PAUL S FRIENDS (Colossians 4:7-18) INTRODUCTION Maybe you ve heard the one about the ship that sank in the ocean, and so three men ended up stranded in a lifeboat. They floated around for days without food or water. One afternoon a bottle floated up to the boat. The men grabbed the bottle and when they pulled the cork out of the bottle, a genie appeared. I'll grant each of you a single wish, said the genie. I wish I was home, said the first man. Then, poof, he disappeared. too. I wish I was home, too, said the second man. Poof He disappeared The third man looked around. Gee, I'm kind of lonely, he said. I wish my friends were here with me. We all need friends. Paul describes his FRIENDS in this closing passage of Colossians. These are those persons who had helped or were currently helping him. In doing my ministry history, I have been thinking back when we graduated from seminary and was preparing to go to the Canal Zone for ministry. At least three people came to mind, who greatly helped Lana Jo and me survive for the year before we went to Panama. We all need friends, Christian friends to come along side of us to help us in our calling. Someone has put Paul s friends in this passage into 3 categories: those who stayed, the one who prayed, and the one who strayed. Paul had many friends. He appreciated each one of them. He mentions over 100 people by name in his New Testament letters! In Romans 16 alone, there are 26 people listed. Here, in Colossians 4, he mentions 10 individuals. Paul saw his friends as his co-workers in the Gospel ministry. He calls them his fellowworkers, fellow-soldiers, fellow-ministers, etc. The Gospel ministry has always relied on its network of friends, i.e. coworkers. This is one reason God has put us into a church body, so that we may be not only brothers and sisters, but co-workers together for Christ. May 6, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 1
What kind of friends did Paul have and the kind we need and need to be? WHO WERE PAUL S FRIENDS First, we need friends who are faithful and will stick by you throughout difficult times. Proverbs has some wise counsel concerning friends. (Prov 12:26 NKJV) The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray. (Prov 17:17 NKJV) A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. (Prov 18:24 NKJV) A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Let s look briefly at each of Paul s 10 friends. The first friend Paul mentions is Tychicus in Colossians 4:7-8 and Paul is sending him to Colossae with the letter. Tychicus will fill them in on what was going on with Paul, etc. Paul couldn t write everything in the letter. Tychicus is mentioned in Acts 20; Ephesians 6, II Tim 4 and Titus 3 as well as here. He was from Asia and was one of Paul s most trusted co-workers. He was to deliver his letters to the Colossians, as well as one to Philemon, and probably the one to the Ephesian church also. He was Paul s personal FEDEX MAN! Paul then mentions Onesimus in verse 9. We know some things about this guy. Onesimus was A SLAVE, belonging to a wealthy citizen in Colossae named Philemon. We are told in the letter of Philemon that Onesimus defrauded his master and ran away to Rome. There he ran across Paul. Onesimus became a believer in Jesus, and Paul sent him back to Philemon to serve him in Colosse. From a runaway fraud to a useful believer, Onesimus was to Paul trustworthy and faithful brother in the Lord. In verses 10 and 11 Paul mentions three friends whom he calls the only Jews with him: Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus called Justus. Aristarchus is called in Acts 19:29 Paul s TRAVEL companion. He seemed to be around when trouble started. He got dragged through the city of Ephesus by an angry mob. He was there when the people of the city plotted to take Paul s life, and he was there with Paul on ship when Paul was a prisoner going to Rome. When a major storm caused Paul and all those with him to be involved in a May 6, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 2
shipwreck he was there with Paul. And here, Paul refers to him as a fellow prisoner. Certainly Aristarchus proved to be a friend that sticks closer than a brother in times of adversity. Then there is Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. We know Mark from the book of Acts. He began with Paul on his first missionary journey, along with Barnabas. But Mark didn t finish the trip and went back home. On the next missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas split because Paul didn t want to take unreliable Mark along. But Mark redeemed himself and became also a companion of Peter. He wrote one of the four Gospels, and was eventually RECONCILED with Paul. In (2 Tim 4:11 NKJV) Paul tells Timothy to get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. Mark is a great example that one failure doesn t mean a failure forever. Justus, we don t know anything else about Justus. He is not mentioned elsewhere. He is one of those NO-NAME SAINTS who was a comfort to Paul in his time of need and he here sent warm greetings to people he had never met. Most of God s chosen servants down through history will never be named in the history books, but their name is written in heaven! Next comes three Gentile Christians: Epaphras, Luke and Demas. Epaphras was known for his PRAYING for the Colossian church. He wanted them to stand firm in all the will of God. Epaphras knew what the church was facing and his concern was that they would not stray or be deceived, but know and do the will of God. (Col 4:12-13 NKJV) Epaphras, who is one of you, Luke we know from the book of Acts and from the two books of the New Testament that he wrote. He was Paul s personal physician and HISTORIAN of the first 30 years of the church. (Col 4:14 NKJV) Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. Demas is an interesting case. All we know about Demas is from this greeting, and the mention of him in Philemon and in II Timothy. In II Timothy we learn that Demas did not end well. Paul writes: (2 Tim 4:10 NKJV) for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica; Demas STRAYED from his calling and wound up leaving the ministry. Sad, but it happens so often. May 6, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 3
A silly story makes the point: A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck. "Where s Harry?" he was asked. "Harry had a stroke of some kind. He s a couple of miles back up the trail." "You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?" "Well," said the hunter, "I figured no one was going to steal Harry." When we begin to think of ourselves more than others and more that Christ s mission, we too often leave our Christian friends behind. OTHER PERSONS MENTIONED After mentioning his friends with him Paul mentions some others whom he wanted to greet. (Col 4:15-17 NKJV) Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house. {16} Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. {17} And say to Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it." The church in Laodicea was a concern of Paul. Laodicea was about 12 miles from Colosse and no doubt the two churches had fellowship with each other. They seemed to have met in the home of Nymphas. No church buildings were built until in the 300 AD era. All churches were house churches. We don t know if Nymphas was a man or woman. Some versions translate the name as masculine, others as feminine. But the main thing is that the church could not have survived without the hospitality of its members. The same is today. We all can t do what the apostle Paul did for the cause of Christ, but we all can do something. Our reward in heaven will be equal. A point of interest in the Colossian passage is the mention of a letter from Laodicea. Was this a letter written by the Laodiceans to Paul or a letter written by Paul to the Laodiceans? Most believe that it is a letter written by Paul to Laodicea. May 6, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 4
Then the next question is do we have the letter today? Some say no, others say yes. Many believe that the letter from Laodiceans is what we know as the book of Ephesians. The reasons for this are briefly three. The letter to the Ephesians was what is called a cyclical letter. It was a letter written to the churches in the area, not just to the Ephesian church. Our oldest MSS don t have Ephesians, but leave it blank. Also many of the themes and even phrases are the same in Colossians and Ephesians. But most convincing to me is the names at the end of both books are almost the same. Finally Paul exhorts Archippus in verse 17, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it." Comparing this and the mention of Archippus in the book of Philemon it is thought that he was the pastor of the Colossian church. Archippus seems to have wanted to quit. Starting a task is easy enough, but to carry it on to completion is a challenge. Giving up, giving in, throwing up your hands it s so easy to do. When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher, Coach McDaniels made all of us learn the poem: Don t quit When things go wrong, as they sometimes will; When the road you are trudging seems all uphill; When the funds are low, and the debts are high; And you want to smile, but you have to sigh; When care is pressing you down a bit; Rest if you must, but don t you quit! Life is strange with its twist and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns. And many a failure turns about, When he might have won had he just stuck it out; Don t give up though the pace seems slow. You may succeed with just one more blow. Success is failure turned inside out, The silver lining of the clouds of doubt. And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near, when it seemed so far; So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit, It is when things seem worse, That you must not quit!!!! Author unknown May 6, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 5
Paul was encouraging Archippus not to quit, but to fulfill or finish the work God had given him to do. CONCLUSION Paul and his friends. The church cannot thrive or even survive without FRIENDS friends who will work together in the cause of Christ. When each of us depart, either to heaven or some other earthly home. We should be able to look back on our time at Corntassel and remember our friends our friends who were co-workers together for Christ and his church. Will you be a friend to Christ and His cause today, to His church today? God gives us friends. Amen? Amen! May 6, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 6