Good morning. It is good to be with you after being with your children today.
And I want to thank you again for the opportunity that you have given me by inviting me to be a part of this conference.
I would like to turn us to three Scriptures. The first one is in the little letter of Philemon, starting with verse 23.
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow labourers.
Then, in Colossians 4, starting in 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.
And then verse 14:
Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
Finally, in 2 Timothy 4, starting with verse 9:
Be diligent to come to me quickly;
for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and departed for Thessalonica—Crescens 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.
Lord, we thank You for the open heaven we had at the table. And we thank You for the light that brought us to the table.
Now, since heaven is open, we are asking that that light would also come down to us and open Your Word. We ask for Your speaking into our lives through it by the Holy Spirit today.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Okay, now, I have a tendency to mumble. So, if I am mumbling, tell me to speak up. I will not be offended.
Now, I read you all these farewell messages. Maybe it is because I am leaving today and I am bidding you farewell. But in these farewell messages, there are two brothers I would like to look at.
We are going to look at a kind of tale of two young men. Both of them were servants of Jesus Christ. Both served with the apostle Paul. Both helped in spreading the word of the gospel. Both helped in establishing local assemblies. Yet their ends were different.
In the last set of verses we read in 2 Timothy, we see that Demas forsook Paul. Now, Paul was not alone in this, because he also says that all Asia had deserted him.
In the end, it says Mark was useful to Paul for ministry. Why these two different ends for these two brothers? That is what we want to look at today. Then I want to bring it all to a close and apply it to our time of conference.
Demas was with Paul in his imprisonment. We see that in Philemon and Colossians. To put this in perspective, that was during Paul’s first imprisonment.
During Paul’s first imprisonment, Christian churches had already been established throughout the Middle East, through Turkey and Greece. Paul’s first imprisonment was not as bad as, say, the imprisonment at Philippi. I should have said Philippi, not Philippians. I am sorry. You find that imprisonment in Acts 16.
If you remember, in that imprisonment Paul was first beaten with rods in public, and then he was thrown into prison. His feet were put in stocks.
But his first imprisonment in Rome was different. He had his own apartment. He was allowed to have visitors. He was allowed to communicate with the outside.
You remember, he wrote those prison epistles—Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians—from prison. He was also free to share the gospel because, if you remember, he even shared with those guards who were chained to him.
Christianity was looked at as a welcome alternative to the immorality, sensuality, and pointlessness of the pagan religions of Rome. There was an openness to Christ and an openness to the gospel.
That is a lot like the late 1960s and early 1970s for us in North America. During those times, Jesus Christ was looked at as an alternative to be considered among many other things. So there was an openness to Him and the gospel at that time as well.
There was such an openness during that time that they even made rock-and-roll songs about Jesus. I am not talking about Christian songs; I am talking about secular rock-and-roll songs.
Now, I know you guys do not know this one, but one of the songs that came out was, “Jesus Is Just Alright with Me.” For those of you who are familiar with that, that was the Doobie Brothers, and they came from San Francisco. That tells you how open things were at that time in San Francisco.
But 2 Timothy was written during a second imprisonment. The second imprisonment was much harsher and even led to Paul being martyred.
During this imprisonment, which was just a few years later, Jesus Christ was not popular anymore. The Roman emperor Nero even blamed Christians for the burning down of Rome—which was not true, but he blamed them anyway.
These things led to the persecution of Christians throughout the whole Roman Empire. Like today, Christians and Christianity at that time were not thought of very highly, and were even considered enemies of the empire.
Maybe this had something to do with Demas’ forsaking Paul. Paul did say that Demas forsook him because he loved this present world.
Now, what does he mean by loving this present world? I think sometimes we think that loving the world means you just leave Christ behind, jump wholeheartedly into the world, and do all sorts of bad things. We become gross sinners.
But I do not think that is the way the phrase, “having loved this present world,” is meant. I think loving this present world is much more subtle.
Maybe it started with coveting the goods of the world. Maybe, as 1 John explains, he fell in love with the things of the world. He was lured by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
He sought the comfort of living in this world—not just the things that the world offers, but the comfort of living in the world. He also wanted the assurance that he could live in this world and still be saved.
In other words, he could avoid ruffling the waters around him. He would not stir up the waters. He would not make waves among the society in which he lived.
In other words, he wanted the peace of this world—the peace that comes from this world, the peace that the world has for its own.
I think Demas was a lot like Lot in the Old Testament. You remember how Lot settled in Sodom. While he lived in Sodom, he lived at peace with the people in Sodom.
Even though, in 2 Peter 2, it speaks of righteous Lot, righteous Lot lived in peace in the society of Sodom. Even though he lived in such a worldly and impure city, he was at peace with the practices of the people in Sodom.
It bothered him, because 2 Peter says his righteous soul was vexed, or bothered. But the thing was, he could live in that world as a Christian, so to speak—or as an Abraham follower—and still not be persecuted.
He tolerated the world he lived in so that the world he lived in would tolerate him. The Jews at the time of Jesus also tolerated the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire tolerated them.
I think this has something to do with Demas forsaking Paul and loving this present world. I think, in part, he was fleeing the consequences of following Jesus Christ wholeheartedly—the following of Jesus that makes us the enemy of this world.
He was even fleeing the cross of Christ in order to have the peace of this world.
Paul was so different from a lot of Christians at the time. Paul was willing to say, “I will let you crucify me. I will let you crucify me for who I am and what I believe. But I will stand in this world for Christ.”
Now, what about Mark? If you read the Scriptures, Mark is spoken of in the book of Acts. I think you find him in Acts 13, because he goes on the first missionary journey with Paul.
He went with Paul and Barnabas, and I think you find his name as John Mark. Before Mark went on this missionary journey with these two brothers, he lived in the Jerusalem vicinity.
He lived at the time of Christ, and he lived during the time of Pentecost. We could say that he lived during very exciting times for those who were believers.
He saw healings. He saw miracles in Jerusalem among the apostles. He saw them give bold sermons, and he saw many people come to the Lord.
How exciting a time that must have been to live in. Wouldn’t you like to be part of that—to be riding the coattails of that, seeing the meetings where things like this happened? Wouldn’t you just love that?
Yet, despite having all this experience, seeing all these things, and being a part of all these things, Mark deserted Paul.
You get toward the middle of Acts 13, and you see John Mark leave. It was not long into the journey.
Most commentators will tell you that Mark left because he found the going too tough. Here he was, used to all this good stuff happening, and then, when he starts to go with Paul and Barnabas, a little persecution sets in and hard times come. You still might have miracles, but hard things begin to happen.
The excitement of the times was kind of replaced by the reality of serving the Lord. So he got knocked out of the race.
If you read in the Scriptures later, especially in Acts 15, you find that Paul would have said of Mark, “Well, he forsook me.”
As a matter of fact, when Barnabas wanted to take Mark with him on their next missionary journey, Paul said, “No way. He is not coming with us. He is a quitter.”
But Mark was recovered. That is what we want to see: how was he recovered?
Well, I think the first thing he did was go back home. Isn’t that where we usually go? We have had a hard time, so we go back home. We go back home where Mom will cook us dinner and wash our laundry. We get smothered with that comfort.
But in going back home, there was one person there whom I think was the providence of God. Who was the top person in Jerusalem, as far as Christians went at that time? I would say the apostle Peter.
Peter was in Jerusalem, still doing the work of the Lord there. I believe Peter was familiar with Mark because they had meetings in Mark’s mother’s house.
They believe Mark’s mother’s house was the house where Peter, after he had miraculously escaped from prison by an angel, came knocking at the door and said, “Here I am.”
So I believe Peter would have been at that house every now and then, as they were having meetings and things. I will tell you why this is important: Peter knew failure.
Peter knew what it was like to deny the Lord. You remember, he denied Him three times after he had said adamantly, “I will die with You.”
The Lord Jesus told him he was going to do that. You remember, He said, “Satan is going to sift you like wheat.” But the Lord restored Peter.
If you remember that little prophecy the Lord gave Peter when Satan was going to sift him, He said, “After you are recovered, strengthen your brethren.”
That was not lost on Peter. Even though there was probably a twenty- or thirty-year age difference between Peter and Mark, Peter did not say, “Well, he is just a kid. He is not that important. He will learn later on.”
No, I think Peter ministered to Mark. Matter of fact, I know he did. Matter of fact, I know how he ministered to him also: he shared the gospel with him.
If you remember, Mark’s Gospel is actually Peter’s telling of the story of the life of Jesus Christ. Mark’s Gospel is known as the Gospel of the Servant.
Peter unveiled to Mark what it was to be a servant—not in a way that said, “You see, you missed the mark, Mark,” but by showing him the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus faced hardship. Service is not always going to be an easy thing. But Peter showed Mark that perfect Servant, the Servant who was able to go through hardships and yet come through them.
So Peter brought this good news to Mark. That is what the gospel means: good news.
It is not just some common good news, like, “Oh, the Dodgers won last night,” or, “The Yankees lost.” It is news so good that it changes your life.
I believe that through this, Mark was given a whole new vision of Jesus Christ. Peter also conveyed to him that it is not trying to be like Jesus, but it is the very life of Jesus that comes into you and enables you to serve.
That is the exact thing Peter found. You remember, at the end of the Gospel of John, when the Lord is saying, “Do you love Me? Tend My sheep.” Peter could not even raise his head.
He came to the place where he could not even trust himself to do what the Lord was asking him to do. But on Pentecost, Peter was enlivened by the Holy Spirit.
The Peter of Acts is not the Peter of John 20. He is an empowered Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The other thing was that Mark met Barnabas again. Barnabas’ name means “son of encouragement.” That was not even his real name; I think his real name was Joseph.
It was the apostles and members of the body of Christ who gave him the name Barnabas because it fit his ministry to the saints.
I believe it was Barnabas who encouraged Paul to take Mark. I will bet it was Barnabas who encouraged Mark to go with them.
But after Mark left, Paul and Barnabas continued their journey. Barnabas probably would not have come back to Jerusalem except that, during their missionary journey, some Gentiles were converted.
A question arose: should the Gentiles have to become like Jews first in order to be Christians, or not? So Paul and Barnabas came back to Jerusalem to bring this matter before the pillars of the church.
They think that between the time Mark left Paul and Barnabas and the time Paul and Barnabas came back to Jerusalem in Acts 15, probably about five years had passed.
I believe that when they came back to Jerusalem, since Barnabas was related to Mark, Barnabas searched Mark out. I think he went looking for him—not to scold him.
The reason I think this is because Barnabas did the very same thing when he was sent up to Antioch to check out what was going on there. When he went to Antioch and saw what was happening, he went to Tarsus to look for Paul.
When Paul was first converted, nobody trusted him. Here was a persecutor of the church. Why would anyone trust him? But Barnabas came alongside him.
After they sent Paul back to Tarsus, Barnabas remembered, “We need somebody here to help us.” So he went looking for Paul.
I think that when Barnabas found Mark, he encouraged him. I think he drew him out again into service.
Barnabas knew firsthand of Mark’s failure. But knowing firsthand of someone’s failure does not mean you write them off.
Remember, if one sheep strays from the ninety-nine, the Lord does not leave it and let it die. That is not what Scripture says, is it? No, He goes looking for the one. He leaves the ninety-nine to look for the one, even though that one might have deserted willfully.
I think Barnabas encouraged Mark back. Do not think that all encouragement is positive. Sometimes you have to take someone to task and say, “You know, what you did was wrong.”
But I am not going to leave you in that place, because the Lord has died for you. Let us get past that. You were wrong. Ask forgiveness. Let us move on.
I really think Barnabas knew that the Lord had called Mark into service. Barnabas took Mark under his wing. I think Mark was discipled by Barnabas.
We also know that Mark was with Peter, perhaps in some of his travels, because it speaks about that at the end of 1 Peter. So we see Mark being restored to the Lord and back into service.
After he was with Peter, we find that he was in Paul’s first imprisonment. Finally, we find Paul calling for Mark to be brought to him because he was useful to him.
Isn’t it wonderful? Here Paul had probably said, “I do not want this guy anymore. He is a quitter.” Then all of a sudden he says, “I want him. He is useful.” Isn’t that a wonderful picture of being restored?
Mark was fully recovered, even though at one time he was like Demas, having forsaken Paul.
Why these two tales? This is really what I want to talk about. I am not going to talk about it too long, but these are the things I really want to say.
There are two reasons why I brought these two brothers up. The first reason is for you younger saints—you who are in junior high, high school, and starting to go to college. You are starting to get in the world. You are starting to get your feet set on good ground.
This is especially for those of you who attended this conference here. You guys who went to the conference have already been through your first imprisonment.
It was like Paul’s first imprisonment. It was not too bad. The worst thing about it was no electronics. But you made do, did you not? Even though some of you are still shaking right now.
You went willingly. You signed up for it. Paul, in his first imprisonment, went because he appealed to Caesar.
They were going to kill him, so he appealed to Caesar. He willingly was taken to Rome to be in prison and to await Caesar’s trial.
When you signed up for this conference, you appealed to the Lord. The conference was about appealing to the Lord to know the truth—to know Him and to know what you should do.
While you were in your prison in Lancaster, some of you had your own little private apartment—with other saints, right? You were chained to your guards, your roommates, right?
But you were in your prison with people of a like mind. Just like Paul, when he was writing to Philemon and the Colossians, he was talking about the people with him in prison. He called them his fellow workers, the people laboring with him in the gospel.
Now you are home. The first imprisonment is done. You are on the verge of being in your second imprisonment.
That second imprisonment is not going to be like the first. It is going to be more hostile. Now you are going to be in prison in this world—in this culture, the school culture, the world culture, all of that.
Just like Daniel in Babylon, you are going to be immersed in that Babylonian culture. You are on the verge of being back there as you go back to school and back to work.
You are going into a kingdom that is foreign to the kingdom of God, a world that is adverse to Christians and Christianity.
There is a danger of being like Demas. There is that danger. That is a real danger.
Or there is the goal of becoming like Mark—useful for ministry. I would say, look to the goal.
We can look at the things before us, become afraid, and run from them. Just like the ten spies who went into the land with Joshua and Caleb: “There are giants in the land. We just cannot do this.”
Even though in your first imprisonment you came back with those big grapes, you might think the giants far outweigh them. Look to the goal. Look to the goal of being useful for God.
Put your eyes on Jesus. Look to the goal. He is the way to it.
We are not talking about just looking at Him as we see Him in the Bible. It is looking to Him whose life resides within us. His is the life that is able to endure the hardship of this world.
If you remember, one of the last things Dana said was simply, “Lord, fill me with Your Spirit.” It is the life of the Holy Spirit in you that is going to lead you all the way to the goal.
That is truth. Let Him shine light into that as you walk step by step.
Now, secondly, in both of these cases, each young man forsook Paul. I want to talk to us who are older.
When I am talking about older, I am not talking about just my age. I am talking about you who have become those young men and young women who are finding that you know the truth and are able to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Let us, in God’s hands, be the instruments He uses to recover and bring back into service those who stumble.
Let us be those who encourage those who are walking to continue walking.
We do not know if Demas was recovered, because we have no more Scripture concerning him. But remember, I compared him to Lot.
You know what was saved from the destruction of Sodom? Lot. Abraham interceded for Sodom, and through that intercession, Lot was led out of the city.
Abraham was Lot’s uncle. In Chinese culture, “uncle” is a term used for an older person, whether an older brother or an older sister. It is much nicer. We just say, “That is an old guy.”
But what I want to say is this: may God raise up uncles and aunts among us—uncles and aunts who will intercede for the Lord’s interest in the younger ones.
May we pray that the purpose He has for them will be fulfilled; that they will not be stolen from it; that they will not be sidetracked from it; but that they will come into the usefulness they are meant to have in Christ.
May God raise up among us those like Peter who, having known failure and denial in our own lives, have been recovered.
Then may we, by the grace and compassion shown to us, lend ourselves to the Lord as vessels of mercy to strengthen the younger ones.
If they have failed, they need to see Christ as the One who restores. They need to see Christ as the One who can take failure, nail it to the cross, and set them on the path of service again.
May God raise up among us those like Barnabas, who will come alongside to encourage and lead them back into service.
We entrusted them to the Lord, that He might reveal Himself and speak to them during this time of conference. He has been faithful. Now let us rise up to take the task—the big, involved work that is left to do.
May we also be those fellow workers.
I also want to add this: do not think I am just talking to the kids who went to the conference. Anyone who is young and has had the Lord come into their lives—I am talking to you all.
You do not need a conference to be spoken to by the Lord. So I am not ruling anybody out. But you need to be faithful to what the Lord is showing you, so you can come into what He has called you to be.
Those of us who are older, as I said, also need to be those fellow workers in what is happening. They are part of the congregation, right?
We need to know them as part of the congregation, and, as part of the congregation ourselves, do our part in encouraging them—whether it is through praying for them, encouraging them, or whatever it is.
We need to be looking and saying, “Lord, how can I help the body?”
So I just want to bring this charge to you.
Heavenly Father, You say that Your Word will not come back void without doing what You have purposed it to do. We say amen to this.
We claim this for our young brothers and sisters. Let it be so. You show them the truth. Let them abide in the truth. Let that truth set them free.
Let that truth light their way. Let that truth be the light of their life. And in it, let them serve You to the saving of themselves and others, for Your glory.
Do not let us stand idly by and be spectators. Let us understand that You want us to labor with You and to do the part You have for us in this hour.
May we be one with them, and may they be one with us, in carrying the testimony. Do not leave them where they have none to care for them, Lord.
Fill them with Your Spirit, and give them mothers and fathers in You who will help them, encourage them, and pray for them.
We ask this through the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who is above all principalities and powers. Amen.