“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:10-18 ESV
Oh, the heartbreak that pours over the edges from these verses like a cup too full. Paul is abandoned and he neither hides the fact of his betrayals and loneliness, nor revels in them. And that’s what self-pity and depression are if we’re not careful: reveling in ourselves as victim. Paul was unfairly deserted by Demas, who used to be one of his closest associates (Col 4:14; Phm 1:24) but he takes heart because he knows that he’s also saved by faith, not works. If a man or woman rests in the fact of their salvation by faith alone, knowing they’re loved “unfairly” despite their treason against God who died for them, they can face with peace the betrayals from others.
So, yes, he’s abandoned in his hour of need and feels the horrible sting of this…just like Jesus did after his arrest. No one came to defend Him. After all He’d done, they abandoned ship like cowards and now the same thing happens to Paul.
There’s a hard, hard truth we need to see here.
We need to look.
None of us will stay faithful if outside the Lord. It simply doesn’t matter how honorable we think we are.
Spiritual pride causes us to drop our hands, exposing our chin. So many trials come to us in Christian life because we’re blind to our self-reliance and the Lord must break us of the habit.
Sin will sift us like wheat (Luke 22:31)! Peter was a chest-thumping spiritual showboat (Luke 22:33-34). David had songs sung about his victories. What happened to them? What happened to Samson? Do we think we’re stronger than they were? Do we think we’re spiritual superstars? Take heed when you catch yourself boasting of your character and honor lest you fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). That’s pride. None of us will stand in the storm unless we stand firm in faith (Isaiah 7:9).
Paul’s pain in relating that Demas has deserted him is plain. The Greek word means to “utterly abandon.”
How dreadful!
A brother in arms, so to speak…and he has gone for the safety of the world. It’s probable that Demas considered Thessalonica a safe city due to its relative wealth and independence. The persecutions and difficulties of following the Lord (with Paul) were apparently too much and Demas, like so many others, was a sunshine patriot who didn’t count the cost of discipleship. The Valley Forge of our faith will come. It comes for us all. We’ll all be, at some point, through some challenge, shivering and hungry in a spiritual winter. But, be warned, it never comes as we expect but the lesson is always the same: trust Christ alone, not the flesh.
Crisis doesn’t develop character so much as it reveals what we truly are…and we follow what we truly want in life. There’s hardly a man or woman alive who you’ll meet who will say, “Hi, I’m John. I’m a very nice person so long as I get my way and I’m comfortable. I’m easy going and funny but silently covetous and you really can’t rely on me if it costs me.”
This goes back to the previous point: unless we stand firm in the faith, which is to say utterly dependent upon Christ, ready to suffer for Him, that’s actually who we are. Let’s be careful not to think that we’re Paul when, outside of Christ, we’re Demas.
One imagines that Demas, as well as Alexander, had much to say about Paul’s ministry. Alexander was probably the idol maker from Acts 19:24 and Paul’s message of salvation in Christ alone, through faith alone, likely was opposed by Alexander for financial reasons. It’s hard to make money on idols when Paul’s message of Christ is getting out. He “did me much harm,” Paul says, likely by spreading lies, gossip, and false doctrine so as to advance himself. Did Demas abandon Paul because the lies of Alexander and others weakened his resolve? It’s likely.
But Paul doesn’t cry for vengeance, despite the maltreatment. He remembers the Lord unfairly accused, beaten, and crucified…for him! The only reason Paul has the privilege of being so shabbily treated is because Christ forgave him and so he says, “the Lord will repay him.” Vengeance is never man’s, but God’s. This is written for us to show how we’re to react whenever we think we’re mistreated. Paul does not revile because he knows that he’s a sinner too and not fit to judge another man ultimately. He leaves it to the Lord.
And the interesting thing is that he asks for Mark. Mark probably lived somewhere along the route from Ephesus to Rome. He was the author of the Gospel of Mark and – surprise, surprise – he had been kicked out of Paul’s company back in Acts 13:13 and 15:36-39. Mark, sometimes called John, had failed in the pressure tests of persecutions and Paul had then wanted no part of him. This actually led to a split between Paul and Barnabas. But now we see that the Lord has made Mark stand (Romans 14:4) and this may very well have taught Paul in this instance, which is why he’s so restrained in his critique of Demas. Indeed, all have abandoned him except for Luke and in his dark hour of despair, none defend him. but Paul responds as Christ did (Luke 22:34).
“Father forgive them, for they know not what they’re doing,” and “may it not be counted against them” show the heart and soul of the gospel. There is no sin, no betrayal, no failure, and no rejection over which grace cannot be poured. Paul remembers Saul on Damascus Road; he recalls that grace saved a murdering persecutor of the Lord’s church. Given a free room in the Lord’s house, a Christian never tries to bolt shut an adjoining room for anyone else.
Paul assuredly knew well the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and wisely discerns that the older brother was on dangerous ground. His pride turned him into a judge rather than a fellow beggar in need of mercy. Someone who asks for mercy from the Lord, and needs it more than anything else in life, should never begrudge that for someone else because no one can betray us as much, as often, or as comprehensively as we’ve betrayed the Lord!
“But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” Luke 15:28-32 ESV
Recent Comments