John Gunter: We are so glad that you're here today. Whether you're visiting here or online, we thank you, you are precious to us. I've got a note on my whiteboard at home in my office, 'Welcome to people online.' And I rarely do it, so thank you for being here. We're just so glad to be with you. We are, we've been working through the Gospel of Mark, and I really enjoy working through Gospels like this to see, exactly how the Gospel writer describes what Jesus did, what he taught, and all the different things.
And and today, we we kind of get dropped into this conversation as they they go along and I I think it's a very important conversation that we need to understand. They need to understand first, and they had to understand, but that we need to understand as Christians because I think we miss the mark. So with that, let's begin this morning. Mark chapter 9, starting in verse 33. And they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, what were you discussing on the way?' But they kept silent, for on the way, they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
Well, don't you love that? Parents, have you ever done that to your kids? You know exactly what they've been talking about. What what y'all been talking about? Kids always think they're very quiet.
My kids have fans on and things like that, and they'll be talking in the room. They don't realize their voice is going all the way down the hall right by dad. And I walk in there and say, hey, what were you talking about? Oh, nothing. Nothing.
That's exactly what the disciples do. No. Because they knew they had been arguing with each other. Who was the greatest? And he sat down and called the 12, and he said to them, if anyone be would be first, he must be last of all and what church?
Servant of all. If you want to be first in the kingdom of God, you have to be last. You say, that doesn't make any sense. You have to be servant. You know, that argument you were having among each other about who was going to be the greatest or who is the greatest?
You want to be greatest? Why don't you serve everyone? Well, that's not as appealing as talking about who's the greatest. Right? Who's gonna sit where at the table?
Who's gonna be beside Jesus and his kingdom? He says, if you wanna be the greatest, you be servant of all. You be last of all. It says, and he took a little child he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me. I love our children's offering.
I love this morning. We we tried to make some noise with that. Braxton saw that that those coins make some noise. He tried to throw his dollar. I don't know if y'all saw that.
Those coins made a lot of noise, and he picked up that dollar and he said but but children, in the midst of us, us adults, right, we don't think of them as being the greatest or in the conversation or in the argument about who is the greatest in the kingdom of god, and and Jesus does exactly that. He grabs a child, he puts them in the midst, and said, unless you receive one of them, really, you're not receiving me. He said, whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me. So if you want to do that, you've got to change your priority order. You've gotta change the way you view things.
That it that it's not about who is the greatest, it's about who serves. You won't be great, you serve, you be laughed. And I think often we miss that point, don't we, sir? We're worried about our gifts and, is my gift as good as them? Tyler's a really good singer.
I wish I could sing like Tyler. I wish I could do X, Y, and Z, all of these things, and we get worried about those things, instead of saying, what I can do in the Kingdom of God is to serve. And if everyone who walked through those doors, as as Robert and and Scott have talked about evangelizing this community community, if everyone who walked through those doors met a church who was all about serving, what do you think the response would be? We are here to serve and here they come because we're living it out. Right?
We are here to serve and bring you Jesus, and that's what we wanna do. Quit quibbling about all this other stuff about who's the greatest, and, man, I've done this or that, or, oh, I've been in church my whole life. We kinda wear that as a badge of pride sometimes. I grew up going to church every time the That's right. Now, all that means in your life is that you were at a specific place at a specific time.
What that doesn't mean is that you were a very good disciple. True? But often, what we've used is saying because we were at a specific place in a specific time, you must be a faithful brother, faithful sister. Well, you were faithful to the time slot and probably the place where your rear end sat, but were you a faithful disciple? Were you doing what Jesus said and serving?
Were you being a servant in that moment? Now Mark, as Mark tends to do, it seems like he is squishing some some stories together in in different order, but I want you to follow with me today, because I think all of this ties together in one big point. And so, he continues on in 38, John said to him so John is singled out here, because we know John is one of these sons of thunder. He was one of the ones arguing about who's the greatest. He said to him, teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.
But Jesus says, do not stop him for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able to be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. Now, John gives away what's in his mind at this point. I've highlighted it for you.
John said to him, teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him. Why? Because he was not following well, who's us? Not following you, Jesus. No.
That's not what he said, was it? Now he might have meant that, but he said he was not following us. He was not a part of our group. And, unfortunately, you've probably experienced it, but in my church life, I've spent way too much time talking bad about somebody else that was trying to do something for Jesus. We've spent so much time talking about those people who are doing trying to do something for Jesus but weren't a part of our group that only thing we did about ourselves was, again, call ourselves faithful because we were in the right place at the right time.
Not worried about what I was doing in service to the kingdom of god. I'm worried about how you're doing it and how you're not doing it correct. And this is not John Gunther's opinion, this is the opinion of Jesus. What did Jesus say? Don't stop him.
Now now this brings up a an Old Testament story I want to, to bring to your attention. In Numbers 11, starting in verse 26, you have Moses and Joshua. It says, now, 2 men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them. Well, that's pretty significant, wouldn't you say? They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.
And a young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. Joshua, the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth said, my Lord Moses, stop them. These people are prophesying and they're not with us. They're not in the tent, they're out in the camp. But Moses said to him, are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit on them. And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. Moses says, don't be jealous for me. This is not about jealousy. I wish everyone would prophesy in the name of god.
Quit worrying about some kind of fake in your mind, you know, priority of people here, stations in life. Wrap your mind around. I wish everyone was prophesying about God. That's what Moses said. Don't be jealous about this.
I hope everyone does this. And that's a that's a different sentiment than we often have, isn't it? And, again, Jesus says, don't stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Don't stop him because they are doing something for me. He says, for the one who is not against us is for us.
You might need to highlight that in your Bible this morning, that it's not about us coming together and talking about this group or talking about that person in our group or whatever, but this is about people doing things for Jesus. He says, don't stop them because they're not against us. They're trying to do this. For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. So these people are trying to serve the least of these, the the servants of all.
That's what they are trying to do. So quit getting it out of order here. Quit getting it misunderstood that what we need to do is just go out and attack those people. The Bible is, full of this explanation, so this if it's this morning that you think, well, John is just going off on something else. No.
The Bible is full of this idea that Jesus has just laid out. Paul, actually, I think, kind of takes it up a step. In Philippians chapter 1, starting in verse 15, he says, some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. He said, the latter do it out of love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but think thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
What then? Oh, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. Paul said, there are people who are just preaching about Jesus because they have a selfish ambition to hurt Him. And his response, what would your response be?
If you knew that preacher had a selfish ambition, that's why he was preaching, what would your first thought be? Well, he shouldn't be doing that. Well, that's true. He shouldn't be preaching that way, but Paul's response is, what then? Verse 18, only that in every way whether in pretense or in shrewd, whether you're doing it out of the right motives or not, Christ is proclaimed and in that, I will rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice. There are preachers preaching right now all over the country. Some I have listened to, that I wouldn't listen to again if you paid me to do it. Because I'm not sure they've read the Bible because of what they preach. I'm not sure that they've understood it.
But I have to come back to this. I I I listened to a podcast here a couple of years ago about a, a church that was very unhealthy, that had a lot of spiritual manipulation and, different things like that. It was not a good situation, but even in that situation where the the the lead pastor in this, this church was so unhealthy that it, really spread throughout the church, but even in that, people were coming to Christ because Christ was being preached. And I don't like it because I think I'm right. I don't like it because I wish they preach more like me.
Right? My understanding. But guess what? God is bigger than all of us in all of our understanding. You know that, church?
That he is bigger and he can work through any situation. We ought to be praising God that people have come into buildings, into small groups, into homes this morning, all around the world because of Jesus. Period. Now, we may quibble with them about different understandings, but like Paul said, not John Gunter, like Paul said, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice, yes, I will rejoice, even if they're preaching just to hurt me. Well, that just became personal.
Because guess what? People can preach against you. Whether they're preaching the gospel or they're preaching to their neighbor who needs to hear the latest gossip about you, people will preach against you. But when people are preaching Christ, we praise God for that. That's what Jesus said.
Don't stop them. That's what Paul said. What I want to continue with is Mark, starting in verse 42. Jesus continues here. He says, Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
Do you see how he's come back to this little one understanding this child? And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with 2 hands to go to hell to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame with the 2 feet, than with 2 feet to be thrown into hell.
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with 2 eyes to be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, for everyone will be salted with fire. And you say, Where did that meek Jesus go that Ryan talked about during communion? Right? He kind of steps it up a notch.
Because often what we do is we form the circle, and those in the circle are those that are right. We're always in the circle for some reason, aren't we? I'm always in the circle. We form the circle, and what we do is we attack those outside the circle to the point where we can cause people to sin, either because they're not where we are, they're the lowly, and we're talking about them, and here's where I am. I wish you were where I was.
Or you're out there, and you you just don't know like I know, And so you gotta be wrong and so we just keep on with gossip and slander and attacking and all of these things. And Jesus said very clearly, cut it out because sin is serious. You might as well if if your right arms cause you to sin, cut it off. It'd be better to go through life with just one arm than be thrown into hell with 2. We'll say amen to that.
Yeah. And and it seems like that Jesus might have gone on to to different stories here, but I stopped one verse short. Preacher preacher doing preacher things. Verse 50, salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.
What this world needs is peace. What Christianity needs is peace. What this church needs is peace. And guess what? You play a role in that.
Because if you've heard the words of of Christ and you've heard the words of Paul this morning, you have heard their attitude towards the outsiders that we claim sometimes, haven't you? This is not my opinion. This is what Jesus is, what the apostle Paul says, and this is how we ought to live. The words of Jesus, salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Be different.
And he says, you know how to be different? Have salt in yourselves, be at peace with one another. Be at peace with one another. And here we go. I need to get on the phone and tell somebody else about what brother or sister so and so did.
And we spit in the face of Jesus. Jesus' request is that we be at peace with one another. And, again, the Bible is very strong on this. This is not an opinion. This is over and over in scripture.
Scripture tells you to be like this. You can read the opposite of this in Titus 3 verses starting at verse 10. As for a person who stirs up division, so anti peace. Right? The dramatic, I'm going to stir stuff up.
As for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him. Knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self condemned. You got that this morning, church? Born a person who's stirring stuff up, who's being divisive once and then twice, and then have nothing to do with them. Them, because what that person is not doing is bringing peace to the body of Christ.
Jesus has just said, you want to be different, have salt in your lives, live in peace with one another. Alright? If you somebody's gonna stir stuff up, worn them twice, have nothing to do with them. This is over and over in scripture. Romans 12, it says, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, Live in harmony with one another.
Sounds a little bit like Jesus, doesn't it? Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Again, straight out of Mark 9. Okay? Never be wise in your own sight.
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all, if possible. If possible, whoo, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. This is this is a highlightable verse, church. Now, I I've told you before, I I used to say I can get along with anybody. And then I met a woman, worked with her, and I said I can get along with anybody who wants to be gotten along with.
You probably all know somebody that just came to mind like that. And scripture allows for that. As far as it depends on you, you make every effort. Some people just don't want to be gotten along with. Some people live in the drama.
They live in the division. They live in the partiality. We wanna draw a line to do this, and I don't want anything to do with you. But as far as it depends on you, you do what you can do to live peaceably with all. In Romans 14, 18, 19, whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Did you get that? Pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. In 2nd Corinthians 13, finally brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration.
Put in effort, try to repair those, relationships that aren't going great, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace, will be with you. We all need to hear that. Because if you are not living for peace, if you are not living for restoration, if you are not living for mutual upbuilding of all the people around you, you are not living for Jesus. Do you understand? Do I need to say it again?
If you are not living for peace, if you are not living for restoration, or if you are not living for mutual upbuilding, you are not living for Jesus. If you're dragging other people down, if you're out gossiping, slandering, doing all the things, saying, they're not doing things the way I would do it. You are not living for Jesus. What burns me up is a lot of times when people are doing that, they wouldn't dare do what you do that they're griping about. I don't like the preacher.
He wouldn't preach if if you paid him to do it. If you made him get up here. And we drag brother and sister through the mud, and call it, and use Jesus' name. This is for Jesus. But what did Jesus say about that?
What did Paul say about that? Philippians 2:1-8, Paul says this, so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. In humility, count others more significant than yourselves. The easy thing is to count myself more significant than all of you. Because I love me some me, right?
But count others more significant than yourself. Care and love one another. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Paul says, if the Lord Jesus, your savior, your Messiah, did this, I believe you can handle it. If the Lord Jesus Christ, who was at the right hand of God since creation in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, John 1. If he humbled himself in humility to even being killed on the cross for a bunch of people who could take it or leave it, I believe you can humble yourself, elevate people above yourself, and live at peace. Jesus what I what I love about scripture is some of the things what what you get is is phenomenal, some things what you leave out is phenomenal. Jesus could have prayed for anything he wanted to as he was approaching his crucifixion and death knowing that, what He was going to face was going to be brutal.
And Jesus prays this prayer. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their words. He's talking about us. That they may all be 1 just as you, father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Because if the church is unified, that shows the world that God is at work. Because it's not real easy for people to be unified about anything. You notice that lately? That they may all be 1 just as you, father, are in me, and I in you that they also may be in us, so that the world, they believe that you have sent me, the glory that you have given me, I have given to them that they may be 1 even as we are 1. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly 1 so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me.
So, church, this is a question for all of us sitting here, as a collective body, and as individuals. Do we choose to live the way of Jesus? Are you gonna choose to live a life of peace? That when you see your brother or sister, it's not about dragging people through the mud, it's about building them up. How can I serve you?
Instead of coming with the Burger King attitude, I want it my way, right now. Let's make it happen. Right? And if it doesn't happen, I'm mad. I'm gonna tell everybody about it.
I love the, the focus and the vision the elders have, right now for winning souls. That we have a desire to live this way. We have a desire to be at peace with one another, to bring about unity with one another, but that takes all of us. What we want to do is we wanna show the community a church that loves one another, that it lives at peace with one another, that we build each other up, that we encourage one another. And when we take that to the community, we're gonna find another place to worship because not all gonna fit in here.
And so I'm just gonna ask you this morning, are you living the way of Christ? Are you living in this peaceful way? Have you brought salt into your life to to live a way that I look around and, yeah, they're not doing it the way I would, but thank god, as Paul says, that Christ is being preached. Because when Christ is preached, god is at work on the hearts and the souls of men. Can we leave today with that in our hearts?
I think so many days we walk out and we walk into the world and we think, my goodness, what does this world come to? This morning, even up and down Eagle Drive, we have a bunch of people meeting in the name of Jesus. Praise God. Because Christ is being free. If you've walked away from him this morning, we'd love to encourage you.
We'd love to pray with you, wrap our arms around you. If you haven't begun that walk with him, you haven't been baptized into his name, into his death, burial, and resurrection, we would love to see you start that walk. Be added to the number of people who live at peace with him. We get to experience the kingdom of God with him. And so we're gonna offer a song of invitation.
If you will come as we stand and sing.