Showing Mercy to Those Who Illegally Cross Your Path

Well, thank you, Carlos. We'll look forward to hearing more from him and the Team Peru, members of Team Peru after, after this service. Well, let me have you guys turn in your Bibles to Philemon. It's one of the smaller books, one of the smallest books in the New Testament.

And so it's easy to miss. Just find the Book of Hebrews, which is towards the latter part of your New Testament. And then, right before the Book of Hebrews, you'll find Philemon. It's right in between Titus and Hebrews.

We have been doing a series on the subject of mercy. We have defined mercy as compassionate ministry to someone in dire need, just meeting spiritual needs, material needs, physical needs, and especially exploring ways of how we can do that in the community in which we find ourselves here on Linden Street and That has raised an issue that we feel is critical to address today, and that is the subject of illegal immigration. And so what we're going to do this morning is to talk a little bit on that subject with the time that we have, and the title of the message this morning is showing mercy to those who illegally cross your path, showing mercy to those who illegally cross your path.

And let me begin this morning with, I can't get this.

is this the reason I'm echoing? where is the sound guy? OK, find the sound guy. Yeah.

but anyway, I want, I want to begin this morning by giving you a hypothetical scenario that may not be completely hypothetical. In fact, I gave it as a hypothetical in the first service, and someone said that's actually very close to my reality. but this actually is from a real story that I'll tell you a little bit about later in the message. I want you to imagine that your next door neighbor, moves out.

And a couple months later a new family moves in. It is a Hispanic family and as you learn a little bit about this family, you come to realize that the wife is in this country legally, but her husband, who is 30 years old, is not a legal residence, a resident of this country. In fact, he snuck into this country illegally. And they have a child.

and in addition to that, this man, 30 year old man, has a very serious drug problem, and you see evidence of that drug problem and an alcohol problem as well. You also, come to find out that this man has no driver's license because he is not a legal resident of this country, but he figures out through the help of other people how to work the system. And he ends up working the system and he takes some forged and fake documents. what, can I just speak into this?

Is that OK? Cause this is just going all over the place. Can you turn me on here? OK.

so he figures out how to work the system and takes forged and fake documents to the DMV and, ends up presenting those documents and then he comes home a couple of hours later with a brand spanking new driver's license issued by the state of California. Now imagine that that is your neighbor and you come to learn all those things about him and on top of that, he doesn't speak any English. And only speak Spanish, what would your attitude be? Towards that neighbor Would you like the fact that that family is living right next door to you?

Would you be angry about the fact that they are living there? What would your attitude, what would your thoughts be towards that? Individual Well, that is the exact scenario that a Christian family encountered back in the early 1990s and I'll tell you a little bit more about that at the end of the message, this morning and that is the exact dilemma that I want to address this morning in this message and that is showing mercy to those who illegally cross our paths, those who are in this country.

illegally, as we have talked about mercy, it is, we've dreamed a little bit about how does God want us to reach out to those in our immediate surrounding community, and it's an undeniable fact that many of those living in this community are Spanish speaking and of those Spanish speaking individuals, who knows what number of them are actually not.

Legal residents of this country and so what should we think about that and should we reach out to these individuals? How do we go about ministering to them? What is biblical mercy look like towards such individuals and we're gonna learn this morning from the example of the apostle Paul. We actually have a case in scripture, guys, where somebody crossed Paul's path illegally.

And that's a guy named Onesimus, who was a resident of the city of Colossi in Asia Minor, and he was a slave. He ran away from his master and ended up finding his way to Rome. He had no business being in Rome, but nonetheless, in God's providence, he was in Rome and he crossed Paul's path. And how did Paul respond to this guy?

Who had no business being in Rome, how did Paul minister to this man who had illegally crossed his path? We're gonna look at Paul's example and, try to infer some lessons from his example for our modern day situation dealing with illegal immigration. Now, before we get into that, can I give you guys three quick encouragements? OK, can I?

Well, I'm going to anyway. first of all, be a good listener to this message., there's some topics that we might address from the pulpit that many of you are like, whoa, I don't even know anything about that. I'm looking forward to learning about it. Illegal immigration, everyone knows about it.

In fact, how many of you raise your hand, have an opinion on illegal immigration? OK, everyone's got an opinion on the subject and, and everyone's got anecdotal evidence to support their opinion and. And most of our opinions are laced with a lot of emotion, and so that can actually get in the way of really listening. The way that we should to a message like this and I also wanna say I am totally willing to be held to account for what I actually say in this message.

This has been months in the making. I've sought counsel from the elders. We've processed it, processed it as a board. I've talked to pastors of other churches like Foothill Bible Church and.

I just this past week talked to an associate pastor at a church in Miami, Florida, a pastor of a church in Branson, Missouri, and I talked to Alex Montoya, in Monterey Park, pastors a largely Hispanic church, in Southern California, and I also talked to a Spanish, pastor of a Spanish church up, near the Sacramento area. And so I feel fairly confident about what I'm going to say to you this morning, and I'm totally willing to be held to account for what I say. But I don't want to be held to account for what I didn't say, but what you think I said.

So, listen very carefully, and have the attitude that Samuel had in 1 Samuel 3, when he came to the Lord, living in a day where everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes, and they didn't even care about what God had revealed, Samuel steps out of the general population of the Israelite people and says, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

One of my favorite lines in all of Scripture, 1 Samuel 3:10, and what he's saying is, God, speak to me. I actually care what you have to say. And then he's saying, I'm your servant. I am your bond slave.

You own me. So I don't make up my own rules and, and develop my own thinking. I am your bond slave. And then he says, your servant is listening, and the Hebrew word that is translated listening is the Hebrew word that over 90 times in the Old Testament is translated as obey.

So he's saying your servant is listening with the intention of obeying. Now, many of, and he's saying, God, I don't even know what you're going to say to me yet. But whatever you say, I'm gonna do what you tell me to do. A lot of times we have the attitude.

Our prayers is essentially, Lord, speak to me, reveal your will to me so that I can then look at it and see what you say and then decide whether or not I want to obey. Samuel said, God, I don't even know what you're gonna say yet, but I'm telling you upfront before you speak, I'll do whatever you say. And can we have that attitude where we listen to God and say Lord, even on the subject of illegal immigration, I have much to learn and I would love to hear your voice on this subject so be a good listener and secondly, lay your politics aside at least for an hour and think gospel lay your politics aside.

What I'm gonna say in this message does not comport nicely with the Republican Party platform.

And it does not comport nicely with the platform of the Democratic Party either and frankly I couldn't care less. The only thing I care about is what we say from this pulpit does it comport. With the gospel platform and that's all that we're interested in and that's where my allegiance is my allegiance is not to the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, it doesn't matter whatever parties are out there. My allegiance is to Jesus Christ and to his gospel, and that is number one advancing that platform.

Paul had that. Attitude in Philippians chapter 1. He's in prison and many would view that as negative circumstances, but Paul says, I want you guys to know that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. Paul's like, even though I'm in some painful circumstances, the gospel's advancing, and that's all that I care about.

I will rejoice in that. And we need to become more interested in this country and the advance of the gospel than we are of any political party's platform or of any other thing for that matter. There's some Christians who are really ticked that there are people in this country who speak Spanish and don't know how to speak English, and they need to learn English and they're not even interested in learning Spanish or how to communicate with such individuals because doggone it they should speak English.

But we need to think through that response.

I have never known of a missionary who had that attitude. I just, and all the biographies that I've read of missionaries, I've never known any that had that attitude. And I would also say if you're struggling with that mindset is, did God call you to be a champion for the English language? is that where our allegiance is that we have been called to be guardians of the English language, or have we been called to be guardians and advocates of the gospel?

And regarding these individuals that speak Spanish and don't speak English that God in His providence brings across our path, we need to ask how are they gonna get saved if they don't believe and how are they gonna believe if they don't hear and how are they gonna hear without a preacher and how are they gonna be preached to unless somebody learns to speak in their language and speaks the truth of the gospel to them. And so the gospel is what we pledge our allegiance to. Not to the English language.

The advance of the gospel is the only thing that really matters.

And then a third encouragement I want to give you guys by way of introduction. Is to understand the purpose of this message. Now I may disappoint some of you here. The purpose of this message this morning is not to discuss the case for or against our country's immigration policies.

I'm not gonna give statistics on how many millions of illegal immigrants are in our country and, and, and look at all these financial figures of the drain that they are on our school system and emergency rooms and medical facilities and. And, and so forth. I'm not gonna give statistics, for illegal immigration saying look at the contribution financially that they make to our tax system and so forth, not gonna do that. I'm not gonna talk even about what our government should do to solve our nation's illegal immigration problem.

It does need to be solved, but we're not going to address that this morning. These, what you see on the slide here, this can be addressed by Mike Berry in a later sermon at some point. But this morning, our purpose is very narrow, and that is to talk about simply what we Christians should do when we encounter illegal immigrants. That's our purpose.

To talk about how we can best show biblical mercy to such individuals, what does biblical mercy look like from us as Christians, from us as a church towards someone who is in this country illegally and has needs and to answer this question, we're gonna ask another question, and that is how did Paul respond when Onesimus, a runaway slave, illegally crossed his path. Now Onesimus's situation is not exactly. Like the situation we're dealing with today, but it is similar inasmuch as Onesimus illegally crossed Paul's path, and we're gonna look at how Paul responded, to this situation and to discern this response, I wanna read to you a sizable chunk of the book of Philemon.

It is a letter from Paul to Philemon, and let's read what he says beginning in verse one.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother, to Philemon, our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Afia, our sister, and to Arcius, our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints. And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake, for I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother, and now he gets to the topic of the letter.

Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you, since I am such a person as Paul, the aged and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. I have sent him back to you in person. That is sending my very heart, whom I wished to keep with me so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel. But without your consent I did not want to do anything so that your goodness would not be in effect by compulsion but of your own free will.

For perhaps he, Onesimus, was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back 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. If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will repay it, not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well. Yes, brother, let me benefit from you and the Lord, refresh my heart in Christ. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

We're able to just go through the book of Philemon. And infer And observed 6 responses of Paul to Onesimus, who had illegally crossed his path, and the first response that we can observe of Paul to this man who illegally crossed his path is that he recognized that it was God's providence that Onesimus had crossed his path. Paul saw God's providential hand and the fact that Onesimus. Ended up meeting up with Paul.

That did not make what Onesimus did right, but nonetheless, Paul knew that God was at work somehow in some way in this situation. In fact, as Paul is talking to Philemon about, I would love for Onesimus to stay with me, but perhaps, you're gonna decide for him to stay with you. Paul then says, for perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while. In other words, maybe God had himself.

Separated from you for a while so he can get saved and now come back to you as a brother who can now bless you and your household and the church there, or perhaps the reason God separated him from you is so that I would have a permanent companion in the gospel. And so he lets Philemon know I'd love for him to stay with me and, but what he's saying is perhaps it was for this reason. In other words, I don't know if this is the reason, but I do know that there is a reason. That's the point.

Paul absolutely knew that God was up to something. His providential hand was at work in bringing Onesimus illegally across his path, and maybe Paul's like, maybe the reason is, is because God wants me to have him as a companion in my ministry, or maybe he wants him to go back to Philemon. I don't even know what the reason is, but I do know that God has a reason. And the same mentality ought to be in us as we see those that right or wrong without regard to, how wrong our government's policies may be or how right they may be.

The fact is, in our sovereign God's good providence, we have millions of people in this country who are not here legally, some of whom are crossing our paths, and we need to understand that God. In his providence has allowed this, and he has a reason for this. I don't pretend to know what the reason is. I don't know what the reason is in the life of every individual who's here illegally, but I do know that God has a reason for bringing such individuals across our path.

So we need to just embrace the sovereignty of God rather than being ticked. About the fact that they're living next door or whatever. start your train of thought, folks, with the, the, not just the gospel, but with the sovereignty of God, who is in control of such details, and he's always up to something, always doing something. A second response of Paul to Onesimus, who illegally crossed his path, is Paul shared Jesus with him.

He shared Christ with him. rather than saying, Onesimus, you're here illegally, get out of my sight. you should not even be here. I don't even want to talk to you.

Paul, developed a relationship with him, and he shared Jesus with him. In fact, he actually led him to the Lord, to the glory of God. In fact, Paul, is writing to Philemon and he refers to Onesimus as my child, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment. And so Paul shared Christ, led him to the Lord, and now this guy who crossed Paul's path illegally is A child of God and a brother in the Lord.

So Paul saw God's providence in this, and he also shared Christ with Onesimus, and we need to be Passionate about doing the same rather than just being ticked that they're here, people in this country illegally and then we close our hearts and our mouths to them and don't want anything to do with them, we need to realize, what, we were lawbreakers. we all broke the letter or the spirit of every one of God's 10 commandments. and we deserve to have the full weight of the law just crushing down upon us, and yet God has shown us leniency.

God has given us grace, God has shown His goodness to us, a goodness we did not deserve.

And therefore, what, Lord, this person has crossed my path in your good providence, and I'm going to show your love, and I'm gonna share Jesus with this individual. And that's exactly what Paul did with Onesimus. And by the way, when you share Christ, you gotta make sure that your attitude, your countenance, your demeanor, And your deeds are consistent with your words. If, if your general demeanor is you're really angry and ticked that they're here, but then nonetheless, let me share Jesus with you.

they're, they're gonna get mixed messages. That's not a healthy consistent message. and so again, see God's providence, share Christ with such individuals. That's what Paul did with Onesimus.

But what's interesting is Paul did not stop there. He did not just share Christ with Onesimus. Ultimately, eventually, we don't know how much time went by. But Paul pointed Onesimus to the legal authority.

He directed Onesimus back to his earthly authority, who had the earthly power to determine Onesimus's fate. Paul says in verse 12, I have sent him back to you in person. Verse 14, without your consent, I did not want to do anything. Paul selfishly wanted to keep Onesimus with him.

But he's saying to Philemon, I don't have the right to make that decision because Onesimus needs to answer to his earthly authority who has the power to make that decision. And so Paul sent Onesimus back to the earthly authority whose laws basically he had violated and who had the earthly power to determine his fate. Now, this is a big step for Paul to take and even Onesimus to take. Do what the punishment was for a slave to run away from his master?

Death. So this was a capital offense and technically Onesimus going back to Philemon could have had his life taken because of the crime that he had committed but nonetheless Paul directed him back to that legal authority who had the power to determine his fate. And in so doing, he sets a good example, for us. Now, the truth is, again, we don't know how much time elapsed, but the feeling you get is Paul didn't do this on day number 2 of knowing Onesimus.

It seems like time has elapsed where Paul really has a great affection. For this man. He refers to him as my child whom I have begotten. Who knows how long it took to actually lead Onesimus, to the Lord.

Later in the epistle, he's gonna say that I'm sending him back to you, that is sending my very heart. So Paul's heart was really invested in this man. And he really cared deeply about this man. So no doubt there was time that elapsed for this relationship to really blossom to such a degree to where Paul's like, I really want this guy with me in my ministry all the time.

And I'm gonna ask Philemon if that can happen. And I am sure also that the first time Paul broached the subject to Onesimus saying, hey, you're gonna need to go back. To where you came from. You're gonna need to go back to your earthly authority.

I, I'm fairly confident Onesimus did not say, OK, praise the Lord. I'm going back. But he was probably resistant and he took some persuasion and no doubt he said, Paul, there's a reason I ran away. because I didn't want to be there, but, and no doubt Paul was patient with him and kind and continued to disciple him, but ultimately, he was able to persuade Onesimus to take this incredibly bold step of faith in God.

It's his faith in God for Paul to entrust Onesimus in this way to his earthly authority and for Onesimus to be willing to go back to his earthly authority and to answer to that authority and to, to let that authority determine. His fate We need to realize, guys, that we are a nation of laws even as we deal with this illegal immigration and individual lives, we do need to realize that God is up to something. We share Christ with such individuals, but ultimately we do at some point direct them to the legal authorities, and encourage them, what, you're right now illegal and you need to rectify this.

And deal with the the authorities in this country to take care of that with the INS or with immigration or what have you or if that means returning to your home country to take care of matters and then be able to come back here legally whatever it takes, you need to be abiding by the law.

In Romans 13, Paul commands believers regarding obedience to the law of the land. He says every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. And so in this nation, and this isn't because I'm trying to protect the United States legal system, God says in his word that whatever authority we are under in this nation, God is the one in His providence who has established that, and Christians are to live in submission and obedience to the law unless there is a law that directly contradicts the clear teaching of God's word that we find.

In the scriptures, but other than that we abide by the law and we encourage others to do the same and so like for me it's not my place to say to an illegal immigrant, oh it's OK that you're here you just stay with us. I don't have the right to make that decision. I am not the legal authority ultimately I need to direct such an individual to the legal authorities who have the earthly power to determine their fate. Now, some of you may love.

3. Some of you may love the idea of, yeah, we need to do that. We gotta go to the illegal immigrants and we send them to the authorities and let them take care of it and hopefully they'll get sent back, to their home country because, hey, that's what Paul did. But what?

Paul did not just send Onesimus to the earthly authority. Paul did something else, and that is he served as Onesimus' advocate. Before the earthly authority, he served as his advocate, which is very interesting. Paul, was in prison, so he couldn't go physically with Onesimus, but he did write a letter.

this is the most personal of all of Paul's letters that we find in the New Testament. And as you read the letter, it's almost humorous the way that Paul pulls out all of the stops to be as persuasive as he can be. look at verse 9 of Philemon. He says, yet for love's sake, I rather appeal to you since I am such a person as Paul, the aged.

I, I'm an old man and I'm here making a request, and I'm a prisoner in some unfortunate circumstances. And, and then look at verse 19. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will repay it.

Not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well. he is clearly pulling out all the stops to be as persuasive as he can be, to Philemon to turn this whole case in the favor of Onesimus. And so he served as his advocate before his earthly authority via this letter. And when you read this letter, you see, this is the advocate Paul was.

He requested leniency and even offered to shoulder the cost. he says to Philemon, hey, can, can you receive him? Can you receive him back rather than reject him and have him killed? He's asking that Philemon grant Onesimus leniency, and he's even saying, I'll cover the cost.

He says in verse 18, but if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I'll pay. If, whatever lost labor. if that is an incurred cost with him being gone over the length of time he's been gone, I'll cover that cost.

If you guys have sent out search parties after him, and that has, caused lost labor and there's been cost involved in that, I'll cover that cost. He's like, what, whatever, whatever the costs are, just charge that to my account. I will cover that. Paul didn't have to do that.

But what, Paul is being motivated by the gospel. Because the truth is, like I said a minute ago, we, we were all lawbreakers. And Living in violation of the law of God, and yet God showed us a great leniency. We deserved eternal judgment, and he withheld that sentence from us, the sentence we deserved, and he has lavished his goodness upon us, and he's even now preparing an eternal home in heaven for us.

We deserve to be eternally banished from his kingdom, but instead we have these blessings that are in the gospel and so Paul as a man who had himself received great leniency from God, great grace from God. And Paul himself, a man who owed God a huge debt that was unpayable, but God sent his son to pay that cost and to shoulder the cost that Paul owed to God for his salvation. Paul being motivated by that reality, doesn't even balk at the thought of, what, I'm gonna be an advocate for this runaway slave.

I'm going to ask for leniency, and I will be willing to do for him what Jesus did for me.

I'll cover the cost. He also was his advocate. in the sense that he requested that Onesimus might be able to stay with him. Paul genuinely wanted Onesimus to stay with him.

And he says, I wish to keep him with me so that on your behalf, he might minister to me. Philemon, I would love it if you would let Onesimus stay with me, but I don't have the right to make that decision. I would like for him to stay, but maybe he needs to be back with you and maybe that's what God is doing. And we can learn from this that as Christians and as a church, if someone crosses our path illegally, we see it as God's providence, we share the love of Christ with such an individual ultimately we direct them to the authorities to make right their illegal status, but as they do so we stand with them as their advocate requesting leniency, helping to shoulder cost, and even exploring the possibility that they might be able to stay.

I was talking to Art Dick who attended the first service this morning and he in his line of work often is working with alongside of those that are here in this country illegally and he knows very limited Spanish and he's been able to share Christ with many of them and in a couple cases he's been able to help. them to become citizens through letter writing and just given some of their unique situations, there have been two situations where he's helped an illegal resident of this country to become legal and he calls them his border brothers.

and has a great relationship, with them. Now that's a man doing exactly what Paul did for Onesimus.

we as a church, there have been a. small handful of situations where we have served as an advocate for someone who was in this country illegally. I personally have invested hours meeting with an immigration attorney here in Riverside, being on the phone with an immigration attorney. There have been other elders that have gone to the INS with individuals and, trying to explore different possibilities to work it out that someone can stay in this country, legally.

And so a lot of steps have been taken and we feel like biblically, what, as Christians and even as a church, if there's anything that we can do, as an advocate for someone, even if it means helping to retain an attorney or even helping to fly them home so that they can, take care of matters in their home country and then be able to come back legally. we're willing to explore the possibility of, of serving as an advocate, requesting leniency, helping to shoulder some of the cost, and seeing if the Lord might have it in his plan that they would be able to stay with us legally.

And so Paul did that. He served as Onesimus' advocate before this earthly authority.

There is a 5th thing that Paul did that I think can set a great example for us as we deal with our modern situation, and that is that Paul was willing to let Onesimus return permanently to his place of origin if that's what the earthly authority decided. He was willing, to have Onesimus forever return back to Colossi. if that is what the earthly authority decided, Paul, totally. You read this letter, there's no way around this.

Paul is basically acknowledging that Philemon, whatever you decide, that's God's will. That's, then I'll know what God is up to. If you decide to allow him to stay with me, then I'll take that as the will of God. And see that that was the reason God brought Onesimus across my path.

But if you decide that you want Onesimus to stay with you and not with me, then that is the will of God, and I will embrace that. Paul was willing to allow for the possibility that Onesimus would need to return permanently to his place of origin if that is what the earthly authority Philemon decided. Paul says in verse 15 and 16, for perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while. That you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you.

Again, Paul doesn't know what God's up to, but he knows God's up to something. Maybe God wants him to stay with me. That's why all this has happened, but maybe God wants Onesimus back with Philemon. So that Philemon could be blessed and his household could be blessed.

Paul was not so arrogant as to say he knew exactly what God was doing. But Paul deferred to the earthly authority. And let them make the decision. And Paul then took that as the Lord's will.

And what, folks, as we deal with this situation in the lives of individual people that maybe we're able to invest in, share Christ with, and disciple, and ultimately we tell them you need to make this right. You're not here legally, you're in violation of the law. Romans 13 says we need to be and you need to be living in obedience to the law of the land, and to do that is to be submissive to God ultimately, so go to the legal authorities, we'll serve as your advocate, we'll try to work it out that you are able to stay with us.

But even as we do that, we need to acknowledge that maybe God does not want them to stay with us.

Maybe God's plan is that they go back to their home country. where they can now make a difference as a believer in Christ. I was talking the other day with Alex Montoya, the pastor of First Fundamental Church in Monterey Park here in Southern California. And their policy as a church is, they don't make a big stink out of the issue, but as they disciple individuals, if an individual is wanting to assume a position of leadership and ministry and especially to become an elder or deacon, their basic approach is they sit that person down and say, to be an elder or deacon, to be a ministry leader, you need to be above reproach.

And you're not above reproach because you are in violation of the law, and they'll tell such a person, you need to take whatever steps and we'll help you to become legal or you need to return to your home country. And he was sharing with me that there have been situations where they have done that and sometimes it's worked out that the person's been able to stay in the United States. He shared with me, one case where it didn't work out that way where someone, could not work it out to stay here legally, so they went down to their hometown in Mexico and planted a church there.

And they're pastoring a church there.

And another individual that they trained in their seminary and then they sat the person down and said you, you're not legal, you need to take care of this and so they return to their hometown and they're now serving as a missionary with BMW, the mission organization. understand guys that in order for something to be a success story, it doesn't have to play out that they end up in the United States. The United States is not the promised land. It's not, it's not the will of God for everybody.

In fact, we have people like Jim and Alicia Lossing who were born and raised in the United States, whom God called to go down to Peru, and they've been down there the last 17 years. Now, how does that happen if the only success stories are stories that end up with someone in the United States? God in His providence may be allowing people into this country illegally because God is up to something, and what he's up to is, in some cases, he wants to use the church to lead them to Christ.

And then to work things out that they can stay here legally and minister here for the Lord.

But in some cases, while they're here, they get saved, built up, discipled, trained, and then they go back to their home country. And make a huge impact for Jesus Christ. I was talking with an associate pastor of a church in Miami this week who, there was a guy attending their church who was a roofer, and he would hire workers and, to the best of his knowledge, he only hired legal workers, but he had one guy that worked with him for quite some time before this roofer discovered that this guy had faked his paperwork and he was illegal.

So this Christian roofer sat this guy down and said, man, you gotta make this right.

This is wrong and. He worked with the guy and encouraged him. And eventually the guy decided that he needed to go back to Colombia. Where he had come from And try to work out getting legal status.

Well, that was about 10 years ago, and he's never been able to return to the United States. But this guy's sons are down in Colombia teaching English. And as a family they're making an impact for the Lord. That's a success story.

And so we don't know what God is up to, but God is up to something either for such individuals to stay with us and be a blessing or that we can invest in them and they can go back to the country that they have come from as a brother in the Lord, as a Christian, as a believer who can make a mighty impact for Christ, and we have developed a ready-made missionary. Isn't that, isn't that, isn't that amazing? Just we invest in someone and you've got a ready-made missionary going back to their hometown, making an impact for Christ.

Response number 6 of Paul, yes, he was willing to let Onesimus return permanently to his place of origin, if that's what the earthly authority decided.

But number 6, Paul was willing to do everything he could to provide for Onesimus as he returned. It was not out of sight, out of mind. OK, go, Onesimus. No, he sent a letter with him and, and Paul was very concerned about Onesimus's welfare even as he returned.

in verse 12, he says to Philemon, I've sent him back to you in person that is sending my very heart. You can, you can bet Paul cared very much about what was gonna happen to Onesimus after he returned. And again in verse 18, he says, if he's wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account. So, Philemon could have said, all right, I'll take you back, but over the next year, Onesimus, you're gonna have to do this and this and this and this extra.

And you're not gonna be allowed to do this and this and this until all of my costs have been recouped, but Paul is saying, what, I'll, I'll provide for that. I'll take care of that additional load that you might wanna put on on simus, and I will cover his costs. And so if it does work out that we serve as someone's advocate and it just doesn't materialize. That they can stay in this country legally then then we essentially commissioned them we we send them back to their home country, but our heart goes with them and, and we help provide for them and getting back and we've actually done that as an elder board through the Agape Fund.

We've offered we will pay for your flight back, we will pay for your journey back to your home country and even in an ongoing way. If this person is now a ready-made missionary, then, they're, they're, it's worth exploring the possibility of providing some ongoing support for that individual, as they are back in their home country, hometown, making a difference for the Lord Jesus Christ. And so let's sweep all of this together and just stay. Restate all of these points applying to us.

You don't have to write all these things down. Just if you wrote down the six responses of Paul, then you'd be able to infer all of these. How do we deal with those who cross our paths illegally today? Well, we recognize that it is God's providence that such people are crossing our paths.

Number 2, we share Christ with them through our words, attitudes, and actions. Number 3, we eventually direct them to make things right with the authorities. Number 4, we serve as their advocates before such authorities. Number 5, we are willing to have them return to their home country if that is what the governing authorities determine.

And number 6, we do everything we can to provide for them as they return to their home country. I submit these things to you as a starting point for dialogue and prayer and consideration as you think through this issue. Now, let me say a couple of practical things here. you guys remember a few weeks ago we learned these two principles, let mercy limit mercy.

And also mercy starts without conditions, but it proceeds with conditions you guys remember that? Well, we can apply that even in a situation like this, if an illegal immigrant crosses your path or our path as a church, we reach out to such person we, if there's a physical material need, we help with that we share Christ with them and the love of Christ to them. And our mercy towards them is utterly without conditions. and then we do what Paul did with Onesimus.

Ultimately as we invest in them, we direct them to the authorities to become legal. We serve as their advocates. We do everything we can in our power to help them to become legal, but if that does not happen, then, ultimately we would need to counsel this Christian brother or sister. You need to return to your home country because you are in violation of the law.

And And if you get to that point with a person, and again, you want to be patient, you don't want to just give them that counsel one time and they say, well, no, I'm not ready to do that, and then you just totally cut off mercy. Understand that this is very difficult for some people, and I'm fairly confident Onesimus didn't just jump on this at the first time Paul said something. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. So we do couch this in patience and mercy, but ultimately, if the person stubbornly.

Over a period of time refuses to heed this biblical council. Then Your mercy towards them proceeds with conditions. Personally, I could not in good conscience provide ongoing financial support for someone who is in this country in violation of the law. After doing everything I can to help as their advocate to work it out for them to be here legally, if it reaches a point where all those attempts have been exhausted and we're counseling them to go back to their home country and they steadfastly refuse.

Then at that point, mercy limits mercy. You got to stop and ask, is it merciful for me to give this person money monthly so that they can continue breaking the law? am I doing the merciful thing for this person? And so at that point, you realize if I continue doing this, I'm just enabling them.

And supporting them as they break the law and now there's legitimate question about am I obeying Romans 13? Am I being a good citizen? And am I helping this person? To live in obedience to Romans 13 as well.

But I, I submit that to you for your consideration and put that before your conscience as well. Just think through these issues practically, couched with grace and patience and, and love for individuals, but let mercy limit mercy. When you begin to feel like, what, I feel like all I'm doing is enabling this person to break the law, you gotta listen to your conscience in a situation like that. And let mercy start without conditions regardless of who it is that comes across your path.

But as you continue to minister to that person, there are conditions that begin to take effect. Now let me tell you guys a great story. And I started with this, this week I met a guy, Alberto Perez, who at the age of 30, came into this country illegally. His wife was legal, he was not, and they made their way up to the Sacramento, area.

And, they moved into a home and, he figured out how to work the system. He went to the DMV and produced some, fake documents and he ended up getting a driver's license. This guy had a drug problem, alcohol problem. His life was a total wreck.

But next door to him was a Christian family. Who reached out to him And Invited him to their Spanish speaking church. Alberto Perez attended that Spanish speaking church with his wife, and it was not long before his wife became a believer in Jesus, and soon thereafter, Alberto Perez himself became a believer in Jesus. Well, as they continued to invest in him, Alberto Perez felt a burning desire to give his life to full-time ministry.

And so he began ministering at that church and then he wanted to be trained further so he came down here to Southern California to the Spanish seminary at Alex Montoya's Church at First Fundamental in Monterey Park. They develop him and they invest in him and he's got great dreams for ministry, but they sat him down and said, hey. You're not legally here. And therefore you're not above reproach.

You cannot be a pastor. You cannot be a leader in the church because you're not above reproach. You need to either become legal and we'll help you to do that if it's even possible or you need to return to your hometown in Mexico. Alberto Perez took that very seriously.

In fact, this is so crazy. He actually, when he went back up to Sacramento, he went to the DMV and oh I gotta use this. And he, stood in line and when it was his turn, he went up to the person at the desk and he says, I just want to confess my sin to you. I lied and I, the, these documents that I gave you some time ago, these are fake documents, and I, I lied to you and deceived you in giving you these documents so that I could get a driver's license and I just wanted to come and confess my sin to you.

what the person said? They looked it over and they said, Sir, these documents look fine to me. You may go. Totally serious.

Alberto did not walk away and say, oh, OK, I guess it's OK. No one really cares. Alberto still was committed. I've got to become legal.

I've got to take care of this because I'm not above reproach unless I can take care of this. And as he worked with the church on it, they did everything that they could ultimately, throughout the process, Alberto began to believe, what? I think what God wants is for me to return to my hometown in Mexico and plan a church there and he began thinking that's, that's what I'm gonna do. I think that's what God is up to.

But somehow miraculously because he had had children while living in this country, there were a few technicalities that one thing led to another and he was eventually standing before a judge at this final hearing and the judge could have either ordered that he be deported or told him you can stay here legally and miraculously the judge said. You can stay here legally. And Alberto to this day is not a citizen of the United States. But he is a legal, a, he is a legal resident of the United States.

And he is pastoring a church, a Spanish speaking church just outside the city of Sacramento. Making an impact for Christ, by the way, after he came to know the Lord through this church in the United States, he returns to his hometown in Mexico. None of his family were believers. He led his entire family to Jesus.

His parents and siblings led the whole family to Jesus. The reason I know about Alberto is because in the latest issue of Voice magazine, we as a church are a member of the IFCA, which is an asso it's an association of independent fundamental churches. This past summer at the IFCA convention, there was a resolution presented to the delegates at that convention. on the subject of illegal immigration, and Alberto Perez stood up and spoke in favor of this resolution through a translator.

He speaks broken English. I've had a conversation with him in English, but he's more comfortable talking in Spanish, but he spoke in favor of this resolution. And I'd like to read it to you. You're gonna get a copy of this as you leave this morning, but can I read you the, the resolution that the IFCA convention passed this past summer?

Listen to this. And if I get off on the slides, just tell me I got off in the first service, But feel free to correct me. Here's a resolution that Alberto Perez spoke in favor of and that the delegates at this convention passed. Whereas the United States of America has been the hopeful economic and democratic destination of millions in the world seeking freedom and an improved economic lifestyle, and whereas mankind is created in the image of God, therefore making people valuable before God in the world, thus requiring some degree of responsibility and compassion towards the needs of the world.

And whereas some communities in the United States of America are experiencing troubles of crisis proportion and handling overwhelming numbers of illegal alien immigrants which tax social structures, educational capacities, and infrastructure in those communities. And whereas much controversy surrounds this issue, including the use of the term alien, which is defined by the US government as any person not a citizen or national of the United States, thus an illegal alien is a person not a citizen or national of the United States here without permission of the US government.

And whereas Christians have a biblical responsibility to follow the rule of law, as well as reaching all with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Be it therefore resolved that the members and delegates at the seventy-eighth annual convention of the IFCA International meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 25th to 29th, 2007, recommit themselves to vigorously pursuing the great commission with any and all peoples as well as observing the rule of law and be it further resolved as we encounter illegal aliens, we encourage our churches and pastors to exercise compassion by preaching and teaching the whole council of God.

In order to lead them to salvation and maturity in Christ and be it further resolved as we disciple illegal aliens, we will encourage them to comply with the rule of law as a matter of conscience and testimony, be it further resolved as we counsel with illegal alien brothers, we will stand with them as they seek to change their status from illegal to legal, even if that means they return to their home country. And be it finally resolved that we seek the Lord's guidance in each case and demonstrate grace in carrying out our biblical directives even as we seek to live as proper citizens of our nation.

Amen. The phenomenal thing to me is over the last few months, I've been in the book of Philemon, coming to some of the conclusions that I've come to that I preached this morning.

And then a couple of weeks ago, come across this resolution and get to meet some of the people who drafted it. Not one quote from Philemon is in this resolution, and yet it beautifully just fits right with what we've talked about this morning. And as you leave this morning, I wanna encourage you to get a copy of this resolution and ponder this thing, look up some of the scriptures, and even try to do some of that this afternoon in preparation for your care group meeting. Now, let me say this real quick because we're getting out of time.

We're already out of time. I, I want you to understand the spirit in which I give you this message. I don't in any way think this message crosses every T, dots every I, answers every question, and that this is the last and final and best word on the subject of illegal immigration. I don't, I don't believe that.

I don't offer this to you as this is the final conclusion of where we should be as a church. I offer you this message and these points as a starting point for your thinking. And for our conversations that should take place in our care groups and even out of our care groups in an ongoing way because I am convinced and the elders are convinced that God is up to something. There's a reason we're here at 1363 Linden Street.

There's a reason we have the people living around us that we have living around us, and God has a reason and God is up to something and what is that demand from each of us? What should we do as a church? Does God want us to start a Spanish speaking? ministry, to where there's a Spanish speaking arm of Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church.

I don't know, perhaps God wants some of us to learn Spanish who right now don't know Spanish. We've had two major incidences in our neighborhood just in the last 6 months. where the police ended up coming in both of those situations, I was right there standing with the principal people involved and my ability to minister was severely limited because I didn't know Spanish. And God has been challenging me, Milton, you want your ministry to blossom where you're planted.

Learn Spanish and I've been interacting with that and with the Lord about that and I think God wants some of us in this church to learn Spanish so that we can speak in the language of individuals who need to hear about Jesus and receive his love. And so guys, let's converse about this. But one closing challenge, be humble, be charitable. as you converse in our care groups tonight, let's be frank and honest, but no acrimony.

Just let's, let's just be humble and let's share what God's doing in our hearts and let's all play our role in this ongoing corporate conversation to see where God is leading us. And be a contributor to that conversation rather than a wrench in the machinery that just breaks down conversations and discourages people. All of us humbly need to come before God and before one another and say, what? I got a lot of thinking to do.

I got a lot to learn. Let's learn together. Let's process together and see what vision God has for cornerstone that we arrive at in community with one another. Let me ask you to bow your heads.

Let's pray and ask God to help us to do that. Lord, without a doubt, our immigration situation in this country is a problem that needs to be solved. But It's also more than a problem, it's an opportunity. We have people coming into this country who want to be here, that we have an opportunity to share Christ with.

And to invest in. And Lord, it would be awesome if 10 years from now, we're looking back and celebrating the fact that there, there had been 7 or 8 individuals like that. Some of which are here in the United States making an impact for Christ, and some of whom are back in their home country serving as missionaries. That we're supporting in an ongoing way.

May we as the church seize this moment. Given our circumstances, for better or for worse, and whatever wrongdoing is involved on the part of our government or individuals, this is an opportunity. And what all the shapes of this opportunity are, we don't even know fully yet, but Lord, just help us to be faithful, show us the way and show us how we can overwhelmingly triumph in this situation that has proved to be so confounding. For even the wisest of people.

May souls be saved, churches be planted, and lives changed, and your name glorified by how we as a body respond. To this issue. We ask these things in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.