Good morning.
It's just a real blessing to be here
this morning.
I'm blessed to hear the singing.
I just wanted to greet everybody in Jesus
name.
I'm thankful for the opportunity to gather together
and just wanted to welcome everybody who's visiting
and everybody who comes here regularly.
Welcome and thanks for coming.
Does anybody have any prayer requests this morning?
Why don't we stand?
Father, thank you for this morning and this
beautiful day and an opportunity to gather together
to try to edify each other, build each
other up, to hold each other accountable, to
admonish one another, to try to walk together
in your kingdom.
God, I just pray that your will would
be done here today.
We lift up to you some special prayer
requests this morning and help us all to
be honest, Lord, with truth and to continue
to push into it.
God, please edify us this morning and help
us to edify each other and keep us
humble.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
I wanted to ask you a question this
morning and it's just kind of a subject
I fell into this last week and I
wanted to ask, what does your mind go
to when you hear the word slavery?
Sure, a
huge blemish on our history.
You know, the slavery that was forced on
people of color here in the United States
and the atrocities of it even in its
mildest forms.
Any other thoughts?
Slavery.
Yeah.
Okay, sure, like being a slave to sin,
a slave to the world.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's good thoughts, Atlee.
That's actually a really good segue into what
I wanted to start with.
It's a little unusual, I guess, to do
this, but I was reading through the preface
of the English Standard Version and one particular
thing that they wanted to bring attention to
is the difficulty in translating from Greek the
idea of a slave or a type of
slave into English because there were different types
of slaves and depending on how the word
is used in its context, that determines what
kind of slavery they're talking about.
And as we study the New Testament, it's
important to understand what type of slavery they're
trying to bring out.
I'm just going to read a little excerpt
here from the preface of the ESV.
A particular difficulty is presented when words in
biblical Hebrew and Greek refer to ancient practices
and institutions that do not correspond directly to
those in the modern world.
Such is the case in the translation of
Ebed Hebrew and Dulos Greek, terms which are
often rendered slave in English.
These terms, however, actually range, cover a range
of relationships that requires a range of renderings.
Slave, bond servant, or servant, depending on the
context.
Further, the word slave currently carries associations with
the often brutal and dehumanizing institution of slavery,
particularly in 19th century America.
For this reason, the ESV translation of the
words Ebed and Dulos have been undertaken with
particular attention to their meanings in each specific
context.
Thus, in the Old Testament times, one might
enter slavery either voluntary, like to escape poverty
or to pay off a debt, or involuntarily,
by birth or being captured in battle or
by judicial sentence.
Protection for all in servitude in ancient Israel
was provided by the Mosaic law, including specific
provisions for release from slavery.
In New Testament times, a Dulos, which is
where we'll be today in the New Testament,
is often described as a bond servant, that
is, someone in the Roman Empire officially bound
under contract to serve his master for seven
years, except for those in Caesar's household in
Rome, who were contracted for 14 years.
When the contract expired, the person was freed,
given his wage that had been saved by
the master, and officially declared a freed man.
I kind of think like the closest thing,
at least in American history, that I could
think of to that would be like indentured
servitude, which is where somebody wanted to maybe
get to the new world and start a
new life here, but they could not pay
the expensive fare to get here.
That's just one example.
I think it had different forms.
Somebody here looking for farm help for an
extended period of time, and it could be
years, would pay their fare, and in return,
they would sort of work trade, and they
called that being an indentured servant.
Nonetheless, it could be, I mean, I think
it was a way to exploit people, even
though there was an exchange given and a
type of slavery.
The ESV usage thus seeks to express the
most fitting nuance of the meaning in each
context, where absolute ownership by a master is
envisaged, as in Romans chapter 6, slave is
used.
Where a more limited form of servitude is
in view, like bond servant, as in 1
Corinthians 7, 21 to 24, where the context
indicates a wide range of freedom, servant is
preferred.
Anyway, so the whole point of my reading
that is that in the Roman world, there
were different types of slavery, ranging from absolute
ownership, which would be similar to what we
had here in the United States, with a
middle ground of being sort of like an
indentured servant or a bond servant, and then
people that had more liberty.
I want to turn this morning to Philemon.
It's a short book, and it is the
book that most deals with slavery.
I was reading in a source recently just
about the Roman world and slavery.
It was a society that was very much
infused with slavery.
It was a very prominent thing.
There are estimates that up to 20%
of the population in the Roman Empire were
a form of a slave, some kind of
slave, up to 20%.
In the Roman Empire, slavery was not an
issue of race, but it was more of
circumstance.
And even though there were different degrees of
slaves, a slave was the absolute property of
a master without any rights.
There were rules in the Roman Empire that
govern, even though the slaves didn't have any
rights, there were rules about their treatment.
For example, if a slave was to be
sold, their family was expected to go with
them, even though marriages within the slaves or
the class of slaves were not recognized.
The slaves were commonly freed by masters also,
which I think is notable, as a reward
for serving well.
Now, as we read Philemon, I just think
it's important that we have that as a
backdrop, that there were different kinds of slavery.
It wasn't necessarily slavery like we understand here,
and everything we read is colored by the
fact that we have this American history and
slavery.
Conditions could be brutal.
I was reading about the types of slavery.
Some slaves would be in household work.
They became very close to their masters.
Their jobs were not hard.
Others were grueling.
The Romans had bathhouses, and some slaves were
assigned to stoke the fires in the bathhouse,
and it was brutal, brutal working conditions.
So, let's read Philemon.
I'm reading this morning from Philemon out of
the ESV.
I just thought it does a really good
job bringing out what was being communicated to
this man, Philemon.
Just to give you a little bit of
backdrop about Philemon, Philemon was a convert to
Christianity.
It seems that he had some money.
He had a house that people could meet
in.
He was considered a brother by Paul, and
the subject of the entire book of Philemon
is a runaway slave.
Philemon, or not Philemon, Onesimus.
Starting in verse one, Paul, a prisoner for
Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother, to Philemon,
our beloved fellow worker, and Apphia, our sister,
and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church
in your house.
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
Paul's got some pretty high praise for this
man, Philemon.
Because it's coming from Paul, I don't think
that it's flattery, but I think that it's
interesting to hear these praises of this man
leading up to something that Paul is going
to ask him to do, which was both
radical and very difficult.
And one thing that stands out to me
throughout the letter of Philemon is Paul's tact
with this man and consistent gentle pressure in
trying to stretch him into something that he
may not want to do.
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.
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.
This is where Paul starts to sort of
drop the bomb on Philemon.
Formerly he was useless to you, but now
he is indeed useful to you and to
me.
I am sending him back to you, sending
my very heart.
I would have been glad to keep him
with me in order that he might serve
me on your behalf during my imprisonment for
the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing
without your consent in order that your goodness
might not be by compulsion, but of your
own accord.
In other words, Paul's saying, I could command
you to do this, but I'm going to
beg you.
And I could keep this slave, Onesimus, but
I want you to choose to do the
right thing.
For this perhaps is why he was departed
from you for a while, that you might
have him back forever, no longer as a
bond servant, 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.
It's almost like Paul is saying to Philemon,
look at this golden opportunity you have.
You lost something that was a piece of
personal property, and you're going to get it
back as a brother in the Lord.
And I don't want this opportunity to pass
you by.
So I'm giving you the opportunity to do
the right thing.
So if you consider me your partner, receive
him as you would receive me.
And I just want that to sink in
for a minute, like that is a pretty,
Paul is a Roman citizen.
He is not a slave.
And he's asking somebody to receive somebody who
was personal property runoff at a loss back
in an equal status level as the Apostle
Paul, not for authority, not for apostleship or
anything like that, but just like to give
him, to extend it to him the same
respect that would be extended to Paul if
Paul were to be coming to the house.
If he has wronged you at all, or
owes you anything, charge that to my account.
I, Paul, write this with my own hand.
I will repay it to say nothing of
your owing me, even your own self.
Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you
in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ, confident of your
obedience.
I write to you knowing that you will
do even more than I say.
When I was a boy, we had this
family friend, and her name was Sharon.
She was a realtor.
And she was just one of the warmest
and friendliest people you could hope to meet.
But she was an incredibly shrewd businesswoman.
And I remember reading her letters to clients,
or maybe it was like, for some reason,
I got ahold of one of her letters,
like maybe to a homeowners association.
And she did this thing that I see
Paul doing here, where she's presenting somebody with
something they didn't even see coming, that they
have not committed to at all.
And then she would say, I want you
to do this, and I thank you in
advance.
Which, like, this person is reading this letter,
and they haven't committed to anything, and there's
this appeal within the letter to do something
that they may not want to do.
And then the person who's writing the letter
seals it with, thank you in advance.
Like, as a way of saying, I know
you'll do the right thing.
And I don't, I want to be careful,
like, I don't want to call what Paul
is doing manipulative.
But Paul is calling this guy to, like,
this guy who calls himself a brother, this
guy who hosts a church in his house,
to really put some action to his words.
And I just, I just find that really
humbling.
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.
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ, Jesus sends
greetings to you.
And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke,
my fellow workers.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be
with your spirit.
I think Paul is a guy who's a
master of using the framework of circumstances to
persuade his audience.
He uses the basis that, like, you're calling
yourself a Christian, and I'm calling you to
do the right thing.
I'm not commanding you, I'm just asking you,
and I'm confident that you will do the
right thing.
Other examples of that are, like, in the
book of Acts, when Paul says he's about
to be beaten with the rod, and he
says, tell me, is it lawful for you
to be a Roman citizen uncondemned?
And in another example, he says, they have
beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have
cast us into prison, and now do they
thrust us out privily?
Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and
fetch us out.
I'm not sure I can, like, I'm not
sure it's, like, within me to call on
people like Paul does to do things, and
yet I think we can learn from him
about, just in general, like, this is a
very, it's a very strong letter, and it's
a very tactful letter, too.
And I just admire that.
I admire that in Paul's writing, that he's
challenging this man to do something radical, something
incredibly difficult, and I think
that's a good model to ascribe to.
I want to kind of come back to
the issue at hand here, this slavery issue.
You know, we have, we kind of went
through what this letter is about.
There's a slave who's run away, it's an
isthmus, and then there's a man who is
a Christian, he's counted a brother, and yet
he's a slave owner.
And I've found, I find this troubling, like,
I have a couple questions.
Why does Paul address passages to slaves about
obedience to masters?
I think we all recognize that it's wrong
to treat other humans that way.
It violates the law of Christ about treating
our brother as ourselves, or not even a
brother, but just our fellow man, loving our
neighbor as ourselves.
It's a clear violation of the law of
Christ.
Also, why are their men counted as brothers
who own human property, or slaves?
I'm not sure I have all the answers
this morning, but I wanted to explore a
little bit.
Part of the answer, I think, through a
little bit of study, is that it's clear
that slavery was a foundational societal norm in
the Roman Empire.
Remember that up to 20% of the
Roman Empire population was enslaved in some form.
Therefore, it was inevitable that early converts would
include slave owners and slaves alike.
And so my thought is that it's very
likely that people who became Christians had to
transition out of what they were in, out
of what they were called out of, and
it involved somewhat of a process.
And I guess I think, especially talking about
non-resistance, one thing we always get challenged
with is, well, what about the soldiers in
the New Testament?
The silence on the subject doesn't mean that
those men stayed soldiers.
When we embrace Christianity, when we embrace following
Christ, it means that we're going to have
to do some changing.
And I feel like the same thing is
true of people who were just doing the
societal norm and engaging in slavery and slave
trades.
And therefore, there's a transition.
And I think we can piece together throughout
the New Testament that these people were transitioning.
Even so, it doesn't answer the moral question
of why Paul seems to instruct slaves to
bear their yoke of slavery.
In this country, and this is something that
I find deeply disturbing, churches defended, especially like
in the mid-1800s and on into even,
I would say, the turn of the century.
I don't think people just were like healed
after the Civil War was over.
I think a lot of people held on
to these things.
There was a defense from the pulpit, using
scripture to legitimize the practice of slavery.
Consider the book of Philemon with me.
Now, I don't think that it's fair to
say that those people who were making a
case for slavery were rightly using the scriptures.
Consider with me for a minute, just the
fact that the book of Philemon exists.
Paul is encouraging a slave owner to accept
his former runaway slave as a brother, and
likely a free man, offering to pay debts
that this man owed.
Consider these other passages pertaining to and probably
used to promote or defend slavery.
Let's turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse
1 and 2.
Let as many servants as are under the
yoke count their own masters worthy of all
honor, that the name of God and his
doctrine be not blasphemed.
And they that have believing masters, let them
not despise them because they are brethren, but
rather do them service because they are faithful
and beloved partakers of the benefit.
These things teach and exhort.
If that's the only letter or the only
evidence we have, it looks kind of bleak.
It almost looks like maybe those men and
women were right who were defending slavery 150
years ago.
But there are other passages too.
Let's look at Colossians chapter 3.
This was kind of a breakthrough passage for
me, and I just want to share it
with you.
Verses 22 to 25.
It's a lot of the same verbiage here
initially.
Servants, obey in all things your masters according
to the flesh, not with eye service as
men pleavers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God.
And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as
to the Lord and not unto men, knowing
that of the Lord you shall receive the
reward of the inheritance, for you serve the
Lord Christ.
But he that doeth wrong shall receive for
the wrong which he hath done.
And there is no respect of persons.
This is something like in 20th and 21st
century America that we really don't relate too
well.
And if this passage is taught on, it's
often about employers.
However, this is about slavery.
It can apply to employers, but you have
the freedom to leave your employer.
These people that are being addressed didn't.
This, I think, is a beautiful example of
an inappropriate place for a chapter break, because
we have to keep reading into verse one.
Masters, give unto your servants that which is
just and equal, knowing that you also have
a master in heaven.
I wanted especially to read this from the
King James.
That word equal means fair, but the translators,
for reasons that I don't know, picked the
word equal.
Now, just think for a minute.
If this is the charge that Paul is
giving to the church at Colossae, what are
the implications of that as a slave-owning
master in the church?
That you would give unto your servants that
which is just and equal, knowing that you
also have a master in heaven.
And when you think about the Sermon on
the Mount and the things that Jesus had
to say about loving our neighbors as ourselves,
there's not a whole lot of room there
for a subservient class of people.
I believe that this is part of that
transition that Paul is actually actively instructing the
Colossians in.
What would be the implications, perhaps, setting a
slave at liberty?
I like this side note here.
I just look a few verses further on,
verse seven here in chapter four.
Look who's there with Paul, who's actually going
to be delivering this letter and helping to
give people a rundown on the things that
are going down in Rome with Paul.
Who's there?
All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you,
who is a beloved brother and a faithful
minister and a fellow servant in the Lord,
whom I have sent unto you for the
same purpose, that he might know your estate
and comfort your hearts with Onesimus.
That's his coming.
The runaway slave's coming to the church of
Colossae.
I don't know.
That just really struck me.
That's who's going with Tychicus to share these
things with these people.
I don't know.
But does it matter?
I mean, does that change the fact that
he's sending a runaway slave to deliver this
epistle that has instructions to both slaves and
masters?
I just found that interesting.
Okay, one more, and then I'll be done.
Ephesians chapter six, verses five through nine.
Okay.
Bond of servants.
Remember, that's kind of a middle form of
slavery.
Obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling,
with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
not by the way of eye service as
people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart,
rendering service with a good will as to
the Lord and not to man, knowing that
whatever good anyone does, this he will receive
back from the Lord, whether he is a
bond servant or free.
Masters, do the same to them and stop
your threatening, knowing that he who is both
their master and yours is in heaven and
that there is no partiality with him.
There's no room for cruelty to slaves.
All are equal in the sight of our
master, and we should treat them accordingly as
the instruction here to the Ephesians.
Just wrap it up with some concluding thoughts
here.
The early church within the Roman Empire was
in the midst of a society that was
deeply involved in slavery.
It was ingrained within the society.
Paul had to deal with the reality that
new converts were going to be both slaves
and slave owners.
It was a reality.
And he had to instruct them through his
epistles to conform to the law of Christ
on this issue.
It doesn't seem enough to us, Paul's words,
I think at least it doesn't strike me
as enough sometimes when we have the American
history of brutality of slavery and not the
kingdom of God, but the society within which
it has existed has spurned it and condemned
its practice.
But think about it this way, to the
churches he was writing to, it would be
radical to treat slaves fairly and equally and
even release them.
Those are radical ideas to a society that
is actively engaged in slavery.
My main basis for my conclusion is the
very existence of the book of Philemon and
Paul's gentle and not so subtle pressure on
Philemon to receive Onesimus back as a brother,
as well as his epistles to other churches
that contain instructions to masters to be mindful
of slave treatment in light of their master,
their heavenly master.
And I don't think that it's totally irrelevant
just because we live in a society that
doesn't have slavery anymore.
I think that all, every one of us
is in transition trying to be more fully
conformed to the mind of Christ.
And there are things that we used to
formally do that we will find no longer
fitting that we have to forsake and move
past.
And slavery still exists in the world and
therefore these letters are still relevant today.
That's all I have.
I hope that wasn't too long.
God bless you all.
Yeah, thank you Max.
This is a topic I've thought a lot
about.
I find it very fascinating.
If you said it, I missed it, or
maybe you implied it.
I was kind of listening for it, but
maybe I missed it.
But to me the big glaring omission is
that we don't, we don't, somebody correct me.
Maybe I might be saying this wrong, but
I don't think that there's any teaching of
like, hey don't you guys, you guys are
Christians now.
You shouldn't be owning slaves.
Owning slaves is wrong.
Having human property is wrong.
Stop that.
It's bad.
It's sinful.
It's uncharitable.
It's ungodly.
It's not the Christian thing.
But rather we have instructions to be a
good master.
I don't, so I, I don't think there's
any, okay maybe before I say anything further,
I want to make the distinction, like, so
Max said this thing, like when we hear
slave we automatically think cruel, taskmaster, you just
this unkind, unthankful, proud owner of another human
being who demands lots of them and beats
them and stuff like, as though it's synonymous.
And I really want to make the distinction
there.
There is a difference between being a lord
or a master and being a cruel taskmaster.
I think it's how it's worded in one
place.
And we know this because, because we are
slaves.
We are absolutely owned by, by the Lord.
He is our master.
We absolutely, He absolutely owns us.
And there's no, there's no shame in it.
Like if, if we would have the right
attitude, we would embrace this position.
And I don't, if it's an, if, if,
if being a slave is, is a position
to be embraced with God, I don't see
why it couldn't also be embraced to be
the servant or to be owned of a
man.
And again, I want to clarify, like, I
don't, I don't think it has to look
the way that it's always, you know, that
we have, like, we have this picture of,
of American slavery, how that it's always bad.
We, we live in a time where, especially
here in America, but really all over the
world, it's because of this thing called the
industrial revolution.
Everything is different.
It's so vastly different that it's, it's almost
difficult to even comprehend how different things used
to be.
Things used to be such that if you
didn't, uh, if you had a job with
somebody, it was, that was a precious thing
and you did not want to lose it
because jobs were not easy.
Nowadays, jobs are easy to come by.
You quit one job, you go get another
job.
There's, it's just like, you don't even think
about it.
It's so easy to get a job.
And for most of human history, that was
not the case.
Like we have the story of the prodigal
son, like that guy, he had no op,
like his only job he could get was,
was where he was feeding pigs more than
he was getting paid.
Like he did not have any other, he
did not have any other options.
Like this is, this is, I think, typical
of how things used to be.
Um, many people were at the bottom and
they just didn't have opportunities.
If you didn't have a trade, if you
lost, or if you lost your job, you
would be in a terrible, terrible position.
And there were lots of, there was, there
was more people that wanted or needed work
or, uh, paying work of some kind than,
than there was work available.
Um, peop, people would have gladly, if there
was somebody who was going to give you
a place to stay and give you food,
you, you'd give your life for them.
Like you, you'd be grateful to do it.
Um, and, and the person who's taking care
of you and giving you work is really,
uh, what's the word I'm looking for?
Uh, but it would be very benevolent that
they would be like doing you a great
favor to, to be taking care of you
in exchange for your service.
Um, again, this, please try to separate what
I'm saying from somebody who's just proud and,
um, unkind and, and, and demanding, but, um,
kind of like this thing when Max said,
um, he gave this example of, of somebody
who wanted something to get, he gave the
example of getting, getting across the ocean on
a boat so badly that they, they make
an agreement.
If you can, if you can do this
for me, I'll just give you my whole
self.
Like what else, what other choice do I
have?
And that the problem comes, um, and, and
this is kind of what I would say
is kind of creeped into our entire mindset.
Imagine that you, you're so desperate.
You'd be so grateful if somebody would just
make you their servant and take care of
you and get you out of this terrible
position that you're in so that you can
take care of your family and you, they
make you this offer and you, they give
you the thing, they pay you up front,
they pay you ahead of time, something that
can't be taken back or paid back.
And then, and then you give your life
to them.
And then, and then you just, after a
while you just start thinking like, man, why
do I got to work for this guy?
What?
I mean, it's really like, um, I want
to say it's the devil in a lot
of cases, but just for the most part,
like this atmosphere has been created where people
can just despise their boss because they can
go get another job.
They're not dependent upon them.
And they can just be, eh, I can
get better wages for somebody else.
And it's, it's just, it creates this atmosphere
where there's not good bosses and there's not
good servants.
Um, that there's, there's, I say it's the
devil.
It's just kind of, it's probably just the
love of money.
Um, and I'm sure he's responsible, but it,
it calls out to, um, it calls out
to children.
You don't have to be under your parents.
Look at all this opportunity.
You can get out of their house and
it's easy.
Like you're not dependent upon them.
Wives aren't dependent upon their husbands anymore.
Like it's just, there's all this opportunity and
nobody has to serve anybody.
Like you, everybody can be your own man.
And I, I mean, I, I just want
to say like that it's not godly.
Like we, we don't, we don't see this
concept where God is telling, God is encouraging
people to get out, um, to be your
own man and don't serve another man.
Um, we ought not serve sin, but there's
no shame in serving a man.
Anyway, um, I, I just really want to,
we don't really have a context.
I don't, I don't think nearly anywhere on
the planet you can't, we can't say like,
you know, like it is in such and
such a place, like just even in the
poorest places, I don't think it's as desperate
as it, as it has been in times
past where these things were much more, uh,
much more reasonable.
I, um, I, anyway, I just like, I
just kind of want to especially make that
point.
Like we don't see God or any of
the servants of God encouraging people to long
for their freedom, um, or even tell people
who are, who, who have people in their
service that they really ought to be giving
people their freedom, but really just to be,
um, um, to be gracious and to be
good.
And, and kind of like when it, when
it says plainly, like, because remember, because you
also have a Lord, like this relationship that
we have with the Lord isn't bad.
And I, and I don't think necessarily a
slave master, um, relationship was, was bad at
all.
Um, anyway, I'd be glad for anybody to
corrections.
I don't want to say too much either,
but being as buddy opened it up anyway.
I agree with what he's been saying here.
I think there's, except one thing, didn't Paul
mentioned somewhere about if you can be free,
take it like in Romans somewhere.
Maybe I didn't look it up, but I
think just like, and I don't want, I
mean, this could, this could be a, a
half day's but, uh, and I think there
are still areas in the world, maybe that,
that people are in this situation where they
are basically, if not fully like a slave.
But I think, I think it's more complicated
than just like, if we have this thing
in our mind, like, okay, freedom, like, like
if, if, if such a master were to
come to Christ and just say, okay, now
you're free, go.
It's not always humane.
I don't think, I mean, like some of
these situations, if we, if we go back
to the American slaves, like, um, the, these
people that maybe for generations have been slaves,
and one day the master becomes a Christian,
if he then the next day turns around
and says, now you're all free, I'm no
longer, I have freed you, go.
You can go wherever you want, just go,
is not necessarily humane either.
I think there's much more, uh, to it.
There's more complications to it.
Um, and there's more responsibility for this master
that has become a Christian than, than just
the fact of signing free papers and saying,
so there could be a, there could be
a long, a long discussion along on this
matter.
But I, I think this master does have
a responsibility to act in a Christian manner
toward his slaves.
And if it were possible to free them
and set them on their feet, let them
go, if they want to go, that would
be preferred.
Um, anyway, I don't, there's more I could
say, but there's, there's, there's other, there's other
situations that we can look at in history.
Um, the serfs in Russia where they, they
served the, um, the landholders and, and they're
the same way.
Like, um, if you read any of Tolstoy,
uh, there, there, there's these pictures of, of
men that saw this thing and were striving,
like they, they battled with this question of
how to, how to free their serfs basically.
And it's not, it's not as easy as
just, there you go.
And I think there's more responsibility for one
that is in, in such a situation.
Although we have a, we have a harder
time of grappling with that in our mind
because of where we're at, uh, in this
society.
Um, anyway, my, my mind's been going all
over the place.
I don't know that I have a, any
specific disagreement, um, other than just to point
out what Buddy was trying to point out
as well, that it's not just a flat,
um, a flat question and, and a flat
answer, if you will.
Yeah, it might be unnecessary for me to
add my voice or opinion here, but, um,
I did find it very, a very good
lesson, very good comments here.
Um, and it is one of, I guess
I kind of felt like Leroy, just like,
man, I've, I've grappled with some of these
thoughts for a long time and I, uh,
and still do like, and, and what I,
what I think is something like, I think,
I think Max is emphasizing like, uh, the
error of masters who are not cruel, who,
who are, who are like taking advantage of
servants.
And, and yet when I, all these passages
that Max read, like, there is an instruction
to both the master and the servant.
And, and I, I think we do well
to, to see both of them.
Like, I agree with what Buddy said, like,
it's not, not, not every, not every master
was what we think of when we first
think about slavery.
Like, oh man, people driving men in the
heat, uh, and whipping men and, and that
those things happen.
They're, they're completely wrong.
But sometimes I've read stories of like, I've
read stories of, of people who owned servants
and were such, such good and benevolent masters
and, and servants who had such a, such
a, um, in, in Uncle Tom's cabin, Uncle
Tom is the person that comes to my
mind, such a heart of Christ that like,
the whole picture, the whole picture looks really
beautiful.
Um, like it looks, it looks like, wow,
here is a man who, who is a,
who is a master like unto God is
our master.
And here is a servant like unto how
we are a servant.
And it's almost beautiful.
And I just don't have, I guess because
of these instructions that we have for both
people, I have struggled with what to think
about people who worked on the underground railroad
in America and helped run away slaves.
And, and I've often come to the conclusion
that like, I think that was wrong.
And then, and then some brother Joseph's not
here, but he sometimes challenged me, well, what,
you know, what, what would you do if
one of your daughters was somehow became a
slave, like to some evil man who used,
you know, who used her for money.
And it's like, Oh man.
Yeah.
Or, or maybe not even just my own
daughter, like any, any, any woman, like, I
don't have the answer to all those questions,
but, but there is, I think there is
something that we have in the kingdom of
God that the world cannot have and worldly
governments cannot have because, because the kingdom of
God only functions and only governs if, if
it is by choice and free will that
somebody enters it.
It's why his kingdom is different from this
world.
The other, not too long ago, Joseph and
I were having this conversation with a man
in Springfield who had a, who had a
Black Lives Matter shirt on.
And, and, and it was because of that
shirt that we struck up a conversation and
somewhere in the conversation, he, he was saying
something like, I think Joseph started saying, if
we would all follow Jesus teachings and he,
this man interrupted and said, we'd all be
socialists.
And, and I said something like, okay, if,
if we all, like, if we all follow
Jesus teachings, we would all like, in a
sense, be socialists in the level that we
would look out for our neighbor.
We would love our neighbor as ourself.
We would not have what another needs.
And we have abundance and another has need.
However, I said that the, you know, what,
what's being pushed in, in a socialistic government
is theft because it is theft to take
from a rich man and give it to
a poor man.
And, and, and then it was later, the,
the more I thought about that, the more
I thought like, okay, yeah.
And the reason, the reason it never works
in government is because you can never get
a whole society willing to, to do that.
And if, if there's not a free will
willingness to do that, then it becomes this,
then it becomes this dictating authoritarian thing with
cruelty, with it, it has to be, it
has to be done with guns and swords.
And that, that is also what, what, what
happens in, in slavery and like people will,
will maintain them with guns and swords, with
violence, with power.
But, but in the kingdom of God, like
we can instruct both, we can instruct both
people, like the same thing that Paul instructs
Philemon, like, treat this man as an, as
a brother.
He, receive him as if you were receiving
me.
And, and, and, and don't, don't think that,
don't think that you, you, you own him
in a way that you can take advantage
from him.
But, but at the same time, I think
he is also like saying to, uh, to
Anesimus, like, you need to go back to
him.
I don't, I don't want to do something
with you without his consent.
You, you to some level belong to him.
And, um, anyway, those are, those are some
of my thoughts.
My comments are not going to be as
long as Leroy's and brother, um, buddy's and,
um, Dwayne's.
Thank you, Aaron.
You're going to speak before the night's over,
brother Aaron, you will speak, but, uh, thanks
Max.
You did, you did a lot on, um,
you edified the book of Philemon.
Uh, my memory verse of Philemon is verse
five.
I try to memorize a verse from every
book in the Bible, but verse five, hearing
of your love and faith, which thou has
to Lord and all the saints, the love
and faith.
And what does Philemon mean, Daniel?
Anyone know Philemon, Lloyd Philemon, love, love something.
Philos means love.
So what's the Illamon?
Philemon, what's Philemon?
It must mean lover of people or lover
of what?
It has a, it has a definition, Philos.
But anyway, my quick comment before a demo
is that, uh, yeah, thank you, Max.
I mean the insight of Paul.
Okay.
I don't mean to boast, but Hey, let
me tell you about myself.
You know, he says, I don't be a
fool in both Corinthians, but let me tell
you about all my things.
And then, uh, and then in this one
in Philemon, he says, uh, now, you know,
make, send them free and all this and,
you know, Oh, but by the way, you
owe me your very life.
You know, that that's the key.
You know, I know you, but you owe
me your very life.
And like you said, uh, Max about, uh,
Oh, he's in the bathroom, but you said,
uh, he was about to be beat.
And he says, is it lawful for you
to beat a Roman citizen?
You know, he, he, he had a shrewd
way and he knew exactly what he was
saying.
The Lord be magnified.
Amen.
Praise the Lord for the word.
Um, I don't know if Philemon was written
before Colossians, but they, both of the epistles
were written from Rome.
So brother, um, Robert, um, had asked before
about the, um, if it was written before,
uh, before or after, I guess we should
try to find the word did, um, Philemon
leave.
So we could kind of find if, if
both letters were sent at the same time.
And then when Onesimus was going with the
letter of Colossians and the letter of, of,
of Philemon, um, to Philemon, he, if he
went like looking on the map and trying
to determine where Philemon was, um, I think
Philemon means the lover of one.
Yeah.
Um, I don't know.
Is that, is that what it is?
The lover of one.
Yeah.
Um, we see in the, in the old
covenant, the mercy towards, um, people that, that
owed others or could not pay.
And then they were allowed to sell themselves
as slaves in order to, to pay for
the debt.
And, um, if the debt was so great
that they could not pay for it after
a long period of time, every 50 years,
they had the year of Jubilee.
So all, all debts were forgiven.
So if I owed brother Dwayne money and
working for him for 49 years was not
enough, um, to pay for it on the
50 year, he would have to forgive me
and let me free, forgive all the debt,
which was something, I guess was something good.
Um, the other thing is, um, like there
was, if the masters, um, dealing with, with,
with the slave cause the slave to be
hurt, like if you smite your servant's eye
and the eye perishes, you let him go
for the eye sake.
And if the, the maiden, uh, had her
tooth broken because of the master striking her,
uh, she should be let go free, free
to, to go away because of the tooth
sake to, um, slavery was not, um, we,
you think about, um, this black, um, slavery
kind of thing in America.
It was the same in Brazil.
Um, the slave trade went down there too.
There are places that like, if you go
to Rio de Janeiro, um, the vast majority
of the population, there are black people.
Um, the favelas, the slums, very, very dangerous
places in Brazil are, are called favelas.
And, um, the situation is so bad that
you could find little children walking with guns
that not even the police had.
That's so, so sad.
It was, uh, I lived in one of
the slums.
It's called the city of God.
I guess the founders were Christians because many
of the streets there have Bible names.
Um, even have a Bible plaza there, a
Bible park.
Um, so when they, they were set free,
kind of like the government, all right, you're,
there was a princess that she signed the
letter saying that they should be let go.
I think that's when that happened.
Um, if anybody has more information on Brazilian
history, let me know, but it looks like
they, they were not allowed to be in
the rich areas of society.
So they were margin marginalized towards the slums
here in America, rich people will live in
the hills and mountains in Brazil.
It's the opposite.
It's the poor, like you go to the,
to the mountains in Rio de Janeiro, you're
going to find the dangerous communities.
Um, it's, it's, they, they were set free,
but there was no mercy from the government
towards them.
All right.
You're free to go, but don't come down
here.
You better go to the mountain.
And the situation is so sad that people,
they're the only thing they know how to
do very well is drug dealing.
Like they don't have a, they don't have
maybe birth certificates or ID cards or things
like that.
If you go to Brazil and you're going
to reach those people, you have to teach
them how to work after they, they get
converted because they don't know how to work.
They know how to do crime.
Yeah.
And Daniel and I will translate for you.
Um, I guess I lost my train of
thought here.
Oh yeah.
Um, I think when, when Christians, if Christians
were owning slaves, I don't know, I don't
know if Brazil, Brazilian Christians had this kind
of thing.
I never heard of such a thing down
there in Christian.
If, if it was something, it was, it
was very little, but here in America, there
is this, oh, you know, preaching from the
pulpit that it's right to own slaves.
But I think if they really understood what
that meant to be a slave or to
be a servant, um, like Galatians, right?
It says, uh, that everyone that has been
baptized, uh, in Christ, they have put on
Christ and, and therefore now there is no
June or Greek nor bond nor free.
We're all one.
There's no male nor female.
And people will twist that and say all
sorts of things about the genders probably.
But what it's saying there is there is
an equality, the word equal that brother Max
said there, um, it can also mean fair.
Like there's this fairness in the kingdom of
God that God does not discriminate, um, between
the poor and the rich, the black and
the white, the male and the female, the
bond and free.
And in Christ, we're all made free, right?
I, I, I guess, um, there's diverse that
talks like, um, a brother mentioned before, like
if you're able to be free, go, go
free.
And what it reminds me of the old
Testament, the word bond bonds, bond slave or
bond bond servant was this man that he
was a slave to this master that was
very kind to him.
He gave him a wife, he treated him
very well and provided everything he needed.
It was never a striker against him.
And then the time for his release came
and then he had to go, but he
could choose to stay.
So he would say, no, I don't want
to leave.
This is a good master.
He's very kind to me.
So I want to stay with him.
And so he would go to the, to
the judges and then they would put a
nail through his ear or some, some kind
of signal that would say, this man is
a slave by his own choice and he
can never be set free because he chose
to be bound for life.
I guess that's the feature of Christians that
Christ has set us free from sin.
Now we can choose to go being a
slave to righteousness as was said before, or
we can choose to go back to sin
and be a slave to sin.
May God help us.
May we be a child of God each
day.
My life will shine out of the grave.
I'll sing His praise while ages grow old.
And strive to help some troubled soul.
For my seeming time is sinking low.
A few more days and I must go
to meet the needs that I have found.
Where there will be no setting sun.
The only life that will endure Is life
that's kind and good and pure And so
for God I'll take my stand Each day
I'll lend a helping hand.
My seeming time is sinking low.
A few more days and I must go
to meet the needs that I have found.
Where there will be no setting sun.
I'll have someone in time of need.
And journey on with gladness in.
God help us in the poor and weak.
And words of kindness to them speak.
My seeming time is sinking low.
A few more days and I must go
to meet the needs that I have found.
Where there will be no setting sun.
From the beginning of life's weary road.
My seeming time is sinking low.
A few more days and I must go
to meet the needs that I have found.
Where there will be no setting sun.
God guide you in some troubled road.
Where there will be no setting sun.
God guide you in some troubled road.
A few more days and I must go
to meet the needs that I have found.
Where
there
will be no setting sun.
Where there will be no setting sun.
We cannot contain it.
Or open the windows of heaven to it.
There's so many living in our presence here.
They know not the Savior.
Have no peace within.
But we know that we should hide.
But all are repenting.
For this we do cry.
Open the windows.
And pour out a blessing.
Shower your power upon us we pray.
Send such a blessing.
We cannot contain it.
Or open the windows of heaven to it.
Sometimes I am weary.
And heavy and worn.
I'm crushed by the tender.
And greedy and torn.
I go back to Jesus.
With tears on my face.
And cry out for mercy.
His love and his grace.
Open the windows.
And pour out a blessing.
Shower your power upon us we pray.
Send such a blessing.
We cannot contain it.
Or open the windows of heaven to it.
So while this your power is so
strong.
The yesterday's blessings are all past and gone.
Once again we can see.
And humbly we pray.
And that's why we echo our voices to
say.
Open the windows.
And pour out a blessing.
Shower your power upon us we pray.
Send such a blessing.
We cannot contain it.
Or open the windows of heaven to it.
Lord, I confess you.
I confess you.
In this meeting you do.
My rising and my resting place.
My heart and flesh is all in this
place.
My love's before, they are my own.
Heart and my God is still in me
now.
He knows the words I need to see.
There from my own knee.
Within my surfing mouth I stand.
On every side I find I am.
Come with us we can go
abroad.
Eyes and ears to the living God.
O may these mountains my
rest.
Wherever I roam, wherever I
rest.
More than my weaker passions
bear.
Consensus in full rise.