The Rich Young Ruler

Resuming Studies in Mark and the Context of the Passage

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, March 17th, 1987, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:19 Now let us turn together in the Word of God to the 10th chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark chapter 10.

0:32 And will you follow, please, as I read verses 17 through 31. Mark 10, beginning at verse 17.

0:46 Mark, writing with reference to the activity of our Lord Jesus, tells us, And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? None is good save one. Even God.

1:17 You know the commandments. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.

1:25 Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. And he said unto him, Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth.

1:40 And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him. And said unto him, One thing. One thing you are lacking. Go, sell whatsoever you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.

1:57 And come, follow me. But his countenance fell at the saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one that had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of God? And the disciples were amazed at his words.

2:27 But Jesus answers again and says unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. And they were astonished exceedingly, saying unto him, Who then can be saved? Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.

3:12 Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed you. Jesus said, Very. Verily I say unto you, There is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel's sake. But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life.

3:51 But many that are first shall be last and the last first.

4:02 On June the 12th, 1983,

4:07 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.

4:50 And as we do, let me remind you of the general setting of the portion, portion in which we resume our studies. The time has come when our Lord Jesus is making it abundantly clear to the inner circle of His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and there suffer, be killed, and be raised again the third day. We find in chapter 9 and verse 31 this very clear announcement of our Lord. For He taught his disciples and said unto them, the Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him.

5:32 And when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again. And even though our Lord speaks very clearly and straightforwardly about His impending death, we read in verse 32 of that same chapter, they understood not the saying. And it is at this time, this very day that we know that the Lord will come again. This very day that we know finally that the Lord will come again. And so we find in the this point in which our Lord's earthly life and ministry is drawing to a close, that we find him leaving the upper area of Palestine, up around the Galilean lake, the area of Capernaum, where much of his ministry took place, and he's making his way inexorably and steadily down to Jerusalem, where he must suffer and be put to death for the sins of his people. Chapter 10 opens with the record that rising up from that area, he makes his way down into the area called Perea,

6:36 halfway between the Galilean region and Jerusalem, is this area on the eastern side of Jordan called Perea, and he arose from thence and come. He comes into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And this is often called our Lord's Perean ministry as he makes his way to Jerusalem. And here in the 10th chapter of Mark's Gospel, there is brought together in a very definite pattern of concentrated teaching, first of all, this clear instruction on the subject of marriage and divorce.

7:17 Verses, 2 through 12. And then that which follows very naturally from the subject of marriage and divorce, we have our Lord's teaching on the subject of children in verses 13 to 16. And now before us is another very vital subject, a subject that is in many ways intimately connected with the whole matter of the institution of the family and children, but touches in a...

7:47 It touches in a broader way upon all men, the whole issue of possessions, of money, of things, and in particular, how those commodities relate to entrance into the kingdom of God and one's conduct with respect to those things, having entered the kingdom of God by grace. Now in the passage read in your hearing, we have many differences. Difficulties. There are difficulties of a textual nature when we compare the parallel account in Matthew 19 and in Luke 18.

The Central Issue: No Room for Cheap Grace

8:27 There are difficulties of interpretation of some of the particular statements. Furthermore, there are many fascinating secondary issues in this account of this man who came to the Lord Jesus with this burning question concerning eternal life. But though there are difficulties of a textual nature, difficulties of interpretation, fascinating secondary issues, the central issue of the passage is unmistakably clear. It is so clear that the man involved in this incident leaves the Lord Jesus with a long face and a heavy heart. But the man who is involved in this incident leaves the Lord Jesus with a long face and a heavy heart. But the man who is involved in this incident leaves the Lord Jesus with a long face and a heavy heart. But lost as he is wedded to the idol of his earthly possessions.

9:26 So clear is the issue that when our Lord finishes commenting upon it, the disciples, almost as it were, throw up their hands in despair and say, Who then can be saved? So in spite of some textual problems, in spite of some problems of interpretation, on this particular or that particular, in spite of fascinating secondary issues that almost powerfully call for our attention, I'm determined to stick with what is clear in the passage, what was very clear to the man who came to Jesus, what was very clear in our Lord's dealings with him, and what was very clear in the subsequent response of the disciples, and it is this very basic issue of what it means to enter the kingdom of God and to become a possessor of eternal life. And here in this passage, there is no room for cheap grace. There is no room for mere shallow decisionism. There is no room for the unfounded notion that one may be a true believer in Christ, while never having his heart emptied of all but Christ.

10:54 There is no room for the dichotomy between Christ as Savior and Christ as Lord. And that emphasis is so clear that there are actually living as well as dead Bible teachers who have tried to say that this passage has no relevance for the preaching of the gospel in this present dispensation. This passage has no relevance for the preaching of the gospel in this present dispensation. This is Jesus dealing with someone about the question of salvation under the terms of the law in which there was a different message than the one that was read in our hearing today from Acts chapter 16.

11:34 Well, we accept no such notion. There is nothing in the words of our Lord Jesus to give the slightest suggestion to that notion. But we approach the passage in the confidence that he, he who was on his way to Jerusalem to die for sinners, knows better than any one of us what a sinner must do to lay hold of his salvation. And it is the Jesus on his way to Jerusalem to die for sinners who deals with this man and responds to his question concerning eternal life.

The Crucial Question Raised: What Must I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?

12:15 And so we approach it then in the conscience, consciousness that the Lord Jesus by his word and spirit is present here this morning to answer for us the great question that he answered for this man. Consider with me first of all as we think our way through the passage this morning the crucial question raised. Verse 17. Having opened up that question we will then look at the searching, response given in verses 18 to 21 and then finally the tragic reaction recorded in verse 22. First of all then, the crucial question raised. And as he was going forth into the way there ran one to him and kneeled to him and asked him, good teacher, what shall I do? That I may inherit eternal life.

13:23 Now we're going to look at this crucial question by asking three questions of the question. First of all, what was the question? Who raised the question? And how was it raised?

13:38 First of all, what was the question? Well, look at it in the text. Good teacher, what shall I do there it?

13:53 It was a question. A question concerning the most important issue facing every single one of us. Every man, woman, boy or girl in this building this morning can never face a more crucial, important question than the question recorded in our text, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now the exegetes and the commentators discuss and debate precisely what the word is.

14:27 The words eternal life may have meant to this man who asked the question. Most likely it meant to him eternal life in the sense of life that would be given at the day of resurrection in the new heavens and in the new earth. You'll notice that it's in that sense that our Lord refers to it in verse 30 when he speaks of true disciples who receive a hundredfold now in this time and in the age to come eternal life. This man's knowledge of that dimension of eternal life was probably based on such text as Daniel 12 and verse 2 in which the prophet says that those that are in the grave shall come forth some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. But whatever he understood precisely of the significance of those words, we know from the rest of Scripture that God sets before every man, every woman, every boy, every girl one of two alternatives. Eternal life, eternal death. There is no...

15:55 There is as God in the giving of the covenant to his ancient people. I set before you the way of life and of death. So God sets before every one of us the way of eternal life, the way of eternal death, heaven and hell, the presence of God and of the holy angels in the new heavens and the new earth, or the presence of the devil and damned spirits in outer darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And this man's question pertained to that burning issue.

16:40 What must I do to an eternal life? What must I do to be certain that when the day of resurrection comes I shall be found ushered into life and not cast off into eternal death?

16:59 That's what the question was. Now, who raised the question? Well, according to Mark, it was an unnamed man, a single individual who ran up to the Lord Jesus. And this is very precise in the original in verse 17.

17:18 And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him.

17:26 And there is a word that is often translated a certain one. It's indefinite. But here the emphasis falls upon one individual ran to him. And all of a sudden, all we know about him from Mark's account is that he was externally moral and upright.

17:45 Verse 20, when the Lord Jesus quoted the commandments, he could say in the presence of the Lord Jesus, all things have I observed from my youth. So in his external bearing and demeanor, he was an upright, moral, and righteous man. And we know from verse 22 that he was an upright, moral, and righteous man. We know that he was exceedingly wealthy.

18:11 His countenance fell, for he was one that had great possessions.

18:20 But when we turn to the parallel passages in Matthew 19 and in Luke 18, we find several other things about this man. We find, according to Matthew 19 and verse 20, that he was a young man. He was a neonicon, and technically that's the term one would use to describe a man between the age of 24 and 40. So you who are in your mid-thirties and feel you're over the hill and on your way out, take comfort.

18:55 According to the Bible, you are a neonicos. You are a young man, as it is translated in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 19. So we learn from Mark that he had great, great possessions. We find in Luke 18, 23 that he was very rich, is Luke's description.

19:18 Matthew tells us that he was young, and furthermore, Luke 18, 18 tells us that he was a ruler, referring most likely to a position of leadership in the local synagogue. He was not a civil ruler in the sense of being a mayor or a councilman, but he was a ruler most likely in the sense of being a councilman. In the sense of having a place of responsibility in the local synagogue. Now that's why he is commonly called the rich, young ruler.

19:53 People bring together the witness of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and they form this composite, and rightly so, as they contemplate this passage describing the rich, young ruler. Now, what is important about these facts is that three of the major things which cause people to be indifferent to this great and crucial question did not do so in the case of this man.

20:27 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!

21:10 We're young in life, but not now. We're a young man. And so, often, this very old...

21:38 Whether or not you're ready to die and go into eternal life or whether if God snatched your life away, you descend into hell and there be in the company of the damned forever. But here was a young man who broke through the general indifference to this great and burning issue in spite of his youth. Secondly, his wealth, his wealth, he often wealth deludes into thinking that all that life holds they can buy.

22:17 But not this man. He was conscious whatever his wealth had brought him, it could not fill that aching void. It could not answer that haunting question. What will you do when you die?

22:33 Where will you be in the day of judgment? And rather than use his wealth to buy, to buy, to buy, and to blow it out in order to forget the great issues in spite of his youth and his wealth, the man was moral and upright. In today's language, he lived a straight life.

23:05 And he knew that his morality and his religion as a leader in the synagogue were not enough. You see, that's the third great obstacle that many face. If their youth does not make them indifferent to the question of eternal life, if their wealth does not blind them, their morality, and their religion becomes the very means of their deception to think they're all right. And if they live a straight life, and if they have a place of position and prominence in the church, all is well.

23:34 But he had all of this, and yet he knew he didn't have enough. It was a rich, young,

23:48 that I may inherit eternal life. So there's the crucial question that he raised.

23:57 And then the third thing we ask about the question, what was it? It was a question about eternal life. Who raised it? A rich, young ruler.

The Earnestness of the Question

24:06 And how was it raised? Look at the text. As he was going forth into the way, they run to him and kneel to him and ask him, Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? You see, there are a lot of people that like to discuss religious questions like they discuss the weather, politics, or sports.

24:42 They just like to talk about their field of interest. But with his usual vividness, Mark points to the fact that this man came in tremendous earnestness and sincerity and urgency. Jesus goes out into the way, which probably refers to the main thoroughfare that would lead him down toward Jerusalem. You find a similar phrase in verse 32.

25:12 And as they were on the way going up to Jerusalem, it was down on the compass, up because of the height. That's why you always went up to Jerusalem because of its elevation. Even though you were going down south, you were going up to Jerusalem. So, as our Lord goes out into the main thoroughfare, one individual.

25:33 This was not a case where the multitudes were thronging around him. You see, anybody can get lost in a crowd, but this man, willing to be exposed in the singularity of his actions and of his concerns, he runs. He doesn't walk. He finds himself running to the Lord Jesus.

25:52 And then he throws himself down upon his knees before the Lord Jesus. All of which in Mark's unusual, vivid descriptiveness points to the fact that he raised this question not as a matter of tempting the Lord like another man did on another occasion. He didn't raise it as a matter of just having to do it. Just having a little bit of a bull session about religion.

26:21 He raised it because it was a pressing concern upon his own spirit. This question of eternal life and how to know that one possesses it and shall enter into it at the end of the age was so pressing upon his spirit that it moved his feet. It caused him to throw off the ordinary custom. This was not the normal custom to fall down in the presence of a rabbi and to press questions upon him in that way.

26:55 He broke custom. He broke the ordinary pattern. Why? Because he was consumed with a concern.

27:02 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 fell before them and cried, What must I do to be saved? Here's the jailer, the man who is in charge of the captors, falling before his captors and pleading in an unorthodox posture, assuming unorthodox relationships. But this one question has got hold of him. What must I do to be saved?

28:14 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.

28:27 He hadn't finished his sermon, but they came under such a pressing awareness of this great question. They cried out, Sir, we have our hand with the blood of Messiah. You've charged us with his death. Stand guilty before the power of God.

28:54 When God the Holy Ghost will so descend on this place, people who've never been concerned about this question will so take it away. It's the powers of the world to come under the preaching of the word that the preaching will be interrupted.

29:14 Have mercy. Cries to his that they would point you to the way of life and salvation. You see, you may look at this man and say, that's a tinge of religious fanaticism. Why?

29:28 Because you didn't see the realities he saw. You don't feel the concerns he felt. You may look upon some of us who stand in this pulpit and preach and reason and plead and exhort and entreat. And you say, what in the world do they get all?

29:47 I'll tell you what we're worked up about. These realities are short years. The very young men and women and old men and women upon whose faces we look will be men and women in heaven or in hell. And you're going to be there forever.

30:08 Now, have you ever asked the question, has this question ever become a kind of holy obsession? Has it ever gotten hold of you? Followed you to your bed? Met you when you woke up in the morning?

30:19 Followed you into your dreams? Followed you to your table? Out to your business? Out to your places of pleasure?

30:28 Eternal life. Eternal life. That's the great issue. John Bunyan captured that, didn't he, in Pilgrim's Progress?

30:37 When Christian gets disturbed about being in the city of destruction, that pack upon his back, do you remember what he did? He put his fingers in his ears and he started to run away from the city of destruction trying to get out of the city of destruction. He ran away from the city of destruction and he was running away from the city of destruction. He was running from the city of destruction.

31:04 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.

31:15 And he holds you with one hand and with the other he can snip the thread at his own discretion and you'll drop into hell forever.

31:28 Oh, if you've never been concerned about that question, pray God that even in the preaching of the word this morning you begin to pay. The question is, the question is, the question of all question. And in a very real sense this opening scene is full of hope, full of encouragement. Would God have ended that way?

The Searching Response: Correcting Mistaken Notions of Goodness

31:52 But it doesn't. And that moves us in the second place to notice the searching response given by our Lord to this question.

32:05 Having opened up the crucial question raised, now look at the searching response given to this question. Verses 18 to 21. And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? None is good save one, even God.

32:21 You know the commandments. Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. And he said unto him, Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth. And Jesus looking upon him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing you lack, go sell whatsoever you have and give to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

32:50 I say this is a searching response given by our Lord Jesus in which there are three main elements to that response. First of all, he corrects his mistaken notions about goodness. He corrects his mistaken notions about goodness. Then he secondly exposes his shallow understanding of the law of God.

33:16 And then thirdly, he calls him to concrete repentance and faith.

33:23 All right, then notice the searching response of our Lord begins by correcting his mistaken notions about goodness. Look at verse 18. And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? None is good save one, even God.

33:46 Now, here's one of the difficult parts of the passage. And I could weary you with the many possible meanings, but good and godly men have differed, do differ, and will continue to differ on the precise meaning of this passage. Furthermore, wicked, unbelieving men seize on these words to show us, so they think, that Jesus is not God. They said, see, none good but God.

34:13 Why do you call me good? I'm not God, therefore don't call me good. Isn't that a marvelous way to handle the word? That's what certain people do who deny the deity of Christ.

34:22 Of course, they conveniently ignore such passages as these. I and my Father are one. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And they even conveniently deny what we'll see in the latter part of this passage, where Jesus makes claims and demands that it would be blasphemous and idolatrous for anyone but God to make upon a human being.

34:44 But, I'm not going to weary you with all of the possible interpretations. Let me suggest what to me is the most reasonable explanation, and I believe what our Lord is doing is correcting this man's mistaken notions about goodness. And here, the parallel account in Matthew is helpful. In Matthew chapter 19 and verse 16,

35:09 we read, Behold, one came to him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? In the fuller of his precise words, man did not simply say, Good teacher, what shall I do? But, putting Matthew and Mark together, he said, Good teacher, what good thing do that I may inherit eternal life? And this seemed to be his mindset.

35:40 Schooled in the notion that one attained unto life by his own performances, he saw us more than an ordinary rabbi. He had heard of his reputation of his mighty works and his speaking with authority. So he viewed him as one who had attained that measure of good that would have surely put him on the plane of knowing that he had eternal life. So he is a good rabbi, a good teacher, one who has attained a measure of goodness that will merit life.

36:19 And now he comes and says,

36:29 You have on the basis of my goodness why do you call me good in that sense? This which is unto life is inherent in God himself. Unless we receive it as a gift from him, we'll never have enough goodness to attain unto life. Why do you call me good?

The Searching Response: Exposing Shallow Understanding of the Law

37:09 In the sense in which you conceive of goodness, young man, you're in touch for God into your pharisaic of goodness and standing before God. He corrects his mistaken notions about goodness and he begins to undercut his whole mentality about how a sinner gets right with God. Then the second thing he does is he exposes his shallow understanding of the law of God. Verse 19.

37:51 You know the commandments and then quoting from what we would generally call the second table of the law are responsibilities to our fellow men. Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and then the do not defraud. There is debate as to whether the Lord was combining the requirement of two of the commandments or quoting freely from one of the other precepts that is in the book of the law but that's immaterial. Honor your father and your mother.

38:24 What our Lord does is he says now young man you want to know what good thing you can do. What more you can perform that will give you a level of goodness that will put you on the plane of deserving eternal life. Now I must not only correct your false notions about goodness that it's something that you can create by your own performance that will earn eternal life but I must now correct your shallow understanding of the law of God and so he says you know the commandments you know the commandments and he quotes them and now the young man answers back and apparently with no self justifying hypocrisy but with a horribly unenlightened view of the breadth and depth and length of the law of God he said unto him teacher all these things have I observed I have cherished and kept from my youth from the day I and I ought in all kinships to regard the precepts I have kept them from my youth the response of this young man is that I am dishonest but hopelessly naive and self-deceived

39:52 because you see his understanding of the law had been honed upon the horrible influence of fascism you remember how Jesus went after it in Matthew 5 they had taught that you kept the work of what the law demanded thou shalt not kill men thou shalt not put in one of your friends thou shalt not commit adultery men you shall not actually have sexual intercourse with another man's wife that murder touched the very springs of the heart and the disposition of ill will that adultery touched the very springs of desire and the very glands nothing and this poor man knew nothing he was ignorant of the full extent of the demands of God's law for he was ignorant of his own heart you see he thought by his pattern of blameless external law he was not keeping he was just a little bit away from eternal life if one more begins to there was no good thing in his and he exposes shallow understanding of the law he thinks he really loves his neighbor and that

41:21 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 their external demands you seek to keep your mouth free of lying and you seek to keep your hands and your feet from paths that could in any way be called lecherous or thieving or any of these other commands that are quoted but of the knowledge of your heart the light of God's law which touches motives and desires and intents you know nothing listen to Bishop Ryle commenting on this passage he says ignorance of the law and ignorance of the gospel will generally be found together he whose eyes have really been open to the spirituality

The Searching Response: Call to Concrete Repentance and Faith

42:49 of the commandments will never rest till he has found Christ and you see that's what the Lord Jesus is doing with this rich young ruler he is first of all his mistaken notions about goodness then exposing his shallow understanding of the law and it comes to its climax when he comes and he calls him to concrete repentance and faith and look how he does it in verse 21 and Jesus looking upon him loved him and said unto him once you are lacking go sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come follow me look first of all at the motive out of which this call to repentance and faith came and then look at the subject the substance of it look at the motive it says Jesus looking upon him loved him only Mark records that and no doubt again it grows out of the fact that Peter was there and as he beheld the Lord's interaction with this young man he saw in the look of our Lord's countenance the outgoing of his holy lovable traits in him

44:18 sincerity eagerness his desire publicly and fall upon him upon his face I rather think the commentators are right who say no Jesus did not love him for what he saw in him what he saw was self-deception ignorance of his true state a total deception of how to attain eternal he did not love him for what he saw in him he's the great with a view to that which his grace would and if any of us are loved it won't be because of anything lovable in us it will be because he is the savior of sinners who love sinners and it's important for us to note that what follows in the substance of the call is an expression of love don't forget and what was the substance of his call

45:44 one in one thing one thing then he goes on to give three imperatives be going and giving to the poor then he gives a promise and then an adverb with the force of an imperative and then another imperative come follow me one thing three imperatives a promise an adverb and another imperative yet Jesus calls it all one thing and you know what that one thing was conversion true conversion to God the one thing was that same response penitence and faith of the grace of version now let's look at them look at the three clear imperatives three imperatives in one thing you are coming short go of your goods

47:02 but to and there ain't no way any sense out of the words of Jesus without that conclusion he did not say go of what you possess he didn't say go sell whatever the spirit impresses you to possess go sell whatever you need in order to make restitution like Zacchaeus third imperative three imperatives go sell it he gives them a marvelous promise look at it you shall have treasure in heaven in getting rid of all treasure here you'll simply exchange it for a treasure there getting rid of your treasure here where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through I'm telling you young man the way for you to get treasure in the heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt and thieves do not break through to steal is to go sell all that you have and give to the poor and then he encourages him

48:30 may I say it reverently he lovingly entices him out of love into obedience by saying in heaven and then he says with an adverb of an imperative and call them to the poor then come back and enter into loving attachment to my person the one thing you lack young man is the one thing that you lack and that you lack and that you lack and that you lack and that you lack and that you lack and that you lack and that you lack that is my answer to your question what shall I do to inherit eternal life young man this you must do you must repent of the idolatry of your riches I see into your heart that riches are not merely a commodity for you that can be held from a closed open hand by the grace of God

49:48 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 here in the noonday sun and draw water you mean you have living water give me that water he says call your husband what does that have to do with living water in the concreteness of that woman's lifestyle of immorality she couldn't drink of living water till she was ready to deal with her blatant disobedience

51:13 to the seventh commandment my friend listen to me listen carefully you'll never be saved until you repent not in some general abstract way but in the concreteness of the sins by which you are bound to self and to the world and to the devil for some of you it's pride your name and until you're ready to be a fool you'll never become a Christian thinking wrong for some of you it's a relationship entered into contrary to the revealed will of God and it means go get rid of that then come follow me for some it's an act an ambition for some it's money for some it's feelings for some what is it for you what is it for you for many of you teenagers you know what your riches are the acceptance of your peers you're not prepared to be identified with Christ and be mocked out you're not prepared to be squeezed out of social relationships and feel the loneliness and the pain of isolation for Christ for the sake but listen he knows your heart I don't but he does

52:42 and what is he saying to you what is the go and the sell and the give in your case and then the common denominator for all of us is come follow me that is enter into loving attachment to my person take me to be the sovereign and the Lord of your life and the one who takes upon his shield and the one who takes upon his shoulders your salvation you see to follow Christ would have meant for this man literally they would have followed him down to Jerusalem and seen the Lord Jesus die upon the cross for sinners and rise from the dead the third day and go back to the right hand of the Father and in those mighty acts secure eternal life for all who trust him and that's the demand Christ made of him and it's the demand he makes of us but now in closing very briefly look at the tragic reaction recorded after that wonderful beginning with the crucial question raised then the searching response given look at the tragic reaction recorded but his countenance fell at the same you see everything Jesus said comprised one word

The Tragic Reaction: Countenance Fell, Went Away Sorrowful

54:10 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 he could never forget it and when he passes on the story to Mark he says Jesus looking upon him loved him and then he sees the look on the young man's face become like the sky before a thunderstorm it becomes full of heaviness and dark his countenance fell you see the face is many times a mirror of the soul if only you could see what I see from this pulpit now granted there are hypocrites

55:38 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 they labor in love for your soul's salvation no but your countenance tells the state of your soul and then the tragic reaction moves from the look on his face to the activity of his feet look his countenance fell and he went away he went away he didn't go he went away he went away from the only one who could give him eternal life he went away from the only one who could forgive his sin

57:07 he went away from the only one who could occupy his heart he went away and if he died in that condition he'll go away the same one says depart from me you cursed because the scripture says thee shall go away into everlasting fire he went away and then it tells us the state of his heart the look on his face his countenance fell the activity of his feet he went away the state of his heart sorrowful a heavy heart he came so full of enthusiasm so full of expectancy and when the master begins to talk to him his hopes rise higher why if all I need for the good thing is obedience to the law surely that I've rendered hopes are higher but when Jesus starts exposing his shallow views of the law on him the claim of repentance and faith he goes away with a heavy heart and what was the fundamental reason look at it for this is the rationale for the faith the feet and the heart the fallen countenance the fleeing feet and the heavy heart here's the rationale he was one that had great possessions

58:36 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 of almighty God without a Christ to welcome him into eternal life that's the tragic reaction recorded let me say as I conclude the exposition this morning much more application God willing in the next two weeks as we follow through in the subsequent passage let me just ask this very simple question are you convinced that this is a matter of salvation with this man not a matter of dedication or surrender or some if you're not just listen to me listen to the issues verse 23b

The Issue of Salvation and the Cost of Discipleship

60:05 how hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of God 24b for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God 25b than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God 26b who then can be saved my friends this was an issue of entering the kingdom and being saved this was not an issue of some advanced stage of spiritual attainment some higher life some greater and more noble level of spiritual attainment he came with the question about eternal life and that question shaped and molded all of our Lord's dealings with him but he went away sorrowful without the Savior and without life and all he had to try to fill the void was his money and apparently his conscience wouldn't even let him enjoy it in an immoral way he was of all men most miserable he couldn't even enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season he could just finger his gold in his counting heart knowing who could give him life my friend that's the issue that faces every one of us

61:32 eternal life is in Jesus Christ eternal life is in the Son of God who is God the Son and who in the impartation of his salvation will settle for nothing less than the whole heart nothing less than the whole heart he was on his way to Jerusalem to die not to have a bunch of people that say they're saved by the virtue of his death whose hearts are willfully and deliberately full of self and of the world materialism and hedonism and self-centeredness and self-centeredness I say there may be some sitting here this morning the only way you'll be saved is you'll need to go down to the bank and give up that mortgage deed you've made a God of your heart and you're selling your to give up the idolatrous attachment to your children you won't take to their vile

63:01 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 kingdom of heaven for some of you it's a relationship it's an ambition it's a secret sin you cling to it it's a dream it's a duty before which you say I will forgive that that man that raped me as a seven year old you'll burn in hell with him Jesus knows the point where is he pressing wherever he presses you better go sell give come

64:28 and entering into loving attachment to the son of God know the liberty of being free from things and as we'll see in the subsequent study he may as he says give us a hundred fold in this life all with a few irritations persecutions and in the world to come eternal life but you see they come in the path of single hearted attachment to Jesus my friend I plead with you don't let the chapter of your life close like the chapter in this man's there's no record that he ever changed ah but he said it says Jesus loved him and Jesus only loves is he get away with that theological nonsense in this place there's a lot of lots of people Jesus loved that perished in hell you'll perish even though his love has been displayed in the faithful dealings of his word with your heart this morning unless you go sell give and follow thou shalt have treasure in heaven oh our father we confess that we feel pain and grief just looking at this

65:57 young man walking away with his down fallen countenance in his heavy sorrowful step and everything in us wants to run and grab him and pull him back and plead with him to reconsider oh lord don't let any go in his posture today but mercifully graciously powerfully give them to see that they've not kept your law that they know nothing of the goodness that is essential unto life and that it's only to be found in your son and may they desire it on his terms at any cost to themselves seal the word to our hearts our heavenly father and may it bear fruit unto everlasting life for Jesus' sake we plead amen