Have you ever heard of The Great Reset? Has anybody heard about this in the year of COVID, in the summer of 2020? The World Economic Forum announced The Great Reset, and that made conspiracy theories go crazy, right? The elites want to take away our private property. The elites, they're going to use the threat of climate change to force us all into compliance. They're going to reset the financial system as we know it. Well, what if there is actually a great reset that is coming, and what if it didn't come from social media or conspiracy theorists? What if it actually came from the most trustworthy source you're ever going to hear from, the Lord Jesus Christ himself?
I want to invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to Mark, chapter 10, verses 23 to 31 where Jesus is going to tell us about the fact that when the kingdom comes, there will be a great financial reset. And you need to hear about this. You need to take this to heart. This is our part two in our series here about money. Because last week, if you were here, a man ran up to Jesus, knelt before Jesus, and he said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He seemed sincere, and Jesus said to him, after some conversation, Jesus, knowing this man had many possessions, he said, “Well, go sell what you have, give it all away to the poor, and then come follow me, you'll have treasure in heaven.” And the man what? He walked away sad because he had so much that he wasn't willing to give away. So, immediately after that man walks away, Jesus has this conversation with his disciples, and today, we all get to participate, to hear what they talked about. And so, out of respect for God's Word, I want to invite everybody to stand up for the public reading of Scripture, and I want to encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention, because this is the Word of God. Mark 10:23-31. Please follow along as I read.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is[a] to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,[b] “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, 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 lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead, grab your seat. There is a handout in your bulletin if you want to take some notes on what Jesus just taught his disciples. And I want to start right where it ended, in verse 31. Right under verse 31, The Great Reset, that many people who seem like they've reached the top and they're first right now, well, they're going to end up last. And many humble people who seem like they're last right now, they're going to end up being first. So, you’ve got to know that in the Gospel of Mark, the premise is that the kingdom is at hand. The kingdom is drawing near. There is a king and he is coming. That's why, at the beginning, John the Baptist was the voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make your paths straight” away at once. You’ve got to get ready now, because the Lord is coming. And when Jesus began preaching, he said, because the kingdom is coming, you should repent and believe in the gospel.
So, the whole context is that the Jewish people think the kingdom is going to be restored. God's going to restore the fortunes of Israel. Remember King David? King David is there, George Washington, he's there, Abraham Lincoln, he's there. Whoa, back in King David, those were the good leaders at the good times, the Golden Age and, someday, God said in a covenant that there's going to sit one on David's throne, who will reign forever, and that Messiah, that Christ, he's going to bring in this kingdom. And so, when the kingdom comes, there's going to be a reset, and those who seem rich now will end up with nothing, and those who seem like they have nothing, will end up with treasure forevermore. This is if you heard Jesus teach, you would get this concept on a regular basis.
Go over to Luke 13. Let me give you another example of where he teaches about this radical change that's coming in the future, when the kingdom comes in Luke 13, starting in verse 22 here's another example of this kind of teaching from Jesus. It says in Luke 13:22, “He went on his way through towns and villages.” He's teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. So that's where we are in Mark, as well. He's on his way up to Jerusalem. We're reading the Songs of Ascent in the Psalms with that they would sing going up to Jerusalem. Jesus is going up to Jerusalem as we move towards Easter here at our church, that's when he's going to arrive in Jerusalem. Some of us, this summer, we're still praying if there's going to be a way for us to go on our trip later on to Israel, to go up to Jerusalem. But that's what's happening here. And look, someone said to him in verse 23, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” This person is really listening to what Jesus is teaching. Jesus isn't acting like everybody's going to make it, so their conclusion is, oh, so is it only going to be a few people who are saved? And he said to them, verse 24, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
So can you imagine hearing Jesus say that where he's teaching that, hey, you should get in the door while you can, even though it's narrow, make sure you enter the door, because someday it's going to be too late. The door is going to be closed. People are going to be knocking, Lord, let us in. And he's going to say, I don't know you, you workers of evil, but he does say there will be people, not just from Israel, people from every direction of the compass, and they're all going to enter into his kingdom. And when the kingdom comes, watch out for the reset, because many who are last will be first, and many who are first will be last. So that's the punchline of this conversation.
Go back now to Mark 10, I want you to see how into it Jesus and his disciples are. Something has just happened that has created this intense conversation that they're about to have, that we get to study together this morning. So sometimes when I'm teaching people how to share the gospel of Jesus, to go out and bring the good news to the community around here, I feel like I'm saying things, and maybe people are taking notes. But then if they actually go out and they try to talk to people about Jesus, and they try to share the gospel, and this person says this, and this person believes this, then if they come back and I say, now, do you want to hear about how to share the good news? Now they're ready to pay so much more attention, because they just didn't know what to say. And now they're really thinking, what should I have said in that situation? See, that's what's happening here. This is a debrief. Someone just got invited to be one of the disciples, to come and follow Jesus, and because he had so many possessions proper, these houses, lands, he thought, I can't sell all of that away and give it to the poor. And he walked away from Jesus, sad. And that got these disciples engaged.
And so, notice here in the language, look at verse 23, underline where it says, “Jesus looked around” and said to his disciples, so Jesus is like making eye contact with his disciples. Then look at verse 24, “The disciples were amazed.” Circle “amazed at his words.” So, Mark is doing a good job to bring us into the intensity of this conversation here. Jesus isn't just saying something, he's making sure he has the disciples’ attention, and the disciples’ minds are being blown by what Jesus says. In fact, look, because in verse 26 as he keeps talking, it says “they were exceedingly astonished.” Underline, or circle, “exceedingly astonished,” like, now they were already amazed. So that's already the mind blown emoji, what's your next emoji after that? Because that's what they've got here for “exceedingly astonished.” And in verse 27, underline, “Jesus looked at them.” See, there's this is a focused, intense dialog that is happening here. And the disciples, this is different than what they were thinking. This is amazing them, what Jesus is saying to them. And so, look at the content. Verse 23, Jesus says, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.”
Okay, now that's not what the Jews thought. The Jews thought, if you were rich, that meant you were blessed. The Jews would have understood that all good things come from our Creator. And so, if you've got something good, who gave it to you? It was God. So, the more you have, the more blessing you have from God. And so, you must be good with God if you're rich. And I mean being rich, it has so many practical advantages. It's got to be a really good thing. And here's Jesus saying, yeah, if you have wealth, look at it. If you have wealth, it will be difficult, it will be hard to enter the kingdom with your wealth, with your many things, with your money and the things it can buy, all your possessions. When the more possessions you have, there's a greater reality that they could become a hindrance to you. And you're not focused on entering the kingdom. You're caught up in the things of this life, the pride of possessions, the world's goods, it's going to be difficult. And see, they're like I thought it would be good to be rich. Now you're saying it could be a hindrance to be rich. And then, look, Jesus said to them again. Notice children. He wants them to really hear this. He addresses them, “How difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God, not just for the wealthy, but it's not easy to strive through the narrow door.” Not everybody's just going to make it into this kingdom. In fact, look at what he says in verse 25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
So, do you see that in verse 23 verse 24 and verse 25 it mentions enter the kingdom of God in all three of those verses. So, when you're writing in Koine Greek, when Mark is writing this gospel, Mark doesn't have capital letters. Mark doesn't have bold, italicized, underlined; when you want to make a point, you repeat it. That's how it works in the Scripture, when something is repeated, you should always think as you're reading the Bible, this is being emphasized, and the way Jesus said it to his disciples, the way Mark decided to write it down for us, the repetition is making a point about who's really going to enter the kingdom, and the conclusion is that it's impossible. The conclusion is that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
Now, the camel, if you ever get to go to Israel, the camel is the biggest animal they've got there in Israel, and they've got a lot of camels there. You know, whenever we go to Israel, I'll be like, and we're going to go over here where Jesus was crying for your sins, and we're going to go over here where they beat Jesus up and he bled for your sins, and then somebody in the back is like, but will there be camels? You know, that's the big question. Are we going to ride camels here in Israel? Trust me, they’ve got camels, and they know tourists want to ride them. In fact, one time when we were in Israel, in a parking lot, I'm sitting in the bus, and people are having so much fun riding the camels that they start to like chant my name and hold me hostage. Until these, my brothers and sisters in Christ, until I come and, you know, go up on the wobbly camel, and we all take a picture. And so, yes, even I have ridden the camels in Israel, right? And so, when you're in Israel, the camel, that's a large animal. I mean, it's even the idea of the camel fitting through something is an interesting concept with its hunchback, with its long, gangly legs. Now, if you read about this idea “through the eye of a needle,” you might read the story that there was a gate in Jerusalem called the “Eye of a Needle,” and it was hard for camels to fit through. The problem with that story is it didn't come around till like 900 years later after this was written, so I don't think that's true. I think the eye of a needle is like you're trying to thread a needle. People like me have a hard time threading through the eye of a needle, with no camel required. It's still difficult, right? Well, now you’ve got a massive camel going through the eye of a needle. No, that's a great word pick. That's not happening. That's not even close.
So, do you see what Jesus is saying here? Riches, wealth and entering the kingdom, that's not going to work, and the disciples are just in awe of what he's saying. They thought there was an advantage to being rich, both in the here and now, and to be right with God, and Jesus is saying, no, did you see that guy walk away, sad? That's what's going to happen to many who are first now, they'll get so caught up in all that they have now that they won't be ready to enter the kingdom.
And so, this is a profound concept that Jesus is giving that's really changing the thinking of the disciples. And the question, as we talk about this in Orange County in 2026 is, will this change the way that you think about wealth and riches? This is kind of part two in talking about money. We saw the man walk away sad last week. Now we're getting the debrief with Jesus and his disciples, and it was very great for me to be a part of a conversation about money here at this church this last week. And it's a very interesting conversation, because we all absolutely need money in our lives. There are a lot of responsibilities that we have where we need financial resources, and yet, at the same time, there's a strong warning being given here that if you're not careful, your heart could get caught up in the love of money or the desire to be rich, which could then become idolatry and then become sin. And so, you have to deal with money, but then what if you get too into it? And there's no like, this is for sure right, or this is for sure wrong, it actually gets to what's going on in your heart. And so, it's been interesting to hear people talk about this.
Go with me to 1 Timothy, chapter 6, and let's see what Paul writes to Timothy about money here at the end of this letter that's teaching Timothy, who's a young pastor, how people should conduct themselves in the household of God in the church. So that's really what 1 Timothy is. It's a lot of instructions for the church and its people. But then, at the end, he has a lot to say here about finances. He says in 1 Timothy 6:6 that “godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” That is an interesting statement for us to hear. I think, for a lot of us, what we need to be content might be way beyond food and clothing. That might sound very ancient to some of our modern ears here, but that's what Paul's writing. And then notice the warning that he gives here. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.”
So, if you're taking notes, those are two phrases I would love for you to write down. Verse 9, “the desire to be rich,” okay? And then verse 10, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” So, there needs to be a heart attitude of contentment. But watch out, because there could be a desire for more. There could be a love of money and the things that it could obtain. And people end up getting so caught up in material possessions that they end up falling away from the faith. And that's what just happened right in front of Jesus and the disciples, the man who knew Jesus was the way to eternal life, walked away because he's too caught up in the possessions of this life. And so, here's Paul now writing to Timothy the same idea. Watch out for the desire to be rich. Watch out for the love of money. What's going on in your heart when it comes to your finances? Be very careful about this. And then later on, if you skip down a few verses, look at verse 17. Notice what he says here, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” So, notice that at the very end of this letter, Paul now tells Timothy to address those who are rich. So, we have to think this through very carefully. There are people in this church who are rich, and he's not telling them to stop being rich. He's warning them about the desire to be rich. He's warning them about the love of money. But there are still people that are being addressed as rich, and what's being said to them is, don't be proud in your riches. Don't get puffed up with the pride of your possessions.
And then, notice what he says, “don't set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches.” Make sure that no matter how much you have, you're not putting any of your trust, your faith in what you have; you want all of your faith on God, not on money. Can I get an amen from anybody on this, right? And so, hey, look what he goes on to say, God's the one who's given us all. He's given richly, provided us with everything to enjoy. So here's what the rich people should do. Verse 18, “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Hey, if you're rich in this age, don't get caught up in trusting in your riches. Now, make sure you're storing up your treasure where you're really going to want it, in heaven, in an eternal life. So be generous. Be rich in good works. Be ready to share. That's the encouragement here.
So, this idea, and it's so sneaky how it works, because there may have been a time in your life, and some of you may be young, you may be growing up in this time right now, but there may have been a time where you didn't care about money at all. Who can say, I don't need money? I'm just happy to follow Jesus. But see, what happens over time is your responsibilities increase. And a lot of times, along with your responsibilities, if you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he provides what you need, your blessings also increase. And as God blesses people, and as the kids are going to go to college, and as retirement is on the horizon, and as certain needs are being presented, you can start to think about money a whole lot more than you used to. In fact, you might even start to put your trust in it. You might even find security not in Jesus Christ. You might find security in the fact that you have a lot of this. And so, that's the warning here. Check your heart. Don't put your trust in money. Make sure you trust in God.
Now, if you were here last week, we had the graphic of Benjamin Franklin on the screen, and the title was, “When Money Makes You Sad” because of how the man walked away. But I started the sermon by saying, yeah, you're thinking if somebody gave you a Benjamin after the service, you would probably be pretty happy. You'd be okay with that. Well, a brother in Christ at our church literally came and handed me a Benjamin after the service, and I’ve got to admit, it put a smile on my face when he did that. I'm not going to lie, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd bring it back for show-and-tell this week, because he gave me $100 and it did make me happy. Now, if you have observed a bill lately. I don't know you might be a part of the cashless society that's breaking out, but if you have observed $1 bill or $100 bill or any kind of bill, do you know that our money comes with a warning label on it? Do you know that when you flip this thing over on the back, right there in the middle, in bold letters, it says what? “In God We Trust.” Did you know that in the United States of America, our country, Congress, in 1956, 70 years ago, made “In God We Trust” the official motto of the United States of America? And it was at that time, it was already printed on some of the coins, but at that time it became printed on all of the bills of our currency. Since 1956, our money has been telling us, don't trust in this, but trust in God.
See, let's get this down for point number one: “Observe the warning label on the dollar bill.” Observe the warning label on the dollar bill. When the kingdom comes in the great reset, it will not matter how much money you have in this age. Your trust needs to be in the Lord for the age to come. And so, we're going to have another week of talking about money and making sure that, as God has blessed us, if he's blessed you financially, that we haven't started putting our trust in what we have, but our trust is still in the one who's given it to us. We need to make sure that our faith is in God. Because watch out if you're rich, if you're acquiring wealth, if you're accumulating possessions, watch out, because that could make it hard or difficult to enter the kingdom, but no, it could even be impossible.
Go back to Mark, chapter 10. And let's examine that look, because when he says that line about the camel through the eye of a needle, which is never going to happen, that changes the tone of the conversation. And here you can see a question comes up. This is Mark 10:26, and this is when the disciples now they were already amazed at how riches made it hard to enter the kingdom. That was already information overload, but now you're telling me that, like a camel going through the eye of a needle is a rich man trying to enter the kingdom. You're telling me it's not going to happen. It's impossible. So, look at the question in verse 26, “And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’” See, whoa. Now we're going beyond just even talking about money, and if that's an idol in our hearts or not, now we're going into, well, who's even going to enter the kingdom? Do you realize that people who heard the teaching of Jesus started asking questions like, will the saved be few, or who even will be saved? Or how it's kind of put here is who even can be saved. Then see, when you heard Jesus teach, you didn't think it's easy to get in the kingdom. You didn't think everybody will make it. All you’ve got to do is go to church. All you’ve got to do is read your Bible. All you’ve got to do is pray a prayer one time. No, you never would have got that impression from hearing the teaching of Jesus.
They're hearing Jesus’ teaching. They're like, who's even going to be saved then? And here's Jesus's answer. Look at this. “With man it is impossible,” You're right. No one's going to make it “but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” See, now you're getting it. Now you're understanding how salvation works. We are not able to enter the kingdom. Only with God will anyone be able, will it be possible. So, I want to make sure we understand the question, what does it mean to be saved? And then also, what does it mean that it's impossible or possible?
So, let's start with the idea of saved. And if you go back to verse 17, let's go back to the original question asked by the man who ran up and knelt before Jesus in verse 17, the question was, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Right? So, that was the original question. How do I get the life of the age to come? And then, three times in our text, Jesus said, enter the kingdom. We looked at in 23, 24, and 25. So, “saved” here means eternal salvation for your soul, this kind of quality of life where you are with God and it will last forever. You will be in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus when it comes, that's what we mean by saved. Other times in the Gospel of Mark, they might use the word “saved” because Jesus heals someone from their disease, but this is talking about the ultimate salvation for your soul. Go ahead to chapter 13, verse 13, and you'll see another example of this kind of “saved.” And here we're talking about the future. We're going to do a whole study on eschatology when we get to Mark 13, about wars and rumors of wars, and how all these things must take place. But the end is not yet, and nation will rise against nation. And hey, the Gospels got to be proclaimed, and they're going to bring you over and persecute you and deliver you up before people, and where you're going to be on trial, and then at the very end of all of those warnings about the future, it says in verse 13, “And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Saved to a future sense past, and not just a temporary “saved” now, but it's saved for a future kingdom, a future time. And so, wow, if you're selling me rich people and people who have wealth, I can't enter the kingdom, if it's like a camel going through the eye of a needle, well then who's even going to make it? Who's even going to be saved in the kingdom? And the conclusion is, that's a great question. Jesus affirms their question, because the conclusion is, it is impossible. And another way you could say impossible, the negative or possible is, it is “you're not able” would be another way to translate it. Yeah, men are not able to get themselves into the kingdom. Only God is able to bring you into the kingdom. You have to receive it, we already learned, like a child. That's who enters the kingdom is those who receive it, like a child declaring their humility and their complete dependence on God. And so, yeah, with man, you will not make it into the kingdom, and they're just exceedingly astonished to hear this.
And so, when was the time that you acknowledged before God? And if it hasn't already happened, then that means it still needs to happen. When did you acknowledge I can't make it into the kingdom? When did you acknowledge that you are poor in spirit? Go with me to Matthew, chapter 5. Let's look at how Jesus would teach about this idea, that you're not capable. You can't do it within yourself. It's not about you trying to keep the commands. It's not about you getting better at being a good person. It's not something that you are going to be able to fit the camel through the eye of the needle. And this is how he began. If you go to Matthew 5, the beginning of the most famous sermon of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount. What's the first line of Jesus' great sermon that has been studied by Christians now for 2000 years? Well, the first line, look after he opened his mouth and taught them. Look at verse 3. This is Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the” what, everybody? Who's going into the kingdom of heaven, not the rich, but the poor. And we're not talking now about finances. We're talking about poverty in your spirit, those who realize in my soul I'm not able to be good, to be righteous, I cannot save myself.
Go over to Luke, chapter 6, where this teaching of Jesus, this poor in spirit, he develops this a little bit further. It's not as famous of a teaching of Jesus here in Luke 6, verse 20, but this is something that Jesus clearly regularly taught, was that you are not able, and you need to own up to your poverty. You need to know that you're poor in your spirit. Here it says it like this, Luke 6:20, “he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor.’” Hey, you want to be happy. You want to know where you're going later on. Well, Blessed are you if you're poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” You see how Jesus is saying, there's going to be a great reset? And those who understand that they're poor in their spirit now they're going to be in the kingdom, and those who think they've got it all now, Woe to them.
Let's get this down for point number two: You want to “Declare bankruptcy in your soul.” Declare bankruptcy in your soul. There's no way you're going to be able to pay off the debt of your sin to be saved. Doesn't matter how hard you try to do what is right, you have already sinned against a holy God, and you can't balance that out with your own self-righteousness. You don't have a righteousness of your own. No, for you, it would be impossible to save yourself. Can I get an amen from anybody on this? I don't know if you've ever talked to somebody who's in serious debt, but that's actually something that happens here at the church, sometimes, as people are hearing the gospel of Jesus, and they're repenting of their sin, and they're and they're coming to church now, and they're reading the Bible, and they're getting to know Jesus, and they're trusting in him, and their life is changing. It's very exciting, and we've been blessed to see some people get saved and start coming to our church. Well, sometimes they bring a lot of debt with them, because before they knew Christ, they were living different ways. And maybe some of them have these loans. Some of them have maxed out these credit cards. And so sometimes I have these very intense meetings with people, and I can feel their discomfort as they come to talk to me, and it's like they're carrying around. It's like they're being buried under this massive pile of debt. And even though it's money and it's like digitized, it's actually a physical burden upon them. And they'll start to tell me about their debt, and you can tell it's so hard for them to admit this, and they'll start crying many times, and they'll say, hey, I want to ask you for help. But, you know, I known I need help for a long time, and it's so hard for me to come in here today and say this, and then they just start letting it out. Here's how much debt I'm actually in. And sometimes it just feels overwhelming. If you talk to these folks, and you get the sense that that this has been just keeping them down in their life, but as soon as they open up about it, as soon as they ask for help, it's like you can see the light come into their eyes. You can see the burden start to be lifted, and I can start to encourage them. And our church can come alongside and maybe give to meet their need, or we have people who will financially counsel them how to start thinking about their money a better way. And all of a sudden, you can see, there's hope, but the thing they had to do is admit their need. See, have you ever declared yourself to be poor in spirit? Have you ever admitted that when it comes to being saved, I won't be saving myself. I'm not able to because if you've done that, yours is the kingdom. And if you've already confessed your sins to God and admitted that there was a debt of righteousness that you would not be able to repay once you humbled yourself and asked for that help, God forgave you for your sins, and God is now the one who will come and save you. What's impossible for you to do, God is the one who was able to do it.
And so, it's actually by admitting your poverty that you find the riches in Jesus Christ, and see once you declare bankruptcy, and you know that God has to save you, it keeps you humble in your frame of mind. From that point on, you're so thankful for how God forgave you a debt you could not repay. You're ready to forgive other people and pass it on. You're so full of the love that God had for you to not condemn you for your dead and your lack of righteousness, but to give you righteousness that now you want to love other people in the same way that you've been loved. See, knowing that you were poor, oh, that has led to such a profound change in your life.
See, go with me to Colossians 2, where it talks about our sins in the way of a debt that we’ve got we're so maxed out, where we have such a loan out against us, there's no way we will be able to repay this debt. In fact, in Colossians 2:13-14, it says it like this, Colossians, 2:13, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” See, it's called the work of regeneration. It's something that God does when our soul is dead in sin. God makes us alive in Christ. He takes out our heart of stone, and he puts in our heart of flesh. He washes us clean from all of our sins, and he gives us his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who now causes us to walk in his ways, and gives us an ability and a power we didn't have before to live a new life. That's what God does to save us.
So, the next verse is so beautiful. It says, How did that happen? How did God make us alive with Christ? Well, “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” We're the only righteous person who ever lived. Jesus, the Son of God, when he was nailed there to that tree and he's bleeding out, what is the last thing that Jesus said right before he took his final breath? He said, “It is finished,” tetelestai, something they would sometimes stamp on a receipt, “paid in full.” And so, you had acquired a debt that you would not be able to pay. It was impossible for you, and God, he's able to save you because Jesus paid your debt. Jesus, his righteous blood is what redeems. When you hear the word “redeemed” or “ransomed,” it's the idea of bought back; the righteous blood of Jesus paid for your sin and then freely as a gift by grace, through faith, God gives you a righteousness you could never have the ability to get for yourself. He gives you freely the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, and now God declares you to be righteous in the name of Jesus. What an amazing deal.
And the whole key, if you want to be done carrying the burden of your sin, you’ve got to admit you're broke. You’ve got to come and ask for help. You have to confess you're dead of sin to God. There is nothing else you can do about it except declare that you are poor in your spirit. And whoever declares that bankruptcy of soul, theirs is the kingdom. They're the ones that God saves but it's not possible for us. It's only possible with him. So, if you've already declared your bankruptcy at some previous time, today is a great day to be reminded of that and to worship God for paying your debt through his son Jesus, being nailed to the cross. And if you've never declared bankruptcy, I want to encourage you to consider how poor you are in your spirit, because if you don't declare yourself to be poor now, you're not going to the kingdom later. That's what Jesus is teaching his disciples. And then Peter's putting it together.
Go back to Mark, chapter 10, where Peter is putting it together here, and he sees what's happening. And it's like Peter began to say to him, hey, wait a minute. Look at this. See this. I love this conversation, like Jesus is making eye contact with the disciples, and the disciples are amazed and astonished. And now here's Peter saying, look as if you could see it right there among them. See, we have left everything and followed you.” Okay? So that man with many possessions, he walked away sad because he didn't want to sell it all and have treasure in heaven and follow Jesus, but Peter is now like light bulb going on. Wait a minute. Look at this. We did leave it to follow you. I remember when you came to our fishing boat by the Sea of Galilee, and we dropped the nets and followed you. I remember when you went to see Levi at the tax booth, and he left the booth and followed you. We did do what that man didn't do. We have followed you. And then Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you,” so, whatever Jesus is about to say here in verses 29, 30, and 31, they're going to be hard to believe. Whenever Jesus front loads it with I'm here to tell you the truth. That means what he's going to say isn't what we would naturally think, but we need to hear it and receive it by faith, “Truly, I say to you.” He takes what's true about these disciples and now he applies it to everyone. Look at how he says, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions,” as well. “But in the age to come, eternal life.”
So, when you hear the principle that Jesus gives us in these verses, what you leave you will receive. And it's not just for these guys. He says, no one who has left these things will not receive. But see, you don't just receive what you left back. You receive it back with hundredfold. I mean, that's like the best possible investment. As far as reading scripture, I don't know that there's a better return on your harvest or your investment than hundredfold. So, yeah, notice the first thing he says you might have to leave is your house or your lands. And that kind of gets into what we've been talking about, the possessions, the properties, and at that time, it's about having fields. It's about having your animals or your crops. And maybe many properties equals much money, much value. And so, yeah, whoever is ready to sell their possessions and not get caught up in those things, well, they're going to receive it back hundredfold. They're going to get blessed now and in the age to come, there's going to be an immediate return on their investment and a long-term eternal life on their investment. And notice here, he brings up members of our family, as well. This is another good thing that God gives us in our lives, just like money can be a real blessing, our families are such a blessing. Children are a blessing from the Lord. He who has a wife, you have such a good thing and but notice what it says about your family here, your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your kids. Some of them are going to be left to follow Jesus. Some families will be divided, as some will follow Jesus, and others won't. And if you have to leave your family, well, you're going to get a new family in the in the church, in the household of Jesus Christ, you'll get new brothers and sisters, it says, and in the age to come, you'll be with God, the Father and all of his people for eternity.
See Jesus when he asks you to leave, the thought that Jesus presents is not that you would just lose it. This is what I think. People think if I give to the church, if I give to someone in need, then it's gone. That's not what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is inviting you to lose. He's inviting you to gain. He's saying what you leave now you will receive later, and wait till you see the return on your investment. It will be hundredfold. Go back to what he said to the man. Go back to verse 21 and remember, Jesus knows this man's heart, so he gives him a unique challenge to expose how he loved money and desired to be rich in his heart. And he said, “Sell all that you have, give to the poor.” And then underline this, circle this, what's the promise? “You will have treasure” where everybody? In heaven. So, it's not like just give it all away, because it doesn't matter. No, it's sell it all, give it to those who need it. Why? Because you'll receive such a return on that investment in heaven, and then your treasure will be where you really want it to be.
See, what Jesus teaches is that all financial investments in this life are actually short-term investments. Now, when I was growing up, and now I'm married, and now we're having a family, and now I'm trying to figure out financial planning for my family. And I worked at this one church, and they were not paying me and my family enough to even live our life. And so, I'm like, how's this going to work? And then God takes me to a new church, and I can tell the way they treat people at this church is much different than the church I was at before, and they're going to start paying us an amount that seems like we could actually have a good budget. And then I remember there were some older men at this church, godly men, men I respected, and they told me, they introduced me to this concept of the 401K. Has anybody else ever heard about this? They said you could start investing in your retirement, in your long-term future. They told me, if you put a little bit money away now, over time, the return you could get on that investment, it will set you up for the future. And I was like, oh, okay, this seems really interesting. I trust these guys, these older men, I'm going to start this investment, and you give a little, and then over time, it becomes a lot more. And this is really interesting to me, this whole idea of, don't just focus on what you have now, but prepare for the future. I'm getting introduced to this concept, and I remember a follow up conversation later was, hey, you know, you should put more into that 401K, and I'm thinking, well, I'm already putting a lot in there. Why would I put more in there? And they said, well, the church has this program where if you put money into that, they'll match what you put into it. Up to this amount, you'll get two times what you put into it right away, and then it'll compounded over time. And I'm thinking, you mean, I can double my money right away. That seems too good to be true. And so, I started thinking about this idea, I'll get two times the investment right away. I mean, I can just take money and it becomes twice as much. I can do it this much every, every month or so, but see, then there was this other thought that came into my mind, like, wait a minute, where does that two times money come from? don't think that's coming from Uncle Sam. Is there just some money out there you can access for retirement? And then I started realizing, oh, that money is coming from what people give to the church. I don't know if people are giving to the church so I can have two times my retirement. I don't know if I feel good about that. And I began to really wrestle and consider with this idea of what should I do with my money to invest in the long term? And what I'm trying to tell you today, what Jesus is saying truly, I say to you, is a 401K is not a long-term investment. The real kind of investment when you give to God, when you give to meet the needs of his people, that kind of investment, when it seems to you like you gave it away and you're not getting it back, no, you will have treasure in where, everybody? Heaven. In fact, whatever you leave behind, you will receive hundredfold. And so, I realized there might be some value in investing in a 401K, but the main place that I wanted to invest is in my 401Ever.
Let's get that down for point number three: I want you to “Invest in your 401Ever.” And I'm here to tell you that the money that you leave behind in this life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel, that the money you give freely, cheerfully from your heart to God and his people, the money you give to meet the needs of our brand new brothers and sisters who are under debt, the money that you give to the Lord and his people, you're not losing that money. That's your money that's getting stored up and the return that you will get. I was enthralled with the idea of getting two times my money. The return that you will get on your investment in God and his people is the best possible return you could ever imagine, greater than any return you can get in this life is the reward that you will receive when the kingdom comes and the great reset happens. And though it seems like you were last, you will end up first. And though it seemed like you were poor, you will be rich. That's what Jesus is teaching us to think. He's not telling us to give all your treasure away because it's wrong to have it. He's saying, make sure your treasure is in the place where you'll really have it forever. That's what he's saying. And they're like, wow, we did do this, and this promise that Jesus gives is not just for these disciples. This promise is for you.
So, we had previously announced we're taking an offering here today. And some of you may have heard of this. Maybe you didn't hear about this. It's an offering for Project Legacy, because the lease has come up. It was an 11-year lease on our original building, which is now the Kids ministry building, and so this year, we began a new lease on that building. And so, some people have asked me, as they've heard about Project Legacy. We had a video about it. We had a little card about it. Why are we doing another project at our church? Why do we decide to do this? Well, I just want to make it clear to everybody here that the reason we're doing Project Legacy is coming out of the need of what's happening, particularly with our original building, which is now the Kids ministry building. This year, 2026, as we started a new lease, okay, this year, our rent on this building has gone up $144,000 in one year. And if you do some quick math, and you know there's 12 months in the year, that's $12,000 a month more. Now I'm glad you're sitting down for me to tell you this, because when I heard this, that was not a pleasant day in my life, right? That tells you that the deal we've been getting on this building has been an amazing deal, because this is a correction to try to get it closer to market rate. I don't even think this actually takes us up to full market value in Huntington Beach, but that tells you how far below market value we were in Huntington Beach. Don't be surprised some day in the kingdom, if someone found out you went to Compass Bible Church, Huntington Beach, and they're like, I can't believe that original lease you guys got on the Argosy building. That was amazing, right? So, and this lease is now for 17 years on this building, so over time, we're hoping that this new lease will be way below market value for years to come, and it'll be another amazing deal. But the jump from last year to this year, you can see that that amount doesn't fit in our normal budget increase from one year to the other. That's why we're bringing this up. In fact, how much can we increase our budget at a time? It's probably going to take years to increase our budget to keep up with this increase, and so we probably need not just that much, but more even for the years to come, as our budget increases until it all balances out. So that's what led to the idea of doing this project, and also, because 11 years later, some things have been really upgraded in that building. Some things are the same as they were when we moved in in 2015. And you saw in the video, particularly, there's never been new lights or screens or some of the things you would need in the kids auditorium. So, we got the estimate back. This is what it would take to adjust the kids auditorium to things that work well. Here was the estimate, $175,000 just for lights and screens and projectors in the kids auditorium. Doesn't even that estimate, you know. And if you’ve ever done a project like that, we're going to go get into it with this company and try to bring that money number down. And what are they going to try to do? Bring that number up. So, I don't know where it will end up, but that's the opening line of the negotiations, right? And that doesn't even count all the computers and tech stuff you would need in the back room to make all those screens and projectors work. In fact, that doesn't even count a change in the bathrooms, a change in the kitchen, and then these ideas we have of things we could do in the courtyard, so there would be seats and places with shade and things for the kids to do in the courtyard. So, people could stick around after a service and have a conversation about what they just heard from the Bible. If we had the ability, there are some cool things we'd like to do in the courtyard to upgrade that free space that we get in between the buildings. If you start adding up all these things, it could easily become a million dollar project. So, the reason we're doing it is because the new lease, the increased rent, and there's things in that building that need to be updated. So, I'm coming to you and saying, hey, let's leave a legacy, not just to the kids, but we're at a time in the life of this church now, where we're not new anymore. In fact, we're at this is really the first time in our church's history where we're going to have to pay much more to get the same thing. This is the first time we're really feeling the full effect of inflation. We all feel it in our family finances. A lot of you feel it in your business finances, this is the first time we're feeling it in our church finances, where are we at as a church? Are we ready to be generous and meet that challenge? Are we ready to endure through the challenges? But the real legacy that I want you to leave is not just here among our church, and the real legacy I want you to leave is not just for the next generation of kids. The legacy that I want you to leave is the treasure in heaven. I want you to hear what Jesus says and realize there's a danger in desiring to be rich now, but those who leave it now, they will receive hundredfold when the kingdom comes.
And so, we're going to have a song, and the ushers are going to come forward and take an offering. If you open your bulletin, there's a QR code there for Project Legacy if you want to give online. But I want you to consider how you would respond to this conversation Jesus has with his disciples. Let me pray for us right now.
Father in heaven, I just want to thank you. As Jesus is looking around at the disciples and their minds are being amazed, and Peter is saying, but we did leave everything to follow you. Thank you for letting us in on that conversation. Let us see the man with many possessions, walking away, sad, and let us feel the sense of discovery. Those disciples had to realize that they had not really lost what they had left, but they were going to receive it hundredfold when the kingdom comes. God, I pray for everybody here. First thing I would pray for them is that they would be poor in spirit, that they would know they're not able, that it's impossible for them to save themselves, that they would ask for help, that they would declare their debt, that they would say, God, I need you to save me. Based on how Jesus paid for it on the cross, please save my soul. And, God, everybody here who's saved, I pray for us that we would now see how life really works. The point of life is not, what can we store up for ourselves in the here and now. The point of life is what can we store up for ourselves in the kingdom to come. And so, Father, let us be people who aren't trying to be rich in our hearts in this life, but we're trying to be rich in good works in the kingdom that is to come. Let us be children that reflect our father. You're so generous with us. You're so good to us. Let us be generous. Let us give. And let us give with faith that you will continue to provide both now and in the age to come, eternal life. Teach us the words of Jesus, teach us that a great reset is coming, and let us live by faith that today we ask you to work in Jesus’ name. Amen.