All Things Are Possible

Good Morning Church!!!

Bibles out Mark 10:17-31…

Start out this morning talking about death…

WHAT IS DEATH?

“Death” Definition: “The permanent cessation of all vital functions, the end of life”

Through out the history of the world mankind has placed all of his resources and concentration on trying to prolong death…

Advances in medicine, vaccinations, cleanliness, water filtration, food preservation, work place safety, the seat belt…all where developed to avoid death…

I think we would all agree that never dying would be the best outcome to life right???

If eternal life where an option…If you could avoid dying…you would take it right???

You would be asking…”How do I get it!?!?!?” “How do I not die!?!?!”

I am here to tell you if you don’t know…

THIS IS AVAILIBLE TO YOU!!!

You can inherit eternal life…you can live forever!!!

NOW, we all know our physical bodies all perish…

But we all contain an eternal soul…and that , the bible tells us, has the ability to live forever!!!!

BUT HOW????

How to inherit eternal life?

THis is the question we are going to find the answer to today….

HEAR THIS …This question has brought on some of the most false teaching in churches all over the world today…

Many of these “Bible Scholars” have come in and twisted this doctrine all up man…

They will tell you…they must interpret it for you…its to hard for you to understand..

That you must know greek and Hebrew to understand it…

When in fact…the answer to this question is the most simple thing to understand EVER!!!

The Bible is written to the common man!!!! (fisherman, farmers, soldiers, tent builders, and government employees)

After today you will see the answer to this question is so simple…we see young children understand it...

READ V17-31

A rich young ruler….(a wealthy young man)

A Jewish man seeking eternal life…

SO he comes to the “Good Master” to ask Him…How do I get it??

Now here is where we must “rightly divide” as Paul says…

JESUS IS SPEAKING TO A JEW BEFORE THE CROSS…

So we must understand where we are in the timeline here as we read…

Pre-cross…pre-grace…

So when the man asks…how do I obtain eternal life…Jesus points Him to the current way…

Since Moses recieved it in Exodus 20…the only way to salvation before the cross was through obedience to THE LAW…

By works under the Law?

THE JEWS IN THE OT WHERE UNDER WORKS BASED SALVATION

Ezekiel 18:21 “But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”

You want to inherit eternal life…follow the LAW perfectly

God says if you want to live…KEEP ALL MY STATUTES!!!

And not just once…as long as you live!!!

Because you can fall away from my statues and LOSE eternal life…

Ezekiel 18:24 “But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.”

“ALL HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT HE HAS DONE SHALL NOT BE MENTIONED!!! HE SHALL DIE”

So…under the law…you shall be perfect in it…and remain perfect in it…

SO when this rich young ruler asks “how do I inherit eternal life?”

The answer Jesus gives is the same that He gave to Ezekiel…

OBEY THE LAW…

Jesus says…”You know the commandments”

These commandments are the 10 commandments

10 Commandments…SLIDE UP (Read Slide)

Commandments broken up into 2 categories

(first 4 are all about God and placing Him first above all)

(last 6 are about how to treat one another)

If you obey the first 4…they will lead you to obeying the last 6…

SO Jesus directs this young man to the 10…

READ V19-20 AGAIN

Young man said “I have done all of these since my youth”

And its true…notice in the beginning of v21..Jesus doesn't rebuke this man…

It says He beheld him and loved him…

This was a young man who sought righteousness…who is seeking eternal life,,he is seeking good things…seeking the Lord…

So he says I have obeyed the 10 since I was a child…

BUT NOTICE…Jesus only gives 5/10

Look what He leaves out (first 4…and covet)

Why does He do that???

READ v21-22

Jesus says…your missing one thing..and that one thing is leading you to missing at least 3 of the 10 commandments…

-sell everything rich man..give everything you have to the poor…

-take up the cross and follow me…

And the young man…was sad at this…and left grieved because he had great possessions…

His possessions…his riches…

had become an idol…

had become his god…

and led him to covet possession…

This is one of the most righteous acting men in the gospels…

And at best…he went 5/10 in a game that requires 10/10 to win…

And as the man walks away Jesus says to His disciple…”how difficult is it for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God (the spiritual kingdom)”

Look at v24 “the disciples are astonished at His words”

Why??? (Because all throughout the OT…all the men who stuck to the law and obeyed God…got great possessions!)

David, Solomon, Job, Jehoshphat, Hezakiah all abode in God,,,and all had great possessions…

So when Jesus says its hard for a man with great possessions to get eternal life…

The disciples are astonished…then Jesus goes on…

HE DOUBLES DOWN…

He says (READ V25!)

I am holding in my hand a needle…

Now lets be observant here…

CAN YOU GET A CAMEL THROUGH HERE CHURCH???

NO!!!!!

Its impossible right???

Thats what the disciples think to ..LOOK AT V26 READ

Its impossible…no way to get a camel through that little hole…there is zero chance…

These disciples are thinking…IF THAT KID WHO WENT 5/10 in the commandments and God has blessed him with many possessions…

IF THAT KID CANT GET IN!!!!

WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED!?!?!?!?

ITS IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Its impossible to be saved by your works…

If our works are the currency to gain eternal life we don’t have enough to buy it…

V27 Jesus says …with men it is impossible…

Its impossible…

Church what would it take to get a camel through the eye of a needle???

A MIRACLE…

The impossible would have to be made possible right???

In this moment the disciple gotta be thinking…its gonna take a miracle to make what is impossible …possible…

The next words out of Jesus’s mouth..

READ V27

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!!!

WITH GOD…CAMELS STROLL THROUGH A NEEDLES EYE!!!!

HOW????

Look back at v17—the young ruler calls Jesus “Good Master”

V18 “why call me Good? there is none good but God”

Jesus lets the man know…YOU ARE SPEAKING TO GOD IN THE FLESH!!!

And with the LORD Jesus Christ all things are possible…

And a miracle is going to happen!!!! A miracle is coming for all these Jews to witness…

All these Jews who are stuck under the burden of gaining eternal life through their works…

Works they keep failing at over and over again…

Jesus is preparing them here for what is to come…

LOOK at V32 (READ 32-34)

He tells them…I AM GOING TO DO A WORK THAT YOU COULD NEVER DO…AND I AM GOING TO DO THIS WORK ON YOUR BEHALF…

Jesus walked earth for 33 years…took on every temptation…and went 10/10..lived a perfect life under the law…

So the work man couldn't do…HE DID!!!

And He tells them here…I am going to defeat the last thing standing in your way to gain eternal life…DEATH!

They will kill me…and on the third day I will rise up!!!

He is pointing here in Mark 10 to how salvation will be obtained after His resurrection…

THROUGH FAITH IN A MIRACLE!!! (v27)

Through faith alone in the gospel of Jesus Christ!!!

NO MORE WORKS!!!

THE WORK IS FINISHED…JESUS’S LAST WORDS ON THE CROSS!!!

No more Ezekiel like works and continued works to gain eternal life!!!

NOW !!! FAITH ALONE IN THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS IS ALL THAT IS NEEDED!!!

John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up:  That whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Jesus is pointing here in Mark 10…there is a time coming when the free gift of eternal life will be handed out to all through faith!!!

BUT I tell you again church…

Beware of false teachers in churches today…

There are many who still in churches all over the world today that twist God’s word to make you believe you can receive eternal life by your own works…

Which as we saw here today…is not only unbiblical…BUT IMPOSSIBLE

This is not a new problem…

Paul addressed this with the Galatian churches shortly after the gospel had made it to the area...

Galatians 1:6-7 “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 

He goes on to say that the gospel being preached is one of JESUS PLUS WORKS

This false gospel is still preached in churches all over the world today…

So, as bible believing Christ followers…

WE MUST BE AWARE AND READY TO REFUTE THIS FALSE TEACHING WITH THE TRUE DOCTRINE IN THE WORD OF GOD…

THAT ONLY THROUGH FAITH IN THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE!!!

Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

If you came here today without an answer to the question…How can I inherit eternal life??

You know the answer…

And if you hear…as Paul heard…ANY OTHER GOSPEL BEING PREACHED…

You now have the DOCTRINE to know it is false and the DOCTRINE to let all others who are being led astray by it the truth…

LETS PRAY!!!!