Our Christian Character

a) Today we’re continuing in our series we started last week in the NT book of Philemon. This is Paul’s shortest letter, w/ only 1 chapter & 25 verses. During Paul’s 1stRoman imprisonment, he wrote this short letter. We saw last week Paul was writing to a man named Philemon. b) Now there’s no other reference in the NT to Philemon. All we know about him is contained in this book. Last week Paul opened this letter by reminding Philemon & the church meeting in his home about our Christian identity. United to Christ by faith we are a family. Brothers & sisters in Christ. c) Paul reminded them & us that we are God’s beloved children. We are fellow workers for the gospel & God’s glory. We are fellow soldiers following the Lord Jesus Christ & seeking to carry out His will. We are the church, the body of Christ. And this is only possible b/c of God’s grace & peace. d) We are those who have been forgiven by God & reconciled in Christ. Paul began this way b/c he’s going to ask Philemon to extend forgiveness & seek reconciliation w/ a man named Onesimus who we’ll meet next week. But before getting there, Paul does 1 more thing. e) Paul addresses Our Christian Character. And w/ that background, let’s begin as always by hearing God’s holy word. Although we are going to look at v4-7, I’m going to read v1-7. Read & Pray.

Here’s our 1st point in v4-5: a people of faith.

a) Throughout his letters Paul calls on Christians to be a people who are constantly thankful & prayerful. And as we see here, Paul practiced what he preached. Writing from prison. Paul’s not angry at God, nor throwing a pity party. What is Paul doing? He’s giving thanks to God & praying. b) Look at v4. He says to Philemon: “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers.” Now don’t miss what Paul’s doing here. If you read this through the lens of our culture, you might think Paul’s just buttering up Philemon before he makes his request & asks him to do something. c) But that’s not what Paul’s doing. Last week Paul reminded Philemon & in the church in his house about our Christian identity. Now Paul wants to remind Philemon & the church of our Christian character. Paul begins by thanking God for faithful believers like Philemon. d) Notice the 1st part of v5: “b/c I hear of your…faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus.” Paul’s heard about Philemon’s faith. Now think about how encouraging that would’ve been to Philemon. The Apostle Paul is writing to him & telling the church how thankful he is for Philemon’s faith. e) See, we all need to examine our progress in the faith. But few things can be as demotivating as the conviction you’ve made no progress. Think about trying to lose weight. If you starve yourself & work out like crazy & the scale doesn’t move – how deflating is that to your motivation. f) But what if someone says: ‘Wow you look great.’ How motivating is that? When we see progress, or just as importantly when others see & acknowledge our progress, it motivates us to press on. That’s what Paul’s doing. Before making any request of Philemon, he thanks God for his progress. g) But I don’t want just to gloss over this point. What is “faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus”?What does it mean to say we have faith in Jesus? Some people speak of faith & think about taking a leap of faith. In other words, faith is doing something irrational. But the Bible doesn't speak about our faith as irrational. Others speak of faith as giving mental ascent to some facts or truth.

h) In other words, faith is about believing certain facts about yourself or God, just like you believe certain facts about George Washington. Now truth is vitally important, but our faith is much more than just a set of facts. Still others speak of faith as a feeling or emotion. j) Faith is whatever makes you happy or gives you hope. And while emotion is also part of our faith, that’s not all our faith is. Notice the object of Philemon’s faith: the Lord Jesus. Not just Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It’s not just a belief that Jesus was a real person who was on this earth. k) Not just Jesus as a great moral example, teacher or prophet. To have faith in Jesus is to believe in Him as the Bible reveals Him to be: the Lord of all creation. The Eternal Son of God who took on flesh. To have faith in Jesus is also to believe the work He came & did & will still does & will do. l) To have faith in Him is to believe Jesus alone can take away your sin & give you the righteousness you need to stand before a holy God. To have faith in Him is to believe Jesus alone conquered not just your sin, but the penalty for your sin: death. It’s to believe He rose from the dead & is alive. m) It’s to believe He alone can give us new, true, abundant & eternal life. It’s to believe He is coming again & as Jesus says in Mt. 14:3: “I will come again & will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” But more than that, to have faith in Jesus as Lord is to trust & treasure Him. n) Christian faith is not just a belief, but a deep-seated trust in Him & who we are in Him. To have faith in Jesus as Lord is to follow, adore, serve & worship Him as the only way we can come to & be accepted by God the Father. It’s to treasure Jesus as the greatest of object of worth in your life. o) Now hear me this morning. It’s not about the quantity of your faith, but the object of your faith. If 2 people see a wooden chair & 1 says: “I have great faith that chair can hold me.” But another person says: “I think that chair can hold me” - the amount of their faith isn’t the deciding factor. p) The deciding factor is whether the chair can actually hold them. See, Philemon’s faith & our faith is in a great God who came to save us & who promises to never leave us, forsake us or let anyone snatch us out of His hand. And Paul thanks God that he has heard Philemon possesses such faith.

Here’s the 2nd part of our Christian character we see in v4-5: we are a people who love 1 another.

a) How do you know if you have faith in Jesus? Jesus said this in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love 1 another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love 1 another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for 1 another.” b) Paul says in v5 this is true of Philemon. His faith is put on display by his love. Paul thanks God not just b/c he’s heard of Philemon’s faith, but b/c of his: “love…for all the saints.” A true faith & love toward the Lord Jesus will overflow into a love for His people, His body, the church.

c) Not just w/ a sentimental love or a warm feeling toward other believers. It’s to love other saints as Christ loved us. In the Greek, Paul used the word agape, which is translated as love. Paul could’ve used the Greek word phileo, which refers to a friendship or a warm affection. d) Paul could’ve used the Greek word eros, which describes a romantic love. But he uses the word agape, which describes a divine love characterized by sacrifice. It’s a love that pursues to good of another at a great cost. See, Jesus’ love for us wasn’t just a feeling, but it came at a great cost. e) Jesus said in John 15:13: “Greater love has no 1 than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” See, this kind of love is measured by the cost of His great sacrifice for us. He laid down His life for us. United to Him by faith, we are not just called to speak of His great love.

f) We are called to put His great love on display to & for 1 another. But this is only possible b/c we are united to Christ by faith. As Rom. 5:5 says, if we are in Christ, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the HS who has been given to us.” That is agape love.

g) And such love is costly. It might interrupt your plans & inconvenience you. It will cost you something. And this kind of love is uniquely Christian. It’s not something we conjure up in ourselves, but it’s something given to us. God’s Spirit empowers us to love 1 another in this way. h) That’s why agapelove is to be a mark & characteristic of Christ’s people. To have faith in Jesus is to have a love for His people. Jesus said in Mt. 10:42, “whoever gives 1 of these little ones even a cup of cold water b/c he’s a disciple, truly I say to you he’ll by no means lose his reward.”

i) Philemon’s faith was not just a matter of a personal confession he made. His faith was something other believers saw & felt. And Paul’s thanking God for this love.  

Here’s the 3rd part of our Christian character in v6: we are a people of κοινωνία (koinonia)

a) In v6 Paul transitions from thanking God for Philemon to praying for Philemon. Philemon was doing well. But now Paul prays for Philemon to keep going & to finish well. Now this is a really difficult verse in the Greek, but I think it’s helpful to see what Paul said of himself in Phil. 3:12-15: b) “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, b/c Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But 1 thing I do: forgetting what lies behind & straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, & if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” c) Here’s a paraphrase of what Paul’s saying: “If you are perfecting or maturing in your faith, then you will know you are not yet perfect or mature! You still have a long ways to go. And although Philemon was a rockstar, that’s what Paul is praying for him in v6: d) “I pray 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 Christ.”  Now as I said, in the original Greek this is a very difficult verse to translate. That’s why many of the English translations vary quite a bit.

e) The ESV translates Paul’s prayer as: “the sharing of your faith.” Now when we hear sharing of your faith we typically think of evangelism. We think about telling other people about our faith in Jesus. But when Paul uses the word translated here as sharing, it has a much broader meaning. f) The Greek word Paul uses is koinonia. It can also mean fellowship, communion, participation, or partnership. At its core, koinonia is to share your time, treasure & talent – your whole life w/ others. Our deep & mutual bond in Christ should lead us to realize we belong to 1 another. g) This kind of fellowship & sharing characterized the early church. After Peter’s sermon at Pentecost Acts 2:37 says many: “were cut to the heart.” The HS did a work in them. And Acts 2:41 says: “those who received his word were baptized & there were added that day about 3k souls.” h) Then we read this in Acts 2:42: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching & the fellowship (the koinonia), to the breaking of bread & the prayers.” When we talk about fellowship, we usually mean enjoying someone’s company. We had fun & talked & spent some time together.   i) But that’s not what Paul’s praying for here. He’s praying for a deeper belonging. Although Philemon is doing well, Paul prays for him to go deeper into belonging, sharing & partnership. So now let’s look back at v6: “I pray that the koinonia of your faith may become effective” For what? j) What should it produce? “for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” Notice the path to full knowledge of every good thing that is in us. It’s Koinonia. Sharing. Partnering. Again, Paul’s not talking about just a mental ascent or grasping a theological concept. k) He’s talking about a knowledge that comes through experience. Jonathan Edwards once said there’s a vast difference between someone telling you honey is sweet & then you actually tasting honey. Now I’m not saying to neglect your personal bible study or prayer time. l) But Paul is saying this full knowledge happens when we are together in fellowship w/ the people of God. When we are giving ourselves to 1 another. See, maybe the missing ingredient in your spiritual walk & discipleship isn’t some dramatic, supernatural encounter or some new theological insight. Perhaps the missing ingredient in your spiritual walk & discipleship is such koinonia.

Here’s the 4th part of our Christian character in v7: a people who bring joy, comfort & refreshment

a) Look at v7. Paul writes: “For I have derived much joy & comfort from your love, my brother, b/c the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.” We see 3 ways Philemon has blessed others in the body of Christ. 1st, we like Philemon are to be a source of joy. b) Paul tells Philemon he has much or great joy b/c of Philemon’s love. Paul’s heard how Philemon has loved the saints & brought them joy. See, we all have people in our lives who are either life-giving or life-sucking. But we all need people in our lives who will bring us life-giving joy.

c) And that was Philemon. He was the kind of person you wanted to be around. He was the kind of person who you walked away from feeling like they heard you & cared about you. You walked away w/ a sense of joy from being in his presence. Have you experienced that? Is that you?  

d) But then 2nd, we are to be a source of comfort. Paul not only had great joy in Philemon, but he also brought Paul great comfort. At a time in his life when Paul could’ve been given over to disappointment, discouragement & depression, the report about Philemon lifted up his spirit. e) We all need others in our lives who will comfort us. The word used in the Greek can mean to comfort, cheer up, encourage, console, or to speak in a friendly manner to someone. Paul says in 1 Thess. 5:11: “Therefore encourage 1 another & build 1 another up, just as you are doing.” f) Have you ever met someone who suffered from receiving too much comfort or encouragement?  1 NT scholar said: “Such comfort & encouragement is 1 of the most important ministries in the church.” See, Philemon brought Paul joy & comfort b/c he brought joy & comfort to the church. g) Philemon was the kind of person every church needs. Perhaps he was like Barnabas, who Acts 4:36 called the son of encouragement. See, Philemon wasn’t just a comedian making people laugh. He brought people a gospel, Spirit-wrought joy & he ministered to people & brought them comfort. h) And that brought Paul, who’s sitting in prison, great joy & comfort. Why? The end of v7: “b/c the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.” The Greek word translated as refreshed means to bring relief from toil or to cause or to give someone rest. i) It was actually a military term used for an army that stopped & rested after a long march. See, Paul’s saying Philemon had blesses those in the church who had suffered, been hurt or struggled. He was someone who refreshed & brought renewal. He cared for & served other believers well. j) Now nothing in this letter says Philemon was an elder or deacon in the church. But he was clearly a life-giving brother & blessing to the church. That’s the character of Philemon. And that’s to be the character of every Christian. Philemon was a rockstar, but his greatest test was coming. k) As I said last week, in the rest of this letter, Paul’s going to appeal to Philemon to seek reconciliation w/ someone who hurt him & wronged him. But for that to be possible, he knows Philemon needs the right perspective. He needs to remember his faith in the Lord Jesus. l) He needs to remember that we are called to love all the saints. He needs to remember that we are called to live together in koinonia – a deep sharing & fellowship & participation. We can’t keep other believers who’ve hurt or wronged us or we don’t like at a distance. m) We are called to be a people not just of faith & love, but who bring joy & comfort & rest to 1 another. May God be pleased to make us such a people who are marked by such faith, love, joy, comfort & refreshment. Let’s pray.