The Rich Young Ruler | Mark 10:17-22 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

It's a joy to be with you, and I ask you to invite me in God's

Word in Mark chapter 10 as we look at a very common portion of

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Scripture that I pray and hope would bring fresh desire and

love for the person of Jesus Christ.

Mark 10 and meet me in verse 17, and let's read together.

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt

before him and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to

inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do

you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

You know the commandments. Do not murder, do not commit

adultery, Do not steal, do not bear false witness, Do not

defraud. Honor your father and mother.

And he said to him, teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.

And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack

one thing, go sell all that you have and give to the poor and

you will have treasure in heaven.

And come follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he

went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Today I want to speak to you about the poor young slave.

That might sound like a strange title for a passage that is

famously known as the rich young ruler.

But as you and I examine carefully this amazing

conversation between a seeker and the Savior, I'm sure you

will understand where I'm coming from.

Because what you and I will discover very quickly is that

this young, rich, ambitious ruler is something else.

Beneath the surface is something quite different than what we see

here. Plainly, Mark, as you just

heard, does not refer to this man as a ruler.

Luke does, and Luke 1818. And we do not know the nature of

this man's position, but we do know that it was a prominent

one. It was one that gained much

respect from society. And the idea of him being young

does not come from Mark either. That is something that Matthew

notes, and something that Matthew actually emphasizes.

In chapter 19, verse 20, Chapter 19, verse 22, we are told there

that he was not just a man, he was not just a ruler.

He was young. And it is all the synoptic

gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke who under score that he was

exceedingly wealthy. He was prosperous.

He was very successful, unusually successful as a young

man. This individual is interesting

to say the least, and he has found in three out of the four

gospel accounts for good reason. But before we even dissect and

breakdown this story, our hearts should already be impressed.

What I mean by that is simply looking at the simple biography

of this man should teach us something quite valuable about

the human heart. Again, he is wealthy.

Again, he is young. Again, he was a ruler.

And yet with all of this, clearly, as we just heard, there

was something disturbing him. He was unsettled.

There was something nagging down deep inside of his soul,

because, yes, he was rich, but there was something that he

realized that money could not buy.

He was missing something. No matter what he had in his

bank account, no matter what kind of things you can access

the snap of a finger, he could not reach this thing.

And sure, he had the admiration and the respect and the honor of

his fellow man, and from those who have heard of him,

concerning his prominent status. But there was a fear.

There was a fear that this man had of being rejected or

accepted by so many others, rejected by God.

He dreaded that thought, What must I do to inherit eternal

life? And yes, he was somebody who was

young, somebody who had his whole life ahead of him, so many

dreams yet still to be accomplished, though he had done

already so much. There was so much yet territory

to conquer, ideas to innovate, things to accumulate.

And yet, still inside of his heart, he realized that there is

more to this life. There is more to this life.

There is eternal life. I want to know how I can have

it. I want to know how I can secure

it. And so this finely groomed man,

this respected individual, finds himself on his knees in the

dirt, desperately pleading and inquiring about the things that

this world cannot offer. You know what that teaches me

right at the outset of this message?

That you can have the wealth and you can have the respect and you

can have the popularity, and you can have youthfulness, and you

can have strength, and you can have energy.

And you can have so much promise ahead of you and still feel

incomplete and still feel as though something is missing.

I mean, you see this man. You think this is what many

aspire to be? Rich, respected, youthful.

What do you mean, youthful? I mean, everybody is trying to

not age, right? And he had all of that, but he

was still missing something. Ah, I know what he's missing.

This, this fellow is missing some religion.

That's all he needs. He has everything in this life.

He just needs some spirituality sprinkled on his existence.

Well, did you forget he had that too?

Did you hear it as it was read when Jesus confronted him with

the commandments of God? He says.

I have kept all these things from my youth.

That's so fascinating. Here is a man who was ritual

keeping, law abiding, temple attending and yet still with his

observance, with his self respect, with his religious

dignity. He still feels like something is

wrong. He still feels like something

isn't right. You know, I have to say this

because there is a growing this might shock you, but it's true.

Just tune in a little bit into the culture and you'll realize

it. There is a growing attraction to

religion these days saying how can that be?

I get I know what what's taking up on the headlines.

I know what's what direction this nation is headed to do with

the decline of the West. But because of the decline of

the West, you have a remnant, not of those who are believers,

but a remnant people in this crazy culture who are now

realizing what happens when a culture rejects God and they

want nothing to do with it. And so now there's a growing

allurement towards objective truth, some guidelines in life,

some do's and don'ts. People are not talking about

this in podcast. And now you have people, even

these days, having growing interests in things like Islam

and traditional Christianity. Why?

Because they see what's happening in the world and

they're thinking to themselves. I don't want that for myself.

I don't want that for my children.

So let me get some religion. This man had religion.

So what else is missing? You got the money, you got the

future. You got the respect, You got the

popularity. You got the status.

You got the religion. Everything is missing.

Everything is missing except Christ.

Everything is there except the most needed thing.

You can have everything, but if you don't have Christ, you have

nothing. And here's this man who is now

coming to the person of Jesus Christ, and he realizes that

perhaps this man has the answers for me because only the person

of Jesus Christ can offer certainty about eternity.

Only the person of Jesus Christ can offer wholeness in this

world. Only the person of Jesus Christ

can fill that gap in your heart. And if you don't have him again,

you'll always be a wanderer. You will always be searching.

You will always be traveling from 1 broken cistern to the

next, sipping from this and sipping from that, only having

your mouth more dry than it was before.

And so this man comes to Jesus, seems like he has everything,

but he's not a rich young girl. He's a poor young slave.

And now let's read this together.

In verse 17. As he was setting out on his

journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good

teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

We're told that Jesus and his band of men are making their way

toward Jerusalem, and as they're walking, something suddenly

happens. There's a panting arrival of

this strange person, at a distance at least, and he comes

to Jesus and interrupts this journey.

And though this event seems to be disconnected from the

previous episode, it is beautifully contrasted with it.

What did Jesus just finished saying?

What we learned last week. This is one of the beauties of

reading God's Word systematically.

When you read it in order. God has a specific way of saying

things and the way He's organized his texts, and you

will know excellence in your experience if you just honor the

flow of thought. The last thing Jesus just taught

that you and I heard last week, was that he gave an analogy of

what it was required of us in order to enter into eternal

life. You must be like a child to

receive eternal life. Again, a metaphor to describe

the admission that is required for us.

And seeing that we cannot acquire the requirements of

righteousness and holiness, we must simply receive it.

As a child receives so much, you must simply accept it with

simplicity and humility. And so Jesus lays this truth,

soul saving truth, so plainly. And that's the backdrop.

And now we continue to read, and immediately, suddenly this

individual crashes into the story.

And what does he ask? What must I do to inherit

eternal life? Does that sound like the

language of someone who can't fend for themselves?

No. This is the actual opposite

attitude of what Jesus presented as a standard for what you and I

need to do to receive eternal life.

So Jesus says you must be like a child.

A child is simply helpless and receives.

And here's this man who comes, a young man, and does he act like

a child? Does he interact with the truth

like a child? No.

He comes and he asks, what do I need to do?

This man did not come to Jesus as his savior.

This man came to Jesus to know how he can save himself.

And there are people who approach Christianity, and they

approach our faith in the same way.

Jesus does not give you guidelines for you to have a

better shot at heaven. Jesus comes and he rescues you

from yourself. You know, it's as ridiculous as

seeing someone who is drowning in the ocean calling for a

lifeguard. And upon the arrival of the

lifeguard, this man, who barely has any breath left, says, how

do I get myself out of this? Can you give me some

instructions to make my way to the shore?

That's not what a lifeguard does.

You call for this lifeguard, He comes, he sees you in your

destitute case, and then he rescues you.

That is the essence of Christ, and this man is starting off on

the wrong foot. He seems eager.

He seems humbled, right. He seems like he wants to do

this the way it should be done, but he is in fact approaching it

the wrong way already, and Jesus is about to address that.

But before Jesus addresses about what he needs to do, he touches

on something else that was mentioned, and perhaps this man

didn't understand the implications of what he said.

Good teacher. And Jesus pauses, looks at him,

and before dealing with this issue of eternal life, ask Why

do you call me good? Why do you call me good?

You know, there are many who want to cast doubt and 'cause

people to deny the divinity of Christ by using this as a proof

text to their erroneous views. You see, Jesus is rejecting any

misconception about him being God.

When he was called good, He denied him being good.

And he said that prerogative, that title belongs to one person

in this universe alone. And that's God.

And I'm not him. Apparently, that's what he's

saying. But if you're honest and if

you're careful in reading what Jesus saying, you realize that

it's the opposite of that conclusion.

When Jesus says and ask why do you call me good, does he say I

am not good? You know what he says in John?

He says I am. Does he say I am the shepherd?

No, no, no, He says I am the Good Shepherd.

He calls himself good. He acknowledges that he is good,

and he does not deny that he is good.

Here he simply asks the question for the sake of this

individual's reflection. Why do you call me good?

In other words, do you realize the implications of such a

greeting? Do you understand that there is

no one in this whole universe who is absolutely good except

God alone? And you are ascribing that to

me. So what are you trying to say?

Do you understand what you're actually trying to say?

This is what he is pressing against the heart of this rich

young man you call me. Good.

What does that really mean? Do you know what that really

means? In fact, this is Christ

confirming his deity more than anything else.

This is Christ confirming it and asking this man who's using the

word good very loosely to do the same.

If anything, Christ is inviting this individual to realize that

by calling him good, he is uniting and identifying him with

the only one who is good. So to use this as a text to try

to deny Christ being God is a great mistake.

And if you think about it further, when Jesus looks at

this man and he says, why do you call me good?

There is no one who is good except God He is.

He's challenging this man to rethink his conception of

goodness altogether. Do you realize what you're

saying by calling me good? Do you realize that God alone is

good because, you know the essence of his inquiry Is this?

How good do I need to be in order to be accepted by God?

How good do I need to be? And Jesus saying only God is

absolutely good? If you meditate on the goodness

of God long enough, then you'll realize very quickly that there

is nothing you can do to reach his standard of goodness.

And the way you and I understand goodness is ultimately by

looking to God. And if you understand who God is

in His goodness, you're going to understand who you are.

And when you understand who He is, you understand who you are,

and then you understand what he requires of you.

So Jesus highlights only God is good.

Reconsider your concept of goodness.

Let me remind you who ultimately is good.

And this man had to understand this from the beginning, but he

doesn't seem to understand it. And so, with that being visited

now, Jesus patiently is going to continue and give an answer to

this desperate question. What must I do to inherit

eternal? What do I need to do?

What do I need to do? What would you do if somebody

asks you that question? What must I do?

And here's Jesus, ready to answer.

And you know what you might you might think, and what I might

think of reading this for this first time especially, surely

you're going to revisit what you just taught Jesus.

That you need childlike faith, you need self abandonment, you

need to deny any work based mentality, and you need to

receive Christ freely. You need to receive salvation as

a gift. Maybe Jesus will answer this the

way he answered in another place.

You remember when a crowd who just experienced Jesus multiply

food in the wilderness, they ended up asking him in John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, what must we do to be doing the works of God?

And you remember what Jesus said to them in John 629.

This is the work of God, that you believe in him, who he has

sent. That's that's what's required of

you believe in him who he has sent.

OK, Lord, you're going to ask. You're going to you're going to

give that as an answer, aren't you?

This is what you're going to you're going to you're going to

remove all confusion. You're going to just get right

to the issue and you're going to clarify what you just finished

teaching not too long ago. And what do you read instead?

You know the commandments. What?

You know the commandments. What commandments?

You know the commandments. What do you mean, Lord?

Are you affirming a self producing holiness, a self

achieving righteousness? No, no, no, no, no, no.

Jesus is brilliantly strategic. You see, this rich young man not

only had a limited view of the person of Christ, he had a

limited view of himself, not just of Jesus, of himself.

So Jesus is going to take the mirror of the law and he's going

to show it to this man, this very ambitious man, this very

pure hearted man, at least on the surface.

And he wants to reveal to him just how far he is from actually

winning his justification. You know, often times before

people can hear the invitation of the cross, they need to be

introduced and then rejected by the law before they can hear the

sweet call of the cross. Many, many people first need to

be rejected, denounced, condemned by the law before they

find themselves at the foot of the mercy of Christ.

And this is what Jesus Christ is doing.

He's going to give him the law first, and based on how he will

respond to the law, will determine if he will receive the

gospel. And So what does Jesus say?

Do not murder. Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal. Do not bear false witness.

Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.

He goes to the Big 10, the Decalogue, and he doesn't

mention all ten. He focuses on the second table

of the law, the ones that deal with our relationship with

others. And so he presses on this man

what God demands in terms of our experience and our interactions

with other people created in the image of God.

But if you're a careful student of the law, then you'll realize

that something doesn't seem right with these commandments.

And if you're at the conference a few months ago, you'll you'll

remember that this was mentioned in one of the sessions.

You look at this again, you realize everything seems to be

right. Do not murder.

Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.

Do not bear false When is. Do not defraud.

Honor your father, mother. They may not be necessarily in

order, but they seem to all be there.

They seem to mirror exactly what is there in Exodus 20, but

something is not lined up. There is actually one of these

commands that Jesus gives that is not found in Exodus 20, and

not only is it not found in Exodus 20, it eclipses one of

those commands in the second table of the law.

Do you know which one it is? Do not defraud.

Go to Exodus 20. If you don't believe me, you're

going to realize that Do not defraud is not in the Big 10.

Does Jesus insert something to the word of God?

You have many people here who try to be academic and try to

argue that Jesus slipped up here.

And no, no, Jesus knows exactly what he's doing.

Do not defraud. Why is the Lord saying that to

this man? You know why?

Because the Lord is getting to the heart of the matter.

In this man's life, the Lord is pinpointing the besetting sin

that this rich young ruler was struggling with.

He was rich. He was very wealthy.

Does it make you wonder by Jesus bringing this up that he knows

how this man accumulated his wealth, how he was able to

attain such success? And so the the Lord here is not

changing the law, he is just making it more personal.

Because if you think about it, defrauding is a manifestation of

what commanded it, cover, coveting, coveting, coveting

specifically. And so you see here that there

is a manifestation of coveting that is known as defrauding,

that in your desire for something you will cheat people,

You will manipulate whether your desires for greater wealth or

whether your desires for greater power.

So this is really an applicational equivalent to

coveting, to defrauding, defrauding here is this in

action, coveting in action. So the Lord is not changing

anything, he's just making it more specific.

And he's telling this man he's trying to awaken his conscience.

In the middle of this list, he says do not defraud, do not

defraud. So the Lord is being very

surgical here. He knows exactly who he's

dealing with. He very likely knew the history

of this man, and he's trying to expose it in a very gentle but

wise way. He wants this man to see his

sin, not just the concept of sin, but his sin.

Do not defraud. The Lord is absolutely majestic.

He is impressive. He is so clever in a holy way

and so he says do not defraud. And you would think, OK, this is

this is going to do it. Here's this man now confronted,

and even not just with a general sense of God's demands, but even

more precisely concerning his life, showing him that he he

failed in a certain area. So what does he do?

The rich young ruler has a staggering response to what

Jesus says he says here in verse 20.

Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.

All these I've kept from my youth.

What do you mean, all these things you've kept from your

youth? You know, instead of seeing the

law as something that doesn't pave the way to eternal life,

instead of seeing it the way should be seen leading the way

and paving the way to the arms of the Savior, this man double S

down. This man is so convinced that

he's actually righteous, and so he tells the Lord, I've done

this. You know what this is?

This is deception. This is spiritual blindness.

This is an individual here who has convinced himself, and he's

even attempting to convince Christ that he has done all that

he can, and he's done it well to satisfy the divine commands of

God. And unfortunately, this way of

thinking is not inching him closer to eternal life.

It's only dragging him further away from it, because the very

thing that is required for eternal life is what you heard

last week and what I learned last week.

Helplessness. But you can't get to

helplessness until you have humility.

Humility precedes helplessness. And then helplessness when you

realize who's the helper brings you to that place of saving

faith. This man is sorely lacking in

humility. I've kept these things from my

youth. OK, according to what standard?

The Sermon of the Mount Standard.

OK, so you haven't murdered. Did you hate your brother in

your heart? You haven't committed adultery?

Did you look at something on the screen that you weren't supposed

to last night? According to which standard?

The Pharisee Standard or God's standard?

And this man's self deception should remind us of a church,

the last church that Jesus wrote to in the Book of Revelation,

who also felt very strongly believed very, very convincingly

about their own condition, though they were false, and

their assessment of who they were.

You remember what Jesus said to the Church of Laodicea.

Let me remind you one of the scathing statements he makes to

this local church. By the way, this is a church.

What what you're about to hear is Jesus Christ, the head of the

church, saying to his own body and Revelation 317.

He says For you say this is what the church was saying, this is

the whole church. For you say I am rich, I have

prospered, and I need nothing. I need nothing.

And then Jesus says, not realizing that you are wretched,

pitable, poor, blind and naked. Strong words from Jesus.

Very strong words from Jesus. Do you want to know what are the

two most cutting words in that statement?

What? You think it's wretched,

pitable, poor, blind, Naked. No, It's when he said, not

realizing, not realizing. Here's a translation.

You do not perceive reality. You do not perceive reality.

I can't think of a most the a more miserable place to be than

that. Think about it.

What can be more miserable than being convinced something to be

true when in fact the opposite is true?

What could be more earth shaking, heart rattling, than

realizing that you believe something for so long only for

it to be completely false? And Jesus tells this church you

have this sense of confidence about your spiritual condition.

And I want to let you know that you're dead wrong.

I read that I thought to myself, Lord, Lord, how do I escape an

inaccurate self-assessment of my own standing and my

sanctification? How do I how do I avoid this

mistake? You know what the answer is?

You always go with the Lord's evaluation.

Always. God hasn't concealed his mind or

his will. God has given us exactly what we

need to know, to know what we need to know.

It's so clear. And listen, here's the problem

with many people. They go with what they feel.

They go not just with what they feel, because feeling is one

thing. They go with what they're

comfortable with in their minds and their convictions and their

beliefs in their own observation.

They go with what is right to them instead of going to the

Lord and saying Lord, what do you think this rich, young ruler

is kind of like? An individual, individual

expression of the pollution that has come over this church?

Yeah, he wasn't a believer. But the same issue at heart.

I've kept these things from my youth.

You ask a Sinner these days, are you a good person?

What's the answer? Usually.

Have you ever encountered somebody who said I'm not a, I'm

a wretched, miserable no, Rarely you ask anybody on the street.

Do it today. Go to the mall.

Go to the restaurant. Ask.

Hey, are you a good person? What do you get?

Usually, Yeah, I'm a good person.

Are you good enough to go to heaven?

Yeah, I think I am. Yeah.

And then you bring God's word into it and the opinion changes.

If they're honest and not very shortly, Whose standard are you?

Good according to? OK, that's the world.

Jesus spoke to a church. You asked some Christians today.

They are as lukewarm as lukewarm can be.

Maybe you're lukewarm here today.

Anyway, you've been lukewarm for a while, and guess what?

You don't even realize it. No.

No. You're comfortable.

I need nothing. I'm good.

I stayed awake this Sunday Service.

I didn't fall asleep. I'm good.

Are you good? According to who?

Well, I feel good. OK, great.

What does Jesus feel? Have you asked him recently?

Oh, no. That's right.

You haven't talked to him for months.

I'm good. I'm good.

OK? But Jesus has a different

opinion. Is it possible to be in the

good? Sure.

I don't want to condemn everybody here.

It is possible to to be in this sweet place of fellowship with

the Lord where you are in your conscience, knowing that you're

walking with Him, loving Him, worshiping him, that he has

priority over all. But it's possible for an entire

church to think that they are good, not realizing.

Well, how do you realize? Just come to His word constantly

and consistently saying, Lord, is my heart right with you?

Lord, is there anything in my heart?

Can you scan my heart and see if there's anything that needs to

be removed? That's how you're doing.

You live that that way. And he is faithful always to

nudge you and to convict you and to comfort you and to lead you.

And so be reminded today that the Lord He has a will.

He has His word, and it's supposed to be engaged with

constantly. And this man, this man here,

thought he was good. And we would think, like, OK, if

this individual here is kind of like, again, an individual

expression of the Church of Laodicea, then he's about to get

it. The same Jesus who wrote those

words to that church is ready to unleash, ready to unleash on

this guy. He has no idea what's coming.

Prepare, prepare, prepare. What is he going to call him?

Pitable. What does he call him?

Poor. What does he call him?

Bankrupt. What is he going to say?

What is the Lord going to say to wake him up?

And then what do you read in verse 21?

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, loved him.

That word love is none other than the strongest expression of

the word love in the Greek language, Agapeo.

He loved them with the strongest love that you can have for

somebody else. You know why that's so moving to

me? Because Mark didn't say Jesus

loved him after the man accepted him.

He loved him while he was in darkness.

He loved him While he thought that he was actually good when

he wasn't. He loved them when he had a very

skewed understanding of salvation.

He loved them when he had a very poor theological perception of

the person of Jesus Christ. He loved him even though this

man loved something else more than him.

That's when he loved him. OK, what's the conclusion?

Jesus loves sinners. Jesus loves sinners.

Ready for the shocking statement?

While they're sinning, while they're rejecting, while they're

running in the opposite direction of his arms and his

heart, Jesus still loves them. Jesus loved this man.

And you know, Mark is the only one who mentions that.

Matthew doesn't mention it. Luke doesn't mention it.

Why is Mark mentioning it? Well, it shouldn't be a surprise

to us. We've been studying Mark for the

past few months. Mark depicts Jesus Christ as a

perfect servant of God, and by highlighting that Jesus loved

this man as the perfect servant of God, he's modeling for us how

you and I, in serving and engaging with the lost, should

also do and how we should do it. You love the lost.

You love sinners. Let them know that even as

you're ministering to me, even as you're transferring the

truth, that you love them. You know, a few few months ago,

I had a chance to be online in an informal debate with a

Muslim. And this Muslim just invited

people to come on his channel to debate about the deity of

Christ, and if Christ is really God in the flesh and all these

things. And so we just had a chance to

do it and it would turn out to be a few minutes, actually end

up being a few hours. And then at some point in that

conversation going back and forth, and then other people

were included in the conversation on his side.

It was very hostile, very intense.

Yeah, I was just thinking to myself, going back and forth

with the Bible, with the Karana. And I thought to myself, I hope

they're seeing where I'm coming from here.

And so in the middle of that, I just paused and I says, can I

tell you something? Can I just tell you something

Before we move on? Do you know why I'm doing this?

Do you know why I'm spending my Sunday evening where I could

have done so many other things, doing this with a complete

strange. Can I tell you why I'm not here

to win a debate? I'm not here to win an argument.

I'm not here to get an adrenaline rush of proving

somebody wrong. I want you to know Jesus Christ.

I want your soul to be saved. I want you to come to the

sweetness of the gospel, to realize that you can have

everlasting hope in His name. That's why I'm doing this.

And there was just silence for a few moments.

OK? Wherever this goes, at least

they know my heart behind this. Who cares if you win an

argument? Who cares if you look like a

better man? Who cares if you look

intelligent? Who cares if you can quote this

and quote that? Do we love the lost?

Jesus loves sinners. And so looking at him, I wonder

if the love ooze that of his eyes.

I wonder whoever helped mark Penn this gospel account, which

is very likely Peter. I wonder if Peter saw this

interaction. Here's this man on his knees,

and here's Jesus speaking to him, but after telling him about

the commandments and this man claiming that he is satisfied in

Jesus, what did? What did Peter see in that face?

What radiated out of that face for him to say he loved him?

He loved him not just to show us how we are to serve the loss and

reach the loss and engage with the loss, but also in

preparation for what Jesus is about to say.

You know how some people understand love.

If they haven't read this before, they might think in

verse 21 that it would continue in the following manner.

And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you know

what, you're a good guy, you have a good heart.

I can see that. You know, I know doctrine can

get complicated and there's a wide spectrum of beliefs and but

it seems like you're very earnest.

It seems like you're very interested in spiritual things

and seems like you're really sincere.

I have a hunch that God understands, So be at peace and

go your way. That's what some people

understand. Love.

Is that love? No, that's dangerous and damning

compromise. Jesus didn't look at him, love

him, and then lower the standard.

Jesus didn't look at him and love him and then alter the

message. Jesus looked at him and loved

them and did the most loving thing you can do with somebody

who's in darkness. Give them the truth and love.

He looked at him, he loved him, and he's going to say something

very heavy. Why?

Just just to play with him. Why?

So that he can show him that he can never become one of God's

children? No, because the truth sets you

free. No matter how much it hurts in

the moment, no matter how much you feel uncomfortable with this

introduction in your life. Jesus is about to say something,

and it is all in love, and it is because he loves you know?

Sometimes you hear people from something called the pulpit, and

many people in their strategy to try to seem loving will dilute

their message. That's the most unloving thing

you can do. At the same time, those who

would present the truth, even the the harsh truth, the not

easy to receive truth, you got to do it in love.

You know no matter how intense you are, no matter how much your

voice is elevated, no matter how much you don't smile as much as

another preacher smiles. People can tell if you love

them, even if you preach the truth to them.

They should be able to, at least.

But then there's the opposite strategy that is so dangerous,

and that's to not give them what they need to hear so people can

leave cheerful and happy. Jesus doesn't do that.

This man is about to leave disheartened and sorrowful.

You know, that's possible for a Sunday service.

It's possible for after a Sunday service to for the people to

dodge the pastor at the door because they were offended.

You know what Jesus doesn't do after he gives what he's about

to say. He doesn't run after the guy.

I know, I know, I know. That was a little harsh.

But, you know, I was just, It's just the way my it's my

personality. Let's reconsider what I said.

He doesn't do that one because he's the perfect communicator.

I'm sure that some preachers have to do that at some point.

Maybe. But you never apologize for the

truth. You never apologize for the

truth. That's not love.

So what does Jesus say? Jesus looking at him, loved him

and said to him, you like one thing.

You like one thing goes. Sell all that you have and give

to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come

follow me. It seems like the Lord is

compounding on this concept of a workspace salvation, right?

Because you can read that at face value and think, OK, if I

want to be numbered among the redeemed that I got to sell

everything, give it to the poor. Be careful taking this

particular case and making it as a universal call for all

seekers. You can't take this command and

make it a gospel appeal to everybody.

Not everybody is called to sell everything that they have and

give to the poor. What Jesus is doing here,

though, is he's making a personal call, drawn from the

objective principle of what it means to be saved.

Make Jesus your Lord. Can I say that one more time?

What Jesus doing with this man is that he is giving a

personalized call, drawn from a principal, from the overarching

objective truth of what it means to be saved.

Make Jesus your Lord. And making Jesus your Lord will

cause each of our repentance to look differently.

And in the case of this rich young ruler, his repentance look

like surrendering the God of money, repenting from a superior

love, a love greater than his love for God.

And that is his wealth. Jesus was able to scope exactly

what it was. I was hindering this man from

coming to saving faith. And it was his love for mammon,

his love for treasures, his love for possessions, the security in

it, the thrill of it, the pleasure that it offers.

And Jesus says give it all up. Follow me.

That's what repentance is. Faith really looks like when

it's fleshed out, you know, accepting Jesus is not saying,

You know what? I think I have room in my life

for Jesus. And so let me add Jesus here

with these competing and rival desires of mine.

No, accepting Jesus is taking a dynamite to all of your life,

blowing it up and let Jesus take over blank canvas.

Lord, do what you want with my life, that it's what it means to

makes Jesus Christ Lord. And so he says here, give up

everything. Again, that's not the protocol

for salvation. It's a test for this man, a test

to see if he is willing to do what is required of anybody who

would follow Jesus Christ. Are you willing to surrender

anything I ask of you? If you can't surrender

everything, if you can't surrender anything that Jesus

asked of you, then he's not Lord.

And if he's not Lord, then he's not your savior.

It's very simple. And so that's what Jesus is

bringing before this man. And you know, for something to

come to this passage, to try to prove that Jesus is not God is

making a terrible mistake for many reasons.

And one of those reasons is this.

Do you realize that Jesus, when he gave those commandments to

the man, only gave the last six? Where were the first four?

Did you ever think about that? Why didn't you quote from the

beginning? Why did you give the last six

and not the first four that deal with our relationship with God?

What's the first one? You shall have no other gods

before me. Correct.

Did this man have a God before the true God?

Yes, the God of money and Jesus is indirectly applying those set

of commands to this man. Your God is money and your love

for it is greater than your love for the true God.

But you know what Jesus doesn't do?

He doesn't quote the first commandment to him.

He could have. He could have said you should

have no other gods before me. But he doesn't do that.

Why instead? This is so fascinating.

This is absolutely mind blowing. Instead of quoting the 1st and

2nd commandment, he says give up everything, follow me, give up

everything, follow me. Now on what level does Christ

place himself to make make such a statement?

If this man's problem was idolatry, then the law that

applies to him is the first two for sure.

But what does Jesus do? Jesus calls this man to follow

him, to abandon his idols and follow him.

What does that make Jesus God? Any other man who would dare to

say that would be blasphemous. Any other man who would dare say

that would be a heretic and be worthy of death according to the

Old Covenant. But Jesus can say because Jesus

is Yahweh. Follow me.

Wow. Banning your idols.

Oh, that's right. And then and then.

Follow you. Yeah, follow you.

Follow me. Mind blowing.

And here's what this man is registering.

Give up everything and follow you.

What's his response? Joyful.

Did he find a treasure in the field?

Went back? Sold everything to buy that

field? Isn't the gospel good news?

It is good news, but it's ultimately up to you if it's

good news or not. Disheartened by the saying, he

went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.

I wonder what that looked like. Imagine here's Jesus on a road.

Here's this man. Pristine, popular, well combed,

perfumed. And he's in the dust.

And here are the disciples looking at this interaction and

just pure silence and awe. Listening to this man, listening

to Jesus. Listening to this man.

Listening to Jesus. And Jesus says give everything,

follow me and this man. I wonder if he picked himself

up. Dust his knees.

I wonder if you even had the audacity to look him in the

eyes, head down, heart heavy, and turns his back and walks

into the horizon. And there's Jesus looking at

him. And there are disciples looking

at him too, I'm sure. And we'll get to what Jesus will

say next week. But consider verse 22 and

compare it again with verse 17. What does verse 17 say in the

introduction of this man? And as he was sitting out on his

journey, a man ran up and knelt before him.

And what do we see in verse 22? He gets up and walks away.

What do we see again here in verse 17, knelt before him and

asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal

life? Why do you call me good?

Verse 22, disheartened by the saying, he walks away.

Clearly he wasn't good enough. Oh yeah, in the beginning he was

good. But then when you realize what

he's asking of you, you're good. But there's something better.

My possessions And there are many people who say many things

about Jesus. Many things.

He's God, He's Lord, He's savior.

It's it's OK, it's wonderful to say it, but it's ultimately

proven by lived out conviction. Many people who say many things

about Jesus, many praiseworthy things.

But those things are just vapor if they don't manifest in taking

his words in and saying you're so good to me.

Not just in theory, not just in my ideas of who you are, but

because of who you are and your totality.

I will do anything you tell me. I'll do anything.

That's how good you are. You want me to get rid of the

possessions? I'll do it.

You want me to relinquish my righteousness?

I'll do it. You want me to come to you like

a child? I'll do it.

You want me to forgive my enemies?

You want me to pray for my enemies?

OK, I'll do it. I'll do it.

How do you identify a Christian? Simply like this.

Whatever he says, I'll do. It's simple.

Let's not make it complicated. You want to memorize creeds?

Go ahead and memorize all the creeds you want.

You want to stuff your library with theological literature?

Stuff it away. But what happens to you when he

says something to you? How weighty is his authority in

your life? That's what determines this man

went away sorrowful, you know. You know how great this

invitation was. Think about it.

We understand the idea and the invitation for all men to follow

Jesus. But it could be that when Jesus

said follow me, follow me, that this man could have followed him

physically. He could have been part up to

some extent, the traveling band and even rejects that.

Like that's what he rejected. For what?

For possessions. I wonder if he regrets it now.

I'm sure if he hasn't changed after this moment, he went away

sorrowful. You know what's so amazing?

You can have great possessions and still be sorrowful.

That's the lesson there. You can walk away with your own

bank, never mind a bank account, and still be depressed and still

feel like something is not right because only Christ can complete

you. You know this, right?

I know I'm preaching to the choir.

I know that this room is filled with people who know that truth,

but oh how we need to be reminded of it, especially you

young people. Listen very carefully.

I know you have your whole life ahead of you.

I know you're young, you have strength and you have dreams and

hopes and all these ideas. But never forget.

Only Christ will complete you. Only He will satisfy you.

Only He will soothe you. Only He will give you an

unshakeable peace. Only Him.

Money has kept a lot of people out of heaven.

Money, though neutral in itself, has been the means for many

people to be an everlasting separation from a holy and good

God. And we will talk about next week

how hard it is for the rich to enter into eternal life.

But for now, I hope your heart and hearing this is not

sorrowful. I hope your heart can rejoice.

Because you know that though you have nothing, you have

everything because you have Jesus.

I hope you feel that way. I want that.

What just happened there? I just want it to be fuel on

that fire. That's right.

I have everything because I have Christ.

That's right. Here's a man who's been, who's

been printed on Holy Writ to remind generations to come that

you can be young, you can be rich, you can have status, you

can have religion. But if you don't have Christ,

you don't have life. You have life because you have

Christ. So rejoice, rejoice in knowing

that you have all you need in him.

And maybe you're not convinced of that today.

Is he that good? He's better than what I'm

saying. Is he that real?

He's more real than my voice is to you at this moment.

Is he that satisfying? He is satisfying not just when

you stand before him and knowing that you have eternal life, but

he actually sustains you day by day by day.

What are you going to go back to?

What filth are you going to go back to?

Paul says. How can you?

In some sense, I'm paraphrasing. How can you be tempted and

allured by the things that brought no fruit to you at one

point? Dealing with sin.

That's Romans 6. What do you have to go back to?

You know what that life was like.

You've been there. And if you haven't been there,

hey, listen to me. Trust me.

You're not missing out. You're not missing out on

anything. You have everything in him.

I made reference to lukewarm church.

If you're lukewarm today, which can be very possible for even a

preacher, you know what Jesus said to that church when he says

you're wretched, you're pitable, you're poor, you're naked.

It's like, is this really a church?

It's a real church. You know what he says in that

same chapter, Those whom I love, I rebuke.

He looked at this rich young man.

He loved him, and he spoke the truth.

And he looks at this church at large.

He rebukes them. But guess what he's like.

I do this because I love you. So if your heart is pricked,

like know that that is a touch of love from Jesus saying you

know where you're supposed to be.

You're not there. You're not there.

You're here, but you're not there.

Let my spirit work in you and bring you where you need to be.

Because because right now you're confused.

You're in the dark. You think that you have need of

nothing, but you do. Yeah, you have salvation, but

you need sweet fellowship with me again.

You need that closeness with me again.

I'm here to give it to you, and the Lord is here to give it to

you. If you need salvation, He's here

to give it to you. If you need to be brought close

to him and to know the sweetness of his fragrance again, you know

what he told that lukewarm church.

If you answer the door that I'm knocking, I'll come in and I'll

eat with you. Let's have lunch, let's sit

closely together, and let's commune again.

That's the heart of Christ. We serve a loving Christ,

whether that be with confused souls like the rich young ruler

or compromising churches like the Church of Laodicea.

He's a loving Christ. Thank you for being a loving

Christ, Lord, Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you Lord. With a message like this, we can

either rejoice or be sorrowful. And it is our pray that every

single person here would be absolutely exploding with joy.

Knowing that they have you, knowing that you've made it so

simple. You haven't given us a list of

do's and don'ts. You haven't asked us for a

performance. You just asked us to trust you.

You've asked us to follow you, and to follow you is to believe

in you and from believing in you.

We live for you and Lord. For the person here who knows

these things, who's heard probably a sermon very similar

to this, we just ask that you would help all of us in renewing

the joy that we once had in the Lord.

Help us come alive again. To know that freshness in our

faith. To know that spring to our step.

To know that strength in our singing, to know that desire to

obey. And know you in the word of God.

Although we sing to you now because we are not like this

man, the rich young ruler who is indeed a poor young slave, We

are free. We are free in you, in Jesus

name. Amen.

We stand and worship the Lord together.