WEBVTT 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.540 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.720 podcast, Ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone Church 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.400 in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan Merrick, 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:14.560 and it's our prayer that this message strengthens 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.539 your faith and draws you closer to Christ. Let's 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:22.000 dive in. All right. Good to see everybody. Thank 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:27.219 you. Good to see everybody. If you would turn 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:29.660 with me to the Book of Mark as we are going to 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:34.090 start unpacking this wonderful gospel. This is 00:00:34.090 --> 00:00:37.310 your first time. Welcome. My name is Logan. I 00:00:37.310 --> 00:00:40.030 get the awesome opportunity to pastor and shepherd 00:00:40.030 --> 00:00:44.789 this local congregation. If you guys would take 00:00:44.789 --> 00:00:50.590 a look around as you're turning. And if there's 00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:54.030 somebody here that's typically here, that's not 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:57.350 here, take note of it and just send them a text 00:00:57.350 --> 00:00:58.929 and let them know that you missed them today. 00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:03.909 The funk is going around. And so. We just want 00:01:03.909 --> 00:01:05.569 them to know that they're loved and they're missed. 00:01:05.909 --> 00:01:08.650 And so it's not beating them over the head saying, 00:01:09.109 --> 00:01:12.730 you weren't at church. Why? It's, hey, we missed 00:01:12.730 --> 00:01:17.390 you. So if you would just do that and just let 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:22.370 them know. All right. If you need a Bible, we've 00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:24.310 got some in the back. Would love for you to take 00:01:24.310 --> 00:01:28.010 one. If you do not have one, it's our gift to 00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:33.230 you after being in. the Minor Prophets for all 00:01:33.230 --> 00:01:35.170 those weeks. I have to tell you, putting the 00:01:35.170 --> 00:01:39.329 sermon together this week, I was like, ah, thank 00:01:39.329 --> 00:01:42.769 you, Lord, for the New Testament. Because the 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:44.950 Minor Prophets were hard, especially Nahum. That 00:01:44.950 --> 00:01:52.069 was difficult. But the Book of Mark has got some 00:01:52.069 --> 00:01:54.629 cool things about it. So before we dive into 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:56.069 it, we're going to go through verses one through 00:01:56.069 --> 00:02:01.780 eight. What do you think? that we need to know 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:04.299 about this book, because you need to know the 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:10.300 context of each book, okay? And if you notice, 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:14.300 the Gospels, the Gospels are the first four books 00:02:14.300 --> 00:02:15.900 of the New Testament, the reason why they're 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:21.159 called that. Gospel, ungelion is the Greek for 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:24.699 good news, one who brings good news. And so they're 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:26.719 called the Gospels because they are about the 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:31.759 life of Jesus. And so, but we have four of them. 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:34.599 And I've seen, you know, I've had people ask 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:37.400 me in the past, like, why, why do we need four 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.659 if they all tell the same story? But if you read 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.039 them, they all tell the same stories slightly 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.479 differently. And that's not a weakness. That's 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:46.860 a good thing. I'm going to get into that in just 00:02:46.860 --> 00:02:49.979 a second. But who do you think wrote the Book 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:55.439 of Mark? Mark, right? Seems pretty, pretty self 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.840 -evident, right? Okay. So but was mark a disciple 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:07.460 No, so how could he write a book about Jesus's 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:18.860 life if he was not there Exactly, so he was close 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:22.199 to Peter he became a disciple of Peter so this 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.170 is Peter's eyewitness account through mark John 00:03:26.170 --> 00:03:29.629 Mark, it's who wrote the book of Mark, okay? 00:03:30.469 --> 00:03:35.110 This Mark, John Mark is the one that Paul gets 00:03:35.110 --> 00:03:37.949 really upset with and tells him you're not fit 00:03:37.949 --> 00:03:41.069 for ministry because he leaves, right? And Barnabas 00:03:41.069 --> 00:03:43.490 is like, Paul, you're being way too hard on this 00:03:43.490 --> 00:03:45.569 young dude. And Paul's like, no, no, I'm not. 00:03:45.849 --> 00:03:48.550 If he's not willing to take beatings for me or 00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:51.250 for Jesus with me, then he's not fit for the 00:03:51.250 --> 00:03:54.810 gospel. Paul was a little hardcore, right? And 00:03:54.810 --> 00:03:57.289 Barnabas is like, hey, listen, because he's the 00:03:57.289 --> 00:04:01.710 encourager. This ain't going to work. And so 00:04:01.710 --> 00:04:04.870 Barnabas takes John Mark under his wing and gives 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:08.090 him shows him some grace. And John Mark ultimately 00:04:08.090 --> 00:04:11.830 gets the chance to kind of grow up and becomes 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:16.490 very close with Peter. And then Peter tells him 00:04:16.490 --> 00:04:19.250 all the things that he's experienced and he writes 00:04:19.250 --> 00:04:22.949 them down. Now, the Book of Mark. something that 00:04:22.949 --> 00:04:26.350 you need to know that you may feel like, why 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:29.610 do I need to know this? It's pretty crucial. 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.290 In seminary, we have to write, you have to take 00:04:32.290 --> 00:04:37.769 a position on this. So they believe, many scholars 00:04:37.769 --> 00:04:39.970 believe that the Book of Mark was written first 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:43.810 of all the New Testament books. So they believe 00:04:43.810 --> 00:04:46.949 it was written about the 80, 70. Why does that 00:04:46.949 --> 00:04:50.490 matter? Because the closer we are to the life 00:04:50.490 --> 00:04:53.490 of Christ, the more that we know that we can 00:04:53.490 --> 00:04:57.990 trust the evidence of it. Now, it is not the 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:01.329 earliest account of what we have, but they believe 00:05:01.329 --> 00:05:04.110 it's the earliest gospel of what we have. And 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:09.230 so why, why do I think that that's not necessarily 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:14.889 true? Because they say, well, Matthew and Luke 00:05:14.889 --> 00:05:18.589 took Mark's gospel and then put together their 00:05:18.589 --> 00:05:22.529 gospel. That doesn't make any sense to me. Why 00:05:22.529 --> 00:05:24.170 do you think that that doesn't make any sense 00:05:24.170 --> 00:05:33.329 to me? Right, right, like they, correct. But 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:35.610 that doesn't change that. That doesn't change 00:05:35.610 --> 00:05:38.370 the God -breathed part. But like, why doesn't 00:05:38.370 --> 00:05:42.990 it make any sense for, and again, there are scholars 00:05:42.990 --> 00:05:44.689 much smarter than I am, all right? That would 00:05:44.689 --> 00:05:47.720 argue the opposite. So don't think that, I'm 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:49.680 going, I just know everything. It just doesn't 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:54.279 make logical sense to me. Why would a guy like 00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:57.639 Matthew, who's a tax collector and is very detailed, 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:00.759 why would he need to take Mark, who wasn't there, 00:06:01.379 --> 00:06:04.079 why would he need to take his story and then 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:06.480 line it up and go, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:09.279 Like that doesn't make any sense to me. And so 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.000 Matthew, in my opinion, wrote his separately. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:15.060 And I can see why Luke, because Luke is a doctor. 00:06:15.790 --> 00:06:20.930 and he took Paul's accounts. And so Mark's whole 00:06:20.930 --> 00:06:24.589 entire thing is, is he's writing specifically 00:06:24.589 --> 00:06:28.629 to the Roman church. How do I know that? Well, 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.990 because one, he is a Gentile himself or he comes 00:06:31.990 --> 00:06:34.170 from like much like Paul from a Gentile background. 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:38.490 But the reason why this matters is, is if you 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:41.170 notice when we get started here, There's something 00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:42.970 missing that's in the other gospels. What do 00:06:42.970 --> 00:06:44.790 you think that it is? Just take a look real briefly. 00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:46.230 If you're already there in the New Testament, 00:06:46.689 --> 00:06:49.050 take a look really briefly. What do you see as 00:06:49.050 --> 00:06:53.269 opposed to the other gospels there? Or maybe 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:58.129 that is not there. The genealogies are not there. 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:00.709 Why does that matter? Because the Romans didn't 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:04.050 care about that. The Roman church, the Gentile 00:07:04.050 --> 00:07:07.009 church didn't care about that. His focus is the 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:09.610 Roman church, the Gentiles, those who are not 00:07:09.610 --> 00:07:13.410 Jewish. So he's not trying to make a point of 00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:16.670 he is God. He is the Messiah, the one prophesied. 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:21.089 That's not Mark's focus. Mark's whole focus is 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:24.829 to say Jesus is the servant king. That's his 00:07:24.829 --> 00:07:28.629 entire focus, his entire core thing that he's 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:30.709 trying to get through to the church, because 00:07:30.709 --> 00:07:35.579 the Romans care about kingship. So he's trying 00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:38.420 to point out he's the king. He's the servant 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:42.019 king. He's the king of kings So that's his entire 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:45.860 point So things like lineage things like traditions 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:48.899 aren't in Mark's gospel because those things 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.139 don't matter because that's not his audience 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:55.759 The other thing you need to know too The prayer 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.740 like I just kind of talked about it just a second 00:07:57.740 --> 00:08:03.750 ago his his stuff moves quickly And so you're 00:08:03.750 --> 00:08:06.209 going to see as we go through this, the word 00:08:06.209 --> 00:08:08.889 immediately, if you've read the books, the gospels, 00:08:09.310 --> 00:08:13.990 the word immediately is all over Mark. Mark's 00:08:13.990 --> 00:08:16.949 gospel account moves very quickly. His stories 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:19.550 are very brief. It doesn't have a lot of detail. 00:08:19.769 --> 00:08:22.949 There's two reasons for that. One being the Roman 00:08:22.949 --> 00:08:25.370 persecuted church or the church was persecuted. 00:08:25.470 --> 00:08:27.629 So he's trying to get his letter out quickly. 00:08:28.230 --> 00:08:30.870 He's just trying to get his points across. The 00:08:30.870 --> 00:08:34.879 other thing is this. Mark wanted the church to 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.559 know and wants us to know that the gospel's here, 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:41.779 the king is here. Darkness is being moved out 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:46.980 and it will be a force against darkness and there's 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:49.279 nothing going to stop it. And so he's like, we're 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.639 moving quick. This is how the gospel moves. This 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:55.080 is how the kingdom moves. It moves quickly. It 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:58.600 takes no prisoners. Does that make sense? And 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:01.340 so the other thing about this is I want to just 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:04.509 quickly point out Why don't they match up? Why 00:09:04.509 --> 00:09:06.649 don't the gospels match up word for word? Why 00:09:06.649 --> 00:09:11.289 does that matter to us? Because many will say 00:09:11.289 --> 00:09:15.549 that's a weakness. Atheists will try to push 00:09:15.549 --> 00:09:19.210 you on it. Or even progressive Christians will 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:21.710 try to push you on it because they say, look, 00:09:21.730 --> 00:09:25.289 you can't take the Bible seriously and literally, 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:27.950 it contradicts itself just in the first four 00:09:27.950 --> 00:09:30.669 books of the New Testament. So why does it matter? 00:09:30.789 --> 00:09:34.250 that we have a defense for and understand why 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:38.090 those things don't, they don't perfectly go together. 00:09:41.049 --> 00:09:45.529 Exactly. It proves there's no conspiracy. Talk 00:09:45.529 --> 00:09:50.649 to Jeremy, talk to D .M. out there. If you, if 00:09:50.649 --> 00:09:54.909 a cop is trying to ask you questions and maybe 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:59.500 you are a part of something, If everybody's story 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:02.600 is exactly the same, they will run suspicious. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:10.340 But if we all have a story that is alike, but 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:12.679 not every detail is exactly the same, that makes 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:18.480 sense. Why? Yeah. Also too, if something were 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.779 to happen in this room right now, if something 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:23.840 were to happen in this room right now, let's 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:28.299 just say somebody falls over dead. Lord, don't 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:31.600 let that happen on my watch, but somebody kills 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.860 over dead. And then the cops come in and they're 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:36.120 asking questions. All of us are gonna tell a 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:37.879 slightly different story just because of where 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.279 we're all seated in the sanctuary, right? I'm 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.460 gonna see it differently than the way Gene sees 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:47.259 it, the way Scott sees it, right? And so these 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:50.080 things don't... When we read the Gospels, it's 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.220 not something that goes, yeah, no, see, these 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:54.559 don't even agree. And it's like, no, they agree. 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:56.679 They're just from different viewpoints. They're 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:59.159 from different angles. We can watch the same 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:01.460 movie, you and I, and we can come away going, 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.480 yeah, here's the core theme of the movie, but 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.519 here's the things that I saw. And they can be 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:10.120 different, right? And so it's not a weakness. 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:14.309 That's what I want you guys to know. So Mark's 00:11:14.309 --> 00:11:16.450 central message is clear. I want, I want to make 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:18.690 sure you write this down. He presents Jesus as 00:11:18.690 --> 00:11:22.450 the servant King. And as I said, his gospel is 00:11:22.450 --> 00:11:26.769 fast pace. And so with that being said, let's 00:11:26.769 --> 00:11:33.429 go ahead and dive in to the book of Mark. My 00:11:33.429 --> 00:11:38.850 title of my message is clearing the path, our 00:11:38.850 --> 00:11:42.440 role in declaring the gospel. My big idea today, 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:45.139 what we're gonna kind of drive home is we are 00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:47.740 called to actively prepare the way for the Lord 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.620 by living faithfully and proclaiming the gospel 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:55.759 faithfully every day. And so, here we go, where 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:57.500 I'm gonna read verses one through eight and then 00:11:57.500 --> 00:12:02.200 we'll start unpacking. The beginning of the gospel 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:07.159 of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:10.460 in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:13.639 before your face who will prepare your way. The 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.399 voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:19.259 the way of the Lord, make his path straight. 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:23.480 And John appeared baptizing in the wilderness 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.379 and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:31.309 forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea 00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:33.570 and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were 00:12:33.570 --> 00:12:37.330 being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:40.769 their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's 00:12:40.769 --> 00:12:43.429 hair and wore a leather belt around his waist 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:47.230 and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached 00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:50.370 saying, after me comes he who is mightier than 00:12:50.370 --> 00:12:52.970 I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy 00:12:52.970 --> 00:12:56.159 to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.980 with water, but he will baptize you with the 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:03.679 Holy Spirit. So let's look at the first point, 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:09.100 is this, a proclamation rooted in ancient prophecies. 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:11.220 So if we go back, verses one through four, the 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:13.879 beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.580 son of God. Gospel, as I told you guys, that 00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:21.379 word is ungelion, meaning life -changing news. 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:24.759 And he doesn't, Mark doesn't just like him and 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:27.940 Haw, he's like, no, he's the son of God. He is 00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:33.240 the Christ, he is the Messiah. And so, he then 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:38.379 says, here's the point, there's a guy named, 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:41.919 or there's a guy who's going to come, who's going 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.120 to prepare the way, and he came. And so he shares 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:47.200 this prophecy, which by the way, it's actually, 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:51.409 he quotes two in one, he quotes, the book of 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:54.809 Micah, and he's quoting the prophecy out of Isaiah. 00:13:55.110 --> 00:13:58.870 And it's common to, back then, for them to take 00:13:58.870 --> 00:14:01.350 the two prophecies because they already know 00:14:01.350 --> 00:14:03.649 these prophecies. It's common for them to kind 00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:05.809 of take them and meld them together. But for 00:14:05.809 --> 00:14:09.149 the most part, he's quoting Isaiah. And so Mark 00:14:09.149 --> 00:14:12.549 opens his gospel in a way that immediately grounds 00:14:12.549 --> 00:14:15.389 everything he's about to say in ancient truth. 00:14:15.850 --> 00:14:18.929 He wants his audience, especially the Romans, 00:14:19.049 --> 00:14:21.649 to understand that this movement called the Way 00:14:21.649 --> 00:14:25.649 is not a religion. It's not a spiritual trend, 00:14:25.649 --> 00:14:28.970 and it is not a sudden uprising built around 00:14:28.970 --> 00:14:31.950 a charismatic teacher. It's not new, it's ancient. 00:14:32.090 --> 00:14:37.570 Here's why this is important. The Romans, and 00:14:37.570 --> 00:14:40.029 much like all the other ancient cultures, but 00:14:40.029 --> 00:14:43.070 specifically the Romans, the Romans loved ancient 00:14:43.070 --> 00:14:46.289 things. They served... Pagan gods that were that 00:14:46.289 --> 00:14:50.909 were ancient Okay, and so he's saying this isn't 00:14:50.909 --> 00:14:54.629 some new guru that has come on the scene This 00:14:54.629 --> 00:14:58.230 isn't a new trend Because there was many Jesus's 00:14:58.230 --> 00:15:02.950 by the way Who came before Jesus himself? different 00:15:02.950 --> 00:15:05.370 cult leaders get different guys who were charismatic 00:15:05.370 --> 00:15:08.649 and They had these followers and if you'll recall 00:15:08.649 --> 00:15:10.970 this is talked about in the book of Acts, right? 00:15:11.570 --> 00:15:13.269 Where the Pharisees are getting real out of shape 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:16.200 because they're seeing the church is beginning 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:21.659 to explode, and one of the guys says, hey, if 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:25.399 this isn't of God, it's gonna be like all the 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:28.000 other trends that have happened before. It's 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.120 gonna die off. He's dead, they'll die off. But 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.679 if it is of God, we can't stop it anyway. And 00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:37.379 so Mark's entire point of why he's pointing out 00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:41.000 this prophecy, As he's going, this prophecy is 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:44.320 hundreds of years old. It is rooted in ancient 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.279 prophecy. And so therefore, it's not a new thing. 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:50.879 It is something that is of old. And that's his 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:54.419 point. So from the very beginning, Mark anchors 00:15:54.419 --> 00:15:57.139 the story of Jesus in the prophecy. He reminds 00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:00.539 us that what is unfolding did not start in Bethlehem 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:03.379 or at the Jordan River. It started centuries 00:16:03.379 --> 00:16:05.740 earlier in the promises of God spoken through 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:09.179 the prophets. Mark quotes Isaiah and Malachi, 00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:12.340 I'm sorry, I said Micah, Malachi to show that 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:15.120 long before Jesus ever walked the earth, God 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.960 had already declared what would happen. Mark 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.320 is making a powerful point. This is not just 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:23.620 some man named Jesus who showed up and gathered 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:26.179 followers and started something new. No, this 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:30.259 is the fulfillment of God's eternal plan. So 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:32.659 before Jesus ever begins his public ministry, 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:35.720 God sends a messenger, one who would prepare 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:38.610 the way. One who would call people to repentance 00:16:38.610 --> 00:16:41.409 and one who would shake hearts awake and prepare 00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:43.990 them for the arrival of the King. And that man's 00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:48.730 name is who? John the Baptist. And so John didn't 00:16:48.730 --> 00:16:52.509 come preaching self -improvement. He didn't come 00:16:52.509 --> 00:16:58.389 preaching comfort. He came preaching what? Repentance. 00:16:58.629 --> 00:17:04.559 Turn away. Go a different way. a complete reorientation 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.640 of your life, a call to shift your allegiance, 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:11.960 not to a new political power, not to Rome, not 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.380 to religion, but to the King. And so John's message 00:17:15.380 --> 00:17:18.740 was clear. Prepare yourselves, because the Messiah 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:24.500 is coming. The promised King is here. And this 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:28.359 King is not just another ruler. He is Jesus Christ, 00:17:28.380 --> 00:17:30.700 the Son of God, the true King of Kings and the 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:34.569 Lord of Lords. And Mark wants us to see that 00:17:34.569 --> 00:17:38.390 from this moment, at that intersection of prophecy 00:17:38.390 --> 00:17:41.230 and fulfillment, what God promised long ago, 00:17:41.250 --> 00:17:43.390 he is now bringing to pass and the gospel is 00:17:43.390 --> 00:17:46.690 rooted deeply in ancient Judaism and covenant 00:17:46.690 --> 00:17:50.130 promises and prophetic declarations and in the 00:17:50.130 --> 00:17:52.970 unchanging faithfulness of God. And this matters 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:56.490 for us too, because it shows that our faith is 00:17:56.490 --> 00:18:00.900 rooted in something much older and deeper and 00:18:00.900 --> 00:18:04.940 ancient than what you may even realize. Our faith 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:09.000 has deep roots. It's not blind belief. It's rooted 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.640 in history and prophecy and evidence and fulfillment. 00:18:13.539 --> 00:18:15.759 And time and time again, scripture has proven 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.960 itself to be true. Prophecy spoken hundreds of 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:21.160 years in advance were fulfilled with breathtaking 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:24.319 precision in the life, ministry, and death and 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:27.599 resurrection of Jesus Christ. The historical, 00:18:27.859 --> 00:18:29.940 textual, and archaeological evidence for the 00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:32.279 reliability of scripture is overwhelming. That's 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.900 what I want you guys to know. Hey, but when you 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:38.480 go back there, there's a box of tissues in the 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.279 back. Will you just grab me some, please? That's 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.059 what I want you guys to know. One thing that 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:45.460 I'm super, super passionate about is the evidence 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:49.259 for our belief. It is not just blind belief. 00:18:50.299 --> 00:18:53.420 Like there is so much evidence for what we believe. 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:58.859 It's really mind blowing that there are people 00:18:58.859 --> 00:19:03.640 that still will argue and say, Jesus was a fictional, 00:19:03.740 --> 00:19:07.339 I'll get the word out, a fictional character. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.799 He didn't really exist. He was just like many 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:16.980 other fake gods and people and charismatic leaders 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:20.019 who came before. And it's like, nah, there's 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:22.920 so much historicity for Jesus outside of the 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:26.279 scriptures. that is not even funny. And so I 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:28.460 can't take anyone seriously. Thank you, bud. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.700 I can't take anyone seriously who would start 00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:33.940 an argument with me about the faith and just 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:36.420 say right off the bat that Jesus wasn't a real 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:41.940 person. Because I'm like, dude, secular, secular 00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:45.599 historians don't agree with that. They're like, 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.000 there's too much evidence for it. And so. When 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.079 you are proclaiming the gospel with your life 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:53.960 and with your words, you can have complete faith 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:58.559 and comfort in knowing that what we believe is 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.480 not just this random occurrence of things and 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.079 stories, but they're real. It's factual. It's 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:08.480 been proven over and over and over again. And 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:13.299 therefore you can share it with confidence. We 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:15.759 can stand confidently and we can proclaim the 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.619 gospel. confidently. We can share the good news 00:20:19.619 --> 00:20:22.140 without fear or hesitation because this is not 00:20:22.140 --> 00:20:25.819 wishful thinking, this is the truth. And the 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:29.119 gospel, the good news, is not just inspiring 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:31.640 news, it is life -changing news and is anchored 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:34.819 in the unshakable promises of God. I think I 00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:39.440 have this up here for you, and I want you to 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.720 write this down. Our faith is real, our Savior 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.519 is true, and our hope is secure. Do I have that? 00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:54.940 Okay. My stuff didn't print in color. Can you 00:20:54.940 --> 00:21:02.559 read it? Okay. All right, point number two. A 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:08.180 proclamation rooted in truth. Let's look at verses 00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:13.960 four through five. It's really, is it warm in 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:15.799 here at anybody else? Cause I'm like sweating 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.259 like crazy right now. And I know I'm trying to 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:20.680 get over a sickness. Can we like drop the AC? 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:25.599 Does anybody mind if we do that? Cause I'm like 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.579 sweating it up in here. All right, verses four 00:21:29.579 --> 00:21:31.579 through five. John appeared baptizing in the 00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:34.160 wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:38.000 for the forgiveness of sins. and all the country 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.259 of Judea and all of Jerusalem were going out 00:21:40.259 --> 00:21:42.400 to him and were being baptized by him in the 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:46.759 river Jordan, confessing their sins. John the 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.019 Baptist didn't come with opinions, theories, 00:21:49.099 --> 00:21:51.200 or religious speculation. He came proclaiming 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.680 truth. He was the fulfillment of prophecy, the 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:57.839 voice crying out in the wilderness sent by God 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:01.619 to prepare the way for the coming King. His message 00:22:01.619 --> 00:22:05.960 was simple, direct, and uncompromising. Repent. 00:22:06.170 --> 00:22:08.829 turn and prepare yourselves because the Messiah 00:22:08.829 --> 00:22:13.769 is coming. And this truth resonated with them. 00:22:15.150 --> 00:22:17.630 People came in droves. They left their homes, 00:22:17.789 --> 00:22:20.490 their cities, and their comfort to hear him preach. 00:22:20.549 --> 00:22:22.730 They confessed their sins and they submitted 00:22:22.730 --> 00:22:27.069 to baptism. Why? Because the truth always confronts 00:22:27.069 --> 00:22:29.789 and the truth always calls for a response. But 00:22:29.789 --> 00:22:32.049 here's a question for you guys. Why the wilderness? 00:22:32.990 --> 00:22:35.960 Why was he out in the wilderness? Why were they 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:43.779 going to him? Why was he not going to them? What's 00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:48.059 that? It wouldn't be distracted in the moon. 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:52.140 That's a good, that's a good thought. Hold on 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:56.000 there guy. Can't be a teacher's pet just cause 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:04.559 you're the pastor's son. I mean, think about 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:10.119 this. It's kind of dangerous to go out into the 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.599 wilderness to hear some dude preach. That's a 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:14.779 wild man. I mean, he literally is a wild man. 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:16.920 And so you're taking your kids, you're taking 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:18.839 your family, and you're making this trek out 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:23.000 of the city, out into the wilderness. And by 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:26.059 the way, the wilderness is a scary place. There's 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:27.680 a reason why, and we're going to see that in 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:30.480 the coming weeks, why Jesus goes out to meet 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:33.519 Satan in the wilderness, because They believe 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:36.799 that it is in the wilderness where demons are. 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:38.819 It's where evil things are. It's where wild beasts 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:41.539 are. It's like, like there's a whole lot to this. 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:44.039 So it's not like they just go trekking out there 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:45.740 and they're like, yeah, this is just a fun hiking 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.740 trip. Kids, everybody grab your granola and let's 00:23:48.740 --> 00:23:51.720 get our hiking shoes on. Like, no, like it's 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:56.619 a dangerous trek. So why the wilderness? All 00:23:56.619 --> 00:23:58.099 right, nobody's going to answer Noah. So I'm 00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:04.880 going to let you go see what you got. Oh, gotcha. 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:07.799 So the wilderness is this. I want you to write 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:11.500 this down because it's important. They're going 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:16.720 out to the wilderness because Israel themselves 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:22.079 has a past in the wilderness. The wilderness 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:26.099 represents rebellion and disobedience to God. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:32.259 And so God is sending them out to hear John preach 00:24:32.569 --> 00:24:39.049 about their rebellion. Repent. This is a reminder. 00:24:39.130 --> 00:24:42.309 We're in the area. We're out in the wilderness 00:24:42.309 --> 00:24:47.109 where our people have all rebelled for ancient 00:24:47.109 --> 00:24:51.450 generations. And there is coming one who will 00:24:51.450 --> 00:24:56.849 undo the rebellion. And so it's meant to be a 00:24:56.849 --> 00:25:02.549 reminder of their past. all their compromises, 00:25:02.750 --> 00:25:05.349 all their idolatry, all their longing to be accepted 00:25:05.349 --> 00:25:07.849 by pagan cultures, all of it in the wilderness. 00:25:09.309 --> 00:25:12.349 But here's something too, baptism is also very 00:25:12.349 --> 00:25:16.410 unique. Do you know who actually had to be baptized 00:25:16.410 --> 00:25:24.549 back then? Gentiles, Gentiles were the one to 00:25:24.549 --> 00:25:29.940 be baptized into Judaism. Jews didn't get baptized. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:33.740 They're born into it. And so this is also unique 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:36.920 of John the Baptist preaching. Oh no, you got 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:40.000 to be baptized. This is new. This is a new covenant. 00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:47.960 You don't just get born into this. And so anyone 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:50.640 that's here that is just playing church and going, 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:54.740 yeah, no, I was born a Christian. I was born 00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:59.240 into conservatism. of belief. I'll go to heaven 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:02.200 just because I was born into this family. That's 00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:08.240 not how it works. And so, why did God send John 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:12.660 there? So before healing can happen, sin must 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:15.819 be confronted. Before restoration can happen, 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:18.720 rebellion must be acknowledged. And before grace 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:21.059 can be understood, guilt must be revealed. I 00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:23.819 actually think I have that to go up here. Sorry. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.039 Sorry, Dustin. I usually have it in red, so it 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:36.980 tells me, but is it there? Cool. John draws the 00:26:36.980 --> 00:26:40.099 people out to the wilderness to remind them of 00:26:40.099 --> 00:26:43.319 who they are and who they are not. This was not 00:26:43.319 --> 00:26:46.079 convenient. It was not easy. It required effort, 00:26:46.619 --> 00:26:51.000 humility, and repentance. And as I said about 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:55.849 baptism, this was different. So, This is what 00:26:55.849 --> 00:26:57.890 John is ultimately saying with baptism. You are 00:26:57.890 --> 00:27:00.970 not right with God. You need repentance just 00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:07.309 as the outsider does. And so that's the truth 00:27:07.309 --> 00:27:09.950 and the truth humbles. And so what does this 00:27:09.950 --> 00:27:12.349 mean for us? It means we must never water down 00:27:12.349 --> 00:27:15.130 the gospel. We must not make it easy. If they 00:27:15.130 --> 00:27:18.990 had to go out into the wilderness, John, John 00:27:18.990 --> 00:27:25.099 did not make this an easy thing. He said, He 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:28.720 just starts preaching. God starts sending. And 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:32.079 then they have to, in humility, go out and be 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:34.619 baptized and do something that is not a part 00:27:34.619 --> 00:27:38.539 of their faith. And so we have to stop with this 00:27:38.539 --> 00:27:41.160 idea that we've got to make everything in the 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:44.279 Christian faith so easy to make it easy for people 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:49.519 to come in. That's not the gospel, man. The Christian 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:52.539 faith isn't easy. If you want to be accepted 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:56.099 by the world, then just go be the world. Like 00:27:56.099 --> 00:27:59.700 don't play games. If you want to follow Jesus, 00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:02.880 no, it's hard. Is it the best thing, the best 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.480 decision I've ever made outside? You know, yes, 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:09.000 that and marrying my wife, two best decisions 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:14.380 of my life. So neither one of those things are 00:28:14.380 --> 00:28:17.319 easy. Marriage isn't easy. Following Jesus isn't 00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:20.839 easy. So we cannot have this idea that we need 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:24.299 to make things so simple. The only thing you 00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:26.660 need to know that simple is, is just making the 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:29.500 decision that Christ is King. That's the simple 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:38.819 part. Everything else is hard. Am I wrong? We 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:42.220 must not reduce salvation to a box to check, 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:45.099 a prayer to repeat, or a moment of emotional 00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:48.859 relief. We must proclaim the full truth. that 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:51.500 we are sinners, that we fall short of God's glory, 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:53.779 and that we stand guilty before a holy king. 00:28:54.779 --> 00:28:57.460 But we must also proclaim the beauty of the gospel, 00:28:57.579 --> 00:28:59.779 that is the same holy king that came to rescue 00:28:59.779 --> 00:29:03.319 us. He lived a life we couldn't live, he died 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:05.500 the death that we deserved, and he bore the punishment 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:10.940 that we earned. This king demands full allegiance, 00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:14.700 but he also gives full grace. Which brings us 00:29:14.700 --> 00:29:17.980 to a sobering example, okay? You guys know who 00:29:17.980 --> 00:29:23.440 Scott Adams is? You guys know who Dilbert is? 00:29:24.220 --> 00:29:29.279 Oh, come on. The famous cartoon. It's a cartoon 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:31.619 strip. Yeah. The newspapers and stuff and magazines. 00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:33.740 Dilbert. If I had a picture, I should have put 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:35.740 a picture up there. If I had a picture, you'd 00:29:35.740 --> 00:29:41.259 all go, oh, yeah. So Scott Adams was the creator 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:45.599 of Dilbert. He's a well -known atheist, but he 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:51.880 He had a lot he Dilbert was a very kind of You 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:54.099 know just wholesome. It wasn't wasn't raunchy 00:29:54.099 --> 00:29:55.799 or anything. Just a wholesome kind of cartoon 00:29:55.799 --> 00:30:00.079 strip and There were many Christian create Christian 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:04.759 people who like the Dilbert Comics and would 00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:07.400 write to him and just ask him to give his life 00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:12.660 to Christ But he wouldn't do it and he recently 00:30:12.660 --> 00:30:19.940 passed away about three weeks ago And I want 00:30:19.940 --> 00:30:22.619 to read to you his letter that he wrote before 00:30:22.619 --> 00:30:26.140 he passed away, he passed away of cancer. And 00:30:26.140 --> 00:30:28.640 he wrote this letter addressing his Christian 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:31.680 friends and fans. And this is what he says, if 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:34.220 you are reading this, things did not go well 00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:37.759 for me. Many of my Christian friends have asked 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:42.240 me to find Jesus before I go. I am not a believer. 00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:46.220 But the risk reward calculation for doing so 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:50.339 looks attractive. So here I go. I accept Jesus 00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:54.299 Christ as my Lord and Savior. I hope I am qualified 00:30:54.299 --> 00:31:04.579 for entry. That was his letter. So this, yeah, 00:31:04.579 --> 00:31:07.259 so this just happened. He died three weeks ago. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:14.640 He was about, I think, early 60s. So. Brothers 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:22.369 and sisters. I saw people sharing this and just 00:31:22.369 --> 00:31:26.549 going, praise God, praise God. Does that sound 00:31:26.549 --> 00:31:36.710 like a heart that has changed? No. Did I want 00:31:36.710 --> 00:31:39.410 Scott to legitimately give his life to Christ? 00:31:39.529 --> 00:31:43.130 Because I watched him, he did a video days before 00:31:43.130 --> 00:31:49.049 that of just saying, You know, I I I'm not gonna 00:31:49.049 --> 00:31:51.470 make the decision yet. I'll make that decision 00:31:51.470 --> 00:31:55.789 on my deathbed But that time is not yet and I 00:31:55.789 --> 00:31:57.829 might do you this is not that's not how this 00:31:57.829 --> 00:32:03.690 goes brother Pastor Logan, how can you know that 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:06.309 you don't know his heart? No, I read his words. 00:32:06.710 --> 00:32:12.390 I'm not a believer but The risk calculation is 00:32:12.390 --> 00:32:21.960 there This isn't insurance. Hello? I'm asking 00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:24.960 the insurance man, Keith May. Is that what this 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:29.019 is? Do I just pay a copay and pay my premiums 00:32:29.019 --> 00:32:35.460 and I'm good to go? No. The gospel is about repentance. 00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:40.440 It's about faith and it's about surrender. Not 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:44.599 anything in his own words. says surrender, says 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:48.079 repentance, says faith. It literally said the 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:52.140 opposite. And I want nothing more than this man 00:32:52.140 --> 00:32:55.460 to be standing in the face of Jesus. I don't 00:32:55.460 --> 00:32:58.960 care if his entire life was committed to debauchery. 00:32:59.079 --> 00:33:02.660 If on his deathbed, he truly is repentant and 00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:05.299 he truly puts his faith in Jesus Christ and in 00:33:05.299 --> 00:33:08.319 the works, then he will stand before Jesus. But 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:13.000 because he did not, he is not. And this is what 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:17.119 I mean when I say we make things way too easy. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:20.759 Somebody made this man think that if he just 00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:26.019 said those words that he was okay. And there's 00:33:26.019 --> 00:33:28.559 somebody in this room who has done the same thing. 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:31.380 You have been led to believe if you just say 00:33:31.380 --> 00:33:35.960 the right words, you punch in the right vending 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:39.460 machine numbers, you get what you want. That's 00:33:39.460 --> 00:33:44.930 not how this works. It's utter, true humility 00:33:44.930 --> 00:33:48.730 and surrender. It is the difficult path, not 00:33:48.730 --> 00:33:51.069 just, oh, here's some spiritual insurance before 00:33:51.069 --> 00:33:57.670 I take my last breath. And so this truth matters. 00:33:58.809 --> 00:34:01.470 It's not a gospel Hail Mary pass in the final 00:34:01.470 --> 00:34:04.609 seconds of life. It's not just a backup plan. 00:34:04.690 --> 00:34:08.849 It's not a cosmic loophole. It's faith, it's 00:34:08.849 --> 00:34:13.079 surrender, it's repentance, it's humility. So 00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:17.820 I want to be clear, by the way, I'm not saying 00:34:17.820 --> 00:34:23.579 that if you truly repented in your final moments 00:34:23.579 --> 00:34:27.519 of life that God would not in his wonderful, 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:33.179 gracious beauty and mercy say, well done, my 00:34:33.179 --> 00:34:35.940 good and faithful servant. He absolutely would. 00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:38.900 Because we're not playing by Logan Merrick's 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:43.219 rules, we're playing by his. So I want you to 00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:49.059 hear that. It's about surrender, not pride. And 00:34:49.059 --> 00:34:51.800 this is the message that John preached. It was 00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:54.880 a message that we must also proclaim a call to 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:58.260 repent, to believe, and to follow a gracious 00:34:58.260 --> 00:35:04.380 savior. Point number three, a proclamation rooted 00:35:04.380 --> 00:35:08.000 in humility. Let's look at verses six through 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:16.940 eight. Now John was clothed with camel's hair 00:35:16.940 --> 00:35:21.340 and wore a leather belt around his waist. And 00:35:21.340 --> 00:35:24.860 he ate locust and wild honey. And he preached 00:35:24.860 --> 00:35:27.579 saying, after me comes he who is mightier than 00:35:27.579 --> 00:35:30.199 I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:33.199 to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you 00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:36.139 with water and he will baptize you with the Holy 00:35:36.139 --> 00:35:40.900 Spirit. And so Mark. goes out of his way to describe 00:35:40.900 --> 00:35:42.920 what John looked like, what he wore and what 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:46.300 he ate. Does this seem like those details are 00:35:46.300 --> 00:35:48.980 unnecessary or do you think we need to know them? 00:35:55.179 --> 00:35:57.780 That's right. It's in the Bible, so we need to 00:35:57.780 --> 00:36:02.119 know it. So why would he point out what he wore 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:03.900 and what he ate? I actually asked Micah when 00:36:03.900 --> 00:36:06.960 I was preparing this, I said, hey, dude, how 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:11.159 would you feel about a diet of locust and honey. 00:36:11.179 --> 00:36:12.980 And he said, what's locust? I said, bugs. He 00:36:12.980 --> 00:36:18.519 goes, no, I'm out. How would you guys feel about 00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:25.019 that? Yeah, humility, right? So, so there's, 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:27.800 but there's two things here. There's two things 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:31.900 of why he describes what John looked like. Because 00:36:31.900 --> 00:36:37.119 you get this scene, I do anyway, of this wild 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:41.539 looking man. Right like he's he is a wild -looking 00:36:41.539 --> 00:36:45.360 dude Wearing camel's hair. He's got this leather 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:52.519 belt and he's eating bugs licking on honey He 00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:58.039 does not look like what's that Exactly did you 00:36:58.039 --> 00:37:02.059 read my notes before I came up here Yeah, so 00:37:02.059 --> 00:37:05.559 he he doesn't look like the religious leaders 00:37:05.559 --> 00:37:08.829 of Jerusalem, right? He doesn't look like a Pharisee. 00:37:08.829 --> 00:37:11.329 He doesn't look polished. He's not refined. He's 00:37:11.329 --> 00:37:15.730 not impressive in the least. But we know the 00:37:15.730 --> 00:37:17.949 reason why this gets put in there is because, 00:37:18.090 --> 00:37:22.849 as Scott pointed out, he looks like Elijah. Why 00:37:22.849 --> 00:37:27.309 does that matter? Why does it matter that he 00:37:27.309 --> 00:37:33.880 looks like Elijah? What do we as Christians who 00:37:33.880 --> 00:37:36.019 believe and we read the book of Revelation, what 00:37:36.019 --> 00:37:43.360 do we believe about Elijah? You guys know? What's 00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:47.440 that? OK. Yeah, he was taken into heaven, right? 00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:50.699 He didn't die. He didn't die a physical death. 00:37:50.900 --> 00:37:52.340 There's two people that never died a physical 00:37:52.340 --> 00:37:57.599 death. Enoch and Elijah. So do we know what the 00:37:57.599 --> 00:37:59.980 book of Revelation says about two witnesses? 00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:08.500 OK. So the Jews also believe that Elijah will 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:12.239 return and he will usher in the ministry of the 00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:17.099 Messiah. So, it's not by happenstance that John 00:38:17.099 --> 00:38:21.059 the Baptist looks a lot like Elijah. This is 00:38:21.059 --> 00:38:25.539 intentional. They believe, just as we do, that 00:38:25.539 --> 00:38:29.659 he is the forerunner. And so, Mark is telling 00:38:29.659 --> 00:38:32.400 us, this is him. This is the forerunner. He's 00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:37.099 arrived and the king is next. So, but Mark doesn't 00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.860 only point out John's appearance to connect him 00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:42.900 to Elijah. He does it to show us John's humility. 00:38:44.099 --> 00:38:46.840 John lived like the desperate. He ate like the 00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:48.900 desperate and he dressed like the desperate. 00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:53.820 He identified with the desperate. Not because 00:38:53.820 --> 00:38:56.039 poverty is holy. I'm going to say that again. 00:38:56.519 --> 00:38:59.250 Not because poverty is holy. but because his 00:38:59.250 --> 00:39:03.530 heart was fully surrendered. He wasn't walking 00:39:03.530 --> 00:39:05.809 through Jerusalem in fine robes and religious 00:39:05.809 --> 00:39:09.269 pride. He wasn't building a platform or a reputation. 00:39:09.710 --> 00:39:12.530 He was a rugged servant who wanted one thing. 00:39:12.869 --> 00:39:16.650 Write this down. Faithfulness to God in obedience 00:39:16.650 --> 00:39:21.329 to his calling. I want to be clear. Holiness 00:39:21.329 --> 00:39:24.269 is not found in poverty and sin is not found 00:39:24.269 --> 00:39:29.519 in wealth. I'm not saying to be holy, you have 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:33.519 to be poor. I'm also not saying that if you have 00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:38.099 a lot of money that you are sinful. Rich and 00:39:38.099 --> 00:39:42.400 poor alike can be faithful and faithless or or 00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:46.039 faithless. Money and possessions are amoral. 00:39:46.300 --> 00:39:51.219 They're just simply tools. So if God has given 00:39:51.219 --> 00:39:55.099 you much, use it boldly for the kingdom. If God 00:39:55.099 --> 00:39:57.880 has given you little, Use it faithfully for the 00:39:57.880 --> 00:40:02.219 kingdom. John had little, but he proclaimed a 00:40:02.219 --> 00:40:05.480 big message. He lived humbly, but he preached 00:40:05.480 --> 00:40:09.739 powerfully. And notice what John says in verse 00:40:09.739 --> 00:40:12.880 eight or what Mark says in verse eight. Actually, 00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:16.280 John says this, but Mark also, sorry. One is 00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:18.460 coming after me, the straps of whose sandals 00:40:18.460 --> 00:40:22.840 I am not worthy to untie. Here's why that's important. 00:40:23.380 --> 00:40:29.900 In that culture, the one who undid the sandals 00:40:29.900 --> 00:40:36.320 was a slave, a house slave. So what John is essentially 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:39.500 saying is, is even in this man's kingdom, the 00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:42.639 one who will come, the true King, I am not even 00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:45.500 worthy enough to be a slave in his household. 00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:56.039 So we see his humility in that verse. And this 00:40:56.039 --> 00:40:58.260 isn't false humility, it's just clarity. John 00:40:58.260 --> 00:41:01.239 understood his role. He knew he was not the king, 00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:03.880 he knew he was not the savior, and he knew he 00:41:03.880 --> 00:41:06.960 was not the center. He was the messenger, he 00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:10.780 was the voice, and he was the servant. John was 00:41:10.780 --> 00:41:14.400 a faithful groomsman preparing the bride for 00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:19.400 her groom. What I mean by that is this. Could 00:41:19.400 --> 00:41:25.159 you imagine standing, ready, to watch your bride 00:41:25.159 --> 00:41:30.980 come down the aisle as the groom. You're excited. 00:41:32.300 --> 00:41:36.260 And it's like, man, look at her. She's so beautiful. 00:41:37.019 --> 00:41:38.780 And then all of a sudden you look over at your 00:41:38.780 --> 00:41:43.760 best friend who's the best man, and he's like... 00:41:43.760 --> 00:41:46.519 Right? You'd be like, are you making googly eyes 00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:52.869 at my wife? Like that's... But we have way too 00:41:52.869 --> 00:41:56.809 many pastors who make googly eyes at the bride. 00:41:56.869 --> 00:41:59.510 What I mean by that is this, they make the message 00:41:59.510 --> 00:42:04.510 of Jesus Christ about them. This is not John 00:42:04.510 --> 00:42:09.750 the Baptist, he understood his role. So we must 00:42:09.750 --> 00:42:12.889 proclaim repentance with humility, knowing that 00:42:12.889 --> 00:42:16.829 we are no better than the ones we speak to. We 00:42:16.829 --> 00:42:20.010 confront sin while remembering our own sin. We 00:42:20.010 --> 00:42:22.550 preach grace while living in constant need of 00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:26.070 the same grace. So I want to remind you of the 00:42:26.070 --> 00:42:28.550 words of Jesus, woe to the scribes and Pharisees, 00:42:28.550 --> 00:42:30.550 to those who believe their religious performance 00:42:30.550 --> 00:42:33.949 made them righteous. One day they will say, didn't 00:42:33.949 --> 00:42:36.469 we cast out demons in your name? And Jesus will 00:42:36.469 --> 00:42:39.369 say, depart from me, I never knew you. What am 00:42:39.369 --> 00:42:42.710 I saying? I'm saying there's way too many of 00:42:42.710 --> 00:42:46.519 us who think we are the bee's knees. And we are 00:42:46.519 --> 00:42:49.260 on Jesus's all -star team. And of course, why 00:42:49.260 --> 00:42:52.300 wouldn't we be saved? Because we're awesome. 00:42:53.679 --> 00:42:56.400 And John, the Baptist, obviously didn't feel 00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:59.380 that way. And there will be many who Jesus will 00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:04.119 say, depart from me, I never knew you. Brothers 00:43:04.119 --> 00:43:05.840 and sisters, I want you to hear me. Humility 00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:09.880 is not weakness. It is clarity. It is knowing 00:43:09.880 --> 00:43:14.119 who God is and who we are not. We are servants 00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:19.110 of the King. We are heralds of the gospel, and 00:43:19.110 --> 00:43:22.849 we are messengers, not the message. So we live 00:43:22.849 --> 00:43:27.389 humbly, we give faithfully, and we proclaim boldly, 00:43:27.590 --> 00:43:30.210 pointing always to Christ, seeking never our 00:43:30.210 --> 00:43:33.349 own glory. And like John, we must say he must 00:43:33.349 --> 00:43:37.389 increase and I must decrease. Before I close, 00:43:39.289 --> 00:43:44.710 I want to challenge you that this gospel message, 00:43:45.740 --> 00:43:49.519 are much like John the Baptist. What do I mean 00:43:49.519 --> 00:43:54.119 by that? You have been given an influence of 00:43:54.119 --> 00:44:00.559 some kind, some big, some small. And God has 00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:03.519 entrusted that influence to you to share this 00:44:03.519 --> 00:44:08.780 message with others. And so how do you steward 00:44:08.780 --> 00:44:12.059 it? How are you stewarding the message of the 00:44:12.059 --> 00:44:16.710 gospel? Are you holding it? for yourself, are 00:44:16.710 --> 00:44:20.250 you holding it for yourself in fear or are you 00:44:20.250 --> 00:44:23.789 sharing it? Or are you sharing it in a way that 00:44:23.789 --> 00:44:28.309 is not humble, that is I'm way better than you 00:44:28.309 --> 00:44:31.250 are and you need to hear this. We should share 00:44:31.250 --> 00:44:33.530 these things, we should share the gospel message 00:44:33.530 --> 00:44:39.469 with humility and grace. Do any of you guys know 00:44:39.469 --> 00:44:46.690 who Brother Lawrence is? Man. You guys, earlier 00:44:46.690 --> 00:44:49.969 I asked, what did I ask? You guys know what? 00:44:50.909 --> 00:44:53.650 Yeah, Dilbert. Okay. Got to know who Dilbert 00:44:53.650 --> 00:44:57.210 is. We got to know who Brother Lawrence is, the 00:44:57.210 --> 00:44:59.369 monk. I'm going to tell you about Brother Lawrence 00:44:59.369 --> 00:45:02.630 here in just a second. And don't go watching 00:45:02.630 --> 00:45:05.030 Nothing But Trouble. I started my sermon out 00:45:05.030 --> 00:45:07.650 last week talking about that movie. That you 00:45:07.650 --> 00:45:12.239 can skip, but Dilbert you can go check out. And 00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:16.239 so Brother Lawrence is a famous monk and early 00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:21.800 in his monastery life, his monastery life, he 00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:26.159 came into the monastery and, you know, in a monastery, 00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:29.980 all the monks have a job, right? They oversee 00:45:29.980 --> 00:45:33.260 different parts. If you've never been to a monastery, 00:45:33.280 --> 00:45:35.579 it's pretty interesting. It's the quietest place 00:45:35.579 --> 00:45:40.420 on earth. And for me, that's terrifying. Like, 00:45:40.440 --> 00:45:42.320 I don't like the fact that I can be surrounded 00:45:42.320 --> 00:45:44.480 by people and yet still hear myself breathing. 00:45:46.099 --> 00:45:49.320 But my wife sent me to the monastery that's in 00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:56.619 Schuyler one day, and I was like, it was so difficult 00:45:56.619 --> 00:46:01.199 to be there for an entire day. But so all the 00:46:01.199 --> 00:46:03.659 monks have a job to do, and some of them farm, 00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:04.820 some of them do different things. Well, Brother 00:46:04.820 --> 00:46:07.920 Lawrence was like, what's my job? And the other 00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:11.000 monks looked at him and they said, dishes, and 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:17.059 cleaning the floors. And Brother Lawrence hated 00:46:17.059 --> 00:46:21.800 the job so much, he couldn't stand it. And he 00:46:21.800 --> 00:46:25.639 one day, he was like, I'm too good for these, 00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:28.099 if you've ever watched Nacho Libre, another one 00:46:28.099 --> 00:46:31.260 you should go see. Another one you should see. 00:46:31.719 --> 00:46:35.079 I'm not fit for these duties. That's one of my 00:46:35.079 --> 00:46:41.920 favorite lines. But he cannot stand the job and 00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:46.559 he's like, nope, I'm too good for this. So as 00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:49.780 he's washing dishes, he's talking to the Lord 00:46:49.780 --> 00:46:51.559 and he's like, you gotta get me out of this. 00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:54.960 Like I deserve to be out tending a field or something. 00:46:55.880 --> 00:46:57.739 Not scrubbing floors on my knees and scrubbing 00:46:57.739 --> 00:47:02.099 these dirty dishes. But then the Holy Spirit 00:47:02.099 --> 00:47:08.239 began to do something to him. God began to reshape 00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:13.139 his heart. And as he reshaped his heart, he began 00:47:13.139 --> 00:47:17.780 to see something. He says, serving God is not 00:47:17.780 --> 00:47:21.260 reserved for sermons, prayers, or worship services. 00:47:23.059 --> 00:47:26.019 Faithfulness is to be lived out in the ordinary, 00:47:26.320 --> 00:47:29.940 the repetitive, the unseen, the uncelebrated 00:47:29.940 --> 00:47:35.420 task. And so Brother Lawrence is known for Not 00:47:35.420 --> 00:47:39.340 only did he wash dishes till he died and did 00:47:39.340 --> 00:47:42.000 the floors till he died, he did it because he 00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:45.179 said, I communed more with God in that simple 00:47:45.179 --> 00:47:52.059 task than when I was in prayer. And so why do 00:47:52.059 --> 00:47:55.679 I share that? Because Brother Lawrence and John 00:47:55.679 --> 00:47:58.940 the Baptist are very similar. They understand 00:47:58.940 --> 00:48:03.340 what obedience is. They understood their roles. 00:48:03.460 --> 00:48:05.199 And so Brother Lawrence learned that the gospel 00:48:05.199 --> 00:48:08.119 is proclaimed not only in bold preaching, but 00:48:08.119 --> 00:48:12.940 in faithful living, in unseen obedience, in quiet 00:48:12.940 --> 00:48:16.599 submission, and in humble service. And so here's 00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:18.079 something I want you guys to write down. John 00:48:18.079 --> 00:48:20.860 the Baptist proclaimed the coming King in the 00:48:20.860 --> 00:48:23.599 wilderness. Brother Lawrence proclaimed the presence 00:48:23.599 --> 00:48:28.099 of God in a kitchen. And you... In small towns, 00:48:28.340 --> 00:48:31.900 gravel roads, kitchens, shops, classrooms, tractors, 00:48:32.179 --> 00:48:35.159 and living rooms, proclaim the coming king by 00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:38.739 how you live. And so, Jennifer, don't feel bad 00:48:38.739 --> 00:48:43.039 that you can't cook. You can still be faithful 00:48:43.039 --> 00:48:48.800 in making, you know, macaroni salad and doing 00:48:48.800 --> 00:48:52.139 it for the glory of the Lord. Brother Lawrence 00:48:52.139 --> 00:48:53.840 and John the Baptist had different callings, 00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:55.840 but they had the same obedience. They had the 00:48:55.840 --> 00:48:58.090 same humility. and they had the same surrender. 00:48:59.210 --> 00:49:01.610 And that is the invitation before us to live 00:49:01.610 --> 00:49:04.889 boldly, to serve humbly, and to obey faithfully, 00:49:05.170 --> 00:49:08.969 not for recognition, not for reward, and not 00:49:08.969 --> 00:49:12.650 for applause, but because the King is great.