We left off last week in verse 12, Mark 1.
It says,
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
! And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.
! And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
and saying,
The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.
Passing along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon,
casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother,
who were in their boat, mending their nets.
And immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Just pray with me.
Holy Father, we just want to express our great need for you this morning,
that we have nothing to offer in and of ourselves.
We can't bring anything to the table.
Lord, we need your help to, not just to understand your word, Lord,
but to let it resonate in our hearts.
And God, I just pray that your word would have its desired effect today in the hearts of the people here.
We love you.
We just lift you up in Christ's name.
Amen.
So, if you just noticed, we just read through...
I've been walking around a lot just because I can't see.
If you noticed, we just read through like three major parts in this all together at once.
We read through the temptation of Christ.
We read through the start of Christ's ministry.
And then we read through the calling of the first disciples, just all back to back.
And it'd be very easy to turn each one of these into like a five-week sermon, each section on this.
Because in the other Gospels, Matthew and Luke, they give you a lot more detailed accounts of these events,
like the temptation in Matthew 4.
You could just go on and on.
And so, instead of doing that, we could have done that.
But instead of doing that, if you really read carefully, like in the Gospel of Mark,
and you're really praying that the Spirit kind of like shows you what's going on,
you'll see that that's not really Mark's intent.
He doesn't want you to get stuck or just stay on these places.
He wants you to kind of keep moving on.
And if you don't do that, you'll sometimes miss the purpose for why the author wrote something a certain way.
So that's why we're trying to like bring it all together into one thing, to get a wider view of what's going on.
So Mark even uses the word immediately, I think nine times almost, in chapter one.
It gets you to kind of keep moving on.
So we're just going to take a wider view of things.
Mark skipped over the initial ministry that Jesus had in South Judea.
He missed the cleansing of the temple and the Samaritan woman at the well, like all that.
Kind of like he doesn't mention that, but that would have happened.
You can see it in the other Gospels in between these things.
So he's going into Galilee.
It goes from the temptation right into his ministry in Galilee.
So why?
Why does Mark do this?
Why the speed in which Mark does this?
And really the answer is that Mark seems to be wanting to establish that Jesus is the king.
Jesus is like the new king who has arrived on the scene.
If you look at verse one in chapter one, it says the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.
Just proclaiming that like the king of kings has arrived.
The long-awaited Messiah is here.
And if he's going to be the new king, he has to establish his authority.
He has to show that he is who he says he is.
And that's what these three things, three sections that we're going to look at, talk about.
So I guess if you had to call this message something, it would be like the authority of our Christ,
like the authority of Christ and how he demonstrates it.
So we see last week when we talked about baptism that this is when Christ was, I guess,
you could say it was his coronation as the king who's come.
He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit descended on him and the Father spoke from above that this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
So all three members of the Trinity, they are at work together at Christ's baptism.
And really awesome, awesome picture.
And Christ was going to fulfill all the Old Testament roles that the new king was going to fulfill.
And if you, I'll just read this in John 3 to you real quick.
John 3, verse 34, talking about Jesus, says,
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
So it says here that Jesus was given the Holy Spirit without measure.
That's incredible.
That's awesome.
He's saying that, like he had this measureless anointing of the Holy Spirit, Christ did.
And that's what happened at the baptism.
Christ then just jumps right into his earthly ministry.
So he wants to demonstrate.
I'll say I'll just kind of give you the three points in advance and then we can kind of unpack them.
But Christ is going to demonstrate his authority in three different realms.
He's going to demonstrate his authority over Satan in his realm.
So he's going to have to show that he is the new king who's going to overthrow the usurper, Satan.
He's got to prove that he can destroy the works of the devil like it's been spoken of.
And that will be in the temptation.
Secondly, he shows his authority over sin and its dominion.
So Satan, then sin itself.
And then thirdly, he shows his authority over sinners.
People like you and me, he shows authority over them.
So that's just kind of the rightful conclusion.
If he has authority over Satan, authority over sin, then he definitely would have authority over sinners.
So he's going to establish his rule in our hearts.
So we'll look at the first point.
This is point one.
And so the authority of Christ over Satan.
And we see this in verse 12 and 13.
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
And he was in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by Satan.
And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
So that's Mark's shot, like right there, a snapshot of what happened at the temptation.
So we could go to Matthew, we could go to Luke, but we're not going to.
We were going to just talk about what Mark gives us here, for the most part, and add in a little bit of what the other authors say.
But immediately following his empowerment by the Spirit, it says he was driven into the wilderness.
And this is like a very, very strong verb.
It literally means like to impel someone, to throw them out.
Like Jesus was literally thrown out, led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.
And it was the will of the Father.
It wasn't the will of Satan.
It wasn't the will of anything else.
This is what God desired.
And so Christ had this strong compulsion to go into the wilderness.
And so don't misunderstand that.
James tells us that temptation does not come from God.
God tempts no one, nor can he be tempted by evil.
But what is true is that God will allow his own people to go through temptation
in order that they can have victory through it and become stronger.
If you remember at the Last Supper, Jesus told Peter,
Satan has asked to sift you like wheat.
Like he's asked.
And we're giving him permission, you know.
But in the end, he was going to be strengthened through what happened to him.
And so he has the same idea here is that Christ is going to be sifted,
be tempted by Satan himself.
So it wasn't by chance.
It wasn't by a whim.
Christ deliberately was set out into the wilderness.
And he was going.
So why the wilderness?
You ever thought, like, why couldn't it just be somewhere else?
Personally, when I think of like, like if someone like said,
just the Spirit drove me immediately into the mountains,
I'd be like, all right, the mountains, you know.
But I would think like temptation would be a lot stronger,
like in a city setting for me.
But with Jesus, this wasn't a lush mountain paradise.
It was a barren wasteland.
It really was.
It was the wilderness.
And so why was he driven there?
Because he's going to have to face Satan by himself.
Like he can't, he's not going to have anybody there to support him.
At all.
He's going to be by himself.
And so this area, a lot of historians say, is called Yashinam.
It means like the devastation.
That's what they call this area, the devastation.
And it's around 35 by 15 miles.
It's wild, uninhabited.
It's near Jericho Road going through Jerusalem.
I looked up pictures of it, just kind of see what it looked like.
And it is really quite, quite barren.
Very desolate place.
There's certain cliffs and ravines that plunge hundreds of feet down.
It's not a place you just want to go and hang out at all.
And Deuteronomy talks about this area.
And it says, it speaks of a great wilderness.
Fiery serpents, scorpions, and a thirsty ground with no water.
That's what it talks about in Deuteronomy.
So, also in the Old Testament, we know that, like, lions were prevalent.
We know that jackals were.
So this is all the stuff that he's surrounded with.
Have any of you ever, like, probably not, but, like, camped out by yourself, out in the woods?
It's, I've done that before.
I actually kind of enjoy it.
But usually it freaks a lot of people out just because you've seen too many movies, probably.
But, like, you start hearing noises and you're just like, like every little thing, you're just all wired up about.
Thinking, like, what could that be?
But, like, Christ was literally surrounded by this for 40 days and 40 nights.
And by himself.
And a very terrifying aspect.
So you think about this.
Adam, our father, Adam, he was tempted in a lush, green paradise, right?
And he was tempted with a companion, Eve, who was with him.
So he wasn't alone.
But Christ is completely opposite.
He's in a barren wasteland, a desolate wilderness, and he's all alone by himself.
So, man, just think about that.
And so, Satan comes after him.
And so who is Satan?
You know, like we, so many misconceptions about who Satan really is, even in the church.
But he's the ruler of darkness.
And Satan, Satan, just means like the adversary or the opponent of our soul.
Just who he is.
The devil, the other name for him, it means like to throw, really.
It means to, in the sense of throwing up slandering against somebody.
And this is what he's done.
He takes the wonderful, beautiful things that God has given us and he twists them and perverts them and does all he can to, like, destroy the beauty of them.
And he hates them with great malice.
And so, up until this point, right, no one in Adam's race has been able to, like, withstand Satan.
No way.
No one has.
None of Israel's great heroes have.
You think about it, like, Samson, who was the strongest.
Satan overthrew him, right?
He took down Solomon, who was the wisest, made him look like a fool.
And then he overcame David, who was the most passionate and zealous with grievous temptation.
So, like, it doesn't matter.
Like, all of Adam's race, who's gone, has not been able to withstand Satan.
And so he's, Christ has to establish that he is the new king, that he has the power to rule and the power to remain that way over his formidable adversary, Satan.
So, think about this.
Can you imagine, just pretend you don't know, like, what's going to happen in the long-awaited Messiah that we've been waiting for,
where he's finally going to have, like, a showdown, if you want to call it that, in the arena with Satan himself.
Is he going to prove that he is sovereign, or is he going to prove that, like, Satan is his equal?
You know, like, Christianity is not a, we talked about this on Thursday night,
it's not a dualistic thing where you have good and evil bowing it out, and both are equally matched, and it's like a fight.
Is it going to prove to be that, or is it going to show that Christ has complete control and complete sovereignty in this situation?
And Christ, our older brother, he's called in Hebrews, Christ is called our older brother.
I don't know how many of you have older brothers, but my parents are here today.
I love my older brother.
He's a knucklehead sometimes, I want to punch him sometimes, but he's a good guy.
And I have a really vague memory of, like, being in elementary school,
and, like, these kids were, these older kids were picking on my buddies,
and I, like, stood up to them, I said, you know, get lost or whatever,
and, like, I'm going to take no stuff, you know, so I, like, stood up to them.
But I remember thinking, like, oh, man, like, I'm going to get it from these guys.
There's, like, three of them, and, like, they're all bigger than me,
but I'm going down with a fight, you know, kind of thought.
But then I remember, like, walking up to them, and, like, they just kind of went like this,
and they started, like, walking away.
Then they started running, and then I was like, man, what happened?
And then, like, I saw my older brother, like, running, like, past me,
and he just, like, pummeled one of them, like, on the back, and I was like, get away.
So, yeah, then I came by and, like, did the little on the ground.
And so, like, Christ, our older brother is, like, entering the arena with Satan here.
And if you can imagine, just, like, watching this on a big screen,
just not knowing, like, what was going to happen.
But if he really was a long way in Messiah, he was going to be able to overthrow Satan.
And he's going to be able to prove that he was the one in Genesis 3 who was spoken about,
who would crush the head of the serpent.
So, 40 days, that is a long time.
But just so you're aware, like, a 40-day fast is not an uncommon thing in the Old Testament.
Moses in Exodus 34 had a 40-day fast.
Elijah in 1 Kings, he had a 40-day fast.
So you would be near, like, almost physical depletion by that time.
You really would be.
It only would be if God was in it would you almost survive.
And so, what was Christ's temptation?
Like, have you ever thought about that?
Like, what was he being tempted with?
It really could be kind of several things with all the same aim, I guess, or the same goal.
But one was, like, Satan might not have been trying to tempt him to give up his sovereignty or his royalty,
but he was trying to tempt him to abandon his humiliation.
Like, you're the Son of God.
Don't put up with this.
You should have the right to eat.
You should be doing this.
Why are you doing this to yourself?
So, definitely a strong assault of, like, you don't have to do this.
You're the Son of God.
Abandon this humiliation.
Because he was trying to prevent Christ from getting to the cross, right?
So, that's one.
And then the other hand, he actually was trying to get Jesus to commit sin and disobedience
so that he wouldn't be the perfect sacrifice for our sins anymore.
But on both attempts, though, really,
it was just trying to subvert God's plan and God's redemptive purpose on the cross.
So, Christ had to remain true to the Father,
and he had to remain sinless if that was going to happen.
So, that was his goal.
But if you ever thought about this, like Christ, the Scripture said,
has been tempted in every way, just like us.
It says that he was a child and that he grew in wisdom and stature with God.
He was a teenager, and he was a man, and he never sinned.
Peter said this,
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
And then towards the end of Luke's Gospel,
Jesus tells his disciples,
You have been with me through many temptations.
So, don't mistake this as also being the only temptation that Christ faced.
It probably was one of the most intense times,
but he was tempted in every way, just like we were.
So, what's the outcome of the temptation?
In his weakest and the most isolated circumstances imaginable,
Christ remains steadfast.
Through total dependence on the Father,
through prayer,
he remained that way.
He quoted the Scripture.
We know that from the other Gospels, right?
He quoted from Torah, from Deuteronomy,
three different times.
And just the Word of God is powerful.
Psalm 119 says this,
Great peace have those who love your law.
Nothing can make them stumble.
You see that?
That's what Christ was holding on to.
So, Christ overcame.
And he remained like the sinless sacrifice.
And just think about it.
Like, finally, remember like the last words he said in the temptation?
When Satan goes after him, he says,
Away with you, Satan.
Like, he commands him, like, sovereignly,
to get out of my face.
Like, you are done.
And he slithered away like the snake he is
from the holy presence of Jesus.
And he did this all by himself,
with total dependence on the Father.
Now, don't make the mistake.
Like, Jesus didn't have some kind of upper hand, okay?
If he did, then he wouldn't,
his temptations would not have been real.
To be the sinless, perfect sacrifice,
he had to be tempted every way,
just like we were.
So, it wasn't like he had some kind of supernatural juice
that just kind of got him through this.
Like, he was utterly dependent on the Father.
You see that in Gethsemane, too.
He's going to the Father.
He's showing us how to overcome.
So, he did it.
And he did it for us,
and for the salvation and the glory of his Father.
And then, all that Mark says is,
like, angels minister to him.
How cool is that?
Like, right after the temptation,
angels come from heaven and minister to him.
So, what do you think that could have been?
Well, the phrase is used, like ministering.
It means to serve food.
Pretty cool.
So, like, I bet it was some special,
awesome concoction from food from heaven
that God, like, brought him partially,
like to restore him back to physical health
after all that was over.
So, what's the point?
Flip to Hebrews 4 real quick.
Hebrews 4, verse 14.
So, Christ has exercised,
and he's proved his total authority over Satan.
And he overcame him.
Okay?
Check this out.
Awesome stuff.
Verse 14.
Since then, we have a great high priest
who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weakness.
See that?
But one who in every respect
has been tempted as we are,
yet without sin.
So, every way we were.
Every way.
It says then,
let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help
in time of need.
So,
Christ suffered
far greater temptations
than we were,
to be honest,
I believe,
because he never gave in.
If you ever, like,
arm wrestled someone really strong before,
and like maybe,
like you resisted for a while,
but then you broke,
like,
you didn't really feel
the full force of that guy,
did you?
Like,
you capitulated and broke
before you really felt
the full onslaught
of what that big dude
had to offer you,
but Jesus didn't break.
You see that?
Like,
he was stood the full force
of what temptation
had to offer.
So,
Christ,
our older brother,
has conquered,
and he's cleared the way
for us,
and because he is overcome,
now we can overcome.
He's cleared the way
to the Father
and provided all we need.
So,
flip back to Mark again.
We'll go on to
the second point.
And the second point,
number two,
so we have the authority
of Christ over Satan,
and now we have the authority
of Christ over sin.
Alright,
we see this in verse 14 and 15.
Now,
after John was arrested,
John the Baptist,
Jesus came into Galilee
proclaiming the gospel of God
and saying,
the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God
is at hand.
Repent and believe
the gospel.
And this phrase
kind of summarizes
Christ's preaching ministry.
If you ever wonder,
like,
what do I say?
Like,
what's the message
that we bring to
a lost world?
Like,
in the most simple way,
like,
this is it.
Like,
this is the gospel message.
And,
so,
God's establishing,
or Christ is establishing
His authority over sin
and in the lives
of Adam's fallen race.
So,
in response to this,
we're to repent
and believe the gospel.
So,
the kingdom of God,
let's just look at that
just for one second.
Well,
most people,
most theologians would say
that the kingdom of God
should be,
can be understood
in three different ways.
But,
one is
the spiritual kingdom,
the invisible kingdom.
And that is,
like,
when Christ comes to rule,
like,
in the hearts of mankind.
We can't see it with our eyes,
but it's there
and it's worldwide.
It goes all over the world.
So,
that's the kingdom of God,
at least the spiritual kingdom,
is happening,
like,
right now.
And then,
there's a future millennial kingdom
with the new earth
that's talked about
in Revelation 20.
And that's to come
where Christ will fulfill
all the Old Testament prophecies
about the Messiah.
And then,
following that,
the last aspect of the kingdom
is the eternal kingdom.
And that's when we all
accumulate,
finally,
with the new heaven,
with the Father.
That's all,
it's in Daniel,
it's in Isaiah,
it's Revelation,
all that.
So,
when Jesus says
the kingdom of God
is here,
it is here
because the king is there.
You see that?
Christ has brought
the kingdom.
And,
if you want to think about it
this way,
like,
the kingdom of God
is already here,
but it's not yet
fully here.
And,
for a long time,
people have described
that as like,
if you can picture
like the sun
kind of coming up
over the horizon,
it's kind of piercing
through the darkness,
but the sun's not
completely up yet.
Like,
that's kind of what
the kingdom is right now.
Like,
it's breaking through
the darkness,
but it is here,
but it's not yet
fully here.
So,
where it says,
where Jesus says
the time is fulfilled,
really cool.
Like,
I'll always be encouraged
that God is a
planning God.
He's not making
stuff up.
This is stuff
that He's ordained
before the foundation
of the world.
Jesus says
the time is fulfilled,
the keros,
which means like,
it doesn't mean like
clock time,
or calendar time,
or anything like that.
It has to do with
the idea of
a fixed point
in history
for an event
to happen.
That's what He's
talking about.
So,
Galatians 4,
for instance,
says,
like,
in the fullness
of time,
God sent forth
His Son.
So,
this is like
the fixed time
when God was
to do this.
So,
Jesus is saying,
like,
that time
is now,
like,
I am here,
and the kingdom
is here.
It's the most
significant error
in history,
and where the Messiah
would come and pay
the penalty for sin
and save sinners.
So,
like,
that's the kingdom.
So,
how do we get
into the kingdom?
how does one
take part
of this new
reign
that's now
coming
or being
reestablished,
I should say?
Well,
repent and
believe the
gospel.
Like,
that's how we
do it.
So,
let's just look at
these,
like,
repent.
It really
means,
some people say
it means,
like,
to just turn
around,
but it
implies a lot
more than that.
It means,
like,
to change
one's mind
for the
better.
A total
turning away
from sin,
hating it,
and resolving
by God's
power to be
completely free
of it,
to completely
fight against
it,
to forsake
it.
So,
it's not just,
if you notice
this too,
when you read
this language,
you'll see that
repent and
believe is not
like an
invitation,
it's not
like a
suggestion,
it's a
command,
like from
Jesus,
like repent
and believe
the gospel.
It's not
like,
come on,
you can
repent and
you can
believe if
you just
want to
do that,
it's a
command.
He's
exercising
his authority
here,
and he's
commanding all
men to
turn away
from their
sin and
to come
to him
because he
knows that
he is
their only
hope.
Have you
ever noticed
that some
commands can
be loving
things,
right?
Like,
your kids
running out
to the road
where there's
a lot of
traffic,
and you're
like,
come back
right now,
like I
command you
to come
back.
Like,
that's a
loving
command.
He's
saying,
like,
repent and
believe the
gospel as
a command.
So,
believe.
Got repent,
and what about
believe?
It doesn't
just mean,
like,
a mental
assent to
who God
is.
A lot of
people can
do that.
Unbelievers
can do that.
It means to
be persuaded.
It means to
be convicted
strongly,
and to throw
your total
trust into
something.
It's like
a belief
that's so
strong that
it actually
changes your
actions.
Notice that?
Like,
it's not just
like,
I believe
that.
It's like
it really
does affect
how you
live.
That's the
kind of
word that's
used here.
And then
the word
gospel,
glad tithing,
it's good
news.
The good
news about
the Messiah,
the new
king coming
to redeem
mankind.
That's what,
so,
repent and
believe the
gospel.
Throw
yourself
completely
into
Jesus
and depend
on him
only for
salvation.
Turn away
from your
sin and
forsake it
and resolve
by God's
power to
put it to
death.
So,
that's how
they get
into the
kingdom.
So,
the gospel
though,
was how
God plans
to destroy
the power
of the devil,
the power
of sin.
So,
flip to
Colossians 2
real fast.
John said,
for this
reason,
the Son of
God appeared
to destroy
the works
of the
devil.
It's not
just to
destroy
Satan,
but also
to destroy
the works
of Satan,
to destroy
sin itself.
So,
by his
death and
resurrection,
he would
destroy
the power
of sin
to rule
over us.
I'm so
glad,
because I
can't do
it by
myself.
Like,
guys who
live with me,
they would
know.
Like,
I can't
put sin
to death
by myself.
We would
just be
utterly
lost.
So,
let's
just look
at this.
Colossians 2
verse 13
says this,
And when
you were
dead in
your
trespasses,
and in
the uncircumcision
of your
flesh,
you were
made alive
together with
him,
having
forgiven
us all
our
trespasses,
by
canceling
the record
of debt
that stood
against us,
with his
legal demands,
and this
he set
aside,
nailing it
to the
cross.
And then
I'll read
just this
next verse.
It says,
When he
had disarmed
the rulers
and authorities,
he made
a public
display of
them,
having triumphed
over them
through him.
So,
there's a lot
in that.
But,
we were in
a desperate
state.
Like,
our sinful
condition was
not just
like a
kind of
bad thing,
we're sick,
and we just
need some
medicine.
We were
utterly
just a
corpse
spiritually,
and we
needed a
sovereign
God to
resurrect us
from the
dead,
and we
were not
a part
of the
people of
God at
all.
But then
it says,
God made
you alive
together with
Christ,
with him.
And then
it says that
the cross
canceled the
record of
death that
stood against
us.
See that?
Like,
we have
this record
of everything,
every thought,
every motive,
every action
that we
ever have
committed
against
God.
And it
would be
this endless
list,
like,
forever
long,
but Christ
canceled it,
or he blotted
it out,
as some
other good
translations say.
He literally
blotted out
what you
did by what
he did on
the cross.
He paid the
penalty for
it.
He canceled
the record
of debt,
and he
nailed it
to the
cross.
So,
what's really
cool here,
though,
is what
happened?
What happened?
Then it
mentions,
like,
the spiritual
enemies of
our souls
in verse
15,
if you see
that.
He disarmed
the rulers
and authorities.
Then he
uses the
word triumph
over them.
Now,
just indulge
me.
Those of you
who know
me know
I really
like ancient
history a lot.
I love,
like,
Roman history,
Greek history.
But,
in the time
of the Roman
Republic,
this is before,
like,
all the
emperors,
before the
Caesars,
there was
two men
elected every
year called
consuls,
and they
were more
or less
like generals.
And,
like,
the ones
who fought
against Hannibal,
they were
consuls,
they were
all that.
So,
but if a
consul won
a major
battle or
major victory,
the Republic,
the Senate,
allowed him
a parade
to come
through
Rome itself.
It was
called a
triumph.
And he
would ride
in a
chariot,
and he
would have
this big,
you know,
pomp and
celebration
for the
people of
Rome.
But behind
the consul
would be
like prisoners
that they had
taken from
the battle.
They would
have these
big things
that they
would carry,
like some
of the
prisoners on
top of,
these platforms
that kind
of put them
on display
for the
people of
Rome to
see.
And they
also would
have like
armor and
weapons that
the enemy
fought with.
And at
least in
the ancient
world,
if you
were a
warrior,
if you
were a
soldier,
to have
your weapons
taken away
from you
was like
the greatest
act of
shame ever.
Like it
was like
you were
naked,
really.
Like you
just didn't
have anything
to offer.
So to be
disarmed was
complete,
total humiliation.
And this
is what it's
saying,
like Christ
did.
You see
that?
Like he
is the
triumphator
over Satan,
over evil.
and he's
put Satan
on public
display.
You see
that?
Like he's
made a
mockery of
him.
So like
what was
Satan's
weapon?
Like what
was,
what did
the cross
take care
of?
If you
notice,
the cross
didn't destroy
Satan,
did it?
Like Satan's
still alive
and active
today.
He will
ultimately be
destroyed.
We know
from what
scripture says
he will
ultimately be
destroyed.
But what
happened at
the cross?
And this
is something
John Piper
said.
He said
about this
verse,
when the
record of
our law
breaking
is nailed
to the
cross
and
canceled,
the power
of Satan
to destroy
us is
broken.
Satan
has only
one weapon
that can
damn us
to hell,
unforgiven
sin.
And this
weapon,
Christ stripped
from Satan's
hand on
the cross.
So like
he's disarmed
him,
like he
doesn't have
any power
over us
anymore
because of
what Christ
did at
the cross.
And that's
the gospel.
Like in
this present
life,
we can
be delivered
from the
power of
sin and
the power
of Satan
through what
Christ has
done and
be saved
from the
wrath of
God.
So,
awesome stuff.
Lastly,
the third
thing,
the authority
of Christ
over sinners
is now
demonstrated.
So,
authority of
Christ over
Satan,
authority of
Christ over
sin.
sin,
the obvious
outcome of
that would
be Christ's
authority over
sinners,
people like
you and
me.
Back in
Mark,
verse 12,
passing along
the Sea of
Galilee,
he saw
Simon and
Andrew,
the brother of
Simon,
casting a
net into the
sea,
for they
were fishermen.
And Jesus
said to them,
follow me,
and I will
make you
become fishers
of men.
And
immediately,
there's that
word again,
they left
their nets
and followed
him.
And going
on a little
farther,
he saw
James,
the son of
Zebedee,
and John,
his brother,
who were in
their boat
mending the
nets.
And immediately
he called
them,
and they
left their
father Zebedee
in the boat
with the
higher servants
and followed
him.
So,
Christ shows
that he has
the power
to rule in
the hearts
of men here.
And in the
same way,
you should
know,
these are
just ordinary
guys.
These are
blue-collar,
not your
most sophisticated
kind of guys.
Like,
I don't
consider myself
a decent
fisherman.
I don't
really go
much anymore.
But,
like,
I know
some guys
who are
just straight
out blue-collar,
chill dudes
who just love
to fish,
you know.
And,
like,
the Lord
picks these
ordinary men
to display
his power
in them.
They were
fishers on
the Sea of
Galilee.
Galilee had
a huge
fishing industry.
That was the
main industry
for meat
in the
Mediterranean
world.
It was fish.
And so,
they were also
exporters of
the fish they
had.
as well.
And,
really cool,
when we see
this though,
when Jesus
came to them,
it's important
to know that
he already
knew who
they were.
Like,
from other
gospels,
they were at
John's baptism
where they saw
Jesus come,
and John
said,
there's the
Lamb of God.
So,
they already
knew who
Jesus was.
Jesus knew
who they
were.
But then he
came up to
them and did
something very
unusual.
He commanded
them to come
to him.
Right?
Rabbis didn't
do that.
There's no
record in
any Old
Testament or
ancient Hebrew
writings at all
that ever said,
like a
rabbi,
would come and
say,
come to me,
like,
follow me.
Never
happened.
Even the
prophet said,
turn to God,
follow God,
but like Christ
actually commands
them to come,
follow me,
and I'll make
you fishers of
men.
very unusual.
So,
he did this
in the most
extreme way
possible.
He's asking
them to
abandon their
way of life,
to abandon
their fishing
industry,
to leave
their family,
and to
become heralds
of the gospel,
to become heralds
of the good
news.
I will teach
you how to
do these
things.
And they
came.
It was a
sovereign
enabling.
God has the
power over our
hearts.
I don't know
if you know
that or not.
Some of us
like to think
that we
have the
power,
but like the
God who
created the
universe has
the power
to create
in us a
new heart.
And that's
what being
born again
is.
That's what
regeneration
is, is the
Holy Spirit
giving us a
new heart
that can love
God and
follow God.
And so,
he commands
them and they
come.
And later on
in chapter 8,
we'll get there
in a few
months,
probably.
He,
yeah,
right.
It says,
if any man
come after
me,
let him
deny himself,
take up his
cross and
follow me.
Basically,
come and die.
That's what he's
saying,
come and die.
And to us,
it may be like,
you know what,
following Christ
may not cost us
our lives,
some of us it
might,
but he is saying
like,
if you knew
that following
me would cost
you your life,
would you come
anyway?
Are you that
desperate for
me?
Do you really
know who I
am?
And if you
really do
believe that,
it's not going
to matter.
You're going
to be willing
to cast aside
anything to
be with Christ,
family,
friends.
And he says
those kind of
things.
Luke 14,
Matthew 10,
he says that
kind of stuff.
You have to
love me more
than your life
itself.
He says that.
So they put
an end to the
family business
right there.
and they
headed out
to follow
Jesus.
And he
trained them
to preach
the gospel.
So he
established his
follow this,
okay?
Jesus established
the means
by calling
these men,
he established
the means
by which his
kingdom would
advance to
transform broken
sinners.
That's how he
chose to do it,
through us.
In other words,
like,
how awesome is
that?
He sovereignly
identifies these
guys,
and he sovereignly
calls these
guys.
And he's done
the same to
us.
So these are
just simple
men.
I wanted just
to show you
one other
passage.
And look at
Acts chapter 4
real quick.
Acts chapter 4,
verse 13.
Okay.
So just think
about this.
This is after
Christ has
gone back
to the
Father.
This is after
the disciples
have spent
years following
Jesus and
watching Jesus.
And now
they've been
empowered by
the Holy
Spirit to
preach the
good news.
And so what
about these
ordinary,
simple men?
What kind of
power did
Christ have in
their lives?
And because
you remember
before the
resurrection,
they were
scared.
They were
running.
They were
trying to
hide.
They were
terrified.
But after
they saw
Jesus,
they were
completely
bold and
empowered by
the Spirit.
And verse
13 says
this,
Now when
they saw
the boldness
of Peter
and John,
and they
perceived that
they were
uneducated,
common men,
they were
astonished,
and they
recognized that
they had been
with Jesus.
See that?
It doesn't
matter who
we are.
If we
know Christ
and we
walk with
Christ,
commune with
Christ,
what He can
use us for
is the sky's
the limit.
William
Carey, a
great missionary,
he said,
expect
extraordinary
things from
God and
attempt
extraordinary
things for
God.
Ask God to
empower you
to advance
the kingdom
for His
glory.
I'll read
you one
other text
in Acts
17.
Just go
ahead and
turn there.
You're already
in Acts.
Acts 17,
verse 6.
You can
see that
like the
followers of
Christ are
calling like
a big
uproar,
these
uneducated
and common
men.
And
verse 6
says,
When they
could not
find them,
they dragged
Jason and
some of the
brothers before
the city
authorities.
So,
they're
arresting
them and
they're
saying,
These men
have turned
the world
upside down,
have come
here also.
So,
again,
the power
of Christ
and the
authority
of Christ
was enabling
these guys
to literally
turn the
world upside
down for
the kingdom
and for
the glory
of God,
for the
gospel.
So,
if we have
fellowship
with Christ,
no matter
how simple
we are,
He can
empower us
and we can
advance His
kingdom.
nothing to
fear either
because Christ
has overcome
Satan,
He's overcome
the power
of sin,
He's overcome
us.
So,
He has the
complete authority
to do that.
He's a king
worth living
for and
worth dying
for.
So,
let's just
rejoice that
He doesn't
have some
kind of
puny
authority.
It's like
a sovereign,
God-endowed,
awesome authority
that one day
He will come
back and
reestablish
complete authority
over all
things.
So,
let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.