“Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,He saith unto him, Which? And Jesus said, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
3 sermons cite this verse
So, when I say to the graduates, you graduates, remember the rich young man, what do I want you to remember? And very honestly, I don't expect you to remember anything I say. I hope that in 50 years, I mean, it would be amazing and thrilling to me if in 50 years, I know I'll be thrilled in 50 years, no matter what, but it would be amazing to me if in 50 years, you would remember there was a speaker and he gave us a dollar and he said, remember the rich young man. That's all. That's all I remember. Changed my life. if you just remember, he said, whoever he was, I can't remember, he's old. He said, remember the rich young man, maybe you'll read it again. And if you read that story, you are reading the very words of the Son of God who created the universe by the word of his mouth. If there is anybody who could protect you against the craving to be rich, it is he, not me. …
… Our Lord says in verse 19, and He starts quoting the second half of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. So He's rattling off some of the Ten Commandments. And He said to him, Teacher, I've kept all these things from my youth up. Well, that's not possible. That's not possible. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, if you hate, you're a murderer. If you lust, you've committed adultery in your heart. If you covet, you're a thief. You can violate those not only in action but in attitude. So this man is completely distorted about his condition. He thinks He is righteous enough that He only needs to do one more thing to reach eternal life. because he's kept the law. And again, look, any legalistic system has to define keeping the law in a superficial way, because they have evil hearts and they know it. So it's all about the external. I've kept all these things. He's blind to his own sinfulness. He lived in constant lifelong violation of the perfection of God. He doesn't know it, but he's a blasphemer, and he's a proud one elevating himself. He really worshiped himself, not God. …
Faith alone it is which effectually answers this end, as we learn from daily experience. For so long as we walk by faith, not by sight, we go swiftly on in the way of holiness. While we steadily look, not at the things which are seen, but at those which are not seen, we are more and more crucified to the world and the world crucified to us. Let but the eye of the soul be constantly fixed, not on the things which are temporal, but on those which are eternal, and our affections are more and more loosened from earth, and fixed on things above. So that faith, in general, is the most direct and effectual means of promoting all righteousness and true holiness; of establishing the holy and spiritual law in the hearts of them that believe. 3. And by faith, taken in its more particular meaning, for a confidence in a pardoning God, we establish his law in our own hearts in a still more effectual manner. For there is no motive which so powerfully inclines us to love God, as the sense of the love of God in Christ. Nothing enables us like a piercing conviction of this to give our hearts to him who was given for us. And from this principle of grateful love to God arises love to our brother also. Neither can we avoid loving our neighbour, if we truly believe the love wherewith God hath loved us. Now this love to man, grounded on faith and love to God, “worketh no ill to” our “neighbour.” Consequently, it is, as the Apostle observes,“the fulfilling of the” whole negative “law.” “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false witness; Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Neither is love content with barely working no evil to our neighbour. It continually incites us to do good, as we have time and opportunity; to do good, in every possible kind, and in every possible degree, to all men. It is therefore, the fulfilling of the positive, likewise, as well as of the negative, law of God. …