2 TIMOTHY 4:9-18 “BREAKING THE HEART OF A PREACHER”
A) I want to bring a message today about a great man of God that was
very strong, and finally he cried for help from a brother in Christ.
* It was very unusual for Paul to cry out, “Please come to me quickly.”
B) Then he goes on and tells us why he is calling for help.
* This got my attention when I thought of all that happened to Paul, and never
did he cry for help from someone else.
* v.9 “Hurry, come to me, I need your help.”
C) I wonder how the people that knew Paul so well must’ve felt when
they got the message?
* They knew some of the things that Paul had already went through.
* Never before had they heard such a message come from this great
man of God.
D) v.10, he tells why he is calling.
* This broke his heart ... This was more than he could stand.
E) The same thing that happened to Paul happens to every preacher.
* If there’s anything that weakens preachers is to see what Paul seen here.
* A man that promised to stand by him, and help him and support him,
is gone – v.10 .......
PAUL HAD FOUGHT BATTLES
AND THE DEVIL HAD ATTACKED IN VARIOUS WAYS
A) Paul was a pulpit master ... He was no weakling.
* He was not lacking in power or in the anointing of God ... He was not lacking in
education, or in his vocabulary, or in the ability to preach, instruct, and counsel.
* He could make decisions and carry them through ... He could speak several
different languages.
LET’S CONSIDER THE CHANGE IN PAUL’S LIFE – Acts 9
A) Acts 9 talks of his conversion – His life changed ... If a person’s life
hasn’t changed, he hasn’t been changed on the inside.
* Your vocabulary will change – The places you go will change – The way
you act will change.
B) All of this will be spiritually transformed ... If your life hasn’t changed,
your heart hasn’t been changed.
* 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new ......”
C) After Paul had become a Christian, he was persecuted more than any
other Christian that I’ve ever read about.
* He was in a lot of perils, which is the Greek word “kindunos” (kin’-doo-nos)
and means, “danger; risk of damage, injury, or loss.”
* And he lists all of those perils in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 ........
D) Here’s the list: Five times he was beaten with thirty nine stripes.
* Three times he was beaten with rods – Once he was stoned and left for dead.
* Three times he suffered shipwreck, even spent a night and a day in the deep
ocean, and he survived all this.
E) He was in dangers [among] false brethren.
* He was thrown in dungeons, and he made no special cry for help.
* He could’ve become a martyr way back in his Christian life ... But he never
cried for help.
F) In all of this I don’t find one time Paul cried for someone to come
to him and help him.
* I don’t believe there’s a person in this building would’ve went through what
Paul did, but that we would’ve called for someone to help us.
IN PRISON AT PHILIPPI
A) When he was in prison at Philippi, he never asked anybody for
a bondsman ... He never cried for help.
* You know what he did? ... He and Silas prayed and sang praises to God.
B) Jesus looked at some angels and said, “Shhh, listen to that.”
* He said, “Let’s go down there and join them.” – And they came down to the
jailhouse, and when they walked in, the jailhouse rocked.
C) PIC – The cell doors opened up and every prisoner’s chains were loosed.
* The prisoners walked out of their cells and looked around and wondered,
“What in the world just happened?”
* The jailor woke up and saw the cell doors opened and prisoners standing around
and thought some of them had escaped, and he would’ve killed himself.
D) But Paul cried with a loud voice and said, “Don’t harm yourself, we’re
all still here – No one has escaped!”
* The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before
Paul and Silas.
E) Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
* And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be .......”
* And then Paul and Silas spoke to him the Word of the Lord.
F) The jailor believed and got saved and then took Paul and Silas to his house
and they spoke the Word of the Lord to his wife and kids. (After Midnight)
* And his wife and kids got saved, and she cooked them boys some fried chicken.
* Acts 16:34 “And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat .......”
G) Paul was brought before rulers with chains and fetters, led in like
a prisoner because they hated the way that he preached.
* Chained before King Agrippa, he didn’t call for a way out, but he told ‘em about
Jesus and how He saved him.
I WOULD LIKE TO PARAPHRASE THIS
A) They brought him in and began to question him in their own political way.
* I can hear them as they make their accusations, condemning him.
B) They looked at him, he didn’t look troubled ... He had a smile on his
face, no doubt.
* He had lost weight from being in prison for so long – His beard had grown
out ... His face was pale.
C) They thought, “We’ve got him now, he’ll stop preaching and talking
about this man Jesus now.”
* They stood him before the crowd and they said, “Paul we like you, we want
to work with you ... We want to cooperate with you.”
D) “But you’re not too cooperative when it comes to this preaching
business, and this man Jesus that you talk so much about.”
* “Now, we’re gonna put you in prison – Is there anything you want to
say for yourself?”
E) Paul, with a smile on his face said “Yea, there’s one thing I’d like to say.”
* “You see, I was a sinner going to hell ... But I was on my way to Damascus
and was saved.”
* They said, “Paul, stop that foolishness,” ... They looked at one another and said,
“We’ve done everything we know to do – Lock him back up.”
F) They took him back to his cell and stayed there another month or so.
* Brought him back out and said, “Paul, have you changed your mind yet?”
* “We’re gonna keep doing this until you say you’re gonna stop all this talking
about this man Jesus who we think is a fake.”
G) “What about it Paul – Are you gonna quit it? – What do you say Paul?”
* Paul looked them dead in the eye and said, “Yea there is – You see, I was a
sinner on my way to hell .......”
H) They put him in prison, and while he was incarcerated, he wrote a letter
to his son in the faith, Timothy.
* He knew this was probably his last letter he would write and so he writes what is
deep in his heart and his final thoughts are in 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
I) After a few months passed they brought him back out of prison and said,
“Paul, we’re gonna cut your head off – We’re gonna take your life.”
* “We don’t know anything else to do ... Prison don’t stop you, beating doesn’t stop
you, nothing else stops you, Paul, we’re gonna kill you.”
THEY TRIED TO REASON WITH HIM – COURT ROOM FULL
A) They looked over at this great man of God ... Anointed of God, stood for
right, didn’t back up not one bit; and said .......
* “Paul, is there anything you want to say now that you know you’re going to
the chopping block?”
B) And Paul, without fear in his heart, knowing that Jesus is there with him.
* He looked over and smiled and said, “Yea, there’s one more thing I’d like to say,”
said, “I was a sinner on my way to hell, but .......”
C) They said, “Paul, shut up – Is there anything you want to say in
defense of yourself?”
* He said, “Yea, let me tell you one more time, I was lost and on my
way to hell – But Jesus .......”
D) They looked at one another and said, “What are we gonna do with
a man like that?”
* Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning .......”
E) King Agrippa said, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”
* The reason Paul was like the way he was is because he was personally
evangelized by the Lord Jesus Himself.
* He was taught doctrine, given visions, he made known the mysteries of
God – Remember what he said in 1 Cor. 15:51 “Behold, I shew you a .......”
BUT PAUL POURS OUT HIS SOUL IN MY TEXT TONIGHT
A) He went through all of this and never cried for help, but listen at him now.
* “Come to me shortly; hurry, I’ve got a problem.”
B) What’s the matter Paul?
* I think Paul cries from the depth of his heart, “Demas hath forsaken .......”
C) Doesn’t it sound like Paul was heartbroken?
* He was faced with a problem that all of his capabilities couldn’t handle.
D) Demas, backslid on God, left Paul to bear the burden alone.
* I don’t think any preacher can handle this kind of problem – To see people
walk out on God.
E) You just don’t know the burden on a Pastor’s heart.
* When he sees people one time shouting the victory, the next time you see
them you ask, “Where are they at?”
F) People come up to the pastor all the time and say, “Where is so and so? __________
They were such a blessing .......”
* “He has forsaken us ... Out there in the world the lights flashed brighter,
temptations were greater, they laid down the cross.”
* No preacher can handle this kind of problem well, not even Paul.
G) God will not keep you against your will – He will not keep you living
right and doing right – You choose to do that yourself.
* If God could, He would – If a preacher could, he would.
H) This is the greatest problem that preachers have.
* We bow our heads and pray at times, “Lord, some of the best people I’ve got
have forsaken You and me and the church.”
LEAVING IS ALWAYS HARD – IT BREAKS HEARTS
A) We don’t like to see it ... Paul said, “I need you.”
* I’m sure Demas and Paul talked and fellowshipped a lot together.
* Talked about the new birth, the resurrection, the second coming.
B) He lost sight of heaven and how wonderful it is, and hell
and how horrible it is.
* They worked together ... Now Demas is gone ... Why?
* Because his affections had changed.
C) He liked the dazzling lights in the world.
* His love for the world got bigger than his love for God.
D) I’ve seen people get so involved in other things that they lose
sight of spiritual things.
* This is what Paul saw in Demas, he loved this present world ... It broke his heart.
* The gospel had lost its thrill to Demas ... If I ever get to the point that I’d rather go
to other places than to church, point me to an altar and tell me to repent of my sins.
E) Something is wrong in your life if you had rather do other things
while church is going on.
* If you had rather sit at home on Wed. night, something is wrong in your heart.
F) The church wasn’t important to Demas anymore – Revival meetings
wasn’t important anymore.
* Heaven lost all of its beauty to him, and hell lost all of its horror.
CLOSE
A) It’s sad to see a man backslid and out in the world, out of church
and away from God.
* But it’s also sad to see that spiritual leader who loves that person with
a broken heart saying, “God, What can I do?”
B) This is the only thing in all of Paul’s problems that he ever cried for help.
* “Please come to me, hurry, I need your help.”
C) What’s wrong Paul?
* This is the first time you ever hollered for help, what’s so bad?
* Paul said, “Demas hath forsaken me .......”
D) I’m sure it grieves the heart of God as much as it does preachers.
* Be faithful, be loyal, be committed, be dedicated.
E) When you stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ .......
* You’ll be glad that you were faithful ... You were loyal ... You were
committed ... You were dedicated ... Can you say what Paul said in v.7 .......
