RICH RULER
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by John W. White
The purpose of this tract is to show that the Rich Ruler was not asking how to
be saved, but how he could have a better inheritance in the Kingdom of heaven.
The counsel the Lord gave to this man is similar to the counsel that Paul gave
Timothy to give to the rich. 1 Timothy
6:17-19 “Charge them that are
rich in this world, that they be
not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who
giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
18. That they do good, that
they be rich in good works, ready
to distribute, willing to
communicate; 19. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the
time
to come,
that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
Matthew 19:16
“...said unto him, Good Master,
what good thing shall I do, that I may have
eternal
life?”
Mark 10:17 “...and
asked him, Good Master, what shall I do
that I may inherit
eternal
life?” Luke 18:18
“...asked him, saying, Good Master,
what shall I do to
inherit eternal
life?”
The first
occurrence of the word
poie>w
is found in Matthew
1:24
“Then Joseph ... did as the
angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:”
Matthew 8:9 “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me:
and I say ... to my servant, Do
this, and he doeth
it.” The word
poie>w
has
to do with works and the Lord told
him what he must do to have an
inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. The Lord did not tell him to believe,
but gave him a list of things to do
to have an inheritance. Our inheritance
will be on the basis of works.
Colossians 3:23-24 “And whatsoever ye
do [poie>w],
do [ejrga>zomai, labor, work]
it heartily, as to the Lord, and not
unto men; 24. Knowing that of the
Lord ye shall receive the reward of the
inheritance: for ye serve the
Lord Christ.”
This man was
assured of an earthly inheritance because he was a Jew. God had promised the
land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their saved descendants. In the Law,
given by Moses, provision was made that every family would have an
inheritance. Genesis 28:4 "And give thee [Jacob] the blessing of Abraham,
to
thee, and to
thy
seed with thee; that thou mayest
inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which
God
gave unto Abraham." The
phrase thy
seed and the word inherit
indicate that this is a family
matter.
What is the
meaning of the words
aijw>n
and
aijw>niov?
According to Lexical Aids For Students
of New Testament Greek, by Bruce M. Metzger, page 11, the root meaning of
the word
aijw>n
is “an age (aeon)”. This is not eternity as understood by the English
language, but an undefined period of time. The word
aijw>n
is used in
Matthew 28:20 “... lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the
end [suntelei>av] of the
world [aijw>n] Amen.”
The use of
aijw>n in this context indicates that
there is an end to this age. In
Hebrews 9:26 “... since the foundation of the
world [ko>smov]:
but now once in the end of the
world [aijw>v
which is plural, ages] hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” From
Genesis 1:1 until
John 19:30 there has been more than one age. From the Greek mind the
concept of eternity or
eternal is found in
Galatians 1:5 “To whom be
glory for ever and ever.” The
phrase “for ever and ever” is: “eijv
tou<v aijw~nav tw~n aijw>nwn.”
Both words
ever,
aijw~nav,
are plural and should be translated
ages. Translation of this phrase
should be for the ages of the ages.
The phrase eternal life is a reference to the coming millennial age when Jesus
Christ will rule and reign for 1,000 years. This is not salvation, because
eternal life is gained by good works and salvation is not.
Romans 2:7 “To
them who by patient continuance in
well doing seek for glory and honour
and immortality [incorruption], eternal
life:”
Galatians 6:8-9 “For he
that soweth to his flesh shall of
the flesh reap
corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit
reap
life
everlasting [the opposite of corruption,
incorruption]. 9. And let
us not be weary in well doing: for
in due season we shall reap
[eternal life, incorruption], if we faint not.” When we are born from above,
John 3:3, we are saved now but will not enter into eternal life until the age
to come. Mark 10:30
“...and in the world
[age,
aijw>n]
to come [the one coming, a present
participle] eternal [agelasting,
aijw>niov] life.” Eternal life, Biblically speaking, is not
something that you have now but will enter into in the coming millennial age.
Ephesians 2:1
“And you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins:” This verse lets us know that we are
dead because of sin. John 3:3
“Jesus answered and said unto him, ..., Except a man be
born
again, he cannot see the
kingdom of
God.” Being born from above provides us with life. Until we are born
from above we are dead in trespasses and sins. If we have life then we will
see the kingdom of God. Jesus is
telling this man how to enter into life
and not how to have life or be born again. Notice in
Matthew 19:17 “... if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the
commandments.” The word enter is the
Greek word
eijse>rcomai,
a compound word including:
eijv
meaning
into, plus
e]rcomai
meaning to
come. Enter into life in context is the same as entering into the
Kingdom of Heaven. Again entering into the kingdom and seeing the kingdom are
not the same thing. Matthew 19:23-24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto
you, That a rich man shall hardly enter
[eijse>rcomai] into the kingdom of heaven. 24. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel
to go [eijse>rcomai] through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man
to enter [eijse>rcomai] into the kingdom of God.” Who “...shall
enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth [poie>w]
the will of my Father ...”
Matthew 7:21 The concept of
entering is revealed in Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, that ye enter [eijse>rcomai] not into temptation...” This does not mean if we
watch and pray that we will not be tempted. This verse is telling us if we
watch and pray we will not participate or actively take part in what we are
tempted to do. To enter into life or the kingdom of the heavens is to become
active participants in the life of the kingdom as will the apostles, as shown
in Matthew 19:28 “And Jesus said unto them... That ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit in the
throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon twelve
thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” This will not take place until
the age [aijw>n] to come.
The first
thing one must do to have a better inheritance or enter into life is
Matthew 19:17 “...if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments.” The rich
ruler replied “... All these things
have I kept from my youth up...”
Matthew 19:20 There is no contest to this statement. By keeping the
commandments this man was just, as in the case of Zackarias and Elisabeth in
Luke 1:6 “And they were both
righteous [di>kaiov,
just] before God, walking in all
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Being just is not
enough if one wants to enter into
life or the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:21
“...If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that
thou hast, and give to the poor..”
The word perfect,
te>leiov,
is also translated of
full age. This was the
prayer of Epaphras in Colossians 4:12
“Epaphras, who is one of you, ... always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that
ye may stand perfect and
complete in all the
will of God.”
Hebrews 5:14 “But strong meat
belongeth to them that are of
full age...” For someone to enter
into the Kingdom of Heaven he must be faithful and spiritually mature.
Matthew 25:21 “Well done, ... good
and faithful servant....I will make
thee ruler....”
Matthew 19:21
“...If thou wilt be perfect, go and
sell that thou hast, and give to
the poor..” In Matthew 19:22 “...he
had great possessions.” Having great possessions seem to indicate he owned
many parcels of land as in
Acts 2:45
“And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all
men, as every man had need.” and
Acts 5:1 “...Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,”
Acts 5:3 “...Satan filled thine heart ... to keep back
part of the price of the
land?” Owning land brings in
revenue and security. Selling your possessions is to lose your security, and
self sufficiency. If he had done this then he would be one of the poor.
James 2:5 “...the poor of
this world rich in faith, and
heirs of the
kingdom which he hath promised to them that
love him?” When you have nothing you learn to trust Him for
everything.
You need
cash in hand to be “...
rich in good works, ready to
distribute, ...” 1 Timothy 6:18
Those who have money must be
“...willing to communicate;
19. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time
to come, that they may lay
hold on
eternal life.”
1 Timothy 6:18-19
Matthew 19:21
“...and thou shalt have treasure in heaven...”
Matthew 6:1
“Take heed that ye do not your
alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no
reward of your Father which is in
heaven.” Then in the regeneration
when
“...the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his
angels; and then he shall
reward every man according to his works.”
Matthew 16:27
This phrase
in Matthew 19:21 and with the variation in
Mark 10:21
“...come, take up the cross, and
follow me.” helps us to see what it takes to follow the Lord.
Matthew 4:19 “Follow
me, and I will make you
fishers of men.” This is what he told his disciples to do and become.
Matthew 16:24-25
“Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any
man will come
after me, let him
deny himself, and take up
his cross, and
follow
me. 25. For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will
lose his life for my sake shall find it.” The Lord was asking the
Rich Ruler to lose his life for His sake then when “..Son of man shall come in
the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works.” Matthew 16:27
Matthew 19:22
“But when the young man heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful: for he had
great possessions.” This is a good example of how riches can choke the Word.
Mark 4:19 “...the deceitfulness of
riches, and the lusts of other
things entering in,
choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful.”
Revelation 3:17
“Because thou sayest, I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and
miserable, and
poor, and blind, and
naked:”
Luke 12:21 “So
is he that layeth up treasure for
himself, and is not rich toward
God.”
1 Timothy 6:9 “But they
that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and
into many
foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition.”
Mark 10:21
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him,
One thing thou lackest...” This
phrase confirms to us that he was just
because he had kept the Law. The one thing that he could not bring himself to
do was to live by faith. Hebrews 10:38
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if
any man draw back, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him.” When you sell all that you have you learn to become
“...rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom which he hath
promised to them that love
(obey) him?” James 2:5. Abraham’s nephew
Lot is a picture or type of this Rich Ruler.
2 Peter 2:7 “And
delivered just
Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:” Lot was just
but he did not live by faith. 2
Corinthians 5:7 "(For we walk
by faith, not by
sight:)" Lot lived by sight.
Genesis 13:10 “And Lot lifted up his
eyes, and beheld all the plain
of Jordan, that it
was well watered every where...” In the end Lot and his family did
not have an inheritance in the land flowing with milk and honey but as shown
in Deuteronomy 2:8-9 “And when we
passed by from our brethren the
children of Esau ...and passed by the way of the wilderness of
Moab. 9. And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, ...for I
will not give thee of their land... because I have given Ar unto the children
of Lot for a possession.” There is
not a single testimony that Lot live by faith. Lot is not mentioned in Hebrews
11 yet Abraham is mentioned more than once.
There are
those who want a better inheritance
but are not willing to do what is required. Those who lived by faith in
Hebrews 11:13
“These all died
in faith, not having
received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of
them, and embraced
them, and
confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the
earth.” Hebrews 11:16
“...they desire a better
country, that is, an heavenly:
wherefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God: for he hath prepared for them a
city.” Revelation 21:7
“He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God,
and he shall be my
son.” The Rich Ruler was not
willing to pay the price here on earth to be an overcomer and release his
earthly possessions and become a pilgrim and a stranger here on the earth that
he might enter into that heavenly city.
Hebrews 11:6 “But without
faith
it is impossible to
please
him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.” You have to be just before you can live by faith. The
Rich Ruler was just in that keeping the Law was not one of the things that he
lacked. What he lacked was a lifestyle of faith.
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