Mark 12:34

Mar_12:34

Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

Need of self-examination

There is great cause for every one of us diligently to try and examine our knowledge and faith in Christ, whether it be true, sound, and sincere; or whether it be an hypocritical and counterfeit faith, seeing one may be not far from the kingdom, and yet not in it. The rather, because so many deceive themselves with a vain persuasion and opinion of faith, thinking they have true faith in Christ, when it is not so. We are to try our faith by those marks of it, which are taught in the Word of God.

1. By the object of it. True faith believes and applies not only the promises of the gospel touching forgiveness of sins and salvation in Christ, but also all other parts of Gods Word, as the precepts and commandments of it forbidding sin and commanding holy duties, also the reproofs and threatenings denounced against sin and sinners.

2. By the means by which we attained to it, and by which it is daily nourished in us.

3. By the contrary sin of unbelief. Look whether thou feel and complain of thy unbelief, and doubtings of Gods mercy and forgiveness of thy sins in Christ, and whether thou daily pray and strive against such doubtings.

4. By the fruits and effects of it, especially by our hatred of sin, and care to avoid it, and to live holily. (G. Petter.)

Danger of this state

Among those who have turned out to be the most determined enemies of the gospel are many who once were so near conversion that it was a wonder they avoided it. Such persons seem ever after to take vengeance upon the holy influence which had almost proved too much for them. Hence our fear for persons under gracious impressions; for, if they do not now decide for God, they will become the more desperate in sin. That which is set in the sun, if it be not softened, will be hardened. I remember well a man who, under the influence of an earnest revivalist, was brought to his knees, to cry for mercy, in the presence of his wife and others; but never afterwards would he enter a place of worship, or pay attention to religious conversation. He declared that his escape was so narrow, that he would never run the risk again. Alas, that one should graze the gate of heaven, and yet drive on to hell! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Nearly a Christian

After being twelve days on shipboard, I awakened in the morning and saw the American coast. The headlands seemed beautiful; even Sandy Hook seemed attractive. I was impatient to get on shore. It seemed as if we never would get free from quarantine, or get up the Narrows, or come to our friends who stood on the wharf waiting for us. I think that the most tedious part of a voyage is the last two or three hours. Well, there are many before me who are in the position I have described myself as once having been in. You have been voyaging on towards Christian life; you have found it a rough passage; a hurricane from Mount Sinai has smitten you, but now you see lighthouses, and you see buoys, and the great headlands of Gods mercy stretching out into the ocean of your transgression. You are almost ashore. I have come here tonight to see you land. You are very near being a Christian-Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. O that this might be the hour for your emancipation. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

Lost within sight of home

A Christian minister says: When after safely circumnavigating the globe, the Royal Charter went to pieces in Moelfra Bay, on the coast of Wales, it was my melancholy duty to visit and seek to comfort the wife of the first officer, made by that calamity a widow. The ship had been telegraphed from Queenstown, and the lady was sitting in the parlour expecting her husband, with the table spread for his evening meal, when the messenger came to tell her he was drowned. Never can I forget the grief, so stricken and tearless, with which she wrung my hand, as she said, So near home, and yet lost! That seemed to me the most terrible of sorrow. But, ah! that is nothing to the anguish which must wring the soul which is compelled to say at last, Once I was at the very gate of heaven, and had almost entered in, but now I am in hell!

Not quite saved is lost

Suppose you stop where you are, and go no further? Suppose you perish at the gate? Suppose I tell you that multitudes have come just where you are, and got no further? Do you know that to be almost saved is not to be saved at all? Suppose a man is going up a ladder and he slip, from what round had he better slip? If he slip from the bottom rung it is not half so perilous as if from the top. Suppose you are making an effort for eternal life, and you have come almost to the kingdom of heaven, and you fall-not quite saved, almost saved, very near the kingdom of God, not quite-but lost! A vessel came near the Long Island coast, and was split amid the breakers in a violent storm. They were within a stones throw of being saved, when a violent wave took the boat and capsized it, and they perished-almost ashore, but not quite. And there are men who are pulling away towards the shore of safety. Nearer and nearer they are coming. I can say to them tonight: Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. But you have not quite reached it. Alas! if you stop where you are, or if a wave of worldliness capsizes your soul, and you perish almost within arms reach of the kingdom! O do not stop where you are. Having come so near the kingdom of God, push on! push up! Will you tantalize your soul by stopping so near the kingdom of God? Will you come to look over the fence into the heavenly orchard, when you might go in and pluck the fruit? Will you sit down in front of the well curb, when a few more turns of the windlass might bring up the brimming buckets of everlasting life? (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

Not far off

The man to whom these words were addressed was a candid inquirer.

I. The characteristics of those who are not far from the kingdom.

1. They may possess considerable knowledge of Scripture.

2. They may make a candid confession of their belief.

3. They may have strong convictions of sin.

4. They may have a desire to amend their lives.

5. They may have partially reformed. They only need repentance and faith.

II. The reasons why they do not enter the kingdom.

1. Difficulties in the way.

2. Advantages in a middle course.

3. Belief that they are Christians already.

4. Reluctance to observe the needful conditions.

III. The inducements to enter.

1. The blessedness of those who do.

2. The misery of those who do not. (Seeds and Saplings.)

So near:

I. What are its marks?

1. Truthfulness of spirit.

2. Spiritual perception.

3. Acquaintance with the law.

4. Teachableness.

5. A sense of need of Christ.

6. A horror of wrongdoing.

7. A high regard for holy things.

8. Diligent attention to the means of grace.

II. What are its dangers? There is danger-

1. Lest you slip back from this hopefulness.

2. Lest you rest content to stop where you are.

3. Lest you grow proud and self-righteous.

4. Lest instead of candid you become indifferent.

5. Lest you die ere the decisive step is taken.

III. What are its duties?

1. Thank God for dealing so mercifully with you.

2. Admit with deep sincerity that you need supernatural help for entrance into the kingdom.

3. Tremble lest the decisive step be never taken.

4. Decide at once, through Divine grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

For the candid and thoughtful

I. The commendation which is here expressed.

1. He possessed candour.

2. He possessed spiritual knowledge.

3. He knew the superiority of an inward religion over that which is external.

4. He saw the supremacy of God over the whole of our manhood.

5. Yet he did not despise outward religion so far as it was commanded of God.

II. The question which is here suggested. This man came so near to the kingdom; did he ever enter it?

1. There is no reason why he should not have done so.

(1) His knowledge of the law might have taught him his inability to obey it.

(2) The presence of Christ might have drawn forth his love.

(3) His knowledge of sacrifices might have taught him their spiritual import.

(4) The Holy Spirit may have changed his heart.

2. But perhaps he never did enter the kingdom. If he did not enter, one of the reasons, no doubt, would be-that he was afraid of his fellow men. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Not far from Gods kingdom

I. We find many excellent people whose goodness is of a negative kind. By judicious management and advice of parents and teachers, they have grown up free from the grossest sins.

II. Another class of persons are fitted by the character of their minds, and the nature of their studies, to take an interest in Christianity and the Church from an intellectual point of view. But let such remember that religion is something more than correctness of intellect; it is a life-giving principle, regulating the will, as well as directing the creed.

III. A third class who, in disposition and habits are not far from the kingdom of God, may be described as the amiable.

IV. One other class which I shall speak of, as embracing many not far from the kingdom of God, is that of the generous and liberal spirited. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)

Not quite in time

To see a friend riding briskly away, by the time we have reached the door to deliver a parting message; to have the boat pushed off from the dock, while we are hurrying down to get on board. These small disappointments will serve as illustrations in greater things. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)

Indecision dangerous

I. Are there not many bearing the Christian name who, though not far from the kingdom of God, have never yet passed the boundary which separates them from the world

1. In this state there are those who have correct views of doctrinal truth without a spirit of devotion.

2. They are not far from the kingdom, but do not belong to that kingdom, who are the subjects of frequent and powerful convictions, yet have never been converted to God.

3. They are not far from the kingdom, but do not belong to it, who cultivate amiable tempers and agreeable manners, and yet are strangers to the influence and grace of the Divine Spirit.

II. Are there not some reasons to be assigned as causes why may of you continue so long go hover round the borders of the kingdom of God, yet never enter it? Your conduct carries in it a multitude of strange inconsistencies.

1. Your hovering still round the outer borders of the kingdom of God must be ascribed to a want of firm decision of mind.

2. It must be ascribed to a want of warm and loyal attachment to the blessed Immanuel, the Prince of life.

3. It must be ascribed to a want of true faith and humility.

III. While you continue without the boundary of the kingdom of God, at whatever point of nearness, is not your state a state of awful dancer? You are more liable to self-deception than vile profligates; you are commanded; you are in danger of attaching too much consequence to the soundness of your creed and strictness of your morals. Do not expect to glide into the kingdom without effort or hindrance.

1. You must press into the kingdom by casting off every incumbrance, and by forsaking every prejudice and passion which has a tendency to entangle and obstruct your progress.

2. You must press into the kingdom through all possible resistance. (J. Thornton.)

Not far from the kingdom

True praise never does harm; it softens and humbles. Yet this man belonged to a class which had no right to expect any indulgence at Christs hand. Christ sees the good points of the scribe. There is a kingdom of God in this world, and it has distinct boundary lines. What was there in the man which made Christ speak of him as near to the kingdom?

I. That the scribe spoke practically and sensibly, and without prejudice-as Christ expresses it, discreetly. Such a mind will always be approximating to the kingdom of truth.

II. There were further indications, in the particular thoughts which were in the scribes mind, that he was nearing the shores of truth. It is plain that he saw before his eyes the true, relative value of the types and ceremonies of the Jewish church. He recognized them as inferior to the great principles of truth and love. His mind had travelled so far as to see that the sum of all true religion is love to God and man. How is that love of God implanted in a mans breast? Will the beauties of nature do it? Will the kindnesses of Providence do it? Will the natural instincts of gratitude do it? I think not. There must be the sense of forgiveness. Within this he distinguished and magnified the unity of God. For there is one God, etc. The unity of God the argument for a unity of service.

III. And perhaps, still more than all, that enlightened Jew had been drawn near to the Person of Christ. Consequently he consulted Him as a Teacher. Do we not know that Christ is the kingdom of God, and that we are all in or out of that kingdom just according to what Christ is to us? To be indifferent to Him is to be very far off; to feel the need of Him is to be near.

IV. The most affecting of all possible conditions is a nearness which never enters. If I had to select the most awful passage in history, I should select the Israelites on the Canaanitish boundary-they saw, they heard, they tasted, they were on the eve to pass;-they disbelieved, they did not go in, they were sent back, and they never came near again; but their carcasses fell in the wilderness. It will be an unutterably solemn thing if Christ shall, at the last, say to any of us, Thou wast not far from the kingdom of God. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Critical hours

The kingdom of heaven is a certain condition of the human soul. Christ stands contrasted with the condition of selfishness, vulgarity, animalism. See how it comes directly out of the controversy here: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. The superior love of God is what we mean by spirituality-the fulness of thought, imagination, and feeling in the direction of the Infinite. We know how men divide themselves up, and live under the dominant influence of certain parts or faculties of their nature. One man lives under the dominion of his passions; another class of men build themselves into a power in which property and collateral influences shall be central. These dominant states in which men dwell will give us an idea of what it is to be in that condition in which Christ says men are not far from the kingdom of heaven. When a man has attained the higher spiritual state, then he is in the kingdom of God. Then his mind becomes luminous. The man comes into union with God, and discerns truths which in his lower state he never could discern. When, therefore, a man is said to be not far from the kingdom of God, he is where he can easily enter into these higher perceptions and conditions. There are a great many persons who are bordering on the kingdom of heaven even in this life. There are luminous hours given to most men, and especially to men of large brain and intelligence. Persons in vulgar conditions of life have certain hours given to them which they do not understand, but which render them susceptible of being drawn into the kingdom of heaven.

1. There are hours of vision in which men are under the direct stimulus of the preached truth.

2. Sometimes the same result is produced because they have seen the truth embodied somewhere. A man goes to a funeral, and comes home and says, That was a great man; I wish I were like him. I wish I were living on a higher plane.

3. There are times of awakening that are the result of great sorrows and affliction in some natures. When men see how uncertain is everything that pertains to life, they say, I ought to have an anchor within the veil.

4. When men are in great distress in their social relations there is oftentimes a luminous hour. I do not say that if men neglect the first impulse to change their course they will never have another; the mercy of God calls a great many times; but very likely they will not have another that is so influential. If, however, in such hours of disclosure, hours of influence, hours in which everything urges him toward a nobler and a better life, a man would ratify his impulse to go forward, even though at first he stagger on the journey, he would not be far from the kingdom of God; but if he waits, you may be sure that these hours will pass away and be submerged. That is where the real force comes in. All the civilized world sent out men to take an observation of the transit of Venus; and when the conjunction came it was indispensably necessary to the success of the undertaking that the very first contact should be observed. An astronomer who had devoted six months to preparation, and has gone out to take this observation, eats a heavy dinner and takes copious draughts of liquid to wash it down, and lies down, saying, Call me at the proper time, and goes to sleep; and by and by he is waked up and is told, The planet approaches, and, half conscious, he turns over and says, Yes, yes, yes, I will attend to it; but I must finish my nap first; and before he is aware of it the thing is all over, and he has thrown away the pains he has taken to prepare himself. It was important that he should be on hand to take the observation on the second; and the whole failed, so far as he was concerned, for want of precise accuracy. A little girl sickened and died. She might have recovered; for the nature of the disease was such that if it had been watched, and if stimulants had been applied at the critical moment, they would have been like oil in a half or wholly exhausted lamp. But this was not known, and the child slept, and the caretaker thought the sleep was all right, and it slept itself out of life. The child might have been alive, walking and talking with us today, if it had not been for that. There are such critical moments as those, and they are occurring in human experience everywhere-in health, in sickness, in business, in pleasure, in love, in political affairs, in all the congeries of circumstances in which men live and move. (H. W. Beecher.)

Pharisaical righteousness to be exceeded

I. What is here meant by the kingdom of God?

II. What is meant by being far from this kingdom?

1. In regard of the means

(1) absolute: Such as are wholly and universally deprived of all the ordinances of religion, as are the heathen (Eph_2:13).

(2) Comparative remoteness, which we may notice of such as live within the bounds of the church and compass of the Christian commonwealth, and yet have little of the gospel sounding in their ears; they live in some dark corner of the land.

(3) Besides all this there is a remoteness voluntary and contracted in those which are, near the means, and yet never the nearer, who put the Word of God from them.

2. In regard of the terms: Namely, the state in which they are at present, compared with the state which they stand in opposition unto. They are far from the kingdom of God as being destitute of those personal qualifications in order to it. Their principles and life are remote. The notoriously wicked (Eph_5:5; Rom_21:8; Rev_22:15). Hypocrites or secret enemies. All such as are formal but not pious.

3. In regard of the event. In regard of Gods purpose and degree concerning them. This was the case of Paul. He was far from Gods kingdom in regard of the terms and his personal qualification; yet, in regard of the event, was very near. Sometimes the most notorious offenders are nearer conversion than civil persons. Let us look more minutely at the text.

III. It is a word of commendation: an acknowledgment of that reality of goodness which was in the Scribe, and so encouraging him in it. If we see beginnings of good in any, to cherish them. We should not break the bruised reed, etc., nor nip the sproutings of grace.

1. This does honour God Himself in the bestowing of His graces. He that takes notice of the streams acknowledges the fountain whence they proceed.

2. We draw men on further and make them more willing to improve; it is the whetstone of virtue.

3. By this course we occasionally work upon others who are much moved by such examples.

IV. It is also a word of diminution. Thou art not quite at home; you must go further; an excitement. We must not flatter so as to make beginners satisfied with less grace, but urge them forward. The speech of our Lord was effectual to him hereunto in sundry respects.

1. It showed him his defects and imperfections, for which he had need to go further. There is no greater hindrance to improvement than a conceit of perfection: when men think they are at their journeys end, they will not step any further; but when they are persuaded that they are not at home, they will set them upon going (Php_3:12-13).

2. It showed him also his hopes and possibilities: that is another excitement to endeavour. There is hope of coming hither, for you are almost there.

3. It showed him also his engagements, from what he had done already, to proceed. You have already made some endeavour, do not decline and grow worse. We should imitate Christ in helping others forward in religion, as Aquila and Priscilla did Apollos. Consider these words as reflectively, as coming from Christ the speaker of them. We should discern and distinguish persons. He discerned the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees in the foregoing part of the chapter; now He discerns the sincerity of the Scribe.

V. The occasion whereupon his censure was passed. When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly. This includes those things.

1. Distinctly as to the matter of his answer. He was right in the notion and in the thing itself. He who knows anything of religion knows that it does not lie in outside duties, but in a gracious soul; yet he does not take away the forms. Those which are above ordinances are below heaven; and they which hate instruction shall never partake of salvation.

2. He answered intelligently as to the principle from whence he answered. He did not speak by rote, but he was able to give a rational account of his religion. We must believe more than we can understand, and yet we must also understand why we believe.

3. He was hearty and serious in it. He spoke as a man that had some savour of that which he spoke. A man may be an orthodox divine, and yet but a sorry Christian.

4. He answered discreetly; that is prudently, as to the manner of it. It was with humility, teachableness, and submission to Christ. (T. Horton, D. D.)

Near but not secure

He perishes for want of that remedy which otherwise might be supplied withal. As it is sometimes in the body; those which have great sicknesses, they many times get up and recover, whilst those which have some smaller distemper, do perhaps die under it. Whats the reason of it, and how comes it about? Why, the one, thinking himself to be in danger, goes to the physician; the other, being more secure, neglects him, and looks not after him. Thus it is with men also in religion; civility trusted in is further off from conversion than profaneness in the effects and consequents of it. This was the case of the Jews in comparison of the Gentiles. (T. Horton, D. D.)

Mere morality alone is remote from the kingdom of God

Civility left alone to itself would never be grace, nor attain to the consequents of it. These two are at a very wide distance one from the other, and left alone, would never meet together. Though mere civility be not so far from the kingdom of God as absolute profaneness, yet it will never come thither, no more than profaneness itself. A mere civil man is as truly excluded from heaven as a profane man. I say as truly, though not in so great a degree. To explain it to you by an easy and familiar resemblance: Dover (for example) is not so far from Calais as London, yet he that goes no further than Dover shall never come to Calais, no more than be that stays at London. So here, a mere moral or civil person is not so remote from salvation as a debauched; but yet if he goes no further than morality, he will come short of it as well as the other. (T. Horton, D. D.)

Nearness not possession

A man may be almost in possession of a fortune; but that adds not to his credit at the bank. A man may be almost honest, or almost sober; but that will be no recommendation to a position of trust and responsibility. And as with these, so with the kingdoms of mental force, health, and social influence; nearness is not sufficient. How near it is possible to be to the kingdom of God without being in, we know not. Nor do we know how it is possible to remain near without entering; unless it be that those who are near mistake nearness for, possession. Notice:

(1) A man is not necessarily in the kingdom of God because an intelligent inquirer. Distinguish between questioning with a view to information, and questioning with a view to disputation.

(2) A man is not necessarily in the kingdom of God because he knows truth when he hears it. We may assent to all Christs utterances, and yet have no affection for Him as Saviour. It is possible to make a false god of orthodoxy. A man may be a capital judge of the soundness of a sermon, an adept as regards scripture knowledge, and yet only not far from the kingdom.

(3) A man is not necessarily in the kingdom because he can answer questions on Christianity. You may know the creed without knowing the Christ. Mere knowledge is not enough. You must repent, confess, believe, serve. (J. S. Swan.)

Not far from the kingdom of God

There are, then, different degrees of approximation to the light. Let us consider-

I. Some of those things which bring a man near the kingdom of God.

(1) A life associated with some of its members and privileges. We have all known many whose lives proved that they were true disciples of Christ; we have observed the deepening earnestness of their character, and seen it growing up into a purpose and consistency unknown before. How have we been affected by this connection?

(2) A spirit of reverence and candour towards Christ. Few things short of positive immorality so deaden the spiritual perception as does habitual flippancy. It is, therefore, a hopeful sign in a man, if he is not ashamed to own that he considers some things too sacred to be sported with.

(3) Kindliness and amiability of nature. Christ never cast a chilling look on anything that is beautiful in human nature. He acknowledged it to be good as far as it went, and sought to gain it for the Divine and eternal. All kindly and generous impulses are wild flowers of nature, which, with the enclosure of Christs garden and the hand of Divine culture, would put on a rare beauty.

(4) A desire to conform to Gods law as far as he knows it. If conscience be at work in any man, if it is keeping him from doing what he believes to be sin, and leading him to aim at the true and right, he is to be commended. And if there be any measure of humility and charity with it, that man is certainly nearer the kingdom than he who is going on in known sin, searing his conscience, hardening his heart, and building up obstacles against his return to God.

(5) An interest in the spiritual side of things. We meet with so much indifference and materialism among the unconverted, that it is refreshing to light upon one who rises above such a chilling element, and who gives evidence that he believes there is a God, and a soul, and a spiritual law laid down for mans guidance-to see him not only listening, but putting intelligent questions, and avowing, with honest conviction, how far he goes, though it may not be so far as we desire. If we meet such a man in a kindly, candid spirit, we may win him to the kingdom of Him whose heart yearns over the most distant wanderers, but who cherishes a peculiar interest in those whose souls are feeling their way, however faintly, to the eternally true and good.

II. What is needed to make a man decidedly belong to the kingdom of God? Our Lords words imply that, with all that is favourable in this man, there is still something wanting. He perceived the claim of Gods law, and admitted it to be spiritual; but, so far as we can see, he had no conviction of that hopeless violation of it which only a Divine deliverer like Christ could meet. Then, too, while admiring Christs teaching, he gave no sign of his soul bowing before Him as a teacher sent from God, still less of his being ready to follow Him as his spiritual leader, to cast in his lot with Him, to walk in His steps and do His will. He lacked

(1) the new birth.

(2) The new life. (John Ker, D. D.)

On the verge of the kingdom

I. The qualities which consist with the state here described.

1. Religious knowledge. You may have an accurate creed, an extensive acquaintance with the Bible, a power to discuss with clearness and precision controverted points, without the will being influenced, the affections purified, the life and conversation regulated.

2. A life of blameless uprightness and integrity. Many things may tend to preserve you from the commission of great sins, besides real love for God, e.g., a prudent regard to your own well-being and well-doing in the world.

3. Strong convictions of sin, and even consequent amendment. You may, like Herod, do many things, and yet neglect the one thing needful. Outward reformation is not necessarily the result of an inward moral change.

4. Carefully maintained habits of public and private devotion. The form may be kept up long after the spirit has vanished.

II. The reasons people remain in this dangerous state.

1. A want of real and heartfelt love to God. We must give God and the things of God not only a place, but the first place in our heart. The service He requires is that which springs from a real preference of Himself.

2. If God is not loved, something else must be receiving an undue share of the affections; for man must bestow them somewhere, whether in the attractions of his calling and profession, or in the cultivation of refined and intellectual tastes, or in an idolatrous fondness for the comforts of social and domestic life. The more naturally amiable a man is, the more beloved, the more honoured, the more respected for his social and moral worth, for the largeness of his charities, for the constancy of his friendships, for the kindness of his heart, and for the blameless purity of his life, the greater danger there is lest that man should be ensnared by mere human approbation, and close his eyes to the danger he is in of falling short of the kingdom of God.

III. Now, what is the moral value of the state here described? If a long journey were set before me, it would be some comfort to have one to say, Thou art not far from thy journeys end. If all through life I had been proposing to myself the accomplishment of some great object, it would be some comfort to know I was not far from attaining the object of my ambition. This is on the supposition of continual progress, constant advancement towards that object. But the spiritual condition we have been considering is that of a person who is standing still-continuing year after year in the same state of dead, motionless, unadvancing formalism, ever seeking, but never striving to enter in at the strait gate, ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. What, then, is the moral value of being, and continuing, not far from the kingdom? There is a door. We must be on one side of it, or the ether. There is no paradise of mediocrity. How sad to be overtaken by the avenger, when close by the city of refuge-to have made shipwreck of our souls, when just within sight of the harbour! (D. Moore, M. A.)

Reasons why a man who is near the kingdom should strive to enter it

If there are some so far away that they at times fall into a despair of ever reaching it, there are a greater number so near that they sink into an apathetic contentment with being almost Christians. Those who are far off may come to be nigh, when the children of the kingdom are cast out.

1. Though the distance may not seem great, there is momentous importance in it. A great deal depends on being a Christian, and to be a Christian needs something more than a decent arrangement of the natural life. The end of mans soul can only be found in looking to God, and learning to stand right with Him. Otherwise, it is to let a plant cling to the earth that was made to climb, and that can bring forth its best flowers and fruits only when it ascends; as if a palace were tenanted in its dungeons and lower rooms, while the higher apartments, commanding infinitely the best view, were left desolate; or as if a city had its streets crowded with traffic, and filled with the labour and din of busy life, while the temples, which tell of mans dignity by pointing him to God, remained in untrodden silence, and became the homes only of the dead. Can a man, who has a soul, feel that it is well with him in such a state? And yet thus he stands while he refuses to admit God to His rightful place.

2. The harmful effect of this position upon others. When there is a nature which has so much of the beautiful and attractive outside the proper Christian sphere, it is apt to give shallow-minded persons the idea that the gospel is not so necessary as the Bible declares.

3. The only security for permanence in what is naturally attractive in man, consists in connecting it with God. The brightest and most beautiful things of the heart lie all unshielded if Gods shadow be not over them. The conflicts of life, the assaults of passion, the irritations of care and ill-success, and the resentments against mans injustice, will corrode and canker the finest heart if it be not constantly drawing the corrective from a Divine source. Even without these trials, whatever has not God in it is smitten with the inevitable law of decay. (John Ker, D. D.)

Crossing the line

It is as if a man were standing on the snore, close to where a ship is moored. There is but a line between, and a step may cross it. But the one is fixed, the other moves, and all the future of existence depends upon that step,-new lands, a new life, and Gods great wide world. In the spiritual sphere to stand still is to fall away, to be left on that shore, doomed to decay and death. To pass into Gods kingdom is to move with it, not only up to the grandeur of His universe, but into the heritage of Himself. (John Ker, D. D.)

Some are in the suburbs of the city of refuge

I warn you against staying there. Oh, what pity is it that any should perish at the gates of salvation for want of another step!

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark

NOT FAR AND NOT IN

Mar 12:34.

‘A bruised reed He will not break, and the smoking flax He will not quench.’

Here is Christ’s recognition of the low beginnings of goodness and faith.

This is a special case of a man who appears to have fully discerned the spirituality and inwardness of law, and to have felt that the one bond between God and man was love. He needed only to have followed out the former thought to have been smitten by the conviction of his own sinfulness, and to have reflected on the latter to have discovered that he needed some one who could certify and commend God’s love to him, and thereby to kindle his to God. Christ recognises such beginnings and encourages him to persevere: but warns him against the danger of supposing himself in the kingdom, and against the prolongation of what is only good as a transition state.

This Scribe is an interesting study as being one who recognised the Law in its spiritual meaning, in opposition to forms and ceremonies. His intellectual convictions needed to be led on from recognition of the spirituality of the Law to recognition of his own failures. ‘By law is the knowledge of sin.’ His intellectual convictions needed to pass over into and influence his heart and life. He recognised true piety, and was earnestly striving after it, but entrance into the kingdom is by faith in the Saviour, who is ‘the Way.’ So Jesus’ praise of him is but measured. For in him there was separation between knowing and doing.

I. Who are near?

Christ’s kingdom is near us all, whether we are heathen, infidel, profligate or not.

Here is a distinct recognition of two things-{a} Degrees of approximation; {b} decisive separation between those who are, and those who are not, within the kingdom.

This Scribe was near, and yet not in, the kingdom, because, like so many in all ages, he had an intellectual hold of principles which he had never followed out to their intellectual issues, nor ever enthroned as, in their practical issues, the guides of his life. How constantly we find characters of similar incompleteness among ourselves! How many of us have true thoughts concerning God’s law and what it requires, which ought, in all reason, to have brought us to the consciousness of our own sin, and are yet untouched by one pang of penitence! How many of us have lying in our heads, like disused furniture in a lumber-room, what we suppose to be beliefs of ours, which only need to be followed out to their necessary results to refurnish with a new equipment the whole of our religious thinking! How few of us do really take pains to bring our beliefs into clear sunlight, and to follow them wherever they lead us! There is no commoner fault, and no greater foe, than the hazy, lazy half-belief, of which its owner neither knows the grounds nor perceives the intellectual or the practical issues.

There are multitudes who have, or have had, convictions of which the only rational outcome is practical surrender to Jesus Christ by faith and love. Such persons abound in Christian congregations and in Christian homes. They are on the verge of ‘the great surrender,’ but they do not go beyond the verge, and so they perpetrate ‘the great refusal.’ And to all such the word of our text should sound as a warning note, which has also hope in its bone. ‘Not far from’ is still ‘outside.’

II. Why they are only near.

The reason is not because of anything apart from themselves. The Christian gospel offers immediate entrance into the Kingdom, and all the gifts which its King can bestow, to all and every one who will. So that the sole cause of any man’s non-entrance lies with himself.

We have spoken of failure to follow out truths partially grasped, and that constitutes a reason which affects the intellect mainly, and plays its part in keeping men out of the Kingdom.

But there are other, perhaps more common, reasons, which intervene to prevent convictions being followed out into their properly consequent acts.

The two most familiar and fatal of these are:-

{a} Procrastination.

{b} Lingering love of the world.

III. Such men cannot continue near.

The state is necessarily transitional. It must pass over into-{a} Either going on and into the Kingdom, or {b} going further away from it.

Christ warns here, and would stimulate to action, for-{a} Convictions not acted on die; {b} truths not followed out fade; {c} impressions resisted are harder to be made again; {d} obstacles increase with time; {e} the habit of lingering becomes strengthened.

IV. Unless you are in, you are finally shut out.

‘City of refuge.’ It was of no avail to have been near. ‘Strive to enter in.’

Appeal to all such as are in this transition stage.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:34 The account ends with Jesus’ commending the teacher of religious law for recognizing that this twofold command was more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices (see Hos 6:6). We are left uncertain as to the fate of this man. He was not far from the Kingdom of God, but did he enter it? Mark might have intentionally left this question unanswered so that each reader would wrestle with the question, Have I entered the Kingdom of God?

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 12:34. Οὐ μακρὰν εἶ, thou art not far) They therefore axe far from the kingdom who have not νοῦς, intelligent perception.[7] [Such, for instance, were they who were still clinging to sacrifices.—V. g.] Seeing that thou art not far from it, enter into the kingdom: otherwise it would have been better for thee to have been far off.

[7] Referring to νουνεκως, having intelligence, Th. νοῦν ἔκειν, to have intelligence.—ED. and TRANSL.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 12:34 . νουνεχῶς , intelligently, as one who had a mind (of his own), and really thought what he said, a refreshing thing to meet with at any time, and especially there and then. Here only in N.T. = νουνεχόντως in classics. οὐ μακρὰν , not far; near by insight into its nature (the ethical supreme), and in spirit a sincere thinker. οὐδεὶς οὐκέτι , etc.: questioning given up because seen to be vain, always ending either in the confusion or in the acquiescence of questioners ( cf. Luk 20:40 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 34. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.] This scribe appears to have been a prudent, sensible, and pious man; almost a Christian - so near the kingdom of God that he might have easily stepped in. It is very probable that he did at last believe in and confess Jesus.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(34) Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.—The words are significant as showing the unity of our Lord’s teaching. Now, as when He spoke the Sermon on the Mount, the righteousness which fulfils the law is the condition of the entrance into the kingdom of God (Mat_5:19-20). Even the recognition of that righteousness as consisting in the fulfilment of the two commandments that were exceeding broad, brought a man as to the very threshold of the Kingdom. It is instructive to compare our Lord’s different method of dealing, in Luk_10:25-37, with one who had the same theoretical knowledge, but who obviously, consciously or unconsciously, minimised the force of the commandments by his narrowing definitions.

And no man after that durst ask him.—St. Mark states the fact before, St. Matthew after, the narrative that now follows.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. discreetly] “wysely,” Wyclif. The word only occurs here in the N.T., and denotes “with knowledge and understanding.”

Thou art not far] The perception of Divine truth which his answer had shewed, revealed that he wanted but little to become a disciple of Christ. “Si non procul es, intra; alias præstiterit, procul fuisse.”

no man … durst] No other attempt was henceforth made to entangle the Redeemer by replies to subtle questions; “all alike kept aloof from one, from Whom chief priests and Rabbis equally went away humbled.” Some, however, would refer to this occasion the question respecting the woman taken in adultery (Joh_8:1-11).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For David himself said by the Holy Ghost,.... In Psa 110:1, being inspired by the Spirit of God:

the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. This is a proof, that David did call Christ his Lord; and that he called him so in spirit; since these words were delivered by him under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: that the psalm was wrote by David, the title shows; and that he spake it as he was influenced by the Holy Ghost, our Lord declares: the passage relates to what God the Father said to Christ, when being risen from the dead, he ascended on high, and entered into the most holy place; he bid him sit down at his right hand, as having done the work of man's salvation, he was sent about, to full satisfaction; and as a mark of affection to him, and honour conferred upon him in the human nature; where he should continue, till all his enemies, Jews, Pagans, Papists, and Mahometans, as well as Satan, and all his principalities and powers, were so subdued under him, as to be as a footstool to his throne: and when David prophetically speaks of this, he calls the Messiah his Lord; saying, the "Lord said to my Lord"; on which account the prophecy is cited; who was so, as he is God, and his Creator and Redeemer. That this prophecy is a prophecy of the Messiah, and is applicable to no other but he; and is therefore pertinently cited, and applied to him here; see Gill on Mat 22:44.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

32 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:

33 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 neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

Ver. 34. Answered discreetly] That he was better than the Pharisees used to be. He was Egregie cordatus homo, and began to lift up his head out of the mud towards heaven.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Being now refuted in their discourse, they no longer interrogate him, but deliver him up to the Roman power. Thus envy may be vanquished, but with great difficulty silenced. (Ven. Bede)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly (nounecwv), he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. It would appear from this answer that our Lord regarded him as one who approached him with the sincere desire to know the truth, and so he encouraged him. This shows how powerful an influence our Lord"s teaching had already exercised amongst all classes of the Jews. This scribe, notwithstanding the prejudices of his class, had reached the border-land of the kingdom. He had learnt that the true way to the kingdom was by the love of God and of our neighbor. He was not far from the kingdom not far from "the Church militant here on earth," by which is the way to the Church triumphant in heaven. He was not far from the kingdom, but still he wanted that which in the true pathway to the kingdom faith in Christ as the Savior of the world. And no man after that durst ask him any question. St. Matthew (Mat_22:46) places these words after the next occurrence. But there is no inconsistency in the two narratives, because in this next incident our Lord puts the question to them; and this silenced both their questioning and their answering. All felt that there was such a vast reach of wisdom and knowledge in all that he said, that it was in vain to contend with him.

"Not far from the kingdom.

That this scribe should have shown so deep an admiration for the Divine Law, so clear a perception of the superiority of the spiritual to the ceremonial, so discerning an appreciation of the Divine Master, all this was to his credit, and awakened the approval and elicited the commendation of our Lord. In the language Jesus addressed to him, a description is given of not a few hearers of the gospel, who present in their character much that is admirable, but who come short of true consecration to Christ, who are "not far from the kingdom of God." Of this class we may ask

I HOW NEAR HAVE THEY COME TO THE KINGDOM?

1. They have been, in many cases, brought near by the action of others. A Christian education and Christian influence have moulded their habits and improved a naturally well-inclined disposition.

2. They are well acquainted with the truths of religion, have studied the Scriptures, and have mastered the doctrines as well as the facts they contain.

3. They assent to the revelation contained in the Bible, either unreflectingly or after inquiry and doubt.

4. They admire Christ"s moral character and beneficent life, his pure teaching, and his purposes of compassion towards mankind.

5. They conform to the practices of Christian worship, and even make use of the language of praise and prayer.

6. They obey many of the laws of Christ, either from habit or from a conviction of their justice and expediency.

7. They have had many desires, and may even have formed resolutions, to go further than this to yield all to the Savior. Of such it may indeed be said, they are "not far from the kingdom of God.

II HOW FAR ARE THEY STILL FROM THE KINGDOM? Men may travel a long distance in the right direction, and yet may leave untraversed the last and most important stage of the journey. So is it with many hearers of the gospel.

1. They may yet have to receive the gospel of Christ with their whole nature. The assent of the understanding must be followed by the consent of the will.

2. They may yet have to surrender themselves and their all to Jesus. Men may give much, but withhold more. The test which our Lord proposes is a readiness to offer the heart, and with it all powers and possessions, unto himself. Less is not acceptable to him who claims, and has a right to, all.

3. They may need to overcome much self-righteousness, self-confidence, self-seeking, before their state of mind is such as to enable them to accept the terms of Heaven: "Except ye become as little children," etc.

III HOW SHOULD THOSE SO SITUATED NOW ACT?

1. They should reflect how vain is past progress except it lead to future consecration.

2. They should rejoice at the thought that their approach to the kingdom makes it easier for them to enter in. All their knowledge, good feelings, and partial obedience are so many steps upon the road, leaving the fewer to be taken in order to salvation.

3. They should remind themselves how unwise and dangerous and sinful it is to pause where they are. "It is the first step which costs;" and it is the last step which pays! Why should not that last step be taken at once? True repentance, sincere faith, cordial surrender, the new birth, such are the descriptions given of the change yet to pass over those who are not far from the kingdom, in order that they may enter it. Illustrations: The builder rears the arch of a bridge; the keystone has yet to be placed; if that be left undone a storm may rise, the river may swell, his work may be swept away, and all that has been done may count for nothing. The traveler exploring a continent may endure many hardships and perils, may come within a day"s march of the vast lake of which he hopes to be the discoverer: shall he turn back? The manslayer, pursued by the avenger of blood, may be within sight of the city of refuge: to pause is to be slain; to summon up all his strength and to bound forward is to find himself safely within the protecting walls. The captain, the adventurous explorer, after a long voyage over unknown seas, sights the land of which he has dreamed: shall he give orders to put about the ship, and abandon the glorious discovery within its reach, and all the honor, wealth, and fame which now at length await him?

Vers. 34, 37. Various effects of Christ"s ministry.

There was a vigor and directness, an unsparing boldness and fidelity, peculiar to the ministry of our Lord in Jerusalem during the last week of his life. This no doubt precipitated the crisis, enraging his enemies at the same time that it silenced their reasonings. Two remarks are made by the evangelist which show us what was the effect of Christ"s discourses and conversations both upon his foes and upon the multitude.

I HIS ENEMIES WERE SILENCED. These included most of the members of the more prominent classes, who occupied positions of influence and authority in Jerusalem.

1. Their varied efforts to entrap Christ in his speech are recorded at length. The Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the scribes, all questioned Jesus and reasoned with him, largely with the hope of either weakening his influence or taking some advantage of his replies. There was much craft in the way in which they sought thus to injure him and his work.

2. Their uniform confutation by his wisdom and moral authority. All their efforts, from whatever quarter, and however conducted, proved in vain. None were able to withstand him. He either put them to shame, or convinced them by the wisdom of his answers. The evangelist sums up the impression produced by our Lord"s demeanour and language in these several interviews in the words, "And no man after that durst ask him any question." Christ"s wisdom is flawless; Christ"s authority is irresistible. Now, as then, it is true that none can dispute with him except to be discomfited. "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

II THE MULTITUDE WERE ATTRACTED AND DELIGHTED. Whilst the self-confident and the self-righteous were put to shame and confusion, the common people, or rather the multitude, "the people" (as we say), heard him gladly. There were several sufficient reasons for this.

1. He spoke to them as one of themselves. Not from a height of official distance and superiority, but in their own language, with illustrations drawn from their own daily life, and as one who knew them and their ways.

2. His personal interest and sympathy were very marked. He did not break the bruised reed. Often brought into contact with the suffering, he pitied and healed them. Often meeting with sinners contrite and penitent, he pardoned and cheered them.

3. His fearless exposure and denunciation of the wickedness of the religious leaders of the Jews. The selfishness and hypocrisy of Pharisees and lawyers were well known; but such was the mental bondage of the people, that they dared not speak of the iniquities of the rulers save with bated breath. Jesus, however, who regarded not the person of any man, boldly upbraided the iniquitous rulers for their misdeeds. And those who suffered from the extortion and oppression which they endured, rejoiced in the Lord Jesus as in a Champion of the down-trodden, and an Upholder of the right.

4. His direct appeal to the conscience and heart of the people. It is thus, indeed, that masses of men are ever to be moved. Whilst in the preaching of Jesus statement of Divine truth and exhibitions of Divine love formed the substance of his addresses, he so spoke as to reach the moral nature of his hearers. No raving, no exaggeration, no vulgarity; but simplicity, vigor, earnestness, moral authority, were manifest in all his utterances.

5. He brought the fatherly grace of God home to the erring and helpless. This was what the religious leaders of the time did not. The hearts of men responded to the revelation of the heart of God. How could the people do otherwise than hear him gladly, when he said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"?

"Not far from the kingdom of God.

I THE HIGHEST INTERPRETATION OF HUMAN DUTY APPROACHES THE GOSPEL, BUT FALLS SHORT OF IT.

II THE CONDITIONS OF ENTRANCE INTO CHRIST"S KINGDOM ARE MORAL, AND NOT MERELY INTELLECTUAL. Faith; obedience; love. The heart, or central being.

III NO MAN OUGHT TO BE SATISFIED WITH MERELY BEING "NOT FAR" FROM THE KINGDOM.

1. To stop there is to stultify our highest spiritual instincts and tendencies.

2. To stop there is to fail of salvation.

3. To stop there is to aggravate our misery and sin. M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus said to him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God - Reader, art not thou? then go on: be a real Christian: else it had been better for thee to have been afar off.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

far

i.e. not far in knowledge. He knew the very law which utterly condemns the best man -- its true office. Rom 3:19; Rom 10:3-5; Gal 3:10; Gal 3:22-24.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. νουνεχῶς. Here only in Bibl. Grk, and nowhere else in our Bible does discreetly appear. Polybius has νουνεχῶς several times, combining it with πρακτικῶς and φρονίμως. The Scribe showed νοῦς (1Co 14:14-15; Rev 17:9) or intelligence in seeing that moral duties are far more important than ceremonial observances.

Οὐ μακρὰν εἶ. There may be an allusion to Isa 57:19. Cf. Act 2:39; Eph 2:13; Eph 2:17. As in the case of the rich man (Mar 10:22), we are left in ignorance as to the ultimate issue. Did the rich man in the end follow Him to whom he had run for instruction? Did this Scribe enter the Kingdom to which he had come so near? Cf. 2Pe 2:21.

οὐδεὶς οὐκέτι. See on Mar 1:44. The Evangelists put this remark in different places. Lk. has it after Christ had silenced the Sadducees. Mt. has it after Christ’s question about the Son of David, when all had been doubly silenced, for He had successfully answered their questions and they had failed to reply to His.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34.] νουνεχῶς—Attice νουνεχόντως, opposed to ἀφρόνως, Isocr. v. 7 (Meyer).

οὐ μακρὰν …] This man had hold of that principle in which Law and Gospel are one: he stood as it were at the door of the Kingdom of God. He only wanted (but the want was indeed a serious one) repentance and faith to be within it. The Lord shews us here that even outside His flock, those who can answer νουνεχῶς—who have knowledge of the spirit of the great command of Law and Gospel, are nearer to being of his flock, than the formalists:—but then, as Bengel adds, ‘Si non procul es, intra: alias prœstiterit, procul fuisse.’

καὶ οὐδεὶς …] This is apparently out of its place here, as it is after the question which now follows, that Matt. relates this discomfiture of his adversaries. We must not however conclude too hastily, especially where the minute accuracy of Mark is at stake. The question just asked was the last put to our Lord, and therefore the notice of its being the last comes in fitly here. The enquiry which follows did more than silence their questioning: it silenced their answering too: both which things Matt. combines as the result of this day, in his ver. 46.

ἐπερωτῆσαι, not, ‘to ask him any more questions:’ see on ch. 11:29.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. νουνεχῶς—intelligently.1 οὐ μακρὰν εἶ ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλείας τ. Θεοῦ—You are not far from the kingdom of God. The evident enthusiasm with which the Scribe received the statement of Jesus, and his ability to enter into the spirit of it so as to develop it in his own way, showed that he himself could not be far from the kingdom, with whose law he has shown himself to be in sympathy. To be friendly to its ideas, and sympathetic with its spirit, was the next thing to actual submission to it. αὐδεὶς οὐκέτι ἐτόλμα αὐτὸν ἐπερωτῆσαι—no one dared to question him further. The question of the Scribe was friendly, but the whole series of questions to which it belonged was far from friendly; it was captious and hostile, having for its object to destroy the authority of Jesus by showing that he was no more than any other teacher when he came to face the real puzzles of the learned men. But Jesus had shown in his answers no mere mastery of the usual weapons of debate, but a grasp of the principles involved in each case, so that the purpose of his enemies was foiled, and his authority stood stronger than ever. It was no use to ask him questions therefore, which only recoiled on the questioners.

JESUS’ QUESTION, HOW THE MESSIAH CAN BE BOTH SON AND LORD OF DAVID

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Discreetly [νουνεχως] . From nouv, mind, and ecw, to have. Having his mind in possession : "having his wits about him." The word occurs only here in the New Testament.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.