An Effective Ministry is a Team Effort

Transcript

GR 996
2/22/1998
An Effective Ministry is a Team Effort
Colossians 4:7-11
Gil Rugh

I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Colossians, chapter 4. We come to the closing section of the Book of Colossians in our study together. The main portion of this letter concluded with verse 6. Verses 7-18 are, we might say, a collection of comments. They really are comments about individuals, either greetings from certain people or comments about certain people, that both Paul and the believers at Colossae would know in common.

It’s one of those sections, where as you’re reading through books of the Bible, you get to a list of names, and generally you just scan down it and move on because it’s one name, and a comment or two; another name, a comment or two; another name and so on. But I want us to take a few minutes and look at these individuals to appreciate something of the importance of the ministry as a team effort. There are those who are more prominent in the ministry. The Apostle Paul stands out for his great prominence in the Church of Jesus Christ. We sometimes forget that even the Apostle Paul’s ministry was a team effort, and the apostle Paul was so effective in his ministry, not only because he was a man committed to serving Jesus Christ and greatly gifted by Him, but because he served in the context of other believers who shared that commitment and were willing to share the ministry with him.

The picture of the church as the body of Christ emphasizes this point. We are one body with many functioning parts. Back in Colossians, chapter 1, Paul had reminded the Colossian believers that Jesus Christ is also head of the body, the church. There you have that picture of a physical body with the head directing it, ruling over it. So the spiritual body of Christ is the same--one head, Jesus Christ; one body with many parts working together. Down in chapter 2, verse 19, Paul warned them of the danger of “not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” This analogy is elaborated in his letter to the Ephesians, written at the same time, in Ephesians chapter 4. The picture here is a body properly connected to the head. We all have seen something of the tragedy and difficulty when the body and its connection to the head is interrupted. Paralysis of one form or another takes place. The body is unable to function as it needs to. So we need to be careful as the body of Christ that we are properly related to Christ as the head.

But note, it is not God’s intention that people get saved by recognizing their sin and turning to Jesus Christ as their Savior, be brought into a right relationship with Him and that’s it. So now it’s God and me. No. God saves us and places us into a fellowship relationship with other people who have become members of the body of Christ. And so you’ll note in verse 19, “the entire body being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” God’s plan and program for maturing us as His people is the fellowship and the functioning of the body of Christ.


Occasionally I meet people who claim to be Christians but don’t go to church. They say, I don’t need to go to church, I can read my Bible at home, and you can. I can pray and talk to God at home, and you can. I have the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, and if you have believed in Christ you do. I don’t need the church. Wrong. You cannot grow with the growth that is produced by God if you are not functioning in a vital relationship with other believers in the church. It is not enough to be connected, but you have to hold fast to the head from which the entire body is held together. Some people think it’s enough to make an appearance because life is busy. But that doesn’t do it. The picture here, holding fast to the head, being vitally related and interrelated with the other parts of the body, being nurtured and nourished by what they supply and you supplying them. That produces the growth which is from God. And there is no other true spiritual growth, except the growth which is from God. All that to say, God’s intention for us is that we function together as part of the body of Christ.

Back up to I Corinthians chapter 12. I Corinthians 12:13 and 14 is the fullest development of this subject, and I just want to draw a couple of points out of here before we move on with Colossians. I Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 13. Verse 12 gives you the analogy. “For even as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.” So he says there is an analogy here. Look at your physical body. It has many parts--hands, ears, eyes, and so on--but all the parts together comprise one body, and he’ll go on to develop the importance of all the parts working together so you have an effective body. How do you get into the body? Verse 13, “For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body...” So it is the work of the Holy Spirit to place you into the body of Christ. That takes place when you come to understand and believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Then you are placed into the spiritual body of Christ. We become members of one another.

“For the body,” verse 14, “is not one member, but many.” So the foot can’t say, well because I’m not a hand, I’m not part of the body; and the ear can’t say, I’m not an eye, therefore, I’m not part of the body, because all the parts are different and yet there is only one body. I say, do you have one body or two? Well, I have one body. Well, how come you have two eyes? Well, the two eyes are one part of the body. No, you’re either two eyes or you’re one body; you can’t be both. You’d say, what you’re saying makes no sense. That’s the simplicity of the argument that Paul is using. You have to understand, we are different, and leaving out, you know, things I don’t know anything about like DNA and that, you look at the eye, look at the finger and you say, Well, they’re sure totally different. I close my eyes and move my finger around, you know, I don’t see a thing. But you know what? I put my hands in my pocket and look at the page, I can’t pick up the book. I take out my hand and pick up the book. As marvelous as my eyes are, my eyes don’t enable me to pick up the book. So you say, But I have one body and as all these parts work together. My eye looks at the book, my hands move, the head directs the eyes to the book, the hands move down and pick up the book that the eyes see, and you say, isn’t it beautiful how it all works together, as different and diverse as it is?

Verse 18 of I Corinthians 12 says, “God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desires.” So when He placed you into the body of Christ at your salvation, He gifted you to function as part of the body, and it’s a process of time as you become more familiar with what your special ability is. That doesn’t mean you don’t do anything but what you’re gifted to do, but that will be your primary contribution to the body, and you wouldn’t have a body if every part was the same. And so verse 26, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.” We ought to say God has appointed in the church, it’s His sovereignty that gives us our gifts. There is no reason to be jealous, there is no reason to be upset with one another. We appreciate one another and learn to function most effectively.

Now come back to Colossians, chapter 4. Paul is going to give a list of names, but I think it’s important that we see the context--he’s fellowshipping together in ministry with other believers. I should also mention that the prime focus in the New Testament in the church is on the local church which is the expression and manifestation of the body of Christ in the world today. He wrote the letter to the Corinthian church. He wrote the letter to the church at Colossae and so on. We sometimes move to the universal church. We like to talk about all believers everywhere, and that’s true, we are related to one another. But the real functioning is in the context of the local church. He doesn’t primarily deal with the church at Colossae, learning how to function with the church at Corinth. He tells the church at Colossae how to function together as the church in that place.

Okay, let’s look at the people who were a key part of Paul’s life and evidently had been a key part of the life of the church at Colossae, because Paul mentions them, and in the kind of context, he assumes the Colossians will know who he’s talking about. The first person mentioned is Tychicus. “As to all my affairs,” verse 7, “Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow-bondslave in the Lord, will bring you information.” Tychicus is a faithful and trusted associate of the Apostle Paul. He’s mentioned five times in the New Testament. On none of those occasions is there any real elaboration. In fact, Colossians is the fullest account we have of Tychicus in the Bible, and that will be in verses 7 and 8. There is a very similar account in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 21 and 22. A sister church, if you will, in the region of Asia Minor to Colossae written at the same time. Tychicus--we don’t know how he was saved; we don’t know a lot about his background. He comes on the scene in Acts chapter 20, verse 4. You don’t need to turn there, but there are a group of individuals mentioned with Paul toward the end of his third missionary journey who are carrying an offering that has been taken in the churches in various places to help alleviate the suffering of the believers in Jerusalem. Persecution had broken out severely in Jerusalem, and the Jewish believers there were being impoverished by it. So Paul had led the way in the taking of a collection. He had representatives, if you will, from various churches traveling with him to take this money to Jerusalem. Now we come to this expression or this information on Tychicus now in Colossians chapter 4, and Paul gives a threefold description of him that gives you some appreciation of the value of Tychicus to Paul in his ministry. He calls him, in verse 7, “Tychicus, our beloved brother.” As a brother he identifies him as a member of the family. A beloved brother is a well-loved member of the family. We have special affection for Tychicus, our family member in the family of God, is what he is saying. He would be a beloved brother of Paul and a beloved brother of the believers at Colossae as well. A beloved brother. He is also called a faithful servant. A faithful servant--a servant of God, a servant of Paul, a servant of the church at Colossae. What Tychicus is doing is, No. 1--being the carrier of the letter. He’s the mailman, if you will. He is sent to Colossae, carrying this letter from the Apostle Paul, and evidently the letter to the church at Ephesus and the letter to Philemon as well. And so he is serving God by carrying the message God had given to Paul. He’s serving Paul by being the bearer of his letter; and, of course, he’s serving the church at Colossae and others by being willing to do this on their behalf. This just isn’t something, you know, you jump in a plane or in an air-conditioned car and make the trip. This involved danger, this involved difficult travel. Not an easy task, but one he is willing to do, and he serves the Lord and Paul and the church in this task.

I want you to note the word, faithful. He is a faithful servant. He is one who carried out his responsibilities of a servant faithfully, and that cannot be overstated. You know, Paul, in talking about being a servant of God and a steward of God in I Corinthians chapter 4, said the number one requirement is that a man be found faithful. He would do the job well and as he should. It would be easy for Tychicus to think, Oh, what am I doing here? I’m the errand boy for Paul, and now I got to travel all these miles, difficult travel, dangerous to carry a letter to the church. But he evidently does it gladly, and he does it well.

And I want you to note something here. Tychicus could not appreciate at the time the importance and impact of his faithful service. Here we are 2,000 years later doing, what? Studying the letter that he carried to Colossae. What do you think if he had read the letter before the trip and said, you know what? I don’t think there’s anything here that the Colossians shouldn’t already know, and that’s a long trip, nah, that’s not necessary? Well, it might have seemed a small thing because a lot of letters got lost in those days. Did they realize that 2,000 years later people all over the world would be reading the letter that he carried? He didn’t write it, so he doesn’t get credit for that, but he faithfully brought it to its destination, and so a faithful servant.

Just a reminder. You know we sometimes look and say, well this task, it’s not that big, it’s not that important, I can do it haphazardly. But you know, there is no service for our Lord that can be done haphazardly. I mean, it’s a service for my Lord. He only deserves the best, doesn’t He? I mean, I don’t know what the impact of my life will be, I don’t know what the impact of this seemingly small task will be, a task that seems like anybody could do it. I mean, you don’t have to be a spiritual giant. You don’t have to have any special abilities except to find your way from one point to another. Put this in your pocket, Tychicus, and don’t lose it. Don’t mess it up, and give it to them when you get there. Anybody can do that. Well, that would be failing to understand. To be a faithful servant, do what God entrusts you to do well. I think we’ll probably be amazed when we stand before Him and find out things in our lives that have really made the impact. You thought, I didn’t know there was anything special about that. I didn’t know that that would be the outcome of that. We didn’t need to know, because all I need to know is that I’m a servant, and I must be faithful.

Paul also calls him a fellow bond-slave in the Lord. So Paul is not saying, Well, he’s down here, and I’m up here. He faithfully serves me as well as the Lord. Paul could say, but we are fellow bond-slaves, we are both slaves of the Lord. I’m not above him in that sense. There would be order. Paul is the apostle. He wrote the letter. Tychicus is the servant. But when you come down to it, I’m a slave of the Lord, and he’s a slave of the Lord. We’re fellow-slaves, both about the business of our master. Tychicus will not only carry the letter, a man of trustworthy character, but Paul says that he’ll update them on his affairs. “As to all my affairs, as to what’s going on in my life, “he’ll bring you information,” he says in verse 7. Then he elaborates on that in verse 8, “For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.” Tychicus would not only deliver the letter, but he would also fill in the personal details about the Apostle Paul and his imprisonment.

The bulk of the letter to the Colossians, if you’d been part of this study through the entire time, is that it is a doctrinal letter. It is a teaching letter. It unfolds to you the truth of what God has done for us in Christ and how we are to live in light of that truth. There’s not much in the way of personal information about Paul, and any time there is, it has to do with the teaching he’s given. But the Colossians would naturally be interested, What is the condition of the Apostle Paul? Remember, he’s a prisoner at Rome. How’s he doing? How’s his health holding up? How are they treating him? Are there any opportunities for presenting the gospel there? Is he seeing any results? What’s the outcome look like? All these matters of personal interest, Tychicus could tell them about.

I think we ought to take a note here in light of the emphasis in preaching today. I’m reading a book that relates to this. It interests me that what is important for the inspired record, the letter that Paul wrote to the Colossians, is the truth that God has given. 'Tychicus can tell you,' if you will as a side light, 'about me, about my personal situation, about the things I know you would be interested in hearing, how’s it going with me.' But God does not see fit to have Paul include that in the inspired record. People today like to hear personal stories. You know, I feel a weight when I get up to teach and preach the Word. You know, it’s fine to use illustrations, and I like to talk about my family, especially my grandkids. The kids were all right, the grandkids are better. But really, my job is not talk to you about my kids and grandkids. My responsibility is to tell you what God has said. I would be happy to come to your house some evening for dinner, and we’ll just talk about me all night. I mean I can just talk about me endlessly. Most of us can. So we need to be careful, because it is interesting--people tell interesting stories, and they unfold about their personal lives, and we bare it all. That’s the in thing for a preacher--you show how human you are. But, you know, you could read the book of Colossians and find out nothing. Is Paul depressed being in prison? Is Paul discouraged? Did Paul feel like getting up off the floor this morning and writing this letter? You just don’t find it out. Why? It’s irrelevant. It doesn’t mean that people aren’t interested in it, you can find out about it from Tychicus. But when the letter is read before the church, here’s what God has to say. So a good reminder for me and for us as a church to keep our focus where God has placed it.

Tychicus will deliver the letter. He’ll fill them in on personal details about Paul’s life, and he’ll encourage their hearts. And they’ll be encouraged by the letter Paul wrote by the information Tychicus has to bring, because Paul is doing well. Philippians, another letter written from the same imprisonment to a church in Greece, believers in Greece. Paul is seeing results as people respond to the gospel during his imprisonment. Paul is confident that he’s going to be released from this imprisonment, so there are good things to say that will be encouraging, and Tychicus will be an encourager.

Just note two more passages where Tychicus appears. He appears in Titus, chapter 3, verse 12, and both these appearances are toward the end of Paul’s earthly ministry. There Paul tells Titus that he will either send Artemas or Tychicus to replace him at Crete, so that Paul can have Titus come visit him in Rome or Nicopolis where Paul is rather when he writes to Titus. Now that does say something to me about Tychicus. I said he is basically being the mailman here for Paul. He’s on an errand for Paul, if you will. But we ought not think that Tychicus wasn’t a man of abilities. You can read the letter to Titus and you find out there’s ministry to be done in the churches at Crete. Titus was a man of ability, and Tychicus is qualified to replace Titus, step into that role in leading the churches and continuing their development so Titus can be free to go and join Paul at Nicopolis.

You have a similar reference at the end of Paul’s last letter, II Timothy chapter 4, verse 12, where Paul says that he has sent Tychicus to Ephesus to see Timothy and evidently carry Paul’s last letter, II Timothy. You see the faithfulness of Tychicus? Here he is, doing what? Bearing another letter. And what’s he going to do? He’s going to replace Timothy at Ephesus, so Timothy can join Paul in Rome. Again, no small task for Tychicus to take over the position that Timothy has had in the church at Ephesus. That is to say, Tychicus is a man of ability and stature. He’s a faithful servant, a beloved brother, a fellow bond-servant. I mean a man like this-- he can be leading churches like at Crete or at Ephesus, and he’s carrying letters around. He’s a faithful servant, allowing God to use him, and his life has made a great impact. And here he is, Paul’s last letter, II Timothy. Here’s the faithful servant, Tychicus, bringing the letter, taking on the responsibility delegated him to serve in the way that Paul needs him on this occasion for the accomplishing of God’s work.

Back in Colossians, chapter 4, verse 9. We come to a man who has prominence in scripture, because a letter is written about him. We come to the man Onesimus. “And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.” Onesimus was a slave of a Christian master named Philemon who lived in Colossae. He had run away from his master and made his way to Rome. It would be logical what happens. A criminal wants to hide in our country, what’s he do? Go to a big city and blend in, disappear. So a slave runs away from his master. What’s he do? He goes to Rome, the hub of the empire and just gets lost. But he doesn’t get lost. He runs into the Apostle Paul. He hears the gospel, and he is marvelously saved. Now he’s being sent back to Philemon who rightfully owns him. We won’t say much about him because we’re going to study the letter to Philemon in a little while, and we’ll learn more about the situation with Onesimus. You know, he’s a man who’s experienced a dramatic transformation of life rather quickly. He evidently didn’t spend a long time with Paul in Rome because Paul writes in the letter to Philemon, 'I wanted to keep Onesimus with me, but I didn’t think it would be right to do that without your permission.' So his time with Paul was somewhat limited because Paul didn’t think it was right to have Onesimus stay with him unless Philemon said it’s okay. But during that time he had demonstrated himself, verse 9, to be a faithful and beloved brother. Now I don’t know what kind of character Onesimus was, but he had a godly master in Philemon. Paul writes very highly of Philemon. I would assume a godly man like that would have treated his slaves properly. They would have been slaves, but they would have been treated properly. Onesimus did not find it to his liking. Whatever his character, he’s undergone a transformation in his salvation, that now Paul can identify him as a faithful and beloved brother, and in the letter to Philemon, Paul says, 'I hate to see Onesimus go; he’s been such a help to me.' I just mention this because I think again we see when God’s salvation impacts a life, there is a dramatic conversion.

Now relatively in a short time, Paul can say it really hurts to have Onesimus go. He’s such a blessing and help to me. He’s a faithful and beloved brother. I just think we have got a mess today where we say that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, but a person can be impacted by the power of God and given a new heart, made a new person, but you know, you just don’t see any change, isn’t that amazing? Yes, that would be amazing. That doesn’t mean that everything is perfect from day one, but it does mean there ought to be some changes in a life that has experienced the power of God in salvation, and those changes were evident. Onesimus had already become a faithful and beloved brother and a servant in ministering to the Apostle Paul. Well, he’ll join with Tychicus in updating them on Paul’s life, and here’s one who can speak as one who has experienced conversion. So what’s happening? You think this wouldn’t be an encouragement to the church at Colossae? Here’s a man from our city, a runaway slave who bumped into the Apostle Paul by divine appointment, and he comes back a new creature in Christ.

Verse 10, “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings.” Aristarchus is mentioned three times in the book of Acts, mentioned here and mentioned at the end of the book of Philemon. He first appears on the scene without any introduction as a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul at Ephesus, a sister city to Colossae. You remember when Paul went to Ephesus and started to preach, people got saved. The silversmith created a riot, because they were afraid nobody would be buying their images of Diana. They end up in the coliseum or the theater, what? Crying, “great is Diana of the Ephesians, great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Well, in Acts chapter 19, verse 29, we’re told that the mob got a hold of a couple of the companions of Paul, one of whom was Aristarchus and dragged them into the theater. We don’t know how he got saved, what the details of his life to that point were; but we find him, pick him up as a faithful traveling companion of Paul, caught up in the turmoil in suffering for the gospel, and being identified with the gospel and with the ministry of Paul.

We are told in Acts chapter 20, verse 4, and Acts 27, verse 2, that he was from Thessalonica, so he’s from a Greek city in Macedonia, perhaps saved in Paul’s ministry up there. We’re just not told. He traveled with Paul in Acts chapter 20, verse 4, to deliver the offering to Jerusalem on the end of the third missionary journey. And then we see him traveling at the end of the Book of Acts from Caesarea after Paul’s two-year imprisonment at Caesarea, making the long sea trip that will take Paul to Rome for his first Roman imprisonment in Acts chapter 27, verse 2. So he’s a faithful companion of Paul. He’s with him. What did he do? I don’t know, but he’s with him. He is there to share the ministry whatever needs to be done. If he needs somebody to get dragged into the coliseum, here’s Aristarchus. If he needs somebody to take the long, trying boat ride with Paul and Luke, here’s Aristarchus. If he needs someone to be faithful to Paul while he’s in prison in Rome, here’s Aristarchus, sending his greeting. What all else he did, we don’t know, but here is another faithful person who is used of the Lord in Paul’s life and ministry.

He’s called “my fellow prisoner” in Colossians chapter 4, verse 10. “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner.” Some say this probably means he was in prison with Paul. Probably not. At the end of Philemon, Epaphras is called a fellow prisoner, but Aristarchus is not. Aristarchus is mentioned in verse 24 of Philemon’s letter. It seems what Paul is saying is probably that these men took turns sharing Paul’s imprisonment. You remember his first imprisonment at the end of the Book of Acts, Paul wasn’t confined in a Roman jail or prison. He was like under house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier, but he had freedom to have guests and so on. And evidently some of these traveling companions willfully restrained themselves so they could be with Paul and be his companion there. That was a sacrifice to pay. You know, it might seem nicer to be at home with their family and friends. Maybe to be out and doing a ministry some place. But they were willing to be where God would use them. I’ll share Paul’s imprisonment. I’m not Paul, but I can help make his imprisonment easier, so to speak. I can be an encouragement to him in prison, and I can be there to do what he might need done while he’s confined.

You know that’s service kind of mentality. How? The body functioning together. I don’t have to be versed, I don’t have to be the leader. I can be with Paul, and I’ll be a fellow prisoner with him. What a blessing those people are who are willing to share our trials and difficulties. You know there are people who are fellow believers who you just know they’ll be there--hard times, difficult times, they’ll be there. What a blessing they are in our lives.

Another person that we want to mention, Barnabas? cousin Mark. Now Mark ends up being a more prominent person. We all know about Mark because the second gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the gospel of Mark, was written by this man. He’s mentioned a number of times in the book of Acts, and he’s mentioned a few times in the Epistles. Turn back to the Book of Acts, we just have to run through Marks highlights of his life.

In Acts chapter 12 Peter has been imprisoned by Herod. An angel comes in the middle of the night and walks Peter out of the prison. Peter thinks he’s having a dream. Gets outside, pinches himself and says this is no dream, I’m outside the prison. So he goes to a house where he knows there are believers and where the believers will be gathered. So verse 12 of Acts 12 says, “And when he realized this, [he realized this wasn’t a dream, he was really out of the prison] he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Evidently, Mark’s father had died, because it’s called the house of Mary. It would have been called by his father’s name if his father was living, we would assume, and evidently it was a hub, if you will, for the activity of believers at this time, because Peter knew the believers would be there. So, Mary’s house was a place where the believers congregated, where they would gather for prayer, and Mark is mentioned here. He’s mentioned as John who is also called Mark. John would have been his Jewish name; Mark would have been his Latin name. It was common for the Jews to have two names at that time--Saul/Paul, Saul being the Jewish name, Paul being his Latin name. We’ll see Jesus a little bit in Colossians who is also called Justus--Jesus meaning Joshua, Greek for Joshua, his Jewish name; Justus is a Latin name. Sometimes John is called John Mark, but that’s not a dual name like we have Gil Rugh, first and last name. It says John Mark so that we clarify, because there were a lot of Johns. There are a number of Johns, a common name. Mark was less common. So he sometimes put both of his names together in Acts, so we know who we are talking about, but he would have been known by one or the other. They wouldn’t have said 'Hi, John Mark.' It would have been 'Hi, John' or 'Hi, Mark,' depending on the situation.

All right. Well that’s his house. So at least he’s in the environment. How he got saved and all, we don’t know, but his mother is a believer as well. Down in verse 25 of Acts 12,” Barnabas and Saul return from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.” So Paul and Barnabas are getting ready to travel on the first missionary journey. Mark is taken along. Down in verse 5, the end of the verse, we’re told “they also had John as their helper.” The word to be a helper means to be a servant. John was taken along as a young man--John Mark--to do whatever Paul and Barnabas needed. So he didn’t go along as a third equivalent party, if you will, but he went along as a helper for Paul and Barnabas. We don’t want to minimize his role, but we want to see it in proper perspective in light of the word translated helper here. It didn’t work out well. In verse 13 the familiar account of Acts 13, verse 13. “Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.” John bailed out. They’re getting ready to enter into a very difficult part of the trip, very unfriendly territory. Some believe it would have been these kinds of areas where Paul would have experienced some of his worst treatment. Mark has a sense of what is ahead--this isn’t going to go well--so he bails out.

You come over to Acts chapter l5. They have completed the first missionary journey, come back, given the report. They’re ready to take a second missionary journey to revisit the churches they established and help further develop them. The end of chapter 15, verse 36, “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.' Barnabas was desirous of taking John, called Mark, along with them also. Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. There arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and departed, being committed to the brethren by the grace of the Lord.” You don’t hear any more about Barnabas and Mark through the rest of the Book of Acts. In fact, we don’t hear any more about them for about a dozen years.

We pick up with Paul. This disagreement has been the subject of much discussion. We usually see Barnabas as the thoughtful, understanding, compassionate guy. Paul is the harsh, hard man. I don’t think that’s what comes out of this. Barnabas may well have been compassionate and understanding. He was the son of consolation; besides he’s related to Mark--they’re cousins. But I don’t think we should misunderstand Paul here, and the indication is the church was behind Paul. He was “committed to the grace of the Lord” by the church, would indicate they were supporting Paul in the activity here. Paul was a man with a unique mission. You cannot go into war with men you cannot trust. Paul said Mark deserted him on the last trip. Paul just could not go being concerned. Is this man going to be able to make it? He had to have traveling companions that were willing to pay the price. Mark was not ready for that. Now 12 years later, he will have matured; he will be a useful servant of the Lord and of Paul. I don’t see any flaw in Paul’s character here. Paul was willing to develop young men, but those who were going to be his traveling companions had to be men who would pay the price.

And where are we going in Acts chapter l6? Paul is going to Philippi. What’s going to happen to him and Silas? They are going to get lashed. They are going to get beaten so severely with a kind of beating it was forbidden to give to a Roman citizen who had not been officially condemned in a Roman court. Could Mark have made it? No, he might have been a casualty again, and then pretty soon you find a man who has one failure after another. So Paul’s decision here was a wise one.

So Mark goes with Barnabas and has an opportunity to develop and mature. He’s joined with Peter in ministry. In fact, Peter calls him, in I Peter chapter 5, verse 13, “my son, Mark.” Some take that to mean that Peter probably led Mark to Christ in his early years. Mark probably benefited from the ministry of Peter. Many think that Peter would have contributed greatly to what Mark wrote in his gospel, though we don’t know. Who better to help Mark over a failure than Peter, the man who denied the Lord three times? We don’t know all that went on in these years. Barnabas would have been involved with Mark; Peter would have been involved with Mark.

Come over to 2 Timothy chapter 4. We have Mark mentioned in Colossians. That would have been about 12 years after the incident in Acts 15--11 or 12 years had gone by, and Paul mentions Mark, sending his greetings. He was with Paul during his first imprisonment. So, during that time he has matured and grown, and here he is identified with Paul during his imprisonment in Rome. Now in II Timothy Paul is in a later imprisonment in Rome, one that will culminate in his own execution. And note what he says. He writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 11, “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.” What a change has occurred. High commendation for a man who began his ministry as a failure, who began his ministry by deserting at a key time in ministry. Now he has become an effective and faithful servant, and Paul really wants him with him during this final imprisonment.

This should be an encouragement to all of us. Failure is tragedy. We would not minimize the seriousness of failure and its impact. But neither should we think that because someone has failed, and even failed significantly, that means God is done with them. If you and I were writing the account, Peter could never have been used. I mean we can understand failure, but to deny the Lord three times in one evening. At that crucial phase of the Lord’s life on the last night, we’d probably have some things Peter could do, but you know, it’s going to be minor. Yet Peter becomes a leader in the ministry of the early church and is used to write I and II Peter--Scripture, inspired Word of God.

Mark starts out going with Paul and Barnabas and becomes a deserter. He can’t take it. Well,
you know, we don’t have any place for deserters in this ministry, but I’m sure we’d give them something to do as long as it’s not too important. If you don’t have to count on them. But here we find he’s the one God uses, how? Pretty prominent. He writes the Gospel of Mark. He’s associated with Peter and Paul in their ministry. All that to say, we oughtn’t write others off too quickly. Maybe they just need more time to mature and develop. That’s why we need to be careful in bringing people along. That they have a chance to mature and develop strength of character and can handle the responsibilities that are placed on them. We need to realize even failures, great failures, in God’s grace can be overcome. That should be an encouragement to us personally. You know, may have failed and say, God wouldn’t be able to use me. Well, concentrate on picking up at being faithful from where you are and let God decide what the impact of your life will be.

It would have accomplished nothing for Mark to become a moper. You know, I failed, there’s no sense in me trying anything, and even the apostle Paul doesn’t want anything to do with me in ministry. I’m a failure. Peter could have spent the rest of his life bemoaning the fact, I denied the Lord; not once, not twice, but three times, and that after he had told me it would happen and warned me. Whatever could I do for the Lord? You know people use that as an excuse, and you know what God calls you to do--get on with your life. I can’t change yesterday's failures. All I can do is determine I will be faithful today.

Back to Colossians chapter 4. Praise the Lord for Mark, for the transformation of his life. One more man and we’re done, and we just have to say a brief word about him because we don’t know anything about him. Verse 11, “and also Jesus who is called Justus.” Here’s a man who has a Jewish name. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, Jehovah saves. Justus would have been his Latin name. These are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision. Aristarchus, Mark, Justus. These are the Jews who have remained faithful with me here in Rome. High commendation. Paul hasn’t been real effective, if we can put it that way, in winning Jews and in seeing Jewish believers who will stand, but these three did. I mention Justus here because Paul mentions him. We don’t know anything else about him. Isn’t that a great testimony? Here is a man from among the Jews who had been converted. He is a fellow worker for the kingdom of God, I take it, proclaiming you must be born again or you’ll never see the kingdom of God, proclaiming that Christ is the King, and the only way you will ever enter that kingdom is by believing in Him as your Savior and Messiah.

The end of verse 11, “they have proved to be an encouragement to me.” The word means comfort as well as encouragement. Not the normal word for encouragement here, where it carries the concept of comfort and encouragement. What a privilege to be a comfort to the Apostle Paul. In this day of trial, this man so mightily used of God, penning the very Word of God, and Justus has been a comfort and an encouragement to him, as he shared the ministry of working for the kingdom of God. It is a reminder, you know, we don’t have all superstars. God is using common, ordinary people. We would say Paul was a superstar. Well, in God’s plan he was given great visibility; but in God’s plan he was joined together in ministry with many normal, average people like us who faithfully devoted their lives to serving God and serving others, and their impact is being felt for us today. I don’t know anything else about Justus, but I’m glad he was faithful and encouraged and comforted Paul, so that you and I can benefit from the ministry that Paul had. But it wasn’t just Paul’s ministry--it was Paul and those with him, building the churches.

Five men, all different--Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus--men we know little about and littler about. Some a little more prominent, like Mark who wrote a gospel; some like Justus, we just don’t know anything about. Have been honored and recognized by being mentioned in the eternal Word of God. Not perfect men, not superstars, but men committed to Jesus Christ and making their life count for Him. And a reminder. Men who may have failed, may have fallen, but got up and went on by the grace of God and the power of God to have lives that counted for God. And the result? We feel the impact of their lives in our life and in our ministry today.

That’s what I desire for us as a church. I don’t know what the impact of our lives in ministry together will be. Only God knows. My desire is that we would be faithful in our service, recognize the importance of giving ourselves in ministry together in appreciating one another and being willing to be used in one another's lives and in ministry together to accomplish God’s purposes, and some day we will see how He has graciously used us together in the accomplishing of His work in the world and in the life of the church today.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace, your sovereignty and your salvation. Thank you for these men that we’ve briefly looked at, that are etched in your eternal word, reminders that we serve together as your people. Thank you for their faithfulness. Thank you for the way that you used them and their lives in that day. Lord, thank you for the ongoing impact of lives that have been committed to you. We would take encouragement that we might be men and women who leave such a legacy, whose lives are used by the Spirit to impact others for eternal purposes. We praise You, in Christ’s name. Amen.