Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 585 | Jase Reveals Why God Sees Us as His Treasure & Should We Long for Unity in the Church?

Episode Date: November 20, 2022

Phil makes an interesting point about the Bible story of the rich young ruler and how age can quickly shift your perspective. Jase discusses the Christian, religious world and how divided we are, despite agreeing on the identity of Jesus Christ. Al shares the reasons that nobody is able to develop a formula for surrendering your heart to Jesus. And Jase explains how God actually views us as his treasure and holds back no good thing from his creatures. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashamed. I'm still at the Southern Larry. We had the ladies on the last podcast. That's always a joy. We just got off the road, Jay. So my last event, our last event was in Maryland. Actually, you were filming in a neighboring state for your new little treasure show when we were up there. But it was really great. And dad, I was going to mention this to you. we were, their duck season was opening this weekend, this past weekend. And man, you know, we were right there close to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. We actually crossed over the Chesapeake to get to where we were speaking. And I mean, there was some, there was some, I mean, died in the wool duck hunters in the audience that my last audience and I was in. They love it.

They were talking about their season, getting ready. They said early, they have, I think he called them sea ducks. Yeah. I've been up there. Heavy? Yeah. If you guys want to go duck hunting up there, I've got the place. This is a, I mean, I was shocked at how it looked.

I mean, it is very marshy. I actually went turkey hunting up there, but it was the place I went. We've actually been invited, by the way. It's a duck habitat, too. That's pretty impressive. Yeah, I hunted with somebody up that way, way back. And we hunted the James, river in Virginia.

Yes. Well, I've hunted it, but I was treasure hunting. They had black mallards, black ducks. The number one rule of duck hunting, contrary to popular belief, is go where the ducks are. So I've eliminated the Atlantic Coast flyway because there's less ducks on that flyway. Yeah, that's why they were saying that they don't even get any big ducks for a while. But I tell you, it was just now I can kind of put the closure on, you know, all our pro-life events. Every event we went to this past, since Roe v. Wade, has been the largest event they've had,

and they raised the most money every time that they've ever raised. So a lot of enthusiasm on the pro-life side, which is encouraging, you know, for Lisa and I. Very good thing. Yeah, what we've been able to do. I'll tell you another story, Dad, you'll like this. So one of our podcast listeners who actually came through last summer, and he and his fiance met you and I, he brought his mom.

We had lunch together before the event I was doing that day. And his mom, they're all attorneys. Like they're all like attorney. They all worked in the state. Their attorneys office. They're prosecutors. Like four generations.

It's pretty amazing. And, but she told me, she said she had grown up, Catholic, just kind of became disillusioned. she was an agnostic most of her life. But because of her son, who listens to our podcast ardently, she started seeking.

And so we had lunch. What turned into a lunch wound up been about a three-hour Bible study with her asking all the right questions, you know, about the Trinity, about why did God have to come to Earth to die, you know, all the things you would expect somebody asked that's seeking. And so I was just going to say that, you know, Unashamed Nation, you guys, it still provides great avenues and platforms for just even individual discussions like that everywhere you go to share Jesus,

you know, and you do it every Sunday day with folks that come here. I do it everywhere I go. I know all of us have that same kind of heart for it. So it kind of reminds me of what you see in Colossians 4. Jase, you mentioned a couple of podcasts ago. It's living a life with the conversation that's full of grace and season with salt and always ready to give an answer for the hope that you have, which is what Peter said. So I just think that's the way we should always, you know, be poised to live.

Because, you know, people are looking. People are seeking. They're searching something better. Oh, no. I had an interesting encounter at the airport when I was on the way back. So it's real, you know, flashy looking couple. And, I mean, they just looked like a good, modern couple, you know. Well, it was a pasture in his life.

And he said, Jayce, I was like, yeah. Of course, I didn't know. he's a pastor. I was sitting there with J.elp and Murray and our showrunner from the show. And he said, you actually quoted some of my material that you looked at. You were done some research when y'all were studying the book of Matthew, you know, from the Internet. And, of course, I couldn't remember his name. It didn't sound familiar. I did write it down. It was Robbins was his last name. And I was like, oh, boy, here we go. I hope you didn't misquote it.

Yeah, I didn't misquote it. You know, it turned out to be a funny thing. He was like, but you didn't mention me by name, but I know because you went through the, you know, I was like, well, maybe I should have gave you credit. What was the guy's name? Robbins was his last name and with two Bs. Watch it. But anyway, I was a, you know, what we had a discussion about.

which I wish this would catch on in the religious world, is that. Because he's like, we're united on who Jesus is, him being the image of the invisible God. You know, we had a wonderful conversation, took pictures and hug, and, oh, he's calling me brother. And I just thought, you know, we spend so much time arguing and disagreeing with the religious world. We need more of these moments.

We need more of these moments of let's unite in who Jesus is and go from there. But we would be a way more powerful entity on the planet, I think, if we met that criteria, you know, in the church. I think you'll get more of that as time marches on and as it becomes more difficult to, sorry, I'm getting distracted here. I'm looking at my camera and there's a bug that's about to crawl across the lens.

So if that happens, I apologize. But sorry about that. Hope he's not the stinging variety, Zach. I'm just telling me from experience. Oh, here we go again. When insects attack, volume two. Yeah, I was bragging about my layer, either being insulated with the fault,

but I guess it's not good enough because I do have a bug right now inside the layer where I'm at. Anyways, I think it gets more difficult to stand for Jesus. I think that you will see people just kind of like, man, what's the basics here? We'll still have our discussions. You know, we don't all agree on this podcast, but I mean, I think what we do agree on is the core of the whole thing. And I think you'll see more of that as time goes on.

But even what I was describing is that this, this woman who was kind of like Jay's described me. She's very intelligent. She's an attorney. She at one time she was a prosecutor. She graduated from Tulane. We won't hold that against her. I got to give her my two lane joke, Jay. So you'll like this when we used to play them.

What do you get when you throw a brick? in a septic pond, a green wave. But anyway, but what I loved about it was her child, to get us back to Mark 10, her childlike, this is a very intelligent person, I mean, but she's asking me questions, you know, as a child would ask, totally open to whatever the Bible has to say about it and what I think about it. And I think about that, described so beautifully, that last section. and then we talked about with the ladies on the last podcast is Jesus says the kingdom mindset

is that of a child that comes to it and says, like we always say, I could be wrong. Or I don't even have an opinion. I'm just trying to search it out and seek and find out what truth is. And I think that really is probably the best kingdom approach. The more you see that, the more unifying it is instead of just getting in your positions and in your sort of doctrinal corners and then just live in there, you know, and lashing out every time somebody disagrees. Well, what I wanted to propose before we read this Rich Young Router, and I've been waiting a long time to get here because I find this story fascinating.

But I also want to say in the context of with the marriage trap that was given by the Pharisees, and then you had the children episode with Jesus making this principle about having the childlike spirit. And even in chapter 9 where he talked about causing kids to stumble in that graphic language, he said it would be better for somebody to have a millstone tied around their neck. And now you get to the rich young ruler. Here's a man of well. It just seems like it mirrors or Paul took that and mirrored that in Ephesians 5 and 6. And I just think it's a really good thing to keep in mind moving forward. because you remember how Ephesians 5 started when he said be imitators of God as dearly loved children

and live a life of love. And I mean, I'm pointing out that children, you know, we're all children of God. And God is the architect of marriage and the family structure. But it's like live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant and sacrifice. And then he says, among you, there shouldn't be a hint of sexual immorality, which we just got through talking about in this trap, which was the underlying theme about

man shouldn't divorce his wife except for sexual immorality. But then it says, or of any kind of impurity or of greed. Then all of a sudden, you know, he throws this idea of money because you think about it in marriages and relationships, what are the main argumentative points? And it's usually one of those three things,

sex, immorality, impurity, or of greed. And of course, then he goes on to say there shouldn't be obscenity, foolish talk, of course joking, but rather Thanksgiving, you can be sure no immoral in pure, greedy person. Such a man has an idolater. And I want to bring up this phrase in Ephesians 5, 5, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God? Because this is what we're talking about in Mark. The kingdom is near the beginning of the gospel, all this kingdom speech that, that Jesus is using.

And so it just kind of hit me that he's going to get down and talk about submitting to one another in 521 in Reverence for Christ, then talk about wives and husbands, children and parents, and the different social classes, and ultimately the armor of God. But it just seems to be a parallel passage to me about talking about king. life and how our families and our marriages and the legacy we're passing on to our kids, it matters in the kingdom. Because ultimately, when you get to the rich young ruler, if you went to the end of that conversation where it says verse 21 before we read it, when he tells him to go sell everything

you have and give to the poor and you will have treasurer. treasures in heaven. Then come follow me. So that's going to be the angle when you talk about inheritance, because he asked a question in 10-17. I'll just read it. 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? Why do you call me good, Jesus answered? No one is good except God. God alone. And that verse was a verse that I had trouble understanding for years, but we'll get into it. But it says, you know the commandments, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't give false testimony, don't defraud, honor your father and mother. Teacher, he declared, all these I've kept since I was a boy, which is quite a statement. Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you

lack, go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven, or treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. At this, the man's face fell. He went away sad because he had great well. And then Jesus looked around to disciples, and he's like, how hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? Disciples were amazed, but Jesus said, children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom. it's 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. Well, then who can be saved? And this is a famous verse. Jesus looked at them with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. And then Peter said, well, we've left everything. And Jesus says, no one who has left home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fills with the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much. in this present age, and then he list them all again, including persecutions, and then 31,

but many who are first will be last and the last first. Let's take a break. So, yeah, who wants to jump in and get going on this one? Because this is some really rich stuff. Yeah, I think it's interesting when you consider who Jesus is talking to right here. We hear the term rich young ruler. So then what would that be like today if we were to put that? title on a person because it's not just somebody that's like a we're not talking about a king

here we're talking on a rich young ruler i think about a young business guy that's advanced his way through life essentially by being a good negotiator kind of art of the deal kind of guy this guy was like me he knew how to negotiate and i say right at the very beginning of it and when i i actually did a sermon on this a few weeks ago um out of matthew 19 and i found the his approach to be rather fascinating because what he's what he's getting at at the very beginning is you can see he sees that eternal life is something that that he can add to his possession of things so he he i think at the very beginning of this story when when this rich young ruler what is he saying he says you i want eternal eternal life what i've got to do to get it um which is he had in his head

it was earned it's earned yeah But think about that, that's it, that's his worldview, though. That's how he's been living. Everything this guy had. He thought you could earn it. And he said, I've done it all, I've done all these things. So I've earned it. Jesus said, no, not quite.

Sell, get rid of all your money and follow me. Which is never, is never required in any other passage in the scripture. So he was obviously making a point. Yeah. And I think y'all are right. I think the problem was, is he thought that inheritance... He'd done enough to earn it. Into eternal life was something you could add to, to what Zach just said,

or something you could actually do. I mean, because he had a good pedigree. You think about the self-control, self-priscipline. And he's actually, look, being humble, because he's searching for God. He has plenty of money. I'm going to tell you, there's not a church on the... planet that would not accept this guy. He's a great moral guy.

He's searching. He's clearly demonstrated self-control and self-discipline. His career, you can't be successful in our life without doing something right. He's got plenty of money. And yet he went away, sad. And Jesus kicked him out. It was like, I mean, he didn't kick him out, but he changed his. It says, Mark, for his.

wrote down, Jesus loved him. Well, he loved him, and I think we should get to that. But my overall point is, if the major red flag did he miss is that this is something, Christianity or inheritance, eternal life, heaven,

purpose in life, all peace, just put any great attribute of God and what we believe in. This is not something you add to, like as a part of your like I need I'm lacking one thing I need to just give me this look and it's not something you do this is received that that was the breakdown he didn't understand that this is where they came up Zach with you know you've heard this it's not

the horizontal line it's the vertical this is where they came up with this this story because if you if you drew a line horizontally and you list How do we make the breakdown? You have on the top of the line, good, bad, religious, irreligious, what are the other things? Moral, immoral, maybe nice versus nasty, you know, and you're like, if you're on the top line, if you're above the line, you're going to make it. But that's what I'm saying. Jesus destroyed all that. He's like, none of that matters.

because if you go vertical and receive this power from God, well, whether you're characterized by being nice or nasty or religious or I'll save all of you through my great. This is going to come from me. Go ahead, Zane. Well, I was thinking the way that the translation in NASB in Matthew 19 says this is that the man asks, what must I do to obtain eternal life? And at the very beginning of the question, you get a glimpse in the, or there's two problems there.

One, we've already mentioned, that you don't do anything in terms of, like, your effort or work to earn it, which is certainly what this man thought, probably because he was a very successful business guy and has spent a life obtaining, obtaining things like that through effort and earning. But it was also in the very nature of the kingdom, he didn't understand. because he thought that the kingdom was something, eternal life was something to be obtained as opposed to a person in Jesus

that he had to have a relationship and get into. And so the very question is flawed. And so when he asked that question, you know, what good thing must I do to have eternal life or to obtain eternal life? Jesus is like, he gives like the best response ever. And he kind of tells him, he's like, what are you talking about being good?

you're asking about being good, there's only one that's good. That's God. Yeah. So the answer that he's giving him in this interlude is that there's no amount of, like you're not good. You're not good, but the guy doesn't get it. So Jesus says, I'll tell you what. Keep the commandments.

Just keep the commandments, knowing that he probably hadn't kept the commandments, especially as we've gone through all of this stuff with Jesus, like up in the ante on what he actually meant, like the divorce and all that stuff. And I love what the guy says because, you know, it's like this guy's a negotiator. So he's going to negotiate with Jesus. So he's like, which ones? As if it's a, which ones do I got to keep? And Jesus did pick the easier ones to keep.

If you looked at that too, he picked them if you had the choice, you know, I mean, don't murder. Yeah, it's like, most people are like, well, I murdered, you know, and committed adultery. I mean, I know, you know, people have done that. but most people have not as far as you hadn't killed anybody. And so he's like, I've kept all these because you knew, I mean, no one's good. It was his problem. But I do think he was turning his academics and philosophy and religion on its head by just like he did with Nicodemus. Because it's a similar story to that.

Here's a guy who's respected. He's wealthy. He's a religious leader. And he's like, you know, you're in the same question. We know you're a good teacher. And Jesus said, you need to be born again. And it's the same conversation with the rich young ruler. It's an explosion.

It's a revolution. Everything you thought you had, like Paul said, is now rubbish. And I can do this, he was saying, the rich man, I can do this without you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I want my autonomy in the process, which if you think about Jesus is when Jesus gets him to, see, most people read this passage, and this is the passage that we go to to rip wealthy people. This is the passage that we go through to talk about how wealth is evil or whatever. And I get it.

Like, I mean, I think we have to be careful of the traps of wealth and every, I mean, like anything else, right? I mean, it could be very sinful. Greed is a sin. Right. But I don't think that's the context here. I don't think the context is, hey. Yeah. Yeah.

It's like, Jesus says the Holy Spirit when he inspired the scriptures, like, hey, we need to put a section in there for the wealthy people. And let's do it with the story, the rich young ruler. You're missing the point is you see it that way. And here's how I know that because when the thing is progressing here, this argument, but really a negotiation between Jesus and the rich young ruler. And he thinks that he's going to somehow negotiate with Jesus that he's going to be able to take this into his collection, eternal life. and he can bring it into one of his, put it on his mantle as a collection. When Jesus gave him the commandments,

he said, I've kept all those. And then Jesus said, okay, that's fine. Well, then do this one last thing. Go sell all that you possess and give to the poor,

and you will have treasures in heaven. And if we stop right there, we're not going to understand what Jesus is really getting at, because it's the next one, two, three, four words in this, and Jesus's instruction. The next four words is the crux of the entire,

matter of what Jesus was calling this guy to. So here's the answer. Here's the real answer that Jesus is giving this guy when the guy said, what do I got to do to have eternal life? This is what Jesus says. And come follow me. Four words. And come follow me.

And when's the last time you heard in any of these verses, something very interesting when he was talking about no one is good, but God, alone when the guy said, look, I've kept these from a boy. Here's just three little words. Do not defraud. That's an interesting statement. Jesus doesn't use that very often. Do not defraud.

The man just said he's rich, but he's kept all the commandments. Somewhere in that defrauding, when you earn a lot of money, it's hard not to slick somebody when it comes to money. Well, I think Jesus thought it was turning that on his point because later, how many verses are there in the Bible, probably 50, that says Jesus bought us. I mean, the irony of this is that you sell everything and I'll buy you. Yep. Well, it's hard for a person who's put his confidence in his accomplishments. That's why he's going to get to the point.

You know how hard it is for somebody to be this successful? and see a need for me, it's about like putting a camel through the eye of a needle. That's it. Because all this brokenness. He didn't break down his entire life on where he had gone astray, but all of sinned. And he had to. He was trying to make the case. He was making the case.

I don't need it. Yeah. So let's take a break. Yeah. And I think that's even the part of his approach to Jesus, is why Jesus. was why Jesus reacted the way he did when he said good teacher. And he said, why do you call me good? Because he didn't say what remember the desperate people we've already read about.

He didn't come up and say, Lord, son of David, Lord, son of God, Lord. He didn't come with that idea. He came up with good teacher. And I think he was even putting himself on an even par with Jesus. You know what I mean, it was just like, you know, he. So it was kind of, I was kind of like a passive aggressive humility. I do exactly what you're doing. I did it from third.

And I think that's why Jesus reacted the way he did and said, you're not God. That's why I brought up the Ephesians 5 reference, because look, even if you think about this, in Ephesians 5, 10, his exhortation was to find out what pleases the Lord. Well, you know, when you're having this encounter with Jesus, the thing about that is, and I'd listen to a sermon about the rich young ruler from Tim Keller. and he made a really good point. He's like, the problem for this fellow is that he had an encounter with the real Jesus, not an idea or something that you're going to understand now and say, oh, I can get some more inheritance if I understand some. And what the real Jesus does, I wrote down this quote,

he found out that Jesus demands way more than you thought, the real true Jesus. and he offers more than you ever imagined. And I think we all go through that process when we get to know Jesus. It's like, oh, he's asking me to go all in. This is a complete surrender. He was saying, I've done enough to make it. Well, it just was hard for him to wrap his head around it because by every measure in humanity and society, this guy is successful.

And here's Jesus saying, no, if you go sell all this success, then you'll be successful. Well, he's like, what? Let me just think your whole empire that you've built your entire life and you didn't do it by shady methods. I mean, I'm taking him at his word. I really believe you would have had to strain to find something. You probably would have found something. So why did the man's face all? and the man's face fell, he went away sad.

Because he had great wealth. Somewhere in there, he was thinking that he had made all this wealth he had, without any help from Jesus Christ. I don't need your help. I think the reason why he was sad, it wasn't simply because he had great wealth. I mean, you've got to read the whole verse here. It says that Jesus said, sell everything you have. and come follow me.

The thing there, these laying out is, is you got to pick what's most important to you. Is it your wealth or is it me following me? Because I have eternal life, John 173, is to know Christ, is to know the one tree God. So,

I mean, he's basically picking, for this one guy, for this guy, his call was, yeah, your wealth is an idol. You have to kill the idol and come with me. But we all have something.

There's always, that's why I wanted to say this, Phil. I think because, and I heard this from this Keller sermon, but he was right, because he had some points. He encountered the real true Jesus. He turned the guys' positives into negatives, which is what Jesus does, because they were his. But he had another point that Jesus looked at the heart and what was in the heart when he says he loved him. And then he basically took what this man loved, which was. his dreams. When he said go sell everything,

I mean, how many times do we say, man, I'm living the dream? Because what happens is whatever you long for, whatever you put your passion to, whatever you're striving for on your whole life. And when you get it, when you're on top of the mountain, your own mountain that you're created, I mean, this, you're living your dream.

And Jesus took that dream and crushed it. He's like, you go sell all that because it's not about your dream. it's about his because all your dreams ultimately are unfulfilling. One of the reasons he was sad, is it possible what Paul told Timothy, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money, he said he was loaded, have wandered from the faith. Is it possible?

Yeah, I think it is possible. This young man love that money, love the wealth. Why is he so sad? I mean, I think that's it. He's like he's sad. Before that, get rid of it, before that came about, he was happy. Yeah, but money's not bad. You got a bunch of it.

I got a bunch of it. But if that's a lot, it's the, if you put success, it's how you define success. I mean, you could take something way more tricky to talk about. I would say to you, God blessed us. that's why we have money. But if it all was taken away tomorrow, would you be fine? Got the money before he came to know Jesus, so he couldn't have said. But would you be fine if it was all taken away tomorrow?

I'd just keep right on going. Well, me too. That's the point. But it takes something a little harder to difficult. Say a woman who can't have kids. That's her dream. And then all of a sudden, you know, God comes in there and says, you need to take away that desire as it compares to me. Because he gets down to the end,

he says anybody's left home, brothers, sisters. He's talking about something very hard to give up, which is if you're... Well, he did that, Jay, so he did that with Abraham. Well, that's where I was going to. I had him down here. To me, it's the same thing. He's like, go sacrifice your son.

Well, who isn't the world to do that money because his face fell and he went away sad. I don't think it had anything to do with the money. I think it had to do with him putting his trust in that money is what I'm said. That was his dream. Because here's how you know this. Like I had an encounter with a guy, a friend of mine who I saw he put it on Facebook. This has been a while back.

And he's just, I mean, he's ripping wealthy people as being greedy. And the whole thing, you know, like this whole deal of wealth is evil. And you can't be a Christian and be wealthy. And I mean, it was like, and he quoted this verse. And I just found. interesting that the guy who was doing this, like, didn't have a job. And he played video games for 40 hours a week. And I'm like, you know, you sit back in your lounge chair and you're 28 years old.

But that may be his dream. Video games. That's what I'm saying. So for that guy to give up his wealth, I mean, he'd be like, I'll give up everything I have for the kingdom. Well, yeah, but you don't have anything. It's easy to give up everything you have when you don't have anything. Yeah, I'll give up, but I won't give up that video game addiction. I will not give that up.

You can go down the road. You're going to go to sex. I mean, some people, it's whatever is your primary mission and dream. You have to surrender that. Because basically what you're saying is, I'm going to give up my money and let God determine how rich I'm going to be. Well, he actually asked a question that none of us should. What must I do to gain eternal life? That's the...

Don't ask that question. Because the answer you're going to get, you're not going to like. But I think it came from a good place. He was trying to, and he got his answer. Guess what? I don't know, Jay. Didn't match your money and you're ready to go. He didn't like it.

Give up what? I'm not so sure. I'm not so sure it came from such a great place. Let's take a break. Because the way I take it is he's basically saying, I've got everything I could possibly want. here, now what do I do to do something there, meaning in eternal life? Because that's the one thing money can't buy you, right?

The richest people in the world are going on the ground, you know? But I'm reading that just because it says Jesus looked at him and loved him. He seems to be liking that he's wanting to know. He just didn't like the answer. Well, you know what? It's a power struggle here. But what encourages me about this text, because when you read this, you are kind of like, if you live in America, like, and you want to think, man, I can't stand there's rich people, but you live in the United States of America, you need to realize you probably are one of the rich people, and at least in the standard of the world. And certainly in the standard of history.

I mean, we all occupy very privileged places in history. Most of us in Western culture do. So I think it's easy to kind of cast it out as those people. when you start thinking about, like, where do you rank in the global scale? Like, you're probably pretty high up if you're in the United States. And if you talk about through the historical years, where our standard of living is at, we all occupy a very high place, most of us. And so, I mean, I read this and, man, it just seems like whatever your thing is.

I mean, you could fill in the blank here with whatever your idol, whatever you're bent, or whatever your affection, or whatever you're beholding is the thing. And you think, man, that's pretty difficult to enter the, kingdom of heaven. And I think you would come to the same conclusions that the disciples did when they were like, man, this seems impossible, right? And you look at the task in front of you, I've got to be righteous, but I've got this thing out there. I love that Jesus does not leave it at that. He says, yep, it's impossible with man. But with God, all things are possible. Even those who have wealth up on that pedestal or whatever the thing is, with God, even that, even that,

that can be changed. So whatever your idol is, there's hope in this. Because Jesus is like, with God, God can change your desires. He can change the things of your heart. He really can, and he does. And I think that's a powerful, powerful part of this story is that God does not close the door on people who are like this guy. Sell everything and give to the poor. And you'll have treasure in heaven.

Then come follow me. I think you got to define what the treasure in heaven is. You know, in this sermon I heard, the treasure in heaven is living in the presence of God and His holiness forever. No money needed. Well, yeah. And that's John 17, 3. That's what Jesus said eternal life is. That's what he said.

I think by deduction, you also realize that he is viewing you as his treasure. So it worked both ways. That's why he came and he's going to prove it. That's why he's reminding him or predicting that he's going to die. Well, why is he telling these stories in between three times he's predicting his death? Because he's selling your value. You are the treasure to him. So it's not like he's asking you to go sell all your possessions

because he wants you to be a fuddy dud and not follow your dreams. He's like, I got a bigger dream. way bigger than yours because mine doesn't end. It's an eternity together. Are you in or are you out? You're like, no, I'm going to stay here and build bigger barns. Well, you ain't going to be here long. It's not going to ultimately be satisfying.

Well, it's easier for a camel to go through a knife and needle than for a rich to enter the kingdom of God. He had just got through talking to a young buck who was loaded, had a lot of money. and he said, what I need to do now, he said, give up that money. He wouldn't do it. No, he wouldn't do it. And ultimately, it sounds harsh because you're like, well, why is he being so harsh? But he's just saying, are you going to trust me that this is not going to produce the success that you think it is? It's temporary.

Temporary. And look at all the problems that comes from in anyway, you know. And I do think that's why he did say he loved him was because Jesus loves everybody, especially when you approach him, you know, with sincerity. I think there was a lot of sincerity on this guy's part. I mean, he really did want to know what Jesus knew about eternal life. Obviously, what he didn't want was the answer that was pretty simple. But, you know, Jason, this isn't the first time. I mean, Jesus went up to Matthew and he was sitting in the tax booth and said, come follow me.

And Matthew got up and did it. Yeah. He walked away from Great Wealth. He walked away from, you know, he did walk away for some difficulties as well. You know, I've always compared this story to Luke 19 and Zacchaeus, who kind of fits in the Matthew mode. You remember Zacchaeus was up in the tree. He didn't even approach Jesus. He's just up there getting a good look at him because he was a little short guy.

And Jesus looks up and says, come down out of the tree. I'm coming to your house today. And so he invites him in. And as soon as he looks at Jesus, he says, you know what? I haven't been honest with people. I'm going to pay back four times what I've stolen from people. And Jesus never asked him anything about money. He just volunteered it.

And then Jesus said salvation. He was young, which is interesting, because if he had been old and said the same thing, if he was old and he was 76, if he was old as I was, he wouldn't have asked what I need to do. and he said, well, sell everything they got because it would have been easier to give the money up when you're 80 because it's not going to do you any good here

because there's no Jesus there and you won't know. Maybe that's why Nicodemus had a better response because he was older, you know. That's what I'm thinking. Hang on Zat. Let's take our last break. Yeah, think about this too.

I mean, if you read the end of Mark 10, or not the end of Mark 10, but the end of this story, Jesus says in verse 31, he ends this little part with this, and same thing in Matthew chapter 19. He says, but many who are first will be last and the last first. So think about the context of the rich young ruler. I read this whenever I was studying for this and then I came across,

I just sat in that for a bit. Then I came across Luke 18, which is the same exact. This is Luke's version of this in Luke 18, and he tells this story about the rich young ruler. But Luke adds in another story right after that, and I think it's on purpose. It's a perfect, like, juxtaposition of these two things. One is the rich young ruler, and then you have this blind beggar in Luke chapter 17. And it says this in verse 35. Now, as Jesus was approaching Jericho, a man who is blind,

was sitting by the road begging, the opposite of a rich young ruler. He is a blind beggar. But when he heard the crowd going by, he began inquiring what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out saying, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Those who led the way were sternly warning him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more. Son of David, have mercy on me. So he's screaming at the top of his lungs.

Everybody's like, shut up, shut up. And Jesus stopped and commanded that he'd be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? And he said, Lord, I want to regain my sight. And Jesus said to him, regain your sight. Your faith has made you well. And immediately he regained his sight. And this way he did.

He began following Jesus, glorifying God. And when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God. Man, if you want to talk about, like there's so many parallels. here that it's the complete opposite. But one is this guy's coming in and he's demanding from Jesus eternal life. That's what he's saying. He said, what do I got to do? Well, then you have here a guy who's a beggar who can offer Jesus nothing, but somehow stops the Lord Jesus in his tracks and Jesus turns his attention to this blind beggar. And he said, what, what can I do for you? The rich young ruler asked Jesus, what can I do for you? In this story, Jesus asked the guy, what can I do

for you. You see the difference here. And then the other one is that when this guy received what Jesus gave him, he followed Jesus. He said, what's the big difference? What's the big difference? The big difference between the rich young ruler and the blind beggar, and this is where we all got to end up, is these words right here. Have mercy on me. You want to know how you approach the king of glory? You don't ask him, what can I do for you? You just simply say, have mercy on me. If you want to stop the Lord God Almighty in his tracks and have him turn his face toward you and his attention toward you, then this is what you say. Have mercy on me. And I think that's that right there in that Luke 18, when you see these two side by side, you're like, oh, okay.

I think I get what he's trying to say here. Yeah. Well, don't you think that a better question would have been, Lord, what do I need to do to follow you? Yeah. And there's your question, right? Yeah, because you've got to do something, right? That's what I was going to say with the, the reason I brought up that Ephesians 5 and 6, I'd mention that one, because we're so hung up on how we should, husbands should act and wives,

and what does it mean by a hint of sexual immorality, you know, and all these little details. When you kind of look at the two chapters on where the focus is, you know, 5, 10 says find out what pleases the Lord. 517 says, you need to understand what the Lord's will is. You know, not your will, what his will is. Christ is the head of the church. And, you know, it says submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, you know, surrender. Then you have your roles. It is the Lord who rewards chapter 6, verse 8. We receive. We're on the receiving end of what he's rewarding. It's the Lord's power on 610. So, and then when he goes through that our struggle is not against flesh and good,

it's a power struggle. And then he gives you this armor, but it's all his. It's his truth, his righteousness, his gospel, his peace, his shield, his salvation. I mean, it's, it's something that you have to kind of look at and say, well, wait a minute now. He's the one that's providing all this. That's why you do follow your knees and say, I surrender or have mercy on me. Even faith itself is the act of receptivity. You remember that Romans 12, 3 where it says the sum, God gives the measure of faith to accept the grace.

Then he goes through the different gifts that you give, that he gives. I mean, so the more I thought about this, he was really just trying to get him to surrender his independence, which, look, that is the hardest thing to do. in life, and it's the hardest thing to do in marriage. Yep. It's to surrender and have a submissive spirit, which is why I think he closed it the way he did when he said, the first will be last, the last will be first. I think you're exactly right, Jason.

It's the same thing we talked about with the marriage illustration at the beginning of this chapter. It wasn't as much about marriage as it is about self. And I think in this case it's not as much about money per se as it is about self. In other words, where do you find your worth? I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast that, I mean, my main, other than this podcast, my main way of making living these days, I travel around and speak to people trying to encourage them to give money to kingdom organizations that are there on behalf of life or family or whatever. And so in our convincing, we're trying to convince them that it's worth it to make a difference on the planet. And so I just ultimately think that's what Jesus was saying.

I mean, we live here. We get eternal life because of him. And it's not because of anything. We can do it. I got to tell this story because I was amongst a bunch of pastors. I won't mention who they were. And so we were arguing about whether it was biblical to preach a sermon on giving a tenth. And they were basing it on the Old Testament, you know.

So I raised my hand. And, you know, I've had some immature moments. on how I deliver something and cause some arguments in a lot of bureaucracies across this nation. But this was, I got a hellfire over this one. And I said, money, boy. Yeah, because I said, look, get off the 10%. Y'all have created that. You had an idea.

I went to the Bible and tried to prove it. I said, you should do one of two things. I said, either don't mention it and preach Jesus. I said, they'll give. If they're convicted by Jesus, they'll give. I said, or you get up there and you do what Jesus did, and you said, I want every cent you got. They were looking at me just like, I said, tell them, I want it all right now.

Get out, write me a check for everything you got in your bank account. out. They said, well, that won't work. They said, that won't work. That's the dumbest thing. They weren't going to where I was going, which was the rich young ruler. I said, he came up there and said, I want everything you got. And my point was that it was more about self.

It's more about sharing Jesus and self and that heart being, they'll give. But to try to make them give a 10th because it's law or when you try to try to, turn in a law, you're doing exactly what the rich young ruler was doing, was my overall point. Yeah, instead of the, they wanted to go with the formula, which is exactly what these contexts are about. You can't come up with a human formula to make this work. It can't be about you. It has to be about him, which I think is a consistent point that we keep coming back to

over and over and over. And I think it's true. And that's what he's trying to get across. I think this guy is a great illustration of that. In a way, it makes me sad, you know, that this. story is in the Bible because this guy had a lot of good things. And look, it had such an impact on the disciples that it scared the daylights out of them. They were like, what? What? It scared me too when I read it. I mean, it's like, what was this talking about? Which is why I think it's produced

such a energetic discussion because he was just so much, it's actually brilliant if you, if you think about it. It was a, it was a great analogy to focus in on the heart of every human being, which is this battle of wills. Are you going to run your life? Are you going to relinquish that and give it to God because of what he did on a cross and a resurrection? I mean, this is ultimately, it went back to the gospel. It really wasn't about money.

It was about the heart and who's going to run the show. Yep. Which is why he follows this up again talking about his death. All right, we're out of time. We're going to go to overtime, talk a little bit about, talk a bit more about. this context and you can go to blazedtiv.com slash unashamed if you want to check that out. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

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