Episode 263: The 8 Friends You Need: Jonathan Youssef

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello and welcome to Candid, where we never settle for less than the truth.

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Dr.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan Youssef.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Each week we'll tackle tough issues, answer your hard questions, and take a

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: candid look at the Christian faith.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: About 20 years ago, my brother, my sister, my brother-in-law, and I went to Tanzania

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Africa, and we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Mount Kilimanjaro is a little over 19,000 feet above sea level.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It's the highest point in Africa.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You hike for several days and you camp out as your body acclimates to the altitude.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: If you go too fast, you'll get altitude sickness and you won't be able to make

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: the summit.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: We got to the last day, and the last day they said you really need to push on and

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: make good time so that you can summit at a particular time before the snow melts or

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00]: whatever it was.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're sort of just plodding along.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: My sister is moving quite slowly up the mountain because she has an altitude

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: condition.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So my brother and I looked at each other and said, can we go up ahead?

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Can we move a little bit quicker?

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Is that okay?

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And they said, yes, that's fine.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Just go up this path here and you'll arrive at the summit.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So we were excited and we're pushing along.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I don't know if any of you have been at 19,000 feet above sea level.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It's 2000 meters above the base camp for Mount Everest.

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And the air is so thin, you're just gasping for air.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not that you're tired and exhausted in your physical body, but you can only

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: take a few steps and then you have to stop and take in air so that you can move a

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: little further.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: My brother and I kept looking at each other and saying, this is very hard.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: At times we thought, I bet the rest of the team have gone back because they're

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: going up too slow.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And so maybe we should go back.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: But then we would miss out on the summit, which is the whole point of climbing the

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: mountain.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So back and forth it went with a lot of angst.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And your brain's not really processing well because you don't have a lot of

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: oxygen going to your brain.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Your thoughts aren't clear.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: They're not cogent.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Every time I felt like, I think we should give up.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we should go back.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: My brother would say, no, no, no, let's press on.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And then every time he would say, okay, I think you're right.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we do need to go back.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say, no, you're right.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: We need to keep going on.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we pushed on until we finally made it to the summit.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And thankfully our sister and brother-in-law also made it and it was wonderful.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: But we heard about a group that had come a few days before.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And the group was a man who felt more physically fit than his group.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And he said, can I leave my group and go on ahead?

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And they said, sure, you can go on ahead.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And so he's trekking up the mountain alone and he starts gasping for air and

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: looking around and he doesn't see anybody.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And he starts to assume that his group has also gone back down the mountain.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And your mind is playing tricks on you and you're so susceptible to making bad

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_00]: decisions because you're starved for oxygen in your brain.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And finally, this man just said, forget it.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: He had no one with him to encourage him to keep going.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So he turned around and he completely missed out on summiting the mountain.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He gave up.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, as you read the Pauline epistles, you encounter a lot of personal greetings

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and salutations and closings that are easy to skim through thinking, I don't

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: know any of these people.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: These just feel like letter formalities.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't really need to read this.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not important.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, if we say that all scripture is God breathed, then the greetings and the

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: salutations are in these letters for a reason.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I think it's worth us taking a closer look.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I want us to take a few minutes to read from the closing of Colossians chapter

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: four, beginning at verse seven.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I want to walk through why these things are important.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul writes, Titchicus will tell you all about my activities.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: He is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: that he may encourage your hearts.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: They will tell you of everything that is taking place here.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: concerning whom you have received instructions.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: If he comes to you, welcome him.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus, who is called justice.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers of the kingdom

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you always

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: assured in all the will of God.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Laodicea and Heriopolis.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Luke, the beloved physician, greets you as does Demas.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: her house.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: the Laodiceans and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And say to Archippus, see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: the Lord.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I, Paul, write these greetings with my own hand.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember my chains.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Grace be with you.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: These are eight friends who helped Paul in his ministry while he was in prison in

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Rome.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: In this passage, Paul expresses that he's able to accomplish his ministry because

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: of the faithfulness of his friends who have stuck with him and helped him.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: The ones who the Lord has provided for him.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul is using them as an encouragement to the church in Colossae, an encouragement

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: that should resonate with the church even today.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It's important that we understand that we are not islands.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: We don't go out and do spiritual battle and spiritual warfare on our own.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: These sections remind us that we are not alone and that we need one another.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: So, Paul tells us a little bit about his friends and it adds such a personal touch

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: to the letter to the Corinthian church, which is a very doctrinal letter.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a very beautiful letter, but it adds this real personal element at the end.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: As we look at these men, I don't want you to look at them as just historical

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: figures and kind of just move on.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to see yourself.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: What is your role in the body of Christ, in the local body?

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: How do you fit in like these friends fit in with Paul?

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Be thinking about how God has gifted you and equipped you for ministry, for the

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: building up of the church and the building up of the bride of Christ.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: This passage also shows us the outworking of the apostle Paul's teaching.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: He had such a deep love for his fellow workers and they in turn stood by their

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: mentor, their teacher and their friend.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: They make Paul's ministry possible because he cannot do it by himself and neither can we.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: We need each other to be able to do the work that God calls us to.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: If we are going to grow in the knowledge of God, be rooted in Christ, be thankful,

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: be undeceived, rid our lives of sin, clothe ourselves in compassion and kindness

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and humility and gentleness and patience.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: If we are forgiving and loving and devoted to prayer, then we need a lot of

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: help from our friends, one body, many parts.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, we work together.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We have different giftings and different abilities, but we have one head, which is

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Christ.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul is writing this letter from his prison cell in Rome.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_00]: These men are heroes of a sort because they are willing to pay a hefty price to be

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: associated with Paul.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: But they counted the cost, they committed and by God's grace, they held fast.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul tells us about them in this tremendous passage.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So let's introduce ourselves to them.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: First, we meet Tychicus in verses seven and eight.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Tychicus will tell you all about my activities.

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a beloved brother and a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I've sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: encourage your heart.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Tychicus is a friend with a servant's heart.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_00]: There isn't a lot in Scripture about him.

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: He is mentioned five times, but every time it's very brief.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_00]: In Acts, he's one of the Gentiles who travels with Paul to Jerusalem to bring some of the

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_00]: tithe to the Christians there.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Now that would not have been a trip that you would have wanted to sign up for and go.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: No one just joins that one lightly.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You've got to remember, this is not getting to the airport and going through security

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_00]: checks. It is extremely dangerous.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: There are threats of shipwreck and pirates and robbers on the roads and the spiritual

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_00]: warfare that's always around.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Many in the Gentile church gave money for the tithe, but only a few gave themselves to

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the work of ministry, meaning to go on travel with Paul.

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_00]: We see Tychicus two more times towards the end of Paul's life.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: He stuck around even after Paul's second imprisonment.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: In the letter to Titus, we read about how Paul wanted Titus to visit him.

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_00]: But who's going to fill Titus's pulpit?

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Who will fill that leadership role in Crete for the church while he's away?

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It has to be someone that Paul trusts.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And this shows us that Tychicus was a trustworthy man.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, in 2nd Timothy, Paul sends Tychicus to fill in for Timothy in Ephesus.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So here is a man, Tychicus, who started out as a messenger, who delivered letters to

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_00]: churches, and now he ends up being a trustworthy, capable preacher and pastor.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: The man with a servant's heart.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_00]: He made himself available to God and God used him in ways that I am sure he never would

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_00]: have dreamed in his life.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord calls pastors from ordinary backgrounds and uses them for his purposes.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_00]: When I was in Australia, there was a bishop over a region that was short of pastors for

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00]: some reason, and so he was having to drive all over the suburbs of Sydney to preach at

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_00]: multiple churches.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: He was trying to do it with such haste that he actually got pulled over by the

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Australian Highway Patrol.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_00]: The officer came up to the window and said, Do you know why I pulled you over?

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The bishop answered quickly, Yes, because I was driving too fast.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know why I was driving too fast?

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Because there aren't enough men like you going into the ministry of the gospel so I

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_00]: don't have to drive all over the place.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The officer was caught off guard and he let him off with a warning.

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_00]: As it relates to the Colossians, we know that Tychicus is the mailman.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_00]: He's holding this letter to the church in Colossae.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul trusted him enough to send him with this letter, but he's more than just a

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: mailman.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I've sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_00]: may encourage your hearts.

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_00]: He's going to tell you about me.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Find out how you're doing and add a personal word of comfort to this letter.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_00]: He is an encourager.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We don't find that he has any credentials, a lot of degrees or seminary training at

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_00]: this point.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_00]: He's had no great sermons that we've ever heard of and we don't know anything that

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_00]: he's ever said.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't have a unique talent like Luke.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_00]: However, he was the personal envoy of the apostle Paul.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And Paul had three things to say about him.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a beloved brother.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a faithful minister and he's a fellow servant.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: He was a brother.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: He's one of the family.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_00]: He's one of us.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a faithful minister.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_00]: He likely never attained great prominence, but he was faithful.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_00]: He just did it.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever was needed, whether it was delivering a letter, he would do it.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_00]: If it was getting up into the pulpit, he would do it.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: He was a fellow servant in the Lord, serving Christ alongside Paul.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_00]: There was no other way to get the work done and Paul knew that.

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_00]: You've got to have people with a servant's heart.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is the savior with a servant's heart.

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the picture that Jesus gives us.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_00]: The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Tychicus is also mentioned in the letter to Philemon and with him, Onesimus, our

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_00]: faithful beloved brother, who is one of you.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Onesimus is a friend with a sketchy past.

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it great to know that you can have a curious or sketchy past and the Lord

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_00]: still uses us because this is so many of us.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_00]: But you see, Onesimus would have been specifically known for his past

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_00]: because he is from Colossae.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Onesimus ties us to the letter of Philemon.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you a picture here.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about Tychicus and Onesimus, two significant figures from the

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_00]: letters in the New Testament.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Tychicus is mentioned in the letter to Philemon along with Onesimus,

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_00]: who had a troubled past.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it amazing how God can use us no matter our history?

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Onesimus was a slave owned by Philemon, who was a prominent

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_00]: member of the Colossian church.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_00]: One day, Onesimus decided to run away, risking his life and ended

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_00]: up meeting Paul in Rome.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And through Paul, Onesimus found salvation and became a Christian.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul then wrote to Philemon asking him to accept Onesimus back, not as a

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: slave, but as a brother in Christ.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul urged Philemon to show love and forgiveness, highlighting the power of

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_00]: the gospel to transform lives and relationships.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: The amazing thing is that just as the apostle Paul led Philemon and his family

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_00]: to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, so Paul led Philemon's slave Onesimus

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_00]: to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine the impact on the Colossian church when Tychicus arrived with

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Onesimus, Philemon's slave who had gone from a runaway slave to a beloved

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: brother in Christ.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The story is a powerful testament to the transformative power

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: of faith and forgiveness.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It's exciting to know that in Christ, people with a past can leave it there in

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_00]: the past and move forward in forgiveness, love, and reconciliation.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: In Galatians 3, verse 28, Paul says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_00]: free, male nor female.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You are one in Christ.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: You see, Christianity ultimately destroys slavery because it breaks the caste

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_00]: system.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It puts equality between men before the cross.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: He calls him a brother.

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And notice he calls him beloved brother.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_00]: He calls him faithful.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_00]: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_00]: The old is gone.

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: The new has come.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so glad that the Lord uses people with a past, aren't you?

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_00]: We know of so many who we've had on this podcast whose stories are like this.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_00]: They are transformed, called out of darkness and into the glorious light of

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Christ and are now used for his purposes.

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We meet Paul's friend with a servant's heart and his friend with a sketchy

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_00]: past.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul's third friend is Aristarchus.

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a friend with a sympathetic heart.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone needs a friend with a sympathetic heart, especially in church

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_00]: ministry.

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_00]: You need someone who's around to feel your burdens with you.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_00]: You need some burden bearers.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_00]: They aren't necessarily superstars at anything.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_00]: They may not put on great programs.

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_00]: They may not do anything astounding or prominent from the front, but they care.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_00]: They care and they invest and you must have them.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And Aristarchus is one of those people with a sympathetic heart.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 10, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you.

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_00]: In Acts chapter 19, Paul ministered for three years at Ephesus.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And during those three years, Aristarchus was with him.

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, in Ephesus, a riot breaks out over the ministry of Paul because he is

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_00]: proclaiming the gospel in a place where magic and sorcery are big business.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Now the people are being converted to Christ.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So they're bringing all their magic scrolls and spell books and they're having

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_00]: a big bonfire, burning them and they're praising the Lord.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But there was one man there who was a silversmith.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: He made little statues of Artemis, the god of the Ephesians.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And he knows if this all keeps going on, I'm going to be out of work.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And so then he incites a riot in Ephesus.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Riots break out and Aristarchus is found to be a companion of Paul.

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And so they arrest him.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Throughout the book of Acts, you see Paul has Aristarchus with him.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_00]: He goes with him to Jerusalem where Paul is arrested.

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Aristarchus stays with him.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: He's on the ship that wrecks in Malta while Paul is being held as a prisoner.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Every time Paul is in prison, there is Aristarchus.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_00]: He chooses to be beside Paul.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And when Paul is in prison, Aristarchus is in prison.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_00]: That's his choice.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_00]: He was a friend with a sympathetic heart.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_00]: He gave up his freedom to do it, to be a prisoner with Paul.

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He could have just left, run away and said, I don't know him.

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know Paul.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't even imagine what that must have meant to Paul to have a faithful friend

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and companion who sticks by him through danger and disaster.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: He is a sympathetic friend.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So Paul's friends, a man with a servant's heart, a friend with a sketchy past, a

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_00]: friend with a sympathetic heart for Mark.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 10, a friend with a surprising future.

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit sends Paul and Barnabas to take the gospel to

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Cyprus.

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And with them, they take Barnabas's cousin, John, also known as Mark.

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul's always taking someone with him and discipling them along the way.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_00]: They get to Paphos in Cyprus and Paul blinds a false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_00]: This is dangerous work.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: As we said, a lot of spiritual warfare is taking place in these missionary journeys.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of death threats.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of danger whenever you're with Paul, whenever you're doing the work

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: of the gospel.

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_00]: The following verse of this account says Paul and his companions sailed to Perga

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: while John Mark left for Jerusalem.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: He ran back to his mom, either because he was afraid of what he had just seen in

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Paphos or he was terrified of what was to come in Perga.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_00]: But whatever the case, Paul's not particularly thrilled with this idea.

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He sees Mark as abandoning them.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Two chapters later, Paul and Barnabas want to check in on the churches they've

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_00]: preached in and visited.

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And Barnabas wants to take his cousin Mark with him.

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And Paul says, absolutely not, no way.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He's abandoned us.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He left us high and dry.

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to see him.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul and Barnabas have a disagreement that was so sharp that they had to separate

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_00]: paths.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Barnabas takes Mark on his mission journey with him and Paul goes with Silas.

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm glad God uses people from a sketchy past and people who have failed and blown

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_00]: it.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Notice it says, you have received my instructions about him.

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_00]: If he comes to you, welcome him.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know why they wouldn't normally receive Mark?

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Because he had a reputation as a failure.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a first century church.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: The church is very fragile and you couldn't just hand something off to someone

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_00]: unstable and untrustworthy who will panic and drop it.

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And then who knows?

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_00]: People's lives are at stake.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_00]: So the churches know that Mark is kind of known as weak and he'll back out and run

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: out on you.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So they're not super warm at welcoming him.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So Paul has to instruct them to welcome him because he's been restored.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_00]: That came through the ministry of another man I'm sure you're all familiar with.

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Who had also failed and blown it.

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Peter denies his Lord three times.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: He feels the pain and anguish of knowing what abandoning someone feels like.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Peter brings Mark along with him and ministers to him.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, could you imagine using your failure to build someone else up to make it a

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_00]: strength?

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we know that Mark had the privilege that only three other men had, which was

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_00]: to write a gospel account.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So the lesson for us here in this is that we know that there's a second chance with

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_00]: the Lord and a third and a fourth and a fifth, right?

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a future for failures.

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank the Lord for the ministry of reconciliation and restoration.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Where would any of us be without it?

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Paul's friends, a friend with a servant's heart, a friend with a sketchy

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: past, a friend with a sympathetic heart, a friend with a surprising future.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_00]: They're all over the map.

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_00]: They're diverse.

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we meet a man, a friend with a strong commitment, Jesus justice.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Paul says there are only three Jewish men among his fellow workers, only three.

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Aristarchus, Mark and Jesus justice.

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Aristarchus has been around for a long time.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Mark had been around for a long time, but this is a new person.

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So we have to consider what would it look like to be a Jewish man in the first

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: century, to turn your back on everything and everyone you know and say, I am

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_00]: placing my trust in this man, Jesus.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_00]: He had to give up all of his family, all of his friends, all of his Jewish

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_00]: compatriots, because he knew he had to in order to follow Christ.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_00]: There are probably a few Jesus justices listening to this even now.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I certainly hear a lot about it from friends in the middle East who, when they

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00]: turn their back on Islam, they turn their back on their families.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_00]: They put their own lives at risk.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_00]: People see them and think, what is wrong with you?

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Why would you do that?

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Why would you walk away from all that you know and all that you love?

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_00]: The next friend of Paul's we meet is Epaphras, the man with a single passion.

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Epaphras is one of you and a servant of Jesus Christ, and he sends his greetings.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Epaphras is the pastor of the church in Colossae.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_00]: He is the one who has brought the gospel to them.

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He was actually visiting Paul at the time when this letter was being written, and

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_00]: he's telling Paul how things are going in Colossae.

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And Paul writes, he is one of you, a servant of Jesus Christ.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_00]: He greets you always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_00]: mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants you complete.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants you mature.

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants you fully developed, and he wants you fully convinced.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants you to mature and be confident that the truth is the truth and not having

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_00]: your minds twisted and warped by the false teachers who are so prevalent around this

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_00]: area.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants your doctrine to be mature, your behavior to be mature, and their hearts to

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_00]: be mature.

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Only when they are mature will they be assured.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Because Paul says in Ephesians 4, it's the spiritual infants and children that are

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_00]: tossed back and forth by the wind and the waves of deceitful teaching.

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Epaphras has this one desire.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to make sure that they are mature in Christ.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_00]: That should be the goal of every pastor of every congregation.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_00]: The goal of churches and pastors should be that you would be presented mature on that

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_00]: day so that when you stand before Christ, you will have been recipients of the Word

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_00]: of God.

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You will have feasted on the Word of God.

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_00]: You will have had rich fellowship with each other.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_00]: You will have stood through all the obstacles and all the things that have come

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_00]: against you by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the right teaching of the Word of God

[00:27:40] [SPEAKER_00]: from a church.

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why the responsibility of the pastor and the preacher is so great.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Our last two, Luke the doctor and Demas greet you.

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Luke has a specialized talent.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a medical doctor.

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It's interesting to note that Paul on his first missionary journey, he gets sick a lot

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and then after that, he doesn't seem to get sick as much because he's taken a doctor

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_00]: with him.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: He felt the need to have a doctor with him.

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's Luke who has said, okay, the Lord has equipped me with this speciality of

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_00]: medicine and I want to use that to serve the Lord.

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to travel with Paul.

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to treat Paul.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll help with whatever situations I can be used for and in him handing that over to

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_00]: the Lord, the Lord hands him something back in return.

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know what Luke gets?

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: He gets to write a large section of the New Testament.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: He writes his gospel according to Luke and he writes the book of Acts.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_00]: That's a large portion of the New Testament.

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_00]: He's handed what he has to the Lord and the Lord blesses him in return and Demas sends

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_00]: greetings.

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And here we come to our sad part.

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Demas, a friend with a sad future, not in Colossians, not in Philemon.

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_00]: He was still a faithful worker at this point.

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_00]: But we read about Demas in 2nd Timothy where Paul tells Timothy, do your best to

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: come to me quickly for Demas because he loved this world has deserted me and gone

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_00]: to Thessalonica.

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Thessalonica.

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The Demas who hung in with me during my imprisonment, Demas who stood by me even

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_00]: through my second imprisonment, loved the world more.

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_00]: He's traveled with us, witnessed miracles.

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He's seen preaching.

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It all came flooding into him and he just rejected it.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_00]: He rejected it all.

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's our picture of Paul's eight friends who helped him in his ministry.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Eight friends we still need as believers today.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_00]: That's our exhortation.

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_00]: What ministry has the Lord called you into?

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_00]: If you've put your faith and trust in Christ, he has called you to something.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You may not be preaching or in front of a large group, but he's called you to

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_00]: something.

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_00]: He's given you a particular gifting towards something and he's given you

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_00]: people to serve alongside you, encourage you, equip you, and challenge you.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're not sure what it is, make that your prayer.

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, show me what you're calling me to.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Where are you sending me?

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_00]: What have you equipped me with?

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Consider the people around you.

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not by accident that you're together.

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_00]: There's an element of human responsibility in this, right?

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_00]: We have to make that move forward.

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The invitation is to walk into it and we can do it confidently because we know

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_00]: he's already set our steps before us and he is trustworthy.

[00:31:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord Jesus walked to his death trusting his father.

[00:31:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Surely we can walk into a field or a ministry knowing that he is with us and

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_00]: that he is trustworthy.

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But here is a reminder.

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_00]: It is not easy.

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_00]: We must remember as we said about a hundred times, Paul is in prison.

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_00]: He's not writing this from a holiday inn.

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_00]: He's in a prison cell.

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a great place.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Archipus is with him.

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_00]: But if the gospel is good news and it is good news, then we're called to act.

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_00]: God uses his people for his purposes and he puts them together in relationship

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_00]: with one another for our mutual benefit and the advancement of the gospel.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_00]: When he calls you to do something, how will you respond?

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Do not climb the mountain alone.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Like the man who missed the summit because he did not have encouragement to

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_00]: continue.

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_00]: You need friends with you on the journey.

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: We can't do it alone.

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Father, we're so grateful for your gospel, for your good news that you sent your

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_00]: son to come to make right relationship with your fallen creation.

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_00]: We can chase after so many things that make us feel good.

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But until that relationship is right, we're just grasping at the wind.

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But Lord, once we have been brought to the knowledge of that salvation, when you

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_00]: have made us your own, we're not called to be alone in that.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We're called to be together.

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_00]: We need each other.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_00]: We need Luke's and Mark's and Aristarchus'.

[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_00]: We need fellow workers.

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So father help us to see the field before us, the work before us knowing it's

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: not easy.

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_00]: But you've given us your son.

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_00]: You've given us your spirit and you've given us each other.

[00:33:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Help us to walk out boldly in that.

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_00]: We pray this in Christ's name.

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Amen.