Just a Few Good Friends

2 Timothy 4-Part 7
Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. 2 Timothy 4: 11 

LET IT GLOW

Just a few good friends-isn't that what we all need to carry us through this life, to love us in this cold and cruel world, to encourage us on this journey, to pick us up when we stumble and fall. Yes, just a few good friends. Those people who listen to our troubles, feel our pain and disappointments, who point out our wrongs that need to be made right, who accept us as we are, inspite of ourselves. Who do I have as that kind of friend? To whom am I that kind of friend? Are there others that would consider me one of their few good friends?
Is Jesus? Does Jesus? What about Paul?

As I've said before, Paul's life is coming to an end, and he knows it. It sounds like he's looking back over it and contemplating people who have come into his life-encouragers and hinderances alike. There were a lot of folks who shared the load to spread the gospel in Paul's day. What's happened to those "friends?" Let's check it out in this last chapter.

"It is heartening to see how many people are named in the closing part of this last letter Paul wrote. I believe that there are at least one hundred different men and women named in Acts and Paul's letter, as a part of his clircle of friends and fellow laborers. Paul could not do the job by himself. It is a great man who enlists others to help get the job done, and who lets them share in the greatness of the work," states Warren Wiersbe in his book Be Faithful.

Paul names five faithful men who could be placed in the apostle's circle of honor:

Crescens:
I think it odd that this man was mentioned with other notable men of which Paul highly thought, yet we don't know much about him. Crescens' name doesn't appear anywhere else in Scripture. Paul likely deployed him to Galatia sometime between his first and second imprisonments. He must have been a faithful laborer who assisted Paul in an hour of great need. Am I a faithful friend in their hour of need?

Luke:
Paul named Luke as the only man who remained faithfully by his side. At that time, prisons only provided the very least of provisions, so the prisoners depended upon family and friends to bring them food, water, clothing, and medical supplies, which was usually by bribing the guards. Luke had written his gospel and Acts of the apostles, by this time. This "beloved physician" knew of Paul's many injuries (2 Cor. 11:23-28) and probably experienced many as well. Probably, Paul dictated this letter to Luke. Wasn't Luke invaluable to the apostle? What a comrade. He kept walking that road as Jesus lead Paul on three missionary journeys and about 20,000 miles.
Do I keep walking with my friends, or do I drop by the wayside?

Titus:
He was Paul's closest friend and coworker next to Timothy. Paul left him in Crete to straighten out the problems in the churches there (Titus 1:5). We learn more about this friend from the book which is actually a leter Paul wrote to him before writing 2 Timothy. Titus met Paul in Nicopolis during the time between Paul's arrests (Titus 3:12). Paul summoned Titus to Rome and sent him to Dalmatia, which was our Yugoslavia. It was a wilderness and those people had piratical habits. What a challenge for Titus. Do I trust my friends?

Mark, known as John Mark:
Mark was a cousin of Barnabas, Paul's first partner in missionary service (Acts13:1-3). His mother was a noted Christian in Jerusalem (Acts 13:5,13). Because Paul refused to take Mark on his second missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas had a falling-out. But, Paul admitted Mark was a valuable worker and wanted Mark with him in Rome. (Acts 15) Time passed and Mark matured. Mark wrote the memoirs of Peter in his gospel. What a complement to be called to Paul's aid in Rome. Mark was a dependable frien. Am I a dependable friend?

Tychicus:
They probably met in Ephesus (Acts 20:4). He traveled with the apostle and served as courier, taking his letters of his hometown of Ephesus (Eph. 6:21) to Colossae (4:7), and probably to Philemon (Col. 4:9). He may have relieved Titus on Crete, allowing Titus to join Paul in Nicopolis. Then, sometime before his second imprisonment, he sent Tychicus to Ephesus to relieve Timothy to go to Paul in Rome. Do I do favors for another friend? Or do I set limits?

Timothy would have been on Paul's list of faithful friends, after all, he was the recipent of this letter. It's one of those understood things  you don't have to mention. So there we have five faithful friends of Paul. What an honor to be considered one of them. Do I consider it to be an honor to be a friend's friend?


LET IT GROW

Webster's Dictionary defines friend as a person on intimate and affectionate terms with another; a supporter; well-wisher.

Well, after reading about Paul's close friends, he mentions two men, Demas and Alexander. Demas was a friend who forsake Paul and his teachings to love the world. Demas was spoken of in two other of Paul's letters, Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24, only in passing. This man  was a fellow-worker, but something happened to Demas. He was a follower of Christ, though Paul never invited him to join his entourage.
The Greek word for forsaken means "to utterly abandon," with the idea of leaving someone in a dire situation. Was he a fair-weathered friend? When the goin' got hot, he got goin'?

Alexander is the other man mentioned by Paul. However, he was never a close friend. On the contrary. Alexander accused Paul of many evils through false accusations. There are three other places in the Bible where Alexander is mentioned-Acts 19:23 (a Jew who tried to address the rioting crowd in Ephesus, 1 Timothy 1:18-20 (an apostate teacher in Ephesus whom Paul disciplined with Hymenaeus, and 2 Tim.4:14-15 (a coppersmith who did evil to Paul). Paul was mentioning this guy to warn Timothy about him.

Do I use discernment in picking my friends?

LET IT GO

Be a faithful friend to Jesus and others.

Let go of friends who are not faithful to the Lord.