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You Must Be Cupbearers of Cold Water
Mark 9:1-41
In Revelation, 24 elders - 12 Old and 12 New Testament - surrounded and served Christ. They cast their crowns down before him. Though elders with crowns, they were servants, worshiping together with all who call on the Lamb and reject the mark of the beast. That’s the perfect church in heaven. But there’s no perfect church on earth! Belgic Confession Article 29 acknowledges that in the true church, there are hypocrites - people say they’re Christian, but don’t truly repent or believe. So article 30 states that pastors, elders, and deacons are chosen to preserve true religion - to make sure true doctrine courses through the people’s lives, that evil men are disciplined and restrained, and the poor and afflicted are helped. This requires not only a proper call, but also authority. Indeed Belgic 31 says, “that everyone must hold them in special esteem because of their work, and as much as possible be at peace without grumbling or arguing.” Special esteem. We should give our officers that esteem. Today I preach what I couldn’t by God’s providence at the ordination and installation service. But Belgic 31 reminds us still that they’re servants of Jesus Christ, who’s the only head. We want to expound this passage in 3 points to bring out principles when we consider our service - of both officers and members. Firstly, the glory of the church is Christ alone; secondly, power in the church comes from faith and prayer; and thirdly, influence in the church comes from humble and exemplifying service.
Firstly, the glory of the church is Christ alone. In this passage, Christ took 3 disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration. They beheld a glorious sight. Now the context is important. In chapter 8, he taught his followers to take up the cross and deny themselves, and who was ashamed of him, he’d be ashamed of them when he came in glory. And that’s when he said some of them would have a foretaste of God’s kingdom before they died. 6 days later, he took them to the mountain where they tasted this glory. Verse 3 - his clothes shone with a light brighter than anything on earth. Luke 9 says his face changed. Like Moses’ face and clothes after he was with God. Now, Moses only saw God’s after glow, otherwise he’d be judged. Jesus’ glory showed he was God. And it previewed his coming greater glory and judgment. But we find here, his disciples couldn’t wait for the future. They wanted it now. Peter said in verse 5 - “Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” Yes, verse 6 says he was afraid and had foot in mouth disease - but out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Wow! What a glorious sight! Moses and Elijah - victorious in word, miracles, delivering Israel from her enemies! And now Christ! The kingdom must be now! Deliverance is coming! But the Lord said, it’s only a foretaste. Revelation and 1 Thessalonians 3, tell us the glory will only be realized at his second coming. So, the church in heaven is victorious, triumphant, and glorious. But not on earth. One day we will be, but not now.
And until then, we’ll experience suffering. Verse 4 says Christ spoke to Elijah and Moses. Luke 9:30-31 gives us the content - “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: who appeared in glory, and spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.” They were speaking about his death. Which is no surprise because Moses wrote about the sacrifices and Elijah and his era of prophets about the coming Messiah. Christ came to fulfill the Scriptures - that before glory, he had to suffer. And that’s also our role on earth. Now, the church isn’t powerful or glorious - in a worldly sense. It has never been, it will never be. God’s will for us is to suffer. Philippians 1:29 - “it is given you…not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” And this has been God’s people’s experience. We suffered in Egypt; we also suffered by the hands of the Philistines, Nebuchadnezzar exiled us to Babylon, and we were attacked by the Greeks and the Romans. Similarly, the church suffers today all over the world - communism, Islam, atheism, etc. Yes, there are times when the church grows and is influential - but not usually. But here’s the assurance. 2 Timothy 2:12 says, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…” Christ’s suffering was a necessity before his glory. We, too, must suffer before glory - to put to death our sins and to reject the ways of the beast. And therefore, we should never expect a fully glorious church here.
Yet, we glorify Christ when we obey him here. We see that a cloud descended and surrounded them. And they heard God’s voice. Matthew 17 records - “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” You’d expect the voice to say - listen to me. But God said, listen to him. The church listens to him. And he is glorified when we listen and obey. Luke 6:46 - “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Officers, as you’ve been called, ordained, and installed - you serve the Son of the Living God who shall come in power. And how you serve him is by your obedience - doing things that are contrary to your flesh - even to suffer for his sake. But do you know that? When you serve, you go against your own comfort. You must subdue your carnality. You must be confronted with your own ideology. You must subdue your own wishes for a glorious church after your making, rather than after the making of Christ. But when we do these things, there’s real glory. And for the rest of us here, we must know there’s no perfect church. You want it more glorious? Obey Christ! Deny self and take up the cross.
But secondly, without power, there’s no glory - power in the church comes from faith and prayer. We often think a church is more effective if she were richer; with a respectable congregation profile, visibility, and organization. Now, we don’t deny the benefits from these. But we forget that effectiveness is God-given. Christ had no place to lay his head. He was abandoned by many. But he was most effective. Thomas Aquinas once visited Pope Innocent. In front of him was a large pile of money. The pope said with satisfaction - “the church is no longer in that age when she had to say, “Silver and gold have I none.” Aquinas observed - “Alas, neither can she any longer say to the lame - “rise up and walk.”” The measure of success is not how large, rich, or populated she is; it has to do with whether she has God’s power. After the mount, they descended to join the other disciples. These had been accosted by the Pharisees; ridiculed by the crowd. They’d failed. Why? Because they lacked faith. Without faith, we’re powerless. You see, a scribe brought his demonized son to be healed. Verse 18 - “and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.” Since they couldn’t, the scribes questioned them. And after Jesus heard, he said in verse 19 - “O faithless generation! how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.” Whom did Jesus address? All, but especially his disciples who’d seen his power first hand! But they lacked faith! How long did Christ have to put up with them? Yes, the boy was in a sad situation. The demon threw him to the ground, he foamed at the mouth, ground his teeth and became rigid. But sadder was the faithlessness of the disciples. They’d seen miracles, performed them, but now they couldn’t. Churches today have money, organization, people; activities. But do we have power? Faith in Christ that he’d do his works?
And Christ’s power is manifested in faith. Where the disciples failed, Christ was able. After hearing the father’s story, he commanded the boy be brought to him. And the demon recognized Jesus and attacked the boy. Verse 20, we learn it threw the boy into a violent convulsion, and he fell, writhing and foaming at the mouth. Jesus questioned the father and asked how long he was like this. Since little. It was a long time. It was also intense. It attacked the boy repeatedly - trying to burn and drown him. From here, we see something sad. A lack of faith pulls down Christ’s reputation. After the man told the boy’s history, he said - “but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” If you can do anything - of course Christ can do anything! But because of the disciples, the father had thought Christ lacked power. If you can! Of course Christ can! How different from the centurion who said - just say the word and my servant will be healed. How different from the hemorrhaging woman who grabbed Jesus’ clothes. You see, when we’re without faith, Jesus reputation suffers. But Jesus told him in verse 23 - “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” This was a powerful lesson for the disciples. All things are possible with faith. When the father heard this, he made the loveliest confession - “Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” I believe in you! But my faith is weak, help my faith! So Christ commands the spirit to leave the boy. Yes, he can work in the absence of faith - like Lazarus. But he demonstrates power when we demonstrate faith. Even weak faith is better than no faith. The father was filled with doubt but there was a mustard grain worth of faith. God’s not put off by our doubts - but total unbelief.
So how do we exercise faith? By praying. Power comes from prayer. After the episode, the 9 disciples who’d failed asked Jesus why. Jesus answered in verse 29 - “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” The disciples hadn’t prayed. They failed because they lacked fervency in prayer. They weren’t communing with God. They weren’t trusting as they should’ve been. Their efforts of exorcism showed self-sufficiency. Maybe their faith was in method, in themselves. Like the Sceva and his sons of Acts 19 - they tried to exorcise in Jesus’ name. They had the right name, right formula, but no power from God. Beloved, we’re nobodies without faith and prayer. But we can’t accomplish anything without them. Yes, Christ doesn’t need our faith and prayers - but he works through them. AC Dixon said, “When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do. And so on. But when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.” Where does our power come from? The Lord - by our faith and prayer. How much power do we have? Or do we just do?
Lastly, influence in the church comes from humble and exemplifying service. Christ’s church is not man’s playground. It’s not a place to gain influence. Unfortunately, people try. That’s why there can be many conflicts between officers and between committee members. A pastor can throw his weight around. An office bearer can maneuver things. A church member, by cleverly crafted words, can seek to sway a decision. This happens all the time. And here in our passage, we see an unholy spirit despite Christ’s glory. The three disciples had seen the Lord transfigure, but he told them not to tell. Why, I’m not sure. But they descended and met up with the rest of the disciples. And for the first time, the Lord revealed he was going to die, verses 30-32. But they were afraid to ask him what he meant. But they talked a lot on the way to Capernaum. But when the Lord asked in verse 33 what they were arguing about - then they kept silent. Interesting! On one hand, they didn’t dare ask what he meant about dying. But here they argued a lot - and loud enough that Jesus knew it was an argument. But they kept quiet because they were embarrassed. What they were arguing loudly over was who of them would be number 1. What an unholy spirit about them! But why this conflict? The 3 on the mountain forgot the precious lessons - glory’s not now, obedience and suffering are now. The 9 completely forgot their own recent faithlessness and Christ’s power. Because they failed to see the glory of Christ, they had an unholy spirit. And they’d just forgotten that he said he was going to die - the glorious one who could heal would die. The reason why they were arguing is because they were concerned more about themselves and their position. They were arguing who’d be greatest. But we do it all the time. We try to have more influence than the other. We’re upset when we’re not honored or recognized. That’s the spirit of Diotrephes. In 3 John, it was revealed that Diotrephes loved to have the preeminence - he wanted control, he wanted to have influence. When the Lord Jesus is displayed in his
So what did Christ do? In verse 35, he sat down and told them - “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” What an important lesson. How to be great and influential is by a completely different means - a servant spirit loves not for selfish gain. So in verse 35, he sat down and called to them. Now, when a rabbi sits to teach, he was assuming a place of authority. They knew they needed to listen. He gave them a paradox - the way to greatness, influence, is by service. The word “servant” literally diakonos or “waiter” gives the clue to true greatness. It’s through humble service. And that’s counterintuitive. Man thinks position entitles him to greatness. But those who serve, putting others first - they’re the greatest. The Lord showed this spirit by taking a young child in verse 36, probably hugging or putting him on his knees. He told them that receiving a child in his name, would be like receiving God and him. The word “receive” means to welcome and meet their needs. Jesus is telling us that when we serve the least, we’re really serving him and his father.
Now, he could’ve told them verbally - so why use a child as a prop? Simply, children were at the bottom of the social ladder - they can’t enhance an adult’s position. It’s a high post to be a king’s butler; but a child’s servant? Now to be clear, it’s not about finding the most downtrodden to serve. That’s not the Lord’s point. He wanted them to know what spirit they needed. He told them to be like him - he who carried the child. He came for sinners. We bring nothing good to him. But he makes us good. He was always serving the downtrodden - Jairus’ daughter, the woman with the issue of blood, the demon possessed Gadarite, the thief on the cross, and the rich young ruler. He even served them who’d betrayed and denied him. That’s greatness. Therefore, would we not serve one another? None of us here deserves the service of anyone right? But Christ has raised us up and embraced us, and made us God’s children, that we’d serve each other. But we fill our service with sin when we think we’re better, or we deserve recognition, or we can do better than others.
And he taught an exemplifying spirit exemplifies Christ. After Jesus’ demo, John then brought up an incident earlier. In verse 38, there had been one casting devils in Christ’s name, but he wasn’t part of the 12, so John rebuked him. Maybe they thought he wasn’t doing it correctly, or they were the only ones allowed to do it. But wait! They’d just failed. What authority or ability did they think they had? And the Lord said in verses 39-40 - stop him not, if he’s doing it in my name, he can’t possibly speak evil of me. He’s not against us, he’s for us. Essentially - let him serve me. This man, having no office was joyfully serving the Lord. They wanted office and preeminence without faith and prayer. They argued about position and Jesus had to teach them about humility. So in verse 41, he said about this man - though he was not part of the 12 - he was serving - not for position. He was the example of that servant Christ spoke of - the one who’d carry the child without the need for recognition, even giving a simple cup of cold water. That man? He shall not lose his reward. He’s recognized by Christ as a true servant, because he’s actually serving the Lord, and not self. Who gives a cup of cold water, but a servant? What was Christ saying to them? That guy is greater than you. Instead of stopping him, you should’ve learned from him. But no, you were too focused on self.
Dearly beloved, what applications can we draw from this passage of the glorious Christ and his inglorious disciples? Let me make 3 positive applications and give 3 warnings to us as a church. Firstly, let us have a desire for the glory of the church. We want it to be glorious for Christ. But the way of glory is by suffering. It is by self-denial. It is by humility. But this is the warning - when once your desire for its glory becomes greater than your desire for Christ and his people, you don’t desire its glory, you desire to worship the idol of your own making. And you will make the church less glorious. Secondly, let us serve Christ by believing him, by exercising ourselves in faith and humble prayer. To attempt great things for him. To be led by his Spirit. And when we serve him, the way of obedience is painful. Those who serve with faith and prayerfulness will also grow in humility. But this is the warning. We can actually do much without prayer. In fact, our service can grow without prayer. All it takes is hard work. But we won’t be spiritually fruitful. Imagine committee meetings without prayer but with much contention. But we’ll be deceived. We won’t be bothered by our spiritual weakness, we’ll be satisfied with carnal results. Thirdly, let us serve heartily. Unlike the 12 disciples, we expect all who are not officers to serve. To serve in simplicity, to serve in humility, to offer cups of cold water like servants who love the Lord Jesus Christ; who emulate the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord was the supreme cupbearer - who gave us the living waters to drink unto life eternal and he himself took the bitterest cup of God judgment, so that we can drink and live. Serve the Lord with that humility. But here’s a warning. There will be time to time those who no longer desire to simply be a cupbearer, not for love of the children, but because of position. Church office is not the place for them. Church office is the place for cupbearers. And that’s warning to us who serve God as cupbearers, that we would continue to labor as the Lord did for his little children.
1. Glory of the Church Is Christ Alone
A. Christ will come in glory
B. Christ’s glory is preceded by suffering
C. Christ is glorified by obedience
2. Power in the Church Comes from Faith and Prayer
A. We are powerless without faith
B. Christ’s power is manifested in faith
C. Spiritual power comes from prayer
3. Influence in the Church Comes from Humble and Exemplifying Service
A. An unholy spirit prevailed despite glory
B. A servant spirit loves not for selfish gain
C. An exemplifying spirit exemplifies Christ
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2024, Rev. Mark Chen
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