Make Way

All right, good morning. Thank you. This is the spot where I ask you to find your seat again, not interrupt the best thing our church does. I’m getting a big no sir from Kenneth back in the corner. Man, it was great to see everybody today. Thank you all so much for being here.

Yeah, like Buck was talking a few moments ago, man, last week was an incredible time for our church. That is a service that God had put on my heart a couple months ago. I just knew that coming into 2024, we would need a moment of calibration and renewal, especially as we’re going into the new year. And man, I just want to say, I fully believe that we are a people prepared for what God wants to do in our midst.

Anybody remember the question I asked maybe 10 times throughout the service? I said, do we want what God wants? And I fully believe that we are a church that is orienting around that because we want what God wants. And here’s the deal. Our community desperately needs that. Our community is struggling with things that the church needs to be able to move into and help assist with. You know, from substance abuse to domestic dysfunction, generational grudges, poverty, our community needs us as the church to be light. And here’s the deal. Christ has called us that.

We’re keeping these candles going. I’m not sure how long, but we’re going to keep them going at least for today. You know, because Christ said, I am light. It then said, so are you. And Christ’s spirit is here with us, which means this is His church. And I’m incredibly excited as we walk into 2024 to begin to see what God has for us.

So like Donnie has already said, we today are beginning a new series through the Gospel of Mark. I am preaching out of these Gospel of Mark journals. We have some. We may have a couple more on the back tables. If you get back there and you want one of these and there’s not one back there, there’s a piece of paper. Just put your name down. Angela’s ordering some more and we’ll get that to you.

But yeah, we’re beginning this series through the Gospel of Mark where Jesus comes to a people that’s not quite prepared for Him. They thought they were, but we’ll see as we journey through this Gospel that they had some expectations of the Messiah that didn’t quite pan out.

So how about this? Let’s pray for our sermon this morning, pray for our time, and we’ll jump into it. If you would close your eyes and bow your head with me.

Jesus, thank you. Lord, You’re really good and we need You. And God, I need You. Lord, I make no pretense about this. I cannot do this well enough. Father, I need You in this with me. God, I pray that as I speak, it would be Your words. God, I pray that as folks are listening to what I have to offer in a sermon this morning, that they would not just let words hit their ears, but that they would engage with truth. Holy Spirit, I’m asking if Your presence is here that You would do something this morning. Lord, I love You and I just want to see more people come to love You. Amen.

Well, like I said, we are beginning this series, the King and His Kingdom. Now, we need to orient ourselves a little bit with the Gospel of Mark. And if you got one of those journals, then you ought to have one of these inserts in it. And these inserts include a fair amount of information for you to be able to look at later. But operative for today is for us to know John Mark is the guy that wrote it.

John Mark is a traveling companion with Paul and Barnabas. He actually bowed out of the first missionary journey, wanted to get back in on a different journey. And Paul said, no way, Jose. You bowed out first time, you’re out with me. So Paul and Barnabas split over that. But John Mark totally redeems himself and not just jumps in with the missionary journey, but actually writes this Gospel. And he writes this to encourage persecuted Christians in Rome, the capital of the known world at that time. He was encouraging them to press forward in their radical discipleship with Jesus, saying, continue to follow, because this is what it looked like when Jesus came the first time.

Now Mark’s Gospel will step on all of our toes, and it will force us to ask questions about the nature of our followership of Jesus. The Bible’s guaranteed to do that, and Mark’s Gospel is extra guaranteed to do that. Now the central truth of today’s message is this. Christ came to His people, calling His kingdom. It could be on the screen for you, or you have it in your Bible, Mark 1:1 through 15. These are the words. The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. You see, I am sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare your way, a voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the way for the Lord, make His path straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside, all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John wore a camel hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, One who is more worthy, more powerful than I am, is coming after me. I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals. I baptize with water, but He will baptize with the Spirit. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son. With You I am well pleased. Immediately, immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and the angels were serving Him. And after John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. The time was fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent. Believe the good news. Man, just like that. Mark the author zooms through a lot of content. And that’s what I’m saying. Mark’s gospel flies. And we’re going to fly through it ourselves as we continue to march through it. But Christ came to His people calling His kingdom. And the gospel of Mark starts with Christ. And we see that right in verse 1. See, Mark’s gospel is a new type of writing that had not happened yet. The word gospel means two things. It means the good news of Jesus Christ for salvation. Yes, we talk about sharing the gospel, believing the gospel, hearing the gospel. But gospel is also a spiritual biography of Jesus meant to convey truth. Matthew and Luke would write their gospel accounts loosely based off of Mark’s. And we get to see that through historical records and writing styles and other things that smarter people can attest to. Now, this word gospel, though, is not made up by Mark. The word gospel was a Greek word being used at the time. It’s a word that means good news. That’s all it means. But particularly good news for a military or political event. So there would be a military battle. And people would bring back the gospel of the victory to their home area, their country, their little region. And they would say, hey, we won. We won. Here’s the good news. Or maybe a new heir to the throne will be born. Hey, I’ve got good news for you. Caesar Augustus, he was born today. So that was a gospel. Now, there’s a quote that explains this a little bit more, though, because in the Greco-Roman world, the word always appears in the plural, meaning one good tiding amongst others. As in, there’s multiple good news, multiple forms, multiple sources. But in the New Testament, euangelion, the Greek word gospel, appears only in the singular. The good news of Jesus Christ, besides which there is no other. Here’s the point. Mark is setting down to write the good news, above which there is no other. This is the best news that could ever be captured. And Mark is saying that best news has a central figure and His name is Jesus Christ. So who is Jesus Christ? Jesus is a Greek translation of Joshua. Now Joshua is a name that means God saves and Christ is a Greek translation of Messiah meaning anointed savior. Very literally Jesus Christ is not just a name but it’s also a title. God saves by the promised one. That’s who He was. When people meet Jeremy Simmons they’re definitely not thinking that. They might be thinking the family I come from. They might be wondering why I Got the name Jeremy. Whenever Jesus was on the scene, there was a lot of Jesuses in His day because Joshua is a popular name. Jesus Christ, though, it’s a title. It’s a title of the Son of God. The question is, this good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would Israel receive it? That’s the question. Would Israel receive Jesus Christ? I wonder if Jesus came in today, would we receive Him, or would He shake some things up for us and we’d be upset about it? Lest we be too strong in an answer, let’s give it a couple weeks and we’ll let Mark’s Gospel step on our toes, right? All right, so it’s not just that Jesus Christ lives, but it’s that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came. Christ came.

Verse 2 says, “as it is written,” which means ultimately that God fulfills His promises. Israel has been waiting for God’s Savior for generations, and long ago Isaiah, God’s prophet, sent a message to the people of Israel saying these words in verses 2 and 3. His message was that there would be a herald to come, a forerunner that would announce the birth and the arrival of God’s Savior through the promised Savior. And John’s arrival on the scene means that the King, Jesus Christ, is just around the corner. He’s coming. He is coming. He’s coming. Make way. The King is coming.

And at this point, you ought to see the Old and New Testaments are connected. The promises and the story of the Old Testament does not stop in the middle point of your Bible, but it continues into the life and the writings of the New Testament. The New Testament is a fulfillment and exploration of what was promised in the Old. That is your Bible. They’re not different volumes about random stories of different plans, even from different gods. No, they are one unified big story about the same God who finishes what He starts and He fulfills His promises.

So there is one, there is a voice in the wilderness. Verse 3 says, crying out and proclaiming a baptism of repentance. That is John the Baptist. But what in the world is this baptism of repentance? What in the world does that mean? It’s this sign of moral and spiritual renewal by turning from the old towards the new. In other words, this was a custom of preparation. They were preparing for something to happen. They were, I would say, preparing for salvation to come. They were not being baptized as a product of having been saved. They were being baptized to prepare for being saved. Hear me? So these people are being baptized to get ready. They see this voice crying. They know some of the stories. They know some of the promises, and they’re thinking, “Oh, okay, if this weird guy eating locusts and wearing camel hair is here, that must mean the Messiah is about to come, so I need to get my life right before He gets here and wipes everybody else out that’s not right with Him. Okay, I’ll go get baptized in the Jordan River. Sounds good to me.” And that’s what the people are doing. They’re preparing for Him. They are making way for Him in the way they knew how. That was what was happening.

Now see, fast forward with the resurrection of Jesus. Baptism for us has a different meaning. Baptism for us is not preparation for salvation. Baptism for us is not a means of getting right with God. Baptism for us is a public declaration of personal faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a physical display of a spiritual rebirth. Last week we talked about how the physical faith always has—sorry, last week we talked about how spiritual faith always has physical demonstration. You cannot believe something spiritually without showing it physically. Baptism is that. Baptism is a physical way to display a spiritual truth about yourself.

And I just want to take a quick aside this morning and say, if you’ve been praying about, thinking about, wondering about taking a physical step to display spiritual faith, I want to talk about it. Your bulletins have a little insert card that note a number of things that note a number of things. I think the boxes say, “I had decided to, blank, I had decided to, blank.” Man, you could cross out “I had decided to” and you could say, “I am praying about, I am wondering about.” Man, drop that in one of the plates in the back on your way out, or email me, or call me. I would really like to discuss. That’s what Jesus came on the scene for. That was the context of His activity. Now John’s baptism of repentance was preparing Israel for Christ’s arrival. And soon Christ came to His people. Christ came to His people. That’s what you see in verses 5-8. But here’s what I mean. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to Jesus. I take it that the king was expected and He was awaited and the people were getting right. Now the king was coming. And that was really good news for Israel at the time. Some of us need to be reminded that the people of Israel at the time of Jesus were not ruling and running themselves. No, they were under Roman occupation. So every day they’d have to go down to the tax booth and they’d have to give their hard-earned money to support a foreign country to continue to dominate and domineer them. So Rome is in control. So when they’re thinking the king is coming, what do you think they’re thinking? Oh, they’re thinking freedom. They’re thinking release. They’re thinking I can live. I can breathe. I can let my hair down finally. That’s what they are expecting and hoping for. With John’s arrival, they know the king is coming.

It makes me think about like a presidential motorcade. You hear that a president is coming to your city or some big dignitary and there’s this parade route that the vehicles are going to go in and at the front of the line is police. It’s other officials. And man, you don’t you don’t go to the boulevard to see the police. But you know when the police start riding by you’re starting to nudge your friend to say hey, He’s coming. He’s coming. Or maybe you’re getting your rotten tomatoes. You’re saying hey, He’s coming. You know, I don’t know. But here’s the deal. You don’t go to a presidential motorcade to look at all the police cars riding by. You don’t go there to see all the other people standing around. You go there to get a glimpse of the king. You go there because you know the king is coming. And as great as John was to have the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Israel going out to him, he simply was pointing to somebody else. He was a herald. He was a forerunner. All he could offer was a baptism of preparation for spiritual renewal. That’s all he had to give. But from the start of his ministry, John the Baptist said, Someone better is coming. He is coming. Make no bones about it. He is coming. The king is coming.

The Spirit baptism that Jesus would give. Man, if you’ve ever watched somebody go from death to life and accepting the gospel, you know exactly what I’m talking about. One of my most exciting, humbling moments of ministry was this past summer. I got to baptize a young couple, James and Emily. We got connected to them for premarital counseling. By the time we met them, they had already had a couple of kids together. And they didn’t know Jesus. And it was pretty clear whenever we were talking to them. They were good people, but they just didn’t know. So we decided to start with the gospel before we started to fix any of the functional stuff. And we got to watch them go from death to life as a couple. I got to baptize them. Then I got to marry them. And it was incredible. And to watch them go from death to life. Yeah, we baptized them by water. Man, that’s just a sign. That was this town of Lexington tap water in a tub. But I got to watch the Holy Spirit consume and immerse them. I got to watch them die to themselves and come alive to the One that is life Himself. And you know something is different about them because they start to bear some fruit, right? A little love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. Anybody else got that list in your head? They start to live a little different, not because they’re forcing it out of themselves, but because like Tyler English preached a few months ago, they’re connected to the vine and they’re abiding in Jesus. And all of a sudden fruit just happens.

I am not an agriculturalist. I kill most of the vegetables that I try to plant and I grow. But I do know a tomato plant does not make tomatoes by trying hard to make tomatoes. Tomato plants make tomatoes by being connected to the sun and food. And man, that’s the same with us. When we meet Jesus, when we are baptized by the Spirit, the divine activity of God’s work in Our heart is uncontainable, and it is evidenced. There are physical displays of spiritual activity, and that is what John the Baptist was talking about. He said, “I can help prepare you. I can help you make way. But one is coming, and He’s going to make something happen in you. I can help you do something to you, but He’s going to make something happen in you.” That’s what his whole ministry was about. And just like that, while John was preparing Israel, Christ came to His people, calling His kingdom.

I’m going to read verses 9 through 15 again. “In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son. With you, I am well pleased.’ And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him. And after John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent. Believe the good news.’”

Man, if you’re like me, you’re wondering why in the world would Jesus be baptized? John the Baptist had the same question. Mark’s Gospel doesn’t record it, but Matthew’s Gospel says this. When Jesus goes to the water to be baptized by John, and John says, “Hold up, boss. I know who you are. Why am I going to baptize you?” And Jesus says these words: “Allow it for now.” Allow it? That’s ridiculous. If I got to baptize somebody famous, they don’t have to say allow it. I’d be like, “Come on, man. Let’s allow it. Let’s make this thing happen.” Jesus says, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Now, see, here’s the deal. Jesus was baptized with a baptism of repentance because, friend, you and me, we can’t even repent the right way. Jesus had to fulfill that for us, too. We needed Jesus even to repent for us. Because here’s the deal. God made you and me to walk with Him in purity and holiness and love. In other words, we were meant to be righteous before a perfectly righteous and holy and loving God. But one day with Adam and Eve, we all fell into sin because one day, instead of choosing God’s way, the very first people chose man’s way. They were tempted by Satan, and they fell into that temptation, and they fell from a position and a place of righteousness.

Now, there’s no way we can get ourselves back. Every attempt to make ourselves righteous, as Isaiah the prophet says, is just filthy rags. Our righteousness is the grease on your shop rag. That’s the best it could ever be. That’s who we are on the inside. Not my words. That is God’s words for us. Jesus came to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law, the requirements that we should be able to, but we just can’t. Jesus came to live a completely righteous life for you and for me, fulfilling everything necessary for us to love and know God. And after living that completely righteous life in our place, He died an unrighteous death, absorbing the wrath of God’s sin for you and for me. And after really dying, Jesus really did rise from the grave. And He offers us eternal life, restored righteousness with an unending experience. He offers that to you and to me, saying, “If you would just believe and accept this news, I will make you live in truth, and you can be right again.”

Now, that’s the gospel. That is the good news. That’s what we need, and that’s what Jesus came to accomplish on our behalf. Now, in that moment where Jesus was baptized by John, He comes out of the water. The heavens are torn open. The Spirit of God descends on Him like a dove, and a voice from heaven says, “You are my beloved Son. With you, I am well pleased.” I am well pleased, buddy. You go, boy. That was the Father’s voice and the Spirit affirming Jesus. And in that moment, Jesus is coronated. His kingdom is inaugurated. That, in that baptism, started everything. The kingdom was here.

So what in the world is the kingdom? What’s the kingdom? This is it. The king’s power over the king’s people in the king’s place. It’s the king’s power over the king’s people in the king’s place. Now, I’ve Already told you how the Jewish people had some expectations of when the Messiah would get there. They had been oppressed, not just by Rome then, but also by Assyria and Babylon in the past. They had all these prophets talking about a day to come when the king would arrive. They had some expectations.

Anybody in the room ever had expectations that got dashed? You expect the holidays to go well? Did the holidays go well? You don’t have to answer that. Anybody ever have a moment where you wanted something to come about because you had loaded so much hope and so many plans and so many expectations onto something? And it just didn’t quite line up.

I wonder what it would have been like to be one of the Jews of Jesus’ day because they were expecting an age of plenty and peace. They were expecting the king to come in and end every pain they could ever experience. They were expecting the king to come and make Jerusalem the world’s capital of culture and morality and religion and power. But Jesus reinterpreted all these things and fulfilled the true promises, not their expectations.

Jesus came and promised something greater than land or government. I’ll say it again. He came and brought something greater than land or government. Jesus also brought something that was in line with God’s will. Not something just to be studied and talked about, but something to be personally embraced and lived out. A spiritual reality, physical demonstration. That is the kingdom Jesus was bringing.

So some of us have a question, what in the world is the relationship between the kingdom Jesus was bringing then and Sauldam Baptist Church today? Here’s the deal. Church people, we are not the kingdom. The church building is not the kingdom. The church is the sign of the kingdom. The kingdom was always advancing a people.

I would say it like this, and it’s going to be on the screen for us. Church people, when I say that, I mean Christians, those who are born by the Spirit, are citizens of the kingdom. And the church building is the place where the kingdom citizens meet. But the kingdom is greater than these four walls, and it’s greater than this hundred people. The kingdom is greater than these things. As the kingdom advances, more churches are planted and more people are sent out. But the kingdom is greater than that. Because the kingdom is the king’s power over the king’s people in the king’s place.

You see, Christ created the world, which means the entire universe is His. He is the king, really, of everything. But God’s kingdom does not rule in every nook and cranny of our universe. Which means sin is not a slip-up of otherwise fine morality. Sin is rebellion against a king.

It’d be one thing for me to pat a dog on the face. It’d be another thing for me to strike a brother on the face. It’d be yet another if I ever laid a hand on Becca that way. It’d be even worse if I went over to England and I tried to hit the king of England on the face. I pat a dog on the face and Lee’s going to say, hey, don’t you touch my dog. I hit Becca. I hope I’m removed from this position. If I ever got my hands on the king of England, I’m not getting out of jail. I’d probably die for that.

Jesus is greater than any person in any place at any time, which means your white lie, your slip up of gossip, your moment of jealousy, of coveting. It’s not patting a dog on a face. It’s a full bone against the king of the universe. Who of us has lived perfectly? Who of us needs God’s grace? That’s the message of Mark. The king is here and He’s bringing a kingdom not to punish sinful rebels.

Now, Jesus said, I didn’t come into the world to condemn the world. It’s already condemned itself. I came to offer amnesty and freedom. Kingdom citizens are those that are brought into the kingdom by grace. Those whose sins are pardoned, whose sin is forgiven. Which means kingdom citizens now have a privilege of transforming their communities to represent God’s kingdom. No other kingdoms will do. Not personal, familial, governmental, or societal.

What this world needs, what Sauldam as a community needs, what West Ashley and the low country needs is for us to advance God’s kingdom in it. In the Lord’s prayer out of Matthew, Jesus says these words, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. On earth as it is where? In heaven. The kingdom is God’s power exercised in and through us as we make earth a little more like heaven. A few minutes ago, I said that our community needs us. They need us to experience more life here at this church. There are families all broken up with dysfunction. There are individuals drowning in abject poverty. There are folks who cannot get themselves out of cycles of substance abuse. And there is more than that in our community. As we engage them with the good news of the gospel, the hope of transformation in life and forgiveness, we are making their hell a little more like heaven.

That’s God’s plan for us. Because Jesus already came the first time. And He is coming the second time. And if they do not know Him, this is the closest to heaven they’ll ever get. Because they will go to a place where they will pay for their sins against a good and righteous and holy God. A place where you and I deserve to go, but by God’s grace we do not have to.

Because Jesus the King came with a message. His message was simple. He said, “Repent, believe the good news.” Jesus’ message had very simple directions. It said, turn around. To repent and to believe. Jesus said, turn away from these things. Turn to these things. Turn away from anything that would keep you away from Me. And turn toward Me. The source of life itself. Turn away. Turn to.

Jesus’ message also, not just was simple, but it was urgent. He said, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come near. The time is now, folks. It’s now. John was preparing. We’re done preparing. I’m here. The King is here. The promises are fulfilled. I have come. The time to repent and believe is now. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. I’ve been here for two months. I’ve seen two of our church members pass away. Not expectedly. These were untimely funerals. Two men of our church in two months. If you need a reminder that today is the day to believe, man, here it is.

If that’s you, if you’re not so sure that you actually know this Jesus guy, man, stop listening to what I have to say and start praying because that’s what needs to happen. I’ve got a few more words for us as I’m starting to wrap up, but today’s the day. And I’m not up here to try to create anxiety about a moment you may or may not have had as a teenager. I’m not up here to create fear for you. I am up here to say what Jesus said. Time’s fulfilled. I’m here. What are you going to do about it?

Now see, Christ came to call His kingdom. Question is, are you in? Are you in the kingdom? There’s really only two types of people. There are citizens and rebels. Rebels are those who still live outside of the rule of the King. Those who are still living for themselves and trapped in the stuff that you think gives you freedom. You’ve heard it from me. You’ve seen it in God’s Word. And for some reason, you’re here at church. I would say if that’s you, then today is the day to enter the kingdom by turning away, turning to.

It’s as simple as dying. All you have to do is die. Die to yourself. Die to what makes you, you and come alive to Jesus by saying, “I repent of what I’ve done against You and I want life in You. I don’t know what that means yet, but I trust You to provide that. God, I give You myself. Please give me Yourself.” He answers that prayer every single time. If you are a rebel outside of the kingdom, please take a moment to do that today.

And if you are a citizen, if you are someone who has accepted this good news and you have repented from your sin and you have welcomed the King into your life, you have made way for Him in your heart, then man, let’s go. Let’s take this good news to somebody. Because if that’s you, then who do you need to invite in? The cool thing about living in the kingdom is that we all become like John the Baptist. Just getting to Harold. Saying, the King’s coming. He’s coming. Time is short. Man, take some steps. The King’s coming.

Who do you need to go to? Who do you need to pick up the phone and call today? Who’s the co-worker that you know does not know Jesus? Who’s the family member that you need to share the hope of new life with? Today’s the day. Now is the time. The King wants To send us somewhere to advance His kingdom. It’s not a matter of God’s desire. It’s not even a matter of His clarity. It’s a matter of our response. Will we take physical steps in line with spiritual faith? Let’s pray.

Lord, I pray for us. God, I pray for me, because I’m asking myself the same question. Time is short. You’ve already come. I’m a citizen. Who do I need to fight in? God, I’m thinking about Florence who cut my hair this week, and I’m begging that You would call her to Yourself today. God, my simple offering of sharing the gospel to her. God, will You call her to life in Yourself, please? Lord, for anyone in the room that does not yet know You, I beg that You would call them to Yourself, please. God, get a hold of us in the next few moments. We love You.