Gospel-Centered Living
Mark 1:12-20
Rev. Brian Bill
September 26-27, 2015
Song: “Holy Spirit”
Holy Spirit, you are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your Presence Lord
I sensed the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our services this past weekend. Four people committed to live on mission by joining Edgewood (two more are joining this weekend). Three people were baptized and eight others have expressed interest in getting baptized.
Last Sunday afternoon Jason Crosby (one of our deacons) and I met with the leadership team of Ignite, our Singles Ministry. We were really impressed with their depth and desire to gather, grow, give and go with the gospel. The Holy Spirit flooded our meeting as we shared ideas for a mission statement. Here are a few excerpts…
*Enjoying God, growing in Christ, being mission-minded, fellowship, being singles-oriented, and being culturally relevant.
* The vision of Ignite is to reach, equip and empower singles (young and old) to reach their full potential in Christ; to the glory of God…
* To equip and encourage college students and young professionals to gather, grow, give and go.
* To unleash young adults to live on mission in order to reach more young adults on campuses and in careers.
Last Sunday night I had the joy of speaking at the Celebrate Recovery service at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Davenport. Gary Pickering leads this service every week. We gave out copies of Anchor for the Soul to the 45 men who attended. Two of the guys said, “I’ve already read this book and it helped me a lot.” I was curious so I asked them where they picked up a copy. Both of them said it was when they were in jail. This made me smile because Larry McClean, one of our members, leads a service at the jail twice a week and hands out these gospel books.
After the message an invitation was given and the Holy Spirit led 5 guys to respond! I was able to talk to two of them afterwards and emphasized the importance of repentance and following Jesus Christ wholeheartedly.
After an incredible day of watching God do his work, I woke up with a headache on Monday, which nearly became a migraine. Sunday was amazing but I felt awful on Monday.
This past Wednesday, students in the QCA and other cities gathered around their flagpoles to pray for their campuses, their community and our country [show pics]. My guess is that some students paid a price this week for standing up for the Savior. The prayers around the pole may have been followed by problems in the lunchroom and locker room.
And this weekend is the Junior High Retreat. Thanks to Pastor Ed’s outstanding job of recruiting, around 30 sponsors and students are there right now! I spoke Saturday morning on the importance of finding faithful friends and avoiding fatal friends and then concluded by challenging them to make sure they were following Jesus Christ as their forever friend. I also mentioned that when they come down from the high of the retreat, it’s likely they will come face-to-face with trials and temptations.
Our ladies also had a retreat this weekend and the principle is the same. Those who went will no doubt go from a time of refreshment back into the ruts of life. The car show just happened and a number of people came, but someone’s brakes may have gone out on the way home.
Actually, whenever you experience a spiritual high, you need to get ready for a spiritual low. As we continue in our series from the Gospel According to Mark our focus today is on “Gospel-Centered Living.” Last weekend we looked at John the Baptist’s garb and his grub. I mentioned the possibility of a new breakfast cereal based on his diet of locusts and wild honey and sure enough, Jim Sheese wanted me to know that this cereal is now available on grocery store shelves [show pic].
We observed that all three members of the Trinity were present when Jesus was baptized and the Spirit descended like a dove. This all crescendos when the Father exclaims from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
You would think that after this incredible coronation Jesus would experience an easy inauguration to his ministry. It would have been cool if the angels had broken out into the Hallelujah chorus (like the Captivating Keyboard guys played for Second Winders). Think again. Here’s the big idea for today: It’s costly to follow Christ, but the price is worth paying. When we sign up to follow the Savior we will encounter severe suffering. We’ll see this in three vignettes from the life of Jesus found in Mark 1:12-20.
1. Terrible Temptation
2. Real Repentance
3. Demanding Discipleship
1 - Terrible Temptation
Look what happens right after the baptism of Jesus in verses 12-13: “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”
Let’s draw some principles from this terrible temptation.
1. Temptation often comes right after a significant spiritual experience. Notice the word “immediately,” which is one of Mark’s favorite words. There is no lag time between the triumph and the temptation. Listen. You are never more vulnerable than when you’re coming out of a great victory.
Elijah experienced this. He saw the fire of God consume the sacrifice on the top of Mount Carmel. 450 prophets of Baal are put to death. He prayed and it rained for the first time in three and a half years. He outran the chariot of King Ahab. Everything’s going great. Less than 24 hours later, he runs away from Jezebel, he becomes depressed and asks God to let him die. He went from the mountain of victory to the valley of mourning.
2. The Holy Spirit sends us into trials so we can learn to stand up to temptation. It’s interesting to me that “the Spirit immediately drove him out…” The phrase “drove him out” is quite vivid and forceful. It means that he was “driven urgently and cast into.” Literally it means, “to throw out of by strong compulsion.” This same word is used of Jesus “casting out demons” in Mark 1:34, 39 and of Him driving out the moneychangers from the temple in Matthew 21:12.
I experienced the Holy Spirit’s urgent urging on Thursday morning when I was out for a run. As I was jogging by the Islamic Center in Moline, I saw a Muslim man standing next to the building. Without breaking stride I found myself changing direction and heading straight towards him. His eyes got big as I got close (it may have been my odor from all the sweat). I put my hand out and introduced myself and told him that I felt badly about the more than 700 Muslims who were killed while on their Hajj pilgrimage near Mecca this week. Interestingly, they were involved in a ritual called, “Stoning the Devil.” I also expressed my condolences for the families of 29 Muslims who were murdered in a mosque in Yemen this week.
I could tell he was stunned…and so was I because I hadn’t planned on saying any of that. I told him I was a pastor and he wanted to know where. When I mentioned Edgewood it seemed like he had heard about us because he smiled. I told him that I was praying for him and that I’ve met his Imam. I pray for them early every Sunday morning when I’m running. I’m hoping for further opportunities to go with the gospel to them. Muslims are lost and need Jesus Christ. And those who die without being saved by the Savior are lost forever. That should bother us.
We need to clarify that God doesn’t lead us into temptation but He does put us in trials so that we can be strengthened spiritually. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” Satan and his demons tempt us to sin while God urges us to overcome and not give in to the temptation. He provides a way of escape for us so that we don’t sin. We see this in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
3. Times of temptation and trial can last a long time. Look at the first part of verse 13: “And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan…” The wilderness was a place of danger, doom, death and the abode of demons. No one wanted to even go through there, much less be there for 40 days. The number 40 is associated with testing and preparation. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness and Moses spent 40 years in training. The spies spent 40 days in Canaan and the Israelites heard Goliath curse God for 40 days before David grabbed a slingshot.
I don’t know if your temptation will last four minutes or four days or 40 days or 40 years but it will probably last much longer than you want it to.
4. Sometimes we are called to suffer in isolation. Notice the middle part of verse 13: “And he was with the wild animals...” This proves that Jesus hung out with junior highers, because it says he was with the wild animals. JK. Actually, I loved spending time with teenagers this weekend. Interestingly, it would have encouraged Christians in Rome to know Jesus was with the wild animals because they were being fed to the lions.
5. God will give us what we need to tackle temptation. Even when you feel isolated, you are never alone. Notice how verse 13 ends, “and the angels were ministering to Him.” The word “minister” is the word from which we get deacon and means to “wait upon, to serve.” It’s the idea of serving food, which was what Jesus needed at the end of these 40 days.
I find it interesting that Mark does not give us greater detail about this terrible temptation of Christ. It’s all because his purpose is to show that Jesus was on mission as servant and Savior. If you want to read more about how tough it was, check out Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Let me just point out that when Satan tempted Jesus three times (there were more than three I’m sure), each time Jesus responded by quoting a verse from the Book of Deuteronomy. One of the best ways to tackle temptation is to quote Scripture.
It’s costly to follow Christ, but the price is worth paying. We see that first in terrible temptation and second, in real repentance.
2 - Real Repentance
Both John and Jesus preached a message of real repentance. Look at verses 14-15 where we read Jesus’ first words recorded in Mark: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
John the Baptist continued preaching for about six months and during this time he called King Herod out for adultery. John did not compromise truth and didn’t water down the message even when speaking to someone in authority. As a result, he was arrested and thrown in jail. A year later, Herod had John beheaded (we’ll learn more about this when we get to Mark 6).
After John was arrested, it’s interesting that “Jesus came into Galilee,” which was the district of Herod. Jesus didn’t shy away from confrontation either as he moved into the danger zone. This reminds me of my time as a house fellow (R.A.) at the University of Wisconsin. I was saved during my second year at Madison and then served as a house fellow for two years. At the beginning of my last year, I arrived before the other residents and decided to put a Bible verse up on my door. When I came back from class it was crossed out and its place was a quote from Karl Marx: “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” I remember thinking, “Game on.” God had put me in that exact spot for his purposes. I built bridges with my Marxist friend and had many opportunities to have gospel conversations with him.
It’s “go” time for Jesus. I should point out that Mark skips over more than a year of Jesus’ ministry in the southern area known as Judea. You can read more about what happened in the Gospel of John – the cleansing of the Temple in chapter two, Nicodemus coming to him at night in chapter 3 and then, as he makes his way north to Galilee, the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Let’s pull out some principles from this passage.
1. The gospel we proclaim comes from God Himself. When Jesus came into Galilee, we read that he came, “proclaiming the gospel of God.” The word, “proclaim” means to “herald loudly.” And “gospel” refers to “good news.” Please notice that this is not a pep talk or a homily or a self-help discussion. Jesus is proclaiming the gospel “of God.” Unfortunately, gospel preaching is becoming increasingly rare today.
The “gospel” was in the news this past week when the Pope visited our country. Unfortunately, according to reports I heard on Wednesday, the “gospel” was associated with income inequality and climate change. If the Pope had wanted to talk about social and moral issues, I wish he had used his platform to make stronger statements about the sanctity of life and the persecuted church (Pastor Saeed Abedini is being tasered and tortured in a prison in Iran where he has been held for almost three years). I wish he had declared that marriage is between one man and one woman for life (I should add that maybe he did and I just didn’t hear it). He did have lunch with the homeless instead of eating with Congress though!
While I respect the person who is the Pope, the papacy itself is unbiblical. The issues that led to the Reformation remain the same today. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone. I read the text of the Pope’s address to the joint session of congress and then watched a replay of it Thursday night.
I was grieved that while he mentioned Moses and Abraham Lincoln, he never mentioned the name of Jesus Christ even once. What was missing was the “gospel of God” because the real gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died as our substitute on the cross. His blood paid the price for our sins, and then He rose from the dead on the third day. Christ calls us now to repent and receive Him into our lives. That’s the real gospel of God.
Rich Mullins once wrote: “I have attended church regularly since I was less than a week old. I’ve listened to sermons about virtue, sermons against vice. I have heard about money, time management, tithing, abstinence, and generosity. I’ve listened to thousands of sermons. But I could count on one hand the number of sermons that were a simple proclamation of the gospel of Christ.” The Apostle Paul settled this in his ministry as we see in 1 Corinthians 2:2-5: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
2. God’s timing is always perfect. The time was now “fulfilled” for Jesus to launch into his ministry. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…” The idea is that something is complete and fully developed, like ripe fruit ready to be picked or like corn and beans ready to be harvested by farmers. The expression is also used of a pregnant woman feeling labor pains, as she gets ready to deliver her baby. The stage was perfectly set for the Savior to do His work.
Jesus operated according to the Father’s timetable as He lived with an acute awareness of divine timing. Speaking to his earthly mother in John 2:4, Jesus said, “My time has not yet come.” Responding to His brothers’ sense of timing in John 7:8, Jesus said: “For my time has not yet fully come.” That time fully came when He died on the cross as we read in Romans 5:6: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
3. The kingdom of God is close. Jesus came to let people know that the kingdom of God is “at hand,” which means it is near and the summons is urgent. The basic idea is that God is active now and is ruling and reigning in human hearts. Don’t you long for that right now? I’ve been grieved to see almost every day for the past week headlines that read, “Shots fired in the QCA.” We need the kingdom of Christ to reign in our community! In Luke 17:21 in the KJV, Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is within you.” It is invisible now but will be visible later when God establishes His eternal kingdom. I wonder if some of you are close but not in the kingdom yet. Jesus said to a scribe in Mark 12:34: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
4. The gospel calls people to turn from their sins and to trust the Savior. The message is clear and concise and compelling: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” We learned last week that John preached repentance as well. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action. We must repent and receive. It’s not enough to just try to turn over a new leaf. Nor is it enough to just receive without repenting. They go together. Have you turned from your sins and trusted in Christ’s finished work on your behalf?
It’s costly to follow Christ, but the price is worth paying. Temptations are terrible and repentance must be real. That leads to the final truth: Discipleship is demanding.
3 - Demanding Discipleship
Jesus now calls four of his disciples and makes some strong demands on them.
Let’s look at verses 16-18: “Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
As Jesus walks on the shore he sees two brothers fishing. They weren’t using poles but were “casting a net into the sea.” [show pic]
Let’s break down what happens next.
• Follow. Jesus said to them, “Follow me.” While students often followed rabbis, it was unusual for a rabbi to actually call someone to follow him. I love how Jesus calls us to follow Him. We spend time with him, walking where he walks, watching and listening to what He does, so that we become like Him. Jesus said in Luke 6:40: “But everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
• Fish. Jesus calls us to follow and then he gives us our mission: “And I will make you become fishers of men.” Notice that this is not something that will come easy because Jesus has to “make us become fishers of men.” It’s important to understand what may have been going through their minds when they heard these words. According to Jeremiah 16:16-18 and Ezekiel 29:4, when God refers to himself as the “fisher of men,” He’s referring to coming judgment. They would have sensed the urgency of calling people to radical repentance since God was about to call people to judgment.
• Forsake. Notice how quickly they decide to become disciples: “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” The word “left” literally means that they “severed all their ties.” Jesus was worth more than anything they may have walked away from. It’s helpful to know that this is not the first time they had encountered Jesus. They were present when Jesus was baptized and heard John the Baptist say in John 1:36: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” In John 1:41 we read that Andrew said to Simon: “We have found the Messiah.” They had put their faith in Christ months earlier and now they left their lives behind to fully follow the Lord. Jesus said something similar in Luke 14:33: “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
In verses 19-20 Jesus calls two more brothers to follow Him: “And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”
In both cases, these guys forsake what they had to follow Christ, with James and John leaving a family business to help mend broken lives. Discipleship is disruptive. Jesus is to have priority over family, finances, friends, and our future. Everything else must become second to the Savior. The call of Jesus is both personal and public. Jesus calls each of them and all four follow in order to fish and they forsake everything in order to do so. To say it another way, once they are saved they are now ready to surrender and to serve.
Tyler Maas shared a quote this week that is quite powerful, “Jesus only asks us to give up one thing to follow him...and that’s everything.” Pastor Steven Lawson says, “You cannot be nominally committed to Christ.”
Another pastor has said that if you’re 95% committed to Christ, you’re still 5% short. What specifically is holding you back from complete commitment?
The great evangelist Henry Ironside was interrupted one time by the shouts of an atheist. The atheist yelled, “There is no God! Jesus is a myth!” and finally, “I challenge you to a debate!”
Ironside responded, “I accept your challenge, sir! But on one condition. When you come, bring with you ten men and women whose lives have been changed for the better by the message of atheism. Bring former prostitutes and criminals whose lives have been changed, who are now moral and responsible individuals. Bring outcasts who had no hope and have them tell us how becoming atheists has lifted them out of the pit!”
“And sir,” Ironside concluded, “if you can find ten such men and woman, I will be happy to debate you. And when I come, I will gladly bring with me two hundred men and women from this very city whose lives have been transformed in just those ways by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
Jesus Christ changes lives and He does so as we go through terrible temptations, real repentance and demanding discipleship. Remember this: It’s costly to follow Christ, but the price is worth paying.
Jesus is calling you personally right now…by name. I see three applications to this message.
1. Get saved by repenting and receiving Jesus Christ.
2. Surrender and fully follow Christ.
3. Serve whoever, wherever and whenever.
Jesus is passing by right now. What will you do? Are you ready to follow? Will you forsake your own life so you can fish for people’s souls?
It comes down to your will. Will you say, as a matter of your will, “I will follow Christ, paying the price because He’s worth it?”
Closing Song: “I Will Follow”
Where you go, I’ll go
Where you stay, I’ll stay
When you move, I’ll move
I will follow you
