We all love to receive an encouraging note from a friend.

And on one page of the New Testament, we find a very personal letter from Paul to Philemon.

This brief note to a friend is full of doctrinal truth and practical help for us all.

Open your Bible and your heart today as we come to the book of Philemon.

Let's join Scott Pauli now as we study God's Word together. On a hot day in a crowded place, when you see a sign that says refreshments,

it's encouraging, isn't it?

And you think if I can just get there, if I can just get something cold to drink,

if I can just get something in my system, I'll be all right. Well, I want you to know that God

desires and designed that his people would be refreshers in a dry, thirsty world. In a land where people

are just trying to survive,

we ought to be like an oasis in the desert,

sharing the living water, sharing the goodness of God.

And that's what Philemon was.

We've seen already in Philemon verse 7 and Philemon verse 20

that he is a refresher.

Verse 7 says, for we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints

are refreshed by thee, brother.

And verse 20 says, yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord.

Refresh my bowels in the Lord.

Do you see how Paul identified the past tense of his life and the future tense?

He said, we've seen that you've refreshed the saints.

We know that.

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