Treasure in Heaven.

Matthew 19:16-24 says And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.  He saith unto him, Which?  Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come and follow me.  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of Heaven.  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.

Mark 10:17-25 says And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  there is none good but one, that is, God.  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.  And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words.  But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into 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 into the kingdom of God.

Luke 18:18-25 says And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  none is good, save one, that is, God.  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come, follow me.  And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

1. This account is in three of the Gospels to show us that God thinks the lesson is so important that He wants to minimize the chance that we miss it.
2. Matthew and Mark call this man one  but Luke calls him a certain ruler.    That meant that he had power and position but since he came one running, and kneeled to  Jesus, he was not very high up.  He was probably the level of a supervisor or manager.  That would place him at the level of people in the church but someone who had respect within the church.
3. Matthew and Mark tell us he had great possessions  but Luke says he was very rich.    He may have inherited his position but it is more likely that he was good at investing since people tend to not be young when they inherit a lot of money.
4. In all three accounts he says Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  He calls Jesus Good Master  and yet refuses instruction that he is told comes from God.  This lets us know that while he is polite and knows how to appear to be religious, he is not sincere.  When given a test from God which would have proved his sincerity, he failed it and, apparently, left lost.  He certainly did not value the eternal riches of Heaven, which he could not lose, above the temporary riches of this life that he would certainly lose at death.
5. In all three accounts Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  none is good, save one, that is, God.  Here we see that Jesus challenged him because he saw Jesus as a good master,  which is a good religious teacher.  He did not see Jesus as 'God in human flesh'.  He was not trusting what God wrote in the Bible but was trusting what a good  religious man told him.  The truly saved see Jesus as 'God in human flesh'.
6. In all three accounts Jesus pointed him to the Bible.  We are to trust what the Bible says and not put our trust in what some man tells us without verifying his claims against the Bible.  Notice that even Jesus, when He is considered to be just a man, is NOT enough authority to trust for our salvation.  ALL godly preachers tell you the Biblical basis of their claims so that you can verify their claims against the Bible.  God demands that you verify those claims and not just take the word of a good master. 
7. In all three accounts Jesus tells him to obey the Bible.  There is a slight difference in the exact commandments listed, which means that these are examples of all of the commandments and this listed does not exclude those commandments not listed here.  We are to keep ALL of the commandments of God.
8. In all three accounts Jesus uses the word thou.    This makes it personal.  We are to personally obey the Bible and we will each be personally judged for how well we personally obeyed.
9. In all three accounts the man claimed All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?  He denied the truth of Romans 3:23 (For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;)  As a result, he also rejected the equivalent truth of Romans 3:24 (Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:)  and he rejected the equivalent truth of Romans 3:25-26 (Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.)
10. This means that he claimed that his good works  were equal to the glory of God.    This means that he rejected God's justification.  He rejected God's grace and redemption that ONLY comes through Christ Jesus.    He also rejected the payment made by Jesus as our propitiation  and demanded that God make him pay for his own sins, which means an eternity in the lake of fire.  He also rejected the forbearance of God  which means He challenged God to bring God's full wrath upon him.
11. Mark tells us that the answer from Jesus showed that Jesus loved him.    In all three accounts Jesus gave him a test which would reveal his true heart to himself.  Jesus told him go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come and follow me.  Jesus does not object to our having things but God objects to our putting greater value on those things than we place on God and the things from God.  His refusal to obey proved that his riches were his idol.  He walked away lost because he valued temporary riches in this world over eternal riches in Heaven.
12. Romans 10:13 says: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  When we call upon the name  we are fully putting our trust in the power and authority.  Illustrate by sitting on a chair with feet off the floor.
13. Jesus gave this man a test which showed the true state of his heart.  He left lost, and probably went to Hell, because he refused to fully trust God.  If you have not already called upon the Lord, you now have a similar test.  You can come forward and call upon the power and authority of God to save you or you and stay in your seat and stay on the path to Hell that we all start out on.  Everyone who refuses to accept Jesus as their Lord, and obey Him by doing anything that He commands will end up in Hell.  He said to come to Him.  If you refuse to come then you are rejecting all that God offers just like this rich man did.
14. Our accounts go on to teach the saved that they also must be willing to leave all to follow Jesus if they want rewards in Heaven.  Those who refused to follow receive punishment instead of reward.  The members of this church also have a test.  Your Lord is leading this church to do a work for Him and to help missionaries to do work for Him.  At the least all members are to be involved in prayer for all of the preparation and for all that happens to accomplish the work.  In addition, there is enough work that all are needed to help.  Further, there are costs that all church members should be helping to pay.  Your test is to come forward and meet your Lord and ask Him what more He wants you to do so that you can have treasure in Heaven.  Those who are already helping should have no problem coming forward.  Those who are neglecting their God given duties will not want to meet with their Lord and will stay in their seats.
15. Philippians 4:16-17 says: For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.  Notice that our reference says that we can literally add fruit  to our Heavenly account  by supporting the missionaries.  Thus, we add fruit  to our Heavenly account  two ways, by being willing to give up everything in this world to follow and serve Jesus Christ  and by supporting missionaries who are doing that on the mission field.  What is also implied by these Bible references is that if a saved person does not do these things then they will have nothing in their Heavenly account.  Therefore, all such people are promised in Heaven is bed space in a dorm room for 10,000 and doing grudge work for all of eternity.  Any saved person who wants more than just the basics for all of eternity needs to work in God's kingdom while they are in this life.

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