SonRise Community Church Evening Seminars

SonRise Communtiy Church
SonRise Communtiy Church
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Weekly Podcast of our Sunday Evening teaching series.

  1. Sep 27

    An Important Warning

    In his book Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth Alister McGrath opens with the following words, Never has there been such interest in the idea of heresy. Ancient heresies, seen by earlier generations as obscure and dangerous ideas, have now been sprinkled with stardust. The lure of the religious forbidden never seems to have been so strongFor many religiously alienated individuals, heresies are now to be seen as bold and brave statements of spiritual freedom, to be valued rather than avoidedThe rehabilitation of heretical ideas is now seen as a necessary correction of past injustices, allowing the rebirth of suppressed versions of Christianity more attuned to contemporary culture than traditional orthodoxy. Heresy has become fashionable.[1] So far throughout 2 John we have received instruction from John about how to do life in the elect lady of God, the Church. This life were called to live is a life of love, but a love informed and fueled by something John cares very much about: the truth. Because this love is inseparably connected to Gods truth it automatically makes it a love seeking to move one another toward a deeper and truer obedience to Gods commands. Being united into one body in Christ by the Spirit, this is how were to give love to another. To depart from the truth results in a failure to love, this is what we learn in v1-6.[2] But, as John continues into v7 he tells us there are a particular people who should not receive this kind of love from us. Who are these people? Heretics. Why should they not receive such love from us? Heresy. I know, I know, to speak of such things today feels extremely unsettling and deeply troubling. To disagree with another or to call someones lifestyle, actions, or opinions wrong is now seen as the height of arrogance. More so to use the word heresy and apply that label to someones teaching or beliefs is often met with the angry response Heresy? Says who? Our age is now summarized by three sentences: what we once celebrated we now condemn, what we once condemned we now celebrate, and all who refuse to celebrate are condemned as well. There is no place for Truth today.[3] Or as Isaiah 59:14 says, Truth has fallen in the street. For Johns community in view here, for this elect lady, this hits very close to home. John has come and preached the gospel, hes preached the truth to them, they believed and were saved from death to life, a church was born, he instructed them for a time, and then he left to go back home to Ephesus. When he left a group of other folks came in. They had another message that taught another gospel about another Jesus. In other words, they were teaching heresy and by so doing outed themselves as heretics. So having spiritual authority and a deep care and concern for this church, when John heard about this he addressed it head on. Our passage today, v7-13 is where he does this. In v7 he gives his main point The Nature of Heresy (v7) v7, For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. In v7 John transitions from what gave him great joy to what now gives him deep grief. Earlier he rejoiced that some of them were walking in the truth, he now tells us what the rest were doing. Rather than walking in the truth, the others were being deceived themselves and were busy deceiving others. Many deceivers have gone out into the world They defected from this elect lady under Johns care and have gone out into the community at large, no doubt to win more people to their false teaching. What is their false teaching? Notice John describes their teaching not in terms of what they say, but what they fail to say.[4] Sure this group was speaking a lot of Jesus, using familiar language that wouldve been common to many Christians in that day (much like many false teachers today). But even though they were talking a lot about Jesus they failed to say what the rest of the Christian community was saying then and still says today. They do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This statement concerns the incarnation of God, it concerns who Jesus really was when He came at His birth, and this view was growing in popularity in Johns day. Most who held this view called themselves Gnostics, others were more specific calling themselves Docetists, but what they believed was very similar. They believed in a dualism that said the spiritual was good and the physical matter evil. So when God became man in Christ at the incarnation they said God cant really become true man, we know physical matter is evil, so He must have just appeared to be a man. Others were going around teaching that the divine nature of Jesus came on Jesus at His baptism and left Him before the crucifixion.[5] Either way they believed Jesus was truly God but could never, had never, and would never become truly man. This is a massive problem. Dont think John is engaging in some kind of theological nit-picking, or creating an unneeded division over a small point of doctrine that doesnt matter. If this doctrinal departure didnt matter we wouldnt have the letter of 1, 2, or 3 John. Ask yourself: if Jesus didnt become truly man in the incarnation, could He have truly born our penalty and our curse, in our place, as our substitute? Could He have truly taken on Himself our filthy rags? Could He truly have lived a righteous life as a man and then be able to give sinful men His pure righteous robe? No! The answer is no! If He wasnt true man, all mankind has no hope, and we are in still in the first Adam because Jesus never truly became the Last Adam. In our day John would likely be labeled a Pharisee because today the only heresy is saying that theres heresy. But boldly and bravely John drops some much needed clarity on the nature of this heresy.[6] He calls this teaching and these teachers what they are. Not only are they false teachers, John refers to them using a specific title reserved for the radical and quintessential opponent of Christ, the antichrist.[7] He isnt using the title here to describe them as the one antichrist of history, but the collective spirit of unbelief he mentioned back in his first letter. In 1 John 2:18ff he says, Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that is it the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of uswho is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. They really did believe in Jesus, they spoke very similar language to the rest of the Christian community, but the Jesus they believed and spoke of was not in line with who Jesus truly is. Johns conclusion? False teachers arent brothers or sisters in Christ, theyre against Christ. They are antichrists. Is this your conclusion too? It ought to be. After describing the nature of this heresy among them he goes straight to application. In v8 he gives them a warning, in v9 he gives them a test, and in v10-11 he tells them of the inhospitality of heresy. The Warning of Heresy (v8) v8, Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. What are they to do in light of the heresy among them and around them? First, theyre to watch themselves. Meaning they are to watch their doctrine, that its in accord with Gods truth rather than simply pleasing to their own personal preferences. Theyre to watch their lives, that theyre obedient and pleasing to God, walking in step with the Spirit and bearing His fruit, ensuring their conduct matches their creed, and their behavior matches their belief. And specifically in the context of v1-6 here in 2 John, theyre to watch one another, walking in love toward one another without departing from the truth. Then comes the warning. John puts it negatively then positively. Negatively: if they give in to this heresy they will lose what they have worked for. Positively: if they remain firm and resist this heresy they will have their full reward. Taken together we see what this warning is. God has done a work in them and God was doing a work among them in their community. A church has been born, and she as the elect lady herself is to be the pillar and buttress of the truth. Theyve made a certain amount of progress there, and if they give in to these heretics and do not stand firm theyll lose all theyve labored for. Theyll lose gospel momentum and theyll lose the faithful gospel witness in their own congregation and in the community at large. Like a rock thrown into a pond eventually causes ripples throughout the whole pond, heresy, allowed to linger, will eventually cause ripples throughout the whole community of faith. If they give in now, their end will be disaster and loss. But, if they stand firm in the truth, as John calls them to, their end will be one of full reward. This is Johns warning. The Test of Heresy (v9) v9, Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. Progress is in view in v9, and progress is something we usually commend. Progress in the Christian life, progress in holiness and purity and fighting sin, progress in maturity in our knowledge of God, these kinds of progress are all good things. But the progress in v9 is not progress toward any kind of health but progress towards unhealth. When John says Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ he shows that the heretics are progressives who arent progressing in the faith but progressing beyond the faith.[8] Apparently they heard the teaching of Christ, didnt think it adequate for their own agenda, and added to it. In other

    An Important Warning

  2. Sep 20

    Walk in Love

    We are currently in a series on the Church in the small letter of 2 John. We began this series called The Elect Lady last week and will Lord willing finish next week. But I share this story because in our passage today John expresses a similar happiness and joy when he hears something specific about this church. As we approach 2 John 4-6, I want to first cover Johns happy boast over this church and humble request of this church. Then as we see each of those Id like to become a spokesman for the elders and make our own happy boast over you and make a similar request of you. Lets get into these things now. A Happy Boast (v4) In v4 John begins to unfold the purpose of his small letter and when he does so we find a happy apostle. John says he is not only rejoicing but that he is rejoicing greatly. For us to see such great joy in John is not a new thing for us. John is a very happy man and he shows it in everything he writes. His gospel is full of joy and pleasure and delight in Christ who became flesh and tabernacled among us. In 1:4 of his first letter, 1 John, he states the reason why he wrote 1 John, We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. He didnt write that their joy may be complete, or even that his joy would be complete, he wrote aiming at a collective and communal delight, our joy. In 2 John he says the same thing, he doesnt write a long letter to this church because in v12 he says he desires to come see this church face to face so that our joy may be complete. This happiness is present in 3 John too, in v3-4 when he learns of the faithful obedience of his beloved friend and fellow elder Gaius. And more, how could John not be fantastically happy as he is receiving and writing the glorious apocalypse we know as the book of Revelation? To John, joy is no small thing or side dish in the Christian life. It is something he knows deeply and feels greatly. But his joy is never just warm feelings or a general disposition to be chipper, no. His great and exceeding joy that he deeply knows and greatly feels is a joy that is rooted in the truth. So look at 2 John 4 and ask the question, Why is John, here in this context, making such a happy boast over this congregation? Answer: he is rejoicing over certain news that has come his way. News, that some people in this church not only know the truth, but are walking in the truth. News, that some in this church not only believe the right doctrine but obey it as their duty and delight. News, that some in this church not only know the right creed, but work hard at making the content of that creed their true conduct.[1] Now, it is interesting to note that John says only some of this church is walking in the truth. It is probably the case that he is glad to find some walking in truth because he knows others were not.[2] This church in view is as all churches are, a mixed bag with sheep and goats and wheat and tares, making up the membership. Hell spend time addressing those who are not walking in the truth in v7-11 as well as those false teachers who are leading them astray, but for now to introduce the main purpose of his letter his focus is those who are walking in the truth. And for John, being one of the elders of this congregation who holds a pastoral oversight over them, to hear this news brings his heart deep happiness. Why? The rest of v4 tells us, I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. So ultimately Johns happy boast is that some of those within this church know Gods commands, are obeying those commands, and by obeying them they are pleasing God. All of this brings great pleasure to John. See here a neglected teaching in our time, pleasing God by our obedience.[3] This is likely a neglected teaching today because by saying we can please God by our obedience seems to give us the uneasy feeling that were turning our backs on justification by faith alone. There is true beauty and glory to be seen in the doctrine of justification by faith alone. For God has, by His own redemptive work in Christ, saved us from death and out of our old way of life. But by not speaking of how our obedience brings God pleasure we rob ourselves of seeing the kind of lives God is now calling us into. For example, hear these passages Ephesians 5:10, Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Colossians 1:10, Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:1, We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as your are doing, that you do so more and more. Hebrews 13:16, Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 1 John 3:22, And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And finally we must be reminded this is all really just an imitation of Christ, who as John 8:29 tells us, always does what pleases God. So from seeing this obedience in this church John is happy and he tells them as much. Now I must pause and take a moment and make another happy boast as well. Much of what John is happy about here in v4 is also why we as your elders at SonRise are happy men too. For much of you, your doctrine has become your duty and delightyour creed fills out the content of your conductyour beliefs have become the foundation of your behavior. So as John will say later in 3 John 4 we as your elders can truthfully say of you, We have no greater joy than to hear that our children are walking in the truth. Really any believer should feel a deep well of joy surging up within them as they see another believer walking in the truth. So weve seen a happy boast, now see A Humble Request (v5-6) And now I ask you, dear lady not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. John, apostle and the beloved disciple, couldve employed his apostolic authority by commanding them but the language he employs here is softer, like the language a husband would use toward his wife, or a father would use toward his children. It is the language of a humble request. So his request is nothing new but a reminder of what Christ has already taught them. What is the request? that we love one another. We could jump to all kinds of conclusions here of what this love means, what this love entails, and what this kind of love looks like. But before we do we must remember what John has said before in v1-3 and what he says after in v6. Or in other words, we must remember the context. John has already told us before in v1-3 that love cannot be defined in any kind of biblical way apart from the reality of truth. He told us there exists a unity, a bond, a deep and inseparable connection between love and truth, so much so that we cannot rightly see one of them apart from the other. John says he loves this congregation and her members in truth, he says all else who know the truth loves this congregation in truth, and he calls them to a life of discerning love toward one another anchored in the certainty of Gods truth thats fixed forever. Thats what he said before, now lets look at what John says after the command to love one another in v5-6. In 1993 the German-Trinidad musician Haddaway asked us What is Love? Thankfully when we come to v5 and read this request to love one another we dont have to define what love is because John defines it for us in v6. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments In one sense we must remember Gods love is expressed toward undeserving sinners like us in giving us commands for our benefit, but in another sense, the sense John leans into here, our love for God is expressed in our living according to His commands, and how we live according to His commands is seen in how we walk through life with one another.[4] So Johns argument is intentionally circular, The test of love is obedience to Gods commands, and the test of obedience is whether one walks in love.[5] Notice, John asks this church to do the very thing theyre already doing in v4. He asks that all of them would do what some of them are already doing, walking in discerning love with one another. This is not new, theyve had it from the beginning. This is his humble request. So, because our obedience to Gods commands is the very means by which we love another among the elect lady of God, among the church, do you see that transformation is always the inevitable result of belief in the gospel?[6] John often uses the imagery of walking in 2 John to describe how we live in this life. Do you see that how you walk, how you live this life, changes when we believe gospel? In Pauls letter to Titus, he mentions our former state of unbelief is one characterized by hating God and hating others.[7] Then he says once the gospel breaks upon the heart by the power of the Spirit, as water breaks upon a rock, our eyes are opened to see how God has reconciled us to Himself through the gospeland we find that the gospel didnt just change how we relate to God, it changes how we relate to everyone else around me. We once hated God and hated others, now because of the gospel (to use Johns language) were called to walk differently. Now, were called to love God by walking in obedience to God aiming at pleasing Him fully, and were called to display that Godward love to others by extending the same gospel discerning love to them. Johns happiness in their conduct with one another leads him to make this humble request of them. And once again, I must pause and take a moment and make another request as the spokesman for the elders. All of what John is requesting here in

    Walk in Love

  3. Sep 13

    The Elect Lady

    SonRise Community Church Evening Seminars

    The Elect Lady

  4. Sep 6

    A Gospel Parting

    SonRise Community Church Evening Seminars

    A Gospel Parting

  5. Aug 30

    The Debt of Grace

    Introduction: I invite you to open your Bibles to Pauls short letter to Philemon. Tonight is our the third message of four on this small letter, and by now I hope you have seen that this letter contains a crystal-clear picture of what the gospel is and how the gospel changes us. I want to begin tonight with the concept of rejection. Anyone here ever been rejected? Maybe it was by an authority figure, a parent, a coach, a boss. Maybe it was a family member or close friend. Maybe someone else. I think at one point or another in life weve all been there. My experience has taught me that rejection feels worst when it comes as a surprise, or from someone wed never expect it from. Theres a good reason people describe rejection as being stabbed in the back. It feels like betrayal. You can almost see the faces of others disregarding you, counting you as useless, casting you out as worthless and no longer welcome. Rejection is something felt too often not only outside the church but inside it. When I first became a Christian in college, I felt this the first time I walked into a church. God had just saved me, I didnt know what the rules were, and plenty of people whod been believers for years made me feel like an outsider by the simple fact that I didnt dress like them. Rejection comes in many shapes and sizes. Let the reality of rejection stay in your mind, because Onesimus is about to face it. Think about where weve been in Philemon these past two weeks. A runaway slave, out on the loose, somehow meets up with Paul while Paul is in prison for preaching the gospel. Hes converted under Pauls ministry, and now hes heading back home to be reconciled with his master Philemon because Paul asks for it. Onesimus doesnt know whats waiting for him. Under Roman law, a returning runaway slave could legally be imprisoned or worse, entirely at his masters discretion. Hes walking home into the very real possibility of total rejection. I tell you that because I want you to feel that weight before we see how Paul answers it. In this light, v1720 would have been soothing to Onesimus, and they're soothing today for any sinner who reads them. Follow along as I read verses 1720 Held within each verse of this passage are two statements. The first is atruth statement, a certainty Paul is conveying. The second is aneffect statement, the result that truth leads to. Four verses, four pairs of statements, forms Pauls appeal to Philemon on behalf of his slave Onesimus. v17 The truth statement:"So if you consider me your partner"The word for "partner" here is the same Greek word,koinōnos, translated sharing your faith back in v6. That this word can mean partner in one place and sharing in another tells us Paul has more in view than a business arrangement. He means a unified, co-laboring partnership in the gospel. Two men who have linked arms to bear the weight of the gospel whatever the cost. Paul saw Philemon as a partner in the faith, and you can count on it that Philemon saw Paul the same way. Both men had been chased down by Christ and redeemed, and through them Christ was building His church. They were truly partners; not only sharing their faith with others, but sharing the same faith with each other. Because of that truth, see the effect at the end of v17, receive him as you would receive me.Paul has alluded to this request throughout the letter, but here he finally makes it plain. The partnership between Paul and Philemon naturally produces a result. Philemon is to extend to Onesimus the same grace hed extend to Paul. Paul isnt asking Philemon merely to tolerate Onesimus, hes asking for Philemon toreceivehim, the way he'd receive Paul if he walked through his front door. Church, hear it. Notice what Paul is doing here. Hes not leaning on his apostolic authority. Hes appealing to Philemon as a friend, not commanding him as an apostle. And more than that, hes lowering himself further still, putting a runaway slave on the very same level as himself. Thats what receive him as you would receive me means. Was this just Paul being generous? It would be easy to read it that way. But Paul isnt just being generous here, hes showing us the cross. Though Paul is an apostle and Onesimus a slave, both were once slaves of sin who became slaves of Christ through the same gospel. How would Philemon receive Paul if Paul showed up at his door? With honor, dignity, respect, submissionbecause Paul is his father in the faith. Paul tells him: receive Onesimus exactly the same way. In this, Paul risked his relationship with Philemon for the sake of Onesimus. Church, the gospel demands we go just as far for one another. v18 The truth statement:If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anythingThe effect afterwards:charge that to my account. Its likely implied here that Onesimus stole from Philemon on his way out the door, which was common enough in this time, where slaves were often seen as unreliable and prone to theft. You might think Paul is simply being generous here, showing us an implication of the gospel. That's true. But Pauls doing more than illustrating the gospel, he isliving out the language of the gospel itself. Charge that to my account is the language of substitution and satisfaction: a debt paid on behalf of someone who cannot pay it himself. This should stop us in our tracks. The Greek word behind charge it to my account isellogeo, the very same word Paul uses in Romans 5:13, where he says sin is not counted against someone apart from the law. Paul isnt reaching for a loose metaphor. He is using precise language, the language of imputation, and applying it to a runaway slaves unpaid debt. What Paul says to Philemon on Onesimuss behalf is, in the exact same category, as what Jesus Christ says to the Father on behalf of sinners:put it on My account. Now, we need to be careful about what that word substitution actually means, because its easy to let it go in one ear and out the other as theological jargon. Substitution means one party stands in the place of another and receives what was due to that other party instead of them. Not a partial discount. Not a payment plan. A full transfer, so complete that the original debtor is no longer liable for anything. Thats exactly the shape of what Paul calls Philemon to. Not let's work something out but move the whole debt off his ledger and onto mine. Onesimus walks away with a clean account, not because the debt didnt exist, but because Paul now legally owns it. Thats precisely the pattern Scripture uses for the cross, over and over specific language. Isaiah saw it years before Calvary as he said, The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6), sin transferredontoChrist. Peter says it plainly, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24), He carried what was ours, not His own. Paul names the exchange explicitly in 2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake God made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Notice, it moves both directions, there is a double transaction. Our sin is charged to His, His righteousness is credited to us. That double transfer is sometimes called the great exchange. Galatians 3:13 puts it plainly, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Somebody had to bear the curse our sin deserved. Christ did not adjust the curse, negotiate it, or absorb part of it. He took it all, in our place, as our substitute, and none of it falls on us. This is why substitution is not the same thing as mere forgiveness. God did not overlook sin at the cross, or merely wipe it away. He punished it fully, in full justice, and then placed that punishment on His own Son instead of on us. This is what the old hymn means when it sings, Guilty, vile, and helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was He, full atonement, can it be? John Piper says it so well, At the cross, the wisdom of God ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the justice of God. Nothing was swept under the rug. Every last cent of the debt was paid, just not by the one who owed it. That truth so gripped Pauls own heart that it produced in him a desire to extend that same grace to a runaway slave who had become dear to him. Pauls debt was paid at the cross, fully, legally, finally, and the moment he sees Onesimus carrying a debt he can do something about, the gospel moves him to make it his own. This is what happens every time the gospel actually reaches a human heart people who have been so loved for start looking for people they can love in the same way. v19 The truth statement:I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay itPaul typically dictated his letters to an amanuensis, a secretary. Not here. He picks up the pen himself, underlining just how personal this letter is. This is Pauls follow-through on v18. The debt he sees standing between Philemon and Onesimus, he will pay, and Philemon can hold him to it. But dont rush by what Paul says next in the rest of v19:to say nothing of your owing me even your very own self.Paul will repay Onesimuss debt, yes, but in the same breath he reminds Philemon that Philemon isalreadyin his debt, for leading him to Christ in the first place. Linger on that for a second. Paul is saying:I'll cover what he owes you, but lets not forget the debt between us. You owe me your soul.So who actually owes whom here? Philemon isnt being asked to give up something that was ever fully his. Hes being invited to let go of a debt in light of a far greater debt already forgiven. v20 The truth Paul means to convey:Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the LordThe effect, really a gentle command:refresh my heart in Christ. Philemon was known for refreshing the saints in Colossae (v7). Now Paul wants that same refreshment turned toward him. The Greek word behind benefit isoninēmi, the very word Onesimuss name comes from. Paul is punning, ri

    The Debt of Grace

  6. Aug 23

    An Appeal to Love

    SonRise Community Church Evening Seminars

    An Appeal to Love

  7. Aug 16

    Philemon 1-7

    As we turn to this evening series going through Paul's letter to Philemon, let me begin by saying in this letter, we encounter three unique individuals. We have Paul, the once proud Pharisee turned apostle. Philemon, a wealthy landowner in the city of Colosse, the Colossian church. And we have Onesimus, a poor slave. Think on that last name for a minute, Onesimus. It's not a random name. In Greek, the name means useful. Over the next four weeks, as we spend four weeks on these 25 verses, we're gonna find out that Onesimus was anything but useful. Uh, he was a runaway, maybe a thief. It's not quite sure. But he was a man who had nothing to offer anybody. But God's grace has a way of making useless people really useful. And here's the thing I want us to reckon with before we even begin verse one. Every one of us in this room has been, or maybe even still is in certain areas of life, an Onesimus. We'll come back to that. Just hold that away. Tuck it away for now. What happens when these three very different individuals encounter one another and come face to face with the gospel? They are all radically changed. They're changed so much that they begin to see each other not as enemies, but as brothers. And so I think we could title a series on Philemon, Grace on the Ground, because it teaches us what happens when the grace of God grips a heart. Or to say it another way, when God gives grace to a sinful human being, that human being doesn't remain the same. They change, and everything changes. God's grace reorients and transforms everything. A few details on this little letter of Philemon. One, Paul wrote this letter when he was in a Roman prison somewhere between AD 58 to 62. Next, Philemon is the shortest of all of Paul's letters. It only contains 335 words, uh, and it's the most personal of Paul's letters. Third, Philemon. Who is Philemon? Well, we've heard that he was a wealthy landowner, a Gentile, not a Jew, a Gentile landowner, lived in the city of Colosse, became a believer through Paul's ministry. He was also a leader in the Colossian church, which according to verse two, I think, meets in his house. I think that's what, that's literal there. We're supposed to take that. Uh, one small note on this, that the church met in Philemon's house. God did not wait for this crisis with Onesimus, uh, to show up before he even started ranging all of Philemon's life and home. Uh, by the time this letter arrives to Philemon in his hands, there is a church meeting in his living room. God's grace has done much to prepare the man to receive the letter in which he will be asked to do one of the hardest things he's ever been asked to do. All that, G- God has been preparing this for much time before he actually ever receives this letter. Fourth, Paul probably, probably sent this small letter to Philemon along with the bigger letter to the whole church at Colosse. They probably came in a package deal, right? Here's the letter to the Colossians. Here's one for just you, Philemon. And fifth, the three central figures of this letter, Paul, Philemon, Onesimus. If we were to say, to sum up this whole letter, we could just say this. The heart of the letter has to do with how grace changes the heart. Onesimus, Philemon's slave, has wronged Philemon somehow, that's verse 18, has run away through an unknown sequence of events and met Paul in prison, verse nine, was converted, verse 10, and became a useful partner to Paul in Paul's gospel ministry. That's verse 11 to 13. But Roman law demanded That once Paul learned that Onesimus was a slave, he would have to be sent back to his owner. And so, with Onesimus comes the letter to Philemon, where Paul pleads with Philemon to receive Onesimus back, verse 17, forgive him, verse 18, and to treat him no longer as a slave but as a brother, verse 16. And then to render, and to return, send Onesimus back to Paul so that he can continue to be useful in ministry alongside him, verse 13 and verse 21. That's just a little snapshot. We'll see all this in the next four weeks as we go slowly through the letter. Tonight, our focus is just verse one to seven, the introduction to the letter where we find two main sections. In verse one to three, Paul's greeting. And then in verse four to seven, Paul's first remarks. Follow along as I read verse one to seven of Philemon. Verse one. Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and Apphia, our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. And 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. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. What words. Let's look at the greeting in verse one to three first. I think it's fair to say that in Paul's greeting to Philemon, we see two things, things we're used to and things we're not used to. The things we're used to first. On one hand, we see things we're used to. Paul's name begins many of his letters. This is simply how you began a letter in this day and age. We're used to seeing that. We're also used to seeing Paul say, "Timothy says hi," in all of his letters as well. Uh, he does it in five of them, and he did it here because Philemon probably knew Timothy from their time together in Ephesus where Paul was being held in his Roman prison. We're also used to seeing names to whom the letter is addressed in Paul's greeting, and we're used to seeing the words in verse three from Paul, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This appears in every greeting of Paul's letters. All 13 letters, this phrase is in there. Shows us much of his heart toward those that he is addressing. That's all the things we're used to seeing in Paul's greetings. Here are some things we're not used to seeing from Paul that's unique to a few of the letters and especially to Philemon. We're not used to seeing Paul addressing a letter to individual people. Of all 13 of his letters, nine are addressed to churches. Only four are addressed to certain individuals. Can we, can we get them? Timothy. Timothy. Timothy got how many? Two. Two. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy. Titus and- Philemon ... Philemon. There we go. We got the four. That's it. We're not used to seeing that. Usually, it's the churches, right? Not an individual person. Verse two shows us that Philemon, a beloved fellow worker. This means he's a close friend of Paul's. He's a minister of the gospel. We see mention of Apphia. We think this is Philemon's wife. We then see Archippus. We think that's his son or son-in-law, who very well could be the pastor, one of the pastors of the church in Colossians because we hear of Archippus in Colossians 4:17 where Paul calls him a fellow worker in the Lord and encourages him to keep on going in the ministry that God has given him, to not grow weary, to keep on. We're also not used to seeing, this is one of the main things here, Paul does not identify himself as the apostle here. Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ. He doesn't say this. Rather, he uses the label prisoner. Out of all his letters, the only ones where he doesn't introduce himself as apostle are Philemon, both letters to the Thessalonians, and Philippians. That he does this, that he goes under the label prisoner, is telling, purposeful, it sets the tone for the whole letter, and it really gives us a preview of the content of this letter before us. By beginning this way, the letter immediately feels more personal, more gentle, and more like a friendly appeal than a letter coming with apostolic, full-blown authority. Now, don't mishear that. Paul's still Paul. He's still the apostle Paul, but Paul's intentionally going out of his way, choosing words here, to reduce the feel of command to his friend. But he's not setting his authority aside. What's he doing? He's converting it into something that Philemon really is not going to be able to argue with. He's converting it into something that's going to set up the big ask to come when he makes the request of Philemon. Anybody can pull rank and just tell you to do what you need to do. Paul does not do this. It takes grace, God's grace, to exchange the word apostle for prisoner and then make that land more compelling to Philemon than the word apostle. So when Philemon hears Paul a prisoner, he's not hearing a complaining man. He's hearing from one who has already suffered a great deal in his life and having to bear much for the cause of the gospel, bear so much that what he's about to ask of him will seem very little in comparison to what Paul is already bearing himself. So even in this greeting, the grace of God is at work. There's gospel logic preparing the heart of Philemon for what he's about to hear. I think there's a principle here that is worth naming in our life together in the church. We'll see it at work in almost every remaining verse in this letter, and we will experience it in every relationship, either for the good or for the poor that we have in life. When it's done well, relationships work like this. Grace precedes demand. Grace goes first. Demand comes second. Paul does not make this request of him just cold. He's already treated Philemon with extraordinary grace before he ever asks him to extend grace to someone else. This really is something of the setting up of the paradigm before we get into the heart of the letter here later on in verse 8 to 22, the meat of the request. That's the greeting. Now look at verse 4 to 7, Paul's first remarks. These first remarks are exactly what you think they'd be if you were listening to a conversa

    Philemon 1-7

  8. May 31

    Psalm 13: Psalms of Lament

    Good evening, thank you, hello, hi guys. Thank you for being here for our last Sunday evening of the spring. We're going to continue on, well, continue on. Tonight we're going to finish another installment of the tough text series. Last week we did the psalms of imprecation, or the imprecatory psalms. Tonight we're going to look at a probably not as difficult topic, but I think for many a tough text in its own right, the psalms of lament, specifically those psalms where we read. And we kind of wonder within the soul, is it really okay to talk to God like this? These are not true statements to say, how long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever? Like theologically that's wrong. Is that okay to say to God? Why is that in the psalms? We'll look at that particular tonight, that topic. So you have your Bibles open up, or devices to Psalm 13, the quintessential psalm of lament, or the prototypical psalm of lament. Let's pray as we begin. Father, thank you for this evening. Thank you for the gift of your church. Thank you for the gift of your word. Guide us, teach us, lead us now, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. The psalms of lament are called such because the psalmist has, for whatever reason, sometimes we know it, sometimes we do not, the psalmist has reached a breaking point, and has cracked, if you will. What is the definition of a biblical lament? A lament is, quote, a prayer in pain that leads to trust in God. A prayer in pain that leads to trust in God. Many people feel that the psalms of lament are strange, I think that's maybe a surface level comment on them, or deeper, inappropriate. Because they are themselves filled with complaining, arguing, not just about the hard things in life themselves, but usually the language in these psalms is directed at God. And so to read God-word language directed at Him that is filled with complaining from believers and godly people, we automatically think that's not okay. I mean, don't we know and believe, Romans 8, 28, that all things work according for the good for those who believe? Don't we trust the Lord? Didn't Jesus say He'll always be with us? Then why this language? Well, of course, we do believe that Jesus is with us, we do believe that Romans 8, 28, that God works all things for good, but we also believe we do not always recognize or sense the presence of the Lord with us. He does not promise to keep hard seasons from us, and though all things do work together for good, we also affirm that not everything that happens to us is good. And so we lament, the psalms of lament. How many, if you were to guess at 150 psalms, how many psalms are there that are psalms of lament? What do you think, if you're just to give a guess? 20%. 20%? Half? 30. 30? Any other takers? 100. 100. A third, roughly a third of the 150 psalms are psalms of lament, which makes it the largest category of psalms in the entire book. What do we learn from so many psalms of lament being given to us? us in the book of Psalms, I think by giving us so many, God intends to teach us and invite us to speak the truth about our lives, our pain, our hurt, our anger, and our confusion to speak it back to Him with better vocabulary, and I mean that. I think one thing that horrific events and dark seasons do to us is rob us of words. They rob us of words, they push us into silence because of the thick pain in the human heart. We can generally only think of questions but cannot quickly think of answers. Praise God that in the Psalms He has given us vocabulary to pray, make it our own, back to Him. Generally when we're in pain, we don't speak well. We don't speak well to others, we don't speak well to ourselves, and we certainly don't speak well to God. We are always in need of theological refinement and words that are precise and correct to give to God, and in giving us so many Psalms, He has given us language to speak to Him. And so when we hurt, the Psalms of lament generally teach us we're to hurt with God, not without God. So to show us all this, we're open to Psalm 13, the prototypical Psalm of lament. It's famous for its categories, its questions, its movement from beginning in verse one to very dark to soaring on the heights of praise in verse six in the end. There are three movements to this Psalm. Let me begin by looking at verse one and two, the first movement, the questions. This is how Psalm 13 begins. To the choir master, a Psalm of David, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Many Psalms we're familiar with and quote and know, perhaps that fill the paintings or portraits on our walls and our homes and our churches begin with a very high and lofty praise-filled language, giving evidence that the Psalmist himself is entering into the presence of God. Here, something else is in view right from the beginning. David laments right away in Psalm 13 with an urgency and a sharpness going straight to the source, questioning God three times in verse one. We don't know exactly what's going on that gave rise to the context of these words in Psalm 13 or why he's in such a spot. All attempts really to place this Psalm in a specific moment in David's life are educated guesses which leads us to the conclusion that these words can fit many different spots in David's life. We do know, though, that whatever is going on is certainly not a comfortable place to be in. Look at how he begins in verse one, how long? People who ask the question, how long? Are generally people not looking for answers, right? If you're asking the question, how long? You're not looking for an answer. I know this because of preaching. I look at your faces in the morning when we're all here together and some of us here in the evening and sometimes, you know, when a sermon is bad, really bad, you know, not everything can be a home run. Sometimes you can barely bunt for whatever purpose, but people's faces begin to do something and they begin to almost visibly portray, at least to me is what I feel like, a question on their face. How long is this sermon going to last? And I know that if that question is popping in the head of many, the answer is evident. It's already been long. enough, please end this misery." Something of the same spirit I think is present in David's heart in verse 1. He is crying out, how long? I think that tells us for David it's already been too long. He's already convinced of things that simply aren't true. He says God has forgotten him, that God is distant from him, and that God has hidden himself from him. Theologically we know these things are not true because God is omniscient, knowing all things. He's omnipotent, always strong and able to do anything, and God is omnipresent, always near and present over everything, and especially with his people. But if you've been in a place like David and you've arrived at the point where you're asking how long oh Lord, you know that David's present trouble isn't really just a speed bump in the road of life. To David, he seems to be facing an Everest of pain, and when something is as big as an Everest in front of you in life, it tends to block your view from everything else in life, from everything that is true and good and beautiful. As verse 2 comes in Psalm 13, the painful realities and questions don't stop, they merely change direction. He began asking questions of God, now David asks questions of himself in the start of verse 2, and then question about others at the end of verse 2. How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? So four times now in verse 1 we have heard, and in verse 2, the phrase, how long flow forth from David. But it seems that his first two how long questions about God lead to his next two how long questions. Or maybe think of it like this, because David believes that God has forgotten him, and because David believes that God has hidden himself, David now feels other woes. His heart has become a raging sea, where concerns and fears and worries and anxieties are swirling all around, ebbing and flowing, rising and falling. It seems that he's filled with pain inside of him, and becomes worried of defeat outside of him. This lament in verse 1 and 2 is quick, it's brief, but if you linger on it you can see the pain that is there. Inside it you feel what David feels. Short as it is, it's language that is condensed, but highly concentrated with one commentator said, electric current, extreme pressure, loaded with agony and misery. This pain in verse 1 and 2, present in David's life, reminds me of the pain that C.S. Lewis expressed as he writes the book, a grief observed, reflecting after the fact on the death of his wife, Joy. In it, Lewis describes how he prayed time and time again for God to heal her cancer, thinking of it, his prayer, as if he's knocking on God's door, initially knocking, then moving to pounding, then moving to banging, then Lewis describes it, I didn't want to knock anymore, my knuckles hurt, it seems like God's not home. This is something of what David is feeling in the beginning of Psalm 13, but don't miss the fact that the painfully obvious fact, who he's addressing in Psalm 13. He's not talking to one of his servants, he's not talking to soldiers, he cries out, how long O Lord? He's lamenting to God himself. I think this shows us David is more than just drained, David seems to be done. But isn't it encouraging that when David Could have gone anywhere with his pain. He brings it to God. I think this is instructive for us. We also see Jesus doing this in the garden of Gethsemane when He said, Let this cup pass from Me. This is prayer. He goes to His Father. And rather than taking pain somewhere else, David brings his pain directly to God. I think we can learn from this. Like I said, we're not just

    Psalm 13: Psalms of Lament
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