So near

The kingdom of God is set up among men.

Those who are in it are—

Quickened with divine life. “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living”: verse 27.

Received under the reign of grace. Romans 5:21.

Obedient to the law of love. 1 John 4:7.

Favored with divine privileges. Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:32.

Raised to special dignities. Revelation 1:6.

Indulged with peculiar happiness. Matthew 25:34.

Those who are outside of it are in some respects on a level.

But in other regards, some are “far off”, and others “not far.”

The scribe in the narrative was on the borders of the kingdom.

Of such a character we will now treat.

I. WHAT ARE ITS MARKS?

1. Truthfulness of spirit.

   • This man was candid as a student of the law.
   • This man was honest as a teacher of the law.
   • This man was fair as a controversialist.
   • A spirit of general uprightness, sincerity, and fairness, is a great moral advantage.

2. Spiritual perception. This scribe must have spoken with great discretion, or the Lord Jesus would not have taken such special notice of his reply. He saw—

   • More than a Papist, who makes everything of ceremonies.
   • More than a mere doctrinalist, who puts head-knowledge above heart-experience and holiness.
   • More than a moralist, who forgets the love of the heart.

3. Acquaintance with the law.

   • Those who see the unity, and yet the breadth and spirituality of the law’s demands are in a hopeful condition.
   • Still more, those who perceive that their own lives fall short of those demands, and grieve on that account.

4. Teachableness, which this man clearly exhibited, is a good sign: especially if we are willing to learn truth, although its advocate is unpopular.

5. A sense of need of Christ, which did not appear in the case of this scribe, but is seen in many who attend the ministry.

6. A horror of wrong-doing, and of impurity of every kind.

7. A high regard for holy things, and a practical interest in them.

8. A diligent commencement of prayer, Bible-reading, meditation, regular hearing of the word, and other gracious habits.

   • There are other signs, but time would fail us to mention more.
   • Many of these appear, like blossoms on a tree, but they disappoint the hopes which they excite.

II. WHAT ARE ITS DANGERS?

No man is safe until he is actually in the kingdom: the border-land is full of peril. There is the 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 you proceed from being candid to become indifferent.

5. Lest you die before the decisive step be taken.

III. WHAT ARE ITS DUTIES?

Though your condition is not one in which to rest, it is one which involves you in many responsibilities, since it is a condition of singular privilege.

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 that decisive and saving step be never taken.

4. Decide at once through divine grace. Oh, for the Spirit of God to work effectually upon you!

   • What a pity that any should perish who are so near!
   • What horror to see such hopeful ones cast away!
   • How fatal to stop short of saving faith!

Expostulations

Among those who have turned out to be the most determined enemies of the gospel are many, who once were so near to conversion, that it was a wonder that 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. S.

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!

He who makes but one step up a stair, though he be not much nearer to the top of the house, yet he has stepped from the ground, and is delivered from the foulness and dampness of that. So, he who takes the first step of prayer by truly crying,—“O Lord, be merciful unto me!” though he be not established in Heaven, yet he has stepped from off the world, and the miserable comforts thereof.—Dr. Donne.

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 parlor 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 human 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!’ ”

I remember a man coming to me in great distress of soul, and his case made a deep impression upon my mind. He was a man-of-war’s man, with all the frankness of a British tar, but, alas! also, with a sailor’s fondness for strong drink. As we talked and prayed together, the tears literally rained down the poor fellow’s weather-beaten face, and he trembled violently. “Oh, sir,” he exclaimed, “I could fight for it!” Truly, if salvation could have been obtained by some deed of daring, he would have won it. He left me without finding peace, and the next day he went back drunk, to join his ship; and I have never heard of him since.—J. W. H.