Come Alongside by Robin Densmore Fuson

 

We all need people to help us along the road of life, someone to make our lives easier or to strengthen our resolve. We will meet five such people in our talk today from the Sidekick and Better Half series, titled Come Alongside.

Our main character is Apostle Paul, the writer of thirteen books of the New Testament, which are called letters or epistles. Some scholars attribute the Book of Hebrews to the writing of Paul.

Paul steps onto the pages of scripture as a fervent Jew named Saul who imprisoned and killed believers and followers of Jesus. As a young man, he witnessed and agreed to the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 7-8.

In Acts 9 we read of the miraculous appearing of the Lord Jesus to Saul, blinding him with brilliance. His travel companions led him by the hand to Damascus, where the first Come Alongside person, named Ananias, helped him.

Ananias heard the Lord’s call to go help Saul, but he was frightened. Saul killed followers of the Lord. “Lord, I’ve heard many people talk of the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem (Acts 9:13a nlt).”

Would Ananias be his next victim?

With trepidation he obeyed and went to lay hands on Saul, healing him of his blindness. Ananias helped Saul with his soul conversion, filling of the Holy Spirit, and took him to be baptized. He was instrumental in the faith process of Saul.

Ananias became the first sidekick who came alongside Saul, and he prepared him for ministry. Saul stayed with believers for two days and then began preaching the word of truth—the resurrected Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Saul went alone to Arabia, where he received direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Alone time with the Lord is critical to any person’s spiritual growth. Afterward, he went to learn from other believers and the apostles who had walked and ministered alongside Jesus.

Later in Acts 9 we see an amazing calm influence in Joseph, nicknamed Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, who stepped up to support Saul. People were afraid of Saul because of his reputation for arresting and killing believers. Barnabas took Saul to the believers in Jerusalem and vouched for his sincerity, conversion, and ministry call.

Shortly after that, the Holy Spirit led the leaders to appoint Saul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 16:2-4).

Now that Saul’s ministry turned to the Gentiles, he reverted to his other Roman name, Paul (Acts 13:9). From here on out, Scripture refers to him as Paul.

Barnabas came alongside Paul to help him with his rough edges. Paul’s forceful presence and extreme intellect could be intimidating. Barnabas softened things a bit and was a great sidekick and encourager.

After an argument over Barnabas’ nephew Mark coming back after he deserted them, they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and continued as missionaries, while Paul paired up with Silas. Two groups go out to spread the gospel.

Silas fought the good fight alongside Paul. Jailed together for speaking truth, they sang hymns loud and strong. During their praise concert, in the dungeon, an earthquake broke their chains and busted open the doors. Paul and Silas witnessed to the prison guard, and he and his household trusted Christ as their Savior.

They made a good team, Paul and Silas.

During their travels, a young man, Timothy, crossed their path. His father was Greek and his mother Jewish. Timothy learned of the Lord through his mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois.

Paul mentored Timothy who grew in wisdom and faith and eventually became the pastor of the church in Ephesus. He was instrumental in helping Paul by representing him and encouraging the churches Paul was concerned about. Paul wrote two letters, or books of the Bible, to Timothy, 1 and 2 Timothy, where Paul exhorts and inspires Timothy.

Paul needed to disciple Timothy, and Timothy needed Paul to lead and guide him. We learn from those we teach. It was a win win, each helping the other in the work of building up the faith. Each being the sidekick for the other.

Another person who came alongside Paul was Luke. Luke did a lot of traveling with Paul and wrote the books of Luke and Acts. When you read in Acts, ‘we did this’ or ‘we did that’ or a collective us, Luke is part of, we and us, therefore he traveled with them.

The most helpful to Paul is found in a jail dungeon in Rome. Paul is awaiting execution. He will be beheaded. Luke stayed with Paul. Everyone else had abandoned him. The only Greek to write books of the bible, spent Paul’s last days with him.

In 2 Timothy, the last letter Paul wrote, he says, “Luke alone is with me (2 Timothy 4:11a nlt).”  

Luke was a physician. Who better to heal wounds and sicknesses that dungeon life could bring?

Five men came alongside the great apostle Paul. He wasn’t a lone ranger. How did these five men enrich Paul’s life?

Ananias gave him sight and the true gospel. Barnabas brought softening and encouragement. Silas endured hardships, praised and worshiped with Paul. Timothy brought young belief and was a privilege to mentor. When Paul could not, he became Paul’s eyes and ears in the ministry. Luke recorded Paul’s missionary journeys and sat in the dungeon with Paul as his friend and physician at the end of his life.

Paul’s life was enriched by these five men. We can learn from these men and go alongside someone on their life’s journey.

We are all richer because of the ones who come alongside us.  We need to be that person, who steps alongside.

We should be open to others coming alongside us on our journey and accept that person’s help.