Prophecy; Solving the Mystery
Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsJohn the Baptist was the fulfillment of prohecy written hundreds of years before, validation we can trust the Gospel of Mark
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Mark 1:1-8
Mark 1:1-8
Good morning
I’m so glad you’re back
We are walking through the book of Mark
Last week we discussed the opening of Mark
Understanding what mark meant by the Good News.
So this morning we are going to continue in the Gospel of Mark
Same as last week
take a very small section of scripture
Understand
The purpose of the Bible
I am laying a foundation
Desperately want you guys understand what you believe
A recent study in 2017 said that upwards of 80% do not know how they are saved
Thats a frightening statistic
So we are going to go into understanding prophecy
Why is it so important
Understanding how John the Baptist fills that role
I truly believe that once you realize
Once you actualize
The truth of Scripture
You’ll never turn back
I want you to know
What is being taught can be validated
Can be trusted
So without further ado
Turn with me to
This week like I said
Understanding prophecy
Next week
Understanding the baptism of Repentance
Controversial topic of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’ ”
This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”
Prayer........
I don’t want this to be another motivational sermon
I want the truth to shock you
I want the truth to motivate you
I believe it will
Once you have seen
Once you understand
Once truth hits you in the face
It takes a lot to deny
I want you to
See this truth with your own eyes
I want you to see this as reality
as fact
Not because I need you to
but because it is
Most important I want you to know that you believe.
To be able to develop that personal relationship with the living God
Their is no greater question in life
I know some of you have even expressed
They can’t stop thinking about the rope illustration
I’ve had several come up to me this week asking for more
My hope is that you won’t keep Jesus to yourself
that we will share Him with everyone.
Now...
I’d like to open up with a video I found on YouTube
I truly want to nail down the importance of Jesus this morning
Its about 8 minutes long but really focus on the details
Pay attention
Video*****
Such a powerful testimony
Did you notice what he said?
His validation piece was prophecy
He compared the prophecies
He matched them up
He studied them
He saw that the prophecies in the Old
Are fulfilled in the New
He came to a conclusion Jesus was the messiah
This is huge
This is validation
This brings home the reality
This isn’t fake news
Ive explained this to many people desperately trying to help them understand,
The New Testament is an explanation of the Old
The writers of the New Testament
Explaining how jesus was the completion of the Old
How Jesus was the promised Messiah
How Jesus accomplished what foretold centuries before!
This isn’t CNN
This isn’t Fox News
This is prophetic writings written hundreds of years before
Fulfilled in one man!
I know one very popular author
Has a best selling book
Tells us to ignore prophecy
That it detracts from our main mission
Did you know the bible is actually 30% prophecy
Did you know this is how we identified the Messiah
Do you know how we are going to identify His return?
Jesus said in Matthew 24
I saw one man calculate the probability of Jesus being the Messiah
His claim is that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies
However
His claim is that for one man to fulfill just 8
1 in 10 to the 17th power
Thats 1 with 17 zeros behind it
Those are the odds for one man to fulfill just 8
Jesus fulfilled over 300
He even goes so far as to say if 48 are fulfilled
1 in 10 to the 157th power
48 prophecies to be 1 in 10 to the 157th power, (or 1 in 10,00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
That’s the importance of prophecy
Now lets bounce back to Mark for a second.
If you recall Mark is stating that this good news is Jesus.
Jesus becomes the one that ushers in a new era
A new kingdom
The only way to salvation.
Jesus is the promised Messiah
The one the Jews had been waiting for.
Jews prayed and offered sacrifices daily in hopes this messiah would appear.
He was supposed to change the world
Usher in an era of peace
Bring about a kingdom where Gods perfect love ruled over all.
Jesus is that good news.
Now while the fulfillment of His reign has not come to a completion
We can rest assured
Many of the Old Testament promises about the Messiahs coming have been fulfilled
What do I mean by this
Pay attention
Going deeper than I’d like to go
Through prophecy we begin to understand that Jesus
Came in the flesh to offer a sacrifice for our sins
That Jesus came as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.
Later he will come as the fulfillment of psalm 2.
Mighty warrior king who has come to usher in a the reign of peace I just spoke about.
If you understand history certain Jewish rabbis would actually
Two separate messiahs
Two different people coming.
One as a servant and one a mighty warrior.
They never imagined it would be one person
Two separates missions.
God in the flesh sent before the time of Jacobs trouble
Sent to correct the problem that separates from the father
In order that when he comes as a warrior
Those who believe can rule and reign with him
You see this wasn’t just dreamed up
These are NOT just stories.
The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is given to us by God and written down by men.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
This makes Scripture The revelation of God Himself.
However,
as a fellow skeptic
as one that has issues with trusting people
as one that tends to doubt
I know the question some of you have.
The Bible was written by man so how can I trust it’s from God.
Turn with me to
Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you yourselves requested of the Lord your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.’
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘What they have said is right. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’
“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.
You see the Bible foretells Christ
The Bible foretells the future
The Bible makes a claim
If any of the Bible’s prophecies DOES NOT come true
That if anything is a mistake
>>>>>>>>>
That the Bible itself should not be trusted
>>>>>>>>>
That the Bible is not from God
>>>>>>>
That the Bible is not the revelation of God.
That’s a standard that no other religion holds itself to.
Many other belief systems claim many things.
Interesting that each one has failed prophecies.
Many prosperity preachers claim huge prophecies.
Each one has failed.
Benny Hinn interestingly enough has over 100 recorded failed prophecies.
People still follow him interestingly enough.
Again,
Many other beliefs that claim to follow the Bible do the same.
Yet people do not Hold those denominations
These teachers
Those churches
To the same standard that Scripture does
One mistake and it’s not from God
This is why prophecy is so important.
Prophecy is how these rabbis determined these truths.
This is the claim Mark makes at the beginning of His Gospel
Turn with me to Isaiah 40 3
Its extremely important to understand what Mark is doing
Isaiah 40:3
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
This is the prophecy that Mark is referring to
In fact each Gospel writer mentions this specific prophecy
Mark however does something interesting
If you recall last week we spoke of the Good News
What the Good News meant
This good news was attributed to Jesus
Thats a bold claim
What Mark is doing
Validating his original statement with prophecy
Verifying truth
So now let’s Pause real quick
So then what do we do with this?
How do we apply something like this
How do we take a message this and apply it to our life?
DTS Story
Professor said, your church doesn’t understand the Gospel then
If Prophecy holds true
If the Bible is inerrant
infallible
perfect in every way
If the Bible is validated truth?.... I believe it is
If prophecies written hundreds of years before Christ
are fullfilled in Christ
Many requiring governments
Rulers
Persecution from dominating empires
If all this is true
And I fully believe it is
Because of the facts found outside and inside the Bible
As validated through prophecy
Our watchdog
our validation
Then the obvious answer is that Jesus is who He says He is
Jesus is God
The claims He made
The requirement of Faith
Are no joke
I don’t care who you are
I don’t care how much rank you hold
I don’t care how much money you have or don’t have
The Bible says in
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Bottom line Jesus is the Messiah
We have spoken every week so far of the Gospel
The Gospel is messy
The Gospel forces you to look at yourself
To examine yourself
To admit you need a savior
The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and without Jesus death on the cross
Without His sacrifice
There is no forgiveness of sins.
The Bible tells us that the only way to be made right with God
Is by the blood shed on the cross for you and I.
Jesus holds the answer to every question
every hard ship
every joyful expression
The Bible tell us He loved us so much that He was willing to die for us
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Maybe you never realized the truth of Scripture
Maybe you've been toeing the line
Maybe you’ve never committed your life to Him
Maybe you’re a Christian that is struggling with sin
Maybe God is calling you to leave something behind
A calling to a new way of life
A new way of thinking.
Don’t wast this moment
Don’t let this day go by without answering his call.
Next week we are going to get into the understanding of John baptism and repentance
But I encourage you today
Don’t wait
Come to the cross, repent of your sins, and ask our Lord to accept you into the family.
Begin a new life
Its one decision I promise you won’t regret
Jesus Christ,
Validated
Confirmed through prophecy
Died for you and me
To make a way for us to be with Him
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
Lets close in prayer.