or for heaven? Jesus says you look where your treasure is. And it's a sure sign of where your heart is. Where your treasure is, that your heart will be also. Here's what he's saying Our use of money, ladies and gentlemen, our use of money is a sure barometer of our present spiritual condition.
Speaker 1:This is a simple and sobering truth, and I include myself in this. If we look at our spending in this room, if you took the bank accounts in this room. Which place would you see more treasure in Earth or heaven? So much of our treasure and stuff we have and the entertainment and the restaurants where we eat, the video games. We eat the video games kids play. So much for treasure and it's a sure barometer that this is where our heart is.
Speaker 1:It was said in the early church, when Roman persecution was occurring, that Roman persecutors came into one Christian church and broke in to confiscate all their treasures. They said where have you stored your treasures? And it was said, the church pointed to a small group in the corner of widows and orphans who were eating a meal and said this is the treasure of the church. That's how to do church, that's how to live Christianity. This is treasure. Where is your heart? Not only here, but the eternal ramifications.
Speaker 1:Our use of money is a sure indicator of our future eternal destination. We talked about this last week. Again, we're not saying that we earn eternal life with how we use our money, but what Jesus is saying very clearly here don't miss it is our money. Our use of money shows where our heart is. Your use of money, my use of money, where we spend and what we acquire, that shows where our heart is. It is a sure indicator of our future eternal destination. Are we spending for what counts on earth or are we spending for what counts in heaven? And there is a radical reward to be had in heaven, so let's spend there. We'll close with this radical loss. Love of possessions will inevitably and ultimately rob us of the joy for which we have been created.
Speaker 1:You come back to Mark, chapter 10, and as soon as Jesus said this, the man's face fell and he went his way, sad because he had great wealth. Here's the reality. Don't miss him. This is the only time in Mark where somebody walks away from Jesus, refusing his call to discipleship, the only time in the gospel of Mark where this happens. Why did it happen? I think three primary reasons. Number one because his eyes were blind. It's what Jesus talks about in Matthew, chapter 6. In the context of that conversation on money, he says if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
Speaker 1:The reality is, the adversary blinds us through sin, through indulgence in the world blinds us. This is why, a few weeks ago, when we started this series, I talked about how this is a glaring, has been a glaring blind spot, not just in church or community. It's in my life, just like when I look back a couple hundred years ago and I see men preaching the gospel with slaves in their homes and think how could you do that, how could you have slaves? There's a blind spot, a major blind spot that needed to be addressed and I wonder if, a hundred years from now, they won't look back at us and say they said they followed Christ and they seem to have such passion, but how can they live in such opulence, how can they have so much stuff that they didn't need? It's a blind spot and sin does this. It blinds us. It's one of the greatest curses of sin spiritual blindness.
Speaker 1:His eyes were blind, blind to the depth of his sin and blind to the need of the poor. God opened her eyes to the depth of sin and the depth of the need of the poor. His eyes were blind. His face was sad. He had no joy. Here's a guy walking away. This doesn't make sense. He's walking away from the treasure in the field. Sad, sad guy walking away. This doesn't make sense. He's walking away from the treasure in the field. Sad, sad, when the only way he can have joy he's walking away from. His face was sad and his hands were full. He walked away because he had great wealth.
Speaker 1:What I want you to do, I want you to imagine this scene in Mark, chapter 10. But I want you to put yourself in his shoes. I'm not saying again that he would say definitely say this exact thing to every person in this room. But we see the implications here and I want you to look into the implications here and I want you to look into the face of Christ and I want you to see his compassion, his love for you. This is not him saying I want to make you miserable and make life tough or hard. He's saying I love you and I want you to experience treasure. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt we week's episode of Radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.