Not Far from the Kingdom of God
Rex Yancey
Mark 12:28-34
As we consider this text, Jesus is at the end of one of the longest and hardest days of his life. He had begun early that morning answering questions by those who were trying to trick him. This was on Tuesday and the day Jesus had cleansed the Temple. This brought anger to both the Pharisees and Sadducees.
They questioned his authority. He answered a tribute question, and he answered the Great Commandment question. The Scribes taught there were 613 commandments, 248 positive and 365 negative. Jesus narrowed these down to two.
What can we learn from this Scribe?
1.SOME ARE FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
1. The Pharisees and Herodians were far from the Kingdom. They were young theological students trying to trick Jesus into favoring the overthrow of Caesar. Their goal was to manipulate him to achieve their purposes.
The man who finds fault with Jesus is far from the Kingdom.
2. The Pharisee in Luke 18:11. He was obviously self-righteous. He was obviously not concerned about others. He failed to see his own sinfulness.
3. The rich man in Luke 16. He was unconcerned about his duty to Lazarus or to God. He was a materialist, a one world man. He never gave spiritual things a thought.
4. Gallio in Acts 18:17. ''But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against him before the judgment seat...and they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the Synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.''
Plenty of people today don't care about preaching, Bible study or church attendance. Those who do not care for these things are far away from God.
5. Any man who does not think seriously about his soul. Some business people will sit down and take hours pondering over a financial problem but will not give a thought to his soul.
Mark 8:36, ''For what does it profit a man to gain the wh ...
Rex Yancey
Mark 12:28-34
As we consider this text, Jesus is at the end of one of the longest and hardest days of his life. He had begun early that morning answering questions by those who were trying to trick him. This was on Tuesday and the day Jesus had cleansed the Temple. This brought anger to both the Pharisees and Sadducees.
They questioned his authority. He answered a tribute question, and he answered the Great Commandment question. The Scribes taught there were 613 commandments, 248 positive and 365 negative. Jesus narrowed these down to two.
What can we learn from this Scribe?
1.SOME ARE FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
1. The Pharisees and Herodians were far from the Kingdom. They were young theological students trying to trick Jesus into favoring the overthrow of Caesar. Their goal was to manipulate him to achieve their purposes.
The man who finds fault with Jesus is far from the Kingdom.
2. The Pharisee in Luke 18:11. He was obviously self-righteous. He was obviously not concerned about others. He failed to see his own sinfulness.
3. The rich man in Luke 16. He was unconcerned about his duty to Lazarus or to God. He was a materialist, a one world man. He never gave spiritual things a thought.
4. Gallio in Acts 18:17. ''But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against him before the judgment seat...and they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the Synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.''
Plenty of people today don't care about preaching, Bible study or church attendance. Those who do not care for these things are far away from God.
5. Any man who does not think seriously about his soul. Some business people will sit down and take hours pondering over a financial problem but will not give a thought to his soul.
Mark 8:36, ''For what does it profit a man to gain the wh ...
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