What’s Holding You Back? Mark 10 — Mark 10

0:00 Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Roger. Morning, Bob. I'd like to welcome my friend Robbie Buell. Robbie's been here before, and he's one of those few people I know that says, Roger, when you're speaking, let me know.

0:16 So, thank you Robbie. Also before I forget, I want to, often when I speak, I always promote a book, and this is a book that dovetails with our study in the Gospel of Mark. Nate Bramson's book, he's a young man and he wrote a book, What if Jesus Meant What He Said? Jesus said a lot of difficult things that we like to reinterpret to our liking. But I've covered most of the book, and it's pretty...

0:48 It's really good. And first come, first serve if someone wants to borrow it. Of course, you can find it on any of... A number of outlets. So let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll get started.

1:46 What are you looking for in life? Secondly, the second question, what's holding you back from eternal life? Or put it another way, having a saving relationship with God. And third question is, if you have been born again, what's keeping you from having a dynamic, amazing relationship with God? So just ponder those questions if you if you get bored and don't know what else to do.

2:35 In fact, when Peter was, miraculously released from prison in Acts 12, Peter went to the house where the prayer meeting for him was and it was in Mark's mom's house where they were praying for Peter as he was put in jail for preaching. Mark had gone with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey, which if I understand, Mark didn't quite make it through the whole journey. And when Barnabas suggested they select Paul again for the second missionary journey, Paul said, no way. And, so Paul and Barnabas parted ways and and it was a little bit of conflict there that apparently was resolved later because in second Timothy, we read Paul makes reference to John Mark being helpful to him and, there was restoration and repair. And Peter Peter, it seems, had a relationship with with with Mark.

3:40 And of course, Peter was no stranger to failure, so they could probably help each other. So a little bit about the book in general. The book of Mark was written to the... To a Gentile audience. Matthew was written to a Jewish audience.

3:56 So there's some... A different style. One of the ways it's different is when when Mark uses some of the Aramaic terms, he provides translation so that people... So that his readers can understand. And also when he makes reference to some of the Jewish customs, he gives greater explanation so that they would understand the relevance.

4:20 And unlike Matthew, Mark does not quote a whole lot from the Old Testament. The other point I want to make today is that the scriptures are are God's word to us. He's trying to communicate with us, and often it does not seem clear. Even Jesus' own disciples were confused at times which we'll see again today in our in our in our text. I mean, his his death caught him off guard.

4:46 His resurrection caught him off guard. Of course, now we have the benefit of having the full scriptures. They just had the Old Testament scriptures back then. So we have the benefit of being able to compare scripture with scripture, and and the the the details are much more complete. I often marvel and a little bit jealous of those two those two fellows that met Jesus after the resurrection, which caught them off guard.

5:12 And then Jesus and scriptures say that, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself. So the person of Christ is in the Old Testament, but not highly visible. There's lots of clues. One of the theme verses, probably the... Well, you know, I'll test my theory.

5:32 Who would like to submit the theme verse for the book of Mark? Let's see if we agree. I won't I won't pick on anybody. I'll let... Because that would suggest manipulation.

5:42 Does anybody have a suggestion for the theme book of of Mark? Five. Oh, mister Bingham. Bingo. Very good.

6:05 So I guess I'm right. And that's... The the context for that is really interesting. Even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. That's later on in this chapter.

6:16 We're not gonna get that far. Ray will get to that verse next week. And I'll make some more comments about that later but it's kind of kind of interesting. And when we are going through the book of John, won't make this a quiz. The key verse there, if I remember right, was John twenty thirty one.

6:31 That Jesus did so many things that even the world could not contain all the books as they were written down, which I don't know if that's a figure of speech or not. But what was recorded was written so that we can know that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that we can have life in his name. And if you look at... If you think about it, starting in Genesis, there is that thread of information that starts proclaiming Jesus. Starts right at creation, the calling of a person, Abraham, and making a nation of his descendants.

7:05 That nation, the Israelites, had many ups and downs, to put it mildly, before finally rejecting Jesus Christ, the Messiah who came, which we'll be getting to there in a few months, the end of the book of Mark where the crucifixion is. And even that Messiah that was first hinted at when God put Adam and Eve out of the garden. So God has spoken through the centuries as Hebrews one talks about in various times and in various ways, in times past to the fathers and the prophets so that we could so we could hear what he's having to say. He wants us to understand him. And in Hebrews two, we we have that question, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

7:53 Hebrews... The book of Hebrews was written to the to to the Judaic people who had missed it. They had they had crucified their Messiah. So the writer of Hebrews is challenging them, don't don't miss it. Don't miss what what God's telling us in his word.

9:09 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, I have kept all these things from my youth up. And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, one thing you lack, go and sell all you possess and give it... And give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven and come follow me.

9:47 But at these words, his face fell, and as he went... And he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property. So what do we know from these verses about this young man? Well, we know that he had great wealth. This story is also in the the gospel of Matthew, the gospel of Luke, and from those gospels, we know that he had He had power in the sense that He was a ruler, rich young ruler, and He had youth.

10:20 He had His youth. We know that from Matthew 19. But we know that He did not have eternal life because He was looking for it. And that's a significant thing. Earlier, a couple of chapters earlier in Mark eight, it says, What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

10:42 If you've been with us through the study of Mark, you know that Jesus is is communicating with different people in different ways to expose their need which which the main need is that we would understand who he is, that he's the savior of the world and receive him. Let's, let's take a look at this story to see what we can figure out. I have a number of points I'm just gonna mention briefly. This fellow, he came running. He was looking for Jesus.

11:13 Apparently, he was eager and perhaps it was a premeditated time to find Jesus and to have a personal conversation with him. Also, he showed great respect when he knelt before him. It says he kneeled down. He addressed him as good teacher. That's an identification that the rabbis would would never have used in speaking to another human being.

11:41 It's essentially a description of deity, good teacher. It means intrinsically good. And in fact, Jesus was the son of God. He was... He did possess deity, but this young man probably wouldn't have known that or admitted it.

12:01 He addressed him as good teacher. What he exactly knew about him, we don't know except that if he had been watching Jesus, he certainly would have beheld the miracles he'd done and known that he spoke like no other man had spoken. But I don't think he fully understood who Jesus was. Next, he believed in the afterlife. He said, What must I do to inherit eternal life?

12:24 That's a profound question. It suggests a couple of things, one of which is he felt he had to do something to gain God's favor. It also, of course, implies that he believed that there's life after this life, and that's something I think all of us know. A few years ago, was with couple of my young nieces and nephews. And, my niece, Charlotte, was, for some reason, who was 10 at the time, I think, was expressing a fear of death.

13:02 And my six year old nephew at the time, Joseph, in his precocious way says, Charlotte, you've got nothing to worry about. Your whole life is ahead of you. But whether we die young or old, we are gonna die. I really appreciate it. Oh, he's gone.

13:20 I told him I'd quote him. I'm gonna quote Joe's... Joey's. Joey had prayer meeting a couple weeks ago. Actually, a couple days before before his great grandmother died.

13:34 He prayed, dear Jesus, if great grandma dies, please help it to go well. And I was talking to him about that this morning because I wanted to see if it was... Make sure it was okay to quote him. And he said, sure. And he says, yeah, that's just what happened.

13:49 It went well. And of course, she did die, and none of us were surprised because we all know we're all gonna die someday. Then Jesus asks a question. Why do you call me good? Now in asking that question, Jesus was not denying that he was the son of God, but helping this young man understand who he was.

14:14 Did he understand... Did the young man understand who Jesus was, that he was God? And if so, was he open to his words? Jesus also makes a statement in this passage. You know the commandments in Jesus states five, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not lie, do not defraud.

14:37 These could all be classified into the category of loving your neighbor. We all have an idea also of what's right and wrong, but we also have a selfishness that clouds that reality. Notice in verse, when the young man starts talking again, he does no longer... He doesn't address Jesus as good teacher. He just says, teacher.

15:02 Perhaps he had picked up on what Jesus was getting at. From Matthew, after the... After this fellow speaks again, he he also adds the word... He asked what he still lacks. That's not here in in Luke.

15:24 And notice Jesus' response also in verse 21. Jesus, looking at him, loved him. Jesus saw behind his religious devotion into his deepest need, and and he loved him. And and then and then he said, one thing you lack. That's something I'd like you all to comprehend too the best we can that god loves us.

15:53 We don't earn his love, and once we have it, we can't lose it. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And Romans eight... The end of Romans eight says, nothing can separate us from the love of God. And when Jesus told the man, one thing you lack, go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come follow me, The man, his face fell and he went away grieved for he was one who owned much property.

16:33 I'd like to make some observations from this first section. First one is that this young fellow, like is common to mankind, he had a self righteous achievement. He thought he had it under control and that he could handle it. And with him, it was coupled with a love for money. Secondly, if he truly loved his neighbors, would he not help those in financial need?

17:06 Next, possessions were keeping him from following Jesus. Next, he failed to understand and acknowledge his own inability to gain eternal life and to receive it as God's gift. His repliance was upon himself, not upon the Lord Jesus. His confidence was upon himself, not on what Jesus has done for us. Next, despite having observed the Mosaic law the best he could, he was still spiritually dissatisfied.

17:41 That was perhaps why he came to Jesus. What must I do to inherit eternal life? None of us can keep the whole law. Some might be better than others, but we are still... We all still fall short of the glory of God.

17:57 My next observation is that nobody loves us like God loves us. I'd like to read some verses in first John four that illustrate that better than I can describe it. First John four:seven-ten. Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

18:19 The one who does not love does not know God for God is love. Notice verse nine, by this the love of God was manifested in us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. This young fellow had a personal personal encounter with the son of God. And the Lord's heart went out to him and gave him what he needed to hear, but he did not receive it.

18:56 Love is not telling people what they want to hear or giving them what they ask for. Jesus' love is always righteous. And as it is... As it was here and not lowering his demands with regards to bringing this fellow into the group of his disciples under under under inaccurate terms or an inaccurate way. Jesus is looking for true followers not not false followers.

19:23 Take up your cross and follow me. Is not here in in Mark. It's in the it's in the other other gospels. I just want to make some quick remarks on that. In simplest terms, it's death to self, which, of course, is hard.

19:43 We don't like to put our own wants and desires to death. But in taking up the cross, the cost is everything, but also the reward is everything. Whatever we hang on to in this life does not reward eternally. As Jim Elliott said, which I've quoted before, martyr who was willing to give his life and, in fact, did give his life, he made the remark, is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. And lastly, before we go to part two, The young man here who had that face to face conversation with Jesus, he went away grieved.

20:39 He missed an opportunity. I think one of the most graphic illustrations of making a mistake is a parable in Luke chapter 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. It illustrates that you might have it all in this life, but if you don't have the Lord, have nothing. And that beggar Lazarus, just would eat the table scraps from the rich man's house had very little in this life, but in the next life, he had he had it all. Luke chapter 16, the the rich man asked for a messenger to go back and warn his brothers of the torment that awaits those who do not have faith, saving faith in the lord Jesus.

21:52 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And they were even more astonished and said to him, then who can be saved? Looking upon them, Jesus said, with men it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. Peter began to say to him, behold, we have left everything and followed you.

22:18 Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mothers or father or children or farms for my sake and for the gospel's sake but that he shall receive a 100 times as much. Now, in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms along with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last in the last first. Jesus says, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. For those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.

23:06 This astonished the disciples because in Judaism, riches were a mark of God's favor, His blessing. And then Jesus speaks again, calling them children, which I take to be an indication of their spiritual immaturity. So we don't have to feel bad as we continue to grow in grace and knowledge because there's a learning curve for all of us. But he addresses them as children because of their spiritual maturity. And he says, how hard it is for those who trust.

23:42 In the previous statement, he said, how hard it is for those who have. Here he says, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. That Jesus uses that familiar comparison to make his point that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And that literally means, according to the theologians, literally a camel going through that little eye in a sewing needle. It's an absurd comparison to illustrate the absolute truth that it's hard for rich to enter the kingdom of God.

24:26 Why is it hard? Well, they have riches. When they have... For those who have riches, and I would suggest that's a problem for any of us in this room, we are the upper 0.5% of the wealthy people in the world, even though you might not think you're wealthy, we are. But it's easy for us to be distracted by riches.

24:48 And then of course, it's easy for us to trust in riches. We think because we have financial wherewithal that we don't have to worry about things. Do you ever think about the fact that just thinking about money can make you intoxicated. Whereas if you're going to be alcoholically intoxicated, you have to have to imbibe. You have to take the alcohol in.

25:20 But just thinking about money can make you can make you mentally intoxicated and do crazy things. But we won't go into that. There is a whole rental market out there though, rental properties. Scott, do you have any available? Or Scott?

25:37 Anyways, my brother and I invested in a house years ago that only gives us nickels on a dollar now. But... So just a thought. So money is money is a snare. Don't trust in it.

25:53 And after Jesus made that remark, verse 26, it says the disciples were greatly astonished. Now I'm gonna butcher a transliteration of a Greek word just for your enjoyment. Explosanto. Explosanto. Sounds like what would be translated ex...

26:14 Expletive. But it means, literally, the disciples were struck out of their senses, Struck out of their senses overwhelmed. And there's a couple of... There might be a couple of explanations for that. And this is...

26:37 Bob, this is where I wish we could have a discussion, but we can't. We're... We have a different format. But as Jews living under the Mosaic Law, they would look, as I referred to before, they would look on riches as an indication of God's blessing. The fact that God promised prosperity to those who obeyed him.

26:59 Consequently, the disciples figured that if a rich person couldn't enter the kingdom, then no one else could either. So they might be thinking about themselves here. Wait. Wait a minute. If if rich people can't be saved and if God blesses the rich people, if they're because of their relationship with him, how can we be saved?

27:18 And that's and that's what they that's what they say. How can anybody be saved? Verse 26. They were even more astonished and said to him, then who can be saved? Verse 27, Jesus Jesus replies, and I'm quoting the literal translation here, Kenneth Weist, who says, with men, impossible but not in the presence of God, for all things are possible in the presence of God.

28:26 Literally, Peter says, Peter began to be saying to him, behold, as for us, we have abandoned all once for all and have followed you, and this is a permanent thing. If that were only the case in our devotion to Christ to have a once for all perfect commitment to him. In in Matthew 19, when the story is told, Peter asked the questions, what shall we have? Or to look at it another way, Peter appears to be saying to Jesus, well, what's in it for us? Moving on to verse twenty nine and thirty, then I'll make some observations to hopefully tie this together for all of us.

29:18 There is a contrast in verses twenty nine and thirty between holding tight to our possessions in relationships in a selfish way versus entrusting everything to God and following him. Jesus is not telling us to reject our our families, our biological families, or our children, you know. But rather to put... But rather to not put them ahead of our relationship with God. The gain, the mention of a 100 fold, I think I take to be symbolic of the spiritual benefits that we will have by being part of God's family.

30:02 There's a community aspect of that, just the communion of the saints, so to speak, communion of Christians. I think years ago when many years ago, back when Reagan was president, several several friends and I bicycled across the country. And we soon realized that we didn't have enough money to camp out every night at a campground. So we started when we pulled into a town at the end of the day, we'd find a church building and we'd call the number on the sign and ask if we could camp on their church property. And that worked quite well.

30:43 And we met a lot of wonderful Christians. Some invited us into their home and fed us, and we had great communion, great fellowship with people we had never met before. So that's part of it. If we selfishly stick to ourselves and don't don't join the body of Christ, we miss out a lot to say the least. But there's also another side of it too, and that has to do with with the great commission.

31:12 We're not to keep it to ourselves. And when we spread the gospel of God around the world, his... First of all, people come to faith in him. They are saved, and the church is built. And the lord is glorified.

31:35 I'm gonna assume. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna assume or presume, but the word persecution here. The gospel of Mark that was believed was written few decades after Jesus rose from the dead. And by that time, there was great persecution. So I don't know Jesus was prophesying that or if maybe Peter added that in as a reality.

32:06 And today, in the world, persecution is very real, not so much in America, but there are some areas of the world that are quite hostile toward Christians. And someday, maybe it will come to your life, our lives. But I recall those verses in Romans eight that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with what God has for us in the life to come. Peter sure experienced persecution, and in fact, he was murdered for his faith. Verse 31 talks about, but many who are first will be last and the last first.

32:46 Christians come in all shapes and sizes and flavors in some. Those of you that were here on Wednesday for prayer, I don't know how it came about. We compiled a list of things that we thought the Lord would have us pray for. And I'm not sure how it all came about, but it was from the scriptures. We were taking things from the scriptures that were important to the Lord, and somehow we...

33:12 Oh, pray for those who despitefully use you. We boil that down to difficult people, difficult Christians. And we all we all... If you haven't met a difficult Christian, maybe you never will, but they do exist. And that sort of goes with my point.

33:40 There's... Some some have some have more pride than they should. And I think they might anticipate being more important than they are, and that they think they're gonna be given a greater place of honor and Christ's kingdom because they spoke more and they spoke louder. But that's not necessarily the case. There's gonna be a lot of Christians, I believe, who are more quiet, more humble, more obedient.

35:06 But there are some instructions in the New Testament for dealing with riches. First Timothy chapter six, Paul says, command those who are rich in this pleasant age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. So we can use our resources, our riches for the good of others and for the glory of God. That's a great opportunity.

35:46 Also in that chapter is that verse which is often misquoted, and I'll quote it for you correctly. For the love of money... It's not it's not money is the root of all sort... Kinds of evil, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many a sorrow. Riches are now more...

36:10 Riches nowadays... I'm sorry. Period. End of verse. And now with my remark is that riches are now riches are now more of a test of our devotedness than the sign of God's blessing.

36:23 Although undoubtedly, we have been blessed. So the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And this verse implies that there have been those who have strayed from the faith. There's no good reasons to stray from the faith. Secondly, when the disciples asked who could be saved, were they questioning their own part in the kingdom of God?

36:56 They were overcoming some of the components of Judaism which had been superseded by the coming of Christ. And we too, I would just suggest, as we grow in our knowledge of the word, let's have patience with those who have not yet arrived at the point that you have arrived at and judge them. And lastly, we need to understand how we are saved and and and that's in Ephesians two eight and nine. We're saved by grace, by God's grace, and we're saved through faith. By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

37:41 It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So we're... We are saved by God's grace through faith in Christ, what he did for us on the cross. So the rich man here was not condemned because of his wealth. We'll have to be careful that I convey that accurately.

38:06 But it was an obstacle for him. He was not willing to give up what was important to him for the sake of what was necessary to be a follower of Christ. We cannot have it both ways. So here's my concluding question. If you could ask Jesus one question, what would it be and would you be willing and what would you be willing to do when he answered you?

38:41 Would you be willing to heed how he answers you? So let's pray. Father, we are thankful for your word, which is very graphic. And today, we we see the problem that this young fellow had. Father, help us to be honest with ourselves and with you that we have obstacles too that we want to hold on to.

39:08 Help us to be willing to surrender them, to take up our cross, to be willing to die to self so that we can receive not merely eternal life in the next life and the life to come, but that we can walk with you now and enjoy the blessedness of that. Father, we want to pray for all of us here as a body that you help us to spur one another around to love and good deeds. Help us not to be critical, but to be constructive in our in our conversations with each other. And we pray these things in our lord Jesus name. Amen.