Bible In A Year - Philemon

The Grace That Makes Christians What They Are

Our Father in Heaven, we come before your throne this morning as a people who would be very careful to recognize that we are what we are by the grace of God. We're thankful that you're thinking upon us even as we meet in this place this morning.

We're grateful that you demonstrated your great love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And we have been made children of God through faith in Christ. You have done a very, very good work in our lives for us to be Christians, for us to be the children of the living God, for us to have a desire to worship, to read and to hear and to meditate and memorize your word, to gather together with the saints and share the things of Christ together and the privilege of fellowship.

All of this is because of your good and effectual grace, your work upon us, the great visitation of our God upon our souls. Lord, to rescue us from the penalty of sin and that we are indwelt with the Spirit of God and that we are a changed people.

And we look back upon our past life and Lord, with the sin and the rebellion and the running from you, we just cannot imagine. We cannot even think of how you could forgive us and yet you have. Lord, so we just want to worship.

We want to lift our voices this morning and lift our hearts with grateful praise and adoration to our Lord and to our God, to our Savior. And we want to ask you to please bless this time and teach us, mold us and shape us.

We so desire to walk in a way that pleases you. Thank you for this time that we'll have and thank you for your precious word in Jesus' name. Amen. In your sheets that you have, you can see that the book is Philemon.

Philemon as a Personal Letter About Forgiveness and Spiritual Equality

This book is a bit different. It is a bit unique from any of the other epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote in that it is the only epistle, the only inspired letter written to an individual who is not a pastor.

And it is a letter and it's the only one that specifically and purely deals with a personal issue. And we'll get into the details of that. It is also a different letter that the Apostle Paul writes to a person.

And, of course, it's going to be read at the church and, of course, spread abroad as much as Philemon would as they would share those letters. But it is the only epistle where the Apostle Paul downplays rather than asserts his apostolic authority.

You remember in many of the other ones they were hearing from the false teachers that, you know, about Paul's teaching. And it was contradicting Paul's teaching. Or they would look at the Apostle Paul and they were contending.

And they were saying, who is he? Who are you? He would have to assert the fact that he was an apostle called of God. In this one, though, he's not doing that. And he has a particular reason for that. And we'll see that as we go on.

He did basically, I mean, I'll just tip the hat a little bit. The reason that he doesn't come across strong and assert that authority is because he wants to have Philemon do something not because Paul strong arms him, not because he pressures him, not because he forces him, but so that he would do it willingly, that he would do it as when Paul wrote about the Corinthian church in giving.

He said to them that God loves a cheerful giver. He didn't want to have to press them to do it as a duty, but he wanted them as willingly from their heart to give unto the Lord. And as Paul deals with Philemon, he's dealing with the same spirit.

He wants to have Philemon obey not out of duty, but out of willingness, a heart willingness. And that's unique. It's different than some of the other epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote. You'll see on the sheet that I gave, there are actually two themes.

The overarching theme in this book, of course, is the importance of true forgiveness in the Christian life or true forgiveness in the church of God. It's very important. And also, there's another theme that we see here in spiritual equality.

We'll get to that also as we go on. But this letter is different. It's kind of like I have had opportunities in my career where people have come to me and they are looking for a job. And they want a letter of recommendation.

Or I'm going to be called to recommend by an employer. I'm going to be called and asked about the qualities and the aspects and the abilities of a person. But there have been times where I've written a letter or an e-mail as a letter of recommendation to somebody based upon the relationship that I have with that person.

I've worked with this person that I'm sending this to. And there's already a relationship that's built there. And what I am writing is important, and it's interceding for or representing somebody else and recommending them.

And this letter is that type of letter. It's a letter of reference. Paul writing to Philemon about a man named Onesimus. And there's a particular, and as I said, an overarching theme here. What Paul would desire of Philemon is for him to forgive and to receive and to take unto himself Onesimus, who was at one time a slave, a servant that had worked for Philemon but had run away.

More details as we go down. So this reference letter is written. And Philemon, as I said, owned a slave who ran away. Onesimus is his name. And Onesimus eventually met with the Apostle Paul as he's running away.

And he goes to Rome, and he meets with the Apostle Paul through the ministry of the Apostle Paul who is in prison. This is a prison epistle. He hears the gospel. He is saved. And as he's serving with the Apostle Paul and serving the Apostle Paul in prison, they come to the conclusion that Onesimus needs to go back to Philemon.

He needs to go back because it's the right thing to do. And Paul is going to accompany him. This letter is going to accompany Onesimus as he goes back to Philemon. So, again, it's a letter of intercession.

And this letter provides an insightful look not only into church living at that time, but also slavery, servanthood. And we'll see that as it comes out at this time. And it shows particularly that when it comes to that theme of spiritual equality, that our Lord would desire that the relationship between the master and the slave would be elevated to a different level, to a different type of relationship.

It would not be one that was typical during that day where slaves could be abused. They were misused. They were thought of. It was not always meant to be that way because there were many instances. And how it started off was indentured slavery.

It was like someone who would say they will put themselves under a contract with someone else and work for them and maybe learn a trade and maybe make money. It wasn't always as we think of the atrocities of the man stealing that we were heard of in our American history where the slaves, the folks in Africa, stolen, brought on ship, and totally mistreated, treated as chattel, as property.

But what Paul is teaching here and what we see in the New Testament scriptures when it comes to, and even in the old, when it comes to this relationship, it is one that is to be and ought to be a relationship where there's kindness showed, where the relationship is to be just and to be kind.

And isn't that just like the Lord how when it comes to his grace, he changes even this institution, in this case here, with the life of these two individuals from the inside out. You'll notice that there isn't a, as we go through this book, you will see that Paul is not calling for Onesimus' freedom.

He's not standing up with pickets and saying we must abolish slavery. We must abolish this indentured servant relationship. What was important was to him, and it ought to be important to the church today too, not that that is an issue that we shouldn't deal with when it comes our way, but it is not our focus.

The focus of the church is the gospel, to preach that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. Sinners can be saved through faith in his name. And the Apostle Paul, when he writes Philemon, is not going to call for his freedom, but he's going to call for something else.

He's going to call that their relationship change, that there be something different that goes on, and that when Onesimus is received by Philemon, that he would receive him as more than a slave. He would receive him as a brother in Jesus Christ, as who he was.

Written by Paul around 60 to 62 A .D., this letter to Philemon, as I mentioned a little earlier, is one of the epistles along with Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, that completes the group called the prison epistles.

Philemon was a prominent member of the Colossian church. He is in the church. We see from the beginning of the book, if you look in verse 1, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved, and fellow laborer, our fellow worker.

And our beloved, Ophiah, and Archippus, our fellow soldiers, and to the church that is in thy house. Speaking of Philemon's house, he was well-to-do. He had a house that was large enough to hold the church at that time, and church was held in Philemon's home.

And what took place, and as we see, well, I always get ahead of myself. I don't want to do that. The assemblies were there in his home. And Philemon owned at least one slave, and his name was Onesimus.

And Onesimus at that time was not a believer. In some way, he caused a financial or material loss to Philemon because we see the Apostle Paul in verse 18 say, if he has wronged you, or if he owes you anything, as he's sending him back with this letter, put that on my account.

So in some way, Onesimus either stole money from, or he shirked his responsibilities, or when he left, when he ran away, it caused Philemon a hardship because he maybe had to hire or get somebody else to take his place, or maybe he entered into some contracts, and it cost Philemon.

In eventuality, though, Philemon did this, and he runs away. And like many other slaves, as I mentioned earlier, during this time period, they ran to Rome because the population was teeming, and it was easy to lose yourself in the masses.

So he does that. And as he flees to Rome, of course, he thinks he's fleeing away from the situation. He thinks he's doing the right thing, of course, and doesn't the proverb tell us that there is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.

And yet in God's decree, and for God's purpose, he had a different purpose for Onesimus. As we're going to see, he's running away, and what does he run to? Somehow his path and the path of the Apostle Paul cross.

He comes under the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and he is saved by the grace of God, ministers to the Apostle Paul. As they're talking, and I'm sure as Paul is discipling and working with and teaching Onesimus, the subject matter comes up about his testimony and where he came from and what is the right thing to do.

And, of course, they come to the conclusion that the right thing to do is for Onesimus to go back. And the Apostle Paul is going to send him back, and he sends him back with Tychicus with this letter and also with the letters to the church at Ephesus and the church at Colossae.

And, of course, with that, the Apostle Paul has forgiveness on his mind because if you would turn with me, just turn with me quickly back, hold your place here, and look at the book of Ephesians. We know about this great book because Pastor Mike has preached through this, but look with me in chapter 4 about the conduct that the believers ought to have one toward another.

In chapter 4, at the end of the chapter, Paul writes,. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you. He's speaking to the church. With all malice, he says in verse 32,.

And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. So to Ephesus, this letter that's accompanying, this letter to the church at Ephesus is accompanying Onesimus and Tychicus, carrying it in their hand to go to the church, and one of the topics that Paul is addressing for them is the topic of forgiveness.

Look in the book, a few books, two books to the right, Colossians. In Colossians chapter 3, Paul writes in Colossians 3 and verse 12,. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, and notice verse 13, forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you.

You basically saying do the same. As Christ forgave you, do the same. Same as Ephesians 4, 32. And how we know that Tychicus and Onesimus are coming to this church, as Paul writes this letter to Colossians, notice in chapter 4 and verse 7,.

All my state or my circumstances shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord, because he sent Tychicus with this letter. Verse 8, Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts, with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.

They shall make known unto you all things which are done here. Here back in Rome, when he wrote that epistle for them. So we see that the apostle is going to send the two of them, and they're going to carry the letters to Philemon and to the church of Colossae.

And this is a beautiful reference letter. It's personal. It's intimate. It's so different than all the others. And I would encourage you just as after, of course, I can't do justice to the whole book here, this whole chapter.

But just as you take and read it again, just think about the greatness that is in here, the beauty of this letter. As Paul urges Philemon to forgive, as he reminds him of his duty to forgive, and it's an appeal for Philemon to show extreme mercy.

Forgiveness in the Church: Humility, Kindness, and a Changed Heart

Now, when it comes to things that any member of a New Testament church or any Christian in the day in which we live, there are a lot of things that we learn. We learn and are taught that we are to be humble when we gather together, not to play king of the hill and not put one over another.

We are taught that we ought to serve one another out of love, that we ought to be willing to sacrifice because we love one another and we give to each other, looking for the needs. I recently brought the message on kindness, 1 Corinthians 13, that love is kind and when we're to be kind, we're looking for every opportunity to be useful to other people, to watch out for and take care of and to guard the truth, to exhort one another, to encourage one another.

But I think probably one of the things there's a lot of confusion on and one of the things that people can struggle over today in their Christian life is this subject of forgiveness. How and should we and how is it done and are there any conditions behind it?

I'm not going to get into all of that. It's just not possible that I can this morning because I want to just look at this particular instance. But Paul does give some motivations behind, some arguments for why it is that Philemon should forgive Onesimus.

And you remember this whole time, I just talked about how Tychicus and Onesimus would go back to Philemon, carrying these letters, carrying the letter to Philemon. And as they entered into the gathering or maybe entered into Philemon's house, Philemon would see Onesimus for the very first time.

He hadn't seen him before. And the letter would be handed to Philemon and it would be read. And I'm sure that when he first sees him, there has to be and there must have been some type of mental thinking going on.

His mind is churning. And, of course, when somebody wrongs us, the emotions can get stirred up. And what the Apostle Paul wants to make sure is that he does it with the right motive. And I can see that for Onesimus it had to be difficult too for him to go back.

I mean, how difficult is it to go back and to admit to somebody that you've done something wrong? I mean, as believers, we ought to do that. We ought to confess our faults one to another, James says, and pray for one another.

And we ought to be looking for opportunities if we've wronged somebody to ask for forgiveness and to be forgiven. And even if someone doesn't ask us for forgiveness, be willing to forgive. To forgive as the Lord forgave us.

I mean, it was unconditional. We had no reason, no claim upon God where he had to forgive us. That's the false gospel. That's false teaching where they think that if I believe, if I do steps one, two, three, then God has to forgive me.

He has to make me his child. Well, newsflash, God doesn't have to do anything. He's pleased to do what he does by his grace and by his mercy and by his great love that he demonstrated in the cross of Christ.

And he is a God who is a Savior by nature, and he does forgive us. But it's not because we hold something over on him. And we don't hold things over on each other, and we ought not to, because think of the magnitude of our sin before God.

And compare that to the minute I was thinking yesterday, the megaton, the weight of that sin, megatons. And think of the ounces of the weight of the little disagreances that we might have within the church.

You take a look at that comparison, and you can see that if God can forgive us megatons, and you can just hear the teaching of the Lord Jesus, right, with the interaction of the man who was forgiven much.

And he goes back, and he's going after the throat of somebody who owes him a little money. He just didn't understand what it meant to be forgiven, what mercy was all about. But God is merciful to us, and he's forgiven us all of our sins.

And when we have these little disagreances, we ought to be ready and willing and running, looking for every opportunity to forgive each other. And we're going to see this come out in this book this morning.

Okay, as far as any other things, there's just a lot of notes on the second page, different things that I found in different areas. But I've got to get into the book so that we can get through at least the high points here.

Paul’s Appeal: Love, Friendship, and the Testimony of Philemon

So we have this letter coming from Paul to Philemon on the behalf of Onesimus. And what I'd like to look at first of all is I think I'm going to look down around verse 8 because Paul has a desire for, as I said, for Philemon to receive Onesimus back in.

And he uses some arguments to persuade him to do this. And the first thing that he does is that he, as I mentioned earlier, he entreats Philemon. He appeals to Philemon, and not out of command, not because he's an apostle, but he appeals to him and he makes it a matter of personal friendship between the two.

And notice this in verse 8. He says, Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient. That's the King James in your translation. It might say something like, Wherefore, though I might be confident to order you to do that which is proper.

And could the apostle Paul do that? Does he have the authority to do that? Yes, he does. But he is going to take that and push that aside because he believes that if he can have Philemon do this out of a different motive, not only will Onesimus be blessed, Philemon will be blessed because he will do this not out of duty.

He doesn't want him to do this because he has to do it. And isn't that the case when it comes to when we're discipling someone or even with our children? I mean, with so much desire that they would do it from a willing heart and not because the whip is being cracked behind them.

When they're young, yes. As children, when they're young, you know, the command comes out from the parental throne. You know, you've got to do this. And they do and they willingly do that. But as they grow, you cannot always deal with them that way.

They need to learn to be able to obey on their own, out of their own heart, to learn what it means to obey from the heart and not just out of duty. And that's what the Apostle Paul says. He says he has a tender relationship with Philemon.

He has a friendship. He has a fellowship with him. Notice, as you see this brought out in Paul's testimony of Philemon beginning in verse four. I thank my God making mention of you always in my prayers.

Speaking of Philemon, this letter is to Philemon. Hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus Christ and toward all saints. He knows that he's one who loves, he believes upon the Lord, and in believing upon the Lord he has become one who, as the Apostle John wrote, that we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.

First John chapter three. He's a Christian who now loves other believers because God has changed his heart. He is a child of God and he loves the saints. And then he says in verse six that the communication or the fellowship of your faith may become more effectual or effective by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

And basically what the Apostle Paul is saying this is he's reminding, well he's letting Philemon know what he thinks about him. Great testimony. And they have a fellowship in the things of God. And he loves him and knows that Philemon loves him and other saints.

We will see later on that it is the Apostle Paul again, this Philemon was a fruit of his ministry. He was instrumental in bringing Philemon to the faith. He was God's means, God's spokesperson for him.

He shared the gospel with him also. So they had a relationship. The Apostle Paul in that verse six, what he's saying is, when he talks about that the fellowship of your faith may be effective or effectual, that word there means effectual or effective means operative.

He wanted Philemon's testimony, Philemon's Christian life to be powerful. That's what he desired from him because Philemon is influential in the church. The church is meeting in his home. And when he's writing this letter, Paul wants Philemon, his actions to send a powerful message through the church at Colossae that believers, Christians forgive other Christians.

And we don't hold grudges. And we're not holding bitterness and not holding back and not making forgiveness conditional because this church is in his home. And you'll notice, and it is believed in verse two, as Paul writes this letter to our beloved Aphia, this is a woman's name, that this is Philemon's wife.

And when it comes to Archippus, this could be Philemon's son. This is their family. So he said, not only to you, Philemon, your family meets there. This letter is coming to you. I would desire for your whole family to be one who exhibits grace in the church and love and extreme mercy for Philemon because it will be a great help to the church there.

And basically it will, as he says later on, it will bring me great joy if you do this, if you live and walk and you act Christlike. And no doubt when the Apostle Paul shared the gospel with him, he shared the teachings of Christ in the way that our master, our Lord, was willing to forgive and willing to receive sinners unto himself.

In such great magnitude of their sin, being forgiven, and Philemon knows that that took place in his life, it is so contrary to the gospel, so contrary to salvation, if we're not willing to forgive one another.

And so he says, I would love for you to have a powerful testimony and send a message to the church of the importance of forgiveness. So he first says in verse 8, I don't want to force your arm, I don't want to arm wrestle with you or make you do this, but so that you will do the right thing.

And it's always right to do the right thing. And he says, do it. And as he says, notice in verse 9, for love's sake. And that is one of the reasons why. This is one of the reasons why is for love's sake.

Love to the apostle Paul, now as an old man and in prison, and love because of the account of their like precious faith. They were Christians, believers, Paul and Philemon. And they knew each other. They were friends.

And Paul kind of brings up the fact here that he is in prison. And Philemon knows this. And he is an old man, he says here. Not just because he's around 60 years old, but the apostle Paul no doubt aged because of ministry and the toll of ministry upon him.

I mean, the cares of all the churches, the imprisonment, the beatings, the scourgings, the stonings, the difficult traveling, if you read the end of the book of Acts and all that he went through, brought an age upon him.

And Paul said, if you love me, he says, look where I am and I'm in prison, an aged man, and we have this fellowship together for love's sake. Would you please do this? I'm personally appealing to you.

This is a request, not a demand. That's basically it's a request from the apostle Paul's heart to Philemon. And when it comes to us interceding or being involved in forgiveness, can you just see, I mean, as we're going through this, look at the magnitude of the heart of the apostle Paul.

I mean, you talk about somebody who loved believers and wanted to see things done right and wanted to see reconciliation. He is just pouring out himself so that this takes place. And for love's sake, he says, it's different like Ephesians.

In Ephesians, what do we have in chapters 1, 2, and 3? We studied that. You probably heard this before. What do we have in 1, 2, and 3 versus 4, 5, and 6? Doctrine. Paul lays out all this doctrinal truth about the sovereignty of God and election and salvation through Christ and grace and the mercy of the Lord.

And then in 4, 5, and 6, he says this is how you practically apply it in the church. Does the same thing in Colossians, the two letters that went. But in this letter here, you'll notice that there isn't any doctrinal pressing.

There aren't any doctrinal principles that Paul is saying is the reason why he should forgive. And there isn't any divine law coming down. Boom, you've got to do it. There's no apostolic authority coming down.

What it is is it is a request from the heart of Paul to call upon Philemon to have a mercy and a love towards Onesimus, forgiveness towards Onesimus because of his love toward the apostle Paul. And what he does, and we see this in verse 9, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee or I appeal to you.

Be such a one as the aged Paul and now also a prisoner of Christ. But he also goes on and here's another appeal we see. Paul regards Onesimus as his very own son and asks that he be received as such. This is in verse 10.

I beseech you for my son. Verse 10, I beseech you for my son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my bonds or in my imprisonment. He says, Onesimus came to me by the hand of God. I preached the gospel. He is saved and he's my son in the faith.

And I have poured my soul into him and helped him. And he's been a great help to me as we're going to see. And he says to him basically he's my son and if he's mine then please treat him as such. The care that he ought to have.

And notice in verse 11 Paul assures Philemon that whatever Onesimus was in the past, he would now find him a changed man and he would find him to be useful. And he says that in verse 11. He says he's speaking of Onesimus which in times past was to you unprofitable but now profitable to thee and to me.

And Paul uses kind of a play on words in this verse because Onesimus' name, the root, the Greek root word means useful or profitable. That's Onesimus' name. And just by, just way off onto the side, Philemon's name means friendly.

And I think it's just neat if we think about our names or our kids' names and at times do we live up to our names. Here there's a play on words about the name. Onesimus' name means useful and profitable.

And Paul here is saying basically useful or Onesimus. He calls basically in this verse Onesimus useful. Useful formerly was useless but now he is useful. He says see the word at the end of verse 11? He says but now he's profitable unto thee.

This word profitable at the end or useful is the same Greek word that the Apostle Paul used in 2 Timothy 4, verse 11. Do you remember one person that the Apostle Paul had a problem with on his first missionary journey?

Who was that? John Mark. He forsook them, right? And he goes back from Pamphylia. That's in Acts 13. You'll read that in Acts 13 is the first missionary journey. They go out. John Mark, for whatever reason, he abandons the group and leaves them.

And the Apostle Paul, when they want to go back out on the second missionary journey in Acts 15, Paul wants to take Silas. Barnabas wants to take John Mark with him. And there's a contention between Paul and Barnabas so much so that they have to take their separate groups and go elsewhere.

But somehow as we learned when we were studying earlier about John Mark, he comes under the ministry of the Apostle Peter and is helped and his life is changed and he becomes profitable. And in 1 Timothy 4, verse 11, Paul says, bring when he's at the last of his days and things are important, his parting shot basically there, he says, bring John Mark with you because he is profitable for me for the ministry or he's useful to me.

And that's what the Apostle Paul is teaching here. He says, look, Onesimus was useless. The word means he was detrimental to you. I know that because of what he did. But bring him to you. And isn't it true with us, brethren?

In our foolish, sinful past, we may have done things that were unregrettable. We may have hurt other people. We were useless. When it came to our relationships with others, maybe when it came to our working on the job, things that we did, pilfering or whatever, stealing time from the boss or materials or things like that, giving a full day's work for a full day's wage.

In our marriages, useless, not profitable, not helping others, not serving others. And we were detrimental to other people. But through salvation, God changes all of that, doesn't he? And he makes us profitable servants of the most high God.

And we are remade to become his servants and profitable to others. So salvation changes us. It changed Onesimus from being useless to useful. And it changes us from being useless to useful. And also Paul says, look, that's who's coming to you.

He has proven with me that he is profitable for the ministry and I send him. But also another reason why Paul, his argument here for Philemon to receive Onesimus is that he was saying that he's not sending back a worthless, homeless vagabond.

He assures Philemon that Onesimus is especially dear to him, has been profitable to him while he's been in prison at Rome in his circumstances. But, of course, the apostle Paul doesn't want to do anything before he he wants to do the right thing and he wants to make sure that he he speaks to Philemon about it.

We see this in the next few verses. Notice verse 12. He says, whom I have sent again. Therefore, receive him. This is speaking of Onesimus. Receive him. Bring him unto yourself. That is mine own bowels.

Paul is saying here, I am sending you my very heart. That's really basically what it says. I've poured my heart into this man and I and I love Onesimus. But basically, Paul is sending basically saying, I am sending you myself because because he just put himself into the into this man.

And he says in verse 13, whom I would have retained with me, I would have kept him that in your stead he could have ministered unto me in my imprisonment or my bonds in the gospel. But without your mind or without your consent, I'm not going to do anything for your goodness or your benefit should be should not be, as it were, of compulsion or necessity, but willingly.