#152 Lu. 18:28-30 THE BEST RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT

Introduction:

    A rich young man came to Jesus with a question.  He asked,
"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  We would say, "What
must I do to be saved?  What must I do to go to heaven when I
die?"  Jesus first referred him to the Law of Moses.  Not that the
law is a way of salvation, but the law was given to show people
that they have sinned and that they stand in need of the grace of
God and the forgiveness of sin.  In other words, the law of Moses
should have led the young man to repent of his sins and trust in
Christ for mercy and forgiveness of sin.
    Instead, the young man said, "All these things have I kept
from my youth up."  He claimed that he had kept the law of Moses
He still did not realize that he needed a Savior.
    Jesus then told him, "Go sell all your possessions and give it
all to the poor.  Come then and follow me."  In essence, what
Jesus told him was, "Get rid of that blockade that is hindering
you from trusting in me and after you trust in me then come and be
one of my followers." But the young man had a covetous heart and
his riches were a blockade preventing him from coming to the Lord
Jesus to fully trust Jesus.
    After the young man left and went away sorrowful, Jesus
pointed out to His disciples that it is very hard for a rich
person to get saved.  The chief reason is that a rich man trusts
in his money rather than trusting in the Savior that God has sent.
    In our text today, the Apostle Peter then approaches Jesus
with a question in mind.

I.  The investment that Peter and the other apostles had made

    V. 28, "Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed
thee." The Apostle Peter saw himself and the other disciples in
sharp contrast to the rich young man who had gone away.  That
young man was not willing to give all his riches.  The Apostle
Peter said concerning himself and the other disciples, "We have
given up our all.  We have given up everything and we have
followed you." And they had.  Now they did not give up the same
amount of wealth that the rich young man had because they were not
rich.  The only possible exception to that was Matthew, whose
occupation had been that of a tax collector.  Matthew may have
been rich, but almost surely not as rich as the rich young ruler.
The Scripture says that he was very rich.  Matthew may have been
rich, but he was not that rich.
    At any rate, Simon Peter said, "We have given it all up."
Peter and Andrew, his brother, had given up a profitable fishing
business.  Matthew had given up the very profitable business of
tax collecting.  I think it is safe to say that most of whatever
they may have accumulated had been used up during the three years
they followed Jesus.  They had been without livelihood during
those three years.
    They had given up the close contact they once had with their
families.  They had given up any close ties they once had with
their friends.  They had left their homes.  In the accounts of
Matthew and Mark, Peter told Jesus, "We have given up everything
in order to follow you."

II.  A question in the mind of Peter

    Luke does not record the question that Peter asked Jesus, but
Matthew does.  The question was, "What will we get out of it?  We
have given up everything for you, now what will we get out of it
in return?"
    It is certain that Peter was not expecting to get saved by the
sacrifices that he had made for Jesus.  He understood very well
that salvation is not obtained by one's works.  He understood that
salvation is a gift from God.  Salvation is by the grace of God
through faith and is not earned by works.  Ephesians 2:8-9 say,
"For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of
yourself; it is the gift of God.  Not of works lest any man should
boast." Salvation is a free gift.  It is not earned by making
great sacrifices for God.
    But Peter was interested in finding out what he would get out
of his life of sacrifice for the Lord.  He was also interested in
seeing that the other disciples get something out of the
sacrifices they had made for the Lord.
    I think that one thing that was stuck in the back of his mind
right here was what Jesus had already told them that He would be
killed when they get to Jerusalem.  He could understand how he
would get something out of serving Jesus if Jesus would just go
to Jerusalem, drive out the Romans and take over the rulership of
the nation.  But he just could not see how he would benefit in any
way from serving the Lord, if Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be
crucified.  "What are we going to get out of all the sacrifices we
have made?" is the question he had in his mind?
    I want you to note that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for his
interest in finding out how he would benefit.  He knew the heart
of Simon Peter, just as He knows the hearts of all men.  He knew
that Peter had not made the sacrifices he had made just in order
to get something in return.  He knew that Simon Peter loved Him
and was willing to lay down his life for Him.  He knew that
Peter's service was rendered---not out of selfishness---but out of
love.  But he also knew that it was only natural to want to know
what the reward would be for service rendered.

III.  The Lord's answer

    The Lord answered Peter's inquiry.  However, neither Mark nor
Luke recorded all of the answer.  Only Matthew records all the
answer.  I want to briefly call attention that part of the answer
that only Matthew gives.  Matthew says that Jesus told the twelve
apostles that they would be rewarded by being given a place of
rulership in the millenniel kingdom.  The twelve apostles would
rule over the twelve tribes in the millennium.  Each man will rule
over one tribe.
    Keep in mind, of course, that Judas Iscariot forfeited his
right to one of these thrones and the apostle elected in his place
will rule in his place.
    This brings up another question about Judas Iscariot which we
will deal with later.  First, let us take a look at the part of
our Lord's answer which Luke did record.  V.  29-30, "And he said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left
house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the
kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this
present time, and in the world to come life everlasting."
    Now get this.  No man has ever sacrificed anything for the
sake of the kingdom of God who would not be repaid many times for
his sacrifice.  He would even be repaid manifold times right here
in this present life.  This deals with a misconception that many
people have regarding Christianity.  They think that if one
chooses to become a Christian that he will not benefit from it
until he gets to heaven.  Heaven seems so far away that some folks
are just not interested.  What they do not realize is that the
Christian benefits from his Christianity right here and right now
in this present life.  And it is no small benefit.  He benefits
manifold.  That is, the benefit even here in this world will be
many times greater than the sacrifice he has made.
    Jesus said that this is true if a man has left his house for
the sake of the kingdom of God as the apostles had left their
houses to follow Jesus.  He would be repaid many times over.  Many
houses would be opened unto him.
    This is true if a man has left his parents as the apostles had
left their parents to follow Jesus.  Many older couples would
become as mother and father to that man.
    This is true if a man has left brothers or sisters as the
apostles had left their's to follow Jesus.  Many people would
become even closer to them than a brother.
    This is true if a man has been called leaves his wife and
children as the apostles had left their wives and children to
follow Jesus.  Now, let me point out to you that this is not
talking about divorce.  But the apostles had not divorced their
wives to follow Jesus.  But they had sacrificed a great deal of
closeness with their wives and children in order to make trips
with Jesus.  Jesus was not on tour for the whole three years of
his ministry, period, but He did make several tours during that
time.  They would be blessed tremendously because of this
sacrifice on their part.  I am sure that when they returned, the
close fellowship they had with their wives and children was much
sweeter as a result of their sacrifice for the Lord.
    Note that Jesus said that all these men who made these
sacrifices for the kingdom of God would be repaid many times.
They would be repaid both in this life and also in the life to
come.  They would not get to heaven because of their sacrifices.
They would go to heaven only because they had repented of their
sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.  But they
would be rewarded for their faithfulness.  They would be rewarded
both here in this life and also in the life to come.

IV.  A question about Judas Iscariot

    Now let's get back to Judas Iscariot.  Did not Judas make the
same kind of sacrifices that the other apostles made?  Apparently
he did.  Apparently Judas left his home to follow Jesus just like
the other apostles did.  Apparently Judas left his parents, his
wife and children, if he had any, just like the others did.  He
left his occupation just like the others did.  Would Judas have
the same kind of rewards as the others would receive?  If not, why
not?
    There was one big difference.  Jesus said that there is no man
who has left these things for the kingdom of God's sake who shall
not be repaid manifold.  Judas made the sacrifices, but he did not
make them for the sake of the kingdom of God.  Judas was looking
out for number one.  He made those sacrifices for his own sake.
He thought that Jesus was going to throne and he was trying to get
in on the ground floor of the new government.  He wanted a
governmental position out of it.  That is why that later when they
would eat the Passover Supper and Jesus would lay it out on the
line that on the morrow He would be killed, Judas immediately
stopped serving the Lord.  He sold out to the enemy for thirty
pieces of silver and betrayed the Lord.  He never followed Jesus
in the first place of faith in Jesus as a Savior.  He never
followed Jesus out of love for Jesus.  He was following Jesus out
of selfishness and when he found out that Jesus was not going to
the throne but to the cross, he deserted camp and sold out to the
enemy.  Judas never made any sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom
of God.  The only sacrifices he made were entirely for himself.

V.  The application to all who are saved and who serve the Lord

    But now, let me get back to the point that Jesus was making to
His disciples.  No man ever truly loves the Lord and makes
sacrifices for the Lord, but what he will be abundantly repaid
both in this life and in the life to come.  That includes you and
it includes me.
    Now let me clarify one thing.  This does not mean that if you
make sacrifices for the Lord that the Lord is going to make you
fabulously rich in worldly goods.  God is going to take care of
you in this life.  He will provide for you.  God is also going to
repay you manifold, but it may not me in the wealth of the world.
Yet, it will be in something better than the wealth of the world.
The Lord will give you treasure that is worth more than all the
material wealth in the world.
    Moses is a great example of this.  Moses could have become the
next ruler of Egypt.  He could have become fabulously rich if he
had not chosen to be counted with the Israelites.  The Scripture
says that he gladly sacrificed the riches of because he counted it
greater riches to be on God's side and counted with God's people
than to enjoy the treasures and pleasures of Egypt.
    Listen!  As a Christian--I mean as a genuinely Christ
trusting, Christ loving born again Christian who sacrifices in
order to serve the Lord--you can get more out of life than in any
other way in the world.  But most important, as a Christ trusting
Christian, you will stay out of the fires of hell and go to
heaven.  I'll tell you this: When you are in heaven and see the
unsaved in hell, you're going to shout for joy.  You will thank
God that you trusted Jesus Christ to save your soul.
    Then when the Lord hands out the rewards for service and He
rewards you with such fabulous rewards, you are going to shout
again for joy.  You will thank God for the privilege of serving
Him.  You will praise Him greatly for rewarding you so far beyond
that which you ever dreamed.  It will make all those sacrifices
that you made for the Lord look awfully small.  You will not
think, "What great sacrifices I made for the Lord!" You will
think, "What great grace the Lord shows in His rewards."

Conclusion:

    If I could make you a millionaire for just $10.00, would you
invest the $10.00?  God has a better offer than that.  If you will
trust in Jesus Christ to save your soul, God will keep you out of
hell and take you to heaven and it won't cost you a penny.
    Then after you are saved, if you will serve the Lord, He will
bless you in this life and reward you richly in the next life.