Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/ntolstafreechurch/sermons/60082/a-loving-appeal/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Well, evening, brothers, sisters and friends, a joy again to worship the Lord. The same intimations as the morning, please do pick up a sheet on the way out. It's a busy month ahead. [0:10] Of course, all the intimations, I should say, are all God willing. We trust the Lord to do his work in all these things. We're here to worship the Lord this evening. We'll begin in Sing Psalms. [0:23] Sing Psalms and Psalm 85. That's on page 113. Sing Psalms, Psalm 85, page 113. [0:38] We can sing verses 8 down to verse 13, down to the end. Sing Psalms, Psalm 85, verse 8. I will hear what God the Lord says. To his saints he offers peace, but his people must not wonder and return to foolishness. [0:53] Surely, for all those who fear him, his salvation is at hand, so that once again his glory may be seen within our land. Psalm 85, from verse 8 to the end. [1:05] To God's praise. All of your fellow flesh may speak nowadays. Exactly. How will he have walked in all them? God the Lord speaks to us in singly offers peace. [1:24] Thou evil does not wander, Our return to foolishness. [1:37] Surely God, O both who fear Him, His salvation is at hand. [1:50] So that once a famous story Is saved in our land. [2:05] Love and truth have met together Righteousness, peace and grace. [2:17] Righteousness is done from heaven, From the earth in faithfulness. [2:32] What is good the Lord will give us, And the wonders it will bear. [2:46] Righteousness will go before Him, And the trial we prepare. [2:58] Amen. Let's engage in prayer. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you once more for the great privilege we have of gathering together. [3:11] Help us never to come to this place, Or indeed to these times of public worship. Help us never to come here just out of bare routine. Help us to understand that at this moment, At this very second, We are meeting in your presence. [3:28] And your presence is here surrounding your people. And more than that, And more glorious than that, Your presence is here in your people. Help us then, With hearts full of understanding, And joy and thanksgiving, Come just now, As we have said and sung from your word. [3:46] Help us to come as a people, Who are here to worship you. A people here to serve you. To draw alongside one another, In worshipping our Lord and Saviour. [3:58] As we hear and we sing just now, The reminder that to your people this evening, That because of the finished work of Jesus, That from your lips, It is no longer wrath we hear. [4:10] It is no longer scare and fear we hear. It is no longer depart from me we hear. Instead from you we hear peace. [4:22] From you we hear welcome, As we heard from your word this morning. But for all who have returned home, You are the Father who tells us welcome. You are the Father who as it were, Throws your arms around those Who were once wandering and lost. [4:39] Who declares once we are dead, But now we are alive. Who says once we were lost, But now we are home and returned. Now we are found. [4:50] We thank you for the privilege of living in your kingdom. We pray just now, Especially for your people this evening. Those of us here who know Jesus, And who love Jesus. Help us, we ask, To lay aside in our hearts and our minds, Enough space this evening, To listen carefully to your word. [5:08] We ask it would transform us. We ask your word would change us. We come confessing at times, Our hardness of heart. At times we confess we are so immovable. [5:21] We are so unwilling to shift or to change, In reflection of who you are. But help us, Lord, When we come to hear your word, It would do its work among us. [5:33] It would pierce our hearts. It would shape us and mould us To be made more and more like our saviour. As we hear this evening from your word, Encouragement, but also challenge. [5:45] Help us to be humble enough To be challenged by that living word. Understanding that you see us for who we are. You know the truth of the situation. [5:56] Nothing is hidden from you. Help us, Lord, then, we ask this evening, To come to this place ready and willing to worship. We bring to this place once more The burdens and stresses and strains That we as your people often encounter. [6:12] We pray just now once more For the names and the faces of loved ones We have brought to the throne of grace Many times over many years. We pray just now for close family and friends, Our loved ones, Those we care for deeply, For those who, as it stands, Have not yet come home. [6:33] Who, as it stands, Have not yet come to you. Who show themselves To have no active interest in gospel matters. Lord, we ask that you would work in their lives. [6:45] Help us to come, Understanding, But also to come With hope To the throne of grace. Help us to be steadfast in our prayers, Knowing that you hear the prayers of your people. [7:00] We pray once more for Those who are heavy in our minds. Those who we long to hear the gospel for the first time. Perhaps those who we long to return home again After many years of wondering. [7:12] Lord, we ask you to bring them to yourself. We leave these things with you. We pray once more for all the gospel work we are doing in this congregation. Pray for all the gospel work we hope to do in this congregation. [7:25] All the work is yours. Pray for Sunday school, And youth fellowship, As it's being planned. Lord, we ask that if you will magnify and glorify your name, You will give us help and assist us in all that we seek to do. [7:52] We thank you for this gathering. We thank you that we can call one another this evening, Brother and sister. Help us to understand it's a great privilege we have That right now we sit beside and alongside Not just friends, Not just those who are our neighbours, But for many of us here this evening, We are sitting beside or close to brothers and sisters Who will be with us for all eternity. [8:17] Lord, help us then, we ask, To lift one another up. To build one another up. To seek the good for one another. To remember we are family. [8:28] Remember that we are called to be brothers and sisters. To bear one another's burdens. We ask that that be the case amongst us. We thank you for the ongoing reality we have of unity In our congregation, in our church family. [8:42] We ask that I would continue as it is and continue to grow. We be united around the one gospel cause. Although we are so varied, We know in our ideas and our own personalities. [8:55] Together we are one people. Worshipping our one saviour. With one heart and one mind. With one goal. That goal of seeing your name glorified in North Tolstair. [9:08] Of seeing hearts of stone being turned to hearts of flesh. Of seeing the gospel known from bridge to the Catholic Church. From area to area. From home to home. [9:20] That every single family here would know. Would know what it is to know the saviour of his people. Lord, until we see these days of glory. [9:33] Until we see these days of revival. We thank you for what we have seen in recent weeks. We again ask that we would receive. And that we would take none of the glory for it. [9:44] But all the glory would be yours. As we have cried out and prayed. And we see you have answered the prayers of your people. We give you praise for that. Help us to be encouraged by these answers to prayer. [9:55] Help us to be mindful in how we say and what we do. As we come once more to pray. For neighbours. For family and for friends. As we see you're the God who hears us. [10:08] You're the God who delights. Not just hearing. But in answering the prayers of your people. Help us to be faithful witnesses. As we do pray just now. For our local government. Pray for those over us in the council. [10:21] Those over us in Holyrood and in Westminster. Pray for our nation. Pray for peace for our nation. Pray Lord that you would. Bless and prosper our nation. [10:36] We ask more importantly than that. You bring your word. Lord. And power to this nation. Pray just now for those over us. Both in Holyrood and Westminster. [10:47] We pray Lord for salvation. For those over us. Who as of yet don't know you. Bring them to yourself. As we're mindful of ourselves. We bring before you once more. [11:00] The areas of. Pain and sadness in this world. Areas of land. Where there is so much bloodshed. Going on. Even in this very moment. [11:12] And we are so aware. Of the horror. And so aware. Of a distance. And so aware. Of our own helplessness. Remember the ongoing conflict. In Ukraine. [11:23] Lord be present there we ask. Be present with your people there. Those who seek to serve you well. Lord encourage them. And be with them. Remember. As is so clear to us. [11:33] In our news. And in our. Our own understanding. That the ongoing situation. In the Middle East. I pray Lord. For believers. Just now. In Palestine. [11:44] Those many there. Who know. And who love you. Your ancient church there. Who have been there. For many a. Many a century now. Pray also for brothers. And sisters in Israel. [11:56] Lord. I pray Lord. As your word. Goes out. This very day there. As we see such horror. And hear of such disaster. You be glorified. [12:07] Pray for those who are mourning. Those who are in agony. In mind and body and soul. That you comfort. All those who are grieving. Lord. We feel ourselves so small. And we even feel our prayers so small. [12:19] For we bring our smallness. And our small prayers to you. You who are magnified. And you who are glorious. Over all. There is nothing small about you. [12:31] You are high and lifted up. You return on all of your ways. Yet you hear the prayers of your people. Help us this evening then. To be engaged in this time. [12:41] This short time together. To leave this place. Not just having grown in our knowledge. But having grown also. In our love for one another. And our love for you. Keep us safe Lord. [12:52] We ask this evening. From the attacks of the evil one. We understand as we seek to. To serve you in this place. We will see his attack grow and grow. [13:04] Page now Lord. For his attacks that are ongoing. At this very moment. Lord. That you would. Remove. The arrows. As they are fired into. As aware of this very building. Keep us safe as weak from him. [13:17] Keep us Lord. As a fire. As a hedge around us. As we seek to serve you. Give us wisdom. Take all things to you. As remember that we fight. [13:27] Not against flesh and blood. But we fight against darkness. And spiritual darkness. And powers. And principalities. It is him who is our enemy. And in Christ. [13:39] We declare the victory. As we trust. And we follow after the one. Who goes before us. Who is victorious. Who has stamped on the head of the serpent. It is in his glorious name. [13:51] And in his eternal power. We ask all these many things. Amen. Let's start reading God's word. Turn to the very short letter of Paul. [14:02] To Philemon. Or Philemon. I know as some people might call it. There is no right way of saying it. Philemon or Philemon. That is on page 940. [14:16] Page 940. It is a very short letter. Just half a page really. Page 940. The letter of Paul. [14:29] To Philemon. Let's again hear God's word. Paul. [14:41] A prisoner for Christ Jesus. And Timothy. Our brother. To Philemon. Our beloved. Fellow worker. Anathia. Our sister. An Archippus. Our fellow soldier. [14:52] And the church in your house. Grace to you. And peace from God. Our father. And the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always. When I remember you in my prayers. [15:03] Because I hear of your love. And of the faith that you have. Toward the Lord Jesus. And for all the saints. And I pray that the sharing of your faith. May become effective. [15:14] For the full knowledge of every good thing. That is in us. For the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort. From your love. My brother. Because the hearts of the saints. [15:26] Have been refreshed through you. Accordingly. Though I am bold enough in Christ. To command you to do what is required. Yet for love's sake. I prefer to appeal to you. [15:37] I, Paul. An old man. And now a prisoner also. For Christ Jesus. I appeal to you. For my child. Onesimus. Whose father I became. [15:48] In my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you. But now he is indeed useful to you. And to me. I am sending him back to you. Sending my very heart. [15:59] I would have been glad. To keep him with me. In order that he might serve me. On your behalf. During my imprisonment. For the gospel. But I prefer to do nothing. [16:09] Without your consent. In order that your goodness. Might only be by compulsion. But of your own accord. For this perhaps. Is why he was parted from you. For a while. [16:20] That you might have him back. Forever. No longer as a bondservant. But more than a bondservant. As a beloved brother. Especially to me. But now much more to you. [16:32] Both in the flesh. And in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner. Receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all. Or owes you anything. [16:44] Charge that to my account. I Paul. Write this with my own hand. I will repay it. To say nothing. Of your owing me. Even your own self. [16:55] Yes brother. I want some benefit from you. In the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident in your obedience. I write to you. Knowing that you would do even more than I say. [17:07] At the same time. Prepare a guest room for me. For I am hoping that through your prayers. I will be graciously given to you. Epaphras. My fellow prisoner in Christ. Jesus sends greetings to you. [17:20] And so do Mark. Aristarchus. Demas. And Luke. My fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be with your spirit. Amen. Good praise to God once more for his holy. [17:31] And his perfect word. Let's sing again. Because praise. This time from the Scottish Psalter. And Psalm 46. Scottish Psalter. [17:44] Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Verses we know very well. Psalm 46. Verses 1. Down to verse 6. [17:55] Page 271. Page 271. Psalm 46. Verses 1 to 6. God is our refuge. [18:15] Psalm 46. Verses 1 to 6. To God's praise. Who is the refuge. [18:34] Gone is our Jerusalem. [18:48] Amen. Amen. [19:48] Amen. Amen. [20:48] Amen. Amen. [21:20] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I know this week, this was supposed to be a future study, a few sermons really in this chapter, but given how the Lord blessed His work last week and the amount of new faces we saw discussing with a brother this week, and he was saying to watch out. [22:06] You said, well watch out, but what? Well watch out, he said, because whenever the Lord blesses His work, of course Satan is always even more active after that. and where we've seen great blessing we have to be wary of disunity so i say all that to make sure that we know there's no target here this evening as far as i know as far as i hear as far as i see and interactions we are united congregation and i hope that will continue i pray that will continue but let's also not be naive where the lord blesses his work satan is always right there just behind looking for ways in so i was reading my own private devotions this week in this chapter i forgot good throw it's just for one evening just for a short time this evening study this chapter together this letter together and to see what it looks like how the gospel transforms our relationships as brothers and sisters what it looks like to have a gospel minded relationship with one another all that being said we can come back to god's word here and again we're taking the whole chapter this evening as our text just working through it excuse me as we have it i hope we'll all agree hope we'll all agree that the gospel has as it were a real world impact on who we are as we said and how we relate to one another i hope none of us think that if we just believe in the gospel and follow the gospel but that then doesn't show itself and how we are as people then if we're happy enough with that then there's something wrong we don't believe in works salvation we don't say you have to do this and do that to be saved what we do believe is that where there's faith there is also works from our faith and god and our love of god from that then flows work that work doesn't save us it doesn't add to our salvation doesn't make god love us more or less but naturally from our faith we see works if we say we love the lord but yet we hate one another what does john and indeed james mention what does john say it means well we're liars the truth's not in us if we're to call ourselves believers this evening that should show itself in how we interact with other believers in other words the gospel should have a real tangible impact on our relationships with our family members in christ now not for a second am i saying we all get on completely together we're a church family and again i'm the only child but even i understand that not all brothers and sisters are always on best of terms i'm not saying we have to agree with every single point we have as brothers and sisters but the love needs to be there regardless the love needs to be there that's what we see going on here in this letter from paul to philemon that we are to be as living examples of what it is we claim to follow just to help us for those of us who have forgotten and those perhaps we haven't ever read or studied this book just to remind us all what's going on in this book it's quite a confusing letter because we're almost dropped right in the middle of a situation and i have to step back a wee bit paul is in prison we see that he's in prison alongside others as paul and there's timothy he also mentions epaphras and others they're mentioned to him they're in prison for sharing the gospel and from his prison cell paul writes to his friend philemon and we see that philemon is a church leader of sorts perhaps an elder of the day at the very least we see that philemon in his house [26:07] he has a church he hosts brothers and sisters so the very very least he's a man who is giving his house out every week perhaps a few times a week for brothers and sisters to meet in a dangerous thing because if the romans catch them the chances are or wherever they are catches them he himself will be in just as bad trouble as the rest of them but he gives his house out for the brothers and sisters to worship him and he's a friend of paul the sense here is they've served together paul knows him well we saw at the end of the letter paul knows him well enough to say to them get a bed ready for me hopefully i'll see you some point soon make sure there's a bed ready for me you only say that to friends you know well you wouldn't dare write that to someone you didn't know we're on good friendly talking terms they're brothers together but we see there's also something else going on of course this is a letter and paul is in prison paul an old man is in prison paul was battered and bruised we can presume he's not got much paper to work with not as much material to work with so every letter paul writes it's important he doesn't waste his time and we see here at paul although friendly in his letter is still writing as an apostle we see that he follows the usual pattern in all his letters in verse three grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ that's that introduction paul uses or something similar to the introduction he uses in almost all of his letters the fact he uses that introduction tells us two important things about paul and philemon and their relationship first of all it tells us of course that philemon is a believer he knows the lord he loves the lord and also it tells us that this is a man of position what do we mean well it tells us again he had a house church and we know from history that the most of people who had churches meeting in their house that they were often the higher levels of society the richer among the brothers and sisters those who had a better income a better lifestyle with a house big enough to host a church as paul writes this letter to philemon we see something incredible has happened he writes to tell philemon that an extraordinary situation has taken place but whilst paul has been in prison or perhaps in his journey towards prison he has encountered a christian called onesimus and onesimus has told paul at some point or paul has found out at some point that onesimus at one point before he was saved he was a slave in fact onesimus is a runaway slave and even more strange onesimus is a once runaway slave from philemon at some point before we're both saved as the wording tells us before we're both saved onesimus escapes runs away from philemon goes on a run and at some point in that journey onesimus escaping and then meeting paul whatever the time frame is we don't know onesimus has been saved philemon's been saved paul's met philemon and now paul's met onesimus and as god works things together as he always does we see these three men now come together paul's in prison onesimus [30:07] has been in prison as in prison the wording is somewhat vague there because well paul knows what's going on we perhaps don't but paul's met onesimus in prison and paul is now writing to philemon onesimus as friend on behalf of onesimus what isn't told to us here but what common sense tells us is onesimus seems to be quite nervous you can see that by how much paul pleads how much paul words carefully we'll see in a second what i mean by that when he writes to philemon onesimus is perhaps worried that as he goes back home to his once upon time master his slave master he's worried what this relationship will now look like for him once he was a slave to this man now he's run away and we think well it's bad enough but we perhaps don't think of the context a runaway slave in this time in this context a runaway slave under roman law is a thief because a runaway slave is stealing themselves away from their master that makes little sense to us perhaps but it's the law the master's bought him therefore by running away you've stolen yourself the value the master's paid for you and you've stolen that away from your master in other words a runaway thief under the the the the level that the the area of law could be very harshly dealt with imprisoned bits and pieces cut off in some situations we know outside of bible we know from history it happened a runaway slave would also would often lose their non-dominant hand you would have your hand that you didn't use much or fingers from a hand cut off if you were caught a serious business it's a dangerous thing to be a runaway so you can see why put an estimus must have been quite worried as he says to paul well that man philemon you're talking about i think i know him you can imagine a conversation in the present i think i know him paul goes oh how do you know him well actually i was a slave perhaps paul would say did he free you did he let you go no i ran away again paul the lawyer paul would have known what i meant for an estimus in a worldly sense so that's the story we have here and as we here we join the letter these three men paul the apostle in prison on estimus for runaway slave now a saved man and a brother who served alongside paul who's worked with paul writing to a fellow brother philemon and paul is writing we can presume that this letter paul is writing would have been a letter given to onesimus to bring back to philemon and say hello i'm back here's a letter from paul read this first please that's the sense we get of why this letter was written so that gives us a sense of what's going on just to help us understand we just go through the verses as we have them first of all verses one down to verse three as we said paul is writing from prison he's alongside timothy epaphras and others and he's writing to believers who are meeting in the house here so he starts with this standard introduction he gives grace to you and peace from god our father and rather being just a standard copy and paste introduction paul always does it gives insight into what's going on it reminds us that even in the household of faith even as paul writes to philemon [34:10] and the brothers and sisters meeting in the church in his house it reminds us that even in the household of faith brothers and sisters even here this evening we are a mixed bunch we're a varied bunch every one of us we bring to this gathering our own history our own story our own personality our own quirks things that are unique and strange to us we bring it all to this place we bring it all to our gatherings together as brothers and sisters and reminds us that there's always been complications this letter tells us there's always been complications right from the start of a new hit of a new testament church there's been complicated family situations social situations situations situations where we have to take what the word tells us and apply it to the complicated messy reality of life perhaps for too long i'm not saying ourselves here i don't know if that's true or not i wasn't here but perhaps for too long over the last few decades last century perhaps in our church culture we have this illusion again it comes from the victorians before the victorian age this wasn't a thing but it became one after the victorians this thing of going to church gathering acting and looking prim and proper and pretending that life is okay no word at home there's sick relatives no word at home you haven't slept for a week because of stress or you're worried about that growth that's growing somewhere or you're worried about your mental health declining or the bank balance is looking a bit scary or the job situation's fragile whatever else x y and z and we have this thing that we hate to look messy my brothers and sisters we're here this evening as a church family and i am bold enough to say that you are lying if you were to say i hope you wouldn't but if you were to say that everything in life for you just now is great every single area of life is completely perfect as it should be your family situations your own personal situations health and wealth and happiness all perfect if it is then we genuinely praise the lord for you but i have my doubts every one of us we come this evening with worries and burdens stresses and strains and nothing's changed here we find a complicated dynamic when onesimus arrives and knocks at the door of philemon's house we see a complication complication when this letter is handed to philemon we see a complication taking place now of course there's no one here who's a slave to anyone else here it's not a cultural problem that we have anymore so the question is well if no one here is an escaped slave and there's no masters here how on earth does this apply to us today this evening why does it matter to us why is it in scripture well again although personally i don't know i haven't heard rumblings i have no secret information i'm not naive enough i'm not naive enough to to know that there is not some little amount i'm sure of issue and worry and grievance in our congregation there always has been there always will be i'm not speaking in any situation i am not i promise i am not there's nothing in my mind at all but we are human we love the lord we serve the lord but at times we are so human like every other family and indeed every other single congregation there's gonna be tensions tensions i perhaps won't hear about [38:16] or know about ever if ever at all but there's issues and there's problems and there's burdens and there's worries and there's tensions and there's frictions we're a family i gave the other family so this letter still speaks to us today so this letter shows us how to apply gospel principles to a situation that is complicated full of tension full of stress full of worry i see that in verse 4 down to verse 7 before paul really digs into the the main issue here of the the elephant in the room paul mentions in verses 4 down to verse 7 he spends the time to to genuinely praise philemon for all the hard work he is doing and paul's praise it is genuine paul's praise is real verse 4 onwards i thank my god always when i remember you in my prayers because i hear of your love of the faith that you have toward the lord jesus and for all the saints this is a man for the man who is giving his house over who is a loving man a caring man who we see as an evangelical man verse 6 i pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective this is a man who is doing his job well he loves the lord he serves the lord he loves the lord's people he serves the lord's people he shares the good news brothers and sisters we this evening come at a time as we said especially where as a family we're giving praise to god for his goodness towards us i mentioned a prayer about a second just now it is no boast of ourselves we ourselves know what we did at most at most we have prayed for a month or two at most we put a banner up at most we handed some invites out and the lord blessed his work amongst us last week and again quite gloriously again this week as we see faces come back two weeks in a row now we leave that to the lord we take no glory from that we take no praise for that but last week and this week we saw what it is for us to put our trust in the lord and to go out in faith and to see that he is a god who hears us a god who answers the prayers of his people we saw 12 or 13 people come out over both services and we are people who encourage one another we see our fellowships we see our gatherings we are a people who encourage one another emma and i feel very encouraged being here with you as your minister i feel very encouraged serving you people enjoy coming to worship here with us ministers come and enjoy preaching to you there is much to be encouraged about there is many good things many ways the lord blesses us and has blessed us many reasons to look heavenward as paul says there are many good things going on in the life and service of philemon there are many good things going on in the life and service of north tolstaff rechurch and to that we give god all the praise and all the glory for it but it's from that place of encouragement that paul then speaks truth and love to philemon and this evening it's from this place of encouragement as we see god's goodness towards us god's blessing towards us we then have to ask perhaps the harder questions as we look to these verses verses 8 to the end of our chapter in verse 8 we see the tone changes a wee bit and we see the striking and almost beautiful exercise of paul's power verse 8 accordingly [42:19] though i am bold enough in christ to command you to do what is required yet for love's sake i prefer to appeal to you as a believer in the lord as a brother in the lord and then as an apostle in the lord paul can command philemon to do what is required of him he can command him to do what his duty is and paul says i can command you i can tell you i can order you but actually i'd rather do it how i'd rather do it in love yet for love's sake i prefer to appeal to you brothers and sisters when we are dealing with complicated situations in our congregation whether that's yourself and another believer or whatever the situation might be our starting point has to be one of love there's dynamics perhaps you're an older believer dealing with a younger believer you have power over them deal in love perhaps it comes a day we pray not we pray it doesn't but perhaps a day comes when there's a discipline issue and it's myself and the elders and yourself and in one sense yes there's authority difference there but our calling and our plan and our goal is to deal with you in love in love paul says i am bold enough to do this and that but actually i will deal with you in love for love's sake i will appeal to you instead we have here a complicated situation in these verses a complicated situation and that doesn't well summarize well our own at times family dynamics our own spiritual family dynamics we love one another we care for one another but our complications often behind the scenes which threaten to derail the gospel work and threaten to derail us in this situation we see paul laying down the gospel principle and note how paul talks about onesimus in verse 12 i am sending him back onesimus sending you my very heart paul is showing philemon that onesimus has been a great asset to the gospel work and that really he is now a servant of christ and because onesimus is now a servant of christ he is now also of course a brother a brother of philemon a brother in the lord note how the gospel takes situations in this world and turns them around only in the church of christ do we see age make so little impact we can see those who are older in years yet younger in faith come alongside those who are much younger in their years but much older in their faith there are some christians who have been christians for 20 years and are in their early 30s early 40s and there's older people who make christians for a year or two in their 80s and 90s the world doesn't understand it the gospel takes the world's standards and turns them upside down again under the law of the land philemon can destroy onesimus can imprison him can have him sent away and have him lose limbs and lose fingers [46:20] but that's not what happens is it the law of the land says one thing the law of the gospel says another again humanly speaking philemon could pursue onesimus and pursue him to the very limits of the law but instead we see in love paul is saying he is now your brother and treat him as such and paul himself is confident onesimus will be dealt with fairly and dealt with in love we see that in verses 15 and verse 16 where paul says perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while but you might have him back forever no longer as a bond servant no longer as a slave but now as a beloved brother now as a beloved brother brothers and sisters when you look and think about brothers and sisters who have wronged you and who you have friction with perhaps intention with even behind the scenes remember you are thinking about and pondering and perhaps feeling annoyance against brothers and sisters whom the lord has set his love on philemon has every reason every reason under law every reason humanly speaking to be completely against onesimus this is a man who has stolen from him a man who has caused him [48:07] I am sure complication after complication a man who has caused him so much stress and strain but yet Paul says because of the gospel he is now your fellow brother treat him as such treat him as such at the same time there are still real world implications we see that verses 18 and verse 19 Paul is clear if he has wronged you at all if he owes you money put it on my account there are still real world physical implications at times from our fallings out with brothers and sisters looking at this from bottom up from the world up we see three men an apostle a man who was wronged legally and a runaway slave power and riches on one side and spiritual power and spiritual riches in the area of Paul and this poor slave and esimus a useless runaway disaster of a human being a worthless slave what's the lens we see here in scripture it's not that is it we see three brothers the exact same level [49:30] Paul the apostle who in many ways in his power is over these men but yet he is clear he calls on esimus a brother a child in the Lord a fellow servant in the Lord he says this runaway slave who is useless to you who is useless to the world to me he is useful to me he has value and on esimus now to you also as a fellow brother in Christ he has value too he has value too so how do we apply all this to ourselves well there's two principles two overarching principles that are at play in this short but deep letter first of all as we said as we begin to deal if we have to deal and work with brothers and sisters we have to remind ourselves of the goodness of God the goodness of God in both our lives and their lives as Paul does in verses 4 down to verse 7 as he reminds an esimus and reminds [50:41] Philemon I should say that God has been good to you and God has been good to this other brother you have this issue perhaps with our first principle is to remind ourselves who we are in Christ and who that brother or that sister is in Christ chosen from before the start of eternity chosen eternity past chosen from before the start of creation I should say chosen before light and creation and matter existed loved eternally loved special to the Lord that is the person you are dealing with that is the person you are dealing with it is a worldly thing to sit and to ruminate and to churn over the discontent and the annoyance we have of one another and we do that we do it to our shame we do it to our shame it is a worldly thing to do that the gospel based approach is to step back as we see here and to think that brother that sister who has caused me such annoyance they are a brother a sister in the Lord they have wronged me perhaps in some way but they are a brother and a sister in the Lord now just one caveat before we finish off here if that issue is a big issue use your own common sense here if that's a discipline issue if that brother or sister has done something horrendous against you then bring it to ourselves don't be a doormat there is no calling scripture to be a doormat there is no calling scripture to be walked over yes forgive and all that but don't be abused don't be hurt badly this is dealing with a situation where there is annoyance where there is tension where there is actual sin real sin being committed don't sweep that under a rug if there is real sin and hurt caused to you by a brother and sister please deal with that bring it to them bring it to ourselves as elders but this is talking about annoyance and grievance and everyday problems with brothers and sisters normal family problems with brothers and sisters step back as a first principle as we see in verse 4 to verse 7 step back and praise God for he has done for us what he has done for them and secondly we see the principle all the way through to remind ourselves we are equal in the Lord brothers and sisters we are all equal in the Lord there are some here and no doubt in your life in your life in this world you have earned far more money and others of us will ever earn there are some here and you have got far more position of power than others of us will ever have there are some here and in the civil world in the secular world in church courts we wield perhaps more power than others in the Lord we are what in the Lord [53:50] Onesimus Philemon and Paul they are equal they are brothers in the Lord as you come to the Lord's house Sunday by Sunday and week by week are you still holding that grievance that tension against that brother or that sister in the Lord if you are then view them in this lens bring them to the Lord and say they have annoyed me they have grieved me this has happened that has happened but understand that together we are one in your eyes it's hard easy to preach it much harder to put it into action brothers and sisters we are a family we are a family my closing question it's a simple but perhaps a hard one do you have right now the last half hour have you had or do you have an Onesimus in your mind that one person perhaps not even here in another congregation a brother or sister who has just annoyed you who has been hard going in your mind who has caused issue for you perhaps and you know the Lord this evening is prompting you to take that to him in ongoing and deep prayer brothers and sisters [55:39] I give praise to God that we have a church here that is united the Lord blesses unity Satan loves disunity let's be mindful that next week next month the next few months as we endeavour to see the Lord work in North Tulsa as we seek to see more people come out and hear the gospel as we seek to reach out more to this village we will see I can guarantee it attacks from the evil one you will feel it you will see it you will know it don't be surprised by it he hates unity he will try and cause disunity in every way possible fight against it and bring these things to the Lord give praise to God for all he has done for you and for that brother or that sister and bring them to the Lord in your prayer and remember that together we are equal in the Lord we are equal in the Lord again I see a church that is united but let's not rest as it were on our laurels and assume this will continue as it is let's be watchful let's be mindful and as Paul instructs Philemon let's all be ready to act in a way that lives out in the real world what it is we claim to believe and to follow the gospel transforms relationships as hard as it is at times as complicated as it is at times faith true faith the gospel transforms our relationships there is no place in our lives for brooding and brewing discontent and annoyance and tension take it to the Lord and if needs be take it to that brother and that sister and together with the Lord discuss things talk about things fellowship together painful yes awkward yes unpleasant perhaps yes but worth it to the gospel cause in North Tulsa let's bow our heads in that a word of prayer [57:47] Lord thank you for your gifts to us the gift of this congregation the gift of one another the gift of a church family we can serve you and seek to build up one another we ask you to help us any tensions we are feeling and facing with other brothers and sisters in the faith we ask you to help us to address them bring these things to you to learn from the example of Paul and Philemon to learn from the example of poor Nesimus that man who is willing to go back home and to face the master he once ran away from we learn to be like Philemon who we know from the tone of the letter who Paul is confident receives the letter of joy and receives Nesimus back home to himself help us Lord then to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel forgiving one another being kind to one another seeking to upbuild and uplift one another and doing all in your strength not in ours keep us far from the evil one from his division and from his schemes let's go all these things in and through and for Jesus his precious name's sake [58:59] Amen how else to end with a Scottish Psalter and Psalm 133 Psalm 133 Scottish Psalter Psalm 133 that great song of unity behold behold how good a thing it is and how becoming well together such as brethren are in unity to dwell like precious ointment on the head that down the beard did flow even Aaron's beard and to the skirt stood off his garments go Psalm 133 the whole psalm to God's praise Behold the good a thing it is our only coming well together as brethren and how in unity omitted to dwell like precious ointment on the head that the bearded flow in Aaron's spi Justine and God slain on Jasner hills descend forgive the plastic [61:12] I'll live at shaman amen the grace of the lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit both you now and forevermore. [61:33] Amen.