SCRIPTURE: Mark 1:1-8, 14a (ESV)
DATE: 2-18-18
It’s good to be with all of you at Gateway Church this weekend. And one thing I want you to know — and it doesn’t matter if it’s your first time with us or if you’re worshiping at our North Main campus — one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
And today we are beginning a series in the gospel of Mark. We’re going to spend a few weeks traveling through the first three chapters of Mark’s gospel. If you don’t know, here at Gateway we love God — Father, Son, and Spirit — and we love God’s Word — the Bible. So usually you’ll find us spending time in a particular book of the Bible — going through it verse by verse, chapter by chapter for a few weeks. Then we’ll take a break and go explore another book of the Bible — and then come back to Mark and continue our journey from where we left off.
So that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll be in the gospel of Mark up through Easter and then we’ll take a break and explore the Old Testament book of Habakkuk.
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
So if you have your Bible please turn with me to Mark chapter one. We’ll be looking at verses one through eight together today.
And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question to the number printed on the handout or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
Here are the words found in Mark chapter one. Beginning in verse one.
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” And skip down with me to verse fourteen. There we read, “Now after John was arrested…” (Mark 1:1-8, 14a ESV)
SERMON INTRODUCTION
What is a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? I’m sure if you asked ten different people you’d get ten different answers. Many of the answers would have something to do with Jesus, but it’s not earth shattering news to learn that many people in our world have very different ideas as to what it means to be a Christian.
When I lived in West Virginia, I had a membership at a local gym. And one of the older guys — who didn’t go to church and wasn’t religious in any way — well he had a fun time picking on me because of Pastor — I kid you not — this is his name — Pastor Creflo Dollar. Creflo had asked people to bless him with sixty million dollars so he could buy a new jet because his current jet was getting old. So for this guy at the gym — that’s what it meant to be a Christian — or at least a Christian pastor.
For others, a Christian is someone who stands on the street telling people they’re all going to Hell.
For others, Christians are homophobes who support right wing politics and are the least tolerant people they know.
For others, Christians are people who try to cram religious dogma down people’s throats.
But are any of these views correct — what is a Christian?
Here’s the big idea for us today.
PROPOSITION
A Christian is someone who points others to Jesus. A Christian is someone who points others to Jesus.
Now there’s much more as to what it means to be a Christian — and even more could be said about pointing others to Jesus than what we’ll look at today — but we’re going to see three things in our text as to what it means to be a Christian — what it means to point others to Jesus. And here’s what we’re going to see. A Christian is someone whose message, ministry, and life points others to Jesus. Our message, our ministry, and our life should point others to Jesus.
First…
MAIN POINT 1
A Christian is someone whose message points others to Jesus. A Christian is someone whose message points others to Jesus.
Look with me beginning in verse one. Mark writes, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 1:1-4 ESV)
A Christian is someone whose message points others to Jesus — a Christian is called to be a messenger of God.
In verse two, we read “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way.” (Mark 1:2 ESV)
John the baptist was a messenger sent to prepare the way for Jesus. And in a similar way, every Christian is a messenger. Each of the gospel accounts — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — tell us that to be a Christian is to be a messenger. For instance at the end of the gospel of Matthew we read, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)
Jesus’ disciples are told to teach others to obey all the commands He’s given. We’re messengers with a message to share.
Luke tells us “It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: (And here’s the message.) ’There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.” (Luke 24:47-48 NLT)
We’re messengers with a message of forgiveness of sins for all who repent and we’re to share this message with people of all nations — this is why we emphasize “going” here at Gateway. It’s why I recently got back from being halfway around the world encouraging our brothers and sisters to keep being messengers — to keep sharing Jesus’ message — in places where following Jesus can cost you your life.
Continuing our look at the four gospels — John tells us that his purpose in writing his gospel was so “you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.” (John 20:31b NLT)
John was a messenger and he wrote his gospel so others would continue to believe his message.
God’s people are messengers and we’re to tell everyone our message.
So we’re messengers and the gospel is our message. We see this in Mark’s opening words. Mark writes, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1 ESV)
The gospel is our message. The gospel is the Good News that a great victory has been won — that’s what the word gospel means in both the Bible and in Greek literature — there’s been a victory on the battlefield and everyone needs to hear about it.
But our gospel — the Christian Good News — is the declaration of the great victory Jesus accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection as He defeated Satan, sin, death, and Hell.
The gospel declares to the world that brokenness isn’t the way things began — that’s why we all long for a perfect world where peace reigns, disease is gone, wars have ceased, and death is no more. It’s how things were in the beginning — before sin — and all of us — Christian, Muslim, atheist, whoever — all of us long to get back to the way things were in the beginning. We just don’t agree on how to get there — or even if it’s possible to get there — but we all long for it, don’t we?
Yet because of our rebellion against God — by not obeying His one command — “don’t eat from this tree” — sin and death entered our world. And everything was seemingly lost as our relationship with God and each other was broken.
And the whole Bible tells one story — the story of how a holy, perfect, and good God restores the relationship between He and His unholy, imperfect, and rotten to our core people. When you read the Bible — or even when you look at history — you see that the best of us humans are deeply flawed. Even the most selfless of us are still selfish. The most loving of us can be quite hateful. Those who’ve done the most good have secrets hidden in their closet they hope no one will discover.
All humans — of every time and place — are sinful — I should say — all — but one.
Jesus — God who became man — who became like us — lived a perfect life in our place knowing that a perfect sacrifice was needed in order for there to be reconciliation between God and us. So out of His great love, God sent Jesus to live and die in our place as our substitute so that — by believing in what Christ has done — we might experience reconciliation — a restored relationship with God.
And that’s Good News — that’s the gospel — and it’s our message.
And…Repentance is evidence of our message. Repentance is the evidence of our message. In verse four Mark writes, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:4-5 ESV)
Our message includes believing the gospel and repenting of our rebellion and sin. Repentance is the evidence of our message — it’s evidence that you’ve really believed the gospel.
It’s been said that faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. You must believe the gospel message, but believing the gospel doesn’t count for anything if it isn’t accompanied with repentance.
So what is repentance? Repentance is turning away from sin — it’s putting your back to sin — as your put your face to God.
You can only look in one direction at a time. And faith — or believing — in God means you look to Him for your hope, joy, peace, comfort, protection, satisfaction, and so forth. But if you’re looking at God you can’t be looking at sin.
So you turn away from those places where you’ve tried to find hope, joy, peace, comfort, protection, satisfaction, and so on — you turn your face away from those things because you see the truth about them — they always come up empty — they always disappoint — they never satisfy — so you turn your back to them and turn your face to God.
We see this idea of repentance and turning to God later on in Mark’s gospel when Jesus sends out His disciples. Mark writes, “So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.” (Mark 6:12 NLT)
Notice that repentance is accompanied with turning to God.
In the Old Testament, examples of repentance include public displays of weeping over sin.
People would tear their clothes as they mourned their wrongdoings — some would put on special clothes to show they’ve turned away from their sin. We see people so committed to turning away from their wrongdoings that they seek to make restitution for the wrongs they’d done. Some even humbled themselves by bowing low to the ground before the person they’d sinned against to display their repentance.
We see similar things in the New Testament. Zacchaeus promised to give back to everyone he’d stolen from. In the apostle Paul’s life, you can sense the sorrow he has for the life he lived prior to believing in Christ and how he’s constantly trying to get those whom he led astray to believe the gospel.
You see — this gospel we proclaim — the message of Good News — it changes lives.
As people believe it, they no longer act the same, think the same, talk the same, or believe the same things as they did before. And this is proven by their repentance — evidence they’ve believed the gospel message.
And baptism is a sign of our message. Baptism is a sign of our message. In verse four Mark writes, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:4-5 ESV)
Baptism is a sign of our message.
Now John’s baptism and the baptism we read about later in the New Testament aren’t exactly the same thing — there’s some differences about them — but what’s important for us to see is that there is a sign of our message.
As we read earlier Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)
Baptism is a sign that points to God’s faithfulness — that if or when a person believes the gospel — and repents — God will wash them clean and raise them to new life. It’s a sign showing we’ve died to sin and have been buried with Christ — as we go under the water that’s what we’re showing — and then we come up out of the water a resurrected person — a person who’s been resurrected by the power of God.
Now would be a good time to stop and ask a few questions.
- Do you believe the gospel — the Good News of what Christ has done for you in His life, death, and resurrection?
- Have you repented of your sins — truly turned away from things that do not honor God and now find joy, hope, and satisfaction in Christ alone?
- And have you been baptized and — if not — will you sign up for our baptism classes that are happening soon?
Because a Christian is someone with a message they proclaim so they point others to Jesus. The gospel is the message. Repentance is evidence of the message. And baptism is a sign of our message.
Additionally, we see that…
MAIN POINT 2
A Christian is someone whose ministry points others to Jesus. A Christian is someone whose ministry points others to Jesus.
Look with me in verse one again. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:3-8 ESV)
A Christian is someone whose ministry points others to Jesus. So how does our ministry point others to Jesus? First…
Our ministry prepares the way for Jesus’ ministry. Our ministry prepares the way for Jesus’ ministry. Look in verse two. “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” (Mark 1:2-3 ESV)
Now on our side of the cross, God’s ministry of sending Jesus has obviously come first — God’s ministry has prepared the way for our ministry of pointing others to Jesus. But in verses two and three we see that John’s ministry prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry.
And similarly — again it’s not exact, but it’s similar — our ministry — the Christian’s ministry — prepares the way for Jesus’ ministry.
Here’s what I mean. In Romans chapter ten we read, “For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Now saving people is Jesus’ ministry — that’s His work, not ours. But watch what Paul says next.) 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” (Romans 10:13-15 NLT)
Do you see what Paul’s saying? Our ministry of sending, and going, and telling others the gospel — remember the gospel is our message and we proclaim the gospel so others can hear, believe and call out to God for salvation — so our ministry of sending, going, and proclaiming is all done in preparation for Jesus’ ministry — the saving of those who call out to Him.
So our ministries should never be an end in themselves — they should never be the main attraction — our ministries are not the point. Jesus’ ministry of reconciling sinners to Himself is the point and all that we do — both as a church and as individuals — should be preparing the way for His ministry to have maximum impact in people’s lives.
For our ministry is to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry.
Additionally…our ministry imitates Jesus’ ministry. Our ministry imitates Jesus’ ministry. Look again in verse two. “I have baptized you with water, but he (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8 ESV)
Our ministry imitates Jesus’ ministry.
Notice how John’s ministry and Jesus’ ministry were both ministries of baptism. John’s ministry of baptism was hinting at what Jesus’ ministry would be like. Their ministries weren’t identical, but John’s ministry gave hints as to what Jesus’ ministry would be like.
Now we live on the other side of Jesus’ ministry than John — John came before and we come after — so we don’t hint at Jesus’ ministry, instead we’re to imitate His ministry. And if we — Christians — really did this, our imitating Jesus’ ministry would set apart the church from the rest of the world.
What do I mean by that?
For instance, we’re to imitate Jesus’ ministry of love. In the gospel of John Jesus says, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. (We’re commanded to imitate Jesus’ love. And what’s the reason? Jesus says that…) 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35 NLT)
When we imitate Jesus’ ministry of love we prove to the world that we’re His disciples — that we’re true Christians. It distinguishes us from everyone else. While overseas, I experienced a bit of hostility from non-believers. But I also experienced genuine Christ-like love from the believers. There was a noticeable difference between those who believe in Christ and those who don’t. And one of the differences is how the Christians loved me. And — by the way — we Christians are doing fine and dandy when it comes to hostility here in the US — I speak from firsthand experience.
We’re also told to imitate Jesus’ ministry of cross carrying.
In the gospel of Matthew Jesus says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Matthew 16:24b-26a NLT)
Jesus took up His cross to save us and we’re to imitate Him by taking up our cross to live for Him. Jesus didn’t hang on to His life — He chose to be hung on a cross. He gave up His life for our sake, so that we can give up our lives for His glory.
This is what we’re called to.
Some questions for us.
- How is your ministry preparing the way for Jesus to save others?
- How is your ministry imitating Jesus’ ministry?
A Christian is someone who points others to Jesus with their ministry. A ministry that prepares the way for Jesus’ ministry and imitates His ministry.
Finally, we see that…
MAIN POINT 3
A Christian is someone whose life points others to Jesus. A Christian is someone whose life points others to Jesus.
Let’s begin in verse four. “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”
And skip down to verse fourteen. There we read, “Now after John was arrested…” (Mark 1:4-7, 14a ESV)
A Christian is someone whose life points others to Jesus. So what kind of life points others to Jesus?
First…A humble life points others to Jesus. A humble life points others to Jesus. In verse four we read, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” (Mark 1:4-7 ESV)
A humble life points others to Jesus.
CS Lewis said, “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” There’s truth to that. But look at how humility worked itself out in John’s life.
Notice that you can be humble and still have great popularity. John’s ministry seemed to be bursting at the seams. In verse five we read that “all of the country of Judea and all of Jerusalem” were coming out to him. Now most commentators call this literary exaggeration on Mark’s part as he’s wanting to describe what’s going on by using language to put a picture in our mind of how incredible the scene was.
Similar to how you might say, “It’s raining cats and dogs” on a day with big thunderstorms. It’s an exaggeration to prove a fact.
So John’s a popular guy. His ministry was seemingly successful. Yet he humbled himself because he knew he wasn’t the main attraction.
He wasn’t the main character in God’s story. And he wanted to take the eyes that were on him and point them to Jesus.
We also see that John was humble enough to allow God to dictate how he dressed and what he ate. In case you didn’t know, camel’s hair clothes and a diet of locusts and honey weren’t the latest fashion and diet trends in John’s day.
But John was fulfilling the ministry God had given him and that included being obedient down to the very details of how he dressed and what he ate. And his humility — which allowed him to submit all areas of his life to God — caused people to take notice. They stopped to look at him — and while they took a glance — John took advantage of the moment and proclaimed his message to them. And look at John’s message.
It’s filled with humility as John tells his onlookers, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” (Mark 1:7 ESV)
John’s telling the people, “I’m not mighty, but the Mighty One is coming. I’m nothing special, but the Special One is coming. I’m simply preparing the way for the One who matters and when He arrives, I’ll be happy to step out of the spot light so all eyes can be on Him.”
That’s the humble life — the one who knows he isn’t even worthy to stoop down and untie the sandal straps on Jesus’ feet. Where you say, “I’m not even worthy to be the most unworthy slave — that’s who I am compared to Jesus. Look to Him, don’t look to me.”
A humble life points others to Jesus.
And finally…An “all in” life points others to Jesus. An “all in” life points others to Jesus.
In the first part of verse fourteen, Mark writes, “Now after John was arrested…” (Mark 1:14a ESV)
An “all in” life points others to Jesus.
In the other gospels, we learn what leads to John’s arrest, but Mark simply tells us that John was arrested. John’s message and ministry — that pointed others to Jesus — ultimately cost him his life. And this is true for all Christians. For the only life that points others to Jesus is an “all in” life.
“No matter what You want me to do. No matter what You want me to say. No matter what You want me to wear. It doesn’t matter where You want me to go. Who You want me to talk to. Which neighborhood You want me to live in. I open my hands and say “Heavenly Father, Your will be done in my life. I’m — all — in.
I give You my family. I give You my dreams. I give You my health. I give You my wealth. I give You my career. I give You my safety. I give You my reputation. I give You my all. I — am — Yours. Fully. Completely. All of me. I’m all in — so others might look to You and find joy, hope, and eternal life.”
Because a Christian is someone who points others to Jesus with their life. A humble — “all in” — life.
CONCLUSION
And our message, ministry, and life will never point others to Jesus unless we first believe Jesus’ message. Jesus came preaching the gospel — proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand. That people must repent of their sins and believe in Him in order to experience everlasting life. And — as we’ll see next week — Jesus identified with us in baptism and — before He left for Heaven — He commanded us to continue baptizing those who believe His message as a sign of their faith in Him.
And we must know that our ministry is a continuation of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus constantly pointed people to Himself and we’re to continue His ministry — by imitating what He did — so others might believe in Him.
And we must come to see that our lives are of far less significance than Jesus’ life. And if He lived humbly for our sake — going “all in” by dying on a cross on our behalf — surely we can point others to Him by living humble lives that are “all in” for Him.
And when we proclaim God’s message — the gospel — do the ministry work God has called us to do — and live our lives for the glory of His name…we will point others to Jesus. We will prepare the way for the Lord to do the work of salvation that only He can do, so that people you and I know — and people all around this world — might find the joy, hope, peace, and everlasting life they’ve been searching for.
For this is what a Christian does — this is who they are. A Christian is someone who points others to Jesus with their message, their ministry, and their life. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I pray that everyone who hears my voice will receive and respond to what You’ve said to us through Your Word. I ask You to remind us — those who believe in Jesus — that You have given us a message, a ministry, and our lives so we might point other people to Your Son, Jesus. Help us to find infinite joy in Jesus and great delight in pointing others to Him.
Father for anyone listening who is believing the gospel message for the first time — I ask You to give them life, hope, and joy in Your Son, Jesus, as they turn from their sin and turn to You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.