ago, the richest person in the world had an estimated net worth of $247.4 billion. As I said, that was six days ago. I saw just yesterday That individual had a really good day on either Thursday or Friday His net worth jumped by another almost 30 billion dollars in a day so That's a lot of money and I came across some some figures on that kind of wealth and According to Yahoo Finance, on an average day, the richest individual in the world makes about $43,000 a minute. Imagine that. $43,000 a minute. That means he makes about $2.5 million per hour. And compare that to your salary. It's maybe a little different. It also means that he makes about $61.9 million per day. Now, that's not in an eight-hour shift because he makes money while he sleeps. When you make that much money, you can do that. But once you get past one minute of this guy's life, I can't even comprehend numbers like that. I couldn't even begin to imagine making that kind of money. But just suppose, okay, try to imagine that it was you. That you are making that kind of money. But actually you're making just a little bit more. So you become the richest person in the world. So every minute of every day, $43,005 gets put into your bank account. And then the nighttime deposit is just overflowing until the bank opens Monday morning. You're making so much money. Now probably most of the people in the world would have an opinion about you if you were the richest person in the world. Some would be amazed And some would be jealous. Some would want to be your friend, and others would hate you. What about God? Would God be impressed by your insane wealth if you made that kind of money? Would God point you out to the angels and say, see, there's the one I was telling you about. Can you believe how rich he's gotten? Isn't it great to have the offerings of someone like that in the church? We could really use that. Well, the answer is no. God would not be impressed. Even if you had that kind of wealth, God would not be impressed. Instead, we read things like this in God's word in Psalm 50 verses 10 through 12. Where this is from God's perspective, God says, every beast of the forest is mine. The cattle on a thousand hills, I know every bird of the mountains. And everything that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all it contains. Now that's an impressive thought to think about. Everything in the world and the world belongs to God. It's his But if you can say this about God he's actually being modest Because it's more than that Not only is the world and everything it contains is the universe and everything it contains is his Heaven is his and everything it contains everything everywhere Belongs to God. It's all his And whatever people in the world have, no one actually owns it. It's not ours. We are stewards of what belongs to God, because it's all His. So last week, in Mark chapter 10, we met a rich young ruler. This rich young ruler comes to Jesus with a sincere question about how he can have eternal life. I think it's safe to assume that this young man was used to people being impressed by him. He was rich. He had some authority. He seemed like he was probably a pretty decent guy. A lot of people liked him. In the verses that we're looking at this morning, we get the idea that the disciples must have been pretty impressed by this guy. And they were surprised that Jesus didn't do more to try to bring this guy on board. He's exactly the kind of guy they would have wanted to have on their team to accomplish what they thought they needed to accomplish. But after he talked to Jesus, he went away sad. Jesus was not impressed by his wealth. Jesus wasn't impressed by the relatively decent life that he lived. Jesus didn't need his money because it all belongs to God anyway. Jesus wanted him. He wanted this man to trust in him alone and stop depending on and living for his possessions. This man needed salvation. because he wasn't a good person. Contrary to what he thought, he wasn't a good person. He was a sinner. And his money could not buy him salvation. And so that's why Jesus told him, after he made the claim of, I've done a pretty good job of keeping the law, Jesus said, one thing you lack. Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. Now, Jesus said this to him to show him where his faith really was. And it turns out, well, Jesus was right. His faith, his trust was in his possessions. He didn't love his neighbors as much as he thought he did. Because he wasn't willing to give it all to them. He wasn't trusting in God. Because he was concerned. If he got rid of all of his stuff, how would he be taken care of? He was unwilling to trust Jesus. And he went away sad. The verses that we come to now this morning, Jesus is going to use that situation as an opportunity to teach his disciples. And this is something very important his disciples really need to learn because they've been showing that they still have a lot of selfish ambition in themselves. They want to be somebody. They want to be thought well of. They want to be rich and powerful. They've had some other opportunities to learn why that's wrong, how to correct it. Here's another. They're not quite there yet. Eventually, most of those disciples will get it. Judas will not. And we will see that in the weeks to come. But most of the disciples will eventually get it. Here is how things went after the rich young ruler Goes away grieving mark chapter 10 verse 23 and Jesus looking around Said to his disciples how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God Now this guy who just left who just walked away after his conversation with Jesus is a good example of that It was his wealth that kept him from following Jesus. The disciples were standing there after seeing what happened, hearing what Jesus says, their jaws are dropped at what has just happened before them. Now if their mouths could get any wider, And if their eyes could get any bigger, they did when Jesus made this statement, how hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. Verse 24, it says the disciples were amazed at his words. How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. That is not how they thought it worked. The way everyone in Israel thought it worked was that those Jews who were wealthy and in positions of power were being blessed by God. And so they would probably be the first in line to enter into God's kingdom. When you think about, well, that's kind of a part of the pronounced blessings given along with the law when the Israelites were preparing to enter the promised land. And God told them, if you obey these commandments, I will bless you with health and wealth. And if they failed to obey God's commands, they'd be poor and miserable. You can also think about Job. And we know some about Job's story. What do you know about what happened at the end of the book of Job? Well Job has learned a very valuable lesson and God blesses him. And how does he bless him? He doubles everything that he used to have. He gives him immense wealth. And his riches showed God's blessing. And that was thought to be a pretty universal principle. that pretty much, like it is here today, when things are going well, your bank account is growing, God is really blessing you. It's generally thought that way, isn't it? And when someone is suffering, and their bank account is empty, they must have done something wrong, and God is displeased with them. That's how it's supposed to work in a lot of people's minds. But now Jesus is saying something complete opposite. How hard it will be for a rich man to enter the kingdom. And he even doubles down on that as we read on in verse 24. The disciples were amazed at his words, but Jesus answered again and said to them, children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. Now Jesus is again going against some commonly held beliefs. You know, several verses before this, he said, a child can do it. Well, doesn't that mean it should be easy? A lot of people see it that way. If a child can get in, it should be a simple thing. It's easy. But according to what Jesus says, it's hard. It's hard to enter the kingdom of God. It's hard for anyone. It's even harder if you're rich. Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. Verse 25, Jesus gives an illustration to show just how hard this is that he's talking about. He says, 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. Okay, we're all familiar with this verse. You've heard this said many times. It's become familiar. But I think it's okay to chuckle a little bit about the picture that's being described here. We've probably heard this verse so much we don't really think about it, but just think about the picture that Jesus is painting for his disciples to think about. This is a serious subject he's talking about, but the illustration he uses is meant to be absurd. It's funny to think about someone with a little needle trying to stick a camel through it. It's funny. But his purpose in saying this is not to get his disciples to start stroking their beards and wondering, how would a person go about getting a camel through the eye of a needle? And would it be best to start with the tail or the tongue? Well, the point is, it's impossible. It can't be done. Back when I used to be able to see well before I needed glasses five years ago or so I Thought it was quite a challenge to get a thread through the eye of a needle Haven't had a lot of practice, but I've done a little bit. It wasn't very easy even a thread Some have tried to calm down what Jesus is saying here and It's not quite as absurd as it sounds. Some have suggested that maybe camel is a misspelling and it was actually supposed to say a rope. Apparently in Aramaic, camel and rope are kind of close. But even if that was the case, it's not. But if it was, try sticking a rope through the eye of a needle. It's still impossible. Maybe you have heard about a passage through the city wall at Jerusalem that was called the Needle Gate. And if a camel went through that gate, it was so narrow that all of the baggage on that camel would have to be taken off first, and a camel would have to crawl through on its knees. So by that illustration, it's not impossible. It just takes some work and some humbling to make it happen. If you have never heard that explanation of this verse, you're better off for it because it's not true. Every commentator and archaeologist who has ever looked into this possibility say there was no such gate. It did not exist in the first century. Somewhere around a thousand years later, somebody put one in and it's good probability that it was added to make money off of tourists who wanted to see a camel go through a needle. That is not what Jesus is talking about. It's not a gate in the city wall. He's talking about a real camel and a real needle. Now if you're still trying to figure it out, the answer is you would have to liquefy the camel to get it to go through the needle. I was thinking about it as hard as I could. That's all I could come up with. It's the only way it could happen. But even then, with that small of a hole, I think you'd have some trouble with the surface tension of the liquid. So there's no easy way. And we still come back to the point is it's impossible. But then think about that. Think about what Jesus is saying with this illustration. He is saying it's not possible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And that should be concerning to us. Because by the standards of all of those who are standing there that day, we are filthy rich. Compared to most of the people in the world in every generation, by comparison, we Americans, we who are here today, we are rich. We are some of those rich people that he was talking about. So what is it that could make it so hard, too impossible for people like us to enter the kingdom of God? Well, consider what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, verse 17. Instruct those who are rich in this present world. Now, when we read that phrase, we should stop and sit up and take notice because he's talking about us. Instruct those who are rich in this present world. He's talking about you Here's what Timothy was to instruct us Not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches But on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy and we need to be taught that because this is a temptation for us and to fix our hope on the uncertainty of riches instead of on God. Now notice he doesn't say, teach them to get rid of all of their riches. That's not always the solution like it was for that rich young ruler. Sometimes it might be, but Timothy was to teach the rich, do not trust in your riches, trust in God. And we could jump back a few verses still there in 1st Timothy chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 where Paul says to Timothy, but those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." Now he says, the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Money itself is neutral. It's not good or bad. It just is. It just sits there until you use it or the government taxes it. It just sits there. It's just money. The question is, how do you use it? And how do we treat it? How do you think about it? If someone thinks about their money wrong, they treat it as overly important, money might be what keeps a person out of heaven and keeps them heading toward hell. Because they're looking for their security, for their hope in their possessions. Instead of looking to Jesus Christ alone Now we like the disciples like the Jews in the first century like a lot of people today often think Prosperity is a blessing from God Sometimes that might be the case But as I've said this before, instead of seeing it as a blessing, most of the time we should see it as a test. God has given us prosperity. Now what are you going to do with it? Are you going to trust in your riches? Or are you going to trust in God? Is your money going to be your God? Or is God going to be your God? Is your faith in money for a better tomorrow? Things may not be so good right now, but once I make some more money, then that's when things will get better. Is that your hope? Or is your faith in Jesus Christ alone for a better eternity? Being rich is not always the blessing that we have thought it to be. Probably more often it's a test. Jesus says 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. Look at verse 26. Mark chapter 10 verse 26. They were even more astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? If their mouths could get any wider, if their eyes could get any bigger, they did when Jesus brought out the camel. And it brought them to bring a very important question to Jesus. And this is where Jesus wanted them to get to. He wanted them to ask this question. Then who can be saved? That's the right question to ask. Because up until now, the disciples were just assuming people like them will be saved, obviously. That rich guy who lives a pretty decent life by their standards, he'll probably be saved. Those who seem deserving, the ones who it looks like God is blessing with a pretty good life, They'll probably be saved. The yucky people, who are worse than us, those who are really poor, the down and out, well they probably won't be saved because God obviously isn't blessing them and why would he want them anyway? Now Jesus wanted them to get to the point where they would realize they don't know as much as they thought they did. They made a lot of assumptions about the kind of people who would enter the kingdom of God. But the camel brought them here to this, then who can be saved? Jesus answers in verse 27. Looking at them, Jesus said, with people it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God. There is hope. There is a solution, but it is not found in money. It's not even found in a lot of money. Now this is a very important point of this whole Gospel of Mark. This phrase in verse 27 is one of the most important points in the Gospel of Mark, so don't miss it. With people, it is impossible. Having eternal life, entering the kingdom of God, getting to heaven, being saved, it's all talking about the same thing, and with people, it is impossible. Then who can be saved? With people, it is impossible. Which means there is nothing that you can do to save yourself. You are a sinner. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, you have to be forgiven of your sins. You have to be cleansed from your sin. You must be made righteous. Your sins must be paid for. God's justice must be satisfied. You must be made spiritually alive, and it is impossible for people to accomplish any of that. There is nothing those disciples could do. There is nothing that rich man could do. There is nothing that we can do to make ourselves right, to be able to be in God's presence. We must be saved, and we can't do it ourselves. We can't save ourselves. There's nothing we can do to save ourselves. It's impossible. With people, it's impossible. But not with God. For all things are possible with God. So think about this again. You are a sinner. And in order to enter the kingdom of God, you have to be forgiven. You have to be cleansed from your sin. You must be made righteous. Your sins must be paid for. God's justice must be satisfied. You must be made spiritually alive. And God is fully capable of accomplishing all of that. All things are possible with God. He could even save a rich sinner like you. With people it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Now, if this passage, up through the middle of verse 27, felt kind of dark and hopeless, it should have. When Jesus says it's impossible for, or how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, it's impossible with man. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. That should sound hopeless. It should sound dark because it is. If all a person has to depend on for their eternal future is their possessions and their own goodness, then there is no hope. In the second half of verse 27, the lights are turned on and we see there is a way. There is hope. And at this point, all of our attention should be on Jesus Christ. Looking away from all of our possessions, all the things of this world, looking to Jesus Christ to praise God, to thank Him for making the way. All things are possible with God. He has provided all that is needed to have life. It's only through him. Praise his name God gave his only begotten son to save us Now after seeing all that they've seen hearing what they've heard Peter has another good question verse 28 It begins as a statement, but I think he was saying this as a question. He was wanting some confirmation from Jesus. Peter began to say to him, behold, we have left everything and followed you. Now remember, again, the rich young ruler, he came to Jesus, he asked him a question, how can I inherit eternal life? Jesus identified for him the one thing that was keeping him from having eternal life. And it was that he is tied to this life because he loved his possessions so much. He would not turn to Jesus in faith. He would not follow Jesus Christ because he feared losing what he had in this life. He went away sad. He went away grieving and without eternal life because he decided his possessions were more important to him than his soul. So Jesus, then he turned to his disciples He used that as an example to teach them it's impossible for people to enter the kingdom of God by their own resources. No matter how much you have, no matter how hard you have tried, you cannot do it. It's impossible for people, it's even harder if you're rich. Peter says, behold, we've left everything and followed you. Peter is saying, we have done what the rich young ruler wouldn't do. So where do we stand? And because there is no reprimand, there's no correction from Jesus, I don't believe that this was Peter saying, well it might be impossible for some, but we gotta figure it out. No, I believe Peter is saying, well considering what you've said, and where we are, Are we going in the right direction? When Jesus told Peter and his brother Andrew to follow him, they laid down their fishing nets. They left the family business. They spent a lot of time away from their families to follow Jesus. Matthew, just one other example, left a job that he had as being a tax collector. He was making a lot of money being a tax collector. After giving it up, he'd never get that job back again. There was a long line of people that wanted it after him. He'd never get it again. Now maybe most of the men among the twelve disciples weren't among the rich and powerful, but they had at least had some security, as man would see it. They had a steady income. To leave all that behind and follow Jesus, Jesus who gave no appearance of wealth, didn't seem to have any means of providing security just from outward appearance of things, it took some faith. It's Peter's question, are we going the right way? Verse 29. Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for my sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in this present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. So regardless of how much someone may lose by following Jesus, what does a person gain by following Jesus? For starters, look around you. You've gained brothers and sisters in Christ. Some people, when they turn to Christ to follow Him, they are rejected by their families. They proclaim the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Their families don't want them around. But when that happens, they gain an even larger family that has a unity on an even higher level than being blood relatives. You're united in Christ. They may lose their earthly father, but they gain God as their father. For some, it might require leaving their farm, their way of life, their source of income, in order to faithfully follow Christ and preach the gospel. And God doesn't ask that of everyone, but for some people, He does. Jesus says they will gain a hundred times as much in houses and farms. In this life, He says. Now question, how does that work? Because it doesn't exactly look like it. Where are all of our hundred houses and farms, if that's the case? Well, think about it this way. As you drive home today, look out your windows. All the fields, all the houses you pass, though your name may not be on the deed of all of them, your father owns all of it. It all belongs to him, and he's your father. He has every resource to provide you with everything you need. He's not lacking in anything. The cattle on a thousand hills, every farm, every house, it belongs to your father. Along with persecutions. Now here's one, if we had more time, we should probably spend more time on. It might be hard to see how this fits in a list of great things that come along with gaining Christ. But these disciples, one day, are going to learn to rejoice at having the opportunity to suffer for the sake of their Lord. They're going to see it's a good thing. When we get to heaven, we will see that whatever we suffered for Christ was worth it. It was a good thing. And that brings us then to the last thing Jesus lists as a benefit of following Him, eternal life. This rich young ruler came asking, how can I have eternal life? He goes through all of this that we've seen to get to this point. Following Him is how you have eternal life. Putting your trust in Jesus Christ and following Him is the only way to have that. Rich young ruler was looking for it. He came and asked. And Jesus said, this is how. Don't worry about your stuff in this world. Don't worry about what you do or don't have. Just follow Christ. This paragraph then ends with verse 31. But many who are first will be last and last first. If someone is thinking, well, what about my stuff? What might happen to it if I follow Christ? The answer is trust God to sort it out. He can do that. There are people in the world who look like they have nothing in this life, but they're faithful to Christ and in eternity they will be serving Christ with the greatest joy and glory beyond our imaginations. And there are those who appear to have it all in this life who will lose it all Suffer in hell forever We can trust God to sort it out now the difference between those two people It's not the stuff. It's really not about the stuff. The difference is Christ Do you have him or do you not? Have you come to him by faith? to follow him That is what makes all the difference for eternity