Bibles today to Mark chapter
10. We have been studying through
the book of Mark on Sunday mornings, and sometimes we turn away as
we did last week, but this morning I want to go back again. Mark chapter 10, beginning in
verse 17. And when he 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? And Jesus said unto him, why
callest thou me good? There's none good but one, that
is, God. Thou knowest the commandments,
do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he
answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from
my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved
him, and said unto him, 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. And he was sad at that saying,
and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And Jesus
looked round about and saith unto his disciples, how hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And
the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered
again and saith unto them, children, how hard is it for them that
trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? 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. And they were astonished
out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith,
with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all
things are possible. The title of the message this
morning is An All-Important Question. an all-important question. And
in looking at these verses today, I'm going to divide my message
into three parts. First, a man with a question. That's the first thing I want
us to consider, a man with a question. And second, the man with the
answer. And then third, several men with
astonishment. So first of all, a man with a
question. And as I said, this is an all-important
question because it concerns eternal life. I cannot think
of a question any more important than this, a question concerning
eternal life. Now let me mention three things
that we know about this man from the Gospel of Mark and also from
Matthew and Luke. First of all, we know this was
a young man. Matthew tells us this. He was
a young man. And oh, how blessed it is when
young people, young man or young girl, have an interest in eternal
life. Because Most people in youth
have no interest, no concern for their soul. And what a blessing
it is when God saves a person in their youth. You've all heard
of Charles Spurgeon. He was saved at the age of 16.
And he often mentioned in his messages how thankful he was
that God called him in his youth. It's not as though God doesn't
forgive all the sins of everyone that he saves and will not remember
them, but many times a person himself or herself cannot forget
the sins of youth. David himself prayed and asked
the Lord to forgive him for the sins of his youth. So he was
a young man, first of all. And I would encourage every young
person here today, the word of God tells you, boast not thyself
of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. You may be in eternity before
the sun goes down this evening. Just because a person is young
doesn't mean necessarily that they're going to be given a long
life. People think, well, I have many
years. That's what the fool thought when he said to his soul, take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. When he laid up his goods
for many years thinking he had all the time in the world, if
he should ever so desire to seek after the Lord. But the scripture
says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him
while he is near. So that's the first thing we
read in Matthew about this man. He was a young man. And then
in Luke's gospel, we are told he was a ruler. Now we assume
he was a ruler in the synagogue. We assume that. But at least
that tells us, no matter if it was a civil ruler or a religious
ruler, he was well respected by his peers. For them to make
him a ruler, for him to be a ruler, he was well respected. He was
a moral person, as we see, an upright person in every way. And the third thing we see here
in this gospel He had great possessions. He was rich. All three of those things, in
a way, may prove a hindrance for a person seeking the Lord. Youth, sow your wild oats while
you're young. You only go around once. Enjoy
it. Riches, not many rich people
are called. J.C. Rowe, Bishop J.C. Rowe,
the Church of England opined that the reason not many rich
people are saved is because not many preachers will tell rich
people the truth. And then he was a ruler. We know that that position, any
position of rulership, leads to pride. But there's a fourth
thing that we assume about this man, not only that he was young,
that he was a ruler, and that he was rich, but he also was
a Pharisee. Because we know he wasn't a Sadducee,
he's asking about eternal life. And the Sadducees, that group
of Orthodox Jews, at the time the Lord Jesus was here, they
didn't believe in an afterlife. They believed that when this
life ended, that was the end of a person's existence. We know
that's not true, that when God breathed into man the breath
of life, man became an immortal soul. Every person People like
to believe that, that when they die, they die like an animal,
and that's the end of their existence, but that's not true. That's not
so. The scripture says, it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this, after this, after death,
that's not the end. It's appointed unto men once
to die, but after this, the judgment. So that's the man with the question,
a very important question. It concerns eternal life. The second point, the man with
the answer, the man with the answer. Have you ever asked someone
a question and they responded like this, something like this?
Well, you're asking the wrong person. Maybe you're in a commercial
place of business and you are looking for something and you
ask them about a particular object and they say, well, you're asking
the wrong person. You need to ask someone else.
Well, this man asked the right person. He asked the right person
the question that he asked. We know that this one that he
asked actually came from heaven, that man might have eternal life. There would be no eternal life.
There would only be eternal death without this man and his work. In John chapter 10 and verse
10, the Lord Jesus Christ said this, I am come that they might
have life. And what life is he talking about?
He's talking about spiritual life, he's talking about eternal
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. All men had
life in our first head, that is in Adam, but it was a life
that could be and was lost. But the life that Christ came
to give and the life that he gives is a life that is everlasting. It is eternal life. Apart from him, there's only
eternal death. And what is eternal life? If
you ask the average person on the street or even in church
buildings today, what is eternal life? The response will most
likely be, well, it means to exist, to go on forever and forever
and forever. That's part of eternal life,
but that's not what this man said about eternal life. If you want to look in John chapter
17 in his prayer, this is the way he defined eternal
life. Verse 1, these words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hours come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. And this is life eternal. that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Eternal
life is to know God, and it is only in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ that men know God. To know Christ is to know God. To see Christ, he told his disciples,
you've seen me, you've seen the Father. There's a proverb that says that
the soul be without knowledge is not good. That the soul be
without knowledge is not good. And I want us to look this morning
at our Lord's statement in verse 21 and think of the one thing
this man lacked. One thing thou lackest. I want
us to consider it as knowledge, the one thing that he lacked,
knowledge. First of all, there are three
things here. First of all, he lacked the knowledge
of to whom he was speaking. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, born
of the Virgin Mary, To see him, he didn't look different
from other men at that time of his particular age. He didn't
have a halo over his head or around his head or anything like
that. He was a man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. In fact, the prophet said that
there was no beauty in him that we should desire him. And this
man looked at Jesus, I don't like to just refer to him as
Jesus, because he's the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is his humanity,
his name of humanity. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
the angel told Joseph. But he looked at him and thought
he was only a man, that's all. Good man, no doubt, but still
only a man. Good master. He didn't know who
he was. And to correct that view, to
teach him and give him the knowledge that he needed, the Lord said,
why callest thou me good? There's only one good, that is
God. I've meditated and thought on
that this past week. Aren't you glad God is good? Aren't you glad God is good? If God were not good, the Lord
Jesus Christ would have never been in this world. There's only
one good, and thank God He is good, and doeth good. He lacked the knowledge of who
he was talking with. You address me as good, well,
you should know from the word of God, and he had the Old Testament,
you should know from the word of God that the scriptures declare
there's none good, no, not one. Have you ever read Psalm 14?
This man, no doubt, had read this Psalm. Let me flip back
here and read just a few verses. Psalm 14, beginning in verse
two. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. That's God's Declaration concerning
all men. Oh, I know we use relative terms
and say, well, he's a good man or she's a good person, and we
understand what we mean by that. But before God, the absolute,
pure, holy, righteous God with whom we have to do, and us, we're
all sinners. There's none good. No? Just in case you might think,
well, what about grandma? What about grandpa? No, there's
none good. No, not one. You call me good? There's none
good but one, God. Unless you recognize me to be
who I am, And you must believe this. If you're interested in
eternal life, you must know that Jesus Christ is God. There's
no coming to God apart from Him. He's the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. So he lacked knowledge as to
who he was speaking with. Number two, He lacked the knowledge
of the spirituality of the law of God. Notice here in our text back
in Mark chapter 10, the Lord said, thou knowest the commandments
in verse 19, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal. And
then he answered in verse 20, master, all these I have observed
from my youth. He lacked the knowledge of the
spirituality of the law of God. Keep your places here, but turn
over with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 and verse 1. These are the inspired words
of the Apostle Paul. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. That's my
desire for those to whom I preach. Every one. There's never been
a person walk through the doors of this building that my desire
hasn't been that they come to know Christ. For what shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? Paul said, my heart's desire
and prayer for Israel, prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God. This young man, he was part of
the natural Israel. that Paul is speaking of here.
And he certainly had a zeal. He came running. He came running
and kneeled down. But not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. the righteousness here that they
were ignorant of, they were ignorant of the spirituality of the law. It's not just the outward acts. I'm sure this man was telling
the truth, pretty much, when he said, all those things I've
kept from my youth. In other words, outwardly, I've
never broken those laws. But what about inwardly? What
about on the inside? Ever had hatred? Guilty of murder? Ever had lust? Guilty of adultery? The spirituality of the law. They were ignorant of God's righteousness. It's not just the outward act,
but it's the thought, the intent, the desire. That word concupiscence. You run into that sometimes reading
in the New Testament, don't you? Concupiscence, that very first,
first inkling of desire against one of these commands. They being ignorant of the righteousness
of God, the spirituality of the law of God, Are they being ignorant
of God's absolute holiness? To think, as some people today,
you know, someone told me once, we don't drink anything that
has caffeine in it. Really? That's what you're trusting
in? You're going to stand before
the thrice holy God? and your righteousness is based
on the fact that you don't drink Coca-Cola? How foolish. How foolish, my friends. To appear in the presence of
God, we must be as holy as he is. You say, well, that's impossible. Without his righteousness, it
is impossible. God's people are accepted in
the beloved. They're ignorant of His righteousness,
that perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why did He come into this world?
And why did He suffer the penalty of the law? And how did He obey
God in every precept and thought and words? And indeed, why? To establish a righteousness
that may be imputed, that may be charged to the account of
all who believe. And so his righteousness becomes
our righteousness. This man was in this group that
Paul is speaking of here. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
they have not submitted unto the righteousness of God. They
haven't raised up the white flag and say, I surrender, I give
up. I'll never live up to your holy
standard. I turn from my evil, sinful way,
and I look to your son, Jesus Christ, for all my righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. See that in verse four? For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness. to every one that believeth."
Everyone. He revealed his ignorance both
of the spirituality of the law of God and the purpose of the
law of God. One writer said, the law was
not given as a remedy for man's problem, but as a reminder that
we have a problem and need a remedy. It points us not to any prescribed
performance on our part, but to a person, and with all the
soul, to a person, the one and only remedy, Christ Jesus our
Lord. For years, when I read this passage
of scripture, I thought, the Lord only mentions the second
table of the law to this man. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not commit adultery. But then I realized, no, no. When he told him to sell everything
you have and give to the poor, Now he's dealing with the first
table of the law. That is, thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all
thy being. And this man had something he
loved more. His riches. His riches. His great possessions. They were to him an idol. And so the verse tells us, verse
22, he went away grieved. The third thing, he lacked the
knowledge of how eternal life is obtained. He believed that it was something
that men earned. What must I do in order to inherit
eternal life? He lacked the knowledge of how
eternal life is obtained. The only thing that men, the
only thing that you and I have ever earned before God is death. You say, well, I just want the
Lord to be just with me. Eternal death. The wages of sin
is death. You wanna collect that wage?
You've earned it. You sure have, I have too. Earned
it many times over. Death, eternal death, eternal
separation from God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
You might say, well, why through Jesus Christ, our Lord? Because
it's only through him that eternal life is given. He earned it. And he earned it for his covenant
people. He came into this world as a
surety for those that the father had given him and that everlasting
covenant. And it is through him being made
sin. That's what the scripture says
in second Corinthians five, 20, 21, that he was made to be sin
that God took the sins of his elect people. and charged them,
made them to meet upon His head, and He suffered and died for
them, that we, those who trust in Him, those who believe in
Him, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Then the Lord said, Come. Notice
that. Sell what you have, give to the
poor, And come. Now where's he wanting him to
come? Come. What did he say? Everyone that
thirsteth, let him come unto me. Come. That's just another way
of saying believe on Christ. Trust in Christ. Come. Take up your cross, and yes,
there is a cross for every believer, every child of God. When a person comes to Christ,
he surrenders his will to the will of Christ. Have you, and
I ask every one of us here today, has God the Holy Spirit given
us knowledge of these three things that I've mentioned, that Jesus
is God, the spirituality of the law. The law was never given
for a man or a woman to earn eternal life by keeping it. It
shows us our need. It shows us we've broken the
law. And number three, that eternal life is obtained by a gift. It's
not by what you feel, it's not by what you Think eternal life
is a gift. It's a free grace gift. When God the Holy Spirit convinces
a person of this, who's been under conviction of sin, who's
under a weight of guilt, when God shows you that eternal life,
salvation, is not something you earn, it's a gift. And when he seals that to your
heart, then you can go away rejoicing. Oh, happy day that sealed my
choice. Amen. Oh, happy day. The third and last, and I'll
be very brief, several men here with astonishment. Now, when
we read that Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples,
here's a lesson that his disciples and all men We all need to learn,
and you don't just learn it one time. No, we need to continue
to learn this lesson. What is it? The wealth of this
world is not the answer to man's problem. It just really isn't. The wealth of this world is not
the answer to man's problem. It's a common mistake that men
make in believing that happiness consists in the things of this
world. The Lord told that woman of Samaria,
whosoever drinketh of this water, the water in that well will thirst
again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
unto them shall never thirst, because it shall be in them a
well of water springing up unto everlasting life. All the wealth
in this world cannot redeem a man's soul. It cannot redeem a man's soul.
It takes more than that. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ. Men commonly, I think by nature,
just believe, well, if I just had more, but you never have
enough. Never have enough. When Jacob
met Esau, both of them were wealthy men at this time. And Jacob was
sending gift after gift after gift to Esau. And Esau said,
what are all these gifts? I have plenty. I have enough. And Jacob said, I have everything. You see, he had Christ. He had
Christ. He had everything. When a person,
I've been around long enough to know, and I've watched people
who are never content. They're never satisfied. They're
never happy, really. Why? Because they base their
contentment and their happiness on the things of this world.
They don't have that ability to give happiness and contentment. But Christ does. I have all. That's what Jacob said. I have
everything. He had God. His disciples, you'll notice
they were astonished at this. And I believe they were astonished
because they were still thinking about an earthly kingdom. a kingdom
like Solomon's, a very wealthy kingdom. But I want you to notice
this last thing. When he turned to them and said,
children, children. Let me teach children, children. The problem with riches is not
having them. It's trusting in them. Having riches, many wealthy people
have used their wealth in many good ways. That's not the problem. The problem is when a person
trusts in the riches of this world. David, King David, he was a very
wealthy man. And you know what he said? He didn't trust in his wealth. The Lord, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. That's it, period. The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want. I shall not want any good thing. in this world nor in the world
to come. Why? Because the Lord is my shepherd. I pray the Lord would bless these
thoughts and words to all of us here today. Maybe you're here today and the
Lord spoke to you and you believe in Christ, you trust in him,
but you never have confessed him publicly and Baptism. Why not? Why not? Why not align yourself with him
and his gospel and his people? Why not? We're going to sing
number 323.