Let us continue our worship of God by listening and learning from His Word. But let us never forget that we can be so smart and know the Bible but not actually live out, we would be just fooling ourselves and mocking God. James 1:22 tells us, “do not merely listen to the Word but live it out!”
So, open your /bibles to Mark 10; let us read, listen, and learn from God and note how we can live out the Biblical principles in this familiar story of a rich young man who desires eternal life. Read along with me Mark 10:17-31….
You probably noted that besides Jesus’ response to the rich young man desiring eternal life, there are actually many lessons to learn from this passage.
v17-18: Jesus used the opportunity to tell the truth that every person is a sinner! Only God is good and holy!
Then Jesus explains why no one is good… What can we note from v17-19? Let us not miss that fact that the rich man humbled himself before Jesus then asked what he must do to go to heaven. Jesus said that there is no person is good and stated that God gave instructions for people to follow.
v17-19: Goodness and holiness are based on living out every instruction of God and Jesus said no one will ever be able to do it!
Now look again at v20-21a….
Why did Jesus loved him??
Remember that the rich man first of all humbled himself before Jesus; the he was telling Jesus I have been good!
Jesus loved the rich man’s efforts (his good works and attitude)! But Jesus already told the rich man that there is no one good including him! And so….
v21b-22: Jesus gave the ultimate challenge: give everything away and follow Jesus! - and the rich man realized that he has failed God’s desire for him.
And what is Jesus saying in v23-25? I believe it is this: Worldly possessions can blind you of the Kingdom of God!
Now look again at v26….
At that point in time, how do you think the disciples thought how to go to heaven??
v26-27: Entrance to eternal heaven cannot be attained through man’s ways but only through God’s way!
And what can we note from Peter’s statement in v28??
Peter thought he was better than the rich man and deserved heaven!
And finally, look again at v29-31: there are at least 2 major points that Jesus added to leaving everything and following Jesus; What are the 2 major points Jesus added??
a. A follower of Christ must stand firm with the Gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ the Only Savior).
b. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord! Jesus loved the rich man for his initial humility which He highlighted here in v31.
Let us highlight the major applications for our lives from this passage.
1. Key truths about entering heaven (the Kingdom of God):
a. God is holy and the only one good.
b. All people have sin, therefore fall short of God’s Holiness.
c. People can only enter heaven God’s Way not by any works of man.
d. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven by His death and resurrection for people’s sin (the Gospel)!
e. Even though people are sinners, God loves them but will only manifest by believing in Christ.
2. Love of worldly possessions will blind us of experiencing God!
3. We are to always humble ourselves before the Lord!
