Sermon - Lessons From Demas (The Temptation Of Ease)

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.