Mark 1:1-28, “Time Is of the Essence”

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church

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Mark chapter 1 verses 1 to 28, hear the word of the Lord. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the

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Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way.

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The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

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John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

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And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river

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Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locust and wild honey.

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And he preached, saying, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals

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I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the

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Holy Spirit. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the

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Jordan. And when he came out of the water immediately, he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove.

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And a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased.

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The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan.

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And he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested,

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Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

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Repent and believe in the gospel. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw

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Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them,

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Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

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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.

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And immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

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And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching and they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.

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And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,

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What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the

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Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him.

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And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves, saying,

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What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.

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And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

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The Lord had his blessings to the reading of his holy word. A week ago last

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Thursday, I just finished a bike ride about 10 miles and did some other exercise when

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I had to stop at a traffic light. Anyway, I made the mistake of leaning to my left side where my shoes were clipped in.

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And so I couldn't extend my leg to brace myself. So I fell on the road hard and I immediately felt something was wrong.

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I managed to get up off the pavement, kind of using the bike as a crutch.

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And I noticed that my left hip felt bad and I could hardly move my left leg.

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I used my bike like a walker and kind of hobbled over. I was right in the middle of the road and I hobbled over to the side of the road.

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And I realized that my left leg was so, so bad that I couldn't even cycle. It was only like a quarter of a mile from home, which is basically practically almost there.

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But I still realized that I couldn't make it that far. And so I realized that I was in trouble.

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And so I called Mary and I was afraid that she had left for Danville. Her plan was to go to Danville already before I even left.

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But a man driving by saw that I was in distress and he stopped to ask if I was okay.

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And just at that moment, I started talking to Mary on the phone. So I thanked the good Samaritan and said, yeah,

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I'm fine. Now, if Mary had been away in Danville, I probably would have then asked the man for a ride home, since we're always so close, and kind of hobbled inside thinking, well,

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I'll be better after a good night's sleep. You know, maybe I just strain some muscles or something like that. Time will make it better.

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A good night's sleep will be all that it takes. Maybe some aspirin or something like that. But Mary came by and she picked me up and she took me directly to the urgent care at Yanceyville Clinic, where they gave me an x -ray and saw that my leg was broken near my hip.

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And they told me that I needed to go to the emergency room in the Danville hospital immediately. They gave me two choices.

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Mary could drive me right away or an ambulance could take me. But those choices, well, she drove me. And I was hoping now that they were wrong, that it wasn't really so urgent, that it was, you know, a hip pointer, whatever that is.

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And they would just give me some painkillers and send me home that night. Instead, they gave me a CT scan. And soon the doctor, my orthopedic surgeon, who had done what they call an orthoscopic surgery on my knee, had done it about three and a half years ago.

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He came and he described the injury for me, which is a femoral neck fracture.

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And he told me that if I didn't have surgery right away, meaning like right away, like right now, that I could have a vascular necrosis.

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And he explained what a vascular meant. And I could figure out what necrosis mean, having taken Greek. Necrosis, necro, from death.

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A vascular necrosis means that the blood is cut off from the bone, in this case the ball joint in the hip, and it dies.

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Now, obviously having parts of your body, large parts of your body, die within you is an urgent situation.

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And remember, if it had been left up to me, I probably would have gone home and plopped myself down on the couch and just hoped

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I'd gotten better by tomorrow. I probably would have procrastinated. Probably put off going to the clinic and thought, well, it can't be so urgent.

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Whatever it is, it'll be better by tomorrow. And if it's not, if I wake up Friday morning and it still feels bad, well, then maybe

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I'll go to the doctor and see what it is. But instead, there was the surgeon, the orthopedic surgeon telling me, quote, time is of the essence.

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And he wasn't kidding, by the way. He told me that. He went out, changed clothes, and that kind of surgical garb, came back, and there he was just a few minutes later.

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Time is of the essence. Now, some things are so urgent, you can't put them off.

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Any delay, any waiting for something else, you know, just hoping things aren't so bad, for any kind of reason not to act, any lack of immediate action could do you great harm, could even kill you.

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Some things demand urgency. Time is of the essence.

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Now, here in Mark, we see urgency. We see an emergency. We see immediacy.

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Notice how many times, if you read through, did you notice how many times he uses the word immediately?

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We'll see him again as we go through the passage. We see that the demand of Jesus' kingdom is now.

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You can't wait for something else, and then you'll take care of your relationship with Christ, with God.

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Maybe until your business is profitable, maybe until you have a lot of money in the bank, you paid off your debts, or maybe until your house is paid for, your relationship is settled, your family is taken care of.

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You can't put it off for anything, whatever it is.

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The kids are grown. You finish your education. The kingdom of God is urgent.

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It demands that you act now. You can't delay one day, one hour, seeking it first in believing in Jesus.

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And we see that here in this introduction to Mark. In six parts, the urgency of the kingdom, that when it comes to Jesus, time is of the essence.

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We see the six parts. First, the preparation. Second, revelation.

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Third, temptation. Fourth, inauguration. And fifth, invitation.

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And finally, demonstration. First, there's the preparation. In the first eight verses begins the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

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Did you notice that in verse one? Mark is giving away in the very first verse, right from the beginning, what will eventually be his climax.

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The climax of the book of Mark, which is in chapter 15, verse 39, where this pagan

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Roman centurion, who has just helped put Jesus to death, and he sees

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Jesus die on the cross, and he exclaims, truly, this man was the son of God.

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That's where we're heading. Understand? That's where the book of Mark is heading. That's its conclusion, that he will show us that.

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But he starts telling us that from the beginning. No delay. No suspense. No, Jesus Christ is the son of God.

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The beginning of the gospel of Jesus, the son of God. Now, it had a lot of preparation behind it. We might be so used to hearing about things from the

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Bible, you know, so long ago to us, long, long time ago, that the

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Old Testament may be enfolded over a period, over 1 ,000 years, about 1 ,500 years, or like Isaiah, who's quoted here, lived 700 years before Christ.

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Imagine 700 years it took when he said that until it's fulfilled. And so we're used to dealing with all these long periods of time.

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And we might think, well, come on. God's been, he's been doing this for so long, he must be used to waiting, right?

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So he counts one day as 1 ,000 years. So he won't be bothered if I, he won't be bothered if I put him off a little longer, will he?

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I mean, he's been putting things off for thousands of years. He won't be bothered if I put him off for, until I graduate from college or until I get married or something like that.

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Maybe I get the relationship taken care of, until I'm financially secure. He waited 1 ,000 years to fulfill these prophecies.

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He could wait for me. He's used to waiting, right? Is that the way we kind of think? A lesson we inadvertently draw from this.

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It's now true that the preparation was a long time in coming, like laying a trap in the woods, maybe like for a bear.

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They take you a long time to put it there. But when it springs, it's immediate.

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And it demands immediate action. It goes fast. There was a lot of preparation for Jesus to come. But now that he's come, he demands that we move immediately.

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A messenger was sent to prepare the way. Now, he would go out into the wilderness.

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That's John the Baptist. He went out into the wilderness. That's the desert. It's what they call the wilderness. It's this desert land wilderness. And no one hardly lives there.

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Maybe a few people passing through. But he would go out there and proclaim to the few people who were there, prepare the way for the

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Lord. By the way, it's kind of interesting to us. Here's the Lord's way of doing things. He sends the messenger out into the wilderness where there's hardly any people.

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Isn't that odd? Wouldn't you think, well, he should go to Jerusalem, the city where all the people are? Instead, he sends

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John the Baptist out where hardly anyone is. And the few people are there who hear him. Well, they realize, man, this man's a prophet.

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He's preparing the way. Prepare for the Lord's coming by getting your life right. By getting rid of the obstacles in your life.

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Whatever it may be. The obstacles to the Lord. What are they in your life? Maybe a love of money. You're seeking things first, like houses and cars and careers or relationships or thrills.

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Put those aside for that. Get people to prepare themselves for when the

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Lord came with judgment. He is coming to judge. John the

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Baptist came. He appeared. That's the way Mark puts it in verse 4. It's not like he just materialized.

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But suddenly, for people in Israel, they started to hear about this. All of a sudden, there's these reports about this wild man out in the desert preaching about the soon coming judgment.

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And preaching about how you, even you, you Jewish people, who thought you were

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God's people already. Who thought you just had God taken care of by born into the right nation. Even you needed to get ready.

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You need to get your life in order. You need to get cleansed. You need to be converted. So that you could be really his people.

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He proclaimed a baptism that showed your repentance. And so showed your forgiveness.

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If you believe this message, you believe that he's from the Lord. Then you will be baptized.

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And your faith will give you forgiveness. But hurry.

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Be baptized, if you believe. To show that you've turned from your sins.

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So, people from all over Judea and Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the city. Judea, the area around.

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The southern Israel. They believed. They felt the urgency. They knew that there was an emergency of judgment.

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The judgment could come any moment now. And so they got baptized. They confessed their sins.

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Said these things I've been doing, they are sins. They renounced them. And they came to John, who was preparing the way.

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He's just like a wild wilderness man. Wearing camel's hair.

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A leather belt. Eating whatever wild things you could find out there in the desert. Bugs. Locusts.

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And honey. And by the way, not honey in a jar. I mean like nest of bees.

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And he would go in there and grab out the honey. Because John knew he was for preparation. His message wasn't about himself.

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You know, I'm so great. I'm the one. I'm the messenger. His urgent message was in verse 7.

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After me. Just behind me. In other words, not long after me. It's not like, well, hundreds of years.

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Sometime way after me. Somewhere down. Long down the quarters of time. Way in the future. There's going to come someone mightier.

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But no. It's next. After me. Like right on my heels.

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Right around the corner. It's coming. One who he says is mightier than I.

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Because he has this reputation for being mighty. For being powerful. Just in this camel's hair and the leather belt. Eating his bugs.

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And telling everyone what is what. Telling Herod he needs to repent of his sin. Well, man. This man is mighty.

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John is saying, no. After me is coming one who is mightier. His message was not about himself. He's saying,

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I'm for preparation. I'm for someone greater.

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He's so much greater. The one coming. Next. Right on my heels. Now, you might think I'm great. You think I'm impressive.

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I can tell by the way you're looking at me. I'm powerful. But the next one is so great. I'm not worthy.

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I'm not worthy to be the servant who stoops down and unties his shoes. That's how much greater he is than me.

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He's so much greater. John is saying. I baptize with water. Okay, understand. I'm baptizing you with water.

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That's the symbol. Water. That's all I have is the symbol. The one after me has what the symbol represents.

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Has the substance. He has the spirit. That's what the water is supposed to represent. He has it. I don't.

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I just have the symbol. One after me has the real thing. And the spirit will change your heart.

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And he will give you new life. Now, after this. Now, for us, the preparation is done.

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For us, we don't need baptism to be prepared.

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We don't need water baptism to be prepared for spirit baptism. Understand the order?

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Things have changed now. Before and after Jesus. Before, with John the

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Baptist, you get baptized to prepare for Jesus. After Jesus, you get baptized because you've met

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Jesus. Because he's baptized you with the Holy Spirit. We need urgently, immediately, now, to be baptized in the spirit.

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That's our need. To have that old, stone -cold, dead heart replaced by a living, spiritual one.

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That's our immediate need. And then, once that's done, then we show that by being baptized in water.

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So, our immediate need now is not baptism in water.

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That's not our immediate need. As if we do, as if we get baptized in water, that will somehow make us born again.

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No, it's not like that. Baptism in water is the symbol that points to the greater baptism in the

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Holy Spirit. Think what John is doing with it here. Me, I'm not as great. The one coming is greater. I have the water.

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He has the spirit. Having the spirit is greater than having the water. So, now, after Christ, that's changed.

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What's changed is that we show our faith, our spirit baptism, that we've had it, by getting water baptized after.

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Before Jesus, you got baptized before getting spirit baptized. After Jesus, as like now, you get baptized in water after getting spirit baptized.

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So, it's not water baptism that's urgent for us. It's spirit baptism. That's why we don't put a lot of pressure on people here to get baptized.

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What we try to put pressure and the emphasis on is to get a new heart, is to believe, to be transformed.

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Of course, only God can do that for you. And once he does, then you will be baptized. It's getting a new heart, being born again.

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That's the urgent need. That's what you urgently need now. So, don't wait for anything until you have it.

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Then, once you have it, baptism will take care of itself. Your new heart, you really have a new heart, you will then follow the

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Lord's command to be baptized. You will, because your heart will want to. He writes his law on your heart and his law says to be baptized.

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So, you will follow him. Now, what's the hurry, you might think. Now, I think you have plenty of time.

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Take your fill of everything that the world has to offer for now. You can always get back to God later.

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That's the way many people think. But here he says that now is the time.

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After all, the revelation has been made. Second revelation.

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In the days of John the Baptist, in verse 9, while he was preparing the way for the Lord by telling them of the urgency, the emergency, get baptized to prepare.

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Jesus himself was baptized. Now, if he was baptized, so should we be.

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And when Jesus comes out of the water, notice that in verse 10, by the way, I think it's a minor point, but it is a point.

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He was immersed. Right, they didn't sprinkle water on him. He was immersed, came out of it. Immediately, notice again, immediately, it was like the skies where it says torn open.

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It's the word Mark uses. Torn open. Like a fabric or like a tent canopy.

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The tent is torn. And there, it's, something is a hole. And the

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Holy Spirit comes through that hole in the sky. And it lights on Jesus.

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Like a dove would light on a branch. Then a voice booms out of the hole in the sky.

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You are my beloved son. You're the unique one. In you,

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I am well pleased. Now here, in this scene, this is a very important scene.

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All together, in one place, we see, we see God. The person of the

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Trinity in the theological language. We see the Father speaking from heaven. We see the sun coming up out of the water.

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Called the sun. And the Holy Spirit alighting like a dove.

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So you see three persons. It's not three different expressions. Like an actor playing three parts, right?

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Actor plays three parts in a movie or a play. And they do that sometimes in movies and plays. An actor, one actor can play different parts.

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But he can't be in the stage at the same time, can he? Right? Right? You understand? An actor plays different parts.

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He can't be on the stage playing himself at the same time. He's playing different parts at the same time. Here, on this stage, at his baptism, three persons together.

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Because the persons of the Trinity are different persons. They're not just, it's not like God playing different parts.

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Understand? So the revelation is that from this Trinity, Jesus is the son.

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That's what Mark will reveal. That's what the centurion will see. And what was declared to us from the beginning.

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And now, that's the revelation. And there's nothing else to wait on for it.

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There's nothing else we need to wait to begin to believe now. For thousands of years, people were waiting on God to reveal who he was, who his son is.

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Now he's done that. So now we don't have to wait. There's no revelation that we are waiting on.

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Everything was revealed from the time of the New Testament. We must not wait, but act now.

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Third, the temptation. In verse 12, the Holy Spirit immediately, notice that, drove him.

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Not like the Holy Spirit. What kind of gently led him? Gradually suggesting, maybe you should go this way.

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No, it says drove him. He's driving urgently. Like you've been told that time is of the essence.

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You've got to get to the emergency room. Here, it's not as though Jesus was unwilling. It's not suggesting that.

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Not as though Jesus was resisting and the Holy Spirit's making him go somewhere he doesn't want to go. I wasn't unwilling to be driven to the emergency room once we knew there might be a problem.

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It's not that the Holy Spirit overcomes Jesus's resistance. Jesus isn't resisting. And just kind of drives him where he doesn't want to go.

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It's about the urgency of the situation. Now, I sometimes kind of like to look at pictures, or maybe movies, of what people say.

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Jesus, that this is Jesus. Pictures of what he's supposed to be like. And I'm looking when I see that, if they're a picture or a movie, for how the artist thinks of Jesus.

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Because that's what pictures and movies show. You understand? Some people don't think you should have any of that because they're afraid you will think that's really

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Jesus. And some people will. If they're a little naive. But what representations of Jesus show is what the artist thinks

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Jesus is like. And they may be more or less accurate. But they always show the artist's interpretation.

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Pictures or acting always show someone's view of Jesus. Their opinion of what he must have been like. Really what they think a spiritual person is.

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And Jesus is almost always represented. Notice, he's almost always represented as someone kind of serene.

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Above it all. Otherworldly. In the Middle Ages, he looked stoic.

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Like not in no sense of any emotions. Today, he'll look kind of like a happy surfer dude.

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You know, like he likes everybody. He's, yeah, dude, I want to go have a good time.

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Like he'd just love to hang out with him. Right? That's the way he's represented today, usually. He's almost never represented as driven.

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As urgent. Like he's a man on a mission. But that's exactly how Mark reveals him here.

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Jesus is immediately going, from the time he was baptized. Jesus is immediately going from here to there.

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Propelled by the Spirit. He's a man on a mission. And he was out in the desert for 40 days.

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That's where he's driven here, first thing. Tempted by Satan. He was there with the wild animals. He's with the beast.

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That is, he's in the realm of Satan. He's in danger. Like his followers, who a generation later would be fed to the wild beasts.

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To the lions in Roman Colosseums for sport. But he overcame them. He wasn't devoured.

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But he was supported by angels. Now, in Mark, it doesn't say anything about Satan withdrawing from him.

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As though he was left, you know, without Satan battling him. Because in Mark, what an emphasis of Mark.

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Is that he is battling Satan the whole way. As we see here in the passage we read.

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Now, next is the inauguration of Jesus' ministry. Time is of the essence.

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After John the Baptist is arrested. Things change for Jesus. Notice the sequence of events here.

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Jesus goes from the south in Judea. Where John had been.

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Then John's arrested. So then he goes back up north. Around the lake of Galilee.

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Now, this is his home area. He's from Nazareth, which is up there near Galilee. Now, John is now decreasing with his arrest.

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And so Jesus knows now is the time for him to increase. Now, the past time.

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What he's just finished. From after John's baptism. When he's baptized by John. To John's arrest.

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Has been like a transition. Between, like we have in America. A transition between two presidents.

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You know, on election day. Or soon thereafter, hopefully. There's a revelation of who the next president will be.

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And then there's a transition period. About three months. Here, in this passage. And then after the transition period is the inauguration.

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Now, here in this passage. The revelation was at the Jordan River. Jesus' baptism. You are my beloved son.

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With you, I am well pleased. Now, in between. In between the revelation.

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At the baptism. And his inauguration. Is this temptation. Now, the inauguration.

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Jesus comes out in the open. Preaching. Particularly in Galilee. In that area.

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Up north. His message was a proclamation of the gospel of God. Now, first.

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Several points about that. Almost take apart every word here. First, it was a proclamation. That is, it was an announcement.

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Jesus was the herald. Of the announcement. He's the announcer. In their day, heralds would be sent out.

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The king wanted to make some proclamation. I'm raising taxes by so much. Or whatever. We've had a son.

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So this is the prince. My next heir. The king is coming. Or maybe the king is traveling around his kingdom.

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He would always send out men ahead. Heralds. To announce. The king is coming. Make way.

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Get your little booths and stuff out of the way of the road. Because the king is coming through. The announcement here. That Jesus is declaring.

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Was the gospel. Of God. Now, the gospel. This means good news.

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It is the actual announcement. It's what's being announced. It's the proclamation of the herald. Could be, you know, a new king is born.

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The king is coming through. It is a gospel. It's good news. The gospel.

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The announcement. Jesus is heralding. Is, as he says.

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Of God. It's from God. It's about God. It's not just about an emperor.

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Or a king. Or politics. Or sports. It's the most important kind of announcement.

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That is the most important kind of gospel. Of good news. Of all. Now, that's what

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Jesus was doing. He's the herald. Of this good news. God's good news. That announcement.

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God's good announcement. It comes in three parts. Notice the parts. First, verse 15. The time.

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Is fulfilled. Did you notice that? Verse 15. The time. Is fulfilled.

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Preparation time is over. Time is of the essence. Now, he's telling people.

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Thousands of years. He's been building to this. From Adam's fall.

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To Abraham. And Moses. And David. And the prophets.

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Like Isaiah quoted here. To finally John the Baptist. All of that. Is the preparation.

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Is to get prepared. For now. It's all been pointing. To this.

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To when Jesus has come. The time is now. Fulfilled. Ready or not.

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Here I am. Finally Jesus says. Time's up. Time.

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Is of the essence. Well, that's the first part. Time is of the essence. From now on.

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Don't let anyone tell you. That you have plenty of time. You're in no hurry.

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To get right with God. He's been waiting thousands of years. You can put him off. After college. Or after you're married.

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Or after you have a lot of money. You can put him off. To seek first his kingdom. To believe in the mightier one.

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That you can procrastinate. Because God is slow. No. You must act.

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Now. Understand the urgency. Of the emergency.

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The second part. In verse 15. The kingdom of God. Is at hand.

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Otherwise what you've been waiting for. The kingdom of God. Is so close.

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It's at hand. That is, it's so close. You can reach out and grab it. It's here.

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It's not far off. It's within your grasp. Like this microphone there. The kingdom of God is the rule.

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That is the government of God. That is, it's his being in charge. His in -chargedness.

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His authority is here. Now. His judging you. His court.

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If thousands of years people were waiting. Lord when are you going to come and judge the world. And Jesus is saying.

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Now. A lot of people think God's judgment. His court is a long way off.

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In some tribunal. Maybe after they die. Which they always assume will be many years.

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From now. Until then. You can put it off. You can run your life.

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As you want. For as long as you want. And you can take care of God's judgment.

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You apologize to God just before you die. When you'll be like a hundred years old. You have plenty of time. That's the way many people think.

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Right? You'll have plenty of preparation. Don't worry about it. You can keep putting them off. And when it gets close to death.

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And then they can apologize. For not living God's way. And then they'll be alright. Nothing to fear.

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They have plenty of time they think. But here Jesus says that God's judgment. His tribunal. His court.

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Is now in session. It's right now. Here within reach.

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And God can reach out and grab you. Now we've heard announcements. Right? Every four years.

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Or some eight years. That new leaders are elected. But most of us have never been. Where one government is overthrown.

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And another one is put in place. Now in the last week. We've seen that happen in Afghanistan. The kingdom.

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Or as the rule of the Taliban. Has been announced. Much to the horror of many people.

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Including God's people. Our brothers and sisters in Christ. And in that country. Now that's unlike the gospel.

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And that it is bad news. I don't know the term for. I don't know what the Greek term for bad news would be.

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But it's not a gospel. It's bad news. But it is like the gospel. And that it is a proclamation.

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Of a new rule. A new regime. Now. And one of the things they have in common.

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Both in Afghanistan. And where the kingdom of God is advancing. People who resist that kingdom.

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That regime. They're in trouble. You know. If you resist Jesus' regime.

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His rule. And you resist it. By clinging to your sins. Then the announcement of the kingdom of God.

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Will be bad news to you. It means that your judgment. Is coming.

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It means that it's here. The third part of the announcement. Is then what we are to do in response.

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Remember. The time is at hand. Repent. The first part means it's right now. The kingdom of God is at hand.

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Also emphasizing it's right now. Because the rule of God is here. And the third part. Is kind of the application.

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What we do in response to that. Repent. What do you do now that the kingdom of God is at hand. Time is up.

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Repent. And believe in the gospel. Repent means to turn around.

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Stop living like you have been living. Right now change. Live God's way.

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Turn from whatever your sin is. Trying to make worship about you. As if you were the customer.

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And this church. This is a shop. Meant to give you the product you want. If you don't like the product here.

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You'll go to another one. To the competitor. Turn from that way of thinking. Turn from that.

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Toward worshiping in spirit and truth. For worship to be about God. Turn from living as if you were your own boss.

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As if you didn't have to give account. For how you spend your money. Live for the Lord. Turn from sexual immorality.

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Or pornography. Using your body for yourself. As if you were not a temple of the Holy Spirit. Turn from your life.

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Of chasing and of hoarding. Of splurging money. For yourself.

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As though that's all it was about. Making a lot of money for yourself and spending it on yourself. Every penny for yourself.

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Turn from that. And live as if every penny. Belongs to God. Seek first the kingdom.

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The rule of God. And being in a right relationship. With Him. Let that be the relationship you seek.

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First. Now. Turn and believe that good announcement. That God's rule has come.

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With Jesus. If that's not good news to you. If you think. That's not good news.

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I want to seek those other things. I want that money or that relationship or whatever. If that's. If the kingdom of God is not good news to you.

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You urgently need to seek. To make it good news. Time. Is of the essence.

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Well that's the inauguration. Of Jesus' ministry. Then comes the invitation. That is

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He invites His apostles. Starting in verse 16. First Jesus is walking this lake shore.

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I call it a sea. It's a big lake. We call it a lake. In our language. And He sees

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Peter and Andrew fishing. And they're casting a net. Into the lake from their boat.

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And Jesus invites them. Follow me. That's the invitation.

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It's pretty direct. To the point. No time is wasted. Because there's no time to waste.

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You know it's not. Gentlemen. Why don't you consider following me.

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You know here's my. I'll email you my. My pay package and perks. You talk it over.

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Take some time. Talk it over with your wives and family. Don't make a hasty decision of course. I understand. You've got to consider it a little while.

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Get back to me when you can. After you've thought it over. I'll understand. No hurry. It's not like that at all.

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It's the opposite. Follow me now. Now is the time.

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It comes with a promise. Just like you've been catching fish. You'll be catching people.

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For me. That's the pay. And the perk. Who's going to jump at that deal?

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By the way. Verse 18. Immediately. Notice how many times that word is used in this passage. Again. Immediately.

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Without delay. They left their nets. And followed Jesus. They're so urgent.

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They're not even going to take the time. To put their gear properly away. Just drop it.

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And dad and their. Helping hands will take care of it. Following Jesus is too urgent to put off.

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For one second longer. A little further down. This lakeshore walk.

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Jesus sees James. And John Zebedee. They're mending their nets. Probably after a long shift.

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Of working fishing. They're untangling them. Maybe tying broken strings together. And then in verse 20.

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Immediately. There it is again. Jesus invites them. And he doesn't first ask.

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You know. Gentlemen. I'll understand. You're busy right now.

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Can I have a word with you? After you're done. I don't want to interrupt you.

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Your work is important. So I'll let you finish. He interrupts their work.

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In the middle of their work. Because he's inviting them. What he's inviting them to. Is more important than work.

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And just like that. They leave their job. And take up. After Jesus.

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That's the urgency. Of the invitation. To follow Jesus. Now for many of you.

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The invitation is for you. The invitation is not. Probably not for many of you.

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Not to quit your work. And come follow Jesus. That's probably not the invitation he's giving you.

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But he is inviting you. To follow him. In your work. And through your work.

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And at your work. Now that may be even harder. That may be harder than actually just leaving your work.

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Because. At your work. The dollars of work. The reward. Especially if you're successful.

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That might distract you. So that the commitment you made at one time.

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To follow Jesus. That can kind of gradually. Be forgotten. So much time given.

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To making money that you forget. You can become more interested. In getting what money can buy.

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In serving yourself. Rather than following Jesus. In your work. The emergency now.

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For you. Is if you've forgotten your invitation. And your heart.

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Has wandered away. The urgency. Is to recommit.

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To follow him now. Time. Is of the essence. Finally. After the inauguration of his ministry.

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The invitation of his apostles. Comes the demonstration. Of his authority. Jesus and his new entourage.

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They come into Capernaum. Which is the biggest city on the lake shore there. Of Galilee. Notice verse 20. They come in and immediately.

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There it is the word again. He's a man on a mission isn't he. Always from one thing to another.

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On the Sabbath. Jesus teaches in the synagogue. And the people there. They're amazed. You've probably heard all kinds of different teachers.

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Every Sabbath day. They're amazed at this Jesus. This local young man. He lived right down the road in Nazareth.

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He's teaching like. Like someone with authority. Not like one of their scholars.

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You know the scholars. You ever heard scholars speak. Always citing someone else. Some other authority. Rabbi so and so says that.

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Phylacteries should be one inch wide. While Rabbi Roth's name. He believes that they should be three inches wide.

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And blah blah blah blah blah. Like that. No Jesus was different.

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He said. I say to you. You've heard. Do not murder.

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I say to you. Don't shout angrily you fool. At someone.

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You've heard. Don't commit adultery. I say to you. Don't lust.

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You've heard. Don't swear falsely. I say to you.

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Keep all your words. Like they were a vow. At the judgment.

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Many will come to me. Who's he think he is by the way. Many will come to me.

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Saying Lord. Lord. Didn't I do all kinds of religious stuff. And I.

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Will send them away. He demonstrated his authority. In his teaching.

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And that authority. In his teaching. That shook. The demons.

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Immediately. Again in verse 23. A man with an unclean spirit. Is shocked. By Jesus' authority.

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There's only one who can teach like that. Only one. The Holy One of God. And the demon realizes.

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Who Jesus is. This isn't just. A local rabbi with a new style of teaching.

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He realizes he's the Holy One of God. And so he shrieks out. In verse 24. What have you to do with us.

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Jesus of Nazareth. That kind of question by the way. The way that's phrased. What have you to do with us or with me.

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That phrase occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament. Someone's surprised. When they're confronted by some enemies.

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Coming for war or for judgment. Here for the demon. Now remember the demon's point of view.

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Jesus is the enemy. And he hears Jesus and he realizes. He's the Holy One of God. The demon knows that Jesus has come.

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To judge. To put him or it. Whatever you call demons. Put them under his feet.

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To conquer the demons. And so it asks. Have you come to destroy us.

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Is the judgment now. You're the judge. I know you're the judge. You're the king of the kingdom of God.

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And the kingdom of God. Is now here. That's what he's saying. The kingdom of God is at hand.

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It's right here. Kind of like US forces conquering Japan. They conquered it and they came. And they judged.

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They judge war criminals. Here the demon. Imagine if you're a war criminal. You'd be panicking. In Japan.

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The demon here is panicking. You probably thought. They had plenty of time. The judgment must be a long way off.

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We've been waiting centuries. Must be centuries more. Maybe millennia. And then. They come to the synagogue.

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They hear Jesus teach with authority. And they know that their destruction. Is near.

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Right at hand. Jesus demonstrates his authority. By rebuking the demon.

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That's just commanding him to. Be quiet. Get out of here. And it convulsed.

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Put on a little demonstration of its own. And screamed. But it had to obey. It didn't have any choice.

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And so all the bystanders. Were amazed. And they asked each other.

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Look at that. Verse 27. What is this? What does this Jesus have?

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This demonstration of authority. In word. And in works.

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What does it mean? It's a new teaching. And with authority.

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He says new things. Now not contradicting the law. But expanding on it. And he does it by saying.

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I say to you. Then the works he commands. Even the unclean spirits.

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And they obey him. He put out a demonstration. Of who he is.

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The result. In verse 28. At once. The word there is immediately.

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Same Greek word. As we've seen over and over again. At once. Immediately. His fame. Spread all around that area.

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People heard about who Jesus. Has demonstrated himself. To be. And that's where we still are.

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We are. After the preparation. The revelation. The temptation.

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The inauguration. The invitations. And like here. After the demonstration.

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His fame. Has spread. And we're still spreading it. But what are you to do.

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About it. Time. Is of the essence. Near the end of World War II.

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I forgot the exact date. I believe it was July 25th. But it was around there. Late July. 1945. The Americans.

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In particular. And the other allies. Sent a warning to Japan. Surrender. Or else. And the

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Japanese thought. We have plenty of time. It's going to take them months.

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To prepare. To invade. They'll get a lot of resistance. We'll be able to negotiate. We've got plenty of time.

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They thought. There's no destruction. I'm sure they can bomb a few cities. But we've got plenty of time.

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We can wait. So they just turned it down flat. The Japanese. About a week or two later.

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One of their cities disappeared. In a mushroom cloud. They had almost no time.

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They did not know it. Time. Is of the essence. So what about you.

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What are you to do. About it. You should know who he is already.

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He's demonstrated that. Who he is. He demonstrated that he is the Holy One of God. Now what are you going to do.

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You're just going to think about it. Consider it for a while. Put it off. Like you have plenty of time.

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You can negotiate maybe. Consider your options. Like there's no pressure. Like you have all the time in the world.

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Maybe put God off until you've made some more money. Or you have the family taken care of. No. You must decide now.

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This is an emergency. You don't know. If you have one second longer.

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When judgment could come suddenly. And you have no more options. Feel the urgency.

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And the demand of the kingdom. Turn. And believe. The good news.

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That Jesus is King. Do it now. Urgently.