WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.959 Uh today's reading is the book of Philemon. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.360 I told it wasn't supposed to be a joke. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:08.240 Just is. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:19.039 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and Aphia, our sister, and Archipus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:24.559 Grace to you, in peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:41.840 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. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:49.280 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:58.960 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:08.640 I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you, for my child Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:13.840 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:17.280 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:26.239 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment with for the gospel. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:50.239 But I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own accord, for this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bond servant, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.959 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:59.599 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:02.319 I, Paul, write this with my own hand. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:06.799 I will repay it, to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.840 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:11.919 Refresh my heart in Christ. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:17.680 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:24.479 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:29.919 Epiphrus, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:35.280 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.800 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:41.199 You may be seated. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:43.599 That's the word of the Lord. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:56.960 Let's go ahead and uh say a quick prayer and then we can get started. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:06.560 Um Father, thank you so much that we can gather here as your family, as people who have been saved by you. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:12.000 Uh thank you that we get the tremendous privilege of looking at your word. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:20.000 Father, I'm I'm aware uh today as I was preparing this just how much I need you. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:22.479 I ask for your help. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.319 Keep me from saying anything foolish. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:34.400 And I ask that you help me help all of us understand your word today. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:49.599 I pray for all the listeners in here that your spirit is is active and working in their hearts and applying whatever words I say today in the way that is necessary for them to change and to know you more. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:51.039 We ask this in your name. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:52.000 Amen. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:58.960 Uh so we're doing uh kind of a two-week series on uh how do I read the Bible, essentially. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:01.919 Uh so we just read the entire book of Philemon. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:06.719 We're gonna read that again next week, uh, but in a different light. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:16.240 This week I really wanted to focus on just kind of introducing you to some concepts on how do I understand the Bible, right? 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:19.120 Um I I do have a book. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.879 It's gonna be arriving next week, but you can pick it up for yourself if you want. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.399 It's called Dig Deeper. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:30.720 Uh, it's about, I don't know, 160 pages, but it's maybe a two-hour read at most. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:31.839 It's pretty light. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:39.120 And the authors uh give you really 17 tools to look at while you're reading the Bible. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:43.519 Super light reading, very informative, very easygoing. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:47.199 I cannot cover all 17 of those today. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:48.560 I wanted to. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:49.519 I really did. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.800 My wife talked me off the ledge of doing it though. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.279 She was like, you can't do 17 things. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.879 I was like, I could do two minutes a topic though, and that'd be 34 minutes. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:04:59.920 We could do it. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.920 She she saved all of you this morning. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:11.040 So um, but I I highly recommend if you have more questions, which you should after today, because we can't answer them all. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:14.160 Uh, this book will be here next week. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.319 Uh, and I highly recommend reading it if you want to understand how to read the Bible more. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:20.160 So let's get started. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:22.079 Uh my name is Jacob. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:23.120 I don't know if I've said that. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:26.240 I'm one of the lay elders here at Redemption Church. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:32.079 And as I stated before, we're gonna we're gonna talk about how do we read and understand the Bible. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:34.160 And we'll be looking at three things. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:37.759 We're gonna be looking at we should always read the Bible in context. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:48.079 We should always seek to understand the author's original intent, and we should and when we apply it to ourselves, we're always the third person in the room. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:49.839 That'll make sense. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:06:16.480 Um for this sermon, I I'm going to actually assume that you believe that the Bible is God's word, it's written through human authors, that it can be understood, that it's necessary for us to understand it as Christians, that it is complete and sufficient for godly living, that God preserves his word, and that we know God's word by God's Spirit. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:18.079 It's a lot to assume. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:23.040 Each of those is a sermon in and of itself, but I just wanted to set expectations. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:29.360 That is kind of, you know, that's table stakes for this whole sermon, is those things. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:35.920 Uh, but we're gonna be focusing more uh not on those doctrines, but on how do I understand the Bible? 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:42.240 So before we do, uh I want to show you my my favorite painting. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:44.879 Throw my favorite painting up there. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:47.600 Should be the first slide. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:50.639 It's the painting. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:51.680 It's the one with the painting. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:52.560 Yeah, that one. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:53.120 Thank you. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:54.639 I appreciate that. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:59.040 Uh this is this is my favorite painting behind me. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:04.800 Um uh what what do you see when you look at the painting? 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:07.439 Um, it's kind of far away. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:12.720 But uh, I think what you can tell is it was done by professional, right? 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:20.560 This isn't if your kid brings this out to you after Sunday school, uh he's going places or they're going places. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:22.800 Definitely not a kid's thing. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:24.720 Uh it was done by a professional. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.879 It looks really religious, right? 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.040 Super religious. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:31.439 Uh, it looks old. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.720 Doesn't look like this was done, you know, yesterday. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.240 Um maybe, maybe you can't see why it's my favorite painting, and that's not surprising. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.240 Well, let me describe to you a little bit about my favorite painting. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.240 This is a picture of a man named Augustine, St. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:54.319 Augustine, Augustine, be a good name for school, wouldn't it? 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.560 Yeah, plugging you guys there. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.600 I'll get my commission check later. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.439 By the way, this is a picture of Augustine of Hippo. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:12.800 He was born in 354 AD in modern-day Algeria, and he became a Christian at the age of 37. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:20.079 Uh, he is often regarded as one of the greatest Christian philosophers and thinkers of all time. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:22.000 Why, you ask? 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:30.480 Well, he helped pioneer, you know, tried and frame a lot of biblical doctrines that we take for granted today. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:49.600 One of the things he helped us understand that was already in the Bible, but he helped us understand it was original sin, predestination, bondage of the will, the efficacious grace, which means God's grace is effective not only in saving but in changing people. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:09:01.919 He also pioneered the thinking of the visible and invisible church, the doctrine of just war, and the concept of God existing outside of eternity, uh outside of time and in eternity. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:09.679 He also had some very Catholic beliefs as well, which we as Protestants do not believe. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:20.320 Namely, infant baptism being a mode of salvation, the real presence of Christ in communion, and the perpetual virginity of Mary. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:31.679 Despite those, though, Augustine has undoubtedly shaped all of church history and helped us define and understand some very big concepts of God. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:39.759 So now that you know who we're looking at, uh let's let's actually kind of look at the picture itself. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:41.519 This is what I love about it. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.240 It seems like Augustine has paused mid-writing. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:54.480 He's got the book on his desk, he's got the quill in his hand, and he he's like looking up for inspiration. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:04.879 And you can see in the left that there's an open book on the shelf, and above that there's a light, and it reads Veritas, which is Latin for truth. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:14.159 So he's looking to the Bible for inspiration as he's writing, and above the Bible shines God's light of truth. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.679 And I even love the way the Bible is positioned there. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:23.679 You can see the pages are kind of, they're not just set, it looks like they're they're almost blowing in the wind. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.159 It's like the Bible's alive, right? 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:29.279 It's alive and God's truth is shining out of it. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:37.440 And if you follow the light, you can see it goes into Augustine's eyes, and you see like this light behind his head. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.720 It's God's truth illuminating his mind. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.399 And if you follow that down, he's holding his heart in his hand. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:50.159 And it's God's truth illuminating his mind and setting his heart on fire with God's truths. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:57.759 If you follow it down, you see he's wearing the like the clothing, the robe of being a bishop, which is what he was. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.639 And I love the clasp right there. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:02.080 It's actually the face of Christ. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.480 You can't really see it, but it's actually the face of Christ. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:11.440 And it's like this is Christ who's clothing him and giving him authority as a bishop in the church back then. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.639 That's kind of what the author or the painter is showing us. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:22.399 If if you go down further, you can see that he's actually stepping on a scroll in two books. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.240 Those names read uh uh Celestius, Pelagius, and Julian. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:32.399 Yeah, those guys. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:50.240 Um but but what those uh they were all followers of Pelagianism, and that denied the need for forgiveness and grace, and they actually believed that salvation could be obtained by being very pious, living a very good life. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:55.039 Um they saw God's grace as like a Christian Red Bull, right? 00:11:55.279 --> 00:12:00.320 When you're having a tough time, you need a little bit of grace, get you juiced up, and you can make it through and live the life. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:09.759 That's how they saw it, which is, as I stated before, is very contrary to what um uh Augustine taught. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:15.519 That man is sinful, that we need grace, that God's grace is effective. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:23.360 And those scrolls indicate the intense theological debate that Augustine had at the time with those heretics. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:29.360 Can you can you see why now I like this painting? 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:40.320 Well, I do not agree with all of Augustine's teachings, I just love the image of God's word illuminating his mind and setting his heart on fire. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:42.159 I think it's beautiful. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.480 If you know me, I don't say that about paintings normally. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.279 But I really like this one. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:57.120 Now, what does my favorite painting have to do with understanding what you read when you open the Bible? 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:04.720 Well, it actually has everything to do with it because we often treat the Bible like we treat this painting. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:12.960 For for newer Christians, those who have not had much exposure to the Bible, looking at something like this can feel intimidating. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.320 It could be more like interpreting modern art. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:22.799 The Bible can be confusing, it could leave you frustrated or overwhelmed. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:30.240 So you look at it maybe only surface deep and see just an old guy in a religious painting. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:40.080 To those of you that feel that way, I want to give you some tools today so that under the standing the Bible is not so overwhelming. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:47.440 Psalm 119 says, the unfolding of your words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:54.879 I wanted to show you that you too can understand what's being written and how life-giving that it is. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:03.679 This sermon is also for those who have not sat down seriously and studied the Bible for yourself. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:08.559 You may read it often, which is great, not knocking that at all. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:10.240 Read it all the time. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:16.639 But when you read it, you may rely heavily on other people to interpret it for you. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:22.320 Again, nothing wrong with getting help and understanding the Bible. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:30.080 But it's that fear of going deeper into it, thinking, well, that's something just for the professionals. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.440 I could never understand the Bible the way that they do. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:34.879 I think you can. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:36.399 I know you can. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:46.799 Lastly, this sermon is for those of you who think you know everything there is to know about the Bible, and frankly, you've become bored with it. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.960 A human lifetime is not enough to understand the Bible. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:04.559 If your reading has gotten stale, then I want to encourage you that the basic principles that we will be looking at that I'm going to lay out for you, I want you to put these into practice once again. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:10.000 Because I know God is always eager to reveal Himself anew to us in His Word. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:13.039 He always has new things to teach us. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:16.080 So this sermon is really for everybody. 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:21.679 It's to help us understand and know what God is telling us. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.240 So the first thing is context. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.519 Context is incredibly important in understanding the Bible. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:41.120 And when you understand the context of any given verse or chapter, it will help you understand what the author is ultimately trying to tell us. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:48.879 There's many times where we treat the Bible more like a dictionary than a novel. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:57.519 The way a dictionary is written, if you wanted to look up the definition of a word, you can just go to that word. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:02.000 It's in alphabetical order, understand its definition, and finish. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:08.639 It actually doesn't matter what words came before it, and it doesn't matter what words come after it. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.159 The dictionary is not attempting to tell a story. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:16.720 It's meant merely to give you the information on really any word you want. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:23.200 In other words, context does not matter when you're reading a dictionary. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:29.360 If you were to treat a novel the same way, you would uh quickly become lost. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:40.559 You don't buy a new book and skip to the middle of it, except to um and skip to the middle of it and expect to understand the story, you'd become lost. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:41.360 Why? 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.519 Because context matters in a novel. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:52.639 When we read the Bible, we should treat it more of as a novel than a dictionary. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.399 Does this mean whenever you read the Bible, you have to start at Genesis 1 and then go through to Revelation 21? 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:00.000 No, not at all. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:01.519 I'm not saying that. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:12.880 But you do need to be aware that every verse, every chapter, every book is actually a part of the larger story of the Bible and what it's trying to tell. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.079 Let's uh let's take a look at what I mean. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:21.119 Uh and and let's let's begin to put Philemon into context, okay? 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.160 Uh so we can go to the next slide, slide two. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:30.480 Um let's take let's take a random verse from Philemon, and I'll read it out here. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:36.559 Uh, and we'll be looking at uh we're going to verse 22 if you want to try and find it. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:37.440 But that's fine. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:39.839 Why don't you just go to my my sentence slide? 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:40.720 That's fine. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.039 So we're gonna start at the smallest. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.720 Let's take verse uh 22 from Philemon. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:50.880 You guys got it? 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.559 Just with sentence, the blue circle with sentence on it. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:17:59.920 Yep, we're there. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:00.559 Thank you. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:01.759 I appreciate that. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.559 Um so let's start with a sentence in Philemon. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.440 Let's start at the smallest version of context, right? 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:14.400 I'm gonna take verse 22, and we're just gonna go for it from there. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:23.359 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I'm hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:32.799 If I were to take this sentence on its own, out of context, we'd be able to come up with some very wild applications of it for our lives. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:40.400 Imagine you didn't know what you wanted to do that weekend, so you decide to look to the Bible for guidance. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:48.079 You open up the book of Philemon and you go to verse 22, and you see a command for somebody to prepare a guest room for me. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.240 And it looks like it's going to be an answer to their prayers. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:59.519 So you call up a friend who lives in another state and you say, Hey, I'm gonna answer your prayers this weekend. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.559 I need you to prepare a guest room for me, for I'm coming out. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.359 Is that the way we would read this verse? 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:10.720 I don't know. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.240 Let's keep going. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:14.480 Let's go to the next slide. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:19.279 So we look at a sentence, and the next thing we want to do is we want to look at a paragraph. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:27.440 Let's put this sentence into its paragraph now, and I'm gonna be doing uh verses uh 21 and 22. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:34.559 Now it says, confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:42.000 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I'm hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:48.960 At second glance, it appears that you uh messed up your first request a little bit. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:55.680 Verse 22 starts with at the same time, so it sounds like you know, there was a request prior to the guest room. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.480 So you look at it and see that you should be asking something else of them in writing. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:04.000 So this time you text them, because that's what it says in the verse. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:07.920 And you say, you know, hey, sorry about the first request. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:12.640 Um, you know, I actually didn't see the whole picture there. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:20.960 Uh while you're getting my room ready, please have an Uber ready to pick me up from the airport and a meal ready for me when I arrive. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:21.839 And you know what? 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.839 I actually trust that you will do even more than what I ask. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:28.480 P.S. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:33.359 I love going to NBA Games, smiley face, emoji at the end. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:34.880 Disaster averted. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.880 That was that was a little embarrassing, wasn't it? 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:38.160 That phone call. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:42.079 Thankfully, you put it into the context of the paragraph. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:46.480 Now let's go up one step. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:52.480 Because we understand the sentence, we understand the paragraph, but we really don't understand what this is saying still. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.599 So the next thing we need to understand is the section. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:02.400 The section is a logical break in what the author is trying to say. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:07.519 Sometimes a section can be really tiny, it can be a couple verses long. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:13.279 And other times the section can be really large, it could last for chapters of a book. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.480 In this situation, 21 and 22 is actually a section. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:19.599 We'll get to that next week. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:23.359 We'll cover all these sections together, but I'll I'll give you a little spoiler here. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:28.400 21 and 22 is actually a section because it's talking about travel plans. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:34.960 So let's take the section above it, because that'll actually help us understand what's being said in this section. 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:40.160 So let me read to you, uh, starting verse 17, the section above this one. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:46.160 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:50.960 If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:53.759 I, Paul, write this with my own hand. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:59.440 I will repay it, to say nothing of you owing me even your own self. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.519 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.160 Refresh my heart in Christ. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:11.039 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:18.799 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:32.319 At this point, you should start to feel nervous about your phone call and text message to invite yourself over to your friend's house because it actually has nothing to do with weekend plans at all. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:39.599 You find out in verse 17 that verses 21 and 22 actually wasn't just between you and your friend. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.279 Someone else is actually involved in this conversation. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.319 That person wronged the would-be host. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:53.519 And in verse 18, the invitee is offering to pay the host any expenses necessary to make things better. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:23:01.920 You were hoping for a free weekend, but the verses seem to make this situation possibly very expensive for you. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:14.640 In verses 19 to 20, things get even more embarrassing because you find out that maybe you shouldn't have been so quick to interject yourself into this passage at all. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:26.880 Because you find out this person named Paul is writing this to someone that was saved through his ministry, which is hardly the same relationship that you have with your friend. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:39.359 Well, at this point, you should probably read the whole book because the two sections that you started in towards the end have actually raised more questions than answers. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.119 If we were to read the whole book, we can go do the next slide. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:43.839 Oh, nice. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:44.160 Nice. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:45.200 Way ahead of me. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:48.720 If we were to read the whole book again, we won't do it again. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:49.599 We won't do it again. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:50.720 We'll do it next week. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:24:02.160 But if we were to read the whole book again now, you'd find out that the first section, a man named Paul along with Timothy, are writing a book to someone named Philemon, Aphia, and Archipis. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:04.400 And they host a house church. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:10.079 They all seem to be Christians who worship God and confess Jesus as Christ. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:17.599 In verses 8 through 16, you run into the second section where Paul is writing to Philemon about someone named Onisimus. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:30.799 Onesimus became converted to Christianity while Paul was in prison, and Paul and Onesimus develop a father-son relationship, so much so that Paul calls him his very heart. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:34.720 We learn that Onesimus is a runaway slave. 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:39.759 And to make things right, Paul is sending Onisimus back to his master Philemon. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.960 Paul is encouraging Philemon to accept him back no longer as a slave but as a brother. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:52.240 In the third section, Paul goes so far as to promise repayment from his own money if Philemon insists. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:56.720 But Paul seems intent on Philemon forgiving Onisimus. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:07.200 In the fourth section, we see that Paul wants to visit Philemon when he is freed from prison through the prayers of the Christians who meet at Philemon's church. 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:16.000 And in the fifth section, you can see that Paul and everyone who is with him in prison or helping him in prison also send their greetings. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.400 Well, now this changes things hugely, doesn't it? 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:35.839 We look at verse 22, and it goes from, I'm gonna stay at your house for the weekend for a good time and a free time, to actually an act that cements a relationship between Philemon, Onesimus, and Paul as brothers in Christ. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:40.960 Context is really important, isn't it? 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:44.880 Well, many questions are answered. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:50.480 If this was the only book of the Bible that you'd ever read, you'd almost be as confused as ever. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:55.440 These people worship God the Father, a person named the Lord Jesus. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:58.559 They are a part of a larger group of people called saints. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.480 And this Paul guy seems to have this authority that comes from Christ. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:06.960 And Philemon somehow owes Paul his very life. 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:14.799 The reason you'd be confused is because Philemon is actually part of the Bible, a collection of 66 books. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:15.759 Next slide. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.680 You can go next slide to Bible. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:18.400 Yep. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:27.759 There's a lot that happened before the book of Philemon, and you'd rightly be confused if you just jumped in here. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:40.400 While the Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years by 35 different authors, despite that vast, vast time frame, it has a very, very central message. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:48.559 How can a pure and perfect God continue in relationship with a sinful and rebellious people? 00:26:51.519 --> 00:27:05.519 In the first three chapters of Genesis, by telling us, we we learn that God creates the universe, and included in that were Adam, the first man and woman, and Eve the first woman. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:11.440 And you read in those first three chapters of Genesis that they only had one commandment to follow. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:12.160 One. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:15.200 Not a hundred, not ten, not two. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:17.599 They had one job. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:19.759 And what was that one job? 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:23.440 Not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:32.160 And instead of obeying their creator, they believed Satan's lies, that God was not for their ultimate good, and they rebelled by eating the fruit that he forbade. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:38.799 We see that humanity after that point is removed from the Garden of Eden. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:42.880 The relationship between man and God is severed. 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:46.000 They were removed from his presence. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:56.480 Now at the very end of the Bible, in Revelation 21, we see it culminate with God announcing, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:02.319 He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:14.160 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.799 God accomplishes his mission at the end. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:23.440 All of creation is restored, and God lives with his people once more. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:31.359 That's that's there's a lot that happens in between those, but that's the heart of the Bible. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:36.640 Man is separated from God, God is restoring all things at the end. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.440 What happens in between? 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:52.960 What happens in between is that God Himself enters into sinful and broken humanity, fully as God and fully as man. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:58.480 By living amongst us, by dying for our sins, and by resurrecting back to life, never to die again. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:00.799 Does anyone know who I'm talking about? 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:03.359 Boys, do you know who I'm talking about? 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:04.799 Who am I talking about, Ethan? 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:08.240 Who am I talking about? 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:10.559 Oh, I get it. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:11.279 It's scary. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:12.720 Jesus. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:13.839 That's right. 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:15.519 That's right. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:22.000 The life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus is the essential in all of the Bible. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:30.240 And that is how people can enter back into relationship with God through faith and not by our good works. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:35.119 In fact, the entire Bible needs to be read through this singular event. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:43.519 The Old Testament, which was written before the birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus, looks forward to Jesus. 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:48.880 And the entire New Testament, which was written after those events, looks back to it. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:52.799 Let's bring Philemon back to our minds. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:54.960 It's fresh, right, in our minds. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:07.119 Is there language in this book which brings about the event of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and does it bring it into this book? 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:12.240 Can we see that Philemon was written in this context of the Bible? 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:14.000 Absolutely. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:23.279 Paul multiple times refers to Christians, means little Christ, as people who are in Christ. 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:27.200 He uses familial language like brothers. 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:32.000 He talks about how him and Philemon share the same faith in Christ. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:35.440 This is all possible because of what Jesus accomplished. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:48.480 So now that we can see that Philemon also needs to be understood and read in this broader context of the Bible, how does that impact how we read it? 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:50.240 We know it's in there. 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:52.240 We see the language. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:31:07.440 Well, if the story of the Bible is God bringing back people into relationship with him, it's very important that those that he saved, his family, are also reconciled to each other. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:16.559 This is why Paul is so concerned that Philemon responds correctly to Onesimus. 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:28.160 Do you see how this small, tiny book that's 25 verses has eternal implications in it? 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:32.319 This isn't just we want everybody to get along really nice, okay? 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:33.759 We we like that. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:35.440 This is, no, no, no. 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:40.880 The whole story of the Bible is God reconciling humanity to himself. 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.599 And and Philemon, we we you and I were a part of that. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:53.599 And so it's so important as God's people that we are also reconciled to one another. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:57.440 The book takes a different shape, doesn't it? 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:03.039 Now that was a lot. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:05.680 And we're gonna move on to the next point. 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:22.000 But I wanted to remind you, when we read the Bible, we're looking at the sentence, the paragraph, the section, the book, and the larger story of the Bible, because when you do that, you'll actually be able to understand our next item. 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:25.839 And our next item is the author's original intent. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.359 So context was our first point. 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:35.440 Now how does our now our second point is how do we understand the author's original intent? 00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:41.519 So why is it important to understand the author's original intent? 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:52.240 Well, because it's important because everything I've actually talked about up until this point and understanding context is to help us understand the author's original intent. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:06.559 After we've done all the work of context, we need to stop looking at what the author wrote, and we need to begin asking ourselves, why did the author write it? 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:09.680 So we're going from what to why. 00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:17.839 The biblical authors were inspired through the Holy Spirit to write books with purpose. 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:22.000 They just didn't write down what came to their minds. 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:26.319 For instance, let's do an example besides Philemon. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:32.960 Why do the four different gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, have different accounts of Jesus' life? 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:40.960 And even when they write about the same miracle or teaching of Jesus, those accounts don't match up completely. 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:42.319 You notice that? 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:47.359 Because the authors are trying to teach you something specific. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:52.400 We just had the Super Bowl last Sunday, didn't we? 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:58.480 Let's say you had three journalists whose jobs were to cover the Super Bowl. 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:05.279 The first journalist is a sports journalist that covers the team in their local newspaper. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:11.920 They're gonna write about the players, they're gonna write about the coaches, they're gonna write about the play calling of the Super Bowl. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:15.119 The second journalist writes for a fashion magazine. 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:20.719 They're gonna talk about the halftime show, probably, and what Rihanna wore. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:26.800 They would, I'm sure it's out there. 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:40.159 The third journalist writes for an audiovisual magazine, and they're gonna write about all the equipment and all the special effects and all the cameras and all the microphones and all the speakers that were used during the game. 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:52.480 None of them actually contradict each other, but they each have a purpose with their writing and are intentionally including or omitting details. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:35:01.599 Sometimes the biblical authors are very clear in their purpose of writing a specific book or a passage. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:08.480 For instance, John in his gospel writes at the end, John 20, 30 and 31. 00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:15.280 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:28.880 But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you may have life in his name. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:31.920 John says exactly what I just did there. 00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:35.440 Or actually, I just said what John said. 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:38.320 I think that that's the order it goes in. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:41.599 I'm agreeing with John, John's not agreeing with me. 00:35:44.480 --> 00:36:07.920 Jesus does a lot more things, John says, than what I'm telling you, but I've I've selected these stories, these accounts of Jesus' life, these specific miracles, to give you enough to understand that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and to give you enough that by believing in him you can have faith in his name. 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:10.960 That's why John's saying, I chose these stories. 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:15.440 So sometimes the author's intent is really clear. 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:17.360 John says it right there. 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:21.679 Sometimes it's not as clear, though. 00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:26.960 For instance, what do you think Paul's intent is with Philemon? 00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:31.599 He doesn't have a a sentence or a verse like John did, right? 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:40.079 Do you think it's just so that Paul could have a free place to stay when he visits Philemon? 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:42.960 You'd be wrong, obviously. 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:45.440 But what's what's Paul's intent? 00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:48.960 We'll look at that next week. 00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:50.239 We'll we'll nail that down. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.920