WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.919 we've read a short time ago and we can take us just the leading theme of the epistle 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:14.060 where you find Paul here addressing Philemon in this way where he's saying 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:22.460 about the love that that he has for Philemon and Philemon has for him as well so if you look at 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:28.519 verse 8 accordingly though I am bold enough in Christ to commend you to do what is required yet 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:36.799 for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you especially these words will take the whole 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:42.019 letter as it is but look at it under the direction of these words because really I think that captures 00:00:42.019 --> 00:00:51.799 the spirit of the letter for love's sake how well that describes the apostle's own relationship 00:00:51.799 --> 00:01:00.759 with Christ and also his work as an apostle I'm sure you've done this a number of times I certainly 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:07.439 have when you've opened a letter that's come into your possession into your house recently there was 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:13.319 one came in and I didn't have my glasses on and it I noticed the word James and 46 Francis Street so 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:18.780 off I went and opened it and then when I opened it it was actually a document addressed to James Murray 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:24.560 fortunately it was nothing really private or anything like that but it's always a privilege 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:30.359 to be able to read the likes of a letter like Philemon because this is a very personal letter 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:36.879 and it's a letter in many ways different to any of the other letters of the apostle although the 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:42.859 letters to Timothy and to Titus are personal they're addressed to them as individuals but they're really 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:48.659 much more in the context of the wider church and the way in which they they're being given directions 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:55.700 for their place in the church but this is a letter to this individual loved by the apostle and 00:01:55.700 --> 00:02:04.760 dealing with this escaped slave Onesimus Onesimus who had escaped from Philemon's household 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:14.180 and had come to be and somewhere other made and made a contact with with the apostle Paul and under the 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:20.939 apostle's teaching came to be converted and that changed man and now Paul is sending him back to Philemon 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:30.780 with these directions instructions really as well so that Philemon will receive him back even as he would have 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:40.500 received Paul himself so first thing to take from the letter really I think is that grace the grace that brings us 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:50.759 to know the Lord and the salvation grace produces a Christian character grace produces Christian character in 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:56.639 every single one of us who knows the grace of God as it operates in our lives that means that it doesn't matter 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:03.239 what kind of background we have what kind of upbringing we've had what kind of situation in life we've got 00:03:03.239 --> 00:03:10.339 the grace of God that brings us to know the Lord actually produces a Christian character it actually 00:03:10.339 --> 00:03:18.459 brings us to be a Christian people in the image of Christ himself to serve the Lord in different ways 00:03:18.459 --> 00:03:25.379 and you can see that this man who was converted through the apostle Paul if you look at verses 4 to 5 you can 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:31.960 see what Paul is saying that I thank you uh my God this is in writing to talking about Philemon I thank my God 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:39.159 always when I remember you in my prayers because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:46.699 towards the Lord Jesus and all the saints and I pray that the sharing of your faith goes on to say might be 00:03:46.699 --> 00:03:52.740 effective so the apostle is giving thanks for the faith and the love that Philemon has already 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:59.540 and that is actually reaching out towards what he calls the saints especially and the Lord Jesus 00:03:59.540 --> 00:04:08.500 and the saints Paul has come to know of this man Philemon as now he serves the Lord as grace has changed 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:14.640 his life and reached into his life this is the product of that grace this Christian character this concern 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:21.579 for the love that he has for the Lord Jesus the love that is in Paul himself of course as well so 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:27.439 that's the first thing he's saying faith and love towards Jesus and the saints is one of the chief 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:35.099 evidences that you have of someone whose life has been changed and the second thing in verses 6 to 7 00:04:35.099 --> 00:04:44.199 that then has a positive impact on the whole of the Christian community and I pray that the sharing of 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:50.039 your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for 00:04:50.039 --> 00:04:57.219 the sake of Christ for I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother because the hearts 00:04:57.219 --> 00:05:05.099 of the saints have been refreshed through you what a magnificent statement how much would you want that 00:05:05.099 --> 00:05:10.800 and I would want that to be said of myself by somebody who could genuinely say that's what I see in you 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:16.939 that's what I find in you not only do you love the Lord and do you love the saints but the sharing of 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:23.080 your faith the sharing out of your faith the way in which you relate to other people and show your faith 00:05:23.080 --> 00:05:30.699 to them and express your faith to them that it may become effective for the full knowledge of every good 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:37.460 thing that is in us for the sake of Christ the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:44.239 there's a wonderful image there a picture there of how the grace that changes our lives or the lives 00:05:44.239 --> 00:05:50.659 that have been changed by grace are themselves lives which affect those within the Christian community 00:05:50.659 --> 00:05:57.679 the Christian church the Christian congregation but also out with that that it may become effective 00:05:57.679 --> 00:06:03.179 I think he's including they're not just among the saints but effective out with that as well 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:11.220 so that knowledge the full knowledge of everything that is in us for the sake of Christ and that's 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:20.280 really resulted in Paul's joy and comfort I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother 00:06:20.280 --> 00:06:28.199 doesn't just mean the love that Philemon has shown to him personally but the love that Philemon has shown 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:34.779 to his fellow Christians to the world around him for the apostle that is a source of much joy and much 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:42.399 comfort and isn't that how it is for ourselves what gives you greater comfort than to know that God is 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:48.579 using you however small a way you might see it to be or I might see it to be if it brings refreshment if 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:55.279 it brings comfort if it brings some help to those who are in need and struggling then that's surely a source 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:02.019 of much comfort of much comfort and joy for ourselves that's really what our Christian life is directed 00:07:02.019 --> 00:07:13.199 towards directed by grace towards the refreshing the help the teaching the support of others 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:21.239 now that's really the description of Philemon what grace has done to Philemon is expressed there and 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:26.660 what he is to Paul and what he is to his fellow Christians and even what he is out with that as 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:34.259 he shares his faith that God has given him then he speaks about Onesimus as well I appeal to you he 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:43.939 says verse 10 for my child Onesimus whose father I became in my imprisonment and by that he means I became 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:50.600 a spiritual father in my imprisonment Paul had come into contact on Onesimus somehow came into 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:57.540 contact with Paul during this imprisonment and here is the result of it he had become a Christian 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:06.360 he was converted and now he is saying I appeal to you for this my child my spiritual child whose father 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:11.220 I became in my imprisonment and then you notice what he says it's in brackets but it's actually a really 00:08:11.220 --> 00:08:21.340 powerful statement formerly he was useless to you but now he is indeed useful to you and to me 00:08:21.340 --> 00:08:29.240 you see how how much a change has happened in this man who who ran away as a slave from Philemon's home 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:35.620 from the works that he was doing there ran away as somebody who was just then openly and seeking to 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:43.720 escape from that way of life but now he's been converted normally he says he was useless to you 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:51.019 that word's important it means um more than just well we use the word useless usually don't we of 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:57.320 somebody that you're giving some work to or somebody that's trying to do something for you and ends up 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:03.600 making a mess of it some so you just say that's you're useless just I'll get somebody else or I'll do it 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:11.259 myself that's not the the the meaning of the word useless it's stronger than that useless here has the 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:19.720 idea of being harmful being actually bad not just being useless and not able to do the work properly 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:28.100 or something like that the word really means he was bad he was not dependable he he was somebody who 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:36.019 who was harmful and did harm to you but that's changed into the opposite now he is indeed 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:43.360 useful to me and that word means very beneficial you see he's gone from somebody who was really out 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:50.940 to do harm somebody whose life was really about damaging other people including his former employer 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:57.720 but now he's become a christian now he's been changed by grace he's become the opposite of what 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:05.780 he was he's become useful he's become very beneficial and if there's one thing that should characterize your 00:10:05.780 --> 00:10:14.040 own life and mine it's this whatever background we've come from whatever we were when god came and 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:21.099 converted us and changed our lives around the one thing that should be obvious about us to some degree 00:10:21.099 --> 00:10:29.740 or other in some way or other is that we are useful people useful for the lord because we are servants of 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:37.240 christ we are servants in the sense that we want to be useful in his employment for him to use to bring 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:44.279 benefit to those around us to those near to us to those in our christian community in our congregation to those 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:51.100 out with that in our neighborhood in our workplace wherever if it said of us that we are useful for the lord 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:59.820 that's a great thing because that's really what the christian life is all about isn't it to be useful now i'm not 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:04.980 saying by that that you would say of yourself that you're a very useful person and i wouldn't say it of myself 00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:14.460 but god changes us so that he makes us of use in some way or other to other people and to be useful 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:21.120 in a world that has so so many needs is itself a wonderful emphasis 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:29.840 and we may never be the best at any kind of job that we're involved with there may be others 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:37.060 who are far better at it than we as christians may be that doesn't mean because we're christians or 00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:44.500 because a christian a doctor or nurse or whatever work we're doing um that they're christians that 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:49.940 they know the lord that they're going to be the very best at doing that job that they're going to be 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:55.879 the most skilled at doing it it doesn't follow that way but there should be nobody more dedicated 00:11:55.879 --> 00:12:05.220 nobody's nobody more dependable nobody more honest nobody with a greater desire to be useful in every 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:14.019 way than a christian than a person whose life god has touched this is what he's saying the grace that 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:20.679 has turned philemon that's affected philemon and brought him to be a means of refreshing to the saints 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:27.379 well that grace has touched the life of onesimus and now onesimus has turned from being useless 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:36.979 harmful to being very beneficial in fact his name itself onesimus actually has to do with the idea 00:12:36.979 --> 00:12:46.219 of being useful and the way that he puts it here he's useful to me or to you and to me 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:52.660 i think paul is striking a note there that's important and it's something like this he is 00:12:52.660 --> 00:12:59.379 useful to the kingdom of god to the work of the kingdom whether he's working for me or alongside 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:06.259 me or working for you back with yourself i'm sending him back to you doesn't matter where he is but 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:15.379 this is for you and for me for the kingdom he is now useful he's a useful instrument under god 00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:22.279 and of course grace as you see it here it comes through and what the apostle is saying of himself 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:29.480 as well not just about philemon and about onesimus but also about himself his attitude for example 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:35.100 to his imprisonment he launches out into this little wonderful letter full of love 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:45.220 all a prisoner for christ jesus and timothy our brother he goes on speaking of himself 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:52.080 through the epistle a number of times he refers to himself in different ways and you can see 00:13:52.080 --> 00:14:01.860 there in verses 18 and 19 if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything charge that to my account 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:10.220 i paul write this was my own hand i will repay it to say nothing of you're owing me even your own 00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:18.340 self the words paul is saying you actually under god owe what you are to me through my ministry for god 00:14:18.340 --> 00:14:25.720 but he said i'm not really concerned about that i do want you to realize that if this man has wronged you 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:33.259 if he's robbed you if he's done something bad to you as previously uh he's saying he was that kind of 00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:41.720 person put that on my account i'll pay it for him i'll make up for it even if he's not able to make 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:49.919 up for it i'll do it for him what a wonderful heart the apostle had and what a wonderful insight that 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:56.519 gives us into the way that a christian prioritizes not just the needs of others but the needs of others 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:02.779 even to the extent that they would put themselves out in order to actually support them and make up 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:08.220 for whatever deficiencies this man had to his employer philemon 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:17.819 it shows itself doesn't it in i mean paul is really saying here well there's no need for it in a sense 00:15:17.819 --> 00:15:21.620 that you would receive him in this way other than your christian duty 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:29.779 but when we had ourselves converted one of the great tests of that is that when things don't go 00:15:29.779 --> 00:15:36.120 your way what is your reaction when things are different to the way you'd have ordered it yourself 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:44.060 or myself how do we respond to that here is paul in prison he wouldn't have chosen that for himself 00:15:44.060 --> 00:15:48.500 it's not something he would have said this is what i'd really love to be therefore i'm going to make 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:55.740 my way into prison and just stay there it just so happened he's there for christ and whatever led to 00:15:55.740 --> 00:16:02.799 it we're not sure but he's there for the lord jesus christ's sake because he was prominently a christian 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.360 an apostle in some way that led to this 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:13.399 but still see he's saying here if he has wronged you charge that to my account 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:20.779 in other words paul is really saying however things fall out however things come to be 00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:27.439 and you find them as they are you bring it to god and you say well how can i be useful 00:16:27.439 --> 00:16:37.259 how can i be useful even in regard to this thing how can my savior come through in my attitude and action 00:16:37.259 --> 00:16:43.840 in regard to this thing that i hadn't chosen for myself but this is how it is for him philemon 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:52.019 onesimus and paul three lives intertwined each of them changed by the grace of god 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:58.319 but intertwined into being useful instruments for the kingdom of christ 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:07.580 so grace produces a christian character but grace grace also positively affects relationships 00:17:07.580 --> 00:17:15.799 you see here why paul is writing to him and describing to philemon our beloved fellow worker 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:22.140 and then aphia our sister archipas our fellow soldier and the church in your house and then 00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:29.000 in these ways you can see how he's describing there um the way in which uh these people are so precious 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:34.880 to the apostle uh there's no rivalry mentioned there there's nothing of jealousy mentioned there 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:44.780 there's a paul the prisoner but timothy is his brother his his spiritual brother philemon is his brother 00:17:44.780 --> 00:17:51.420 his beloved fellow worker there's no jealousy on the part of the apostle as to 00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:57.279 how much he's achieved compared to philemon or vice versa they're in it together they're in it 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:04.519 sharing in the work of the gospel and it's all about helping each other however god allocates success or 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:12.480 otherwise and he calls here aphia our sister archipas our fellow soldier 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:20.420 he paul is very much aware that he's not alone in the battle and he's thankful 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:24.920 for those other christians that support him and he's calling them his fellow soldiers 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:32.160 that's what you are here i am tonight standing in this pulpit as i often do and thankful for it 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:38.860 and thankful for your own presence to receive the the gospel through the ministry of the gospel 00:18:38.860 --> 00:18:44.840 to the preaching of the gospel but where would i be without you being fellow soldiers if i was just 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:50.619 the only person on the front line in the gospel here in this congregation where would that be i would 00:18:50.619 --> 00:18:56.959 certainly not be at all confident of much but i am because you are my fellow soldiers 00:18:56.959 --> 00:19:03.819 you are conjoined together and joined with me in the preaching of the gospel in the ministry of the 00:19:03.819 --> 00:19:10.000 gospel you're taking your own share of what it is to be in the battle for christ 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:18.299 and to actually be at the forefront sometimes of that battle what a great privilege it is to 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:28.500 to be able to call each other fellow soldiers poor soldiers poor workers in the kingdom of christ 00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:36.519 and that really as you see in verses eight to nine leads on to though i am bold enough in christ to 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:44.420 commend you to command you to do what is required yet for love's sake i prefer to appeal to you and 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:50.000 these again are wonderful words paul is saying i'm an apostle actually i'm not going to stress that he's 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:56.139 saying i'm not going to really um build what i'm saying on the fact that i'm an apostle although it's true 00:19:56.139 --> 00:20:04.639 i could command you i could actually set it out by saying look i am the apostle paul you owe under me 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:09.540 you owe yourself to me in the sense that i was used for your conversion but he's saying that's not the 00:20:09.540 --> 00:20:20.480 road i want to go down instead i appeal to you for love's sake or love's sake 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:29.259 whatever we can or cannot achieve through loving each other 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:38.420 it'll certainly always be a lot more that we can what we can do by way of command or forcing the 00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:44.920 issues i was talking in the school yesterday and today to a class about what is the work of a 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:51.559 minister what does a minister do and one of the questions that was asked they sent in the questions 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:56.160 ahead of them they were very very good questions and it was a privilege to to be there but one of the 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:06.940 questions was would you force an atheist to believe what you believe good question would you force an 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:11.900 atheist would you try to force an atheist to believe what you believe and of course my answer to that was 00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:18.080 no because the work of the gospel whether it's in the minister or any christian it's not about forcing 00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:24.940 people's minds it's not about trying to force the issue so that you're pressing people against their 00:21:24.940 --> 00:21:30.080 will into believing what you believe into being the kind of person that you would like them to be 00:21:30.080 --> 00:21:41.120 for love's sake you set out the love of jesus the love of god you show your christian love as a product of 00:21:41.120 --> 00:21:42.220 god's grace 00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:51.660 and our appeals always have to be for love's sake of course that doesn't mean that in the church there 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:58.900 should never be such a thing as as instruction given or rebukes given whenever that's necessary 00:21:58.900 --> 00:22:05.160 or commands in the sense that we come from god's word to say to somebody maybe whose life has gone 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:09.800 somewhat astray and say well this is what god is commanding you've got to you've got to really take 00:22:09.800 --> 00:22:16.960 note of that that's there's a place for that but even that has to be done in the spirit of love 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:27.680 for love's sake because nothing is as effective as love and the workings of love and the emphases of 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:36.240 love and love always has to predominate in everything that we do and that's how god persuades us isn't it 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:43.920 um it's not that necessarily that we we have no experience of his law touching our lives showing our 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:51.860 sins bringing us guilt before the lord and if the law does that then that's god at work but what does 00:22:51.860 --> 00:22:57.759 god then do he brings you to the gospel he brings you to the love that's shown in christ and in his 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:03.779 death and in his resurrection and there is where um the law having done its work if you like if that's 00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:11.500 been the case it always brings us to the gospel to the love of god and for love's sake really is 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:18.660 something you could say is applicable to god's way of working as well the love that is shown to us 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:27.220 in christ and that's how it it does change people this grace that changes people it brings about this 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:36.119 great product of of love this fruit of that change is love i remember hearing once about two elders 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:41.179 weren't in the same congregation weren't in the same congregation but uh they were now at a ripe old 00:23:41.179 --> 00:23:46.719 age and having reached an age where they were both in a care home and both failing in health 00:23:46.719 --> 00:23:55.279 um but they had been somewhat um uh well they weren't really on the best of terms let's say 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:02.439 always uh in the earlier stages of their life were different congregations but they ended up in the 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:11.180 same care home and one actually uh lost his sight completely physically still very strong he was a 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:19.900 big man but he had lost his sight the other one was very slight and although he had his eyesight 00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:28.759 he was very weak physically and really needed support and uh somebody had said they had seen them one 00:24:28.759 --> 00:24:35.519 day walking out in the garden of the care home holding on to each other and you can see what's 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.180 happening there the one who was slight and really weak and finding it difficult really to get the 00:24:41.180 --> 00:24:48.259 strength to walk was hanging on to the big man who had the strength but didn't have the eyesight 00:24:48.259 --> 00:24:56.279 and the fellow who was the weak he was the eyes of the fellow who was strong i think that's 00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:03.200 a wonderful illustration of how with our different needs we help each other through the course of life 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:13.500 we are endowed by god to fit in alongside of others different in many respects but for love's sake 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:23.139 and through love that support is so crucial to the progressing of our christian life and experience 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:29.620 for love's sake and that's why paul mentions the word heart here you'll notice that as we read through 00:25:29.620 --> 00:25:36.920 it verse 7 so what he's saying that i've derived much comfort joy and comfort because the hearts 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:44.520 of the saints have been refreshed verse 12 you go there you see mentioning again i'm sending him back to you 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:57.079 sending my very heart and then you find verse 20 yes brother i want some benefit from you in the lord refresh my heart in christ 00:25:57.079 --> 00:26:04.480 in other words paul is really taking us into the inner substance and working of our souls 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:09.139 and he's sending on esimus back he's sending his own heart his own love 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:15.480 he's talking about the heart of the saints the hearts of the saints the very spiritual 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:21.200 inners of the saints have been refreshed by philemon and for paul of course 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:29.960 love is so important the matter of the heart what he's saying to the to the philippians chapter 1 verse 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:40.160 this i pray that your love may abound more and more your love collectively started somebody the other 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:47.279 day about sanctification and how sanctification by and large in the new testament especially in paul's 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:54.000 writings it's not a matter for individual growth there is that but paul is right into the context of 00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:02.380 the church together and when the church together is required to grow it's together that they grow 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:08.640 you and i contribute to each individual's growth to our own personal growth but to the growth of the body 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:11.140 in love as he puts it in ephesians 00:27:11.140 --> 00:27:19.019 and so it's for love's sake you're never to be satisfied with something other than 00:27:19.019 --> 00:27:26.319 the very heart of things and the very heart of things is the heart of love so there's paul and 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:30.259 philemon but you can see philemon and onesimus we've mentioned some of this already 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:37.440 onesimus has caused much pain so you could say really that this this very personal little letter is 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:46.220 about reconciliation it's about a reconciliation between philemon and his former slave onesimus 00:27:46.220 --> 00:27:54.140 and uh that's really a test here for philemon verse 16 very much a test where he's saying 00:27:54.140 --> 00:28:03.480 i'm sending him back to you no longer as a slave but more than a slave as a beloved brother especially 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:10.940 to me but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the lord now paul has said i would have been 00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:16.200 glad to keep him here with me had i thought that was the right thing to do that's what i would have 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:22.740 done in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment but i prefer to do 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:28.600 nothing without your consent so that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will 00:28:28.600 --> 00:28:36.779 so he's saying that that's what he's then saying sending him back to him is how much he's now to receive 00:28:36.779 --> 00:28:45.299 him no longer as a slave well what a test that was for philemon here was a man who had wronged him 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:55.180 who had been bad who had not been good in any sense in the way that the word means uh to be good to 00:28:55.180 --> 00:29:01.779 to actually be reliable he'd run away he'd done some damage and now paul is saying receive him back 00:29:01.779 --> 00:29:08.539 but don't receive him back just as a servant or as a slave receive him as a brother in christ 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:18.079 receive him as somebody who will be alongside of yourself in the kingdom of god in the work of of of 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:23.599 serving jesus and that's why he calls him um beloved it's a forgiveness that he's asking for 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:30.680 for for philemon to forgive this man uh to forgive him by such in such a way as will demonstrate that 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:38.620 forgiveness by receiving him back as a brother in christ that's a test that he has to meet it's a test 00:29:38.620 --> 00:29:46.519 that he has to overcome and you see what he's saying in verse 17 if you consider me your partner 00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:50.980 receive him as you would receive me 00:29:50.980 --> 00:29:58.140 receive him as you would receive me in other words paul is saying to him 00:29:58.140 --> 00:30:01.759 if i was to appear on your doorstep philemon tomorrow 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:09.980 the spirit in which you receive me there is how i want you to receive onesimus 00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:13.640 coming back to you as a brother christian 00:30:13.640 --> 00:30:23.840 you see how grace has changed things now grace is now what philemon needs to to have and to know and 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:31.439 to to show in receiving onesimus back receiving paul is saying in other words he's not just to receive 00:30:31.439 --> 00:30:37.299 him back into his employment he's not just to forgive him in a sort of outward sense or in a formal sense 00:30:37.299 --> 00:30:40.679 he's saying what i want you to do is to welcome him 00:30:40.679 --> 00:30:49.279 there's the test for you and for me when we have been wronged when we've fallen out with some folk 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:57.519 then they come back and they ask i'm really really sorry forgive me it must never be 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:01.899 in the spirit of reluctance or just a formality 00:31:01.899 --> 00:31:08.180 the challenge is to welcome the reconciliation 00:31:08.180 --> 00:31:16.099 to welcome the opportunity to forgive because that's how god dealt with ourselves 00:31:16.099 --> 00:31:23.559 so welcome him he's saying um and uh you can just imagine the picture just now 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:28.919 of onesimus having gone back to philemon 00:31:28.919 --> 00:31:33.179 and the lord's supper is going to be next week 00:31:33.179 --> 00:31:36.799 wherever it's going to be this church in the house 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:40.679 uh the church in your house of aras aras arquebus 00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:47.460 our fellows and the church in your house he's saying to philemon all of those those people i think it's philemon's house he means there 00:31:47.460 --> 00:31:52.240 and you imagine well let's let's imagine they're going to observe the lord's supper 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:57.640 and along comes philemon and who's with him 00:31:57.640 --> 00:31:59.480 onesimus 00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:01.120 and where do they sit 00:32:01.120 --> 00:32:03.320 beside each other 00:32:03.319 --> 00:32:06.299 not one above the other 00:32:06.299 --> 00:32:09.299 not one more important than the other 00:32:09.299 --> 00:32:10.579 at the lord's table 00:32:10.579 --> 00:32:11.980 all 00:32:11.980 --> 00:32:13.799 is on the same level 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:17.220 there are no ranks 00:32:17.220 --> 00:32:19.480 at the lord's supper 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:23.579 we are all 00:32:23.579 --> 00:32:24.899 one 00:32:24.899 --> 00:32:26.619 in christ jesus 00:32:26.619 --> 00:32:28.739 for the sake 00:32:28.739 --> 00:32:30.139 of love 00:32:30.139 --> 00:32:30.739 we say 00:32:30.739 --> 00:32:34.179 so grace produces 00:32:34.179 --> 00:32:35.899 christian character 00:32:35.899 --> 00:32:37.439 grace 00:32:37.439 --> 00:32:39.219 positively affects 00:32:39.219 --> 00:32:42.119 our relationships 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:43.439 in christ 00:32:43.439 --> 00:32:46.759 and it shows the power of the gospel friends 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:48.799 power of the gospel to 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:50.379 to change 00:32:50.379 --> 00:32:51.919 matters positively 00:32:51.919 --> 00:32:53.179 to restore 00:32:53.179 --> 00:32:55.619 not just individuals to each other 00:32:55.619 --> 00:32:58.279 so that they welcome the reconciliation 00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:00.379 this is the gospel 00:33:00.379 --> 00:33:02.719 that has the power 00:33:02.719 --> 00:33:04.379 to extend beyond that 00:33:04.379 --> 00:33:06.059 to change 00:33:06.059 --> 00:33:08.159 broken homes 00:33:08.159 --> 00:33:10.000 broken lives 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:13.500 communities 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:15.799 nations even 00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:18.539 through the power of christ 00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:20.859 for the sake 00:33:20.859 --> 00:33:22.059 of love 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:22.919 let's pray 00:33:22.920 --> 00:33:25.460 almighty god 00:33:25.460 --> 00:33:26.360 we give thanks 00:33:26.360 --> 00:33:26.700 tonight 00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:27.400 that we are here 00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:29.279 in the love 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:30.060 that you have shown 00:33:30.060 --> 00:33:30.680 to us 00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:32.440 and we ask 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:32.820 oh lord 00:33:32.820 --> 00:33:33.600 that you would help us 00:33:33.600 --> 00:33:34.660 to respond in love 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:36.160 not only to you 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:36.880 and to our fellow 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:38.160 believers 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:39.300 but also to the world 00:33:39.300 --> 00:33:39.880 around us 00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:40.820 for you require us 00:33:40.820 --> 00:33:42.420 to go beyond loving 00:33:42.420 --> 00:33:42.880 one another 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:43.740 even to the love 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:44.539 of our enemies 00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:46.759 we give thanks lord 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:47.600 for the opportunities 00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:48.220 you give us 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:48.920 to do this 00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:50.560 but we pray 00:33:50.560 --> 00:33:51.180 your forgiveness 00:33:51.180 --> 00:33:52.600 for the times we fail you 00:33:52.600 --> 00:33:54.180 as we do lord 00:33:54.180 --> 00:33:54.759 so often 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:56.220 and we pray 00:33:56.220 --> 00:33:56.720 that tonight 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:58.180 we might indeed 00:33:58.180 --> 00:33:59.340 increase in our love 00:33:59.340 --> 00:34:00.039 for each other 00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:01.259 that our love 00:34:01.259 --> 00:34:01.880 may abound 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:02.940 more and more 00:34:02.940 --> 00:34:04.900 that we may welcome 00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:06.340 whenever reconciliation 00:34:06.340 --> 00:34:07.180 and forgiveness 00:34:07.180 --> 00:34:08.059 is required 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:09.820 lord help us lord 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:10.400 not to 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:11.980 enter into any of that 00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:12.720 reluctantly 00:34:12.720 --> 00:34:14.480 give us to be glad 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:14.840 that 00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:16.159 issues are 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:16.619 mended 00:34:16.619 --> 00:34:17.800 when they need to be mended 00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:19.640 give us lord 00:34:19.640 --> 00:34:20.700 to to know 00:34:20.700 --> 00:34:21.220 that even 00:34:21.220 --> 00:34:22.560 in the 00:34:22.560 --> 00:34:23.760 larger sense 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:24.300 whether it be 00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:24.780 between 00:34:24.780 --> 00:34:26.080 congregations 00:34:26.080 --> 00:34:27.360 or denominations 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.860 or communities 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:30.660 as well as individuals 00:34:30.660 --> 00:34:32.400 we thank you lord 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:33.200 for the pattern 00:34:33.200 --> 00:34:33.680 set 00:34:33.680 --> 00:34:35.539 by the love of god 00:34:35.539 --> 00:34:37.200 in christ jesus 00:34:37.200 --> 00:34:38.780 we pray these things 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:39.140 seeking 00:34:39.140 --> 00:34:40.440 that you would receive us 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:41.280 and hear the prayers 00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:42.019 of your people 00:34:42.019 --> 00:34:43.380 silently 00:34:43.380 --> 00:34:44.880 and also spoken 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:46.780 and all for jesus sake 00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:47.560 amen 00:34:47.560 --> 00:34:51.019 we're going to now conclude