[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to this episode of Line Upon Line Ministries Podcast. My name is Mark Williams and on this podcast we are committed to the expository ministry of the Word for the life of the local church. Now today on this episode, we've got a few things on our schedule. First, we're going to talk about sufficiency of Scripture and expository ministry, because that might be a phrase that some of you are not as familiar with. And so I want to explain what that means. And then we're going to share a recommended resource with you about the sufficiency of Scripture relevant to today's topic. And then following that, we're going to play one of Brother David's sermons. We're going to begin a new series today in the Book of Philemon. And it's just a short series of three sermons. The first one today is Relationships in the Church from the first five verses of that one chapter book.
As you know, this ministry is committed to expository ministry of the Word. Now, before I talk about what expository ministry is is and what it means, we need to understand a more fundamental doctrine of Scripture to know why we believe in expository ministry.
We believe in the sufficiency of the Scriptures, which means we believe that the Bible is enough. We believe it is sufficient for all of life and godliness, as we see in Second Peter chapter one. That means that we have everything in God's Word to live a life that pleases Him. We don't have to rely on any external resources or sources of wisdom. Second Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16 and 17 says that all Scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. So this verse teaches us that that Scripture is useful, but more importantly that it is inspired by God, the inspiration of Scripture. We also know from Scripture that God's word is truth, John 17:17. And so it is inerrant, without error. And that has been the fight in previous generations, the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. But today the fight is around this topic of sufficiency. Now if we go back to second Timothy chapter three, verse 17 actually takes us a step further towards sufficiency. It says so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work, meaning every good work that we can do and every work that we do as Christians should be good, every good work equipped by the Scriptures.
So we have there's nothing else that we need outside of the Scriptures to equip us to live the life that God has called us to live, to respond to sin, to how to live our lives in a way that pleases Him. It's all there in the pages of Scriptures. It is enough. It is sufficient.
Now, all that to say, to put it real simply, the Bible is sufficient because it is God's Word.
So all that the Bible is is really based on who God is.
If the Bible is truly God's Word, then it reflects his character. For example, God cannot lie.
And so his Word therefore is truth.
It contains no falsehood. God is sovereign. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. So his Word is also authoritative because it comes from our all sovereign God. Scripture is the final word on any subject that it addresses.
So that's why we can confidently say that the Scripture is sufficient.
It equips us for teaching, for preaching, for counseling, for discipleship, for parenting. Everything we need is found in the pages of Scripture.
So if that is our foundational doctrine, that Scripture is sufficient, that changes then how we minister the Word. So expository ministry of the Word is founded on that sufficiency. That means everything we do in the ministry should come from the Scriptures. So what exactly is expository ministry? At its core, expository ministry is the faithful communication of God's Word, where the plain, original meaning of the text is explained and applied to the contemporary context. Now, that definition does not include any methodology. Now, typically, when we talk about expository ministry, most people will understand or have heard expository preaching, and that definition then makes sense. We're trying to communicate the plain meaning of Scripture so that it is relevant and applicable to today's audience. But expository ministry is not limited just to preaching, nor is it limited to the line upon line sort of teaching through books of the Bible, verse by verse. Now, we believe in that and that preaching should model that. But expository ministry is more than that. Expository ministry takes two primary forms, public ministry and private ministry.
Now, In Acts, chapter 20, Paul talks about how he would preach to them publicly and also house to house. So this shows us that there is ministry of the Word happening in more than just preaching. Preaching is primary and it is important for the life of the local church, but it is not sufficient for expository ministry. There is more ministry that needs to take place within the church, beyond just the preaching.
But public ministry is exactly what you would think. It's preaching. It is teaching to groups, to congregations. It is the outward public ministry of the Word in larger settings. It doesn't mean it has to be big groups, but Just publicly.
And then private ministry is things like the more personal discipleship, counseling, even family worship type settings where the Scriptures are taught. So while most people associate expository ministry simply with preaching, it is much more than that. If the church depends on God's Word, then the Scriptures must influence every single area of our lives.
God commands us to write his words on our hearts, to teach it to our children, to commit ourselves to sound doctrine. This is why the church must be led by qualified men who are committed to sound doctrine, who know and teach the Bible. Without the ministry of the Word empowered by the Holy Spirit, there is no spiritual life in the local church. Now, God's Word is not only sufficient for every area of life, it's also relevant to every area as well. Even those areas that the world claims it doesn't address.
All of God's church needs, all of God's Word for for all of life.
This is why Line Upon Line Ministries exists to help believers embrace the entire the whole counsel of God. We don't skip over, we don't overlook any part of Scripture because as Isaiah reminds us, we are called to study and to teach in every ministry opportunity. Line upon line, Line upon line, precept upon precept.
As was mentioned in the previous podcast, the Line Upon Line Ministries website is up and going. You can go there now. Lineuponlineministries.com Many of you have already visited, different sermons have been downloaded by Brother David. The blog, the store, different areas of the website, and I'm grateful for that. I would also remind you if you happen to have any of Brother David's resources or video, audio, pictures, things that you would like us to have on the website where we can keep his stuff on the archive there, be sure to send that to me lineuponlineministriesmail.com and we will gladly receive that and put that up in the archive as well.
Now, before we dive into today's sermon by Brother David, I want to recommend another resource to you considering the topic of sufficiency of scripture. The book I'm recommending is the Sufficiency of Scripture by author Noel Weeks. Now this book is a great introduction to the doctrine of sufficiency. What I really enjoy about this book is that for the first hundred pages the author explains the doctrine of sufficiency, but then the majority of his book is spent talking about those points of contention. If we believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, there will be points of contention in other areas of life. For example, our understanding of creation, our view of women in ministry and leadership in the church, our view of psychology and biblical interpretation, and many other areas where if we believe the sufficiency of scripture is true, then that changes how we must view some of these other areas of life. You can find this and many other resources on our website, lineuponlineministries.com under the store.
Now let's turn to our sermon for this episode from Brother David Miller. We're starting a new series in the Book of Philemon. Now, this first sermon is titled Relationships the Church, and it covers the first five verses of Philemon. Please enjoy this sermon and stick around in the middle as we ask some questions and then to the end for closing remarks.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: I am preaching tonight from the New Testament Book of Philemon.
If you will find Philemon, we shall begin at verse one and continue throughout the chapter.
I have three sermons from Philemon and don't cross me now, or I'll preach all three of them tonight.
Tonight I want to preach about relationships in the church.
And on Wednesday evening I shall talk about the biblical doctrine of forgiveness.
And then the third sermon will have to do with the providence of God.
There's a tremendous statement in the book of Philemon regarding providence, and it has been in the back of my mind and in my heart for some time.
I've had this in the incubator and I'm going to hatch it out in the next few days and preach it to you.
Have you found the book?
All right, let's begin at verse one.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Aphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 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 that is in you, in Christ Jesus.
For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
Wherefore though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also the prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech thee for my son, O Nesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee unprofitable but now profitable, both to thee and to me whom I have sent again.
Thou therefore receive him as mine own bowels, whom I would have retained with me that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel.
But without thy mind I would do nothing that thy benefit might not be, as it were of necessity, but willingly.
Now here's where the sermon on Providence is going to come from. Look at this next line. For perhaps he departed, therefore for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother, beloved, especially unto me. But how much more unto thee, both in the Lord and in the flesh.
If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.
If he hath wronged thee or oweth thee, ought put that on mine.
I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand.
I will repay it. Albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me thine own self. Because, besides, yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord.
Refresh my bowels in the Lord, but withal, prepare me also a lodging. For I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
Having confidence in thine obedience, I wrote unto you, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.
There saluteth thee, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ.
Marcus Aristarchus Lucas Demas, my fellow laborers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Amen. Isn't this a wonderful passage from God's Word?
You remember the story.
Philemon had a slave named Onesimus, and he probably stole money from his master. And he ran away a thousand, perhaps eleven hundred miles from Colossae to Rome, thinking that in the great city of Rome he could find immunity. He would not be discovered.
But God had an apostle in Rome. Do you remember why Paul was in Rome? He was in prison.
And providentially, they had allowed him to have his own rented house where he could receive guests.
And God orchestrated events so that their paths crossed. And Paul won Onesimus the slave, to faith in Christ.
He discipled him. In time past, he had not been useful. He had not been profitable. But he sends him back to his master, saying, he is now profitable, both to you and to me. And he urges Philemon to receive the slave not now as a servant, but as a beloved brother in Christ.
Does that resonate in your own soul tonight? Is that not your own experience with Christ?
Were we not vagabonds? Were we not like sheep that went astray? And the Lord has rescued us, converted us and received us again not as runaways, but as brothers and sisters in Christ. Well, that's the story that we're going to be dealing with in these three sermons. Now, let's get to the matter at hand and our first sermon regarding the church. I'm going to do two things.
I am going to give you a definition regarding the church, and I am going to talk about the different relationships in the church. Now, you are going to disappoint me.
You are going to really disappoint me if you don't remember the sermon that I preached back along in September.
It hasn't been long, and I would hope that my sermon then on the nature of the church still lingers in your mind.
We're going to see some of those same things again in this text tonight. I want you to look at that statement in verse two. He says in the last statement, and to the church in thy house.
The church of the Lord Jesus existed for about 300 years before they ever had a building of any kind. They met in homes. And Philemon is a man of some wherewithal.
He had a home large enough.
His own family, his servants and others who were believers could gather in his house as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had a pastor. Some have suggested that Archippus, Philemon's son, is the pastor of this church.
Now, in our day, we have a tendency to associate the church with a building, and we sometimes refer to the great church because it has a great building. But I started out preaching at Snowball, Arkansas, in the middle of nowhere with six women, and they were a church as much as ours is a church as much as Bellevue is a church. What is it then that constitutes a church? Well, I want us to run down. Do you have a copy of my outline? I want us to look at two or three things. I want to give you the classic definition for the church. I have it written here. I hope that you will take it home with you and refer to it often. Memorize it so that the next time somebody asks what a church is, you can just whip this out and go to preaching about the nature of the church. Here it is. A church is a local, visible congregation of Christ's baptized disciples who are united in the belief of what the Lord has said and are coveting to do what the Lord has commanded. Now, b, I want you to consider that the church is first local.
It is visible. It is an assembly.
Metaphors are used in the scriptures to describe the church. It is sometimes referred to as the body, sometimes the Building and sometimes the bride of Christ. But in these metaphors, the ideas of locality and visibility are inherent. You never known of a universal, invisible body.
You've never known of a universal, invisible building.
And may the dear Lord have mercy upon the man who marries a universal, invisible bride.
I don't know about you, brethren, but I like something more tangible in a bride.
A student at the Mid America seminary announced to Dr. Gray that he had to leave before the chapel service was over on Friday.
And Dr. Gray said, why?
And he said, I've got to go to an ordination this evening. And Dr. Gray said, okay, but why would they be having an ordination on Friday evening? And brother Jesse Foster said, I'm going home to lay hands on my wife. And I like something tangible in a bride, don't you? I want one I can see and one I can touch every once in a while. And I want to tell you, when the Bible talks about the church, it has in mind these ideas of locality and visibility. The idea of a universal, an invisible church is not biblical. I like to ask my friends, where does your church meet?
Who is its pastor? Benny Hinn?
Kenneth Copeland?
No, when the Bible talks about. The church is talking about an assembly of Christ baptized disciples who have gathered in one place and they're visible. Are y'all getting this? Nod your head up and down now because I can go back and repeat every single word of this. All right. I want you to see an expanded version of the. Well, I don't want to get there yet. I'm going to talk about the church as an institution.
Our Lord said in Matthew 16, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. He wasn't talking about a particular congregation. He was talking about the church as an institution.
But I can illustrate that I believe in the family.
Do you? And when I make a statement like that, I'm not using the word family with reference to any one particular family.
I'm referring to the family as an institution in the abstract.
But if you think about it for a moment, the only way a family can have manifestation of its existence is in a local home where there are parents and children or others who are related by adoption or by blood.
That's a family. You didn't think I was referring to a universal, invisible family made up of all of the mamas and all of the daddies and all of the children of all of the ages, did you? No, I'm using it in the institutional sense, in the abstract. And that's the way the word church is sometimes used in The Bible. But even then, that institutional church has existence only in a local, visible congregation.
This church as an institution existed and gave manifestation of its presence in Philemon's home.
Are y'all getting this? All right. There's a third sense in which the word church is used. It sometimes refers to the larger family of God. It's more inclusive. It is more comprehensive. It's what I call the glory church. It's the church Paul spoke of In Ephesians chapter 5, when he said, husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it unto himself a glorious church, not having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Now, when is Christ going to present to himself a glorious church? It's when the trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ are raised, and we which are alive and remain are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. But even this glory church is going to be visible and it's going to be local. We're going to be assembled around the throne.
The only difference in that glory church in heaven from our church is today the church is organized for business and for worship and celebration. That glory church in the heavens will be assembled only for worship and celebration.
Ain't that good?
Now, some of you better learn how to worship, because that's what we're going to do in eternity. Now, let me just encourage you a little about that by telling you. We're going to worship with expanded acumen, with enlarged intellects, and we're going to continue to look into the glories of Christ's person and what he has done, even throughout eternity. And it's going to be glorious. Now, I want to get to this expanded definition and I want to nail this down. Because in the Arkansas Baptist State Convention there is a group of brethren with tongue in cheek. I refer to them as weaker brethren, and they want to change the Baptist faith and message and delete the addendum which says this document shall not be interpreted so as to include alien immersion or open communion. They tried back in the fall to change that, but they failed.
I'm not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet. I'm the son of a bricklayer. But I'm telling you ere long they'll bring this up again. Folks need to be knowledgeable about it. And so I'm just going to Take a whack at it every so often to get my 2 cents worth in. Okay, so here it is. I want you to see that a church is a group of Christ baptized disciples.
Now I gave you a sermon about baptism. You remember that? I know. And in that sermon about baptism I told you that that there had to be the right person being baptized. He has to be a believer. The mode has to be by immersion. And the design or the purpose of the baptism has to be symbolic rather than sacerdotal. It has to be simply a dramatization of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It doesn't add any grace to the believer. And then I talk to you about the proper administrator of the baptism. And that has to be a local New Testament church. So it's Christ baptized disciples. Now secondly, these baptized disciples have to be united in the belief of what the Lord has said. In other words, we believe the Bible and we hold certain doctrines which the Bible teaches. Now, just because you've got a group of believers who've been immersed doesn't guarantee that you have a church.
Are y'all with me on this? They may be saved, they may be immersed, but they may believe stuff that's totally foreign to the Bible. And they may disbelieve core fundamental theological truths in the Scripture. Well, let me tell you what some of those might be. In order to be united in the belief of what the Lord has said, you got to believe in the authority of the Bible.
Yesterday I got put on the spot big time.
It's seldom that you can call on me to preach and me not be able to just go to preaching. But I had preached four times already at this conference in Little Rock. And we came out to have the final prayer from these breakout sessions. And people were gathered around in a circle and the leader said, brother Miller, would you come now and give us one last word? Give the folks a charge before we leave. It just caught me totally off guard.
And I said, yes, I will.
And I said, baptists have decided we believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. Praise God.
Let us go a step further now and decide that we also have confidence in the sufficiency of the Bible, that is that the Bible message by itself is sufficient to convert the soul.
Do you know where Baptists increased in baptisms last year?
4 and 5 year olds.
I don't disparage that a 5 year old could be saved. What I'm telling you is it's symptomatic of a deeper theological matter. In our convention we have Confidence in the sufficiency of a man.
He's slick, he's polished, he's intelligent, he's good looking, and he's got a spike hairdo and often no longer wears a tie because you can't reach people with a tie.
We have confidence in a man.
Furthermore, we have confidence in the sufficiency of our methodology.
That's why we come up with a new method just every few months.
Let us return to a confidence in the sufficiency of our message that this book, the Bible, when faithfully preached, expounded, elucidated, elaborated on, illustrated, argued, applied, is sufficient.
If you're going to be a church, you've got to believe in the sufficiency of this inerrant Bible to convert the soul.
Now, these core beliefs would have to do with what you believe about God, what you believe about man. Is he depraved or only partially so?
Does he need to be radically saved or does he just need help?
If he could just get a little bit of help at just the right time, he'd be all right. No, the Bible says he's dead in trespasses and sins and he's at enmity against God and needs to be radically converted.
You got to believe these things. And then how is he going to be saved?
Well, this would force us to discuss who Christ is and what he's done on the cross. You got to believe these things if you're going to be a church. Now, we don't want to be abrasive and we don't want to be unkind to other groups, but for me and my house, for us and our church, let's stay lashed to these core biblical truths.
Now, also, we are coveting to do what the Lord has commanded. You can have a group of folks who meet out there on the Walmart parking lot tonight after this service who are saved. In fact, if you go over there, you'll meet some folks on the parking lot that you know who are saved. That's our social gathering place in Cleveland County. And there'll be some folks from First Baptists and from Hebrew Baptist and Sugarloaf and Southside and from other churches in the neighborhood. And they're saved and they're immersed even.
But we won't be a church out there on the Walmart parking lot. You know why? Because this group from various assemblies are not coveting together to do what God has commanded. Now, we're the family of God and we're saved, but we're not the church. You got to have some organization and some covenant relationship.
Can I get a witness on this?
All right, I'm done with that.
You like my transitional statements?
A lot of preachers go to school nearly forever trying to learn how to do this. They. They want to be smooth in their transitions. But for country preachers like myself, it's not a problem. I just announce it and I'm done with that. And here's the next item. I want people to know I've got some divisions in my sermon. I want them to know I've given some thought to this.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: We'll be right back with the rest of Brother David's sermon. Relationships in the church. But before we get there, I would just like to challenge you. What is your relationship with the church? Are you a believer? Are you a member of a local congregation? If not, why not? And if you are, what do you think your relationship with the church is really supposed to be? Are you a simple consumer just looking for a place where you can get what you want? Or are you part of a church to serve, to care for one another, to worship and serve the Lord together? Now, Brother David is about to share some specific relationships that take place within the church. So listen closely and see what the Lord expects of you in his church today.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: So here's the second division. I want to talk about relationships now within the church. First of all, there are spiritual relationships. In verse 5, Paul says to Philemon, we've heard about your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints. Now, who in the world are these saints? Well beloved, I am looking at a congregation of saints tonight. You have been set apart especially for the Lord. And do you know when that occurred? That occurred when you were cleared of guilt, declared innocent, given the righteousness of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the spirit of God imparted to you the intrinsic holiness of Jesus Christ. Positionally, you are a saint in the sight of God. You're not going to have to wait a hundred years after your death for some of us to come along and examine your deeds and determine whether or not you a saint. If you have been saved, you have received by imputation the righteousness and the holiness of Jesus Christ. And it wouldn't be at all out of line for us to refer to each other as St. Eddie or St. Nathan. We are saints. There's a spiritual relationship which we share this church. Now, he also uses this statement in our text. He says, grace to you and peace. We have had the grace of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. This grace has emanated from God through Christ Jesus. It has resulted in our having peace with God.
Now, you and I didn't come into this world at peace with God. We came into this world as enemies against God. We were in high handed rebellion against the one who rules the land and sea. We were in mutiny against God.
But when Christ saved us, gave us this grace that resulted in our being reconciled with God. Isn't that a grand and wonderful truth? We are at peace with God. I remember what it was like to have no peace. Can you remember those days in your own experience? I can remember going to sleep late at night but not being able to sleep for hours because I was worried and anxious about my soul. I feared death. I feared the judgment and the wrath of God. I tell you, when the Lord saved me, peace, like a river flooded my soul.
Grace to you and peace. We have this spiritual relationship with each other. Secondly, there are sibling relationships.
He refers to Timothy as his brother.
Because you and I are saints. Because we have been saved. We are brothers and sisters. Sisters. We are siblings in Christ. Now you are aware that natural brothers have natural affection for each other.
I have known brothers who would fight each other like yard dogs. But let somebody else at school be unkind or mean or ugly to one of those brothers and the whole bunch would jump on you. There was this special affection that they had for each other. Now I've said that, and this is going to imply that we ought to fight each other in the church. But those of us who are saved have this spiritual affection for each other. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. I suppose in a real way, if we have disagreements among ourselves, it's all right for us to discuss them, to argue about them and come to peaceable agreements about them.
I suppose also we would rise up together if someone from the outside were to come against one of our own here at Tumblin Shoals. Wouldn't you agree with that? We are a family, spiritual brothers and sisters. Now, I thought about preaching a sermon on the generation gap, what I would have called the sinful generation gap. And it's in this statement. And Timothy, our brother Paul, later in the books, calls himself the aged.
And yet he refers to this young preacher, this whippersnapper, this upstart, as his brother.
There was no schism here.
Timothy gave preference to Paul. And Paul taught Timothy no generation gap. Why should the youth of our church be uncomfortable around the older saints here? And for that matter, why should the older saints in our church be uncomfortable around the youth?
We ought not have a Generation gap. Let us never become so segregated at the church that it's like you have two different congregations.
I might just tell you that I have refereed a number of church fights.
I have. I have seen the groups put their gloves on and go at it.
I was at a meeting right here in Cleveland county years ago.
They had invited one of the state executives from our convention in Little Rock to come and be the moderator. And he stood and he said, to begin with, let us agree that we will use Robert's Rules of Order for our meeting tonight. And one of the men stood up and said, we don't care what Robert's Rules of Order had to say. We came to fire the preacher. Now let's get on with it.
A lot of stuff goes on in the church, a lot of facts. And here's what I've observed. Often it's one generation in antagonism toward another generation. Sometimes it's the 25 to 35 year olds who have one philosophy and the 55 to 75 year olds don't agree with it. And sometimes it's vice versa. I want to tell you that ought never to be so.
One of the things Glenda and I have loved most about our church is that when we have needed to do something, we have moved together or we didn't move at all.
I remember one time when we had a dissenting vote, one time in all those years.
And the brother made the motion.
As Fern remembers it, he didn't want to pay the preacher.
And we didn't even have one at the moment.
But we were discussing the package for the preacher. It wasn't you, Brother Derek. No, sir.
We want to pay our preacher.
And this brother said we're paying him too much.
Said it's just too much.
And so he made the motion to reduce the package by 8 or $10,000.
But you know what? You got to have a second.
You got to have a second for a motion.
So we just waited.
The Moderator said, is there a second?
It was as still as you are right now.
And after what seemed like an inordinately long period of time, this brother just kind of dropped his chin on his chest, tucked his tail between his legs and walked back and sat down.
And a few days later felt led to join one of the other churches here in the county.
We ought to be together.
Why shouldn't the saints be together? Why shouldn't. If the youth have the information before them, why can't they pray about that just like the adults?
And why can't we move together? On things. Let's recommit ourselves to that principle that we do not allow any generation gap to develop in our congregation. Now, here's a third item I want you to see. There are serving relationships. Paul refers to himself as a prisoner. He refers to Philemon as a fellow laborer. He refers to Archippus as his fellow soldier.
Did you notice any ladies laboring today as we had that fine meal together?
You saw on the slide presentation how that the fellowship building was transformed? Well, that doesn't occur without some work.
Just bare bones labor, a labor of love.
Have you noticed there's some new.
There's some new mulch in the shrubs here. How in the world did that happen?
Somebody's been at work, have they not? They've been laboring.
When you see stuff that needs to be done, just go ahead and do it.
Just step right up to the plate.
There was a dear couple in our church today that told me that they. They kept the preacher's children the other night so that the pastor and his wife could go out to dinner.
I said, hallelujah, what a wonderful thing. Wouldn't it be great if just every so often we'd take these Westmoreland kids and give them a little training that they're not getting at home and let the preacher and his wife go out to dinner alone? Wouldn't that be good?
Well, beloved, that's what we're about, doing the work of the ministry in the family of God at the church.
And then there's the labor of going out into the community, door to door, person to person, with the gospel message of salvation. I thought much about this statement, fellow soldier.
I tell you, beloved, we're in a battle today.
We need sentinels who are on the wall watching.
We need folks even in peacetime who know how to go about the walls, looking for any weak spots and shoring those up, getting ready for the next onslaught from the enemy.
We ought to guard each other's back.
And every so often the church has to just bow up, hunker down, dig in, draw a line in the sand and say, we aren't budging.
We won't budge. We won't bow and we won't burn.
We'll take you on if we have to. We're soldiers. We sang that old song, onward Christian Soldiers. Well, it's true.
We need some men who are well skilled as soldiers of the Lord who can take on the enemy. And then there are social relationships. There is this idea of master and slave.
Why do you suppose the church and Christianity did not take on this idea of slavery immediately.
It would have caused a social upheaval.
It would have distracted the church from its main business of preaching the Gospel of Christ.
There are issues today, good issues, worthy causes, that the church needs to be involved with. And yet we can get involved in the matter of the sanctity of fetal life being pro life to the point that we get sidetracked from the main business of preaching the gospel.
These are social matters. But you know what Christianity has done over the years?
Christianity has done more to free slaves from their master than any other cause or organization in the world.
I personally do not think I could have ever been involved in slavery as we have known it in this country.
I don't believe it's ethically proper.
I don't believe it's right for one man to hold another man down in such a fashion.
Here's a wonderful illustration.
When Onesimus was saved, Paul said, receive him now not as a servant, but as a but above a servant, a brother, beloved. But I can go a step further. Are you a free man?
Are you a free woman?
Don't boast in that because you are Christ slave. You are Christ servant.
And we give ourselves to him willingly and obediently.
Let's bow and pray. Father, thank you for your word. Would you write it indelibly upon our hearts and before our eyes for Christ's sake? Amen.
[00:55:55] Speaker B: Now, I hope this sermon has been an encouragement to you today. Next time we will continue our series on Philemon with the next sermon in the series as well as explore other topics of expository ministry in the local church. If you have any ideas for topics that you would like to cover, you can either comment those in whatever media you are watching this in or send me an
[email protected] or if you have other stories to share of Brother David fond memories, I would love to hear those. Or if you have prayer requests, I would love to be able to pray with and for you and whatever you're facing today. Finally, if you're looking for resources to help you in your expository ministry in your local church, check out our website www. Lineuponlineministries.
Thank you for joining us today on this episode of Line Upon Line Ministries Podcast. I am Mark Williams. God bless you as you continue to minister His Word Line Upon Line.
