#150 Lu. 18:18-23 JESUS AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER Introduction: In this text Jesus is approached by a young man who inquired what he must do to inherit eternal life. This is a question that everybody needs to ask and find the answer. I. The question the young man asked Jesus . V. 18, "And a certain ruler asked him..." At this point Luke identifies this man only as a ruler. He does not say in what capacity he ruled. Since he had tried all his life to keep the law of Moses, it is safe to assume that he was not a Gentile and, therefore, was not an official of the Roman government. He was not a ruler in the governmental sense. He was most likely a ruler of one of the Jewish synagogues. Later in the passage Luke tells us that he was rich. Matthew tells us that he was young. Therefore, he is commonly referred to as the rich young ruler. (V. 18), "...saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" This is in sharp contrast with those who came to Jesus with trick questions which were designed only trap Jesus. This young man was very sincere in his inquiry. He genuinely wanted to know what was necessary for him to do in order to go to heaven. Apparently he had done some thinking along that line. Perhaps he had recently had some family member to die or maybe he had recently attended the funeral service of one of his young friends. At any rate, he had observed that everybody dies sooner or later. He knew that his time would eventually come. He knew also that it was important to make preparation for eternity. He probably asked himself, "Where am I going to spend eternity when I die? Will I go to heaven or will I go to hell? He had come to greatly admire Jesus and respect Him as a teacher come from God. Therefore, he asked Jesus, "What shall I do to inherit the kingdom of God? What shall I do to make certain I go to the right place?" Let me say that this is a very vital question. It is one that everybody needs to ask and it is a question that everybody needs to get the right answer to. I wonder if you have ever asked yourself that question. If you haven't, then right now is a good time for you to ask it and right now is a good time for you to get that matter settled with God. II. The question Jesus asked the young man V. 19, "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?..." Instead of answering the man's question right off the bat, Jesus asked a question of His own. "Why do you call me good?" Now Jesus was not implying that He was not good. He was and is good. He is good in the sense of moral goodness. He lived His entire lifetime without committing even one sin. Never did He sin even in the least way. He is also good in the sense of doing good for others. His whole life is well described by one statement in the Bible. That statement is, "He went about doing good." He still does. Also He was a good teacher. He was a great teacher. When He taught in the synagogues the people said, "No man ever spake like this." Jesus was asking, "Now in just sense do you call me good? What do you mean by the term?" Jesus went on to say, (V. 19), "...none is good, save one, that is, God." In the sense of perfect goodness, there is none good but God. That man, who was a ruler in the synagogue, would not dispute that. Jesus was saying, in effect, "Do you think I am that good? Do you think I am Deity God in human flesh?" Now Jesus was not denying that He is that good. He was not denying that He is Deity God in human flesh. He could not deny it because that is exactly who He is. He is the very Son of the Living God. He is One of the Holy Trinity. He is Deity God dwelling in human flesh. That is how good He really is. He was just using this question to call that possibility to the attention of this young man. III. Jesus calling attention to the Law of Moses Then Jesus went on to deal with the question, but He still does not answer the question directly. Instead, He brings up the matter of the Law of Moses. V. 20, "Thou knowest the commandments..." One reason He brought up the law is because the Jews were taught from their youth to keep the Law of Moses. He would never be receptive to the gospel message until he first came to understand that he could not be saved by keeping the law. Now let me point out to you that the law was never given as a plan of salvation. It was never given to save anybody. In Galatians 2:21 the Apostle Paul said, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain." In Galatians 3:21-22 Paul said, "Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Nobody was ever saved by keeping the law. The law was not given to save. The law was intended to show men that they are sinners and are in need of forgiveness of sin. The law demands absolute perfection and when any man tries to keep the law he sees that he falls far short of perfection. He sees that if he is ever going to make it to heaven that he must have the mercy of God. He must have the grace of God. He must be cleansed of all his sin in order to be fit for heaven. That takes the mercy of God. That takes the grace of God. In Galatians 3:24-25 the Apostle Paul said that the law was given to be a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ that they might be saved. That is why Jesus called his attention to the law. He needed to see that he was a sinner in the sight of God and needed the mercy and grace of God to stay out of hell and make it to heaven. Then Jesus called his attention to some specific commandments of the law. You will observe that Jesus did not even mention the weightier matters of the law such as loving God with all the heart, mind and soul. Rather Jesus mentioned a few of the commandments that deal with the treatment of others. It should be easier for him to see that he has sinned in his treatment of other people. Then, after he sees that he has treated other people wrong, he should also be able to see that he has sinned against God. (V. 20), "...Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother." IV. The young man's response concerning the commandments V. 21, "And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up." Listen to what this man said. He said that he had kept these laws. He said that he had always obeyed these laws---from his earliest youth he had kept those laws. That just goes to show you how little this man knew about the will of God and about the laws of God. He had most certainly not kept these laws. Oh, I am sure that as far as the actual deed of adultery is concerned, he had never committed the actual deed. But he was totally unaware that if a man looks on a woman to lust after her that he has committed adultery in his heart. I am also sure that as far as murder is concerned he had never actually murdered anybody. But he was unaware that if he ever got mad enough to kill he was guilty of murder in his heart. As far as actually stealing was concerned he was probably innocent, but he was unaware that if he ever coveted their property he was guilty of stealing. He was not at all as innocent as he claimed concerning those laws. I can see how he thought he was. But, for the life of me, I cannot see how he claimed to be innocent regarding the other laws Jesus named. I cannot see how he could possibly claim that he had never told a lie. Can you? You wouldn't make that claim, would you? I cannot see how he could possibly claim that from his youth up he had always honored his father and mother as the law demanded. I am almost certain there were times when he disobeyed them and showed them disrespect. If not openly, he muttered his rebellion under his breath. So far as I am concerned, he was not altogether honest in his answer to the Lord in this matter. V. A last ditch effort to lead him to repentance and salvation V. 22, "Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing..." The one thing that he lacked was repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Technically repentance and faith are two things, but in essence they are one. When one repents he also trusts in Christs as His Savior. When one trusts Christ as Savior, this is evidence that he has repented. It is together one complete thing. Jesus told him (V. 22), "...sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." Now isn't that strange? This man comes to Jesus wanting to know what he must do to inherit eternal life and Jesus tells him first about the law. We understand why He mentioned the law, but why would Jesus tell him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor? Is that what Jesus requires of everybody who wants to be saved? No, that is not what Jesus requires of one who wants to get saved. Why would Jesus tell this man to do something that He has not required everybody else to do in order to get saved? Because this man still did not realize that he was a sinner in the sight of God. What he thought was that the Lord would inform him of some good deed that he could do that would help him make the grade. He was already a very good fellow, so far as he was concerned. He was not an unworthy sinner. He had already kept the law from his earliest youth, so far as he was concerned. So far as he was concerned, all he needed was some good deed that he could do that would cinch the matter. He just needed something to put the finishing touches to the good life that he had lived and that would qualify him for heaven. He did not realize that he had broken every law of God. He did not realize that he had a heart that was deceitful above all things and was desperately wicked. He did not realized that he had miserably failed to measure up to God's perfect standard of righteousness. He did not realize that he was headed for hell. What he needed now, was something that would show him in no uncertain terms that he had broken the law, that he was guilty of sin, and that there was no way in the world to get to heaven except by the grace of God. Jesus gave him that way. One of the Ten Commandments says in no uncertain terms, "Thou shalt not covet." He had coveted. That is probably how he had accumulated so much money at such a young age. He had coveted and had purposely set out to get money. We will, however, say that, in the realm of possibility, he could have inherited his money from his father. VI. The man's response to the Lord's instruction But even if he was not guilty of covetousness when getting his money, he most certainly had coveted since he got it. V. 23, "And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich." Matthew says that he went away sorrowful. He went away without ever seeing that he was sinful and in need of repentance. He did not realize that he had none anything to repent of. He went away without realizing that Jesus is the Christ. He went away without being saved. He went away still on the road to hell. He went away sad. That is too bad because he could have become extremely joyful. Conclusion: 1. How do you see yourself? (As righteous or sinful?) 2. You are not required to sell everything and give it all away, but you are required to understand that you cannot go to heaven by your own goodness. 3. You are also required to repent and trust Jesus. 4. What will your response be? 5. Do you really care whether you make it to heaven or not?