The New Covenant and Dispensationalism - 34

Two weeks ago, we took an overview look at the Gospel of Mark as an introduction to an expositional study that we're going to work through in the coming weeks. And all I did two weeks ago was kind of give you an overview and a flavor of Mark's writing and what he emphasizes and what's unique about his style and so on and so forth.

And we did not get into the text that last two weeks ago, but tonight we will do that. So I want to just read the opening verses again and then we'll begin our exposition. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea and those from Jerusalem went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, There comes one after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.

I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Well, as we begin our study of the gospel of Mark, I want to draw your attention to Mark's starting point, which seems a bit strange and odd and unique to to his style of writing. One of the things I think that gives authenticity to the to the integrity of the scriptures is that God preserves the personality and the background and the style and the humanness of the human author. So as you read Matthew, Matthew, his personality, his style comes through, as well as Mark, Luke and John. They're not carbon copies of one another.

They're unique and in them of themselves. And Mark is no different. But we find here Mark's starting point after a few words concerning the gospel. After all, this is the gospel according to Mark. But it is not about Mark, is it?

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. And then he launches immediately into the ministry of John the Baptist. And the question as we think about Mark's starting point is why, why, why this starting point? And I think the answer to the question is tied to the emphasis of Mark's gospel and where he wants to take us in his gospel account. We have, I think, a bit of a hint from the Lord Jesus himself recorded in Luke, chapter 16 and verse 16, where he said these words. The law and the prophets were until John. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached. There's something unique about the ministry of John the Baptist.

The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached. In Mark's gospel, what's unique to Mark? How does he portray Christ? Well, he presents Christ as an active, energetic, swiftly moving, warring, conquering king. One of the key words that I drew your attention to two weeks ago was the word immediately. And we looked at that in chapter one about eight different times where you see the word immediately. And it's a literary device that Mark uses to keep you moving through the gospel. The gospel of Mark is an action.

It's not a snapshot. It is video. It moves very, very quickly. But again, Mark is presenting Christ as an active, energetic, swiftly moving, warring, conquering king. And when a king is about to arrive, he is generally preceded by a herald.

And John is that herald. Now, when we think about the gospel and we think about its beginning, that can take us a lot of places, can it? Where does John take us in his gospel in the prologue? In the beginning was the word. In the word was God, the word was with God.

You remember that? Now, he speaks to John the Baptist as well. John does. He says, All things were made through him, speaking of Jesus, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.

That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. So, John as well as Mark, very early on in his gospel account, draws attention to the ministry, the life and ministry of John the Baptist. John was a herald. He went before the Messiah.

And the herald's function is to prepare the way for the king and to announce his arrival. And that's exactly what John does, as Mark quotes two Old Testament verses to describe the ministry of John the Baptist. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then he says, as it is written in the prophets. He quotes two Old Testament passages or verses, Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1, and Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 3. Malachi 3, 1, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And Isaiah 40, verse 3, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. So, it's a little, what shall I say, a little awkward the way the gospel begins. It says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets.

So, I'm just kind of trying to take those words and try and simplify. What exactly is Mark trying to tell us here? I think this would be a fairly accurate representation of what Mark is trying to say. The good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, began with John the Baptist. That's his approach of setting forth the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, as I said, there's a lot of places we would go when we begin to talk about the beginning of the gospel. We could go back to the incarnate word that John goes to in the prologue of his gospel. We could go all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, the first mention of the gospel and the promise of a deliverer.

Or we could go all the way back before time itself, couldn't we? Christ slain before what? The foundations of the world. Christ slain before the foundation of the world. Well, that's taken us way back, right? Is there further back beginning than that?

You think about that. Christ slain before the foundation of the world. The purpose and plan of God, the decree of God, was for Christ to die for a people before there was the creation on the foundation of the world. And if you think about the sequence, it's as if God created this world as a stage, as a platform whereby the drama of redemption would work its way out, work its way out, manifest itself. That's an astounding thought to me. Too many people think that God's redemption is a reaction to man's fall, that it's plan B, that it wasn't really in the heart and mind of God at the very, very beginning. It's just something God had to react to when man fell in the garden.

No, not at all. But for Mark's purposes, he is beginning his dealing with the gospel of Jesus Christ with the ministry of John the Baptist. So we've looked at Mark's beginning point. Consider with me number two, Mark's emphasis on the gospel, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, we're very familiar with the word gospel.

It is from the Greek word euangelion, which means good news or good tidings. And the gospel is the good news of what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ to save a world lost in sin. It is not a message of what sinners must do, but of what God in Christ has done. Now, that seems pretty elementary to us, but in the broad spectrum of Christianity, it's a pretty lost idea. The gospel is not a message of what sinners must do, but of what God in Christ has done.

And that's what makes it good news. Notice how Mark presents this gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

All of those words are critically important. The name Jesus is Jesus's human name. It is a Greek form of the name Joshua or the Hebrew Yeshua. The name Jesus means Yahweh is salvation. You remember the angel coming to Joseph and instructing him, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now, Mark is announcing the coming of the messianic king, the Christ. So it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is not a name, but a title.

It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word translated Messiah, which means anointed one. Jesus is the long anticipated Messiah. And then he adds the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This one, Jesus Christ, is one in nature with God, co-eternal, co-equal with the Father. And Mark is introducing to these Roman pagans who wrongly regarded Caesar as a god, the true divine king, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is something that Mark will point to throughout his gospel.

Let me just give you a few examples. It's interesting how these gospel writers will introduce concepts and ideas early on. And then it's as if they're setting the stage for you to pick up on that and then follow that theme throughout the gospel account.

And this is one of those things. Notice chapter three in verse 11. And again, the emphasis on Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Chapter three, verse 11. This is one of the miracles. Jesus heals a man, and it says in verse 11, And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, that is Jesus, and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God.

But he sternly warned them that they should not make him known. That's an interesting concept we'll deal with in the passing of time. And isn't it interesting, the unclean spirits confessed Jesus as the Son of God.

And there are studied, learned people who deny that reality. Chapter five and verse seven. Another miracle of Jesus. The demon possessed man. Verse seven, And he cried out with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me.

Again, this is a demon. The enemies of Christ have their Christology right. What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Chapter nine, verse seven at the Transfiguration. Verse seven, And a cloud came and overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved son. Hear him. Hear him.

There's a statement being made there about the nature of progressive revelation. Don't hear the prophets. Don't hear Moses.

Hear him. Hear Jesus, who is the final revelation of God. Hear him, is what God the Father is saying. Chapter 13, verse 32 concerning the second coming. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. And then one more time, 15, chapter 15, verse 39, Jesus on the cross.

So when the centurion who stood opposite him saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God. Mark is recording these events, these confessions. And again, I remind you that Mark, some of his gospel is eyewitness, but a good majority of it is the account of Peter. He was a close associate of Peter. Peter told him these things. It's toward the end of Peter's life.

Peter probably hasn't died yet, but his life will soon be taken from him. And in order to preserve the legacy and the ministry of the Lord Jesus and his teachings, Mark records the gospel heavily dependent upon Peter. Again, Mark is the first of the synoptic gospels to be written.

So we've considered Mark's starting point. Secondly, his emphasis on the gospel. Third, think with me how Mark ties his gospel to the Old Testament scriptures.

Again, back to chapter one. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets. As it is written in the prophets. And again, he quotes those two Old Testament prophets, Malachi and Isaiah. Malachi 3.1, Isaiah 40, verse 3. And he's quoting verses that are fulfilled by John the Baptist. Prophecies recorded 700 years before John ever comes on the scene. So Mark is trying to tie the Old Testament scriptures to what is taking place that he is giving a record of. Malachi, Isaiah prophesied about one who would come as a forerunner, as one to prepare the way for a king. And now Mark is saying, that man is John the Baptist. He is the fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies.

Amazing. John's ministry is a fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. The coming of Jesus Christ into the world was not unforeseen, was not a second thought.

It was not a reaction to the fall. It was prophesied that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head all the way back in Genesis chapter 3, in verse 15. So all throughout the Old Testament, to the rescue.

Whatever choked me up, I think I swallowed it. Thank you, Pastor Strength. But all throughout the Old Testament, in shadows and in types, through the mouths of the prophets, who often repeated messages of a promised Messiah, that message is heralded throughout the Old Testament. Not just there in Malachi and Isaiah, but the entire Old Testament is anticipating the coming Messiah.

It's pointing forward. And we need to understand that the Old Testament scriptures are anticipatory. They're anticipating the coming of Christ. And it helps us to realize that we need to have an eye and a mind when we go to the Old Testament, not to get lost in the narrative and the stories and the miracles that take place, but be looking for Jesus Christ. Read our Old Testament Christologically, read it redemptively. What is this telling me about Christ?

What is it telling me about redemption? That's how we need to think about the Old Testament. Jesus, pointing to the Old Testament scriptures, said in John chapter 5, in verse 39, these are the scriptures that testify about me. He said that to the religious leaders.

These are the scriptures that testify about me. You remember the encounter that Jesus had after the resurrection of the two men on the road to Emmaus? Let me read a couple of verses there in Luke chapter 24.

This is Luke 24. I'll read it beginning at verse 25. Then he said to them, these two men on the road to Emmaus, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe, in all that the prophets have spoken.

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And then in verse 44, then he said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. And he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. With that being said, let us read the Old Testament with a desire to find something in it about Jesus Christ, because Jesus said that it is about him. And if it's about him, I don't want to miss him.

Do you? Okay, that's important. And again, we've got to be careful not to overly spiritualize things, but there's a truth here that we must acknowledge and adjust our reading in accordance with what Jesus has said. Now, again, back to Mark. Mark and John the Baptist share a commonality. I hadn't really thought about it until I've been studying the Gospel of Mark and preparing for this series. But Mark, the human author of this Gospel, never mentions himself by name, not at the beginning of his Gospel and not anywhere else. In fact, I showed you where I think, when I told you that this Gospel is the product of, in part, of his eyewitness account and heavily relying upon Peter's account. I am more convinced than I was two weeks ago when I told you that I believe that Mark is the man being referred to in Mark chapter 14. So turn there for a minute.

We'll take a look at that. This is the betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane. They came to apprehend Christ, to arrest him. It says in Mark 14 verse 48, Then Jesus answered and said to them, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me, but the scriptures must be fulfilled. Then they all forsook him and fled.

All right? They all forsook him and fled. And I want to ask you then, who is the person who is referred to in verse 51? Now a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth, clothed around his naked body and the young man laid hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. I think that's Mark, John Mark.

They all fled. So it wasn't any of those who fled who are giving this account. Who else is it? Who else could it be? I think it's John Mark. John Mark is this unnamed man. But my point is that John Mark is not concerned about drawing attention to himself. He doesn't mention his name. At the beginning he mentions his name nowhere and he only refers to himself in an ambiguous way there in chapter 14. John the Baptist, likewise, was constantly directing the attention of the people away from himself to Christ.

Remember? Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, looking away from himself. And it says here, in verse 7, And he preached, that is John the Baptist, preached saying, There comes one after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

He said on another occasion, He must increase and I must decrease. And my point here as we come to the end of this message this evening is that we need to learn from and follow the example that's set before us of humility and servitude. Mark, this isn't about me.

I'm not interested in drawing attention to me. John the Baptist, similarly, this is about Christ. I'm just a forerunner. I'm just here to point others toward him. I'm just here to prepare the way for the Lord. And then Jesus is set before us as the supreme example for our emulation. I think probably the key verse of the entire gospel account that captures Mark's emphasis, John Mark's emphasis here, as he sets before us Jesus as the suffering servant. He says in Mark 10, verse 45, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. I think the key to a fruitful life, a key to a useful life, is to find our story in the big story of God's redemption. If we can find ourselves in the gospel, we see our connection to the gospel, we have a story, we have a testimony, we have a journey that God has set us on of grace. But it isn't about us.

God did this to draw attention to himself, that he might get the glory, that we might live to the praise of his glory and honor, not to us. So, don't get lost in your own story is my point. Life can become very challenging and difficult, and if we're not careful, our life can shrink, and the only thing that defines us is the problems and the trials and the difficulties that we're going through. See your life and your difficulties framed in the big story of God's redemption. Live for him in the midst of those things.

Live for him who died for you. I'm convinced, based on what I read in the Old Testament, of the account of Abraham's bargaining with God concerning Sodom and Gomorrah. And he said to God, would you destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for fifty righteous?

No, I won't. Well, he couldn't find fifty righteous, and you know how that went all the way down. Would you spare Sodom and Gomorrah if they were ten righteous people? And God said he would.

So, what's the implication? God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. There weren't ten righteous people. I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ, you and I, are a preserving influence in this world. And God is withholding his fiery judgment upon this world for the sake of you and I, who are a preservative in this world. We are to be salt and we are to be light in this world. So don't despair in the midst of the darkness.

Don't despair in the rapid decline of our country as it descends further and further away from righteousness. Find your place in God's big story. Shine as light. Be a testimony. Be a light of hope in the darkness.

Let us pray. Father, thank you for these opening verses of the Gospel of Mark. Father, we desire to study to show our self-approved a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing your word. So, Father, as we progress through this Gospel, we pray that you would indeed do for us what you did for those men on the road to Emmaus. You opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. And yet, Lord, as we were reminded with that quote from the Puritan Thomas Manton, our study is not an end in itself.

We're not interested only in knowledge. We're interested in our lives being changed by the life-giving Word of God. We thank you, Father, for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that he came into this sin-cursed world to redeem a people for his own glory. And we thank you that we are some of those who will make up that Bride of Christ. And we pray, our Father, that you would continue to work in us, that you would continue to change us and transform us and make us more holy, more fitting for your Son, the Bride that's fitting for him. Father, thank you again for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you that our Savior did come and that the Spirit of God has convicted us of sin, and we have been quickened. We've been brought to spiritual life. Father, fan the flames of that life that we might grow. We might further manifest the life of God in our lives as we interact in this dark and decaying world. Father, thank you again for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our only hope in life and in death. Amen.