Gospel Beginnings: Starting the Work of Preaching

-a bunch of business like jargon.… consider your target demographics, conduct surveys, see what other churches are doing, establish your brand, leverage youtube, identify church marketing strategies that fit your budget, etc etc.

The problem with most of our church growth strategies is that they are driven from a very consumeristic mentality. How do I make people comfortable, how do I make them like me, how do I keep them happy and engaged? Without even realizing, most churches especially in America are feeding people’s desires that don’t come from the spirit but from the flesh. We aren’t making radical disciples of Jesus that are going about doing the work of God, engaging in ways that expand the Kingdom of God and growing people deeper in their walks with God. Rather, we are making communities that just get together because they offer good things. We don’t want to offer just good things, we want to require godly things. Because that’s what’s Jesus does require. How would I know what He requires.

Radically different than the way we often think about church growth, Jesus provides us a model of what kingdom and by extension, church growth looks like when He was on earth. It wasn’t an eleborate 27 steps to expand your church plan.… rather it revolved around 3 essential components that continued to be the main thrust of His time here on earth. If Jesus modeled this for us, surely these three ought to take top priority before any other consideration for growth can be thought of. Today, we will focus on the first of His kingdom building ministries on earth.… that of preaching.

Let’s consider now that plan in more detail as we look at these 2 verses from Mark chapter 1. 14-15

Mark 1:14–15 ESV

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

I. The Plan of Preaching (v.14)

Before jump right into this plan, consider again the context of what we have just went thru.… kingly prologue, a royally appointed and foretold messenger, and two absolute astounding events that validated Jesus as that coming divine king. With the presence and affirmation from the Divine trinity at His baptism (coronation day), and a victory over the powerful foe in the harshest environment at His temptation in the wilderness, it was now clear that no one could minimize or ignore what had been so widely seen and heard.

Now keep in mind, what had just taken place.… Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. What does this event precede? His official public ministry. Why is that important? What’s impactful about that?

Considering Jesus ministry life, all those that seek to labor for the sake of the gospel… all those who are engaged in ministry… that’s all of us… must understand the significance of what Jesus’ modeled for us. Before Jesus went on to successful ministry, he first triumphed over temptation. Put it this way… effective ministry is done by those who triumph over temptation. Of course, not in their own strength, but thru the power of the Holy Spirt as Jesus did. What kind of ministry do we expect to have when we talk about the power of God unto salvation but our lives tell an extremely different story. They don’t sing of the power, might, or victory of God, instead they still reek of selfishness, idolatry, pride, envy, unthankfulness, harshness, and hate. The most effective ministries come when we are sent first sent to the testing grounds and see the power of God come forth thru our weaknesses. When life is at a complete loss, we find the strength of God prevail and that’s powerful.

But for some of us, life’s trials and temptations continue to beat us down and we still are struggling to submit our ways to God. In some of those causes, God continues to allow us to be worked by the temptation until we finally see the need to fully submit to Him. So how long will you be tossed around until you are finally willing to submit? True submission to God which is freedom from temptation to sin will always follow in active ministry for the Lord.

Well let’s now continue on to our passage.

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

At least six months had passed since Jesus’ baptism. Following that ministering there and even cleansing the temple (cf.

At least six months or more had passed since Jesus’ baptism and temptation. Following those events, Jesus had been in Judea and passed thru Samaria. John records quite a few of these events that Mark doesn’t include at at.… like the wedding at cana, or Jesus’ cleansing the temple the first time, or his interactions with the woman at the well in Samaria. Why didn’t Mark include any of these?

Look with me again at our passage. Mark begins Jesus’ public ministry with John’s imprisonment. That’s perhaps an important indicator for Mark. Before that Jesus ministry overlaps that of John’s. You can see that in the gospel of John where Jesus’ own disciples interact with John’s. John the Baptist in Mark’s gospel was just part of setting up for Jesus. He was part of the foundation for Jesus’ arrival, but he was not the main focus. It was always on who Jesus was. John’s preparation had ended with his imprisonment, now it was the time for Jesus’ public ministry to begin.

So it’s important to note that Mark was not to give a complete chorological account of Jesus’ life rather to focus on the main things.

And now The time has come… the King has arrived… the long awaited Messiah is here… and how does He usher in His kingdom?

How do other Kings usher in their reign… military conquest.… political upheaval… popular vote

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

The Father’s method of reaching the world in the first century was through the preaching (or proclamation) of the gospel, first by the Lord Jesus.

Of all the ways God chose to bring about His Kingdom on earth, He chose preaching. That seems wildly ridiculous to many… even as the scriptures themselves say....

Preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but to those who believe, it is the POWER OF GOD.

There once was a Methodist preacher from Georgia that said awhile ago.… “God only had one son, and He made Him a preacher. God had one major method, and that was preaching.”

Preaching the gospel of God.

A quick note about this.

The gospel of God is a common New Testament phrase. If we know the scriptures, we understand that the gospel is about the life, death,, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ but it is the gospel of God the Father in that God is the source of it. We rightfully worship Jesus as the hero of mankind, but we equally need to worship the Father as the provider of the hero and the source of the plan.

Preaching where it doesn’t necessarily make sense.

Mark E. The Ministry of the Sacrificial Servant Begins (1:14–15)

Palestine had three major provinces. Galilee was the northernmost province. It contained beautiful lakes, forests, and mountains. Most of Jesus’ ministry was conducted in this province. Jesus embarked on what is called his early Galilean ministry (1:14–3:12).

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

Galilee… , from a first-century Jewish perspective, was regarded as the outskirts, located far from the religious center of Jerusalem.

Why would He start in such an obsolete place.

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

The fact that Jesus launched His ministry in full power in Galilee was in itself a rebuke to the apostasy and corruption that existed in Jerusalem at that time.

So we must understand that simply put, effective church growth strategies must have at the heart of it ministries the proclamation of the Word of God. More and more, our strategies continue to minimize time in God’s Word. More activity, less time in God’s Word. Tell me dear Christian where less time in the Word of God is ever a good thing. Where we would we ever see less time as a good thing. Is less time in daily scripture reading and devotion a good thing? Is less time in prayer a good thing? So why would we think it’s a good thing for the church to spend less time there. Well because people don’t want to hear it for that long. Attention spans are shortening. When should we allow the culture to dictate what is right and wrong, what is good and proper?

Does scripture say… O how I love your law, I spend 5 min a day....

Psalm 119:97 ESV

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

That’s the overwhelming account of scripture.

1 Peter 2:2 NLT

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,

My daughter has never once been just satisfied with one feeding from her mother. But regularly throughout the day, yearns to be feed. Her physical being depends on it. In fact, our very bodies do the same. Long portions of time without food will inevitably cause our stomachs to growl. Our spiritual state also growls. It growls but we feed it the wrong substance. More entertainment, more physical pleasures, more materialistic items. What becomes of a body when it’s poorly fed and fed with vile objects it becomes very sick. Our spiritual selves also receive this when we don’t feed it often and feed it well. That’s why we love the Words of God… the Words of Life. Sweeter than the honeycomb. More desirous than fine gold.

So feast on the goodness of God’s word, yearn for it, make time to sit under it’s ministry throughout the whole week. Prioritize it so much that you make sure nothing else in your calendar interfere’s or causes you to leave early. We dont miss food meals. How much more should we not miss spiritual meals.

Preaching is the plan of God to bring in the Kingdom. It is the simple yet most effective strategy for church growth.

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

Preachers are not called to analyze the culture, give politically charged speeches, or design new gimmicks for persuading the audience. Rather, they are called to proclaim the same message that Jesus Himself preached: the good news of eternal salvation that comes from God.

II. The Proclamations of Preaching (v.15)

The message of the gospel is sweet and simple. You’ll notice that the message of Jesus’ gospel is consistent. It’s straightforward. It’s if I dare say in some sense simple. 3 main elements Jesus’ gospel message includes.

The first two statements in this message concentrate on God’s initiative the third then demands a proper response.

A. “The Time is Fulfilled”

Some have said, we just love a short gospel message because the gospel is simple. The gospel is simple but not simplistic. Simple gives the idea of clarity, easy to understand, not overly complicated. Simplistic however means that it ignores complexity, to the point of being shallow. Details don’t matter.

Well details do matter. And the gospel details matter alot! This Gospel message didn’t come from out of nowhere. Rather, it has a rich history. Full of promises, covenants, foreshadowing, and prophecies so that the arrival of the gospel would be clearly understood. It’s amazing how deep the connections go that point to the gospel message and that’s reflected in this statement.

Though Mark doesn’t take the time that Matthew does to unpack all of this… but Mark does introduce Jesus’ public ministry with the connection to the prophetic announcements of his coming from Isaiah and Malachi.

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

Christ’s announcement that the time is fulfilled indicated that His coming marked the turning point of salvation history. The word time is kairos. It does not refer to clock time or calendar time (like the Greek word chronos does) but speaks of the fixed point in history for an event to occur

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

Jesus’ ministry took place according to God’s sovereign timetable. This was the hour for which the world had long been waiting; it was the most significant moment in earth’s history.

Mark E. The Ministry of the Sacrificial Servant Begins (1:14–15)

Jesus was saying that the critical moment in history had arrived. God was about to act decisively by bringing redemption and restoration to his people through his servant, Jesus.

The Message of Mark (i) ‘The Time Has Come’ (1:15)

All the centuries of preparation and prophecy are reaching their fulfilment. This is a time heavy with eternal significance.

Galatians 4:4 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

1) There was a great anticipation among the Jews of that time that the Messiah would come. The Roman rule over Israel made the Jews hungry for the Messiah’s coming. 2) Rome had unified much of the world under its government, giving a sense of unity to the various lands. Also, because the empire was relatively peaceful, travel was possible, allowing the early Christians to spread the gospel. Such freedom to travel would have been impossible in other eras. 3) While Rome had conquered militarily, Greece had conquered culturally. A “common” form of the Greek language (different from classical Greek) was the trade language and was spoken throughout the empire, making it possible to communicate the gospel to many different people groups through one common language. 4) The fact that the many false idols had failed to give them victory over the Roman conquerors caused many to abandon the worship of those idols. At the same time, in the more “cultured” cities, the Greek philosophy and science of the time left others spiritually empty in the same way that the atheism of communist governments leaves a spiritual void today. 5) The mystery religions of the time emphasized a savior-god and required worshipers to offer bloody sacrifices, thus making the gospel of Christ which involved one ultimate sacrifice believable to them. The Greeks also believed in the immortality of the soul (but not of the body). 6) The Roman army recruited soldiers from among the provinces, introducing these men to Roman culture and to ideas (such as the gospel) that had not reached those outlying provinces yet. The earliest introduction of the gospel to Britain was the result of the efforts of Christian soldiers stationed there.

B. “The Kingdom of God is at hand”

Mark E. The Ministry of the Sacrificial Servant Begins (1:14–15)

The kingdom of God was central to Jesus’ teaching.

Mark E. The Ministry of the Sacrificial Servant Begins (1:14–15)

Many understood the kingdom of God to be the rule of Messiah on earth. This had been promised in the Old Testament (e.g.,

But we need to understand more to this.

The term translated “kingdom” is the Greek word basileia, which means “the realm in which a sovereign king rules.” Throughout the New Testament, the word kingdom consistently refers to the rule of Christ in the hearts of believers, since, for the time being, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world.

John 18:36 ESV

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

So when Jesus said the kingdom of God is at hand. In essence Jesus was saying, “Because I am the King, wherever I am My kingdom is present.”

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

In the present, the kingdom consists of all who embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The King rules over and is resident in the hearts of those who belong to Him. His kingdom advances one soul at a time. It will continue until He returns to establish His earthly reign followed by His eternal reign.

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

The kingdom that Jesus proclaimed ought to be understood in three dimensions: as a spiritual kingdom, a millennial kingdom, and an eternal kingdom. Though it is invisible and spiritual in the present, it will one day be manifest as a physical, earthly kingdom. In His first coming, the King preached the good news of salvation. Consequently, He established His spiritual kingdom in the hearts of all who believe (

Who wouldn’t want to be part of the kingdom? Obviously, Israel thought they were part of this crew, but Jesus once again had an alarming message.

see BKC

C. “Repent and Believe in the Gospel”

Now we get to the final point in Jesus message. The first 2 are God’s initiative. We don’t get to this final point until we understand the origination of the first two. God initiates. In fact,

The Message of Mark c. It Is Always God Who Initiates: We Who Must Respond

The whole of life is based on that fundamental truth. We do not initiate, we respond,

So moving into this final point, we ask....

Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Kingdom Message: His Authority over Sin (1:14–15)

How does a subject of Satan escape that tyrant and enter Christ’s kingdom? Jesus’ answer is simple and straightforward: repent and believe in the gospel.

Repentance and faith (belief) are bound together in one piece (not successive acts).

To “repent” is to turn away from an existing object of trust (oneself).

Charles Spurgeon once commented on this verse…

“To pretend to trust Christ to save you from sin while you are still determined to continue in it is making a mockery of Christ.” - Charles Spurgeon

To “believe” is to commit oneself wholeheartedly to an object of faith.

The Message of Mark (iv) ‘Believe in the Gospel’ (1:15)

belief is more than credence or consent, and actually involves commitment. Certainly this is the implication of ‘believing the good news’, since the good news was that God’s kingdom is coming, and God’s kingdom means God’s rule in the hearts and minds of men and women. One cannot truly ‘believe’ that without commitment.

Sense a real urgency in these statements.… if all of history, all of time, all of eternity was anticipating this very moment right here, and we are living in this moment.… the task then becomes all the more vital. All eyes are on this moment. This is the definitive moment. JESUS REDEEMS! And there’s an urgency for us to get that message out, because the Kingdom’s doors are open now, but won’t be open for long. Time is at hand in the present to spread the good news. The King is here but He will soon shut the gates. Reminds me so much of the righteous Noah, who knew of God’s impending judgment on the world and preached… though none would hear. The judgement that God has in store for the world for rejecting the message of Jesus is far worse, but are we acting like righteous Noah? To be righteous is to love righteousness and share that with the world. Isn’t that what Christ offered. His righteousness though we didn’t deserve it. The more we love righteousness the more we want to share that righteousness with others. We can’t produce it, but we can point them to the one that can.

We love Kingdom benefits.… who wouldn’t… eternal and beautiful home in paradise, blessings from God, someone to answer our prayers, etc, etc, etc… .however most of us miss this point. Kingdom benefits come with Kingdom living. Jesus came to set up Himself as King. Maybe we don’t really understand what that means. It means submission to His way of life. Rule of Christ in the hearts and minds of His people. This cannot be escaped. You claim to love Christ as King and hold back your life in obedience to Him. If you are part of the Kingdom, you serve in the Kingdom. Actively. You give Christ everything.

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