I may get just a little personal
in my message today. I'm going to be speaking on the
subject, Thou Art Not Far From the Kingdom of God. Now, I hope
it's not offensive. I hope the Spirit of God will
take the Word of God and make it effectual for His glory and
your good. You know, Paul asked a group
of people one time, he said, am I become your enemy because
I tell you the truth? Do we become your enemy because
we deal honestly with you? Well, I must deal honestly with
you because I must give an account, and so shall you give an account. So on the subject, thou art not
far from the kingdom of God. I want to read one verse of Scripture
from Matthew, or rather Mark, chapter 12, verse 34. Now, this
story is in Matthew 22 and Mark 12, but for my text, let's read
Mark 12, verse 34. And when Jesus saw that he answered
discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom
of God. Now, in some respects, in certain
respects, all men are the same. Everyone is the same. Now, first
of all, all men are the same in that they're all fallen sons
of Adam. There is no difference. All have
sinned and come short of God's glory. In that respect, all men
are the same. They're all fallen sons of Adam. And then all men are the same
in that they all need salvation. They all need Christ. as Lord
and Savior. They need a mediator. They need
someone to atone for their sins. They need someone to put away
their transgressions. This is the record. God has given
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. And he that hath
the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. So all men need Christ. They
need salvation. They need a Redeemer. They need
a Mediator. In that sense or respect, all
men are the same. And then all men are the same
in that they must individually, personally repent and believe
the gospel. He that believeth on the Son
hath light. He that believeth not the Son
shall never see light. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. Now that's so. All men are the
same in that respect. They must repent. They must believe,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish, ye must be born
again. So I could go on in a few other
areas, but in those three especially, all men are the same. Rich or
poor, old or young, educated, uneducated, white, black, whatever,
all men are the same in that all have sinned, all need Christ,
and all must repent and believe the gospel. But at the same time,
all human beings are different. They're not all the same. And
we would greatly err if we dealt with all of them in the same
way. Now, Nicodemus is different from the woman at the well. Consequently,
our Lord dealt differently with Nicodemus than he did with the
woman at the well. And then Zacchaeus is different
from Mary Magdalene. And the Pharisee is different
from the publican and the Savior in his infinite wisdom. Now,
we need to learn something here. We need to slow down a little
bit and be seated and listen to God a little while. We keep
our mouths open all the time and our ears are not listening
to God's voice. We're doing a lot of religious
talk and witnessing and soul winning and we're missing the
message. Consequently, we're making proselytes
under our religion, and Christ said, after you've made them,
they're twofold more the child of hell than you are. But our
Lord, in his infinite wisdom, he knew how to meet men where
they were. He talked one way to Nicodemus,
another way to the woman at the well. You just don't go down
this thing, down the line, giving every sinner the same pill, because
they're different. I know there are some respects
in which they're the same, have the same need, but they're different
individually. For example, to the Pharisees,
our Lord used strong rebuke. He said, you generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come? Well, he didn't
talk that way to the woman at the well. He didn't talk that
way to the harlot in Simon's house. He didn't talk that way
to Zacchaeus. But to the woman at the well,
he lovingly and affectionately invited her to take of the water
of life that she never thirst again. Nicodemus was shut up
to regeneration. Christ said, you must be born
again. The rich young ruler, Christ, didn't talk to him about
the new birth. He talked to him about selling
his possessions because he was a greedy person and a covetous
person. selling his possessions and taking
up his cross and following the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, now,
Nicodemus didn't have any possessions. He was a religious leader, and
he thought he was bearing a cross. He thought he was following the
Lord. And our Lord dealt with him, his need of regeneration. And the rich young man needed
humiliation. And Saul of Tarsus needed revelation. He didn't know Christ. He didn't
know the living God. He had a God that he had whittled
out with his own little penknife. So you see, in some respects,
in certain respects, all men have the same need, but all men
are not the same. And therefore, we must learn
to deal with sinners in the way that our Lord dealt with them,
oh, for some of His wisdom. I know our Lord knew men's thoughts
and hearts, His infinite wisdom, his everlasting wisdom of all
men led him to deal with them right where they were. Well,
I need a little bit of that wisdom. Now, here in the text, you see
our Lord actually telling a man. Now, here He's actually telling
a man. I don't know that He dealt with anybody else this way. He
actually told a man. He said, Now, you're not far
from the kingdom of God. You're not in the kingdom of
God, but you're not far from it. You're not far from salvation. You're not saved, but you're
not far from it. You're not a child of the living
God, but you're not far from it. You're closer than most others. You're almost, but not quite
there. Now, let's see why he said this,
the man to whom he said this. Well, first of all, the Pharisees
came to him, and they had a reason for what they were doing. It
says they wanted to trap him. They wanted to confuse him in
his words, in his teaching. So they came to him there in
verse 13 and 14, and they said, Master, is it lawful to give
tribute to Caesar? In other words, shall the Jewish
people, the people of God, shall they give tribute to Caesar?
They were trying to trap the Lord. And our Lord said, do one
of you have a penny? And they said, here's one. And
he took it, and he said, whose picture is this on here, and
they said it was Caesar's. He said, well, now you render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things
that are God's. And these men went off. They
got angry, and he shut their mouths. And they went off in
the corner, you know, somewhere, sulking, and didn't say another
word. Well, the Sadducees came up about that time. You'll find
this in verse 18 through 23. The Sadducees did not believe
in the resurrection. And Christ, our Lord, preached
the resurrection. He said, you destroy this temple.
In three days, I'll raise it up. He spake of his body. And
so these Sadducees came to him, and they said, now, Lord, here,
a woman was married to a man, and they didn't have any children,
and the man died. And she married his brother,
and they didn't have any children, and he died. And she married
seven brothers without having any children, and they all died.
Now, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? And our Lord,
he rebuked them strongly. He said, you do err. In other
words, you're on the wrong road. You're mistaken, not knowing
the Word of God nor the power of God. You don't know the Scriptures. In the resurrection, they're
like the angels. They neither marry nor are given
in marriage. Well, these fellows, they clammed up and they walked
off, went away, and sulking, you know. And then a young man,
a scribe. came to our Lord Jesus Christ
after the others had been successfully rebuked and put to silence, this
young man came to our Lord. Now, his attitude is different,
and his spirit is different, and his conversation is different,
and so the Master used a different tone, a different approach, a
different manner with this man. When they got through talking,
Christ looked at him and said, you're not far from the kingdom
of God. He didn't say that to the Pharisees.
He didn't say that to Sadducee. But he said that to this young
man. So I want us to look at four things now and see if we
can apply it to ourselves. First, let's look at this young
man. And secondly, let's look at his knowledge. Let's look
at his attitude. And let's find out wherein he
failed. Maybe this is where we're missing
the mark. Would you like to do that? All right, let's look at
the man first. What was he? We know very little
about him, but we do know he was a scribe. And one of the
scribes which were with them, with these religious leaders,
came to him and started talking. What is a scribe? Well, my friends,
a scribe, the duties of the scribes were very important. The duties
of the scribes were the preservation. transcription and interpretation
of the Bible, the Old Testament, the Word of God. The New Testament
at this time was not completed, but the Old Testament, Genesis
through Malachi. And these scribes were men who
painstakingly and deliberately transcribed the Bible. They wrote. They didn't have
printing presses then. They were written by hand. And
these men transcribed the scriptures. They preserved them, the old
manuscripts, and they interpreted them. So in other words, this
man was a student of the Bible, to whom our Lord said, you're
not far from the kingdom of God. This man was well educated. He
had to be to do what he did. He was a man of authority. He
was well read. And I'm sure he could quote from
memory much of the Bible. Yet our Lord declared, you're
not far from the kingdom of God. Now let me say this. Salvation
is revealed in the Bible. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
It's the power of God unto salvation. A man's not going to be saved
apart from the word of God. Of his own will beget he us through
the word of truth. We are begotten not through the
corruptible seed, but the incorruptible seed, the Word of God. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Salvation
is revealed in the Bible. But a head knowledge of Bible
history, doctrine, ceremony, ordinances, and law does not
assure us of salvation. Our Lord said to these religious
leaders, He said, John 5, 39, You search the Scriptures. You
do search the Scriptures. That is your work and that's
your pastime, searching the Scriptures. They looked at every jot and
tittle. They memorized. They taught. For in them you
think you have life, he said, but they are they which testify
of me. A man can have a head knowledge
of God's Word and not know God. That's just like he can read
a blueprint and not know the architect. That's right. He can have a head knowledge
of the Bible. And I've heard people say, well,
boy, he really knows the Bible. Well, maybe he does. This scribe
knew the Bible better than anybody listening to my voice today.
I guarantee you that. This scribe knew the Bible. But
our Lord, it was to this man who knew the Bible and who transcribed
the Bible and who interpreted the Bible and who preserved the
Bible, Christ said to him, you're not in the kingdom of God. You're
not far from it. But you're not there. That's
serious, isn't it? All right, let's notice another
thing. We're not through. Let's look at his knowledge.
He was a man of knowledge. And the scribe said, Master,
you told the truth. You told the truth. There is
but one God, and there's none other but He. That's in verse
32. When our Lord, he said, which
is the greatest commandment? Our Lord said, the greatest commandment
is, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind,
soul, and strength, and thy neighbors thyself. On these two hang all
the law and the prophets. And that's when the man said,
Master, you've spoken the truth. There is but one God, and there's
none other than he. So let's look at this man's knowledge.
First of all, he knew and acknowledged there's one God. And he's talking
about the God of creation because he was a transcriber of Scripture. He was talking about the God
of whom it is said, in the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. He's talking about the God of Abraham and of Isaac and
of Jacob, the one whom Joseph feared. He's talking about the
God of deliverance from Egypt. He's talking about the God of
Isaac. He's talking about the God of Sinai's law. But we can
believe in one God. and not be in the Kingdom of
God. Now listen, let me nail that down with a verse of Scripture.
James 1.19, you believe in one God, you do well. The devil believes one God and
trembles. So this man, Christ said, you're
not far from the Kingdom of God. This man despised any thought
of idols. He says, there is none other
God but He. This man certainly did not believe
in idols. He had a strong feeling against
idolatry, and yet he was not in the kingdom of God. He wouldn't
take God's name in vain. He believed in one God. He resisted
idolatry. He hated idolatry. And then watch
this. He also, now here's a powerful
point here. He also knew that the condition
of the heart before God was of more importance. than to fulfill
all the outward forms and ceremonies." Listen to him, verse 33. And
he says, Master, you've spoken the truth. There is but one God. I believe in one God. And he
says, I don't believe there's any God but He. No idols. And he said, to love that God
with all the heart, listen to this, and with all the understanding,
and with all the soul, and with all the strength, And to love
one's neighbor as himself is more than all the whole burnt
offerings and sacrifices. Now, let me tell you something.
That was an unusual statement for that man to make in his day,
because his day was the day of ceremony, law, and works. The feast days, the fast days,
the holy days, the ceremonial days, and all the other days,
and very few people in his day would acknowledge that the condition
of a man or woman's heart before God was more important than all
the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices put together. Paul
spoke of that day. He said, they have a zeal for
God, but not according to knowledge. They're going about to establish
their own righteousness. So look at this man, a well-educated,
well-read student of the Scriptures. Look at this man. Believing in
one God, hating idols, and knowing that the proper relationship
with God is a heart relationship and not just a hand relationship. Let's look at his attitude. Yet
Christ said to him, you're not in the kingdom of God. You're
not far. You see what I said, this would
be a personal and maybe offensive message. You're not in the kingdom
of God. And most religious denominations
would have already had this man in the kingdom of God and given
him a high office because he had all the credentials of a
religious servant. Let me show you his attitude. Look at his attitude. Evidently
this man had a better attitude than all the others. He recognized
the wisdom of Christ. He said in verse 28, and when
he perceived that Christ had answered them well, He admired
the wisdom of Christ. He said, Master, you've spoken
the truth. This man spoke highly of Jesus Christ. He admired the
wisdom of Christ. He saw that Christ had put to
silence wisely these Pharisees and Sadducees, and that Christ
had spoken the truth. I'll tell you something else
about his act. He was teachable. He had an open mind. After the
Lord answered the questions of these other men, they left. They
walked off. They didn't want to do it. Not
this young man. He stayed right there. And he had some more things
to say. He wanted to keep that conversation
going. He pursued the matter further.
He didn't want to close that conversation. He had a teachable
mind, an open mind. And then he had some degree of
spiritual revelation. I don't know how much, but some,
because he spoke of loving the true and living God. He spoke
of loving one's neighbor. He spoke of inward godliness.
And yet our Lord solemnly declared unto him, after all of this,
and I imagine Christ paused for a few moments and looked at him
directly. And he said, young man, he said,
you're not far from the kingdom of God. A teacher, a translator, a transcriber,
a preserver of scriptures, a man with great knowledge, believing
in one God, hating idolatry, knowing that the condition of
the heart is more important than outward claims of righteousness
or outward obedience to ceremonies. And then knowing that one must
love God with all his heart, mind, soul, understanding, and
strength, and his neighbor as himself, and a man who respected
Christ and who spoke highly of Christ. But to this man, our
Lord said very pointedly, you're not far from the kingdom of God.
Wherein did he fail? Wherein did he come short? Now,
this is difficult, but I want you to bear with me, and let
me try to show you from the Word of God where this young man failed. First of all, I find him speaking
well of Christ, and I find him speaking well of the Law of God. But I do not find on his part
any acknowledgment of his sins, not any. I do not find on his
part any confession that he had not loved God with all his heart
and he had not loved his neighbor as himself. I don't find that. Now, let me tell you this. If
we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There can be no entrance into
the kingdom of God except by humiliation and confession and
contrition and repentance. Listen to David in Psalm 51.
I acknowledge my sin. I acknowledge my sin. My sins
are ever before me. O God, against thee and thee
only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that
thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and clear when
thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
in sin did my mother conceive. Behold, thou dost desire truth
in the inward part, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. O God, cast me not away from
thy presence. Take not thy Holy Spirit from
me. Blot out my transgressions. Wash
me from mine iniquities. Purge me with hyssop. Sprinkle
me with the blood. And I shall be clean, and I shall
be whiter than snow." Do you hear any of that coming out of
this young man? You've got to be lost to be found. Grace is
for the guilty. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to save not scribes, not believers in one God, not
moral young men, not folks who agreed with what He said. He
came to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Christ died for
the ungodly. And I don't hear any of that
out of this young man. I don't hear any contrition or confession
or humility. I don't hear any acknowledgment
of sin. Christ died for sinners. He said,
I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Have
you ever been brought to that place? Have you ever been lost? Somebody said one night, if you've
never been lost, you've never been found. Have you ever been
a sinner? Have you ever been estranged
from God? Have you ever wept over your
sins? Have you ever acknowledged your transgressions? God delights
to show mercy. He's plenteous in mercy. All
right, let me show you the second thing. Now, this is obvious.
This is obvious. There's no cry for mercy. There's
no acknowledgment of sin on the part of this scribe, and there's
no plea for mercy. All the way through the Bible,
you'll find those who were saved are those who pleaded for mercy.
David said, have mercy upon me, O God, not according to my merit,
But according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies, have mercy upon me. The publicans said,
O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Have mercy, be reconciled unto
me through the blood of thy Son. If any man shall call on the
name of the Lord, he shall be saved. That's a promise. That's
what God says. But this young man, there's no
plea for mercy. He does not sue for mercy. He
does not seek mercy. Listen to the thief on the cross.
Oh God, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Here's a plea for mercy. Every invitation of our Lord
presupposes need. He says, come unto me all ye
that labor in a heavy laden. He says, ho everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water. He says, come let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow.
This young man offers no plea whatsoever for mercy. And then
thirdly, I find no acknowledgment of sin, no confession of sin.
If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us. But if we cover our sins, he that covereth his sins shall
not prosper. He that hideth his sins shall
not find mercy. It doesn't mean to tell him to
the whole world, but to tell him to God. The world can't do
anything about him, but God can. And he already knows him anyway.
He just wants to hear it from you. And then I find no plea
for mercy. And thirdly, I hear no recognition
of Christ as the Messiah. I hear him calling him good master,
and I hear him bragging on his theology and all that, but I
don't hear him calling Christ Lord, Lord. I don't hear him recognizing
Christ as the Messiah. And when all of this was over,
you read Matthew 22 later on, when all of this was over, these
many questions by these Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes, and another
thing, this young man came with that crowd and he left with that
crowd. He didn't leave with Christ.
Now, I know this, when a person really knows Christ and is in
the kingdom of Christ, he's going to follow Christ. My sheep hear
my voice and they follow me. They don't run around with Pharisees
and Sadducees and scribes, for our Lord said down there later
on in that same chapter, Mark 12, he said, you beware of the
scribes. They seek the uppermost seats.
You beware of them. They're full of hypocrisy. But
this young man didn't acknowledge Christ's Lordship. He didn't
acknowledge Christ as the Messiah. After all this was over, Christ
looked at him and he said, I've got a question for you. You've
asked your question. Now here's my question. What
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? The Messiah. That's what he's saying. Who
is the Messiah? Who is he? And they said, well, he's the
son of David. And Christ said, well, how come? Why did David
call him Lord, then, if he's David's son? David said, I saw
the Lord, my Lord, sitting on the right hand of the Lord, the
right hand of God. He called Him Lord. This young
man never recognized Christ. There is where you find mercy.
Confession of sin, acknowledgement of sin, repentance of sin, seeking
mercy through Christ the Lord, the Redeemer, the Messiah, who
came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
Are you not far from the kingdom of God? Or through Christ, are
you in the kingdom of God?