(Philemon 1:23-24) Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. One of the biggest parts of the devil’s agenda is to distract us from eternal issues by getting us to love earth more than Heaven. And for centuries, he’s used this tactic to take down MANY who seemed utterly incapable of turning their backs on the Lord. Demas was one such example. He’s mentioned three times in the New Testament, each time by Paul in his letters. We can assume that Demas had ministered alongside Paul, because he’s described in the verse quoted above as a “fellow laborer”. He’s also mentioned as one of Paul’s companions in the Book of Colossians (4:14), which scholars believe Paul wrote while imprisoned in Rome. So at this point, Demas seems like a good, solid, unshakable soldier for Christ, right? Think about it. He was actively serving alongside Paul, he was out there on the front lines, sharing the gospel in foreign lands, he was witnessing powerful miracles....not to mention being within constant earshot of Paul’s teaching! He was even there during the tough times of imprisonment! You’d NEVER guess that one day he would forsake his faith. But thats EXACTLY what happened! Fast forward just a few years, and take a look at Paul’s third (and final) reference to Demas: Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world… (2 Timothy 4:10) At first, not even Paul had anticipated this, but thats exactly what Demas did! And we know why he did. Look at the verse again...having loved this present world. In keeping with the devil’s snare of distracting believers from eternity, Demas fell in love with this world. We don’t know exactly how it happened, but somewhere along the way, the coin flipped and earth’s enticements won him over. So, brothers and sisters, should our response to Demas’ downfall be one of insecurity? Absolutely not! It should be one of vigilance...CONSTANT, UNFALTERING VIGILANCE! Our God is ALWAYS more than able to keep us from falling! But we, as Christians, need to keep constant watch over our heart’s affections and desires...and examine whether they’re pointed towards earth...or towards eternity.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 23:44:03 +0000