 Good afternoon pastor David. Hey John. Welcome everybody to a random moment with pastor David unfiltered You know pastor a while back you gave a message and it's really Stuck with me all this time in and you were speaking at it. You're teaching at a second Timothy chapter 4 and you came across Demis and at one time Demis was Considered fruitful for the ministry and then later on when we look at 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 10 It says for Demis has forsaken me having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica You know pastor in all the years as doing ministry even as you're raising up men in our mentoring class You you you disciple men The Demis's are there still Demis There are always going to be Demis's in the church always You know funny thing about it. I was recently sharing on this topic in in Florida. I went I Was I went to a men's conference. I was teaching at a men's conference in West Florida by by Tampa in a place called Brandon and This was one of the messages I gave on Demis. Yeah There are Demis's that are in the church, you know Paul speaks about him and Shares of him more than once he's mentioned more than once in scripture and he's looked at and recognized and identified as a fellow worker a fellow Minister of the gospel. He was somebody who visited Paul when Paul was in in prison. He was aware of the conditions Paul lived under and He was somebody mentioned To to churches and the churches will remember his name when mentioned, you know the churches of that age and I was sharing how it was a blessing for him to be Remembered throughout church history. I mean every time you read Colossians and and a couple other portions of scripture that refer To him every time you read it. You you read the name of Demis. So his name was was It's been recorded in the history of the church and so Demis was somebody who was a traveling companion of Paul Demis was an individual who was known as a servant As I've mentioned in the past Demis was so well known that the people would recognize the name once it was was mentioned and It would be like this it would be like if you were having a church service or perhaps you're having a conference and and people would look into the back of the room and they'd see a little bit of a commotion perhaps somebody's about to come in and They would look and they'd say to one another That's Demis Demis is he travels with Paul. He's He's a good man and they would talk about him and they would walk up and they'd greet him with a kiss and they'd say How are you they love this guy Demis? I mean, it's obvious. He was a man who had great credibility And yet Paul's epitaph for him the last statement you ever hear of this man Demis is Demis has departed. He has abandoned me. He has forsaken me. He has left me holding the bag He said and has departed to Thessalonica. He said Having loved this present world. He departed. He abandoned me So there are men that we can think of right now Who had very well-known ministries men if I mentioned their names? People would instantly recognize their name. They'd say oh, yeah, he had a great work great ministry There are men like Demis who having loved this present age departed Abandoned completely for sook and left Paul there, you know Demis had the opportunity to travel with Paul. He he may very well have Never traveled much before because during the time of Paul not everybody had a chance to get on a ship and travel from one point To another not everybody went to Rome not everybody went to some of the major cities Ephesus and all Not many people had that opportunity Demis did Demis was able to see various things went to various places and he was able to see How the other other half lives used to we used to say that how the other how the other half lives Those who are rich and those who are well known and and so on the one hand he Sees all the riches and on the other hand he sees this old man in a jail cell All he wants is a cloak and some parchments and Eventually he begins thinking apparently Where's it get you where to get Paul? I've seen some of the other better things in the world and now I just see an old man Saying I'm cold. Can you please bring me? Parchments, please Bring me the scrolls bring me the word of God. I need these things and for Demis I know I love this present age. I don't care about the age to come I don't care about heaven. I don't care about the pie in the sky buy and buy I want what I can get right now. So are there men like Demis? Absolutely. Have I encountered them indeed? Do they go to church even in this fellowship? I'm certainly do What are they looking for something beyond? The promises of the kingdom they're looking for something that that will be more Right now for them more pleasant right now for them and and they walk away What do you do? You've got to set your sights On things above and not on things that are on the earth. You've got to hold fast to what is true and Not let go of it. You need to you need to Move towards gaining the prize of eternal life through Jesus Christ and actually and actually value that above everything else because What we have right now is temporary but what we lay ahead in heaven is is eternal And you need to cultivate this in your mind. You need to actually believe that And you need to pursue that with all of your heart And learn the lesson of Demis because yeah, there are there are many people in the church Who it wasn't hard for them to stop attending church It wasn't hard for them to stop going to bible studies You know, if I look back at this fellowship, john, I've been here for 40 years and And there were young people at one time in this church who who were at every bible study, you know, you have a midweek They're there you have a uh Our retreat they're there you have a sunday night. They're there you have regular church services They are in attendance. They get caught up in dating and they start Not coming as often to church not growing like they once not serving like they once did and They get married and then they have their children and and now you hear them saying well, you know I've got kids to raise and then after the kids have Growing up a little bit. We're going to be back You know, and then you you never see them again because they They love this present age that doesn't happen to everybody and yes, there are times that you need to To focus on certain things. Of course, I'm not saying that That you you shouldn't take care of the obligations and needs that you have but It's kind of easy for us to Forsake the things that got us to where we are To pursue other things. So yeah, I see that I see that often. I've seen that Many times, you know over the over the years. I followed the lord, you know having loved this present age It's still there pastor as a senior pastor I'm sure you've experienced the hurt that Paul must have gone through in some ways and and that You know, I didn't realize how Impact impact how much impact that demas had Were you pointed out that he would be a for example a conference and He would walk in and there'd be commotion because he was there. He was Paul wouldn't pulse guys And you know, as you're sharing this I I'm reminded when Jesus said even my familiar friend You know, uh, the demas is it was like he lifted up a heel against me That could imagine out of all the years that you've been a senior pastor You you gave that message of and it was almost like a bone chilling When you said demas, are you here? Yeah, I was speaking at a pastors conference and I was sharing with the men And I stopped for a moment. I said demas. Are you here? Where are you? I said, I know you're here I know you're here. Where are you demas? Because you're here right now And yes, and these are pastors and leaders in the church who will very definitely there will be some Who will having loved this present age depart. There's no doubt about it. I've seen it. I've been a christian 50 years I've been in ministry for 48 and I've been pastor ordained pastor for 40 42 years and I've pastored this church for 40 Can you imagine how many demas is can you imagine even here on this staff? How I've had demas is who who have Betrayed my trust as the pastor betrayed the trust of this church who have Gone off into areas that uh That have broken my heart to be honest with you that have disappointed me And hurt me in in in ways that um, then only a pastor would understand So, yeah, I've I've met my share of demas is I've even employed them and And it's still a warning It's still a warning that needs to be heated Don't love this present age Because it's all going to one day just Turn to nothing and god is going to create the new heavens and the new earth and And the only things that that matters are the things that you do for the lord and If we understood that john This church the church Would be making a better impact But because people they say well, you know, I can't go to church because I'm afraid of this or that or I can't this or that and The church I think is Is has been exposed and it's it's underbelly is very weak But then again, there are those who who say, um, you know what I'm I'm going to serve god No matter what and and they do whatever is necessary in their own context to do that and in this fellowship, we've seen many people who have Decided to do something else or go somewhere else and god bless them as they do I pray that wherever it is that they went that they're being fed That's all I care about for their sake john and then there are others who simply said, you know what? I don't need church anymore. I don't need to go there anymore I don't need to go anywhere anymore. And those they're the ones that break your heart but then They'll always be There will always be those that receive the the seed on the wayside or in In uh thorny ground or in the shallow shallow ground rocky soil. They'll always be that Then they'll always be a demas But then again, they will also always be a timothy very tight as Maybe even someday somebody like a paul Well, thank you pastor that we've been talking about this, you know off off camera For a little bit of time and and it was something I wanted to hear your heart on And so thank you and thank you guys for tuning in Joining us join us this sunday at 8 30 and 10 45 As pastor dave you're taking us through matt um mark gospel of mark. We're looking at the The parable of the mustard seed And want to invite your friends and family to come out and join us and then those who are going to israel We have an information meeting after second service this sunday in the sanctuary Even if you're thinking about going to israel, I know you may have questions come join us pastor david will be there bill for for liana will be there from inspired travel and uh and again pastor david Thank you for your time and friends. Thank you for tuning in. God bless you and pastor. We'll see you soon. Okay