Well, please go ahead and turn your Bibles to the Epistle to Philemon. The Epistle to Philemon. And of course, there's only one chapter, but anyway, it'll be chapter one, verses four through seven. Okay. Give you a moment to turn there. Hear ye then the word of the Lord. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever and ever. Father, we thank you for thy holy word. Lord, we pray that you bless our hearts and our understanding. Lord, help us to walk in accordance with your word and will. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, last time we did our first introductory sermon, we did look at this epistle to Philemon together with an exposition of the first three verses in the text, with an explanation of who the author is, who is Paul, who the epistle was addressed to, and then, of course, the pronouncement of grace and peace to Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and the entire church that meets in Philemon's home. Well, this is a letter that's very personal for Paul and Philemon. It is written directly to Philemon, but also to the others who are mentioned as well, but specifically for the purpose of Philemon. But it's beneficial for each one of them as well as for all of us too. For we as a body of Christ, we are uniquely a fellowship of faith. That is what we are, that is who we are. We are the body of Christ. We are gathered as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are brethren, we are brothers and sisters from various and unique backgrounds, and yet we are one body. One body in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether rich or poor, educated or not, male or female, or whatever backgrounds that you may have, whether Greek or Jew, in Christ we truly are a fellowship of believers, a fellowship of faith. So always remember that, who you are, what you are a part of, part of the body of Christ. We are all members, if you will, of the body, the same body that Christ is the head of. So we consider our subject under these headings. First of all, the fellowship of love and faith. Secondly, the fellowship of the gospel. And third, the fellowship of brotherly refreshing, okay? Brotherly, sisterly, but brothers makes it easy, right? Brotherly refreshing. I do pray that we'll likewise, we'll truly learn to love and have faith among the brethren, to express our faith among the brethren, reaching out with this gospel of grace that we are all partakers of, lifting up one another as brothers and sisters, because that is truly who we are in Christ. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ that are next to you and around you, behind you, in front of you. That's who these people are. So don't forget who they are day by day. Consider then, of course, the fellowship of love and faith we see in verses four and five. Of course we are still at the beginning of this letter and Paul does have Onesimus in view here too. Onesimus, you remember Onesimus the runaway slave who used to serve Philemon. Okay, so don't forget Onesimus. But he could be executed for his rebellion. He could have been branded on the forehead as being a runaway and whatever other crimes he may have. But you imagine taking a hot branding iron and putting it upon your forehead. That is one of the punishments that could be done. And he could have all that or even worse done. But Onesimus Onesimus was a, he was converted and he was converted under the preaching of Paul the Apostle. So yeah, Paul knows this is a new man in Christ and this is your brother. And so now Onesimus acts as an assistant to Paul in the ministry, even there working over at the prison, but he was acting as his assistant. And so Paul wants things to be right between Philemon and Onesimus. It's a big deal, scary one for Onesimus. And Philemon, he's not sure how he will respond. And of course he will respond very gracefully. But Paul wants all of this to be worked out. Okay, he wants it worked out for Philemon is also a Christian now. He was also converted by the Lord Jesus Christ, and so Paul is there meeting, of course, with a church that meets in his own house. Now is there a room, is the question, is there a room in the heart of Philemon to accept Onesimus as his own equal brother in Christ? Because that was unheard of back in the day. That was a big deal back in those days. There's a room in the heart of Philemon for Onesima. Easy for us, oh sure, of course there is. But if you were living in the day, it was a real big, tough decision to make. Sometimes when we're reading through this, of course, I wonder if we're all willing to accept one another as we should among ourselves, as brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter who they may be, no matter what their previous life may have been. You may not have a clue about what their previous life was like, But it doesn't matter, that's your brother and sister in Christ now. And you know that you better love all of your brethren in Christ. All of your brothers and sisters, you better love them. Remember, if anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, He is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. And so yes, Philemon is going to hear and read this letter and he's going to be remembering these particular things like that as well from 1 John 4, 20 through 21. But a true love for Christ will include a true love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Doesn't matter if they're local or if they're not local. Doesn't matter if they live next door, if they live 500 miles away. If they're your brother and sister in Christ, you are to love your brothers and sisters because of Christ and what he's done for you. Whoever says that he is in a light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 1 John 2 and 9. So if you hate your brother, even by your actions, say, I've never said I hate them. But in your actions, you show that you despise them. Or you show that you don't care about them. You show you don't really love them. Then you're guilty of not loving the Lord either. And so then we need to be especially gracious. We need to be especially kind to all those who come through the doors of Ammion. even if they're total strangers, even if they don't look or talk just like you. All right, I had somebody point out to me from Wisconsin one time down in Texas. I am from Texas. Everybody, well, I can't say this anymore. Everybody in Texas sounds just like me. Texas is a big state. You can put four North Carolinas in Texas. If you go down to southeast Texas, strong country accent. You go up north, it's kind of different. Go all the way to the west side of Texas, it may be a little more Spanglish or something like that, but it's all one people. However, even if they don't look or talk like you do, and I know I failed to mention that one lady, and I mention the expression because I'm a Texan, I always say this, I use that expression basically, we're always fixing to do things, all right? Well, I'm fixing to do that, which means what? I'm getting ready to do that. Okay, but now everybody gets that, and I had this lady from Wisconsin say, why is it that you Texans are always fixing things? And I say, well, you don't understand. Of course, she has a funny Wisconsin accent to me. It was really strange. But anyway, but yeah, we're all different. And actually, I love the variety. I like all the different accents. And I love to hear the different things that are out there. Some are funny. Some we make fun of. Then they make fun of ours. That's OK. As long as we can be kind to one another, don't make fun of the person. You know, I said, I think you have a funny accent. I was just thinking that about you. So yeah, it happens. But in Christ, we are to get past all these little trivial, you know, discontentions, these distinctions that are there. And we don't need to focus on our uniquenesses, but rather focus on who they are in Christ, your brothers and sisters. Now here, Paul, in verses four and five, he says, I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. Because I heard of your love and of your faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus Christ and for all the saints. He said, I heard. Now remember, he's building up to what he's going to be teaching about a little bit further as we go along. But anyway, he's preparing for his more directness. But it's amazing, it does tell us a lot, that Paul spends so much time in prayer for the entire body of Christ. All the churches that he's planted, he desires to go back and see each one of those. And so he prays for those churches, he prays for those pastors, he prays for those that he can. And here he prays for those assembling together in the name of Jesus at the house of Philemon. at the house of Philemon. I thank God for you. Are there some differences? Yes, there are. But we are united in Christ Jesus. We are all united together as a body. Why does Paul pray for Philemon like this? Because he heard of his love. He heard of his faith of Jesus Christ. He is a believer. He is a brother. Everyone knows this. And as such, since he truly loves the Lord, Philemon also must love the complete body of Christ called the Church. So Philemon must love in that manner too. What does that mean then for Philemon? Well, he needs to be sure that he is loving all of his brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter who they are, as long as they are in Christ, he should love them. I'm not speaking circular, I'm trying to be careful not doing that. But he should love them because they are in Christ. This will become clear when we get to the next section in the letter. But here, Philemon is a co-laborer in Christ Jesus, and yes, he is known for his love, he's known for his devotion, he's known for his kindness to the saints of God. If you love Jesus, you better love your brothers and sisters in Christ, is that right? Yes. Amen? Yes. We are to be a fellowship of love and faith among one another. Yes, love and faith in Christ Jesus. Yes, absolutely. But also a love and faith toward our brethren. Loving them and living out your faith to them before them for the glory of God. Maintain who you are in Christ Jesus. A fellowship of love and faith indeed, but more than that too, leading to our second heading in verse six. Here we see the fellowship in the gospel. The fellowship in the gospel, verse six. And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. This particular verse is sometimes seen as a very difficult verse to interpret because of how some of the words are used. All right, I understand that. In the original, the beginning of the verse doesn't have, and I pray your Bible may have those three words in italics. Okay, because they're not part of the original text, but as the conjunction, and it has a purpose clause there, meaning, so that, okay, the sharing of your faith may become effective. But as a conjunction, it does directly refer to what has just been read. So Paul is telling Philemon what he has been praying for on his behalf. So that's why you see this, and I pray. Okay, that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing. And so that's why we see that in your text. Okay, so referring to the context there before us. The word sharing here comes from the word, from the same word related to fellowship, koinonia, right? Related to that word. And it's used here particularly as a reference for partnership. as the word is used in verse 17, same word in verse 17. This is a partnership, a koinonia, a fellowship, okay? And so then this would read in this manner, I pray that your partnership with me in the faith may be effective. So that is clear as to the meaning. Paul prays that this partnership in the gospel will be effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. And so praying, Philemon has a powerful, effective, energetic ministry of the gospel. For the full knowledge, he prays, the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us, as he seeks to benefit all the saints of God there at the church. So this expression of love and liberality should be directed to all of them, as well as on Essamas. Okay, he's getting there. Remember, Onesimus brought this letter too. So Onesimus will be present when all this is read and heard. One scholar said this, Paul derives, sorry, Paul desires that Philemon's partnership in the faith to become effective in the knowledge of every good thing in us. That's what Paul desires, okay? What good thing? Every good thing in us and for the sake of Christ. So you have received mercy and grace and love because of Christ, then you likewise should show mercy and grace and love to your brethren. Likewise Philemon should demonstrate the mercy and grace that he himself has received through Christ toward Onesimus and all of his brethren. Do it because of what Jesus Christ has done for you. Do it for the sake of Christ whom you say that you love and show that love to others. Show it to others. Colossians 3.13, as Christ has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. We are a partnership together in Christ for the gospel. Thus we have a fellowship in the gospel. So we don't want to can forget that we have a fellowship in the gospel one to another and finally we see in verse 7 the fellowship of brotherly refreshing and that's a little bit different okay we don't hear that too much we read for I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you." Here we see Paul showing his own personal thankfulness and affection for Philemon. This is his brother in Christ. He was probably used to reach him with the gospel, of course, and he has all this established between him and Philemon. He is a good brother in the Lord, with a church in his own house there. So Paul has himself benefited directly from you know, this ministry of Philemon. In what manner? Because of joy and comfort he has received from him. Paul received much joy and comfort from Philemon through his work. Paul has been in prison, okay, and he has been on the receiving end of Philemon's comfort, encouragement, and even exhortation in the faith. So Philemon's been there even for that, exhorting Paul in the faith and his prison efforts that are there as well. So Paul publicly recognizes the work, the help, and the ministry of Philemon to the entire church there. This is public to the entire church. And yet it's directed toward Philemon. Philemon knows this, the style of writing and the very fact, we'll get to that here in a moment too, of the main author, the main addressee of the text rather. So Paul recognizes the ministry of Philemon to the whole church. He thanks God for him and what he's seen God do in Philemon's life and through Philemon. to these others. Philemon is being reminded of all that Jesus Christ has done for him in the salvation of his own soul and of his calling in the church at his home. and his ministry to the saints who are there. Philemon has been gracious to them all, especially Paul. But Paul is leading this discussion in his letter to ultimately include the runaway slave named Onesimus. He's building up to that. He's working his way up to that. He's being gracious. He's not being authoritative. He could be. He's an apostle, but he's trying to appeal to Philemon, who is his brother in Christ Jesus. So Paul, Paul gave him both biblical instruction and theology as well as pastoral encouragement through all this. Both of these things are needed in the body of Christ and they should be a part of all of our dealings with other believers. When you reference to a brother or sister in Christ and you're trying to teach, exhort, or understand, be sure to include these things. Encouragement, biblical instruction, making sure you have a biblical godly theology. And so because of all these things, Paul Thanks God for him. Now let me ask, don't have any hands, when's the last time you thanked the Lord directly for the person next to you or behind you or across the building from you? When was the last time you said thank God for them? Thank God for her and him, thank God for them. Because of all these things, Paul gives thanks to God for him and he finds joy and he finds loving comfort from his brother. through all this. But then Paul goes on to describe Philemon's own ministerial impact on the church there. While Paul received personal benefit from Philemon's comforting love, and Paul is himself refreshed by him because of it, but even the hearts of the saints, his brothers and sisters of Christ, have also been refreshed because of Philemon. So the entire body of Christ meeting there in Philemon's home. They've all benefited from Philemon, his love, his comfort, his encouragement. He's been there for them. And he knows that and he recognizes that before the whole church in this letter. And so once again, Philemon must learn to show, if he hasn't already, mercy, love, and grace to another. this time his own runaway slave, who may have even been a thief, who is now his brother in Christ. And Paul will be more direct in the next passage, but he's working his way to the discussion. In other words, for Philemon, he had pity and mercy on others. It's time to show that same pity and mercy and love to Onesimus as well. He's your brother and you must recognize him as such. Paul then cares about Onesimus. That's true, he does. But Paul does deeply care about his brother Philemon. He cares about Onesimus, but he cares about Philemon. He wants them to be united again. He's warmed by the love of Philemon. Philemon has expressed to him so many times, But he's also warmed and refreshed by his love for the saints there. He calls Philemon very dear term. He says, my brother. He said, you do this and that, and you are my brother. You love and you show comfort and mercy, and you are my brother. So he calls him my brother. We are co-laborers in Christ, he says, essentially, my brother. We seek the edification and the building up of the saints of God. We want them all to be refreshed in their own hearts. And he has been refreshing the hearts of those in the church that meets in his home. They have been refreshed. but there's one who hasn't been, and that is Onesimus. So Paul gently and he lovingly appeals to Philemon. He will not command him, though he has a right to do so, and he knows that Philemon will choose to do the right thing. He knows that he will, and he chooses that, which is glorifying the God in Christ, and choose to build up the church of Christ, including his own brother and a lord, Onesimus. I hope you see how much Paul loves his brothers, both Philemon and Onesimus, but all of the church together. When new believers, when they come here at Antioch, when new believers or old believers, when any new visitor who is a brother or sister in Christ, when they come here at Antioch, we must all extend the right hand or left hand, but the hand of fellowship to them. We need to show that we're glad that they are here, you know, build them up, share a word of grace, welcome them here to the body of Christ here at Antioch. Welcome them, encourage them to visit again. You know, you want to see them come by. Welcome them, take them, you know, meet them for lunch or something. Demonstrate the love and mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to them. It may have been a long time. They may have been hurt at their previous church. They may have been embarrassed or beat down and they may need to be built up a little bit. So don't be afraid to extend the hand of grace to your brothers and sisters who come for the first time, who are here maybe for several times. If they are a stranger, then reach out to them with the love of Christ. Reach out to them with the loving kindness of God. If they are a neighbor, then show them the joy that you have for their being with us today. So glad you came today. Praise God, we hope you come see us again. Please come sit next to me next time, you know? Something. Show them of your love in Christ for them. If they're a brother or sister who's been absent for a while, for whatever reason it may be, hurt feelings or just busy or whatever it might be, welcome them back. Welcome them back today. Don't tear them down. Don't tear them down, don't embarrass them, don't harass them, and don't do any of that. Don't chastise them for their absence, but rather say how much you're so glad to see them. Let love and mercy and grace be shown to them, all of them. Show them how glad you are to see them today. I thank Jesus. I thank the Lord for you. Praise God you're here today. Praise God for you. So be careful how you extend the hand to those who come by. Because if we don't do these things, and we are not being a source of brotherly refreshing to them, they won't come back. They won't come back. Don't be the reason that another will never come back. Don't be the reason because they are brothers and sisters in Christ and you're to love them and show the love of Christ to them. You're brothers and sisters and praise God you're here today. Love you. Miss you. Now don't do it like this. We missed you, brother. I don't think they saw that. We missed you, sister. We missed you. All right, don't do that, okay? Don't be the reason that they don't come back. Some have been hurt, all right? Some of them may feel they're looking for a reason, why should I come here? Hey, praise God for you. I'm glad you're here. I'm not a Christian. Praise God, you're really here. I mean, we're glad to have you. Well, I've been a Christian for all my life, praise God. We're thankful that you're here, that you joined with us today. And reach out to them with the love of Christ. If they have offended you, Forgive them. Forgive them, right? Forgive them as Christ has forgiven you. I'll welcome them with joy. They hurt my feelings. Forgive them anyway. Forgive them. Christ has forgiven you of all your sins. Can you forgive one? Can you forgive one? He offended me. It's hard to do something. Be careful. It is hard sometimes. I know that. Forgive them anyway and be extra gracious. Go out of your way to show the love of Christ to them. Especially if they say, well, you know, you hurt my feelings. I'm so sorry. I did not mean to do that. I didn't realize that. Or, you know, I was kind of hard hearted that day. I'm so sorry. I apologize. You know, be extra gracious and kind and show the love of Christ to all those who enter and exit these doors. Every one of them, let's pray. Father, we do thank you, Lord, for your holy word. And we here, we thank you for the words of the Apostle Paul through, by the Holy Spirit, or through Philemon and his church. And Father, we pray that we will take the words of the text very personal in our own lives. Father, we will forgive those who've hurt us or offended us. Lord, we know it's hard, but grant us the grace and strength to especially do so, that we may show and demonstrate the love of Christ in our own hearts. And Father, we pray, Lord, be with each one of us, Lord, as well, and let us reflect on your word today. Father, we do ask, we thank you in Jesus' holy name.