A Man with a Message (Part 1 of 2)

Guest (Male): The Bible is no ordinary book. Not only does it continue to outsell every other book in the world, but as we’ll hear today on Truth For Life, it’s unlike any other book that has been written or ever will be written. Alistair Begg illustrates this fact as he introduces us to the long-expected messenger who prepared the way for the Messiah.
Alistair Begg: Mark chapter one and verse one: The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet, "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’" And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Thanks be to God for his word. Father, we pray that as we turn now to the Bible, that you will enable us both to speak and to listen in such a way that your word comes home with conviction and compulsion to our minds, calling us to repentance and to faith and to obedience, and to all the encouragement that is provided for us in thinking again of the good news. Help us to this end we humbly pray in Jesus’ name, amen. I make no apology for beginning as basically as I possibly can because I recognize that Sunday by Sunday in congregations like these, there are people at all stages of understanding when it comes to the things of the Bible, indeed when it comes to thinking about God at all. So, let me begin at the very beginning, since it’s always a very good place to start. The Bible is ultimately a book about Jesus. In the Old Testament, he is predicted or promised. And when we read the gospels, as we do now in Mark’s gospel, we discover that the Jesus who is promised in the Old Testament is then made known to us, revealed to us in the New Testament as those Old Testament promises come to fulfillment. In our Bibles, we have four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of them begins from its own vantage point. Matthew begins with Abraham and the genealogy that follows from there. Luke begins with Adam and Eve in the garden. John begins in eternity past before the events of time have ever come to be. And Mark, as we discover here, begins with the prophecies of the Old Testament. In each case, the gospel writers have the same purpose. Their purpose is not to provide us with a biography of Jesus, nor is it to provide us with simply an historical record. Their purpose in every case is to tell us the good news. Before Mark, there never was a gospel. If people had said to Mark, "What are you doing?" and he said, "I’m writing a gospel," they would have said, "What is a gospel?" And he would have said, "Well, if you read this, you’ll know." And when we read it, we discover that it is the record of who Jesus is, how it is that he has come, what he has come to do, and what he is presently doing. Each of the gospel writers gives to us the story of the birth of Jesus, his life and his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and the promise of his return. They are not providing us as the readers with a religious program to accept, nor even with a philosophy that we might care to adopt. Rather, they are introducing us to a person, and that person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You will notice if your Bible is open before you, that this is how Mark introduces his gospel: "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Nobody should be in any doubt as to what the theme of this book is going to be. It’s going to be about Jesus. The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begins here, says Mark. And I’m going to tell you all about him. In these opening verses, I want to identify three factors. First of all, we notice the promise of a messenger. Then we will consider the arrival of the messenger, and then we will consider the message from the messenger. First, Mark tells us about the promise of this messenger. It is written in Isaiah the prophet—actually he collates both Isaiah and Malachi—"I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way." We’re all familiar with the way in which heads of state, visiting heads of state particularly, are welcomed to our nation. It would be very surprising if they were to arrive unannounced, if there were not somebody who would introduce them and who would welcome them. Indeed, that is what happens. Our own president, when he enters a room as the head of state, will often be announced not only verbally, but also musically in the playing of "Hail to the Chief." We find nothing surprising about this. It’s so routine we would be surprised if it didn’t happen. And so when we think in terms of God coming down to earth, God incarnate, Jesus Christ stepping onto the stage of history at this point, it would be very surprising if he were to arrive unannounced. And so we’re told he doesn't. When Luke begins his gospel, he gives us the angelic arrival in the surrounding hills of Bethlehem with the news that absolutely startles the shepherds: "Today is born for you in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." When this angelic announcement dawned on them, they said, "Well, let’s get off to Bethlehem immediately and see this thing that has come to pass." Mark, of course, doesn’t begin with the birth of Jesus. He begins with the earthly ministry of Jesus. Thirty years have elapsed since the events in Luke’s gospel. But he tells us again that Jesus has not come unannounced, but rather that there is a special messenger, a prepared messenger who is coming before him to announce the commencement of his earthly ministry. What Mark is doing years after the ascension of Jesus is writing down a record of all that took place. For many of these early believing Christians who are wondering about all that they have entered into, this gospel record helps them. He sets the beginning of his good news by taking us back to the words of the prophets. In fact, we might say that he goes forward by going back. Here is the beginning, and then immediately he goes back centuries before Jesus. I want to pause here for just a moment, because some of us are very familiar with the Bible and biblical terminology. We’re aware of the fact that God is described as having spoken through the Old Testament prophets. Some of us will know our Bibles well enough to know that Hebrews begins, linking the old with the new: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in different ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son." Because that terminology is familiar to us, we do not recognize just what a revolutionary thought it actually is. If you’ve come here today and you perhaps are at the very beginning of considering whether this Bible is to be reckoned with, I think that you will admit that it is a revolutionary notion that God, who is himself Spirit, speaks. In fact, the actions of God and the speech of God cannot be separated. The very beginning of the universe is as a result of God speaking. He said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Timothy Ward says the Old Testament assumes that God can and does speak in and through human words in such a way that those words can truly be said to be his words. It’s true that the Bible doesn’t tease this out. The Bible does not even provide for us a theological or a philosophical explanation of this. It just says it. It just assumes it. Anybody standing on the outside looking in might say, "But I find that very hard to believe," and understandably so. But when a man or woman begins to read the Bible and consider it, they will find, if their hearts are open to it truly, that the Bible in their endeavors to understand it is actually proving to understand them. This book is no ordinary book. It isn't like any other book at all. Any other book we may take out and seek to understand, but here when we read this Bible, it actually seems in some places to know us. It says things that seem so appropriate. It may uncover things in us that have lain dormant for a long time. It actually gets into the very core of our being. And we might find ourselves saying, "Why is this?" Well, the answer that the Bible gives is because it is the word of God. God, who created the universe, chooses to relate to us by means of human language. God speaks in human language. Indeed, the mystery of the teaching of the Bible is that God chooses to use mortal tongues to convey the vastness of his being. And so we discover that when we turn to the pages of Scripture, we have not only communication from him, but as we trust his word, we have communion with him. This explains why we take seriously the teaching of the Bible. It is the conviction conveyed by the Bible that what has been written down for us, what has been recorded in the Old Testament and the New Testament, is in some mysterious and marvelous way the very word of God. That is what gives it its significance. It is not the personality or the ability of the one who communicates it, but the very truth itself as we have it in our Bibles. And so what we discover is that God had spoken to the prophets, and the prophets had in turn written it down. Now Mark takes up what Isaiah and Malachi have written down, and he says, "I want you to know that when John the Baptist came as messenger, he came in the fulfillment of the promises." You see, there had been 300 years essentially of silence between the ending of the last prophetic word and the arrival of John the Baptist here on the stage of human history. Generations had lived and died. People had gone to their grave saying, "Well, the prophets said there would be a messenger, but I don’t think he’s come. There is supposed to be one who will bear away the sins of the world, but for the life of us, I don’t think we’ve seen him." Many of them died in faith, believing that would still happen. Out of the silence comes the word of God again. The days into which this word comes were dark days. They were days when the political structures were unfavorable, as you will discover if you want to read in Luke chapter three. What had happened was that the events in Bethlehem had stirred the expectations of some. The people who were reading the Old Testament must have begun to say to one another, "I wonder if there’s something in these events in Bethlehem in these days." The news of the angelic visitation would have been there. The wise men would have been visible in the community. The things that they said in their departure from the community would have been known and spread like wildfire. The shepherds themselves were still living in the community, and people could have said to them, "What really was it that happened that night when you went down there?" As far as we can tell, the baby that was born there is now living in a carpenter’s workshop in Nazareth. Apparently, he’s the son of Mary and Joseph and he’s working in carpentry. And what about that other strange birth, where the husband was struck dumb? What was his name? Zechariah, and his wife was Elizabeth. Whatever happened to that boy? Somebody must have said, "Oh, he’s grown up now. Apparently, he went into the desert somewhere. Who knows what he’s doing? Apparently his mom and dad have lost track of him. He’s off in the desert. Maybe he’ll show up someday." And then all of a sudden, here he comes. The forerunner appears in fulfillment of God’s promise. John the Baptist is not somebody with a bright idea about religion. John the Baptist is not somebody who has come up with a program. He is not somebody who has invented a concept and managed to find a way to market it. No, John the Baptist is there in the fulfillment of God’s promise in the Old Testament. John the Baptist is written about 600 years before Christ. That’s the significance. "I will send my messenger ahead of you." It’s a word from God to his Messiah, the Son, reminding him that there will be a messenger that will precede him like a voice calling in the desert, "Prepare the way for the Lord and make the straight paths for him." The promise of the messenger. As I traveled down the east coast of Scotland on Thursday morning by train, I was reflecting on how much I enjoy railway travel. I recalled from my history classes that there was in the mid-19th century an act that was passed called the Locomotive Act, which was the twelve-mile-an-hour act. That stipulated that no locomotive could weigh more than 12 tons and it was not allowed to be driven at more than 12 miles an hour. Four years later, in 1865, they passed the two-mile-an-hour act, which was also known as the Red Flag Act. This determined that the locomotive could not go at more than two miles an hour through a city or a village or a town, and that a pedestrian carrying a red flag should precede the locomotive at a distance of some sixty yards. As we went hurtling down the east coast of Scotland, I just had this picture of a little man with a red flag, just trying to stay in front of the locomotive. Do you think he stayed sixty yards in front? You bet your life he did. You’ve got 12 tons steaming and breathing and coming right up your tail. He had every reason to stay sixty yards in front. He knew what his job was: "Hey, the train’s coming." It’s a joke, really, because you could hear the train more than you could see the joker with a flag. But that’s what John the Baptist is doing. He has a flag, as it were, and he steps up on the stage of human history and his sole responsibility is to wave the flag and to say, "Hey, the Messiah is on his way. Jesus is coming. I want to let you know this." Well, here we have his arrival in verse four. We move from our first point, the promise of the messenger, to the arrival of the messenger. "And so John came," verse four, "baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." I would encourage you to read the comparative treatments of John as you find them in Matthew and Luke and also in the Gospel of John. When you put the pieces together, remember the gospels are a bit like newspaper reporters. They all report similar material, sometimes the exact same stuff, but they report it from their own vantage point and perspective. In the same way that you find the same thing reported by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal—it is the same information, but you just say, "Well, I wonder if these two people were at the same event," because there are variations in the way it’s recorded. So it is here. But what you discover without question is that the arrival of this messenger was the arrival of a strange man. He was a strange man. He had a very interesting beginning. The details of his birth you can read in Luke chapter one. He had a very strange beginning, but he was also pretty strange by this point in his life. It’s not usual for people to be identified by their clothes and their diet. Maybe the Old Testament prophets, but I can’t think of many in the New Testament whose lifestyle is described for us in this way. Therefore, it must be of note. In verse six, we’re told that he wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. This is a kind of prophetic look that he had. People said, "Why are you dressing up like that? Do you think you’re one of the Old Testament prophets?" And he said, "Maybe." Because in one sense he was. He was like the last of the Old Testament prophets. He bridged the gap over the intertestamental period and now stood at the end of the line and the beginning of the line before the one that he announced was to appear. He’s not only a strange man, but he’s in a strange place. "And so John came," notice verse four, "baptizing in the desert region." If you’re going to start something, why wouldn’t you start where the crowds are? Would make sense, wouldn’t it? Why not go to the temple area? There are lots of people in the temple area. No, he goes to a desert region. One commentator describes it as a hot, uninhabitable depression. For the Jordan Valley started at a certain height below sea level and went down actually about 1,100, 900 or 1,100 feet. Somewhere down in that Jordan Valley was where he had set up camp and where he was engaging in his ministry. In other words, when you think about the location, you say to yourself, "No one will ever go there to hear him." Shouldn't he be in a nice suburban location, visible from the freeway with good access and plenty of parking? I mean, that’s the only way you could get it going, isn’t it? If he had any sense at all, if he really is a forerunner, an announcer, why wouldn’t he go where there are people to announce to? What a strange place for such a strange man.
Guest (Male): You’re listening to a message titled "A Man with a Message" on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg. We’ll hear the conclusion tomorrow. In the meantime, we have a special offer I want to tell you about. For a limited time, you can download a free audiobook and study guide from Alistair. The book is called *Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle*. This book looks at the apostle Paul’s prayers for the believers in Ephesus to help us rejuvenate our own prayer lives. You’ll often hear people say that prayer is powerful, but Alistair teaches that it’s God who is powerful. Prayer is one of the means he uses to complete his purposes. So when we pray, we’re given the privilege of taking part in God’s great plan and we’re more attuned to his work and his glory. Often our prayers are for physical needs of others or for ourselves, for jobs or financial security, health, travel safety, things like that. And those aren’t unimportant, but what about prayers for spiritual needs? When you read Paul’s prayers, you find that he didn’t pray for things like comfort or material provision. He prayed for believers to be strengthened by God and to have unshakable hope and certainty that God is always with them. In *Pray Big*, Alistair shows how you can pray like this for people you love. Download the free audiobook and study guide today. Go to truthforlife.org/praybig. And by the way, *Pray Big* is a great book to go through together with a friend or your family or your Bible study group. So pass the link along to whoever comes to mind, and together you can commit to praying for one another in ways that the apostle Paul demonstrated in Ephesians. Again, the link is truthforlife.org/praybig. Thanks for listening. While some churches struggle to draw visitors in, vast crowds went into the desert to hear John the Baptist preach. What was the big attraction? We’ll find out tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth For Life, where the learning is for living.