Or can I ask you please to turn to the letter to Philemon, to have that word open before you. They're going to be focusing on those first seven verses, touching a little bit on other parts of the letter which we'll look at in more detail this evening. Your reputation is important. It has the ability to shape what people think of you, how they react to you, what they expect of you. If you're in the public eye, a celebrity or a politician or a well-known sportsperson, the reputation that you have can seriously impact how the media responds to you, what they write about you, how they represent you. And in the media, particularly in the arena of social media, one mistake, one wrong step, one poorly chosen statement or bad interview can be very damaging. It can lead to your reputation being tarnished. And if you make several of those mistakes or bad decisions, it can ruin your reputation forever, irreparably damaging your popularity, particularly in a world where forgiveness seems to be in very short supply, doesn't it? If you're a Christian, your reputation is also critically important, especially in a world that watches us so very closely. People do notice what you stand for, they notice the kind of person you are, whether your life really does what it says on the tin, whether your life really backs up what you say you believe, whether your choices and whether your reactions are in line with your faith, whether you're the same person on a Monday morning as you are on a Sunday morning. A good Christian reputation can be an incredibly powerful advert for Christian faith, but a bad reputation can be extremely damaging. And not just for the person who is that individual, but also for the church that they're part of, and also for the perception of Christianity as a whole. A poor reaction a time where we don't practice what we preach, an unkind word or a failure to help when we have the opportunity to do so can cause damaging ripples like a stone being thrown into the water and then watching as the ripples go out, can undermine the reality of the good news of Jesus and also of the transformational claims of the gospel. And that is why the Bible urges us again and again as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to be careful how we live and to ask the Holy Spirit every single day to help us to be the people that the Lord Jesus Christ calls us to be. For example, in Ephesians chapter four, if you've got your Bible, do turn to that, Ephesians chapter four and verse 21. I'm just going to read a few verses from there. Paul writes there, Since you've heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life. Verse 23. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature created to be like God, truly righteous and holy. And then verse 31, where he gets to kind of like the rubber hits the road verses, where he says, get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander. as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God, through Christ, has forgiven you. Those are words that I find I need to read on a very regular basis. I get that's true for each one of us. And actually the issue of reputation is right at the very heart of this letter to Philemon, or more accurately the letter to Philemon, because it's written by the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest ever Christian missionaries and teachers of the gospel, to a man called Philemon, the host and perhaps the leader of a local church in a place called Colossae. And it is Philemon's reputation which is in focus here But also, the letter deals with a reputation past and present of a runaway slave called Onesimus, a slave who used to be part of Philemon's household, but who went AWOL. He ran away from his master disobediently and fled to Rome, living probably as a fugitive, and possibly, it seems, having stolen money from Philemon as well. But there, Onesimus had changed. In the sovereignty and the grace of God he'd been brought into contact with Paul. He'd heard the message of Jesus and he'd become a Christian and as a result now something needed to happen in his life. And that something was that the runaway needed to return. There were things to be put right. The bridges that Onesimus had burnt needed to be repaired and restored. And so Paul sends Onesimus back to find him with this kind of covering letter. In fact, it seems that Onesimus, along with a good, solid Christian man called Tychicus, who I always imagined to be a small man, they were given the responsibility of bringing this along with other letters from Paul. And in the letter they take for the church, or perhaps collection of house churches in Colossae, we read this in Colossians chapter 4. Tychicus will give you a full report about how I'm getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord's Word. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. And then Paul writes this, I'm also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that's happening here. But you see, the letter for Philemon is a very different kind of letter for Onesimus to bring. It's a letter with real personal weight and meaning, isn't it? It's a letter that will urge reconciliation and restoration between Philemon and also Onesimus. It's a letter that will call Philemon to forgive Onesimus, but actually to do far more than just forgive him. and by doing so prove the reality not only of Onesimus' faith and Philemon's faith, but also the power and the reality of the gospel as a whole. So do you see, there are really big issues at stake here. That is why it's so important for us to study it carefully, to take in its challenges and apply those to our own lives. You see, to skip over this very short book in our Bibles is to miss out. It is actually to make a big mistake, particularly as one writer describes it like this. He says, this short epistle gleams like a pearl of the most exquisite purity in the rich treasure of the New Testament. and so this morning I want us to have a bit of an introduction to this letter we're going to set the scene we're going to look at those few verses that we read a little time ago and we're going to get to know Philemon and we're going to focus on him and importantly we're going to see why Paul speaks so highly of him and thinks so highly of him and why as he asks Philemon to take Onesimus back to see why Paul is able to write what he writes in verse 21. Just have a look at that with me. He writes these words, having confidence in your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. Firstly though, just notice that this is a letter that Paul writes from prison. He makes that clear in verse 1, and he also underlines why he's in prison, doesn't he? Have a look at that. He says, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother. The New Living Translation of the Bible expresses it like this. This letter is from Paul. a prisoner for preaching the good news about Christ Jesus. And he goes on to emphasize that he's in prison a number of times. In verses 9 and 10, he says, I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus, then verse 10, that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. And he also references his change, his imprisonment, in verses 13 to 23. And in a way, that should set us thinking, why, given this is such a short letter, why does Paul devote so many lines to his imprisonment here? Why take up so much air time in this letter on that particular subject? Well, I think the answer to that is that he does so with an eye on the key issue, with an eye on the big thing that he's asking Philemon to do, which will undoubtedly be very costly for Philemon emotionally. So I think as we read this letter, I think what Paul is saying, as it were, between the lines, he's saying, Philemon, I realize that taking Onesimus back is a step that will be costly for you. But remember the cost that I am bearing as a Christian. Weigh up what I'm asking you to do for the gospel and compare that to what I am called to do for the gospel. That's a really helpful perspective for Philemon. But it's also a very helpful perspective for us too, isn't it, here and now? As we think through what the Lord Jesus Christ may call us to do in our lives, in our situations, the sacrifices he may call us to make for our faith, often set against a perspective like that, we see that they're relatively small, don't we? Secondly we need to notice that although this is very definitely a personal letter written primarily to Philemon because it's Philemon's reactions and his response that Paul is most concerned about, interestingly the words you and yours that Paul uses in the opening greeting in verse 3 and also in the final paragraph in verses 22 to 25 those words you and yours are actually plural. And they seem to be addressed to the wider audience of the church that meets in Philemon's home. So that means that this letter is actually an open letter. The envelope isn't marked personal, private, and confidential. It's a letter which is to be received and read not just by Philemon individually, but read by the church that meets in Philemon's house. And the significance of that and the shared responsibility that it carries will become clear as we look at it again this evening. But of course, just kind of press the pause button for a second, just think about that. Of course, it will mean that everyone in the church will know what Paul is asking Philemon to do. And therefore, it means that everyone in the church, very naturally, will be looking to see how Philemon responds, won't they? So who was Philemon? Well, from the information that we have here, he seems to have been a fairly wealthy man with a large household, a household that employed a number of people. It may not have been a kind of Downton Abbey scenario, kind of upstairs and downstairs, but there would have been a number of servants who were serving the family and possibly Philemon's business interests. And that may have included, at least one time, slaves, slaves like Onesimus. Again, that is an issue that we'll deal with tonight. And we'll also deal with the changes that Paul is asking Philemon to make. Philemon lived in the city of Colossae, that is now modern-day Turkey. It's about 100 miles inland from Ephesus, which is where Paul had taken the Christian message. He preached there and evangelized people with the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ for about three years, planting a church, and then seeing it grow between AD 52 and 55. And apparently, it was during this time that Philemon came to Ephesus, perhaps on a business trip and became a Christian under Paul's ministry. And that is the point that Paul is making in verse 19. Have a look at that with me where he writes these words. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back, not to mention that you owe me your very self. And when Philemon returns to Colossae, he follows the Christian message, he lives it out faithfully, he begins to serve Christ in the community there, and in verse 2 reveals that he sets up his home as a house church for a group of Christians to meet there regularly. Just imagine how busy that was on a Sunday morning. And if, as many people believe, reading these opening verses, that Athia was Philemon's wife and that Archippus was his son, then what we have here is a really encouraging family portrait, isn't it? Of a home which is united in the gospel, serving the church together, hosting a home group and perhaps a regular Sunday morning service. And with Archippus, Philemon's son, just beginning to use the spiritual gifts that God had given him for the churches in the area, because it seems to be him who Paul mentions in Colossians chapter four, verse 17, where he writes these words, and say to Archippus, be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. So that when you kind of put all that together, this household that were introduced right at the beginning of this letter seems to be a really good and healthy Christian home. And it seems to be a very good bed and breakfast stopover for traveling missionaries. And as Paul appears to be a good family friend, it is no wonder they seem to be looking forward to coming back for a visit. In fact, if you look at verse 22, it reads a bit like an email to booking.com. Paul writes, and one thing more, prepare a guest room for me because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. So firstly we get to know Philemon, we see that he is a key part of a faithful Christian home, but secondly in verses four to seven we see that it's a home which is led by a very faithful Christian man. That is what Philemon's reputation reveals. And for Onesimus, having worked for Philemon in the past, he would have remembered what his old master was like, wouldn't he? He would have known the kind of man he was, a knowledge that I'm sure would have comforted him and encouraged him as he returned back to Philemon, so that when he comes back to Philemon after running away, as he humbly returns, And can you imagine the emotions as he hands that letter over to Paul, over to Philemon from Paul? He doesn't need to be afraid. He knows that he doesn't need to be shivering in his sandals, as it were. Instead, Onesimus can share Paul's confidence that Philemon will receive Onesimus as he should, in grace. Let's just look at Philemon's reputation, this testimonial that Paul gives him in verses four to seven and what we can learn from it. Just turn to verse four again, Paul writes, I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers because I hear about your love for all these holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people.' I wonder what words came to your mind as you read that testimonial. I think that we see Philemon that he's a man of living faith, isn't he? He's a man who lives his life with his eyes firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a man who has this desire to follow Jesus very closely and faithfully. He's a man who seeks to be and become the man that the Lord Jesus Christ calls him to be. and that his faith is so vibrant and so clear and so prominent, it is so front and center in his life that it is what he is known for. So that as Paul points out in verse five again, it is Philemon's faith that Paul keeps hearing about. And I guess that against the backdrop of that, so we can kind of expand our view a little bit safely of Philemon and say that he seems to be a man who demonstrates true faith in all facets of his life. So he demonstrates that faith in his home, in the church, in business, in all his dealings and all his interfaces with the world, in all the touch points of his life. Which would mean that he lived out his faith very clearly in his role as a husband and as a father. and in his role in the church, and perhaps too as a businessman in the corporate world. That as you looked at Philemon's life, it was like looking at a diamond, a diamond that as you turned it consistently and looked at it from every angle, that every angle reflected the Lord Jesus Christ. And so therefore, speaking specifically for a moment to those of us who are men here this morning, ladies you can sit back and relax for a little while. You see that Philemon for us as men is a very real example and challenge because he's a faithful Christian man. And he's a man whose reputation naturally draws us to look at our own lives and to ask ourselves that searching question, does my faith shine out in the same way? Is the Lord Jesus Christ seen as clearly and as consistently in my life? If I'm married, does my wife see Jesus in the way that I love her and the way that I care for her and the way that I speak to her? Does she see it in my life priorities? If I have a family, do my children see Jesus in the way that I look after them, in the way that I care for them, in the way that I love them and nurture them and discipline them lovingly? in the way that I lead the home, and in the way, most importantly, in the way that I seek to disciple them. Am I pointing them to following Jesus? Because if we're not living our faith out consistently at home in front of them, if it's only seen in like little flashes now and again, like beams of light through dark clouds, then we won't be pointing them to the Lord Jesus Christ effectively. And also in the workplace. Is my faith reflected in the way I handle situations? Is it reflected in the conscientious way that I work? Is it reflected in the way that I react when things go wrong and the way that I treat the people I work with? And finally, is it visible amongst my circle of friends in social situations and also in social media? Am I a good friend? Am I a reliable friend? Every single one of those angles is so important, isn't it? And our homes and our churches and the world desperately needs to see more Christian men like Philemon. I have to say, every time I read this letter and I read his testimony, I am incredibly challenged by that testimony, an example in my own life. Well, men, let's make it our prayer that we would become men like Philemon. men whose lives reflect and resemble the Lord Jesus Christ more and more. Okay ladies, do join us again. What we also see in Paul's character reference is also the way Philemon's faith is reflected in his genuine Christian love for other believers. That of course is what Jesus says is to be the hallmark of those who follow him. He says, your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. And in Galatians, Paul talks there about faith working through love, that faith is the root and love is the fruit, and that the expression of true internal love for the Lord Jesus Christ will always be the external love that we have for other believers. So non-negotiable, isn't it? If ever you've had to draw a circle, the way I was taught at school was to have a kind of fixed central point which you'd pin and attach a pencil and string to and then you'd draw a circumference around it keeping attached to that central point so that the shape of the circle went fully around consistently. That might have just been a Suffolk thing, but bear with me if it was. But do you see, in our Christian lives, our faith and our love for the Lord Jesus Christ is to be that central fixed point. And the circumference that we are to draw attached to that central fixed point is the love that we have and that we show for others. Firstly, to those who belong to Jesus, and then secondly, to those who don't belong to Jesus yet. And do you see from this letter that that was the line of love that Philemon's life drew so clearly and seemingly to a very wide circumference. There's no doubt what was in Philemon's heart because it showed the fruit of his love was seen so clearly. in his life, in his care, in his practical kindness. Again in verse 5 Paul writes that he keeps hearing about the love that Philemon shows. In a way that love is the chorus that his life sings again and again. And if you look at verse 7 it suggests that Paul has not only been refreshed by experiencing that love personally, but also by hearing of the way Philemon has shown it to others. He writes, your love has given me great joy and encouragement because you brother have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people. When we first moved to Caterham, Christine and I were very young and a bit wet behind the ears, young in our married life, and we suddenly found in the fellowship at Caterham a number of adopted parents, which was fantastic. I don't think we had a Sunday lunch at home for the first six months of our married life. I was grateful for that, not because Christine's a bad cook. but just because it was a real act of practical kindness. But there was one couple in particular, a couple called David and Joyce Reid, who were wonderfully kind, who were always willing to help, day or night, always generous, always thoughtful, always sensitive, always ready to help anybody who was in need. In fact, they had a reputation at Caterham. The motto was, if in need, ask a Reid. It's a great reputation to have, isn't it? And you see, that's the kind of reputation that Philemon seems to have had. That this genuine love in his life reached out and met needs. And by definition, it must have been a love that was compassionate and sensitive, a love that went beyond words and was expressed in action. And it points us to a very clear principle, doesn't it? And an important principle. that this was a love that was shown to all Christians and that our love must be shown to all Christians and not just those we naturally get along with, not those just that we naturally connect with but also that we may not naturally connect with. And that Christian love is to be a love that overcomes differences, that there is to be no favoritism. It is to be a love that is to be consistent. To use a wintry picture, Christian love is not to fall like patchy snow just on a few areas of the church. It is to be a love that blankets the whole church, all the church family, and that falls deeply. And why is it that Paul emphasizes the love that Philemon has shown so faithfully in the past? Well, probably because as the letter goes on, Paul will be calling him to show that same love in the present, and especially to Onesimus. And you know, it may be this morning that there is someone who the Holy Spirit is calling us to show love towards, probably that person who's in our minds right now. a Christian brother or sister who is in need, who needs us to come alongside? Well, if so, may we respond as we should, proving what's in our hearts by showing this love in our lives. Our reputation is important. It has the ability to shape what people think of you, how they react to you, how they view you, what they expect of you. Well, depending on the Holy Spirit and on his transforming power, let's make it our aim as believers this morning that we will have and that we will maintain a reputation that is similar to Philemon's, a reputation of faith and faithfulness and love as individuals but also as church families, a reputation that grows in grace, a reputation that works in the church. and also a reputation that sends ripples of love to the communities we serve, communities that desperately need to meet Jesus and experience his love and his grace for themselves. Let's take a few moments of quiet individual prayer this morning as we reflect on God's word to us. We'll have a few moments of quiet prayer individually now before we sing our final hymn, then closing prayer. Let's take a few moments just to pray this through, let's think through the implications for our own lives and our own situations. Let's pray that God would help us as we seek to work those out.