This is the account of the man who came running to Jesus and even bowing before Him. He acted so sincere. He claimed that he wanted to know what He needed to do to inherit eternal life. This is a serious question indeed. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Surely Jesus would be very excited to have this man come running up to Him with this question. Jesus first reminded this man that there is none good but God. This man needed to know he was speaking to God as the second person of the Godhead.
Then Jesus told the man about the moral law and how important it was to keep that. The man claimed to have kept that from his youth. This man saw himself as a very good man. He did not have the assurance of eternal life, and He wanted Jesus to give him that assurance.
We read in verse 21 that Jesus loved this man. This love did not start at that moment. He loved this man before he ever came running to Jesus. He looked intently at this man and told him he lacked one thing. He lacked the love of God in his heart. He could not do that for himself. He could not buy that love. He was not willing to give up his earthly possessions for that which he could never afford to buy. He went away grieved. He came running to Jesus, lacking assurance of salvation and he left grieving, and still lacking that needed assurance. Why? He would not accept the love of God. He wanted eternal life on his own terms. No one can have that.
God is not in the bartering business. He is right and we need to be born again first of all and then transformed into the image of His dear Son, if we are saved.
In verse 6 we see that we need to be of one mind and of one mouth. There is no justification for the noise that comes from modern day Christendom. When Joshua came down from the mount with Moses, he stated that he heard a noise in the camp. It was the noise of war that he heard, but not the noise of mastery. It was a noise that he had not heard before and was not familiar with. It was the noise of confusion. Joshua identified it as the noise of singing, but he discovered it was not to the Lord.
The problem was that Aaron had made a golden calf and had encouraged the people to worship before the golden calf. Aaron had turned the people away from the true God.
That is very much what we have witnessed for my entire lifetime and even before that. I have mentioned before how difficult I found it to be able to find a true Baptist church when God was drawing me out of New Evangelicalism. I was speaking with a young man this week who is searching for the truth. He does not live in our area and I said I would try to find him a good church in his area. The sad reality is that there are less and less good churches today. There is a lot of noise, but it is not the sound of rejoicing in the Lord. It is the noise of confusion. It cannot answer the questions and concerns that people have today. People need to hear that clear sound of saints glorifying God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We do that by receiving one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God. That statement tells us that we do not adopt the compromises so prevalent today. Jesus Christ never did that. He chose twelve disciples. He knew Judas was not one of His own. He knew he was a devil. He taught him for 3 1/2 years, but Judas never repented. He was never saved. He did not want the truth. Jesus did not change the righteous standard of salvation to accommodate Judas. Judas went out and hanged himself after his evil plot did not go as he expected it to. He is in torment today.
Jesus chose Saul (Paul), as the twelfth apostle. He needed to train him as He did the other eleven. He received them because they were truly saints. He changed their hearts and they grew into the men we read of in the book of Acts and the epistles.
Today, there is a need for God-fearing men who will submit to the same Jesus Christ and who will actively glorify the God of Heaven and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today is another opportunity to learn how to do that if you are saved. Get into a good church and listen to the Word of God. If you want to examine the pastor’s teaching, (and you should), do so with the Word of God. Forget about your opinions. The Word of God is what counts. Submit to that and pray for the pastor that he would be bold and faithful to the Word of God so that you can grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not need to settle for compromise. God is good and He will guide you to the truth. He loves you more than you know. His Word is sure. Jesus Christ is still building His church. His design is still to present the saints before His Father without spot or blemish. He will do that because He is God. Be sure you are one of His sheep. If that is true, Jesus says, His sheep follow Him. He does not lie. Follow Jesus Christ today.
Pastor Bartel