Now let us open our New Testaments again, and we're going to deepen our acquaintanceship with another one of the friends of the Apostle Paul. We shall open our Testaments at the Book of Acts chapter twelve. And just keep your Bibles open on your knees, because we're going to make repeated reference to certain passages in the book of Acts and maybe elsewhere. Verse twelve of chapter twelve. And when he had, that is Peter, and when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. You know, beloved saints of God, and I wish that I understood this a little better and could explain it a little more in detail to you. But take this. Failure in Christian service does not necessarily result in a total fatality of the Christian career. Many a man has failed in his service. and yet eventually has glorified God and has served the Lord. So believe me, failure in Christian service does not necessarily result in the total fatality of the Christian career. You know, God is the God of recovery. Even when he carries out discipline upon his own, his objective is the recovery of his own. Some of the patriarchs, you know, they failed. In fact, I suppose the patriarch, above all the others, he failed. God called him out of the early days, called him to be a pilgrim in a land that he would give to him through his progeny. And yet, Abraham turned his back upon that pilgrim land and he went down into Egypt. A sad decline, but thank God he came up out of Egypt and once more assumed the character of the pilgrim and certainly has been a blessing to God's people ever since. One of the prophets failed and failed miserably. And yet he too was recovered and recovered in such a way that the Lord Jesus makes mention of him in the most honorable association. And what shall we say about the apostles? I can recall listening to a brother and he spoke on Peter's three falls with rather a negative approach to things, but nevertheless he had it well premised on three experiences in the life of Peter. Peter fell before his Lord because of pride. The world and I be, yet will not I. The word man there is italicized. I feel that Peter was making reference to the other disciples, though all these men standing here in our company, though they all denied it, yet will not I. He fell before his master through pride. He fell before the world through fear. Well, little girl challenged him. In his reply, he actually used curse. And then he fell later on before his brethren. You remember how the Apostle Paul actually withstood him to the face because of his hypocritical attitude among Gentile believers. But you know, Peter was fully recovered. Peter was fully recovered. And I think the two letters that he has left on the pages of inspiration are delightful. And as far as Christian life and testimony are concerned, I don't think you could find better advice and counsel than what Peter gives to us in his first letter. It would seem to me that out of his stumbling and falling, through those experiences, she has delineated for us the pathway in this wilderness. Yes, God is the God of recovery. And if we learn nothing else from our study this morning, that is something, something very wonderful. And I repeat again, I quote again the quotation, Failure in Christian service does not necessarily result in a total fatality of the Christian career. And there are dozens and dozens of examples of that fact all around us. You say, well, you're going to talk about John Mark. I am. I want to talk about John Mark this morning. I want to encourage our hearts. Because I am quite sure that most of us, at one time or another, we have felt defeated because of our own reaction to certain things. First of all, we have the home in which John Mark was raised. His mother, Mary, apparently was a widow, but apparently of considerable substance. She had a home, and that home was ever open to the people of God. And on this particular occasion, it was open for a prayer meeting. And the church gathered in Mary's home and prayed. And while they were praying for Peter, that God would sustain him in prison, he appeared at the door. You remember the miraculous, the supernatural deliverance of Peter from prison. And Mary's home was so well known. and so accessible to the church that the first place he went after being sent free was to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. When Peter is closing his first letter, he sends salutations. to those Hellenistic Jews that were scattered because of the dispersion throughout the nations. And he sends salutations and he says, My son Marcus, he also sends salutations. Now the Apostle Paul said of Timothy, as we probably shall see later on in the week, He spoke of Timothy as his genuine, his beloved son in the faith. Apparently, at one time or another, Paul visited his mother's home, and there saw the fruit of the sowing by Timothy's mother and grandmother. And he was led to the Savior, definitely led to the Savior. to the Apostle Paul, probably visiting in the home. And so he speaks of him as his genuine son in the faith. And Peter, he speaks of John Mark as his son. And I would assume that on one of these visits of Peter to the house of Mary, the Apostle Peter directed John Mark to the Savior. These two young men, so early in church history and of such great value in those early years of church history, both had a Christian home as their background. Both were led to the Savior through the ministry of senior Christians. You know, it has been in the way of the Lord, quite frequently, that he has made choice of those with such a background. I think of David Livingstone, born and reared in a Christian home, and what a man forgot. And what was true of David Livingstone was true also of Frederick Ornith. He also was born of Christian parentage and raised in a Christian home. This was true of Hudson Taylor. Likewise. It would seem as if this background had something to contribute to the character of those who were reared in it and one for Christ. John Mark. was saved in his own family circle, probably directed to the Savior, Peter being the very last link in the chain. Some years ago, a businessman said to me, you know, Brother Gunn, I have relatives down in such and such a town. They don't go to any church at all. I wish we could get the gospel into that town. Say, he said, would you come with me if I were able to get the school there? He said, I'll pay everything. I'll assume the responsibility. I said, be delighted to go. And we went. And I shall never forget. Well, that brother sat in a little desk, a school desk, along with his own nephew, and pointed that nephew to the Lord. And when he finished, and everybody was dismissed, he said to me, You know, that's the first soul I've ever won to Christ. Well, I happen to know that during his life, He had contributed tremendously to the success of the assembly in that town. It was the first time he acted as the last link in the chain. But there were other cases where he was the first link in the chain and other cases when he was the middle link in the chain. There are few of us, if any of us, who can claim to have led a soul exclusively and individually ourselves to the Lord. We're just the link and so many chains. At any rate, here we have the home of John Mark. Now, look at verse, say, twenty-four in this same book. But the word of God grew and multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem. Now, if you want to know what they were doing in Jerusalem, read just the last three verses of chapter eleven. They had been carrying funds to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was in need, and God's people were suffering. And, of course, All Gentile believers were in debt to the Hebrew Christians. Through them the gospel had come. And so they contributed to the well-being, the physical, the temporal well-being of God's people in Jerusalem. And after having delivered the funds, Barnabas and Saul, they're returning from Jerusalem. and they took with them John, whose surname was Mark. Now, looking down into the next chapter, we find something very interesting, I am sure. First, and they had John Mark to their ministry. We read in the opening verses, of chapter thirteen that's verse five and when they were at Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews and they had also John to their minister or John to their attendance it seemed only natural this young man had gone with them all the way from Jerusalem to Antioch And so it seems quite natural that when these two brethren were commended to the grace of God to disseminate the truth of God among the Gentiles, it just seems so natural that they take John Mark with them. And it says distinctly that they had also John to their minister. He became their attendant. Now, this word does not necessarily imply that John Mark became a servant of Paul and the servant of Barnabas, and that he did the shopping, and he polished the shoes, and he swept the floor, and that he gave out the hymn books. That's not implied at all in the word. The word minister that is used here literally is a nunder roar. The picture is very ancient, of course. It goes away, way back to the day when the only means of propelling a boat was by sail and at times by the additional oars. There was a roar, the head roar. He didn't have a knoll in his hand. He stood up in the presence of all the other rowers, who by the way were literally slaves. He stood up in the presence of all the other rowers as the head roar, and he created a rhythm. Maybe Satan, maybe shouting, but he created a rhythm, and all the men they rode to that rhythm. And thus, it prevented the entanglement of many ores and helped greatly in projecting the vessel over the Mediterranean. Now, there was one who superintended all the rowers, the head rowers, and all the under-rowers They obeyed him. They were guided by him. That's the picture that we have of John Mark. When John Mark went with his uncle Barnabas and the apostle Paul, he went as among the roars. He was under the supervision and guidance of one or the other of these two great, well-experienced men. I am quite sure that young John Mark could sit down under the guidance of these men and instruct young believers, initiate them into an understanding of the things of God. They had him as their minister to assist them in the work of the Lord. And you know, even today, this is rather a delightful experience, and I feel a very necessary experience, that a younger man without experience, still quite immature, be associated with an older man who knows more about the things of God and how God works and operates. What a privilege for John Mark. Just turn over your page. We're still in chapter thirteen. Verse thirteen. Now when Paul and his company loose from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John departing from them, returned to Antioch now. I think maybe I could have understood it had it said that he returned to Antioch, but that is not what it says. He went right back home to Jerusalem. I have entitled this his failure, his failure in Christian service. And because of what is said about John Mark, I repeat that quotation. Failure in Christian service does not necessarily result in the fatality of the whole Christian career. John Mark failed. Well, you say, after all, I think Paul made a lot of adieu over very little. Now, did he? We really don't know why John left and went all the way back home. Had he left and gone to Antioch, I might have thought that he just couldn't take it. I would have thought that missionary enterprises were altogether too tough for the boy that had been brought up in affluence and in abundance. And since he couldn't take it, he went back to the church in Antioch He didn't want to appear at home. He would have too much to explain. But he does go right back home. Many have been the guesses. Many have been the conjectures as to why John Mark left his uncle Barnabas and the apostle Paul. I want you to notice two words, and the meaning of these two words take this experience in the lives of these three men out of a misunderstanding. I think it gives a solemn view of things that quite frequently is passed over. Look at this verse again, verse thirteen. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia and the Spirit of God is so gracious, so delicate, he doesn't want to divulge the failures of God's people. And why should we? But we read, John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. Now, underline at least mentally. I'm not advising you to mark your Bible. I haven't got a mark in my Bible. So don't underline unless you wish to do so. But remember this verb to depart. Turn the page over to the end of chapter fifteen. Verse thirty-seven. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them, from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the works. And the contention. was so sharp between them that they departed the thunder, one from the other, and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. Notice the noun here, contention. The verb in chapter thirteen, verse thirteen, the verb to depart, and the noun in chapter fifteen, the noun contention. I believe in the understanding of these words. open up to us just exactly what was in the mind of John Mark. Why he is, I'm not sure. I don't think he was lazy, as some have implied. I don't think he was afraid, as some have implied. My guess, my conjecture is that he resented. Paul's preaching of liberality to the Gentiles. As he listened to Paul and Paul declaring that there was no need to keep the law, there was no need to be circumcised, salvation came through simple faith because the Savior had procured it upon the cross. John Mark probably became prejudiced against the Apostle Paul. Remember, he was raised in Jerusalem. And the leading brother in Jerusalem, I don't think, was ever really delivered from Judaism. His name is James. You will recall that when Peter was in Antioch with the Apostle Paul, oh, he did so enjoy himself. He went and he ate in the homes of the Gentiles. And then there were certain who came down from James at Jerusalem. And why was Peter ever afraid? James, austere, unbending, inflexible James. And Peter acted hypocritically. He who had enjoyed the fellowship, yes, and the oneness of the people of God, Jews and Gentiles, all brought together, now acted in a hypocritical way, and he withdraws. And as we have seen, this was a fall before his brother. Whether he was prejudiced or not, one cannot be dogmatic, but I want you to look at the verb and then the noun. Do you know what this verb means? It means to apostatize. This is the verb that is used by the Apostle Paul in Second Thessalonians chapter two, making reference to the coming of the day of the Lord. He distinctly says that the day of the Lord cannot possibly come before the apostasy. Men are going to apostasy. They're going to turn their back upon all that is of God. Turn with me to First Kings, and I'll give you a scriptural definition of this word, and it'll show you just how seriously the Apostle Paul views the action of John Mark. First Kings chapter twelve, and verse nineteen. This particular chapter gives to us that part of Hebrew history when the ten tribes separated from the two tribes. The ten tribes called the northern kingdom. The two called the Celerin kingdom, or called Judah more frequently. But you'll notice what verse nineteen says of this chapter. So, when the ten tribes separated, so Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. So Israel apostatized from the house of David, and remains in that condition, says the writer unto this day. The word implies rebellion. It means rebellion. And of course, that means self-determination, doesn't it? That means willfulness. When John Mark left his uncle Barnabas and the apostle Paul, he left in a very sad condition. He was rebelling. He was guilty of insubordination. He refused the advice and the counsel and the instruction of these much more experienced men. And so he just simply apostatized. He left them, determining to go back home, whether prejudiced against Paul or not. There was this act of self-will. in the part of John Mark. The word, the noun contention, intimates just how serious a matter this was, because when Barnabas suggested that they take him again, and Paul objected, the contention was very strong and great. And what does the noun contention mean? It means sharpening the blades. In the ancient world, when they went forth to war, they had their spears. They had their swords. And before they went into battle, they sharpened their spears. They sharpened their swords. And when these two brethren began on this occasion to discuss John Mark, they sharpened their blades. That's just how seriously the Apostle Paul viewed what John Mark had done. It was, I repeat, a knack of self-will. It was really a knack of insubordination. He who had gone with them to be their attendants under their careful guidance to be an assistant to them in the things of God. He rebelled against them. He rejected their counsel. He went away back home. And these two beloved brethren, they sharpened their blades when they began to discuss the matter of John Mark. Oh, you say, what failure? Don't let us throw stones. Don't let us throw stones. Turn with me now to the epistle to the Colossians. That is why I wanted you to keep your Bible open upon your knee. Look at the last chapter. And the Apostle Paul says, and just let me find it again, speaking of his friends, he names a number of them, and among them John Mark. Verse ten, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoners, saluted with you. And Marcus, sister son to Barnabas, touching whom you receive commandments, if he come unto you, receive him. It would almost seem that there was still a cloud over John Mark. There was still some question. about John Mark. And Paul has to instruct the church in Colossae that if John Mark arrives, it's all right to receive him. Receive him into your fellowship. Receive him into the assembly. I'm not now talking about reception to the Lord's Supper. I don't think that any man has any right to welcome anybody to the Lord's Supper. It is the Lord's Supper. He is the host. When we sit down to partake of the bread and the wine, we all are guests invited by the Lord Himself. But then there is the fellowship of saints. The Word of God does teach an inside and an outside to the local church. And so the instruction here is, now if John comes, I know what he did. I know what happened, but if he does turn up, you'll receive him. Now, between that last mention of John and Acts fifteen, when the two beloved brethren sharpened their wits, if not their blades, as they discussed, and to this point, There is something like fourteen years, fourteen silent years. I repeat it again, fourteen silent years. Chronologically speaking, the fifteenth chapter of Acts belongs to the year AD, Whereas the epistle to the Colossians was written in AD. And so there, between these two mentions of John Mark, fourteen silent years, fourteen lost years, and even at the end of fourteen silent years, Paul has to say, well, there has been a cloud over him, but you'll receive him if he comes. I wonder how many years we've lost, brethren. In our failures, in our foolishness, how many years have the locust eaten on us? Has there been failure in our Christian service, in our Christian testimony? And way, way back in the mid-thirties, I received a long-distance call from a brother. And he said to me, I don't think you know this lady. And he gave her name to me over the phone. I said, no, I don't think I'd ever met her. Well, he said, she has attended meetings at which you have spoken. She's dying. She knows she's dying. She would like to see you. Can you break away for a day and motor up? in order that you speak with this lady. So I did. Hurriedly I made the one hundred mile trip up to that town, and I went to the door of the address given to me, and a man, a broken-hearted looking gentleman, opened the door. When I looked at him and he had me, I was a total stranger to him. I said, My name is James Gunn. Oh, come in. Come in, Mr. Gunn. My wife has been asking for you, and she has been wondering if you would get here in time. Well, I said, I came as soon as I possibly could. Where is your wife? He said, We brought her home because she wanted to die at home. and he took me into the room where a very emaciated form lay on the bed. Just one look was enough to know that life was quickly having away. I shook hands with her and she asked that I sit beside her for she said, I want to talk about some very important things. Well, I said, I don't know what these important things might be, but there is one thing tremendously important to me under the situation in which I find myself, and that is, what is your relationship with the Lord? Are you a Christian? She began to weep, and she said, I don't know. That's why I want to talk to you. That's one of the important things I want to know. You thought at one time you were a Christian? Yes, she said, and I was in assembly fellowship. And you don't know now whether you be a Christian or not? No, she said, I don't know. She said it's over thirty years since I said my prayers or read my Bible. My husband was not a Christian, is not a Christian. And at first he said he'd go along with me, and we each could go our own way as far as religion is concerned. But not many weeks had passed until he ridiculed me when I prayed, and he laughed at me when I read the Bible. So eventually... I stopped praying and I stopped reading my Bible. I was afraid to get down on my knees when he was around or even be found with the Word of God in my hand. And so for thirty years I have not prayed or read the Bible. No wonder she had lost any consciousness of the Lord. I said then, what in all the world ever made you think that you were a Christian? Well, she said there was a man and she gave me his name and I happened to know him. There was a man who came to our town and preached the gospel. And I attended as a teenager, my late teens, I attended those meetings. And I can remember this particular night when he preached, how I felt constrained to remain behind. And, oh, Mr. Gunn, I am saved. As she went over the details of that experience, there came over her once more the assurance of salvation. And there was a restoration there and then. that thank God lasted those later days of her experience here. Yes, she said, I know I'm saved, but you know I've only got a few days to live, and I just don't know what to do with my wasted life. I said, you know, David sinned grievously, but he found forgiveness. Yes, but David had time to do that. I have no time. Peter denied his Lord with oath and curses, and he too was given divine forgiveness and really restored to his position as leader of a little apostolic band. Yes, Mr. God. Don't you understand? They had time for recovery. I've no time. I've no time. What am I going to do with my wasted life? I could see there was no further use of talking about restoration and forgiveness and pardon. So I changed my thinking a little bit and made an adjustment. And I said, Mrs. Baker, for that was her name, You have wasted your life, your whole life is gone. It's gone beyond recovery. There's not any time to salvage those thirty-odd years. But you need not go into the presence of God unforgiven. You need not go into the presence of God fearful and ashamed because of the lost years. I took her to first John. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And I said, there's where it must begin, Mrs. Baker. It must begin with confession of sin to God. Let me begin now. And I sat while that dying woman poured out her confession with tears and repentance. And I said to her after, you see, Mrs. Baker, you can be a very joyous Christian right now and be assured of his company as one of his own. I read part of Psalm twenty-three, but she knew it so well it had lost its impact upon her. So I took her on to Psalm forty-seven, forty-six. This God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death. Read that again, William, is our God. Yes. This God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even over death. I left her with that one verse ringing in her ear. I went over it so many times. Some days later, her husband called me, and he said, It was my wife's wish that you take her funeral service. So back to the town I went, and back to the house I went. When I knocked at the door, the husband once more greeted me, broken, sorrowful. He said, Mr. Don, I'm just ashamed of myself. I feel dreadful. You know, my wife left a message for you, and I cannot recall what that message was. Oh, I said, don't worry about it. Eventually, you'll recall what she asked. Well, he said, you know, there was a text somewhere, at least I think it's a text in the Bible, and she went over it and over it and over it again and again. And the very afternoon she died, she said, now, promise me you'll call Mr. Gunn. I want him to take my funeral. And you tell him that I died happy in Christ. You tell him that that verse that he gave me remains with me now, and I'm just holding on to it. This God is our God. Forever and ever, He will be our guide even over death. Thirty years lost. What a tragedy, brethren. Thirty years lost. John Mark had fourteen. Fourteen years between these two references to John Mark. But thank God there was recovery. And here he's on the way back. Paul says, Now you be sure and receive him. Turn with me to Second Timothy. And we must be very, very quick. Second Timothy chapter four. The Apostle Paul is preparing for his preliminary hearing before Nero. And of course, he was fully aware of the fact that he could expect nothing from such a moral brute as Nero. And he says, Only Luke is with me. All the Eurasia. have turned away from me. Where are the Ephesian Christians among whom he had lived for three years? What about the saints of God in Pergamus, in that church at Pergamus, or the church at Philadelphia? Where are they? All they of Asia be turned away from. That's sad, isn't it? Now notice what he has to say in verse eleven of chapter four. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry. Look at that word profitable. Paul uses it twice in his letter, his last letter by inspiration. Verse twenty of chapter two. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver and also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and profitable. Well, the master's use, the verb to meet here is the very same Greek word as is rendered profitable in the fourth chapter in verse eleven. Oh, what a change, beloved, thanks of God. Oh, thank God he's the God of recovery. Here's poor John Mark that acted in insubordination. and in rebellion and went off home rather than stay with the apostles in their work and ministry. And he loses these fourteen years we've been talking about, but now listen to Paul. Paul has changed his mind. He's changed his thinking completely. He says, John Mark's profitable to me for the ministry. You're much profitable to me for the ministry. Oh, God is the God of recovery. I don't know how much we can rely on tradition. Sometimes I feel that history contributes greatly and does give us certain cues in the right direction. John Mark went with his uncle Barnabas to Cyprus, for that was really Barnabas' home. That's where he had been born and reared, but he had been saved, as we suggested the other day, on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. But now he goes back with John Mark, and they sought to labor for the Lord there. And without doubt, there was blessing. Souls were brought to the Lord Jesus. But there was still that breach of fellowship. There was still the stressing and the straining of John's act of insubordination. It is said that Barnabas was stoned to death on the island of Cyprus, And travel agents have told me that his tomb is a tourist attraction in the city of Salamis. You can see the tomb, so they tell me, of Barnabas. He was stoned by the people of Cyprus. A prophet is not without honor, save in his old country. When Barnabas so says provision, since that he only had a very short time, as he knew that he was going to one of these days die by violence, he counseled John Mark. You go, find out where Paul is. humbly express your regret, ask forgiveness, become restored to your brother. And so tradition says that's exactly what happened. Now John Mark saw those the Apostle Paul and in repentance and in regret He may sought to make amends for the error of his earlier life and service. Failure in Christian service does not necessarily result in the fatality of a Christian career. God is the God of recovery. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, we are very grateful to thee for the way in which thou hast revealed thyself through the pages of thy word. We thank thee that this holy book is a self-disclosure of God. And in what we have been looking at and thinking about this morning assures us that thou art the God of recovery, such is thy love for thine own. We thank thee for the recovery of John Mark, and we think of that one book, a book about the faithful servant that was written by the failing servant. We thank thee for his portrait of the Lord Jesus in the gospel that bears his name. His experience would encourage us to admit our sin, to confess our sin, and to receive the assurance of divine forgiveness. We thank thee, Father, for the privilege of being together this morning, and we commend ourselves to thee now. In that holy, that purless name, Lord Jesus Christ, all men.