We need friends and deep friendships because we need help getting through the difficult days and afflictions of life. Proverbs 17-17 says, A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity and Proverbs 18-24 says, there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Life in this fallen world is hard and the best friends are not the ones who take you to the bar to numb the pain, or who tell you to divorce your spouse because you deserve to be happy and give you all sorts of unbiblical advice. The best friends are the ones who take you to Jesus because we each have a need that only Jesus can meet, and it's not the need that's most visible in our lives, or the one we think we need met the most, and the account of the paralytic in Mark 2 teaches us a number of things about ourselves because friends, the paralytic in this account is us.

The gospel principles of the Protestant Reformation didn't just rescue us from the errors of Catholicism--they continue to be just as relevant for us today in an age of compromise and confusion in the church. You see of all the uncertainty that 2020 has brought us, one certainty is that the church in America is once again at risk of losing the gospel, not to the corrupt indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church, but to the idea of salvation through social justice through a very dangerous movement making waves within conservative Christianity called -wokeism,- and friends it the enemy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, it is the anti-gospel, so the gospel principles of the Reformation that rescued the church from the Roman Catholic errors of the 16th century must once again rescue the 21st century church from the false gospels of our time, and nowhere in Scripture do we see the power of the gospel more clearly explained than in Romans 1-16-17.

Brothers and sisters, make no mistake- if the progressive left ideology of the modern Democrat party comes to power, especially in all three branches of government, Bible-believing Christians in this nation will be singled out, censored, and persecuted in ways we never thought possible in a nation established on principles of Christian morality and religious freedom. So then, our vote in this election should be determined by which ideological platform or political administration is most likely to foster a society in which righteousness can flourish. When the righteous increase, the people rejoice. When the wicked rule, the people groan.

There is an interesting textual issue here in verse 41. Some of the earliest Greek manuscripts of Mark contain a word that translates as -anger,- so some translations say here, -Jesus was indignant.- But why would Jesus become indignant- Was he bothered by the leper's begging- As a father, I sadly admit that sometimes I get irritated when my children bug me about something, but Jesus is never irritated by our needs, and he wasn't bothered by the leper. He was angry at the suffering that sin had brought to this man's life, because anger is God's default reaction against sin and its curse on his creation. He hates it, and his anger toward sin was never more pronounced than at the cross because there, all the holy anger of God against sin was turned toward his own Son for all who would believe on him. So yes, Jesus was angry that day -- angry at the devastating effects of sin on this man created in God's image, and so he reached out his hand, touched the unclean leper, and cleansed him.

The demonic realm is real and while Satan's approach to mankind is primarily to deceive us into sin, there are occasions when the realm of supernatural evil crosses over into our realm in very physical and visible ways, and in the New Testament, we see this through numerous accounts of demonic oppression and possession, one of which we find in our passage today. Mark's purpose in this episode is not to provoke curiosity about demons and the supernatural realm, but to show that Christ has come with ultimate authority and power to rescue broken and enslaved people from the grasp of Satan. This is the good news of the gospel-that this Nazarene Rabbi called Jesus is the one the prophets foretold would come to usher in the kingdom of God and rescue those in bondage to sin and Satan.

You may be surprised to find that the New Testament only uses the word -Christian- three times. By contrast, it uses the word -disciple- 268 times, and there is one important verse where both terms appear together- Acts 11-26 says in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. So what is the significance of these two terms appearing together in the same verse- It means that the New Testament understanding of what it means to be a Christian is to be a disciple of Jesus, and a disciple in the New Testament is one who comes under the instruction and example of a teacher in order to learn their particular set of views and values and to imitate their life. So this is why it is impossible to be a Christian as the Bible defines it and hold views and values that are contrary to those of Christ, and this applies across every societal, cultural, political, or religious spectrum. To be a Christian is to be a disciple, and to be a disciple is to be a follower of Christ, and this is what our passage today in Mark sets before us- an invitation to discipleship.

The idea of substitution is at the very heart of what the Bible teaches about how sinful man is reconciled to a holy God, but it's not just a substitute on the cross that we need to die in our place for our sins. -We need a substitute in life, to live in our place and earn for us a perfect righteousness so that we can appear before a perfectly righteous God as perfectly righteous, so Jesus didn't just die in our place- he also lived in our place, and we often miss that don't we- -19th century Scottish pastor and hymn-writer Horatius Bonar, in his hymn -Christ for Us,- wrote these words- -Upon a Life I have not lived, upon a Death I did not die, Another's Life- Another's Death, I stake my whole eternity.- You see friends, it's not just the death of Jesus that saves us- it's his life--a sinless, blameless, perfectly righteous life, supremely pleasing to his Father, and this is where Mark brings our attention today in our text.

There are a lot of gospels being preached in our day that promise deliverance from the world's ills, and all the preachers of these gospels are pointing to something or someone other than Christ. But there was once a man--a man who wouldn't be welcomed in the majority of churches in America today. A man who came out of the desert wilderness, because that's where God meets with his prophets. A man clothed in camel hair who ate locusts and wild honey. His name was John. We know him has John the Baptizer or John the Baptist, but friends, John was a preacher. Verse 4 says, John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The word -proclaiming- here is often translated as -preaching.- It's the same word in Greek and Mark uses it 14 times in his gospel-more than any other gospel-writer. What's the implication- It means that Mark's gospel is all about the proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Ages before God spoke this universe and everything in it into existence by a word, glory belonged to God alone. Throughout human history, all the kings, all the rulers, all the emperors, all the presidents who have thought themselves worthy of honor and majesty, glory has belonged to God alone. Into the vast reaches of eternity, long after sin, Satan, death, and every unbeliever are thrown into the lake of fire, long after every believing saint is glorified and reigning with Christ, long after the renewal of all things, glory will still and forever belong to God alone. So friend, in these hard and uncertain times we're living in, are you putting your focus where it needs to be-in praise to God- Or is there something of this world that tugs at your heart more than him- He is glorious. He is our Savior. He is the one who keeps us from stumbling, and he is the one who deserves our praise.

We need not be shocked by the apostasy we see both in the church and the world, because Scripture warns us that it is coming. In verse 18, we see that one of the chief manifestations of an apostate church or culture that has turned its back on truth is that it will be filled with scoffers, following their own ungodly passions. A scoffer is someone who mocks truth, God, or his people. A scoffer treats the idea of revelatory truth from a holy and sovereign God with contempt. A scoffer, believing himself to be autonomous and free, lives in slavery to his sinful desires, obeying whatever depraved impulse he has while ridiculing those who dare to call him to repentance. Scoffers make light of sin and the holiness of God. They reject the notion that God will judge their sin. And friends, isn't this what we are seeing in our own culture right now-