And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 10:25
J.C. Ryle
We should notice in this passage, the solemn question which was addressed to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that a certain lawyer asked Him, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The motive of this man was evidently not right. He only asked this question to “tempt” our Lord, and to provoke Him to say something on which His enemies might lay hold. Yet the question he propounded was undoubtedly one of the deepest importance.
It is a question which deserves the principal attention of every man, woman, and child on earth. We are all sinners–dying sinners, and sinners going to be judged after death. “How shall our sins be pardoned? With which shall we come before God? How shall we escape the damnation of hell? Where shall we flee from the wrath to come? What must we do to be saved?”–These are inquiries which people of every rank ought to put to themselves, and never rest until they find an answer.
It is a question which unhappily few care to consider. Thousands are constantly inquiring, “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? With what shall we be clothed? How can we get money? How can we enjoy ourselves? How can we prosper in the world?” Few, very few, will ever give a moment’s thought to the salvation of their souls. They hate the subject. It makes them uncomfortable. They turn from it and put it away. Faithful and true is that saying of our Lord’s, “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads unto destruction, and many there be that go in thereat.” (Matt. 7:13.)
Let us not be ashamed of putting the lawyer’s question to our own souls. Let us rather ponder it, think about it, and never be content until it fills the first place in our minds. Let us seek to have the witness of the Spirit within us, that we repent us truly of sin, that we have a lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ, and that we are really walking with God. This is the character of the heirs of eternal life. These are they who shall one day receive the kingdom prepared for the children of God.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
Hebrews 12:14
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.
’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.
These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
“This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I was the worst of them all.”
1 Timothy 1:15
The gospel, as the name signifies, denotes glad tidings. This blessed gospel is sent to us: to you, reader, are these glad tidings conveyed. “That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” is the best news that ever fell on the ears of a dying world. Life and immortality are brought to light through this gospel of the grace of God. Let us now contemplate the glorious character of our blessed Redeemer, and the love which he has manifested in coming into the world to save sinners.
1. In the person of Christ, the human and divine natures are united. His DIVINITY is clearly asserted in the Scriptures. The Redeemer of lost sinners is the eternal Son of God -equal with the Father, the Creator of the universe, the upholder of all things. Endued with supreme power, he reigns universal Lord. All power is given to him, in heaven and earth. All worlds are his. All kingdoms are his domain. He made all things. At his command, worlds sprung into being. By his power all created matter is upheld in existence. He has caused the sun to shine with undiminished splendor on our globe for nearly six thousand years. “Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine. He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. He made all the stars—the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky. His great works are too marvelous to understand. He performs miracles without number.”
Open the blessed volume, and read the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, that Christ, the redeemer of sinners, is God. “In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.” It is a matter of great consolation for the believer who has entrusted his immortal concerns in the hands of his blessed Redeemer, to know that he is God over all, blessed forever. Let him ever bear in mind that the Savior, who loves him is the only begotten Son of God, and bears his very image. He is the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person. He is clothed with divine majesty, and possesses all divine perfections, and infinite excellences. He is equal with God in all his glorious perfections.
He is called “the Lord of Glory,” the “King of glory,” “the mighty God,” “Jehovah;” and in the Revelation he is described as having on his vesture, and on his thigh a name written, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Again, it is said of him that “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ.”
There is a transcendent loveliness in the person of Christ. He is “fairer than the children of men:” “the chief among ten thousand; yes, he is altogether lovely.” What glorious and lovely attractions center in Emmanuel! Such is the character of Him who came into our sin-polluted world, to shed on Calvary his precious blood for the redemption of his people.
