Sin Must Be Acknowledged!

Mark 1:5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.  

Whether we like it or not, sin is a major topic in the Bible.  It is what causes us to be separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). It is what causes us to be lost (Romans 6:23). And sin is the sole reason that Jesus left heaven and died on the cross (1 Peter 2:21-25).  Therefore, any preacher that wants to be true to the purpose of Jesus’ mission, MUST talk about sin!

As John went through the country side of Israel, he taught the message of repentance as we saw in yesterday’s RTS.  But in today’s installment, we see a new gem about sin.  As John taught and the people responded to his teaching by being baptized, the text says that they did so “confessing their sins”.

The concept of confessing our sins comes down to acknowledgement.  We have to come to a point that we recognize that behaviors and actions are indeed wrong and sinful.  Let me give you an example.  Let’s say that your sin of choice is stealing.  One day you steal so much money that you have all you will ever need so that you do not need to steal any longer.  Giving up that life of sin may appear to be that of repentance, but is it really?  Sure the sin has been ceased...that is certainly an aspect of repentance, but only because they do not need to do that sin any longer.  What is missing is the concept of recognition!  For us to have the proper reaction to sin, we must have the understanding that sin is wrong in all circumstances and for all times.

Reflecting His SON,  

Dennis Hogan

Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

1804 Sam Stewart Dr.

Radcliff, KY  40160

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.

Repentance is Essential!

Mark 1:1-3 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; (2) As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 

Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 

Yesterday, we looked at verses 1-3.  Today we will focus our attention on verse 4 but there is a fundamental point is verse 2 we need to see and understand.  In verse 2 it tells us that John the Baptist is a messenger sent by God.  If we are not careful, we can gloss over that fact without the importance sinking in.  We must not just assume that John the man was sent by God.  Nor that simply his mission was endorsed by God.  But rather that he was carrying and delivering the specific message that God wanted the world to know.  Once John got here, he did not preach about stuff that we wanted or thought was needed.  He, like Jesus, spoke, taught and preached the specific message that GOD wanted delivered.

John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

In our passage today, we see the foundation of the message that God wanted John to teach:  Repentance! 

Repentance is not just a topic from a fuddy-duddy generations gone by.  It is not just a subject from old guys that want to keep the youth from having fun.  Repentance instead is ESSENTIAL for having our sins removed.

So what is Repentance?

The Best definition of Repentance is: A change of mind that by necessity leads to a change of life.  A change of heart that causes us to change directions to live the life that God describes.  The best verse in the Bible to describe repentance is:

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

In verse 1 it tells us that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.  That simply means that we are to live the specific life that God instructs even to the point of making significant sacrifices in our lives.  Then in verse Paul tells us how this can and must be achieved.  It is a two step solution:

1.  We Cannot Be Conformed to the World!

The world, in this use, are the influences that lead us away from what God wants.  The world and those in it is what causes us to desire to lead a life where we want to always please ourselves....at the expense of God.

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

2.  Instead we Must be Transformed by the Renewing of our Minds.

Another word for transformation is “Change”.  We must understand that change is required to please God. A person, any person, in fact ALL people are indeed influenced by the world before being a follower a Jesus.  That following of the world is what caused salvation to be needed.  So we need a drastic change in our thinking, in our reactions, in our lifestyles, our behaviours and every aspect of our lives so that we are able to have an about face and begin living the life that God desires.

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: (14) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Once we 1. are no longer conformed to the world and 2.  are transformed by renewing our minds,  we can and MUST be able to PROVE, through our actions, what the will of God is.  The transformation cannot JUST be in our minds, it must be translated to the manner in which we live our every day lives.

That is  repentance!

That is the message that God wanted John to preach!  It is the primary message that John did preach.  It was a foundational message that Jesus preached and continues to be a message found throughout the New Testament!.

Repentance is pretty essential!

Reflecting His SON,  

Dennis Hogan

Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

1804 Sam Stewart Dr.

Radcliff, KY  40160

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.

God Needs You!

Mark 1:1-3 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; (2) As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 

I have heard it said most of my life, especially as it pertains to the giving of money, that God does not NEED anything from man.  From the aspect that God has eternal power at his disposal – that he was able to speak into existence the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1) that is certainly true.  From the aspect that God can manipulate things so that his will is done under any circumstances....again that is true. (Ex 32:7-14)  But that does not change the fact that God uses ordinary, every-day people to carry out his will.  And for that reason, God DOES need us!

In our text today, we have the introduction of John the Baptist.  Talk about your every-day kind of guy...but ordinary he wasn’t!  He did not have a ‘fancy’ degree.  He was not considered a religious leader of his day.  In fact, the religious leaders of his day were intimidated by his message.  With that said, this run-of-the-mill guy served a critical role in the success of Jesus.  He was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!

In a similar manner, there is a critical role that each of us can and must play.  I would think that it is every bit as important as the role that John the Baptist served.  We each are to continue the mission that Jesus started.  The final words, according to Matthew’s account, to Jesus’ closest followers was about perpetuating his mission that he had started.

Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

Every single follower, in the history of Christianity, falls into this mission.  Therefore, we are taught to follow, then we should also be taught to teach and to keep the duplication process going.  In some ways, this reminds me of the modern day network marketing system.  Teach.  Teach them to teach.  Teach all of them to teach. And so on and so on!

Someone might say:  “What difference does it make if I don’t follow this system..there are so many other people that could teach instead?”  I do think that a lot of people feel this way.  There are two predominate reasons why this attitude is flawed.

1.  What if everyone....or even most people had this attitude?  Well, that question is largely rhetorical.  The system would obviously collapse. The fact is, christianity is described in the Bible as a human body in 1 Cor. 12:12-26. Each person is a part of the body.  Some are eyes. Some are ears.  Some are hands, feet, vital organs and so on.  Paul describes this illustration as each member being essential for the effective and efficient function of the body as a whole.  If the one part of the body is injured, the whole body suffers.

2.  The Top will survive, the bottom will wither and die.  In network marketing, if a person down the line quits, the people on the top of the chart will continue to make their money, but the people below are the ones that suffer.  Along this way of thinking, we need to understand that each of us are connected to people that other Christians may not be. If we do not positively effect them and teach them the truth they may never run across another person that can or will.  God’s plan will still be ultimately carried out, but the people that we, individually, could reach, may be lost due to our apathy.

So from that perspective, yes God does NEED us.  God needs us and the Lost needs us.  Won’t you be the member of the body that you were called to be?  Won’t you do your part in fulfilling the mission of Jesus?

Reflecting His SON,  

Dennis Hogan

Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

1804 Sam Stewart Dr.

Radcliff, KY  40160

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.