Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Mark 10:17-31

Theme: The story of the rich young ruler teaches us that those individuals who have cluttered hearts cannot come to Jesus, who demands our hearts be singularly his.

Date: 01/23/2022 File name: Hard_Sayings_08.wpd

ID Number:

This story is recorded in three of the four Gospels, so there is much we can learn about the man who runs up to Jesus.

First, he is a young man.

He has his whole life ahead of him – he is just starting out in life.

He probably has a new bride who is thrilled to be married to a handsome, ambitious young man.

Perhaps he and his wife were expecting their first child.

In some measure we must congratulate him that, at such a young age, he is concerned about eternal matters.

Second, he is well respected and is a leader in his community.

Luke’s gospel tells us that he was a Ruler.

That means that he was probably a leader in his local synagogue.

Synagogues always had least to overseeing officials; one is called The Minister or The Attendant and was responsible for the synagogue building and the furniture but most importantly for the care of the case containing the Torah.

The other is called The Ruler and is responsible for the general oversight of all congregational matters – including worship.

Both were important jobs and those who held them were exemplary man and pillars in their community.

This young man is a leader in his community and his house of worship.

Third, this man was rich.

All three Gospel accounts affirm that this man was an individual of great wealth – most likely inherited.

He had property, he had lands, he had a great estate with many servants.

Lastly, this man is religious, but struggling with deep spiritual discontent.

His question,”What must I do to inherit eternal life?” is an earnest question that reveals that his spiritual life is unsatisfying.

Above all else, he wants peace of mind and never ending blessings in the future.

He comes to Jesus, and asks a serious question.

It’s a question more people need to be asking these days; Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

After all is said and done, Jesus tells him, You lake one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

We all know the story.

It’s a sad story; Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

This is another of our Lord’s hard sayings.

Over the centuries most pastors and scholars have diminished the force of the text by saying, “This is how Jesus tested one man’s devotion, but he did not ask all his hearers to give away their property in the same way.”

There is some truth to that, but the advise that Jesus gives to this rich man is by no means isolated.

In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells his listeners, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This young man reveals the Tragedy of a Cluttered heart.

I. THE CLUTTERED HEART CAN DESIRE GOD

“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?” (Mark 10:17, ESV)

1. a man comes running up to Jesus

a. in Matthew’s account of the story we discover that the man is young, and in Luke’s Gospel we’re told that he’s a ruler, meaning he’s from the aristocratic elite of Israel

1) put it all together, and this is the story of a rich, young ruler coming to Jesus, with the most important question of life

b. he truly desired the things of God

1) we see that in his question

2) we see that in the fact that he sought Jesus out

2. he was open to what Jesus had to say, and he really wanted it

a.

now, the problem is that he did not consider the implications of what he wanted

1) but his desire was there

A. DESIRE FOR GOD IS NOT ENOUGH

1. there are many people today who desire God, and who desire to go to heaven when they die ... they want to be spiritual ... they want to know how to know God

a. but they are not willing to count the cost in terms of their personal commitment to Christ in this life

1) they want to live as they please in this world, and go to heaven when they die

2) they want to, as the American idiom says, have their cake and eat it to

b. Jesus speaks of men’s failure to consider the cost of following Him in Luke’s gospel

Luke 14:27-32 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

“Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace."

NASB95

2. the old adage is true, You can’t have your cake and eat it too

a.

there is a cost to becoming a Christian

b. the price is His Lordship

3. the man was confronted with the choice between himself and God; between fulfillment in this life and fulfillment in the life to come

a. he never questioned the truthfulness of what Jesus said

1) he did not equivocate or argue ... he just walked away

b. what Jesus was offering him was going to cost him his pride and his possessions, he decided that the price was too high — even for eternal life

II.

THE CLUTTERED HEART CAN BE MORALLY RIGHT

“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.”

(Luke 10:18-20, ESV)

1. this young man came to Jesus and he asked the right question ... What must I do to inherit eternal life?

a. Jesus responds, “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.’”

(Mark 10:19, NASB95)

2. the young man’s reply is that he has done so since he was a young boy

"And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” (Mark 10:20, NASB95)

a. he was a morally upright person

b. he was not saved, but he was “good” as men define goodness

ILLUS.

Most of us were, more than likely “good” before we were saved, but we were a lost good person.

That’s one of the truths of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Both sons were prodigal.

The younger son was lost in his unrighteous behavior and the older son was lost in his righteous behavior.

But both were lost.

3. there are many people in our community in this situation today

a. in our culture, there are many who live good, clean lives

1) they are honest

2) they treat others fairly and with respect

3) they are faithful to their spouses

4) they give their employers an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage

5) they do not lie

6) they do not steal

7) some of them even go to church

b. they pretty much live exemplary lives by the world’s standards

c. they are clean, and upright; they are morally and ethically good

4. but being morally right does not earn a man a place in heaven any more than a desire to go there

ILLUS.

Give all your money away to charitable causes.

Sell your house and belongings and move to India and spend the remainder of your life ministering to the outcasts of that society, but if you don’t come to Christ, all those things do not move you one inch closer to God’s eternal kingdom.