"HE WENT AWAY SORROWFUL!"

Matthew 19:16-22                       (ESV)

"16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?"

17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."

18 He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,

19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

20 The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?"

21 Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

22 When the young man heard this "HE WENT AWAY SORROWFUL", for he had great possessions."

There are many quotes that are "accepted" to be from the Bible that simply can't be found in scripture.   One of the most commonly used is "Hate the sin, not the sinner", or some variation of the phrase.  WORDS can be used in a manner that promotes a good cause, but we need to be careful about who we attribute those WORDS to!  If GOD needed HIS WORD to convey a point, HE is quite capable of INSPIRING those WORDS to a writer of scripture.  

There are some WORDS that are in the Bible that are under emphasized.  JESUS was GOD wrapped in flesh and HIS WORDS changed the world!  A young man came to JESUS one day inquiring what he needed to accomplish to have eternal life.  How could he assure himself that his "good deed" would be good enough to get him into heaven?  JESUS replied "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Verse 22 carries some of those under emphasized WORDS that I previously spoke of, "HE WENT AWAY SORROWFUL", for he had great possessions".  The "rich, young ruler" did not elect to give up his current lifestyle in order to secure an eternal reward in heaven.  His great earthly wealth obscured his heavenly gain as he 'couldn't see' what was in his future.  JESUS did not pat him on the back and tell him to give to the temple benevolence fund.  Nor did he tell him his "good deeds" wouldn't be forgotten at the Judgement Seat!  HE simply let the sinner make a decision, "for he had great possessions"!

JESUS instructs us to love one another.  But it is not showing much love if you let someone  stick a fork in a live electric outlet!  Sometimes you have to tell people the truth and let them make a decision.  That "HE WENT AWAY SORROWFUL" did not mean that JESUS didn't love the young man.  "HE WENT AWAY SORROWFUL" because he chose this world over the eternal things of heaven.  My friends, don't be deceived, for our choices DO HAVE consequences!