And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
A rich young ruler with position and possessions, moved by Christ's tenderness to children and the lowly, ran to Him, knelt, and earnestly asked as an honored teacher what good act would secure eternal life. Jesus directed him to God alone as good and to keep the commandments, meaning the moral law of ten precepts, as the condition of entering life. Although he claimed to have kept them from his youth, his sorrow when told to sell, give to the poor, and follow Christ exposed that riches were his idol and he did not love God supremely or his neighbor as himself. Jesus loved him and left him free, yet by valuing seen treasure above unseen treasure he chose possessions over eternal life and went away sorrowful, unworthy of service. The same test meets everyone today, for desiring heaven is not enough without wholehearted obedience and complete surrender of all to God to be used for His glory.
Questioner and Setting
The one who came was a rich young ruler with responsibilities and possessions, a man of prepossessing appearance and much outward piety whose tastes and desires were not offensive but favorable to the growth of spirituality. Having seen Jesus blessing the little children, he was convinced Jesus must be a good man with whom he could live in perfect harmony. Moved by Jesus' tender welcome and love for the children, by His compassion for the poor and ignorant, and by His meekness and lowliness of heart, he hastened and ran after Jesus and knelt before Him. He came as to a teacher by whom he was willing to be taught, drawn to become His disciple.
He addressed Jesus as Good Master, as an honored rabbi, without recognizing Him as the Son of God. Jesus used that address to test whether he recognized Him as truly good and as God's Son and representative, and whether he understood that God alone is good and is the true source of goodness. His question was sincere, earnest and urgent, not pretense but an honest errand from high motives. It expressed a real desire to be as Christ was and to gain future eternal life as life with God in the world to come, a concern shared by and important to every human being.
He understood that eternal life was a future life with God and that obedience to God's commands mattered, and he was fully convinced that a place of happiness is prepared for all who in this life obey the commands of God. He realized that to gain a place in the abodes of bliss he must work out a perfect character and be fitted to live eternally with God, which would be a wonderful reward, and he was attracted and charmed by Christ's life and manner of teaching. His question and condition picture the condition of many Sabbath-keepers who seek eternal life while failing to keep God's law, needing to recognize what stood between them and eternal life.
Sense of the Question
The wording itself treats eternal life as something to be secured by doing a good thing, revealing confidence that good conduct could secure life. He believed it could be gained by an act while still retaining earthly advantages.
The question came from high motives, moved by compassion for the poor and ignorant and by meekness and lowliness of heart, yet with imperfect understanding. He understood that eternal life is future life with God and that obedience to God's commands matters, but he thought he needed to know what further act would secure it.
He considered himself righteous and thought he lacked nothing, yet he was dissatisfied and felt an unmet need and lack in his own life. He wondered whether Jesus could bless him as He had blessed the little children and satisfy that need, and his asking revealed a sincere desire for what his life lacked and for further assurance. Outward keeping of the commandments without unselfish love for God and others lacks the spirit of the law and cannot qualify a person for heaven.
His approach reflected a self-righteous spirit, as with Judas who was selfish, covetous and a thief yet was counted among the disciples. Outward righteousness did not remove the heart's defect, for selfishness and covetousness remained exposed rather than surrendered.
The question introduces a test of whether he values eternal life above his possessions. It brings the test of how much higher eternal life is prized than riches, since entering life means keeping all the commandments through loving God with all heart, soul and mind and loving neighbor as self, which supreme love of riches makes impossible.
The event belongs to a setting where God's favor and the reward of the righteous were treated as earned by works, an error from which even the disciples were not entirely free. It provides the occasion to teach right principles of favor and reward. The question is direct and calls for a definite response about the way to eternal life.
Keeping the Commandments
Jesus answers by first pointing to God's goodness and then directing to keep the commandments, and those commandments are the moral law, the ten holy precepts, not a different or abolished law. The question about what good deed would gain eternal life treated life as something to be earned by an act, but the answer exposes the gap between outward obedience and wholehearted devotion by calling for giving possessions to the poor and following Jesus, a call from which great wealth held the young man back. His urgent question made his present and future eternal interests depend on the answer, and Christ placed the answer in the context of obedience to God. His claim to have kept the commandments revealed deficiency, for self-love was supreme and he had not kept them as he supposed, loving possessions above God and His service and more than fellow men so that riches were his idol.
Keeping God's commandments is given as the duty and condition of entering life and salvation, the whole duty laid down for eternal life. What was lost through Adam by disobedience must be brought back and restored through obedience. Strict obedience is connected with receiving eternal life, and obedience to the commandments is a condition of salvation that, for the one who receives this truth, leads to eternal life. The reply giving keeping the commandments as the condition for entering into life applies to husband, wife, and children, who are to obey God's Word and seek Him wholeheartedly. The obedience God accepts is like Christ's offering to the Father in doing God's will, not relying on self-sufficiency or mere knowledge.
The commandments require supreme love for God in the first four and love for neighbor as self in the last six. The same answer was given to the lawyer, who stated the law as loving the Lord God with all heart, soul, strength, and mind and loving neighbor as self, with Christ's word that to do this is to live. Jesus quoted five of the last six commandments and the second great commandment on which the last six hang, saying nothing of the first four containing duty to God, to show that entering life means keeping all through loving God with all heart, soul, and mind and loving neighbor as self, which supreme love of riches makes impossible. What the young ruler still lacked was what the law plainly specified, to love God supremely and his neighbor as himself. Wholehearted love for God leads to life, and such love is like Christ's love.
Obedience is defined as a matter of the heart, not merely outward rule-keeping. It must enter the life and shape the character, and when obeyed in spirit and truth the law reaches the conscience and reveals sin. So obeyed, it exposes the sinful heart and brings self to death, making the way for a person to lay hold of eternal life. If the commandment had been allowed to reveal sin as with Paul, the sinful nature would have been brought to an end and eternal life laid hold of. Outward obedience without unselfish love for God and others lacks the spirit of the law and cannot qualify a person for heaven, for outwardly proper conduct and claimed belief in truth are not enough when the test requires denying self, taking up the cross, and following Christ.
This obedience is owed in response to God's love and Christ's saving sacrifice, which makes salvation possible and helps people overcome. No one can keep the commandments acceptably by human merit alone, but dependence on Christ's righteousness, merits, and divine power joined with human effort makes obedience acceptable through faith. Christ's sacrifice provides remission of sin and the only ground for the sinner's title to eternal life. That salvation does not permit remaining in sin or setting aside God's law, and faith does not excuse breaking God's law. The young man needed to accept Jesus as Saviour and receive His righteousness by faith rather than earning it by human effort, for apart from Christ attempts to produce righteousness fail, while through His merits and divine power joined with human effort believers can keep the commandments. True faith leads to such obedience rather than self-pleasing.
Obedience to God's commandments supports a life of peace, love, and harmony, while disregard brings division and leads the world toward ruin and God's wrath. Love is the basis of godliness, so a claim to love God is empty without unselfish care for others, especially those in danger or need. Wholehearted love for God is shown in how people treat one another, building up rather than discouraging fellow believers.
Wealth as Decisive Test
Jesus exposed the gap between outward obedience and wholehearted devotion by telling him to sell what he had, give to the poor, take up the cross and follow, and the young man's sorrow showed that great wealth held him back from that call. The demand made entering life conditional on surrender, not on mere claim that works do not matter, for though he professed to have kept the commandments his attachment stood in the way of following Christ. His lack was thus laid bare: he did not love his neighbor as himself nor put God first, and surrendering his goods to serve others was his only hope of receiving eternal life.
Although he claimed to have kept the commandments from his youth and asked what he still lacked, his attachment showed he did not love God wholly and supremely or his neighbor as himself. His love of riches was supreme, his possessions were his idol, and his selfishness and love of worldly gain spoiled his virtues. His claim did not include loving his neighbor as himself, for his selfish love of riches was his deficiency, and outward commandment-keeping is not enough when love of earthly treasure rules the heart. The same test meets those who are shown their duty to keep the Sabbath yet are unwilling to bear the cross.
Jesus set before him the choice between giving up possessions and having eternal life or keeping them and losing it. He valued his riches, standing and temporal advantages more than the heavenly treasure, wanted both worlds, counted giving up seen treasure for unseen treasure too great a risk, and went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. Willing to keep the commandments, he lacked willingness to surrender his wealth; the requirement to give to the poor and follow chilled his desire, for his love of wealth was stronger than his love for neighbors and the heavenly inheritance. He wanted the heavenly treasure but wanted also the temporal advantages his riches brought, desired eternal life but was not willing to make the sacrifice, and refused the offer so that ever after the world was to receive his worship.
By loving possessions more than God and refusing to give them up for Christ, he proved unworthy of a place in the Master's service. He renounced immortal life for money and power, weighed Christ against the world and turned away refusing Christ as leader, honestly considering himself perfect and blameless regarding the law yet unable to bring himself to give to the poor and follow. His example shows how difficult it is for one with great possessions to turn affections from earthly treasure even when eternal life is offered, and those who value earthly things above eternal things will lose both. Jesus loved him and invited him to follow but did not compel him, leaving him free to choose whether to obey. If he had placed himself under Christ's guidance his abilities could have made him a powerful force for good and a co-worker in salvation, awakened by love for Christ, becoming like Him, reflecting God's likeness with character sanctified for service.
His high position and possessions subtly harmed his character because cherished worldly things, however uncertain or unworthy, could take God's place in his affections, absorb the heart, and weaken moral strength and usefulness; holding back anything from God weakens the soul. He lacked discernment of his need for wholehearted devotion and Christian goodness; he needed a humble, contrite heart giving God supreme love and trusting in Christ's perfection to cover his lack. Christ's righteousness is received by faith rather than earned by human effort, and faith does not excuse breaking the law, for through Christ's merits and divine power joined with human effort believers can keep the commandments. The gift of making the required sacrifices is the bread of life: Christ must be the circulating current of life in the soul. Purity of character through close companionship with Christ bringing conformity to the divine likeness is the safeguard without which people will not see God, with completeness found in Christ and the putting away of sin.
The reply to sell, give to the poor and follow presents love and self-sacrifice as the test of character at the final judgment. God can still bring the rich into His kingdom by displacing love of riches with love for God through the Spirit's truth, leading them to use possessions as stewards to support the needy and God's work. Those who prize riches above God, truth and fellow people may surrender truth rather than part with wealth, choosing worldly possessions over eternal life, yet the Spirit's truth turns the heart to God. Likewise God can make it possible for the rich to enter the kingdom as the Spirit displaces love of riches with love for God, leading a person to use possessions faithfully for the needy and God's work, for wealth held as an idol keeps a person from eternal life.
Applying the Test Today
The same test meets every person when duty is made plain, as when the claim of the Sabbath is shown and obedience looks like a cross to be lifted, and many are held back by earthly treasure because they will not bear that cross. The young man stands for a large class who see duty as a burden and let what they own keep them from obeying God. His question therefore becomes a test of whether one will obey when duty is brought to bear.
The warning falls especially on those who profess faith yet withhold their property when God's work needs support and messengers must be sent quickly to feed hungry sheep, for like him they cling to earthly goods and will not sacrifice. Those goods may soon be swept away by the overflowing scourge, and then it will be too late to turn them into sacrifice and lay up treasure in heaven. Wanting heaven is not enough while refusing its cost, and those who keep their means instead of using them to help others and advance God's cause show they value wealth above eternal life. By contrast Abraham's readiness to offer his son shows the obedience required, while failure to seek and understand important truth leaves the soul in darkness.
Desiring eternal life means accepting Christ's conditions and yielding all to God in complete surrender instead of choosing one's own course, for obedience is essential and self-surrender is central. That surrender may require cutting away anything that would corrupt the whole person, placing all one has and is at His disposal, including means entrusted for His work, and using possessions lent by Him for His glory so as to become rich in good works. It is secured by searching the Scriptures to discharge duty aright, perfecting Christian character, being channels of true light that cannot be kept but must be imparted, faithfully using entrusted sacred truths and talents, setting light on a candlestick rather than under a bushel, and doing God's appointed work as co-workers with Christ.
The question should guide young people who gather to read Scripture together and seek its answer united on the side of truth, for such gatherings invite the blessing of Jesus into their hearts. Every soul must truly understand the answer and make no mistake about it, keeping the infinite sacrifice in view, which makes believers careful in the home and in speech to children lest words create enmity against the plan of salvation, and calls for intelligent labor for families and the training of parents and children for the great crisis just before us. Even hygienic restaurants were meant to help people understand the answer, with workers becoming acquainted with those who enter so as to speak a word in season about the truth and continue conversing outside, making conversion of souls the aim. His possible connection with the believers was seen as a means to support Christ's cause, but he refused the offer and went away sorrowful because he had great possessions, and ever after the world was to receive his worship. The whole exchange is framed in terms of entering life, first directing to keep God's commandments and then exposing wealth as the obstacle to be surrendered in order to follow.
A rich young ruler with position and possessions, moved by Christ's tenderness to children and the lowly, ran to Him, knelt, and earnestly asked as an honored teacher what good act would secure eternal life. Jesus directed him to God alone as good and to keep the commandments, meaning the moral law of ten precepts, as the condition of entering life. Although he claimed to have kept them from his youth, his sorrow when told to sell, give to the poor, and follow Christ exposed that riches were his idol and he did not love God supremely or his neighbor as himself. Jesus loved him and left him free, yet by valuing seen treasure above unseen treasure he chose possessions over eternal life and went away sorrowful, unworthy of service. The same test meets everyone today, for desiring heaven is not enough without wholehearted obedience and complete surrender of all to God to be used for His glory.
Questioner and Setting
The one who came was a rich young ruler with responsibilities and possessions, a man of prepossessing appearance and much outward piety whose tastes and desires were not offensive but favorable to the growth of spirituality. Having seen Jesus blessing the little children, he was convinced Jesus must be a good man with whom he could live in perfect harmony. Moved by Jesus' tender welcome and love for the children, by His compassion for the poor and ignorant, and by His meekness and lowliness of heart, he hastened and ran after Jesus and knelt before Him. He came as to a teacher by whom he was willing to be taught, drawn to become His disciple.
He addressed Jesus as Good Master, as an honored rabbi, without recognizing Him as the Son of God. Jesus used that address to test whether he recognized Him as truly good and as God's Son and representative, and whether he understood that God alone is good and is the true source of goodness. His question was sincere, earnest and urgent, not pretense but an honest errand from high motives. It expressed a real desire to be as Christ was and to gain future eternal life as life with God in the world to come, a concern shared by and important to every human being.
He understood that eternal life was a future life with God and that obedience to God's commands mattered, and he was fully convinced that a place of happiness is prepared for all who in this life obey the commands of God. He realized that to gain a place in the abodes of bliss he must work out a perfect character and be fitted to live eternally with God, which would be a wonderful reward, and he was attracted and charmed by Christ's life and manner of teaching. His question and condition picture the condition of many Sabbath-keepers who seek eternal life while failing to keep God's law, needing to recognize what stood between them and eternal life.
Sense of the Question
The wording itself treats eternal life as something to be secured by doing a good thing, revealing confidence that good conduct could secure life. He believed it could be gained by an act while still retaining earthly advantages.
The question came from high motives, moved by compassion for the poor and ignorant and by meekness and lowliness of heart, yet with imperfect understanding. He understood that eternal life is future life with God and that obedience to God's commands matters, but he thought he needed to know what further act would secure it.
He considered himself righteous and thought he lacked nothing, yet he was dissatisfied and felt an unmet need and lack in his own life. He wondered whether Jesus could bless him as He had blessed the little children and satisfy that need, and his asking revealed a sincere desire for what his life lacked and for further assurance. Outward keeping of the commandments without unselfish love for God and others lacks the spirit of the law and cannot qualify a person for heaven.
His approach reflected a self-righteous spirit, as with Judas who was selfish, covetous and a thief yet was counted among the disciples. Outward righteousness did not remove the heart's defect, for selfishness and covetousness remained exposed rather than surrendered.
The question introduces a test of whether he values eternal life above his possessions. It brings the test of how much higher eternal life is prized than riches, since entering life means keeping all the commandments through loving God with all heart, soul and mind and loving neighbor as self, which supreme love of riches makes impossible.
The event belongs to a setting where God's favor and the reward of the righteous were treated as earned by works, an error from which even the disciples were not entirely free. It provides the occasion to teach right principles of favor and reward. The question is direct and calls for a definite response about the way to eternal life.
Keeping the Commandments
Jesus answers by first pointing to God's goodness and then directing to keep the commandments, and those commandments are the moral law, the ten holy precepts, not a different or abolished law. The question about what good deed would gain eternal life treated life as something to be earned by an act, but the answer exposes the gap between outward obedience and wholehearted devotion by calling for giving possessions to the poor and following Jesus, a call from which great wealth held the young man back. His urgent question made his present and future eternal interests depend on the answer, and Christ placed the answer in the context of obedience to God. His claim to have kept the commandments revealed deficiency, for self-love was supreme and he had not kept them as he supposed, loving possessions above God and His service and more than fellow men so that riches were his idol.
Keeping God's commandments is given as the duty and condition of entering life and salvation, the whole duty laid down for eternal life. What was lost through Adam by disobedience must be brought back and restored through obedience. Strict obedience is connected with receiving eternal life, and obedience to the commandments is a condition of salvation that, for the one who receives this truth, leads to eternal life. The reply giving keeping the commandments as the condition for entering into life applies to husband, wife, and children, who are to obey God's Word and seek Him wholeheartedly. The obedience God accepts is like Christ's offering to the Father in doing God's will, not relying on self-sufficiency or mere knowledge.
The commandments require supreme love for God in the first four and love for neighbor as self in the last six. The same answer was given to the lawyer, who stated the law as loving the Lord God with all heart, soul, strength, and mind and loving neighbor as self, with Christ's word that to do this is to live. Jesus quoted five of the last six commandments and the second great commandment on which the last six hang, saying nothing of the first four containing duty to God, to show that entering life means keeping all through loving God with all heart, soul, and mind and loving neighbor as self, which supreme love of riches makes impossible. What the young ruler still lacked was what the law plainly specified, to love God supremely and his neighbor as himself. Wholehearted love for God leads to life, and such love is like Christ's love.
Obedience is defined as a matter of the heart, not merely outward rule-keeping. It must enter the life and shape the character, and when obeyed in spirit and truth the law reaches the conscience and reveals sin. So obeyed, it exposes the sinful heart and brings self to death, making the way for a person to lay hold of eternal life. If the commandment had been allowed to reveal sin as with Paul, the sinful nature would have been brought to an end and eternal life laid hold of. Outward obedience without unselfish love for God and others lacks the spirit of the law and cannot qualify a person for heaven, for outwardly proper conduct and claimed belief in truth are not enough when the test requires denying self, taking up the cross, and following Christ.
This obedience is owed in response to God's love and Christ's saving sacrifice, which makes salvation possible and helps people overcome. No one can keep the commandments acceptably by human merit alone, but dependence on Christ's righteousness, merits, and divine power joined with human effort makes obedience acceptable through faith. Christ's sacrifice provides remission of sin and the only ground for the sinner's title to eternal life. That salvation does not permit remaining in sin or setting aside God's law, and faith does not excuse breaking God's law. The young man needed to accept Jesus as Saviour and receive His righteousness by faith rather than earning it by human effort, for apart from Christ attempts to produce righteousness fail, while through His merits and divine power joined with human effort believers can keep the commandments. True faith leads to such obedience rather than self-pleasing.
Obedience to God's commandments supports a life of peace, love, and harmony, while disregard brings division and leads the world toward ruin and God's wrath. Love is the basis of godliness, so a claim to love God is empty without unselfish care for others, especially those in danger or need. Wholehearted love for God is shown in how people treat one another, building up rather than discouraging fellow believers.
Wealth as Decisive Test
Jesus exposed the gap between outward obedience and wholehearted devotion by telling him to sell what he had, give to the poor, take up the cross and follow, and the young man's sorrow showed that great wealth held him back from that call. The demand made entering life conditional on surrender, not on mere claim that works do not matter, for though he professed to have kept the commandments his attachment stood in the way of following Christ. His lack was thus laid bare: he did not love his neighbor as himself nor put God first, and surrendering his goods to serve others was his only hope of receiving eternal life.
Although he claimed to have kept the commandments from his youth and asked what he still lacked, his attachment showed he did not love God wholly and supremely or his neighbor as himself. His love of riches was supreme, his possessions were his idol, and his selfishness and love of worldly gain spoiled his virtues. His claim did not include loving his neighbor as himself, for his selfish love of riches was his deficiency, and outward commandment-keeping is not enough when love of earthly treasure rules the heart. The same test meets those who are shown their duty to keep the Sabbath yet are unwilling to bear the cross.
Jesus set before him the choice between giving up possessions and having eternal life or keeping them and losing it. He valued his riches, standing and temporal advantages more than the heavenly treasure, wanted both worlds, counted giving up seen treasure for unseen treasure too great a risk, and went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. Willing to keep the commandments, he lacked willingness to surrender his wealth; the requirement to give to the poor and follow chilled his desire, for his love of wealth was stronger than his love for neighbors and the heavenly inheritance. He wanted the heavenly treasure but wanted also the temporal advantages his riches brought, desired eternal life but was not willing to make the sacrifice, and refused the offer so that ever after the world was to receive his worship.
By loving possessions more than God and refusing to give them up for Christ, he proved unworthy of a place in the Master's service. He renounced immortal life for money and power, weighed Christ against the world and turned away refusing Christ as leader, honestly considering himself perfect and blameless regarding the law yet unable to bring himself to give to the poor and follow. His example shows how difficult it is for one with great possessions to turn affections from earthly treasure even when eternal life is offered, and those who value earthly things above eternal things will lose both. Jesus loved him and invited him to follow but did not compel him, leaving him free to choose whether to obey. If he had placed himself under Christ's guidance his abilities could have made him a powerful force for good and a co-worker in salvation, awakened by love for Christ, becoming like Him, reflecting God's likeness with character sanctified for service.
His high position and possessions subtly harmed his character because cherished worldly things, however uncertain or unworthy, could take God's place in his affections, absorb the heart, and weaken moral strength and usefulness; holding back anything from God weakens the soul. He lacked discernment of his need for wholehearted devotion and Christian goodness; he needed a humble, contrite heart giving God supreme love and trusting in Christ's perfection to cover his lack. Christ's righteousness is received by faith rather than earned by human effort, and faith does not excuse breaking the law, for through Christ's merits and divine power joined with human effort believers can keep the commandments. The gift of making the required sacrifices is the bread of life: Christ must be the circulating current of life in the soul. Purity of character through close companionship with Christ bringing conformity to the divine likeness is the safeguard without which people will not see God, with completeness found in Christ and the putting away of sin.
The reply to sell, give to the poor and follow presents love and self-sacrifice as the test of character at the final judgment. God can still bring the rich into His kingdom by displacing love of riches with love for God through the Spirit's truth, leading them to use possessions as stewards to support the needy and God's work. Those who prize riches above God, truth and fellow people may surrender truth rather than part with wealth, choosing worldly possessions over eternal life, yet the Spirit's truth turns the heart to God. Likewise God can make it possible for the rich to enter the kingdom as the Spirit displaces love of riches with love for God, leading a person to use possessions faithfully for the needy and God's work, for wealth held as an idol keeps a person from eternal life.
Applying the Test Today
The same test meets every person when duty is made plain, as when the claim of the Sabbath is shown and obedience looks like a cross to be lifted, and many are held back by earthly treasure because they will not bear that cross. The young man stands for a large class who see duty as a burden and let what they own keep them from obeying God. His question therefore becomes a test of whether one will obey when duty is brought to bear.
The warning falls especially on those who profess faith yet withhold their property when God's work needs support and messengers must be sent quickly to feed hungry sheep, for like him they cling to earthly goods and will not sacrifice. Those goods may soon be swept away by the overflowing scourge, and then it will be too late to turn them into sacrifice and lay up treasure in heaven. Wanting heaven is not enough while refusing its cost, and those who keep their means instead of using them to help others and advance God's cause show they value wealth above eternal life. By contrast Abraham's readiness to offer his son shows the obedience required, while failure to seek and understand important truth leaves the soul in darkness.
Desiring eternal life means accepting Christ's conditions and yielding all to God in complete surrender instead of choosing one's own course, for obedience is essential and self-surrender is central. That surrender may require cutting away anything that would corrupt the whole person, placing all one has and is at His disposal, including means entrusted for His work, and using possessions lent by Him for His glory so as to become rich in good works. It is secured by searching the Scriptures to discharge duty aright, perfecting Christian character, being channels of true light that cannot be kept but must be imparted, faithfully using entrusted sacred truths and talents, setting light on a candlestick rather than under a bushel, and doing God's appointed work as co-workers with Christ.
The question should guide young people who gather to read Scripture together and seek its answer united on the side of truth, for such gatherings invite the blessing of Jesus into their hearts. Every soul must truly understand the answer and make no mistake about it, keeping the infinite sacrifice in view, which makes believers careful in the home and in speech to children lest words create enmity against the plan of salvation, and calls for intelligent labor for families and the training of parents and children for the great crisis just before us. Even hygienic restaurants were meant to help people understand the answer, with workers becoming acquainted with those who enter so as to speak a word in season about the truth and continue conversing outside, making conversion of souls the aim. His possible connection with the believers was seen as a means to support Christ's cause, but he refused the offer and went away sorrowful because he had great possessions, and ever after the world was to receive his worship. The whole exchange is framed in terms of entering life, first directing to keep God's commandments and then exposing wealth as the obstacle to be surrendered in order to follow.