Love and Faith Changes A Person

Introduction:

In John 15:1-5 we read

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

Or, as we looked at in John 17:17

17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth

Or you can look at Jesus’ words toward the end of the Gospel of Matthew 28:18-20 and you see Jesus saying this...

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

No matter what verse you look at, all of them have at their core the same truth- The Word Of God Is Valuable in the Life of a Disciple of Christ.

It is by the Word of God that we are able to remain connected to the Vine- Jesus Christ. It is the Word of God that Transforms our Hearts and sets us apart for Him. It is the Word of God....teaching people how to rightly understand EVERYTHING that JESUS COMMANDS that we help other people follow Christ.

The Word of The Lord IS IMPERATIVE to our Lives- if we are going to grow in our walk with the Lord.

So, as we continue with our worship this morning and get ready to dive into the Word of God, let's spend a few moments in prayer as we get ready to open His Word. Remember, as we are looking into the Word- this is not a time to check out. This is a time for you to press in and hear from the Lord. This Word is for you and your transformation.

Let’s pray together.

Body:

If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to open up to Philemon 1:4-7 this morning as we continue with our Study of this small book.

4 I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ. 7 For I have great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother (Philemon 1:4-7).

As you can see, this section is not very long, and it is pretty straightforward. This is the typical greeting in a 1st-century letter....and this seems to be the way Paul starts almost all of these letters, except for Galatians.

He is going to start off with thanksgiving and prayer for his audience. What is interesting here in this opening, is although the letter is addressed to Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and the church that meets in their home, if you remember from our study last week, the “you and your” personal pronouns in this section are all singular- meaning that Paul is only talking to only one of the members in the church- although the letter is read to all. From what we can see in the rest of the letter, is that Paul has his eyes set on speaking to Philemon directly. And in this section, Paul is talking directly about Philemon and his faith.

What I want to do as we walk through this together is go through and geta basic understanding of what Paul is saying and then I want us to spend a few moments flipping this verse around and thinking about it from different points of view as we think about how ti could apply to our lives. Remember, the point of our study is not informational. We want to be changed by the Gospel. We want this word to change our hearts as well- especially as we see how it changed Philemon's life and it was real to him.

Let’s walk through this passage together. Look at verses 4-5 with me.

4 I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.

Paul starts off with letting Philemon know that when he is praying for him, that it is always in a thankful way. Paul is thankful for Philemon. Why is he thankful? Verse 5 tells us. It gives us the reason as to why or what Paul’s thanksgiving is built upon- “BECAUSE of his love for the saints and the faith that he has in the Lord his Jesus.

Think about that. Philemon’s love for the saints, which are not the people who are perfect, this is one of the Bibles ways of talking about Christians. Those who place their faith and trust in Christ are saints according to God- not because we are perfect in practice, but we are perfect because of the blood of Christ. But what Paul is saying here is that Philemon LOVES other Christians. Not just some. Not just the ones that he gets along with. Not just the ones who are going to his church....but he has LOVE for ALL of the saints…and for that Paul is thankful.

But it isn't just his love that has marked him as different. It is also the faith that he has in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that this can be taken two different ways. 1st, Paul could be talking about his salvation. He is thankful that Jesus has saved Philemon. That is possible. 2nd could be that that Philemon was a man of great faith in Christ- and because of his faith that changed the way that he lived life. I don’t think that it is mutually exclusive here, for you cannot have one without the other. Real faith in Christ results in the life you live being changed.

Paul is Thankful For Philemon.

What we see happen next in verse 6 is a prayer that Paul is praying for this brother. Let’s look at it together.

6 I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.

Verse 6 can be kind of difficult to understand because of how it is worded in other translations.

Some translations word it something like, “and I pray that the sharing of your faith may be more effective...” Some talk about the communication of your faith....some talk about fellowship of your faith....

And what makes it hard is how we understand some of the words that are used in English translations. When we read “the sharing of your faith...” what comes to your mind? We typically think of sharing the Gospel…but that is not what Paul is talking about here.

The word that the CSB translates “participation” and others call “sharing” or “communicating”, comes from a Greek word that means “fellowship.”

One of the best pictures of what is meant by fellowship is found in the book of Acts in Acts 2.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Fellowship has the idea of being of one accord. Fellowship was where the Church could gather together to take care of each other. They had all things in common.

This is why i Like the NLT translation of this verse because I think that it brings clarity to what Paul is saying here.

And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ (Philemon 1:6 NLT).

Remember who Paul is talking to. Philemon is believed to be a wealthier person, who has a heart for Christ. Paul’s prayer for him is that he would be more generous as he comes to believe and understand of all that he has in Christ. This is Paul’s prayer. He wants his faith to become more real to him. He is wanting Philemon to become even more generous in his life as he sees all that Christ has given him- not so that he can become a big shot, but for the Glory of Christ- to show how Great Jesus is.

Paul Wants Faith To Change Philemon More.

What is the basis of Paul’s prayer? Why is he continuing to pray for him in this way?… Look at verse 7 with me.

7 For I have great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

Here we get to see why Paul is praying for Philemon’s faith to increase, and his generosity to continue to abound..it is because Paul has great joy and encouragement from the news he is hearing about Philemon. Philmon is known for his love. And his love is shown by how he is treating others. He is refreshing the hearts of the saints.

I love what N.T. Wright had to say concerning this passage. Listen to his words...

Philemon’s love means that the church in Colosse experiences Christ’s love not only directly, in personal communion with him, but also through their leader: their ‘hearts’ (literally ‘entrails’: the word is used frequently to indicate the seat of the deepest emotions) have been ‘refreshed’ through him. The verb here is in origin a military metaphor, signifying the rest that an army takes while on the march. The Colossian Christians, weary in their daily battles for the Lord, find in Philemon the refreshment and rest needed to regain strength for renewed warfare.

This gives us insight into the kind of person Philemon was. He was one who cared about the church. He loved and ministered to them. He encouraged them. He refreshed them in their daily battles.

Philemon Cared For the Church.

You will see, as we work through this letter, Paul is going to build on this fact to appeal for Onesimus.

Conclusion:

Now that we have a good understanding of what is being said here in this text, let's talk about how this might apply to our lives.

Through the Lens of Paul.

There are a few things here that we need to think about as we consider this passage through Paul’s writing that might apply to our lives.

How Much DO You Pray For Others?

Whom Can You Be Thankful For In The Lord?

Do You Have A Personal Relationship with God?

Do Find Joy In The Work Of Others?

I am sure that we can think of other applications here but think about this for just a moment. Paul prays for Philemon and gives thanks for him because of the work that he is doing. He is genuinely happy for him, and he wants that to continue in his life.

Can the same things be said about us? This is counter to our flesh. This is what rejoicing when others rejoice looks like in action. This stems from knowing that we are all on the same team.

But it not only through Paul that we can consider this passage. Let’s look through another lens.

Through the Lens of Philemon.

Do You Have A Love For All Of The Sanits?

Do You Have a Notable Faith in Christ?

Is Your Faith Making A Difference In the Way You Live?

Are You Seeking to Know The Riches That Are Yours IN Christ?

Are You Refreshing to others?

What would happen in our lives if we allowed the faith that we have to get real in our lives? What if your faith made a difference in the way you lived life? What if others knew you based on the love have for others and your faith in Jesus Christ? Shouldn't that be our aim?

Shouldn’t our aim be that of verse 6? That our faith would be so real and that it would change how we live life with others to the glory of Christ? Would that be something?

Main Point: Love and Faith Changes A Person.

If you have experienced that kind of change in your life, I encourage you to live that out. Let Christ so fill your heart that you are a blessing to others for the glory of Christ.

Let’s pray together.