Expository Systematic Teachings of Christ According to Saint Mark

Lesson 1

Theme: Personal Consecration and Commitment to the World

Text(s): Mark 1:1-8

Memory Verse: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1Timothy 6:12)

Anticipatory Set: How do you become an effective minister of God? Explain.

Lesson Introduction: The assignment given to John the Baptist was both daunting and demanding. The LORD required John the Baptist to make “his paths straight” – in other words, to make Jesus Christ’s transitioning smooth after John the Baptist finished his work as a forerunner of Jesus. Prior to the arrival of John the Baptist, the nation of Israel had backslidden spiritually, and this backsliding had taken place between the time of the book of Malachi and the New Testament. There was no voice of inspiration from the LORD for a period of 400 years. For John the Baptist to make the crooked way straight, he had to separate himself from the people and to live as he preached as a messenger of GOD. Secondly, John was to exalt Jesus Christ, as the coming Messiah, to the Jews. Finally, John was responsible to see that the Jews confess their sins in order to receive forgiveness. In summary, for John the Baptist, spiritual reformation or rebirth starts with him, and he would have to proclaim the perfect way of the LORD to the populace.

Breakdown of the Study:

1. Comparable Choices of a Messenger

2. The Centrality of Christ’s Message

3. The Channel of Conveying the Messages

1. The Comparable Choices of a Messenger

Mark 1:6; 1 John 2:15; James 4:4; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 6:24; 2 Timothy 4:10; 2 Peter 2:15; 1 Timothy 6:10; Philippians 2:21; Luke 17:32; 2 Kings 5:20-27

John the Baptist had no role model or anyone in particular in mind for the kind of lifestyle he chose to live. He was on his own, and he carefully focused on separating himself from the world. His separation from the world is obvious in his chosen foods, clothing, and shelter (Luke 1:80; Mark 1:6). He was remarkably different by his choices. In Mark 1:6, the Bible testifies to his mannerism: “And John was clothed with Carmel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey.” It cannot be overemphasized that his choices of what to wear, what to eat, and where to live had to do with the work of God in his hands. His decisions on the basic needs of life all worked together to achieve God’s divine purpose for John’s life on Earth. The life of John the Baptist must challenge anyone going into the ministry today. The life of a messenger of God must be devoid of materialism and wealth. The life of a messenger of God must be very simple and appealing to the world.

2. The Centrality of Christ’s Message

Mark 1:1-4, 7-8; John 3:30; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 10:42-43; 1 John 5:11-12; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Luke 24:47; Matthew 1:21; 1 Corinthians 3:11

John the Baptist did not just burst onto the scene as a messenger of God. Rather, his coming was anticipated in the Old Testament (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3). His coming to the world was an original plan of God, for the purpose of laying a solid platform for Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was faithful as a forerunner of Jesus Christ because he kept to the message of pointing his hearers to Him. He came into the world to bear witness to the Light (John 1:7). John discounted himself as a significant person, and he declared that “Christ must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Mark 1:7-8 reads, “And preached, saying, there cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” The lesson John the Baptist is teaching preachers and teachers of the Word of God today is that Jesus Christ must be at the forefront of all the messages in all churches. There is no other message greater than Jesus Christ’s death, crucifixion, and resurrection and that Jesus Christ is seated in Heaven interceding for believers.

3. The Channel of Conveying the Messages

Mark 1:4-5, 7-8; Matthew 3:1-11; Acts 8:4-6; 11:19; 2:14-41; 15:35; 1 Thessalonians 2:2

John the Baptist’s style of reaching the people was by preaching to an assembled group of people. He was very effective, and his messages touched the hearts of the hearers. His messages were not about him, but about lifting up Jesus Christ and drawing the Jews to the coming Savior, Jesus Christ the redeemer. The content of his preaching was centered on those vices in society that are unbecoming of people who know and seek to follow the LORD. In his public preaching, John the Baptist did not spare religious leaders (Pharisees and Sadducees). Rather, he instructed them to repent of their sins (Matthew 3:1-11). John referred to the Pharisees and Sadducees as “Vipers,” meaning that they had an evil nature and were wicked and corrupt. John informed the religious leaders that, if they refused to amend their ways, God could replace the Children of Abraham as His chosen

people.

Questions:

1. What was John the Baptist’s assignment in the world?

2. What was the major focus of John the Baptist’s preaching?

3. What helped John the Baptist in his ministry to the Jews?