The Demas Dilemma

I want to invite you to go with me to 2 Timothy.

If you have your Bibles, it will be on the screen.

If not, 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 6. Amen.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 6. Going to read just

2 Timothy 4:6

a few verses there. It's good to see all of you

today. Welcome our friends and guests. This is

a place where you can belong, believe and become.

Amen. And we're excited for what God is doing

in our midst. But I have a word from the Lord

today. A simple word. One that God has laid on

my heart. It reads as follows. As the Apostle

Paul writes to his son of the faith, Timothy,

he says, For I am already being poured out as

a drink offering, and the time of my departure

is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have

finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally,

there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,

which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give

to me on that day. me only, but also to all who

have loved his appearing. How many of you love

his appearing? Amen. Diligent to come to me quickly.

Notice verse 10. For Demas has forsaken me. Having

loved this present world, he has departed for

Thessalonica. I'm going to stop there. I'm going

to preach for a few moments here on the thought

that Demas dilemma, the Demas dilemma. Let's

pray briefly. Father, we thank you, God, for

your presence. We honor you, Lord. This is your

house. It's a house of prayer. It's a house of

worship. That's what we've come to do. You're

so good, Lord, that you won't let us leave empty

-handed. So I pray, God, that your word will

go forth as the bread of life and will nourish

every heart and soul in this place to be edified

and be strengthened. God, anoint us and anoint

my lips of clay. Put your word in my mouth, God,

that every word I speak would give glory to you.

In Jesus' name we pray. Everyone say amen. Amen.

You can be seated in God's presence. We know

very little about this man Demas. He appears

on the pages of scripture with no record about

where he was from or how he converted to the

faith. But evidently, this man had a lot going

for him, including having the privilege of serving

alongside the Apostle Paul. And just think about

what an incredible position that must be to tag

along with the great Apostle Paul, to learn from

him, his example, and to serve with him. Demas

was more than just an understudy of Paul, more

than an apprentice. He had earned enough respect

that when we first meet him in Philemon, verse

24, Paul called him my fellow laborer. He is

mentioned in the same breath as men like Mark

and Luke. And what an honor that must have been,

a true testament to his... reputation, and his

potential. So Demas wasn't just a student, but

he also was a colleague of Paul, which says something

about his development, says something about the

man that he was becoming, that Paul would entrust

this man to carry the gospel with him wherever

he went. So although we don't have a lot of record

about who this shadowy figure is we know that

if Paul trusted him to preach alongside him and

called him a fellow laborer he must have earned

his stripes must have done some things right

must have had a lot going for him with that kind

of opportunity you would expect to hear that

Demas went on to do great exploits for the Lord

you would expect that Demas went on to perhaps

establish new works, churches. You would expect

to hear that Demas went on to maybe write a couple

of books or strengthen the body, strengthen the

leaders. You would expect to hear these kinds

of things about him. At the very least, just

preach the gospel wherever his outpost was in

the world. But then we come to Paul's desperate

words here in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 10 where

he says, Demas has forsaken me. Demas has forsaken

me. Now the thing about this writing and the

timing of it is that Paul was, as we read in

the prior verses, reflecting upon his state of

life and where he was. He said, I finished the

race and my drink is, or he said, I'm about to.

Drink from the cup of affliction. You know, my

time of departure is at hand. These are the words

of a man who's beginning to understand that he's

at the end of the road. He's sitting in a Roman

prison cell awaiting execution. And as his ministry

and his life is sunsetting, he's beginning to

look around him at the men who he hopes and believes

are going to take the baton and carry the gospel

forward without him. So for Paul, this is a very

crucial moment in time. He's writing as a spiritual

father. He's writing as an apostle. And he's

looking around at the men that he had trained

and mentored, possibly even won to the Lord.

And he's looking for the next generation, perhaps

of young believers who are going to take the

dream and carry it forward. He's looking at...

his Timothys, and he's looking at his John Marks,

and his Lukes, and he was also looking for this

man named Demas. But as he looked around himself,

even from that prison cell, he looked around

in the spirit, he looked around at what he had

available, and he come to realize that Demas

was nowhere to be found. Just when Paul needed

him the most. At that crucial moment of transition,

that crucial passing of the torch of truth, he's

looking for Demas, the next in line, the next

preacher of the gospel, the next leader of his

family, and he can't find him. And he realizes

that a man with so much potential, so much going

for him, so much in his favor, come up in the

right place, had everything. in his favor was

nowhere to be found. And this must have broken

his heart to realize that whatever investment

he had made in this man, we don't know if he

was a young man, we assume so, was for naught.

But the question today that I want us to think

about, and I believe God has laid this message

on my heart for somebody today here or somebody

who is watching that. We need to look at this

example of Demas because I've got some questions

for him today. I'd like to ask Demas, how does

someone go from having so much going for him,

all this promise, all this momentum, all this

built up anticipation, end up going in the wrong

direction? How does that happen? How do you go

from being on the... I mean, he was on the flyer

with Paul. Aren't those AI flyers getting really

good nowadays or not? I imagine that if AI was

there, man, Demas, he ripped up together a nice

AI flyer with him and Paul. Preaching the next

revival together. I mean, he was right there

with him. Can't get any closer. He served with

him. Labored together with him. So how does someone

go? From that direction. And make a complete

180 turn in the opposite direction. So that Paul

tells us the answer when he writes in that one

desperate verse. In verse 10 he says the answer

to us because he had loved this present world.

Someone say the world. And this is what I call

the Demas dilemma. The Demas dilemma says this

to us. That it doesn't matter. How long you've

been serving the Lord, how many years you have

in this, or what you know, what you've experienced.

The Demas dilemma tells us that no matter where

you are in your faith and your walk with God,

if we're not careful, no one in this place today,

no one under the sound of my voice today is without

the Demas dilemma. Every one today is susceptible.

Every one of us from the top to the bottom. From

the first to the last. Every one of us is not

immune to the demon's dilemma. And this is what

it is. The demon's dilemma is the friction that

we feel between the call of God and the pull

of the world. Somebody say amen. When your commitment

points one way. but your affections pull you

another. And I wish I could tell you today that

the Demas dilemma goes away after some time.

That if you could just serve God for X number

of years, the Demas dilemma goes away. I wish

I could tell you that after a certain milestone,

that after, you know, you get your Bible college

degree or... You know, after you get married

or start a family or after you become a preacher

or a leader, that the demon's dilemma just wipes

away. But I've come to tell you that no matter

who you are, where you are in your faith today,

we all must guard ourselves to the very end from

the demon's dilemma. Because the devil's never

going to give up. Hello, somebody. Can I talk

to you today like a pastor? Amen. I said the

devil's never going to give up. Because he understands

that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

He's never going to give up. He's never going

to stop trying to lure and entice you with something

that he hopes will replace the calling of God

and the serving of the Lord in your life. Amen.

It's never going to stop. It's never going to

quit. So when you want to follow God's lead,

you're always going to be faced with the demon's

dilemma. Is somebody here today? Find themselves

right square in the middle of it. You're in a

moment in your life where the demon's dilemma

has never been more real. As from day to day,

you're struggling in your faith, in your spirit,

to stay on the right track with God. And to continue

serving Him with gladness. To press forward in

His will. To stay in prayer. To stay in His Word.

So many distractions. So many allures. So many

things that can come hoping that the enemy hopes

will take us away from our ultimate purpose in

God. And sooner or later, that struggle in your

heart can lead to double -mindedness, can lead

to a division of heart. Sooner or later, it starts

to mess with your mind and the choices that you're

making and the direction of your life and the

decisions that you're making. And sooner or later,

the demon's dilemma. the demon spirit will begin

to work on you and cause you to even doubt that

God ever called you in the first place. Cause

you to second guess his hand, his anointing upon

your life, upon your family, upon your marriage.

Starting to wonder if perhaps, perhaps you've

got it wrong. Or perhaps there's something else

out there that is better than what you've got

in here. Well, let me tell you today that the

devil is a liar. Because there is nothing out

there in the world that can ever possibly compete

or compare to what we have in Jesus. Why don't

you give the Lord a hand praise today? But this

brings me to a very foundational truth that if

I have time, I want to just, I want to break

this down for you. I need to share my heart.

I don't know if this will be an hour running

message by the end of it, but I do know this,

that God has placed a burden in my heart for

every one of you. Because it's not the will of

God that you should miss out on your destiny,

that you should have to give up the things that

God has called you to live. But here's the foundational

truth, is that what you love, what you love will

eventually lead you. Someone say, what I love.

What do you love? Whatever it is that you love

will ultimately lead you. You see, love has its

own laws of physics. It has its own gravitational

pull. Whatever you love, whatever captures your

heart, your affection, will eventually pull your

life in its direction. This applies to every

aspect of our life. Every aspect of our life,

whatever it is that we love, or whoever it is

that we love, will pull us in their direction.

It applies to relationships, to hobbies, careers,

ambitions, amusements. In our walk with God,

whatever it is, whatever we love, will in time

begin to pull us closer and closer to its proximity.

To the point to now we are in its orbit. We are

in its circle. What do we love? What we love,

think about it for a moment, it gets our attention.

What you love gets your attention. You know what

else it gets? It gets your energy. You ever notice

you don't have to motivate somebody to do something

they love? Some of you love golf. Amen. I'm not

here to pick on that. Don't worry. Uh -oh. Don't

touch the clubs, brother. I'd rather you have

golf clubs than be other clubs, all right? If

you're going to be clubbing, you might as well

be on the golf course. Swing in the club, you

know what I'm saying? And that's what you love.

Nobody has to motivate you. If I call one of

you and say, hey, tomorrow, you know what you're

going to do? You're going to clear your calendar.

I had a meeting. I'm going to get myself out

of it. Why? Because you love that. Hey, that's

all right. There's some things that you love.

You'll clear your calendar. It gets your energy

when you love it. Isn't that right? It gets your

time. You know what else it gets sometimes? It

gets your money. Man, I lost you right there,

praise God. You ever notice? How hard it is to

pay for things you don't love? Man, it hurts.

But you notice how easy it is to open up your

wallet, forget about the cost, and pay when you

love it? You don't even look at the price tag.

Huh? The card is going to get approved because

you love it. Right? No convincing involved. You

had a 10 -second conversation with yourself,

and you and yourself came into an agreement.

You deserve it. Jesus said that wherever your

treasure is, there your heart will be also. They're

tied together, inseparable. So it's no wonder

that the things we love, we're willing to invest

our time, amen, our energy, our strength, our

emotion, our money, and we give it no second

thought because we love it. Now I want to ask

you a question. What would happen? If we were

the same way with God. Hallelujah. He'd get your

attention like nothing else. He'd get your energy

like nothing else. He'd get your time like nothing

else. And your money like nothing else. Someone

say everything. I don't want to get ahead of

myself here. Let me deal with this. Because,

you see, your heart is pulling you in a direction

right now. Even as I speak, your hearts are being

pulled in competing directions. And there's a

struggle. There's a friction within yourself.

That which you want to do, you don't do. And

that which you don't want to do, you do. Paul

described it. He said, oh, wretched man that

I am. Who could deliver me from this body? Because

I'm constantly being pulled in directions that

my spirit doesn't really need to go and want

to go. But what begins to happen is... is that

as we begin to feed those desires, what it does,

it just grows the passion and the love for that

thing. And so one of the things we've got to

understand, if you're going to serve God, if

you're going to make it, if you're going to endure

to the end as a believer, hallelujah, which I

believe you want to do, amen, it's not enough

just to get taken out of the world. No, let me

tell you what true conversion is today. True

conversion. It's not taking a person out of the

world, but taking the world out of the person.

It's not pulling somebody out of the world. That's

only part of it. But it's to be delivered from

the love and the passion for the things of the

world. You can change how you talk, how you act,

even how you look, but it won't last until you

change what's in your heart. Until I get my love

affair with the thing or the world or the things

of the world out of my heart, then there's always

going to be this existential threat to what God

is calling me to do. Until I remove that passion,

that longing, that allure from my heart and get

the world out of my system so that all that I

want is God, then I'm constantly going to be

in that state of struggle. So I need God. to

renovate my heart. That's the main issue and

why people struggle to grow. They want more of

God, but their heart keeps pulling them towards

what they secretly love. And today, I believe

the Holy Spirit has placed this message in my

heart today for somebody who you've been struggling

and you've been dealing with that thing that's

trying to pull you away. And when we hear the

world, sometimes we think of, you know, just...

All sorts of things come to mind. But let me

tell you about this thing that we call the world.

The love of the world will pull you away from

Christ. The love of the world. Now, I understand

we live in this world. We don't live on Mars.

We live on Earth. Amen? Elon Musk is trying to

get us to go to Mars. I ain't trying to go there.

I'm happy right here until I go to heaven. Praise

God. Amen? This is the world that we live in.

We live in it. but we can live in it and not

be of it. Hello, somebody. When the Scripture

speaks of the world, it's talking about the culture

around us, the way it thinks, what it values,

how it lives. It's talking about the system of

secular society, which more often than not contradicts

the Word of God. The ideals of the world class

with the Word of God. Because it's under the

influence of the God of this world. God with

a little g. The Bible calls Satan the God of

this age. The God of this world. And the world,

since he's the God, little g, of this world,

that means that what you see in the world is

value systems, is priorities, is a reflection

of his kingdom and not God's. That's why the

church is so important. Amen? Because we're called

out of darkness into his marvelous light. But

Satan works to lie, deceive, and enslave people

in sin. He seeks to twist God's original design

for every part of life. You look out to the world

and its principles, its morals, quote unquote,

its priorities, its values. eventually it starts

to look like the exact opposite of what God intended

it to be. Just take marriage, for example. The

world takes God's original design for marriage

and it twists it to say that you can marry whoever

you want. Sexuality, it says you can love whoever

you want and be and call yourself whatever you

want. It takes pure things. beautiful things

that God designed and created for us to enjoy

as his people and perverts and twists those things

and calls it success. Are you with me? And calls

it the good life and calls it whatever it is

that your heart desires, you can have it. It

does that with money, with pleasure, with success.

And this is why John in his writing warns us,

do not, love the world or the things of the world.

Somebody say amen today. If anyone loves the

world, watch what he said. This is important.

If anyone loves the world, then the love of the

Father is not in him. He said you cannot love

the world and its things and claim to have the

Father's love in you at the same time. You cannot

have it both ways. Are you hearing me? You cannot

say, I love the world, whether through your actions,

through your decisions, through your heart, and

say, I love God too. You cannot serve. This is

what the Lord said. No one can serve two masters,

for he will hate the one and love the other.

The world is competing for your heart, because

whoever has your heart will rule your life. And

Jesus said that your heart cannot serve two masters.

Whatever you love is what's ultimately going

to rule you. Whatever you love is ultimately

going to lead you. Whatever you love is ultimately

going to define what success is to you. What

it looks like. And Satan wants us to love the

things of the world. He wants us to love what

the world loves so that he can rule and destroy

God's purpose in our life. And let me tell you

today. He's not going to show you a picture of

pain and heartache. Hello. He's not going to

show you a picture of destruction. He's not going

to show you a picture of ruin. He's not going

to show you a picture of calamity. He's not going

to show you a picture of disease and sickness.

He's going to show you an enticing picture. He's

going to show you what you are missing out on.

He's going to show you of what you could be doing

if you weren't so involved in church. He's going

to show you how good life can be if you would

just dial it back a little bit on your commitment

to church and to God. Come on. He's going to

show you what it is that you can have if you

would just give a little less to the Lord's work

and a little more to something else. He's going

to show you what kind of life you can live, whether

it's a life of comfort, ease, whether it's a

life of peace. promiscuity, a life of pleasure,

a life of luxury or success or acceptance by

the world's standards. He's going to make you

feel like never before, like a misfit or an oddball

in this world so that you might feel some kind

of pressure to fit in to the buddies on the job

or to your friends at school. He's going to do

whatever he can to get you to feel like you're

missing out on something that's out there. And

then if you just lower your standard a little

bit and just lower your temperature a little

bit in the things of God, then you can have maybe

the best of both worlds and dip your toe into

a little bit of pleasure and dip your toe into

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

until you realize that you're not just dipping

your toe into a little pool of inviting water,

but you're dipping your toe into quicksand. And

the more you dip your toe into that thing, the

more it'll suck your light into it until eventually

it suffocates you. I know that this kind of preaching

is not in vogue in his child anymore, and it's

not going to get many clicks or likes on Facebook,

and I don't care about any of that. But because

I'm your pastor, and because I'm a shepherd,

and because I love you, I got to tell you, get

that love from the world out of your heart and

fall in love with Jesus like you've never loved

him before. Somebody give God some praise right

now. Hallelujah. Come on, somebody love him in

this house. Hallelujah. in this place. Why don't

you worship him for a few moments if you love

him? Thank you, Jesus. I love him with all of

my heart. He's all that I want. You can take

everything, but don't take my Jesus. You can

strip me of it all, but I'm still going to. How

many of you are still going to serve him? I'm

still going to love you, God. I don't serve you,

God, conditionally. I don't serve you based on

what you give me. The Lord gives and the Lord

takes away. But blessed be the name of the Lord.

I came into this world and naked I shall return.

You can't take nothing with you. John breaks

it down for us. Just give me a few more moments

of your time. Amen. If I can get a little more

help on the monitor here. Just a little more

volume. Hallelujah. Amen. I'm still trying to

get over that cold, too. Praise God. Don't worry.

I'm not contagious. Amen. I'm outside that window

now. Amen. But John breaks it down for us. He

said, all that is in the world, he says, the

lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and

the pride of life is not the Father but of this

world. It's not of the Father. And he lists them

for us. He said, this is what entraps people.

It's the lust of the flesh. It's that never -ending

pursuit of pleasure and self -gratification.

If you want it, you can have it kind of mentality.

Everything is at people's fingertips now. The

lust of the flesh. And we're battling that right

now. We're battling that right now. We've never

lived in such an instant gratification society

as we live right now. Can I be real with you

right now? Somebody say, go ahead. I want to

be respectful with what I say today. But there

used to be a time that if you wanted to watch

dirty things, you had to go to dirty places to

find them. I lost you right when I said that.

You had to go to dirty places. They would have

little sections in the liquor store, in the video

store, little curtain. But now, you don't have

to go anywhere for that. You know the only place

you got to go? You're not hearing me right now.

Nobody's saying nothing. Right here. And for

those of you that think I'm just talking about

what men struggle with, I'm talking about the

ladies too. Because you can spend binging on

romantic comedies and things and get tired in

minutes of prayer. But the devil knows if I can

just hook up with this, I can rob them and cheat

them out of the blessings of God. The lust of

the flesh is everywhere now. You had a problem

with spending and money. My God, Amazon just

made it worse. I wonder what some of your save

for later carts look like. Probably got a million

dollars worth of items and stuff. Saving it for

later. Huh? I know I'm touching on some toes

now. But we got a generation. Some of you, look,

I get it. I get it. Hallelujah. We got a generation

that needs to understand biblical economics.

That if my buying this, you know, thing that

was made somewhere and it gets to my house, you

know, in three days, if that's my offering money,

then I can't buy it. If that's cutting into my

tithe, brother, it belongs to the Lord. I'm going

to have to save for later. But there's one thing

to save for later. It's the blessings of God

right now. It's the goodness the Lord has made.

Rejoice and be glad in it. The lust of the eyes.

Oh, whatever it can possess. And the pride of

life. Oh, the pride of life. Well, we don't like

talking about that one, but that's the one that

catches many by surprise. Why? Because they're

in love with their own image. They're in love

with who you think they are. Not even who they

actually are. They're in love with themselves.

And their status and their recognition. You know,

Pastor, he didn't even acknowledge me today.

I put on my special shoes. I parted my hair the

other direction and he didn't even acknowledge

me. I thought he was going to sit me right in

the front with him. And we carry ourselves with

this sort of aura. We want preeminence. No, no,

no. Let's humble ourselves. And you say, you

know, I didn't come here to be recognized. Nothing

wrong with that. We all need a pat on the back

sometimes. I'm not saying that that doesn't have

its place. But the pride of life says, if I don't

get what I want, hmm, my God. If I don't get

control or this or that, then, you know, that

begins to take me away from the things of God.

This is how the world appeared to Demas. Thessalonica,

the Bible says, he writes, Paul. It makes me

wonder what kind of place Thessalonica was. It

wasn't just a city. It was a hub of luxury, comfort,

wealth, safety. In other words, it represents

everything that this world is trying to offer

us. Oh my God. And when you begin to love these

things, that affection will systematically erode.

Your devotion to Christ. It'll make serving him

harder. It'll make giving a treasury. It'll make

worship more difficult. Because you've got that

secret love in your heart. I don't know if Paul

saw it. Just give me a few more moments. I know

I keep saying that, but just a little bit more.

I know Paul, maybe he saw it in Demas' eyes.

Maybe he saw it the way that I have seen some

of you in my prayer time. Oh, I feel this in

my heart today. The way I have seen some of you

in my personal prayers. I have been calling out

to the Lord for some of you. Because perhaps

it's similar to the way that Paul looked at Demas

when he started noticing. It didn't just happen

overnight. It wasn't just from one day to the

next. Demon just said, forget this. I'm out of

here. I think it was a gradual fade. I think

it was a process where he noticed things about

demons. Demon said, you don't worship him the

way that you used to. You don't hit the altar

the way that you used to, demon. You're coming

up with more excuses now, demon. I'm noticing

that you're changing, and it's not for the good,

demon. You're allowing things to happen in your

life. Now you don't have time for God anymore.

You don't have time to give a Bible study. You

don't have time to log in for Bible study. You

don't have time to do this or that. Oh, hello.

But you've got time for everything else. But

the little things, the little things, you just

let that go. Nobody's going to miss me if I'm

not there. Church won't miss my. They won't miss

my praise. They won't miss my hand clap. They

won't miss me on the pew. The church won't miss

my dollar that I don't give. God will provide

something else. They won't miss me on that ministry.

God will raise up something. But let me tell

you, there's no replacement for Demas. Otherwise,

why would Paul, if you can come and get ready

to play, why would Paul be so intent on saying,

he has forsaken me. He's forsaken me. Having

loved this present. He's forsaken me. The only

way to stop loving the world is not to stop loving

the world. The only way to stop loving the world

is to love God more. Are you hearing me today?

Is to love God more. It's falling more in love

with him than you are with whatever that or whoever

that is. It's falling in love with him more.

You see, many are mistaken. They're trying. to

beat the world out of them, or they're trying

to, they're trying to erase, delete that desire.

I'm here to tell you, as long as you got red

blood flowing through your veins, that desire,

that lure is probably always going to be there.

I told you, it doesn't matter how long you've

been serving, doesn't matter how long you've

been, it's always going to be there. It's always

going to be present, your flesh. The answer is

not saying, well, if I could just stop loving

that. If I just wouldn't be into that, you're

fighting a losing battle. Chances are, if it's

something that appeals to you now, it's going

to appeal to you five years from now, for the

most part. And what believers commonly misunderstand

is that they think they can stop sinning by simply

convincing themselves to hate that particular

sin. They say, if I could just hate, if I could

just hate pornography. I'll stop watching it.

If it was that simple, anybody can do it. They

say, if I could just hate it, if I could just

hate lying or cheating, I would stop doing it.

If I can hate material things, I'd stop focusing

on them. My friend, that's only part of it. You

won't stop simply by trying to stop. Hear me

today. You won't stop that love. That enticement

is not going to stop simply because you want

it to stop or because you're trying to stop.

The only way is to replace that desire with something

greater. It's saying, my flesh wants to do this.

I love God more than I love whatever satisfaction

could come out of this thing. The choice. is

what do we love more? And if we would feed that

love for God, if we feed that desire in our flesh,

that thing in the world, that will grow. Sometimes

we wonder how the thing got so big. It didn't

get so big. How did it become a full -blown addiction?

How did it become? Because you fed it. You ever

notice that when you feed something, it grows?

Don't look at me like that, brother. When you

feed something, It grows. I can't figure, I can't

get rid of this problem. I can't get rid of this

temptation. I can't get rid, I keep going. You

keep feeding it. Well, why can't I pray more?

Or why can't I fast? Or why, you know, why am

I not more involved? And why am I not, because

you're not feeding. But if you would just begin

to feed your desire for God. Hallelujah. You

begin to feed it a little by little. Feed your

prayer life. Feed the word. Feed it. He said,

my word. Feed it. Man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word that proceeds out of

the mouth of God. Feed yourself. Feed your spirit.

And you will starve the flesh. Stand with me

today. Because remember, what you love, what

you love will eventually. Help us right now,

God. Somebody needs God's help right now. I feel

it in the Holy Ghost. Somebody needs God's help

right now. You've got things that you've been

secretly desiring. Things that you've been wavering

over. And you need to hear the voice of this

preacher today because God sent me here today

to wake you up. God sent me here today to tell

you that my friend, my brother, my sister, whatever

it is the devil's offering you, it's not worth

it. It's not worth it. I don't care how many

times that girl on the job or in the workplace

winks at you, smiles at you. Brother, it ain't

worth it. I don't care if she's been sliding

into your DMs and saying, it ain't worth it.

If you can't, I'm going to help somebody right

now. Somebody say, go ahead. If you can't control

it, cut it off. Pastor, I don't know. I put my

Instagram on mute and I decide I'm not going

to. But I just keep going back, and I keep looking

at the same things. And it just, you know, my

God, the algorithm just knows me at this point.

You know, it just knows what I want to see. The

devil has got to rebuke that algorithm. Things

just keep coming up, and I just, you know, and

I can't control it. I thought I had a grip on

it. I had a good week, but then I fell off the

wagon the week next. So you know what? So if,

brother, sister, so if you can't control it,

cut it off. Well, who said you needed Instagram

to live a life? I know a lot of people that don't

have Instagram that are happy. They may not have

that same struggle. It hasn't affected me that

way. But you've got to get honest with the Holy

Ghost today. Stop playing games with the Word

of God. Say, I can't control it, so I've got

to cut it off. I can't control myself when I'm

around that person. I can't control my flesh

when I'm around that person. I've tried. I've

tried to reduce it. I've tried to love them for

my distance. I've tried to do all this stuff,

but I still can't control it so respectfully.

You might have to, ah, my God. Every time I go

there, it brings out the worst in me. Then cut

it off. For some of you, it could be, hear me,

brother, it could be anything, anything. And

it's the Holy Ghost's job to reveal that to you

right now in prayer what that is. For some of

you, it's sports. That's your God. You need to

cut it off. Some other people, they can control

it. Yeah, you know, I don't mind a game here

or there. But for you, it's your religion. Cut

it off. Is this all right, brothers? I feel it.

Oh, hallelujah. Whatever is interfering with

your obedience to God. Would you close your eyes

right there? I feel the Holy Ghost working. God's

revealing. He's already, through the course of

this message, has revealed to you what that thing

is in your life. But right now, we're going to

pray anyhow because I feel the Holy Ghost just

beginning to navigate and probe somebody's heart

today. Probe your heart. Probe your heart. For

some, it's that spirit of... competition it's

that jealousy that that that envy in your spirit

that's you you dress it up you uh you you know

you doctor it up it doesn't look like what it

is but deep in your heart you're dealing with

jealousy and you start sister you're starting

to hate that other sister because you're jealous

of what she has or of what he has and so uh and

that's the way the world works you know the world

says step on each other and and the dog eat dog

and all that kind of stuff but that's not What

a child of God does. That's not what the kingdom

teaches us. So you might have to get that out

of your heart. I can't have this in my heart

anymore. I can't. God's revealing what that thing

is. He's revealing what that area of disobedience

is. He's revealing it to you right now with the

Holy Ghost. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,

hallelujah. Come on.