It seems that Mark ran away in a time of need. And so Paul was reluctant to take him with him again. But then as we keep going, we learn that towards the end of Paul's life, while in prison in Rome, Paul asked Timothy to send Mark to him because he was special and he was useful. Mark had been restored. And we also know that towards the end of Peter's life, Mark was with him in Rome. Maybe he was there at the beginning of the Neronian persecutions. Whatever the case, Mark's life took a path similar to ours. Because you see, he was a man who was full of faith. But he was also a man who was full of weakness and sin. And given that fact, which is true of us, what do we need? What do we need in light of our own weakness and sin? How about the gospel proclaimed here? Because Mark understood something very important for us to get. Our greatest requirement is always the Christ spoken of in this book. That's true when, like Mark's original audience, we're suffering. struggling with sin, uncertain about what lies ahead, or when we're doubting Christ and His ways, our deepest necessity is Jesus. And we see it as we think about how Mark starts his book. He does so in a way that is different from the other gospel accounts. There's no genealogy like you might find in the book of Matthew. There's no birth narrative akin to Luke, no exploration of the depths of Trinitarian theology as we see in John's gospel. Instead, what does Mark do? He gets to the point because there's a sense of urgency about his message. He understands. Our situation is filled with bad news. And not just the kind you might find on CNN or Fox or whatever your favorite news outlet is. Our bad news is much deeper. It fills every corner of creation. It undergirds all human experiences. It's depravity, death and damnation. It's suffering and sorrow. That's what is on every page of the newspaper of our lives. But into this bleak circumstance, Mark announces, verse one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He says, here's my motivation for writing this book. It's the gospel, and let me begin to tell you about it. And many of you, you probably know that the word gospel, it means good news. It was often used during a time of war to announce victory. If you remember your world history, we might find it on the pages of recorded history in the Battle of Marathon. 490 BC, it's between the Athenians and the Persians. It looked like the Persians were going to wipe the floor with the Athenians. But the tables turned, and the Greeks were victorious. And when declaring triumph over their foes, they might have begun with a Greek word. Euangelio, euangelio, good news, good news. The fight is over. That leads us to ask an important question. What is the substance of Mark's announcement of good news? Look at verse one. He says, it's the gospel of Jesus. What does Jesus' name mean? Yahweh saves. So that the one who delivered Israel from Pharaoh's grip is the same one who is savingly active in Jesus. And Mark also identifies him as the Christ, and that's not his last name. It means Messiah, the promised one of old, the curse killer. Abraham's seed, great David's greater son, the suffering servant, the king of glory, that's Jesus. But even more, Mark recognizes him as the son of God. which tells us Jesus has divine origins. He is very God of very God, begotten, not made, same in substance, equal in power and glory as the Father and the Spirit. Jesus is nothing less than the in-flesh Lord of heaven and earth. And that's the good news Mark gives in a bad news world. Yet, Do we get the magnitude of what Mark is saying here? Because one might expect him to declare the beginning of good advice or good deeds. Love God more. Love your neighbor better. That's what other religions would have said. That would have been their gospel. What's yours? Honestly. How would you define the gospel? Mark tells us there's no good news found inside us or within this world. True gospel must come from without. It must be alien. from God in Christ, who invaded this world to bring good news, who came to be good news. Which teaches us the gospel is not simply a set of facts, but the saving person of Jesus Christ. The gospel is Christ and his work for sinners. And we desperately need him. I ongoingly require Christ and so do you. Whether you have been a Christian for 50 years or an unbeliever wrestling with Christianity's claims for five months, you will never have a need greater than Jesus. And you will never have one to meet your need greater than Jesus. From the start of this book, Mark calls you to see that you require Christ. And he invites you to go deeper into his gospel, to see Christ. Won't you take his invitation? Won't you read his gospel? Hear it preached? Won't you give your attention to Christ and his work? and what it means to follow Him. Listen, if you do, if you come here and hear the gospel of Mark preached and do so attentively and receive it, your life will never be the same, never. What do we have here? Motivation. But then Mark tells us of a messenger. Mark starts with the headline. You can see it, verse one. Good news has come. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But he knows any news that is truly good must be communicated. It must be told and even announced beforehand. So Mark lumps together three Old Testament passages announcing the promised messenger who will arrive. One of them is from Exodus chapter 23, another from Malachi 3, and then the last one from Isaiah 40 that we read earlier. But you'll notice in verse 2, Mark identifies all three of these passages in reference to Isaiah. Why does he do that? Well, it's because Isaiah is the most well-known among them all. It was common practice to quote scripture in this way during this time. But the fact that he refers to the Old Testament is also interesting because Mark's audience was predominantly Gentile, which means they didn't know the Old Testament very well. But he directs them to it anyway to show God's unfolding of human history. to bring his promises to fulfillment. He points them to a messenger who will prepare the way for the Lord's advent. A herald who will make straight the path for a new Israel, a new Exodus, a new creation. And just to see if you were listening earlier, who is this messenger? It's John the Baptist. He's the one who will lead the way for Jesus. He's the last of the great prophets foretelling the incarnation. And in some ways, do you know what he's like? He's like the sergeant at arms. The sergeant at arms who administrates his duties when the president of the United States gives the yearly State of the Union Address. What happens? The congressional doorkeeper throws open the doors, and announces, Mr. or Madam Speaker, the President of the United States. And the President walks down. Oh, that's kind of like John the Baptist. Through his preaching and ministry, he made ready the way for the Redeemer. And the fact that God dispatched his messenger underscores even more our necessity of him. John the Baptist was sent to point people to Jesus. If our need wasn't great, why send the messenger? And yet so often, we don't see our need. For the non-Christian, that's evident in how they view Jesus. They might think, if it works for you to embrace Christ, go ahead. But I don't see myself as being in the kind of need that Jesus talks about. But such an assessment is not very honest. If this is you, if this is where you are at, I want you to be real, see your sin, and come to the Savior. You know what, even believers can get their condition wrong. They assume, I trusted Jesus years ago. I'm good now. Or they might readily admit, I still require Christ. But you would never know it through the life that they live. Because they don't return to Jesus, listen to Jesus, and serve Jesus. Because the truth might be, they don't really love Jesus. They don't see just how desperate their state really is. Is that where we are? Ignoring our ongoing weakness? If so, Mark will not let us stay there. He quotes three Old Testament passages to direct us to the coming messenger who prepares the way for Christ because our need is critical. Danger lights are flashing red. We are at DEFCON 11. And what do these verses have to say about our situation? Exodus 23, verse 20. Behold, I send my angel, or my messenger, before you to guard you on the way and bring you to a place I have prepared. And why did the nation of Israel need a messenger? From what was he guarding them? Well, if you remember Exodus in the context of chapter 23, it's enemies. The Egyptians, the Ammonites, and a whole bunch of other ites are coming after them. They want to destroy Israel. And our foes want to do likewise. Our flesh is at war against us. The world wants to conform us. And the devil is seeking to devour us. Things look dire for us against such foes. And then Malachi chapter three, verse one. Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me, says the Lord. But prepare the way for the Lord to do what? Malachi four, to bring judgment against sin. because many of the returned exiles in Malachi's day were indifferent towards spiritual things. They came to church, they professed faith, but they just went through the motions of devotion. And we can find ourselves in the same place, showing up for worship with no sincerity, no heart, with a stale religiosity. Such spiritual listlessness is grim. Do you know what that means? We need Christ. We need Christ. And then there's Isaiah 40, verse three, we read it earlier. A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And did you catch the two words that are used there to describe our situation? We live in the wilderness, in the deserts. And that means that this place is a spiritual wasteland. It's filled with hardship and heinous sin, our own and others. And while here we experience physical, relational and emotional pain, and then we die. So if there was ever a desperate people, it is us. Do you feel it? Because as you come to Mark's gospel, you are meant to. Do you sense that you have powerful enemies? That you deserve judgment because of your spiritual coldness? that troubles and death surround you? Or are you ignoring these facts, trying to distract yourself from them, living as if they're not true? Mark's gospel is going to confront us. In this book, we will be faced repeatedly with Satan, sin, death, and judgment. To drive home that we cannot overcome them. You cannot fight off the world nor fix your apathy. You cannot push away death. And you cannot placate divine wrath. But Mark says, from the beginning, there is a messenger who is going to come, who has come, in John the Baptist, and he is announcing the arrival of one who can overcome all these things. So listen to him, learn from him, and look to Christ, and do it now. Because whether you are a Christian or not, your circumstance requires it, you need Jesus. It would be an awful thing if you came to church, even your whole life, without coming to Christ. It would be ruinous if you said you were a Christian but didn't keep returning to the Savior. Sense the urgency with which the messenger comes. Give ear to his words. And know this, you will never truly set your eyes on Christ unless you first sense your dangerous position. You need the Lord Jesus, and so do I. But what are the specific contents of John the Baptist's declaration that leads us next to unpack his message Luke's gospel tells us the story of how John the Baptist was raised up. Remember his dad was a priest and his mom was barren. And yet in their golden years, what happened? The Lord and his providence gave them John the Baptist, John the second Elijah, which tells us that John was born to be a preacher. and we see it in utero with his mom. Remember that story when Elizabeth goes to visit Mary, the mother of Jesus? What happened when Mary came into the room? Well, the baby boy, little John the Baptist in utero, he leaped with joy. At that point, John couldn't form words, but his springing served as his sermon. But years later, as John was ministering outside Jerusalem in the wilderness, what did he do? Look at verse 4. John appeared baptizing. Now, next week we are going to talk specifically about John's baptism and how it is different from a Christian one. But for now, just note that he baptized. And more specifically, that he proclaimed a baptism of repentance. for the forgiveness of sins. And that is something that we need to think about for just a moment because it teaches us that at least initially, John's message was focused on sin, on turning from it into righteousness, which is an important thing for us to consider because during the 1970s, Carl Menninger, maybe you've heard of him before, Carl Menninger wrote a book entitled, Whatever Became of Sin. In it, he said, in all of the laments and reproaches made by our seers and prophets, one misses any mention of sin. It was a word once in everyone's minds, but now rarely heard. Where indeed did sin go? What became of it? And such questions could be asked in our day. because people don't talk about sin. And that's even true in the church. Many Christians, professing Christians in America, don't like to speak about sin, especially sin with an I in the middle. They don't want preaching that personally confronts them. They're happy to focus on the transgressions out there, but not those in here. They don't want to deal with their own specific sins, which means repentance is left either unpreached or unheeded. But friends, repentance is how the Christian life begins, continues, and ends. We never get past needing to repent. Sadly, in our day, forsaking sin and following Christ is deemed legalistic. But what constitutes John's message here? It starts with calling people to own their sin and turn from sin. And how did John's hearers respond? Look at verse five. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him. And the river Jordan, confessing their sins. The people flocked to hear him. And they didn't just sit there. His preaching impacted them to the point they confessed their sins. And they moved away from their sins into righteousness. John's preaching gave way to personal revival. And it surely wasn't because John was flashy. It wasn't because he had cultural cachet. Did you catch how he was dressed and what he ate? Verse 6 tells us his outfit was made with camel's hair. And he ate locusts with wild honey. Which means he was not on the celebrity pastors list. wearing skinny jeans and drinking IPAs. Don't take offense if you wear skinny jeans and if you drink IPAs, it's fine. It just wasn't John the Baptist. He wasn't snazzy. His diet wasn't savory. He ate kosher bugs for crying out loud. And his preaching was simple and straightforward. But as he did it, people responded with repentance. How do we respond to the preaching of the word? Many in the church today are sermon tasters. They sample the parts of the sermon they like. But they stop short of confessing and repenting of sin. Let that not be us. We have a true sense of our sin. and grieve over it, loathe it, turn from it, and endeavor after new obedience. Repentance is a must. But John does more than confront us in our sin. He also points us to Christ. In verses seven and eight, he directs people to the mighty one. The Redeemer who will baptize not with water, but by fire, meaning by the Spirit, this Savior will purify his people. He will give them a new heart that hates sin and loves righteousness. John told people of Christ and his work, which then drove them to repent. And that's part of the reason why we need gospel preaching. You and I must have Christ proclaim to us repeatedly. Because in seeing Jesus afresh, we are stirred to let go of sin and cling to righteousness, to hold tightly to Christ. As Christ's cross and resurrection are declared, we find him more attractive than our transgressions. As we see the beauty of our Savior, we grow to hate the sin that put Him on the tree. The more we see of Jesus, the more we repent of sin. That's another reason why we need Christ. But finally and very briefly, we come to a model. Remember that if John the Baptist were alive today, likely none of us are going to go clothes shopping with him. You can imagine John the Baptist coming with you saying, no, no, no, don't get that outfit right there. I have a great idea for you. How about a leather belt and this camel fur material? That would be great, wouldn't it? You can make an outfit out of that. No thanks, John. I'm going to go shopping with somebody else. And probably none of us here are going to take cooking lessons from him. He shows up in church and you're having a conversation with John the Baptist about cooking. You're saying, I just would like to have some different recipes in my repertoire. He says, I got a great idea for you. I got this great recipe regarding locusts and honey. No thanks, buddy, I'll pass. But even though that's true, we do learn something about how we ought to respond to Christ from John the Baptist. Look at verse seven. And John preached, saying, after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. John didn't exalt himself. That's what we see there. He didn't wonder, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What about me and my ministry? He didn't do that. He didn't promote himself. Instead, he made himself to be a servant of Christ. Slaves untied the sandals of others. And John saw himself in that kind of manner. He knew he deserved nothing good from Christ. He understood his sinful position. He realized that what men needed was not himself, but Jesus. That's why he directed people away from himself and to the Savior. John 3, verse 30, he said, I must decrease and he must increase. John was humble. And in this way, he is a model for us. because humility is always a proper response to Christ, especially in view of our sin. We are not worthy to untie his smelly shoes, to wash his feet, or to be his slaves, much less his followers, friends, and family. Our attitude is to be like what Early church father Augustine spoke of when one day a student asked him, in view of Christ's saving mercies, what are the three most important qualities that should mark a Christian? You know what he said? Humility, humility, humility. That is what is to characterize our lives. And how can this not be our response? considering our sin and our Savior. From the start of Mark's gospel, we are meant to see our desperate condition, that without it, we are done for. And we are to give our attention to the messenger, listen to his message, come to Christ, repent of sins, and humbly keep a hold of Christ all our days. You need to understand there are a lot of voices in this world. But Mark wants you to tune out the noise and direct yourself to his words so that you can hear him announce, Jesus is God in flesh who came to save us from our awful predicament of Satan, sin, death, and hell. And we must humbly receive him. Always repenting, always coming to Christ, always saying, foul I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. Mark doesn't want you to stay on Jordan's banks where John is baptizing. He wants you to travel with him, to see Christ, repent of sins, and lower yourself. The choice is before you. Forget the one who is preaching right now. Focus on the word. Whether for the first time or the thousandth time, come to Christ. Embrace the gospel. Love the Lord Jesus. Endeavor to follow the Lord Jesus. Will you heed the voice of scripture? Will your life ongoingly show it? Let's pray and ask God to help each one of us, for surely we need it. Our Father in heaven, we praise you. for the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only hope for sinners. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came into this world, that you lived a perfect life, you suffered on the tree, and you rose victoriously. Where would we be without this good news? We pray, oh Father, that you would help us to hold tightly to the Lord Jesus all our days, to believe upon Him, and to go on believing, go on trusting, go on living for Christ. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand and sing hymn number 485, O Thou that