Listen to these remarkable, remarkable
words. Jesus beholding him loved him. Those words are written in Mark
chapter 10 and verse 21. We have before us the story of
the rich young ruler who came to the Lord Jesus asking good
master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? This story is recorded
for us three times in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, and
Luke were all three inspired by God the Holy Spirit to write
it out in detail for our learning, our instruction, and our admonition.
The threefold repetition of the simple facts recorded in this
story are intended to make us aware that the lessons taught
here are of immense importance. Let us study it then with reverence
and with care, asking God the Holy Spirit to inscribe upon
our hearts those things which He would have us to learn from
this often repeated story. Were it not for the grace of
God, we would, every one of us, make the same choice this rich
young ruler made, and we would perish with the world. I want
us to simply read this story. Let me read it to you, and you
listen carefully. As I give brief comments moving
along through the story, I want to call your attention to these
four things. First, we will see a common delusion
expressed by this rich young ruler. And then we will see the
compassion of our Savior demonstrated. And then thirdly, a corruption
discovered in the heart of this man. And finally, a calming doctrine
to give peace to our hearts. The first thing with which we
are confronted in this story is a common delusion. Let me
read verses 17 through 21 to you. Mark chapter 10, verse 17. 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?
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is
none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he
answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from
my youth. 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." Now there are many, many things about this
rich young ruler which at first glance appear to be very commendable.
He was certainly an earnest, zealous young man. He came running
to the Lord Jesus Christ because the Master was passing by and
might never pass that way again. He came with reverence and respect.
He kneeled to the Savior in a respectful manner, if not in a reverent
and worshipful manner. And he was a thoughtful young
man. Unlike most, this rich young ruler was thoughtful about his
soul and thoughtful about eternity. He was thoughtful about life
after death, realizing that this world is but a very brief existence,
and we're going to a world where everything is eternal. We're
going to meet God Almighty and spend eternity somewhere, either
in the bliss of heaven's glory or in the torment of heaven's
everlasting damnation. This young man gave thought and
consideration to those things. I wonder if you do. Not only
that, but this rich young ruler, at least in his outward behavior,
was a very moral man. He was the kind of fellow that
mothers and fathers would look for if they were looking for
a husband for their daughter to marry. If this rich young
ruler lived next door to you and you had a daughter who was
of marrying age, you would encourage your daughter to set her hat
for this man. He would be a good catch, at least in the eyes of
men. But this rich, moral, zealous, religious man was deluded by
his own self-righteousness and his horrible pride. His delusion
was the common delusion of all men since the fall of Adam. It's
the delusion under which you and I by nature labor. It's the
delusion of all men, you included and me included, unless God is
pleased to give us the instruction of His grace and His Spirit sealed
to our hearts. This young man thought salvation
could be obtained by something he could do. This is the delusion
of all lost men in all ages. It is the delusion of all human
free will works religion. It is the delusion of Antichrist.
All men think that salvation comes as the result of something
they do. Oh, they do not deny grace altogether. I wouldn't accuse you of that.
They do not deny that God has something to do with salvation.
No one I know of would suggest that. This young man acknowledged
that eternal life is the inheritance and gift of God's grace. But
still, though he acknowledged that it is the inheritance and
gift of grace, he still thought it was something to be obtained
by something he could do, either by the decision of his free will,
or the deeds of his righteousness, or the ceremonies of his religion.
And that's the delusion of all men. Everybody by nature, all
the religious world, presumes that salvation is obtained by
God's grace, but by God's grace aided by your decision, your
will, your works, or your religious ceremony. Being ignorant of God's
righteousness, he went about to establish his own righteousness,
and would not submit to the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Would
to God I could get the ear of this generation. I would say
to the whole world if I could get folks to listen just for
a minute. It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is of the Lord in its
entirety. By the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified, much less by the mere exercise
of a man's free will. To every self-righteous person
who asks, what must I do? This is the answer. Let me give
it to you in the form of a cute little hymn that someone wrote
years and years ago. Nothing either great or small,
nothing, sin or no, Jesus did it, did it all a long, long ago. When he from his lofty throne
stooped to do and die, everything was fully done, hearken to his
cry. It is finished, yes indeed, finished
every jot. Sinner, this is all you need.
Tell me, is it not? Weary, working, plotting one,
why toil you so? Cease your doing. All was done
long, long ago. Tell to Jesus, work you clean
by a simple faith. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing
ends in death. So cast your deadly doing down,
down at Jesus' feet. Stand in Him, in Him alone, gloriously
complete. Oh, may God help you to do that.
For Christ's sake, I pray. This man's second delusion was
that he thought the law of God only had to do with his outward
behavior. When you read the verses 19 and
20 where our Lord answered this young man, do not be so foolish
and ignorant as the vast majority of learned theologians and imaginary
Bible scholars were when they spoke of this passage in writing
their commentaries and as most preachers I've heard preaching
on it. They suggest that Jesus was really here teaching two
ways of salvation. That a man could either be saved
by grace or by works. Now, that's not the case at all.
The Word of God clearly teaches otherwise. This man asked what
he could do. And the Master told him what
he must do. Now, if you would be saved by
your works, all you have to do... Now, listen carefully. If you
would be saved by your works, you only have to do one thing.
Be perfect. Live perfectly all your life. from the first breath to the
last, both outwardly and inwardly. This is what the Scripture says.
Tell me you that would be under the law. Don't you hear what
the law says? That's how Paul reasoned with the Judaizers at
Galatia. For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Now the law was given for this purpose, simply to show
you and to show me that salvation cannot be obtained by our obedience
to the law. The law was given to show us
our sin and drive us to Christ the Savior, not for us to try
to live by the law so that we might win God's favor. Our Lord's
purpose here then was not to teach salvation by legal obedience,
but just the opposite. His purpose was to teach the
impossibility of salvation by legal obedience, and to expose
this man's sin to himself. Now, painful as it is, are you
listening to me? Give me your attention. As painful
as it is, you will never be saved until you're made to see yourself
as you really are. And this is how you really are,
a vile, hell-bent, corrupt, ungodly, wretched sinner. Now that's exactly
what you are, and you will never know God's grace until you're
made to see that you're a vile, hell-bent, corrupt, ungodly,
wretched sinner. This self-righteous Pharisee,
like all lost religious people, was totally ignorant of the spiritual
nature of God's law. He really thought the law reached
no further than just his mere outward deeds. He never took
into consideration the fact that the Lord God looketh on the heart. He thought that adultery was
just intercourse, that it had nothing to do with lust. He kind
of liked some of our politicians. He thought that killing was murder,
not just anger. He thought that stealing was
theft, not covetousness. He thought bearing false witness
was openly lying to someone and about someone rather, not insinuating
or thinking evil about them. He thought that fraud was taking
another person's property, not just wanting it. He thought that
parental honor was simply saying, yes ma'am and no ma'am, yes sir
and no sir, and not reverencing his parents and giving them honor
so that he honored their wishes and took care of them in their
old age. He thought the law only had to do with those things that
he could see and other men could see. His third delusion was that
he thought he had actually obeyed God's law and thus was worthy
of God's acceptance in and of himself. In verse 20, he answered
and said to the Lord Jesus, Master, all these have I observed from
my youth. What an astonishing, astonishing
statement. This young man actually thought
he had kept God's law, that he had loved the Lord his God with
all his heart and his neighbor as himself. I never cease to
be amazed by the fact that even the most base, profligate, sensual
men and women of this world are really very proud and think very
highly of themselves. So highly that they brazenly
presume they are good enough for God. Now that's really the
heart of your unbelief. You simply, in your own humble
opinion, are too good to need the grace of God and the blood
and righteousness of His dear Son. I pray that God will graciously
show you who you are and what you are, who and what He is,
lest you perish in your proud delusion. George Whitefield,
the famous evangelist who God so graciously used in our country
250 years ago, once was staying in a home and he always tried
to be a faithful witness wherever he was. And there was a young
lady there who was obviously under some grave concern for
herself and her eternal salvation. And she asked Mr. Whitefield
what she must do. And Whitefield said, young lady, pray that God
will show you what you are. And then he left and went on
his trip going around different places to preach. And several
weeks later, he came back to the same home and was staying
there. And he observed that this young lady wasn't around. He
asked the woman of the house where she was and the lady told
her that this girl had just not been able to work. She seemed
to be so terribly depressed and was staying at home all the time
ever since he left. So Whitfield called for her and
she came to him. And he said to her, young lady, now I told
you when you asked me what you must do to ask God to show you
what you are. Ask God to show you what He is
now. And by asking God to show her
what He is, God answered her prayer and showed her that He
is a gracious, almighty, saving God in Jesus Christ, and that
she was nothing but a wretched, hell-bent, vile, ungodly sinner,
and thus she was brought to faith in Christ. May He be pleased
today to show you what you are and show you what He is in Jesus
Christ. Now, secondly, I want to call
your attention to our dear Savior and the fact that he so beheld
this man that as Mark looked in his face, Mark observed something
that he wrote down here by inspiration. He saw in the Master a compassion
demonstrated. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved
him. What grace, what mercy, what
amazing grace, what amazing unparalleled mercy is found here. This young
man had just stated in the most proud, arrogant, presumptive
manner possible his self-righteousness. And the scripture responds by
saying Jesus beholding him loved him. Now, I cannot tell you how
sickening it is to read the commentaries on this text of Scripture. The
Armenians, the free willers, rush to tell us, there, you see,
God loves even those who are not saved, even those who go
to hell. The love of God is universal.
There's nothing of the kind in the text. The Calvinist, on the
other hand, imagining that somehow God's love must be protected
and that Arminian fools are worthy of being answered, run to the
Greek language and some far-out outlandish usage of the word
love and try to prove that this word does not really mean love
after all. I'm weary and vexed with men trying to make God fit
into their little boxes. Let's take this blessed text
just as it stands, learn what it teaches, and rejoice in the
great love of God our Savior for guilty sinners such as we
are. There are two things to be observed here. Number one,
the Lord Jesus beheld this man. He beheld everything about him.
He was the object of his grace. The Lord Jesus beheld his present
condition. He beheld his arrogant, self-righteous
heart, and he beheld what he was about to do for him. And
then secondly, the Son of God loved this man. Now I don't have
any doubt at all, none whatsoever, that this man, though he at first
chose the world over Christ, just like I did, and just like
any of you who are listening to me now, who now know the Savior,
you first chose the world over Christ. This young man did the
same thing. But later on, I have no doubt
he was converted by God's free grace. Now let me show you why.
I know that this young man in time was converted by God's grace
because Christ loved him. And if the Lord Jesus loved him,
everything's well with him. This generation speaks of the
love of God as though somehow it were some silly, sentimental,
sloppy, weak, effeminate love that is incapable of doing anything
for its objects. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
loved this young man, He saved him. What kind of love would
it be if He loved him and let him go to hell? What kind of
love is it in God that loves men, and yet those men who are
the objects of His love perish? That means either that God is
useless or His love is useless, and really it means both. That
cannot be the case. Those who are loved of God are
the objects of His saving grace, and He will not allow the objects
of His love to perish. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Those are the words of God. God
Almighty loved this man and therefore I'm confident that He saved him.
You see, those who are the objects of Christ's love are loved by
Him from eternity. He loved them before the world
began. He said, I've loved you with an everlasting love. And
those who are loved by the Son of God are loved by Him immutably. God doesn't change. There is
no variableness, no shadow of turning with Him. He doesn't
love one day and hate the next. He doesn't look on you as the
object of His mercy one day and the object of His wrath the next.
Oh, no. God's love is eternal and immutable. And those who
are loved by the Lord Jesus are loved by Him to the end. This
is what the Scripture says in John 13.1, Having loved His own,
He loved them to the end. Those who are loved then, loved
of God, are saved by His free and sovereign grace. There's
no possibility that this young man who was loved by the Savior
is now in hell. Oh no, this young man is seated
around the throne of glory. Blessed are those who are loved
of God. Thirdly, the Lord Jesus so loved
this man that He graciously uncovered his sin, pulled the covering
off his heart in verses 21 and 22, and here we see a corruption
discovered. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved
him, and this is what his love said, One thing thou lackest,
go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross,
and follow me. Now, if you read the Scriptures,
the Lord says here, one thing thou lackest, and then he tells
him to do six things. He said, go thy way, sell whatsoever
thou hast, give to the poor, Come take up the cross and follow
me. And the young man was sad at
that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions.
You see, when the Lord Jesus told this young man these six
things, what he was doing was answering him according to his
own question. And he was demonstrating to this
young man that faith in Christ Faith in Christ is nothing less
than the totality of surrender to Him as Lord. This business
of men talking about Jesus being somebody's Savior and not being
their Lord is totally foreign to the New Testament. If Christ
is not your Lord, He's not your Savior. This young man's reigning
sin was an overwhelming affection for the things of this world.
His riches were his idol. His riches were his God. His
heart was set upon them and his heart trusted in them because
he was a wealthy young man. He had great riches. He is so
far from keeping all the commandments that he had not even kept the
first. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. There was more
than one thing wanting in this man, but the Lord Jesus takes
notice of this thing as the first, and there was no need to mention
any other, because this touched him sensibly. It fully tried
and sufficiently exposed the vanity of his boasted perfection.
Finding that he must part with two things, his heart was set
upon his idol of self-righteousness and his mammon of unrighteousness.
The bladder of his pride was pricked. And the vanity of his
self-conceit was exposed so that he was sadly mortified by the
Lord Jesus showing him those things so disagreeable to him.
This young man was made to have his sin exposed at his very heart. And that's exactly what the Lord
will do with you if ever he saves you. The Lord Jesus never saved
anyone He didn't first slay. He never clothed anyone with
His righteousness until first He stripped off their fake unrighteousness
or self-righteousness and caused their unrighteousness to be exposed.
The Lord Jesus will first strip you, then He'll clothe you. He'll
first show you your filth. Then He'll bathe you in the fountain
of His blood. He will first humble you. Then
He'll raise you up. He'll first abase you. Then He'll
make you to sit among princes. He'll first slay you in your
own eyes and in your own esteem. Then He'll give you life everlasting
if He deals with you in mercy. Now, here's the fourth thing.
As this rich young man walked away, clinging to his riches,
the Lord Jesus made a statement to His disciples which disturbed
them greatly. but it made way for him to give
instruction to them and to us in a very calming doctrine. Listen
to it. Jesus looked round about and
saith to his disciples, verse 23, How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the kingdom of God. For it is easier. He said, How hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And then the disciples
were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered them again
and said, Children, how hard it is. for they that trust in
riches to enter into the kingdom of God. For it is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of God. And when they heard this,
they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who
then can be saved? And here's the Lord's doctrine.
Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but
not with God. For with God all things are possible.
Now, there are three things I want to show you in these verses as
I wrap this message up. They're very important truths
which very few people understand and fewer still lay to heart.
Number one, the most deceitful, dangerous thing in this world
is riches. The love of money, the love of
the world, and self-righteousness. You see, our Lord was not merely
talking about material riches, though that certainly is included.
He's also talking about those who are spiritually rich in their
own eyes. The rich man, cannot be saved
who considers himself rich in righteousness and in goodness.
The man who is poor in spirit has the grace of God and the
mercy of God. But that man who is rich in spirit,
that man who really thinks he's pretty good, that man who really
has never had his sin exposed to him will never enter into
the kingdom of God. It'd be easier for a camel to
crawl through the eye of a needle that you can't even stick a piece
of thread through than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
The same thing is true with those who trust in their wealth, their
material wealth. You look at your wealth and you
think, this will be my security in my old age. You lay up treasure
for yourself on this earth and you think, this will give me
peace. And you trust in your wealth. As long as you do, you
will never, ever, ever enter into the kingdom of God. Secondly,
with men, salvation is an utter impossibility. All men by nature,
you see, are spiritually rich in their own eyes. Oh, they're
poor, dirt poor, but they're spiritually rich in their own
eyes. Some of you I'm talking to, though you are dirt poor,
as poor as hell itself spiritually, in your own eyes, you really
think I'm not so bad as old Joe. I'm not like my father. I'm not
like those perverted sex abusers and those perverted homosexuals
and adulterers and fornicators. I'm not like that. I'm not a
drunk. I'm not a wife beater. I'm not a bad Joe. But you will
never understand anything of the grace of God until you're
made to understand you're just exactly like all other men at
heart, and so am I. This is part of God's grace.
He must first strip you and make you poor in your eyes, or you
will never experience His grace. So with men, salvation is an
utter impossibility. But listen to this. With God,
all things are possible. Oh, so great, so magnanimous,
so good is the grace of God that He can strip and empty the most
self-sufficient Pharisee and bring him through the needle's
eye of faith in Christ into His kingdom. God Almighty can save
even the richest man in the world, even that man who thinks he has
perfectly obeyed God's law. The man who thinks himself spiritually
rich and loves himself is no more beyond the reach of God's
omnipotent mercy and grace than the most promiscuous harlot.
That man who loves the world and trusts in his riches and
therefore despises the things of God is not beyond the power
of God's free grace. With God, all things are possible. If indeed salvation is by grace
alone, and it surely is, there is no case or circumstance which
should cause us to despair. Oh, John Newton, the man who
wrote Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch
like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but
now I see. Newton made these three statements.
He said on one occasion, I'm certain of these three things
that will simply astonish me when I get to heaven. Number
one, he said, I am sure that very many will be there whom
I never expected to be there. I expect Mr. Newton was right.
There'll be a lot of folks in heaven I never expected to see
there, and you never expected to see there. And then secondly,
Newton said, I'm sure that many will not be there whom I fully
expected would be there. And then thirdly, Newton said,
but most of all, the most astonishing thing of all will be the fact
that old John Newton will be there. And then later, just before
his death, Newton said this as well. He said exactly what I've
been trying to preach to you. I'm an old man. I cannot remember
much, but I do remember two things. He said, I remember that I am
a great sinner and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. Oh, may God
give you grace this day to trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
our Lord and Savior, as your Lord and Savior, granting you
grace and faith and life in Him for the glory of His name. Now,
our Lord told this rich young ruler, one thing thou lackest. Did you ever notice how often
those two words, one thing, are used in the scripture? They're
very, very instructive. In Psalm 27 in verse 4, David
said, one thing have I desired of the Lord that I might dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. And Mary,
chose that one thing needful. She chose to sit at Jesus' feet
and hear His words in Luke 10 and verse 42. Our Lord said,
Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from
her. The man who was born blind, whom the Master healed, said,
One thing I know. I don't know much, but I know
one thing. Whereas I was blind, now I see. Paul said, One thing
I do. For getting those things which
are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark. for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, may God give me grace to
do that, and you as well, who are my brothers and sisters in
Christ. But this proud, self-righteous, rich, young man was lost, just
like many of you are, because one thing was lacking. The one
thing that was lacking was Christ. Though he felt much, and did
much, and thought much, and believed much, the one thing lacking in
him was faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh, may God grant you
now Faith in His darling Son. Trust His blood as your only
atonement. Trust His righteousness as your
only acceptance before God. Trust His intercession, His power,
and His grace to keep you unto everlasting life according to
the will and purpose of God as He loved us and gave Himself
for us. Now may God grant you these things
through Jesus Christ our Lord for the glory of His name. Amen.