 All right, so you're there in the book of Philemon. Keep a place there. Go ahead, turn to 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3, 16. Like I said, we're going to be there for the whole sermon, so make sure you don't lose your place in Philemon. But just turn to 2 Timothy 3, 16 real quickly. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, the Bible says this, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for approved, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. So according to this verse here in 2 Timothy 3, 16, every single word of God has a purpose. It gives us some examples of here. It says doctrine. Doctrine is learning who God is, how he thinks, his rules, his judgments. Then you have reproof and correction. This is God telling us why we're wrong, where we are wrong, and how to get right. And then you have at the end instruction and righteousness. This is how to live righteously and according to God's will. And everything in the Bible falls under at least one of those categories, doctrine, reproof, correction, or instruction and righteousness. And what this means is that everything in the Bible is there for a very specific reason. You don't have to turn there, but Isaiah 55-11 says, Social my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where unto I sent it. You see as people we just talk just to talk. Sometimes we just talk because we like to talk and it doesn't really have a specific reason. We just talk for no reason. But when God speaks everything he says is for a very specific reason. When God is saying something it's because there is something he's going to accomplish with his word. And all that to say this, have you ever wondered why certain parts of the Bible are there? Sometimes when you're reading, you're reading maybe chronicles and you're reading the genealogies. And it's chapter 8, 9, 10, 11 of just names or you're reading Ezra or certain parts of the Bible you're reading. And something in the back of your head just kind of makes you wonder like why is this here? When you're reading and a story will pop up. One thing I'm always intrigued by is in chronicles in particular you have a couple times where a story will pop up that only lasts for two verses about some completely random person we've never heard about. Have you ever wondered why is this here? What is God trying to tell us with this part of the Bible? And I think Philemon which is going to be our text for this evening can sometimes be like that. You know, on Wednesday evenings we're going through Galatians and we're reading about these great complicated defenses Paul is going into defending doctrine and talking about eternal security and defending salvation by grace their faith and these analogies and these different just pure doctrine and these very deep parts of the Bible. And you read Philemon and it kind of sticks out. You say there's no doctrine in Philemon. There's not a big interesting story in Philemon. It's just a short letter from Paul about some guy. Well I actually, Philemon is one of my favorite books in the Bible because I believe God gave us the book of Philemon for a very specific reason that I'd like to show you this evening. So the title of the message this evening is why God gave us the book of Philemon. I'd like to give you three lessons we can learn from this book and I'd like to end it with like I said what I believe is a very specific reason God gave us this book and he's trying to get across in the book of Philemon. First this evening is this, first lesson we can learn from Philemon is we see a lesson on listening to counsel. A lesson on listening to counsel. Let's go ahead and just start reading in verse one to start this story, see what this book is all about. Philemon verse one says this, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother, our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved and fellow laborer. So notice as we go forward you're going to see that this Philemon he's someone who has a great reputation, especially with Paul, someone who is obviously known as being a great man and a great godly man. Verse two, unto our beloved of Phea and Archibus our fellow soldier and to the church in thy house. So it may of course just be that Philemon just provided the physical location for a church, but he could have been a pastor. This church was in his house. He could have been the pastor of this church. We don't know that obviously it could just be that that's just where the church was physically located. Verse three, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I think my God making mention of the always in my prayers, of course, Paul is always praying for people. Verse five, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward 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 and Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee brother. So he just starts off with this very uplifting positive greeting to Philemon and we see the reputation that Philemon had. But in verse eight he kind of switches gears here a little bit. Verse eight, wherefore though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoy me, that which is convenient. He's saying as much as I love just to go on and on about how great you are and that which is convenient and fun to talk about. Verse nine, he says, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such in one as Paul the aged and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Verse 10, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, who might be gotten in my bonds, which in time past he was unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and me, whom I have sent again, now therefore receive him, that is my 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 with all thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly. So there's this guy named Onesimus that Paul apparently got saved. He says he calls him, he says I have begotten him in my bonds. This is how Paul talks about people such as Timothy that he led to Christ or that were led to Christ as a result of his ministry. There's this man that Paul got saved and Paul is asking Philemon to receive him. He says, why? What did this guy do? Verse 15, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldst receive him forever, 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. Verse 17, if thou therefore count me as a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wrong thee or oweeth the ought, put that on mine account. So this man Onesimus, he in some way doesn't get very specific, but in some way he did Philemon wrong. My opinion is that he was a servant of Philemon and he left or he ran away, maybe he even stole something from him. The Bible doesn't get very specific, but somehow this man has come to Paul. Paul has now gotten him saved and Paul is sending him back obviously with this letter and he's asking Philemon to receive him. Like I said, it is not very specific, but I just wanted to set the story up a little bit. The point is in verse 8, like I said, he starts off with this very uplifting message to Philemon and then in verse 8 he says, 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. So the idea is that Paul is telling Philemon something he knows he probably doesn't want to hear. In the same way as Paul is giving this counsel that he expects Philemon to listen to, we need to be willing to receive counsel or advice when it's given to us. Go ahead and turn to Proverbs 20 verse 18. And obviously a disclaimer that goes along with this that I think has left out a lot is be careful on who's counsel and who's advice and what advice you take. Because one thing is for sure, there is a lot more people out there who are willing to give you advice than there is actual good advice. There are tons of people out there who would love to tell you what they think you should do and tons of people who would love to just give you advice who have nothing but bad advice to give. So a couple questions just to ask yourself as a precursor when it comes to taking advice is ask yourself, does this person have credibility in this area? Does this person have experience? So they even know what they're talking about in this area. If you're married and you shouldn't be listening to someone who is not married give you advice on what you should do in your marriage. If you don't, if someone doesn't have kids and you do, you should not be listening to that person for advice on what you should do with your children. Make sure that the person has credibility in that area. If someone is giving you advice on a career or a job, do they even have a job? Just things to ask yourself, just common sense questions and obviously it should all line up with Scripture. That's why you have to know the Bible well enough because when people come up to you like they will and try to tell you what they think you should do and give you advice on your life, you should know the Bible well enough to at least ask yourself, is this what the Bible says? Is this advice that is good, that is good wisdom according to the Bible? In there in Proverbs 2018, the Bible says this, every purpose is established by counsel and with good advice make war. Notice it doesn't just say with advice, it says with good advice, make sure the advice is good. And I like this phrase here where it says, with good advice make war. I think there's a specific point to this phrase, Proverbs 24-6, you don't have to turn there, says, for by wise counsel, again make sure it's wise counsel, thou shalt make thy war and in the multitude of counselors there is safety. I think the idea here is that a war, when a country is deciding to go to war with another country, that's a big decision. That's a big decision with some heavy consequences when you're deciding going to war with another nation, which is why by the way it's supposed to be, you know, you're supposed to have a declaration of, you're supposed to go through Congress for that, not just declare war as a president, but it's a big decision. It's a big decision and I think the idea here is that when you and your life, when you're making the wars in your life, when you're making the big decisions in your life, that's probably something you want to back by counsel. The counsel, especially in a church like this, counselors and people here who are godly people with advice, it's like a safety net for you. This verse says in the multitude of counselors there is safety. You should use that safety net because why wouldn't you? There's tons of people here who are godly, who know the Bible, who have more experience than you in certain areas. Why wouldn't you take that advice? It's for your own benefit. The other thing too is that everybody needs advice from time to time. Sometimes people, I think, get this idea that I've arrived, I'm there, I don't need advice anymore. I just give people advice and I know everything there is and there is nothing I need advice on. I don't need anyone telling me what to do. Well, consider this. King Solomon, who of course we know is the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon who had people come from all over the world to just hear him talk. People came from all over the world and brought him gifts just to hear his wisdom. The Bible says even Solomon had counselors. Even Solomon at one point had decided to himself, you know what, I need advice on this. I should not make this decision on my own. Even Solomon who was wiser than any of us in this room said, I need advice. I need someone who I can, people who I can go to for advice. And the ironic thing is the part of the Bible that tells us that Solomon had counselors was talking about Rehobo and his son who ruined his kingdom because he didn't listen to those counselors. So just irony there, but not just advice. What about just correction? Philemon in this story didn't really do anything wrong. He was just receiving advice or counsel from Paul, but correction falls under the same lines. You don't have to turn there, but Proverbs 27 verse 6 says, Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitfully. Say who would be giving me correction in my life? Well, your friends should be ready to. If you're doing something that is wrong, if you have good friends and not just people who are trying to deceive you and flatter you, they will give you correction when they see you need it. But obviously you don't want to be a jerk friend. So, you know, don't be the guy who's just telling everybody what to do all the time. But if you have good friends, you should be willing to receive that correction when it comes to you from your friends. Go ahead and turn to Amos 4 too. So when we're proved or just given advice, just listen. Just listen and hear what people have to say. You don't have to turn there, but while you're turning to Amos, Proverbs 1-7 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Someone who despises, there's tons of people like that. People who just, they can't stand being told what to do and they can't stand being corrected and they can't stand being given advice. That's a fool according to the Bible. When you're given advice, at least just listen, at the very least, just listen. And be humble enough to change. So, not just friends, but what about the man of God? What about the spiritual leader in your life? Brother Jared, when he preaches the Word of God to you, especially in a church like this that is preaching the whole Bible, you no doubt are going to hear sermons on things that you need to change. When you hear those things, what will your response be? You're there in Amos, the background on Amos is, Amos was a prophet when Isaiah was king of Judah, Jeroboam the second was king in Israel, and it was also during the time of Hosea the prophet as well. Let's start reading in verse 6. Hosea 4, 6 says this, and I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and want of bread in all your places, yet you have not returned unto me, sayeth the Lord. Also, I have withholding the rain from you when there were yet three months to harvest and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon and the piece where upon it rained, not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied, yet you have not returned unto me, sayeth the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the Palmer worm devoured them, yet have you not returned unto me, sayeth the Lord. So as a reading, just notice the horrible time that this nation is in. Imagine, put yourself in their shoes. Imagine if this, what is being described, was happening in the United States right now. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt, your young men have I slain with the sword and taken away your horses and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils, yet you have not returned unto me, sayeth the Lord. I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and Ewer as a firebrand plucked out of the burning, yet you have not returned unto me, sayeth the Lord. So Amos here is preaching and he is saying, you know the famine and the disease and the terrible time that this nation is going through? It is because God is cursing you for your sin. Ouch. Can you imagine if someone said that today, if our nation was going through an extremely terrible time and someone just came out and said, it's because God is cursing you. Obviously, in this specific instance, Amos was told by God himself that this was his judgment. Today we ought to be a little more careful. We're not God and we're not having God speak to us telling us what is his judgment and what is not. But in this particular situation, Amos was told by God this is my judgment and he was telling this to them. Verse 12, Therefore, thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, for lo, he that forward the mountains and createeth the wind, and declareeth unto man what is his thought and makeeth the morning darkness and treadeth upon the high places there, the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name. And this is really the whole theme of Amos. I've often thought before as I read Amos, if you could sum up the whole book into one word, it'd be this, hate. The word hate comes up a lot in Amos. You see a lot of those, it'd actually be a good sermon quite frankly on all the hate statements in Amos where God says, I hate your feast days, I hate the evil and love the good, there I hated them, things like this. It's a very harsh book to this nation and you say what was their response? Turn to Amos 7. What was their response to being heavily corrected by the man of God in their time? Amos 7.10 says this, then Amosiah the priest of Bethel. So here, this is not a Levite, okay? This is not a priest of God. If you remember when the Kingdoms first split the first Jeroboam, he set up two golden calves. Remember where he set them up? In Dan and in Bethel. So this priest here, this is not a priest of God. This is a false priest of this false God that Jeroboam a long time earlier had set up in Bethel. And Amosiah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam King of Israel saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel. Now who's what he says here? The land is not able to bear his words. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Also Amosiah said to Amosiah Amos, O thou seer, go flee thee away into the land of Judah and eat bread and prophesy there but prophesy not again any more at Bethel. For it is the king's chapel and it is the king's court. You know at least they're honest. Because everybody who refuses to listen and refuses to change all say to hard preaching and preaching that is directed at their life. This is really, they may not admit it but that's what they're thinking. We can't bear it. We're not able to bear your words. It's too much for us. And just as a side note, I think it's interesting, notice Amosiah goes, he's not very harsh against Amos, but he tells him he says don't preach here in Bethel. Why don't you just go to Judah? And you know people who don't like correction from the Bible, this is, they do the same thing. They don't want the preaching done in the Bethels of their life. They don't want the preaching done on the areas of their life where the false gods are set up and where the sins at. The reason most people don't go to churches that preach the whole Bible is they want to hear preaching on the Judas of their life where there's not as much sin. They want to hear preaching on the areas where they already have down pretty good. They want to hear the easy sermons. They don't want to hear the sermons in Bethel, in right up in their face and in the areas that they need to change. Man does not change. There's no new thing under the sun. That is for sure. So you say that's the wrong response. Turn to 2nd Corinthians 7. 2nd Corinthians 7. You say what's the right response? If that's what I'm not supposed to do. If I'm supposed to take correction I'm not supposed to respond like they did. How do I respond to correction from the man of God? 2nd Corinthians 7. Verse 8. The context of this here is of course Paul wrote the book of 1 Corinthians. And in 1 Corinthians he was rebuking the Corinthians for some serious sin they had in their church. Besides Galatians I personally think it's the harshest rebuking he had to any church or any letter he wrote. And he corrected them on a lot of things. Those were a lot of things they were doing very wrong that he rebuked them for and said you need to change this and you need to do it this way. This is not what God wants in your church. And in 2nd Corinthians this is after they have changed and he is writing to them. Verse 8 he says For though I made you sorry with a letter I did not repent though I did repent for I perceive that the same epistle have made you sorry but it were for a season. Now I rejoice not that you were made sorry but that you sorrowed to repentance for that you were made sorry after a godly manner that you might receive damage by us in nothing. You see a lot of people the reason they don't like churches that preach the whole Bible is they have this sorrow that just like the Corinthians felt they go and they say it's just it's hard and it's just a bunch of sorrow and I feel bad every time I leave. But here's what people miss. If done correctly the sorrow is only temporary. The idea is that the sorrow hits you really hard the first time you hear it and you say I need to work on that and that convicted me and you have that godly sorrow but the goal is that that should be the only time you have that sorrow because the idea is that you go home and you change it and it's a godly repentance and it's a repentance and if done correctly that sorrow will only be one time. Now if you come to a church like this and you just refuse to change and you know where you need to fix things and you know where you need to change and you refuse to then there's going to be a lot of sorrow. Every time you come here there's going to be a lot of sorrow because you won't change but the idea is that you change and that sorrow ends. You don't have to turn there. Turn to Proverbs 9-8 but Ecclesiastes 7-5 says this it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. A very simple verse saying that it is better to hear something you don't want to hear from someone who is wise than something you do want to hear from someone who is a fool. In very similar to the idea on advice we all need to be corrected by the word of God every once in a while. Unless you are Jesus Christ and you don't sin anymore you should hear a sermon every once in a while and think I do need to work on that. If you sit here and you listen to all the sermons and there is nothing that makes you think I need to work on that I'm not doing very well in that area then either one you have attained perfection or two you're shrugging everything off and you're refusing to admit it to you we all need to be corrected by the word of God Proverbs 9-8 says this Reprove not a scorn or lest he hate thee rebuke a wise man and he will love thee someone is wise then when they are rebuked they will appreciate that when they are told an area they need to change they will appreciate the fact that they were told and they will change but of course the other side of this verse says Reprove not a scorn or lest he hate thee I usually think of the you hear this saying a lot someone who refuses to listen will soon be surrounded by people who have nothing to say that's what this is saying because you see this you have people who think they are far above counsel and they are far above correction and you know what people around them do they don't say anything this is where you get a group of people and you'll have someone just telling everybody how it is and how much they know and how awesome they are and just spewing wisdom and knowledge that they think they're better do you know what everybody else in that group is doing they're not saying anything oh okay okay because that person has got themselves to the point where people have just stopped trying with that person they've just stopped trying and that person just refuses to listen to correction or even just counsel from anybody and certain people they don't listen to the preaching they refuse to admit it's them and this is who they become they become almost develop an immunity to the preaching where they just refuse Pastor Menes would talk about a lot in Sacramento how he'd preach a sermon and he'd be talking about one person and everybody would feel super bad and felt like he was talking about them except for that person because that tells you a lot about someone who refuses to change so when those around you your friends or the man of God are trying to give you correction or just advice or just advice on the area that they think you could need it humble yourself and listen because it takes humility to listen to correction it takes humility to say you know what I was wrong in this area I did mess up in this area or when someone's just giving you advice it takes humility to say you know what maybe this person knows more than me in this area so first tonight from Philemon we see a lesson on listening to counsel second evening we see a lesson on forgiving our brothers in Christ and why let's keep reading in Philemon verse 10 Philemon 1-10 says I beseech thee from my son Inesimus who I've begotten in my bonds which in time past to thee was unprofitable but now profitable to thee and me whom I have sent again thou therefore receive him that is mine on 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 I would do nothing that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity but willingly verse 15 for perhaps he therefore departed for a season that thou shalt receive from forever not now as a servant but above a servant a brother beloved so he's telling Philemon he's saved now he's not just your servant but he's a brother in Christ especially to me but how much more unto thee both on the flesh and in the Lord if thou count me therefore a partner receive him as myself turn to Matthew 18 Matthew 18 so again Inesimus obviously did Philemon wrong in some way and Paul is asking him to forgive him to receive him turn to Matthew 18 in verse 21 Matthew 18 21 the Bible says this then came Peter unto him and said Lord how off shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven so Peter is coming to Jesus here and he thinks he's being generous he's saying Lord if my brother sins against me should I forgive him seven times I mean surely seven times is enough that's I mean if someone has done you wrong and you've forgiven them seven times that's a lot and Jesus says here he says I say not unto thee until seven seven times but seventy times seven and the idea isn't that he's saying only forgive four hundred ninety times the idea he's saying no you should never get to a point where you stop forgiving somebody you say why well he goes on to tell a story this is one of my favorite stories or parables that Jesus told verse 23 therefore the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants and when he begun to reckon one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents but for as much as he had not to pay as Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that he had to payment and payment to be made the servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying Lord if patience with me I will pay thee all so we don't know what it's talking about here silver or gold but in the Bible it talents a lot of money if you look at for example in Solomon's building the temple and you look at how much a talent got a talent is a lot of money and this man owes a lot a lot of money to this king and he's begging for mercy because if you remember in the Old Testament how it worked is if you owed money you didn't just get to declare bankruptcy if you owed money you had to work to pay that money off to pay that debt off you weren't just allowed to say declare bankruptcy and basically steal from whoever you borrowed that money from and this man he is totally at his mercy and Jesus is begging him for mercy verse 27 then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion does that remind you of a phrase that's used to describe somebody else in the New Testament? Jesus is always described with this phrase how Jesus was moved with compassion on the multitude he is moved with compassion on this person and loosed him and forgave him the debt so he just wipes the slate clean and says you're forgiven of the entire debt verse 28 but that same servant so this man that was just forgiven of an enormous amount of money went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence that's like a dollar it was very minute amount and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying pay me that thou o'est verse 29 his fellow servant fell down to his feet and besought him just like this man was verses before saying have patience with me and I will pay thee all and he would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt so when his fellow servant saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told their lord all that was done then his lord after that he had called them said unto him oh thou wicked servant I forgave thee of all that debt because thou would desire its me shouldest thou not also have compassion on thy fellow servant notice this even as I had pity on thee and his lord was wroth and delivered him till he should pay all that was due unto him so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses maybe there's someone you could say of what is this person never done for me what is this person has just done me wrong I didn't do anything to them they don't I don't owe them anything and you may be right but you say why should I forgive them if someone has done me wrong and they don't deserve anything from me why should I forgive you don't have to turn there but Ephesians 4 31 and 32 says little bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another and then this is the key even as God for Christ's sake have forgiven you the idea is that you say how much should I forgive someone how often should I forgive someone how many times should I keep forgiving someone well ask yourself this how much were you forgiven if you are saved just like this man I like the detail where it mentions the first man owed a lot of money the second man owed very little it's the same concept because no matter what someone does to us it will never come close to what we were forgiven when we got saved what we were forgiven of when Christ forgave us of our debt of our sins is infinitely greater than anything anyone could ever do to us which shows how silly it is and yet someone does something to us and we hold it against them for years sometimes even forever think about how silly that is and the idea is that Jesus much like this king is saying I forgave you of this infinite list of sins you had committed so much that were so bad you deserved hell for all eternity and someone does something minor to you and you were called a grudge and you refused to forgive them even though they are asking you for mercy so another concept too is not just with salvation but we should show people the mercy in our lives that we want from God because even though we are saved we still mess up and we still sin and I'll tell you what even though I am saved I still need a lot of mercy from God we all need mercy from God because we still make mistakes turn to Leviticus 5 you don't have to turn there Matthew 6 14 says for if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses this verse is used a lot to basically say you can lose your salvation or if you don't forgive other people and you are not good to other people God will stop forgiving you and this verse is the same reason that people mess up this verse they also mess up a lot of verses in the Bible and take it out of context so you say what does that mean? he's saying he won't forgive us if we don't forgive other people what's this talking about? you're there in Leviticus we'll start reading verse 5 it says it shall be when he shall be guilty in one of these things that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing and he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for a sin which he hath sinned a female from the flock a lamb or a kid of the goats for a sin offering and the priest shall make an atonement for him considering concerning his sin so this is just the details of one of the many details of an Old Testament offering for somebody sin in the Bible skip to verse 10 and he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the manner and the priest shall make an atonement for him in his sin which he hath sinned and it shall be forgiven him so according to the book of Hebrews and tons of other parts in the Bible the Old Testament offerings they were not for they did not atone for sin they did not you didn't go and do this offering and then you could go to heaven that's not what it was for the Bible says the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins they were never for spiritual salvation they never paid for your sin because nothing except for the blood of Christ can pay for your sin but the idea was they were a picture of Jesus when he was to come and be the ultimate sacrifice that was one time in pay for the whole world sin but this verse kind of gives us our key here because here's just a quick lesson on studying your Bible a lot of words mean different things for example, salvation the word salvation in the Bible it can be used to talk about spiritual salvation by grace are you saved through faith and not not by yourselves or it can just be talking about a physical salvation think about David in the book of Psalms when he'd say God was my salvation he was also talking about his physical salvation from his enemies so it can mean two different things the word faith this can talk about just your walk with God the amount of faith in your life or the saving faith that you did one time that you believe on Christ parish this is another example parish can either mean go to hell if you think about different verses in the Bible that say we have to talk about someone who's perishing John 1028 it's talking about someone going to hell or it can just mean someone physically dying so different words mean different things forgiveness is the same way forgiveness can either talk about the one time forgiveness that Christ forgave you when you got saved or it can just talk about from the chastisement of God in your life because Christ will obviously always forgive us once we're saved but we also need a lot of forgiveness just from the chastisement of God it's the same thing in Matthew 615 turn to Matthew 910 so the idea is this God is asking us if you don't show others mercy when they mess up why would I forgive you and spare you why would I take it easy on you when you make mistakes and not chastise you when you are extremely hard on other people who have done much more minor things than that there in Matthew 910 the Bible says this and it came to pass as Jesus sat at meet in the house behold many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples and when the Pharisees saw they said unto his disciples why eateth your master with publicans and sinners but when Jesus heard that he said unto them they the behold need not a physician but they that are sick and I love this verse here because you have these Pharisees they thought they were better than everyone else and they knew the Bible more than everybody else and they knew all the complex deep things of the Scriptures and here Jesus is schooling them on a very basic topic in the Bible he says in verse 13 but go ye and learn what that meaneth I will have mercy and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance he say you can keep your sacrifices I want mercy more than I want that and this is the idea if you want mercy from God in your life you need to show that same mercy to other people James 2.13 says for he shall have judgment without mercy that showed no mercy when God judges you for the things you do in your life and he chastises you on this earth he will have little mercy with you or no mercy if that is how you respond to people doing you wrong go ahead and turn to Micah 6.8 this is how it was in Philemon Onesimus was still at Philemon's mercy but Paul still expected Philemon to forgive him even though he had done him wrong you know there in Micah 6.8 while you're turning there I'll read you the famous verse in Matthew 23.23 that says woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye pay tithe of the mint and anise and cumin and have omated the weightier matters of the law judgment, mercy, faith these ought ye have to done and not to leave the other undone so he points out what's known as the weightier matters of the law the more important things yes it's important to keep the whole Bible but the main things are judgment, mercy, and faith and this is interesting is in Micah 6.8 we see what I in my opinion is the same three things just worded differently here God in Micah 6.8 is also saying which by the way shows this is the same God in the Old and New Testament but he's also listing three main fundamentals of what he wants people to do and they're the same three things he says he has showed the Oman what is good and what does the law require of thee but to do justly love mercy and walk humbly with thy God I believe these are the three same things if you look into them just worded differently mercy but what I'm pointing at here is that mercy in both cases either way it's one of the three main things that God wants from you mercy is a big deal to God if you want mercy from God in your life which I definitely do make sure you're showing that mercy to other people just because someone has done you wrong and doesn't deserve anything from you that does not mean that you should not show them mercy show them the mercy that Christ had for you so first this evening we said we saw a lesson on receiving, listening to counsel and second we saw a lesson on forgiving our brothers in Christ but third this evening and this is really again what I think is the main reason God gave us the book of Flemen what I think the main theme of this book is we see a lesson on a Christ-like investment into a brother in Christ let's keep reading in verse 17 Philemon 1.17 notice the language Paul has for this man this random guy named Inesimus who was just some servant that Paul got saved he says if that will count me there for as a partner receive him as myself if he have wronged thee or oathy ought put that on mine account I, Paul, have written it with my own hand I will repay it albeit I do not say to thee how thou o'est even unto me that I own self besides so Paul just spent the whole book basically begging Philemon to forgive Inesimus in just saying please receive him and I know he did you wrong but now he's your brother in Christ but he gets to the end and he basically says just in case Philemon you're not willing to forgive him he says whatever he owes you I will repay it Paul here who is someone who has nothing to do with Inesimus and he does not owe Philemon anything he was willing to completely step in his place and say whatever he owes you Philemon I will pay it put it on my account send me the bill I will pay you whatever you think he owes you and he say what's so significant about that well much like forgiveness that's exactly what Jesus Christ did for you we came to God and we had messed up and we had nothing to pay and we were in a completely helpless situation and Jesus Christ took our place and said no no no what he owes I will pay it put it on my account he owes hell put it on my account I will repay what he owes for his sin and this is exactly turned to Acts 1536 the idea is Jesus Christ invested in you when you did not deserve it to give you another chance Acts 1536 here we have the story of Paul and Barnabas where they end up splitting up because you had this man named Mark who on one of their missionary journeys had left them and had abandoned them and Paul and Barnabas were very close and they did multiple missionary journeys together but in Acts 1536 it says and some days after Paul said unto Barnabas let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we had preached the word of the Lord and see how they do and Barnabas determined to take with them John whose surname was Mark but Paul thought it not good to take him with them who departed from them from Pamphilly and went not with them to the work Verse 39 the contention was so sharp between them they're arguing because Paul does not want to take Mark because Mark betrayed them or he left them and Barnabas is willing to give Mark another chance and the contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder 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 so Barnabas here noticed that he was willing to destroy a friendship and split a friendship with some other person just over interceding or investing in someone who had done him wrong someone who had left him and didn't deserve it he was willing to give him another chance so Barnabas turned to Mark 14-12 and this isn't just in Philemon the whole Bible is full of examples like this think about God with Jonah Jonah messed up Jonah ended up under the chastisement of God because he wouldn't preach and God gave him another chance and God invested in him and God didn't say no you messed up I'm going to use somebody else Jonah he kept investing into Jonah even when he had messed up think about Jesus with Peter even though Peter had betrayed Jesus he still invested in him and he still used him to be a great tool to spread the gospel throughout the world God does not give up on people the first time when they make a mistake God is extremely merciful that's why when people will talk about how oh the God of the Old Testament is so mean it almost makes me laugh the Old Testament is a story of mercy not wrath the Old Testament is a story of people who kept rejecting God and rejecting God and turning on him and turning on him to the point where they were sacrificing their own children and firing very wicked people and God kept giving them chance after chance after chance after chance that God is merciful much more than he is wrath that is for sure even in Luke 14 and obviously there's a discourse the disclaimer of who you should not invest in people who have been thrown out of a church people who are stuck in sin and refused to get right people who it all depends on the direction their heart is going think about it like that someone who is willing to get right even though they have messed up that's someone you should invest in Luke 14 12 says this then said he did also to them that bait him when they'll make us a dinner or supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee but when they'll make us a feast call the poor the lame the lame the blind and thou shall be blessed here's why for they cannot recompense thee for thou shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just turn to 1 Samuel 22 verse 2 2 Samuel 22 you see here's how normal investments work when you make a normal investment whether it's a stock or whatever it is you invest in it in hopes that it will increase in value you invest in it the reason you are investing is because you hope you'll get a return on that investment that's the idea of an investment not this kind of investment for example we're talking about Jesus Christ this is the ultimate example of this it doesn't matter if you get saved and you hit the ground running and you get saved and you spend the rest of your life serving God with all your heart you go to church three times a week you go soloing and you do everything you try as hard as you can Jesus Christ is still taking a loss on you he will never get that perfect sinless life back that he put into you and this is how this is how this works this type of investment is done whether or not you see a return on it this type of investment you see what does this look like you don't have to turn there but Galatians 6-2 says there you want another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ later in that same chapter in verse 10 it says as we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the household of faith here's some practical examples when you get somebody saved give them a Bible offer to give them a ride to church show concern for the problems in their lives put some investment into that person you say they're probably not even going to come to church and if they do by some miracle they'll never come back well you're not doing this investment to receive a return on this you're doing this because it's what Christ did for you and this is what the Bible calls for invest into people people at church, visitors or just your brothers and sisters in Christ show concern not just show it but actually have genuine concern for the problems in their lives people have problems in their lives invest into people invest time and energy into people and you say but I'm not going to get that back I'm not going to be recompense for that exactly that's the idea you're there in 1 Samuel 22 2 I like reading about David's mighty men you read about David's mighty men and all these men that did these wonderful things and that were these just these highly skilled soldiers of their time and you read those parts in the Bible have you ever wondered where they came from? where did David's men start from? you know these men that were very loyal to David by the way whenever David was running from somebody from Absalom a lot of people may have left him but do you know who was always with him? his men his men were always with him have you ever wondered where did they come from? where did the men that he had where did it start? well in 1 Samuel 22 2 David is fleeing from Saul this is before he's king Saul is after him trying to kill him David has done nothing wrong notice the people that David takes under his wing when he is in the most difficult time even in his life verse 2 and everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves under him and he became a captain over them and there were with him about 400 men David here took the people that were in debt that were messed up that had messed up lives that were discontented that were in trouble and he said these are the people I'm going to turn into mighty men I'm going to invest in these people these are the people I'm going to look what happened look at the men that David had how loyal they were look at the mighty men who were some of those people look at all the and you see this because even people like Joab and Abishai these were people who were with David from the very beginning those were the people that David invested in and turned into great people who did great things and it's funny because I was talking to I was talking to my mom the other day you know just from something I thought about from seeing them in the ministry and doing things like that and helping people I told her I said it seems like if you could sum up the ministry in one phrase it would be investing everything you have into people and expecting nothing in return but that's not only just the ministry that's how we should all be if you are here and you are a Christian and you are saved this is how you should be you should have the mentality of I'm going to invest everything I have into people who have room to grow and need someone to invest in their life and that's who and I'm going to expect nothing in return you see what that makes it easier you get in trouble when you go and you put time and effort into people and then it doesn't turn out like you thought they would well that's not why you are doing this type of investment you don't have to turn there but Romans 15 1 says we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves I think by default what we tend to do even if we are not incredibly selfish people just what we default is to just kind of think about pleasing ourselves we think about what we want or what we need or what we would like to happen and we kind of just forget that the goal of your life when it comes to those around you especially your brothers and sisters in Christ is to please other people it says let every one of us please his neighbor for his good identification and of course again the ultimate example verse 3 for even Christ please not himself but as it is written the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me it talks about Christ how what his mentality was he took the reproaches that were on us and the debt we owed and he took it upon himself why? because Christ please not himself that's the idea the idea is you have to forget about what you want and you have to invest selflessly into other people so turn to Colossians 4-9 so one more thought before we end tonight we're talking about this idea of investing into people one more thought I'd like to leave you with this evening real quickly and then we'll be done you learn Colossians 4-9 of course Paul is writing to the Colossians and he's just ending his letter and he's going through the list of people like he usually does who are there serving with him the greetings from different people he says in verse 9 notice who he mentions with anesimus a faithful and beloved brother who is one of you these shall make known unto you all the things which are done here we don't know when this was written it could have been written after the book of Fleamon's written or before I think it was written before the book of Philemon when anesimus was with Paul but either way it could be said of Paul which is what we just talked about that Paul invested into anesimus and that's great and that's what we need to do how Paul invested everything and he was willing to give everything just for anesimus but you know what you can say about anesimus is that he was a good investment Paul may have invested a lot into him but anesimus was a good investment here's the question I'd like to leave you with this evening is are you a good investment because if you're saved you're a big investment if you there's been a lot put into you by Jesus Christ if you are saved but not just if you're saved if you're part of this church if you're part of this church brother Jared and Miss Heidi have invested enormous amounts of love and energy and time into you which either way whether you're a good investment or not that's fine because that's not why they're doing it they do it because they love you all and that's the type of investment it should be but are you a good investment could it be said to you that yeah we invested a lot into that person but they're faithful and beloved brother I mean are you providing a return on the investment not just your spiritual leader but just people in your life the efforts put into you are you returning on that investment I mean are you loyal to this church are you listening to the preaching are you willing to change are you willing to serve in this church are you consistent in church are you an investment that people are just putting everything into putting all their energy and time into you and you're just not yielding anything which again that's fine because those putting investing in you that's not what they're expecting anyway they're just investing in you expecting nothing back and that's great but from your own perspective are you a good investment are you returning the energy and the time that's being put into you like anesimus are you just a bottomless pit of energy and time and things like that let's finish reading Philemon verse 19 I Paul have written it with my own hand I will repay it and then this is very interesting he says the last thing he says on anesimus here and this whole thing is he says albeit I do not say to thee how thou woest unto me even thine own self Paul got anesimus saved but do you know who else I believe Paul got saved I believe he got Philemon saved Paul here is telling him he just finished this whole thing on anesimus and he says and by the way Philemon I'm not even going to mention that you owe me your own self he's telling Philemon Philemon remember what was invested in you remember what people did for you and the fact that somebody invested in you enough to give you the gospel you owe me your own self verse 20 yea brother let me have joy of thee and the Lord refresh my bowels and the Lord having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee knowing that thou will do also more than I say so Paul knew Paul knew that Philemon would forgive him he knew what kind of man he was he's saying I have confidence in your obedience I know you will do even more than I ask you to do verse 22 but with all prepare me also a lodging for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you their salute apathrist my fellow prisoner in Jesus Christ Marcus, Architist, Stemist, Lucas my fellow labors the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Amen so in conclusion this evening why did God give us the book of Philemon well we see a lesson on counsel we see a lesson on on forgiving our brothers and sisters and Christ and why and then what I think is the main idea is we see a lesson on investing and as a church here's how this should work if you're sitting here this evening you're already an investment that's whether you like it or not if you're saved especially if you're a part of this church you're an investment there's people investing a lot into you but everybody in this church here's how this whole thing works you should be an investment but you should also be a good investor who are you investing in are you just a bottomless pit of energy and time and people are just investing everything into you as they should but are you also a good investor are there people that you're taking under your wing and there are people you're putting that energy into are you and you should be in a good you should be a good investment yes you should also be in a good investor there should be people in your life that you are taking the mercy and the love and the effort that both Jesus Christ and others around you put into you and you should be turning around and putting that into as many other people as you possibly can it's just like that verse said it said bear you one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ that's kind of the idea of this whole sermon whether it's forgiving people or investing in people you're taking what Christ did for you and you're showing Christ your appreciation for that by putting that into other people let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer