June 29, 2025 • 21 mins
Transcript
Today's Bible Translation
Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 1 CEB
Distinguished Producer
Anonymous
Associate Producer
Sister Ann, Michael Haner
Podcast Introduction
It’s Epistles Sunday, and we’ll read the book of Philemon. And we’ll have a time of Praise and Prayer Requests. I’m calling this episode “Slavery in Biblical Times.“
Design: Scott Snider | Photo: Misha Levko on Unsplash
Summary
Paul urges Philemon to forgive his runaway slave, Onesimus, and accept him as a fellow believer. The passage emphasizes the importance of forgiveness and highlights Paul's own transformation and the parallel to Jesus' forgiveness.
Photos from Our Vacation
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The Team
Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise: Transcript CorrectionMichael Haner: Podcasting 2.0 ChaptersScott Snider: Show ArtJason Paschall: Show ArtLifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney: Newsletter Publisher
Transcript
Download .txt file.
Transcript corrected by Sister Denise
Steve Webb 0:00There it is.
Steve Webb 0:08Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring! One Year Bible and podcasting since 2004 - and back in the saddle again - I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. It's Epistle Sunday and we'll read the book of Philemon. Happy Father's Day to the Lifespring family dads, whether or not you're in the US. And we'll have a time of praise and prayer requests. The website is lifespringmedia.com, and I'll have contact information at the end of today's show. This is my first day back behind the microphone in over a week. Feels good. I'll have a brief report on our week in Florida just a bit later on in the show. Before we read, let's pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, how we thank you for our time together around your Word. We ask that you would bless our time of reading today and that you would touch our hearts and teach us today. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Are you ready? Let's begin.
Steve Webb 1:01In this letter, Paul is writing to a man named Philemon whom he had previously brought to the Lord. Paul's writing about an escaped slave named Onesimus. Onesimus had been a slave of Philemon's and had apparently taken some of Philemon's belongings when he ran away.
Steve Webb 1:22Philemon, chapter 1. From Paul, who is a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy. To Philemon our dearly loved coworker, Apphia our sister, Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church that meets in your house. May the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Philemon, I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers because I’ve heard of your love and faithfulness, which you have both for the Lord Jesus and for all God’s people. I pray that your partnership in the faith might become effective by an understanding of all that is good among us in Christ. I have great joy and encouragement because of your love, since the hearts of God’s people are refreshed by your actions, my brother. Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to command you to do the right thing, I would rather appeal to you through love. I, Paul—an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus— appeal to you for my child Onesimus. I became his father in the faith during my time in prison. He was useless to you before, but now he is useful to both of us. I’m sending him back to you, which is like sending you my own heart. I considered keeping him with me so that he might serve me in your place during my time in prison because of the gospel. However, I didn’t want to do anything without your consent so that your act of kindness woul...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steve Webb (00:00):
There it is.
Coming to you from Riverside,California, this is the
Lifespring! One Year Bible andpodcasting since 2004 - and back
in the saddle again - I'm yourOG Godcaster, Steve Webb. It's
(00:20):
Epistle Sunday and we'll readthe book of Philemon. Happy
Father's Day to the Lifespringfamily dads, whether or not
you're in the US. And we'll havea time of praise and prayer
requests. The website islifespringmedia.com, and I'll
have contact information at theend of today's show. This is my
first day back behind themicrophone in over a week. Feels
good. I'll have a brief reporton our week in Florida just a
(00:43):
bit later on in the show. Beforewe read, let's pray. Our
gracious heavenly Father, how wethank you for our time together
around your Word. We ask thatyou would bless our time of
reading today and that you wouldtouch our hearts and teach us
today. We pray this in Jesus'name. Amen. Are you ready? Let's
begin.
(01:04):
In this letter, Paul is writingto a man named Philemon whom he
had previously brought to theLord. Paul's writing about an
escaped slave named Onesimus.Onesimus had been a slave of
Philemon's and had apparentlytaken some of Philemon's
belongings when he ran away.
Philemon, chapter 1. From Paul,who is a prisoner for the cause
(01:27):
of Christ Jesus, and our brotherTimothy. To Philemon our dearly
loved coworker, Apphia oursister, Archippus our fellow
soldier, and the church thatmeets in your house. May the
grace and peace from God ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Philemon, I thankmy God every time I mention you
(01:47):
in my prayers because I’ve heardof your love and faithfulness,
which you have both for the LordJesus and for all God’s people.
I pray that your partnership inthe faith might become effective
by an understanding of all thatis good among us in Christ. I
have great joy and encouragementbecause of your love, since the
hearts of God’s people arerefreshed by your actions, my
(02:09):
brother. Therefore, though Ihave enough confidence in Christ
to command you to do the rightthing, I would rather appeal to
you through love. I, Paul—an oldman, and now also a prisoner for
Christ Jesus— appeal to you formy child Onesimus. I became his
father in the faith during mytime in prison. He was useless
(02:30):
to you before, but now he isuseful to both of us. I’m
sending him back to you, whichis like sending you my own
heart. I considered keeping himwith me so that he might serve
me in your place during my timein prison because of the gospel.
However, I didn’t want to doanything without your consent so
that your act of kindness wouldoccur willingly and not under
(02:50):
pressure. Maybe this is thereason that Onesimus was
separated from you for a whileso that you might have him back
forever— no longer as a slavebut more than a slave—that is,
as a dearly loved brother. He isespecially a dearly loved
brother to me. How much more canhe become a brother to you,
personally and spiritually inthe Lord! So, if you really
(03:12):
consider me a partner, welcomeOnesimus as if you were
welcoming me. If he has harmedyou in any way or owes you
money, charge it to my account.I, Paul, will pay it back to you
(I’m writing this with my ownhand). Of course, I won’t
mention that you owe me yourlife. Yes, brother, I want this
favor from you in the Lord!Refresh my heart in Christ. I’m
(03:34):
writing to you, confident ofyour obedience and knowing that
you will do more than what Iask. Also, one more
thing—prepare a guest room forme. I hope that I will be
released from prison to be withyou because of your prayers.
Epaphras, who is in prison withme for the cause of Christ
Jesus, greets you, as well as mycoworkers Mark, Aristarchus,
(03:55):
Demas, and Luke. May the graceof the Lord Jesus Christ be with
your spirit.
Onesimus was a slave, and I’lladdress the issue of slavery in
a moment. But first, let’s talkabout Paul’s letter to Philemon.
In addressing the letter, Paulsays "To Philemon our dearly
loved coworker," and the entireletter is written within this
(04:18):
framework. He doesn't come fromhis position as an apostle as he
did in many of his otherletters. But he's coming to
Philemon as a close friend.Philemon lived in Colossae. And
when Onesimus ran away from him,he made his way to Rome, where
Paul was a prisoner of theRomans. And somehow Paul and
Onesimus met, and Paul ledOnesimus to the Lord. And after
(04:41):
this, Onesimus became a greathelp to Paul. Well, running away
was a crime punishable by death,but once he became a Christian,
Onesimus and Paul agreed thatOnesimus must return to Philemon
as a way to make restitution.After all, legally Onesimus was
the property of Philemon.However, Paul appeals to
(05:01):
Philemon as a beloved friendasking that Philemon accept
Onesimus back, not as a slavebut as a fellow believer. The
name Onesimus means "profitable"or "useful." And in his appeal,
Paul makes a play on words,saying that Onesimus had been
useless or unprofitable toPhilemon in the past because
(05:23):
he'd run away. But now as afellow believer, he could truly
live up to his name and beuseful to both Philemon and
Paul. Paul said that if Onesimusowed Philemon any money he,
Paul, would personally pay thedebt. But he also gently
reminded Philemon that he owedPaul his life since Paul is the
(05:44):
one who brought him to Christ.Paul's offer really is a
parallel of what Christ has donefor us, isn't it? We owed a debt
that we couldn't pay. But Jesustook that debt upon himself.
Paul's love for both Philemonand Onesimus is evident in this
short letter, isn't it? If themessage of the Gospel could be
boiled down, it's all aboutforgiveness. And Paul, who at
(06:06):
one time persecuted Christians,even to the point of holding the
cloaks of those who stonedStephen to death could speak
firsthand about being forgiven.At one point Paul was on his way
to Damascus to persecuteChristians again and Jesus
appeared to him on the road toDamascus. And he said, "Saul,
why do you persecute me?" Well,I won't tell the whole story
(06:27):
here. But Paul, whose originalname had been Saul was convinced
that Jesus is the Messiah and helived the rest of his life
serving the God who forgave him.Asking Philemon to forgive
Onesimus as Jesus forgave himwas at once a big ask and
completely in character with whoSaul became once Jesus got a
hold of his heart and changedhis name to Paul. Now, if we who
(06:50):
have been forgiven of so muchcan't find it in our hearts to
forgive those who do wrong tous, I think it's time to
reevaluate. All right, so let metalk a little bit about slavery.
Whenever the topic of slaverycomes up our minds generally
think of the kind of slaverythat existed in the 16th to 18th
century when Africans werehunted by slave hunters, many of
(07:12):
whom themselves were alsoAfrican, and then sold them to
slave traders, and then weresold to slave owners. Well, the
Bible clearly condemns this.Exodus 21:16 says, "Whoever
steals a man and sells him, andanyone found in possession of
him, shall be put to death." Andin 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verses
(07:33):
8 through 10, the people who*steal men* are in a long list
of people that are condemned.Let me read it for you. "But we
know that the law is good, if aman use it lawfully; knowing
this, that the law is not madefor a righteous man, but for the
lawless and disobedient, for theungodly and for sinners, for
unholy and profane, formurderers of fathers and
(07:55):
murderers of mothers, formanslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselveswith mankind, for menstealers,"
(There it is.) "for liars, forperjured persons, and if there
be any other thing that iscontrary to sound doctrine..."
So as I said the Bible clearlycondemns the kidnapping of men
and women. Now, because slavesin the 16th to 18th century were
(08:19):
predominantly African, slaverybecame associated with skin
color and race. And some slaveowners believed that black
people were inferior humanbeings, but the Bible says, "God
created man in his own image; inthe image of God, he created
him." So why does the Bible notspecifically condemn slavery?
(08:40):
Well, in biblical times, slaverywas a financial agreement
between the slave and the slaveowner. A person could sell
himself as a slave when theycouldn't pay their debts or
provide for their family. Orsometimes they just wanted to
have their needs provided for bytheir owner. In New Testament
times, even doctors, lawyers,and politicians could be slaves.
(09:03):
So slavery in the Bible was notthe same thing as the slavery we
think of today. The Bible talksabout how a slave should be
treated and basically, he shouldbe treated with dignity. But
don't ever let people say thatbecause the Bible doesn't
specifically say slavery shouldnot exist, that the Bible
supported the kind of slaverythat was present in the 16th to
(09:23):
18th century. Remember that thepurpose of the Bible is to
reveal God and lead men andwomen to Christ. It isn't meant
to be a social reform handbook.But as in the book of Philemon
once a man's heart is changed,his actions are changed. The
recipient of grace will extendgrace to others. What are your
(09:48):
thoughts? Do you have commentsor questions? I'd love to hear
from you. Contact informationwill be at the end of today's
show. Tomorrow will be The LawMonday and our reading will be
Numbers 21 through 24.
We have a Distinguished Producertoday. Anonymous sent in their
(10:09):
weekly $33.33 donation via Zelleand this one came in before the
Lovely Lady LeeAnn and I went toFlorida, but the show had
already been recorded, so Ididn't get to acknowledge that
before we left. And then another$33.33 donation came in from
Anonymous while we were still inFlorida. So thank you,
Anonymous. God bless you. And wehave a couple of Associate
(10:31):
Producers as well. Sister Annsent in a $100 donation. And I
thank you so much for thatSister Ann. God bless you. And
Michael Haner sent in two $7.77weekly donations while we were
gone. So thank you for those,Michael. God bless you. Jason
Paschall sent in $50, and Jason,thank you. God bless you. Some
boostagrams also came in lastweek. Sister Denise sent in a
(10:53):
5000 sat Loaves and Fishes booston the "1 Chronicles 20-24:
David's Plea for Mercy" episode.And she said, "It's fascinating
to see how God orchestrated allthese important events in human
history (Abraham offering Isaac,David's altar, Jesus'
crucifixion) to occur in thesame place." Yes, isn't that
cool to see, Sister Denise? Godbless you. Thank you for that.
(11:16):
And Fountain user @2558 sent a500 sat boost on the "Joel 1-3:
A Call to Prayer and Confession"episode and they said, "Thank
you." Well, thank you @2558. Andalso from the Fountain app
@bereanbitcoiner sent in 250sats and said, "God bless your
ministry." Well, thank you@bereanbitcoiner, I appreciate
(11:36):
it. And that's a cool handleyou've got there. Love it.
Bereanbitcoiner. And Fountainuser @2558 send in another 500
sat boost on the Numbers 17through 20 episode and said,
"Thank you." Thanks again,@2558. You're welcome. And
Sister Denise sent in another5000 sat Loaves and Fishes boost
on the "Psalms 105-107 (11:55):
God's Enduring Love" episode. And she
said, "I always appreciate theEssentials series. Thanks."
Well, thank you, Sister Denise.I'm glad you like 'em. That
means a lot to me, truly. Godbless you. And Fountain user
@2558 sent in another 500 satboost on the Proverbs 23 through
24 episode, and they said,"Thank you." And another 500 sat
(12:19):
boost from Fountain user @2558on the John 16 through 18
episode also saying "Thank you."And once more, thank *you*
@2558. And I see the satstreamers continued to listen
during the week and stream thosesats. I see you and I appreciate
your consistent support, guys.God bless you. I have to say
(12:39):
these value-for-value donationsare just so encouraging to me.
Thank you so much. May Godrichly bless each of you for
supporting the show. You trulyare helping me to bring God's
Word to people around the world.That truly is why this show
exists and you are very realco-laborers with me. And,
Beloved, if you have not yetsupported the show with time,
(12:59):
talent, or treasure, may I askyou to consider joining us in
the work? Your donation willmake a difference. whatever
value you receive from the show,would you put a number on it and
then send some back to me? Prayabout it, would you? And then go
to lifespringmedia.com/support.I will thank you and I believe
that God will bless you.
(13:26):
Well, so here's a few highlightsfrom the trip. The Lovely Lady
LeeAnn and I flew out of Ontariolast Sunday afternoon on time.
We had a layover at Dallas-FortWorth which lasted longer than
anticipated because of weather.We were ninety minutes late
taking off and most of that timewas spent sitting on the tarmac
waiting for the weather to clearand then waiting our plane's
(13:47):
turn to take off. By the time welanded in Orlando and picked up
our rental car and got to thehotel, it was about two o'clock
in the morning. Yikes, it waslate. My granddaughter Penny's
birthday party was at about 11am, so we were able to get some
sleep before the party. Inaddition to LeeAnn and I,
Penny's other grandparents fromOklahoma were there, and about
(14:08):
eight or ten friends from Timand Val's church. That was funny
to watch Penny she didn't quiteknow what to do with her
birthday cake. And here's thedifference between boys and
girls. All three of my sonscompletely destroyed their first
birthday cakes. You know, theygrabbed big fistfuls of cake and
proceeded to get it all overtheir faces. But not Penny. She
just sort of poked at it alittle bit with her dainty
(14:30):
little finger and then justbarely ate any of it. So go
figure. Girls really aredifferent than boys. And then
the next day the othergrandparents went home to
Oklahoma and we drove out toDaytona Beach with Tim and Val
and Penny. LeeAnn and I walkedon the beach while Mom and Daddy
stayed on the boardwalk withPenny in her stroller. It was a
hot sunny day so they wanted tokeep her shaded from the sun.
(14:53):
And there's a restaurant thereon the Daytona pier and we had
lunch there and then the rest ofthe time we pretty much hung
around their house. We did go toDisney Springs for a few hours
to look at the shops. DisneySprings is like a big outdoor
mall, if you don't know. It'sgot shops and restaurants and
stuff like that. It's outsidethe Disney Parks. But we're not
(15:13):
really Disney fans anymore, sowe didn't go into the park as we
have in past years because Idon't like the idea of
supporting Disney with mydollars. Which is sad to say as
a Southern California native. Ican't begin to tell you how many
times we took our boys toDisneyland when they were still
young. Then my first trip toDisneyland was when I was about
five years old. But the companyis not at all what it used to be
(15:35):
which is really a shame. Well,one of the birthday gifts we
gave to Penny was a little sortof a tricycle type thing that
she could sit on and kind ofpush herself with her legs.
She's just learning how to walk,so I think this will be good for
her. Now, the trip home was asort of a repeat of the trip out
except in this case, our flightout of Ontario was not on time
like it was out of Ontario whenwe left. The flight out of
(15:58):
Orlando was delayed because ofthe weather with us sitting on
the tarmac for nearly two hours.When the weather finally cleared
enough to take off, there wereseventeen planes in front of us.
The thing was we were supposedto have about a two-hour layover
in Charlotte. But with a latetakeoff, we barely made the
connection. When we got to thegate in Charlotte, our plane was
(16:19):
already boarding with mostpeople already on board. There
were only about four people whogot on after us. But there were
others on the flight fromFlorida who completely missed
their connecting flight. So wewere thankful that we were able
to get on our plane. And then bythe time we got home, it was
again about two o'clock in themorning. Thankfully, LeeAnn
didn't have to go in to workuntil about noon, so she was
(16:40):
able to get some rest. Duringthe week I posted a few pictures
on my Instagram account if you'dlike to see them. My username
there is OG underscoreGodcaster. And I'll also put
some pictures on the show notespage for this episode, which is
lifespringmedia.com/s13e260.E260, that's episode 260. You
(17:01):
know what that means, right?There are 364 episodes in a
season. So in a few days, we'llbe getting into having fewer
than one hundred episodes left.Hardly seems possible. Anyway,
thanks for listening to theshow. While I was out of the
studio. I want to thank ScottSnider and Jason Paschall for
doing the art for the show aheadof time so that the episode art
(17:21):
would continue to be differentfor each show as, as is usual.
And a big thanks to Brother Paulof Seattle for logging into the
website at 10 o'clock each nightto publish the art. Brother Paul
and I had a video call a coupleof days before the trip so that
I could show him how to do it.And he did a great job. So thank
you, Brother Paul.Unfortunately, in my haste to
(17:42):
get the episodes completed intime for my trip, I forgot to
send the pertinent informationto Sister Denise and Michael
Haner for some of last week'sepisodes. So the fact that
chapters and correctedtranscripts weren't done is on
me. And sorry about that. ButI'm back and it's good to be
with ya.
Prayer requests and praises.I've got a brief update on Kathi
(18:05):
and Cassie. Del tells me thatKathi is slowly increasing her
activity level, but she pays aprice for it later. But that
makes sense, doesn't it? She wasso weak from the cancer that she
really couldn't do anything andthe MS certainly doesn't help.
She's just not used to movingvery much. He said also that she
has an appointment on thetwenty-ninth of this month to
see her doctor to discuss otheroptions to manage her pain. But
(18:29):
she still has the problem in herbones. She's got, you know,
holes in her bones from thecancer that was there and so
there's pain from that and theMS. And you know, the bones are
still he- still healing from thecancer. And then Bryan said that
Cassie has had to stop takingany pain medications in these
final days leading up to herTuesday surgery for her
trigeminal neuralgia. Each dayleading up to the surgery is
(18:53):
worse than the day before. Solet's pray for some relief there
and that the surgery will besuccessful. And James in Norway
sent in a quick update. He saidhis dad has had only just a
couple of minor A-Fib episodessince the last update he sent
in, so that's great. That's apraise. His dad had an
appointment with hiscardiologist a few days ago. And
(19:14):
if I get any further updates, Iwill let you know. So let's
pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord,we pray that you would help us
to forgive as we have beenforgiven. Paul's letter to
Philemon is a reminder that aswe have received grace from you,
we should, we *must,* givegrace. And we thank you Lord for
that. We thank you for thehealing from cancer that you're
(19:36):
bringing to Kathi even now andthe increased strength you're
giving her and we pray that youwould bring relief to the pain,
Lord. And we ask Lord that theMS would now also be healed or
that it would at least go intoremission, Father. And as
Cassie's surgery is just a fewdays away, we ask that you would
be with her and that you wouldhelp her through this time
without the pain medications.She needs you, Lord, and when
(19:59):
she's in surgery we ask you tobe there with her. Guide the
doctor's hands. We ask that theprocedure would be flawless and
that there would be nocomplications. We ask that the
surgery would be 100%successful, Lord. And we
continue to thank you, Lord, forJames in Norway's dad's A-Fib
improvement since his procedure.We pray that these episodes will
(20:21):
become increasingly rare or willjust stop altogether, Lord. I
ask, Father, that you wouldbless the Lifespring family
today. I thank you for each one.May they feel your presence and
know that you love them and helpus all to show grace to those
around us. We pray these thingsin Jesus' name. Amen. Beloved,
(20:42):
our next time of prayer will bethis coming Thursday. So if you
have a praise report or a prayerrequest, be sure to listen at
the end of the show for how tosend that information to me.
Thanks to Sister Denise, MichaelHaner, Scott Snider, Jason
(21:03):
Paschall, and Sister Brittaney -the team. Today's show art was
done by Scott Snider. Thank you,Scott. God bless you, Scott, and
the rest of the team. Thank you,Beloved, for inviting me into
your day. Until tomorrow, mayGod bless you richly. My name is
Steve Webb. Happy Father's Day.Bye.
Announcer (21:22):
The Lifespring! Media family of programs are made
possible by the generous supportof listeners like you. Thank
you.
There it is.
Coming to you from Riverside,California, this is the
Lifespring! One Year Bible andpodcasting since 2004 - and back
in the saddle again - I'm yourOG Godcaster, Steve Webb. It's
(00:20):
Epistle Sunday and we'll readthe book of Philemon. Happy
Father's Day to the Lifespringfamily dads, whether or not
you're in the US. And we'll havea time of praise and prayer
requests. The website islifespringmedia.com, and I'll
have contact information at theend of today's show. This is my
first day back behind themicrophone in over a week. Feels
good. I'll have a brief reporton our week in Florida just a
(00:43):
bit later on in the show. Beforewe read, let's pray. Our
gracious heavenly Father, how wethank you for our time together
around your Word. We ask thatyou would bless our time of
reading today and that you wouldtouch our hearts and teach us
today. We pray this in Jesus'name. Amen. Are you ready? Let's
begin.
(01:04):
In this letter, Paul is writingto a man named Philemon whom he
had previously brought to theLord. Paul's writing about an
escaped slave named Onesimus.Onesimus had been a slave of
Philemon's and had apparentlytaken some of Philemon's
belongings when he ran away.
Philemon, chapter 1. From Paul,who is a prisoner for the cause
(01:27):
of Christ Jesus, and our brotherTimothy. To Philemon our dearly
loved coworker, Apphia oursister, Archippus our fellow
soldier, and the church thatmeets in your house. May the
grace and peace from God ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Philemon, I thankmy God every time I mention you
(01:47):
in my prayers because I’ve heardof your love and faithfulness,
which you have both for the LordJesus and for all God’s people.
I pray that your partnership inthe faith might become effective
by an understanding of all thatis good among us in Christ. I
have great joy and encouragementbecause of your love, since the
hearts of God’s people arerefreshed by your actions, my
(02:09):
brother. Therefore, though Ihave enough confidence in Christ
to command you to do the rightthing, I would rather appeal to
you through love. I, Paul—an oldman, and now also a prisoner for
Christ Jesus— appeal to you formy child Onesimus. I became his
father in the faith during mytime in prison. He was useless
(02:30):
to you before, but now he isuseful to both of us. I’m
sending him back to you, whichis like sending you my own
heart. I considered keeping himwith me so that he might serve
me in your place during my timein prison because of the gospel.
However, I didn’t want to doanything without your consent so
that your act of kindness wouldoccur willingly and not under
(02:50):
pressure. Maybe this is thereason that Onesimus was
separated from you for a whileso that you might have him back
forever— no longer as a slavebut more than a slave—that is,
as a dearly loved brother. He isespecially a dearly loved
brother to me. How much more canhe become a brother to you,
personally and spiritually inthe Lord! So, if you really
(03:12):
consider me a partner, welcomeOnesimus as if you were
welcoming me. If he has harmedyou in any way or owes you
money, charge it to my account.I, Paul, will pay it back to you
(I’m writing this with my ownhand). Of course, I won’t
mention that you owe me yourlife. Yes, brother, I want this
favor from you in the Lord!Refresh my heart in Christ. I’m
(03:34):
writing to you, confident ofyour obedience and knowing that
you will do more than what Iask. Also, one more
thing—prepare a guest room forme. I hope that I will be
released from prison to be withyou because of your prayers.
Epaphras, who is in prison withme for the cause of Christ
Jesus, greets you, as well as mycoworkers Mark, Aristarchus,
(03:55):
Demas, and Luke. May the graceof the Lord Jesus Christ be with
your spirit.
Onesimus was a slave, and I’lladdress the issue of slavery in
a moment. But first, let’s talkabout Paul’s letter to Philemon.
In addressing the letter, Paulsays "To Philemon our dearly
loved coworker," and the entireletter is written within this
(04:18):
framework. He doesn't come fromhis position as an apostle as he
did in many of his otherletters. But he's coming to
Philemon as a close friend.Philemon lived in Colossae. And
when Onesimus ran away from him,he made his way to Rome, where
Paul was a prisoner of theRomans. And somehow Paul and
Onesimus met, and Paul ledOnesimus to the Lord. And after
(04:41):
this, Onesimus became a greathelp to Paul. Well, running away
was a crime punishable by death,but once he became a Christian,
Onesimus and Paul agreed thatOnesimus must return to Philemon
as a way to make restitution.After all, legally Onesimus was
the property of Philemon.However, Paul appeals to
(05:01):
Philemon as a beloved friendasking that Philemon accept
Onesimus back, not as a slavebut as a fellow believer. The
name Onesimus means "profitable"or "useful." And in his appeal,
Paul makes a play on words,saying that Onesimus had been
useless or unprofitable toPhilemon in the past because
(05:23):
he'd run away. But now as afellow believer, he could truly
live up to his name and beuseful to both Philemon and
Paul. Paul said that if Onesimusowed Philemon any money he,
Paul, would personally pay thedebt. But he also gently
reminded Philemon that he owedPaul his life since Paul is the
(05:44):
one who brought him to Christ.Paul's offer really is a
parallel of what Christ has donefor us, isn't it? We owed a debt
that we couldn't pay. But Jesustook that debt upon himself.
Paul's love for both Philemonand Onesimus is evident in this
short letter, isn't it? If themessage of the Gospel could be
boiled down, it's all aboutforgiveness. And Paul, who at
(06:06):
one time persecuted Christians,even to the point of holding the
cloaks of those who stonedStephen to death could speak
firsthand about being forgiven.At one point Paul was on his way
to Damascus to persecuteChristians again and Jesus
appeared to him on the road toDamascus. And he said, "Saul,
why do you persecute me?" Well,I won't tell the whole story
(06:27):
here. But Paul, whose originalname had been Saul was convinced
that Jesus is the Messiah and helived the rest of his life
serving the God who forgave him.Asking Philemon to forgive
Onesimus as Jesus forgave himwas at once a big ask and
completely in character with whoSaul became once Jesus got a
hold of his heart and changedhis name to Paul. Now, if we who
(06:50):
have been forgiven of so muchcan't find it in our hearts to
forgive those who do wrong tous, I think it's time to
reevaluate. All right, so let metalk a little bit about slavery.
Whenever the topic of slaverycomes up our minds generally
think of the kind of slaverythat existed in the 16th to 18th
century when Africans werehunted by slave hunters, many of
(07:12):
whom themselves were alsoAfrican, and then sold them to
slave traders, and then weresold to slave owners. Well, the
Bible clearly condemns this.Exodus 21:16 says, "Whoever
steals a man and sells him, andanyone found in possession of
him, shall be put to death." Andin 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verses
(07:33):
8 through 10, the people who*steal men* are in a long list
of people that are condemned.Let me read it for you. "But we
know that the law is good, if aman use it lawfully; knowing
this, that the law is not madefor a righteous man, but for the
lawless and disobedient, for theungodly and for sinners, for
unholy and profane, formurderers of fathers and
(07:55):
murderers of mothers, formanslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselveswith mankind, for menstealers,"
(There it is.) "for liars, forperjured persons, and if there
be any other thing that iscontrary to sound doctrine..."
So as I said the Bible clearlycondemns the kidnapping of men
and women. Now, because slavesin the 16th to 18th century were
(08:19):
predominantly African, slaverybecame associated with skin
color and race. And some slaveowners believed that black
people were inferior humanbeings, but the Bible says, "God
created man in his own image; inthe image of God, he created
him." So why does the Bible notspecifically condemn slavery?
(08:40):
Well, in biblical times, slaverywas a financial agreement
between the slave and the slaveowner. A person could sell
himself as a slave when theycouldn't pay their debts or
provide for their family. Orsometimes they just wanted to
have their needs provided for bytheir owner. In New Testament
times, even doctors, lawyers,and politicians could be slaves.
(09:03):
So slavery in the Bible was notthe same thing as the slavery we
think of today. The Bible talksabout how a slave should be
treated and basically, he shouldbe treated with dignity. But
don't ever let people say thatbecause the Bible doesn't
specifically say slavery shouldnot exist, that the Bible
supported the kind of slaverythat was present in the 16th to
(09:23):
18th century. Remember that thepurpose of the Bible is to
reveal God and lead men andwomen to Christ. It isn't meant
to be a social reform handbook.But as in the book of Philemon
once a man's heart is changed,his actions are changed. The
recipient of grace will extendgrace to others. What are your
(09:48):
thoughts? Do you have commentsor questions? I'd love to hear
from you. Contact informationwill be at the end of today's
show. Tomorrow will be The LawMonday and our reading will be
Numbers 21 through 24.
We have a Distinguished Producertoday. Anonymous sent in their
(10:09):
weekly $33.33 donation via Zelleand this one came in before the
Lovely Lady LeeAnn and I went toFlorida, but the show had
already been recorded, so Ididn't get to acknowledge that
before we left. And then another$33.33 donation came in from
Anonymous while we were still inFlorida. So thank you,
Anonymous. God bless you. And wehave a couple of Associate
(10:31):
Producers as well. Sister Annsent in a $100 donation. And I
thank you so much for thatSister Ann. God bless you. And
Michael Haner sent in two $7.77weekly donations while we were
gone. So thank you for those,Michael. God bless you. Jason
Paschall sent in $50, and Jason,thank you. God bless you. Some
boostagrams also came in lastweek. Sister Denise sent in a
(10:53):
5000 sat Loaves and Fishes booston the "1 Chronicles 20-24:
David's Plea for Mercy" episode.And she said, "It's fascinating
to see how God orchestrated allthese important events in human
history (Abraham offering Isaac,David's altar, Jesus'
crucifixion) to occur in thesame place." Yes, isn't that
cool to see, Sister Denise? Godbless you. Thank you for that.
(11:16):
And Fountain user @2558 sent a500 sat boost on the "Joel 1-3:
A Call to Prayer and Confession"episode and they said, "Thank
you." Well, thank you @2558. Andalso from the Fountain app
@bereanbitcoiner sent in 250sats and said, "God bless your
ministry." Well, thank you@bereanbitcoiner, I appreciate
(11:36):
it. And that's a cool handleyou've got there. Love it.
Bereanbitcoiner. And Fountainuser @2558 send in another 500
sat boost on the Numbers 17through 20 episode and said,
"Thank you." Thanks again,@2558. You're welcome. And
Sister Denise sent in another5000 sat Loaves and Fishes boost
on the "Psalms 105-107 (11:55):
God's Enduring Love" episode. And she
said, "I always appreciate theEssentials series. Thanks."
Well, thank you, Sister Denise.I'm glad you like 'em. That
means a lot to me, truly. Godbless you. And Fountain user
@2558 sent in another 500 satboost on the Proverbs 23 through
24 episode, and they said,"Thank you." And another 500 sat
(12:19):
boost from Fountain user @2558on the John 16 through 18
episode also saying "Thank you."And once more, thank *you*
@2558. And I see the satstreamers continued to listen
during the week and stream thosesats. I see you and I appreciate
your consistent support, guys.God bless you. I have to say
(12:39):
these value-for-value donationsare just so encouraging to me.
Thank you so much. May Godrichly bless each of you for
supporting the show. You trulyare helping me to bring God's
Word to people around the world.That truly is why this show
exists and you are very realco-laborers with me. And,
Beloved, if you have not yetsupported the show with time,
(12:59):
talent, or treasure, may I askyou to consider joining us in
the work? Your donation willmake a difference. whatever
value you receive from the show,would you put a number on it and
then send some back to me? Prayabout it, would you? And then go
to lifespringmedia.com/support.I will thank you and I believe
that God will bless you.
(13:26):
Well, so here's a few highlightsfrom the trip. The Lovely Lady
LeeAnn and I flew out of Ontariolast Sunday afternoon on time.
We had a layover at Dallas-FortWorth which lasted longer than
anticipated because of weather.We were ninety minutes late
taking off and most of that timewas spent sitting on the tarmac
waiting for the weather to clearand then waiting our plane's
(13:47):
turn to take off. By the time welanded in Orlando and picked up
our rental car and got to thehotel, it was about two o'clock
in the morning. Yikes, it waslate. My granddaughter Penny's
birthday party was at about 11am, so we were able to get some
sleep before the party. Inaddition to LeeAnn and I,
Penny's other grandparents fromOklahoma were there, and about
(14:08):
eight or ten friends from Timand Val's church. That was funny
to watch Penny she didn't quiteknow what to do with her
birthday cake. And here's thedifference between boys and
girls. All three of my sonscompletely destroyed their first
birthday cakes. You know, theygrabbed big fistfuls of cake and
proceeded to get it all overtheir faces. But not Penny. She
just sort of poked at it alittle bit with her dainty
(14:30):
little finger and then justbarely ate any of it. So go
figure. Girls really aredifferent than boys. And then
the next day the othergrandparents went home to
Oklahoma and we drove out toDaytona Beach with Tim and Val
and Penny. LeeAnn and I walkedon the beach while Mom and Daddy
stayed on the boardwalk withPenny in her stroller. It was a
hot sunny day so they wanted tokeep her shaded from the sun.
(14:53):
And there's a restaurant thereon the Daytona pier and we had
lunch there and then the rest ofthe time we pretty much hung
around their house. We did go toDisney Springs for a few hours
to look at the shops. DisneySprings is like a big outdoor
mall, if you don't know. It'sgot shops and restaurants and
stuff like that. It's outsidethe Disney Parks. But we're not
(15:13):
really Disney fans anymore, sowe didn't go into the park as we
have in past years because Idon't like the idea of
supporting Disney with mydollars. Which is sad to say as
a Southern California native. Ican't begin to tell you how many
times we took our boys toDisneyland when they were still
young. Then my first trip toDisneyland was when I was about
five years old. But the companyis not at all what it used to be
(15:35):
which is really a shame. Well,one of the birthday gifts we
gave to Penny was a little sortof a tricycle type thing that
she could sit on and kind ofpush herself with her legs.
She's just learning how to walk,so I think this will be good for
her. Now, the trip home was asort of a repeat of the trip out
except in this case, our flightout of Ontario was not on time
like it was out of Ontario whenwe left. The flight out of
(15:58):
Orlando was delayed because ofthe weather with us sitting on
the tarmac for nearly two hours.When the weather finally cleared
enough to take off, there wereseventeen planes in front of us.
The thing was we were supposedto have about a two-hour layover
in Charlotte. But with a latetakeoff, we barely made the
connection. When we got to thegate in Charlotte, our plane was
(16:19):
already boarding with mostpeople already on board. There
were only about four people whogot on after us. But there were
others on the flight fromFlorida who completely missed
their connecting flight. So wewere thankful that we were able
to get on our plane. And then bythe time we got home, it was
again about two o'clock in themorning. Thankfully, LeeAnn
didn't have to go in to workuntil about noon, so she was
(16:40):
able to get some rest. Duringthe week I posted a few pictures
on my Instagram account if you'dlike to see them. My username
there is OG underscoreGodcaster. And I'll also put
some pictures on the show notespage for this episode, which is
lifespringmedia.com/s13e260.E260, that's episode 260. You
(17:01):
know what that means, right?There are 364 episodes in a
season. So in a few days, we'llbe getting into having fewer
than one hundred episodes left.Hardly seems possible. Anyway,
thanks for listening to theshow. While I was out of the
studio. I want to thank ScottSnider and Jason Paschall for
doing the art for the show aheadof time so that the episode art
(17:21):
would continue to be differentfor each show as, as is usual.
And a big thanks to Brother Paulof Seattle for logging into the
website at 10 o'clock each nightto publish the art. Brother Paul
and I had a video call a coupleof days before the trip so that
I could show him how to do it.And he did a great job. So thank
you, Brother Paul.Unfortunately, in my haste to
(17:42):
get the episodes completed intime for my trip, I forgot to
send the pertinent informationto Sister Denise and Michael
Haner for some of last week'sepisodes. So the fact that
chapters and correctedtranscripts weren't done is on
me. And sorry about that. ButI'm back and it's good to be
with ya.
Prayer requests and praises.I've got a brief update on Kathi
(18:05):
and Cassie. Del tells me thatKathi is slowly increasing her
activity level, but she pays aprice for it later. But that
makes sense, doesn't it? She wasso weak from the cancer that she
really couldn't do anything andthe MS certainly doesn't help.
She's just not used to movingvery much. He said also that she
has an appointment on thetwenty-ninth of this month to
see her doctor to discuss otheroptions to manage her pain. But
(18:29):
she still has the problem in herbones. She's got, you know,
holes in her bones from thecancer that was there and so
there's pain from that and theMS. And you know, the bones are
still he- still healing from thecancer. And then Bryan said that
Cassie has had to stop takingany pain medications in these
final days leading up to herTuesday surgery for her
trigeminal neuralgia. Each dayleading up to the surgery is
(18:53):
worse than the day before. Solet's pray for some relief there
and that the surgery will besuccessful. And James in Norway
sent in a quick update. He saidhis dad has had only just a
couple of minor A-Fib episodessince the last update he sent
in, so that's great. That's apraise. His dad had an
appointment with hiscardiologist a few days ago. And
(19:14):
if I get any further updates, Iwill let you know. So let's
pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord,we pray that you would help us
to forgive as we have beenforgiven. Paul's letter to
Philemon is a reminder that aswe have received grace from you,
we should, we *must,* givegrace. And we thank you Lord for
that. We thank you for thehealing from cancer that you're
(19:36):
bringing to Kathi even now andthe increased strength you're
giving her and we pray that youwould bring relief to the pain,
Lord. And we ask Lord that theMS would now also be healed or
that it would at least go intoremission, Father. And as
Cassie's surgery is just a fewdays away, we ask that you would
be with her and that you wouldhelp her through this time
without the pain medications.She needs you, Lord, and when
(19:59):
she's in surgery we ask you tobe there with her. Guide the
doctor's hands. We ask that theprocedure would be flawless and
that there would be nocomplications. We ask that the
surgery would be 100%successful, Lord. And we
continue to thank you, Lord, forJames in Norway's dad's A-Fib
improvement since his procedure.We pray that these episodes will
(20:21):
become increasingly rare or willjust stop altogether, Lord. I
ask, Father, that you wouldbless the Lifespring family
today. I thank you for each one.May they feel your presence and
know that you love them and helpus all to show grace to those
around us. We pray these thingsin Jesus' name. Amen. Beloved,
(20:42):
our next time of prayer will bethis coming Thursday. So if you
have a praise report or a prayerrequest, be sure to listen at
the end of the show for how tosend that information to me.
Thanks to Sister Denise, MichaelHaner, Scott Snider, Jason
(21:03):
Paschall, and Sister Brittaney -the team. Today's show art was
done by Scott Snider. Thank you,Scott. God bless you, Scott, and
the rest of the team. Thank you,Beloved, for inviting me into
your day. Until tomorrow, mayGod bless you richly. My name is
Steve Webb. Happy Father's Day.Bye.
Announcer (21:22):
The Lifespring! Media family of programs are made
possible by the generous supportof listeners like you. Thank
you.
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