Finishing the Race – Strong! (3)

  

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part 3

 

“Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus” (2 Timothy 4:9 – 12).

 

This is one of those passages that we tend to gloss over, after all, these are just names. Suppose our names were in this passage? How would we feel if they were glossed over, skipped over the way we skip over nonessential elements in life?

 

Of course these names are people, and they were people who mattered to Paul. We have people in our lives who matter to us and these people have names – we can’t separate the names from the people; “Jim” is Jim, “Mel” is Mel, “Linda” is Linda.

 

The more I read this passage, the more I see. What do you see? What are the likelihoods? What are the possibilities? As we continue to think about Demas, can you identify someone who is the opposite of Demas in this passage, as well as in the other two passages in Colossians and Philemon that we’re considering

 

“Make every effort to come to me soon.” Paul wants Timothy to hurry up and get to him, and the first reason why he wants him to come quickly is that Demas has deserted him. The fact that Paul lists Demas’s abandonment first, ahead of those fellow workers who were on mission to Galatia, Dalmatia, and Ephesus, says something about the impact Demas’s desertion had on Paul’s heart. Thankfully Luke was still with Paul. Paul had anticipated that Demas and Luke would both be with him, but now there was only Luke, the beloved physician.

 

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come” (2 Timothy 4:6). Paul is in prison once again. This time is the last time, this is apparent to Paul – execution awaits him; it is not a question of “if” but “when”. Demas had stood with Paul during Paul’s previous imprisonment, and certainly he would stand with Paul during this present imprisonment.

 

But wait, Demas is gone, he has deserted Paul; Demas has loved the present world and has deserted his friends Paul and Luke, he has left them alone. Crescens, and Titus, and Tychicus have gone on individual missions to serve Christ; Demas has gone on a mission to serve himself. Paul commissioned Tychicus and Titus and Crescens to go and serve; Demas commissioned himself to abandon his friends and to love himself and the present evil age.

 

This is a blow to Paul, and no doubt to Luke. Paul writes to Timothy, “Come quickly.”

 

“Come quickly because I am going to leave this world soon through execution, and one who was close to me, one whom I love, one whom I depended on, one whom I shared much joy and laughter and love with, one with whom I endured and overcame many challenges, one whom I was certain would be with me until the very end; this one, my friend, my beloved, my Demas…has deserted me. O Timothy come quickly! Come quickly!”

 

Now if, when we read this passage in 2 Timothy, we are simply thinking about Paul and Demas and Paul’s other friends, then we are missing the point. For I ought to be allowing the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God and challenge me in terms of my friendships and other relationships. If the Holy Spirit had intended us to gloss over passages such as this, He would not have included them in the Holy Word, these passages, just as the genealogies, have Divine meaning.

 

What do we “see” in this passage? How are we responding to this passage?

 

Finishing the Race – Strong! (2)

 

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part 2

 

“Luke, the beloved physician sends you his greetings, and also Demas” (Col. 4:14).

 

What must Demas have felt like when his greetings were included in Paul’s letter to the Colossians? Gratified? Grateful that he was included in the letter? Thankful to be identified with Paul in Paul’s imprisonment?

 

Paul’s letter to Philemon accompanied his letter to the church at Colossae, and in that letter he wrote, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.” How might Demas have felt to be acknowledged as one of Paul’s “fellow workers”?

 

“Say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it’” (Col. 4:17).

 

Is it possible that Demas compared himself to Archippus? Is it possible that Demas thought, “I am faithfully with Paul, fulfilling the ministry that God gave me. I will never need such a warning from Paul or from anyone else”?

 

When we look at Demas in Colossians and Philemon he is keeping good company. He is identified with Paul in his imprisonment. Demas is a member of an apostolic cohort proclaiming the Gospel and supporting Paul. How might Demas have been feeling? What might he have been thinking?

 

While we don’t know the answers to these questions, since we share a common humanity with Demas we can explore possibilities. If our names had appeared in place of the name Demas in Colossians and Philemon, what might we have been thinking and feeling – to be identified with Paul the apostle in his critical ministry?

 

Let’s not forget that Paul was in prison. To be identified with Paul took courage; there was always the possibility that you might be next, that you might be sleeping next to Paul on any given night.

 

But then we have, “Demas…has deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:10).

 

What happened?

Finishing the Race -Strong! (1)

  

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part I

 

Two years ago tomorrow, I lost one of the most honorable and trustworthy friends I have ever had, Bruce Harrison. Few, if any, days go by that I don’t think about Bruce and that I don’t “talk” to him, whatever that means. Bruce was my climbing partner as we negotiated our ascent on Mount Zion – attached to the rope of Jesus and His Word. Yet, we are still attached to that rope, the tension on it has not slackened, perhaps it is even more sure than before. For while Brucie has passed into the clouds beyond my physical vision and my natural hearing, he has tied his end of the rope around our Rock, Jesus Christ, and I can hear him saying, “Bobby, come on up, come on up.”

 

In contrast with Bruce, there is Demas in the New Testament. I’ve been pondering Demas for the past few days and I thought I was going to write about him and leave it at that, but this morning I see that we want to explore a bigger picture than simply Demas, so while we’ll see where this goes, we’ll begin with Demas. Demas is mentioned three times in the Bible:

 

“Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.” (Colossians 4:14).

 

“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.” (Philemon 23 – 24).

 

“Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world [age], has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…” (2 Timothy 4:9 – 10a).

 

What do you see in these passages? What is the storyline?

 

I’ll begin by pointing out that all the verses in the Bible matter. While our tendency may be to skip over groups of names, as I hope we’ll see with Demas, we may be missing important lessons when we do this. Panning for gold in Scripture brings much joy to share with others and works to establish us in Christ.

 

Colossians and Philemon were written at the same time. The former was written to the church in that city, and the latter was written to a brother in that church. (See Colossians 4:7 – 14 and Philemon 10 – 24). Ephesians was also written at this time. (Compare Ephesians and Colossians). Paul writes these letters from prison (Col. 4:3; Phm. 23; Eph. 6:20).

 

Paul also wrote 2 Timothy from prison – I think this is fair to say from the tenor and content of the letter. On the face of it, Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians were written prior to 2 Timothy; among other contrasting features, consider the change in the status of Demas. It further seems apparent that a significant change has occurred in Paul’s circumstances between the time he wrote the first three letters and when he penned 2 Timothy. While I realize that there is discussion as to whether Paul experienced one or two imprisonments in Rome, my own sense is that there were two – but in either case there is a drastic change in circumstances. (Yes, Philippians was also written from prison.)

 

Demas has gone from honorable mention in Colossians and Philemon to dishonorable mention in 2 Timothy. He has gone from standing alongside Luke and Mark and Aristarchus to, “for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…”

 

As we ponder the context of these passages that mention Demas, what can we learn?

 

How are we challenged?

 

What warnings do we see for ourselves and others?

 

How might you structure and present this to a group of children or teenagers?

 

To a Sunday morning congregation?

 

Arise and Shine!

 

Last week I had two interactions with folks over the uncertainty and turmoil of the world around us. Friends, when we buy into fear we’ve taken our eyes off Jesus. When we chase “End times” teaching we’ve taken our eyes off Jesus.

 

End times teaching has become a Disney World to many professing Christians and a cash cow and a drug to many teachers. I happened to look at the website of a popular end times teacher that was marketing a conference for “end times and prophecy enthusiasts.” Now folks, this is crazy, this is nuts. We are called to follow Jesus and be transformed into His image, not to discern the future in the way these people are doing it…my goodness, they have something new every week or month – why don’t folks see the incongruity in this? Why don’t their followers – and make no mistake, they are indeed followers – see that if they aren’t given something new and exciting on a continuing basis that they will stop following?

 

Jesus Christ gives us stability! The teaching of the true Prophets and Apostles in the Bible provides a stable center of gravity no matter what is happening around us. We, and the people around us, don’t need entertainment, we all need Jesus Christ…to live in a deep relationship with Him.

 

I should be quick to say that I was once very much into the “end times” (as it is popularly taught) so I know the hold it can have on someone. I even used it as a litmus test for fellowship. Then, one day at a church picnic outside Rochester, NY, (circa 1973) I meant a brother who in moments set me free. In essence, while I wanted to talk about end times he wanted to talk about Jesus…and that is all the Holy Spirit needed to clarify my vision on the matter.

 

Below is a note I sent to one of the folks I interacted with, we had touched on Romans 8 and Isaiah 60, which is why I begin with them. Maybe there is something here for you.

 

Love,

 

Bob

 

 

 

Good morning ___,

 

Regarding Romans 8:18 – 19 and Isaiah 60:1 – 2; these are “go-to” passages for me because they represent the victorious trajectory of the People of God, the Body of Christ, the City of God, the Bride. Of course the context surrounding them is critical, as is the context of the entire Bible, and let’s not forget the grand crescendo of Romans Chapter 8 – for indeed nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord and we are more than conquerors!

 

Isaiah 60:1ff reminds me that no matter how dark it may be in the world, that the glory of our Father rests upon His sons and daughters and that we are here for the salvation and blessing of others.

 

Daniel Chapter 2 reminds us that the world–system is coming to an end, brought down by the Rock. This has been happening through the ages, and again we have two trajectories – one of the world-system passing away, the other of the Rock filling the entire earth. You and I are of the Rock.

 

The writer of Hebrews, reaching back to Haggai, tells us that our God will shake all things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain and be manifested. (Hebrews 12:25 – 29).  We are receiving “a kingdom which cannot be shaken.”

 

We in the West, and I suppose especially in the United States, think the world revolves around us – most of the world lives in uncertainty, but we think we can control life and when we can’t then we lose our fragile equilibrium. Is not Christ our refuge?

 

I so love Romans Chapter 8. The nexus of our life in Christ is that we are daughters and sons of the Living God, and we cry “Abba Father!” I recall ___ talking about this cry years ago – does it not express our koinonia with the Father?

 

The picture in Romans 8:22 of the creation in childbirth presents another Biblical trajectory – that of creation. We see a relationship between creation’s groaning and our own groaning in verses 22 and 23. Travail indicates the process of birth – though it does seem as if we’ve been in labor a long, long time.

 

I suppose I also ought to mention that there is only one People of God (Ephesians 2:11 – 4:16) and until recent times the Church has understood this – we are the children of Promise (Galatians 4:21 – 31), our mother is the Jerusalem which is above, not the Jerusalem of the earth, which is in slavery. There is neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:26 – 29) in the City of God, in the Body of Christ, in the Seed of Abraham. Our Father has One People, not two…and we get confused if we don’t understand this.

 

How anyone can preach or teach passages such as Ephesians 2:11 – 4:16 and not see this is a testimony to what happens to our minds when we succumb to the images and teachings of men rather than submit ourselves to our Father’s Word in Christ. One of my points in mentioning this is to say that most of what passes for prophetic teaching is akin to puppies chasing their tails – the difference is that puppies chasing tails is cute, while missing the glory of the People of God is tragic.

 

We are not to live in fear (2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18) but to live with our lives hidden in Christ (Col. 3:1 – 4) and as women and men who are confidently looking for the appearing of the City of God (Hebrews 11:9 – 11, 13 – 16). We are to be light and life and a refuge to those around us, a source of peace and grace and hope and love in Christ Jesus (Isaiah 32:1 – 2).

 

We have a glorious and wonderful calling in our dear Lord Jesus. In the midst of the world’s uncertainty, we have a certain God to share with the people around us, a glorious God, a forgiving God – all in our Lord Jesus.

 

Does not our dear Lord Jesus come to us every day? And shall we not learn to be His Presence to others every day?

 

“Arise shine; for your Light has come, and the glory of the Father has risen upon you!”

 

Much love!

 

Bob

 

Why Read the Old Testament? (10)

 

 

Dear Friend,      

 

As we’ve seen, Psalm 22 has two great movements to it; we might call the first movement (22:1 – 21) Christ’s Suffering, and the second movement (22:22 – 31) Christ’s Glory.

 

Christ’s Suffering concludes with, “From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me,” and Christ’s Glory begins with, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” When we recall that chapter and verses numbers were added much later, we can see that this transition is seamless; Christ’s suffering and cry to the Father results in victory and glory – Christ’s glory is born of Christ’s suffering, and His suffering is in anticipation of His glory.

 

Now here is the thing, the very first element of His glory concerns you and me, it concerns us, the People of God, the Family of God, the Brethren of Jesus Christ. The very first element of Christ’s glory has to do with Him sharing the Name of His Father with His Brethren, with sharing (imparting) the Nature of Our Father with us.

 

We see this dynamic in Hebrews 12:2 when we read of Jesus, “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The “joy set before Him” is the redemption of the People of God – note the context of Hebrews 12:2 – we see the People of God preceding this verse and we see the People of God following the verse.

 

This, of course, follows what Jesus says in John 12:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of what falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

 

This, in turn, speaks to us of the Incarnation. We see this in the grand tapestry of Hebrews Chapter 2, one of the great Incarnation passages in Scripture – though sadly a passage little taught during Advent…or any other time. You’ll have to read and meditate on the entire passage to begin to see its beauty, but I’ll highlight a few thoughts for now.

 

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” (Heb. 2:9).

 

Do you see incarnation, suffering, and glory in this verse?

 

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect that author of their salvation through sufferings.” (Heb. 2:10).

 

Can we see, once again, suffering and glory?

 

We also have the idea of the Father “bringing many sons to glory” – and so here we see “glory” being extended from the glory of Jesus in verse 9, to the “many sons” in verse 10. This is in keeping with Jesus saying to the Father, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them…” (John 17:22). Paul writes that if we are children then we are “heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Rom. 8:17). We are called to participate with Jesus Christ not only in His glory, but also in His suffering (Phil. 3:10).

 

Then in Hebrews 2:11 & 12, “For both He who sanctifies [Jesus Christ] and those who are sanctified [us] are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will proclaim You name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

 

As the writer of Hebrews contemplates the suffering of Christ (2:9, 10, 14), he “sees” Psalm 22, and as he sees Psalm 22 he invokes the first cry of the second movement, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

 

Here is the Elder Brother, leaving the House of the Father, to seek out and redeem His younger brethren, His sisters and brothers, so that He might bring them back to the Father’s House. The Elder Brother calls us Home by declaring the Name of the Father to us.

 

Is it any wonder that Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:18 – 19).

 

O dear friend, if our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, proclaims the Name of our Father to us, then we ought to also proclaim our Father’s Name to one another. If our Elder Brother’s mission is to bring His brethren Home, then that ought to be our mission as well. Jesus says to us, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18). And Jesus says again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21).

 

O the glory in Christ of Sonship! A glory portrayed in Psalm 22, a glory which unfolds throughout the Gospels and the Epistles and in Revelation. A glory which we are called to receive and to participate in – a glory in which we discover the koinonia of the Trinity.

 

The root and depth of this glory is in the Old Testament. Our House is not built just on the apostles, but on the “apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20) with Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone. To reject the Old Testament is to reject the Way that Jesus revealed and reveals Himself (Luke 24:27, 44). To reject the Old Testament is to reject the glory of Biblical Sonship.

 

Let us not allow others to rob us of our inheritance in Christ. Let us pursue Jesus as He reveals Himself in both the apostles (NT) and the prophets (OT) – for they are One Book….just as we are One Body.