Today
we are moving along with Paul into a new thought. He is still in his introduction, but, in
verse 4 through 7 he moves from identifying himself and those whom he wanted to
read the letter, and now he moves on to praise Philemon. This was the common way of writing letters in
that day, and, you can see this format in nearly all of Paul’s letters. The praise was not simply a formality
however, and, Paul wasn’t being fake about his commendation of the man. He meant it.
It’s not like Paul to flatter people to get what he wants. He is always honest, and he is as quick to
commend someone as he is to constructively criticize.
#3: A Refreshing Christian is Affectionate towards all Believers (v5b)
I was struck by this this past
week. We shouldn’t be fake in our praise
of people. In my prayer journal for the
church I have begun to write down next to your names the things that I think
are commendable about you. So rather
than just requests and issues going on in your lives I am also taking time now
to praise God for the things about you that encourage me.
By doing this I am more conscientious
of how each of you refreshes me as a Christian and a pastor. And that is the theme of the sermon
today: “A Refreshing Christian”. Paul says in verse 7 to Philemon, “Your
love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have
refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Refreshed comes from a Greek military
term meaning to come to a rest after a long march. It was to take a break from the work you were
doing in order to find some R&R.
It’s the water cups at various intervals in a marathon. It’s the feeling of being ready to go back to
work after a good vacation. To be
refreshed refers not so much to the break taken as it does to the effect it has
on you. It’s the kind of refreshment
that brings rejuvenation, motivation and readiness to get back to the
task. Today we’re going to look at
what made Philemon so refreshing, and we will find 3 points for ourselves that help
make us a refreshing Christian.
#1: A Refreshing Christian creates an Atmosphere
of Appreciation (v4, 7)
First
of all, a Refreshing Christian creates an Atmosphere of Appreciation. Notice how Paul talks about Philemon in verse
4, “I
always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers”. Then notice verse 7, “Your love has given me great joy
and encouragement…” If Philemon
was in a church, then there would be an atmosphere of appreciation. Philemon made other Christians feel things
like joy and encouragement and a sense of being loved and cared for. They knew what it was to be refreshed by him
and to be able to get back up with a renewed motivation to live for Christ. Each of them could share a personal story of
how Philemon was there for them. How did that make Paul and these Christians
feel about Philemon? They were thankful
for him, and, I’m sure their prayers were filled with “thank-you’s” to God for
giving them a man like Philemon.
There
is another side to this point. On one
hand we should strive to refresh others in a way that makes them thankful to
God. But, on the other hand we should
appreciate those who refresh us. But
don’t miss this point: Paul is grateful
for a man who is not directly benefiting Paul, but, the fact that Philemon is
actively serving other Christians with love is a huge encouragement to
Paul. It’s much like when as parents we
hear our children in the other room sharing with one another without any
interference from us. It makes us
grateful when we witness the kindness of someone towards someone else. We aren’t only grateful to the Lord for what
others do for us.
Application: Does the love and service of other Christians
give me joy and encouragement? I have
encouraged you to start a blessing list in the past to help you be more
thankful for what God is doing in your life.
I want to encourage you to expand that list by adding another
category: how other Christians are
blessing other Christians. The first
list focuses on how you are blessed. The
2nd list focuses on how other Christians bless others besides
you. This will train us to be grateful
not necessarily for what people do for us, but, to be grateful that Christians
are actively blessing each other. It
creates an atmosphere of appreciation.
#2: A Refreshing Christian is Acknowledged for
their Faith in Jesus Christ (v5a)
Secondly,
a Refreshing Christian is Acknowledged for their Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Notice what Paul says in verse
5, “because
I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus…” Verse 5 is the cause of verse 4. In other words, Paul thanks God for Philemon
all the time (verse 4) because he has heard about Philemon’s faith in Jesus
Christ (v5).
This
man had a reputation. He was known as
someone who had faith in Jesus Christ.
And his faith strengthened the faith of others, like what Romans 1:12
says, “that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” This was a man who I believe may have been a
candidate for being inducted into the faith Hall of Fame. If ever a NT Faith Hall of Fame is created,
Philemon will be there.
It is not unimportant that faith is
the first thing Paul lists about Philemon.
Faith is what counts. Hebrews 1:6
says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because whoever comes to
Him must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Jesus said in Luke 18:8, “When
the Son of Man comes will He find faith on earth?” And it is only faith that can save someone’s
soul. Romans 1:16-17 says, “...”, and
then 3:22, “…” and then 6:23, “…” and then Romans 10:9-10, “….” The testimony of the whole NT is that a
person can only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “….”
Application: Are we known by others
for our faith in Jesus Christ? Are we
known by our Christian brothers and sisters for our faith? Are we known by the unbelievers around us as
someone who believes in Jesus Christ?
Does God know us as someone with great faith? Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Let us be known for our faith. Let us
cause each other to praise God for the faith we have in our Lord
#3: A Refreshing Christian is Affectionate towards all Believers (v5b)
Thirdly,
a Refreshing Christian is Affectionate towards all Believers. Notice verse 5, “because I hear about your faith
in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.” These two are mentioned often together. Colossians 1:4 says, “because we have heard of your
faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints”. Ephesians 1:15, “ever since I heard about your
faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints”.
The
reason they are mentioned together is because there is a relationship between
faith in Jesus Christ and loving Christians.
Faith translates into love. Galatians
5:6 says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through
love.” Faith in Christ is expressed by
love for Christians. We can say it
inversely too: Love for Christians is
the expression of our faith in Christ.
So, in Paul’s mind, faith inside is made visible through love outside.
Philemon
had a deep affection for Christians.
Paul is commending him, which means it was more than just sentimental
love. His feelings were involved no
doubt, but it was that self-sacrificing, servant-heart, humble spirit kind of
love that made him want to make sure others were doing well. It’s that gut-love that Paul says he had in
Philippians 1:7-8, “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you
in my heart…God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of
Christ Jesus”. The word
“affection” there in the Greek means bowels, guts, stomach, which in the Greek
mind was the place where the deepest and most powerful affections came
from. That’s the kind of “love” Philemon
had “for all the saints”.
That’s also the kind of love we should
have for all of each other. First Peter
1:22 says, “Love one another deeply from the heart.” One another means Christian to Christians
(C2C). It seems today that we hear a lot
about loving the world and loving non-Christians but not a lot about loving
each other. It is completely reversed
what the NT says. Yes, love all of
mankind, but, I challenge you to read the NT and see for yourself if every
command to love is not given to Christians to love Christians. While the Church majors on loving the world
today, the NT is just the opposite:
majoring on loving Christians.
The reason is because our love for each other should make anyone who
sees it want to be a part of it. John
13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love
one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this all men
will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Enlarging our love for each other.
#4: A Refreshing Christian Actively shares their
Faith (v6)
Fourthly,
a Refreshing Christian Actively Shares their Faith. Notice verse 6, “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.” The
wording of the NIV has always made me think of this as a classic evangelism
verse: “sharing your faith”. But, as I studied this last week I learned
that this is not primarily an evangelism verse.
This verse refers first and foremost to the fellowship among Christians.
The idea here is that we share our life
together as Christians because of our mutual faith in Christ. We have all been brought together into a
relationship with Christ and with one another.
God intends for us to have relationships with each other and in the
context of those relationships we share with each other all the blessings we
have received from God.
Illustration: Let’s use an illustration. Every year the Jensen’s grow a huge garden
out at their house. And every year they
share out of the abundance that grows up in their garden. Many of us have received large helpings of
potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and more that grew in their garden. They share it because they have so much but
more so because they enjoy sharing it with others.
Each of us are like gardens where the
Lord has planted seeds for all sorts of fruits and vegetables to grow. He wants to see these seeds grow into the
fruit of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of righteousness in our lives, and He wants
to see us sharing with each other the things that have been put in our
garden. We’re not talking about material
wealth. We are talking about the
spiritual wealth that is ours in Christ.
Colossians 2:1-3 would relate directly to this point. Turn there with me and lets read, “….”
We are rich in the faith and out of
those riches we are to share with each other for the benefit of one
another. Sharing our faith is not
evangelism towards unbelievers, it’s the relationships with each other where we
share all that we have received from Christ:
joy, kindness, love, wisdom, encouragement, comfort, peace, grace, mercy
and on and on. We show what we’ve been given by giving it to others.
What have we received from the
Lord? Do we share it with each
other? All of us belong to Christ. All of us belong to each other. All of us have been blessed with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. All of us have each received a gift from the
Holy Spirit to minister to one another and build each other up in the
faith. This “sharing our faith means we
all share in the blessings that come to those who have faith. Let us be Refreshing Christians who actively
share all that is ours in the faith.
Conclusion:
We
must see this section in the larger context of the letter. In this letter Philemon was being asked to
forgive Onesimus and accept him fully as a new brother in Christ. In these few verses Philemon was commended as
a man who refreshed others. Paul wanted
him to refresh Onesimus by offering him a complete pardon from his
transgressions.
God was teaching Philemon new depths
of knowing Christ’s forgiveness by offering it to someone else. Philemon would be more like Christ the more
he forgave.
But there was another side: God intended to use Philemon to teach
Onesimus the depths of God’s grace. The
goal was that at the end of it all, Onesimus would be able to say about Philemon,
“I always thank my God for you in all my prayers, because your love, my brother
has refreshed my heart.”
Lesson: Showing mercy and forgiveness refreshes
others. Withholding mercy and
forgiveness burdens others.
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