Is Following Worth It?
Matthew 19:27-30
April 15, 2012
This morning we come across a story
That reminds us of the honesty of Scripture.
It is clear from stories like this
That the disciples were not trying to give us a tainted view of things.
There was no “spin” going on.
The disciples were real people with real concerns.
And one of those concerns, believe it or not,
Was a desire for happiness.
The disciples were concerned about their futures
And they wanted to be happy.
Surely that is a basic human desire.
We even have in The Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”
Now of course that is a man-made document and not Scripture,
But even those men recognized that it was self-evident
That God instilled in man a desire and a right to be happy.
The question is “Should Christians be happy?”
I mean, let’s digest for a moment what we have talked about
Over the course of the last two weeks.
We were confronted with a man we called “The Rich Young Ruler”
And I think it is obvious that were it not for his concerns about eternity,
This man would have been happy.
He had money
He had success
He had power
He had morality
He had high reputation
Those things aren’t the secret to happiness,
But I never saw them making people sad either.
And when he came face to face with Jesus his happiness went away.
Remember he wanted to know how to go to heaven,
And he thought the secret was in being good.
Jesus busted his bubble in a big way.
First, “You aren’t good”
Second, “You love sin”
Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said to him, “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.”
But you remember the story.
Matthew 19:22 “But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”
Let me ask you a question.
Did Jesus make that man happy?
No, that man was grieving when he left.
Luke 18:23 “But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”
And even then, Jesus let him leave.
Beyond that Jesus turned to the disciples and revealed
How hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom.
He said “it is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
And you will even remember that at that the disciples were appalled.
They thought then that salvation must in fact be impossible.
To which Jesus agreed.
Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
And so we know the story.
That was not a happy scene.
But go ahead and picture the scene with me for a moment.
• Here we are, the rich young man is walking away.
• He is grieving because he isn’t going to heaven,
• But he does still have all his money.
• Peter then takes inventory of his own life, and that of his traveling
companions who are with Jesus, but who don’t have any money.
And you can see Peter’s wheels turning can’t you?
No more games, no more pretend, this incident
Causes the disciples to go to Jesus seeking straight answers.
It is almost as if to say, “Jesus, You are asking people to give up everything they’ve ever worked for, everything that makes them happy, are You sure You know what You’re doing?”
That is the basis for this text.
And perhaps that very thought has been on your mind.
The call and the cost of the kingdom are enormous.
The question is, “Is Following Jesus Worth It?”
If I’m going to lose my money, my home, my family, even my life,
I want to know if that is a good decision.
There are two main things we see.
#1 THE CONCERN
Matthew 19:27
There is exactly what we just talked about.
Peter sees the young man walk away, and walk away rich.
It is then as though he looks at what they have
And Peter begins to show a little concern.
“Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”
Now it does help to bring some perspective to the statement.
What Peter left and what the Rich man had to leave
Were two very different things.
We have serious doubt that Peter walked away from anywhere close
To the same fortune the rich man amassed.
We recall him leaving a few tattered nets.
But, Peter did leave them.
What Peter is struggling with here is the curiosity of
Rather or not he should try to get some back.
See, here is the deal.
Peter did leave everything, but it is not as though
The everything he left couldn’t be replaced.
Not like the rich young man who would have had much greater difficulty
Replacing what he was about to have to leave.
So in one since Peter is not just referencing what he left,
But curious about the permanence of the decision.
Picture it like this.
If Jesus came in this morning and said “Everyone in here must sell their house.”
Well obviously that’s a bigger cost for you than it is me,
I don’t even own the house I live in.
And so that decision for me would be much easier for me than you.
But suppose Jesus said, “Everyone in here must sell their house and never live in one again.”
That would push me into the same boat as you.
We would not be facing the loss of a house, but the loss of lifestyle.
And that is where Peter is.
Sure he left everything, but his decision
Was not nearly as permanent as the rich young man’s.
However, after hearing what Jesus said,
Peter realizes that Jesus is playing for keeps.
Jesus was not talking about them ever going back.
Earlier Peter made a decision to give Jesus a try,
Now he is staring the same permanent life change in the face
That the rich young man just faced.
This is getting as real for him as it has ever been.
And so Peter’s question makes sense.
He wants to know “what then will there be for us?”
Now, this is where we commend Peter over the rich young man.
The rich young man didn’t even concern himself with whether or not it was worth it, he just immediately assumed it wasn’t.
But Peter is at least willing to find out what the offer is.
But you can hear the concern.
The Concern
#2 THE COMPENSATION
Matthew 19:28-30
You ask Jesus an honest question, you get an honest answer.
And, by the way, please notice that
Jesus was not angry with Peter for the question.
Peter knew what it was to be rebuked by Jesus, but he didn’t get one here
Jesus fully understood the concern in Peter’s heart.
And so Jesus answers.
That there is in fact compensation.
In fact, there are three types of compensation.
1) YOU WILL BE COMPENSATED IMPERIALLY (28)
In other words, you will be part of the kingdom.
Now we do recognize that this promise is for the twelve, not everyone.
These were those who were the first to believe.
“Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Now let’s talk about this.
We recognize the timing of this thing.
“in the regeneration”
What is “the regeneration”?
If you’ve been with us on Sunday nights,
We talked about this two weeks ago.
It was the time that every Jew was looking for.
It was the time when Israel would be restored.
Acts 1:6 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
Peter even preached about it after Pentecost.
Acts 3:19-21 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
Most specifically it was the time when Messiah comes
To reign upon the earth, destroy His foes and redeem the earth from sin.
Isaiah 65:17-25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. “They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. “They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.”
We call it the millennial reign of Christ.
It is the 1,000 year reign in which Satan is bound and Christ reigns.
It is “when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne”
Adrian Rogers once said, that “Now all things are out of place.
The King isn’t on the throne, the Bride isn’t with the Groom, and the Criminal isn’t in prison. But on that day when the Criminal is in prison and the Bride is with the Groom, and the King is on the throne, then life will be the way it was intended.”
We long for that day, that is why we long for the return of Jesus.
And it is that day Jesus speaks of.
On that day, Jesus says to His disciples, “you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
In short, I’ll give you authority in My kingdom.
Revelation 20:1-4 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Jesus told the twelve they would reign and judge Israel.
In the millennium there will be no sin curse, nor will there be an enemy,
Nor will Jesus be tolerant of it.
Sin will quickly and instantly be snuffed out,
And the disciples will be His judges.
Incidentally we who are the church are also promised to reign with Christ.
Revelation 3:21 “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
But you get the picture that Jesus gives to Peter.
Peter, for following Me and leaving it all,
I will give you the right to reign in the coming kingdom.
You will be compensated Imperially.
2) YOU WILL BE COMPENSATED IMMEDIATELY (29)
Now this is where Jesus goes the extra mile.
He uses the word “And”
I would think that verse 28 should have been enough, but Jesus isn’t finished.
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
WHY DO WE SAY IMMEDIATELY?
Listen to Mark’s gospel.
Mark 10:29-30 “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 the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”
I am certainly not one who holds to the prosperity gospel,
But if a promise is in Scripture, then I don’t want to overlook it either.
And what is clear in Mark’s gospel is that
Not only does Jesus reward, He also reimburses.
“he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age”
This second promise that Jesus is making to Peter is not some distant,
Only to be fulfilled later, sort of promise.
In short, Jesus is saying I did not come to ruin this life.
We know that about Jesus don’t we?
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
• The enemy comes to steal, not Jesus.
• The enemy comes to kill, not Jesus.
• Jesus came to give you life and good life.
And so it stands to reason that Jesus’ goal
Is not simply to make this life as baron and miserable as possible.
In fact listen to what Jesus says in Luke’s gospel about reimbursement.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Jesus wants to make you happy.
Jesus wants to give you a good life.
And according to Mark’s gospel He intends to give that good life
Both in this age and in the age to come.
Remember what we learned about the value of the kingdom?
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Did those men give all they had?
Yes.
But the important thing to notice is they both thought
They were getting a good deal in doing so.
We had on one hand a treasure hunter.
• We know he was a hunter because he was looking in a field he didn’t own.
• And when he found a treasure he reasoned that its value was greater than
what he owned so he bought the field.
Then we have a pearl merchant.
• A man who knew what pearls were worth.
• And he knew that one pearl was worth more than all he owned.
Neither saw the sacrifice as a bad deal.
It was a good deal.
And that is the point we are still making.
Being in the kingdom is a valuable thing, even in this life!
Now many of us at this point would say, “Absolutely, if you make a physical sacrifice you get spiritual reward. What I gave physically Jesus repays with joy and peace and love, et.”
But look again at what Mark said.
Mark 10:30 “but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Mark makes it very clear that those who follow Jesus would get “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms”
He also throws in “persecutions”
Mark doesn’t take a physical cost and say there is only a spiritual reward. In Mark’s gospel Jesus says there is a physical reward
For the physical cost and he is very specific about it.
Now, here is the issue with what Mark’s gospel said.
• We all know believers who gave all they had and still died poor.
• We all know believers who sacrificed greatly but never got rich.
I mean let’s take it in Peter’s case.
Peter left his nets to follow Jesus. We’ll assume there were at least 2.
That means according to Jesus Peter should have gotten 200 nets,
A grand a glorious fishing business. And yet Peter never did.
WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THAT?
It really isn’t that difficult.
These men did not leave their nets or their families
In order to gain more nets or a bigger family.
These men did not leave their farms in order to gain more farms.
WHY DID THEY LEAVE THOSE THINGS?
To gain Christ.
Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Now listen to Paul.
I left all that stuff, but it was “rubbish”.
If Paul called it “rubbish”
Do you really think his main goal was to get 100x more of it?
And that is the point here.
I believe Jesus.
• And I believe when He said 100x as much physically He meant it.
• And I believe that had Peter truly wanted 200 fishing nets Jesus would have given it.
But Peter didn’t want that, Peter wanted Christ.
He left that to gain Christ.
Let me give you a text that explains it better.
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
These people didn’t want more farms, they wanted Christ,
And that is what they got.
But the point to what Jesus is saying is this:
HAPPINESS CAN BE HAD NOW AS WELL
The call of Jesus is not to get men to lose life entirely.
The call of Jesus is to get men to seek life in a different place.
Quit seeking life in possessions…
Quit seeking life in power…
Quit seeking life according to the world…
Seek life in Me, and I’ll give it to you.
And in addition to that, I’ll give you “eternal life”
Peter wants to know if it is worth it.
And Jesus says, “I’ll compensate you Imperially” and “I’ll compensate you Immediately”
3) YOU WILL BE COMPENSATED IMPARTIALLY (30)
Now we will really get into this one more next time we meet.
But I want you to notice that Jesus only begins the thought here.
(19:30) “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”
Then in chapter 20 we get a story
About landowner impartially rewarding his slaves.
That story ends in (20:16)
Matthew 20:16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
Obviously Jesus has more to say about it
Than just what we read here, but we still get the point.
The compensation of Jesus is not done based upon merit.
The compensation of Jesus is done based upon grace.
And it is important that Peter and the 12 and all of us understand that.
When God rewards He doesn’t weigh it out according to what we’ve done,
But according to His great generosity.
You’ll see next week, that
It didn’t make sense to those who worked all day why they got a denarius
When those who only worked an hour got one too.
In fact, this is what they say:
Matthew 20:12 “saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’”
They didn’t think it was fair.
But the compensation of God is not about what is fair
(none of us want that) it is about Him being gracious.
And I can illustrate that to you quite easily.
Here in America Christianity is easy.
At the present time we suffer very little for our faith
We don’t really know persecution.
We have committed to follow Jesus,
But thus far the cost has been relatively small.
We have not “borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day”
Like some have.
Should God reward us like He rewards them?
No, not if it’s by merit.
But God doesn’t reward that way.
He rewards by grace and those who follow Him get rewarded,
No matter if it is hot or cool on the day they work the vineyard.
So those who follow Jesus are compensated
Imperially, Immediately, and Impartially.
Now, let’s get back to the question.
Is Following Jesus Worth It?
I can’t answer that for you.
I can only answer it for me.
And I can tell you how others have answered.
The Rich Young Ruler said no.
See Jesus promised him “treasure in heaven”
But he didn’t think that was a good trade.
And he isn’t alone.
Hebrews 6 tells of those who weighed the decision and walked away.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
They decided that the cost was too high and rejected Christ.
And many decide that way still.
Their heart is full of weeds which choke out the word
And it becomes unfruitful.
However Peter apparently thought it was.
Because he chose to stay with Jesus.
Even in John 6 when all the crowds were leaving.
John 6:66-69 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Peter decided that following Jesus was worth it.
I’ve always like the quote of Jim Elliot, one of the four missionaries who was speared to death in South America.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep
To gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus asked it like this:
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
And you have to decide for yourself.
I’m not saying the cost to following Jesus isn’t severe.
From Jesus’ own mouth it costs you everything.
But Jesus also says that the compensation is worth it.
You have to choose what to do with it, as do I.
John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
