Demas Has Forsaken Me
The
man by the name of Demas is only mentioned in the Bible three times, all three
times by the apostle Paul. Demas
was for a time a fellow traveler and fellow worker with Paul. He is mentioned in the closing of the
book of Colossians, a book written around
AD 60, as one who with Paul and others sent their greetings to the church
at Clossae
(Col.
4:14).
Again
in the book of Philemon in verse 23 and 24 he along with Epaphras, Mark,
Aristarchus, and Luke send greetings to Philemon and Paul says these men are his
fellow workers or in the old King James language his “fellowlabourers”. The book of Philemon is said to have
been written around AD 60.
However,
by the time Paul wrote his last letter, the book of 2nd Timothy,
dated anywhere from AD 64 to AD 68, Paul says sadly that “Demas has forsaken me”
(NKJV) or in the wording of the NAS “has deserted me” (2 Tim.
One
gets the idea that Demas had been with Paul for a number of years and had only
recently departed. Why else mention
his departure if it was one of long standing that had occurred years
before?
We
have then a man who had traveled and worked with Paul, sacrificed and struggled
along with him, endured the hardship a number of years, and saw with but little
doubt miracles Paul performed and yet this Christian man fell away. If under those circumstances a man can
fall away then we all can. If a man
can walk with an apostle and fall away then any man can, every man can, and so
the threat is real. And, threat it
is for to fall away is to be eternally lost if we do not
repent.
Can
you and I learn anything from the life of Demas worth our while? I believe we can.
Paul
says Demas loved the present world.
John says, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15, NAS). The greatest battle man will ever have
to fight is that of the love of the world.
We live in a body of flesh, a worldly body, and that body by nature is
attracted to and desires the things of the world.
John
tells us, “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the
eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the
world” (1 John 2:16, NAS). What
Demas wanted out of the world we are not told. Was it money, an easier life,
respect? We are not told. In a way it makes no
difference.
There
is no doubt the world has much to offer as long as we live in the flesh. Who really desires to make their life a
living self sacrifice everyday of the year? (Rom 12:1) Who desires to always put self
second? Who is it that does not
desire respect from his fellow- man in this world?
Christians
are not well thought of by most of the world. We are ridiculed and made fun of and our
company is not sought. As the kids
would say no one wants to hang out with us. Who really desires that? Who is it that does not desire to
achieve great things in this world and be praised by his fellow man and looked
up to? The world offers us
the opportunity for worldly wealth and possessions, honor and prestige, and
sexual freedom. Christianity, in
this life, offers daily self sacrifice.
Paul
says, 1 Cor. 4:9-13, in speaking of the apostles (in the broad sense of the
term),
“we
have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to
men.
We
are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you
are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without
honor.
To
this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and
are roughly treated, and are homeless;
And
we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are
persecuted, we endure;
When
we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world,
the dregs of all things, even until now.”
I am
not sure Demas was an apostle, in the broad sense of the term, but he was with
Paul here and there and surely saw and/or experienced for himself some of these
very things. Maybe Demas just got
tired.
The
world offers worldly honor to those who play by its rules and succeed. Instead of being reviled there is
praise. Those successful in world
do not go hungry. They are not
clothed in rags, they are not persecuted, they are not slandered, they are not
scum.
I
tend to think, but cannot prove and do not bind it upon you, that Demas just got
tired. I do not believe he wanted
to go off to commit adultery, cheat, lie, and steal. I don’t think he left because he wanted
a 1st century equivalent of a 3 car garage and a multi million dollar
home. I don’t think he quit and
left Paul and God because he wanted to be rich and famous. I think he left because he wanted out of
the line of fire, wanted an easier life, wanted to live in peace with the world,
wanted to live much like others of his countrymen. Certainly, I can be wrong.
We
must remember that non Christians are often honest and hard working people
respected in the community even if they are unwilling to give God the time of
the day. A worldly person is not
necessarily indulging in every sin under the sun. Most are quite respectable in their own
communities. Nevertheless, their
love is for the world, not God.
What
do we learn from Demas?
(1) We learn it is easy to quit and lose
everything. Demas sacrificed years
of his life for nothing. All of
those years wasted, all of the sacrifice now for nothing and why? He quit.
I
think most Christians have times in their life when they would like to give up,
to quit. Things are not going good
for us, things are bad in the church, no remedies seem at
hand.
Demas
sacrificed it all when he gave up.
We can do the same. In fact,
that is the easy thing to do.
Staying with it is what is hard.
Quit and you have wasted the past and forfeited the future but for a time
you feel free, free for you have abandoned all responsibility. We need to think long and hard before we
quit. Quitters not only do not win
they lose everything. We should
learn that. Quitters in the
spiritual realm do not come in second or third. They lose
everything.
John
says, (2 John 8), “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we
worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” We think it very ill advised and foolish
when one drops out of school after having put in years of work and losing and
wasting all that time, money, and effort for nothing. How much greater the loss, how much more
dire the consequences, when we give up living the Christian
life.
(2) We learn from Demas that the faith of
the best of men can fail. We never
grow so strong but what we can lose our faith. Some think if we had miracles today
people would believe and would automatically become Christians strong in a
steadfast faith.
I am
satisfied Demas saw miracles. I am
sure Paul spoke about seeing Jesus after his resurrection from the dead. Yet, finally in the end it made no
difference with Demas.
It
made no difference with the children of
If
their faith failed ours can too.
Sin doeth so easily beset us (Heb. 12:1).
(3) We learn also that the world has an
enormous pull on us and will as long as we live in a body of flesh. We learn it is not easy to walk with an
apostle, a thing we all ought to be doing.
It is a tough, tough road and often a long one and we should not kid
ourselves or others. We should
prepare for it. Unless, as the
Bible says, we put on the whole armor of God, how can we hope to
survive?
Paul
said in 2 Tim.
Are
we stronger than they were? Are we
stronger than Peter who denied the Lord three times? We are at our best but weak and feeble
men and women prone to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life.
What
can we do to keep our faith from failing us? There is a vast multitude of Christians
who have lost their faith and many who have just given up and left God and the
church. How do we survive when we
so often want to do as Demas did?
How do we resist the temptation of the call of the
world?
The
answer is build our faith. How does
one do that? There is a two part
answer to that. First, we must
recognize our need, understand who and what we are. We must see our need and our
weakness. A wise man is one who
observes, learns, and takes heed.
In the last part of the book of Job God is questioning Job beginning in
the 38th chapter. Much
of that runs along the line of Job can you do this, can you do that. God can. He is showing Job man’s weakness and
need for trust in God.
As an
example, God asks Job (38:31), “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or
loose the belt of Orion? Can you
bring out Mazzaroth (literally ‘Constellations’ – NKJV footnote) in its
season? Or can you guide the Great
Bear with its cubs?”
In
the New Testament Jesus says “you cannot make one hair white or black” (Matt.
We
are unable to add a cubit to our stature, unable to add a single day to our
life. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a
little time and then vanishes away.”
(James 4:14) A mother or
dad, a son or daughter, a husband or wife passes away and there is not one thing
you can do about it.
Scientists
talk about distances in outer space in terms of billions of light years. A look into the clear night sky on a
cold winter night when there is no haze and one cannot help but be overwhelmed
if he only takes the time to consider what he is seeing. If we would stop just long enough in our
life to consider seriously where all this is leading us we would see our need
for Jesus and could develop our faith.
Faith begins with man being honest with himself about his own inability
to have control and his need for help, a power greater than himself. I develop and strengthen my faith by an
awareness of and an understanding of my need. This will lead to the will to believe
when we see and admit our impotence.
Secondly,
to grow faith we must immerse ourselves in the word of God. “So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ.” (Rom.
Paul,
in writing to Timothy (2 Tim.
We
must believe what Jesus told us. We
must believe there is a reward awaiting us. “He who comes to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb.
11:6) It has often been said that
Peter walked on the water as long as he looked at Jesus rather than the water
and that is true. We can
figuratively walk to heaven if we continue to look to Jesus rather than at the
trials and troubles and temptations we are here faced with. Do you believe? You have to believe. Way, way down deep within your heart you
have to believe.
We
can believe if we will. John says,
1 John 5:4, “this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.” Paul says faith is a shield (Eph.
We
often believe well enough in Jesus except when it comes to his love for us as an
isolated individual. We feel He
will save everyone else but not us for we just keep on sinning despite our will
not to. If it is not this sin then
it is that. Isn’t that about true
of how we often feel? Do we not at
times just feel like giving up?
But,
why did Jesus die? Did he die so
men could be saved by perfect law keeping?
Did he die so that only those who are really deserving could be saved,
deserving because so good and perfect in their law keeping? John says, “If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) David Lipscomb once said that he doubted
that any man ever lived a single day without sin. Are all men doomed despite the death of
Jesus?
Peter
tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
When Peter asked the Lord (Matt. 18:21) how many times he should forgive
a brother and says, probably thinking he was being generous, 7 times the Lord
answers, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times
seven.” The Lord tells us
thus that there is no set limit on the number of times we should be willing to
forgive. He is indirectly also
telling us that is also the way it is with the Father?
Isaiah
says (Isa. 55:7, NKJV), “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man
his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to
our God, For he will abundantly pardon.”
In
Luke 17:3–4 Jesus says (NAS) “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if
he repents, forgive him. And if he
sins against you seven times day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I
repent, forgive him.’” This tells
me that if in my life it just seems as though it is one sin after another yet,
if I will truly repent, the Lord will forgive me and will forgive you
likewise. We should never give up,
never reach the point where we become so frustrated with our own life that we
walk off in despair and hopelessness.
No case is hopeless.
“For
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
One suspects the greatest danger in life is not that of recognizing sin
and unworthiness in one’s life but rather that of not recognizing it. Remember the two men who went up to pray
(Luke
It is
a positive in your life if you feel deep down in your heart that you are
unworthy as did the tax-gatherer.
The only real threat when our unworthiness pricks our heart is that we
may despair and give up. Do not do
that. The Bible teaches us in
passage after passage that it is the humble man that God will exalt, the truly
deep down in the heart humble man, not the man who merely pretends
humility.
Jesus
is our only hope in this world. He
has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5) In the Phillipian letter
(
“”Let
us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need.”
(Heb. 4:16, NKJV)
Let
us “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb.