Passing the Baton
Aim: To show the importance of training called men to continue the ministry of the gospel from generation to generation.
Text: Mark 3:7-19
Introduction: It has been some time since I was last at Alton Towers or any theme park, come to that. Like most people the older I get, the less I enjoy being hurtled along a thin rail at high speeds. Of course, the thing about roller coasters is they are governed by the physics of momentum. At first you are dragged to the top of the coaster, and one you are released momentum takes over and there is no going back. It is a good thing in ministry to have momentum, to be moving along, to see things happen, but it can also be a scary thing.
By the time we reach Mark 3 I think it is fair to say Jesus ministry has momentum, and there is no going back. Something has to happen to channel that momentum.
I. His Ministry Enjoyed Popularity – vss 7-12
A. This is Mark’s emphasis, he wants us to understand something of the stir Jesus preaching and miracle working was causing.
B. Verse 7 tells us Jesus withdrew Himself.
1. Withdrew Himself from where? From the synagogue in Capernaum.
2. That is where His fiercest critics sat, and it was the focal point of a plot to destroy Him.
3. In any case it is unlikely the synagogue could be expected to house those who wanted to see Him, and hear Him preach, so His withdrawal was very strategic.
4. In the first place it took Him from the vicinity of danger, but in the second it allowed Him access to an even greater audience – “and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him.”
5. How interesting. The critics were left with a synagogue bereft of the presence of God, whilst He ministered to the common people who heard Him gladly.
a. Ichabod, the name given to Eli’s grandson, meaning “the glory has departed” might well have been written over the pillars of the synagogue in Capernaum.
b. And could it not also be written on the lintels of many a church in England today.
c. I just read this week that Leicester has become the first city in England to have an ethnic majority and this the city of Melbourne Hall where F.B. Meyer, famous pastor and author, preached for many years.
d. A few yards away stands a large mosque that will hold a thousand Muslims in prayer, and a one or two streets beyond that is a large Hindu temple.
e. Oh, the glory has departed! The churches sit empty and the Christians (so-called) show indifference whilst the bastions of paganism are full to overflowing!
f. Yet, where Jesus is faithfully preached, the people will still come.
g. The problem is not with Christ, the problem is with Christianity.
C. Now, Mark wants us to see the extent of His popularity.
1. He says, “…a great multitude from Galilee followed him, AND from Judaea, AND from Jerusalem, AND from Idumaea, AND from beyond Jordan; AND they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.”
2. Now bear in mind that for 400 years nothing had been heard from God. Not since Malachi put down His quill.
3. Apart from an uprising under the Maccabees, nothing had happened in Israel in terms of spiritual activity until John the Baptist came along, but now this preacher from Nazareth was causing quite a commotion in the land.
4. People were coming from everywhere to hear Him, to be healed by Him and to be helped.
5. They came from the South, from Idumea, an area south of the Dead Sea, they came from the north, from all over the Galilee region, they came from the east, from beyond Jordan, and they came from the west, from the coastal towns dotted along the Mediterranean!
6. And yet just a few verses before we read of those who plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.
7. With His rising popularity there was a growing resentment among the ruling classes – they feared He would win over the nation, and rob them of their power and prestige among the people.
8. It was a spiritual roller coaster ride in which one moment people were pressing upon Him to be healed, gathering around Him to be heard and imploring Him to be helped, and the next moment he was the subject of the hatred and hostility of those who would seek to hinder Him and shut Him up.
9. This is what happens when a ministry gains momentum – it makes many friends and create many enemies also.
His ministry enjoyed popularity BUT
II. His Ministry Needed Perpetuity – vss 13-19.
A. Writing to his pastoral apprentice Timothy, Paul said, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” (2Tim 2:2)
1. In every ministry it is important that someone pass the baton.
2. In other words, if a ministry fails to pass on responsibility to the next generation it will die.
3. Jesus knew He would not be around forever. The plan was ever that He should go to the cross, be buried, rise again and ascend to assume His place ruling alongside His Father.
4. So for the work to go on it was necessary that men be chosen who could provide succession to it, and so the time had come to choose His disciples, to continue the work He had begun.
B. Isolating Himself at night from the building crowds, Jesus went up into that mountain to pray.
1. He prayed about whom He would choose.
2. Some people have the idea that this choosing of the disciples was the first thing Jesus did in His ministry.
3. It is almost as though he was baptised one day by John and the very next he gathered twelve fellows together and formed the apostolic band.
a. But that is not how it happened at all!
b. You see, He chose the twelve at the height of His popularity, there were any number of men who might have been chosen to be an apostle.
c. The Lord already had many disciples when he went up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would.”
(i) “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and OF THEM he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.” (Luke 6:12-13).
(ii) By the way notice in this verse that the many are called, but the few are chosen. Those who apply that concept to a Calvinistic vein of thought are wresting the Scriptures.
4. So what can we say about the twelve He chose?
C. They were CALLED men – vs 13 – “And he goeth up into a mountain, and CALLETH unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.”
1. I believe for a man to go into ministry the call of God must be upon Him.
2. I know that some people think that full time Christian work is a sift touch, but at the same time I don’t see a queue of people lining up to be a part of it!
3. No, a man must know the call of God before He comes to this work, and that call, that sense of vocation is what will hold him in his place when times are tough, and situations are discouraging, and it seems that all is against him.
4. Can’t you volunteer? Some say you can, but I find that those who volunteer themselves in, are quick to volunteer themselves out when the going gets tough.
5. No, the Lord calls men and women into His service by His own good will – see Acts 13:2-4.
6. Although the Lord calls men, men are equally responsible to answer that call – “and they came to Him.”
a. John Philips says at this point, “God will woo, but He will not ravish, He will invite, but He will not invade.”
b. God is no more going to force you to serve Him than He is to trust Him in the first place.
c. His servants must serve willingly, or not at all.
(i) “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly.” (1Pet 5:2a)
D. They were COMMUNING men – vs 14a – “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him…”
1. That’s the kind of person God calls.
2. Not the backslider, not the indifferent, not the lukewarm, but those who are eager to spend time with Him.
a. Time in His Word.
b. Time in the prayer closet.
c. How God yearns for men to be with Him – we see that from the very first when he came walking through the Garden in the cool of the day.
d. We see it in the life of Enoch when we read, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Gen 5:24)
e. We see it in Noah, “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Gen 6:9)
f. And so it has always been, God will only call those whose desire is to walk with Him.
g. Later it would be said of the these men that others, “took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
E. They were COMMISSIONED men – 14b - “…and that he might send them forth to preach.”
1. Any man or women called into the service of Jesus Christ is a man or woman of purpose.
2. They understand their reason to be. They are people of vision, and drive, they are compelled to serve Him by obedience to His call and command.
3. Notice in the case of the apostles, that firstly and fore mostly He sent them to preach.
a. Healing came second to that as did exorcism.
b. It is little use in keeping a man out of hospital if his soul is destined for hell.
c. The healing of a body is a good thing, but the saving of the soul must ever be the primary thing.
d. And so, like their Master, the apostles were preachers first.
Conclusion: Then at the last the names of the chosen ones are given. The same twelve names are contained in all three of the synoptic gospel, (here in Mark and also in Matthew and Luke) as well as the book of Acts, and in every list Peter’s name comes first. Peter from the first rose to the top – a natural leader, completely devoted to Christ. And as you read those names bear in mind, that apart from Judas Iscariot they represent the cream of Christian leadership.
Yes, some we know more about that others, but bear in mind of the 11. 10 would lay down their lives for the gospel, only John would survive into old age, and even he was to end his days exiled from society. These men did not choose an occupation – they already had day jobs, no, they followed a vocation, a calling from Christ Himself. Jesus passed the gospel baton unto them and they in turn passed it unto, “to faithful men, who [were] able to teach others also.”
I remember when God called me to the ministry and I resigned my job. I was called to the Managing Director’s office, and he said, “I hear you are leaving us for the ministry?” “Yes”, I said. “Can I not persuade you to stay on with us?” “No”, I replied, a little taken aback by his suggestion. “What if we paid you more money?” I was honestly horrified; I used to respect this man, but my respect for him was sinking fast as I thought he was trying to tempt me away from God’s call. “No,” I said, “in fact they are paying me less money!” Now, he was the one who looked shocked, why would I leave a nice secure job to receive less money? Then he asked me, “Which ministry are you going to? Defence? Environment?” Now the penny dropped. He thought I was leaving to be a servant of the government, when I was in fact leaving to be the servant of God, and I’m glad to say no amount of money he offered would have changed my mind!! That is how it is when you take up the baton from Christ.
What about you this evening? Do you sense the call of God upon your life? Maybe His Spirit is setting you apart for the mission field, or the pastorate, or some other area of Christian service. Can you hear Him? Are you walking close by Him? Will you answer His call, and proclaim His Word?
