Very good. Let's pray before we begin. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, that You are good, You are merciful, You are kind, You are gracious. We thank You, Lord, for the salvation which we have received in Christ Jesus. We thank you, Lord, that he is our perfect sacrifice. Our only hope of righteousness before you is in him. Our only hope of being accepted by you is in him. We do not trust in our obedience to your law. We do not trust in our conformity to your standard of right. Father, we have sinned and fallen short of Your glory, but we thank You, God, for Jesus Christ, who fulfilled all righteousness and who gave His life on our behalf so that Your righteousness would be accounted to us. We pray, God, this morning, Father, that you will open the understanding of our hearts, Father, and that your Holy Spirit, Father, will use the word preached to draw us to you, to grow us in faith. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right. Good morning. It is a delight to be here and a tremendous opportunity. We're so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given to us to be here with you all. We really miss the fellowship that we have here at Heritage. It is a great blessing. Down there, we started out with very, very little fellowship and by the grace of God, as time has gone by, we have developed more and more fellowship with people who are coming to walk with God. And so that is a great blessing. Same time, we definitely miss our times here very much. At the end, I'm going to open it up for questions again, particularly a few gentlemen who might have a theological question about what we teach or how we preach, the content of our message, or the theological persuasion which we follow. Um, we've been here with you all for, we were here with you all for a number of years. And basically my, my teaching is, uh, the same as what we believed here. But if you have any particular question, I'm more than happy to, uh, take that question. And if it's something that I am undetermined upon, well, I will, I will say that this morning, we're going to talk about usefulness in the kingdom of God. usefulness in the kingdom of God. Do you ever contemplate your usefulness in the kingdom of God? Now, first of all, I'd like to say that God does not love us because of our usefulness. And our usefulness in God's kingdom adds nothing to God. he is perfect and complete in and of himself he is the I am the self-existing one he does not need anything from us and is really a privilege to be to be found useful in his kingdom isn't it to be used by him is a privilege and he has given his church a great task of taking the gospel to our neighborhood, taking the gospel to our city, taking the gospel to our world. A world which is currently, as we see it, by and large, deceived and living in slavery to sin. And Jesus Christ is the only way And the only answer to the slavery to sin in which our world lives. Do you ever contemplate your usefulness to God in this great project? Am I being useful in the hands of God in this great project? And how can I increase my usefulness? And what are those things that promote my usefulness? And what are those things that undermine my usefulness? Do you ever sit and think about that? I'd encourage you to do that, to think about that. Am I useful? Am I a servant whom God is finding faithful? I think that a large part of our usefulness in the Kingdom is going to be our love. What do we love? What do we love? Do I love the Kingdom of God? Do I love the Word of God? Do I love God? Or do I primarily love myself? Do I love the world? What do I love? Love is so vitally important. Let's open our Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4 and this is going to be our text for this morning. 2 Timothy 4 and 9. Frequently in the Pauline Epistles, Paul tucks a lot of greetings and howdys and so on and so forth at the end of his books, doesn't he? And really, those things were written to people a long time ago and it shows us that there was a real human audience that Paul was writing to and he had real friends around him that were sending their greetings. And for us, it's a long time ago and those were greetings to specific people. At the same time, they're part of the Scriptures, and they're part of the Word which sanctifies us, and there's something we can learn in those things. Paul says this, verse 9, Be diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica. Cretans for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia, only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus in Troas, when you come, and the books, especially the parchments, etc., etc. And thus ends, basically, the last writings of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul is just about to die. He's given his farewell address to his young friend Timothy in this book of 2 Timothy. It's about 65, 66, 67. Paul is about to die and he knows it. And he writes this letter to encourage his friend Timothy and to ask that he come and visit him. When your life is through, what will be the impact we've had for the Kingdom of God? An important question. I think the main thing that undermines it, or that undermined our usefulness in the Kingdom of God, is the same thing that undermined Demas' usefulness. It was his love for this present world, the love for this present world. That was what undermined it for him. Now, if we look in the book of Colossians, which was written maybe four, five, six years earlier, maybe as much as seven years earlier, we see Demas mentioned in the Howdys at the end of the book. Paul sends Demas his greetings. Demas is there with him. So Demas is a man who spent a certain amount of time with Paul. He's worked together with Paul. He's sat there and listened to Paul's teaching. He's gone out and he's participated for a number of years now. And yet in the end, he departs for Thessalonica, having loved this present world. What an opportunity Demas had, right? I mean, how many people would give thousands of dollars to sit for 30 minutes and talk with the Apostle Paul and ask him some questions? I mean, he had a tremendous opportunity. Kind of like Judas Iscariot had a tremendous opportunity. Think about Judas' opportunity. He worked with the Lord Jesus Christ for three years. When Jesus walked on the water, he was standing there watching. When they passed out the loaves and the fish, he was doing it. When they went out to preach the gospel, sit out in groups, he was one of them that was sent out in the end. It proved Unfruitful in his life, didn't it? The same with Demas here. He loves the present world, and that love for the world just absolutely undermined everything that he had built. Everything he had done, everything he had learned, turned out to be of absolutely no value in the end. Why? Because he loved the world. Paul was going through a time of great difficulty here, for certain. The fire in Rome took place in AD 64. And what the exact cause of the fire in Rome was, no one really knows to this very day, though many surmise that it was probably the work of Nero himself. Nero blamed it on the Christians. And as a result of this blaming the fire on the Christians, they took the Christians, and many were given to the lions to eat. Many more were taken and rolled in tar, impaled on posts, and burned as lamps for Nero's gardens. During this time, the Christians were greatly, greatly persecuted. Interestingly enough, A Roman historian who is not a Christian says that usually the formal charges brought against the Christians weren't so much the fire, because that really couldn't be proven. The main accusation brought against the Christians as they brought them to throw them to the lions was hatred of the human race. That's interesting, isn't it? Interesting, today we see something very similar, right? As Christians, if you stand for the Word of God, very easily can be accused of hatred. This great persecution lasted for a number of years, and both Peter and Paul died under this persecution. So the heat's being turned up on the church. And we can be pretty certain that Demas felt that heat. This wasn't what it had been a few years before. It wasn't as easy to be a Christian. It wasn't as easy to be there with the Apostle Paul helping him out. The fire burned and the heat was turned up on the Christians. The stakes are higher. There's great suffering. How will Demas respond? And Demas responds by running to Thessalonica. For us to really have an impact in God's kingdom, it has to have radically changed us. We have to have been radically impacted by the kingdom of God. We have to have come to genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be walking out that faith. For us to be useful in God's kingdom, we have to appreciate its great value. Piper writes this, I am wired by nature to love what others love. I start to call earth home. Before you know it, I am calling luxury needs and using my money just the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget the war. I don't think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached people drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace. And I sink into a secular mindset that looks first to what man can do and not what God can do. It's a terrible sickness. I thank God for those who have forced me again and again toward a wartime mindset. God hasn't. It's not His will that we all run to Thessalonica, right? That we run away from the war. We're in a battle. And so easily we get wooled to sleep by the routine of our lives and by the different desires that we have for the things of the world, and we get our primary joy from the creation instead of looking to the Creator for our joy. Now, I'm not preaching against joy in the creation. God has given us all things to enjoy. I can enjoy my family. I can go to a baseball game. That's fine. It's not great sin against God. But if I look to those things for my joy, instead of to God for my primary joy, then I can easily just get lulled to sleep and fall into the ease and comfort of idolatry, can't I? Very, very easily. And forget that this is a war and I'm to gird up the loins of my mind. I'm to be active. I'm to be looking for opportunities to advance the kingdom. To do that, I must first have been impacted by the Kingdom in the most profound sense. I must have come to appreciate the Gospel of Jesus Christ and rejoice in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, says Edwards. The enjoyment of Him is our proper and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here, better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives or children in the company of any or all earthly friends. These are but shadows but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean. So the enjoyment of the creation is good, and it's just a shadow of what enjoyment of God is and can be. These truths beg the question, where are my affections? What do I love? Do I seek my satisfaction in the true source of joy, or do I look for it in those things which can never satisfy and are never meant to satisfy? Demas, our friend, who worked with the Apostle Paul for an extended period of time, eventually chose to look for his joy elsewhere, didn't he? He eventually chose to seek his joy elsewhere. The heat was turned up and he ran away. Frequently, I'll tell the guys at the rehab center that I preach at, people usually look for joy where least joy is. People so frequently seek for joy where the least joy is. I'll ask these guys, why do you do drugs? Why do you drink so much? Ben's drink. Why do you do that? Well, because I want to be happy. I want to be happy, they'll tell me. And, you know, when I'm living a just normal life, why, just, there's so much unhappiness all around me. You know, they're picked on by their wife, and their kids don't respect them, and their boss is mean, and they're not making any money, and, you know, one thing after another after another, and all the sorrows of life are so heavy on them. They just go and drink because they want to feel happy. They want to get away from it all. And they make the situation worse. They seek for their joy where least joy exists. And they feel a little something for a little time and then in the end it's just worse than it was in the beginning. And that's the way it is with all of our sin addictions. We go to our sin addiction to get relief from the pressure or strains of life, and then it just turns out worse than it was in the beginning, right? And perhaps you're not a drunkard, and perhaps, but you can see that same cycle all over the world. If we don't seek our joy in God, if we're not looking primarily to Him, if we're not worshipping God, then we so easily fall into any of a gazillion traps which the devil has for us and which he tells us will give us joy, will find happiness. And it turns out to be a lie. Demas. represents for us that man who looks for his joy everywhere else other than in God. Usefulness is achieved through esteeming Christ's kingdom above ourselves. Usefulness is achieved when we esteem Christ's kingdom above ourselves. When I am not living to serve myself, but living to serve my Savior. And as an example of a man that did that, we have John Mark. Paul obviously has a variety of people here working with him. The team has obviously shrunk to some degree. The pressures have reduced the size of his team. Demas has departed. Cretans has gone to Galatia. There's no negative reference to Cretans here. He's probably been sent out. A missions team can easily be stretched thin as they seek to minister in different places and as God opens doors. Titus to Dalmatia. We hear the word Dalmatia and we think of a spotted dog that runs around, and really that's where the name comes from. The Dalmatian dog was originally bred in that particular region. And Titus, of course, is a man who's familiar to us. The man left on Crete for an extended period of time and referenced in the book of Titus. Only Luke is with me, the beloved physician, is with the Apostle, helping him. The Apostle, of course, is in prison at this time, really awaiting his death. And he says, get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. So our second point is that humility promotes our usefulness in the kingdom. Humility promotes our usefulness in the kingdom. And Mark is really a great example of humility. We're introduced to Mark for the first time in the book of Acts, chapter 12. We're sort of indirectly introduced to him. The church didn't seem to have much peace in the early years of its existence. Peter was arrested by Herod, who was absolutely no friend of good and right, and eventually was eaten by worms and struck by God and died. And in chapter 12, after Peter was arrested, Remember how the angel of the Lord came and touched him on the side in the middle of the night and got him up and put all the guards into a deep sleep. And then the angel opened the doors, just like grocery store doors do today, and they all walked out. And before Peter could really gather his senses, why, the angel was gone and he was walking the streets of Jerusalem free. And where did he go? In verse 12, It says the next day... no, not verse 12, I'm sorry. I miss... misnoted that. Let's see here. It's not chapter 12. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm in the wrong book. Okay, hang on just a minute. Stay with me. Don't switch the channel. Chapter 12, verse 12. So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. presumably for Peter's release. I mean, Peter's one of their main guys, right? He's one of those guys that was with Jesus for all that time, and he's one of their main teachers. And here he has, he's been arrested, and they're just sure that he's going to be executed, and that was Herod's idea. Herod was sure he was going to be executed, too. But God had a different plan, and so here they are all gathered together praying, And Peter goes and he knocks on the door. And remember there's that gal named Rhoda who comes to the door and knocks on the door and then forgets to open the door because she gets so excited about Peter being at the door. But he goes to the home of John Mark's mother. And it's a place that looks like it's not in the poor area of town, right? It's big enough that there's several people gathered there for a church service. They were introduced to Mark. Chapter 13. Let's keep going. Chapter 13 is the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. The church in Antioch. is gathered together, praying, fasting, and their spirit is set apart for me, Paul and Barnabas, to the mission that I have for them. Then in verse 5 it says, And when they arrived in Salmus, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. So, John went along as an assistant to the Apostle Paul and to Barnabas. And then in verse 13, It says, now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga, in Pamphylia. And John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. And in this text, it doesn't really tell us why John departed from them, but it becomes quite obvious that it wasn't a peaceful departure, because in chapter 15, Paul And Barnabas have a great disagreement over whether to include John Mark or not in their next missionary journey. Verse 36 of chapter 15, Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing. Verse 37, Now Barnabas was determined to take with him John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And they went through Syria and Cilicia, etc. Okay. So, John Mark departs obviously under negative, sort of a negative circumstance here. And doesn't go with them to the work, as it says here in these verses. What his motivation was is not mentioned, but it obviously caused tension. Now, what would John Mark have felt, do you think, in chapter 15, when he's been refused by the Apostle Paul? How do you think he felt? I imagine he felt rejected. I imagine he felt like a total failure. Probably nothing good is going to come from my life. I'm just going to be a failure. You know, we've seen people rejected a lot less who become bitter at God, become bitter at the church, become bitter at the preacher, become bitter and don't want to have anything to do sometimes with God at all. They just become bitter. And it demonstrates a real lack of faith, doesn't it? John Mark was the opposite of that, apparently. He moved on through the rejection, through, and that was a hard deal, that was a hard rejection. I mean, for the Apostle Paul to say, no, you're not going, in those kind of terms, that was difficult, you know? And people have, I don't know if you've noticed this, but people have relational difficulties sometimes. It just happens. And how does John Mark respond? He doesn't become bitter apparently. He presses on through it. And here in the book of 2 Timothy, Paul gives a tremendous recommendation. of John Mark, doesn't he? He says, he's useful to me for service. Now, if John Mark was proud, what would he have said? I'm useful to you for service? Fat chance! You think I'm going to come and serve you or serve with you? Yeah, right! Look what you did to me! Look how you rejected me! You think we're going to work together? Yeah, right. But John Mark, at this point, has already been working with the Apostle Paul on some level for a number of years. If we look in the book of Colossians, we'll see him referenced in the Howdys at the end of Colossians. Let me see here. Colossians, Colossians, Colossians. Chapter 4, verse 10. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you with Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. So, as we mentioned, this is written like six or so years before 2 Timothy. So, John Mark has been working with Paul for an extended period of time. By this point, God has done a work In their relationship, God has done a work in their hearts, and they're able to work together again. It reminds us that love covers a multitude of sins or offenses. Here, for certain, was a great offense. But as they love God, and as they love each other, they were able to work past it, and work for the promotion of the kingdom of God. You know what? We all need forgiveness of each other, don't we? I need you all's forgiveness at times. I have had to confess wrong to some of you at some times and ask you to forgive me. We need forgiveness from each other. We need love from each other. We need that openness with one another as we work together for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. And Paul and Mark are a great example of this. A thing that could have been a great, great falling out, which could have destroyed their relationship and stopped their participation together in the advancement of the Kingdom of God, eventually is passed over. And we presume, from what Paul has said, that Mark grows in some ways and begins to be faithful and begins to persevere. and is useful in the Kingdom of God. So, love for the world undermines our usefulness in the Kingdom of God. And humility promotes our usefulness in the Kingdom of God. Love for the world is going to undermine it every time. And humility is going to promote it. There's hope for people who have failed. John Mark demonstrates that. There's hope for people who have failed, isn't there? Mark's turning back from the work was not the end of the story, and praise God for that. Okay, I'm going to stop this recorder.