Philemon's life is presented as a model of Christian character, demonstrating the virtues of love and faith. The sermon highlights his role as a beloved fellow laborer with Paul, a host for the church, a married man with responsibilities, and a man who exemplified both love and faith towards the Lord. These attributes are presented not just as personal qualities but as active principles that should guide believers in their interactions and service. The message encourages listeners to emulate Philemon's commitment to using his possessions and home for God's purposes and to cultivate a similar spirit of faithfulness and trust in their own lives.
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and the two to, when I retire this month, not altogether conducive to worshipped at the beginning of the day, but a reminder that I had to put a green jacket on. However, the powers that be meditated against me, the button came off, but I still put left it on. So here I am, minus button, that's only just one or several buttons I have left. But I still had to wear the green. And that's for a confession by an Englishman, the Irish. But I did it, having had a great struggle with myself. are accomplished.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. Let's have a word of prayer, shall we? Our Father, we thank you for the opportunity of being together again. We thank you for the help and strength that makes it possible. We thank you for the lovely surroundings. We thank you for a happy day. And most of all, we thank you for the... concern that brings us together to know a little more of our word after all lord we have discovered a long time ago that only as we learn to know and put into practice in our lives what thy word says can we make progress in the things of God so we ask that this morning shall be a happy time that it will be a profitable time a time we'll enjoy and take something away from that will stay with us not only through the day but in the months that it has come and practically affect the way it is.
Now let's turn the philemon again, and I have an idea. It's all right folks, you're not late. We started just a little early. I don't know whether any of you took time to read the statistical Philemon, but not very long, and some of you may have done that. And it could be that you're already very, well acquainted with it, because you've studied it in time. I don't know. But we didn't get very far. Yesterday we did get through the first verse, and we noticed the truth here.
are those responsible for the writing of the official and the ceo of course is paul the author the cathedral associate and jesus christ the arranger of the circumstances now the other trio we made mention of philemon aphius and our people now i'm not going to take much time to talk about them but I was interested to read a while ago that during the tenure of a governor by the name of Antichrist, tradition tells us in the Greek history of the Martyrs, and interestingly there's a Latin history of the Martyrs that also agrees with this, the philemon philemon aphilemon aphia archipot and a messiness were all martyred and that was during nero's time now that's tradition how reliable it is we don't know but it would be surprising because many christians paid for their testimony of their lives during mero's reign so tradition tells us they died for their faith now because it's
tradition we don't know how reliable it is but there are several things a number of things for instance about five women in mr kessel that i thought we ought to honour because he is a man who spoke about him yesterday and his possible reactions to things and his runaway slave who had robbed him and I think if we can go through this little later, let's see if we can find out some things about trilemons that we don't have to go too too too distant for. Take a look down and let's let's listen. I've got to do some flatboard I had. This is the second day I had it up and it's still nice and clean.
So take a look down here and let's see what you can find out about trilemons as we go along. The first thing, of course, is in the very first verse. What is it? She's dearly beloved. That's right. I'm going to put this down a little bit. Now, obviously, by him was a man whom Paul loved him. All right. Now, that we find from the letter. And he's called here dearly... beloved. All right, can you find out anything else about him? Go on through here and see what else you can take out.
I can see something in the next row. What was it? It was a fellow laborer. All right, that's very good. We've got to put that one down. A fellow laborer. This is probably one of the reasons why Paul loved him. He was a fellow laborer. That's right, and the church met in his house. Now, whether that was the whole church or a part of the church in Colossus, we really don't know. But, however, the church met in his house. Anything else, sir? No, he can't read my writing, just because I'm an Englishman, writing on St.
Patrick's Day. Anything else? Now, I think of that, is that an archipus? Oh, yes. Yeah, that's an archipus, yes. So he was Philemon for the time being. But he had a sister? Yes. All right, where do you find that? A hundred and a hundred. Uh-huh. But that's a sister. Oh, it's his archipus. Oh, it's their sister. That's right. And that was his wife. That's right. Well, he must have been a married man then. Okay, we better put that down. That's very important. He was a married man. He also had a son. I think we better put that down. Anything else?
It is verse five. What can you find there, Bhagavad Gita? was four and five and was faithful and all when they said that. That's what he said about him. Yes, that's right. In fact, love and faith are nations in that verse five. So he exemplified, this is a good word for some practice today, he exemplified two things, love and faith. you know, as we go down the list, it's imprinting upon us one of the reasons why this book is in the Bible, because here's a man whose life, obviously, is meant to be a challenge to us.
Go on further down, let's see what else we can ask here. I think it's rather interesting, Peter noticed that his love was toward all the things. You know, there are some believers, every believer loves some other believer. And there are some believers, they've gone so far that they love most believers. But you know, there are some believers that are very hard to love. Can taint it. And, oh, I won't go down the list. But the Lord loves them, and we're expected to love them. But you know what the problem is, oftentimes, why we don't develop a love for these believers who are not very lovable.
It's because when we think about them, we're always sort of, we hone in a hero upon their faults. Even when we pray for them, we say, Lord, you know that he's got an awful temper. Please just deliver him from his temper, and you know that when he opened his mouth, We always complain, Lord, you can change it. And so what we do, we sort of zero in on the negative and we say that the Lord is changing here and changing there and changing somewhere else, when in reality we should be, instead of measuring on a minor, we should be emphasizing or accentuating the positive. Lord, in this man I see this and this and this and I can't do for these things. You know, when we look at the positive, will suddenly realize that the negative is not really, doesn't matter so much.
There's so much about him, really in the story that wasn't on the surface that we can love him for. And he can't find anything to love him for. He can still be licensed by Lehman, who loves all of them. Well, that's a science. That is really a science. It's a little further. What else can he find here? Yes, he had faith, that's right, we have them both in it. He exemplified love and he exemplified faith. Can you find anything else? What was that again? That's right, his love and faith, that's interesting because, and here you notice the, it's toward the Lord Jesus and he all faith. That's right, his love and faith, that's interesting because, and here you notice the, it's toward the Lord Jesus first.
Now, there's a principle there. If you don't love the Lord, don't expect to be able to love the child of the leader, especially all of them. That's right. They were impressed by him. He was a delightfully blessed man, and he feared the hearts of the faithful. Are you still looking for the next one? Well, this is a good long, positive risk, isn't it? He was a praying man. How do you know he was a praying man? Well, he was a man who was prayed for, that's obvious.
Paul says, I thank my God making mention of good always in my prayer. So Paul was the praying man there, and he was a subject of prayer. Let's put that down, because that all sounds very important. I want to go over here, because the subject... Now Paul's prayer, now that's the part, that's not the part, because Paul loved him. We always pray for our loved ones, don't we? When they pray, it's communication of the faith when they have effectuals. Yes, that's right. He spread, he spread his faith. He communicated it to others. We're running out of faith.
We haven't run out of virtues yet. Anything else? We've got as far as verse one. All right, where is that? Yeah, now that's Paul speaking of himself. He says, I might be bold in Christ to enjoin you that which is convenient. So there were bold here referring to Paul rather than to Ephesians. Well, listen. No, I think here Paul is making the reference to himself.
Now, that's very interesting too. He says, for love's sake, I rather than think of me, being such in one as Paul the aged, that's the description of himself, he says this, I could bring pleasure to dare upon you, but instead, as Paul the aged, I'm going to plead with you. That's the approach that he takes. but now he was not in years an old man i wouldn't be surprised at all if more than fifty percent of us here are older than paul was at this particular time because he was a man who was prematurely aged by his afflictions and persecutions and the things that he suffered.
He was prematurely an old man and referred himself as Paul the Aged, and yet he was not, he knew, an old man. He may have been sixty, he may have been little more than that, but probably not too much more than that. So he wasn't, he was only what, just a youngster, wasn't he? He was old, but really, it's old. But now he was, he was prematurely aged. Well, let's start here with our list. We've got enough to go on and to learn some lessons from. But it occurred to me, you know, as I was looking down in the epistle this morning in view, that Paul, having introduced his letter in verses one and two, with this greeting to Philemon and Athea and Athea, now as verse three or he gave her a sort of benediction in verse three as he gave me at verse four we have here an appreciation on the part of the apostle paul he is expressing his appreciation for Philemon.
You may wonder, but Philemon was the most interesting and spiritual individual. And if you look very carefully at those verses, you'll find he was appreciative of two things. He was appreciative of Philemon's person, the kind of person that he was, and he was appreciated of a kind of virtue that he manifested, particularly love and faith. Now wouldn't you like these things to be said of you? That you given them to, let's go down them and think about what they mean. Paul loved it. Paul loved it.
I don't know whether you ever think that it's now a bit fond and think nobody loves you. You know there was an old An old rhyme that used to go, I think it was an old song, Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me, I'm Going Out To Eat Worms, Long Tea, Srabbly Ones, Little Fat, Beauty Ones. I forget what comes next. You know, we get to that space, aren't we? We do. Nobody loves me. Do you ever feel like that? No, you're ashamed of yourself, you know, because it isn't true. Not only does the Lord love you, but there are other people who love you. Maybe they don't throw their arms around you, and it's just the other time they meet you, but they have a concern about you, and they prove they love you, and they say for you, it isn't true of anybody here, and I don't, in fact, it isn't true of any believer.
It's not true of any man in the world, if nobody loves him, because at least God loves him. And we know God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So never get so selfish and guilty of self-pity, if you say, or even think. Nobody loves him. If you have this in common with Philemon, he was loved. Paul loves him. lots of people like me you know i meet people who come and go to the park here and they invariably say as they come and they go in such a family experience everybody seems to care now I think that's true there's anybody here who doesn't believe that then you better try to find out how it is that everybody else thinks it and you don't you know because it could be that the problem is somewhere inside you everybody loves so we have that in common with Philemon all right now the next thing is he was a fellow laborer that is he he worked shoulder to shoulder with the apostle paul at one time
or another they they separated now but they had worked together now even even when we are not geographically together when we are serving the same Christ and we have in mind the same aim we have we share the same concerns then even though we may be separated by hundreds of miles we are still fellow laborers and we are laborers together with him now do you have this in common with Philemon You say, well, I'm not very strong, or you say, I don't feel I've got very much talent. I can't do this or that or the other. But the fact is, that there is a work that God has given to us, and as soon as we are seeking to do what God expects of us, and as soon as it is to do, we can realize, although we don't seem to be accomplishing very much, the Lord knows.
we are standing shoulder to shoulder with those who are seeking to serve the Lord. You don't have to be in a place where you're doing spectacular things and everybody's helping you. I think of Billy Graham. My March Sunday, in the early days, he's been gone for quite a long time, one Thursday noon. That man has spoken to more people, speaks to more people on a Sunday than my husband spoke to. All that is right. But just think of that, that was my Sunday. And Billy Sunday had quite a wide area, but he didn't have television, and he didn't have radio. And he was confined to the campaigns that he could personally conduct.
But this was her assessment of that man. And yet I know men who couldn't try as Billy Graham. Oh, I am always... I don't agree with always, Matthew. But you know, I just very, very much afraid that people would criticize him, lest they are laying their hands on the Lord's anointed. I've met literally dozens of people right across the country in the course of traveling. Then when you say, oh, I was saved watching the Billy Graham television program, or I was saved listening to Billy Graham on the radio, or I went to one of Billy Graham's campaigns, and I went forward and trusted the Lord. All across the country, and many other countries it's happened. Boy, don't lay your hand on the Lord's remand.
Pray for that, man. And if you feel a little critical of him in your heart, well, keep it to yourself and just pray about it. Rejoice. It's a wonderful thing to be able to rejoice in the success of others. Sometimes, you know, when we are fellow laborers, and that was why Lehman was, we do work hard in our little sphere. We may not be able to accomplish very much. And then you look at some of these other people who were moving the thousand. and they shake their heads and say, well, what I'm doing doesn't matter. It does matter. It does matter. It's as important as God as the ministry of that man. It's required in a steward that a man that sounds what? He's faithful.
And that's what you're going to be rewarded for. Not the massive amount of work you did. Not the hundreds of people you made contact with, but the measure of your faithfulness. And if you're faithful, we're going faithful. common with Philemon, you're a fellow laborer. And that's a great privilege in a joy. Now there is a church in his house. Now, I know you don't have a church in your house, but the thought here is this. Nobody could have a church in his house without making the real sacrifice of what he has. I can remember when I was a young man. Because last night I said, I think it was that, a hundred and five years ago.
Something like that. I can remember how homes were grown, open to us young people, and what a big blessing that was to us. You know, people weren't afraid we might put a glass of coke on the top. the piano or you might spill a little soda on the carpet. In those days they locked it up and tried to clean up the mess after you'd left but they didn't say, oh my furniture is too nice, my home's too nice, I can't have these crowds in my home. Whatever, I'll be reading and reading again. There are no... Now here, of course, we know in part of the plan that... It's different because you drive around at night after the meetings and there's a group of cars here and a group of cars there and a group of cars over there.
Somebody's entertaining, somebody else, and most people are getting entertained. Well, that's nice. So this means that it's very important to have an open house. And that's really what the principle is here. We have an open house with a large people. Now... I think it's very necessary for young people to have homes to which they can come. Now, this is probably not something that particularly affects us at this point. But the fact is that an open house is very important to God. Let's strive for a little bit clearer. If I own a house, I wonder if I could pray a prayer like this.
Lord, help me to use my home for you and if i don't use my home for you please take it away He'd say a prayer like that. Lord, you've given me a real nice car. It's comfortable. If I don't use my car for you, please take it and wait for me. He couldn't you play a prayer like that. The things that we possess. Lord, if I don't use them for you, take them away. No, we'd be scared to go to pray that prayer. Because if the Lord answered it, we'd be pretty poverty-stricken. Because there's so much we have that we don't use.
There we go. Increasingly, we've got to realize anything that we possess is only because God is gracious and has given it to us. We've got to get it back to him and use it. And we only have a little time to do it. So we've got to invest it for God. Nothing is worth hanging on to that we are not using for God. Because you know why? If we come to stone around our neck, it becomes a... and hindering them. Lots of believers possess more than they could have because they set their hearts upon what they have.
When the Bible says such an affection on things above and not on things on the earth. If we love things, things will take a possession of our hearts. And it's amazing how little things, how few things it takes to really wean the heart of the believer away from God. We can really become occupied with things and lose our effectiveness for God. Can you share this in common with my demon? Is what you have really abandoned to God? Is it being you for God? Much already, is it? Now he was a married man. Now, you're not all married men, because some of you are ladies.
and in any case there are some of us never having married but now is there anything here and she was a married man that we can find we have in common with him whether this one thing that's true about a married man is that he's a man with a responsibility sure of a married woman. Incidentally, it's also true of the unmarried man and the unmarried woman. But what is wrong here? He was a responsible man. Why do people live together without getting married together? Give me a suggestion. Why do they do it? because they're afraid of responsibility. Exactly. And, you know, today you have couples going to a lawyer and going up a contract, so one or the other will not get cheated after living together for five years and then going their separate ways.
They're going to distrust one another. No sense of responsibility. Now, here, then, the thought is this man was a responsible man. Do we have a sense of responsibility? And do we seek before God to be started? I've got to hurry along. He had a son. Now, I suppose that goes along with the saying, you know, I think of the story of Enoch. What was the remarkable about Enoch? He walked with God. Do you know anybody else who walks with God? Anybody else in Scripture says, walk with God? Noah walked with God. Yes, Adam walked with God in the cool of the day.
Noah walked with God. He didn't notice that. However, did you ever notice with Enoch? It says, Enoch lived sixty-and-five years and begat methucalus. And Enoch walked with God after he begat methucalus. Is that it? It seems to me that for sixty-five years he went his own way. And it wasn't that the old God put into his arms his firstborn. and he suddenly realized it's one thing to handle my own life, it's another thing to handle the life of somebody else. I'm not sufficient for this. So he lived sixty-five years to get Methuselah, and he walked with God after he did get Methuselah.
I think that the birth of Methuselah was in the light of Enoch a crisis. It was the moment when he suddenly realized he was not sufficient to carry these new responsibilities. We have a chance. And I think that that just underscores what we all really said about is being a responsible man. When you had a new life that he was responsible for, that burden of responsibility was the greater. And it's obvious that he was a man who discharged him. Now he exemplified love and faith. I don't want to say too much about this because I don't want to tread on my own toes.
But, you know, to be an example of love, it's very, very difficult to know sometimes how far to go. What can I say by way of personal illustrations here? Maybe I should. But, you know, sometimes... things happen and you say now how am I going to handle this how am I going to handle this what's the way to handle it in love now we we don't have to think that you got to be walked over in order to handle a thing in love you can be firm and you can be kindly you can be you don't have to be a doorman Now, some believers seem to think that if you show a little indignation when justifiably you can show it, that maybe this is not our thing in love.
And then my wife sometimes cringes a little when she sees me facing the minor crisis with somebody else and very firmly saying what I think she's thought to shrink into a collar. In fact, two days ago she walked out of the room where I was. But looking back, I believe I was firm. I don't think that I was taught. But I certainly felt that I had certain things that I had to make very clear, and I did it. But, you know, sometimes we have to go back and think about these things because... Basically, we have a Christian testimony that we can compromise if we go too far.
But how wise we have to be in handling this and handling that, especially with unbelievers. How far can we go and still be dealing in love with people and matters? In this matter of faith. I've told you that the old lady who went to hear the preacher who was talking about space as a grain of mustard seed, and being able to say to a mountain, they were moved into the midst of the sea, and she went home very thoughtful, because she said, I've got such a nice house, I have such a big picture window, but it has no view. I have a hill right in front of my window, and beyond it is the water. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have that view? My house would be worth more, she said, so she went home.
And she got down on her knees before she got into bed, having looked out in the darkness and just seen the silhouette of the hill there. Lord, you heard what the preacher said tonight. And he really did read from the Bible, and he believed it. And I think that if you can move a mountain, a little hill shouldn't give you very much trouble. I'd like you to take that hill away during the night. You didn't get him a deadline. She got up in the morning and he hadn't moved. And she put her hands on her hips and she said, I thought so. So unless the way you pray, that's exactly the way we're going to get our answer. This man was a man who exemplified faith if you leave God.
Now, you know some people in your experience, and they very simply lay hold upon God for a matter, and that's where they leave it. How many of you know the Brooks of the Philippines? Yeah, you pray for them, you know them. Okay. Well, they have two sons and a daughter, right? Rose, I think, is or was in Pakistan. The other two boys are in the work of God, too. Now, one of them, I don't know whether it was Len or King, was talked to one day very quietly by his mother, who said there was a new baby coming into the household. All he said, I've got a brother, I want a sister.
Well, you have to be prepared to take what the Lord says. I don't want a sister. I want a brother. Well, don't you think the Lord knows this? He gave me a brother. I need a sister. Very adamant. Well, she said, you'll just have to pray about it yourself. So that very night when they knelt down at the bed and pray, that boy, and again, I don't know whether it was Lynn or Ken, said, Lord, I want you to make sure I get a baby sister. His mother trembled a little at his prayer, but however, he swore over, he got into bed and went to sleep. The next night they were on end, he was again praying, and he prayed, and when he had said amen, his mother said to him, you didn't pray about your baby sister.
He said, I did that last night, I only want one, I don't want half a dozen. Now he was prepared. to lay the matter before God and leave it there as having been taken care of. Now that's faith. And children so often demonstrate it and illustrate it for us. I want one. I don't want half or dozen. He felt that God was so bountiful that if he asked a second time, he might get rather overloaded. Faith is the substance of things hoped for than evidence of things not seen. I wonder if you have this in common with Philemon. I know that from time to time you're sort of convicted by your own lack of faith, me too.
But I'm sure that you can look into your life and see areas where a crisis came up and you said, now this is a matter, I know only God can handle. And do you remember the peace that came into your heart as you laid it before the Lord and said, Lord, I am willing to take whatever it is you want to send. I'm willing to accept whatever you bring into my life. Now, that's trust. You know, we sing sometimes in the hymn about faith being lost in sight. I don't think the Bible teaches that. First Corinthians says, Now abide us, faith, hope, and love.
Now, if love abides forever, then the Bible there says that faith and hope abide too. Of course, faith is. Faith won't be lost in sight because faith simply is God-like trust. Will there ever be a time in heaven when you don't need to trust the Lord? Of course not. Place going to go on and on along with love. And what about hope? What about hope? Oh, you say, then we shall have everything we hope for. You know, I think heaven is the kind of place where there are always corners to turn. There are always new heights to scale. There are always new discoveries to make. Our hope will become anticipation of something fresh as God has for us the whole time. We'll never exhaust the wonder and joy and pleasure of heaven.
And so that's why I think it says, along with faith and love, hope also abides. And that is, of course, eternally. Look, we haven't been established yet. He's shared the hearts of the saints. I won't even ask if you have that in common with us. Some believers are a pain in the neck, you know. But there are other believers, and just to come into contact with them is a benediction. They always have a smile. They always have a ready word of greeting. And while if they don't even speak to you and they just pass through, I remember being at Winona Lake in my early, well, actually weeks of being in this country.
I found myself there at the conference for two weeks. And I had the privilege of sharing the ministry at that time with Robert E. Lee. Not the old one of history, but the big preacher from Memphis, Tennessee. And that was a great two-week summer. I'll never forget it. That was when I met Mrs. Sunday. I also met Mrs. Kalman, who wrote Springs in the Desert, Springs in the valleys, Mountain Trailways. In fact, I have a leather-bound copy of her autographed bio in my library. Twice I was entertained in her home. I never knew a purse. whose very presence carried a fragrance of the Lord Jesus like that woman. To walk up her steps into her home was struggling to be surrounded by a strange, wonderful atmosphere.
She lived in the presence of God. That's why her books have been such a blessing to count as thousands of people because she carried with a fragrance of the Lord Jesus. She cleared the hearts of the saints. the subject of paul's prayers that are there were there were people who prayed for him there are people who pray for you and then lastly he spread his faith he made it his business to share with others what he has our time has gone so i'm not going to say anymore but you know that's a good place to stop he spread his faith now this was your servant the other one who put this together And you were the one who ends with a challenge to your own heart and is spreading the faith while you and I doing this.
We can do it in a quiet way as we travel around making sure we are sharing the Lord Jesus with others. There's not a greater privilege in the world, and this is the way the Church of God spreads, and this is the way God is honored, and souls are saved from hell. It's not so much by preaching, it's by one-on-one witnessing for the Lord Jesus, spreading the hate. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank thee again for these lovely things that are said about by Lehman. If indeed he met a martyr's death, if he steals his testimony with his blood it would not surprise us for the world doesn't like like good and godly men but always pray the lord that we shall not be discouraged from seeking to follow his example because of the price we may be called upon to pay bless the truth and the life of philemon to our hearts this morning and grant that we might go away blessed Through the faith we find God in Jesus' name.
Amen. Thank you. I'm glad I got to use the blackboard. And if you can join me, I'll put it up for you.