[NOTE: This sermon is
the second in a four-part sermon series entitled, "The Prayers of
Paul." The scriptures and
inspiration for this sermon were from a similar series preached by Craig
Groeschel, LifeChurch.TV.]
28 June 2015
I. Introduction
-- turn in
your Bibles to Philemon 4-7
Philemon 1:4-7 (NIV)
4 I always thank my
God as I remember you in my prayers,
5 because I hear
about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.
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.
7 Your love has given
me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts
of the saints.
-- this
morning we are going to be continuing in our sermon series on the Prayers of
Paul -- we began our study by looking at Paul's prayer for the church at
Ephesus for power -- specifically, his prayer that the Ephesian Christians
would be strengthened in their inner being with the power of God so that they
would know and experience God's presence and love in their lives
-- we
talked about how we need to pray bold and specific prayers in our own lives in
order to fully know God's presence among us -- and I challenged you to do that
as we closed the message that morning
-- today we
are turning to another of Paul's prayers -- this time from the little-known
book of Philemon -- just one chapter -- a short letter that Paul sent to his
friend Philemon in Colosse
-- before
we dig into the scriptures, let me give you the context of this letter, because
we need to know the reason why Paul wrote this letter if we are truly going to
understand his prayer here in verses 4 through 7
-- at the
time this letter was written Paul was in prison in Rome -- and, although he
remained in chains, he had apparently been given the rights to rent a home in
Rome and live there -- receiving guests and living as comfortably as he could
as he awaited his audience with Nero
-- one day,
a man named Onesimus came to visit Paul -- most scholars agree that Onesimus
was a slave -- a runaway slave, in fact -- and that he wasn't a Christian
-- so we're
not sure of the circumstances that brought him to Paul's door -- it could have
been he had heard of Paul and sought refuge in Paul's home to avoid being
captured and returned home to his master -- based on this letter, we do know
that Paul was friends with Onesimus' owner, Philemon
-- Paul
welcomed Onesimus to his home and he became a much-loved servant and friend to
Paul -- Paul described Onesimus in verse 10 as his son, so they apparently had
a very close relationship -- during his time in Paul's home, Onesimus became a
Christian, probably through Paul's witness and his sharing of the faith
-- shortly
after this conversion, a decision was made that Onesimus should return home to
the master he had fled -- to make amends for his actions -- and to restore the
relationship he once had with Philemon
-- since
Paul knew Philemon well -- in fact, the church of Colossians met at Philemon's
home -- Paul wrote this letter on behalf of Onesimus, requesting that Philemon
receive Onesimus back into his household and forgive him of his past wrongs --
not because Onesimus deserved this from Philemon -- but because Christ requires
forgiveness and fellowship from His followers
-- which
brings us to Paul's prayer recorded in this short epistle to Philemon -- look
back with me now at verse 4 and let's see what we can learn from Paul's message
this morning
II. Scripture Lesson (Philemon 4-7)
-- verse 4
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
-- there's
an important principle here for us that I want you to see -- Paul prayed for
Philemon on a regular basis -- not just concerning this issue with Onesimus,
but regularly -- in fact, in the KJV, this verse is slightly different and Paul
writes there that he always prays for Philemon
-- which
begs the question: what do our prayers
look like? -- are they inward or outward focused? -- here is Paul -- sitting in
chains in Roman captivity -- and his focus is not on his situation -- his focus
is not on his chains or his wrongful imprisonment -- no, Paul's focus is
outward focused -- his prayer is for others -- and, as he remembers them, he
thanks God for His work in their lives
-- in
Ephesians 6:18, Paul wrote that we should continue to pray for all the saints
-- and Paul shows us here that those were not mere words of instruction, but a
way of life for him -- we need to pray for other people -- that God may touch
them and use them in bold and powerful ways and we need to thank Him for what
He has done in their lives
-- every
Sunday in here we try to take a moment to share our praises and our prayer
concerns -- and I want to encourage you to write those down -- to remember them
however you need to -- so you can continue to pray for them always -- not just
on Sunday, but every day to pray for others as Paul prayed for Philemon
-- look
back at verse 4 again
Philemon 1:4-7 (NIV)
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love for all the saints.
-- so Paul
always remembered Philemon in his prayers, but why did he constantly thank God
for Philemon? -- because he continually heard about Philemon's faith in Jesus
and his love for all the saints
-- there's
something I want you to see here -- the word Paul uses when he describes
Philemon's love for all the saints is agape -- unconditional love -- the love of
God expressed to others -- not based on who they are or what they have done but
poured out simply because of the overflow of love from God through us
-- this is
not human love -- we are incapable of agape love on our own -- it has to come
from above -- it has to come from God
-- God is
love -- and this verse makes the case that it was Philemon's faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ that was the source of the agape love he showed to others
-- now, remember the context -- remember the
reason Paul wrote this letter to Philemon -- Paul is about to send Philemon's
runaway slave Onesimus home -- and Philemon would be in his rights to punish
Onesimus harshly -- even to kill him for running away -- so before he even
makes his request to Philemon, Paul reminds him here of what it is that causes
Paul to thank God when he remembers Philemon in his prayers
-- Philemon
cared about other believers -- he loved them with an agape love -- and Paul is
laying the foundation here that Philemon is to love Onesimus -- yes, his
wayward, runaway slave -- in the same way that he loves others -- as one
commentator put it, "this will be an acid test of Philemon's [agape] love
for "all""3
-- we all
have people in our lives that are difficult to love -- and in order to love
them -- to truly care for them -- we will have to ask God to increase our faith
and to fill us with His agape love just as He had done for Philemon --
sometimes over and over and over again, because this is just something that we
can't do on our own
-- verse 6
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.
-- Paul
prays that Philemon would be active in sharing his faith -- now that's a common
term in our day -- "sharing your faith" -- we hear it in church all
the time -- and what comes to mind when you hear that? -- evangelism -- go out
and share your faith with others -- but that concept doesn't entirely sum up
what Paul means here when he prays that Philemon would be active in sharing his
faith
-- you can
guess the Greek word that Paul uses in this passage when he says "share
your faith" -- it's Koinonia -- which you should know by now means the
sharing of your life with others -- it is faith lived out in community -- it is
doing life together
-- so when
Paul prays that Philemon would "share his faith," he's not just
speaking from an evangelistic point of view -- he's talking about Philemon
continuing to live out his faith in agape love to all -- believers -- unbelievers
-- even poor, runaway Onesimus
-- Koinonia
-- the sharing of our faith -- reflects the heart of the church --
"Christianity is about a transformation of the way we see and think about
other people"1 -- they are no longer just individuals who cross
our paths on a Sunday morning -- but they are family -- part of our body -- and
together we grow in our faith and express our love and we live out the life
Christ has called us to live -- "when we begin to view others as those
with whom life and faith are shared equally in Christ, arrogance and bigotry
are finished"1 and the church springs into existence
-- Koinonia
takes place when believers recognize that we need each other -- that we can't
do it alone -- that everyone has value and everyone has a place in the body of
Christ
-- notice
the "so that" statement that Paul uses here in verse 6 -- just like
in all his prayers we're going to look at in this series, Paul prays on purpose
-- he prays that Philemon would be active in sharing his faith SO THAT he would
have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ -- as we
experience koinonia -- as we give and receive agape love -- we come to fully
appreciate and know the grace of God through Jesus Christ
-- let me
give you an example of this through the story of a real-life Christian -- Pachomius
was an Egyptian soldier who became a believer in Christ Jesus around 315 AD
because of the kindness of Christians in Thebes -- after he was saved, he
thought the best way to live out his faith was as a monk -- to go out into the
desert wilderness and live a life of contemplation and prayer and study all by
himself -- away from anyone who would tempt him or distract him
-- but
after a few years of this, Pachomius began to question his path -- How can you learn to love if no one else is
around? -- How can you learn humility living alone? -- How can you learn
kindness or gentleness or goodness in isolation? -- How can you learn patience
unless someone puts yours to the test?
-- finally,
he came to the conclusion that to be a Christian requires being around people
-- ordinary, ornery people -- because God's kind of love is best learned when
we live out our faith among the people of this world -- those who are easy to
love -- and those who are not
-- Pachomius
began what he called "ascetic koinonia" -- disciplined community --
and in this community with flawed, demanding, and sometimes disagreeable
people, followers of Pachomius learned to take hurt rather than give it -- they
discovered that disagreements and opposition provide the opportunity to redeem
life situations and truly experience God's grace6
-- as
Pachomius and his followers actively shared their faith and their lives with
others, they began to grasp and truly live out the grace and the goodness of
the cross -- thus, Paul's prayer for Philemon
verse 7
7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement,
because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
-- it all
comes down to love -- love lived out in a community developed through faith in
Jesus
-- Paul is
praying here that Philemon would continue to live out his faith through the
active sharing of agape love with all those in the community of faith -- he is
praying for Philemon's spiritual maturity -- that he would be able to love even
his runaway slave Onesimus and invite him into the community of faith that met
in Philemon's home
-- what we
do says more about our faith than anything we say -- how we treat others that
aren't like us -- how we treat those who differ in their opinions and their
behavior -- speaks volumes about who we truly are in Christ
-- Philemon
had consistently shown love and grace to all the believers in Colosse -- but
now he was being asked by Paul to show the same love and grace to Onesimus --
to forgive a hurt -- to receive him as a brother -- to "koinonia" him
with agape love
III. Closing
-- so let's
bring this home -- the past couple of weeks in this country have been historic
and momentous -- from the tragic church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina,
to the decision of the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage -- this country has
been rocked -- we have seen a nation polarized around the issues of racism and
homosexuality
-- the
question for us is how do we respond as the church of Christ?
-- what do we do? -- what do we say? -- how do we react to those who differ in
opinion from us?
-- I think
the message of the Bible is clear -- Jesus said we must love our neighbor as
ourselves -- and this true regardless of what our neighbors believe -- agape love
knows no boundaries -- and Christ called us to love both our neighbors and our
enemies
-- as Paul
demonstrates in his prayer for Philemon, we must actively share our faith --
share our lives -- share our love -- share the message of the cross -- the forgiveness
of sins and new life with Christ -- to all around us -- to those within the
church and to those outside the church
-- we must
love as Christ loved -- we must be ambassadors of reconciliation -- bringers of
peace -- never wavering in what the Bible says on these subjects -- but
speaking the truth in love so that the grace of God might heal the wounds of a
hurting nation
-- one
thing I want you to remember -- you cannot legislate morality -- you cannot
legislate the things of the heart -- our country has a heritage of racism and
intolerance, but you can't change the heart of the nation by the decision of
nine justices on the Supreme Court -- the only power that can change hearts and
minds today is the power of love expressed through the grace of the cross and
the Lord Jesus Christ
-- so this
morning, as I close, let me echo the words of the Apostle Paul as I pray for
your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be expanded and your love for all to be
magnified -- as I pray that you be active in sharing your faith and your life
and your love with others so that you may experience the grace of Jesus more
and more every day and so that our land may be healed
-- let us
pray
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1 https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Phlm/Pauls-Prayer
2 Third Millennium Study Bible http://thirdmill.org/studybible/note.asp/id/41575
3 Dr. Grant Richison, http://preceptaustin.org/philemon_commentaries_2.htm#richison
4 Craig Groeschel
5 Christopher Arch, "Why is Fellowship Essential?"
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/why-is-fellowship-essential-christopher-arch-sermon-on-church-body-of-christ-126963.asp?page=0
6 Condensed from Marshall Shelley, "Developing
spiritual fruit requires being around people -- ordinary, ornery people,"
Leadership journal (Spring 1993)
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