The gospel of Mark-Making ready a people for the Lord

Isaiah 40:3-4 says, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:”

The Prophets wrote of the day when a messenger of the Lord would prepare the way of the Messiah. These prophecies were written long before the messenger of the Lord or the Messiah were born. The book of Isaiah was written over 600 years before Jesus Christ the Messiah was born. The meaning of Isaiah is “The Lord saves” or “The Lord is Savior”. The book of Malachi which also speaks of the messenger of the Lord is estimated to have been written around 400 years before the messenger John the Baptist was born. The meaning of Malachi is

“my messenger” or “the messenger of the Lord”.

We know through the Scriptures that John the Baptist was the messenger of the Lord. In Luke 1:17 the angel of the Lord spoke to Zacharias concerning John the Baptist saying, “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Jesus also spoke to the people about John the Baptist in Matthew 11:9-10 KJV saying, “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”

John the Baptist was ordained be God to be the messenger of the Messiah and his mission was to make ready a people prepared for the coming of the Lord. The end result of John’s call is that the glory of the Lord would be revealed to all flesh. Isaiah 40:5 KJV says, “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” John the Baptist prepared a way for the Lord and in return the glory of the Lord was revealed to all men through Jesus Christ. John 1:14 KJV says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is filled with the glory of the Lord and He was made flesh to reveal that glory to the world. John prepared the way for the first coming of the Lord and the end result was that the glory of the Lord was revealed to all people. Today I believe the Lord is giving His church the same mission as John and that is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord! No one knows when Christ will return again, but He tells us to be ready. Matthew 24:42 NASB says, "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”

Only when the nations hear and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ will they be a people ready for the Lord. Many people have not heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and it up to His church to proclaim it among the nations.

Matthew 24:14 KJV says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Once the gospel is preached to all nation then Christ will return at the command of the Father. His return will come as a thief in night and those who have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior will not be prepared for His coming. Joel 2:31 KJV says, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.” The return of Christ will be a great day for those who have believed on Him. But for those who have rejected His salvation it will be a terrible day.

Don’t delay accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior if you have yet to do so.

It is the most important decision you will ever make and your eternal life is dependent on believing in Him. Romans 10:9 NLT says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you have accepted Jesus as Lord, I want to encourage you to be about the Father’s business and continue to seek the Lord with all your heart!

Let us be a people who are watching for the return of the Lord and making a people prepared for His coming!