004 Preparing For Conquest

Mark 1:14-20

December 7, 2025

There are many O.T. stories that grip us and are etched in our mind

With great familiarity even since childhood.

· We know about creation, the flood, the tower of Babel, the Exodus, even the Exile.

· We think about stories like David and Goliath, Daniel in the lions’ den, Those Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace.

But one that often gets left out of the list

Is the story of “THE CONQUEST”.

It is the story of how Joshua led the children of Israel into the land of Canaan

To overthrow the Canaanites and take the land that God had promised.

You will remember from last week,

That initially this was a land that the children of Israel were afraid to enter.

After spying out the land, 10 of the 12 gave this report:

Numbers 13:31-33 “But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Those faithless spies disheartened the people,

They refused to enter, and God was angry.

God answered their fear and rebellion like this:

Numbers 14:34-35 “‘According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. ‘I, the Lord, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.’”

God promised that everyone of Israel over the age of 20

Would die in the wilderness.

Later David recounted God’s attitude toward that faithless generation:

Psalms 95:10-11 “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

God’s command to enter the land wasn’t optional.

You either followed God into the land or you died in the wilderness,

There was no third option.

So Israel was consigned to wander 40 years.

It was a terrible time of judgment, death, and testing.

BUT AFTER THE 40 YEARS WAS OVER and the faithless generation was dead,

God commissioned Joshua to lead Israel into the land of Promise

And to defeat the inhabitants there.

Some of the stories of the conquest are familiar.

Most remember the story of how Joshua defeated Jericho

· How they brought down its mighty wall by marching around the city and blowing

their trumpets.

You might remember how Achan sinned

· As a result God caused Israel to lose their next battle against Ai.

The other famous battle was when the Kings of the Amorites united

· God delivered them into the hand of Joshua.

· That was the battle where God caused the sun to stand still and pelted the

Amorites with massive hail stones.

But that is typically all that is remembered about the conquest.

A few major battles.

A few miraculous defeats.

BUT IT WAS MORE THAN THAT.

This was God overthrowing the enemy

And delivering the promised land to His people.

TURN TO: JOSHUA 10:29-43

It was far more than just Jericho.

· Joshua was on a battle march.

· God was giving them the land.

· Battle after battle…victory after victory…the conquest was moving forward.

We could actually keep reading, but you get the idea.

I would just draw your attention to the final verse of chapter 11.

Joshua 11:23 “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war.”

THAT WAS THE CONQUEST.

It was Israel’s military campaign to remove the enemy

From the land God had promised them.

And JOSHUA WAS TASKED with leading this military campaign.

In order to lead it,

God specifically charged Joshua to be courageous.

Joshua 1:1-9 “Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. “From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

It makes sense doesn’t it.

· That was a land of giants…

· That was a land of Nephilim…

· Israel was a nation of nomads in the wilderness…

· The Canaanites had all the fortifications.

· The Canaanites had all the storehouses of provision.

· The Canaanites had all the weapons.

But God commanded Joshua to be courageous

To lead His people into battle with the promise

That God would topple the giants and give the land to His people.

Joshua had been one of those original spies.

· Only had and Caleb had voted to go forward in spite of the danger.

Now Joshua would get the chance to lead this people into battle.

WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE

What it must have felt like to charge into a land of giants.

Today is December 7.

· It’s kind of a big day in the history of our nation.

· Pearl Harbor Day.

Abigail and I have been watching WWII documentaries

How quickly everything changed on Dec. 7, 1941.

How young men by the thousands were instantly put on a boat to go and fight a very intimidating enemy on two different fronts.

· The enemy was fortified

· The enemy was trained

· The enemy was terrifying

It’s not that hard to imagine what they must have felt like leaving home.

It’s not that hard to imagine what their mothers felt like sending them off.

We know what war is and what it promises.

The conquest of Joshua is no small event,

The faith and courage required to pull it off were enormous.

Joshua is one of the great heroes of the Old Testament.

Well, then we come to Mark’s gospel.

WHERE LAST TIME we saw Jesus thrust into the wilderness,

· So that like the spies, He too could get a good look at the enemy.

· Jesus also spent 40 days in the wilderness amidst danger and temptation,

BUT UNLIKE THE SPIES, JESUS DIDN’T COWER.

He came out of the wilderness with a message,

Not of retreat, but of conquest.

(14-15) “Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

We were amazed at the courage of Jesus.

· At One who could stand toe to toe with the enemy and overcome.

And we sense that we have found the One

That we can follow into the land of promise.

And that is where I want us to PICK BACK UP this morning.

We looked at this section briefly last week,

I want us to think on it a little more this morning.

I’ve called it “Preparing For Conquest”

The conquest will begin in verse 21,

Here Jesus is gathering His troops to prepare to enter the land.

Let’s just break this segment down into two main points this morning.

#1 THE ANNOUNCEMENT

Mark 1:14-15

We heard the spies last week tell the people that

The land was too dangerous and the enemy was too strong.

Jesus says just the opposite.

He came “preaching the gospel of God.”

“He came preaching God’s message of good news.”

Lest we get too outside of ourselves here,

Verse 15 makes it clear what the gospel was that Jesus preached.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;”

Many times when we hear the word “gospel”

We go immediately to the death and resurrection of Christ, and rightly so.

But those things haven’t happened yet.

· The Old Testament prophets have prophesied it,

· But no one has really understood it.

· Jesus won’t introduce it until chapter 8,

· Even then His disciples won’t understand.

The “good news” Jesus came out of the wilderness preaching is that

“the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;”

In other words, He emerged from spying out the enemy and said,

“IT IS TIME!”

The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness

· Waiting to here that good news.

The Jews of Jesus day had spent 400 years

· Waiting since Malachi ended his prophecy of a coming forerunner.

Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

That verse closed the Old Testament,

And Israel had received no word from God for 400 years.

But now, as Mark has so quickly pointed out,

The forerunner has shown up and the King has arrived.

“IT IS TIME!”

“The time is fulfilled”

“time” there is NOT CHRONOS,

Which is the normal Greek word for time.

The word is KAIROS which speaks of

“a fixed point in history for an event to occur;

The decisive epoch waited for.”

You remember Acts 1, where Jesus used both words.

Acts 1:7 “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;”

Here Jesus speaks of a long-appointed

Sovereign time which is now upon us.

Galatians 4:4 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,”

IT IS NOW TIME!

WHEN ISRAEL SINNED AGAINST GOD BY FAILING TO ENTER,

God appointed a 40-year wait.

Israel realized immediately that they had sinned and some even tried to go ahead and enter the land.

Numbers 14:41-45 “But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? “Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. “For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.” But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah.”

God’s timetable had passed.

It was no longer time.

SO YOU UNDERSTAND THEN WHAT JESUS IS ANNOUNCING.

Jesus didn’t come out of the wilderness saying,

· “It’s time someone does something about this.”

· Or “It’s time for a change.”

God’s sovereign appointed time for the enemy to be removed has come.

THIS IS A TURNING POINT IN ALL OF REDEMPTIVE HISTORY.

And then Jesus gets even more specific.

He says, “the kingdom of God is at hand;”

It will help your understanding of the kingdom if we describe it for you in 3 realities.

1) THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM

· This is the kingdom we are a part of today.

· Over this kingdom Christ reigns victoriously.

· He is our Lord and King.

Colossians 1:13 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,”

We are in that kingdom.

Christ was talking about that kingdom.

2) THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

· This is the earthly and physical kingdom which will come when Christ returns.

· The one Isaiah spoke so much about in our study.

Revelation 20:1-6 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

Any chance of that kingdom coming in Jesus’ first advent

Was lost when Israel murdered their king.

3) THE ETERNAL KINGDOM

· This is the one we read about in Revelation as well.

· In Revelation 21 we see a new heaven and a new earth coming down.

And then we read:

Revelation 22:1-5 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

This is the kingdom which will come

After the millennium and after the final judgment.

What Jesus was offering here was THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM.

He was offering victory over a spiritual foe.

· He was NOT PLANNING to invade Israel and overthrow Rome.

· He WAS PLANNING to invade Israel and overthrow Satan.

The kingdom of darkness would be destroyed

The kingdom of Christ would reign supreme.

It’s what we read to close the sermon last Sunday:

· It’s what Jesus announced to His hometown when He preached there:

Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Jesus has come to defeat Satan and set His captives free.

And that becomes blatantly obvious when you read Mark’s gospel.

Jesus is going to do just like Joshua did.

· He’s going to travel from city to city and synagogue to synagogue waging war.

Only Jesus won’t use the sword of Joshua,

Jesus will use the sword of the Spirit.

Jesus weapon will be preaching.

TURN TO:

· Mark 1:21

· Mark 1:36-39

· Mark 2:1-2

· Mark 5:1-2

· Mark 6:1-2

· Mark 7:24-25

· Mark 7:31

· Mark 8:10

It reads almost like that passage in Joshua doesn’t it?

JESUS IS ON THE ADVANCE!

Satan’s time is finished, it is time for Christ’s kingdom

He will subdue the hearts of men and set the captives free.

AND: Now is the time!

That is the gospel (good news) He immediately began to preach.

But that is still NOT ALL of His announcement.

He also immediately reveals how one enters this “kingdom of God”.

We understand how to enter a physical kingdom.

· You leave one patch of dirt for another patch of dirt.

· Maybe you file paperwork to have your citizenship changed.

But we are not here talking about a physical kingdom,

We are talking about a spiritual one.

How do you leave one spiritual kingdom for another?

“repent and believe in the gospel.”

“repent” is (meta-NIE-A-o)

It means “to change one’s mind, or to turn the opposite way.”

Think about the children of Israel who had been too afraid to enter.

· To follow Joshua into the land they would have to change their mind and turn and go the opposite way.

· They would have to physically leave the wilderness and physically enter the land of promise.

But Jesus is NOT speaking of a physical conquest here.

This is a spiritual conquest.

The things which must be left behind

Have to do more with thoughts and beliefs and ways of living.

ONE MUST quit thinking and living like a citizen of the old kingdom

And start thinking and living like a citizen of the new kingdom.

I know that currently in our country

The SUBJECT OF IMMIGRATION is a hot button topic.

One of the main frustrations many have is the failure of immigrants

To want to assimilate to our culture when they come.

· We get frustrated with people from failing countries want to come but do the

same things the same way over here.

· We get frustrated when there is a failure to speak our language, follow our

laws, live by our customs.

And that’s not just international immigration, more than one Texan has complained about people from California moving to Texas but not changing their way of thinking when they come.

Well, that is sort of what Jesus is talking about.

If you’re going to leave the kingdom of Satan

And enter the Kingdom of God

Then you are going to have to change your mind.

Thoughts and words and reactions and behaviors

That were normal in the old kingdom

WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED IN THIS KINGDOM.

You will have to denounced your former citizenship.

And then you must “believe in the gospel”

AGAIN, it is not so much here a command to believe in the death and resurrection of Christ, (since that has not even been introduced yet.)

HERE IT IS A COMMAND TO BELIEVE THE CURRENT GOOD NEWS.

WHAT IS THAT?

· That One has come who is mightier than John.

· That He can baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

· That He can forgive your sin.

· That He is God’s pleasing Son.

· That He can overthrow Satan’s kingdom

· That He can usher in the kingdom of God.

And you are called to believe that.

And believe it so much that

You leave the old kingdom in order to join this new one.

YOU LEAVE YOUR OLD MASTER FOR A NEW ONE

Because you believe this new one

Is going to totally defeat the old one.

That is what Jesus came preaching.

That is what He’ll go out preaching.

HE’LL ALSO GET PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVE IT,

And He will, by casting out demon after demon after demon.

He’ll even say later when He is accused of being demon possessed Himself.

Mark 3:27 “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.”

HE’S GOING TO WIN.

He’s the only One strong enough

To bind the old strong man and subdue him.

That is the announcement of Jesus as He emerges from the wilderness.

· He’s not retreating, He’s advancing.

· The Kingdom is here!

· And anyone who repents and believes can join it!

That, by the way, is true for you today.

Israel would reject that offer and it would in turn be given to the Gentiles.

We are now offered to enter this kingdom of God that Israel rejected.

And you also can enter through repentance and faith.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”

That is the announcement.

You too can enter the kingdom of God.

#2 THE CALL

Mark 1:16-20

FIRST Jesus approached the enemy and evaluated the entire situation.

THEN He emerged and declared victory and a plan to invade.

NOW He goes on His recruiting mission to ask who is going with Him.

When you read all the gospel accounts,

· This was not the first time Jesus encountered these 4 men.

· John tells us they first met Jesus while John was preaching.

· SO this was more of a missional call than an evangelistic one.

But Mark doesn’t distinguish between the two.

Mark doesn’t write about when they were saved

And then when they signed up for the mission field.

See, in Mark’s mind, it is all the same.

In Mark’s mind the two are inseparable.

There is something nonsensical about

Someone claiming they have left Satan’s kingdom

But then refusing to follow Christ into His new one.

There is something hypocritical and phony

About claiming salvation but refusing obedience.

Mark doesn’t even bother trying to make the distinction.

He shows you 4 men,

· Who he’ll use as a prototype of what it looks like to repent and believe the gospel.

And there are really two main things Mark wants to show you

As evidenced again by his usage of the word “immediately”.

(That has kind of become our cue to pay attention to the exhibit Mark is showing us).

FIRST we see Him approaching Peter and Andrew.

(16-18) “As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”

· You see WHO these guys were, “they were fishermen”

· You see WHAT they were doing, they were “casting a net in the sea.”

· It’s a fine occupation, and I’m sure a lot of hard work.

Jesus approaches them and says, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

That is call of the Recruiter.

It’s not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with fishing,

But Jesus had something different in store for them.

· They were to join Him on the field of conquest.

· They were to come with Him into the battle.

He was going to preach and set captives free,

And He would be training them to do the same.

In fact we’ll even see:

Mark 6:7-13 “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt— but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.” And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.”

That is the plan.

· He’s going to use them as agents of conquest.

· He’s going to use them to also set captives free.

The part that Mark seems to highlight for us is THEIR RESPONSE.

(18) “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”

The part of this exhibit that captivated Mark is how quickly and urgently both of those men dropped everything to follow Jesus.

· They didn’t finish fishing.

· They didn’t even pull in their net.

· They didn’t pack up for the night as though they were ever coming back.

They were leaving their old kingdom for a new one

And they had no need of the old tools anymore.

· There was no hesitation.

· There was no grief.

· There was no questioning of the plan.

JESUS SAID COME AND THEY CAME IMMEDIATELY.

We learn from them that following Jesus is not a side hustle.

Following Jesus is not a hobby to be done in our free time.

Following Jesus is the priority and an urgent one at that.

· There is no better offer.

· There is no higher calling.

· There is no more important work.

You couldn’t stay in the wilderness and follow Joshua

These men couldn’t stay in their boat and follow Jesus.

Do you learn something here about the priority of following Jesus?

I don’t know what you think you want to accomplish in life.

I don’t know what your goals or dreams or bucket list for life is.

But I do know none of them are important as following Jesus.

If you are putting off Jesus so that you can first go and enjoy some aspect of the world you are totally missing the point.

2 Timothy 2:4 “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”

There is a definite “in” or “out” mentality to be observed here.

There are no reserve troops for the kingdom of heaven

Where you serve “1 weekend a month and two weeks a year.”

(That sounds exactly like what most want)

The call to follow Jesus is an all-encompassing call

Where you leave your old kingdom and follow Christ into His.

Mark highlights that with Peter and Andrew for their PRIORITY.

BUT THEN WE COME to James and John and Mark highlights something different.

(19-20) “Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.”

The accounts are quite similar.

· The difference of course is that Peter and Andrew left nets

· While James and John are leaving their father.

But the difference Mark highlights this time

Is NOT in their response, but rather in THE CALL of Jesus.

This time Mark writes, “Immediately He called them…”

Maybe we should say it like this.

There was no small talk.

There was no chit-chat.

· This was not a teaching session.

· This was not a haggling moment.

There is URGENCY in the call of Jesus.

Look, the enemy is out there right now ruining lives.

We must go and we must go now!

This is not a time for discussing this is a time for doing.

BLOW THE BUGLE - LET’S GO NOW!

Like a military commander who has no need nor desire to explain his commands to his troops,

Jesus simply approaches the men and tells them to come.

· He doesn’t spend time convincing them first.

· He doesn’t spend time wooing them into it.

· He walks straight up to them and without any other words simply says, “Follow Me.”

THE KINGDOM DESERVES THIS URGENCY AS WELL.

The call to follow Jesus is both a call of PRIORITY and URGENCY.

· We don’t wait to collect our inheritance…

· We don’t wait to see what our friends might think…

· We don’t ask for more evidence or authority…

Immediately He calls and Immediately we answer.

That is the call of Christ to enter His kingdom.

AND THIS IS A GOOD REMINDER FOR US.

There is no dual-citizenship when it comes to the kingdom of heaven.

There are no reserves when it comes to following Christ.

You can’t stay in the wilderness and enter the land too.

You can’t keep your old kingdom and enter the new one.

IT IS TIME!

THE KINGDOM IS AT HAND!

(leave the wilderness and follow Christ on His conquest)

The call is to change your mind and believe the good news.

Christ is the King who can defeat the enemy.

Christ is the One approved by God.

Christ will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Christ can forgive your sin.

If you want to win then step in line and follow Christ to victory.

Be strong and courageous.

He is going to win.