WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.140 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church Sermon Podcast. 00:04.840 --> 00:08.260 We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.480 --> 00:12.020 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.560 --> 00:15.160 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.160 --> 00:17.840 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.240 --> 00:20.380 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.020 --> 00:26.400 If you have your Bible, please open it with me to the book of Philemon. Philemon chapter 00:26.400 --> 00:33.760 one. There's only one chapter in Philemon, so that makes that part easy, all right? This morning's 00:33.760 --> 00:40.860 message is called Making Things Right. Now, when you think about it, the entire Bible from beginning 00:40.860 --> 00:46.620 to end is about making things right, because when we look at the world, we see 00:46.620 --> 00:54.160 that things are wrong. There's a lot of pain and suffering and evil within our world, and that's 00:54.160 --> 01:02.340 not how God created it. God created the world very good and right, but in our sin, we wrecked it, 01:02.760 --> 01:09.540 and we turned everything that was good and right upside down on its head so that it's now wrong. 01:10.240 --> 01:16.220 And the Bible is about God's ultimate plan in history to make things right again. 01:17.060 --> 01:23.200 Now, that plan will culminate in Jesus' second coming when he ushers in his kingdom in full. 01:23.200 --> 01:26.520 But for now, Jesus is building His kingdom 01:26.520 --> 01:36.540 one person at a time. And here's our story as Christians. Through faith in Jesus, we're forgiven. 01:36.820 --> 01:48.240 Amen? And our relationship with God is made right. But that's not all. Through faith in Jesus, our broken relationships with others 01:48.240 --> 01:54.820 can also be made right. And that right there is what the book of Philemon is all about. 01:55.460 --> 02:01.980 Philemon is sort of a how-to manual for how to mend broken relationships. And that's very 02:01.980 --> 02:05.400 important because relationships really are what life's 02:05.400 --> 02:11.460 all about. Someday when we're on our deathbed, if we make it that far, we're not going to care 02:11.460 --> 02:17.140 about how much money is in our bank account. We're not going to care about our house or our car or 02:17.140 --> 02:26.760 our hobbies. We will only care about our relationships, our relationship with God and our relationship with our loved ones. 02:26.940 --> 02:34.620 Now, here's the thing about relationships. The closer the relationship, the greater potential 02:34.620 --> 02:41.540 for hurt. Maybe there are people in your life who you used to be very, very close to, 02:41.620 --> 02:52.700 but because of something they did or something you did or something you both did, you no longer have a relationship with them. Philemon is a real 02:52.700 --> 02:58.920 life example to all of us that our broken relationships don't have to remain broken. 02:59.980 --> 03:06.800 Verse number one, finally, Paul says, he says, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy, 03:06.800 --> 03:12.260 our brother, to Philemon, our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved of Phea, 03:12.340 --> 03:18.040 that's probably Philemon's wife, our archipist, our fellow soldier, that's probably his son, 03:18.480 --> 03:27.120 and to the church in your house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul is 03:27.120 --> 03:33.240 writing this letter to a man named Philemon. Now, we're going to see it's a very personal letter. 03:33.360 --> 03:40.400 We're going to see that Paul asked Philemon to receive his runaway slave, Onesimus, back, 03:40.400 --> 03:47.500 not as a slave, but as a brother. Now, as we're reading the letter this morning, if you're 03:47.500 --> 03:54.840 like me, you probably will be wondering, where's the condemnation of slavery? Why doesn't the 03:54.840 --> 03:59.980 Apostle Paul take time to condemn the institution of slavery? Well, first of all, we've got to 03:59.980 --> 04:05.960 understand that slavery within the Roman Empire was rampant. About half of the population were 04:05.960 --> 04:11.280 slaves. It was not based on racial lines. It was based on who the Romans had conquered. 04:12.020 --> 04:19.320 And then you have this little tiny group of people called Christians. And that little tiny group of 04:19.320 --> 04:25.440 minority Christians were being persecuted and hunted down and killed by the Roman government. 04:25.860 --> 04:31.860 They had no political power. They had no political voice to speak of. So talking about what the 04:31.860 --> 04:38.640 government should or should not do about slavery was an exercise in futility. So that's not what 04:38.640 --> 04:48.680 the apostles did. It's also not what Jesus did. I mean, Jesus could have focused all of his attention on how the Romans were oppressing the Jews, but he didn't. 04:48.900 --> 04:55.120 Instead, Jesus came not to reform governments, but to transform hearts. 04:55.700 --> 04:59.920 And so we have in the New Testament, and certainly Philemon's a huge part of that, 05:00.100 --> 05:07.020 principles of human dignity, principles of human rights, principles of freedom. And the seeds that 05:07.020 --> 05:13.460 were planted eventually grew to become the abolitionist movement that was led by Christians. 05:14.480 --> 05:21.420 What was implicit in Philemon became explicit within history, because everywhere the gospel 05:21.420 --> 05:26.200 has gone, the rights of people have been elevated. Now, I want us to set 05:26.200 --> 05:33.380 the context for this letter of Philemon for just a moment. Paul is writing to a wealthy man by the 05:33.380 --> 05:39.900 name of Philemon who lived in Colossae. And we know he was wealthy because his church was meeting in 05:39.900 --> 05:46.340 his house, which means he had a pretty good-sized house for the time. Now, we also know that he 05:46.340 --> 05:52.960 owned at least one slave by the name, a man by the name of Onesimus. And one day, Onesimus 05:52.960 --> 06:01.040 stole some valuables from Philemon, and he ran off to Rome, which is about a 1,200-mile journey. 06:01.600 --> 06:07.240 And while he's in Rome, he met the Apostle Paul. Now, Paul was in Rome under 06:07.240 --> 06:13.780 house arrest. He was chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day. He was allowed to have visitors 06:13.780 --> 06:19.220 into that rented house of his so that he could teach them the things of the Lord. More than 06:19.220 --> 06:25.460 likely, he was also allowed to go into the marketplace to get some food as long as he was chained to a guard. 06:26.060 --> 06:32.880 And so we really don't know the backstory of whether a friend invited Philemon to church 06:32.880 --> 06:40.060 in Paul's house or whether Paul ran into Onesimus, rather, whether he ran into him in the marketplace. 06:40.640 --> 06:48.240 Here's what we do know. The apostle Paul told Onesimus about Jesus, and he led him to faith 06:48.240 --> 06:55.540 in the Lord. And then Paul and Onesimus, they become close friends, and Paul begins to disciple 06:55.540 --> 07:02.820 him. And I think one day Onesimus, under deep conviction, he tells the apostle Paul about how 07:02.820 --> 07:08.000 he had stolen from his master and run away. And within the midst 07:08.000 --> 07:15.340 of that conversation, Paul learns that his master's name was Philemon. And I think Paul says, Philemon 07:15.340 --> 07:22.540 from Colossae? He says, yes. He says, I know that guy. I led him to the Lord in Ephesus when he was 07:22.540 --> 07:27.420 there on business. Now, talk about coincidence. Actually, 07:27.940 --> 07:33.520 I don't think it was coincidence at all. It was providence, wasn't it? God was orchestrating all 07:33.520 --> 07:39.300 of these events. And so Paul tells Onesimus, he says, here's what you got to do. You need to go 07:39.300 --> 07:46.120 back to Philemon and make things right. I'm writing you a letter, so you just hand the letter that I write you 07:46.120 --> 07:51.400 to Philemon. That's the letter we're looking at today. You hand him that letter, and you watch 07:51.400 --> 08:01.220 God work. Now, here's what's truly amazing. Onesimus agrees to the plan. He travels with 08:01.220 --> 08:07.900 Tychicus. He delivers this letter and himself to Philemon. Now, here's why that's 08:07.900 --> 08:14.240 shocking. Under Roman law, a runaway slave could have been severely punished even to the point 08:14.240 --> 08:21.600 of death. And yet, making things right with Philemon, who he had stolen from, was so important 08:21.600 --> 08:27.320 to Onesimus, it was worth the risk. Some of us are unwilling to walk across 08:27.320 --> 08:34.760 the street to make things right with a neighbor, and yet Onesimus traveled 1,200 miles in the 08:34.760 --> 08:47.680 ancient world to just make things right. Here's our principle. As Christians, God calls us to take radical steps to restore broken relationships within our life. 08:48.380 --> 08:53.060 Now, obviously, I think he calls us to also take wise steps. 08:53.500 --> 08:58.160 But my point is we should be willing to do whatever it takes, right? 08:58.720 --> 09:08.140 Now, sometimes, admittedly, whatever it takes isn't enough because we don't hold all the cards in the relationship that might be broken. 09:09.060 --> 09:13.920 You can try as best as you possibly can to make things right with a person. 09:13.920 --> 09:18.640 But if the other person doesn't forgive you, there's nothing you can really do about that. 09:19.180 --> 09:26.520 Romans chapter 12, verse 18 says, if it's possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 09:26.740 --> 09:32.300 Paul says, if there's a broken relationship with your life, you can't guarantee peace, 09:32.740 --> 09:39.220 but you better do everything within your power that you possibly can to make amends. Now, 09:39.600 --> 09:45.380 I've found that a lot of Christians point to this verse right here and say, I've done everything I can, 09:52.220 --> 09:59.700 but they haven't. And the way I know they haven't is they reject every new idea I have for them to reconcile. Listen, I recognize that at some point a person has to move on when another person 09:59.700 --> 10:06.480 isn't willing to reconcile. But make sure you don't ever dream of moving on until you have taken 10:06.480 --> 10:15.900 the radical steps necessary under the lordship of Christ to make amends. Now, in the case of Onesimus, 10:16.360 --> 10:23.700 he stole from Philemon and ran away before he was saved. I think it would have been very easy for him 10:23.700 --> 10:26.380 to justify not going back. I'm a new 10:26.380 --> 10:31.720 creation of Christ. Why do I need to go back and make things right? But when God convicts, we better 10:31.720 --> 10:38.680 listen. My dad was our pastor for over, or nearly 40 years rather, but when he was a teenager, he was 10:38.680 --> 10:46.840 in deep rebellion against the Lord. And one night, seven years after he got right with God, he came under deep conviction 10:46.840 --> 10:52.520 about some of the wrong things he had done as a teenager before he got right. He felt like he 10:52.520 --> 10:58.560 needed to go back and to make it right with some of those people. And he tried to rationalize away 10:58.560 --> 11:06.100 his conviction, but the Holy Spirit just wouldn't let him go. So he drove back to Oklahoma, and one by one he went to those 11:06.100 --> 11:10.800 people and apologized for certain theft and vandalism, things they didn't even know about, 11:10.800 --> 11:16.400 but he apologized for to make it right. Now, what do you think happened when he did that? Well, 11:16.480 --> 11:29.240 I'm sure a massive weight was lifted off of his shoulders, but also, and perhaps more importantly, a massive spotlight was put upon the transforming grace 11:29.240 --> 11:38.560 of Jesus. Maybe before you got right with God, you cheated on your spouse, or maybe you were a 11:38.560 --> 11:44.260 lousy father, a lousy mother, or maybe you stole some things, whatever it might have been, but now 11:44.260 --> 11:45.659 you've met Jesus, 11:45.660 --> 11:50.820 and Jesus has transformed your life. That's wonderful. Praise God for that. Now I think you 11:50.820 --> 11:57.340 ought to go apologize for what you did. If it's possible, as much as within your power, 11:57.540 --> 12:09.040 to make things right and shine a light upon the grace of God. Here's the principle. If you've offended someone, own it. Own that offense. 12:09.140 --> 12:15.680 That's what Onesimus did. Now, another way of saying that is confess it. Now, we don't have 12:15.680 --> 12:22.160 any record here of Onesimus confessing, but we know that he took Philemon the letter and turned 12:22.160 --> 12:25.120 himself in. He was owning what he did. And you 12:25.120 --> 12:32.020 know what? I tend to think Onesimus apologized as well. See, most of the time when a person's 12:32.020 --> 12:39.600 offended, they need to hear the words, I'm sorry. Those are powerful, powerful words. Now, we know 12:39.600 --> 12:45.340 that that's the case with God. God wants us to confess our sin and to own it, right? It's not 12:45.340 --> 12:49.800 enough for you just to know that you're a sinner. God wants you to admit that you're a sinner, 12:49.800 --> 12:57.160 to admit it to him. Now, because the person, you need to come clean with that because the person 12:57.160 --> 13:07.640 you've offended needs to see and hear it so they can believe it. You've got to own it, not just to the Lord, but to them. Now, I think 13:07.640 --> 13:13.860 Onesimus was probably a little bit conflicted. I mean, part of them, I'm sure, felt justified 13:13.860 --> 13:20.840 in what he did. I mean, after all, he was a slave. And no man created in the image of God has a right 13:20.840 --> 13:25.440 to own another man created in the image of God. So in Ephesus, I think he did what 13:25.440 --> 13:31.300 any of us would have done in his situation. He ran away. But the problem was, in order to fund 13:31.300 --> 13:39.380 his trip to Rome, he stole from Philemon. And so while he feels justified, he also feels convicted 13:39.380 --> 13:47.740 because deep down he knows that two wrongs don't make a right. So he owns what he did in this situation. 13:48.220 --> 13:49.099 Now here's the deal. 13:49.100 --> 13:56.500 Whenever you justify your sin and you blame the other person without recognizing the part that you play in it, 13:56.940 --> 14:01.760 whenever you justify your sin, your relationship with the Lord, it stalls out at that moment. 14:02.100 --> 14:06.120 Because you can't be right with God and wrong with others. 14:06.840 --> 14:11.380 Jesus said that if you go into the temple to make your sacrifice, which is a big deal for the Jewish 14:11.380 --> 14:16.500 people, and you remember there at the altar before you make your sacrifice, you remember that your 14:16.500 --> 14:21.600 brother has something against you. You leave your gift at the altar. You go make it right before you 14:21.600 --> 14:27.180 go present the gift. Now, Jesus did not say, if you have 14:27.180 --> 14:31.500 something against your brother. That's not what he said. He said, if your brother has something 14:31.500 --> 14:40.340 against you, if you've offended them in such a way, go make it right. Now, in my personal experience, 14:40.340 --> 14:46.540 most of the time when I offend someone, I didn't mean to. Occasionally I meant to. That's 14:46.540 --> 14:51.260 a whole other issue. But sometimes, most of the time, I didn't mean to offend them. 14:52.440 --> 14:59.180 Now, sometimes I'm even surprised by their offense. Some people in that situation, 14:59.620 --> 15:03.480 they assume they didn't do anything wrong. Well, you're offended. I didn't do anything. I didn't 15:03.480 --> 15:07.880 mean to offend you. I didn't do anything wrong. My assumption is when someone's offended, 15:08.140 --> 15:12.220 I did something wrong. That's my assumption. Now I've got to figure out what it was. Maybe I'm 15:12.220 --> 15:17.040 blind to it. Maybe I didn't recognize it. Lord, what did I do? Then I asked him, what did I do 15:17.040 --> 15:27.660 to hurt you? And I have found that most people are very capable of pointing out exactly what I did, right? Kelsey's really good at it. Here's what you did. 15:28.180 --> 15:36.180 Here's what you did. Now, at that point, if I'm at fault, I owe that person an apology. 15:36.980 --> 15:42.720 It doesn't matter whether I meant to offend that person or not. If you shoot someone on purpose or 15:42.720 --> 15:45.200 you shoot them on accident, either way, you owe them 15:45.200 --> 15:51.380 apology, right? I don't care if it was an accident or not. You just shot the person. You just offended 15:51.380 --> 15:58.520 them. You just hurt them. You need to say, I'm sorry. Well, you say, well, what's done is done. 15:59.220 --> 16:02.780 I can't change it. You're right. You can't change it, but you can't confess it. 16:03.820 --> 16:05.340 And God can forgive it. And by God's it, but you can confess it, and God can forgive it. 16:05.340 --> 16:13.180 And by God's grace, maybe they can forgive it as well. Now, let's put ourselves in Philemon's shoes 16:13.180 --> 16:21.940 for a moment. Onesimus is stolen from him, and he's run away. Now, years later, Philemon hears 16:21.940 --> 16:28.300 a knock at the door, and he opens the door to find Onesimus standing right before him. 16:28.320 --> 16:32.320 And I think maybe his blood pressure starts to rise. 16:32.440 --> 16:36.740 His anger starts to burn, and Onesimus hands him the letter. 16:37.800 --> 16:41.320 And Philemon opens the letter, and he sees right away that it's from the apostle Paul, 16:41.380 --> 16:44.800 the man who led him to faith in Christ that changed his life. 16:45.080 --> 16:49.520 And so he begins reading the letter. He reads about how Paul is actually praying for him and 16:49.520 --> 16:54.420 he thanks God for him. And that in a sense, Paul is saying, I'm proud of you. And then he gets to 16:54.420 --> 16:59.980 the meat of the letter. We find it in verse number eight. Paul says, therefore, though I might be very 16:59.980 --> 17:05.780 bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, remember, he's an apostle. Yet for love's sake, 17:06.040 --> 17:13.220 I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul the aged, now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. 17:13.220 --> 17:19.400 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who I have begotten while in my chains. That's another way 17:19.400 --> 17:27.520 of saying I led him to the Lord. He's my spiritual son, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to 17:27.520 --> 17:33.500 you and to me. Paul says, I want you to know that the guy standing in front of you, Philemon, 17:34.400 --> 17:42.700 or Onesimus, Onesimus has received Jesus Christ, your brothers. And the guy who was unprofitable 17:42.700 --> 17:45.880 to you is now profitable. Now, you can't see it in English, 17:46.020 --> 17:52.040 but in Greek you could see it. This is a play on words, because Onesimus' name literally means 17:52.040 --> 18:02.100 profitable, useful. Paul's saying, I know that the useful one, Onesimus, he stole from you, 18:02.100 --> 18:05.700 and he ran away, and at that point, he became useless to you. 18:06.180 --> 18:07.320 You wrote him off. 18:08.080 --> 18:10.800 And then Paul says, but God saved him now. 18:10.800 --> 18:15.800 And now he's useful again to you because he's a brother in Christ. 18:17.400 --> 18:24.100 Let me ask you, is there anyone in your life that you've written off as useless? 18:25.140 --> 18:28.360 Maybe someone that at one time was a true blessing to you, 18:28.820 --> 18:31.860 but they did something, something happened, and you wrote them off. 18:32.720 --> 18:34.640 You said to yourself, I don't need that person anymore. 18:35.020 --> 18:36.620 Maybe you even said, they're dead to me. 18:36.720 --> 18:37.740 I don't care about them. 18:37.860 --> 18:39.740 If they don't care about me, I don't care about them. 18:39.840 --> 18:40.880 I don't need them in my life. 18:40.880 --> 18:43.400 If that's the case and you're both Christians, 18:43.680 --> 18:49.640 you don't have the right to write them off because God has made them useful in Christ Jesus to you. 18:51.020 --> 18:59.920 Verse number 12, Paul says, I'm sending him back. You therefore receive him. That is my own heart. 18:59.960 --> 19:07.420 He says, I love this guy with my heart, whom I wish to keep with me, that on your behalf you might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. 19:07.760 --> 19:15.700 But without your consent, I wanted to do nothing that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. 19:16.300 --> 19:19.680 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose. 19:19.680 --> 19:25.960 In other words, he's saying this is providence, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave, 19:26.280 --> 19:31.040 but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, 19:31.340 --> 19:36.300 both in the flesh and in the Lord. Paul's saying, I'm sending Onesimus back to you, 19:36.880 --> 19:47.700 and I want you to receive him, no longer as a slave, but as a brother. Now this word receive indicates reconciliation. Paul's saying, I want 19:47.700 --> 19:56.040 you to forgive him. I want you to restore your relationship to him, not as it was before, but 19:56.040 --> 20:03.840 even better in the gospel as brothers. Here's our principle. If someone's offended you, forgive him. 20:04.760 --> 20:07.340 Forgive that person. Now we don't have a record of it, 20:07.400 --> 20:14.520 but we have every reason to believe that Philemon forgave Onesimus. Fast forward in your mind about 20:14.520 --> 20:22.540 50 years later, Onesimus has moved to the neighboring city of Ephesus. He's no longer a 20:22.540 --> 20:28.040 slave, and we have a letter by a man named Ignatius, 20:28.160 --> 20:33.520 who was one of the early church fathers. The letter was written in 107 AD. And Ignatius, 20:33.680 --> 20:39.100 in his letter, he mentions that the pastor of the church of Ephesus was a man by the name of 20:39.100 --> 20:47.000 Onesimus. Perhaps the same Onesimus who robbed Philemon and ran away, who Philemon had forgiven. 20:47.680 --> 20:51.900 Now, if Philemon had had Onesimus killed like he had the right to do under law, 20:52.420 --> 20:58.280 Onesimus would have never become all that God wanted him to be in God's providential plan. 20:59.320 --> 21:10.200 The famous psychologist Carl Menninger said that 75% of patients in the psychiatric ward could walk out today if they just knew they were forgiven. 21:11.300 --> 21:17.760 The power of forgiveness is amazing and had a transforming effect upon Onesimus' life. 21:18.620 --> 21:28.200 Now, Philemon's forgiveness wasn't just important for Onesimus, although that was important. It was important for him as well. 21:29.060 --> 21:33.000 So many people that have been wronged in life, and you're not going to get through life without 21:33.000 --> 21:40.280 being wronged, I can promise you. But so many people hold on to grudges. Oftentimes, they won't 21:40.280 --> 21:45.020 release the offense. Someone's wronged them 30 years ago. They can't let go of it. They've 21:45.020 --> 21:50.660 written that person off. Do you know what that does? It doesn't hurt the person that has wronged 21:50.660 --> 21:59.180 you. It hurts you because unforgiveness is poison to the soul. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, 21:59.240 --> 22:06.840 verse 15, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. 22:07.740 --> 22:11.580 You think a lack of forgiveness is no big deal? Think again. 22:12.760 --> 22:14.980 You think, oh, this is just the way I am. 22:15.260 --> 22:18.060 My daddy was like this. His daddy before him was like this. 22:18.240 --> 22:21.720 We're just a kind of a stubborn people. No, you're just a sinful people. 22:23.520 --> 22:26.280 Peter asked Jesus one time, he said, how often shall we 22:26.280 --> 22:32.080 forgive our brother who sinned against us? Seven times. He thought he was being so holy and pious. 22:32.400 --> 22:39.880 Seven times? And Jesus said, no, 70 times seven. In other words, there's no end to how often you 22:39.880 --> 22:46.380 forgive. Why is that? Because that's how God forgives us. There's no end to it. And the Bible says we are 22:46.380 --> 22:54.040 to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ. How? As Christ has forgiven you. There's a saying, 22:54.840 --> 23:02.380 to err is human, to forgive is divine. Actually, to forgive is just Christian. 23:03.560 --> 23:07.320 That's what it means to be a Christian, is to forgive as Christ 23:07.320 --> 23:11.680 has forgiven us. But you say, well, you don't know what they did. No, but I know what I did to God, 23:12.220 --> 23:20.120 and he forgave me. I know that I played a huge part in nailing God's son to the cross and 23:20.120 --> 23:26.400 murdering him on the cross, and yet God forgives me. How much more can I forgive those 23:26.400 --> 23:34.720 who have offended me? Robert Smith, he just retired as a preaching professor at Beeson 23:34.720 --> 23:40.740 Divinity School. I've had the opportunity to sit under his preaching a few times, and he's just 23:40.740 --> 23:48.160 one of the most unique preachers I have ever heard, extremely gifted. But in 2010, 23:49.120 --> 23:56.120 his son Tony was shot and murdered in an armed robbery, and Robert became very, very angry. He 23:56.120 --> 24:04.160 was filled with rage, understandably so. About eight months after the murder, he was in Kenya 24:04.160 --> 24:05.179 on a mission trip, 24:05.180 --> 24:09.140 and he felt the Lord asking him in his heart, not audibly, but in his heart, 24:09.660 --> 24:10.820 do you believe in forgiveness? 24:12.120 --> 24:13.800 He said, yes, Lord, I believe in forgiveness. 24:14.060 --> 24:15.640 Do you teach and preach on forgiveness? 24:15.800 --> 24:17.340 Yes, I teach and preach on forgiveness. 24:17.720 --> 24:21.020 Well, I want you to forgive your son's murderer. 24:23.180 --> 24:29.320 Now, Robert knew it was something that he needed to do, but he knew also he needed 24:29.320 --> 24:34.620 to do it out of delight and not duty, because he knew that it had to come from the heart for it to 24:34.620 --> 24:47.040 be real. So, he began reflecting over time on just a great deal on the murder of God's son on the cross. And it was through that time of reflection 24:47.040 --> 24:51.800 that he was able to forgive the young man who had murdered his son. 24:52.980 --> 24:57.400 So he wrote the young man a letter, and he sent it to him, 24:57.680 --> 24:59.160 telling him that he had forgiven him. 25:00.160 --> 25:02.260 And the young man didn't respond. 25:02.400 --> 25:04.940 He didn't write him back, so he wrote him again and again. 25:05.100 --> 25:06.059 Several times he wrote him. He again. Several times he wrote him. 25:06.060 --> 25:08.800 He told him how much he loved him and that he forgave him 25:08.800 --> 25:10.260 and that he was praying for them. 25:10.300 --> 25:12.040 And the young man finally wrote him back. 25:12.160 --> 25:15.200 And in the midst of their correspondence, the young man said, 25:15.200 --> 25:17.820 My own father has never said I love you. 25:18.720 --> 25:24.040 And yet you, who I killed your son, you say that you love me and you've forgiven me? 25:24.160 --> 25:26.980 And he was overwhelmed by Robert's 25:26.980 --> 25:34.860 forgiveness. Robert was later asked if he had to keep on forgiving his son's murder. And he said, 25:34.940 --> 25:42.580 yes, it was a process. But then he said, but now it's complete. I have no ill will against the 25:42.580 --> 25:46.160 young man. I look forward to the day when he gets out 25:46.160 --> 25:51.260 and giving him a big hug and looking him straight in the eye to be able to tell him face to face 25:51.260 --> 25:59.000 that I love him and that I forgive him. That right there is someone who understands the implications 25:59.000 --> 26:07.420 of the gospel, who understands how much they have been forgiven of their sin, and that should make them forgiving as well. 26:08.320 --> 26:10.000 Now, here's the deal, though, about forgiveness, 26:10.360 --> 26:11.820 that Paul knew, that Robert knew. 26:11.900 --> 26:12.980 It can't be forced. 26:13.800 --> 26:14.719 It can't be forced. 26:14.720 --> 26:16.720 Yes, it's a choice, but it can't be forced. 26:16.720 --> 26:18.760 Paul knew that, so he says, as an apostle, 26:19.020 --> 26:21.660 I could command you right now to do what's right, 26:22.580 --> 26:27.300 but I don't want your good deed to be by coercion, by compulsion. 26:27.300 --> 26:36.640 I want it to be voluntary. Isn't that how Jesus approaches us? Not forcing himself upon us. He 26:36.640 --> 26:43.160 stands, he says, I stand at the door, knock. He might just be knocking on your heart. This is the 26:43.160 --> 26:45.480 day that he wants you to get right with him. This is the day that he wants you to get right with him. 26:45.640 --> 26:48.320 This is the day that he wants you to take the steps of repentance 26:48.320 --> 26:49.460 to get right with others. 26:49.560 --> 26:50.780 And he's knocking on the door. 26:50.860 --> 26:52.400 He's saying, I'm waiting for you to open. 26:52.880 --> 26:55.600 I'm waiting for you to listen to the radical words 26:55.600 --> 26:57.640 that I have to say to you about forgiveness. 26:58.400 --> 27:00.680 He's waiting for you to open your heart to him. 27:01.660 --> 27:06.360 Now, it's my personal opinion that Philemon was not the only one who had to do some 27:06.360 --> 27:15.800 forgiving. I believe that Onesimus had to forgive Philemon long before he went and delivered the 27:15.800 --> 27:30.880 letter to him, because Philemon had owned him as a slave. And while that was legal within Rome, it was not right. So long before Onesimus confesses to Philemon, he forgives Philemon. 27:31.760 --> 27:33.180 Why? Why do I think that? 27:33.540 --> 27:39.160 Well, because a person is very unlikely to confess their wrong if they haven't forgiven. 27:39.460 --> 27:47.380 Sometimes people don't confess their wrong in a situation because they haven't forgiven the other person for the wrong in the situation as well. 27:47.380 --> 28:06.200 So you may need, in order to make something right with someone, you may need to forgive them first of what they did to you before you have a heart that's willing to own what you did to them. The story is told of Leonardo da Vinci 28:06.200 --> 28:09.980 while he was painting his famous painting, The Last Supper. 28:10.120 --> 28:12.220 He got crossed with a friend, 28:12.400 --> 28:15.400 so while he was painting the faces of the disciples, 28:15.780 --> 28:18.840 he painted Judas' face as the face of his friend. 28:20.440 --> 28:23.000 But when he got ready to paint the face of Jesus, 28:23.120 --> 28:29.720 he just couldn't quite get it right until he realized the bitterness that he had in his heart towards his friend. 28:29.980 --> 28:35.180 And so he repainted Judas's face, and then he was able to get the face of Jesus just right. 28:37.380 --> 28:39.360 Paul continues in verse number 17. 28:40.580 --> 28:47.520 He says, if you count me as a partner, that's the word koinonia, if I'm a brother in Christ, 28:48.360 --> 28:56.400 receive him as you would me. But if he's wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account. 28:56.620 --> 29:04.780 Here's our last principle. Every offense requires payment by someone. Every offense. That's part of 29:04.780 --> 29:07.060 the justice of God. There is no offense that 29:07.060 --> 29:12.720 does not get paid for. And Paul says, I want you to receive Onesimus just like you'd receive me. 29:12.960 --> 29:19.100 And if Onesimus owes you anything, just put that on my tab. Put that on my account. Now, let me ask 29:19.100 --> 29:25.540 you, does that remind you of anything? Does that remind you of anyone? I'll tell you, it reminds me of Jesus. Jesus said 29:25.540 --> 29:32.000 to us who believe in him, he tells the father, he says, put what they owe on my account. Father, 29:32.140 --> 29:38.600 receive them as you receive me. You see Philemon, the whole book is a picture of the gospel. And 29:38.600 --> 29:45.860 the apostle Paul right here is a picture of Jesus who reconciles, reconciling two people who are at odds with one another. 29:46.500 --> 29:51.440 Philemon and Onesimus, he's bringing them together. He's bridging the gap, and that's what Jesus does 29:51.440 --> 29:58.060 in our life. You see, without Jesus, we are at odds with God because of our sin that separates us from 29:58.060 --> 30:07.520 him. We cannot possibly be reconciled and restored. In Job chapter 9, Job is praying to the Lord, and he says in verse 33, 30:07.880 --> 30:14.260 nor is there any mediator between us who may lay his hand on both of us. Job says, God, 30:14.260 --> 30:20.980 who could possibly bring us back together? And the answer is Jesus Christ. He's the only one 30:20.980 --> 30:25.960 who can reconcile us to God. Abraham Lincoln, towards the end of the Civil War, 30:26.020 --> 30:30.620 he was chided by someone for not completely destroying and wiping out the South. 30:30.740 --> 30:34.580 And Lincoln said, I destroy my enemies by making them my friends. 30:36.060 --> 30:37.940 And that's what God does to us. 30:38.260 --> 30:42.060 We were, in our sin, we're at enmity between us and God. 30:42.060 --> 30:45.060 We were enemies of God, but through his son, Jesus, 30:45.260 --> 30:46.720 we are made friends. 30:47.020 --> 30:49.180 And not just friends, we are made family. 30:50.540 --> 30:55.220 Now, whenever we are wrong, we demand justice, don't we? 30:55.480 --> 30:56.680 Someone's got to pay for that. 30:56.720 --> 30:57.800 That's why we can't let go. 30:58.000 --> 30:59.660 That's why we write that person off. 30:59.840 --> 31:00.779 You are right. 31:00.780 --> 31:01.799 Someone's got to pay. 31:01.800 --> 31:03.099 And here's the gospel. 31:03.100 --> 31:05.860 Jesus offers to pay all that is owed. 31:07.140 --> 31:08.860 He offers to pay it all. 31:09.400 --> 31:13.680 And it is time that as Christians we recognize that fact 31:13.680 --> 31:16.400 and put every offense against us 31:16.400 --> 31:19.460 and every offense we've committed on his account. 31:20.720 --> 31:24.780 Robert Smith, whose son I mentioned earlier that was murdered, 31:26.280 --> 31:33.459 he said, 31:33.460 --> 31:35.300 Forgiveness is not difficult. It isn't. It's just impossible without God. 31:47.560 --> 31:52.499 March 21st, or 24th rather, 1989, Exxon Valdez went aground and dumped nearly 11 million gallons of oil into the pristine waters off the coast of Alaska. 31:52.500 --> 31:53.720 It's one of the biggest environmental disasters within U.S. history. 31:58.220 --> 32:01.659 After evaluating what had happened, a government official was quoted as saying, 32:01.660 --> 32:03.499 restoration will probably be done by God in the coming years. 32:03.500 --> 32:05.719 I don't think it will be done by Exxon. 32:05.720 --> 32:07.920 It's just too big of a mess. 32:14.760 --> 32:24.760 You know, sometimes there are messes in our lives that are too big for us to restore and to fix. 32:26.980 --> 32:30.619 They can only be fixed by God. Maybe you're in a mess of a relationship that is of value to you or it was of value to you, 32:30.620 --> 32:33.519 but it's been broken and it's a mess. 32:33.520 --> 32:35.839 You can't see how to put all the pieces back together. 32:35.840 --> 32:38.859 It's too big of a mess for you to clean up. 32:38.860 --> 32:39.880 Why don't you just let God clean it up? 32:41.880 --> 32:43.659 And he does that by grace. 32:43.660 --> 32:45.059 He does that by confession. 32:45.060 --> 32:47.879 He does that by forgiveness. He does that by confession. He does that by forgiveness. 32:47.880 --> 32:49.500 And he's really, really good at it. 32:52.580 --> 32:54.120 You remember Humpty Dumpty, the animated egg? 32:58.460 --> 33:00.119 The old nursery rhyme that says, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. 33:00.120 --> 33:05.920 Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. 33:08.020 --> 33:10.960 Maybe you feel like Humpty Dumpty today. 33:13.800 --> 33:15.859 Something's happened. 33:15.860 --> 33:18.020 Maybe it was your own doing. 33:18.140 --> 33:19.300 Maybe it was someone else's doing. 33:19.400 --> 33:20.700 Maybe it was a combination of both. 33:20.860 --> 33:26.840 But you feel like your life is broken into pieces because of sin. Or maybe it's a 33:26.840 --> 33:35.260 cherished relationship that has been broken into pieces. Please know today that Jesus is fully 33:35.260 --> 33:42.500 capable, he is fully able, and he is fully willing to pick up the pieces of your life 33:42.500 --> 33:45.240 and put them back together again. 33:45.920 --> 33:47.440 He will restore you 33:47.440 --> 33:49.840 if you just ask him. 33:50.900 --> 33:53.400 Now let's bow together in an attitude of prayer, if you will, 33:54.360 --> 33:57.000 both here and at Olive Drive. 33:59.600 --> 34:01.560 In just a moment, we're going to have a 34:01.560 --> 34:10.520 time where we're inviting you to respond to God's word today. 34:11.000 --> 34:12.340 Both here and at Olive Drive. 34:12.940 --> 34:18.300 As soon as I pray, there's going to be pastors and other leaders here at the front of both campuses, prayer partners. 34:19.300 --> 34:20.980 And we're going to stand and we're going to sing. 34:20.980 --> 34:26.560 And then as the song plays, we're just going to invite you, wherever you're at, 34:27.080 --> 34:29.800 as God is leading and tugging on your heart, 34:29.820 --> 34:31.780 if you need to make a decision and make things right, 34:31.940 --> 34:37.880 if you need prayer, if you need to bring some broken relationship to the Lord, 34:38.060 --> 34:39.980 we're going to invite you to do that right now. 34:40.220 --> 34:43.640 Not to wait until tomorrow, not to wait until later today, 34:43.660 --> 34:45.500 but to do business with him right now. 34:45.880 --> 34:51.640 Now's the time when his voice is loudest to you. Respond. The Bible says today is the day of 34:51.640 --> 34:56.660 salvation. Now is the time to respond. Whenever the Holy Spirit is at work, now's the time. 34:57.280 --> 35:01.420 So we're going to invite you as we stand to step out from wherever you're at, 35:01.760 --> 35:05.420 walk down one of these aisles, or walk down one of these staircases. 35:06.640 --> 35:09.840 Grab one of these prayer partners by the hand and say, I want to give my life to Jesus. 35:10.020 --> 35:11.920 They're going to know exactly how to help you. 35:12.020 --> 35:15.120 They're not going to ask you questions you can't answer. 35:15.240 --> 35:16.960 They're not going to embarrass you in any way. 35:17.040 --> 35:22.759 They're here to help you. 35:22.760 --> 35:29.780 Maybe God's tugging on your heart where you've never had a personal relationship with God. 35:29.880 --> 35:32.160 It's always felt like there's distance. 35:32.280 --> 35:36.640 Well, there is distance until you come to full surrender in Jesus, to Jesus. 35:36.840 --> 35:42.960 And that's when the mediator, Jesus, the God-man, grabs a hold both of God and man, 35:43.100 --> 35:47.920 and he pulls you together to him. And the only way that 35:47.920 --> 35:58.820 happens is by grace through faith. When God forgives and when you trust, God wants to forgive 35:58.820 --> 36:07.480 you. Oh, how he doesn't delight in anyone who perishes. He desires that all men come to repentance. 36:07.480 --> 36:12.340 And so if God's pursuing you today, I want to invite you. 36:13.400 --> 36:18.620 Allow this day to be the day that you say yes to him. 36:19.780 --> 36:21.340 That you surrender it all. 36:21.860 --> 36:26.040 And I'm telling you right now, there's nothing like it in all the world to be clean with God. 36:26.240 --> 36:31.120 There's nothing like it in all the world to be right with God. 36:31.800 --> 36:33.800 Not to be wrong, but to be right. 36:33.980 --> 36:38.480 Not by what you've done and your ability to clean up your life, but by what Jesus did. 36:38.720 --> 36:43.860 To just be fully known by God, fully seen by Him, but still fully loved. 36:45.400 --> 36:47.520 I want to invite you to do business with Him. 36:47.600 --> 36:50.280 Maybe you want to come as a couple. 36:52.100 --> 36:55.259 As a family. 36:55.260 --> 36:58.280 Maybe you're not sitting next to your spouse because you're split. 36:59.100 --> 37:00.259 Or you're at odds. 37:00.260 --> 37:07.200 Maybe you're next to each other, but you know there's a great big old divide between each other that no one else can see but you and God. 37:09.620 --> 37:18.500 Why don't you make the hard but yet deep commitment to make things right? 37:19.860 --> 37:24.160 You can't control what the other person does, but you can control what you do. 37:24.620 --> 37:27.520 And you are responsible to God for what you do. 37:28.400 --> 37:30.680 I want to invite you to make things right. 37:31.620 --> 37:42.000 Now, I recognize there are some broken relationships where someone is now, they've passed away. 37:42.660 --> 37:47.260 And there isn't that opportunity to to reconcile in the same way 37:47.260 --> 37:52.520 here's what you do you just give that person in that whole situation to the Lord and you know 37:52.520 --> 37:57.660 what God does he forgives in full he casts our sin as far as the east is from the west 37:57.660 --> 38:03.960 it's into the depths of the ocean and he sticks up a no fishing sign he says you are forgiven 38:03.960 --> 38:06.500 don't go fishing for that past sin. 38:06.540 --> 38:07.940 So you just give it over to the Lord 38:07.940 --> 38:10.040 and let him give you peace about it. 38:11.520 --> 38:15.280 I also recognize there are some broken relationships 38:15.280 --> 38:20.240 that the nature of them is such that 38:20.240 --> 38:23.760 reconciliation and forgiveness 38:23.760 --> 38:27.420 doesn't necessarily look the same. 38:29.280 --> 38:33.220 Maybe there's a sense of danger 38:33.220 --> 38:35.140 and protection that needs to be 38:35.140 --> 38:38.160 included in the scenario. 38:38.400 --> 38:41.120 Maybe you were sexually abused or raped. 38:42.580 --> 38:44.640 So many other scenarios. 38:44.640 --> 38:49.700 And it doesn't, restoration and reconciliation doesn't 38:49.700 --> 38:55.460 look like a close relationship with that person. But here's the deal. You still need to let it go. 38:56.840 --> 39:03.200 And I'm not saying you let it go that the person doesn't pay. God says, vengeance is mine. I will 39:03.200 --> 39:06.960 repay, says the Lord. You just can't hold on to it yourself 39:06.960 --> 39:08.780 because it's going to eat you up inside 39:08.780 --> 39:11.260 so you just got to allow yourself 39:11.260 --> 39:13.000 to release it to the Lord 39:13.000 --> 39:14.760 and just say God I'm giving it to you 39:14.760 --> 39:17.820 help me release this pain 39:17.820 --> 39:22.080 God promises to be near 39:22.080 --> 39:23.220 to the broken hearted 39:23.220 --> 39:26.400 he will bring restoration to your soul. 39:26.880 --> 39:27.419 Let's pray. 39:27.420 --> 39:31.360 Father, we thank you so much for your love and your goodness to us. 39:31.900 --> 39:33.640 Oh, how we don't deserve it, Lord. 39:35.200 --> 39:40.280 I was so encouraged by the story of Robert Smith. 39:40.680 --> 39:46.220 It's a story to us, but it was reality to him who was able to forgive and love, 39:47.120 --> 39:50.140 genuinely love the man who killed his son. 39:53.400 --> 40:00.660 Lord, help us recognize the depths of our own sin and that we played a part 40:00.660 --> 40:08.940 in our sin, nailing your son to the cross. How much more forgiving should we be when 40:08.940 --> 40:15.080 we recognize the depths of our own depravity and all the depths of your grace, that your grace is 40:15.080 --> 40:27.340 deeper still. Help us, Lord. I know that there are many, many, many people, have people on their mind right now that your spirit is putting them there. 40:28.940 --> 40:33.320 And in their flesh, they're thinking, I couldn't possibly make things right. 40:33.720 --> 40:37.420 Oh, Lord, help them know that you are the God of the impossible. 40:38.740 --> 40:46.160 Help them know, Lord, that you are able, that yes, it is impossible with them, but with you, all things are possible. 40:46.520 --> 40:52.220 Help them have that kind of faith, Lord, and help them give it all to you and then take the steps, 40:52.320 --> 40:59.440 the radical steps it may take to make amends. We need you, Lord. We desperately need you. I pray 40:59.440 --> 41:03.540 that you open the eyes and the hearts of those who've been close to you, that have been distant, 41:03.540 --> 41:08.940 that have been enemies of you and been in rebellion to you. Soften their heart, Lord. May they say yes to you 41:08.940 --> 41:13.740 and cling to you in faith today. And may you forgive them. We ask them, ask you in the name 41:13.740 --> 41:19.980 of Jesus. Amen. Thanks for listening today. We hope you enjoyed this message. And if you did, 41:20.060 --> 41:25.220 we would be so grateful if you left us a review. Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 41:25.220 --> 41:26.640 if you would like to be notified 41:26.640 --> 41:28.100 when a new sermon is released. 41:28.720 --> 41:30.360 If you feel the Lord calling you 41:30.360 --> 41:31.820 to take the next step in faith 41:31.820 --> 41:34.460 through salvation, service, or giving, 41:35.060 --> 41:36.439 don't wait. 41:36.440 --> 41:39.500 Reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 41:39.780 --> 41:42.080 That's podcast to 88988 41:42.080 --> 41:46.600 or connect with us on one of our social media platforms. You can also visit 41:46.600 --> 41:52.840 our website, valleybaptist.org, to find even more great resources. No matter where you are in your 41:52.840 --> 41:59.100 journey, know that we love you, we're praying for you, and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.