“I Surrender All” 5/25/25 A.M. Mark 10:17-22
I want to start off a little different this morning. I want to start off by singing a song together. Let’s sing the first Verse and we’ll sing it A Cappella. No music. It’s on page 354.
That sure was pretty. Now did you really mean it? “ALL to Jesus I surrender, ALL to Him I freely give.” That’s easy to sing but sometimes, that’s really hard to do. You see, we have our own WANTS and DESIRES. We have our own PLANS and God may not be part of those WANTS, DESIRES and PLANS. How do I know this? Because I’ve been there.
I was talking to Brother Doyle Ginn this week. Just a side note here. If you want to be ENCOURAGED and if you want to hear some GODLY WISDOM, take a few minutes and go visit Brother Doyle. He would enjoy the visit and you’ll get something out of it. I GUARANTEE IT.
But as we talked he mentioned this song. And I have to tell you, I BELIEVE, it addresses the main problem of NOT JUST THE CHURCH but the ENTIRE WORLD TODAY. Let’s go ahead and turn to Mark 10. We’ll start reading at Verse 17 and we’ll read through Verse 22.
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.”
Have you ever heard of Operation Auca? It was a plan of 5 missionaries to SHARE the LOVE of JESUS with a group of Native People who lived in the Rain Forest of Ecuador. They were the WA-OR-ANI people. They were a fierce group who were known for their VIOLENCE.
And so these 5 men began their mission by dropping gifts into the village by airplane. Eventually they landed on a nearby sand bar and established a camp. Initial contact was made but then on January the 8, 1956, the people of the village attacked their camp and killed Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian They were all SPEARED to death. Do you know what these 5 men did? I can tell you. THEY SURRENDERED ALL.
This morning I want to take a look at this rich fellow in Mark 10. He did some things right. In fact, he did a lot of things right. But he did ONE THING WRONG. And that’s what I want to talk to you about this Morning. “A HUNDRED RIGHTS, don’t make up for this ONE WRONG.”
So let’s take a minute and go to the Lord in Prayer.
Brother ________, would you lead us?
I don’t know this for sure but I betcha this fellow’s mama and daddy were really proud of him.
I bet they BRAGGED on him a little bit. “Yep, that’s my boy. He’s a smart one. He’s done really well in the business. He’s got plenty of money. He wears NICE clothes. Has a NICE house. A beautiful family.” Like I said, I don’t know this for sure. The Bible doesn’t really tell us a whole lot about this fellow but it does tell us a few things.
I. The first thing I noticed here is that he RAN to Jesus. Look there at Verse 17,
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running.”
He wasn’t gonna waste any time. No doubt he was a busy man. Time was IMPORTANT. He probably didn’t want to take the chance of not meeting Jesus. Who knew when Jesus would pass that way again. Who knew when he would have another opportunity. And so he RUNS to Jesus.
A. Man that’s a good thing to do. Don’t waste any time. Run to Jesus. Can I tell you why that’s so important? Because you only have a LIMITED supply of TIME. I’ve quoted this Verse a lot but Hebrews 9:27 tells us,
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Let’s kind of break that down. “And as it is APPOINTED.” In other words, you have an APPOINTMENT that you’re NOT gonna miss. We all know people that can’t seem to be on time. Well I’m here to tell you that this APPOINTMENT is one you’re NOT gonna MISS and you’re NOT gonna be late for this one.
ILLUS: It kind of reminds me of the two friends that both loved baseball. Tom and Bill. They grew up playing baseball. They both got married and their kids played baseball together. Their grandkids played ball together. All through the years they remained best friends. They both were believers and one day they were talking about Heaven. One of them said, “Hey, you reckon they have baseball in Heaven?” The other one said, “I don’t know. But let’s make an agreement. Which ever one of us goes first, if we can, we’ll come back and tell the other.” They laughed but a few weeks later, Bill died unexpectedly. That night he showed up at the bed side of Tom and he woke him up. He said, “Hey Tom, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. The good news is, there is baseball in Heaven. We play everyday and the best part is we never get tired.”
Tom said, “Wow, that’s great Bill, but what’s the bad news?” Bill said, “Well Tom, you’re on the roster to pitch tomorrow night.”
That’s a funny joke but it is true that we don’t know when we’re gonna die so if you don’t know Jesus today, you BETTER RUN TO HIM.
B. Also, we don’t know when Jesus will pass this way again. Jesus told us in John 6:44,
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Let me tell you something. When you FEEL that pull in your heart YOU BETTER MOVE. It’s TIME. Don’t waste it. I know someone RIGHT NOW who is getting close to death, he’ll be dying soon, and what does he do? He puts off the decision. He told me, “I’m sure when the time comes I’ll make the right decision.” That’s very foolish. Jesus doesn’t owe you a second, third or fourth chance. If He draws you today, PLEASE don’t put off the decision to follow Him. It may be your last chance.
II. The second thing I noticed is WHAT HE DOES when he gets to Jesus. Once again, look at Verse 17,
“and kneeled to him”
Man look at this guy. He RUNS to Jesus. And then, he KNEELS down to Jesus. Man, this guy is doing well.
According to the dictionary, when you KNEEL to someone:
It signifies a demonstration of respect, submission, or humility.
I gotta say I’m proud of this fellow too. I’m not his daddy but boy he’s doing well. He RUNS to Jesus. And then he KNEELS DOWN to Jesus. He shows RESPECT, SUBMISSION or HUMILITY to Jesus. Or maybe ALL THREE. He’s probably been taught well. He understands the need to HONOR JESUS. HOORAH, GOOD FOR HIM.
I know a lot of people who HONOR JESUS with their WORDS. When things go good they’ll say, “Thank you Jesus.” OR when they need help, they’ll CRY OUT to Jesus, “Lord help me.” That’s really good.
I know a lot of people who have KNELT DOWN to Jesus here at one of these alters or at home. They HUMBLE themselves before Jesus. And that’s good too.
I know MANY PEOPLE who RESPECT the words of Jesus in the Bible. They have a Bible laying there on their coffee table. They may even be able to quote some scripture Verses. That’s GOOD. Really GOOD.
There’s a lot of people, JUST LIKE YOU FOLKS, who attend church to WORSHIP JESUS. They SING the SONGS. They LISTEN to the SERMON. They might even say, “AMEN.” And most will laugh at my JOKES. I sure appreciate that.
ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE WONDERFUL. Everything I mentioned should be done. We should PRAY to God even in public. We should BOW before Him. We should HUMBLE OURSELVES before Him. We should SING and WORSHIP HIM. Great job folks, this is a GREAT CHURCH full of GREAT PEOPLE.
III. And looking back at Mark 10, Verse 17. Look what else this RICH FELLOW DOES. He asks a QUESTION.
“Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
WOO WEE!!! He asked the RIGHT QUESTION. “Jesus, what do I need to do to have ETERNAL LIFE?” Let me rephrase that. “What do I need to do to get to Heaven?”
Now THAT has to be the most important question that has ever been asked in the history of MANKIND. What do I need to do to go to Heaven? GREAT QUESTION. And what’s even more exciting is JESUS had a GREAT ANSWER. Jesus didn’t say, “Let me check into that for you.” OR “Well, it’s complicated.” OR “Well, there’s several ways to make it there, so you pick one.” No Jesus gave him the ANSWER.
You see, the other things this fellow did was GOOD. RUNNING to JESUS was GOOD. KNEELING DOWN to JESUS was GOOD. But asking THIS QUESTION RIGHT HERE was the most important thing that he did.
There’s a lot of things that people ask from Jesus today. They want Him to do things for them. Good THINGS. They want MAMA to get better. They want MONEY to pay their bills. They want to be KEPT safe. There’s NOTHING WRONG with asking.
We ASK for WISDOM when we don’t know what to do.
We ASK for GUIDANCE when we don’t know WHERE to go.
We ask JESUS for all kinds of things and there’s NOTHING wrong with that. We know our Verses don’t we?
Matthew 7:7 and 8, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
And we TEACH our KIDS to PRAY. We teach them to bless the food. “God is Great, God is Good, let us thank Him for our Food.” WONDERFUL
We TEACH them to PRAY before BED. Think about this for a minute. There may be a reason they have NIGHTMARES. “As I lay me down to SLEEP, I PRAY the Lord my soul to KEEP. And if I DIE!!! before I wake, I pray the Lord my SOUL to take!!!”
I’m kidding, it’s a GOOD THING to teach kids to PRAY.
Running to Jesus is GREAT. Don’t put it off.
Kneeling down to Jesus is WONDERFUL. We ALL should WORSHIP and HONOR Jesus
But here’s where I’m going with this. The most important thing for you to do today BETTER BE to ASK THIS QUESTION,
“What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
IV. And here’s the ANSWER JESUS GAVE.
“Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.”
“Oh man, Jesus I’ve done every one of those ever since I was a KID. No sweat, I’ve got it made.”
I love the way Jesus handled this. He didn’t say,
“You’re LYING to me right now. Back in the year 15 A.D. you back talked your mama. Back in 20 A.D. you LIED to your BOSS at work. Just last year you saw another woman besides your wife and LUSTED after her.”
I mean he could have went on and on listing the FAILURES and SINS of this man. But Jesus didn’t do that. HE LOVED HIM and simply said there’s just ONE MORE THING that you need to do. “SURRENDER ALL!!! That’s it. SELL everything that you have. Give it to the POOR. Take up your CROSS, the ROMAN FORM of EXECUTION, and follow Me.”
I can envision the LOOK of SHOCK on this man’s face.
“Uh, what did you say? Did I hear you right? Sell everything I have and give it away? Everything?
And what are you talking about ‘Take up my CROSS?’ What is that supposed to mean? Do you really expect me to GIVE UP MY LIFE FOR YOU? Face SHAME and HUMILIATION for YOU? DIE for YOU? Are you JOKING? There’s NO WAY I can do that. You are asking TOO MUCH Jesus!!!”
Verse 22 has to be one of the SADDEST Verses in the Bible.
“And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.”
If you read on down in the next few Verses this turned into a TEACHING MOMENT where Jesus was able to share with the disciples the DIFFICULTY of RICH PEOPLE making Heaven their home. It’s POSSIBLE but it’s NOT EASY.
A. I Hope every one of us here today is RUNNING to Jesus. SEEKING JESUS. Listen, NONE OF US KNOW when our time here on Earth will be over. 2 Corinthians 6:2 tells us,
“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Succour used in the Bible doesn’t mean to TRICK. It means to give HELP TO. To strengthen someone. Listen, God will give you the strength to FOLLOW HIM.
B. I pray that everyone here today KNEELS down to Jesus. I hope everyone here REALIZES WHO Jesus is and that He DESERVES our WORSHIP, our HONOR, and our PRAISE.
C. And most importantly I Pray that everyone here today is asking the question, “What do I need to do to have eternal life?”
ILLUS: In the 9/11 museum in NYC, there’s a RED BANDANA. It belonged to a fellow by the name of Welles Crowther. This red bandana was given to him when he was six years old by his father. He explained that a white handkerchief was meant to be put in the front pocket. The red one that he gave him was meant to be used. One was to SHOW, the other was to BLOW. Welles kept that red bandana. All through school and college. And he still had that RED BANDANA when he went to work as an Equities Trader in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. And when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the building he found an escape route to the stairs and began leading people down. After they made it to safety he went back up and led another group down. He used his RED BANDANA to cover his mouth and nose from the DUST and SMOKE as he led those people to safety. He saved the lives of 18 people. He went back up to lead another group down and was found 6 months later in the rubble. Still wearing the Red Bandana. That’s why it’s in the 9/11 Museum today. That Red Bandana is a symbol of a 34 year old man who SURRENDERED ALL to SAVE other people’s lives. He really is a TRUE HERO.
And here we are. It ALL comes back around to where we started. I SURRENDER NOT SOME. NOT MOST BUT ALL.
You see, I look at this RICH FELLOW and I think, “What a FOOL.” He’s probably in Hell this morning because his POSSESSIONS were more important than his soul.
But he’s NO BIGGER FOOL than any one of us who HOLDS ON TO SOMETHING in our own lives instead of SURRENDERING ALL to JESUS.
Remember the missionaries to Ecuador? One of them was Jim Elliot? This was found written in his journal after he died.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”
Are you holding on to something that is not pleasing to God?
Have you SURRENDERED ALL to Jesus?
Let’s Pray
I want us all to stand. No music. Open your books back up to Page 354. Let’s sing the first and second Verse.
