PURKEY'S

B I B L E   S T U D Y

O U T L I N E S

H O M E   P A G E

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Rev. Ronald C. Purkey, an ordained Baptist minister, claims no originality for the contents
of these Bible study outlines. However, every Bible study posted on this website has been
taught by Rev. Purkey. To see more Bible study outlines go to the Archives Page:
rcpbibleoutlines.com/index10.htm
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LIVING LASTLY

(I’m Number Three)
February 16, 2025

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 19:16-30

KEY VERSE: “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).

INTRODUCTION: We cannot follow Jesus the King without paying a price. After all, He went to the cross for us! Have we the right to escape sacrifice and suffering? In this section, our Lord explains the rightful demands that He makes on those who want to trust Him and be His disciples.

I. THE RICH YOUNG RULER (Matthew 19:16–26).

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 19:16–17).

1. Notice how this young man approaches the Lord Jesus. He addresses Him as Good Master. He is willing to concede that He is good, and probably the enemies of Jesus would not have gone that far.

2. “Why callest thou me good?” I am sure you can see what our Lord was after. When He said, “There is none good but one, that is, God,” He was saying in effect, “If you see that I am good, it is because I am God.” He is directing his thinking so that he might accept Him as the Christ, the Son of God. Then the Lord Jesus flashed on this young man’s life the commandments that have to do with a man’s relationship to his fellowman.

3. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? (Matthew 19:18–20).

4.This young man could say that he had kept these commandments, and yet he recognized a lack in his life. The commandments which our Lord gave him compose the last section of the Decalogue which has to do with a man’s relationship to man. The first of the Ten Commandments have to do with man’s relationship to God. Our Lord did not use those because He was leading this young man along in his thinking. However, now the Lord directs his thinking to his relationship to God.

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Matthew 19:21).

5. “If thou wilt be perfect,” meaning complete. Following Jesus would have led him to see that he was not keeping the first commandments which have to do with a man’s relationship to God. The Lord Jesus was on His way to the cross. If this man followed Jesus, it would be to the foot of a cross. Something, however, was preventing him from going after the Lord. His riches were his stumbling block. For you and for me it might be something entirely different.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions (Matthew 19:19:22).

6. It was his money that was keeping him from the Lord Jesus Christ. In our day there are many things that are keeping people away from the Lord Jesus. Riches are only one thing; there are multitudes of other things. Actually, church membership is keeping many people from Christ because it puts them into a little cellophane bag that protects them from facing their sins. They feel secure because they have been through the ceremonies or have made their confession, and yet they may be as unconverted as any pagan in the darkest spot on topside of the earth. Today, is there something that is separating you from Christ? Is there anything in the way that is keeping you from Him?

7. Well, it was riches for this young man:

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23).

8. This is still true in our day—not many rich, not many noble, not many of the great ones of the earth are Christians.

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24).

9. Many people miss the humor that our Lord sometimes used, and this passage is an example of it. There are some people who hold to the ridiculous explanation that there was a gate in Jerusalem called “The Eye of the Needle,” that a camel had to kneel to pass through it, and that therefore the Lord was saying that a man had to become humble to enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, that misses the point altogether.

10. Our Lord is talking about a real camel and a real needle with an eye. Let me ask you a very plain question: Is it possible for a real camel to go through the eye of a real needle? I think you know the answer—he won’t make it! It is impossible. But would it be possible for God to put a camel through a needle’s eye? Well, God is not in that business, but He could do it. And only God can regenerate a man. That is the point our Lord is making here. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

11. Many people today think they are going to be saved by who they are or by what they have. You are truly saved when you find out that you are a sinner, a beggar in God’s sight, with nothing to offer Him for your salvation. As long as a person feels he can do something or pay God for salvation, he can no more be saved than a camel can be put through the eye of a needle.

When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? (Matthew 19:25).

12. Listen to Jesus’ answer: But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible Matthew 19:26).

13. This is the explanation. As far as any person is concerned—regardless of who you are—you are a candidate for salvation if you recognize that you have nothing to offer God but come to Him like a beggar with empty hands. When you come to Him like that, He can save you. With God all things are possible.

INSIGHT: “We believe that the very beginning and end of salvation, and the sum of Christianity, consists of faith in Christ, who by His blood alone, and not by any works of ours, has put away sin, and destroyed the power of death” – Martin Luther.

THE WORLD’S NEED
By W.A. Criswell

(Read: Psalm 23:1-6)

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

1. A Chinese correspondent was talking to an American correspondent, who happened to be a devout Christian. The Chinese correspondent said to the American, “I am a Buddhist, and my religion is so much better than yours. I have a happy religion, and I worship a happy god, but your religion is full of blood, suffering, crucifixion, and death, and when you come before your God, He is dying in shame on a cross.” The American correspondent had never thought about it like that, and he did not know how to answer.

2. Sometime later the American saw a Chinese man, starving by the side of a road. The correspondent went over to him, saw that he was dying, and called the Chinese people passing by to come and help. No one seemed to care. The American tried to find someone to help him with the dying man, but not a person would stop. They looked with contempt and disdain and passed on by. So the correspondent reached down and picked up the dying man in his arms. As he held the man in his arms and looked upon his silent face, he had his answer. Tell me, where would you take him, if you had in your arms a dying man, a victim of starvation and exhaustion? Would you take him and lay him before the fat, affluent, happy, smiling god called Buddha, or would you take him and tenderly, lovingly, and carefully lay him at the feet of One who knew what it was to be hungry, poor, in need, and in want?

3. The faithfulness of Jesus, the Son of God, is God’s answer to the needs of the world.

 -- Devotion from the W. A. Criswell Sermon Library, Dallas, TX, February 5, 2025

II. JESUS REWARDS HIS APOSTLE (Mathew. 19:27-30).

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? (Mathew. 19:27).

1. It is easy for us to think that Simon Peter is betraying a very selfish streak here. Did our Lord rebuke him?

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28).

2. Our Lord did not rebuke Peter. Instead, He told him what a great reward would be his. Likewise, I believe that today, we as Christians ought to be working for a reward.

And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first (Matthew 19:29–30).

3. There is to be a reward for the saved ones who have sacrificed for Jesus’ sake. Many an unknown saint, of whom the world has not heard, will be given first place in His presence someday. In that day I believe that many outstanding Christian leaders who receive wide acclaim in this life will be ignored while many unknown saints of God will be rewarded. What a glorious, wonderful picture this presents to us!

4. Someone has said: “Pray like it all depends on God, then when you are done, go work like it all depends on you.” Let me add this, “Then we should give Jesus all the glory!”

OUR SPIRITUAL NEED
By David Jeremiah

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

(Recommended Reading: Luke 6:20-23)

1. In 2023 a Florida deputy was accused of street racing because, as it turned out, he wanted to impress his girlfriend. People get into a lot of trouble trying to impress others. We’re all guilty to some extent, aren’t we? It’s our pride!

2. Jesus had a better idea. He blessed those who were poor in spirit. He said, “Great blessings belong to those who know they are spiritually in need. God’s kingdom belongs to them” (Matthew 5:3). When the Lord spoke of being poor in spirit, He meant the opposite of everything that’s summed up in the word pride. Those who are poor in spirit have a proper assessment of who they are without Christ. As the International Children’s Bible puts it: “Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy.”

3. When we recognize we are spiritually bankrupt, we’ll understand the wonder of God’s love for us through Christ. We cannot impress anyone, not even ourselves. But Jesus loves us nonetheless, and through Him alone we find the Kingdom of heaven.

INSIGHT: "The indispensable condition of receiving the kingdom of God is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty. To the poor in spirit, and only to the poor in spirit, the kingdom of God is given" - By John Stott.

 -- Devotion adapted from David Jeremiah, Turning Point, February 25, 2025.

CONCLUSION: What did we learn today from our Bible study?

First, We learned that we are to let Jesus have our all (Matthew 19:16–26).

The wealthy young man had much in his favor, but he thought too highly of himself and was not really honest before God. Money stood between him and salvation, and he would not repent and renounce his false god. You never lose when you give everything to Jesus. He blesses you in this life and in the life to come.

Second, We learned that Jesus rewarded His apostles (Matthew 19:27-30).

The Lord Jesus Christ told Peter that a great reward would be his.. Every true believer in Jesus Christ that serves the lord in some way, will be rewarded in heaven.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: “I’m Number Three:” (Jesus is first, others are second, and I am last).

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REFERENCES: References used in these Bible studies are the Moody Bible Commentary, J. Vernon McGee’s Thru the Bible Commentary: (www.ttb.org), the Scofield Study Bible, the Believer’s Bible Commentary, Dr. Charles J. Woodbridge Bible Outlines, Dr. Lee Roberson’s Sermons, Dr. Charles Stanley: (http://www.intouch.org/), Don Robinson’s Bible Outlines, Women’s Study Bible, The Bible Reader’s Companion Ed. 3, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version, Dr. Tony Evans (https://tonyevans.org/), KJV Bible Commentary, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines of the New Testament ed. 4, Dr. David Jeremiah: (http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/), Dr. Cliff Robinson’s Bible Outlines, Dr. Robert Jeffress’ Pathway to Victory (https://ptv.org/), Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines of the Old Testament, Dr. Alan Carr’s The Sermon Notebook (www.sermonnotebook.org), With the Word Bible Commentary, Wiersbe’s “Be” Series: Old & New Testaments, Radio Bible Class Ministries (http://rbc.org/), selected illustrations and other references.

 

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