So if you'll take your Bibles out and turn to 2 Timothy tonight, I was wanting to be in Matthew, but we just don't have time to get through the section of Matthew that we find beginning in verse 21. I believe we'll be there for probably two or three weeks, 21 and following. So let's go to 2 Timothy, chapter 4, passage that's been on my heart, I'd say for two or three months. I was reading through this in one of my Bible studies that I do, and man, what a passage that this is there in 2 Timothy. chapter four. Two verses tonight. I know I'm on a shorter time frame than normal and I will keep that I'm aware of that and I will keep that in mind as we work through this passage. Second Timothy chapter four and let's begin our reading in verse nine tonight. Paul says to Timothy, do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world and is departed into Thessalonica, christened to Galatia, Titus, and to Dalmatia. Speaking to you real briefly tonight on loving the rotten world over the celestial city. Loving the rotten world, the vile world, over the celestial city. Bow with me as we ask the Lord to bless our time together. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that we've been able to gather together tonight Lord, to sing your songs, Father, to do your business. We're thankful for this church. We're thankful for what it stands for. We're thankful that your word is the very core of what we do and what we say and how we act. And Father, now as we come to a time that we love so dearly, a time of corporate worship, will we open up your word and we read it and we study it? Father, we preach it. We would pray that your spirit would teach us. We pray that we would learn what you want us to learn tonight, and I pray that we would apply it to our lives. I pray that this message would not fall on deaf ears or unwilling hearts. I pray that we would be the clay in the hand of a potter. Lord, mold us and make us into what you want us to be tonight. It's in your son's precious name we pray. Amen. Loving the rotten world over the celestial, See, I think if most of you have been, if you've been in church for quite some time, over the years, we have seen so much of loving the world. We have seen church member after church member just forsake the faith altogether for nothing more than the love of this present world. It's sad, but it is a present reality that we deal with. almost on a day-to-day, a week-to-week basis, whether it's here in our own church, or whether it's in our extended church, those that we may work with, those that we rub shoulders with, that the sad reality that we have to live with, that people will choose to love this rotten and vile world that really has nothing for them, instead of keeping their eyes focused on the celestial And so that's what we want to look at tonight as we comb through this passage, a passage where Timothy, where Paul is nearing the end of his life. These are some of the last words that we have recorded that Paul would write. And what was it that Paul was concerned with? What was it that Paul wanted his spiritual son, Timothy, to know? What are some of those things? Well, what we have tonight is something that he told him, something that was really bothering the apostle Paul and some truth that we want to pull out of these two verses. So first of all, as we look through this text, I want us to notice the past love, the past Well, you know, we're looking specifically tonight at this character, this man by the name of Demas. And this is not the only place that we find Demas in the scriptures. We find him mentioned in two other places, once in the epistle of Philemon, and then again in the epistle of Colossians. So turn with me to Philemon. Philemon, and we're going to go, it's only got one chapter, so we'll go to verse 23 in Philemon. If you know anything about Philemon, Philemon was a letter written by Paul while he was in prison, around the time frame of 60 to 62 AD. And it was written mainly to Philemon, but also to his family, also to the church there at Colossae. It is a letter carried to Philemon by his runaway slave, slave by the name of Omnesius, who had somehow, he had met up with Paul there in Rome, he had been saved, he was converted, and now he's taken this letter back to Philemon. He had ran away, he should not have done that, he's been converted, and here we see fruits of true salvation. He's doing the right thing, his life was changed. And what this letter does is it encourages Philemon to forgive his runaway slave and to receive him back into his family, back into his church, back underneath him as a brother in Christ. So where does Demas fit into all of this? Look with me to Philemon verse 23. Philemon verse 23. Our text says, There salute thee, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers. So Demas is thrown in with a group of men that the apostle Paul calls my fellow laborers. Now by using this term, my fellow laborers, Paul is describing Demas as a man who demonstrated some kind of substantial commitment to the Lord. He did not say or he did not describe Demas as a simple countryman or a fellow acquaintance. The apostle Paul used a term that conveys the idea that Demas was down in the trenches with Paul and those that served with Paul serving alongside of them. Now turn back to the letter written to the church at Colossae in Colossians chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4, Demas is mentioned again here in this wonderful letter to the church. And just like Philemon, Colossians is another letter written by Paul while he's in prison, same time frame, 60 to 62 AD from Some say that Colossians was written after Philemon, but if you look at both epistles, you will find that Paul lists several groups of people the same in both of his epistles. So we would think these were written together. That probably don't matter too much for what we're looking at tonight, but that's just some extra information free of charge, I guess you could say. So Colossians chapter four, Let's begin our reading in verse 12, Colossians 4, verse 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect to complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Herapolis, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. So what we have is Demas being listed with a group of men here in this epistle and being described as one who served with Paul. Papyrus, if you will look, it says that he had great zeal for the people of God. Luke, Paul describes as the beloved physician, the most loved physician, the most beloved physician, a brother in Christ, one that cared for Paul. So we can conclude with Demas being included in this list that Demas had at least again in the past put on the face of one who loved the Lord and served alongside Paul and his other companions. But what we find in our text in 2 Timothy is that Demas had forsaken Paul. He had forsaken Paul for the love of the world. You see there's too many that fall into this category today. They have at some point in the past put on the face of a Christian. They have at some point in the past put on the face of one that loves the Lord and serves the Lord. They may have taught Sunday school. They may have served in the student ministry. They may have worked in the food pantry, labored in the sound booth. They may have even broken a sweat working around the church. And yes, all of these things are good things and needed things and things that the church must have to function, but if somebody is only put on the face of serving the Lord, and then they do not continue in that? they are showing forth a questionable faith. You see, Demas is a prime example of one who at least initially from the onset demonstrated a love for the Lord. He at this point or at some point in the past had put on this face of Christianity. He at some point in the past had set his sight on serving the Lord and had showed that he might have loved the celestial city that we are talking about and he might have been working on his journey there. So that's Demas' past love. Now let's look at the present forsaking. The present forsaking to open up this portion of the message turn back to 2nd Timothy chapter 4 and I want us to notice first of all on the onset the desperation in Paul's voice there in verse 9 look back with me it says do thy diligence to come shortly to me. Another translation, if you have it with you, the New American Standard, says this, make every effort to come to me soon. Now, why was it that the Apostle Paul was telling Timothy to do this? Why the sense of urgency here? Well, first of all, if you remember, Timothy was a son or a spiritual son of the Apostle Paul, a son in the faith. Paul had spent many hours with Timothy, teaching him, loving on him. He had spent many hours writing letters to him, corresponding with him. He had poured a great deal of time and effort and energy into the Apostle Paul. And just like any good father, Paul wanted to see his spiritual son, especially since he knew he would die soon. He knew the end of his life was coming, and it was coming quickly. So what did Paul want? He wanted some time with the one he loved. He wanted some time with the one who Paul had taken under his wing. And past this, or furthermore, Paul had some physical needs that needed to be met as well. During this time, winter was coming. quick. So Paul needed his cloak. Paul needed some writing materials. A cloak is a heavy wool coat to stay warm in prison and he needed some papyrus to write letters on and some of the things that we have here today. So in short, Paul wanted to both see his spiritual son and he had some physical needs to be met. But these two things are not the only needs that Paul had. Look back to our text in verse 10. It says, for Demas hath forsaken me. So Paul says that Demas Now the word used for forsaken here, it could be accurately translated, it might be better translated as deserted. It comes from the Greek word that speaks to leaving someone in a bad way. To leaving someone with some type or condition of a lack of need. Leaving someone in a spot of desperation. So Demas had left Paul when Paul needed him the most. Here Paul is, near the end of his life. He's in prison. Winter is coming. Yes, he had loot, but he needed more. He's quickly running out of his materials. He needs his coat. And Demas leaves. He leaves the one who is arguably, outside of Christ, one of the biggest blessings to the church. They must leave them high and dry. Why? Could it be that at this time, 60 to 62 AD, that the persecution was being turned up? Yes, and that would be a true statement. Demas could have been leaving the persecution. He just couldn't endure that. Yes, he could have gotten scared. He could have ran for safety in Thessalonica. The persecution was not as bad there in the area of Thessalonica. But that's not the reason that Paul gave that Demas left. Verse 10 says, For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. Clearly, Paul states, without question, Demas left because he loved this present world. So if it was that big a deal to Paul, we better define what that is. So I want to work backwards with that phrase, loving this present world. And if we do that, we'll start with the word world. So the Greek word used for world here is aion. And it speaks to more of an age or a cycle of time. And then this context is speaking of the time before the return of Christ. Hence why Demas, why Paul said that Demas loved this present world. He didn't say the future world or the world to come. You see, Demas loved what he found presently in the world he was living in more than he loved what he found in Christ. What occurred here may be best described by what Christ said in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 22. Christ says he also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh an fruitful. Here the world is described as a place of care and that word translated means a place as of anxieties and it's even put into the same category in this text in the category with the deceitfulness of riches. Christ adds in other things there in Matthew 13 22 when he's talking about the category of things that rob the fruitful works in this parable of the soils if you that's in actually Mark chapter 4 that he adds that in this same parable so many things could be put into this world category pretty much anything that presently pulls us away from God could be put into this world category next We must accurately define love, and love as Paul used it in this context. Now when I started doing a word study on the Greek word used for love here, I was quite surprised. The Greek word used in this text in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10 for love is agapio. It's agapio. love. And we know that agapio love is divine love given from the Father to the Son from the Son to us to show to each other. Now that may be surprising that Demas loved the present world in that way. But in this context, what we will find is we're not so much talking about this divine love given from the father to the son to Demas, because as we will see, it's questionable whether Demas was a saint to begin with. But what you will find is the love that is mentioned here, agapao, if you remember, it's a love of selection. It's a love of choice. It's a preferential love. You see, God preferentially chooses us to love. Jesus Christ selects us as the recipients of his love. We select each other to shower agapaho love upon each other with. And what did Demas do? Demas agapaho-ed the world. He loved the world. We must understand here that Demas had the highest level of love, not for God, not for the people of God, not for the church of God. but for the world, for this present age. He preferentially chose the riches of the world over the riches found in Christ. He selected the dainties of the world instead of the inelegancies of the Apostle Paul. He chose the temporary safety of the world over the eternal security found in Jesus Christ. Demas personally and actively forsook both God and God's chosen Apostle Paul for the feel-good message and the taste-good fruits of the present world he was living in. He is, Dr. Lawson would say, Stephen Lawson, he bought high and he sold low. He loved the rotten world. over the celestial city, the present forsaken. We've looked at the past love, the present forsaken, and quickly, Let's look at the future destination, the future destination. Now we must say clearly and loudly, this text does not clearly give us Demas' eternal abode. It does not tell us whether he is spending eternity in heaven or hell right now. It does not clearly say that, but I do believe that we can put together a most likely statement from the context of our text in 2 Timothy and from other texts, particularly our text in 1 John that we will look at, how that loving the world is proof positive that you are not a Christian. So first, look back to our passage and let's begin reading in verse 9. I want to pay close attention to where Mark comes into the equation. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 9, do thy diligence to come to me shortly. For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed into Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Domitia. Only Luke is here with me. Take Mark. and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry." Now you might say, where in the world does Mark, the Apostle Mark, come into the equation? Well we must not forget that Mark had left Paul and Barnabas for some unknown reason as they ministered in Perga. Now the reason, whatever it was, was not accepted by Paul. He was highly irritated with why Mark had abandoned Paul and Barnabas. But some years later, if you remember Paul and Barnabas, they set out on another missionary journey from Antioch. And what they were going to do this time, I believe it's in Acts 15, I believe. Yeah, Acts 15. They were wanting to give Mark a second chance. And they wanted to give him a second chance to serve alongside both Barnabas and Paul. This is Barnabas. I want to give Mark this second chance and listen to what happens here in Acts 15 beginning in verse 36. And some days after Paul said to Barnabas, let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought it not good to take him with them, who departed from them in Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the other. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed into Cyprus. So Paul was determined to not take Mark with them on this journey, apparently because of the decision that Mark had made to forsake them earlier. But back in our passage in 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul is telling Timothy, hey Timothy, pick Mark up on your way to me. Pick Mark up because he is now useful for the ministry. You see, Mark had apparently had a change of heart. He had demonstrated a recommitment to the Lord to the point that it had convinced Paul that Mark had had a change of heart. You see, what we see is we have a once unfaithful Mark being restored. So what's the big deal? The big deal is that the Holy Spirit, by divine inspiration, chose to use what happened to Mark to be in the context of what happened to Demas. The big deal is that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write about Mark's restoration and Demas' forsaking. This leads us to believe that Demas was never restored because Demas was never a true believer. Listen what the Apostle John says about loving the world that supports this train of thought. 1 John 2, 15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father not in him. John uses the same Greek word for love, agapao, here in 1st John 2 15 that Paul uses back in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 for love. And John says in no uncertain terms, if any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. This is a constant love, a lifestyle love for the world that never repents, that is lived out every single day. This is a love for the world that is defined by actions that tell the worldly story. This apparently is the love that Demas has. It is never recorded. that Demas repented. It is never recorded that Demas was restored back to the fellowship. All of this leads us to believe that his future destination was the very pit of hell. His temporary pleasures of safety, possibly riches there in Thessalonica, maybe worldly gain, they might have been met there in the city where he went. But it resulted in an eternal suffering for what he thought was worldly gain, the future destination. We've looked at the past love. Demas once talked the talk. He walked the walk as a Christian serving alongside Paul and others. He once put on this cloak of Christianity. We've looked at the present forsaking. If you remember Demas forsook Paul and Christ by preferentially selecting to love the world instead of Christ. We've looked at Demas' likely future destinations, all indications pointing to eternal damnation, eternal punishment for Demas because he chose to love the world. And John says, if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. So what do we do with this? What do we do? What is the eye-opening application? The eye-opening application, what can we learn from this text? We can apply this text in three ways. Really, this text demands a response from us in three key ways. First of all, through verbs, be warned. We must be warned. This passage should call us to examine our lives. And if we find ourselves loving the world and what the world has been offered, consider us warned. If we find ourselves forsaking the church, which is made up of the people of God, consider ourselves warned. If we find ourselves forsaking God by forsaking His word because we could care less about studying it and reading it and just gleaning truths from it, We have been warned. We have been fully and completely warned that if any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. If our life is defined by the world, we have been warned. We must be warned, then we must be changed. We must be changed. In our passage, we saw the result of restoration in Mark's life. Mark, who had once forsook the Lord's work, forsook Paul, forsook all those that were working with Paul, and did his own thing, is now in our text doing the Lord's work. And how does this happen? It happens through change. It happens through repentance, through a change of heart that leads to a change of mind, that leads to a change of lifestyle. Demas never demonstrated this change, but Mark did. So if we find ourselves loving the world, our only logical response is to repent. Some may need to repent for salvation because you have never been truly saved. Some of us may need to repent for sanctification because our love has been directed lightly at the world instead of Christ. If that is you, if that is me, we must be changed. We must repent. We must have that change of mind that leads to that change of heart that leads to that change of life. Be changed. Be worn, be changed. Number three, be looking, be looking. If we look around the night, many are not here. Could it be that some may love the world? Absolutely. You could go home, you could look at your church directory. You will find there's a great many that are never with us all. Have some left the church and are now worshiping elsewhere? Of course, and we praise the Lord for that. But frankly, the vast majority of those who we have rubbed shoulders with, maybe at some point in the past, the vast majority that are not here are never with us at all. They have just like Demas and Mark. forsook those who they said they loved. Could some be eventually restored? I pray so, just like Mark. I pray that some are truly saved and they'll come back to the fellowship. They'll come back to the flock of God and be a productive sheep following our shepherd as we walk down this pilgrim's way. I do pray that. But if I'm afraid as time goes on, further and further down the spectrum, day after day, month after month, year after year of somebody forsaken the family of God, the church of God, the word of God, the will of God. It's just proof positive that just like Demas, there was never a true change of mind that led to a change of heart that led to a change of action. I'm afraid that so many in the professing church today are flat out lost. And you know with us, there's many of us that live in a state of denial. We want to deny that fact. We want to think that somebody could be out of the will of the Lord for years and years and years and years upon end, but yet somehow still be a Christian. Friends, when we're truly saved, there is a regeneration that takes place. We're never the same again. God birthed salvation within us. It's like a tractor trailer has ran us over flat. We would be dismembered. You couldn't tell who we are. That's a picture of what we're like after regeneration. And so we must not live in a state of denial that somebody can just forsake the people of God and the church of God, the word of God, the will of God for years upon end and be truly saved. We need to change our conversation. It needs to go from come back to church to be saved. He needs to go from, let's not just go read something together, just read this good book. No, read the gospel. We need to share the gospel with those that we know that have forsaken the body of Christ for so long and years upon the end. We must not live in this state of denial because I'm afraid they, like Demas, have chose this rotten world over the celestial city. What a horrible and awful and despicable choice. I pray that the Lord would use us as a faucet, as a pipe from which He flows salvation through. You know He uses us as instruments of His grace? We have the gospel, the glorious, life-saving gospel. And He could reveal it in any way. If God wanted to put the gospel up in the sky, written on the clouds, He could have done that. He's God. But yet, He chooses us. He chooses us to take the gospel and to share it with those that we love. To share it with those that we rub shoulders with. So we must be looking and be willing to share what God has shared with us. Bow with us as we pray. Father, Lord, we come to you again. We're so grateful and thankful for everything that you are, for everything that you've done, both in our lives and in our church's life. And Father, I pray that we would not be like Demas. I pray that we would not forsake you and your church and your will and your word. But Father, if we have, if we currently are, I pray that we would be like Mark. I pray that we would be restored. But if, Father, we've never been a part of the true family of God because we've never been truly saved. Father, I pray that you would reveal it to each individual that is in that category. I pray that you would bring them to their knees in repentance, that you would give them the ability to believe that your son, Jesus Christ, died on their cross paying the full price for their sins. And all they have to do is repent. Believe. That's preached all the way through the book of Acts, all the way through the epistles. It's so easy, but yet so hard. Father, it's impossible without you. And I pray that you would move in people's lives. Father, we love you so much. Have your way with this time of invitation. I pray that your will will be done. It's in your son's name we pray.