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

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.

Sow 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 wanna 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 in Luke eighteen eighteen, 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 underscore 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 is found in three out of the four gospel accounts for good reason. But before we even dissect and break down 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 he could 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 I wanna know how I can have it. I wanna 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. And 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? Now I get it. I I know what what's taking up on the headlines.

I know what's what direction this nation is headed to 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 interest 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 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 one 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 ruler. 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 finish 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 text 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 humble. 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 asks, why do you call me good? Why do you call me good? You know, there are many who wanna 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 is 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 asked 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 is 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 gonna understand who you are. And when you understand who he is, you'll understand who you are and then you'll 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 life?

What do I need to do? What do I need to do? What would you do if somebody asked you that question? What must I do? And here's Jesus ready to answer.

And you know what you might think and what I might think of reading this for this first time especially? Surely you're gonna 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 chapter six, what must we do to be doing the works of God? And you remember what Jesus said to them in John six twenty nine? This is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent. That's that's what is required of you.

Believe in him who he has sent. Okay, Lord, you're gonna ask you're gonna you're gonna give that as an answer, aren't you? This is what you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna remove all confusion, you're gonna just get right to the issue, and you're gonna 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 to live in a view of himself. Not just of Jesus, of himself.

So Jesus is gonna take the mirror of the law and he's gonna 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, oftentimes 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 gonna give him the law first. And based on how he'll 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 decologue.

He doesn't mention all 10. 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 were 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 witness, do not defraud, honor your father and 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 it. You're gonna 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 desire is for greater wealth or whether your desire is for greater power. So this is really an applicational equivalent to coveting, to defrauding.

Defrauding here is this inaction, coveting inaction. 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 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, okay, this is this is gonna 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 have kept from my youth. What do you mean all these things you've kept from your youth? You know, instead of seeing that law as something that doesn't pave the way to eternal life, instead of seeing it the way it should be seen, leading the way and paving the way to the arms of the savior, this man doubles 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. K. According to what standard? The Sermon of the Mount standard?

Okay. 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 in 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. In Revelation three seventeen 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, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Strong words from Jesus. Very strong words from Jesus. Do you wanna know what are the two most cutting words in that statement?

What? You think it's wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, naked? No. It's 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 more 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 wanna let you know that you're dead wrong. I read that and 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, in their convictions, in their beliefs, in their own observation. They go with what is right to them.

Instead of going to the Lord saying, Lord, what do you think? This rich young ruler is kinda like an 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 enough very shortly. Whose standard are you good according to? Okay. That's the world.

Jesus spoke to a church. You have some Christians today. They are as lukewarm as lukewarm can be. Maybe you're lukewarm here today. Maybe you've been lukewarm for a while and guess what?

You don't even realize it. 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.

Okay. 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. K.

But Jesus has a different opinion. Is it possible to be in the good? Sure. I don't wanna condemn everybody here. It is possible to you to be in this sweet place of fellowship with the Lord where you are in your conscious knowing that you're walking with him, loving him, worshiping him, that he is priority overall.

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, 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 do, and 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, okay. If this individual here is kinda like, again, an individual expression of the church of Laodicea, then he's about to get it. I 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 gonna call him? Pitiful? What is he gonna call him?

Poor? What is he gonna call him? Bankrupt? What is he gonna say? What is the Lord gonna 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 loves something else more than him. That's when he loved him. K. 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 who've been studying Mark for the past few months.

Mark depicts Jesus Christ as the 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 them, 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 turned out to be a few minutes actually ended 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 I I was just thinking to myself going back and forth with the bible, with the Quran, 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 stranger?

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. Okay.

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 oozed out of his eyes. I wonder whoever helped Mark pen 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. And after telling him about the commandments and this man claiming that he has satisfied them, 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 lost and reach the lost and engage with the lost, 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 them 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 in spiritual things and seems like you're really sincere. I I have a hunch that God understands. So be at peace and go your way.

That's how 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 gotta 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 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. Yeah.

I'm so 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 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 lack one thing.

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. It seems like the Lord is compounding on this concept of a works based salvation. Right? Because you can read that at at face value and think, okay, if I wanna be numbered among the redeemed, then I gotta 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 is doing with this man is that he is giving a personalized call drawn from a principle 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 looked like surrendering the God of money. Repenting from his superior love, a love greater than his love for God and that is his wealth.

Jesus was able to scope exactly what it was that 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 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 is what it means to make 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 asks 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. You know, for some 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 commitments 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 shall 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 first and second commandment, he says, give up everything, follow me. Give up everything. Follow me. Now, on what level does Christ place himself to 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 it because Jesus is Yahweh. Follow me. Wow. Abandon your idols. Oh, that's right.

And and then and then follow Yeah. Yeah. Follow Yahweh. 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 a 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 the disciples looking at this interaction in 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 he 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 men 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 okay. 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 in 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. 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? I'll you want me to pray for my enemies? Okay. 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 you wanna memorize creeds?

Go ahead. Memorize all the creeds you want. You wanna stuff your library with theological literature? Stuff it away. But what happens to you when he says something to you?

How weight 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 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 of to some extent the traveling band. And he 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 unshakable 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 in 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 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 gonna go back to? What filth are you gonna 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 six.

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 the 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 pitiable, 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 to him.

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, ah, 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. 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 prayer 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. 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. Oh, Lord, 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.