But in that time with God, I finally saw that He was Lord of all — my past, my present and my future. With trembling voice, I cried out to Him, “Lord I am going to follow You. You are calling me to follow You to seminary where I can be taught under other pastor-teachers and be prepared to give my life to You and to the people You call me to. I am scared and You know all of my baggage. But my life is not my own, and I must trust You. There is no other way to follow You but to go.”
My beloved, I am here to tell you that God met every need as we packed up and went to seminary. I gave up that job, that home, that beautiful community that I loved so much, but God gave back more than a hundredfold. He has given us freedom, beautiful family members in the body of Christ. He has also given us trials that come from following Him, but the greater the wound, the richer the grace. The promise is for this life and the life to come.
Some of you are hanging on to what will not last. Some of you who are dear disciples of Jesus are in debt up to your eyeballs with things that are keeping you from following Him. This morning, trust Him. Take His hand. Let Him lead you. This is hard, but all I know is that Jesus promises that in this life and in the next, He will take care of you.
Through the body of Christ, God will provide the relationships you need. And in the age to come He will give you real estate like you never imagined — a new heaven and a new earth.
The Way to Eternal and Temporal Security Is to Leave the Rest
I have told you many stories about Pastor Bob (The Rev. Robert E. Baxter). He is a brilliant Hebrew scholar, an engaging preacher, but he is also an extraordinary investor! The secret to his success is (promise not to tell anyone) he is a contrarian. It works like this. When he reads in the paper that Coca Cola stock is soaring, he will not buy Coke because others will. He buys Coke when the news is bad and holds it. He is a true contrarian investor. He doesn’t follow the crowd. He leaves them and goes to the back of the line where the investing is good.
Peter and the disciples need to learn about contrarian investing and how it works with the Lord. You see, Peter was upset. Jesus had told the rich young ruler to give it all away and follow Him. The disciples had done that. Peter was asking, What’s in it for me? Jesus told him that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. This is the Christian contrarian way to wealth and reward in the kingdom of God. Jesus was teaching that following Christ is not subtraction. It is multiplication. Not just tenfold. Jesus promises a hundredfold.
What does it mean, “the first shall be last and the last first?” The man who has invested in temporary things and looks to be on top of the world, but who has not humbled himself before Jesus Christ, will be bankrupt on the day of judgment, which will happen first when he dies. His priorities can’t help him deal with his sin before a Holy God. On the other hand, the man who is poor in spirit, who may or may not have vast financial holdings, that man who quietly gave his all to Christ and to His work, who placed God first in his life and, thereby, made himself last in the world’s eyes, will receive great reward here, even through persecution, and eternal reward in heaven.
