The Cost of the Kingdom

Good morning.

The Rich Young Ruler and the Question of Eternal Life

Please remain standing for the reading of the word. 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 mother and father. And he said to him, teacher, all these things I've kept from my youth.

And Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, you lack one thing. Go sell all 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 possession.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, with man it is impossible, but with God, for all things are possible with God.

Peter began to say to him, see, we have left everything and followed you. And Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold, now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and childrens and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life.

But many who are first will be last and last first. Pray with me and then we'll be seated. Father, thank you for your goodness and grace. Lord, we praise you for Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, the one who made eternal life clear and possible.

The one who would take dirty, wretched sinners that can only offer their sin to you and that you would redeem your enemies. Lord, I ask that you would open our eyes to this text that Joel's about to preach.

Lord, I ask that you would give him the gift of preaching and that his words would be encouraging and convicting and challenging. And Lord, that he would bless the body. Father, would your spirit work in him greatly?

We thank you for your word. We thank you for your mercy on us. In Jesus' name, amen.

Recapping Mark 9 and Mark 10 Before the Main Text

All right, so I'm Joel. This is the first time for me ever to do this. So I talk fast. I'm gonna try to slow down. I'll do my best. It's been a few weeks since we've been in Mark. We had some guest speakers, so I'm gonna kind of recap what Josh covered previously.

And I'm gonna go back just a few weeks. In Mark 9, verses 2 through 29, Josh talked about the transfiguration and how the disciples didn't understand when Jesus was talking about raising from the dead.

That was a common theme in that one. Then we moved into him casting out the deaf and mute spirit that plagued the boys since childhood. And there was some, I don't know, more powerful things than that.

He asked Jesus, if you can, and then Jesus rebukes him saying, if I can. Everything is possible for one who believes. And to this man, the response was, what I think we should pray when we have doubts is that I do believe.

Help me in my unbelief. Then after Jesus cast out that unclean spirit, his disciples were kind of like, well, how did you do that?

We tried.

We couldn't do it. What was wrong? And he told them that this kind of, this kind cannot be driven out with anything but prayer, just emphasizing the power of prayer. So then we, the following week, we went into Mark 9, 30 through 50, and Jesus is again talking about his death and resurrection and the disciples are still just dumbfounded.

And then they start arguing about who's gonna be the greatest. And Jesus gives them this picture of childlike, childlike faith and servanthood saying, if you desire to be first, you must be last. The disciples go on talking about how they try to stop someone casting out demons in Jesus' name.

And he's quick to point out, like, where'd I go? Those who honor Christ don't lose their reward. It doesn't matter if you're on, if you're not against us, you're for us. He talks about the temptations of sin and how if your hand cuts it off, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off and your foot and your eyes the same, that it's better to be lame to enter heaven than it is to go to hell.

And Jesus wraps up by telling his disciples to be salty. And if you weren't here, you probably need to go back and listen to Josh because he does a good job of explaining that. I just got to stay salty out of it.

That's pretty much what I got. In Mark 10, one through 16, Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees about divorce and they're trying to basically turn the people against him in this moment because he's got to pick a side, whether he's gonna be for Moses or he's gonna be for the two camps.

And I think he summed it up best by saying, don't commit adultery and don't get divorced. There's a lot more to it than that, but that was my takeaway. Then Jesus, again, corrects the disciples in reference to children.

Their children are wanting to come up and be blessed. And he points out to them that whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child shall not enter it. And that gets us to where we are today with the rich young ruler.

Self-Righteousness Cannot Inherit Eternal Life

So we start off with this rich young ruler and he's running up to Jesus and falling at his feet, which culturally would have been awkward because a rich man didn't run at that time. He would have had somebody go before him and say, hey, my master's coming.

He'll be here in a minute and you can talk to him then. And he calls him good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus responds to him saying, why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.

So the man is approaching Jesus with the correct posture. He's sincere, he's respectful, he's humble. He truly wants to know the answer, which somewhat is crazy because we talked about this earlier in the week when we were preparing for this is that in their culture, eternal life was not something that they really pondered as the Jewish people.

It wasn't something that they were, it's only mentioned a few times in the Old Testament, but he's approaching with a true desire to answer this question that he's heard Jesus talk about, this eternal life and what he must do to get it.

He sees eternal life though as something that he can earn. He sees it as, hey, what do I have to do? And he's coming from this legalistic perspective and just checking off boxes of like, if I do X, Y, and Z, what is the next thing?

What do I have to do? And we can do this sometimes as well. We look at our face sometimes like, well, if I read my Bible and I pray and I go through the motions, I'm good. I'm a good person. I don't do bad things.

I'm good.

And Jesus is gonna point this out here in a second that that's not really what he's looking for. It is also ironic that, like I said, he calls him good and God in Christ's form corrects him and says, who's good but God?

He's talking to the right person when he calls him good. He doesn't realize he's talking to the right person. He doesn't believe that Jesus is the manifest God in human form. But much like the disciples, he doesn't understand.

He doesn't understand what's going on. He doesn't understand what's being said. So then Jesus basically lists out the commandments for him. But just the second table, he lists out everything in reference to man and our relationship to each other.

He kind of skims over the top. The first ones are the most important, but he tells them, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.

And the ruler in this moment is probably like, yes, I got it. I made it, I'm in, I'm golden. I follow all those. I've done this since I was a boy. So he's thinking, hey, I'm good. And then what do we learn from that?

The issue here is that the law of the time was given to reveal our need, that we need something else besides it because we can't even keep the law. It's not a ladder that we climb. In Romans 3 and 20, it says, for by works of the law, no man will be justified in his side since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Just because you obey the law doesn't get you closer to heaven. That's not what gets you there. So we have to ask ourselves, are we trying to earn God's favor with our deeds and actions and our salvation, or are we trusting in Christ's finished work?

We only have faith because God first gave it to us. Without God giving us faith, there's no pathway. So after this, we're moving to the next part, which I kind of titled The Call of Radical Surrender.

The Call of Radical Surrender

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing. Go and sell all 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 wealth.

In this moment, Jesus, counter to how he interacted with the Pharisees, loved the man. He was compassionate for him. He asked a great question, but in that he calls out his sin. He said, you love money.

Man, this man's true idol, his true God was his wealth. That's where he found security. That's where he found hope. And that's what he lived for. Jesus told the man to give up the idol and follow him, the one true God.

But he doesn't like that. He doesn't want to give up his security. He weighs the cost and he says, it's too much. I can't do it. And he walks away. So the call to follow Christ is to die to self. Give up what security you have in this world and trust that he will take care of you.

In Luke 9, 23, it says, and he said to all, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. He isn't telling this man anything new that he hasn't already said.

He's said it numerous times to pretty much everybody he encounters. The man is sad because he realizes in counting the cost that the money was more important, that money was more important than God to him, that his security was gonna be found in his possessions and not an everlasting God.

So we have to ask ourselves that same question. Are we clinging to what is keeping us from fully following Jesus? Are we hanging on to our possessions, our relationships, whatever it may be? Is Christ truly our treasure or is it something else?

Wealth, Spiritual Blindness, and the Impossibility of Salvation by Human Effort

So then after this, Jesus covers this whole idea of wealth, which it says, and Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.

And the disciples were amazed at this words. But Jesus said to them again, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

And they were exceedingly astonished to what he said. Then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, with man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God. So as soon as the man leaves, Jesus turns to the disciples and uses this as a teaching point.

And because they're all shocked, he repeats it twice to emphasize how important this point is. He's like, I'm gonna tell you twice, maybe you'll get it. They still don't, but he does it anyway. But our wealth blinds us to our needs.

In Revelation 3 and 17, it says, for I say to you, for you say, I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Our abundance and self-sufficiency can become our deficiency if we do not rely on God.

Wealth is not a sign of partiality on God's part. What you have on this world doesn't mean that you are more blessed or less blessed by God. And you see that throughout the old scripture that some were wealthy and some were poor.

I mean, Jesus was a poor man. He came, the King of Kings came as a nobody from a town of nothing. So what we see is this, is that we're all sinners and we need forgiveness and we need repentance. The disciples are shocked in this moment as well because they're like, well, who can be saved?

Because in their culture, the Jews viewed wealth as, your blessings were a direct correlation of what you had. The more you had, the more you were blessed. And they saw that as well. Our blessing is our righteousness from God for following in law and obedience.

Like, as long as we follow the law, we'll get more things and we'll be blessed and we're favored by God. However, Jesus shows it to be the potential barrier that loving possessions more than loving him and making an idol worship will separate us from the true blessing that he has for us.

So the disciples are dumbfounded in this moment like they are in the previous chapters and they're just, they're not getting it. They're still just like, what is he talking about? So it's easier for us to read on.

And we see even in the previous chapters when they're not getting it, it's easy for us in our present day with the full canon scripture to say, how are you not getting this? The eyes, we can see it plain as day, but we're at a 10 ,000 foot view.

And they're right there in the moment in a culture that is very different than ours. So they're just, they're just struggling. But what we can take from this thing here is that salvation is a miracle.

Nothing you can do in this world will save you. It's not a difficult thing to do. It's an impossible thing to do apart from God. Only God can save us and only God can choose to save us. It's not something that we can do or earn or by merit or any of those things.

In Ephesians 2 and eight it says, for by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works so that many may boast. And I mean, right there we see that because of this, we are to pray and believe for the salvation of others, not by merit, but by grace alone.

The Cost of Following Christ and the Reward to Come

So then after he covers, hey, wealth isn't gonna save you, Peter's kind of in a fearful position. He's like, see, we have left everything for you and followed you. And Jesus says, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sister or mother or father or children's or land for my sake and for the gospel that will not receive a hundredfold now and in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life, but many who are first will be last.

So we know Peter and this right here is in like, what do we do, Lord? We've done what you asked the rich young ruler to do. We've given up these things to follow you. And unlike Jesus in the past few stories, he has more of a compassionate tone.

He's a little softer with them in there and he's comforting in his speeches. He gets, they aren't seeing it, but he's not near as aggressive and like, why are you dumb? He just is like, hey guys, this is it.

He reassures them that nothing will be given, nothing given up for him or the gospel will be lost. He even goes on to promise a hundredfold both now and forever, but with persecutions, sorry. And you know, why does he say persecutions?

Well, he knows that there'll be persecution. The world hates God. It hated him then. And we see that in the lives of many of the disciples and throughout the history of the church. Countless people have given up their lives and everything they had for the church, for Christ.

Some were martyrs, others were not, but people have given up countless things for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And our life today's persecution looks a little different.

Where we're at.

Across the world, it looks similar to what they may have experienced. But here in America, we don't suffer the same persecutions. We have the freedom to come worship and stand together as a body and to confess our faith.

But there are things that we do lose. And there are things that you will lose for your faith. We saw that in the pandemic when brother turned against brother. And if you didn't do what they said, you were gonna be persecuted.

Whether that be, you couldn't go to worship or you lost your job because you weren't willing to do certain things or you had somebody on a different aisle and they were like, oh, if you don't believe this, then we have no business being friends or family.

Following Christ does cost you something and it looks different for every person. Like I said, this is my first time, so I feel like I'm doing okay so far. I didn't just go sit down after I started talking.

It can definitely be scary to experience persecutions and often sometimes doubt our faith and doubt what we're doing is what God wants us to do. I think we can go back to what the man said about his son.

I believe, help me in my unbelief. That's kind of where I go whenever I have those doubts of like, Lord, I believe, but help me believe more. Jesus doesn't promise eternal life in the age to come for those who suffer for his sake.

And so we know that in these persecutions that we will receive eternal life, which is the true blessing. When you weigh today versus eternity, you have to look at that and say, the reward is worth the cost.

The next part is, and the last part of it was really when he kind of flips the worldview. And he said this previously when he was talking about the children and numerous times, but he says the last will be first and the first will be last.

To the disciples, the rich man in this passage would have been first. Like he's got it all going together. He's rich, he's well esteemed. He would have been seen as blessed and favored. And when you contrast that to a poor man though, a poor man shows childlike faith in Jesus when he talks, like in verse 15, in true reliance on God.

He has nothing, he has nothing to give. He has nothing that he can give for this salvation that Jesus speaks about. So what we learned in that is that the rich man and the poor man must approach God the same posture.

It doesn't matter what worldly possessions you have. We're all called to humble ourselves before God, give all that we have as a sacrifice to him when he asked for it. We must have both humility and total surrender to him.

And because of all this, we know that we have to endure hardship for Christ, knowing the reward is eternally for sure. As it says in Romans 8, 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Salvation by Grace in Christ Calls for Total Surrender

So when we take this whole thing of the rich man, really, what do we come up with? I would say that pretty much the theme of this whole thing is because salvation is only possible through God's grace in Christ, we must relieve our self-reliance and follow Jesus with everything that we have.

Now, that's easy to say. Now, how do we do that? I think there are five ways that I came up with that you could do this based off the passage. It says, first thing we need to do is we need to repent of any self-righteousness or trust in personal merit.

Nothing we can do draws us to Christ. Only through surrender and faith in Him can we have eternal life. We need to identify and surrender any idols, whether that's our money, our status, our perception of things, our relationships that we have with people.

Do we have relationships with people that are not honoring to Christ? Do we need to let those go? We don't need to let anything that we're attached to compete with Christ. We need to make sure that He is our true treasure.

We need to trust in God's power to save us alone. Nothing that we can do in this life will save us other than God's grace. We have to follow Christ even when it means loss or persecution. When push comes to shove and you know what you need to do, but it is gonna cost you something, you still have to do it.

You can't cower down behind, well, I need this job or I need these things. You just have to, you gotta suck it up and do it and believe that what He says is true, that in following me, you will receive a hundredfold the true reliance on Him is where eternal life is.

And lastly, we need a hope and God's true reward for those who lose everything for His sake. You know, if you're willing to live for God, He's willing to take care of you. So in closing, which that was probably less than the 18 minutes I told you, in closing, we have to ask ourself this question.

Are we like the rich young man walking away sad or are we like Peter walking with Christ, surrendering our all? Eternal life is a gift, not a wage. Come and follow Christ, let's pray. Dear Lord, we just thank you for this day to come together as a corporate body and worship you.

Lord, we see in your word, Lord, that many, many times we don't understand, we are confused about many of the passages in this book, but what we can lean on is that you give us immense grace, Lord, that leads us to faith in you.

And then through faith in you, Lord, we can find eternal life. Lord, it will cost us something at some point, Lord, but we have to just believe in your promises, Lord, that we will be blessed when we give up what we have in this world, Lord, which are just grains of sand compared to what you promise of eternal life.

So Lord, we just ask that you go with us today, help us focus all of our hearts on you all the time. We just love you, we praise you. It's in Jesus' name, amen.