2 TIM.4:9-18 "A PREACHER’S HEARTBREAK"
* I want to bring a message tonight about a great man of God that was very strong and finally he
cried for help! * It was very unusual for Paul to cry out, "Please come to me quickly."
* Then he goes on and tells us why he is calling for help. * This got my attention when I
thought of all that happened to Paul & he never did cry for help from someone else!
* This got my attention when I thought of all that happened to Paul & never did he cry for help
from someone else! * V.9 "Hurry, come to me, I need your help!"
A) I wonder how the people that knew Paul so well must’ve felt when they got the message?
* They knew some of the things that Paul had already went through.
* Never before had they heard such a message come from this great man.
B) V.10 he tells why he is calling! * This broke his heart! * This was more than he could stand!
* The same thing that happened to Paul happens to every preacher!
* If there’s anything that weakens preachers is to see what Paul seen here!
* A man that promised to stand by him, & help him & support him, is gone. v.10
(1) PAUL HAD FOUGHT BATTLES & THE DEVIL HAD ATTACKED IN VARIOUS WAYS!
* Paul was a pulpit master! * Paul was no weakling; not lacking in power or in the anointing of
God! * Not lacking in education; vocabulary or in the ability to preach, instruct, & counsel!
* He could make decisions & carry them through, he could speak several different languages!
(2) LET’S CONSIDER THE CHANGE IN HIS LIFE! * Acts 9 talks of his conversion!
* His life changed! * If a person’s life hasn’t changed, he hasn’t been changed on the inside!
A) Your vocabulary will change - the places you go will change - the way you act will change.
* All of this will be spiritually transformed! * If your life hasn’t changed, your heart hasn’t changed!
B) After Paul had become a Christian, 5 times he was beaten with thirty nine stripes.
* He was persecuted more than any other Christian that I have ever read about!
* Twice he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned & left for dead, three times he suffered
shipwreck and he survived all this!
C) He was thrown in dungeons & he made no special cry for help!
* He could’ve become a martyr way back in his Christian life! * But he never cried for help!
D) He was in a lot of perils (danger; risk of damage, injury, or loss). * Perils of water;
* Perils of robbery; ...own countrymen; ...heathen; ...city; ...wilderness; ...sea; ...false brethren;
* ...weariness; ...painfulness; ...watchings; ...hunger & thirst; ...fastings often; cold & nakedness;
* Plus the burdens and cares of all the churches!
E) In all of this I don’t find one time Paul cried for someone to come to him and help him!
* I don’t believe there’s a person in this building would’ve went through what Paul did,
* But that we would’ve called for someone to help us!
F) When he was in prison at Philippi, he never asked anybody for a bondsman!
* He never cried for help! * You know what he did? * He prayed & sang praises to God!
* The jailer & his family got saved! * Acts 16:34 "...sat meat before them."
G) Paul was brought before rulers with chains & fetters, led in like a prisoner because they hated
the way that he preached! * Chained before King Agrippa, didn’t call for a way out!
* But he told ’em about Jesus and how He saved him!
(3) I WOULD LIKE TO PARAPHRASE THIS! * They brought him in & began to question him
in their political way. * I can hear them as they make their accusations.
* They looked at him, he didn’t look troubled. * He had a smile on his face, no doubt!
A) He had lost weight from being in prison for so long, his beard had grown out, face was pale.
* They thought, "We’ve got him now, he’ll stop preaching & talking about this man Jesus now!"
* They stood him before the crowd & they said, "Paul we like you, we want to work with you,
we want to cooperate with you, but you’re not too cooperative,
* when it comes to this preaching business & this man Jesus that you talk so much about."
* "Now, we’re gonna put you in prison; is there anything you want to say for yourself?"
B) Paul said with a smile on his face, "Yea, there’s one thing I’d like to say."
* "You see, I was a sinner going to hell. But I was on my way to Damascus & was saved."
* They said, "Paul, stop that foolishness!" * "We’ve done everything we know to do."
C) They put him in prison. * After a while they brought him back out and said,
* "Paul, we’re gonna cut your head off, we’re gonna take your life, we don’t know anything else
to do. Prison don’t stop you, nothing else stops you, Paul, we’re gonna kill you!"
D) They tried to reason with him; court room full! * They looked over at this great man of God,
* Anointed of God, stood for right, didn’t back up not one bit; and said,
* "Paul, is there anything you want to say now that you know you’re going to the chopping block?"
* And Paul, without fear in his heart, knowing that Jesus is there, he looked over & smiled & said,
* "Yea, there’s one thing I’d like to say," * He said, "I was a sinner on my way to hell, but ..."
E) They said, "Paul, shut up! Is there anything you want to say in defense of yourself?"
* He said, "Yea, let me tell you one more time, I was lost & on my way to hell! But Jesus ..."
F) They looked at one another & said, "What are we gonna do with a man like that?"
* Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth ......."
* King Agrippa said, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
G) The reason Paul was like the way he was is because he was personally evangelized by the Lord
Jesus Himself! * He was taught doctrine, given visions, he made known the mysteries of God!
* Remember what he said in 1 Cor. 15:51 "Behold, I show you a mystery ......."
(4) BUT PAUL POURS OUT HIS SOUL IN MY TEXT TONIGHT!
* He went through all of this & never cried for help, but listen at him now!
* "Come to me shortly; hurry, I’ve got a problem!" * What’s the matter Paul?
A) I think Paul cries from the depth of his heart, "Demas hath forsaken me having loved ..."
* Doesn’t it sound like Paul was heartbroken?
* He was faced with a problem that all of his capabilities couldn’t handle!
* Demas, backslid on God, left Paul to bear the burden alone! * I don’t think any preacher
can handle this kind of problem! * To see people walk out on God!
B) You just don’t know the burden on a Pastor’s heart, when he sees people one time shouting
the victory, the next time you see them you ask, "Where are they at?"
* People come up to the pastor all the time & say, "Where is ....... They were such a blessing ..."
* "He has forsaken us, out there in the world the lights flashed, temptations were great, they laid
down the cross!" * No preacher can handle this kind of problem well; even Paul!
C) God will not keep you against your will; living right and doing right, you choose that!
* If God could, He would; if a preacher could, he would!
D) This is the greatest problem that preachers have! * We bow and pray sometimes;
* "Lord, some of the best people I’ve got have forsaken me!"
E) Leaving is always hard - it breaks hearts! * We don’t like to see it! * Paul said, "I need you!"
* I’m sure Demas and Paul talked and fellowshiped a lot together.
* Talked about the new birth, resurrection, the second coming.
F) He lost sight of heaven & how wonderful it is, and hell & how horrible it is.
* They worked together! * Now Demas is gone! * Why? Because his affections had changed!
* He liked the dazzling lights in the world! * His love for the world got bigger than his love for God!
G) I’ve seen people get so involved in other things that they lose sight of spiritual things!
* This is what Paul saw in Demas, he loved this present world! * It broke Paul’s heart!
* The gospel had lost it’s thrill to Demas! * If I ever get to the point that I’d rather go to other
places than to church, point me to an altar and tell me to repent of my sins!
H) Something is wrong in your life if you had rather do other things while church is going on!
* If you had rather sit at home on Wed. night, something is wrong in your heart!
* The church wasn’t important to Demas anymore, revival meetings wasn’t important anymore.
* Heaven lost all of it’s beauty to him, & hell lost all of it’s horror!
CLOSE
A) It’s sad to see a man backslid & out in the world, out of church & away from God!
* But it’s also sad to see that spiritual leader who loves that person with a broken heart saying
"What can I do?"
B) This is the only thing in all of Paul’s problems that he ever cried for help!
* "Please come to me, hurry, I need your help!" * What’s wrong Paul?
* This is the first time you hollered for help; what’s so bad?
* Paul said, "Demas hath forsaken me ......."
C) I’m sure it grieves the heart of God as much as it does preachers!
* How faithful are you? * How loyal are you? * How committed are you?
* How dedicated are you? * Don’t it bother you? * It bothers your pastor!
D) I see some of you just once a week, some I never see on Wednesday night prayer meeting!
* Be faithful, be loyal, be committed, be dedicated!
* When you stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, you’ll be glad that you were faithful,
* You were loyal, you were committed, you were dedicated!
