our Bibles today to Mark, the
Gospel of Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. I want us to
begin our reading in verse 17 and read through verse 27. And when he, that is the Lord
Jesus Christ, 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 said 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 my message this
morning is One Thing, One Thing. And you see it's taken from the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ in answer to this man. Now Matthew
and Luke, they too record this event in the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Matthew tells us that after
the Lord had told him to observe the commandments, and he confessed
that he had observed all these commandments, that the man then
asked the Lord, what lack I yet? What lack I yet? And the Lord
Jesus Christ said unto him, one thing, one thing thou lackest. Well, we see right away that
the one thing this man lacked was not morality. He was a moral
person, obviously. as he told that he had at least
outwardly observed all the commandments that the Lord named. He was a
moral person, so the thing he lacked was not morality. You
know, so many people are deceived in believing that eternal life,
that being saved, it only amounts to being a moral person, just
living a good life, trying to treat your neighbor as you would
want to be treated, living by the golden rule, as we would
say. So many people are deceived in
believing that. It wasn't morality this man lacked. He was moral. I know the blood of Jesus Christ
saves the worst of sinners, the vilest of the vile. His blood
is able to wash white as snow. But thank God, God saved some
who are moral, who have lived a good life, a clean life. And I do not speak disparagingly
of that because think of this, you young people, live a moral
life, live a good life, a clean life. And you will not, if the
Lord does save you and when he does save you, you will not have
the thoughts and the memories that some people have and will
have until the day they die of the life they lived before Christ
came in to take possession of their lives. This man was moral. And I'll tell you something else.
This man was religious. The one thing he lacked was not
religion. It really wasn't. There's a big
difference between religion and knowing God. It's hard to find anyone who's
not religious. In fact, I don't believe you
can. I believe some people's religion is that they're not
religious. That's their religion. That's
what they're trusting in. They're not religious. I remember
years ago, preaching several weeks in a row, one day a week,
in a square in a village in Mexico. And when I think it was about
the fourth time we went back and got permission to have a
service again out on the square, the man who was in charge there
of the village, the president, he said, you don't think we are
religious? I said, oh no. That's not it
at all. He said, you come back on a certain
day, certain week, and we have our festival. And you'll see,
we're religious. Religion is not the answer. That's not what this man lacked. And I say that because he knew. You see his question, what must
I do to inherit eternal life? He knew. that men are not like
animals. When an animal dies, that's the
end of the animal. The animal does not have a soul. When God created man, he breathed
into him the breath of life and man became a living soul. That means that man will exist
throughout eternity. And there's only two places.
either in eternal life or in eternal death. And this man knew
that. He was not like the Sadducees.
You know, some of the religious people, even among the Jews,
they didn't believe that there was a resurrection. They didn't
believe that there was an afterlife. But this man did. His problem
was not lack of morality, and it was not lack of religion. But there was one thing he lacked. The Lord Jesus Christ told him,
one thing thou lackest. What was the one thing? He had
not bowed in his heart to God in Christ. That was the issue. He had not bowed in his heart
to God in Christ. In other words, He had not come
as a bankrupt sinner, raising up that flag, that white flag
of absolute surrender to God. He had not done that. One thing,
thou lackest. Now when we look at our Lord's
answer to this man, our Lord told him, go and sell
what you have and give to the poor. When we look at His answer,
we must remember these two things. Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ
had perfect knowledge. Perfect knowledge. Absolute knowledge. In fact, in John chapter 2 and
verse 25, The Apostle John writes, He, that is Christ, He needed
not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in
man. He knew what was in this man.
And I would just remind all of us here this morning, He knows
what's in us. He knew this man. We don't. If people were to come to me
and ask this question, I might answer in a different way. The
Lord Jesus Christ, when you consider His answer, you must recognize
first of all that He has absolute knowledge and He knew what was
in the heart of this man. He knew what was in this man
and now He forced this man, if you please, He forced this man
to face the truth, to face the truth about himself. He said
that he had kept all the commandments. He said that he had loved his
neighbor as himself. But that was not true. There
was something else that he loved more. And the Lord Jesus Christ
put his finger on that very thing. And his God was his wealth. That was his God. That's who
he served. That's who he worshiped. It was
his wealth. Now no one, you recognize that
no one is saved, no one receives eternal life by selling everything
they have and giving it all away. That's not the way of salvation.
In fact, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 said, and though
I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, now listen, and have
not love, it doesn't profit me anything. That's not the way
of salvation. Our Lord confronted this man
with the God that he worshiped, and it was wealth. It was wealth. In verse 24, we read this just
a moment ago, the Lord Jesus Christ, because his disciples
were puzzled. I think it says they were astonished.
They were astonished at our Lord's answer. Why? Well, certainly
it ran through their mind. What about Abraham, our father
Abraham? Remember how wealthy that man
was? What about Job? What about the
patriarch Job, Jacob, and Isaac? Those men we know who were very,
very wealthy. Solomon, he made silver to be
like stones in Jerusalem when he was king. They were wealthy
men. Our Lord was not saying that
they were not saved, that they had to sell everything they have
and give it away to the poor. Our Lord said, how hard it is
for them that trust enriches. Trust enriches to enter into
the kingdom of God. In fact, it's not only hard,
it's impossible. It's impossible for any man to
enter into the kingdom of God who trusts in anything other
than Jesus Christ and him alone. Doesn't matter what it is. That's
what a man's trusting in. It's easier for a man to go through,
or for a camel, rather, to go through an eye of a needle. You
ladies, you have your sewing needles and that eye's pretty
small, isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to get that
string through it. Well, try to put a camel through
there. You say, you can't do that. No,
you can't. Neither can anyone be saved who
trusts in his riches, or anything else for that matter. It's impossible. There's only one way. So remember
that when we look at the answer our Lord gave to this man. Let's
remember our Lord's knowledge of what was in this man's heart.
And number two, let's remember this. That's just part of what
our Lord told him. Don't put a period there. There's
a comma. There's a colon. What the Lord
said, he went on to say, come. Come. Come where? Come to Christ. Take up thy cross. Repent. Follow me. Don't stop where the
Lord said sell all that you have and give to the poor. But read
on to the end of his answer. Now, did this man... Now think
about this. This was a real man. He's still
somewhere. He is. He still exists somewhere. Is he with the Lord? Did he ever
come to have eternal life? I hope that he did. I like to
think that he did, but we don't know. Scripture doesn't tell
us. But I do know this, and this
is what I want to speak to us about. I do know this, that before
this man, or before you, or me, or anyone else, ever comes to
have eternal life, there are three eras that must be corrected. Three eras that I see in this
man's speech and in his conduct that must be corrected. Number one, the era that must be overcome
is thinking that eternal life can come to a person by doing. Now that's just got to be overcome. If you're going to have eternal
life, if I'm going to have eternal life, we've got to come to deal with this fact, this
truth, that no man ever has eternal life by doing. You know, in the Scriptures,
God has testified over and over and over again to this truth. Showing man. When Adam first
sinned, Adam and Eve sinned when they were there in the garden.
And God drove them, the Scripture says, out of the garden. God put a cherubim there. And
it has a flaming sword, the scripture says. And what was it there for? For it was there for this reason,
to keep the way of the tree of life. That man, the way to the
tree of life, the way to eternal life was forever blocked, closed,
shut up by man's doing once and forever. And it hasn't changed. And yet men continue to think
there's something I must do. What must I do? What must I do? God declared this to Israel when
he gave them that law at Mount Sinai. It was a covenant that God made
with the nation of Israel, and it was a conditional covenant.
Because God said, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments. Now listen, which if a man does,
he shall live by them. Did you get that? If a man does,
he shall live by them. In other words, the law. We think
about the law of Moses, but the law entirely, the law of God
is summed up in these words, do this, and you shall live. That's it. Do this and you shall
live. The law commands obedience but
it gives no power. It gives no power to obey, it
just commands. And you know this was vividly
pictured to the Israelites when Moses was up on the mountain
receiving the law, the tablets and the commandments written
by the finger of God, and he comes down, and the nation of
Israel, they have already corrupted themselves. Even though they
had told Moses, you go up, you get the law, and whatever God
commands, that will we do. They had already broken the law.
when God, when Moses came back down and Moses threw the tablets
down and broke them showing that man has broken God's law and
man has not the ability. What must I do to have eternal
life? There's nothing you can do. You
do not have the ability to do anything to earn eternal life. This is a truth that must be
recognized. In the sermon, our Lord's sermon,
it's called the Sermon on the Mount. He made this statement
among many others. He said, Except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of God. Now, that
maybe doesn't impress you like it would have those who heard
him that day. But most of them, being Jews,
they were of the opinion, if only two men go to heaven, one
will be a Pharisee and one will be a Sadducee. And our Lord told
them, listen, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and
the Pharisees, there's no way you're going to enter into the
kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul summed it up
like this. If righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. What did he mean by that? If
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
If you could, by your doing, if I could by my doing, obtain
eternal life, why? Please tell me why God would
ever, ever, have sent his son into this world to die for sinners. If there were some other way,
remember in the garden he prayed, Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. There is no other way. There
is no other way. Let me ask you this question
before I go to the second era. Have you, I'm asking every one
of us here this morning, have we overcome this era? Are we
convinced this morning that we will never have eternal life
by anything that we do? Are we? Are you convinced? Do you know that? Not as theory,
but as truth. You will never do anything to
merit eternal life. Never. The second error that
I see this man had to overcome is that the Lord Jesus Christ
is more than just a good man. Now I say this because of the
way our Lord answered his question, or not his question rather, but
the way the Lord responded to him. This man came and he said,
good master. And our Lord Jesus Christ looked
at him and said, why, why are you calling me good? Why are you calling me good?
You know, Nicodemus, he was a religious man. He came to the Lord by night,
and that's the way he came, wasn't it? He said, We know that thou
art a teacher come from God. The Lord said, Why callest thou
me good? There's none good but one. That's
God. In other words, If men look upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, and many people do, He was a great teacher. And they put Him on the same
level with other philosophers and other religious leaders. Oh no, my friends. Don't ever
make that mistake. He is God manifest in the flesh. He is God Almighty. To this man the Lord said, Why?
Why do you call me good? There's only one good, and that
is God. Now to have eternal life you
must know, you must know, you must recognize, you must believe,
you must accept that I am God. You must know this. You must
accept this. This must be revealed unto you. Look back in Matthew chapter
11, just a moment. There's two places we're going
to look at. But in Matthew chapter 11, in verse 25, the Lord Jesus Christ, it says,
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son. and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. A person must overcome the idea
that Christ was just a good man. No, He's much more than that.
He's the God-man. And this must be revealed unto
a person. No man can know the Father except
the Son revealed Him. And no man can know the Son,
except the Father reveal Him. Now look over just a few pages
in chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16, in verse
16, Jesus answered and said unto
him, Well, let's look at Peter's confession, first of all. The Lord said, And he saith unto
them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, and
Odysseus, for flesh and blood. hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. My Father which is in heaven
has revealed this unto you. Eternal life is not in a plan. It's not in so many steps. It's
certainly not in a church. Eternal life is in Christ. He is eternal life. This, he
said this in John 17 in verse 3, he said, this is eternal life,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. Eternal life is knowing God,
knowing God in Christ. And this must be revealed to
a person. As long as anyone thinks that
one religion's as good as another, One philosopher's as good as
another. Take your pick. No, the Lord
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And this must be revealed unto
a person. Let me ask you, before I go to
the last era that had to be overcome, has this been revealed to you? If someone were to ask you right
now, who is Jesus Christ? Could you respond the same way?
He's God. He's the God man. He's God manifest
in the flesh. He's the eternal son of God who
came into this world. The scripture says, whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, the third
era, is to believe that men and women, apart from a new heart,
in other words, just any natural person, apart from God giving
them a new heart, can repent and believe in Christ. When Nicodemus, I mentioned him
just a moment ago, when he came to the Lord and he said, We know
that thou art a teacher come from God. The Lord Jesus Christ
responded, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. A man cannot repent,
cannot believe the gospel apart from being given a new heart. In other words, experiencing
the new birth. It's in the new birth that men
are given a new heart. You see, this man, if you think
about what he said, he confused. He was confused. And all lost
men are confused. If you're here today and you
do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're confused.
You're confused just like most of the world is confused. thinking
that salvation, just like this man, he said, ìWhat must I do?î
And then he said, ìTo inherit eternal life.î Well, doing is
one thing. Inheriting is something altogether
different. Doing, working, earning, being
paid the wages of sin is death. Inheritance is all of grace. Grace. But the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. I know this man did
not have a new heart because he said, all these things have
I kept from my youth up. He didn't have a new heart. One
of the first signs that a person has a new heart, that a person
is given a new heart is, I'm a sinner. I'm guilty. No way a person who has a new
heart is going to stand and say, I've kept all these commandments.
I'm clean. I'm pure. I'm holy. I'm righteous. Oh no. Oh no. No, no. I'm a sinner. I'm sinful. That's what causes repentance,
isn't it? Seeing yourself. When the Holy Spirit, when He
has come, He will convince the world of sin. And when a person
has a new heart, you don't have to convince them that they are
a sinner. You don't have to reason with them and try to show, well,
the scripture says, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. You're one of the all. You've sinned. No. When
God, the Holy Spirit, when He convinces a person of sin, he's
convinced. She's convinced. A new heart. And I'll tell you another way
I know this man did not have a new heart. He went away. He went away from Christ. Think
of these two things. When a person receives a new
heart, repentance and faith, it comes from a new heart. This
man, he didn't see any need to repent. So he certainly didn't
have a new heart. And then he turned and went away. He certainly didn't have faith.
Faith is looking to Christ. It's coming to Christ. It's believing
in Christ. This man went away. He went away grieved. And I'll
tell you something, if he never came back, you better believe
today he's grieved. He's in hell grieving. He's in
hell suffering the wrath of God. One thing you like. Maybe you're
here today and there's one thing in your heart that you like.
One thing that's got a grip on you. And even though you try
your best, To overcome that, you just can't do it. There's
only one way, and that is through Christ. With man, it is impossible,
but with God, all things are possible. It's not religion you need. And it's not morality, although
I pray all of us are moral people. I believe we probably are. But the one thing we need is
to surrender in our heart to bow to Jesus Christ as our Lord
and Savior, so that we too will pray like he prayed, not my will,
thy will be done, no matter what it is. The Apostle Paul said, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. And he justifies those who look
to Christ. He imputes the obedience of Christ
to that person, that righteousness that we need. And one gospel,
it said, our Lord told that man, if you would be perfect, If you
would be perfect, and that's what we must be. We must be perfect. And our obedience must be perfect.
Our righteousness must be perfect. Where, where are we going to
get that? How are we going to get that?
Well, not by observing certain rules and regulations. Oh, no. But by looking to Christ and
receiving his righteousness as our righteousness. We sing that chorus a few times
here before. One verse is, He is all my righteousness. I stand in Him complete and worship
Him. Amen? Let's turn to hymn number
329 and sing this hymn. 329.