Beloved, if you have a copy of God's Word, I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Mark as we continue our series on the Gospel of Mark this evening. We are once again back in chapter 10. This evening we are going to focus in on verses 23 through 31, but I'm going to read the text from last week as well, for they certainly go together. If you are able, please stand with me for the reading of God's Word. Mark chapter 10 and beginning in verse 17. And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal. Do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. And he said to him, teacher, all these I have kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing, go sell all 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. 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 said to him, 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. Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you, Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers 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 children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. but many who are first will be last and the last first. Amen. That's father reading of God's word. Would you pray with me? Oh father, we are weak and in our own selves, we are helpless. We need your grace. We need your spirit to illumine our hearts and minds. We pray that you would show us Christ as your word is proclaimed this evening. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Be seated. Well, last week we left Jesus and his disciples somewhere in between Capernaum and Jerusalem on their way to the holy city. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to fulfill his messianic mission, not to conquer Rome and set up an earthly kingdom, but rather to lay down his life for his people. You will recall from last week that while Christ and his disciples were traveling, a young man of extreme wealth and religious zeal threw himself at the feet of Jesus and asked, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? After Jesus gave this outwardly moral young man a theology lesson on the nature of God and God's perfect standards of requirement revealed in the law, Christ exhorted him to sell all of his earthly wealth and to give it to the poor. Many years ago, there was this fad, the what would Jesus do bracelet, right? WWJD, what would Jesus do? You know, the problem with that bracelet is that you have no idea what Jesus would do. I mean, if you came up with this story, would you say that Jesus would speak to this man like this and that he would respond in the ways that he has responded? No, because Jesus is extraordinary, and He is one who says things and does things that are quite astonishing at times. It's one thing, of course, that we notice about Him, and one reason we love Him so much. He doesn't do things in a conventional way, and He calls people to believe and to repent, and it's extraordinary. And so we come to this, once again, this story, and Jesus gives this guy a theology lesson on the nature of God and God's perfect standards revealed in the law, and Christ tells him to sell all that he has and to give it to Though outwardly this young man was a moral giant, a man of character, probably a pillar in the community and a strong member of the synagogue, inwardly he was a depraved sinner who loved his wealth more than he loved God. Again, as we learned last week, Christ was not demanding that he sell all his possessions as a way to earn his salvation. A kind of quid pro quo, you do this and then you're going to get this. No, that's not at all what Christ is saying, nor did Christ expect all of his followers to make such a commitment to give everything away. Rather, this demand was contextual in the sense that Christ knew that the idol of wealth for this young man was obstructing him from knowing Christ. was obstructing him from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. His wealth and the potential for more wealth was his God, much like it is for millions of Americans. Now, there are lots of idols in the world. There are lots of idols that can capture our hearts. This is certainly one of the biggest ones, the idol of money. When we consider this event in its entirety, it seems that when this rich young ruler ran up to Christ, he wanted Christ to do one of two things. One, congratulate Christ for his godliness and good example and confirm that he himself has eternal life. Or perhaps he wanted Jesus to tell him what else he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. In other words, it may be that he was saying, whatever I need to do, Lord, let me know, and I will do it in order to merit everlasting life. Either way, either way, dear ones, this rich young ruler was missing the point that Christ made in verses 18 and 19. Namely, that no one is capable of measuring up to God's standard of goodness or holiness, except of course, God himself. miss this point is to miss the whole point of this text, and it's to miss the whole point of the gospel. It's to miss the whole point of the Bible. We are helpless and hopeless apart from God's mercy. It's the point of Scripture. We don't come here this evening to rack up points with God, to make ourselves acceptable to Him. We don't wake up every morning thinking, if I can just obey God a little better today, that God is perhaps one day going to accept me. into heaven. We don't live like that if we properly understand the gospel, the good news of the gospel. The good news, which says that it is impossible for you and I to obey God's law perfectly. We cannot fulfill the requirements that are set forth. It's perfection. That's God's standard. What else would be God's standard besides perfection? Imperfection? Would the holy God say my standard is imperfection? People think that they're going to go to heaven with an imperfect record. And you will not, and I will not go to heaven with an imperfect record. Thanks be to God that Christ with his perfect record gives that record to us. And we receive it by grace through faith and our imperfect record. In fact, our wretched record, is nailed to the cross and Christ pays the debt of our sins. Isn't that good news? It's the best news you'll hear all day. It's the best news you'll hear in your entire life. It's the news we wanna hear over and over again. Tell me again, pastor. Tell me again the good news. I'll be glad to tell you. I love to hear it myself. This rich young ruler as a fallen son of Adam who possessed a heart and mind corrupted by sin and idolatry, in this case, wealth. As a man who was dead in his transgressions and sins, an object of God's just wrath, this young man was utterly incapable of fulfilling the rigorous demands of God's law. Though on the surface, he seemed to have it all together. I have obeyed all of these from my youth, he said. Of course, we know this is not true. He has an inflated view of his own obedience. Because obedience is not just outward obedience to the law, it's obedience from what? The heart. The heart. Though on the surface, this young man seemed to have it all together. Christ, by demanding he sell his riches disclosed the true state of his soul. Though he claimed to have obeyed the Ten Commandments since his youth, the reality was this. He did not get past the first commandment. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20 and verse 3. He didn't get past that one. You shall have no other gods before me. He valued his riches more than God. The truth is deep down, he was a lover of money and not a lover of God. Again, Christ's demand to sell all brought this reality to the surface. So rather than repent of his sin and idolatry, this rich young ruler left the feet of the eternal son of God, left him disheartened. because he did not want to give up his money. Now let us take note, dear ones. Christ has the same ability now that he did then to expose our true allegiances. Christ knows our true and ultimate allegiances. He knows. My prayer before this service this evening was that all those whose primary allegiance and love is for things like family, friends, status, house, wealth, or some general love for this world would, that all of this would be cast off and that you'd embrace Christ by faith. My prayer is that no one would go away from this service with an idol ruling your heart rather than Christ. Come to Christ. Come to him. Receive him and his grace. Receive him and his forgiveness. Receive him and you will have life in his name. In our passage for this evening, we have a continuation of this story. To help us get our minds around this text, I've divided it into four parts. If you're taking notes, here are the four parts. We have, first of all, a shocking statement. Then we have an honest question. Thirdly, we have a glorious and surprising answer. And finally, a magnificent promise. A shocking statement. an honest question, a glorious and surprising answer, and a magnificent promise. First of all, verses 23 through 25, a shocking statement. After Jesus exposed the true state of the rich young ruler's heart, verse 23 says that he looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. Verse 24 says, the disciples were amazed by these words. But Jesus didn't stop there. He proceeded to drive the nail of truth even deeper into their minds and hearts by saying, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It's easier to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. At this statement, verse 26 says that the disciples were exceedingly astonished. First they were amazed and then they were exceedingly astonished. Now a question that emerges here is namely, why were the disciples so amazed and so astonished at Christ's words? Well, here is where a little historical context is important. You see for the first century Jew, it was inconceivable for wealth to be an obstacle or barrier to inheriting eternal life. Why? Because to the mind of the Jew, riches were a sign of God's blessing. And certainly those who were wealthy and religious in this life were going to be inheritors of God's blessings in the next. In fact, this kind of thinking was an early version of the prosperity gospel. Again, it was presupposed in first century Judaism that if a person possessed great wealth, that they must be beneficiaries of God's blessings, both in this life and in the life to come. Christ's words go against this notion. As elsewhere, our Lord's teaching is counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. And the 12 disciples are amazed and astonished at his teaching. I believe that in our area, as I mentioned last week, one of the greatest obstacles to people knowing God and walking with Christ is wealth. Have you looked at the real estate market recently? It's extraordinary. It's extraordinary how much wealth has come into our region over the past, say, 10 to 15 years. Wealth is an obstacle for so many. They think that it's the end all. And so we listen closely to a story like this when we live in an area like we do. After these shocking statements, the disciples asked Jesus an honest question in verse 26. If what you say is true, then who can be saved? Who can be saved? if these things are true. In other words, if an upstanding Jew who possesses the divine blessing of great wealth cannot be saved, what hope does anyone have for redemption? What possible hope do we have? What you are saying is that for us, salvation is an impossibility. And that's the point. Salvation is impossible with men. even men with great wealth. It is impossible. This was the point of Christ's saying in verse 25. You see, to underscore the point that mankind cannot achieve or merit his own salvation, Jesus employs a saying in verse 25. 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. Now, my guess is that many of you have heard that when Christ was speaking about the camel going through the eye of a needle, he was referring to an opening in the city wall where the camel could only enter when the load was removed off of its back, only then scooting in with great difficulty. Well, I'm sorry to tell you that that is a wrong understanding of this text. In fact, there is absolutely no evidence that the gates of Middle Eastern cities have ever been referred to as the eye of a needle. This teaching became popular in the late 19th century, and though it makes a good word picture for laying down your load before entering the gate, it actually undermines the point that Christ is making here. The saying probably is a rendition of an old Babylonian proverb which spoke of an elephant going through the eye of a needle. Indeed, the absurd notion of the largest animal in Palestine, a camel, going through the smallest opening the eye of a needle, serves to reinforce Christ's teaching that it is impossible for the wealthy or anyone in their natural fallen state to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, Christ teaches that wealth in many ways is a bigger hindrance than blessing when it comes to possessing eternal life. due to the deceitfulness of riches and their tendency to give people a false sense of security before God. Perhaps thinking, because I am rich, I must be okay. Because I am rich and that wealth comes from God in some way, then it's okay for me to be worldly and disconnected from the church and to not really walk with God with any care. It's okay to be uncommitted as long as you have money, as long as you can write checks, for instance. You know, the Lord wants our hearts before he wants our checks. Amen. He wants our hearts before he wants our checks and our money. Christ demolishes all of these ideas and it leaves his disciples asking an honest and important question. then who can be saved? Who can be saved? Verse 27 states, Jesus answered to this question and oh, what a glorious and surprising answer it is. A glorious and surprising answer in verse 27. He says, with man, it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. With man, it is impossible. but not with God, for all things are possible with God." Beloved, do you understand what Jesus is saying here? He is saying that there is not one thing that mankind, that we can do to make ourselves right with God. It's impossible. This brings to mind Paul's words to the Galatians in chapter 2 and verse 16, which state, by works of the law, no one will be justified. Why? Because only by keeping the law perfectly, both the letter and the spirit of the law, both outwardly and from the heart, can anyone be justified before God. And because we are born with original sin, because of our depravity, we are incapable of this perfection. As sinners, even our good works are bad good works. outside of knowing Christ. Indeed, only good works, the only good works that are acceptable to God are good works that flow from a heart motivated by pure love towards God and our neighbor. With man, it is impossible. There is nothing we can do to be saved. Even so, And by the way, let me just say, this is a uniquely Christian message, isn't it? You know, people say all religions are the same. All religions are not the same. That is one of the most ridiculous statements that's just out there. It's like people throw that out there. It's like, are you kidding me? Have you studied Hinduism? I've been to India three times. I promise you Hinduism and Christianity are not the same. Very, very different. Christianity has one God. Hinduism has reportedly 33 million gods. Not the same. Islam, is Christianity the same as Islam? We know that is certainly not the case. They have their five pillars. They have their work salvation. They have their jihad. They have all of these things that are so different than salvation by the gospel. Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, is it the same as Christianity? No, it's not. They have a works-based religion. They have essentially all these religions have basically a ladder whereby they are climbing up to heaven. But you know, the glory of the gospel is that God came down from heaven to us because we can't get up there. It's impossible for us to work ourselves up to God. No, we can't do it. Not one thing we do can make us acceptable with God. So how can there be hope? How can there be hope? Because verse 27 states that all things are possible with God. Indeed, left to ourselves, we are hopeless, helpless, incapable of eternal life, but with God, all things are possible. A perfect text to emphasize this idea is found in Ephesians 2. If you have your Bible, please turn there with me. Ephesians 2, verses 1 through 9, and here we see a glorious text that emphasizes and highlights this point. that what is impossible with man is possible with God. Here Paul is writing to the Ephesians, and he's starting out in this text and telling them who they once were. And then he goes on to say what God has done. So then he can say, this is who you now are. This is who you were. This is what God has done. And this is who you now are. This is what Paul is doing here. He writes, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. You weren't just spiritually sick. You didn't just have a spiritual head cold. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. Spiritually lifeless. You weren't, you know, you hear some evangelists say, you know, you're like a person that's overboard and you're flailing around in the water. And as an evangelist, I'm going to throw the gospel out to you and you're going to grab onto that life preserver and you're going to be saved. Wrong. If we understand the analogy rightly, we'll say this, you are dead and you're at the bottom of the ocean. and you have three 500 ton weights chained to you, the world, the flesh, and the devil. That is your condition. You're not flailing around looking for someone to save you. You are dead in your trespasses and sins. That's the spiritual condition of everyone who is born into this world in their natural state of sin. Look what it says here. Paul says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, that's the devil, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. dead in sin and in bondage to the world, the flesh and the devil. That is the spiritual condition of mankind. It's why the world looks as it does today. But then two of the most beautiful words in all of the Bible in verse four, though all these things are true or were true of you, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. Do you see anything in there about things that we do to save ourselves? We literally are told here that we were dead until God made us alive. This is what the Lord does. He brings to life those who were dead. And he does so not because we are so special or so smart. He does so look there because he's rich in mercy. He does so because of the great love with which he loved us. His love is motivated from himself. His mercy is motivated from himself as a loving and a merciful God. And he makes us alive in Christ. by grace you have been saved. And he goes on, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ. And so he's saying here, you are brought into union with Christ. And that union means that even now in some mystical way, we are united to Christ and we are with him in the heavenly places. so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Look at verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God. Even faith is a gift. Even faith is a gift. lest anyone should boast it's not a result of works for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them this is the good news of the gospel salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. I was dead, but now I'm alive. I was blind, but now I can see. I was lost, but now I've been found. It is God initiating. It is God purposing. It is God coming and gloriously invading my life and changing me and giving me a new heart and a new mind and new affections. It's what the Lord does when he saves someone. Horatius Bonar was a famous preacher in Scotland in the mid-19th century, and he wrote a wonderful hymn. And I believe it was played today for the preparation for worship music. He writes this, not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul. Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God. Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load. Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin. Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within. Thy love to me, O Christ, not mine, O Lord, to thee. can rid me of this dark unrest and set my spirit free. In this text, we come full circle to Christ's initial words to the rich young ruler, namely that God's goodness is the only thing that provides us with a theology of hope because left to ourselves, we are doomed. With man, it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. The first words we should say every morning when we wake up should be something like, Lord, thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for saving me. Now help me by your grace to live with a grateful heart today, according to your word. Did the disciples get this? It does not appear so. It does not appear so, considering Peter's question. Let's look now at our final point in verses 28 through 31, a magnificent promise. Appearing to have ignored Christ's glorious answer about nothing being impossible with God, Peter appeals to Christ as the spokesman for the 12 and says, see, we are not like the rich young ruler. We have left everything and followed you. Pat on the back. It's as if Peter, feeling insecure about his status in the kingdom, reminds Christ of his and all of the disciples' commitment. Christ responds to his words, first with a wonderful promise, and then a kind of familiar rebuke. First the promise. Jesus says to his disciples in verses 29 and 30, truly I say to you, there's no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold. Now look at this, now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. It's quite a glorious word here from our Lord. Here's the point. A person who by grace receives Christ as Lord and Savior, and as a result, loses or walks away from in various circumstances, their home, their siblings, their parents, or other material possessions will not only gain greater blessings in heaven, but also in this life. Also in this life, you might be thinking, well, how so? Though home, And family may cast you off because of your relationship with Christ, which happens in many parts of the world, mind you. There are a hundred families who will embrace you in the name of Christ. Though you may lose your home, a hundred homes will welcome you in the name of Christ. And on and on we can go. Just after my sophomore year in college, Christ radically changed my life. He saved me. He gave me a new heart, a new mind, an explosion of new desires and passions for the Lord. And as a result of my conversion, many of my close friends were no longer comfortable being around me. Due to the wild lifestyle of my roommates at the time, I had to move out of, I chose to move out of the townhouse that my parents owned. And I moved out of the townhouse my parents owned because my roommates were carrying on in the same life that I had been living before. And I couldn't live there anymore in good conscience. And so in a sense, I had lost my home and I had lost a family of friends in a very real sense. But it wasn't long before God brought into my life a hundred new friends through fellowship of Christian athletes. It wasn't long before he brought into my life dozens of families in the new church that I was attending who welcomed me into their home. The Christian love I received far outweighed any sacrifices I had made to follow Christ. I love what G. Campbell Morgan says. G. Campbell Morgan was the preacher who preceded Martyn Lloyd-Jones in London. He said this, quote, one house gone, but a hundred doors are open. One brother in the flesh lost, but a thousand brothers in the spirit whose love is deeper and whose kinship is profounder, end quote. These blessings, of course, will not be without trials and persecutions, as Christ mentions here. But aren't the trials of the Christian life what cultivates some of the deepest Christian fellowship in the life of the church? Indeed, the first readers of this gospel, the Christians in Rome, would have understood all of these ideas, many of whom had lost their families and lived under persecution daily. And so Mark ends this section by recording Christ's words in verse 31, but many who are first will be last and the last first. Like in Luke 9.35, or rather like in Mark 9.35, Jesus reminds the 12 that true discipleship is rooted in humility and service, not in pride and self-promotion. From the request that James and John make later in this same chapter, we know that the disciples are still a work in progress. And doesn't it bring some kind of comfort to see the disciples stumbling and bumbling and saying stupid things and not understanding some things. And they're a work in progress, of course. And we are too. May the Lord have mercy upon us and continue to grow us and strengthen us by His grace. As we close, just a couple of words of application. Since salvation is beyond human possibility, do not rely upon your own morals to give you a right standing with God. Rather, Throw yourself upon God's mercy. Whatever you have done, whatever is in your past, you need to know this. God is a God of mercy. He's a God of grace. Throw yourself into the merciful arms of Christ. Receive him as your Lord and Savior. Do so unconditionally, without qualification. Lord, I need you. I turn from my sins. I turn from the idols that have been on the mantle of my heart for all of these years, and I look to you for grace and forgiveness, and I want to know you, God. I want to walk with you. I want you to change my life. Would you do this? Make that your prayer. Whatever idols are promising you, I tell you they are lying, and they will leave you empty and lost. Though the wages of sin is death, something we all deserve, the free gift of God is eternal life. And Christ Jesus, our Lord, have you received this gift? Or are you still resting on the old lie that God accepts you because of your moral standing, because of your family name, because of your status, because of your wealth? The truth is, if you are trusting in anything but Christ this evening, for you're standing before God, then you have already rejected Him. Cast off whatever obstacle is keeping you from Him this evening. And if you do, give praise to the sovereign Lord who alone makes dead sinners alive and gives the blind sight and opens the ears of the deaf. If you believe in Christ this evening and you love Him, it's only by His grace that you do, and so give Him praise. and give him your undivided loyalty and love. Secondly, let nothing be an obstacle to following Christ according to his word. Though there may be difficult consequences of being a committed follower of Christ, perhaps jeopardizing significant relationships or jobs or material wealth, the blessings and gains far outweigh the losses. Amen? They far outweigh the losses. Riches I heed not. nor man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance, now and always. Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art. May this be our heart by God's grace this evening. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for this story, which teaches us so much about the human condition, which teaches us so much about the impossibility of meeting the requirements of your law, but we give you thanks, O God, for Christ, who, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and perfectly fulfilled the requirements of your law and became for us a righteous substitute on the cross to pay for our sins and to transfer to us his perfect record, so that we stand before you no longer condemned, but justified. Oh Lord, we thank you that we are justified, that we are accepted by you, not by our own works, but by the works of Christ. And we cling to him and him alone for our salvation. And we pray that in him, you'd help us to walk in the newness of resurrection life, and with grateful hearts, seeking to conform to your word, to be strong and courageous as your people, bringing glory to you and spreading your gospel to the ends of the earth. We pray in Jesus' name.