#60 Don’t Quit!
Series: Mark
Chuck Sligh
February 6, 2022
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.
This sermon is adapted from a sermon by Jeff Strite titled Running in the Night.
TEXT: Mark 14:50-52 – “And they all forsook him and fled. 51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.”
INTRODUCTION
Our text takes place when Judas betrayed Jesus and a mob from the Sanhedrin arrested Him. We examined the whole story last week, and only briefly mentioned the odd story of the man in the linen cloth about his body who, when they tried to seize him, ran away naked. But today I want to delve into this Bible character a little more deeply because he teaches us an important truth, namely that just because you fail does not mean you’re a failure. Let’s take a closer look at this interesting Bible character.
I. FIRST, WHO IS THIS YOUNG MAN?
What do we know about him?
• First, we know he was wealthy. – He was wearing a linen garment, and linen garments weren’t cheap back then.
• Second, he’s not one of the 12 disciples, for he’s introduced simply as “a young man.” Mark says that the Twelve had already abandoned Jesus. This young man shows up a little later.
• The third fact we learn is that Mark is the only one of the 4 gospels that mentions this incident.
Those are the generic facts; who specifically might this person be? The consensus among scholars, as I said last week, is that this young man was Mark, the same Mark who wrote the Bible book we’re now studying. And more than likely he used what he wrote to teach us a lesson. Since Mark wrote this book, he knew this part of the story—because he LIVED it—it was part of who he was and what he experienced in following Christ.
Mark is telling us that, just like all the twelve apostles, he also ran away. Mark does not identify himself because that was not the custom when writing a story back then. You didn’t insert yourself into the story, but if you wanted to tell the story, you did so anonymously rather than mentioning your own name.
This kind of thing was not uncommon in the literature of that time. For example, John did the same thing in his gospel. He never uses his own name except when listing the names of the apostles. Rather than using his own name, he always refers to himself as “the man whom Jesus loved.” It’s part of his story and John tells us who he was without trying to draw too much attention to himself.
And here in today’s text, Mark is doing the same thing. He was the young man who ran away naked into the dark on the night of Jesus’ betrayal.
III. WHAT DOES LATER HISTORY TELLS US ABOUT MARK?
Mark doesn’t get a lot of attention from scholars because he seems like a minor player. In fact, the next time we read about him…he ran away AGAIN. In the book of Acts we’re told about a mission trip where Paul and Barnabas were sent out and planted several churches in western Asia (modern-day Turkey).
Acts 12:25 says, “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, also called Mark.”
Now just so you don’t get confused…Mark had 2 names. Mark was his Greek name and John was his Jewish name. In fact, Bible scholars often refer to him as “John Mark” to differentiate him from the other Johns and Marks in the New Testament.
Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first mission trip, but for some reason he deserted them and went back home. He ran away again.
Why did he run away this time? Scripture doesn’t answer that question, so we can only speculate that maybe he got discouraged, or maybe he got offended, or perhaps he didn’t like the persecution they faced or possibly he thought that some of the menial work Paul assigned him was below his potential. All that’s pure conjecture, for the Bible doesn’t tell us a thing about why he ran away a second time.
However, it must not have been for a very good reason because it really ticked Paul off. The next time Mark wanted to go on a mission trip with Paul and Barnabas, Paul refused to let him come along. Barnabas, who was Mark’s uncle, insisted that they give Mark another chance and let him go with them again.
Acts 15:38-40 says, “But Paul thought it not good to take Mark with them, who deserted them in Pamphylia, and did not go with them to the work. 39 And the contention was so sharp between them [Paul and Barnabas, that is], that they departed from one another. So Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus; 40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren to the grace of God.”
So, let’s sum up what we know about Mark so far: He was a spoiled rich kid who couldn’t be counted on. When the going got tough…Mark ran away! Mark didn’t have perseverance at this point in his life.
He failed.
Mark tells us his own failure in the Gospel of Mark to show us what he HAD been, and Luke tells us in Acts about Mark (or “John Mark”) for the same reason: to tell us about a young man who failed miserably—TWICE, no less, and Paul was not willing to give him another chance.
III. BUT IS THAT THE END OF THE STORY?
No.—In fact, the reason the Holy Spirit sprinkled these little details in the Gospel of Mark and in Acts is to tell us what Mark had BEEN so we could see what he BECAME!
Like I said before: Mark doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention from theologians. He’s seen as kind of a minor player compared to some of the “Big Names” in Scripture, such as Paul and Barnabas and Peter and James and John. But in Mark’s case, Mark is not exactly a minor player. You see, not everybody in the Bible got a book with their name on it. There’s Matthew…and Luke…and John…and then there’s Mark! All three of the others were apostles, but Mark was a seeming nobody who ran away twice!
Why would God allow a book to be named after a nobody who had twice been a failure? Well…because God didn’t look at Mark as a nobody or a failure. He NEVER looked at Mark that way. In fact, God NEVER looks at ANY of us that way either.
There are two reasons that’s true:
First is this: As Christians, God has a plan for our lives.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Once you became a Christian, God had already figured out things for you to be and do.
Since that moment, you had a purpose…a direction for you to go…a reason to live.
For awhile, Mark did a lousy job of meeting that purpose and goal for his life. But that’s the moral of Mark’s story. Mark HAD been the spoiled rich kid nobody could depend upon. But here’s what I want you to see: HE DIDN’T STAY THAT WAY!
Eventually Mark became the man you could count on. Do you remember Paul’s adamant refusal to take Mark on his missionary journey? Later in his life, when Paul was in prison in Rome and knew he was about to die for his faith, many of his so-called friends had deserted him.
So, he writes this to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:9-11: “Be diligent to come shortly to me: 10 For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and has departed to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. [Now listen to Paul’s next instruction to Timothy:] Take Mark, and bring him with you: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.”
Think of it!—This man who was once a failure—TWICE in fact—is now profitable to Paul in the ministry! What a remarkable change in Paul’s attitude. Paul was now depending on the man who had once deeply disappointed him. Mark’s presence was crucial at this difficult time in his Paul’s life.
But Paul wasn’t the only major leader in the New Testament to depend on Mark in his ministry. Church history and internal evidence in the Gospel of Mark leads scholars to believe Mark later worked with the Apostle Peter, and that Peter was the source of Mark’s information when he wrote his gospel. So even Peter came to rely on Mark as a person whom he could trust.
What happened is that Mark changed; he grew in his faith, in perseverance and in character. He changed because God believed in him, and God changed him.
You see, God doesn’t look at you as you are. He looks at you as you can be if you let Him work on you. When you became a Christian, God placed His Spirit inside of you and ever since that time God’s Spirit has been working on your mind, changing your heart, tinkering with your spirit. God’s Spirit is inside you to change you into what God knows you can become.
Too often people look at others and see an unfinished product. Have you ever heard the kids’ song, “He’s Still Working on Me”? – The first verse and chorus go like this:
There really ought to be a sign upon my heart
Don’t judge me yet, there’s an unfinished part
But I’ll be better just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master’s loving hands
He’s still working on me
To make me what I need to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
’Cause He’s still workin’ on me
Listen, you’re an unfinished product. That’s true of the pastor and the pastor’s wife and the deacons and their wives and the worship team members and our K.I.D.S. Church teachers and everyone else who comes to this church. We’re all unfinished products. As long as we’re still on this earth, God will never be finished tinkering with our hearts and our minds because He wants to make a masterpiece of our lives.
So Mark changed because God didn’t look at him as a loser. God saw him as an unfinished product with great potential.
The second reason God never looks at us failures is because we’re made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
We’ve all seen the little meme that says: “I know I’m somebody, ’cause God don’t make no junk.” Now if you believe you are just an evolved animal, this makes no sense. But if you believe the Bible when it says that He created us in His image, then you have great value and potential because you have been born to greatness. We were born of the King.
Psalm 8:4-6 says: “What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you care for him? 5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands…”
Allen Webster said, “Evolution sees us as one step above apes. Scripture sees us as one step beneath angels.”
Now, what that means is that not only are you made in the image of God… but so are the people like John Mark who disappoint you, and so are people who annoy you, and who frustrate you. It means that uncle or cousin or other relative you can’t stand—they’re made in the image of God. It means the annoying person at work…he’s made in the image of God. It means that the neighbor who frustrates you—she’s made in the image of God.
How you treat them reflects something of how you think of God because they’re all made in God’s image. That’s one of the reasons Jesus said to love your neighbor, and to pray for and do good to those who misuse you and whom you don’t like. Because inside of that person is the potential for greatness and power if they would just let God have control of their heart.
CONCLUSION
You know what?—Every one of us has failed before, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure. You were created for a purpose and you are created in the image of God. [PAUSE] Have you failed the Lord? If you’ll be faithful and not quit and just stay close to the Lord, God will change you.
The key is not to quit; not to give up; not to give in:
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high.
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit --
Rest if you must, but don’t quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns,
as every one of us sometimes learns
And many a failure turns about
when he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow
you may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
it seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up
when he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down
how close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
the silver tints of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
That’s the message today: Don’t quit on following God; stick it out; keep on keeping on. What you were yesterday is not what you’ll be tomorrow if you’ll just not give up. And what you are today is only part of what you are destined to be in Christ Jesus.
Don’t let your failures define you.
Paul says in Philippians 3:12, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.”
Paul was saying he had not yet arrived in the Christian life. Even the great apostle was not a finished product. But he didn’t wallow in past failures and defeats. He says in verses 13-14, “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
God is not finished with you yet!
Paul says in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
God don’t make no junk to begin with, and He never stops working on His magnificent masterpieces—you and me who know the Lord.
What are we to do? As we saw earlier, we’re created to do good works. Keep at it; keep growing; keep following Christ; always come back to Christ quickly; stay focused; don’t quit and don’t give up. And keep it up until the day of Jesus Christ when He comes again. And if you’ll do that, you’ll see change and spiritual fruit in your life.
