2019-02-06 Mark 10

Mark 10:17–22 CSB

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “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 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus 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. Then come, follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

If God gave you the desires of your heart, what would He give you?

Mark 10:17–20 CSB

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “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 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

Have we settled for moralistic deism?

Mark 10:17–20 CSB

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “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 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

Illus: Let’s define this concept for a moment.

Deism is the belief in a god of some sort. Moralistic deism is the belief that we work hard to please God, and get blessings from him.

Logic goes, if I do good things, then God will give me what I ask for.

God pays us for our good work. Ultimately, we live for the blessings paycheck.

The fault in this is two fold, first, our good is never good enough, and second, what God gives is not the prize, God himself is the prize.

The rich young ruler’s life was built off what he did, and what he had.

Jesus saw that, and helped him see that he was missing both the righteousness of God, and the presence of God.

Matthew 15:8–9 CSB

8 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 9 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.”

Good is not good enough.

Mark 10:17–20 CSB

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “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 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

Illus: We tend to focus on behaviour and not heart.

It looks like this, we see a friend who has a drinking problem and say, they need to stop drinking.

We see friends who are having marital problems, and say, they need to get their marriage fixed.

We see a friend who is gay and say, they need to be straight.

We see a friend who cusses, and say that they need to get thier mouth washed out.

truthfully, we look at our country and think that if we pass moral laws, our country will be christian again.

All of these are simply symptoms of a greater problem.

Hearts are not changed because people people’s actions change, people’s actions change because their hearts change.

The ultimate need of drunkard, homosexual, politician, cusser, and church goer is the heart.

The only way to see our nation turn back to God is through the heart.

Romans 10:3–4 CSB

3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,

Does Jesus expect you to sell everything?

Mark 10:21 CSB

21 Looking at him, Jesus 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. Then come, follow me.”

Idols need to be destroyed.

Mark 10:21 CSB

21 Looking at him, Jesus 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. Then come, follow me.”

Illus: The answer to whether you need to sell anything comes down to, what controls your heart.

If money controls your heart, you might need to sell some stuff and place your hope in God’s provision.

If social media controls your heart, you might need to take it off your phone.

If politics control your heart, you might need to stop watching the shows which stir your heart.

No matter what it is that controls your heart, it needs to be put to death so that Christ might have that spot.

1 Timothy 6:6–11 CSB

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

2 Corinthians 7:9–10 CSB

9 I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.

To love God with all of your heart, it means giving up the love of other things.

Mark 10:21 CSB

21 Looking at him, Jesus 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. Then come, follow me.”

Illus: We live in a time where we live in over indulgence. We really don’t lack for anything.

Think about it. We have all the information we need just a few clicks away on our phones.

We have all the entertainment we need on nextflix, hulu, or youtube.

We have all the comfort we need.

The concept of personal deprivation or sacrifice is foreign to us. Why on earth would we give up anyting.

BUT, what if all of the information, news, comfort, entertainment actually distracted us from a greater need. What if all the distractions around us keep us from having a real relationship with God?

1 Timothy 6:6–11 CSB

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

Is Jesus your treasure?

Mark 10:22 CSB

22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

Jesus’ story is not about your wealth, It is about your heart.

Illus: We opened asking “If God gave you the desires of your heart, what would he give you?”.

We all know what the answer should be, but let’s be honest about how we would really answer truthfully.

Now, Jesus says to the rich young ruler to sacrifice the desires of his heart, so that he can have what would truly fill his heart.

Would you be willing to sacrifice the desires of your heart? Your hesitancy might point to how great a hold your idol has.

Matthew 6:19–21 CSB

19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.