Into The Kingdom: Revolution Resistance (Week 17)

This Sunday, Founding Pastor Rick Duncan teaches that we cannot earn our way into God’s kingdom through success, morality, wealth, or effort, but must come to Jesus like children who humbly receive His grace. We learn that when we surrender the idols that compete for our hearts, trust in the saving work of Christ, and invest our lives in His kingdom, we gain a reward that far outweighs anything this world can offer. 

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Transcript

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Amen. All right. I love that. Marianne and I, my wife Marianne and I had a chance to be a part of 20 or so people that were part of the core team that left uh Broadway Heights and headed over to Brunswick to start that church. And some of us have made our way back here, and uh it's just exciting to see what God is doing there. I was able to teach over there last Sunday morning, and it's truly a thriving congregation. So I love that we get to celebrate that. And there'll be a little more information uh from Pastor Joe and Pastor Josh with a special announcement toward the end of our service today. So you're gonna hear a little bit more about that. Uh back in 95, 1995, the Cleveland Indians then were in the World Series. Our son Alan was 14. And like everybody, pretty much everybody else in Northeast Ohio, we were tribe fans, and the city was electric with anticipation. So before one of those World Series games, I took Alan downtown to hoping that maybe somehow, some way, we could get tickets to one of those World Series games. Maybe somebody on the street would be, you know, selling a ticket or a pair of tickets. But but but we were still in those very early church planting years, and I was like a poor church planting pastor. Our money was tight, really tight, and I remember those ticket prices like really steep, just too much, and there was just no way. Uh I I felt disappointment and disempowered and maybe a little ashamed because as a dad, you know, you want to give your kids those experiences, but I couldn't do it because the pockets just weren't deep enough. See, money opens doors. If you have enough money, you can buy the hottest ticket in town. Money is a master key that gives you access. Um, and then wealth can cause us to believe this. If something needs to happen, I can make it happen. And that mindset might work in a lot of areas of life, but with Jesus, things are different. So open your Bibles today to Mark chapter 10. Jesus has an encounter with a man that's really revolutionary. Because there is a door that money can't open. In the kingdom of God, the people who think they can achieve their way in find out they can't do it. A young man comes to Jesus. He's a successful man, the kind of man everybody assumes that guy's winning in life. And he asks Jesus one of the most important questions that anybody could ask, and that is, what must I do to inherit eternal life? So I think a word in that question is very revealing, and it's the word do. What do I have to do? Like, what do I need to add to my portfolio? Because you see, rich people are used to making things happen themselves. But Jesus is about to show this young man and us that the way into the kingdom is revolutionary, that unless God Himself changes our hearts, none of us would ever enter it. So we're going to discover that that basic question is asked really four different ways in this text. What must we do to inherit eternal life? How can we enter the kingdom of God? Who can be saved? And what does it mean to inherit eternal life? So I got five truths for us today. It's simple to enter the kingdom, it's costly to enter the kingdom, it's impossible to enter the kingdom. It's miraculous to enter the kingdom, and it's rewarding to enter the kingdom. The first one, it's simple to enter the kingdom. Now, remember, at this point in Jesus' ministry, he'd kind of gone viral, okay? He's trending, he's magnetic. The moms and dads are thinking, I gotta get my kid to Jesus to be blessed. And the children themselves, when they get close to Jesus, they don't pull away because children like to lean in towards someone or something that's comfortable and safe and secure and strong. So that's Jesus. Now the disciples are not happy that the kids are with Jesus because you know they're not important enough. But Jesus says this back in chapter 10, verse 15 whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And he took them in his arms and he blessed them, laying hands on them. So are you saying that we get into the kingdom of God by leaning in and being held like a little child? I mean, that sounds too simple. But all you have to do is to come to Jesus and receive his blessing. The children here, they're not earning it, they're not working for it, they're not achieving it, they're simply receiving it. So to enter the kingdom or to be saved or to get eternal life, the idea is be childlike, not child-ish. If you're childish, you throw a temper tantrum when you don't get what you want. But be childlike. Now, several weeks ago, Pastor Joe taught us that to be like a child is simply to receive. Children don't come to the table with a resume, they come with an appetite. A child never wonders, you know, did I do enough today to earn dinner? They probably did some stuff that means they shouldn't get dinner. A child just simply receives the mac and cheese. And that's how we come to God. We come empty-handed, receiving our place at his table as a gift of grace. So it's simple, children. Receive. Now, simple doesn't mean easy, it means uncomplicated. And maybe you're here in the room today and you were kind of taught that if you're going to go to heaven, you got to keep the rules, the rituals, and the regulations of religion, and you better do it really well. Or maybe you're here and you're exhausted by the rules of your family or by some church, so you've given up trying to be good enough. It all feels really complicated to you, but Jesus says, just be like these children who come to me and they lean in and they're held. They listen, they learn, they love, they are loved. This is the way to enter the kingdom. So I wonder what it would be like for you today to come to Jesus like a child. Not achieving, simply receiving. That's the way we enter the kingdom, it's the way we stay in the kingdom. So, first, it's simple to enter the kingdom. Second, it's costly to enter the kingdom. Okay, I got five points today. Number two is going to go a little longer than three, four, and five. Okay, so don't get worried if this goes on a little bit. So Jesus then leaves these children and he heads out for more ministry to another place. And this next story compares how people who receive Jesus are different from the people who are trying to achieve for Jesus. Now, Matthew and Luke, who also tell the life story of Jesus, they mention when they tell this story that this man is a leader. Maybe he's a civic leader, maybe he's a business leader. And Matthew also tells us that this man is young. He's probably in his twenties or thirties. So he's a rich young leader. Verse 17. And as he, Jesus, was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now you see immediately here a lot of good things about this guy. There's urgency. He ran up to Jesus. There's respect. He knelt down before Jesus. There's honor. He calls Jesus good teacher. So this looks pretty good, right? He's coming to the right person, he's asking the right questions. But we got to be careful. We can be like this young man, saying all the right words, even wanting the right outcome, but still miss what Jesus is after. So he's asked, good teacher, uh, what do I need to do to get my ticket punched to heaven? And Jesus doesn't immediately answer the question here. Because I think he wants him to understand who he's talking to. Verse 18, and Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Now, as we've been traveling through the book of Mark, who is Jesus is a central theme. Some in Mark have said he's a madman. Some have said he's a con man. Others have said he's a good man. Or he's a miracle man. But Jesus says there's more. I'm going to give you another option. Now think with me. No one is good but God. So if I'm good, then I'm. That was a little shaky. If I'm good, then I'm. All right, all right. Thank you. Christianity is more than just a list of rules and regulations, of morals and mandates, of rights and wrongs and do's and don'ts. It's about a right relationship with God. It's about seeing who Jesus is. 100% God, 100% man. And when you make this God man your God, he will empower you to know what's right and wrong, and then to be able to do the do's and don't the don'ts. Is he your God today? And when did you make him your God? You know, I ask people that question sometimes and they go, well, I don't know. I just kind of always had Jesus as my God. You know, if you were to ask me, hey Rick, are you married? Yeah, I'm married. Well, when did you get married? I don't know. I've just kind of like always been married. You go, I don't think he understands the question or the situation. So if you say, well, I've just kind of always had Jesus as my God, it's like, no, there's a there's a time where you recognize he's not really my God. I am making him my God. We'll talk about that a little bit later. Give you a chance if you've never made him your God to do so today. Now, what's Jesus gonna say next? He's saying, okay, I'll play your game. If you want to know what you have to do in order to earn heaven, let's talk about that. Verse 19. You know the commandments do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, and honor your father and mother. So basically, Jesus here is giving him the last six of the Ten Commandments. He starts with the sixth, goes through the tenth, and circles back to the fifth. So, so you want to know what you have to do? You have to keep all of the commandments all the time, perfectly, if you want to know what you have to do to go to heaven. So, how's the guy gonna respond? Verse 20, and he said to Jesus, Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth. Really? I think Jesus could have launched it to a long rant right here to show this young man just how many times he had broken the commandments. You know, you kept all these commandments from your youth. You never took any money from your dad out of his wallet when he was taking a nap and didn't tell him about it. That's called stealing. How many things do you have to steal before you're a thief? You're a thief, bro. Or you may never have stabbed somebody literally and they bled out and died. But you've talked trash about somebody, and figuratively, you've stabbed them in the back, and in God's sight, you're guilty of murder. I mean, Jesus could have walked through all those commandments and he knew this guy's past, and he could have decimated the guy, but he doesn't do this. Jesus doesn't just want this young man's behavior to change. Jesus is after something more. Jesus doesn't want just outside in change, he wants inside out change. Verse 21. And Jesus looking at him loved him. Stop there. And I like that, that Jesus loved this young man. Because Jesus knows that this young man, like all of us, is not a commandment keeper, he's a commandment breaker. But that's exactly who Jesus came to save. He said, I didn't come to heal the healthy. I came for those that are sick. And maybe you're here today and you're kind of checking out church for the first time in a long time, and you know in your heart you're a commandment breaker. You know you've displeased God, that you haven't lived up to his expectations. Man, you haven't even lived up to your own expectations for your life. And you failed the people around you. That means your life is filled with sin. You know, two weeks ago, Pastor Joe uh handled a tough topic from the book of Mark, dealing with divorce and adultery. And maybe that caused you to feel guilt and shame, and you're thinking, well, how could God ever want somebody like me? Please know that you're welcome here. Because we've all sinned here in this room and fallen short of the glory of God. But what's more important than you feeling welcomed here is that you need to know that you're welcomed by Jesus. He looks at you and he loves you. He is love loving, even the likes of me and even the likes of you. Now, Jesus is not going to get into some nitpicking uh legalistic argument about whether this man has or hasn't kept the last six of the Ten Commandments. Instead, he sees the idol in this young man's heart. And so, verse 21, he says to him, You lack one thing. Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me. So you say you've kept the last six commandments. All right, how about the first one? Now he doesn't name the first one point blank, but he exposes the fact that this young man has not kept it. And here's the test like, what do you treasure most? Commandment number one says, God speaking, you shall have no other gods before me. And Jesus is pointing out, young man, if you can't do this one thing, which is sell what you have, give it to the poor, follow me, then you got another God before the one true God, and it's your money. He's not giving this young man kind of a works ladder to climb. If you do this just the right way, then you'll make it to heaven. He's removing the illusion that that ladder even exists. This young man is hoping to be ready for heaven because of what he does. Jesus shows him he's not ready because of what he loves. He puts his finger on the one thing that this man can't release. And it's not because selling his possessions would save him, it's because loving his possessions is damning him. Now, let me hurry to say, Jesus is not against wealth. In the Old Testament, Job was rich, Abraham was rich, David was rich, in the New Testament, Nicodemus was rich, Lydia was rich, Philemon was rich. The issue is not, do you have things? The issue is do your things have you? So he's challenging this man with the very same challenge that he gave back in chapter 8, which is if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now I wonder if Jesus was going to have a conversation with you, what would be that one thing that he would ask you to release? Your idol might not be money or possessions, your idol might be a relationship that you need to give up in if you're gonna follow Christ. I mean, you know in your heart that that boyfriend, that girlfriend is keeping you from Jesus. Or your idol might be some gender identity that you're gonna have to turn from if you're gonna follow Christ. Your idol might be your reputation, your idol might be your career, your idol might be the success of your kids. And you're thinking, but this is the one thing that I think will give me life. This is the one thing, this person, this goal. But but if I'm honest, it's more precious to me than Jesus is. So he walks away sad. He's not angry, he's not defiant, he's just sad. Jesus has said, let your wealth go, then come and follow me. And the man says, I can't do it, I won't do it. I'm sorry. And I think that made Jesus sorry too. So at this point, this law-keeping, money-loving man missed eternal life. He wanted God some, but he wanted gold more. Brenda Leisaker is on our staff here. She had a very successful career in the business community here in Northeast Ohio, and she left that behind and joined our team. She's the director of our generous life ministry here. And I said, Hey, I'm talking about this important topic. Give me something. Here's what she says: she's on track. God does not need your money or possessions because he already owns everything. What he desires is your heart. If you are unwilling to open your hands and surrender your stuff, does God truly have your heart? Jesus is calling us to wholehearted surrender, not halfway devotion. And the good news is that what is impossible for us is possible with God. So jump in with both feet and begins giving and serving in a way that glorifies Him and shows what you truly treasure. Jesus isn't telling this young man, sell something. He is saying surrender everything. And in the heart of every man, woman, girl, and boy is an idol factory. And Jesus is here today, and he's simply walking into our idol factories, and he is saying, that idol right there in your life, that's gotta go. Because I don't want just part of you, I want all of you. It is costly to enter the kingdom. Third, it's impossible to enter the kingdom. So Jesus uses this one on one time with his followers to um Teach them something. And in verse 23, Jesus looked around and he said to his disciples, How difficult will it be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God? Now, in those days, people believed that if I'm wealthy, then that's a sign that I have been blessed by God. Evidently, the prosperity gospel was alive and well back in Jesus' day, like it is now. If you're wealthy, it's because God's favoring you, he's loving you, he's blessing you. Verse 24, and the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, how difficult 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 person to enter the kingdom of God. Now, Jesus is not saying that the salvation of a rich person is difficult. As we're going to see in verse 27, he's saying it's impossible. Getting a camel through the eye of a needle, it's not happening. Now, I got a needle here with a little bitty eye in there. You can't see it, but I can. And I've got a camel today. They wouldn't let me bring a real camel to church for some reason. But you know, you can't even get a toy camel through the eye of a needle, much less a big old honking real camel through the eye of a needle. This is what Jesus is saying. And this makes the disciples kind of unravel. Because they're thinking, if anybody has an inside track to God, it is somebody like this young man. And now Jesus is saying, he can't get in. So they asked the obvious question, verse 26. And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? And I think this is the question that he's wanting them to ask, and he's wanting us to ask. If entrance into the kingdom cannot happen by keeping the commandments, if entrance in the kingdom requires total surrender, if even the best among us, like the rich young ruler, can't get in, then what hope is there for anybody? It's simple to enter the kingdom, it's costly, and it's impossible. Number four, this is the good news. It's a miracle to enter the kingdom. What we cannot do for ourselves, God does. So the disciples had asked, who can be saved? Verse 27, and Jesus looked at them and said, With man, it is impossible. But not with God, for all things are possible with God. And this is the hinge point of the story. Because nobody in this room is a commandment keeper. We are all in the same boat. We're all commandment breakers. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot earn your salvation. You can't do enough good deeds. You can't go to church enough. You can't pray enough. Good works won't buy you your salvation. It's impossible for you to save yourself. You can contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary. A problem is not mainly external, it's internal. We need new hearts. And that's what God has promised in the Old Testament to give us. In an Old Testament book called Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 36 says that God wants to take out our hearts of stone and put in us a new heart, a heart of flesh. And he wants to put his Holy Spirit inside us, and he wants to reorder our loves so that we are loving him most and loving him best. So therefore, salvation is not something that we do, it's something our triune God does. God the Father sent God the Son into this world to live the life that we could not live, to die the death we should have died, to be judged the way we should have been judged, and to rise from the grave in order to give us forgiveness and new life. And then he sends the Holy Spirit to convict each one of us of our sin and causes us to be born again so that we can repent and believe like a little child. So if you're here today and you're saved, if you've entered the kingdom and you've been given the gift of eternal life, I want to remind you, you didn't earn it and you didn't deserve it. God did it in spite of you and in spite of me, and he did it for us because you were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were blind to the truth of God, but he made you see. You were enslaved to yourself in your sin, but he set you free. You were lost, now you're found. It took a miracle to save you and me. It's simple to enter the kingdom, it's costly, it's impossible, it's a miracle, and it's rewarding to enter the kingdom. So the disciples are kind of wondering: okay, we see all this interaction between you and that guy, and where does this leave us? And of course, you can imagine it's Peter that speaks up first. He's thinking about uh what's it cost me, what's it cost our all of us to follow Jesus? Verse 28, Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you. I think this is like typical Peter talk. You know, hey, we did what the rich young leader couldn't do. What's in it for us? Jesus said, verse 29, Truly I say to you, there's no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands. I love this because when Jesus says, leave everything behind and follow me, he's not recruiting you into a dull, joyless life where everything gets stripped away and all that's left is religious drudgery, and you'll never laugh ever again. Jesus is not calling you away from joy and reward, he's calling you to it. The problem is we don't really believe that. We think, well, if I follow Jesus, if I sell out, I'm gonna lose too much. I'm gonna miss out. My life will kind of shrink. But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, you're gonna receive a hundredfold now in this present time. Now, he's not saying if you give away one house, I'm gonna give you a hundred back. He's using hyperbolic language here to say when you follow me, you enter into a new kingdom family, and you inherit a whole new kind of wealth. So the hundredfold here is not mainly more stuff, it's more of what really matters. I got a bigger family now. I got a better purpose now. I got more significance now, and more joy and more Jesus. Tony and Kaelin here on our staff were missionaries who left South Florida, a home there, and they went to Indonesia to serve for 13 years. They gained entrance into home after home after home on the other side of the world. They didn't lose, they gained. And I've been in some of those homes with Tony and Caitlin. A church member like uh Becca Ferguson follows the call of God from South Carolina to Ohio, leaving one mother only to find out she has dozens of spiritual mothers and sisters and daughters. The receiving of a hundredfold now in this time is not multiplication of possessions, it's the expansion of relationships and influence and legacy for the kingdom of God. Now, don't miss this. Part of receiving a hundredfold mothers, brothers, and lands includes verse 30, persecutions. All these blessings will come with persecutions. In other words, following Jesus will cost. We follow Jesus in a world that pushes back. And why does the world push back? Because we live for a different kingdom. And if the world rejected Jesus, it will reject us. But gaining Jesus is worth more than any suffering we might be asked to endure. And then he says, and in the age to come, you'll have eternal life. I think too often we live like there is no eternal life. Because we're trying to wring all the fun we can out of this life. We want experiences, we want pleasures, and we want it now. Give me the boat, give me the car, the motorcycle, the clothes, the addition onto the house, the trip to the beach, the tickets to the World Series. You know, I want to see this, I want to taste that, I want to go there. We invest our money and all this instant gratification, but Jesus says, even if you get some of that stuff or all of that stuff, you think you're experiencing the good life here and now? Just wait until you get a taste of the next life. There's an age to come. And it lasts forever. So lay up your treasure in heaven. Why should we do that? Verse 31. Many who are first will be last, and the last first. So he's saying, yes, yes, following me does cost, but in the life to come, the rich young leader will be poor. And you guys following me now, even though we're poor, we'll be rich. The large will be little, the little will be large. You need to choose being last. You know, some of you have done very well for yourself in business. I just wonder, could God be calling some of you away from business success in order to serve him full time in some capacity? You're gonna give up the gold for God. You're gonna give up comfort for Christ. You're gonna give up temporal success for eternal significance. I wonder if Jesus could be using you, could want to use you to do that. And some of you here in this room, you've kind of retired, right? You're thinking, well, I've worked really hard all my life. Now it's time for some fun. I'm gonna do what I want to do now. And what if that actually makes you more like the rich young leader than like Peter and the disciples? I wonder what would happen if you sat down with somebody on the CBC staff and you just asked, How could you use me? Here's my experience, here's my skill, here's my know-how. How can I help this team, this church here? What do you where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? What if Jesus is asking you today, here's your one thing, your one thing, you lack one thing. What if he's waiting on you today to say, here's my time, my talent, my treasure, my calendar, my life? Let's go. Jesus is worth it. It's simple and costly to enter the kingdom, it's impossible, but a miracle to enter the kingdom, and it's rewarding to enter the kingdom. Some of you in this room, I bet, have never really entered the kingdom of God. You never have ever made Jesus your God. You can't point back to a time or a season of life where this is when it happened. You've never said, Yes, I'll follow you, Jesus. And you've never received the miracle of salvation. And that reward that Jesus talked about, it's not yours, not yet. But today, God's Spirit is speaking to you. And you're going, I want that. Well, you can pray with me. There's no magic prayer, but just I'm gonna go through a prayer and in your heart, just whisper it to the Lord. Dear God, I'm not a commandment keeper. Just whisper it to him right now. I'm a commandment breaker. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to surrender my one thing to you. I believe, Jesus, that you lived a life I could never live. And that you died the death I should have died. So please forgive me. And I receive you as my leader and forgiver. I want you to be my king. And I want that eternal life that you came to give. I won't attempt to achieve. I will simply receive like a child. Thank you for saving me. You know, if you prayed to receive Christ, then I just want you to text the name Jesus to our number, 440-276-5575, and we'll help you take your next steps in following Christ. So, five quick applications for today. Number one, ask courageously. We touched on this earlier, but I think we're all probably blind to our biggest idol in our hearts. What if you ask somebody who loves Jesus enough and you enough to tell you the truth? And here's the question: what do you think I struggle with most to surrender to Christ? Two, repent radically. Turn from that one thing that's holding you back. Smash the idol that's in your heart. For one person it might be money, for another it might be a relationship or comfort or sexual freedom or success. Don't try to manage your idol. Smash it. Number three, risk sacrifice gladly. So stop thinking, you know, once the market settles down or once inflation drops or once the straight of hormouses opened up or once I have enough in the bank, then I'll start being really generous. No, no, no. Give until it hurts now. Support missionaries now. Buy dinner for somebody who can't afford it now. Number four, serve selflessly. If you've got kids or grandkids and they only see you serving when it's convenient for you, they may never see the beauty and the worth of Jesus through you. Your children do not need you to show them a version of Christianity that's shallow. Let them watch you serve the last and the least in a way that costs you. And number five, go fearlessly. Don't automatically assume that the American dream is God's dream for your life. Jesus may call you to leave what is safe for the sake of the gospel. A great tragedy is wasting your life maintaining your comfort while missing your calling. So some of you might be the person who's going to plant a church out of this church someday, like Clay Myatt did at King's Cross Church downtown. Or like Josh Stone did in planting that church in Brunswick. Serve on a church staff. Ditch that career for another one. Foster a child, adopt a child, become an international missionary. All of us have been called. What's he calling you to do? You know, I remember over 30 years ago, the wife of a multi-million dollar business leader who attended this church, she said this about me. I think Rick could be making some serious money somewhere. Like he's a hard worker and he's energetic and he's a good communicator, has a lovely wife and family, he's an entrepreneur. I think he'd be great at business. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what she said. And I thought, no way. God called me to Northeast Ohio to build his kingdom. And whatever time, town, treasure I have, I want to invest it in serving Jesus. I want to go to heaven and take as many people with me as I possibly can. And I want to start a church that starts churches. And I just tell you, no seat at a World Series game compares to see somebody transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. No earthly accomplishment has a return on investment like serving Jesus does. So not being able to afford those World Series tickets, very small price to pay. Because eventually you realize you can spend your whole life buying tickets to events that disappear in a moment, or you can spend your life investing in a kingdom that will never end. So Jesus, of course, was right. Nobody who gives up anything for him ultimately loses. He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose. You know, we're going to sing one last song here. And then there's going to be a very special video announcement. So after this last song, I want you to stick around because you don't want to miss this announcement. You know, the rich young leader missed eternal life that day because he would not forsake his junk in order to follow Jesus. And we're going to sing a classic song written by a believer in India who refused to deny Jesus even after he was persecuted and the loss of his family and the threat to his life. He wrote this song. Because Jesus is worth more than anything we can leave behind. So I pray that this next song will be your prayer from the bottom of your heart.