2024-05-05AM- Not Far

The speaker starts by referencing a passage from the Gospel of Mark and encourages the congregation to pray for blessings and guidance. They mention the importance of using the altar for prayer and how it has personally brought them answers. They then read a passage from Mark chapter 12 about the first commandment to love God with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself. A scribe asks Jesus about the greatest commandment and Jesus responds with these two commandments. The scribe acknowledges the truth in Jesus' answer and Jesus commends him, saying he is not far from the kingdom of God. The speaker then offers a prayer and focuses on the phrase "not far" from Jesus' response to the scribe, highlighting the significance of those words. They explain the context of the conversation and the scribe's intention to challenge and embarrass Jesus. The speaker emphasizes that while they may not have all the answers, God does and can Turn with me, please, to Mark's Gospel, chapter 12. Mark chapter 12. We'll get into the Scriptures today. Pray that it will be a blessing and that it will be helpful to everyone here today. God knows what all of our needs are, and He knows how to address them a whole lot better than somebody like me. So my prayer is that God will move through the preaching. I do want to say, you know, we've got this altar. This was brought into this place as a place to pray, right up here in front of this pulpit in front of me. And I was glad to see it being used Wednesday night. Really glad to see somebody step out and say, I'm going to use that altar. I'm going to go there and I'm going to pray. And whatever your need is, it's a good place to go. It is a great place to go. I've knelt in this altar and I've found answers myself. I've knelt at home and found answers. I've knelt in altars in other churches and found answers. And I just want you to know that today, this altar right here is a great place to meet up with God for whatever your need may be. Mark chapter 12. I want to begin reading with verse 28 here. Mark 28 and 12. And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceived that he had answered them well, asked him, What is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, master, thou hast said the truth. For there is one God, and there is none other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love His neighbor as Himself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. No man after that durst ask Him any question. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. Lord, thank You so much for our time together today. Thank You for the opportunity to worship You, and I thank You for our musicians and that which they provide to help us in our worship. And Lord, I'm asking You today, as we meet in the preaching of Your Word, I pray for the anointing. And I pray that You'll move on this vessel and that You'll carry Your Spirit throughout this place doing what needs to be done. And Lord, You know how to do it, and we leave this in Your hands. In Jesus' name, Amen. I want to use two words out of Jesus' response to that scribe at the end of their conversation there. One of the words that Jesus said, Not far. Not far. That's what I want to try to preach today. Jesus said to him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. These are some pretty awesome words that Jesus spoke to this scribe. I mean, that he got to hear with his own ears, straight out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, You're not far. You're getting pretty close to getting where you need to be. You are not far from the kingdom of God. So far in that day, you can read earlier on from where we read, you'll find that there were other meetings that had taken place and other conversations. Jesus had not said this to anybody that day just yet. He had met with certain Pharisees and Herodians who had approached Him. And they had been sent in an effort, the Bible says, to catch Him in His words. Somebody had come and said, We're going to ruin Him. We're going to bring Jesus down. We're going to ask Him such questions, He's not going to know how to answer them. And they tried to catch Him in His words. And then, after that didn't work, the Sadducees came to Jesus and they challenged Him on His teachings of the resurrection of the dead. And so that didn't go very well either for them. But in all those conversations that day, nobody had yet heard, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. So I want to really point out the opportunity that this one man had that day for Jesus to look at him out of all the crowd that had gathered, all the questions that had been asked and had been answered. One man got to hear these words, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. This scribe approached Jesus after the Sadducees had finished. The Bible says that he had seen that He had answered them well. He had perceived, Well, I've picked up on this, and I wonder if even this scribe looked at these others and thought, Well, these are just mere amateurs. I mean, the questions that they're asking, that would have been easy for somebody to answer, but I believe I've got something that he's not going to be able to answer correctly. This plot was hatched by the Pharisees. The Bible says in Matthew's Gospel chapter 22, the telling of this account, that this particular scribe was of the Pharisees, and that when he came, his whole purpose was to tempt Jesus. And so the plan here was he was going to throw out this difficult question, hard to answer question, and then watch Jesus struggle with it. And the whole plan here was he was going to approach Jesus without any real intent wanting to know who Jesus really is. The purpose that he had in questioning Him was to demonstrate to everybody around, Don't pay any attention to Him. He doesn't have the answers that I myself have. He's telling people that this man should be ignored. This scribe's desire was that he would please the peers that were around him, and that he would embarrass Jesus. His thought was, I'll humiliate Him. I'm going to ask Him a question, and then when He gives the answer, I'm going to correct Him. I'm going to tell Him what the real answer is. Now, this isn't a real unusual tactic for unbelievers. It's not an unusual approach that scoffers will take toward the church. They'll usually try to come up with a question that they feel like they're not going to get this one. I'm going to ask a question, and it's going to be hard for them. A lot of times these questions will have to do with all the suffering that's in this world. Stand there with your arms crossed. Answer that. Give me an answer to that. Some questions might have to do with maybe some new scientific discovery or some archaeological find. Answer that. What have you got to say to that? Well, I'll have to admit, as I stand here before you today, that I don't have all of the answers. And I might get to that place when the scoffers play and stump the Christian, I may not have answers that are going to satisfy when somebody thinks they're so clever that they come up with something that I can't answer. I might have difficulty addressing these questions with an answer that would satisfy them. The whole church could get together, put our minds together and our knowledge of the Scriptures and try to come up with an answer, but often whatever answer will be given is not going to satisfy the minds that inquire that of a scorner. I'll tell you what, God doesn't have a problem with any question that is presented to Him. When Jesus throughout the Scriptures got attacked and when He was aggressively asked questions, hoping to throw Him off and hoping to humiliate Him in front of the crowd, Jesus would answer the question and then He'd turn it around and ask His own question. And people would have to duck their head and they were the ones who walked away. They thought that they had a question too hard for God. This scribe, when he came to Jesus, little did he know that he was talking to the Word of God Himself. The Bible says in John chapter 1 that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word was with God and the Word was God. And he was talking to the very Word of God Himself. The scribe didn't know that when the answers were written in the Old Testament that he was talking to the One who was there when it was written. And he was making sure that it got written correctly. And Jesus in no way would struggle with this question. Jesus would struggle with any question that was presented to Him. Now when the scribe asked this question, I do want to say it's a valid question. What's the great commandment? What's the first commandment? The greatest commandment of all. And it really is a question that every individual should take some time and consider it himself. What is it that I should be spending my time thinking about? What should my heart be engrossed in? What should my life be consumed with and be concerned about? What is the most important thing in my life? What should the priority of my life be? Now often, far too often, the answer to this question is all made concerning the temporary problem of the day. What are you going through right now? Well that's the most important topic that needs to be covered. And often the answers get tossed about as much the political day is. It wasn't that long ago that I remember that the thing on everybody's mind when I was a young man is we're going to enter into a new ice age. That's our biggest concern. We're worried about ozone layers and holes in the ozone. And there is an ice age that's coming. And that was the big concern. The most important thing, that's what everybody should be thinking about. And it wasn't that long after that, that it all turned around, that the biggest thing that you need to be concerned about was global warming. I mean one day we're all turning to ice and the next day all the ice is melting. And now that's the biggest concern of our day. To some people the biggest concern of our day is equal rights for every single group on the face of the earth. So it might be gun control. Whatever the big news is, whatever happens today drives. What is the most important thing? Man is so easily distracted. Let a new thing pop up. That's the new thing. That's the best. That's the high thing. That's where my attention should go. For a man that's starving, the most important thing on his mind is food. For the man who's gasping and struggling for his next breath, the most important thing on his mind is air. But Jesus, in answering this question, identified the most important thing. The first commandment, the great commandment, is for God Almighty to be first. To love God with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind, and with all the strength, a genuine relationship with God is the single most important thing that a man can pursue in his life. Some may look and think that a man standing up in a pulpit might think that I'm trying to promote the church, and that's not what I'm doing. I'm not trying to get numbers, nor money, nor projects going. What I'm doing today is trying to point people to Almighty God and to tell you that whatever else is going on in your life today, the single most important thing in your life is to get ahold of God and to love Him with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind, and with all the strength. Because all the while we walk through this life, all the temporary things are going to fail. They're going to go away. You know, there's going to come a day when the last meal is eaten. You're going to eat your last meal, and then you'll die. There's going to come a day for every one of us that we're going to draw our last breath. And while that air was important just a moment ago, it's gone, and it no longer really matters. For the individual who is in love with this world and the things that are in this world, and his only pursuit and the most important thing in his life is just another hour of entertainment, just to indulge in another pleasure, it's all going to go away. And when that man who has indulged himself, when that individual who has sought pleasure his whole life and made entertainment his desire, there's going to come a day when his life is over, he's going to know that at the end of his life, the most important thing in his life will have been to prepare himself for the judgment. Now when Jesus spoke to this man, He drew his attention back to Deuteronomy 6, where He quoted from, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. Now there's no doubt this scribe, a scholarly man, was very familiar with Deuteronomy 6. Jesus explained that to love God and your neighbor were the greatest commandments. Matthew records that Jesus said, On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Everything follows... you get these two down. You get it worked out in your heart and your mind that you love God with everything within you and you love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else is going to fall in place. Now I want you to understand too, this is not simply an expression of love toward a God that you have no relationship with. It's not just saying, I love God. This doesn't mean either that all the commandments, like thou shalt not kill, is void if you say, I love God. It doesn't mean that adultery and fornication and covetousness and lying and stealing, it doesn't do away with all of those commandments. They fall under the commandment, love the Lord thy God with everything that is within you. What it does mean is that once you have got that relationship, once you love God properly, you're going to keep God's commandments. I remember it was several years ago, there was a man that told my wife and me, he said that as long as he said, I love God, he said, I believe that that just does away with all of the other commandments. It felt like he didn't have to worry about what filthy communication came out of his mouth. Adultery didn't matter. Lying didn't matter anymore. None of these things really mattered because he expressed and said, I love God and now I'm covered. But Jesus made it clear in John chapter 14, if you love me, keep my commandments. He said, he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. So when we say we love Him and we do not keep His commandments, what we're saying isn't matching up with what we're doing. John said if we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. So when Jesus answered the scribe's question, what's the great commandment, what's the first commandment Jesus gave His answer, it kind of sounded like it surprised the scribe. I wasn't expecting him to say that. So the scribe was impressed that Jesus would answer in this way. And he acknowledged to Jesus, it's true. That is what the answer is. This scribe had the education. He had the hours of study that had been put into the Holy Scriptures that he knew that this was indeed the great commandment. Have no doubts that he sat under some teacher who told him, always remember this, the great commandment is to love God. He commends Jesus for his answer. Well, Master, thou hast said the truth. But this poor scribe only understood this answer in an academic manner. Intellectually, he could answer a question such as this. He could probably recite Deuteronomy chapter 6 just as well as many people today can recite the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm. It's just something that he ended up memorizing. And if that man went and sat in a classroom and a test was set before him, and this question was put on this test, what is the great commandment? What's the first commandment? What is the highest commandment? The scribe would have no problem answering this question correctly. But the scribe was missing out on something terribly of great importance. Was he missing a personal application of the truth that he knew in his mind? He could tell others about this righteousness. He could tell somebody else that this is what you should do. But he himself was missing out on a true personal relationship with God Himself. No doubt you could follow him and his religious rituals were spot on. Probably brought the right sacrifices with him on the Day of Sacrifices. He likely covered it all to the letter of the law. And yet he was misunderstanding the God of the law. But fortunately for this scribe, all that was about to change in his heart and in his mind. Because at some point in this conversation, while they're back and forth, while he asks the question and Jesus gives the answer, and he responds, something is happening down inside the heart of that man. Something is moving. He had come with the intention of confusing Jesus. He had come with the support of his friends and his peers, and they thought they were going to silence Jesus. This man came and he thought, I've got the understanding. I've got the knowledge. I've got the ability to embarrass Jesus. But he was beginning to feel something inside. It was the Father from heaven drawing upon his soul. Something began to turn within that man. And no longer was it just, I get it, I understand that to love God is the greatest. Something started happening inside this man. He could say, like those men that were on the road to Emmaus, did not our heart burn within us as He talked with us by the way? And while He opened to us the Scriptures. When that's going on, Jesus perceived it. Jesus knew inside that man's heart something different was happening inside the scribe. Things were starting to make sense to that man. Things were changing in his mind. Jesus looked at that man and let him know, I know what's going on inside of you. I know what's happening inside. I know what you're feeling. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And today, when the Spirit of God begins to deal with the heart, and sin begins to become uncomfortable, and we can acknowledge that sin is wrong, when you say adultery is bad, when you say stealing and lying is wrong, and covetousness is a sin, but when the Spirit of God moves on an individual and begins to convict the heart of sin, it is God wanting you to know that at this very moment, He is saying, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. Now, it's not just because you finally did something and you moved closer to heaven. But it's because heaven came down and began to touch your heart and begin to speak to your soul and say, Now, you're not far. You're not far because heaven has come to where you are. You are finally getting closer to where you need to be because God Himself has drawn nigh to you. In the book of Luke chapter 10, He said, Be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. And because God has come nigh, near, close to where you are, now you are not far from the kingdom of God. And now you have opportunity to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, He saith, I have heard thee at a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I secured thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Ascribe new to Scriptures, and you may know that the Bible says that all has sinned and come short of the glory of God. And you may know that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You may even have heard that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But now it's coming together. Now all those things that were words and religious terms, Jesus is saying you're not far. You're not far. And it's all because the Holy Ghost of God has stepped in and began convicting of sin. It's all because the Father has stepped in and began to draw you to His Son. It's all starting to make sense now. All this religious talk, all this speaking of changing a life, all of this talking about being born again and being saved from sin, it's all starting to come together. And now you are not far from the kingdom of God, all because He brought it together. What an opportunity that scribe had that day to look into the eyes of Jesus and Jesus say, you are so close. You are so close. Lord Austin, would you get us a song, please? Here's what needs to happen sometime in every life. Any soul that is ever going to respond correctly will respond like this, I am a sinner. And I believe You, Lord Jesus, that You'll forgive my sins. And I'm asking You to forgive me of my sins. Every individual needs to get to this place where he says, I will now pledge my heart, my soul, my mind, my strength in love to You. Every soul needs to get to the place where he says, I am now turning from my sin and I am committing myself to serve You, Lord. Save me. Save me, Lord Jesus. That's where every individual needs to get to that point. Will you stand with me today? I want to let you know that the opportunity is yours today. God has brought the Kingdom of God near to you, right where you are, so that it can be said, you're not far. You are not far from the Kingdom of God right now. Father, I thank You, Lord, for the invitation that You make. Lord, I thank You that Your grace is sufficient to wash away every sin and that the death of Your only begotten Son is sufficient to pay the penalty for every sinner's life. I ask You today, Lord, from the youngest to the oldest, search through this place. And I pray, God, that You'd find someone that You've brought near to Yourself today, that You're speaking to their heart. You're not far. All You've got to do is take a step. All You've got to do is seek. Lord, I pray You'll do that marvelous work here in the name of Jesus. I make this invitation right now for any soul, every soul, outside of God's grace, I invite you to come into this altar. You're not far. You're not far. You are so close to being saved. You are so close to having your sins washed away. All it takes is taking that step and getting to where He is. Said in the beginning of this, that this altar is for you. A place to kneel, a place to pray, a place to confess I'm a sinner and I need to be saved. God has brought heaven close today. And if you feel Him dealing with your heart, I want to ask you today to respond to that dealing. I know what it is, it's that nervousness inside. I've been there. I know what it is to feel heaven come close. I've been there. And when I came close to Him, and when I responded to His call, and I confessed my sins, He saved me from them. And so this altar is open to anyone who will. Would you come today? Would you come and be saved? Hallelujah. I didn't mention all of what happened that day. There was something that happened after that. When Jesus said, thou art not far from the kingdom of God, the next phrase troubles me. After that, they quit asking questions. After that, the crowd dispersed. And nobody did anything about the invitation that was made. Nobody moved. No man dared ask Him any question. I think He could have followed up with a few good questions. One man said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Some of them said, men and brethren, what shall we do then? John the Baptist addressed a group of people. He spoke to people, publicans, to soldiers. And they all asked, well, what should we do? They followed up with more questions. Saul said, Lord, what would You have me do? And these found the answer, because they followed through. The answer was this, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. One more time, I make the invitation. Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know God personally? Are the Scriptures something that you know something about, that you don't know the God of the Scriptures? And if He's dealing with you, He makes Himself known. That scribe that day knew what was going on when Jesus said, you're not far. So I want to say, on behalf of God, come, come, come. There's not another sacrifice that's needed. It was preached here not that long ago, disobedience is not worth the sacrifice. It was preached here Wednesday night, that God can help you handle the things that are handling you. Come unto Me, Jesus said, come. Hallelujah, oh God. There's no record of this scribe ever meeting up with Jesus again. I don't know if it happened or not. No record of it. But there came a day that that scribe died. And in eternity, he will always remember that time when Jesus said, you're not far, you're not far. And oh, if he could only go back to that time when the Spirit was dealing. If he could only go back to that time when the Father was drawing. If he could only go back to that time when Jesus said, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. One more time, I make this invitation. Would you like to pray? Would you like to know Him for yourself? Would you go ahead and say, it's not just words of the Bible anymore. I want it for myself. I want to forsake my sin. I want to have it removed from my record. I want to say, my sins are gone. Would you come? Hallelujah. Alright church, let's come into this altar. Let's all find us a place. And let's seek God in prayer. If Jesus has not removed your sin, it remains. And the Bible says that there's coming a day when all of us, everyone shall give answer. Where the deeds done in the body, everyone will give account. Now, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Oh, take my yoke. Hear me and bless me. Oh God, I don't love you. You are the master of the altar call. Oh God, you are the one who knows best how to deal with a heart that I'm praying today. Oh God, you are the one who knows best how to deal with a heart that I'm praying today. Oh God, you are the one who knows best how to deal with a heart that I'm praying today. Oh God, you are the one who knows best how to deal with a heart that I'm praying today. Hallelujah, salvation is available. You have seen to it that even in this late hour, God, salvation is available. Oh yes Lord, oh yes Lord. Touch my heart, touch my heart. Touch my heart, touch my heart. Touch my heart, touch my heart. Touch my heart, touch my heart. Touch my heart, touch my heart. Oh yes Lord, I don't love you. Oh yes Lord, I don't love you. I don't love you.