The Message and the Ministry of the Gospel, Mark 1:14-20

When Mark introduced this book, he said simply in vs1, that it was the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Gospel means good news, and was from the Greek word euangellion which was in use throughout the Roman Empire to announce festivals associated with emperor worship.  When a new ruler took power, there was a herald that went through the kingdom announcing his coming, proclaiming the good news and calling the people to get ready for his appearing.  So in like manner, Mark uses this word to describe the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Mark said John the Baptist was the herald of Christ, calling people to a baptism of repentance, that their hearts might be ready to receive Him when He appeared.  

So in this first chapter we see that Jesus did appear, and He was baptized in the Jordan.  Not because He needed to repent of His sins, but so that He might identify with sinful man, and show that He had come to take away their sins.  So as John declared “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” the Holy Spirit after His baptism drove Jesus out in to the wilderness, much like the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement bearing the sins of Israel was driven into the wilderness, as an illustration that Jesus would bear away the sins of the world. The scapegoat was an illustration of the essential doctrine of the gospel, that the innocent would die for the guilty.  So as He was 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus emerges sinless.  He overcomes all temptations of the devil.  

Now when we get to vs14, we find that Mark skips about a year in the chronology of Jesus’s ministry, and picks it back up with John the Baptist having been delivered over to Herod, where he was put to death.  And at that time, Mark says that Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the same gospel message that John had been preaching. Jesus was preaching,  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  

So in this passage we are looking at today, we are going to see two characteristics of this gospel of Jesus Christ.  First we are going to look at the message of the gospel, and then the ministry of the gospel.  Let’s examine first  the message of the gospel. 

I don’t want to gloss over the mention Mark makes that John the Baptist had been delivered up.   I think this is an important principle.  John had said concerning Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  And so, in this briefest of Mark’s mentions,  John gives up his life in service to the Kingdom of God.  That fact, that martyrdom, establishes at the outset the priority of the gospel’s message.  It is a message that is worth dying for.  And one way or another,  the gospel demands that we all surrender our lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God.  If we are to receive the life of Christ, we must be willing to give up our lives so that we might have new life.  Jesus said later in Mark 8:35 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.”  To receive the life of Christ, one must be willing to lose his life.  And John the Baptist illustrated that principle when he gave his life for the sake of the gospel.

Next, we see that Jesus came preaching the gospel of God; saying, Notice first that Jesus came preaching.  Preaching has fallen out of favor today.  It’s unfashionable.  Now that we are more sophisticated we can think of a lot better ways to present Christianity than by preaching.  But Jesus came preaching. Preaching has been God’s preferred method of presenting the gospel since the days preceding the flood. Peter said Noah was a preacher of righteousness.  As Paul said in 1Cor. 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”  Preaching may be foolishness to the world, but it is the wisdom of God by which men might believe.

So what did Jesus preach exactly?  He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  Let’s consider the phrase “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand…”  Greek scholars tell us that the word used here for time is not speaking of chronology so much as it refers to opportunity.  The way we might understand this is He is saying, the opportunity has presented itself, the Kingdom of God is near, it’s at hand, it’s right now.  Now is the acceptable day of salvation.  Let me give you a warning, ladies and gentlemen.  The longer you resist the gospel, the less likely you are to receive it.  When you resist the urging of the Holy Spirit, then you quench the Spirit, and you harden your heart until one day, you no longer can hear the Spirit of God’s call.  Do not harden your heart.  The golden opportunity is now, the kingdom of God is at hand.

Now let’s consider that phrase “kingdom of God.”  Matthew uses a similar phrase, “kingdom of Heaven.”  They basically mean the same thing.  Jesus Christ came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God.  It refers to a spiritual kingdom, in which God rules the hearts and minds of His people.  The Jews were looking for a physical kingdom.  They were looking for Jesus to be a military conqueror, like David had been, and for the Messiah to take back his throne.  But during the period between the first and second coming of Christ, the kingdom of God is spiritual.  Christ rules in the hearts of His people.  Jesus said in Luke 17:20. “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” So for now it’s a spiritual kingdom, then at His second coming, the heavens and earth will be remade, and we will rule and reign in the new heaven and earth with Christ as HIs bride.

So for now it is spiritual, but there is a physical component of the Kingdom of God; and that is it is His church.  We that are saved are the physical manifestation of the spiritual kingdom.  We are the hands and feet of Christ.  We are His body, His people, His community, even His sons and daughters.  And so we represent the Kingdom to the world.  Col. 1:13 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”  The whole world is captive to the prince of darkness, and ensnared in the web of this world to do his will.  But through Christ, we who have believed have been transferred to the Kingdom of God, and now we live for Him, and live through Him as aliens in this present world until that day when He comes back to claim His own.

Then notice next that there are two pillars of the gospel which Jesus is preaching.  I mentioned these last Sunday, but it bears going over again.  For the gospel is based on these two essential pillars.  And when you remove one or the other, the whole gospel cannot stand.  The two pillars are repentance and faith.  Jesus said, ““The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  We can imagine that the gospel could be reduced to one word, truth.  The truth about God, about Christ, and how we might know God. So if the truth is the gospel canopy, the pillars which hold it aloft are repentance and faith. 

Last time we talked a while about repentance, particularly the aspect of confession and how it is necessary for repentance.  But today I wish to bring out another aspect of repentance.  The word is translated repent in some of your Bible translations is “be converted.”  And that phrase graphically describes the nature of repentance.  Repentance is not merely feeling sorry.  But it is being converted.  Being changed.  Turning completely around and going in the opposite direction.  It means a change of heart.  And at it’s root is the realization that all that you believed and lived by until Christ is a lie and is condemning you to death.  It’s an appeal to God to be remade, to be transformed, to be made anew.  Repentance means to be converted, to be changed. Listen, when you go to another country, the first thing you need to do is convert your currency to the currency of the country you are in.  You cannot spend your money there.  You need their money.  And when you come to the Kingdom of God, you cannot spend the money from the dominion of darkness there.  You must convert your currency.  And your currency is your very life.  It must be converted by the grace of God.

And that conversion requires faith, the other pillar of the gospel.  The Bible tells us that “Abraham believed God, and He counted it to Him as righteousness.”  That is the new currency of the new life in the Kingdom of God; righteousness.  And God gives us righteousness in exchange for our sins.  That’s pretty crazy isn’t it?  We give God our sins, and He gives us in exchange righteousness.  Our sins are transferred to Jesus, and His righteousness is transferred to us.  2Cor.5:21 says, “God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made righteous in Him.”  That is the gospel.  That is how we are transferred to the Kingdom of God.  Not by works, not by baptism, not even by confession, but by faith in what Jesus did on the cross for us.  He was the innocent Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who took upon Himself our sins on the cross so that we who believe on Him would be granted His righteousness.  Now that is the message of the gospel that Jesus was preaching.

Next, let’s look at the ministry of the gospel.  Ministry means work or service.  Jesus after His resurrection left those of us in HIs church with a work to do.  It is a ministry of service that all of us are supposed to be doing until He comes.  Do you remember what this work is?  It’s found in Matt. 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

So the key word there is disciples; the ministry of the gospel is to make disciples.  We that have been taught, are to teach others.  We that have been brought to Christ, are to bring others.  And Jesus illustrates this very thing Himself.  He has already met these four fishermen several months before.  Mark does not elaborate on that, but John’s gospel tells us how these men initially met the Lord.  But now Christ comes to them and calls them to follow Him.  He says to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

This principle of becoming followers of Christ is so important.  Peter talks about following Jesus’s example.  1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  Being a disciple is not a position you rest upon, but a person you imitate.  To be a disciple is to be a follower of Christ, or a follower of another exemplary Christian.  Paul said, “be imitators of me.”  Folks, if we could say that to our children, if we could say that to our families, if we could say that to our neighbors, then the church would be a radically different place.  

Well, Jesus called these men to be His disciples; to walk where He walked, to say what He said, to do as He did.  In other words, it  means being conformed to the image of Christ.  Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  We have been called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  We are to look like Him, talk like Him, act like Him.  That is how the spiritual Kingdom of God is manifested to the world.  

Now how does this work itself out in the real world?  Let’s look at Peter, Andrew, James and John and find out.  I want you to notice though first of all, that these are just working class guys.  Jesus could have called high ranking government officials to be His followers.  He could have recruited a few movie stars or maybe a rock and roll band or two.  He could have gone to a few major league ball teams and got some famous players to help Him spread the gospel.  That’s how we would probably do it, wouldn’t we?  Those kind of people would attract a crowd.  But instead, He goes to Galilee and picks four regular guys, uneducated, a little rough around the edges.  They might even have had a particular fishy odor about them.  But that was who Jesus chose to be His closest companions and ambassadors to the world.  And I believe He did so that we might know that He came to seek and to save those that were lost.  Jesus said in Luke 5:32  "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

And that is because there is none righteous, no not one.  That is why repentance is necessary for conversion.  But also Christ chose the worthless things of the world so that salvation may be of God and not of man.  1Cor. 1:26-29  For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,  and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,  so that no man may boast before God.”

So Christ calls these men, these common, everyday, working class guys, to leave everything and follow Him, and in return He will make them fishers of men.  Now that’s a test of our value system isn’t it?  Which do you think is more valuable?  Your career, your business?  Or being a fisherman for the Kingdom of God?

Well, Peter and Andrew, his brother, were using a casting net to catch fish when Jesus came by.  And when He called them, they left their nets and followed Him.  There is nothing inherently sinful about fishing, of course.  That’s not why they left their nets.  But there was something a lot better. Jesus said on another occasion in Matt. 6:24  "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Peter and Andrew decided it was better to serve God rather than the world, to lay up eternal treasure in heaven than to store up temporal treasure on earth.

James and John were working down the beach, mending nets.  And when Jesus came by them, He called them to follow Him as well.  And immediately, Mark said, they left their nets, they left their father with the boat and hired hands and followed Jesus.  Jesus said at another occasion in Matt. 10:37-39  "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”  James and John were willing to leave everything, even family, for the sake of knowing Jesus.  Being a disciple then means that he who loses his life for Christ’s sake will find it.

Now it’s interesting that Mark records two aspects of fishing as illustrated by these four disciples.  And perhaps we might learn something from this in regards to being fishers of men.  First note that Peter and Andrew were using a casting net, which they would cast out in a large circle, and the weights around the outer edge would then drop down and capture the fish.  

Jesus at another time gave a parable about using a net like that in relation to the Kingdom of God.  He said in Matt.13:47-50, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:  Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Now that’s a picture of the preaching of the gospel.  It is cast into the world, and many types of people are caught up in it.  Many come under the sound of the gospel, they hear the truth.  But some repent and believe and are saved into the Kingdom of God, and some reject it, and are lost.  And at the judgment, those that have rejected the truth of the gospel will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.  But those who are found written in the book of life, will reign forever with the Lord.

Then notice that James and John are mending their nets when Jesus passes by. This picture illustrates the other aspect of ministry.  Mark’s term for mending their nets means  to put in order, or to make ready, and so includes cleansing, mending and preparing the nets for the next day’s fishing.   Interestingly enough, a derivative of this same word is used in Ephesians 4:12 in which Paul describes the work of the pastor as equipping the saints.  Strong’s Bible dictionary says that to equip  means to complete thoroughly, to repair or adjust, to fit, to mend, to make perfect, to perfectly join together, to prepare, or restore.  

So there is the other aspect of ministry; to prepare others, to equip others, to restore others, to complete others in the church.  In other words, to disciple other disciples.  That’s the two fold ministry of the gospel. One to preach the gospel, casting a wide net over the world to all who will hear.  We are responsible to cast forth the word, and God will give the increase or the harvest.  We just preach or proclaim the good news to all who will listen.  The second aspect of ministry is to disciple those who believe in the gospel.  To help them, correct them, complete in them what is necessary so that they may be furnished for every good work.  That they might be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  And when we are faithfully preaching the message of the gospel, and doing the ministry of the gospel, then we are truly disciples; following Jesus’s example, and we too are being confirmed to the image of Christ.  May we be about the business of the Kingdom of God, until Christ comes back to take us home with Him.  May we be found faithful when He comes.

If you have not yet become a disciple of Jesus Christ, then today I urge you to make the most of this opportunity.  Today is the acceptable day of salvation.  It is the opportune time.  Please don’t harden your heart against the Holy Spirit.  Repent and believe the gospel that you might be saved.  When you confess your sins to God, He will exchange your sins for Christ’s righteousness and give you life in Him.  Take advantage of this offer today.  Come to Jesus today.

The beginning of the gospel of Mark, Mark 1:1-13

Today we begin our study in the gospel of Mark.  Mark is the shortest of all the gospels.  It is thought by some to be the first of the four gospels written.  And yet, I have saved it for last.  We have finished Matthew, Luke and John and now it behooves us to look at this book.  And following Mark’s example at directness and terseness, I don’t want to spend a lot of time on an introduction and filling in all sorts of biographical details.  I want to get right to the message, just as Mark did.  

I will only say by way of introduction that Mark is the same as John Mark, found elsewhere in the scriptures.  He was a cousin of Barnabas, and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on a missionary journey.  But perhaps due to his young age, or some other reason, he deserted the mission trip mid way, and as such caused a great division between Paul and Barnabas later on when Barnabas wanted to take him on another trip.  Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways, but later on, at the end of Paul’s ministry, he makes mention of Mark and how desirable he was for service to the Lord.

One reason for that seems to be that during those intervening years, Mark became a close disciple of Peter.  Peter was the first elder of the church at Jerusalem, and there seems to be an indication that Peter’s church was often held at Mark’s mother’s house, whose name was Mary. So though Mark was not one of the 12 disciples, nor one of the apostles, he was a protege and interpreter for Peter.  And so his historical information comes from Peter, and of course, the Holy Spirit provided the divine inspiration.  

Now that’s enough of an introduction.  By the way, John Mark does not identify himself by name as the author, but as early as the 2nd century church fathers wrote that Mark was in fact the author, and that view seems to be held without question.  However, Mark is not interested in introducing himself, because he is focused on introducing Jesus Christ to a primarily Gentile audience in Rome.  And so he gets right to it, in vs.1.

I want to point out first  that Mark is the only gospel writer to call his book the gospel.  The word “gospel” is one of those church words we hear from time to time, without perhaps knowing exactly the significance of it.  Gospel comes from the Greek word euaggelion, which means good news, or good tidings.  That word euaggelion is the same word from which we get our word evangelist.  Evangelist means simply, the bearer of good news.

It’s interesting that in Roman times, euaggelion was used in celebration of the emperor cult, when they announced the birthday of the emperor or his ascension to power, it was celebrated with festivals called an evangel.   Mark, writing to a primarily Roman audience, uses this same word to announce the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, whose Lord of all is Jesus Christ.  The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a reason for rejoicing throughout the world, from that day through the ages to come.

So Mark says in vs1 that this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is not writing a history, he is not writing a biography, but the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The good news of Jesus Christ; who He is, what He said, and what He manifested to the world about God the Father, about Himself and God’s love for mankind.

Now let’s look at who Mark says Jesus is.  First he says His name is Jesus, which means Jehovah saves; a real man, verified by history and eyewitnesses, who lived in the region of Galilee, who walked the earth 2000 years ago.  Secondly, Mark says He is the Christ.  That’s not the last name of Jesus, but a title.  Christ is the Greek word for the Messiah.  Jesus is the promised One, the seed of the woman, who would crush Satan’s head and provide liberty for the captives.  Thirdly, Mark says He is the Son of God.  He is deity, the incarnate God born in human flesh.   Then there is one more title for Jesus in vs.3 which  Mark attributes to Jesus, and that is Lord.  Lord means sovereign, Master, ruler over the kingdom.  But the scripture in Isaiah which Mark is quoting presents Lord in all capital letters, which was the word the Hebrews designated as a substitute for the personal, holy name of God, which is Jehovah.  So Mark is in effect attributing LORD Jehovah to the name of Jesus.  

Now that is good news!  God has come down to man, in the form of Jesus Christ, to establish His kingdom, and to declare freedom to those who are held captive to the dominion of darkness.

Now in the uaggelion of the Romans, when an Emperor would take over his regime, there would be messengers who would go throughout the empire announcing his coming and preparing the people for his arrival.  And in somewhat of a similar fashion, God appointed evangelists to prepare the hearts of the people as well to receive His King.  Mark introduces the primary evangel, one John the Baptist, by reminding the reader that such a messenger had been prophesied in the scriptures.   

Mark is quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40 which was fulfilled by the ministry of John the Baptist.  John the Baptist fulfills not only prophecy, but also a vital function in the preparation for the gospel.  He prepares the way for Christ’s kingdom not by sweeping the streets and putting the village or city in order, but by preparing people’s hearts so that they will receive the gospel. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and so the preparation of the heart for receiving the Lord was the ministry of John.

Now how did John do that?  Well, vs4 tells us; he preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Listen, the vital ingredient to the gospel that is often missing today is repentance.  Lot’s of people claim a sort of faith or belief that God exists.  They may believe certain facts about Jesus.  But without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus said in Luke 24:46-47 "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  Repentance is essential for forgiveness.   Repentance is recognizing you are a sinner, that you are lost, that you are estranged from God and helpless to be reconciled to God on your own.  

And that is the significance of baptism.  The significance is not water, whether by immersion or sprinkling.  The significance was it was a public confession that you needed to be totally cleansed of your sin in order to be acceptable to the Lord and admitted into His kingdom.   Now that was taught by baptism.  In Jewish life, there was a baptism that was practiced to a limited degree, but it was not for Jews.  It was a baptism for converts to Judaism from the pagan world.  It was called becoming a proselyte.  There was a method for converting a Gentile to being accepted by God and that was the baptism of a proselyte.  

So in effect, what John the Baptist was showing them was that this repentance went so far as to say not only are you a sinner, but even your birthright is of no benefit to you.  You are so estranged from God that you need to come to Him just as a pagan must come; renouncing all that you are, all that you claim, all your works, for the sake of knowing God and being accepted by God. 

And note in vs.5, Mark says that the whole country was so moved by John’s message, that they came out of the cities to him in the wilderness, to be baptized in the dirty, muddy water of the Jordan, (that provided a necessary  humbling experience in and of itself) and note what he says, “confessing their sins.”  Make no mistake, confession is an essential ingredient in repentance.  1 John 1:9 says “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  David says in Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.”  James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.”  James is not necessarily talking about physical healing there, but spiritual healing.  

Listen, there is no need to sit down and think of every bad thing you have ever done and write them down.  Some of us would be there a year just making confession!  But what confession is meant to do is establish that sin is indeed sin.  There is no sanctified sin.  There may be more severe punishment for some  sins above others, but sin is sin.  And confession means confessing that your sin is sin and that it is worthy of death.  It is more than enough to prohibit you from entrance into God’s kingdom.  

That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus equates hate with murder, lust with adultery and so forth.  What we think isn’t so bad, in God’s eyes is an abomination.  He is holy and righteous and just.  And in His kingdom, sin must be dealt with.  And the first step to that is recognizing your sin is sin, and it is an affront to a Holy and Righteous Creator.  So repentance, which means to humble yourself, confess your sins, and proclaim your need for forgiveness is one of the twin pillars of the gospel, and it is illustrated by baptism.

Baptism is being lowered under the water, which signifies dying to the old nature, and then being raised from the water, which signifies new life in the Spirit.  Baptism then is not the means of salvation, but an illustration of it; a public confession of your sins and your need for new life.

Now in vs6, Mark tells us that John the Baptist came clothed in the garments of an Old Testament prophet, as in the spirit of Elijah.  Elijah was the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, and later on Jesus will say concerning John the Baptist, that he was the greatest among men.  But though Elijah was the greatest prophet up to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist was the greatest among men, yet John tells us that someone much greater than he was coming.  

Vs.7 And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.” He was speaking like the job of the lowest servant, unworthy to do even the lowliest job,  to untie the laces of Christ’s sandals.  But it’s interesting that Jesus did exactly that at the Last Supper, when He washed the disciples feet. Jesus Christ, Lord God of all creation,  humbled Himself to become our servant, to cleanse us so that we might be made sons and daughters of God.  

But John was emphasizing Christ’s exalted position as Lord of All.  Though John was a great prophet, and Moses and Elijah were great prophets, someone greater than a prophet was here, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

John gives another contrast as well, which differentiates Christ’s ministry from John’s.  He says in vs 8 "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”  Water was a symbol of dying to sin, repentance and confession, but when Christ baptizes you with the Holy Spirit, you are given new life so that you may walk in the Spirit.  As the water cleanses you on the outside, completely enveloping your flesh, so the Spirit cleanses you on the inside, completely filling your flesh with a new nature.  So that you no longer walk according to the flesh in this new life, but you walk in the Spirit.  Any man can wash with water, but only God can cleanse your heart and make it like new.  

Then in vs. 9, we now see Jesus coming from Nazareth, in Galilee to be baptized by John. Even this description of Mark reveals the humility of Jesus as He became man to be our Savior.  Jesus was a common name, much like John might be today.  Nazareth was a despised town, and Galilee was a region that was looked down upon as ignorant, backwoods people.  The Son of God associated Himself with the commonest of man , so that He might be the Savior of all.  Isaiah 53:2-3  speaks of the Messiah; “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”  

I dare say that no one who saw Jesus come to be baptized that day saw anything remarkable about Him.  He would not have stood out of the crowd.  He had no stately form or majesty that we should look admiringly upon Him. He was no more remarkable in appearance than a servant.  

That is, until Jesus came up out of the water.  Look at vs.10 “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;  and a voice came out of the heavens: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”  Prior to His baptism, no one recognized anything special about Him.  But God the Father could not help but proclaim when He saw the Son submit to His will, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”  

That’s an incredible affirmation from God Himself as to the divinity of Jesus Christ.  But there is a question that must be asked.  Why, if Jesus had so pleased God the Father, did He need a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins?  Well the answer is that Jesus did not need to be baptized for HIs sin, but He was baptized to identify with our sin.  He came to take away man’s sin by taking it upon Himself, and dying in our place to pay the penalty that we were due, so that we might be set free. 

2Cor. 5:21 says, “[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  God was pleased with Christ’s righeousness.  But God was well pleased because Christ  humbled Himself to become our Savior, by taking our sins upon HImself.  

Going back to Isaiah 53:10-12  we read “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.  As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.  Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

So not only do we have the verbal testimony of God, but also a physical attestation from the Holy Spirit.  Mark says the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove.  Notice that Mark doesn’t say it was a dove, but it was like a dove.  I think it was clearly something extraordinary, something supernatural, something identifiable as the Spirit of God, but He was described as  being “like a dove.” 

The point is not to quibble though over the appearance and what that looked like, but to see the multiple testimonies that Jesus was the righteous, holy Messiah, the Son of God, who came as a man, to identify with man, and take away his sins.  In fact in this text there are five witnesses of who Jesus is; Mark said Jesus is the Son of God in vs.1, the prophets said Jesus is Lord in vs3, John the Baptist said Jesus was the One after me who is mightier than I in vs7, God the Father said Jesus is the Beloved Son of God in vs.11, and the Holy Spirit anointed Him in vs10.

Now all of that testimony is given that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.  In short, that we might have faith, the other essential pillar of the gospel.  Faith in who Jesus is, and faith in what He came to do.  Our faith is founded on facts from eyewitnesses to His glory.  Peter said in 2Peter 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

Faith is believing not only that He exists, but in the sufficiency of what He did.  He was the One in whom the Father was well pleased.  He knew no sin.  But God placed on Him the iniquity of us all that He might be our substitute, by dying on the cross for sin.  Faith is receiving His sacrifice as a substitute for my sins.

Mark makes one more statement about the sinlessness of Christ, so that He might be the perfect substitute, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  And that is found in vs 12-13 “Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness.  And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”  

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus’s temptation.  Satan tested Jesus with every temptation and Jesus refuted Him with the word of God.  The other gospel’s of Matthew and Luke give us only three temptations.  But notice that Mark says the temptation lasted 40 days.  But it’s interesting that Mark does not give a more detailed account.  It’s a brief mention, at best.  

However what Mark does say is important.  First he says the Spirit of God impelled Him to go into the wilderness.  The picture there is one of force, the Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness.  I cannot help but see a parallel to Leviticus 16, in which the nation of Israel, on the day of Atonement, drove a scapegoat into the wilderness, in a symbolic illustration of God bearing away their sin.  This is after all the ministry of the gospel, to take away sin.  Jesus came to be our scapegoat.  

We know from the other gospels that Jesus was innocent in those temptations in the wilderness.  And once again, we are reminded of the scapegoat; the principle of the innocent dying for the guilty.  That is what atonement means.  The Holy and Righteous God required a payment for sin, but because of His love for us, He does not require it of us, but of His Son.  Jesus was driven out into the wilderness as a picture of the innocent Lamb of God bearing away our sins as He identified with us in baptism.  And having made atonement for us through His blood, we have forgiveness of sins by faith in Him, and we see the risen Jesus acting on our behalf as our High Priest.  Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

Well, that is the beginning of the gospel, according to Mark. The pillars of the gospel which are faith and repentance.  In these first 11 verses, we see all that is necessary to be made righteous, to be given entrance into the kingdom of God.  We have seen the need for repentance; confession and humility, the recognition of our sins and the need to be forgiven, to have a new life.  And we have heard the testimony of Jesus Christ, the object of our faith.  He is the Son of God, eternal in the heavens, in whom was no sin, and who offered Himself as our substitute, to pay our penalty for sin.  And we have seen the illustration of baptism, which professes our desire to die to the old nature, and be resurrected to walk in the Spirit.  

The question today is what have you done with the gospel?  Have you repented and turned to Christ in faith for salvation?  Do you desire to have a new life in Christ?  I pray that no one here today would reject so great an offer of salvation.  Jesus has paid the price, you simply must recognize that you are a sinner, and call upon the saving work of Jesus Christ the Righteous so that you may receive forgiveness and  new life through Him.  If you have seen your need today for forgiveness, then to paraphrase the Ethiopian eunuch, I say, “Look, there is water.  What prevents you from being baptized?” 

The hospitality of fellowship, 3 John

Today we are concluding the trilogy of epistles the Apostle John wrote to the churches.  John is responsible for the Gospel of John, the book of Revelation, and these three epistles, 1st, 2nd and 3rd John.   This last little letter is the most personal of all.  It is written to a particular person named Gaius.  But it teaches an important truth which is applicable to all churches.  

In that time period of the early church, the church was quite different than what we have come to expect today.  Churches met in houses, or in open spaces.  But in most situations, they met in houses, which were situated in various neighborhoods or districts of cities.  And during this time of church infancy, the congregations were invariably small, they usually did not have the entire scriptures available to them, and they were dependent upon traveling apostles and those appointed by the apostles to minister to the church.  Such people would bring letters from the apostles, which would be shared with the congregation. So there was a network of traveling ministers which were sent by more established churches pastored by an apostle to these outlying cities to fulfill the mission which Christ gave the disciples, which was to take the gospel to the whole world.

John is writing to one leader of a small church named Gaius.  He probably hosted a church in his home.  And as we read this letter from John to Gaius, I believe we can get a glimpse not only into early church life, not simply for a nostalgic look at the early church, but so that we might not forget our roots, and the purpose and practicality of our faith.

As we have seen for months now in our study of these epistles, the theme of John’s letters is that of fellowship.  Fellowship with God and with His people is the purpose of our salvation.  I wish that I had time to review all that fellowship entails.  But in the view of time limits this morning, I am going to have to trust that you can grasp the full significance of fellowship by just a brief mention of the highlights.  

Fellowship is communion with God, based on a relationship with Christ, resulting in love of God, which is fleshed out in love for one another, which Jesus said is to keep His commandments, which Jesus summarized as loving God and loving your neighbor.  Fellowship then can be boiled down to two words; truth and love.  They are the pillars of the church and fellowship flows out of these two essential doctrines.

Now that is the essence of Christian doctrine.  Christ is the truth of God, who gave us the truth in HIs gospel, that we might know the truth and walk in the truth.  God loved the world with a sacrificial, selfless love, and sent Christ to be our substitute, that we might know the truth and be saved from death.  That salvation results in a new nature, which is expressed with the same kind of love for God and love for one another that God has for us.  We love God, so we love His truth, and so we keep His commandments, and His commandments are that we love Him and love one another.  And as we do that, we have fellowship, or intimacy with God and with His body, which is the church.  We are made part of His family, and as such we love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now all of that was a summary of John’s first epistle.  But in this last epistle, we find one final application of fellowship which is the practical working out of love for one another.  We find the hospitality of fellowship.  Some of the details may have changed in the way the modern church  operates this doctrine, but the principles remain relevant for today.  

Years ago, I was a manager that worked in the hospitality business.  I worked for luxury hotels for many years, mostly in the food and beverage end of it.  For the most part, I helped newly opened hotels such as the Ritz Carlton in training employees to teach them the standards of service that they were expected to be able to maintain.  

I mention that because I learned and tried to teach new employees that  the heart of the hospitality business, or the core value that we sold at these luxury hotels was great service.  The reason that we could charge those astronomical rates was our excellent service.  

Now I suggest that Christian hospitality is based on the same standard of service. Christ humbled Himself to be our servant.  And we are exhorted to pattern our love for one another by the way Christ showed His love for us.  In Phil. 2:5-8  we read, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  So Christ came not to be served, but to serve, so that we might be saved.

Now let’s expand on this definition of hospitality for a moment before we move on.  What does hospitality mean? Well, we have already seen that it is service, both service to God and to men.  And it can be further explained as friendliness, welcoming, helpfulness, neighborliness, kindness, generosity.  In short, hospitality is the practical outworking of loving one another.  It is loving in deed and not just words. It is loving in truth, according to the truth.

There is a great emphasis in modern Christianity on love. But in most cases, it is centered on God’s love for us.  And God’s love is a wonderful thing, make no mistake, which should be celebrated.  But God’s love is poured out on us, that we might pour it out to others.  Jesus said, they will know you are My disciples by your love for one another.  The world needs God’s love, and He has chosen us to exhibit it.  The love that is simply focused on receiving is an immature, selfish love.  Babies and children are by nature selfish.  They want love and attention, but haven’t developed the capacity to give love. But the love of a mature Christian is focused on serving. If we have come to know the truth of God, and we are walking in that truth, then we should be showing the kind of love that Christ showed for the church.  We should be looking for opportunities to serve one another with Christian hospitality.  

When I was a boy growing up in church in NC, we used to have dinner on the grounds now and then.  We set up tents on the lawn and everyone would bring their favorite dish, and we would have this time of fellowship.  And perhaps that is an apt illustration of what church is supposed to be; it’s supposed to be like a pot luck dinner.  Everyone contributes.  Everyone shares what they can bring.  But too often today, church is like going to an all you can eat buffet.  Everything is all set out for you, you leave your dirty plate and go get some more, and when you have eaten your fill, you can just get up and walk out.  That’s not hospitality.  Hospitality is sharing, serving, helping, generosity, being a neighbor in the full sense of the word, and putting other’s needs above your own.  And when the church is doing this type of hospitality, then it is fulfilling the law to love your neighbor as yourself.

Now John commends Gaius because he has become known as one that truly practices hospitality.  And I just want to highlight some of the principles that Gaius illustrates in the hospitality of fellowship.

First of all, Gaius had a prosperous soul.  Notice vs 2; John writes,  “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”  I really like the way John worded that.  We know that Gaius had a prosperous soul, because otherwise this would not have been a beneficent greeting, would it?  If I said that to some of you here today, it might end up being a curse, rather than a blessing.  If your physical and financial prosperity were measured out on the basis of your soul’s prosperity, I wonder how many of you would end up in financial ruin? 

But for Gaius this was undoubtedly intended as a blessing.  And so what that means is that though he had a prosperous soul, Gaius probably wasn’t the picture of health and wealth.  And yet John commends him for being an example of hospitality in the church.  If Gaius was an elder in his church, possibly the pastor, living under a certain measure of persecution in a hostile environment, then he probably was living under the threat of imprisonment and was dirt poor.  And yet out of his poverty, he made many others rich.  And I have often found that to be true in the church today, that those who have the least are those who are most considerate of other’s needs.  

Paul also found that principle to be true.  In writing to the church of Corinth, a rich, sensual, worldly church, he wrote about the Macedonian churches saying in 2Cor. 8:1-5 “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,  that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.  For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,  begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,  and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”  That’s quite a testimony, isn’t it?  They gave out of their affliction and deep poverty.

Gaius had a prosperous soul.  That means he had a successful soul, a soul that leaned upon the Holy Spirit for guidance, and for God to supply according to his needs.  The soul is the heart of man, or specifically the mind, will and emotions.  And as mature Christians, the soul is to be subject to the Spirit.  We don’t rely upon our wisdom or resources, but we rely on God to supply the gifts that we need to do what He has asked us to do.  

When Jesus said in Matt. 6:3  "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” He was speaking about calculating how much you could give without it really affecting your bank account.  But we are commanded to give according to need, regarding others well being as more important than our own.

The second attribute of Gaius was that he walked in the truth.  Vs.3, “For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.  I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”  Jesus said in His high priestly prayer, “Your word is truth.”  So the word of God is truth.  The commandments of God, the gospel of Christ, the ordinances and standards of the apostles as contained in the scriptures, these are truth.  

Now Gaius not only heard the truth, and knew the truth, but he walked in the truth.  And I can tell you, as a pastor and a parent, there is no greater joy than to know that my people are walking in truth. Walking, of course, is  emblematic in the New Testament of daily conduct. He knows the doctrine, believes it, walks in it.  To obey, to have faith and works in keeping with repentance is to manifest, or walk in truth.

John says he had received a report from others who had been to Gaius’s home that he was walking in the truth.  He manifested truth in his actions.  And particularly, I think in John’s mind is the truth of love.  That Gaius walked in love, showing love by not just his words, but by his deeds.  That’s what it means to be a disciple, isn’t it?  It’s to follow as you are being taught.  To walk in the truth.  

We live in an information rich society today.  And as Christians, we have access to a lot of information, access to the truth in ways the early church couldn’t have imagined.  You can listen to pod casts on your phone, in the car, watch church services online or on TV.  There are thousands upon thousands of Christian books available.  And while not all of it is truth, by any stretch of the imagination, the truth is available for those who want to find it.  Consequently we have a lot of Christians that are rich in knowledge, but poor in application.  If you went to their home, and spent much time there with them, it might become apparent that there was  big disconnect between the truth they said Amen to in church, and the reality of how they lived in their homes.  Gaius though was known for showing hospitality in his home to traveling ministers and fellow Christians, and yet when these people made their way back to John they had nothing but glowing reports about Gaius.  “He walks in the truth.”  He lived it out.

Let me mention one other aspect here before we move on.  And that is that the truth defines the parameters of fellowship.  John says, “whom I love in truth.”  Love, the expression of fellowship, finds it’s parameters in truth.  In other words, truth is the condition for fellowship.  In 2 John which we looked at last week, John said you were not to take false prophets into your home, you were not to show them hospitality, not even giving them a greeting.  2John 1:10-11, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;  for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”  So there is a limit to fellowship, and that is within the bounds of truth.  We find fellowship within the truth.  We cannot have fellowship outside of truth.  2Cor. 6:14-15 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?”

Now let’s move on.  The third principle Gains illustrates in regards to hospitality  is he was a fellow worker with the truth.  And that principle is found starting in vs. 5, “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers;  and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.  For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.”  

So Gaius was known for supporting these apostolic emissaries to the churches, and as he helped them in their ministry he became a fellow worker with them in sharing the gospel.  Now I just want to highlight some words John uses there which I think will give us a sense of how Gaius accomplished this aspect of his ministry.  The first word is faithful.  John says you were acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren.  There is a tremendous need in the church for faithfulness, ladies and gentlemen.  We live in a day in which faithfulness in church is not considered a virtue anymore worthy of the trouble.  After all, I can listen to K Love on the radio, or watch a program on TV, or I can worship God on my boat.  Well, as I said, church is not a self serve buffet, it’s a pot luck dinner.  And God wants you to bring something to the table.  It’s not about being served, it’s about serving.  It’s not just about being loved, it’s about loving others.  And you cannot serve God without faithfulness.  When I grew up in church, I was taught that I should be there every time the doors were opened.  Now today we wonder why our kids have abandoned the church in droves.  Perhaps it’s because we parents abandoned the church first.  We are no longer faithful in the little things.  But God says if you are faithful in the little things, I will give you responsibility for greater things.  Gaius was faithful, whether he felt like it or not, whether he was rich or poor, whether the Ravens were playing or not.  And so faithfulness is a key to hospitality.

The second phrase I would point out is “in a manner worthy of God.”  When I used to work for the Ritz Carlton, we would build a new hotel, in a town that had never been exposed to that level of luxury before, and I had the job of teaching waiters and waitresses who had maybe only worked at a Denny’s restaurant before what it meant to give Ritz Carlton service. That was something beyond what their experience could teach them.  I had to show them a whole different standard, far above what they were used to doing.  

I think that is what John is saying here.  Gaius, you would do well to send these men out not with the least, not according to your meager means. But you would do well to send them out in a manner consistent with the excellency of God. We don’t give God our leftovers after we have spent our selves in pursuit of worldly things.  But we give God our best.  Our first fruits.  I like how Paul referred to this principle in Col. 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”  We see this principle of “as unto the Lord” again and again in scripture.  In Ephesians 5 for instance, husbands and wives are told to love one another and serve one another and submit to one another AS UNTO THE LORD.  That’s the principle of being fellow workers of the truth.  You do what you do heartily, as unto the Lord.  When you give, give generously as unto the Lord.  As worthy of God.  In other words, show hospitality to those in need as if you were giving to God, not to man.  And the God who sees the heart, will repay and reward you as you have given  to Him.

Well, that was Gaius, an example of hospitality.  But then John gives us a negative example of someone in the church named Diotrephes. He had some negative attributes which John mentions briefly.  First note that he disregarded scripture.  He did not love the truth. vs.9, “I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.”  This guy dismisses the inspired word of God for his own purposes.  He does not love the truth, so he doesn’t obey the truth.

Secondly, he was prideful.  He no doubt dismissed the word of God because it says we are to be a servant.  And Diotrephes wanted preeminence.  We see a lot of that in the church.  There are various gifts which are promised from the Holy Spirit.  And everyone clamors for the ostentatious gifts.  Everyone wants to be seen, to be the leader, to be the teacher, to be the prophet.  But what is the greatest gift?  Love.  Love is humble.  Love is self sacrificing.  Love puts others needs above your own.  Or how about the gift of helps?  That is one of the spiritual gifts.  I have yet to see someone going around bragging about how they have the gift of helps.  But I’ve ran into a bunch of people claiming a word of knowledge or prophecy.  Diotrephes wanted preeminence.

Furthermore, in vs. 10, notice that his deeds are wicked.  They are not in keeping with the truth, they are not in accordance with scripture, they are self serving, manipulative, because he wants preeminence in the church.  And notice that instead of receiving the brethren in the church like Gaius did, instead he kicks them out.  Why do you think he did that?  Because he doesn’t want anyone challenging his position.  He wants preeminence. 

I tell you what, as we grow in this church, I use these principles as a template for whether or not someone is fit for leadership.  Are they a servant?  Do they love the truth?  Are they faithful?  Do they exhibit godly love? Are they a fellow supporter of the truth?  And then negatively, do they love preeminence?  Do they love to be heard?  Do they want to be seen? And by this standard, their deeds make it evident if they are leadership material or not.  Jesus said in Matt. 20:26-28  "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,  and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

So John gives us a good example and a bad example of hospitality in the church.  And so he sums it up in vs.11, saying “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.” Simply put; imitate Gaius.  Don’t imitate Diotrephes.   Jesus  said, by their fruit you shall know them.  Those who do good are of God, and those who does evil is not of God.  That’s how you know who are of the truth, and who are not. 

There is one more guy John mentions here in closing briefly, and that is Demetrius.  Who is Demetrius?  Well, we don’t know.  But I think he was commending him to Gaius as someone to whom he should show hospitality to.  I think Demetrius was the guy who carried the letter to Gaius and his church from the Apostle John.  So this is one of the brethren that Gaius was known for taking care of and sending them on their way in a manner worthy of God.  So John says in vs. 12, “Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.”  John sent Gaius someone else to help, someone else to show hospitality to, and in so doing he will be a fellow worker in the truth.  God was giving Gaius another opportunity to serve him in helping Demetrius.

Listen, if you are a Christian, God wants to use you today to show love, hospitality and fellowship to someone in the church.  They may be a stranger.  They may need a helping hand. They may just need a friend.  They may need someone to show them the love of God in a real, physical, tangible way.  But one thing is for sure, God wants you to serve Him by serving His body.  He wants you to be a fellow worker for the kingdom of God.  Church is not a spectator sport.  God wants you to serve, to humble yourself and put others needs before your own.  That is how God has designed the church to function. That is how the church prospers, and how your own soul will prosper.  What is the condition of your soul today?  

I am going to close by reading Paul’s exhortation to hospitality in Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.  For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,  so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;  if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.  Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;  rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,  contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.”