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The Rich Young Ruler (Part 4)

Ivey Rorie On January 21, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Mark 10: 17 – 20

The young man asked what he needed to do to inherit salvation and Jesus answered him, “Keep the commandments.” The man answered that he had so done all the years of his life. That’s it then, isn’t it? Jesus said, “Do this and you shall inherit salvation” and the fellow essentially says, “Ok.” That ends that conversation. But Jesus saw something in this young man that he really liked; more than liked actually. The scripture said that Jesus loved him. Jesus said, “Come follow me.” It is like Peter and Andrew leaving their nets and following him. I am also reminded of the story in Matthew 8. Jesus called someone to come with him but the man responded, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” Jesus answered him though, “Follow Me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

You see, nothing was more important than following Jesus. To this day, nothing is more important than following Jesus. Anything that we allow to come before our following of our Lord is a problem. Actually, it is an idol. Anything that we put in a position of higher importance than the Lord Jesus is an idol. We are serving it rather than the Lord. You see that Jesus was not going to be second place in any of these people’s lives. Jesus understands that we all have responsibilities but he wants us to put him first place in our lives. He is to be our Lord and all other things should fall into place behind him.

The Rich Young Ruler (Part 3)

Ivey Rorie On January 20, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Mark 10: 23 – 26

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” And 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! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?”

If Jesus was teaching that rich people cannot get into heaven, then why were his own disciples astonished? Why has this come as such a surprise to them? After all, they have been following him around for some time. They were living in a totally different mindset than we are today. Wealthy people were the spiritual leaders and all of the spiritual leaders and wise fathers were wealthy. Abraham was very rich. To the disciples this was like Jesus telling them that Father Abraham couldn’t get into heaven. In their minds, if rich people couldn’t get into heaven, then no one could. Furthermore, they were men of means. Peter and his brother, Andrew, owned their own fishing business and James and John were partnered with their father in their own fishing business. Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were wealthy and well educated though despised, probably because they collected taxes for the Roman authority. Because of their wealth they were not only astonished but also a bit concerned. You see that in their entreaty about leaving behind everything to follow Jesus. They apparently didn’t sell everything they had because they reveal here that they left it at home. They left their worldly goods behind. They did not give it away. Matthew used his immense wealth to throw Jesus a big party (Luke 5: 29). He must have had a big house too because the scripture says “there was a great crowd.” David was rich. His son Solomon was the richest man in history, even to this day. What sense would it have made to the disciples for Jesus to say that rich men couldn’t get into heaven? Abraham was already there (see Luke 16).

But Jesus was not telling them that rich people couldn’t or wouldn’t get into heaven. He wasn’t even telling them that it is hard for them to get into heaven. He did not even mention heaven until the last sentence. How is this reconciled then? Jesus was teaching them about the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of heaven. These are related but different subjects and understanding that clears up the confusion evidenced by the apostles. We will see it more clearly tomorrow.

The Rich Young Ruler (part 2)

Ivey Rorie On January 19, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Mark 10:17-31

And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.’” And he said the Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” And 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.” And they were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking upon them, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 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 shall 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. But many who are first, will be last; and the last, first.”

“One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor.”

Above is the text for the entire story of the rich, young ruler so that you can see it in context. Try to read it with new eyes. Try to read it without the wind of doctrine blowing through it.

In this excerpt, I want you to see that Jesus did not tell the man to give away all that he had. He told him to sell it. The man did not have only money. He owned much property. That probably means real estate, but likely includes other property as well. Jesus wanted the man to follow him and knew very well that the man could not manage all that property and go out on the road too. Jesus wanted the man to convert the property into cash. Then his assets would be portable. In this more liquid form the man could have sown into many great works and projects. Jesus was not making the man bankrupt; he was teaching him how to work in the Kingdom of God. He was going to teach him wealth management and growth according to God’s financial principles. He was going to teach him the law of sowing and reaping. The man would have ended up much wealthier by far.

The Rich Young Ruler

Ivey Rorie On January 18, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Mark 10: 21

And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack; go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

The body of Christ is so confused about finances. The misconceptions and misunderstandings are prolific. I find that it is difficult for many pastors to teach on the subject because they fear their congregation will misunderstand them and think that the pastor is trying to get something from them. This is an area that is important for us to understand, especially in today’s economy. We need to understand what God has to say about finances so that we can plot our course according to his way.

This story of the rich, young ruler is one of the most misunderstood and misquoted of them all. The first thing we might notice is that Jesus felt a love for this man. He was a ruler and he was abundantly rich. We have been taught that Jesus liked neither rulers nor rich people. Well, you can throw that teaching straight in the garbage because it is in direct contradiction to the word of God. This fellow was a man after Jesus’ own heart. Jesus looked upon him with love, not disdain. Jesus was so touched by the heart of this man that he wanted to fellow to follow him.

Now here we have a well propertied ruler. The guy had kept his life straight, obeying the commandments all the days of his life. This was apparently a profitable lifestyle because the chap ends up (at a young age) a ruler and very wealthy. Jesus saw in the man the very characteristics that he was trying to teach to his followers. This man was a living testament to Jesus’ teaching; except for one thing. Jesus said that he lacked one thing. What was that one thing? Jesus did not tell us. But he told the man to sell his stuff and follow Him. Apparently, Jesus intended that in following Him, the young man would gain the one thing he lacked.

We have turned this story into an anti-wealth message when it is exactly the opposite. Tomorrow we will delve further into this story and see what the Lord will teach us from it.

A Model Example

Ivey Rorie On January 15, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Genesis 14: 18 -21

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tenth of all.

It is a little difficult to tell what is going on here without reading the entire story so let me expound just a little. Abraham, before his name was changed from Abram to Abraham, had gone out to battle against some kings. These kings had, as part of their spoils from previous battle, taken Lot and his family captive. So, Abram (Abraham) went out against them in order to rescue Lot, his nephew. Abram won and reclaimed all the goods and people that had been taken. Melchizedek, who was a high priest, ministered to Abram after the battle and blessed Abram and Abram gave to Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoil or tenth of all of the income of the battle. This is the model of the tithe. As you read on in the story, you find out that various distributions were made after the battle. In fact, Abram ended up keeping nothing. It is interesting to note, though, that the ten percent was paid over to Melchizedek before any other distributions were made. That is the tithe and it provides that there will always be food in the house of God to meet every need.

Food Stores

Ivey Rorie On January 14, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Malachi 3: 10

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this”, says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

This is the leading scripture on tithing. There are different ways to give to the Lord, the most basic of which is the tithe. “Tithe” literally means 10%. The first ten percent of our income is given into the house of the Lord for its support. In the old days people actually gave food stuffs. This, then, was how the priests ate. You see that the verse says, “so that there may be food in My house.” Truth be told, this is still how the ministers eat. The tithe supports the ministers as well as supporting the work of the ministry. The theory is that the ministers feed you with what God has given them to sow and you feed them with what God has given you.

Father God is serious about this. He is serious about the blessing that He has appointed for the tithers. You can see this in His promise to open His storehouse for us and in His permission for us to hold His feet to the fire on this promise. He says, “Test me now in this.” That is an amazing statement for Him to make, that we should put God to the test!

So, the tithe is the first ten percent of our income and it is paid into the church for its support. God always has a reward attached to all of our giving and the opened storehouses of heaven are the reward for tithers. In addition, verse 11 says that He, God, “will rebuke the devourer” for our sakes if we are tithers. He protects our crop and all that we own so that the devourer does not diminish it in any way. That is a pretty big benefit by itself.

My advice, then, is to become a tither if you are not. It is just fiscal foolishness not to. In today’s economic climate, you really do need to be connected to God’s storehouse, to His provision. Then you will always know where your next meal ticket will come from. This is how we store up for ourselves, not by hoarding.

Generous Growth

Ivey Rorie On January 13, 2016 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Proverb 11: 24 – 25

There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want. There generous man will be prosperous and he who waters will himself be watered.

How is it that the one who gives generously shall increase all the more while the person who hordes shall experience lack? It hardly makes sense. This, however, is the law of sowing and reaping that Jesus taught his disciples and is still teaching us today. This is how the Kingdom of God works. You cannot reap a harvest without putting some seed in the ground. When the Israelites were being fed in the desert by manna from heaven, they found that when they tried to store away extra, it rotted. That is what happens with our resources. I am all for saving but not at the cost of being tight fisted and stingy. The Kingdom goes to those who learn how to give.

I have noticed that the people who get the most disturbed about Christians and especially ministers having substance are those who are not givers. The reason might be that they simply do not have a revelation yet of how generous Father God is yet. They seem afraid to release anything that belongs to them. Once they find out that there is joy in giving then they will no longer be afraid of loss. Then, perhaps, they will not begrudge others having material wealth because they will understand two important principles. First, they will not fear that someone else having wealth means that they will somehow be deprived and second, they will understand that those people acquired their substance through their own generosity as the scripture says. Once we understand how the kingdom of God works and have experienced God’s generosity in our own lives then there really is no place for fear of lack or jealousy.

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