Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

400 years of silence

Then all of a sudden a prophet appears

This was not just any prophet

According to Matthew 11:11, “among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!

Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

Today we are looking at the ministry of John the Baptist as Mark presents him in Mark 1:4-8.

Please take God’s Word and turn to Mark chapter 1

As we listened to those verses as I read them, we see that we are now introduced to the subjects of baptism, confession and repentance

I want to begin by stating firmly that baptism doesn’t save you

There are many who believe it does

This is affirmed by churches like the Church of Christ, The Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Methodists, and Nazarenes just to name a few

But the Bible teaches that we are saved “by grace...through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph.2:8-9).

When the Bible talks about being baptized, it is always spoken as the result of salvation not a condition

Acts 2:41, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”

Acts 8:12, “But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.”

Acts 8:13, “Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.”

Acts 8:36-38, “36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look!

Water!

What prevents me from being baptized?”

37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.”

Since we have these verses that clearly indicate baptism is a result of salvation not the condition, we can conclude that any verse or verses that sound like you have to be baptized to be saved is interpreted accurately

If what we just read is true then the overall interpretation is baptism does not save

The same is true of Mark 16:16, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

But even here the last part of the verse indicates salvation apart from baptism

It doesn’t say “But he who has disbelieved and has not been baptized shall be condemned”

The lost are condemned for unbelief, not for not being baptized (MacArthur)

Consider one of the thieves on the cross

He believed in Christ but could not be baptized

Was he not saved then?

Was what Jesus said to him not true?

Luke 23:39-43, records his conversation with the other thief and with Jesus

It says, “39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ?

Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.””

It says nothing about baptism because baptism doesn’t save

As we have been studying Mark’s gospel, we have already looked at...

I.

The Title of Mark (v.1)

Mark says it is “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

It’s about Jesus

To demonstrate that he begins with...

II.

The Prophecy of Isaiah (vv.2-3)

That mentions John the Baptist as the forerunner

Mark says in verses 2-3: 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’

””

Now in verses 4-8 we meet...

III.

The Forerunner of Christ (vv.4-8)

A. His Revealing (v.4a)

Mark says, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness”

B. His Preaching (v.4b)

Mark says John was “...preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Kent Hughes says, “When he stood before the people in the wasteland, lean, gaunt, solitary, he preached with fire.

We can be sure that, like the prophets of old, he wept.

He wept like Jesus and Paul and Whitefield and Moody.

Everything together—his character, his message, and his passion—reached the multitudes.

Verse 5 highlights his ministry of...

C. His Baptism (v.5)

Mark says, “And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.”

Mark says...

1.

Everyone was coming to John

Notice again Verse 5, which says, “all the country of Judea” and “all the people of Jerusalem”

Matthew 3:5 adds, “and all the district around the Jordan”

Matthew 4:25, “Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.”

The twofold “all” is rhetorical, stressing the deep and widespread interest aroused by John’s ministry (Hiebert)

After centuries of silence, the prophetic voice of John created a tremendous stirring among the Jews, resulting in a massive outpouring to attend his preaching (Hiebert)

It is estimated that as many as three hundred thousand people came out to be baptized by John (Cooper, Rodney L. Mark.

p 8)

So verse 5 says they were “going out to him”

The verb “going out” (exeporeueto, imperf.),

because it’s in the imperfect tense, suggests that they “kept going out” to him as a “continuous procession of people” (UBSH Mk)

There was “a steady stream of men and women going out to him” (PA)

Because of the mention of Jerusalem going out to him “indicates that John’s ministry drew attention” (James Edwards)

Jerusalem was at least “twenty miles from the Jordan River” (Gaebelein)

Mark continues by saying...

2. Everyone was being baptized by John

Verse 5 says, “all” from Judea and Jerusalem”

Unfortunately it doesn’t mean here “everyone”

This is literary exaggeration, indicating that the covenant people are going out to John in a great crowd, no doubt as entire families (R.C.

Sproul)

In the parallel of this account found in Matthew 3, two other groups of people were present: the Pharisees and Sadducees

Matthew 3:7-8, “7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

So people from “Jerusalem…and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan” (Mat.3:5) were being baptized by John

Now we need to ask...

a) What is baptism?

There are various views but we need to start with a definition...

The Greek word for “to baptize” is baptizo

The ancients used this Greek word in a variety of ways

For example, the word has the meaning “to dip, to immerse, to bathe, to drown, to sink, to perish, and to go under”

One significant usage of the word is a reference to a ship “sinking”

The Greeks used baptizo to describe the dying of a garment, where the entire garment was plunged in and taken out (PA)

Because of disagreements about the method of baptism, the translators of the King James Version did not give us the meaning of the verb baptizo but transliterated it, or converted each Greek word to an English word in order to avoid controversy.

Therefore, they used the transliterated word “baptize” rather than its meaning “to dip” or “to immerse.”

(https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-studies/topical-bible-studies/is-baptism-required-for-salvation)

As I said there are many views of baptism...

One view is...

b) Sprinkling