1_21_2024 - Mark 1:12-13 - "What Does God Say?”

(Opening Prayer)

(Sermon Introduction)

Today we continue the gospel of Mark. We are planning to spend almost 2 years in the gospel of Mark. We are going to have mini-series to help break up our time in Mark and help us focus on the journey on both a macro and micro level. We want to understand what it truly means to “Build the Kingdom One Disciple at a Time.”

Today we begin our “Follow” series in the gospel of Mark.

(The Gospel of Mark Context)

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, make up what is referred to as the Synoptic Gospels.

The word Synoptic means “together they see.”

The Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to in this manner because of their likeness, and similar content.

They record many of the same teachings, stories, and accounts from different perspectives.

Some have said that because of this these writings are unreliable.

Quite the opposite is true.

A difference of perspective is not a negative but rather a positive.

If each gospel recorded everything the exact same way we would question its accuracy and integrity in the same way that an investigator would question stories that record verbatim what happened at a crime scene.

The gospel of John is not considered a Synoptic Gospel primarily because it was written years later and recorded things that the other writers did not include.

The gospel of Mark is understood to have been written between 54-60 A. D. prior to the writing of Matthew, Luke, and John.

Scholars believe that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a guide as they wrote their gospels.

This is called the Priority of Mark.

The gospel of Mark was written by John Mark who was not one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.

However, it is believed that the Apostle Peter is the source for the material for the gospel of Mark as Peter discipled John Mark.

(Sermon Title)

Today we have entitled the sermon “What Does God Say?”

We are in Mark 1:12-13.

Mark 1:12–13 (NLT)

12 The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness,

13 where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.

(Synoptic Perspective)

One of the things that we will see over and over about the gospel of Mark is the “immediate” nature of his writings.

He is very matter of fact and to the point.

The great thing about the Synoptic Gospel perspective is that using the other gospels together can often answer our questions and bring clarity to what we may not fully understand otherwise.

However, sometimes we are left with more questions that lead us to press in to Jesus for the answer even more.

Using Mark as the signpost, Matthew and Luke both give us more detail about the “Temptation of Jesus” story.

Personally, I enjoy Luke’s account because Luke records an interesting detail that can easily be overlooked.

Luke 4:1–13 (NLT)

1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please.

7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!

10 For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.

11 And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”

12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

Luke, “the Story-Telling Gospel” reveals an important link between what happened at the baptism of Jesus and the yielding of Jesus to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Notice how Luke records that Jesus, “full of the Holy Spirit,” was “ led by the Spirit in the wilderness.”

There may be many reasons for why Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the temptation of Jesus.

I believe some of those reasons are:

to show us the humanity of Jesus.

to reveal His testing and His perfection in His temptation.

to reveal to the followers of Jesus a roadmap for dealing with temptation.

We can see in Luke’s account that Jesus was led by God to speak what God says.

The Enemy wants to discredit what God says and even distort what God says.

Jesus believed that God Word is true!

Later in His ministry Jesus would verify stories that some would say never happened.

He verified the story of Adam and Eve.

He verified the story of Noah.

He verified the story of Jonah.

Jesus believed the Bible to be the Word of God.

When Jesus, the Son of God, was faced with temptation, He responded with: “The Scriptures say.”

1. Followers of Jesus Ask, “What Does God Say?”

Luke 4:1–4 (NLT)

1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

I have heard it said that the person you ask first is the person you trust most.

Who do we go to first?

Who do we trust most?

When faced with temptation, Who do we turn to first?

If we turn to our own minds, we find ourselves justifying ourselves rather than looking for the truth of the matter.

If we turn to others, we find ourselves being examined by what they have seen and understood, or what they have experienced or not experienced.

If we turn to society, we find ourselves being led back to ourselves for the “good of society.”

But if we ask ourselves, “What Does God Say?” then we find ourselves turning to the Scriptures/the Bible and finding the way, the truth, and the life.

The problem we run in to is that what God says doesn’t line up with what the world says.

The world says, “do what you want,” but the Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Pr. 14:12).

The world says, “follow/trust your heart,” but the Bible says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. But he who walks wisely will be delivered” (Pr. 28:26 NASB95).

We must remember that to follow Jesus means that we must be ready to:

Surrender to the Father’s Will

Listen to the Father’s Voice

Yield to the Holy Spirit

The more we walk this journey of faith with Jesus the more we find that what He asks of us is not complicated it is simple.

Being a follower of Jesus is simple, but it isn’t easy!

There is a constant tug-of-war between what we want and what God wants.

To truly live out the will of God and follow Jesus in doing so, we must be willing to ask, “What Does God Say?”

2. Followers of Jesus Reject the Twisting of God’s Words

Luke 4:9–11 (NLT)

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!

10 For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.

11 And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”

There are many times that the Enemy will try to twist what God has said to water down God’s way, to detract from God’s plan, or to cause us to stumble into sin.

An example is when the enemy tempted Adam and Eve in the garden.

Listen to his words:

Genesis 3:1–7 (ESV)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

When what we want and what God wants are in conflict it is not hard to understand the temptation to twist what God says to suit what we want.

Notice that they “saw that the tree was good for food,” “it was a delight to the eyes,” and it was “desired to make one wise (v. 6).”

That phraseology reminds me of 1 John 2: 15-17

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Adam and Eve did not do the will of God, they gave in to the Enemy’s twisting of what God said.

Followers of Jesus must recognize the allure that comes with the mixing of the world with those who would want to follow Jesus.

Jesus knew that those who desired to follow Him would be confronted over and over again with the allure to water down the call to follow with the twisting of what God has said to suit the desires of the flesh.

That is why Jesus said things like:

Matthew 16:24–26 (ESV)

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

The Enemy will come along the way and will try to twist what God has said.

We must recognize that the Enemy works best when he can take us off course little by little in the most subtle ways, often twisting what God has said through the lens of the flesh.

It is not enough to simple read one Scripture out of context and go about your way.

We must follow Jesus and the model HE has given us.

We must run again and again to the Father and ask, “What Does God Say?”

We do this when we can ask another question:

3. Followers of Jesus Ask, “What Else Does God Say?”

Luke 4:9–13 (NLT)

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!

10 For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.

11 And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”

12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

Often when we hear a Scripture out of context or a stand alone Scripture we take that to be good enough to make decisions without considered the scope of what Scripture has said.

There are many tensions throughout Scripture that need to be understood.

For instance, there are many Scriptures that speak of the negative affects of money or the benefit of the giving away what you have for the cause of Christ.

In fact, people will often quote incorrectly the Scripture that says,

1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)

10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

It isn’t money that is the root of all kinds of evil, it is the love of money.

Money isn’t bad…in fact, Scripture has instructions for how the rich are to handle themselves in the body of Christ (2 Cor. 8-9, 1 Tim 6: 10, 17-19).

(Instrumental Music)

There is a tension that must be managed.

The point is this: Follow Jesus in regard to money.

Money must be a tool not a tyrant in our lives.

We follow Jesus in serving God, not money.

God should have the final say in our lives.

The Enemy is always out to side track us and distort What God Says in our lives.

We mustn’t let the Enemy have his way, but listen to What God Says and let Him have His way.

(Closing Tension)

What is God saying to you right now?

How is the Enemy trying to twist what God has said in your life?

What Else is God Saying to you?

What is God saying to you that you are rejecting?

How are you rejecting His word today?

How are you receiving His word today?

What are you going to do with what God has said?

(Sermon Recap)

What Does God Say?

1. Followers of Jesus Ask, “What Does God Say?”

2. Followers of Jesus Reject the Twisting of God’s Words

3. Followers of Jesus Ask, “What Else Does God Say?”

(Response Card)

(Closing Challenge)

(Response)

(Invite Altar Team)

(Closing Blessing)

Numbers 6:24–26 (ESV)

24 The Lord bless you and keep you.

25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.