Take your copy of the scriptures and turn to Gospel of Mark. We return in our series through Mark this morning. Gospel of Mark. Mark 1, and I’ll be reading, I’m gonna start at verse 9 and read till verse 20. Mark 1, starting at verse 9. Let’s ask the Lord’s blessing before we hear the Lord’s word read and preached and received. Let’s pray. I ask his blessing upon that.

Dear Lord, our Heavenly Father, we come again before you acknowledging the privilege that we have in being in your presence as your people. Lord, we pray give us ears to hear and eyes to see. and open our hearts to receive from you now at this time. Lord, we pray, arrest our attentions, remove all those distractions that swirl around in our minds. Lord, help us to hear and to receive and to focus, Lord, for our good and for your glory. We pray, Lord, help us to bend our lives and our wills towards you. And we pray that the instrument of your word this morning and the meditations of all of our hearts will be acceptable in your sight, again, for your glory, for our love for Jesus. For it’s in his name that we pray, and all God’s people said, amen, amen.

Mark chapter one, starting in verse nine, please give now your full attention, this is the word of the living God.

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, you are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased. The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting Annette into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and they followed him. And going on a little further, they saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boats, in their boat, mending the nets. And immediately he called them and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servant and followed him.

Grass withers and the flowers fall, but this word of the Lord endures indeed forever.

Well, as we come back to Mark’s gospel this morning, we’ll remember that last time we were in Mark, we wrapped up the prologue right at the beginning part of Mark’s gospel. We saw that he was announcing that God in the flesh, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, was leading the people of God on a second exodus. just as God has promised through the prophet Malachi that God was sending a second Elijah to prepare the way for God’s arrival. And we saw how the second Elijah was John, who was baptizing the people of God in the wilderness by the Jordan River, in the Jordan River. And we also read how Christ submitted to that baptism, to John’s baptism. And then he was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. And unlike those who came before Christ, we saw, whether it was Adam in the garden or Israel at the foot of Sinai, unlike them and all others, Christ was faithful to the will of his heavenly father. And most certainly we saw and we know that Christ wasn’t simply an ordinary man. And one reason was because of that divine announcement that we heard upon at his baptism. This is my beloved son, whom I am well pleased. As we continue our text this morning, we see that Mark moves from the ministry of John to the ministry of Jesus. And as John did, so Christ also announced the imminent coming of the kingdom of God. It is at hand, he says. And notice here that Mark gives us three characteristics, three marks, three things that are supposed to mark the citizens of the kingdom. of God, God’s kingdom. And those three things are repentance, belief in the gospel, and then discipleship. Repentance from the old life and its old characteristics, and then faith, belief in the gospel, and then life of growth, of learning, of living for and in Christ.

And so we pick up in Mark 14, our text this morning, And once more it says, now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Remember our discussion about the way in the first century readers would have understood the announcement of the gospel, right? That word that is so familiar to us, we don’t give much thought to it beyond what we think about it and what it’s come to mean and stand for. But those first readers, they would have understood gospel as the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah. Indeed, this is what Isaiah was all about. Mark is very full of Isaiah, right? Isaanic themes and fulfillment and things related. And so recall, when we hear gospel, what do we think? We immediately think of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the work of Christ, the complex of all that he did and was, and the promise of life. The first century hearers of this announcement would have connected to Isaiah, these prophecies that were handed down and repeated and known and learned and taught in the synagogue. As people of God, they would have heard the word gospel or good news, what it means, and they would have thought of the prophecies of Isaiah. And those prophecies, of course, of Isaiah find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. but they would have thought of the prophecies of good news promised when God himself would lead his people on the second exodus out of exile. Isaiah is full of this. Isaiah 52, for instance, which we’ll look at a little bit later, or Isaiah 40, this beautiful promise, comfort, comfort ye my people. Right, tell them that their warfare is over. But verse nine, Isaiah 40 verse nine, pardon me. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news, gospel. Lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with Yom. So Christ is saying here when he makes this connection, in Mark 14 and 15, that what Isaiah said, what he prophesied long ago is here, is here. The time of fulfillment of good news of gospel is here. The time is fulfilled, right? And so this is why Christ went out preaching good news, preaching the gospel of God and declares the time is fulfilled. And his meaning is that the prophecies of Isaiah are now being fulfilled in him. And this is why also he says the kingdom of God is at hand, right? And when we have to try to remember again, put yourself in the shoes, in the place of those first century Jew that would hear this and how he would have heard this very thing, Christ announces here that that long-awaited reign of God through his anointed Messiah is now at hand. And we remember places like the Psalms that are full of this. Psalm 2, for instance, absolutely, right? Psalm 2 is a kingship psalm. And we read there the announcement that there would be a time when God would install his anointed, his Messiah, his King on Mount Zion. He says, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. God tells us, his word tells us that there is a time coming when God would rule through his anointed and that kingdom would come. And Christ is announcing that time is now at hand. And at the installation of Mount Zion of God’s king, his anointed, his Messiah is at hand in me, Christ says, in Jesus. And God’s kingdom is arriving in the person and work of Christ. And that reality should absolutely produce a reaction from the people of God, right? That promise, that fulfillment. And they cannot go about living their lives as if everything is the same and nothing is different, because everything is different, right? This is the reason why Christ tells them that they must repent and believe the gospel or good news. And so what is true of the kingdom of God? What characterizes the kingdom of God? It’s righteousness, holiness, obedience to the Lord. And the opposite of these things mark off the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of this world. Or think of Israel historically, right? How are they described? What is our view of them as we look broadly and in detail of Israel in the Old Testament? How are they described? What is their history? unrighteousness, unfaithfulness, idolatry, adultery, stiff neck, wandering, going after other gods. Think of the kings of Israel. Or think of the judges, history of the judges, right? What is the refrain that we hear in the judges’ narrative? That everyone did what was right in his own eyes. In his own eyes. And this is the same thing when the kings were, the wicked kings, unfaithful kings of Israel. But now we read of a different kingdom coming, it is the kingdom of God. And this kingdom which is at hand is wholly different from the kingdoms that were before. And this is why John was baptizing in the river, calling the people to repentance. And now Christ picks up where John left off. And this is why he’s saying you must repent of your former ways. Those ways won’t be able to exist in this new kingdom, in the kingdom of God. So Christ is calling the people to repentance, to throw off their old sinful ways. A new age is at hand, a new age is dawning, not this age. Sinful ways don’t match, they don’t fit with the new, the kingdom of God. And so repent, throw off, turn from those old ways of life, from that old life that is aligned with this age and this world, and believe the gospel. And Christ’s call isn’t simply one of repentance, but it’s a call of faith, faith in the gospel, in Christ. Repent and believe, have faith, it’s a call to. Isaiah, of course, prophesied of a time of good news when God himself, again, would come and would lead the people out from captivity to Satan, to sin and death. And now Christ is saying that that time is here, the time has come. and that what the people were supposed to do is to repent of their sins and look to Christ in faith, knowing that in Christ the good news of Isaiah indeed is fulfilled, it’s culminated. The book of Isaiah is a very large, very long book, it’s complex, it’s wonderful, it takes stamina and focus to grasp the pattern and the flow of that book, 66 chapters. and the time trajectories and all that’s going on. We know most of this from Isaiah, just as a casual exposure to it, the nuggets that we find in this book. It’s full of them. There are passages that are tethered to the glorious promises and pointers to Jesus, the Messiah. And one of those follows towards the end of Isaiah 52, that I mentioned earlier, where we see God’s declaration. We’re about to come into a very familiar section at the end of 52, end of 53, where we see God’s declaration there that he was going to lead his people and he would be their protection, that he would be their protection in front of them and that he would be their rear guard to protect them as well. That’s Isaiah 52, verse 12. And then the very next verse comes what? It begins that well-beloved passage about the suffering servant. the anointed one who would bear the sins of the people of God. And so Christ is saying in this announcement that the good news of Isaiah, that’s me. I’m what that all talked about. I am fulfilling these things. Come and place your faith in me. Repent and believe. The time is fulfilled, the fullness of time. The people of God had to repent of their sins. They had to look to Christ in faith. And this is the same call that goes out to everyone, right? Same call. Repent of your sins and look to Christ in faith. Look to Christ in faith and have life and have residency in the kingdom of God in glory for eternity. We’ll get to that third thing in this passage next week. Repent, believe, and then the life, the discipleship, the growing and living, particularly the means of grace, learning and following the Lord. But for now, I wanted us to focus on that first phrase from Mark 15. The time is fulfilled. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. The time is fulfilled, and we think of the Apostle Paul after Christ’s work, life, death, and resurrection, and ascension, and session, the right hand of the Father. And the Apostle Paul on this side of Christ’s work spoke of the fullness of time as well, you’ll recall. In that full and rich and glorious opening chapter of Ephesians, Ephesians 1, speaking about the work of redemption of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this glorious, Trinitarian, complex, and full, pregnant paragraph. And in verse 7 of that chapter and following, Paul says this, as he’s led by the Holy Spirit, about Jesus, in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, and then verse 10, as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things together in him, things in heaven and things on earth. He speaks elsewhere of the fullness of time, but all of this passage is full of in Christ, in him, in the beloved. In its climax, we see here in these last couple of verses, is in Jesus, it’s in Christ. And we see here, too, the climax of all things, also, which is in Christ. He is our king and we are his people. Everything pointed to, led to Christ, and is wrapping up of all things. And he will be head and ruler of all, as Psalm 2 promises and warns. It’s a promise with a warning. That’s why they all were created. Everything functions to that end, to glorify God. And we think about things like that wonderful hymn we sing around the time where we recognize and acknowledge culturally does, the birth, the incarnation of Christ. Oh, little town of Bethlehem, right? So well-beloved, well-known hymn. And the line in there that says the hopes and fears of all the years are met in him tonight, speaking of the birth of Christ. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight, met in Christ. They’re all pointed to him. And I hope you can feel the sense of ultimateness or the sense of culmination and consummation here. God’s saving purpose is planned for eternity. How does their final goal, the uniting of all things in heaven and earth, in Jesus, in Christ, in the fullness of time, as a plan for the fullness of time. Christ is the one in whom God chooses to sum up the cosmos, if you will. The one in whom he restores peace to the universe. He is the focal point, not simply the means or the instrument through whom all of this occurs. Christ-centered and Christ-ended, Christ is the goal. And it’s in him that believers have been blessed, in him. You’ve been blessed in the one in whom all this is centered, the target, the focus, built into creation from the beginning, that one who would come that was promised to crush the head of the serpent, the goal and end, and crescendo and finale in Christ. and the same Christ who is yours, you have been blessed in him, in him. And the first of this has come to you in the gospel, your salvation and uniting, the uniting of one people into the body of Christ. At his second coming, this will be completed, consummated, fulfilled. By his sovereign love, he has let you in on this wonderful plan which all time was leading from the beginning all along. the mystery unfolded, revealed to us. All that we understand that His will, that the uniting of all things in His Son, Jesus Christ, have been revealed in Christ, and this too is a gift from God. His blessing to you whom He has chosen. And it’s not something that God’s will has been made known in the gospel. It’s not simply that God is sovereign and redeems by the blood of His Son and will unite all things in Him, but we must, Know and be reminded and realize that there is a God who is like this and sovereign and saves. But most importantly, you must know that this God saved you, saved you personally. You must know and see and believe this is true for you. This is for you, about you, because you’re reunited to Jesus and it’s all about him. And not just that by nature, he is merciful. You must know that he has been merciful to you. And that’s the promise that he extends to you if you believe in him. And to know this, that he is for you, is worth the whole world. It’s worth the whole world. It’s the result of the gospel. We can get very technical, we can get very detailed, because it’s amazing and God-glorifying to do so, to dive in and to mine the riches of God’s truths. How gracious though, at a much simpler level, that God does not require all of his children to know the technicalities, all the Greek and the Hebrew and all the terminology. Those are great and they have great value. I can bear witness to that. That’s why some people go to seminary and learn and develop these things. But how gracious that God requires us to know simply and most significantly that God saves sinners, that God saves sinners. Do you know that which will save you? That alone that will save you? The only satisfaction of your heart ultimately is Christ. Do you know that? Have you placed your faith in him for your life? If you do, then you know that which faith may feed on and which will make you everlastingly truly blessed. It is a blessing to know the mystery of his will. It’s been revealed in the fullness of time from the fullness from time. The gospel for you, brothers and sisters, and his rule in your lives and in all things. Part of repenting and believing is living in boldness and faith and courage for the king and aligned with his kingdom that has come as we’ve read, Jesus says in Mark. You know, every culture, And every generation bears the marks of the kingdom of the world. And every generation and culture, that’s a challenge to the citizens of the kingdom of God. Mark’s original audience knew that, Paul’s original audience knew this as well. And we need to know this similarly, that this Jesus is more powerful than any of those forces of the culture around you, even in our day. And can you see why it is so important to hear again and again and again who you are in Christ, who you are, and who the one whom you are in union with is. It’s easy for us to drift. It’s easier for this truths and realities to fade from our mind as we’re drawn in. There’s a swirling winds of this world and everything that it has for us. It’s easy for us to drift from the confidence of the reality of who Jesus is, just as it was for them in the first century. And how could believers grow there? How could they grow in the security of God’s blessing that was theirs in Christ? Our gracious Lord knows our feebleness and our forgetfulness, our foolishness and our weakness. He knows. And in his mercy and grace, because he loves his people, he’s provided ways to give us strength and courage to nourish us, they are the means of grace. The means by which he extends that to us and gives us blessing and grows us. But most significantly and transformatively is that he’s given us the Holy Spirit. He’s given you, if you belong to him, the Spirit. And so brothers and sisters, all the blessings earned by Christ belong to you. You are in Christ, union with him. This is your life. He is your life and he is your peace. And he promises that he will not turn away anyone who comes to him in faith, believing and trusting in him, who he is, what he did, what he accomplished, what he sacrificed, what he gave. And if you are his, dear believer, you can, with full assurance, rejoice in glory that his promises and blessings are yours. And you have heard and believed the word of the gospel of Jesus Christ, have obtained an inheritance that you can never lose, for He has sealed you with that very thing, the Holy Spirit, who’s the guarantee, the down payment, the deposit, and He does not default on His promises. How wonderful it is, dear Christian, to know the end of the story, to know for certain this glorious truth, that He has predestined you, He has paid for you, He has peeled back the mystery of His hidden will and ages past for you. and he’s prepared for you an inheritance, and he will make you to possess it, you who are possessed by God. May he indeed, brothers and sisters, as you go back into this, from the mountain of the Lord in worship here, back into the world, remember our prayers that he will continue to gird us up. and increase our faith and sustain us as he promises to do, and be assured of these wonderful truths, and may we respond more and more fully and reflexively and naturally with blessing and praise and thanks to our precious dear Lord, our powerful King Jesus for them, all to the praise of his glory. Amen, let’s pray.

Our heavenly Father, we do give you praise and thanks for this wonderful truth for us. Father, we pray that you would give us strength to believe what we’ve heard. Help us to, Lord, help our unbelief. Father, we are so fickle and so easy to forget and to doubt and to fear. Father, we pray that you would strengthen us and that you would put to death continually, not only the sins in us, but those fears and that doubt, Lord, that we would know for certain the blessing, glory, and reality of your promise to all those who believe in Jesus. Father, we praise you and thank you for his work, that he indeed has done everything needed to be done to secure our victory in our home in heaven and the new hearts that he’s given us. Father, we pray for this church, that you would continue to bless us. Lord, help us as we stutter and as we stumble through this world, Lord, with the remaining sin in our lives, that we would have resolve to walk in newness of Christ and to put to death those things and to be made new as we recognize what is true of us, that we’ve died to sin and been raised to newness of life.

Father, protect us and those in this congregation. Lord, we all have issues, we all have suffering, we all have concerns. Lord, you know each one. We pray, Lord, That we would continue to believe and trust and follow you, Lord, and that you would strengthen us, that you would give us true joy even in the midst of these things, that you would protect the children of this church, Lord, emotionally, relationally, physically, and spiritually, Lord, that you would draw them as your promised covenant children to express as they grow at some point, faith in Jesus, and they would name him as their own. We pray for the parents here, Lord, that you would bless them and that you would give them faith and stability and tenderness and boldness and courage as they raise these children. Lord, that you would trust it to them in a world that’s so hostile to the truths of your word and to Jesus. And that they, Lord, that you would give them the courage and the tenderness to do so. And we pray, Lord, for the husbands and wives, that they would love one another with sacrificial love, that they would die to self in service of one another, putting Christ first, living for him, patterning his life of sacrifice for us who have faith in him, who you’ve given us that faith. Father, we pray that you would Continue to grow us, bless us as a congregation. Lord, help us to grow in depth, not only in number, Lord, but that we would rejoice in our lives, that our lives would reflect the truth of the love that we’ve been shown to a dead and dying world. Lord, be with us now as we continue in this worship and continue in your day that we meditate upon. these wonderful truths, Lord, that we would know and experience the joy and love of who we are in Jesus. So we pray all these things in his name, amen.