Learning from a Little Letter....Part II

A few weeks ago I had started to pass on the lessons from the little letter to Philemon we were studying in our midweek prayer meeting.

Here is the second part....

Paul's Commendation of Philemon's Christianity

A. His Gratitude:v4-5

Philemon's love and faith toward the Lord Jesus was seen to be genuine, what we might call his love vertically, and his love was also seen horizontally, for all the saints. v5 In other words Philemon's relationship with the Lord Jesus translated into a relationship with his church.

If Paul knew us would he be able to say the same about our Christianity?

B.His Desire:v6

In Greek 'sharing the faith' is the word 'koinonia' which means fellowship which includes serving, giving, sharing, partnering for the sake of Christ. Paul's desire is that Philemon's engagement in 'koinonia' will result in him growing in his experience of all good things Christ gives. What Paul challenges Philemon and us with is this...'it's great what you are doing - do more!' There's always more that can be done in the work of Christ. We can always love more, be more hospitable, pray more, read more, we must never think we have arrived.

C. His Delight:v7

Paul testifies of receiving much joy and comfort from Philemon's faithfulness and the fact that the church has benefitted from it. He was the kind of man you would want to be around, you would be refreshed by his presence.

Application:

So this leaves us with the a few questions...

What kind of testimony do I have..with my Pastors, with the church?

Is it clearly marked by the graces of love and faith?

Does it translate into ministering to the saints in the church?

In what ways does it manifest itself?

We serve a great omnipotent God who has sent his Holy Spirit. By His help we can open our mouths, our arms, our homes, and our bank accounts all to the Glory of God.

Philemon - 'the blessing of a good testimony'

Learning from a little letter....

Since we are finished schooling for the Summer, I get to go to Prayer Meeting regularly on a Wednesday night at church.Robert is leading them at the minute and started a series on the book of Philemon. It has been very helpful and I don't think I had ever heard it preached on before. It is one of those little books you read through and pass on. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you what I have benefitted from tonight and through the summer.

We could say that this book shows us the grace of the gospel in the lives of men.

Introduction: This first installment covered the basics of the book, who wrote it?, when?, and what are the main themes of the book.

So....

I. Author: Paul, we can take this from v1"Paul, a prisoner of Christ and Timothy our brother."

II. Date: c AD 60-62 during Paul's imprisonment for the sake of the gospel, at the same time he wrote Colossians and Ephesians, cf Colossians:4 v 7-9

III. Theme: The reconciling power of the gospel.

IV. Outline:
a) Purpose and Greetings v1-3
b) Thankfulness and Prayer v4-7
c) Persuasive Appeal v8-20
d) Closing Remarks v21-25

V. Context of the Letter: Philemon lived in Colosse, was converted as a result of Paul's ministry ( most likely during his third missionary journey and his work in esus) and was a personal friend of the apostle. He was well known for his christian love; observe v1,2,5,7,19.

First, we will briefly consider

a) The Purpose and Greeting ....

Philemon was obviously a beloved friend and brother. The church met in his house v2. At some point, Onesimus, one of Philemon's slaves had fled as a fugitive to Rome. In God's sovereignty he had come into contact with Paul and become a Christian. Although Paul would have liked him to stay, Paul knew he had to return to sort out the wrongdoing with his Master, Philemon. Therefore, Paul writes this letter as an appeal to Philemon to appreciate the transformation that has occurred in Onesimus's life and to recieve him back not merely as a slave but as a "beloved brother" v16.
The beginning of this letter follows Pauls typical style, but it is addressed to a person, namely Philemon rather than a community.

v2 Apphia may have been Philemon's wife; Archippus may have been Philemon's son and may have had a significant ministry in Colosse (see Col 4:17) the church in your house...

Next week we will get into the letter proper and look at b) Thankfulness and Prayer v4-7

A Modest Heart....

On the 'Girl Talk' blog I mentioned a few posts ago I came across 2 very interesting articles.

The first is the testimony of a girl called Rachel Barkley. Rachel is a wife, a mother of two children, and she is not expected to live to see her 38th birthday. She has cancer. In the video "Death is not dying, a faith that saves." you can hear how she loves the Lord and is looking to Him. This is a very real and moving testimony I would recommend you watch it. Have a Kleenex handy......

The second thing is a talk on 'A Modest Heart' by Janelle Bradshaw. You can listen to it here.

Praise God he continues to teach us through many different means but ultimately His Word is the light to our feet and the guide to our paths.

Holiness of God

God is Holy!

While reading 'The Attributes of God this morning I was struck by something A.W.Pink said...

"Adam and Eve were punished for their ONE sin of eating the forbidden fruit, for ONE sin Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, for ONE sin Elisha's servant was struck with leprosy and for ONE sin Annaias and Sapphira were killed!"

When I think of my life and the many sins I commit everyday, when I number them I cannot stand. Rather I must fall before my God in thanks for His wonderful grace and mercy in taking the punishment I deserved and putting it on Christ, then giving me His righteousness. How can words express the thankfulness necessary? My life must show his love, goodness, forgiveness as I live for Him and try by His grace to "Be holy as HE is Holy"

"Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small,

Love so amazing, so Divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Why do we attend church?

Provoked to thought by Mrs Ledding's question last week I thought I would 'jump on the band wagon' and see what happened! I too have a question...

(actually there are about 5!!)

As I have been wandering through cyberspace from blog to blog I have been enjoying the fact that many are created by Christians. However, I also noticed that although many profess Christ, few ever mention what they believe about Him, His great salvation or His church. I would like to focus on the latter.

The Church of Christ.

Do we attend church? Why do we attend church?

Should it make me a church member?

And then, what kind of church member should I be?

I have been getting ready today to attend

Immanuel Baptist Church, Sacramento tomorrow.

As I was doing this it caused me to think about these questions.

I wondered what others were doing today?

Having fellowship with friends?

Are they cooking a meal to take with them tomorrow?

Are they preparing for a Sunday school lesson?

Are they out with their families?

Have they even thought about tomorrow yet?

(For some of you it is already tomorrow:)!)

Have you prepared your heart to worship Him,

to listen to what He may have to teach you, have I?

I look forward to your feed back on these questions, your Lord's Day or any other comments you have on the topic in general. I hope you have a blessed day in His courts.

Give Thanks....?

" ....how often do we stop to give thanks to Him?

At the end of a work day in your profession or job, do you ever take time to say,"Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me the skill, ability, and health to do my work today"? Do you ever physically or mentally go through your house, look at your furnishings or various items of home decoration, and say to God, "Everything in the house and the food in the cupboard and the car (or cars) in the driveway are gifts from You. Thank you for your gracious and generous provision"? And if you are still a student, do you ever give thanks to God for the intellectual ability and financial provision that enables you to prepare yourself for your future vocation? When you give thanks at mealtimes is it routine and perfunctory, or is it a heartfelt expression of your gratitude to God for His continual provision of all your physical needs?

Ephesians 5:20 " Give thanks always for all things to God the Father....."

There is question though that may have entered your mind.

Are we to give God thanks when the circumstances do not turn out as we had hoped?

Romans 8:28 tells us that for those who love God, all things work together for good; for "things" - that is circumstances - do not work together for good themselves. Rather God directs the outcome of those crcumstances for our good. Paul is telling us that God intends all our circumstances, both good and bad to be instruments of sanctification, of growing us more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

So in situations that do not turn out the way we had hoped we are to give God thanks that He will use the situation in some way to develop our Christian character.

The giving of thanks is to be done by faith in the promises of God not by sheer willpower. If we do that we are giving thanks with our lips but not with our hearts. But as we cling to the promises of God we can say, " Father, the circumsatnces I am in now is difficult and painful.I would not have chosen it, but You in Your love and wisdom chose it for me. You intend it for my good, and so by faith I thank you for the good You are going to do in my life through it. Help me to genuinely believe this and be able to thank You from my heart.

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

- an excerpt from Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges