Philemon II

MINISTER, Rev. Thomas O. Scarborough.

Paul's Epistle to Philemon. Philemon Verses 4-6.

Last week we studied the first 2 verses of Paul's Letter to Philemon. This is a letter that Paul wrote to a slave-owner -- and he urged that owner to take back one of his slaves, who had run away -- not as a slave, but as a brother -- because that slave had been saved through the ministry of Paul.

We are still looking at the introduction to the letter, and this morning I am going to continue with verses 3 and 4.

And I shall just be following the text as it stands. So I’m not preaching on any special theme this morning -- I am simply preaching on what is in front of us. So it might be easiest for us if we follow the text in our Bibles.

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Let’s plunge straight into the text. Verse 3 this morning begins with a traditional Christian greeting. “Grace to you, and peace -- from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Just as the Jews say “Shalom”, and the Muslims say “Salaam Aleikum”, so the traditional Christian greeting is “Grace and peace.”

Now this greeting serves two purposes -- first, as a reminder -- one might say a proclamation to the Christians to whom this letter is written -- to remind them of where they stand in life -- to remind them of the great blessing in which they stand.

So Paul proclaims to them, firstly, that they are in a state of grace, in verse 3 -- “Grace to you!” -- and that is the background to all of our lives, once we know the Lord. A state of grace. As soon as we are saved, we live every moment and every day by God’s grace -- and that means that His mercy and goodness and favour and love are over us, in spite of our sin, because that is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And a second thing here -- we are in a place of peace -- peace with God the Father -- and as a result of that, peace in our lives -- and as far as possible, in our relationships.

So-many people go through life as though everything were against them -- or they go through life full of regrets and guilt -- but Paul is basically saying here -- remember, Christians, where you stand. You stand in state of grace, and in you stand in a place of peace. And those are not just words. This describes how God deals with us in every way.

And all this comes from, says Paul -- God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ -- because God Himself -- God in three Persons -- is the One who has provided grace and peace through the gift of His Son.

Paul is saying -- remember where you are in life. Don’t forget it. You were not only saved once upon a time, but now what makes your life different is that you have grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That stands behind everything in your life.

Secondly, the commentator Matthew Henry notes, concerning this verse, that Paul wishes these Christians “not gold, nor silver, nor any earthly good”, but grace and peace.

These days you get cards which say, “Wishing you a prosperous New Year,” or “May all your wishes come true” -- but Paul knew that there is nothing more precious than to live a life which has as its backdrop grace and peace from God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.

There is nothing that makes life more liveable -- there is nothing that brings more contentment and confidence and joy -- than the grace and peace of God in your life. That is your No. 1 guarantee of a life that will be blessed and fulfilled.

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Let’s move on to verse 4. Paul begins in verse 4: "I always thank God as I remember you in my prayers."

And we often come across similar words in Paul's letters. This sounds just so much like the things he says throughout his letters. He writes: "I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers" (Ephesians 1:16). "I thank my God every time I remember you" (Philippians 1:3). "We ought always to thank God for you, brothers ..." (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

Paul's prayers -- and no doubt the prayers of all of the early Christians -- were filled with thankfulness to God for the believers throughout the world. Their prayers were filled with thanks and gratitude to God for each other.

Now such prayers show us a spiritual vision that is so often lost today. Why did those early Christians thank God for each other?

Let’s look ahead to verse 5. Verse 5 is a continuation of verse 4, and it begins with the word "because".

The apostle Paul always gives thanks -- why? -- because "I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for all the saints."

So here are two reasons here for thanks -- and that is the faith -- and the love -- of his brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact these are the two most important things in the whole of the New Testament -- faith and love.

Faith has a number of meanings in the New Testament -- but here in verse 5 it would seem to mean quite simply saving faith -- which is the most important faith there is. Paul says in verse 5: "I always thank my God... because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus." He gives thanks to God for their saving faith in Jesus Christ.

So Paul thanks God for these Christians because they have a clear understanding of how they have been saved by the wonderful grace of God -- called out of this world to be God's special people. By a miracle of God -- by the wonderful grace of God -- there are a people in this world who have been saved from the world, and made into God's own people.

But I think there is far more to it than this. There are all sorts of things that just naturally go together with the saved condition.

I think that Paul -- and the Christians of the early Church -- were saying, also, “Isn’t it wonderful that we have brothers and sisters who have a Christian perspective -- or maybe I should say, a Holy Spirit perspective, on life. Isn’t it wonderful that they have the precious gift of spiritual sight, and spiritual life. Isn’t it wonderful that there are people who share with me -- and with us -- precious things of the Spirit. Isn’t it wonderful that we get together, and we share those things which are most precious to us, and we see the things that only Holy Spirit-filled people can see -- because we have been saved.” imHimHim

I was really pleased to get to know our new members -- Chimwemwe and Michael and Anouchka -- because the things that are precious to me -- and precious to us -- are precious to them, too.

And because all these things come from God the Father -- because it is He who has given every Christian life through His Holy Spirit -- we give thanks for this to God.

I wonder how Paul's prayers compare with our own prayers?

Think back on your prayers of the last week. How often did you give thanks for your brothers and sisters, both here and all over the world?

So often we pray: "Lord, please provide for so-and-so's needs, or, Lord, please sort out so-and-so's problems, or, Please sort out my problems." But how often do our thoughts turn to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and how often do we give thanks to God for them?

We learn from this verse 4 that thanks to God for our Christian brothers and sisters ought to be a permanent feature of our prayers.

I think the reason that prayers like these -- prayers of thanks, to God -- for our Christian brothers and sisters -- are not so common in the Church today is that a great many Churches have nominal Christians in their pews -- Christians who are Christian in name only -- but the glory of God does not shine in their lives -- or the touch of the Holy Spirit is not there -- and so a lot of precious things are missing in their midst which should make any Christian want to give thanks to God.

Then the apostle also gives thanks, in verse 5, for their love.

Here we have the number two item on Paul's list -- and in his mind no doubt the second most important thing worth thanking for -- the love of these Christians -- not only for each other in their own Church -- but for all the saints.

If you have received Jesus as your Saviour, then you become part of a Church that covers the whole world. You do happen to worship in this building, in a Church that is called Evangelical Congregational -- but the most important thing is what we call positional unity. All across the world, people have the same position before Christ because they have been justified by faith, and their sins have been washed away by His blood, and they have received His life-giving Holy Spirit.

We were really glad when we heard from Xiaoling that she had been baptised in China. She belongs to a Church that we maybe couldn’t even say the name of -- in a country far away -- but we are glad to have her as a sister in Christ. The same goes for Chung in Korea, and Irene in Dallas, and Gavin and Nicole in Dubai, and so many people who are not with us, but belong to the saints.

Paul is thankful, in verse 4, that this is a Church that loves not only one another, but all the saints -- all across the world.

Love is very important indeed in the Church. A Church can have all sorts of other things, like doctrinal integrity, and charity, and the gifts of the Spirit, and great programmes, and a first class band, and highly qualified deacons -- but if there is not love, binding everything together -- you have missed what is here, in this verse, second only to faith in Jesus Christ.

I was reading not so long ago about a Church in the United States that decided to purify its doctrine. They wanted every pastor in every congregation to be 100% in line with Biblical truth. So they started crossing every t and dotting every i, and they set it all down in pages and pages of official documents -- but the more they got into the details, the more they found they began to disagree -- and the more they disagreed, the more they lost their love for one another. And because they lost their love, they also lost their power -- and their Church just began to wither away.

And so they lost what should have been the number 2 item on the list of priorities for their Church, which is love for all the saints.

There is a verse in the New Testament where Paul says: "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power..." (Ephesians 3:17).

Notice how love goes together with power. A Church that has love has power. A Church that loses its love -- no matter what else it might have -- loses its power.

Returning to the Letter to Philemon, verse 5 -- Paul therefore gives thanks for two things -- the most important things for which he could give thanks -- and that is:

1. The faith of his brothers and sisters -- and

2. Their love -- for all the saints.

Paul knew and understood what was important -- and he knew and understood what was worth thanking for -- and may that be true of us also today.

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Lastly, this morning, we move on to verse 6 of Philemon.

Here Paul says: "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."

And we can reverse this, and say: "If you are not active in sharing your faith, you will not have a full understanding of every good thing you have in Christ."

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."

Paul prays here that we may share our faith -- that we may share the gospel -- and what he also says here -- very plainly -- is that if we do not share these things with others, we shall be stunted in our Christian growth.

This is a very important verse.

It is said that there are four things that are absolutely necessary for Christian growth.

1. Bible reading.

2. Prayer.

3. Fellowship with other Christians. And

4. Witness.

Why witness?

I have found from my own experience that when I witness to others -- particularly when I am counselling someone, and I have the opportunity to tell them about Christ -- and particularly if they give their lives to the Lord -- the whole purpose and meaning of my faith comes into fresh focus. When I see before me the reality

of sin and repentance and salvation at work in a person's life -- when I see profound changes come into their life -- and a light come on in their life -- I am very much reminded what faith in Jesus Christ is all about.

The apostle Paul says here that such things give us "full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ". Maybe it is like seeing your own conversion, and your own Christian faith being replayed -- except in somebody else's life. Or it is like seeing all that the Bible talks about -- acted out in another person’s life -- as they receive the Holy Spirit and are transformed by the Holy Spirit. All the good things in Jesus Christ become so much clearer to us.

It is a reminder to me also -- what Christ has done for me. If I don’t repeat it, I can more easily forget it.

When were you last -- in the words of verse 6 -- "active in sharing your faith"? Maybe you are not very good at speaking to people in the office, or in the street -- some people are -- but maybe you are good at writing -- in letters, or in articles -- or maybe you are good at praying with people -- or you are good at just expressing your gratitude for what God has done. There are many ways to share your faith.

And let’s just notice that Paul is talking in verse 6 of sharing your faith. He is not talking about showing your deeds. We can be a good witness by letting our light shine before men -- but that is not what Paul is talking about here. Paul is not simply saying -- be a good witness -- He is saying, share your faith.

Now it goes without saying -- and this is my last point this morning -- that if the Bible calls us to be active in sharing our faith, we should also know how to share our faith.

The story is told of an unbeliever who said to a Christian: "What do you believe about Jesus Christ?"

The Christian said: "I believe what my Church believes."

The unbeliever said: "And what does your Church believe?"

And the Christian said: "My Church believes what I believe."

The unbeliever said: "And what do you and your Church believe?"

And the Christian said: "Why, we both believe the same thing!"

Do you know how to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? Would you know how to lead someone to the Lord?

Several years ago, two of our deacons prepared a little card, which had a verse on it, and an invitation for people to call their numbers if they would like to be saved. And as a joke, one of our members decided to try them out -- except she disguised her voice? She said can I please make an appointment, and so they made an appointment. And that had our deacons in quite a panic, because they weren’t sure whether they could do it.

Actually, it depends on the Lord speaking to a person -- so I myself don’t worry about how -- I just talk to people -- and that is something we can all do with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the most important thing is that you clearly understand the basics of your faith -- that you clearly understand how you were saved -- who you were at that point, what God did for you -- and what it means to you now. Are you able to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ?

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Next Sunday we shall continue with Paul's Letter to Philemon.

AMEN.