3. Consider his humility and reverence to Christ ; he kneeled to him, in token of civil honour and reverence to him, as an eminent prophet and teacher. He was not persuaded, as we that profess ourselves christians are, of the Grodhead of Christ, only he took him for some great prophet and a man of God, therefore he cometh and tendereth his petition kneeling. One would think all this respect and fair meaning might be without any fault, and that he had a very good heart, a man that should come, and run, and kneel to Christ, and beg him to answer this question.
4. There is his compellation, ' Good master.' He came not treacher- ously to entrap Christ, as the lawyer that asked the same question, but not with the same intent : Luke x. 25, ' Behold a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' This man came not to tempt Christ, but to learn of him, out of a good intention and purpose, and with a mind and affection in some degree sincere. The man had some good qualities, for it is said, ' Jesus loved him ; ' he had moral sincerity, for he did not dissemble ; but he came not with a supernatural sincerity, for there was a reservation in his heart, as appears by the sequel ; his resolution to follow Christ was not absolute, though he esteems him, and makes fair offers to him. We have seen the first part, namely, what was commendable ; a young man, a rich man, a nobleman ; he comes with such earnestness, with such a question to Christ, with such a desire to be satisfied, with an intention sincere.
II. But where was his defect ? By all that hath been said, a man would think that all tliis while I have been describing some rare saint. Such is his zeal and forwardness after spiritual and heavenly knowledge, and such is our coldness and carelessness about everlasting concern- ments, that we should easily think. Surely this is enough, and wonder God should require anything more, and to go further than this man.
1. His fault was that he asked, in the pharisee's sense, what good thing he should do. That will appear by Christ's answer in the process of the storj^ If the question had been only, By what means must I be saved ? or, What is the way to heaven ? Christ would have answered
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him, as tlie apostles did in a like case, Acts xvi. 31. ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved/ If the question had been put to him in a broken-hearted manner, and by one that was sensible of his misery and inability, and had come to Christ and said, ' What shall I do ? ' he would have taught him. Now the pharisee's error was double — he thought that men might be saved by their own works, and that those works were in their own power. He thought of nothing else but of being saved by the merit of his own works, that those were full out-weight with God, and did deserve eternal life ; as the Jews elsewhere : Eom. ix. 31, 32, ' Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Where- fore ? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.' They were ignorant of the law and of themselves ; igno- rant of the law, and therefore sought justification by the works of the law, and not by faith ; and ignorant of themselves, and therefore pre- sumed of their own strength, as if tliey were able to do whatever good was prescribed to them. As the Jews said to Christ, John vi. 28, ' What shall we do that we might work the works of God ? ' They were confident of their own merit and strength. Here was his fault, that he was, as other Jews were, both ignorant of the law and ignorant of himself : of the law, that there is no standing before God by that covenant ; and of himself, that he had full strength to perform it. Men by nature retain so deep an impression of the covenant of works, and are ignorant of the perfection of the law and their own impotency, that they know no way of attaining eternal life but by their own works, and doubt not but they shall do well enough ; if Christ will tell them their duty, they will do it. In short, this young man was conceited of a righteousness as in himself and from himself, and if Christ had answered him according to that humour, he had done no more good upon him than if a physician should say to a lame man. Run, and you shall be cured. And therefore Christ's business was to bring him to a brokenness of heart by the knowledge of the law, of himself, and his own weakness, as you shall see afterwards.
2. His next fault was, his love of riches and worldly things, which is a dangerous obstruction, and a let to salvation. Fair intentions and good offers profit not where any one thing is loved more than God, where the world is not overcome, and the fleshly mind and interest is not mortified ; for we must not confine it only to riches, but pleasure, and honour, or any such thing. For when Christ had taught them that he was Lord and sovereign, and could give laws — he gives him a law to try him, ' Sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and come take up the cross, and follow me ' — he went away sorrowful. Unless every affection and interest of ours be laid at the feet of Christ, we are not throughly converted to him. From this story, consider, whoever believes must determine God is his chiefest good, and Jesus Christ is the only way to God ; there must be an intention of God as the last end, and a choice of Christ as the only means ; there must be brokenness of heart, a renouncing the world, and an entire dependence on Christ as the only Saviour to bring us to God.