Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

WHAT LACK I YET?

1. The eager inquiry by a young man:
   1. "What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"
   2. Our Lord referred him to the second table of the Ten Commandments.
   3. In answer to our Lord's quotation of some of the commandments, he said, "These I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?"
2. I fear that not many of this audience could make such a claim in the presence of one who knows our life like an open book:
   1. The assertion of the young ruler indicates his home life; he was taught loyalty to God's law - Deut. 6:4-7; that his parents instilled high principles into his life.

1. The question of the young man is personal, "What lack I yet?"
   1. It is so easy for us to discover the lack in others - Luke 10:40 EXAMPLES -
      1. The self-righteous Pharisees - Luke 18:11, 12
      2. The unjust steward - Matt. 18:28-30
      3. Consider those hypocrites that dragged a woman to Christ - John 8:1-9
   2. Our Lord gives us a very strong warning - Matt. 7:1-5
2. How to know our lack:
   1. Examine ourselves in the light of the truth we profess to believe - 2 Cor. 13:5
   2. We profess to believe in the highest moral standard known to man - Ex. 20:3-17; Matt. 7:12
   3. Search our hearts very diligently to discover our lack.
   4. David even prayed that the Lord would search him to know his true state.
   5. Can we do less?
3. By searching the scriptures daily we learn God's holy will more perfectly:
   1. The Bereans did - Acts 17:11; 2 Tim. 3:15-17
   2. The egotistical Pharisees failed to study the word for their own soul benefit - Matt. 22:29
4. Earnest prayer is a must:
   1. The Psalmist prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts." - Ps. 139:23, 24
   2. By obeying the light when it comes to us after earnest prayer - Jas. 1:22; 1 John 7:7-9
   3. That is where the rich young ruler fell short; he came and inquired, but when he learned the cost of the lesson, he refused to heed the counsel given to him.

1. Note, please, the young man asked for it:
   1. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." - Jas. 1:5
   2. "Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, ask and it shall be given unto you." - Matt. 7:7, 8
2. Our Lord stated to him the basic facts to entering the kingdom of heaven:
   1. Keep the commandments - 1 John 2:4-7; Isa. 48:18, 19; Eccl. 12:13, 14; Rev. 22:14
   2. Share your material blessings with the poor - Matt. 25:31-34
   3. "Follow me." That means that we forsake our own selfish ways and choose the way set out for us by the Lord of Glory - Jer. 6:16, 17. It means that we will fix our eyes upon the Lord Jesus and follow in his footsteps - Heb. 12:1-3
   4. There were times when some of the disciples followed the Lord from what they thought was a safe distance, "But Peter followed him afar off" - Matt. 26:58
   5. Would we have done any better than Peter? Would we brave the dangers of persecution and stand up for the truth?