SPEAKER_00 0:06

Pastor Brian will be preaching out of 2 Timothy 4 verses 9 through 22. And out of reverence for the Word of God, would you please stand with me if you're able? And I will read the scripture passage this morning. It will also be on the screen behind me as well. 2 Timothy 4, verses 9 through 22. Make every effort to come to me soon. For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalamatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. But Tichius I have left, I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpis, and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he is vigorously opposed her teaching. At my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me and the proclamation through me and the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Great Prisca and Aquila and all the household of Anisophorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. Make every effort to come before winter. Eubylus greets you, also Prudens and Linus, and Claudia and all the brethren. The Lord be with your spirit, grace be with you. You may be seated. Brian, would you please come and lead us?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Let us go to the Lord in prayer one more time as we dive in. Father, we are thankful for your provision always. You are always providing everything we need. You even provide friends. Father, we ask you that you would bless us in this time through the ministry of the word, through the power of your spirit, that we would be in love with Jesus all the more. Lead and guide us. We are desperately needy in every way for you. Impact us by the truth of your word, and may the name of Christ be exalted and glorified in this time. We pray all this in Christ's name. Amen. Well, I just want to begin by saying to you something obvious and something hopefully that many of you know, and that is that friendship is one of our greatest pleasures in life. In our Lord's kind and sovereign providence, he gives us the ability and the desire to have friends that surround us, that love us, help us, encourage us, rebuke us, call us to action in Christ, and just care for us overall. Friends are great. Friendship is biblical and it's wonderful, especially when lived out according to the patterns of the scriptures themselves, especially in the context of the church. Well, today, in our last weapon, and as you can imagine, it is friendship. It's the last weapon. As we close out 2 Timothy, we're going to see that it will be vital to always have friends who are in the faith near us if we're ever going to survive the battle. And again, remember the Christian life is a battle, the battle of following Christ in a fallen world. And so, what I want to do real quick is just for a moment recap what we've seen thus far in 2 Timothy as we reflect upon, as we've done, the weapons of the Christian soldier. Remember, we're soldiers for Christ. And so we want to reflect throughout this book on the weapons that God has given us. They're unique, they're not just like the weapons of the world that always seek to kill and destroy outside of maybe a shield. But these weapons are a blessing. We've seen so far that we're going to be needing the bellows. You remember that from the beginning? The bellows to fan that spark, that flame of faith. Our arsenal will need to house the weapons of courage, of right doctrine, of strength, honor, diligence, purity, separation, separation from the world and unto Christ. We're going to need to rely on the sword of the word of God alone. We'll need to be in love with the proclamation of the word. And as we saw last week, we will need to be devoted to our duty as soldiers for our king and our general. And so for today, again, what we find is that we also need in this arsenal, we need gospel camaraderie in the work. We need Christ-centered friendships so that we can endure this what you could call beautiful path of faith that our Lord has placed us on. And guys, that goes for us too. Sometimes guys are not great at building friendships, especially in later years. And so as we dive into this passage, I want us to begin by focusing in on and first understanding one thing. And that is we've got to start, I think, where Paul starts, and that is bad friends. You ever had those? Bad friends. And so we need to understand what bad friendship is according to this text, according to the scriptures, and then we can finally start and begin to understand what a good friend is, therefore. We need to know how to spot those that may seem like a friend, but come to find out they're not only bad friends, they're really bad for your heart and for your soul. So let's look at that first point. You probably have the insert in your bulletin that shows you the points for today. Look at verse 10 with me. There we see a man named Demas. Now, Demas is interesting because he's a man that Paul also names in the book of Colossians. In chapter 4 and verse 14 in Colossians, we see that he's specifically mentioned actually among the faithful, including Luke. Kind of similar in Philemon 24. He is also listed with men like Luke and Mark as being faithful companions and co-labers in the gospel work. But here's the thing: there's about an estimated, scholars believe, an estimated five-year gap between the writing of, say, Colossians and the writing of 2 Timothy, which is widely believed to be Paul's last letter. And so somewhere in there, somewhere in the middle of that, we see this man Demas abandon Paul in the ministry of the gospel. Maybe it's from shame and fear, maybe from persecution, maybe those trials help to set things in motion. But I think what Paul's implication, what we conclude, is that this man Demas is now in love with the world. And he's in love with the world and the things of it more than he is of Christ and his gospel. And so this guy went from being a coworker, really, in the gospel ministry, to just being a man who's sold out for worldly living on the other end. He abandons Paul and he heads back home to Thessalonica and he falls back in love with the pleasures and relative and temporary security of the world. He is with Paul during his first imprisonment, but I like to say when things got real and Paul was nearing his execution or further persecution, Demas goes back to the world. Now, maybe as we read this, we can ask ourselves this question: what was he saved to begin with? We're not told, but I would like to think we probably was that rocky soil that shoots up quickly and then is scorched by the sun and the heat. We've all seen that in the church, right? If you've been in the church for any length of time, you will encounter that individual. It's one of the pieces that Jesus gives us in the good soils. Soil. This is the one who comes and really seems to be excited about the ministry of the gospel. And they they say the right things, they join the groups, but when things get hard in their personal life, in the life of the church, maybe, or in the church in light of the world, as with Demas, they're out. No thanks. It shows their true colors, we say. And it shows they like the idea of being saved, but they would not risk everything for it. For the man or woman who is standing strong for Christ, that is not a good friend to have around. It's in fact that's somebody who's dangerous to spend time with. I mean, when the heat of the world or persecution or whatever that is comes, they flee from Christ and they flee to somebody else, to something else. Instead of fleeing to the sight of Christ and to his people, they flee to the world or pleasures or comfort. They desert the work of Christ and God's people, and they go back to loving the world that I would say was never really actually purged from them to begin with. Now to clarify, I'm not talking about the person who sins by rebelling against Christ or his people, and then in the Lord's timing comes to repentance. That's not who we're talking about here. No, instead, we're talking about the person who rebels against Christ, abandons God's people, and then clings to the world, and they will eventually become the people who actually speak out against Christ and his church. That's the progression. And maybe many of you have seen that. So here's a solemn truth to ponder when thinking about people like this, maybe like Demas, who abandoned God's people when tough times come, which is desertion from the Lord, and that's this. When they do this, when they abandon the Lord and his people and his work, they are in fact proving their incompatibility with the gospel. Incompatible. What does Jesus say? Jesus says, if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. The love of the world is a life of enmity against the gospel in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, what I want to do, the reason I bring that out like that, is that I want to let that sad truth sting our consciences. Let it sting our consciences to greater faithfulness to Christ and his bride in our own lives. And let it be a warning to us when we consider who we call friends. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5, we're not even to eat with somebody who claims Christ, but is living in unrepentant sin. That's Paul's words. Now we are, again, I'm going to say that we are to make acquaintances with those of the world so that we can show them Christ, to love them, to come alongside of them, but to always have that ulterior motive with a hope and a desire to call them unto repentance one day as the Lord opens the opportunity. That includes our families. We are to have those kinds of acquaintances as well, but not to continue in friendship with the one who turns their back on Christ by refusing to repent of sin. Sin like loving the world above Christ and his people. And so don't allow yourself to be tainted by bad friends, is the point. They will rub off. It's how it works. They will infect your worship and your heart. Surround yourself with those who worship Christ and Christ alone, no matter what the world comes at you with. Whether it's a desire or a persecution. Another example of a bad friend who I say will sap your energy and your commitment to Christ if you stick with him is a man we see in verses 14 and 15, a man named Alexander. Alexander the coppersmith. Now, we're not sure whether or not this is the person mentioned in 1 Timothy 1 with the same name, where Paul says that he has handed a man named Alexander along with his friend Hymeneas over to Satan for what they've done. I tend to think it could be, given what Paul describes as his occupation here. Because when somebody is a coppersmith in that day and age, most likely he would have dabbled in making idols. He would have been making idols for people, which of course would have been blasphemous. And so maybe this man went back to his former profession in the world, kind of like the desertion of Demas. And now he's actually, the text tells us he's opposing Paul. Paul says in 14 and 15 that he was harmful to Paul in the ministry. And then Paul gives us this horrid reason as to why he's so harmful. Look at verse 15 again. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. So what we can draw from that is he's preaching a different text, he's preaching a different gospel, something false. That's why I think it kind of probably is the same man. I think it implied that his eyes have been opened to the true gospel through the ministry of Paul, and he seems to have even followed for a while, but then he begins to go a different direction. And he's preaching something else. Or teaching something else. It's very similar to what Paul says right here in 2 Timothy in chapter 2 and verse 17, where Hymenaeus is once again chastised, this time with Philetus, for teaching a heretical thing that opposes the real gospel. They were teaching that the resurrection isn't real, it's just a thought, just an imagination. And so they're opposing Christ, they're opposing Paul's teaching of the gospel, and that needs to be called out. Either way, whoever this man was and whatever his teaching was, we know it's false, and it's deserving of being accursed, as Galatians chapter 1 teaches us. Where Paul says, there if anyone, even an angel, if an angel were to do this, it doesn't matter if anybody preaches a different gospel than the one that Paul has been proclaiming, they are anathema, accursed, condemned. Obviously, that's not a good friend to have around, right? If you're close to people who teach and live in light of a different gospel, they will eventually infect your heart. If you're friends with people who oppose what you teach or believe, which is the natural result of a different gospel, a different faith, then you're going to be affected. Now again, please hear me. We're not talking about, I don't know, you could say the evolutionist across the street. We're not talking about the secularist that just denies the Lord's existence. We're not speaking of the humanist who's just a good citizen but hates Christ as he worships self. We're talking of the one who claims to be of Christ, yet blasphemes his name by teaching another gospel, especially in the confines of the church. That's who Paul's speaking of. Don't found to be friends with such a person. They will infect you like the plague. Call them to repentance. Plead with them to return to Christ. Plead with them to remember the one and only good news that there is. Pray for them regularly. But don't simply spend your time just speaking to trivialities or man-centered gospels with that individual because they are anti-Christ in this way. So be warned about those who we call friends. Now, before we move to the second part today, I want us to see one of the most beautiful things in this section of our sermon time, and that's this, and I'm not drawing this necessarily from a text, but just of a biblical theme or theology, and that is this, and that is the beauty of the Lord's forgiveness. So maybe you happen to have found yourself in this condemning section of bad friends, believing a different gospel. Or maybe you've abandoned Christ and his people in some other way. I just want you to take heart this morning that salvation is still open to you if you have breath. Walk humbly before God. You're still commanded to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And as with Peter, even if you've forsaken him, there's still time while you're breathing. But that time is right now, not later. You cannot wait one more minute to flee to the side of Christ and his people because you're not guaranteed another minute, and you're not even guaranteed to make it through this sermon, not because it's going to be two hours, but just that's how it is. The time is now to come to Christ and confess your sin. Turn to him now. He's so gracious, my friends. You may be demons right now, like, or have some element of demons in you, loving the world. And you know it. In your heart, you know it. Maybe you're Alexander, you've been influenced by some false teaching, and you like it, but you know it's not right. The Lord is saying to you, His grace is sufficient. Turn from that idolatry into his side once again. This, of course, goes for our family and friends as well. While they have breath, it's never too late. Pray for them, love them. But the one thing that you can do for those loved ones that is more loving, more kind than anything else is to actually stand firm. That's the most loving thing you can do if you want to be a good witness for Christ. That is to stand firm on the true gospel, to be immovable in your scripture-centered convictions, and to be unwilling to yield one inch of ground that the Bible commands us to hold to. Love them by speaking the truth in love and refusing to give ground on doctrinal conviction that shows itself in your worship. Be a good friend who stands firm to the truth. A bad friend will waver and cave to your sin. A good friend won't do that. And so, in light of that, I really want us to look into this next section of good friends. In verse 9, that's the second point, by the way. In verse 9, Paul pleads with his son in the faith and comrade in the gospel, his beloved Timothy, to do everything he can to come to him and to come soon. Later in verse 13, we see Paul asked Timothy for a few things. Hey, Timothy, can you bring me some things? He asks for his cloak. He knows that winter is coming soon. He asks for his books, and he asks for his parchments. Now, these parchments are probably for his ability to write some more. You know, Paul is writing. And the books, I think the books are probably referring to the pieces of the Old Testament that Paul had. That he treasured. Now just imagine that if you would for a moment. You're Paul in a dark and dank dungeon in chains. Death is imminent. You know you need God's people to sustain you because they didn't have three hots and a cot like our prison system now, and movie time and you know, free time outdoors and lifting weights and all that. It wasn't like that. If you didn't have friends, you basically die. He was reliant on God's people to feed and clothe him, so he so he needed some things. But what did he need to really and truly sustain him through this time until he is shortly afterward, as we know, now beheaded. He needed the Bible. Right? If you're Paul and the New Testament is still being written, that means you asked for the Old Testament books you have, those books. And what are you going to be looking for? Where in the Old Testament are you going to go to find hope if you're Paul in this moment? Now, if I'm Paul, knowing my sinful frailties, I'm probably just going to go straight to Job. Because I just need to feel better. I need to feel better about my current circumstances. Okay, I'm here and this is horrible, but I'm not Job. But I think mainly we just go to the Psalms, right? The Psalms of everything we need to endure any suffering in this life. Paul needs these things, and so he's Timothy, he's asking Timothy to bring him to him. Now, why is this recorded here? For one, to show us, I would say, the rawness of life in the early church. But also to give us an example of great friendship. And so we see Paul's saying that Tichicus is sent to take over for Timothy in Ephesus so that he can go and be with Paul. And what's Timothy called to bring him everything Paul needs? And this gives us a description of a good friend. Because a true and good friend will bring you what you need to stay warm and healthy, right? Right? I mean, we have meal trains and we have, you know, if somebody in our church doesn't have a coat, what are we going to do as a church, right? They'll bring you that which you enjoy even, the parchments. But a real and true loving good friend is going to bring what to you as you're in need? The word of God. I may be extrapolating just a bit here. But if we think of what Timothy is bringing as requested, what's he bringing? The books, which we think is the word of God, what does that remind us of? When a friend is in need in the church, what is the greatest blessing we can give him? Come on. The word of God. We can encourage each other with the truth of who God is. You can go to that other friend and you can say, God is sovereign over your trial. Take heart. He's in control over your sickness, my brother. How do I know that? Because I have God's word that tells me so. He promises to bring you safely home, my sister. He is good to those who cling to his name. He will be glorified in your trial, my friend. You seem to be in sorrowful agony, my brother. Here, let me read to you part of Lamentations chapter 3. Lord's loving kindness is indeed never cease. For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Oh, what encouragement to bring to somebody in suffering. Things are really tough for you right now, my sister. I can see you're struggling with your faith. Thank you for letting me be here with you. Let me read to you Psalm 62, 5 to 8. Hear the word, my soul. Wait in silence for God only, for my hope is in him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I shall not be shaken. On God, my salvation and my glory rest the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Brother. I'm your friend. But you seem to be walking in an unhealthy path of sin. I love you too much to not call you to action and encourage you to read Psalm 51 with me and then put your name into the word. That's friendship. That's loving camaraderie. A good friend is ready with the word of God to speak to any issue of life with you. Timothy was called to supply Paul's needs as he came to him in Rome. And we as friends in the church are to do the same, whether that's a winter coat, a tool for the job, to pray together, and especially to bring the word in any season, in any circumstance. That's what a loving friend does. A good friend will bring you what you need to be sustained, even if it's challenging. We see here also in verse 11 that we see this other good friend. Maybe you've heard of him. His name's Luke. What a good friend. Brothers and sisters, a good friend sticks with you through thick and thin. That's biblical. You've probably heard that, you've probably thought that, said that, lived that, felt that. That's from the Bible. For Luke and Paul, it meant that Luke would risk his own life to be able to minister to Paul when Paul is in prison for the faith. Knowing that Luke is also a follower in Christ, this could have meant trouble for him as well. But he's a good gospel-centered friend, isn't he? Now, while it's always good to be friends with a physician, that's not why Paul speaks so fondly of Luke here. He is grateful for Luke because he has remained as a steadfast friend when many others have forsaken him. Have you ever been there before? Some of you have. Many times, for example, when people win the lottery, what happens at first? Your family that you haven't spoken to in a while, once again really loves you. Your long-lost friends and acquaintances suddenly appear, and actually you begin to have new friends. But when you're down in the dumps and without money and status because you gambled and you blew it all? That's just the that's what happens, I think. It's only the real friends that are still around. Now, couple with that that kind of thought, couple that with being in prison for the faith and on death row. If you're Luke, there's a good chance you're gonna get caught up in it as well, and you could be in prison and even executed for your faith in Christ, and yet he goes nowhere. That's a real friend. I'm in it with you, my brother, my sister. I'm not going anywhere. They're gonna have to get through me to get to you, right? Why is it that the husband who cherishes his wife speaks this way? Because if they're following the scriptural commands, then she's his best friend. I'm not gonna abandon my best friend. A good friend comes alongside of you and cares for you and comforts you with the word and the promises of the Lord, even if death is knocking, as it was for Paul. Honestly, this is what was absolutely infuriating to me about the hospitals during the COVID pandemic. I'm not going there. Just gotta say this. Husbands couldn't be there with their dying wives. Wives couldn't be there with their dying husbands. Children were separated from their dying parents. Friends were altogether shut out. Never again can that take place. As with Luke here. I'm going to be with you even if it's dangerous and hazardous to my health and my life. Now I'm not saying that can go for any and all situation and every circumstance, but I'll tell you right now, if my bride, my best friend's on death's door, I'm there with her no matter what. If my good friend in the faith is suffering, I'm there. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't? And that's Luke for Paul. What a great friendship they have as brothers in Christ. Still in verse 11, we see Mark is another good friend that's listed. Mark is interesting because he's a friend who wasn't really a friend at first, and it's actually through a trial that he becomes a good friend. Maybe you remember, as you've read through the book of Acts, that you see Paul and Barnabas, and they're heading off on a missionary journey, and Barnabas is like, hey, I want to take this distant relative of mine, John Mark, with us. Okay? Paul agrees, but then the heat of persecution comes along, and Mark's gone. It's like this depiction of three men standing face to face, and this huge enemy is against them. All three of them are saying, they're gonna have to kill me. I'm not going anywhere. Then the enemy finally shows his full strength, and two of the men agree that they're gonna stand firm and they look behind them, right, Mark? Wait, where's Mark? Along the way and over the years, after some initial disagreements with Barnabas, we don't know exactly how, the scriptures don't tell us, but now we see that both Paul and Mark are eventually reconciled. And both here and in Colossians 4, Mark has become a trusted companion of Paul's once again. Good friends can sometimes come through trials, right? Reconciliation and forgiveness are marks of a true friendship, actually. It fosters a greater and more lasting fellowship in Christ as eternal family members. And Mark and Paul were eternally tied together, and that came through a trial that beautifully displayed gospel reconciliation and forgiveness that the world cannot know. There's also so many others listed out here that Paul gives to us as friends of the gospel and therefore friends of Paul. Again, Titicus was willing to go and fill the pulpit and pastor it for Timothy so that Paul could be attended to by him, his young son in the faith. Carpus in verse 13 is commended, I love this, he's commended really for being a faithful host. Nicole, he's commended for emulating what we're all called to be as friends in the church and called to do, and that's hospitality. Same thing kind of listed out in 1 Timothy when speaking of the character actions of the elder in the church. One of the things is he is to be known far and wide for his desire to open his home and host people. In verse 19, Paul begins with a list of faithful friends in the gospel. Remember Prisca or Priscilla with her husband Aquila, who were so instrumental with Apollos, and they just helped to correct his teaching a bit? And they were that couple that just seemed to always be there, helping out where needed, behind the scenes, doing the work quietly, showing their friendship to Paul and just being willing servants in whatever's needed. A household of Onisophorus and Erastus and Trophimus and Eubalus and Putins and Linus and Claudia, they're all good friends. Good friends that are found in the church. Isn't that good to know? Think about it. If we started listing off names, they're going to sound different than these ones. Not saying that. But that your closest and dearest friends do need to be, in the broader context, church, as brothers and sisters in Christ. It's essential and it's wonderful. Okay. So that's how we got bad friends, you've got to watch out for that. And bad friends is kind of a misnomer because they're not really friends at all. But and then you got good friends. Now we need to go to our third point: the most essential piece. While it's great and needed to have friends like this that are listed out in the church, there's one friend that you actually desperately need for all of eternity that you cannot live without. You need the friend of sinners. Third point. And that is, of course, Jesus. Now, I gotta say this, before we dive into see what this looks like here for Paul and his context, I think we need to begin with a correct definition of what it means that Jesus is the friend of sinners. And I do that because of so many different things I've heard. And you've probably heard him as well. And it's what our current evangelical circles tout many times. And so, what is meant when we say Jesus is the friend of sinners, as Luke 7.34 tells us, for example. First, I want to address what it doesn't mean. Okay? Jesus is not your BFF. Okay? He's not your homeboy. He's not your pal. He's not your buddy. Why? He's God. Okay? He created the universe of the word. He strikes down nations and smites his foes without ever questioning the outcome. Jesus is a friend of sinners, yes and amen, but Jesus is not a mere human creation. He's not our peer. He is God. He came and took on flesh. But this is the same one who spoke, and the heavens, the earth came into existence. He breathed, and man came to have the breath of life. Please don't ever be so flippant as to say Jesus is the big guy upstairs. And that you and him are just peas in a pod together. Or that he's your buddy as you walk in the woods or garden together. He is the Almighty God who is worthy of praise. And he demands your unfailing allegiance to his magnificent glory. He is the radiance of heaven. He is the king of the universe. Do you understand who this is? He is the triune God from all of eternity, who is sovereign over every molecule, every atom, every piece of matter or particulate that he created. He is the glorious and all-powerful ruling and reigning lion of the tribe of Judah. Lamb who was slain, risen again. He is the one who could stomp out all of humanity with a word, and he wouldn't even have to lift his heel to strike us. He is God. Let us approach him with that kind of fear and trembling. Not flippantly. Now that being said, yes, we can still say Jesus is the friend of sinners. Like you and I. And he's willing to take on human flesh so that he could live the life that we could not, so that he could die the death that we deserve, and that he could bear the wrath that should come to us. He forgives sins and destroys the evil one who would have been right to accuse us. You're darn right he's a friend of sinners. That's why he was gonna, and he did, dine with tax collectors and sinners. Because they were gonna receive his teachings. And they came to repentance. And they come to believe, and they come to be forgiven. He is the only friend a sinner actually has. Because even if people who are like-minded in their rejection of God all call themselves friends, they're nothing more than each other's enemy eternally. The only real friend a sinner can have is Jesus. Only then can we come to have other real friends. People of the church who come alongside us as we worship together and sharpen one another. But that only comes as the real and only friend comes by the power of the Spirit, and he calls us to his side through repentance and faith. And so Jesus is the friend of sinners, and he is the only friend that you cannot live without. Look at verses 16 and 17 with me again. It's amazing. Think about Paul's situation. You ever been here? Even if everybody goes away, Jesus is that friend that's always there. Paul is lamenting in verse 16 that he's left alone in his first defense of the gospel and ensuing imprisonment. I think this is speaking of the imprisonment in Rome where Luke wasn't there as of yet. But nonetheless, it was the Lord who strengthened Paul as a great friend. Jesus comes alongside of Paul and he gives him precisely what he needed. In that moment, it was a gift of comfort and encouragement. Sometimes that'll be through other people as the Lord sends to aid you, but never forget, the Lord will always, without fail, he will always provide for you exactly what and when is needed. He will always be there. Jesus is the perfect friend. So what's the purpose of the occasion that Paul is speaking of? Verse 17 says it was for the preaching of the gospel. So that the Gentiles would hear the preaching of the gospel. The Lord rescued Paul out of the lion's mouth so that he could continue to preach, not for his overall health and safety, nor for his prosperity, but so that the gospel could continue to advance. Paul stood before kings, he stood before leaders, mobs of people, and he just faithfully proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ. And it was all due to the great friend that he had that was by his side. Paul could never have done this with his own strength. Jesus was there with him in every way. I want you to notice, though, that Jesus doesn't coddle Paul's situation, does he? He doesn't just simply get him out of it. Notice Paul still goes to prison multiple times. And as we read in church history, he is eventually beheaded. Does that make Jesus a bad friend? Does that make Jesus a failure as a friend? If you could help bail your friend out of a difficulty, maybe a financial difficulty, but because it isn't in their best interest that you do, does that make you a bad friend? We would say, of course not. Well, how much so with the king of friends? The one who's actually able to give you eternal friends. Paul was given the strength he needed by the most faithful friend there can be, and what that produced was faithfulness in the gospel work appointed to him, even if everybody else left. And here's the real beauty behind it all. You may be saying to yourself, you may even want to say to me, To me, Jesus did fail him. Okay? Because he ended up in prison and he's beheaded for his faith. What kind of friend is that? If he could do something about it. I mean, come on. This is the great and faithful apostle Paul. How could the Lord let that happen if he truly is his friend? I would say the answer is found in what verse 18 teaches us. Look at 18. Paul says at the end of 17 that he was once again rescued out of the proverbial lion's mouth when he was set free for a time after his first arrest. But then in 18, he quickly leads our thoughts to the most important aspect of being called one of his chosen children, of being able to be a friend of the one who forgives sins. He promises us that the Lord's sovereign friendship extends into eternity. And that's it. That's what it's all about. Jesus will rescue us as the great friend of his people from all evil deeds. That awesome! Jesus will purge our sin from us as any great friend would do if they ever could. Jesus will make us appear before his Father as spotless and blameless one day by his kind act of mercy and grace. Jesus will purify us as though we are a beautiful lamb without blemish. Think on that for a second. What friend can do that for you? Sure, your friend can help be a part of your sanctification in more ways than one. Sure, they can lovingly hold you accountable to the faith you profess, but Jesus, Jesus is your eternal friend. He alone can and will purge you of the stain of sin as he washes you clean by his blood. Think on that. What a friend. Every evil deed that you have done will be purified by his grace. He will, in fact, rescue you from it. That's the real beauty behind his friendship. And it shows us why it's okay that we suffer for his name here on this earth in this vapor of time. You ever think of your sin that way? As though you need to be rescued from it. At this point, Paul's on death's door and he knows it. The promise in Philippians 1 is becoming more and more evident to Paul. And so he's rejoicing in it. I'm talking about, for I'm confident in this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Paul's feeling that. Paul's being perfected as a saint on this earth, as he walks in obedience, and one day he will soon be made whole and perfect as he is presented by and to his Savior, spotless and pure. You see, the great King of kings and Savior of souls will one day rescue us who are his friends in the faith to his side. He rescues us to his side. One day we shall be on our faces before this king as we're called his friends. Again, not on the same level as peers. But as friends who have been bought with the blood of the Lamb and King of heaven. We may think that he's abandoned us because of what we're currently dealing with. But the great friend of sinners is always there. He's always rescuing you, and one day that will be fully realized when we are brought, as Paul says in verse 18, safely into heaven. Safely home. Death is not our enemy any longer if we're in Christ. Do you know that? Our unbelief is the only enemy we have now. But by God's perfect mercy, we will endure in the faith as the Lord stands by us until he sees fit to call us safely home into his presence. One day, dear Christian, you and I will be there. You're not going to merely skid in on the wings of that one faithful saint that you know. You're not going to be accidentally placed in the presence of Christ Christ and be like, how did you? That's not how it works. You will not be cleaning latrines there because you weren't that faithful here. If you are in Christ, please hear this. If you are in Christ, meaning you're a Christian, then you will be brought safely and fully to your home. What this means is that each and every one of his saints will be brought to rest and reside and even be placed into his Jesus' everlasting and loving arms. You may suffer on this earth. But as the Lord stood for Stephen and his stoning, as the Lord is with Paul and his trial here, so the Lord will be with you and yours. And you will be brought guardedly, carefully, tenderly, and gently home. Try to think outside of the box, probably literally, that we call homes now. With two by fours and plywood and siding and roofs. Think outside. That's not your home. That's a temporary dwelling that's crumbling. No matter how new it is. And so even if you suffer unto death for the gospel here, you will be taken from here to be before him instantly on that day. And it'll be the safest place you've ever been. Every friend you have on this earth, even the ones in the church, are prone to fail you, but Jesus cannot and will not fail you. He is the flawless, perfect, reliable, constant, devoted, faithful, loyal, steady, solid, and proven friend. And if he says he's going to bring you home, then that's exactly what he's going to do. You can take that to the bank. It doesn't matter what's going on in your life right now. It doesn't matter if maybe you feel like everybody's abandoned you. Jesus will not because he cannot, because he's God. He says he's a friend of sinners. Then he cannot deny himself when he calls you his friend through his grace. The earth may fall from its axis. The gas prices may soar. The stars will fall away, the moon will fall into the sea, the universe will cease to exist before Jesus fails to bring even one of his saints, his friends, safely home to be with him. Cling to that in the traps. When bad friends abandon you and good friends are with you. Cling to the safety that Jesus, the great friend, provides in eternal abundance. He's taking you home. And what home is this? How is the thought of home apart from this current place even comforting to us? I'm going to ask you to turn to a passage of scripture with me and I'm going to read it. Turn to Revelation chapter 21. I want you to listen as I read this. Follow along if you want. Close your eyes if you want. Read of this home that you and I had. Good friends, bad friends. Jesus is our friend, and here's why. This is the word of God. Revelation 21, verse 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will no longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And he said, Write, for these words are faithful and true. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving, abominable, murderers, and immoral persons, and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, Come here, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear jasper. It had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and the names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. These were the there were three gates on the east, and three gates on the north, and three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its width. And he measured the city with the rod fifteen hundred miles. Its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was Jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was Jasper, the second, Sapphire, the third, Chalcedoni, the fourth, emerald, the fifth, Sardonyx, the sixth Sardius, the seventh Chrysalite, the eighth barrel, the ninth Topaz, the tenth, Chrysopraised, the eleventh Jasinth, and the twelfth Amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it in the daytime, for there will be no night there, its gates will never be closed, and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street on either side of the river was a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his bondservants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and there will no longer be any night, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever. That is what your true and eternal friend has in store for you. As you go safely home one day, my brothers and sisters, marvel at who he is. Be stunned at the level of friendship he has for us today. As I close here today, I am the same way that Paul intended to end this letter. In the presence of the old, the young, the male, the female, the servant, the children, the free, doesn't matter. All in the church, verse 22, he says, Grace be with you. From grace to you, in the opening of this letter in chapter 1 and verse 2, as Paul often writes, to grace be with you, that the word of God is now in your hands. Grace to you as you read this publicly in the gatherings of the saints, to grace be with you now that you have it for your edification. And so we conclude this book by saying, Grace be with us, my fellow soldiers. Take up your arms. Use your spiritual weapons that God has given you to fight the battle and run the race. Why? Because, as the book of Revelation says, if you overcome by his strength, the friend of sinners will one day take you safely home to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.