The Gospel of Mark | Sermon Six

Don’t Settle for Less | Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-18 “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

Sin is rebellion against a holy God.

Mark 10:19-20 “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Mark 10:21-22 “Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

Jesus saw that one thing was missing:  A living faith in God.

Positioned to make a real difference
“To whom much is given much is required.”

Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Luke 12:48 “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Steve Smith “You can’t out-give God.”

Warren Wiersbe “Money is a marvelous servant but a terrible master.”

It’s good to have the things money can buy, provided you don’t lose the things that money cannot buy.

Mark 10:23-24 “Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:25-26 “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Mark 10:27-31 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!
29“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Be sure your motives are pure.

Q. Is there something in your life that would cause you to quit following Jesus if He said to give it up?

Tim Keller “Anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.”

Q. Is there anything in your life that is more important to you than Jesus?

Mark 8:36 “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”