Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 4
September 25, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis:   Specific "preparation" is necessary before the coming of the Lord because of the magnitude of the demands that His coming will make.

Introduction:   As we have been looking into Mark's presentation of "The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ", we have most recently considered Mark's deliberate presentation of this "Beginning" in terms of the absolute integrity of his presentation. This integrity is rooted in what I have called "Isaiah's Apologetic" which, boiled down to its essence, argues that God has validated His words by way of declaring the future with great specific accuracy. This is something that only an "omniscient" Person can do. The "Gospel of Jesus Christ" was rooted in validated expressions of omniscience so that all who doubt do so only as an expression of their unwillingness to "yield to" (i.e., "believe in") the Gospel with its inherent implications. It is not a "truth" issue; it is a wilfulness issue. The stubborn, stiff-necked, brazen, in-your-face, refusal to acknowledge the obvious in order to attempt to "reign as God" over one's own life.

Our study this evening will be a continuation of this theme in Mark's argument with a particular focus upon the answer to this question: What is the big deal about the necessity of a "preparer" who will precede the Lord's coming?

• I. What The Scriptures Declare.
  • A. The prophetic scriptures announced the coming of a pre-cursor to the coming of the Lord.
    • 1. Isaiah initiated this as a "type of meaning" for the coming of the Lord: His coming will be preceded by "voices" that call for "preparation".
    • 2. Malachi concluded this "type of meaning" with his addition of some specifics that identify two "details": the nature of the "preparation" as a process; and the identity of the final expression of the type of meaning -- Elijah.
  • B. The prophetic fixation upon "preparation".
    • 1. Isaiah used one word that was translated into a Greek word by Mark.
      • a. The word used in Mark's focus upon Isaiah is a word that means "prepare" from the perspective of "bringing all of the components together" that are required for the "preparation" of the road.
      • b. Isaiah's context details what the preparation of the road actually means.
        • 1) Isaiah 40:3 calls for making a "straight" highway in the desert for our God (this is the specific part to which Mark referred).
        • 2) But Isaiah 40:4 details what "straight" means: every valley exalted and every mountain and hill made low and every crooked place straightened and every rough place made smooth.
      • c. This means two things: the task is going to be very difficult and is going to require the gathering together of a large number of "tools" (illustration: the elements required for the building of a railroad).
      • d. Mark's choice of words in the New Testament Greek is a word that points toward this "gathering" of the required components so that Isaiah is seen as calling for "preparation" in terms of getting everything necessary together.
    • 2. Malachi used another word that was translated into a different Greek word by Mark.
      • a. The word used by Mark in his use of Malachi is a word that means "prepare" from the perspective of the actual details of the required labor (picture the actual building of the road bed and the details of the laying of track for the "preparation" of a railroad).
        • 1) Mark's word is used in the New Testament in contexts where the focus is upon actually "building" a building or the tabernacle or Noah's ark.
        • 2) This kind of "preparation" has to do with actually getting one's hands dirty.
      • b. Malachi's context addresses the issues involved in the "labor".
        • 1) There was a prevalent perversion in Judah that consisted of a primary rejection of a primary "T"heological truth: "Wherein have You loved us?" (Malachi 1:1).
          • a) It was this "T"heological truth that was the focus of the coming of John as the forerunner of the first coming of the Lord.
          • b) It is only as a primal conviction arises regarding the attitude of God toward us as "Love" that any good changes can come (this is fundamental "preparation").
        • 2) From that perversion the priests and the people moved to a primary perversion of worship: dishonor (Malachi 1:6), turning "worship" into offering to God what would offend even a human being if offered to him (Malachi 1:8), and, ultimately, turning service to God into a "weariness" that is to be "snuffed" at as a remarkable level of dishonor (Malachi 1:13-14).
        • 3) And from that perversion the people moved to a most basic "treachery"; "divorce" (Malachi 2:16).
        • 4) And from that the degeneracy moved to a refusal to be deliberately committed to the provisioning of the temple for true worship (Malachi 3:8-10).
• II. What Makes "Preparation" Necessary.
  • A. The "bottom line": "preparation" is necessary because what the coming of the Lord will do is force the issues of a "Kingdom of Righteousness" to the fore in a way that will press human beings to the highest degrees of "loyalty choice".
    • 1. The coming of the Lord will ferret out those whose commitments in life boil down to self-preservation as opposed to those whose commitments in life boil down to the essential character of the "Servant-Lord": self-sacrifice.
    • 2. The necessary "preparation" involves laying the ground work for people to come to the table with their hearts ready to enter into "Life" with its fundamental requirement of ultimate sacrifice.
      • a. The beginning of this preparation involves the Malachi 1:2 issue dominating the conversation: the "Lord's" coming to die for us and in our stead as the demonstration of His love for us.
      • b. The culmination of this preparation involves the Revelation 14:8-11 issue dominating the conversation: the "Lord's" coming to wreak vengeance upon everyone who, coming to the ultimate issue of ultimate loyalty, chooses loyalty to the principle of self-preservation over self-sacrifice.
  • B. That there is a "Beginning" to the Gospel of Jesus Christ strongly suggests that preparation is necessary because all on-going processes require a point of origin (a "beginning").
    • 1. Since Mark's life and message both had a strong "fear" component, and the biblical stance is that "perfect love casts out all fear", we would expect that any "beginning point" would have its place in this process of moving fear out by moving love in.
    • 2. This is in perfect alignment with Mark's use of Malachi before he moved back into Isaiah.

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This is article #014.
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