I was listening to a news talk show earlier this week. The participants, though, were answering some questions that were posed to them by their viewers. It's a show I kind of enjoy watching on a daily basis, or listening to. Some of the questions were lighthearted, and so were the answers. But there was one question that I noticed that was more serious than the others, and so were the answers. It's a question that I think everyone tries to answer at some point in their lives. And the question was this. What do you want to be known for? What do you really want to be known for? When your life is over, maybe when you're in the casket and people are talking about you and eulogizing you, what do you want to be known for? Well, one person's answer was a rather noble answer. He wanted to be known for his work with children in need, charitable work, which is a good thing, good desire. Another person's answer was a rather common answer. She wanted to be known for her work and her career as a journalist. But have you ever thought about that question? in your own life? I mean, there's usually something that drives you, some purpose for living. It's really a question that strikes at the heart of the very purpose of life. Philosophers have long asked, what is the highest end of life? What is this purpose? So what would your answer be today? What is your purpose for living? What would you like to be known for when it's all said and done? Surely there's a greater and higher purpose for life than just being known as a good person. Surely there's a greater and a higher purpose for life than just being known as a successful person. And the truth is, there is. Even though success is something that is worth aspiring to, and being a good person and generous and being helpful is a good thing, the Bible teaches that the highest end The highest purpose in a person's life can be, and really ought to be, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. To glorify God. Now, it doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are, what career path you have, how rich, how poor, how intelligent or how non-intelligent or educated you might be. That can be the goal for everyone, and really anyone, no matter who you are, no matter what you're doing, to glorify God. Now, as we turn back in our Bibles this morning to Paul's letter to Philemon, I think we're going to see that this was the kind of life and the kind of purpose that this man, Philemon, had. So if you're not there already, the book of Philemon. We already consider the first three verses sort of Paul's introduction to this letter. But in verses four through seven, which will be our text today, Paul describes what Philemon was known for, what he had aspired to in his life. And through the words of Paul's thanksgiving and prayer, we get to know a little bit about this man, about his character, about his purpose for living. Now more than likely, Philemon was a fairly well-to-do believer. He had the church in his own house. It must have been large enough. for the church, the congregation in Colossae to come visit there. So he's fairly well-to-do. He had slaves, obviously. Onesimus was one of them. But he didn't want to be known for that anymore. That was his goal at one time in his life, but not anymore. What was he known for? I'd like us to read these verses together, beginning there in verse 4, as Paul says, I thank my God, making mention of thee, Philemon, always in my prayers. Why? hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints. And my prayer is that the communication, the sharing of thy faith may become effectual, bountiful by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation, comfort in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother, Some amazing words by Paul of prayer and thanksgiving about a fellow brother in Christ. And through this, we see that character come come out. But in these verses, Paul is sincerely grateful to God for Philemon. Have you ever done that in prayer? I thank God for this person. in my life. I thank God. I thank you, Lord, for this person in my church. Thank you, Lord, for sending them. Thank you, Lord, for giving them to me. Thank you, Lord, for gifting them." Well, that's what Paul is doing here. He is sincerely grateful to God for this man, Philemon, and that's why he says, I thank my God. Now, he was not just trying to flatter Philemon. If you know anything about this letter, he's trying to get Philemon to do something that he wants him to do, something that he needs to do in relationship with his former slave, the slave who had run away but had come back. But he wasn't just trying to flatter him to get Philemon to do what he wanted him to do. He meant these words. They were sincere words. But what kind of life and what kind of testimony would lead to this kind of response before God and by others? What kind of life in Philemon would cause Paul to thank God for him? That's what I want to focus on this morning. What kind of life is a praiseworthy life? Not praise for the person, but praise to God. What kind of life will bring glory to God? How will your life bring glory to God? This morning we're going to see through the testimony of Philemon what a thank worthy life looks like. The kind of life that will even lead others to thank and glorify God for you and about you. The first thing that I think we see is a praiseworthy life consists of a genuine faith. A genuine faith. In fact, this is the only kind of life that will bring glory to God and the fulfillment of the highest end and purpose for your life. A genuine faith. You see, the reason why you were born into this world, the reason why God created mankind, is to have a relationship with the Creator. And if you don't have a relationship, you will never, ever, ever be able to fulfill God's final purpose for your life. You won't. You need a genuine faith. Hebrews 11.6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. You cannot glorify God if you do not have a genuine faith in God. It's impossible. You need this kind of faith. And it is this kind of faith that Philemon possessed. And that is what caused Paul to write in verse 5 again, hearing of thy love and faith, a faith that you have, Philemon, toward the Lord Jesus, and a love that you have, Philemon, toward all the saints, toward all the Christians. So we see from this verse the foundation of a genuine faith that you need, that I need, in order to glorify God and fulfill our purpose. It's a faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there are different kinds of faith, aren't there? There's different kinds of faith. A lot of people will say they believe in God. In fact, I dare say if you took a survey, even today, most people would say that they believe in some kind of higher being, some kind of God. But is that all that is necessary to have a relationship with that God? Is that all that's necessary for you to please that God and to glorify that God? No. In fact, in James chapter 2, verse 19, James says, you know, if you believe that there is a God, you do well. But even the devils believe in trouble. So it's really no virtuous thing just to believe that there's a God, because even the devil believes that there's a God. It needs to be a genuine faith, a life-changing faith, a faith that is toward the Lord Jesus. It's not enough just to believe in a God or even to believe in the God. You have to know God through a genuine and a saving faith. So before you can ever fulfill God's purpose for your life, you have to know God. to know Him with this kind of genuine faith. Jesus Himself said in John 17, 3, This is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God, which is to do well, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. You see, all other faiths are counterfeit faiths. And they do not and they cannot bring glory to God. I mentioned a time or two when I was working at the bank, we would on occasion have a counterfeit bill, usually 20s or 50s, sometimes 100s. But whenever we got one of those in a deposit from a company or from an individual, we would immediately identify it as counterfeit and say, OK, we're going to have to deduct from your deposit this amount. And every single one of them would say, why? It's counterfeit. Why? It's not my fault that they gave me this counterfeit. Well, we would say, well, it is your fault that you accepted a counterfeit. You should have known, just like we know. So we deducted. But no counterfeit ever really makes anyone happy, does it? How would you like it if you got paid on payday, not in the form of check, but in counterfeit $100 bills? Crisp. And they look really well. But when you take it to the bank, they say, not a single one of these is worth the paper it's printed on. It's worthless. It's counterfeit. It doesn't make anyone happy. It doesn't glorify anything or anybody. And that's what counterfeit faith does in the lives of people and before God. If you are trying to please God apart from this genuine faith, it doesn't glorify God. There is no pleasure to God in this. So you must be a Christian. You must have this kind of faith. Philemon was. Are you? Have you turned from your sin and from yourself? And are you trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin? Because it's the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone that's the foundation of a genuine faith. And what is that faith really all about? I love the description of faith that John Gill writes there on your message guide if you'd like to follow along. This kind of genuine faith is a looking towards Christ. That's where it starts. It says that all you have to do is look and live, to look by faith in Jesus for what He did on the cross for you and you are saved. But that faith will grow, that faith is more. It's a looking towards Christ, a moving towards Him, a laying hold upon Him and embracing Him, a staying and leaning on Him, a living upon Him and a walking in Him. This kind of genuine faith brings glory to the Lord. Is that a description of your faith today? Can that describe your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? A genuine faith? A saving faith? A faith that looks toward Him, moves towards Him, lays hold on Him, walks with Him? It glorifies God. But also, it's a fruit. We see the fruit of a genuine faith. The fruit of the faith is love. It's one of the primary fruits of genuine faith. And we see this also in verse 5. where Paul again is thanking the Lord for Philemon's love toward all the saints, toward all the believers. So Philemon didn't just have a testimony of faith in Christ. It was a faith that bore fruit, a fruit of love. He had a testimony of a love that reflected the very love of his own Savior. You know, I don't know how many times Jesus said this in the scriptures, to love one another. Now, he's not just talking about loving everybody in the world, though, I mean, we ought to have that kind of love even toward our enemy, Jesus said. But over and over and over again, Jesus said that the way that people will know that you are my disciple is if you have love one for another. That means if you love the body of Christ, you love other Christians. John 15, 12, Jesus said, love one another as I have loved you. And so Philemon had this kind of testimony. It was a faith that bore fruit. It was a genuine faith that grew in love and demonstrated itself in love toward others. And Paul wrote that he heard these things about Philemon's life. Now we're not, we don't believe that Paul had met Philemon in Colossae. He may have met him in Ephesus, but perhaps Paul never met Philemon. We don't know for sure. But he probably was told about Philemon by his pastor who was there in Rome. Maybe even Onesimus when he got saved and was there in Rome and said, you know, I left my master under bad conditions and I probably ought to go back and rectify those and pay restitution for what I'd stolen from him. Because he really is a kind man. He really was a godly man. He really did love you. And so Paul heard about Philemon. But you know, the only way you can hear about someone's faith and the only way that you can hear about someone's love is for someone else to see that faith and to see that love in action. You see, 1 John 3.8, John writes, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. It's one thing to say that you believe and to say that you love. It's one thing for you to say that you believe God and believe in Jesus Christ. It's another thing to actually show that faith, right? It's one thing to say that you love someone. It's another thing to show that you love that person. What did Paul hear? Onesimus and likely Epaphras said, Paul, this is what Philemon is doing with his faith. This is what Philemon is doing with his love. So Paul heard it, rejoiced in it, and thanked God for it. A genuine Christian faith that bears fruit, the fruit of genuine Christian love, is the only kind of life that is thankworthy and will bring glory to the Lord. So, is that what you're known for today? Do you have a genuine faith that is bearing the fruit of love for the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, you are well on your way. to glorifying God in your life, to glorify God with your heart. But then the second thing that we see from Philemon's testimony is that a praiseworthy life also consists of a growing faith, a growing faith. This too is the kind of life that will bring glory to God and fulfill the highest end and purpose of your life. You know, I know a lot of people who have said, I am a Christian. I have put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior, but that was it. There hasn't been growth. There hasn't been a desire for growth. There isn't an interest in growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And that is why we see in verse 6 that whenever Paul thinks about Philemon, he prays for him. So when we think about the testimony of Philemon, he must have been a Christian that has it all together. Well, no Christian has it all together. Brother Ed said about the song that we sing, Rejoice ye pure in heart. We can't sing that when we think about our own heart in our own state. Even Paul said, in my flesh dwells no good thing. The fact the purity of our heart doesn't come from ourselves, it comes from Christ. It comes from His Spirit, it comes through His Word. And so when we're singing, Rejoice ye pure in heart, it's not a purity that I have, but it's a purity that I possess in Christ. And so that's what we find here. Paul knew that Philemon had room to grow. And that is the sign of a Christian who's glorifying God. Not one who has it all together, but one that is growing, still growing. No matter how long you live, there is always room to grow. Isn't it interesting that when you go, when you watch the Olympics, that there are all these world records. But aren't these world records meant to be broken? And it seems like over the years, the bar has gotten higher and higher and higher, figuratively and literally, if you're trying to jump over it. But the world record continues to increase or shorten depending on the race. And we see that these records are there to be broken. There's more room to grow. There's always more. And the truth is, as believers, there's always more for us to grow. And that is a life of glorifying God. It's one that says, I have not gotten to the point where I need to be. It's a desire where a just man may fall seven times, but rises up again. And that rising up is what glorifies God, because it's not by your own strength. It's not by your own power, but through his grace and through his might that you rise up again. So what did Paul pray for this godly Christian man that he might grow? Look at verse 6. That the communication, that this ongoing growth, outgrowth of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Again, Paul wanted the faith and love of Philemon to not remain where they were. Now they were strong, for sure. But there was then, and there still is, a danger for these qualities in a Christian's life, faith and love, to become stagnant and even dormant. Isn't it interesting what a little lack of rain or a little rain can do? I mean, just think about this year here in central Indiana. Think about what happened in the springtime and how much rain we had. almost too much rain, where the farmers weren't even able to plant their crops until much, much later. But it was good for the grass. It was good for the trees. It was good for the weeds. It was good even for the bugs. I mean, there was all sorts of things growing out there. But when Angie and I got back from vacation, we realized just how dry it was. We were only gone for a couple of weeks. And there wasn't hardly any rain, we found out. And our grass was starting to wither out and kind of dry up and become dormant. But what happened the last week? Rain. More rain. And what happens with that rain? It brings life and refreshment to that dry, parched ground and that dry, parched grass. So it's green again, and I have to mow again. Complaining about that. But isn't that what we need? We need more green in our life. We need more growth in our life. We need more of this aspiration and desire for God in our hearts. Why? So that it doesn't grow stale. It doesn't get stagnant. It doesn't go dormant. And here we have Paul about to ask Philemon to stretch his faith and to stretch his love by receiving back into his life and into his home and even to his own church someone who had left him and even hurt him. And see, that's why so often God brings things into our life that we may not like. It's to stretch our faith and to increase our love so that we will have a growing faith that will glorify God. A stagnant faith does not glorify God. A dormant love does not glorify God. But one that grows, does. And so what does Paul pray? He prays about, first of all, the purpose of his growth. The purpose of his growth. Look again at verse 6. He prays that the communication of his faith, of Philemon's faith, might become effectual. Or, that the fruit of his faith, its communication, the benefit of his faith to others, would flourish and abound. Remember what James says about faith and works? Without the works, you can't see faith. So that's the idea here. It's the communication, it's the outworking of that faith. It's doing good because of that faith in you. Paul wanted that benefit to others from his faith to flourish and abound. Now, sometimes things may come into your life that will challenge your faith. Have you ever thought, because of some event in your life, some circumstance, that God's not happy with you? Or maybe you thought God has actually left you. Now, of course, we know from Scripture that that is counter to many of the truths of Scripture. It's in those times that we have to run to the Scriptures, because that is the fact, that is the truth. When we feel like God has forsaken us, we need to remember the truth that if you are in Christ, He never leaves you and He never forsakes you. If you think that God is mad at you for some reason, you think back to the Scripture that we are accepted in the Beloved in Christ Jesus. He may deal with you as a son, but He never rejects you as His enemy, if you're in Christ. And so we must never forget that our feelings must be based on those facts. But sometimes we still have those feelings. And we feel like I'm just going to give up on this faith. Or what about love? Maybe you have poured out your love to someone over and over and over again. And it seems like you never get that love back. And you say, I'm just going to give up. I'm going to give up on that love. I'm going to give up on that person. I'm going to give up on sharing with that person. Perhaps Philemon was getting to that state when he saw his former slave there, thinking, I have to love him. He left me. I have to love him. He stole from me. I have to love him. Perhaps he talked back to him. I don't know. But remember what Jesus said in John 15, 8? He says, Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. God is glorified. with your growth. God is glorified when there is more and more, not less and less. We need to pray for ourselves and for others to not give up when those times in life come. We need to pray that we might always be abounding in the work and in the faith and in the love of the Lord. A growing faith brings glory to the Lord. It doesn't have to be a perfect faith. It's a growing faith. But how does this growth happen? Well, we find this out also as Paul prays for the progress of his growth. the progress of his growth there in the latter part of verse six. How is he to grow? By the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. By the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. You see, the fuel for a growing faith is a growing knowledge and acknowledgement of all the blessings you have in Christ. That's the fuel for a growing faith. Now we all know the importance of the right kind of fuel. I'm sure most of you have heard this story where I filled up the gas tank in our car with, not unleaded, which it called for, but filled it up with diesel. It was the wrong fuel. Guess what happened? About half a mile away from home, the car sputtered and died. Wouldn't start again. I thought I broke the car. Thankfully, all they had to do was suck all that diesel out, put some unleaded in there, and I was good to go again. But the wrong kind of fuel won't let you go. And the wrong kind of fuel will not help you grow. This is the kind of fuel that you need to grow. It is the knowledge, the acknowledgement of all the blessings that you have in Christ. It's like the song that we often sing around this time of year, count your many blessings. And how does it go? Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Now, it shouldn't be a surprise, but if it is, That surprise of God's blessing will likewise sustain you and strengthen you in your faith and walk with God. The blessings that God has given to you and His promises and His provision is the fuel for your growth, the fuel for your growth of faith. And so many of us think, well, I need to read this other book, you know, this other hot bestseller on the Christian chart in order to fuel my faith. You know, some books are helpful. But the book, the Bible is the most helpful. The promises, the provisions that we find in the scripture from God is what he uses to fuel our faith. And the blessings that we've received from him are what we will grow by. Think about these things. Think about the sufficiency of God's blessing. He says every good thing, every good thing. Remember James 1 17? It says every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Is there anything good in your life? Now, I've known some people that would say, no, there's nothing good in my life. But they need to think about it. Praise God they have life. Perhaps they have taste buds and they enjoy certain foods. That's good. He gives us these good things, these good blessings, and you can think about them and you can praise God for them and it will fuel your growth. Think about the security of God's blessings. If you have that genuine faith like Philemon did, every good thing which is in you, it belongs to you. The promises and provisions of God belong to you. Think of the source of God's blessing. It's all in Jesus Christ and ultimately for His glory and for His praise. So an active knowledge and a delight in these things will fuel your faith more and more. And you know, I hope that's your desire for being here today. I want there to be fuel for my faith as I feed upon the word of God. I think about his provision. I think about his blessing. I think about all these things. I want to grow. I don't want to stay where I was. I don't want to be dormant. I want to be stagnant. I want to grow for the glory of God. so that when people will look back at my life, they can say, he loved God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and he sought to glorify God. It wasn't about just being good. It wasn't just about being a good parent. It wasn't just about being successful in life. He sought to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is the highest end of a person's life. Is that your desire today? To grow in your faith so that you can glorify God with your life? Remember Philippians 4, 8, when you are struggling with things to think about and blessings that God has given to you. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. And you know where you can find all those things? Christ. Think about the greatest blessing of all, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when your mind is stayed on Him and your faith is in Him and you're following Him, guess what? You'll grow. And as you grow, you will glorify the Lord. Growing Christian faith is the kind of life that is thankworthy and will bring glory to the Lord. Is that what you want to be known for? I pray it is. Because more than anything else, this is the kind of life testimony that will last. You know, we read through the history books. We've been going through some of the history lessons in our Sunday school hour. There's a lot of famous people that have done a lot of important things. And just a few of those names are recorded for us in the history books. But you know, a life that is lived for the glory of God will be known throughout eternity. But not for my glory, but ultimately for His. Because a life that is lived for the glory of God will attract more people to Him. So He can be glorified even more. And when you dwell on the goodness of God, it will bring forth the growth and even the goodness that He desires and deserves. But then we also see that, third, a praiseworthy life will also consist of a generous faith. I think Philemon was a generous man. Maybe he was a generous man before he came to Christ, but even more so when he came to Christ. This too will be the kind of life that will bring glory to God and fulfill the highest end and purpose for your life. Not to take, but to give. And this is what caused Paul to write to Philemon in the first place. Again, he says in verse 7, For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother, You see, this is what a praiseworthy and a thankworthy life looks like for a Christian. It brings joy and rest and refreshment to the people of God. You know, so many Christians are people that sap joy and sap that delight and sap that comfort from others. Instead, what we need to do is try to encourage each other. I remember a Bible teacher that I had in Colorado used to say, he coined a word, he said, Instead of edifying each other, so often we edify each other. Don't edify people. Edify them. This is the kind of testimony that we ought to have. And Paul, I think, wrote to Philemon these words because he had hope. He had hope that Philemon would continue to display the grace that God had already brought in his life. You see, he knew the character of God. It wasn't just the character of Philemon, he knew the character of God. That way he started in Philemon, he would continue in Philemon. So what did he do in his life? Well, it was a grace that yielded great rejoicing. Great rejoicing even to the Apostle Paul. Again, verse 7, I thank God for you, for we have great joy. His thankfulness, his gratitude was because of the joy that he felt. A genuine, growing, and generous faith is a source of great joy within the body of Christ, isn't it? The thing that Christians struggle with most is someone who has the opposite of that kind of faith. A feigned faith, or a shrinking faith, or a selfish faith, or really no faith at all. It breaks our hearts to see people that are attracted by the world and want the things of the world more than the things of Christ, even though they've tasted and seen that God is good. And yet the cares of this world draw their attention away, and it breaks the hearts of the people of God. But what enlightens and enlivens the heart of God's people? It's when you are desire to grow. It's when you are generous with your faith, when there's that fruit, a source of great joy within the body of Christ. So often we think, though, that our faith is our faith. Well, it's just my faith. It's my relationship between me and God, and it doesn't really matter what other people think about me. No. The truth is your faith does have a big impact and a big effect on others. Keep that in mind. We are not just saved to live a life of solitary confinement with God, but no, in fellowship with his people. Even the Apostle John felt this way. 1 John 1, 3 through 4, he said, I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee. Even as thou walkest in the truth, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. If you're a parent, you know what John is speaking. you have no greater joy than your own physical children walk with Christ. It doesn't matter what job they have. It doesn't matter how rich they are. It doesn't matter how successful they become. What matters is that they love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. That is what gives you joy. And the same thing applies to us as church. The most impressive, the most joyous thing is when the people of God are not living for themselves, but they're living for Christ. and they're wanting to serve Him and please Him. When you seek to glorify the Lord in your life, it will yield great joy to the people of God. And like fire will beget fire, sometimes the spark of your faith will enliven the faith of others. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of going with Ed and Nancy to Mississinnawa 1812. It's an event where they remember what took place during the War of 1812 in the frontier, Indiana. And we walked through all the different stands. If you've ever been there, you know what I'm talking about. Everybody's kind of dressed up for the part. They're dressed up in that time period. And Nancy said, why don't you just stop whenever you see something that is of interest to you? And so we walked by one gentleman's tent, and he had a bunch of fire starters, ways to start fire. And that was of interest to me. And so we stopped by, and there was something that he had called a fire piston. It's very interesting, because basically, if you know how pistons work, they go up and down. But he put a little bit of carbon fiber, carbon paper, into this piston. And he pushed it really hard. And what happened, as soon as he took it out, there was just this little, tiny ember. It wasn't a whole lot. In fact, it was kind of hard to see. But he said, all I have to do is blow on that ember, maybe have some bird nest material and it would catch fire. Isn't that what happens so often in a church when someone is on fire for God, has that little glowing ember because they have a desire to glorify God with every area of their life. And that little ember so often can spark a great fire in the hearts of other people because they want to glorify God too. May that be the desire of our church. that we together want to have that ember glowing and growing into a great fire so that we can live for God and please God. And that's what Grace Baptist Church is known for. Not just our individual lives, but our entire church. We want to glorify God. We want to please Him. Because we love Him. Because He first loved us. We also see here that it was a grace that yields great rest. In verse 7 he says, even consolation and comfort in thy love. You see, the love that Philemon had for the Lord and for his people was a blessing to Paul. God used the news of Philemon's faith and love to show Paul that the gospel was still at work and powerfully changing lives. Remember, Paul's a prisoner when he writes these words. And he knew that he was bound. He was confident that the word of God was not bound. but to hear news, to get word that the gospel is still powerful, that the gospel is still active. This is one of the reasons why we love to hear from our missionaries, and we love to hear testimonies of God at work in your life, because it is a blessing, it gives us comfort. Sometimes it's so easy to get discouraged when it seems like faith and love are ebbing away. But when you hear the fresh news about God's ongoing work in someone's life, it lifts your spirit and it comforts your heart. But this kind of faith will also yield great refreshment. Paul explains then the evidence of Philemon's love was in verse seven, that the bowels of the saints, the hearts of the saints were refreshed by the brother. The saints of his own church, have been blessed and refreshed by His active and generous love." When was the last time you refreshed the heart and soul of a brother in Christ? When was the last time you encouraged them? When was the last time you smiled at them? When was the last time you called them? not to get anything from them, because you wanted just to hear about their day. When was the last time you shared with them something that God has been teaching you? And refreshing each other's bowels, refreshing our hearts. This is the kind of life that is thank-worthy. This is the kind of life that will bring glory to the Lord. A faith and love that brings rejoicing and rest and refreshment. Is this the kind of generous spirit that you are known for? So if you were asked that question today, the question that we started out with, How would you answer? What do you want to be known for? I hope the answer has changed through the course of this sermon. No longer is it just about being good or being successful, but rather the highest end, the highest goal, the highest purpose of life, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Is it something that is temporal and temporary? or will be something that is truly meaningful and will last forever. Because a praiseworthy and a thankworthy life, like the life of Philemon, and like the life of the Apostle Paul, and the life of so many other believers, is the only kind of life that will exalt the Lord and encourage others. And that's why Paul first wrote what we read in verse 4. I thank my God. He wasn't just praising Philemon, though I'm sure it was encouraging to Philemon to hear these words. But he realized that it wasn't Philemon that was doing this by himself. It was God at work in Philemon. So Paul thanked God. Paul thanked God because Philemon could not have a genuine, growing, generous faith apart from God and His grace. So Paul praised and thanked God from whom all blessings flow. And so, if you see any kind of this faith in your life, praise God for it. And if you see this kind of faith in the life of someone else, praise God for it. Give God the glory. And if you need this kind of faith, which I think if we're all honest, we do. We need it. We need a faith that is genuine, that's growing, that's generous. What should you do? Follow the example of Paul. Pray for it. Say, God, I know I'm not where I need to be, but by your grace, I can grow. because I want to glorify You. And if there is something that you are known for by the end of your life, may it be this, you know that person loved the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their strength, with all their life, because that is the kind of life that gives glory to God. In the end, it won't be you that is remembered, but the Lord, if you have that kind of life. His grace to you and His grace at work in you. So may it be as we read from Psalm 115, not unto us, O Lord, and not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory. How do you want to be remembered? Let's close in prayer. Gracious Father, I thank you for the lesson in the life of Philemon, who, Lord willing, every one of us will be able to meet someday. a man with a tremendous testimony of a genuine, growing, generous faith that came when he first put that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by your grace, O Father, I pray that we will see that that is a truly thankworthy life. That is truly a life that matters. A life that will leave not just a temporary or temporal impact, but an eternal impact and effect. Oh, Father, I pray at the end of our lives, people will see us and say they longed after the Lord. They sought to love the Lord and they sought to glorify the Lord in all that they said and all that they did in their whole life. And their faith was genuine and growing and generous because of the genuine generous love that Christ had for them. So father, I pray that even today you will help us to think about what our life matters. What is the meaning of our life today? And that Lord, when someone asked that question to us, we might have this biblical answer. It's not unto us, not unto me, but it's all for the glory of God. So, Father, I pray that that will be the very purpose of our life, that it is the highest end, the highest goal. Lord, make it so in our lives. I pray that, Lord, we will be a refreshment to each other as we grow in this way, that, Lord, we will bring rejoicing to the hearts of your people as well as for you as we live our lives this way. So, Father, I pray that even today, that whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we will do all to the glory of God. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.