More Than Riches

Today, we continue through the discipleship discourse that John Mark is giving us in his gospel. Go ahead and find Mark chapter 10, we will be in verses 17-31. Such a wonderful text this morning that will draw us closer to the heart of God. If you have been in church for some time, this is probably a familiar text. It is about the rich young ruler. If you care about what sermons are titled, the title of this one is More than riches.

This is a longer text this morning. I am going to read it to begin with and then we will break it down together.

Mark 10:17–31 ESV

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?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 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.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 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!” 24 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! 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.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 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, 30 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Prayer

Have you ever been so focused on other things that you completely miss something that was more important?

One day, a farmer told his wife that he was going to his field down the road to pick some ripe fruit before it was bad. So he goes outside to start his truck up. He noticed that he needed some fuel for his truck, so that jumped to the top of the priority list. When he was pulling down the drive, he noticed that his pigs were out of feed. So he parks the truck and goes to the feed house to get feed for the pigs. Beside the feed, he kept his potatoes and he noticed that his potatoes were sprouting. While he was about to take care of that, he walked by the wood pile and remembered that his wife wanted him to bring wood into the house in case the temperature dropped. While he was taking care of the wood, a chicken ran by him and he remembered he needed to go and gather the eggs for the day. As you probably guessed, it is unlikely that the fruit ever got picked for the day.

You probably think to yourself that this is a normal day for you. Or maybe you think the farmer has ADHD. This farmer was distracted by other things and missed the thing that he started the morning off thinking was the most important.

One of the primary goals of Satan is distraction. If he can distract us, then the battle swings his way. For the believer, distraction can be detrimental to both the kingdom of God and for the believer personally. It can stall spiritual growth and hinder the advancement of the gospel. While on the other hand, for the unbeliever, distraction can mean missing out on the kingdom of God, completely.

Main Point: Distraction can mean missing the Kingdom of God while following Jesus means receiving the Kingdom of God

As we follow the scripture, we are going to dissect what it means to follow Jesus. We will point out 3 things that it requires to follow Jesus and finish off with what we receive when we do follow Jesus.

Following Jesus Requires Submission

Submission is a word that we typically do not like. It means that we are acknowledging someone who has rule over our life. It is hard to do sometimes. But it can be something very rewarding at times as well.

Our passage begins this morning with Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. And he is approached by a rich young man who has a question for him.

Mark 10:17 ESV

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?”

This young man was apparently struck by something about Jesus. Maybe he had seen some miracles or heard his teaching or maybe just heard stories about him. But what we do know is that, in this moment, him getting to Jesus was top priority. We know this because it says that he ran to Jesus. Not only did he run to him, but when he got to him, he knelt before him. He came with the right attitude. He wanted to humble himself before Jesus. He paid him respect and honor by kneeling before him. But he didn’t want to just honor him, he had something very important to ask him.

The question that he asks is the most important question that anyone can ever ask. What do I have to do to have eternal life. What will it take for me to be in the presence of God, worshipping him for all of eternity.

This question is relevant to every single person, of all time, of all places. There are some questions that are good questions, there are some questions that are great questions, and then you have this question.

Mark 10:18–19 ESV

18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 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.’ ”

I am going to throw out to you a theological term but don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz at the end. That term is total depravity. This is a belief that the bible teaches that because of the fall of man, Adam and Eve sinning in the garden of Eden, every man is corrupted by sin. This is what Jesus is referring to when he says that no one is good except God. This man calls Jesus good. Jesus responds by saying that only God is good, so if this man sees Jesus as good, then he must see him as God.

Jesus wanted to point that out to this man but it is only part of his answer. He then proceeds to give him 6 of the 10 commandments. Jesus had an extremely high view of the commandments. He is showing that to this man. He knew the man knew them. Don’t kill, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, honor your mother and father. Submit yourself to the commandments of God. That is what Jesus is telling this man. Obey the law.

Now, let’s see how the man responds.

Mark 10:20 ESV

20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”

In a sense, this was probably true. As a good Jewish boy, he was raised in a home that revered the teaching of the law. Jesus knew that he knew the law. So this response was not a shocking one. On a deeper level though, this statement was not fully true. This man was a lawbreaker, just like every one of us are. He had fallen short. Just one of them, don’t lie, is an obvious one. Of course the man lied. So if he broke just one law, that makes him a lawbreaker.

James 2:10 “10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

The reality of the situation was that there was only one man here who had kept the law perfectly, and it wasn’t a rich young ruler. It was Jesus. That is because Jesus is God. This is a cornerstone in our faith. Without Jesus keeping the law perfectly, his sacrifice was not perfect therefore it is not everlasting. Without Jesus keeping the law perfectly, he is nothing more than a sinner who could draw a crowd. Therefore his words are not perfect.

When we believe that Jesus is God, this gives us the sense of comfort we need to follow him. I don’t want to follow someone who claims to be God, but doesn’t show me perfection. And that is why we can confidently follow Jesus. And following Jesus requires submission to God’s word.

Following Jesus Requires Sacrifice

We live in a time period and an area of the world where we are safe from a lot of things. Lately, I have taken an interest in my family history and have done quite a bit of work compiling things about it. I have quite a long ways to go. But I am a direct descendant of someone who I would say sacrificed a lot. At the time, there was great turmoil in England and many people left England to find a new life. This required that they leave behind the life they had always known. In 1622, Thomas Blalock boarded a ship in England for America and landed in Virginia. He became one of the first 1200 people from England to come to America.

I have a hard time going to Walmart. But there have been people over time who have shown such a great deal of sacrifice. For the Christian, sacrifice is essential. You may not have to sacrifice the life you have always known to embark on a journey to another country. But at the same time, this is in the realm of possibility for all of us as well. God may be calling you to leave your world behind to embrace his world.

At the very least, we are called to sacrifice the selfishness that sin causes us to have.

Mark 10:21–22 ESV

21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Notice that when Jesus said this, it wasn’t a condemnation. He did this out of love. Jesus knows what it is that gets in the way of our relationship with him. For this man, it was his possessions. I am not going to tell you that this is a prescription for all of us. To sell everything and give the money away. Because this, right here, was for this young man.

Why would Jesus want him to do this? Well, Jesus wasn’t like a lot of preachers today who would have you sell your stuff to give to them or their ministry. He told him to sell it and give them money to the poor. This would have been a really good thing. But Jesus didn’t tell him to do this because the poor needed help. Jesus told him to do this because the real treasure would not be found in earthly belongings for him. It would only be found in Christ.

Let’s examine who this is coming from. Jesus on Earth was not someone who was wealthy. At this point in his life, he was a wanderer. If Forbes did a list in this time of who was the least wealthy, chances are he would be in the running to be on the list. But it wasn’t always like that.

Maybe that confuses you and you think that Jesus was always poor. I mean he was born in a stable with animals around him. Well, you are right. He had never experienced earthly wealth. But what he did do was he gave up heavenly wealth and made himself poor to give us a path for salvation.

He is giving this young man a roadmap of what it will take him to enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus gave up the greatest wealth and endured complete shame and brokenness for us to experience the kingdom of God. When we follow him, it will require sacrifice. Maybe it isn’t selling everything that we have and giving it to the poor. It will definitely be killing the old self to pursue a new life in Christ. But it may be leaving a job to follow God to another for a ministry opportunity there. Maybe it is selling our home and moving to a particular place to serve God there. Or maybe it is selling everything that we have and giving the money to the poor. Following Jesus requires submission and it requires sacrifice.

Following Jesus Requires Self-denial

When I think of self denial, the only rational place that I think you can go is to the bible. We have so many stories of self denial that are found in scripture. One of the greatest people in scripture we can find this in is Moses. Moses was raised by royalty even though he was not born that way. He should have been dead but was saved by the daughter of Pharoah. He grew up wealthy and had the potential to be very powerful. But one day he witnessed an injustice and took justice into his own hands. He could have not said anything and turned a blind eye, but he didn’t. He decided in that moment to not think of himself, but to think of someone else. And this led to him having to flee for his life.

Self denial may have different qualities to it for some of us, but in essence it is the same for everyone. To put Jesus first.

Mark 10:23–25 ESV

23 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!” 24 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! 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.”

When Jesus rebukes the wealth here, he is telling them that it may be the evil thing that distracts them from what is good. Which is him. He is making the point that to get into the kingdom of God, you must put things in order. I love the acronym JOY. Jesus, others, yourself. Put Jesus first in all that you do. Make sure that you are next, loving others. And then you worry about yourself.

This idea of self denial is a biblical one. We need to put Jesus first. That is what he is telling his disciples. If we let things get in the way of him, it is like a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle. In case you have a hard time picturing this. A camel is huge and the eye of a needle is extremely small. He can’t go through something that small. So Jesus is saying that it is impossible. It is impossible without self denial. Following Jesus requires self denial.

So we have seen the 3 things in this passage that is required when we follow Jesus. Now let’s see what we get when we do follow Jesus.

Following Jesus Returns Salvation

The disciples are there and they witness this exchange. They see the young man come up to Jesus and kneel before him. They hear him ask what it will take for him to inherit eternal life. They hear the law and the young mans response to the law. Then they hear Jesus tell this rich young man to go and sell everything he has and give it to the poor and then he would inherit eternal life. And they witness this young man walk away disheartened.

Jesus tells them how difficult it is to inherit eternal life. They understand the pictures that Jesus is painting for them. They know that it isn’t the selling of things that would give this man entrance into the kingdom of God but rather it is the amputation of idols. They understand the size of a camel and the eye of a needle. So hearing this paints a picture for them of reality. We see them wrestling with how salvation is obtained here and it causes them to ask a question.

Mark 10:26 ESV

26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”

Mark 10:27 ESV

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

This man wanted to rely on himself. He would never get to God with stuff. Only his heart. And his heart was not good. Remember there is no one good but God himself. So if our hearts need to be good to be saved, then how do we get a new heart. With man, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.

If you take anything away from this sermon today, remember verse 27. We try so hard to do things on our own. We do what we think is best, we make the decision. You wonder why things never go the way you want? Maybe it is because you are not doing what God wants you to do. In terms of salvation, Jesus is saying that it is impossible for man to achieve salvation.

All things are possible with God. God is the author of our salvation. God the father has written our name in the lambs book of life before time began. He knew that you would come to faith, and the way I read it in scripture, he chose you. Jesus(God the son) gave us salvation through his work on the cross. Living the perfect life we couldn’t live and dying the death we deserve. But then raising from the grave in 3 days to prove that he is God. In his work, we have salvation. But then we have God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sustains our salvation through the work of sanctification. Us becoming more and more holy. With God all things are possible.

Mark 10:28 ESV

28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”

Peter heard Jesus tell this man to get rid of everything to be able to follow you. So he tells Jesus that this is exactly what they have done. Following Jesus is all or nothing. You don’t get to sit on the fence or have one foot in and one foot out. You give up the old you for the new you in Christ. These men left everything behind. Several of them were fishermen and left the family business, which was a cultural shame, to follow Jesus. One was a tax collector and left his wealth and power to follow Jesus. These men, although they were still figuring things out and were far from perfect, would come to embody 2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

And that is what Jesus is trying to tell them when he finishes this off.

Mark 10:29–31 ESV

29 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, 30 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

These words would really hit home with the disciples. Because they were the ones who left homes and families and lands to follow Jesus.

There is a term in the business world. Return on investment. This identifies what you get from putting your money somewhere. So if you were to look at buying a business, you would want to know details. Sales, overhead, debt, inventory, revenue. All of these things would factor into your decision for investment. Because you want a return. If you put into something, you want to get more than your investment back.

The greatest return on investment ever is following Christ. I have made profit off of a lot of things in life but I have never seen 100 fold return on anything. Jesus says, “if you give up your homes, your brothers, your sisters, your father, your mother, your land. Give it up to follow me and you won’t be able to fathom the return you have. A hundredfold you will receive in houses, family, and lands. Because this is what you receive in the kingdom of God.”

When you became a follower of Christ, you became family to all Christians. We are all brothers and sisters and children and father and mothers to each other. When family abandons you because of your faith, you still have a family. When you lose your home because you follow Jesus, you still have a home with your family. This is what Jesus is saying. Following Jesus is worth more than riches and you will have the greatest return on investment that you could ever imagine.

But David, you skipped over a word there. Oh man, I hoped you wouldn’t notice that. It says that we will receive a hundredfold in persecutions. That doesn’t really give a feel good message type of vibe here. Why would Jesus say that? Isn’t he trying to get people to follow him? Telling others that if they follow you, they will not only receive persecution, but a hundredfold of it. You won’t hear Stephen Furtick or Joel Osteen or TD Jakes preaching this. In the world of living your best life now, you would be crazy to say that following Jesus will bring persecution.

But this is what scripture teaches us. When we follow Jesus, we share in all that Jesus is. All of his glory that we will receive for eternity. And also in his sufferings. They aren’t everlasting though. This is promised to us in scripture as well.

2 Corinthians 4:16–17 ESV

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Such a wonderful promise to remember. You know, maybe we aren’t being ran out of houses or being killed in the streets for our faith. But there are ways that we are persecuted. Let us remember that it is only temporary. As we are building the kingdom and impacting our community, remember that we are sojourners in this land and there will be a day when we go to our eternal home and will have no worries.

Conclusion

I want to end this by looking at our last verse and use it for application as well.

Mark 10:31 ESV

31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The life of the believer is about sacrifice. Giving of oneself to Christ first, to others second. This is the great commandment. Love God with all that you have and love your neighbor as yourself. I used a term a few weeks ago, the upside down kingdom. The kingdom of God is completely backwards from the kingdom of the world. Instead of doing everything you can to be self centered, Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him.

This week, my challenge to you is to find a way to give of yourself to someone else. Maybe it is buying food for someone and telling them you are doing it because of the love that Christ has shown you. But let it lead to a conversation where you tell them about what Jesus has done for you. Invite someone to Christ.

Today, you have heard the gospel clearly. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let this remind you of what Jesus has done for you. If you have not come to a saving faith, you have heard why you need salvation and what Jesus has done for you to receive that salvation. Turn to Jesus and follow him. Let Jesus be Lord and savior of your life.