This morning we embark upon an expositional journey of the gospel of Mark. So, if you will,take your Bibles and turn there, we will be looking primarily at verse one, but we're going to frame it all with verses one through eight. And much of what I will be giving you at first is, by way of introduction.

Mark, also known as John Mark, in the book of Acts, was well familiar with Christianity. He basically grew up, we believe, in a Christian home, largely in the church in Jerusalem, which was his mother's home according to Acts 12. He was a cousin of Barnabas, and we know that he accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. However, he abandoned Paul later on in Perga of Pamphylia, according to Acts 13, and because of his desertion, the apostle Paul refused to take him on his subsequent missionary journey causing friction between Paul and Barnabas. And it was severe enough that they parted ways; you might recall that in Acts 15. Barnabas then took his cousin Mark with him to Cyprus. And at that point, Paul took Silas to accompany him on his second missionary journey. We also know that the apostle Peter was a friend of Mark and his mother, because he was associated with them at the church in Jerusalem, that was their connection. And we know that Peter became a spiritual father to Mark over time, even referring to him as quote "my son", in first Peter 5:13. Evidently Peter discipled young Mark, who obviously struggled with immaturity, and the weakness of the flesh that's indicative of young men. And Peter was able to restore him to fellowship after his failure. Who better to restore someone after failure than Peter, right? And as a result of his restoration, the Apostle Paul invited Mark to rejoin him on his next missionary journey to become part of the team, which was a true testimony, is it not, of the importance of biblical confrontation, the restoration of discipline and so forth? John Mark's maturation process was so significant that later in Colossians, four, verses 10 through 11, Paul instructed the saints to welcome Mark, as one of his quote "fellow workers for the Kingdom". I love that, don't you? Don't you want to be called that? "This is one of my fellow workers for the kingdom." He went on to say, "who had proven to be an encouragement" to him during his first Roman imprisonment. Moreover, as Paul faced all of the issues of the end of his life, he instructed Timothy in Second Timothy 4:11,to, quote, "Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service."

Now, Mark's gospel was written either while he accompanied Peter in Rome, or shortly after the apostle's death, which would have been sometime in the late 60s ad. And Mark wrote his gospel, based upon what he learned from the Apostle Peter. Mark wasn't an eyewitness like Peter, but he learned from the Apostle Peter, through listening to him preach through discipleship and so forth. And all evidence from the early church fathers points to the fact that Mark wrote his gospel from Rome. For the Gentile believers who resided there, Christians that had come to faith in Christ, who were predominantly Roman. In fact we see as we study through the book on several occasions, he will use Latin expressions that the Romans would understand rather than their Greek equivalents. He even mentioned Rufus in chapter 15, verse 21, the son of Simon of Cyrene, who was a prominent member of the church there in Rome, according to Romans 16, in verse 13. And because his audience was predominantly Roman, certain matters of Jewish history and Jewish rituals and ceremonies and so forth, are omitted. In fact, you will not find the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Nor will you find very many Old Testament references. The Romans wouldn't have known anything about those kinds of things. And he will also give from time-to-time instructions about Jewish customs and so forth. Like the other gospels, however, Matthew, Luke and John, the purpose of Mark's gospel is evangelism. His opening statement in verse one says, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." And what he is going to do is build his case, that Jesus is indeed the rightful monarch to be worshipped, not Caesar, which is of profound importance to understand as we go through this gospel. And that's why I have entitled my discourse to you this morning, "The Gospel challenge to Rome". In fact, the first eight chapters we see how he demonstrates how Christ is indeed the Son of God, the most glorious of all of the kings, and that is proven by his authoritative words by his miraculous deeds. And then midway through the 16 chapters in his Gospel, this historical narrative, Mark will come to the very pinnacle of truth and triumph, where in chapter eight and verse 29, he describes Peter's response to Jesusquestion remember, Jesus asked, "'Who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered, 'You are the Christ.'" And then Mark will build upon that magnificent confession in the final eight chapters. And he's going to focus on Jesus as the suffering servant who voluntarily died to save sinners, and who was raised again from the grave. And what you will find as we go through this, Mark, will focus much about Jesus' humanity, he will speak of Jesus' human emotions and his human limitations because, as you will recall, Jesus had to be fully man in order to die for men. He was a theanthropon, fully God and fully man. But Mark will also describe Jesus' deity, that he is indeed, the Son of the Most High God. His divine authority will be evidenced by his ability to do things, like calm a storm. He will describe how he walked on water, how he spoke food into existence, how he restored the sick, how he gave hearing to the deaf, how he gave sight to the blind, how even raised the dead, how he had power over demons, and how he was resurrected from the dead. Mark makes it clear that Jesus commands people to repent, and to believe in him, to repent of their, their hypocritical religion, their idolatry and follow Christ with heartfelt obedience. And certainly, this is my desire for each of you.

So let me read these first eight verses, having given you that brief introduction. Mark chapter one, verse one, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 'Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord make his paths straight.' John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins. John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching and saying, 'After me, One is coming, who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'"

So beloved, here in these opening eight verses, Mark sets the stage for all that is to come. And he is going to focus on at least three primary categories. We'll only look at the first one today. But he will focus on the preparation of the coming King. Secondly, the prophet of the coming King, and finally the preeminence of the coming King. And this morning, I want to focus on the preparation of the coming King. And we see this here in Mark's initial statement in his introduction, and this is so foundational for all that will follow in his historical narrative. In fact, it's foundational to our faith. Look at it closely, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Folks, this is such a profound statement. May I remind you that you cannot understand the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ apart from understanding the gospel? Likewise, you cannot understand the gospel unless you understand the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the two are inextricably bound together.  Now, what is this gospel, "euaggelion" in the original language? Well, to both first century Jews, as well as Gentiles, it not only meant good news, or glad tidings of salvation, but it also carried a lofty idea concerning a royal pronouncement. It spoke of a divine deliverer that was coming, a powerful monarch, frankly, that had arrived who would initiate a glorious new age, a time of blessing and peace, and salvation.

So the gospel that Mark is speaking of here, and that we find throughout the New Testament, was a royal declaration of the arrival and the ascendancy and triumph of an emperor, a divine monarch to be enthroned and thus deliver the people from their bondage. So when you think of the gospel, never exclude that concept, because that is key. Additionally, however, more importantly, the ultimate goal of the biblical gospel is the glory of God manifested in his kingdom. Our salvation, frankly, is only incidental to that overarching purpose. The gospel is not about man and his needs, the gospel is about God and His glory. So when Mark speaks of the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he is making a royal pronouncement of a divine deliver, that has come.

Now, some important history and biblical theology, crucial for our understanding of the person and the work of Christ in the Gospel. There are at least two passages of Scripture that helped prepare the way for this coming Messiah, this coming Savior, this coming King, ones in the Old Testament ones in the New Testament. The first announcement is in Genesis chapter 12, and verse three. There God says, "And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse and then you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Of course, this is a crucial element to the Abrahamic covenant. And here we get a glimpse into the historical providence of God as he prepares his people for the coming, one day, of Israel's Messiah King. Now, while various aspects of these promised blessings were revealed within a succession of covenants, the specific details of how all of this would play out, we're not given, but it is clear that God promised a divine Savior who would rule, who would bless them. In fact, the entire sacrificial system, and all of the rituals and feasts and convocations that were part of ceremonial, Israel ceremonial law, even their symbols and types in the Old Testament, all of those things pointed to this coming Messiah, the Savior King. But we also see in a second text in the New Testament, where there is another reference to this divine preparation of the first Advent of Christ. It's in Galatians, four and verse four, There we read, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law that we might receive the adoption as sons." And throughout the four Gospels, there are hundreds of references, demonstrating how each writer viewed the events of the New Testament to be the consummation of redemptive history promised in the Old Testament. We see this in a common phrase used by the gospel writers, "In order that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord", or "spoken of the Lord by the prophets", or some other similar expression. And we see this for example, in Luke's account, remember the two disconsolate disciples traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they were frustrated, they couldn't seem to connect the dots. You know, Jesus, they thought was the Messiah that was going to rescue them from Rome, but now he's died. And there's these reports that he had been raised from the dead, they just couldn't figure this out. They couldn't understand as well as most all of the people of that day, that there must be a cross before a crown. And because of this, Jesus, you will recall reprimanded them for seeing only what they wanted to see, rather than seeing what was written, what was really there. He reprimanded them for failing to see all of the Old Testament truths that were preparatory and predictive of this very thing. For this reason, in Luke 24, beginning of verse 44, we read, "'These are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you,’” Jesus says that "'all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And H said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.'" So all of this was promised. It wasn't a Plan B, it was a plan A.

Now with this background, we need to answer the questions. How would the first century Jews, as well as Gentiles really understand the statement, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Well, first of all, let me give you the Jewish perspective, even though that's not necessarily the audience here that Mark is speaking to. Many others of the apostles, they did speak to them, and many Jews were coming to faith in Christ. So what was their perspective of the word gospel? In Hebrew, it's "besorah". And the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures, would use the word "euangelion" gospel, good news. So the Jews understood this in the context of military victories or, or physical rescue as well as the ultimate victory of eternal rescue from the just wrath of God upon sin. In other words, salvation from divine judgment. If we look at Psalm 40, for example, there David the theocratic King personifies the national sin of Israel, as well as his own sin and he celebrates God's merciful victory and deliverance from external persecution as well as internal perversities, he describes that just the hopeless and helpless situation that they're in, and then in verse nine, he says, "I have proclaimed glad tidings," there it is "besorah", "euangelion", the gospel, "I have proclaimed the gospel of righteousness in the great congregation." There in that passage, as well as a number of others that term is used in a messianic context, anticipating the advent of a coming Messiah King. In Isaiah chapter 40, beginning in verse nine we read, "Get yourself up on a high mountain, Oh Zion, bearer of," here it is again, "good news." It's from the same root word "besorah". "Lift up your voice mightily, Oh Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!' Behold, the Lord God will come with might with His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him." Similarly, in Isaiah chapter 52 and verse seven, we read, "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings," here's the word again, "good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" By the way, what is really fascinating is, do you remember what follows next after that text? We would read beginning in verses 13 all the way through chapter 53 and verse 12, Isaiah going into great detail, describing the sin bearing servant that must suffer untold agonies before he can rule over his kingdom. He describes the one who is "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief", the One whom the Lord has laid on the iniquity of us all. "He was oppressed, He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth", He was led "as a lamb to the slaughter", and "as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth." But all of this was fundamental to a Jewish understanding of the term "gospel." that a Messiah King was going to come that couldn't understand the suffering servant part. But they knew that this was good news of a coming king. What about the Gentile understanding of the term? Well, it was basically the same. Certainly the Romans and the Greeks knew nothing of, of these Old Testament truths, they didn't understand Jewish history. Nevertheless, the term gospel carried the same kind of meaning to them. It referred to the good news of the arrival, the ascendancy of the enthronement of a coming king who would save the people and bring in prosperity andbring in blessing and peace. We see this clearly in an inscription that was found on a government building in Priene, which is modern day Turkey. An inscription that dated back to the sixth century BCE. The inscription refers to Caesar Augustus, and says, quote, "The birthday of Augustus has been for the whole world, the beginning of the gospel concerning him" the "euangelion". It goes on to state quote, "The most divine Caesar, we should consider equal to the beginning of all things. For when everything was falling into disorder, and tending toward dissolution, he restored it once more, and gave the whole world a new aura. Caesar the common good fortune of all, the beginning of life and vitality, all the cities unanimously adopt the birthday of the Divine Caesar, as the new beginning of the year." It went on to say, "whereas the providence which has regulated our whole existence, has brought our life to the climax of perfection, and giving to us the Emperor Augustus." Sounds like a political campaigndoesn't it? It went on to say, "Who being sent to us and our descendants as savior, has put an end to war and is set all things in order. And whereas having become god manifest, , which "phaneis" a Greek term,  from the root word "phaino", which means to bring light, "god manifest Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times." End quote. Caesar has brought the light. Now, the gospel of Caesar Augustus was central to what was called the "Pax Romana", which was, that means the age of peace in the ancient Roman Empire. And thus the inscriptionspeaks of, of this divine savior, who was, "whose arrival was considered equal to the beginning of all things," it says. My goodness, "the one sent to us and our descendants as savior, who will fulfill all our hopes." Don't you see the satanic counterfeit? Satan has done this down through redemptive history. This is his version of Jesus the Light of the world, right? That's what this is. Now, think about it my goodness, what an amazing coincidence that this was the Gentile mindset when Jesus arrived, I hope you realize I'm being facetious. It was no coincidence at all, dear Christian, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God appeared when the fullness of the time came at the precise moment in history, that God had sovereignly decreed in eternity past, as we've read, "God sent forth his Son born of a woman born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who are under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." So Mark's statement is a direct confrontation to the Roman thinking and the Roman worship of Caesar. The name Jesus, Greek, "Iesous", from the Hebrew form of the name Joshua; the Hebrew is Yeshua. It means Yahweh is Salvation. And Christ, "Christos", in Greek, it is the royal title from the Hebrew word translated "Messiah", which means "the anointed one".

So dear friends don't miss this, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was and is a royal pronouncement of the arrival and the ascendancy and the enthronement of the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ, hence Mark's opening statement. In other words, he's saying Jesus, not Caesar is the Son of God. The one who is one in nature with God. Jesus is the one true King of Israel, the long promised messianic monarch of Israel. As Nathaniel testified, remember what he said when he saw Jesus, John 1:49, "You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel." And so indeed, Peter confessed, "You are the Christ, you are the Messiah." And certainly Jesus said that "I am the Light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." And Mark's gospel will describe now the beginning of this good news and all that it encompasses, the arrival of King Jesus. And dear friends, I would submit to you that if he is King, he is to be obeyed. That seems rather obvious, doesn't it? In fact, in Romans 10 and verse nine, Apostle Paul says, "If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord", in other words, as master, "and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved; For with the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." The term Lord in Greek "Kurios," speaks of one who is an authority, one who has power and ownership, a master who is to be obeyed without question by his slave. In fact, this was the title Jesus used of himself in John 13:13, "'You call me Teacher and Lord,'" He says, "' and you are right, for so I am.'" Now sometimes the Greek will use the term "despotes" to translate the word Lord, or they will translate Lord from that term. And by the way, in the English we get the word despot from that, a ruler with absolute power over his subjects. It Jude four, we see this use, both of them, both Master and Lord, being used in one text. He speaks here of "certain persons have crept in unnoticed," speaking of those that come into the church, false teachers. And so for "those who were long ago beforehand, marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master," there's the Greek term comes from "despotes". "And Lord," Kurios", "Jesus Christ."

Now if we are to obey the King, the Lord, what was the first thing he asked us to do? Jesus' first command in his public ministry in Matthew 4:17 begins with the word repent. "'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Which by the way, was an echo of the message of John the Baptist. As we will see, the apostle Paul declared before the men of Athens in Acts 17 in verse 30, "God is now declaring to men, that all people everywhere should repent because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men, by raising Him from the dead." Now, beloved, repentance is at the very heart of the gospel. I remember one time when I was a professor at Masters University in California, I was asked by one of these seeker sensitive churches to come and preach. And they made sure that there were certain words that I was not allowed to use, I was not allowed to speak about sin, or hell, or the word repent, and they had a list of others. Now mind you, I was busy that day, so I didn't go but the repentance is at the heart of the gospel. It's a genuine turning from sin unto God because you're broken over your sin. As I have written elsewhere, "Genuine salvation requires the end of self, not the satisfaction of self. We do not come to the Savior primarily to find fulfillment, happiness or purpose in life, although those are secondary byproducts. Nor do we come to achieve our greatest potential and satisfy our unmet needs and ambitions. Our greatest need is to be forgiven, born again, justified and thereby reconciled to a holy God, John three, one through 21. We need to be saved from our inherent sinfulness that renders us guilty before a just and righteous God. We need to be reconciled to Him by faith in Christ who alone is our only hope of salvation. Therefore, we come to Christ begging for undeserved mercy, broken and contrite, pleading for forgiveness, mourning over our sin, deeply aware of the darkness of our depravity exposed by the light of God's holiness. Then, knowing that we are utterly incapable of contributing anything to our salvation, we plead the blood of Christ, then, and then only will he save us." Oh, dear friends, the miracle of spiritual sight when he opens our eyes to the horror of our sin and the glory of the cross, it causes us to be born again. You must remember that because the natural man is dead in sin, he has no capacity to understand or accept the things of the Spirit. Repentant faith cannot occur apart from the new birth. Unless God initiates and does something, none of us would ever be saved. And this is a work in which sinners are entirely passive. For this reason, we read in John 1:13, "We were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." I love what James says, certainly speaks to my heart, "in the exercise of His will" not mine, "in the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth." I appreciate one of the great definitions of regeneration offered by a young 17th century Scottish pastor by the name of David Dixon. He, by the way, preached 27 sermons on this subject, in a town called Irvine. And as a result, there was a mighty work of the Spirit that occurred in that realm. He defined regeneration in this way, "Regeneration is the work of God's invincible power, and mere grace, wherein by His Spirit, accompanying His word, he quickeneth a redeemed person lying dead in his sins, and reneweth him and his mind, his will and all the powers of his soul, convincing him savingly of sin and righteousness and judgment and making him heartily to embrace Christ and salvation and to consecrate himself to the service of God in Christ all the days of his life." What a great definition. Beloved, please understand at the very heart of the Gospel, we have God's efficacious calling and regeneration, which results in the conviction of sin. And this in turn leads to repentant faith that turns to Christ for salvation. It causes us to turn away from sin and self-righteousness, and to come to Christ in saving faith, and to willingly submit to His Lordship. And I must add, we do not make Jesus Lord of our life, he is Lord of our life. Jesus says, "Follow me." Why? Because I am the Lord. "My sheep hear My voice and they," What? "They follow Me." If you hear the voice of Christ through His Word, and you have no regard for it, and you do not follow Him, you have no basis by which to call him Shepherd and Savior. That Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is central to the gospel. Mark wants to make this abundantly clear. This mighty work of the Spirit causes us to call Jesus Lord. In fact, in First Corinthians 12 three, Paul says, "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." That speaks of that great work of regeneration. However, I would submit to you that the idea of Christ's kingship, his Lordship, his sovereign authority, over his kingdom citizens have been jettisoned in contemporary evangelicalism. The modern gospel is primarily concerned with making men happy, not holy. It's primarily concerned about the exaltation of man, not the glory of God. The focus is on peace and prosperity and success and social justice. It has become man-centered, not God-centered. It is anthropocentric, it is not theocentric. How many professing Christians do you know who are as passionate about the Lordship of Christ as they are about his saving grace? I mean, just look at the lives of many people that call themselves Christians; their lives cannot be distinguished from those people in the world that hate Christ. Listen to their speech, and you will be hard pressed to hear them speak about the unsearchable riches of Christ, you will be hard pressed to hear them talk about how they long for their King to come, how they love to serve Him, and long for His Kingdom to be established. Ask them to explain the gospel and you will be shocked at not only their theological ignorance, but their cavalier attitude towards the whole thing as if it really doesn't matter. Why is this? It's because, beloved, they have not been taught. And what they have heard is deceptive often or distorted. And this is on a continuum. J I Packer said this, quote, "The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce a deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church, Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts, and God fearing in their hearts, because this is not primarily what it is trying to do." I grow weary of the phony versions of the gospel that I hear today. Not simply because they're unbiblical and they have no power to save, but because they rob God of his glory, they do not point to His glory to the Lordship of Christ and all that he has for his people. In Galatians, one, beginning of verse six, the apostle Paul saw this happening in the church at Galatia. He said, "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, which is really not another only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"

Of course, there are so many variations of false gospels today. I mean, they're breeding like, like fruit flies on a rotten banana. I mean, they're just everywhere. Every time you turn around, there's another version, some distortion of the gospel, and I think the most devastating one is the social justice gospel that is being crammed down everyone's throat today, the one that so many evangelicals are embracing, one that is rooted in the Neo-Marxist concept of critical race theory. It's all about wokeness. Owen Strachan said this, quote, "Wokeness is the state of being consciously aware of," and quote, "awake to the hidden race-based injustices that pervade all of American society. This term has also been expanded to refer to the state of being awake to injustices that are gender based, class based," et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, think about what has happened here. According to the critical race theorists, every aspect of our culture is racist. And evangelicals have bought into this. So you have all of these buzzwords now that you hear coming from pulpits, as if we need to embrace these things and repent of these things. Buzzwords like systemic racism, intersectionality, implicit bias, whiteness, white privilege, white fragility, white guilt, white supremacy, micro aggressions. And of course, as you study them, you see that there is absolutely no redemption, you can only acknowledge it and join in the antiracist movement. You have to admit that you're a racist by nature, if you are white, you have to admit it, that you in some way are complicit in the racist sins of your ancestors. And then practically speaking, you must align yourself with the Black Lives Matter movement. You've got to reject capitalism because it is racist, it is unfair, it is unjust, and you've got to embrace socialism. And then you have to support reparations and distributive justice and cultural relativism and the defund the police movement, and so forth. And so as a result, what happens in churches today is the gospel must focus on societal change, rather than personal salvation from sin. The whole thing gets off in a totally wrong direction. The problem with the world to them is not sin, it is racism. It is social and economic oppression so Jesus is basically seen as a social Redeemer. Jesus died to heal a broken society, and to free oppressed people from their oppressors, which is mainly white people. As if Jesus and the disciples walked around, carrying a banner that said, JLM, Jews Lives Matter. Folks, none of that is biblical. It's laughable to even describe it. And yet you see people embracing this today in evangelicalism. Of course, there are many other false gospels and errant gospels. But I use this one as merely example of how foreign these things are to the true gospel. I mean, even among conservative evangelicals, the typical gospel presentation has little to do with the proclamation of the advent of the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you just don't hear much about that. It has little to do with calling men to repentant faith, to trust in him as the only hope of salvation and submit to His Lordship. Oh my You can't say that. That's legalistic. That's works righteousness. So sad. In most gospel presentations today, the Lord Jesus is not depicted as the omnipotent sovereign that actively draw sinners that he is elected by His grace unto himself to worship Him forever. You just don't hear that type of thing. Oh, no people might get offended with that. Rather, he is depicted as a frustrated and helpless God, that is pacing the throne room of heaven, biting his nails, hoping that someone will open up the door of their heart and let him in. Beloved, that is not the God of the Bible. That is not the gospel. Of course, this is classic Arminianism; they believe that fallen man is not spiritually dead, he's merely sick. Therefore, man is able to somehow cooperate with God and salvation. And for them regeneration is not the sole work of the Spirit that raises a sinner from spiritual death to spiritual life, but rather, regeneration is kind of a combined effort of the sinner and the spirit. And sadly, most evangelicals today reject the sovereignty of God in salvation, which is by grace alone. Most believe that God's will to save is ultimately subject to man's will to believe. Therefore, it is man, not God who is sovereign over salvation. That's not the gospel. That's a distortion. They believe that we need to somehow induce salvation, get people to make a decision for Christ. And after about 27 verses of just as I am, maybe they will come to some imaginary altar up here and repeat some prayer. And historically, if you've seen the consequences of that, you will see that most people that participate in these types of things never came to faith in Christ. In fact, it produces an illusion of religion and spirituality, because those people were never truly born again. Because they never truly heard the gospel. And if you don't hear it, you're not going to embrace it. Millions of people have been manipulated to walk these aisles and come to some imaginary altar, repeat some prayer. Think how an errant gospel even views the atonement. I was talking with a gentleman the other day about this very issue. They see it as something that really was an impotent sacrifice. They would see, manypeople would see, Christ's atoning work on the cross, as being nothing more than as I say, an impotent sacrifice, that only makes it possible for men to save themselves through acts of faith. Too many believe that Christ redeemed no one at the cross, that his sacrifices were merely a potential atonement for those who will one day choose to believe, but not an actual atonement for all whom the Father had given Christ in eternity past. Therefore, Christ was the propitiation for all of those who are currently in hell. An amazing thought, an errant thought. His death, to many, saved no one in particular, it only made it possible for all to be saved in general. His agonizing sacrifice on the Cross merely created an opportunity for man to exercise his faith, to choose to cooperate with God, and to make a decision for Christ. Dear friends wherein is the power of that kind of a gospel? What a divine failure happened at the cross. Such a scheme says the salvation lies not in God but in man. Yet the Scriptures teach in Romans 9:16, "It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy." As I said, before, the modern gospel has become so man-centered rather than God-centered, that it's barely recognizable when you compare it to the true gospel, articulated in the Scriptures. And now you even have worship services designed to somehow attract the unsaved who cannot and will not worship Christ. It's utterly absurd. Contemporary gospel will go to any lengths to preserve man's self-esteem. Again, it's all about making man happy, not holy. It's all about man and his needs, not God and his glory, therefore, certain gospel truths concerning, like election and redemption and calling, instead of them being based upon God's sovereign uninfluenced will, those types of things are omitted. They're considered to be the monstrous lies of what they would call Calvinism. But in truth, such omissions betray a rabid commitment to self-determination and the preservation of man's free will, which always trump's God's will. Beloved, let me make it very clear. It's not man's free will that is the issue. It is his Willer. He has no desire to do what he could choose to do. And unless God does something, he will remain in his state of fallenness forever. That's why the gospel is the gospel of grace from beginning to end.  J.I Packer said quote, "Arminianism is natural in one sense, in that it represents a characteristic perversion of biblical teaching by the fallen mind of man who even in salvation, cannot bear to renounce the delusion, of being master of his fate and captain of his soul." End quote. And as a result of these kinds of distortions, and again, they're on a continuum, some like the social gospel are so off the wall, ridiculous that it's hard to even talk about them. Others vary in certain ways, but the distortions will all ultimately masquerade asthe truth. And what ends up happening is people begin to believe lies, or they make some phony profession.

Beloved, the true Gospel begins by stating that God is absolutely holy. He is transcendent, beyond anything that you could ever imagine, utterly separated from sin. And in contrast to that, man is depraved at his very core, his very nature, all that man is and all that man does is fundamentally offensive to a holy God. Therefore, a man is utterly incapable of saving himself. Despite all of the external inducements that might be presented to him. man cannot contribute to his salvation in any way, not even remotely. And apart from being united to God through saving faith, man is spiritually dead. He is a spiritual cadaver; he lives in a perpetual state of hostility and alienation before a holy God; he is doomed for an eternal hell, which is the just penalty of his sin. But God and here's the gospel, but God in his infinite mercy and love has provided a way for sinners to be reconciled unto himself by sending His Son, the Savior King, to die in their stead, to take the place of all that He has given to the Son in eternity past. Beloved, God is mighty to save all those that he has elected by his grace, a free and uninfluenced, unconditional choice that he set upon those that he loves in eternity past. And all men are great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior. And as our substitute, he bore our sin in his body, specifically, on that cross of Calvary. The Holy Spirit then, irresistibly draws sinners unto Christ in the miracle of regeneration. He causes them to voluntarily believe, and he keeps them in grace by His power for an inheritance that is ready to be revealed. It is not up to me to cooperate with God somehow, so that the two of us can work it out and get saved, and then for me to continue to cooperate so I can stay saved. But thank God, it is all of grace. Therefore, all of the glory goes to him. We share none of it. And on that basis, we can sing with a great hymn, “And Can It Be,” that verse that says, "Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night, thine eye diffused, a quickening ray, I woke the dungeon flamed with a light. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose went forth and followed Thee."

That is the great work of grace in the gospel, beloved. So again, the true gospel is rooted in the reality that God is sovereign over all of His creation. He is the King of Glory, who has come to save sinners to the praise of his glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. He is the King of Glory, Romans 11:36, after Paul discusses the horror of sin and the glory of justification, he finally, in that great doxology says, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things to Him, be the glory forever, Amen." Jesus is therefore, dear friends, our Savior and our Lord. He is our king. He is to be obeyed and he is to be worshipped. And all of this cheap grace and easy believeism that distorts the gospel today, has neither the power to save nor to sanctify and only provides the illusion of spirituality. I want to close this morning with what Jesus said in Luke six. He said, "'Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord? And do not do what I say?'" Let me pause there, you need to ask yourself that. If you claim to be a Christian, then that means Jesus is your Lord. Do you call him Lord, but really don't care to do what he says? This was Jesus concern. "'Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?'" Then he gives this little story, "'Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground, without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.'"  "On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand." I depend solely upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior and King, to save me, and to sanctify me. And I hope you would say the same. I hope that you're all looking for the King to return and to finalize all of the glorious promises of his kingdom. For indeed, He is a loving sovereign, the King of kings, and Lord of lords who is coming to take us to glory. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the magnificent truths of the gospel. And as we think of this introduction to the Gospel of Mark, and all that will follow we rejoice knowing that you have revealed these truths to us. Not only that we might truly be saved, and be sanctified, but that we might therefore be salt and light in this world, so I pray that by the power of your Spirit, you will speak to each one of us. May these great truths bear much fruit in each of our hearts, to the praise of your glory, for its in Christ's name that I pray. Amen.