I'll just open this up by praying for us tonight.
Lord, those are great words for us to recite and to sing, that we would surrender all to
you.
And I just pray that that would sink from our mouths into our minds and right down into
our hearts as we look to love and to serve you, Lord, to surrender all things to you,
and that we may find true joy, true satisfaction, that you would truly be all that we need.
In Christ's name, amen.
Tonight we'll continue to look at the book of Mark.
We'll be in chapter 10, starting in verse 17.
We kind of see in this section of Mark, Jesus continues to teach his disciples and to show
them the nature and the character of the kingdom of God.
So, and right here in this passage, we'll begin with verse 17 and go through verse 31.
And I'll read that for us as we start.
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him,
good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good?
No one is good except God, God alone.
You know the commandments.
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not bear false witness.
Do not defraud.
Honor your father and mother.
And he said to him, teacher, all these I've kept from my youth.
And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing.
Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.
And come follow me.
Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.
And the disciples were amazed at his words.
But Jesus said to them, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.
It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter in the kingdom of God.
And they were exceedingly astonished.
And he said to him, and they said to him, then who can be saved?
Jesus looked at them and said, with man it is impossible, but not with God.
For all things are possible with God.
Peter began to say to him, see, we have left everything and followed you.
Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel.
Who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.
But many who are first will be last.
And the last verse.
Hmm.
There was this missionary.
He left his home.
He gave up his culture.
He gave up his language.
He buried three of his family members in one year.
He was robbed for almost everything he had.
But except send the guy to jail.
Because of the harsh penal code, he writes him a letter.
In the midst of all this, I guess he's in China, by the way.
And in the midst of all this, there's the Boxers' Rebellion.
In the missionary agency he's working with, they lose 58 of their people and about 21 of their children.
And in the midst of that, he takes no reparations.
He takes no action to defend them against that.
But yet, his whole goal in that is to reach the people of this country and to see that they know Christ.
And towards the end of his life, he makes this statement.
He says, I never made a sacrifice.
Wouldn't that be kind of odd or strange?
Maybe for some of us, kind of romantic, that kind of thing where I never sacrificed anything.
And can you imagine that?
Everything you've been through, every agonizing decision you've made,
everything that you've given up, whether voluntarily or involuntarily,
of course we were like, that's a sacrifice.
We've given this up.
We've let this thing go of value that we've treasured for so long.
And could you make that kind of statement at the end of your life?
You said, I've never sacrificed anything.
But what does he mean by this?
What does his life say about this?
In kind of interpreting life, it seems to say,
it means living a life of following Jesus brings a certain fullness
and a certain satisfaction that comes by no other means.
It doesn't come by staying in the comfort of your own home
or your own country, in his case.
It only comes by following Christ and knowing his will
and treasuring just the fullness and the joy that comes in him.
So as we look at this rich young ruler tonight,
we see certain things about him.
Not all of these are bad things.
Not all of these are good things.
But we definitely see here him being sincere.
As you kind of look in verse 17, it says,
And as Jesus was setting out on his journey,
a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him,
Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
So Jesus is on his way, and this guy just kind of runs along
and kneels before him.
From the different, from the gospels,
we kind of see that he's wealthy, he's rich, he's a ruler,
so he runs out and kneels before Jesus, this teacher.
And that to be kind of a strange thing for him to do during that time,
being in his kind of position of authority,
him being a ruler, him having that status in society.
But we see him running out before Jesus.
Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
So we see a sincerity there,
him not just thinking about himself,
but what's to come,
him thinking about eternal life.
Wouldn't that be kind of a noble thing
for him to earnestly to be seeking about
what will happen in his life as it comes to an end?
And what if we kind of all thought that way?
Like, if I knew what was to happen when I die,
like, would that change how I live now?
And I think he was kind of in that same mode here.
He was wondering, like, if I die,
what is going to happen to me?
So, he's sincere, he's earnest,
he's anxious to know where his life is headed.
And Jesus says to him,
why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
You know the commandments.
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not bear false witness.
Do not defraud.
Honor your father and mother.
And just considering this,
Jesus starts off,
why do you call me good?
God is good.
Only God is good.
So, he gets the mind of this rich,
young, little working.
He gets him to kind of see how he's defining good.
Because either, right here,
he's going to say,
well, if only God is good,
then who is the good teacher I'm talking to?
Is he defining Jesus as being good?
And in that, defining him,
making him to be God?
Well, his view of goodness
is merely from a human standpoint,
where he's subjectively comparing himself
to others around him
and coming up with his own moral standard,
where he's kind of saying,
well, according to these things,
he's good.
He teaches people.
I'm good.
I'm rich.
I'm a ruler.
People respect me.
So, how's he defining good here?
And of course,
he doesn't take the Peter approach.
He doesn't run up and say,
you are the Christ.
We don't see that here
because we see how the rest of the passage goes.
We see it doesn't go in that direction.
It takes another turn.
Because his response is,
teacher,
all these I've kept from my youth.
Hmm.
What does he mean by this?
He's kept all these things from his youth.
He's never stolen.
He's never lied.
He's always honored his father and mother.
He's never murdered.
He's never bore false witness.
Not in any aspect.
Between the law and the Talmud,
he's been able to keep himself holy
and pure and undefiled in every way.
The holiest guy I know.
Thank you.
So,
what are we seeing here in his response?
Could it be self-righteousness?
Is he truly that genuine,
that he's never sinned,
that he's never
done anything wrong in his entire life?
And as we get to his response,
we're going to see that,
that this is all self-deception.
He's blinding himself in,
and thinking he's obtained some type of perfection in this life
that he can kind of hang his head on.
And we can see that,
that we were all born into sin,
that not outwardly,
we tend to do these things a lot,
but in our minds and in our hearts,
we can,
we can see us,
ourselves,
hating our brother,
and Jesus calls that murder.
And can we somehow undo this nature?
No.
And yet,
we see this guy here,
he's,
he's externalized the law that was given to him.
It's by saying,
what must I do?
In all his,
in all his life,
these are just things that he's been doing.
He's kind of building his checklist up.
He's doing all these things,
and he's considering himself good.
And we kind of see that
every wrong thought,
every misplaced emotion,
every thoughtless action
judges us guilty before God.
God in his holiness is unique and perfect
and moral in every way,
and we can't measure up to that standard.
He can't even tolerate a single sin.
As we kind of,
as we see where sin kind of derived from,
we see Adam,
we see Eve,
we see this one sin
separates man from God completely.
So he's,
in his holiness,
unique and perfect
and set apart from us.
He's not ordinary,
he's not casual
in any way,
shape,
or form.
He's,
he's not us.
He's holy,
he's perfect.
And all of us have been tainted in some way.
And a quote from,
from J.C.
Rowe says,
so long as we think we can keep the law,
Christ profits us nothing.
And we're going to see this in,
in the life of this rich young ruler.
So his,
his ignorance,
he's searching for this other,
this other tool,
this other thing that he can kind of
add to his arsenal of,
of his to-do list,
where he said,
I've done this and this and this.
And these things have,
have caused me to gain eternal life.
But it all just boils down to a trap.
It's,
it's become a trap from him
because he doesn't,
he's not seeing where,
where those things are leading him.
And,
we kind of go on.
And it says,
Jesus looking at him,
loved him and said to him,
you lack one thing.
Go sell all you have
and give to the poor.
And you will have treasure in heaven.
Come,
follow me.
So we see here,
he's kept all these things,
yet,
yet he's lacking.
And,
and I think when Jesus tells him
he's lacking,
he's probably not thinking
in the same way that,
that Jesus thinking.
Because in his self-righteous state,
he's,
he's thinking that he's done
all that he can do.
And he just kind of
needs a,
an extra piece of that.
He just needs kind of
a bonus to,
to boost him along
a little bit.
So Jesus
kind of tells him,
or,
or better yet,
reveals where,
where this rich young ruler's
heart,
heart is at.
And we see him
go away.
It says,
disheartened by
this saying,
he went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions.
He loved money
better than he loved his soul.
He loved his possessions
more than he loved himself.
It's not much the fact
that he had money.
The fact is that
he trusted in it.
He took comfort in it.
He made it
security for himself.
It was the one thing
that Jesus wanted him
to give up
that he,
he couldn't live without.
isn't this kind of
the,
the story that we all face?
A little raise here,
a raise there.
Maybe paid a lottery
a little bit
and
get a little extra money
and,
and that'll bring comfort
into our lives.
We can
take all the trips
that we were thinking
about taking.
We can
pay off all the debt
that we have
and,
and that will somehow
kind of put us
in a position
where we,
where we no longer
need anything.
And does God
kind of fall
under that category
in our comfort?
Do we,
do we really need him?
Do we really seek him out?
Is he really
the one
that we're trusting in
and trusting to provide
for us in that
when we have
all that we need
right here?
So what do we do
to,
to keep our good
intentions good?
How do we,
how do we
fend against this?
I think it's
just knowing
that,
that Christ is Lord
and just knowing
that he's Lord
over all that we have,
whether it's our lives,
our,
our time,
our talents
and gifts,
our money,
not just 10%
of those things,
but all of it,
he calls us
to be good stewards
in the way we
handle our time,
the way we handle
our money
and all these things.
So,
just with that,
I love your soul
better than you
love your possessions.
and,
and next,
Jesus,
Jesus responds
to him.
It doesn't just kind of,
in there,
he just doesn't,
doesn't walk away
disheartened.
It says,
Jesus looking at him
loved him.
Hmm.
so this guy,
he,
he's overwhelmed
by
this demand
that Jesus makes
on his life.
He,
he's about to go away
disheartening
and,
and Jesus looks at him,
loves him,
and,
and tells him
what he needs to hear.
And,
you may think
this is,
this is kind of unloving.
He's,
he's putting too high
a demand on this man.
Or,
we may think
it's pretty reasonable.
This guy's pretty wealthy.
He can afford
to give it away.
He's in the one percent.
He can do a little bit more
for society,
pay some extra taxes
or something.
And then we get to,
then we continue
to look at verse 21.
Maybe it's unreasonable
because we look
at this verse
and,
if he has to do this,
then I have to do this too.
Jesus is commanding him
to do this.
See,
he's also commanding me
to give up everything
I have.
Don't we kind of
think that way?
We'll end up
selling off
all our possessions,
moving to some
deserted island
where we read
the Bible to cannibals
or something like that.
But Jesus looks at him
and he loved him.
He had his best benefit
in mind.
He wanted to see
this man prosper,
not in the way
that the rich young ruler
wanted himself to prosper,
but in a different way.
He sees this guy
caught up in his
self-righteousness
and the comfort
that his wealth
kind of brings to him.
And we see
that's why he
experiences this anguish.
He's holding this thing
so tightly
that
he just can't let it go.
And yet Jesus
knows this already.
He's God.
He knows that this man
is coming to him.
We kind of see that
in his dialogue
with the Syrophoenician woman.
Well, the Samaritan woman
at the well,
we see that there,
him knowing
and poking
and prodding
and asking these questions.
But yet here,
he still extends love
to this guy,
even though his affections
are elsewhere.
Not only does he love him,
he promises him treasure.
And he says,
and you will have treasure
in heaven.
Come and follow me.
And I guess this isn't
the treasure he wanted.
And we see in this
statement that
Jesus is offering him
this treasure,
this treasure of eternal life
that he's so desperately
looking for.
but yet,
he's so,
so tied to his
earthly possessions
that
he's unwilling
to let this go.
And this idol
in his heart
just dethrones God
and
it draws his affections
away from this good teacher
who,
who he's running to
for,
for this great answer
that he thinks
is going to
impact his whole eternity.
And we kind of
respond to
our,
our idolatrous actions
in,
in the same way.
God couldn't possibly
want me to get rid of that.
It's just so near
and dear to my heart
that
I really can't let it go.
And then we kind of
justify,
justify when people
try to hold us accountable.
God knows my heart.
I mean,
indeed he does,
but,
but do you know your heart?
Are you deceived
like this rich young ruler?
And have you confronted
the,
the things in your heart
that,
that pull you away
from Christ?
And going back
a few chapters
to,
to Mark chapter four,
he's,
he's telling the parable
of the sword here
and,
and I definitely think
it,
it applies,
applies to the rich young ruler
here when,
in verses 18 and 19,
he says,
and others are sown
among thorns.
There are those
who wear,
who hear the word,
but the cares of the world
and the,
the see,
the seefulness of riches
and the desires
of other things
enter in
and choke the word
and it proves
unfruitful.
so this,
our fruitfulness
leaves him kind of,
kind of useless.
He,
he goes away
and
we never know
if
this ever
comes back
and he ever
thinks about it again
but he walks away
disheartened
and sorrowful.
you see Jesus here
lovingly offering
truth
and
this great gift
that should be
satisfying this young
rich ruler's soul
but yet he couldn't
give himself fully
to Jesus
because,
because of these
possessions
and
we see here
Jesus' verdict
on the love
of money
and Jesus looked around
and said to his disciples,
how difficult it is
for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God
and his disciples
were amazed
at his words
but Jesus said to them,
children,
how difficult
it is
to enter the kingdom
of God
it is easier
for a camel
to go through
an eye of an eel
than for a rich person
to enter the kingdom
of God
and they were
exceedingly
astonished
and said to him,
then who can be saved?
through this account
Jesus just continues
to preach
that the demands
of the kingdom of God
are so,
so radically different
than our expectations
and the bar
is set high.
If the gate was broad
then we all
would enter.
If everyone
could follow
their own path
to God
then why would
he be so strict
here
as to say
that it's harder
for a rich
to enter
the kingdom of God
than the camel
to pass
through an eye
of a needle
the biggest animal
they ever seen
in Palestine
at this time.
Not only was he saying
that it was
a difficult puzzle
that could
be sometime
someday
eventually figured out
this was
an impossibility
and the same
holds true
for the rich
who merely
trust in their riches
who are merely
satisfied
by the riches
that they have.
Their difficulty
turns into
an impossibility
at this point.
And we're quick
to point out
the explicitly
bad things
that we see
in our own lives
and around us
murdering
stealing
lying
and all of these
things but
what about
our idolatrous
attitude
towards good
things
the good
things in our
lives
that we desire
and hope
for
what is our
attitude like
towards those
things?
Are we merely
trusting God
because he's
going to get us
those things
or
are those
things just
kind of icing
on the cake?
Are they
extra?
Are we truly
satisfied in
Christ?
And as we
continue to move
through this
passage
we see here
we see him
here with his
disciples
and they were
exceedingly
astonished
and said
to him
then who
can be
saved?
And Jesus
looked at them
and said
with man
it is
impossible
but with
God
for all
things
are
possible.
You can
almost hear
them gasp
here
because as
he says
this twice
they were
amazed
they were
astonished
if this
guy comes
to him
somehow
has a
leg up
on them
on the
highway to
heaven
then
what are
their chances?
How can
they get
there?
And this
is right
in line
with first
century
Jewish
thinking
that wealth
and prosperity
those things
were signs
of blessing
from God
that people
that had
these things
were blessed
they had
favor
on their
lives
and
somehow
that
status
showed
that
God
delighted
in them
in a
sense
so these
bunch of
fishermen
were together
and they
were wondering
if this
guy
who's
followed
the law
who's
has this
status
who appears
to be
blessed by
God
can't answer
the kingdom
then what
about us?
How can
we be
saved?
And we
see here
the disciples
having to
unlearn
some of
the things
they grew
up with
in their
society
and in
their
culture
they had
to
unlearn
the things
that they
were
hearing
about
salvation
they had
to unlearn
the things
that they
were learning
about
deliverance
from
their
sin
and what
they
would
look like
their
good works
were becoming
useless
their ethnicity
was pretty
much awash
and high
social
standard
high social
standing
was becoming
meaningless
as they
began
as they
continued
to hear
and to
learn
and to
follow
Jesus'
teaching
God
but surely
there
can be
something
they
can
cling
to
but
Jesus
continues
to tear
all this
down
he
continues
to
remove
all of
these
other
things
and
deconstruct
everything
that
their
worldview
kind of
brought
together
for them
so who
can be
saved
and he
looked at
them
and said
with man
it is
impossible
but with
God
for all
things
are
possible
with
God
so
in this
the rich
young
ruler
sheds
light
on what
we should
hold dear
to our
hearts
he
he gives
us
this picture
kind of
contrasting
what comes
in the
passage
before
where
the disciples
are kind
of holding
the little
kids off
from coming
and like
Jesus is
like no
let them
come to
me
but we
see the
rich young
ruler
coming
here
he seems
to have
access
he comes
he kneels
and Jesus
in this
shows us
that
the rich
who
who value
their treasure
who value
their possessions
they're more
far off
than those
little children
that you've
seen before
and we
see here
the gospel
isn't
gained
it's
received
and this
is just
a valuable
lesson
right here
that
by faith
alone
through
grace
alone
in Christ
alone
that's where
our salvation
comes from
that's
where
we're
saved
he says
with man
it is impossible
but with God
all things are
possible
and yet
in that
he makes
a promise
to them
as well
we see
Peter here
maybe a little
antsy
after this
he sees
this
rich
young ruler
coming
he
he's
observing
what's
going on
he's
seeing
he's
hearing
and Peter
says
see
we have
left
everything
to follow
you
and Jesus
said
truly
I say
to you
there is
no one
who has
left
house
or brothers
or sisters
or mothers
or fathers
or children
or lands
for the sake
for my sake
and for the gospel
who will not
receive a hundredfold
now in this time
houses
and brothers
and sisters
and mothers
and children
and lands
with persecutions
and in the age
to come
eternal life
and in this
we see
Jesus
kind of
going back
to what he was
saying to the
rich young ruler
come and follow
me
he's promising
these things
as they follow
him
the rich young
ruler
leaves this heart
and then we see
the disciples
here
they're still
persevering
they're following
Christ
and Peter interjects
like we've left
everything
he seems to be
searching for
an answer
from Jesus
to give him
some hope
like this guy
he's not
leaving anything
behind
but we've
left everything
and for the
present
he says
they'll receive
a hundredfold
and we don't
see them
we don't
see the
disciples
going back
to their
homes
we don't
see them
obtaining
great wealth
throughout
the
history
that is
to unfold
after this
they're
moderate
for their
faith
so
how is
this
true
and Christ
gives us
such a
marvelous
family
of brothers
and sisters
of mothers
and brothers
as we
as you
kind of think
about Mark
3
verse
verse 35
where he says
whoever does
the will of God
he is my
brother
and my
sister
and mother
so we
see
so we
see here
manifested
in our
day
the church
the body
of Christ
knitted
together
all of us
being many
members
being this
family that
he's talking
about here
but yet he
also says
persecutions
that may turn
some of us
off
but he says
persecution
will come
with these
things
and I
just kind
of think
about
the book
of John
right before
his high
priestly
prayer
and at the
end of
chapter 16
he says
I have said
these things
to you
that in me
you may
have peace
and in the
world
you will
have
tribulation
so he
continues
to promise
them
suffering
persecution
knowing
what's
in store
for them
once
he
leaves
and
suffering
can
be an
ugly
thing
it can
break
the
strongest
of people
that we
know
in Tim
Kell's book
walking
with God
through pain
and suffering
he says
while the
world views
lead us
to sit
in the
midst
of life's
joys
foreseeing
the coming
sorrows
Christianity
empowers
its people
to sit
in the
midst
of the
world's
sorrows
tasting
the joy
to come
and at
the end
of the
day
persecution
it makes
us more
like Christ
we see
the apostles
in jail
we read
Paul's
letters
where he's
always talking
about this
identifying
with Christ
and his
sufferings
and as
we read
Hebrews
the joy
set before
him
that came
of suffering
so
persecution
is
is just
another thing
that we
as Christians
have to
face
and to
embrace
as we
walk
this
journey
and in
the age
to come
he promises
eternal
life
and
Keller
also says
in this
book
but
resurrection
is not
just
consolation
it is
restoration
we get
back all
the love
the loved
ones
the goods
the beauties
of this
life
but
unimaginable
degrees
of glory
and joy
and strength
can you
imagine
that
unimaginable
glory
and Paul
talks about
this weight
of glory
that is
to come
that
whatever we
lose here
whatever we
gain here
in the life
to come
there is
there's just
so much
more waiting
for us
my friends
this is
eternal
life
Jesus
promises
abundance
only found
in him
that
he's not
a means
to joy
he's not
a means
to happiness
he's not
a means
to great
possessions
he's the
end of
all those
things
joy
is
Christ
is joy
he is
happiness
he's everything
that we
are looking
for
and jumping
back to
verse 17
we see
here
Christ is
setting out
on a
journey
in all
three of
the synoptic
gospels
Matthew
Mark
and Luke
we see
this story
in the same
place
in all
of them
he's
setting out
on his
journey
with his
disciples
and they're
heading to
Jerusalem
and we
all know
what happens
there
it's kind
of a
final
showdown
of sorts
and we
see this
rich young
ruler
kind of
meeting him
on the way
to that
and Christ
is giving
him a
glimpse of
that
and the
things that
he's telling
them
and the
instructions
that he's
giving them
as he's
heading to
the cross
at this
point
and he's
teaching his
disciples
and preparing
them for
that very
thing to
come
he's
continuing
to disciple
them
and teach
them
and give
them this
hope for
the rough
road that
is to
come
and about
the nature
and the
character of
the kingdom
of God
that they
will have
something to
hope in
and even
going back
to chapter
eight he
he continues
to he
he starts
to instruct
them this
way
and in
verse 34
he says
if anybody
will come
after me
let him
deny himself
and take
up his
cross and
follow me
for whoever
would save
his life
will lose
it
whoever
loses
his life
for my
sake
and the
gospels
will save
it
for what
does it
profit a
man to
gain the
whole world
and forfeit
his soul
wealth and
possessions
are fleeting
marriage and
family
those things
aren't
ultimate
the idea
here is to
to take
hold of
Christ daily
treasure him
above everything
because he's
worth more
than all
those things
and I
just want
to leave
you with
one thought
from 2
Corinthians
8-9
and though
he was
rich
yet for
your sake
he became
poor
so that
you might
so that
you by
his poverty
might become
rich
I'll pray
for us
Lord
Lord that
we would
give you
all our
affections
that we
would
lose the
illusion
of power
that we
think we
have over
our lives
and all
the hard
work that
we
put in
to claim
the things
that you've
blessed us
with
that we
would come
to you
to surrender
ourselves
and our
lives
to give
back all
the things
that you've
given us
and
that we
would
treasure
you
as the
giver
rather than
the gifts
that
with our
whole hearts
we would
seek to
love you
and to
know you
and to
follow you
and it's in
your name
that I pray
Amen