Matthew 19:22……Working

Matthew 19:22……Working

19:22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. (For additional Expository Notes See Book)

Extended Sermon Notes

“Warns against finding our identity, security, and significance in stuff, rather than in a relationship with God.” ⇒ ,,,,,,,,(To be Continued)

“Teaches what Jesus is calling us to give up may seem harsh and unfair, but His doing it because He loves us.” ⇒ It’s in love that Jesus longs for you to lay down your “one thing” because He knows it will never be enough to fill whatever part of you is empty. It isn’t what’s best for you.

“Calls for not getting disappointed when people reject our witness, even Jesus didn’t get what He wanted out of witnessing.” ⇒ We need to remind ourselves when people reject our witness, it’s not us their rejecting but Jesus. This man was face to face with the Lord, God in the flesh and still rejected Him. So don’t get discourage when sometimes you preach, share your faith and invite people to give their life to the Lord. Because it’s really God their rejecting.

“Demonstrates how you can have all the money and success and still be sorrowful and depressed.” ⇒ When Jesus asked him to sell all his belongings and follow Him, the man’s sorrow was palpable. His wealth had become a barrier between him and the true joy, peace, and completeness that can only come from Jesus. This story illustrates that material wealth, no matter how abundant, cannot replace the spiritual fulfillment that only God can provide. The man’s sorrow underscores the profound truth that possessions alone do not equate to happiness, and that true contentment is found in surrendering to God’s will and trusting in His plan for our lives.

“Whereas for each believer the sacrifice may be different, but no less difficult. We may not have much, but even giving up the little things of food, friends, relationships, clothes, etc. can have just as powerful hold on us as well.” ⇒ What Jesus is asking for was specific to this man’s possessions and what he needed to address. Where as it’s going to look different for each of us.  I can’t answer what that barrier is between you and God. You must search your own heart and confess it openly to God. I believe we all have that “one thing” we haven’t given up yet. The one we cling to more closely than the cross — a source of happiness, comfort, self-worth, or whatever hole we’re still trying to fill apart from Christ. For me, it’s admiration from others. I cling to my ability to do, earn, and achieve in order to feel “made worthy” by the praise or gratitude my hard work earns. How about you? What’s keeping you from complete surrender to Christ? A relationship? Career? Job? Reputation? Secret Sin? Or maybe, not unlike the Rich Young Ruler, you have a lot of stuff — enough of it to clutter up your heart and muddle your perspective on what really matters.

Additional Notes & Applications

Calls for reminding ourselves when people reject our witness, it’s not us their rejecting but Jesus. This man was face to face with the Lord, God in the flesh and still rejected Him. So don’t get discourage when sometimes we preach, share our faith and invite people to give their life to the Lord. And when it doesn’t work out, we’re so disappointed and hard on ourselves. Thinking maybe we didn’t say the right thing or do the right thing. Taking all the responsibility on ourselves. But what this story shows us is that even Jesus sometimes didn’t get what He wanted out of witnessing.

Teaches instead of feeling sorrowful for giving up material possessions and missing out, we should rejoice in the knowledge that in Jesus, we have everything we need. We must continuously remind ourselves: “That’s right, I have everything because I have Jesus. Nothing can get me down. No layoff, no bankruptcy, no family breakup, no abuse, no health issue, no disaster, no unexpected bills, no heartbreak, no downturn in the economy, etc.”

Some praise the man’s honesty in not being a hypocrite in pretending to live up to the standards he knew he could not attain. Others assume the man went back to his religious ways or kept searching for something to fill the void in his life only to die and face eternity in hell.