“Refresh My Heart” (Part 2 of 2)

All of us have had the occasion with other believers and using Christian language or Christian jargon without really thinking much about what it is were saying. That's not the case with the apostle Paul today on Truth for Life Alastair big shows us that the apostle Paul was hopeless but careful and intentional when he used the phrase in Christ was talking with other believers picking up today in verse 17 filing in the interests of clarity and brevity, I want to gather our thoughts simply around four imperatives which make up Paul's appeal on the first of these is welcome an SMS if your eyes are open at your text, you will see in verse 17 he says so if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. Secondly, not only welcome an SMS but I want you to charge it to me charge it to me. If you consider me a partner and he does and if he's done anything wrong. Verse 18 and he has then charge it to my account welcome him charge it to me. Thirdly, refresh my heart. Verse 20. I do wish brother that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord yes brother is how the Greek begins yes brother. It's almost as if he is thinking as he goes along, and he says what he said and then he says yes brother gathering up all that is going before what I would like is is some benefit from you. I like some benefit from you and I am appealing to you as my brother. This is a Christian family, loved ones. This is what it actually means to be in Christ week is not a private matter to be in Christ. It is a personal matter, but it isn't private when we are brought into Christ were brought into all family of people and they are our brothers and sisters, funny ones, weird ones, nice ones, ugly ones, distasteful ones. All clients you know whatever Fits put it on whatever hour of the day.

We are family in Christ and that's why the ideas of sort of superficial expressions of friendship will never match what the Bible is calling for. And indeed, such things are are are are hardly anywhere close to that which God intends for us. But the idea of a brother is important, or sister. I never had a brother, but I had friends with whom I was so close growing up as a boy, that the I would gladly have had them as my brothers and they need sometimes we went to the extent eventually taking a penknife in making our thumbs and dad and rubbing our thumbs together like this and declaring that we were in it with one another. Thick and thin. There were things that we were going to tell anybody, and so on.

All the times that we slid down the sliding roof of that, ladies shed at two to gather up her rhubarb and dig it up and sit on the shared thinking we were so smart. And then just make ourselves totally sick to our stomachs but it was a it was a wonderful experience and we were in it. We were in it together.

Just like this. While that's exactly where Philemon and Paul are but it's much deeper than this because Philemon and Paul are brothers because they have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and their relationship with one another is a blood bought relationship they are tied together in the bonds of the gospel bonds that cannot be severed neither by tying North through all of eternity.

So he says I wish brother that I might have some benefit from you in the Lord, why don't you do for me what you do so well in verse seven.

Remember, he had refresh the hearts of the saints. Now, says Paul, I'd like you to refresh me as well and notice what he says refresh my art in Christ backup aligning some benefit from you in the lore in Christ in the Lord. These are favorite phrases of Paul and they're not filler their vital his appeal again and notice it is on account of the fact that Philemon is in Christ. Two Corinthians 5 if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation the old is gone, the new has come. What is an SMS. He is in Christ, therefore, he says an SMS.

I'm going to send you back to Philemon.

Philemon is in Christ, Philemon. I'm sending an SMS back to you, he's not the one that left either new and SMS. He is in Christ, and Philemon while you're at it, would you refresh my heart in the Lord, would you refresh my heart in Christ. Every real and lasting benefit that as a Christian you will ever know comes to you in Christ is always an increase starts all Christ in you, my soul has found and found and you alone the peace the joy I saw it so long, the bliss still now unknown. Now none but Christ can satisfy you see and all of the refreshment that you bring to me and I may bring to you is always in the Lord and in Christ.

You see, at a superficial level. All of these pleasantries and friendships and familial aspects of things that make up life and make it lovely as a result of God's common grace are engaged in at multiple levels today throughout the entire nation people getting together I see friends screaming friends. You know sin. How do you do II see them say I love you and I think to myself what a great country. What a wonderful place. Isn't this all fantastic but the Christian no longer views people from a worldly point of view, there is a sadness in it all for the Christian because the Christian knows that without Christ.

All that camaraderie comes to a crashing end with death. All of the meaningfulness and joy of relationships and family life and gatherings for celebrations are ultimately an expression of futility when we confront the radical flag that one out of one dies.

Therefore, you will notice how carefully all addresses his remarks and why I take care to pointed out to you while finally he says, and I want you to prepare to prepare a room, prepare room welcome an SMS charge it to me refresh my heart and prepare room verse 22. There's perhaps a gentle sense in which he saying and by the way I'm coming to check up on you and is one you to know that.

And so, I'd like you to prepare room.

I hope to be restored to you in in answer to your prayers. He's already conquered in verse 21 that Philemon will step up to the mark that he will do this and fight. He says I'm sure that you will do even more than I ask Paul has been praying for Philemon, the church, and Philemon's house has been praying for Paul. Somehow in the mystery of God's purposes. The prayers of his people inspired and answered by the living God will bring about the restoration which Paul anticipates so he sends his greetings in the greetings of his fellow workers there in verse 23 pathless the one who preached in Colossae at the very beginning he sends greetings soda Mark Aristarchus Dimas and Luke my fellow workers note note in passing that Paul was no one-man band. He had a significant role. He was uniquely used by God, but he recognized that he was part of a team and every member of the team was important. Earlier this year. I think I may have told some of you in speaking to a group of businessmen out on the northern California. I was part of an evening in which an one of the businessmen present gave gave a talk he was a stockbroker somewhere in Silicon Valley and owned the San Jose Sharks at which it if only enough the event with the dinner was taking place in the aquarium in in Carmel and so was it wheat we are literally reading your food with the sharks just swimming along beside you and then you he was on about the sharks. It was it was rather scary but anyway they they easily wander short of its video clip of the San Jose Sharks which is fair enough and he asked us all to watch number 19, and so we watch number 19 for about two minutes. The clips came from the game. Another game another game. Another gambit was all 1919 1919, and then he said I have one question for you. Tell me, tell me what stands out about number 19. The answer was, he assisted in every goal he assisted in every goal. His was the final pass that led to the goal.

He actually had 90 assists in two seasons breaking all the records in the in the league in an ice hockey for such a part and the point the man was making was. There were no goals scored without number 19 but number 19 didn't score the goals. Most of us are number 19's.

What a privilege to be a number 19 to be and insist to be assisting in the work of the gospel to be playing our part may conclude with a warning that is therein.

One name and an encouragement that is there in one word, the name is Dimas. Those of you who don't know the Bible will not know this, but by the time Paul writes his final letter Dimas has forsaken him. Dimas has gone off. He's fallen in love with all the things that are on offer outside of the framework of Jesus. And so Calvin makes this comment if one of Paul's assistance became weary and discouraged and was afterwards drawn away by the vanity of the world. Let none of us rely too much on our own zeal lasting even one year but remembering how much of the journey still lies ahead. Let us ask God for steadfastness.

Let us ask God for steadfastness and Dimas's name is there is a warning to all of us who grow presumptuous, who begin to think we can do it on our own thing that we no longer need to rely on the power and enabling of Christ and in the moment in time, we may be down with our face in the gutter.

A warning in one name and finally an encouragement in one word and the word is grace. Grace.

Notice verse three, he began the lesser with grace. Verse 25 he ends the letter with grace. All of the benefits and blessings undeserved and unearned, that God pours out upon his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of that is necessary and it is this that he prays may be with your spirit. Verse 25. The you are there is now back in the plural. We said when we began the majority of the letter is in the singular, addressed to Philemon to be listened to by others.

Here he is back in the plural, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits and how was he prays that the church that meets in Philemon's: may be marked by the grace of God.

Now think about this as I close, Paul had asked Philemon Paul and asked Philemon for a superhuman task, a task that involved it involved heartfelt reconciliation, a task that involved forgiveness that was at the very core of his being. He asked him to do something which is not natural to do. He had asked an SMS to do something which is a runaway slave, he would be by nature of need to do and unwilling to do so. Both of the parties in the reconciliation of only one whole and that is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, enabling the one to go back and say I'm sorry and enabling the one to whom he returns to say in the Lord Jesus Christ. I forgive you, let me come back again to this, there may be a husband or a wife here. You may not even be sitting together. You may be sitting together, but your hearts are not together.

And the reason is that you are alienated from one another on account of sin. Whoever the offending party is a resident is unknown to me known to you and the message of Philemon is a striking reminder that if you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are in Christ, then that which God calls for. He provides enabling you to look into the eyes of the one against whom you have offended and say I ask for your forgiveness and enabling the one who has been offended to say and I forgive you from my heart and since God has by his grace, put our sins as far as the east is from the west, whereby he will remember them no more reconciliation means that drawing on the resources of God's grace. We pledge to one another.

Our desire and our commitment to do the selfsame thing you see what would happen in the wee church in Philemon's house because the community would be such that everyone would've known an SMS has made a run for people in the marketplace. Did you hear what happened to Philemon. Oh yeah on Maximus to call where did it all apparently went to roll. Then at the marketplace. The beginning of a new week somebody meets his friend exist. You know you told me that an SMS and run off the wrong you're wrong because I was at the the praise time in Philemon's house in an SMS was there and he wasn't just there there there he was singing he was actually he and Philemon were sitting right next to each other they were singing the songs and then participating in the whole thing and the person on the street says there is no way in the world that can happen that can happen.

Oh yes, as the person it can happen. And it did happen because an SMS met Jesus and Jesus changed in and Philemon met Jesus and Jesus changed in and they are united together in Jesus. Now, loved ones, that is supposed to be a hallmark of the family of God the things that are representative of an absence of reconciliation that the aspects within our culture that are representative of alienation between people or races or intelligence factors or social strata. All of these things are completely collapsed in the discovery of the amazing grace of God.

So let us pray that where we are aware of the absence of this kind of reconciliation that we will, under God, commit ourselves to be the very agents of reconciliation.

Whatever it takes, however hard it may appear to be whatever people may think of us that we will be the initiative.

Takers always because love always takes the initiative. Love never says what they want to talk about it they can come and talk about that is not love. Love always takes the initiative help me to live a life that's dependent on your grace book of Romans. The Bible tells us if possible.

As far as it depends on you. We are to be at peace with all men.

As believers we should take the initiative to be agents of reconciliation. That's the challenge from today's study on Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Alister will be back in just a minute to close with prayer.

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Today we've got a great resource. We would love to send you. It's a book by Alister that you probably heard me mention before the book is called pray big learn how to pray like an apostle in the book, you'll be reminded that prayers are an expression of our faith, but let's be honest, our prayers can start to sound the same day after day right so to help you develop more intimacy as you talk with God. Alister teaches us how Paul prayed for his friends in the church in Ephesus. Paul considered a great privilege to preach and to pray and he recognized that prayer demonstrates our dependence on God factors Alister notes he says my prayers whether I pray how much I pray what I ask for in prayer that reveals my priorities and it reveals how much I think I need God, or whether I am deep down. In fact, self-assured and self-righteous.

When you read the book.

Pray big you'll learn how to pray bold dependent prayers, our offer of this book is ending this weekend so request your copy today when you become a monthly truth partner@truthforlife.org/truth partner or when you make a generous one time gift@truthforlife.org/donate can also call 888-588-7884.

Now let's join Alister as he closes today in prayer, our God and our father, we thank you for this little letter for the message that it brings so forcibly home to our minds. I pray for someone who is yet have never comment about their need to use the living God and confess their sins � you to grant to them. Forgiveness. I pray today that there will be some who receive the reconciliation that you have made available in the cross of Jesus I pray to those who are living at all. It's with one another, whether within their home or even estranged by distance may in Christ and in the Lord being able to do what you call for them to do and we pray for our church family. Not selfishly but purposefully that whatever this means in all the ramifications beyond our ability to even quantify them. Now what ever it means that you will and nurses in the reconciling grace of God, so that when our country is facing the possibilities of all kinds of fracturing that you will find among your people here willingness to say I love you with a love of the Lord, and I can see in you the glory of my king and I love you with the love of the Lord made us grace, grace. Paul prayed for the church, and Philemon's home. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ love of God our father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest upon and remain with each one who believes now and forevermore about the team. I hope you will enjoy worshiping together with your local church this weekend and I hope you can join us on Monday as we start a new series encore 2021 will hear some of Alister's most popular messages from the past 12 months a year. That will likely be on our minds for a long time Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by truth for like learning is prolific