Desertion Sermon

Intro:  

When I was 10 years old, our family went on a vacation to Myrtle Beach for a week, which was a bit different than our usual trip to Panama City where my dad’s family lived. One day, while the parents were tending to the younger kids, I waded out into the water, thinking nothing of it as we had been playing in it all week. This time, however, there was a rip current. The fascinating thing about those things is that they don’t yank you violently; it pulls gently, subtly, until you look up and the shore is getting further and further away. According to my mom, by the time she began looking for me, all she could hear was a faint, “Mom, mom!” 

While I was fortunately rescued, there is a lesson in this: Drifting doesn’t seem dangerous until it is.

Today I want us to explore the danger of desertion which is the slow drift of a heart turning from the safety of Christ to the empty promises of this world. In 2 Timothy 4:10, we meet Demas, a man who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Paul, only to be swept away by his love for this present world. His story is a tragic mercy—a warning from God to test our loyalties before the current carries us too far. Today, we will be reminded of this present danger. We will also examine our hearts and find a reminder of hope in the God who sees our wandering hearts and promises to heal our backsliding with His free love (Hosea 14:4). Just as a rip current pulls you further from shore with every unnoticed step, the danger of desertion creeps into our hearts through small, subtle choices that turn our love from Christ to the world. With that said, let’s look closer at Demas’s subtle fade as a warning God gives us to guard our hearts before we’re too far from shore.  

The Subtle Fade of Desertion  

The story of Demas is a heartbreaking story used by God as a warning for the good of His people. It is what one writer called “A Tragic Mercy,” as it warns us and invites us to test our loyalties. The reason that this is so necessary is that this drift is not a sudden and clean break at a moment's notice but is a subtle drift away from the Lord.  Notice that Paul writes that Demas “loved” this present world. In highlighting that word “loved,” we are reminded that the inward man forsakes the Lord for the far country long before his legs take him there. What’s discouraging about this passage is that just two verses before this, Paul mentions that there is a crown for all who love Christ’s appearing.  

By focusing on Demas’ love for the world, Paul is contrasting these two loves and reveals that Demas was focused on what he could gain today, rather than what awaits believers tomorrow. In short, what Paul is doing here is revealing that Demas, a man who he once thought would receive a crown which belongs to all who long to see Jesus, really loved the world more. 

The reality is that we also live in the same present evil age that Demas lived in. There are a myriad of voices crying out to you at every moment of every day that offer themselves as the solution to your needs. They tell you that your shoulders have gone too long bearing the weight of your cross and that you’ve earned the relief that they offer. But it’s a lie. Sin offers freedom but gives you chains. The Lord promises a cross and gives you a crown. The world is always whispering, always inviting, always calling, always promising, and the terrifying thing about it is that the temptations that once seemed so weak grow louder as you lend an ear to them. For instance, Satan’s promises never held power until Eve began to entertain them. And that’s when the seed took hold. So, we must be careful to keep an eye out for the calls of the world and our subtle drift away from the Lord. We must realize and embrace the lyrics of the old hymn which reads, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it! Prone to leave the God I love!”

In John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful are nearing the end of their journey. While walking, they begin to reflect on a man named “Mr. Temporary.” Mr. Temporary was a man who seemed to be genuinely set on journeying to the Celestial City, but somewhere along the way, he turned back. While they walk, Christian gives ten reasons, or we can call them 10-mile markers on the road of desertion. Here’s five: First, they draw their thoughts from remembering God, death, and judgment. Second, they cast off their Christian duties, such as prayer and resisting sin. Third, they forsake the company of warm Christians. Fourth, they grow cold to hearing, reading, and talking about the Lord. Fifth, they begin to pick holes in the lives of Christians around them to give them a reason to forsake religion.  

Are you on this road today? Have you found yourself caught in the grasp of this subtle rip current of sin? Does the Savior’s voice seem more distant than before? Are you using the distractions of the world to drown out the voice of the Lord and the thought of facing Him? Do the promises of the Gospel and the hope that lay before us seem less encouraging than today’s promise of popularity, comfort, and indulgence? Are you pushing away the Christian friends who speak truth into your life? If that’s you, God has recorded the sad story of Demas as a stop sign on your journey astray. But since it’s so subtle, how do we know? This leads us to my next point. 

Diagnosing Desertion in Our Hearts. 

In Hebrews 6:7-12, we find two red flags that warn us of this dangerous trajectory in our lives. In verses 7-8, we find two types of soil which are the hearts of men. One, like the Earth, drinks up the word of God and produces good fruit, but the other is fruitful in bad fruit which are called “thorns and thistles.” Matthew Henry writes: 

It is not only barren of good fruit, but fruitful in that which is bad, briers and thorns, fruitful in sin and wickedness, which are troublesome and hurtful to all around them... God will concern himself no more about such wicked apostates; he will let them alone, and cast them out of his care; he will command the clouds that they rain no more upon them. Divine influences shall be restrained; and that is not all... Lastly, its end is to be burned. Apostasy will be punished with everlasting burnings, the fire that shall never be quenched. This is the sad end to which apostasy leads, and therefore Christians should go on and grow in grace, lest, if they do not go forward, they should go backward.. 

The first red flag that we see here is a hardened heart towards the word of God, which abuses the gift of His Word and instead of drinking it up and being fruitful, responds with sinfulness. In short, the first red flag is a fruitless relationship with the Word of God. This looks like having no care in the world for reading the Bible or hearing it preached. It looks like doodling during sermons week after week until finally you decide there's no point in coming. You remain uninterested, unchanged, and ultimately unmoved by God. The little preaching you do hear is just to find criticism, or to find ammo to use against others, but aside from that, there’s nothing it’s got to offer you.  

Next, in verses 11-12, we see a tendency to sluggishness. Similar to what we’ve discussed beforehand, the sluggish professor sees no urgency or necessity in Christian discipline and sees it as an unnecessary or non-beneficial exercise, which he or she doesn’t have time for. Instead of preparing your heart for the Lord’s day, you’d rather distract yourself and indulge in something more entertaining. While there is nothing wrong with a TV show or a movie with your spouse, there is something to be said about the noise in our world today. We have screens glaring, speakers booming, and voices shouting at all times to drown out the small voice of conviction and contemplation in our souls, and while we travel down the subtle road of desertion, we’re too sluggish to do anything about it.  

Now, you might be thinking, “This isn’t me at all. I attend every service, I volunteer for ministries, I give, and I fit in perfectly here!” But beloved, while that may be great, you need to remember that Judas heard all of Christ’s sermons, too. In 2 Kings 5, Naaman, a commander of the Syrian army, is struck with leprosy and goes to Elijah for help. After he is healed, he offers Elijah a gift as repayment, and Elijah refuses it which is a physical sermon on the free grace of God. Hearing that there is money on the table, Elijah’s assistant Gehazi decides that he is going to wait until Elijah isn’t looking, and he’ll go find Naaman. Well, he does that. He goes to Naaman, tells him that Elijah changed his mind and really wanted some stuff after all, and Naaman gives him double what he asked for. When Gehazi gets back, he hides the stuff and lies to Elijah when asked, not knowing that Elijah knew what had happened. In his lie, the judgment of God fell upon Gehazi and consumed him with the leprosy that once belonged to Naaman. This is just one example of Demas’s love for the present world. Gehazi sat under a godly master, saw the miracles of God, witnessed a display of God’s free grace, and instead of being thrilled with that, his heart was set on the offerings of this present world.  

Is this the road that you are walking? Are you riding a padded pew down the road of apostasy? Ask yourself: What thrills me? What comforts me? What grieves me about myself? What is my heart's innermost longing? Does the gospel simply sit on the dusty shelf of my mind? Does a busted bracket hurt me more than my sin against the Lord? Does a trip to the beach thrill me more than the gospel of free grace? Is Sunday just another day of obligations for me? If so, we must understand that we have backslidden against the Lord, and perhaps one of the most terrifying things is that the early stages of backsliding and apostasy are virtually identical. This is a cancer which devours piece by piece until it takes you totally. But there is hope.  

Hope for the Backslider  

In Hosea 14:4, God promises, “I will heal their backsliding (apostasy); I will love them freely.” The beautiful thing about the Lord is not only does He forgive backsliding, but He heals it.  And how does He do that? How does He restore His wayward child? By His free love. This love is not the reward of their reform, but their reform is the result of His free love. Paul tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, and what greater good has God shown us than His love in crucifying His Son for us? What is the result of us receiving this love? Hosea tells us. First, in verse 2, it is detesting your sin. Notice the prayer that the Lord writes for them teaches them to pray, “Take away all iniquity.” Richard Sibbes said, “None heartily pray to God to ‘take away all iniquity’ who have not received grace to truly hate all iniquity.” When we consider the beautiful love of God for us and how we don’t deserve a single ounce of His affection, we can’t help but see how horrible our sins against Him are. You might be asking, “How has God loved me?” And Paul says in Romans, “Look no further than the cross.”  

Second, in verse 3, they cry out in despair that nothing can save them. Not Assyria, not horses, not their own works. Their only hope is the gracious God who is a Father to the fatherless. Or, in essence, is in a God who loves to help those who have no other hope. God’s love opens our eyes to the emptiness of everything we’ve been clinging to for help and teaches us to sing with the hymn writer: 

Nothing in my hand I bring, 

Simply to the cross I cling; 

naked, come to thee for dress; 

helpless, look to thee for grace; 

foul, I to the fountain fly; 

wash me, Savior, or I die. 

In our text today, there is reconciliation seen as Mark, a man who himself once abandoned Paul, is reconciled with him. But overall, the Lord used the sad story of Demas to provoke you and me to explore the condition of our own souls.  There may be seasons of serious sin for those in Christ. However, for the true Christian, you will persevere; not because you aren’t like Demas, but because you are prone to wander. Rather, you will persevere because Jesus, the opposite of Demas, will never desert you as His own. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:18, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” 

But for those outside of Christ, those of you who wear the right clothes, attend the right meetings, and seem shiny and happy outside, without genuinely knowing Christ. This isn’t some short season of spiritual lethargy that you’re manifesting, it’s the beginning of your apostasy. The cure for you is not reform, but regeneration. You have no hope outside of Jesus Christ. It’s not you trying to redeem your reputation, it’s not you getting back on your Bible reading plan so you can post it on Facebook at the end of the year. No, the only hope you have is to throw yourself at the mercy of God, which is offered in His Son who died for sinners. And if you won’t get over your pride and come to Christ, you will go to hell in the beautiful façade you’ve created. This is not you getting your ducks in a row so you can come, no, the only fitness He requires is to see your need of Him. If this is you today, I invite you to come and meet with me, or another pastor after service. I will wait in the fellowship area for you and would be thrilled to speak with you.  

Next, I want us to look at Paul’s conduct in 2 Timothy 4 as an application to those dealing with desertion and we will find three reminders for our lives.  

When Dealing with Desertion, Remember To: 

Embrace Community. 

Amid the pain that Paul feels, the first thing we see displayed by him is a longing for Christian community. He begs Timothy to come quickly, he encourages him to bring Mark, and he gives recognition to the faithfulness of Luke. One thing I want us to draw from Paul’s conduct is not to allow the desertion of Demas to distract us from the love of the Luke’s in our life. A lot of people are tempted to forsake it all when they get hurt, but don’t let that be you. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The New Testament makes it very clear that Christians are communal people by nature, and when we begin to retreat into isolation or lone wolf mentality, we are in a dangerous place. 

John Gill said, “[Forsaking the assembly] is the first outward visible step to apostasy, and often issues in it…” What has God ordained to be the place for your spiritual development? The Church. Who has God given the authority to administer the means of grace? The Church. Who has God given the authority to watch for your soul? The Church. To forsake Christian community is to forsake the primary means of growth and protection that God has given for your soul.  

When you look at a smoldering fire, you notice how the coals lose their warmth when you separate them for too long. This is the place God has given you as an oasis in the desert. It isn’t flashy, and that’s exactly how He meant it to be. They’re called the “ORDINARY” means of grace for a reason. And it is vital that you don’t forsake them.  

Exemplify Grace. 

One of the things I want to be sensitive to, however, is pain. I’ve been a Christian since I was 13 years old and have been pastoring since I was 20. One thing I can tell you about the Christian life is that it hurts. It hurts when men who you once preached beside apostatize from the faith. It hurts when people you love and pour into turn against you and turn to their sin. And one temptation that you are going to face is to say, “You know what? It hurts too bad, so I’m going to fence off my heart to protect myself.” And if that’s you, I want to say, “You’re not allowed to do that.” If I’m going to love like Jesus, I’ve got to understand that I’m going to experience the lacerations of betrayal that Jesus faced. And what Paul knew and what we are growing to know is that Jesus is going to be with us as we enter into those sufferings.  

Notice that when Paul says that everyone forsook him in verse 16, he prays that it is not laid against them. There is perhaps no greater way Paul looks like the Lord than right here because this echoes the sufferings of our Lord on the cross. Who, while dying alone, cried, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” When we find ourselves tempted to build fences, let them be torn down by those words of Christ. Because that prayer is fulfilled in you and me. We, in our sin, crucified the Lord, and yet we are forgiven because He died for us. If He can forgive me for all that I’ve done to Him, then I should be ready to love others for His sake.  

Now, not all who have backslidden are apostate and so we should do what Jude 22-23 commands us to do and have mercy on them. We should gently seek to restore them with grace. This doesn’t mean that we tolerate their sin or make excuses for it, but it means we should seek to restore in tenderness and truth. Galatians 6:1 says, “If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” Now, if they get offended by that approach, then let them be offended.  

Enjoy Christ.  

Finally, I want to encourage us to simply enjoy Christ, which is clearly what Paul is doing as he explodes with worship in verses 17-18. When I perform a wedding, one of the things I try to emphasize to the couple is to simply enjoy one another. You’ll be excited to build a life and to get into a rhythm, and before you know it, years have flown by, and you’ve been distracted by that life you’ve aimed to build, so take time to just enjoy each other.  

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of one of the greatest men I’ve ever had the privilege of ministering to. When I served at Five Forks, he was one of my biggest cheerleaders and prayer warriors. One of the things that struck me most about him is that Larry enjoyed Jesus. Yes, he was burdened by the soul of his wayward son. Yes, his aging body hurt. Yes, he had problems and duties, but he enjoyed Jesus. It was a very common thing for Larry to grab me before I entered the pulpit to simply talk about the Lord, and as he’d reflect on the gospel, you’d see tears begin to streak down his face. That’s the kind of man he was, and that’s the kind of man the Apostle Paul was, too.  

The most effective defense against desertion is delight. Our fellowship with Christ is real, and it sustains and strengthens us. Two ways that Paul experienced this are that it first empowered him in sharing the gospel and second, it encouraged him in the Lord’s power to preserve him to the end. Are you enjoying the Lord? When we begin to forget His grace, we begin to convince ourselves that maybe His yoke isn’t easy and light, and maybe He’s not gentle with the bruised reed. But as you spend time gazing at His beauty, you’ll be reminded all over again just how gracious and gentle He is, and you’ll shout with Paul, “To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” 

Conclusion:

Brothers and sisters, the rip current of desertion is real, pulling at our hearts with every whisper of this world’s promises. Like Demas, we’re all prone to wander, to let small choices drift us far from Christ. But God, in His mercy, holds up Demas’ story as a warning to test our loyalties—to ask, ‘What do I love most? Is my heart anchored in Christ, or am I slipping toward the world?’ Yet, even when we falter, His promise in Hosea 14:4 stands firm: ‘I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely.’ This is the hope that keeps us: not our strength, but Christ’s unending faithfulness, who will never desert His own (2 Timothy 4:18). So today, don’t drift alone—cling to the community of God’s people, extend grace to the wayward, and above all, delight in Jesus. If you sense the pull of desertion, lift your eyes to the cross now. If you’ve never known Christ, throw yourself on His mercy today—He is mighty to save. Let’s pray, and if you need to talk, I’ll be in the fellowship area after the service, ready to talk with you.

Benediction:

Jude 24–25 NKJV

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.