April 25, 2025 • 28 mins
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Mark as Played
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Ask. But first,
here's the message, rich Man, poor Man.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Today's message is found in Mark, chapter ten. It is
a famous story. Really, you may know it as the
story of the rich young Ruler. I'm calling this sermon
rich man, poor man, and you'll see why. As we read,
beginning in verse seventeen, chapter ten of Mark, and he
(00:43):
was setting out on his journey, or as he 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? And Jesus said to him,
why do you call me good? No one is good
except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder,
(01:06):
do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.
And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have
kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved
him and said to him, you lack one thing, go
(01:31):
sell all that you have and give it to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me.
Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he
had great possessions, rich men, poor man. All three of
(01:54):
the gospel writers that recorded this story, Luke, Matthew, and Mark,
said that he was rich. He was fabulously wealthy. Matthew,
in talking about this encounter between Jesus and this man,
said that he was a young man, so a young
rich man. And Luke tells us that he was a ruler,
(02:17):
most likely a religious ruler and leader in his community,
and thus the rich young ruler. And what a contrasts
between these two men, the wealthy, young aristocratic man who
came and knelt at Jesus' feet, and Jesus himself, the
(02:38):
carpenter from Nazareth, the one who didn't even have a
place to lay his head, an itinerant preacher, the one
they were saying is the Messiah, the savior of the world.
They may have been about the same age and yet
so different in many ways. Here is this young man
(03:00):
who's in the prime of his life, young manhood, and
he's with gorgeous rogue streaming behind me, running into the
presence of Jesus, eager anticipating asking certain questions, spiritual questions,
and he asked the most important question of all, what
(03:21):
must I do to inherit eternal life? To put it simply,
he was asking, how can I be saved? How can
I know that I'm going to heaven? What is salvation?
What does it take to inherit to receive eternal life?
He came at the right time, at young manhood. He
(03:43):
came to the right person, Jesus, and he came with
the right and the most important question, what must I
do to inherit eternal life? And they're Jesus seeing him
and yet knowing his love for money and possessions and
power and prestige and social acceptance, confronts him with the
(04:07):
Gospel of the Cross, the gospel of self denial. This
young man, in the presence of Jesus had everything seemingly
that life could offer. He was successful, very successful. As noted,
(04:27):
he was young. When this young man probably thirty something,
he had risen to some status in the community already,
but he's on a spiritual search. He was young, he
was rich, which in that day in particular, was a
sign of the remembrance and the favor and the blessing
(04:48):
of God upon a person's life. And even in our
own culture, if a person has money, if a person
is wealthy, they potentially have business power and social influence
and all the rest. And so as a result of
his youth, as a result of his eagerness, the expectation,
the possibilities of his life, the fact that he had
(05:09):
had the money to fund it, he is now a ruler.
Josephus the Jewish historian indicates that this word for ruler
may suggest that he was a member of the Sanhedron,
that he was a ruler in the Jewish Sanhedron, which
was the ruling class in court of the Jewish nation.
So here we have this man. He has attained a
(05:32):
place of political, social, and domestic importance in his community,
in his city, even in the nation. And so he
is described as a rich young ruler. And he comes
to Jesus with a spiritual desire, a spiritual desire. The
(05:57):
remarkable thing about this young man in isually is how
he came to Jesus. We're told that he came running
to Jesus, and not only running, but kneeling at the
feet of Jesus. Again, what a contrast this aristocratic, sophisticated
(06:20):
young man kneeling at the feet of the Galilean carpenter
named Jesus. As for Jesus, he was on his last pilgrimage,
his last trip to Jerusalem. He had set his face
towards the cross and was on his way to die
for the sins of the world, your sins and mind.
(06:43):
Opposition was rising, resistance and antagonism, rejection, all of that
was facing Jesus at this time. The tide was turning
against the Lord. So the fact that this young man
came to Jesus at that time, not early on, not
(07:04):
early in the in the life and the ministry of
the work of Christ, but now late when so many
are turning away, this young man knows there's something about
Jesus that he must get the answer that though he
was a religious man and a rich man and a
respecting man, there were spiritual questions that he could not answer.
(07:25):
He was spiritually seeking and searching to know the truth.
He didn't know that he had eternal life. And I'm
speaking to some right now that though you were raised
in religion, grown up in church, you've kept commandments, you're
morally a good person. There is that fear in your
life that you don't know that you're going to heaven.
(07:46):
Do you know for certain that if you were to
die today that you would go to heaven? And if so,
how do you know? That's the question that this young
man brought in the broad daylight. Unlike Nick deem Us,
who for whatever reason came to Jesus by night, or
Joseph of Arimathea, whose tomb the Lord was laid, who
(08:08):
was a secret disciple of the Lord, or others who
were faces in the crowd that we've never known or met,
but this man came wide open, unashamed, into the presence
of Jesus. What a great story. Kneeling before the Lord.
(08:31):
There's something about moral strength and spiritual courage and bravery
that is so attracted. The young man addresses the Lord
with these words. On his quest, his sincere desire to
know eternal life. He says to Jesus, good Master, Good Master.
(08:55):
And this is where the story turns, because Jesus ask,
then why do you call me good? There is none
good but God. Even the most famed rabbis of that
generation were not called good. The term good remained for
(09:17):
God and God alone, because God is good. So Jesus says,
why are you calling me good? Why are you calling
me good teacher? Why are you saying I'm a good rabbi?
Because only God is good. Now, lest you think that
(09:39):
Jesus is somehow diminishing or even denying his deity, he is,
in fact affirming his deity. He refuses to accept human
adulation and applause as simply being good. The religions of
the world believe Jesus was a good teacher, a good rabbi,
(10:03):
a good man, a prophet. But he is more than
a prophet, and he did not leave it for us
to say he is a good teacher. He is a
good master. No. In fact, C. S. Lewis the great
generation ago leader of the Christian Church. Britt he said
(10:24):
this about saying that Jesus is only good. He said,
a man who is merely a man and said the
sort of things Jesus said would not be a great
moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the
level with a man who says he's a poached egg,
or else he would be the devil of hell, that is,
(10:44):
a blasphemer. You must make your choice. Either this man
was and is the son of God, or else a
madman or something worse. You can shut him up for
a fool, You can spit at him and kill him
as a demon. Or you can fall at his feet
and call him Lord and God. But let us not
(11:07):
come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great
human teacher. He has not left that open to us.
He did not intend to the question of the Christ.
Who is he? Why did he come?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the
message rich Man, Poor Man. In his powerful book Ask.
Doctor Graham helps you unlock the power of prayer in
your life using Jesus' teaching to ask, seek, and knock.
As you follow these three simple commands, you'll completely transform
how you pray. We want to help you discover a deeper,
(11:46):
more meaningful, and more powerful prayer life by sending you
a copy of Ask as our thanks for your gift
of ten dollars or more. Call now to request your
copy of this powerful resource. Call one eight hundred seven
ninety five four six two seven. That's one eight hundred
seven ninety five four six two seven. You can also
(12:07):
text the word ask to five nine seven eight nine.
Don't let stress Rob you of peace. It is possible
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That's what doctor Graham helps you do in his booklet
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(12:27):
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back to today's message, rich Man, poor Man.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
That brings us to the second act of this drama,
which is a spiritual determination. Jesus is about to give
this young man an examination to determine, for the man
to self determine where he was spiritually, to determine the
spiritual reality of his life. It's a test. You have
(13:02):
a question and you have a test to respond. And
so here it is. Jesus said, okay, you know the commandments.
You know the commandments, hountor your father and your mother.
That's a good one. Don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't kill,
don't defraud. And he gives these commandments, and the young
(13:25):
man responded, I've kept all of these since I was
a youth. And that's when the Bible says, and you
you look at that verse and it's so attractive. Verse
twenty one, it says, and Jesus, looking at him, loved him.
(13:47):
Jesus looks at you, and he loves you. I assure
you of that, whether you're a moral person or an
immoral person, his love is everlasting. He loves you. But
there was something so appealing about this young man, his
his possibility, his potential, his prayerful request. Jesus looked right,
(14:13):
He locked eyes with him. He fastened his attention on him,
and he looked beyond his eyes and ind to his soul.
He saw this young man's real need. Bo Though he
had kept the commandments externally, in his heart, there was
(14:34):
something missing. There was a fatal flaw in this young
man's life. He was clean, he was pure. But Jesus said, Okay,
here's the one thing you lack. Now. I need to
push Paul's here just a moment and say, Jesus is
not teaching us that we're saved by keeping the commandments
(14:57):
unless you say, you truly have kept all of the
commandments and you've never broken one. Anybody anybody, No, We've
all broken God's commandments and if we are to be
saved by keeping commandments fail. In fact, the scripture says,
if you break even one of the commandments, you're guilty
(15:19):
of all and not only in the content of the commandments,
the substance of the commandments, but the spirit of the commandments.
Jesus took it to a whole new level when he
talked about if you hate in your heart, if you
are a hater, you are a murderer. If you are
filled with lush, you are an adulterer, and so on.
(15:41):
Anybody still in on keeping all the commandments. But the
one commandment that was clear the young man had broken
was the very first one. He didn't mention it. But
it's the one who says which says, you shall worship
(16:03):
the Lord God, and him only, and him only shall
you serve. You'll have no other gods before me. This
young man, rich and ruling, had another god, and his
god was greed. He wasn't keeping the commandment regarding coveteousness.
(16:24):
And Jesus proves it when he says, okay, go sell
anything and all the things that you have, give it
to the poor, then come and follow me. Interesting it
nothing here about faith, nothing here about grace. But it's
about repentance, turning your back on the world and the
(16:45):
things of this world, the things we hold in our
hands and more importantly, in our hearts, that we are
unwilling to give up to follow Jesus. It doesn't matter
what it may. If there's anything in your life in
this world that you love more than God, that's an
(17:07):
idol that must be torn down. If you're going to
follow Jesus, one thing you lack. This man loved the
wrong world. The love of the world was in his heart.
He thought he was a spiritually devout individual, and in
(17:28):
some ways he was. But it was superficial, wasn't it.
It was surface because when he came right down to it,
he loved his money. He was mastered by his money.
And Jesus had said, what does it profit a man
if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul.
(17:50):
You can't have it both ways, Jesus said, you will
either love the world and the things of this world
are where you will love me and follow me. You
can't have it both ways. Is either or you will
either decide to turn your back on this world and
follow Jesus, or you're going to walk away without him.
You will make a decision. This man had a decision
(18:16):
to make at this point, and it becomes such a sad,
sorrowful decision. The final verse that we read was verse
twenty two. Look at it disheartened by the saying he
went away sorrowful. Disheartened, I mean he was discouraging. And
(18:40):
Luke tells us that his countenance fell. It showed up
on his face, he frowns, and he went away sorrowful.
This is the word stegnonzo in the Greek has only
used another time in the New Testament. Jesus used it
in Matthew's Gospel describing a storm. There is now a
(19:01):
storm in this young man's soul. This is a bright,
sunny man disposition on his face. And now the clouds
roll in the sun is behind the clouds, and the
lightning bolt's head. Because he is in a serious spiritual conflict.
He's struggling. Yes or no? Can I give up what
(19:25):
I have? All these things? Can I give up and
follow Jesus? Yes or no? Can I do this? The
demons in hell are whispering in his ear. Ar, don't
be a fool, don't be an idiot. You can't give
up this stuff to follow Jesus. The Angel, the recording Angel,
is poised and ready to write this man's name down
(19:47):
in the Lamb's Book of Life. The angels are ready
to cheer and see. But he bites his lip. Tears
begin to bubble up in his eyes flow, and he
says no, no, And he went away, walked away, sorrowful,
(20:14):
as far as we know, right into Hell, as far
as we know, no other chances, no other time Jesus
onto the Cross death resurrection without this man. So much potential, there,
so much promise there. I'm sure the disciples are thinking,
(20:37):
we can't let this guy go. He can fund our
program here. This guy's rich, he's good. Jesus, let's renegotiate
this thing. Jesus loved him, but he loved him enough
to tell him the truth. He loved him enough to
let him go. I'm sure, I'm certain this broke the
(21:01):
heart of Jesus as well. Jesus is broken hearted when
anyone walks away from him. But you can be in
heaven a billion years and you'll never find this man there.
You can look for him throughout all eternity, and he
(21:21):
won't be there. It was the suicide of a soul.
He said, no, I'll not follow Jesus because he loved
this world. Jesus said that when you follow me, you
(21:45):
will have treasure in heaven. He couldn't see beyond his
treasure on earth and things and stuff and possessions and
acceptance and popularity. What is it that may be keeping
you from following Jesus? What is the one thing for you?
Might not be money for many people, it's money for a
(22:08):
lot of people. This money, just love the world, love money,
love things. No time to follow Jesus. Their god is gold,
the creed is greed. I've known people through the years
that are in hell today because of their love for money,
(22:28):
even saying things like you know, I'll never go to
that church. I'll never go and follow Christ because all
they want down there is your money and they're getting
none of my money. But maybe it's not money. It
could be lust, sinful pleasure of some kind. Some have it.
(22:51):
It could be drugs, it could be alcohol, could be pride.
You see, this man was a ruler. He wanted to
rule his own life. He was unwilling to transfer the
rule of his life to Jesus. One thing and It
(23:12):
kept him out of heaven and sent him to hell.
All our other stories have been happy ending stories. This
is not a happy ending story like many others. He
rejected Jesus like some of you so far rejected Jesus.
And he went away sad and sorrowful, sorrowful, this storm
(23:35):
brewy in his soul, this stirring that I'm sure never
went away the rest of his life. He walked away
from Jesus.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
rich Man, poor Man. Nothing lights a fire in your
faith like experiencing the power of prayer firsthand. As you
begin to see God as a personal, loving father who
desires to hear and answer your prayers, it transforms your life,
and thanks to friends like you, more people all around
(24:08):
the world are hearing about their loving God and his
son Jesus through the TV, radio and online outreach of PowerPoint.
That's why your support of this ministry is so vital.
We'll say thanks for your gift of ten dollars or
more by sending you a copy of doctor Graham's book Ask.
This is a great resource to help you strengthen your
own prayer life and teach you to approach God with
(24:31):
boldness and confidence. So call now to request your copy.
When you give call one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety
five four six two seven. You can also text the
word ask to five nine seven eight nine, and don't
forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where you can
(24:52):
shop our easttore, give a gift online, or sign up
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for doctor Graham's podcast Bible in a Year pastor what
is your PowerPoint for Today?
Speaker 2 (25:11):
What's so tragic about this story is that this man
was so close to heaven, but something kept him from
having the eternal life that Jesus was offering him. Something
that is so great, so wonderful, so eternal, was right
within his grasp. But he walked away without Christ, and
he walked away without a future. You know, if you
(25:33):
don't know Jesus as your Lord and savior, I beg
you today, don't walk away. Don't turn away from Jesus.
Every time you reject the message that he offers, your
heart becomes a little harder and eventually it becomes so
hard that you'll not be able to make a decision
at all. There's no magic words or formula that becoming
(25:56):
a Christian is really a simple, and yet since seer
act of faith to say something like this, Jesus, I.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Know that I'm a sinner. I've broken your commandments. I
know I need forgiveness. I can't save myself. So Lord,
I ask you to come into my life, to forgive
my sin and to make me brand new. Lord, I
turn from myself and my sin, and I trust in you.
I receive the gift of eternal life. Now, if you've
(26:27):
prayed that prayer, you can start living that eternal life
right now. Because eternal life begins today, not just when
you die. You could have the joy and the peace
in life that God has promised because you now belong
to Him, and no matter what comes your way, you
can win in life because you belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you have said yes to Jesus and
(26:50):
you are following him, that means you have received his inheritance,
his eternal life, and you know what is too good
to keep. You want to give his life and his
grace and his message to others. So, because of his
great love for you, and because of His great love
for people like you, then make sure that your friends
and your family know Christ.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Share the wonderful gifts.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Of eternal life with others by introducing others to faith
and our savory.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book, Ask as Our thanks. Call
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
That's one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word ask to five nine
(27:39):
seven eight nine and join us again next time as
doctor Graham brings a message about how Jesus can help
you be victorious in your spiritual battles. That's next time
on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is
sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Ask. But first,
here's the message, rich Man, poor Man.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Today's message is found in Mark, chapter ten. It is
a famous story. Really, you may know it as the
story of the rich young Ruler. I'm calling this sermon
rich man, poor man, and you'll see why. As we read,
beginning in verse seventeen, chapter ten of Mark, and he
(00:43):
was setting out on his journey, or as he 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? And Jesus said to him,
why do you call me good? No one is good
except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder,
(01:06):
do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.
And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have
kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved
him and said to him, you lack one thing, go
(01:31):
sell all that you have and give it to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me.
Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he
had great possessions, rich men, poor man. All three of
(01:54):
the gospel writers that recorded this story, Luke, Matthew, and Mark,
said that he was rich. He was fabulously wealthy. Matthew,
in talking about this encounter between Jesus and this man,
said that he was a young man, so a young
rich man. And Luke tells us that he was a ruler,
(02:17):
most likely a religious ruler and leader in his community,
and thus the rich young ruler. And what a contrasts
between these two men, the wealthy, young aristocratic man who
came and knelt at Jesus' feet, and Jesus himself, the
(02:38):
carpenter from Nazareth, the one who didn't even have a
place to lay his head, an itinerant preacher, the one
they were saying is the Messiah, the savior of the world.
They may have been about the same age and yet
so different in many ways. Here is this young man
(03:00):
who's in the prime of his life, young manhood, and
he's with gorgeous rogue streaming behind me, running into the
presence of Jesus, eager anticipating asking certain questions, spiritual questions,
and he asked the most important question of all, what
(03:21):
must I do to inherit eternal life? To put it simply,
he was asking, how can I be saved? How can
I know that I'm going to heaven? What is salvation?
What does it take to inherit to receive eternal life?
He came at the right time, at young manhood. He
(03:43):
came to the right person, Jesus, and he came with
the right and the most important question, what must I
do to inherit eternal life? And they're Jesus seeing him
and yet knowing his love for money and possessions and
power and prestige and social acceptance, confronts him with the
(04:07):
Gospel of the Cross, the gospel of self denial. This
young man, in the presence of Jesus had everything seemingly
that life could offer. He was successful, very successful. As noted,
(04:27):
he was young. When this young man probably thirty something,
he had risen to some status in the community already,
but he's on a spiritual search. He was young, he
was rich, which in that day in particular, was a
sign of the remembrance and the favor and the blessing
(04:48):
of God upon a person's life. And even in our
own culture, if a person has money, if a person
is wealthy, they potentially have business power and social influence
and all the rest. And so as a result of
his youth, as a result of his eagerness, the expectation,
the possibilities of his life, the fact that he had
(05:09):
had the money to fund it, he is now a ruler.
Josephus the Jewish historian indicates that this word for ruler
may suggest that he was a member of the Sanhedron,
that he was a ruler in the Jewish Sanhedron, which
was the ruling class in court of the Jewish nation.
So here we have this man. He has attained a
(05:32):
place of political, social, and domestic importance in his community,
in his city, even in the nation. And so he
is described as a rich young ruler. And he comes
to Jesus with a spiritual desire, a spiritual desire. The
(05:57):
remarkable thing about this young man in isually is how
he came to Jesus. We're told that he came running
to Jesus, and not only running, but kneeling at the
feet of Jesus. Again, what a contrast this aristocratic, sophisticated
(06:20):
young man kneeling at the feet of the Galilean carpenter
named Jesus. As for Jesus, he was on his last pilgrimage,
his last trip to Jerusalem. He had set his face
towards the cross and was on his way to die
for the sins of the world, your sins and mind.
(06:43):
Opposition was rising, resistance and antagonism, rejection, all of that
was facing Jesus at this time. The tide was turning
against the Lord. So the fact that this young man
came to Jesus at that time, not early on, not
(07:04):
early in the in the life and the ministry of
the work of Christ, but now late when so many
are turning away, this young man knows there's something about
Jesus that he must get the answer that though he
was a religious man and a rich man and a
respecting man, there were spiritual questions that he could not answer.
(07:25):
He was spiritually seeking and searching to know the truth.
He didn't know that he had eternal life. And I'm
speaking to some right now that though you were raised
in religion, grown up in church, you've kept commandments, you're
morally a good person. There is that fear in your
life that you don't know that you're going to heaven.
(07:46):
Do you know for certain that if you were to
die today that you would go to heaven? And if so,
how do you know? That's the question that this young
man brought in the broad daylight. Unlike Nick deem Us,
who for whatever reason came to Jesus by night, or
Joseph of Arimathea, whose tomb the Lord was laid, who
(08:08):
was a secret disciple of the Lord, or others who
were faces in the crowd that we've never known or met,
but this man came wide open, unashamed, into the presence
of Jesus. What a great story. Kneeling before the Lord.
(08:31):
There's something about moral strength and spiritual courage and bravery
that is so attracted. The young man addresses the Lord
with these words. On his quest, his sincere desire to
know eternal life. He says to Jesus, good Master, Good Master.
(08:55):
And this is where the story turns, because Jesus ask,
then why do you call me good? There is none
good but God. Even the most famed rabbis of that
generation were not called good. The term good remained for
(09:17):
God and God alone, because God is good. So Jesus says,
why are you calling me good? Why are you calling
me good teacher? Why are you saying I'm a good rabbi?
Because only God is good. Now, lest you think that
(09:39):
Jesus is somehow diminishing or even denying his deity, he is,
in fact affirming his deity. He refuses to accept human
adulation and applause as simply being good. The religions of
the world believe Jesus was a good teacher, a good rabbi,
(10:03):
a good man, a prophet. But he is more than
a prophet, and he did not leave it for us
to say he is a good teacher. He is a
good master. No. In fact, C. S. Lewis the great
generation ago leader of the Christian Church. Britt he said
(10:24):
this about saying that Jesus is only good. He said,
a man who is merely a man and said the
sort of things Jesus said would not be a great
moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the
level with a man who says he's a poached egg,
or else he would be the devil of hell, that is,
(10:44):
a blasphemer. You must make your choice. Either this man
was and is the son of God, or else a
madman or something worse. You can shut him up for
a fool, You can spit at him and kill him
as a demon. Or you can fall at his feet
and call him Lord and God. But let us not
(11:07):
come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great
human teacher. He has not left that open to us.
He did not intend to the question of the Christ.
Who is he? Why did he come?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the
message rich Man, Poor Man. In his powerful book Ask.
Doctor Graham helps you unlock the power of prayer in
your life using Jesus' teaching to ask, seek, and knock.
As you follow these three simple commands, you'll completely transform
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(11:46):
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(12:07):
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(12:27):
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back to today's message, rich Man, poor Man.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
That brings us to the second act of this drama,
which is a spiritual determination. Jesus is about to give
this young man an examination to determine, for the man
to self determine where he was spiritually, to determine the
spiritual reality of his life. It's a test. You have
(13:02):
a question and you have a test to respond. And
so here it is. Jesus said, okay, you know the commandments.
You know the commandments, hountor your father and your mother.
That's a good one. Don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't kill,
don't defraud. And he gives these commandments, and the young
(13:25):
man responded, I've kept all of these since I was
a youth. And that's when the Bible says, and you
you look at that verse and it's so attractive. Verse
twenty one, it says, and Jesus, looking at him, loved him.
(13:47):
Jesus looks at you, and he loves you. I assure
you of that, whether you're a moral person or an
immoral person, his love is everlasting. He loves you. But
there was something so appealing about this young man, his
his possibility, his potential, his prayerful request. Jesus looked right,
(14:13):
He locked eyes with him. He fastened his attention on him,
and he looked beyond his eyes and ind to his soul.
He saw this young man's real need. Bo Though he
had kept the commandments externally, in his heart, there was
(14:34):
something missing. There was a fatal flaw in this young
man's life. He was clean, he was pure. But Jesus said, Okay,
here's the one thing you lack. Now. I need to
push Paul's here just a moment and say, Jesus is
not teaching us that we're saved by keeping the commandments
(14:57):
unless you say, you truly have kept all of the
commandments and you've never broken one. Anybody anybody, No, We've
all broken God's commandments and if we are to be
saved by keeping commandments fail. In fact, the scripture says,
if you break even one of the commandments, you're guilty
(15:19):
of all and not only in the content of the commandments,
the substance of the commandments, but the spirit of the commandments.
Jesus took it to a whole new level when he
talked about if you hate in your heart, if you
are a hater, you are a murderer. If you are
filled with lush, you are an adulterer, and so on.
(15:41):
Anybody still in on keeping all the commandments. But the
one commandment that was clear the young man had broken
was the very first one. He didn't mention it. But
it's the one who says which says, you shall worship
(16:03):
the Lord God, and him only, and him only shall
you serve. You'll have no other gods before me. This
young man, rich and ruling, had another god, and his
god was greed. He wasn't keeping the commandment regarding coveteousness.
(16:24):
And Jesus proves it when he says, okay, go sell
anything and all the things that you have, give it
to the poor, then come and follow me. Interesting it
nothing here about faith, nothing here about grace. But it's
about repentance, turning your back on the world and the
(16:45):
things of this world, the things we hold in our
hands and more importantly, in our hearts, that we are
unwilling to give up to follow Jesus. It doesn't matter
what it may. If there's anything in your life in
this world that you love more than God, that's an
(17:07):
idol that must be torn down. If you're going to
follow Jesus, one thing you lack. This man loved the
wrong world. The love of the world was in his heart.
He thought he was a spiritually devout individual, and in
(17:28):
some ways he was. But it was superficial, wasn't it.
It was surface because when he came right down to it,
he loved his money. He was mastered by his money.
And Jesus had said, what does it profit a man
if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul.
(17:50):
You can't have it both ways, Jesus said, you will
either love the world and the things of this world
are where you will love me and follow me. You
can't have it both ways. Is either or you will
either decide to turn your back on this world and
follow Jesus, or you're going to walk away without him.
You will make a decision. This man had a decision
(18:16):
to make at this point, and it becomes such a sad,
sorrowful decision. The final verse that we read was verse
twenty two. Look at it disheartened by the saying he
went away sorrowful. Disheartened, I mean he was discouraging. And
(18:40):
Luke tells us that his countenance fell. It showed up
on his face, he frowns, and he went away sorrowful.
This is the word stegnonzo in the Greek has only
used another time in the New Testament. Jesus used it
in Matthew's Gospel describing a storm. There is now a
(19:01):
storm in this young man's soul. This is a bright,
sunny man disposition on his face. And now the clouds
roll in the sun is behind the clouds, and the
lightning bolt's head. Because he is in a serious spiritual conflict.
He's struggling. Yes or no? Can I give up what
(19:25):
I have? All these things? Can I give up and
follow Jesus? Yes or no? Can I do this? The
demons in hell are whispering in his ear. Ar, don't
be a fool, don't be an idiot. You can't give
up this stuff to follow Jesus. The Angel, the recording Angel,
is poised and ready to write this man's name down
(19:47):
in the Lamb's Book of Life. The angels are ready
to cheer and see. But he bites his lip. Tears
begin to bubble up in his eyes flow, and he
says no, no, And he went away, walked away, sorrowful,
(20:14):
as far as we know, right into Hell, as far
as we know, no other chances, no other time Jesus
onto the Cross death resurrection without this man. So much potential, there,
so much promise there. I'm sure the disciples are thinking,
(20:37):
we can't let this guy go. He can fund our
program here. This guy's rich, he's good. Jesus, let's renegotiate
this thing. Jesus loved him, but he loved him enough
to tell him the truth. He loved him enough to
let him go. I'm sure, I'm certain this broke the
(21:01):
heart of Jesus as well. Jesus is broken hearted when
anyone walks away from him. But you can be in
heaven a billion years and you'll never find this man there.
You can look for him throughout all eternity, and he
(21:21):
won't be there. It was the suicide of a soul.
He said, no, I'll not follow Jesus because he loved
this world. Jesus said that when you follow me, you
(21:45):
will have treasure in heaven. He couldn't see beyond his
treasure on earth and things and stuff and possessions and
acceptance and popularity. What is it that may be keeping
you from following Jesus? What is the one thing for you?
Might not be money for many people, it's money for a
(22:08):
lot of people. This money, just love the world, love money,
love things. No time to follow Jesus. Their god is gold,
the creed is greed. I've known people through the years
that are in hell today because of their love for money,
(22:28):
even saying things like you know, I'll never go to
that church. I'll never go and follow Christ because all
they want down there is your money and they're getting
none of my money. But maybe it's not money. It
could be lust, sinful pleasure of some kind. Some have it.
(22:51):
It could be drugs, it could be alcohol, could be pride.
You see, this man was a ruler. He wanted to
rule his own life. He was unwilling to transfer the
rule of his life to Jesus. One thing and It
(23:12):
kept him out of heaven and sent him to hell.
All our other stories have been happy ending stories. This
is not a happy ending story like many others. He
rejected Jesus like some of you so far rejected Jesus.
And he went away sad and sorrowful, sorrowful, this storm
(23:35):
brewy in his soul, this stirring that I'm sure never
went away the rest of his life. He walked away
from Jesus.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
rich Man, poor Man. Nothing lights a fire in your
faith like experiencing the power of prayer firsthand. As you
begin to see God as a personal, loving father who
desires to hear and answer your prayers, it transforms your life,
and thanks to friends like you, more people all around
(24:08):
the world are hearing about their loving God and his
son Jesus through the TV, radio and online outreach of PowerPoint.
That's why your support of this ministry is so vital.
We'll say thanks for your gift of ten dollars or
more by sending you a copy of doctor Graham's book Ask.
This is a great resource to help you strengthen your
own prayer life and teach you to approach God with
(24:31):
boldness and confidence. So call now to request your copy.
When you give call one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety
five four six two seven. You can also text the
word ask to five nine seven eight nine, and don't
forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where you can
(24:52):
shop our easttore, give a gift online, or sign up
for doctor Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again
is dot org, and also be sure to sign up
for doctor Graham's podcast Bible in a Year pastor what
is your PowerPoint for Today?
Speaker 2 (25:11):
What's so tragic about this story is that this man
was so close to heaven, but something kept him from
having the eternal life that Jesus was offering him. Something
that is so great, so wonderful, so eternal, was right
within his grasp. But he walked away without Christ, and
he walked away without a future. You know, if you
(25:33):
don't know Jesus as your Lord and savior, I beg
you today, don't walk away. Don't turn away from Jesus.
Every time you reject the message that he offers, your
heart becomes a little harder and eventually it becomes so
hard that you'll not be able to make a decision
at all. There's no magic words or formula that becoming
(25:56):
a Christian is really a simple, and yet since seer
act of faith to say something like this, Jesus, I.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Know that I'm a sinner. I've broken your commandments. I
know I need forgiveness. I can't save myself. So Lord,
I ask you to come into my life, to forgive
my sin and to make me brand new. Lord, I
turn from myself and my sin, and I trust in you.
I receive the gift of eternal life. Now, if you've
(26:27):
prayed that prayer, you can start living that eternal life
right now. Because eternal life begins today, not just when
you die. You could have the joy and the peace
in life that God has promised because you now belong
to Him, and no matter what comes your way, you
can win in life because you belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you have said yes to Jesus and
(26:50):
you are following him, that means you have received his inheritance,
his eternal life, and you know what is too good
to keep. You want to give his life and his
grace and his message to others. So, because of his
great love for you, and because of His great love
for people like you, then make sure that your friends
and your family know Christ.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Share the wonderful gifts.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Of eternal life with others by introducing others to faith
and our savory.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book, Ask as Our thanks. Call
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
That's one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word ask to five nine
(27:39):
seven eight nine and join us again next time as
doctor Graham brings a message about how Jesus can help
you be victorious in your spiritual battles. That's next time
on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is
sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.
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