We will survey the letter by Paul to Philemon. I believe the bulletin says Hebrews. We will not deal with Hebrews today. But I instead will take the opportunity and the time that such a short letter affords to to deal with a couple of things, and then we're going to have an exam two-thirds of the way New Testament survey exam when we're done. And don't get nervous now. Don't be nervous. I didn't tell you it was test day. I just told you review, but it's test day. So I'm sorry, but I'm springing it on you. How are we doing on lessons? Are there extra? Who's our usher today? Pam needs one. Do we have extra? Who's our usher? Bill, why don't you take care of that for me? Anybody else need one? You got extra, Brother Kyle? We've got extra, Brother Kyle. They want to share. Isn't that sweet? First thing we would do, look at our quotes on the front page. I enjoyed the conference and I enjoyed the opportunity last week to preach, but I'm enjoying the thought of getting back into our New Testament survey as well. I've really enjoyed this. It's been a blessing to me in working these lessons and delivering them as well. But the online Bible says this, Philemon was an inhabitant of Colossae and apparently a person of some note among the citizens. He was brought to a knowledge of the gospel through the instrumentality of Paul and held a prominent place in the Christian community. He is called in the epistle a fellow laborer and therefore probably held some office in the church at Colossae. At all events, the title denotes that he took part in the work of spreading a knowledge of the gospel. That is Philemon, the addressee. Of Onesimus, A.R. Fawcett says this, Onesimus in the Apostolical Canons, number 73, is said to have been emancipated by his master. Can I try that again? The Apostolical Constitutions state that he was consecrated by Paul, Bishop of Berea in Macedonia, and that he was martyred at Rome. Ignatius speaks of him as bishop of the Ephesians. That's history, secular history there for your information. Now, the letter itself, 25 verses, can be summarized or, as we've done, tried to do, surveyed very quickly. And so I'm going to do that in the spirit of a survey. We can very quickly survey the letter to Philemon. Let's read it first. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, and to Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Athia, an archivist." Some speculate that Athia is Philemon's wife. And some say that Archippus is his son, 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, this is important right here, by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother." That comma brother, noun of direct address we learn in grammar. Verse 8, Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake, that's very important, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such in 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 bonds, which in time 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 vows, whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel, but without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly." That is very important, okay? Verse 15, "'For perhaps he therefore departed for a season.'" There is that slave's insurrection right there. He departed for a season. that thou shouldest receive him forever, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved. Very important. Especially 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 oweth thee aught, put that on 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 thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say. But with all, prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you. There, salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, and my fellow laborers. the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. One commentator is saying that Paul is really influenced by the Greeks here in the way that he writes. We would write, perhaps, or sing, perhaps, with a crescendo at the end, right? We wrap up. the letter with powerful words. Paul does not do that here. The crescendo is in the middle, and then he brings the reader back down to earth, as it were. That's the Greek style, one commentator said. I thought that was interesting. And so a survey of the letter to Philemon. No better way to say it, I guess, than what A.R. Fawcett said here. Onesimus of Colossae, slave of Philemon, had fled from his master Tyrone after having probably defrauded him. And we see that if he has wronged thee. He was there converted to Christianity by Paul and being induced by him to return to his master, he was furnished with this epistle recommending him to Philemon's favorable reception as being now no longer a mere servant, but also a brother in Christ. There's a survey of the letter right there. This letter was sent to a slave holder on behalf of the slave, requesting that the slaveholder, slave owner, would receive him back. Now, that's it. We could say amen and give you a 30-minute, 35-minute break, but you know better, don't you? I want to take a couple of issues here that, to me, kind of beg explanation. And maybe to you, where is the condemnation of slavery in the book of Philemon? There are those who hate Christianity, and this is one of the reasons, they think, that it does not explicitly condemn slavery. You know, as we were reading a moment ago, and I kept stopping and saying this is important, This is important. I'll explain that later. Because to the spiritual-minded person, the Word of God does condemn slavery. Regarding slavery in Paul's day, this is very important for you and me to understand. I've got a quote here by Rabbi Benjamin Skolnick. He says this, in modern times, the word slavery means only one thing, the ownership of one human being by another. In the biblical world, there were two types of slavery. One was this permanent outright ownership. of foreign captives, for example. But the type of slavery to which most biblical law applies is really a type of indentured servitude, whereby an Israelite is for a time a slave to another Israelite, usually because he has become impoverished and has no other option. An Israelite, him or herself, could choose permanent slavery after a period of indentured servitude, though this was discouraged." That's the awe through the ear. Remember that? I will not go free. You want to see Christ in the Old Testament, study that out. The servitude being made permanent. An Israelite in biblical law is guaranteed certain rights, both while a slave and upon manumission or liberation. All right? So when we talk about slavery with our short history in America, we recoil from a moral perspective. Should we? Sure. Sure, because the slavery that, if I mention slavery, the ownership type is what comes into our mind, I assume, comes into mind. Someone has likened Biblical servanthood, though, to military service, and this might help us to understand a little better why the Bible doesn't come out and say, thou shalt not have servants. Have you served in the military? I work a job a couple of days a week. I like it. It's a good job. But honestly, if I decided one Monday morning that I was going to sleep in, or let's say it this way, if I decided I was going to quit, however poor a testimony it would be, legally, I just wouldn't show up. I could do that. That's not how I quit jobs. But I could legally, couldn't I? Just not show up. What legally could my boss do? Not a thing. I could get phone calls. I could get emails. Where are you? What's going on? If I don't hear from you in a day or so, we're going to assume you quit. Legally, though, you can't call the authorities. But now, if you're in the military service, and you hear the trumpet. And it's a lot earlier in the morning. It's cold at Fort Knox, right, Brother Josh? It's cold there, he tells me. I've been to Fort Knox, and he always talks about how cold it was in Kentucky. But Josh didn't have the liberty to say, you know what? I am sick of this place. He did say that, I'm sure. I am sick of my CEO. I am sick of this barracks. I am sick of my fellows. I am quitting. I'm done. Didn't have the liberty to do that, did he? Legally. He'd get in some serious trouble, couldn't he? All right, so there is, I think, an apt illustration of biblical servanthood, or at least part of it. And the rabbi here maintains that most of the time, now he's not talking New Testament, but most of the time in biblical dealings with servanthood, that is the nature of it. It was just that, an indentured servanthood. Having said all that, are we to eisegete the Scripture and take verses and make them say what we want them to say? That's what eisegesis is. No, we can't do that. We're not to do that. But the Christian principle of life and love and liberty, those things are the biggest enemies that slavery of any sort has. And we see that borne out in the verses. And that's why I would say that though Philemon is a short letter, It speaks volumes. It is a very tender, very loving letter. And it is implicit. Paul says, I could command, but I will not command. But I'm going to appeal to your love and your Christian understanding and to the Holy Spirit inside of you for my brother. Onesimus. So, I say all that to say, when you read of... well, we read of it in Ephesians, did we not? Were not servants advised to be obedient to their masters? Of course. Why doesn't Paul come out and condemn Slavery. Well, like I said, I believe that there was a servanthood that was less about racism and chains and more about indentured servitude. And that's what he's dealing with. William Wilberforce became burdened for slaves upon his conversion to Christianity. He was influenced by John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace, the former slave owner himself. And this tribute is written of William Wilberforce. And it says that he removed from England the guilt of the African slave trade and prepared the way for the abolition of slavery in every colony of the empire." And I believe I would be as bold to say, in America as well, because Abraham Lincoln referred to William Wilberforce. And so slavery of whatever sort, whether it be a voluntary slavery or servitude, when a man got in trouble and he says, look, I'll work for you for several years, I will be your bond servant for X amount of years. And if you read the Old Testament law, you know there were limitations on the years. Or whether it be ownership. And there were bonds, there were whips, and whatever nature slavery manifests itself in, the Christian principle, or should I say the love of Christ is the greatest enemy to it. There. I don't know if that helps or hurts your understanding. And I will deal with it a little bit more as we go along. The second thing that I want to talk about is found in verse 2. The church in thy house. The church in thy house. Now, this is perhaps a controversial subject. Maybe this is a sensitive subject to you, but in our day, There is the House Church Movement or Home Church Movement. And I have a quote here from House Church Central. I believe online it's hccentral.com, I believe. But notice the quote here about the House Church. The House Church Movement is an attempt to get away from the institutional church. The house church movement is an attempt to get away from the institutional church. And I have said it this way, this is an untenable mission. Now, maybe I should stop here, and maybe this is a no-brainer to you, or maybe you've already shut me down. In fact, I think one of the group's motto is, when it comes to church, there's no place like home. I like that. I don't agree with it, but I like the motto. When it comes to church, there's no place like home. I would rather say, when it comes to home, the church is my home. That didn't sound good, does it? There sounds better. It is untenable for anyone to pursue the New Testament model of church without it being the church in an institutional sense. All right? And so I believe that their mission is untenable. We want to have church like they did in the New Testament, but we don't want to have it in the institutional sense. Sorry, that's the only way there is. Officers. ordinances, doctrine, discipline. These are things that are church in the institutional sense. Now, you can meet together. We've mentioned this recently. You can meet together and all we're going to do is praise and worship. And there are churches that pop up like that. That's what we were saying a few weeks ago, maybe sooner. They pop up. House of praise. And they don't last often. Why? Because you can't have the New Testament church on praise only. You can't have the New Testament church on worship only. Let me say it this way. Don't throw a book at me. You can't even have the New Testament church on Bible preaching and teaching only. There's lots more. And so I've almost sarcastically said it this way. These things pop up. And they worship and shout and praise for a while, and then they realize they don't like each other. What's the truth? The truth is that there are foundational issues that have to be dealt with if you're going to do church the New Testament way. And you cannot do it by withdrawing from the church as an institution. The second thing I would say is this, the glory church, and I put that in quotes, the glory church, wherein there are no false professors, venerated traditions, I almost said harmful traditions, varying levels of faith and commitment, and personality conflicts will only be possible in glory. Now, I confess to Brother Kyle this week that I may have been guilty of this in the past, and I look back and see as we tried to start the church, there was a desire to be... Well, we wanted to be right. We wanted to have everybody in that... Everybody that was in our church, we wanted to make sure they were faithful, that they were godly people, that they were truly regenerate people. I think that's the right approach, but you have to be careful that you're not seeking to have the glory church down here. What happens is this in my experience. Dads, husbands become so burdened for their family that they want their family to be in a church where the Word of God is preached and taught rightly, where there is truly a regenerate membership, where there is truly order and unity. Imagine that. The problem is, dads, husbands, it's really hard to find. It really is. And when a man searches for some time for a church that he feels God would have him be a part of, not a church that he has to settle on, but a local body of believers where the Lord meets and there is, may I say, safety there in many ways. When he searches for that, Church after church after church, and I know friends who have done this, and cannot get there. There is a tendency then to circle the wagons spiritually, withdraw, because if I can't find a good church, I'll just do it at home. becomes somewhat jaded in his attitude toward church generally. And the home church movement fits nicely into that. Because if he looks around, he'll find another family who is experiencing the same thing. Now, maybe none of this really relates to what you're thinking about church because you've got a good one, okay? You've got a real good one. But I've seen it a lot. And I've seen good, solid men who will not go to a local church because there's simply not one there that they can worship in, submit to. And they start having church at home. What's the problem? The problem is the dysfunctionality. Is that a word? I'm making up a lot of words. What we need to do is start a glossary, you know, these new words. Dysfunctionality. I don't know if that's the word. He may tell me later. Of the church. That's the problem. But the solution is not withdrawal. And that's where I believe that the home church movement is at fault. Submission to church authority often interferes with the mindset of house church adherence, some of whom have been taught that the home with the husband slash father as the head is the most important institution. Number four, due to the failure of modern churches And this is somewhat redundant, but I'll read it. And the difficulty that well-meaning godly parents have experienced in finding suitable places to worship, some families have chosen to circle the wagon spiritually. This protective instinct inhibits their joining a community of believers in a full biblical way. Alright? What I mean by that is I have seen, in fact, I have experienced it a family as a unit circling the wagons spiritually. They will join a church bringing their unit into the fellowship of the church, but still with their wagons circled. Have you seen that? And so they come into the church and they go back home. All right, now that is a protective instinct of a father and mother, and I don't discount that. But what is the scriptural way? I might ruffle a few feathers, but the church is not made up of families. The church is made up of the saints. This is the scriptural way. You bring your unit, your family unit, into the house of God. You join. You lower the walls of your protection." I said, well, you don't know what they hear in Sunday school. Get them to a different Sunday school. You don't know what that preacher says. I have to put up with the preaching because I like the song service. You've got troubles. I've heard that. Well, there's a lot I don't agree with there. What are you doing? Circling the wagons, as it were. Protecting. The scriptural way, then, is to bring your family to the house of God. And individually, then, we are members of the house of God, the church. Now that ruffles the feathers. That is a problem. And that does not, well, I should say it this way, that causes some to withdraw from the institution of the church and to create something in their home. Come to my home. Let me show you my unit. Bring your unit. You bring your unit. And we'll share. We will worship together. We will share. And then when we say amen, you take your unit out. And I'll take... That's convenient. It can be even profitable. The problem is it's not scriptural. And it can be dangerous. And so I have taken this opportunity to address a subject that is very controversial. It may not be in your mind, but it is. And these words that I've written down are my thoughts, all right? So take them for what they're worth. The deficiency of churches does not negate the necessity of belonging to a church. And the house church concept of family above all is not the answer. What if I have to move? Brother Gary, what if you have to move? You move. He moved. When we first got here a year ago, you folks sang that song to the tune of Danny Boy. What's the name of that song? Grace is Mine. And we were a little shaky emotionally, maybe y'all noticed that, because we'd been praying so long, God, show us what you'd have us to do. Show us, I believe we'll go where you want us to go. And then, so I will go wherever you are calling me. Y'all started singing that and that was a basket case. I'm sure you looked over and said, what in the world have we done? But truly, what a blessing, what an answer to prayer. Go where the Lord is calling you. And I believe that would be my message to those who are frustrated with their local church situation. We've got one shot at this. This thing called the Christian life. We've got one shot. And if you have to uproot, I'm speaking generally. I don't want anybody here to leave. What I'm talking about is generally speaking to who might hear this sermon someday or this lesson. If you have to uproot and go for the sake of being a part of a scriptural New Testament church, by all means, uproot and go. That's my encouragement to you. Last thing I would say about this. If meeting in a house is necessary, or even preferable, there's no prohibition nor prescription in Scripture. In fact, you'll find that 1 Corinthians 16, Colossians 4, there's more examples of churches meeting in houses than in church buildings. That's not the point. The physical location is not the point. I would say it this way, be wary, however, of the movement which is an attempt to get away from the institutional church. All right? Fair enough? The third thing I would point out is some things about Paul. Martin Luther has said this about Paul's love displayed in the letter to Philemon. This epistle showeth a right, noble, lovely example of Christian love. Here we see how St. Paul layeth himself out for the poor Onesimus, and with all his means pleaded his cause with his master, and so saideth himself as if he were Onesimus, and had himself done wrong to Philemon." Sounds like intercession, doesn't it? Notice Paul's discretion. Paul does not say, I am an apostle, release the slave. I am in charge, release the slave. He doesn't say that. Here is discretion. Here is a sensitive and may I say awkward perhaps situation. This man has done something very bad. He's done something wrong against Scripture, and that is he has disobeyed his master, Onesimus, I'm speaking of. And so Paul is interceding for a man who's sinned, who has defrauded, and it's pretty awkward. But notice the appeal. The appeal was not from a position of authority. but from a position of Christian brotherhood. And he tells Onesimus, I'm sorry, Philemon this, love this man as a brother. And here is what I say is implied, that is the greatest argument against slavery, is that love him as a brother mindset will not suffer bondage. How is Philemon supposed to esteem Onesimus higher than himself in slavery? You see, the Christian principle of love and esteeming and ministry. We are servants. Jesus Himself washed literally the disciples' feet. Who did that normally? We learned that in conference. Again, we're told the servant did that normally. The servant, the slave washed the feet. Some have said that Christianity is to be rejected because some slaveholders were Christians. That's a pretty lame argument. Some have rejected. Brother Josh has a friend who said, from influence of a national figure, which we won't mention, he said that, I have found that most of the troubles in this world are caused because of religion. You know, that's probably about right. Problem is, he lumps Christianity in that. And you see, I would not answer the question of what is the answer for this world as being Christianity. I wouldn't answer it that way, because if you just say Christianity, that's just way too broad. And there are those who think of the Roman Catholic Church, for instance, as Christianity. That's not the answer. The answer to America and the world is Christ. That's the answer. And so the argument to your friend, Brother Josh, and to others who lump Christianity, the answer, I believe, is what if this world not were a bunch of Christians, what if this world, what if individuals were like Christ? It would be a better place. It would be a much better place. the principle of love that was exhibited by Christ, the principle of selflessness is the, I'll say it again, the biggest enemy that slavery has. The concept of slavery. Well, notice, I have to hurry, Paul's clever use of words in verse 11, which in time past, speaking of a mess, was to the unprofitable but now profitable to thee and to me." Paul was clever because the word onesimus means profitable. Isn't that interesting? I have included thirdly a gospel illustration worth mentioning. And that's why I say this little letter speaks volumes because can you not see the work of Christ in this illustrated. We see the sinner's insurrection, fleeing the master, robbing the owner, living as a debtor. May I say also, under the sentence of death, which Philemon had legally the right to put to death this runaway slave. But we see the Savior's intercession, and that is illustrated by Paul himself. And while the plight of the slave is hopeless, the position of the saint is hopeful. Begotten is the word used. Profitable. Received and adopted is the word I've inserted there. And that comes from verse... Sixteen, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved. Receive him as a brother. And then the effectual mediation of the son. He is the benefactor of the redeemed. And we see imputation here. We see the righteousness of Christ illustrated. Paul is interceding for Onesimus just as Christ did for us who had indeed rejected Him and ran from Him as sinners. And he says, if He owes you, put it on my account. Martin Luther says this, even as Christ did for us with God the Father, thus also doth St. Paul for Onesimus with Philemon. For Christ also stripped himself of his right and by love and humility enforced the Father. That word enforced is a question mark put in there by the commentator. The Father to lay aside His wrath and power and to take us to His grace for the sake of Christ, who lovingly pleadeth our cause and with all His heart layeth Himself out for us. For we are all His Onesimai." Don't you love that? We are all His, plural. I would have said Onesimuses, but he said Onesimai, or the translator did. We are all His Onesimai to my thinking, Martin Berman. And surely we are. little letter here that speaks volumes of Christ's love and intercession. All right, quickly, here's the exam. Some of these are hard, but I have ensured that no one gets a zero on this test. If you haven't seen it already, you will. Here's the quote, by grace are you safe through faith. What book? Ephesians, the second quote. Oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. Written to a young pastor. Verse Timothy. If he oweth thee aught, put that on mine account. You better get that one. I'm really going to be hurt. By Leman. I can do all things through Christ. Philippians 4. We despaired even of life." The most personal of the letters. Remember this one? 2 Corinthians, exactly. So, some of y'all have missed some already? That disciple whom Jesus loved. John. He's the only one that said that. Alright, here you go, if you're having trouble. To the saints which are at Colossae. I heard that. For this cause left I thee in Crete. A little tougher. Tide is good. The wages of sin is death. Romans. Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew. The only gospel to use the term kingdom of heaven. Then we which are alive shall be caught up. Live and remain shall be caught up. Earth Thessalonians 4. And I have put these together for your benefit because it was tough. By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, I put them together so it would be 2 Thessalonians. Here's a toughie. Are ye not carnal? Well, who is the carnal church? 1 Corinthians. Shepherds abiding in their field. Luke chapter what? Luke chapter 2. Uh-oh, watch out. Lay not this sin to their charge. Who said it? John, did you say? Stephen, yeah, that's right. Well, that's what I was looking for though, yeah. Stephen said that. I thought maybe some of y'all might have gone to the gospel, forgive them for they know not what they do, the words of Christ. From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures." 2 Timothy. Yeah, I made that one a little easier for you. It's right there. Sit down upon the green grass. Mark. Remember how vivid Mark's gospel is? And he's the only one to say the green grass to paint a picture of the feeding of the 5,000. And then the last one, you're welcome. Oh, foolish Galatians. So everybody scores no zeroes on this exam. Well, we are two-thirds of the way through the New Testament survey. If the calendar holds, the schedule holds, then we will be to the, I think, the second Sunday in June will be the last. So I would ask you to help us to pray regarding what's next. I would appreciate that. And I know the elders would as well. So we want to do what's right. We want to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. But two-thirds of the way through. Amen. Let's pray.