Philemon 1-25, Forgiveness For A Friend

but tonight we're gonna be looking at the little book called Philemon it's only 25 verses we're going to study the entire book tonight it's jam-packed with interesting information I'm in Title II the book forgiveness for a friend and you'll see why in just a moment let's pray Heavenly Father we commit the evening to you we thank you for your love we thank you for grace and mercy and forgiveness and Heavenly Father we also understand that in the broken world in which we live in things happen some good and some not so good and sometimes our past comes into the present some of the things that we said or the people that we've heard or the issues that we've had to deal with they show up and we wonder how in Christ are we going to honor you in the circumstance that we find ourself in and so lord I pray that you will cause us Lord to learn what it means to be men and women who bring about hope and forgiveness and reconciliation and broken relationships and so we commit this time to you we pray these things in Jesus name Amen I guess I should do at least a little bit of a brief introduction before I read the book in order for you to understand it the Epistle to Philemon was written during Paul's first imprisonment he's a prisoner in Rome and the word prisoners gonna come up over and over again in verse 1 and verse 3 in verse 7 and verse 13 and in verse 22 and in verse 23 and scholars place this little book in the section that's known as the prison epistles and so this book was written at the same time that books like Ephesians Philippians and Colossians were written the year is about 60 or 61 AD Nero is the emperor of Rome and the young Jesus movement is about in its third decade it's a young movement and so Paul is going to be writing a letter to Philemon who is a leader of a church in Colisee and did you get a map did you find that the journeys let's put that map up Paul was going to write this while he's in prison in Rome and if you look all the way to the right in that area that's called Asia and Pamphylia you'll see Pergamum and Ephesus I don't know if Colisee is is located on the map but onesimus is a runaway slave and he's going to run away from his master and he's going to make his way north to Asia into bath inia across the Hellespont through Thrace over to Greece all the way up to what was called Illyricum and then come down to Rome and follow the ancient road he's running for his life and he's going to find himself in Rome and Rome is a city of over a million people and as circumstances unfold he's going to meet the rabbi pastor who's in jail named Paul and the runaway slave is going to get saved and now his past is gonna come back because he's run away he knows that he has to deal with that broken relationship Philemon we begin in verse 1 Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer to the beloved app via our cheapest our fellow soldier and to the church in your house grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ I think 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 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus for we have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the Saints have been refreshed by you brother therefore though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you being such a one as Paul the agent and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ I appeal to you for my son Anisa --mess who might begotten while in my chains who once was unprofitable to you but now is profitable to you and to me I'm sending him back to you therefore receive him that is my own heart whom I wish to keep with me that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel but without your consent I didn't want to do nothing that your good deed might not be by compulsion as it were but voluntary for perhaps arted for you for a while for this purpose that you might receive him forever no longer as a slave but more than a slave a beloved brother especially to me but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the Lord if then you count me as a partner receive him as you would me but if he's wrong to you or owes you anything put that on my account I Paul am riding with my own hand I will repay not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides yes brother let me have joy from you and the Lord refresh my heart in the Lord having confidence in your obedience I write to you knowing that you'll do even more than I say but meanwhile also prepare a guest room for me for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you Epaphroditus greets you as do mark Aristarchus Dimas Luke my fellow laborers the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit amen the story actually really begins at the very close of Acts chapter 28 verses 30 and 31 for those of you who are familiar with both the Book of Luke and the book of Acts it's a compilation of the story not only the gospel of Jesus Christ but of the unfolding drama of the adventures and the journeys of Paul the Apostle he finds this way through a series of circumstances arrested in Jerusalem he makes his way to Caesarea where he spends two years pleading with the local authorities to be let go but they refused to release him and so he exercises his rights as a Roman citizen and he appeals to the emperor Nero himself to hear his case and in Acts chapter 28 verse 30 we read then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence no one forbidding him he's under house arrest in Rome awaiting trial and as he is in house arrest awaiting trial he's writing the book of Ephesians he's writing the book of Philippians he's writing the book of Colossians and he puts this tender note this personal correspondence also in a group of letters that he's sending to both Ephesus Colisee and Philip I the letter is personal and the letter is powerful now I want you to somewhat think with me for just a moment what an exciting thing it would be if we could interview Paul the Apostle imagined we could reflect on his life and his ministry and he asks you a question tell me about the church in Philippi tell me about the church in Ephesus tell me about the church in Colisee and you have to give him the sad news that their ruins I've been to each and every one of these places and I would say guess what the ministries that you've started on all of those places tourists come and they visit those places but the church is gone and he might look at you and he might say well then why do people go there and you say to him because of the letters you wrote while you were in jail that have stood the test of time and that have come down through the ages you see almost 1/3 of the Bible that was written by you is studied by Christians all over the world and the life and the love and the encouragement and the hope and the instruction that it gives is important to each and every one of us Paul the most important thing that you ever did was go to jail and write letters that affected the world forever it's hard to put things in perspective isn't it this letter is personal and powerful the letter includes praise for Philemon in verses 4 through 7 a plea to Philemon in verses 8 through 17 and then a pledge to Philemon in verses 18 through 21 it would appear that one of Philemon slaves Onesimus has run away from his master's house he's made his way to Rome Philemon lived in a place called the Lycus Valley in a town called Colisee in modern Turkey in a series of events unknown to us ona Samus is born again in verse 10 he's born again and the question arises now what what's onesimus to do what do we do when our past comes back to haunt us slavery was common in the Roman Empire but slavery in the Roman Empire wasn't like slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Americas and so the letter isn't a defense or a condemnation of Roman slavery but it's an appeal by Paul to forgive the runaway slave and under Roman law stealing from your master and then running away was punishable by death and so Paul is going to appeal to Philemon with courtesy and tact and delicacy and generous Siti most scholars believe that Philemon probably was a Christian obviously who had come from Colisee and somehow made his way to the treasure city of Ephesus while Paul was preaching in Ephesus he enters into a right relationship with God in Christ he goes back to his home he and his wife and his son and they have a household so it would appear that of the most incredible thing Paul knows Philemon now think about this o nimis Onesimus the runaway slave finds his way in Rome somehow hears the preaching of Paul and gets wonderfully saved and someone maybe Dimas or Mark or Luke they go aren't you Oh miss Oh miss weren't you a member of of the household of Philemon and then they discover that he'd run away and maybe that he'd even stolen money from the master in order to make the journey so what is Paul to do Paul's willingness to appeal to Philemon for his friend and to welcome him as he would welcome Paul becomes a type and a picture of the sacrifice that Jesus himself makes and so what about you have you ever done anything in your past that all of a sudden comes back into your present and reminds you of the life that you used to live maybe it's a broken friendship or a broken relationship maybe it's a bad debt it might have even been criminal activity you read the Bible you read the passage in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 where it says if any person is in Christ he's a new creation behold the old things have passed away behold everything has become new and yet some of those sins still haunt you and you wonder if you're going to have to pay for the rest of your life are there areas in your life whether relational or personal or financial or spiritual that require the recognition of injury and the realization of sin and the possibility of reconciliation and so Paul will make an appeal and as he makes the appeal it begins with appreciation for Philemon look what it says in verse 1 Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer it's interesting to me that Paul manages to accomplish more in prison than most Christians accomplish in a lifetime one of the truly frustrating things is to see someone so inspirational like Johnny Erickson tada who is paralyzed from the neck down in a horrible diving accident but she manages to write books and give the gospel all the while her body is imprisoned Paul calls himself a prisoner what's interesting again in the original language for you Bible students who like this kind of stuff the word prisoner is the Greek word des my ass that may not mean a whole lot to you but it comes from two root words Deo which means bound and or which means to bind and so when he says Paul a prisoner he doesn't say a prisoner of Rome or a prisoner of Nero but he characterizes his circumstances as a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ Paul refuses to characterize his circumstances as bad luck or fate but he understands that his life is hidden in Christ and that the circumstances of his life are driven sovereignly and completely by God Paul claims to be Christ's prisoner and as a prisoner of the gospel Paul elsewhere will say are as he's he's dealing with slaves and free people he says are you a slave then you are free in Christ are you free then guess what your Christ slave Paul reminds us of the presence of Timothy that Timothy is with him and then he calls Philemon a beloved friend and fellow laborer which seems to indicate a laborer in the gospel that he is a minister and I think again Paul when he says you're my friend and you're my laborer I think he means it because some of you might be thinking I think that Paul's just greasing the wheels he's he's buttering up Philemon in anticipation of this huge request and by the way if you're going to ask someone for something huge doesn't it make sense to sort of be nice to them but we have every reason to believe that Philemon is a man of real love and real faith greet those who love us in the faith Paul writes to Titus in chapter 3 verse 15 John's Gospel and the letter that we just went through together in first John you'll remember that John reminds the Brethren that the best evidence of friendship and fellowship and relationship is true love for each other and so he says in verse 2 to the beloved app via our cheapest our fellow soldier into the church in your house most Bible scholars believe these are references to Philemon 's wife app via their son our chiefess literally app via is called beloved or literally in the original it says she's the sister our cheapest is mentioned in Colossians chapter 4 verse 7 where Paul writes and say to our cheapest take heed to the ministry which you've received in the Lord so that you may fulfill it unquote and so he's writing to Colisee Philemon is there a fee is there our cheapest is there remember they don't have cathedrals and and big auditoriums where they have Church Church it meets in the home in their home and it would appear that our chip has played a prominent role in the ministry of the church at colostate and the house of Philemon and so you can imagine that Philemon his wife and his son are going to be deeply concerned about this issue this matter at hand and so Paul writes grace to you and peace from God our Father in the Lord Jesus Christ this is a common expression in all of Paul's letters grace proceeding peace grace becoming the mechanism whereby we can experience peace with God we're saved by grace we're kept by grace it provides peace for us and so Paul writes in verse 4 I thank God I thank my god making mention of you always in my prayers Paul made it a point to pray for those in the faith and to pray for those in his life and pray for those who were in his past and I think that that's interesting and in verse 5 he says hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints I'm going to draw something quickly to your attention when Paul speaks of I've heard of your love I've heard about your faith and note two things about that love and faith in one sense it's towards the Lord Jesus and in another sense it's towards everyone around them and that becomes an important point it's love that's upward to Christ and it's love that's outward to others and so now think about this Paul is saying of Philemon your love in your faith isn't just something you theologically contain in your head or that you've written about or that you're notorious about that you have all of the right thinking and all of the right teaching and all of the right doctrine and don't get me wrong teaching and doctrine is important but he says it's a kind of love and it's a kind of faith that it's expressed in real relationship and look what it says in verse 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus that the sharing of your faith I want you to note that just for a moment Philemon not only has faith but he shares his faith in what sense what does this mean does it mean sharing the gospel and the sense of passing out tracts or or personal witnessing I'm gonna suggest to you that I think it includes that but it's not limited to that it isn't just simply telling other people about Jesus but I also think it means practical kindness that he shows to others he doesn't just simply share his beliefs about Jesus but he participates in practical expressions of kindness to such an extent that it becomes a matter of public knowledge and when he says that the sharing of your faith may become effective the word effective in the original language is very very interesting it means go to work go to work these are expressions of kindness that really work and are a blessing to others and the word acknowledgement is also interesting when it says that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus the word acknowledgment means having a precise or correct understanding a precise or correct knowledge of every good thing the idea seems to be that Philemon has been taught well by Paul over those two years that he spent with his wife and his son in Ephesus before they planted the church in Colisee why do we believe that because there was no evidence up until this point that Paul had ever been to Colisee but that he had been to Ephesus but that he has a personal relationship with this family here acknowledgement of every good thing means a full understanding a right knowledge of all of the benefits that come from being in Christ Jesus and so says in verse 7 for we have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the Saints have been refreshed by you brother and so in these few verses we discover that Philemon was a man of love and a man of faith of practical kindness love and faith in Jesus a love and a faith that made a difference in the hearts of the scenes having been refreshed and the hearts of the Saints translates the word Splunk not it's an interesting word it's found here in verse 7 it's the work it's again founded verse 12 it's again found in verse 20 in the old King James it translates a word bowels or what you and I would call intestines yeah but that's hard bowels and intestines because you go what what are you talking about well in that culture and and circumstance the inward parts was a term that the Greek people would use very much like we use the term guts have you ever heard someone say I hate your guts it's their way of saying I hate your innards the Greeks believed that powerful affection originated in your internal organs but here Paul of course means inward affection and that's why it's translated the hearts of the saints in other words he's making reference to the seat of emotion with a specific emphasis on affection and now he springs it his plea for an isthmus look what it says in verse 8 therefore though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting the word command is a strong word epi Tazo it's a compound word which means to order or to demand compliance it's Paul's way of saying you know what I think I could pull the apostolic card I think I could use apostolic Authority or pastoral authority to demand compliance but Paul pleads not on the basis of authority but on the basis of love he he doesn't say I'm gonna make you do this because I'm over you he says I'm gonna plead with you to do it on the basis of love again Warren wears be points out the futility of insisting that people do the right based on just simple courtesy he writes quote for one thing it would not help Philemon grow in grace or gain a real blessing from the experience law is a much weaker motivation than love and Paul wanted Philemon to broaden his spiritual understanding this is why Paul uses the word beseech in verse nine where's Bea writes we're going to talk about that in just a moment but think about what's being said Paul is asking for consideration based on love and verse 9 it says yet 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 Paul prefers love is the chief motivation in the decision-making process what do you want me to do I want you to do the loving thing the gracious thing are you gonna make me do this no I'm gonna give you the freedom to make the choice hoping and praying that you'll make a choice based on love our translation uses the word appeal yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you Paul makes an appeal I want you to think about this for a moment he says I'm appealing to you based on at least two things well actually three things I'm appealing to you on the basis of love I'm be appealing to you on the basis of age and I'm appealing to you on the basis of incarceration by the way how old is Paul at this point there were separate words that's used in the Greek language to describe someone under a certain age like an infant or a young person or an adolescent the word that Paul uses here the ages is a very specific word in the Greek language that would refer to someone who is between the age of 53 and 63 now that might seem a little harsh for those of you between the ages of 53 and 63 to be characterized by the word age but you've got to understand something in that culture and society people didn't live for a very long time and so by every ancient measure Paul is an old dude and by the way some Bible scholars again estimate his age somewhere between 53 and 63 and so in verse 10 he says I appeal to you for my son Anissa mmus whom I begotten while in my chains he comes to the heart of the appeal guess what your runaway slave he's been born again I've led him to Christ he's entered into a right relationship with with God in Christ now remember what we read in the book of Acts how Paul had a rented house and he invited everyone he invited everyone anyone who was willing to listen to about Jesus could Romans come in here about Jesus the answer's yes could free people come in here about Jesus yes could slaves come and hear about Jesus the answer is yes everyone was welcome Paul knew that God saved sinners even runaway slaves even people with a checkered background even with people who don't necessarily pass a background check and so in verse 11 it says who once was unprofitable to you but now is profitable to you and to me he's doing a wordplay by the way in that world and that culture the name Onesimus meant useful isn't that interesting his name means useful my name Gino means the cattle have all died no that's not the meaning of my name Gino is a nickname in Italian for Giuliano and Giuliano comes from a Latin word which means the blowing wind take what you will from that but here's the point when he says he's he once was unprofitable but now he's profitable I want you to think about what Paul is saying what profit is there with a runaway slave there's none he's he's gone I don't know if you've ever owned something that was really valuable or really expensive and it broke or it was in an accident or it collapsed or it was lost you had something and it was really really important to you and it was really really valuable to you and then it disappears Jesus changes lives and so I think part of the point that Paul is making is onesimus has run away but the person who was in your house and the person who's run away has become a different person look what it says in verse 12 I'm sending him back you therefore receive him that is my own heart why is Paul sending him back because he wants to do what's right he wants to honor God and honor Philemon but all at the same time create an atmosphere where onesimus can be received back remember remember remember the penalty for stealing death the penalty for running away we're going to talk about that in just a moment but I want to draw your attention to a word here that's maybe the most important word in our little text the word receive it means way more than just taken back it's a word that means to judge him appropriately he's saying I need you to receive him in Romans when he writes to the book of Romans he says receive one of those who is weak in the faith Paul's admonition is receive each other don't reject each other receive each other but here again it means to judge appropriately Paul points out Anissa misses born again in verses 10 and 11 he's ready to face his past he's ready to to right the wrong in verses 12 13 and 14 he's a changed man in verses 15 and 16 he can be received and trusted because just like he would receive and trust Paul and so in verse 13 it says whom I wished to keep with me that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel Paul's revealing his true intention he's saying he's useless to you but he's useful to me he's born again I want him here with me I need him here with me he wants to keep him close by Paul's in a difficult situation he's in a rented room he's with a Roman soldier he is in slaves he is awaiting trial and Nero is an absolute lunatic he will take Christians at a whim and he will impale them on a stake he will put them in pitch and then he will light them on fire he was known to take Christians and sew them up in animal skins and take them out into the arena and watch the wild dogs rip them apart and so anything could happen but Paul says but without your consent I wanted to do nothing that your good deed might not be by compulsion as it were but voluntary you note that in this text there's nothing manipulative coercive notice that Paul doesn't threaten him and he doesn't say oh by the way Philemon I'm an apostle and you're going to rot in hell unless you do exactly as I say he's appealing to him out of love out of patience out of kindness and in verse 15 he says for perhaps he departed for awhile for this purpose that you might receive him forever I want you to think about what you just read for perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose that you might receive him forever think for a moment pause for a moment ask yourself this question why did onesimus run away Philemon probably wants to know his wife probably wants to know the son wants to know hey is it possible that he was being abused in the household is it a horrible and terrible place to be we could cite any number of reasons it makes perfect sense to us living in our culture in our society that whatever else slavery seems to indicate it's not something that you want doesn't it make sense to a free person that you don't want to be in bondage and that you don't want to be enslaved and if you were in bondage and you were enslaved wouldn't you run away what's interesting is the reason isn't given the suggestion is intimated that he might have stole money in verse 18 and what slave desires slavery but Paul knew that the matter had to be resolved and so for the Christian confession of sin and reconciliation and restoration aren't an option it's necessary Paul knows that these are all important things that are going to have to happen because something has happened that needs to be fixed before coming to Jesus you may have made some pretty poor choices maybe even coming to Christ after you made some bad choices even sinful choices Paul knew that the damage was done but that some effort had to be made in order to make the situation right and it may even mean that onesimus knew that the damaged relationship had to be right that he's come to Christ he realizes that this is a damaged relationship and it can't continue in the awful way that it's that it's been up until this point and so Anissa --mess is facing this terrible terrible situation he's a runaway slave in a world where runaway slaves have no rights slaves were in a situation much like illegal aliens in our own culture and society illegal aliens can suffer from all kinds of indignities and abuses and because they're already here and because it's already a secret and because there's already a problem sometimes they become victims slaves were thought of as living tools to be used by their master Anna Messer had absolute freedom to do with the slave as he or she wished and slaves were under the control of the master and a master had absolute freedom to do whatever they wanted and slaves were expensive a worker slave could be bought for about five hundred denarii that's about two years salary slaves who were doctors slaves who were teachers slaves who were actors slaves who were stewards these are highly skilled managers could sometimes be sold for as much as 10,000 to 50,000 denarii and I want you to think about that because if a denarii is a day's wage then that means 50,000 days so now you begin to understand just how important it could have been and a master could kill a slave for just about any cause but do you think that that's what they did if you have a Ferrari when the Ferrari doesn't start or if you have a Porsche do you beat it to death because it doesn't start do you take a racehorse that cost you a quarter of a million dollars and shoot it in the head you don't take expensive things and then destroy them but slaves were subject to all manner of humiliation and indignity and abuse and exclusion one writer put it this way quote what makes it worse was that slaves were deliberately put down unquote they there were in the Roman Empire when Paul is writing these words by some estimates it could be as little as 60 million slaves some have even put the number up to a hundred million but I want you to think about this if in the Roman Empire there were some 60 million slaves if you take every human being who lives in Colorado Wyoming Utah Arizona and New Mexico you still haven't you're not even halfway there yet so we're talking about a lot of slaves the danger of revolt was a constant danger by the way the Spartacus revolt took place in 73 BC it was still fresh in the memories of most of the people and so it wasn't unusual for them to take extraordinary means to make sure that slaves didn't run away and by the way if a slave did run away the master would often take them and brand their forehead and they would put the initial F on their forehead the F stood for the word fugitivus you know that word we get the word fugitive from it and the word in the Latin language meant someone who was running away from justice now I want you again to think of the world in which she's living in and he's made it all the way from Turkey all the way from Rome he's walked on the roads he's been on the roads of Rome as he's walked past people it wouldn't have been unusual to see another person with that wicked F branded on their forehead constantly reminding him and Paul provides a hint that there might have been a twinge of guilt in the heart of Anissa --mess but also Paul provides yet another hint that maybe these things have happened because God had a plan and he wanted to bring Anissa mmus into a right relationship with him as the Savior Paul gives us a hint some things are temporal some things are forever Paul is making the outrageous suggestion that maybe he laughed to avoid hell maybe he ran away so that he could live forever did he run away so that he could be saved did he run away so that he could serve Paul and maybe one of the most difficult and treacherous circumstances of his life Paul was facing hardship and pain and Onesimus brought him at least some measure of relief and so he says forgive him for your sake and forgive him for his sake and forgive him for my sake look what it says in verse 16 no look forgive him for his sake first see no longer as a slave but more than a slave a beloved brother especially to me but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the Lord in other words now that he's come into a right relationship with God in Christ now that he's willing to honor God and reflect the character of Christ he's going to be more useful than he's ever been useful and he's clearly useful to me so forgive him for his sake and then in verse 17 he says if then you count me as a partner receive him as you would receive me Paul reminds Philemon of their partnership look we share Christ we shared the ministry we're partners in friendship we're partners in fellowship the the New Testament has told us to put on Christ but his boldness is matched by his tenderness again if you then count me as a partner receive him the word is different here than the other word received here in the original language the word received means receive like you would your own family now obviously when you meet with people if it's your mom your dad your brother your sister a son a daughter or a grandchild in most cultures doesn't family mean something you don't turn your family away and so Paul basically says receive him as you would receive me it's Paul's way of saying what are your plans for him are you going to beat him brand him because whatever it is that you've decided to do to him I want you to know that it's exactly what you would do for me Paul's plea is whatever you decide whatever your decision is I just want you to know that it's the same decision that you would do for me Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 10:40 he who receives you receives me and he who receives me receives him who sent me jesus said if you receive Jesus you're receiving God the Father and if you if you are received it's the same as receiving Jesus so again does this mean that own usamos gets a free ride does this mean that he shirks his duty does this mean that there's no obligation does this mean that he magically fundamentally ceases to be a servant in the household I don't think that that's at all what it means and so Paul gives an assurance and a pledge he says but if he has wronged you or owes you anything put that on my account particularly for the person who's reading the letter and they're asking the question well what about the money that he took her what about the injury or what about the loss of business it could have been that onesimus was a doctor or a lawyer or a steward he was by the way there were servants there were slaves who generated vast amounts of money for their master what about restitution what about the loss the verse doesn't come right out and claim that Onesimus stole anything but in the event that he might have stolen something coming to Christ didn't cancel all of the slaves dead and what sense did it cancel his sin debt yeah was he gonna get to go to heaven yeah but did that magically make whatever he did go away no just like it doesn't magically make what you did go away but know what Paul does he offers a guarantee to pay the debt owed by onesimus and then a gentle reminder of the spiritual debt owed by Philemon and then he asks Filene to keep a room available for him and look what it says in verse 19 Paul I Paul I'm riding with my own hand I will repay not to mention that you owe me even your own self besides now I want you to think about this I owe you that he just wrote this is an ancient IOU this is a promissory note this is a promissory note that Philemon could have taken to the Roman courts in Colisee and say this is a promissory note this is a legal and a binding note that you are entering in to a promise to repay me whatever insult or injury might have taken place but Paul adds to the note oh by the way who led you to Christ that was me why are you going to heaven instead of how because I've presented the gospel to you it becomes the perfect picture of Jesus Jesus finds us as we run away slaves and lawbreakers and rebels he forgives us he pays our debt and then he identifies with us this by the way is the doctrine called imputation the word imputation means to put on one's account the idea is all of the wicked sinful things that you've ever done ever Jesus says write that on my account I will be the satisfying solution to every wrong and wicked and horrible and terrible thing that you did oh and by the way you get to draw from my account what are we gonna draw oh I'm gonna make all of my righteousness available to you so here's here's the deal of imputation he takes all of your sin and then he gives you all of his righteousness I want you to just let that soak in for a minute our sins are placed on Christ ledger his righteousness is placed on our account and in verse 20 says yes brother let me have joy from you in the Lord refresh my heart and the Lord Onesimus is a brother a brother is more than a slave Onesimus is not just simply a brother and he's not just simply above a slave he's a value to Paul and now he's a much more value to Philemon he says having confidence in your obedience I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say will Philemon's obedience include forgiveness and restoration and reconciliation is Paul making a veiled request hey not only do I think you're gonna take them back and not only do I think that you're gonna forgive them and not only do I think that all of this is going to happen I think that maybe you should even let him go free so that you can come back and minister to me is that gonna happen look what Paul says interestingly enough in verse 22 but meanwhile also prepare a guest room for me for I trust that through your prayers I'll be granted to you think about what he's saying I'm in jail in a Roman prison facing almost a certain death sentence from Nero what do you think the chances of getting his money back are yeah I've heard someone say zero and I think you're right but you know what happens in history Paul is released the prayers are answered he says but meanwhile prepare a guest room for me I want you to think about what's happening a paffrath shows up he has the letter to the Ephesians he has the letter to the Colossians he has well the letter to the Philippians has already been dropped off he has this letter as well they are containing the gold mines of Christianity and there's own usamos with him as he's reading the letter and his runaway slave is standing in front of him as if Paul is gonna say oh by the way when Onesimus comes back to you his first official duty is for Philemon to say to Onesimus prepare a room for Paul because he's on 'we put him back to work he says a Patras my fellow-servant in christ jesus greets you why but most scholars believe Apophis was the pastor of the church at Colossae and he too is in jail he may have been the person who planted the church according to Colossians chapter 1 verse 7 again in chapter 4 verses 12 and 13 he mentions mark Aristarchus demas Luke my fellow laborers these are all going to be people that you are familiar with mark demas Luke these are names mentioned in Colossians chapter 4 verse 10 and again in verse 14 Jesus called Justices also mentioned in college in Colossians but is omitted here mark everybody knows he's the author of the Gospel of Mark and he proved reliable even though Barnabas and Paul had their rift but now they're reconciled to each other Aristarchus was a believer from Thessalonica who had accompanied Paul on several journeys in Colossians 4:10 Paul calls him my fellow prisoner Dimas would later abandon Paul forsake Paul according to 2nd Timothy 4:10 because he loved this present world and Luke's name is familiar to everyone he's Paul's faithful companion right up to the end and he says in verse 25 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen thank God for grace in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve faced each other in fellowship after the fall God and man turned from each other but at Calvary God through Christ in Grace turns his face back towards one another and the ultimate reconciliation takes place people who've been broken and hurt are able to have a right relationship with God by the way we're about done would you like to know how the story ended did Philemon forgive the runaway slave what happened well according to church tradition not only does Philemon take him back not only does reconciliation take place and by the way reconciliation is a restored relationship based on restored trust remember that reconciliation is a restored relationship based on restored trust and according to Eusebius and the early church fathers not only is onesimus taken back but he come becomes the pastor of Calvary Chapel at Colisee he becomes the pastor of the church and he faces brutal opposition and unrelenting persecution and according to Eusebius you will die a martyr's death and service to the Lord Jesus he's reconciled to his master but then he's reconciled to God forever by the way there are always three elements to reconciliation if reconciliation is ever going to happen it always includes confession of sin to God and the ones offended it always includes forgiveness by God and the ones offended and it always means the establishment of a new relationship and that my friends is the story of forgiveness and the runaway slave let's pray Lord thanks for this time and thanks for grace thanks for forgiveness thanks that we have an opportunity to come to grips when we do wrong things and we're able to plead for one another and were able to help one another and were able to encourage one another and were able to find reasons to stay together instead of grow apart in Jesus name and all the saints said alright let's stand

Channel: Calvary South Denver

Views: 22,548

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, Forgiveness, Philemon

Id: PGRA0T1EPng

Length: 60min 21sec (3621 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 29 2016