When Mark introduced this book, he said simply in vs1, that it was the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Gospel means good news, and was from the Greek word euangellion which was in use throughout the Roman Empire to announce festivals associated with emperor worship. When a new ruler took power, there was a herald that went through the kingdom announcing his coming, proclaiming the good news and calling the people to get ready for his appearing. So in like manner, Mark uses this word to describe the coming of the Kingdom of God. Mark said John the Baptist was the herald of Christ, calling people to a baptism of repentance, that their hearts might be ready to receive Him when He appeared.

So in this first chapter we see that Jesus did appear, and He was baptized in the Jordan. Not because He needed to repent of His sins, but so that He might identify with sinful man, and show that He had come to take away their sins. So as John declared “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” the Holy Spirit after His baptism drove Jesus out in to the wilderness, much like the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement bearing the sins of Israel was driven into the wilderness, as an illustration that Jesus would bear away the sins of the world. The scapegoat was an illustration of the essential doctrine of the gospel, that the innocent would die for the guilty. So as He was 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus emerges sinless. He overcomes all temptations of the devil.

Now when we get to vs14, we find that Mark skips about a year in the chronology of Jesus’s ministry, and picks it back up with John the Baptist having been delivered over to Herod, where he was put to death. And at that time, Mark says that Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the same gospel message that John had been preaching. Jesus was preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

So in this passage we are looking at today, we are going to see two characteristics of this gospel of Jesus Christ. First we are going to look at the message of the gospel, and then the ministry of the gospel. Let’s examine first the message of the gospel.

I don’t want to gloss over the mention Mark makes that John the Baptist had been delivered up. I think this is an important principle. John had said concerning Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” And so, in this briefest of Mark’s mentions, John gives up his life in service to the Kingdom of God. That fact, that martyrdom, establishes at the outset the priority of the gospel’s message. It is a message that is worth dying for. And one way or another, the gospel demands that we all surrender our lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God. If we are to receive the life of Christ, we must be willing to give up our lives so that we might have new life. Jesus said later in Mark 8:35 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” To receive the life of Christ, one must be willing to lose his life. And John the Baptist illustrated that principle when he gave his life for the sake of the gospel.

Next, we see that Jesus came preaching the gospel of God; saying, Notice first that Jesus came preaching. Preaching has fallen out of favor today. It’s unfashionable. Now that we are more sophisticated we can think of a lot better ways to present Christianity than by preaching. But Jesus came preaching. Preaching has been God’s preferred method of presenting the gospel since the days preceding the flood. Peter said Noah was a preacher of righteousness. As Paul said in 1Cor. 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Preaching may be foolishness to the world, but it is the wisdom of God by which men might believe.

So what did Jesus preach exactly? He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Let’s consider the phrase “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand…” Greek scholars tell us that the word used here for time is not speaking of chronology so much as it refers to opportunity. The way we might understand this is He is saying, the opportunity has presented itself, the Kingdom of God is near, it’s at hand, it’s right now. Now is the acceptable day of salvation. Let me give you a warning, ladies and gentlemen. The longer you resist the gospel, the less likely you are to receive it. When you resist the urging of the Holy Spirit, then you quench the Spirit, and you harden your heart until one day, you no longer can hear the Spirit of God’s call. Do not harden your heart. The golden opportunity is now, the kingdom of God is at hand.

Now let’s consider that phrase “kingdom of God.” Matthew uses a similar phrase, “kingdom of Heaven.” They basically mean the same thing. Jesus Christ came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. It refers to a spiritual kingdom, in which God rules the hearts and minds of His people. The Jews were looking for a physical kingdom. They were looking for Jesus to be a military conqueror, like David had been, and for the Messiah to take back his throne. But during the period between the first and second coming of Christ, the kingdom of God is spiritual. Christ rules in the hearts of His people. Jesus said in Luke 17:20. “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” So for now it’s a spiritual kingdom, then at His second coming, the heavens and earth will be remade, and we will rule and reign in the new heaven and earth with Christ as HIs bride.

So for now it is spiritual, but there is a physical component of the Kingdom of God; and that is it is His church. We that are saved are the physical manifestation of the spiritual kingdom. We are the hands and feet of Christ. We are His body, His people, His community, even His sons and daughters. And so we represent the Kingdom to the world. Col. 1:13 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” The whole world is captive to the prince of darkness, and ensnared in the web of this world to do his will. But through Christ, we who have believed have been transferred to the Kingdom of God, and now we live for Him, and live through Him as aliens in this present world until that day when He comes back to claim His own.

Then notice next that there are two pillars of the gospel which Jesus is preaching. I mentioned these last Sunday, but it bears going over again. For the gospel is based on these two essential pillars. And when you remove one or the other, the whole gospel cannot stand. The two pillars are repentance and faith. Jesus said, ““The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” We can imagine that the gospel could be reduced to one word, truth. The truth about God, about Christ, and how we might know God. So if the truth is the gospel canopy, the pillars which hold it aloft are repentance and faith.

Last time we talked a while about repentance, particularly the aspect of confession and how it is necessary for repentance. But today I wish to bring out another aspect of repentance. The word is translated repent in some of your Bible translations is “be converted.” And that phrase graphically describes the nature of repentance. Repentance is not merely feeling sorry. But it is being converted. Being changed. Turning completely around and going in the opposite direction. It means a change of heart. And at it’s root is the realization that all that you believed and lived by until Christ is a lie and is condemning you to death. It’s an appeal to God to be remade, to be transformed, to be made anew. Repentance means to be converted, to be changed. Listen, when you go to another country, the first thing you need to do is convert your currency to the currency of the country you are in. You cannot spend your money there. You need their money. And when you come to the Kingdom of God, you cannot spend the money from the dominion of darkness there. You must convert your currency. And your currency is your very life. It must be converted by the grace of God.

And that conversion requires faith, the other pillar of the gospel. The Bible tells us that “Abraham believed God, and He counted it to Him as righteousness.” That is the new currency of the new life in the Kingdom of God; righteousness. And God gives us righteousness in exchange for our sins. That’s pretty crazy isn’t it? We give God our sins, and He gives us in exchange righteousness. Our sins are transferred to Jesus, and His righteousness is transferred to us. 2Cor.5:21 says, “God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made righteous in Him.” That is the gospel. That is how we are transferred to the Kingdom of God. Not by works, not by baptism, not even by confession, but by faith in what Jesus did on the cross for us. He was the innocent Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who took upon Himself our sins on the cross so that we who believe on Him would be granted His righteousness. Now that is the message of the gospel that Jesus was preaching.

Next, let’s look at the ministry of the gospel. Ministry means work or service. Jesus after His resurrection left those of us in HIs church with a work to do. It is a ministry of service that all of us are supposed to be doing until He comes. Do you remember what this work is? It’s found in Matt. 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So the key word there is disciples; the ministry of the gospel is to make disciples. We that have been taught, are to teach others. We that have been brought to Christ, are to bring others. And Jesus illustrates this very thing Himself. He has already met these four fishermen several months before. Mark does not elaborate on that, but John’s gospel tells us how these men initially met the Lord. But now Christ comes to them and calls them to follow Him. He says to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

This principle of becoming followers of Christ is so important. Peter talks about following Jesus’s example. 1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” Being a disciple is not a position you rest upon, but a person you imitate. To be a disciple is to be a follower of Christ, or a follower of another exemplary Christian. Paul said, “be imitators of me.” Folks, if we could say that to our children, if we could say that to our families, if we could say that to our neighbors, then the church would be a radically different place.

Well, Jesus called these men to be His disciples; to walk where He walked, to say what He said, to do as He did. In other words, it means being conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” We have been called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We are to look like Him, talk like Him, act like Him. That is how the spiritual Kingdom of God is manifested to the world.

Now how does this work itself out in the real world? Let’s look at Peter, Andrew, James and John and find out. I want you to notice though first of all, that these are just working class guys. Jesus could have called high ranking government officials to be His followers. He could have recruited a few movie stars or maybe a rock and roll band or two. He could have gone to a few major league ball teams and got some famous players to help Him spread the gospel. That’s how we would probably do it, wouldn’t we? Those kind of people would attract a crowd. But instead, He goes to Galilee and picks four regular guys, uneducated, a little rough around the edges. They might even have had a particular fishy odor about them. But that was who Jesus chose to be His closest companions and ambassadors to the world. And I believe He did so that we might know that He came to seek and to save those that were lost. Jesus said in Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

And that is because there is none righteous, no not one. That is why repentance is necessary for conversion. But also Christ chose the worthless things of the world so that salvation may be of God and not of man. 1Cor. 1:26-29 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

So Christ calls these men, these common, everyday, working class guys, to leave everything and follow Him, and in return He will make them fishers of men. Now that’s a test of our value system isn’t it? Which do you think is more valuable? Your career, your business? Or being a fisherman for the Kingdom of God?

Well, Peter and Andrew, his brother, were using a casting net to catch fish when Jesus came by. And when He called them, they left their nets and followed Him. There is nothing inherently sinful about fishing, of course. That’s not why they left their nets. But there was something a lot better. Jesus said on another occasion in Matt. 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Peter and Andrew decided it was better to serve God rather than the world, to lay up eternal treasure in heaven than to store up temporal treasure on earth.

James and John were working down the beach, mending nets. And when Jesus came by them, He called them to follow Him as well. And immediately, Mark said, they left their nets, they left their father with the boat and hired hands and followed Jesus. Jesus said at another occasion in Matt. 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” James and John were willing to leave everything, even family, for the sake of knowing Jesus. Being a disciple then means that he who loses his life for Christ’s sake will find it.

Now it’s interesting that Mark records two aspects of fishing as illustrated by these four disciples. And perhaps we might learn something from this in regards to being fishers of men. First note that Peter and Andrew were using a casting net, which they would cast out in a large circle, and the weights around the outer edge would then drop down and capture the fish.

Jesus at another time gave a parable about using a net like that in relation to the Kingdom of God. He said in Matt.13:47-50, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Now that’s a picture of the preaching of the gospel. It is cast into the world, and many types of people are caught up in it. Many come under the sound of the gospel, they hear the truth. But some repent and believe and are saved into the Kingdom of God, and some reject it, and are lost. And at the judgment, those that have rejected the truth of the gospel will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. But those who are found written in the book of life, will reign forever with the Lord.

Then notice that James and John are mending their nets when Jesus passes by. This picture illustrates the other aspect of ministry. Mark’s term for mending their nets means to put in order, or to make ready, and so includes cleansing, mending and preparing the nets for the next day’s fishing. Interestingly enough, a derivative of this same word is used in Ephesians 4:12 in which Paul describes the work of the pastor as equipping the saints. Strong’s Bible dictionary says that to equip means to complete thoroughly, to repair or adjust, to fit, to mend, to make perfect, to perfectly join together, to prepare, or restore.

So there is the other aspect of ministry; to prepare others, to equip others, to restore others, to complete others in the church. In other words, to disciple other disciples. That’s the two fold ministry of the gospel. One to preach the gospel, casting a wide net over the world to all who will hear. We are responsible to cast forth the word, and God will give the increase or the harvest. We just preach or proclaim the good news to all who will listen. The second aspect of ministry is to disciple those who believe in the gospel. To help them, correct them, complete in them what is necessary so that they may be furnished for every good work. That they might be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And when we are faithfully preaching the message of the gospel, and doing the ministry of the gospel, then we are truly disciples; following Jesus’s example, and we too are being confirmed to the image of Christ. May we be about the business of the Kingdom of God, until Christ comes back to take us home with Him. May we be found faithful when He comes.

If you have not yet become a disciple of Jesus Christ, then today I urge you to make the most of this opportunity. Today is the acceptable day of salvation. It is the opportune time. Please don’t harden your heart against the Holy Spirit. Repent and believe the gospel that you might be saved. When you confess your sins to God, He will exchange your sins for Christ’s righteousness and give you life in Him. Take advantage of this offer today. Come to Jesus today.

Today we begin our study in the gospel of Mark. Mark is the shortest of all the gospels. It is thought by some to be the first of the four gospels written. And yet, I have saved it for last. We have finished Matthew, Luke and John and now it behooves us to look at this book. And following Mark’s example at directness and terseness, I don’t want to spend a lot of time on an introduction and filling in all sorts of biographical details. I want to get right to the message, just as Mark did.

I will only say by way of introduction that Mark is the same as John Mark, found elsewhere in the scriptures. He was a cousin of Barnabas, and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on a missionary journey. But perhaps due to his young age, or some other reason, he deserted the mission trip mid way, and as such caused a great division between Paul and Barnabas later on when Barnabas wanted to take him on another trip. Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways, but later on, at the end of Paul’s ministry, he makes mention of Mark and how desirable he was for service to the Lord.

One reason for that seems to be that during those intervening years, Mark became a close disciple of Peter. Peter was the first elder of the church at Jerusalem, and there seems to be an indication that Peter’s church was often held at Mark’s mother’s house, whose name was Mary. So though Mark was not one of the 12 disciples, nor one of the apostles, he was a protege and interpreter for Peter. And so his historical information comes from Peter, and of course, the Holy Spirit provided the divine inspiration.

Now that’s enough of an introduction. By the way, John Mark does not identify himself by name as the author, but as early as the 2nd century church fathers wrote that Mark was in fact the author, and that view seems to be held without question. However, Mark is not interested in introducing himself, because he is focused on introducing Jesus Christ to a primarily Gentile audience in Rome. And so he gets right to it, in vs.1.

I want to point out first that Mark is the only gospel writer to call his book the gospel. The word “gospel” is one of those church words we hear from time to time, without perhaps knowing exactly the significance of it. Gospel comes from the Greek word euaggelion, which means good news, or good tidings. That word euaggelion is the same word from which we get our word evangelist. Evangelist means simply, the bearer of good news.

It’s interesting that in Roman times, euaggelion was used in celebration of the emperor cult, when they announced the birthday of the emperor or his ascension to power, it was celebrated with festivals called an evangel. Mark, writing to a primarily Roman audience, uses this same word to announce the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, whose Lord of all is Jesus Christ. The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a reason for rejoicing throughout the world, from that day through the ages to come.

So Mark says in vs1 that this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not writing a history, he is not writing a biography, but the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news of Jesus Christ; who He is, what He said, and what He manifested to the world about God the Father, about Himself and God’s love for mankind.

Now let’s look at who Mark says Jesus is. First he says His name is Jesus, which means Jehovah saves; a real man, verified by history and eyewitnesses, who lived in the region of Galilee, who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Secondly, Mark says He is the Christ. That’s not the last name of Jesus, but a title. Christ is the Greek word for the Messiah. Jesus is the promised One, the seed of the woman, who would crush Satan’s head and provide liberty for the captives. Thirdly, Mark says He is the Son of God. He is deity, the incarnate God born in human flesh. Then there is one more title for Jesus in vs.3 which Mark attributes to Jesus, and that is Lord. Lord means sovereign, Master, ruler over the kingdom. But the scripture in Isaiah which Mark is quoting presents Lord in all capital letters, which was the word the Hebrews designated as a substitute for the personal, holy name of God, which is Jehovah. So Mark is in effect attributing LORD Jehovah to the name of Jesus.

Now that is good news! God has come down to man, in the form of Jesus Christ, to establish His kingdom, and to declare freedom to those who are held captive to the dominion of darkness.

Now in the uaggelion of the Romans, when an Emperor would take over his regime, there would be messengers who would go throughout the empire announcing his coming and preparing the people for his arrival. And in somewhat of a similar fashion, God appointed evangelists to prepare the hearts of the people as well to receive His King. Mark introduces the primary evangel, one John the Baptist, by reminding the reader that such a messenger had been prophesied in the scriptures.

Mark is quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40 which was fulfilled by the ministry of John the Baptist. John the Baptist fulfills not only prophecy, but also a vital function in the preparation for the gospel. He prepares the way for Christ’s kingdom not by sweeping the streets and putting the village or city in order, but by preparing people’s hearts so that they will receive the gospel. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and so the preparation of the heart for receiving the Lord was the ministry of John.

Now how did John do that? Well, vs4 tells us; he preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Listen, the vital ingredient to the gospel that is often missing today is repentance. Lot’s of people claim a sort of faith or belief that God exists. They may believe certain facts about Jesus. But without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus said in Luke 24:46-47 “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Repentance is essential for forgiveness. Repentance is recognizing you are a sinner, that you are lost, that you are estranged from God and helpless to be reconciled to God on your own.

And that is the significance of baptism. The significance is not water, whether by immersion or sprinkling. The significance was it was a public confession that you needed to be totally cleansed of your sin in order to be acceptable to the Lord and admitted into His kingdom. Now that was taught by baptism. In Jewish life, there was a baptism that was practiced to a limited degree, but it was not for Jews. It was a baptism for converts to Judaism from the pagan world. It was called becoming a proselyte. There was a method for converting a Gentile to being accepted by God and that was the baptism of a proselyte.

So in effect, what John the Baptist was showing them was that this repentance went so far as to say not only are you a sinner, but even your birthright is of no benefit to you. You are so estranged from God that you need to come to Him just as a pagan must come; renouncing all that you are, all that you claim, all your works, for the sake of knowing God and being accepted by God.

And note in vs.5, Mark says that the whole country was so moved by John’s message, that they came out of the cities to him in the wilderness, to be baptized in the dirty, muddy water of the Jordan, (that provided a necessary humbling experience in and of itself) and note what he says, “confessing their sins.” Make no mistake, confession is an essential ingredient in repentance. 1 John 1:9 says “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” David says in Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” James is not necessarily talking about physical healing there, but spiritual healing.

Listen, there is no need to sit down and think of every bad thing you have ever done and write them down. Some of us would be there a year just making confession! But what confession is meant to do is establish that sin is indeed sin. There is no sanctified sin. There may be more severe punishment for some sins above others, but sin is sin. And confession means confessing that your sin is sin and that it is worthy of death. It is more than enough to prohibit you from entrance into God’s kingdom.

That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus equates hate with murder, lust with adultery and so forth. What we think isn’t so bad, in God’s eyes is an abomination. He is holy and righteous and just. And in His kingdom, sin must be dealt with. And the first step to that is recognizing your sin is sin, and it is an affront to a Holy and Righteous Creator. So repentance, which means to humble yourself, confess your sins, and proclaim your need for forgiveness is one of the twin pillars of the gospel, and it is illustrated by baptism.

Baptism is being lowered under the water, which signifies dying to the old nature, and then being raised from the water, which signifies new life in the Spirit. Baptism then is not the means of salvation, but an illustration of it; a public confession of your sins and your need for new life.

Now in vs6, Mark tells us that John the Baptist came clothed in the garments of an Old Testament prophet, as in the spirit of Elijah. Elijah was the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, and later on Jesus will say concerning John the Baptist, that he was the greatest among men. But though Elijah was the greatest prophet up to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist was the greatest among men, yet John tells us that someone much greater than he was coming.

Vs.7 And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.” He was speaking like the job of the lowest servant, unworthy to do even the lowliest job, to untie the laces of Christ’s sandals. But it’s interesting that Jesus did exactly that at the Last Supper, when He washed the disciples feet. Jesus Christ, Lord God of all creation, humbled Himself to become our servant, to cleanse us so that we might be made sons and daughters of God.

But John was emphasizing Christ’s exalted position as Lord of All. Though John was a great prophet, and Moses and Elijah were great prophets, someone greater than a prophet was here, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

John gives another contrast as well, which differentiates Christ’s ministry from John’s. He says in vs 8 “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Water was a symbol of dying to sin, repentance and confession, but when Christ baptizes you with the Holy Spirit, you are given new life so that you may walk in the Spirit. As the water cleanses you on the outside, completely enveloping your flesh, so the Spirit cleanses you on the inside, completely filling your flesh with a new nature. So that you no longer walk according to the flesh in this new life, but you walk in the Spirit. Any man can wash with water, but only God can cleanse your heart and make it like new.

Then in vs. 9, we now see Jesus coming from Nazareth, in Galilee to be baptized by John. Even this description of Mark reveals the humility of Jesus as He became man to be our Savior. Jesus was a common name, much like John might be today. Nazareth was a despised town, and Galilee was a region that was looked down upon as ignorant, backwoods people. The Son of God associated Himself with the commonest of man , so that He might be the Savior of all. Isaiah 53:2-3 speaks of the Messiah; “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

I dare say that no one who saw Jesus come to be baptized that day saw anything remarkable about Him. He would not have stood out of the crowd. He had no stately form or majesty that we should look admiringly upon Him. He was no more remarkable in appearance than a servant.

That is, until Jesus came up out of the water. Look at vs.10 “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Prior to His baptism, no one recognized anything special about Him. But God the Father could not help but proclaim when He saw the Son submit to His will, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”

That’s an incredible affirmation from God Himself as to the divinity of Jesus Christ. But there is a question that must be asked. Why, if Jesus had so pleased God the Father, did He need a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? Well the answer is that Jesus did not need to be baptized for HIs sin, but He was baptized to identify with our sin. He came to take away man’s sin by taking it upon Himself, and dying in our place to pay the penalty that we were due, so that we might be set free.

2Cor. 5:21 says, “[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God was pleased with Christ’s righeousness. But God was well pleased because Christ humbled Himself to become our Savior, by taking our sins upon HImself.

Going back to Isaiah 53:10-12 we read “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

So not only do we have the verbal testimony of God, but also a physical attestation from the Holy Spirit. Mark says the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. Notice that Mark doesn’t say it was a dove, but it was like a dove. I think it was clearly something extraordinary, something supernatural, something identifiable as the Spirit of God, but He was described as being “like a dove.”

The point is not to quibble though over the appearance and what that looked like, but to see the multiple testimonies that Jesus was the righteous, holy Messiah, the Son of God, who came as a man, to identify with man, and take away his sins. In fact in this text there are five witnesses of who Jesus is; Mark said Jesus is the Son of God in vs.1, the prophets said Jesus is Lord in vs3, John the Baptist said Jesus was the One after me who is mightier than I in vs7, God the Father said Jesus is the Beloved Son of God in vs.11, and the Holy Spirit anointed Him in vs10.

Now all of that testimony is given that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. In short, that we might have faith, the other essential pillar of the gospel. Faith in who Jesus is, and faith in what He came to do. Our faith is founded on facts from eyewitnesses to His glory. Peter said in 2Peter 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

Faith is believing not only that He exists, but in the sufficiency of what He did. He was the One in whom the Father was well pleased. He knew no sin. But God placed on Him the iniquity of us all that He might be our substitute, by dying on the cross for sin. Faith is receiving His sacrifice as a substitute for my sins.

Mark makes one more statement about the sinlessness of Christ, so that He might be the perfect substitute, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And that is found in vs 12-13 “Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus’s temptation. Satan tested Jesus with every temptation and Jesus refuted Him with the word of God. The other gospel’s of Matthew and Luke give us only three temptations. But notice that Mark says the temptation lasted 40 days. But it’s interesting that Mark does not give a more detailed account. It’s a brief mention, at best.

However what Mark does say is important. First he says the Spirit of God impelled Him to go into the wilderness. The picture there is one of force, the Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness. I cannot help but see a parallel to Leviticus 16, in which the nation of Israel, on the day of Atonement, drove a scapegoat into the wilderness, in a symbolic illustration of God bearing away their sin. This is after all the ministry of the gospel, to take away sin. Jesus came to be our scapegoat.

We know from the other gospels that Jesus was innocent in those temptations in the wilderness. And once again, we are reminded of the scapegoat; the principle of the innocent dying for the guilty. That is what atonement means. The Holy and Righteous God required a payment for sin, but because of His love for us, He does not require it of us, but of His Son. Jesus was driven out into the wilderness as a picture of the innocent Lamb of God bearing away our sins as He identified with us in baptism. And having made atonement for us through His blood, we have forgiveness of sins by faith in Him, and we see the risen Jesus acting on our behalf as our High Priest. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

Well, that is the beginning of the gospel, according to Mark. The pillars of the gospel which are faith and repentance. In these first 11 verses, we see all that is necessary to be made righteous, to be given entrance into the kingdom of God. We have seen the need for repentance; confession and humility, the recognition of our sins and the need to be forgiven, to have a new life. And we have heard the testimony of Jesus Christ, the object of our faith. He is the Son of God, eternal in the heavens, in whom was no sin, and who offered Himself as our substitute, to pay our penalty for sin. And we have seen the illustration of baptism, which professes our desire to die to the old nature, and be resurrected to walk in the Spirit.

The question today is what have you done with the gospel? Have you repented and turned to Christ in faith for salvation? Do you desire to have a new life in Christ? I pray that no one here today would reject so great an offer of salvation. Jesus has paid the price, you simply must recognize that you are a sinner, and call upon the saving work of Jesus Christ the Righteous so that you may receive forgiveness and new life through Him. If you have seen your need today for forgiveness, then to paraphrase the Ethiopian eunuch, I say, “Look, there is water. What prevents you from being baptized?”

I thought I was going to be through with John last week. We finished up 1 John last Sunday, and I had planned on beginning the book of Mark, which is something I wanted to do months ago actually. But when I began to study Mark in preparation for this week, I did not feel that God was leading me to do so at this time. I think that there is still some more that He wants to teach us from John’s letters. And so this Sunday we are going to look at this very small book of 2 John in it’s entirety. Just think, you will be able to tell your friends back home that the pastor preached on a whole book of the Bible in one sitting.

But if you will remember from our studies in 1 John, the theme of that book was fellowship. And as I said, I thought we had finished all that God had to say on that subject and could move on. However, I believe that this letter of 2 John also speaks to this subject of fellowship. As I have said repeatedly, I believe John is teaching that the purpose of the Christian life is fellowship; fellowship with God and fellowship with His people. So in that vein, I have titled today’s message “The Fellowship of Truth.” Fellowship by definition means like mindedness. And there is a commonality in fellowship, Christian fellowship, that can only be found in the context of truth. There is no fellowship of light with darkness.

The Apostle Paul said in 2Cor. 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”

So the truth is the plumb line that delineates fellowship. You are either walking in the truth, or walking in darkness. As a church we are a fellowship of God’s people. Our whole purpose as a church is to learn the truth, preach the truth, and walk in the truth of God. And as we do those things, we have fellowship with God and with one another. Jesus said in the gospel of John, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He went on to say that “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” He said on another occasion, “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Before He was crucified Jesus told His disciples He would send them the Spirit of Truth, who would lead them into all truth. Truth is essential to fellowship. And Christian fellowship is impossible if it is not in the truth.

As I said last week, I sometimes feel inferior to other churches because we do not have all the bells and whistles that people often associate with church. But as far as I am concerned, the most important purpose of the church is to declare the truth, defend the truth and walk in the truth. Everything else is gravy. And if you don’t get the truth right, then nothing else matters. Fellowship without the truth is of no greater value than membership in a social club.

Now as I see it, there are five divisions of this letter. The first is the theme of the letter, which is the fellowship of the truth. Secondly, we see five blessings of the truth. Thirdly, John talks about walking in the truth; fourthly, the opposition to the truth, and finally, the joy of fellowship.
So let’s look first at what we have already introduced, that is the fellowship of the truth.

John addresses this letter to the chosen lady and her children. He identifies himself as an elder, which can indicate his apostleship over the churches, as well as possibly his age. Some have said that he would have been in his 90’s by this point. I think it has more to do with his position in the church, rather than his age. Ephesians says the church is built on the foundation of the apostles. And perhaps by this point, John is the only apostle still living,

But the interesting thing is who it is addressed to; the chosen lady and her children. Theologians are split between this being an individual, and it being a pseudonym for a particular church. My view is that he is addressing a church. John’s favorite name for Christians in the epistle of 1 John is “little children.” So I think that the chosen lady is a way of referring to a corporate body of believers, who have been chosen of God, to be the bride of Christ, and her children being the family of God, those that John refers to as being born of God. So it makes more sense to me that he is speaking to a church, and this letter was shared with other churches who had similar problems and concerns in those days, and as such it came to be accepted in the canon of scripture.

Now notice that in his address, John covers all those elements which are essential to fellowship, which as I said, is the purpose of the church. Three times in the first 2 verses he mentions truth. And in relation to the truth, he speaks of love and emphasizes the family of fellowship. He says first of all that there is a love for those who are of the truth. He loves them, and those who love the truth loves those in the church who are born of God. Fellowship produces love. Christian love is the natural outcome of fellowship with God, you will grow to love Him and love His body, that is His church, His people. But that love is within the context of truth. Three times he mentions truth, as if to underline again and again the essential nature of truth to fellowship.

There is another aspect of truth which is important to note, and that is where he says in vs 2, “the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.” Jesus said in His high priestly prayer that God’s word is truth. Listen, God cannot be separated from His word. God is eternal, and the word of God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God endures forever.” The word of God never fails, and it is an eternal truth that we will still be abiding in 10,000 years from now. That’s why John calls Jesus the Word in John chapter 1. The Word which was in the beginning with God, and the Word which was God. The Word of God is eternal truth which will be with us forever.

Now let’s move on to the second point; the five blessings of truth. Vs3 “Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” I say there are five blessings, but maybe another way of looking at this is that the first three come out of the second two. Grace, mercy and peace, come out of truth and love.

We could easily spend an entire sermon on these attributes. But in the essence of time, let’s just give a brief explanation. Truth and love are the major pillars of the fellowship of the church. In my introduction I addressed the essentiality of truth. Preaching and practicing the truth are the essential functions of the church. And we know that fellowship produces love. Jesus said “they will know you are My disciples by your love for one another.” Again and again in 1John we are told to love one another. He is going to say that again in this epistle in vs.5. So truth and love are the pillars of fellowship in the church.

But let’s look at the familiar benediction “Grace, mercy and peace.” Apart from truth and love, we can never really know grace, mercy and peace. Grace means getting what we don’t deserve; pardon for sin, a new life, eternal life, righteousness. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve; we deserve death as the penalty for our sin, but God put Christ to death in our place. And peace, means primarily peace with God. It’s not the cessation of war, though that might be desirable. But it’s making peace with God because our offense has been forgiven through the atonement of Jesus Christ by dying on the cross.

There are a lot of churches today that speak of grace, mercy and peace, but they see it as some sort of social panacea. They reject the truth of God’s word, but still want the blessings of grace, mercy and peace. They do not understand that grace, mercy and peace outside of the redemption through Christ’s blood is impossible. The truth shall make you free. Not social justice, not welfare programs, not rehabilitation. But the truth spoken in love. Paul said in Ephesians 4:13 that the church body is to “all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” So truth and love produces grace, mercy and peace through Christ, that we might become unified in the truth and conformed to the image of Christ.

Now that spiritual maturity comes through walking in the truth, John’s third point. Let’s read vs4, “I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.” Three times John emphasizes the need not only to know the truth, but to walk in the truth.

Some of the people in this church, John says, are walking in the truth. Some were being obedient to the truth and some were not. As James said, we must be doers of the word and not just hearers only. It’s one thing for the church to preach the truth, but it’s another to have the church walking in the truth. Walking in the truth requires obedience to the truth. Trusting in the truth enough to act upon it.

He goes on to describe walking in the truth as walking according to the commandments, and the commandments he sums up as loving one another. Then in vs6, he tells us what love is; love is walking according to His commandments. Now he isn’t just talking in circles. But he is emphasizing what Jesus said, which is “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Love then is tied to obedience. Love is not an emotion, or sentimentality, but love is an act of the will, doing what God tells us to do.

Jesus defined loving your neighbor as illustrated by the Good Samaritan. He said a man had been set upon by robbers and was lying beside the road half dead. Many people passed him by, perhaps thinking that in some way he was responsible for his own misfortune, or perhaps too busy with their own concerns to take the time to help a stranger. But the Samaritan got down off his horse, and cleaned him up, bandaged him, and took care of his needs. He took him to an inn and left money with instructions for the innkeeper to take care of him until he could return, and he would pay whatever more was necessary. That was Jesus’s illustration of loving your neighbor, even a stranger And loving one another in the church family should go even beyond that. Love is sacrificing your priorities for the sake of another’s benefit.

In essence, loving one another is the fulfillment of all the law, because if you love one another with the sacrificial love that Christ showed for us, then you cannot lie to one another, you cannot steal from one another, you cannot covet what your brother has, and certainly you will not murder or commit adultery against your brother. So loving God and loving one another is the fulfillment, or the way to fulfillment, of all the commandments. Walking according to the commandments then is the way to fellowship in the truth with God and with our fellow brother.

Now the devil knows that walking in the truth is the way to fellowship with God. And he wants nothing more than to destroy that fellowship you have with God. He wants to put distance between you and God and ultimately destroy your fellowship with Him and with His church. Peter said that the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy. And the way the lion destroys and kills an antelope, is he separates him from the herd. Once he separates you from the church, then he can more easily take you down. And the way the devil works to separate you from the church is to first separate you from the truth.

Jesus said in John 8:44 that the devil is a liar and the father of liars. He is a deceiver. So that is his modus operandi; to tell you a half truth, to twist the truth, to misinterpret the word, and to ultimately get you to believe his lies. Now that opposition to the truth is John’s fourth point. Look at vs7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”

Now we could spend a month on these verses. But I just want to hit the highlights for you today. Notice that the devil has sent many of his emissaries out into the world, wolves in sheep’s clothing, pretending to be preachers of the truth, but instead they are deceiving people. He calls them the antiChrist. They are false prophets. This is not some teaching on eschatology. This was happening then, and it’s happened in every generation since John. 1John 2:18 says many antiChrists are in the world today, and they are teaching false doctrine.

Paul speaking to the elders of Ephesus said in Acts 20:29-30 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” So the church itself is the place where the antiChrists exalt themselves.

Jude speaks of these wolves in sheep’s clothing in Jude 1:4 saying, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” See, these false teachers are teaching grace without works, salvation without sanctification, that somehow you could be spiritual, but not have works that attested to righteousness. James 2:19-20 speaks to the impossibility of faith without works. “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”

Here is the issue in the church at the end of the first century. False teachers were promoting a teaching called Gnosticism. And while this teaching involved a lot of heresys, one of it’s principle teachings was that we could worship God in Spirit, but our flesh did not have to be involved. And they based that on the notion that Jesus had not really come in the flesh, only in Spirit. So they taught that spiritually you could be saved, but physically you could still live in the world. Spiritually you were righteous, but physically you could live in sin and not have anything to worry about. That philosophy is still in the church today, just under different names.

So what John is saying is that these people are teaching a form of the gospel, but not the whole truth of the gospel. And as such they were causing Christians to lose fellowship with God. They were causing people in the church to forfeit their reward, because there was no fruit to their salvation. As James said in the 2nd chapter of his epistle which we quoted from a moment ago; “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) The Spirit gives life to the body. The body is sanctified by the Spirit, producing the fruit of the Spirit. The body is brought under submission to the Spirit of God, and thus is conformed to the image of Christ.

This is still the issue in the church today. Satan is still deceiving people into thinking that they can have grace, mercy and peace with God without truth and love, without obedience to the truth, without repentance from sin, without coming out of the world. And when he is successful then he destroys your fellowship with God, he destroys your fellowship with His church, and he destroys your testimony before others so that you hurt the cause of Christ. And ultimately he may even cause you to lose your life here on earth in your pursuit of worldly idols.

So what’s John’s admonition to the church? To avoid such people. To not have fellowship with them. To not show hospitality to them. To see such false teachers as a cancer that corrupts the body which will spread until it destroys completely. To have a holy horror of false doctrine. That is what John is saying. Don’t even eat with such people. Don’t even give them a greeting. That’s what he said in vs. 10, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”

So John says love has a limit, doesn’t it? Love has no limit for the lost, for the broken hearted, for the afflicted, for the needy. Love has no limit for the sinner. But love has a limit for false teaching, for that which purports to be the truth and yet is a slick lie of the devil. Don’t help those people. Don’t fellowship with those people. Certainly don’t support them. 2Cor. 6:17-18 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”

The last aspect of the fellowship of truth which John gives us here is really just a passing reference to something he calls the joy of fellowship. His goal he says in vs 12 is that their joy may be full. Listen, there is no greater joy than complete fellowship with God. You can have a great job, you can have all sorts of possessions, houses, cars. You can have all that this world can offer and still be miserable. But if you have complete fellowship with God, then you can have joy in pain, joy in suffering, joy in poverty, joy in being alone. If your joy is founded in your fellowship with God, then that is full joy, complete joy.

But sin destroys that joy. When David sinned against God, he prayed for forgiveness in Psalm 51, and said, “restore unto me the joy of my salvation.” He repented of his sin, he was restored to fellowship with God, and as a result the joy of his former fellowship was restored unto him. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “For the joy of the LORD is your strength.” That is what sustains us.

Full fellowship with God results in full joy. That is where we get the peace that passes all understanding; in the joy of the Lord. In the joy of knowing you are right with God, and He is with you and you with Him. Where you have sweet communion with God through the truth of His word. Where you show your love to Him through obedience to His word. Where sin has not broken the fellowship and intimacy of your love with Him or with His church.

John says in 1John 1:4, “these things we have written to you that our joy may be complete.” He was speaking of the writings of the apostles, the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. Our joy comes from abiding in His word. Now at the end of 2 John, he says, “Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full.” So there are two aspects to having joy in the Lord. The first is through His word, abiding in His word. The second is fellowship. John said he wanted to come in person. Face to face, person to person. We are made for fellowship with His body. We have joy when we have fellowship with one another and have love for one another in the body.

I can pray for someone. I can write to someone. But even better, I can go to someone. I can touch someone. I can be the hands of feet of Christ. That is how our joy may be full, and that is how the love of God is manifested in the church, when we love one another not just in word, but in deed. We need fellowship. God has designed us for fellowship with Him and with His family. Don’t let the lie of Satan deprive you of that fellowship with the Lord. Stay in the word, and do not neglect the assembling of yourselves together as the body of Christ. Stay in close fellowship with the flock and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Heb. 10:19-25 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.