Demas Has Forsaken Me

Text: 2 Timothy 4:10
Series: Sermons 2001 Rewritten
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository

Learning Objectives

1. Explain who Demas was and why his desertion is spiritually serious.
2. Show that loving “this present world” can pull a Christian away from Christ, brethren, and faithful service.
3. Identify the danger of misplaced love, rejected lordship, damaged influence, and apostasy.
4. Apply Demas’ warning to Christians, families, preachers, and congregations today.
5. Call sinners to obey the gospel and Christians to remain faithful instead of deserting Christ.

Thesis

Demas warns every Christian that love for this present world can turn a servant into a deserter, and no one can abandon faithful service without first misplacing his love and rejecting the rule of Christ.

Introduction.

1. Abandonment hurts. a. It hurts in families. b. It hurts in friendships. c. It hurts in the work of the Lord.
2. Being left behind is not only inconvenient. a. It can leave a man stranded. b. It can leave work unfinished. c. It can leave wounds that are not quickly forgotten.
3. Paul knew that pain. a. He was near the end of his life. b. He was imprisoned. c. He needed faithful workers around him.
4. Then he wrote the words of 2 Timothy 4:10. a. “For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me.” b. Few words. c. Heavy words.
5. Demas was not a stranger to the work. a. Colossians 4:14 names him among Paul’s companions. b. Philemon 24 calls him a fellow worker. c. But in 2 Timothy 4:10 he is a deserter.
6. The warning is direct. a. A man can begin well and end badly. b. A worker can become a deserter. c. Love for the world can pull a Christian away from Christ.

I. Demas Was a Fellow Worker Who Became a Deserter.

A. Demas had once stood close to faithful men.

1. Colossians 4:14 says, “Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.” a. Demas was known among Paul’s circle. b. He was connected with the work. c. He was not introduced as an enemy.
2. Philemon 24 lists Demas among Paul’s fellow workers. a. The language is honorable. b. He had been involved in the labor. c. He had stood with men serving Christ.
3. That makes 2 Timothy 4:10 more painful. a. This is not an outsider rejecting truth. b. This is a man who had been near the work. c. This is a fellow worker leaving.

B. Paul says Demas deserted him.

1. The word carries the idea of abandoning or leaving behind. a. Demas did not merely travel. b. Demas did not leave on a faithful assignment. c. Paul names his departure as desertion.
2. Paul contrasts Demas with other departures. a. Crescens went to Galatia. b. Titus went to Dalmatia. c. Demas deserted because he loved this present world.
3. The text gives the cause. a. Not sickness. b. Not imprisonment by force. c. Not a providential hindrance. d. Love for this present world.

C. Desertion of brethren reveals deeper desertion of Christ.

1. Demas deserted Paul, but the larger issue was spiritual. a. Paul was Christ’s apostle. b. The work was Christ’s work. c. To abandon that work for the world was to turn from the Lord’s service.
2. Matthew 10:40 shows the weight of receiving Christ’s messengers. a. Jesus said the one who receives His messengers receives Him. b. Apostolic work was not ordinary human enterprise. c. Demas walked away from holy labor.
3. The church must learn the warning. a. Leaving brethren may be the visible act. b. Leaving Christ may be the deeper reality. c. Desertion usually begins in the heart before it appears in the feet.

II. Demas Had Misplaced Love.

A. Paul says Demas loved this present world.

1. Second Timothy 4:10 names the root. a. His problem was love. b. His love had shifted. c. The world became more attractive than faithfulness.
2. “This present world” stands against the eternal hope of Christ. a. It is temporary. b. It is passing. c. It demands loyalty it cannot reward eternally.
3. First John 2:15–17 gives the same warning. a. Do not love the world. b. The world is passing away. c. The one who does the will of God lives forever.

B. The last days are marked by disordered love.

1. Second Timothy 3:1–5 describes difficult times. a. Lovers of self. b. Lovers of money. c. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
2. The problem is not that men love nothing. a. They love the wrong things. b. They love them in the wrong order. c. They love them more than God.
3. Demas fits the warning. a. He had religious association. b. He had opportunity for service. c. But his love for the present world pulled him away.

C. God demands first love.

1. Matthew 22:37 says to love God with all the heart, soul, and mind. a. Not leftover love. b. Not occasional love. c. Not love beneath worldly appetite.
2. John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” a. Love is not merely speech. b. Love obeys. c. Love remains when service becomes hard.
3. Revelation 2:4–5 warns a church that left its first love. a. Remember. b. Repent. c. Do the deeds done at first.
4. Demas shows what happens when love is not guarded. a. The world grows larger. b. Christ is treated as less urgent. c. Faithfulness is traded for something passing away.

III. Demas Rejected the Rule of Christ by Choosing the Present World.

A. Every life has a master.

1. Romans 6:16 says we are slaves of the one we obey. a. Sin results in death. b. Obedience results in righteousness. c. Neutrality is an illusion.
2. Demas chose a different master. a. The present world ruled his decision. b. The comfort or safety of the moment outweighed faithfulness. c. Christ was displaced by worldly desire.
3. No man can serve two masters. a. Matthew 6:24 says no one can serve God and wealth. b. The principle applies wherever rival loyalty rules the heart. c. A divided heart eventually chooses.

B. The Old Testament gives the same warning.

1. Lot’s wife looked back. a. Genesis 19 shows God rescuing Lot’s family from Sodom. b. She looked back and became a pillar of salt. c. Jesus says in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
2. Israel looked back toward Egypt. a. Numbers 11 shows Israel craving what they had left. b. They forgot bondage and romanticized slavery. c. Their appetite fought against faith.
3. Demas looked toward this present world. a. Same disease. b. Different setting. c. The heart turns back to what God called it out of.

C. The Christian must see the world correctly.

1. Galatians 1:4 says Christ gave Himself to rescue us from this present evil age. a. The world is not neutral. b. Christ died to rescue us from its power. c. Returning to it insults the deliverance.
2. Colossians 3:1–4 commands Christians to seek things above. a. Christ is seated at the right hand of God. b. The Christian’s life is hidden with Christ in God. c. The mind must be set above, not on earthly things.
3. Demas warns against spiritual short-sightedness. a. He saw the present. b. He loved the present. c. He lost sight of the eternal.

IV. Demas Shows the Damage Caused by Apostasy.

A. Apostasy puts Christ to open shame.

1. Hebrews 6:4–6 warns those who fall away. a. They had been enlightened. b. They had tasted the heavenly gift. c. Falling away is treated as dreadful rebellion.
2. The text says they again crucify the Son of God to themselves. a. Apostasy is not harmless. b. Desertion dishonors Christ. c. The Lord who died for sinners is publicly shamed by those who turn away.
3. Demas is a living illustration of the warning. a. He had served. b. He had worked. c. He deserted.

B. Apostasy destroys influence.

1. Demas’ name is remembered for desertion. a. He may have done good work before. b. He may have helped Paul at one time. c. But Scripture records the tragic turn.
2. A Christian’s influence can be damaged by unfaithfulness. a. Family sees it. b. Brethren feel it. c. The world uses it as an excuse.
3. Ecclesiastes 10:1 says dead flies make perfume stink. a. A little folly can damage a reputation for wisdom and honor. b. A public fall stains years of influence. c. No Christian should treat his influence carelessly.

C. Apostasy endangers the soul.

1. Second Peter 2:20–22 warns about returning to defilements. a. A person can escape the defilements of the world. b. A person can become entangled again. c. The last state becomes worse than the first.
2. First Corinthians 9:27 shows Paul’s own seriousness. a. Paul disciplined his body. b. Paul made it his slave. c. He feared being disqualified after preaching to others.
3. If Paul did not treat faithfulness casually, neither should we. a. Past service does not excuse present desertion. b. Former zeal does not guarantee final faithfulness. c. The Christian must endure.

Application.

1. For the Christian. a. Guard your love. b. The world does not have to win all at once. c. It only needs to become more precious to you than Christ.
2. For the preacher or worker. a. Do not confuse past usefulness with present faithfulness. b. Demas was once called a fellow worker. c. Finish well.
3. For the congregation. a. Watch for brethren drifting toward the world. b. Encourage before they desert. c. Restore with truth, love, and urgency.
4. For parents. a. Teach your children that the world is passing away. b. Do not train them to love what will destroy them. c. Show them that Christ is worth more than comfort, popularity, money, and ease.
5. For the deserter. a. Come back. b. Do not let your name be remembered for leaving. c. Christ is merciful, but the world is a liar.

Conclusion.

1. Demas is not remembered for a long speech. a. One sentence tells the tragedy. b. He loved this present world. c. He deserted Paul.
2. His warning remains. a. A fellow worker can fall. b. A Christian can misplace love. c. The present world can pull a soul away from eternal life.
3. The answer is not pride. a. Watch your heart. b. Discipline your body. c. Love Christ first. d. Stay faithful.
4. Do not be Demas. a. Do not desert Christ. b. Do not abandon the work. c. Do not trade the eternal for the present.

Invitation.

1. Hear the word. a. Romans 10:17 says faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
2. Believe Christ. a. John 8:24 warns that unless you believe that Jesus is He, you will die in your sins.
3. Repent. a. Acts 17:30 says God commands all people everywhere to repent.
4. Confess Christ. a. Romans 10:9–10 teaches confession with the mouth and belief in the heart.
5. Be baptized for the remission of sins. a. Acts 2:38 commands repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
6. Live faithfully. a. Revelation 2:10 calls the Christian to be faithful until death.
7. If you have loved this present world more than Christ. a. Repent. b. Return. c. Do not let the world keep what Christ purchased with His blood.

Word Study.

Scripture Interlock Table.