What Do I Still Lack?

The title of the sermon today is, What Do I Still Lack? What do I still lack? Well, there was someone or family, or it might be one or two people, we don't know, unless you've heard something I haven't. There's someone up north near Chicago, Milwaukee, somewhere up there. They won the lottery of $1.3 billion. Did you hear who it was? Well, I heard we will not hear who it was, because it's such a large amount of money that their safety and normalcy of life will change dramatically. So they're probably going to keep it quiet, but they're thinking that whoever it is will have, if they take a lump sum, will have $700 million instead of $1.3 billion. That's a lot of money for those of you who aren't used to that kind of money. But if you invested that money at just 5%, you would live off the interest at $35 million a year. To make that real, that is, every day you would get up, you would go to the bank, and you could get $100,000 or more every day. So $100,000 would come to you every single day, never even touching the principle.

What would you like? She'd like grandma. I think you could buy a bunch of grandmas for $100,000 a day. But for most people, they would think I would have everything I needed. I could buy the tractor I was wanting for the farm, fix up the house, car, you know, a truck that I always wanted.

I could have a church building here that's nice and big. A church in Fort Lauderdale, a church in Trinidad, all these various places. I could eat whatever I wanted to eat. I wouldn't have to worry about going into Publix and saying, how much is that? Could have sea bass when I wanted it at $30 a pound. So most people would figure they wouldn't lack anything. Because if you had that much money, you would be what? Rich. Rich. And most people would like to be rich. But there's a lot of ways of looking at the word rich, too.

But today I want to look at the financial end of it about being rich and then what would you still lack? Or perhaps we could ask the question today, what do I lack today? Okay. There is a story in the Gospels. As a matter of fact, there's three stories that basically tell the same story from different viewpoints. And it's a story for us, about us, and it asks a question. What do we still lack? Perhaps you could say, well, I can't really relate since I'm not rich.

And I might say, oh, really? You're Americans. I talked to somebody on the phone the other day, and they no longer called you a Jamaican. They didn't say it about your wife, but they said it about you. He said, oh, well, he's a Jamaican. Okay. It's American from Jamaica and America, but now you're a Jamaican. Okay. But we Americans, compared to Haiti, we're rich. Everyone sitting out there. Okay. Compared to God, we're young. And for most of us, we are masters of our own domain. We're rulers of our household, because we're not slaves.

So put this all together, and we could be called rich young rulers. Rich young rulers. And we have a picture up here of one, and we will look at that account today, those three accounts, and hopefully we will find that we really do need to relate to this incredible story.

Because each account, and there's three accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, three different accounts. Matthew was there. Mark's account is of Peter's. He was there. Luke was not there, but he gives a historical account of this same story. And so it brings us to the point where we have to ask ourselves what's in your spiritual wallet? What's in your spiritual wallet? Everything you need. We all know the commercials. Seems like every time you turn on TV, they're somebodies, asking what's in my wallet.

Well, in today's economy, less and less. But I want to go to this story, this perspective. So let's go to the first one. Matthew 19. Matthew 19. I'll be reading from the New King James Version. So, Matthew, I take it that's who you were named after. Yes. All right. Good. So we get to hear this account from a Matthew. Matthew 19, verse 16. Now behold, one came and said to him, Jesus Christ, Good teacher, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life?

Oh, so as Matthew was talking, they're talking about eternal life. So this man definitely wasn't a Sadducee who did not believe in the resurrections. So chances are this young man was a Pharisee. What shall I do? There's a do. There's a do. Some I can go do to have eternal life. Also sounds like a Pharisee. So Christ said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good, but one. That is God. But if you want to enter into life, eternal life is what he's referencing here.

Keep the commandments. Wow. So he just lays it out right there. Want eternal life? Keep the commandments. That's all we have to do to have eternal life is keep the commandments. Well, that's what this young man asked. And he said to him, Which ones? Whoa.

How about one? Is it that easy? He said to him, You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your mother and father, and you shall love your neighborhood yourself. That means keep the rest of those commandments. Okay. And the young man said to him, All these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? It's something that we should want to ask Jesus Christ ourself. Perhaps it's something we need to take to God. This young man took it to Christ. He took it to God and said, I did this, and what do I like? What do you like? What do I like? Do we care enough to ask God to reveal to us what we lack? Or is it perhaps we already know?

Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, I want to be perfect. Go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. Wow! But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He was rich! Great possessions.

But here the door is actually open for this young man. Come and join me. So would he be the 13th disciple? Sounding like it wouldn't. All you got to do is follow me. How many of us would say, okay, well, I'll sell my house and follow you. I'll give up everything. I'll follow you. For some people, that may be easy for others. Not so easy. It would probably amaze us today if that same thing had to happen to each and every one of us. How many would pick up and go? Well, let me make sure you're who I think you are. Could I see your God card? Because this may be serious, and I just don't follow anybody. But when you see the verses just before this in the context of it, you kind of see in verse 13, Matthew 19, you don't have this, Jeff, but said that little children were brought to him. He put their hands on them and prayed, but the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for if such is the kingdom of heaven, and he laid his hands on them and departed. Okay, that's great, but what does that have to do? Then this young man came and said, what do I lack? Did he have the mind that Christ had just talked about? About following like little children? Willing to accept what someone said, what God said, and follow it? What about us? Do we ask ourselves the same question? But we're not rich, you might say. You want to know what rich is? Who lives in Vero or Sebastian? One, two, just two? Okay, because I just looked up these statistics this week. Do you know that per capita that Vero and Sebastian, the top one, percent of the people who live in Vero or Sebastian earn $2.7 million a year? Hmm. Earn $2.7 million a year?

The top one percent in America today earns over $500,000 a year. The top one percent in the entire world is just a little over $34,000 a year. Can you see why other people might consider Americans rich? Top one percent, $34,000. Are you in the top one percent in the world? In the U.S., are you rich? I'll ask you a question. Tonight, when you go home, will you sleep in a house? I will. Anybody? Oh, just a few of you, sleep in a house. Okay, sleep in a house. Okay, good. Do you have running water? I do. Okay, most everybody does. Do you eat three meals a day? Well, most of you do. Indoor bathroom. How about a closet for your clothes? Yes. And do you have at least three pairs of shoes? You are in the top five percent in the entire world. That's a true fact, if you have those. Top five percent in the entire world, 7.89 billion people, and you are in the top five percent. You feel rich now? I think we feel blessed, don't we? Total wealth. What if you sold everything and laid it on a table, and you were from India? This is the average person. Take it for an average. Your total wealth sitting on the table would be $7,024. Everything you own. House, car, clothes, money, everything. In Africa, it would be just a little over $4,000. Average has taken everybody in the country, and we're going to average $4,000. In America today, the average person, we took everybody's money and you divided it. Okay, took everybody's money in the world, and then you divided it by 326 million people, whatever we have. Your part would be $740,000.

Average.

You know what I found interesting, though? That Vero Sebastian was number four in the United States. Of course, the numbers were we have less number. You would think Miami has a lot of wealth or for Lauderdale, but because of the amount of people and the top 1%. That would be amazing. It's just that in Florida, they have three of the top four cities richest 1% in the entire country. Naples, Florida. Anybody ever been in Naples, Florida? 5.6 million dollars. Top 1% earners. Key West, 4.7 million dollars. But the number one, number one in America, a city, is Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the top 1% earn $16 million a year. A lot of entertainers live there. But in case you want to know, we have people here who live in Port St. Lucie. You know the top 1% earn $1.7 million in Port St. Lucie? Number seven in the entire United States. This is where we live. It's the reason I bring this out, not to shock anyone, not to have these things, but it's a reality.

Let's go.

To the story from Mark. Mark 10. Mark 10. Verse 17. Mark 10 and verse 17. Here we have Peter's story. And look at the difference in the story. We get an entire picture of this one story, of this rich young ruler. So it's not like we do not have three witnesses here. Verse 17. Now as he was going out on the road, one came running and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do that I may hear at eternal life? Same story, nothing new here. Really? Let's look and see. So Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your mother and father. And he answered and said to him, Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth. Then Jesus, looking at him, hated him? No. This is different. This is a different perspective than we got from Matthew's account, isn't it? Because it said, Then Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack, here is the lack part, go your way, sell whatever you have and give it to the synagogue, to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And here is, this is a major, major difference here because he says, Come, take up the cross and follow me. He's telling him, become the 13th disciple. Cross, Greek, star, us. Bear the burden of the cross with me.

There was only 12 men this was offered to. There were many, there were 70 who followed Christ, and it was brought down that there was only 12, this unique group of 12. And now, one man comes running up young one, rich, came running up, knelt. Do we get that? For one thing, Pharisees didn't typically run, that was not what they did, and then he actually knelt down, showing such humility that you can't tell me that Christ, for maybe just a moment, this might happen. This might happen. Here would be the replacement for whoever would turn against him. Who would ever sell Christ? There's an extra one here. He offered this.

One thing you like. Get rid of your coveting. Get rid of that 10th commandment that is burdening you down. But also, what happened to the first one? Shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your might, your being. It has to be number one, and he just found out what he lacked. He couldn't say, yes. He couldn't do it. He ran and he knelt, and he realized who he was talking to. But when the answer came back, he had to say, no. No.

He was sad at this word. Oh, wait a minute. If he hadn't said sell everything, women were having to help finance the work. You've read the Scriptures. They would have to have money to keep the ministry going. This could have all been done. Could have had all the money they wanted, all the money they needed, and he would have been happy. He would have been happy to help. But it wasn't worth it because of what he still lacked, because what he still lacked was worth more than anything else that he had, because it became so important to him. You got anything like that in your life? That is why this is given to us, so that we can ask that question, that we can go to God with the question, what do I still lack? Because we saw earlier about perfect. I'm not perfect. I don't know. Anybody want to raise their hand and say they're perfect? Then if you can't, you still lack something. That's why Christ said, become you perfect. Takes a lifetime. But if there's big things in our way, that's what we have to look at. What do we lack? So let's go then to the third story.

But before we do, the other disciples were all gathered around.

They heard this. They knew who he was. They knew the wealth, because we just had a picture of the guy. And typically at that time, the Pharisees dressed better than everybody else, and wealthy people, wealthy people typically do even today, don't they?

So what did the other disciples think? Do you think maybe they were excited? That, wow, look, look who's coming to join us.

Or were they? Look at this guy. Trying to buy his way. I doubt Matthew had any issue with it. Why? Because Matthew was rich. Matthew was considered rich. He was a tax collector. They were part of the 1% at their time. Remember, he had a big house. He entertained everybody in and brought this and then... So he wouldn't have a problem, but oh, what about Peter? What about other... Who is this guy? He's just going to come marching right in. So were they a little bit quietly giddy that this guy didn't take the 13th position? That they didn't move up to the front of the line? Because what did what do we find out through the scriptures? Everybody wanted to... Who's going to be greatest in the kingdom of God? Tell me this guy wouldn't have been a threat to that. So let's go see Luke's account because Luke wasn't there, but he went back and did a historical account of it. So let's go to Luke 18. Let's go to Luke 18.

Luke 18 and verse 18.

Now a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit the kingdom... to do it eternal... inherit eternal life? So here we get... We know it's a ruler. We know he's rich. We know he's young from the other accounts. So you put all this together, what do you have? Chances are it's a rich young ruler who's a Pharisee. Because if you're a ruler, you're either a Sadducee or a Pharisee. I mean that's what I was... the rulers at the time. Herodians or Sadducees, well, they didn't believe in eternal life. Sadducees, they didn't know what happened. They still don't know what happens after death. Where the Pharisees knew there would be a resurrection. Okay. So let's go down to verse 19. So Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good. But one, that is God. So that's consistent. You know the commandments? Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not kill. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your mother and father. And he said, All these I have kept for my youth. So Jesus heard these things. He said to him, You still lack one thing. And, brother, I can probably tell you this without stretching. Most of us still lack one thing. Think about it. We come around to Passover every year and we're examining ourselves and we probably come back to that one thing. Where's your weakness? It's probably the one thing. Is it time that we look at the one thing? Because I think that's why these three scriptures were given. So that we can move on to perfection. I know that's why I look at it.

Do you? Are you serious enough about your calling to say to God tonight before sunset? What do I lack? What do I lack? Because obviously if it's one thing you lack, you've struggled with it for a long time. Christ said, I have the power to take it up. I have the power to lay it down. Well, guess what? With Christ in you, with Christ guiding you, you have the power to take it up, which you obviously have. You have the power to lay it down.

Are we at a point in our lives where we say, God, I need your help?

What one thing? Now, maybe you say, well, I feel good about that because I have many things, not one thing. No, there's usually something that causes you to stumble, cause you not to be as close to God.

Christ pointed this out to this rich young ruler, and He'll just as easily point it out to you if you don't know. He may be asking you, or waiting for you, to ask Him. Show me. Show me.

Let's go on. So when Jesus heard these things, He said to Him, you still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come and follow Me. And when He heard this, He became very sorrowful, for He was very rich. He wasn't just rich. He was very rich. He had so much. What do you have so much of you won't let go? Or is there pride in your life that you can't lay down? Is there a pornography problem? Is there an alcohol problem? Is there a drug problem? Is there an anger problem?

One thing. What is that one thing?

Verse 24.

And when Jesus saw that He became very sorrowful, He said, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.

Money can be your greatest problem. You don't have to be rich, and money can still be your greatest problem. Verse 24. For it is easier for a camel to go through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And many people have said, oh, wait a minute. He's talking about this camel that goes through this place in the Middle East that's known as the eye of the needle. And this camel has to get down on its legs to get in it and everything else. So you have to be humble like a camel to get down, and you have to get on your knees. Well, I studied that and studied it.

Looked at seven or eight different experts in the Middle East. They never heard of the place, but it sounded good, doesn't it? It sounds good. No, He's actually talking about a needle that small and a camel going through it. It's impossible. Christ didn't say, well, let me guess what might be possible. No, it's impossible. I've had a needle and a little piece of thread and I have to lick it three or four times to get it in there. Okay, I know it's a small hole. With God, everything is possible. He either shrinks the camel or makes the needle eye better. That's only two I know. He's got probably four other things he could do. He could stretch the camel out for a mile and run it through the needle. There's... this is what it's telling us. And those who heard it... whoa, who would this be? Those who heard it? The disciples, right? They just saw this rich guy walk away.

Who then can be saved? But He said to him, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Now, whether this turned out to be Nicodemus, which many... I would say many. I do. I think this was Nicodemus just because he showed up later, just because he fit the profile, just because you can go back in history and find that Nicodemus was the third richest man in all of Jerusalem at his time. That's outside of the Bible. And you also saw him through the rest of the books as he took up for Christ, and he was there to claim the body. It was he, this rich young ruler. Many think so. I can't prove it. We'll know someday. But did he decide? Later. And he got rid of the one thing, or he added the thing that he lacked. Was it didn't mean anything? That money was not that important? I don't know.

Brethren, what will keep us out of the kingdom? Are we willing to ask that question? Can we change? Can we go to Christ and say, I want to know? Are we close enough? Are we close enough to God that we can say, this may not be pleasant. Show me. Show me. Help me. Because when you show me, I may not like it. Because chances are, it's a habit or it's something we've done a good part of our lives. It's something we really have to overcome. I know a guy came to me probably five or six years ago. We talked about this very thing because he said, I've got one big problem. I didn't know. Didn't know what I was going to hear. And he said, I don't know why. I seem to just want to lie. I just seem to want to lie. I said, lie about what? He said, about everything. And he said, it's just, it's always been easy for me to just make people happy if I lie. And I want to make people happy. He gave me three or four examples and I'm saying, why? Why? And he said, now it's just so hard to stop.

He said, I got stopped. I was drinking. I got stopped by police, pulled me over. He said, I only had one or two beers. And he said, he came up and said, have you been drinking? And he said, I said, no. He said, I need your license and need your identification, insurance. So I handed it to him. Came back, handed it to me. Have a good night. He said, that just convinced me I was right. And he said, but I read the Bible and I know it's not right. I'm not right. And I said, you've got to, you've, he said, I've been doing it all my life. Cost me two wives.

What would you tell him? I told him you got a big problem. That's right. Took him back there to revelation. The sad part was, I told him you need to seek God's help. He will help you. And this has been a lifelong problem. And so you're not going to overcome it overnight. First thing you do is always tell the truth or don't say anything. That's the easiest way to do it. Start out. Don't say anything. And then begin to control your tongue and then ask God every day. He said, well, I'm coming to church next week. I really want to change. That was either five or six years ago. I've never seen him or heard from him since. He lied. And I remember sitting in his room, sitting in his living room.

Brother, he did have quite a bit of understanding because before we got into this, we were talking for an hour and a half in his living room, and he understood a lot of truth. We understand a whole lot of truth, but are we willing to do what he couldn't do? I hope so. I hope we can.

So what do you still like? Is it something you can readily look at and go, I can fix that? Or is it something that you can turn to and go, well, I need some help in that? Now, are we going to be perfect to enter the kingdom of God? Now we'll still be human flesh. But on the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ is saying, uh, be you perfect, become you perfect, it's a process. That's why be you perfect, the proper translation is become you perfect. We're working at that every day, and some days we're not very perfect. Some days we're as far from perfect as we can't even believe we're that far from perfect. And we keep looking and go, well, what's what's what's the use? It's because Christ came so that we could become perfect. That every sin, every single day, can be completely wiped out, and we get to start over every single day perfect. What what better what what better blessing kid we have in this physical life than to get rebooted every day? Okay, I failed. Yes, I failed it. Okay, but I can do it because God is allowing us to have many steps. He isn't rushing us right up to the kingdom door. He wants us to do it.

See, because in the kingdom, when we enter the kingdom of God, there will not be any doubt we will be rich. We inherit the entire universe according to that book. We're young because we're never going to die. We'll live for eternity, and we will rule and reign with Christ for eternity. That is what is before us. So are we rich rich young rulers now? No. That isn't the question. The question is, do we want to be?