Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Philemon. It's a book in between Titus
and Hebrews. I was going to do an overview
of the book of Colossians, but I felt compelled to preach through
this small personal letter from Paul to a Colossian believer
named Philemon. They were dear friends, and you
see that through the letter. And it's a personal letter to
Philemon. And we see Paul writing about
a former slave who had fled from his master and stealing some
of his master's goods, he had fled to Rome. He had fled to
Rome. And what looks like a hopeless
situation has all come to pass by God's providence and by God's
decree. as Onesimus comes to Rome and
was saved under the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ by the Apostle Paul while he was in Bonds. And so we will
see God's absolute control over how God works in all things in
the believer's life for His good and for His glory. Now Onesimus
and Philemon They had no idea that Onesimus was one of the
Lord's lost sheep. They had no idea. Neither of
them knew that. Onesimus was a servant for Philemon. Philemon
was a saved man. But he had no idea that one of
the slaves in his household, Onesimus, was one of God's lost
sheep. But we know that God works all
things out in the believer's life for his good and for his
glory. And God has wrought salvation
in a lunisomous soul. God has granted him faith and
repentance. He's been born again by the Holy
Spirit of God under the preaching of the gospel, the preaching
of the free grace of God in Christ by Paul. And here, now, Paul is going to write a letter
to a faithful and beloved brother, Philemon, about another faithful
and beloved brother, who was once unprofitable, but now is
profitable. And that's the name of the message,
unprofitable, but now profitable. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
4, verses 7 to 9, and we looked at this two studies ago, I believe,
But I would just like to read this to preface the message if
we could. Colossians chapter 4 verses 7 to 9. Paul pens this
to the Colossian believers. All my state shall Tychicus declare
unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow
servant in the Lord, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose
that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts. With
Onesimus. a faithful and beloved brother
who is one of you. They shall make known unto you
all things which are done here. So not only is Onesimus and Tychicus
carrying the letter of Colossians to the Colossian church, but
they're carrying a personal letter to Philemon. And God, the Holy
Spirit, has preserved this wonderful letter. This wonderful letter. We know that he was the one who
inspired Paul to pen this. But oh my, it's an absolute beautiful,
beautiful letter. Turn back, if you would, to Philemon.
The first thing we see is a greeting by Paul, which he always does
in his letters. Philemon chapter 1, or Philemon
1.1, there's only one chapter. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ,
and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow laborer. Now Paul here speaks of himself
as being a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And when we looked at
that in Colossians, we saw that Paul's not writing that to get
people to feel sorry for him. No, he's writing that saying,
I am a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ by God's providence, I'm
a prisoner for preaching the gospel. By his providence and
by his decree. He was bound because of the gospel,
and he's resting in Christ, even when he's in bonds. Even when he's in bonds, he rests
in God's providence. And note here in this text, he
doesn't vault himself up. This is the Apostle Paul writing
to a fellow believer. He doesn't vault himself up at
all. Look what he writes. Unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow laborer. He calls him dearly beloved and
a fellow laborer in Christ. And Philemon is said to be a
Gentile, a Colossian, a rich, respected and hospitable man.
And Paul here calls him a fellow laborer in the gospel, indicating
that Philemon was involved with Paul in the ministry of the gospel.
Look at verses 2 and 3. into our beloved Afia, which
Brother Henry said is Philemon's wife, in Archippus, our fellow
soldier, into the church in thy house. Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here are two
of the most treasured possessions for the believer. Grace and peace. Grace and peace, beloved. And
note in verse three, grace always precedes faith. Grace always
precedes faith. Here it precedes peace, but also
when it's written, you'll see it always precedes faith, and
it always precedes peace, because without peace with God, right,
being reconciled to God through Christ, we have no peace. And
we have no faith. Our faith is in Christ. The one
who is the peacemaker. The one who is the peacemaker
with God for us. And it's always through Christ
Jesus who is our mediator. And He is the one and only mediator
between God and man. There's no other. Now think of
this. Grace. Grace to you and peace. Grace to forgive. Grace from
God to forgive, because we've been forgiven much. Grace to save. God has saved
us by His grace. Grace to pardon all of our sins. Grace to redeem us. For by grace
are you saved through faith. And that's in Christ and Him
alone. I ask you this. Is there anything
more valuable to you than these two things? And they're only
found in Christ. Grace and peace. Grace and peace. And peace here is meant peace
with God, which only comes in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace for our conscience. Peace for our conscience. Peace
with one another. And the source of all grace and
peace is who? The Lord Jesus Christ. It's only
found in Him. It's only found in Him. So now
here, Paul is next going to speak of Philemon's love and faith.
Look at verse 4, starting in verse 4. I thank my God, making
mention of Thee always in my prayers. Paul the Apostle was
a man who spent much time in prayer, not only for himself,
but for all the churches and the ministers of the Gospel,
and for other believers. Two important characteristics
of believers are revealed here. I give thanks to God and I pray
for you. Do you give thanks to God for
your fellow believers? Do you pray for them? Let us learn from Paul's example,
beloved. Look at verse 5. hearing of thy
love and faith, which thou has toward the Lord Jesus and toward
all saints. Paul's love was not just words,
it's easy to say, I love you. Paul's words weren't just words.
Paul's love was evidenced in his actions. It was evidenced
in his actions, beloved. And we see here, it said the
same is said of Philemon. Again, two parts are here spoken
of Philemon's love and his faith. We know his faith is in Christ
and him alone, right? It's centered in Christ. It's centered in Christ. And
look, it says here though, hearing of thy love and faith
which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints.
Note the word all. the ones he gets along with great,
and the ones he finds more difficult. He has a love for God's people,
period. And it's an evidence of grace.
It's an evidence of grace. All the actions and duties of
our life as believers relate to these two, faith and love. Colossians 1 4 says this since
we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus Paul had heard from a papyrus
of the Colossians faith And their love Colossians 1 4 says this
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love
which you have to all the saints to them all And then Ephesians
1.15 says this, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, in love unto all the saints. Now faith especially looks to
Christ. It's in Him. He's the object
of our faith. Christ in Him alone. And only through Christ can the
Father be known. And only through Christ can we
have eternal life. And we love others, especially
those who have the household and family of God, because they
are loved by our Savior. They're loved by our God. So
we love them. I remember Henry saying, I love
the people who my wife loves, because she loves them. He said,
I might not get along with them all the time, but I still love
them. I love them because she loves them. We love God's people
because God loves his people. We have the same Father. We have
the same Spirit. Look at verse 6. that the communication of thy
faith may become a factual by the acknowledging of every good
thing which is in you in Christ Jesus brother man comments on
verse six these words are connected with file even one for with file
even one for let's read that again I thank my God always making
mention of the always in my prayers Paul prayed that Philemon's faith
exercise in itself by good works, and we know that all, we don't
even know when we do good works. If you think you've done a good
work, you didn't. And we know that in Ephesians
talks about that we're ordained under good works, but it's all
through Christ working in us. It's nothing we can do. It's
all Christ working in and through us. And it has nothing to do
with our salvation. But he says this, exercising
itself by good works might be proved to be true faith. True
faith. He called it the communication
of faith because it is not mere words and profession. It's manifest
by actual deeds done to men, to fellow
believers. And note the text says this.
by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in
Christ Jesus. Every grace, every grace, and
any other good thing that is in the believer, or done by the
believer, should be acknowledged as coming from Christ in Him
alone. We just finished studying a book
where Christ gets all the preeminence. He gets it all. He gets it all. Any good we do comes from Christ,
because He's the source of all love, and He's the source of
all grace, and it's Christ working in us, and He gets all the glory. He gets all the glory. All of
it. I remember how I used to be.
I remember how I used to think. And I still struggle with sin
every day, and I know you do too. But I'm not the same man I used
to be. And I know if you're saved, you're not the same person you
used to be. We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And
it's Him working in us. It's Him teaching us the things
of Christ. It's Him conforming us to the
image of the Son. And one day we will be a stone
made ready. My goodness, boy. But He gets all the glory. Acknowledging
of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Look
at verse 7. For we have great joy and consolation
in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by
thee, brother. Paul brings forth that he has
great joy and consolation. Consolation means comfort and
encouragement. Comfort and encouragement. In
the Greek, because Philemon ministered relief, comfort, strength, he
encouraged those in need. And not only did Philemon help
with their physical needs, but their hearts were filled with
gladness. And pressures, one commentator
said, pressures of the mind were relieved and they gained pleasure
of soul in his kindness. He was a comfort to other believers. He was a comfort to other believers. Now let's look at the portion
of the scripture, of this scripture in this letter which speaks of
Paul's plea for Onesimus before Philemon. Philemon 1.8, Wherefore, though
I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee, that which is
convenient, Paul states to Philemon that and that he could, that he could, we're gonna see
it in the next verse, that he could as an apostle of Christ
and a minister of the gospel use his authority which has been
given to him by God to command you to receive, forgive, and
be reconciled to Onesimus. Wherefore though I might be much
bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather
beseech thee being such as one as Paul the age, now also a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 10. I beseech thee
for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. Turn, if
you would, to Hebrews 13, and then put your finger in Luke
17. He could have, with his authority
as an apostle, told Onesimus, you need to forgive him, and
you need to be reconciled to Onesimus. Look at Hebrews 13
verse 17. Obey them to have the rule over
you and submit yourself for they watch for your souls is that
they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with
grief for that is unprofitable for you. And then turn over to
Luke 17, three and four. Beloved, we're commanded to be
forgiven with one another as believers and to be reconciled
to one another. An unforgiven heart against the
brethren shows a deeper problem, beloved. It shows a deeper problem
in the one who professes Christ. It ought not to be so. Look at
Luke 17, three and four, take heed to yourself, if thy brother
trespass against the rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him.
And if he trespass against the seven times in a day and seven
times in a day, turn again to the saying, I repent, thou shall
forgive him. We're to be quick to forgive
beloved. Look at how Paul brings forth the love of Christ and
the unity which we have in Christ. Look at verse nine. Yet for love's
sake, I rather besiege the being such in in one is Paul, the aged
and now a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Now, here is the proper motivation
for all we do in the name of Christ. For the sake of God's
love for us, he chose us beloved in Christ, he redeemed us, he
called us, and it's all because of his love for us. that we are
saved, that we are redeemed. And also the love which we have
for Him should motivate us to love those He loves. And Paul
brings home the personal love that Philemon has for him, and
that Paul has for Philemon. True believers love one another,
beloved. They love one another. And Onesimus
is now a true believer in Christ, and it's all by the grace of
God. It's all by the grace of God, in Christ Jesus. And think of this, Onesimus is
saved by the same grace that Philemon saved. By the same Savior,
the same Redeemer. He's born again by the same Spirit.
He has the same Father. Onesimus is now a true believer
in Christ, all by God's decree and providence. which Philemon
also has to be thankful for his own personal soul, right? Because
he's saved as well. And so is every one of you tonight
here who are sitting here and who are saved. If you're saved,
you're saved by the decree and determinant counsel of God in
Christ Jesus and in Him alone. We have nothing to boast in except
Christ and what He's done. Paul is bringing forth that his
personal salvation in Christ alone should motivate him to
love Onesimus, who is saved by the same grace in Christ alone. Look at verse 10. I beseech thee
for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. Note here
in our text, Paul is bound, but the word of God that he preaches
is not bound. Paul's in bonds, but the word
isn't. The word isn't. Onesimus has been converted by
the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Turn, if you would, over to Acts
16, just as Lydia was over in Acts 16, Acts 16, verses 13 to
15. My goodness. Look at this wonderful
portion of scripture. So remember, Paul's in bonds,
but but the gospel's not bound. No, thy word goes forth. The Lord's word goes forth in
power. It will not return unto him void. Look at Acts 16, verses
13 to 15. And on the Sabbath day, we went
out of the city by a riverside where prayer was what to be made.
And we sat down and spake unto the woman which resorted thither.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, the city
of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us. She's hearing Paul preach the
gospel. And note what happens, beloved.
Whose heart the Lord opened. God granted her faith. and repentance
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. She's born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. It doesn't say she prayed a prayer.
It doesn't say she walked down the riverside, does it? No. The
Lord opened her heart. And that's why I say the Lord
can save you. If you're a lost sinner, the
Lord can save you without you moving a muscle, because it's
a heart work and it's his work. It's his work. And we pray that
God would save his sheep and he'd use the messages for his
glory and for the drawn in of his lost sheep, beloved. The
Lord opened her heart and she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul. She believed. She believed. She attended unto
the things spoken of, which were spoken of Paul. And when she
was baptized in her household, she besought us saying, If you
have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house
and abide there." And she constrained us. So in our text, in verse 10,
it says, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have forgotten
in my bonds. And Paul calls Onesimus his son
because he's his spiritual father. And Onesimus had been saved under
the preaching of Paul, who we know preached Christ and him
crucified. Christ was all he preached. Christ
was all he preached, beloved. Look at verse 11. Speaking of
Onesimus in past times, you remember he was a slave who had stolen
and fled to Rome. He had stolen, some believe he's
stolen a sum of money or some valuable things and fled. Just
took off to Rome. And he's probably a trusted servant. But Paul writes here, he was
unprofitable because he took off. Which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and me. He brings up
how on this must fled. And how, think of this, beloved. How unprofitable were all we
before we were saved. How unprofitable were we in our
natural state? How unprofitable were we by birth,
by nature, and by choice? And the Lord has saved us. Scripture declares this, they
are all gone out of their way. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. That's the whole human race by birth. Romans 3,
12. But beloved, we have before us
here the transforming grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And it is only by the transforming grace of God in Christ, by the
power of the Holy Spirit, that we become profitable servants.
Onesimus is a changed man. He's born again of the Holy Spirit
of God. And Paul brings forth before Philemon that now he's
profitable, not only to me, but to you, but to you, to thee and
me, he says. Look at verse 12, whom I have
sent again, thou therefore receive him that is mine own bowels.
And we looked at that earlier in Colossians 4, that Paul had
sent him back to Colossus. Brother Henry said he didn't
want to do anything without Onesimus' permission. He didn't want to
keep him unless Onesimus said it was okay, or unless Philemon
said it was okay. Look at verse 13 and 14. Whom
I would have retained with me, that in thy steed he might have
ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. But without thy
mind, here it is, but without thy mind I would do nothing.
that thy benefit should not be, as it were, of necessity, but
willingly." Again, by his authority, he could have said, Philemon,
you have to forgive him. You've got to forgive Onesimus. But without thy mind, I would
do nothing. Onesimus is a comfort and a joy
to Paul. He ministered to Paul, and Paul
might have retained him, but he sent him to Philemon, to reconcile
with Philemon as a brother in Christ. What strikes me here is the humility
that Paul shows. The humility. He's Paul the apostle. He has authority. But look at the humility. Again,
he could have told Philemon by the authority that he had as
an apostle, again, that he was to forgive Onesimus. But Paul's heart is exposed here
in the humility that he had. The great apostle of Christ shows this humility that he has, and
it's all by God's grace. It's all by God's grace, and
it's all for God's glory. Brother Henry says if you think
you're humble, you're not. You're not at all. You're not at all. My. Philemon, look at 115 for perhaps
he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him
forever. Paul's here setting forth the providence of God right
here in this verse. Perhaps he therefore departed
for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever, forever
as a beloved brother. Look at verse 16. 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. Again, Paul brings forth that
Nonissimus is now a brother, beloved of God, just as every
saint is beloved of God. Beloved of God. Beloved of the
church. Beloved by Paul, and this is
beloved by the church, he's beloved by Paul, he's beloved by the
others at Rome who are ministering with Paul. And look at this. I'm gonna read
verses 17 to 19 together here. And then we're gonna look at
verse 18. 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. Alabed, I do not say to thee
how thou owest even unto me thine own self besides. Here we have
Paul offering to pay another man's debt. another man's debt. If he has wronged thee or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account. What a statement we have here
before us. And we'll look at that a little
more in depth, but let's look at verse 17. Notice what Paul
brings forth here before us in verse 17. If thou count me a
partner, receive him as myself. Paul is bringing forth how Christ
and His members are one. Paul, Philemon, Onesimus, are all in the body of Christ.
Saved by the grace of God in Christ. They're all partners
in all that belongs to Christ. And they each are a part of His
body. They are united in Christ. Now let us consider verse 18. Paul here offers to pay the debt
onesimus ode. What a picture we have here.
If he hath wronged thee, or owed thee, put that on mine account. Put that on mine account. Now
Paul offered to pay the debt, right? Christ did it for his
people. He didn't offer to. He just did
it. Put that on mine account, our
great King says. Now see where it says, put that
on mine account. In the Greek, it means this,
to enter in an account, to put or charge to one's account, to
impute. To impute. Our sins, beloved,
were imputed to Christ. And he bore it. Put that on mine
accounts. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God. Our
sins were imputed to him, he's perfect, spotless. Dying is our
substitute. And we are made the righteousness
of God Christ. Onesimus was the one who had
wronged Philemon. But Paul says here, impute his
debt to me. Charge it to me. Charge it to
me. What a picture. Let we who believe
think of this. Let us consider the mountain
of our debt for our sins. The mountain. I used to live
in the mountains. They're huge. Beloved, we had
a mountain of sin debt, which we owed. And we had no way to pay for
one of them. Not even for a pebble of our
sins. Let alone a whole mountain of
them. But God's people His elect. All their sins were paid for
on Calvary's cross. Completely. He is all I need. All I need. Is it so with you?
He's all I need. And then think of the mountains
of the sin debt of all who believe on Christ. All the elect of all
the ages, it was paid for by another man, the man Christ Jesus. He paid the debts, the sin debt
of his people. My. He, God incarnate in the flesh,
gave himself a ransom for his people. And the payment for our
sins was his own precious blood. And the life of the flesh is
in the blood. And his precious blood was shed
for the remission of our sins, of my sins. And if you're a believer
for your sins. And he paid it all. paid in full. Here it is finished, comes the
mighty cry of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh! Another man paid for our sins,
for we who believe, a sinless man, the man Christ Jesus, God
incarnate in the flesh, our Redeemer, our Savior, Our God in whom we
trust. Is it any wonder that the believer
cries out, Hallelujah, what a Savior. What a Savior is Jesus Christ,
my Lord. Is it any wonder? Is it any wonder
that our hearts are filled with joy when we dwell upon what Christ
has done for us? The Lord Jesus Christ, in the
greatness of his love, took our place. In the greatness of his
love, he paid the debt for all our sins, satisfied the wrath
and justice of God for his people. And willingly, he didn't just
offer, he went. Willingly. willingly dying upon the sins,
willingly reconciling us to God. And it was we who had sinned
against God. And the sinless one dies in our
place. What a Savior. What a magnificent
Savior. Christ has paid our debt, a debt
we could never pay. And He gave Himself for us, the
just for the unjust. Here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation
for our sins. So what a picture we have before
us here. The very God whom we sinned against. The very God
whom we fled from in our natural state. He Himself came down into
our low and miserable state. to live the perfect life as our
substitute, and to die on Calvary's cross in our place before His
own holy law, and to wipe out, to wipe out the debt that was
against us. To wipe it out. Wipe it totally out. Look at
Colossians chapter 2. This scripture is so dear to
me. Colossians chapter two, we'll
read verses 13 and 14. Beloved, he, he obliterated the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us. And you being dead, dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened,
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Quicken together with him heaven
forgiven you what all trespasses blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us and it was a Mountain the
sin dead against us blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us which was contrary to us Took it out of the way nailing
it to his cross and heaven spoiled principalities and powers. He
made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. He's a victorious
savior. It is finished. He paid it all, beloved. Debt
for our sins is paid in full and Christ himself has discharged
the debt that we owed for our sins. Again, it was a debt we could
never have paid because we know all have sinned, come short of
the glory of God. We know that all our works, all
our works are like filthy rags before the Lord. And how sweet it is to the believer
that the debt we could never pay. Is paid for in full. Paid for
in full. In Christ, our surety and our
savior, our redeemer. And beloved, this is why in all
things He must have the pre-eminence. You know why? Because He's worthy.
Because He's worthy. He's worthy of all our praise.
He's worthy of all glory. He's worthy of all honor. What a Savior. He's our all-sufficient,
our almighty Savior. In His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verse 20. He writes,
Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh
my bowels in the Lord. Paul here brings forth the joy
he will have if Philemon will do as he asks in regard to Onesimus. Look at verse 21. Having confidence
in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt
also do more than I say. Paul is confident that Philemon
will do more than he asks. Knowing Philemon's love for the
brethren and how it's been manifested in the past, He knows he's a
faithful brother who can be counted on. And those who which have
those who which have been forgiven much forgive much forgive much. Verse 22. But wherewithal prepare
me a lodging for I trust that through your prayers I shall
be given unto you. Paul hopes to join them by the
providence of God. He hopes that he'll see them
again to minister the gospel to them. And the fellowship with
his dear brother. Now let's look at the last three
verses here. We'll see Paul's final greeting to Philemon. There
salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. Now
Epaphras we know is a gospel preacher from Coloss. We know that from Colossians
1, 7 and 8, which declares this, as ye also learned of Epaphras,
our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister
of Christ, who declared unto us your love in the spirit. So
Paul had heard about the Colossians and heard about what was going
on from Epaphras. And in Colossians 4.12, it shows
us that Epaphras had a deep love for the brethren at Colossus,
praying fervently for them. Epaphras, who is one of you,
a servant of Christ, saluted you, always laboring fervently
for you in prayers, that he might stand perfect and complete in
the will of God. And then look at verse 23 and
24. There's their salute, the apophis,
my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas,
Lucas, my fellow labors. Marcus is Mark, who is Barnabas
sister's son, whom Paul and Barnabas took to Antioch and who later
became a matter of contention between Paul and Barnabas, but
who is now reconciled to Paul. Demas is the one who forsook
Paul and second Timothy that he wrote about. At the writing
of the writing of this letter, he had not yet forsaken forsaken
Paul because he's still laboring with Paul. Aristarchus was of
Macedonia and went with Paul on his voyage to Rome and Lucas's
Luke, the evangelist, Luke, the events, the beloved physician,
the brother whose praise was. No one in all the churches in
the constant, he was a constant companion of the apostle in his
travels and. He wrote the book of the book
of the called the acts of the apostles by by God's hand. Paul calls them a note again,
the humility Paul calls them fellow laborers. He don't ball
himself up over other believers. I wrote that the norm. This morning
I said, I'm amazed at how Paul in his humility calls fellow
labors to other gospel preachers. He doesn't vault himself up and
over. He doesn't want to control any other preachers. He calls
them fellow labors. We're to esteem others better
than ourselves, beloved. And then Paul closes this personal
letter with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your
spirit, amen. And then note on the bottom of
mine here, it says written from Rome to Philemon by Onesimus,
a servant. That's not scriptural. That's
just the who wrote it. Paul, Paul dictated it and Onesimus
wrote it. But it says the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. So Paul closes
again this verse. Speaking of the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking that he it's to be with him to be
with filing and meaning the blessing and favor of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you be with you and then Amen, and the Greek means this
in truth most certainly so be it so be it my goodness He prays
the blessing and favor of the Lord Jesus Christ would be with
his dear brother and friend filing Let's go to Lord him Heavenly
Father, what a blessed letter this is. When we see Paul write,
charge that to mine account. Oh, Lord Jesus. What you did for your people,
what you've done for us. All our debt. You paid it all, beloved. You
paid it all, Lord Jesus. You paid it all for your beloved,
for your people. I don't think we're ever going
to get over it, Lord. I think in glory, I know in glory we
will sing praises worthy as the lamb worthy are you. And we're
no better than. What you've redeemed us from.
Paid in full. Charge that to mine account.
You are the great substitute of your people. And we praise
thee for all you've done for us. We love you because you first
loved us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.