ONE MIGHTIER THAN I - Part One
TEXT: Mark 1:1 – 8
PRAYER:
I have been blessed to meet and speak to a wide variety of missionary-ministers who have sold everything and taken their families into ministry. They are truly committed to the calling of God in their lives. Some of these courageous folks are serving in the inner city ministries here in the U.S., while others are serving in the remote areas of Africa, Asia, etc. These men and women give me perspective to what it means to serve God in remote places. It is an honor to meet them and listen to them.
Our text begins with the humble servant of God JTB. Vs. 1 says it is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It begins with John The Baptist. Today’s text is the continuation of the Prophecy spoken by Isaiah in Isaiah 40:3. John the Baptist (JTB) is the fulfillment of a prophecy that was hundreds of years old.
The Prophet Isaiah had never met John the Baptist, but Isaiah did describe John the Baptist for us. And now (in the New Testament) Mark is giving us a clearer and closer look at this amazing preacher and prophet of God – JTB.
We have to ask ourselves - Why would John the Baptist be prophesied about in the Old Testament, and then documented in the New Testament? After all, there is nothing glamorous about this man wearing camel hair, and eating locust and wild honey. Why do we find story of JTB in the OT and NT?
The fact is John the Baptist is considered to be one of the most significant and productive spiritual leaders of the entire Bible. This is only because of the message JTB preached to the world.
JTB had a very unusual message and ministry… Bible Scholars consider JTB to be a ROAD BUILDER while making the way for Jesus to come to us through “the wilderness”. It would be Jesus Christ Who would redeem the earth from sin and Satan.
This would not be an easy job, but a very important job.
JTB would face spiritual darkness and evil and he would be
THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!”
The point and place of ministry (for JTB) was not a convenient place for ministry. It was in the wilderness. The Greek word for “wilderness” is desert. Imagine with me - this is a place that is very hot and dry…a rocky terrain without any trees for shade.
It was not a comfortable place for people to listen to the preachings of a Prophet. Imagine - There are no seats or cushions, no air conditioning, no melodic music flowing out from a booming sound system, etc.
Ministry unto Jesus can be intense, and is always intentional.
Ministry in a wilderness can take a lot out of you (as it did for JTB). For JTB, there were not any rewards for his ministry unto Jesus. The rewards for ministry do not always come to the prophets and preachers in their lifetime. Those rewards may have to wait until we stand before Him and behold His eyes.
QUESTION: Do you have a spiritual life? Have you ever had a time when you have felt drained, thirsty, and sunbaked? A time when you have felt completely exhausted and you are not sure if you can go any further? A time when you are no longer able to fight the forces of evil in the “wilderness”?
The days we live in are not that different than the early days of Jesus’ ministry…the early days of JTB…. Here in our text is the life of JTB. JTB only had one voice crying out “in the wilderness”. It was miserably hot, but he would not give up.
As for you and me, we know there are times when we try to do the right thing for God, but Satan fights us every step of the way. Satan will do whatever he can to attack you and finish you off, but friend you must never give up in your wilderness.
The fact is there may be someone in your life that needs to hear what you have to say about Jesus. Your voice can resinate aloud, and be just as important as the voice of JTB was when he was CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!”
The historians of that period of time tell us there were many people who had given up on God. In a spiritual sense, the world was lost in darkness. There was no relief for God’s people.
Those who were once faithful and true to the Laws of Moses had all but given up. The historians tell us that no one had heard the voice of God for 400 years (before JTB). The Voice of God could not be heard by anyone…anywhere. The other Priests and Prophets of this period of time were silent. They had nothing to say to strengthen the Children of Israel. They were very discouraged.
And then came the day when they heard JTB’s voice, CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!”
JTB made a difference in the people’s lives. The people walked through the “wilderness” to listen to what JTB had to say.
QUESTION: What could JTB possibly have said that caused people to walk through the “wilderness” and listen to him?
The Bible says JTB simply preached “…repentance and the remission of sins…” And yet today, in the 21st Century,
I have been told by some that:
1. people don’t want to hear about repenting from their sins.
2. people won’t come to church if we tell them they need to repent from their sins.
3. We shouldn’t talk about how Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross for our sins
4. We should make people feel comfortable in church
5. We should be more relevant with social issues
6. We should be more understanding and empathetic with their permissive lifestyles
Caution my friend - That way of thinking only takes us further away from our salvation, and our redemption.
We should know what God’s Holy Word tells us:
1. In Genesis, it was Adam and Eve that chose not to obey Father God. Instead they chose to listen to the Serpent, Lucifer…we know him as Satan, or the Devil. God told Adam and Eve they could eat from the trees in the Garden of Eden, but they could not eat from the tree in the midst of the Garden. Adam and Eve turned their backs on their Creator, their Father and their God. The people chose to listen to the reasoning of the lying Serpent, and so they ate of the forbidden fruit.
2. God’s Word clearly states (Romans 3:23) that all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.
3. Romans 6:23 warns us that the wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
4. Just as sin has come into this world through the sin of one man, even so has forgiveness and redemption come to us through one man. That one man is, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Savour of our soul, and the Healer of all our diseases.
The Plan of God for Salvation has come to this world through the Man from Galilee, the son of Joseph (the carpenter) and Mary (the mother of Jesus). At the very moment when sin and evil were at their darkest hour, the greatest miracle of all would take place and Jesus came to save all of mankind.
In our text (Mark 1) the story of JTB is all about introducing Jesus Christ – He is the One who saves us from our sins…He is the righteous One.. He is our Redeemer, and it would be JTB who was chosen to open the road for Jesus to come. In order for God to save the world, JTB declared that they would have to repent of their sins and be baptized into a New Life.
This may surprise some, but God hasn’t changed his mind in over 2000 years. God still loves the sinner, but God still hates sin. Sin is the wilderness that we live in. Nevertheless, God has given to us all a way out…
Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only Way through the “wilderness” you are going through.
God first gave the Prophecy of Jesus Christ to JTB, and now you have been given this prophetic miracle of our Lord and Savour.
JTB simply preached “repentance and the remission of (for our) sins. The people came from Judea and Jerusalem and were publicly baptized in the River Jordan as a means of repenting and “confessing their sins”.
CLOSE:
The only Person that can help those who are lost in the wilderness, is Jesus. Jesus made it easy for us in John 14. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me!”
What that tells us is that there are not any other options if you want to be saved from the wilderness you are in. Some people may search for an alternative to make them happy. Perhaps we look to our belongings/possessions, but true lasting happiness is our eternal joy we have when we walk with Jesus through any valley, or our darkest wilderness.
