Mark 9, and we'll begin reading at verse 38. We'll go down to verse 41. John answered him saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us. And we forbade him because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name because you belong to Christ, Verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. We've been going through the gospel of Mark. We come to this text. It's a text that I've been studying and reading and meditating on for quite a while now. When you preach through a book of the Bible and doing sequential exposition, you have to approach texts that normally you wouldn't preach or preach texts that normally you haven't preached before. And this is one of them. This morning, I'd like for us to consider the context of John's question. Before we get into the passage itself, I think it's important for us to pause and consider the context. Anytime you're reading or studying or preaching, you can't lift a passage out of its context. And even though I've preached week over week from these passages, I think it's good to take a high level overview as a reminder of what's been happening here. and kind of set the stage for this. Because these verses are not to be taken in a vacuum. They're not to be lifted and divorced from their context. It is important to consider the context. The events that have taken place in the preceding chapters are all connected. And so we'll go back just a little bit as a refresh. In fact, if you go back to Mark chapter six, verses seven through 13, you see how this all came about that John would ask this question of Jesus. It's an important question, but here's why the question came up. In Mark chapter six, beginning of verse seven, and he called unto him the 12 and began to send them forth two and two. Gave them power over unclean spirits and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey save a staff only, no script, no bread, no money in their purse, but be shod with sandals and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, in what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you when ye depart from thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, and shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. And they went out and preached that man should repent. And they cast out many devils and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. And so going back and we're reminded that Jesus sent out the 12. He gave them authority. He sent them out. He instructed them what they were to do. He was working directly with this group. This was his church. He told them, don't take with you any physical provisions. He was teaching them to be totally dependent on him for the things that they needed. He gave them authority, power over unclean spirits. And they went, just like they were told. They went out preaching the gospel of repentance. And they, as they had in those days, these gifts of the spirit, they had, Power over the the devils they were healing people and all of those things and we see We see how that the Lord was working Then as you skip a little bit, and of course, I'm not gonna go back over chapter six, seven, eight, and nine in one sermon. Obviously, it took us a lot of weeks to get where we are. And like I said, this is just an overview. If you wanna really review all of this, you can go back and listen to the recordings of my sermons. But if you go back just a little bit further here, not back, but forward in Mark chapter six, Verse 34, and Jesus when he came out saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them because they were sheep not having a shepherd and he began to teach them many things. Well, who's this? This is the multitude and this is the first multitude that we read about that he fed and this is the 5,000. He had compassion on them. A larger group than the 12, obviously, but he had compassion on them. And he's teaching this multitude, but he's also teaching his disciples something about that. He has compassion on them. They were his sheep, not having a shepherd. They had spiritual needs. And while he was focused with the 12 in a special way, he also had compassion on this other group as well, this larger group. Same thing in Mark chapter eight in verse two. I have compassion on the multitude because they have now been with me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away, fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way, for divers of them came from far. So there's people that are thronging to Jesus and following him. And this is another multitude. This is the 4,000 and he has compassion on them. And this time he specifically mentions their physical needs. that they need to be fed. And in both cases, he's got this compassion towards the larger group, but he's also teaching the smaller group, his church, this 12. Something as well. as he fed those multitudes. These disciples, the 12, they saw the borders of Jesus' ministry go beyond even the land of Israel as he ministered in Tyre and Sidon. You all remember that in Mark 7, verses 24 through 30. It says, and from thence he arose and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon and entered into an house, would have no man know it, but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him and came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by nation. and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, let the children first be filled, for it is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast it under the dogs. She answered and said unto him, yes, Lord, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. He said unto her, for this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. When she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. And so Jesus is having compassion upon this one who's not even a Jew, not a member of a church, not someone who was culturally anything part of their group, But yet she had faith, believed. The Lord blessed that daughter of this Syrophoenician woman was healed. And so in these examples, the disciples are learning something, or they should be learning something, that the ministry of Christ is not just all about them, that it's much bigger than they were. That yes, he did have a church, and he does have a church, but there is something to be said about those outside a ministry. that he was involved in even in his earthly ministry. In chapter seven, verse one, we're told about the Pharisees as they came. In Mark chapter seven in verse one, it says, then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashing hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they washed their hands off, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the market except they wash, they eat not many other things there being which they have received to hold as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashing hands? And so, This situation comes up in the midst of all these things happening. And the Pharisees, the scribes, they're a group outside of the church. And we see how they have come not to be healed, not to be saved. They've come not to learn at the feet of Jesus, but rather they have come for the purpose of finding fault. That's what it says about them in verse two. They were fault finders. And if anything could be said of the Pharisees, that's something that they were very good at. They were fault finders. And we see how Jesus handled them in verses six through 13. He answered and said unto them, well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. How be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups, and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, for well you reject the commandment of God, you may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, honor thy father and thy mother, and whoso curseth father or mother, let him die to death. But ye say, for man shall say to his father or mother, it is Corbin, that is to say a gift. By whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free, and ye shall for him no more to do aught for his father or his mother, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered, and many such like things ye do. He says your religion is in vain. Verse seven, it's a pointless, it's an empty, it's a useless, lifeless, hypocritical religion. He called them out. And if we go on to Mark chapter eight, In verse 15, he tells his disciples there, take heed. He says he charged them saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And so he warns them. He warns his disciples. against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They were in, they were there fault finding. They were there trying to cause trouble. They were there being hypocritical. They were there with their lifeless religion. And Jesus says to them and to us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. All this is leading up to our text, but we're not quite there yet. We get into chapter eight in Mark chapter eight and verse 21, sorry, verse, 27, Jesus went out and his disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. By the way, he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered John the Baptist, but some say Elias and others, one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, By whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. There were lots of stories being told as to who Jesus was. Jesus knew that. He had heard the stories. He knew what was going on. He's God. He took his pupils, those apostles, those disciples. He took them to Caesarea Philippi By the way, he asked them, who do men say that I am? They said, well, some people are saying you're John the Baptist. Some people are saying you're Elijah. Some people are saying one of the prophets. And Jesus said, but who do you say that I am? Peter got the answer right. All of this is connected. Verses 34 through 38. When he called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels. And so he instructed them to deny themselves, to take up their cross and follow him. Indeed, as we get into chapter nine, remember there were no chapter divisions in the original. We see that There's the transfiguration, which is a preview of Christ's coming kingdom on earth. Verse one, he says, and he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days, Jesus, taketh with him Peter, James, and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain, apart by themselves. He was transfigured before them, and his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, and so no fuller on earth can wipe them. There appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. And wist not what to say, for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly when they had looked round about, they saw no man anymore save Jesus, only with themselves. And so, And we see here this preview of Christ's coming kingdom on earth. Last time, We read about how the disciples got into a quarrel, a discussion about who's the greatest. Jesus had to teach them a direct lesson on humility. In Mark 9 verses 33 through 37, he came to Capernaum and being in the house, he asked him, what was it that you disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace, for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. He sat down and called the 12 and saith unto them, if any man desire to be the first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all. And he took a child, set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receive with me. And whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him they sent me. Jesus taught them that were to receive even the most immature, the childish of his people. He taught them humility there. You know, in all of this, Jesus is warning and teaching them that he's going to die and that he's going to be buried and after three days, he's gonna rise again. If you remember back in Mark chapter eight, He brought this up in Mark chapter eight. This is right directly after Peter got the answer right as to who Christ is. Verse 31, he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things, be rejected of the elders, of the chief priests and of the scribes and be killed after three days rise again. Now you would think, reading the text from this side of the cross, from this side of the resurrection, that there would be much rejoicing, but look at this, and he spake that saying openly, and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. But when he turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. So Peter, Peter wasn't ready to hear this. And Peter was wanting to protect The Lord, he was ready for the kingdom to be set up. I think we see that in excitement at the transfiguration, when he was ready to set up tabernacles there and everything. He was ready for everything to get going. And the death of Christ was not in Peter's plan, but We have to remember that God's timing and God's plan is not our plans. He does not sit in council with you or me. And I praise God that this was in God's plan for Jesus to die on the cross. And thank the Lord that even someone as well-meaning as Peter couldn't stop it. Well, turn the page over to Mark chapter nine, verses 30 to 32. They departed thence and passed through Galilee and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples and said unto them, the son of man is delivered unto the hands of men. They shall kill him, and after that he is killed, shall rise the third day. They said, oh yes, we remember that, Jesus. You told us already. No, no, that's not what they said. The text says, but they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him. What a truth that is that we often need reminded of the biblical truths of God's word that we need to be reading through the word of God, we need to be preaching through the word of God, we need to be reminded of these things. All of these events, while there were some events that could have made them feel bigoted, There were a lot of events that happened that should have humbled them. And this overview is important because it takes us, it takes us to our text. In this text, we have to approach it humbly. We have to approach it with an understanding that it is the word of God, same as every other text. We understand that there are ditches when it comes to the truth. There is the ditch that says anyone who names the name of Christ is a true believer. And we can associate with them and affiliate with them and work with them. That is a ditch that must be avoided. It is a ditch of naive inclusivity. There are some terrible heretics out there who run around using the name of Christ. They are members of cults, members of false churches, and even sometimes members of the Lord's churches. And so we have to be careful of this sort of thing. It is not the ditch that he is addressing here in this text, but I bring it up just to make sure that we're aware of it. It must be avoided. The ditch that is being addressed in this text is the ditch of the idea that anyone who is not part of our group, anyone who is not my kind of a Baptist, anyone who does not go to my church is a second-class citizen or not a true Christian at all. It is in this ditch that we find priesthood of the church and other such heresies. And we have to be careful about this. Now, there are passages that deal with the first ditch. First Corinthians chapter six, for instance, and others. I say all of that because whenever you approach a text like this, and preach it. The accusers come out and online, for instance, back in March, I made a post with this text. And a brother in Christ decided that he would take my post and preach against it in a pulpit of a church that I've never even been to. I only heard about it because I like listening to sermons online and I happened to stumble on it. So I listened to it. And of course, his slander against me could have been prevented had he contacted me. We would have talked about it. He misunderstood my position. He misunderstood what I was trying to say. He took it and he ran with it. I had his phone number, so I texted him. I said, hey, brother, I heard your message. Let's talk. And I told him, I said, there is much division even among good Baptist brothers. You and I may not agree on every little piece of the Bible, but why take a Facebook post and make a whole sermon of it without having a conversation? There is one accuser of the brethren. That's Satan. Let us be sure it isn't one of us. We are brothers and not enemies. I love you and I'm praying for you. He said, I will text you. I will call you when I'm done traveling. That date was April 5th. Today is April 28th. Either he is still traveling or he forgot, or he is more interested in slander and division. But I say that. I say that because there seems to be a lot of that going on. And I understand I have before been caught up in it, but I'm not going to be anymore. As much, God help me, and I have to guard my own heart, but, There are preachers, pastors, people who are more eager to tell who they're against than to expound the word of God. Certainly there is a time for standing against certain heretics and certain heresies, but the bulk of our ministry, the bulk of my preaching, needs to be the preaching of the word of God. Not every disagreement is reason for division or reason for a sermon. And that's exactly what's being addressed here in this text. These disciples, how could they be so arrogant? How could they be so prideful to try to forbid this one? casting out devils in the name of Jesus when just a few verses before. If you remember, I preached on it just a few verses before in Mark chapter nine. Verse 14, and when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with him. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, saluted him. And he asked the scribes, what question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit, and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away, and I speak to thy disciples, that they should cast him out, and they could not." They could not. Rather than rejoicing in the work of Jesus Christ, they tried to forbid this man. Now I understand that this event may have taken place before, because John brings this up after, as if you go on down. Verse 28, and when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. And then in verse 38, and John answered him saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name. When this happened, I'm not sure. It may have happened before the incident when they were unable But either way, either way. When we think about the context of this, there is great lesson that our Lord takes and teaches them in this passage of Mark chapter nine. verses 38 through 41. And we'll, we'll stop there for now. We'll pick it up and get into the meat of the text and begin to expound the actual verses with the next sermon. I thank you for your attention. May God help us to be humbled by this passage and these events that take place all the way through in the ministry and the life of Jesus Christ, and indeed, in the early church of our Lord Jesus Christ.