Where do we stand spiritually? Are we ready to stand up for the cause of Christ, even in times of hardship, in times of crisis, or even if we were to face imprisonment? What do we really love? Where is our affection?

Let’s notice the spiritual status of three individuals in this text:

First we see “steadfast Luke,” the author of the Gospel that bears his name, and also the author of the book of Acts. (Here is some interesting information, a little bit of trivia: IF Paul did NOT write the book of Hebrews, then, by quantity/volume/number of words, Luke wrote more in the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts than any other inspired New Testament writer. Paul wrote more epistles—13 of the epistles, 14 epistles if he wrote Hebrews). As we noted in reading the text, who alone has remained in Rome with Paul? It’s Luke. There were others who were with Paul, but he has dispatched them to go to other places to pursue other aspects of the ministry, or perhaps to return to places to check on some of the churches that Paul had been instrumental in establishing. Of course, Demas has deserted, and it’s Luke who remains in Rome with Paul. Luke apparently remains loyal to the very end. Perhaps Luke, at this time, was serving as Paul’s secretary, his scribe, writing this epistle as Paul dictated it to him. Certainly, Luke served Paul as his personal physician. At this time, Paul is advanced in age, perhaps suffering from many of the hardships that he has gone through in prison. It is Luke, the physician, who continues to be by his side, giving continual support and aid to him. What a wonderful example Luke is for all! He was loyal, he was faithful, he was trustworthy and he was willing to stand by the aged apostle and to meet his needs, regardless of where he was, or the circumstances. So there is “steadfast Luke.”

Then we see “reclaimed Mark.” Mark had accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. During that journey, Mark made a very serious mistake. Acts 15:38 says that Mark deserted—he went back to Jerusalem. [“But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.”] We don’t know why Mark “departed,” but whatever the reasons Paul held that departure against him. The next time that Paul and Barnabas were to go on a missionary journey, Barnabas desired to take John Mark with them, but Paul refused. This situation caused a serious falling-out [disagreement] between these two good men.

But now, Mark has redeemed himself. He has shown himself to be worthy of Paul’s trust and confidence. We see that now, at this stage in his life, Paul desires Mark to come to him. He wants to see him and he will even say that Mark is “very useful”for his ministry. What a turnaround Mark has made in his own life! His experiences raise questions concerning mistakes that we make in our own lives, and show the potential of being able to recover from those mistakes. We all make mistakes, some of them more serious than others. John Mark is one who made a very serious mistake, yet has now been reclaimed, reinstated, and who has become a valuable tool, or asset, to the great apostle Paul. From him, we see that it is possible to be restored to a useful service in the Kingdom. John Mark was restored and his example should encourage us and give us hope.

So we have the “steadfast Luke,” we have the “reclaimed Mark”, and now we see the “apostate Demas.” Demas had been Paul’s fellow worker. He was mentioned that way in Philemon, verse 24 [“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers” Philemon, verses 23 and 24]. Demas had been mentioned, along with others including Luke, Epaphras, Aristarchus, and Mark. He is also mentioned in Paul’s epistle to the church in Colosse, along with Luke, as sending his greetings to the brethren there, Colossians 4, verse 14 [“Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.”].

Notice something about this situation: Paul wrote both of those epistles, the epistle to the church at Colosse and the epistle to Philemon, while he was in prison in Rome the first time. During that first imprisonment, we can surmise, or conclude, that Demas remained faithful to Paul. Now, just a few years later (depending on when 2 Timothy was written, and it may have been two years, three years, or perhaps as many as five years after Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome), Demas has deserted Paul. Sounding almost melancholy and forlorn in this text [2 Timothy 4:10], Paul says, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed (“deserted”) unto Thessalonica…,” King James Version. The English Standard Version translates this verse: “For Demas, in love with this present world, has departed me and gone to Thessalonica…” Oh my, what a sad picture! What a tragic situation!

What happened to Demas, this one who had been faithful, this one who had been counted on by Paul as a fellow worker, this one who, even during previous hard times, had been faithful? We don’t know all of the details—the Holy Spirit did not see fit to provide those to us. But we can conclude this much: The heart of the problem was one of “misplaced affection.” We might call it “wrong love.” Demas was a person, like the rest of us, who began to travel a spiritual journey. He began travelling on the road of faithfulness—on the road of devoted service in the Lord’s Kingdom. We might refer to him as a “religious man,” or a “righteous man.” But something happened to him somewhere along the way and he began to “love the world.” There’s that “misplaced affection”—that “wrong love.”