1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,440 This is a tremendous opportunity to, to really have an 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,760 opportunity to reach every corner of a country. 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,360 And it's just not some, it's not an opportunity that you get very 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,560 often. And so we're thankful for the 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:14,800 opportunity and we're trying to make the most out of it. 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,360 Of course, one of the things that I'd like you to consider as 7 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:24,440 well, we in about 3 months probably are going to, are going 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,680 to hit the ground running with remodeling some of these 9 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,960 buildings down there where the, the goal is right now because of 10 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:38,320 the, the, I don't know what you call it, but the, the, the good 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,880 deal, I guess I'll say that we get on the hotel that we stay 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:43,040 at. You can stay there for about 13 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,000 $150.00 a night by the time taxes and everything else are 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,720 done. So you stay there for a week, 15 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,240 you're at over $1000. And then you have to pay for 16 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,040 food, you got to play pay for your plane ticket. 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,640 If you're taking a couple people, it just adds up even 18 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,600 more. And the goal is to try to make 19 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,440 make it as cheap as possible for people to, I mean, obviously 20 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,520 we're not going to have our own plane or anything like that, so 21 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,239 we can't fly people down. But you get there, we want to 22 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,480 make it as cheap for you to stay there as possible so that more 23 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,800 groups have the opportunity to come, more people can come when 24 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,240 a group comes and obviously just just continually reach out from 25 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:21,040 there. And so the goal is to try to 26 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,120 remodel a lot of the buildings that are already existing and 27 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,320 make it possible for groups to stay in those buildings. 28 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,120 They, they look like hotel rooms really. 29 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,320 There's three buildings that have 6 units each and then one 30 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,120 building that has three units that are set up like apartment 31 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,000 style. And so just just really good 32 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,360 layout, really, really nice the way that everything is set up. 33 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,360 But in order to save as much money as possible in that 34 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,080 remodeling process, we're going to, we're trying to get groups 35 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,800 to go down there, you know, spend 456 days just doing some 36 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,680 of that remodeling. And we'd like to take a group 37 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:55,200 down there. I know we got a lot of people in 38 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,400 our church that are handy enough that can do it. 39 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,000 And of course you'd have to, you'd have to pay to get 40 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,560 yourself down there and probably for food while you're there. 41 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,360 But we'll stay there for free. One of the buildings is livable 42 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,840 and we'll stay in there while we're working on remodeling the 43 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,120 other ones. And then the building that's 44 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,560 livable now will remodel last. And, you know, just turn it into 45 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,280 a nice place for people to stay as cheaply as possible. 46 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,440 So think about it. But probably first couple weeks 47 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,200 of January is when we're going to try to head down there and 48 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,000 start doing some of that work. We're going to try as much as 49 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,680 possible to send materials and things down ahead of time. 50 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,760 It will save us a lot of money and a lot of time once we get 51 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,360 down there as well. And just just a lot of work that 52 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,800 needs to be done to get it up and running. 53 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,720 But I think it's going to be a tremendous, tremendous missions 54 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,560 opportunity once it is. So be thinking about it, be 55 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,680 praying about it. And if I can give you any kind 56 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,160 of encouragement, January is a great time of year to go to 57 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,840 Belize. It's cold here and that's that's 58 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,160 really their best season. It's not rainy, it's not hot and 59 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,720 humid. It's literally 82° every day and 60 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,760 76° every night maybe give or take a degree here or there. 61 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,000 So, and you can't ask for a better time to go than that. 62 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,920 And so we'll, we'll plan to take a group, hopefully we'll have 63 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:17,960 some other groups, other churches that may be able to 64 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,360 send people at the same time. We can knock a bunch of it out 65 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,480 at the same time or, you know, if we may miss him and, and 66 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,600 they'll, you know, just kind of do the work themselves. 67 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,960 But we certainly wanted to try to do our part in helping with 68 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,560 that. So if you're handy and you or 69 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,320 you can carry things, then you can come down there and be a 70 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,120 part of it. So be thinking about that and 71 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,560 praying about it and looking forward to what the Lord has for 72 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,360 us. All that to say that two weeks 73 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:47,200 ago we started in Colossians chapter 4 with these lists of 74 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,680 men that Paul gives us as an example. 75 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,760 And we mentioned, in fact, let's just, let's just take a step 76 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:57,360 back and read verse #7 of Colossians chapter 4. 77 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,560 All my state shall Titicus declare unto you, who is a 78 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,640 beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow servant in 79 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,560 the Lord, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that 80 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,520 he might know your estate and comfort your hearts. 81 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,800 And we said about him that he was the faithful man. 82 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,240 Of course, I think we could say that about everyone of these men 83 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,360 that's mentioned. Even Paul mentions that about 84 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,640 most of these men as well. But he's a faithful minister, 85 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,400 Paul says about Tichikas, and he's A and, and a fellow servant 86 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,280 in the Lord. Verse #9 With Onessimus, a 87 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,400 faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you, they shall 88 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,800 make known unto you all things which are done here. 89 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,000 And we said about Anessa Onessimus that he was the 90 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,880 fugitive man. Paul sent him back with Tichikas 91 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,480 and and and others to go to the church there at Colossae and 92 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,520 carry this letter. But Onessimus was also carrying 93 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,560 his own letter back to his master that he had deserted. 94 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,160 And thankfully Philemon was a Christian. 95 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:57,640 And obviously things worked out, and they were able to work 96 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,680 things out amongst themselves. But Onessmus, we said, was the 97 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,440 fugitive man in verse #10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner 98 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,480 saluteth you. And Marcus, sister son to 99 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,640 Barnabas, touching whom you received commandments, if he 100 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,840 come unto you, receive him. But Aristarchus, there we said 101 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:17,800 about the fearless man, my fellow prisoner saluteth you. 102 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,080 He was a man that obviously was in prison with Paul. 103 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,800 Some think that he would have had to surrender himself in 104 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,000 order to be in the prison with Paul to be able to, to comfort 105 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,160 him and to to encourage him. And he was willing to do that. 106 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,160 And that's why we said about him that he was the fearless man. 107 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,360 And then we come to Marcus, sister's son, to Barnabas, 108 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,200 touching whom you received commandments. 109 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:41,520 If you come unto you receive him. 110 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:43,480 That's the next man that we're going to talk about. 111 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,240 And the next one is verse #11 and Jesus, which is called 112 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,560 justice, who are of the circumcision. 113 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,560 These only are my fellow workers under the Kingdom of God, which 114 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,280 have been a comfort unto me. Now there's more men that are 115 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:56,960 mentioned here, and I want to mention them briefly as we get 116 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,880 started. Epaphras, who is one of you, a 117 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,200 servant of Christ, saluteth you always laboring fervently for 118 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,040 you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in 119 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,680 all the will of God. For I bear him record that he 120 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,360 hath a great deal for you. And them that are in Laodicea 121 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,680 and them in Hierapolis. Obviously a glowing 122 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,520 recommendation of Epaphras and a man who is definitely a man of 123 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,560 example. And the only reason I'm not 124 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,960 covering Epaphras here is because we've already talked 125 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,880 about Epaphras when we covered a couple of the other books, 126 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,680 Philippians being one of them. And Epaphras was a, was a man of 127 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,680 great example and a man of great testimony and a man of great 128 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,880 faith and faithfulness. And Paul always has some great 129 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,000 words to say about Epaphras. Of course. 130 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,920 Then he continues on in verse #14 Luke, the beloved physician. 131 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,720 And Demas greets you. Now obviously we know a little 132 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,120 bit about Luke because he wrote the entire book of Luke. 133 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,160 Dimas we know a little about a little bit about as well, but 134 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:58,240 usually not for a good thing. Paul had to say, Dimas hath 135 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,880 forsaken me, having loved this present world. 136 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,600 Now Dimas was an example, but it wasn't a very good one. 137 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,800 And the sad thing is that Dimas actually seems to be a man who 138 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,440 was probably a pretty good example. 139 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,320 At some point, he said, hey, Dimas is here, and he's greeting 140 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,480 you as well. I don't think he would have said 141 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,240 that about Dimas if Dimas had already left and forsaken them 142 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,640 for following after the world. So I think Dimas at one point 143 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,440 was a good example, and maybe he became a good example again 144 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,240 later on. Obviously, we see some 145 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,160 redemption throughout Paul's life with some of the people 146 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,240 that he worked with who abandoned him. 147 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,960 And we're going to talk about one of those tonight. 148 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,760 But Dimas forsook him. And it wasn't just because he 149 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,240 was scared. It wasn't because it was too 150 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:42,640 hard. It's because he loved the world. 151 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,920 Demoth hath forsaken me, the Bible says, having loved this 152 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,280 present world. And then he continues on in 153 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,800 verse #15 salute the brethren which are in Laodicea and 154 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,520 Nymphis, and the church which is in his house, which again we 155 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:58,880 have some, some glowing words of about him as well. 156 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,960 When this epistle is read among you, 'cause it calls that it be 157 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,440 read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and that you 158 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,720 likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea. 159 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:09,640 So we don't know much about Nymphis. 160 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,280 That's one of the reasons why I don't have, I can't, can't spend 161 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,800 a lot of time talking about him. Really all we know about him is 162 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,720 that he had the church there in his house and he was a faithful 163 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,720 man as well. And obviously they, they, they 164 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,120 needed those places that they could meet. 165 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,240 And as as people got saved and, and churches were being started, 166 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,000 very, very necessary that that Nymphis and others did things 167 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,039 like that. We also see another word of 168 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,760 reprimand that Paul gives to Archipus in verse #17 say to 169 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,799 Archipus, take heed to the ministry which thou has received 170 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:45,920 in the Lord, that thou fulfill it. 171 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,520 I don't know where he stood, and we don't really know anything 172 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,440 else about Archipeus other than what we see here, at least to my 173 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,680 knowledge. But he says, take heed to the 174 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:57,920 ministry which thou has received and make sure you do the 175 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,440 ministry. I don't know where he stood. 176 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,880 I think he was probably a good example. 177 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,120 But the fact that Paul had to reprimand him and say, hey, you 178 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,200 need to get back to doing what you should be doing. 179 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:09,640 You need to get back to the ministry. 180 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,600 You need to get back to fulfilling what God gave you to 181 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,440 do means that he that he was probably moving away from those 182 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,120 things. And I hope and and you know, 183 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,720 hope and, and assume that that he did get back to doing the 184 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:24,200 things that he was supposed to be doing. 185 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,080 But then Paul concludes by saying the salutation by the 186 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:29,600 hand of me. Paul, remember my bonds. 187 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,360 Grace be with you. Amen. 188 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,160 Lots of people that he mentioned here, but two of them that we 189 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,600 want to focus on tonight, and one of them goes back to verse 190 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:43,760 #10 Marcus, sister, son to Barnabas, touching whom he 191 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,800 received commandments. If he come unto you, receive 192 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,480 him, Marcus. Let's look at some background 193 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,480 about him. Turn over to Acts chapter 12, if 194 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,960 you will. We looked at Titicus the 195 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,000 faithful man, Onessimus the fugitive man, Aristarchus the 196 00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:59,680 fearless man. What I want you to think about 197 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:03,800 when you think about Marcus, is the forgiven man. 198 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,840 There's a little confusion maybe to his name. 199 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,000 His Hebrew name was John. His Roman name was Mark or 200 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,400 Marcus. And so we see him in the Bible 201 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,760 as John, Mark. And John. 202 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,000 Mark was was greatly favored in his youth. 203 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:19,640 We know that his mother was a Christian. 204 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:24,400 We read in Acts chapter 12 and verse #12 that the Saints met 205 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,920 for prayer in her home. Verse #12 when he had considered 206 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,880 the thing, he came to the House of Mary, the mother of John, 207 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,520 whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together 208 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,520 praying. They must have had constant 209 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,000 contact with many of of God's servants. 210 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,720 You picture that prayer meeting wherever it happened to be. 211 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,240 Many times it seemed like it was in their house, but but John, 212 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,480 Mark and his mother were probably there. 213 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,320 Now, Peter was certainly one who is there often, in fact, that 214 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,640 the servant girl was the one who recognized Peter's voice at the 215 00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,360 gate. And this is a story that you'll 216 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,440 recognize, but this happens here in Acts chapter 12 and verse #13 217 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,600 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to 218 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,600 Harkin named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, 219 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,080 she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told 220 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,960 how Peter stood before the gate. To give you a little context and 221 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,120 remind you what's happening here, Peter had been put in 222 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,320 prison and all of these people gathered together to pray. 223 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,920 And one of the things that we skip over often is that it was 224 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,400 in John Mark's mother's house. John Mark was there and it was 225 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,200 obvious that Peter was there often because she recognized him 226 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,000 just by his voice. Rhoda did. 227 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,480 But they were they were gathered together to pray for Peter, that 228 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:36,800 he would be released from prison. 229 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,080 And Peter is released from prison and he shows up at the 230 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,320 door of the house. And she's so excited that she 231 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,080 runs in to tell everybody without even letting Peter in 232 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,000 the door. And then we find in verse #15 233 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,120 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. 234 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,720 But she constantly affirmed that it was Even so. 235 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:57,080 Then said they, it's his Angel. But Peter continued knocking. 236 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,000 And when they had opened the door and saw him, they were 237 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:00,960 astonished. I think it's really interesting 238 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,200 that they're praying, and they're praying in faith that 239 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,480 God would deliver Peter. And Peter shows up at the door 240 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,040 and they tell her she's crazy. Peter's not at the door. 241 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,000 We're praying for him right now to be delivered from prison. 242 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,400 I mean, yeah. How often we pray the same way, 243 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,720 right? We know that God can do it, but 244 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:18,280 we just don't think that he's going to. 245 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,760 And then when he answers, we don't even believe that he 246 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,880 actually answered the prayer because there's no way that 247 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:24,280 God's going to answer that for us. 248 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,840 He does that for other people, but he doesn't do it for me, 249 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:28,840 right? We get that way often. 250 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,240 And there and, and and finally, you know, Peter keeps knocking 251 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:34,240 and she keeps saying it's Peter. He's at the gate. 252 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:35,520 And they said it's not really Peter. 253 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,000 It's, it's Peter's Angel. I mean, they just couldn't 254 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,520 believe that the very thing that they were praying for would 255 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,360 actually be an answer to prayer. But they finally did and they 256 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:46,280 opened the door and they realized that it was Peter. 257 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,680 And of course, the Bible says they were astonished. 258 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:51,680 And later on, even Paul attended the prayer meetings there in the 259 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:54,440 House of John Mark. And, and of course, it was not 260 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:55,920 his house. It was his mother's house. 261 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,760 But John Mark obviously then was brought up in a godly home. 262 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:01,760 In fact, turn over to first Peter, chapter 5. 263 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:07,240 There's a lot of things that actually took place in the home 264 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,160 of John. Mark Barnabas, the Bible tells 265 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,120 us, was John Mark's uncle. But Peter was very possibly the 266 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,120 one who led him to Christ. First Peter, chapter 5 and verse 267 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,920 #13. First Peter, chapter 5 and verse 268 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,080 #13 The church that is at Babylon elected together with 269 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:30,560 you, saluteth you. And so doth Marcus my son. 270 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,000 Now, this was not his physical son, but you see, Paul calls 271 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,760 Timothy his son in the faith. Marcus is Peter's son in the 272 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,040 faith. Very possibly Peter was the one 273 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,240 who led John Mark to Christ. And it was evidently a measure 274 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,640 of affluence in the home that John Mark grew up in. 275 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,400 The Bible tells us that many were gathered together in their 276 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:54,720 house. It had to be a house that was 277 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,720 big enough to hold a lot of people there, a house that was 278 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,400 big enough to have a gate that was separated from the house 279 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,000 that this little servant girl ran out and answered the gate 280 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,280 and heard Peters voice and they didn't hear it on the inside. 281 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:10,440 So more than likely a pretty large house where the servants 282 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,240 were kept. Guests were entertained there. 283 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,760 And you know, it's not, it's not always a blessing to be born for 284 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,120 kids to be born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but it's 285 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,280 not always a curse either. Depends on what you do with it. 286 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:28,120 And Mark, John, Mark grew up in a house that was probably pretty 287 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,360 affluent and I afforded him some opportunities and he took 288 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:32,760 advantage of those opportunities. 289 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,640 And we'll talk about that a little bit more in just a little 290 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,120 bit. But Mark had John, Mark had some 291 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,520 pretty consecrated relatives as well. 292 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:41,880 And we already commented on his mother. 293 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:43,880 We know that he had Barnabas for an uncle. 294 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:46,760 And, and really it can be a blessing to have relatives that 295 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:48,640 are serving God. You just never know the kind of 296 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,480 impact that you can have on those, especially the young 297 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,480 people, but you never know the impact that you can have on on 298 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,520 on your relatives as far as it relates to living for the Lord, 299 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,760 especially when it comes to your own children. 300 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,960 The impact that you can have on your children, the impact that 301 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,920 you can have on your nieces and nephews, the impact that you can 302 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,760 have on, on, on your grandkids, the impact that you can have on, 303 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,800 on so many other people when you just live for the Lord. 304 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,640 And I and I can't help but think that Barnabas and, and John 305 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,720 Mark's mother and, and so many others that that were probably 306 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,280 part of that same family that were not even mentioned that 307 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,800 live for the Lord and had an impact on John Mark. 308 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,360 And, and, and 1, you know, caused him to want to go into 309 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,240 the ministry. But we have a pretty good 310 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,320 suggestion from what we read in first Peter chapter 5 and verse 311 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,440 13 that John Mark was probably saved at a pretty young age, was 312 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,240 converted to the truth through Peter's ministry. 313 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,040 It's possible that it was even at that very prayer meeting that 314 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:46,640 we read about in Acts chapter 12. 315 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,320 He's not mentioned there, but he was young and it was in it was 316 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,440 in his mother's house. There's no reason to think that 317 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,320 John Mark would not have been there and, and, and, and would 318 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,720 not have seen the miracle of Peter's release from prison by 319 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:00,800 the Angel. But how great to come to Christ 320 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,040 at a young age and how, how great to see your children saved 321 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,840 at a young age before the, the ravages of the world and the 322 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,000 flesh and the devil have had an opportunity just come in and, 323 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,080 and destroy their lives and, and allow them to go through the 324 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,800 things that the devil wants to do to them before they get back 325 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,280 to living for the Lord. Many, many kids that, that get 326 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,680 saved at a young age have so many more advantages and so many 327 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,320 more opportunities to live for the Lord than somebody who saved 328 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,480 at 30-40, fifty years old. And you know, I used to, I was 329 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,400 saved at a young age myself and I used to, here are the 330 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,120 testimonies of some of these, you know, maybe you've heard of 331 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,440 unshackled and some of the testimonies that come out of the 332 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:43,160 Pacific Garden mission and, and evangelists that, that traveled 333 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,720 and, and gave a testimony of a life that was just destroyed by 334 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,520 the world and destroyed by the devil. 335 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:50,680 And God saved them out of all of those things. 336 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:52,880 And what a tremendous testimony that is. 337 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,560 And I used to think, why couldn't I have a testimony like 338 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,920 that? I was saved young. 339 00:16:57,920 --> 00:16:59,720 I didn't, I never drank in my life. 340 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,400 I've never smoked in my life. I've never, I've never done 341 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,240 drugs. I've never done a lot of the 342 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,520 things that the people in the world do. 343 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,280 I've never, I've never, never even really been given the 344 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:10,920 opportunity. And by the time I had the 345 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:12,359 opportunity, I didn't want to do it. 346 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,720 But I used to think, boy, if I only had a testimony that was so 347 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,400 exciting as, as some of these other people that have a 348 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,119 testimony. And, and somewhere along the 349 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,240 line, God really started impressing my heart about that. 350 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,440 And I said, you know what? I didn't have to be saved out of 351 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,600 those things. God saved me from those things. 352 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,560 And that's a tremendous testimony in itself. 353 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:33,880 And I'm thankful that God saved me out of those things. 354 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,000 And you ought to be thankful that your kids are growing up in 355 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,240 a place and in homes where they're being saved out of those 356 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:41,760 things as well. But that's, that's what happened 357 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,800 with John Mark. And here's this young man who 358 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,120 was able to take his entire life and lay it at the feet of Jesus. 359 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:51,920 And God used that. And it was this same John Mark 360 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,040 who wrote the book of Mark. And this is obviously a little 361 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,320 later on, but it was his close association with Peter that lent 362 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,560 the Apostolic authority to to Mark's gospel. 363 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:07,480 Since Peter was evidently Mark's primary source of information. 364 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,480 I believe that that John Mark was probably pretty young during 365 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,080 the time of that Christ was here on the earth. 366 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,560 Obviously Peter was one of his disciples and went on to do 367 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:18,120 great things for the Lord after that. 368 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:20,040 But turn over to Mark chapter 14. 369 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,880 It's been suggested, and I think that's a good suggestion, that 370 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,320 Mark was referring to himself in the account there in Mark 371 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,360 chapter 14 about a certain young man in Gethsemane. 372 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,960 It seems that he had a pretty first hand account. 373 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,880 Somebody would have had to have been there to see what happened. 374 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,200 And so Mark chapter 14 and verse 50 says, and they all forsook 375 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,680 him and fled. Of course, that was when the the 376 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,320 soldiers showed up with Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss 377 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,600 and they they took him in. The Bible says they all forsook 378 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,200 him and fled, and there followed him, a certain young man having 379 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,640 a linen cloth cast about his naked body. 380 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,440 And the young men laid hold on him, and he left the linen cloth 381 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,000 and fled from them naked. Now, since all the other 382 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:13,560 disciples had fled and abandoned Jesus, I think there's not 383 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,840 really much else that we can conclude then that he was this 384 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,080 certain young man that was there that saw everything happen. 385 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,480 How else would he have known about this story? 386 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,680 Who was that certain young man? I suppose it's possible that he 387 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,360 heard about it from somebody and he talked to this young man. 388 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:32,360 But very likely John Mark was a young man and he was that young 389 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,240 man that saw everything happened that day in the Garden of 390 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,800 Gethsemane back in Acts chapter 12. 391 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,760 If you'll turn over there, I want you to see this. 392 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,400 John, Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas when they turned to 393 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:47,720 Jerusalem from sorry, returned from Jerusalem to Antioch. 394 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,400 The Bible says in Acts chapter 12 and verse #25 in Barnabas and 395 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,760 Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their 396 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,200 ministry and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. 397 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,360 Acts chapter 13. He then accompanies them on 398 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:08,040 their first mission to the Gentiles, verse 5. 399 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,120 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in 400 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:15,400 the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John to their 401 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,360 minister. Now when we think of of his 402 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:23,080 background, his home, his the the influence of his mother, the 403 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,680 influence of Peter and the other Saints, the influence of his 404 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,520 uncle Barnabas, and so many other influences, it's no wonder 405 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:33,000 that John Mark had a burning desire inside of him to serve 406 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,760 the Lord. As we call in full time service. 407 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,160 Now we all should be full time Christians, but there are some 408 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,640 obviously who are able to give and and and surrender their life 409 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,760 to give to full time Christian service where that is their 410 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,840 life. And when the opportunity came 411 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,560 for him to join Paul and Barnabas, he jumped at that 412 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,000 chance. But sadly we read this just a 413 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,760 few verses later in verse #13 of Acts chapter 13. 414 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,560 Now when Paul and his company loose from Paphos, they came to 415 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:04,680 Purga in Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to 416 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,000 Jerusalem. Now it seems that John Mark 417 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:14,400 suffered a spiritual lapse. I don't know if this is the case 418 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,400 exactly, but turn over to Luke chapter 14. 419 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,720 It almost seems like John Mark jumped the gun a little bit. 420 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,320 Maybe it wasn't the time that he should have gone. 421 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,640 Maybe he needed more preparation. 422 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,120 Maybe he needed more training. I want to talk to our young 423 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,920 people for just a few minutes and I'd like you to write these 424 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,080 things down. I know most of you are taking 425 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,360 notes anyway, but I want to point these things out to you 426 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:43,040 and have you write these things down specifically, especially if 427 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:47,240 you're a young person who is considering full time service. 428 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:50,320 And I hope all of you are considering it. 429 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,240 I know there are things that you might like to do things that you 430 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,320 might think you want to do, but I hope you are considering full 431 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,520 time service and, and until God makes it very clear that He does 432 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,000 not want you to do that hope that's the the burning desire of 433 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,880 your heart. But I want to say a couple 434 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:08,400 things. And the first one is this count 435 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,480 the cost. Count the cost. 436 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,720 I think that may be where where John Mark failed here. 437 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,760 Perhaps he felt the the thrill of being a missionary and he 438 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,920 knew of the apostle Paul and he knew the high standing of of 439 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,600 Barnabas, who was his uncle. But I think he just didn't 440 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,760 sufficiently face up to the hardships and the problems of 441 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,040 the of the testing that comes to a missionary's life. 442 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,560 And the Bible says in Luke chapter 14 and verse 28, for 443 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:39,920 which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down 1st and 444 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,800 counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it. 445 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,320 It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a cost involved with being 446 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:51,240 with being in the ministry. You're going to give up some 447 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,520 things. And I think many times you, you, 448 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,320 you see the evangelist that comes through and you see the 449 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,000 pastor and you see the excitement part of the ministry 450 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,360 and, and, and maybe you miss out on some of the, the discouraging 451 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,400 sides of the ministry. And you want to do this and 452 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,200 you're gung ho all about it. And look at the excitement and 453 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,400 look at how many people are, are so happy to hear you come in and 454 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,600 preach and listen to how many people you know, lift up the 455 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,000 pastor and lift up the evangelist and lift up the 456 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,360 missionary. And I want to do that. 457 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:24,000 I want to be that person. Imagine being able to get up in 458 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,760 front of everybody and talk every Sunday, and it may seem 459 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,040 glamorous to you. It didn't to me that you 460 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,160 couldn't have paid me to get up and preach in front of people 461 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:33,600 when I was in high school especially. 462 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,840 But you know, God called me to do this. 463 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,600 And I know that God called me to do this, but there's a cost 464 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,000 involved in it, and you need to count the cost. 465 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,320 Who who doesn't do that, that Jesus asked. 466 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,800 So that's what I'd say first. But #2 I want to say this. 467 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:50,840 Go go back to Deuteronomy chapter 8. 468 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:57,120 Deuteronomy Chapter 8 #2 I want you to understand this. 469 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:01,480 Don't be in too much of a hurry. Don't be in too much of a hurry. 470 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:04,920 I think this is good for parents too. 471 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,160 Your kids are only kids once and they need to have a childhood. 472 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,280 Let them be kids as long as they can be kids now. 473 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,600 They don't need to be childish for as long as they can be 474 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,120 childish, but they need to be kids as long as their kids. 475 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,120 Let them have that childhood. Don't be in such a hurry to push 476 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,360 them out the door to go accomplish something with their 477 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:26,440 lives. Let them be kids with the 478 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,520 opportunity they have to be kids and kids. 479 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,040 Don't be in such a hurry to get out and get on with your life 480 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:33,800 that you get ahead of God's timing. 481 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:41,720 Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse #2 This is God talking to Moses. 482 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,520 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God LED 483 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,440 thee these 40 years in the wilderness to humble thee, and 484 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,640 to prove thee to know what was in thine heart, whether thou 485 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,240 would just keep His commandments or no. 486 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,800 See, God never hurries when He is making and preparing His 487 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,280 workmen. And discipline is one of the 488 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:06,600 things that's necessary for that. 489 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,760 And lessons of humility and obedience and lessons in trust, 490 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:12,880 all of those lessons have to be learned. 491 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,640 And if you allow God to take the time to teach you those lessons 492 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,240 instead of trying to get out in front of God, instead of trying 493 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,720 to get out in front of, you know, all the things that you 494 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,040 want to do and, and, and, and accomplish all of these things 495 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,040 with your life. Sometimes we get ahead of God. 496 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,640 And I believe that may be what happened with John Mark. 497 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:34,440 John Mark might have gotten ahead of God's timing a little 498 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,320 bit. He needed more testing. 499 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,640 He didn't more proving he needed more opportunities to, to, to do 500 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,560 exactly what God said here to humble, to prove, to, to know 501 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,960 what is in thine heart. Look what God did with Moses. 502 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,600 Moses spent 40 years in education learning how to be a 503 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,840 somebody, and then he spent another 40 years in education 504 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,920 learning how to be a nobody. He was 80 years old by the time 505 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,280 he finally went into quote UN quote, ministry in God's 506 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,040 service. And then God gave him the last 507 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,440 40 years of his life, which is just one third of his life, to 508 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,960 show him how you can take a somebody who thinks he's a 509 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,120 nobody and do something with him. 510 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:19,200 And that's exactly what God did with Moses. 511 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,480 But you think about that, if you, if you're going to live to 512 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,880 be 90 years old, which I know that's long, but 90 years old 513 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,360 and you're going to see what you can do in God's service. 514 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:33,120 It'd be like 30 years in education, 30 years learning how 515 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:38,040 to be humble, 30 years learning how to be a servant, 30 years 516 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,200 just doing things that you think are insignificant. 517 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,440 And then when you're 60 and you get into the ministry that God 518 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,240 actually has for you with the rest of your life, and I get it, 519 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,760 Moses lived to be 120. It's a little bit different than 520 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,560 it than it is now, but you, it's still 1/3 of his life, right? 521 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,800 Even if you live to be 80, that's still 55 by the time you 522 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,280 get into the ministry where God is truly, really going to use 523 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:04,840 you, right? That's the way God prepared 524 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,760 Moses. I know that God doesn't prepare 525 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,480 everyone that way, but I but my point is this. 526 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,800 Don't be in a hurry to get in front of God. 527 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,520 Many times when we're in a hurry, that's exactly what 528 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:24,960 happens #3 turn over to Psalm one 39139 #3 is this. 529 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,480 Be absolutely sure that your motives are pure. 530 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,800 Be absolutely sure that your motives are pure. 531 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,040 Why do you want to be a preacher? 532 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:36,440 Why do you want to be an evangelist? 533 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:37,520 Why do you want to be a missionary? 534 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,440 Why do you want to be a Christian School teacher? 535 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,920 I know everybody would say it's the same thing that all the 536 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,800 police officers say, you know, all the firefighters say I want 537 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,680 to make a difference. I want to make a difference in 538 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,720 the world. And I, and I'm not discounting 539 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:49,920 that. I think that's why everybody 540 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,720 would say that. But again, sometimes we see the, 541 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,880 the preachers with a, a church that has 3 or 4 or 500 people 542 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,320 and you, you see the recognition that they have and you see that, 543 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,040 that everybody, you know, just gushes all over them when they 544 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,440 come in. And, and that's the glamour of 545 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,240 the mission field and the glamour of, of pastoring, the 546 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,240 glamour of doing this full time work. 547 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,440 And sometimes we're not looking for God's blessing. 548 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,120 We're not looking for how God can use this. 549 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:20,600 We're looking for. I want to have that same type of 550 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,640 ministry. I want to be lifted up in the 551 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,720 same way. I want people to recognize my 552 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,280 name as a great preacher or a great pastor or a great 553 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,000 missionary. I want people to write books 554 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,960 about me, alright? Sometimes that's what the motive 555 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:34,600 is, and that's the wrong motivation. 556 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,280 So all I'm saying is be careful about that. 557 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,960 Be absolutely sure what your motives are and make sure that 558 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,160 those motives are pure. Oswald Chambers said it this 559 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:45,720 way. It may be harder to face God 560 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,320 with your motive than to face congregations with your message. 561 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,760 It may be harder to face God with your motive than to face 562 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,760 congregations with your message. The psalmist said it like this 563 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,160 in Psalm 139 and verse 23. Search me, O God, and know my 564 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,920 heart. Try me and know my thoughts. 565 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,240 Can you pray that to God? Or do you know what's in your 566 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:09,760 heart? Do you know what your motives 567 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,440 already are? And you know what God would say 568 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,200 without even having to pray those things? 569 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,600 That's a hard prayer to pray, by the way. 570 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,440 You can only say that you can only pray that prayer to God if 571 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,200 you believe that your heart is right with Him. 572 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:25,760 Because why would you ask God to search your heart? 573 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,560 Why would you ask Him to to try you and to know your thoughts if 574 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:31,680 you already know they're not in line with what He wants? 575 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,440 That's a tough prayer to pray, but we all should be in that 576 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:41,200 position where we can actually pray that and ask God to search 577 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,200 me and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if 578 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:50,040 there'd be any wicked way in me. That's a tough prayer to pray 579 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,760 because the only reason you'd ask that is so God will point 580 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,320 something out to you. And if you're praying it with 581 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,720 the intention of God pointing something out, then you've got 582 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,520 to do something about it. But I think it's a great prayer 583 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,200 to pray when it comes to this. What are your motives? 584 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,000 Why do you want to go into that full time service? 585 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,720 Here's what I'd say for #4 turn over to Mark chapter 5. 586 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,800 Remember that you have no greater success on the field 587 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,760 then you're having here and now. I think a lot of people make the 588 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:22,320 mistake, people, young people especially, but even even older 589 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,560 people, adults, maybe even somebody who's spent some time 590 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,560 as an assistant pastor or spent some time working in ministries 591 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,720 already and feel like God's calling you into something 592 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,640 different, some kind of full time ministry. 593 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,240 I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that even 594 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,880 though I'm not doing anything for God right now, all the 595 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,520 sudden when I get into that ministry, I'm going to be really 596 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,560 doing something for God. I think it works that way in the 597 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:47,880 ministries of the church too, right? 598 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,080 I want to lead that ministry because I really think that I 599 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,360 can do something for God. What are you doing for God now? 600 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,400 Because if you're not doing something for God now, don't 601 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,600 expect that when you get into that ministry as the head of 602 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,000 that ministry that you're going to all the sudden change and now 603 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,720 you're going to be doing all of these great things for the Lord. 604 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,920 You might be leading a ministry, but if you're not bold enough to 605 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,280 go share the gospel, you're not going to get bold enough to 606 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,160 share the gospel because you're leading a ministry. 607 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,520 If you're not doing anything for God now, it's not like it's 608 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,760 going to change overnight and all of a sudden you're going to 609 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,160 be some great soul and not God can get a hold of your heart and 610 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,360 you can be a great soul wondering give you that boldness 611 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:28,720 and He can give you that confidence to go on and live for 612 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,360 Him. But don't expect that if you're 613 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,400 not doing anything for God now that all the sudden when you 614 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,800 turn 18 or you turn 22 that you're going to be some great 615 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,800 evangelist and some great preacher and some great soul in 616 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,080 there for the Lord. Get busy doing those things now. 617 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,840 Mark chapter 5 and verse #19 How be it Jesus suffered him not, 618 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,440 but saith on him, Go home to thy friends and tell them how great 619 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,080 things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on 620 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,240 thee. This man, he was saved and and 621 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,040 clothed in his right mind. And he said, Let me come with 622 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,560 you, let me, let me go with you and do your ministry with you. 623 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,880 And Jesus said, no, go home and tell your friends, go home and 624 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,840 do the little ministry. And it wasn't, it wasn't 625 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,280 discounting the fact that this man wanted to follow him and be 626 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,120 with him. But he said, I've got a, I've 627 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:16,520 got a great ministry for you already. 628 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,640 Go home and tell your friends. Go be an influence on them. 629 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,560 See how you see how you impact the, the little things that I've 630 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,840 given you to impact. So my question is, have you 631 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,680 begun at home doing the work of the Lord? 632 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,200 If you want to go into full time service, what are you doing for 633 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,000 the Lord right now? That's the important question #5 634 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,520 I want to say this. If you become a preacher or a 635 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,880 missionary, you should begin by being an assistant. 636 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:48,760 I've heard many, many stories of young people who get straight 637 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,960 out of college and go straight to the mission field. 638 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,520 And they're back in two or three or four years, everything fell 639 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,320 apart. Or they went and took a church 640 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,440 because they, you know, they were gung ho about it. 641 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,280 And two or three or four years later, after the entire church 642 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,680 is split and many lives were destroyed because they had no 643 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,760 idea what they were doing, they come limping back to the place 644 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,280 they came from where they end up moving to another church. 645 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,920 And you know, in many cases doing the same thing because 646 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,080 they don't learn, right? It's Acts chapter 13. 647 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:21,440 And verse 5 tells us that that Paul and Barnabas had Mark as 648 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,520 their minister didn't mean that he was their pastor. 649 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:25,880 It meant that he was their assistant. 650 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:28,240 That's the word there that's used. 651 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,080 And that was the best thing for me as as I was an assistant 652 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,640 pastor for 10 years before I became the pastor of this 653 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:36,280 church. And I felt like that was a long 654 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:37,680 time. But I look back and I say 655 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,560 probably could have been a little bit longer, wouldn't have 656 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,360 hurt me to be there a little bit longer. 657 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,640 It was good for me. I was able to make some mistakes 658 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:50,160 and I made mistakes without ruining a ministry, without 659 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,000 ruining people's lives because I was under a pastor for that 660 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,160 time. Are you willing for that? 661 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,680 Just just do what you're told and allow God to prepare you for 662 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,160 the ministry that He has for you. 663 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:03,840 Turn back, if you will, to Acts chapter 13. 664 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:08,040 I want to say this, lastly, as it relates to this, be 665 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:14,639 absolutely sure of your call. Be absolutely sure of your call. 666 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,639 And Acts, chapter 13, verse #2 We read that the Holy Ghost 667 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:24,639 called two men, but three went as they ministered to the Lord 668 00:34:24,639 --> 00:34:28,080 and fasted the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas, and Saul 669 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,040 for the word, where until I have called them. 670 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,840 Verse #4 So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, 671 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,840 departed unto the Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to 672 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,600 Cyprus. But John Mark was the third one 673 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:44,560 that went along with them. I wonder, I wonder if this was a 674 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,080 man's appointing and not God's. Now I don't know. 675 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,560 I'm not saying that this is exactly what happened, but it 676 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,719 wasn't all that long later when John Mark abandoned them and 677 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,200 went back. And it might have been that John 678 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:00,720 Mark's mother called him, or Barnabas called him, or John 679 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:04,000 Mark called himself to go out and do this ministry. 680 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,440 Those, you know, the desire, the opportunity, the need, the 681 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,600 ability of the invitation. Those are not necessarily God's 682 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,040 call. There are some people who have 683 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,640 the ability to speak, so they think, well, naturally I've got 684 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,400 to be a preacher because I can speak in front of people or, you 685 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,000 know, I have this ability to do that, or I have the, you know, 686 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,200 the talents to do this thing or that thing. 687 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,640 And they just automatically assume that it's God's call in 688 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:30,520 their life. And it very well may be, but it 689 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:35,640 also may not be. And, you know, I think there's 690 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,680 many, many people who have missed God's call in their life 691 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,840 who should have been pastors or who should have been 692 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:44,040 missionaries or who should have, you know, married a pastor or a 693 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,480 missionary or been a Christian School teacher or something like 694 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:47,640 that. I think there's a lot of people 695 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,200 who God was calling who did not answer that call. 696 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,400 But I also think there's people who answered that call that God 697 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,520 never called them. And those are the ones that, 698 00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,440 that, that, that I think sometimes go into these churches 699 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,440 and ruin the church. And they come in and they, they 700 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,040 have a good heart and they have the right intention, but they're 701 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,000 not following God's will for their lives. 702 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,160 You know, God, God does not call everybody to preach. 703 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,720 God doesn't call everybody to be a missionary. 704 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,480 I think there's a lot of people that he is calling that are not 705 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,720 answering that call. But you better make very sure 706 00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:24,600 that it's God that's calling you. 707 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,160 And I know, especially in a church like ours, our young 708 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,560 people have some of that pressure to go into the 709 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,040 ministry. I don't want to be the one that 710 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:34,320 calls somebody into the ministry. 711 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,280 I don't want to call my kids into the ministry. 712 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,520 Certainly if God wants him to do that, I'm going to encourage him 713 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,640 to do it. I don't want them to go into the 714 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:43,960 ministry because they think that that's what I want them to do. 715 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,120 I want them to know that it's God that's calling them to do 716 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:49,800 that. And I believe in a church like 717 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,800 this where where we do take a stand for the things of the word 718 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:54,680 of God. I think, I think the chances 719 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,160 that God is calling our young people are higher than they 720 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:01,000 would be in some other places. And I believe that God is going 721 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,160 to call some of our young people into the ministry full time. 722 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,520 But at the same time, you better make sure that it's God calling 723 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,480 you and not somebody else. It's God calling you and not 724 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,640 just your desire to do that. I, I kind of fell into that same 725 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,320 pattern a little bit when it came to missions. 726 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:19,040 I felt for years like God was calling me to the mission field. 727 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,280 I graduated from college with my degree in missions. 728 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,040 I told my father-in-law when I went to work as an assistant 729 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:25,440 pastor. I don't know how long I'm going 730 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,080 to be here, but at some point we're leaving and going to the 731 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:30,840 mission field. And God had changed my heart. 732 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,400 I had to make sure that it was God's call because God started 733 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,520 putting it on my heart that he wanted, wanted me to start a 734 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:37,960 church. And I said, hang on, I've told 735 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,080 people for a lot of years that I'm going to be a missionary. 736 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,280 I better make sure if this is God or if this is just me, what 737 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:46,360 is it? And I had to get a hold of God 738 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,040 and, and he had to make it very clear to me that it was his will 739 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,800 not for me to be a missionary, but for me to start a church 740 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:54,880 right here in the States, right here in this area. 741 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:58,240 You better make sure that it's God calling you and not you 742 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:00,840 calling you or your Mama calling you or somebody else. 743 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:02,760 What is the call of God in your life? 744 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:07,000 And so somebody said, if you can do anything else full time, do 745 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,080 it. If you can do anything but full 746 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,480 time ministry, do it. And what they meant by that was 747 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,480 this. When God calls you to the 748 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,840 ministry, you might have a desire to do other things and 749 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:22,200 you might have an ability to do other things, but you can't do 750 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,600 those things because the ministry is just burning in your 751 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,400 heart And the desire that God's given you and the call that 752 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,840 God's given to you. Well, God will make it clear to 753 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:32,120 you if that's what he's called you to do. 754 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,400 And there's, you know, for me, there was many other things that 755 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,760 I would have liked to like to have done, but nothing else that 756 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:40,560 I could do because I know this is exactly what God's called me 757 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,920 to do. And when you like the Bible 758 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:47,360 says, delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee 759 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,000 the desires of thine heart. There's a lot of other things 760 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:51,480 that I that I had an interest in. 761 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:56,400 I always wanted to be a a pilot F sixteens and fly The Jets and 762 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,560 all of those things. I had an interest in that from 763 00:38:58,560 --> 00:38:59,960 the time I was just a little kid. 764 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,520 Loved the Marines because I like their uniforms better than 765 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,720 everybody else's. I always wanted to go to the 766 00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:08,880 Marines and fly and I had that desire for a long time. 767 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:14,400 And then God called me and I surrendered to preach and I 768 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,400 still wanted to go to the military, but I knew this is 769 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,800 what God wanted me to do. And in a lot of ways, God's 770 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:21,640 allowed me to do the things that I've always wanted. 771 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,520 And obviously I never went to the military, but I'm working 772 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,680 with the Police Department and it's close to that. 773 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:29,240 There's a lot of those kind of things that overlap. 774 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,400 You know, there's, there's a lot of other things that I thought 775 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,240 would always be interesting to do. 776 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,320 And you know, even even the desire, I believe, you know, my 777 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:41,240 desire for the mission field was a burden for the mission field, 778 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:44,880 not a call to it. But but now God's allowing me to 779 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,400 even have an influence in some of these mission fields that 780 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,360 I've, that I've been able to go to and see some of these mission 781 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:52,760 fields and work with some of these missionaries. 782 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,320 And you know, I don't preach around the country very much, 783 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,400 but I preach around the world a lot, it seems like. 784 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:00,400 And God's given me that I believe because of my desire is 785 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,560 there and not God gives you the desires of your heart. 786 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,320 He fulfills your desires, but he changes your desires and he 787 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:07,600 tells you what he wants you to do. 788 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,600 And if you're, if you're interested only in doing what 789 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,960 God wants you to do, he'll make that very, very clear. 790 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,960 The surrender is the is the aspect that he's looking for 791 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,560 from us. But I say that to make sure that 792 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:21,920 that to be absolutely sure of your call. 793 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,800 And I'm not so sure that John Mark was very sure of that call. 794 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,120 Maybe he was, maybe he was and he just backed out of it. 795 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:30,600 But I think there's some things that we need to be cautious 796 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:32,320 about. Turn, turn back over to Acts 797 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:37,200 chapter 15 because one of the lessons that we learned from 798 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,560 John Mark really is how sad it is to get out of the will of 799 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:45,320 God, brings trouble to us, brings trouble to others, and it 800 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:48,360 lets the Lord down. And we find this in Acts chapter 801 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:54,600 15 and verse #36 some days after Paul said into Barnabas, let us 802 00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,240 go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have 803 00:40:57,240 --> 00:40:59,320 preached the word of the Lord and see how they do. 804 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:03,120 And Barnabas determined to take with him John, whose surname was 805 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:05,400 Mark. But Paul thought not good to 806 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,480 take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia and 807 00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:12,480 went not with them to the work. This is where you kind of get 808 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:14,400 the idea that it wasn't a very good split. 809 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:16,440 It's not like John Mark was just going to go with them for a 810 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:19,040 month or two and then come back. And he was just going to try to 811 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,240 get a little taste of the ministry he was supposed to be 812 00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:22,680 with him. And he abandoned that, that 813 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:25,080 mission. And that's why Paul said, I 814 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:26,920 don't want him. He left us. 815 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,360 We tried that once and it didn't work out so well. 816 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,240 Verse 39. And the contention was so sharp 817 00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:35,520 between them that they departed asunder one from the other. 818 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:38,680 And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed into Cyprus and Paul 819 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:42,560 chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto 820 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:44,640 the grace of God. And I don't know if this is any 821 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,640 indication or not, but what we find in the rest of the Bible is 822 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,720 that it follows Paul's story. And that's really the last you 823 00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:54,920 hear of Barnabas. I don't know if that took 824 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,120 Barnabas out of God's will. I don't know that. 825 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,720 I mean, obviously Barnabas did some good work with John Mark 826 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:04,040 because we see that this story has a pretty good ending. 827 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,480 But the, the story is, you know, the John Mark story is, is, is 828 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,160 evidently well known and the stigma had become attached to 829 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:13,520 John Mark. Paul said, I don't want him. 830 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,800 He quit. He left us. 831 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,080 He had the opportunity to be there and, and, and he quit. 832 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:23,520 I don't want him back. Fast forward about 12 years. 833 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,240 It's at least possible by this time that Mark's Gospel was 834 00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:34,000 already in circulation, that Paul read it and that he gave 835 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:35,560 his absolute recommendation of it. 836 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,600 And and his his view of John Mark and his usefulness to the 837 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,200 ministry changed a little bit by by reading that book. 838 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:46,400 But that may be why Paul's concern was to clear John Mark's 839 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,880 name, because it seems sure like Paul did that. 840 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:53,000 But be that as it may, John Mark was with Paul at Rome, and 841 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,720 that's what we find there back in Colossians Chapter 4. 842 00:42:56,680 --> 00:43:00,480 And Marcus, sister, son to Barnabas, touching whom he 843 00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:03,800 received commandments. If he come unto you, receive 844 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,800 him. We're not told how or why or 845 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:11,040 when John Mark actually joined Paul at Rome, but some people 846 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:15,680 have speculated that because his uncle Barnabas might have died, 847 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,680 and that John Mark felt the tug back toward Paul. 848 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,200 Either way, they made things right between them, whatever 849 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:26,000 that needed to be. John Mark, if you go back and 850 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,680 read about him as well, was a converted Jew. 851 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:32,440 So the one of the few Hebrew Christians that was willing to 852 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:35,280 be by Paul's side during that time when he was in prison 853 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,760 probably meant a whole lot to the apostle Paul as he sat 854 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,840 there. But now Paul trusts John Mark 855 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:46,000 enough to suggest that he go to Colossi on his behalf. 856 00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,760 That's the story of redemption. That's a story of forgiveness. 857 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:51,760 That's exactly what you hope to see happening. 858 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:53,840 But you know, maybe the Colossians would have given him 859 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:55,800 the cold shoulder because they knew about this. 860 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,920 They knew that he had quit. So Paul asked them, accept them 861 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:00,920 touching whom you received commandments. 862 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:02,680 If he come unto you, receive him. 863 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,520 Mark. He was Jewish by birth, but he 864 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:08,680 no longer held that Judaistic belief. 865 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:11,720 So he would have been a tremendous help in countering 866 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:15,360 the Judaism that was that was creeping into a lot of these 867 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:17,520 churches. Turn back over to Second 868 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,720 Timothy, chapter 4 to finish out Mark's story. 869 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:24,720 He was later with Peter at Babylon, and that's not a church 870 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:27,160 that you hear of very often, but there was a church there at 871 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:31,160 Babylon and at the time of his second imprisonment, which he 872 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,000 never escaped from, Paul had such a high estimate and such a 873 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:39,960 high recommendation for John Mark that he urged Timothy to 874 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,760 bring him to Rome because he was profitable to the ministry. 875 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:46,000 He said that in Second Timothy chapter 4 and verse #11 only 876 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:49,040 Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with 877 00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:52,640 thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry. 878 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:56,760 The last thing that we read about him, the last thing that 879 00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:59,280 we're told about John Mark, gives us an indication of just 880 00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:04,320 complete restoration, complete reinstatement, and a full 881 00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:06,760 dedication to the Lord's service. 882 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,680 Maybe he was too young, maybe he hadn't made sure of his calling, 883 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:13,360 maybe he had made some mistakes early on, but whatever it was, 884 00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:16,480 he turned his life around and God was able to use him. 885 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:19,040 And not only that, but he made things right with Paul. 886 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:22,240 Paul made things right with John Mark, and Paul got to the point 887 00:45:22,240 --> 00:45:24,520 where he could give that strong recommendation of him. 888 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:29,080 So Mark is the forgiven man. We can always make amends if 889 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:32,040 we're willing to do it. I think if you've gotten away 890 00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:34,640 from the Lord, or maybe if there's been an, there's been a 891 00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:38,360 time when you serve the Lord more in the past than you are 892 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:39,720 now. The Bible says in first John 893 00:45:39,720 --> 00:45:42,400 chapter 1 and verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful 894 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,200 and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all 895 00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:47,440 unrighteousness. He's always willing. 896 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:51,360 He's always able to put things back together, all the pieces, 897 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:54,360 and then use your life. And that's exactly what he did 898 00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,120 with John Mark. Very quickly back in Colossians 899 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:01,640 chapter 4, We don't have a lot about this man named Justice, 900 00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:04,880 but we do have a little bit. And I want to share that with 901 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:08,240 you this evening. We just talked about John Mark, 902 00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:10,840 the forgiven man. But I want you to see this about 903 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,280 Justice. He was the friendly man. 904 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:16,440 And it's kind of startling to come across the name like Jesus, 905 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:21,040 which is called Justice. Jesus for us is a very sacred 906 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:23,760 name, but it was actually a pretty common name back in that 907 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:26,560 time. And I think it helps us to 908 00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:30,160 remember that it was, it was common in among the Jews in that 909 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,600 day. And so Jesus was not anything 910 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,000 spectacular as it came in that way. 911 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,080 He was just an ordinary everyday name. 912 00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:40,280 The Bible tells us in Isaiah that there was no form nor 913 00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:43,400 comeliness about him. He was, he was not a handsome, 914 00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:46,200 strong looking man. There was no, there was no 915 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,760 beauty in him. The Bible says that men should 916 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,240 desire him. I think Jesus was just a common, 917 00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:53,760 common looking man with a common name. 918 00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:57,600 He came and that's one of the things that's so significant 919 00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:00,240 about the fact that this was not just a common man with a common 920 00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:03,080 name. This was God in the flesh, but 921 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:08,120 Jesus, whose surname is Justice, which is called Justice, who are 922 00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:10,600 of the circumcision. That means they were Jews. 923 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,960 And that surname justice really marks this man perhaps maybe as 924 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:18,960 belonging to a rigorous form of Judaism before his conversion. 925 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:22,560 But the fact that Paul says he was of the circumcision means 926 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,120 that he was a Jew. That was one of the rights that 927 00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:28,200 made them a Jew. Paul suffered much from what he 928 00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:32,760 calls the circumcision, the Judaistic, Legalistic mindset of 929 00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:35,360 all of these people. And they're members of the 930 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:38,080 Jerusalem church. They had a lot of that. 931 00:47:38,080 --> 00:47:40,840 James dealt with a lot of that in the, in the church at 932 00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:42,640 Jerusalem. They were, they were Christians. 933 00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:44,800 They believed in Christ, but they still had a lot of that 934 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:49,000 legalism and a lot of that stick to the law and, and, and follow 935 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:53,840 these things in, in that way. But these extreme Judaism 936 00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:57,120 Judaizers, if you will, the, those who are of the 937 00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,480 circumcision fought against Paul. 938 00:47:59,720 --> 00:48:02,200 They were his enemies. And, and, and you know, they 939 00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:04,840 dogged his footsteps. They, they subverted the 940 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:08,320 converts of the apostle Paul. They spread legalism and they 941 00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:12,040 did their best at every turn to undermine Paul's message, to 942 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:13,800 undermine what he was trying to accomplish. 943 00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:16,960 And I think had it not been for the circumcision, very likely 944 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:20,600 Paul would not have even been in prison, let alone killed, 945 00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:24,360 because of these serious charges that they brought against him. 946 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:29,200 But here were Mark and Justice standing shoulder to shoulder 947 00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:32,920 with Paul as some of his firmest friends, when Paul is in prison 948 00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,840 and facing a death sentence. But Paul says that these men had 949 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:42,120 been a comfort to him. These only are my fellow workers 950 00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:46,160 under the Kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. 951 00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:51,880 That Greek word is used only here in the New Testament, but 952 00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:53,920 it was a kind of a common medical term. 953 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:58,680 That word comfort. It's paregoric is the word that 954 00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:00,880 the is where we get that English word from. 955 00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:03,760 But it's it's a pair. That word paregoric means like 956 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:07,400 a, a soothing drug. It was a medical term. 957 00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:10,960 And so when Paul calls them a comfort unto him, it's they're a 958 00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:13,600 soothing drug to me. They're they're medicine to me. 959 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:17,040 They're such a help and and I'm so glad that they're here. 960 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:20,880 But justice had been a, a Good Samaritan to Paul, if you will. 961 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:25,240 He poured that soothing balm into the soul of the Apostle 962 00:49:25,240 --> 00:49:27,920 Paul and they ministered to his physical needs as well as to 963 00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:32,040 his, his spiritual and, and I dare say even his mental needs 964 00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:33,760 as well. And we can do the same thing for 965 00:49:33,760 --> 00:49:36,840 those who are of the household of faith who are struggling. 966 00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:39,520 You know, there's a lot of people that get into that the 967 00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:43,320 into that situation where they might be dealing with some form 968 00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,560 of depression. You know, I said that Charles 969 00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:48,800 Spurgeon spent a lot of his life and depression. 970 00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:51,720 I've never been through it. I can't say that I know what it 971 00:49:51,720 --> 00:49:53,480 feels like. And I think it's, you know, many 972 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:56,160 times it's our minds that are just not strong enough to handle 973 00:49:56,160 --> 00:49:58,200 those things. But there are people who go 974 00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:02,000 through it and there are people who who just seem like things 975 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:05,040 pile up one on top of the other and it just like they can't 976 00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:07,080 catch a break. And as soon as they start 977 00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:09,800 looking up and start seeing some things that are, you know, that 978 00:50:09,800 --> 00:50:12,080 might look like they're good for them, something else comes out 979 00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:14,680 of the out of left field and just knocks them down again. 980 00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:17,640 And those are the those are the people that we can help. 981 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:21,360 Those are the people that we can be a comfort to our our comfort 982 00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:25,440 can be like medicine to them. That's what justice did for the 983 00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,280 apostle Paul. His comfort was like a soothing 984 00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:32,280 medicine just just to be a friend to somebody may be all 985 00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:35,960 that they need. I mentioned that we had a lady 986 00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:39,480 that that came in this this evening before prayer meeting. 987 00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:42,480 Brother George and I were here discussing some of the things 988 00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:45,720 for the parade that's coming up. And she came and knocked on the 989 00:50:45,720 --> 00:50:47,440 door and just tears streaming down her eyes. 990 00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:49,000 She said, I don't need anything from you. 991 00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,080 I just need somebody to pray for me. 992 00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:53,960 I've had this happen and this happened and this happened and 993 00:50:53,960 --> 00:50:56,440 this happened and I just, I, I drove by the church and I've 994 00:50:56,440 --> 00:50:59,440 driven by the church many times and I saw that there was some 995 00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:01,720 cars in the parking lot. I just need somebody to pray for 996 00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:03,480 me. And we did that. 997 00:51:04,040 --> 00:51:07,200 There's people out there who are struggling who just need 998 00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:10,640 somebody to be an encouragement to them, who just need somebody 999 00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:14,120 to pray for them, you know, And I think we get, we get 1000 00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:17,680 disillusioned sometimes because we think everybody wants 1001 00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:20,480 something, right? The only reason they're coming 1002 00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:22,800 is because they want money or the only reason they're coming 1003 00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:25,640 to me is because they think I can do something for them. 1004 00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:28,720 But sometimes all they need is just somebody to be a friend. 1005 00:51:29,720 --> 00:51:31,120 And I told her that I said, you come back. 1006 00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:33,840 She was actually, I mentioned that we were having a service 1007 00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:35,440 tonight. And she said, I can't come 1008 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,080 tonight because I'm actually going home to take my mom to the 1009 00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:39,560 hospital. I think she's got something 1010 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:41,600 wrong with her and she needs to go to the emergency room. 1011 00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:44,280 But I encourage, I said, come on Sunday. 1012 00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:46,280 We have a lot of ladies in our church who would like to be a 1013 00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:49,000 friend to you. Sometimes that's all people 1014 00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:51,800 need. That's what justice was for the 1015 00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:54,640 Apostle Paul. Just just somebody who was a 1016 00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:58,040 friend, gave him comfort, gave him that, that that soothing 1017 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:02,000 balm that he needed to have just to be there when they need 1018 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,320 somebody to lean on like John Mark, and like justice was for 1019 00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:08,040 the Apostle Paul. So there's other men that are 1020 00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:11,880 mentioned here as we already talked about, but what about 1021 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:15,120 Mark the forgiving man? Are you willing to forgive 1022 00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:17,720 others? Are you willing to forgive 1023 00:52:17,720 --> 00:52:20,960 yourself for the things that maybe you've done in your life 1024 00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:22,440 and just go on and live for the Lord? 1025 00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:25,640 There's a lot of times when people say, I just, I've lived 1026 00:52:25,640 --> 00:52:27,640 such a horrible life. I can't believe I've done that. 1027 00:52:27,640 --> 00:52:29,600 There's no way that God ever could use me. 1028 00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:33,600 And that's just not true. Listen, if God forgave you and 1029 00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:38,720 the sin is against him, don't you think he wants us to forgive 1030 00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:42,120 ourselves, put it under the blood of Christ and just go on 1031 00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:44,600 and live for him? That's what he wants for us. 1032 00:52:44,600 --> 00:52:47,360 John Mark was a forgiving man and he didn't, he didn't, he 1033 00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:51,760 didn't grovel under the weight of abandoning the apostle Paul. 1034 00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,040 He got that forgiveness and he just went on and did something 1035 00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:57,840 for the Lord and it became profitable to the ministry, 1036 00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:03,280 justice, friendly man, somebody who was just willing to be there 1037 00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:05,120 and be a comfort to somebody that needed it. 1038 00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:08,680 How do you line up men of example? 1039 00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:12,400 We talked about five of them. A lot of things that we can do 1040 00:53:13,240 --> 00:53:15,560 to be a help to others. A lot of things that we can do 1041 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:19,640 to be useful in God's service. Paul gives us as we close out 1042 00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:24,880 this book of Colossians 5, maybe more men who are actually a 1043 00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:27,600 great example to us. How do you stack up when it 1044 00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:29,560 comes to them? Where do you line up? 1045 00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:33,520 What do you need to change to help you become like these? 1046 00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:36,560 That obviously God chose to put in the word of God to be an 1047 00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:40,280 example for us. Great help, great help that they 1048 00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:41,840 are. Let's pray. 1049 00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:44,200 Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us and 1050 00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:49,200 thank you for the men whose lives you chose to single out. 1051 00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:53,080 And I'm sure there was many, many people around the Apostle 1052 00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:56,280 Paul and in the churches that the Apostle Paul visited and 1053 00:53:57,160 --> 00:54:03,400 wrote to that were examples. But you chose these few men in 1054 00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:07,400 particular to be an example to us, and we follow their example 1055 00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:10,880 because it's obvious that they followed you and God. 1056 00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:12,520 May you help us where we fall short. 1057 00:54:13,080 --> 00:54:16,080 Thank you again for all you do for us in Jesus name, Amen.