Perhaps it is the grand delusion, a perspective that really has swept across Western culture, that there is no such thing as absolute truth; that truth is a buffet - you eat what you want - that your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth; that the highest character quality of Western culture is tolerance: I don't try to proselytize you; I don't try to convince you. You believe what you want to believe, and I believe what I want to believe, that perhaps there is actually a place of happy neutrality.
No Happy Neutrality
And it's just not true. And Mark really confronts you with the fact that there is no happy neutrality; that truth matters; that truth is real; that you must say, "Yes" or "No" And that's not just for the people out there as we seek to minister to them; that's for us. Right here, right now, you are living as if you actually believe that Jesus is King. And you're no longer seeking your kingdom; it's no longer my way and my will. It's no longer my happiness as my highest goal. It's no longer my money and my family and my car and my house.
If Jesus is King, I'm not! Bottom line! You can't help but feel the confrontation that comes at you as you begin to expose yourself to the message of Mark. Look how it begins; it begins with Mark's declaration that Jesus of Nazareth, that little boy born in Nazareth, grew up as a man, is the Messiah, the Son of God. How outrageous! How radical! Now, either He is or He isn't. And just as you catch your breath, you take it in that perhaps it is true, perhaps God actually did incarnate Himself in flesh, perhaps the hope of the universe really did come out of Nazareth, really did walk on earth - you just begin to take that in - and then you're hit with a second confrontation.
As Jesus comes out of the waters of baptism and the voice of God speaks - "This is my pleasing son!" - that declaration is followed by the affirmation of the Father. And you can't be neutral; you have to say either that happened and either God spoke, putting His seal of approval on this Man who was the Son of God, or He didn't. You just about get your breath and then the Spirit of God drives Jesus into the wilderness. And what has been declared and affirmed is now confirmed in that moment because it's very clear that this is the Second Adam, walking into a place were the first Adam failed, now facing the test, taking on His shoulders, the full range of sin and temptation as a lifelong act of substitutions so that He would be the spotless Lamb of God who goes to the cross, takes the penalty of our sin; and through Him, we find justification and acceptance and forgiveness and deliverance and eternal hope.
Now you can't face that and say, "Well maybe. It's nice if you like to believe that. It's okay if that makes you feel good. Religion can help you feel good. If you need that, believe that." No, you can't do that. This is an account of history that happened that puts, in front of you, remarkable claims of Christ that are the ultimate dividing line of humanity; you believe these things or you don't; you live these things or you don't! There is no neutrality! And that's what should propel us outside of this room, to want to, somehow, share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ because we believe these radical claims are true.
That leads us to verses 14 and 15 of Mark 1; now let me read those again. "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came unto Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" (ESV) Mark records that Jesus waited until after the prophet, John, who was raised up to prepare the way to announce His arrival, is arrested. And you have to get the significance of just this. Jesus now stands, walks into the scene as the final prophet of God to declare that final message of God, the Gospel of the Kingdom.
And it's important where Jesus does that because that ministry begins in Galilee. Galilee was the most multicultural region of Palestine; and as Jesus chooses to begin His ministry there, you begin to get the sense that this is the One who was called "The light of the Gentiles" in prophecy. That through Him, this amazing message of the Kingdom is going to spread to every corner of earth. And John says, "Jesus begins to proclaim the good news of God; the gospel of God." Well, what is that message?
The Time Is Fulfilled
Look at the words here. "The time is fulfilled." Jesus is saying, "Everything that has happened in Old Testament history has been marching to this moment." As you read through the Old Testament, and at moments, it just looks like it's all exploded into chaos, and you wonder what in the world is going on; you wonder if God's plan will be able to survive all of the nasty, evil politics, all of the wars, all of the rebellion of His people, all of the power of marauding nations. And what you realize is God is sovereign, and His will will be done; and God is guiding history to this moment where Jesus would stand and say, "The kingdom is at hand; the time has come."
Every judge, every prophet, every priest, every king was foreshadowing The Judge, and The Prophet, and The Priest, and The King who would come. What's the picture here? I love what it says in Daniel 4, "He rules over the host of heaven and the inhabitants of earth. No one can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" Your God is sovereign, and He promised that One would come who would sit on the throne of David; there would be a moment where He would come; the One who is the Wonderful Counselor, the One who is the Prince of Peace, the One who is the Everlasting Father; He would come.
And nothing could stand in the way of that, not the outrageous rebellion of His people, not the murderous intent of surrounding nations, not the corruption of kings, not the rebellion of God's people; nothing can stand in the way of what God chooses to do. God's will will be done! Do you believe that? Do you live, act, respond, as if you actually believe that God is sovereign? Do you believe in His timing? Do you struggle with God's timing? Do you wonder if He is on task? Do you wonder if He's hearing your prayers?
Do you wonder if He knows the right time to deliver to you a particular promise? At just the right time in the unshakable sovereign plan of God, Jesus came and began this amazing announcement of His Kingdom. Do you rest in that sovereignty? Look at the next phrase, "The kingdom of God is at hand." Now you have to put yourself in the position of people who would hear this, people who would be familiar with Old Testament prophecy and the prophecies of One who would come and sit on the throne of David.
And you have to face how radical this statement is when Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is at hand." He is saying, "I am King, and the Kingdom of God is here because I'm here, and I bring that Kingdom with me." Now, again, this is horrific blasphemy, or this declaration of Jesus of Nazareth - that the Kingdom of God is here in His person and His presence and His work - that statement is the hope of the universe. Now think about this, the unfolding of God's Kingdom; you really have these very clear stages.
First, you have all those years of preparation in the Old Testament where the prophets are pointing to this King who would come; who would establish the throne of David forever. You have the phase of the presence of that Kingdom in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; something unique and new is happening at this moment because the King is here. In fulfillment of those promises, His feet are actually touching earth. He is beginning to minister this liberating Gospel of God. You have a stage of the expansion of that Kingdom as His kingship reigns in the hearts of people who submit to Him in faith, and that reign of grace begins to liberate them from the narrow confines of their own little kingdom and begins to give them the ability to live for something greater than themselves, and the rule of that Kingdom spreads throughout the entire world.
And then you have the culmination of that Kingdom; physical Kingdom where the king reigns, and we reign with him in the new heavens and the new earth forever. Well, this is an important moment because that Kingdom is now near in the person and work of Jesus Christ; and because of that, it's available. And then you're hit immediately with a call of this Kingdom: "repent and believe in the Good News." Hear what I am about to say: you cannot embrace the kingship of Christ without embracing how that kingship defines you.
No Faith Without Repentance
You can't embrace His identity without humbly embracing how that defines your identity. And that's why there is no such thing as faith without repentance; there's no such thing as faith without humble confession of deep personal need. We must be very careful to not define faith just as some kind of intellectual consent to a system of doctrines; that is not Biblical faith. That's a portion of Biblical faith, but it's not Biblical faith. Biblical faith not only embraces your mind and your willingness to say, "I will give the thoughts of my heart to actually believe that these radical claims are true."
But it also says, "I will humbly mourn how those things define me." Why do you need a King? Because you are incapable of self-rule; you are incapable of choosing the right path; you are incapable of doing what is right; you are incapable of constructing, in your zeal for your own kingdom, a life that would remotely please God; because in your sin, what you actually want is His position. What we want is, "We want to be king!" Why would a husband ever be impatient with his wife, because he wants to be sovereign king, and he's uptight whenever she stands in the way of something that he wants?
You know if you're honest, most of your anger doesn't have anything to do with God's Kingdom at all. We just need to get a grip. Our anger has to do with our kingdom! I don't want you to be so audacious as to ever disagree with one of my opinions. I don't want you to get in the way of my schedule. I don't want to be told what to do. I want to set my own morality. I want to believe whatever I think is fun to believe. I want to do whatever pleases me. I want to be king! And so what the kingship of Christ does is it rescues me from me!
The King came - hear this - to destroy your kingdom because as long as you live allegiant to your kingdom, you cannot live in faith in the King. I would like to be able to say to you this evening that I wasn't angry this past week in any way. I would like to be able say to you that I was quite patient when people disagreed with me. I would like to say that there wasn't any moment where I was full of myself. I would like to be able to say that there was no way that I esteemed my pleasure more than God's purpose, but I can't.
It was a humbling moment for me this weekend. I was in Atlanta from Wednesday to Saturday evening, a wonderful ministry opportunity. I'm there to talk about the transforming grace of Jesus. I believe in that grace. I travel with, as some of you know, Steve Sarkisian who assists me and makes my travel ministry possible. And we were in the SUV; he's driving as he always does, and we start having a conversation, and he has the audacity to disagree with me. "I'm the ministry person; he's the driver. Now let's get our roles in place here."
And I didn't realize that I had this look of disdain on my face until he said to me, "Why are you looking at me that way?" I wasn't humble enough to say, "Why would you ever disagree with me?" And I could feel the emotional temperature changing, and I wanted to argue him into an inescapable box, and he would open the top of the box at the end and say, "You're right!" I didn't care if that was pleasing to Jesus! Listen, His kingship absolutely describes, defines the struggles of our heart. That's why He says, "You just can't come to me in cosmetic, academic, theological belief.
Faith Weeps
You come to me weeping because faith weeps; that's what faith does." It's embarrassing how many times in three years of travel together I have asked Steve Sarkisian to forgive me. I should just put it on an MP3 file. And you see, that's why the Gospel of the Good News of the Kingdom must be a call to repentance. Now, think about what repentance is. Repentance is a definitive change in my heart. . . (Look up here; I'm actually going to do this for you; up here in the Tenth pulpit.) A definitive change in my heart that leads to a definitive change in the direction of my life - that's what repentance is.
And so repentance requires change in the thoughts and desires of my heart. So, I reject the thought that I am righteous; I reject the thought that I'm in control; I reject all the falsehoods that would keep me away from an excited embrace of Christ. I reject selfish desire; I reject evil desire; I reject the desire for self-sovereignty, and I submit myself; I give my desires to the will and the pleasure of the One who is my King. Now, if the quality and content of your thoughts change, and the quality and content of your desires change as an intentional act of faith, (watch this) then the direction of your life will change.
So, because I don't embrace the delusion of my own righteousness anymore, it means I'm not uptight with you anymore when you point out a wrong. Do you see? If you make that faith commitment, your life should follow; and if it doesn't, maybe you haven't made the faith commitment. That's repentance. If you have a new set of desires now, not a desire that your will be done and your kingdom come, but a desire that His will is done and His kingdom has come, shouldn't that then live in your situations and relationships.
So, as a husband or wife, what you want to do is please the King; that's what orients you; that's what motivates you. With your friendships, you want those friendships to be honoring to the King; with your thought life, with your finances, with your leisure time, at your work, at the university. You see, true faith, as it claims thought and desire, will always result in a transformed life. And as God operates in grace to give us those new desires and those new thoughts, He operates in grace to empower us to do what we would've been unable to do.
That's why the Kingdom and its announcement have to be followed by the melting together of repentance and faith; you cannot have faith without repentance, and you cannot have repentance without faith. So, where are you? Is there a consistency, a congruity between what you say you believe and the shape that that takes in your living? Or, is there a disharmony? I want to plead with you as your pastor; be honest right now in this moment. Own the fact that there may be vestiges still within you of a desire for self-sovereignty, a desire for self-sufficiency, a desire for autonomy.
And as you own that, you begin to realize that repentance and faith are not one time acts, but lifestyles that I believe again and again and again. I believe and say, "Help my unbelief!" I believe and say, "Help my unbelief." I believe and say, "Help unbelief." And I repent, thanking God for His grace of forgiveness and empowerment, but I repent again. And that means none of us are sliding; none of us have arrived; it means none of us look down on people who are not as far along as we are because we're in process too.
And although we've moved along for where we are, we know we have a great place to go. And so this is a community of compassion and acceptance, not self-righteousness and condemnation. Well, one more thing. "Repent and believe in the gospel." I actually believe, because it actually means this, that a better translation of that last phrase would be, "Believe in the Good News. Repent and embrace Good News." Now, what is the Good News? What's the Good News of the Kingdom? What is the news that's so awesome and so beautiful and so life-transforming when you get it that you not only want to embrace it yourself and live in the middle of it, but you want to take it to anybody who would ever be willing to hear it?
Change Is Possible
Well, it's hinted at by this call to repentance. Here's the Good News: because the King has come in the glory of His transforming grace (get this) change is possible. Change is possible! We're not stuck. We're not condemned to our rebellion and our foolishness and our selfishness and our arrogance. We can look at the darkest night of sin with hope because our King brings Good News with Him. And that Good News is radical, personal, heart, and life transformation! What is the Gospel of the Kingdom?
What's the bright gold promise of the New Covenant? Is it not a new heart? And so you don't give up when your marriage is not what God wants it to be. You don't start thinking about your exit plan; you embrace the King, and you believe change is possible. You don't give up on your children; and by the time they're teenagers, you're a bit cynical, and you don't believe that godliness will ever live in their lives because you believe in the transforming power of the King. You're in a university, and you don't fear that professor and the tightness of his philosophical arguments because you believe that the wind of the Spirit could blow in that man's life and he would embrace Jesus.
And you don't know when that's going to happen, but you don't give up, and you'll speak truth to him. You don't give up in the face of addiction. You don't give up in the face of sexual sin. You don't give up in the face of lifelong anger. You don't give up! You don't give up! You don't give up! You don't give up because the King has come, and the Good News is that He brought radical hope of change with Him. And this King would never call you to repent if that turn of repentance was not possible by His grace.
It's radical! Do you believe the radical Good News of the Gospel? Oh, I don't mean could you write an essay on it? That's a good thing; it's just not enough of the thing. Are you living the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom? Now I'll tell you what that will do for you, and then I'm done. This will forever be a theme in my preaching: it will produce in your heart a harmony of sadness and celebration, sadness at the continued evidence of your desire to be your own king and celebration that a greater King has come, and He is in the process of rescuing you, and there will be a day when in no way, shape, or form, do you desire His position, and you will reign with Him forever.
Now, I think that's pretty good news. Repent and believe the Good News. Let's pray: Lord, we hold out our hands, and we wrap them around the radical claims of Mark 1. We embrace Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. We embrace You, 'Pleasing Son;' we embrace You, 'Second Adam;' we embrace You, 'King of Kings,' and we would pray, "Rescue us, rescue us! We have no other hope." Oh, Lord, I would pray for those who may be here this evening who have never submitted to these radical claims; may they come to You in faith this moment, casting themselves on Your grace.
And may those of us who have come already, come again and again and again in repentance and faith until repentance has done its final work. In Jesus's name, Amen
