Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Philemon. I'm going to start a study tonight on Philemon. It should be about a three-week
study. About a three-week study. Wonderful,
wonderful little book, Philemon. Philemon. Wonderful little epistle. I pray
that God the Holy Spirit would illuminate the scriptures for
us and teach us the things of Christ. And this epistle is natural. naturally broken down into four
sections. We have Paul's greeting in verses
1 to 3. Then we have Paul speak of Philemon's
love and faith in verses 4 to 7. And then we have Paul's plea
for Onesimus in verses 8 to 22. Then Paul's final greeting to
the saints of God in verses 23 to 25. Let us read the whole
epistle now. a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and
Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow
laborer, and to our beloved Aphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier,
and to the church in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making
mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love
and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all
saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual
by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in
Christ Jesus. We have great joy and consolation
in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by
thee, brother. Though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin
thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather
besiege thee, being such in one as Paul the age, and also now
a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I besiege thee for my son Onesimus,
whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in times past was to thee
unprofitable, now profitable to thee and to me. whom I have sent again and therefore
receive him, that is, mine own bowels, whom I would have retained
with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me
the bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind would I
do nothing, that thy benefit should not be, as it were, of
necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever. Not now
as a servant, but above a servant, a brother, beloved, especially
to me. But how much more unto thee,
both in the flesh and in the Lord. If thou count me therefore
a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account. I, Paul, have written
it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Alabet, I do
not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self beside. Yea, brother, let me have joy
of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience,
I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I
say. But withal, prepare me also a
lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given
unto you. There salute thee Epaphras, my
fellow prisoner in Christ, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my
fellow labors. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit. Amen. Written from Rome by Onesimus
Servant. written from Rome to Philemon
by Onesimus' servant. Now this epistle was written
by Paul, written by Paul, and Onesimus penned the letter by
what we see here in the latter part of the letter, but it's
written by Paul while he was a prisoner at Rome. It seems they have been written
at the same time and sent by the same person as the epistle
to the Colossians since the same persons were with the Apostle
at the writing of both. When we compare Philemon 1, 23,
and 24, let's look there quick, there salute the Epaphras, my
fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas,
my fellow laborers. Now turn over just a few books
to Colossians chapter four. Colossians chapter four. Colossians
chapter four. Look at verses 11 to 14. In Jesus, which is called justice,
who are of the circumcision, these only are my fellow labors
into the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth
you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you
may stand perfect and complete in the will of God. For I bear
him record that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are
in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis, Luke, the beloved physician,
and Demas greets you. Now, Colossae was a city located
120 miles east of the Euphrates in the Lucas River Valleys, and
was part of a Roman territory of Asia Minor. It was one of
a triad of cities. Through studying, I found out
it was one of the triad of cities that rested at the foot of Mount
Cadmus, the other two cities being Laodicea and Hierapolis. So it was a triad of cities at
the base of a mountain. Paul had never visited Colossus
when he composed this epistle to the church here, but he does
imply that Epaphras founded the church along with those at Laodicea
and Hierapolis. which we saw in our study when
we studied in the book of Colossians. And this letter is written to
a dear brother in Christ, a dear brother of Paul's in Christ named
Philemon, Philemon. And he was a Colossian. His servant
is mentioned over in Colossians chapter four, verse nine, we
saw. with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother who is one
of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are
done here, Colossians 4.9. So Onesimus is said to be one
of the Colossians. So Philemon lived in the city
of Colossus. And Onesimus, Philemon's servant,
he had either embezzled or stolen his master's goods, and he had
fled the Rome. He is trying to get as far away
from his master as he probably could with whatever he had, beloved. But God's sovereign purpose is
at work. Man does what he wills, but the
Lord, nothing will override the Lord's
plan and purpose. And Onesimus is one of God's
sheep from eternity given to Christ. And he must hear the
gospel. And it's ordained by God, we
will see, it was ordained by God that Onesimus would hear
the gospel in Rome. In Rome. Now Paul's imprisoned
in Rome. Not in a prison, but he's in
a house. We'll see that later. He's in a home. A rented home. But he's not allowed to leave
it. And that all is by the divine decree and purpose of God too. And Onesimus and Paul, well they
have a meeting that's divinely planned and purposed. Because
Onesimus is going to hear the gospel under the preaching of
Paul. So he fled to Rome. And by God's
sovereign power and will, well at Rome, He heard Paul preach. He heard Paul preach. And we
know what Paul preached. He preached Christ and Him crucified.
He preached Christ and Him crucified. And Paul again was a prisoner
in his own hired home and regularly preached the gospel to all who
visited him. And Onesimus had been converted
being born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and
he had manifested such grace and gifts that Paul would have
kept him with him. He would have kept him with him. He would have kept him with him,
but he was sending him back to Philemon. And he was entreating
Philemon to receive him, not only as one who is a brother,
to be reconciled to Onesimus for the wrong which he had done,
but to receive him as a beloved brother in Christ. Look at verses
five and six. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever. Forever. Now Onesimus was a slave of Philemon. Again, he did something and he
fled. He either embezzled or stole
money from him and he fled. Now Paul's saying he's sending
them back to Philemon because we ought to have not. We ought
to never have aught with our brothers. We have aught with
our brothers, any kind of aught with our brothers. We're to quickly
reconcile it. We're to quickly reconcile it.
Look at that, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season
that thou shouldest receive him forever. Not now as a servant,
but above a servant. Look at that above a servant.
A brother beloved. Remember the ground at the foot
of the cross is level. We see that here. Onesimus is
a slave owned by Philemon. And now Paul says, now you're
going to receive him. Not as a servant, but above a
servant. Receive him as your brother in
Christ. Look at this. A brother beloved,
especially to me. He was very dear to Paul. Very,
very dear. As several commentators said,
and I mentioned earlier, he must have manifested such grace and
giftings that he was a blessing to Paul. He was a blessing to
be around. Look at this, but how much more
unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord? He wants Onesimus
and Philemon to be reconciled. To be reconciled. And how, well,
it's not always easy, but it should be easier for us to forgive
our dear brethren who've wronged us when we consider how much
we're forgiven. We should be quick, we should
keep, like Brother Henry used to say, we should keep short
accounts. We should keep short accounts with everybody, but
especially with the household of faith. Especially with the
household of faith. Listen to this comment by Robert
Hawker about this wonderful epistle. If it had not been included in
the divine canon, it would probably be on display in any number of
museums as an example of what letter writing should be. He
called it an extraordinary letter. And when we read it, it's incredible
how much elegance Paul wrote with, but yet how much brotherly
love. Put that on my account, he says.
Beloved, that's what Christ did for us. The sinless substitute died in
our place. And our sins were laid upon Him. He's guiltless. And the guiltless
one dies for the guilty. My, what a Savior. And He redeemed
us with His precious blood, beloved. Hawker calls this letter a masterpiece
of correspondence. And we'll see in our studies
why he makes this observation. The content of this letter stands
as an inspiration to all who, by faith, are able to discern
the grace of it and how it speaks of Christ, how it speaks of Christ
as their surety, substitute, and savior. Now, some may read
this Some who are not saved may read this and say, well, that's
a nice letter. But we read it as God's born again people. And again, we see how, we see
the grace of God manifested where Paul says, receive your brother. Receive your brother, not as
a slave, but as a brother in Christ. And then we'll see, as we go
through this epistle, we see Christ as our surety, and we'll
see him as our substitute, and we'll see him as our savior.
It's wonderful, wonderful little letter. Let's read the first
four verses tonight. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ,
and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Aphia, in Archippus,
our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house, grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I
thank my God, make in mention of thee always in my prayers.
I talked to a dear friend today that I fellowshiped a lot with
in Oregon, just a dear, dear fellow. And he reads Greek. And he was saying that the underlying
Greek word for peace here is something that's accomplished.
It's accomplished. We have peace with God right
now. Right now. Because we're clothed
in the righteousness of Christ, beloved. We have it right now. And he was saying how the Catholics
translate it, you'll have peace if you do certain things. That's
what he was bringing out, the difference in our translations
that way. And how we interpret it, as as
the Greek word says, it's just it's it's a it's a piece that
we already have. We already possess it. That's
that's what it is, he says. Grace to you and peace. We have
peace, beloved. Oh, peace with God from in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. In these next few weeks, we'll
read this wonderful letter a few times. And if you can read it
on your own at home, it'd be a blessing for you. It'd be a
blessing. And I think that you'll find
that as the Holy Spirit illuminates the scripture for us, that this
letter is gospel full, beloved. It's gospel full. It's pressed
down and running over with the theme and song of grace, which
is all found in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This letter is a story
of the rune of Onesimus and the recovery of Onesimus. The rune
of Onesimus and the recovery of Onesimus. He's saved by the
grace of God in Christ through the preaching of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ by Paul at Rome. It's a story which all
the prisoners of hope know well, which is God's people. It's the
story of the forbearance of God, the long suffering of God, towards
sinners. And we who are God's people,
we've tasted the long-suffering of God. We've tasted that He's
graceless, haven't we? Oh my. Oh my. The long-suffering and forbearance
of God shown towards sinners is all through this letter. Those
who are saved by grace and have precious and sweet fellowship
with those who are of like precious faith. Who are of like precious
faith. And as we study this wonderful
epistle, we'll be reminded of how we as believers are to communicate
what the grace of God has done for us. In the forgiveness of
all our sins, in the long-suffering of God with us. This is what
we tell people. God forgive me of all my sins. Oh, how long-suffering
is my great God. How long-suffering is he with
me? Oh my. And we're to proclaim the great
things that He's done for us. Again, we proclaim the forgiveness
of all our sins in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
will see the wonderful doctrine of substitution also brought
forth in this little letter, and how Paul intercedes for Onesimus
before Philemon. If you read it through the week,
take note of that. Paul is interceding for Onesimus
with Philemon. Well, who's our great mediator?
Who intercedes for us, beloved? Christ. Christ. And we'll see again, that brings
forth again the doctrine of substitution. We'll also see the Spirit manifested.
as we look at this letter, and the wondrous workings of our
great God brought forth in his mercy to chosen sinners, and
also in the way that Paul speaks to Philemon. We'll also see through this study
how it's a story of divine providence at work. I touched on this a
little bit earlier. It's a story of divine providence
at work, beloved. Anisimus flees to Rome only to
be arrested by God. only to be arrested by God. He
thought, I'm gonna get away. No, no, he's being arrested by
God, beloved, by the grace of God, through the power of the
Holy Spirit of God, through the preaching of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this letter is about a slave,
Onesimus, who is suggested to also be a thief, because he had
robbed his master Philemon, and again, he's now on the run. He's
on the run, running both from his master, and think of this,
too. He's running both from his master and he's running from
the law, isn't he? Who did we run from? Our master
and his law. Oh my. My, oh my, what a picture
of a lost sinner. This guilty sinner, this guilty
slave runs into the gospel in the hands of the apostle Paul,
all by the providence of God, beloved. All by the providence
of God. Think of that in our own salvation.
Think of that, how we came to a church and we sat and we heard
the gospel preached and proclaimed. Or we may have heard it on the
internet. And how the Lord took those words of the preacher and
we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. My, my, it's all God's work. And when
we heard the gospel, it was at the exact appointed time by God
that we would hear the gospel. We were born again by the Holy
Spirit of God at the exact time that God had purposed and planned.
And we had no, did we have any idea? We had no idea. We had
no idea. My oh my. I wasn't looking for
God. Nope. Nope. Oh my. Oh, God will get his people. There will not be one sheep lost
for whom Christ died. Not one. Now Paul here, he's
been under house arrest. I told you we'd look at that.
Turn if you would to Acts chapter 28. Acts chapter 28. Paul's been under house arrest.
Acts chapter 28. He's been under house arrest
for two years. Two years. But he's been given
the privilege. Now, think of this, too. He's
been given the privilege, while under house arrest, to receive
guests. And you know what? He's also
guarded by Roman soldiers. Paul's got a captive audience,
beloved. He's got a captive audience, all by the providence and sovereignty
of God. So he was able to receive guests
freely and to be attended by the brethren as well. Look at
Acts 28. Look at verses 30 and 31. And Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house, so he had a rented home, and received
all that came in unto him. So everybody who came unto him,
he received them. And look what he did. Preaching
the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbading him. He freely,
he's under house arrest, Isn't it marvelous, the sovereignty
of God? He's under house arrest. He has guards there guarding
him, because he's not allowed to leave the house. He's allowed
to receive everybody who come to him, and he's allowed to freely,
without any hindrance, preach the gospel. My goodness. My goodness. And if them guards changed, he
had a new audience every time. Oh my goodness, and who knows
how many of those soldiers the Lord saved? We have no idea.
We have no idea. And remember, all this is falling
out according to the will and providence of our great God.
Paul's a prisoner, yet he's able to live in a rented house and
receive guests. And again, he's able to preach. sovereignty of God and salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ freely and the gospel goes forth
from that home my oh my and Paul writes to Philemon here on behalf
of Onesimus besieging him to forgive Onesimus and to lay no
charge against him but rather to charge whatever Onesimus owes
to his account whatever Onesimus owes Philemon Paul says charge
it to my account Charge it to my account. My, what a picture
of the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my,
the sinless ones. And Paul's not the offending
party, is he? He's not the offending party.
He says, charge it to me. I'll repay. Oh my, Christ is
sinless, spotless. We're the onesimous. We're the Onesimus, beloved.
And God has freely received us in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's marvelous. It's absolutely marvelous. So Paul writes to Philemon on
behalf of Onesimus, beseeching him to forgive Onesimus and to
lay no charge against him, but rather to charge whatever Onesimus
owes to Paul's account, with a guarantee that he'll pay it
all. With a guarantee that he'll pay
it all. Turn if you would to Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17. Oh how the truth of Matthew chapter
17 verses 3 and 4 is brought forth before us with Paul saying
that. Charge it to my account. Look
at Luke 17, verses 3 and 4. Take heed to yourself if thy
brother trespass against thee. Rebuke him, and if he repent,
forgive him. Forgive him. If he's repentant
for it, forgive him. Forgive him and just let it go.
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven
times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou
shalt forgive him. Look at that. My, oh, my. My, oh, my. Turn, if you would,
to Colossians. Colossians, chapter four, and
look at verse nine. Paul writes here. And take note
what's missing here. Take notes what's missing in
this verse that we'll look at. There's no mention of Onesimus
being a slave. Is there? Verse 9, Colossians chapter 4,
verse 9. With Onesimus, a faithful and
beloved brother, who is one of you, they shall make known unto
you all things which are done here. What's missing right there
in verse 9 is, is any reference to him being
a slave. Any reference to him being a
former anything, right? It's missing. By the grace of God, beloved,
he's described as a beloved member of the family of God. He's described
that way right there, look at that with on this, a faithful
and beloved brother who is one of you. a faithful and beloved
brother. There's no mention of of him
being a former slave. There's no mention of him being
a thief. Beloved, the grace of God in Christ, the blood of Christ
covers all sin, all sin, beloved. All sin. And he's described there in that
verse in verse nine of Colossians, Chapter four is a member of the
family of God. with Onesimus, a faithful and
beloved brother." That's divinely loved one, beloved. Who is one
of you? He's from Colossus. Colossus,
he's from there. Oh, beloved, he's washed clean
in the precious blood of Christ. He's been granted faith and repentance
before God by our Almighty Sovereign God. He's a saved man. And we're seeing this letter
of Philemon as we study it, that Paul had this letter wrote again
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God to the heart of Philemon,
as one dear brother to another dear brother. A fellow servant
of Christ, that's what we are. That's what we are. We are fellow
servants. We are fellow servants in Christ.
And remember, this is Paul the Apostle. He didn't say, he didn't
say, he didn't say, Paul the Apostle writes to you, did he?
No. He writes to him just like, just like you and I would talk,
Jen. He writes to him like a brother in Christ. A dearly beloved brother. So we see the, The heart that
Paul has for Philemon and for Onesimus in Christ. And as we
study this book, we'll see also, as I mentioned earlier in the
message, that we are just sinners saved by grace, all based upon
the merit of Christ and Christ alone. Who is our surety, our redeemer.
And we see that it is by His work as our substitute in His
life and in His death that we're saved. And we're saved by the
grace of God, aren't we? We've obtained mercy. We've received it in Christ. It's given to us, beloved. It's
given to us. We've not earned it. We can't
earn it. We're made willing in the day
of God's power to flee to Christ. When someone gives you a gift,
you're just a receiver, aren't you? God's given us the gift of faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all by his grace. God's given us repentance before
him. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And one of the fruit of the Spirit
is love. We looked at that extensively
in our study in 1 John, didn't we? that manifestation of a work
of God, part of that is we love the brethren. And that can't
be counterfeited, beloved. Satan can counterfeit a lot of
things, but he can't counterfeit the love of God, the love of
the brethren that God gives us. Because that's the love of God
shed abroad in our hearts. That's what that is. And we will also see, as we study
this letter, a picture of Christ's
intercession for us, assuming our debt, and all our debt being
charged, imputed to Him, the sinless One. And we're fully and freely forgiven.
How? All according to the grace and
mercy of God. It's a story. of the payment
of sin in an account fully and freely forgiven in Christ. Charge that, Paul says, whatever
he owes you, you charge it to my account, and I'll repay it.
Well, Christ, my gosh, think of what Christ did for us. Hey,
sister, he, he, he, he. We are fully and freely forgiven,
aren't we? Fully and freely forgiven. My. We'll see that even more as we
go through this study. Let's look at verse one quick
again. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, that's a bond-servant
of Christ. And Timothy, our brother unto
Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer. We see here
a two-fold reference. Paul's a bond-slave to Christ,
but he's also a prisoner of hope. And this could also be referenced
in the fact, as we saw in Acts 28, that he's under house arrest
because of the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, he was allowed to live in the house and receive guests,
but he was not allowed to leave the home. And again, this was
all according to the will and purpose of God. And Paul, as
he always did, fully submitted to this. He fully submitted to
the sovereignty of God, continuing to preach the gospel of God's
free grace even while he was in bonds. And he had again the
privilege of entertaining visitors and preaching and teaching the
truth And some of Paul's visitors would include Timothy, who we
see mentioned in the salutation here. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus
Christ, and Timothy, our brother. So he's there at the time of
this writing. And this was probably done because
Philemon may have known Timothy, or knew of him and counted him
as a brother in Christ. We also see that at the end of
this letter that Epaphras had visited him as well as Mark and
Aristarchus and Demas and Lucas who were all fellow labors in
the gospel. Now let's read verse 2. And we
see that Paul addresses those in the church at Colossus as
well. And to our beloved Ephia and
Archippus, our fellow soldier into the church in thy house."
So we see in verse 1 that Paul addresses Philemon in a very
inclusive manner, counting him in with himself and Timothy as
well as those in verse 2, because they're all part of the family
of God. In verse 1 he says of Philemon that he's beloved. and
that he's a fellow laborer of the gospel. This is a recognition
of their labor and the proclamation and transmission of the gospel
during that time. And Paul speaks to Philemon as
one who has experienced the grace of God, shown to undeserving
sinners. And we see that, in effect, Paul
is speaking of forgiveness to one who knows what it is to be
forgiven. And all through this letter,
we see that he's speaking of forgiveness to one who's been
forgiven, one who really knows what forgiveness is. And again, we should be, we who
are forgiven by God, born again and saved by the grace of God,
we should be quick to forgive and be forbearing with one another.
And this again is brought forth in Paul's letter to the Colossians,
he writes this, verse 13 of chapter 3, forbearing one another and
forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. So it's a constant
theme that's being brought up all through scriptures. Let's
read verse 2 again. And to our beloved Aphia in Archippus,
our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. We see here that Aphia is mentioned. It is believed that she is the
wife of Philemon, since she is placed next to him and before
Archippus, who was a fellow minister of the Word. Now Philemon's wife,
Aphia, certainly needed to be of the same mind as her husband
in receiving Onesimus, the runaway servant. Otherwise, she could
have been a great hindrance to this reconciliation. So Paul writes her, too. Paul
writes her. She could have been a great hindrance
to this reconciliation. A woman, just like a man in a
marriage, a woman or a man can wreak havoc by sowing discord
among the brethren, either side. Both sides are guilty of it.
Both sides are guilty of it, it ought never to be so. It ought
never to be so. The English word here for church,
see there in verse two, into the church in thy house, is the
Greek word ekklesia, which means a called out assembly. A called
out assembly. And can speak of a great number
as the entire body of Christ, or in the words of the Lord,
where two or three are gathered together in my name. It just means a called-out assembly,
an ekklesia. So again, it can mean a great
number, or it could mean where two or three are gathered together
in the name of the Lord. Ekklesia, a called-out assembly,
a called-out assembly. We're in ekklesia here tonight.
Actually, God's people are in ekklesia, in ekklesia. And we see in verse 3 that Paul
desires the grace and peace that attends the gospel to be given
to Philemon from God our Father and even the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 3. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, in verse 4, and notice
the order, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. You will never have peace with
God unless God's grace has been shown to you. Grace always precedes
peace. So Paul writes here, Grace to
you and peace. Remember, that's peace that's
given to you. That's a peace with God. It's a permanent peace for God's
people. It's a permanent peace that we
have in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at that verse again. Grace
to you and peace from God our Father. He is the author. And
the Lord Jesus Christ, that's who it comes to, that's who it
comes through to us, to us, beloved. The Word of God, the second person
of the Trinity, God incarnate in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with
us. And then finally, in verse 4, Paul brings forth that he
mentions by name his dear brother before the throne of grace. Look
at this, and how this would have warmed Philemon's heart to know
this, that he mentions his dear brother before the throne of
grace, telling Philemon that he makes mention of him always
in his prayers. I thank my God making mention
of thee always in my prayers. Paul did not address Philemon
in this way to butter him up, beloved. He didn't do this to
butter him up. He didn't do this. Some people say, well, it looks
like he's buttering it up. No, he wasn't doing this. He's speaking
from a sincere heart. He loved Philemon dearly. Paul loved the brethren. He spoke
from his heart. And remember, remember, this
is a heart that's been changed by the grace of God, because
remember Saul? going around and dragging Christians
out of their houses and have them cast into prison. He was
there when they stoned Stephen. Same man, but he's being changed
by the grace of God, isn't he? Oh, he's a new creature in Christ
now. So he's speaking from a sincere heart. He's bringing forth that
in the matter of grace, And think of this, too. Think of this,
too, what he's doing here. He's bringing forth that in the
matter of grace that there's no difference between Philemon
and Onesimus. That's what he's bringing forth.
Again, I'm going to keep saying it. The ground at the foot of
the cross is level. Philemon is a sinner saved by
grace. Onesimus is a sinner saved by grace. Both of them have all
their sins forgiven in Christ. On this man's head sinned and
he was a sinner just like Paul to write just like Timothy just
like a FIA Just like our Kapus and Every member of the church
in his house and Philemon as well. They were all sinners just
like we are we're sinners saved by the grace of God So Paul's
Paul's bringing that forth that there's no difference Philemon
between you and on this miss you're both saved by the grace
of God So again, there's no hierarchy.
Think of this too, there's no hierarchy in forgiveness of our
sins. We're all sinners saved by the
grace of God in Christ. We've all been redeemed by the
Lord. We've all only been forgiven in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. I stand before you as a sinner
saved by grace. And you who are born again in
the Holy Spirit of God, you listen, and you're a sinner saved by
grace, just like me. The Lord's called me to preach
a great honor and blessing, but I'm still just a sinner saved
by grace, beloved. Still just a sinner saved by
the grace of God. And so rejoice. Rejoice. And here, here's a question to
be asked. Have I been forgiven in Christ? Have I been forgiven in Christ?
Well, if you can say yes, then rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice. If you can say I've been forgiven
in Christ, be thankful. Be thankful. Be thankful every
day that comes for his grace and his mercy. Because it's being
bestowed upon you. There's no merit in us. He's
given us freely. Salvation in Christ. And it's been bestowed upon us.
We have obtained mercy. In and through Christ. From God. From God, and we had no idea
when we were born into this earth. We had no idea that we were objects
of divine love, did we? We had no idea. In fact, I know
folks would have looked at me as a young man and probably said,
boy, there's no hope for that kid. Here I stand by the grace of
God. Saved, redeemed, blood washed,
born again, saint of God, all by the grace and mercy of God.
And I know it's true for every one of you who's born again. My. Let's turn to Philippians
2 and we're closed with this. Look at this, verses 1-4. If
there therefore be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any boughs and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same
love being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. And let's
read verse five and six too. Actually, I'm going to keep going
here for a minute. Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, being found in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of man, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death. even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God hath also highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow of things in
heaven and things in the earth and things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. If you're redeemed and saved
by the grace of God, rejoice.