back to index2015-05-24 Our Faith in Action
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Lehman and I'm gonna be reading from verse 4 through 10 filemen verse 4 through 10 00:00:21.760 |
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 00:00:26.600 |
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 00:00:32.240 |
Of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ 00:00:34.920 |
For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother because the hearts of the Saints have been refreshed through you 00:00:42.100 |
Accordingly though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required yet for love's sake 00:00:48.520 |
I prefer to appeal to you. I Paul an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ 00:00:53.360 |
I appeal to you for my child onesimus whose father I became in I became in my imprisonment. Let's pray 00:01:00.480 |
Gracious and loving father we thank you so much for this morning 00:01:07.440 |
We asked Lord God that what proceeds from this pulpit would be your words 00:01:12.920 |
That your children would hear your voice and follow you 00:01:24.020 |
Pray that through this time your church may be sanctified that your word may be preached and Christ may be exalted 00:01:31.240 |
We pray for your blessing and your presence with us in Jesus name. We pray. Amen 00:01:40.120 |
you know the book of Philemon is a powerful book not because it has an exposition of the gospel or 00:01:46.320 |
Or tells us the details about what propitiation is and all of these things are very essential to our faith 00:01:51.360 |
But at the core of it it is the proof of the power of the gospel 00:01:58.920 |
How precious Jesus is and we can exposit scripture and know what the verses mean and and all the systematic theology 00:02:05.240 |
But if there is no power all it becomes after a while just religious talk 00:02:09.560 |
It doesn't have any practical effect in our lives 00:02:12.620 |
It doesn't affect the way that we make decision or we raise our children. The gospel was meant to be powerful 00:02:19.360 |
Not just something to be regurgitated not just something for us to hold on to for security blanket 00:02:25.160 |
But to challenge us to flip our world upside down 00:02:29.040 |
That's what Philemon is Philemon is a testimony of how the gospel has changed the lives of these particular these three men 00:02:37.880 |
Now we know the author Paul he's writing this letter in prison 00:02:45.580 |
Sociologists always try to explain why the Christianity grew so fast and why so many people embrace Christianity 00:02:52.300 |
2,000 years ago, and they'll try to put a psychological sociological 00:02:55.720 |
Economical spin to it say maybe the poor people are attracted because Jesus promised riches 00:03:02.580 |
You know maybe maybe the people who had nothing it was a way Avenue for them to gain something 00:03:08.420 |
But you look at Paul's life. It doesn't fit any of that 00:03:12.000 |
Paul is a man who was made possibly a member of the Sanhedrin 00:03:22.140 |
it was a Roman citizen and he lost all of that because he became a Christian and 00:03:26.520 |
Now he's sitting in prison and instead of worrying about himself 00:03:31.460 |
He's not writing a letter concerned about this runaway slave that he may be restored back to his former master as a brother 00:03:40.060 |
So again, you look at the life of Paul and in the very author of this letter 00:03:44.940 |
You see the power of the cross in his life. You see on estimates a runaway slave 00:03:52.780 |
Apostle Paul sitting in prison and continue to share the gospel with him and 00:03:56.800 |
For him to go back to where he came from. I mean he escaped 00:04:01.040 |
Imagine he risked his life. He risked everything to leave behind all of that and then he came out now 00:04:11.760 |
Philemon had every legal right to put him in prison to beat him to to to mark him as a runaway slave 00:04:18.840 |
Telling everybody the whole world. This is a this is a man that you cannot trust 00:04:25.440 |
Onesimus would even return is because he'd been deeply affected by the cross 00:04:29.980 |
Same thing with Philemon. Why would this man who who lost a great deal because of this runaway slave? 00:04:42.020 |
So Philemon even though it's a very short letter only have 25 verses 00:04:46.660 |
It is a powerful testimony of what happens when people are affected by the cross 00:04:52.200 |
Basically Philemon is a letter about forgiveness 00:04:57.420 |
It's about forgiving those who's trespassed against you 00:05:01.100 |
The idea of forgiving somebody is not natural to us 00:05:10.020 |
Like somebody in the past who've wronged you maybe they said something to you. Maybe they cheated you in business 00:05:15.980 |
You know how often have you thought and fantasize man if I were to go back in time and and if I was to do 00:05:22.740 |
Something differently how often they have he's fantasized about taking vengeance on that person and and seeking justice. We rarely sit around 00:05:29.460 |
Fantasizing about being gracious. You know I go back and I should have been more gracious in that situation 00:05:36.700 |
I think that's why if you look at majority of the action movies at the core of the action movies 00:05:46.380 |
You just going out and blowing up stuff isn't fun. You have to blow up people who wronged you so 00:05:52.620 |
Usually the action movie begins by somebody being wronged 00:05:56.700 |
Right your family is killed or something's taking you know like somebody's taking hostage or something happens whether it's personal or whether it happens 00:06:05.660 |
As a government level and then the rest of the movie is trying to pay back 00:06:09.660 |
Right and I think there was a movie called payback, right? 00:06:13.820 |
Think about some of the movies maybe some of I don't know to me. This is new and fresh 00:06:19.300 |
So - I don't know if it is to you, but gladiator 00:06:26.100 |
Kill Bill, I just looked up online to see okay count of Monte Cristo 00:06:32.900 |
I don't I didn't see that but I read it and it was about vengeance 00:06:39.780 |
Man on fire and I can go on and on and on if you basically Google and look at action movies the basic you know the 00:06:46.500 |
The outline of it is somebody is wrong, and then they're gonna pay them back right. That's a natural human response 00:07:01.100 |
It's not natural because that's not how we function 00:07:08.820 |
you know and I was putting air my tire and then I was in a hurry to get out of the parking lot and and 00:07:13.420 |
I made a left turn and this guy it's kind of stepped out and he wasn't he wasn't right in front of the car 00:07:20.100 |
I would say the distance was probably from here to maybe about that door and I saw him come out and so I could have 00:07:25.580 |
Easily just kind of went by him, but I stopped the car and I waved toward I was being gracious. It's like okay 00:07:30.900 |
You know go you know and I'll wait for you so as he was crossing. He was mumbling something 00:07:37.100 |
So I thought in my mind. I was like oh, he's saying. Thank you. Thank you for being gracious and letting me go 00:07:41.860 |
But as as I was going he was saying something that I cannot repeat 00:07:47.260 |
He was looking straight at me. He was cursing me out, and I was like what? 00:07:50.900 |
You know I just I was so gracious to let him go 00:07:54.620 |
And I remember as he was passing by I was watching like what why would you be what I don't get it 00:08:00.740 |
Like I was just letting you pass and and somehow I don't know what the miscommunication was but something was 00:08:07.260 |
Miscommunicated and he got mad and he started cussing at me 00:08:11.660 |
And then he walked into the store and as I was driving off. I was thinking what just happened here I 00:08:16.660 |
Was allowing him to pass by and then I got cussed out for it 00:08:21.340 |
And the whole way that I was going to I was going to the girls softball tournament and the whole drive down 00:08:29.300 |
You know and I just I tried to like we are gonna listen to sermon and turn on Christian radio 00:08:33.660 |
But I just couldn't get it out of my head. What is wrong with this guy right? 00:08:37.500 |
You know in the back of my mind. I'm thinking man if I wasn't a pastor 00:08:40.700 |
What should I what would I have done if I wasn't a pastor? 00:08:42.580 |
If I wasn't a Christian what if I got out of my car and scared this guy? 00:08:46.420 |
I'm thinking that all this scenario and even all the way down to softball 00:08:51.100 |
I was thinking like Peter you're Christian calm down tomorrow. You're gonna be talking about forgiveness 00:09:01.860 |
That's not natural our natural response isn't forgiveness 00:09:05.260 |
and that's why when God says to nation of Israel I for an eye tooth for tooth is not a 00:09:10.820 |
Formula to carry out vengeance is to withhold our vengeance 00:09:14.760 |
Because our natural response if you take my eyes, I'm gonna rip your head off 00:09:18.860 |
Right you can teach you never to mess with me 00:09:23.940 |
See this letter here in Philemon what Paul is asking Philemon to do is supernatural 00:09:30.180 |
Because what he's asking him to do is here's this runaway slave at the minimum was financially 00:09:36.440 |
He robbed from him at the minimum. It may have been may have been embarrassing for him 00:09:43.940 |
Maybe I don't know if he did it before he was a before Philemon became a Christian or not 00:09:47.540 |
But whatever it was it's clear that he was the one who was wronged 00:09:53.620 |
and on estimates was the one who wronged him and 00:09:56.700 |
Paul is not saying if you receive him back, you know, he's gonna pay you back 00:10:02.980 |
You know, he wronged you maybe he owes you a hundred grand 00:10:06.020 |
He's gonna work his tail off and he's gonna give you everything that he has if you can forgive him 00:10:10.420 |
Paul's not asking any of that Paul says forgive him 00:10:13.380 |
In other words he's saying just drop it just humanly speaking 00:10:19.220 |
Just drop it. In fact, not only just drop it you lost him as a runaway slave, but now would you please receive him as 00:10:29.700 |
To love him like you are loving the other brothers in the church 00:10:32.700 |
Humanly speaking it's impossible. How can we possibly even dare to ask somebody expect that of somebody? 00:10:40.060 |
But at the core of what you and I believe is about forgiveness 00:10:46.420 |
At the very core of why we are here. It's about forgiveness 00:10:51.060 |
Ephesians 4 32 says be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you 00:10:59.340 |
In essence, that's that's the core of the gospel 00:11:11.580 |
Again in Colossians 3 13 is his bearing with one another if one has a complaint against another forgive each other as the Lord has 00:11:25.700 |
Where it says God demonstrates his own love toward us while we were yet sinners Christ died for us 00:11:32.020 |
In a part of the reason why it's so difficult for us to forgive is 00:11:38.220 |
Because we tend to see other sins other people's sins greater than ours, you know, we always say well 00:11:45.900 |
You know, I'm not perfect but that guy and that's usually when somebody says I'm not perfect 00:11:50.260 |
But that guy that's kind of a setup to like I'm justified in hating that person. I know I'm not perfect, but that guy deserves this 00:12:01.320 |
athletic superstars don't make good coaches is 00:12:05.460 |
Because they're superstars and they can't stand mediocrity, you know 00:12:10.100 |
And so because they function at such a high level when they're coaching other people who are kind of on the average 00:12:15.700 |
You know, they don't have the patience or the grace to to build them up 00:12:19.540 |
So you don't perform this up to here. I can't have you 00:12:33.260 |
The scripture says all have sin and fall short in the glory of God 00:12:39.300 |
We don't really see that the gravity of what it is that Christ has saved us from 00:12:44.580 |
Because the motivation and the power to forgive others comes from understanding the forgiveness that Christ has given us 00:12:54.540 |
So when we don't understand the gravity of where we stood before God and where we are without him 00:13:09.180 |
One of the scripture says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, you know, typically, you know 00:13:16.620 |
If you've been at a Bible teaching church for a while 00:13:19.000 |
You know that the most common word for sin is hamartian and what does hamartian mean? 00:13:28.700 |
to miss the mark right and again if you've been a Christian for all you already know that the basic meaning of 00:13:37.860 |
But in and of itself we don't get the gravity of what that word means because it just sounds like you know 00:13:48.620 |
Right. It's kind of like when you were at school 00:13:51.220 |
you tried so hard to get an a and you stayed up all night and you worked and you studied and you 00:14:02.180 |
It's just we just couldn't do it like I was trying to stay on this path 00:14:04.620 |
But I fell asleep and I just kind of fell off and I missed the mark 00:14:11.540 |
Mark is in a context of what the scripture says about what sin is 00:14:15.100 |
In fact, if you look at scripture, there are more than 40 different words used to describe sin 00:14:20.780 |
The most common word is hamartian in the Greek 00:14:27.580 |
It gives us a broader and deeper picture of what it is that we have been saved from 00:14:32.780 |
And I'm just gonna go over a few words with you because we're not gonna sit here and go through all 40 00:14:38.140 |
In Hebrew, there's a word called Raha, which means wicked or evil 00:14:49.460 |
Avon it means to be crooked or twisted and the root word means to be perverted 00:14:54.740 |
It doesn't it doesn't just mean that we shot for something and we missed it. It means that there's a perversion 00:15:01.420 |
There's something crooked inside of who we are for sure. The word means to rebel 00:15:07.020 |
It's not just somebody who was walking the narrow path and then just stepped on something or tripped over something 00:15:14.460 |
It is a willful rebellion to shake your fist at God's a I don't want you 00:15:28.940 |
Mark, we didn't just live up to a certain standard that he had the scripture says that we were offensive the word ha ha 00:15:36.560 |
In Hebrew, it means to deliberately deceive to hide 00:15:41.580 |
Because we want to go this path and God says to go here and so we would deceive 00:15:46.720 |
Deceive ourselves deceive others and deceive God 00:15:50.080 |
See that in Hebrew the word for sin is not simply we just missed the mark. It means there's wickedness 00:15:57.940 |
There's badness corruptness in our nature. There's perversion. There's a willful rebellion 00:16:03.860 |
There's offensiveness to this God and we deceive to hide all of this 00:16:08.940 |
In the Greek the word Martian again to mr. Mark 00:16:12.420 |
But perhaps basis basis is to violate something 00:16:17.620 |
Whenever somebody is wronged, you know was L we've been sinned against but when it's when it's been really perverted when it was really deep 00:16:25.720 |
And offensive we say that person has been violated 00:16:53.340 |
To have no law lawlessness plana to go astray 00:16:57.500 |
These are some of the words that describe sin and when the scripture says all have sin and fall short of the glory of God 00:17:04.260 |
He's not just saying that we tried but we couldn't make it 00:17:08.380 |
The Bible describing a willful rebellion against God. I don't want you as my God 00:17:13.340 |
I'd rather experience this pleasure now than to submit myself to you 00:17:19.140 |
Deliberately rebelling deliberately offensive 00:17:25.820 |
That's why Romans chapter 3 verse 10 when it says no one seeks God. No one does good 00:17:32.180 |
It seems like an exaggeration but in reality, that's what the scripture says we were 00:17:40.580 |
Sin that we were seeped in that he saved us from that's why the Bible describes us 00:17:46.360 |
It describes us as dead in our trespasses not just sick not just corrupted but dead in our trespasses 00:17:54.060 |
There's nothing that we could have done to move out of there. It was it was a we're so deep into this quicksand 00:18:00.500 |
There was nothing that we could have grasped by ourselves that we could have come out 00:18:04.380 |
He says so when the scripture says God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet 00:18:23.780 |
You know what it means to grow as a as a Christian is to recognize what it is that we have in Christ 00:18:33.180 |
And the deeper we recognize what we have in Christ 00:18:35.900 |
We give a reasonable response. So everything that we give to God is a response 00:18:41.980 |
It's not something that we we muster up within 00:18:45.820 |
It's not something that if we meditate enough if we memorize scripture 00:18:49.140 |
It is simply a reaction towards some seeing something and experience something 00:18:53.780 |
Beyond ourselves and that's why Romans chapter 12 in view of God's mercy. It says 00:19:03.060 |
You know Luke chapter 18 11th 14, you know that password Jesus is basically rebuking the Pharisee for his self-righteousness 00:19:12.380 |
The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus God. I thank you that I am NOT like other men 00:19:17.240 |
extortioners unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector 00:19:25.480 |
Everything he said was true in this passage. He didn't extort 00:19:32.300 |
He was an obeyer of the law. He kept it so precisely 00:19:40.380 |
Jesus said that they would travel miles and miles just to proselytize people 00:19:45.180 |
He prayed and he gave and he was at the temple constantly 00:19:49.860 |
So on the surface everything he says was true. He was not an extortioner. He was not unjust 00:19:56.380 |
He wasn't he was not an adulterer and he wasn't like the tax collector. He didn't betray his country 00:20:02.300 |
He wasn't going around and taking money from people unjustly 00:20:07.780 |
He can look at it. We can look at that and says yeah, I mean what he's saying is true 00:20:11.260 |
He but the corruption is much deeper than that 00:20:14.860 |
You look at this tax collector in verse 12 is I fast twice a day or he he himself the Pharisee said I face twice 00:20:22.660 |
I said that I give tithes all that I get in verse 13, but the tax collector standing far off 00:20:27.260 |
Would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner 00:20:34.500 |
Our relationship with God begins when we recognize that that's me 00:20:47.300 |
I'm the one who's constantly wanting to deceive. I'm the one who's going astray 00:20:53.140 |
I'm the one who was not deserving of this grace and 00:20:59.300 |
Peter asked a question in Matthew 18 21 to 35 00:21:06.980 |
Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him as many as seven times? 00:21:22.140 |
Think he was wronged now. I don't know who it might have been James. It might have been John maybe Judas 00:21:27.500 |
You know, it might have been maybe people from the outside, but I think Peter was genuinely wronged 00:21:38.740 |
How can I possibly just let this go probably Jesus kept on telling him like what do I do with this guy this guy? 00:21:44.700 |
You know every time we cook fish we come back and he eats all of it, you know 00:21:50.700 |
Like this guy this guy is just so insensitive 00:21:53.180 |
You know the things that he says all the time 00:21:56.500 |
He's not aware of what he's saying what he's doing 00:21:58.580 |
and so Peter was probably wrong and he was probably asking this question because 00:22:02.500 |
Every time he came to Jesus Jesus said to him forgive him 00:22:06.740 |
So I believe it's in that context not knowing 00:22:17.380 |
How often do you really expect me to forgive them? 00:22:20.700 |
All right. So again, it was not hypothetical. He's not asking a broad theological question 00:22:25.940 |
He's just asking do you really expect me to forgive them this many times and Jesus says and he says seven times again seven times 00:22:33.180 |
Being like, okay, you know, I've already given them forgiving them three times because you kept on telling me up to seven times 00:22:38.680 |
That's not human, but you're the Messiah. So we're gonna live a higher standard, but seven times 00:22:45.900 |
Jesus's response to him said I do not say to you seven times but 70 times seven 00:22:55.260 |
But you could imagine what Peter was probably thinking 00:22:58.940 |
You know up to seven time. Okay, I said seven because you know, I'm already I'm already up to here with this guy, you know 00:23:06.340 |
Three times four times. Okay, seven times maybe because you're from God. You're the Messiah, you know, but 70 times seven 00:23:16.380 |
It doesn't say anything there's there's no response from Peter and he probably was dumbfounded 00:23:21.620 |
But Jesus responds to him in that answer and he gives him the why this is reasonable 00:23:30.180 |
Completely unreasonable in any other circumstance to expect any of you who've been wrong to forgive seven times 00:23:37.620 |
Completely unreasonable. I would never ask that of you, but that's exactly what Jesus says and then he gives a reasoning behind it 00:23:45.080 |
And you know the parable he gives a story about his this man who old this King 00:23:50.720 |
10,000 talents and he could not possibly pay this back 00:23:55.620 |
So he begs for mercy and so the king decides to show mercy to him and he allows him to go 00:24:04.840 |
Then he goes back home and then here's another servant that comes to him and he owes him a hundred denarii and he same situation 00:24:12.880 |
Except this this time. He's the one who was wrong and he asked for forgiveness 00:24:17.520 |
He said how can I forgive you you have to pay me back? 00:24:20.840 |
And if you don't I'm gonna put you in jail and that's what he practices in it end of it 00:24:27.080 |
You've been forgiven ten thousand talents and you couldn't forgive him a hundred denarii 00:24:33.160 |
Now in order to understand the gravity of what he is saying, you have to understand the amount that he's talking about 00:24:40.760 |
He's not talking about ten thousand talents like what he he forgave you ten thousand dollars and this guy only if only have a hundred 00:24:49.880 |
Single talent was equivalent to 20 years of an average laborers pay 00:24:58.560 |
Average laborers pay now. I'm not gonna do the math 00:25:01.600 |
Okay, cuz I'm gonna be mocked for it at the end no matter how hard I work 00:25:05.480 |
I it's probably not gonna come out right you do the math. Okay, it comes out to somewhere near in 00:25:16.520 |
But it's a ridiculous amount of money for an average worker. Imagine if one talent is 20 years of pay 00:25:27.440 |
We're talking in the millions versus a denarii one denarii is one day's pay 00:25:48.960 |
10,000 10,000 times 20. Okay, you do the math 00:25:52.320 |
Okay, I I think it's in it's in the hundreds of millions possibly in the billions of dollars 00:25:58.160 |
And here's this guy a few thousand bucks, right? Why does Jesus use this analogy? 00:26:04.560 |
I mean, it seems like an exaggeration say, you know, the early early Jews at that time were very temperamental 00:26:09.800 |
So instead of instead of saying he owed a couple hundred thousand and then and a few thousand 00:26:14.200 |
He said a billion dollars and a few thousand dollars 00:26:21.560 |
Don't think he was for the purpose of exaggeration I 00:26:29.160 |
You don't understand the debt that has been forgiven you 00:26:34.280 |
Because you don't recognize the debt that has been forgiven you you have a difficult time for even the debt that others have on you 00:26:48.120 |
The violation the ungodliness that disease that depraved the unjust the lawless go going astray 00:26:54.640 |
Every part of this is a description of who we are 00:26:57.040 |
And that's why universalism is so so offensive to God 00:27:02.040 |
I mean you can we can understand why it would be so offensive if there was any other possible way 00:27:07.440 |
That a sinner could pay his debt to enter into heaven. Would he have sent his only begotten Son? 00:27:14.000 |
Wouldn't he have allowed you to at least at least give it a try 00:27:19.240 |
The only reason why the Son of God would come was so that because the debt was so big 00:27:29.280 |
That another human being could not possibly pay that debt 00:27:39.640 |
Only way that this debt could have been paid if the Son of God 00:27:54.920 |
that the God of the universe that everything was created by him and for him and 00:28:00.080 |
Everything is sustained by him. Look at the size of this universe that he who created all of this 00:28:06.400 |
Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped and came and became nothing for what? 00:28:16.400 |
God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners 00:28:25.280 |
It is because we do not recognize what it is that we have in Christ we have such a hard time 00:28:31.760 |
With forgiving others. That's why Jesus says I'm telling you seven times seventy 00:28:36.440 |
Because you don't realize what was has been done for you seven times seventy doesn't begin to describe what you have in Christ 00:28:44.760 |
Not seven times seventy seven thousand times seven thousand would not describe 00:28:54.840 |
See Paul is not telling this to file a man because file a man was not a good Christian and he wasn't practicing grace 00:29:01.880 |
In fact Paul described file a man as a great man 00:29:08.320 |
Verse five because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the Saints 00:29:14.280 |
Again in verse seven for I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother 00:29:18.640 |
Because the hearts of the Saints have been refreshed through you 00:29:22.600 |
So he's not telling this to file a man because he wasn't a good Christian. He wasn't practicing this grace 00:29:27.000 |
He said you need to practice some of this grace 00:29:29.000 |
Says no, just like he says to find the Philippines 1 9 and it is my prayer that your love may abound 00:29:35.400 |
more and more with knowledge and all discernment 00:29:43.840 |
Wait, I don't know about you. But when I read that and skim through it and I say I know you're practicing love 00:29:48.880 |
But it's not enough that you practice more and more 00:29:55.520 |
Your child is working hard and he came home with an a and he says I'm thankful that you're getting an a but a plus 00:30:04.600 |
You come up with the four point three GPA. He's like the four point five 00:30:11.640 |
That's what it may sound like if you don't really understand what he is saying 00:30:16.360 |
He says it again in Thessalonians 4 9 through 10. Here's this model church 00:30:21.780 |
Concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another 00:30:29.260 |
For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia, but we urge you brothers to do this more and more 00:30:37.340 |
You know almost kind of like hey Paul back off 00:30:44.780 |
They're sacrifice. They've already sacrificed so much and they're model Christians 00:30:48.460 |
And he says your love is being proclaimed all throughout Macedonia when they talk about a church that loves one another they talk about you 00:30:56.540 |
But Paul says it is not enough to do this more and more 00:31:02.460 |
Now again if we leave it right here it says okay go do it 00:31:06.940 |
Right, whatever you have whatever you bro, whatever righteousness that you think you have whatever love and grace you're practicing great 00:31:16.020 |
We need to understand what he is saying first of all, he says Thessalonians 00:31:22.020 |
I don't have I don't have a need to tell you this because God himself is teaching you this 00:31:26.300 |
He's not I don't think he's saying that they had some special 00:31:29.580 |
Revelation that the other churches didn't have that God was audibly speaking to them 00:31:36.220 |
When he says I don't need to teach you about this because God has already taught you he's talking about their own salvation 00:31:44.260 |
At the very nature of what we proclaim every song that we sing every passage that we read 00:31:54.620 |
That's why John says in John 1st John 3 1 see what kind of love the Father has given us 00:32:01.700 |
That we should be called the children of God and that's what we are 00:32:08.740 |
It says behold, you know because the word seed just kind of sees like I see this I see that but really is 00:32:26.180 |
That we will be called the children of God and that's exactly what we are 00:32:38.620 |
All right. I think I can use Bill Gates because 00:32:44.060 |
Thinking if I was Bill Gates son, I could fly to Europe anytime I want 00:32:52.500 |
Could go to the Himalayas. I don't have to go to school. I have to wake up to go to work 00:32:56.860 |
How many times have you fantasized every time you didn't want to go to work? 00:33:03.020 |
You know, I could do this and I could do that and 00:33:11.860 |
What manner of love is this that we are called the children of the Almighty God? 00:33:16.940 |
How foolish and short-sighted are we that we would sit and fantasize about being a 00:33:23.500 |
son of somebody who has riches that will fade 00:33:33.540 |
That's why he says behold what manner of love is this it is not any special revelation that the Thessalonians God 00:33:42.300 |
Every single Christian who confesses Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior behold 00:33:48.020 |
What manner of love is this that you are here and able to understand what is being preached this morning 00:33:54.860 |
Behold what manner of love is this that you can pray and the God of the universe listens to you 00:34:03.260 |
Why does he care about you? Why does he care about me? What manner of love is this? 00:34:09.540 |
Because we have potential because we were better looking 00:34:17.140 |
Ephesians 3 17 19 says that you being rooted and grounded in love 00:34:22.580 |
May have strength to comprehend with all the saints that what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love 00:34:29.940 |
Of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God 00:34:33.980 |
You know again on the surface may look like yeah, that's great but he wants us to do more and more at what point do we 00:34:43.340 |
Well, I what point is it enough? I name it was already practicing all this but he says do more more 00:34:48.380 |
Again, if we understand it superficially we make we may actually leave burdened by this 00:34:59.140 |
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 00:35:05.020 |
Christ I used to think that when he says the sharing of your faith may become effective. I thought he's talking about evangelism 00:35:11.580 |
But in reality the word sharing here in Greek is corn on Nia where we get the word partnership or fellowship and in the context 00:35:22.380 |
He's not all of a sudden talking about forgiving your brother practicing love and then say now evangelism. All right, it wouldn't fit the context 00:35:29.460 |
What he is saying is as a Christian to practice the faith that you profess 00:35:35.780 |
The love that Christ poured out upon you when you are practicing this grace and you are practicing this love 00:35:45.980 |
For the full knowledge look at here. I want you to pay attention to this because this is the key 00:35:51.700 |
That you would practice this grace and this love 00:35:56.500 |
So that it may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ 00:36:03.460 |
The word for full knowledge here is not talking about something study that you go to seminary and you study about 00:36:10.220 |
The gospel you study about some knowledge. He's talking about experientially 00:36:14.700 |
The full knowledge and understanding of what it is that you have in Christ when you are practicing this love 00:36:23.060 |
And I can honestly tell you that the most difficult thing about 00:36:30.860 |
You know somebody say I've you've been on pass. It must be hard financially 00:36:34.860 |
I mean, I don't know too many pastors who come into ministry thinking I'm gonna be rich 00:36:38.860 |
Right, and if they are they stand out like a sore thumb, you know right away 00:36:43.940 |
You can tell and not to say that there isn't temptation for it 00:36:46.940 |
But I don't know too many people coming into ministry thinking that they're gonna make money 00:36:51.100 |
So when we have financial hardship, it's you know, we were prepared for that 00:36:55.700 |
The hardest part of our ministry is loving people. That's hard to love and 00:37:03.220 |
Ministry forces you to but that's not about that's not ministry. That's just being a Christian 00:37:07.900 |
Ministry just have extra because people are watching 00:37:14.500 |
Even as I was preparing for this, you know, I have to think about it 00:37:18.020 |
What am I think I'm struggling with you know that make sure that I don't come up here as a hypocrite 00:37:22.220 |
So this is extra accountability for me, you know 00:37:24.760 |
But the practice of love and grace and forgiveness is not human 00:37:34.220 |
It's not something that I search deeper than go to the closet and really like, you know 00:37:40.500 |
Practice yoga and tap into this inner being and then when I tap into it, it's like I love everybody 00:37:51.820 |
The more I think about it the more undeserving these people are 00:37:59.100 |
It causes me to come before the Lord and recognize 00:38:11.540 |
It wasn't it's not even that offensive. It's just it doesn't take a sinful human being 00:38:18.820 |
Right all in all I said, oh they said they said what about me what? 00:38:29.340 |
Cook some food and they thought it was too salty what? 00:38:31.620 |
That guy it doesn't take much for us to do if it's this hard for me to love 00:38:49.060 |
That he would leave a whole of that to come walk among us in this filth 00:38:56.540 |
So that while we were yet sinners not because we were running to him 00:39:01.620 |
Not because we were running to him and he was trying to catch us. He jumped into the mud 00:39:14.660 |
See the sharing of your faith the practice of this faith this grace this love 00:39:20.140 |
That he would become effective so that you would have the full knowledge of every good thing that you have in Christ 00:39:29.620 |
The more we recognize what it is that we have in Christ and the more we recognize what we have in Christ 00:39:35.980 |
The more we're able to practice this grace and the more we have 00:39:39.580 |
able to practice this grace the more we're able to know his love and this cycle goes on and on and it gets us deeper 00:39:46.180 |
And deeper in understanding of what it is that we have in Christ 00:39:48.980 |
So you may say thank you today and you may say thank you tomorrow 00:39:52.860 |
But the thank you that you say every single year is deeper and deeper and deeper 00:39:57.980 |
Because we recognize just how far we are without him 00:40:05.620 |
When I first got saved I loved I loved the fact that he loved and he died for me 00:40:17.420 |
See how difficult it is for human beings to just have 00:40:24.820 |
How easily we misunderstand each other how easily we point fingers at each other? 00:40:30.060 |
It's a miracle that human relationships last for a long period of time 00:40:44.620 |
He's in first John 4 12. No one has ever seen God if we love one another God abides in us and his love is 00:41:04.700 |
And when Jesus says I have come to give life and to give this life abundantly this abundant life is in his love 00:41:15.660 |
Giving into your rage. Yeah. I mean that's that's how we are 00:41:21.020 |
I mean if what when we're misunderstood when we feel like somebody's not on our side, you know 00:41:30.420 |
If you're in a habit of giving into that you'll never fully comprehend 00:41:43.340 |
What he must have gone through that I can speak to him that I can come here and worship him 00:41:49.460 |
As we again as we look upon this testimony of the power of the cross upon their lives 00:41:56.940 |
I pray that we would not just look through this as oh, yeah, I know what Philemon is about 00:42:00.620 |
But I pray that the power of the cross would affect you so deeply 00:42:16.300 |
That we would forgive with all our hearts and that would be our act of worship because you forgave me I forgive him 00:42:25.220 |
Because you've been gracious to me. I'm gonna be gracious to him not because they deserve it 00:42:29.900 |
Because you gave me a love that I did not deserve 00:42:33.340 |
so I will practice love that they don't deserve and 00:42:50.380 |
Would you close your eyes with me this morning as you come before the Lord? 00:42:55.700 |
Are there people in your heart that you've been holding grudges against and as a result of that your walk with God has been strained 00:43:08.420 |
Hatred or bitterness in your heart and God wants you to wants you to be freed from that 00:43:25.900 |
What does it mean for you to worship God this morning? What did it take for you to be here this morning? 00:43:33.420 |
Well, let's take a few minutes as our praise team comes up to take some time to pray and ask God Lord 00:43:38.580 |
Help me to forgive help me to recognize that what I have in you that I may give a reasonable response