Mark 1:2-8 (NLT) It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

and he will prepare your way.

He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!

Clear the road for him!’”

This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

The Wilderness

Mark 1:2-3 It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”

What is the wilderness? 

• Place where Israel was disobedient for 40 years. 
• Joshua 5:6 The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.
• The ancestors of the ones who finally settled in the land would prove to still not understand God’s grace and plan for redemption.

Jesus’ coming was so important God sent a special messenger - John the Baptist - to prepare people for his arrival. (1:2-6)

• God had been paving the way for Jesus for centuries (1:2-3). This kind of work tends to disrupt the soil of culture and comfort. They liked their wild lives. As much as they had rationalized that they were out of the wilderness and in the promised land, the wilderness was still in their hearts.
• Good News was coming, but in a way they didn’t expect.
• What was John shouting? Why won’t they listen?
• See Isaiah 40:3-11.
• Malachi 3:1 NLT “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
• Describe the condition of Judaism when John came on the scene.
• Are we honest about our spiritual condition? Our wilderness journey?
• Clearing the road of rocks so a dignitary can come through. 
• Forerunner - make straight paths
• Illustration of When a president comes to town. 
• How can we prepare a path for the Lord Jesus to come into people’s lives today? 
• Jesus has come as God promised. This is good news. We should be telling people to come to Jesus and turn from self to God.

The Messenger

John was a very unique messenger (1:4-6) - HUMBLE. He’s not for sale!

Mark 1:6-8 (NLT) His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

• Not your hip preacher with leather jacket and zipper boots! 
• Unmarketable ministry 
• Type of guy who would call out false teaching and the sin of the world!
• His boldness to speak truth wasn’t received well by the religious and even King Herod ended up having him arrested and beheaded.

Mark 6:17-18 For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”

• He spoke out about sexual sin, even to the highest government!
• They were still coming in droves even though he wasn't seeker sensitive! 
• Didn’t come to the synagogue. Didn’t come with sensitivity, but loud and challenging urgency. Didn’t preach religious cliches, but repentance and impending judgment. Wasn’t dressed respectably, although he was dressed in a way that suggested he was God’s prophet (see 2 Kings 1:8). 
• 2 Kings 1:8 They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
• Didn’t fit in polite circles. Because he wasn’t about himself or his own image or reputation. He was all about bringing people to Jesus. Many people went out to see him, some because he was a freak and sideshow. But many were moved by his message.
• John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. John 5:35 NLT
• His life was a protest to the prosperity and lies of the Pharisees! They loved places of honor af feasts and wore glorious robes and tassels. 
• How about us? Cars, jobs, comforts that get in the way. 
• They needed a bold preacher to get them out of their lethargy and complacency. 
• He was bold because he absolutely knew his God given task on earth. How about you? Are we afraid of being too bold even though God calls for it in us? 
• How would I have responded to John? Would I have received his teaching?

The Message

• Coming back from a camping trip usually means getting a nice hot bath!

John prepared the way by calling people to look at themselves (1:4-6) Sin.

Mark 1:4-5 (NLT) This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

• Our culture thinks it's not loving to point out sin and call people to repentance. In fact, it is the most loving thing you can do.
• Illustration of cliff
• To examine their lives & turn back toward God. Acknowledge their sins and seek God’s forgiveness. “Sins” are merely the expression - outward or inward - of a self-directed life. Define: Repentance is an attitude change - turning from my self-directed life and turning to God. People responded to this invitation and were baptized as a symbol of their change of heart. 
• Fruit of repentance
• Confession
• Forgiveness. Gospel
• Expiation - goat in the wilderness
•  To go out in front of everyone in Jerusalem and Judea to get baptized meant you were radically drawing a line in the sand. This meant you were ready to follow truth rather than tradition. There will definitely be social consequences when you profess faith publicly!
• We work together with the Holy Spirit 

1:7-8 John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

• John prepared the way by calling people to look to Jesus (1:7-8)
• Pointing out how great this Messiah about to appear would be. Far greater than John! Both in his person (7) and in his work (8).
• Repentance first takes humility. John is modeling his own unworthiness.
• What is the underlying orientation of your life? Toward sin & self, or toward God?
• John’s baptism was symbolic but Jesus’ baptism was the real deal. Acts 19.
• The Holy Spirit plays a major role in convicting the world of its sin. 

John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

• John was filled with the Spirit and that’s what we’ll need if we are to Repent and Believe the Good News.
• What is Baptism? Of the Holy Spirit?
• Acts 1:8
• Acts 2:37 spirit-filled preaching caused repentance. 
• We must be forerunners! 

Q: What is God doing in your life to prepare you or others to encounter Jesus?