With a Little Help from My Friends

Colossians 4:7-18

Colossians chapter 4 verses 7 through 18, and this is the part of the epistle to the Colossians that nobody bothers to read. They read, basically, through verse 6 and then it's all sort of personal data thrown in at the end and it's easy to assume that this is the dull part of the book. That this is just the ending and a few little amenities that don't really have anything to do with us because we haven't got the faintest idea who that 'first guy is and we're not too sure it even matters. But it does matter.

What you have here at the close of Colossians is a group photograph, frankly. Paul signs his letter and it includes a group photograph. He has grouped together in one portrait at the end of this epistle, all of the people who helped him in his ministry while he was a prisoner in Rome.

And so we've called this section "With a little help from my friends." Because it expresses the very deep‑down satisfaction in the life of the Apostle Paul that he is able to accomplish his ministry only because of the faithfulness of many dear friends who have stuck by him and who have been helpful to him in his ministry. And in order to use them as an encouragement to the Colossians and to all the churches that would read this letter, including Grace Community, he tells us a little bit about them. And it adds a very warm, personal touch to what is a very doctrinal letter. It also indicates to me something of the magnetism of his personality and the deep rich love of which he was capable because of the fact that he had so many of these people with him for so many years and they had such a deep loyalty for the man.

So to Paul these are indispensable folks. These are the folks who have been making his ministry possible. He couldn't do it by himself, nobody ever can. Not even the finest ... not even the Apostle Paul could do it alone, he had to have help from his friends. And they supported him. But it's always been that way.

Look with me for a moment at some of the greatest in the history of God's working. In Exodus chapter 17 and verse 8 we find Moses and it says in verse 8; "Came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out men and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses said to him, fought with Amalek and Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed; when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy and they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on the one side, the other on the other side and his hands were steady till the going down of the sun. And Joshua vanquished Amalek and his people with the edge of his sword."

Here you have the holding up of Moses' hands; with a little help from his friends Israel was able to win a great victory under his leadership.

Numbers chapter 11 indicates to us another similar incident. In Numbers 11 verse 14 Moses says to God; "I am not able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me." I can't handle the responsibility of leadership, God, it's too much. "If Thou deal with us thus, kill me I pray Thee out of hand, if I have found favor in Thy sight let me not see my wretchedness." God, You have to do something or I'm going to die. "The Lord said to Moses gather unto Ale seventy men of the elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over them and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation that they may stand there with thee.'! And so again, with a little help from his friends God's leader was able to accomplish what he never ever could have accomplished by himself.

In Proverbs there are many, many statements about how important it is for a man to have companions. One significant one is Proverbs 27:17 which says; "Iron sharpens iron and so does a man sharpen the countenance of his friend." Men help men. They increase their effectiveness and as the case is indicated in Proverbs they increase even their satisfaction as it shows up on their countenance.

These kinds of thoughts are traced throughout all the Old and New Testament and you're familiar with them. But let me draw you to one other one, Jack mentioned this to us in our study on Wednesday night and it's a very appropriate text. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 9, it says this; "Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor." In other words, two can work harder and earn more than one. "If they fall the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falls for he has not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone." And, of course, in those days you got heated because of somebody's body lying next to you. Even when David was old and infirmed and was just a decrepit old man they had to find a young virgin to crawl in bed to keep him warm so he didn't die, just to make sure nobody thought there was anything going on it says ‑ "And David knew her not." All he wanted at that point in life was a heater, frankly.

So Ecclesiastes 4:9...Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10 and 11 tell us two are better than one. If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him. And threefold chord is not quickly broken.

Now when you get into the New Testament you find this principle of two better than one, and three better than two illustrated in the life of the early church. For example, if you were to read in the 13th chapter of Acts about the first church outside the city of Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, you would find that they had five leaders. Five; Barnabas, Simeon, Niger, Lucius, Manaen and even Saul was brought into the situation. They ministered for the Lord. And when the Lord called out Saul to be a missionary, he didn't call him alone, he said; "Separate me Barnabas and Saul," and from the very beginning of Saul's ministry, at that point, he never spent any other part of his ministry alone. He always had companions. In fact, the only time you'll ever see him alone in the entire book of Acts is a brief period of time in Athens while he was waiting for his friends to arrive.

So the Apostle Paul has always been the kind of person who needed help from his friends. As great as he was he could never do it alone. And it's still true. We can't do it alone. We have to have each other. And that's the message of this text to us tonight.

Paul, as we look at Colossians 4, is a prisoner in the city of Rome. It is the first of two imprisonments. The second one will issue in his death. During this imprisonment he has some friends with him. And he gives us a portrait of each one of them in a composite photograph. These are the friends who helped. Sometime during this two year imprisonment he wrote the letter to the Colossians, around 60 AD or so. And during that time these are the people who were very special people in his life. They are heroes of a sort because there was a price to pay to be associated with a prisoner. There was a certain social association that maybe didn't put you in the classiest group when you were attendant upon a prisoner. There was a certain element of looking down the nose of somebody like that and there was always the possibility that you could find yourself in the same fate as that prisoner, should the tide turn against him. So they were kind of heroes. They paid a price to associate themselves with Paul who was a prisoner in Rome. But they counted the cost, they made the commitment, they hung in there and Paul tells us about them in this tremendous passage.

Let's meet them. The first one is a man name Tychicus, ch is pronounced like a k, Tychicus. I call him the man with a servant's heart. And each one of them has something unique about them and we'll just go through and look at them. It isn't really going to be like a sermon, too much, more like just a character study or two. Tychicus, the man with a servant's heart, verse 7 ‑‑ let's meet him. "All my state," or "All my condition," the situation I'm in at the present, "Shall Tychicus declare unto you who is a beloved brother and a faithful servant and a fellow slave in the Lord whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that he might know your state and comfort your hearts." The name Tychicus means fortuitous or fortunate. And indeed he was fortunate. We don't know much about him. There isn't much said in the Bible, he's mentioned five times and every time it's very, very brief. But we know one thing; he lived up to his name because he was a fortunate man to be able to spend as much time, in fact, as many years as he did in the ministry with the Apostle Paul.

The first time we meet him is in the 20th chapter of Acts and the fourth verse. And in that chapter the Apostle Paul is at Ephesus. You don't need to turn to it, we'll just talk about it a minute. The Apostle Paul is at Ephesus. He's kind of winding down his third missionary journey. And he has a plan. His plan is to go to Macedonia. And over in Macedonia he wants to collect some money, you remember that? And he has in mind collecting from the Thessalonian church, the Philippian church and the Corinthian church which were the major churches of the area of Macedonia. He has the idea of collecting from those congregations money as a love gift to the saints in Jerusalem. He is going to return to Jerusalem because he wants to get there to conciliate with them the Gentile church. He realizes the Jews have one thing going, even the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians have their own thing going and he's fearful that they'll never be that unity that he really was really supposed to preach. After all he was the Apostle of the mystery of the unity of the Jew and the Gentile. So his great burden was to collect some money from the saints in the Gentile lands and to take that money to Jerusalem and give it to the saints there as a show of love from the Gentile to the Jew in hopes that it would kind of unite them together.

And not only did he want to take money, but he had in mind taking certain Gentile Christians. Some from each of those congregations. And if you were to read the 20th chapter of Acts and the fourth verse you would simply be reading the names of the people who accompanied him back to Jerusalem. The names of the Gentiles from the churches in Galatia, from the churches in Asia Minor and from the churches in Macedonia, there were certain Gentiles who went along with him on the journey to confirm their love to the Jerusalem Christians. One of those was Tychicus. And so he appears, first of all, as he joins the Apostle to go to Jerusalem.

Now this gives something of the indication of his spirit. He is a man with a servant's heart. He realizes this is a long journey. He's leaving his home, his job, his friends, the fellow­ship of his church; he's going on a definite adventure. One step out of town with Paul was an adventure. One step into town was equally an adventure. Now he knew that this was going to be an adventure. He didn't know how long it was going to take. A journey in those days wasn't hopping on a jet, landing, turning around and hopping back. It was very arduous, very difficult and very long range. And yet he was willing to do it. And all along the way, you remember in the book of Acts as Paul goes, at every city somebody warns him what's going to happen when he gets to Jerusalem. And yet nobody, at least not recorded in the book of Acts, nobody bailed out. They stuck with him. So that when you get to Jerusalem it's obvious that Tychicus is still there. And already we begin to see his servant's heart. A lot of people gave money but a few people gave themselves, he was one of those.

And so now when we see him as Paul writes Colossians, he's still with Paul. He's still around. He's stuck by him for a long time now. He went to Jerusalem with him. It may be that he returned with him. He for sure is with him now in the imprisonment in Rome. And what is even more exciting is that later on Paul has another imprisonment, a second imprisonment in which his life was finally taken. And at the end of Titus, chapter 3 verse 12, he says; "When I shall send Artemas unto thee or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me to Nicopolis for I have determined to spend the winter there." In the second imprisonment of Paul, Tychicus is still there. Here's a loyal man. And you know what? He says ‑ I'm going to send him, Titus, to take your place, either he or Artemas. We don't know which one he sent but it may well have been Tychicus.

Now what Paul wanted was ‑‑ Paul loved Titus. Titus was the pastor of the congregations in the island of Crete. And Paul wanted Titus to come and spend the winter with him. Paul knew it wasn't only the winter of the year but it was the winter of his life. And Paul wanted the fellowship and the love of Titus. And so he said to Titus ‑ Look, if you'll come and meet me in Nicopolis and spend the winter with me, I will send this man Artemas ‑or this man Tychicus, to take care of your church.

Now it's kind of an interesting thing. Here is a man who started out as a messenger and wound up substituting for a very great man, the man by the name of Titus. The man with a servant's heart made himself available and God used him in ways, I'm sure, he never dreamed possible.

Now later on, I want you to notice something, Paul wrote the last letter that we believe he wrote II Timothy chapter 4 verse 12. And he says this, writing to Timothy; "And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloak that I left at Troas." I'm glad he has that same problem that all of us have. He left his coat somewhere. "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpos, when you come would you please bring it and my books and especially the parchments?" Good to know he's human, isn't it? He left almost everything there. So he says ‑ When you come will you bring all that stuff I left over there? Now you see what he's saying here is Timothy, I want you to come and be with me. I need you.

And in order that you can come and be with me I know you'll have to leave your congregation in Ephesus so I'm going to send somebody to take your place. And who is it? Tychicus again. He's making a career out of being an interim pastor. And he's filling in for some pretty ... pretty high class men; Titus and Timothy. He would reflect to both of those congre­gations the character of Paul, the life of Paul, the ministry of Paul. And they would love him because he would bring Paul to them.

     Now that's the kind of man he was. He was a messenger. He was a pastor. In fact, he was anything Paul wanted him to be. We never find any bit of argument. We never find any bit of anxiety. We only find Tychicus doing what Paul told him to do.

Now let's back track a little bit and find him in Rome, in Colossians chapter 4. This is during the first imprisonment. We aren't as far as the Titus event or the Timothy event. That's yet in his future. And by the time Colossians is written, four years have passed since Tychicus joined Paul in the trip to Jerusalem. He's proven his loyalty. He's still available. He's still open to Paul. And this is a great thing, folks. You know, it isn't everybody who can keep somebody for four years. You know that. It isn't every great man who can keep people for four years, five years, six years, ten years like Paul did. But this is a faithful servant. He loves Paul. He's loyal. He'll be a messenger. He'll be a pastor. He'll be anything. And Paul here has in mind sending him with the letter to the Colossians. He isn't going to pastor; he's just going to be a delivery boy.

You say ‑ Well, that's not too tough. Listen, if you knew what the trip was like from Rome to Laodicea and Colossae you might not say that. It's a long trip. A perilous trip. He had to cross Italy on foot. And then he had to sail the Adriatic. And then he had to cross Greece. And then he had to sail the Aegean. Then he had to walk, after he had landed at Miletus, up the steep Lycas River Valley to Laodicea and Colossae, and it wasn't easy. It was a very difficult journey. But Paul says ‑ He's going to come and he's going to bring the letter. And you know something? He didn't just have the letter of Colossians, he had another letter too. You say ‑ Well, what other letter did he have? Well, I believe, if you look at Ephesians 6:21 it says; "But that you also may know my affairs and how I do, Tychicus a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord shall make known to you all things whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that you might know our affairs and that he might comfort your heart." You see, that's almost an exact quote out of Colossians. So, now we know he's... he doesn't have one letter, he's got two letters tucked somewhere in his robe is Colossians and Ephesians. And incidentally, the book of Ephesians, it was not just written to the Ephesians. In fact, we find many manuscripts and in the beginning of Ephesians there is a blank where it says; "Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints who are at ... blank." You know why? This was a general letter to all the churches. It's just that one of the manuscripts we found happened to have Ephesus written in it. In the whole book of Ephesians there's not one allusion to a person in Ephesus. There's not one statement relative to the city of Ephesus. There's not one statement relative to an incident in Ephesus. It's a general letter. And we find that there could be any name stuck in. Maybe he was taking it to Colossae and Laodicea and Hierapolis and then to Ephesus and who knows where. But those are the two letters he had.

And just incidentally, that isn't all he had ‑ he had another letter, Philemon. He had the letter to Philemon. And‑‑look at verse 9 of Colossians 4. "And along with Tychicus I'm sending Onesimus." See? And Onesimus was the slave that was returning about whom the book of Philemon is written. And we'll see more about him in a minute.

So off goes Tychicus and he doesn't have too big a job, just deliver Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians. You say ‑ Do you think Paul trusted him? I think Paul trusted him. That's a big assignment. For him it was a joyous mission.

     And he says ‑ When he gets there, he's not just a delivery boy, verse 7; "All my state shall he declare you." He's going to tell you all about      me, and ease any anxiety. Verse 8 says; "I have sent him to you for that purpose that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts." He's going to tell you about me. He's going to find out about you. And he's going to add a personal word of comfort to this letter. He's an encourager.

Now here's a man who did whatever Paul told him to do. He saw himself as a servant. You know something? We don't find that he had any credentials. We don't find that he had any doctor's degrees. That he had any seminary. He had no particular heritage. He had no great sermons that he preached. We don't know anything he ever said. I'm sure he wasn't mute, but we don't have a word that he ever said. He didn't have any particular unique talent like Luke did or ability. But he was the personal envoy of the Apostle Paul. And Paul has three things to say about him. Let's see them very quickly.

Number one, verse 7, "Who is a beloved brother." I'll tell you if I could have the Apostle Paul say that about me I'd be a happy man, wouldn't you? If I could labor with Paul for four years and say ‑ This man is a beloved brother ‑ that would be the essence of commendation. He was a brother, one of the family. He was beloved. He had earned that designation. And I suppose it's the fulfillment of a man's life to know he's loved and how much fulfillment there must have been in knowing that he was loved by the most beloved of all human beings at that time, the beloved Apostle himself.

Second thing he says, and this gets us into the thought that he is a servant's heart, he is a faithful minister, verse 7, and the word is diakonos, or servant. He is a faithful servant. He never attained prominence, he just served. He was an invaluable liaison between Paul and the churches. And he was faithful. He stuck with it. He was one of those I Cor. 4 kind of stewards that was found faithful. He just did it, whatever it was. And you know something? There's no other way to get the work done, and Paul knew it. You've got to have people who have a servant's heart.

And further, look what it says, he not only was a faithful servant of Paul but he was a fellow slave in the Lord. The first phrase has to do with Paul. He is a faithful servant of mine and a fellow slave in the Lord. And Paul uses two different words. The first one is diakonos which just means servant. The second is sundoulos which means bond slave. He is not a bond slave to Paul, don't confuse it. He's a bond slave to Jesus; he's just a willing servant to Paul. The New Testament words are important.

So here we meet one of Paul's friends. An indispensable man. I'm glad for Tychicus, aren't you? I'm glad he was loyal. I'm glad he was faithful. Somebody stopped me in the patio this week and said ‑ John, I want to tell you something. I've been listening to the studies on Ephesians and I want to tell you my life has been transformed. You know what I thought? Tychicus, wherever you are, thank you. He made it possible. It takes people like that. Got to have them, Tychicus ‑ a man with a servant's heart.

Let's meet another man‑‑looking back at our group photograph, the second man in line, second from the left ‑‑ Onesimus, the man with a sinful past.

We met the man with the servant's heart. Now let's meet the man with the sinful past. It's great, people, to know you can have a sinful past and still be useful. Isn't that great? This ties us to Philemon because Philemon is the book about Onesimus.

Now let me give you a little picture here. Colossians was written to the church at Colossae. Philemon was written to one family in that church. The family of a man named Philemon.

Now Philemon was one of the pillars of the Colossian church. He loved the Lord. His family was very involved. It's most likely if you were to look at Philemon and read it, it's most likely that the church met in Philemon's house. It says in verse 2 of Philemon; "The church in your house." Now Philemon was a convert of the Apostle Paul. Verse 19 of Philemon he says that a ... "You owe to me your own self." So he was a convert of Paul and he's a very wealthy man. He owns some slaves. One of the slaves Philemon owned was a man named Onesimus, this man. But Onesimus didn't like living in Philemon's house and he didn't like being a slave so he ran away. And you know what a slave was to do when he ran away if he was caught? He was to give his life. He was executed. Runaway slaves were executed.

But this one was willing to make the gamble and he ran away and he ran all the way to Rome. And you know what happened? Amazing thing... he ran right into the Apostle Paul. And you know something? Just as the Apostle Paul had led Philemon to Christ, the Apostle Paul led Philemon's runaway slave to Christ. Isn't that amazing when you think there were two million people in Rome? Not so amazing when you see what God had in mind.

And so Philemon also owed Paul his life. Now Paul writes a letter, the letter of Philemon. And sends Onesimus back and the letter says‑‑Say, Philemon, I know he ran away but don't kill him, he may have gone away a slave, he's coming back a brother and he's willing to serve you as a slave and a brother in Christ. So open your arms of love and take him, will you? And so here's Tychicus with Philemon, the letter in his pocket, and Onesimus the slave walking beside him. Paul writes the letter to establish in Philemon's heart acceptance for a returning slave whose now a brother. Think of it. When he left Colossae he must have been shrinking from his master with stolen property in his clothes and that vice burning in his heart, sensualities, the carnality that was driving him to the excitement of Rome and he gets there and he meets Paul and when he comes back all he desires is holiness, all he desires is to be a servant to his master that he left. All he wants is the light of the knowledge of the pure God in his soul. And so the two go off with the message.

And what does Paul say about Onesimus? Look at it. "Onesimus, a runaway slave." No. "A faithful, beloved brother who is one of you." You want to hear something great? Christ makes sure a man with a past has a past that's passed. He says to the Corinthians; "And such were," what? "Some of you." He says to the Ephesians, "And you were once dead in trespasses and sins but Christ has made you alive." Man, I'm telling you it's exciting to know that in Christ people with a past have a past that's passed.

And in Galatians 3:28 Paul said; "There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, you're one in Christ." He's a brother now, Philemon. Take him in. You see, Christianity ultimately destroys slavery because it breaks the caste system and makes everybody brothers. That's one reason in America they stopped educating the slaves was because when the slaves got educated they started to read and when they read they read the Bible and when they read the Bible they got converted and when they started getting converted they could see the end of the slave trade so they stopped teaching them to read.

He calls him a brother then notice he calls him beloved, he calls him faithful. And in the letter to Philemon he says; "Onesimus is," and I love this, "is my very heart." "Onesimus is my very heart." I love this man, this once slave now brother. You know I think one reason why Paul loved this man was because he was just another illustration of the principle that moved Paul. "If any man be in Christ he is," what? "A new creature. Old things are passed away behold all things are become new." I just think having Onesimus around was just another great testimony to what God's transforming power can do in a life. And Paul loved to see the past in the past.

So Paul saw a man with a past and he saw Christ make him a man with a past that was a past. I'm so glad God can use people with a past. Aren't you? You know something? Paul was a man with a past. A sinful past, wasn't he? I'm sure he identified with Onesimus. You want to hear something kind of interesting? We have found a letter written by Ignatius, one of the early church fathers ... a few years after the New Testament era. And in that letter Ignatius, who is a pastor of the Smyrna church writes these words:

"Since then in the name of God I received your entire congregation," he's writing to the Colossians, "Since then in the name of God I received your entire congregation in the person of Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love and your pastor, I beseech you in Christ Jesus to love him and all who are like him."

The statement of Ignatius may mean that Onesimus actually became the pastor of the Colossian church. It's a great ending to a story, isn't it? It tells us whether Philemon took him back or not. He became his pastor. Ha‑ha‑‑terrific. From runaway slave to pastor and only Christianity is going to do that.

So what do we find? We take a look at the picture; we see a man with a servant's heart and a man with a sinful past. Let's look at the third man, Aristarchus, verse 10. Aristarchus is the man with a sympathetic heart, the man with a sympathetic heart. You know what you need if you're a leader, if you're in the Lord's work? You need some people who are just around to feel your burdens with you. You need some burden‑bearers. They aren't whirlwinds at anything, they just care. You know, they don't put on great programs and do great things and astounding prominent out‑front things, they just care. And you've got to have them and Aristarchus was one of those people with a sympathetic heart.

Verse 10; "Aristarchus my," now here it comes, "my fellow prisoner greets you." Those are deep words. Aristarchus is a Jew with a Greek name which was common in the dispersion. When the Jews were scattered they often took Greek names. So he says Aristarchus sends his love and his blessing, he greets you.

Now Aristarchus' name appears elsewhere in the New Testament in association with the town of Thessalonica, It's very likely that he came from that town. And at Ephesus, you remember Paul ministered at Ephesus for three years, and during those three years Aristarchus was with him. And you remember when finally in Ephesus the riot broke out? When the riot broke out Aristarchus and Gaius were seized by the mob and Aristarchus found out what it was to be a prisoner. They recognized him as one of Paul's companions. And so they seized him. Now that's in chapter 19.

     Now Paul decides to go to Jerusalem. You know what happens? He takes Aristarchus along. So he goes on that trip. Paul gets on the boat. You remember he was captured as a prisoner in Jeru­salem and then he was moved to Caesarea on the coast? Where he stayed as a prisoner? And then finally in Acts 27 he gets on a boat to go to Rome to be tried in Rome and he's a prisoner on the ship and Acts 27:2 says when he got on the boat Aristarchus was with him. Had Aristarchus been with him through all the imprisonment? Very possible. Very possible since the time he identified with Paul in the city of Ephesus and escaped from the riot and went to Jerusalem from that time till now he has stayed with Paul as a prisoner in Jerusalem he hung around. Caesarea ‑‑ he may have hung around. On the ship, and you remember what a ride that was ‑read Acts 27 again. I mean, that was something exciting and he was there. Now here he is back in Rome and guess who is there? Aristarchus and Paul calls him my fellow prisoner. The guy hasn't committed a crime he just hangs around with criminals. So he spends his time in jail.

Now the word fellow prisoner is a beautiful word; aikmalotos. You know what it means? It means one caught wit