 Good afternoon pastor David. Hey John. Welcome everybody to a random moment with pastor David unfiltered pastor today I wanted to ask a regarding the importance of God's word and And applying it to our lives, you know an axe chapter 12. We were just talking a few minutes ago It says that Paul and Saul and Barnabas had fulfilled their ministry and Said that they brought John Mark with them and then in the next chapter it talks about that John Mark departs and returns from Jerusalem Ultimately it led to a sharp division between Paul or Saul and and Barnabas Reasons not given why he departed But I wanted to ask what is the importance of God's word being taught from the pulpit and And and us has we receiving it that we're able to apply it in our lives to keep us From deserting from what God has called us. Yeah, one of the things that I think is wise is to be aware of the spiritual maturity Of those that you place in positions of spiritual authority, you know John Mark was obviously not spiritually mature enough to endure the hardships of missionary travel with Paul and his cousin Barnabas and So, you know, he initially seems to have Been of help to them at the beginning but at a certain point when Things got rough. Apparently he departed he left and returned home and so Later on when Paul wants to go and do some more ministry and Barnabas he had been traveling together as ministers Barnabas wanted to bring Mark again and Paul said no No, and it speaks of the fact that he had John had depot John Mark had departed from them and the word depart It's a it's a strong word. It really is a It's a departure that was an abandoning or a desertion and so Paul did not want to bring him and Barnabas wanted to and the The division was so great that they separated and you don't see Paul and Barnabas working together again in scripture and Barnabas actually fades into the background and Paul takes the ascendancy So as it relates to ministry and John Mark, why did he depart is not said It doesn't say he deserted them for any any specific reason just that he did So speculation is that maybe the ministry was just too tough for him. Maybe he simply missed his home and his family It doesn't say it just says that he Abandoned he deserted he left so when he comes to the ministry of the word and missions and things of that nature That really speaks to me more as a minister to be more aware of who I lay hands on and What qualifications they may possess especially as I pursue them serving alongside of us whether or not they have the The maturity to be able to endure what ministry actually is there's a There's a romance a romantic kind of view John I think of pastoral ministry that people don't understand they think that say teaching a Bible study is easy and You know talking to people after service is is You know not that difficult and they have no real clue because 99% of the people who are in the church service at least in our fellowship You know depart immediately after the service and so there's not a lot of face-to-face afterwards and conversation and how does this apply kind of things taking place and And so for many they think well all that guy did is he stood up there and talked and then he goes in the back and drinks a cup of coffee That's how a lot of people think When in fact Ministry is is as labor the scripture refers to it as your labor of love It it speaks of the work of the ministry because it is it's it's long hours and and it's physically fatiguing and Sometimes there are dangers and challenges and so in the case of John Mark as he's out there in the field and he's seen the different Responses to the ministry and and some of the dangers that Paul and his team would encounter He just wasn't ready for it And so in the teaching of the word you you are attempting to encourage people To do what God says to do, but you have to take into consideration that very often they are not aware of what a cost actually it is and So that's what takes place and so with John Mark. He was he was introduced to it He abandoned it it wasn't ready for it, but later on You see that that mark is the one who actually was used by the Lord to To write the gospel of Mark and in the last time Paul speaks of him is in 2 Timothy chapter 4 And he speaks of Mark being very profitable to him. So it's quite obvious that along the way Mark and The Apostle Paul reconciled whatever differences they may have had and that's why Paul could say he's a great prophet to me He matured So then when you look at that and you can and you compare it with somebody like This is that Demas has forsaken me Is there a any type of correlation? Is that a whole different thing? It's basically a different thing because Paul said Demas has forsaken me having loved this present age You know whereas mark is just not ready for for ministry And so what Demas did is he he completely forsook the Apostle Paul left him left him hanging holding the bag is really the literal Translation of the word forsaken. He's left me holding the bag You know everybody in Asia has departed and now you have Demas doing the same thing And Demas was a traveling companion and minister to Paul And Demas had seen Paul in prison And it would seem to me on the in the case of Demas that all he could see When he looked at Paul was some old lonely man shivering in a cell wishing he had some parchments and and things of that nature some small Small things that would bring him comfort when in fact he loved this present age He had the opportunity of seeing some of the Some of the cities and be around some of the people who gave great honor to men like Paul and others and And that enticed him So he didn't have a heart for the coming age Where we would be with the Lord Jesus and And enjoying the fruits of our labors for eternity Because he loved the present age that he was existing in and so he departed and When he did so He went to another city and remained there probably taken advantage of some of the church members In the city and all So he he completely forced it Paul We don't know because 2nd Timothy is where you find him in chapter 4 also Because we don't know if he ever was recovered. We don't know if Demas ever realized What he had done and and repented. We don't know So his epitaph will always simply be Demas has forsaken me and departed and what's interesting is you're we've pointed out we've you've talked about two different people In two different phases with two different. I don't want to say modus Maybe john mark was just immature and not ready But then on the other hand you see somebody who was in ministry for gain And and and you can still see that today. I've seen that many times john. I've been in ministry now for 48 years I've been pastoring this church for over 40 And uh, yes, I've seen that uh enough times To say that it's not an uncommon thing Where somebody gets involved and loves this present age and You know and commits some sin, you know adultery stealing from the church or you name it and uh And I've seen that I've seen that more than once and I have a lot of friends who've Who've experienced the same thing because Because this present age has such a powerful draw on people And frankly ministry is is not as easy as people think it is, you know It you have to be called. I I remember one of the Brothers in our fellowship approaching me and he was on staff at that time and he said to me um, I feel called by god to plan to church and and I remember I was seated behind my desk and And I I teared up when he said that to me and I said you don't know what you're asking for You don't know what you're asking for And he looked at me with some surprise And how could you say that? And I I said what you're asking for Is a lot different than what you're thinking it is Over 20 years later the same brother who had left planted a church and was involved in full-time service as the pastor He said you remember when you said that to me and I said yeah, of course He says I didn't know what you were talking about then and I do now So ministry is not what people think it is and so with um men like john mark John mark was young. He had much to learn He departed, you know abandoned not the faith, but just abandoned the mission for a while But obviously was retrieved he was recovered because his cousin barnabas The word barnabas speaks of the comforter or a comforter And he was the one who had actually ministered to paul when paul was first saved He's the one who took paul and introduced him to the apostles and the people so afraid of this man Who was breathing out threatenings and now he's saying he's one of us He's the one who we need a barnabas and I believe that barnabas had his ministry with his cousin john mark and recovered him And paul was a man who we got to get this done And I can't I cannot take the time to train up some novice In in ministry that requires mature men So the the split was so severe That paul took silas and went on his ministry barnabas took john mark and went in In another direction But at the end and god always works these things out for good to those who love him In the end mark was recovered and I cannot help but believe that barnabas's loving ministry to his cousin Encouraged him to grow even as he had done with paul he encouraged him in his um Early walk and in his later walk with mark And that's why paul can say at the very end when he's saying in the same passage Demis has forsaken me He says that mark is profitable to me Wow Two different men at two different spectrums of the ministry And I couldn't imagine like john mark how he felt afterwards will ever be restored will ever be used again And not that he fell but in terms of that in that where paul was like I don't I don't need him But to see that god still used him what god does he has a way of doing that Thank you pastor. That was uh something I was thinking about and and I hope you guys find that this was interesting And the the importance of god's word being taught from the pulpits That we're able to apply in our own lives and to fulfill the calling that god has given us is so important Not only hear it, but you do it right, you know, that is the key john. It's not the hearing It's the hearing and applying Because the way that real real um maturity takes place real understanding takes place Is not in becoming an encyclopedia It comes in being imprinted and being a living letter So it starts here and then it goes there Thank you pastor. Thank you guys for tuning in and and we want to invite you to come to our services at 8 30 a.m. On sunday and 10 45 a.m Pastor you're taking us through the gospel of mark. We're looking at the feeding of the five. Oh, that's going to be a good one Yeah, because you like because I love food I'm hoping that the besoldering and all that will multiply So thank you guys for tuning in pastor. David. Thank you guys so much. God bless you and we'll see you on sunday