Transcript: Finding Times of Refreshing with Dr. Johnson Cherian's Sermon

Praise the Lord. Welcome to this meeting this morning. I greet you all in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's turn to the Word of God this day. Let it be a blessing to each one of our lives. Acts chapter 3 verses 19 and 20. Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. That you may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before. And the second passage that I am reading is from 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 16 to 18, where we read, The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day. And you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. The word that we will be focusing on this day is refreshing. Now God wants to refresh us in our lives and also God expects us that we refresh others as we live our Christian lives. We will be talking about that this morning. We know that in Acts chapter 3 there is a great miracle that is happening. Peter and John they go to the temple and a man who is lame from birth is healed. And all the people gather together and they run to Peter. They are awestruck by what has happened and then Peter starts preaching to them. And then he tells them about this part where we read that he tells them to confess and be converted that your sins may be blotted out and refreshing may come upon your life. Now the first part of the message is this, that God wants some refreshing to come upon our lives. Sometimes we go spiritually dry and God really wants to revive us. Refresh, the word means, you know, renovating or reinvigorating. There are many meanings to that, restoring. And it is God's intention that some of us who have gone through dry spells in our spiritual life because of situations or calamities that have come upon our lives, God desires that He restores us. and the second part as I said that God desires that we do the same for other people too. Now if you turn to the book of Ezra chapter 9 for a little while now the word revival is not mentioned too many times in the word of God but we read in Ezra chapter 9 of this word revival. Ezra chapter 9 and verse 8 and now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. Here is the word revival that we read in the word of God and it is found in the book of Ezra chapter 9 and verse 8. But we have to go to a few verses before that to see what Ezra really is meaning here. If we read chapter 9 and verse 2, he says, For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the rulers and leaders has been foremost in this trespass. So, when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe and plucked out some of my hair and beard and sat down astonished. Now, in this chapter we read about Ezra praying for revival to God. Now what had happened was the people who had come from Babylon, they started experiencing difficulties in their lives and the people started asking and seeking the face of the Lord and buried Ezra, finding out what the problem really was. The thing was that the people of God, the holy people, they were supposed to be holy people. They were God's own people. They had mixed themselves with the Gentiles and married some of the women and the men there. And that's why great calamities had come upon their lives. So the first thing that we must understand in our life is wherever we break God's law, wherever we break God's word, a lot of problems come into our lives. And we as Christians and New Testament believers, we know that we are, you know, born by God's word. But still, we sometimes do the wrong things because we are rebellious to God. But we must always remember that God honors the person who honors his word. Whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament, when the laws were given, God wanted that his people should keep the word. and even now, even today, He desires that each one of us keeps His word. Praise the Lord. From the book of Matthew to the book of Revelation, there are so many laws and commands that are given. It's not like the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament where Moses told the people that they had to keep the commandments of God, but God expects us to obey His word. And when we obey His word, He's pleased with our lives. It's not that we won't go through difficulties in our lives, problems in our lives, but God really honors a person or he respects a person who trembles at his word. Praise the Lord. We have lost that kind of a devotion to God and to his word. Praise the Lord. So as we look at revival to come into our lives, the first thing that we should know is that, you know, there are sins and unrighteousness in our lives that causes, you know, a dry spell to come into our lives. Praise the Lord. And once we realize that and we repent of those things, then when we repent, God sends a time of refreshing into our lives. And as we read in Acts chapter 3, it was a long time that the people of God, they had dishonored the word of God, the laws that were given to them. They were not living close to God and that's why they were going through several kinds of problems in their lives. They were barren in their spiritual lives and they could not understand many things that were happening. They even rejected Jesus who had come into their midst. And now they had killed Jesus, crucified him. Jesus was resurrected. But many of them did not even believe in that. Even now, so many of the Jews, they don't believe that Jesus came and they are still waiting for the first coming of Jesus Christ. So we who believe in faith, we are more blessed than those into their midst Jesus had come but they did not believe so Ezra here is crying and praying to the Lord now the things that they did in the Old Testament we never do or we rarely do we see that when he heard these things he tore his garment and his robe plucked out his hair and beard and he sat down astonished that kind of a realization of our sins and our transgressions I think people rarely do these days there is no real repentance from the heart or crying in the presence of God that they have you know forsaken the word of God praise the Lord but this day I tell you that if you want a refreshment in your life a revival in your life, you want to see God again come and do great things in your life you need to go back to the word of God and see what he has written in his word, many of the things that you have transgressed from the word of God and the laws are very simple. God's word is simple. It's not very difficult to understand the things that he has told us as human beings, what we have to do as husbands, as wives, as children, as parents. You know, everything is given in the word of God. He has detailed us how to live and how to deal with other people. So when you hear these words, if it really touches your heart, you will really seek the Lord as you should seek Him. Praise the Lord. And we read in verse 4 there, Then everyone who trembled at the words of God of Israel, assemble to me. Praise the Lord. That kind of a devotion to God, if it can develop in our lives once again, and the generation that we are in, the new generation or the young generation, they do not have that kind of a devotion to God. They neither tremble at the word of God or have any devotion to God's word in that way. Everyone who trembled at the words of God of Israel assembled to me is what Ezra writes because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. How much time do we spend in really looking at our lives and pondering upon the things that we do in our lives, pondering upon the things that we say in our lives? Praise the Lord. In Psalm 4, we read the psalmist is exhorting us as he is lying on the bed. Think about the things that he has done all through the day. Meditate upon the things that a person has done during the day. Praise the Lord. So once you know what transgression you have done, many of us do not even know what transgressions or what unrighteousness we do in our lives, what is not pleasing to God because we do not meditate on the God enough. Meditate on the word of God enough. And when you meditate, you will really know that, you know, God is speaking to you and he will speak to your heart very clearly. He will speak to you. Those who tremble at the words of God, that is a person that God seeks. That is a person that God wants to bless who trembles at his word. Praise the Lord. and then Ezra goes into the presence of God in verse 5, at the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting in the olden days people you know fasted and prayed in the presence of God, fasting is good it brings about a cleansing in our lives, fasting and praying together it brings about a cleansing in our lives many of us go through sicknesses in our lives, long term sicknesses And fasting may be a problem in our lives, but if we make it a point, we can really fast for a certain time in a day and be in the presence of God with fasting and prayer. At the evening sacrifice, I rose from my fasting. So realization of our sin is one. Second, trembling in the presence of God, trembling at the word of God. and here Ezra wanted to really know the Lord's mind that's why he fasted and he says at the evening sacrifice I rose my fasting and having torn my garment and robe I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God praise the Lord that kind of an attitude in the presence of God and in that book of Ezra We read many times, the good hand of the Lord was upon me. If you want the good hand of the Lord to be upon you, have an attitude like this man, Ezra, who learned the word of God, who taught the word of God and he applied the word of God into his life, the laws of Moses, because they did not have the New Testament at that time. He fell on his knees and spread out his hands to the Lord, his God. And he said, Oh my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you, God. How easily we confess our sins to God in a sentence and finish it off. Every morning and every evening, I am not judging anyone. I do it myself. We pray and we just say, Lord, forgive me for all my sins and my unrighteousness. we do not go over the things that we have done in that day. We just say it. Of course, God forgives. The thing is, do we really go back to what we have done in a day's time and think about it and pray to God and seek His face regarding that like Ezra did. He said I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift my face to you my God Praise the Lord For our iniquities have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Praise the Lord. The sin and unrighteousness, we may just, you know, think that it is nothing in our lives, but God is always watching. Praise the Lord. He is watching upon our lives, everything that we say, everything that we do. And he wants to bless us. He wants to bless each one of us. But sometimes when we transgress the word of God, when we do not take the word of God into our lives and apply it into our lives, then certain blessings are blocked in our lives. Praise the Lord. And nowadays we talk about genetic diseases and all that. Sicknesses are passed on from one generation to another generation and all those things. In the Bible there was no such thing. There was the sin of the fathers and the forefathers. Praise the Lord. And Ezra prays, since the days of our fathers, to this day we have been very guilty. in the Old Testament it was written that you know the sins of the fathers and the forefathers up to the third and fourth generation God would punish them but then when we come to the book of Ezekiel we read that if a person comes to the Lord and confesses his sin and lives a good life in the presence of God the curses that were there on the fathers and forefathers would not come upon their lives praise the Lord so God is a righteous God and here Ezra cries to God and he says from the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty and for our iniquities we are kings and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the land to the sword and to captivity and to plunder and to humiliation as it is this day and here is the word verse that we read about revival and now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God grace changes everything in our lives they were in the land of Babylon they did not know what to do but then God showed grace to them to leave us a remnant to escape remember that even Christians it will be just a remnant who reaches the presence of God from the billions and billions of Christians so called Christians who are in the world there will be just a remnant who live with God in the end because Jesus himself said that narrow is the way and narrow is the path and narrow is the door also that leads to eternal life and as Allah says now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. Praise the Lord. So if you feel that you have been born by several circumstances in your life and you are praying and seeking God's face for a refreshing in your life, a revival in your life, go back and check your life and see how it is. The ways that you deal. You want God to bless you. Go back to his word. And meditate on his word. And he will speak to you. Where you have gone wrong. And he will direct you in the path. That you have to take. And there is no other way for a Christian to be blessed. But by obeying the word of God. It's not by going to conventions where they say that God is going to bless you. And bless you and bless you. Praise the Lord. God does bless but he also expects us to obey his word and abide by his word. Now for a little while, grace has been shown from the Lord our God. The people who are left in Babylon, not all of them survived but they came back in three companies. And here Ezra is speaking to the people and he says that this is because of grace that has been shown upon your lives. and grace has been poured upon our lives too, each of our lives in abundance and that grace we should accept it and be thankful to God for it. There will be just a remnant left and he says that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. Praise the Lord. This morning I want to exhort you to go back to the word if you want a time of refreshing in your life. As Peter preached there, he says, a time of refreshing may come upon your life. And that happens when you are obedient to God and listen to His word and live according to it. Praise the Lord. They were slaves. They were not supposed to be slaves. And some of us are slaves to sin when we are supposed to be slaves to righteousness. And here Ezra very clearly says in verse 9, for we were slaves. The people of God, how did they land up in slavery? It was only because of their disobedience that they landed up in slavery. Even before entering the land of Canaan, God had told them, you shall not, you shall not, you shall not do these things. And you shall do, you shall do, you shall do these things. That's the book of Deuteronomy. The laws for the people of God. and because they broke the laws they landed up in slavery. Many of them were taken into Assyria. Many of them were taken into Babylon. For we were slaves yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage. The very thing that we are alive and still living and worshipping this morning is that God has not forsaken us. Even though some of us are in bondage our God has not forsaken us. God did not forsake us in our bondage but he extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia to revive us, to repair the house of our God to rebuild its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. So what God has in his mind is good for your life. As we read in the book of Jeremiah he has good plans for your life but he wants you to abide by his word and if you are not willing to do that you are going into a time of problems again in your life. God wanted to do them good. Even before they went into the land of Babylon, he wanted to bring them back. He gave them promises that I will bring you back. I will bless you. That's why Ezra says he extended mercy to us in the sights of the king of Persia. You know that Cyrus made the decree that they could return to their land. But who does that? it is God himself who touches the hearts of people. And if things are not working in your life, if people are against you, they have put hindrances in your life, go back to the word. See where you have gone wrong. And repent and confess and do the right things and God will see that you are blessed in your life. And what did God have in his mind? He wanted to revive them, to repair the house of their God because they did not have a temple anymore to worship God. Their land was in ruins. Their city was in ruins. And there was not even a wall. And we know that Nehemiah was the one who built the walls of Jerusalem. And to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. Ezra continues his prayer and he says, And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments which you commanded by your servants, the prophet saying, The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land. With the uncleanness of the peoples of the land, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with impurity. And we are living in a world that is filled with all kinds of filth. But then God expects us to keep ourselves clean. Praise the Lord. God expects us to keep ourselves clean. And that is only by confessing and being in the presence of God, realizing what our sins are, realizing what our unrighteousness are. You may just reject the message that I am saying, but one year after this, your condition would not have changed. But those who accept the word of God, they tremble at his word, they accept it, you know, humbling themselves in the presence of God. It is very difficult for some of us to humble ourselves. if we humble ourselves really God will see to us that he brings a revival in our lives he will restore us, he will renew us he will reinvigorate us in our lives he wants this time of refreshing to come I have heard many people preaching regarding this refreshing from the Lord but they leave out the first part where you have to go back to God and live a life that is pleasing to God. Only then the time of refreshing will come into your lives. Praise the Lord. So if you want that revival to come into your life, if you want God to renew your life, your spiritual life, your life as a whole, go back to His Word. Go into His presence. If possible, fast in the presence of God. See what He says. He will speak to you. Definitely He speaks to all His children. You can't say that he doesn't speak to me. He must be speaking to you this morning. Praise the Lord, he must have spoken to you through the songs. You may be wondering why you are passing through all those difficult circumstances in your life. Remember that it is all for his glory, though you may not understand it any. You may look back at your life and think that why you passed through all those things. And this morning I was meditating on the life of Hagar. I was thinking why she passed through. she became a single mother she had a son to take care of and who had pushed her into that situation her husband Abraham or God knew everything about it God told Abraham send her away what must have been God's purpose in saying that and doing that some of the things you may never understand in your life and all through the time she was in the wilderness of Beersheba Simosev wondered and wondered what her sin was because it was not her who made fun of Isaac it was Ishmael and she was sent out and her son was sent out and God also said okay to it so many other things that you may go through in your life you may never understand it why? until you reach eternity and God will tell you what his purpose was praise the Lord and as we sang let it all be for your glory it's very difficult that man who sang that song he went to a very difficult time he lost the son of his and he sings let it all be for your glory praise the Lord so if you want a revival in your life a renewal in your life his Holy Spirit is speaking to you go back to his word tremble at his word and Ezra and the people of Israel did rectify your wrongs you can't just confess it but you have to rectify the wrongs that you have done praise the Lord there are things that you do against God there are things that you do against people you have to rectify all those things then only your life will fall into place and give importance to God rather than other things in your life as a Christian your spiritual should come first then everything else give time to God give time to his word give time to his work praise the Lord give time to your family it all very important So the first part of what I spoke was times of refreshing from the Lord. And why does God refresh us? So that we may do the same in the life of other people. Why does God heal us? That we may bring healing in the life of other people. Why does God comfort us? Paul very clearly says that, you know, with the comfort that we have received from God, we are able to comfort others. Praise the Lord. So you are a living testimony for Jesus Christ. If God has healed you, you have to go out and tell other people that Jesus did this in your life. The dominic of Gerasenes, he wanted to tell everyone what God had done in his life. Praise the Lord. He went to ten cities is what the word of God says. And he proclaimed the name of Jesus. Start with your family. Start with your relatives. Start with your friends. And then go out. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and up to the ends of the earth. But start somewhere at least. Bring a revival in the life of others is what God is saying. The second thing that God wants to tell you this day. and Paul in his letters he writes about specific people who brought about refreshing in his life praise the Lord when you speak with people what do you bring to their lives just ask yourself a question do you bring depression into their lives do you bring do you make them cry or do you bring laughter into their lives you bring refreshing into their lives you bring peace into their lives You bring comfort into their lives. You know, in many situations, you may not be able to do anything in a person's life, but you speak a few words of comfort, and that would be a great bomb upon their lives. You may think that it's a hopeless situation, but when you speak those words of comfort from your mouth, that will be a great bomb in their lives. You know that it's a hopeless situation. A person who is suffering, a person who is paralyzed, you cannot do anything about it. You know that even if you pray, nothing will happen there. Yet, if you can just sit by that person for a while, if you can just read the word of God to that person for a while, if you can just speak a few words of comfort into that person's life, you have done a great thing. Praise the Lord. And Jesus said that, you know, even if you give a cup of cold water to anyone else, you will not lose your reward. We are not doing these things for reward. We are doing it because we love Jesus. And Paul very specifically writes, you know, people who brought refreshing into his life. I will be speaking about two people today. But he also writes about others whom we don't even know about. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 17 and 18. I am glad about the coming of Stephanus, Fortunatus and Achaius. For what was lacking on your part they supplied. For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men. Who remembers all these people? Stephanus, Fortunatus and Achaius. You don't even know about them. You may have read about them but just read those verses and gone ahead. They are not important to us. But to Paul they were important. so who are the people who are important in your life know your friends who are your real friends and there will be very few of them who really care about you who really pray about you who really are there to comfort you in your troubles praise the Lord you may have many friends but who are the real friends you will find out in your times of trouble and Paul here says that what certain people who brought refreshing into his life. He was grateful to them. He was thankful to them. He says, therefore, acknowledge such men. Praise the Lord. He is not telling them that they preach great sermons or they prophesied upon his life. No, he is saying that what was lacking on your part, they supplied for they refreshed my spirit. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. And praise God for each and every person who brings a refreshing into your life, who lifts a burden in your life. Another explanation of this word, you know, refreshing is lifting a burden. When some people talk to you, you see that the burdens in your life are lifted. Praise the Lord. It may be nothing. It may be just a sentence that they speak, but your burden is lifted. But there may be others who speak to you and then you will be burdened the whole day and the next day and the next week. What shall I say? Praise God for such people too. Look at the life of Abraham. He was sitting by the tents of Mamre and then here three people come into his house and Abraham runs to them. That kind of an attitude. He runs to them and he says, My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by on your servant. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree and I will bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh your hearts. That kind of an attitude Abraham had in his life. Three strangers. But he knew that one of them was God himself who had come. So if you have the discernment you will know whom God has sent. praise the Lord many believers because they lack discernment in their lives they land up with wrong people they land up in the wrong company and their spiritual life is also destroyed so always be careful with whom you associate yourselves that is very important the people that you associate yourselves with even Christians they can bring about the destruction of your spiritual life also. Abraham knew that one of them was God himself and he says, I will bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by inasmuch as you have come to your servant. They said, do as you have said. And we know what happened in the life of Abraham that day. There is a blessing for refreshing the hearts of other people. You may not know it. Abraham did not know that they had come to give a specific message to that house that day. A specific prophecy to that house this day. And then, Abraham, he arranges everything, a good meal for them. He runs to Sarah and he says, quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal, knead and make cakes. And Abraham, he runs to the herd, takes a tender and good calf and gives it to the young man and hastens to prepare it. And then he took the butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared and set it before them and he stood by them under the tree as they ate and then the word of the Lord comes to him praise the Lord and they said to him where is your wife Sarah and we know what happened after that I will visit you at the time at the appointed time and Sarah will bear a son so there is a benefit there is a blessing in refreshing the hearts of other people as Paul here says and thanks that there were people in his life who brought refreshing. And Paul also writes in his letter about people who troubled him. Alexander, Hymenius. There were people who troubled him in his life. And he writes about them too. And we know in our lives people who are on us, who are for us and people who are against us. Praise the Lord. Now let's come to the words that I read in the beginning. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 16 to 18. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus. We don't talk much about this man, but he was a real blessing to Paul. He was from Ephesus and he made a long journey to see Paul in prison. Who would want to go and visit a person who is in prison? you want to keep away from such a person but this man on a sea forest he travels to Rome takes all the trouble to travel to Rome and to meet Paul in prison and Paul says let the Lord show mercy on his household praise the Lord blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy there is another blessing also there in the Beatitudes which says blessed are the peacemakers they shall be called the sons of God if you are a person who shows mercy God will show mercy to you also, grant mercy to you and your household too as Paul prays here for honesty for us and says the Lord grant mercy to the household of honesty for us for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain praise the Lord he was not ashamed of my chain but when he arrived in Rome he sought me out very zealously and found me praise the Lord all of us can have you know desire to have such a friend like who cares who really cares who goes out of the way to search out a person and bless him and we can ask ourselves also are we a person you know who does that who wants to seek you know and find out the problems in other people's life and really want to help them if you are a person like that God will show mercy upon your life too going out of the way to help another person going the second mile praise the Lord it's easy to go the first mile but who would want to go the second mile praise the Lord the Roman soldiers weapons were supposed to be carried by the Jews for a mile but who was going to go the extra mile would he be like Simon the Cyrene who wanted to you know who was forced to carry the cross of Jesus he did not shirk away he went so his children were blessed after him but when he arrived in Rome he sought me out very zealously and found me the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus in the place that you are in the church that you are in the land that you are if you are a blessing to others whether Christians or non-Christians surely the Lord will show mercy to you and your household because God watches everything that you do wherever you are as a Christian you have your duty to be a blessing to others and Paul here is praying that the Lord may grant him that he may find mercy on the Lord in that day this is the verse that many Christian churches take and they say that even after you die you can pray for people you can pray for dead people after they have died You know, there are many churches that pray, please bless the soul of that person. Please bless the soul of this person. This is the verse that they take. Because Paul prayed for Onesiphorus. And Onesiphorus had not even died at that time. But they can, you know, twist the word of God in so many ways. And they say that Paul here was praying for dead Onesiphorus. That God may show mercy in that day. That means, you know, at the time of the resurrection. But Paul here is thanking God for this person and he says that you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. Praise the Lord I am thankful to God for all people who helped me I always remember them because they did the things that they had to do They showed love. They showed care. Always grateful to people who have done that. Let's speak about one more person and then we'll pray. Philemon. It's a very small book. Just a few verses but such a lot of things to be learned from that book. we are talking about Philemon who was in the church at Coloss and he was some of the Bible commentators they say that the church was in his house but he was also a slave owner Philemon was a slave owner and one of his slaves Onesimus had run away from home he had stolen something from him and he ran away and the laws according to the Romans was if a person was found out he could be killed because of what he had done now what happened was Onesimus found Paul in prison and Paul spoke the gospel to him and he was saved now he is a brother in Christ and Paul is writing to Philemon to accept him because he is going to send him back to Philemon and Paul is writing to Philemon to accept him not as a slave but as a brother in Christ. It's a wonderful book. Very few verses praise the Lord. Not as a slave but as a brother in Christ. And I want to tell you this that we must not be slaves to anyone neither make anyone slaves to us. That attitude won't work in the presence of God. We all have our freedom in Christ and we must maintain that freedom because God has made us free in Jesus Christ. We have that liberty, but we must not, you know, make others slaves in our lives also. Now he writes to Philemon here and I want to just pick a couple of verses there and I'll read that to you. So Philemon verse 7, For we have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Paul is writing to Philemon and he says that you are a man who refreshes the hearts of other people. He had a church in his house and he was a blessing to many people. He was a slave owner but he was a Christian also. It was allowed during those days. They had not come to a realization at that time. And he was a man who refreshed the hearts of many people. So Paul is writing to him. We have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you brother. And then Paul continues, I thank my God making mention of you always in my prayers. Hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints. Wonderful. Praise the Lord. He loved Jesus also and some of us may say that we love Jesus but we cannot say the other part. He loved the saints also. His brothers and sisters in Christ, he loved them also. That the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. He writes all this and then he says, Therefore, though I may be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting. If Paul wanted, he could command Philemon to take back Onesimus. But he said, yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you. Praise the Lord. He was not forcing anything upon anyone. Not forcing upon Philemon to accept. But he says, for love's sake I rather appeal to you. And love is what covers all sins. Praise the Lord. If you cannot love, praise the Lord. If you cannot love your brother and sister in Christ, your husband and wife in Christ, then you cannot love God. That's what the Apostle John says very clearly in his epistle. For love's sake he says, I appeal to you being such as one Paul, the aged and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Wonderful verses. He is profitable to you and to me as a brother in Christ. And he is saying, I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wish to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. One of us was helping and ministering to Paul in prison. And here Paul says, he will be a blessing to me and to you together. but now you must accept him as a brother in Christ. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing. He is such a great apostle. He is a great servant of God but he is still pleading with Philemon. Requesting him. Not putting that command on him. Take back Onesimus. He doesn't say that. He is requesting him. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing. that your good deed might not be by compulsion as it were, but voluntary. So when you hear the word of God these days, just because you heard it, don't do it by compulsion. Do it voluntarily. Because you love Jesus Christ, because you love his word, do it because of that. If you are going to help someone, don't do it with a grudge. If you are going to love someone, don't do it with a grudge. you know when husbands and wives they fight, they bring up matters that were done 20 years back also praise the Lord that means they have not forgotten anything in the past if you have forgotten and forgiven then start new as a fresh day from today and there is always a today for God a new start, a new beginning He is always there so take a decision in your life to start afresh and not by compulsion but voluntarily I am ending now he says for perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose now you do not know the workings of God we only know that Enosimus he ran away from Philemon who was his slave master but then he did not know Paul did not know Philemon did not know what was going to happen because Onesimus meets Paul in prison. He was ministering to him and he is converted. He has become a Christian. He has become a brother in Christ. And now Paul is sending him back. Great are the ways of God. You may not understand it, but God has great plans for your life too. But perhaps you departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave a beloved brother especially to me but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the Lord and ending that small book Paul says if then you count me as a partner receive him as you would me but if he has wronged you or owes anything put that on my account I Paul am writing with my own hand I will repay and not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides because he had brought Philemon also to Christ and then he ends with a verse here, I am reading verse 20, there are other verses also yes, brother let me have joy from you in the Lord refresh my heart in the Lord praise the Lord that is his prayer to Philemon, he says refresh my heart in the Lord. Let me have joy from you in the Lord. So as I end this day, I want to exhort you if you want a time of refreshing in your life, if you have gone dry in your spiritual life, your married life, your family life, go back to God's word because God's word has a solution. And if the sun sets you free, you are free indeed is what the word of God says. and the word of God has power to set you free this day. And if God sets you free and if you are free this day, be a blessing to someone else, be a comfort to someone else. Refresh the hearts of your brothers and sisters in Christ. May God bless you all with these thoughts. Praise the Lord. Let's bow our heads in a moment of prayer for the next meeting and also thank God for all the things that he has done for us this day. loving heavenly father thank you for this morning thank you for blessing us each one of us and our families as we gathered in the name of Jesus this morning oh lord thank you for your presence and for your holy spirit strengthening us oh lord thank you for the worship and for the songs for the words of exhortation oh lord for the word that we heard this day oh lord thank you for all the prayers that we raised in your presence oh lord we believe that you are a prayer hearing God, a prayer answering God, O Lord. And all the prayer requests, O Lord, all the intercession that we made this day, let it be acceptable to you, O Lord, in the name of Jesus. Because He sacrificed His life for our sakes on the cross, O Lord, carrying all our sins and our unrighteousness, O Lord. We pray, O Lord, a time of refreshing upon those who are going through a dry spell in their life, in their spiritual life, in their married lives, in their family lives, O Lord. And whichever area of their lives, O Lord, they feel that it's barren and dry. We pray for a refreshing upon that area of their lives, O Lord. The rain of the Holy Spirit flood their lives and bring about a great change, O Lord, this morning. We pray for that word that we heard this day, O Lord, and all the words of exhortation that it may be with us, O Lord, these days, O Lord. That it may work upon our lives, O Lord, and that we may live lives dedicated to you and to your word, O Lord, that we may be a blessing to other people. We may bring refreshing to the souls of other people, O Lord. As Paul thanked many people for refreshing his life, O Lord, we thank you for all the people who have been a blessing to our lives, too. All who have gathered here this morning on this platform and in others, O Lord, who are not here. We thank you for all those people, O Lord, who have helped us in small or big ways, O Lord, brought comfort in our lives, brought peace in our lives, brought blessings in our lives, both material and spiritual, O Lord. Remember all those people, O Lord, this morning, and we bless them in the name of Jesus Christ. We bless them, O Lord. We pray for the meeting, O Lord, that will be held on the 28th of October, O Lord, and we place that meeting into the hands of your Holy Spirit. He has done wonderfully for us, O Lord, all through the past months, O Lord, past year and more, O Lord. And we believe that He will do great things for us once again, O Lord. We pray that the Holy Spirit may be in charge of the next meeting even now, O Lord. And thank you for each and every person this morning. I pray for them. I pray for their families, O Lord. And all that belongs to them, O Lord, let them be protected by the blood of Jesus Christ, O Lord. Let our children, O Lord, be protected by the blood of the Lamb, O Lord. let everyone who is working Lord let their jobs be blessed Lord let their married lives be blessed let their family lives be blessed Lord help us to live according to your word obeying your word Lord trembling at your word because you are a God who honors them who honors you and your word Lord thank you for your blessings thank you for each one of us Lord thank you for all who led in prayer this morning Lord as we leave this morning let your presence go with us and give us rest, O Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.