TD Jakes - Fit For The Fight (06/05/2017)
Paul and Barnabas split over John Mark, who deserted them in Pamphylia and was deemed unfit for the fight; yet years later, Paul calls for the restored Mark as "profitable for ministry," showing that God redeems quitters who grow, turning weakness into strength for a powerful finish.
The Conflict at Antioch
That one day Peter was eating with me, the next day he was not eating. One day he was with the Gentiles, they say he was not—it depended on who wrote the letter which way he responded, and it all blew up at Antioch.
Antioch was where the fan turned on—all hell broke loose, things got crazy. Paul is on his way to Antioch, but somewhere along the way Barnabas's cousin has decided, I was with you in Jerusalem when it was glamorous and all my friends could see me, but now that you are leaving outside of the Palestinian area and going into other regimes of influence and thought, he disappeared.
He did not backslide—he disappeared. He did not resign—he just disappeared. He did not give any reason—we have to guess at what the reason was—he just did not show up for the fight. He was fit for the fun—ah, he was fit for the fun, but he was not fit for the fight.
Paul Chooses Silas
So Paul takes Barnabas—John Mark has disappeared—and he goes into Antioch. And he goes into Antioch like you do when you are going into controversy. You know how you feel when you are going into controversy and you are kind of cocked because you do not know what is going to happen?
And he gets there and there is one of the nastiest blowouts you have ever seen—and them preachers almost got to fighting—physically fighting. They should have called it "The Preachers of Antioch."
And it got so nasty, it got so violent that Paul and Peter got into a shouting match. They was going crazy. Paul got in Peter's face because Peter vacillated.
One moment he was eating with the Gentiles, embracing them as legitimate brothers, endorsing that the blood had made them equal. And then when James comes along and starts to criticize him, he would stop sitting with them and moves away.
And Paul is on the short end of the fight because very few people agreed with Paul about this—very few people agreed with Paul about this. And Paul got up in Peter's face because their friendship was making Paul's life harder.
Have you ever loved somebody who was making your life...? There is no kind of fight like the fight you get in with somebody you care about, because what Paul really is saying to Peter is, you are making my life harder.
Now, because of your foolishness, Barnabas is questioning me too. And if it were not hard enough to be me, now I got to walk with a guy who is questioning my revelation. And you made my life harder and I wanted you to make my life better.
Have you ever wanted somebody to make your life better and they made your life harder? And you think, I had every right to expect better things from you, but because you were not as fit as you needed to be, as strong as you needed to be—loving you is killing me.
The Sharp Disagreement
And in the midst of this—now, I want you to follow this—Barnabas is with him but he is kind of shaky, okay? He has gotten into a fight with Peter and been up in his face, and all of a sudden John Mark who was with them has blown the coop.
He has put his hand to the plow and looked back, and walked back and went back—and we do not even know where he is. How many people started out with you that are not with you today?
That is why you cannot build your life around what people say—because today they say hosanna, and tomorrow they say crucify him. You cannot count on people.
When it all boils down, you got Jesus. I mean, when all hell breaks loose—if you get sick long enough, if you go down bad enough, if they say the wrong thing about you—you will be shocked about who will let you go.
By verse 36, the Bible says, "After some days Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the Word of the Lord, and see how they are.'"
Now Barnabas—I told you Barnabas has already got a little attitude—"wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia."
He said this is no time to take a quitter—he says it is too thick in here to be fooling with somebody who is shaky—I cannot pick somebody who is not fit for the fight.
I do not know what is going to happen next—I cannot lean on somebody that I do not know, "You got me in the foxhole." John Mark is good—I know he is your cousin and everything and his mama sent a big love offering—but leave John Mark at home because he might do another Pamphylia on me.
John Mark is not fit for the fight. Ask your neighbor—are you fit for the fight?
Separation Over John Mark
So it says, "But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work." Did not go to the work—fit for the fun but was not down for the work.
I want to eat the bread but I do not want to grind the meal—I want to have a husband but I do not want to cook—I want to have a wife but I do not want to provide—I want to have kids but I do not want them to take my time.
I want success but no sacrifice—I want the championship, I want the trophy but I do not want to sweat. He said I cannot take nobody with me like that—he said he is not up for it.
"And there arose a sharp disagreement." They are already on the edge. You know how you got somebody with you and you have already kind of marked them because you have already seen them kind of shake on you a little bit?
And now as push has come to shove and things have come to a head—and John Mark is just the underbelly of a conflict that was already pre-existing. You understand what I am saying?
And so a sharp argument arose. They should not have got this mad about this—but when there is already an undercurrent, it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"There was a disagreement that rose up against him that was so strong that they separated from each other." This is painful—they separated from each other.
And when they separated from each other, "Barnabas took Mark with him." He said you do not want to take him—I will take him—and he took Mark with him, "and they sailed away to Cyprus."
They must have fell off the boat or something because you do not hear much about nothing mighty happening in Cyprus or anywhere else about Barnabas and John Mark—because John Mark was not fit for the fight.
"But Paul chose Silas." "Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord—he left with Silas."
You remember Silas? Silas—Silas later would be locked in jail. Lord, help Paul if he would have gone to jail with John Mark.
You remember the text—this text I am going through now: "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and gave thanks unto God. And suddenly there was a sound and a shaking down from heaven."
If Paul would have went to jail with John Mark they would have killed him—because John Mark was not fit for the fight. But when he got in a fight with Silas, Silas said if you sing, I will pray—we are going to get out of this, brother.
Fit for the Fight
Oh my God. Touch three people—say work with me, work with me, work with me. We are in a fight now—we are in a fight, we are in a fight—work with me, work with me, work.
I got to have somebody that is fit for the fight. Now understand, Michael—this is the only requirement. He did not have to know karate or jujitsu—he did not even have to be able to box. He had to be able to stand—that was the only requirement.
"Having done all, to stand"—stand in the middle of controversy, stand in the middle of the storm, stand in the middle of loneliness, stand in the middle of an attack.
Oh my God—I do not care whether you can fight—I care that you can stand.
Tiredness and Endurance
I believe He wanted me to preach this because you do not have to backslide to quit—the way we think of backsliding. It may not be the alluring temptation of lust and degradation that makes you drop your hands.
It can be to just get tired—just get tired. You ever got tired? Just get tired and quit?
You know, I found out something about tired—it is funny—tired will always reign if it goes unchallenged. Sometimes you have to challenge tired.
I am not saying you ought not go to bed and normal stuff—things that God says. I am not talking about the tired that sleep will fix—I am talking about being weary in well-doing.
I am talking about how you can show up and still be missing. I am talking about how you can be there and not be present—and people do not know that in your heart, like John Mark, you are gone.
And when you go away, other people get what should have been yours. They step in and they receive what by all rights should have been yours.
And then what you have to do—this is what you have to do—either you lie to yourself and get bitter and blame everybody for your own weaknesses, or you strengthen yourself.
The reason I said, "Tired reigns when it goes unchallenged," is because when I started working out, the first sign of not being fit is how tired you get.
But if you keep working out, the point that used to wear you out—you will push right past it—it does not even bother you anymore. The more you get in shape, the more you can run and you will not even get winded where you used to get winded—because you are getting fit.
You can tell you are fit by your speed of exhaustion—the more you are able to endure, the more you are fit for the fight.
John Mark Restored
Fast forward—Paul is now an old man, he is in a jail cell and he is writing to Timothy. He is in the final hours of his life—he has matured and his season is coming to the end.
He says to Timothy—he says, "Alexander the Coppersmith has done me much evil. May the Lord reward him for what he has done." He says Timothy, "I fought a good fight—I fought all the way down—I finished my course. Now laid up for me is a crown of righteousness."
He says Timothy, when you come—bring me my coat, I am cold in this jail; and bring me some paper because I got to keep writing them down to the last drops.
And then almost at the end of the chapter, he says Timothy, when you come—"Bring John Mark"—he says, because "[John Mark] is profitable unto me for the ministry."
My takeaway point is this: Do not ever throw anybody completely away. Just because they are not fit now does not mean that they will not be fit later.
Paul is now seasoned and he has aged and he has matured—he was strong enough to say no when no needed to be said, but he was not malicious—he did not become hateful—he was not vindictive.
He said go get John Mark. John—you sure did let me down, but you have grown since then. You ran away from stuff—left me in a mess—but you have grown since then.
You did not keep your word and you did not manage your responsibilities—you caused me trouble that I would have never had to go through—but you have grown since then.
You have gone from unprofitable—having nothing left—to being profitable—being strong enough to have reserve. You are profitable unto me for ministry.
P.S. Most scholars believe that the Gospel of Saint Mark was written by John Mark. Is not it amazing that somebody who can make such a mess could make such a turnaround and write the Gospel of Saint Mark?
The Lord told me to tell you—you did blow it, you did disappoint me—really let me down—but I have not forgotten you.
And He said to me this morning—go get John Mark. Tell John Mark that though he was weak in the middle—tell John Mark you are going to finish strong.
Second Chances
Stand to your feet—I want to ask you a question this morning. There may be somebody in this room—in fact, there is somebody in this room—when testing time came you did not have what it took—when it was really important you were not fit for the fight—but the Lord said to TD Jakes, when you come to "The Potter's House"—go get John Mark.
Paul says I cannot leave till I tell John Mark who he is. I cannot go until I tell John Mark—leave her alone, leave her alone—it is okay—leave her alone, leave her alone, leave her alone.
Bring her to me—let her come right to me—let her come to me—I said.
Come on, come on—stay right here. He told me to go get John Mark—you blew it, you hurt me—but God is not finished with you yet.
I believe you are not the only one. I am going to say it again. John Mark—if you blew it and you know you blew it—if you did not pass the test and you flunked the course—here is a second chance.
God said go get John Mark and tell him, "Your latter day will be greater than your former day."
Go tell—go tell John Mark—tell John Mark you are going to finish strong. John Mark—you were not fit for the fight and I could not use you then because you did not know how to stand under pressure.
He said go get John Mark—tell John Mark I still love you. Tell John Mark I still have a plan for your life. Tell John Mark you are profitable—you do not see your own worth.
It has always been your problem—you have never seen your own worth. You see everybody's worth but yourself—you have sold yourself for nothing—you have given yourself to people that do not even deserve you.
You do not understand that you are profitable because God shaped you for a purpose—He has planned for your life—He wants to do something real with you, man—something that really matters. He has a destiny for you. Hallelujah.