Despite growing up in the Silver Valley, Pastor Carter doesn’t ever remember visiting Lake Pend Orielle. So I took him down to the docks and let him look up toward Lakeview. Later he peered through binoculars across toward Goat Mountain – or whatever its real name is. Then we drove down to the end of the road where he could see across to the east side. Later I took him to Bayview where he had the same basic view – but from sea level. And I’m sure that what he saw from Brother James’ boat was different yet again. In the case of that lake, there are so many ways to look at the same thing.
And the same is true of the story of the Rich Young Ruler. This morning I shared a gospel message which, I am sure, has been preached in one fashion or another thousands of times. Two weeks ago, my message was basically what the man may have thought about himself. Tonight, let’s consider that man more from the Lord’s vantage point, or perhaps from the opinion of others. And with that in mind, what is the best way to measure ourselves? What is the best vantage point to look at the lake called “Oldfield,” “Asmundson” or whatever your name is? Is it from water level? Is it from a hundred feet or two hundred feet above? Is it with a telescope? How about a microscope? What about from Brother Steve’s drone? I know that it was the Lord who was leading this man along in his thinking, but….
One way to look at ourselves – is positiviely NEGATIVELY.
Perhaps this should have been one of our questions for the little kids at camp – “How many commandments are there in the Ten Commandments?” That’s like the old question, “Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?” Or maybe you remember riddle – “Where did they bury the survivors of the plane crash?” I can just imagine some of the kids trying to repeat the commandments m in their heads in order to count them. It has been pointed out thousands of times that there were two tables of the law – one related to God and the other more about human relationships. While that is true, there are other subtle differences mixed into both tablets. Perhaps a home run question for the adults might have been – how many of the ten commandments are “thou shalt nots” and how many are “thou shalts.” “Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” The majority of the Ten Commandments are negative, rather than positive.
While it is not entirely true, the man in our scripture basically defined himself negatively. “All these things have I kept from my youth up.” When Jesus said, “Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,” the man replied, “I am not guilty of any of these.” And if I might paraphrase just a bit, he might have gone on to say, “I have not dishonored my parents, and I have not defrauded my neighbors.” Let me go on record once again, that in each of these things the man is to be commended. I will not charge this man with lying, or fraud or any other sin in regard to these several points. He may have not fully appreciated their depth or their spiritual aspect, but at least superficially he was making an honest assessment of himself. And the Lord Jesus didn’t say anything against any of these points either.
You remember the Lord’s account of the man with two sons – one a prodigal and the other – not so much. When the prodigal returned home defeated, exhausted, repentant and humble, his brother was unhappy. He basically compared himself to his younger brother, the rebel, and said, “I have never done the wicked things that my brother has done.” “And he was angry” when his father was so happy at the return of the wicked son, “and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. and he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.” It is not entirely true of anyone, but I would guess that this man, like the prodigal’s elder brother, may have basically defined himself by the things which he did not do. “Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
Momentarily, let’s forget about the young ruler and the older brother, focusing on ourselves. You are not a murderer nor an adulterer; I am not a murderer nor an adulterer. Forget about the spiritual aspects of the question – hatred and lust – focus only on the outward, physical aspects. Does your success in these two points make you a good person? Does the fact that you do not steal, make you a righteous person – or even a good person? Your covetousness has never gotten so out of hand that you have stolen your neighbor’s property.
As Christ was talking to the man in our text, part of the self-assessment test was, “Do you love your neighbor as yourself”? The man’s reply blanketed everything, “All these things have I kept from my youth up.” But in regard to that last point, his thought probably was, “I have never hurt nor defrauded my neighbor.” So the Lord got specific with him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.” As I said this morning, the Lord turned from the negative to the positive – and so should we.
It is one thing to measure ourselves with the negative yard stick, but it is another to use the positive one.
Please remember how all of this conversation started. “Behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” God is described as good. Can a person be wealthy without anyone else ever being aware of it? Absolutely. Can someone be generous without giving or sharing? That is another matter. That is impossible. Can a person be intelligent without anyone knowing it? Perhaps. Well then, using the human definition, can he be wise without ever demonstrating it? I don’t think so. Wisdom is the expression of intelligence – it is the using of smarts. What is it to be nice? What is the definition of “nice”? “To be pleasing or agreeable.” Can a person be nice without demonstrating it? I am not sure that it’s possible. And what about goodness? What is it be “good”? My dictionary has twenty overlapping definitions. “Condition of being positive or desirable. Having qualities that are desirable. Not spoiled or ruined.uperior – having a high quality. Worthy of respect,” etc. Again, using these definitions or standards, can a person be “good” in isolation?
It maybe proverbial, but that doesn’t make it any less true: “God is good; God is great.” One of the reasons that God is so great is because He is so good. Psalm 119:68 – Oh Lord – “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.” The first part of this verse brings together two things: God’s personal goodness and His good dealings with His creation. Was God omnipotent before He created things and proved His omnipotence? Certainly. Was God good before there were things to be good toward? I suppose so, but is that enough? Jehovah has in Himself – an infinite and inexhaustible treasure of all goodness – Enough to absolutely and completely bless all things. He does good because He is good. Psalm 31:19 – “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!” Spurgeon once said, “When others behave badly towards us, it should only stir us up the more heartily to give thanks unto the Lord, because He is good; and when we ourselves are conscious that we are far from being good, we should only the more reverently bless Him that He is good. We must never tolerate and instant’s unbelief as to the goodness of the Lord; whatever else may be questioned, this is absolutely certain, that Jehovah is good; His dispensations may vary, but His nature is always the same.”
Let’s quote Psalm 23 together? “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
Consider Nahum 1:7 – “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in Him.” Doesn’t that tell us to lean upon Him – to lean hard upon Him – precisely because He is good?
Here is my thesis for this brief evening message. God is good – He is not good simply because He doesn’t do evil things; wicked things, sinful things. We might talk about His righteousness, which is contrary to unrighteousness and sin. But the goodness of God is positive – it involves giving – blessing.
The man in our scripture, may have honestly said that he didn’t do some of the evil things that his neighbors did. But he was not a good man – he was not like God, because he wasn’t good like God. “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” I think that one of the lessons of this scripture is that the Lord is not satisfied with the fact that we don’t commit some of the sins of modern society. He wants us to be more God-like, by being positively good. May our spiritual resume include kindness, hospitality, graciousness, generosity and helpfulness.