Mark 1:1-8

MIM: Sending Jesus was always God’s plan from the start. Jesus was there with God at the beginning, He is the Son of God and He is God.

Good evening church family! If you are visiting with us, welcome to FBC! It is a privilege to be back up here tonight, to be able to share with you all what I have learned through the studying of tonight's text, and what the Holy Spirit has put on my heart.

Knowing that God doesn’t need any of us, but that He desires a relationship with us. He wants to use each of us, if we are willing to step out on faith and trust in Him to do what He is asking us to do.

We are done with the Book of Daniel, and we will be starting in the Gospel of Mark tonight.

I’ll have just two points for you.

1: Prophecies fulfilled (1-6)

&

2: Jesus’ Diety(7-8)

The Gospel of Mark is believed to be the earliest of the Gospels. The first written account of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Few dispute this.

It is believed to be written in the early 60s A.D., though some claim that it could have been written even in the late 50s. Scholars state that they believe that Luke and Matthew used the Gospel of Mark as a foundation, so to speak, in their own written accounts.

So, first of all, who was Mark? He wasn’t one the 12 disciples of Jesus. In fact his name doesn’t even come up until Acts chapter 12, at least 4 years after Christ’s ascension. Mark is mentioned 10 times in the New Testament, sometimes referred to as John Mark, sometimes translated John who was called Mark. In my version in at least one verse it just says John. That’s one reason why it’s so important to dive into scripture, and compare translations.

In Acts chapter 12 Peter is rescued from Herod on the night he was to be executed by an angel. And Peter goes to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Scripture says that many were there praying. This was an early church, that was meeting in Mark’s house.

Mark was a disciple of Peter. Now Scripture doesn’t tell us if Mark was already a disciple of Peter at this time, but Peter obviously knew that the church was meeting there. Mark and Peter already knew each other. They had a relationship with one another. In fact Peter refers to Mark as his son in

1 Peter chapter 5.

This is the same Mark that accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their missionary journeys in both Acts 12 and 13. But in chapter 13 Scripture tells us that Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem.

Scripture doesn’t tell us why, but Paul didn’t take that decision lightly. Whatever the reason was, Paul didn’t want to take Mark with them in Chapter 15. In fact Paul uses the words: Mark had deserted them and not gone with them to do the work.

This caused a disagreement between Barnabas and Paul and they end up splitting and Paul takes Silas, and Barnabas takes Mark. I am sure that part of the reason Barnabas sides with Mark is that they are related. Some translations say they are cousins, some say Mark is Barnabas’ nephew, or sister’s son, to be exact.

Either way, this is the last we hear about Mark for about 10 years. This split occurred in about 50 AD and Paul writes to the church in Colossae in about 60 AD where he writes: “Aristarchus,(Are-ist-a-cahs) my fellow prisoner, greets you, as does Mark, whom you have received instruction; if he comes to you, welcome him.” and he mentions Mark in his letter to Philemon as well about the same time.

And then Mark is mentioned once more by Paul after another 5 years passes in his second Pastoral Epistle to Timothy where he writes: “Make every effort to come to me soon.” and “bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry.”

We are never told how this reconciliation between Mark and Paul happened or when, but it is great to know that God can and does mend broken relationships within the family of believers.

Before we get into the Gospel of Mark, I also wanted to point out how each Gospel tells of the same account, but how they differ in writing styles. .Matthew tends to present Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies,

Luke leans toward how Jesus is the Savior for all people and the message of salvation to Jews and Gentiles alike,

John presents Jesus as the divine Word made flesh, His divine nature, and eternal life to those who believe in Him.

Mark focuses on Jesus as the Son of God, His authority, and how He is also humble, servant-like, and committed to the cross. Towards the end of his Gospel writing he even quotes the centurion as saying: “Truly this Man was the Son of God” in Mark 15:39.

Steven has mentioned before how you can see the personalities of the Gospel writers coming out in their written accounts. Like where John happens to mention how he outran Peter to the empty tomb. And I have heard from many of you speak about how you see a difference in the way each member of the preaching team has a different style up here at the pulpit.

Well, Mark is no different. If you pay close attention…. Mark, being a disciple of Peter, mentions Peter more than any other Gospel writer, and he leaves out the fact that Peter started to sink after having just walked on water.

James Warner Walace wrote a book called Cold Case Christianity where he goes into detail about how these differences in the Gospel records further proves that they are reliable eyewitness testimonies. We aren’t going to get into that tonight, but if that is something that interests you, I highly recommend that book.

But, moving on, and showing how Mark focuses on Jesus as the Son of God and His authority, he starts his Gospel writing with “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Speaking of how Mark starts….. Let’s stand if you're able, and I'll read our text, then I’ll open us up in prayer.

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Look I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way. A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord: make His paths straight!”

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. He was preaching: Someone more powerful than I will come after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Thank you, you may be seated.

**Prayer**

1: Prophecies fulfilled (1-6)

So, point number one: Prophecies fulfilled.

Mark started out by stating that he was recording the Good News, the Gospel, the euangelion(yoo-ang-GHEL-ee-on) in the Greek, about Jesus Christ, and affirms His Deity as the Son of God. The word euangelion(yoo-ang-GHEL-ee-on) was a word used outside of Scripture as well. It simply meant “victory”. It was used when the troops came home from a victorious battle.

It is used in the New Testament, of course, to describe the Good News of Jesus Christ who was victorious over death.

So, “In the beginning of the Gospel,....(count to 3)....... the beginning of the Good News…(count to 3).... Where do we start? At Jesus’ birth?..... No! …… We start by looking at prophecies in the Old Testament……. Because Jesus is all through the Old Testament…… Because He was NOT plan B. He was NOT just sent one day when God saw where the world ended up.

We start in the Old Testament because this was always God’s plan. Mark then proceeds to remind his audience of prophecies from Malachi and Isaiah. Prophecies of a Herald to come and announce the Messiah. A Herald is the one you see in movies and cartoons….. Hear Ye, Hear Ye. The King is coming. He was the forerunner.

But who is this Herald, John the Baptist, and what is he announcing? We see in Mark: Look I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way and “a voice crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord: make His paths straight!”

But the original audience would have more than likely recalled all the scripture around these two verses. And to keep in context we should look at them as well.

So, in Malachi, starting at the end of chapter 2 we read: “You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” When you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the LORD’s sight, and He is pleased with them”, or Where is the God of justice? See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire - see, He is coming.” “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and purifier of silver.”

And in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3: “A voice crying out in the wilderness; Prepare the way for the LORD; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.” Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth and the rough places a plain. And in verse 9: Zion, herald of good news, go up on a high mountain. Jerusalem, herald of good news, raise your voice loudly. Raise it, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God!”

Both of these prophecies include making the highway for the King smooth. Filling in potholes. It takes work and time. And that is what John was proclaiming. It was a visual representation of what was to take place in the hearts of the people. Prepare your hearts for the coming Messiah. Spurgeon once said: “if you are seeking the Lord, you are seeking a fire which will test you, and consume much which has been dear to you. If you are enabled by faith to take Christ as your Savior, remember you take Him as the purger and purifier.

But we can rest knowing that He will do the work in us. Yes we need to prepare our hearts by repenting, He will do the work of sanctification.

Look back at Malachi 3 for a moment with me. My version says that He will be like a refiner’s fire and purifier of silver. The ESV, the NIV, the KJV, and others do a better job of translating the original Greek text. If you have one of those versions, it says “He will SIT as a refiner”. It is to give the impression that He(Jesus, the Holy Spirit) will remain, or stay, to dwell or inhabit. He will purify….. in a seated position because He is patiently clearing the dross off the silver till He can see His reflection in us.

This is what the refining of silver means. The silversmith heats up the silver and clears the impurities, the dross, off the silver until he can see his reflection in the silver. And it is the same with us and Christ. He convicts us through the Holy Spirit, sanctifying us, clearing sin from our lives, until He can see Himself when He looks at us. This is time consuming, in fact we will forever continue to undergo this process this side of heaven.

Now that we have examined the Old Testament prophecies, we can move on. Verse 4: And so, John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And verse 6: John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.”

John came baptizing in the wilderness. He most likely lived west of the Dead Sea near Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and where the Essene communities lived. They were a very strict community, even stricter than the Pharisees, holding to old testament law. But THEY SECLUDED themselves from others and it was a long process to enter into their community.

JOHN was publicly proclaiming others to come and be baptized by him as a precursor to the ministry of Jesus. Baptisms were common amongst the Jewish people, but it was more for Gentiles who wanted to become Jews. For a Jewish person to be baptized was basically saying he was as far from God as a Gentile.

John resembled Elijah with the camel hair and leather belt. We see this in 2 Kings 1:8. I say resembled because scripture does not definitively say that Elijah wore camel hair, just a garment of hair ( or hairy garment). And it was known that Elijah had not died, and many thought that Elijah would return to announce the end times, this is why in the Gospel of John priests and Levites were sent to question John the Baptist and ask him; “Are you Elijah?”

One other thing about this verse is his diet. It is consistent with old testament law from Leviticus 11:22, where it is written: “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron animals they may eat. “You may eat these: any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, and grasshopper. All other winged insects that have four feet are to be abhorrent to you.”

(Illustration)

I know I may be talking to more of the women here tonight than the men with this illustration, but hear me out. I was thinking of John the Baptist calling people to repentance. Clearing the road. Filling in all the potholes. Making the road straight. As I mentioned this was to make sure the hearts of the people were ready to hear what Jesus had to say.

I thought of weddings, baby showers, and bridal showers, and weddings. How much time is invested in the planning, organizing, and decorating. All the invitations that are sent out. Please come share in the good news this couple. Join us in celebrating the next step in their life together, in their relationship with one another.

(application)

Do we put that much effort into ourselves with our relationship with Christ? Do we put that much effort into discipling those we are having conversations with? Sharing with them the whole counsel of God. All of God’s Word?

Prepare your hearts. Repent! Change your direction! Don’t take this relationship for granted. Tell them. This is serious! If they don’t know Christ as their Savior, then they are destined for a place the Bible calls “the lake of fire” ….. for eternity!! We put so much effort into inviting people to worldly things, before we invite them to enter into a relationship with the ONLY One who can save them an eternity of pain and anguish,..... gnashing of teeth, Scripture says.

I recently heard the illustration of the Holy Spirit being like a pilot light in the furnace. It’s there. It is glowing. It gives off some heat too, I’m sure. But when we are in His Word, sharing His truths, discipling others, stepping out on faith, and living out His plan for us, building that relationship with Him….

it’s like turning up the thermostat, and hearing all the jets light up and blow heat, you know when the furnace makes that “whew!!” sound.

At the conference I attended last week, the speaker Richard Pratt described it this way: The Holy Spirit is like the engine under the hood of the car. It’s the power that isn’t visible from the outside. Why don’t we tell people about the power we have inside of us as often as we should?

Remember, Jesus is God. He knows our hearts.

Mark goes on to describe how John proclaimed Christ’s deity in the next couple verses.

Which brings us to our second point

2: Jesus’ Diety(7-8)

In the last two verses, Mark shows us how John the Baptist described Jesus. As the One who he was not worthy to untie the straps and His sandals, and how Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit instead of water.

In these days Rabbis taught that a teacher might ask just about anything of one of their students, except to untie or take off their sandals. This was reserved for the “bottom of the barrel” slaves. And John says that he is even beneath THAT slave when it comes to Jesus. He is not worthy to do the most menial task for the Teacher, the Messiah.

And the description of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit…..

It was prophesied that God would be the One to pour out His Spirit. In Isaiah 44 we read: “This is the Word of the LORD your Maker who shaped you from birth” and in verse 3 we read: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants.”

In Ezekiel 36:26-27 we read: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.” Later in Ezekiel in chapter 39 verse 29 we read: “I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel. This is the declaration of the Lord God.”

And in the first part of Joel 2:28 we read again:

“After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;”

I know I am referencing a lot of Old Testament verses here, but it is important to see that the Old Testament prophesied that GOD will send out His Spirit. And John the Baptist says that JESUS will baptize people in the Holy Spirit. This was to show the DEITY of Christ. This is important to see and understand. The original audience, both the people that John was talking to and baptizing, and the original audience reading the Gospel of Mark, would have understood that Jesus was in fact God Himself and also the Son of God which he starts this chapter with.

Now that we looked at some Old Testament Scripture about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, let’s look at what the New Testament says about it. In between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension, while He is with the disciples, He says this: “This He said, is what you heard from Me, for John baptized with water, but you will baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” and “But you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(Acts 1:5&8).

And then in Acts 11 we hear of Peter’s account, explaining to his brothers in Christ and the apostles, how he witnessed the Holy Spirit descend on Gentiles. Let’s read Acts 11:15-17: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the Word of the Lord, how He said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if God gave them the SAME gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; how could I possibly hinder God?”

And one more reference of importance is found in Acts 19 when Paul is in Ephesus. Scripture says that he found some disciples and asked them ”Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No, they told him, we haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit.” “Then with what baptism were you baptized? he asked them.” “With John’s baptism, they replied.” “Paul said John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.” “On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit came on them.”

(Illustration)

So let’s spend some time exploring what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Well, if you were with us at the Dine’s for the Sunrise Service Easter morning, you have heard this already.

But the word “baptized” means to be immersed, or submerged. But there is another Greek word used throughout Scripture that also means to immerse or submerge. There is a difference between the two though. And God inspired this particular word used for “baptized” for a reason.

The one word is Bapto the other is Baptizo. We used an example of a pickle recipe from 200 B.C. to illustrate the difference between the two. When you Bapto the cucumber in water, you submerge it, immerse it, to clean it…..but you pull out the same old cucumber that went into the water.

When you baptizo the cucumber in the vinegar solution, it undergoes a change, a permanent change. The pickling process involves a chemical reaction that alters the cucumber's structure. The vinegar penetrates its cells through osmosis changing the cellular structure. Have any of you ever tried to Un-pickle a pickle, turn it back into a cucumber? You can’t. It’s impossible.

Paul goes into detail about “New Creation” in Romans 6. We are going to touch on a couple verses from this chapter, starting in verse 3. “Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized(baptizo’d) in Christ Jesus were baptized(baptizo’d) into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a newness of life.

For we have been joined, or united, with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sins’ dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who had died is freed from sin’s claims.

Just a side note here, that word “newness” when it says we may walk in the newness of life, the definition of that word is: “in the new state of life in which the Holy Spirit places us so as to produce a new state which is eternal life.” It is only used twice in the New Testament, both in Romans. It is specific to what the Holy Spirit does in us when we accept Christ as our Savior.

(Application)

If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, then we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Forever changed!! Baptizo’d. Undergone a permanent change!! It is unlike John’s Baptism as we have seen, and it is unlike the baptisms we perform here in the baptismal, which is a command, we should do that. That is being obedient to God’s Word, I am not undermining that.

But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the vinegar solution that turns you into a pickle instead of a cucumber, so to speak. That is what Paul is referring to in Ephesians when he says: “.....in Him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.”

Have you undergone a change? Are you different from who you used to be? Are you living a life in the direction of obedience? Are you a New Creation? If not then maybe you have only been bapto'd, and not baptizo'd.

Paul Washer was giving a sermon about temptation, particularly Sexual Immorality, but he said that he was tired of hearing people say they fall into temptation because they are weak. He said if you are a believer then you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. You are NOT weak!.

And the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Cor 6 that: “Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”

(closing)

In closing I want you to understand that Jesus was always Plan A. Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled to show us the sovereignty of God. Both by Jesus and by others, like John the Baptist, to show us that God is in control. He knows what is going to happen. We have seen God use John the Baptist to prepare the hearts of people for the arrival of our one true Savior.

Even as we look at the author, Mark, we see how God used him and that broken relationship between him and Paul, to bring about a mended friendship. One where Paul pleads to see Mark again because he is useful to the ministry.

We see the promise of the Holy Spirit, and how He is going to forever change those who accept Him as Savior. And if that’s something you have never done, I encourage you to do that today. Scripture tells us that we are all sinners, and that there is nothing we can do about our sin on our own. That is the bad and worse news of the Gospel.

But Jesus came and died for our sins. He came and lived a life that we cannot, and died a death we all deserve. So that he can offer us this free gift of the Holy Spirit that is mentioned here is verse eight. That is the good and best news, Jesus died for us! And the gift of salvation is FREE to those who accept Him as their Savior.

I thought we might close with the Meaning in the Message tonight. To really emphasize that: sending Jesus was always God’s plan from the start. Jesus was there with God at the beginning, He is the Son of God and He IS God.

Let us Pray