Let's read together a portion
of the book of Philemon. We'll read just a few verses
out of this short chapter, verses 10 through 18. Kind of set your
mind in the direction of the message. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus
whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. Whom I have
sent again, thou therefore receive him. Receive him, that is, mine
own vows. Receive him, you receive me.
whom I would have retained with me, I would have kept him here,
I needed him. I would have retained with me
that in thy stead he might have ministered to me in the bonds
of the gospel. But without thy mind, I would
do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity,
but willingly. For perhaps, therefore, this
is a key sentence, Perhaps, therefore, he departed for a season, that
thou shouldest receive him forever. Not now as a servant, but above
a servant, a brother, beloved, specially to thee. But how much
more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the spirit, are in the
Lord. If thou count me, therefore,
a pardoner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account." Now, this letter, as
you know, was written to a man by the name of Philemon. We don't
know much about him, but this man, Philemon, was a truly gracious
man. Paul tells us this plainly in
verse five. He tells us that he had heard
of Philemon's love and faith, which he had toward the Lord
Jesus and toward all the saints. And Paul, in saying that, it
tells us he's heard about Philemon while he's down in Rome. He said,
the word concerning you got out, because Paul speaks to him in
the opening verses as being his beloved. This is a man he knew
and knew well. But knowing him, he also heard
of the commendation of his character in the grace of God. He was a
man who loved Christ and he had the testimony around the world
that he loved Christ. People everywhere who spoke of
Philemon spoke of him as a man who loved the Son of God. He
was so concerned for the glory of God and the things of God
that he maintained a church in his own house. He met together
like our friends out in Gilroy, I don't have any idea whether
it was a large group or small, but they met in their house and
they worshiped God in that place. It was somewhere in the general
area of Colossae, apparently. And he was benevolent, kind,
gracious to his friend Paul, who was the minister of the gospel
to his soul, and treated his servants kindly and graciously. Onesimus, who is the second principal
character in this brief epistle, was Philemon's servant, a slave
is the proper word. He was a slave to whom Philemon
had given great trust. He had made him to be the steward
over his house. Philemon entrusted this man onesimus
with his household goods. It was not an uncommon thing
in those days that the man had a slave that he particularly
looked upon with trust, one who had earned his master's trust
The master would make him to be the steward over his house.
He would give him pretty much the run of the house, the discipline
of the children, the care of the household. He'd be the fellow
who'd go out and buy the groceries and pay the bills and such as
that. Oedipus had this charge as a trusted man, but he was
not a man who could be trusted. He was a deceiver, self-serving,
diving, and he befrayed his master's trust. I don't guess it's possible to
live 50 years on this earth and not experience something of this.
It's one thing to have someone break into your house and rob
your house that you don't know. But one of the most painful things
on this earth is to have a friend betray your trust, have a friend
stab you, have a friend rob you, whether in literal things or
whether in your name and reputation. was a betrayer like Judas. That's
the kind of man Onesimus was. Well, Onesimus apparently one
day, and I'll have to suppose a little because we're not told
exactly what happened, but apparently one day Onesimus was out in town
and he had a bag full of his master's gold and he thought,
well, I've served this fellow long enough. And he took off.
He took off to Rome. And there he hoped that he would
lose himself in that large metropolis city in the crowded streets among
the people of the city. And at last the time came in
God's good providence when Onesimus was brought face to face with
the man who would preach the gospel of God's grace to him
in the power of God's Somehow or another, I don't know whether
somebody found him on the streets and said, Lord, I want you to
go hear a man talk. Or whether somebody heard the gospel and
said, I want you to go hear a man preach the gospel. Or whether
he was arrested. My suspicions are he was arrested. At any rate, he was brought face
to face in the same room where God's servant Paul was a prisoner
in Rome. And he heard the gospel of God's
grace. And this poor runaway slave was
arrested by omnipotent grace. Paul said, I've begotten him.
I've begotten him in my bonds. Now, sometimes we hear a fellow
use language like that, and we think, how dare the man say that?
Paul's speaking tenderly and compassionately, and yet he's
also declaring that he was the instrument by whom this man was
born again. I'm in God's hands. I'm in God's,
under God, I'm his father. I've forgotten him. I'm his mother
too. I've labored for him. I've cried
out to God for him and my soul prevailed. He was born of God.
And this man Onesimus was saved in Rome while he was a prisoner
and Paul was a prisoner. You know the rest of the story.
You see, Onesimus, though he was converted, he still belonged
to Philemon. He was a wanted man. And by law,
Philemon had the right to have him executed. He was Philemon's
property. Now, you can argue what you want
to concerning that. The scriptures don't address
this issue of slavery. Obviously, slavery is a horrible
thing, but it was common practice in that day. And the illustration
is clear. The Lord God has given us the
illustration because he would have us to understand it. We're
his property. And we are all, by nature, wanted
men. And justice demands our execution. Now Philemon, because he owned
Onesimus, because Onesimus was his property, that which he possessed,
that which he could use as he would and dispose of as he would
according to law, Philemon could either show him mercy and let
him live, or he could have him killed, whichever he wanted to
do, and nobody could raise a word about it. So it is with us. can show us mercy, if he will. Or he can destroy us. It's what
the law says we deserve. He can receive us graciously,
or he can refuse to receive us. It's entirely up to him. Well,
once Odysseus was converted, Paul took down pen and paper,
and he wrote this epistle. We're told in verse 19, we're
talking about an author about this, one of those where he said
he wrote it with his own hands. He wrote this with his own hand
and then he puts it into Onesimus' hands and he says, you take it
to Philemon. Now in these verses, there are
several things set before us. Let me give you three or four
things and then we'll get to the message. First, we have here
an example, two tremendous examples of true Christian love. Paul
showed tremendous love for this man Onesimus. He took this degraded,
loathsome slave who had betrayed his master's trust. And once
this man had been converted by the grace of God, Paul received
him, regarded him, and treated him as his own son. Now looking
at that, try to put a comparison in mind, if you will. Paul looked at as his own son.
Now Timothy and Onesimus by nature were two different characters
altogether. Timothy and Onesimus in their circumstances were two
totally different men. Timothy was a moral, upright
man. He had He had always behaved
properly in his outward conduct, from all that we can gather in
Scripture. He, from a child, was taught the Holy Scriptures,
and from a child he was well-disciplined and submitted to the discipline
of his mother and his grandmother in the things of God. Onesimus,
he was the off-scouring of society. Onesimus was a fellow nobody
had anything to do with. Onesimus was a fellow if you
knew him, you'd walk on the other side of the street when he came
down just lest you might lose your wallet as he walked by.
He was the kind of fellow that you wouldn't want your sons and
daughters to be connected with. But after they were converted,
Paul and Timothy were the same fellows in Paul's eyes. These
are my sons. These are both saved by God's
grace. In Christ, God's elect are all
made righteous and made to be chaste and pure by grace. And in Christ, there is a perfect
equality, for we are accepted in Christ and for Christ's sake.
We ought to learn to do that with each other. We ought to
learn to do that with God's people. Philemon showed tremendous love
as well in his reception of Onesimus. You see, though Philemon had
been greatly wronged, though he had been terribly abused by
this man, though he had been personally injured by this man,
once Onesimus came back to him again, and he brings this letter
from God's servant Paul, and he has it on good credit that
this man had been born of God, that this man is truly repentant,
that this man is, he's a different man now. He takes Lysimus back
into his house and really forgave him everything. God teach me that kind of grace. God teach me that kind of grace.
If God has forgiven me and forgives me. Surely I ought to forgive
any man any wrong done to me. If the Lord Jesus Christ has
received me and receives me, then surely there is no man under
the sun whom I should not receive with open arms as he comes to
me. I know this Whether I know anything
about it or not in experience, I know this. Whether I display
it or not in my behavior, I know this. This is the kind of love
that rules the hearts and lives of God's people. They forgive
each other. They forgive each other. Our Lord said a new commandment
I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you." Love? Love one another? This generation is so bombarded
by every form of misinformation that it's difficult to get anybody
to have any idea of what love is. Love is commitment to somebody
else. Love is devotion to somebody
else. Love is honoring somebody else.
Love's living for somebody else. And love forgives. It's forbearing. It's gracious. It's kind. That's what love ought to do.
That's what love is. That's what love is. Our Lord
says, I give you this commandment that you love one another as
I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall
all men know that you're my disciples if you have loved one for another.
Look at verse 18 for a moment. I've taken this for the title
of my message. Paul says, if he hath wronged
thee aught, put that on my count. Put that on my count. That's
a picture of substitution. Onesimus had wronged Philemon. He had betrayed his master's
trust. He had despised his master's
goodness. He had stole his master's goods.
He owed much to Philemon. He owed him his very life. But
Paul says, put that on my account. Philemon now, now listen, I'm
not speaking to you now by commandment. I'm not speaking to you with
apostolic authority and telling you you've got to do this. I'm
speaking to you as your friend and as one who is befriended
by you. This man, Onesimus, I'm sending
back to you. And whatever he owes you, you
put it on my debt. Put it on my debt. Make it my
debt. Make it mine. The Lord Jesus
Christ said to his father in covenant grace before the world
began, whatever Bob Duck owes you, charge it to me. Charge it to me and I'll pay. And pay he did. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Surely he had bored our griefs
and carried our sorrows, the chastisement of our peace was
upon him with his stripes, we are healed for the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. And we certainly have here a
picture of divine forgiveness. Back up to verse 17 for a moment.
Paul says, if thou count me therefore a pardoner, receive him as myself. Onesimus was forgiven through
the intercession of another. He was accepted, not as a slave,
but as a brother, as an equal. He was accepted because of another. Oh, and we have been forgiven
through Christ intercession. We are accepted because of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are accepted in every way
equal to our Savior. We are counted now as Christians. But the thing that demands our
attention this evening is that we have here a marvelous example
of God's wondrous, amazing, irresistible grace. Every time I think about
Onesimus, this is how I think of the book. In the case of this
man Onesimus, We see evidence that God's grace is always effectual,
always irresistible, that it cannot in any way be hindered
or thwarted, but that God's grace is on the trail of God's people
and God's grace follows and pursues God's people all the days of
their lives and at the appointed time of grace, grace comes and
grace saves the people chosen of God. and redeemed by his blood. Let me show you several things
here. Learn this about grace. Here's the first thing. Grace
is first. Grace is first. Grace precedes everything. I
mean everything. Before Adam fell in the garden,
grace was. Before ever sold his master's
goods, he was already the object of God's grace. Before anything
ever was, grace was. Now this is what I want you to
learn. Learn it, learn it well. God's grace always takes the
initiative in the saving of his people. Grace is never the response
of God to what a man does, but rather grace is that which causes
men to respond to God. Grace is never a reaction, grace
is always the cause. Grace is never the result, grace
is always the cause. Grace first contrived the way
to save rebellious man and all the steps that grace display
which drew the wondrous plan. Grace first inscribed my name
in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Onesimus was the object of God's
sovereign election. He didn't know it. He didn't
even care. He wasn't But the Lord God before
the world said concerning Onesimus, I'll be his God and he'll be
my son. And so it came to pass. And that's
true concerning every sinner saved by God's grace. Grace passed
by many, but it wouldn't pass by Onesimus. Grace passed by
many more noble, but it wouldn't pass by Onesimus. Grace passed
by many in the area around Colossae, but it wouldn't pass by Onesimus.
Well might you cry out to God, pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry, while on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. As a general rule,
I'll tell you who grace chooses, has chosen, and separates from
among men as trophies of his work. Usually, usually, Grace
is pitched on the most loathsome, the vilest of the vile, the most
useless, the most worthless. Those that we would look at and
say, well, there's no hope for him. He'd gone too far. She can't be reached. I'll give
up! God Almighty never quits. He never gives up. He's never
frustrated. But at the time when we think
all things are in chaos, grace has its way exactly according
to God's purpose. Let us never forget who we were
and what we were. when God called us by his grace.
Let us never forget where grace found us and understand that
God's grace is always sovereign. Now, hold your hands here in
five even and turn if you will for Romans 9, Romans chapter
9. Grace is both an attribute of
God and an act of God. Grace is not merely God's will
to save. It is not merely a desire in
God's heart by which he shows himself willing to save. But
rather, grace is the act of God whereby he saves those whom he's
determined to save. And we see this clearly in Romans
9 15. He saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. But what's the conclusion of
this thing? So then, it is not. It is not. But what part does
man's will have in salvation? Read this book. Read it. Pay
no attention to the infidels who wear preacher's garb and
stand in pulpits. Read this book. What part does
man's doing have in this thing of salvation? Quit listening
to what men say and find out what God says. It is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that doneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. Read on. Look at verse 18. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth. Now I can't take that. Take you
to go to hell. That's exactly right. You're
either going to bow to God's throne or you're going to hell.
That's all there is to it. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then to me, why
doth he yet find fault? Well, if God's sovereignty, my
will, doesn't have anything to do with things, what? How can
God find fault with me? For who's resisted his will?
You fool. That's what the book's saying
here. Nay, but oh man, who are you to slap God on the wrist
and say to Him, what are you doing? Who do you think you are
to challenge God's right to be God? Who do you think you are
to say no, God can't do that? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that repiest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay? Of the same luck to make one
vessel unto honor, and another to dishonor? Indeed he does. Thou art the potter. Find the
clay, mold me, and make me after your will. God's grace, sovereign
elect in grace, Saul Onesimus. Onesimus didn't seek the Lord,
the Lord sought him. I recall the first Bible conference
I went to in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was 19... Now, I
wasn't the person I went to. I went to some of those over
at Piedmont. We would call them Bible conferences,
but first Bible conference I went to. It was 1969 at the Rosemount
Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. And one of the fellows got up
preaching and he told a story, a true story. A little boy pulling
a wagon up Foster Avenue, real close to where I live, a little
nine-year-old boy at the end of his church. And some fellow stopped
him on the road and said to him, said, son, have you found the
Lord? And this boy looked up at him and he said, no sir, I
didn't know he was lost. But I was and he found me. That's exactly the case. Onesimus
was running from God. God was running after him. Onesimus
was pursuing his lust. God was pursuing the object of
his love. Onesimus was running fast as
he could to hell. And if God had left him alone,
his way would have landed him in ruin in time and in hell forever. But God sought him out. The Lord
God said, I'm found of them that sought me not. In fact, he calls
the name of his church sought out. Our name is sought out. He sought us out. We didn't seek
him. All right, learn this. Grace
is first. Grace is always on time. Oh, we get in a hurry, don't we? Oh, what mistakes we make
when we get in a hurry. Preachers get in a hurry to get
a decision. Get in a hurry to see something
done. Mamas and daddies get in a hurry. Talk their little babies
into making a profession of faith. Twist their arms. Get them to
deceive themselves so they can be deceived. Grace never gets in a hurry.
It's never before time. And it's never after time. You
can turn to it later in Ezekiel chapter 16 verse 8. This book
speaks about a time called the time of love. A time when God said, this is
where I want to meet you. That was a time. Why on earth
did he leave you to your grown man, retired, then save you by
his grace? And call another one? If God hadn't stopped him in
his way, he'd have been in hell before he got old enough to be
grown and retired. How come? Because that's the way God's
purposed. That's all. Oh, why didn't I hear this? How
many times have I heard Betty Jo say, I wish I'd been here
20 years ago? All the time. Exactly all the
time. Exactly all the time. Exactly
all the time. Grace is first, and grace is
always on time. You see, the grace of God rules
and overrules all things to accomplish its purpose. Turn to Romans chapter
8. Let me show you this one more
time. When we talk about divine providence, when this book talks
about God's providence, understand what God's doing. Understand
what He's doing. People who don't know God, don't
know this book, they try to act spiritual and try to take the
children's bread for themselves and they can't chew it up. They
just can't swallow it. And they'll say, well, we know it's all going
to turn out all right. Well, we know everything's going
to turn out good. That's not what this book teaches. This
is the children's prayer. Now listen, Romans 8, 28. We
know that all things work together for good, to them that love God,
to them who are the called. How do they work together? How
do they work together for good? Now, you fellows who work with
your hands, I see some of y'all take stuff, I've seen Merle,
Ron, Rex, you fellas take the materials you work with and to
me it looks like a pile of rubble. And then they go to the truck
and get all kinds of tools. And they know what to do with
them. And they get the wood and the nails and the hammer and
the saws and they go to work and they're working things together
because they've got a purpose in mind which their purpose to
accomplish and when the day is done, well look what they did
with that mess. Look at that. That's beautiful.
That's fantastic. God Almighty has got this mess
we call the world, this rubble, this ruined creation, and he
has got it in his hands and he's working everything in it, including
you and me and every breath we take, every demon in hell and
every angel in heaven. He's working it together. according
to his purpose. Oh, what a purpose it is. Look
at it, look at it. For whom he did foreknow, then
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, then he also called, whom he called,
then he also justified, whom he justified, then he also glorified. Onesimus had no right to steal
his master's goods. In law, he didn't have any right
to run away from his master's house. But God Almighty was working
behind the scenes. And God Almighty was accomplishing
his purpose, even using Onesimus' evil to accomplish good for his
chosen object of grace. and the wise arrangement of divine
providence. Onesimus' evil deed was an instrument
by which at last he was brought to the place where God would
be gracious to him in the time of his love. Look at verse 58. Let's see if it's not what Paul's
saying. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever." That article is very important. Now listen, listen now, listen
to your buddy Paul. Paul the aged. I've learned some
things about God. I grew up all my life thinking
I knew everything about him and now that I'm fixing to leave
this place I've learned some things about God. I'll tell you
what's happened. I'll tell you what's happened. In your household
and all the confusion and heartache and misery and pain and trouble
and turmoil caused by this runaway man. He departed. That. That! you might have him forever. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. This is what the old fellows
used to call prevenient grace, secret grace, grace that goes
before grace and prepares the way for grace. Onesimus madly
ran the sinful course of his own free will. And he would have
been in hell. But God's grace had purposed
his good. And God's purpose would not be
overturned. So this is the scheme to Rome. He must come to Rome because
that's where Paul is. He must come to Rome because
that's where God's purpose is to save him. He must come to
Rome But how's that going to come to pass? Paul and Onesimus
must be there at the same time and neither one had any plans
to go. How's it going to happen? How will all this be brought
to pass? Well, the Lord God calls that old black dog of hell
into his service. And at the appointed time of
law, Satan tempts Onesimus to do what he had never done before,
to steal from his master and run away. And at the same time,
the fiend of hell led an angry mob to have Paul arrested in
Jerusalem. Having robbed his master, Bunisimus
now terrified with fear, he takes off and says, where can I go?
He finds me, he's going to kill me. I'll go down the road, nobody
will find me down there in that crowd. I'll live in the clouds
of Rome. Nobody will find me there. There,
I can hide securely. I know. I've been there. But at the appointed time. At the appointed time. I don't
know whether he got caught doing something else, got arrested,
as I said. I don't know how it happened. I don't know how it
happened. Well, I do know how it happened. I just don't know
what the instrument was. Onesimus sitting in jail right beside
Paul, God's son. I suspect he probably heard Paul
preach a lot of times and never heard him. He'd often heard Paul
when he would be passing through Colossae, visiting with Philemon. He'd often read the things Paul
wrote, but he never paid any attention. Now, he's got what
they call a captive audience. And Onesimus is not just captive. physically. God's got his hand
in his heart, and he ain't gonna get away. And Paul preaches the
gospel to him, an onesimous belief. I'm here to tell you God still
moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He still
moves exactly on time, in the saving of his own Thirty years
ago, I had a missionary in our home who'd been preaching down
in Lima, Peru. And one night while he was preaching,
a fellow walked in the back door just to get out of the rain.
He walked in and sat down. White boy. This boy had lived
in Northern California, right on the Washington border. He
had run away from home, wasn't until 16 years old. And he had
been in Peru for a little while. Nobody had any idea where he
was. He walked in and said, hey, I'm
just going to get out of the rain, get pouring damn rain like it can down there.
He's sitting down there. As far as he was concerned, all
he was doing was seeking shelter. But God was seeking shelter for
him. And he heard the gospel of God's grace. And there, God called him by
his grace. God arranges everything exactly
as he will to bring the object of his grace to the place of
his grace at the time of his grace. I don't know how to explain all
I know concerning this, but I know that God didn't just choose to
save you. He chose when he'd save you,
where he'd save you, by what voice he'd save you. And it won't happen any other
way. I read years ago about a sailor. He joined the Navy in Britain
years ago. He was just a rogue, wanted to
get away from his parents. His dad was a believer. This
boy told his dad he joined the Navy, he was leaving. And so
when he did, his father packed the Bible, stuck it in his case. He knew if his boy found it,
he'd just throw it out and take it with him. Stuck it down, hid
it down under some stuff. And the boy went to Havana, sailed
all the way to Havana, Cuba. And he found that Bible. He was
disgusted. Because he hated his daddy's
God. And he'd take pages out of the Bible and wipe his razor
off, throw it away. Just rip it out, throw it away. That'd
be good use for the pages. Just wipe his razor off, throw
it away. And he got a package from home
one day. It was wrapped in what they used
to send out as penny pulpits. Had a sermon by Spurgeon on it.
And he opened the package up, looked at what his daddy had
sent him, and just threw the trash aside. Didn't throw it
away immediately, and he came home in the evening, and something
caught his eye, and something caught his heart, and God saved
him by his grace. Grace is always on time. Oh,
I despair of none. I despair of none. Often the Lord God will lay the
reins on the wild horse and say, just go on and run. Just go on
and run. But he never lets go of the reins. And at the appointed time of
love, he pulls up the reins of your heart in his almighty hand
of grace and says, all right, bud, you're mine. And he'll stop you in your mad
rush to hell and translate you in the kingdom of his son. Thirdly, success. Grace is always first. Grace
is always on time. And grace is always successful.
It can't be defeated. It can't be thwarted. It can't
be frustrated. It can't be hindered. It can't
be put off. It can't be paused. That which
God in his grace has purposed to do, God in his grace will
do. was preserved and provided for
and protected by grace all the days of his rebellion though
he knew nothing about the God of grace. You don't need any conviction,
do you? I spent my life with my fist
in God's face. flirting with death and flirting
with hell. But the Lord God gave his angels
charge over my soul to protect and keep me to the
day of his grace. That's what Hebrews 1.14 said. He commanded all creation to
serve me while I rebelled against him. He commanded hell to do
no harm to me while I flirted with hell. The only reason I survived until
I was nearly 17 years old was because God said, I won't let
you go. That's all. And that did one at a time. Grace
conquered this man's heart, made him a new creature, made
him a new man. Paul sends him back now as a
sure enough faithful servant. He'd been born of God. Old Roland
Hill used to say, I wouldn't give a half a penny for a man's
path if his dog and cat weren't better off because he was converted.
Onesimus was better than now. He'd been converted by grace.
Mark this down, my friends. God's grace is always successful.
The good shepherd seeks his sheep. And bless his name, he never
gives up the search until he finds his sheep, lays it on his
back, and carries it all the way home. Fourthly, grace always
honors God. God works as he does in us, that
we should be to the praise of the glory of his grace. Turn to Ezekiel 16 for just a
minute. I have to hurry here. Look at Ezekiel 16, verse 62. You and me with the chapter talking
about the experience of God's grace, his covenant love. And
now it says in verse 62, I will establish my covenant with you
and you shall know that I'm the Lord. If God ever saves you,
you'll know who he is. That you may remember and be
confounded and never open your mouth anymore because of your
shame. When I am pacified toward you,
for all that you've done. God Almighty is pacified to work