Amen, brothers and sisters. Well, if you would, go with me to 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1. We will read verses 15-18. Hear the Word of the Lord. You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from Me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed Me and was not ashamed of My chains. But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for Me earnestly and found Me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you well know all the service He rendered at Ephesus. Let's pray one more time. Holy Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this section of Scripture. Help us not to gloss over it, Lord, but to mine it for what is there. to see the glory of Christian love and Christian friendship conform us to the image of Christ as we hear the word, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, this is our fifth and final sermon in 2 Timothy 1, and we will finish the chapter this morning. It's been quite the chapter. When you really get into these verses and study the verses in context, and you let Paul's situation, his historical situation inform how you understand and receive the instructions here in this chapter, you almost feel like a punching bag. And I've heard something similar from a lot of you. It's just a chapter chock full of conviction and exhortation. And really all of 1st and 2nd Timothy have been that way and it will continue to be that way as we move into the rest of 2nd Timothy. I mean, these texts have just been full of exhortations and admonishments, full of charges, full of urgency. And I trust that this has helped many of you, but even if it hasn't, it has been great for my soul to just meditate and to think about the Apostle Paul in prison with chains fastened around his feet, saying to Timothy, Timothy, stand fast. Keep the faith. Guard the deposit. Remain unashamed of the gospel. You know, you just think about your own life and your own situation and how easy it is to become complacent in life. You know, we all feel this kind of drift toward apathy. And we feel this drift toward laziness spiritually. And it's just good to meditate and to be charged by the apostle. You know, we think about our world and all the things going on, and it's just helped me this week to think about the apostle from prison saying, I'm about to lose my life, Timothy. Remain unashamed. Keep the faith. Guard the deposit. Do whatever you need to do to remain steadfast. Don't deny the Lord. Give your life for this, Timothy. Paul has remained unashamed of the Gospel, even though it's going to cost him his own life. And now Timothy, the young protege of Paul, he must walk in that same faithful stewardship. He must remain unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he must remain unashamed of Paul, the apostle, even though doing so will likely bring forth suffering and even imprisonment. If we could sum it all up, the message of 2 Timothy 1 is that God has entrusted to Timothy a stewardship, what Paul calls the good deposit. We studied that last week. And Timothy must guard that good deposit no matter what it costs him, and he must do it while being unashamed of the Gospel. and being unashamed of the apostle. He says in verse 8, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. And it's clear from our passage this morning that some, in fact many, did not remain faithful. They were guilty of turning away. They did not guard the good deposit entrusted to them. They did not remain unashamed of the gospel. They did not remain unashamed of the apostle as persecution and as suffering began to come. They turned away from Paul, presumably because of his imprisonment. and because of his chains over the gospel. These are the people mentioned in verse 15. All who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. Yet, there is another group. There is another person and a household who did not turn away from the Apostle Paul, but rather remained unashamed and actually went to Paul. Onesiphorus is how we pronounce the name. And I trust that after this sermon, there will be a young man that will come from some family here that could possibly be named Onesiphorus. If you're looking for an awesome biblical name that no one else uses, Onesiphorus is your choice. But we will see that he was a faithful brother in Christ. He was a godly man. Paul says, he often refreshed me and was not ashamed. There's our word. He was not ashamed of what? Of my chains. of my imprisonment over the Gospel. This section is an illustration. It's an illustration of what Timothy must be. It's an illustration of all that Paul has commanded in verses 8-14. And there's a group who does not demonstrate faithful stewardship, who does not remain unashamed, who does not persevere in faithful ministry, and then there is a group who does. And the apostle puts them side by side and he gives Timothy a bad example and he gives Timothy a good example. I think that's how we should understand this section. It's not just some random information that we just gloss over and wonder who are those people? No, there's a very specific focus for Paul. These are real life examples of people who have remained faithful, and real life examples of people who have not remained faithful. People who exemplify being unashamed of the gospel unto death, and people who demonstrate what it looks like to care more about this life in their comfort and the way they're viewed than they do being faithful to God's call. And Paul does this frequently in his letters. You think about Philippians 2, the Carmen Christi passage. We look at that passage and we get our theology of Christ from it, right? All of this incredible Christology. And it is there, and I'm thankful for that. But Paul really gives us that section as an illustration for what comes previously where he tells the believers to love one another. and to give their lives in selfless, sacrificial love. And he says, this is how Christ lived. Be like Christ. He emptied Himself. He humbled Himself to the point of death. And in Philippians 3, he shows Timothy and Epaphroditus to be examples of faithful ministers of the Gospel and men that the church at Philippi should honor and then emulate. He says, look at them. Follow their example. Think about how they've lived in your midst. Be like Timothy. Be like Epaphroditus. And he will go on to say, even in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, look at this in verses 9-14, he says, do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, it's a real person, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. He says, Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. And then he goes on to say, Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. And so Paul is showing us that theology is embodied. Theology and doctrine and Christian living isn't just some abstract headspace out here that we just receive intellectually. No, it comes out of us in the way that we live. Doctrine is experiential. Sound doctrine must produce sound living. Discipleship targets not only the head, but also the heart. Christian truth is incarnational. What is the incarnation? It's the logos. The Word of God. The truth about God becoming flesh. And the person Jesus Christ exegeting the Father. Showing us the Father. It's reality embodied. This is why, brothers and sisters, men who have great theological training, but have little to no life cultivation can actually be very harmful to the church. Very dangerous to the flock. One thing that's so remarkable to think about is that Paul actually experienced all of this. You know, when we think about the Apostle Paul, we think about Romans. We think about Ephesians and the glorious doctrinal truths of Christ. The glorious mysteries that Paul was able to perceive by the Spirit and then record for us. We think about Paul the theologian, and he certainly was an incredible theologian. Yet, at the same time, he was in the thick of it. Paul knew what it's like to be betrayed. He knew what it's like to be abandoned, to be lonely. He knew what it's like to suffer great bodily harm and affliction. He knew what it was like to suffer spiritual affliction. He understood what it means to rejoice at believers who are walking in faithfulness and growing in love, and yet at the same time, he knew what it meant to be sorrowful. about believers who at one time professed faithfulness, but yet began to swerve and turn away because they loved their present world. And he knew what was at stake for the church and what was at stake for Timothy. And yet, despite of it all, he says in verse 12, this is why I suffer as I do, but I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. What an incredible conviction. to wake up and to say that every day. To look out at my circumstances. To look out at our culture and say, does it matter what's going on? I am not ashamed. I have entrusted the stewardship to God and He will keep it until the final day. The Apostle Paul gives us an incredible example. You think about in 2 Corinthians 11, 25-28, just listen to this. He says, five times I received at the hands of the Jews, the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, at night and at day, and I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food. in cold and exposure, and apart from the other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches." So while all these trials are going on, he's thinking, how are the people doing in the church? Are they holding fast? Are our false brothers coming in with a false gospel and causing the brothers to retreat? You know, so many people walk away from Christ when they go through some sort of trial. You know, we've talked a lot about deconversion and deconstruction and these things, and you read a lot of these stories, and so many of those people who deconvert do it when they go through a severe trial. and they try to make sense of life some other way, and they just cannot comprehend how a good God could allow them to go through difficulty. And they turn away from the Lord. And even the word trauma, you hear that all over the place today. I think that's a good word that has an actual definition that really describes people who have gone through incredibly difficult things. Especially incredibly difficult affliction to the body. But yet, like so many other words, it's been hijacked and taken to mean any kind of suffering, any kind of thing that you don't like. So now it's romantic to have trauma, and people are walking around saying, my trauma about everything. If anybody had trauma, it was the Apostle Paul. And yet, he remains faithful. Paul, who follows Christ's example, is the ultimate example of what it means to be unashamed of Christ, no matter the cost. And yet, he gives Timothy more illustrations, more examples of this, both positive and negative. And so what I want to do is I want to hold these two examples, these two groups, side by side, and argue for the kind of exemplary Christian love, or Christian loyalty, or we could even say Christian friendship, that we see modeled in these characters. And these will either characterize one who is unashamed of the gospel of Christ, or one who is not. I'm going to say it another way. I want to hold these two examples up so that one example shows us what it means and what it looks like practically on the ground to be unashamed and what it looks like to not be unashamed. And as we move through this text, I want us to be thinking about a couple of questions that I think Timothy would have been thinking about. Number one, I want you to think, what group am I in? Which group am I in? Am I more like Onesiphorus? Or am I more like Hermogenes and Phagellus? What group will I be in as the threat of suffering gets stronger? What group will I be in if persecution comes? If difficulty comes? If sacrifice is needed? I think that's absolutely Paul's intent for Timothy. He's saying, look, Christ was unashamed and it cost Him His life. I, as His prisoner, am unashamed and it's going to cost me my life. And if you remain unashamed, Timothy, it might cost you your life. Follow the example of the faithful and be unashamed to death. Be like Onesiphorus who gave himself, who gave up his life, who laid his life down for me. Another question I want you to ask yourself, and I imagine Timothy would have thought about this as well. Which group characterizes the people that you do life with the most? Who are your friends like? Who are those that you walk with and live with? Who are they like? If things were to get very difficult, if trials and tribulations come, if faithfulness to the Gospel brings reproach and worldly consequences, which group will your current friends be in? Will you have friends like Onesiphorus? Or will you have friends like Hermogenes and Phygelus? Young people, what kind of friends are you making? What kind of things do they love? It's extremely important. Number one, the first group, verse 15. Again, you are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from Me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. You know, we don't have any information in the New Testament that sheds light on who these specific people were. We know that they were from the Roman province called Asia. And we know that they turned away from the Apostle Paul. So we're having to do some responsible speculation here. But probably what has happened is this. Paul was charged by the Roman state on behalf of the Gospel. He was tried and he was found guilty of some sort of crime related to his apostleship. Related to his allegiance to the Gospel and his proclamation of the Gospel. And this is his second time in prison in Rome. The first time that we read about in the book of Acts, it seems that Paul was let out of that imprisonment and continued on in his ministry. And this is a few years later during his second imprisonment. And instead of standing in solidarity with Paul, or perhaps coming to his defense, or perhaps meeting his needs, these believers from Asia turned away which probably means that they just conveniently, for the sake of protecting their own lives, and for the sake of guarding their reputations, wanted nothing to do with Paul when they saw that his apostleship would lead him to prison. It doesn't mean that they hated him or despised him, but it was probably more like what Peter said about the Lord. We don't know the man. We don't know the man. And they withdrew from him. Perhaps they fled the area. Perhaps they were supposed to support Paul, but later recanted once they saw how it all panned out. Perhaps when given the chance to stand with Paul, they denied him. Perhaps when given the chance to come to his aid and his defense, they cowered because of the cost. Whatever the reason, these people who at one time loved Paul and walked with him and it seems supported him in his apostleship, they turned away from him. And I think we can, because of the context of the chapter and the overarching themes, assume that they turned away from him because before the Roman state, they were ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And they showed their being ashamed through being ashamed of the one that Christ had called and given this apostleship to take to the Gentiles. And so through turning away from Paul, they showed that they were ashamed of Christ and the gospel. He says, all turned away from me. It's possible that Paul is using hyperbole to show that there was an almost total defect among the believers in Asia, and he names two of them, Phygelus and Hermogenes. Again, no other information about these men exists in the New Testament, but it's probably likely that these two men were leaders, possibly even elders in the church, and they stand out as bad examples for Timothy. And he names them by name. He says, you are aware. Meaning Timothy knows these men. He knows the situation. And so Paul doesn't give any more ink to describing this in detail. He simply calls Timothy's attention to these men so that Timothy can easily put the pieces together. those two men, along with all in Asia, were ashamed of the gospel, and they demonstrated their shame of the gospel by turning away from the Apostle Paul in his imprisonment over the gospel. I mean, just let this sink in for a minute. All human history knows about Phygelus and Hermogenes and the believers at Asia is that at the hour of testing, they turned away from Paul. That's all we know about them. That's their legacy. That when affliction came for the gospel, they turned away. When I was a ball player, there were certain players that people would coin as practice players, practice champions, they would be called. They were players who in practice would perform at a really high level. And they were always playing with energy and confidence. But unfortunately, when they would get their time in the game, they would come out and they would freeze up and play scared. And they would be a liability to the team. And they would have to be taken out very quickly. And I had a coach that would say, anyone can perform in practice. But when you put some referees out there and you put some fans in the stands and you turn some lights on and maybe get some cameras going depending on what level you're playing at, the real players show up at that point. And you separate the real from the practice champions. That's what we have here. When it got rough, when it got difficult, when people started getting arrested for the gospel, Those who were really unashamed remained faithful. And those who were not unashamed turned away from Paul. Do you want to be in that group? Do you want, as a church, to be in that group? To be known for faithfulness when things are well, but when things hit the fan, we're ashamed. We're ashamed. We're ashamed of Christ. We're ashamed of the apostles' teachings. We're ashamed of what Jesus taught. We're ashamed of the message. I'm sure these people did some good. The language doesn't even suggest that they apostatized and turned away from the faith completely, although I think one could reason through other passages of Scripture toward that conclusion. These people may be in heaven. I mean, we just simply do not know. But they're cowardice in the face of opposition. Their shame over the Gospel and over the Apostle Paul is a stain that will remain on them for the rest of human history. It's incredible to think about. But then, in contrast with Phygelus and Hermogenes and the rest of the Asiarchs, Paul highlights the love shown to him by Onesiphorus. And he makes it very clear that Onesiphorus was what? Was not unashamed of my chains. The very thing that the first group was ashamed of, an imprisoned Apostle, honest for us, shows by his actions, not just by his words, but by his acts of love and sacrifice, that he was not ashamed. And by being unashamed of Christ's Apostle, he shows that he was unashamed of Christ Himself. And in direct contrast to turning away from Paul when he was in Rome, which is what the Asiarchs did, Onesiphorus evidently goes to Rome. Paul says, but when he arrived at Rome, he goes into the danger for the sake of showing love and kindness to Paul. And Paul says, He searched for me earnestly and found me. You know, I can just imagine on a syphilis getting to Rome and just going around the city. Have you seen Paul? Going around to all the believers. Have you seen Paul? Where do they have Paul? Where's his dungeon? Where's his imprisonment? Is he alright? What does he need? Is he alive? How can I serve Paul? Where is he? Where do they have him confined? He's going to visit a man being held captive in the Roman prison. Think about this. While everyone else turns away from Paul because of the possible consequences that their association with him could have on their own lives, Onesiphorus puts his life on the line and goes to Paul. He goes into the danger, into the fire, into the lion's den. Why? Love. Love. Christian love. Christian affection. Christian faithfulness. This is Christian friendship. You could probably go to some church this morning in this country and somebody would be talking about friendship. This is Christian friendship. laying your life down for the brothers. While everyone else is ashamed of Paul's chains, Onesiphorus loves Paul and blesses him. And I believe, just knowing Onesiphorus' character and love, that the greatest sacrifice was not his reputation. It was not related to his body. It was not financial. I believe it was that he had to leave his family. Look at verse 16. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus. To the household of Onesiphorus. His household is back at Ephesus while he goes to Rome in search for Paul. And some scholars actually believe that Onesiphorus could have died. on his journey, which is why Paul prays for mercy for his family. I think it's probably more likely that at the time of Paul's writing and by the time Timothy would have received the letter that Onesiphorus would still have been away from his family who was back at Ephesus with Timothy. This is before the days where you could just hop on a plane and get around the world in a few hours. Or hop on a bus. It would have taken weeks and months for this trip to have been successful. And this means that Onesiphorus' wife and his children would have been at home without him for months. And Paul prays for them. Many of you sisters have experienced times when your husband has had to leave for an extended period of time. You know how difficult that is. You know the challenges when your provider, your protector, your lover, he's gone. and you have to assume all the responsibility for the home, and for the yard, and for the upkeep, and for the discipline of the children, and getting them to bed, and getting food on the table, and all of it falls on you, and maintaining the home. And sisters, let me encourage you, this is greatly difficult for your husbands as well. When godly husbands have to leave their home, the hardest part about it is leaving their wife and their children at home. No doubt, Onesiphorus would have experienced great difficulty in leaving his family at home. Yet, Paul commends Onesiphorus for his actions. He does not admonish Onesiphorus for leaving his family in Ephesus for a time. A man's love and allegiance to Christ will, in most circumstances, be seen by his love for his family and by his love for his local church. Yet, there may be times when his allegiance to Christ calls him to do something that will require him to, for a time, leave his family and his children back at home to accomplish a certain task, a certain ministry. You know, one of the reasons why we really try to limit our church calendar is we want families to be together at home. We want men to be in their homes, teaching and training their children and loving their wives. And we want family worship to be happening. We talk about the family all the time. And yet, this text at least causes us to consider a few things. A man's duty will not call him to neglect his family. It never will. His duties will not call him to abandon his family. The will of God is never contradictory. God will never ask us to sin in one area in order to be faithful in another area. However, a man's duty, especially for the sake of the kingdom, may call him for a time to draw away from his family, to leave his family, even if it's just for a few hours, to study the Word, to go seek the Lord in prayer, to go preach the gospel on the streets, to go do some specific ministry, to be with other brothers, to sharpen them and to be sharpened. For the purpose of edification. Some men are always looking for ways to leave home. Largely because they want to play. It just amazes me how some men are just gone all the time. All the time, this and that, and doing these things, leaving their wives and children at home. But on the other hand, it is possible to fall into a paradigm where out of the sake of love, a man can think that he just goes to work and then every other minute is spent at home. And there may be times, brothers, where we go out into the world and sacrifice for the sake of the cause of Christ. And these things require great wisdom, great spiritual wisdom, great communication. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach here to getting this right. But what is clear is that Onesiphorus put his life on the line, even though it required him to for a season leave his family safely at home in Ephesus, and Paul commends him for it. He commends him for it. Paul understands that his wife was with the children for weeks and weeks without Onesiphorus, and so he prays for mercy for him. I long to be the church that when a brother has to leave for a long period of time, that we rally around that family, and we do mercy to that family, and we draw near to that family, and we pray for that family, as Timothy would have had responsibility for the household of Onesiphorus. And there's another vital component to this that I want to point out. Onesiphorus doesn't just conjure up one extraordinary act of love. This just isn't his moment to fame that just sort of shocks everyone. Look at the latter part of verse 18. He says to Timothy, and you well know all, all the service he rendered at Ephesus. You know, Honest Forrest's love to Paul shouldn't surprise Timothy because he's been showing love at the church at Ephesus for years. It's exemplary to everyone. He says, Timothy, look, you know, honest for us on a syphilis, you know, his love, you know, his faithfulness, you know, his commitment. This is not surprising. You've been watching him for years. do this sacrificial love as his pastor. There's so much we could say here, but I want to point out one principle. Before a person is sent out to do some ministry, or before a person is ordained to an office, there should always be a track record of love within the local church that is acknowledged by everyone that's seen, that's felt, so that it's not shocking to people when someone comes and says, I feel called to the office of pastor. I feel called to be a missionary. I feel called to leave and go somewhere else. I feel called to this specific work. Okay, praise God. Step 1. Join a healthy local church. And serve in that biblical church. Begin to love and serve the body of Christ. That's not flashy. It's not romantic. It doesn't build a platform. But it's the Christian way. It's the Christian way. And look at what Paul says. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. Paul's prayer is that in the eschatological day of judgment, the Lord, the first use of the Lord, possibly the Lord Jesus, would grant Onesiphorus mercy before the Lord, possibly God the Father, the judge, Because again, this brings us back to the theme that I've been reminding us of during our study. And it's this, Paul knows that his situation is bleak. He knows that the church is in an evil situation. And this is the theme I've been reminding us of over and over again. Paul knows he's got a few remaining days. And he knows that everything he does and everything Timothy does is going to matter in the day of judgment. Everything they do is for that day of judgment where it will all be made right. And nothing will go unnoticed. Nothing will go unjudged. He knows Onesiphorus may suffer for the sake of the Gospel. And for the sake of his association with Paul. He knows that his family may experience great difficulty and trial while he is away. But his eschatology informs the way that he thinks about everything. Nothing done in Christ will go unrewarded. Nothing. No sacrifice through faith in Christ will go unrewarded. Will go unnoticed in the day of judgment. When the righteous Lord will judge all peoples with equity. And in righteousness. And all things will be made right. And the wicked will suffer everlasting punishment for their wickedness. And the righteous will inherit everlasting joy. And the crown of righteousness. And all the things that they've carried out in God will be rewarded. Paul has nothing material to offer on Esiphorus. He's in prison. He has nothing. but his prayers. And he prays that he would find mercy from the Lord in the day of judgment. Onesiphorus is an example of a Christian friend. A true Christian friend. 1 John 3. Verse 16. By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart, is against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. I'm sure that first group said they loved Paul. Right? I'm sure they said they loved Paul. I'm sure they told Paul to his face, we love you, we're committed to you. But Onesiphorus' deeds proved that he loved Paul. Proved that he loved the brothers. And he laid his life down because Paul had a need. And he showed mercy and grace and love to Paul. His life is a testimony of true Christian love. He is an exemplary disciple of Jesus Christ. And as I come to a close this morning, you just can't help but think of the Lord's words in Matthew 25 when he says this. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on the right, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. And here it is. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you were naked and clothed you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers. You did it to me. You did it to me. As Onesiphorus laid his life down and visited the apostle in prison, he did it to Paul, but he did it to the Lord. That's the group Onesiphorus is in. As for the others, again, we don't know their final outcome, but I must continue to finish. The Lord knows these things. Listen to what he goes on to say. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed. into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and you did not and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them saying, truly, I say to you, as you did not. Do it to the one of the least of these you did not do it to me And these will go away into an eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life Let me come back to those two questions. I asked which group are you in? Which group are you in? And if you are in that first category and you're striving to be in that first category, it probably won't right now look like laying your life down to go visit an apostle in prison. It might someday. But not now, it might look like you moving to another nation. It might look like you sacrificing great comfort and wealth to go give your life to a work. in some other place in the world for the sake of love? I want you to consider that. I really do. It's very possible. Or it might look like you denying yourself anything, any comfort, any joy for the sake of loving a brother. For the sake of loving the sisters. For the sake of discipleship. For the sake of service. Laying our lives down for one another and proving to be disciples of Christ. And secondly, which group characterizes your friends? If you were the Apostle Paul and you were in prison, would you have friends who, like Onesiphorus, would come and lay their lives down for you to visit you? Or would you have friends like Hermogenes and Phygelus who would turn away because they're unashamed of the gospel? And the most important thing I could say this morning is this, there's only one way to get into the group of Onesiphorus, and it's through the man Christ Jesus. None of us have this within us naturally. None of us can be faithful enough to be made right with God. To find mercy with God. There is one way to go from darkness to light and it's through Christ. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By dying with Him and rising with Him. We have been let down and we have let down. We have been let down and we let down. We are selfish. All this about narcissism. We're narcissistic. We love ourselves. We love our comfort. We love our reputation. Christ, I said this a few weeks ago, is the only one who's been perfectly unashamed of Christ. Jesus is the only one who's been perfectly unashamed of Jesus. Standing and dying when all abandoned him and said, yes, I am the king of the Jews. You've said it, Pilate. I'm him. And he laid his life down for sinners. He took our place. He died the death we deserve. And through faith in Him, we've been crucified with Him and buried with Him and raised with Him. And through faith in the faithful one and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in this Christian love, in this Christian friendship that we see embodied in the life of Onesiphorus. Amen. Let's let us take that to the table. You know, when we think about the table, we remember that we have a friend in Jesus, a friend who, though we were weak and ungodly, laid his life down for us in love. And we would encourage all who are here who have placed their hope and faith in Christ and have been baptized in water, to come and take the supper with us as we commune with Christ through the Spirit and meditate upon His goodness and He sanctifies us as we commune with Him and with one another. Please come and take the supper with us.