This morning we're looking at
the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10. Mark, chapter 10. And this is
the story of the rich, young ruler. A rich, young religious
leader who came to the Lord and the Lord dealt with him. Let's read. Mark chapter 10 beginning
with verse 17. And I read, And when He, that
is Christ, was gone forth into the way, there came one running
and kneeled to Him and asked Him, Good Master, what shall
I do that I may inherit eternal life? It says there came one
running and kneeled to him and asked him, good master or good
teacher. Now evidently this was a zealous
young man, a religiously zealous young man. Matthew's gospel calls
him a young man. Luke's gospel calls him a ruler
of the synagogue. So this was a young man in his
early thirties and a religious leader, ruler of the people. And he comes running to the Lord
Jesus Christ and kneels down and asks him, good master or
teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Now the Lord in his wisdom answers
this young man and answers all of us in such a way that our
words will condemn us. Our words, our questions, our
thoughts, which are wrong by nature, our Lord will answer
us from His word so that our words will condemn us and His
words, the truth, His word, will leave us helpless and guilty
before him and leave us to the point where he must reveal the
truth to us. The natural man does not receive
the things of God. Neither can he know them, the
scripture says. So this young man says, what
shall I do? That good master, he calls him.
What shall I do? Now, our Lord answers in verse
18. He says unto him, Why callest
thou me good? There is none good but one, and
that is God. And I ask you, I ask everyone,
why do we call any human being good? We have a habit of doing
that. Why, he's a good man, we say.
She's a good person. Scriptures say there is none
that doeth good. No, not one. None but God, that
is. So our Lord is saying to this
young man, if you call me good, and if I am truly good, I mean
in thought, word, and deed, truly good within and without, then
I must be God. More than just a teacher, more
than just a spiritual master, but God Himself. Well, Our Lord
answers His second, or His first question anyway. What shall I
do, the young man said, that I may inherit eternal life? What shall I do? Verse 19, the
Lord says, Thou knowest the commandments. He knew this young man was a
religious leader. and read the law of Moses, and
he said, You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false
witness. Defraud not. Honor thy father
and mother. You know the Ten Commandments.
You read them. You studied them. Do these. Do those. What must you do to
inherit eternal life? What must you do? You must Do
the commandments. All of them. Perfectly. In thought,
word, and deed. What must you do in order to
gain or merit eternal life, favor with God, entrance into heaven,
perfect righteousness before God? What must you do? Well,
you must keep the commandments. All of them. Perfectly. Not just
outwardly, but inwardly. Well, this young fellow in ignorance
says this, verse 20. The young man answered and said
unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. I have. In Matthew's account
of this story, Matthew says that the young man said, What like
I yet? What like I yet? Oh my. This young religious Pharisee
was so self-righteous, as are all Pharisees, all who fancy
themselves to be righteous before God, fancy that they have kept
the law of God perfectly. All those who say they have no
sin, John said, deceive themselves. All those who think they have
quit sinning, since they've given up this, have quit doing that,
or they dress a certain way, or they don't touch a certain
liquid, or whatever it may be, they think themselves to be righteous,
are ignorant of God's righteousness. They're ignorant, like this young
man. And this young religious Pharisee, like so many that I
have known, so many of these seminary-produced young preachers,
they've never been out in the world really, never experienced
the world and sin, and do not think themselves to be sinners
since they have been shielded from the world. Well, this young
man who perhaps lived in some kind of religious retreat said,
Why, I have kept all the law of God perfectly from my youth
up. What do I lack yet? Is there anything I lack? Well,
in verse 21, now this is interesting. It says in verse 21, Then Jesus
beholding him loved him, and said unto him, and it goes
on to say something, but it says he loved him. Well, if he did,
if the Lord Jesus Christ loved this man, you can mark it down.
He later saved this young man. Oh, yes. All whom the Lord loves,
He saves. Everyone. Wouldn't you? Do you
love your children? Sure you do. If it was within
your power to save them, would you do so? Sure you would. God loves His children, too.
And He saves every one of them. There's not one person whom God
Almighty loves that He does not eternally save. Oh yeah, that's
what Jeremiah 31.3 says, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore, therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. Christ said that about His sheep.
He said, I know my sheep and am known of mine. He said, I
give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. And
He said, no man shall pluck them out of My hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man shall pluck them
out of the Father's hand." Yes, everyone whom God loves, everyone
whom Jesus Christ loves, He saves. Mark it down. So this young man,
loved by Christ, was eventually saved by Christ. But right now,
in this story, he's going to go away sorrowful. He's going
to go away having to think about what Christ said unto him. And
for all those who are listening carefully, Some believe that
this young man was none other than Saul of Tarsus. Let's go on. It says, verse 21,
Our Lord said to him, One thing thou lackest. One thing you lack. Our Lord is going to deal with
this man where he is. He's going to get to the heart
of this man's shortcoming or shortfall, his sin. He goes on to say, one thing
thou lackest. And the scripture says to offend
in one point is to be guilty. To lack one thing is to miss
heaven. Now, he's not telling this man,
he's not saying that, yes, you've kept everything perfectly, but
there's just one little area that you need to work on. No,
sir, that's not what he's saying. He's revealing to this fellow
how that he is truly like him that which is most needful. Though he thinks he has kept
all the law, yet he is greatly lacking." Read on. He says, "...one
thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.
And come, take up the cross, and follow me." Sell out, he
said. This young fellow was rich. He'd
been made rich by religion. His religion had made him rich.
That's what religion will do for you. That's what that describes
religion today. It's health and wealth gospel,
and those that are in it are very rich from it. But not the
truth. The disciples weren't made rich.
The prophets were not made rich. Oh, no. Anyway, he tells this
young fellow, sell out. Give. Come, follow Me, take up
your cross, follow Me." Well, this young man, it says in verse
22, was sad at that saying. It just grieved him. It just
pricked his heart. And it grieved him, for he had
great possessions. You know, our Lord says the same
thing to all of His disciples. All of His would-be disciples
and all of those who are His true disciples. In Mark chapter
8, he said the same thing. He said, those that would come
after me, if it's me you're truly after, let him deny himself. Deny yourself. Deny your own
personal ambition. Deny yourself. Deny your own
self-righteousness. If it's my righteousness you're
after, you have to deny your own. If it is me you truly seek,
then it is the world you renounce. If I am the riches, the true
riches that you seek, then you do not truly seek after the riches
of this world. If you do, you are covetous."
Well, this young man went away grieved because he had great
possessions. Where your treasure is, that's
where your heart is. So this young man's heart was
not right. Alright, verse 23. The Lord looked
around. Jesus looked around about and
saith unto his disciples, who apparently had troubled looks
on their faces. He said unto them, How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. How hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the kingdom of God. Oh my, what a convicting
word this is to this affluent day in which we live. How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And
it goes on down in verse 25 to say, it's easier for a camel
To go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of God. My, my. How different this is
than what present day preachers are telling people. Telling them
that God wants you to have a huge house and a Mercedes Benz. My,
my. God didn't say that anywhere.
But He said it's extremely difficult, how hard, yet impossible for
those who trust in riches. Well, verse 24, the disciples
were astonished at His words. Why? Because they themselves
had material things. They were not so poor as we think
they were. They had a fishing business and
so forth. They were astonished, and Christ
said this. There is an important word here
in verse 24. He said, Children, how hard it
is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of
God. They that have much don't need
God and don't need Christ, really. Only when people get sick or
in trouble, usually, do they call upon God. But those who
have a great deal are taken up with buying and selling and so
forth, and only call on God when they get in desperate circumstances. He said they that have trust
in riches, they that have a great deal, generally trust in those
riches to make them happy, to provide for them in their old
age, and they're not interested in God. Well, the Lord goes on
to say, with man it is impossible. Verse 27, with men it is impossible,
but not with God. With God all things are possible.
And the Apostle Paul, who was himself a young, rich fellow
in religion, in Philippians he says, I have suffered the loss
of all things, but counted all but just done, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. That was not of himself, but
that was of grace and mercy of God Almighty revealing unto him
true riches. True riches. Well, until next
Sunday, may the Lord bless His Word to your heart. Amen. Thank you.