Sermon – Lessons from Demas
Scripture Lesson - 2 Timothy 4:9-18 “Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said. The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.”
Introduction: One can hear the pain, loss, and desertion in Paul’s final words. What causes people to leave you? Why does it hurt so much? Hebrews 10:25 cautions believers by saying, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Believers are encouraged to support one another. Paul's mentality of being involved in a local church is clear. He wrote, “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” Christians are motivated to spend time together because of our love for each other. Yet, sometimes Christians abandon one another.
Demas was a preacher mentioned by the Apostle Paul in this lesson and appears to have been involved for a time in his ministry. Demas is mentioned in three of the Pauline epistles: In Philemon he is mentioned as a "fellow worker". In Colossians he is mentioned along with Luke. Yet he deserted Paul and left him. What happened to Demas? We don't know. All we know is that some of the last words the Apostle Paul wrote before his Roman execution expressed a heartbreak: “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”
Barnes commentary states, “Having loved this present world” does not mean, necessarily, that… he loved the honors or wealth of this world; but it means that he desired to live. He was not willing to stay with Paul, and subject himself to the probabilities of martyrdom; and, in order to secure his life, he departed to a place of safety… That he desired to live longer; that he was unwilling to remain and risk the loss of life, is indeed clear. That Paul was pained by his departure, and that he felt lonely and sad, is quite apparent; but I see no evidence that Demas was influenced by what are commonly called worldly feelings, or that he was led to this course by the desire of wealth, or fame, or pleasure.”
Our society tends to blame adverse behavior on our environment, or on circumstances and events around us, but we seldom, if ever, take personal responsibility for our own actions. We must remember that Judas and John had the same mentor. One of the most haunting passages of Scripture in Paul's epistles, and one that probably caused him to weep over as he wrote, is found in 2Tim. 4:10: 'Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica.'
The apostle Paul was a “people person.” He ministered to people, he trained people, he prayed for people. When one of those people, whom he had poured his life into, deserted him, he must have felt devastated and alone. This seems to be reflected in the next verse when he wrote, “Only Luke is with me” (4:11). Please know this feeling of abandonment is not reserved for Paul alone. All of us may experience people who we love and count on walking away for any reason. The Lord will not abandon us. Let us examine the life of Demas and see what lessons we can learn from his departure.
The Scriptures do not explicitly state where Demas was from. Some have inferred from the desertion passage that his departure to Thessalonica implies that he was returning to his hometown. If that is the case, he was originally from Thessalonica.
If Demas is from Thessalonica, it would be interesting to compare his life with that of Aristarchus. Both of these men were from Thessalonica, both may have been from the aristocracy and probably had some wealth, both were trained by the Apostle Paul, yet both men went in different spiritual directions. Why? It is not because of environment, circumstances, or even teaching: it’s because the individual chose to go in the spiritual direction that he wanted and would bear the consequence of his decision.
Demas first appears in the Bible when he was in Rome during the Apostle Paul’s first imprisonment. Paul is under house arrest in his rented house and is allowed visitors. In the last chapter of the Book of Colossians there are at least eight believers with Paul at this time who are known by the saints in Colossia. Six of them send their greetings to the church there, five of them will send their personal greetings to Philemon at Colossae as well. Two other brothers, Tychicus and Onesimus, will take the letters back to the Church.
The two greetings provide small details about Demas. In Colossians, he is listed with Luke and Epaphras, where they are set in contrast with the three Jewish believers, Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus, mentioned previously. This passage seems to indicate that Demas was a Gentile.
In the greetings to Philemon, Demas is referred to as a fellow laborer with Paul (Philemon 24). The word “fellow laborer” or a co-worker, those words implies that two people are working closely together as partners, sharing work and responsibility. Demas was a “close confidant of Paul, sharing the Apostle’s vision of winning the world for God. Apparently, Demas was a visiting missionary to the region because Philemon seem to know him.
The Apostle Paul wrote that Demas “forsook him.” The Greek word ‘forsaken’ means ‘to abandon, desert, leave in straits, leave helpless, leave in the lurch, let one down.’” We have no Scriptural record of what happened to Demas after he got to Thessalonica.
His Love for this present world is not clearly defined, yet scholars feel Demas loved life and did not want to risk being martyred. Paul does not tell us what aspect of the present world system Demas loved. He does not say if it is fame, fortune, or the gratification of the flesh. I believe the reason that the Apostle Paul does not tell us any details as to what Demas did “loving this present world” was two-fold. First, he did not want to embarrass his fellow laborer any further, saying that he forsook Paul was bad enough. But second, Demas’ life could be instructive to other believers and serve as a caution to other believers. Our decisions are ours alone, but our decisions always affect those serving with us. Paul could have commented further, but simply shared how it made him feel.
The Apostle John wrote to believers in Asia Minor: “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever” (I John 2:15-17).
John uses the same word for “love” (agape) that Paul uses in II Tim. 4:10. However, he uses a different Greek word for world. In the epistle to Timothy, Paul uses “aiona” (the concept of “periods of time” comes from this word), while John uses “kosmos which means aspects of time. The questions that should be raised from this distinction are: “Are believers in the Lord Jesus living for time, or eternity?” And, “are Christians living for this world, or Thy Kingdom to come?”
The Christian should view the “world” as often used in the New Testament, as a moral and spiritual system, in both time and space, which is designed to draw the believer in the Lord Jesus away from his or her love for the Lord and any service that might be rendered to Him.
This world system has only three allurements to draw the believer away from his or her love for the Lord. First, there is the lust of the flesh, second, the lust of the eyes, and finally, the pride of life. The first, the lust of the flesh, has to do with the gratification of the flesh (what makes me feel good physically). The second category is the lust of the eyes (what possessions I want to make me happy). The final category is pride of life (what I want to be). This is the arrogance that one has when they boast about themselves, their accomplishments, or their possessions. Whatever, “Demas’ love of the world” might have been, fell into at least one of these three categories. This observation causes some to assume Demas left God. Yet Apostle Paul said, “Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica.”
Satan has used the lust of flesh, the lust of the eye and pride of life to tempt all mankind since Adam and Eve were tempted to disobey the Lord God in the Garden of Eden. In the most perfect conditions humans ever lived, Satan came to Eve, disguised as a serpent, and cast doubt on the Word of God, and then he blatantly challenged the Word of God. So when Eve “saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh), that it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and a tree desirable to make one wise (pride of life), she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate”.
On the other hand, the Lord Jesus, after He was baptized, was tested by the Devil in the most imperfect conditions for forty days. In the Gospel of Luke, the Lord Jesus is presented as the Perfect Man, the Last Adam who overcame the temptation of Satan and won the victory. The first testing by Satan was to challenge the Lord Jesus to turn the stone into bread (Luke 4:2-4). Here was the lust of the flesh, the desire to have physical food while He was fasting. But, Jesus answered Satan from the Word of God saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” He was quoting Deut. 8:3.
In the second testing, Satan takes the Lord Jesus to a high mountain and shows Him all the kingdom of the world and says they could all be the Lord’s if only He would bow down and worship Satan (Luke 4:5-8). Satan tested Him with the lust of the eyes because there was the desire to see and covet that which was not His. This world system was under the dominion of Satan. Yet again, Jesus quotes from the Word of God: “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Deut. 6:13; 10:20).
The final testing, Satan takes the Lord Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and says: “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here” and then he proceeds to misquote Psalm 91:11, 12. Here was an attack on the deity of the Lord Jesus. He was the Son of God. Yet Satan was attacking with the “pride of life.”
Interestingly, Jesus passed the same three tests, in the most imperfect conditions, that Adam and Eve failed, in the most perfect conditions in the Garden of Eden. What was the secret of His victory? First, Luke tells us that the Lord Jesus was filled with the Spirit. Second, He knew and used the word of God against Satan each time He was tested. This should be an encouragement for every believer to be filled with the Spirit and to put on the whole armor of God, which includes the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Why Demas went to Thessalonica, and what he did there is not revealed in the Scriptures. Hanson in his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles said, “Demas became a priest of a pagan temple at Thessalonica. On what authority he says this we do not know”. If this footnote is true, the allurement that Demas fell for was the pride of life.
John Chrysostom, suggests that “Demas having loved his own ease and security from danger, chose rather to live luxuriously at home, than to suffer hardships” apparently with Paul. If this is the case, the allurement that Demas fell for was the lust of the flesh because he wanted the easy life.
W. F. Boyd speculations: “In this case the prospect of civil honors may have been the reason which led him to abandon the hardships and dangers of the Apostle’s life and return to Thessalonica, where his family may have held positions of influence”. If this is the case, the allurement that enticed Demas was again the pride of life.
Polycarp hints that Demas did not want to be a martyr, so he abandoned Paul in Rome just before he was executed. If this is the case, the allurement that enticed Demas was the pride of life. He valued his earthy life more than receiving the crown of life.
What Would Jesus Say about Demas? Jesus gives a series of parables from a boat on the Sea of Galilee. While speaking to the multitude, He spots a farmer sowing seeds on the hillside. He says, “Let me tell you about the four different types of soil that the seed is falling onto. The first soil was actually the road that runs along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Here, the birds of the air ate the seeds. The second soil was the stony ground. The seeds sprouted for a short while until the heat of the sun scorched the plant and it withered away. The third soil that the seeds fell on was the thorny ground. Here the thorns eventually choked the plants. The final soil that the seeds fell on was good soil and the plants produced 30, 60 and 100 fold.” Later, when Jesus interpreted this parable to His disciples, He said of the second soil, that when tribulation and persecution came, some believers would stumble. Of the third soil, He said that because of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, the word of God is choked in the life of some believers, and they become unfruitful. Demas “loving this present world” would fall in either the second or third soils. This was not the normal Christian life, but rather, the sub-normal Christian Life. The fourth soil was the normal Christian life, producing fruit in the life of the believer.
In the context of Paul’s statement of Demas abandoning him, Paul declares his impending martyrdom. Demas was with Paul when he wrote the epistle to the church at Colossae. He should have recalled the words that Paul penned when he wrote: “If (or, since) then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4).
What can we learn from this lesson, believers in the Lord Jesus should not emulate the life of Demas. Yet there are at least three things we can learn from the life of this wayward believer.
1. Live Life with an Eternal Perspective. First, we should have an eternal perspective on life and not love this present world system that is out to trip us up and draw us away from our love for the Lord and His Word. This world system is passing away, so this should encourage us to live for the Kingdom to come and eternal rewards. Our faith in Christ enables us to live in hope—confidence that He is returning soon to complete our salvation. Our faith in Christ also motivates us to love—to serve others as representatives of Him who laid His life down for them, and to urge them to be reconciled to Him before He returns.
2. Live Life With the Realization that No Christian is Immune from this Temptation. The second thing we can learn from Demas is that no Christian is immune from loving this present world and leaving the Lord’s work and the Lord’s people in an effort to avoid hardships. Paul wrote and admonished the Corinthian believers: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (I Cor. 10:12). The allurement of this world falls into three categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The Lord Jesus was tested the same way, yet He passed the tests with flying colors because He was filled with the Spirit and used the Word of God when Satan attacked. Paul went on to tell the Corinthian believers: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (I Cor. 10:13). We should be looking for that escape hatch when temptation comes. Believers should also realize that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, and that we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Tit. 2:12).
3. Live Life in View of the Hope of Christ’ Return. The third lesson we can learn from the life of Demas is that the hope of the Lord’s return should change the way we live now. If Demas continued in his love for the world, he would eventually be ashamed at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ because he would stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ and his works would be made manifest. At this point, he would have his new, sin-free body, and would say to himself: “Why did I waste my life? I was living for time, but not eternity, living for this world and not the Kingdom to come!” On the other hand, if Demas had lived in light of the return of Christ, this would have provided a purifying hope for him because he knew that one day he would be just like the Lord Jesus. He would begin to live now in light of eternity, and for rewards in the Kingdom to come (1John 2:28-3:3). The songwriter, Raymond Rasberry says it this way:
“You may build great cathedrals large or small, you can build skyscrapers grand and tall, you may conquer all the failures of the past, but only what you do for Christ will last.
Remember only what You do for Christ will last. Remember only what you do for Christ will last, only what you do for Him will be counted at the end; only what you do for Christ will last.
You may seek earthly power and fame, the world might be impressed by your great name, soon the glories of this life will all be past, but only what you do for Christ will last.
Though your armies may control each hemisphere, and your orbits out in space cause men to cheer, your scientific knowledge may be vast, but only what you do for Christ will last.
Though your song and prayers are heard and praised by man, they've no meaning unless you've been born again, sinner, heed these words, don't let this harvest pass, for only what you do for Christ will last.
Chorus: Remember only what You do for Christ will last. Remember only what you do for Christ will last, only what you do for Him will be counted at the end; only what you do for Christ will last.”
We are to live in light of the Judgment Seat of Christ and let this sobering truth change the way we live today. So, Live Your Life with an Eternal Perspective. Live with eternity in view. Live Your Life With the Realization that No Christian is Immune from this Temptation. Even Jesus prayed let this cup pass from me. Paul prayed, Lord, “remove this thorn from me”, yet they resisted the call of ease and follow God to the end. Finally, Live Your Life in the Hope of Christ’ Return being faithful until the end. Paul said, “Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.”
Remember only what You do for Christ will last. Remember only what you do for Christ will last, only what you do for Him will be counted at the end; only what you do for Christ will last.” AMEN
