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  (CLIP) A CAUTION TO YOUNG, CULTURE EMBRACING EVANGELICALS
  by John Piper
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Summary: This sermon focuses on the cautionary tale of Demas, who
abandoned Paul and the ministry due to his love for the world. It
highlights the danger of becoming worldly in ministry, leading to either
abandonment or ineffective service. The message emphasizes the need for
deep love for Jesus that is incompatible with the love for the present
age and culture, which can hinder true ministry and witness.

Topics: "Worldliness", "Commitment to Christ"
Scripture References: 2 Timothy 4:10, 1 John 2:15, James 4:4, Matthew 6:24, Romans 12:2

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon focuses on the cautionary tale of Demas, who abandoned Paul
and the ministry due to his love for the world. It highlights the danger
of becoming worldly in ministry, leading to either abandonment or
ineffective service. The message emphasizes the need for deep love for
Jesus that is incompatible with the love for the present age and
culture, which can hinder true ministry and witness.

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CONTENT
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Verse 10, Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and
gone to Thessalonica. Now I admit, I do not know if he repented. There's
nothing in the Bible that says he did or didn't.

There's no evidence that he did, but surely all of us, at least those
who are older, know ministers who have forsaken their partners and left
the ministry, left the faith, and as far as we know, never returned. We
know people like that. I think Paul wants Timothy here to feel not only
a preparation for this sorrow in ministry.

This happens, Timothy, I'm telling you it happened to me, so that you'll
be ready when it happens to you. I think he also wants to hear the cause
so that he can avoid that and doesn't ever do it. In other words, not
ever is abandoned and doesn't ever abandon because he's seen the cause
here.

Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me. There is a love
for the world that makes ministry impossible. There is a love for the
world that produces either the abandonment of ministry or the making of
ministry so worldly it's useless.

That happens as often. So if a minister starts to become worldly, he's
got two choices. Leave the ministry or make the ministry worldly.

Then he can survive. Demas couldn't. Why? Paul! It wasn't going to
happen on Paul's team.

So here's a caution to young, and I say old, but I think especially
young, culture-embracing evangelical Christians. You need to ponder
Demas a long time. In love with this present world, he found ministry
with Paul impossible.

And he left it. There is a love for the world. There's a love for this
present age, this God-ignoring, God-denying, God-demeaning, Christ-
distorting products of culture that is mutually exclusive with real,
deep love for Jesus.

There's a love for this world that is irreconcilable with ministry to
the world. The ministry of exposing the world. The ministry of
witnessing to the world.

The ministry of rescuing people from the world. None of that's going to
happen very well if you just love it. And they think you're just one of
them.

So, young Timothy and young Bethlehem, remember, more people leave
Christ, and more people leave church, and more people leave ministry out
of love for the world than anything else.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/cjEMcoajnts.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-piper/clip-a-caution-to-young-culture-embracing-evangelicals/
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