When they announced the meetings tonight, they said that tonight and tomorrow night will be your last opportunity to hear Howard Hendricks. I hope this dear brother does not have prophetic gifts. It's possible he's planning my sudden... It's possible this brother is planning my sudden demise. I find working with people fascinating. In conjunction with our work with the juvenile department, we work in close conjunction with the welfare department. And a friend of mine who is serving in this department gave me a slip of paper the other day with some excerpts from applications for support. I thought you would appreciate these. I am forwarding my marriage certificate and six children. I had seven, but one died, which was baptized on a half sheet of paper. I am writing the welfare department to say that my baby was born two years old. When do I get my money? I'm glad to report my husband, who is missing, is dead. Here's a corker. You have changed my little girl to a boy. Will this make any difference? In accordance with your instructions, I have given birth to twins in the enclosed envelope. This is my eighth child. What are you going to do about it? People are most interesting. We've been studying the lives of individuals in the Word of God, and tonight I want to speak on the subject, the man who went AWOL. A-W-O-L. Absent without leave. And before we look into the Word of God, shall we look to the Lord in a moment? of believing prayer. Our Father in heaven, we shall never cease to thank Thee for the fact that Thou hast lifted us out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and didst set our feet upon solid rock. Thou hast established our goings and put a new song in our mouths, even praise to our We worship Thee tonight, our Father, for so great salvation. And we pray that as children who are born of God, we shall be delivered from the curse of mediocrity. We pray that Thou wilt make us distinctive in our witness for Jesus Christ. And to that end, Thou wilt make the word of God a lamp to our feet. and a light to our path, that we shall profit by the experience of others recorded by the Spirit in thy word. We pray that this shall be an hour of profit in light of eternity and its values. For we ask it through Christ our Lord. Amen. One of my favorite writers is Chad Walsh. Not because I always agree with him. As a matter of fact, at many points, I disagree. But because he has a way of placing burrs in my mental saddle. He wrote an intriguing book entitled Early Christians of the 21st Century. And in this book, he puts his finger upon the pulse of a contemporary problem. Millions of Christians live in a sentimental haze of vague piety, with soft organ music trembling in the lovely light from stained glass windows. Their religion is a thing of pleasant emotional quivers, divorced from the will, divorced from the intellect, and demanding little except lip service to a few harmless platitudes. I suspect that Satan has called off the attempt to convert people to agnosticism. If a man travels far enough away from Christianity, he's always in danger of seeing it in perspective and deciding that it is true. It is much safer from Satan's point of view to vaccinate a man with a mild case of Christianity so as to protect him from the real thing. What a pitiful person. Vaccinated with a mild case of Christianity. But that individual is not difficult to identify. There is another individual who is much more distressing, potentially much more dangerous. It is the Christian who is committed, sold out, dedicated, but who faces the imminent danger of defection. I'm sure you know people, as I do, who perhaps a few years ago were aggressive in their witness for Jesus Christ. They had a warm devotion to the Savior. They were concerned for the lost. They were sold out. They were a sharp instrument in the hands of God for the accomplishment of His purpose. But today, they're on the shelf. Today, they're out of fellowship. Today, they couldn't care less. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 said that he feared and for this reason he beat his body black and blue. He brought it into subjection, lest by any means, having preached to others, he himself would be disapproved. Ladies and gentlemen, if the Apostle Paul, that great war horse of the early church, considered the potential of being a defective, a disapproved believer as a reality. What about you and me? I'd like to direct your attention by the Spirit of God tonight to the life of a man who went over the hill in God's service. He had a triumphant beginning, but a tragic ending. He was a man who when weighed in the balances of him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, was found wanting. He put his hand to the plow, but he turned back. His name is Demas. There are only 15 words in the Bible concerning this man. I have just completed reading a biography of 650-some pages, and I am profoundly impressed by the divine economy of words. You know, God is able to say in 15 words more than some people can say in 650 pages. And I want you to hang on to every word because each one is a boxcar of truth, freighted with significance, with implications for your life and for mine. There are only three snapshots of this man in the New Testament. And I want to do two things. First of all, I want to trace this man's life chronologically And then I want to draw some lessons that you and I might learn from this man's experience. The first passage dealing with this man is found in the book of Philemon. Philemon is one of those books, if two pages of your Bible stick together, you're liable to miss it. And in Philemon 24, we have a personal note appended by the apostle. There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. Marcus, that's John Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborer. Apart from Epiphras, this appears to be a Christian businessmen's committee of the first century. And it's a rather significant gathering of saints. Epiphras was a man who served as a pastor. John Mark was the man who went home on the first missionary journey. He was an accomplice of Paul's. But perhaps because the way got rough, perhaps because he was not conditioned for the climate, he went home. And when Barnabas and Paul attempted to go out on another missionary journey, they had quite a dispute over this individual. Paul said, we can't take John Mark. He went home in the ministry and we cannot run this risk again. Barnabas said, we've got to take John Mark. We've got to salvage this man. And although some people like to play this down, if you know anything about the original language, you know that you cannot. There arose a sharp contention. This is a very strong word. They were not exactly calm over this decision. In fact, they divided. It's interesting that at this juncture, John Mark is an associate with the Apostle Paul. We'll see more of him in a moment. The next man is Aristarchus, apparently a man of means, a man of station and position. who probably traveled conceivably as a business manager of the team. There is Demas, the individual we are interested in. Lucas is Dr. Luke, the one who wrote the book which bears his name and also the book of Acts, the personally attending physician of this company. Now notice the designation of these preceding four men. They are termed my fellow laborers. Now I want you to mark something. This man Demas began in good company. He was associated with Mark, with Aristarchus, with Luke, with Epiphras, men of spiritual stature. In fact, he's surrounded by significant saints. As you look over this list, it's almost comparable to a spiritual who's who. And it is as if he's shared fully as all of the others in the work of the Lord. Now this is important to keep in mind because it underscores the gravity of this man's sin. John Mark, I'm sorry, Demas was no mud gutter snipe. He was a man who began with a hot heart. He began in vocational Christian service. He began as a fellow laborer of the Apostle Paul. Can you think of a greater privilege than that? What an honor. to be on this team. Demas, the fellow laborer. The next passage is found in the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 4. Beginning at verse 17 and through verse, I'm sorry, verse 7 through verse 14, you have a list of eight individuals. I want you to look down this list with me, for in every case but one, the apostle has something commendatory to say. In verse 7, all my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate and comfort your heart. with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here. Aristarchus, this is the same individual, my fellow prisoner, saluteth you. And Marcus, the same individual, John Mark, sister son to Barnabas. Touching whom you receive commandments, if he come unto you, receive him. and Jesus, which is called justice, who are the circumcision. These only are my fellow workers under the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and 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 Hierapolis." Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, period. Salute you. I'm sure there is someone who might say, but after all, this is an argument from silence. On the contrary, this is an argument from context. Do you think it is an accident that in a context in which eight men are mentioned, each of whom is singled out for his contribution to the cause of Christ, Demas is passed over in silence? You know there are some people's lives who are best expressed in silence. Last year, after a ministry in the East, a doctor friend of mine arranged for a time of fellowship in his home. And a number of my friends from college and elsewhere were invited to come to his home. And we enjoyed a wonderful time letting down our hair, which is a term I use rather loosely. I think one of the most refreshing parts of the evening was when we sat around partaking of the refreshments and doing what older people, I suppose, are prone to do, and that's reminisce. And I was asking them, since I had not seen them for many years, what happened to different individuals? And I said, where's Dave? Oh, how haven't you heard of what Dave's doing down in South Carolina? I said, no, I haven't. I knew he was in the ministry, but I didn't know. And this fellow began to tell me of the outstanding ministry that he was having there for God and the people coming to know Christ. And I said, wonderful. And where's Sam? Oh, Sam's over in Japan now. And on and on they went, telling me about what he was doing for the Lord. And we went down one after another. And finally I said, oh, say, what happened to Bill? Where's Bill? And as I look around the room, every head went down. and their silence was eloquent. And finally, one of my friends said, Holly, Bill is no longer in the ministry. You know, this is true of many an individual. Silence is the best way to express the quality of their life. I believe at this juncture it is possible that Paul was already beginning to suspect demons, to mark that worldliness was creeping over him. Perhaps he was already discerning the roots of ruin. He evidenced the lack in his life. Now let's look at the third and final Reference, it's the most instructive one, found in 2 Timothy chapter 4. And I want to begin reading in verse 5 to establish the context for you. Paul is speaking and he says, but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Will you underline that expression in your Bible? For it needs to be linked to another statement. He promises a crown to all those that love is appearing. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. For Demas hath forsaken me. Having loved, or better translated, since it is a present, in love with this present world. and is departed unto Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, and Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry." Who said that? The very man who rejected him. How do you think he became profitable, my friend? We shall see tomorrow night that this man became profitable in the ministry as a product of Barnabas's grooming. And the great apostle admits, Mark is profitable for the ministry. You know, dear friends, it's interesting that when the Spirit of God wanted to paint a portrait of the unfailing servant, Jesus Christ, he picked up John Mark, the failing servant who made good in the ministry to paint the portrait. It's also of significance that right in the same context you have Demas who went over the hill and someone said, so did John Mark. The difference is that John Mark came back. He became profitable. But so far as the record is concerned, Demas did not. May I point out to you two very significant things in this passage concerning this man? In the first place, this man was infected with a worldly spirit. The text says he was in love with this present world. That was his present condition. and what damage worldliness has done in the life of a believer. I wonder what form it took. May I suggest, dear friends, that I believe the silence as to the form of Demas worldliness is significant. The silence is with divine design. If the Spirit of God had enumerated the form in which it took, you would say, that was Demas's problem, but that's not mine. The most significant thing about worldliness in the scriptures is its subtlety. And the average person has his little list all drawn up, or perhaps it's a big one. And all the time he's consoling and comforting himself that he's not worldly. because he doesn't do any of these things on this list. And all the time he's shot through with the disease. When he's looking in the opposite direction, priding himself that he doesn't do all of these things, worldliness is biting him from behind. It's an amazing thing to study the New Testament in terms of worldliness because you hear so much preached on this subject that you almost get fogged. and you need to return to the New Testament to find out what it is. You know what the heart of worldliness in the New Testament is? The heart of worldliness is this. A person is worldly who is more concerned about the here than the hereafter. He's more enamored of time than he is of eternity. What a subtle form. I may ask you tonight, is the Wedgwood more important than the Word to you? Is your job far more important to you than your responsibility of witnessing? If so, you are worldly. If things dazzle you and constantly constitute your greatest attraction and appeal, you are worldly. And it was this sin that sapped the usefulness out of this man. Not only did he have a worldly spirit, he had a cowardly spirit. You will notice in the text in verse 6, verse 10 it states, he is departed. Now this is an interesting word in the original language. The Greek pictures a definite crisis and should be translated to leave in the lurch. Now get the significance of this. You see the word that is used here signifies desertion, but worse desertion at a time when he was needed most. It's like a man who goes over the hill in the midst of the battle. It's one thing to go over the hill when we're here at home in peace conditions. This in itself is serious enough. The thought of the word here is that he deserted him, he left Paul in the lurch just at the time when he was needed most, just in the thick of the battle, when the pressure was on. He found it more comfortable to go to Thessalonica. Perhaps persecution was in the air. Perhaps he began to think to himself, if I'm going to leave, this is a good time to go. Because after all, if I'm identified with this group, This may mean my neck also. At any rate, he left the apostle in the lurch at the critical moment. Now, for a few moments, let's look at some of the lessons which emerged from a study of this man's life. The first one I'd like to call to your attention is this. Spiritual association. will not insulate you from the dangers of spiritual defection. Spiritual associations will not insulate you against the dangers of spiritual defection. This man had a great privilege. What your greatest privilege, my friend, may become your greatest peril. I don't know how many individuals I have met, men in particular, who are married to a spiritual wife and who are riding on her spirituality. I don't know how many men I've talked to about their relationship to Jesus Christ. Well, my wife, she carries the religion in the family. So that's very interesting, particularly since you are supposed to be the head of the house. It has been an amazing thing to me in Christian service to discover some of God's greatest giants who are married to pygmies. And the woman all along thinks it's her husband's spirituality that by proxy will be transferred to me. My friend, if you are married to a mate who is a man or a woman of God, you have a tremendous privilege. And with every privilege goes responsibility. But may I say to you very pointedly, your wife's spirituality, your husband's spirituality, your friend's spirituality is not the solution to your problem. Here was a man, my friend, if spiritual associations guaranteed spiritual usefulness, he had it made. He couldn't have been with a better troop than that with which he served. Can you think of anything greater than the privilege of walking those dusty roads with the Apostle Paul and of hearing those priceless words fall from his lips, watching him form little churches, watching him present the gospel and seeing people saved? The privilege of being teamed with a man of God of his stature. But that didn't solve Demas' problem. You know, there are many people who belong to a good evangelical church who are riding. Some time ago, I was invited to speak in a liberal church. I don't know how I ever got the opportunity. I think they heard me once when I was sick and invited me to come. And frankly, I preached a very elementary message, and as I recall, one involving joy. And all during the course of my message, there were people with tears rolling down their faces. And after I got through, there was a dear lady sitting down on the second or third row, and she was catapulted out of that pew. And she came up and she said to me, young man, that almost derailed me. She said, young man, I want you to know this is the first time that the Word of God has been preached in this church for 17 years. My friends, I thought of all of the spoiled spiritual brats that I know in Dallas who can go every Sunday morning to Sunday school, morning worship, training hour, evening worship, Bible classes through the week as many as they want to attend and in every one they get a feast prepared and They take it for granted and they're riding and They're like many people who come to church to sit soak and sour Now we've got so many sitters in our churches that we have a situation on our hands I was at a conference some time ago. You know, it's amazing, traveling this conference circuit. You really meet some interesting people. And there was a dear lady in one of the conferences, and all during the course of my message, she was taking notes, which was fine. This sort of intrigued me, because every time I odd, she'd write something down. I thought she was taking it down in shorthand. So I met her on the campus and I said, Madam, what do you do with these notes? Oh, Brother Hendricks, you know, I've been taking notes for many, many years. Wonderful. What do you do with them? Oh, she said, I take them home. I got a whole bureau drawer full of them. I said, a bureau drawer? Lady, you never want to do that. That's a fire hazard. I said, if your insurance company finds that out, they'll hike your rate. But this is what happens. And my friend, if you are a member of a good evangelical church, for God's sake, friend, will you get behind the man of God who's in the pulpit and support him? And will you thank God you've got a place like that, friend? I crisscross across America a dozen times in a summer and all throughout the year, and every time I never cease to be amazed at the fact of how many communities there are where there's a famine of the Word of God. Brother, if you have a church that's halfway conservative and the man's trying to do a consistent job ministering the Word, get on the team and thank God for your privilege, but don't ride on it. I meet people all the time. I say, what member are you? They go, I, brother, I'm a member of the Last Presbyterian. I say, where do you belong? They go, St. Anastasia. Church of the Sacred Rest would be a good subtitle for it. And you can almost see some of these dear people swell with pride. You know, I belong to this church. And they ride on it. Yes, they do. You a member of that church? My friend, you have a great privilege. But it's a peril. It could even be your downfall. Oh, he said, Brother Hendricks, I'm a navigator. Navigators don't go down the tubes. I'm honest, dear friends. I wish earlier in my ministry, I knew of the ministry of navigators. But I tell you, dear friend, the privilege of being a navigator is a peril. Because you can ride on it. How many verses do you know now? Ooh! Hold on! I'm gonna have a little steeplechase contest or something. You're associated with the navigators. My friend, that will not insulate you against the dangers of spiritual defection. And there's nothing the devil would like to have more than to grease the tubes for a good navigator. There's a second principle. Watch this one. Fasten your safety belts. Spiritual defection is not a blowout. It's a slow leap. Did you ever see somebody fall into gross sin? And you probably commented, it's par for the course, my, what happened to Bill, Joe, Sam, Mary? Why, it appears as if they dropped over a cliff. My friend, all you saw was the end product. But you can always be guaranteed of one thing, and that is there has been a process developing for some time, and this is simply the end of the process. It's a slow leak. And may I say, dear friends, often to the individual involved, it's quite imperceptible. And what's worse, it's even imperceptible to those around. I've been studying the life of Christ afresh. Periodically, I engage in an intensive study of the Gospels for my own spiritual profit. You know what hit me, I can't say for the first time, but with fresh force? And that is, here was a group of disciples, one of whom was Judas. Now remember, these individuals lived very closely. They walked, they ate, they slept together, they worked as a unit. And one night the Lord said, gentlemen, one of you is going to betray me. Now I would have thought that when the Lord said, one of you is going to betray me, that all of the eyes would turn to the right or left and say, There he is. Not a one of them did that. Not a one of them ever suspected Judas. In fact, the amazing thing, when you study the account real closely, is that even after the Lord gave him the thop, the people, the disciples, never caught on. You see, Judas saw the miracle. He heard all of the words of the Lord. He had terrific spiritual associations, the best possible. And yet defection was taking place in this man's life to such an extent that even the group never recognized it. How often this is true in the believer's life? A man starts by taking a step, and this leads to another, to another. The end of the series of steps is the outbreak that you see. But there's one final lesson. Devotion is always linked to defection. Devotion is always linked to defection. In the 2nd Timothy 4 passage which we read, I ask you to underline the expression, all them that love his appearing. Link that with the little expression, Demas hath forsaken me in love with this present world. You either love his appearing or you are in love with this present world. These two loves blast each other. They're diametrically opposed. I have never yet found a person who loves his appearance who is in love with the present world. We used to sing a little chorus, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. My friend, you have never seen a person who was in love with Jesus Christ, who fell in love with the world. The moment a person begins to fall out of love, the love starts to grow cold, as with the church at Ephesus. Then they are good candidates for falling in love with the world. Let me give you an illustration. I am in love with the most lovely woman that you can imagine. I do a lot of marriage counseling and I've made an observation. I have never, never, never met a man who was philandering with another woman who had not lost his love for his wife. You show me a man who has a magnet at home and I will show you a man, friend, to whom things on the outside are not attractive. The more I'm occupied with this woman, the less attractive others become. You can catch this in the physical realm. but you might not transfer it to the spiritual. Worldliness fell in love with the present world. So he's occupied with things, with the here. And the things of hereafter and the things of eternity begin to pale and they fade. May I ask you tonight personally, only you can answer it, with whom are you in love? You make a hole in your defection, in your devotion to Jesus Christ, and through that hole, my friend, will leak away all of your power and usefulness. Is it any wonder then that after Peter's tragic fall, as we saw the other night, in that period, that gracious period of restoration, that the Lord should say to Peter, Peter, do you love me? And it's quite emphatic in the text. Peter, are you really in love with me? If you are in love with him, my friend, then other things. are not near as magnetic. But you water down your love for him, and other things become increasingly more attractive. What a tragic life. You know, the greater tragedy, my friend, is that you and I, if we are sowing the seeds of which Demas is the full flower, may be moving in the same direction. What a searching life. Tonight, my heart is hot for Jesus Christ. Tonight, I rejoiced in what happened last night as the gospel was presented to lost people. And I'm praying for their salvation. Tonight, I'm willing to do anything for God. That's wonderful. But the moment, my friend, you grow cold toward the Lord, the moment the Word of God becomes a closed book, the moment your intercourse with the infinite God through prayer begins to become sporadic, the moment lost people do not tug at your heart, you are moving in Demas's direction. Possible tonight there's someone here who says, you know, through this series of studies, I have come to realize areas of weakness. This is good. Do you know what the danger is? This is another trick of the devil, by the way, that we ought to add to our list from last night. He gets you occupied with your failure. A number of years ago in Africa, a little boy living on a compound was given explicit instructions by his father. Son, you may use the sling, but you cannot shoot at the animals. If I catch you shooting at an animal, I'll take your sling away. Roger? Right, Dad. A little kid goes out and, boy, he's taking stones and bouncing them off the trees and firing them away at rocks. And all of a sudden, down the road, a hundred yards or so, is this duck that comes sashaying across the road. As only a duck can. Boy, I think a duck is shot through. with a good deal of ego. You can just see that old boy moving right across, and the kid singing, Yield Not to Temptation. But boy, it was too much. And so he thought, well, one shot won't hurt. He'll never hit it. Too far down the road. He lets it go, and as fate would have it, the duck forgot the duck. And he dropped him right in the road. Good night, the kid ran to the scene of the crime. Tried to dispose of the victim, dug a hole down in the ground, pushed the duck down in, covered it over, put leaves and twigs on the top of it, confident no one had seen him, looked all around. Man, I got it made. After lunch that day, he came out through the back door, through the place where the servants work, and one of the servants said to him, young man, Get washing the dishes. Got a large pile of them for you today. Who, me? That's your job. What about that duck? What duck? I had a duck. He dropped in the road and buried there. Get going. And so the little kid plowed in. And he washed dishes till they were coming out his ears. And in order to make him not forget, he took his little slingshot and put it up on the shelf and let the sling hang down. And every time the little kid would start griping, he'd say, hey, what about that duck? Get rolling. Boy, meal after meal. Come on, I got a pile of dishes, tremendous Number of pots and pans today. Finally, little kid grew weary of this after a couple weeks. And so he faced the inevitable and he went to see his daddy. And he came out. The tears were still rolling down his face. The fella said, OK, man, let's get busy on the dishes. We've got an awful load to put out today. After that, I've got your polish and floor. The little kid said, not me. I've discussed the matter with my father. Bye. You know, my friend, this is precisely where the devil has some of you, or where he will put you. He'll take some mistake, some fault, some area of weakness, And, friend, he'll have you washing dishes and pots and pans, and he'll just let the little sling hang down of your sin. Every time you come to a meeting where, boy, this is the time to get with it for God, he says, what about the duck? May I ask you, my friend, tonight, have you discussed the matter with your father? My Bible says He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to keep on cleansing us from all unrighteousness. The very fact that you are concerned about your sin is the most healthy state spiritually to be in. He can make you tonight more than conquerors. He can give you the power of the Spirit of God to enable you to avoid that road that Demas took, and you're stepping out into it every time you make a hole in your devotion to Jesus Christ. Shall we pray? Dear Father, we believe that Thou art trying to speak to us in these days and we pray for ears that are open, hearts that are receptive, wills that can be activated by Thy Spirit. Lord, we're weary of the mediocre lives we've been living. We're weary of the devil reminding us of our weaknesses. Father, we come to Thee tonight to confess our sins, as Thou has invited us to come, as Thou has prepared a way. We pray that Thou would cleanse us, and above all, our Father, that Thou would give us a love for Jesus Christ. that will be cultivated, that will grow, that the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of thy glory and grace. For we ask it through Christ our Lord with thanksgiving. Amen.