The Bible is no ordinary book. Not only does it continue to outsell every other book in the world, but as we'll hear today on Truth for Life, it's unlike any other book that has been written or ever will be written. Alastair Begg illustrates this fact as he introduces us to the long-expected messenger who prepared the way. the Messiah. Mark chapter 1 and verse 1.
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet. I will send my messenger ahead of you. Who will prepare your way, a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt round his waist. and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message.
After me will come one more powerful than I. the thongs of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down. and untie. I baptize you with water. but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God. For his word. Father, we pray that as we turn now to the Bible, that you will enable us both to speak and to listen. in such a way that your word comes home with conviction. and compulsion to our minds.
calling us to repentance and to faith and to obedience. And to all they encouragement that is provided for us in thinking again of the good news. Help us to this end, we humbly pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I make no apology for beginning as basically as I possibly can.
Because I recognize that Sunday by Sunday, In a congregation or in congregations like these, there are people at all stages of understanding when it comes to the things of the Bible, indeed when it comes to thinking about God at all.
So let me begin at the very beginning. since it's always a very good place to start. The Bible is ultimately a book about Jesus. In the Old Testament, he is predicted or promised. And when we read the Gospels, as we do now in Mark's Gospel, we discover that the Jesus who is promised in the Old Testament is then made known to us, revealed to us in the New, as those Old Testament promises come to fulfillment.
In our Bibles, we have four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of them begin from their own vantage point. Matthew beginning with Abraham. and the genealogy that follows from there. Look.
begins with Adam and Eve in the garden. John begins in eternity past, before the events of time have ever come to be. And Mark, as we discover here, begins with the prophecies of the Old Testament. And in each case, the gospel writers have the same purpose. Their purpose is not to provide us with a biography of Jesus.
nor is it to provide us with simply an historical record. Their purpose in every case is to tell us The good news. Before Mark, there never was a gospel. If people had said to Mark, what are you doing? And he said, I'm writing a gospel, they would have said, what is a gospel?
And he would have said, well, if you read this, you'll know. And when we read it, we discover that it is the record of who Jesus is. how it is that he has come, what he has come to do, and what he is presently doing. And each of the gospel writers gives to us the story of the and birth of Jesus, his life and his death. His resurrection, his ascension, and the promise of his return.
They are not providing us as the readers with a program. a religious program to accept. nor even with a philosophy that we might care to adopt. But rather they are introducing us to a person And that person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And you will notice if your Bible is before you, and I hope it is open before you, that this is how Mark introduces his gospel.
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Nobody should be in any doubt as to what the theme of this book is going to be. It's going to be about Jesus. The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begins here. Says Mark.
And I'm going to tell you all about him.
Now in these opening verses, I want to identify three factors. First of all, that we notice the promise of a messenger. Then we will consider the arrival of the messenger, and then we will consider the message from the messenger. All right, so first of all, Mark tells us about the promise of this messenger. It is written in Isaiah the prophet, actually he collates both Isaiah and Malachi, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way.
We're all familiar with the way in which heads of state, visiting heads of state particularly, are welcomed to our nation. It would be very surprising if they were to arrive unannounced, if there were not somebody who would introduce them and who would welcome them. And indeed that is what happens. Our own president, when he enters a room or into a particular opportunity as the head of state, will often be announced not only verbally, but also musically. in the playing of the piece, Hail to the Chief.
And we find nothing surprising about this. It's so routine we would be surprised indeed if it didn't happen. And so, when we think in terms of God coming down to earth, God incarnate, Jesus Christ, stepping onto the stage of history at this point, it would be very surprising if he were to arrive unannounced. And so we're told he doesn't. When Luke begins his gospel, he gives to us the angelic arrival in the surrounding hills of Bethlehem with the news that absolutely startles the shepherds.
Today is born for you in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And when this angelic announcement dawned on them, they said, Well, let's get off to Bethlehem immediately and see this thing that has come to pass. Mark, of course, doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus.
He begins with the earthly ministry of Jesus. 30 years have elapsed since the beginning of Luke's Gospel, but he tells us again that Jesus has not come unannounced. But rather that there is a special messenger, a prepared messenger, who is coming before him to announce the commencement of his earthly ministry.
Now what Mark is doing of course, years, not too many years, but years after the ascension of Jesus, is writing down a record of all that took place. And for many of these early believing Christians who are wondering about all that they have entered into, this gospel record helps them. And he sets the beginning of his good news by taking us back to the words of the prophets. And we might say that he goes forward by going back. Here is the beginning, and then immediately he goes back centuries before Jesus.
It is written in Isaiah the prophet. Now I want to pause here for just a moment. Because some of us are very familiar with the Bible and we're familiar with biblical terminology. And we're aware of the fact that God is described as having spoken through the Old Testament prophets.
Some of us will know our Bibles well enough to know that Hebrews begins linking the old with the new with the memorable phraseology in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in different ways But in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son. And because that terminology is familiar to us, We do not recognize just what a revolutionary thought it actually is. And if you've come here today and you perhaps are at the very beginning of considering whether this Bible is to be reckoned with, whether this Jesus is to be considered and so on, I think that you will admit that it is a revolutionary notion that God, who is himself Spirit, speaks. That God speaks. In fact, the actions of God And the speech of God cannot be separated.
The very beginning of the universe. is as a result of God speaking. He said, let there be light. And there was light. Timothy Ward says, The Old Testament assumes.
that God can and does speak in and through human words. in such a way that those words can truly be said to be His words.
Now it's true that the Bible doesn't tease this out. The Bible does not even provide for us a theological or a philosophical explanation of this. It just says it. It just assumes it. And anybody standing on the outside looking in might say, but I find that very, very hard to believe and understandably so.
But when a man or a woman begins to read the Bible, begins to consider it. They will find if their hearts are open to it truly, that the Bible in their endeavors to understand it is actually proving to understand them. That this book is no ordinary book. that it isn't like any other book at all. Any other book we may take out and seek to understand it, but here when we read this Bible, it actually seems in some places to know us.
It says things that just seem so apropos. It may uncover things in us that have learned dormant for a long time. It actually gets into the very core of our being. And we might find ourselves saying, why is this?
Well, the answer that the Bible gives is because it is the Word of God. That God who created the universe chooses to relate to us by means of human language. That God speaks in human language. Indeed, the mystery of the teaching of the Bible. is that God chooses to use mortal tongues to convey the vastness of his being.
And so we discover. That when we turn to the pages of Scripture, we have not only communication from Him. But as we trust His word, We have communion. with him. This explains why we take seriously the teaching of the Bible.
Because it is the conviction conveyed by the Bible That what has been written down for us, what has been recorded in the Old Testament and recorded in the New Testament in the totality of the Bible, is in some way that is both mysterious and marvelous the very word of God. And that is what gives it its significance. It is not the personality of the one who conveys it. nor the ability of the one who communicates it. But the very truth itself, as we have it in our Bibles.
And so, what we discover is that God had spoken to the prophets. The prophets had in turn written it down. And now Mark takes up what Isaiah and Malachi have written down, and he says, I want you to know that when John the Baptist came as messenger, he came in the fulfillment of the promises. Because you see, there had been 300 years essentially. of silence.
Between the ending of the last prophetic word and the arrival of John the Baptist here on the stage of human history with this dramatic announcement, generations had lived and died. People had gone to their graves saying, well, the prophet said there would be a messenger who would come, but I don't think he's come. They would have said, you know, there is supposed to be one who will bear away the sins of the world, but for the life of us, I don't think we've seen him. And many of them died in faith, believing that yet that would still happen. And out of the silence, or if you like, into the silence.
comes the Word of God. Again. And the days into which this word comes. were dark days. There were days when the political structures were unfavorable.
As you will discover if you want to read in Luke chapter 3.
Now, what had happened was that the events in Bethlehem had stirred the expectations of some. The people who were reading their Bibles, that is reading the Old Testament, when the events of Bethlehem unfolded, must have begun to say to one another, I wonder if there's something in these events in Bethlehem in these days. Because the news of the angelic visitation would have been there, the wise men would have been visible in the community, the things that they said in their departure from the community would have been known, they would have spread like wildfire, and the shepherds themselves were still living in the community, and people could have said to them, What really was it that happened that night when you went down there? Because as far as we can tell, the baby that was born there is now living in a carpenter's workshop in Nazareth. Apparently, he's the son of Mary and Joseph, and he's working in carpentry.
And what about that other strange birth, the one where the husband was struck dumb? What was his name again, Zachariah, and his wife was Elizabeth? Whatever happened to that boy? And somebody must have said, Well, he's grown up now. Apparently, he went, he's.
He went in the desert somewhere. I don't know where he is. Who knows what he's doing? Apparently, his mom and dad have lost track of him. He's off in the desert.
I don't know. Maybe he'll show up someday. I haven't a clue. And that all of a sudden Here he comes. The forerunner appears in fulfillment of God's Promise.
You see, John the Baptist is not somebody with a bright idea about religion. John the Baptist is not somebody who has come up with a program. John the Baptist is not somebody who has invented a concept and he's managed to find a way to market it and to package it, and great crowds of people are all excited about it. No, John the Baptist is there. In the fulfillment of God's promise in the Old Testament.
John the Baptist is written about 600 years before Christ. That's the significance. I will send my messenger ahead of you. It's a word from God to his Messiah, the Son, reminding him that there will be a messenger that will precede him, like a voice calling in the desert: prepare the way for the Lord and make the straight paths for him. The promise of the messenger.
As I traveled down the east coast of Scotland on. Thursday morning by train. I was I was reflecting on how much I enjoy railway travel and it made me go down certain paths. And I also recalled from my history classes that there was in the mid-19th century an act that was passed called the Locomotive Act. which was the 12 Mile an Hour Act.
And that stipulated that no locomotive could weigh more than 12 tons and it was not allowed to be driven at more than 12 miles an hour. Four years later, in 1865, they passed the Two Mile an Hour Act. which was also known as the Red Flag Act. And this determined that the locomotive could not go at more than two miles an hour through a city or a village or a town. and that a pedestrian carrying a red flag should precede the locomotive at a distance of some sixty yards.
And as we went hurtling down the east coast of Scotland, I just did this picture of a little man with a red flag, you know, just trying to stay in front of the locomotive. You know, just. You think he stayed 60 yards in front? You'd bet your life he did. You got 12 tons steaming and breathing and coming right up your tail.
He had every reason to stay 60 yards in front. He knew what his job was. Hey, hey, hey, hey, the train's coming. It's a joke, isn't it, really? Because you could hear the train more than you could see the Joker with a flag.
But that's what John the Baptist is doing. He has a flag, as it were, and he steps up on the stage of human history. And his sole responsibility is to wave the flag and to say, hey, hey, the Messiah is on his way. Jesus is coming. I want to let you know this.
Well, here we have his arrival in verse 4. We move from our first point, the promise of the messenger, to the arrival of the messenger. And so John came, verse 4. Baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Now, I would encourage you to read the comparative treatments of John as you find them in Matthew and Luke and also in the Gospel of John. And when you put the pieces together, Because remember, the Gospels are a bit like newspaper reporters. They all report similar material.
Sometimes they all report the exact same stuff. But they report it from their own vantage point and from their own perspective. And in the same way that you find the same thing reported by the Washington Post, the New York Times, the LA Times and so on, and the Wall Street Journal, the same information, but you just say, well, I wonder if these two people were at the same event, because it just appears that uh there are variations in the way it's recorded. And so it is here. But what you discover without question is that the arrival of this messenger was the arrival of a strange man.
He was a strange man. He had a very interesting beginning. The details of his birth, you can read in Luke chapter 1, verse 41 and following. He had a very strange beginning, but also he was pretty strange by this point in his life. It's not usual for people to be identified by their clothes and their diet.
Maybe the Old Testament prophets, but I can't think of many in the New Testament whose. A lifestyle is described for us in this way, and therefore it must be of note. And verse 6, we're told. that he wore clothing made of camel's hair. with a leather belt round his waist.
Now this is this is Yeah. a kind of prophetic look that he had, if you like. People would have said, Why why are you dressing up like that? Do you think you're one of the Old Testament prophets? And he said, maybe.
Because in one sense he was. He was like the last of the Old Testament prophets. He bridged the gap over the intertestamental period and he now stood at the end of the line and the beginning of the line before the one that he announced was to appear. He's not only a strange man, but he's in a strange place. And so John came, notice verse 4, baptizing in the desert region.
The desert region. Yeah. If you're going to start something, why wouldn't you start where the crowds are? Would make sense, wouldn't it? Why not go to the temple area?
There are lots of people in the temple area. No, he goes to a desert region. One commentator describes this as a hot, uninhabitable depression. For the Jordan Valley started at a certain height below sea level and went down actually about 1100, 900 or 1100 feet. And somewhere down in that Jordan Valley was where he had set up camp.
and where he was engaging in his ministry. In other words, When you think about the location, you say to yourself, no one will ever go there to hear him. I mean, shouldn't he be in a nice suburban location? Visible from the freeway. with good access and plenty of parking.
I mean, that's the only way you could get it going, isn't it? If he had any sense at all, if he really is a, if he is a forerunner, if he's an announcer, why wouldn't he go where there are people to announce to? What a strange place. for such a strange man. You're listening to a message titled A Man with a Message.
on Truth for Life with Alice Durbeg. We'll hear the conclusion tomorrow. In the meantime, we have a special offer I want to tell you about. For a limited time, you can download a free audiobook and study guide from Alistair. The book is called Pray Big, Learn to Pray Like an Apostle.
And this book looks at the Apostle Paul's prayers for the believers in Ephesus. to help us rejuvenate our own prayer lives. You'll often hear people say that prayer is powerful, but Alastair teaches that it's God who is powerful. Prayer is one of the means He uses to complete His purposes.
So when we pray, we're given the privilege of taking part in God's great plan, and we're more attuned to His work and His glory. Often our prayers are for physical needs of others or for ourselves, for jobs or financial security. health, travel safety, things like that. and those aren't unimportant, but what about prayers for spiritual needs? When you read Paul's prayers, you find that he didn't pray for things like comfort or material provision.
He prayed for believers to be strengthened by God and to have unshakable hope and certainty that God is always with them. In Pray Big, Alistair shows how you can pray like this for people you love. Download the free audiobook and study guide today. Go to truthforlife.org slash pray big. And by the way, Pray Big is a great book to go through together with a friend or your family or your Bible study group.
So pass the link along to whoever comes to mind and together you can commit to praying for one another in ways that the Apostle Paul demonstrated in Ephesians. Again, the link is truthforlife.org slash pray big. Thanks for listening. While some churches struggled to draw visitors in, vast crowds went into the desert to hear John the Baptist preach. What was the big attraction?
We'll find out tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the learning is for a living.
