As the Lord may be pleased to
help us this morning, that is yourselves in hearing and myself
in speaking and trusting that the Lord will bless his word
to us, I'd like to invite your attention to the book of Philemon and I'd like to look at the whole
epistle but I think the main The teaching of this epistle
is contained, to a large extent, in verse 10. I beseech thee,
or appeal to thee, for my son Onishimus, whom I have begotten
in my bonds. This is the shortest epistle
in the New Testament. The shortest book in the Bible,
of course, is Obadiah, which only has 21 verses. But the main truth is that although
this is a short epistle, it is God's holy inspired word. And right back in the days of
Isaiah, 700 years before the Lord Jesus Christ, He gave this
wonderful promise of God. He said, my word shall not return
unto me void. It shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. So this epistle to Philemon was
inspired by God, otherwise it wouldn't be contained in holy
scripture, and it is a wonderful letter pleading for one who has
come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, even this runaway
slave, a man called Onesimus. I understand in the original
language that his name Onesimus meant useful and no doubt he
was useful in his work in the house of Silemon But this was
sent to Philemon regarding Onesimus, who was a servant slave of Philemon. He worked for him, as was so
common in those days. There were thousands of slaves,
and they were used, many of them very kindly,
and they were quite happy working for their master. But this one ran away. He'd obviously stolen something
and run away to Rome, and in God's divine providence, come
into contact with the Apostle Paul. Now if you look at a map,
I think from Colossae, where he would have come from, because
It was in Philemon's house at the New Testament Church of Christ
in Colossae. The Colossians, they gathered
together in his house. And Philemon came from Phrygia,
which is now part of western Turkey. But this very concise epistle
is mainly in three parts. Seven verses give us an introduction. Verses 8 to 21 are mainly the
substance of the message. And then the last verses, 22
to 25, are the conclusion and the blessings and promises which
the Apostle Paul seeks. The nation of Israel were reminded
in scripture that at one time they were slaves in Egypt. And mainly in the Old Testament,
slaves were used for heavy work and hard labor, and they were
exploited very cruelly. The Lord God heard the cries
of the slaves nation of Israel when they were under Egyptian
slavery. He said, their cries come up to me. And God raised
up one, Moses, to lead them out of captivity. And God did lead
them out in his own time and way. And it was then, of course,
that the Passover was established. That time when the sacrificial
lamb had to be selected, a lamb without blemish, And the blood
of that lamb had to be painted on the side posts and the lentils
of the door. And that detail is given for
a reason, looking forward, because that lamb was the promise of
the coming and the type of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who would shed his blood to take away and pay the price for sin
of all who trusted in him. That blood had to be painted
on the side posts and the lintels, not on the doorstep. The precious
blood of Christ is not to be trodden underfoot. And therefore, these slaves were made free and
sent on their way to the promised land. And the Passover was there
because God had designed and given to them that sacrifice
that they had to perform. And that promise went forth,
that the angel of death would pass over. He said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. Are we sheltering in the finished
work and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ this morning? For
he alone is the way, the truth, and the life. And to those who
are trusting for salvation in the Lord Jesus, he will pass
over our sin. The promise is given in scripture. Right back in the days of Jeremiah,
he says, thy sins and thine iniquities will I remember no more. But the slaves in the New Testament
were not so much for hard labor. No, they were the property of,
many of them, the property of wealthy people. They had a reasonably
comfortable life. They were mainly, from what we
gather in the scripture, mainly employed as servants in a wealthy
household. And I think this is the case
with this man Onesimus. So Onesimus belonged to Philemon,
in whose house the church at Colossians met for worship. And this letter teaches us three
important things. God's grace, God's gospel, and
God's glory. The Apostle Paul had a great
love for the Colossians. If we turn back just a few pages,
We find the Epistle to the Colossians. If you go back in your Bible,
I think it's about eight pages to the left, and you'll find
in chapter three how that the Apostle Paul wrote some clear
lines of direction for the Colossians. I was trying to look in a chronological
Bible only yesterday, looking at this subject, as to whether
the The epistle to the Colossians was written before the epistle to Philemon or after,
but there wasn't much light on that. They're dated about the
same year. Whichever way round it was written,
these words are so instructive. Colossians 3 and verse 22, we
read, Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the
flesh, not with eye service, as man pleases, but in singleness
of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of
the Lord ye shall receive the reward of your inheritance, of the inheritance, for ye serve
the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall
receive for the wrong which he hath done. And there is no respect
of persons, whether you are the master or whether you are the
servant. The same in God's eyes. And it says in the next chapter,
masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal,
knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. continue in prayer
and watching the same with thanksgiving, with all praying also for us
that God would open to us a door of utterance to speak the mystery
of Christ for which I am in bonds that I may make it manifest as
I ought to speak. And so this line of instruction
was given And in the Epistle to Philemon
and the first two verses, it's thought by many Bible scholars
that Athia was Philemon's wife, an archipus. He was a member,
an active member of the Colossae Church. But the warmth and the
fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ is so clear to see. And Philemon had opened his home
and his heart to the work of the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. What a blessing it is when people out of a full heart
serve God. And the Apostle Paul commends
him for this. And the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ dwells in it and in the hearts and minds of people who
serve him. and he works through the love
that unites God's people to do his will and his purpose while
they're serving him here on this earth. Now it's quite clear in
this epistle that the Apostle Paul pleads for this young man
Onesimus. He'd run away from Colossae,
he was about a thousand miles away if you look on the map,
He was in Rome and whether by chance, we don't know, but under
God's providence, he came into contact with the Apostle Paul. And we're not given details of
what was in his heart and mind and soul, but it's quite obvious
that through the Apostle Paul's ministry, he was encouraged to
hope for his soul's eternal salvation in the finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That little clause in verse 10,
the Apostle Paul says, whom I have begotten in my bonds. It's a remarkable thing that
the Apostle Paul was chained to a Roman soldier And that's
why we've got in the Ephesians so clearly the Christian armor,
those four parts of armor for protection. Yes, and one active,
the sword of the spirit, which is the Holy Scriptures. But all
these things, the Apostle Paul was inspired to teach and preach,
although physically he was restricted. And what we read in Romans chapter 8 and
verse 28 is so remarkable, isn't it? And it was remarkably worked
out in the life of the Apostle Paul. He would love to have been
forever travelling from one place to another, preaching and teaching
the Word of God, which was his commission. But for a time, he
was held in one place. But in the Epistle to the Philippians,
I'm sure it is, yes, he speaks of those in Caesar's household
who became Christians. Yes, he says, it's at the close of the Epistle
to the Philippians, he says, but my God shall supply
all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be
glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ
Jesus, the brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints
salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. to think
that there was Paul in chains, and yet, whether it was through
the change of guard that were guarding him or whatever, they
would have been with him, they would have seen him writing,
or even dictating, remembering that the Apostle Paul dictated
a lot of his epistles because his eyesight was not good, but
occasionally he wrote something with his own hands. so that people
knew it was personally from him and they couldn't argue. Even
in this epistle we have before us now,
he says, I've written it in verse
19, I, Paul, have written it with mine own hands. I will repay
it. What a commitment that was to
meet the need. But here the Apostle Paul, although
the guards and those of Caesar's household, right under Caesar's nose we
might say, they become Christians. And none can withstand the irresistible
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. No. If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And these precious truths are
the same today with the same power and the same person as
when they were written. We don't know how many, but rulers
in those days employed a great number of servants, and of course
the Roman guards were there. There might have been thousands
who came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through
the Apostle Paul's ministry, although he could not travel,
yet the word of God was not bound. But here we have one, one runaway
slave, comes under the preaching, of the Apostle Paul, and we see that where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty. And the Gospel had met this runaway
slave's need. We read in verse 8, Though I
might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is
convenient, yet for love's sake I'd rather beseech thee, that
he's appealing, he's seeking, beseeching, being such an one as Paul the
aged and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech thee
for my son Onesimus. He regards him as a son in the
faith. as he did Timothy. And he says,
whom I have begotten in my bonds. Yes, I can't move about, but
God is at work. God has brought him into contact
with me. And God has used the glorious
gospel of the Lord Jesus to renew his heart and bring him to, as we sometimes sing, change
the heart, renew the will, and turn the face to Zion's hill.
And his life has been completely transformed. And he said, I'm sending him
to you, whom I sent again. Thou therefore receive him. That
is, my own bowels, my own inner feelings are in him. whom I would have
retained with me in thy stead, that he might have ministered
unto me in the bonds of the gospel. He said he would have been profitable,
he would have been a helpful man to me. Because God has transformed
his life, he could testify to what God has done in his life
and encourage others. And we don't know how many might
have profited through this the transforming power of God in
this runaway slave's life. But of course, being a slave,
he belonged to Philemon. And the Apostle Paul says, but without
thy mind I would 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. What a blessing it is that none
can go beyond the bounds of God's outstretched arm. His ear is
not heavy that it cannot hear. His arm is not shortened that
it cannot save. And therefore, we can plead his
promise And he has said, all that the Father hath given me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. He will never, no never cast
out. Because they come to him, the
good shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, and he says, I
am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And that word shall, has a promise
with it. It's far more powerful than the
word will. The word shall comes time and time again in the Bible
where God has a purpose of grace for his people. And it's quite clear from the
content of this letter that the wonders of the saving grace of
God brought to Onesimus and they brought him to a sense
of his sin before a just and holy Lord God. And in the prophecy of Jeremiah, it's easy to remember this one,
Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 31, and we read a paragraph there
which is so instructive regarding those who shall know, because
God has eternally designed to save them. Jeremiah 31 and verse 31, we
read, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although
I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those
days, saith the Lord, I will put my law into their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God,
and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of them
unto the greatest of them saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin, No more. Friends, if we don't remember
some things, so often it's because we forget. God has the ability
to not remember. Why? Well, because he sees his
people in the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself
for us. And what a blessing it is that he is the Lord, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And how far away has God put
our sin? We read, as far as the east is
from the west. If the word of God said, as far
as the north is from the south, we might be tempted to think,
There's a limit there, there's a North Pole and a South Pole.
But no, he says, as far as the East is from the West, you can't
measure that, can you? As far as you go one way, you
go the other way, you're going into the space, outer space,
there is no limit. That's how far God has removed
our transgressions from us. As far as the East is from the
West. So far, he says, hath He removed our transgressions from
us. What power, what mercy, all centred
in our Lord Jesus, who gave His life at ransom for many. And the saving grace of God was
given by grace to Onesimus to a sense of his sin before a just
and holy God. And a just and holy God cannot
look upon sin with any degree of allowance. Our Saviour suffered
on that cross. He endured even the separation
from his Father. We can't separate the Trinity.
No, they're one person in three. Or three persons in one. But you
cannot separate it And yet, as a human giving his life for humanity,
the Lord Jesus endured separation. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why, dear friends? Well, it's
so that we might be joined with him in glory forever and ever. But this was achieved through
His suffering, through Him enduring that separation, which we might
have endured forever and ever, but for the finished work of
our dear Saviour. It is in Him is the wonders of
salvation. And what a wonder it is, God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever, even a runaway slave,
who stole from his master, and the Apostle Paul says quite clearly,
he said, if he has wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that
to mine account. I, Paul, have written with mine
own hand I will repay it. And what a blessing it is that
our dear Saviour has paid the debt that we owe. The Apostle
Paul here is a type of the Lord Jesus. We don't know what money
the Apostle Paul had, but somehow he said, I will repay it. albeit I do not say to thee how
thou ow'st unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother,
let me have joy of thee in the Lord, refresh my bowels in the
Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience,
I write unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I
say. He's beseeching Philemon to act
kindly towards this man, Onesimus, who is a subject of God's grace,
and therefore, he on an equal with his master. They both have
a master in heaven. Even our God in heaven, and through
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by his Spirit, He works, and he's
working both in the master and the servant. He says, I appeal for my son. He's now a true believer. And
what a blessing it is that he was rescued. He might have got
lost in Rome when you think that he turned his back on all the
security that he had. and the language, the culture,
and even the blessing of working in a Christian environment. We don't know what went on in
his heart and soul, but what we do know is that he became
a true believer by the wonders of God's grace. He was rescued
from where he might have been and perished. I read an account of a young
man who was exploring alone in a very remote part of the jungle,
one of the big countries in the world. I forget where it was
now, but he was walking through a forest, quite dense, and the
undergrowth was such that you couldn't see the soil underneath,
and all of a sudden, He felt his foot slip and he disappeared
down a deep hole. It might have been a bear pit
or something like that. They used to set these traps to catch bears
years ago. And there he was. Far away, he
thought, from anyone, down a hole, and he couldn't get up. What
was he to do? Well, he shouted as loud as ever
he could for a long time. And when he became weary with
shouting, He was about to give up. And a man appeared at the
top and he moved some branches away and saw this young lad down
the hole. And he said, why did you go down
there? He said, I fell down. He said, I missed my footing
up there and there was nothing there. I just disappeared down
this deep hole. He said, the sides are straight,
I can't get out. And the man said, well, you should have taken
a probe with you and just tested the ground in front of you. He
said, you weren't very wise, were you? And the man said, yes,
but what I need to do is get out of this hole. And the man
walked away. The way the account goes, he
might well have related this situation to someone, that there
was a young man down a hole that couldn't get out. Someone suddenly
appeared, a strong young man turned up with a length of rope. He lowered the rope down to this
young man in the hole, told him how to tie it under his arms
with a knot that wouldn't tighten up too much. And he said, just
hang on to the rope, he said, and I'll lift you out. And he
did. And this young man was so thankful
that he was lifted up out of that hole, but not in his own
strength. He couldn't get out of it, no. But God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son in a far greater way that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I understand that Philemon was
a native of Phrygia And that part of the country at that time was known
for severe punishment. If someone wronged you, they
made sure that the punishment fitted the crime. But here, the Apostle Paul is
pleading with him to have mercy on this young man and receive
him. He says, even as myself, he's on a level with me. The
Apostle Paul was an enemy of the New Testament church until
the wonders of grace transformed his life. He said, even as me. And when the Apostle Peter was
challenged at one time, he made a remarkable statement. He said, neither is there salvation
in any other. There is none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. When God begins
a work, it must be performed. The Lord Jesus had an appointment
with Zacchaeus. On the face of it, Zacchaeus
was inquisitive. He wanted to see who Jesus was. not knowing that the Lord Jesus
had a divine appointment with him. That very day, when Zacchaeus
thought he was hiding up in a sycamore tree, the Lord Jesus came by
and commanded him to come down. He gave him his name. He said,
Zacchaeus, come down. And we read that he came down
and received him joyfully. And at the end of that scripture,
We read the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I came
to seek and to save that which is lost. And therefore he's a
seeking saviour. And surely a seeking saviour
and a seeking soul are bound to meet because God himself has
caused people to seek. The psalmist says, blessed is
the man whom thou choosest. and cause this to approach unto
me. And therefore, it is all of grace, it's all of God. Onesimus,
on the face of it, turned his back on every hope that he had.
Yes, but God's grace, God's mercy was at work. And that's why we're
so thankful for those words in the epistle to the Ephesians.
But God, who is rich in mercy, with his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with him. By grace ye are saved through
faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship. And these precious truths surely
remind us that we're not our own, we're bought with a price. And so there was this runaway
servant of Philemon, all those hundreds of miles away in Rome,
and he was sent back with this letter, with this epistle, and
he I understand would have gone
back most likely with Timothy, who would have conveyed more
information from the Apostle Paul, and they were given that
responsibility. John Newton wrote these wonderful
words, and we have it in the hymn. And surely John Newton knew this
in a personal way. But he wrote, determined to save,
he watched all my path, when Satan's blind slave I sported
with death. And can he have taught me to
trust in his name, and thus far have brought me to put me to
shame? No. What we read is that he which
hath begun a good work in you We'll perform it. We'll continue
it. How long? Until the day of Jesus
Christ. And there, and then, He will
be with the Lord forever and ever. And so, as we looked at
this short part of God's Word, and
yet there are eternal values and blessings forever and ever.
The Apostle Paul says, as we come to the close of this short
epistle, he's having confidence in thy obedience. I write 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 Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas,
Lucas, my fellow labourers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit. Amen. And so may the Lord bless
his word to us this morning. Amen.