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Matthew 19:16-30 ESV

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 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.” 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, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 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.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, 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.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Matthew 20:1-16 ESV

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

I. HOW DO I FIND ETERNAL LIFE (16-20)
A. Is it doing good works?
B. Is it obeying a secret commandment?
C. None of that works. We are unable to get to God on our own.

II. THE COST OF ETERNAL LIFE (21)
A. All the gift of the Gospel costs us is to leave everything else behind.
B. Must leave all idols behind, including money.
C. Jesus offers way more than He asks us to give up.

III. WEALTH AS AN OBSTACLE, NOT A BLESSING (22)
A. Money is more of a burden than a blessing.
B. Money is a dark master that demands the same thing as Jesus. Your all!

IV. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ETERNAL LIFE (23-26)
A. If the rich are not blessed with eternal life, who is?
B. God alone can convince us to give up chasing idols to pursue His eternal life.

V. THE REWARD OF LEAVING IT ALL BEHIND (27-30)
A. For losing what we have, we win it all.
B. We give not to get but so that the name of Jesus will be exalted.

VI. THE EQUALITY OF ETERNAL LIFE (20:1-16)
A. We are not rewarded in the kingdom based upon our work.
B. God does not give us what we deserve but is abundantly generous.

APPLICATION
1. Work hard so you will have more to give away.
2. Give even to those who are undeserving.
3. Have nothing in this life you can’t give up to honor Jesus.