As I say, this particular man was already rich, and his wealth was the primary key to his spiritual problems. So, this evening, let’s not spend our time considering the sins of getting rich – theft, greed, gambling, etc. But perhaps by considering some of the problems and temptations of having riches, we might in the process instill a secondary warning about the acquiring of riches.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall HARDLY enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The Greek experts tell me that this simply means that wealthy people will always find it hard to be saved. Not only is this what this scripture says, but many of us have found it generally true in life. I have met a handful of relatively wealthy and successful Christians, but they are few and far between. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble (or rich and famous), are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Perhaps you, like me, have heard some of the so-called “great” preachers wax eloquent about this camel. I confess that I have at times foolishly repeated what those “great” preachers have said. But when I turn to my commentaries, I can not find any corroboration for their flights of fanciful imagination. A particularly stupid idea is that the Greek word for “camel” is closely related to the word for “cable.” These men who refuse to let the Bible say what it says, try to tell us that the Lord was saying that it’s harder to get a cable through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to be saved. That is NOT what the Bible is saying, and there no reason to wrest the scriptures in that way. More flamboyantly, I have heard it said that there was a door in the Jaffa gate in the wall of Jerusalem which was big enough for a man to pass through, but not big enough for his camel. I have heard that that door was called “the needle’s eye.” I have never found any proof for that statement, and the best scholars call it a fabrication.
Jesus’ statement has nothing to do with cables or gates, but with a rather large obnoxious animal. John Gill quotes several Jewish proverbs which are very similar to Jesus’ statement, showing that the disciples were probably familiar with this kind of language. And a little later Jesus will speak of camels in the same sort of way. In chapter 23 as He once again condemns the Pharisees, He will say, “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” This is very much like His. “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” This is called “hyperbole” – an extreme exaggeration for the sake of a point. These trouble-makers choke on tiny things and yet can swallow whole camels – without pausing in their criticism of others. The point is that the camel was the largest animal known to the average Israelite. There are a great many things that the camel cannot do, because of its size. And it certainly can’t go through the eye of a needle, no matter what size needle you might picture But – “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
Before we get to the problems and temptations of wealth, let’s briefly consider its potential blessings.
Few of you are as weak as I am, so you’ve probably not been through this. But when we lived in our first Post Falls house, I had to drive past a bill board advertising the Power Ball Lottery, and every week the advertised number of the jackpot changed. Without ever buying a ticket, I have nevertheless, mentally played with the mathematics of winning. Let’s see the jackpot is such and such, so the taxes would make it only such and such. They don’t pay it out immediately, but if they divided it into monthly payments, it would be x-amount for the next twenty years. From there I would imagine what I would do if I had all those thousands of dollars to spend every month. It has been several years now, but I have thought about what blessings there might be in being wealthy.
Of course there would be a great blessing in not being in debt. Most of us have mortgages, and many of us have other smaller kinds of debt. Some of us have had medical problems which have created on-going financial problems. And every one of those debts is a type of enslavement. Freedom from debt – or the absence of debt – would be such liberation – such joy. You young people, save your money, buy only what you need – with cash – don’t go into debt. Sometimes debt is unavoidable, but make sure that it really is absolutely unavoidable.
Then, sad to have to admit, like families, most churches require money to survive. Our church property is paid off, but our utility bills are on-going and on-growing every month. Some of our church bills are almost astronomical – such as fire and liability insurance. If I was wealthy, the church would never have another financial concern. And neither would our missionaries, because with my millions I would double or triple their support. And when they needed special offerings, all that they would have to do is ask. Ah, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be wealthy – for the sake of the ministry and the church. And even church members who were in need would have those needs met if I was a rich man.
I would hope that if you were wealthy, you could quit your jobs, making you available to take on new ministries for the Lord. I would expect to see more people attending our prayer meetings, because of the time that your wealth would create. I would hope to hear people asking for material to use in weekly visitation. We could have doctrinal and gospel articles in local papers and magazines. Oh, what we might be able to do as a church if we had a lot of money.
A great deal of money could be a great blessing.
But with such blessings there would be potential hazards, and it’s to one the hazards to which Christ refers.
Why did that rich young ruler walk away from the Saviour? “He went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” His great possessions were the cause – or incentive – for his departure. “He was sad (at the saying of Christ) and went away grieved, for he had great possessions.” Luke says, “And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich.” I cannot tell you precisely what the man’s problem was, but here are some observations –
Riches inhibit a proper relationship with the Lord. Moses warned Israel that this would be a problem. “And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart (will be) be lifted up, and thou (wilt) forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Two verses later he went on – “And thou (shalt) say in thine heart, MY power and the might of MINE hand hath gotten me this wealth.” No, it was not your father or your wisdom, your strength or the luck of the Irish which gave you this wealth. “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.”
Like all of God’s blessings, riches should draw out our praise toward the gracious God. But what it more often does is fill us with pride. I can think of specific exceptions – Christians with a lot more money than most of us – some of them are generous, kind, humble people. But generally speaking riches and humility are mutually exclusive. And remember that “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” The God who has added the word “rich” to that young ruler, can just as easily take it away. “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with (the rich and) the proud.”
One of God’s greatest gifts to the Christian is a simple ability to trust the Lord. Lord, please “give us this day our daily bread” – Lord – “remove far from me vanity and lies (which earthly riches suggest): give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.” The word “convenient” is most often translated “statute” or “ordinance.” In other words, this was a plea for whatever the Lord has ordained. We are better off with what the Lord wills, even if it is poverty, than we are to be wealthy.
Let me test your ears this evening. I’m going to mis-read one word from Psalm 23; can you catch it? Even though it is not what the Lord intended to say, note that it is still the truth. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of DEARTH, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Those who suffer dearth are more prepared to enjoy the table of the Lord than those who are constantly eating at the finest restaurants. Elijah, fed by ravens, ate more sumptuously than Ahab did in his royal palace. And in fact, Elijah may have eaten food which the ravens took from the palace of Ahab. If there is anything that Christians need, it is more dependence upon the Lord and His grace. Independent wealth makes the average person more independent of God.
How much did the man in our scripture have in common with the man of Jesus’ parable in Luke 12? “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” The rich young ruler was not willing to pull down his barns and give his grain to his poor neighbors. He had laid up treasure for himself, and was poverty-stricken before God.
Even though there have never been so many billionaires as there are today, wealth is not a new phenomenon. Wealth is a relative thing, and the man in our text was a wealthy man by the standards of his day. Whether he would have been a wealthy man today, no one can say. And as we see with the man in our text, we see it also in the teachings of the apostles. Paul wrote to Timothy, telling him to beware of riches and to beware of those who are rich or want to become rich. “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” Flee these things as you would a charging bear, the rattle of western Diamondback, or the invitations of the wicked woman.
Even though a really healthy bank account should enable us to think more about Heavenly and spiritual things, that is often not the case. Wealth often makes its recipient more worldly than the man who is scarcely getting by. Simply because he can, he buys a new house, and with that comes the responsibility of furnishing it. No, he doesn’t need expensive decorations and works of art, but since he can buy these things, he has to go to the trouble of figuring out what is the best of the best and then to purchase them. Sure a new Hyundai might not be a bad idea, but since the money is there why not by the most luxurious German car? The more money the man has the more of the things of world he might as well enjoy.
And along with that comes the responsibility of protecting and preserving it. The more wealth that a man has, the more he may be worried about retaining it. “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” – “for riches are not for ever.” Jeremiah says, “As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.”
As I have said, I don’t know whether this man got his riches by right or by wrong. Either way, he permitted his money to become his idol god. He would never have admitted it as such, not because he was a liar, but because he didn’t believed it to be true. But there are far more idolaters in the world than what would show up on a Gallop poll. The man left the Saviour because he refused to repent of his idolatry. As Jeremiah said in 17:11 and as Christ said about the rich man and his barns – all these men were fools over their money. Beware of joining them.