If you would join with me, please, in your Bibles, in the gospel of Mark and chapter 3. Mark and chapter 3. And I'm gonna start at verse 13 and read down through 19. Mark chapter 3, beginning at verse 13. And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would. And they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. And Simon he surnamed Peter, and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, And he surnamed them Bonerges, which is the sons of thunder, and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him. And they went, into and house. Father, we thank you for this day and privilege to be here tonight. And I pray and ask you to help us now as we take these few moments and we look into your word for some application in our lives. I pray you give me a clarity of thought and speech. Help us please, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. You know, sometimes we're in a group And there are some selections that take place. And we wonder why this one and not that one. It was like that for me in high school, in gym class. That was in the days when we went to gym, and boys and girls had gym at different times, and so we're in gym class, The teacher says, all right, you guys all line up, tallest to smallest against the wall. Then he picks two of his favorite jocks out, and they're the captains of the team of whatever game we're going to play. And they start picking. Can you identify with that scenario? Some of you can. Can you identify with being second to last? Yes, that was me. And the only reason I was second to last and not last is because I was a little taller than the other guy. And unbelievably, he was even more uncoordinated than I was. So his name was Matt. Anyways, that didn't make gym class my favorite class. It feels so horrible to always be picked last. It was me and Matt. It was always me and Matt. We get all the done, and it's me and Matt. And the one guy's like, oh, fine. All right, Whit, let's get over here. And the other guy's like, well, that's not fair. I always get stuck with him. Boy, that really makes you feel good about yourself. Anyways. Sometimes those choices are kind of obvious. I couldn't really feel bad about it because if we were playing baseball, that wasn't going to be good because I was going to strike out. You know, when Shaq was playing, you know, it was called the Shaq attack, the guys would always, because they have to do the free throw, and he wasn't very good. Well, I wasn't the Shaq attack, I was the hack attack against the baseball. I had no technique whatsoever. It was really bad. So sometimes we kind of, I mean, I get it, that's why I was last, okay. Just suck it up, and that's life. And go on, you know. But other times, we can look back, say, at school yearbooks. Recently, Caden, in class, in the school, found a box in the learning center of old pictures of the school. I'm talking from a long time ago. Like, when some of you were like kindergartners. into school a long time ago. And he's looking at all these pictures. He's like, who is that? Who is that? Oh, that's so-and-so and that's so-and-so. Really? That's so-and-so? And he's like, wow. And we can look at those kind of pictures and yearbooks and begin to wonder, how come it worked out for them the way it did for them? And it didn't work out that way for me. and we can get the wondering. And some of that's just natural curiosity, but if we're not careful, that can lead us to become discontented and discouraged, or maybe proud if it worked out really great for us. It'd be really amazing if I could go to a class reunion, which I have never attended, You know, I wasn't that kid, so... And show up and they'd be so excited because I was like Major League Baseball Pitcher of the Year or something. You'd be like, really? The one most unlikely to ever touch a baseball in his life? That'd be really amazing. But in life sometimes that's how it is. Here we are in Mark 3 and Jesus is going to make some selections. And I always wonder, how did the other disciples that were there, because it seems to be implied when you read here, you read in Matthew, you read in Luke, the same event, that there's more than just the 12, when he picks 12, but there's others. How would you feel if you were the one I'm sure it didn't work this way for the disciples. Jesus is picking his 12 disciples. This one, this one, this one, and this one, you know, and you got skipped all the way through. I don't think it went like that, but obviously some were not chosen to be apostles. Some were not. We know that because when we get to Acts chapter 2, In the upper room, they're like, we need somebody to take Judas Iscariot's place. Now maybe some guy's back in the corner saying, I knew that guy was a dirtbag. Oh, I don't know why Jesus picked him. You know, I don't know. But there were people there that had been with him the whole time that then filled that gap. So there's more here than just the 12. Many followed, but only 12 were selected. How would we feel about that if that was us? I want to think about that with you as we look at this passage. Verse 13 it says, and he goeth up into a mountain. I want to draw attention to three things that perhaps describe discipleship, if you will, or to be a disciple. Now here, these 12 are apostles. They're going to be sent out, that's what it says in verse 14, and that he might send them forth to preach. But we know that Jesus says, I think that's in Luke, or no, that's in John, excuse me, as the Father hath sent me, so send I you. So while technically these are the 12 apostles as we call them, his disciples, all of his disciples are commissioned to go and to share the gospel. So as we think about this event, there's three things that kind of come out. In verse 13, right off the bat, it says, and he goeth up into a mountain. He goes up. Now, we don't know what mountain this is, but it's a hill, it's a mountain, it's an elevated place, and he goes up. And he calls unto him whom he would, and they came unto him. In Luke chapter 6, the parallel passage, it says that he picks these twelve after he spends all night in prayer. So if he goes up and calls them unto him, it implies, does it not, that they followed him up there? And it says, he called unto them whom he would and they came. I don't think Jesus is on top of the mountain, hollering down there, James! James! I don't think that's what Jesus is doing. I think he's headed up the mountain, he says, I'm going up. You guys wanna follow me? And he goes up. And they followed him. Now, if we put that together, they followed him up the mountain and they were with him all night while he was praying. Because it's afterwards that he picks him. We're not told what he was praying about. We might presume he's praying about who's to be ordained to be an apostle. That seems logical, that's part of it. It might be broader than that or it might be very selective like that. But Jesus spends a night in prayer. In verse 13 it says, and he ordained 12. He called them. or fourteens as he ordained. Excuse me, I'm in 13. He called them and they came. All right, so number one, when we think about a characteristic of someone who's gonna be a disciple, there is an element of separation. They had to leave what was down below and they had to go up the mountain. They had to physically go and be with him in his presence. If I'm gonna be a disciple of the Lord, there has to be an element of separation between me and the world. Whether that's a physical separation, and that's good sometimes, there's places that we probably ought not to go and be. Pretty tough to be a witness for the Lord Jesus if you're sitting at the bar You say, well, I'm just having a Coke and a cheeseburger. Okay. That would be questionable, don't you think? It would look a little not quite right. Okay, so there's some physical separation. Certainly there ought to be some separation between worldview, between attitude. As Paul says, we ought to be dead to the world and the world ought to be dead to us. So there's some things in the world that we just say, you know what, I'm not making a judgment of evil or sinful. I don't think that's the judgment he's talking about. It's like, this is temporary and it's of this world and I should have a more heavenly vision and motivation and direction. And if that's the case, I can't be weighed down by this. And I have to let that go. Separation. It says, and he calleth whom he would. And it makes me think of John 21, when at the end of his ministry, Peter's like, well, what about that guy? I don't know if that happens to you, but it's easy for preachers to look at other preachers and say, how come I don't have a church like that? How come, I think it was one time, I don't know if it was here or maybe when I was pastoring in Illinois, I don't remember, I just remember what Joe Mark said to me. Something to the effect of, they couldn't handle me all the time. As much as we may love an evangelist, and he may give us a shot in the arm, if that's what you had all the time, every service, it might wear a little thin. Because the ministry's different, depending on how the Lord may be using you. But that can happen to you as well. In whatever vocation that you're in, you could look at your co-worker and say, how come they got the promotion? I actually do a better job than they do. or I'm more, I'm on time and they're not, or whatever the case may be. We can get to wondering. But when it comes to serving the Lord, the Lord knows exactly where we are to be. And he puts us in a place where he feels will fit best what he wants to accomplish. I've shared before when I ended up coming here, Brother Randall said to me on the phone as we were talking, he says, oh better you than me. I couldn't go to a place like that. I have to go to a church that's dead on life support because my attitude is it's my way or the highway. And if it's not dead when they get there, it will be after I arrive. And then his personality is one who kind of works hard and resurrects it. My personality is not like that, okay? I'm a different kind of person than him. And that's how it is where he was, where he is now there in Colorado. When he went there, that church was facing bankruptcy, loss of their building, the recent pastor had died, the place was in shambles, and there was like less than 20 people. And now, it is a thriving work. It's exciting to see what God's done. But that God knows where people go. And that's important for us to, if we're gonna be his disciple, He's the one that calls us to a point of separation, and then he's the one in charge of the selection. They didn't vote on each other being apostles. He picked them. And, verse 14, and he ordained 12. He picked 12. So there's an element of separation, there's an element of selection. They're selected specifically. Those are the ones that he wanted. And he's ordained them, he's placed them, he's appointed them for something very specific. First off, that they would be with him. They'd be in his presence. What does that, how does that apply for us? Are we in his presence? We could talk about our daily devotions, couldn't we? Time you spend in God's word and that I spend in God's word. Time that we spend in prayer for each other and not just for our own personal needs. or the things that we're distressed about, or the obstacles that we are facing. You know, one of the greatest helps to get over the obstacles in your own life is pray for others who are in struggles. Pray for them. Pray for the people who bug you. I do. Right? Oh, I'm praying for them all right, yeah. I'm praying the Lord gives them the boot. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who maybe we get crossed with. Does that ever happen to you or does that only happen to me? Okay, we get sideways and what helps me not to get bitter or angry or mad is to begin to pray for them, that God would help them, that they would grow, that he would bless them. It's tough to ask God to bless someone who you're mad at and stay mad. I pray for their family. I pray for a list of people who aren't in our church anymore. And, I mean, in my flesh, I'm, yeah, I'm just like anybody else. But in order to prevent from becoming bitter, I have to pray that God will bless them and help them. He knows better than me how he wants to use them. Obviously, it's not here or they would be here. Right? But does that, I mean, are we like the end of it all? That would be a bit presumptuous and proud, wouldn't it? Is to think somehow, we got it all together? And we're the elite? We're the A-team of independent Baptist churches? That'd be a bit over the top. Wouldn't you agree? Okay. No, I think we ought to come here. I mean, I'm not changing my opinion about what we are. I'm just saying what helps me is is rather than look at people who God's blessing them and he's not blessing me and then I get critical or I get whining or or boy I'd like a ministry I like that or you know whatever we those kinds of things play into our lives from time to time and I have to stop and remember listen the Lord's the one who does the ordaining he's the one that does the placing There's things he wants to accomplish that if, to use Brother Randall, if he'd have come here, he would have blown this place to smithereens. He admits it, because that's his personality. He's large and in charge. And that doesn't fit always in all places. Some places it does, some places it doesn't. And I could get, oh man, look at how that place is, but we can't do that. That's a dangerous thing to do. I'm highlighting that because as I said, there's more than just 12 people up on this mountain with Jesus. And there's a whole bunch of them who have been passed over to be appointed as apostles. We know that because we could go to Luke chapter 10 and he's sending out the 70 two by two. There's at least 68 other fellas here who got passed over. And they didn't quit. They didn't get mad and say, fine, I'm gonna take my ball and go home. You're not gonna let me play? I'm leaving. If I can't get my way, I'm gonna go sulk in the corner and suck my thumb like little Jack Horner sat in the corner eating his curds and whey, or little boy blue, however that one goes. Sticks his thumb and sucks his thumb and all that business. That's not what disciples do. Disciples don't do that. We have to be separated from the world. We have to be selected by the Lord. we have to be sent for a purpose. And so he's ordaining first that they'd be with him after they're with him, then they're sent. They're not sent before they're with him, they're sent after they're with him. That he might send them forth to preach, to preach. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's what it says in Romans 10, 17. But in verses 14 and 15, it talks about how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent? And that's all disciples. We're all, in that sense, we're all the preacher. Every one of us who know the Lord as our Savior, we're the preacher, because we're the one proclaiming. That's what it means to be a proclaimer. Doesn't mean that everybody's gonna be a pastor or everybody's gonna be an evangelist, but everybody ought to be a proclaimer of Christ. Every one of us. Send them forth to preach, not just to preach, look at verse 15, and to have power. That's the idea of authority. So it's a position, it's a powerful position because it's a position of authority and direction and control, et cetera. In this case specifically, to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils. And as I said, you can go to Luke chapter 10 and read, that's exactly what happens. Both when he sends the apostles out and they come back and they said, man, this is amazing. The devils do what we say and they cast out demons and all these things. When the 70 come back, they have the same kind of testimony. I don't know that I'm looking to go cast out demons. I'm not saying we should be looking for demon possessed people. That's not what I'm saying. But if we're with the Lord, we ought to be able to speak with authority on the things of God. We should anyways. So there's his presence, there's the proclamation, and then there's the practice. Even if we're not a bunch of faith healers smacking people on the foreheads and stuff like that, we ought to speak with authority on the truth of the word of God and the people that are in our lives that have issues, we should be able to give them scripture to help them. That's the authority. The authority isn't us. It's his authority. And so it's delegated by the Lord. And we don't have to have some kind of hidden inner wisdom. We have the words of God. We have the words of God. We ought to be sent. Now I want you to notice then in closing, that this group is a varied group. Okay. It starts with, and Simon. Isn't it amazing, Simon gets named first. Simon, by the way, was also a betrayer, was he not? He was. Three times. The list begins and ends with a betrayer. Isn't it amazing God's gracious enough to choose people that he knows that in some point in their journey they'll betray him and yet he chooses them anyways. That's his grace. And that's his power to use us even in our time of failure he can use us. We have Peter. Peter's the rock. Peter's the big mouth. Peter's the, he's the large and in charge guy, because he's always got his mouth open. He's always kind of pushing and so forth. And that's all right. We need guys like that. We need somebody to take charge and run with the bull with a horn, you know. I was reading in, it's a book called To the Last Man. It's the battle, not of the Somme, but of the battle the year later that takes place. Anyways, there's a couple of guys and they're hunkered down, not even in a foxhole, they're in a hole from a bomb crater basically, a mortar crater, and they're pinned down by enemy fire, by a sniper. And there's a general going around the battlefield. And he comes up to these guys. He gets up there. Hey, how's it going? Oh, General, we're sort of, we're kind of pinned down here. We're trapped. And he's like, well, what are you going to do? Well, I don't know. We're sort of. They were froze by fear. And the general jumps up and says, this is what you do. He grabs a gun. He starts running at the snipers, firing as fast as he can. And he gets up there and takes them out. He goes, that's how you do it, boys. Hey, we need those kind of guys. That's not everybody's thing. But sometimes that's what we need. That's Peter. And then we have James and John. They're the sons of thunder. They're the guys who want to call down fire on people who aren't quite dotting their I's and crossing their T's like everybody else. Boy, they sound like fundamentalists. We need those guys too. We need to know what our beliefs are and what our standards are and be clear about those things. We need that. That's also necessary. And then we have guys who are mentioned that Andrew, I mean, we see him here, he's picked. We see him later on at the feeding of the 5,000 and some of those events. But Andrew's never in the front. He's not the leader. But he is a fisher of man, because he's the one that brought his brother Peter to Jesus. We need the quiet folks who work in the background. We need them too. We need Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew, the former tax collector. Oh, man, the IRS agent? I don't think so. Doubting Thomas, the guy who's always asking questions. And that's good. Actually, I mean, at times it's irritating. Yeah, I mean, let's be honest. You're trying, you got a project, you're trying to work a project, and there's this one guy in your office, and he has like five million questions. And you're like, what is the matter with you, dude? Just get on board. But it's the guy who asks questions that kind of forces us to stop and evaluate and assess costs. And that's also important, isn't it? Sure it is. That is Simon McCain tonight. And then the guy who's gonna totally blow it very bad, you just, my point is it's a varied group. And these are the 12 apostles. And that's important for us to recognize because we are a varied group. We are not all the same. We have differing skills, differing experiences, Different personalities. There are, to borrow from Paul's words, multiple parts. Or as it says in Ephesians 4.16, that which every joint supply of. Multiple parts, but a singular purpose. And that's the gospel. That's the gospel. So it takes all of us working together, just like it took all those apostles with all their various kinds of personalities and so forth, and even with their failures, because none of them was perfect. But the Lord chose them to use them. The Lord's chosen us to use us. both to use you individually, but also, in the context of First Baptist Church, to use us collectively and corporately with a unified purpose, and that's the gospel, both here and around the globe. And we have to band together to get that done, okay? both in the distribution of tracks and the sharing of the gospel, it's also in the care of the building, and all of those things, our missions program, all of those things work together. Everybody in our church has a part to play. Everyone. And we have to ask ourselves, am I playing the part I'm supposed to play? Am I in the right spot? Am I doing my part? Or am I shirking my responsibilities and my obligations in the service of my king? And somebody else has to carry the load. And that does happen. The problem is now somebody's doing my job that maybe that's not their thing. Because they're doing theirs and mine. And it's gonna get done, but is it gonna get done effectively? Or as efficiently, or with as the impact that it should? If I'm not lending what God's enabled me, if I'm not lending that to his service, then that gap has to get filled up somehow. See, we all have a part to play. And we need the Lord to help us. Father, would you help us tonight? to recognize that in spite of maybe the variations within our congregation, amongst us we all have different personalities and so forth, we understand that. But that doesn't mean any of us are exempt from serving you. We all have a part that we ought to be serving. That which every joint supplieth, We need all of us to be active in your service. Would you help us and give us direction and guidance in that, please?