“Onesimus”
Philemon Vs. 1-25
INTRODUCTION: Most people never READ the book of Philemon … can’t FIND it. It’s a little book … 1 chapter … 25 verses.
BACKGROUND: Philemon was a Christian who lived in Colossae. Paul had led him to the Lord when Philemon was in Ephesus. The church at Colossae met in his home. Paul also wrote the book of Colossians to the Christians at the church that met in Philemon’s house.
Philemon was a wealthy man … he owned slaves … of whom Onesimus was one. 1 day, Onesimus ran away (not told why). Apparently, he stole from Philemon, to finance his trip. Onesimus went to Rome, probably to get lost in this large city.
The Apostle Paul was also in Rome. Somehow they got together (nothing happens by accident, but by Divine incident) … although Paul was in prison. Onesimus had probably heard of Paul, since Timothy pastored in Colossae, and I’m sure, spoke of him often.
Paul leads Onesimus to the Lord … THEN … sends Onesimus back to Philemon, with this letter. You can imagine the SHOCK … when Philemon sees Onesimus, whom he never expected to see again.
NOW … let’s examine this letter, which has become a part of the Scriptures. I don’t think Paul ever thought that his personal letter to Philemon would become a part of Scripture.
Vs. 1-3 – Paul greets Philemon & those in his household. “Apphia” is probably his wife … “Archippus” is probably their son.
Paul is in prison in Rome. NOTICE … he doesn’t call himself a “prisoner of Rome”. He calls himself “a prisoner of Jesus Christ”. He’s in prison … right where Jesus wants him to be. Paul knows that God is in charge. If Jesus had wanted him out of prison, that’s where he would be.
Vs. 4 – Philemon was on Paul’s prayer list! I don’t think Paul was the type of person to say “I’ll be praying for you!” … AND THEN … forget all about it.
Vs. 5-7 – Read in NLT - Philemon has demonstrated his love for the Lord, by ministering to others – Vs. 5
Vs. 8 – NLT – Paul could have been very BOLD, and demand that Philemon do his DUTY as a Christian … show love, grace, forgiveness & mercy. As an APOSTLE, Paul carried a lot of weight. That’s not how Paul wanted to do it. Paul wanted Philemon to take Onesimus back out of LOVE … not DUTY.
Vs. 9 – Paul is saying, “Don’t take him back for MY SAKE … but, for LOVE’S SAKE.” In other words, “Philemon, if you love me, and love the Lord Jesus, take Onesimus back.”
Vs. 10 – Onesimus was born-again under the ministry of Paul … “my son”. Paul also called Timothy & Titus, his “sons”. I’m sure Paul had LOTS of “spiritual children”. Who did God use to bring you to Himself? A Pastor … S.S. Teacher … Parent … VBS Worker? I don’t think we’ll know how many “spiritual children” we have, until we get to Heaven.
Vs. 11 – “Onesimus” means ‘profitable’. Paul is using a PLAY-ON-WORDS here. He’s saying “Profitable wasn’t profitable, but now Profitable is profitable to both of us!” “Profitable” is living up to his name!”
Before we were saved, we weren’t “profitable” for God. We didn’t contribute ANYTHING to His kingdom. BUT … now that we’re saved, we’re to be “profitable”. Like Onesimus, we’re to live up to our name … Christian … “Christ-like one”.
Vs. 12-13 – See NLT – “receive him”. Actually, Philemon had several choices. One of those was to have Onesimus put to death. Paul is telling Philemon that Onesimus was a big help to Paul, who is in prison. Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him … which would be like Philemon ministering to Paul through Onesimus.
Jesus isn’t here … He’s in Heaven. HOWEVER … He has called us to minister here for Him. When we serve others in the name of Christ … we are serving Christ.
Vs. 14 – See NLT – Paul knew it would be wrong to keep Onesimus for himself … without Philemon’s permission. If Philemon wanted to let Onesimus minister to Paul, Paul wanted Philemon to do it because he really wanted to (“willingly”) … NOT … because he thought he HAD to (“necessity”).
WHY do we do what we do for the Lord? Is it out of “necessity” … OR … out of LOVE (“willingly”)? “I’ll do it if no one else will!” How many times have I heard that one! Paul is telling Philemon that if he has to do it grudgingly … DON’T DO IT!
Vs. 15 – See NLT – MAYBE … there was a REASON why Onesimus left. MAYBE … this was no ACCIDENT. MAYBE … there’s some GOOD that will come out of this. MAYBE … Romans 8:28 is true after all!
MAYBE … Onesimus was gone for a little while … SO .. when you take him back … he won’t ever run away again. WHY NOT?
Vs. 16 – See NLT – Onesimus isn’t just Philemon’s slave … NOW … he’s a brother-in-Christ! Their relationship isn’t just a temporary, earthly relationship (master-slave). NOW … it’s an ETERNAL relationship (brother-brother) … a SPIRITUAL relationship. They both even had the same “spiritual father”!
You & I have “brothers & sisters” all over the world. Not all of them speak English … not all are Baptist … not all are white … not all are as “refined” as we are. BUT … we are ALL in the Family of God … if we are all born-again. There will be no separation in Heaven.
Vs. 17 – See NLT – Paul is saying “accept him as you would me”. Isn’t that what Jesus is going to tell God the Father, when we stand before His Throne? God can see nothing good in us … all He can see is a rebellious slave … dead in trespasses and sin.
BUT … Jesus will say, “accept him as You would Me”. When Jesus died on that cross, He became my SUBSTITUTE. He paid the debt that I owed … that I couldn’t pay. When the Father accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, He accepted everyone who would trust Jesus as their Substitute.
Jesus will say to the Father, “You accepted what I did for Ray … NOW … accept Ray … BECAUSE … he has accepted Me.” 2 Cor. 5:21 – “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Vs. 18 – See NLT – Paul had a “credit card” … a “charge account”. Paul was willing to pay for any damages to Philemon. Onesimus had apparently stolen some money, to finance his escape to Rome. ALSO, a slave was worth about 500 denarii (500 days wages … maybe $50,000) … MAYBE Philemon had to replace Onesimus. Paul knew Onesimus couldn’t pay it … so he offers to pay it.
Isn’t that what Jesus did? Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” An eternity in Hell couldn’t pay our sin-debt to God. Jesus said, “Father, charge it to My account!”
Vs. 19 – See NLT – “I will repay it”. Paul is telling Philemon, “I was the one who led you to the Lord. You owe me a debt you can never repay. If Onesimus owes you … think how much MORE you owe me!”
What does God owe you & me? NOTHING! YET … we live like He owes us something, don’t we? If something happens to us that we don’t like, we get mad with God. We think that God OWES US His favor … good things happening to us … bad things not happening to us … happiness.
God doesn’t owe us ANYTHING! What do we owe Him? EVERYTHING! ANY GOOD that you get from God, is totally by His grace … His ‘unmerited favor’.
Jesus paid our sin-debt … NOT BECAUSE … we deserved it. BUT BECAUSE … that’s what He wanted to do. 2 Cor. 5:21 – “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Vs. 20-21 – See NLT – Paul knew that Philemon would do MORE than just restore Onesimus. Paul knew that Philemon would have a NEW RELATIONSHIP with Onesimus … as a “brother-in-Christ”.
There’s a difference between a “presence” … AND … a “relationship”. “Presence” without a “relationship”, doesn’t satisfy. Years ago, I worked in a hardware store, where the head of the hardware department was caught stealing money out of the cash register. The owner kept him in his employment. There was a “presence” … BUT … there was no “relationship”.
There’s more to salvation than just going to Heaven. There’s a PRESENT RELATIONSHIP. There’s “joy” and “refreshment” – Vs. 20. That’s what Paul wanted Onesimus and Philemon to have.
Vs. 22-25 – See NLT – Paul closes out his letter.
CONCLUSION: Onesimus went back to Philemon. What ever happened to Onesimus? The Bible doesn’t say. BUT … history does! Ignatius, an early church father, wrote a letter to the pastor at the church at Ephesus. What was the name of this pastor? Onesimus!
Paul was in prison in Rome, but said he was a “prisoner of Jesus Christ”. Onesimus was a slave to Philemon, but became a “slave to Christ”. ALL 3 … became brothers-in-Christ … because of the grace of God. Isn’t God good?
STAND - PRAY
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“Onesimus”
Philemon Vs. 1-25
INTRODUCTION: The relationship between Philemon, Onesimus and Paul …
Vs. 1-3 – “a prisoner of Jesus Christ” – Paul is in prison in Rome … right where Jesus wants him.
Vs. 4 – Philemon was on Paul’s prayer list.
Vs. 5-7 – Philemon demonstrated his love.
Vs. 8 – Serve out of LOVE … not DUTY.
Vs. 9 – Serve out of LOVE’S SAKE.
Vs. 10 – Do you have any “spiritual children”?
Vs. 11 – “Onesimus” means ‘profitable’, which he wasn’t to Philemon … but he was to Paul … and could be to Philemon.
- Do you contribute anything to God’s Kingdom?
Vs. 12-13 – Philemon could have Onesimus put to death.
- By Onesimus serving Paul, Philemon is serving Paul.
Vs. 14 – Serve out of LOVE, not NECESSITY.
Vs. 15 – This was no accident … some good will come from it.
Vs. 16 – An earthly relationship has changed into an eternal relationship.
- All Christians are in the same family … the “Family of God”.
Vs. 17 – Jesus was our SUBSTITUTE on the cross.
- Jesus paid the debt you owed … that you couldn’t pay –
2 Corinthians 5:21
Vs. 18 – Jesus paid your sin-debt – Romans 6:23.
Vs. 19 – God doesn’t owe us anything … we owe Him everything!
- Jesus wanted to pay your sin-debt – 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Vs. 20-21 – There is a difference between a “presence” and a “relationship”.
- There is “joy” and “refreshment” in a relationship with Jesus.
Vs. 22-25 – Paul closes out his letter.
CONCLUSION: What ever happened to Onesimus?
- We can see the wonderful grace of God.
