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All right, we are starting the book of Philemon, and we will be finishing the book of Philemon tonight. And so I wanted to choose a book, obviously, that has one chapter in order for us to start a brand new book for the coming year. And so Philemon was my final choice, and it's a great book here. Now, Onesimus is, when you read the story, we hear about a man by the name of Onesimus, and he's potentially an indentured servant, which means that he probably owed something to a man by the name of Philemon. He's potentially either an indentured servant or just an employee. Now, contrary to dispensational teaching, specifically a man by the name of Keith Gomez, this isn't an instructional book on how to treat your slave. Now, if you don't know anything about that, there's a guy by the name of Keith Gomez who basically taught that the book of Philemon is a book for us today, you know, from the book of Romans all the way to the book of Philemon. These books are primarily for us today, and he says that Philemon is basically an instructional book on how to treat your slave and how we should have slaves today and, you know, just all this racist nonsense that he was saying. But, you know, it's not surprising that the dispensationalists will say such a stupid thing, okay, because that's not the only dumb things that they say. And so it's not an instructional book on how you treat your slave. In fact, the book of Philemon has within its content, obviously, practical teaching on receiving a brother in spite of their past, okay. And the primary characters that we're looking at here, obviously, is the Apostle Paul. We see Philemon and Onesimus, and Onesimus is the one who needs to be received by Philemon, and the Apostle Paul is the one who's beseeching Philemon to do so. And you may think to yourself, man, well, such a short book, not that many verses, just a quick little instruction on how to do so. But in actuality, it actually holds within it a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ and his redemptive nature towards us, okay. You know, Onesimus can picture basically the person who needs to be received, such as us, the sinner. The Apostle Paul can picture Jesus Christ and Philemon, the recipient of that new believer. And we'll get into that just a bit. Look down at verse number one. It says, Paul, prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Aphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus and toward all saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you, excuse me, which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. So right off the bat, this introduction is quite, you know, telling of who Philemon is. He's not just any regular Joe Schmoe. This man obviously has credibility with the Apostle Paul. He's kind of basically praising him and saying, hey, I've heard of your love. I've heard of your faith that you have towards Jesus and towards others. We would say that he's a balanced Christian. He not only loves the Lord, but he loves people as well. And he says in verse number six, the communication of thy faith may become effectual. What is he doing here? He's basically setting them up. Okay. He's like, hey, man, I heard you're a great Christian. You got a lot of love. You got a lot of faith. And then he's going to say, hey, I need you to receive Onesimus because you're so loving and because you have so much faith. You know, he's kind of giving them the sandwich method in a sense. But notice what he says in verse number seven. He says, for we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. That's a great quality to have. He's basically saying, look, people, saints have benefited from your relationship. You have refreshed the bowels of the people that come in contact with you. And this is actually a really great quality to have, right? To refresh someone by your very relationship with them. You know, when you have a friendship, when you have a relationship, we should look to see what we can put into the relationship, not necessarily what we can get out of it, right? And when we have friendships in the church or relationships in the church or wherever it may be, I hope that it would be said of us that when people leave the conversation with us, they leave refreshed, okay? You know, an effective Christian is a person who has something to give, right, in a friendship or in a relationship. They have knowledge to impart. They have love to give. They have something that God's been giving to them that they're giving out to someone else. And they refresh those who are around them. They begin to renew the people around them. You know, we would say, you know, there's an energy giver and then there's an energy taker, okay? The energy giver is the one who refreshes those, right? You talk to someone and you just, they exhort you, they teach you something, you just leave that conversation encouraged. Whereas there's others who are energy takers. They're so negative, they're so discouraging that you just leave completely empty in your tank emotionally. You're like, man, I just, I had a good day when I came to church. I had a great day until I met so-and-so and they just unloaded on me and now I feel like crap, okay? You know, those are energy takers. Now, obviously, you know, we can't be positive all the time, right? Because life is filled with negativity. But here's the thing, we should not be characterized by only being negative, right? We should be characterized by being a balanced Christian, be negative when it's called for, but also understand that we shouldn't be energy takers. You know, when you have a conversation with someone and they're just completely negative, you know, the sky is falling, you know, my dog died, everything's going to smithereens and, you know, the new IFB is dying and what's going on over here? That's an energy taker, stay away from people like that. I hate it when people say something like, oh, what's going on with the new IFB, it's just crumbling apart. No, you're crumbling apart. I had a good Christmas, okay? I ate well, I got fatter and, you know, I fellowship, I sang songs with my brethren, I laughed, I had a merry heart. Everything, I mean, we're starting off the year great. Don't be an energy taker, okay? You know, these, I mentioned this before, but even a couple months ago, we had to throw someone out because, you know, they were basically railing, they were being tattlers and busybodies and I guarantee any person who came in contact with that person would say, yeah, that person was an energy taker. You know, right when I ran into that person, it's like they just sucked the life out of you. You know, it's just like, you're kind of like trying to back away and they just follow you. They're just going, you know, you're trying to like inch your way away from that conversation and they just follow you with negativity, negativity, negativity. It's just like, man, this person is just draining me emotionally, okay? We don't want to be that kind of a person. We want to be the type of people that refresh the saints, okay? Now, everyone has the right to have a bad day every once in a while, okay? Everyone has a right to just, you know, if you have a bad day, you lose your job or maybe you lose a family member or maybe you're just having a bad day, just bad things are happening to you that day, it's okay to have a bad day, but we should not be characterized by bad days. Because we're saved, amen? We have the word of God, we have a great church, we have, you know, we have so much to be thankful for. The Bible says that God loads us daily with benefits and that's a true statement. So if you're having a bad day, you need to do an inventory check of the benefits that God has given to you in order to create a heart of gratitude and get, you know, have a positive attitude so you can refresh the brothers. And look, no one likes to be around a negative person all the time. It's just like this person, nothing but negativity comes out of this person's mouth. We don't want that, you don't want that. And so strive to be the type of Christian that refreshes the saints. They leave built up, exhorted, they're a blessing, okay? And this is who Philemon is. And by the way, I mean, what greater person to entrust Onesimus to than to Philemon? You know, he's like, man, the communication of thy faith. And look, he says in verse six that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. So he's like, hey, you know, you got good faith, good love. Well, you know, let it become effectual when you acknowledge what I'm about to tell you right now of this good work that you do, okay? Which shows us, hey, knowledge is not everything. We need to put knowledge into practice, right? You know, we can say we love people, but if we're not preaching the gospel, seeing people saved, do we really love people as a church? You know, there's tons of churches out there that claim that they love people and they're so merciful and gracious and they want to see people saved, but it's all talk. If they're not really, if they're not part of a church, if the pastor is not leaving the church in a great soul-winning movement in that church, it's a lie. It's all fluff. In order for it to become effectual, they need to acknowledge it and actually do something with it, okay? So we see that there. Romans 15 off the turn there at 32 says this, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God and may with you be refreshed. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16, 17, I am glad of the coming of Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaeus for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied, for they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge ye them that are such. 2 Corinthians 7, 13 says, therefore, we were comforted in your comfort, yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus because his spirit was refreshed by you all. Ask yourself this, are you the type of person that refreshes or discourages? And look, hey, this is also applicable in a marriage, right? You know, we need to make sure that as spouses, we are energy givers, not energy takers. You know, if your husband's working and, you know, he comes home and you just got all this negative things to tell him, you're like, he just unload the truck on him and he's just like, can I just relax? Can I just take off my shoes? You know, can I hide you too? You know, you say, well, I had a bad day. Well, you know what? If you encourage, if you, excuse me, if you discourage your encourager, then who's going to encourage you? Think about that. You need to make sure that you encourage your husband or your wife, right, your encourager, because if you discourage them, who's going to encourage you if that person is discouraged? You understand? So, you know, obviously, if there's bad news to be given, then you got to give the bad news, but be wise about it. You know, say hi first, okay, or, you know, prepare a meal or something. Do what makes your spouse happy in order to receive that bad news or whatever it may be. But you never want to be the type of spouse that just is constantly negative, you know, and then your spouse looks for reasons not to be at home. You know, and I'm not saying that's right, the spouses do that, but there are times when spouses literally stay away from home because they don't want to deal with their spouse who is always negative. Why? Because they're just sucking the life out of their spouse. That's what it is. So, in order to avoid that, be a spouse that refreshes your husband, be a spouse that refreshes your wife. And you're going to need that in the long run because all of us come to a point where we get discouraged, we become disillusioned, something happens, and we need our partner to encourage us to keep going forward to refresh us, amen? So, be characterized by someone who refreshes the saints, not someone who deteriorates them or discourages them. Look at verse number seven. See, I told you there's a bunch of good stuff in Philemon, you know, you can get all that, right? For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee, that which is convenient, yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. So, he's basically saying, look, because I know that you have love and you have faith and you're a mature person, I can command you to do this. Enjoin basically means I can direct you, I can command you. But he's saying, look, but yet for love's sake, I rather just ask you, I rather just beseech you, you know. I know that you are a person. We see later on, he says that you'll do much more than I ask. Basically showing the level of Christianity and the quality of spirituality that Philemon has, that he doesn't have to order him. He can just simply ask him and he knows that he's going to do whatever he tells him to do. So, he says, yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. So, we see that, obviously, the apostle Paul is writing this from prison. Verse 10 says, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. Now, the first thing to notice here is that Paul is interceding for Onesimus, just as Jesus Christ intercedes for us, right? You know, the Bible tells us, go with me, if you would, to Romans chapter 8, if you would. I'm going to read to you from Hebrews chapter number 7, hold your place there in Philemon. Go to Romans chapter number 8. So, throughout this book, you'll see hints of the character qualities of Christ. And of course, as I mentioned in the beginning, his redemptive nature towards us. This is one of them. He's beseeching him for his son Onesimus, whom he has begotten in his bonds. I'm going to read to you from Hebrews 7, 24, it says, but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercessions for them. Look at Romans 8, verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercessions for us. So, you know, the Bible tells us that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for all of them in the world, the Bible tells us. So, what do we see here is that Jesus Christ intercedes for us even on a daily basis, right? He's our advocate when we sin. He's there to remind the Father of, you know, the sacrifice that he made, the propitiation that he made for us. You know, he's there to intercede for us when we're weak, okay? When we make mistakes, he is our advocate there to defend us and protect us, so on and so forth, just as the Apostle Paul is beseeching for Onesimus. He's basically advocating for Onesimus and he's basically saying, look, hey, I'm asking you for him, receive him, you know, you owe me yourself besides and, you know, whatever he owes you, put that on my account, right? Just as Jesus did, we'll talk about that in just a bit. So, this shows us that the Apostle Paul led Onesimus to the Lord as well because he says there, whom I've begotten in my bonds, okay? And this is often language that the Apostle Paul will use as a means to describe someone who he got saved, okay, when he begat them. He says in 1 Corinthians 4.15, for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Now, turn with me, if you would, to 2 Timothy chapter number 1, 2 Timothy chapter number 1, 2 Timothy chapter number 1. I believe that Onesimus is also Onesiphorus that we see in 2 Timothy chapter number 1. And obviously, the names are similar, but it's also because of the fact that we see in 2 Timothy chapter 1 that Onesimus or this character Onesiphorus is not ashamed of the Apostle Paul's chain, his bonds. He says in verse 16, the Lord gave mercy into the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me, okay? Now, go back to Philemon, if you would, Philemon. So, this is someone who the Apostle Paul got saved, this is someone who he's interceding for. Verse number 11, which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me, whom I have sent again, thou therefore receive him that is mine own bowels, whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel, but without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefits should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly. Now, there's not much we can tell about Onesimus in his life. You know, we can maybe speculate that he was an indentured servant, he was an employee of Philemon, and we see that for whatever reason, he ran away from his employer, okay? We don't know if he's just being a delinquent, he didn't want to pay up, and he leaves, but we can safely assume that he was unsaved while working for Philemon, because it wasn't until he found Paul in Rome that he got saved. And then he sent back to Philemon to basically work for him, not just as a servant or an indentured servant, but as a brother in Christ, okay? And that's what we see there, but notice that he says that in times past, he was unprofitable, okay? Now, I don't know if that means like this guy was just a lazy worker, he just had no character, he was just lazy, he was unprofitable, he wasn't paying off his debt, that's why he ran away, you know, he got away from his employer because he didn't want to pay up. But we see now that he is profitable, not only to the Apostle Paul, but also to Philemon. Now, what was the element that was missing in Onesimus' life? Well, aside from the fact that he needed a character, he just needed Christ, right? And look, obviously, there's hard workers out there who are not saved, right? They have a good work ethic, but you know what? There's Christians who maybe didn't have a good work ethic before Christ, and afterwards, they did. You know why? Because of the Bible. They began to read the Bible, they learned principles, and they realized, hey, God expects me to be a hard worker. God expects me not to be lazy, he expects me to be diligent, and they have now a different motive to work. It's not just because they want to feed themselves, now it's because whatever work they're doing, they're doing it as unto the Lord. What does that make them? Someone who's profitable. You know, Christians ought to be the most valuable employees at their job. Why? Because though you have an earthly boss who's cutting you a check every week or month or whatever it may be or every two weeks, you know, more than that, you have a heavenly boss, someone who you're working for, who you're actually serving, and you submit to your boss as unto the Lord, which means that you're going to go the extra mile, you're going to put it into extra work, the extra hours, you're going to go above and beyond. What does that make you? A profitable employee, a profitable servant. So he says, look, in times past, he was unto the unprofitable, but now he's profitable. Now he's saved. Now he knows what the Bible has to say about this. He knows that if a man does not work, neither should he eat. He's going to go the second mile when he comes back to you, and he's going to be a blessing. So he's potentially a runaway servant, but now he's saved. Go with me if you went to 1 Corinthians 7. So now he's coming back, and who knows? Maybe he's coming back because he's also paying off his debt if he's an indentured servant, you know, or he's just an employee who's working for this man. But, you know, he's coming back with a different element, which is now that he's saved. But look what the Bible says about someone who is called being a servant. It says in 1 Corinthians 7.20, let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it. But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lord's free man. Likewise also, he that is called being free is Christ's servant. You are bought with the price, be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. And I believe this is what the Apostle Paul is teaching Onesimus to say, hey, you're saved, you should go back to Philemon now. You know, that was what you were called, that's where you came from. You should go back to him, pay off whatever you've got to pay off, and in fact, go the extra mile. Care not for it. Use it rather. Okay? Hey, did you get saved being a plumber? Use it rather. Amen? Did you get called being a, working in construction? Use it rather. Right? Did you get called being a bartender? No, I'm just kidding. Don't use that. You need to forsake that, okay? Obviously there's certain jobs that you should obviously forsake if it has the elements of sin and wickedness, but hey, if it's a job that you can use to further the work of God or the hours help you to be faithful to the house of God, it allows you to go sowing. Use it rather. And look, another way you can use it is start witnessing to the employees at your job, right? Whether on break or maybe if you spend time with them outside of that. If you have befriended your coworkers, win them over to the Lord. Okay? Try to get them saved. Use it rather. It's another pond for you to fish from. Well, you know, I haven't told them I'm a Christian that you better start today than tomorrow morning. You better let them know, hey, I should have mentioned this to you a long time ago, but I just want to let you know I'm a Christian. I'm saved. You know, what does that mean? Well, I'm glad you asked. This is what it means. Okay? And get them saved. Why not? Use it rather. Right? You know, don't have this attitude in which I've seen many times in times past where someone gets saved. I was like, well, I can't work at this job. So wicked. You know, my boss is not saved. He's not an independent, fundamental King James only Baptist or, you know, there's so many wicked people. They're just, they cuss all the time and they listen to gangster rap and all like, you want to approach this. You want to approach an occupation like a Calvinist. They want to just take over everything, right? Just Christianize the world, your jobs and everything look. And if you have a boss who's a Christian, all the better, right? But that's not always going to be the case. Sometimes you're going to have some pretty wicked bosses. Okay? And there might be unjust to you. They might like treat you like dirt, but good thing that's not your only boss. You have God as your boss and you're still serving that person as unto the Lord. You're not doing it necessarily for them. You're doing it for the Lord. And so don't have this, this attitude that the place you work at has to be Christian. They have to have the, they have to speak Christian-ese, you know, or yeah, but my boss is just liberal though. He's some liberal guy and he uses the ESV. I can't work for that. You're not working there because he's a Christian. You're working there to get a paycheck. You know, criticize him when you get here, but not over there and I'm just kidding. You know, obviously you're not there to promote his religion or his denomination. You're there because you're earning a paycheck, right? And you know, if he starts talking doctrine with you, you know, and you know, it's not going to end well, avoid it and just get back to work. You know, just kind of defraud yourself and just move on and get to work. You're not there to learn any doctrine anyways. So don't use that as an excuse to say, well, you know, I can't find any good job because none of the bosses that I've ever had have ever been Christian. Well, the Bible actually tells us that sometimes bosses will become vile towards you. They will reproach you, okay? And if you can submit to someone like that, you know, all the better and in fact, you will be rewarded by God if you're capable of submitting to a person like that because it says a lot, okay? You're suffering for Christ's sake, even at your job sometimes, okay? You know, I remember when I used to work at this telemarketing company, there was this dyke. It was the worst. She had the dookie braids, okay? I'm talking about the dreadlocks. You guys know what I'm talking about? Are those the same thing? I think they're the same thing. She had the dreadlocks. She was this ugly fat dyke, okay? And I worked there before I was saved. And I remember I got saved and she found, she didn't like me before I got saved because I was like, she thought I was like a male chauvinist pig or whatever, but she really didn't like me after I got saved because, you know, I would go to work and I would carry my Bible. I would read my Bible on break and I just kind of let it be known to everyone that I was a Christian. And I remember she was actually responsible for training us for the programs that we were going to learn and she would literally just like rail on Christians the entire time because she knew that I was a Christian. She would say all manner of evil against God. And I remember we'd be done with the training and she's like, if anybody wants to like, you know, talk to me about it, you know, step up to the plate and talk to me about it. And I raised my hand and I said, well, I'd like to just get back to work. Are we done? She's like, yeah, you're free to go. I'm like, right? I'm not there to like debate reparations or anything like that, you know? You know, you know, I'm not there to convince her. I'm not there trying to win her over. It's obviously, it was obviously bothering her that I was a Christian. That was good enough for me. That she had to look at me every single day, succeed, amen? So these are the kind of people you're going to have to deal with. And by the way, she was a reprobate, but she wasn't one that I was like working closely with. We would run into her like twice a week because of the training. And during those times, I wouldn't fight her. I wouldn't debate her. I just take whatever she's teaching me and just move on, okay? And so don't be that kind of Christian where you have to have like the ideal job in order to get a job. They all have to be, the ducks have to be in order and I have to get paid this much. Take whatever you can get now. And while you have that job, look for something better, right? Why not? Go with me if you go to Luke chapter 17, Luke 17. Let's talk about being profitable and unprofitable. So what makes a Christian profitable? What makes an employee profitable? Look at Luke 17 verse three. He says, take heed to yourselves if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him. And if you repent, forgive him. And if you trespass against the seven times in a day and seven times in a day, turn again to thee saying, I repent, thou shall forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if he had faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you might say unto this sickening tree, be thou plucked up by the roots and be thou planted in the sea and it should obey you. But which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him by and by when he has come from the field, go and sit down to me and will not rather say unto him, make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I try not. So likewise he, when you have done that, done all those things, which were our command of you say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which is our duty to do. These are strong words. He's saying, look, all right, if you fulfilled that what you're supposed to do, great. You've made it to being unprofitable. You have now been promoted to being unprofitable. Why? Because you've only done that which is required of you to do. This is why he gives the illustration of forgiveness in the beginning. You say, look, if a brother trespassed against thee, rebuke him and if he repent, forgive him. That's your duty to do, right? But then he says, if he trespassed against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day, turn again to thee saying, I repent, thou shall forgive him. See, to forgive someone once is our duty to do, to continuously forgive someone in spite of their wronging us. That takes second mile Christianity. You become profitable not when you just forgive the person the first time. You become profitable when you make it your habit to just continuously forgive. You go above and beyond that. You go the second mile. You do the extra things that maybe it's not necessarily required of you, but you can go forward. We see there that in order to be a profitable servant, you have to not only do that which is required of you, you got to go above and beyond that. How can you be a profitable Christian? Well, hey, it's required of you to come to church, right? By God. It's also required of you to go sowing, but you actually become profitable when you start seeing a lot of people saved. You begin to disciple those people, turn them to righteousness, instruct them in the ways of the Lord. You now become a profitable Christian. Whereas the unprofitable Christian is the one who basically just comes to church. You know, I'm sorry to say that, but it's the truth. Coming to church doesn't make you profitable. It profits you only if you put into work that which is being taught, that which is being preached, so on and so forth, okay? So the concept that is being taught here is that in order to be profitable, you need to exceed the bare minimum of what is required of you. You know, you think of monetary surplus, right? You know, if you have a business, if you're not profiting, basically it means you're breaking even, right? So in order for you to make profit, it has to go above and beyond that which you actually put in. So in like manner of Christian, in order for you to be profitable, you got to go above and beyond that which is even required of you, okay? And look, as those of you who want to be pastors in the future, this is who we look for, the profitable men, not just the ones who do the bare minimum, right? I'm not looking for people who do the bare minimum. I'm looking for people who actually go above and beyond what is their call of duty to do. Why is that? Because if a person, if a man, if a young man is willing to go above and beyond, I can rest assured that if that person has their own church, he can lead himself into doing those things which other people won't do. He can make himself do above and beyond, put in the work that is necessary. He doesn't need a governor over him telling him what to do. You know, he has the initiative, he has the character, the umph and the vision to do what he's supposed to do, not just that, but above and beyond that, okay? That's important to go the extra mile. The Bible tells us, whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. You know, you should be a Christian who takes initiative, amen? That things are not asked, people don't ask you to do things, you just take the initiative to do them, all right? And look, it starts small sometimes, throwing out the trash, cleaning up the place, taking ownership of your church, organizing, doing things that maybe other people oversee or they overlook, excuse me, you know, doing things that people overlook, they don't see it, you come and you do it, you build the character quality to say, you know, I don't want to just do what's required of me, which is to come to church, I want to go above and beyond that. This is my church, amen? You know, I remember even at our old church, when my father-in-law used to pastor, he used to teach us this, he used to teach us the 10-foot rule, okay? And he said, you guys need to learn the 10-foot rule. Anything that is in 10 feet of you, you should fix. If there's trash 10 feet of you, you should throw it away. Don't just look at trash and be like, wow, there's trash there, you know? Or something that's unorganized, wow, that's unorganized, you know? Fix it, if it's, if you notice it, see the need, take the lead. Why, you know, well, number one, so we can have an excellent church, but number two, you are creating within yourself the character qualities necessary to be, the attributes of a pastor, okay? Because when you're a pastor, no one else is going to do it for you, you can't expect anybody else to do it for you, you need to do it and exemplify that in order for others to do that as well, okay? So be profitable, go to Acts chapter 15, if you would, Acts chapter 15. Now speaking of Onesimus, this is, this is great because, you know, it shows that at one point, maybe he just wasn't your ideal Christian or employee, whatever it may be, but now he is. And this should be hope for you if you feel like you're unprofitable, you're like, well, I'm just like new in the faith, I don't know much, you know, I don't know how to go soul winning, I'm not sure how to read my Bible correctly, you know, I just don't have the character to do so, or I'm inconsistent sometimes, I'm unprofitable, okay, but you know what, you can become profitable, okay? And your goal should be to become profitable, don't just say I'm unprofitable and just give up and throw up your hands, hey, now's the best time to actually do something because 2020 is right around the corner, your New Year's resolution, right? To say this year I'm actually, you know, gonna read my Bible through, and look, don't take on a goal so insurmountable that you just, you failed the first week and you just give up for the rest of the year, why don't you just get the goal of reading your Bible through, you know, throughout the entire year, at least once, you know, no, I want to read through five times this year, six times or 10 times, why don't you just read through it once? Why don't you just try starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation, right? You know, but if you feel like you were unprofitable in 2019, you could become profitable in 2020, it is possible, if you've messed up in the past, if you failed in the past, okay, you can still become profitable, there's people in the Bible who messed up, and guess what, they got back on their feet, they started serving the Lord, submitting to authority, you know, going the extra mile, Onesimus is an example of this, okay? Now in Acts chapter 15, we see the story of Paul and Barnabas having contentions over Mark, okay? And we see here, look at verse 33, it says, after they, and after they had tarried their space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles, notwithstanding and pleased Silas to abide there still, Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also, and some days after Paul said into Barnabas, let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do, and Barnabas determined to take with him John, whose surname was Mark, but Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went now with them to the work. Now what is he referring to? Well, he's talking about the story in Acts chapter 13, you know, the famous story of Bar-Jesus, Ilimas, the sorcerer, the Jew, you know, the apostle Paul, he basically rebukes him, the darkness comes upon him, and they were going to go to do the work, and what Mark does, he says he just goes back to Jerusalem, he just leaves, and we see here, according to this chapter, that he left because he didn't want to go with him to the work. I would be mad too, like, I don't feel like working, I'm just going back to Jerusalem, I'm like, alright, go then, and we see here, you know, Barnabas comes, he's like, hey, let's take Mark, and Paul's like, I don't want Mark, this guy is unprofitable, okay, he didn't want to go to the work, you know, so on and so forth. Now, later on though, go to 2 Timothy chapter 4, by the way, the contention was so sharp between them, go to 2 Timothy chapter 4, I'll finish up here in verse 39, that they departed a center one from the other, and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed into Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. I mean, the contention was so sharp between them that they just parted ways, they're like, alright, you take Mark, I'm going with Silas. This shows us that men of God can disagree, amen? And they can still be filled with the Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, and still disagree, and I'm not talking about like, you know, slanderously disagree, okay, where one pastor is slandering another, just lying and saying things that are not true, and just being sneaky and devilish and snake-like, and you know, all these qualities that, you know, wicked people have, okay? I'm talking about, you know, a pastor disagreeing with another pastor because of a specific ministry practice, or even a doctrine. Men can disagree, amen? We don't all have to agree with one another on every single specific doctrine or practice of our church, we can disagree and still serve God together, or even, in this case, part ways, alright? Now look at 2 Timothy 4, 10, it says, For demons have forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica, creased unto Galatia, tied unto Dalmatia, only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry. So between the time that we see in Acts up until this time, there's something that happened to Mark, where he became profitable, okay? Something changed where he was now a person who was dependable, reliable, the apostle Paul wanted to do ministry with this person. So you know what, you might be the person who is like Mark in Acts, but you can become like Mark in 2 Timothy chapter 4 in 2020. You know, you can be the person who's just lazy, you're not reliable, and people know it, but you know, in 2020, you can completely change that around. And say, you know what, I'm gonna be a dependable, reliable person, I'm gonna grow up, I'm gonna mature in the Lord, I wanna be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, I'm gonna learn how to go soul winning, I'm gonna learn how to preach the gospel, and my goal is to be a team leader. I'm gonna put in the work necessary to reach that goal, to become a profitable member of my church and of society, okay? Do it, why not? You know, I wanna be a profitable servant unto the Lord, I don't wanna be shelved, I don't wanna just do that which is my duty to do. There's no glory in that of the Lord, okay? Go back to Philemon, so he says, look, he was unprofitable to thee, but now he's profitable both to me and to thee. He's learned some things, he's grown, he got saved, which is the most important thing, and now he's a different person, okay? Look at verse 15, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season, I like what he says here, that thou shouldest receive him forever. So he's kinda making light of the fact that like, you know, he ran away from his employer, he's like, you know, he departed for a season, but look, hey, I know you're probably mad about that, but he did it so you could receive him forever. In other words, it's like, now he's saved. Now he's gonna be your brother in Christ forever, okay? So it's almost like, hey, Philemon, all things work together for good to them to love God. And you know, because you love the Lord, you know, you love God with all your heart, you're serving the Lord, you're actually gonna benefit from this thing that happened here where he just left you with this bill, where you're gonna get much more out of it, because now you're gonna receive him forever. Now he's your brother in Christ. And look, that's great, isn't it? When like, someone maybe you knew in times past who wasn't saved, and then you get him saved and it's just like, now you guys are friends, now you guys are serving the Lord together, or you know each other, you know, it's just like, wow, you know, God worked it out in such a way that now we're friends, you know, we're serving the Lord together or whatever, you know, I think that's great. I love hearing stories like that. So Onesimus could potentially have been a runaway who abandoned his duties, but now we see that he's coming back fortified, mature in the Lord. Look at verse 16. Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord. This is showing you right here, he's like, man, he's gonna profit you as an employee, but also just as a brother in Christ. You know, because now you have a Christian who you get to work with, right? That's a blessing. Okay, we're just like, now you're your coworker saved, you know, he's a Christian, he believes like you, he's gonna, it's a blessing, okay, it's beloved. Verse 17, if thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account. I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it, albeit, I love this, I do not say to thee how thou owes them to me, even thine own self besides. Paul, you just mentioned it though. You just said it though. You know, he's like, I'm not even gonna tell you how you owe me your self besides, it's like, well, you just said it. So by stating that, he just basically said that he does owe him, okay. Now here we find a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ, right, as our advocate, because he says there, he tells him, hey, put that on mine account, if he's wronged you, if he owes you ought, which means like anything, put it on my account. That's a big blessing, okay. You think of the man who saved the Samaritan, right, and the Levi would him, the priest would him, he brought him to the end, and then when he left, he says, hey, whatever else I owe you, you know, I'll pay you when I get back, because I put it on my account. This is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ because of the fact that, you know, for the wages of sin is death, and guess what, he paid that wage, right. He himself bear our own sins on his own body on the tree. He is the propitiation for our sins. Go to Romans chapter number three, if you would. So here's the beautiful picture of Jesus Christ, who is the advocate. Look what it says in Romans three, Romans three is often, it's like the chapter that we would use to, as in our Romans road presentation, Romans 310, Romans 323, et cetera. Look at verse 11, there is none that understand it, there is none that seek it after God, they are all gone out of the way, like Onesimus got out of the way, right. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that do with good, no, not one. But what do we see? Look at verse 24, but being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. You see the wording that is being used there, he's unprofitable, he's gone out of the way, just like Onesimus did. Go with me if you would to, go to Isaiah 53, if you would, Isaiah 53, Isaiah chapter 53, 1 Peter 2 23 says, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bear our sins in his own body in the tree that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For you were a sheep going astray, just like Onesimus went astray, but are now returning to the shepherd and bishop of your soul. Look at Isaiah 53 verse 4, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. This is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. What does that mean? It doesn't count. The sins that we've done, the iniquity of us all, he bore that and he put that upon his account and because we believed in him, it was counted unto us for righteousness, right? All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. So we see that the apostle Paul is basically doing that even for Onesimus, he said put that on my account, I'll pay you. Whatever he owes you, if he's wronged you, put it on my account, this is what I want to do for Onesimus. It's a beautiful picture, is it not? Go to verse number 20 of Philemon. And by the way, take advantage of the Christmas season to dwell upon these things. Sometimes with the hustle and bustle of everything we forget, don't we? We got to do our last minute Christmas shopping and we got all these things we got to do, but sometimes we just need to slow down and just think upon this. Think upon the fact that he himself bore our sins on his own body. He took everything that we've ever done, all the sins that we've ever done, even the ones that we don't even know about, right, or we didn't know about, and he put it upon himself. Sins of the past, sins of the future, he took it all, okay? You know, we, all we like sheep have gone astray, we went, each and every one of us, our own way, but then we got saved and he brought us back, okay? Look at verse 20, it says, Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord, and refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou will also do more than I say. So what is he saying here? Look, I know that you are a mature Christian. I know you're going to do, you're going to go the second matter, okay? I know you're profitable. So that's why he said, knowing that thou will also do more than I say. So in other words, that's probably why the book is so short, because I don't have to say much, because I know you're going to do more than I say. I don't have to, you're not like the Corinthians, where I have to write two books, you know? You're not like, you're not a babe in Christ, I don't need to speak unto you as unto babes, you know? I don't need to feed you with milk and not with meat, I can just give you the crux of what I'm saying here in 25 verses, you'll get it, and guess what? I know that you'll do more than I say, that's awesome. Let's be like Philemon, you know? Philemon, obviously we focus a lot on Onesimus, but Philemon's a great guy, because apparently, you know, he has a lot of credibility with the Apostle Paul, and the Apostle Paul knows, hey, you're going to go the extra mile, I already know you're going to do it, so I'm just writing this letter to you in order to make sure that you get this and you understand what I'm trying to teach you. And by the way, I'm sure Philemon understood the symbolic meaning behind what he's writing here as well, okay? The Bible says in Philippians 2-12, wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The Philippians were immature Christians, and the Bible tells us there that they obeyed in his presence, but even in Paul's absence, they obeyed so much the more. That says a lot about people, you know, when they're able to go above and beyond, even in the absence of their authority. Why? Because they understand that God, who's the ultimate authority, is always present. He's omnipresent, he's always there, and because they do it as unto the Lord, it doesn't matter what earthly authority is there. They can be like Joseph, who though he was in a strange land away from his parental authority, he still said, you know, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God, right? He had that mentality. And then he says in verse 22, who both thought, prepare me also a lodging. He's like, I know you're going to do more than I say, by the way, can you make sure you prepare a room for me? I'm going to head over there, you know, for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be given unto you. So what is the primary teaching of the book of Philemon? Obviously, the practical teaching there is how to receive a brother, and any time, by the way, when we talk about receiving a brother, this could be basically receiving them back into the fold, or even if they've wronged you. You know, you forgive them seven times, and you keep forgiving them. Be like Philemon in that area. But also, it's just a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us, that everything we've done was placed on his account, and you know, that benefited us greatly, okay? And so that's pretty much it with the book of Philemon, and we're finishing that 2019 with that, with that being said. If you need, you know, if you think, well, that wasn't enough, okay, then just get this. Be a profitable servant for 2020, amen? You know, you say, well, I'm already a profitable servant. You know, I was already a profitable servant in 2019. Okay, then teach someone else how to be profitable. Amen. Gotcha. You know, teach someone else how to be profitable just like you then, okay? Disciple someone, have goals, have achievements that you want to gain in 2020, and let's be like Philemon, amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and thank you for the example of Philemon, and it's great to know that there are a lot of Philemons out there who don't need to be enjoined, although that's a blessing as well. They can be besieged, they can be asked for, and they'll do much more than we say. I pray that all of us would have that attitude, Lord, that we would grow in such a way that we would be profitable to multiple people in our church and our city here in Omani and our surrounding areas, Lord. I pray, God, that you'd help us to do so, and help us to be meet for the Master's use in 2020. May you continue to bless our church and help us to think upon these things, and we love you so much, Lord, and we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.