Kingdom Instructions Pt 4

Good morning. Would y'all stand? Did you feel like you couldn't sit where you usually do this morning?

Hey, there you go. Hey, I like that real, man. We're being real. Yeah. That just came across my mind. I didn't think about that first service. I was like, whoa, I bet people are sitting. I'm not sitting where I usually do. Yeah. But thank God for a seat, huh? Amen. Would you stand? I want to welcome you here to Calvary Chapel this morning. And those who are viewing online with participating online with us, we welcome you.

Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come together to worship in song and to study your word, Lord, to fellowship with you and one another. Lord, we need that time together. We are not islands. We need one another. Your word says. For sake, not the assembling of the saints. And so when it's possible, Lord, it's a blessing to be able to come together.

We know there are those situations in those times where that can't happen. But all Lord, we thank you when it can. Father, we'd ask now that you would just encourage us this morning as we worship you in song and study your word, Lord. Speak to us by your Holy Spirit, Lord. Give us listening ears to hear what you have eyes to see. Give us listening ears to hear what you have today that would encourage us in our walk and witness for you, Lord.

I want to just ask that you would cause us to just let go, worship you, not necessarily because we feel great, but by faith we come to you. Because this is one other way that we can worship. There's many ways we worship you. This is one that we can do corporately together as we worship in song. Every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you, Jesus, a name above every other name.

One who could ever say, could ever breathe.

Be soft and short and ever sing.

Praise we could ever bring.

We could ever breathe. We live for you, every other name.

Ever say, is none. Be sighed. Open up my heart. And sure is no one. There is none beside.

Thank you for this opportunity again to worship in song. It's just a blessing to be able to let go and sing to you. You're so good to us. You love us just. You're making and molding us, Lord, as we yield to you. We thank you, Lord. Good sense are.

Is your faith strong? Oh, just come to make time.

Earth and sky never change. God, you.

Is your.

Just to think that those things that we're facing, those things that are ahead of us, Lord. You never change. It doesn't take you by surprise any of it. In fact, it's all going along. And your plan will come through just as you've said it will in your words. We can rest in that this morning. Help us rest in that because it's easy to get discouraged sometimes.

But your love is unfailing. You're our rock. You're our strength. The God of our salvation. And we love you. Don't be afraid just to say, I love you, Lord. He's good. Yes.

He tells me.

It's running.

It's running. So.

Yes. We can end on this last song. My soul.

My soul.

Not spent.

My sin.

Eight thou.

Things. My soul.

We thank you for this opportunity we've had to worship in song now. And as we fellowship and then study your word, Lord, anoint Pastor Ryan with the power of your Holy Spirit. To bring forth your word, Lord, that it would do its work in our hearts today as your Holy Spirit moves in our midst, Lord. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seats, grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Well, it looks a little different than than usual in here this morning. So thanks for bearing with us because I know that things are. Are a little a little funky right now, but I'm really excited about what's going on. So while it feels super cozy and quaint in here right now, I promise we'll we'll finish this and there will be room for everyone.

So a few things to take note of. As always, the things on the left hand side of the bulletin are all going on. So begin locating some spots to get plugged into. And the things to take note of in the center section of your bulletin, August 4th through the 6th is that pastors and leaders conference up in Johnson County. And then also, I forgot to have her change this this week because it was a busy week.

The baptism should say August 14th, not August 11th. It's totally due to my poor handwriting that that takes place. But August 14th out of Camp Horizon, bring a cover dish to share. And then it might also not hurt for you to bring a chair because it's fun to sit down. So and if you've not been baptized, we got a good handful of folks getting baptized right now.

So I'm really excited. If you've never been baptized before, please come talk to me afterwards because I'd like. To talk to you about that. So those are the things that are coming up. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we're going to be in Psalm 24. Looking at the new American standards. So we sound the same should be one year row if you need it.

Although the rows are mildly scattered different. So as you're turning to Psalm 24, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's word, I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along. With Pastor Allen and the even versus Psalm 24, the Psalm of David, the earth is the Lord's and all it contains the world and all those who dwell in it for he is founded upon the seas and established it upon the rivers who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, who may stand in his holy place.

He who has a clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceit. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, even Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.

Who is the king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. Selah. And Father, we do thank you that you are the king, Lord, and you are coming to rule and reign, Lord, in a righteous manner.

We look forward to that day. We long for that day. And so, Lord, in the meantime, prepare our hearts as citizens of the kingdom of heaven to be who you've called for us to be. Lord, speak to us now through your word, I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19. Matthew, chapter 19. Oh, I like that graphic.

Today in Matthew, chapter 19, we come to part four of kingdom instructions. And so, what we'll be looking at today in part four of kingdom instructions is, again, a subheading, a subtitle of that. And then... The subtitle that we will work with today is called, The King of Your Heart. We're talking about kingdom instructions. And every kingdom has a king, and every king sits on a throne.

And everybody knows that whoever sits on the throne, because that's the seat of authority, ultimately says what's going on in the kingdom. That's who is in control of that particular kingdom. Well, our lives are no different. Each of us, on the throne of our heart, something sits there. Something is in charge of our lives, and that ultimately determines the way that we live our lives.

And so, I will start the same way that I will end. Who's on the throne of your heart? Today, we look at the story of the rich young ruler, and we'll see that he had something on the throne of his heart that Jesus had to reveal to him. And at the end, we'll talk about some of the things that could potentially be on the throne of our hearts, and that the only one who could ultimately deal with those is Jesus.

And so, as we come to this section, verses 16 through 26, there's three things that we'll see. We'll first of all see the question. We'll see the response. And then, we'll see the reaction. And so, in verse 16, we see the question that's presented to Jesus. And someone came to him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?

Now, Matthew very briefly describes who this individual is. He refers to him as someone. This particular account is given in the three gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It's not given to us in John. But from those three gospel accounts, we compile together. Exactly. Exactly who this guy was. We know from Matthew's account, because we'll see later that he had great possessions, we know that he was rich.

From Mark's account, we learn that he was young. And from Luke's account, we learn that he was a ruler. Which is probably why, in the heading of your Bible, it says, the rich young ruler. Because from all of that, we've ascertained that's who this individual is. Other than that, this man remains nameless. He is an individual who seems to care about the things of God and has a question for Jesus.

And so, he comes to Jesus with this question. He does so, starting off in a very respectful way. It says, Now, he starts off in a very respectful tone. Because referring to Jesus as teacher, in the Hebrew, that would be rabbi. He's speaking to him in the most respectful tone possible. Because he has the understanding that Jesus has authority. He has the authority to teach.

Not just everybody was called this at this point in time. So, he comes to Jesus knowing that Jesus has authority. And then he asks him a question. He says, Now, there's three very interesting phrases or words that are used there. The first phrase that's interesting is that he says, This gives us the indication that this guy cares about doing the right thing.

And that he knows that Jesus is an authority on what is and is not good. He says, The next word that I want to point out to you is the word, do. What good things shall I do? Why is that important? Because this guy is looking for a word. Work to be performed. And he wants to know what good work to perform. And that brings us to the third phrase, to obtain eternal life.

From this, we understand some things. We understand, first of all, that this man cared about the things of God. If he didn't care about the things of God, he would not care what was good or what good work he needed to do. Second of all, he had an eye for eternity. He was focused on the things of eternity. Because what does he want to? He wants to ultimately gain.

He wants to gain eternal life. He knows that this world is not it. That there's something beyond here. He has that scope of eternity in mind. But within that, there's a third thing. And it's a problem that we notice that he has. He has a works-based mentality. Now, this works-based mentality is so ingrained in all of us as human beings. Because we feel like we should earn whatever we're given.

So what Jesus is about to do is he's about to show him. There really is no work that can be done. Because it's impossible for him to do enough good to earn eternal life. But he does that by presenting God's righteous standard. And so this man comes to him with the question. Well, the second thing that we see is we see Jesus' response to the question. Verse 17.

And he, meaning Jesus, said to him, Why are you asking me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you wish to enter. Into life, keep the commandments. And he said to him, which ones? Jesus said, The young man said to him, All these things I have kept. What am I still lacking? Jesus said, If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions.

And give. To the poor. And you will have treasure. In heaven. And come. Follow me. Jesus first does what Jesus is so masterful at doing. He responds to his question. With a question. Because he wants him to think about what has prompted this in his life. And why is Jesus the one that he came to? He says, Why are you asking me about what is good? That first of all establishes that this man thinks Jesus is an authority on what is good.

But then Jesus goes on to, He says, Because there's only one who is good. And in the other gospel accounts we know that he goes on to say, There's only one who is good. And that is God. Essentially what Jesus is doing is, Jesus is establishing a baseline for righteousness for this man. Because he wants to know what good thing he can do to obtain eternal life.

And Jesus essentially just told him, There is no one that's good. Matter of fact, Paul put it that way in the book of Romans. He says, There's no one who does good. And not even one. And so he establishes kind of a baseline for righteousness. And a baseline for the understanding that there's no good thing he can do. Because no one can be good enough. Because quite frankly there's only one that's good.

And that's God. And so he then goes on to say, There's only one who's good. But if you wish to enter into life, Keep the commandments. Now before I get into the fact that this isn't Jesus trying to give out a works based, Salvation. Before I get into the whole grace thing and all that kind of stuff. I think it's important to point out the strength of the law that Jesus is using in the life of this rich young ruler right now.

Because in this age of grace that we live in right now. We sometimes forget that perfection is actually what God demands. I hear people say sometimes, God doesn't expect you to be perfect. Actually he does. Perfection is what he demands. If you don't believe me, just go back and look at what the law says. Therefore be holy as. Your father in heaven is holy.

That's what God demands. And so when this rich young ruler comes to him and says, What must I do to obtain eternal life? He says, well you have to keep the commandments. And this is Jesus saying, You have to do something that's impossible for you. Because he's already told him there's only one good. And I don't think the rich young ruler was the one. It's God.

And so he lays out this command for him. I point this out because I think it's so important that we understand. In my own understanding of the gospel. I realized that I could never be. Good enough to earn it. God's grace bestows it upon me. Because Jesus earned it for me. And he gifts it to me. Because I put my faith in him. There's nothing I can do. That I can be good enough to deserve it.

It's important for me to understand that. From my own salvation. But it's also important for me to understand that. As I work with anybody else. In an effort to bring them to salvation. That I make sure I maintain the standard. That God demands. And once they understand the standard. That God demands. Then you can come in and share with them the grace. That he bestows through the blood of Jesus Christ.

And so he tells them. You must keep the commandments. And the rich young ruler does what we all do. When somebody says we have to keep the rules. He asks. Which ones? Surely there are some that are a little bit more important than the others. Some will bump me just a little bit higher up than the others. Because after all. I don't want to waste my energy and all of my goodness.

Doing the things I don't really have to do. I want to do what I need to do. To earn salvation. Salvation. Right? It's kind of like when your teacher. If you had a really good teacher in high school. Or a really nice teacher at least in high school. They were like. This is what you need to do to earn the coveted A in this class. And you knew that once they give you the bottom line.

For what you had to do to achieve an A. The bottom line is what I'm shooting for. Right? Underachievers unite. Maybe. So. So he tells them. You have to keep the commandments. Which ones? And then Jesus begins to lay them out for him. Now. If you don't have very much understanding of the Old Testament. That's okay. You're not alone. But in the Old Testament.

Under the Old Covenant. Were the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were called the two tables of the law. Those tables were divided by the first four. And the last six. The first four commandments. Had to do with man's relationship to God. The last six. The second table of the law. Had to do with man's relationship to man. So the first thing that Jesus does.

Is he lifts off the commandments. From the second table of the law. The ones that have to do with man's relationship to man. He says. Which ones are important for me to keep? And so Jesus begins to lay them out. He says. You shall not commit murder. You shall not commit adultery. Or steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And love your neighbor as yourself.

And he lays all of these out to him. And I love the response of the rich young ruler. Because it's so boldly honest. When he says. All these things I have kept. Now clearly. He hadn't heard the sermon on the mount. Right? Because those of us that have heard the sermon on the mount. Know. That when Jesus said don't murder. It also included murder of the heart.

That once you started thinking hateful thoughts towards somebody. You've already committed murder in your heart. He never heard the part where it says. You've heard it said. Don't commit adultery. But I tell you. Once you've looked with lust on another. You've already committed adultery in your heart. I don't believe anyone. Because all of us are prone to tell lies.

All of us have probably stolen something. At some point in time. Often times many of these things. We have not kept. And yet this man walks away saying. Or stands up in front of Jesus and says. I've done all of these. It's interesting. What we end up doing. When we try to justify. Who we are as people. Isn't it? My favorite one. Because the yardstick most people use.

That they judge their lives by. Do you consider yourself pretty good? Yes I've never murdered anyone. And they feel like. They feel pretty just. Because I've never actually done that. And this is what this guy kind of does. I've never actually done any of these things. So I've kept all of these things. And then one of the other gospel accounts says. From my youth.

But he says one more thing here. That's a really qualifying statement. That he says to Jesus. And one last question he says. So what do I still lack? Now I think that's a telling question. About what's really going on. In the heart of this rich young ruler. Because in his mind. He'd spent his entire life. Growing up in church. Right? He went to Sunday school.

He went to VBS. Probably helped with the outreaches. As far as he was concerned. He'd been a pretty good person. Most of his life. He could confidently say. As far as he was concerned. He'd kept the second table of the law. And yet what did he still feel. About himself in his life. He still felt like he lacked something. Because when it comes right down to it.

It doesn't matter how you choose to fill your life. If Jesus isn't the one doing it. You'll always feel like you lack something. You see he had chosen to fill his life. Up to this point in time. With lots of good deeds. With being a really good person. And some of us spent a good portion of our lives. Before we truly came to Christ. Trying to be a good and moral person.

And yet we still felt the same way. But I still lack something. There's still something aching in my heart. Saying that surely there must be more. Than just being a good person. Some of us spent our lives. Trying to fill ourselves. With all of the pleasures of the world. And we still found ourselves saying. There must be something else. Because I lack something.

Whatever it is for you. He felt the same way. And so he looks at Jesus. And he says I've done all those things. So what do I lack? And then Jesus gets real serious with him. And he tells him something. That was going to be really really hard. He says if you wish to be complete. And I enjoy that Jesus used that phrase. If you wish to be complete. Go. Sell your possessions.

Give to the poor. And you will have treasure. In heaven. And come. Follow me. Jesus looked at this rich young ruler. He began to work past all of the self-righteousness. That was in his life. All of the walls he was able to put up. To say he was a pretty good person. And pinpoint the one area. Where he was so wrong. As far as the law was concerned. You see while this guy could say he was right.

As far as his relationship with fellow. Man was concerned. He could not say that his relationship with God. Was right. Because on that first table of the law. That very first law says. You shall have no other gods. Before me. And so he tells him. That thing. That's sitting on the throne of your heart. Dethrone it. Go and sell everything that you own. Take your possessions.

Take the proceeds. Give it to the poor. And then. Then what? Come and follow me. And then you'll have. Life. Now. What was it that was wrong in this man's life? Well the problem that was wrong in this man's life. Is he had actually violated two of the commandments. The first one was. His relationship with God. He had an idol in his life. He had put something on the throne of his heart.

Where only God belongs. That one's very clear. But do you know there was a second command. That he was breaking in his life. He was not loving his neighbor. As himself. Why? Because if he saw his neighbor in need. And he had the goods with which to help them. And he withheld that help from them. It's sin. And so he had broken these two commandments. And so this is what Jesus tells him to do.

And so when he does. He hits the very issue at the core of his heart. And so as he hits this issue. At the core of his heart. He couldn't do it. And we'll look at this reaction here in just a moment. But I think that we need to realize something. We misunderstand. Understand. The point of the story. If we think he's only talking about money. Because that's not the main point of what's being said.

David Guzik in his commentary put it like this. He said there's two mistakes that we make. Oftentimes when looking at this. Number one. We think that this command is for everyone. That's the first mistake that we make. And that everybody should go and sell everything that they've got. And give all of their money to the poor. Here's the problem. If all of the people with money.

Go and sell everything that they have. And give their money to the poor. They can't now continue. Supporting the poor people. Right? You can't continue helping people. Because you've sold everything that you have. This command is not necessarily for everyone. After all. God uses people with great wealth. To do great things all the time. Someone was just sharing with me the other day.

About the CEO of a really big company. That gives billions of dollars. That nobody knows about. To support the work of the ministry. To support mothers in need. And all those different kinds of things. He's a man with great money. But that great money is not what's on the throne of his heart. God is. So he uses it in a godly way. So the first mistake that we make.

Is thinking that this is for everyone. But the second mistake that we make. Is thinking that this is for no one. Because there are some people out there. That need to hear the phrase. Go and sell what you have. And take those possessions and that money. Off the throne of your heart. And then go and follow Jesus. Only Jesus can point that out in your life. Because he's the one that knows what's on the throne of your heart.

So Jesus tells them. And this is what he's supposed to do. And now the last thing that we come to. Is the reaction. Verse 22. But when the young man heard this statement. He went away grieving. For he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to his disciples. Truly I say to you. It's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you.

It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And when the disciples heard this. They were very. Very astonished and said. Then who can be saved. And looking at them. Jesus said to them. With people this is impossible. But with God all things are possible. Now there's several reactions that we see in the lives of people here.

The first reaction that we see is the reaction of the young man. Notice what the young man does. It says when the young man heard this. He went away grieving. For he was one who owned much property. I found the word used for how the young man reacted very interesting. Because the word. That's used there is the word. Grieving. Now I'm familiar with that word.

But I'm not familiar with that word. In the case of money. In the case of not being able to give up all of my money. Where are we usually familiar with the word grieving. We're familiar with the word grieving. And the thought of a loss of a loved one. And yet what did this man know that he would have to do. If he was to truly follow Jesus. He would have to lose that.

Which he loved the most. But at the same time. Not only was it him realizing. That he would have to lose what he loved. But at the same time. That he would have to lose what he loved the most. But when this man walks away grieving. He had just made a life decision. He had just made a decision. And the weight. And the gravity of the decision that he made. To turn away from Jesus.

And toward the things of the world. Caused a certain amount of grief in his heart. Not enough to cause him to change. But enough to break him. Enough to make him know. He had just made a life decision. That had heavy consequences that went along with it. He went away grieving. Why? Because he had great possessions. He owned a lot of property. The second thing that I see is the reaction of Jesus.

Notice what it says. Jesus said to his disciples. Truly I say to you. It's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. You know what I mean? You can picture the scene right? The young man sort of hangs his head in shame. Sadness all over his face.

And he just walks away. Bear in mind this is one of the only. If not the only time. Somebody approaches Jesus for something like this. And they walk away not saved. This is a hard one for Jesus. And I think as that young man walks away. Jesus stood and watched him. And as he stood and watched him. He then turned to his disciples. And he made a very heavy statement to them.

He said. It's hard for a rich man. To enter the kingdom of heaven. Now I think when Jesus said that. He didn't say that with an aha. I told you sort of a tone in his voice. He said it with a brokenness in his voice. He said it with a brokenness. Because he knew that that was a soul. Who valued the things of this world. May I add a little adverb to that. The temporary things of this world.

He valued those much more. Than he did eternity. Perhaps he didn't view eternity. In quite the way that we thought that he did. And so he goes away. And then Jesus reinforces the statement by saying this. He said I tell you this. It's easier for a camel. To go through the eye of a needle. Than it is for a rich man. To enter the kingdom of heaven. He chose the word.

He chose the animal. Based upon the largest domesticated animal. That the Jewish people had around them. At that point in time. Now I don't know if you all have ever. Stood next to a camel before. So I have little girls. And I've ridden these a couple of times before. The camels are huge right. And then there's the humps. Because we've all seen the hump day commercial right.

Now I want you to think about a camel. Like that is a large animal. And then I want you to think about a needle. Now listen. Every year I get a little bit older. My eyesight is not quite as good as it used to be. They tell me 40 is the magic age. So far I've made it to 42 with no glasses. I'm holding strong. Hanging there 50. Maybe I can make it that long without the glasses.

But when I look at little tiny things. Now like a needle I'm like. Right like with a thread. I'm always trying to do something with fishing line. And I'm trying to shove. Not the easiest thing in the world to do. Can you imagine somebody saying. All right big fella come here. We're going to make this thing work. And he's like. I don't know what noise this camel make.

Camels make. But I would think they'd make a noise at that point in time. Right. He said it's a lot easier to shove a camel through the eye of a needle. Than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Why? Why is that so hard? Why is it so hard with riches to enter heaven? Well I think there's two reasons why. These come from John Corson. Number one.

Riches cause us to be independent from God. The riches of the world cause us to be independent of God. Now if you're sitting here today. And you find yourself saying. It's a good thing I'm not rich. I want you to think about who we are in the United States of America. Compared to the rest of the world. The poorest of us in the United States of America. Are rich compared to the rest of the world.

And often times that causes us. As western culture human beings. To think that we are independent from God. Look at this home that I've built. Look at this business that I've built. Look at this bank account that I've built. Look at all of these things that I've built. Did you notice one word that I used over and over again in there? It's the word I. Because that's what riches cause us to be apart from God.

Causes us to be independent from him. But you know what? Often times riches can also do to us. Riches also can do to us. They can cause us to be intolerant of people. Because the more that I have. I start looking at the less that you have. And I start thinking. I'm better than you. Because after all. Look at what I've built. And you don't have that. This makes it very hard for us to seek God in these situations.

Because we've isolated ourselves and our feelings. We've made ourselves independent from God. And so Jesus makes this bold statement. It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And then the last reaction that we see is the reaction of the disciples. When Jesus says this. They are shocked. Verse 25. When the disciples heard this. They were very astonished and said.

Then who can be saved? And looking at them. Jesus said to them. With people this is impossible. But with God. All things are possible. Now. When the disciples hear this. They're completely blown away. Jesus just blew their gourd. Right? Picture the scene in Elf. When Santa's telling Elf. When he's getting ready to go down to New York City. He goes. Some people don't believe in Santa.

And Elf goes. That's shocking. Right? That's the. That's the moment. Right there. That is shocking. It's hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes. Why are the disciples so shocked by it? Because according to the old covenant. If you obeyed God. God would bless you. And they lived with that understanding. Therefore. If somebody had great wealth.

They clearly must be obeying God. They clearly must be very godly individuals. And they equated wealth with godliness. Almost just like we do sometimes. Right? Like. We think God's blessing me. And because. God's blessing me. I have all this money. Have you ever thought about the fact. That sometimes God blesses us with poverty. That sometimes that's the greatest blessing.

That God gives to us. Why? Because I've never been more on my knees. Before the Lord. Than when I am in great poverty. And therefore it's the greatest blessing. I've ever had in my life. Because often times. We have poverty of wealth. But richness of spirit. But they didn't think about that. At that point in time. They said. What do you mean? That is shocking.

If that's the case. If the rich people. Who God is blessing. It's hard for them to get into the kingdom of heaven. They ask a really logical question. Then who can be saved? Then who can be saved? You know it's a question I ask myself every now and then. Sometimes when I think about my own life. And my own failures that I have in life. I can sometimes get discouraged and think.

Who can be saved? How can I ever overcome these failures? How can I ever overcome these weaknesses in my life? But do you know what else I battle with as a pastor? I work with people for a living. It's what I do all day long. People come to me. They tell me the things that are going on in their life. And I try to tell them what scripture has to say about it.

Every now and then. There are cases presented to me. And I think to myself. How can they be saved? Because sometimes I can get my eyes too focused on the situation in front of me. And forget about the God that's behind me. And as I work with people. And as I see the things going on in culture. I think Lord. How are you ever going to do this miracle here? How are you ever going to change their heart?

How can you ever do this? How can anyone be saved? Because all I can view it from is my perspective. Because you know what? I can't save anyone. You can't save anyone. I can't save myself. You can't save yourself. With man. It's impossible. But with God. All things. Are possible. I don't think that's a phrase we can say over and over again. In our heads enough.

That with God. All things. Are possible. I've had the opportunity here recently. To lead some people to the Lord. And that's not typically what I do. I'm typically the person. Who I feel I can give the greatest salvation message ever. Theologically speaking. And then it's just crickets. Right? And so I've never really been that person. That leads a lot of people to the Lord.

But here lately that's been able to happen. And every time I'm like. That's the biggest miracle. I've ever seen in my life. Because I knew who they were before. And I see who they are now. And I'm going. That's just. It's unbelievable. Why? Because nothing's impossible with God. I look at my own life. And who I was apart from Christ. And who I would be apart from Christ.

And I look at who I am now. And I'm like. Nothing's impossible with God. Quite frankly. I look at some of you. I'm just kidding. But I look at all of us as Christians. And I go. I know. Who we'd be without Christ. And I know who you are. My favorite thing is when somebody tells me their testimony. And I'm not big into bragamonies. But when they share kind of who they were before.

And I see who they are now. And I'm like. I can never in a million years imagine you being that way. That would never cross my mind that you would ever be that way. Why? Because nothing's impossible with God. And so unfortunately for the rich young ruler this ends in a very sad way. Because we find ourselves going. Man here's a man that walked away unsaved.

But you know what the one problem this man had was? The one problem that this rich young ruler had. Is that something was on the throne of his heart. And he was not willing to tear that thing down. So that Jesus could be in the rightful place. Where only Jesus belongs on the throne of his heart. And so the last about oh 20 minutes or so here. I want to present you with a question.

And then we'll delve a little bit deeper into it. And the question is this. It's the same one that I started with. What is on the throne of your heart? What is ultimately in control of your life? Because I understand that most of us sitting here today are believers in Jesus Christ. And yet each of us can still have that struggle. Well as I've been thinking and praying about this this week.

I feel like there's a handful of things that can sit on the throne of our heart. At least a handful. A handful of categories of things that can sit on the throne of our heart. That I feel like we need to ask God to search us and say. Is that me? And so I want to go over these five things with us. What's on the throne of your heart? Number one. The number one idol I think we can deal with is money.

It's kind of what the rich young ruler dealt with. But money is one of the things that dominates our culture. Right? The best things in life are free. But you can give them to the birds and the bees. Because I want money. Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? That's a song that's out there. That's how we all feel. Right? 50 Cent wrote an entire album called Get Rich or Die Trying.

Why? Because money was the most important thing in the world. You're like, Ryan, I'm not those people. Really? What do you think about the most? Do you wake up in the morning thinking about how much money you're going to make today? Do you go to bed thinking about how you'll make money the next day? Is bills what constantly occupies your mind? Are you concerned about how you can continue to make more and more money?

How you can build your stocks? How you can build your savings account? How you can build your empire here on this earth? Is that what occupies your mind? Is that what you think about the most? Is that what you talk about the most? Because it means that you probably have an idol in your life. And that idol is money. Listen, there are sometimes families destroyed because the husband won't ever be at home

because he's out working two or three jobs so that he can make enough money to support their lifestyle. There have to be entire financial makeovers in people's lives. Why? Because money became dominant in their life. It became the most important thing to them. And they ended up ruining their credit and everything else so that they could spend all of the money.

And what's worst of all is that oftentimes we find ourselves doing things that we should never do so that we can make money. What occupies your thought processes? Because oftentimes for us, it's money. Number two. Possessions. Ryan, didn't you just talk about money? I think possessions are different. Some of those possessions that can hold on to us, that can be idols in our lives, can be purchased with money.

Right? Some of you at times get those new possessions and then you take it to the possession wash. And then you make sure you get some possession wax. And then you, I think you know where I'm going here. And now you have to spend $500 a month filling up your possessions. Possession with possession moving fuel. Right? And sometimes those things can possess us.

And oh my gosh, I'm not going to park that thing too close to the shopping carts because after all, somebody's going to ding me with their shopping cart. Listen, God had to teach me a long time ago that cars really aren't all that important. And one of the ways that he taught me has to do with Bucky the Danger Ranger. That's my truck that's out there today.

If you see my truck out there today, just know my treasures are in heaven because they're not in that truck. But I was driving through a Home Depot parking lot one time. No joke. Side swiped by a basket. And I'm not talking I'm near the cart corral. I'm just driving and all of a sudden, basket didn't have insurance. He didn't pay for the dent. Right? And so you don't park too close to the other cars.

You don't park too close to the baskets because after all, you might get door dinged. What happened to my possession? I'm not going to let anybody borrow that thing. After all, I can't let anything happen to it. Sometimes our possessions are things like TVs. I remember when I was in high school, my parents moved to Kansas City and we're loading up the moving truck.

And when we load up the moving truck, somebody brought out the TV. They're like, let's put this up front so that nothing happens to it. And they were like, wow, that sounds like I value the TV a little more than I should. And we were all like, maybe. Right? But sometimes these possessions possess us. But you know that sometimes possessions can't be purchased with money.

Sometimes they are living, breathing, being. Things with a heartbeat. Do you know that sometimes our kids can become an idol in our lives? They can take a place in our heart where only God deserves to be. We begin to make our entire life about them. We begin to make our entire life about what makes them happy, about what makes them successful, about what brings them joy.

Forgetting that the only thing that will bring them joy and make them happy and make them successful is godly discipline and training in their lives. In other words, sometimes I have to tell them no because that's actually the most loving thing I can do in their lives. But sometimes those kids occupy a place where they should never be. Do you know that sometimes our spouse can occupy a place that only God deserves in our life or a boyfriend or a girlfriend or you name it?

Sometimes those relationships occupy places where only God belongs and God wants to be the one that's on the throne of our heart. There's a great Old Testament story about this. It's the story of Abraham. God had promised Abraham a son. And Abraham waited and waited and waited and finally they had their son. And it was so much joy. Abraham was 100. His wife was 90.

Miracles were happening every day. And so they have this son. He's so overjoyed. He's just laughing. So he names him Isaac, which means laughter. And he raises him. And this child becomes just the joy of his life. He shares with him the promises of God. Shares with him the truth. Shares with him his trade. And then one day, the last test that Abraham ever faced as a believer, the last great test he faced on the top side of planet Earth is that around the time that Isaac was about 30 years old, God came to Abraham.

And he said, I want you to take your son, your only son Isaac, and I want you to take him to Mount Moriah and I want you to sacrifice him there on top of the mountain. So Abraham. Gathered up his servants. He woke his son up the next morning and he gathered the wood and he gathered the fire and he gathered the knife and they all headed to Mount Moriah. And as they were headed to Mount Moriah, they got to the base of the mountain and at the base of the mountain, he left his servants.

And he said, the boy and I are going up on the mountain. We'll come back to you. And so as they're heading up the mountain, he lays the wood on Isaac's back. There's a litany of things we could go through here, but that's not my point right now. He lays the wood on Isaac's back. He carries it up the mountain. And Isaac sort of looks around and goes, dad. I see the wood.

I see the fire. I see the knife. I don't see the sacrifice. And his dad goes, the Lord will provide. The Lord will provide a sacrifice. And so they get to the top of the mountain and he lays his son on the altar, which by the way, his son had to have been compliant because a 30 year old versus 130 year old. My money's going to the 30 year old old man strength.

I think even starts to fail at that point. Lays him up on the altar and right before he's about to slam, raises the knife right before he's about to slam. God says, stop. Because I now know that you will withhold nothing from me. Let me put that in a different language. I now know that I'm on the throne of your heart, not your son. I now know that there's no relationship on this earth that's more important to you than your faith in me.

What possession sits on the throne of your heart? What is it that if God were to take it away today would absolutely destroy your life? One more story I'll share with you. I've shared it before, but it always begs to be told at this point in time. I was listening to a radio program and they were talking about contentment and really trusting God with the things that we have in our lives.

And this guy was sharing that he used to own a business, a very successful business. But this business caused him massive anxiety. Didn't sleep, had ulcers, whole nine yards. He said, God kept telling me you need to surrender this to me because that's on the throne of your heart and I need to be. He said, one night at church. The Lord just hit me so hard. He just convicted me so much to just commit this entire business to him.

And so that night, I just, I committed it to the Lord right there in church. I said, Lord, if this is destroying my life, it's causing me to be unhealthy. Lord, this business is yours. You do with it whatever you want to do with it. So he goes home, goes to bed that night. In the middle of the night, he gets a phone call. And on the phone is a firefighter. And the firefighter says, sir, I'm really sorry to hear this, but I'm at your place of business right now.

And it's on fire and it's going to be a complete loss. The whole thing is going to burn down. He said, all I could do is start laughing on the phone. And the fire department was like, do we need to send a counselor, sir? I think that you're in shock. And he goes, no, I'm not in shock. That's not my business. I gave it to God last night. If it's going to burn down, that's his problem, not mine.

He said, I hung up the phone and I went back to bed. That's a man who God is on the throne of his heart, not his possessions, right? And that's the way that we need to be. What is it in your life that if you lost it today, you couldn't move past? Because God wants to remove it from you so that he will be on the throne of your heart. Nope, not number four yet.

Number three, pleasure. This one, I think for my generation and younger, is one of the greatest idols that we struggle with. It's one of the greatest idols that dominates our culture. I ultimately blame Nike for this. Bear in mind, I'm wearing Nikes right now, okay? But I ultimately blame Nike for this. Do you know what Nike's slogan is? What's Nike's slogan right now?

Just do it. You know how Nike's slogan started out? If it feels good, do it. Do it. You know what they shortened it to? Just do it, right? So that was the slogan for my generation. And all of the generations after have taken that slogan and run with it. And so now we bow at the altar of pleasure. After all, if it feels good, do it. The Bible talks about this a little bit.

It's in the book of Judges somewhere where it says something along the lines of, there was no king in the land and everyone did that which was right in their own eyes. If you will, everyone said, if it feels good, do it. And that pleasure. Pleasure is what dominates our culture right now. After all, is that not kind of what the whole abortion debate's really about?

Is it really not as much about the health of the mother as some would want to make it about? Is it not really more about the fact that I want to be able to live a sexually pleasing life in the way that I want to and I don't care about the responsibility or the consequences? After all, I should be able to do what feels good and not have to do it. I should be able to deal with all of that responsibility later.

But you know, it's not just sexuality that our world is living to please themselves. We also all of a sudden said, hey, you can go to any grocery store you want to now and buy as hard a liquor as you want to. After all, life's pretty depressing. Let's numb it with more alcohol. Hey, you should be able to smoke pot anytime you want to. You know why? Because if it feels good, do it.

And after all, it's not really that big of a deal. It's not really that addictive. It doesn't really cause that many problems. By the way, talk to any pastor. In a state where pot is legal and they will tell you exactly what's happening in their state because they've made pleasure a god. Because pleasure is what has become the idol of the hearts, not only of the people in the world, but sometimes, wait for it,

even the people in the church. And that pleasure goes even beyond just fulfilling our satisfactions and sometimes it moves into that entertainment. Because the god of entertainment continues to dominate our culture. And you say, Ryan, there's nothing wrong with entertainment. I agree. But if pleasure and entertainment is the thing that you can't move past, if it's keeping you from knowing God, then it's an idol.

And you have to sell all that you own and follow Jesus. You have to get rid of the idol and follow him. Number four, reputation. What do people say about you? It is amazing what people will do to make sure that everybody says something, good about them. It causes us to change the way that we look, to change the way that we talk, to change the way that we act, to change our morality,

to change the way that we think about certain issues in life. Why? Because we want people to like us. I want my reputation to be good. Full transparency, I struggle with this one. I struggle a lot with this one. Because I want people to like me. Is that so bad? Right? That's kind of my biggest struggle. That I have in life is I want people to like me. One of the biggest reasons why I never wanted our church to go online is because I know

I have to do what the Bible says. I have to teach what the Bible has to say. Sometimes what the Bible has to say is, well, controversial. But my belief in God is such that I can't sidestep issues like that. Therefore, I'll keep myself safe by never having that broadcasted to the whole rest of the world. We'll just keep it with us. And then COVID hit and God was like,

what are you going to do with that one? I was like, well played, Maurer. So I'm like, okay, what now? We've got to go online. And then everybody said, well, we're going to stay online, right? I've got people from other states going, you're going to stay online, aren't you? And I'm like, yeah, I guess so. Then all of a sudden, transgenderism becomes the biggest issue of our culture in the time.

And I'm like, I've got to say what the Bible says. And now we have the issue with abortion. I'm like, I've got to say what the Bible says. Apparently, my reputation is not going to be as good anymore. And you know what? Maybe that's okay. But how many of you are battling with that? How many of you care more about what somebody else thinks about you? How many of you are terrified of what everybody else's opinion is of you

that you don't even know who the real you is anymore? It's amazing how when we come together as a church, oftentimes we never get past the small talk. We never get to the, this is what's going on in my life. This is what's really happening with me. And brothers, and sisters, it's causing the church to be weak and anemic because we all bow at the altar of reputation.

Well, I need to make sure everybody thinks everything's okay in my life. I need to make sure everybody thinks that I'm really good, that I've got everything under control. None of us think that, okay? I know you don't think that about me. I don't think that about you. Let's just be honest with each other. Take down that idol of reputation and start being real.

Number five, and this is the one that hurts the most, self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness causes us to view ourselves in a light that God would never have us to view ourselves in. And it causes us to view others in a light that we should never be in a position to view them in. I start thinking that I know everything.

I start thinking that I'm the authority on everything. That if you really want to know what the right thing to do is, you should come ask me. Because after all, I've been there and I know. The best way that I can identify myself is to say, well, how do you know you struggle with self-righteousness? You know how you know you struggle with self-righteousness?

You think this sermon is for somebody else. You can identify all of the other people that need to hear this, except for you. And you can do that with every sermon. You know who needs to hear this one. Don't get me wrong. There are times where you know somebody's going through something in their life and you hear a message or a podcast or something and you're like,

dude, so-and-so needs to hear that because I think that's going to really encourage and convict them. And I think that's going to really encourage and convict them. But if there's never a point in time where you find, oops, that one was for me. I'm a loser. If there's never that point in time for you, then you probably struggle with self-righteousness because that's the easiest thing for us to do.

I start walking with Jesus. I start doing pretty good. I start learning some things about the Bible and I start going, let me tell you what the Bible says because I think I have a word of God for you and you need to hear this. And every now and then when you battle with that, God's like, I've got something for you. And we have to tear down that altar of self-righteousness.

You know what's really at work behind self-righteousness? Oh, it's that ugly word. Nobody likes that word. But that's what's in there because it causes me to view myself in an elevated way and everybody else in a much different way. These are the idols that I think can sometimes be on the throne of our heart. I think these categories of idols are oftentimes on the throne of our heart.

And so I'm going to ask you again, what sits on the throne of your heart? Now, this is a little bit of a heavy message, right? They all have been here lately. So let's end with a little bit of hope because I think the best way to end a message like this is to not have you go, and I can never do anything good again in my life because I have these idols. No, because how did Jesus end with his disciples?

He said, with man, this is impossible. But what? With God, all things are possible. Nothing is impossible with God. Listen, you may have these idols, in your life, I would venture to say that in this room, every single one of us battles with an idol that wants to take the throne of our heart. But you don't have to live in that defeat. You don't have to live in that place

where that's what's always in charge. You don't understand. It's the way I've always been. It's the way I'm always going to be. I'm hardwired to be that way. You're right because you have a sin nature. But just because you're hardwired to be that way doesn't mean that God can't rewire you because nothing is impossible with God. So what do we do with these things?

We take these idols. We give them to the Lord. And we say, Lord, you've got to burn these up because they're way too important to me. They're dominating the way that I think. They're dominating the way that I talk. They're dominating the way that I act. And I need you to help me put them to death so that I can know you. And he's always faithful to do it because nothing is impossible with God.

Amen? Let's all stand.

Again, thank you for being patient with the fact that, A, it's a lot warmer in here than usual.

Some of y'all are like, hey, this is perfect. The guy that sweats a lot is up here going, no, it's not. Anyway, thank you for being patient with us. We'll continue to get the work done. And man, I'm excited about what God is going to be doing throughout this fall with us here at Calvary Chapel. Father, we come before you and just thank you for the time that we've had in your word.

And Lord, I thank you for how good you are to us. And Lord, I just pray that you would take what you have taught us this morning and Lord, use it to change our hearts and our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.

And cars and lands will all pass away but my life will stand. Jesus, you can you will pass and only what's done for Christ will last. Jesus, you spill riches and houses and cars and lands will all pass away but my life will stand. You can lose me, Lord. Say yes.

We say yes, Lord. You can lose me, Lord. We have only and it soon will pass and only what's done for Christ will last. Jesus, you can you can lose me, Lord. Amen. God bless you all. Have a great week.