Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Men of the New Testament: "John Mark" by Hiram Kemp - Part 9

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Men of the New Testament: "John Mark" by Hiram Kemp - Part 9 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Tonight we're going to continue our study looking at men
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of the New Testament. There is a ladies' class looking at women of the New
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Testament in the Adult 2 room if you would like to go in there if
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you're a woman, but you're free to stay in here as well. We're going to
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continue our study on men and characters in the New Testament,
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and as you can see on the screen, tonight we're going to be looking at
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the life of John Mark. Now, John Mark is somebody whose
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life we typically talk about in passing. You normally will
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hear discussions and conversation about John Mark when you think about maybe Barnabas.
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Sometimes his life is discussed in a sort of extended connection,
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maybe with Paul and even Peter. Mark's words,
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his gospel that he penned for us, is discussed when you focus
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and think about the life of Jesus. But the person that we know as John
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Mark is rarely discussed as an individual. And so tonight we're
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going to spend dedicated time looking at the life of John Mark. The way we're
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going to do the class tonight I'm simply first going to tell you the story
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of John Mark as it is covered throughout the New Testament. And as we do
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this, we're going to hit on every verse that mentions Mark directly or
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indirectly and say, here's what the Holy Spirit by inspiration tells us about
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the man known to us as John Mark. Then the second step we'll take is,
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here are some lessons to learn from the life of John Mark. And if time
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permits, at the end we'll have some questions of discussion.
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So, as we go through the steps or through the parts of John
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Mark's life, You're free to follow along. This part hopefully will be very quickly,
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and then we will get to the lessons we learn from him. But here's the
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life of John Mark. First things first, we meet John Mark as a sort of
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mysterious man. In Mark 14:51-52,
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a man's mentioned, not by name, but a man that's mentioned only in Mark's
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Gospel. This individual was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was praying
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with his disciples, where he was seized and arrested. Only in Mark's
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Gospel, Mark 14:51-52, do we read of a mysterious young
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man who was wearing only a linen cloth and who was also seized
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much like Jesus. And then he— when they seized him, he left and
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fled away naked and left the garment in their hands. Many people believe,
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and I think we've got good reason to assume, that this is most likely John
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Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark. He, like the other gospel writers,
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keeps the focus on Jesus, doesn't put the focus on himself, doesn't mention
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himself by name. But if you think about John, who wrote the Gospel of John,
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he does a similar thing. John never says I, John, an apostle of Jesus
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Christ. Instead, he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
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If this is Mark in Mark 14:51-52,
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this is the first time he's mentioned at all in Scripture, though his
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name isn't mentioned. But the first time we have his name recorded for sure
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is in Acts chapter 12. In Acts chapter 12, James,
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the brother of John, is killed by Herod. That's Acts 12:1-4.
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Peter is supposed to be killed next, or at least that's Herod's plan.
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And in Acts 12:5, it says that the whole church was gathered
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together to offer up prayers on his behalf.
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Peter, as you might remember, is miraculously delivered from prison by an
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angel of the Lord and immediately goes to a woman's house named Mary.
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Acts 12:12 tells us her name is Mary and
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she's the mother of who? John, whose surname,
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or who was also called Mark. John is his Jewish name
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and it's a name that's frequent in Old Testament literature, but then Mark
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is the name that he's also known as throughout the New Testament.
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Acts 12:12, that tells us that Mary was his mother and the
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church was gathered there for prayer, tells us several important things about Mark before we
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get into the life lessons. First of all, evidently Mark was a
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man who had a spiritual mother that was very involved and influential in
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the church. Acts 12:12 says that the church— that could be the entire Jerusalem
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congregation or at least a large population of them. Remember, The church
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at Jerusalem at this point has thousands of members, and evidently they're a
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family of means if the church is gathered at her house for prayer.
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Some people think that this house is the house where the disciples ate
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the final Passover meal, the Last Supper, Mark 14:14-16,
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and that this is probably the same place in Acts chapter 1 and verse 13
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when it says the disciples were in the upper room awaiting the baptism of the
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Holy Spirit. And then in Acts 2:2, it just says they were in the
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house, and this could very well be Mary's house. Mary's there,
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very influential woman, and then Peter comes there.
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Evidently, the church regularly assembled here for prayer because when Peter gets out
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of prison, where does he go? Goes to Mary's house.
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When Peter knocks on the door, the people don't believe it's Peter,
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but who opens the gate? A young servant girl
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named Rhoda. Acts 12:14 says she recognized
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Peter's voice, which means Peter had to be a frequent visitor to
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this home. Says a lot about Mark and the kind of influences that would have
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been around Mark throughout his life, the kind of people that would have had an
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impact on him. So Mary's his mom, her house is a house of prayer,
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and people like Peter have frequented this place and
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no doubt left an impression on young Mark. The next time we read
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about him is at the end of Acts chapter 12 and in verse 25.
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Paul and Barnabas, who we later find out in Colossians chapter 4 is
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actually related to John Mark, They're taking some money that they
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received from the Christians to give to those that are in need in Jerusalem.
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And Acts 12:25 says after they had distributed those funds,
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they're returning from that benevolent mission and they have with them a man by the
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name of John who was also named Mark. And then they go on the missionary
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journey. That is Paul and Barnabas. They go on a missionary journey that
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the Holy Spirit sent them out on together in Acts 13:1-3.
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But in Acts 13:5, we learn it wasn't just Barnabas
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and it wasn't just Paul Acts 13:5 says they also
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had John Mark to be their— your translation may have assistant
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or minister, and we'll talk more about what this word means later, huperetes.
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It's a servant. It's an assistant. It's a minister. But here's what we know.
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John Mark is with Barnabas. He's with Paul, and they set
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out on their missionary journey, but it doesn't last for long.
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For reasons unknown to us, when they get to Pamphylia, John Mark is with
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his cousin Barnabas. He's with Paul, and Acts 13:13
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says John Mark decides to turn back and
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go home. Barnabas and Paul continue with the first missionary
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trip, and at the end of that missionary journey, and after the conversation and
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the conference in Jerusalem about whether or not Gentiles have to be circumcised, Paul says
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to Barnabas, hey, let's go back to the churches and see
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how they're doing. And Barnabas says, great, can we take John Mark with us?
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And the Bible says that Paul would not desire to take the one that had
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deserted them in Pamphylia. Barnabas and Paul are arguing over
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whether or not John Mark should go on the second missionary journey. And maybe you
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come up with your own conclusion when you read that. Whether— maybe you're a Barnabas
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guy, maybe you're a Paul guy. Here's what we know. The Bible says they got
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into a sharp disagreement. These weren't men just talking cordially,
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maybe yelling at the top of their lungs. This word for sharp disagreement
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only appears in the book of Acts in this place.
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And they go their separate ways. Barnabas takes
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John Mark and goes back to his hometown of Cyprus. Paul takes Silas and
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then later will take Timothy and starts out on his second missionary journey,
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and they go their own way. I don't know what you think about the disagreement,
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but here's what the Holy Spirit tells us. They go their separate ways,
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but they double the work. And whatever was said in that exchange, whatever happened
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between Barnabas and Paul, and Paul and Barnabas, whatever John Mark said, if anything,
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as he stood there, Here's what we know. It wasn't
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a couple decades later that at the end of the book of Colossians
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and the book of Philemon, John Mark is mentioned by name by none
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other than the Apostle who? The Apostle Paul. He doesn't
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just say at this point that John Mark's a good guy, though he says that.
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He says that John Mark sends a greeting. Evidently,
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Mark was with Paul at this point, had come to see Paul in prison
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as Paul had written these letters known as the prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians,
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Colossians, and Philemon. And so Philemon 24,
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Colossians 4:10, both times he salutes John
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Mark. Whatever rift there was, it had been repaired. Whatever friendship
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had been stifled, it was fixed. They weren't just comrades. At this
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point, they're coworkers together. And if that wasn't enough,
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at the end of Paul's life in 2 Timothy 4:10,
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he's telling Timothy where everybody is, the whereabouts of all of the
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servants, Demons forsook me, went to Thessalonica. But then he says,
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would you get John Mark and bring him with you because
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he's useful or profitable to me in the ministry? 2 Timothy 4:10.
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So John Mark has gone from being a man who was a servant and an
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assistant, who left them on the first missionary campaign, who they argue
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about whether or not they should take, whose impulse salutation is at the end of
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his letters, and then finally at the end of Paul's life he says, Timothy,
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I need you to bring John Mark because he's useful to me for the ministry.
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And this word for useful, it means that he was somebody that was of service.
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He was a man equipped. He was skilled to do good things.
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Whatever Paul wanted Timothy to do, he wanted John Mark right there with him.
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And then the last thing the New Testament tells us about Mark is that
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he's an accomplished author. Next to this in your notes, you can write
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1 Peter 5:13, because in 1 Peter 5:13, Peter's at the end of his letter.
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And he says, John Mark is my son in the Gospel. So John Mark is
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a man that was evidently influenced by Peter, and we know this goes back
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to Acts chapter 12. Peter had frequently been in the house of Mary, and that's
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John's mom. But at the end of Paul— at the end of Peter's life,
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he says, John Mark's my son and he's with me. And John Mark would
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go on to write what's known to us as the second Gospel account in
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our New Testament, the Gospel of Mark. That's interesting because church
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historians say that John Mark got much of his information for his Gospel
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from the Apostle Peter. And Peter's mistakes are mentioned in all of
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the Gospels, but especially highlighted in Mark's Gospel. There's nothing
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to verify this, but church historians say that Mark went to Alexandria of Egypt,
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and it was there that he was killed. But the Bible ends his story in
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1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 13. Yes, Mike.
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That's right.
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Well, I'll say 2 things about it. One, that he got
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his information from the Holy Spirit, to be sure, right? He's inspired of the Holy
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Spirit. He was there on the ground. However, and we don't have to argue about
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tradition because nobody knows for certain, but the reason why it's possible that even though
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he was present, even though his mom had a house in Jerusalem, that Peter could
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have filled in some things and gave him some information is because Mark wasn't one
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of the 12. So outside of Mark and Luke, the other 2 gospel writers,
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Matthew and John, are in the 12. But if Peter's in that inner circle,
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in 1 Peter 5:13, he does refer to Mark as his son.
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It's altogether possible that though Mark was around things and
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though his mom had the house in Jerusalem and was influenced, it wouldn't be beyond
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the realm of possibility that Peter was also filling in some things like the Mount
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of Transfiguration, like the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Some things like going
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into the house of Jairus in Mark 5, only the 3 experienced
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that. That would be Peter, James, and John. It's possible. Doesn't really
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matter for what we think about Mark or for this class, but that's at least
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part of the reason why some people think that. But any other questions on that?
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Kevin? Mm-hmm.
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Yeah, that's exactly right. So That's right. If he
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is the man in Mark 14:51-52, the word that's used there is he's
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a young man. This young man was walking alongside. So some of those gaps would
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have definitely been filled in. Luke, in his gospel account— just
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if you're wondering why do people that wrote the Bible actually need help with any
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of this, they're inspired of the Holy Spirit, but this is actual history that took
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place— Luke 1:1-4 says he did research. He says
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that he talked to other people and collaborated with them and put all
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of his stuff together to write his gospel account. So that Mark could have done
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the same thing isn't beyond the realm of possibility. But again,
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there are no guarantees. This is Mark's life from the New Testament
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standpoint. You start in Mark 14, you end in 1 Peter 5:13,
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and the gospel that bears his name is the book he wrote to us.
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Now what I want to do in the time we've got remaining is look at
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the lessons that we learn from the gospel of— or from the man known to
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us as John Mark. Here are the lessons that Mark's life teaches us. That's just
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an overview, a scope of the man that he was, but here are the lessons
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that we learn from his life. The first one— turn your Bible to Acts chapter
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12. Lesson number 1 from Mark's life is the importance
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of a Christian home. I'm in Acts chapter 12, and notice verse 12.
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We've referenced these verses, but now we'll just look at the life lessons from
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them, and then we'll end with some discussion questions. First lesson from Mark: the
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importance of a Christian home. Acts 12 and verse 12 says, When he realized this—
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this is Peter— when Peter realized that he had been delivered from prison, he went
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to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name
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was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. So the church is there
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praying. His mom is definitely the one that owns this home. Some people believe
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she was a widow, but Peter comes there, and Mark was being raised in
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a Christian environment, in a Christian home. The Bible emphasizes this
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from the beginning to the end, and maybe you know these passages. So Deuteronomy 6,
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4 through 9, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
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You'll love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul,
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all your mind. And then Moses says, these words which I command
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you this day, you'll teach to your children, and you'll bind them as frontlets
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between your eyes and on your hands and on your doorposts, and they'll be on
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your gates. And when you go in and out, you're going to know these things,
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and you'll discuss them. Or Proverbs 22:6, train up
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a child in the way he should go, and when he's old, what? He won't
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depart from it. Ephesians 6:4, Fathers, bring up
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your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, the discipline
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of the Lord. And you could go on with the passages in the Bible that
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emphasize that parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual
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truths. Psalm 127, Except the Lord build the house,
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they labor in vain that build it. What do all
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those passages emphasize? What do all of those passages have in mind? These passages and
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others that talk about the instruction of children. Just stay with me for a minute.
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What do all of these passages on the screen and others you can think about—
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Proverbs 23:26, my son, give me your heart and
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let your eyes observe my ways. All these passages about parents instructing
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children in the Bible, what's the common thread in all of them?
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All right, it's our job to point them to God, Russell, for sure. All of
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these passages emphasize some degree of teaching. What else?
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Okay, so there's a first— the first youth minister in every child's life are the
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parents. It's the parents' responsibility, not the church. That's an anticipation.
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Expectation, for sure. What else?
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There's an example. Paul would say this about Timothy.
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He would say, when I call to mind the sincere faith that dwelt first in
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your grandmother Lois, your mom Eunice, and I'm convinced it's
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in you also, 2 Timothy 1:5. And then he says that from a child you've
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known the sacred writings which were able to make you wise about salvation through faith
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in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 3:14-15. So all of that, it's on the parents.
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But I want to take a slightly different approach with Mark based on what we
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see in Acts chapter 12 about the importance of a Christian home, and it's this:
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there is a benefit. Yes, the instruction— do nightly devos,
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do that however you want— there's some room for judgment in how that's done
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and the regularity with which that's done. But I think there's something interesting to be
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learned from Mark's lifestyle and what his mom obviously did and
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the blessing of this Christian environment. No doubt there was verbal
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instruction if he came up in a Jewish home. There was didactic teaching from the
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Scriptures. Mark, here is the story about Moses. Here's what happened with Noah.
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But there was also this Christian environment. If they're in her house gathered for prayer,
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and if preachers and apostles are regularly coming to their home,
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what was Mark's childhood like? What was his upbringing like? He was just
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what? He was just around it.
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There's this little comical quote about fish. One day a fish whisked in
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the ocean past these goldfish and he said to the goldfish, hey guys, how's the
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water? And the goldfish said, what water? I mean, they've just been around it so
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long they don't know they're in it. They're just always around it. What water?
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And maybe you've seen this before, like there are football players today, coaches and
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NFL players, and sometimes their, their parents played in the league.
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And they'll get interviewed and they'll do like a flashback and there'll be these pictures
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of them as children just maybe being the ball boy, maybe being the water boy,
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and maybe just on the sideline. And then eventually one thing led to another And
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they were just always around it. It was just ever about them.
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And you know people like this in business. They went into a certain field,
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and then all of a sudden their kids did the same thing.
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There's a benefit to a Christian home. Yes,
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instruction, but also creating environments where the hunger
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and thirst for spiritual things, the children just grow up around it.
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His mom, Mary, didn't have to say to Mark, hey, one day you're gonna author
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one of the inspired Gospels, and you're gonna be a missionary. All she had to
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do was just keep bringing Peter around and just see what happens. Just keep having
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prayer meetings in the house and just see what'll happen.
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When Mark was up against the ropes and he turned back in Pamphylia,
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the Bible doesn't say Mary took him aside and said, hey, now don't you do
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that anymore. We don't know why he departed. We'll talk about that in a minute.
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But it was another missionary that stood up for him and said, hey, there's something
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to John Mark. Don't quit on him. This is not the end of John.
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What happened? How did that happen? You see, it was his environment. He just so
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happened to be around it. It was just ever about him, and it made a
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difference. And it's a reminder that an early imprinting of the gospel,
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of spiritual truths, can leave a lasting imprint. Go to Psalm 71 quickly.
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Go to Psalm 71. First person that gets there, read Psalm 71
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and verse 17. Psalm 71:17.
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All right. Oh my God, you taught me from my youth, and to this day
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I declare your wondrous works. That can happen. Ecclesiastes 12:1,
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remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come
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and the years draw near, when my heart will say, I have no pleasure in
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them. If you don't want that to happen, he says, hey, you can start early.
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So there's this early and lasting imprinting, and then there's the
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value of the imprint of other Christians.
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I'm just getting to this point in parenting. My kids— I always tell people,
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my kids are still downloading, okay? So the verdict is not out. We don't know
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how it's gonna go. We're hoping for the best, though. But if you've raised children
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already, or even if you haven't, if you've grown up as an individual,
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you know in every child's life there's a point very early on where the parents
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and the kids are just like this. They're glued together. You remember that? Just carrying
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them around, all of that. But then at a certain point, sometimes in the teenage
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years, something kind of flips and all of a sudden everybody
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else in the world is an expert and your parents are what?
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Somebody says stupid. I can see— well, it's in the Bible. Proverbs talks about people
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that are stupid. Yeah, your parents don't know anything. They're just dumb, they're stupid.
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It's in those moments that you hope, okay, they won't listen to me.
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I hope that somebody else around them will do basically my dirty work
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for me. I hope somebody else around them and the people that are around them
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will echo the messages that they won't hear from me. And John Mark
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had that. That's one of the blessings of growing up in a Christian home.
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Yes, I believe all the passages in that first point.
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Proverbs 22:6, yes. Ephesians 6:4, yes.
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Psalm 127, Deuteronomy 6, But there also need to
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be these other influences that can make Hebrews 10:24 come alive.
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Consider how to stir one another up to provoke them to love and good works.
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And the part of being Christian family, our pledge to each other is this: if
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the day comes and you ever see my kids out of line, I hope you
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would do for them what I would hope to do for you. And let's consider
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how to stir one another up to love and to good works.
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Last thing I want to say about this before we move on to point number
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2 is a point about heroes. So when you were growing up, don't think Bible,
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just think about life. And I guess we'll find out everybody's age by this right
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here. Um, who were the heroes when you were growing up? Like, who did people
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look up to? Don't think Bible and spiritual, just think about life.
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Who did people look up to?
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Mickey Mantle. Okay, who else?
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Eisenhower. Who else?
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Reagan. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Okay.
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All right, Brother Arnold. Okay, Arnold, who else?
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In the '90s, there was a commercial about this basketball player. I want to be
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like who? I want to be like Mike. There's a sense in which so
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long as it's wholesome and not ungodly, I think that's fine.
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I think that it's right that people are just gonna have heroes, people they look
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up to that have succeeded in athletics, in business, in the arts, and in academics.
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But then, so you've got heroes for like leisure, but then there are heroes for
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life. People that you say, I want to model my life after
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this person, and I want to be like this person. And every child needs
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that. And one of the blessings of growing up in a Christian home is
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you get to— if we're wise about it, we get to nudge our kids and
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say, hey, look at them. Don't run past them shuffling into the auditorium. One day
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you want that to be you. You want to be 70, 80, 90 years old
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and still prioritizing the assembly. Hey, these are the real heroes.
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Hey, I know we like football. I know we like baseball. Basketball,
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all of that. This is a great movie. But when you start talking about life
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heroes, John Mark— hey, look at Peter. He just got out of jail. He was
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arrested for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's somebody who you really want to model
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your life after. That's what it really means to be a man and to be
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a hero. Peter had a wife, he had children, but Mark, when you grow up,
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that's the person you really want to be like. One thing we learn
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from Mark's life is the importance of a Christian home. And it's just ever
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about you. Yes, it's the parent's responsibility first and foremost, but it
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eventually becomes a part of what the whole church can provide in a blessing,
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though it's the parent's primary responsibility. Now here's number 2: try
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to leave no question marks in your life. This is the second lesson. Go to
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Acts 13 and verse 13. Second lesson from the life of John Mark, I think,
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is to try to leave no question marks in your life. All right,
21:54
verse 13 of chapter 13 says, now Paul and his companions set
21:59
sail from Paphos, and they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left
22:03
them and did what? Returned to Jerusalem.
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So you might have some theories, and I would ask you, what do you
22:10
think was the reason that John Mark left? Here's what I know for a fact,
22:13
and I know— I'm sure there's some opinions in this auditorium. People will be
22:17
arguing until Jesus comes about why John Mark left. But guess what?
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The Bible doesn't— what? Doesn't tell us. Now you've
22:25
got a margin over here, you can write in whatever you want, okay? But the
22:27
Bible doesn't tell you why John Mark left, and people will be arguing about it.
22:30
Some people— maybe he was homesick. Maybe he was afraid. Maybe his mom was sick.
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Here's the thing, we just don't know. And here's
22:37
what I think is a lesson from the life of John Mark. To the best
22:39
of our ability, try to leave no question marks in your life so
22:44
that people don't have to come behind you and try to figure out, I wonder
22:47
what happened with this person. I wonder why they did this. I wonder why they
22:50
did this. In John Mark's case, we really don't know, and I think it's a
22:53
lesson to us to try to leave no question marks.
22:57
Why do people have to have a will? Why do people encourage
23:00
us to say, hey, You need to leave a will behind. Why? So that when
23:04
you die, what? Your last
23:07
wishes and people will do what?
23:11
They'll know what to do with your stuff. They'll know what to do with it.
23:14
Hey, he wanted— nobody will have to guess about you. And John
23:18
Mark's life is an example, at least in this regard. Try to leave no question
23:22
marks. You get to verse 13, the Bible doesn't tell— why did John Mark leave?
23:24
Paul was pretty mad about it. Barnabas tried to reason for him. But try
23:28
to leave no question marks behind. If you've ever experienced this in your life,
23:31
you know it's different. All death is tragic, all death is
23:35
sad, but when it's immediate death, when it's tragic death, when it's unannounced
23:39
death, one of the things that'll stick with you is just
23:43
all the unanswered questions. The last conversations you didn't get to have, the final— you
23:47
don't get to sew those things up, it just kinda is snuffed out.
23:50
If we can in our lives, we should try to live in such a way
23:54
that people don't have to guess about us. And here's some of the ways,
23:57
quickly, before we move on to number 3, that we can do it. Let your
24:00
faithfulness be obvious. Don't leave any question marks.
24:04
9:30 Sunday morning, 10:30 Sunday morning, where you gonna be?
24:09
Right here, right? John 18 and verse 2 says that Jesus often
24:13
went to the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples, and that's how Judas knew where
24:17
to find him. You know why Judas knew that? Because Jesus just what?
24:21
He just always went there. It was predictable righteousness. Jesus is going to be here
24:25
with his disciples, and if you want to get Jesus, here's where you go.
24:27
Hebrews 10:25 says, don't abandon the assembling
24:31
of the saints with ourselves together as the habit of some is. Let your
24:35
faithfulness be obvious. You've got a responsibility to the local congregation.
24:38
Just be faithful to it to the best of your ability. In Colossians 4:17,
24:42
Paul talks about a man named Archippus, and he says, See to the ministry that
24:46
the Lord's given you and fulfill it. And everyone in this room, every one of
24:50
us has a ministry and we should fulfill it. There shouldn't be any question marks.
24:53
Hey, we got him down for prayer but he might not come. Hey, she's supposed
24:57
to teach this class. You might want to have a sub because she sometimes— you
25:00
just don't— you never know. Why did John Mark leave? We don't know.
25:03
Try to not have any question marks. Here's another one. Let love
25:06
in your family be unquestionable. Don't let anybody have
25:10
to guess through it. Think about the people close to you in your life.
25:13
Here's a question: do they feel loved? Or if they
25:17
were called before this auditorium, would you have to kind of explain it to them?
25:21
No, I love you because— and like try to reason them there.
25:24
Or is it just obvious? Like, no, I know she loves me.
25:27
I know my dad loves me. I know my spouse loves me because it's
25:31
just obvious. They speak my love language. They reveal— they show it to me in
25:34
the ways that I appreciate, in the ways I need it. It's just obvious.
25:38
We don't know what happened right after Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, but here's what
25:42
we know. God told Abraham to do what in Genesis 22 with Isaac?
25:45
Take Isaac and do what? But He said more than that. In Genesis
25:49
22 and verse 2, He says, take now your son, your only son, whom you—
25:53
what? Whom you love. It was evident. Abraham loves
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Isaac. No question marks. And sometimes people say,
26:00
you know, I don't know. I mean, I know my dad loved me. I know
26:03
my mom loved me. They didn't say it a lot, but they didn't— You don't
26:05
want to live like that. Don't let that be true about you. Yes, you gotta
26:09
show it as well as tell it, but don't forget to tell it. It needs
26:11
to be said. Don't leave any question marks. Here's the third one
26:15
about the values in your life. Don't leave any question marks.
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Don't let anybody wonder, I wonder what was the most important thing to him?
26:22
Maybe it was his job. He went to church sometimes, but maybe,
26:25
maybe it was baseball. Maybe it was cars. Don't leave any question marks
26:29
about what's in first place. We all have hobbies. We all have interests. But don't
26:33
leave any question marks about what's really number one. Jesus says,
26:36
if you don't forsake everything and follow me, you can't be my disciple.
26:41
And this one, I know this isn't directly in the list, but I think this
26:44
is important. Don't leave any question marks in your life about church
26:48
membership. Sometimes a person says, well, I'm just a member of the church at large,
26:52
you know, I'm just kinda floating around. And somebody might say, hey, you used to
26:55
be here one Sunday and now you're not. I wonder where he went. And you're
26:58
just sort of ever around. But church membership is biblical. In those
27:01
passages, Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25,
27:05
Paul says he's one of you. That means he's a member of the church in
27:08
Philippi. In Colossians 4:12, Epaphras is a member of
27:12
the church in Colossae. Where's their membership? Where's their involvement?
27:15
Where's their activity? It's in this place, and that's not up for
27:19
question. We'll never know why John Mark left in Pamphylia.
27:23
Don't you wish you knew though? And then maybe it'd make it easier in Acts
27:26
15 to determine who was right. We just don't know. And I think
27:29
one of the lessons from his life is, as best you can, and as best
27:33
as I can, try not to leave any question marks. Here's number 3. We'll get
27:37
to the questions of discussion soon. Be faithful in whatever task you're assigned.
27:41
So John Mark is called a huperetes. He's called a
27:44
servant. He's a minister. Look at Acts 13 and look at verse 3.
27:48
This is when they go out on their first missionary journey, Acts 13 and verse
27:51
3. Or really verse 5 it should be, excuse me. When they arrived at Salmis,
27:55
they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And verse 5
27:59
says they had John to assist them. So what do you think it means that
28:03
John was an assistant? Acts 13:5. Your translation may even have
28:06
something like minister or attendant or something like that. Here's what I want to know.
28:09
What do you think that means? You got Paul and Barnabas. Let's start with them.
28:13
They were doing what on the missionary journeys? They were doing the
28:16
preaching and teaching. That's easy to see. Keep reading Acts 13. Paul stands up in
28:20
the synagogue, Antioch of Pisidia. Preaches a sermon. But what
28:24
does it mean that John Mark was their minister, their assistant,
28:28
their attendant? What was John Mark doing? He was their
28:32
helper. Okay, great, Debbie. He was their helper. Helping how? Like, what does he do?
28:38
Mm-hmm. Went to a family reunion, huh? He might have
28:42
gone to one, yeah. So, no, he's familiar with the city. He could help out.
28:45
Gary? He carried their Bibles. Okay.
28:50
Some people say that he carried their stuff. Go ahead.
28:54
Yeah, maybe, maybe, yeah, maybe he had his hands on the stuff, the baggage,
28:58
carried stuff. Any other ideas? What does it mean that John Mark was their minister,
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their attendant? Everything that's been said so far I think is good.
29:05
What else? Maybe he invited people
29:08
to hear him, maybe. All this word means is everything y'all have said.
29:11
Basically, Mark was just a helper. And I think the third lesson
29:15
we learn from his life is whatever task you're assigned, Just be faithful.
29:20
Think about in the Bible some faithful role players. Who can you think about in
29:23
the Bible who maybe later went on to do great things, but they started out
29:26
as just a role player, just doing their task, doing their duty? Who can you
29:29
think of? Faithful role players in the Bible.
29:33
After Moses, who takes over? Starts with J, ends with Oshua.
29:37
Joshua. Yeah, for sure. But before Joshua ever does
29:40
anything about conquering Jericho or anything like that, we meet Joshua in Exodus 17,
29:45
and he's down— Moses is up on the top of the mountain with his hands
29:48
being held up by Hur and others and Aaron, and Moses
29:51
says, there's a man at the bottom of the mountain by the name of Joshua,
29:54
and he's a mighty warrior for the Lord. When Moses goes up on Mount Sinai
29:59
to receive the law from God, Exodus 19, Aaron is down there building
30:02
a golden calf. You know who's halfway up with Moses being an assistant,
30:06
being a helper? That was Joshua.
30:09
Before he ever was a special leader leading God's people into the Promised Land,
30:13
he was just a role player doing his duty. The same thing could be said
30:16
about Samuel. First, he was just an attendant with Eli. 1 Samuel 3
30:20
and verse 10, he says, speak, Lord, your servant hears. But first, he was
30:23
just a servant. All throughout the Bible, there are people that you
30:27
can think of who started out just simply playing their role. Even the
30:31
12, Jesus would tell them, I'm going back to the Father, and you'll do greater
30:35
things than I did. John 14:12. Think about that. Jesus looks at you and
30:39
says, you're going to do greater things than me. Because I'm going to the Father.
30:43
And for a long time, all they did for Jesus— they were just
30:46
servants. What can God do in our lives if we just commit ourselves
30:50
to him and we serve? Mark's Gospel ironically emphasizes
30:54
service above all the other Gospels. Go to Mark 10:42-45
30:59
and notice what Mark writes about Jesus, or at least what Jesus
31:02
taught his disciples. Mark 10:42-45, and you could really
31:06
read Mark's Gospel through this lens because a lot of what he emphasizes
31:10
in his Gospel is this very idea. It says, Jesus called
31:15
them to him, that's the 12, and said to them, you know that those who
31:18
are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
31:22
exercise authority over them. But it will not be so among you. Whoever will
31:26
be great among you must be your servant, and whoever will be first among you
31:30
should be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be
31:33
served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. Mark emphasizes
31:37
that throughout his gospel. What was Mark's first job in the church? He was a
31:40
what? He was a servant. It just makes sense.
31:43
Think about it this way. God has all the talent, all of it.
31:47
Everybody in the world that has any talent to do anything, they got it from
31:50
who? God has all the talent. So that means all
31:54
God needs you to do and all God needs me to do is be willing.
31:58
God has all the gifting. He's going to disperse it out in increments that
32:02
we can handle it. That's what the parable of the talents is all about.
32:05
He gave to them according to their ability, but all the talent belongs to God.
32:08
What God wants you to do and what God wants me to do is Isaiah
32:11
6:8, Lord, here am I. Do what? Send me.
32:15
But send me where? That's all fun and games until God says, okay, great,
32:19
to the janitor closet. And then you're like, no, I didn't want that ministry.
32:22
See, be faithful wherever He calls you.
32:26
Mark was a worker, then he was a writer. Nobody knew Mark's going to write
32:30
the 2nd gospel in the New Testament, the one that, by the way, was probably
32:33
written first and the earliest. First, Mark's just carrying stuff,
32:36
starting the fire for dinner. He's just walking around with Barnabas and Paul,
32:41
and his life teaches us this lesson: be faithful in whatever
32:45
task you're assigned. Wherever you are right now, be faithful today.
32:48
Don't worry about what's coming. Just be faithful right now, today,
32:52
whatever age, whatever stage of life you're in. That's what God wants from us,
32:55
and I think Mark's life teaches us that. Here's number 4: everybody
32:58
deserves a second chance. I told you 5 of these and then we'll get to
33:02
the questions. Everybody deserves a second chance. Go to Acts 15. We'll read this quickly.
33:06
Acts 15. This is the sharp disagreement with Paul and Barnabas
33:09
about the life of John Mark and whether or not he should go. Acts 15:36
33:14
says, after some days Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and
33:19
visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and
33:21
see how they are. Now Barnabas wanted to take with him John called Mark,
33:25
but Paul thought it best not to take with them the one who had withdrawn
33:28
from them in Pamphylia and didn't go with them to the work. And there arose
33:32
a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him
33:36
and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended
33:41
by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and
33:44
Cilicia strengthening the churches. One of the lessons from the life of John Mark is
33:47
everybody in the world deserves a second chance. If you're a Christian,
33:51
this is easy because our religion is actually built on second chances.
33:55
You wouldn't be in Christ today unless God gave you a what?
33:59
A 200th chance, not second, right? When you were
34:03
yet without strength, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Scarcely for
34:07
a righteous man would one die. Perhaps for a good man God would even dare
34:10
to die. But God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we
34:14
were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Your whole spiritual existence.
34:19
The only reason any one of us ever prepares our hearts to hear,
34:22
well done, good and faithful servant, is because God's a God of second chances.
34:26
Christianity is built on second chances, and we should give them.
34:29
If anybody should have known about second chances though, it should have been Saul
34:33
of Tarsus. I mean, think about his life before Christianity,
34:36
and then once he becomes a Christian, he tries to join himself to the disciples
34:41
in Acts chapter 9. They won't have him. Guess who's
34:45
spoke up for Paul. Barnabas said, hey, he's already been preaching the Lord in Damascus.
34:47
Give him a chance. If anybody should have known about second chances, it should
34:52
have been Paul, but it was Barnabas who said, I won't go if Mark can't
34:55
go. And they split and go their separate ways. God gives us what we
34:59
don't deserve. That's the kindness and love of God mentioned in Titus 3:4.
35:03
And the power of a second chance can change a life.
35:07
Imagine you're John Mark just for a second. And you hear these 2 guys
35:10
arguing about you. What's Paul saying? Should you go or not?
35:14
What's Barnabas saying? What do you think that did for John
35:18
Mark, hearing them— hearing really Barnabas fight for
35:21
him to be able to still be involved in this mission work? What did it
35:24
say to him? That Barnabas did what?
35:29
Stood up for him. He believed in him. He was saying, you're not finished.
35:34
You're not done. It changed his life. Here's a
35:37
question: if you know that everybody in the world needs second chances,
35:41
what makes it hard to give other people one? I mean, anybody ever wronged
35:45
you and you know, okay, I'm a Christian, I've got to forgive, but I really
35:49
don't want to? I mean, this is easy Wednesday night theology, but at the heart
35:52
of it, sometimes we still struggle to give other people second chances. Why is that
35:56
the case even though we know every one of us is really living
36:00
on a second chance? Why is it hard to give other people second chances?
36:05
Pride. Trust has been broken and it's
36:09
hard. And we'll talk about that in 2 minutes here about what's the difference between
36:12
trust and still forgiving. Is there a sort of a difference?
36:16
Is there a difference between trust and forgiving? But yes, trust has been broken
36:20
so that makes it hard. What else? Hurt. Yes, real hurt
36:23
happens. Andy? Yeah.
36:27
Yeah. And you can know that you're supposed to do what?
36:32
But you can feel like you don't what? You don't want to.
36:35
And that's why we got to keep preaching the gospel to our hearts every day.
36:39
That's Matthew 18:21-35.
36:42
Man owes his master an amount of money he'll never be able to pay.
36:45
He's forgiven, goes out and grabs one of his servants by the throat. You read
36:49
that and you want to write at the top of your Bible, LOL, there because
36:51
you're like, how can he not forgive this guy? This is crazy. Look how much
36:54
he's just been forgiven. And then you read it closer and you think, how many
36:57
times in my life has that been me? Owed God a debt I'd never be
37:01
able to pay. People wrong me, family, friends, business,
37:04
and you think, never, not doing that to me again. That's us.
37:08
And again, there is a difference between forgiveness and between trust
37:12
and responsibility and what— how far we allow people back in, but forgiveness
37:16
isn't optional. It's not up for negotiation. It's what Christians should do. And I think
37:20
we learn from the life of John Mark everybody deserves a second chance. And what
37:23
a second chance did for John Mark is it put the second gospel in our
37:27
New Testament. If Mark doesn't get a second chance, maybe the Gospel of Mark isn't
37:30
written, but Barnabas doesn't give up on him.
37:33
Alright, here's the last thing. Mark's life teaches us to make good
37:37
on second chances. Everybody deserves one, but when we
37:40
receive one, we've got to make good on it. Mark is linked to faithfulness from
37:44
here on out. The passages on the screen there, they just show you.
37:47
After this, Nothing bad is ever said about John Mark again. He got a
37:51
second chance and he made good on it. The Bible frowns on people who squander
37:55
second chances. Frowns on them. It talks about a person that's like a dog
37:59
going back to his vomit, a sow or a pig that was washed going to
38:02
wallow in the mud. Imagine you do your kids' laundry. Brand new white
38:06
shoes, white shirt, they come in with mud on it. They're crying, I can't believe
38:10
it's messed up. You say, don't worry, that's why we got a washer and dryer.
38:12
They go, you wash it, you dry it, they put it on. And go right
38:15
back in the mud again. That's what the Bible says happens to us when we
38:19
go back to the very same things we've been delivered from. The Bible frowns on
38:22
those that squander second chances. John Mark received one, but he made
38:26
good on it. At the end of his life, he's called a man that's useful
38:29
for ministry, and Mark's positive contributions outweigh his bad
38:33
at the end of the day. What you could say about him departing Pamphylia pales
38:37
in comparison to all the good he did. And I've got Judges 16 up there
38:40
because that's how Samson's life ends. The Bible says that Samson in his
38:44
death killed more people than he did in his life.
38:47
One of the lessons, the 5th lesson we learn from the life of John Mark
38:50
is this: when we receive second chances, we bear responsibility to
38:54
God and the people who gave it, to the Barnabases in our lives who said,
38:58
you're not finished, to never fall into it again. And that's exactly
39:03
what happens with the life of John Mark, and it's a lesson you've got to
39:06
make good on. All right, time we've got left, questions of discussion. Let's see what
39:10
we can get into. I'll skip these and do the ones I want. How about
39:13
that? All right, let's see. All right, is there a difference between forgiving
39:17
and trusting again? If so, what's the difference? Is there a difference?
39:21
Yes, there is. There is. You can forgive a person but then
39:25
say, hey, I forgive you, don't hold anything against you,
39:28
but not going to necessarily put you back in this same predicament or
39:32
give you this responsibility or give you this kind of jurisdiction again. So I think
39:36
as we talk about forgiveness And we talk about Mark and we talk about Barnabas,
39:39
it's important to see it doesn't make you unforgiving if you
39:43
say, I forgive, comma, but with wisdom. I think it'd be foolish
39:46
not to do that, and you could think of 100 scenarios that that would
39:50
make sense. A person just stealing over the cash register in your business
39:54
hand over fist every week, you don't— well, I forgive you, and by the way,
39:57
you're our new accountant. That wouldn't make sense, right? You can forgive,
40:00
but at the same time, that doesn't mean you trust them the same way.
40:02
What does Mark tell us about the kind of people that God uses?
40:07
God uses imperfect. By the way, we say that, we think about people that have
40:10
messed up in the Bible, that's all God's got to work with.
40:13
Save Jesus Christ, that's all God's got to work with.
40:16
God uses imperfect people time and time again because He
40:21
knows it's His specialty to take broken things and make
40:25
something beautiful out of them. And that's what He does with the life of John
40:28
Mark. What makes somebody useful? Paul says, get John Mark
40:32
and bring him because he's useful for the ministry. What makes a person useful?
40:37
Just be willing. If you're willing, God has all the
40:41
talent in the world. He will supply the gifting. All you gotta do is say,
40:44
God, I'll do it. Whatever it is, if you feel like it's in the realm
40:47
of, God, I'm willing to do it, and God will use you.
40:51
What's the difference between evaluating somebody and developing somebody? This is
40:55
important because in Acts 15 this happens. There's 2
40:58
men there arguing, Barnabas and Paul.
41:02
Paul is evaluating John Mark, but Barnabas,
41:06
he's trying to develop John Mark. And what's the difference? Evaluating says,
41:09
this is what I what? See.
41:13
Developing says, this is what I can see. This is what can be.
41:17
Paul's not wrong in his— the Bible says he didn't want to take
41:20
with him the one that deserted them on the way. This word is kind of
41:23
like the word apostate. Apostasy. John Mark left us. He deserted us. That's a true
41:27
statement. Look at Acts 13:13. But Barnabas wasn't evaluating John Mark.
41:31
Barnabas was saying, there's a Gospel of Mark in there somewhere.
41:34
There's a sermon somewhere in there. This man is more than his mistakes.
41:39
And it doesn't matter what you think. At the end of the day, evidently Barnabas
41:42
was right. Because when Paul was awaiting execution,
41:46
he said what Barnabas said. Before I die, I want to see a couple
41:50
people. Timothy, do your best to come before winter, but don't forget to bring John
41:53
Mark because he's useful to ministry. And if you name the New Testament books,
41:57
you got Matthew, Mark— he's been useful
42:00
in yours and in mine. Thanks for a good Bible study
42:04
tonight. Appreciate your time, and next week we'll continue in our study of men of
42:08
the New Testament.