Against the Wind
This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me. (2 Tim 1:15)
For Demas has abandoned me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica. (2 Tim 4:10)
The cloak which I left in Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the scrolls, especially the parchments. (2 Tim 4:13)
Second Timothy was the last epistle that Paul wrote. He wrote from a Roman prison and, according to 2 Tim 4:6, he already sensed his pending martyrdom. He had labored hard and suffered much due to his faithfulness to the heavenly vision given him from the Lord. Now, at the end of his life, when he should have been able to see the fruit of his labor, he instead saw a very bleak picture.
All Who Are In Asia Turned Away From Me
Paul wrote to Timothy, “This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me” (2 Tim 1:15a). This would have included the churches in Ephesus, Colossae, and Troas, as well as others. Paul had labored in Ephesus for three years with tears (Acts 20:31). The church in Colossae included Philemon with whom Paul had such dear feelings. The saints in Troas heard Paul preach until midnight and witnessed Paul raise one of their own from the dead. In a very real sense, Paul had given birth to them and was their spiritual father. What could have caused churches such as these to turn away from the one who had labored so much on their behalf?
The book of 2 Timothy was written around 67 A.D. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the Christians in Jerusalem were by this time exiting the city in large numbers. The Lord Jesus had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple, and this prophecy was detailed in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 24:1-2), which was in circulation at the time. As the political situation between Israel and Rome worsened and the armies of Caesar marched closer, they could all see the inevitable. By the time of the actual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Josephus tells us that virtually all the Christians were gone.
It is safe to say that most of those who scattered from Jerusalem ended up in the churches of the Gentiles, including those in Asia. It is also safe to say that they brought their doctrine and church practices with them. Jerusalem was the church where James boasted to Paul but a few years earlier, “You observe, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed; and all are zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20b).
Thus the Asian churches were flooded with those who considered that they had come from the “mother church,” and who boasted that they had been trained by James and the original Apostles. They carried an authority and weight that the simple brothers who had been raised up by Paul could not resist. It did not take long for the churches to leave Paul and go the way of Jerusalem.
Demas Has Abandoned Me, Having Loved The Present Age
Paul specifically lamented the departure of Demas in 2 Tim 4:10, saying that he had “abandoned me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica.” In Philemon 24, Paul calls Demas his fellow worker, and also mentions him positively in his letter to the Colossians (Col 4:14). He was therefore known by the saints in Colossae. Perhaps he had labored there, and, like Paul in Ephesus, shed many tears as he struggled to raise them up. He would have cared deeply for them.
How discouraged he must have felt as he saw the saints in Colossae leave the gospel that he and Paul had presented to them and take the way of Jerusalem. He could have had the same feeling that Paul expressed to the Galatians when he wrote, “I marvel that you are so quickly removing from Him who has called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, Which is not another gospel, only there are some who trouble you and desire to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).
Such discouragement may have been the reason Demas left the work and went to the world. It would be hard to see those you love turn their back on you. It would be easy to give up. In some ways, Demas’ case is more sad than that of the churches who turned away.
Bring… the scrolls, especially the parchments.
Paul had strong feelings about the departure of the churches, and of Demas, but he would not allow himself to be swallowed up by discouragement and give up. Neither would he compromise his stand. After all, he had received a heavenly vision from the Lord Himself, and he could not be disobedient to that vision (Act 26:19). Even when everything seemed against him, even when he knew that his martyrdom was eminent, he still chose to labor on. He told Timothy, “The cloak which I left in Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the scrolls, especially the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:13).
The cloak was for his physical comfort while in prison, but the scrolls and the parchments were for his continued labor. He was not about to give up. Success was not up to him, but up to the Lord who had called him. Paul genuinely lived a crucified life, and nothing outward would stop him from fulfilling his ministry.
Paul never lived to see that success. He could not have foreseen during such a dark time that it was his writings that would eventually win the day. Eventually it was his letters, most of which were written under the most trying of circumstances, that would overcome. Long after his death, the Lord used the great truths that they contained to point His church in the direction of grace.
So we see that when the winds of teaching come in, there can be at least three reactions. Many, if not most, will be taken away from the simplicity of the gospel. They will abandon the vision they have received from their spiritual father to follow “a different gospel.” Others, out of discouragement, will sadly give up and go back to the world. But the Lord will keep some who are grounded in the truth faithful to Himself. He will use these to build His church.
For Demas has abandoned me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica. (2 Tim 4:10)
The cloak which I left in Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the scrolls, especially the parchments. (2 Tim 4:13)
Second Timothy was the last epistle that Paul wrote. He wrote from a Roman prison and, according to 2 Tim 4:6, he already sensed his pending martyrdom. He had labored hard and suffered much due to his faithfulness to the heavenly vision given him from the Lord. Now, at the end of his life, when he should have been able to see the fruit of his labor, he instead saw a very bleak picture.
All Who Are In Asia Turned Away From Me
Paul wrote to Timothy, “This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me” (2 Tim 1:15a). This would have included the churches in Ephesus, Colossae, and Troas, as well as others. Paul had labored in Ephesus for three years with tears (Acts 20:31). The church in Colossae included Philemon with whom Paul had such dear feelings. The saints in Troas heard Paul preach until midnight and witnessed Paul raise one of their own from the dead. In a very real sense, Paul had given birth to them and was their spiritual father. What could have caused churches such as these to turn away from the one who had labored so much on their behalf?
The book of 2 Timothy was written around 67 A.D. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the Christians in Jerusalem were by this time exiting the city in large numbers. The Lord Jesus had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple, and this prophecy was detailed in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 24:1-2), which was in circulation at the time. As the political situation between Israel and Rome worsened and the armies of Caesar marched closer, they could all see the inevitable. By the time of the actual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Josephus tells us that virtually all the Christians were gone.
It is safe to say that most of those who scattered from Jerusalem ended up in the churches of the Gentiles, including those in Asia. It is also safe to say that they brought their doctrine and church practices with them. Jerusalem was the church where James boasted to Paul but a few years earlier, “You observe, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed; and all are zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20b).
Thus the Asian churches were flooded with those who considered that they had come from the “mother church,” and who boasted that they had been trained by James and the original Apostles. They carried an authority and weight that the simple brothers who had been raised up by Paul could not resist. It did not take long for the churches to leave Paul and go the way of Jerusalem.
Demas Has Abandoned Me, Having Loved The Present Age
Paul specifically lamented the departure of Demas in 2 Tim 4:10, saying that he had “abandoned me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica.” In Philemon 24, Paul calls Demas his fellow worker, and also mentions him positively in his letter to the Colossians (Col 4:14). He was therefore known by the saints in Colossae. Perhaps he had labored there, and, like Paul in Ephesus, shed many tears as he struggled to raise them up. He would have cared deeply for them.
How discouraged he must have felt as he saw the saints in Colossae leave the gospel that he and Paul had presented to them and take the way of Jerusalem. He could have had the same feeling that Paul expressed to the Galatians when he wrote, “I marvel that you are so quickly removing from Him who has called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, Which is not another gospel, only there are some who trouble you and desire to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).
Such discouragement may have been the reason Demas left the work and went to the world. It would be hard to see those you love turn their back on you. It would be easy to give up. In some ways, Demas’ case is more sad than that of the churches who turned away.
Bring… the scrolls, especially the parchments.
Paul had strong feelings about the departure of the churches, and of Demas, but he would not allow himself to be swallowed up by discouragement and give up. Neither would he compromise his stand. After all, he had received a heavenly vision from the Lord Himself, and he could not be disobedient to that vision (Act 26:19). Even when everything seemed against him, even when he knew that his martyrdom was eminent, he still chose to labor on. He told Timothy, “The cloak which I left in Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the scrolls, especially the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:13).
The cloak was for his physical comfort while in prison, but the scrolls and the parchments were for his continued labor. He was not about to give up. Success was not up to him, but up to the Lord who had called him. Paul genuinely lived a crucified life, and nothing outward would stop him from fulfilling his ministry.
Paul never lived to see that success. He could not have foreseen during such a dark time that it was his writings that would eventually win the day. Eventually it was his letters, most of which were written under the most trying of circumstances, that would overcome. Long after his death, the Lord used the great truths that they contained to point His church in the direction of grace.
So we see that when the winds of teaching come in, there can be at least three reactions. Many, if not most, will be taken away from the simplicity of the gospel. They will abandon the vision they have received from their spiritual father to follow “a different gospel.” Others, out of discouragement, will sadly give up and go back to the world. But the Lord will keep some who are grounded in the truth faithful to Himself. He will use these to build His church.