The Comfort We Gain From Prophecy

The Comfort We Gain Prophecy

Wow, I don’t know about you but I just love that song

There is something about putting scripture into melody

You know and I hope you like beautiful music

The bible says that angels will be singing

and shouting day and night songs of worship for the Lord

Amen!

You know I chose those songs for a reason,

Because if you pay attention to the words

If you focus on the themes

They all hit on the heart of the Bible message

And that is the Gospel and its prophetic fulfillment

Jesus our Messiah…

Amen

Well good morning or should I say afternoon

So today we are going to be

Picking up were we left off.

If you haven’t realized by now,

I like to teach the Bible

I like to just walk straight through a book

And I think that truly comes from my own life experience

From my own illiteracy in the Word

You know I don’t think

I truly understood the Gospel until I went to seminary

And so for nearly 27 years

I was claiming a badge that I don’t think I truly grasped

So please forgive me, because we are just going to move on down

To the next section of Mark

And we are going to be discussing

Apart of History

Apart of the narrative story

That was so important

That was so impactful

That each Gospel writer included it into their story

And so today in just 12-13 minutes

I want to go over just two points

Two points that I think really embrace what Mark

Is trying to convey

And that is the

Undeniable importance of Prophecy

and

The unique nature of those He calls to be His witness

So please turn with me to Mark 1:1-8

New Living Translation Chapter 1

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.* It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

and he will prepare your way.*

3 He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!

Clear the road for him!’* ”

4 This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

7 John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with* water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

And so lets just open up in prayer real quick

Before we jump into the lesson today let me just

Give you some context

Because I think it really helps the story come to life.

Now first off

For those of us who are Bible nerds

Can anyone tell me, who is John the Baptist in relation to Jesus

His cousin

Now how do we know this?

Its found in the Gospel of Luke where we see

Jesus and John are only separated by a few months

So now think on this,

Small town

Tight family

Jesus and John are probably pretty close

but at the same time they are worlds apart

I mean think on this, John’s father was a priest

And in those days most children followed the family occupation

And so John was in all practicality supposed to be a priest like his father

And yet John is called to something entirely different

You might even call it absolute rebellion

Here you have a guy who is acting like a priest

But at the same time is just doing his own thing

And I mean really think on this

Because John… you’d think would be dressed up all snazzy

You know in his $500 suite and tie

With his perfect cufflinks and looking the part right?

I mean thats what the world expects of him

Am I right?

And yet what we see out of John is something entirely different

Something that would shake things up

Something that would have the entire church gossiping about him

You know and maybe you didn’t put two and two together yet

But realize this…

Johns Dad, Zechariah, was a priest…

So what about his reputation?

Can you imagine what Johns Dad must’ve been thinking

Let alone going through?

I can hear the rumors and the gossip right now

I mean lets just read this real quick…

He was in the wilderness

Not the temple

Not the great big mega church

You know with the $2 million dollar budget

I mean look at the church model we have now days

Everything and I mean everything revolves around money

I mean you look at the protestant churches

You look at the catholic churches

Each and every one of them literally fighting

To see who can get the largest building

Who can have the biggest budget

Who can get the best sounds system

And yet when you look at John

When you see what he is up against

And when you put this in context

John was up against

An entire system that was organized

Controlled buy the government

Was filthy Rich

Pious

and completely disconnected

from the average believer

Talk about mind games

Then He was preaching a sermon of repentance

To pharisees

That believed they never sinned,

That’s the whole point here,

John is telling people from a religious system

Like I had just described

and was screaming at them to repent

How offensive would that be

Have you ever tried to witness to a non-believer?

If you haven’t i encourage you to try it

See how they take it when you call them a sinner

Usually doesn’t go so well.

But

Then to top it all off

He probably looked like a hippy

The Bible says this man wore clothes

That were woven from camel hair

He wore a belt around his waist

And instead of eating a proper diet

The guy lived on a diet of insects and honey

And he is out there by a river

Screaming at the top of his lungs

REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND

Seriously can you wrap your mind around this?

Because when you really start to understand and grasp

What is going on here

It’s just down right ridiculous

I mean why? Why this guy?

God, You couldn’t haven chosen anyone else

Think on this

This the man that was so important

That was so impactful

That was so widely known and followed

That each Gospel writer dedicates

A portion of their Gospel to this man

This is a man who so widely known

That Rome considered him a threat

Who the Sanhedrin, the Israeli government

Sent men to spy on

This is a man where in Luke 7:28 Jesus

Our Lord and Savior

Says this is the greatest man to have ever lived

A man who dresses up in camel hair and eats insects

And this is why the Gospel hits different for so many people

This is what makes the Gospel different

The Gospel says I love you no matter what you look like

I love you no what you’re capable of

I love you because you are… You

Not because of what you can offer

Not because of the talents you have

Or how handsome or beautiful you look

No!

The Gospel says all I want is you

Isn’t that good news

You know I’ll be honest

I grew up in a neighborhood where I wasn’t to popular

My family was quite poor

I mean when you look at it,

I was never the popular kid

Never the one with new clothes

or lots of money

No my parents were poor

To top it off I was skinny as a rail,

and then look at my ears

Can you imagine these ears on someone

that is the same height but about 50lbs lighter

You know I showed LTC Jones a picture of me in basic

And the first thing he said was,

Hey you grew into your ears

But as funny as that may be

And as funny as many our pasts may be

When we were in that moment

The rejection felt real

The hurt was not something out of our imagination

And thats why the message here is so profound

Jesus uses a man like John to be the forerunner

The announcer

The spokesperson

For the greatest story ever told

It’s literally an upside message

Its a message that says

It’s ok, you’re perfect the way you are.

You’re a masterpiece in our Saviors eyes

But at the same time

let me switch it up on you for just a moment

Because that’s also why each Gospel writer

Introduces John the way that they do

And by show of hands how many in here

Are big on prophecy

Or understand the importance of prophecy?

You know I am going to argue

That prophecy is the one thing we have as Christians

That many others don’t have

Because prophecy friends,

Is the validation piece

Its the point of truth that guarantees

validates

and confirms

that what you believe in is real

Prophecy is that part of the Bible that says

There is absolute truth and this is it

I mean did you ever stop to think in your study of this passage

And the others like it

Why did each writer quote this prophecy

Why did each writer ensure that we knew John was the fulfillment

Of this specific passage

Because the Gospel

Is unlike anything you have ever seen or heard before

The Gospel is offensive

It is disgusting

And its ridiculous to those that place all their hope

In the hopes of this world

And that is good news for those of us less fortunate

Its an upside down kingdom

Who is ruled by another man,

Who is greater than John

No more pious than John either

But His promises cut right to the heart

And bring hope

Lets close in prayer.