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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

A Study on the Book of Philemon

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this time that we have to gather together today.

Thank you for the good night rest you've given to each and every 1 of us.

And Lord, I pray that you'd please be with those that are suffering, that are in need, that you would meet them at the point of their need and help them to see, Lord, that you are their provider and that you care so much for each and every 1 of them.

But Lord, now as we come now to focus on your Word, speak to our hearts, guide us with your Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Let's turn our Bibles to the book of Philemon, shall we?

It's only just 1 chapter and we're starting there in verse 1.

We're going to go through each and every verse and please, I know that we have studied this in our churches before but you're going to see a very very deep meaningful thought-provoking message and application at the end of it and as you're going to see it unfold as we go through these verses.

It's a very simple message, it's a very simple book.

But 1 that I think will make us all pause to consider our own lives as always, as what the Bible does.

Philemon chapter 1, let's start there in verse 1.

The Bible says, Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellow laborer.

It's not Philemon who has written the book, but Paul is the 1 who's writing to him.

And of course Timothy is there with him and he calls him what?

Maybe not full-time, but definitely everybody who's born into the kingdom of God is born a missionary.

He was not just a church attender but he was active in the gospel work.

Verse 2, So he's just greeting other people as well and this fellow, Chippus, he's also mentioned in the book of Colossians.

So the church there in Colossae, This is where also Philemon is located as well.

And he's writing all the way there to the church at Colossae.

But now he's focused even in on Philemon.

There's something personal that he wants to write to him about.

Verse 3, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God making mention of the always in my prayers.

You know friends, there is something that we can learn about Paul is that he was always thinking about those that he had labored for and he was always praying for them.

Friends, it's important to pray for the congregation.

It's important to pray for those in your church.

And you don't have to be a pastor or even an elder to do this.

But friends, this is the responsibility of every single Christian.

Can you imagine if every single person that attended your church, that we were praying for each other.

How the church would be so different, isn't it?

Paul was always a man of prayer and you know throughout his epistles Romans chapter 1 verse 9 we're not going to turn to these texts you just write them down Romans chapter 1 verse 9 Paul says that he was praying there Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 16 Philippians chapter 1, verses 3 and 4, Colossians 1, verse 3, 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 2, 2 Timothy 1, verse 3.

So when you go throughout Paul's writings, there's 1 theme that always comes up.

He says, I'm praying for you, I'm praying for you.

And I don't think that that was just lip service.

I don't think that Paul was just saying, hey, I'm praying for you because that's what I should say as a pastor.

Or that's what I should say as the minister in this gospel work.

But he actually prayed for those that he was writing to and those that he administered to.

He was a man of prayer through and through.

Verse 5, hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints.

So what do we understand about Philemon from this perspective about what Paul describes about him?

It says here that he's a man of faith and not just that but he loves Jesus and he loves his fellow brethren.

Because it says here, which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus and towards all saints.

Not only does he love Christ, but he also loves those around him.

So Philemon, he is a man that is well known in the community probably.

And Paul, you know, he's massaging Philemon with these words that you're a man of love.

He's preparing Philemon's heart in such a way that it'll be easier for Philemon to accept the words that Paul is about to write to him.

You know, since Paul is always praying for him, and then Philemon should always be praying for those under him and especially if he's a fellow laborer together with Paul, right?

So hearing of your love and your faith towards God and also towards all those around you, he is putting Philemon up and telling him, look I know who you are, I understand your ministry.

So because of his love and his faith, Paul's praying for him that his communication of his faith would become effectual in the acknowledging of every good thing.

Look, his faith was not just happy Sabbath, good to see you here and all of that.

Every good thing that's in him, it was obvious to people around.

So the communication, the translation of his faith, it went beyond just who he was, but how he lived his life.

And so friends, you know, our faith only goes as far as what people see.

You might tell me, hey, I read the Bible twice a day.

But does your life show that you read the Bible twice a day?

You might say that you love Jesus, but does your actions show that you love Jesus?

We might say things about our faith and we may say, or we may stand up and go forward for appeals, but throughout the week and throughout our lives, is there an acknowledging of the faith in everything that we do that it becomes good?

So look, The minister's work, Ellen White tells us that the minister's work only has just begun when he steps off the pulpit, not on the pulpit.

You know friends, it's easy in a sense to preach.

You know, maybe you might think, hey I'm not a preacher but I've preached my fair share of bad sermons before I even dared to step on a stage like this and preach online.

But we all have to start somewhere, isn't it?

And the minister's work, you know, sometimes we think as the pastor, oh, you've got to preach.

You've got to preach at least twice a month.

We think that the minister's work is to teach and to preach and that's it.

But no, we are told that the minister's work only just begins when he steps off.

So our profession only goes as far, our faith only goes as far as how we live our life, not what we say.

You know, we can preach the most eloquent words, but obviously, Philemon, He was not just only a man of faith and love, but through his actions and his words, it showed that he loved God and that he had the love of God abiding in him.

Verse 7, So he calls him brother, and he tells him, look, we know that you are a good man.

Because the saints are refreshed by what you do.

His actions spoke just as loud as his words.

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A Study on the Book of Philemon

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