TEXT: Matthew 19:16-22

INTRODUCTION:

This young man had a lot of traits to be admired

1. He was young. Its always good to seek after God when a person is young. Most people wish they could remain young forever.

2. He sought out Jesus. The wise man had said, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth."

3. He was interested in eternal life. In his youth he had come to realize that this world is not all there is.

4. He had been taught some good things. He had been taught to keep the commandments.

5. However, there were some things which had not been impressed upon this young man. He knew the law but not the purpose of the law. He knew how to be a good moral man but not the meaning of sacrifice.

6. There are many today like this young man.

NOTE: There are two schools of thought among us.

1. There those who are completely satisfied with things as they are and have always been. Everything is all right. We have it all on straight and everyone else should just come and join us and let us teach them the right way.

2. On the other hand, there are those who think that everything we have ever done and taught was wrong and must be discarded. I believe the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.

3. I don’t claim to have all the answers. I don’t even know all the problems.

WE NEED A GREATER RESPECT FOR THE NATURE OF GOD, HIS WORD, WORSHIP OF HIM, AND HIS CHURCH

1. Nature of God

   1. The history of mankind will undoubtedly show that no people have ever risen above their religion. And no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is either pure or base, based upon the thoughts the worshiper entertains in his heart about God.

   2. The mightiest thought to ever enter the mind of man is the thought of God. The most important thing about6 a person is not what he/she may say or do at a given moment in time, but what deep in his/her heart he believes his God to be like. We tend by a secret law to move toward our mental image of God. This is true of not only individuals but a community of believers that compose a church.

2. The Church

   1. The church (Christians) are the visual ambassadors of God.

   2. The world knows about God – through the church.

   3. Ephesians 3:10 - to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

3. Bible

   1. The Bible is the most important work in any language.

   2. It is the inspired Word of God.

A GREATER REALIZATION OF HOW TERRIBLE SIN IS

1. What is sin? A transgression of the God’s law. 1John 3:4.

2. Doing what God is not pleased with. Ezekiel 18:20 "The soul that sinneth it shall die."

3. "In the day that you eat you will surely die."

4. NOTE: Every calamity that come upon the human race; all the death, all the sickness, all the heartache, every sorrow, every shattered dream that was good is all the result of sin against The Holy God. It is time we place the blame where it belongs, on sin. It is time we quit blaming God for our misfortunes and giving the Devil credit for the good. Everything was good till Adam sinned. Why is sin so enticing? Why is it so hard for us to keep from sinning? We tell ourselves it is not so bad as long as no one gets hurt. But, there is no such thing as sin and no one getting hurt.

5. Sin hurts. It always hurts. It kills. It destroys.

6. As long as we think a bomb is a dud, we will let our children play with it.

7. But, if we think its loaded, we will call for the bomb squad to defuse it before we want anyone to go near it. Brothers and sisters, there are no duds when it comes to sin. Its all loaded and if you play with it, IT WILL EXPLODE!! Notice I said, IT WILL EXPLODE!!

A BETTER APPRECIATION OF SALVATION FROM SIN BY GOD’S GRACE

1. Remember what God has done for us.

2. Most of the New Testament was written to remind Christians what God had done for them.

3. Just read some of the salutations of the Epistles.

4. This would solve most of the problems in any church.

   1. Quit thinking of God as some namby pamby, sitting up in heaven just waiting to do your bidding. But as the Holy One, the Almighty One, the Sovereign One, the Just One, who demands the total surrender of your will to His and anything less is an insult.

   2. Anything that runs contrary to His character is sin and an insult against His Holy character. Sin against Him is a terrible thing.

   3. And for a Holy God to take your sin upon himself and pay the penalty and offer you complete forgiveness is too good to be true.

"Grace, grace, marvelous grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within

Grace, grace, marvelous grace, grace that is greater than all our sin."

Adapted from an outline by Ray Pippin