What are people looking for? The same as young man in the Bible.
There is a restless among people, especially among youth today; there’s a feeling of emptiness and dependency, a sense of guilt. There’s a strong desire for an ideology that will give meaning to our existence.
We have all sinned. We’re all displeased by sin, and that disease is fatal. Perhaps these are some of the same things that drove this young ruler in the Bible to seek advice and counsel from Jesus Christ.
I. The young man came to the RIGHT person, Jesus.
-Jesus was "in all points tempted like as we are." He understand our temptation. He understand the pull and the allurement and the attraction. He understand the problems that we face. He understands the difficulties and the temptations. He enters into our joys and sorrows and failures and challenges. He died on the cross for you and me.
II. The young man came the RIGHT way.
-He ran. He was in hurry to get to Jesus. He came with urgency. "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth (Ecc. 12:1).
-Joseph was a young man when he fled from the temptation of Potiphar’s wife, and was thrown into jail. But later he became the prime minister of Egypt.
-Moses was a young man when he turned down a place of power in Egypt so that he could identify with the people of God.
-David was a young man when he killed a bear and a lion.
-Young people need to know that God has his eye on them and that he loves them. If you forget everything else, remember one thing: God loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His son to take the penalty of your sin.
III. The young came with the RIGHT attitude.
-He feel down before Jesus in an attitude of humility, and that’s the way that we need to come.
-A part of repentance is saying, "Lord, I have sinned. I’m sorry for my sin. I’m willing to turn from my sin. I’m willing to change my way of life and follow you." That’s what Jesus demanded of His followers.
-Are you ready to do that? Do you want Jesus in your heart? Do you want to know that when you die, you will go to heaven? Do you want Jesus to come in and solve your problems and meet your challenges? To get that you need to day to Him, "I’m sorry I’ve sinned, and by faith I come." You must received Jesus into your heart. You do it by faith!
IV. The young man asked the RIGHT question.
-He asked, "What shall I do?" In one sense, there was nothing he could do. There is nothing we can do. The Bible says, "By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God" (Eph.2:8).
-Grace means unmerited favor. In other words, we can’t work our way to heaven. We can’t but our way to heaven. All the good things that we do in our entire lives won’t get us to heaven. It has all been don for us by Jesus on the cross and by his resurrection.
V. The young man received the RIGHT answer.
-Jesus said, "count the cost." Jesus taught him that respectability is not enough, money is not enough, religion is not enough. Many of you have been baptized; you may have been confirmed. But deep down inside you know that Jesus does not live in your heart, or have doubt about it. Scripture says you can know, that you can be sure. You can be absolutely sure that Jesus lives in your heart. Not because of anything that you have done, but because of Jesus and his love for you and his willingness to die for you.
VI. The young man is WRONG in "one" thing.
-He lacked self-denial. He had done everything right, but now he did the "WRONG" thing. He walked away from Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus loved the young man, even when he walked away, but he decided, "No, I’m not going to go the ’Jesus way.’ I will find my own.
-The scripture says that the young man was sad, he was grieved, he was sorrowful. There are many of you who have walked away from Jesus.
-The rich young ruler was not willing to put Jesus first in his life.
-If Christ is not Lord of everything in your life, He is not Lord at all. You have to turn over your entire life to Him and says, "Lord, Jesus come in and take over."
