Men of the New Testament: "John Mark" by Hiram Kemp - Part 9

Tonight we're going to continue our study looking at men

of the New Testament. There is a ladies' class looking at women of the New

Testament in the Adult 2 room if you would like to go in there if

you're a woman, but you're free to stay in here as well. We're going to

continue our study on men and characters in the New Testament,

and as you can see on the screen, tonight we're going to be looking at

the life of John Mark. Now, John Mark is somebody whose

life we typically talk about in passing. You normally will

hear discussions and conversation about John Mark when you think about maybe Barnabas.

Sometimes his life is discussed in a sort of extended connection,

maybe with Paul and even Peter. Mark's words,

his gospel that he penned for us, is discussed when you focus

and think about the life of Jesus. But the person that we know as John

Mark is rarely discussed as an individual. And so tonight we're

going to spend dedicated time looking at the life of John Mark. The way we're

going to do the class tonight I'm simply first going to tell you the story

of John Mark as it is covered throughout the New Testament. And as we do

this, we're going to hit on every verse that mentions Mark directly or

indirectly and say, here's what the Holy Spirit by inspiration tells us about

the man known to us as John Mark. Then the second step we'll take is,

here are some lessons to learn from the life of John Mark. And if time

permits, at the end we'll have some questions of discussion.

So, as we go through the steps or through the parts of John

Mark's life, You're free to follow along. This part hopefully will be very quickly,

and then we will get to the lessons we learn from him. But here's the

life of John Mark. First things first, we meet John Mark as a sort of

mysterious man. In Mark 14:51-52,

Mark 14:51–52

a man's mentioned, not by name, but a man that's mentioned only in Mark's

Gospel. This individual was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was praying

with his disciples, where he was seized and arrested. Only in Mark's

Gospel, Mark 14:51-52, do we read of a mysterious young

Mark 14:51–52

man who was wearing only a linen cloth and who was also seized

much like Jesus. And then he— when they seized him, he left and

fled away naked and left the garment in their hands. Many people believe,

and I think we've got good reason to assume, that this is most likely John

Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark. He, like the other gospel writers,

keeps the focus on Jesus, doesn't put the focus on himself, doesn't mention

himself by name. But if you think about John, who wrote the Gospel of John,

he does a similar thing. John never says I, John, an apostle of Jesus

Christ. Instead, he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

If this is Mark in Mark 14:51-52,

Mark 14:51–52

this is the first time he's mentioned at all in Scripture, though his

name isn't mentioned. But the first time we have his name recorded for sure

is in Acts chapter 12. In Acts chapter 12, James,

Acts 12 · chapter mention Acts 12 · chapter mention

the brother of John, is killed by Herod. That's Acts 12:1-4.

Acts 12:1–4

Peter is supposed to be killed next, or at least that's Herod's plan.

And in Acts 12:5, it says that the whole church was gathered

Acts 12:5

together to offer up prayers on his behalf.

Peter, as you might remember, is miraculously delivered from prison by an

angel of the Lord and immediately goes to a woman's house named Mary.

Acts 12:12 tells us her name is Mary and

Acts 12:12

she's the mother of who? John, whose surname,

or who was also called Mark. John is his Jewish name

and it's a name that's frequent in Old Testament literature, but then Mark

is the name that he's also known as throughout the New Testament.

Acts 12:12, that tells us that Mary was his mother and the

Acts 12:12

church was gathered there for prayer, tells us several important things about Mark before we

get into the life lessons. First of all, evidently Mark was a

man who had a spiritual mother that was very involved and influential in

the church. Acts 12:12 says that the church— that could be the entire Jerusalem

Acts 12:12

congregation or at least a large population of them. Remember, The church

at Jerusalem at this point has thousands of members, and evidently they're a

family of means if the church is gathered at her house for prayer.

Some people think that this house is the house where the disciples ate

the final Passover meal, the Last Supper, Mark 14:14-16,

Mark 14:14–16

and that this is probably the same place in Acts chapter 1 and verse 13

Acts 1 · chapter mention

when it says the disciples were in the upper room awaiting the baptism of the

Holy Spirit. And then in Acts 2:2, it just says they were in the

Acts 2:2

house, and this could very well be Mary's house. Mary's there,

very influential woman, and then Peter comes there.

Evidently, the church regularly assembled here for prayer because when Peter gets out

of prison, where does he go? Goes to Mary's house.

When Peter knocks on the door, the people don't believe it's Peter,

but who opens the gate? A young servant girl

named Rhoda. Acts 12:14 says she recognized

Acts 12:14

Peter's voice, which means Peter had to be a frequent visitor to

this home. Says a lot about Mark and the kind of influences that would have

been around Mark throughout his life, the kind of people that would have had an

impact on him. So Mary's his mom, her house is a house of prayer,

and people like Peter have frequented this place and

no doubt left an impression on young Mark. The next time we read

about him is at the end of Acts chapter 12 and in verse 25.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

Paul and Barnabas, who we later find out in Colossians chapter 4 is

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

actually related to John Mark, They're taking some money that they

received from the Christians to give to those that are in need in Jerusalem.

And Acts 12:25 says after they had distributed those funds,

Acts 12:25

they're returning from that benevolent mission and they have with them a man by the

name of John who was also named Mark. And then they go on the missionary

journey. That is Paul and Barnabas. They go on a missionary journey that

the Holy Spirit sent them out on together in Acts 13:1-3.

Acts 13:1–3

But in Acts 13:5, we learn it wasn't just Barnabas

Acts 13:5

and it wasn't just Paul Acts 13:5 says they also

Acts 13:5

had John Mark to be their— your translation may have assistant

or minister, and we'll talk more about what this word means later, huperetes.

It's a servant. It's an assistant. It's a minister. But here's what we know.

John Mark is with Barnabas. He's with Paul, and they set

out on their missionary journey, but it doesn't last for long.

For reasons unknown to us, when they get to Pamphylia, John Mark is with

his cousin Barnabas. He's with Paul, and Acts 13:13

Acts 13:13

says John Mark decides to turn back and

go home. Barnabas and Paul continue with the first missionary

trip, and at the end of that missionary journey, and after the conversation and

the conference in Jerusalem about whether or not Gentiles have to be circumcised, Paul says

to Barnabas, hey, let's go back to the churches and see

how they're doing. And Barnabas says, great, can we take John Mark with us?

And the Bible says that Paul would not desire to take the one that had

deserted them in Pamphylia. Barnabas and Paul are arguing over

whether or not John Mark should go on the second missionary journey. And maybe you

come up with your own conclusion when you read that. Whether— maybe you're a Barnabas

guy, maybe you're a Paul guy. Here's what we know. The Bible says they got

into a sharp disagreement. These weren't men just talking cordially,

maybe yelling at the top of their lungs. This word for sharp disagreement

only appears in the book of Acts in this place.

And they go their separate ways. Barnabas takes

John Mark and goes back to his hometown of Cyprus. Paul takes Silas and

then later will take Timothy and starts out on his second missionary journey,

and they go their own way. I don't know what you think about the disagreement,

but here's what the Holy Spirit tells us. They go their separate ways,

but they double the work. And whatever was said in that exchange, whatever happened

between Barnabas and Paul, and Paul and Barnabas, whatever John Mark said, if anything,

as he stood there, Here's what we know. It wasn't

a couple decades later that at the end of the book of Colossians

and the book of Philemon, John Mark is mentioned by name by none

other than the Apostle who? The Apostle Paul. He doesn't

just say at this point that John Mark's a good guy, though he says that.

He says that John Mark sends a greeting. Evidently,

Mark was with Paul at this point, had come to see Paul in prison

as Paul had written these letters known as the prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians,

Colossians, and Philemon. And so Philemon 24,

Colossians 4:10, both times he salutes John

Colossians 4:10

Mark. Whatever rift there was, it had been repaired. Whatever friendship

had been stifled, it was fixed. They weren't just comrades. At this

point, they're coworkers together. And if that wasn't enough,

at the end of Paul's life in 2 Timothy 4:10,

2 Timothy 4:10

he's telling Timothy where everybody is, the whereabouts of all of the

servants, Demons forsook me, went to Thessalonica. But then he says,

would you get John Mark and bring him with you because

he's useful or profitable to me in the ministry? 2 Timothy 4:10.

2 Timothy 4:10

So John Mark has gone from being a man who was a servant and an

assistant, who left them on the first missionary campaign, who they argue

about whether or not they should take, whose impulse salutation is at the end of

his letters, and then finally at the end of Paul's life he says, Timothy,

I need you to bring John Mark because he's useful to me for the ministry.

And this word for useful, it means that he was somebody that was of service.

He was a man equipped. He was skilled to do good things.

Whatever Paul wanted Timothy to do, he wanted John Mark right there with him.

And then the last thing the New Testament tells us about Mark is that

he's an accomplished author. Next to this in your notes, you can write

1 Peter 5:13, because in 1 Peter 5:13, Peter's at the end of his letter.

1 Peter 5:13 1 Peter 5:13

And he says, John Mark is my son in the Gospel. So John Mark is

a man that was evidently influenced by Peter, and we know this goes back

to Acts chapter 12. Peter had frequently been in the house of Mary, and that's

Acts 12 · chapter mention

John's mom. But at the end of Paul— at the end of Peter's life,

he says, John Mark's my son and he's with me. And John Mark would

go on to write what's known to us as the second Gospel account in

our New Testament, the Gospel of Mark. That's interesting because church

historians say that John Mark got much of his information for his Gospel

from the Apostle Peter. And Peter's mistakes are mentioned in all of

the Gospels, but especially highlighted in Mark's Gospel. There's nothing

to verify this, but church historians say that Mark went to Alexandria of Egypt,

and it was there that he was killed. But the Bible ends his story in

1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 13. Yes, Mike.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

That's right.

Well, I'll say 2 things about it. One, that he got

his information from the Holy Spirit, to be sure, right? He's inspired of the Holy

Spirit. He was there on the ground. However, and we don't have to argue about

tradition because nobody knows for certain, but the reason why it's possible that even though

he was present, even though his mom had a house in Jerusalem, that Peter could

have filled in some things and gave him some information is because Mark wasn't one

of the 12. So outside of Mark and Luke, the other 2 gospel writers,

Matthew and John, are in the 12. But if Peter's in that inner circle,

in 1 Peter 5:13, he does refer to Mark as his son.

1 Peter 5:13

It's altogether possible that though Mark was around things and

though his mom had the house in Jerusalem and was influenced, it wouldn't be beyond

the realm of possibility that Peter was also filling in some things like the Mount

of Transfiguration, like the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Some things like going

into the house of Jairus in Mark 5, only the 3 experienced

that. That would be Peter, James, and John. It's possible. Doesn't really

matter for what we think about Mark or for this class, but that's at least

part of the reason why some people think that. But any other questions on that?

Kevin? Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's exactly right. So That's right. If he

is the man in Mark 14:51-52, the word that's used there is he's

Mark 14:51–52

a young man. This young man was walking alongside. So some of those gaps would

have definitely been filled in. Luke, in his gospel account— just

if you're wondering why do people that wrote the Bible actually need help with any

of this, they're inspired of the Holy Spirit, but this is actual history that took

place— Luke 1:1-4 says he did research. He says

Luke 1:1–4

that he talked to other people and collaborated with them and put all

of his stuff together to write his gospel account. So that Mark could have done

the same thing isn't beyond the realm of possibility. But again,

there are no guarantees. This is Mark's life from the New Testament

standpoint. You start in Mark 14, you end in 1 Peter 5:13,

1 Peter 5:13

and the gospel that bears his name is the book he wrote to us.

Now what I want to do in the time we've got remaining is look at

the lessons that we learn from the gospel of— or from the man known to

us as John Mark. Here are the lessons that Mark's life teaches us. That's just

an overview, a scope of the man that he was, but here are the lessons

that we learn from his life. The first one— turn your Bible to Acts chapter

Acts 12 · chapter mention

12. Lesson number 1 from Mark's life is the importance

of a Christian home. I'm in Acts chapter 12, and notice verse 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

We've referenced these verses, but now we'll just look at the life lessons from

them, and then we'll end with some discussion questions. First lesson from Mark: the

importance of a Christian home. Acts 12 and verse 12 says, When he realized this—

this is Peter— when Peter realized that he had been delivered from prison, he went

to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name

was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. So the church is there

praying. His mom is definitely the one that owns this home. Some people believe

she was a widow, but Peter comes there, and Mark was being raised in

a Christian environment, in a Christian home. The Bible emphasizes this

from the beginning to the end, and maybe you know these passages. So Deuteronomy 6,

4 through 9, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You'll love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul,

all your mind. And then Moses says, these words which I command

you this day, you'll teach to your children, and you'll bind them as frontlets

between your eyes and on your hands and on your doorposts, and they'll be on

your gates. And when you go in and out, you're going to know these things,

and you'll discuss them. Or Proverbs 22:6, train up

Proverbs 22:6

a child in the way he should go, and when he's old, what? He won't

depart from it. Ephesians 6:4, Fathers, bring up

Ephesians 6:4

your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, the discipline

of the Lord. And you could go on with the passages in the Bible that

emphasize that parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual

truths. Psalm 127, Except the Lord build the house,

they labor in vain that build it. What do all

those passages emphasize? What do all of those passages have in mind? These passages and

others that talk about the instruction of children. Just stay with me for a minute.

What do all of these passages on the screen and others you can think about—

Proverbs 23:26, my son, give me your heart and

Proverbs 23:26

let your eyes observe my ways. All these passages about parents instructing

children in the Bible, what's the common thread in all of them?

All right, it's our job to point them to God, Russell, for sure. All of

these passages emphasize some degree of teaching. What else?

Okay, so there's a first— the first youth minister in every child's life are the

parents. It's the parents' responsibility, not the church. That's an anticipation.

Expectation, for sure. What else?

There's an example. Paul would say this about Timothy.

He would say, when I call to mind the sincere faith that dwelt first in

your grandmother Lois, your mom Eunice, and I'm convinced it's

in you also, 2 Timothy 1:5. And then he says that from a child you've

2 Timothy 1:5

known the sacred writings which were able to make you wise about salvation through faith

in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 3:14-15. So all of that, it's on the parents.

2 Timothy 3:14–15

But I want to take a slightly different approach with Mark based on what we

see in Acts chapter 12 about the importance of a Christian home, and it's this:

Acts 12 · chapter mention

there is a benefit. Yes, the instruction— do nightly devos,

do that however you want— there's some room for judgment in how that's done

and the regularity with which that's done. But I think there's something interesting to be

learned from Mark's lifestyle and what his mom obviously did and

the blessing of this Christian environment. No doubt there was verbal

instruction if he came up in a Jewish home. There was didactic teaching from the

Scriptures. Mark, here is the story about Moses. Here's what happened with Noah.

But there was also this Christian environment. If they're in her house gathered for prayer,

and if preachers and apostles are regularly coming to their home,

what was Mark's childhood like? What was his upbringing like? He was just

what? He was just around it.

There's this little comical quote about fish. One day a fish whisked in

the ocean past these goldfish and he said to the goldfish, hey guys, how's the

water? And the goldfish said, what water? I mean, they've just been around it so

long they don't know they're in it. They're just always around it. What water?

And maybe you've seen this before, like there are football players today, coaches and

NFL players, and sometimes their, their parents played in the league.

And they'll get interviewed and they'll do like a flashback and there'll be these pictures

of them as children just maybe being the ball boy, maybe being the water boy,

and maybe just on the sideline. And then eventually one thing led to another And

they were just always around it. It was just ever about them.

And you know people like this in business. They went into a certain field,

and then all of a sudden their kids did the same thing.

There's a benefit to a Christian home. Yes,

instruction, but also creating environments where the hunger

and thirst for spiritual things, the children just grow up around it.

His mom, Mary, didn't have to say to Mark, hey, one day you're gonna author

one of the inspired Gospels, and you're gonna be a missionary. All she had to

do was just keep bringing Peter around and just see what happens. Just keep having

prayer meetings in the house and just see what'll happen.

When Mark was up against the ropes and he turned back in Pamphylia,

the Bible doesn't say Mary took him aside and said, hey, now don't you do

that anymore. We don't know why he departed. We'll talk about that in a minute.

But it was another missionary that stood up for him and said, hey, there's something

to John Mark. Don't quit on him. This is not the end of John.

What happened? How did that happen? You see, it was his environment. He just so

happened to be around it. It was just ever about him, and it made a

difference. And it's a reminder that an early imprinting of the gospel,

of spiritual truths, can leave a lasting imprint. Go to Psalm 71 quickly.

Go to Psalm 71. First person that gets there, read Psalm 71

and verse 17. Psalm 71:17.

Psalms 71:17

All right. Oh my God, you taught me from my youth, and to this day

I declare your wondrous works. That can happen. Ecclesiastes 12:1,

Ecclesiastes 12:1

remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come

and the years draw near, when my heart will say, I have no pleasure in

them. If you don't want that to happen, he says, hey, you can start early.

So there's this early and lasting imprinting, and then there's the

value of the imprint of other Christians.

I'm just getting to this point in parenting. My kids— I always tell people,

my kids are still downloading, okay? So the verdict is not out. We don't know

how it's gonna go. We're hoping for the best, though. But if you've raised children

already, or even if you haven't, if you've grown up as an individual,

you know in every child's life there's a point very early on where the parents

and the kids are just like this. They're glued together. You remember that? Just carrying

them around, all of that. But then at a certain point, sometimes in the teenage

years, something kind of flips and all of a sudden everybody

else in the world is an expert and your parents are what?

Somebody says stupid. I can see— well, it's in the Bible. Proverbs talks about people

that are stupid. Yeah, your parents don't know anything. They're just dumb, they're stupid.

It's in those moments that you hope, okay, they won't listen to me.

I hope that somebody else around them will do basically my dirty work

for me. I hope somebody else around them and the people that are around them

will echo the messages that they won't hear from me. And John Mark

had that. That's one of the blessings of growing up in a Christian home.

Yes, I believe all the passages in that first point.

Proverbs 22:6, yes. Ephesians 6:4, yes.

Proverbs 22:6 Ephesians 6:4

Psalm 127, Deuteronomy 6, But there also need to

be these other influences that can make Hebrews 10:24 come alive.

Hebrews 10:24

Consider how to stir one another up to provoke them to love and good works.

And the part of being Christian family, our pledge to each other is this: if

the day comes and you ever see my kids out of line, I hope you

would do for them what I would hope to do for you. And let's consider

how to stir one another up to love and to good works.

Last thing I want to say about this before we move on to point number

2 is a point about heroes. So when you were growing up, don't think Bible,

just think about life. And I guess we'll find out everybody's age by this right

here. Um, who were the heroes when you were growing up? Like, who did people

look up to? Don't think Bible and spiritual, just think about life.

Who did people look up to?

Mickey Mantle. Okay, who else?

Eisenhower. Who else?

Reagan. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Okay.

All right, Brother Arnold. Okay, Arnold, who else?

In the '90s, there was a commercial about this basketball player. I want to be

like who? I want to be like Mike. There's a sense in which so

long as it's wholesome and not ungodly, I think that's fine.

I think that it's right that people are just gonna have heroes, people they look

up to that have succeeded in athletics, in business, in the arts, and in academics.

But then, so you've got heroes for like leisure, but then there are heroes for

life. People that you say, I want to model my life after

this person, and I want to be like this person. And every child needs

that. And one of the blessings of growing up in a Christian home is

you get to— if we're wise about it, we get to nudge our kids and

say, hey, look at them. Don't run past them shuffling into the auditorium. One day

you want that to be you. You want to be 70, 80, 90 years old

and still prioritizing the assembly. Hey, these are the real heroes.

Hey, I know we like football. I know we like baseball. Basketball,

all of that. This is a great movie. But when you start talking about life

heroes, John Mark— hey, look at Peter. He just got out of jail. He was

arrested for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's somebody who you really want to model

your life after. That's what it really means to be a man and to be

a hero. Peter had a wife, he had children, but Mark, when you grow up,

that's the person you really want to be like. One thing we learn

from Mark's life is the importance of a Christian home. And it's just ever

about you. Yes, it's the parent's responsibility first and foremost, but it

eventually becomes a part of what the whole church can provide in a blessing,

though it's the parent's primary responsibility. Now here's number 2: try

to leave no question marks in your life. This is the second lesson. Go to

Acts 13 and verse 13. Second lesson from the life of John Mark, I think,

is to try to leave no question marks in your life. All right,

verse 13 of chapter 13 says, now Paul and his companions set

sail from Paphos, and they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left

them and did what? Returned to Jerusalem.

So you might have some theories, and I would ask you, what do you

think was the reason that John Mark left? Here's what I know for a fact,

and I know— I'm sure there's some opinions in this auditorium. People will be

arguing until Jesus comes about why John Mark left. But guess what?

The Bible doesn't— what? Doesn't tell us. Now you've

got a margin over here, you can write in whatever you want, okay? But the

Bible doesn't tell you why John Mark left, and people will be arguing about it.

Some people— maybe he was homesick. Maybe he was afraid. Maybe his mom was sick.

Here's the thing, we just don't know. And here's

what I think is a lesson from the life of John Mark. To the best

of our ability, try to leave no question marks in your life so

that people don't have to come behind you and try to figure out, I wonder

what happened with this person. I wonder why they did this. I wonder why they

did this. In John Mark's case, we really don't know, and I think it's a

lesson to us to try to leave no question marks.

Why do people have to have a will? Why do people encourage

us to say, hey, You need to leave a will behind. Why? So that when

you die, what? Your last

wishes and people will do what?

They'll know what to do with your stuff. They'll know what to do with it.

Hey, he wanted— nobody will have to guess about you. And John

Mark's life is an example, at least in this regard. Try to leave no question

marks. You get to verse 13, the Bible doesn't tell— why did John Mark leave?

Paul was pretty mad about it. Barnabas tried to reason for him. But try

to leave no question marks behind. If you've ever experienced this in your life,

you know it's different. All death is tragic, all death is

sad, but when it's immediate death, when it's tragic death, when it's unannounced

death, one of the things that'll stick with you is just

all the unanswered questions. The last conversations you didn't get to have, the final— you

don't get to sew those things up, it just kinda is snuffed out.

If we can in our lives, we should try to live in such a way

that people don't have to guess about us. And here's some of the ways,

quickly, before we move on to number 3, that we can do it. Let your

faithfulness be obvious. Don't leave any question marks.

9:30 Sunday morning, 10:30 Sunday morning, where you gonna be?

Right here, right? John 18 and verse 2 says that Jesus often

went to the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples, and that's how Judas knew where

to find him. You know why Judas knew that? Because Jesus just what?

He just always went there. It was predictable righteousness. Jesus is going to be here

with his disciples, and if you want to get Jesus, here's where you go.

Hebrews 10:25 says, don't abandon the assembling

Hebrews 10:25

of the saints with ourselves together as the habit of some is. Let your

faithfulness be obvious. You've got a responsibility to the local congregation.

Just be faithful to it to the best of your ability. In Colossians 4:17,

Colossians 4:17

Paul talks about a man named Archippus, and he says, See to the ministry that

the Lord's given you and fulfill it. And everyone in this room, every one of

us has a ministry and we should fulfill it. There shouldn't be any question marks.

Hey, we got him down for prayer but he might not come. Hey, she's supposed

to teach this class. You might want to have a sub because she sometimes— you

just don't— you never know. Why did John Mark leave? We don't know.

Try to not have any question marks. Here's another one. Let love

in your family be unquestionable. Don't let anybody have

to guess through it. Think about the people close to you in your life.

Here's a question: do they feel loved? Or if they

were called before this auditorium, would you have to kind of explain it to them?

No, I love you because— and like try to reason them there.

Or is it just obvious? Like, no, I know she loves me.

I know my dad loves me. I know my spouse loves me because it's

just obvious. They speak my love language. They reveal— they show it to me in

the ways that I appreciate, in the ways I need it. It's just obvious.

We don't know what happened right after Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, but here's what

we know. God told Abraham to do what in Genesis 22 with Isaac?

Take Isaac and do what? But He said more than that. In Genesis

22 and verse 2, He says, take now your son, your only son, whom you—

what? Whom you love. It was evident. Abraham loves

Isaac. No question marks. And sometimes people say,

you know, I don't know. I mean, I know my dad loved me. I know

my mom loved me. They didn't say it a lot, but they didn't— You don't

want to live like that. Don't let that be true about you. Yes, you gotta

show it as well as tell it, but don't forget to tell it. It needs

to be said. Don't leave any question marks. Here's the third one

about the values in your life. Don't leave any question marks.

Don't let anybody wonder, I wonder what was the most important thing to him?

Maybe it was his job. He went to church sometimes, but maybe,

maybe it was baseball. Maybe it was cars. Don't leave any question marks

about what's in first place. We all have hobbies. We all have interests. But don't

leave any question marks about what's really number one. Jesus says,

if you don't forsake everything and follow me, you can't be my disciple.

And this one, I know this isn't directly in the list, but I think this

is important. Don't leave any question marks in your life about church

membership. Sometimes a person says, well, I'm just a member of the church at large,

you know, I'm just kinda floating around. And somebody might say, hey, you used to

be here one Sunday and now you're not. I wonder where he went. And you're

just sort of ever around. But church membership is biblical. In those

passages, Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25,

Philippians 2:25

Paul says he's one of you. That means he's a member of the church in

Philippi. In Colossians 4:12, Epaphras is a member of

Colossians 4:12

the church in Colossae. Where's their membership? Where's their involvement?

Where's their activity? It's in this place, and that's not up for

question. We'll never know why John Mark left in Pamphylia.

Don't you wish you knew though? And then maybe it'd make it easier in Acts

15 to determine who was right. We just don't know. And I think

one of the lessons from his life is, as best you can, and as best

as I can, try not to leave any question marks. Here's number 3. We'll get

to the questions of discussion soon. Be faithful in whatever task you're assigned.

So John Mark is called a huperetes. He's called a

servant. He's a minister. Look at Acts 13 and look at verse 3.

This is when they go out on their first missionary journey, Acts 13 and verse

3. Or really verse 5 it should be, excuse me. When they arrived at Salmis,

they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And verse 5

says they had John to assist them. So what do you think it means that

John was an assistant? Acts 13:5. Your translation may even have

Acts 13:5

something like minister or attendant or something like that. Here's what I want to know.

What do you think that means? You got Paul and Barnabas. Let's start with them.

They were doing what on the missionary journeys? They were doing the

preaching and teaching. That's easy to see. Keep reading Acts 13. Paul stands up in

the synagogue, Antioch of Pisidia. Preaches a sermon. But what

does it mean that John Mark was their minister, their assistant,

their attendant? What was John Mark doing? He was their

helper. Okay, great, Debbie. He was their helper. Helping how? Like, what does he do?

Mm-hmm. Went to a family reunion, huh? He might have

gone to one, yeah. So, no, he's familiar with the city. He could help out.

Gary? He carried their Bibles. Okay.

Some people say that he carried their stuff. Go ahead.

Yeah, maybe, maybe, yeah, maybe he had his hands on the stuff, the baggage,

carried stuff. Any other ideas? What does it mean that John Mark was their minister,

their attendant? Everything that's been said so far I think is good.

What else? Maybe he invited people

to hear him, maybe. All this word means is everything y'all have said.

Basically, Mark was just a helper. And I think the third lesson

we learn from his life is whatever task you're assigned, Just be faithful.

Think about in the Bible some faithful role players. Who can you think about in

the Bible who maybe later went on to do great things, but they started out

as just a role player, just doing their task, doing their duty? Who can you

think of? Faithful role players in the Bible.

After Moses, who takes over? Starts with J, ends with Oshua.

Joshua. Yeah, for sure. But before Joshua ever does

anything about conquering Jericho or anything like that, we meet Joshua in Exodus 17,

and he's down— Moses is up on the top of the mountain with his hands

being held up by Hur and others and Aaron, and Moses

says, there's a man at the bottom of the mountain by the name of Joshua,

and he's a mighty warrior for the Lord. When Moses goes up on Mount Sinai

to receive the law from God, Exodus 19, Aaron is down there building

a golden calf. You know who's halfway up with Moses being an assistant,

being a helper? That was Joshua.

Before he ever was a special leader leading God's people into the Promised Land,

he was just a role player doing his duty. The same thing could be said

about Samuel. First, he was just an attendant with Eli. 1 Samuel 3

and verse 10, he says, speak, Lord, your servant hears. But first, he was

just a servant. All throughout the Bible, there are people that you

can think of who started out just simply playing their role. Even the

12, Jesus would tell them, I'm going back to the Father, and you'll do greater

things than I did. John 14:12. Think about that. Jesus looks at you and

John 14:12

says, you're going to do greater things than me. Because I'm going to the Father.

And for a long time, all they did for Jesus— they were just

servants. What can God do in our lives if we just commit ourselves

to him and we serve? Mark's Gospel ironically emphasizes

service above all the other Gospels. Go to Mark 10:42-45

Mark 10:42–45

and notice what Mark writes about Jesus, or at least what Jesus

taught his disciples. Mark 10:42-45, and you could really

Mark 10:42–45

read Mark's Gospel through this lens because a lot of what he emphasizes

in his Gospel is this very idea. It says, Jesus called

them to him, that's the 12, and said to them, you know that those who

are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones

exercise authority over them. But it will not be so among you. Whoever will

be great among you must be your servant, and whoever will be first among you

should be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be

served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. Mark emphasizes

that throughout his gospel. What was Mark's first job in the church? He was a

what? He was a servant. It just makes sense.

Think about it this way. God has all the talent, all of it.

Everybody in the world that has any talent to do anything, they got it from

who? God has all the talent. So that means all

God needs you to do and all God needs me to do is be willing.

God has all the gifting. He's going to disperse it out in increments that

we can handle it. That's what the parable of the talents is all about.

He gave to them according to their ability, but all the talent belongs to God.

What God wants you to do and what God wants me to do is Isaiah

Isaiah 6:8

6:8, Lord, here am I. Do what? Send me.

But send me where? That's all fun and games until God says, okay, great,

to the janitor closet. And then you're like, no, I didn't want that ministry.

See, be faithful wherever He calls you.

Mark was a worker, then he was a writer. Nobody knew Mark's going to write

the 2nd gospel in the New Testament, the one that, by the way, was probably

written first and the earliest. First, Mark's just carrying stuff,

starting the fire for dinner. He's just walking around with Barnabas and Paul,

and his life teaches us this lesson: be faithful in whatever

task you're assigned. Wherever you are right now, be faithful today.

Don't worry about what's coming. Just be faithful right now, today,

whatever age, whatever stage of life you're in. That's what God wants from us,

and I think Mark's life teaches us that. Here's number 4: everybody

deserves a second chance. I told you 5 of these and then we'll get to

the questions. Everybody deserves a second chance. Go to Acts 15. We'll read this quickly.

Acts 15. This is the sharp disagreement with Paul and Barnabas

about the life of John Mark and whether or not he should go. Acts 15:36

Acts 15:36

says, after some days Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and

visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and

see how they are. Now Barnabas wanted to take with him John called Mark,

but Paul thought it best not to take with them the one who had withdrawn

from them in Pamphylia and didn't go with them to the work. And there arose

a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him

and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended

by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and

Cilicia strengthening the churches. One of the lessons from the life of John Mark is

everybody in the world deserves a second chance. If you're a Christian,

this is easy because our religion is actually built on second chances.

You wouldn't be in Christ today unless God gave you a what?

A 200th chance, not second, right? When you were

yet without strength, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Scarcely for

a righteous man would one die. Perhaps for a good man God would even dare

to die. But God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we

were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Your whole spiritual existence.

The only reason any one of us ever prepares our hearts to hear,

well done, good and faithful servant, is because God's a God of second chances.

Christianity is built on second chances, and we should give them.

If anybody should have known about second chances though, it should have been Saul

of Tarsus. I mean, think about his life before Christianity,

and then once he becomes a Christian, he tries to join himself to the disciples

in Acts chapter 9. They won't have him. Guess who's

Acts 9 · chapter mention

spoke up for Paul. Barnabas said, hey, he's already been preaching the Lord in Damascus.

Give him a chance. If anybody should have known about second chances, it should

have been Paul, but it was Barnabas who said, I won't go if Mark can't

go. And they split and go their separate ways. God gives us what we

don't deserve. That's the kindness and love of God mentioned in Titus 3:4.

Titus 3:4

And the power of a second chance can change a life.

Imagine you're John Mark just for a second. And you hear these 2 guys

arguing about you. What's Paul saying? Should you go or not?

What's Barnabas saying? What do you think that did for John

Mark, hearing them— hearing really Barnabas fight for

him to be able to still be involved in this mission work? What did it

say to him? That Barnabas did what?

Stood up for him. He believed in him. He was saying, you're not finished.

You're not done. It changed his life. Here's a

question: if you know that everybody in the world needs second chances,

what makes it hard to give other people one? I mean, anybody ever wronged

you and you know, okay, I'm a Christian, I've got to forgive, but I really

don't want to? I mean, this is easy Wednesday night theology, but at the heart

of it, sometimes we still struggle to give other people second chances. Why is that

the case even though we know every one of us is really living

on a second chance? Why is it hard to give other people second chances?

Pride. Trust has been broken and it's

hard. And we'll talk about that in 2 minutes here about what's the difference between

trust and still forgiving. Is there a sort of a difference?

Is there a difference between trust and forgiving? But yes, trust has been broken

so that makes it hard. What else? Hurt. Yes, real hurt

happens. Andy? Yeah.

Yeah. And you can know that you're supposed to do what?

But you can feel like you don't what? You don't want to.

And that's why we got to keep preaching the gospel to our hearts every day.

That's Matthew 18:21-35.

Matthew 18:21–35

Man owes his master an amount of money he'll never be able to pay.

He's forgiven, goes out and grabs one of his servants by the throat. You read

that and you want to write at the top of your Bible, LOL, there because

you're like, how can he not forgive this guy? This is crazy. Look how much

he's just been forgiven. And then you read it closer and you think, how many

times in my life has that been me? Owed God a debt I'd never be

able to pay. People wrong me, family, friends, business,

and you think, never, not doing that to me again. That's us.

And again, there is a difference between forgiveness and between trust

and responsibility and what— how far we allow people back in, but forgiveness

isn't optional. It's not up for negotiation. It's what Christians should do. And I think

we learn from the life of John Mark everybody deserves a second chance. And what

a second chance did for John Mark is it put the second gospel in our

New Testament. If Mark doesn't get a second chance, maybe the Gospel of Mark isn't

written, but Barnabas doesn't give up on him.

Alright, here's the last thing. Mark's life teaches us to make good

on second chances. Everybody deserves one, but when we

receive one, we've got to make good on it. Mark is linked to faithfulness from

here on out. The passages on the screen there, they just show you.

After this, Nothing bad is ever said about John Mark again. He got a

second chance and he made good on it. The Bible frowns on people who squander

second chances. Frowns on them. It talks about a person that's like a dog

going back to his vomit, a sow or a pig that was washed going to

wallow in the mud. Imagine you do your kids' laundry. Brand new white

shoes, white shirt, they come in with mud on it. They're crying, I can't believe

it's messed up. You say, don't worry, that's why we got a washer and dryer.

They go, you wash it, you dry it, they put it on. And go right

back in the mud again. That's what the Bible says happens to us when we

go back to the very same things we've been delivered from. The Bible frowns on

those that squander second chances. John Mark received one, but he made

good on it. At the end of his life, he's called a man that's useful

for ministry, and Mark's positive contributions outweigh his bad

at the end of the day. What you could say about him departing Pamphylia pales

in comparison to all the good he did. And I've got Judges 16 up there

because that's how Samson's life ends. The Bible says that Samson in his

death killed more people than he did in his life.

One of the lessons, the 5th lesson we learn from the life of John Mark

is this: when we receive second chances, we bear responsibility to

God and the people who gave it, to the Barnabases in our lives who said,

you're not finished, to never fall into it again. And that's exactly

what happens with the life of John Mark, and it's a lesson you've got to

make good on. All right, time we've got left, questions of discussion. Let's see what

we can get into. I'll skip these and do the ones I want. How about

that? All right, let's see. All right, is there a difference between forgiving

and trusting again? If so, what's the difference? Is there a difference?

Yes, there is. There is. You can forgive a person but then

say, hey, I forgive you, don't hold anything against you,

but not going to necessarily put you back in this same predicament or

give you this responsibility or give you this kind of jurisdiction again. So I think

as we talk about forgiveness And we talk about Mark and we talk about Barnabas,

it's important to see it doesn't make you unforgiving if you

say, I forgive, comma, but with wisdom. I think it'd be foolish

not to do that, and you could think of 100 scenarios that that would

make sense. A person just stealing over the cash register in your business

hand over fist every week, you don't— well, I forgive you, and by the way,

you're our new accountant. That wouldn't make sense, right? You can forgive,

but at the same time, that doesn't mean you trust them the same way.

What does Mark tell us about the kind of people that God uses?

God uses imperfect. By the way, we say that, we think about people that have

messed up in the Bible, that's all God's got to work with.

Save Jesus Christ, that's all God's got to work with.

God uses imperfect people time and time again because He

knows it's His specialty to take broken things and make

something beautiful out of them. And that's what He does with the life of John

Mark. What makes somebody useful? Paul says, get John Mark

and bring him because he's useful for the ministry. What makes a person useful?

Just be willing. If you're willing, God has all the

talent in the world. He will supply the gifting. All you gotta do is say,

God, I'll do it. Whatever it is, if you feel like it's in the realm

of, God, I'm willing to do it, and God will use you.

What's the difference between evaluating somebody and developing somebody? This is

important because in Acts 15 this happens. There's 2

men there arguing, Barnabas and Paul.

Paul is evaluating John Mark, but Barnabas,

he's trying to develop John Mark. And what's the difference? Evaluating says,

this is what I what? See.

Developing says, this is what I can see. This is what can be.

Paul's not wrong in his— the Bible says he didn't want to take

with him the one that deserted them on the way. This word is kind of

like the word apostate. Apostasy. John Mark left us. He deserted us. That's a true

statement. Look at Acts 13:13. But Barnabas wasn't evaluating John Mark.

Acts 13:13

Barnabas was saying, there's a Gospel of Mark in there somewhere.

There's a sermon somewhere in there. This man is more than his mistakes.

And it doesn't matter what you think. At the end of the day, evidently Barnabas

was right. Because when Paul was awaiting execution,

he said what Barnabas said. Before I die, I want to see a couple

people. Timothy, do your best to come before winter, but don't forget to bring John

Mark because he's useful to ministry. And if you name the New Testament books,

you got Matthew, Mark— he's been useful

in yours and in mine. Thanks for a good Bible study

tonight. Appreciate your time, and next week we'll continue in our study of men of

the New Testament.