Mark Sermon Week 4

Isaiah 61:1–5 CSB

The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

Intro/Welcome

Liberation from Concentration Camps

If you read the History of WWII you will read about various times when allied forces came across Nazi Concentration camps

they would liberate all these people that had been experiencing hell on earth.

They may have prayed and hope that God would rescue them, many lost hope.

Those hopes were realized when the Allied forces came and unlocked the gates and set them free.

It wasn’t just hoping or hearing about allied victories

it was the action of them showing up and freeing them.

It is the same with us and the Kingdom of God

We may hear about the Kingdom but until we experience it’s power it will just be a hope.

Jesus came announcing that the Kingdom of God was at Hand.

Mark 1:15 (CSB)

15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

What does the Kingdom of God at hand look like?

The Kingdom of God involves:

Declarations about the Kingdom of God

Demonstrations of Authority and Power

The calling of Disciples

What I want us to see today is that:

Jesus power wasn’t just for His day but for Our day

The Kingdom of God is not just for their day but for ours.

The Kingdom of God is here in our midst, amongst us

Many of us don’t see or haven’t experienced it’

Romans 14:17 CSB

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

spiritual blindness (we have not yet followed Jesus)

hard-heartedness (due to past wounds or disappointments)

or just willful disobedience

But The good news of the Kingdom of God is Here in Christ

and it is just as powerful and present today as it was when Jesus walked the earth.

Bible

We’ll be in Mark 1:21-38.

Go there in your bibles

My name is Justin one of pastors

Welcome you all and online

Let’s pray

Pray

marvel at Jesus

The Teacher

Jesus has just called these men to leave everything and follow Him

They have no idea what they are about to experience.

Kingdom Power

Mark 1:21–22 (CSB)

21 They went into Capernaum, and right away (immediately) he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 22 They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes

[MAP]

It was a common practice for visiting teachers to be invited to read the Scripture and/or speak, a custom from which Paul as well as Jesus benefited.

That Jesus was invited to speak indicates he had already established a reputation as a teacher and that this was not one of the first events in his ministry.

So he begins teaching, and people were astonished

Why? b/c he taught with authority.

Do you wonder what he was teaching them that provoked this response?

Mark, of all the gospel accounts, has the least amount of teaching, by far.

It is a gospel of Jesus doing things.

Thankfully we have the other gospel accounts to shed light on this.

Sermon on the Mount?

He could have been teachings parts of the Sermon on the Mount

where he says things like

“You have heard it said…but I say”

Matt 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment...”

Matthew 5:27–28 (CSB)

27 “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

That’s Authority

Best of Isaiah Series?

It Luke 4, we see that Jesus teaches in the synagogue in Nazareth “his best of Isaiah” series — and they tried to kill him.

Let’s assume he’s teaching his ‘best of Isaiah’ series.

Luke 4:17–21 (CSB)

17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to

proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set free the oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

That’s an incredible thing to say.

People would be astonished at this.

Declaring the Kingdom of God

It’s a declaration about the Kingdom of God

“The Spirit if upon me”

Two weeks ago his baptism

anointing

“To Preach the Gospel to the poor”

lit. to “evangelize the poor”

everything Jesus did was to evangelize — to bring good news

It’s why we care about Evangelizing

come and join our 3 week class that starts today

It was important to Jesus and it’s important to us.

Sent to:

proclaim — herald (diff. verb than preach)

release or freedom to the captives

physically sometimes,

spiritually, absolutely

recovering of sight to the blind

physically, some times

spiritually absolutely

to liberate the oppressed

he’s going to actually free the captives

he doesn’t just proclaim it, he will accomplish it

proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

God’s grace to sinners.

This is what the Kingdom of God looks like

Then he announces that this scripture is fulfilled in Him.

an incredible thing to say

And then what happens?

A demon possessed man starts speaking

The Liberator

Mark 1:23–28 (CSB)

23 Just then (immediately) a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out,

24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

25 Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

26 And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

27 They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.

Ok, let’s just take a minute to appreciate what happens

Jesus is teaching in the SYNAGOGUE

and someone starts screaming out at Him in the middle of his teaching.

Let’s say we had this guest preacher coming in here

and halfway through his sermon

someone stands up and starts shouting back at him.

The preacher, undeterred looks right at the man and says

“BE SILENT AND COME OUT OF HIM”

The man throws himself on the floor and starts convulsing and shouting with loud voices and goes dead silent and still.

sits up, in his right mind as if nothing happened.

What a day at church right?

This is what happened that day.

What would be your response?

amazement? fear? rejoicing?

Look at theirs:

Mark 1:27–28 (CSB)

27 They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other,

“What is this? A new teaching with authority!

He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

28 At once (immediately) the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.

They were amazed, astonished

Jesus is demonstrating his authority and power over the demonic realm

the Kingdom of Darkness

The man

Think about this man

he has been under demonic influence for who knows how long

He has experienced a complete transformation that day

He had a name, maybe a family

he would come home a new man.

This is the Kingdom of God at hand.

Their Response

Everyone else was amazed

They went and told their friends

Posted on facebook and instagram

you’ll never believe what happened at church today.

So Jesus’ fame begins to spread.

So the disciples say let’s get out of here.

The Healer

Mark 1:29–31 (CSB)

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

So they head over to Peter’s house

Turns out Peter’s mother in law was sick

Peter was married

Jesus goes an heals her right then and there

She gets up and starts to serve them

maybe that was the only way they were getting dinner

So again, let’s appreciate what has happened.

Do you know anyone who can heal people simply by touching them?

We have a multi-billion dollar medical industry

Jesus might be a threat to that

We get sick, we go to the doctor, get prescribed medication and stay home until we are better.

Jesus just shows up and heals her.

What is he doing?

He’s demonstrating his authority and power over disease

he has just done it over the demonic

now over disease.

This is the Kingdom of God at hand

Who is this man?

What are the disciples thinking at this point?

Who is this man?

a question that becomes increasing urgent throughout the book of Mark.

In fact, it won’t be until 8 chapters later, the halfway point of the book

that Peter makes his famous confession that Jesus is the messiah.

Who is this person who exhibits this kind of power?

by dinner time that night the rest of the town had heard what happened.

They show up at Peter’s house.

Ministering to the Multitudes

Mark 1:32–34 (CSB)

32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Now, I love people’s response to Jesus

they bring people to Him

what a great example for us

we don’t save people, but we can bring them to the one who can

They experienced his power and go and tells others

they realize that He is something special

someone with real power and authority

Who knows what these people were into before, but they turn away from their false remedies and turn to the true healer and liberator

And he heals many and drives out many demons

probably late into the night.

This is what the Kingdom of God at hand looks like

growing crowds in response to Jesus.

The Kingdom of God Today

Healing Today

Did you know that some people experience healing today?

There are people in this Church that have experienced supernatural healing from God

You don’t have to look too hard to find some of these stories

We should ask for healing today

Not demand healing

Not all will be healed — Jesus didn’t heal everyone

But some will

through the Ordinary and extraordinary

And all will in the New Heavens and New Earth

Those who have never walked will run freely

Those who have never seen will see the glory of the heavens

Those who struggled with anxiety and depression will experience inexpressible joy

In Christ.

Spiritual Warfare Today

Satan and demons are active today

They are less likely to show up in some bizarre manifestation

and more likely to show up in a facebook post or instagram post that distracts you from bible reading

or the myriad of lies we believe about God, ourselves and others.

But Jesus is still in charge, just as much today as he was then.

When we are in Jesus we have the power to expose the lies with truth

and later we’ll see even the demons are subject to those who bear the name of Christ.

We have the King of the Universe on our side

through the Ordinary and extraordinary

The Kingdom of God is just as present today as it was then.

Gospel Message

We can enter the Kingdom of God b/c of the death of the King.

Isa “by his wounds we are healed”

Jesus took on himself our infirmities, our sickness, our sin, our oppression all onto himself unto death

that we might live

that we might experience resurrection just as he did

This is where the power of the Kingdom comes from

it’s not form you or I, we don’t have the power to save ourselves or anyone else

but we can point them to the One who can.

Commanding Silence

notice he commands the demons to be silent

later he tells those whom heals to remain silent as well

This is what is known as the ‘Messianic Secret’ in Mark

It shows up a number of times.

He silences demons who try to announce his identity (Mark 1:24–25, 34; 3:11–12; 5:7);

he insists that his miracles be kept quiet (Mark 1:44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26);

and he warns his disciples to tell no one that he is the Messiah (Mark 8:30; 9:9) (Strauss)

Why would Jesus do that?

Doesn’t he want people to know who he is?

He does, but he wants it on his terms

not the crowds and certainly not the demons.

Once people see that he is the Promised Messiah they will try to make him into the messiah in their image

as a conquering King

rather than a suffering Servant.

Jesus proclaims a victory through death

people didn’t have categories for that.

Jesus will dictate the terms on which his messiahship is revealed.

ultimately through the Cross.

Jesus in our Image

Often we want to make a Jesus according to our designs and desires

Peter would fall prey to this later

We want to cast a Jesus in our image

but rather we are to be cast into the image of Jesus.

now his popularity is already growing.

Gifts rather than the Giver

he also wants people not to come to God for what God can give them

but rather becuase of who God is

something that happens so easily

in our lives as well.

what we read next is so amazing.

Jesus Prays

Mark 1:35 (CSB)

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.

Who knows how late Jesus was up healing and exorcising demons

He was a busy man

But what he needed more than sleep,

was time with his Father

so he goes to be with God in a deserted place (the eiramos)

The Practice of Silence and Solitude

Here is the great man of power and authority, growing in popularity

praying silently by himself.

Some of you are busy, right?

are you busier than Jesus?

› what happens is prayer becomes our first to go rather than our first go to

Jesus prayed often

This is what the Kingdom of God at hand looks like.

A kingdom life is a life of prayer.

do you lack power? vision? purpose? hope? are you anxious, tired? strung out? prone to addictions?

Don’t let prayer the first to go, but your first go to.

Jesus prayed often

Some of you will do great things

you will rise in popularity

perhaps you will be sought out

you will be tempted with pride

Will you respond as Jesus did?

will you depart to an isolated place to be with God

praying against temptation

praying against pride

praying that God’s will be done on earth at it is in heaven

praying ‘thy will’ not ‘my will’ be done

Prayer was such a central and important part of Jesus life and ministry

Night of Prayer

Since it was important to Jesus it is important to us

So going along side of our evangelism class

We will be praying

Join us for a night of prayer Friday 10/15 at the office

We are going to gather and pray for a few hours.

Sunday morning prayer

See, prayer can be taught, and Jesus does teach them to pray

but he also prays and calls them to follow Him in this as well.

Prayer may be better caught than taught.

some come join us in praying.

This is how the disciples find Jesus

Mark 1:36–38 (CSB)

36 Simon and his companions searched for him, 37 and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”

Jesus is growing in popularity

the crowds are looking for Him

they think this is going pretty well!

Jesus’ response?

time to go

this is what prayer does, clarifies

others must know as well.

I have come to Preach — “this is why I have come”

After praying with the Father — Jesus is clear on his mission

he has come to preach the Kingdom of God.

He doesn’t get comfortable, he doesn’t bask in the praise

He follows God’s mission for his life.

This is what the Kingdom of God looks like

It is a ‘going’ to the nations — all peoples

Declaring the Kingdom of God through Preaching and Teaching

Demonstration of the power of the Kingdom of God over the demonic and disease

and the calling of more disciples.

This is the Pattern of the Kingdom and the Power of the King

Closing: Earthly and Heavenly Authority

These disciples needed to see Jesus in action so that they could believe

That he was not a man of words only, but of action

This is what the the Gospel of Mark specializes in

Don’t we need this too?

That we have a God who acts?

They had left everything to follow Him

and they were not disappointed

They saw his power first hand.

and the wrote it down so that we could see it also.

The disciples needed to see that this Hope in Jesus was a reality

that they could place their Hope in Him.

But even more so, Jesus demonstrates authority and power over earthy things

which demonstrates his power over heavenly things.

It was he says to Nicodemus

John 3:12 (CSB)

12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

It means that Jesus has authority to perform not just physical miracles, but spiritual miracles.

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

and has the power to make dead people alive

to forgive sin and reconcile back to God

Call to Faith

Some of you need to come to Jesus for the first time.

and to follow Him.

The gospels show you the power and authority of Jesus

and especially his compassion.

How can I enter this kind of Kingdom?

The King died so that you could enter into the Kingdom

a new life, reconciled to God and others

forgiven of sin

empowered by the Holy Spirit

For Followers of Jesus

For those who follow Jesus let me ask you this:

Where is the Kingdom of God at hand today? Where in your life?

Is Jesus less powerful today?

is he less active?

Jesus still has power and authority over the demonic

we can ask Him to liberate us

Jesus still has the power to Heal

and he heals today

we can ask Him for it

We may be healed in this life, but we KNOW all will be healed and totally free in the New Heavens and the New Earth in Rev

We can be the kinds of people that spread the news about Jesus

you and I don’t save People

but we can bring the to the One who can.

Where is the Kingdom of God in your life?

3 Points of Application

Pray like Jesus

in your prayer — come learn to pray by praying

Pray for healing

Pray for truth over the lies

come and learn to pray

night of prayer

sun day morning

In a group

Parents:

your families are little outposts in the kingdom of God

Pray over your kids

pray for their healing

pray for spiritual safety

Young Professionals

Whose kingdom are you building?

praying for humility, for God’s will in your life

pray against the lies you may hear

preach Like Jesus

through evangelizing — come learn how to share your faith

Go and tell others “come and see”

He has the power to save, we do not.

come to our class and learn how and why

Parents:

Share the gospel with them

demonstrate it with your life

through repentance and teaching.

Young Professional

Are you working for God’s glory?

seeing what you do as part of his kingdom

also the opportunity to declare and demonstrate the gospel

through how you work

and through conversations you may have

let Jesus be Jesus

in letting Jesus be Jesus on His terms not yours

as Jesus not cast in our image,

but we are being cast into His.

The kingdom of god us at hand, lets live like that’s true

Let’s Pray