Gtcotr/ss011021
Psalms 37
12 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day of judgment is coming.
God laughs at His enemies (Psalms 2:4; 37:13; 52:6&7; 59:8) ... and I've decided I can afford to laugh at them as well. They do not know the power and the suddenness of the Lord.
Let's not be overwhelmed or troubled as though God was not aware and involved ... isn't this what we have been praying for! (2 Chronicles 7:14) It is a good thing when light begins to shine. Those things which have been in the dark have been there for a long long time ... at least now we are seeing a little better than before.
I have nothing to preach to you today but hope. Hope is all I find in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that's what I came to share.
This morning we are continuing our study of the Gospel penned by Mark.
It seems reasonable, since the first Church in Jerusalem held its intercessory prayer meetings in his mother’s house, that Mark would have one of the youths who was in the prayer meeting in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. It is evident from his writings that Mark had been filled with the Holy Spirit, that he spoke in tongues, laid hands on the sick, believed in the power of faith and confession, and was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. He knew it was the power of God unto salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike.
Last Sunday we highlighted the fact that when Mark set out to make his faith a matter of public record, he knew he was going against the tide. The city of Rome was the seat of evil; social and political reforms were topics of the day. However, the empire had lost all sense of right and wrong.
Rome had long been an empire of laws, rules, regulations, expectations, and well-defined morals. However, during the most recent past Rome had declined in much the same way all other empires before. Their unchallenged successes on the world stage coincided with an increase of tyranny, extravagance, and debauchery. The common person was little more than taxable chattel and laws only applied as those in power wished.
The empire was corrupt and deeply divided along social and political lines.
Within a few years from the date of Mark’s writing which bears his name, Rome was financially and morally bankrupt. In March of AD68, Emperor Nero was tried in absentia in a Roman court led by his political adversaries and charged with being a public enemy. The intent of his political rivals was to have Nero beaten to death while they watched. Upon hearing that this had been decided, which it had not yet been, Nero committed suicide on June 9, AD68, less than one year after he had ordered the public executions of the Apostle’s Peter and Paul in his beloved city of Rome.
The Roman Empire was not a safe place in the days of Jesus and His Disciples. You may remember that Joseph and Mary were warned by an angel to take young Jesus into Egypt, away from King Herod the Great who sought to kill Him. The government was corrupt and carried out its wishes without opposition.
Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
The Bible accounts that God sent His Son in the fullness of time to redeem man from sin. This means God chose to wait no longer because the time was right, and the need was so great. The cup of sin was full.
When God sent Jesus to save us from our sins, God was not looking only to Calvary … He was looking into eternity! Just like Abraham leading his son Isaac up Mount Moriah to offer him on the altar of sacrifice, there was no complaint. Abraham was not looking at the pain, he was looking at the promise. (Genesis 22)
Both Abraham and God saw the resurrection … (Hebrews 11:17)
The promise is greater than the pain. I believe in the resurrection of the just. We need to look beyond the problem to the promise.
Now let’s turn to our text for today in the Book of Mark.
Mark 1:14 Now after John was put in prison …
This is John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus who was sent by God in the spirit of Elijah; confirmed by prophecy and by Jesus Himself to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.
Who
would put such a good man in prison?
·
A
man whose birth was announced by Gabriel
·
A
man who was filled with the Holy Spirit while in his mother’s womb
·
A
man who had lived the dedicated holy life of a Nazarite
·
A
man whose only desire was to see people get right with God
·
A
man who moved to the desert to live off the land … the people came to him … he
didn’t go to them.
·
A
man who’s only accusation against him was that he simply told the truth to a governing
official.
·
You
see:
o King Herod Antipas was
living in adultery with Herodias, his niece, who was also his sister-in-law,
whom he had enticed away from his brother Phillip because he thought she was pretty.
o John the Baptist
simply said that what they were doing was wrong in the eyes of God, and John
may have referred to a few other evils being perpetrated by Herod and Herodias,
and told Herod that they should stop it … John may have used the word repent! (Matthew
14 & Mark 6 & Luke 3)
o Herodias was furious
and wanted her boyfriend to kill John the Baptist.
o Herod had John
arrested and chained like he was some dangerous violent criminal, then Herod
put John into prison, and intended to execute him outright but there was such a
public outcry and so Herod was afraid to do it.
·
But
Herodias found a way to have John beheaded in spite of public opinion. She used
her pretty young daughter, Salome, to dance provocatively in front of King
Herod on his birthday so that he would be twitter-pated and willing to do
anything for her …
·
At
the end of the dance King Herod publicly vowed to give the damsel anything she
desired. In accordance with her and her
mother’s conspiracy, she asked King Herod for one little favor: “BRING ME THE HEAD
OF JOHN THE BAPTIST ON A PLATE!”
· Sorry John!
I’d say the cup of sin was pretty full in that day … What in the world good could ever happen in a world so corrupt, depraved, and lost as this?
Mark
14 Now after John was put in
prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
What can make a difference in a world gone mad with power, perversion, and blatant disregard for all that is good and right and holy and just? Jesus! He began to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He had a 3-point message. It’s still the message for the hour in our world gone mad …
1.
The time is now.
2.
Get right with God.
3. Have faith in the Gospel.
This was God’s offering to a world in trouble. To a world whose national leaders were sinful, bankrupt, and morally depraved.
The world has no hope for you. There is nothing the democrats can do; nothing the republicans can do; there is nothing congress can do, nothing the Supreme Court can do; nothing the president can do; nothing the medical profession can do; nothing the military can do; nothing wall street can do; nothing Facebook can do; nothing twitter can do; nothing our foreign allies can do; and nothing our enemies can do to us or for us that will get you past the problems of this world and safe in the will of God.
Only Jesus can save us!
Look
past the pain to the promise; past the sacrifice to the resurrection …
·
The
time is now!
·
Repent!
Get right with God!
· Believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ … it is the only answer!
And when you truly believe the Gospel, you will see the world in a whole new way. It is a lost world, but God has not forsaken us.
John 3
16 “For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Won’t you come to Christ today? The time is now … The Cup is Full … But you can still be saved today!
Nothing but hope in the Gospel of Christ ...
