Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Circle of Honor and Dishonor │ Msg 1314

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A Circle of Honor and Dishonor │ Msg 1314 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: As we journey through the scriptures, we often come to
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Speaker 1: very emotional sections where it is wise to let our
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Speaker 1: imagination go. And we, as one of my mentors used
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Speaker 1: to say, we live out the text. Permit yourself to
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Speaker 1: do that. We all have imaginations, some a little bit.
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Speaker 1: broader than others, but today would be a great day
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Speaker 1: to let your mind run free, to imagine the writing
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Speaker 1: of this section in 2 Timothy 4, 9 through 15,
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Speaker 1: in its original context, a dark, damp, depressing dungeon where
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Speaker 1: the man writing will soon put the final strokes on
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Speaker 1: the last thing he ever wrote, that has been recorded
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Speaker 1: and preserved through time. Such words deserve our respect, our time,
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Speaker 1: and our trust. May we stand together out of respect
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Speaker 1: for God's word as I read for you 2 Timothy 4,
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Speaker 1: beginning at verse 9. Make every effort to come to
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Speaker 1: me soon, for Demas, Having loved this present world has
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Speaker 1: deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,
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Speaker 1: Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up
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Speaker 1: Mark and bring him with you for he is useful
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Speaker 1: to me for service. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.
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Speaker 1: When you come, Bring the cloak which I left at
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Speaker 1: Troas with Carpus and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander
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Speaker 1: the coppersmith did me much harm. The Lord will repay
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Speaker 1: him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself,
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Speaker 1: for he vigorously opposed our teachings. May God be honored
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Speaker 1: in the reading of his word and the preaching of
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Speaker 1: it and then ultimately the living out of its truths.
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Speaker 1: Please be seated. May we bow together for prayer. Our Father,
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Speaker 1: we have already called upon you in this meeting of worship,
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Speaker 1: but It's appropriate we do so again. We want to
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Speaker 1: set apart this brief period of time, brief in light
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Speaker 1: of our entire lives and in light of the eternity
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Speaker 1: before us. And we pray that for this segment, during
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Speaker 1: this wedge of time, you will give us the ability
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Speaker 1: to concentrate our minds, to tune our hearts, to grasp
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Speaker 1: what is written, what is meant, and even what may
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Speaker 1: have been implied within the lines and between them. As
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Speaker 1: we join Paul in a dungeon, may that visit be
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Speaker 1: meaningful for us, in anticipating our final days and what
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Speaker 1: life might be like for each one of us. We're
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Speaker 1: grateful for a place where we can set aside time
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Speaker 1: for such musings and thought. You teach us things we
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Speaker 1: would not otherwise know. In fact, your son often said
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Speaker 1: to those around him, do you not know? Do you
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Speaker 1: not know? So enable us to know what we didn't
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Speaker 1: know when we came in and then fill us with
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Speaker 1: such enablement that we can lead different people. And without
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Speaker 1: announcing it, have others noticed the difference? Because what we
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Speaker 1: have known We now live. We remember today those in
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Speaker 1: places where your word is under threat and where it
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Speaker 1: is not allowed to be proclaimed. We pray for those
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Speaker 1: who are in those places who love you and would
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Speaker 1: give everything they have to spend one hour in a
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Speaker 1: place like this. Watch over them. Take good care of them.
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Speaker 1: Protect them especially those this day who serve in the military,
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Speaker 1: we remember as well. We're grateful for the privilege of
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Speaker 1: giving to the ministry and we do so with confidence
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Speaker 1: that these funds will be handled with integrity and used
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Speaker 1: for your greater glory. But first we give ourselves and
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Speaker 1: then our gifts. And we commit these quiet moments of
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Speaker 1: reflection to you as we give joyfully and generously in
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Speaker 1: the name of Christ, our master. Everyone sit. Amen. Leadership
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Speaker 1: and loneliness go hand in hand. That's a surprise to
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Speaker 1: people who are not leaders, have not been called to
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Speaker 1: fill leadership positions Matter of fact, most would think that
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Speaker 1: every leader, if anything, has life pretty well wired and
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Speaker 1: really has very few need for other people. Nothing could
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Speaker 1: be further from the truth. Loneliness stalks where the buck stops. A.W.
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Speaker 1: Tozer put it well, most of the world's great souls
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Speaker 1: have been lonely. Samuel Taylor Coleridge captures this reality in
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Speaker 1: his immortal Rime of the Ancient Mariner when he pictures
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Speaker 1: the scene at sea and writes, alone, alone, all, all alone,
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Speaker 1: alone on a wide, wide sea, not a saint took
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Speaker 1: pity on my soul in agony. There's a loneliness that
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Speaker 1: accompanies the role of responsibility where you make decisions that
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Speaker 1: aren't popular and where you rarely have a chance to
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Speaker 1: convince the general public that your decision was based on
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Speaker 1: what you believe to be right. If you are lonely,
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Speaker 1: and certainly if you have recently been lonely, you know
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Speaker 1: the agony of loneliness can hardly be exaggerated. How often
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Speaker 1: Moses must have felt that when he was leading the
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Speaker 1: people of Israel for 40 years between ages 80 and 120,
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Speaker 1: mind you, across a wilderness that was barren and hot
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Speaker 1: and dry. And they were often complaining, arguing, and even
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Speaker 1: considering mutiny. How lonely he must have felt. And Joshua,
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Speaker 1: who took up the mantle after Moses, in leading to
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Speaker 1: the conquest of Canaan, how many lonely nights he must
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Speaker 1: have felt when the odds were against them. And he
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Speaker 1: led on right through the loneliness. And David took the
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Speaker 1: throne of his nation at age 30 and held it
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Speaker 1: until age 70. And all the time he was the king,
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Speaker 1: he knew those segments of time when loneliness haunted him
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Speaker 1: and stalked his steps When he lost his son, he
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Speaker 1: felt alone. When Absalom rebelled against him and, in fact,
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Speaker 1: overthrew the throne and David was pushed out of the
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Speaker 1: city he loved, named after him, how lonely he felt.
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Speaker 1: Looking back over the city of David, knowing that things
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Speaker 1: seemed in chaos and out of control, all seemed lost.
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Speaker 1: How lonely he was when he came back from the
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Speaker 1: battle at Ziklag and their homes had been burned and
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Speaker 1: their wives had been taken and the warriors spoke against
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Speaker 1: him and his leadership. All alone, David stood like a
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Speaker 1: steer in a blizzard. And these great prophets that we
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Speaker 1: read of, strong-hearted and outspoken for God, lived lives of
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Speaker 1: quiet loneliness. Misunderstood, misrepresented. and on occasion martyred. And so
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Speaker 1: none of us should be surprised to read what we
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Speaker 1: read in verses 9 through 15 in 2 Timothy chapter 4.
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Speaker 1: Paul's come to the last days of his life. The
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Speaker 1: dungeon is dark and it's damp. It's dismal and discouraging.
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Speaker 1: And your mind plays tricks on you when you're in
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Speaker 1: a place like that and you're getting up in years
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Speaker 1: and your friends have gone. And you're left with time.
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Speaker 1: There's an urgent plea that appears in verse 9 of
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Speaker 1: chapter 4. Well, you can't miss the loneliness in the words.
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Speaker 1: And remember, this is the man who just wrote, I
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Speaker 1: have fought the good fight. I have finished the course.
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Speaker 1: I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up
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Speaker 1: for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
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Speaker 1: righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not
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Speaker 1: to me only, but unto all those also who love
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Speaker 1: his appearing. And before that ink is dry, he's pleading
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Speaker 1: with Timothy to come join him. make every effort to come.
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Speaker 1: And if that isn't urgent enough, he adds the word soon.
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Speaker 1: Come soon. Between the lines are words that are saying,
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Speaker 1: I miss you, my friend. I miss the warmth of
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Speaker 1: your companionship. Don't misunderstand. Paul is still the clear-thinking theologian.
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Speaker 1: He is still the rugged and courageous missionary. He's still
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Speaker 1: the powerful preacher. The brightest theological mind has stepped for
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Speaker 1: Christ in the entire first century. It's still Paul, but
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Speaker 1: he's still 100% human. So don't let it startle you
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Speaker 1: to read words like verse 21, make every effort to
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Speaker 1: come before winter. I like it, frankly, that as I
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Speaker 1: am preaching these words, we find ourselves right now in
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Speaker 1: the midst of autumn, my favorite season of the year.
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Speaker 1: But it can be a lonely season. It was autumn
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Speaker 1: when Paul wrote and longed for Timothy to get there
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Speaker 1: before winter fell. These words apply. I wrote them years ago.
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Speaker 1: Timothy Drop everything. Pack quickly and catch the next ship
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Speaker 1: out of the Ephesian harbor. Come, my friend. Find your
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Speaker 1: way to my dungeon cell. I miss you. Come before winter.
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Speaker 1: Come before the harsh winds of autumn strip the leaves
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Speaker 1: off trees and send them swirling across the fields and
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Speaker 1: through the busy streets above me. Come before the first
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Speaker 1: snowfall and the icy blast that will cover flat carts
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Speaker 1: and frozen ponds with its blanket. Come, my friend. Come quickly.
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Speaker 1: Help me make it through these cold, dark nights. I
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Speaker 1: miss you. It's good for us on occasion to pause
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Speaker 1: and let the wonder in. To put ourselves in the
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Speaker 1: place of these people with very human feelings. Alone, alone,
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Speaker 1: all alone, alone in a dark, damp cell. And not
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Speaker 1: a saint took pity on me in this living hell.
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Speaker 1: Paul is left with his memories and some of them
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Speaker 1: are pleasant and A few of them are painful. Which
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Speaker 1: is why I call this a circle of the honorable
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Speaker 1: and dishonorable. And he isn't hesitant to name a couple
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Speaker 1: who have brought him pain. They're different types of men,
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Speaker 1: but they are named for us. First, his memories took
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Speaker 1: him back to days gone by when he enjoyed the
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Speaker 1: companionship of a man named Demas. His name appears in
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Speaker 1: verse 10. Demas. Demas once loved Christ. He once took
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Speaker 1: up his cross and followed Christ. He once had the
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Speaker 1: courage to serve alongside Paul. Paul refers to him in
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Speaker 1: another place, in another letter, as my fellow worker. But
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Speaker 1: no longer, no longer Demas Christ. has experienced an inner erosion.
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Speaker 1: He's cooled off to spiritual things. The dynamic for Christ
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Speaker 1: has somewhere slipped. Perhaps afraid of the dangers and risks
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Speaker 1: of following Christ when Nero's finger would one day point
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Speaker 1: in his direction and he too would find his place
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Speaker 1: in a cell. Perhaps he by now misses the comforts
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Speaker 1: of home and desires the safety of anonymity. We don't know.
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Speaker 1: It's possible that Demas never really counted the cost and
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Speaker 1: suddenly when the cost became great, Demas fled. There's an
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Speaker 1: old love song years ago that Nat King Cole sang.
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Speaker 1: And I remember it because it was popular when I
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Speaker 1: was 8,000 miles from the one I loved alone in
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Speaker 1: a marine barracks. And I remember hearing The words from
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Speaker 1: this wonderful love song, When I Fall in Love, there's
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Speaker 1: a line in it that says, and too many moonlight
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Speaker 1: kisses have been cooled in the warmth of the sun.
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Speaker 1: For Demas, too many compromises cooled his heart to the
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Speaker 1: person of Christ. William Barclay writes, the years have a
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Speaker 1: way of taking our ideals away, of making us satisfied
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Speaker 1: with less and less, of lowering our standards. There is
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Speaker 1: no threat so dangerous, so insidious, as the threat of
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Speaker 1: years to one's ideals. Remember, age can do a number
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Speaker 1: on any one of us. Not all the aged are wise.
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Speaker 1: Don't think you're safe because you've passed middle years. Who
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Speaker 1: knows how old Demas was when he decided to go
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Speaker 1: in another direction. The late great Richard Sumi has a
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Speaker 1: marvelous line for this. He calls it the lure of
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Speaker 1: a lesser loyalty. Paul has an eloquent way of writing this.
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Speaker 1: The original text reads, Demas has forsaken me, having loved
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Speaker 1: this now age. There's something alluring about this now age
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Speaker 1: that if you're not careful, the moonlight kisses will be
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Speaker 1: cooled in the warmth of that allurement. I can testify
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Speaker 1: to you, and I say this with a sigh, that
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Speaker 1: I've lived long enough to know men who once walked
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Speaker 1: close with me and served alongside me. But something between
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Speaker 1: then and now has changed them. Not that they don't
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Speaker 1: walk with me that's important, it's that they no longer
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Speaker 1: even walk with Jesus. And I sometimes wonder when I
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Speaker 1: fall asleep at night where they are and what they're
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Speaker 1: doing and what they've used to fill the void of
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Speaker 1: what was once a magnificent journey for Christ. Demas, having
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Speaker 1: loved this now age, has deserted me. There's a sermon
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Speaker 1: just in those words, isn't there? Second, Paul's memories take
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Speaker 1: him to another that brought him pain, which is the
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Speaker 1: reason I've called this a circle of honor and dishonor.
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Speaker 1: Here's another man who brought dishonor. He names him in
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Speaker 1: verse 14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. Alexander.
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Speaker 1: Now he's different from Demas. Demas slipped away as the
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Speaker 1: silent toll of erosion took him from Paul's side. Alexander
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Speaker 1: hasn't left. He stands in opposition. With Demas there was
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Speaker 1: a quietness about his departure and he winds up in
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Speaker 1: Thessalonica doing whatever Demas chose to do away from Paul.
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Speaker 1: But Alexander, verse 15, vigorously opposed our teaching. If you
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Speaker 1: will take your time to go back, hold your place here,
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Speaker 1: go to 1 Timothy chapter 1. You'll see the name
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Speaker 1: mentioned again. It's debatable that these were the same Alexanders,
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Speaker 1: but they may likely have been the same individual. Verses
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Speaker 1: 19 and 20 of chapter 1 in the first letter.
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Speaker 1: Keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected
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Speaker 1: and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these,
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Speaker 1: among whom? These who suffered shipwreck. Or Hymenaeus, and here's
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Speaker 1: our man, Alexander. whom I have handed over to Satan
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Speaker 1: so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. That
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Speaker 1: makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
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Speaker 1: Charles Ryrie's words are worth repeating. This was a remedial
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Speaker 1: discipline which excluded such persons from the help and fellowship
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Speaker 1: of the church, a kind of last resort punishment. Back
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Speaker 1: to 2 Timothy. Let's spend a little time on Alexander
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Speaker 1: since Alexander still lives today. One verse says, he did
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Speaker 1: me much harm. Verse 14. Not a common word used
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Speaker 1: for the verb does. Translated here, did. If you search
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Speaker 1: it deeply in the Greek text, you will find that
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Speaker 1: it has reference to being an informant. If you've ever
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Speaker 1: spent time behind the Iron Curtain, if you've ever been
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Speaker 1: in a communistic hell country, if you've ever been in
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Speaker 1: a place where you were a marked person and there
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Speaker 1: were those around you who informed on you, you know
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Speaker 1: the danger of an informant. Alexander was one of them. Apparently,
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Speaker 1: he went to officials with many false accusations against Paul.
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Speaker 1: You see how it's written? He didn't mean much harm.
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Speaker 1: The Greek says he informed many evils. He informed many evils.
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Speaker 1: His hope was to ruin Paul's reputation in the eyes
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Speaker 1: of the officials. For all we know, he was part
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Speaker 1: of the reason Nero said, that's enough. Lock him up.
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Speaker 1: Paul doesn't say so, but Perhaps the informant Alexander came
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Speaker 1: ultimately to an official who got through to Nero who
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Speaker 1: locked him up. Which brings us to the second criticism
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Speaker 1: in verse 15. He vigorously opposed our teaching. It wasn't
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Speaker 1: so much here about his reputation as it was concerned
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Speaker 1: with his communication. Paul stood for truth. Alexander stood against it.
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Speaker 1: Paul stepped up, Alexander stood away, pointed his finger. Interesting
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Speaker 1: thing about these two individuals, they represent the way those
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Speaker 1: who fight the truth operate. Those who fight truth deal
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Speaker 1: with it in two separate carnal realms. One, false information
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Speaker 1: against the one who is teaching. the one who is preaching,
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Speaker 1: the one who is leading. It's designed to hurt us.
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Speaker 1: And the other is vigorous opposition to silence us, calling
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Speaker 1: into question our word, our character, our teaching. And Paul
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Speaker 1: doesn't stop simply with exposing Alexander. He warns Timothy. Did
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Speaker 1: you get that in verse 15? Be on guard. against
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Speaker 1: him yourself. You see, Paul will soon die. Alexander isn't dying.
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Speaker 1: Paul will be gone. Alexander isn't going anywhere. He's going
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Speaker 1: to take on another teacher of the truth because people
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Speaker 1: like this don't stop with one, they make a career
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Speaker 1: out of it. To borrow a line from Martin Luther's era,
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Speaker 1: these are boars in God's vineyard. And every pastor, every
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Speaker 1: spiritual leader Every woman of God can give you a
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Speaker 1: short list, hopefully it's short, of boars in God's vineyard
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Speaker 1: who made their lives miserable. People like Demas break your heart.
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Speaker 1: People like Alexander drain your energy. Because your great tendency
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Speaker 1: is to set the record straight. That takes time. That
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Speaker 1: also gets you dislodged and displaces you from your calling.
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Speaker 1: That's the insidious nature of people like Alexander. They move
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Speaker 1: you away from center and they get you engaged in
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Speaker 1: things that are not anything to do with your major
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Speaker 1: purpose in ministry. So Timothy, Timothy, listen to me. Be
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Speaker 1: on guard against this man. He's still on the loose.
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Speaker 1: He's still informing. He's still slandering. Now, thankfully, that isn't
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Speaker 1: the end of the list. Thankfully, there's a list that
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Speaker 1: goes into these faithful friends and they become a part
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Speaker 1: of the pleasant circle. These are in the circle of honor.
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Speaker 1: We can sort of click them off one after another
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Speaker 1: because we really do not know a whole lot about
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Speaker 1: most of them. Take the first one who is mentioned
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Speaker 1: in the end of verse 10. Crescens has gone to Galatia.
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Speaker 1: Aside from this reference, In no other place of the
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Speaker 1: Bible is Crescens named. So for me to add more
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Speaker 1: here would be mere speculation. It would be a waste
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Speaker 1: of your time and a waste of mine. We know
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Speaker 1: nothing more than Crescens, who had been close to Paul,
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Speaker 1: is now on his way or has gone on to Galatia.
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Speaker 1: Look at the next name. End of verse 10, Titus
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Speaker 1: has gone to Dalmatia. Now there's a name we're familiar with.
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Speaker 1: You remember Titus 1.5 says, Paul left Titus on the
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Speaker 1: island of Crete that he might set in order the
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Speaker 1: things that were missing and also appoint elders in all
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Speaker 1: the villages, in all the cities of the island. Titus
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Speaker 1: has been a companion of the apostle. They've been close
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Speaker 1: as friends, and Paul misses him, and his absence makes
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Speaker 1: him long for him all the more. So Crescens and Titus,
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Speaker 1: and then he moves to Luke, Dr. Luke. He's named
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Speaker 1: in Colossians 4.14 as the beloved physician. The beloved physician.
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Speaker 1: What a faithful man Luke is. Only Luke is with me.
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Speaker 1: What a dependable companion. What a faithful advocate. A physician.
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Speaker 1: Also a writer of the gospel of Luke and the
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Speaker 1: book of Acts. I don't know the last time you
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Speaker 1: took any time to think on the extent of Paul's sufferings,
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Speaker 1: but it's really worth a journey there, and you'll understand
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Speaker 1: why he needed a physician to travel with him. If
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Speaker 1: you will, for a moment, turn back to 2 Corinthians 11,
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Speaker 1: you'll see a litany of the aches and pains and
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Speaker 1: sorrows of his past. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 23 says,
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Speaker 1: Right in the center of the verse, I have been
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Speaker 1: in far more imprisonments. Just stop right there. Multiple imprisonments.
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Speaker 1: I have been beaten times without number. Who knows how
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Speaker 1: crippled he became because of it. He could have walked
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Speaker 1: with a limp. He could have lost the use of
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Speaker 1: an arm. Beaten times without number, often in dangers of death.
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Speaker 1: Five times I received the Jews' 39 lashes. Think of
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Speaker 1: the physical toll that took on his body. You've never
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Speaker 1: been beaten once with lashes, most likely. Five times, 39
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Speaker 1: times each, the Apostle Paul. Three times I was beaten
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Speaker 1: with rods. Once I was stoned. Most who were stoned
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Speaker 1: never lived to tell the story. God graciously and miraculously
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Speaker 1: brought him through the stoning at Lystra. Who knows what
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Speaker 1: he suffered as a result of the stoning? the blows
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Speaker 1: of the stones on his body. Three times I was shipwrecked,
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Speaker 1: a day and a night I've spent in the deep.
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Speaker 1: I have been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers
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Speaker 1: and robbers and countrymen, from the Gentiles and from the
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Speaker 1: city and in the wilderness and on the sea and
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Speaker 1: among false brethren. I've been in labor and hardship through
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Speaker 1: many sleepless nights and hunger and thirst often without food.
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Speaker 1: in cold and exposure. May I say to you who
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Speaker 1: are physicians that we need more from you than your
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Speaker 1: medical practice. We need your understanding of the body. I
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Speaker 1: had a physician come to me following the first morning
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Speaker 1: service today and he said, your first line in the
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Speaker 1: outline describes, and he gave me the medical term for
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Speaker 1: how this can happen. When one reaches the end of
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Speaker 1: his life, things pass in review and he gave me
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Speaker 1: the medical term for it. Very helpful insight. But let
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Speaker 1: me say more to you who are physicians. We need
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Speaker 1: your comfort. We need your warmth. We need your understanding
30:09
Speaker 1: when you give us the hard news that it's terminal.
30:14
Speaker 1: We need good bedside manners. We need you to feel
30:19
Speaker 1: our pain. We would like to feel like something other
30:23
Speaker 1: than case number 35 today. Because we have waited a
30:28
Speaker 1: long time to see you. We need you to be
30:32
Speaker 1: a modern-day Luke who is here in the dungeon with
30:37
Speaker 1: Paul and he simply says, only Luke is with me.
30:42
Speaker 1: A friend in need and even better if he's a
30:45
Speaker 1: medical doctor. One wonders how often he must have said
30:50
Speaker 1: to Paul, now remember, a little wine for your stomach's sake.
30:54
Speaker 1: Remember Paul. And remember, you need to do such and such.
31:00
Speaker 1: Haven't seen you doing your exercises lately, Paul. Paul, you're
31:05
Speaker 1: pushing yourself a little hard. Slow down. All of that
31:09
Speaker 1: is counsel without cost. But it's wisdom. Only Luke is
31:16
Speaker 1: with me and implied how I need him. I love
31:19
Speaker 1: the next name. Pick up Mark and bring him with you.
31:25
Speaker 1: For he is useful to me for service. Good for you, Paul.
31:28
Speaker 1: Good for you. You say, what are you excited about, Chuck?
31:32
Speaker 1: It just says, bring Mark with you and he's useful
31:34
Speaker 1: to me for service. Oh, you've got to know Mark.
31:37
Speaker 1: Mark in Acts chapter 13, verse 13, turned back when
31:40
Speaker 1: they got to Pamphylia and the going got rough in
31:42
Speaker 1: the first journey. Paul and Barnabas and young John Mark
31:48
Speaker 1: were together and night came hard and maybe the mosquitoes
31:54
Speaker 1: were there in swarms as you'll often see them in Alaska.
31:59
Speaker 1: And maybe they were malarial carrying mosquitoes. And maybe Paul
32:03
Speaker 1: got sick and Mark panicked. The leader of the groups
32:08
Speaker 1: is not able to lead like I thought he would lead.
32:12
Speaker 1: The nights are long and I miss my mother. And
32:16
Speaker 1: I miss home. And he deserted them. That's John Mark.
32:24
Speaker 1: Months passed. They were ready to go on another journey
32:27
Speaker 1: and Barnabas said to Paul, let's take John Mark with us.
32:33
Speaker 1: What you got to understand is that they were family members.
32:37
Speaker 1: Funny how blood mixes like that, isn't it? Paul said no.
32:41
Speaker 1: Barnabas said yes. Paul said no. Barnabas said yes. Paul
32:47
Speaker 1: said no. Barnabas said yes. And there was a schism.
32:52
Speaker 1: The Greek word is schism. At the end of Acts 15,
32:55
Speaker 1: there was such an argument as they stood toe to
32:57
Speaker 1: toe on whether they're going to take Mark or not.
32:59
Speaker 1: Barnabas said, he's older, he's more mature, he's learned his lesson,
33:03
Speaker 1: he'll make a great missionary with us. Give him a
33:05
Speaker 1: second chance. I'm not going to give him a second chance.
33:11
Speaker 1: So they split. Barnabas took Mark and they sailed for Cyprus.
33:16
Speaker 1: Barnabas is a Cypriot. He went back home and Paul
33:19
Speaker 1: chose another companion, Silas. and they traveled north. Barnabas and
33:23
Speaker 1: Paul never worked together again. Now let's go back. Some
33:28
Speaker 1: of you are saying, well, Paul, good night. Why would
33:33
Speaker 1: you do that? I mean, after all, and by the way,
33:37
Speaker 1: I'm sure both Barnabas and Paul quoted Old Testament verses
33:41
Speaker 1: to help support their position. Well, let me ask you,
33:48
Speaker 1: if you had loaned your car to someone and they
33:50
Speaker 1: wrecked it, And you've got another car and they want
33:52
Speaker 1: to borrow it. Would you be quick to loan it?
33:55
Speaker 1: I mean, months may have passed. What about loaning someone
33:58
Speaker 1: a thousand bucks? And they said they'd pay you back
34:00
Speaker 1: and you're still waiting for that thousand bucks. And they
34:03
Speaker 1: come to you day after tomorrow and say, hey, boy,
34:05
Speaker 1: times are hard. I sure could use. You don't even
34:08
Speaker 1: want to finish the sentence. So now you're not quite
34:11
Speaker 1: as compassionate as you thought you were. But what if
34:15
Speaker 1: we were all like Paul and we gave no one
34:17
Speaker 1: another opportunity? You see, there's a lot of humanness in this.
34:24
Speaker 1: There's a lot of real life stuff. But look at
34:29
Speaker 1: what he says. He says, Timothy, when you're on your
34:32
Speaker 1: way from Ephesus to here, pick up Mark. Oh man,
34:36
Speaker 1: he would be useful for service. Ah, good for you, Paul.
34:40
Speaker 1: Time has passed. Mark, by the way, is the one
34:43
Speaker 1: who wrote the Gospel of. St. John Mark. Aren't we
34:50
Speaker 1: glad that the received him back into the fellowship of
34:53
Speaker 1: their companionship, and he would be useful for service. Be
34:59
Speaker 1: careful about writing anyone off who has failed. Just writing
35:04
Speaker 1: them off. Be careful about that. I know we need
35:07
Speaker 1: to be discerning, and I know certainly we need to
35:10
Speaker 1: guard the flock. But if you have a John Mark
35:14
Speaker 1: who didn't come through as you thought he would, just
35:17
Speaker 1: remember we're not all brave and strong. over every mile
35:22
Speaker 1: we travel. I hand it to Paul, and one wonders
35:30
Speaker 1: what they did when they met again, if they did. Tychicus,
35:36
Speaker 1: look at verse 12. Sounds like a disease, doesn't it? Tychicus.
35:41
Speaker 1: We know very little about Tychicus. He was part of
35:44
Speaker 1: the original Gentile delegation who accompanied Paul to Jerusalem as
35:49
Speaker 1: he delivered the collection to the poor, Acts 20, verse 4.
35:54
Speaker 1: When Paul was in Rome, chained to the Roman prisoner
35:56
Speaker 1: and riding Colossus, he mentions Tychicus as being there with
36:01
Speaker 1: him as he wrote the letter to Colossae. He's another
36:04
Speaker 1: of the bright young disciples of Paul. Hard to have
36:08
Speaker 1: him leave his side now he misses Tychicus. Perhaps he
36:11
Speaker 1: brought an energy and a youthfulness that was wonderful. I
36:16
Speaker 1: think it's remarkable, men and women, that Paul, at this
36:19
Speaker 1: age and stage of life, sitting in a dark dungeon,
36:22
Speaker 1: could call to mind one, two, three, four, five, including Timothy,
36:26
Speaker 1: six individuals by name, and remember in his mind those
36:30
Speaker 1: scenes that had passed. But that happens to you when
36:33
Speaker 1: you come to this stage of life. Older teachers remember
36:38
Speaker 1: the great students of the past. Older pastors remember marvelous
36:44
Speaker 1: friends from congregations gone by. Those who have been faithful
36:50
Speaker 1: as teachers remember those who served well as their pupils
36:55
Speaker 1: and ultimately became models of what they had taught. That's
37:00
Speaker 1: where we are with Paul. And before we think he's
37:03
Speaker 1: run out of his practical side, look at the three
37:06
Speaker 1: requests he makes. I love this. I just love this section.
37:10
Speaker 1: Look at verse 13. And when you come, how's that
37:13
Speaker 1: for faith? Earlier he said, come, Timothy, come before winter.
37:17
Speaker 1: And now he says, when you come, isn't that great?
37:21
Speaker 1: I know you're coming. So when you come, I make
37:25
Speaker 1: three requests. Bring the cloak, which I left at Troas,
37:34
Speaker 1: and bring the books. but especially bring the parchments. Scrolls
37:41
Speaker 1: of the Old Testament text. Isn't that moving? Again, not
37:49
Speaker 1: too long ago, I sat down and wrote it in
37:51
Speaker 1: these words. Timothy, I need my cloak. I must have
37:55
Speaker 1: left it in the abode of Carpus and Troas. You'll
37:58
Speaker 1: have no trouble spotting it, Timothy. It's an old thing,
38:02
Speaker 1: but it's been on my back through many a bitter winter.
38:06
Speaker 1: It's been wet with the brine of the great sea,
38:08
Speaker 1: white from the snows of the rugged peaks of Pamphylia,
38:12
Speaker 1: gritty and brown from the dust of the Ignatian Way
38:15
Speaker 1: and crimson with my own blood from that awful stoning
38:19
Speaker 1: at Lystra. Bring that cloak. Winter's coming and I need
38:24
Speaker 1: the warmth it will provide. I also need my books, Timothy.
38:30
Speaker 1: Don't forget my books. You remember them, the ones I
38:35
Speaker 1: read under candlelight as we rode out the rough waters
38:38
Speaker 1: of the Aegean and endured the rigors of Macedonia together.
38:42
Speaker 1: Those scrolls that fed my mind and stretched me with
38:46
Speaker 1: fresh bursts of hope and stimulating ideas. Bring along my books,
38:50
Speaker 1: my friend. Oh, but especially tuck away a few of
38:57
Speaker 1: the scrolls of the parchments. Those are my most treasured possessions,
39:03
Speaker 1: how I need the comfort of King David's Psalms, the
39:06
Speaker 1: fortitude from the prophet's pens, the insights and perception from
39:11
Speaker 1: Solomon's Proverbs. Yes, the parchments, Timothy, the parchments. Surely they
39:16
Speaker 1: will help keep my heart warm and my hopes high
39:19
Speaker 1: in this desolate place. But Timothy, I need you. Make
39:24
Speaker 1: every effort to come before winter. now what about take
39:31
Speaker 1: the time to read that to you because I want
39:33
Speaker 1: you to start doing that long enough have we read
39:38
Speaker 1: words on a page just black print on white sheets
39:41
Speaker 1: and we go on about our ways we never put
39:43
Speaker 1: it into our words put them in your journal Put
39:48
Speaker 1: them in your own words as you ignite your imagination
39:50
Speaker 1: and put yourself in the sandals of the person who's writing.
39:54
Speaker 1: Feel what he feels. Weep as he weeps. Groan as
40:01
Speaker 1: he groans under the labors of his current painful situation.
40:10
Speaker 1: Now all of this would leave us rather blank if
40:12
Speaker 1: we didn't take time to see it in light of
40:14
Speaker 1: where we are today. Allow me. I see four timeless
40:20
Speaker 1: reminders for every one of us. No longer talking about Paul,
40:25
Speaker 1: but we're talking about you and me. When you and
40:28
Speaker 1: I are lonely, when you and I are hurt, when
40:30
Speaker 1: you and I are loved, or when you and I
40:33
Speaker 1: are needy, let's go there. Here's the first. When you're lonely,
40:39
Speaker 1: you need caring, close friends. When you're lonely... You need caring,
40:48
Speaker 1: close friends. You may feel bulletproof right now. I mean,
40:53
Speaker 1: given your position at the company, who needs friends? Reminds
40:58
Speaker 1: me of the words of Sophie Tucker when she turned 69.
41:03
Speaker 1: From birth to 18, a girl needs good parents. From
41:05
Speaker 1: 18 to 35, she needs good looks. From 35 to 55,
41:07
Speaker 1: she needs a good personality. Beyond 55, she needs cash.
41:23
Speaker 1: When you're where Paul was, you don't need cash. If
41:28
Speaker 1: you'd given him a thousand shekels, it wouldn't have done
41:31
Speaker 1: him any good. He's at the end of the trail.
41:34
Speaker 1: He needs a friend. But let me give you a tip.
41:37
Speaker 1: Now is the time to cultivate them. They won't suddenly
41:40
Speaker 1: emerge when you get lonely. If you're not careful, you're
41:45
Speaker 1: not spending enough time cultivating friends. I just finished Tom
41:49
Speaker 1: Rath's interesting book, Vital Friends. In it, he gives this statistic.
41:54
Speaker 1: During our teenage years, we spend nearly one-third of our
41:57
Speaker 1: time with friends. For the rest of our lives, the
42:02
Speaker 1: average time spent with friends is less than 10%. Less
42:08
Speaker 1: than 10%. And you wonder why you're not surrounded by
42:13
Speaker 1: those who care when you are lonely? You haven't cultivated them.
42:19
Speaker 1: They don't know that they have a place in your life.
42:23
Speaker 1: Take time for friends. Paul could have named 50, and
42:27
Speaker 1: he chose five here. When you're hurt, when you're hurt,
42:33
Speaker 1: you need loyal advocates. That's more than a friend. Webster
42:40
Speaker 1: says an advocate is one who supports or defends a cause,
42:44
Speaker 1: one who pleads in another's behalf. Every person who goes
42:50
Speaker 1: on trial needs an advocate who's called an attorney. And
42:54
Speaker 1: the attorney speaks for him or her and defends us.
42:59
Speaker 1: The judge will tell us, you don't speak to me.
43:01
Speaker 1: Your lawyer speaks to me. And your lawyer then becomes
43:04
Speaker 1: your go-between. When we are hurt, we need a go-between.
43:10
Speaker 1: Who are they? They are those who understand us and
43:13
Speaker 1: support us regardless. They are in our corner faithfully. They
43:18
Speaker 1: lift our spirits. They also help us see things more
43:21
Speaker 1: objectively than we would see on our own. Luke was
43:25
Speaker 1: an advocate for Paul, as was Timothy. When you are loved,
43:31
Speaker 1: here's the third, you need to be grateful. If you
43:38
Speaker 1: are loved by a circle of people, you are rich indeed.
43:43
Speaker 1: Share the wealth. Why are you keeping all that love
43:48
Speaker 1: to yourself? When was the last time you looked at
43:51
Speaker 1: another individual outside that circle using the first person singular
43:56
Speaker 1: I and said, I love you? Well, Chuck, this is Texas. Texas.
44:08
Speaker 1: Junk with that. Others need to know you love them
44:14
Speaker 1: and they need to hear the word I. Don't just
44:17
Speaker 1: say love you. You say that to your dog. Love you.
44:23
Speaker 1: Love you. You say I love you to people. You
44:31
Speaker 1: share the wealth when you do that. And you need
44:36
Speaker 1: to do that with the person who is your partner
44:38
Speaker 1: in life. Don't think he or she ever hears it enough.
44:44
Speaker 1: Every night before Cynthia and I are asleep, I hear
44:48
Speaker 1: her say, I love you, sweetheart. And I say to her,
44:55
Speaker 1: I love you. I'm often convicted because I didn't think
44:58
Speaker 1: to say it first. And I love you. What great
45:03
Speaker 1: words to hear the last moment of nightfall. I love you.
45:12
Speaker 1: And when you're needy, here's the fourth, you need to
45:14
Speaker 1: admit it. You know why we don't admit it? Because
45:19
Speaker 1: we're so stinking proud. The last time you picked up
45:23
Speaker 1: a phone and called someone and said, hi, today's a
45:26
Speaker 1: really tough day for me. I need you right now.
45:29
Speaker 1: When's the last time you did that? As if anybody
45:31
Speaker 1: would answer out loud. You can't remember the last time.
45:38
Speaker 1: I need you. Let me tell you why I can't
45:42
Speaker 1: do it on my own. How often during the last
45:46
Speaker 1: two and a half, three years, my wife and I
45:48
Speaker 1: have said to a number of people, I need you
45:51
Speaker 1: right now. I need you right now. Hardest years of
45:58
Speaker 1: my ministry have been the last two and a half years.
46:00
Speaker 1: And it's been lonely. Tough. Oh, this has kept me going,
46:09
Speaker 1: our worship times and our time with our staff. But
46:12
Speaker 1: what difficult days. But that's when I earned the right
46:17
Speaker 1: to be heard. Because when I speak of hurt and
46:21
Speaker 1: loneliness and being needy and needing an advocate, I know
46:26
Speaker 1: where I speak. Loneliness stalks where the buck stops. Allow
46:35
Speaker 1: me a few moments with a story you'll never forget
46:39
Speaker 1: and we'll be through. Some time ago, I was watching
46:47
Speaker 1: television and I saw something very, very amazing. The one
46:52
Speaker 1: who was speaking on this interesting PBS program was Sir
46:57
Speaker 1: Hugh Weldon, who is the former chairman of the Library
47:01
Speaker 1: of Congress. Listen carefully. He was standing in front of
47:07
Speaker 1: a forest of card index files. The program had all
47:13
Speaker 1: the makings of a slow-moving, dull documentary until about halfway through, Dr.
47:20
Speaker 1: Daniel Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, brought out a little
47:23
Speaker 1: blue box from a small closet that once held the
47:28
Speaker 1: library's rarities. The label on the box read, Contents of
47:37
Speaker 1: the President's Pockets on the night of April 14, 1865.
47:41
Speaker 1: Since that was the fateful night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination,
47:51
Speaker 1: every viewer's attention around the country I'm convinced was seized.
47:56
Speaker 1: My mouth dropped open. Boorstin then proceeded to remove the
48:01
Speaker 1: items in the small container and display them on camera.
48:07
Speaker 1: There were five things in the box. A handkerchief embroidered A. Lincoln.
48:17
Speaker 1: A country boy's penknife. A spectacles case repaired with string.
48:27
Speaker 1: A purse containing a $ 5 bill. Confederate money. I love it.
48:38
Speaker 1: some old worn newspaper clippings. Stay with me. The clippings,
48:45
Speaker 1: said Boorstin, were concerned with the great deeds of Abraham Lincoln.
48:50
Speaker 1: And one of them actually reports a speech by John Bright,
48:54
Speaker 1: which says that Abraham Lincoln is quote, one of the
48:57
Speaker 1: greatest men of all times. Today, that's common knowledge. The
49:05
Speaker 1: world now knows, that British statesman John Bright was white
49:11
Speaker 1: in his assessment of Lincoln. But back in 1865, when
49:14
Speaker 1: half the country hated him, millions shared quite a contrary opinion.
49:25
Speaker 1: The president's critics were fierce and many. His was a
49:29
Speaker 1: lonely agony that reflected the suffering and turmoil of his country,
49:34
Speaker 1: ripped to shreds by hatred and the cruel, costly treatment.
49:38
Speaker 1: war between the states. There's something touchingly pathetic in the
49:45
Speaker 1: mental picture of this great leader seeking solace and self-assurance
49:50
Speaker 1: from a few old newspaper clippings as he reads them
49:53
Speaker 1: under the flickering flame of a candle all alone in
49:57
Speaker 1: the Oval Office. Loneliness stalks where the buck stops. The
50:17
Speaker 1: loneliest people hearing my voice right now are you who
50:20
Speaker 1: are trying to make it on your own without a savior.
50:27
Speaker 1: You pretty well convinced yourself you can do it, but
50:30
Speaker 1: you haven't reached the end. You don't know all the
50:34
Speaker 1: future holds. And you will come to the day when
50:38
Speaker 1: you'll breathe your last and you will be out of
50:42
Speaker 1: hope to get you from there into eternity with God.
50:50
Speaker 1: In fact, you won't go there. In the loneliness of
50:55
Speaker 1: this moment where you admit your need, it is your
50:58
Speaker 1: opportunity to say, Lord Jesus Christ, fill the void and
51:04
Speaker 1: emptiness in my soul. I cannot make it on my own.
51:11
Speaker 1: I am lost. I'm sinful. I've made a mess of
51:13
Speaker 1: my life. Look at what I've done. Nothing would hold
51:18
Speaker 1: up through eternity to get me to you. So I
51:21
Speaker 1: trust Christ who died on that cross. And I believe
51:26
Speaker 1: his death was sufficient for my sins. And I believe
51:29
Speaker 1: in him now. Let's bow our heads together. This is
51:37
Speaker 1: an epical moment in the morning we've spent together. And
51:41
Speaker 1: I don't want to miss this opportunity. If you've never
51:46
Speaker 1: trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible describes you
51:49
Speaker 1: as lost. You're a lost sinner. It doesn't mean you're
51:57
Speaker 1: immoral necessarily or you don't have any ethics. It just
52:00
Speaker 1: means you are not ready to meet God. Because to
52:04
Speaker 1: be that ready, you must be as righteous as God is.
52:07
Speaker 1: And the only one who can make it happen is
52:10
Speaker 1: the one who was as righteous as he is. And
52:14
Speaker 1: his name is Jesus. believe in him, you will be
52:19
Speaker 1: declared righteous. You may think, Chuck, I don't know how
52:25
Speaker 1: to do this on my own. Then connect with us
52:27
Speaker 1: and we'll help you. We have friends here in Soul
52:31
Speaker 1: Care who are a part of our ministry, filling every
52:34
Speaker 1: prayer room, standing at most of the exit doors, and
52:38
Speaker 1: they're there to help you. Each one of them would
52:40
Speaker 1: consider it an honor to have you put your hand
52:43
Speaker 1: in theirs and say, I need you. I need you
52:46
Speaker 1: to help me know how to have forgiveness and hope
52:52
Speaker 1: and a reason to go on. Or you may simply
52:58
Speaker 1: desire to pray, Lord Jesus Christ, come into my life.
53:06
Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, thank you even for the aloneness on that wide,
53:11
Speaker 1: wide sea. where not a saint took pity on our
53:15
Speaker 1: souls in agony. Thank you for meeting our needs when
53:22
Speaker 1: there was no one else to do that. Thank you
53:25
Speaker 1: for being our friend, our advocate, the one who has
53:31
Speaker 1: loved us all the way to the end. How grateful
53:37
Speaker 1: we are for you. We pray that you will be
53:41
Speaker 1: honored in the words that were spoken And we will
53:45
Speaker 1: not soon forget the words of a man who shortly
53:48
Speaker 1: after writing them died. May we live differently because of
53:53
Speaker 1: what we have heard today. May we learn to say,
53:58
Speaker 1: I love you. And may we say it often. May
54:03
Speaker 1: we admit our need without any pride or self-sufficiency. And
54:11
Speaker 1: may we, Father, live lives of vulnerability and openness before
54:15
Speaker 1: a watching world that continues to look for authenticity and hope.
54:24
Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, we pray. And everybody said, Amen.
54:35
Speaker 2: The preceding message, A Circle of Honor and Dishonor, was
54:39
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2009 and 2015, and the sound recording was
54:44
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2015 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights
54:48
Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
54:53
Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.