Matthew 19 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. AdamsEP 019 — Transcript

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1. 0:00Matthew 19:1
2. 0:03When Jesus [music] had finished these
3. 0:05words, he departed from Galilee and came
4. 0:07into the region of Judea beyond the
5. 0:10Jordan. And large crowds followed him,
6. 0:13and he [music] healed them there. Some
7. 0:16Pharisees came to Jesus, testing him and
8. 0:18asking, "Is it lawful for a man to
9. 0:22divorce his wife for any [music] reason
10. 0:24at all?"
11. 0:26And he answered and said, "Have you not
12. 0:29read that he who created them from the
13. 0:33beginning made them male and female?"
14. 0:38And said, "For this reason a man shall
15. 0:41leave his father and [music] mother and
16. 0:43be joined to his wife, and the two shall
17. 0:46become one flesh."
18. 0:49So they are no longer two, but one
19. 0:51[music] flesh.
20. 0:54What therefore God has joined together,
21. 0:57let no man separate.
22. 1:00I want to stop right there and point out
23. 1:04that Jesus is saying
24. 1:07that man and woman are made in the image
25. 1:10of God together.
26. 1:13Man is not in the image of God alone and
27. 1:16woman is not in the image of God alone.
28. 1:19But man and woman together are in the
29. 1:22image of God.
30. 1:24And he's saying that from the beginning,
31. 1:27God did not intend there to be anything
32. 1:31but union.
33. 1:33They were two parts of the same thing.
34. 1:36They were two [music] expressions of the
35. 1:38same love, which was the reflection of
36. 1:40God's image.
37. 1:42And so he's saying you have to
38. 1:45understand that marriage is more than a
39. 1:49contract between two people. It is
40. 1:52fulfilling the imagi
41. 1:55the image of God purpose and design of
42. 2:00creation. So when you break that apart
43. 2:03you break apart what God has joined
44. 2:06together and what his design was from
45. 2:08the start.
46. 2:11They said to him, "Why then did Moses
47. 2:13command to give her a certificate of
48. 2:16divorce and send her away?"
49. 2:19He said to them, "Because of your
50. 2:22hardness of heart, Moses permitted you
51. 2:26to divorce your wives. But from the
52. 2:28beginning, it has not been this way."
53. 2:32So he's saying because of the hardness
54. 2:34of your heart,
55. 2:36because we are callous, because we don't
56. 2:38feel the pain of what divorce does,
57. 2:41because we can't relate to the heart of
58. 2:44God whose image we were made to reflect.
59. 2:48Moses tolerated something that was
60. 2:50wrong. It was inevitable, but it wasn't
61. 2:53the way God wanted it to be. From the
62. 2:56beginning, it has not been this way. And
63. 2:59I say to you, whoever divorces his wife,
64. 3:02except for immorality and marries
65. 3:04another woman, commits adultery.
66. 3:08The disciples said to him, "If the
67. 3:11relationship of the man with his wife is
68. 3:13like this, it is better not to marry."
69. 3:17They don't want to have covenant if they
70. 3:19can't get out of it. They don't want to
71. 3:21have a marriage if it's that binding.
72. 3:25Good Lord, it's better not to marry.
73. 3:28And Jesus hears their cynicism and
74. 3:31doesn't really give them a comfortable
75. 3:33out. He says, "But he said to them," not
76. 3:38all men can accept this statement, but
77. 3:41only those to whom it has been given.
78. 3:44For there are Unix
79. 3:47who were born that way from their
80. 3:48mother's womb. And there are Unix who
81. 3:51were made Unix by men. And there are
82. 3:53also Unix who made themselves Unix for
83. 3:56the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He
84. 3:58who is able to accept this, let him
85. 4:00accept this. This is almost biting
86. 4:03sarcasm on Jesus's part. They're very
87. 4:08unhappy at the permanence of covenant
88. 4:11and they say, "It's better not to
89. 4:12marry." And he's like, "Well, you've got
90. 4:15options. You can be a unic,
91. 4:18but if you want to be married, this is
92. 4:20the way God wants it to be." pretty
93. 4:23stark.
94. 4:25Then some children were brought to him
95. 4:27so that he might lay his hands on them
96. 4:29and pray. And the disciples rebuked
97. 4:31them. But Jesus said, "Let the children
98. 4:35alone and do not hinder them from coming
99. 4:38to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs
100. 4:41to such as these."
101. 4:44After laying his hands on them, he
102. 4:46departed from there. So we have this
103. 4:48little insight that God is not just
104. 4:51after marriage and protecting the love
105. 4:53between two people, but he also wants to
106. 4:56use marriage to lay his hand and
107. 4:59blessing on the children. It's not a
108. 5:01coincidence that the children show up
109. 5:03right after the disciples selfishness
110. 5:06shows up in their revolt against the
111. 5:08permanence of marriage. But Jesus is
112. 5:12intending to bless the children through
113. 5:14the marriage.
114. 5:17And someone came to him and
115. 5:18said,"Teacher, what good thing shall I
116. 5:20do that I may obtain eternal life?" And
117. 5:24he said to him, "Why are you asking me
118. 5:26about what is good? There is only one
119. 5:29who is good. But if you wish to enter
120. 5:32into life, keep the commandments."
121. 5:36Then he said to him, "Which ones?"
122. 5:40Jesus said, "You shall not commit
123. 5:42murder. You shall not commit adultery.
124. 5:45You shall not steal. You shall not bear
125. 5:48false witness. Honor your father and
126. 5:50mother. You shall love your neighbor as
127. 5:53yourself."
128. 5:55The young man said to him, "All these
129. 5:57things I have kept, what am I still
130. 6:00lacking?"
131. 6:02Jesus said to him,
132. 6:04"If you wish to be complete,
133. 6:09go and sell your possessions and give to
134. 6:12the poor, and you will have treasure in
135. 6:14heaven, and come follow me."
136. 6:21But when the man heard this statement,
137. 6:24he went away grieving,
138. 6:26for he was one who owned much property.
139. 6:30And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly
140. 6:32I say to you, it is hard for a rich man
141. 6:34to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I
142. 6:36say to you, it is easier for a camel to
143. 6:39go through the eye of a needle than for
144. 6:41a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
145. 6:44When the disciples heard this, they were
146. 6:47very astonished and said, "Then who can
147. 6:50be saved?"
148. 6:53And looking at them, Jesus said to them,
149. 6:55"With people this is impossible, but
150. 6:59with God all things are possible."
151. 7:03So let's look at a couple things here.
152. 7:06The rich man comes and he asks what he
153. 7:09should do
154. 7:11to obtain life.
155. 7:14He doesn't ask what he should do to
156. 7:15avoid hell. He asks what he should do to
157. 7:18find life. And Jesus starts
158. 7:22with the law that reminds us of our need
159. 7:25for God. And he tells him all the things
160. 7:27he should keep. And the man says, "I've
161. 7:30done that." And Jesus is wanting the man
162. 7:33to acknowledge that staying away from
163. 7:36the problem hasn't brought life.
164. 7:40And so he says, if you wish to be
165. 7:42complete or whole or healed or even
166. 7:46perfect, the word can mean
167. 7:49go and sell your possessions and give to
168. 7:51the poor and you will have treasure in
169. 7:53heaven and come follow me.
170. 7:56Now we can listen and say, well the man
171. 7:58is saying he lacks something and Jesus
172. 8:01says if you want to be complete, go get
173. 8:04rid of something.
174. 8:06But that's not the insight.
175. 8:09All of that selling is only to empower
176. 8:13the main point and that is come follow
177. 8:17me. What he lacked was a walk with God.
178. 8:22What he lacked was following Jesus and
179. 8:26having a purpose and being part of what
180. 8:28Jesus was doing.
181. 8:31There are not very many people in the
182. 8:32Bible to whom Jesus said, "Come follow
183. 8:35me." only those who were going to be
184. 8:37part of the ministry. And every time he
185. 8:39said it, they tended to obey. But this
186. 8:43is one instance where he tells an
187. 8:44individual to come follow him and it
188. 8:48doesn't happen. This man might have been
189. 8:51the next Peter, the next Matthew.
190. 8:55But he never did find out. He never
191. 8:57filled that emptiness inside. And the
192. 9:00reason he couldn't follow is because he
193. 9:03was chasing possessions.
194. 9:06He was trying to realize his purpose,
195. 9:09his meaning and his calling through his
196. 9:12things, through his entrepreneurship
197. 9:14instead of through finding the
198. 9:16relationship with God that he sought.
199. 9:20And that's what would have made his life
200. 9:22complete.
201. 9:24following, coming to Jesus, and
202. 9:26following Jesus
203. 9:29is what brings completion.
204. 9:31Jesus tells his disciples that it's
205. 9:33easier for a camel to pass through the
206. 9:35eye of a needle than for a rich man to
207. 9:38enter the kingdom of heaven. He's
208. 9:40basically saying it's impossible.
209. 9:42And
210. 9:44his disciples say, "Who can be saved?"
211. 9:47Now, at that time in Jerusalem, the main
212. 9:51city gates would close at sundown.
213. 9:54But there would be this tiny little gate
214. 9:56within the gate that a a person could
215. 9:59get through. But a camel couldn't get
216. 10:01through it. He was too tall. But
217. 10:05sometimes some camels could get down on
218. 10:07their knees
219. 10:09and they could wiggle through that tiny
220. 10:12little gate made for men, but only if
221. 10:15they took all the baggage off their
222. 10:17back. So he's saying, you've got to get
223. 10:20down on your knees. You got to lose all
224. 10:23the things you've put your trust in. All
225. 10:25the things tied to your back, all the
226. 10:27burdens that weigh you down, and you can
227. 10:29still make it in.
228. 10:32The disciples feel like it's an
229. 10:34impossibility. And Jesus admits that. He
230. 10:37says, "With man, it's impossible, but
231. 10:40with God, all things are possible."
232. 10:43It's impossible with man's strength and
233. 10:46willpower alone to steal your affection
234. 10:51and devotion away from your things, your
235. 10:55power, your money, your status, and
236. 10:58follow the Lord like he wants us to. But
237. 11:01when God is in your life, when he's
238. 11:03talking in your streets, when he's
239. 11:05walking through your cities
240. 11:07with God, it is still possible. And so
241. 11:11the thing we've got to make sure is that
242. 11:13whenever we start this journey, we're
243. 11:16actually with God in his presence, doing
244. 11:19it [music] by his grace alone.
245. 11:22Then Peter said to him, "Behold, we have
246. 11:24left everything and followed you. What
247. 11:26then will there be for us?"
248. 11:30What an honest statement.
249. 11:33What do we get out of this?
250. 11:36Then Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to
251. 11:38you that you who have followed me in the
252. 11:41regeneration, when the Son of Man will
253. 11:43sit on his glorious throne, you shall
254. 11:46sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12
255. 11:49tribes of Israel. And everyone who has
256. 11:52left houses or brothers or sisters or
257. 11:55fathers or mother or children or farms
258. 11:59for my name's sake will receive many
259. 12:02times as much and will inherit eternal
260. 12:05life.
261. 12:07But many who are first will be last and
262. 12:10the last first.
263. 12:13He's saying that he's going to give us a
264. 12:16lot more than we've given up. But it's
265. 12:19not going to be easy.
266. 12:21It's a gain that is going to come
267. 12:23through loss. It's a triumph that is
268. 12:26going to come through surrender. But
269. 12:28he's going to give us a hundred times
270. 12:29more in this life. And we're also going
271. 12:32to find eternal life. But we got to let
272. 12:35go. We got to sell what we have. We got
273. 12:37to sell our idols. We got to give that
274. 12:40away to the poor. And we got to come
275. 12:42follow him. And this doesn't mean that
276. 12:45everyone should take a vow of poverty.
277. 12:46This doesn't mean that God is [music]
278. 12:48demanding that every human being sell
279. 12:50everything in their possession. This
280. 12:52means he's demanding that everyone who
281. 12:54is still lacking life sells everything
282. 12:58that is a counterfeit Jesus in your life
283. 13:01and come learn to be a follower. And
284. 13:03there's a promise there.
285. 13:07[music]
286. 13:17>> [music]