PROFITABLE FOR THE MINISTRY
2 Tim. 4:11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR (Pastor’s humor about inconsistent members)
1. In Minnesota three pastors got together. They discovered that all three of their churches had infestations of bats. They decided to compare notes of how they had dealt with the problem.
2. Pastor Johnson said, “I got so mad I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling but did nothing to the bats.”
3. Pastor Lindquist said, “I tried trapping them alive. After I got them in a cage, I drove them 50 miles and released them, but they flew back to the church before I got there!”
4. Pastor Stephens said, “I had no trouble getting rid of the bats.” The other two pastor sat up and exclaimed, “What in the world did you do?”
5. He replied, “I simply baptized them and got them to join the church, and I’ve never seen them since!”
B. TEXT
“Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you: for he is profitable to me for the ministry” 2 Tim. 4:11.
C. THESIS
1. We’re going to look this morning at one of the greatest men in the N.T. He was so used by God he should be placed right after Paul, Peter, and John Zebedee. Yet he was not an apostle and very few people even know his name.
2. He also was a center of controversy, and split up the relationship of two prominent apostles.
3. Yet about this man was given a compliment that I wish we all could achieve – that he was profitable for the ministry of God’s Church. That is the title of this message.
I. GOD EXPECTS US TO BE PROFITABLE
A. YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO GENERATE A SPIRITUAL PROFIT
1. “Profitable” is defined as “yielding a profit or a financial gain.” If any business or endeavor is to survive, or even be worthy of existence, IT MUST PRODUCE SOMETHING!
2. Even faith, if it produces no positive effect on those who claim it, is said to be worthless by James (2:26).
3. So even in spiritual things, God wants all He invests in to produce a profit. Do you want evidence of this?
B. EXAMPLES WHERE GOD DEMANDS A PROFIT
1. In the Parable of the Talents (Mt. 25:14-29), all God’s servants were entrusted with gifts and talents by God. God likened it to giving them currency to invest. And when their Lord returned, He rewarded those who’d gotten a gain on His investment and punished those who’d failed to make a gain.
2. Parable of the Barren Fig Tree; Lk. 13:6-9, “Then he told this parable: “A man [representing God] had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’” The gardener did intercede for more time, but the Master still demanded that which used His soil must produce!
3. Another example? The Jewish leaders were told by Jesus they were like renters of a Vineyard (Mt. 21:43; Lk. 20:10, Mk. 12:2) who were expected to yearly pay a portion of the produce to the land owner. When they didn’t, Jesus declared, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” Mt. 21:43.
4. John the Baptist spoke for God when he said, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance….every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” Matt. 3:8,10 (Lk. 3:9) and taught by Jesus Himself as a definite truth in Matt. 7:19.
5. Q - SO DOES GOD EXPECT TO ‘PRODUCE’ SPIRITUALLY? The answer is yes!
II. JOHN MARK STARTED GOOD, BUT FALTERED
A. INVOLVEMENT IN THE EARLY CHURCH
1. This young man was an early disciple and was evidently nearby when Jesus was arrested, and his garment was pulled off of him by the soldiers (Mk. 14:52). Thus he was an eye-witness of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
2. It was to his family home that Peter came after the angel let him out of prison. His home was the nucleus of the early Christians where all-night prayer meetings were held (Acts 12:12). Barnabas, one of the first Apostles besides the 12, was Mark’s cousin (Col. 4:10).
3. He was chosen to go with Paul & Barnabas on a missionary tour, but returned prematurely (Acts 13:13). Paul refused to take him on the next missionary tour, so Barnabas took him and went to Cyprus while Paul & Silas went to Syria & Cilicia (Acts 15:36-41). So he went on 2 early missionary campaigns.
4. Mark seems to have been everywhere during the Early Church expansion:
a. He was with Paul at Rome when he was first imprisoned; Col. 4:10, Philm. 1:24;
b. With Peter at Babylon, 1 Pet. 5:13;
c. With Timothy at Ephesus in Asia Minor, 2 Tim. 4:11.
d. Tradition tells us that God called him to Egypt and that he founded the Church of Alexandria, Egypt, and became its first bishop. Some of the greatest early church fathers came up under him in Alexandria (Athanasius, Cyril, Clement, Origen).
e. He also authored the Gospel of Mark, the first written Gospel, upon which Matthew & Luke based their narratives.
f. He was martyred the eighth year of Nero. That’s a resume that is amazing to contemplate!
B. JOHN MARK’S ‘STUMBLE’ IN MINISTRY
1. Acts 13:5 says, “John [Mark] was with [Barnabas & Paul] as their helper.” Acts 13:13 says, that at “Perga in Pamphylia, John left them to return to Jerusalem.” For the next missionary journey (Acts 15:37-40), Barnabas wanted to take John Mark again, but Paul refused; “Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord” Acts 15:37-40.
2. Some speculate that the breakup started earlier. Following the miracle blindness of Bar-Jesus on Cyprus, Paul became the leader of the campaign instead of Barnabas (see 13:13 as opposed to 13:1-2).
3. Then came the confrontation between Paul and Peter at Antioch where Peter, under pressure from the Judaizers, stopped eating with the Gentiles. [Gal. 2:13 says, “The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.”] Barnabas undoubtedly was rebuked by Paul.
C. THE EFFECT ON MARK’S SERVICE
1. This may have caused Mark to leave the service in this campaign, since Barnabas was Mark’s honored cousin. Or it could have been something else.
2. Nevertheless, this was written up as a failure on the part of Mark (Acts 15:38) and one that, in the opinion of Paul, disqualified Mark from ministry service. That’s a big deal!
3. But Mark didn’t let Paul slow him down. He went on to prove his zeal. He was the first to write a Gospel of Jesus’ life, the Gospel of Mark. It was used by Matthew and later Luke to establish the outlines for their Gospels. He entered other areas of ministry with success.
4. Later, Paul changed his mind and on several occasions invited Mark to join him in ministry. “Profitable” in 2 Tim. 4:11 is Greek euxrestos (yoo-khrays-tos). It’s the combination of two words: Eu – “very” and Chrestos – “useful.” So John Mark became “very useful!” In Philemon 24 Paul calls Mark his “fellow-worker” and in Col. 4:10 his “fellow prisoner.”
III. GOD WANTS US PROFITABLE FOR THE MINISTRY
A. WHAT DOES “PROFITABLE” MEAN?
1. Paul wrote Timothy and requested, “Take Mark, and bring him with you: for he is profitable to me for the ministry” 2 Tim. 4:11.
2. Now today’s verse – 2 Tim. 4:11, wasn’t written just about John Mark, but was penned by the Holy Spirit to speak to us about this need. God expects US to be “profitable for the ministry.”
3. Some may say, “Yes, Pastor, but I’m not in the ministry.” My answer? “Yes, every Christian is supposed to “minister” for Jesus! You’re supposed to serve, to speak up, to work for the expansion of the Kingdom of God
4. HUMOR. A pastor ran into an old friend at a convention. The friend asked, “How many people do you have in your church?” “About 200.” “How many of them are active?” The pastor replied, “About 35 are active for the Lord and the rest are active for the devil!”
5. That’s not how it should be! We should ALL be active for the Lord!
B. WE ALL HAVE A MINISTRY PART TO PLAY
1. There is NO PRIESTHOOD in the N.T. The Bible tells us we’re ALL Kings & Priests unto our God (Rev. 1:6). We’re all sacred vessels meant to be used to minister. When the early church was persecuted, Acts 8:1 says, “and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Verse 4 adds, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.” It wasn’t the Apostles doing the preaching, but every believer was speaking to those they met.
2. Paul said the church is like a human body; WE ALL HAVE A FUNCTION in the Body! We all have giftings to use to build up the Body of Christ.
3. MANY MINISTRY GIFTS ARE LISTED IN THE BIBLE:
Romans 12 1 Corinthians Ephesians Misc.
Exhortation Administration Apostles Hospitality
Giving Apostle Evangelist Missionary
Leadership Discernment Pastor
Mercy Faith Prophecy
Prophecy Healings Teaching
Service Helps
Teaching Knowledge
Miracles
Prophecy
Teaching
Tongues
Interpret
Wisdom
3. We can ALL do something! We can sing in the choir, or greet in the foyer, cook food for the bereaved, or speak for Christ to our neighbors. We can join the prayer chain & pray, we can work in Royal Rangers, MPact, preschool, Sunday School, youth, children’s church. We can go on outreaches, give sacrificially to missions, help the helpless, and throw our support behind by attending special services. Be profitable for the ministry!
C. TEAMWORK IS VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS
1. A ship captain and his chief engineer were arguing over who was the most important to the ship. To prove their point to each other, they decided to swap places. The chief engineer ascended to the bridge, and the captain went to the engine room.
2. Several hours later the captain suddenly appeared on the deck covered with oil and dirt. “Chief!” he yelled, waving aloft a monkey wrench, “You have to get down there! I can’t make her go!” The chief answered, “Of course you can’t; I’ve run her aground!”
3. On a team we don’t excel each other, we depend on each other! WE’RE ALL MEMBERS OF THE “BODY OF CHRIST.” Just like all the organs of our bodies must function, or we will die, so God needs all the Christians in His church to perform their function in the Body, or it won’t function properly.
4. You’re supposed to use your money, time, talents, opportunities, abilities for God “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying [building up] of the body of Christ” Eph. 4:11.
5. I exhort you today to not take this command casually. The Lord expects you to “PRODUCE A PROFIT” for the Kingdom of God, and to be profitable for the ministry of the Church.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Recently we bought a Ping Pong table. I was surprised when I opened it to find a man’s name on the “hardware bag.” He was responsible for making sure that the 4 types of screws, the 2 types of washers, the nuts and bolts, etc. were all accounted for.
2. I wonder if every lost person in the world doesn’t have some Christian’s name on them! Instead of “Made in South Korea” or “Made in China,” the notices on the Lost People read, “To be reached by Cindy Smith” or “To be reached by Brad Kennedy.”
3. Those notices would indicate what God expects and how He’s made a provision for them. But if we don’t succeed, then what? They will be lost and we will be responsible.
B. THE CALL
1. This morning I’d like to have a rededication of our lives to the work of the Gospel. I want all our deacons, department heads, S.S. Teachers, church workers to stand.
2. Some have a ministry to pray for the sick – stand.
3. Others have a ministry of helps, guiding, hospitality, you can sing in the choir or play an instrument, you can give, serve, show mercy, help others, exhort, have faith…We all have a task in the Body of Christ!
4. I ask everyone else here, “Are you producing a profit for the kingdom of God?” If I were doing nothing, I would be afraid! If you need ideas, I’m sure I can give you some. We’ll help find a ministry for you!
5. Altar call for repentance for not serving God as good as we should. Let’s ask forgiveness. Prayer for total commitment to Christ. Put your hand to the plow. Don’t look back!
