Well, thank you, Lynn, and thank you to Lurgan for inviting me along today to spend this time with you. Lynn, it never gets any easier, and that's all part of being in the Lord's work. You're in the front line of the battle, and I'm afraid it just gets difficult, and it throws us back, of course, to our Savior. It's good to have my wife and indeed my mother-in-law with us tonight. I'm married 38 years on Tuesday, and she still won't let me too far out of her sight. She's keeping close tabs on me. Married 38 years and we haven't had a crossword yet, so I don't know whether that's, she's very easy to live with or I'm very easy to live with, but it's one or the other. but it's a joy to be with you in Lurgan. I've been off all month. My own congregation were wanting me back today, but Dennis has a way of persuading somebody, and so I'm here in Lurgan, and my congregation have to wait another wee while to have me back. Let's turn to God's word as found in Mark's gospel chapter 12, please. Mark's gospel chapter 12. I remind my congregation before we read, not all the time, but now and again, that this is not what God would say if he was here. This is what God is saying because he is here. This is God's word to our hearts tonight. We're gonna break in at verse 28 of Mark's gospel, chapter 12. And one of the scribes came having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, well, master, thou hast said the truth. For there is one God and there is none other but he and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbors himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him. any question. Ending our reading at verse 34. For those who know the Gospels, you will remember that Mark chapter 12 is a fascinating chapter in the Bible. In it, the intellectuals of the day, the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, all arrived to put the Lord Jesus to the test. They had heard about his preaching, they had heard about his miracles, and they had had just about enough of it, and so they decided to put this young preacher do the test. It's always a scary thing when a young preacher is put to the test. I feel a wee bit like that today. And so you can find here in this chapter that from verses 13 to 17, they query him on the area of taxes and our responsibility to the government. always a thorny subject, even today. How much tax should we pay? And so they tackled him on that area. He answered wisely. And then we find that from verses 18 to 27, it was a theological debate that had confounded the theologians for years, which was concerning the marital state of people in heaven. And each time, with each debate, with each subject, the Lord Jesus handled the debate with godly wisdom and biblical insight. And in verse 28, from where we read tonight, we are introduced to a scribe. He had been listening to the debate, seeing how the Lord would answer. giving him marks out of ten, if you will, seeing if he came up to scratch. And as he listened, he's been impressed with the Savior, impressed with the answers, and now he decides from the back of the crowd to pose his own question. And he asks, excuse me, Master, Teacher, what is the first commandment of all. And we have read tonight the Lord Jesus answering the end of verse 29. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And I can see this young scribe smiling. He's pleased with the answer. He's pleased with the way this debate is going. And he said, Master, you speak the truth. Isn't that lovely? The Lord Jesus still speaks the truth. His word is right. He never errs. He never makes mistakes. He never has to apologize. And so the young scribe said, Master, you have said the truth. Master, you and I are in agreement to love God and to love your neighbors yourself is more vital than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. Here is a picture in Mark 12 of unity and agreement. But notice three things. First of all, notice a personal discovery. The Lord Jesus turns to the scribe in front of all the people. And we read in verse 34, he says, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. It was one of those embarrassing moments. It was one of those awkward moments. The crowd is silent. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife. This man, this scribe, was one of the religious leaders of his day. This scribe was a theologian. He was a great religious thinker and debater. And in front of all the crowd, the Lord Jesus reveals that this man is not saved. He does not know God personally. He's not in the kingdom of God. And I have no doubt that this scribe thought he was in the kingdom. I have no doubt that this man thought that he was bound for an eternity with God. He was always in his place of worship. He was always there with a love for God's word. And whenever they went into the synagogue and unlocked the little box where the Torah sat, and they carried it out with reverence, and they started to unroll it to read the scriptures, This young scribe was in rapt attention. This young scribe had a love for God's Word and a love for God's people, and he agreed with Christ's teaching. And yet, at this moment, God looks down into his heart. The Lord looks into his innermost being and declares, you are not far from the kingdom of God. And we read that once the Lord said it, no man would ask any other questions. It was too embarrassing. It was too personal. conviction. It was too convicting. And no one wanted to tackle any more questions. What a personal discovery to me. Maybe tonight in Lurgan Baptist Church. As God would look right down past the suit and the nice Sunday clothes and look right down into your heart, he would of God. I remember many years ago, we had a mission in, in Bally Baptist. There was a man, Paul Bassett, from Leicester, came over to do the mission. We had a good mission. During that mission, one of my deacons in the church asked to speak to me. So we ended into a side room and, and I said, well, what is it? What's the problem? He says, pastor, I want you to know that I got restored tonight. I have been living far from the master. He was one of my deacon. He was involved in the services. He was involved in leading meetings. But at that mission, God challenged him and he realized he wasn't where he ought to be. God singles you out. And he says even though you thought you were in God's kingdom, even though you attend faithfully your place of worship, maybe every Sunday you're at communion, maybe you attend faithfully every single meeting, you're sincere, you're devout, indeed you'd be offended if someone would say that you're not in the kingdom, but God himself searches your heart tonight and says you're not far. from the kingdom of God. I remember way back in 1973, I was a teenager. We were having a mission in Ebenezer Gospel Hall in Belfast where my parents attended and I as a young lad attended with my siblings. I was sitting about three rows from the front If you'd asked me what I wanted to do in life, I would have said two things. Number one, I wanted to play rugby for Ireland. I wanted to run out in what was then Lansdowne Road with a green jersey on. Now I'm more the shape of the ball than the players. But that's another story. And I also would have told you I wanted to be in the bank. I don't know why. I think it was the thought of counting all that money. They were my ambition. I worked in the bank for 14 and a half years, I never played rugby for Ireland. But at that mission, God looked into my young heart. And even though I knew the verses from my earliest, I knew the verses, I knew the choruses, I knew the doctrines, I knew the teaching, I'd been steeped in, I'd been rocked to sleep with the gospel, yet God looked into my heart and he said, thou art not far. from the kingdom. What a discovery to make. A personal discovery. But I tell you this, it's a discovery that's better made now, isn't it? I mean, it's a discovery that's better made when you can do something about it. It would be a terrible thing to make this discovery when it's too late to do anything about the problem. And this man maybe was sorry he ever opened his mouth, maybe sorry he ever put up his hand to ask the question. But it's a good job he did, because he discovered that he was not in the kingdom. And in our province of Ulster, privileged as it is, We have people full on churches who one day will get a shock because they're not in the kingdom. They made a profession at a CF camp. Wonderful. Sat at their mother's knee as they But if that's all it is, if that's all it is, if there was no change to the heart, if there was no change to the direction, if there was no change in the thinking, if there's not a change of lifestyle, there's something wrong. A Christian is someone whose goal is to live for Christ, to follow him, to live for him, to obey him, to learn about him, isn't it? I knew people who were caught driving with no car insurance. And when they got to court, they said, I thought I was covered. I also knew people who were taken to court because of unpaid bills, and they said, I thought they were paid. Far more serious. is to think that you're saved and to be convinced that you're in the kingdom only to find out too late that you're not in the kingdom. And in the words of Matthew 7, many will say to me in that day, I prophesied in thy name, I cast out demons, I done marvelous things in your name. And he will say, I never knew you depart from me. I say, wouldn't it be a great thing tonight to get us sorted? no more doubts, no more wondering, no more hoping, but with absolute confidence, saying, I am in the kingdom of God. Isn't it? A personal discovery. Secondly, I want you to see an exceptional opportunity. You see, in this verse, it says, thou art not far. There's a great opportunity there. It's very close. I remember preaching at a funeral, and I preached on a wee verse in 1 Samuel 20 and 3. There is but a step between me and death. Whenever David was speaking to Jonathan, and Saul was on the prowl, and Saul was out to get him, and David said to Jonathan, there is but a step between me and death. I remember having an argument with a policeman. I hope there's no policeman here tonight. And we were having a debate about the things of God. He had no time for the gospel. And in exasperation, I said to him, how big is a step in marching? And he looked at me confused. I said, how big is a step in marching? He said, about 17 inches. And I said to him, my Bible says there is but a step, 17 inches, between you and death. Salvation is near, an exceptional opportunity. We have in this verse not only shocking words, a personal discovery, you're not in the kingdom, but exciting words, you're not far from the kingdom. You know, if the Bible was to give you an exceptional task to achieve, you would try to achieve it. If the Bible said that you had to do a pilgrimage to Mecca or Jerusalem or some impressive part of the world, you would save up your money, you would get your tickets, you would check your passport, and you would go if that's what was required. And here, the Bible says you're not far. Only a step. I don't know about your children and grandchildren. When our children were small, you got to the end of the street, and they said, are we there yet? You go in a distance, and all right along the way, are we there yet? Are we nearly there yet? Are we nearly there yet, daddy? Are we nearly there? And you were trying to think of all kinds of inventive things to try and keep their minds occupied. Or if Christmas was coming, and they said, how many weeks to Christmas? And you said, 10 weeks to Christmas. Well, that just was impossible for them to imagine. Ten weeks? There's many things in life that call for a long-term strategy, but salvation is not one of them. Say, someone tonight in Lurgan, if I am so close, if it is an exceptional opportunity tonight, what must I do to benefit from it? What must I do to benefit from this exceptional opportunity? And let me tell you, to qualify, you must be a sinner. If you're not a sinner tonight, there's no gospel for you, there's no good news for you. The gospel is for sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, said Paul to Timothy, 1 Timothy 1 15. It's for sinners. Matthew 9, the Lord Jesus said, I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You knew it must be a sinner. You must realize that you have grieved a holy God. You have disobeyed him. You're not living in a way that is pleasing to him. You're going your own way. Secondly, you must appreciate that that sin separates you from God and places you under God's judgment. It's a difficult place to be under the judgment of God. Dealing with a situation at the moment, a young man will be up in court. I tell you, it's a sad situation. And the weight of the law of the land is upon his head. And his mom and dad are heartbroken. His family are distraught. And he seems to have made shipwreck out of life. And the weight of God's wrath and the law of the land is upon his head. Not a nice place to be. for you to become a Christian. You must understand that you're a sinner, but you must understand that that sin attracts the judgment and the wrath and the anger of God. And then you need to repent. That's one of those theological terms, but it's very easy. It means to turn away with revulsion from your sin. It means to do a complete turnaround. and to walk in another way, say, I'm not going to live that way anymore. I'm not going to live in that style. I'm not going to live in that manner. I want to know God. I want to know Jesus Christ. I want to know heaven is home. I'm turning my back on that old life. And then you trust Jesus Christ. You trust him. You depend on him. of course, that's why the Lord Jesus died on the cross. If I could illustrate it for you, imagine here is you and me, and there's, there's the weight of sin. It's heavy. It's a big Bible for you. Just got it rebound. It was falling apart and I just got it rebound. A lovely man down in Calkeel did that for me. So as I, I got a new lease of life. But And here's the Lord Jesus. He's got no sin. Nothing in heaven. He was the Lamb of God, spotless and pure and holy and sinless. And at Calvary, why we get excited about Easter, why we preach Christ crucified, is that at the cross of Calvary, God did a transfer. Put my sin and your sin and his son. And punished him instead of me. Now, please don't ask me why he did it. I don't understand it. I'm still scratching the surface. But did it, he did. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He took my burden to Calvary. He And I trusted him. And I depended on him. And he changed my life. Trusting him. Taking him at his word. You know the story, if I can remember it, about the old houses where there was a scullery and you opened a trap door and you went down to the cellar where you kept the coal and things? You're far too young to remember that. But the wee girl came in one day to the kitchen. There's the trap door open. And she shouts down, is anybody down there? And her daddy says, I'm down here, love. She says, daddy, I want to come down. And her daddy says, well, you jump and I'll catch you. And she says, but daddy, I can't see you. She says, he says, I know that, darling, but I can see you. So you trust me. And you jump. And the wee girl, can you imagine? It's like a diving board. The only part of the body that's important in the diving board is your big toe, because if it doesn't leave the board, you're not going anywhere, right? And she's standing. Does she believe her daddy? Can she trust him? Will he drop her? She believes her daddy. She jumps. Into the darkness. Catches her. You see, she took her daddy at his word. She said, my daddy doesn't let me die. My dad won't won't let me drop. My daddy loves me. And if he says jump, I'll jump. I died on the cross to take your place and take your punishment. I took the full weight of it when I died on the cross for you. I want you to trust me. I want you to depend on me. I want you to believe that I did it and I completed the, satisfied the wrath of God. and I'm going back all those years to 16 years of age when sitting in a brethren hall, I trusted him. Put my life in his hands. A personal discovery, thou art not far from the kingdom. You know, I know we don't put up hands in a publisher, but if I was to ask you to put your hand, I wonder would you put your hand up? That you're not far. I wonder if I asked you to put your hand up if you're definitely in the kingdom. I wonder would you put your hand up? I wonder, are you not sure? Tonight's the night to be sure. No more doubting. No more wondering. No more hoping. But absolutely convinced I've staked my life and my eternity Jesus Christ. It's that close. An exceptional opportunity. It's it's exceptional because there's nothing to stop you doing it in the meeting tonight. You can realize you're a sinner. You can realize that that separates you from God. You can realize that he loved you and died for you in the cross of Calvary and you can Says someone, I'm waiting for a feeling. The only feeling you need is that feeling you have just now. It's called conviction. It's the only feeling you need. Says someone, I'm waiting for a voice. Well, here's the voice from the psalmist. Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. There's the voice for you. It's exciting for me to know that though you all came to the meeting, maybe some thinking they're in the kingdom, maybe some not sure, it's a thrill to me to know that you can be sure before you leave tonight. A personal discovery, you're not far. An exceptional opportunity, you're not far. Just a step. and eternal finality. What I mean is this. We read that you're not far from the kingdom, just a step, and yet, you might as well be a thousand miles from it if you never take the step. Know what I mean? If it's here tonight, if God is knocking on your heart's door tonight, you say, no preacher, I'm not doing it tonight, it might as well be a thousand miles away. There is that eternal finality. It must be a terrible thing to waken up in a lost eternity. to be so close, to sit in meetings in Lurgan Baptist, to be so near and yet miss God's salvation. We're never told if this scribe ever became a disciple, a Christian. Now, we don't know. Maybe one day we'll find out. But this story tells me that it's possible to be within You can die within sight of glory. Judas came and kissed the very door of heaven and went to hell. This scribe looked right. This scribe acted right. This scribe spoke right. This scribe had a great knowledge of scripture, could agree with the teaching of Christ, yet he was not in the kingdom. Tell me tonight, are you in the kingdom? Nothing else matters. You can be sure. Says someone, preacher, that's arrogant and presumptuous. Nobody can be sure. Oh, you can be sure. I read in 1 John 5, these things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life. I think of Romans five and one. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. I think of John 112. But as many as receive him, to them give he the power to become the sons of God. In my banking days, the Northern Bank, where you come first, A young lad came to work in my department. He was a rough sort of diamond. Charlie was his name, Charlie Lavery. It was hard to get a day's work out of Charlie. He always had a reason, always something he had to do. He never seemed to be too dedicated. That was Charlie. A likeable lad. One Friday he came to me and he said, Lawrence, is there any chance I could get out early today? I says, why Charlie, what is it? He says, well, my mum, dad, my uncle and aunt have got a cruiser out on Enniskillen and they've invited me down for the weekend. I said, okay Charlie, if you get the work cleared up, then you can get out early. Well, I never seen him work as hard in all his life. He was at the desk, and he was writing, and he was doing it. Charlie left. The story goes like this. Charlie drove up to Enniskillen. He arrived at the car park where they'd agreed to meet. And they're just off the harbor, the pier, was the cruiser and his mom and dad and his aunt and uncle. And Charlie ran along the pier to jump onto the boat, rather than them start to moor and start to tie up the cruiser. His feet left the pier. He almost made it. and he landed in the water. His foot got caught on something under the water. He couldn't get up. His uncle dived from the boat, got down, got hold of him, but couldn't release him, had to come up for air, tried to duck dive back down, couldn't get down low enough. They got Charlie's body two days later. Maybe the saddest word in the English language. Almost. Almost. Only a step. Not far. Tell me, will you come tonight? Like this scribe, thou art not far from the kingdom. It's nothing to do with church. Nothing to do with the denomination over the door. Nothing to do with how much you know the Bible. It's all to do with repenting and knowing Jesus Christ personally as your Savior. Nothing else matters. A personal discovery. An exceptional opportunity. You can come tonight. An eternal finality. It might as well be a million miles away if you don't take the step. Let me tell you another story. Happened some years ago up in Donegal. It was a rare occasion in Donegal when the sun was shining and the weather was hot. And people were in the water, people were in the shore, Suddenly, there was a man get into trouble in the water. Help! Help! And the people on the shore looked at each other. He's going. One young lad stripped down, dived in, and with strong, powerful strokes, Soon he was out near where the lad was struggling. But things started to go wrong. Because instead of saving him, this young lad started to swim round him. Swim round him. Swim round him. And every time he came round, the lad who was drowning tried to grab him. And tried to grab, get a hold of him, the fellow just kept swimming round. And the people on the shore were saying, grab him, save him, rescue him. And the young lad just kept swimming right. Eventually, the lad in trouble had no more energy left, no effort left, no strength left. And he started to sink. And at that moment, the young lad moved in, got the hand under the chin, and with strong strokes, brought him to the shore. The people on the shore said, what on earth were you doing out there? What were you doing? Why didn't you rescue him? Why didn't you save him? He said this, if I tried to save him while he was trying to save himself, we'd have both drowned. I had to wait until he stopped fighting, and we'd just let me do it, and he would rest on me. Dear friend, listen to me. God can't save you while you're trying to save yourself. He has to wait until you come as a sinner and say, listen, Lord, I can't do it. I could never do it. I'm a sinner through and through. But save me because you died for me. Will you come tonight? I close with a verse. It's just come into my mind. Acts 7. Near the end of the chapter. 51, I think. The stoning of Stephen. The first Christian martyr. And he rebukes the unbelief of the Jews. And he said this. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. That's for somebody here tonight. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. Dear friend, don't resist him any longer. A personal discovery, not in the kingdom. an exceptional opportunity. You can trust him with all your heart tonight. I recommend it. But the eternal finality, if you don't take the step, you'll be lost. And not forever. May God help you to come tonight. If I can help you to do that, then it would be my privilege to do so. Let's turn to our closing hymn