A Call To Get Serious With God

Text: Mark 1:1-8 --

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. - As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. - The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. - John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. - And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. - And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and he did eat locusts and wild honey; - And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. - I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

Introduction:

Among the Gospels which account for the first four books of the New Testament, each has its own unique way of relating to us the sotry of how God came to be among mankind. Matthew, for example, gives us the earthly lineage ofthe Savior. This is important if we believe the words of our Lord when He calls Himself "the son of man." Luke gives us a picture of the world scene into which the savior was born, with its taxation, oppression and the rich extravagance of Herod and the wise men, compared with the poverty of Joseph, Mary and the shepherds. John gives us what would be described as the "meta-picture," beginning cosmologically and ending his introductory monologue with "...the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Today, though, let's look at the beginning of the story of Jesus as portrayed, tradition tells us, by the other "John" of the Gospels, John Mark, writer of the second Gospel. Mark was but a youth in the days of Christ's earthly ministry, but certainly one who spent personal time with the Master. It is interesting that his account of the Gospel starts not with the babe in a manger, but with the words of one who cried in the wilderness.

I. John the Baptist was raised up by God into a special set of circumstances that uniquely qualified him to point the way to the Savior of the World.

A. John had the legacy of the Temple priesthood. His father was a Levite and before his retirement served God in the very Holy of Holies.

B. John's birth to aged parents was reminiscent of the late birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, and like this birth was told to his father in advance by angels.

C. As the son of a Levite, John would have access to the best religious education a Jewish boy could have in his day, and probably studied the scriptures in preparation to one day take his father's place at the Temple, but that was not to be his place in God's plan.

II. Because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, John could not be content with merely serving his time in temple service and then retiring on a church pension.

A. Though a priest's life is usually one of public interaction in a religious setting, the Holy Spirit led John into a wilderness life, a social outcast like many of the Old-Testament prophets.

B. There had not been a prophet in Israel in over four hundred years, and from this "pulpit in the wilderness" God used John the Baptist to draw people out of the cities, and into the promise of a savior to come.

C. Mark tells us that John preached the baptism of repentenance from sins in preparation for the coming Kingdom of God. Armed with the Fire of the Holy Spirit, many people began to wonder if this strange man of the desert was not the promised Messiah Himself.

D. John was quick to deny this, instead pointing to someone yet to come "...whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose."

III. John was an announcement and witness of the soon coming of Christ as Savior and Lord. God's universe is so ordered that His mighty works are not done without some sort of announcement beforehand.

A.The moon, the "lesser light" shines not by a light of its own, but in using the reflected light of the sun it heralds the arrival each day of the "greater light."

B. Noah labored on the ark for 120 years, always sounding the alarm of the flood to come. He was the herald of that catastrophy.

C. In a more positive outcome, at least temporarily, Jonah's warning of forty days until destruction to the city of Nineveh started a repentance in that place that stayed the hand of God's wrath there, and allowed God's mercy to do a mighty work in saving lives.

IV. John the Baptist was used of the Lord to call Israel to commit themselves to lives of holiness.

A. We have an example of this message in Luke 3:8-14...Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham [to] our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. - and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. - and the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? - He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none: and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. - Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? - And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. - And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse [any] falsely; and be content with your wages.

B. Through these and other messages with which he taught the people, John was reflecting the light of the Holy Spirit, which would come to full fruition in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

C. Just as the glow ofthe moon fades soon after the dawning of the sun each morning, John the Baptist prophesied his own future when he said, "He (Christ) must increase, and I must decrease."

Conclusion:

The call of John the Baptist by the shores of Jordan in the wilderness is the same call that I make to you today...NOW IS THE TIME TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD. We've all heard the old phrase, "Get right or get left" and it rings with a measure of truth. Christ has left us with a work to do. He says so in his Great Commission at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. The only way we can take the message of Christ to this world with any power at all is if we make it real and powerful within each of our lives. John the Baptist was a wise and powerful man under the anointing and leadership of the Holy Spirit, but the people had to do more than listen to his words...they had to DO his words as well!!! You expect a lot of me as your pastor, but all of the preaching and living for the Lord that I do won't get you into heaven unless you trust God to help you live it yourselves. Take up this call to righteousness at this special season of the year, and let God's call ring true in your lives today.

As we close this service, let's commit ourselves anew to seek God's wisdom, which is His righteousness, for our lives here at Christmas and all through the years to come. Then and only then will the preparations be complete for us to welcome in the King of Righteousness to His rightful place with us this Christmas season.