["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Faithful Word of God Church.
Great to see you all here for our Sunday morning service.
If you'd all please have a seat, grab a hymnal, and open up that hymnal, song number 36.
We can begin this morning's service by singing song number 36, Christ the Rose.
["Christ the Rose"]
Amen. Let me begin with you right here.
Dear Lord, thank you for this morning, Lord.
Thank you for this church, Lord.
I pray that you just continue to bless this service.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen. Thank you, brother.
Let's turn to song number 150.
Song number 150,
My faith has found a resting place.
["My Faith Has Found a Resting Place"]
My faith has found a resting place
Drowning in life's torn gleam
My trust will never let me fall
When it comes to me shall be
My need, oh Father, are human.
I need no other me.
Is it enough that Jesus died and that he died for me?
Is it enough that Jesus' sinful face
stands quite near and doubt?
A sinful soul might come to him.
He'll never pass me out.
I need no other.
I need no other me.
Is it enough that Jesus died and that he died for me?
I'm always living on the earth, the risen word of God.
Salvation by my secret name, salvation through his blood.
I need no other.
I need no other me.
Is it enough that Jesus died and that he died for me?
I play position, yield the sin, well-lost he came to save.
For he has meant just what he shared.
For he is what he gave.
I need no other.
I need him.
I need no other me.
Is it enough that Jesus died and that he died for me?
Amen.
That's it.
We're going to end this time.
We've got a little bit of announcements.
We'll do the following.
We'll be doing song number 139.
All right.
If you'd like to hold, you can go ahead and slip up your hand.
Brother Adam will bring you one.
As always, we have our service times listed there
in the upper left-hand side.
We'll be back tonight at 5.30 PM.
And again, this Thursday, 7, going through Acts.
We'll be in chapter number 16.
And then we've got the church-wide soul-winning,
some regional soul-winning times,
as well as the salvations and baptisms
for both month and year.
It's been a great month for salvation.
So keep up the great work, everybody, soul-winning.
We haven't seen a number that high.
And I know a lot more people are going more consistently.
So I do acknowledge that and appreciate that.
So keep that good work up.
And also, don't forget, we've got the special invites
in the back that we're using to promote our fifth five-year
anniversary, which is the next announcement there.
So don't forget next Sunday.
So this is the big week before.
If you're thinking about it while you're out and about,
maybe take a few invites.
If you know anybody that you might
want to bring to our five-year anniversary,
you can rest assured it's probably
going to be one of my nicer sermons,
where I'm not going to get all crazy
and scare people away and all that stuff.
We'll save that for later, after they've
taken a few drinks out of the water cooler.
It's a joke.
It's just a joke.
But anyway, so come on out.
Invite folks out.
And if you can bring a dish to share, that'd be great.
It looks like we're going to have plenty of food so far.
Of course, the church will be providing
a couple of briskets, as well as some beverages.
And then don't forget this Saturday, September 2nd.
Is that right?
Is this Saturday, September 2nd?
It is.
I'm having a moment up here, a Biden moment.
Oops.
All right.
No, that's when I forget which way to go after I'm done.
Anyway, this Saturday, we're going
to have the soloing marathon.
Just from 10 to 1230, come back to the building for lunch.
And then go out again for a couple more hours.
If you can make both sessions, great.
If you want to make one or the other, that's fine as well.
If you can't make any of them, well, just
pray for us that we go out there and we can get some people
to come on in and help us eat all that food on Sunday.
Also, don't forget there's the volunteer sign-up sheet
back there for cleaning the building.
You can go ahead and pick out a week
if you want to participate in that.
And you can also see me for more details.
Also, on the back, continue to pray for the expectant ladies
in our church.
Of course, this is ladies up at the Tempe church,
but they could use your prayers all the same.
Also, if you have any photos or videos
that you would like to have included, potentially,
depending on the quality and the content,
if it's too embarrassing for me, I probably won't put it in.
But anything that makes me look any worse than I already do.
But if you have any videos or anything
like that from the last five years that you'd like to share,
I know I've got quite a bit from several people already.
But that's still a possibility.
The more, the merrier.
So I'm going to try to put together just a little montage
that we can show on the projector
the morning of the anniversary service.
So I'm looking forward to that.
Well, other than that, that'll do it for announcements.
We'll go ahead and just sing one more song before we get
into preaching this morning.
Son of the 139, I know who I have to be.
I know how I just want this place to be and be full.
Lord, why the world in Christ's name
would be king before his word.
But I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at the track of it.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know that God's just a saving thing to be given heart.
But I have to leave him in his word for peace within my own.
But I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know that God's spirit moves on faith and on strength.
We give Jesus to the one we hate, we believe in.
But I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know that God's good old health may be reserved for me.
But give him praise, Lord, all in his name,
before his place I sleep.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know that when I'm warming up at night, I will be there.
I know that if I walk on everything,
only he will believe it.
But I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
But today, look, it's that day.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him.
I know who I have to leave him and then persuade him
that he is able to keep at which I will give him
Now I believe that the Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark
That's not really anything that's debated
But it's significant because of the fact that you have a man in John Mark
who is the author of one of the four Gospels
Now look there are a lot of different people
I don't believe that obviously we have the entirety of scripture
The canon that we have, every word of God is preserved
It's kept for us
But you know I'm sure there were other people that were writing things
Not necessarily to deceive, not necessarily to try to get something into scripture
Probably people were just writing things at that time describing the events that they had seen
I mean you think about all the things that are written about today
Just think about all the dumb, vain things that people tweet about or ex about now
Is it a tweet anymore? I don't know, I know that got changed
It's no longer Twitter, I heard that, right? It's ex
So are you still tweeting? Are you exing?
Okay, that doesn't sound, that doesn't really roll out the tongue
But anyway, that's kind of a separate issue, isn't it?
So, but think about all the things that people, you know
I'm gonna go, I'm sticking with tweet, I'm sorry, I can't come around, right?
But you know the tweeting, the posting, all the magazines that are written on all the hobbies
These people, not necessarily bad things, but just all kinds of things
All the events that are recorded
I mean think about the fact that you know when Christ comes and does all the miracles that he does
Preaches all the sermons that he preaches
And then it's crucified, it's buried and raises again from the grave
You know there's probably a lot of people that wrote about that
You know probably a lot of people are recording about that
Obviously what we have, what made into our Bible is what was inspired and preserved by God
What was accepted as scripture
So to be one of the four, that's kind of a big deal, isn't it?
You know if you're the author of one of the four gospels
The four gospels, which are the center of the Bible
Everything is leading up to the gospels
That we have the life of Christ
And then everything beyond that is looking back at the gospels
It's expounding the scripture, those scriptures
I mean that's a pretty big significant role
To be an author of one of those books
You know and I believe that's who John Mark is
I believe he is that author
So you know verse 38 of Acts chapter 15
It's kind of a little bit, carries a little bit more weight when you think about that
You say what's the point?
So in verse 37
Barnabas determined to take with them John whose surname was Mark
Verse 38, but Paul thought not good to take him with them
He's saying no let's not take John Mark
It's like but wait a minute
This guy is the author of Mark
You know he's the guy who wrote this book
And then he gives the reason why
You know it's not just that it was a personal conflict
It wasn't just that he didn't like his company
The Bible gives us the reason why
And if you're John Mark this isn't exactly your bright shining moment
This is kind of a mar on your record
He says here
Who departed from them from Pamphylia
And went not with them to the work
So why did Paul not want him?
Because he's somebody who flaked out on his first missionary journey
That's essentially what he's saying there
He went not with them to the work
So we're getting a little bit of the background of John Mark's physical journeys here
I believe he's the John Mark who wrote the gospels
He's the one that's coming from Jerusalem
We see him at this point in the story
Having come from Jerusalem back to Antioch
And now they're considering taking him on their second missionary journey
And Paul says no
Why? Because he went not to the work
And he departed from them in Pamphylia
So this is referring back to the events of Acts 11, 12, 13
If you remember Acts 11 you had Agabus
He predicts the great dearth that was going to be throughout all Judea
And then they determined to send relief under the brethren in Judea
So they send Paul and Barnabas back with money essentially to help them with that drought
And then Barnabas I believe in Saul returned with John Mark to Antioch from Jerusalem
And then there's this second missionary journey
Now whether he came with them back and forth those two times I don't know
We know that he'd come back with them at some point too I believe in those chapters
When they're coming back from having brought the relief to those in Jerusalem
They're coming back, Paul and Barnabas, to Antioch with John Mark
Because it's after that that they're sent out into their missionary journey
And one of the places that they go is Pamphylia
And we've looked at that over the last several weeks
If you would go to Acts chapter number 13
So remember also in Acts 12 that's when Peter was put in prison by Herod
He casts him into prison and then he's freed by that angel
And when he's freed and he comes out he kind of comes to his senses
And he realizes it wasn't a dream or a vision
It says when he considered the thing he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark
So that's kind of where we first introduced with John Mark by name
And he comes to her house in Jerusalem
So we know that's where he's living
So he's already kind of done some journeying with Paul and Barnabas
I believe when they first came to Jerusalem that first time to bring the relief in Acts 12
And they're going back to Antioch and then being sent out on a missionary journey
That's when he flakes out by the time they get to Pamphylia he's already going back
And then they're coming back again to Jerusalem years later after their first missionary journey in Acts 15
And they're going out again and then Paul has the bright idea let's go visit everybody
And that's when we're seeing these details come out about essentially John Mark's character at this point in his life
He's telling me he doesn't want to go to the work
You're there in Acts chapter 13
It says now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos they came to Perga and Pamphylia
And John departing from them returned to Jerusalem
Now if you know remember the events of Acts 13 excuse me the events of chapters 13 and 14 in the book of Acts
You know that John Mark is departing before things are even getting rough
Because remember you know the stoning takes place after this
You know all the uproars the being chased down by the Jews and stoned and left for dead
All the rioting everything that takes place that comes after you know after this
So it's not like John Mark is getting involved in this and seeing the persecution and saying
Whoa this is more than I signed up for
What he's he's quitting on them before things are even really getting hard
That's why Paul said he went the Bible says that they went not with he went not with them to the work
Okay so what he's departing from the work right he's not departing from the persecution
Hey now in either instance it's never right
We should never depart from the work and we should never depart from persecution
But what I'm saying is this is that if you are somebody who can't even endure the work of living the Christian life
You know when the when that extra layer of difficulty called persecution comes
You know you are gonna probably flake out that's the ten you know that's just human nature
Okay you're gonna be more prone to quit when things get tough
Right when when by and by you know persecution cometh you're gonna be offended because of the word sake
Right you're not gonna have that root you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna wither up
You're gonna dry up and wither away
So he departed from the work
He did not depart from the persecution
And what we can learn about this is that serving Christ takes character
It takes character to live the Christian life
Christian life is not something that you're just gonna start living automatically because you got saved
You know the Christian life is a life of discipline
It's a life of self-denial
It's a life of sacrifice
Obviously that's not all that it is
But that's a major part of the Christian life
You know the Christian life is obviously there's a lot of joy
There's a lot of excitement
There's a lot of blessing
There's a lot of great things
There's a lot of freedom
There's a lot of liberty that we have in Christ
But you know there's also a burden that's laid upon us
You know Jesus said come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest
He said take my yoke upon me upon you and learn of me
For I am meek and lowly in spirit
A lot of people you know they hear that and they think oh there's no yoke
It's a it's like it's still a yoke
It's a light yoke
It's not as bad as the devil's yoke
The way the transgressor is hard
Right
But it's we're basically we're exchanging one yoke for another in the Christian life
Not because not to get saved obviously
But if we're gonna serve God if we're gonna get in the yoke we're going to get in a yoke
Right
You know we're gonna be a beast of bird in the Christian life so to speak
You know but here's the thing you're gonna labor for somebody in this life
You know you're gonna go out and labor for the world
Labor for their crowd and go after the things of this world
You're gonna go out there and labor and and and work for the things that have no eternal value
Or you're gonna labor for the things of God
Okay
That's why it takes character
That's why it takes character to live the Christian life
No one just wakes up springs out of bed in the morning and just automatically starts doing everything they're supposed to be doing as a Christian
You know we have to determine hey I'm gonna pray I'm gonna read I'm gonna be in church I'm gonna go soloing
I'm gonna memorize scripture I'm gonna you know do the things that the Bible there's so much I could add to that list
All the things that are laid upon us all the commandments all the things that are our responsibility
Responsibilities to perform as God's children
You know raising our children a certain way you know fulfilling our roles as spouses so on and so forth
You know I know it's a lot of the same things that I mentioned from time to time when it comes to serving God
But you know that's the nuts and bolts of the Christian life
You know that's the mundane day in day out redundant Christian life
You know that's why it takes character because it's not always the most exciting thing to just get up and pray and read your Bible
Now the Bible is an exciting book for the most part but you know there's some chapters that can get a little dry
I'll admit it you know if you get into first chronicles and elsewhere it's kind of like what's the point you know
But you know what there's gems in there too
There's little nuggets in there there's little jewels and if we would have constantly approached the scripture with that mind
You know we would learn things you know not just treating it like some drudgery
But sometimes you know we have the old man we have the flesh
We have to crucify the flesh we have to drag him along kicking and screaming every step of the way as we journey through our Christian life
It takes character and when we're looking at John Mark's journey
One of the things we see here in Acts chapter 15 is that he has this character flaw
Where he doesn't want to go to the work
You know because he didn't go to the work he also wasn't there for any of that persecution
You know and I guess some people could look at that as a kind of a relief
And say well at least I'm not going to be around when Paul gets stoned to death
You know I'm not going to be you know arrested and accosted and beaten or mocked or ridiculed or all those things
But you know what think about the story when we talked about this when we went through Acts chapter 14
Think about the story that Paul had to tell when he got back to Antioch from his missionary journey
And began to tell them all the things that the Lord had done with them
When he got to Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15 they told all the things that God had done
Why was that? Because Paul and Barnabas had character to not only go to the work
But also to go through the persecution and persecution might be hard
But you know when it's over it's kind of exciting
It makes for good stories right
It makes the Christian life in my opinion a little bit more exciting
But what we see again I'm going to bring it back here on track is that
John Mark has this character flaw of not going to the work
Serving Christ requires character
You have to be prepared to perform in the Christian life
You say what was it that caused him to not go to the work
The fact that he wasn't prepared I believe
And that's something that we learn and we'll look at later in the gospel of Mark
But if you would go to 2 Timothy chapter number 3
So we're going to be in Titus, Timothy, Hebrews, we're going to be right in that neighborhood
So just bear with me there but we're going to look at 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16
Look if we're going to live the Christian life you have to have the character to do the work
You have to be prepared to perform
You know the Christian life is a call to service
It's a call to you doing the work of living the Christian life
It requires effort
You know and news flash you're not always going to want to do it
I mean why would it be any different than anything else in life
You know every person in here that goes to work for a living
You know every housewife that's raising children
You know there's probably days where they would like to just take the day off and not do any of it
But they do it anyway, why?
Because they have character
Because it's their responsibility
Because if they don't do it it's not going to get done
You know if we don't show up for work we'll get fired
You know we're needed to be there and they're not paying us because they're being nice
They're not paying us because they want to make us feel good
They're paying us because there's something that needs to get done and someone needs to do it
Whether they want to do it or not
You know that's just life
You know the Christian life is no different
You know I would like to tell everybody hey every day it's just you know you just
You just spring out of bed just ready to serve God and it's just you know just every Sunday morning
It's just you know you're just you're you have to slow yourself down from not getting to church too early
Nobody has that problem okay
No one
I know maybe somebody does I don't know
I haven't noticed it right
There's probably a lot you know there's going to be Sundays
You know where you don't feel like coming to church
You should come anyway
You know because we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is
And if your attitude is well I'll go to church when I feel like it
I'll read my Bible when I feel like it
I'll pray and go soloing when I feel like it
You know what there's going to be a lot of times where you don't do it
Because you're doing a lot of times when you don't feel like it
That's why serving God requires character
You know and this is something that we're seeing from John Mark's journey
You know he's being dismissed by the Apostle Paul
Think about that
He had this opportunity to serve alongside the Apostle Paul
Now obviously that time they might not have understood the magnitude of who Paul was
And the influence that he was going to be on Christianity
You know we kind of have that privilege of looking back
But I mean if we if we could get a time machine
And put ourselves back there in that time
We'd be like can I go Paul? Can I go Paul? Can I go Paul?
You know maybe we'd you know get back to the future and somehow our name ended up in here
You know but what would it say?
Would it say we were like Timothy we're well reported of the brethren in Acts chapter 16
Or would it say you know we went not to the work
That we flaked out when we got a little too far from home
You know that when we got a little uncomfortable
You know we got on that ship with Paul
Or we got you know into that 15th mile of walking or whatever it was
Whatever great journey they had to take however they got there
You know we just got tired of our feet being sore
We got tired of being thirsty or sleeping out on the stars
Or whatever it was that was required of them
Would we be somebody that would be sad they didn't have the character to finish the course
You have to be prepared to perform in the Christian life
There's so much scripture on this topic
Where the Christian life is just described as labor and as work and as duty
We're just going to look at a few
Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine
For reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
That the man of God may be perfect meaning entire and complete
Not sinless that's not what perfect means
Thoroughly furnished unto all fun
Thoroughly furnished unto just good times and play time and just hobbies
No unto all good works
Now praise God you know we live in a country where there's a lot of prosperity
Where we can have a lot of free time as people
You know we as you know we're working that typical 40ish hours a week
You know I know there's seasons where we work more
There might be seasons where we work less
People retire right because we're living in such a prosperous country
You know we have so I'm not saying you know you should never have any free time
Or never have a hobby or never have anything that you enjoy doing
But can you squeeze serving God in there somewhere
Can you have enough character to you know drag your carcass out at least once a week to get in church
Or maybe how about three times
You know you might take a few hours out of your week
You know depending on your commute and everything else
But you know if we really sat down and looked at how much time we have throughout the week
And how we're spending it
You know reading our bible for 15-20 minutes to get through the bible one time in a year
15-20 minutes you'll read the whole bible in a year
I mean oh I'm too busy come on
15 minutes 20 minutes an hour of soul winning
You know one service a week at a minimum
You know I don't think it's that much to ask
And I think if we really were honest we would find that we do in fact have the time
It's just that we're spending it on other things because of those things that are fun exciting
The things that we want to do
But you know what I'm here to tell you the Christian life is work
And work isn't always something you want to do is it
What if we never did anything we didn't want to do
What if everybody adopted that philosophy in life
Think about how many toilets would be backed up
How much trash would be piled up out in the streets
You know I mean we could go on
You know like all the cars that would just be broken down on the side of the road
Because I'm sure a lot of people are turning wrenches a lot of mechanics for the love of busting their knuckles
It's because they need to make a living
The trash man is driving the dump truck not because he loves that smell on a hot summer day
It's because he's got to make a living
He's doing things that he wants to do
So why would we drag that, why don't we take that same attitude into the Christian life
Hey I know there's going to be things I don't want to do to serve God but I'm going to do them anyway
Because it's my job to do it
No he said thoroughly furnished until all good works plural
There's works to be done in the Christian life
You know why am I preaching this because Titus was told to put them in mind to maintain good works
Go over to 2 Timothy chapter number 4
Paul said of Timothy in 1 Corinthians 16 you're going to 2 Timothy 4
If Timothy has come see that he may be with you without fear
Meaning not worrying having to be concerned about how he's going to take care of himself
You know take care of him give him a place to sleep put some food in his belly
For he worketh the work of the Lord as I also do
He's saying hey take care of Timothy because he works the work of the Lord
Why was Timothy somebody that should be taken care of and not have to fear about these things
Because he works the work of the Lord
Because the laborer is worthy of his reward
The husbandman should be first partaker of the fruits
Look at 2 Timothy chapter number 4 verse 5
Watch down all things
Endure afflictions
Do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry
So he's telling them one to endure afflictions
That's the next level that's the persecution
That's what Mark missed out on
And I've used that word missed deliberately
Missed out on the persecution missed out on the rewards
Missed out on that excitement missed out on having a story to tell
He missed out on it because he couldn't endure afflictions
And there was no way he was going to be able to endure those afflictions
Because he wasn't even somebody who could do the work
Just get to baseline
Do the work of an evangelist
It's the work of an evangelist
Soul winning is work
I don't always feel like soul winning
Yeah because it's work
It's work to go out there and not know what kind of neighborhood you're walking into
If it's going to be filled with dogs
Or if there's going to be people being rude
If it's going to be receptive or unreceptive
We don't know
But hey it's work
If you're coming this Saturday
And going out and inviting people out to church
And trying to get souls saved
And telling people about the five year anniversary
It's going to be work
But I'm going to make sure that you're without fear
That afternoon
By feeding you
You're not going to have to worry about that
We'll take care of you
Go to Titus chapter 2 where we were
Why should I work?
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 6
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work
And labor of love
God is ultimately the boss isn't he?
And this is something I'm always saying
Don't do things for the deacon
Don't get involved in the ministry to try to impress me
Or try to please me
Because I'm not the boss
I'm the under shepherd
But he's the great shepherd
And God is not unrighteous to forget your work
And labor of love
God is ultimately the boss isn't he?
And this is something I'm always saying
Don't do things for the deacon
Don't get involved in the ministry to try to impress me
He's the great shepherd
And obviously I have responsibilities to fulfill that role
There's things that I have to look out for on the head
I've got to call the shots, things like that
But we should be serving God and not man
And why?
What we need to keep in mind is that
God's not unrighteous to forget
God will look down and see our work
God will look down and see our labor of love
Also he'll see the lack of it
When God notices
I better show up to church
At least once a month
So I can be considered a member
Because I know deacons keeping track
And it's not like I have a spreadsheet somewhere
I've considered it, but I've never done it
I never will
Who was there? Who wasn't there?
I want to put that stuff out of my mind
If you're here, you're here
And if you're not, you're not
Here's the general rule of thumb
What do you have to do to be a member here at Faithful Word Baptist Church?
That's it
You know, and this is just my personal opinion
I'm not saying this is written down on some official church document somewhere
But I, for me, what I consider a church member
Is somebody who shows up at least once a month
You say, where do you get that?
Well, it's from that Samaritan Ministries
Right?
It's like a Christian healthcare
That we have
And I'm always having to verify people
And one of the questions they ask is, do they show up
Do they attend church at least once a month?
Because they only want to serve Christians
They want to serve people who are living that life
So, you know, they have that standard
And that's a pretty low standard
To come to church once a month
To be considered a member
I mean, that's pretty low
But, you know, that's kind of my
You know, I take note of that
You know, if someone stops coming for months on end
It's kind of like, well, are they really a member here?
You know what I mean?
Really wouldn't consider that person a church member
If they're showing up at least once a month
It's a church member
Right? I notice that
Right? I take note of that
That's just church attendance
But, you know, God sees us everywhere we go
God knows our hearts
God knows our thoughts
God knows the things that we do
God knows the things we think before we even think them
And God knows whether or not we're working
And laboring or not
You know, he's not unrighteous to forget
God notices our labor of love
God notices our work
But he also notices when we're not doing it
For him
His labor of love which he has showed toward his name
That's why we do what we do
Look at Titus chapter 2 verse 11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men
teaching us that denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world
looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing
of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ
who gave himself for us
that he might redeem us from all
iniquity and purify unto himself
a peculiar
people
period
Let's just put a period right there
I just like being peculiar
No, he redeemed us to be zealous of good works
Zealous
Wanting to do it
Not being like somebody who wants to
not go to the work but rather
be zealous for these things
Be on fire to serve God
And it's interesting in Titus
that the good works there
these verses are kind of contrasted
one with another
We're being taught verse 12
to deny ungodliness and worldliness
that we should live soberly and righteously
so that we can
be a peculiar people zealous of good works
Look, what's going to rob you
of good works?
Worldly lusts
That's what got Demas
Demas was somebody that was with
the apostle Paul and we don't see
him early on being rebuked
or being outed as a flake but later on
he flakes out
Demas hath forsaken me having loved
this present world
I mean, we see elsewhere where Demas
is mentioned in a good light
but you know what, he didn't finish strong
Mark is somebody who's starting out rough
but we'll see that he ends well
He has a character flaw but he gets it
corrected
Whereas Demas, he starts out good
but then he ends poorly
He's outed and you know, not a lot
I don't know that anyone's naming their kid
Demas. I met one guy once who named
one of his sons Demas and I thought, why would you
name your son Demas?
No offense, Demas, if you're listening
It wasn't your fault
No, you didn't have me saying it
But here's the thing, is that
you know, what got Demas?
Why aren't we
highlighting that name
in our Bible? Oh, if I ever have a son, it's Demas
Because
of the fact that he's known
as somebody who forsook Paul
Why did he forsake him? Having loved
this present world
That's what we're seeing in Titus
We need to deny ungodliness and
worldly lusts if we're going to be zealous
of good works
You know, worldly lust, the things of this world
will come in and just squelch
the zeal in our lives
It'll put it out. It'll just snuff
out that flame for God
If we just are only concerned about the things
of the world, just living for the things
of the world, just caring about money
and houses and lands
Look, this takes people out
of the Christian life all the time
Right?
They're that
thorny soil
That soil that brings up
the thorns and it chokes out the word and makes it
unfruitful. That's what worldly lust will do to you
If you would, go to Mark
Go to the Gospel of Mark, chapter number 14
The Bible says in Hebrews 10 that we should
consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works
That's what I'm trying to do this morning
You know, we're looking at the example of
John Mark, and early on
we're seeing that he's somebody who didn't
have the character to go to the work
That he departed
from the work
That he was somebody who
is starting out pretty rough
Right? He has this character flaw
I don't know if you want to call it necessarily laziness
Obviously you could
but it's definitely
maybe it's just not willing to endure a certain level
of having to labor
This is how you're going to
overcome this. We need to be on guard
against comfort
and familiarity in our lives
Because that's kind of what I think
I don't think it's necessarily that John Mark
was just an inherently lazy person
I mean, I think
a lazy person wouldn't even get the opportunity
to have gone with these guys
Because it would just be such a glaring fault
He just doesn't do anything
That guy would have never even gotten
a chance. Obviously he had some
level of character
to where they're at least willing to take him
as far as he's willing to go
They're just finding out
living for God and walking
and serving
with the Lord and serving the Lord
and living the Christian life
It's not your typical 9 to 5
Monday through Friday. It's 24-7
It's everyday
day in and day out
Denying self, denying worldly and ungodly lusts
Crucifying that
old man every single day
I die daily, Paul said
Some people aren't going to go so far
because of that
So I don't think it's that Mark
right out of the gate
had no character whatsoever
It's just that he had this particular character flaw
that he couldn't get to that next level at this point
in his life
I think really what it was was comfort and familiarity
That might be a possibility
He's from Jerusalem
Now he's in Antioch
He's a little bit farther away from Mama's house
Now he's going out and getting into Pamphylia
Now he's really out there in the world
He's away from everything
that's comfortable and familiar
That's something we need to be on guard on
in our own lives
Because we're living in a land of comfort
And we can set our lives up
and have our little routines and have everything lined out
just the way we want it
And you know what? We can become too comfortable
Comfort and familiarity
They need to take a back seat to
labor and enduring hardness
To labor and discomfort
We should be willing to put ourselves out there
to work hard
That's why some people never go soloing
Because they don't want to be made to feel uncomfortable
trying to talk to somebody at the door
Look, I get it. It's uncomfortable
I've been there
Every now and then it still can get a little awkward
for me even, and I've been doing it for years
I'm probably the one that's making them feel
a little more awkward these days
I get it
Especially when you're starting out
I'm going to go out into the world
I'm going to go walk down
Someone was saying this to me and I don't know who it was
They just couldn't even get over the idea
They were kind of taken aback by the fact that
they were going to go out in public walking down the street
with a Bible in their hand
Like, to just be seen out in public
Just walking with the Bible
Like, I don't know, whoa, that's so far out
But you know, I thought about that
I was like, you know, I think I had a similar thought
when I first started out
I felt kind of like, man, they know we're from church
You know, they know
I got this Bible, they know why I'm coming to their door
You know, I'm that religious guy
You know
But so what?
You know, I know why I'm there
But you have to get over that
Or you could just stay comfortable and never do it
You know, but is God
Then what is God going to remember about your work
That it's not there
He said, behold, I come quickly
to give every man according as his works shall be
And if they're not there
then, you know what, there's no reward
If we want something out of it
we're going to have to get over our
you know, desire to just remain comfortable
and only do that which is familiar
We're going to have to branch out, broaden our horizon
spiritually
You know, I think that's what Mark kind of ran into
He got out there a little bit
and he was kind of, you know, getting into this new world
getting out there into the real, you know
the weeds with Paul and Barnabas and said
this is so uncomfortable, you know, I can't take it
and he had to go back to that
Look, the comfort, familiarity, they need to take a
back seat
Not saying you can't ever have it
Not saying it shouldn't be something that
you know, prohibits you from serving God
Look at Mark chapter 14
You need to be prepared
to perform in the Christian life
And look, that's like step
one, that's like, okay, the first level
Once you kind of get that down
okay, you know, everyone here, you know, there's people
going, well, I got that down, you know, I'm going to church
I'm reading my Bible, I'm going slow winning
Okay, now be prepared for persecution
Because that's another
thing that comes in the Christian life
You know, it's like, why do you always bring that up?
Because it's a fact
Because I want people to be prepared when it comes
Because I've seen it come
and people aren't prepared for it
and it's like, and then you know what, they're gone
And it's like, and then you
forget their names
You know, I'm working on this project
where I'm going through a lot of
Pastor Anderson's old sermons
Just from even a few years ago
I'm just going through all these videos
and like, you know, archiving them
and sorting them and things like that
And it's just amazing to me how many people
I'm seeing come in and out of the frame
from time to time, the beginning and after the service
I'm like, oh, I totally forgot about that guy
I totally forgot about that family
There's just been so many people
that have just come and gone through Faithful Word Baptist
Church over the years
And look, I get it, not everybody that leaves leaves
because they flaked out or something
Like, if you go to another church, you're just
obviously, it doesn't mean you're a flake
or something
But you know, there have been a lot of people that have come
They've even gotten past the discomfort and started
serving God, but then when persecution came
they're like, I'm out
Too much
And they quit
And they'll quit on the Christian life, you know
At least they had enough character
to get to where that's what I had to take them out
It's sad when like, people are getting taken out of
church because they just don't want to work
Because they don't want to just do the basics
You've got to be prepared for persecution
You know, this is another thing we can learn from Mark
I believe Mark is
the young man of Mark chapter 14, verse 46
I've preached a whole sermon on this
It says, and of course this is in the garden
where they're arresting Jesus, verse 46
And they laid their hands on him and took him
And one of them that stood by drew a sword and smote a
servant of the high priest and cut off his ear
And Jesus answered and said to them, are you come out as
against a thief with swords and with staves to take me
I was daily with you in the temple and he took me not
But the scriptures must be fulfilled
And they all forsook him and fled
And there followed a certain young man
Having a linen cloth cast about his naked body
And the young man laid hold on him
Meaning those other young men that were
arresting Jesus laid hold of hands on him
And he left the linen cloth
And fled from them naked
So he's got this linen cloth
And then they're like, hey, arrest that one too
And they're grabbing it and he's just like, ah, you know
And there's nothing underneath
And the picture is, you know, being ashamed
You're not prepared
When persecution comes, you're going to flee naked
And it's going to be a shameful thing
When it happens
Now I believe that, obviously, this is just my theory
That that's Mark
But, you know, this is happening in Jerusalem
We know from Acts, that's where his mother's house was
You know, we know in the book of John
That John referred to himself in the third person
You know, if this was you, you might not want to just
Come out and say, I went there
And then I had to run away naked because I wasn't ready
It's kind of a shameful thing, right
But I think, you know, people also have a tendency
To kind of tell on themselves a little bit too
People kind of want to let things out
They want to confess, you know
And get it off their chest
So I think that's kind of what's going on here
You know
And I think, you know, that's my personal belief
That that is John Mark
Of Acts
The one that went with not them to work
And when we're first seeing him in Scripture
You know, it kind of looks like he's got this flaw
Of not being prepared
For the reality of serving God
He's not prepared for it, he's not ready
You know, he's not willing to go with them to the work
When the persecution came
He wasn't prepared for that
And obviously, you know, this is kind of
A unique circumstance when it's
Christ being arrested, the Scriptures are being fulfilled
They all forsook him and fled, okay
But there's a picture there
You know, we need to be prepared for the fact
That there's going to be enemies
That there's going to be people that are going to want to stop us
Okay
That's why Paul told Timothy, and if you would
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4, I'll start wrapping this up
2 Timothy chapter 4
I'll read you from chapter 2, it says
Thou therefore endure hardness
As a good soldier of Jesus Christ
He's saying
He's saying Timothy, you need to endure
As a good soldier
Now I've never been in, you know
The armed services
But I know enough about it that
When you go sign up the military
They're not taking you to Six Flags
They're not, it's not
You don't wake up in the barracks
And, you know, get up whatever time you want
Do whatever you want
Dress however you want
Spend your day however you want
You know, the obstacle course doesn't involve a water slide
You know, it's
Ropes and logs
And barbed wire and old tires
And mud pits and
Live fire training
You know, it's some guy yelling at you
You know, it's screaming, it's a drill instructor
It's, you know, you all have to dress the same
Like, there's rules, there's standards
Why? Because it's hard
It takes discipline to be a soldier
It's not easy
You know, we're called to be soldiers for Christ
We're called to serve in God's army
You know, we need to fight
We wrestle not against flesh and blood
But against principalities and powers
And high places
Against the rulers of the darkness of this world
You know, the weapons of our warfare
You know, but mighty through God
To the pulling down of strongholds
You know, we have
We put on the whole armor of God
We take the sword of the Spirit
You know, we take, you know, our faith
And we quench the fiery darts of the wicked
I mean, the Christian life is described as a battle
It's described as warfare
That's why he's telling Timothy
To endure hardness as a good soldier
Go through the difficulty
Go through the hard things
Be a disciplined person
That backs away and shies away from hard things
That just goes after
You know, the lusts of this world
And just wants comfort
And ease
And just to please the flesh
And to just live a sinful life
You know, you gotta be somebody who has the discipline
And the character
To crucify the flesh and to live the Christian life
The way it's meant to be lived
It takes hardness as a good soldier
No man, he went on to say in 2 Timothy 2
That warreth
And tangleth himself with the affairs of this life
That he may please him
Who hath chosen him to be a soldier
You know what that tells me?
Is that the central theme of my life
Is being a Christian
Everything else is secondary
Or even further off
Everything else, you know, if you were to describe me
You know, who is brother Corbin?
You know, there might be other things
Well, he likes to do this
And he likes to go there
And he enjoys this and he enjoys that
But you know, that probably wouldn't be
Hopefully the first thing that people would
Describe all the hobbies and things that I
That I have, not that I really have any
To be honest
I'm probably a bad example to use
Right?
But let's say there were all these things, right?
And there are some things
But you know, my primary thing is being a Christian
It comes before being a husband
It comes before being a father
I'm a child of God
Because if I'm not that
I need the husband and father that I need to be
You know, I have to make sure that I'm
Pleasing him who has chosen me to be a soldier
Above all else
I don't want to entangle myself in the affairs
Of this life
Any more than is necessary
Like, I know we all have to be
Within the world, but not of it
But I don't want to, you know
Unnecessarily involve my things
In the affairs of this life
In the affairs of a world that is going to
Literally burn up and pass away
And be replaced
That's what the scripture says
He's going to make all things new
Including the creation
We have to be people who are willing to make sacrifices
You have to make sacrifices
Or you're going to succumb to selfishness
In the Christian life
Look at 2 Timothy chapter 4
Servants must make sacrifices
Or succumb to selfishness
Do thy diligence to come unto me
For Demas hath forsaken me
Having loved this present world
And has departed unto Thessalonica
Cretans to Galatia
Titus to Dalmatia
Now I believe Demas is the only one that's doing this for the wrong reasons
The other guys, he's just saying, hey, there's nobody else with me
Demas loved the present world
These other guys are off doing the work that they're supposed to be doing
Only Luke is with me
Take Mark
Now, get this
Take Mark
This is, I believe, John Mark from Acts
Where we just read, 15
Acts 15
Take Mark and bring him with thee
Because I want to tell him
I didn't get a chance to tell him how disappointed I was
You know, back in Acts 15
I want to remind him what a lazy bum he is
Right?
No, take him and bring him with thee
For he is profitable to me
For the ministry
It's such a great lesson
In the journey of John Mark
You know, he's somebody who
We see in the Gospel of Mark
I believe
That's completely unprepared
To, you know, what it takes to live as a Christian
He's running away ashamed and naked
You know, he gets some things right
But, you know, he can only go so far
With Paul and Barnabas
He can only go so far in the Christian life
But yet, at the end of his life
You know, at the end of Paul's life, rather
You know, Paul's come around on him
He said, in Acts 15, we're not taking him with us
He went not with us to the work in Pamphylia
I'm not bringing him out
Why? So he can flake out on us again?
No thanks, pass
You know, let's get somebody else that we know isn't gonna
You know, that has what it takes
And he basically writes John Mark off
And you can't really blame him
I mean, how do you know how the guy's gonna pan out?
You know, maybe Paul was the type of person
That didn't really have the patience to
Bring people up like that
He needed somebody who was more of a go-getter
You know, like a Timothy
As you'll see in Acts chapter 16
Who just already has a good reputation
Among the brethren
As somebody that just does the work
And is gonna be faithful
And isn't gonna flake out
You know, maybe that's just who he needed at that time
Okay?
It's not that Barnabas was right
And Paul was wrong
He said they're different personalities
They're different people
With different, you know, abilities
To minister to different people in different ways
Okay?
But he's saying here at the end of his life
As we're getting towards the end of Paul's life
He's saying, bring Mark with you, Timothy
Because he's profitable to me
For the ministry
So he's somebody who Paul considered unprofitable
But now
Is somebody who is considered profitable
Started out unprofitable
Now he's profitable, okay?
What can we learn about this?
You know, this is kind of the, you know, the end of
John Mark's journey, so to speak, right?
That we see his character arc in Scripture
As we kind of journey with and briefly through
Scriptures this morning
We see that, you know, although he started out with
A flaw in his character
Is that character is something that can be corrected
Character is something that can be corrected
It's not easy
But it can happen
It's very hard for an undisciplined person
Who's never been brought up as a disciplined person
To suddenly begin to have discipline be a part of their life
And to be a self-disciplined person
It takes a lot of work
You know, and they might only get so far, right?
With that
But it is something that can be worked on
And it's something that should be worked on
Now, character can be corrected
How does that happen?
Well, I believe you have to be willing to acknowledge
Your flaws and follow your examples
Acknowledge your flaws and follow your examples
You say, well, I'm perfect
I have no character flaws
Then you're never going to correct the flaws that, you know
That everyone else can see
You know, if a man
We ought not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, right?
You know, if a man thinks more highly of himself than he ought to
He deceiveth himself
You're not fooling anybody else, right?
It's so easy to see the flaws in everybody else, isn't it?
You know, we can sit back and we can go
Oh, so-and-so's got this problem
So-and-so's got that problem
And boy, this guy and that guy and that guy
They all need to straighten these things out
But it's a lot harder to look at the guy in the mirror and say
You got a problem
And I know what your problem is
You got this flaw
You need to work on that
And the irony is
That's the only person you can control
Boy, we'd like, you know
I don't get why we sit and fixate on other people so much
You can't do anything about it
You know, unless they're your parent
You pretty much don't have any influence whatsoever
You can encourage and tell them and help them
And try to help people, you know
But people ultimately end up doing whatever they want
Okay
But character can be corrected
If we're willing to admit our flaws
And follow our examples
You know, I have to imagine when
When Paul and Barnabas split up
Because remember, it says in Acts 15
That the contention was so sharp
Right, if you're still there, verse 39
The contention was so sharp between them
That they departed asunder one from another
I mean, this is Paul and Barnabas
This was a sharp contention, it says
This had something to sever them
It had to be particularly sharp
You think they never had a disagreement before?
Maybe they never wanted to go this way
They didn't want to go that way
Or, I mean, who knows what they argued about
What's for lunch, you know
We argue about that all the time
I watch people, you know, on Sunday afternoons
Try to decide where they're going to go for lunch before Soul Wedding
And it's like
Just pick a place, guys
You know
Sound like a bunch of women, I'm just kidding
Wherever you want, not there
Right
Just pick a place, honey, please
You know
Right, but you think Paul and Barnabas had never
Just, they were just, you know
Just got together, they were just macaroni and cheese
The whole time they were together
No, obviously they had, every human relationship
There's going to be difficulties in that dynamic
You know, there's going to be different personalities
But, you know, they work through that
Obviously, right
Because that's just life
But this particular instance
And what was the issue?
Whether or not to take John Mark with them
Is what divided these guys
These guys who had, I mean, literally
You know, had been through
Death's door, I mean
John Mark, or excuse me, Paul and Barnabas
Barnabas saw
Paul get stoned to death
They're seeing, they're working miracles together
They're facing the enemy together
I mean, they're going through trials and tribulations
You know, they have this bond
That's there, it's got to be there
Because that's just human nature
You know, when you go through things with people
You spend time with people
You go through trials and tribulations
You develop a bond with them
You know, you share that in common with that person
You don't always have that with everybody, right
But, yet, this thing is what
The contention became so sharp
And what was the contention
That separated them over? What was it?
Whether or not to take John Mark
How do you think that made John Mark feel?
See you, Paul
I'd imagine
If it were me, if I had separated
These great men of God
I'd kind of feel like, man
I'd feel terrible
Like, maybe Paul's right
Maybe I should just go back to Jerusalem
And hang out with mom
Just do things there
Maybe I should just quit the ministry
Right? I'd imagine
If he's anything like anybody else
That John Mark probably felt bad
About separating these great men of God
Hey, John
Excuse me, hey, Barnabas
Where's Paul?
He's not coming with us, why not?
Because of you
I doubt that's how he said it, right?
But someone had to break the news to him
And what did
My point is this
That's what led to John Mark
Becoming profitable in ministry
Why?
Because he had to admit his flaw
And obviously he did that
Obviously he found out why
Paul's not coming with them
It's because of me
Well, what about me, Barnabas?
Well, it's because you didn't go to the work
Remember when we went to Pamphylia the first time?
And you got all homesick or whatever
And you went back
And then we were left without that guy
You know, we lost support
It was demoralizing to us
When you quit on us
Remember that? Oh yeah, I did do that
You know, John Mark obviously had to
Acknowledge the fact that
He was the source of that contention
And that Paul
Again, it's not one's right and one's wrong
I mean, Paul has his points too
You could just as easily say that Paul
Was right as Barnabas was
Because Barnabas doesn't know how that John Mark's gonna pan out
And become profitable in ministry, but he's willing to take a chance
That's the difference there
One's not right, one's wrong, it's just different
You know, and Barnabas
Or excuse me, John Mark probably
Felt bad about
This, you know, having separated them
So he had to admit his flaw
But then he followed his example, right
Because it says there at the end of verse 39
So Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus
And Paul chose Silas and departed
You know, and I love, this is such a great
Thing about Barnabas, right
It doesn't make him better than Paul, it just makes him different
You know, we talked about that
Paul is just maybe just not that type of personality
Not that kind of guy
Who's just a very hands off guy and just says
I don't want to hold people's hands in the ministry
I just want them to be the type of people to get stuff done
You know, give them the big vision
And let them work out the details
You know, that's who I'm looking for
You know, maybe Barnabas
Is more like, well I could take a guy
Who maybe is lacking in some things
And it just needs to be brought along
He needs to just learn some things
And work some things out with him and teach him and give him some instruction
And be more of a hands on guy
Who can see the potential in John Mark
And can work with that
So in order to
Correct our character
One, we have to be willing to admit our flaws
Which can be the main hurdle that most people
A lot of people will never get over
But that's what John Mark did
Oh, I'm the source of contention
I'm the one that's divided these great men of God
I'm the one who didn't want to go to the work
It's because of me, because of my flaw
Because of my character that this happened
That's a big admission
But if we're going to correct our flaws
In life, that's something we
Have to be willing to do
Say, there's something wrong with me
I need to fix it
Well what is it? I don't know
Let's all go around the room
And share with everyone
What it is that's wrong with us
Let me get the mic out
You know what it is
Right?
Hopefully
But then you have to be willing to follow your example
And I'll close in Proverbs 9
Just go to Proverbs 9, I'm almost done, I promise
We'll close there
Barnabas brought Mark around
He saw potential
Where Paul only saw failure
And there was failure there
It wasn't that Paul was being mean or nasty
There was a failure
There was a flaw
And Paul said, I don't have time
Give me Silas
Give me somebody I know who's just going to go to the work
Acts chapter 16, Timothy is well reported
I'll take him
I'll take somebody who's just going to get it done
Now obviously, you know
The John Marks, they need a Barnabas in this world too
And if a John Mark
Can admit his flaws
And find a Barnabas
And follow his example
He can become profitable to even a man like Paul in the ministry
But you know
Part of following your example
Is being willing to admit you're wrong
It's willing to be able to
I mean
If, obviously
Barnabas is coming to John Mark
And saying, I'm going to take you with me, but you have to work on this
And you need to look out for that
And he's bringing him along to make him profitable
He's pointing out things about his character flaw
His character, his flaws
He's saying, this is wrong
This is wrong, fix this
And look, we're living in such a snowflake generation
These days, you can't tell anybody
That they ever do anything wrong, ever
Woo, get over it
When people do things wrong
You did something wrong
You know, sometimes people fail
And they have to be told, you failed
How else can you
Expect them to fix it
If all we ever tell our kids
Is nothing's ever wrong, you never do anything wrong
You're perfect in every way
You're just setting them up
To be a pain in the neck for somebody else
You're just setting them up for failure
You know, we need to have
People in our lives that can tell us
What you did is wrong
You need to fix this
That's part of the Christian life
That's how you become profitable
That's how you go from being a flawed person
To a person with less flaws
No one becomes perfect
Look at Proverbs 9, verse 8
This is just one example of this
It says, reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee
You know, if you get reproved by somebody
And you just end up hating them
The Bible says you're a scorner
We should not scorn reproof
You know why John Mark became a profitable person?
Because when he was reproved
He didn't scorn
He said, no, you're right, I need to fix that
Rebuke a wise man
And he will love thee
Rebuke a wise man
But wait a minute, how could a wise man
Need to be rebuked, he's already wised
No, being somebody who can receive
Rebuke is a wise person
That's a wise character trait
Wise doesn't mean
Necessarily
That you never need to be rebuked
Because you just know everything, I have so much wisdom
A wise person can receive instruction
You know, John Mark
Is a wise person
Because Barnabas was able to come to him and say
I'll work with you, but yeah, you're the problem
You're why
Me and Paul are separating
It's your flaw that caused this
But I'm willing to work with it
Because I see that you can take rebuke
You're not a scorner, you're a wise person
John Mark
I know that's true because he panned out
Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee
Give instruction to a wise man
The guy's already wise
Why would a wise person need instruction?
Because receiving rebuke
Receiving instruction is a characteristic
Of somebody who is already wise
You have to have that wisdom
Otherwise you're a scorner
You have to have at least enough wisdom
To understand that you have problems
You have flaws, you have things you need to work on
You have things you need to get right
That's where you start
Give instruction to a wise man
And he will be yet wiser
Teach a just man and he will increase
In learning
I believe that's a good description of
John Mark
That's what brought him along through this journey
Going from somebody
Who had these flaws
Who somebody didn't want to go to the work to end up
Ultimately being somebody who was profitable
To the very man that wanted nothing to do with him
He said
He's not taking him with me
At the end of his life he's saying he's profitable for me
You know, so maybe we have some flaws
Maybe
It's possible
There just might be somebody
I don't know, possibly in this room
That has some things that aren't right that they need to work on
I mean, just throwing it out there
You know, just in case
I doubt it's anyone in this room
No, it's every single one of us
Isn't it?
Right?
No one's ever reaching this level of perfection
We all have things that we work on
But you know, especially earlier on in the Christian life
When we're younger in life
We need to be
More willing to admit that we
Don't know everything
That there are things that we do need to work on
And obviously that's an attitude that we need to carry throughout our whole lives
Okay
That's the journey that we need to be on with John Mark
That spiritual journey
You know, we saw a lot of his physical movements
But you know, the real journey that John Mark
Was the character arc
Of going from somebody that was
Unprofitable to somebody that was profitable
Somebody that was willing to admit
That they were
Flawed
And somebody that was willing to follow
The example that was set before them
The godly man in Barnabas
You'll only go as far in the Christian life
As you're willing to be corrected
Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer
Dear Lord, again, thank you for
Your patience, your mercy, your kindness
Your long suffering
Your gentleness with us, Lord
Bringing us all along, Lord
Despite our flaws, our faults
Our shortcomings, Lord, that you work with us
Lord, that you truly have chosen
The weak things of this world
The things which are despised
The base things, Lord, that we are
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, Lord
There's nobody perfect
Lord, I ask that you help each and every one of us
To be able to admit that about ourselves
Lord, help us to see what it is that we need to fix
Help us to see what it is that we need to work on
Lord, give us the humility
Lord, to admit that we're flawed
That none of us is perfect and help us to see
That in ourselves and not to be hung up on other
People and what they're doing
Lord, to look inward, to look at our own selves
To look into that perfect law
Of liberty, to look into the mirror of God's
Word, help us to see our own
Reflection, Lord, and not to forget what manner of men
We are, Lord, but to change
Those things, to follow the godly
So it is so very, very important
In our lives, it's the first
The first examples in our lives, not just
In our parents, or in our church, Lord, but
Ultimately, the example that is set for us
In Scripture
In your son
And it's in his name that we pray, Amen
All right, well go ahead and close with a word of prayer
Or excuse me with one more song
We'll lead to prayer
I'm cooking up my hendlers to song number 32
to say in the land of the free, to say in the land of the poor,
to redeem the class for sin and shame,
for his proud he won on the low.
And the Lord gathered me, he sent my praise,
for he lives on high, he lives on high,
triumphant of the sinning of his name.
He lives on high, he lives on high,
and so many struggling again.
He who goes round heaven from the storm,
to the land of the kind of driver,
he is coming fast to the storm,
and he'll take all his children home above.
He lives on high, he lives on high,
triumphant of the sinning of his name.
He lives on high, he lives on high,
and so many struggling again.
He who goes round heaven from the storm,
to the land of the kind of driver,
the true Jesus, and the seed of death,
there is one, there is one in victory.
He lives on high, he lives on high,
triumphant of the sinning of his name.
He lives on high, he lives on high,
triumphant of the sinning of his name.
He lives on high, he lives on high,
triumphant of the sinning of his name.
.