Friends
Philemon 1-18
Sermon by Rick Crandall - April 11, 2010
*A wise man said, "A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." (1)
-Good friends are a gift from God. And God wants you to be a good friend.
1. That means we need to discover new friends.
*All of his life as a believer, Paul went around making new friends for Jesus Christ. We see some of them in vs. 1&2: Timothy, Philemon, Apphia and Archippus. They were close friends. Paul called them “brother,” “beloved friend,” “fellow laborer” and “fellow soldier.”
*Paul loved to make new friends for Jesus Christ. And now, even though Paul is an older man and in jail for Jesus, he is still making new friends. We see that here in vs. 9&10, where Paul said:
9. For love's sake I rather appeal to you being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ
10. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains.
*God wants us to discover new friends for Christ, and He can help us in unexpected ways. Many people would have been so unhappy about being a prisoner, they would have missed the new opportunity to make friends, -- but not Paul. He saw God at work, even through his chains.
*Think about the way you look. Have you ever been unhappy about that? Most of us have. When Gladys Aylward was a little girl, she had 2 great sorrows: One was that all of her friends had beautiful blond hair, while her hair was coal black. The other sorrow was that her friends kept growing long after Gladys stopped at 4’ 10”.
*But then God called Gladys Aylward to be a missionary in China. And when she stood on the wharf in Shanghai, she looked around at the people and saw that every single one of them had black hair. And every one of them had stopped growing when Gladys did. Gladys looked up to God and said: "Lord God, You know what You're doing!" (2)
*God was helping her to make new friends, and He will help us too! So, discover new friends.
2. And help distressed friends.
*Onesimus was in trouble. Apparently he was a runaway slave. Maybe he had also stolen from Philemon. And we see Paul helping Onesimus in vs. 10-14:
10. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
11. who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
12. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
13. whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
14. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
*People get into all kinds of trouble. Sometimes it’s their own fault. Many times it’s just the circumstances of life. But Jesus has a way of turning bad things into good things. -- That’s what He did on the cross. And that’s what Paul was talking about in vs. 15&16 when he said:
15. Perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
16. no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
*Jesus does not want us to kick people when they are down. He wants us to help them, just like Paul helped Onesimus here. And you may be the only person who can give the right help. I doubt anyone else could have helped Onesimus like Paul. And God can use you to help someone in a way that maybe no one else can.
*Now, the best way that Paul helped Onesimus was by leading him to Jesus. That’s what Paul was talking about in vs. 10, when he said Onesimus is “my son whom I have begotten in my chains.” Paul is talking about Onesimus hearing the Good News about Jesus Christ. He is talking about this runaway slave being born into the family of God by receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord.
*That is the best way to help people who are down. And all of us can do it. God wants you to be a good friend, so help distressed friends.
3. And help divided friends.
*That’s what Paul was doing in vs. 10-12, when he said:
10. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
11. who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
12. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
*Then in vs. 15-18 Paul said:
15. Perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
16. no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
18. But if he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account.
*Paul was a peacemaker. He was doing everything he possibly could to bring Onesimus and Philemon back together.
-In vs. 10, he pleaded
-In vs. 11, he persuaded
-In vs. 12, he sent Onesimus
-And in vs. 18-19, he even offered to pay the debt.
*I told you earlier about 4’ 10” Gladys Aylward going to China as a missionary. One day, a bloody riot broke out at the local prison. And remarkably the prison warden called on Gladys to restore order.
*She asked the warden, “What could one, unarmed woman do against dozens of armed, murderous men?” -- He replied, “Well, Gladys, you claim that the living God lives inside of you. Surely you will prevail.”
*Gladys breathed a quick prayer and entered the prison gates. Bodies lay all over the inner courtyard. One prisoner armed with a machete was chasing men around the yard. Gladys stepped up to him and commanded him to hand her his knife. -- And he did!
*Then, Gladys lined up all the prisoners, listened to why they had rioted, and got them to start cleaning up the yard. Soon she began a number of reforms in that prison. And even began leading Bible studies there. (3)
*Now the Lord may never ask you to bring peace to a prison riot. But He can give you the strength to do it! And Jesus certainly does want us to be peacemakers in our homes, at work, wherever the Lord puts us in this life.
*God wants you to be a good friend, so, help divided friends.
4. And know your Divine friend.
*The best news in the Bible is that God wants to be our friend. And here in vs. 4&5, we see how to be a friend of God. Here Paul said, “I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints”
*Being a friend of God has to do with love and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
-Why should we love Him? -- Because He loves us, and gave Himself to be the Sacrifice for our sins.
*Jesus said, -“Greater love has no man than this. That a man lay down His life for His friends.” (John 15:13). That’s what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross for our sins. And now the Risen Christ reaches out to us, just like He reached out to Onesimus through Paul.
*Jesus wants to be our Best Friend. And even when we have troubles like Onesimus was having, Jesus will be there for us.
*The best news in the Bible is that God wants to be our friend.
-Then He wants us to
-Discover new friends.
-Help distressed friends.
-And help divided friends every way you can
1. Bits & Pieces, July, 1991 - Found at sermonillustrations.com
2. From “Let Me Be a Woman” by Elizabeth Elliot - Found at sermonillustrations.com
3. “The China Terror” by Jack Cavanaugh in Linda Evans Shepherd, HEART-STIRRING STORIES OF LOVE (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), pp.46-49. (Found in Dynamic Preaching sermon “THE BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL” by King Duncan - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 5:1-12 - First Sunday in Feb., 2002)
