Repent and believe in the gospel

What do you think is the one unique good work that Christians can do that non-Christians cannot do? It’s an important question. We know that the Bible describes Christians as being people who are different from the world. We should have lives that are marked by some sort of good works. But I’ve often thought about this and I recognize that non-Christians can do a lot of really good works. They can give to the poor. They can be kind to their waiter. They can be hospitable to their neighbors. They can encourage and lift up people who are hurting. They can be the sweetest people you’ve ever met. And truthfully, they can be better at many of those things that Christians are. So what is it? What can Christians do that others cannot? How are our works different?

This morning Jesus is going to show us the good work that he calls all of us to. It’s the good work that is definitive of his kingdom. In fact only those who are a part of his kingdom are capable of it. And that is repenting and believing the gospel.

And that’s what my challenge to each of you will be this morning.

Main Point – Repent and believe in the gospel

Text – Mark 1:14-20

Prayer

Last week we discussed John the Baptist’s ministry and message, and now we begin Jesus’ ministry and message. Here’s how he starts.

Point #1 – Believe in the arrival of the kingdom (vs. 14-15a)

The passage opens with a sharp contrast between John’s ministry and Jesus’ ministry. John’s is over. Jesus’ has begun. We know that John the Baptist’s ministry was aligned with the prophets. They all were foretelling the coming of someone greater. They all spoke of a kingdom that would someday occur. The time for anticipating God’s plan for salvation is over. John has been arrested. The last of the prophets is silenced. Now the time for that kingdom to arrive is actually here. Jesus arrives. He is on the scene and what is he saying? “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.” There is no more waiting. It’s near. The thing you’ve been anticipating is arriving.

Now what exactly is the kingdom of God and how has it come near? Our first inclination might be to imagine a kingdom as a location where a king rules at, but we have to rule that out because Jesus describes the kingdom as arriving and locations aren’t really things that show up, right? You don’t wake up one morning to discover that Disney World has arrived at your front door. So the kingdom can’t be primarily a location.

But if you remember last week when we talked about Jesus’ baptism, we mentioned that when the Father said to him, “You are my son” he was declaring that “You are my chosen king”. So we already know that Jesus is the king. In our passage, Jesus (the king) arrives on the scene and says, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” So this suggests to us that this “kingdom” is something that the king can bring with him.

So let me give you a definition of the kingdom and I want to give it carefully because it’s going to set the course for the rest of the book of Mark. Here it is:

“The kingdom of God is the reign of God that redeems his creation and his people so that they joyfully obey him for his glory.”

So let me break that definition down a little bit for you.

First it is the reign of God. Reign carries the idea of power and authority. God’s kingdom is the place where his power and authority are exercised over creation. You may ask, but doesn’t that include the whole universe? Doesn’t he have power over everything and reign over everything? Yes, but he is not actively exercising it in the same way. Sin exists. So there are parts of his creation and there are people who have not yet been brought fully under his authority. They continue to rebel. But the kingdom of God is where all have been brought under his power and authority.

Next in the kingdom of God we see redemption. Because all God’s creation is under the power and influence of sin, if any of it is to be brought into his kingdom, it must first be saved and redeemed. If this were not true, then the kingdom would simply be God crushing rebellion and rebels forever.

What does this redemption accomplish? It causes his creation and his people to joyfully obey him. Those who are a part of the kingdom have come into full and absolute submission to him. Because he redeemed them they are no longer rebels fighting his reign, but obedient servants submitting to it. And the greatest part is that it isn't some sort of horrible slave labor and submission, but it is joyful. The redeemed in the kingdom of God love to serve their king and are fulfilled by it.

Lastly, this is all done for God’s glory. If this is how God brings about his reign, by redemption and by joy, and with authority and with power, all of creation will recognize how glorious he is.

So when Jesus arrives in verse 15 and says, “The kingdom of God is at hand”, he is telling us that the king is here and he is beginning to establish his reign in all the earth. Jesus himself is ground zero for God’s reign to spread.

Do you remember the story of King Midas? King Midas was an ancient Greek myth where the king was given the power to turn everything he touched into gold. His bed, his flowers, his table all became gold when he simply touched them. Unfortunately for Midas he was unable to eat as his food became gold and sadly his daughter turned into gold as well. But the idea of someone being able to simply touch something and transform it into a new thing that is fascinatingly more than it used to be is still intriguing. In the gospel of Mark we will see Jesus spreading the kingdom wherever he goes, sometimes literally through touch. And when he touches something, darkness flees. Rebellion ends. Sorrow is stripped away. Death is defeated. Sin is forgiven. And it is brought into perfect alignment with the way God intended it at creation. It is filled with joy and every ounce of it is in submission to the king.

Church, does the notion of submission sound painful to you? Is having a ruler and king and someone with authority in your life repulsive to you? I recognize this can be a sensitive question because many of us have experienced abusive authority in our lives whether it was a parent, spouse, boss, spiritual leader or someone else. We’ve seen that when someone acts like they’re the king, pain and devastation can follow. And so we respond by bucking all authority and carrying around an attitude of “No one can tell me what to do” as a means of protecting ourselves. But authority, far from being inherently wicked, is baked into the kingdom of God’s very definition.

So to you who fear authority, I ask how has that translated into your relationship with God? Has it made you skeptical of his plans and love for you? Has it caused you to be slow to obey all that he has commanded? Does he need to prove himself to you before you follow him? Or has it prevented you from coming to Christ the king altogether? We weren’t made to be our own kings. We were made to be ruled over by the perfect king. Pray that God would cast aside your doubts and allow you to submit with joy.

And to those of you who find yourself in some position of authority, whether it’s in your home or your workplace or even in this church, how do you wield it? Do you use your authority selfishly to crush all who oppose you and force your own way? Or like Christ, do you use it to redeem? Do you use it to shape others in a way that brings about their joy and God’s glory? When you touch others with your authority, does it cause darkness to flee and sorrows to fall? Because that’s the authority exercised in the kingdom. That’s the kingship of Jesus Christ.

Friend, there is no more important matter for you in this life than that you enter into this kingdom where Christ rules. We must answer, “How can we enter the kingdom of God?”

Point #2 – Repent to enter the kingdom (15b)

So Jesus has introduced to us the idea of two kingdoms. In one kingdom, he is on the throne. He reigns and all joyfully submit to him. In the other kingdom, we are on our own throne and no one tells us what to do. This kingdom of open rebellion is called sin. It is the kingdom that all of creation has walked straight into. This is the earth and the kingdom Jesus enters.

And he Jesus speaks a short and powerful phrase that is the entire theme of this sermon. “Repent and believe the gospel.” Repent is a strong word. It’s one that we don’t like to use very much in polite conversation. If you tell someone to their face in any context, “Repent” the temperature of that conversation will immediately rise. Repent isn’t a word meant to bring about encouragement. We don’t tell someone to repent when what we mean is “You’re doing pretty good. Most of your life is in order, but there are a few areas maybe you could tweak.” Jesus wasn’t interested in people tweaking their already pretty good work to just make it a little bit better. He commands them in no uncertain terms. TURN AROUND. ALL OF YOU IS HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. That’s what the word repent means. It means turn back. Turn around. The way you’re going leads to destruction.

Jesus sees everyone marching toward the kingdom of sin and tells them to turn back. Well if they are to turn away from that, what are they to turn towards instead? It’s obvious. The kingdom of Christ. So his message to the world is “Repent from the kingdom of sin and believe in the kingdom of Christ.” When you turn away from sin, you turn towards Christ. When you turn towards Christ, you must turn away from sin. Do you see how repenting and believing MUST happen at the same time? They are not actions that can take place separately.

These two kingdoms are in opposite directions. You cannot walk towards them both at the same time. If you think you can enter the kingdom of God while at the same time holding onto your sin, you are deceiving yourself. There is no such thing as “mostly” following Jesus. You cannot “mostly” abandon sin. You might think to yourself, “Well I believe in God. I like God. I think his way is best. I even think Jesus is the only one who can save us.” Good. Great. But knowledge about God is not the same as believing and placing your faith in Christ. Knowing he’s the king doesn’t mean you’ve submitted to him as the king. And if you haven’t submitted, then friend, you are not part of his kingdom.

You say, “ I remember walking the aisle as a child? Aren’t I saved?” But did you repent from being the ruler of your own life? “A long time ago, I prayed a prayer with my parents. Isn’t that all I need?” But did you repent from being the ruler of your own life? “Shane, I’ve been part of this church for many years and I’ve served in so many ways. Surely, God’s pleased with me.” But did you repent from being the ruler of your own life? Did you turn from your sin? If so, when?! When did this happen? Turning your entire life around and heading in the opposite direction isn’t something that happens subtly. Repentance isn’t a mere course correction. Do you know when you first repented? If not, then I beg you to consider if you’ve ever actually turned.

Because what you are turning to is beautiful. You are turning to a belief in the gospel. You are turning to a Savior who redeems. He transforms. He uses his great authority and kingship, not to crush you, but to save you and to heal you. He’s a Savior who gives his life for you. Following this king is a joy. It is a delight that ruling yourself could never bring.

This is a sober and extreme call. I recognize that. But I assure you, you’re not the first to experience it. In the next verses, Mark provides us an example of some men who responded and what it cost them.

Point #3 – Leave it all for the sake of the kingdom (16-20)

Here we see a familiar scene to the gospels. Fishermen are fishing on the sea of Galilee. We have two sets of brothers. Simon (who would later be called Peter) is with his brother Andrew. James is with his brother John (not to be confused with John the Baptist), their father Zebedee, and apparently also some hired servants. It seems to be the middle of their work day. They’re busy with casting nets and mending nets. Zebedee must have a fairly successful business because he’s able to employ multiple servants to help in addition to having his own two boys. But this is not the location of the rich and culturally elite. This is where the working man lived. It’s dirty and smelly and people sweat there.

Now Jesus is beginning his ministry as a Jewish rabbi. And it was very common for rabbis to have disciples. But the way it typically worked was that a disciple would approach the rabbi he wanted to follow and ask for permission to follow him. The rabbi would then determine if he wanted this disciple or not based on how well he knew the Torah. Does this guy know enough? Does this guy ask the right questions? Is he capable of representing me and my teachings well? Basically, is he a good and smart guy?

But Jesus subverts that pattern here. He goes to the common place of work where fishermen are. He doesn’t go to the academic realm and the politically powerful. He finds working class fishermen. And then instead of the disciples coming to him to ask to be his disciple, he goes to them and demands they be his disciple. I say “demands” because at no point does this seem like an option. We’ve learned that Jesus is the king. We’ve learned that he is establishing God’s kingdom where he reigns and people obey. So it makes sense that the first time we see Jesus spreading the kingdom, he speaks with authority and people follow. Which tells us about what the qualifications for following Jesus are. Do you need to be especially educated or rich? Do you need to belong to a certain social class? Do you need to have a useful skill set? Do you need to be free from sin? No. The only requirement for following Jesus is that you obey when he calls. It’s very simple.

But there is a warning here as well. The warning is that it’s going to cost you something. Before each pair of brothers is able to follow Jesus, first they must leave something. Look at verse 17,

READ 17 and 18

To follow him, they had to leave their nets. Look at verse 20.

Read 20

Here they had to leave their father and their boats in order to follow Jesus

Could you imagine if they hadn’t left the nets? If they were trying to drag their nets with them to follow Jesus. Maybe they’re still very wet, they even have some fish flopping around in them. And they drag them up onto the shore and they start slowly and painfully dragging the net across the sand as Jesus walks ahead of them. If Simon and Andrew managed to get up off the beach with the nets and didn’t get tangled in anything, at some point Jesus would turn and look at them and ask the obvious question. “What are you bringing those for?” “Well just in case we need them.” And with blunt but sharp poignancy Jesus replies,“But those are completely useless to us here. I didn’t call you to follow me so that you could keep doing the same thing.”

Jesus’ call to follow him is necessarily to something different. It means they turn from what they were doing and they turn towards what he is doing. And to do that, they must leave something behind. It is impossible to go somewhere new without leaving something old. For these disciples it was their career. It was even their family. It was the certainty of the future because before Jesus called them they knew what their life was going to look like and they had it mapped out. They would grow the family fishing business. They would take over from their dad. They would have a sure means for providing for their families. But when Jesus calls them they have to leave those plans behind. Part of submitting to Jesus means you abandon all of the plans you had for yourself. It means stepping into a future where the only thing you're certain of is the person you’re following. Everything else is up for grabs. Everything else is left behind.

What I find so fascinating about this account is that after this, the lives of these men becomes so radically different that you would never have known they were fishermen to begin with. The gospel of Mark is written at least 35 years after Jesus dies on the cross. So perhaps it is written 40 years after the disciples have this encounter with Jesus on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. 40 years after they leave everything to follow Jesus. The people who first read this gospel would have known who Simon, Andrew, Peter, and John were. They would have been familiar with their preaching and their ministries. But what they weren’t familiar with at all was that they used to be fishermen. That’s why Mark has to tell us. Jesus saw these men casting nets down by the sea. The reader thinks “What on earth were they doing casting nets?” And Mark has to reply, “Oh, they used to be fishermen.” And that’s probably mind-blowing for the reader. “They did?” I would never have expected that.

I’ll say it again, following Jesus isn’t a slight course correction. It’s a radical turn. If you think you can follow Jesus and look the same afterwards, you’re mistaken. If you think you can follow him and bring your old life with you, you’re mistaken. The command to follow is inherently a command to leave something behind. So consider for yourself this morning, what is the one thing you could never leave behind? Think about it! Be specific!

Is it a relationship? A friend? A work partnership? Are you so committed to it that the thought of losing it is too much to bear? Is it a dream? A plan for your future? You have career goals. You have plans for how to spend your money. You have aspirations for a future family. Are you willing to leave those behind? Maybe you have a certain set of vices or pet sins that you hold close to you. You recognize that it’s wrong, but you believe it’s the only thing that will give you joy. Or like many of us, maybe you're attached to comfort. You can’t imagine stepping out of your comfort zone, or being asked to do something you might fail at. You hate having hard conversations and you’d rather just maintain the status quo forever. But following Christ means you leave the status quo behind. You can’t keep things the way they are and follow Jesus at the same time.

The kingdom of God has arrived and the only way to enter it is to turn from the direction you’re heading and to head the opposite way.

We’re only into the second week of Mark, but we’ve already reached the core of the Christian faith. The kingdom is here. Repentance is the way to enter it. And it means leaving the old behind.

And friend, if God’s Holy Spirit is drawing on your heart today, don’t ignore him. Don’t fight him. Yes, I know this will completely topple your reputation. Yes, I know that it will mean abandoning some things or relationships you’ve been working so hard to build. Yes, I know you might be thinking “It’s too late for me, I’ve already gone so far.” But to paraphrase a Christian author, If you're going down the wrong path, turning back is the only way to make progress. It’s not too late. Christ can still be the king. “The time is now. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel.” This is your only means of entering the kingdom.

Prayer