Five Friends and a Foe, but One Hero
Text: Philemon 21-25

Paul references five friends (including Philemon) and one foe in our text. At this point, he doesn't know Demas is a foe. He thinks he is a friend and co-laborer in the gospel.

If you've been around church for any amount of time, you've known a Demas. They seemed all in and eager to serve Jesus. But something happened, and they quit, disappeared, vanished! They didn't leave for another church. They left Jesus. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us (1 John 2:19).

John Piper writes, "You are God’s appointed means to keep this (fall away) from happening to your brother or sister! (listen to the sermon here). We must "Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

Don't Be A Demas!
Paul says that Demas fell in love with this present world and deserted him to go to Thessalonica. Demas had run the race for decades only to lose in the end. We need community. We were created for community. There is grace for your endurance, and that grace looks like the Body of Christ.

Apply the Head, Heart, and Hands below:
Please do it! Don't wait. Take action.