TIME OUT with Pastor Ben Talley June 8th 2020

Good morning. This is Benjamin Talley. I'm the associate pastor at Witten Memorial Baptist Church, and this is another time out. Just another time away from your busy schedule to look at the word and just examine what it would have to say to us.

And hopefully get something out of it. Just some time to examine it and see how you can apply it to your life. See how you can come to understand the truth of scripture. What's up, Scott? What's up, Andrew?

How y 'all doing, man? Good morning. So, what's up, Robin? Our scripture today is coming out of a book that is kind of neglected somewhat. Not many people are in it much. At least, I don't hear much preaching out of it.

But it is a phenomenal book. What's up, Vicki? It's a very phenomenal book. And, of course, every book in the Bible is, obviously. But, great book. Big book on reconciliation, if you're familiar with that doctrine.

But, what's up, Christian? What's up, Carlene? So, it's Philemon. Philemon. It's always a weird book to pronounce. So, some people say Philemon. Philemon. Philemon. Whatever. I pronounce it Philemon. Some people pronounce it different words.

Philemon 4–7: Love, Faith, Evangelism, and Refreshing Others

But, our text is coming from verses 4 -7. What's up, Rodney? So, 4 -7. Verses 4 -7. It says this. It says, I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. Because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.

And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother.

Because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Now, that's phenomenal. The fact that Paul gives him this statement. Paul says this of him. Man, that's phenomenal. So, I got three points here that I want you to consider.

Love and Faith That Are Evident to Others

So, he says this in verses 4 -5. What's up, Heather? You're so sweet. Verses 4 -5. It says, I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. Because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.

So, this is what you need to remember from these verses. What's up, Jennifer? Pray your love and faith in the Lord be affectious to those around you. Okay? That's what I want you to get from these two verses.

Pray that your love and faith in the Lord be affectious to those around you. He says, he heard of your love and of your faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. He heard of that from the other people around him.

He heard of his faith and his love. Paul heard of Philemon's faith and his love. Now, honestly, how many people do you know or are heard of their faith and their love from other people? I mean, just other people talking about other people and they're like, man, you just gotta know his faith and his love.

I mean, I know people that went in there like that. I mean, but don't let that be said of other people just of other people. That needs to be said of you. So live in that manner. Live so that your love and your faith in the Lord be affectious to those around you.

To where it spreads to people where they say, man, his love or her love and her faith is phenomenal. You want to be known for your love and your faith. And the only way to do that is to have a right relationship with God.

If you have a right relationship with God, walk with him. Study the scriptures. Obey the scriptures. Let God live through you through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only one that can produce those things in you.

Evangelism Done for the Sake of Christ

So secondly, it's this. Look at verse 6. It says, I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge in every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. He says this.

He says, well, remember this. Pray your evangelism be done for the sake of Christ alone and he bring fruit in the lives of those around you. So verse 6 says this. I pray that the sharing of your faith may be effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

Okay? He says, I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge in every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. We need to pray that our evangelism be done for the sake of Christ alone and he bring fruit in the lives of those around us.

Okay? We need to pray. That's what we need to pray. We need to pray that our evangelism is done for the sake of Christ alone and we see fruit in the lives of those around us who we evangelize to. So we need to be sure that we're sharing our faith, that we are sharing our faith, that we're sharing to those around us in our jobs, in our families, in our sphere of influence, those we come in contact with.

Whether we're speaking it, sharing the gospel through word of mouth, or living by example. I actually prefer speaking it by mouth, but you can also share Jesus by the way you live. Not always that effective, but it is possible.

I've actually had people say, man, what's so different about you? I used to work at Macaroni Grill, but anyway, it's possible to spark a gospel conversation with someone if you are living right with God.

So anyway, you want to pray that God brings fruit to those around you through your evangelism. Thirdly, we want to pray that our joy that comes from enjoying Christ and the benefits that he brings be refreshing to those around us.

Joy in Christ That Refreshes Others

Look at verse 7, it says, For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. So through his witness, through his life, people's lives have been refreshed by knowing who he is in his circumstance and the way he's responded to it.

So we need to pray that our joy that comes from enjoying Christ, enjoying who he is, enjoying the benefits that come from knowing him, is affectious. It's being refreshing. It's causing other people to be refreshed by our lives.

So, man, live affectiously for Christ. And the only way to do that is by living in the word, being prayed up, being obedient, and just walking with him. Walking with him in obedience, in prayer, applying his word to your life, seeking his word daily.

So these are the things we can do. So honor him in everything you do. Honor him. 2 Corinthians 5 -9 says, Whether you're at home or whether you're out, make it your ambition to please him. So that's our aim.

And if you're constantly seeking to pray that your love and faith in the Lord be affectious to those around you, if you're praying that your evangelism be done for the sake of Christ alone and that bring fruit to the lives of those around you, that they're producing fruit, pray that they're producing fruit, and you pray that the joy that comes from enjoying Christ and his benefits be refreshing to those around you, that your life is actually refreshing those around you because they see Christ in you, they see his work in you, they see how he's changed your life, then that's going to bring fruit.

That's going to be pleasing to him. That's going to be a sweet sacrifice of a God-honoring life to him. And so seek that. Do that. Guys, we're on borrowed time, so we should live as if each day is our last.

Make the most of your time because the day is evil. I love y 'all. If you don't know Christ, I want to encourage you, if you're curious about it, if you just don't know about this whole Jesus thing, Jesus did come, he did live, he was a man, he was God, fully man, fully God.

He died on the cross for your sins, for mine, for the world's sins. He sacrificed himself. He rose again on the third day, conquering hell, death, and the grave, ascended on high, conquering the world, conquering all the rulers, principalities, and powers.

And he is coming again one day and offering eternal rest to all those who repented their sin, the very sin that nailed him on the cross, the very rebellion that we practice every day. He died for that.

And if we repent of our sin, that means forsake our sin once and for all, then place our faith and trust in his finished work on the cross, his perfect death that he died, and his perfect life that he lived, that we couldn't live.

If we place our faith and trust in him, then he has promised to give us life and life more abundantly and reconcile us to the Father, renew that right relationship with the Father that we slandered, that we interrupted with our sin.

So that life, that new life, that new relationship with God is open to you. I want to encourage you, if you don't know Jesus, read the Gospel of John. Just read it. Open it. Read the Gospel of John. Find out what Jesus is.

See what he's done for you. Just give him your attention. Give him your full affection. He loves you. He wants a relationship with you, but your sin is in the way. Remove it. You don't know when your last day is.

I love you all. It's a good day to be alive in Jesus.