Restoration 2019:  Brokenness

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Restoration Ministry

2019:  Motivations of Bible Characters (Noon Meetings)

Dean Cullinane

How to Say No

Charge That to My Account

Ransom and Reunion

How to Know God’s Will for Your Life

What images come to your mind when you hear of the word slavery?

Boats, now we're looking at actual images.

The word that rarely comes to mind, and there's a good reason for this, is freedom.

When we think of slavery, we rarely think of freedom, but I want you to imagine a slave that is introduced to the word freedom.

Can you imagine the difficulties that they might have in their mind comprehending such a concept?

There is a lot that the Bible has to say about slavery.

It's often those part of the Bibles that we like to jump over.

We like to pretend that they're not there.

You read Exodus chapter 20 and it's wonderful.

The 10 Commandments are there for all to see, but it's almost as if Exodus 21 and Exodus 22 just simply don't exist.

Because they might have a few things to say that we aren't too excited to hear.

But in my studies at least, I've seen that slavery is probably 1 of the most misunderstood things within the Scripture.

Slavery in the Scripture is what you and I today might call, invention servitude.

In fact, there were worse things than being a slave in the times of the Bible.

There were basically 3 categories within society.

There was of course the wealthy, and they contained their own slaves.

There was then the free, free from slavery, yet not a part of the wealthy, and then there were of course the slaves.

However, the hierarchy, it went something like this.

Of course, the wealthy sit on top of the pile, but it was the free, the free men and the free women, they made up the bottom.

The slaves were essentially what you and I might call the working class.

You see, it wasn't the best thing to be free.

In fact, it was more desirable to actually be a slave.

Because these slaves, at least if they were slaves of Christian owners within Christian nations, is the Bible instructed these Christian owners very, very clearly, you need to make sure that if you have slaves, that you look after them, that you treat them well, that you make sure that they're fed.

If you can, you make sure that not only when they become your slaves, but you take their family and you try and keep them together.

Every 7 years that pass, you make sure that you give them an opportunity to leave for free.

Such a concept would be rather strange if slavery in the Scripture was just what you and I picture when we look back a couple of hundred years in this country.

I mean, what slave would want to remain with their master?

The fact was it was simply like employment.

In fact if you were a free man, if you had no 1 by which you could run to, no 1 that could look after you, then you were essentially in greater danger than those that were slaves.

And there's a story in the Bible that speaks about 1 particular slave.

There's a story in the Bible that If you were at Cutler the night before last, I shared with you that I think that the most under-read book in the Bible is probably Songs of Solomon because it speaks about sex.

As Christians, we don't have anything to do with sex, really.

But if there's 1, especially in the New Testament, I think it's the letter that Paul writes to the slave owner Philemon.

Now Some of you are like, there's no book in the Bible called Philemon.

If you go to the book of Hebrews, it's just before that.

It is only 25 verses, and I believe contained within these 25 verses is the entire picture of the ministry of Christ.

Let's have a word of prayer before we break it down.

We pray that you would speak to us through your Word.

Father, whether it's something that we read every day or whether it's something that we've never read before.

Lord, we ask that you would make sense of it.

We ask that we would be able to learn from it.

We ask, Lord, that a change might even take place in our life today.

Paul in verse 1 is writing, it says, Notice that in Paul's time, they didn't have great cathedrals, they had church in houses.

They had social groups, they had small groups, they had prayer groups, if you would.

They just had small home churches for the most part, but it works.

For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are being refreshed by thee, brother.

In other words, Philemon is holding a house church and it's working well.

But Philemon is not writing this letter merely to congratulate, sorry, Paul is not writing this letter merely to congratulate Philemon on his hospitality.

He has something that he believes is extremely urgent and important.

This is Paul writing to Philemon, Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to command you to do what is appropriate, yet for love's sake I beg you." Listen to this.

Paul says, at this current moment in time, there is none on the face of the earth that has more authority in Christ than me.

A lot of the disciples have passed away Paul is responsible through the work of the Holy Spirit for writing the majority of the New Testament He said because of my position because of who I am Because as we see here, he's He's towards the end of his life.

He said I could be bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is right He hasn't told him what he's asking him to do yet But he's prefacing it by saying listen if I really wanted to I could force you I could command you to do this But he said instead of taking that step, in actual fact I'll beg you.

Can you imagine working under such leadership?

Series

2019: Motivations of Bible Characters (Noon Meetings)

Charge That to My Account

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Norman McNulty: The Book of Romans

Romans 3:20-31 “The Righteousness of God”

43m

SWYC 2012: As In the Days Of ...

In the Days of Moses

55m

Brian Hindman Weekend

The Secret of Spiritual Growth

46m

Abraham: Father of the End-time Faithful

Father Abraham: The Intercessor

53m

Christian Service

Christian Service: What is a Disciple?

41m

Crushing the Serpent’s Head: Victory in Christ

43m

Alistair Huong: Examining Our Motives

When Men Have Labor Pains

36m

Is My Christianity Real?

02 Is My Christianity Real?

28m

Winsome Prophecy

36m

Living with Uncertainty

54m

Plenary Sessions

Revived by the Spirit

1h 53m

Plenary

The Ancient Etiquette of Foot Washing

1h 38m

Sound Doctrine