Three Lessons from the Rich Young Ruler

The Rich Young Ruler by Liz Lemon Swindle

The gospel of Matthew includes an account of a rich young ruler who approached the Savior for counsel. Their short conversation is of such value to all of us that it was recorded by Matthew and has been preserved over thousands of years. At least three lessons in this account are of particular emphasis.

First, the young man was seeking what he desired. Matthew records, "And, behold, one came and said unto [Christ], Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Sincere desire is a first step in following Christ. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness," the Savior promised, "for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Do we seek after the blessings we want from God as actively and as often as we seek for a sandwich or a cup of water? This is the first lesson.

The Savior responded to the young man's inquiry:

And he said unto him... if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 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, Honor thy father and they mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Many of us would be content with this answer. The young man, evaluating himself, pressed for more, "All these things have I kept from my youth up," he continued, "What lack I yet?"

How often do we forfeit blessings because we stop asking for them? Are we satisfied with a surface-level answer or do we dig for how we can be better? And are we willing to sacrifice to make up for what we lack? This is the second lesson.

Again, the Lord, who knows all of our hearts, responded to the young man's inquiry:

Jesus said unto him, 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. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:16-23).

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven," the Savior taught on another occasion, "but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). The apostle James, a half-brother of Jesus', added, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).

We must ask a question to receive an answer. We have to actively seek for blessings to find them. If we desire to enter into heaven, we must learn how to knock on the door and enter in by the way (see Matthew 7:7).

The need for faith and works to obtain the blessings we desire is frequently demonstrated in scripture.  When his steel bow broke, leaving his family without a way to find food, Nephi prayed for the Lord's help and then started crafting a wooden bow. When he had done all he could, the Lord showed him where to find game in the desert (see 1 Nephi 16).

Moses was commanded to free his people and wanted to obey. Facing the pharaoh was a perilous task, but he had trust in God and acted on the direction he received. His faith and works contributed to parting the Red Sea and other mighty miracles.

For those seeking blessings of health, the Lord instructs, "And whosoever among you are sick, and... believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild food... And the elders of the church, two or more, shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name" (D&C 42:43). Blessings of healing include asking God and pursuing medical treatment.

Knowledge and learning requires faith and works. "Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom," the Lord commands, "yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118). When we do all we can, the Lord will multiply our efforts. This is the lesson the rich young ruler missed.

With the advantage of hindsight, we can learn from the Savior's encounter with the rich young ruler. We can remember that we find the things we seek most diligently, so we should seek the kingdom of God like a starving person seeks a meal; We can learn to ask probing questions of ourselves and the Lord in order to find where we can improve and better qualify ourselves for salvation; And we can learn to follow through on the knowledge we receive from God by doing all we can to receive the blessings we desire.

Sons of Perdition, Sons of God

Benedict Arnold was an American general during the Revolutionary War. He had led several successful military campaigns including the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and the Battle of Valcour Island, which allowed New York to prepare its defenses. Arnold had been injured in battle on more than one occasion and had proven himself a true American patriot. He had the full trust and confidence of George Washington.

In 1780, Benedict Arnold was given command of the strategic fortifications at West Point, New York. Shortly after his assignment was given, Arnold plotted to surrender his position for a cash payment from the British. His scheme was discovered and he fled for his life to the British lines, where he was given command of the forces fighting against the same troops he had once led.

Arnold lived the remainder of his life in exile in England. His name has since become synonymous with treason and betrayal. To this day, he has been removed or omitted from monuments and many historical records.

Like Benedict Arnold, the scriptures record that an angel of God, "who was in authority in the presence of God", "rebelled against the Only Begotten Son... [and] was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son. And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him-- he was Lucifer, a son of the morning" (D&C 76:25-26).

John the Beloved described:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Revelation 12:7-9).

On earth, the devil and his followers, "maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about" (D&C 76:29). They are the authors of the great lies in the world that deny the power of God and seek to destroy faith and families, the unity of communities and the peace of nations. They seek perdition, which is destruction and damnation, and rebellion against the throne of God and His church and kingdom.

Lucifer carries the titles of Serpent, Devil, Perdition and Satan in the same way that Jesus Christ is called the Only Begotten of the Father, the Prince of Peace, Eternal, Savior and Redeemer. The followers of the devil are sometimes called sons of perdition. None of them obtained this status in a rash moment of unclear thinking or by some kind of unfortunate accident. In the premortal realm, these rebelled in the presence of God. Those who join the ranks of the sons of perdition in this world choose to follow Satan in defiance of divine knowledge delivered through the power of the Holy Ghost. President Spencer W. Kimball taught that "the sin against the Holy Ghost [to become a son of perdition] requires such knowledge that it is manifestly impossible for the rank and file to commit such a sin" (The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 123).

The sons of perdition are traitors and mutineers. They are men and women who have experienced the favor of the Lord, who know of his blessings and goodness, who have been trusted and rendered service and yet would still betray him and us to crucify the Lord again if they could. They have received every possible opportunity to change and have defiantly remained toxic and rebellious in the most extreme ways. Our own salvation requires their influence be severed from our lives.

Speaking of the sons of perdition, the Lord said:

Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power-- They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come... And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath (D&C 76:25-38, emphasis added).

The "second death" refers to separation from the presence of God. Though none of us walk with God as we once did, we are sustained by the Light of Christ, our conscience, and can often feel of God's love and direction through the Holy Ghost. When we die, we will be judged and enter one of three kingdoms of glory. The Apostle Paul explained:

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial, and bodies telestial; but the glory of the celestial is one; and the terrestrial, another; and the telestial, another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:40-42).

Even the liars, murderers and adulterers in the Telestial Kingdom, those who we might call the "children of their own desire", will be compelled to suffer for their sins in hell for a time and one day emerge from their redemptive process to live forever in a telestial glory. They will be resurrected and experience the presence of God through the Holy Ghost.

The sons of perdition have no such hope. They will be separated from God through all eternity in a dark and miserable hell comparable only to fire and brimstone. Such is the fate of traitors.

The treachery of Benedict Arnold is not in what happened because of his treason. His act was discovered, West Point remained under American control and the United States won the war a couple of years later. Arnold's treason was only directly responsible for one death: the messenger who carried the plot was caught and hanged.

Lucifer's treachery is arguably much more destructive, but the end results are unchanged. The Lord's plan is already accomplished. Christ has won the victory over sin and death. The outcome is certain.

The treachery of Benedict Arnold's treason, and of Lucifer's mutiny, was not the consequences of his choice but simply that he had a choice. He was an American patriot and hero. He needed only to remain loyal to be rewarded far beyond the 20,000 pounds he desired from the British. Instead, he abandoned what he wanted most for a cash payment he never received and a life of shameful infamy.

We also have a choice. In the true church of Jesus Christ, we covenant to take his name upon ourselves through baptism. As we do, we become "the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters" (Mosiah 5:7).

Paul said it simply: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:26-27). "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together" (Romans 8:17).

All Benedict Arnold needed to do was to stay loyal to George Washington and the United States. To receive celestial glory, we need only to become the sons and daughters of God, the children of Christ, through making and keeping sacred baptismal covenants. The results are known, we need only decide whose side we are on-- Perdition, who will lose, or the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Good Shepherd, the Creator, and the Prince of Peace, who has already won.

Jesus Christ is the Way

At the last supper, the Savior shared a final sermon with his disciples. After teaching that he would soon leave them, Thomas asked, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:5-6).

The disciples' subsequent questions provide some evidence that they did not immediately understand what Christ had taught them. He was not a stone path or a list of instructions and he had just said he would no longer be with them to lead them. How could he be the way?

The answer is myriad, but any number of responses may be useful to our understanding of and relationship with our Savior. In direct reply to Thomas' inquiry, for example, the Savior indicates that he is the way back to the presence of the Father. Each of us, as sinful mortals, are unworthy to enter the Father's presence and incapable of withstanding His glory (D&C 67:11-13). Through Christ's suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross and his resurrection, we can overcome sin and death.

The apocryphal Gospel of Phillip records, "Until Christ opened the way, it was impossible to go from one level to another [death and resurrection]. He is the great opener of the way because he gave us the plan by which we can progress. He is the way."

President Joseph F. Smith taught that an innumerable company of the just who had died prior to the resurrection of Christ, and who viewed the separation of their spirits from their bodies as a form of bondage, anxiously awaited the opening of the way to resurrection and the presence of God. "These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter his Father's kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life" (D&C 138).

Christ was also the way from our premortal existence to life on this earth. Under the direction of the Father, he was the creator of the earth. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3).

As we counseled in heaven before this world was, we knew that this life would include pain and sorrow that could be overwhelming. The cost was too great unless a way was provided that we could be comforted in our trials and benefited by our challenges. Through obedience to his commandments, frequent repentance and the acceptance of sacred covenants, Christ has made it possible for us to inherit all that our Father has. We can experience joy as exquisite as our pains.

Christ is the way we commune with God. He is our great mediator in prayer, in covenant and in judgement. We take his name upon ourselves through baptism and other ordinances as a symbol of our willingness to follow him and his commandments.

Christ is the way we can repent. His life is a model for how we should live and he gives us power to change and improve when we seek his direction. Though our sins be as scarlet, Christ can make us as pure as fresh-fallen snow.

Christ is the way we can heal from hurt and injustice. He knows our sorrows and counts our tears. He is the master physician who knows how to provide comfort and counsel for imperfect bodies, aching hearts and troubled minds. His way is the only way to replace scars and scabs with confidence and peace.

Christ is the way we can be unified with each other and bring peace to our communities, our nations and the world. When he comes again, he will rule for a thousand years of peace as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords. No other political power or priority can bind our hearts as one.

Christ is the way we can know our mission on the earth and have power to accomplish it. He has overcome all things so that we might be empowered to do those things he commands us to do.

Ultimately, Christ is the way we must go for lasting joy, an understanding of our divine nature and eternal progression in this life and beyond. He is the source of all truth and life. His life provided the perfect example of the path that leads back to the presence of God. As we follow his example, we will be blessed to come to the Father through the tender mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ.