The Gospel of Mark 1:14-20
14 Now after John had been delivered up into
custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the gospel.”
16 As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
John the Baptist was arrested. “Herod had John arrested, he
bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother
Philip. For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have
her.” – Matthew 14:3-4)
Herod was a Jew whom the Roman empire had placed as regent
over Jerusalem who knew of John. John was the last of the Old Covenant prophets
and it was his mission to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, by declaring the repentance of sin and baptism by water. Herod didn’t want to
kill John, so He kept him in prison.
Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the Gospel that. “The time
is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the
gospel.”
This is the message of the gospel; The time is fulfilled,
meaning that Yahweh, God's kingdom is here. Jesus has initiated the start of
His kingdom’s advancement against the world, the flesh, and the devil. He has
come to free people from the bondage of their sin and teach His commandment
first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. His Gospel will be proclaimed
throughout the world and His mercy will fall upon many. His kingdom will never
fall, and the kingdom of darkness has no place to hide.
His Kingdom is mighty and true, built on the righteousness
of God, who is just and hates sin. But He is merciful to all who repent and
believe. Yahweh, His name is to be proclaimed so that all may repent and
believe. Repent you say? What does it
mean to repent?
To repent is to turn away from the ways of unrighteousness
toward The Way of Jesus, the Messiah. To follow Jesus means you turn from
following the ways of The World, The Flesh, and The Devil.
Like those Jesus had called, Simon and Andrew, John and
James, the sons of Zebedee, you leave that which you have devoted yourselves to
and devote yourselves to follow Jesus. Jesus will teach you The Way of
righteousness.
The ways of the world are the ideologies and philosophies that
bring about death and destruction. They are filled with lies and horrors. These
ways convince you that you are worthless and mean nothing, they tell you to
feel good, and you must devote yourselves to breaking any bond you might have
to what is right and good and true.
The ways of flesh are the pleasures of deceit that grow in
abundance but never satisfy, the desire of the flesh perverts that which God
has intended for a man and a woman in the bonds of marriage, it seeks only its
fulfillment at the cost of others and consumes people like a cannibal.
The ways of the devil are demonic, the promise of dreams
that will never be and devotion to that which grants utter destruction. In Mark,
we will show you the demonic. Some men are possessed by demons, and it can
happen today. I warn you that if you do not repent and believe in Jesus for
your salvation you may very well be subject to demonic activity.
Consider today, we have false religions that demand your
devotion, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, The Catholic Church, Health and Wealth,
Charismatic, Trandgenderism, and The State. All of them have each of the
components of The World, The Flesh, and The Devil.
But God’s ways are far more abundant and satisfying. The
Kingdom of God is loving and merciful, full of grace and power. There is no fear,
and every tear will be wiped away. Those in His kingdom may suffer for the
righteousness they live in Christ, but they are never shaken. God is a strong
tower and mighty warrior who will bring to an end all wickedness. It is His
strong hand that holds us and though we may sin, He lifts us and saves us.
He fashions all who believe into the image of Christ, Jesus.
“For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as
your slaves for the sake of Jesus. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of
darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of
the power will be of God and not from ourselves; in every way afflicted, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who
live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the
life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2 Cor 2:5-11)
Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny
himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will
save it.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and
forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For
whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His
Father with the holy angels.”
There is great joy in Jesus who brings life to all who
repent and believe. Jesus the Messiah has risen from the dead, conquering it,
and lives. He is in your midst with us, but you cannot see. You are blind and
your heart is darkened thus we bring the light that we proclaim.
Death will soon take you and when you die you will face
judgment for your sins. God is just and cannot by His nature abide by sin nor
dismiss it. Every act of rebellion and transgression against God is wrapped up
in sin, yet you have foolishly chosen to do it because you love your sin, rather
than follow Christ and His righteousness that would truly enrich you.
From the Ten Commandments, we have false worship,
idolatry, misusing God’s name and living vain lives, violating the Sabbath,
dishonoring parents, murder, adultery, stealing, lying/false witness, and
coveting.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5–7), Jesus took some of these same sins to a new level. Regarding
murder, Jesus said, “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to
judgment.... But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of
hell” (Matthew
5:22).
Regarding adultery, Jesus said, “Anyone who looks at a
woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).
This includes men lusting other men and women lusting other women.
In Galatians
5:19-21, we are told, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this
will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
In addition to the
various lists that can be found in Scripture, we are told in 1 John
5:17 that “all wrongdoing is sin.” Not only does the Bible tell
us the things not to do, but in James 4:17,
we are informed that anyone “who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do
it, sins.”
God is just and He must bring recompense to every sinner.
You are that sinner, and you cannot comprehend your sins to
root them all out and make yourself right with God. Not by obeying the Law, nor
by deciding that you are right with God. Only God can make you right with Him
and He sent His son Jesus to live that perfect life without sin, die, and rise
on the third day alive.
Jesus bore all our sins; He bore all the sins of all who
believe in Him. He suffered the totality
of God’s Wrath upon Himself that every sinner deserves, willingly, so that
those who believe in Jesus may have peace with God.
As it is written, “God, being rich in mercy because of
His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been
saved—and raised us with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches
of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by grace you have been
saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;9 not of
works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:5-8
Turn away from your unrighteous sinful ways which lead to
death and turn toward and follow Jesus which leads to life.
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