Mark chapter 1. Two verses. Mark chapter 1, verse 14 and
verse 15. Now, it says, after that John,
John was put in prison. John, we know, was sent to bear
witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. God raised him up, this special
man, for a special purpose, to identify the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Behold the Lamb of God. When his ministry was finished,
when his ministry had been accomplished to give witness to the Lamb,
to identify the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of God's people
in this world, when his ministry was done, when his ministry was
over, God removed him from the scene that all focus All focus
might be attention, all focus, all attention would be focused
on the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember John said, He must
increase, I must decrease. John was put in prison. Now, he was put in prison for
one reason. Not because he robbed a bank.
Not because he was anything devious in society. He was put in prison
for one reason. preaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They put him in prison, and if
you want to make a notation there, in Mark chapter 6, Mark chapter
6 verse 16, you can go over there and read those verses later at
some point, and you'll find out that John had his head removed.
He was beheaded for the gospel. Now this didn't happen by accident. It happened by God's purpose.
That the sinner stayed. And all the focus would be upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. So God removed John. John was put in prison. Jesus
came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Now make
no mistake, make no mistake, the Lord Jesus Christ, He is
that prophet. He is that prophet that God said
that He would raise up. The Lord Jesus Christ is a preacher
of the gospel. Notice, if you will, in Mark
chapter 1 verse 38, He said to His disciples, let us go into
the next town that I may preach there also, for He says, therefore
came I forth. He's a preacher, sin of God,
with God's message. Now find Deuteronomy 18. I want
to show you something here. Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy
18. Just as God told and promised
Moses that God would raise up a prophet from among the brethren,
Deuteronomy 18, verse 17, the Lord said unto me, They have
well spoken which they have spoken, that which they have spoken.
I will raise up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee, and will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak
unto them. Now watch this, Deuteronomy 18, 18. He shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him." Gospel is a command. And it shall
come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which
he shall speak in my name, I will require of him. Now, here's the
fulfillment of this. Turn over to John chapter 12.
John chapter 12. Our Lord said, the words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. The flesh
profiteth nothing. It's the spirit that quickeneth,
and the words that I speak are spirit. They are life. John chapter
12, look at verse 49. John 12, 49. For I have not spoken
of myself, but the Father which sent me, He gave me commandment,
what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, that's what I say. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is no mere invitation. Now I know we're taken up with
this. Folks are in religious circles. At the end of the service,
the preacher always gives an invitation. Now I've been criticized
by those who do not love the gospel of God's grace. I've been
criticized by some who say, well, preacher, you ought to give folks
an opportunity. You ought to give an invitation. The gospel
is not an invitation. The gospel is a command. You're
commanded to bow to Christ and to believe Him. That's why we
don't give an invitation. The gospel is a command. The
Lord Jesus Christ came preaching the good news. Now look what
it says in our text there. The Lord Jesus Christ came preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God. The gospel of the kingdom
of God, saying that I am as fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Now bow to Christ. Bow. Repent
and believe the gospel. You see this message that he
preached is no new message. Turn to Isaiah 52. It's no new
message. You see, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus is not some new message. It's the ancient gospel of the
grace of God. The gospel is as old as God.
The Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. He preached the gospel of the
Kingdom of God, and I mean by that the sovereign rule and reign
of God, that He will have mercy on whom He will. Isaiah 52, look
at verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that's good news,
good tidings, that publish peace, peace, peace with God through
our Lord Jesus, that bringeth good tidings of good, of good,
that publish salvation, that publish and declare salvation,
that saith unto Zion, why don't you let God have His way? That's
not what that says. Look what it says. Thy God reigneth! That means God is God. Bound,
sinner. Bound to the sovereign decree of the gospel. Declaring
the gospel. He came preaching the gospel.
Now look back to the text. Look at verse 15. The time is
at hand. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom
of God is at hand. Repent. Believe the gospel. Now
is God's appointed time. The King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords is at hand, or we can say it this way, He's on your
hand. He's on your hand. In the fullest of time, God sent
forth His Son made of a woman made under the law. He said,
I've come appointed by God to press upon all men the command
of God. The command of God's claim. Bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, and he says, repent ye
and believe. Now what is repentance? I'm not
going to try to define it other than to say this, it's turning
from self unto God. It's turning, as Paul said to
those Thessalonians, how you turn to God from your idol. It's a turning to God. And that
is not something we do of our own will. He has to make us willing
in a day of His power. So it's to turn from self unto
God. And then he said, believe, believe
the gospel. That's faith. Believe the gospel. The gospel. The witcher is just
one. Trust Christ for all salvation. Submit and receive Him. Now notice
this if you will. Turn to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. I'm saying that
this is not a mere invitation. Now I may invite you to come
to our worship service and I may invite you to my house and you
may come or you may not come. But the King of Kings, He doesn't
invite, He commands sinners to bow to Him. Look what it says
here in John chapter 3 verse 34. John 3 verse 34, For he whom
God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loved the Son, and
giveth all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." If you're
sitting here in unbelief this morning, the wrath of God abides
on you at this very point. Now, whenever you find God has
married these two graces together, faith and repentance, repentance
and faith, True faith and true repentance always go together.
Someone said they're twins, born of God, born at the same time. That repentance that purges us
from dead works also leads us to faith which points us to the
Savior. That repentance which strips
us of self-righteousness leads us to faith which shows us Christ
who is our righteousness. Repentance pulls us down. We
see the exceeding sinfulness of our sin. Faith lifts us up. And these are both the sovereign
gifts of God. Repentance causes us to weep
over our sin because of what we are. Faith causes us to rejoice
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, these two go together.
They go together. Sinning, repenting, and believing,
these three. Sinning, repenting, and believing. These three will be with every
believer until they die. Sinning, repenting, and believing. You mean, preacher, you sin all
the time? Don't want to. Don't want to,
but that's what I am. I'm a sinner saved by God's grace. One preacher years ago, One of
the favorite preachers of Charles Spurgeon, his name was Rowland
Hill. Some of you who have read Spurgeon's sermons, he often
refers to Rowland Hill. Rowland Hill is the one who said
every sermon ought to contain the three R's, ruined by the
fall, redemption in the blood of Christ, and regeneration by
the Spirit of God. But as Rowland Hill was on his
deathbed, 80 years old, preacher of God's grace, loving the gospel
of God's grace. And they asked him, Brother Rowland,
how is it? And he said, well, I tell you,
my friend, I'm going to die pretty soon. And I'm going to leave
behind a precious old friend of 60 years. And they asked him,
well, Brother Rowland, who's this old friend that you're going
to leave behind after 60 years? You're going to die and leave
this old friend? He says, yes, I'll leave that
old friend of repenting. When I stand in his presence
dressed in beauty not my own, I'll have no need for repentance.
I'll have no need for faith. And certainly I will not sin
anymore. Faith and repentance go together
and they're the sovereign gifts of the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. Now this message, that's my introduction,
here's two points. Here's the first one. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is no mere invitation. It's the sovereign
command of Almighty God. The sovereign command of Almighty
God. Now turn in your scripture again
to John, or rather, let's find Acts 17. The gospel is not an invitation.
We're not invited to repent. You remember what we read here,
Acts 17, verse 30? But now God commandeth, now commandeth
all men everywhere, God commands all men everywhere to repent. Because judgment's coming. And the standard of that judgment
in verse 31 is that Lord Jesus Christ. So we're commanded to
believe the gospel. We're commanded to repent. Our
Lord said, except you repent, you'll all likewise perish. Perish. Now find 1 John chapter 3. 1
John chapter 3. Now look at this. 1 John chapter
3. So we clearly see from the Scripture,
it's a command of God to every sinner to bow to Christ. To repent toward God. And also
faith is a command of God. 1 John 3. 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3 verse 23. And this is His invitation. What's that word there? I misread that, didn't I? And
this is His commandment that we should believe on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment. You see, it's command of God.
Command of God. Now think with me. Let me give
you these earthly illustrations. And I think you'll see that the
gospel is a command, not an imitation. All earthly kings in an earthly kingdom, and if
the king is a sovereign king, he doesn't invite men in his
kingdom to serve him, does he? The king in his kingdom, even
in an earthly kingdom, if he's a sovereign king, It's bow to
him. If there's any insurrection in
the kingdom or anarchy in the kingdom, what does the king do?
Execute that man on the spot. You see, earthly kings don't
invite people, do they? They command their loyalty. Here's the other illustration.
Some of you have been in the army. Bud Steve was a Marine. When
the drill sergeant gives a Invitation? A drill sergeant doesn't invite,
does he? The drill sergeant or the officer
in the army. Brother Charles, he was in the
army. The commanding officer, he doesn't
invite you to do this or to do that. It's either you obey the
command of the presiding officer within the brig. It's not an
option. to obey the captain of the army,
and the President of the United States is called the commander-in-chief. He is the chief commander. And
he doesn't invite his army and his generals to obey him. It's
a command. See what I'm saying? Now, here's
another illustration. Go down the highway. The speed
limit says 55. Do they invite you to go 55? Well, most of us
don't. Most of us exceed the speed limit. I've been caught. I'm guilty.
I've been caught. You have too. We're all guilty. But when the officer pulls in
behind you and those lights go on and your heart sinks, does
he invite you to pull over? He doesn't invite you, does he?
And if you don't pull over, you're in big trouble. So we do pull
over. You see, we obey His command
to pull over. Now, you see what I'm saying?
The sovereign King of the universe doesn't simply suggest that sinners
bow to Him. He demands it! He has the right
to demand it. We are His creation. He is the
Creator. See what I'm saying? And the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an invitation. It's a
command. I can make good on that. Find
Psalm 2. Psalm 2. The book of Psalms,
Psalm 2, the second Psalm. Look at verse 10. Be wise now
therefore, O ye kings, Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve
the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss
the Son. Bow to the Son, lest He be angry. Embrace the Son, lest He be angry
and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled. But little,
blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. Bow to the
Son. Kiss the Son. Now listen to me. Most preaching
that you hear today on TV and the radio, and most preaching
that goes on today, they have reduced the Lord of
glory to a mere beggar. Now you know it's so. They have
reduced the Lord of glory to a mere beggar. They say things
like, well, why don't you let God? have His way. Or they say things like, well,
God is trying to save you, but you won't cooperate. Or they
say things like, well, take the first step and God will meet
you halfway. My friend, that's not the God of Scripture. God
who is God commands all men everywhere to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. It says that. The Father hath
given me power over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as the Father hath given to me. Bow to Christ. Now, here's the second point.
Why is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ a command and not
an invitation? I think it's a valid question.
Why is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ a command and not
a mere invitation? I'll give you four valid reasons.
You ready? Four valid reasons. Here's the
first one. It's a command according to the very character of God.
It's a command because of the character of God, who He is. I'll give you an example. Find
Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. It's a command. When God created Adam and put
him in the garden and told him to dress it and keep it, gave
him one invitation. No, he didn't. He gave him a
command. Genesis chapter 2, verse 16, and the Lord God, he says
in verse 15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden
of Eden to dress it and to keep it, and the Lord God commanded
the man, saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat, but the tree of knowledge and good and evil, Thou shalt
not eat of it, for in the day you eat thereof you'll die."
It was God's command not to eat. In Genesis chapter 3, turn over
and look at verse 11. And he said, who after Adam disobeyed
God and fell and plunged us all into ruin and sin, he said to
Adam, fallen Adam, he said, who told thee that you were naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou should
not eat? Turn to Genesis chapter 6, Noah.
You know the story of Noah. Noah wasn't invited to build
an ark. God didn't invite him to build an ark. Look at Genesis
chapter 6, verse 22. Thus did Noah, according to all
that God commanded him, that's what he did. Now, Genesis 7,
verse 22, when Noah had completed And the flood was about to take
place. In Genesis chapter 7 verse 16,
they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God
had commanded, and the Lord shut him in. You see, it's according
to the very character of God. How about Abraham? Turn to Genesis
12. Abraham, living in the house of idolatry, in the land of idolatry,
And God told him one day, he invited him to leave. No, he
didn't. Genesis chapter 12, verse 1,
And the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country from
thy kindred, from my father's house, unto the land I will show
thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee,
and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and
in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." So Abraham
departed as the Lord had commanded, spoken unto him. You got the
idea here? I've got more. Genesis, refined
Exodus chapter 7. Exodus chapter 7. When Moses was sent down to tell
Pharaoh to let the people go, notice what he says here in Exodus
chapter 7 verse 1, And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have
made thee a god unto Pharaoh. This is Exodus 7 verse 1, And
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet, and thou shalt speak
all that I have commanded thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak. unto Pharaoh, that he send the
children of Israel out of his land. Verse 6, And Moses and
Neron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they. Now, in Exodus 19, in Exodus
20, 21, 22, when the law was given upon Mount Sinai, and the
law was given, it was not ten suggestions, was it? We even
today, and there's a great debate in political circles and others
about even what they declare God's commandments, not pen suggestions. You see, my friend, the gospel
is not a mere invitation, it's command according to the very
character of God. That's my first point. Secondly,
why is the gospel a sovereign command? to give His servants
boldness to preach it. Matthew 28, turn over there.
Seeing we have such a hope, we use great boldness of speech. And here's why. We have a command
from our Commander-in-Chief in Matthew 28, verse 18, and Jesus spake. came
and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have..." What's that word? Invited you? No, it says, "...commanded
you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the earth."
God's servants. Now listen to me. Find the book
of Acts chapter 4. God's servants don't apologize
for God. We declare who God is, that salvation
is of the Lord. Now find Acts chapter 4. When Peter and John had been
arrested for healing a man, and they were examined in Acts chapter
4, They were examined of the religious hierarchy of their
day, and they said in verse 9, if we this day be examined of
the good deed done to this infinite, helpless, crippled man by what
means he's made whole, Be it known unto you and all the people
of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom
you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does
this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which
is set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of
the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there
is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved." That's bold preaching. Look what it says in the next
verse. And when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and
perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled,
and they took knowledge of them that they had been with the commander,
the captain, the Lord Jesus Christ. Find the book of Acts again in
chapter 10. Notice this. You see, we're commanded
to go and preach the gospel. and command, folks, by the Word
of God to believe the Gospel. Acts chapter 10, notice verse
42. Acts 10, 42. It says that God
commanded us to preach unto the people. You see that? To testify
that it was He which was ordained of God to be judge of the living
and the dead. To Him give all the prophets
witness that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive the remission of sins." It's a command of God to go preach
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is the gospel a command
and not an invitation? Well, it's according to the very
character of God. It's a command to give His servants
boldness to preach it. Thirdly is this. Thirdly is this. Why is the gospel a command?
to encourage the ungodly to seek mercy where mercy is found. To
encourage those sinners, miserable and convicted over their sin,
to seek mercy where it's found. Isaiah 45 says this, Look unto
me, I am God and there is none else. That's His command. Look to Him. You need mercy?
Well, seek mercy where it's found. Turn over here to Matthew 11.
Matthew chapter 11. Look at this. Seek mercy where
it's found. Matthew 11. Look at verse 27. Matthew 11, 27. All things are
delivered unto me, my father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father
save the Son. And he to whosoever the Son will
reveal Him, I am the King. Now, come unto me, verse 28,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. That's His command. Come. Come
to Christ. Look at John chapter 6. You convicted over your sin?
You thirsty? You hungry for spiritual food,
spiritual water? Turn to John chapter 6. John
chapter 6. Verse 35, John 6, 35. John 6, 35. He said, I am the
bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I
said unto you that you have also seen me and believed not. All
that the Father giveth me, they'll come to me. And him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. In John chapter 7, turn
over there, I'm saying the gospel is a command to encourage weary,
convicted sinners to seek mercy where it's found in Christ Jesus. We're commanded to come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. John 7, 37, in the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, commanded,
If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water." Are you a sinner? Seek mercy where it's found.
In the Lord Jesus Christ. That's His command. To come to
Christ. Look to Him. Now lastly is this. Why is the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ a command and not a mere invitation? Now here's
why. Those three reasons and this
last one in closing. Because of the sinner's true
condition by his fallen nature. Dead in sin. Except God the Holy
Spirit quickened and commanded the dead sinner to live, I never
will repent. I never will believe. I never
will come to Christ. We'll shut up to His sovereign
mercy. He says, That's the responsibility the command of the gospel lays
upon any sinner, knowing full well if he doesn't call me by
his grace, I never will come. You say, well, how can both be
true? They are. Both are true. God is sovereign. Man is responsible to bow to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me show you this. You
got John right there. Find John 6.44. John 6.44. Look
what he says here. can come to me, except the Father
which sent me. Draw him, and I'll raise him
up at the last day." You see that, John 6, verse 44? Thy people
shall be willing in the day of God's power. You see, my friend,
believing and repenting are the fruit of life, not the cause
of life. We believe because we've been
born of God. Now, look at this scripture here.
Everyone turn to this. 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse
6. You see, we do repent, and we
do believe because of His sovereign command. When the Gospel comes
to us in the power of God the Holy Spirit, He comes as a command
that quickens and gives life. Look what it says here, 2 Corinthians
4 verse 5 and 6, For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus
the Lord. and ourselves your servants for
His sake, for God who..." What's that word? God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness. And it's talking about creation. God created light. He said, let
there be light. God commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. "...has shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ." Do you see the glory of God in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ? The glory of His mercy? The glory
of His grace? The glory of His forgiveness
and love and mercy? It's only because God has commanded
you to live in Christ Jesus. Now we have some examples of
this back in Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1, He called His
disciples And he said unto them in Mark 1, 17, Come after me! And they followed him. In Mark chapter 1 again, when
he cast out the demon, he commanded the demon to come out. And they
marveled at, watched, and said, What new doctrine is this? For
with authority he commandeth, commandeth he even the unclean
spirit. And they do obey him. You see,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a command of God. It's not an invitation, it's
a command. Sinner! And this is God's command. The
command of the gospel is bow and submit to Christ. Of which
you have no option. It's not optional! God helped
us to do this now. Now, by His grace, to bow to
Christ. We read this scripture in Hebrews
2, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Today
is the day of salvation. Bow to Christ. Receive the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith. The creature, for the creature
to believe his creator, now get a hold of this, for the creature
to believe his creator is not unreasonable. It's only reasonable
to bow to Christ, repent, and believe the gospel. God help
us to do that. And it's not, as I said earlier
today, it's not an isolated act. This repenting And believing
and coming, it is the life of faith. It's looking unto Him.
It's repenting. It is believing. It is coming
to Him. It's embracing Him. It's an ongoing
process because there's life in the sinner by His grace. God
commands sinners to live. And by His grace we do. And by
His grace we continue.