The Rich Young Ruler

In this part of the sermon: Martin reintroduces the sermon series in Mark, situating the current passage within Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and his concentrated teaching on marriage, children, and now…

Martin reminds the congregation of their ongoing series in Mark, noting past digressions for crucial topics like church membership, to set the context for resuming verse-by-verse exposition.

when as a congregation we were still meeting in what was then called our Phase I auditorium, we began a series of studies in the Gospel of Mark. And from time to time we have suspended that series in order to address other aspects of biblicalism, the biblical truth, which your elders have judged to be of crucial importance to our life as a congregation. The recent series of studies on the privileges and responsibilities of church membership constituted one such digression. However, this morning we resume our verse-by-verse expositions in Mark's Gospel.

4:07 - 4:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let youth make you indifferent to questions of life and death.

Martin shares a personal anecdote from his youth, where friends dismissed his spiritual concerns, saying they were 'young,' to illustrate the common indifference of young people to eternal questions.

You see, generally speaking, young people are indifferent to the questions of life and death. In their youth, they deceive themselves that they have many years to consider the issues, of the soul, of the world, of death, judgment. And I have lived long enough to see it with my own eyes when God got me deeply concerned about these issues as a boy and into my early teens and by His grace saved me as a late teenager. I can remember so many of my friends saying, look Al, that religion business is all right, but man, we're young!

20:27 - 21:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin emphasizes the urgency and sincerity with which the rich young ruler approached Jesus, running and kneeling, contrasting it with casual religious discussion and urging…

Martin references the Philippian jailer's desperate cry, 'What must I do to be saved?' to illustrate the kind of urgent, unorthodox concern that arises when eternal questions grip a soul.

And my friend, when you get consumed with a concern, custom and ordinary patterns and social niceties often go to the wind under the pressure of that consuming concern. And when this question of all questions begins to press in upon you and begins to press in upon me, it will always create a climate similar to this record in Mark 10. We read an account of it this morning. When that jailer saw that mighty manifestation of the power of God in the midst of all of the upheaval in that jail, it says that when Paul sprang in with a light and said, Sir, do thyself no harm, it says he came out and he ...

27:02 - 28:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin emphasizes the urgency and sincerity with which the rich young ruler approached Jesus, running and kneeling, contrasting it with casual religious discussion and urging…

Martin references the crowd's interruption of Peter's sermon on Pentecost, crying out 'Sirs, what shall we do?', to show how a pressing awareness of sin and salvation can override social norms.

That's what happened on the day of Pentecost. Peter is preaching and it says they were pricked or punished. They were cut to the heart and they cried out. They interrupted his sermon because it goes on to say with many other words he exhorted.

28:14 - 28:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Ask yourself if the question of eternal life has become a 'holy obsession' that consumes your thoughts and actions.

Martin alludes to Christian's flight from the City of Destruction in Pilgrim's Progress to illustrate the desperate urgency of a soul awakened to its peril and seeking eternal life.

Eternal life. Eternal life. That's the great issue. John Bunyan captured that, didn't he, in Pilgrim's Progress?

30:28 - 30:35 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have never been concerned about eternal life, pray that God will make you concerned even in the preaching of the word.

Martin uses the vivid metaphor of being 'hung over hell by the thin thread of God's sovereign mercy' to impress upon listeners the precariousness of their unsaved state.

He was running to you, my friend. You're hung over hell by the thin thread of God's sovereign mercy and his sovereign will.

31:04 - 31:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if you are under mistaken notions about goodness, believing you can attain eternal life by something you do.

Martin quotes Bishop Ryle, stating that 'ignorance of the law and ignorance of the gospel will generally be found together,' to emphasize that a true understanding of God's law leads one to Christ.

out of unrival love to God but the Lord is going to show that that is as far from the truth as night from day before I pass on to the next heading let me ask you sitting here this morning are you like this man concerned about eternal life concerned about heaven and hell but under mistaken notions about goodness that you can attain eternal life by something you do oh yes must teach it to you he is the great teacher you are willing to learn from Jesus to attain eternal life to attain eternal life and furthermore you are very meticulous about God's commands in terms of God's commands in terms of ...

41:21 - 42:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Repent not in some general abstract way, but in the concreteness of the sins by which you are bound to self, the world, and the devil.

Martin references Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well, asking her to call her husband, to illustrate that Jesus demands repentance in the concrete context of a person's specific sins, not in the abstract.

for true and living God and who claims of unrivaled supremacy in your heart you can never compromise come and truly follow me as long as your God is beckoning you to follow him and your God is your money that's why Jesus demanded of him this is not a universal demand to salvation to every individual it was a demand of repentance and faith in the concrete situation of Jesus knowledge of that man you see the Lord never deals with repentance and faith in the abstract in his personal work you remember when the woman at the well said oh I want some of that water you mean I don't have to come back h...

49:48 - 51:13 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He had great possessions but the great possessions had him and if they continued to hold him through life and hold him in death he'll go down into hell but without his possessions but without a Christ to plead his cause …

Martin compares the rich young ruler's fallen countenance to the threatening, cloud-filled sky described in Matthew 16:3, to vividly portray his internal heaviness and despair.

his countenance fell at the word the saying and he went away sorrowful for he was one that had great possessions the tragic reaction recorded starts with the description of his face and again it's a touch that only Mark gives us look at it says about his face his countenance fell the only other place that word is used in the New Testament is Matthew 16 3 to describe a threatening cloud filled sky that's about to bring a storm imagine what it must have been like to stand there that day when Peter who passes on the information to Mark saw the love veritably using from the countenance of Jesus so...

54:10 - 55:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He had great possessions but the great possessions had him and if they continued to hold him through life and hold him in death he'll go down into hell but without his possessions but without a Christ to plead his cause …

Martin uses the analogy of the face as a 'mirror of the soul,' describing how he observes different expressions (riveted attention, indifference, hostility) from the pulpit, to illustrate how outward appearance can betray inner spiritual state.

but by and large as we are told in the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 3 and verse 9 the show of their countenance to testify against them standing in this pulpit one sees the sun sitting riveting upon every word as it were a hungry sponge is the state of their soul reaching up for any drops of light and truth and grace that will come under preaching others of you have the look of indifference some of you a look of downright hostility if I could read your look it would say I hate you why is it because I don't love you is it because God's servants don't love you is it because it isn't evident that t...

55:38 - 57:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He had great possessions but the great possessions had him and if they continued to hold him through life and hold him in death he'll go down into hell but without his possessions but without a Christ to plead his cause …

Martin rephrases the text, saying 'great possessions had him,' to powerfully convey the idea that the man was enslaved by his wealth, which prevented him from following Christ.

you see for him repentance and faith meant parting with his money and he'd rather part with his God than part with his money I thought and I wrote in my margin the last time I wrote the last time I came to this passage in my devotions it says he was one that had great possessions and this is what I have written in the margin of my Bible great possessions had him he had great possessions but the great possessions had him and if they continued to hold him through life and hold him in death he'll go down into hell but without his possessions but without a Christ to plead his cause before the bar ...

58:36 - 60:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Crucify your pride of intellect and become like a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Martin quotes 'old Ellie Maxwell' saying 'Jesus was crucified in the place of the skull,' to illustrate that for some, the idol they must crucify is their intellectual pride.

administration of your whole kids to get mad at you for some of you it's the pride of intellect as old Ellie Maxwell said Jesus was crucified in the place of the skull and that's where some of you got to get crucified you and your own were almighty intellect you were stroked ever since you were a little kid head of the class advanced this big deal God's got more knowledge in his little pinky in an instant of time than you'd have in 15,000 eternities in your whole head little worm of the dust who made your gray matter pride of intellect you become his little children you'll never enter the king...

63:01 - 64:28 Read in full sermon