I'm so thankful that we've got
this time together. It's just such a blessing to
be able to be assembled in the Lord's name. I thank God for
you. Thank the Lord that he's put
us together and given us our hope in Christ. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Mark. The book of Mark. My heart was directed to this
passage, Mark chapter one. And a few days ago, I looked
at it, kept looking at it, and just felt as though that I needed
to look at a few passages of scripture, a few scriptures.
The first 20 is what I'm gonna look at. Mark chapter one, and
look at the first, 20 verses, but as we began to look at it,
I want us to realize the miracle of God's grace. You know, the
four records of the gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, it's so, well,
ignorant, I'm going to say it that way, on our part to think
that these four accounts are just basically repetitions of
the same thing. And I realize they're not. They're not. God Almighty moved
on four different men to pin the account of the gospel, the
gospel of God's grace, marvelously. wisely, mercifully, sovereignly. The Lord moved upon these men,
and one of these men was a man called Mark, John Mark, John
Mark. He moved upon Mark to write down
what he had actually seen. He witnessed this. This man beheld
the glory of God as the Lord Jesus Christ walked upon this
earth in his earthly ministry. Men saw him, and by the grace
of God, some of them knew who he was. A lot of people saw him,
but by the grace of God, some of them knew. Now there were
three other men that were moved to write these things concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry. There was one named
Matthew, one named Luke, one named John. And they wrote as
the Spirit of God directed them to write concerning the Lord's
ministry, no contradictions whatsoever in their writings, but rather
there was a perfect setting forth of the different aspects of the
Lord's ministry according to His will and His purpose. Now, I want us to hear what the
Spirit of God's been pleased to reveal to Mark And then to
us, this is for us. The Lord is gonna give us according
to his promise. He's gonna give us some understanding. So the scripture says, I'll read
the first 11. Lord willing, I'll look for 20
verses, but I'm gonna just read the first 11 verses as we look
at this passage. It says, the beginning of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Obviously, not the beginning
in God's eternal purpose, but the beginning of the revelation
that was given to Mark, where God was pleased to start the
revelation to mark, and for us, so 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 path straight. did baptize in the wilderness
and preach the baptism of repentance for remission of sins. And there
went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem
and were baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their
sins. And John was clothed with camel's
hair and with a girdle of 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'm not worthy
to stoop down and to unloose. I indeed, and this was John speaking,
I indeed baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those
days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of
John in Jordan and straightway coming up out of the water, he
saw the heavens open and the spirit like a dove descending
upon him. And there came a voice from heaven
saying, thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Here's what the scripture reveals
concerning the account that was given by the Lord unto a man
named Mark concerning the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, I said there were different
men whenever Matthew You go back and read the account of Matthew.
You start reading and it starts off with the lineage, starting
back with the lineage of how all those that were born came
down finally to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and how
God ordered all the lives of these people to come down to
bring him into his earthly existence. He was made flesh. That's what Matthew started off
writing about. And then there was John, Mark,
then Luke. And Luke set forth the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ in his earthly ministry to set forth
his deity, his glory. And then he used John to write
down the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. His manifestation
as God in the flesh. These other writers, they were
directed to write different aspects, but now Mark, Mark started his
ministry off as writing concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, the details
of his life, when John the Baptist came on the scene. Our Lord's
ministry, His glorious lineage, his marvelous birth. That's what I was trying to sit
here and think while I was writing about what Luke wrote about. It was about the birth. If you
wanna know about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, go back
and look at it concerning Luke. That's when Luke wrote about
that. But now here we see that the incarnation of the Lord that
had been set forth by John, but now Mark was moved to record
these things and he was instructed to write concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ when he was announced by a man named John the Baptist. That's where Mark was moved to
write. So here's what I want us to look
at. John the Baptist came on the
scenes, he was one, Scripture says in verse 3, he was crying
in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his
way straight. And in John, John verse 4, he
was baptized in the wilderness. He preached the baptism of repentance. He's coming. When he was baptized,
he was baptized saying there's one coming. That's what John's
baptism was. There's one coming. There's one
coming. John, he was clothed, the scripture
says, in camel's hair. But now here's what John said.
Here was the message of John the Baptist. I indeed have baptized
you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. Now I got to reading that again
this morning And I looked at that passage of scripture this
morning. This morning. And I looked at
that and I thought, hmm, I baptized you with water. I understand that part of it. But he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost. And I read those words and I
thought to myself, If somebody asked me, what does it mean to
be baptized with the Holy Ghost? And you're doing just exactly
what I did. You're sitting there and you know, I already know
this. I've been sitting on the gospel for years and years and
years. I already know what it means
to be baptized of the Holy Ghost. But I thought, you know what?
I better go back and look at that again. Because if you're
going to read something in God's Word, I want to know what it
says. I pray that God gives me some
understanding. This is what the Lord moved upon
John Mark to pin concerning the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is going to baptize you with
the Holy Ghost. Now, this mighty and mysterious
act of God. Being baptized with the Holy
Ghost. This act of God's grace and power
to actually move upon sinners saved by the grace of God. Here's what it is to be baptized
of the Holy Spirit. The power of God to regenerate
a sinner. To regenerate, to rebirth them
and actually cause them by the power of God to actually receive
the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit in the new birth. Now this is
what it means to be baptized of the Holy Spirit. To be regenerated. Let me just, I want to keep it
as simple as I possibly can. To be regenerated. That is the
new birth. I'm going to read some scripture
here to show you this. This is the Spirit of God, the
impartation of spiritual life. baptized of the Holy Spirit,
the importation, the gift of God into the vessels of his everlasting
love and mercy, whereby in this new birth, there
are witnesses in their heart to what God has done for sinners. Have you been baptized by the
Holy Spirit? Have you been born again? When
somebody says, if you baptize with the Holy Spirit, I thought
to myself, what does that mean? I want you to look at this scripture. Turn with me to the book of Romans
chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. It's eight, I'd like to read
verses 14, 16. Romans eight, 14 to 16. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you've received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. to be baptized of the Holy Spirit. It is to be regenerated by the
power and grace of God, whereby in that new birth, we cry now,
Abba, Father. Look at Galatians 4, 6. Galatians
chapter 4, verse 6. Baptized of the Holy Spirit,
what does that mean? It is by the power of God to
be reborn. There's a new man put there.
There's a new creation. You're baptized by the Holy Ghost. Galatians chapter four, verse number six. Because you are sons, sons in electing grace, sons
of God's mercy, because you are sons, God has sent forth the
spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, whereby
you're no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. As one John said, he said, I
baptize you with water. I actually baptize you in water,
put you under. Oh, but there's one coming that'll
baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Who can baptize with the Holy
Spirit? Who can make a new creature?
Who can rebirth a man? Who can baptize with the Holy
Spirit but God Himself? So here we see, here we see that
Almighty God has done something. Back in Mark chapter one, it
says in verse eight, I indeed baptize you with water, but he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in
those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized
of John in Jordan. And straightway coming out of
the water, he saw the heavens open, And the Spirit, like a
dove, descending upon him, came a voice from heaven, saying,
Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So here's
what John was moved to do, and Mark wrote about it. He taught
us of how God rebirths His people, how He births them by the Holy
Spirit, baptized of the Holy Spirit. Then back in Mark chapter
one and verses nine to 11, he says, yeah, nine to 11. Well, I'll read it again. He
came in that day and Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized
of John and Jordan and straightway coming up out of the water, he
saw heavens open and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him
and there came a voice from heaven saying thou art my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. Now here we see in the revelation
of God's scripture that he would perform, he would fulfill all
that God had promised. Christ's baptism, he was baptized
of John, but Christ's baptism was not an example that we merely
follow. Well, we were baptized because
he's baptized, but it was God's ordained. Why was the Lord Jesus
Christ baptized? Why are we baptized? Okay, we're
baptized because the Lord has ordained that this is the open
confession. This is the confession of a believer. People just think, I mean, I
had someone ask me the other day if I would baptize their
child. Would you baptize our child? And I thought to myself, what do I say to this person? I know what they're wanting.
They're wanting some assurance that their child's gonna go to
heaven in their mind. That's what they're thinking.
Would you baptize my child? And I said, no. You realize how hard that is
to tell somebody? I mean, I'm trying to be tender.
And I don't want to hurt them. I don't want to disappoint them. But I said, no. No, I can't. I said, baptism is not an act
that is performed in order that someone may become converted. Baptism is the God-given ordinance,
given of God, whereby God's people, regenerated by the grace of God,
make an open confession. When you're baptized, what you're
saying is, I am crucified with Christ. dead to sin by His grace and
glory, risen with Him, ascended with Him. Baptism is a confession
of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why was He baptized? Why was
the Lord baptized? I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. Why was He baptized? It was the
open confession in obedience to the law of God that He is
the Savior. I am the Savior. I am the Redeemer. I died. He was buried. He rose from the dead. He is
our Lord God Almighty. He was God's chosen, sent, accepted
Lamb, eternally ordained and manifested to be the Savior of
sinners. And our confession in Him, associated
with Him, as He died, we died. As He was buried, we were buried.
As He rose, We rose. He truly died for his own, bearing
their sins in his own body. Buried, suffered under the penalty
of God's law and victoriously, he arose from the dead, rose
from the grave, accepted by God as the savior of all of his people. Baptism is not in order to be
saved. Baptism is not salvation. Baptism
is the confession of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord was baptized, setting
forth. He is God's lamb. The scripture says, It came to
pass, verse nine, in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth
of Galilee and was baptized in Jordan, of John, in Jordan. He was baptized. Now here was
his confession. I am the one that dies. I am, I am the one that will
be buried. and will be raised from the dead.
He was baptized of John. John, here's a picture of the
law, what the law demanded, what did it demand? And here's the
Lord Jesus Christ as the substitute of all of his people, for his
people. They must die. When he was in
the Jordan River, baptized of John, here's what he's saying,
I will die. When he was buried, He died and
was buried for his people. When he rose, he rose for his
people. When he came out of that water, he came out of the water. Here is the declaration of Almighty
God before all the world. Verse 10, straightway coming
out of the water, he saw the heavens open, the spirit like
a dove descending upon him. Here he is, he's preaching. In
that baptism, he was preaching. We're baptized in association
with him. We believe that what he did,
that was for us, his people. And he came out of that water
and verse 11 said, there was a voice from heaven saying, thou
art my beloved son, whom I'm well pleased. God Almighty accepted
him, the substitute of his people. That's why he was baptized. He
died and was raised from the dead for his own. In verse 12
and 13. And immediately, Mark chapter
one. Immediately, the spirit driveth
him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness 40 days,
tempted of Satan. The wild beast, the angels ministered
unto him. You notice how Mark was moved
to not make, he wasn't a record, here wasn't a record given of
how he was tempted and how Satan said, if you be the son of God,
turn these stones to bread. John was moved, I mean Mark was
moved to say just exactly what he said. We know from this that
he was driven into the wilderness. We know he was tempted, 40 days,
he was there Angels ministered unto him. But staying with the
revelation of the Spirit of God, we behold the truth. We know
this, that our Lord, as our representative, was tempted of Satan. And he
was proven on our behalf to be faithful. All the things, if
you want to know what was said, go to the other gospels and God
tells us exactly what was said. But not here. He was tempted,
Satan did tempt him, turned us to bread, get up on this pinnacle,
jump off. But here the Spirit of God moved
Mark to just write that it did happen. He was driven, he was
tried, and he was faithful. And we in him, as our representative,
faithful. All the testings that he endured,
he endured for his people. I want you to turn over to Hebrews
chapter two. Hebrews chapter two. Look at
this scripture, Hebrews chapter two, verse 17, 18. Whereof, in all things, It behooved
him. It was necessary. I'd look at
that word. It behooved him. I thought, what
does it mean to behoove? I've read that before. It was
necessary. It was absolutely necessary. It behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of the people, For in that he himself has suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. Now it behooved him. He had to
go through the sufferings. All these sufferings, all these
trials, these temptations, he had to go through them. Why? He must be made like unto his
brethren. We go through these sayings right
here. These little light afflictions, light afflictions. These things
that we think are so hard. Apostle Paul says they're not
hard. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. He's with me. He was left alone. He was forsaken of the Father.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? but it behooved
him, it was necessary that he go through all of these things
that he went through, that he might be a faithful, just high
priest. I think about all the, I'll be nice, the things I'm
seeing on TV right now about the priest Everything's going
on. I'm thinking. There's one priest. There's one
priest, the high priest. And it behooved him to be made
like unto his brethren. And he suffered under the trials
and temptations ordered by his father to be made like unto his
brethren. Scripture says back in Mark chapter
1, verse 14. Verse 14, 15. Now after that,
John was put in prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God. Saying the time is fulfilled.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe. The gospel, now here's another
one. I was reading this morning, going over my notes. I've asked
you this before. A minute ago, I said, what does
it mean to be baptized of the Holy Spirit? Regenerated by the
power and grace of God, given an understanding heart to know,
to understand, to perceive. That is what it is to be baptized
of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration. Here, John comes
and he's preaching the gospel. All right, there's another word.
I'm gonna just kind of stop and we're gonna take another little
lesson in remembrance. If somebody asks you, okay, what
do you mean when it says he came preaching the gospel? What are you talking about? All
of a sudden, here's what you're gonna do, because I'll do the
same thing. Okay, now, the gospel. Okay,
the gospel. I know what that means. I know
what it is. He was preaching the gospel.
It is the God-given declaration. The God-given declaration of
what Almighty God has eternally purposed and willed and declared
concerning His will, His good pleasure to save a people from
their sins through and by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you hear the gospel preached,
what you're going to hear is God's ordained will to save a
people of His choosing from the guilt and penalty due them, deserving
to them. This is the gospel. And the scripture
says, verse 14, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came
into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, preaching
Himself, preaching that which God has purposed, what He has
accomplished. This is the gospel. They say,
well, what is the gospel? Well, it's this, that, and the
other. The gospel is God's declaration
concerning God's will, God's choosing to save a people of
His electing grace from their sins, saying, verse 15, the time
is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent ye and believe the gospel. Scripture then says in verses
14 through 20, I'm sorry, 16 through 20, as
he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, Andrew, his brother,
casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus
said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become
fishers of men. And straightway they forsook
their nets and followed him. And when he had gone a little
further, thence he saw James the son of Zebedee, John his
brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets, and
straightway he called them. They left their father Zebedee
in the ship with the hired servants and went after him. The scripture
sets forth. I want to stay with exactly what
the scripture is saying here. This is the way the Spirit of
God wrote it. You stay right here. Just stay here. But I got
to looking at this and I thought, here's what God said. He was declared to be the
Son of God with power. In regenerating grace, He saves
His people from their sins. And after the Spirit of God and
directed him, drove him into the wilderness, and he was tempted
of Satan, and the scripture says that he's entered into his earthly
ministry, and he says, verse 15, he says, the time's come.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent. And now he's walking. Now here he is. He's walking
by the sea, Galilee, And he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother,
casting their net into the sea. I thought to myself, here's the
obedient servant of Jehovah. And he sees two men, the Spirit
of God names them. One of them was named Simon. One of them was named Andrew. And he called these men, and
I thought, oh, how particular. is Almighty God when He calls
people. Again, I was listening to all
the stuff that's on TV about what's going on now in this world
and I've heard people talking about how God is wanting to save
people and how He's wanting everybody to be saved and He wants them
all to come to Jesus and give Him their hearts and on and on.
And I read this this morning and I thought it was two men
at this point, Simon and Andrew. And the Lord, the scripture says,
verse 17, he said unto, he said unto them, come ye after
me, I'll make you to become fishers of men. Verse 18 says this, this was
their reaction. Straightway they followed. I'm
sorry, straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. And then verse 19 says this,
and he had gone just a little further. And he saw James, the
son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also were in the
ship mending their nets, and straightway he called them. Do you notice how, again, I'll
use the word particular, How particular is the calling of
God? Why didn't he call somebody else? Because he didn't choose to. He called these four men. As
of this point, he's going to call four men. Now, there's going
to be some others, and Lord willing, we'll look at it. See, but at
this point, he called four men. He called Simon, Andrew, James,
and John. These were his sheep. These were
those that he'd everlastingly loved and known. And here's what
they did. They didn't sit there and start
saying, well, you know what? We've been fishing a long time,
and I mean, we can't just up and just leave this. I mean,
you see this boat? Who's going to take care of this
boat? Who's going to take care of our dad? Who's going to take
care of the fish? What about the business? What
are we going to do? The scripture says, verse 18,
straightway they forsook their nets and they followed him. Went a little further, verse
19, saw James, son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, They were
in the ship mending their nets. Straightway, he called them.
They left their father, Zebedee, in the ship with the hired servants,
and they went after him. Let me ask you something. What
matters to you? What matters to you? Yeah, but what about all this
stuff? Who's gonna take care of this stuff? This is how God
Almighty calls His people. The scripture says in John 6,
37, the Lord, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Who were these guys? They were
just, they were just fishers. Been
out there fishing, weren't refined, weren't, you
know, cultured. Turn with me as I close this
up, 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter
1, 26 to 31. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26, you
see your calling, brother. How that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. I heard
something Brother Henry said one time. And I thought to myself when
he said it, I thought, huh. He said, you ever notice how
There's not a whole lot of real great, famous, famous people. Some, not many, not many, but
some that are called. Not many gorgeously beautiful
movie stars. I mean, just unbelievably handsome
men. This was Henry's words. Not many,
not many. common folk, you know. Verse
20 said, God, but God has chosen foolish things of the world to
confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things
of the world to confound things that are mighty and base things
of the world and things which are spiced as God chose things
which are not to bring to naught the things that are. Why? That no flesh should glory
in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, that
according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. There's not many. Like I said,
there's some that God calls. But not many brilliant, brilliant,
brilliant people. Not many movie stars, I remember
him saying that. Not many movie stars. Gorgeous,
unbelievably gorgeous men and women. Not many wise, not many mighty. Why? Nobody. glory in their flesh. I know
why God called me. That's what man by nature says.
I know why he called me. I've got the ability. I used
to hear people talk about, you know, man, I'm telling you, we're
going to have a so-and-so, you know, professional football player.
He's going to come. He's going to witness. You know,
everybody's going to come to see him. You know, he plays for
the, you know, Whoever, Green Bay Pikers, he plays for the
Colts, he plays for, you know. Not many wise, not many mighty.
Why? Because people would be enamored
with them. But he's chosen the foolish things.
He just took his four fishermen, four men that we read sometimes
been out fishing all night, sweating, probably stunk, dirty. filthy. I jotted this down. What was Moses doing when the
Lord called him? He was tending sheep. What was Gideon doing? He was thrashing wheat. Elijah
was plowing out in the field. He was just out there working. The apostles, they were just
fishermen. That's all they were. They were
just fishermen. He said, follow me. I'll make
you fishers of men. I wouldn't trade places. I wouldn't
trade places with any of the movie stars. God be pleased to
take this silly, foolish Cajun out of South Louisiana. Doesn't
have sense enough to get out of the range. Give my heart after Christ. Sustain him by the grace of God.
By God's grace. These men will call this is this
is how the Lord. They've been pleased to call
his people. Just he calls. Chooses those
to labor in his field. To be the means. Remains of Almighty
God to draw his elect. Going over my notes again this
morning. Why? Because I'm so frail, I'm so
weak. It's hard for me to remember.
It really is, it's hard for me to remember. Sometimes I'll try
to remember scriptures. I remember I told you this right
after I had that little episode. Glenda would come to me and she'd
look at me and she'd say, you remember that scripture that
you always quote, and we know that all things, and she'd look
at me and she'd say, you couldn't remember? And I tried my best, I tried
to remember. And I just, I just couldn't. And I think to myself, how merciful
the Lord would be to me to allow me to, you know. Guys were just
fishermen. God was pleased to use and turn
the world upside down. I pray God be pleased to bless
this word. to the hearts of his people and
comfort us. We're just frail creatures of
dust. We're gonna be here just a little while. Lord, be pleased,
take us home. I pray that he be pleased to
call out his own today for Christ's sake and the good of his people.