“You know the commandments,” He said.
“Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal,
do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father
and your mother…”
“Teacher, all these things I have kept
from my youth,” responded the rich young ruler. He
was probably quite respected among those who knew him, for
he had done such good things.
“One thing you lack: Go your way, sell
whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come take up the cross, and follow
me.”
“You know the commandments…”
Could it be that this man knew the Law’s requirement
that there would be no poor in the land?
Surely he had learned about things like that growing up.
What went on in his heart and mind when he walked past the
poor on the street? Something in him seemed to want to be
right with his God. That’s why he had kept all those
commandments. But how did he reconcile the fact that he
was so rich while many of his countrymen were so poor, especially
in the face of what had been spoken to his people about
this very issue? Did he really love his neighbor as himself?
There are those who are looking to be justified by God
and those who are looking to justify Him.
The rich young ruler proved to be someone who just wanted
to be justified. For surely if such a man had given up his
riches to the poor, God would have been justified, and as
the Master said, so would he, as evidenced by the eternal
life he would have received for trusting and obeying.
The same fear that had come upon him every time he walked
past the poor came upon him when the Master spoke those
hard words. Though he surely did want to inherit
eternal life, the demand was too great. To give up what
had always been the source of his security and comfort was
too much. He could not, or did not overcome that fear.
And so at these words his face fell, and he went
away grieved, for he was one who owned much property. (Mark
10:22, NASB)
He was grieved as when a loved one dies. A hope that maybe
he could be right with the One who made him, that he could
have confidence of eternal life, died at the words he heard.
Every time he walked past the poor and tightened his grip
on his money bag, he knew there was something wrong. Now
it was clear.
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden
in a field which a man found and hid, and for joy over it
he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew
13:44, NASB)
One walks away grieved because he is told to sell all
that he has and give to the poor, but another gladly gives
up all he has for the joy of finding the Kingdom.
I will give of the fountain of water of life
freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall
inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
my son. (Revelation 21:6-7, NRSV)
It seemed as though the rich young ruler was thirsty,
at least enough to come and ask about inheriting eternal
life. Why didn’t he receive the water of life, especially
if it is given freely? “He who overcomes…”
There must have been something he did not overcome.
Maybe he was not that thirsty. Fear prevented him
from responding to the requirement for him to have eternal
life. Of course there was an obstacle, but then the Master
knew there would be obstacles to following Him and gaining
eternal life. That is why He said things like, “He
who overcomes” and “pick up your cross.”
The one in Matthew 13:44 who sold all that he had to buy
the field obviously got to drink the water of life. Certainly
the same fear that came to the rich young ruler could have
come to him, but he proved to not be a coward. The treasure
had more value to him than even his own life in this world.
He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates
his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. (John
12:25)
Nothing secures your life in this world more than riches.
Certainly you would have to hate your life in this world
to give up your riches. One who loves his life in this world
has to put his trust in riches.
Children, how hard it is for those who trust
in riches to enter the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:24, NKJV)
The Love of Money
Some longing for wealth have wandered away from
the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows. The love of money is
the root of all evil.
(1 Timothy 6:9-10)
As a poisonous plant whose toxic roots contain the
potency to kill, so the love of money is the
root of all evil, eventually killing the one who drinks
of its pleasures. Love means the direction
of your will, what you delight in and direct your
energy toward. The love of money begins as a normal
inclination toward comfort and pleasure, but like
all plants, it grows as you water it. It becomes the
dominating factor that directs your life, becoming
an insatiable appetite for wealth that consumes your
time, energy, and thought life. As your wealth increases,
you become ever more attentive to and worried about
your assets and expenditures. Before long the plant
begins to blossom into a voracious desire to accumulate
wealth, ultimately bearing its deadly fruit. |
Revelation 21:8 describes the fate of those who fail to
overcome whatever stands in the way of drinking the water
of life. They are the “cowardly and unbelieving.”
Of all the things listed that cause a person to be worthy
of the second death, or lake of fire, the first is the worst.
The greatest crime of mankind, the worst possible crime
you can commit is to reject Messiah. It is the rejection
of God’s love.
This is not talking about those who have never been offered
the water of life, but those who are offered the opportunity
and refuse, just as the rich young ruler did. They refuse
to put their trust in Messiah because of the fear of losing
“their life in this world.”
All his life the rich young ruler had lived in the fear
of losing what made his life on earth so comfortable. God’s
grace had come to set him free from that fear, to save him
from his sin. He could have been set free from his fears
by putting his trust in Him. He could have picked up his
cross and followed Him. The cross would have crucified his
self-life that was so dependent on those earthly riches.
But he didn’t embrace it. He was a coward. When push
came to shove, he gave in to fear. He could not put anything
above his own security.
That is the aspect of being a coward that is so dangerous.
When a coward’s life is in danger, he will do anything
to protect it. How many atrocities in history have been
performed according to that principle? So the cowardly and
unbelieving in Revelation 21:8 are those who refuse to believe
because it threatens their self-life.
Woe
But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving
your comfort in full. (Luke 6:24, NASB)
“Woe” is a solemn warning of impending doom.
The woe to them is because when life in this world comes
to an end, so will their comfort, just as Abraham told the
rich man,
Child, remember that during your life you received
your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now
he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. (Luke
16:25, NASB)
The grief that the rich young ruler walked away with was
just a foretaste of an eternity of torment. Woe to him!
Oh, so sad! He could have done what the disciples did. Perhaps
until that point he had been powerless to overcome the grip
his riches had on his soul, but as the Master told His disciples
that day, “With God all things are possible.”
Fulfilling the Law
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or
the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
(Matthew 5:17, NASB)
Since its beginning, Israel, the people of God, had known
that they should have no poor among them.
It was part of the Law. Why were there so many poor in the
time of the rich young ruler? Though the Law outlined the
goodness of God’s heart, it did not have the power
to free man from his sin — the thing that had always
stopped them from really expressing His heart.
That is the very reason that God sent His Son,
And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His
name Yahshua,
for it is He who will save His people from their sins. (Matthew
1:21, NASB)
What could not be done through the Law, as good as it
was, had to wait for the Savior. The Savior certainly did
not come to nullify the Law, but rather, by setting man
free from his selfish nature (which caused him to sin),
give him the ability to fulfill it. He did not come
to fulfill it all by Himself. He was not going to eliminate
poverty on His own. But by setting men free from their self-centered
existence so that they could “give to the poor,”
the Law would be fulfilled. That is the “all things”
that are possible with God.
Wealth: Its Enticements and Promises
The deception of wealth promises independence, success,
comfort, security, happiness, and freedom, etc. But
in reality it produces self-imprisonment, dysfunction
and divorce, compounded sorrows, fretfulness and insecurity,
concealments, treachery, and slavery to excess and
indulgence.[1] Selfish ambition and the lust for personal
gain will destroy the one it entices.[2] The desire
for riches in this life causes men to fall into a
pattern of constant temptation.[3] It is a
snare in which many foolhardy and harmful lusts overtake
and plunge men into destruction. Once the poison is
taken into the soul, once the taste for it is acquired,
it brings certain ruin.
A man’s personality and characteristic tendencies
are molded by what he loves. Unless the love of money
is uprooted,[4] it will eventually overtake his soul.
His intellect, will, and emotions will conform to
its lusts and desires. An inescapable ruin falls upon
him, which he must carry for eternity.
[1] 2 Peter
2:19
[2] James 3:14-16
[3] 1 Timothy 6:9
[4] Matthew 15:13
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If only he had put his trust in the “good teacher”
like those disciples who said, “See we have left all
to follow You.” For to them the Master responded,
Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left
house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but
that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the
present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers
and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in
the age to come, eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)
Not only would the rich young ruler have received eternal
life, but also a hundred times what he had given up, in
this age. What he gave up for Messiah’s sake
would be put into the pot with what others who had the same
response gave up, in order to create a “common pot,”
or as Paul said, a “commonwealth.”
Remember that you were at that time separate
from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
It is what those who had given up all for His sake established
after His death and resurrection:
And all those who had believed were together,
and had all things in common; and they began selling their
property and possessions, and were sharing them with all,
as anyone might have need. (Acts 2:44-45)
And the congregation of those who believed were
of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that
anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were
common property to them. And with great power the apostles
were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not
a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land
or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the
sales, and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they
would be distributed to each, as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35)
Finally, through the saving power of Messiah they were
able to fulfill the wonderful Law. They were producing the
fruit of the Kingdom of God.
Too bad the rich young ruler did not have the heart to
conquer his fears and put his trust in Messiah. Too bad
he put his trust in riches. Too bad he was a coward. If
only he had overcome!
So therefore,
no one of you can be My disciple who
does not give up all his own possessions. (Luke 14:33)
No one can keep the comfort of his possessions and have
the God of all comfort be his God at the same time.
What He had required of the rich young ruler was part of
the formulation of the Gospel that would communicate the
same requirements for everyone. For the Gospel is the power
of God to transfer them out of the domain of darkness and
into His kingdom.
How can anyone really put their trust in Him if they have
not taken it off their possessions?
The story of the “rich young ruler” is in Mark
10:17-30, Matthew 19:16-30, and Luke 18:18-30
Deuteronomy 15:4,8
Matthew 19:19; Leviticus 19:18
Luke 7:29,35
Mark 10:27
Deuteronomy 15:4,8
Literally it was “Yahshua,” which
means “Yahweh’s Salvation.” See What’s
in a Name.
Matthew 21:43
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of
all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that
we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by
God.
Romans 1:16; and Colossians 1:13
Wealth: A Web of Deceit
The love of money becomes a lust for wealth and is the
doorway to immorality, covetousness, greed, envy, murder,
hatred, idolatry, adultery, uncontrolled anger, drunkenness,
revelries and the like.[1] One’s soul and character
become fashioned by its enticements, and like a spider
it weaves its web of deceit and falsehood. As one increases
his wealth, being shrewd in business practices and opportunities,
his expertise in lying increases with it.[2]
This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly,
sensual, demonic. For where envy and selfish ambition
exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. (James
3:15-16)
Those who lust after riches reject what they know to
be true in their consciences for the sake of personal
gain, whatever the cost.[3] Most often that cost is in
the human lives they destroy in their relentless pursuit
for gain.[4] There are certain characteristic traits that
follow those who lust after riches:
1. They oppress the poor to make themselves rich.[5]
2. They do not fear God.[6]
3. They trust in the uncertainty of riches.[7]
4. They are proud and haughty over their unjust success.[8]
5. They are enticed with sinful pleasures.[9]
6. They make great boasts.[10]
7. They are distraught with fear and anxiety over riches.[11]
8. They are unwilling to share with the destitute.[12]
9. They covet more riches.[13]
10. They are proud, with an air of self-importance.[14]
11. They refuse to obey God but trust riches.[15]
[1] Romans 13:13
[2] Proverbs 13:11
[3] Romans 1:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:1-5
[4] Ecclesiastes 5:13-15
[5] Nehemiah 5:1-13; James 2:6-7; 5:1-6; Proverbs 18:23;22:16,22,23;
Jeremiah 22:13-19
[6] Job 21:7-15; Psalms 39:6, 49:10-13,16-20; 52:1-7; Proverbs
11:4,28; 18:11
[7] Job 21:13, 31:24-28; Psalms 52:1-7, 73:12; Proverbs
18:11; 23:4-5; 27:24; 1 Timothy 6:9,10,17
[8] Psalm 73:3-9; Proverbs 18:11; 28:11; Ezekiel 28:5; 1
Timothy 6:4-7
[9] Jeremiah 5:7-9; 27-31; Amos 6:3-8; James 5:5; Proverbs
28:22; 1 Timothy 6:9; Habakkuk 3; Isaiah 3:16-24
[10] Psalm 49:6,16-19; Jeremiah 9:23; Deuteronomy 8:17-18;
1 Timothy 6:4-5
[11] Ecclesiastes 5:12; Matthew 13:22; Luke 8:14; 21:34
[12] Mark 10:17-27; Luke 18:22-26; 1 John 3:17
[13] Habakkuk 2:9; Luke 12:15-21; 16:13-31; Hebrews 13:5
[14] 1 Timothy 6:17-18; James 1:10; Deuteronomy 8:17
[15] Mark 10:21; Luke 12:15; Matthew 6:19-21; Proverbs 23:4-5
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