The Preaching Of God’s Servant
Repent, Believe, Follow
Book of Mark 1_14-28
We began our study into the Book of Mark last week.
We first met John the Baptist. We then met many who came to be baptized by John.
This included the Lamb of God, The Lord Jesus Christ.
As Jesus came up out of the water we met the Holy Spirit and then the voice of Our Father in Heaven spoke out.
We next met Satan, so now we have met the main characters in the Gospels.
What Mark does that others don’t do, is that Mark goes directly into the ministry of Jesus Christ in Galilee.
*****Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Why was John put in prison?
We know that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God, "this includes the Gospels".
In the Book of Mark, the Holy Spirit decided to let us know that as soon as Jesus’ ministry began, "the ministry of John the Baptist was to cease".
John the Baptist was imprisoned by King Herod.
John had become the enemy of the ruling government of Israel.
How was John an enemy to the government?
It was bad enough that Palestine was ruled by Rome but those that ruled Israel were just as evil if not more so!
John was not afraid to point out the evils of the government of Herod!
Luk 3:19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and "for all the evils which Herod had done",
Luk 3:20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
First, this was not Herod the Great but it was one of his sons Herod Antipas. He reigned from 4 BC to 39 AD.
It is this same Herod that was in power, under Rome, during the time of Jesus.
Herod the Great had had 9 or 10 wives depending on which books you read and many sons and this had led to many of them seeking his throne.
It is said that Herod the Great killed two of his wives and 3 or more of his sons. Herod the Great was not a Jew but he did practice Jewish tradition.
Jews do not eat pork so this Herod did not kill pigs, so with this in mind, Augustus Caesar describe this Herod this way.
"It is better to be a pig in Jerusalem than to be a Son of Herod the Great"!
Herod Antipas did not set as king but only as "tetrarch" of Galilee and Perea "But" he was evil just like his father!
Jesus labeled him "That fox" when He was told that this Herod intended to kill Him:
Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell "that fox", Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
And this is the Herod that Jesus stood before at His false trial before being crucified:
Luk 23:6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.
Luk 23:7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
Herod Antipas had a half-brother named Philip who was probably never a ruler but his wife Herodias craved royalty and the life that came with it and was willing to do anything to be a part of that life.
Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, a Roman, and Bernice who we met in our study of the Book of Acts, who lived in an incestuous relationship with her brother another Herod. (Herod Agrippa)
We can see how these things kind of ran in the family.
While John had no problem with telling the government of this Herod how wicked it was, John also had no problem telling this Herod that under Jewish law, he was living in great sin.
But it was Herodias, his evil wife, that help to plot for John’s arrest and later his death, being beheaded.
Not many governments like it when the Church, the Body of Christ, takes a stand on the truth!
****Between verse 13 of last weeks lesson and verse 14 a whole year has come and passed.
Jesus had already performed His first signs and miracles.
He had also began His ministry but had spent most all of His first year and after His temptation, in Judah.
It is the Apostle John, in his "Gospel" that fills in the blanks for this first year of the ministry of Jesus.
John the Baptist preached like Elijah and he was rewarded for his preaching by being put in prison.
We may still see this happen in America one day soon!
Because governments do not like for their sins to be pointed out!
In many other nations pastors and preachers are arrested more "for preaching the sin of government" than they are for preaching Jesus.
We must first keep our focus on Jesus and then go where that leads us!
But, we are told to take our stand on the Word of God!
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, "to stand".
*****Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Jesus was saying:
**1) The time is fulfilled:
The Apostle Paul said it this way:
Gal 4:4 But when "the fulness of the time was come", God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Many prophets had told of this day:
Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem [unto the Messiah the Prince] shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
This the period of time "that was fulfilled" that Jesus was referring to, the time until He came the first time to establish His Church!
**2) The kingdom of God is at hand:
We have the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ (Matt 6:33), the kingdom of Heaven (Matt 13:41), the kingdom of Christ and God (Eph 5:5)
So what does all this mean?
a) What it is not at this time is the Kingdom of Glory!
The Kingdom of Glory will be the New Heaven and the New Earth!
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
b) What it was not at this time the kingdom of "Grace"!
For only believers can partake of the kingdom of "Grace"
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
c) What it was:
It was the kingdom of the Messiah that was at hand!
He was ready to appear. (time Fulfilled)
He would be made known to Israel.
He would enter into the work that He came to accomplish. (ministry then the cross)
He would show His absolute authority over this earth. (miracles)(rebuking Satan and his demons)
He would show the blessings and advantages that flow from His rule,
He would point out the ones who would be welcome into His kingdom.
It would take repentance!
It would take faith, but not just faith, but faith in the "Gospel", the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who stood before the world at this fulness of time. (Christ means Messiah)
This was the message that Jesus preached!
*****Mar 1:16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Galilee is roughly 50 miles long by 25 miles wide. On it’s eastern border is the Sea of Galilee, which is about 14 miles long and seven mile wide.
Where ever you stand on this lake you can see all of it. This explains how people could follow Jesus around the shore line, they could see where he was going.
In Jesus day, Galilee was the most populated province in the Middle East!
It was a region where Roman, Greek, and Jews mixed and intermingled and it was just as much Gentile as it was Jewish.
John had preached in the wilderness, but Jesus preached in the highways and the hedges and in the cities.
People went to John in the wilderness, but Jesus went to the people "whosoever" they were and wherever they were located.
The message of John was "Repent"!
The message of the Messiah was "Believe"!
And we can see that Jesus was preaching this message before He had even chosen any of His 12 disciples!
The Jews had expected the Messiah to be King.
The Jews had expected their own peace and prosperity and to be out from under Rome and all foreign rule.
The Jews had expected the return to the Garden of Eden.
The Jews had expected the lion to lie down with the lamb and eat straw and not the cattle.
The Jews had expected crime and disease and crime to vanish and a life of splendor.
Luk 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God "should immediately appear".
The Jews had not listened to the Word of God!
Because what the Jews got was also in from the prophets:
Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
They got Psalms 22 where it says:
Psa 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Psa 22:13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
And they forgot:
Psa 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Psa 22:28 For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations.
Psa 22:31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
****Andrew had been a follower of John the Baptist and had introduced his brother Peter to Jesus but after this Jesus had gone into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan and some time, at least a year had past.
So, this was not the first time they had met Jesus!
These two were already fishermen by trade.
But this time Jesus had these words for them:
*****Mar 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, "Come" ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
First: they were offered the privilege of following the Savior, just as we are!
Second: this was not a request, it was not an offer, and it was not an invitation, this was a command!
It was time for these men to make a choice!
It was a time to respond or a time to ignore!
This was a command for them to be a part of the business of the "Gospel"!
It was because Jesus preached with authority that people would leave their occupations and become His disciples!
Jesus had met these men previously, in fact being raised up in the same area they could have already known each other on a personal level.
Remember, Jesus was different from them all because He had never sinned in His lifetime and they could have already known this!
Andrew had already said the Jesus was the Messiah:
Joh 1:40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
Joh 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, [We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ].
And Jesus had already singled out Peter:
Joh 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
Jesus had a specific purpose for calling Peter and all the rest:
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock "I will build my church"; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
It was time to begin the building of God’s Church!
To "become" would be a long and slow process and would take the next two and one half years in daily company of Our Lord.
Jesus would take simple fishermen and transform them into "fishers of men".
Most every true preacher began as laymen and have left that lively hood to serve The Lord!
"I Will": It was only Christ Jesus who could have converted these men into the Apostles.
It would be these Apostles that would build the Church on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus did all the work!
Our one piece of work to do to be saved "Is To Believe"!
Jesus said all the work that needed to be done for our salvation He had taken care of:
Joh 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do".
And that work was completed on the Cross:
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished": and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
It is these men, eventually 12, who would cast the "Gospel Net":
Mat 13:47 Again, "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net", that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
Mat 13:48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
It is believed that at least 7 of the 12 disciples were at one time fishermen by trade.
*****Mar 1:18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
It was not just these two Andrew and Peter that did this but "All" 12 forsaked everything to follow Jesus.
Mat 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, "we have forsaken all", and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Well maybe there was one who had not forsaken all but stayed the same, Judas Iscariot.
Joh 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but "because he was a thief", and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Judas "was a thief" long before walking with Christ and "a thief" all the time he walk with Jesus Christ but Jesus also knew this all along.
Joh 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and "one of you is a devil"?
Joh 6:71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
Jesus gave Satan a front row seat of how the "Gospel" was to be spread throughout this world we live in.
Jesus defeated Satan on the cross and He was rubbing Satan’s face in it now!
**Straightway means they followed immediately without hesitation!
*****Mar 1:19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
Mar 1:20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
Peter and Andrew had left their boat and their job.
James and John had left their boat and their job, their business and their earthly father.
But because it was Jesus that called, they all obeyed.
Zebedee may not have been rich but he ran a business. He owned 2 boats and was able to hire servants.
James and John followed Jesus not only giving up their family but also giving up their inheritance.
Zebedee was not completely caught of guard because he also knew Jesus. His wife Salome seems to be the sister of Mary the virgin mother of Our Lord.
But Jesus also makes another promise to His 12 Apostles:
Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
The rewards of Heaven are much greater than anything we can receive on this Earth!
Jesus did not go to the University of Jerusalem in search of scholars!
Jesus did not go to the Rabbinical Schools to see which ones were ready to graduate!
Jesus did not go to the Sadducees, nor the Pharisees, nor the Scribes to get those that supposedly knew the scriptures!
Jesus did not go to the Sanhedrin Court in search of permission!
Jesus Christ used ordinary people who were just humble working men!
Jesus called and they left all behind!
*****Mar 1:21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
To go to Capernaum was a fulfillment of prophesy:
Mat 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Mat 4:14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 4:15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Capernaum became Jesus’ adopted home!
Capernaum was also one of the most prosperous cities in Palestine at that time.
The Sabbath day, brought Jesus into the local synagogue and their could have been more than one in this city.
In fact it is probable that each sect of people had their own synagogue as there was in Jerusalem.
Act 6:9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
In any case Jesus came to preach, as He did in every synagogue He entered.
Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, [as his custom was], he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
We know that the Apostle Paul also followed this guideline set forth by Christ Jesus after all He is our example to follow:
Act 17:2 And Paul, "as his manner was", went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Jesus did not enter in to listen, Jesus went in to preach and to teach.
Jesus did not have a modern day version of the scriptures, because He taught from the same scriptures that were used in each synagogue.
Act 13:15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
Once the ruler of the synagogue had read from the Word of God, then others could exhort the people.
Jesus would teach from the Laws of Moses and from the same prophets that they already knew.
"Exhort" means to advise, and to warn, and to caution and this was exactly why Jesus had come!
*****Mar 1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.
In the New Testament times, most of the scribes were actually Pharisees.
They added to the Laws of Moses with their own traditions and rituals.
This obscured the truth of the Law and made in non-effective as a means of teaching the truth of the Word of God.
It is therefore important to know how Christ Jesus treated the Written Word of God which was only the Old Testament in His days on Earth.
Jesus had these words:
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled".
We are all to accept the Word of God "in the context" that it is written.
Again the words of Jesus:
Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, "that all things must be fulfilled", which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Jesus said all things written about Him in the Old Testament must be fulfilled!
When Jesus debated with unbelievers concerning His right to be called the "Son of God" and He used this verse:
Psa 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
And He said that "the scriptures cannot be broken":
When we reject the Word of God, we have then made our own selves "little gods" placing our selves above Him!
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
In other words just because there are many that do not believe the Word of God is true, does not change the fact that "It Is True"!
Adding this:
Joh 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Jesus Christ quoted the Old Testament accepting it just as it was written!
Jesus refuted the Devil, Satan, by using Old Testament scriptures.(Deut 8:2; 6:13,16)
Jesus used the Book of Psalms to teach that the Messiah would be rejected. (Matthew 21:42)
Jesus quoted the Old Testament (Isaiah) to show the Jew that the Gentiles would also be accepted. Matthew 12:18-21)
Jesus quoted Exodus 3:6 to the Sadducees.
Jesus quoted from the Pentateuch, therefore accepting it.
Jesus quoted from the Septuagint, therefore accepting it.
Jesus said God is the "God of the living" and not the "God of the dead".
The dead have no God!
So to suggest there are errors in the Bible is to attack the character of God!
Jesus taught the truth of God’s Word and God’s Word is the authority!
Jesus taught with "authority" because he was the "author".
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
*****Mar 1:23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Mar 1:24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
Mar 1:25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
Along with preaching like these people had never heard before, they even saw miracles performed by Christ Jesus, things no earthly man could have done!
BUT, we can also see that whenever the truth is preached, "because these people had not hearing the truth", even Satan showed up for the sermon.
This was the same unclean spirit that hindered King Saul as we have just studied in 1 Samuel.
The devil had had little to fear from the usual service in the synagogue but he feared now because God had come to create His Church.
We should not miss this fact stated by the unclean spirits for they acknowledge that this Jesus had the power to destroy them, that no one else had!
Notice it is the evil spirit that let’s us all know that it was not just any man named Jesus, but Jesus of Nazareth!
And that this same Jesus of Nazareth was indeed, the Holy One of God or the Messiah!
Did Jesus show emotions? Let’s look as He commands this demon.
The Greek word "phimoo" is used for our English phrase "hold thy peace". This word means "to muzzle" so Jesus was saying "put a muzzle on it demon" and get out of the house of God!
This is the same command Jesus gave to an unruly wind later while in a boat on the sea of Galilee.
Jesus told that wind "to put a muzzle on it"!
Satan is just a created being just like we are!
God has full control over all His creation and we can see that this "Jesus of Nazareth" had that same power!
*****Mar 1:26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Satan still knows that he must obey God and just like he is today he is still defiant. He will leave as much destruction behind as he can but only as God allows.
It was Jesus who had control over this entire situation and not this demon of Satan.
There will never be a day that Our Savior needs any help from Satan for believers to know who He is!
We should also notice that a healing had taken place on a Sabbath and no one even questioned it!
These people were too astonished to say anything!
*****Mar 1:27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
Mar 1:28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.
Those that attended the House of God that day had never witnessed anything like this!
We should see that it was the message of Jesus that was of greater importance and not the miracles!
The miracles only added to the message!
These people were beginning to realize that the "truth" is of itself a powerful message.
They had had the truth all along but their leaders would not teach the Word of God as it was written!
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall "make" you free.
It is a fact that this lost world is tired of "legalism".
The lost world is tired of "ritualism".
The lost world is tired of "rationalism".
The lost world is tired of "hypocrisy".
The lost world is tired of these things they see coming from the church these days.
The lost world is tired of unfruitful words, psychological preaching, the doctrines of nature, and worn out cliches.
The lost world does not care to see more charismatic extremism, or phony ecumenism and universalism.
The lost world is tired of dead sermons!
The Lost world is ready for the truth that makes men free!
When the Church returns to the "doctrine" of the Holy One of God, Jesus of Nazareth, The Lord Jesus Christ, then Satan will be cast our of our places of worship and the Church will be filled with Holy Ghost power and the "Truth" will again make us free and the lost world will then take notice!
Questions?
Let’s Pray!
LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD 