Well, this evening we're turning to the little book of Philemon. Only one chapter, the book of Philemon this evening. You'll find it just before the book of Hebrews, just after the book of Titus. And so Philemon, we'll read the book together and we'll read this. first and only chapter of Paul's epistle to his dear friend Philemon. Let's read God's word. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow labourer, and to our beloved Appiah and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in my love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ, to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such, and one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech thee for my son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bones, which in times past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me, whom I have sent again, thou therefore receive him, that is mine own bowels, whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel, And without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefits should not be, as it were, of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, and thou shouldest receive him forever, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord. If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or owed thee aught, put that in mine account. I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand. I will repay it, albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, Let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence in thine obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say. But withal, prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you. There, salute thee, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Our Rischikos, Damascus, Demasari, Lucas, my fellow laborers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. And we'll add our own amen to the public reading of God's precious word this evening. The letter before us tonight is called by some the polite And it is called that for Paul uses great courtesy and great tact when he writes to his friend Philemon. Onesimus, a household slave, had robbed his master Philemon and had subsequently run away from him. Hoping to hide himself in the great city of Rome, Onesimus fled to the capital of the empire where the providence of God he came to hear the Apostle Paul preach the gospel and was now converted to Jesus Christ. He'd become a brother in the faith and Paul mentions that when he writes to Philemon. Now the Apostle knowing the wrong that Onesimus had committed sent Onesimus back to his Christian master with this letter of apology requesting that Philemon would receive him as a brother in Jesus Christ. Now although the initial purpose of the letter was to restore a runaway slave to his master, yet it is a weighty letter and every syllable has substance in it. In the letter Paul states how he makes mention of Philemon always in his prayers. Verse number 4 I thank my God making mention of thee always in my prayers. You know there's no greater thing and there's no better thing that we can do for our brethren and sisters than to pray for them. We may not be able to help them financially if they find themselves in financial straits. We may not be able to help them with regard to their health if they find themselves in sickness. We may not even be able to help them with regard to their spiritual difficulties, whether that be doubt or a lack of assurance, or even times of backsliding. And yet the wonderful thing about prayer is that it costs us nothing, only our time. and that it takes us directly to the one who can provide for his people, who can heal and who can deliver his ones from their spiritual paralysis and spiritual decline. And it is a wonderful thing to be part of a church fellowship where you're actually prayed for specifically and prayed for individually. Paul prayed for his friend Philemon on a personal basis. He mentioned his name at the throne of heavenly grace. And as I said last week, I trust that you do that for me and I pray that I do that for you, to mention you before the throne of heavenly grace. What a blessing to have God's people pray for God's servants. to pray that God's hand will be upon them and that God will use them in our day and in our generation. Now Paul is under house arrest. We have read twice within the portion that we read this evening that he claims and he declares himself to be a prisoner, not of Nero, but a prisoner of Jesus Christ. You see above his circumstances and above Nero Paul understood that God had so purpose that he would become a prisoner not of Nero but of Jesus Christ for the cause and for the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ he speaks within the little epistle of him being in bones I believe it appears on two different occasions there in the verse 10 he speaks about my bones and the verse number 13 he speaks about the bones of the gospel. And so with him being under house arrest, Paul was no longer able, due to his present circumstances, to do certain things. He couldn't go about preaching the gospel freely, as he once did in Asia Minor. He couldn't visit the churches that he had seen established during his time of ministry. And yet there was one thing, well, I suppose we could say two things that he could do. He could write and he could pray and Paul prays even when he finds himself under house arrest. Paul's imprisonment could not stop him, could not stop him praying. could do many things, could inhibit many activities, but it couldn't stop God's servant praying. He didn't allow his testing and trying circumstances to so depress him and so overwhelm him to the point that he stopped this vital ministry of intercessory prayer on behalf of others. You know, it is true that there can be Christians and they can get terribly discouraged when life circumstances dictate that they have to step away from some ministry that they have invested years of faithful service in, maybe because of age. maybe because of ill health, sickness, maybe because of other circumstances. And they find themselves to be those that have had to step away from such ministries. And such people, they find themselves wondering is that, is there anything that they can do? Is there anything that they can do within the work of God, now being restrained by old age or by sickness or by ill health? And as we all know, there is something that we can all do. And that is to pray, to pray, to be involved in the great ministry and the great activity of prayer. Listen to what Jonathan Edwards said. He said, there is no way that Christians in a private capacity can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ as by prayer. Jonathan Edwards saw that the great means and the great impetus that will be brought to the church of Jesus Christ and the work of God and the advancement of the cause of Jesus Christ is through this great activity prayer. And so child of God maybe in recent days you've had to step aside from the work of God. Maybe old age no longer enables you to go out to bring in the children or to be involved in Sunday school or Maybe there was a time that you were involved in such ministries, and now you find yourself discouraged, disheartened, and wondering, is there anything that I can do? Never think yourself to be useless in the work of God. Yes, avenues of public service can close for us all. And I think of some of even our ministerial colleagues, And unfortunately, because of what has happened to them in the last year, they will be no longer returning to their pulpit. And I'm sure that such men are discouraged and disheartened, and yet the wonderful thing is that such men can lay hold of God and can be as instrumental in moving the work of God forward as a man standing within the pulpit. need to see the value and the worth of prayer. Prayer. You see, there is something that you can do. There is always unfettered access to the throne of heavenly grace. There is a great deal that you and I can accomplish on our knees in prayer, because we are praying to one who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all. that we could ask or even think, do you believe that? Do I believe it? Well, may God find us then believing it in so much that we actually practice it in our lives. Well, Paul unceasingly prays for Philemon. And in this praying, he begins to thank God. Notice what he says, I thank my God. And so he comes before God with thanksgiving. And he thanks God I suppose he really is, but putting into practice what he preached. It's good whenever preachers put into practice what they preach. Terrible, terrible thing if a preacher preaches in a pulpit and goes around the countryside and expects everybody else to be doing what he doesn't do himself. Terrible thing. And so Paul puts into practice. What does he put into practice? Well, he puts into practice what he says Elsewhere in the new testament when he says that whenever we come before the throne of grace we are to come Before him with thanksgiving let your request be made known with thanksgiving And so he's coming in before god, and he thanks god for his friend Do you thank god for your friends? Christian friends, thanking God that God has saved them and put them into your sphere of influence, that they've been encouragement to you. Well, Paul thanks God for this man Philemon. Notice what he thanks God for in verse number five, because he speaks here that Paul gives thanks to God when he heard of Philemon's love and faith. I thank my God making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and thy faith. Paul sees us upon two elements that really constitute the sum and substance of the Christian's life and character, faith and love. As Paul considered the life and testimony of Philemon, these were the two Christian graces that stood out in the life of Philemon. Now maybe it was different for others that he knew. Maybe it would have been faithfulness. Maybe it would have been sincerity. But with regard to Philemon, these are the things that stand out. When Paul thought of his friend Philemon, he thought about his love and he thought about his faith. His love and faith. John Calvin. He wrote concerning this particular verse, this praise which Paul bestows on Philemon includes briefly the whole perfection of a Christian man. It consists of two parts, faith in Christ and love towards our neighbors, for to these sorry, for to these all the actions and all the duties of our life relate. It is out of our faith in God that love for God and love for our fellow man then outflows. You know, as I thought of Paul highlighting these two characteristics, this man Philemon, as he thought about his love and faith, I thought to myself, if others were asked to describe us in two words, How would they describe us? How would you be described? How would your wife describe you? How would your husband describe you? How would your friends describe you? What words would they use in their description? What would they point to? What grace, what virtue would they point to? Would they use words such as godly? Would they use a word such as sincere or honest? or joyful, or patient, or kind, or courteous, or loving, or faithful, or would they use words like insincere, hypocritical, inconsistent, unfaithful, rash, impatient, spiteful, bitter? Would these be words? I don't know. What would my wife use concerning me? She knows me the best. She's probably sitting at home. She will be sitting at home and she'll be thinking and she'll be maybe saying those two words whenever I do get home. Long, she might say long with regard to preaching. Well, we don't know. But you know, it was love and faith. Philemon had a love toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And because he loved Christ, then he loved all the saints, all the saints, all of them. Every single one. He loved them all because he loved Christ and Christ loves all his children. Philemon had a saving faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ and the sanctifying faith toward all the saints. These things Paul gives thanks for when he remembers his friend, a man motivated by faith and a man who worked by love. Oh, to have such a testimony. Well, having offered thanksgiving to God, then Paul moves on to a petition that he prays on his behalf. This is the prayer for Philemon, and it is found in the verse number six, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Now, there's something for you to scratch your head and wonder, what does that mean? Well, I trust that you'll not be scratching your head after I try, by the help of God, to explain what he is saying here. Now, Paul speaks here that the communication of thy faith. We must be very careful not to conclude here that when Paul spoke about the communication of faith, that Philemon was somehow the dispenser of faith. From our reading of scripture elsewhere, we know that the grace of faith cannot be communicated from one human being to another human being. For example, a believing parent cannot communicate saving faith to a child. Cannot be done. A believing employer cannot communicate saving faith to an unsaved employee. A saved minister cannot communicate saving faith to his hearers. Oh, he would love to do it, but he cannot do it. And so this thought of this communicating, this communicating of faith, this doesn't mean that Philemon had some kind of supernatural divine power to communicate saving faith to those that he came into contact with, because that would be contrary to scripture, because faith is a gift of God. It is a gift of God. No, when Paul speaks of the communication of Philemon's faith, he is referring to how through his conduct, his faith was communicated to others. Paul is praying here that Philemon's works would back up his words. His conduct would back up his claims to be a Christian. Paul believed that such communication would be strengthened and would be most effectual. In other words, that it would make its greatest impact. When do you think of this? That it will make its greatest impact by the acknowledging, by the recognition of others concerning Philemon with regard to every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Now don't miss this. The way that the Christian communicates the gospel to others effectually is by exhibiting in their lives every good thing that God has placed in us. Let me repeat that. The way that a Christian communicates the gospel, and that's what we're doing every day, the best way for a man, a woman, a young person to do that effectually is by exhibiting in their lives every good thing that God has placed in us by Christ Jesus. Paul prayed that Philemon would become the best communicator of his faith by living the faith out in his life. That's the best way. To live it out. To live it out. Not just to preach it. But to live it out, to live it out in your home, to live it out in your community, to live it out in your school, in your place of employment, the best way to communicate the faith is by living it out, by living out the gospel. Let me give you an example of what Paul means here. And the example comes from the very purpose why Paul was writing this letter to Philemon. You see, Philemon, like every child of God, had been forgiven by God. He had been pardoned, forgiven of his sin. His past had been dealt with by the blood of Christ. He was now justified before God, now a child of God, a brother in the faith. He had been forgiven himself. He had experienced the forgiveness that is in Christ Jesus. But having been forgiven himself, Philemon was then, according to the teaching of Jesus Christ, to forgive others as he himself had been forgiven. Failure to do that, failure to forgive others would lead to God the Father not forgiving him his trespasses. You'll remember the Savior's teaching, Matthew 6, verse 14 and 15, for if ye forgive men their trespasses, Your Father in heaven will also forgive you, but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now the ungodly would have known, would have been acquainted, I believe, with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and this was now Philemon's opportunity to put the teaching into practice. Onesimus had wronged him, and yet he's now converted. And he's now seeking to be reconciled to his master. Now what's Philemon going to do in light of the teaching of Jesus Christ? What's he going to do? Well, to forgive Onesimus. would be to communicate that his faith was in keeping with the teaching of scripture. Not to forgive Onesimus would lead to the ungodly to question Philemon's claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Philemon, you call yourself to be a follower of Jesus Christ, his teachings? And he has told you to forgive others? Now Philemon, if you're not going to forgive, what sort of profession is that? Where's the reality of the Christian life or Christ in you and the spirit of God in you if you can't live up to the teaching of scripture? All the damage and the lasting harm that is done to the cause of Christ by those of us who feel to live up to the Teachings of God's precious word, you know brethren and sisters if we want to be effective witnesses if we want to be effective communicators of the faith then we need to live up to the teachings of the scripture You know we read of a man and the Word of God Whose life really became more a stumbling block than a stepping stone to God or yes to God His conduct did not live up to his claims as a follower of God. His name was Lot. Knowing he came to communicate the most important message to his extended family, a message that God was about to destroy the city of Sodom in which they lived. We read that his sons-in-laws refused to take any heed to Lot's warnings because, and I quote, it seemed as, He seemed as one that mocked on to his sons-in-law. Lot's previous conduct in the city of Elphium meant that his witness for God had become ineffective. That would be a tragic state of affairs if that was our testimony. That if we had such a bad testimony that as we tried to communicate the gospel to them, they would be thinking in their mind, maybe not saying verbally, they would be thinking in their mind, but your life, your life does not match the teaching of Scripture. It would become ineffective instead of being effectual. Now look there at the statement of what Paul says at the end of the verse, number six, Paul speaks of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. The question is then, what good things is Paul referring to here? Now we understand that naturally speaking, there is no good thing in us. That is our natural state. Paul will say that in Romans chapter seven, that in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing. And so these good things are put into us by Christ. And that's what Paul goes on to say. The good thing which is in you, in Christ Jesus. God has put it there due to our union with Christ. These good things are found within the life of the child of God. And when these good things When they find themselves outworked in our lives, it will lead, I believe, to a greater effectiveness in our communication of our faith in Christ Jesus. Now, I want to highlight just a number of these good things as we find them in this epistle. I'm not bringing these from my own thinking, but we find these actual things within the context. That's why it's always good to be contextual in our preaching. We're going to draw these good things from what we actually have within the epistle. Not our thoughts, but what we actually have. What were these good things? Well, first of all, there was a good thing of service. Service. Paul speaks of Philemon there in verse one, as a fellow laborer. A fellow laborer. Philemon did not sit idly by on the sidelines of the church. He gave himself. to labouring alongside the Apostle Paul. Now we're not told what form that labour took. It may have been financial assistance to God's servant. Many believe that was the case, being a wealthy individual. Others suggest it was prayer. Others suggest that it could have been to help him on his missionary journeys in some practical way. He maybe even went with Paul for a certain period of time. We're just not too sure, but Paul identifies him as a fellow laborer. And Philemon had come to realize early on within his Christian life that he was saved to serve, saved to serve. By this, brethren and sisters, we evidence the genuineness of our faith. We serve the Lord. We serve the Lord in some way or another. We become involved in the work of God. We may not all, and we know that you'll not all be called as ministers of the gospel, but thank God we can be fellow laborers with God's servants. We can support them prayerfully, support them financially. We can encourage God's servants. We can endorse their preaching by actually coming to hear them preach. By your attendance, you endorse the preaching of the gospel. Isn't that a wonderful thing? As the ungodly look at our car park on a Sunday night, you are endorsing the preaching of the gospel in this community. You're saying to those who drive past us, there's a gospel preaching church. The doors are open. The gospel is being preached. That's a wonderful thing. And as part of that, you are a fellow laborer with God's servant. A good thing in you, Philemon, this serving God. And as you serve God, the communication of your faith is going to be more effectual. Then there was the good thing of the care of the saints. I believe this is inferred from what we have at the end of the verse 2, because Paul writes about the church in thy house. You know, Philemon cared so greatly for the spiritual well-being of the saints of God that he opened up his home so that the church could meet there for worship and for public gathering. Not only that, but we find that Philemon was involved in acts of charity that resulted in the refreshment of the saints. Look there at the verse number 7. The verse number seven, for we have great joy and consolation in my love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Philemon's love for the saints, caring for their spiritual, and I believe their physical, needs evidence that his faith was a genuine faith. Did Christ not say in John 13 verse 35, by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another? Do men not know that we are, sorry, do men know that we're Christ by this divine benchmark? Do we love one another? Do we seek to the relieving of their needs, the needs of others within the household of faith? And if Christ went about doing good, and he is the church's head, should we not be about doing good, doing good to all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith? He evidenced his faith by works of charity, Doing good, the care of the saints. What about the good things of love and faith? We have mentioned them already. You know, faith goes upward to God, love goes outward towards the saints, as well as upward to God. I suppose if we find ourselves struggling to love the saints, then the remedy is a greater faith in God and in Christ. Without love, then our claims of faith are empty words. Without love, Claims of faith are empty words. What did Paul say they were? They were like sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. If we have not charity, both love and faith find a home in the regenerate heart of Philemon. And these graces give force. They give force to the communication of his faith. There's a man who loves God. There's a man who has faith in God. There's something about this God. That's what they would have thought as they looked on at Philemon. Then there was finally, there was a good thing of obedience. Look down at the verse 21 of the chapter, having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote on to thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say. His generosity, but we could speak of that, but we speak of his obedience. You know, Philemon was a man who cheerfully obeyed the Lord and his obedience to God's command evidenced his genuineness of his faith. He was once a child of disobedience, because that's what we are. Once a child of disobedience, but now he is an obedient child of God. As the ungodly looked at his life of obedience, Credence was given to the faith that Philemon communicated to others. There's a genuine Christian. He obeys the Lord. He's obeying the Lord in all things. And that's what gave his testimony and his communication of the gospel its greatest effect. The good things in him. were seen by those without. And they came to understand the genuineness of that which now Philemon professed as a Christian and as a believer in Jesus Christ. I wonder, are these good things found in us? What about our service? Does it exist? And is it consistent? What about the care that we have for all the saints Do we care for all of God's people without personal prejudice or partiality? What about our love? Our love for God, our love for our fellow man. What about our faith, our faith in God and in His Word? And when it comes to our obedience, are we obeying the Lord? Whatever light He's given you, are you obeying Him? God forbid that we would be so inconsistent in our Christian lives that when we come to communicate the faith to others, instead of that communication being effectual to their salvation, it is ineffective. May the observing world recognize that what we are saying is true because our lives are consistent with the gospel that we purport to have received. The poet Edgar Guess penned the words, and with this I close, and I've quoted it before, but I thought it to be apt. He said, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I'd rather one would talk with me than merely show the way. The eyes a better pupil, much sharper than the ear. Fine counsels can confuse me, but examples always clear. The lectures you deliver may be very wise and true, but I'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do. Oh, may God help us to communicate the gospel, not only by lip, but by life. And then that will be the attraction. There's something different. There's something different about those Christians that I so need in my life. Let us pray this prayer then for one another. And may God be pleased to make us effectual in our communication of the faith. Amen. Let's bow in prayer briefly. Father, in heaven, we come before Thee. What great need we have, O God, in our lives. We confess, Lord, our need. We need Thee, Lord. helping us in living out consistent Christian lives. Grant, dear God, the communication, O God of the faith, through our lives and through our lips, O God, that it would become effectual by the ungodly acknowledging every good thing in us, which has been put there by and in Christ Jesus. will answer prayer and help us, Lord, in this. We pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. We're getting down