Let's go to the Lord again in prayer. Our gracious and all-loving Heavenly Father, hallowed be thy name. Help us to indeed reverence you We confess our sinfulness. We are reminded of the warfare that the beloved apostle mentioned in Romans 7. And he cried out, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? And indeed it is the body of death. When we would do good, evil is present with us. But we verily believe there's another law in our mind bringing us in captivity And therefore, our heart's desire is to walk in holiness, all purity of mind and spirit, cleansing ourselves with the washing of the water by the word, and pray that you would indeed cause the word to be effectual in our hearts and minds and to purify the people unto yourself. We look forward to the day when there will not be that battle, that struggle, that intense warfare And so oftentimes we yield to our outward man endeavoring to hold on to the inward man. We ask our God that you would, as we said, take the word of the Lord and cause it to dive into the inmost recesses of our soul and even mind and spirit, and cause them to be focused upon the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. We live in a world of chaos and turmoil, a world that knows you not. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with you. And yet we find on every hand, seemingly that's all most people know about, is the wisdom of the world. And they're not even content in what they think they know, even with that. We live in a restless society. that knows not where it came from or where it is going, living on this earth with no purpose, but only to gratify the fleshly desires of the moment. Oh, our God, how we would like to see the gospel of the Lord go forth as the waters covers the sea and calls people to cry out unto you and to bow down to the truth of the gospel. Friends, loved ones, relatives, know thee that not, and seek their own thing, and seek their own desires, and care not for the things of the truth of the gospel of God. Oh, our God, we need you and we need you desperately. And unless you intervene, we find that not only will the world as a whole be brought into destruction, the nations in which we live will be brought into destructions, even advancing into the remote sections of the country to where there will be no place that will be secure. And yet, we have lived in this country for many years in insecurity. And we would also have been involved in a lot of conflicts as the world would call them, and yet seeking to advance ourselves as being the one that is above all nations. Little do they know that the King of kings and the Lord of lords is our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the only kingdom, the kingdom of God that shall ever stand forever. And we long to see that manifested in a more glorious way. But we trust that we will be content to abide until your timetable. For we know that you know the end from the beginning. You've always known the end. And so we realize and know that there's going to be a day when the Lord himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with your trump, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet our blessed Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with him. Whether on this earth, whether in the air, wherever it will be, we will be with him. We know not what we shall be, but we know that we shall be like Him and we shall see Him as He is. But until that day, our God, encourage us and strengthen us and bless us to be refreshed in the very bowels of our being with the Word of the Lord. For it is in Christ Jesus we pray. Amen. Coming back to the book of Philemon, We left off looking in verses 6 and 7, and I'll read those two verses, but I'm also going to read verses 7 and 8 and 9. But anyway, that the communication of the faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ." But here he says in verse 7, "'For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.'" Paul was in jail. But he had heard and got the report of Philemon and how that he had ministered to the saints. We looked last Lord's Day, left off with how that he He acknowledged every good thing, and his faith was effectual in the fact that he not only knew what he believed, he knew how to explain it. He knew how to tell it to others. But not only that, Philemon extended himself in such a way that he brought consolation to others. This word consolation is the, actually it's the feminine noun of the masculine noun That's translated, Comforter, in John 14, 15, and 16. I'd like for us to kindly look at how God used this word and that word, both of these words, in the Scriptures to show you the consolation You know that, you probably remember that the comforter is also, that Greek word is paraclete, which means one that comes along beside. It's one thing to be sympathetic to one's cause, it's another to come along beside one and to assist them in their cause. I'll go back to my youth and the community in which I was raised, sometimes Some of our neighbors would come down with sickness or something that would cause them to be in the hospital. One situation comes to mind. One of our neighbors, when digging his sweet potatoes, got bit by a black widow spider and was in the hospital, almost died. And some of the neighbors had to go and not only dig the rest of his potatoes, but help take care of the cows and milk his cows for him and things of that nature. It was one thing to say, brother, we sure are sorry that this happened to you. But it was another to come along beside and assist in the midst of it. You know, sometimes, say, someone lose a loved one. And people with good intentions and doing all they know to do to express their sympathy and concern. But let's say that a woman has lost her husband. It's something else for another widow to come along and say, I know how you feel, I lost mine too. Come along beside. This is the idea of these two words. First of all, in Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9. We live in a society, the only way I know how to call it is selfishness, but I don't mean selfishness in a sinful way. We kindly become recluses. For example, I'll just use myself. A lot of times after our service is here, I'll go home and I may not even leave the property there until the following Saturday when I come to make sure the heat or the air is turned on here and do my shopping and go back home. I grew up in a community where neighbors oftentimes would visit one another. We live in a society that's lost. That's lost. And oftentimes in a congregation, that's lost. I'm talking about a congregation where there's several members, several families, and oftentimes they only get together on the Lord's Day, or if they have midweek service, that's the only time they see each other. There's not much consolation given in that environment. Acts 9, verse 31, This is after Paul had gone to Jerusalem after his conversion, and they sent Paul down to Tarsus to go back home, as it were. But then in verse 31, Then had the congregations rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. In verse 29, Paul had been quite active and he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians, but they went about to slay him." In other words, there was great turmoil. I'm not going to go into whether this was good or bad or anything, just how the situation was. But when Paul was sent home, or back to Tarsus from where he came, from Jerusalem, a lull, a peace, a quietness. For many decades in this country, that's how it was. We don't know what it is to have wars and turmoils. We didn't live during the war between the states when there was great conflict within our own country. But outside of that, most of us was raised, some of us didn't have as much natural goods as others. But we had plenty to eat. We had clothes. We had a good family, good home. When I think of my home, I always think of it with joy. I also remember after I had gone out on my own, and sometimes when I would go back home, it was always just like a place of just sit down and relax, a place to rest. Place of comfort. Place of comfort. Place of consolation. First Corinthians, excuse me, second Corinthians, chapter one. A very profound passage. 2 Corinthians 1, beginning at verse 3 and reading through verse 7. Blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble." This is what Philemon did. He comforted others. "...by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, So our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. In other words, the more trials and afflictions you have, the more consolations you have. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the endearing of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. I think when I read that, I think of what Thomas Manton said of Isaiah 53. It's more to be experienced than explained. Some passages seem to be that way, just rich, teeming in themselves. But let's go and look at this masculine noun. In John chapter 14, verse 1. John 14, verse 16. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Then drop down to verse 26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." You have the Comforter. You may not always feel like it, but He's there. Why is it that you are continuing to serve God? It's because the Comforter continues to comfort you and strengthen you to love our Lord Jesus Christ. Drop over to the 15th chapter in verse 26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, he shall proceed from the Father, and he shall testify of me." And then in John 16, verse 7, "'Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I will not go away, the Comforter We're not coming to you, but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." So we have a Comforter with us, my beloved. We have a Comforter for us. 1 John 2, verse 1. My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That word advocate is comforter. This is the sentiment that Paul is expressing to Philemon when he said, We have great joy and consolation in thy love. Paul was buoyed up as it were. You know, a buoy is something that floats in the water. It doesn't sink. Paul was floating up on the love of Philemon. He said, I have great joy and consolation in thy love. Paul was encouraged. He was in jail, hundreds of miles away from the Philippians. But to hear of their, of Philemon, I've been studying them Philippians. Paul was hundreds of miles away from Philemon, but he was buoyed up. He was encouraged, He was strengthened. Because of the love that Philemon had, and because the bowels of the saints were refreshed by Him. The inward affections, the very center of His being, I want to look at this word, bows, a little bit. First of all, in Luke 1, verse 78. Well, I'm tempted to go all the way back to verse 68, because this is Zacharias speaking after his son John had been born. But I'll start, I'll take up in verse 76. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest. Now the child there is John the Baptist. Zacharias is speaking about his son. And thou, child, shalt be the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. Through the tender mercy, the word tender there is our word for consolation. Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us. The bowels, the tender mercies. Excuse me, this word tender is their word for bowels. I said consolation, I was wrong. All right, look in Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. Paul writes to the Philippian saints, verse 8, For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, if there be any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies I said, what are you talking about? I'm talking about the very innermost being. You know, sometimes people talk about butterflies in your stomach. Well, this is more than butterflies. But it's the very core of your being is shaken, encouraged. You know, sometimes on YouTube, there'll be videos of soldiers coming home and surprising, usually, their wives. Their wives not expecting it, and when they see their loved one, they just, their whole being is excited. This is that idea. The very core of your being is shaken. Well, Paul's very core of his being was encouraged in jail by the love that Philemon had for the saints and how he communicated that love. This word is also seen in Colossians 3, verse 12, where he says, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse 12, Colossians 3, verse whom I have sinned again, thou therefore receive him that is mine own bowels. In verse 20, Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord, refresh my bowels in the Lord. So Paul says back in verse 7, For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because Not only was Paul's vows encouraged, but Philemon ministered to the vows of the saints, and the vows of the saints were refreshed by Philemon. He didn't just say he loved them, he proved his love. He encouraged them. He strengthened them if need be. He was there for them. You know, sometimes you hear someone say, you know, so and so, if I was ever in need, I can always call on Him. I know He's there. He's there. I can count on my hand with fingers left over for such a statement. Oh, I have a lot of friends. I have some, a lot of friends that if they could, they would, but because of the distance, they can't. But there's one that comes to mind that I know that day or night I can call on them to be there. I don't have any question about that. And he's not, to my knowledge, a believer. but he has refreshed my bowels in many ways. Several years ago, when I lived in another city some hundreds of miles away, I had just such a friend who likewise was not a believer. I was in the process of painting my house, I fell off a ladder and sprained my ankle severely. He grabbed up a friend and came over and finished the painting for me. He was a very straightforward gentleman. a merchant marine feller. But before he started painting, he attended to my ankle. He got a six-gallon plastic bucket, filled it with hot water with Epsom salt, and said, put your foot in there. I said, that's too hot. I can't stand it. He said, you put your foot in there, or I'll put it in there for you. That's how much he loved me. I put my foot in there, too. And it did a whole lot of good. But I knew that I could call on him if I needed to. I didn't know that until then. When he found out what had happened, he came running. But how much greater? There are individuals that don't live close to me that I talk to quite often. And I can say that my bowels are refreshed when I talk to them, encouraged, strengthened. Beloved, may we strive to be like Philemon, that we might refresh the bowels of the saints. And you might not only be a blessing to those to whom you have refreshed, but to those who hear about you. to those who hear about you. Paul in jail was refreshed. Paul was refreshed by Philemon. This brother, hundreds of miles away, going about his business, probably did not have any idea that what he was doing was going to be a breath of fresh air to the beloved apostle chained to a Roman soldier waiting to see Nero. We can learn much from Philemon. You don't hear much talked about concerning Philemon. I had another minister to tell me this week, he said, well, I hear that you, I see that you're preaching on Philemon now. He said, I've never heard him, that the only other time I ever heard anybody preach on Philemon, and he mentioned this other minister, and he said he did it in one sermon. He said, that's the only person I've ever heard preach on Philemon. But I don't say that to say that I'm anything. I say that to say how much a lot of people have missed if they haven't studied Philemon. Philemon is an encouragement to us. some 2,000 years later. God put Philemon and this epistle to Philemon in his book to encourage us to imitate him. 25 verses. All this letter is But Paul said that he was at great consolation because of the bowels of the saints were refreshed by Philemon. You remember Matthew 11, 28, coming to me all ye that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The word rest is this word refreshed. There are several other places. Well, let's look at a few other places. We don't need to rush through this. First Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 18. Well, let's get verse 17. Paul said, For I am glad of the coming of Stephanas. It's believed that Paul was at Philippi when he wrote this. I'm glad at the coming of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and a cacus, for that which is lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge ye them that are such." Refreshed. You remember Some time ago, I forget exactly when it was, but Brother Leroy and Brother Ray Hoggard came and preached to us. And they said they wanted to come. They didn't want any money. They just wanted to come and encourage us. And Brother Lawrence and his wife, Sister Alice, at that time, she was still alive. Brother Roger Gregory, they came. Remember how it refreshed us? It encouraged us? This is the idea. Being refreshed, being encouraged. Give you that up. I'm ready to press on. Our cause is worth it. Yes, we're a small assembly. We may not be a perfect assembly, having everything that an assembly may need that's healthy. But we're still an assembly. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst," he said. He didn't say, pray for me to be there. He said, I'm there. And these brethren that came to Paul, he was refreshed at their coming. Revelation 6. There's plenty of other places, but I'm just giving a few. Revelation 6. Verse 11. Well, let's read verse 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them. And it was said unto them that they should, there it is, rest for a little season. until their fellow servants also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." And then in Revelation 14, verse 13, And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. And from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. You can see how that this word is used, how it goes into the innermost feelings. And this is what Philemon did toward the saints, and that was no small matter. I want to read what John Gill said about this. I thought it was precious. He said, there in verse 7, meaning not only that their bellies were filled with food, for the phrase is used in Philemon 20, where that cannot be intended. In other words, it's not just your bellies being filled, but their hearts, were filled with gladness. The load upon their spirits, the pressures upon their minds were removed, and they had an inward pleasure in their souls, and rest, refreshment, and comfort through the liberal communications of Philemon to them, who did what he did cheerfully and that so it did their souls good, as well as their bodies, in doing which he acted the part of a brother in Christ." Well, I'm not going to get to verses 8 and 9 today. I sure thought I would, but there's a lot in that one little verse. But Philemon was He was not just a Christian off somewhere in Colossae, but he was a brother in Christ, well reported of. And little did Philemon know that it would reach the ears of the Apostle Paul. He may have had some inkling because Epiphas, well, I'll get away from that. Epiphas was from Philippi, not from Colossae. But little did he know that Paul would learn of Philemon, maybe through Tychicus, but I wonder how much he learned about Philemon from Onesimus, his runaway slave. Onesimus was wrong to run away, but I dare say that after the Lord converted him, he had high regard for his master. He realized what Christianity was all about. But however Paul heard about it, They didn't have cell phones. They didn't even have the telegraph to get the information from way over here to way over here. But it reached Paul. I will say this. to you beloved saints here that attend faithfully and meet with us online as you have opportunity. There are many ministers that ask me about y'all continually and speak well of your faithfulness to the gospel. You may not realize it, but you're an encouragement to other ministers, even hundreds of miles away. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this man, Philemon. I look forward to meeting him someday. Yes, I look more to looking to you, my blessed Master and Lord. But if we're going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, If we're going to feast with the saints, fellow believers, we have eternity. Don't know how long it'll take to get around to vile amen. We don't know what we shall be. We don't know all about that. We wish we did, and I believe we will. I'm thankful to you, my father, that I can thank you for the life of Philemon, a brother in Christ, a brother in Christ who had great, great encouragement, not only to fellow believers, but to the beloved apostle himself. In Jesus' name, amen.