The Beginning--Part 3

We continue our study of Mark chapter 1. So far we’ve seen how Mark set up his gospel, connecting it all the way back to God’s initial act in creation, showing that God’s promises contained in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ. In Christ, God the Father has ushered in, not only a new covenant in Christ, but also new life in Christ. Those who believe in Jesus are new creations, born of the Spirit. This is what Jesus described to Nicodemus when He said that we must be born of the Spirit, and what is meant by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we will see in a little bit.

Last week we considered many scripture passages that described John. Form the words of the angels announcing his birth, from the Holy Spirit inspired words of his parents, we see that John was called by God, set apart by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. John did this by serving God and His people as a prophet, the last and greatest prophet of God, bridging the Old Testament’s prophetic work with the New Testament’s fulfillment. In this, John was the prophet’s prophet.

1. The Prophet's Prophet

As we saw last week, John came dressed in camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. It is well worth our consideration to question why John’s clothing and diet are written down. I mean, would either one of those things trend on social media? Would John be considered an influencer today? Would anyone follow him and emulate him, as his disciples did?

So why does the Bible, why does the Holy Spirit mention these things?

We hear of people today who call themselves prophets. Indeed, a characteristic of many false religions and cults is prophecy. Predicting the end of the world seems to be the prophetic activity. I find it facinating that we are getting the same kind of predictions from secular systems—like climate change, over population, consumerism—all leading to the end of human life on our planet. Just as the cults and the false religions have embarrassingly gotten it wrong each time, all such predictions will be wrong. No one knows when the end will happen, only God does. While such prophesying is flashy, and headline grabbing, it isn’t what prophecy is really about.

When we look at the Old Testament prophets, they spoke on behalf of the Lord God Almighty. They did not speak on their own, and they did not mince their words. They spoke directly and forthrightly. They spoke God’s truth, they didn’t compromise their words, their calling, their character, even if their lives were at stake. They did as the Holy Spirit compelled them to do.

John, by dressing as he did, by eating what he ate, by saying what he said, demonstrated that he was a true prophet of God. The camel’s hair garment that John wore was a sign that he was a true prophet of Israel. He was dressed like one of the most well-known prophets of Israel, Elijah. His style of dress set him apart from all the leaders in Jerusalem, who dressed to look the part, but who served themselves, not God.

God was John’s sole focus. As a Nazirite, set apart for God from birth, abstaining from wine and other strong drink, eating a very restricted diet, John sought to keep himself pure, and focused on his mission, to prepare the way for the Messiah. John deliberately, by the power of the Holy Spirit, lived very differently from the false prophets, and false leaders of his day.

This is in contrast to the so-called prophets of his day, who dressed lavishly, who sought the favour of the people, who manipulated people into giving outrageously, detrimentally, so that they could have the best food, shelter and clothing. The false prophets claimed to declare God’s word, but only proclaimed what the people’s itching ears wanted to hear. They thought of themselves more than God or God’s people.

Such false prophets are around us today. They are known by their lavish lifestyles. They do everything they do, not to please God, but only to be seen by, honoured by, and served by men. Truly, they have their reward in this life, not in the life to come, unless they come to true faith in Jesus Christ.

Do not be captivated by them, either by their lavish lifestyle, or by their message which falsely promises peace, peace, and health and wealth. Listen to the true prophets of God, who found contentment in God, who needed no earthly treasure, for they had already received their heavenly reward, which sustained them through every difficulty. They looked forward to, and put all their hope and trust in the One. Let us also, hold loosely in our hands the things of this earth, and hold tightly to the One.

2. The One

Jesus is the One. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is indeed mightier than John. As a mere human being, John was not worthy to serve him, not even to do the least favoured task, be the least of all the household servants, that of untying the sandals, removing the footwear, and washing the master’s feet. John said this in order to honour the One, the Messiah, the Lord God Almighty.

Jesus is the one according to Philippians 2:6-10 “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,”

I recently read an article about Wayne Gretzky, known among hockey players as “The Great One.” In a 20 year career in the NHL, Wayne accumulated more points (goals and assists) than any other player has or likely will. He did this because he had not only incredible athletic ability, he also possessed a commanding perspective on the ice, not only knowing where the puck was at all times, but nearly unerringly anticipating where it would be.

Jesus, fully God, and fully man, is the One because he perfectly, unerringly, sought and saved the lost. He possessed the ability, by the Holy Spirit, to know the thoughts and the hearts of men. His words were always perfectly ordered, and always got to the heart. He wasn’t afraid of confrontation, He wasn’t afraid of offending anyone. He was so secure in His identity, that He gave no thought to Himself, but rather, was only concerned with doing His Father’s will.

Jesus is the One, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, the shoot, the Almighty God, Wonderful, Counselor, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

3. Baptised with Water

John baptised with water. As I mentioned last week, baptism was a rite that the Jews administered to Gentile converts. That John was baptising Jewish people was both scandalous and significant. John’s was a baptism for the remission of sins. What sins had the people of Israel committed that they needed to be baptised?

The nation of Israel was guilty of following other gods. But what about these people, weren’t they devout Jews? Why did they need to be baptised? In those days, the people lived under a covenant of works. The only way to God, they were taught, was through doing all the right things, by being perfectly obedient to the commandments. There were severe restrictions placed on people so that they could demonstrate, even prove their faith.

This is why so many of the letters written to New Testament churches address this form of works righteousness. It was the method of the day, and remains a method of all cults and false religions. But it was not the way things were set up by God.

In Romans 4:3 we learn, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Abraham first believed, and then he acted, he lived. False teachers were saying, no, you have act, you have to behave, you have to obey, and that will lead to belief.

What John was doing was saying to the people, “Believe God’s promises. Your sins are forgiven by God. God does this, you cannot. Believe and be baptised, let the water of baptism symbolise the washing away of sins. This would make sense to a Jewish audience. Water was used for ceremonial cleansing before the tabernacle and the temple. This was the bath, or the sea in the description of the tabernacle. God provided many laws regarding mildew, and dirt, and blood, and bodily issues, and so on. All this was to address cleanliness. Those who are outwardly clean had healthy bodies. Those who kept their homes and clothes, and dishes clean were kept healthy. All this pointed to the need to be clean and pure before God, by God. The whole teaching of the law points to God being the one who cleanses!

The Pharisees, the scribes, the leaders, the priests before God, weren’t all as concerned with such matters. They proscribed the cleansing of hands, and the outward washing of bowls and utensils, but they failed to address the heart. Jesus called them out in Matthew 23:25 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.” And in Luke 11:39 “Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.”

In all the commands of God is a dual purpose—we keep our bodies clean, our cups, our belongings clean so as to remember to keep our minds and our hearts clean. All the commandments were to keep Israel thinking about God, and finding true life in Him.

It was necessary for the Jews to be baptised in order to be washed away of all their outward sins. In John’s baptism, we see people turning from their wicked, ignorant, willful disobedient ways, repenting, confessing, believing that their sins are forgiven, turning to God to believing in His love, mercy, grace, and salvation. This was a powerful moment in history. A moment that John could have capitalized to make much of himself. But he humbly proclaimed, “I indeed baptised you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.

4. Baptised with the Holy Spirit

What did we witness this morning? Cool how God worked everything out that today’s sermon would be on baptism on the day that Michael was baptised. We consider also Dean’sand Everly’s baptism, your baptism, and my baptism. Let each of us consider God’s teaching concerning the sign of His grace in baptism.

Though we use water in baptism, it is not only for the washing away of sins, or the remission of sins. It is also symbolic of the dying to sin, and oneself, and being raised to new life in Christ.

This is what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3:5-8).

And it is necessary to continue what Jesus says to Nicodemus: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (Jn 3:12-17).

By faith, Herman and Hannah, Peter and Hannah, Jake and Linda, have baptised their children this year. By faith, they trust that the same Holy Spirit who was in John, already in the womb, is in Dean, Everly and Michael, because they believe God’s promise is for them, and for their children. This is why, they, together with all of us, will do all we can to train them up in the faith—so that they will repent of their sin, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and live by faith in Him.

We baptise infants as well as those older who haven’t received the sacrament of baptism, because confession, repentance, faith are all works first of the Holy Spirit.

Psalms 139 & 51 beautifully describe the Holy Spirit’s work. Psalm 139:23-24 we read, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” King David couldn’t have concluded this Psalm without the Holy Spirit first acting in him as indicated in verses 1-4 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

In the same way, the Holy Spirit, through the prophet Nathan convicted David of his sin with Bathsheba, which prompted him to pray Psalm 51:1-2 “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.”

That’s what we believe concerning baptism. Ours is a baptism of the Holy Spirit, administered when we are as helpless as infants. In truth, we are worse off than that, for we acknowledge we are born dead in our trespasses and sins, but made alive in Christ in the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Just one last point, our trust is not in me, and in my administration of the water of baptism, it is in the Holy Spirit who is at work in Jake and Linda and all of us, as we humbly come ourselves, with our children for salvation in Christ Jesus alone. Amen.