WEBVTT 00:00:27.210 --> 00:00:30.910 I assume we've all read the book, the letter, 00:00:32.609 --> 00:00:37.509 and I guess the, Paul's a prisoner, most likely 00:00:37.509 --> 00:00:42.890 in Rome, and Onesimus has come to him. Onesimus 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:52.210 was a slave belonging to Philemon, and Paul then 00:00:52.210 --> 00:00:57.240 is writing this letter addressing that whole 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:03.439 situation with Philemon, and his argument is 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.900 at least, there's at least five things that he 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:12.140 uses to appeal to Philemon to do what Paul wants 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:19.939 him to do. In verse 14, it says that I benefit 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:22.519 in the King James or that I good deed. So Paul 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:25.420 has in mind something is gonna happen here. He 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:29.700 makes his request, what is it in verse 12? Receive 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:32.599 him, and then again in 17, receive him as myself. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:40.700 So with that, I think that's enough of an introduction 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:44.159 as to what's going on that we're trying to follow 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:49.099 what it is that the Apostle Paul is telling Philemon. 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:52.519 So keep those things in mind, and we'll read 00:01:52.519 --> 00:02:01.709 this. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:04.969 our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:10.330 and fellow laborer, and to beloved Apphia and 00:02:10.330 --> 00:02:13.729 Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church 00:02:13.729 --> 00:02:17.629 in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God 00:02:17.629 --> 00:02:21.409 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank 00:02:21.409 --> 00:02:24.909 my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, 00:02:25.530 --> 00:02:28.490 hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast 00:02:28.490 --> 00:02:31.289 toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints, 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:34.509 that the communication of thy faith may become 00:02:34.509 --> 00:02:37.129 effectual by the acknowledging of every good 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:41.210 thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:44.650 have great joy and consolation in thy love, because 00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:47.310 the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, 00:02:47.310 --> 00:02:51.150 brother. Wherefore, though I might be much bold 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:54.650 in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, 00:02:55.909 --> 00:03:01.810 or fitting, yet for love's sake I rather beseech 00:03:01.810 --> 00:03:05.509 thee, being such in one as Paul the Aged, and 00:03:05.509 --> 00:03:09.530 now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech 00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:13.009 thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:17.490 in my bonds, which in time past was to thee unprofitable. 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:21.740 but now profitable to thee and to me. Whom I 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:28.199 have sent again, or sent back, thou therefore 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:32.139 receive him that is mine own bowels. Whom I would 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:35.319 have retained with me, that in thy stead he might 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.159 have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:41.879 But without thy mind would I do nothing, that 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.659 thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:48.250 but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:50.889 for a season, that thou shouldst receive him 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:55.210 forever. Not now as a servant, but above a servant, 00:03:55.430 --> 00:03:59.909 a brother, beloved, especially to me, but how 00:03:59.909 --> 00:04:03.229 much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in 00:04:03.229 --> 00:04:06.469 the Lord. If thou count me therefore a partner, 00:04:06.889 --> 00:04:10.330 receive him as myself. If he has wronged thee, 00:04:10.629 --> 00:04:13.689 or oweeth thee anything, put that on my account. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.259 I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:20.939 will repay it. Albeit, I do not say to thee how 00:04:20.939 --> 00:04:24.220 thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:27.720 Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:31.759 Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.699 in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:38.879 that thou wilt also do more than I say. But withal, 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.339 prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that Through 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:46.060 your prayers I shall be given unto you. There 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:49.959 salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:54.399 Jesus. Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:57.259 fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus 00:04:57.259 --> 00:05:06.399 Christ be with your spirit, amen. What more can 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:09.060 we say? I mean, it's abundantly clear, right? 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:13.139 What's Paul doing? What's Paul expect Philemon 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:17.819 to do? Now the world would say that the Bible 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:21.660 is an endorsement of slavery and they love to 00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:24.439 go to this book of Philemon. Why do they do that? 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.079 Because Paul sends them back. And Paul also tells 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:35.319 what? Slaves and masters to be good slaves and 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:39.579 good masters in the Lord. But that's hardly an 00:05:39.579 --> 00:05:44.720 endorsement of slavery, and it's a total misunderstanding 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:49.300 of what's going on here in Philemon. Paul does 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:54.839 send Onesimus back, but that is not, that's not, 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:58.459 you can't read that and think that he sent him 00:05:58.459 --> 00:06:03.199 back because he was in some kind of, because 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.139 of Roman law or any other reason that he would 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:09.300 send him back as a slave. He anticipates something 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:11.240 is going to happen when he sends him back, and 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:14.019 it's not that he will be a slave for the rest 00:06:14.019 --> 00:06:20.420 of his life. There's a couple really hard verses 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:24.019 in here that can be confusing. I guess verse 00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:29.300 6, how does that fit in there? And then verse 00:06:29.300 --> 00:06:32.600 16, we have this, and this is the only place 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.040 that Paul uses this term in all of his writings 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:41.290 in the New Testament. He says, but how much more 00:06:41.290 --> 00:06:46.410 unto thee above a servant a brother beloved, 00:06:47.110 --> 00:06:52.009 both in the flesh and in the Lord? And so we'll 00:06:52.009 --> 00:06:58.350 have to decide exactly what Paul's saying there. 00:07:01.250 --> 00:07:05.230 Really, if we read this and we understand Paul's... 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:09.480 argument to Philemon properly, it's a reputation 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:14.040 of any kind of a racist idea or any kind of an 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:18.279 idea that slavery is okay in honoring the Lord. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.019 It's true that nowhere in the New Testament is 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:27.459 there a prohibition against slavery, except for 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:32.300 here in Philemon. Even in Philemon, it's not 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:36.379 stated as that. thou shalt not have slaves." 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:44.300 It's not stated that way. There's another relationship 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:50.360 in the New Testament church that is against God's 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:52.759 way. What relationship is that in the church? 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:58.100 These unconverted people come under the sound 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:00.180 of the gospel, they're converted and they're 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:03.579 inside this relationship, but it's not God's 00:08:03.579 --> 00:08:08.319 design. What is that relationship? Polygamy. 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.060 And nowhere in the New Testament does Paul or 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:15.139 anyone else say, when you become a Christian, 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:20.779 pick the best and get rid of the rust. Now why 00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:32.370 would that not honor the Lord? Well put yourself 00:08:32.370 --> 00:08:34.570 in that situation. You're one of the rest and 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:38.590 now what? What's been said to you? You married 00:08:38.590 --> 00:08:42.990 this man under the premise that what? He's going 00:08:42.990 --> 00:08:45.470 to take care of you. He's going to provide for 00:08:45.470 --> 00:08:48.850 you everything that he ought to provide. He's 00:08:48.850 --> 00:08:50.710 going to provide that not only to you, but to 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:52.710 the rest of his wives. And now he's a Christian. 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:57.570 So now his standard of providing is even higher. 00:08:58.429 --> 00:09:00.129 And what's he going to do then? Just kick him 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:07.120 out? So, that wouldn't be a very loving thing. 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:10.220 It also wouldn't be very loving to just take 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.039 your slaves and kick them out onto the street 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:15.279 and say you're free. What would they be free 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:17.820 to do most likely? Most of them would be free 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:27.220 to do under that circumstance. Either become 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:30.059 somebody else's slave or more than likely what? 00:09:33.150 --> 00:09:40.509 No. Starve and die. Here's your freedom. You'll 00:09:40.509 --> 00:09:42.850 have it for a few days until you starve and die 00:09:42.850 --> 00:09:48.990 or you can maybe turn to crime. So it's not quite 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:52.309 as simple as it may be if we had slavery here 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:54.769 in the United States today where we turn people 00:09:54.769 --> 00:09:58.429 loose and then they were able to get jobs and 00:09:58.429 --> 00:10:00.830 support themselves and the government might step 00:10:00.830 --> 00:10:03.340 in and take care of them. That wasn't possible 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:06.980 under Roman law, primarily because why? Because 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:12.039 the Romans were a bunch of racists. We have this 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:14.259 group of people that are above all the rest. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.179 We're not going to provide anything for these 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:24.279 less than human slaves. So that may be one of 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:26.720 the reasons why there isn't a prohibition against 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.759 it in the New Testament. I think it was something 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.850 like 30%. of the Roman population were slaves. 00:10:34.690 --> 00:10:37.750 Now that's an incredible number because when 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:39.830 Rome conquered, what happened to every single 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:43.070 person within the territory that was conquered? 00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:48.110 They became slaves. They didn't become Roman, 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:53.990 they became slaves. Now that means that if the 00:10:53.990 --> 00:10:56.269 average family might have had a slave, maybe 00:10:56.269 --> 00:10:58.950 they had a couple slaves. If you were wealthy, 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:01.899 you probably had a whole bunch of them. So inside 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:04.279 the church, who knows what the percentage of 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:07.200 slaves and free men were there in the church? 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:13.659 None of us know. It's not recorded for us. And 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:15.740 I'm just saying that to acknowledge that this 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:17.740 is what was going on. That was the culture at 00:11:17.740 --> 00:11:22.320 large. And there is, if you run any history on 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:27.620 slavery, that you'll find that when William Wilberforce, 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:31.330 and eventually here in the states, The arguments 00:11:31.330 --> 00:11:35.309 that were laid against slavery were found where? 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:39.629 In the Bible. So the Bible is not silent on the 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:42.049 issue, although it may not be explicit on the 00:11:42.049 --> 00:11:45.929 issue, and come right out and say slavery is 00:11:45.929 --> 00:11:49.649 prohibited. It's kind of like the U .S. Constitution. 00:11:49.809 --> 00:11:52.230 The U .S. Constitution didn't outlaw slavery, 00:11:52.289 --> 00:11:55.850 but everything in it argued against the continuation 00:11:55.850 --> 00:11:59.279 of slavery. So that when the culture moved to 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.299 the place where they were ready to do that, they 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:05.759 found inside the Constitution every argument 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.759 and every right and every law that they needed 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:16.039 to outlaw. So, I say all that as an introduction. 00:12:16.460 --> 00:12:25.620 So why is Philemon in the Bible? And is it applicable 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:30.340 to us? We don't have slaves. So is that the end 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:35.379 of it? Its use ended when slavery was outlawed 00:12:35.379 --> 00:12:37.100 in the United States and it would have a use 00:12:37.100 --> 00:12:39.940 maybe some places in Africa and in the Arab world 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:42.559 where they still have slaves, but not here in 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.360 the United States because we don't have slaves. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.779 Is that true? You might think that because who's 00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:50.159 ever heard somebody teach on the Book of Philemon? 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:57.820 And none of us raise our hands. So why is it 00:12:57.820 --> 00:13:01.519 in the canon of the New Testament? And is it 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.940 applicable to us today? Well, the answer obviously 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:09.919 is yes. God didn't preserve this letter of Paul's 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.820 to Philemon for us if it didn't have some use 00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:17.179 for us. And so what are the themes in the book? 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:23.080 You read it. What word or what themes come up 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:38.909 repeatedly throughout the letter? What else Well, 00:13:38.909 --> 00:13:41.649 I think that would be in forgiveness you're saying 00:13:41.649 --> 00:13:47.190 receiving I guess receiving back So that's part 00:13:47.190 --> 00:14:09.120 of forgiveness Okay All right, what else Well 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.759 how about it's all about relationship right where 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:17.200 does forgiveness take place In a relationship, 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:22.340 okay, so we can't talk about about forgiveness 00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:28.360 outside of a relationship What is it a master 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:32.120 and a slave? What is that? That's a relationship 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:36.240 We have a pastor and his church. What is that? 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:40.159 That's a relationship We have these other people 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:42.820 named in there because there's a relationship 00:14:42.820 --> 00:14:45.580 there So whatever is going on here, we ought 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:49.139 to be able to take some application to our relationships 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:52.080 whatever they may be we can probably get some 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.059 good help on relationships. So if anybody here 00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:58.299 struggles with relationships, then you've come 00:14:58.299 --> 00:15:01.100 to the right book. You should get some help. 00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:04.299 What about love? Did everybody hear love mentioned 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:25.629 repeatedly? It is interesting. Now what's the 00:15:25.629 --> 00:15:32.509 point? Well, but where's the fellowship? In Christ. 00:15:33.570 --> 00:15:36.570 Now we have a unique group of people here, right? 00:15:37.649 --> 00:15:40.289 And one of the unique things about Believer's 00:15:40.289 --> 00:15:42.950 Chapel is that a bunch of us are related by blood. 00:15:43.710 --> 00:15:46.210 So raise your hand if you're related to a dickman 00:15:46.210 --> 00:15:52.580 by blood. Okay, now that's a bunch of people. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.500 So what is that? Are we at some disadvantage? 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.759 Does that make the ministry that goes on here 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:02.159 in church life particularly awkward or does it 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:06.639 make it better? Does it make it easier? Well, 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:10.440 what would the Apostle Paul expect? What he would 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:15.360 say is, that doesn't really matter. What matters 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:19.320 is, are you in Christ? Is that where your fellowship 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:23.279 is? Is that where the equality comes in? Is that 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.440 the thing that you see first? If you look out 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:29.220 here and you see family by blood, then you're 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:32.879 looking wrong. I don't know how else to tell 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.279 it to you. You're looking wrong. Now I love my 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:41.759 family. My family has done nothing but good for 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:49.990 me in my life. That's true. I look out here and 00:16:49.990 --> 00:16:53.909 I'm preaching, I'm not seeing family. And I'm 00:16:53.909 --> 00:16:56.730 not treating anybody differently because, or 00:16:56.730 --> 00:16:58.970 better because of their family than I would anyone 00:16:58.970 --> 00:17:00.870 else. And if I'm doing that, then I'm doing something 00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:07.289 wrong. So to me, when I hear people lodge that 00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:10.569 as a complaint, or they lodge that as a protest 00:17:10.569 --> 00:17:12.910 against, well I don't want to go there because 00:17:12.910 --> 00:17:15.930 you guys are all family. Well what kind of church 00:17:15.930 --> 00:17:18.720 is it that you want to go to? where people find 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.859 their fellowship in something other than Christ? 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:23.799 You're saying that that's more important? That 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:26.000 that diminishes these people here because by 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.380 blood they're related? Their fellowship is in 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:31.500 Christ and they're pursuing Christ in their own 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:34.200 lives. And we're here to help them pursue Christ 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:36.220 in their lives and they're here to help me pursue 00:17:36.220 --> 00:17:40.680 Christ in my life. We are equal not because we're 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:43.700 family by blood, we're equal because we're in 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:48.859 Christ. So anybody that lodges that complaint 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:53.859 to me, they get more than that, but that's sufficient. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.240 So we're gonna get some help here, and hopefully 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.599 that answers that question for us. Now, what 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:05.579 is it to be a racist? What is a racist belief? 00:18:07.099 --> 00:18:10.279 We hear that word all the time in our wolf culture 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:15.160 today, but what does it really mean? What does 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:18.940 a racist believe? Foundationally, what does he 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:25.660 believe? Okay, and those races are distinguished 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:36.440 by what? Well, that may be no that's not what 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:47.720 is it? Does a racist think that all races are 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:54.319 equal? Okay, so then what does a racist believe? 00:18:58.299 --> 00:19:05.599 Okay, that there is a superior race. Now racism, 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:09.240 we think of it just in terms of black and white, 00:19:10.140 --> 00:19:13.660 but the truth of the matter is that what did... 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:17.789 The Jew and the Gentile that's what two separate 00:19:17.789 --> 00:19:20.549 entirely races now in the Old Testament. That's 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:24.650 true God's blessing fell on the Jews and everybody 00:19:24.650 --> 00:19:27.910 else was outside of that blessing but fundamentally 00:19:27.910 --> 00:19:30.470 and genetically Biologically was there anything 00:19:30.470 --> 00:19:33.670 about the Jew that was different than the Gentile? 00:19:34.930 --> 00:19:37.789 Was he superior because of his genetic makeup 00:19:37.789 --> 00:19:45.730 to the Gentile? Okay So That eliminates, then, 00:19:45.869 --> 00:19:49.230 any mistreatment of the Gentiles because of a 00:19:49.230 --> 00:19:57.130 superior race or genetic code. What about the 00:19:57.130 --> 00:20:02.329 Greeks? If you were a Greek, then you were what? 00:20:02.329 --> 00:20:07.950 The superior race. What was everybody else? Barbarians. 00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:12.569 Now when you think of a barbarian, also in America 00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:14.809 with the great pioneer spirit, we might think 00:20:14.809 --> 00:20:17.549 kind of highly of a barbarian. Somebody that 00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:20.750 just by brute force goes about and makes his 00:20:20.750 --> 00:20:25.369 life. But that's not what they meant by it. But 00:20:25.369 --> 00:20:28.490 then what about our British ancestors and our 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:33.369 European ancestors? How were they raised? Uniquely 00:20:33.369 --> 00:20:37.859 to them. What did they believe? They believed 00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:40.779 in something called what? Divine right. Now what 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:44.079 does that tell you? What is this fascination 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.460 with royals all about? It still kind of lingers 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:50.119 on today. It's disgusting. It's sickening to 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:53.579 me. Absolutely atrocious. How those things found 00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:55.599 their way over here into the hearts of Americans. 00:20:55.720 --> 00:21:00.140 But what's at the core of it? What is at the 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:04.759 core of this fascination with the royals? It's 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:07.160 this idea of divine right. Now what is divine 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:11.960 right? What do the royals believe about themselves? 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:17.220 Why are they the kings? Why are they the ruling 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:22.660 class? Because there's something fundamentally 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:25.720 in their genetic code that makes them superior 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:29.500 to all the rest. So the next time you want to 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:33.450 buy into this Love for Princess Diana and all 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:36.049 the rest of the princes and the princesses and 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:39.829 the kings and the queens just be done with it 00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:44.309 Be done with it. It's not just goofy stuff. They 00:21:44.309 --> 00:21:56.490 really believe it Now I've always revealed to 00:21:56.490 --> 00:21:59.869 you the sources that I use in my study so tonight 00:21:59.930 --> 00:22:03.430 I forgot to bring my books, but the Trinity Foundation, 00:22:03.589 --> 00:22:07.170 Tim Robbins, wrote a most excellent, very short 00:22:07.170 --> 00:22:10.430 commentary on Philippians. And then I used my 00:22:10.430 --> 00:22:13.470 pulpit commentary by Mu, or not on Philippians, 00:22:13.589 --> 00:22:17.710 on Philemon, on Mu about Philemon. So those are 00:22:17.710 --> 00:22:19.630 my two. Now if you're not familiar with the Trinity 00:22:19.630 --> 00:22:26.049 Foundation, then you should be. And if you're 00:22:26.049 --> 00:22:30.869 not familiar with... I wish I would have remembered 00:22:30.869 --> 00:22:32.150 it, because I was going to read through the titles 00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.230 of the various books that they put out. But they 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:35.869 put out it, and they still put out the newsletter. 00:22:35.930 --> 00:22:39.630 Is that right? It's still in business. It's an 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:41.730 organization that's worthy of your support. Now, 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:44.789 they're Presbyterians. And so if you're going 00:22:44.789 --> 00:22:47.130 to get their stuff, be prepared. They're going 00:22:47.130 --> 00:22:49.549 to tell you all about covenant children and the 00:22:49.549 --> 00:22:51.569 covenants and all the rest of that. But there's 00:22:51.569 --> 00:22:54.210 one thing that they are not afraid to do, and 00:22:54.210 --> 00:22:58.480 that's to make lots of people mad. because they're 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:02.480 not afraid or ashamed at all to defend scripture 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:06.200 and they're not afraid to call out error where 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:09.400 it is. They're not afraid at all to demonstrate 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:12.720 in what's going on in the so -called church their 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:15.079 movement towards Catholicism. They call them 00:23:15.079 --> 00:23:18.799 out on it. There was one, what was it? A warning 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:20.799 against Pat Robertson or something like that. 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:23.420 Can you imagine in the 80s putting that out? 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.700 But that's the Trinity Foundation. And that's 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:32.339 what we need. We need these strong, stalwart 00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:37.160 men who are not afraid to be hated. So hopefully 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:41.880 you men here, that's what you aspire to. I'm 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:43.799 willing to be hated by the world because I'm 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:47.680 going to take a stand for Jesus. And if the world 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:50.900 hates me, so be it. But I'm not going to just 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:52.680 sluff anything off. I'm not just going to say 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:54.480 it doesn't really matter. I'm going to say this 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.099 matters. And I'm going to take my stand. So we're 00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:00.119 going to take our stand here in Philemon, and 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:02.579 we're going to say without any equivocation, 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:06.079 without any hesitancy, and without any room for 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:08.259 misinterpretation, that if you understand the 00:24:08.259 --> 00:24:12.000 apostle Paul's argument here in the book of Philemon, 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:15.619 he is destroying any idea that the church is 00:24:15.619 --> 00:24:18.359 pro -slavery, or that the New Testament is pro 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:21.420 -slavery, or that slavery doesn't matter. He 00:24:21.420 --> 00:24:26.940 is absolutely without question anti -slavery. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:30.819 All right, let's get into the book. He says, 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.279 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Now, can anybody 00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:36.500 think of any other letter that Paul writes where 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:45.619 he signs his name as a prisoner? No, there's 00:24:45.619 --> 00:24:52.200 that one. I won't let you name them all. He doesn't 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:55.079 have any questions. Calling him saying that he's 00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:58.619 a prisoner, but he never does he sign his name 00:24:58.619 --> 00:25:01.779 Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ now in these 00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:03.500 letters That's like the salutation that would 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:06.380 be like me. I write you a letter, and I would 00:25:06.380 --> 00:25:12.880 say regards the prisoner Dave Right out here, 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:14.740 and they just signed it at the beginning of the 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:19.599 letter, so what does that do? Right off the bat. 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:23.799 What's he doing? Why does he do that? Was it 00:25:23.799 --> 00:25:26.359 just accidental? Does anybody here think that 00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:29.160 was accidental? Does anybody here think he had 00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:31.980 a hope list? He could have said apostle. He could 00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:35.720 have said the most Jew of any Jew. He could have 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:39.480 said the worst sinner that's ever been converted. 00:25:39.859 --> 00:25:42.519 He could have said maybe, you know, he had all 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:46.480 these options and he just kind of boom. Being 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:51.859 a prisoner, being a slave, both kinds of bondage. 00:25:51.960 --> 00:25:55.940 Okay. So immediately, right off the bat, he identifies 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:59.140 himself as what? A person that, now was he in, 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:08.079 why was he in prison? Okay, if we had to say 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:13.359 justly or unjustly, where would we put him? Unjustly. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.660 So here's a guy that, not because of anything 00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:22.319 that he's done, is in prison. Now why was 99 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:26.900 % or maybe 100 % of the slaves in Rome, why were 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:29.079 they slaves? Was it something that they had done? 00:26:31.140 --> 00:26:33.160 It might have been because of who their parents 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:35.079 were. It might have been because they weren't 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:37.500 strong enough to resist the military power of 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:40.579 Rome. But in either case, it wasn't because they 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:43.880 were criminals and now they're slaves. So that's 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:46.259 an immediate, right off the bat, the first thing 00:26:46.259 --> 00:26:48.900 that the Apostle Paul does is he reminds Philemon 00:26:48.900 --> 00:26:51.779 what? Some people are in chains and it doesn't 00:26:51.779 --> 00:26:53.599 have anything to do with anything that they've 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:58.900 done. It's unjust. And that probably would be 00:26:58.900 --> 00:27:04.619 enough, wouldn't it? You can't even read the 00:27:04.619 --> 00:27:07.799 first line without saying that the New Testament 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:11.400 is not pro -slavery, but okay. A prisoner of 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:15.339 Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother, Antiphilemon 00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:25.809 our dearly beloved, and what? Why do you say 00:27:25.809 --> 00:27:31.670 that? What does that do? What does that do to 00:27:31.670 --> 00:27:42.630 Philemon? Who is in charge of Philemon? Is there 00:27:42.630 --> 00:27:51.250 any other authority in his life? instruct Philemon 00:27:51.250 --> 00:27:53.609 in the name of Christ, but the authority is from 00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:57.529 Christ. And so both Paul and Philemon are what? 00:27:57.750 --> 00:28:00.430 They're slaves. They're slaves of Christ. They're 00:28:00.430 --> 00:28:04.829 laborers. Again, that's just another close identification 00:28:04.829 --> 00:28:09.089 with Onesimus. So the letter is written to who? 00:28:21.180 --> 00:28:27.900 One thing about Timothy. What was Timothy? No? 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:37.140 So he was what? He was a half Greek. He was half 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:40.920 Greek and half Jew. And Paul puts him right in 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:43.299 there in the letter. Now it could be because 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:45.420 he's with him. It could have been... for any 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:47.680 number of reasons, but the fact that he puts 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:51.440 this half -Jew, half -Greek guy in the letter, 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:56.079 again, it has to be, it has to remind Philemon 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:59.980 that there is no such thing as a superior race, 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:02.259 that Timothy is not going to come behind anybody 00:29:02.259 --> 00:29:05.660 because he's half -Jew and half -Greek. But the 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:07.960 letter is written to Philemon, and then what? 00:29:08.299 --> 00:29:11.339 Nobody else sent any of these other people. Apphia, 00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:16.029 Archippus, and the church and his house. Why? 00:29:17.630 --> 00:29:23.710 Why didn't anybody say that? We don't know anything 00:29:23.710 --> 00:29:27.329 about that. We don't know anything about that. 00:29:27.690 --> 00:29:31.549 We know very little about Philemon. We know less 00:29:31.549 --> 00:29:35.529 about Onesimus. Well, all the letter is written 00:29:35.529 --> 00:29:40.609 in what, in what part of, what tense of, or no, 00:29:40.750 --> 00:29:43.369 what is it? First, second, or third person, what 00:29:43.369 --> 00:29:47.309 are those, Cheryl? Those are tenses. Okay, what 00:29:47.309 --> 00:29:56.609 tense? Huh? No. First. First person. And what 00:29:56.609 --> 00:30:00.089 is the, what is the pronoun that's used? And 00:30:00.089 --> 00:30:04.329 who does he address throughout the letter? You. 00:30:05.170 --> 00:30:08.150 So throughout the letter, he's talking to one 00:30:08.150 --> 00:30:11.650 specific person. Then why does he include these 00:30:11.650 --> 00:30:17.240 other people in there? Okay, so what does that 00:30:17.240 --> 00:30:23.980 tell us? It's relevant to us. Why was it relevant 00:30:23.980 --> 00:30:29.140 both to Philemon who was the pastor of the church 00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:32.619 and to these other two people, whether they're 00:30:32.619 --> 00:30:35.500 related to him or not, we don't know, and to 00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:39.759 the whole church? Relationship. And what one 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:42.619 person does in a relationship affects everybody 00:30:42.619 --> 00:30:47.059 else that's in that relationship. And whatever 00:30:47.059 --> 00:30:50.660 Philemon had done, whatever it is that was the 00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:54.019 cause of this letter, it was public enough that 00:30:54.019 --> 00:30:58.819 Paul was addressing it privately, behind closed 00:30:58.819 --> 00:31:03.299 doors, sending sweet little notes here, whispers 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:06.440 in the dark. Let's find a back room where we 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:08.480 can have some privacy. Is that the way he dealt 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:12.880 with it? Why was he dealing with it publicly? 00:31:29.849 --> 00:31:37.589 Well, how do we deal with public sins? It's happened 00:31:37.589 --> 00:31:42.150 here. I've had to, what? When I was harsh with 00:31:42.150 --> 00:31:43.789 somebody or said something I shouldn't have said, 00:31:43.869 --> 00:31:51.910 what do I do? How? Publicly. So what does that 00:31:51.910 --> 00:31:58.430 tell us? What is Paul instructing us here? Public 00:31:58.430 --> 00:32:01.950 sins are dealt with publicly. Private sins we 00:32:01.950 --> 00:32:04.470 can deal with privately. But when something is 00:32:04.470 --> 00:32:07.750 public, then it needs to be dealt with publicly. 00:32:09.069 --> 00:32:16.329 Right? Are we all on that page? So what's going 00:32:16.329 --> 00:32:19.730 on here? What do we call this in our modern church? 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:30.819 He shudders to think of any more open letters. 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:36.220 Well, there's discipline going on here, isn't 00:32:36.220 --> 00:32:41.500 it? That's really what's going on. Paul is trying 00:32:41.500 --> 00:32:47.000 to get Philemon on the right page, right? So 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:51.640 if there's ever been a case for a case study 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:56.369 of church discipline, this is where it is. This 00:32:56.369 --> 00:32:58.769 is how you deal with it. This is your expectation 00:32:58.769 --> 00:33:03.710 and this is there, you know, there is no There 00:33:03.710 --> 00:33:06.970 is no second way or third way or 14 different 00:33:06.970 --> 00:33:11.150 options Paul's laying out for us how it works 00:33:11.150 --> 00:33:16.430 Now just because Philemon has messed up and it's 00:33:16.430 --> 00:33:19.069 going to have to be publicly corrected Does that 00:33:19.069 --> 00:33:22.269 reduce the amount of love that Paul has for him? 00:33:25.509 --> 00:33:30.630 Does his expectation of Philemon decrease because 00:33:30.630 --> 00:33:36.269 he messed up? It doesn't, doesn't. Paul is optimistic 00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:41.710 about the future, isn't he? Why? Well, he tells 00:33:41.710 --> 00:33:46.930 us why. Grace. Grace to you and peace from God 00:33:46.930 --> 00:33:53.660 our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. God has 00:33:53.660 --> 00:33:56.920 made Philemon right in Christ Jesus. He's brought 00:33:56.920 --> 00:34:00.400 peace into his life and Paul expects that that 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:03.900 grace and that peace that he has is going to 00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:06.559 manifest itself in the right way. That there's 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:09.199 going to be a good outcome here. That Paul is 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:12.039 going to follow the Lord and do things the Lord's 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:14.559 way and so is Philemon and there's going to be 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:18.880 a good outcome to this whole thing. Now if you 00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:21.599 don't look that way in the relationships in your 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:25.960 life then you are missing the boat. If you don't 00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:28.420 look that way at your own life, then you're missing 00:34:28.420 --> 00:34:32.179 the boat. There's no reason for anyone to be 00:34:32.179 --> 00:34:34.920 despondent about their future if they're a Christian. 00:34:36.699 --> 00:34:39.480 There's all kinds of, you can't think of all 00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:41.780 the reasons the world ought to be despondent 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:44.960 about their future. Because a future outside 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:52.470 of Christ is what? It's hard. It's painful. It's 00:34:52.470 --> 00:34:57.050 unfulfilling. It leads to despair. It is full 00:34:57.050 --> 00:35:03.190 of problems. But the life in Christ, with God 00:35:03.190 --> 00:35:06.570 at your side guiding and directing you, fellowshiping 00:35:06.570 --> 00:35:09.489 with you, gives you great hope for the future 00:35:09.489 --> 00:35:13.130 in this world and certain hope for the world 00:35:13.130 --> 00:35:17.090 to come. Paul is filled up with it. He says, 00:35:17.269 --> 00:35:19.409 I thank my God, making mention of thee always 00:35:19.409 --> 00:35:23.449 in my prayers. And then what's he praying for? 00:35:25.570 --> 00:35:33.449 Somebody tell me. What's Paul praying for? We'll 00:35:33.449 --> 00:35:36.190 have to skip verse five and go to verse six. 00:35:38.050 --> 00:35:40.469 Making mention of thee in my prayers that the 00:35:40.469 --> 00:35:43.050 communication of thy faith may become effectual 00:35:43.050 --> 00:35:45.329 by the acknowledging of every good thing which 00:35:45.329 --> 00:35:53.210 is in you in Christ Jesus. What's he expected? 00:35:53.469 --> 00:35:55.110 What does that mean? When you read that? What 00:35:55.110 --> 00:35:57.610 does that mean? Is it possible to preach the 00:35:57.610 --> 00:36:02.309 gospel? To teach God's Word and not have it accomplished 00:36:02.309 --> 00:36:08.989 what God set it out to do. Is God just sitting 00:36:08.989 --> 00:36:14.969 up in heaven? Oh, I hope this works. Is that 00:36:14.969 --> 00:36:20.280 how it goes? So when the gospel goes forth It 00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:22.539 accomplishes whatever it is that God wants it 00:36:22.539 --> 00:36:28.659 to accomplish. Every time. What is the usual 00:36:28.659 --> 00:36:30.739 thing that happens when the gospel is preached 00:36:30.739 --> 00:36:33.360 to a room full of ungodly, unconverted people? 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:40.260 They reject it. That's what they do. But what 00:36:40.260 --> 00:36:50.900 does the Word accomplish? Judgment. If you are 00:36:50.900 --> 00:36:54.840 going to dedicate your life to the proclamation 00:36:54.840 --> 00:36:59.079 of the gospel, what you are doing 90, 95, 99 00:36:59.079 --> 00:37:03.719 % of the time is bringing more judgment onto 00:37:03.719 --> 00:37:07.500 the hearers. They're going to be judged more 00:37:07.500 --> 00:37:10.699 harshly by God in hell because they've heard 00:37:10.699 --> 00:37:14.559 the gospel repeatedly. It would be better, in 00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:17.449 other words, for a person who was going to go 00:37:17.449 --> 00:37:20.210 to hell to lock themselves in a cage somewhere 00:37:20.210 --> 00:37:24.389 and never hear the gospel. Their eternity in 00:37:24.389 --> 00:37:29.010 hell would be better. But who's going to believe 00:37:29.010 --> 00:37:34.789 if the word is not preached? Right? And so, the 00:37:34.789 --> 00:37:37.349 other thing that is accomplished when the gospel 00:37:37.349 --> 00:37:41.070 is preached is sometimes there's somebody who 00:37:41.070 --> 00:37:44.369 is made ready to hear and they embrace Jesus 00:37:44.369 --> 00:37:49.079 as their savior. So we preach the gospel without 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:53.179 hesitation, unashamedly, knowing that we're bringing 00:37:53.179 --> 00:37:55.320 judgment into the lives of most of the people 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:57.460 that hear it, unless most of the people that 00:37:57.460 --> 00:38:03.000 hear are Christians. So Paul's not praying and 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:06.980 asking that the word preach would have the effect 00:38:06.980 --> 00:38:09.159 that God wants it to have. That's going to happen. 00:38:10.059 --> 00:38:19.329 What's he praying for? Philemon's life to testify 00:38:19.329 --> 00:38:25.090 that the grace within him is a marvelous, a miracle, 00:38:25.409 --> 00:38:30.250 a wonderful, an amazing thing. And he wants everybody 00:38:30.250 --> 00:38:32.489 around him to know that every good thing that 00:38:32.489 --> 00:38:36.110 he does comes from where? His superior race? 00:38:37.389 --> 00:38:41.929 His superior status as a slave owner? No. That 00:38:41.929 --> 00:38:44.610 everything that is good in him comes from Christ 00:38:44.610 --> 00:38:49.550 Jesus. He is asking, he's praying God to God 00:38:49.550 --> 00:38:52.849 that by Lehman's testimony, his conversation, 00:38:54.130 --> 00:38:56.489 his lifestyle, whatever word you want to use 00:38:56.489 --> 00:38:59.190 would back up the truth of what he preaches in 00:38:59.190 --> 00:39:01.190 his pulpit and what he teaches on the streets. 00:39:04.869 --> 00:39:09.349 That's his prayer. Now why is it that he is thankful 00:39:09.349 --> 00:39:12.590 for him and mentions him always in his prayer? 00:39:12.670 --> 00:39:16.369 What's he heard about him? That's found in verse 00:39:16.369 --> 00:39:23.329 5. What does he have? Love and faith. Okay. Towards 00:39:23.329 --> 00:39:32.550 who? The Lord. Jesus. And? All the saints. So 00:39:32.550 --> 00:39:43.219 he has faith towards the saints. Those of you 00:39:43.219 --> 00:39:46.940 that have said it, is that what you think? How 00:39:46.940 --> 00:39:49.159 are we going to understand this verse? It's what 00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:51.420 it says, right? Hearing of thy love and faith 00:39:51.420 --> 00:39:53.500 which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and towards 00:39:53.500 --> 00:39:58.000 all the saints. Do you have a new King James? 00:39:58.059 --> 00:40:00.440 What do you have? I assume you have the same 00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:06.920 word order as me. And who has a new American 00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:09.380 standard? Anybody? What does that say? What's 00:40:09.380 --> 00:40:21.090 the word order there? Do you have the same order? 00:40:26.829 --> 00:40:28.670 Faith and love towards the Lord Jesus and all 00:40:28.670 --> 00:40:36.849 the saints. So why does Paul mention love first? 00:40:38.769 --> 00:40:53.769 And who is that love directed towards? Fine, 00:40:53.769 --> 00:41:01.630 I'll give it to you. Faith and faith which thou 00:41:01.630 --> 00:41:04.829 hast towards the Lord Jesus. Okay, that goes 00:41:04.829 --> 00:41:09.190 together. Faith towards the Lord Jesus. Love 00:41:09.190 --> 00:41:13.550 towards all the saints. So do we have the two 00:41:13.550 --> 00:41:15.570 on the outside and the two on the inside? What's 00:41:15.570 --> 00:41:17.989 that called in Hebrew writing? It's a chiasm. 00:41:18.250 --> 00:41:20.230 I know my dad's over here, he's having a fit. 00:41:21.360 --> 00:41:27.920 But that's how it works. But why did Paul put 00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:31.760 love first? That's the question. He could have 00:41:31.760 --> 00:41:35.940 said, I love to hear about your faith in the 00:41:35.940 --> 00:41:38.719 Lord Jesus and the way that faith manifests itself 00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:40.579 in your love towards the saints. He says that 00:41:40.579 --> 00:41:43.239 in other places. Why doesn't he say it here? 00:41:45.099 --> 00:41:48.659 He just wanted to show his prowess as a Hebrew 00:41:48.659 --> 00:41:53.360 poet. His mastery of the Hebrew language and 00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:56.659 his ability to bring that Hebrew poetic structure 00:41:56.659 --> 00:42:00.599 into the Greek and writing. Is that why? Why 00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:06.340 did he put love first? What does Paul anticipate 00:42:06.340 --> 00:42:15.940 is going to rule the day in Philemon? Love. You're 00:42:15.940 --> 00:42:18.460 doing so good is what he's saying. You're loving 00:42:18.460 --> 00:42:20.320 these people. You let the whole church meet in 00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:23.659 your house. You sacrificially give of yourself 00:42:23.659 --> 00:42:26.679 to teach them, to pastor and to shepherd them. 00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:29.880 You love these people. And it's evident in their 00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:33.280 lives. Your love is good. It's good for them. 00:42:35.079 --> 00:42:37.940 But it's not in this one area, right? That's 00:42:37.940 --> 00:42:40.900 why he puts it first. He expects that Philemon 00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:43.840 is going to let love rule the day. Is there anything 00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:48.280 that we do as Christians? That is outside of 00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:57.659 love that pleases the Lord Now that we all say 00:42:57.659 --> 00:43:03.719 oh absolutely not But when we say that what what 00:43:03.719 --> 00:43:08.440 do we do we condemn ourselves Because who here 00:43:08.440 --> 00:43:11.719 can say that they've ever lived a day. Maybe 00:43:11.719 --> 00:43:14.969 we could say who's ever lived an hour Maybe we 00:43:14.969 --> 00:43:17.010 could say who's ever lived a quarter of an hour 00:43:17.010 --> 00:43:21.070 and hasn't done something outside that is motivated 00:43:21.070 --> 00:43:27.650 by love. It's easy to say and we all know it 00:43:27.650 --> 00:43:31.409 to be true. The question is do we allow that 00:43:31.409 --> 00:43:33.829 love to rule our lives the way that we ought 00:43:33.829 --> 00:43:37.889 to? Do we allow that to rule our relationships 00:43:37.889 --> 00:43:42.030 the way that it ought to? Love should rule the 00:43:42.030 --> 00:43:50.130 day. Not my rights. Not my proclivities to be 00:43:50.130 --> 00:43:56.849 offended by any slight little thing. Not my desire 00:43:56.849 --> 00:43:59.429 for vengeance or to be treated right or to be 00:43:59.429 --> 00:44:07.309 acknowledged. But love will rule the day in your 00:44:07.309 --> 00:44:09.889 relationship. And if you have relationships that 00:44:09.889 --> 00:44:13.449 are struggling, whatever they are, The problem 00:44:13.449 --> 00:44:16.909 isn't that nobody has recognized your rights. 00:44:17.929 --> 00:44:20.289 And the problem isn't that somebody hasn't acknowledged 00:44:20.289 --> 00:44:23.730 their offense. The problem is that love hasn't 00:44:23.730 --> 00:44:29.070 ruled the day. So Paul puts that first and foremost, 00:44:29.349 --> 00:44:32.949 the thing that I love about you Philemon is your 00:44:32.949 --> 00:44:37.670 love for the saints. Let that rule the day. Why 00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:41.800 is it that he has love for the saints? Because 00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:44.800 he's believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's 00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:47.659 been put into the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's 00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:50.079 God's love that's been put into him, and it's 00:44:50.079 --> 00:44:52.440 God's love that then flows through him to all 00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:56.780 these other people. God's love is not complete 00:44:56.780 --> 00:44:59.280 when it rests in you. It hasn't accomplished 00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:04.619 its purpose. That's the first step on the train 00:45:04.619 --> 00:45:10.039 ride to destination. That love comes to you and 00:45:10.039 --> 00:45:14.500 it finds its home then in other people. Or it 00:45:14.500 --> 00:45:19.079 finds its home back to God. But never just to 00:45:19.079 --> 00:45:24.179 you. Never. So that's the answer to Jake's question. 00:45:26.840 --> 00:45:31.300 So Paul's saying, I want this to happen. Then 00:45:31.300 --> 00:45:33.239 he assures them in verse 7, we have great joy 00:45:33.239 --> 00:45:35.630 and consolation in thy love because of the The 00:45:35.630 --> 00:45:37.710 vows of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. 00:45:38.030 --> 00:45:40.530 It's been so good for these people. And everybody 00:45:40.530 --> 00:45:43.070 here loves to hear the stories, the testimonies. 00:45:43.550 --> 00:45:46.769 We love to hear it. Now go on in this other part 00:45:46.769 --> 00:45:53.369 of your life. Now he says in verse eight, wherefore, 00:45:54.809 --> 00:45:59.030 now what does wherefore mean? It takes three 00:45:59.030 --> 00:46:02.489 words, replaces three words, usually. Not always, 00:46:02.510 --> 00:46:09.030 but usually. Because of this. which is why. Therefore, 00:46:09.469 --> 00:46:15.969 they would be closer. Though I might be much 00:46:15.969 --> 00:46:19.030 bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is fitting, 00:46:20.030 --> 00:46:22.929 yet for love's sake, again, there it is, I rather 00:46:22.929 --> 00:46:29.809 beseech thee. So, why is it, when you read that, 00:46:30.090 --> 00:46:34.429 does that? The Apostle Paul is asserting some 00:46:34.429 --> 00:46:37.349 kind of authority, isn't he? I could just tell 00:46:37.349 --> 00:46:43.710 you what to do. I could command you, Philemon, 00:46:44.090 --> 00:46:51.130 if I wanted to. Now, is that true? Yeah. Okay. 00:46:52.030 --> 00:46:54.570 Let's have our view of Paul the Apostle where 00:46:54.570 --> 00:46:57.389 it ought to be. Paul could just lay down the 00:46:57.389 --> 00:47:01.030 law, and what would Philemon's response be, or 00:47:01.030 --> 00:47:05.820 what should it have been? Okay, I'll do it. Is 00:47:05.820 --> 00:47:07.380 that going to guarantee that it's going to be 00:47:07.380 --> 00:47:10.159 done out of love, though? Is that going to demonstrate 00:47:10.159 --> 00:47:12.079 to anybody else that this was done out of love? 00:47:12.139 --> 00:47:17.460 And the answer is no. But I could. In Christ. 00:47:17.639 --> 00:47:20.059 So where does all of Paul's authority come from? 00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:26.019 Christ. Who's the Lord of his church. Who's Paul's 00:47:26.019 --> 00:47:32.090 boss. Okay, but he's got to beseech him and the 00:47:32.090 --> 00:47:35.190 first thing then that he says beseech or appeal 00:47:35.190 --> 00:47:37.690 I'm going to appeal to you in this way as Paul 00:47:37.690 --> 00:47:43.510 the old man So what does that mean? What do you 00:47:43.510 --> 00:47:45.510 read that? What do you think does everybody have 00:47:45.510 --> 00:47:55.630 old man? Well, how's that appeal? Is he just 00:47:55.630 --> 00:47:57.750 saying feel sorry for me because I'm old and 00:47:57.750 --> 00:48:02.519 decrepit Is that the argument? Do what I want 00:48:02.519 --> 00:48:05.260 because I'm so old and I only got a few years 00:48:05.260 --> 00:48:09.480 left. Well, what's the argument? That's obviously 00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:19.340 not it. No? That would fall the same way as the 00:48:19.340 --> 00:48:22.219 authority. It would be akin to him saying, trust 00:48:22.219 --> 00:48:24.199 me because I'm old and wise. Just do what I'm 00:48:24.199 --> 00:48:27.800 telling you to do. Well, what happens when you 00:48:27.800 --> 00:48:31.860 get old? What do you need? And where was Paul's 00:48:31.860 --> 00:48:40.000 help coming from? Okay. I'm an old man, finally, 00:48:40.380 --> 00:48:43.739 and this young man here, Onesimus, has been helping 00:48:43.739 --> 00:48:47.059 me. He's been a great help to me, but what am 00:48:47.059 --> 00:48:53.059 I doing? I'm sending him back. The very thing 00:48:53.059 --> 00:48:55.860 that I need and is helpful to me, it's been such 00:48:55.860 --> 00:48:59.039 a joy to have him here helping me. I'm sending 00:48:59.039 --> 00:49:05.309 him back. And then, does everybody have this 00:49:05.309 --> 00:49:08.110 in their Bibles? And now also a prisoner of Jesus 00:49:08.110 --> 00:49:17.190 Christ. Everybody have now also? So then, what 00:49:17.190 --> 00:49:19.110 are those two words? Why are they in there? We've 00:49:19.110 --> 00:49:21.070 already heard that Paul's a prisoner. But why 00:49:21.070 --> 00:49:24.690 the now also? Well who's the also with, Charlie? 00:49:27.849 --> 00:49:30.150 Who else is a slave? Who else is a prisoner? 00:49:30.269 --> 00:49:43.349 We've said it all night. Who is it? No. Me? Yeah. 00:49:43.690 --> 00:49:52.789 Onesimus? Onesimus. He's also a prisoner with 00:49:52.789 --> 00:49:56.150 Onesimus. But then he uses the word now. Why 00:49:56.150 --> 00:50:00.710 do you suppose he uses the word now? He's already 00:50:00.710 --> 00:50:03.630 said he was a prisoner. Is that just redundant? 00:50:03.929 --> 00:50:06.090 He just forgot that he told him earlier and so 00:50:06.090 --> 00:50:08.829 now he's reminding him again that now I'm a prisoner. 00:50:08.949 --> 00:50:17.329 What does the word now mean? Okay, but he's already 00:50:17.329 --> 00:50:20.469 said that he was. What does it anticipate or 00:50:20.469 --> 00:50:24.369 what does it leave open as a possibility? Something 00:50:24.369 --> 00:50:27.809 different could happen right now. This is what 00:50:27.809 --> 00:50:33.869 I am. So late at night I say, now I'm tired. 00:50:35.230 --> 00:50:39.429 What is it, what am I thinking though? I'm going 00:50:39.429 --> 00:50:40.989 to wake up tomorrow and I'm not going to be tired 00:50:40.989 --> 00:50:44.210 anymore. Something has changed within me because 00:50:44.210 --> 00:50:49.369 something has happened. Now, if Paul can go from 00:50:49.369 --> 00:50:56.150 prisoner to free, who else can go from prisoner 00:50:56.150 --> 00:51:06.610 to free? plants the seed directly in Philemon's 00:51:06.610 --> 00:51:09.130 mind that just because somebody is something 00:51:09.130 --> 00:51:12.610 today doesn't mean that that person is going 00:51:12.610 --> 00:51:16.829 to be that same thing tomorrow. Now, where have 00:51:16.829 --> 00:51:24.130 we all experienced that? If you're a Christian 00:51:24.130 --> 00:51:34.679 today, where have you experienced that? So what 00:51:34.679 --> 00:51:43.400 happened in conversion? He went from dead to 00:51:43.400 --> 00:51:46.760 alive. He went from a God -hater to a God -lover. 00:51:47.500 --> 00:51:51.539 He went from a rebel to a slave. A willing and 00:51:51.539 --> 00:51:56.940 eager slave. That's a change. That's a radical 00:51:56.940 --> 00:51:59.099 change. And that's the exact change that Paul 00:51:59.099 --> 00:52:01.360 is hinting at here in verse 11 when he says, 00:52:03.179 --> 00:52:06.659 was to the unprofitable, but now he's profitable. 00:52:07.239 --> 00:52:09.820 Now what is it about profitable and unprofitable? 00:52:09.980 --> 00:52:13.260 Why does he use that word? How can we not mistake 00:52:13.260 --> 00:52:17.219 what Paul is saying there? Are those slightly 00:52:17.219 --> 00:52:23.639 different? Those kind of veer off, but they're 00:52:23.639 --> 00:52:29.780 pretty close to the same. You can't be one while 00:52:29.780 --> 00:52:32.750 you're the other, is that right? You can't be 00:52:32.750 --> 00:52:36.130 unprofitable while you're profitable. You can't 00:52:36.130 --> 00:52:41.250 be dead while you're alive. Paul's saying something 00:52:41.250 --> 00:52:44.090 has happened here and it's completely and radically 00:52:44.090 --> 00:52:46.269 different from what it used to be. There's been 00:52:46.269 --> 00:52:50.909 a change that's happened in Onesimus. Okay, so 00:52:50.909 --> 00:52:56.050 there's his first two appeals. Old man, and he's 00:52:56.050 --> 00:53:00.360 a prisoner also, with Onesimus. And he's also 00:53:00.360 --> 00:53:03.380 planted in Philemon's mind this idea that just 00:53:03.380 --> 00:53:05.659 because a person is a slave today doesn't mean 00:53:05.659 --> 00:53:10.000 he has to be a slave tomorrow. But then he uses 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.519 what's his next appeal. I beseech thee for my 00:53:14.519 --> 00:53:27.039 son Onesimus. Now what's he saying? How is Paul 00:53:27.039 --> 00:53:35.269 Onesimus's father? It's from an illegitimate 00:53:35.269 --> 00:53:37.429 relationship that he had before he was converted. 00:53:37.570 --> 00:53:42.210 Is that what we think? Well, I mean, that's one 00:53:42.210 --> 00:53:48.750 option. Come on, what's the obvious answer? His 00:53:48.750 --> 00:53:53.090 son in the faith. Okay. It's through Paul's ministry 00:53:53.090 --> 00:53:55.750 and declaration of the gospel that Onesimus has 00:53:55.750 --> 00:53:58.610 come to know the Lord. And in that sense, then, 00:53:58.630 --> 00:54:05.019 the Apostle Paul is his father. imagine then 00:54:05.019 --> 00:54:09.719 Paul sending him back now that's true okay just 00:54:09.719 --> 00:54:15.420 so we are Paul's not making this up well what's 00:54:15.420 --> 00:54:17.980 gonna happen if he sends Onesimus back to Philemon 00:54:17.980 --> 00:54:25.440 and Philemon makes him his slave again who's 00:54:25.440 --> 00:54:33.760 he made a slave Paul's son Can you imagine that? 00:54:34.780 --> 00:54:37.380 Think of the person who preached the gospel when 00:54:37.380 --> 00:54:41.860 you finally heard it. And it radically changed 00:54:41.860 --> 00:54:46.559 your life. And then imagine having that person's 00:54:46.559 --> 00:54:48.980 son and making him your slave to do whatever 00:54:48.980 --> 00:54:50.900 you tell him to do whenever you tell him to do 00:54:50.900 --> 00:54:52.940 it and exactly how you tell him to do it until 00:54:52.940 --> 00:54:57.820 you tell him to stop. That's unthinkable, isn't 00:54:57.820 --> 00:55:00.019 it? Would anybody here do that or think that 00:55:00.019 --> 00:55:03.639 that's a good idea? But that's exactly what Philemon 00:55:03.639 --> 00:55:07.039 is going to have to do when he gets Onesimus 00:55:07.039 --> 00:55:11.079 back if he puts him back into servitude. He's 00:55:11.079 --> 00:55:17.739 putting Paul's son into servitude. Then the fourth 00:55:17.739 --> 00:55:28.619 thing is what? Well when this radical change 00:55:28.619 --> 00:55:31.250 happened to Onesimus What happened to Onesimus 00:55:31.250 --> 00:55:37.289 and Philemon? Their relationship changed. They're 00:55:37.289 --> 00:55:43.329 brothers. So now, you've got this brother, you've 00:55:43.329 --> 00:55:46.389 got this relationship with this man that exceeds 00:55:46.389 --> 00:55:52.429 any other relationship. Blood, or socioeconomic, 00:55:53.309 --> 00:55:56.969 or where, what country, or where are your borders? 00:55:57.460 --> 00:56:00.360 None of those things matter as much as are you 00:56:00.360 --> 00:56:03.340 in Christ and really that's the only thing that 00:56:03.340 --> 00:56:14.860 matters We kind of get okay, I'm just gonna throw 00:56:14.860 --> 00:56:16.679 this out there. We'll talk about it next week 00:56:16.679 --> 00:56:19.860 We'll finish this up verse 13 whom I would have 00:56:19.860 --> 00:56:22.960 retained with me that in my stead He might have 00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:25.179 ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. 00:56:25.219 --> 00:56:28.170 So what's he saying? I would have liked to have 00:56:28.170 --> 00:56:31.269 kept him here. He is helpful to me, but I'm not 00:56:31.269 --> 00:56:40.130 going to do that. Then in verse 14, he says, 00:56:40.130 --> 00:56:45.550 but without thy mind I would do nothing. That 00:56:45.550 --> 00:56:47.650 thy benefit, or that the good thing that you're 00:56:47.650 --> 00:56:50.750 going to do, would not be of necessity, but willingly. 00:56:51.630 --> 00:56:57.570 And then in verse 19, Yes, verse 19, I, Paul, 00:56:57.690 --> 00:56:59.349 have written it with my own hands. I will pay 00:56:59.349 --> 00:57:01.690 it. Whatever he owes you, I'll pay it. Albeit, 00:57:01.809 --> 00:57:03.769 I don't say to thee, how thou oweest me even 00:57:03.769 --> 00:57:06.050 thy own self beside. Now, what's he talking about 00:57:06.050 --> 00:57:15.590 there? He's finally his father, too. No. Thank 00:57:15.590 --> 00:57:17.329 you, though, for being brave and courageous. 00:57:18.929 --> 00:57:26.880 I'm with Jake. You're with Jake? Yeah. We don't 00:57:26.880 --> 00:57:30.639 know why. What we do know is that Philemon owes 00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:35.320 his life to Paul. So in whatever kind of way 00:57:35.320 --> 00:57:38.119 it was that the Apostle Paul saved Philemon's 00:57:38.119 --> 00:57:42.980 life, he has a right to put upon Philemon this 00:57:42.980 --> 00:57:46.539 idea that you owe me. And it's not because he 00:57:46.539 --> 00:57:49.480 preaches him the gospel. That's nowhere else. 00:57:49.800 --> 00:57:57.079 Is that? Who? Have you ever seen it? Have you 00:57:57.079 --> 00:57:59.539 ever heard me say that? People have been converted 00:57:59.539 --> 00:58:03.139 to this church. Have you ever heard me say, Liz 00:58:03.139 --> 00:58:05.960 Dickman, you owe me your life because you heard 00:58:05.960 --> 00:58:17.440 the gospel. Well, Paul's not exerting his, he's 00:58:17.440 --> 00:58:19.739 not saying that he's going to do it, but he's 00:58:19.739 --> 00:58:22.559 saying that he could. Now the idea is simple 00:58:22.559 --> 00:58:26.400 enough. If somebody saves your life and pulls 00:58:26.400 --> 00:58:28.039 you out of the river, what are you going to do 00:58:28.039 --> 00:58:30.400 for that person? I don't know if you've ever 00:58:30.400 --> 00:58:34.760 seen the movie White Christmas. But in that movie, 00:58:35.239 --> 00:58:40.619 what? The building falls on the guy and hurts 00:58:40.619 --> 00:58:42.440 his shoulder because he's pushing the other guy 00:58:42.440 --> 00:58:44.659 out of the way. And the entire rest of the movie 00:58:44.659 --> 00:58:47.019 is what? Every time the guy's like, no, we're 00:58:47.019 --> 00:58:49.260 not going to do that, the other guy, oh, my shoulder. 00:58:50.519 --> 00:58:54.369 OK, fine, then we'll do it. Now that's just the 00:58:54.369 --> 00:58:57.690 reality of life, right? Somebody does something 00:58:57.690 --> 00:59:00.670 that significant for you in your life, you're 00:59:00.670 --> 00:59:04.429 gonna do whatever you can to repay that debt. 00:59:05.630 --> 00:59:09.110 And if it comes to, I would be dead if it wasn't 00:59:09.110 --> 00:59:13.130 for the action that you took towards me. Then 00:59:13.130 --> 00:59:16.190 what is the limit of what you're going to be 00:59:16.190 --> 00:59:25.900 willing to help or do for that person? So, the 00:59:25.900 --> 00:59:27.840 Apostle Paul is saying, I'm not going to use 00:59:27.840 --> 00:59:33.800 that at all. I could. I could use my apostolic 00:59:33.800 --> 00:59:36.019 authority. I could remind you that I saved your 00:59:36.019 --> 00:59:39.480 life, and I could demand on either one of those 00:59:39.480 --> 00:59:41.400 cases that you do what I tell you to do, but 00:59:41.400 --> 00:59:47.519 I'm not going to do that. So then, hopefully 00:59:47.519 --> 00:59:49.639 that will help you think about what the final 00:59:49.639 --> 00:59:53.059 appeal is. and what it is that Paul anticipates 00:59:53.059 --> 00:59:56.039 is going to happen when Olesimus goes back. So 00:59:56.039 --> 00:59:58.659 think about that this week and come back and 00:59:58.659 --> 01:00:00.440 be prepared to talk about it. Next Wednesday 01:00:00.440 --> 01:00:04.079 we'll finish this up. And then after this, and 01:00:04.079 --> 01:00:07.300 if it doesn't take us all week next week, then 01:00:07.300 --> 01:00:08.920 we'll figure something out. We'll see how much 01:00:08.920 --> 01:00:11.219 time we have. After we're done with Philemon, 01:00:11.260 --> 01:00:14.519 then we're going to do a how should I take notes 01:00:14.519 --> 01:00:18.119 on Wednesdays and Sunday mornings. It's been 01:00:18.119 --> 01:00:21.159 something that's been bothering me for years. 01:00:21.940 --> 01:00:24.380 And I don't know if I've been stubborn against 01:00:24.380 --> 01:00:26.900 the Lord, but I'm just going to do it now so 01:00:26.900 --> 01:00:29.480 that I can be finally done thinking about it. 01:00:29.519 --> 01:00:33.539 I think it will be helpful. So that's the other 01:00:33.539 --> 01:00:35.659 thing that you can think about. If you haven't 01:00:35.659 --> 01:00:38.079 thought about note taking, like what am I trying 01:00:38.079 --> 01:00:42.980 to accomplish? Why am I taking notes? Then you 01:00:42.980 --> 01:00:45.440 should think in those terms, and then hopefully 01:00:45.440 --> 01:00:48.219 we can get some help. on what it is we're trying 01:00:48.219 --> 01:00:50.320 to do when it comes to Wednesday and Sundays. 01:00:50.519 --> 01:00:54.440 And then after that, so that'll be two weeks 01:00:54.440 --> 01:00:56.679 and then the third week then we're gonna get 01:00:56.679 --> 01:01:00.260 into first Samuel, that's the plan. And then 01:01:00.260 --> 01:01:02.320 Tim sent out an email. Did everyone get that 01:01:02.320 --> 01:01:06.920 email? If you haven't gotten that email, check 01:01:06.920 --> 01:01:10.260 your email and make sure that you come prepared 01:01:10.260 --> 01:01:12.519 on Sunday for that.