OUR LORD'S MESSAGE

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." - Mark 1:15

I like to hear good preaching.  While there are many "ministers" who proclaim a water-downed Gospel & others are false teachers, there are many gifted ministers who boldly, yet clearly proclaim God's Word.  I am grateful that we live in a time which technology permits us to receive God's Word from numerous sources. 

I can't help but wonder what it would have been like to hear Jesus teach and preach.  The Bible records a few of His teaching sessions.  The longest of these is the passage we refer to as "the Sermon on the Mount."  When the Sermon the Mount came to a close, His listeners were amazed that He taught with such authority. 

Although Jesus taught many things during His brief ministry, His overall message could be summarized in Mark 1:15:  "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

The first part of Mark 1:15 is Jesus' declaration that His presence marks the fulfillment of prophecy.  He came as God in the flesh, delivering the message of the kingdom of God.  Long before, prophets had foretold His coming.  The patriarchs had longed for His arrival.  Old Testament saints had faith that God would provide a sacrifice that would be sufficient payment for their sins.  At the right time, in the right place, in the right way, God's great work of redemption was coming to fruition. 

Because of this great truth, Jesus preached that each person needed to respond to His work & message.  I still believe that individuals need to personally respond to Jesus.  The message of our Lord was simple, yet profound.  It was simple to understand, but difficult for many of His listeners to obey.  Very simply, Jesus commanded people to repent and believe the Gospel. 

Notice that Jesus didn't call people to "repeat this prayer after me," "make a commitment," or "walk an isle."  It is interesting how the American church has altered the Gospel invitation.  Many ministers call on "seekers" to repeat a sinner's prayer, raise a hand, or "make a decision."  Today, we call on people to "accept Christ," which is a phrase that is not even in the Bible.  Christ does not need our acceptance ---- we need His. 

I have the conviction that we need to preach as Jesus preached.  We need to call men, women, boys & girls to repent and believe the Gospel.

1.  REPENT

First of all, Jesus called on His listeners to repent.  Believe it or not, there are churches and ministers who consider it heresy these days for a preacher to extend a Gospel invitation and call for repentance.  However, John the Baptist called for people to repent.  Jesus required people to repent.  On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preached the necessity for repentance.  The Apostle Paul preached a need for repentance. 

Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior.  It is not a sinner's job to change his or her life.  Only God can do that.  A sinner is required to change his or her mind about sin. 

These days, the Gospel has been watered down to the point that the tares are welcomed into church membership with ease.  The reason for so many so-called, "backsliders," is the fact that they never repented.  They aren't real backsliders ... they never slid forward to begin with!  These individuals were probably told that if they want to go to heaven, just repeat a prayer.  A woman may want to go to heaven, but still live with their boyfriend.  A man may want to avoid hell, but still get drunk on weekends.  Do you see the problem with this?

Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, a sinner must realize his sinful condition, feel contrite about his sins, understand that he can't save himself or stop sinning, yet have a new view about sin.  He must know that his lifestyle and behavior are unacceptable to the holy God of the universe.  He must understand that God is His only hope and that He can come to God only through Jesus Christ.  He must come to God, with a hatred for his own sin and a desire to live differently.  That is Biblical repentance.

2.  BELIEVE

Secondly, Jesus called for His listeners to "believe the Gospel."  The Gospel is good news --- the news that Jesus came to die for sinners.  In order to believe the Gospel, a person must believe that Jesus is whom He claimed to be, that He did what the Bible says He did and that He'll do what He promised to do.   Let's look at each one of these.

First of all, a sinner must believe that Jesus is whom He claimed to be.  Jesus declared Himself to be the Son of God.  The Bible clearly states that Jesus was God in the flesh.  We must receive Him as He really is & not how society or religion portrays Him to be.  He is more than a good teacher or a religious leader.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Secondly, a sinner must believe that Jesus did what the Bible said He did.  He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, taught and performed miracles.  Most significantly, He came to die upon a cross, paying our sin debt with His precious blood.  A sinner must believe that Jesus died for him and rose again, as the Scriptures teach.

Finally, a sinner must believe that Jesus will do what He promised He'd do.  In other words, a sinner must take God at His Word.  A sinner must come to God believing that He would save him, simply based upon the promise of God's Word.  Jesus said, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."

When a sinner truly repents and believes, God keeps His Word and saves the sinner.  The sinner is saved by grace, through faith.  The sinner comes to God by faith, but he is saved by the wonderful, amazing grace of God.  Grace is God's unmerited favor, lavished upon undeserving sinners.

While it may be statistically more advantageous to preach a modern Gospel with modern evangelistic tactics, I still believe it is best to simply preach as Jesus preached.  Instead of having large numbers of false converts, we could start seeing sinners get broken about their sin & made new by the power of the Gospel.

Jesus demanded that people repent and believe the Gospel.  We should do the same.

Have you personally repented and believed the Gospel yourself?