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Philemon
A young man – who will remain nameless
Grew up in a household where he was well taken care of.
All of his needs were met
The primary source of his support was not a father, mother
It was his master – our young man was a slave – and born into slavery
Slavery was very different in our story
Living conditions were about the same as a son
Food and clothing were provided
Earned close to the same amount of money
They had legal rights (slaves accused of crimes to be tried like free men)
Could be doctors, musicians, teachers, artists…
Our young man had 5 years left (the average was 7-20) of service to his master
The Heist
Cleaning the room – nock over a box of jewels
Debating in his mind over the precious stones
The next day, the master’s wife finds out and the search was on
Panicking for fear of being caught – he flees – therefore complicating his problem
Now, not only was a thief, he was also a fugitive (a runaway slave)
He makes a hasty decision to head to the biggest city in the area
Our young man hides during the day and travels at night
Dodging the ever vigilant slave catchers
These people do cruel things to runaways
Upon arrival in the city he encounters an evangelist who shares with him the Gospel
The young man is curious to the message as the weight of his sin so heavily hung upon him
The young man and evangelist talk
But the young man is careful to hide his true identity from the evangelist
“There is someone I would like you to meet” says the evangelist
He is lead to a location (as he approaches a sinking feeling fills the bottom of his stomach
He is coming up on a prison.
‘I have been caught’ he thinks.
‘They have found me out’.
Yet – something makes him continue on
The Evangelist leads the young man to a prison cell.
As the doors open, expecting to find it empty and himself as the future resident.
He sees a man in the later years of his life.
“Grace to you and peace from God the Father of My Lord Jesus Christ”
The young man immediately realizes that he is safe as the 2 men talk through the night
By morning, the young man had given his life to Jesus Christ
The young man returns daily to visit the prisoner and to be discipled by him
The prisoner writes a lot
A lot of letters to different people and different churches.
But he is never too busy for our young man
The young man is dear to the prisoner and he asks him to do various errand for him
The young man is glad to do so
Then one day, the young man decides to let the cat out of the bag.
He tells him of his former life…
You must return and be reconciled to your master
“DO you know what he could do?”
He could have me killed
I do know the cost of being obedient to the will of God
Who is your master?
Who is your Master now?
Jesus
You will return tonight, a friend and this letter will accompany you.
Philemon’s theme is “A plea for forgiveness”
Does Christian brotherly love really work even in situations of extraordinary tension and difficulty?
Will it work, for example, between a prominent slave owner and one of his runaway slaves?
Paul has no doubt
He writes a “postcard” to Philemon
His beloved brother and fellow worker
On behalf of Onesimus
A deserter, a thief, and formerly worthless slave
But now Philemon’s brother in Christ
This is a private, personal letter to a friend
But it is also for this friend’s family and church
READ PHILEMON 8-11
Paul wrote this letter from Rome in about A.D. 60 when he was under house arrest
Onesimus was a domestic slave who belonged to Philemon
A wealthy landowner in Colosse
And also a member of the Colossian church
This church was meeting in Philemon’s home
Onesimus had run away from Philemon
And had made his way to Rome where he met Paul
Paul convinced Onesimus that running from his problems wouldn’t solve them
And he persuaded him to return to his master
Paul wrote this letter to Philemon to ask him to be reconciled to his runaway slave
Ultimately this letter is about forgiveness
And can be broken down into 4 parts
The Greeting
The Character of One Who Forgives
The Actions of One Who Forgives
The Motives of One Who Forgives
I. The Greeting (1-3)
It is interesting that Paul introduced himself as “a prisoner of Jesus Christ”
He was imprisoned for the sake of and by the sovereign will of Christ
By beginning with his imprisonment and not his apostolic authority as he often does
Paul made this letter a gentle and singular appeal to a friend
A reminder of Paul’s severe hardships was bound to influence Philemon’s willingness to do this comparatively easy task
Paul was about to request
You see, Paul wrote, guided by the hand of God
Every word had specific desired results
Even among this simple greeting
II. The Character of One Who Forgives (4-7)
In these next four verses we start to see the character of a forgiving person
Paul begins to point out the strength of Philemon’s love and faith
He says I hear of your love for all God’s people and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus
In the Greek text this verse is arranged in what is called a chiastic construction
The word love relates to the final phrase “toward all the saints”
This love of will, choice, self-sacrifice and humility
Was a manifestation of Philemon’s genuine faith “toward the Lord Jesus”
Philemon’s love for fellow Christians was well known
It was a love that sprang up from his tremendous faith in God
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
That is why Philemon’s love was so great
He was self-sacrificing
Philemon’s faith and resulting love showed the character of one who forgives
We as Christians should be a forgiving people
Just because you are a Christian does not mean forgiveness should come easy
It doesn’t
True forgiveness comes from total self-sacrifice
It is a choice we must make
This past week we commemorated Sept. 11, 2001
Every year, that day is one of the hardest days for me emotionally
We all remember where we were at and what we were doing that day
It is a day, similar to December 7th, that will go down in infamy
*Reading newspaper story, children vs. Emily (2 ½ years)
It is hard to forgive those “faceless attackers”
Those responsible for that horrid day
I don’t know if I can forgive those cowards
But as a Christian I am expected to forgive
Even something like that
Our forgiveness can only come from love, the love that only God can give us
And faith in the Lord Jesus
III. The Actions of One Who Forgives (8-18)
After Paul commends Philemon on his outstanding character
He proceeds t guide him through the actions of one who forgives
Verse 8 to me is kind of funny
Paul says Philemon 1:8 Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,
In other words
Because of my apostolic authority I could be bold enough to order you to do what should be done
He is saying I could make you do this
But instead he says love compels me to make a request instead
Paul did not rely on his authority, but called for a response based on the bond of love between himself and Philemon
Here Paul provides a good example of how to deal with a possible conflict between Christian friends
He also says, hey look, listen to an old man
“one as Paul the aged”
Again though this is more than just an appeal or reference to his age (he was about 60)
This description includes the toll that all the years of persecution, illness, imprisonment, difficult journeys and constant concern for the churches had taken on Paul
Making him feel and appear even older than he actually was
Its kind of like how they refer to John McCain as an old 72
A hard life ages people faster
I believe there is probably no profession that ages a person more quickly than the ministry
Just look at these grey hairs in my goatee
Anyways, Paul again is appealing to Philemon’s sympathy by mentioning this along with referring again to his imprisonment
Forgiving a wrongdoing should be easy compared to the life Paul had lived
Paul appeals for “my son” Onesimus
To Paul, he was a son in the faith
Like we read in 1 Timothy 1:2
1 Timothy 1:2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
The words son and child in these verses emphasizes Paul’s role as spiritual father to Onesimus
He is his spiritual son
The only thing you can take with you to heaven is spiritual children
Dr. Clarence Macartney illustrates this point by this story
Dr. Macartney claims he had a vision were he
Saw the King seated upon His throne
On either side of the throne, I saw the great angels
Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel
Before the throne stood another angel
The angel of the Book
And by his side stood one of the mortals
Who is this that you have brought, and what are his claims? Asked the King
O King, this man was a great inventor, and shed light on the pathway of man through the world
Then said the King, send him up and let him stand here by Uriel, the angel of light
So he went up
And the angel brought another man before the throne
Who is this and what are his claims?
This man was a great philosopher, who thought Thy thoughts after Thee
And the King looked at him and said
Send him up and let him stand here by the side of Raphael, the angel of Reason
So he went up and stood by Raphael
The angel brought a third mortal before the throne
Who is this and what are his claims?
This was a great patriot
With his sword he delivered his people out of the hand of tyrants
Send him up and let him stand by the side of Michael, the angel of the sword
And at forth mortal came
Who is this and what are his claims
This man sang Holy songs in praise of God
Songs which till echo through the church of the Living God
And the King said, send him up and let him stand and sing here by the side of Gabriel, the angel of Holy song
Then the angel brought another before the throne
I wondered who he was and hwy he had been brought
In him there was no greatness
In his eyes no flash of genius
The King said, who is this and what are his claims
Then the angel looked in the Book
And lifting his head said
This man won a soul for Christ
And I never heard what the King on His throne said
For all heaven rang out with a great shout
Angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim
And all the host of the redeemed
Rejoicing over the one soul that had been redeemed
The only thing you can take to heaven with you is spiritual children
Paul says Onesimus was formerly useless to you
But now he is useful
Onesimus’ name actually means useful
Paul used a play on words saying that Onesimus had not been much use to Philemon in the past
But had become very useful to both Philemon and Paul
Although Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him
He was sending him back
Requesting that Philemon accept him not only as a forgiven runaway servant
But also as a brother in Christ
Slavery was widespread throughout the Roman empire
In these early days, Christians did not have the political power to change the slavery system
Paul didn’t condemn or condone slavery
But he worked to transform relationships
The Gospel begins to change social structures by changing the people within those structures
You see, a runaway slave’s punishment was death, crucifixion even
And Paul pleaded for Onesimus’ life
The actions of one who forgives can often be quite radical
Goes against the status quo
Completely foreign to what is accepted among society
Paul didn’t call for Onesimus’ freedom
But that Philemon would receive his slave now as a fellow believer in Christ
What a difference Onesimus’ status as a Christian made in the relationship to Philemon
He was no longer merely a slave
But he was also a brother
That meant that both Onesimus and Philemon were members of God’s family
Equals in Christ
A Christians status as a member of God’s family transcends all other distinctions among believers
Do you look down on fellow Christians?
There is a church that this year petitioned to become part of the BMAA
It is called THE BIKERS CHURCH
Their representatives at the National Meeting were exactly how you are picturing them
They rode to the convention on their Harleys
Long hair, leather, tattoos, the whole nine yards
They were true to themselves and maybe a little frightening
What if I asked one of them to fill in here one Sunday morning?
Would we as a church look down on them?
What if I asked a black Baptist preacher to come preach a revival for us?
What kind of attendance would we have?
Remember they are your equals before Christ
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Ye are all one in Christ Jesus
How you treat your brothers and sisters in Christ’s family reflects your true Christian commitment
Paul “beseeched” which means to beg somebody
He begged Philemon to accept this criminal back as a brother and to forgive his misdeeds
Those are the actions of one who forgives
Forgives out of love for the Lord Jesus
IV. The Motives of One Who Forgives (19-25)
Paul genuinely loved Onesimus
Paul showed his love by personally guaranteeing payment for any stolen goods or wrongs which Onesimus might be responsible
Paul even goes as far to say
“thou owest unto me even thine own self besides”
He is saying “not to mention that you owe me your very self”
You owe your very life to me
Philemon owed Paul something far greater than the material debt Paul was offering to pay
Since Paul had led him to saving faith
A debt Philemon would never repay
Because Paul was Philemon’s spiritual father
He was hoping that Philemon would feel a debt of gratitude that he would repay by accepting Onesimus with a spirit of forgiveness
Paul had rescued philemon from the slavery of sin and rebellion against God
And now Paul was calling to memory that experience for philemon
To show him the true motive behind his actions
To increase the numbers of those who are going into eternity with our Lord
Also Paul asks
“let me have joy of thee in the Lord, refresh my bowels in the Lord”
My brother please do me this favor, cheer up my heart as a brother in Christ
The NIV translates it this way
I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord, refresh my heart in Christ
Both pronouns, I and my , are emphatic, making an obvious allusion to verse 7
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement
Because you have refreshed the hearts of the saints
He is reminding philemon again of his famous love he has for the saints
He is asking him to further express that love towards Onesimus
Since it would not only benefit his forgiven slave
But would also benefit and encourage Paul and other believers
When we are witness to forgiveness
It should bring us joy and encouragement
Forgiveness of one another is a picture of the forgiveness of the Father
By forgiving Onesimus, Philemon would keep the unity in the church in Colosse
And bring joy to all that hear of this event
The motives of one who forgives should be to honor our Lord
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
Sinners are debtors to God for their violations of His laws
We read further after the model prayer in
Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Pretty bold statement
We are expected to forgive
Our motives for forgiveness should be
To restore our brother in the faith
To encourage others that are witness to our forgiveness
To pattern ourselves after God’s example
If God can forgive us for our multitude of sins against Him
How then can we refuse to forgive others?
This small book is a masterpiece of grace and tact and a profound demonstration of the power of Christ
And of true Christian fellowship in action
What barriers are in your home, neighborhood, and church?
What separates you from fellow believers?
Race?
Status?
Wealth?
Education?
Personality?
As with philemon, God calls you to seek unity
Breaking down those walls and embracing your brothers and sisters in Christ
Philemon shows us a plea for forgiveness
How we as believers are expected to forgive our fellow Christians
We are also expected to forgive non-Christians
Jesus doesn’t specify in His model prayer to forgive only a brother
The power of forgiveness
It can benefit all of us
This book also gives us a great picture of salvation
We as created human beings are God’s property
Just as Onesimus was Philemon’s property
But as a sinner we run from God robbing Him of His rights and just dues
In this state of sin we have no safe place
No place of asylum
A runaway slave had no safe place
If caught, he faced death
So it is with sin
The Law of God affords man no right to asylum
No resting place
Not way of escape
To die in your sin is to be punished with eternal death in Hell
But God has a partner
Just like Philemon had a partner in Paul
Jesus is God’s partner
Jesus is there to intervened on our behalf
Knowing fully how much we have wronged God
And how much we owe Him
Jesus says “Put that on My account”
All our debt is put on Christ’s account
And finally grace intervenes
Onesimus fled to Paul
Sought out his master’s friend
And he was born again
Sinners fly to Jesus Christ
In Him and through Him
They receive pardon
Are born again as sons
And find a Savior, and Intercessor and a Father
The sinner returns to God
And is received not as a runaway slave
But as Christ Himself
If someone has wronged you this morning
Forgive them
Reap the benefits of that forgiveness
If you don’t know Jesus as Savior today
Seek Him
Go to Him
And He will return you to the Father
As a forgiven son
