THOUGHTS FOR THINKING PEOPLE

LEARNING FROM THE LIFE OF DEMAS – Part 1

(2 Timothy 4:10 KJV) For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world …

Paul in his writings refers to Demas as: …Demas, my fellow-laborer. (Philemon 1:24 KJV) and then again in The Apostles, Paul mentions Demas along with Luke (Colossians 4:14 KJV) Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.

Then while Paul is in prison he writes Timothy to come to him because “Demas hath forsaken me.”

I would like to explore some things we can learn from the ‘life of Demas.’

I like the story of the little boy who fell out of bed. When asked what happened he replied, “I was too close to where I got in.”

Demas was lured back into the world because he maintained his rational thought life, in other words, he kept processing, assimilating, and filtering his thinking like the world. He maintained his emotional thought life and cultivated that attraction, those feelings for the world, which translated into his love of the world.

Allow me to call our attention to some things that I believe Demas didn’t do. 

(1)          DEMAS DIDN’T CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND HIM.

John admonishes us: (1 John 2:15-17) {15} Love, not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. {16} For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. {17} And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

One must remember that as Christian laity we are still leaders, husbands, fathers, wives, and mothers, and that ‘Subtle Immorality’ leads to SELECTIVE OBEDIENCE. Selective Obedience will cause you to make your theology fit your lifestyle instead of making your lifestyle fit your theology.

Herman C. Weber in his book ‘Evangelism’ written in 1931 describes our world today. We have:

¨     Policies without Principles… win at any price.

¨     Wealth without work… at the price of someone else.

¨     Pleasure without conscience… I’m not my brother’s keeper.

¨     Knowledge without character… accomplished crooks.

¨     Business without morality… it’s every man for himself.

¨     Science without humanity… modern instruments of war.

¨     Worship without sacrifice… lip service.

We must be careful that we don’t become so adjusted and accustomed to what happens in life that the “MORAL STING OF CONSCIOUS IS NO LONGER EFFECTIVE.” (lcp).

During the Reformation’s Two Martins received a Born-Again Experience:

Martin of Basle came to a knowledge of the truth, but was afraid to make a public confession, he wrote his confession on a leaf of parchment: “O most merciful Christ, I know that I can be saved only by the merit of thy blood. Holy Jesus, I acknowledge thy sufferings for me. I love thee! I love thee!”

Then he removed a stone from the wall of his chamber and hid it there. It was not discovered for more than a hundred years.

At about the same time, Martin Luther found the truth as it is in Christ. He said: “My Lord has confessed me before men. I will not shrink from confessing Him before kings.”

The world knows what followed, and today it reveres the memory of Luther: but as for Martin of Balse, who remembers?

Rivers are crooked because they take the path of least resistance.

In The Master’s Service

Leo Calvin Price