WWUTT 1963 Treasures in Heaven, Part 1 (Matthew 6:19-24)

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Jesus said, do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, but store up for yourself treasures in heaven where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, when we understand the text.

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This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Find all our videos online at www .wutt .com, as well as links to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. Back to our study in the Sermon on the

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Mount. We are still in Matthew chapter 6, and moving on to hearing about storing up treasure in heaven.

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You know this passage, don't you? Matthew 6, verses 19 to 24, I'm reading from the

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Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

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For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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The eye is the lamp of the body. So then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

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But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

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No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

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You cannot serve God and wealth. Picking up on a sermon

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I preached a couple of years ago out of Matthew chapter 6, here is part one of Treasures in Heaven.

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When I was a kid, my favorite actor was Harrison Ford. That's probably no surprise.

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What were the biggest movies when I was a kid? Indiana Jones, Star Wars. So like most,

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I loved Harrison Ford. So there was an interview on TV one time with Harrison and the interviewer said to him, you are the highest grossing actor of all time.

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Now that was a title that he actually held for even decades after that. It was only until the recent

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Marvel movies have grossed so much money that he got knocked out of the top 10. But at that particular time, he was indeed the highest grossing actor ever.

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Of the movies that he had made, they had made more money than any other movie starring any other actor.

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And the interviewer asked Harrison Ford, what is it that you do not yet have?

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I was a little kid when I watched this interview and his answer has always stuck with me. You have all this money, what do you not have?

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And Harrison's answer was this, peace. I don't have peace.

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All the possessions and all the fame anyone could ever want at that period of time and he was not content.

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I saw another interview not long after that with Madonna, one of the biggest pop stars at the time could probably have only been bested by Michael Jackson then.

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And she was asked, what do you not have? All of this fame and all of this fortune, one of the biggest selling women pop stars of all time.

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What do you not have? And she responded, happiness. I've not yet found happiness.

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And we'll see these interviews from actors and actresses and pop stars and rock stars.

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And this is a very common answer. Of all the things that they have, they don't yet have contentment.

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I recently came into a survey of Americans that was asked of them, what would you need in order to consider yourself truly content?

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And there were all kinds of answers like more friends or better health.

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But the top answer at the, at the top of that list, it was such a high percentage that no other answer even came close.

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Number one answer that Americans said more money. I could be more content if I could just have more money.

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But if you reflect upon what some of those celebrities and multimillionaires say, they would be the first to tell you, nope, that won't do it.

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That won't make you content because you'll always be looking for a little bit more.

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There was a multimillionaire from years ago, the question was asked of him, what would you need to have in order to finally find contentment?

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This was a guy who was a millionaire. He said just a little bit more. But in James five, one through three, we read this.

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Come now, you rich weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

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Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

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You could have all of the fame and all of the fortune in the world and that still doesn't change the fact that someday you will die.

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Job even lamented over this when he looked at the rich and he looked at the poor and he said they both go to the same place.

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They both end up in the grave. And yet we will spend our lives clamoring after riches, fame.

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Maybe you couldn't care any more about either one of those things, but you at least want just a little more contentment, right?

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Just a little more and I will be at peace. But the things of this world could never give us that.

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The only true and lasting contentment we will ever find is in Christ.

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The only salvation, the only everlasting life we will ever have will only be

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Christ. Consider our text today. In Matthew chapter six, verse 19, if we, as we have heard this royal decree, this heavenly proclamation from the king of kings who came down from his throne and put on flesh and dwelt among us, has there ever been any act of humility like we've seen displayed from Christ?

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He who literally has everything because he made everything and yet he took on the form of a servant as it says in Philippians chapter two.

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And here the king has come down to us and he says to us the only knowledge that we will ever need concerning where our hearts should be.

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We don't have to look at the personal experience stories of the famous or of the rich.

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We hear it from Christ. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

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But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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In this particular passage of scripture, verses 19 through 24, we see it broken up into three parts.

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This is the first part versus 19 to 21 where Jesus says, do not store up for yourselves your treasures where moth and rust destroy.

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Now Jesus was not just taking two random things and saying that this is what will destroy your earthly possessions, but consider what those things destroy.

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Moth and rust. What do they destroy? What do moths destroy? Your clothing, right?

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This was one of the ways the rich at that particular time displayed himself as being wealthy by the wonderful lavish clothes that he would wear.

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The wealthy would flaunt their wealth in their clothing. Now the Pharisees did not do this because the

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Pharisees were really the common man. They were the everyman. Pharisees were very popular among the people.

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We don't often think about that. When Jesus is confronting the Pharisees, we've heard it so many times over the course of the

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Sermon on the Mount, we tend to think of the Pharisees wearing the black hats and Jesus came as like the hero in the old

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Westerns wearing the white hat and he came to rescue them from the dastardly sheriff that's ruining the whole town and all those bad corrupt sheriffs that are all wearing their black hats.

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That's not the way it was actually at this time. The people loved the Pharisees.

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They listened to what the Pharisees had to say. They were being led astray by their false teaching because they loved to hear what they taught.

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And so when Jesus is confronting these Pharisees, he's not making friends. People hate him for some of the things that he said regarding the

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Pharisees. But it was not the Pharisees who flaunted their wealth since they were the common everyman.

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It was the Sadducees that flaunted their wealth because they were from the upper echelon of people that dwelled in the society at that particular time.

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So the Sadducees here are really feeling confronted by some of these things that Jesus is saying.

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Don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth will destroy your clothing. Those Sadducees would be really decked out in what it is that they wore.

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And where rust destroys. What does rust destroy?

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Metal, right? Your precious metals. So you would have not only the wonderful lavish clothes that the rich would wear, but you would also have the wonderful precious metals that they might have on or they might deck their houses in or things like that, showing how rich they are by what it was that they possess by everything that is rich and shiny.

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When Donald Trump was running for president of the United States, when he had picked his running mate, Mike Pence, does anybody remember where the announcement was made?

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It was made in Trump Tower, sitting on gold thrones. And so it's Donald Trump flaunting his wealth.

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Look at how rich I have become through the American dream. And the message was almost being sent there.

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If you vote for me, you can have this too. You can be just as rich as I have become.

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And the message was apparently bought because he became president of the United States. But you'll have these gold baubles, these rich things that people will have and show off and flaunt their wealth.

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But even those things that we think of as being long lasting, whatever is metal,

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I mean truly lasts a long time, right? But even that is not invincible to corruption.

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Metals themselves are subject to rust and decay. There are things on this earth that destroy anything material.

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Moth destroys clothing. Rust destroys precious metals. Thieves will even break in and steal.

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But Jesus says in verse 20, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

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For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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It's a phrase we hear a lot. Probably grew up hearing it. I heard it both ways. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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I also heard it, where your heart is, there your treasure will be also. And those two things could be interchangeable.

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Where have you invested yourself? Where are your desires? That's where your treasure will be.

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A friend of mine who was a member of my church in Kansas, his name was

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George, used to hear him say over and over again. If you ever want to see where a man's heart truly is, look at his checkbook.

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Where is he spending his money? Where is he investing himself? That's where you will know where his heart is.

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Those of you who are parents, let me impress this upon you. This might be a little bit of an ouch.

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If you want to find out where your heart is, ask your kids. Are you humble enough to ask them that question?

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They'll tell you where they think your heart truly is. What do you think that I invest most of my time in?

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What do you think is most precious to me? Well, you spend a lot of time on your phone, dad.

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Spend a lot of time watching sports. You sit in front of the news a lot and it makes you really grumpy.

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Your kids will tell you where your heart is. What do we desire and what do we want most?

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Now, to cut to the chase, even before we get to the end of the message here, the point that Jesus is making to us that our greatest treasure and our greatest desire should be

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Christ. He is the greatest treasure ever given.

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In Colossians 2, 3, the Apostle Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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Everything we could ever want to know, everything we could ever want to have or hope to possess, we have it all in Christ.

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Jesus is everything. All that is in this world will eventually come to waste and pass away.

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It is passing away even as you sit where you are. Your cell phone in your pocket is going out of date.

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When you walk out of here today, you will need to be looking up the next model so you will stay current and up to date with the latest technology.

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We are such a disposable culture that we've not even really stopped and thought about some of the things that we possess and how much money they're worth.

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Because, hey, when I'm done with this, I can just throw it away and I can get another one.

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My wife and I are without the kids this weekend. Some friends of ours were kind enough to take the children to their place and have been taking them to zoos and things like that.

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So my wife and I have had a little more time to kind of visit some shops that we wouldn't ordinarily visit. We like to visit antique shops sometimes.

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And one of the things that has always struck us when we walk into those places, we'll find those old toys like, oh,

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I remember this when I was a kid. We were just in a store the other day and and Becky or no, we were doing estate sales was what it was on Friday.

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And there was a book at this particular estate sale. And she looked at it, but she said, I remember that book when I was a kid.

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I didn't remember it. Usually some of the things that we see and we'll say, I remember that from when I was a child. I remember when

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I played with that, too. So it's like we have a commonality in our childhood, same toys. And there they are.

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Forty years later, they're sitting right there. You can still pick up that same toy kids were playing with 40 years ago.

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Stuff didn't really isn't really made to last that long anymore, is it? We're making stuff these days that's pretty much made to be thrown away.

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When you get tired of it, when the new model comes out, you just toss it and you get the next one.

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So because we become such a disposable culture, we've even kind of lost a sense of what it means to store up your treasure someplace, really have much of a treasure.

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I just get done with this. I throw it away. But maybe that should give us more pause to think and reflect upon where our hearts are truly invested.

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What is it that we desire most? Do we desire Christ? Or do we desire the things of this world?

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Maybe we're not after wealth. Maybe none of us here could ever claim to be millionaires at any point in our lives, but you could still have a desire for money and the possessions of this world that will corrupt your soul and your spirit.

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You don't have to possess those things in order to make you wickedly in pursuit of the world.

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There was a rich, young ruler who came to Jesus. We read this story in the Gospels, thinking notably of the one in Mark, chapter 10.

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This rich, young ruler came to Jesus and said, good teacher. What must

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I do to have eternal life? And Jesus said, why do you call me good?

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For there is no one good but God. Now, there are skeptics out there that have taken that to say that Jesus was saying that he was not

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God. No, what he was doing was challenging this rich, young ruler's heart to say, you call me good.

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Do you understand what you are saying when you say that? Are you willing to call me,

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Lord? If not, then you cannot call me good because there is no one good but God.

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He says to the rich, young ruler, you know the commandments. Do not murder.

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Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Honor your father and your mother.

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And the rich, young ruler says, all these things that you say I've done.

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Almost kind of wonder if what was going on in the rich, young ruler's head at that particular time was, yes, I've made it.

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This is what I have to do to possess eternal life. Then I've accomplished all of that. But Jesus, it says in Mark 10, in Mark's account in particular, it says he looked at him and loved him.

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Did not let him remain in that place where he was congratulating himself for his own self -righteousness and the things that he possessed.

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Jesus said, but I hold this against you. Go sell all that you have.

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Give it to the poor. And then you will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.

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And it says that the rich, young ruler walked away disheartened, depressed because he had many great possessions.

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There was a conflict. There was a war that was going on in his conscience.

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When Jesus said those things, he goes through the commandments and says, do these things to have eternal life.

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The rich young ruler is going, I've done them. But Jesus said, there's one you've not done. He left out the 10th commandment.

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You covet. You want the things of this world. The young man is described as a rich, young ruler.

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He's already rich, but he doesn't have enough. He wants more. Jesus says,

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I hold this against you. That he his heart, his desire was for the things of this world.

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How do you get over that? You get rid of the stuff. That was his heart's desire.

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You give it to the poor and you come follow me. You make Christ your greatest desire.

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But the rich, young ruler, at least in that moment, whatever happened to the young man, we don't know.

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But at least at that particular time, he wasn't willing. And he walked away disheartened, for he had many great possessions.

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And Jesus looks at his disciples and he says how easy it is. For a camel to go through the eye of a needle, a needle easier than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

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And it says the disciples were exceedingly astonished by Christ's words and said to him, then how can we be saved?

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Because if this rich guy who possesses all of the world's wealth.

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And it was it was considered by Jews at that particular time. If you were rich, you were blessed by God. God must certainly have favor upon you, which is why you have so much wealth.

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And listen to the guy say that he's even kept all the commandments. He's kept the commandments. He possesses this wealth.

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Who else could enter the kingdom of God? But this guy. And Jesus says.

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It's easier for the largest living thing in Jerusalem to go through the smallest opening and survive that trip than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, and the disciples couldn't believe it if he can't get into heaven.

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Then what hope is there for us? And Jesus' response is with man, this is impossible, but not with God.

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All things are possible with God. Your ability to be righteous, all the stuff that you possess will never earn you the kingdom of God.

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The only way we get from this life into the next into glory with God is through Christ.

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As Jesus said in John 10, I am the door. I am the way to eternal life where your treasure is.

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That's where your heart will be. Your longing and your desire will not be for the things of this world, but for the things of glory for your heart and your desire will be

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Christ. Let's stop there for today and we'll pick up part two at another time.

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Heavenly father, we thank you for the goodness that you show to us in Jesus Christ so that we may know.

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Indeed, our treasure is not here on this earth. Our treasure is imperishable.

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It is above with Christ in glory. All who believe in him, we will dwell there forever with God.

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So lead us in paths of righteousness for your namesake. We live for you today in anticipation of the, of the eternity we will live in tomorrow.

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It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. This is when we understand the text with pastor

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Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours, but this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

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Find a good gospel teaching Christ centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again tomorrow as we continue our