As I Follow Christ | Me & My Friends
As I Follow Christ: (Part III)
ME AND MY FRIENDS
2 Timothy 4:9-18 (ESV)
9 Do your best to come to me soon.
10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.
12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.
13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
We all have known the blessing of having great friends. I found this short but a meaningful poem on the Internet from someone who appropriately describes it as a priceless gift from God. Listen:
Friendship Is A Priceless Gift
Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought or sold,
But its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold.
For gold is cold and lifeless, it can neither see nor hear,
And in the time of trouble, it is powerless to cheer—
It has no ears to listen, no heart to understand,
It cannot bring you comfort or reach out a helping hand—
So when you ask God for a Gift, be thankful if he sends
Not diamonds, pearls or riches, but the love of real true friends.
—Author Unknown
How many great friends do you have this morning? If you have at least two or more of them, I’m sure you feel really blessed today because God can use them to be channels of His favors to us. Of course, in the Bible, the best benefits of great friends were conveyed by King Solomon in
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (ESV):
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?
12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
If in case, you are one of the people who are looking to add more great friends into your life, I want to impress to you this morning that one of the best ways to nurture and develop some great friendships would be in the atmosphere of a discipleship community. This truth is quite evident in the passage we will be studying together this morning. To put in context this passage, Paul wrote Second Timothy to his young disciple, Timothy, around 67 A.D. during his second imprisonment in Rome.
This book is so significant because it would be the last and final letter Paul would write before he was finally executed for preaching the Gospel of Jesus. When you read through the book, the apostle Paul definitely has expressed some sense that his death was inevitable. So, even as we read our main text, you can feel the urgency of his request for his young disciple to come and visit him. But besides Timothy, you will also find other names of the people whom Paul worked with and discipled. Now, since we are talking about discipleship this month, I feel that we also need to emphasize this fact that in discipleship, we can build solid friendships in our lives, the kind of friendships that God can use in order to minister to us. Now, examining our text, allow me to share to you three specific blessings we can receive out of our friendships found in our discipleship communities:
I DESIRE FOR FELLOWSHIP WITH FRIENDS
In the Bible, if there was a person who was really strong, bold, and very melancholic, he would be the apostle Paul. But, even for someone like him, there were times when fellowshipping with great friends could be a real blessing. If you read verse 9, Paul, without reservation, sought Timothy’s fellowship by saying, “Do your best to come to me soon.” Then, he would again repeat the same request in verse 21 saying, “Do your best to come before winter…”
It is obvious that on one of the most difficult times in his life, Paul felt really lonely and was convinced that the presence of his young friend, Timothy, could lift his spirit. As I read this passage, I wonder how many of us are willing to express, in a way, our vulnerability and actively seek out a good friend? I’m sure many of us familiar with this great verse in Proverbs:
Proverbs 17:17 (ESV)
17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Unfortunately, not many people are willing to openly express their vulnerability and would rather hide even from their friends. So, instead of finding help, they become more depressed. However, in the Bible, even Jesus Christ did not hesitate to bring along His inner circle of friends to minister to Him in His most trying times.
Mark 14:32-35 (ESV)
32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.
34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”
35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
I’m sure we are all familiar with this account in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus spent some hours praying before his arrest. However, we often would not emphasize the fact that Jesus Himself brought his closest disciples to pray for Him during his most trying times. It appears in our passage that the apostle Paul had also learned this principle from Jesus that there’s value in seeking the assistance of your closest disciples to minister to you in your difficult times. You see, if there is one thing that is in common with friendship and discipleship is the fact that both relationships had been designed for mutual growth and greater productivity in life. I believe this verse in Proverbs highlights this truth:
Proverbs 27:17 (ESV)
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
This verse is a great summary of great friendships and discipleship. When you rub iron with iron, it shapes and sharpens iron. The same can be said with discipleship; two people with the same heart for Jesus can help each other become effective and productive in life.
II DEPEND ON FAITHFUL FRIENDS
Besides Timothy, there are also other friends mentioned in this passage. Timothy was being requested to leave his post in Ephesus and come to Rome. As Timothy decides to join him, he was going to send Tychicus to go to Ephesus to cover for him (v.12). Dr. Luke, his personal physician, is the only person who was with him at this time because he just sent Crescens to go to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. He also told Timothy to invite John Mark to go with him to Rome because he could be an additional help in his work for the Lord.
I want us to notice seven men to whom the apostle Paul has invested his life on discipling during His ministry, and ultimately, they became partners with him in expanding God’s work. Notice, at this point in time, Paul was able to depend on these faithful friends to carry out the work of the Lord Jesus while he was stuck in Rome as a prisoner.
I’m sure many of these names would stand out because of their contributions to the ministry of the apostle Paul. I know that because of limited time, I won’t be able to describe all these seven men, but I would like to mention at least some of them:
A. Timothy
He was from Lystra and joined Paul and Silas as a young man during the beginning of their second missionary (Acts 16:1-5). Although he started as really timid, he later developed to be the reliable pastor of the church in Ephesus and one of the most faithful disciples of the Apostle Paul. Listen to how himself described him:
Philippians 2:19-22 (ESV)
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.
20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
This passage summarizes for us how Timothy became so valuable in the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
B. Luke
He was known as a medical doctor who gave his life to Jesus Christ. He later decided to go and accompany the apostle Paul in his missionary journeys and serve as his personal physician. Aside from being one of the faithful companions of Paul, he also had the privilege to write the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles. Some might accuse him of wasting his medical career when he joined the ministry of Paul, but the reality is that his ministry had an immeasurable impact on the lives of so many people up until today’s generation.
C. John Mark
He is known as the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10), who joined Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey. However, when the ministry became harder, he left Paul’s team. So, when Barnabas decided to take him again for the second missionary journey, Paul strongly disagreed and would not take the risk of bringing him (Acts 15:36-41). As a result, two teams went out for the second missions trip – Barnabas took Mark and Paul went with Silas.
However, when you read our text, verse 11, you will find a commendable John Mark – “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”
Here are just three of the friends whom Paul identified as faithful friends. And thank God that Paul was able to count on them to help and minister to them in his trying times. How many faithful friends can you count on today? Of course, it is only appropriate to say that Paul was able to depend on them because he also invested his time and energy in discipling them.
Beloved, when we serve and stand for the Lord, it is not always a “walk in the park” or easy and convenient. There are times when we go through very challenging times. When those times come, it is great when we have faithful friends around us who are ready to come alongside us and help us remain in the Lord.
Of course, if there were faithful friends, Paul also identified at least two people who became unfaithful to him:
1. Demas
When Paul described him in verse 10, he said: “in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” If you read Colossians 4:14, he was also one of the people who were very close to Paul. However, when he could no longer stand the heat of the ministry, he abandoned the team. Some Bible scholars suggested that it happened when the persecutions against believers became more intense and dangerous. By the way, Pastor John MacArthur explained that the word “deserted” used in this verse literally meant “to utterly abandon,” with the idea of leaving someone in a dire situation.” For sure, his departure from the team affected the morale of Paul’s team.
2. Alexander the Coppersmith
There is a possibility that this Alexander is the same person mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20 as someone whom Paul singles out as one delivered over to Satan for judgment. He may also be the coppersmith or the idol maker who opposed the apostle Paul in Acts 19:24. In verse 14, Paul mentioned that this person did him great harm, and he was sure that the Lord would surely repay him according to his deeds. Evidently, he was never a friend of Paul, but he was warning Timothy to avoid him.
Now, with the people around us, we need to be careful with the people we allow to influence us. Without a doubt, there are some faithful friends we can constantly depend on. But there are people we should intentionally avoid. They are the ones who will eventually harm us. King Solomon gave us these words of warning:
Proverbs 13:20 (ESV)
20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Praise God for friends who help us become better people. But we should always watch out for friends who can harm us.
III DELIGHT IN JESUS, YOUR FOREVER FRIEND
Lastly, I should never miss emphasizing verses 17-18 – “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Since the apostle Paul was in the midst of very intense times of persecutions, the three descriptions he provides for us of what Jesus has done for him is so powerful:
A. “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me”
Some friends may have abandoned the apostle Paul, but Jesus fulfilled His promise that He would never “leave him or forsake him” (Hebrews 13:5). He also strengthened him, which literally means that the Lord sustained him by His strength. Just like Paul, we can always count on the Lord to do the same for us. These words were the same promises that God gave Joshua before going out to lead Israel in conquering the Promised Land:
Joshua 1:5 (ESV)
5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
B. “So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth”
The “lion’s mouth” in this verse is a direct reference to a very dangerous situation. Therefore, it is safe to say that Jesus Christ also protected Paul from a possibly deadly situation. As soon as I read the phrase, it brought me right away in the experience of Daniel when he was thrown into the lions’ den (Daniel 6). Imagine, his enemies probably thought that as soon as he was thrown there, the lions were going to tear him into small pieces and devour him. But the Lord stood between him and the lions, so the lions were not able to touch him.
C. “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”
This statement goes beyond the present and provides assurance for future safekeeping until Paul finds himself ultimately safe in the kingdom of God. There are definitely uncertainties in the future, but our assurance is that Jesus Christ will remain faithful to us – today, tomorrow, the many more tomorrows hereafter!
As I close this sermon today, I would like to challenge all of us to follow the example of the apostle Paul who was able to cultivate better friendships in the atmosphere of discipleship. Because he has invested his life helping other people come to know Jesus Christ and growing in their relationship with Jesus Christ, ultimately, there he found his best friends. They are friends the Bible refers to as friends who stick closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24 (ESV)
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
But, of course, when others have failed, the one whom we have served faithfully, Jesus Christ, will prove to be our faithful friend in this life and the life hereafter.
-Dr. Jeremiah Lepasana