Text: Mark 10:17-23 April 19, 2026 AM

Mark 10:17–23 (ESV) 17 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?” 18 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.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

I. ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DEEP NEED

Ephesians 2:1 (ESV) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

A. HE HAD EVERYTHING

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV) 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

B. HE HAD NOTHING

Isaiah 64:6 (ESV) 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

C. HE NEEDED ANSWERS

Mark 10:17 (ESV) 17 … “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

II. ACCEPT HIS DIAGNOSIS

1 John 5:12 (ESV) 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

A. WHO IS REALLY GOOD?

Psalm 107:1 (ESV) 1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

B. WHAT DOES THE LAW REALLY DO?

Romans 7:7 (ESV) 7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin….”

C. WHAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY?

Matthew 5:48 (ESV) 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

III. AVOID THAT DEADLY DECISION

Joshua 24:15 (ESV) 15 …Choose this day whom you will serve,…But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

A. DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY

John 3:16 (ESV) 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

B. DON’T TRIP OVER THE OBSTACLES

1 Corinthians 1:23 (ESV) 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

C. DON’T MISS THE BOAT!

John 14:6 (ESV) 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.