July 10, 2017 Show with Marcus “Mike” McKnight III, Esq. on “The Rich Young Ruler Examined”

Iron Sharpens Iron

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:01

Live from the historic parsonage of 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown

00:08

Carlisle, Pennsylvania, it's Iron Sharpens Iron, a radio platform on which pastors,

00:16

Christian scholars and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

00:23

Proverbs 27 verse 17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

00:32

Matthew Henry said that in this passage, quote, we are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better.

00:46

It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next hour and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.

00:57

Now here's our host, Chris Arntzen. Good afternoon,

01:05

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

01:14

This is Chris Arntzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron, wishing you all a happy Monday on this 10th day of July 2017.

01:22

I'm so delighted to have back in the studio, my dear friend, Marcus Mike McKnight III, attorney at law.

01:30

He is the majority shareholder of the Carlisle, Pennsylvania law firm of Irwin and McKnight PC, a recipient of the undergraduate degree in 1974 from Drew University of Madison, New Jersey.

01:44

Cum laude with specialized honors in economics and jurist doctor in 1977 from the

01:50

University of Pittsburgh School of Law, member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Cumberland County Bar Association, an active member in the

01:58

Carlisle Rotary Club. He is past president of both the Cumberland County Bar Association and Carlisle Rotary Club and a member of the

02:08

West Shore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and function speaker for a

02:14

Christian businessmen's connection known as CBMC. And today he has returned to the program to address a very famous passage from the

02:25

Gospels, the rich young ruler examined, and that is found in the

02:30

Gospel of Matthew chapter 19 verses 16 through 30, Mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 31, and Luke chapter 18 verses 18 through 30.

02:41

And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron, Mike McKnight. It is great to be here.

02:47

And in studio again is my co -host the Reverend Buzz Taylor. And it's good to be back once again. If anybody would like to join us on the air with a question of your own regarding the rich young ruler, our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com.

03:00

C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

03:05

Please give us at least your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside of the

03:11

USA. If you're emailing about a personal and private matter that's somehow connected to this account in three of the

03:21

Gospels, you may feel free to remain anonymous if it makes you feel more comfortable.

03:27

But if it's just a general question, please at least give us your first name, city and state, and country of residence.

03:36

And Mike, you gave a more lengthy account of your testimony of conversion to Christ the last time you were on the program.

03:46

In fact, any of our listeners, after we are complete with the live program, you can go to ironsharpensironradio .com,

03:53

and if you click on the archives where it says past programs and podcasts, if you type in M -C -K -N -I -G -H -T in the search engine, you will find the last interview we did with Mike McKnight, where he gave a lengthier version of his testimony.

04:15

But if you could, just because of the fact that we are entering into a new subject and we've already had more of a full -blown conversion testimony from you, give an abbreviated version of that testimony of how you came to Christ.

04:30

Well, I was born in a Christian home down in York, Pennsylvania. My dad and mom were very devout.

04:36

We went to an American Baptist church that was very Gospel -oriented.

04:43

And as a young man going into my teenage years, I knew that was the religion of my parents, but it wasn't mine.

04:53

I was a typical teenager, wanted approval of friends, wanted adults to respect me, and I was looking to gain that respect.

05:02

And the Lord met with me on a long hike in which

05:08

I was about to quit and give up, and I just decided that if God was real, that perhaps He would respond to my prayer, and He did in an unusual way.

05:18

And once He did that, it transformed my life, because I realized that if God was as real as He appeared to me when

05:28

He answered my prayer, I had to take seriously all that God's Word said about Him.

05:34

I was familiar with God's Word, I just wasn't interested in studying God's Word until that happened.

05:40

And so I went from being a kid who didn't care about church or found it boring to one who got very interested in not only

05:47

Sunday school and with my peers and discussing issues, biblical issues, but also paying attention to what the pastor said, and also then beginning to evangelize as I could my teenage friends.

06:03

And I began to have regular devotions, as my father set the example, family devotions. I would have my private devotions usually in the evening before I went to sleep, and I would pour my heart out to the

06:16

Lord. And sure enough, one of my requests was that He would direct me to the right young woman

06:24

I should, at least at the age of 16, start to consider and date.

06:29

And He led me to a girl named Liz. And early on in our relationship,

06:37

I decided that I had to tell her what my faith was all about, and I did so.

06:44

And the deal was that I had with the Lord, if she thought it was ridiculous and laughed at it,

06:50

I would end the relationship. But instead of laughing at what I said to her, she said, I had never really thought about those issues.

06:58

And she agreed to, as a partner of our dating relationship, attend my church every

07:05

Sunday. And since her dad was president of the school board and my mom happened to be guidance counselor at the high school where he was president of the school board, they both mutually checked each other out and decided that it was okay to have their daughter come to Sunday school and church with me.

07:24

And it just turned out that that Sunday school relationship that we had, it was like the incubator.

07:31

The teacher would come and say, here's the scripture we're looking at, and the kids would tear into it, and she learned so much in a short period of time.

07:39

So we dated six years. Her dad's position was she could go to any college she wanted to as long as I wasn't there.

07:47

Not that he didn't like me, he just didn't want her to get married early before her education was finished. So she went to Elmira College, I went to Drew University.

07:55

And the neat thing about Drew was the Lord put me with some Baptist young men, both of them twins, the

08:04

Dalrymple twins, and we became fast friends and we had a devotional Bible study every week with some friends.

08:12

And at Drew, there were no peer groups, there was no pressure on you to do anything particularly at that age, at that time.

08:20

And we had Bible study all four years. And in my junior year, when I came back from studying abroad, the

08:27

Jesus revolution swept the campus. And although it was sort of, they tried to reinvent the church in their sort of own image, but it turned out to be very similar to churches that you saw everywhere.

08:44

They just couldn't reinvent the wheel. But hundreds of kids on a Wednesday night would come out and pray and read scripture.

08:51

And it was a wonderful experience to see that whole process work. And so it was a rich time in college.

08:59

And then my wife and I got married after college. We've been married 43 years, and our toughest years were those in law school.

09:07

And I thought law school was always challenging, but she had to be the breadwinner. But we had a really fast friends at the church we went to in Pittsburgh and developed our own little group within the church and actually witnessed to the pastor, who started out being fairly liberal, but he in time came around to start preaching the gospel in the church where we attended.

09:32

So it was wonderful experiences growing up, first in York, going to college at Drew, and then having the experience we did in Pittsburgh, which we grew to love.

09:44

And dear friends who we made there were just wonderful. And we graduated in 77 and came back to work in Carlisle, where we raised our two kids.

09:56

And Emily and Matt are doing well, and they're both married now. And so we're excited.

10:02

And one of the things about law school that really helped me was in my study of the scriptures, they're always hard to make sense of a factual situation.

10:11

And one of the favorite factual situations we'll look at today, and that is the account of the rich young ruler and his important question that he asked

10:21

Jesus Christ, which all men have to face sooner or later anyway. Well, you know, your testimony,

10:26

I don't know if I just missed it last time or if you just added other facts, but two reasons why it's fascinating, there's more than two, but two, especially in regard to your marriage, is that number one, that you had the maturity, the spiritual maturity as a 16 -year -old to insist that the girl that you were dating was a regular attender of a church.

10:49

That's one remarkable thing due to your age, primarily. And the second is, I am assuming then, you married your very first girlfriend.

10:57

Well she was - there were other girls that I was interested in, but she was the first serious girlfriend that I dated on a long -term basis, and I would say six years was a long time.

11:10

I never thought it would last in the sense that we were so young when we met each other and fell in love, but God was very good, and God saw us through those things, and as I said, some of the most challenging times we've had in our marriage for those early years, but we got through them, and Lord was very gracious to us.

11:32

Well praise God. And I also want to find out more about your law firm,

11:37

Irwin and McKnight, attorneys at law, right here on West Pomfort Street in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

11:44

What kind of law does your practice specialize in? Well we are a general practice, which means we do a number of different things.

11:53

It's easier to talk about what we don't do. We don't do bankruptcy because that hurts some of our business clients, but we do things like family law, we do -

12:06

I'm a real estate title insurance agent. We have good paralegals who help with that. We do a lot of estate work, estate planning.

12:15

I also do social security disability work, workers comp, personal injury cases involving automobile cases, and I also represent some townships and the borough of Newville, and the

12:29

Western Council of Governments that I just came from meeting this afternoon, and I love the fact that governments cooperate with each other.

12:38

I love the fact that in general we can make a difference. I also represent some fire companies, and one of the most special fire companies is the

12:47

Pentachip Fire Company, which for the last 30 some years has sponsored, helped sponsor, and actually implement the

12:57

King's Gap Sunrise Service on every Easter Sunday. Their fire police get up at 5 a .m.

13:03

and make sure that the 7 a .m. service comes off without a hitch. They park people, they provide security, and they provide all that's necessary to have that service happen.

13:17

And this is a service that you founded, right? I founded with another man who was president of the fire company at the time, and actually it was

13:26

Walt Chantry who I went to, and Walt suggested that we have an association of laymen who are involved instead of one particular church, but it's

13:36

Great Baptist Church in Carlisle has been very supportive through the years. Actually, every year that I've done it, they've provided some financial support, and they come out and support it with their families, and it's been a wonderful experience to be involved in that.

13:55

Yeah, I know that they happen to be, as you know, a member of Great Baptist Church, and I know that they announce it every

14:02

Easter season from the pulpit. And one of the other things that I want you to explain to our listeners is the

14:14

Central PA CBMC, the Christian Businessmen's Connection.

14:20

Well, the church I attend now, I'm in a fellowship group with the Eastern District Manager, or at least

14:29

Director, on the East Coast, and that's Dave Belinsky. And my involvement came about when they asked me to speak,

14:39

I think on this passage, as a matter of fact. And before I would speak,

14:45

I wanted to meet the people involved with it and understand who they were and what their mission was. And when

14:51

I did that and met with the Carlisle group, I've been with them ever since. And their object, of course, is to reach out to businessmen, present the gospel to them, and encourage them to both support the gospel message in their churches, but also engage in outreaches in which people are directed through the gospel and the

15:14

Holy Spirit to become more regular attenders or become involved in local churches in which the gospel is both taught and promoted.

15:24

And we've considered this an essential thing. And we've seen wonderful results both in our community and throughout the region.

15:31

And, of course, you just mentioned the fact that you are a member of a different church other than Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle.

15:39

It's the West Shore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I wanted you to let our listeners know a little bit about that congregation.

15:46

It's a large congregation, and it has elders, and it has a worldwide ministry sending out and supporting missionaries in Africa, Asia, South America, and also it supports organizations in the states like CBMC.

16:08

They send large groups of people, places like Harvey Cedars.

16:13

I think our teenagers are there this week. And they send other people from the community, sponsor them, and send them to especially child situations where they go to camp for the summer and hear the gospel, or at least for several weeks during the summer.

16:31

And they'll have a vacation Bible school at the end of the month. So they're very active in the community, and they're very active.

16:37

And every Sunday, probably we have two exact services where a pastor preaches, and his name is

16:46

Trent Thompson. Of course, he has other men who step in occasionally who are able to preach effectively.

16:53

But he is a wonderful leader. He's very humble. He's young, and he is challenging the church to grow closer to the

17:02

Lord even as he has this series this summer. And it's very exciting to be part of that work in addition to the other ministries that I'm involved with.

17:13

Chris Great. Well, in case I run out of time later, I want to make sure that our listeners have all of the websites that are connected to you.

17:21

First of all, the law firm of Irwin and McKnight in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. That website is irwinmcknight .com,

17:29

and that's spelled I -R -W -I -N, mcknight, M -C, capital

17:34

K -N -I -G -H -T, dot com. And then we have the

17:40

Central Pennsylvania Christian Businessmen's Connection website.

17:46

That's centralpa .cbmc, which stands for Christian Businessmen's Connection, cbmc .com,

17:56

centralpa .cbmc .com. And then we have the

18:01

West Shore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Their website is westshorefree .org,

18:10

westshorefree .org. I'm going to repeat our email address here if anybody would like to join us on the air with a question for Mike McKnight on the issue that we are discussing today, which is the

18:26

Rich Young Ruler Examined from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

18:33

And our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

18:41

Please give us your first name, at least your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside of the

18:51

U .S .A. One quick question I will take right away, since it does not involve the topic you're talking about, it involves your law firm.

19:01

It's also from a first -time questioner. Rose in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, says,

19:09

Mr. McKnight, you stated you do family law at your practice.

19:15

I was curious, do you handle divorce? If yes, that must be hard as a

19:21

Christian, yes? Every area of the law that we deal with, we try to be problem solvers.

19:30

There's nothing more devastating to the family than a divorce. And so when we deal with these cases, we don't look at people and say, oh boy, perhaps you're going to have a divorce, and jump up and down.

19:46

We do the opposite. We say, look, what's wrong with the marriage? How can it be fixed? If we can get them into counseling, we'll do it.

19:55

Sometimes there are marriages, for many reasons, that can't be repaired. But we have to go by the

20:01

Scriptures and what the Scriptures talk about in terms of divorce. And they have very limited, as Christ talked about, very limited exceptions.

20:10

And one of the Christ had was the Pharisees were very liberal about divorce.

20:15

In fact, so liberal that it was almost an outrage that men at their age could divorce in their situation, could buy a document called a divorce, and divorce their wives for any reason they wanted.

20:31

Could even they burn dinner or anything. Anything. And of course, that meant dividing up the family if they cast out the wife.

20:39

But then, of course, when things, when their wives became necessary again, they would bring them back and remarry them, and then divorce them, and remarry them, and divorce them.

20:51

And Jesus was outraged by that. And he said there's no room in the kingdom of God for easy divorce.

21:00

And the exceptions that he talked about are, of course, adultery and things like that.

21:06

So the point is that we don't believe in easy divorce either in our firm, and we work especially with Christians to try and repair and make sure that if marriages are not going well, that they get repaired if possible.

21:22

But one of the issues that we also face is there's a lot of physical abuse in marriages.

21:29

And when that occurs, it's not that we urge divorce, but we urge separation, protect those who are being physically or emotionally harmed by conduct which is not acceptable in God's word.

21:46

And of course, the scriptures give freedom, as Paul made clear, that if somebody abandons you, that you are to let them go.

21:57

Well, yes, but abandonment can be various things. And of course, we also have to operate within the laws of the

22:04

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in this state, and so those things have to be brought to bear. But when it comes to Christian marriages, those are things that need to be at least encouraged and protected as much as we can.

22:17

We are like the medics, and we try and get people into long -term care or counseling to make sure that everything's being done that can be done to keep the marriages together.

22:30

And again, Christ needs to be honored in marriage. Amen. Well, guess what,

22:35

Rose? Since you are a first -time -ever questioner here on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, you are not only winning the book that we are giving out today by one of the former pastors of the church where I am a member,

22:53

Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Somewhere in the neighborhood of, let's see,

23:01

I would say 16 or 17 years ago, Walt Chantry retired from the pastorate, and David Campbell came into the pastorate at Grace Baptist, and he is now taking a call to the

23:16

UK. And we now, just as of yesterday, have as our new pastor

23:22

John Miller, and I'm excited to see what the Lord is going to do with John. But Walt Chantry for 40 years was pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and he is really a world -renowned

23:34

Reformed author and preacher, and now an itinerant evangelist, having retired from the pastoral ministry.

23:43

And we are giving away his classic work, Today's Gospel, Authentic or Synthetic, and deals in part with the subject matter that we are addressing today,

23:56

The Rich Young Ruler. So you are not only receiving that book as a first -time questioner, but you're also receiving a free

24:04

New American Standard Bible, compliments of the publishers of the NASB who sponsor this program.

24:11

So we need your full mailing address in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. If you could email that to me, our friends at Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service at CV for Cumberland Valley, BBS for BibleBookService .com,

24:25

CVBBS .com. They will be shipping you out your free copy of Today's Gospel by Walt Chantry, and also a free

24:32

New American Standard Bible. So thank you very much for submitting an excellent and very appropriate question, considering the guests that we have today.

24:44

And our email address again is chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com.

24:50

We're going to go to our first station break, rather than interrupt Mike McKnight in the middle of a sentence, and we'll let him begin his exposition of this very famous passage from Scripture, very controversial passage from Scripture, because there are those who deny salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, who actually use this passage to bolster their argument.

25:20

They erroneously twist the passage to bolster their argument, but if we have time near the end of the program, perhaps we'll address that.

25:28

I'm going to let Mike guide us through the passage he sees fit today. But if you would like to join us on the air with a question of your own, our email address again is chrisarnson at gmail .com,

25:41

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Don't go away. God willing, we'll be right back after these messages with Mike McKnight and the rich young ruler.

25:54

One sure way all Iron Sharpens Iron radio listeners can help keep my show on the air is to support my advertisers.

26:01

I know you all use batteries every day, so I'm urging you all from now on to exclusively use batterydepot .com

26:09

for all your battery needs. At batterydepot .com, they're changing the status quo.

26:16

They're flipping the script. They're sticking it to the man. In other words, they'd like to change the battery industry for good by providing an extensive inventory of top -of -the -line batteries that are uniformly new, dependable, and affordable.

26:29

Ordering from batterydepot .com ensures you'll always get fresh out -of -the -box batteries you can count on to work properly at competitive prices.

26:39

Whether you need batteries for cordless phones, cell phones, radios, PCs, laptops, tablets, baby monitors, hearing aids, smoke detectors, credit card readers, digital cameras, electronic cigarettes,

26:54

GPSs, MP3 players, watches, or nearly anything else you own that needs batteries, go to batterydepot .com.

27:04

Next day shipping available. All products protected by 30 -day guarantees and six -month warranties.

27:10

Call 866 -403 -3768. That's 866 -403 -3768.

27:19

Or go to batterydepot .com. That's batterydepot .com. Charles Hedden Spurgeon once said, give yourself unto reading.

27:32

The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted.

27:38

He will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own.

27:44

You need to read. Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the

27:50

Prince of Preachers to heart. The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.

28:02

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered,

28:08

Christ -exalting books for all ages. We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com.

28:15

That's solid -ground -books .com and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

28:25

Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Have you been blessed by Iron Sharpens Iron Radio?

28:39

We remain on the air because of our faithful sponsors and because of listeners like you. There are four ways you can help.

28:46

First, do you know potential sponsors who may wish to advertise their goods or services on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio?

28:54

Second, whenever possible, purchase the products or use the services that our sponsors advertise, and then let them know that you are willing to do so.

29:05

Thirdly, you can also donate to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio by going to our website at ironsharpensironradio .com

29:12

and click support at the top of the page. But most importantly, keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio in your prayers.

29:19

We hope that Iron Sharpens Iron Radio blesses you for many years to come. Iron Sharpens Iron Radio is a non -profit, fortune 500 organization that helps our nearly 2 .4

29:38

million members be wise with money. We provide guidance that reflects your values so you can protect what matters most.

29:46

We help members live generously and strengthen the communities where they live, work, and worship. Learn more about the thriving story by contacting me,

29:55

Mike Gallagher, Financial Consultant, at 717 -254 -6433.

30:01

Again, 717 -254 -6433. I'm Pastor Bill Shishko, inviting you to tune into A Visit to the

30:34

Pastor's Study every Saturday from 12 noon to 1 p .m. Eastern Time on WLIE Radio, www .wlie540am

30:46

.com. We bring biblically faithful pastoral ministry to you, and we invite you to visit the pastor's study by calling in with your questions.

30:54

Our time will be lively, useful, and I assure you, never dull. Join us this Saturday at 12 noon

31:00

Eastern Time for A Visit to the Pastor's Study, because everyone needs a pastor. You gotta love live radio, folks.

31:06

Sorry about that glitch with the advertisements. Either the ads do not play when

31:12

I intend them to, or they play too easily. And so the last ad was cut off midstream, and a new ad began playing.

31:18

Actually, the same exact ad began playing again. But anyway, we're back. Welcome back to the program.

31:25

We are interviewing today for the full two hours with about 90 minutes to go. Marcus Mike McKnight III, the majority shareholder of the

31:35

Carlisle, Pennsylvania law firm Irwin & McKnight. And we are addressing today the rich young ruler examined, taken from Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

31:47

And Mike McKnight has given this expository lecture on the rich young ruler at the

31:57

Christian Businessmen's Connection, CBMC. And I thought it would be great to have

32:03

Mike provide that for us here on the program, just as he did last time on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

32:11

Perhaps many of you heard our previous interview with Mike McKnight on that. And Mike, why don't you just very briefly tell us about the last conversation we had that you also presented for CBMC?

32:25

Are you talking about the program we did before? Yes. That was the arrests and trial in Christ, which is one of the more unusual historical events that have ever happened.

32:35

And it's amazing to see how in charge Christ was of every aspect of that whole event.

32:43

And that how unprepared, in a sense, his enemies were.

32:50

And how in the whole process, Jesus was found innocent by the

32:56

Roman governor Pilate. His wife urged him, don't condemn this righteous man.

33:03

And my contention is when you pull the scriptures together and study them, you realize that Jesus had a wonderful reputation with the

33:12

Roman. The Romans were never surprised when Jesus appeared. They were curious as to why the

33:20

Pharisees were so against him. But when the Pharisees created a riot, the

33:26

Pilate just said, all right, we're going to declare you innocent, but I'll turn you over to be crucified anyway to please these people.

33:37

Totally unlike anything that you see in Roman justice, that was not the result of that age or any age to find a man innocent and then permit him to be executed.

33:50

So it's obvious that Jesus did not die for his own wrongdoings. He died because that was

33:56

God's plan that he die. And then when he was raised from the dead, even though they had around him a guard, even those guards became stunned when an angel came or two angels came and opened the tomb and Jesus, I believe those eyewitnesses saw

34:15

Jesus leave that grave. And that even though the

34:21

Pharisees had a committee and said, look, we're going to pay the guards to lie and say that the disciples took him.

34:30

Months later, when the disciples came after the resurrected Jesus and were tried again before Sanhedrin of these

34:40

Pharisees, they were never accused by those Pharisees of stealing the body because it was widely known among the

34:47

Pharisees and priests that that was a put up lie that they propagated and they weren't about to prosecute the disciples for doing something they know did not happen.

34:58

So it's amazing to see how, from a legal perspective, that whole event was orchestrated by Christ himself.

35:05

Yes. Although Christ was certainly innocent. In fact, the only completely innocent human ever executed, although there have been people who were innocent of crimes that they were accused of who have been executed,

35:24

Jesus Christ was the perfect spotless lamb who was executed. And although he was innocent, he was not a victim.

35:33

He ordained all that occurred to him.

35:38

In fact, he said that he gave his life down freely, did he not? He did. And that did not, though, and does not remove the guilt of the wicked and horrible crime that did occur from the hands of those who perpetrated it.

35:56

And we'll see this brought out in the passage that we are going to study this afternoon. Yes. And in fact, is there any of the three gospel passages that you particularly used or do you go back and forth between Matthew, Mark, and Luke?

36:09

I use the Mark passage because that's the most detailed, and the aftermath of what was discussed by the rich young ruler and Jesus was borne out in the reaction of the disciples.

36:21

Okay, so if anybody's listening who wants to open up their Bible, it's Mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 31.

36:29

We are going to be examining the rich young ruler. In fact, one of the reasons that I thought this was an interesting topic is because my co -host the

36:38

Reverend Buzz Taylor and I are the exact opposite of this person. We are neither rich nor young, nor do we rule over anything.

36:47

Yeah. We are poor, we are old, and we are subject to the whims of everyone else.

36:55

I'm only kidding. Well, not really kidding. So, tell us how you begin this expository lecture that you've already given to the

37:07

Christian Businessmen's Connection. Mike, I'm going to let you basically have free reign to speak until you want to pause and perhaps have time for listener questions.

37:18

Well, first of all, I believe this is one of the most important passages. It's a window to all of Scripture, and I'll show you how that's the case.

37:27

We find Jesus in his session teaching. He's having interaction with Pharisees.

37:35

The passage in Mark right before that is he has little children come to him. He rebukes his disciples for keeping them away.

37:43

He talks about the kingdom being, let the children come to me, do not hinder them. For to such belong the kingdom of God.

37:50

For I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

37:57

So, as he's leaving after these dialogues with various people, this amazing thing happens.

38:04

And in verse 17, as Jesus, as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must

38:13

I do to inherit eternal life? Now, there's some question about who this man was.

38:18

Perhaps he was famous. Maybe the disciples knew who he was. But certainly Jesus knew who he was.

38:25

And it's important that we understand that Jesus not only knew who this man was, but he knew everyone he met while he walked this earth.

38:35

He knew all about their backgrounds. He didn't need a background check. He knew about them. And we see an incredible passage that we find in Matthew chapter 10.

38:44

In Matthew chapter 10, we find these amazing words in verse 31.

38:51

In 1031 of Matthew, he says,

38:57

Fear not, therefore, for you are more value than many sparrows. For everyone who acknowledges me before men,

39:03

I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men,

39:09

I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Now, how does this happen unless our lives are discussed openly in heaven?

39:18

Our thoughts, our deeds, both for the gospel or against it, are discussed in heaven.

39:26

God knows all about us. And Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are discussing these issues all the time.

39:32

There are no mysteries. So when this young man comes before Jesus and kneels before him,

39:39

Jesus knows all about this man, his background. And then we see what happens after that.

39:46

The man said, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus responds with these words.

39:54

He says to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

40:00

Now we come to this issue of who's righteous. Jesus' position is only

40:06

God is righteous. Only God is without sin. And he's basically saying only

40:13

I'm without sin in this discussion. No one is good except God alone.

40:20

And then he says to him, You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery.

40:25

Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.

40:31

And then we see this incredible response by this young man that is mirrored throughout the ages and in our age.

40:39

This young man says to Jesus, Teacher, all these commandments I have kept since my youth.

40:47

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, You lack one thing.

40:53

Go and sell all that you have. Give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. And then come and follow me.

41:01

Disheartened by this saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. Now to me, this is just incredible.

41:10

Jesus looked at him and loved him. And knowing him, knowing what he had, knowing all his possessions, says,

41:17

I want you to come and follow me, be my disciple. But first go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor who really need this.

41:26

You laughed earlier. But there's inequality in our society, in our country, in our world.

41:34

And that inequality is well known by Jesus. And he asks this man who's been given so much to sell it all at public sale as quickly as he can, and then come and follow him.

41:46

And this man makes a tremendously horrible decision. He makes a horrible decision, and we'll look at that in a moment.

41:54

But you have to understand the first thing about this. Jesus loved him. He knew all about him.

42:00

And he presented him an opportunity to become a follower of Jesus and inherit eternal life, which is what this man asked to do.

42:10

And this man makes a horrible decision. And that's what we have to unpack in these next few minutes.

42:19

You know, this, to my knowledge, is the first person, or perhaps even the only person,

42:25

I should say, where Christ specifically is mentioned as having loved the person, and we have no knowledge from the text that the person ever became a born -again believer.

42:41

There are those who believe outside of what we call

42:47

Reformed theology, that God loves every single person equally, and they believe that God loves every single person in the same way and just as much as he loves everyone in the church.

43:02

But those of us who are theologically Reformed, or believers in sovereign grace, believe that God can only love parentally and as a spouse those whom he has chosen to give eternal life.

43:18

That is why, therefore, there will be no people in hell that God loves as a parent or a spouse.

43:25

But what do you make of this comment that Jesus loved him? Do you think that that gives us hope that perhaps, even though it's never mentioned in the text, that this young rich ruler eventually got saved?

43:39

It is my hope that he did eventually get saved because of the things we're going to be talking about as a result of this interchange between the two men.

43:51

But I want you to understand that this is not a flippant answer. This is one in which

43:57

Jesus has thought it out, and the words loved him means that he was serious about this man's soul and challenging his soul and asking him to become one of his disciples that way.

44:09

Now we know that the Holy Spirit is essential in any conversion, and so on this occasion this man went away.

44:18

But guess what? He does come to the point of giving up all that he has away to somebody else, and that time would come when he dies.

44:28

And in Scripture, and this is the thing I want to point out to you and your listeners, in Scripture it's very clear that material things are dealt with in a very specific way in God's Word, and you can see that in Job, the story of Job, or the account of Job.

44:46

If you recall in Job, the evil one comes to Jesus and says, look, there's this man,

44:52

Job, who follows you, but he does it because you've blessed him richly. He's got children, he's got grandchildren, he's got wealth and possessions, and he loves you because you gave him all these things.

45:07

And so God says to Satan, you may take these things away, but you must not kill

45:17

Job himself. And so through a series of events, Job's wealth is taken away, and eventually his children are also killed.

45:26

And at the end of the first chapter of Job, the last news comes to him.

45:33

One of his servants comes and says, your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the oldest brother's house, and a great wind came across the wilderness, struck the four corners of the house, it fell upon the young people, and they are all dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

45:50

Then Job arose, he tore his robe, he shaved his head, he fell on the ground and worshipped.

45:57

He worshipped, and he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return.

46:03

The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this,

46:08

Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. It's amazing to see that Job got it right.

46:17

And it's also mirrored in the New Testament in 1 Timothy, Paul says almost the same words.

46:24

People have to understand that material things are temporary things. In our society, we can't own anything until we're 18 years old.

46:32

And the moment we die, everything we have is given away, either to our estate, or to our spouse, or to relatives, but it's not yours.

46:44

If it's jointly owned, it goes instantly without doing anything, by law, to whoever's on that account.

46:51

If you have other assets in your own name, they go into an estate immediately, and someone is appointed to man it to that estate, but it's not yours anymore.

47:01

So Jesus, who has blessed this young man with lots of wealth, says to him basically, young man,

47:09

I've made you rich. I've given you this. And anyone who knows that they have health problems knows the more severe your health problems, the less grasp you have on financial things or assets.

47:23

You can't enjoy things if you're flat in your bed, or if you're on your deathbed, you know that you have no control over what your assets are, what they're doing.

47:34

And that comes to all of us, and that came to this rich young ruler eventually. And it comes to all men, and so we all face the same issue.

47:43

What we have is temporary. And the question before this young man, and before all men is, what must

47:50

I do to have an eternity with Christ? What has to happen? And Jesus says clearly to him, understand that your well -being is based on my grace.

48:04

You have to understand that as the fundamental thing about this life. It's temporary, it's all by grace, and what you have,

48:14

I've given you. And guess what? There are other people with less things that I've managed,

48:21

Jesus says. And I love the poor, and I want those who have wealth to give to the poor graciously, because they need to do that, because I love the poor.

48:32

And this is your big test. Can you treat the things that I've graciously given you as my things, and be good stewards of those things while you're yet living?

48:43

And that's a fundamental thing to understand about this passage. This man had been given everything by Jesus, who was the creator of the universe.

48:52

All that he has, Jesus knows all about. And his ability to earn, to gather, to manage his wealth, it's all based on his health that Jesus has graciously permitted him to have.

49:07

And now he's come and asked the big question, and Jesus gives him the answer that he needs to understand, and that is, this is my stuff, young man.

49:16

I've given it to you. I'd like you to graciously give it to those who really, really need it, and then come and follow me.

49:24

And this man makes a horrible decision, and we'll look at that here in a moment. Now, what

49:31

I said at the outset of the program, I mentioned that there are religions outside of historic

49:38

Protestantism that teach that salvation is not by faith alone, but that works must cooperate with faith in order for a person to merit in some way eternal life.

49:54

And they will sometimes use this passage because Jesus brings up the commandments, and he also tells the young rich ruler to do an act of great benevolence, an extreme act of benevolence to sell all he has so that it may be given to the poor.

50:20

But the people who perpetrate that kind of an idea, isn't it essential that they go to the following passages in Mark 10, verse 23 through 27, because Jesus is making it clear that it is impossible for anyone, whether they are rich or poor, to be saved, but Jesus is the one that makes it possible.

50:52

So even any great work of benevolence, no matter how extreme it is, giving away every single penny that you own, that is not even going to merit you heaven.

51:06

You'll be damned in your sins unless Jesus does a miraculous work in you. Isn't this really what the passage is saying?

51:12

It's what the passage is saying, but first of all, you have to understand, as all my clients do when they come to see us, what is the law?

51:20

What is the requirement for righteousness? And that's what Jesus reminds this young man of, and you find that in Matthew 22 in verse 34.

51:31

And this happened to be a lawyer who challenges Jesus. And in verse 34, when the

51:37

Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

51:45

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Now, the reason this was a test was because if Jesus chose one of 10, they would say you've trashed the other nine.

51:55

So he had to choose just one. But here's his response. Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your

52:00

God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.

52:07

And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

52:16

Now, when you understand this standard, it says, look, your whole life, if you want to be righteous before God, you have to always put

52:25

God first. And you can never be selfish, putting yourself above others. You have to treat them equally with yourself.

52:33

So never be selfish your whole life, and always put God first. Now, remember the exchange between this rich young ruler and Jesus.

52:43

Jesus says, do you know the law? And he repeats it and then says, I have kept it.

52:49

The problem is, he thinks he has kept it when the standard is much higher than this man imagines.

52:57

The standard is, always put God first, never be selfish. I did an analysis of my own life.

53:05

I went 13 years before I was converted. I did an estimate.

53:11

How many times in those 13 years was I selfish? And I would say, a lot.

53:18

How many times did I reject the message, the gospel? A lot.

53:24

Every time I said, I hate this going to church, or I'd rather be somewhere else, I was putting

53:31

God first. I think I averaged in those years, on the average, probably 20, 25 violations of the law of God's standard per day.

53:46

And after I was converted, perhaps I sinned less, and less as I grew to know

53:51

God's scripture. But still, even if you said that after my conversion for the 50 -some years

54:01

I've been living since then, perhaps I only had 50 violations a week.

54:09

Still, I've had over 100 ,000 violations in my own life. And when you've missed the mark by 100 ,000 violations, are you a sinner?

54:21

Have you violated the law? And the answer is yes. And so when

54:26

Jesus says to this young man, no one is good except Jesus, except God alone.

54:32

He's absolutely right. If you understand the standard as being always putting

54:38

God first, never being selfish, nobody can measure up to this standard.

54:45

And that's what you have to understand. And so we are just missing the mark by a little bit. We're missing it by a huge amount.

54:52

And look at this passage. Jesus says to this young man, I've given you everything you have.

54:59

I want you to put me first. Give it all up because I've asked you to. Put me first in your life, and then give what you have to the poor who need it badly.

55:11

Don't be selfish, be generous. And this young man violates the law completely in his exchange with Jesus.

55:21

He needs a Savior worse than ever. He's done it to Jesus' face. And this man needs to understand that he's violated the law publicly in front of Jesus, and he's condemned because of it.

55:35

CBT And we'll pick up right where you left off. And also the Reverend Buzz Taylor has a question or a comment that we will pick up on when we return from the break.

55:43

If you could, Buzz, make a note of what you were going to say so you don't forget it. And if anybody else would like to join us, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com.

55:53

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Please give us your first name, your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside the

55:59

USA. Don't go away. God willing, we'll be right back with Marcus McKnight and more of our discussion on the rich young ruler.

56:08

Marcus McKnight Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am

56:14

I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Hi, I'm Mark Lukens, pastor of Providence Baptist Church.

56:23

We are a Reformed Baptist Church and we hold to the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. We are in Norfolk, Massachusetts.

56:30

We strive to reflect Paul's mindset to be much more concerned with how God views what we say and what we do than how men view these things.

56:38

That's not the best recipe for popularity, but since that wasn't the apostles' priority, it must not be ours either.

56:45

We believe by God's grace that we are called to demonstrate love and compassion to our fellow man, and to be vessels of Christ's mercy to a lost and hurting community around us, and to build up the body of Christ in truth and love.

56:58

If you live near Norfolk, Massachusetts, or plan to visit our area, please come and join us for worship and fellowship.

57:03

You can call us at 508 -528 -5750. That's 508 -528 -5750.

57:11

Or go to our website to email us, listen to past sermons, worship songs, or watch our TV program entitled

57:17

Resting in Grace. You can find us at providencebaptistchurchma .org. That's providencebaptistchurchma .org.

57:24

Or even on sermonaudio .com. Providence Baptist Church is delighted to sponsor Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

57:35

Every day at thousands of community centers, high schools, middle schools, juvenile institutions, coffee shops, and local hangouts,

57:43

Long Island Youth for Christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need Jesus. We are rural and urban, and we are always about the message of Jesus.

57:52

Our mission is to have a noticeable spiritual impact on Long Island, New York by engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following Christ.

58:00

Long Island Youth for Christ has been a stalwart bedrock ministry since 1959. We have a world -class staff and a proven track record of bringing consistent love and encouragement to youths in need all over the country and around the world.

58:14

Help honor our history by becoming a part of our future. Volunteer, donate, pray, or all of the above.

58:21

For details, call Long Island Youth for Christ at 631 -385 -8333.

58:28

That's 631 -385 -8333. Or visit liyfc .org.

58:37

That's liyfc .org. Lindbrook Baptist Church on 225

58:46

Earl Avenue in Lindbrook, Long Island is teaching God's timeless truths in the 21st century. Our church is far more than a

58:52

Sunday worship service. It's a place of learning where the scriptures are studied and the preaching of the gospel is clear and relevant.

58:58

It's like a gym where one can exercise their faith through community involvement. It's like a hospital for wounded souls where one can find compassionate people in healing.

59:06

We're a diverse family of all ages, enthusiastically serving our Lord Jesus Christ in fellowship, play, and together.

59:12

Hi, I'm Pastor Bob Walderman and I invite you to come and join us here at Lindbrook Baptist Church and see all that a church can be.

59:19

Call Lindbrook Baptist at 516 -599 -9402. That's 516 -599 -9402.

59:26

Or visit lindbrookbaptist .org. That's lindbrookbaptist .org. Chef Exclusive Catering is in South Central Pennsylvania.

59:38

Chef Exclusive's goal is to provide a dining experience that is sure to please any palate. Chef Damian White of Chef Exclusive is a graduate of the renowned

59:46

Johnson and Wales University with a degree in Culinary Arts and Applied Science. Chef Exclusive Catering's event center is newly designed with elegance and style and is available for small office gatherings, bridal showers, engagement parties, and rehearsal dinners.

01:00:03

Critics and guests alike acknowledge Chef Exclusive's commitment to exceeding even the highest expectations.

01:00:10

I know of their quality firsthand since Chef Exclusive catered by most recent Iron Sharpens Iron radio,

01:00:16

Pastor's Luncheon. For details call 717 -388 -3000.

01:00:22

That's 717 -388 -3000. Or visit chefexclusive .com.

01:00:28

That's chefexclusive .com. Charles Hedden Spurgeon once said,

01:00:41

Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted.

01:00:49

He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own.

01:00:54

You need to read. Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the

01:01:00

Prince of Preachers to heart. The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.

01:01:13

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered, Christ -exalting books for all ages.

01:01:21

We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com. That's solid -ground -books .com

01:01:29

and see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

01:01:35

Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Tired of box store

01:01:43

Christianity? Of doing church in a warehouse with all the trappings of a rock concert? Do you long for a more traditional and reverent style of worship?

01:01:51

And how about the preaching? Perhaps you've begun to think that in -depth biblical exposition has vanished from Long Island.

01:01:57

Well, there's good news. Wedding River Baptist Church exists to provide believers with a meaningful and reverent worship experience featuring the systematic exposition of God's Word.

01:02:08

And this loving congregation looks forward to meeting you. Call them at 631 -929 -3512 for service times.

01:02:16

631 -929 -3512. Or check out their website at wrbc .us.

01:02:24

That's wrbc .us. I'm James White of Alpha Omega Ministries.

01:02:30

The New American Standard Bible is perfect for daily reading or in -depth study. Used by pastors, scholars, and everyday readers, the

01:02:36

NASB is widely embraced and trusted as a literal and readable Bible translation. The NASB offers clarity and readability while maintaining high accuracy to the original languages which the

01:02:45

NASB is known for. The NASB is available in many editions like a Topical Reference Bible. Researched and prepared by biblical scholars devoted to accuracy, the new

01:02:53

Topical Reference Bible includes contemporary topics relevant to today's issues. From compact to giant print

01:02:59

Bibles, find an NASB that fits your needs very affordably at nasbible .com. Whichever edition you choose, trust, discover, and enjoy the

01:03:07

NASB for yourself today. Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com.

01:03:42

Home renovations including kitchen and bath remodeling decks porches windows and doors roof and siding and more for a clear detailed professional estimate call this trustworthy team of problem solvers who provide superior results that stand to the test of time call solid rock remodeling at 717 -697 -1981 717 -697 -1981 or visit solidrockremodeling .com

01:04:16

that's solidrockremodeling .com solid rock remodeling bringing new life to your home welcome back this is

01:04:24

Chris Zarnes and and if you just tuned us in our guest today for the full two hours with a little less than an hour to go is

01:04:31

Marcus Mike McKnight III attorney at law he is with the law firm of Irwin and McKnight here in Carlisle Pennsylvania he's a member of the

01:04:41

West Shore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania and he's a function speaker for Christian Businessmen's Connection that's

01:04:49

CBMC and we are addressing the rich young ruler from the gospel of Mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 31 if you'd like to join us on the air with a question of your own our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com

01:05:03

c -h -r -i -s -a -r -n -z -e -n at gmail .com please give us your first name your city and state and your country of residence unless you feel compelled to remain anonymous due to a personal and private matter before I return to Marcus I have some important announcements to make and I know

01:05:23

I keep interchangeably using the name Marcus and Mike but that is because he goes by both but you prefer

01:05:30

Mike correct? to my friends yes okay because what about Chris?

01:05:39

well I'll try to remember to call you Mike for the remainder of the program but the

01:05:44

Word of Truth Church in Farmingville Long Island New York is pleased to announce that the

01:05:52

Word of Truth Bible Institute will be offering two free classes this summer the

01:05:57

Book of Romans and Old Testament Survey Romans will meet on July 12th

01:06:04

July 19th and July 26th from 7 to 9 p .m. and the

01:06:10

Old Testament Survey will meet the week of July 17th through the 21st from 7 to 9 p .m.

01:06:19

minus July 19th which will be from 5 to 7 p .m. an extra or an earlier segment of that class this will be held at the

01:06:31

Word of Truth Church on 1055 Portion Road in Farmingville Long Island New York registration is required by calling

01:06:40

Pastor Bruce at 631 -806 -0614 even though the

01:06:47

Romans class has started new students are still welcome the church website is

01:06:53

WOTChurch .com that's WOT which stands for Word of Truth Church .com

01:07:00

WOTChurch .com and we thank the Word of Truth Church in Farmingville Long Island for joining us again with advertisements on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio from time to time we hear from our friends at the

01:07:18

Word of Truth Church who run ad campaigns with us and their advertising dollars are truly appreciated more than they know.

01:07:28

Also coming up in August from the 3rd through the 5th the Fellowship Conference New England is being held at the

01:07:34

Deering Center Community Church in Portland Maine and the speakers at this conference include

01:07:42

Don Curran who is the Eastern European Coordinator with HeartCry Missionary Society the organization founded by Paul Washer.

01:07:51

Mac Tomlinson who's a dear friend of mine author and pastor of Providence Chapel in Denton Texas and Pastor Jesse Barrington who has been on this program he's the pastor of Grace Life Church in Dallas Texas the sister church of Grace Life Church in Lake City Florida who has a radio station

01:08:09

Grace Life Radio who airs Iron Sharpens Iron Radio every day in a pre -recorded fashion and Pastor Nate Pickowitz who is an author and pastor of Harvest Bible Church in Gilmont and Ironworks New Hampshire if you'd like to register for this conference go to fellowshipconferencenewengland .com

01:08:29

fellowshipconferencenewengland .com then coming up in November from the 17th through the 18th the

01:08:37

Quaker Town Conference on Reform Theology will be held at the Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Quaker Town Pennsylvania featuring

01:08:45

Kent Hughes, Peter Jones, Tom Nettles, Dennis Cahill and Scott Oliphant. The theme will be

01:08:50

For Still Our Ancient Foe obviously having some connection with Satan because of the fact that that is a line from A Mighty Fortress by Martin Luther an obvious reference by Luther to the

01:09:07

Prince of Darkness himself Satan and that again is November 17th through the 18th in Quaker Town Pennsylvania if you'd like to register for that conference go to alliancenet .org

01:09:18

alliancenet .org click on events and then click on Quaker Town Conference on Reform Theology and I do plan on being there with an exhibitors booth so please greet me there if you are attending and I hope you do and then coming up in January from the 17th through the 20th the

01:09:38

G3 Conference returns to Atlanta Georgia on the 17th it is exclusively a

01:09:45

Spanish edition of the G3 Conference and then from the 18th through the 20th is the English edition of the conference featuring

01:09:52

God willing Paul Washer, Stephen Lawson, Vody Baucom, H .B. Charles Jr., Tim Challies, Josh Bice, James White, Tom Askell, Anthony Mathenia, Michael Krueger, David Miller, Paul Tripp, Todd Friel, Derek Thomas, and Martha Peace.

01:10:07

The theme is Knowing God a Biblical Understanding of Discipleship. If you would like to join me there at the

01:10:15

G3 Conference in Atlanta Georgia go to g3conference .com g3conference .com

01:10:21

click on G3 2018 and you can register and if you register for any of these events and even if you just contact the organizations running these events for information please let them know that you heard about those events from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:10:40

Last but not least it's my time to be involved in something uncomfortable for me but something that I should do out of respect to the urging of my advertisers who are currently on the air with me keeping

01:10:55

Iron Sharpens Iron afloat on the airwaves. My advertisers have urged me to make public appeals for donations and for additional advertising in order to further ensure that Iron Sharpens Iron remains on the air.

01:11:09

So if you have been blessed above and beyond your ability to support your local church where you are a member and you should be a member of a local church and if you're not you should prayerfully rectify that as soon as possible and a good bible -believing church at that and if you are a member of a church we do not want you to siphon money out of your giving to that church nor do we want you to siphon money away from your family's checking account if you are struggling to make ends meet and are having a hard time even putting dinner on the table we would never want you to give to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio if that will disrupt either of those two matters that are commanded by God for you to do with your money you are commanded by God to support the church and to support your family you are not commanded by God to give to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio but if you are able to if God has blessed you above and beyond your ability to obey those commands we would love to receive a check of any amount that you care to give if you go to ironsharpensironradio .com

01:12:19

and click on support you will find a mailing address where you can send a check for any amount made payable to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio and we truly appreciate all of you who have already done that and who continue to do that some of you are giving monthly and even bi -monthly and even more frequently than that and we i i cannot express to you in the english language how grateful i am to you and to God for you uh it is it just means the world to me and uh if you really love this program and it means something to you if it's part of your daily habit you want us to remain on the air please follow suit and send us a check as long as you do not dip into your giving to your church and as long as you are not struggling to make ends meet and if you want to advertise with send us an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:13:12

and put advertising in the subject line as long as whatever it is you're advertising is compatible with the theology expressed on iron sharpens iron radio we would love to advertise your church your power church ministry your business your corporation your special event whatever it is you're doing so send us an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

01:13:32

and put advertising in the subject line and uh that is the same email address where you can send a question for our guest mike mcknight and that's chris arnson at gmail .com

01:13:43

chris arnson at gmail .com and before we take any uh listener questions uh i know that the reverend buzz taylor my co -host had something to say that he wanted to bring up right and uh you know i try as much as possible to listen to everything from a listener's uh standpoint and uh one thing that i think could probably use just a little bit of clarification uh mike when you were talking about the rich young ruler giving you know jesus telling him to give all his possess you know sell all the possesses and give to the poor um you you said the poor need it but uh i don't believe that you meant this as a is a um mandate to all rich people to sell all they possess and give to the poor as in some kind of a christian uh necessity uh for shall i say socialistic reasons to to even the wealth of the land so to speak yeah there are even there are even uh professing christians like tony campola who will say that it is a sin for a person to retain a significant portion of their wealth uh and obviously some some of these people are to such an extreme that even if these people are very generous very benevolent and give away a great portion of what they have earned uh to the church and to the poor that is not enough for some of these folks who tend to be more socialist in their mindset well first of all you have to understand that jesus was having a discussion with a man who had a serious problem and that was he did not see his own sin problem and the reason he didn't see his own sin problem was he was distracted by his wealth as to what it was is jesus saying that all men have to give up their wealth to the poor immediately in order to be his followers and the answer is of course not but it's specific to this man who had a problem with understanding what sin was but the points that jesus made apply to all of us and that is all that we have is graciously given to us by jesus and all of us should be looking for opportunities to be generous to those around us regardless of our circumstances and i point out that in the case of job after job went through all his trials in the end in the end jesus not only restored him to great wealth but he restored him with a new family again children who he could adore and love um those came graciously from god all that we have comes graciously from god god does not despise the rich he's never impressed by wealth because wealth comes from him to all men and so jesus is basically saying look i'm the source of your health of your of your your finances and i want you to treat them graciously and generously to those around you i don't require that you keep up everything but it is a test for you to see whether or not you understand that i'm the source of your blessing and that if you want to have fellowship with me you need to put your faith in me and understand who i am and how it is that you attain this eternal life now do you think that jesus was uh giving this rich young ruler uh a cause to examine his heart because obviously we know that no one can keep the law and this rich young ruler believed that he had he was self -deceived in thinking that he had kept the law uh and secondly uh as we were saying earlier even being benevolent uh although it is a litmus test or a fruit or a sign that you are truly regenerate uh it is not ever a cause or a meritorious action in regard to salvation am i right yes and you can see from the discussion that jesus has with the disciples that they were they were stunned by his answer to this man not understand not understanding all the issues that swirled around behind it but understand this in our age many people believe that they are just like the rich young ruler they've done nothing seriously wrong that they're all right with god because they don't understand the standard that god really requires of men they don't understand the depth of their own sin and jesus is challenging this rich young man by saying look here's the problem with with you not understanding your sin and i'm going to ask you to do these things and jesus did repeat many times before you need to put me first in your life and i'll tell you when i became a christian i totally reoriented my life and putting jesus first has made the hugest difference and to the extent that i'm able to do that i'm a very blessed man by doing it and when i i become um when i forget these things become overly selfish or self -interested in my own affairs uh to the exclusion of christ that's what when i know i've i've sinned and i need to repent and and make it right with jesus so look what look what the impact was first of all i commend the rich young ruler for this he knew he needed to have an answer and he came to the right man and just like you remember the old ef hutton commercials where remember that financial consultant ef hutton that firm in which when he spoke a restaurant went silent because they wanted to hear his answer yeah whatever happened to those commercials i don't know they were great but that's what happened in this case when this man asked the question the disciples could not wait to hear jesus answer when when he gave it they were absolutely stunned because um they did not expect it and here's the exchange between jesus and disciples starting in verse um 23 i think 23 jesus looked around and said to his disciples how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of god and the disciples were amazed at his words but jesus said it to them again children how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of god it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of god they were exceedingly astonished and said to him then who can be saved and jesus said to them and looked at them and said with man impossible but not with god for all things were possible with god peter began to say to him see we have left everything to follow you and jesus said truly i say to you there is no one who has left his house or his 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 with persecutions in the age to come eternal life but many who are first will be last and the last first this is the subject you've raised what is required of us and you have to understand that first of all we have to let go of all the noise if you turn this around a little bit and applied it to our age we would say this in all the world where is it most difficult to hear the gospel and understand it and i would say north america europe why is that so because this is the wealthiest age for us for the wealthiest nation i see in custody cases children who who get so upset when you take their phones away in discipline they cannot live without their phones for a few minutes and so parents find it very difficult to control the use of the internet for children gaming communicating with so -called friends how hard it is to say to them look the most important thing in your life is to know this jesus christ there are lands like africa where there's so much death through wars through disease through aids i heard a statistic i think in some parts of africa most children are being raised by by families that aren't related to them because their parents have died of aids or disease so other families are taking them in and raising them graciously that way it's a different world that we live in from those situations in in north america so i would say how hard it is to get the gospel through to people who are so self -absorbed with their with their wealth with their bottom line and jesus is saying to them all this noise all these other distractions take away from the ability of people to understand the truth and here's the economic analysis how much would anyone pay for eternal life we know that people in order to gain a few more months or a few more years will spend tens of thousands of dollars amazon is having a big sale soon currently and many people many young people are enthralled by the thought of getting things cheaper on the internet through amazon or whatever else wherever else they can purchase it but the point is what would you pay for eternal life what if what if jesus had a sale in eternal life and said look one year of eternal life for one dollar who could afford eternal life if you had to pay for it a dollar a year and the answer is no one because there's not ever been enough wealth produced by this this nation this time this world to pay a dollar a year for eternal life that's how valuable eternal life is and people don't see it because they're so distracted by all this other noise by all this other stuff by their time being distracted by all these other things which don't count will jesus be impressed by our wealth when we die no he gave it to us he lent it to us for a period of time from age 18 to our death will he be impressed by what we have absolutely not will we wonder at what we've done with our wealth yes and the point is and this this is the amazing thing about the gospel jesus laid down his life that men might get through the noise of the holy spirit to understand that he is the only way to eternal life and guess what on the day of judgment we will see a judge and guess who that judge will be it will be jesus christ himself and the issue will be do you know the judge have you put him first in your life have you loved him just as he's loved you first and it says quite clearly in first timothy chapter 6 these amazing words in verse 6 through 10 um in this passage he says basically in first timothy you've got to understand that that when you see this judge or actually it's found in second corinthians chapter 5 and i love this passage it's in second corinthians chapter 5 um in verse 10 he says so whether we are at home or away we make it our aim to please jesus christ we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ so that each one may receive what is due him for what he has done in the body whether good or evil and jesus will judge each of us he he knows us already he knows what we think what we've done there are no secrets and when we appear before him it'll boil down to this jesus will say you i know you i've died for come share my happiness for eternity a gift that jesus said to his disciples was worth more than anything that you can imagine and their family will be the family of god hundreds and thousands and millions of people who will love them for all eternity along with the lord jesus christ and it says god will dwell with us and in revelation it says that god will dry every tear and you know when he does that when someone dries a tear of a child or of someone they love they have to be close to do it proximity close proximity and jesus says that's what's going to happen that that's what eternity is like and so the rich young ruler is asked the right question but couldn't understand that all this stuff is so temporary and the value of eternal life is so great and god's gift through christ is so great that to say no to it was a huge mistake and i hope that in time he came to understand that huge mistake just as many have through the holy spirit we have to go to our final break right now if you'd like to join us now is the time to do it we already have a couple of people waiting to have their questions asked and answered by mike mcknight but if you'd like to join them our email address is chris arnzen at gmail .com

01:28:08

c -h -r -i -s -a -r -n -z -e -n at gmail .com please give us your first name at least your city and state of residence in your country of residence if you live outside the usa you may remain anonymous if it's about a personal and private matter don't go away god willing we will be right back with the final half hour of mike mcknight's discussion on the rich young ruler tired of bop store christianity of doing church in a warehouse with all the trappings of a rock concert do you long for a more traditional and reverent style of worship and how about the preaching perhaps you've begun to think that in -depth biblical exposition has vanished from long island well there's good news waiting river baptist church exists to provide believers with a meaningful and reverent worship experience featuring the systematic exposition of god's word and this loving congregation looks forward to meeting you call them at 631 -929 -3512 for service times 631 -929 -3512 or check out their website at wrbc .us

01:29:16

that's wrbc .us i'm james white of alpha omega ministries the new american standard bible is perfect for daily reading or in -depth study used by pastors scholars and readers the nasb is widely embraced and trusted as a literal and readable bible translation the nasb offers clarity and readability while maintaining high accuracy to the original languages which the nasb is known for the nasb is available in many editions like a topical reference bible researched and prepared by biblical scholars devoted to accuracy the new topical reference bible includes contemporary topics relevant to today's issues from compacted giant print bibles find an nasb that fits your needs very affordably at nas bible .com

01:29:57

whichever edition you choose trust discover and enjoy the nasb for yourself today go to nasbible .com

01:30:03

that's nasbible .com hi i'm pastor bill shishko inviting you to tune into a visit to the pastor's study every saturday from 12 noon to 1 pm eastern time on wlie radio www .wlie540am

01:30:26

.com we bring biblically faithful pastoral ministry to you and we invite you to visit the pastor's study by calling in with your questions our time will be lively useful and i assure you never dull join us this saturday at 12 noon eastern time for a visit to the pastor's study because everyone needs a pastor have you been blessed by iron sharpens iron radio we remain on the air because of our faithful sponsors and because of listeners like you there are four ways you can help first do you know potential sponsors who may wish to advertise their goods or services on iron sharpens iron radio second whenever possible purchase the products or use the services that our sponsors advertise and then let them know that you heard about them on iron sharpens iron radio thirdly you can also donate to iron sharpens iron radio by going to our website at iron sharpens iron radio .com

01:31:28

and click support at the top of the page but most importantly keep iron sharpens iron radio in your prayers we hope that iron sharpens iron radio blesses you for many years to come i am chris arnson host of iron sharpens iron radio here to tell you about an exciting offer from world magazine my trusted source for news from a christian perspective try world at no charge for 90 days and get a free copy of rc sproles book relationship between church and state i rely on world because i trust the reporting i gain insight from the analysis and world provides clarity to the news stories that really matter i believe you'll also find world to be an invaluable resource to better understand critical topics with a depth that's simply not found in other media outlets armed with this coverage world can help you to be a voice of wisdom in your family and your community this trial includes bi -weekly issues of world magazine on -scene reporting from world radio and the fully shareable content of world digital simply visit wmg .org

01:32:37

forward slash iron sharpens to get your world trial and dr sproles book all free no obligation with no credit card required visit world news group at wmg .org

01:32:52

forward slash iron sharpens today are you a christian looking to align your faith and finances then you'll want to check out thriving financial we're not your typical financial services provider we're a not -for -profit fortune 500 organization that helps our nearly 2 .4

01:33:12

million members be wise with money we provide guidance that reflects your values so you can protect what matters most we help members live generously and strengthen the communities where they live work and worship learn more about the thriving story by contacting me mike gallagher financial consultant at 717 -254 -6433 again 717 -254 -6433 we know we were made for so much more than ordinary iron sharpens iron radio is sponsored by harvey cedars a year -round bible conference and retreat center nestled on the jersey shore harvey cedars offers a wide range of accommodations to suit groups up to 400 for generations christians have enjoyed gathering and growing at harvey cedars each year thousands of high school and college students come and learn more about god's word an additional 9 000 come annually to harvey cedars as families couples singles men women pastors seniors and missionaries 90 miles from new york city 70 miles from philly and 95 miles from wilmington and easily accessible scores of notable christian groups frequently planned conferences at harvey cedars like the navigators intervarsity christian fellowship campus crusade and the alliance of confessing evangelicals find harvey cedars on facebook or at hcbible .org

01:35:13

hcbible .org call 609 -494 -5689 609 -494 -5689 harvey cedars where christ finds people and changes lives and we even know that our guest today uh from our guest today that the congregation where he is a member west shore evangelical free church in mechanicsburg pennsylvania has a group there right now at harvey cedars bible conference in new jersey so uh please let harvey cedars know that you heard about them from iron sharpens iron radio if indeed you are going to arrange an event with them or spend a vacation there or visit there for any other reason of rest and relaxation etc we are back with our guest mike mcknight iii attorney at law and we are discussing the rich young ruler if you'd like to join us on the air our email address is chris arnson at gmail .com

01:36:17

chris arnson at gmail .com and i advise you do it to do it quickly if you intend to join us because we are running out of time we have an anonymous listener in texas who says brother mcknight reminds me of david limbaugh i'm i'm curious if he knows david and his book jesus on trial a lawyer affirms the truth of the gospel i'm not familiar with it but i'd love to read it that's uh rush limbaugh's brother who unlike rush actually is a born -again believer and well uh by the way oh yeah now i have the actual more important question as to why our anonymous listener in texas wanted to remain anonymous a bilingual church has a great problem for the pastor which he feels he can't broach the subject with the presbytery at this point there are illegal aliens who have come to the states and having left behind a wife and family in their old country and now in their present city on this side of the border they find a new lot they find a new wife and have children by the new common law wife would brother mcknight suggest to such a pastor with this problem since it creates many spiritual legal and familiar ramifications uh what would brother mcknight suggest to a pastor with this problem is what you said well obviously you have to start to untangle the legal problems as best you can having two families in different nations is always going to be difficult and obviously you need to do it with grace and consideration knowing that there are people involved in this who are going to be harmed regardless of what the legal consequences are and you have to somehow show them and prepare homes for them so that they can can understand the grace of god and his love for them so it's it's a complex problem and and but i think we're required to love those around us regardless of their circumstances and try and help them as we can through the legal issues that ultimately they can be resolved these are gordian knots that in our world seem to become more and more complex and yet we still have to strive to try and resolve them as best we can and i'm assuming you would as a christian say that this person who now has a double life going on here with a second common law wife that he needs to be called to repentance does he not absolutely and he has to and he has to come up with ways in which um he can as best he can make it right um as as as he can in both in both situations both in in the old sit in the old uh in this country where he's not living in the country in which he now lives so and our anonymous listener in texas says i thank my lord for such great wisdom no nonsense discussions that i receive from listening to iron trap and xyron continually praying for iron trap and xyron thank you very much anonymous and you have also won a free copy of walt chantry's book today's gospel authentic or synthetic if you give us your full name and mailing address i assure you your identity will not be revealed on the air this will be only for matters of having cumberland valley bible book service ship you out that free book that's cvbbs .com

01:40:08

so keep an eye out in the mail for a shipping label that has that as their return mailing address cvbbs .com

01:40:16

and um we have also uh in uh perry county pennsylvania arnie says why did jesus ask the rich young ruler why do you call me good because god alone is good some folks like the jehovah's witnesses and other arians and those that reject the deity of christ will use this passage as a proof text i don't know how they can do that because it's so clear that jesus is trying to get through this man about his sin and that is that he doesn't understand that he has fallen so far short of the glory of god by being selfish by not putting god first and by not acknowledging that god is creator of the universe and he is god and that his son jesus christ is a part of that trinity along with the holy spirit deny any part of it is a very dangerous spiritual thing to do and so jesus is saying publicly and remember there were pharisees there in this crowd along with other people and he was saying to them understand that you cannot earn your way to heaven you can't buy your way to heaven your sins are so great that you need a savior and there's only one good person available and that's god himself and the trinity of course it's part of that no no jesus obviously did not say i am not good uh wasn't he trying to force this person into considering the the fact that he is god i mean he he didn't deny that he was good he did not deny that he was not god he he said quite clearly and he's saying to them i am god's son i am i was in heaven now i'm on earth and you have to understand that no one is good except us well arnie you have also won a free copy of the book that we are giving out today today's gospel authentic or synthetic compliments of banner of truth and by the way let me give a plug to them and their website their website is banner of truth .org

01:42:25

banner of truth .org and that's today's gospel authentic or synthetic by walt chantry a mutual friend of mine and my guest mike mcknight as we said earlier as mike mcknight said earlier he started a easter sunrise service in cooperation with walt chantry when he was still pastoring out here in carlisle so this book is doubly appropriate especially since it deals in part with the rich young ruler and i would point out that grace not only grace baptist has supplied not only financial support over the years but their pastors uh first with walt and then with craig harris who now is a church in chambersburg grace baptist in chambersburg um and david campbell when he was pastor at grace they've all um graciously given their time on a busy easter sunday to come up to the mountain and preach to the crowd that would come and hundreds of people come up many of them from different denominations or sects but they hear the message the gospel message every sunday easter sunday on the mountaintop and it's a blessed service and no funds are collected there no offerings are taken it's all about the gospel and hearing it on easter sunday and it's been a privilege to be part of that we have another listener uh gordy in mechanicsburg pennsylvania what are some practical ways we can guard our hearts against greed discontentment envy etc uh one way is to be giving large portions of your money to iron sean's and the co -host no but seriously mike mcknight uh how would you respond to uh this listener's request for practical ways to guard your hearts against greed and discontent discontentment and envy well first of all i'd ask you to take it to the lord in prayer that way but paul said it best in to for to timothy in first timothy uh chapter six actually verse six he says there is great gain in godliness with contentment we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world but if we have food and clothing with these we will be content but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation into a snare that many senseless and harmful desires plunge people into ruin and destruction for the love of monies the root of all kinds of evil it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pangs bear in mind jesus knows our needs and he will supply those needs if we put our faith in him he will not make us rich he's not impressed by wealth wealth comes through hard work obviously at times but it's because we have the ability to work hard because we have a health to work hard there are some who don't have the health don't have the ability or don't or have illnesses mental or other addictions addiction gambling these things can destroy lives as people desire to get rich and of course people were feeding off the elderly trying to tell them oh we can make you rich or we can do this for you or that for you and we we fight against those inequities or those those situations that arise in our office when people are taking advantage of others we try and defend them and protect them keep the elderly safe as we can so you have to understand that these are not new issues that have come up suddenly um but putting your faith in christ and praying to him and helping him i was converted when jesus answered my prayer about my circumstances and convinced me that he cared about me then he cares about me now and you have to hold on to that and understand that the closer you get to him and studying his word gives you that contentment and love and appreciation for all that he's done for us and then the promise of eternal life with him um is a huge promise and it's one that you can latch on to yeah wouldn't you say that uh in addition uh in regard to practical things is that uh individuals who battle with greed and envy really have to take a closer look at some of the impoverished peoples not only across the globe but even in our own backyard here in america in appalachia and in the ghettos of the inner cities of the united states and really uh take a good look a good hard look at the people who are far worse off than themselves and realize that they are according to the standards of many across the world they are really rich they're they have nothing to be uh uh greedy of others uh about and in fact uh poor people even those that are impoverished they can often be just as greedy as those who are wealthy because they spend their lives coveting the wealth of the rich so uh but but going back to my first suggestion don't you think that these people perhaps even have to find out what missionaries their churches are supporting and find out more about these lands where people are really have it far worse off than they could ever imagine when i was a young person in college and went to europe for a semester i learned so much by being a minority an american in a strange land i was in brussels at the university of brussels getting educated but we traveled throughout europe france germany um switzerland various places where i didn't know the language but in time i came to understand that uh people are people and um if you send someone to a place like africa where there's so much poverty um and you see how much ministries can supply hope and that's the hope of the gospel is so important in those areas um but you also have to supply basic things the rotary club of carlisle sponsors a dental clinic in kenya um in which they supply clean water clean water is so precious in many areas of the world and we take that for granted in this age i can't remember if i told gordy if he won the book or not but i'll just say it now gordy you've also won a free copy of walt chantry's today's gospel authentic or synthetic so please make sure we have your full mailing address in mechanicsburg so that will be shipped out to you god willing within a week or so compliments of the banner of truth and also compliments of our friends at cumberland valley bible book service cv bbs .com

01:50:02

cv for crumlin valley bbs .com we thank todd and patty jennings for their generosity and shipping all of our winners in our audience out uh their free books bibles dvds cds and everything else that they win by submitting questions to our guests on iron sharpens iron radio before we run out of time i'd like you uh marcus to basically summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners for perhaps five minutes or so just to make sure that every important thing that you hope to have our listeners most remember is said before we run out of time it's a simple story of a man who asks a very important question what must i do to inherit eternal life the answer that jesus gives is tailored to him because of his lack of understanding about the standard and its own sin the standard applies to all of us to be righteous before god it's not about comparing yourself to anyone else it's not about what your wealth has been or is or will be it's all about whether or not you understand that you have violated god's law not just a little but a huge amount and it's all recorded many people do stupid things when they should know that they're being recorded on tv if we're being discussed in heaven our thoughts our deeds our motives what we've done what we haven't done if all these things are on record in heaven and god has sent by his plan his son to die on the cross as an innocent perfect savior um so that he can have a relationship with those who put their faith in him and the holy spirit can change lives and reorient people from the temporary things of this life the important things of eternal life those are the essential things you have to understand that rick jung ruler had everything this world has to offer he had the american dream in his age and yet because he believed it was so important to him he couldn't give those things up to become a follower of jesus and gain eternal life he couldn't do that let me ask you this simple question what is there that's so valuable to you that you currently possess which will keep you out of heaven or is there anything you own which is more valuable than eternal life if you can answer those questions honestly you begin to see the issue can i trade temporary possessions of things and put them second to loving the lord jesus christ who gave his blood for my sake so that someday you can hear him say your name and say well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful in a few things i'm going to make you rich beyond your your imagination in this eternal life that you're going to have with me forever as i dwell with you forever in in ways that you can't beginning to begin to imagine that are so much more valuable than anything you currently have or have ever owned or will own you can understand these basic things you understand the rich young ruler made a terrible mistake but we need not repeat it we need to understand the gospel is our life is our hope and hope now and forever and you need to know this jesus christ through his word and through the holy spirit i pray that anyone who hears this and dwells with these issues and deals with them come to an understanding that there's only one way to heaven and that's through christ himself amen uh going back to uh since we have time i want you to uh answer a question of my own here when uh jesus says how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven what do you mean what do you think he means by that and why is that a fact i was an economics major in college i've studied the common market i've studied wall street um understand balance sheets uh i have some basic accounting um behind me the more you have the more distracted you are one of the amazing things about our wealthy current president is that he's got many many things on his plate and often when i talk to my wife about um my career and what i'm doing and so on she says to me um mike do you understand how many things you're trying to accomplish do you understand that there are things that you can do make your life simpler and so she's always that voice in my head saying um make sure i concentrate on the essentials and not get distracted by by things that don't matter as much and that's what we all need to do the more you have the more distractions you have and that's what you need to understand that the most important things in life are these essential issues where am i going to spend eternity do i know jesus christ does he know me do i love him because he's given his life for me don't you think also that those that who have accumulated great wealth are the um are those that are more easily or quickly prone to be built up in pride and the the delusion of self -sufficiency where they uh will never or rarely i should say fall to their knees as a beggar because in order for us to truly come to christ with a genuinely repentant heart we really have to be beggars we have to look at ourselves as having no value that merits eternal life we have nothing to give that merits eternal life and whereas rich people often view themselves as having earned everything that they have even if they've inherited they often say that um but uh we really need to come to christ as a beggar don't we and you have to understand the bible does not condemn wealth as being evil wealth is a circumstance it is an issue that often um people have worked hard to attain but never lose sight of the fact that your ability to attain it is based on education circumstances where you live things beyond our control decisions that are made beyond our control and the bottom line is can you manage your affairs in ways in which you put god first through his son jesus christ and if you can do that and manage those things and keep them in a proper balance then having wealth is not a distraction having wealth is an opportunity giving to things that please jesus christ is an opportunity your ministry is an opportunity the church is an opportunity jesus loves his church and it's not a you tithing are you not tithing what are you doing to do what jesus loves if you love jesus you need to find out what jesus loves and accordingly orient your life that way yes thank god for rich people who have been given a heart of benevolence to provide for the poor and for those less fortunate to them and help the church to achieve great things for god in a physical way and so yes there is nothing wrong with being rich as long as the person's heart is right with god i'm involved in rotary and the gates foundation bill gates has given millions and millions of dollars to eradicate polio when i was a boy i didn't go to the hundredth anniversary at gettysburg which i was into history i didn't go because there was a polio outbreak in gettysburg and my family wouldn't let me go because the polio outbreak well when i was a boy that's how much that disease was feared and how devastating it was and in our lifetime we've had the polio vaccine which has solved the problem here but in pakistan and some areas um some mountainous regions in in that part of asia polio still exists and we're trying to eradicate it and of course with all the giving that bill gates might have done he needs christ to enter into eternal life with him no giving of financial wealth will ever come close to what is required by god to spend eternity with him it requires balance and the understanding of job and that is all that we have is a gift and when we die we won't have it well i know that your website is erwinmcknight .com

01:59:42

i r w i n mcknight m c capital k n i g h t .com erwin mcknight .com