Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-15.

Golden Text: Luke 16:16.

1. What was Jesus' final commission to His followers? Mark 16:15.

2. Is it important that we find out what is the TRUE Gospel? Mark 16:16. Does this verse not say plainly that in order to be saved we must believe what is preached -- THE GOSPEL?

3. Some say there are at least three Gospels -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the Gospel of salvation; and the Gospel of the Kingdom. How many Gospels beside the one which Paul preached, are right? Galatians 1:8-9. Notice a DOUBLE CURSE is pronounced -- one in each verse.

4. Did God promise to send a messenger, bearing a message from Him to man? Malachi 3:1.

5. Who was the Messenger of the Covenant, mentioned in the above verse? Mark 1:1-3. Did this Messenger do away with God's Commandments, and institute a new religion of His own? John 12:49, 14:24. Was Jesus SENT with a Message?

6. In the first sermon to Gentiles, Peter tells how to find WHAT MESSAGE He brought. Read Acts 10:36-37, answering these questions: (a) Who sent this word, or message? (b) To whom was it sent -- to Gentiles? (c) By whom was it preached? (d) Where was it published or preached? (e) Where did He begin preaching it? (f) WHEN did this Message first begin?

7. Read Mark 1:14-15. (a) WHEN did this Message begin? (b) Who preached it? (c) From where did He begin preaching it? (d) WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE, sent from God, that he preached?

8. Compare Mark 1:1, with verse 14, last part. Is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Gospel He preached? Is this not the Message God sent? And since Jesus is called the Messenger of the COVENANT, is this not the NEW COVENANT message? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel of the Kingdom!

9. We have seen the New Covenant Gospel was to start at a definite time -- after John's ministry ended. Remember the term "Law and the Prophets" was customarily used to designate the writings we now call the Old Testament. Read Luke 16:16. (a) What Gospel followed the Old Covenant? (b) Is the Gospel of the Kingdom still a FUTURE Gospel today, as some teach?

(NOTE: Jesus, who brought the New Testament Message, is called the Mediator of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant ended with John. The New is founded on BETTER PROMISES (Hebrews 8:6-8), -- eternal inheritance. But since the PROMISES we inherit under the New are the promises made to Abraham, the Gospel Jesus brought is not a new religion, though it is a new message. It is the outgrowth of, and an addition to the Old Covenant, making necessary the addition of the New Testament Scriptures as part of the complete Bible. Jesus did not establish a new religion, but ushered in a NEW DISPENSATION in God's Plan. Under the Old Covenant eternal life was never promised -- only national and material blessings for this life. None but the prophets and special leaders had the Holy Spirit before Christ. We cannot be changed or resurrected to immortality without the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11). Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (I Corinthians 15:50) but only those born of the Spirit, and made immortal (John 3:3-8). The Holy Spirit never came to dwell within ALL of God's people until the day of Pentecost after Jesus ascended to heaven (Joel 2:28; John 7:39, 16:7, etc.). Thus, since the Holy Spirit IN US is our means of entrance into the Kingdom, Jesus proclaimed the time was fulfilled, and the Kingdom was then at hand; and He preached repentance and faith, the two conditions to receiving the Holy Spirit. When we receive the Spirit, we are HEIRS. We INHERIT at the Second Coming.)

(NOTE 2: The word "Gospel" means "Good News," or "Glad Tidings." Four things are necessary to constitute a KINGDOM: (a) Territory of a (b) King or Ruler, over (c) subjects or citizens, with (d) laws and government. Therefore we might define the true Gospel as "The GOOD NEWS of the territory of a KING ruling over subjects with laws and government." The true Gospel, therefore, includes the message ABOUT Christ, who is King -- but is more than that. It includes the message of salvation, which is the means of becoming a CITIZEN in the Kingdom. But it also includes the LAW, without which there could be no Kingdom, and the PLACE, or TERRITORY of the Kingdom -- whether on earth or in heaven. The one true Gospel includes these four things, and a double curse is pronounced on man or angel who dares preach any other Gospel. )

10. Did Jesus command His ministers to preach this same Gospel? Luke 9:1-2, 10:1, 9.

11. What Gospel did the early evangelists preach? Acts 8:12, 20:25, 28:23, 30-31.

12. What Gospel is to be preached and published today? Mat. 24:14; Mark 13:10.

(Mark 1:1-15 NKJV) "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 Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." {3} "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'" {4} John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. {5} Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. {6} Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. {7} And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. {8} "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." {9} It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. {10} And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. {11} Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." {12} Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. {13} And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

{14} Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, {15} and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.""

(Luke 16:16 NKJV) ""The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it."

(Mark 16:15 NKJV) "And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

(Mark 16:16 NKJV) ""He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."

(Gal 1:8-9 NKJV) "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. {9} As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."

(Mal 3:1 NKJV) ""Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts."

(Mark 1:1-3 NKJV) "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 Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." {3} "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'""

(John 12:49 NKJV) ""For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak."

(John 14:24 NKJV) ""He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."

(Acts 10:36-37 NKJV) ""The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ; He is Lord of all; {37} "that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:"

(Heb 8:6-8 NKJV) "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

{7} For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. {8} Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;"

(Rom 8:9-11 NKJV) "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. {10} And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. {11} But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

(1 Cor 15:50 NKJV) "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption."

(John 3:3-8 NKJV) "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." {4} Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" {5} Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. {6} "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {7} "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' {8} "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.""

(Joel 2:28 NKJV) ""And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."

(John 7:39 NKJV) "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

(John 16:7 NKJV) ""Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

(Luke 9:1-2 NKJV) "Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. {2} He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

(Luke 10:1 NKJV) "After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go."

(Luke 10:9 NKJV) ""And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

(Acts 8:12 NKJV) "But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized."

(Acts 20:25 NKJV) ""And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more."

(Acts 20:21 NKJV) ""testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

(Acts 28:30-31 NKJV) "Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, {31} preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him."

(Mat 24:14 NKJV) ""And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

(Mark 13:10 NKJV) ""And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations."

(Mat 28:19-20 NKJV) ""Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."