Not Far From The Kingdom

We're going to seek to understand how we can move from being near the kingdom to actually being in the kingdom.

We're going to talk about all those things.

But we'll waste our time if we view this text as mostly a distant event that has no real bearing on our lives today.

And it will do us no good to treat this passage as just another intellectual exercise.

Because the truth is that you too might be near the kingdom without actually being in it.

And my prayer is that by the end of this study together, you'll either be encouraged by the grace of Jesus that you have already received,

or else you will be prepared to receive him by faith just now.

And so I'm going to lay all my cards out for you right there from the beginning.

If you're here today and you're somewhat of a skeptic, not necessarily against Jesus,

just not really sure exactly what to do with him,

my goal is to persuade you today to follow Christ.

And I hope that you will do that today.

First thing I want you to see is the scribe's inquiry.

The scribe's inquiry in verse 28 or the scribe's question.

Look with me at verse 28.

One of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another and seeing that he answered them well,

asked him,

which commandment is the most important of all?

Now this interaction between Jesus and the scribe comes at the end,

as you well know, of a series of confrontations

through which the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem

were attempting to destroy the Lord and his influence.

The Pharisees,

the Herodians,

the Sadducees had all taken their turns to trap Jesus,

but each of them have,

in Mark's gospel,

failed to do so.

And what turns out to be their final attempt

at getting to Jesus,

the ruling body of the Jews,

we know them as the Sanhedrin,

sent this scribe to Jesus.

Matthew 22 tells us that he was a Pharisee

and that they sent him to trap Jesus

in some kind of issue relating to the law.

Well,

scribes were lawyers,

so it's not very surprising

that that would be the thing that they sent him to Jesus to discuss.

However,

what's interesting about this particular interaction

is that as the man got close enough

to hear the way that Jesus was responding

to these other groups that were challenging him,

he discovered very quickly

that he actually appreciated,

even agreed with the Lord.

And that surely must have come as such a surprise to him.

He has been sent by his buddies to go and trap the Lord,

but as he gets close enough to actually hear

the things that he was saying

and the way that he was saying them,

he actually found himself inwardly applauding Jesus,

not actually wanting to destroy him.

So though he belonged to a group

that outright rejected Jesus,

he seems to be somewhat personally conflicted about him.

And I think this man is similar to the people

that we often refer to as searching.

Maybe you've used that term before

and referring to people who aren't yet Christians,

but aren't necessarily closed off to it,

at least in their minds.

They don't yet believe and follow Jesus,

but they aren't exactly sure what to do with him either.

Do you find that to be a fair description

of where you are in relation to Christ?

You wouldn't say that you're against Christ.

You think it's pretty amazing,

the things that he did,

and especially the example that he laid forth.

And you're not prepared at least to outright deny

who he is and what he might can do,

but you're just not really sure

exactly what you're supposed to do with him either.

How you're supposed to take him.

And I want to tell you, if that's you today,

you're close.

You're close.

You're close.

You're not in, though.

Salvation doesn't come to those

who are friendly toward Jesus,

but those who wholeheartedly follow him.

There's a difference.

It's no real surprise that a scribe would ask Jesus

a question concerning the law, really.

Pharisees in particular remained in constant debate

over the various nuances of God's law,

but then also this enormous list of regulations

and traditions that they had added to it.

And just as when we're kids,

we divide our thoughts of wrongdoing

into categories of big sins and little sins.

Did you do that when you were a kid?

We used to do that.

We'd say, well, the big sins are things like murder,

and the little sin is just the thing that I do.

Right?

That's how we weigh them out.

Well, the Pharisees weren't really actually very different than that.

They had divided the law and their traditions

into two different categories.

They had the things that they felt were weightier laws,

and they had things that they felt were less laws,

lesser laws,

things that they felt were strictly binding

that they would not waver on,

and then they had things that they felt like were less binding.

Maybe there's a little gray area.

Maybe we can find some ways to get around it.

And Jesus did that too.

Jesus had times where he weighed out the weightiness.

He told the Pharisees,

at one point you tithe with dill and cumin,

but you ignore the weightier things of the law.

Now, Jesus wasn't saying that some sins

are less important than other sins.

He's just categorizing the backwardness

in the Pharisees' thinking in that moment.

But the Pharisees took that a little different.

They were trying to find these lesser things,

and the problem is that the debate was so subjective

because they would often point to the weightier things

as the things that they felt easier to follow,

and then the lesser things, of course,

would be the things that maybe they struggled with personally.

So this is a common question.

The one that the man asked Jesus

is a common question among the scribes,

but what's really behind the question

is what lies at the heart of every system

of works-based salvation and religion.

In asking Jesus to summarize the entire law

in one single command,

here's what the scribe was asking the Lord.

Sincerely granted, I really truly believe

that he was asking this sincerely at this point.

He's asking Jesus,

Lord, what is one great command that I can follow

and that in obedience to that command,

I can satisfy God?

That's really what he's asking here.

Jesus, rabbi, teacher,

if you could just summarize it

into one thing that I can do,

just one thing that I can do,

and if in doing that thing,

I will be able to satisfy the wrath of God

against my sin.

So knowing that he couldn't possibly achieve perfection,

the perfection that's required by God's standards,

he was determined to get as close as he possibly could,

hoping that God would then reward his effort.

Now let's go back and revisit our opening illustration.

Here's what this scribe was trying to do.

He was aiming for the one yard line.

He's not aiming for the end zone here.

He's aiming for the one yard line,

hoping that if he can at least make it that far,

that God will just help him out

and just kind of carry him the rest of the way.

He's close.

He's close.

But he's not there.

And of course, we all know people

who live with that same mindset.

I'm not perfect, they may say,

but I'm sure God will give me some credit

for trying my best.

I mean, what else can I do

but my best?

And for these people,

Jesus is a moral example to be followed,

but he's not a savior

to which they must cast all their faith and hope.

They become their own savior.

Jesus is the example,

but if I can just do my best to be like him,

then God will accept me.

And they've missed the whole point.

They're close.

They're not in.

But Jesus can be your savior today

because he did indeed perfectly fulfill the law of God

that each and every one of us continually violate.

So salvation does not come to those who do their best,

but to those who trust only

in the righteousness of Christ on their behalf.

That's what Paul was on about in Romans chapter three.

Many of you have read this

in preparation for our Lakeside Connect.

Here's what he says,

And he continues,

for there's no distinction.

All have sinned.

All fall short of the glory of God.

But anyone who is justified

is justified by his grace as a gift

through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forth as a propitiation

by his blood to be received by faith.

Substitute.

A satisfaction for God's wrath

does not come by any righteousness that we have

because as Isaiah said,

our righteousness compared to God's

is like a filthy rag,

but not Jesus

because Jesus perfectly fulfilled that law.

He perfectly fulfilled the law.

So he is truly righteous.

And by faith in him,

God then grants us the righteousness of Christ.

Number two,

the Lord's insight.

The Lord's insight.

So the scribe asked the Lord for one great law.

Jesus gave him two.

Now Jesus didn't provide this answer

just to teach that,

or to agree in any way

that it's possible to earn salvation.

He gives this answer here

to actually expose the impossibility

of earning salvation.

We read it a moment ago.

Who could ever keep these demands?

No one.

There are two parts to it.

The first one is this.

Jesus says you got to love God.

You got to love God.

Verse 29.

Jesus answered,

the most important is,

hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one,

and you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind,

and with all your strength.

This first part of Jesus's answer

is a direct quote

from Deuteronomy chapter six,

verses four and five.

It is known as the Shema.

The Hebrew word to hear

is what that means,

which begins the statement,

hear, O Israel.

Devout Jews,

recite the Shema

in the morning

and in the evening

of every day.

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love him

with all your heart,

soul, mind,

and strength.

And of course,

in Deuteronomy six,

this is what they were commanded

by Moses to teach

to their children

and to talk about all day.

This was an important command.

Everybody knew it.

And the command begins

with the affirmation

that there is only one God

to love and worship

and it rejects

any form of idolatry

that might be present

in our lives.

So think about this.

To fulfill this command

is to live a life

that never

seeks personal will

over the will of God.

Now let me ask you something.

Have you ever pursued

your will

with a complete disregard

to whatever God

might desire instead?

Because if you've ever

done that,

you've broken this command.

You've already fallen short.

It is to wholly pursue

the Creator

and His purpose

in creating you

rather than pursuing

self-identity

or self-glory

or self-pleasure.

this is the demand

of God's law.

We love

and glorify Him

as our only

one

and Savior

God.

Even

when it comes

to denying ourselves

to do so.

Now we don't really

have to go any further.

We already know

we broke that.

Who could keep

that law?

Who could keep

that command?

But Jesus continues

and He gives

four categories

of our being

in which God

is to be the object

of our total love

and devotion.

He says we're to love

the Lord

with all our heart

which is setting

all of our affection

on Him

and tuning

our emotions

to His person

and His will.

He says we're to love

the Lord

with all of our soul.

That is to

place God

and His glory

at the center

of your whole being.

That when you think

who am I

you have no other thought

than a creature

of the living God

for whom I live

in everything that I do.

That is to love

the Lord

with all your soul.

It is to put Him

first in all your ambition.

It is to live your life

in total service to Him.

And then He says

even beyond that

that's hard enough, right?

All your heart

and all your soul.

Then He says

you gotta do it

with all your mind as well.

You have to think

with pure thoughts.

Discipline

and surrender

your thoughts

to align with

the truths of God

as He has given them

in the Scriptures.

Not as you wish

He had given them

in the Scriptures

but as He has given them.

It is to trust

His ways

are best

even when you don't

understand them.

And then He says

you love the Lord

with all your strength.

That's to put

all of your work

and energy

toward obeying

and following Him.

When it comes

to loving the Lord

in this way

there's no such thing

as retirement.

There's never a time

in your life

where you set aside

all of your energy

and all of your ambition

and all of your things

and you direct them

away from what

God's desire is

for your life

in order to pursue

self-identity

and self-glory

and self-pleasure.

It just isn't.

You can't love God

and self.

It doesn't work.

It doesn't work.

Kent Hughes said

heart, soul, mind

and strength

were not intended

as a breakdown

or a psychological analysis

of human personality.

They simply meant

that everything

was to be devoted

to loving God.

Everything.

I'm all yours, Lord.

Lord.

Have you ever

done that perfectly?

I haven't.

I don't know

that I've done

that perfectly

even today.

So we've already

fallen short.

So this man's

looking for one

great command

he can follow

that would satisfy God

and the first thing

that Jesus leads off

with is an impossibility.

But he doesn't

stop there.

He also says

we're to love others.

Verse 31.

The second is this,

Jesus said,

you shall love

your neighbor

as yourself.

This is a quote

from Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19:18

verse 18.

And it makes

perfect sense,

right?

That Jesus

would attach

this command

directly to the

command to love

God

because love

for others

flows directly

out of our love

for God.

Right?

Listen,

to love God

is to love

what he loves.

What does he love?

Us.

To truly love God

means that the

natural reflex

of our hearts

is going to be

to extend

our love

and affection

and kindness

to the others

in which God

has created

not because

we line up

with him

and everything

and that our

personalities

perfectly mesh

and that we

necessarily

want to be

kind

but because

we love

him

we will

by nature

love

them.

Think about

this.

His grace

in some measure

is extended

to every human

being

every single

day.

Even the ones

who utterly

reject him

and hate him.

They still

enjoy the

rising of the

sun.

They enjoy

the blessings

of the food

that he provides

in the earth

that he's given.

He provides

them with air

to breathe

and life

to live

and beauty

to behold.

All of that

to the very

people who

reject and

hate him.

Is that

not the way

that the

scripture

continually

teaches us

that we're

to love

our enemies?

Not because

we're just

good at it

but because

that's exactly

what God

does and

as we love

God it makes

sense that

Jesus would say

then the next

thing right behind

that is that

you're going to

love others

the same way.

first because

of God's

love.

The inerrant

dignity of

human life

is wrapped

up in this

command.

Because God

has imprinted

his very image

on every

human we

are to

treat one

another with

love and

respect.

But notice

how Jesus

commanded for

us to love.

Love others

the way you

love yourself.

love others

the way you

love yourself.

I don't know

about you but I'm

pretty good at

loving myself.

It's pretty easy

for me to tell

Jared yes even

when Jared hasn't

been real good to

Jared because I

love Jared.

He's my favorite.

Jesus says love

others the way

you love yourself.

Love others the

way you love

yourself.

It's interesting he

doesn't say love

others the way you

love God because he

knows we love

ourselves more than

we love God.

He says you need

to love others

that way.

In every

situation we're

to treat other

people the way we

would hope to be

treated given that

the circumstances

were in reverse.

James Edwards

said love for God

releases the love

of God.

Love for God

releases the love

of God.

You love him

you won't be able

to help it

but show his love

for others.

This is what John

was on about in

1 John chapter 4.

1 John 4 · chapter mention

Beloved let us not

love one another

or let us love one

another for love is

from God and whoever

loves has been born

of God and knows

God.

Anyone who does not

love does not know

God because God is

love.

but notice how Jesus

ends the statement

verse 31.

He says love God

love others.

There is no other

commandment greater

than these.

No other commandment

greater than these

Jesus says.

And this is so

important.

This statement might

be the most important

of all of them

because it it

corrects the errant

perspective of the

scribe's question.

In Matthew 22

Matthew writes that

Jesus added this

statement.

He says that all of

the law and the

prophets that's a

single title for the

Old Testament.

All of the law and

the prophets depend

on these two

commandments.

What does that

mean?

He meant that all

the lesser quote

lesser commands are

subsumed or absorbed

into these two

summary statements.

Now an example of

that is the Ten

Commandments.

The first four

commandments are all

under and underneath

and subsumed in this

command to love God.

Love God.

No graven image.

Don't take his name

in vain.

Remember the Sabbath.

Keep it holy.

All of that is about

our love for God.

Subsumed in the one

command.

The final six subsumed

in that second command.

Love others as

yourself.

Don't kill them.

Love them.

Don't steal from them.

Love them.

Don't commit adultery

with them or against

them.

Love them.

Don't covet against

them.

Love them.

Don't lie about them.

Love them.

In other words,

to violate a lesser

command is the same

as violating the

greatest commands.

Do you see that?

Jesus says all of the

law, all the law and

the prophets.

They depend on these

two summary statements.

Love God.

Love others.

And if you kill

somebody, you have also

broken the law of love.

If you worship someone

else, you have also

broken the command of

loving God.

In other words, to

break a lesser command

is to break all of the

law, which is exactly

what James told us.

James chapter 2 and

James 2 · chapter mention

verse 10.

So the scribe comes to

Jesus and he says,

just give me one thing,

one thing I can do.

And Jesus says, that's

not possible.

It's not possible.

You can't separate the

law of God.

It is one.

To violate in one point

is to violate in all

points.

So Jesus wasn't giving

this man a path to

follow to earn God's

favor.

What was he doing?

He was leading this

man to the truth and

the understanding that

our best obedience can

never gain eternal life.

Who has ever loved God

and others this way?

No one but Christ.

We've all violated God's

demands.

And it's not possible for

us to make it up through

our efforts and morality

and religion.

The law is not there to

save us.

God gave it to show us

that we need saving.

That we need a Savior.

And all we can do in

responding to this answer

that Jesus gave so

profoundly is to say,

have mercy on me.

I can't do that.

I've never done that.

I'll never be able to do

that perfectly.

Lord, have mercy on me.

And fortunately for us,

God is full of grace.

And mercy.

Micah chapter 7 and verse

Micah 7 · chapter mention

18, the prophet writes,

Who is a God like you?

Pardoning iniquity and

passing over transgression

for the remnant of his

inheritance.

He does not retain his

anger forever because he

delights in steadfast love.

He delights in mercy and

grace.

Finally, we see the final

assessments.

The final assessments.

This exchange concludes

with two of them.

The first is from the

scribe.

The second is from the

Lord.

So the scribe assessed

the answer.

That's what he did.

The scribe assessed the

answer.

Look with me at verse 32.

And the scribe said to

him, You are right,

teacher.

You have truly said that

he is one and there is no

other besides him.

And to love him with all

the heart and with all the

understanding and with all

the strength and to love

one's neighbor as oneself is

much more than all whole

burnt offerings and

sacrifices.

That's a pretty incredible

answer.

It's nearly a perfect answer,

actually.

This is the only place in

Mark's gospel that we ever

find a friendly exchange

between Jesus and a

scribe.

And this man was not only

kind to Jesus in this

answer, but he gave a

glowing review of the

Lord's answer.

He's clearly impressed by

Jesus's intellect and

wisdom.

And I want you to notice how

truly close he is.

He affirmed the

truthfulness of Jesus's

teaching.

He literally said, You're

right.

You're right, teacher.

That's the right answer.

He's affirming that Jesus

is true and that his

teaching is as well.

Secondly, he agreed with

Jesus's theology.

You have truly said he is

one.

Now, there were probably

certainly things that they

didn't line up with.

But as far as this text is

concerned in this

conversation, this man's

theology and Jesus's

theology are one in the

same.

They both believe that the

Lord is one.

He even viewed the law as

primarily spiritual, not

external.

Notice what he says at the

end.

That all of these things,

loving God, loving others,

is much more than all whole

burnt offerings and

sacrifices.

There's a lot of Christians

that don't understand that.

And here is this scribe

saying what God said

through Isaiah.

That I don't care about

your following the law.

I don't care about all the

sacrifices and all the

rituals if I don't have

your heart.

And this man recognizes all

of those things.

Do you see how close he is?

So what's the problem?

The problem is not what he

said.

The problem is that he

didn't take it far enough.

He assessed only Jesus's

answer when he should have

assessed the Lord himself.

He was only intellectually

concerned about this

conversation.

What he should have done is

considered the identity of

Jesus and its implications

on his faith.

He saw Jesus's answer.

He saw Jesus's actions.

And he thought,

wonderful, fantastic.

But he never saw Jesus.

He saw all the things Jesus

taught, all the things Jesus

did, but he looked right

past the Lord himself.

So he assesses the answers,

but he doesn't assess the

Lord.

So he never understood.

James tells us again in

chapter 2 and verse 19, he

says, you believe that God

is one.

You do well.

This man, that's the whole

conversation.

We agree, Jesus.

God is one.

James says, you believe God

is one.

Great.

You do well.

But think about this.

James says, even the demons

believe.

And they shudder.

They tremble.

So what's the difference

between the theology of the

demons and a theology of

someone in the kingdom, a

true believer?

Demons intellectually assent

to the truths of God.

They recognize that they are

true.

They do not deny the factual

existence of Jesus's identity

and his purpose and all that

he was going to do.

The difference is theirs is

purely intellectual.

Disciples surrender

themselves in faith and

obedience to Jesus Christ.

Jesus.

And just like this scribe, there

are many people who will be

friendly to Jesus.

They'll even intellectually agree

with his general theology.

Yet they will fail to receive

him as Lord and Savior.

And that's where the scribe is.

He's close.

Real close.

Close enough to think that he's

in.

But he's not.

Well, that gets to Jesus's

assessment.

Jesus assessed the scribe.

He assesses the scribe.

Look at verse 34.

And when Jesus saw that he

answered wisely, he said to

him, you are not far from the

kingdom of God.

This must have come as a

stunning statement to this

man.

Because they haven't been

talking about the kingdom of

God.

Surely he thinks this is coming

out of left field a little

bit, right?

They were in this debate about

the law.

Why all of a sudden this

statement about the kingdom

of God and eternal life?

Where is that coming from?

And why in the world is he

saying that I'm close to it?

Because by saying that he's

close to it, he's basically

saying you're not in it.

You're on the outside.

Again, we see Jesus making

this distinction in Mark's

gospel between insiders and

outsiders.

His assessment, you're close

to the kingdom, but you're not

in the kingdom.

And by the way, this statement,

I believe, comes from the

depths of Jesus's compassion

for that man.

His heart was not as hard as

the Pharisees.

And Herodians and Sadducees

before him.

Jesus left them in their

darkness.

He doesn't do that with this

scribe.

He compassionately leads this

man to truth.

And some would look at this

passage and say, Jesus was

being really rude.

They would think Jesus was

kind of mean to this man.

Here's this man doing

everything that he can.

And it seems like he's really,

he seems like he's on Jesus's

side here.

And yet Jesus doesn't actually

give him the peace of knowing

that he has eternal life.

He actually tells him that he's

not quite there yet.

That's actually kind of rude and

judgmental.

But that's not what Jesus is

doing.

We actually find that Jesus's

true love is seen here for this

man.

And it's seen in the fact that he

told the man the truth.

How much must you hate someone

to let them continue thinking that

they know Christ when they don't?

How much must you hate them to let

them claim to be a Christian when

you know that they're not a

Christian?

How much must you hate them to let

them continue in error and even

capitulate to that error knowing

full well that they do not know the

Lord Jesus?

This wasn't Jesus being rude.

This is Jesus showing his love.

He's loving this man.

And this passage reveals so many

things that can get you close to

salvation without ever receiving it.

This man was fervently religious.

His whole life, his whole career

was wrapped up in studying and

interpreting the Old Testament.

That's what he did for his life.

He's fervently religious, but his

religion could only get him close.

He's zealous of good works.

That was the point of his question.

What's one thing I can do?

How can I be better so that I can be

accepted?

That's his question.

He's zealous for good works, but his

good works can only get him close.

The man agreed with sound doctrine.

He might have had more biblical wisdom

in this statement about burnt offerings

and sacrifices than any other of the

scribes that we've read about in the

gospels.

But his theological positions

could only get him close.

And maybe you're very much like the

scribe.

Maybe your fervency in religious things

has gotten you close.

Or maybe you're just a good guy.

And that's gotten you close.

And you can tell me who Jesus is.

And you can tell me all about asking

Jesus in your heart and all those kinds

of things.

You can tell me all the stuff that you

want to tell me.

And all those things are only getting you

close.

And perhaps you're so close that you think

you're in and you're not.

So we have to ask the question.

How do we move from being close to being

in?

And to get this answer, I think we'll be

helped to go back to chapter one.

You can turn there if you'd like.

Remember at the very beginning of our

study about eight or nine years ago, we

began studying the gospel of Mark.

Feels that way, doesn't it?

Remember when Jesus came on the scene?

John was arrested.

What was it that characterized Jesus'

ministry?

Was this preaching?

What was the message that he preached?

Verse 14.

After John was arrested, Jesus came into

Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God,

saying,

The time is fulfilled.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

This question of how can I move from

being close to being in?

That's the question Jesus had been

answering for three years.

His preaching about the kingdom.

This was the answer.

Jesus himself is the answer.

He is the representative of the kingdom

of God that he says is near.

He's not talking about the kingdom is

near as far as timing.

He's speaking spatially.

He himself is the representative of the

kingdom.

He is there.

He is at hand.

His purposes are about to be fulfilled.

Jesus is the answer.

Because of his identity as the son of God

and Messiah, he fulfilled God's demands

perfectly.

That's why his death on the cross

is a sufficient substitute for sinners.

If he had sinned, he couldn't die for our sins.

He'd have to die for his own.

But because he is the son of God and the Messiah,

he fulfilled God's law perfectly.

Therefore, his death was not to pay for his own sins,

but to pay for the sins of those

who would follow and believe him.

And in the sacrifice of Christ,

as we mentioned last week,

God takes, God the Father puts our sin on Jesus

in order that he might put Jesus's righteousness on us.

And then his resurrection guarantees

that his sacrifice on the cross is sufficient.

It proves that he has power and authority

over life and death.

Therefore, he is the one that can either grant us eternal life

or judge us to eternal death.

And how was it that Jesus said in Mark 1

as he preached this gospel of the kingdom?

How is it that he said we are to respond to these things?

This is the answer to how you get in.

Jesus said, repent and believe the good news.

What good news?

Repent and believe Jesus.

Trust him.

Turn away from your sin.

Turn away from your morality.

Turn away from your religious fervency.

Turn away from your orthodoxy.

Turn away from all these other things you're trusting

to gain you some kind of favor with God.

And Jesus says, turn away from those things

and believe the good news.

The good news that you can't get salvation,

only I can give it to you.

And if you will just come to me and believe and follow me,

I will give it to you freely.

We forsake all else and we follow him.

You cannot earn eternal life.

You can only trust that Jesus Christ has secured it on your behalf.

And if you can come to a point where you wholeheartedly agree

and cast yourself on the mercy and love of Jesus Christ,

that is the moment that you move from being near the kingdom

to being in the kingdom.

And I want to close with the end of verse 34.

Look how Jesus finishes the conversation back in chapter 12.

Or excuse me, that's how Mark closes the conversation.

Mark says, after that,

no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Now, why do you think they stopped asking him questions?

Why do you think they stopped asking him questions?

Certainly part of this is

that they came to the realization

that they weren't going to be able to trap him

the way that they thought they could.

So they stopped trying perhaps.

I think there's another part to it.

I actually think this is the dominant reason.

I think there was nothing left to ask.

There's nothing left to ask.

For three years, these men have watched him.

They have scrutinized everything that he did.

They have witnessed his miracles.

They have seen his power.

They have heard his teaching.

They have asked every question they can ask.

They have exhausted every intellectual means

of refuting and disproving his identity and message.

But they failed every time.

There's only one action left for them to take.

And it's not a question.

It's a decision.

The only thing left for them

is whether or not they're going to receive him,

believe him, and follow him.

Or are they going to reject him

and deny him outright?

And can I ask you, are you in that place today?

Have you exhausted every question in your attempt

to discern the person and work of Jesus?

You've been asking maybe good questions

and right questions,

and you've asked everything you can ask,

and it seems like every time you get in a conversation

with somebody about the Bible or Christianity

or life or whatever it is,

yet now you're at the point

where you're just circling around

to the same things over and over again.

There's really nothing left to ask.

Are you friendly toward him,

but still unsure?

Perhaps what you need to do

is stop fiddling around with the questions

and just decide

whether or not you're going to believe him

or you're going to walk away from him.

Please don't wait another moment.

You can come to him today.

There's no perfect time.

Now is the time.

You're not going to come up with a question

to stump him.

You're not going to find a way,

no matter how hard you try,

to disprove him.

It's time to just decide,

am I going to follow him

or am I going to walk away?

And I want to leave you with Jesus' words

and then we'll close.

Matthew 11.

Jesus himself said,

and I believe he says this to you today,

come to me.

Come to me,

all who labor

and are heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you.

Learn from me.

For I am gentle and lowly in heart

and you will find rest for your soul.

For my yoke is easy

and my burden

is light.

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,

for you,