MEETING AGENDA
- OPENING PRAYER – Ask one person to open the meeting in prayer.
- GROWTH QUESTIONS – Ask everyone the Growth Questions.
- ATTENDANCE – Take attendance through the DG Attendance System.
- TODAY’S LESSON – Go over this week’s DG lesson.
- GIVING – Encourage everyone to give on the App.
- CLOSING PRAYER – Ask for prayer requests and pray.
ONLY ONE WAY
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Matthew 19:16-22 NLT 16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” the man asked. And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” 21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
- This young man asked an important question. He wanted to know how he could have eternal life.
- The problem was that he thought he could earn eternal life by doing good deeds.
- The only way to have eternal life is through believing in Jesus Christ and trusting in what He has done for us.
John 6:29 (NLT) – Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
- Jesus was sent by the Father to pay for the penalty of our sins through his sacrificial death.
- The only way to eternal life is to trust in Jesus and accept Him as your Savior.
John 3:36 (AMP) – He who believes and trusts in the Son and accepts Him [as Savior] has eternal life [that is, already possesses it]; but he who does not believe the Son and chooses to reject Him, [disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior] will not see [eternal] life, but [instead] the wrath of God hangs over him continually.”
- Jesus clearly states that only God is “good.”
- DEFINITION – Good (agathos) (v. 17): upright, honorable, consummately and essentially good or perfect (used only of God)
- Since we know that no one can be made good or gain eternal life through what they do, it seems odd that Jesus would point the young man to the Commandments in Scripture, but Jesus is pointing him to the Law so that he can see he has sinned and needs a Savior.
Romans 7:7 (NLV) – Then what are we saying? Is the Law sinful? No, not at all! But it was the Law that showed me what sin is. I did not know it was sin to follow wrong desires, but the Law said, “You must not follow wrong desires.”
- The Commandments (or the Law) reveal just how far we have really fallen short of God’s standards, and all of us have fallen short.
Romans 3:23 (NLT) – For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
- We’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard. None of us can claim that we have done it all right. We’ve made mistakes, some big and some small, and the only answer for those mistakes is Jesus.
- When the young man claimed that that he had obeyed “all these commandments,” (v. 20) he didn’t recognize that there was at least one commandment he’d been breaking for quite some time. He was putting his money and possessions before God.
Exodus 20:3 (NIV) – You shall have no other gods before me.
- This was God’s first commandment to His people. We can’t allow anything to come before God in our lives.
- Jesus clearly told this man his biggest problem was holding onto his possessions, trusting in them, and making them more important than God’s will in his life (v. 21)
- Jesus invited this young man to leave his old life of sin behind and follow him.
- DEFINITION – Follow (akoloutheō) – become My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk
- This young man didn’t like Jesus’ answer to his question. He didn’t want to leave all he had to follow Jesus.
- Sadly, this meant that he walked away without eternal life, the very thing he had come asking about and looking for.
John 14:6 (NLT) – Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
- There is only one way to relationship with God and eternal life; we must believe and trust in Jesus and follow Him no matter the cost.