I'm going to be in Philemon today. When you're at home in your family,
just amongst your brothers and sisters in your house, and they disappoint you, and
they do something that cuts against you, and they do something that
upset you and they do something that makes you so thoroughly and totally disgusted. What is it that makes you keep
on holding close to them and treating
them like a brother and a sister? They're your flesh and blood,
aren't they? They're your brother and sister, aren't they? But
there's a bond that's even greater than that. It's a bond between brothers
and sisters in the gospel, in Christ. And it's stronger than family
ties, than the fleshly ties we have. It's stronger than that.
So much stronger than that. What is it that causes you to
believe the Lord? What is it that causes you to
forgive your brethren, to continue loving them, to continue receiving
them, to continue rejoicing with them? when they trespass against you, sin against
you, totally contrary to you, totally opposed to you, in thought,
in word, in deed. What is it that keeps you as
a believer? What is it that keeps us united? It's grace. It's grace. Grace is amazing. It is amazing. Grace does something nothing
else can do. I want you to see that this morning.
I've titled the message that, Amazing Grace. That's what we
see in this book of Philemon. Onesimus was a servant in the
house of a believer named Philemon. Onesimus wasn't a believer when
he lived in Philemon's house. But he was a servant in Philemon's
house. And Philemon had a church in
his house. He had these letters written
to Philemon, but it's written also to these other brethren
that were in his house. Because what this man Onesimus
did, he did to everybody in that place, in that house, the house
of the Lord. The house of the Lord. Philemon
was a kind man. He was a gracious man. He was
a loving man because God had done much for him. And he trusted
Onesimus as a servant. He trusted him greatly. He trusted him like a steward
in his house. He trusted him with his riches
and with his property and with things that belonged to Philemon. He trusted Onesimus with these
things. But Onesimus betrayed him. Onesimus betrayed his trust. And he robbed Philemon. and he
ran away and went to the big city. It'd be like you've been
out here in the low Rocky Hill and you have a wealthy man you're
working for and you steal his stuff and you take off to New
York City and you think, I'll never get found here. I'll be
in the middle of this big city and home free. Nobody will ever
find me here. Well, the Apostle Paul was in
prison at Rome for preaching the gospel. And Onesimus went
and heard Paul preach when he got there. Maybe he was trying
to soothe his conscience. Don't know what he was doing.
He knew Paul. Philemon knew Paul. Knew Paul
well. So Onesimus knew Paul. He went one day and decided he'd
just hear Paul. They had common acquaintances.
They had folks they knew in common. He goes and he hears Paul. And
the Spirit of God gave this runaway servant a new heart, called him,
created him anew, gave him faith and gave him repentance and gave
him life. But Onesimus is still a servant to Philemon and Onesimus
had wronged Philemon. And Onesimus has got to be reconciled
to Philemon. And so Paul is writing this letter
to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus. And he's wanting to see Onesimus
and Philemon reconcile to each other. And so he writes this
letter, and in this letter we see an illustration of God's
grace. God's grace always saves effectually,
and God's grace creates fruit in every believer. True, genuine
faith and love and forgiveness that nothing else creates. God's
grace does this. It's not that we ought to love
one another. We ought to love one another
more, but believers do. Believers do. And when we need
to love one another more, God will see to it, He gives the
grace, and we'll love each other more. And grace does this. Everything here is due to the
amazing grace of God. I want you to see first of all
where all grace begins. It begins with God's electing
grace. Onesimus didn't know it. But just like he belonged to
Philemon, just like he was a servant to Philemon, Onesimus belonged
to God. God chose him before he ever
made the world. We know that. You know how we
know that? We know it because the scripture says here in verse
10, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus whom I've forgotten
in my bonds. We know Onesimus was a chosen
child of God because he believed God. When God arrested him, when
God gave him a heart to believe, when God gave him faith and repentance,
he believed God. And that's how we know this man
was an elect child of God. Now, I want you to understand
something. The question is not, am I an elect child of God? You can ask that question all
your days. and tarry right where you are
and perish in your sins and use this as a justification for it
and say, I just never was sure I was an elect child of God.
That's not the question. The question is, do you believe
God? Do you believe God? If you believe God, If you choose
Christ, whom God chose, it's not because you did the choosing,
it's because God did the choosing. It's because He first chose you.
This is what 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says, We're bound to give
thanks all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord. Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
Whoever He chooses unto salvation, He's going to send the Spirit.
And they're going to be sanctified unto Him, separated out of this
world unto Him. And they're going to believe
the truth. That's my prayer. And that's the prayer of every
believer here, for everybody here that's still running away
from God, just like Onesimus was running away from Philemon.
Our prayer is that God chose you before the world ever began.
If he did, I can assure you this, and this is my peace, this is
my comfort, God's gonna get you. And he's gonna get you in a good
way. He's gonna bring you to himself, ain't no doubt about
it. Here's the second thing. We see God's sovereign predestinating
grace. Onesimus robbed his master. He
robbed Philemon. And that's whatever child of
God is by nature. He's a thief and a robber. We
are that by Adam's transgression. We are that by our birth. And
we are that by our choice. We choose to disobey God. We choose to rebel against God.
That's what our will is that we're born with, is to choose
everything and anything but God. That's man's will as he's born
into this world because we died in Adam and our will became polluted
in our flesh and we don't have a will to come to God by nature. We just don't. Here's why Onesimus
came to God. God interrupted Onesimus. God
had predestinated Onesimus before the foundation of the world to
the adoption of Jesus Christ by himself. He predestinated
Onesimus and therefore God ordered everything in his life. He arranged
everything in his life. He made it so that even Onesimus'
own rebellion was overruled by God and turned out for his own
good. That's another great blessing
to us who believe, for our sons and daughters. That's not an
excuse for you who don't believe to say, all right, then I'm going
to run headlong as hard and fast as I can into rebellion. Let's
just see about that. It may just be God just left
you alone. And you harden your heart, he
may just harden your heart more. But this is so if there's a child
of His grace, every believer is going to praise God for his
predestinating grace. Ephesians 1 verse 5 says, having
predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself
according to the good pleasure of His will. to the praise of
the glory of His grace. That's how we're made accepted
in the beloved, by His predestinating grace. And therefore, because
He chose Onesimus and He predestinated all these things, God worked
every one of these things together for the good of everybody involved. For Paul's good, for Philemon's
good, for all the brethren in Philemon's house, in the church
of God in Philemon's house, for Onesimus himself. God worked
it all for good. Look at Romans chapter 8. Look
at Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 28. Listen to this verse right here.
Verse 26. We know not what we should pray
for as we ought. We don't know. But look at this. But verse 27 says, He that searches
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And this is what we know, that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Well, Onesimus wasn't loving
God. Yeah, but God loved him. And
God's going to make Onesimus love God. And everything He did,
He worked together for His good. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Christ is the
purpose for all this. Christ's glory is the reason
for all this. That He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. And He says, moreover whom He
did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called, them
He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. This is God's predestinating
grave whereby He works all things together. This is what we see
here. Onesimus wasn't seeking God,
was he? Onesimus robbed his master and took off to the big city
and ran straight into God on the way. Because God directed
every step of his. You remember Gomer and Hosea? Gomer, she was returned to her
lovers and she went out and was every day there was oil and wine
and flax and wool and these things at her door and everything she
needed was provided for. And she kept thinking I'm so
smart. I am so smart. I have pulled
myself up on my bootstraps. I have I have just been so wise
in my life. And I've got all these things.
I have provided for myself so well. And God said, now I'm going
to take every bit of it away from her. And I'm going to bring
her down, and I'm going to make her see she's just a harlot.
And I'm the one that's been providing the oil, and the wine, and the
wool, and the flax, and everything she needed. Old Nessman's left
Philemon's house thinking, man, I have provided for myself. He
counted that big wad of cash in his pocket, and he looked
at all those jewels he had stolen, and he looked at all that big
shiny new charity he rode off in, and he thought, I have really
prospered myself. I have prevailed. And God took
it all away from him. God took every bit of it away
from him. You know who we are by nature?
We are Gomer Onesimus. That's who we are. Thieving whores. That's what we are. That's what
we are. All right, thirdly, we see God's
irresistible grace. Verse 10, he said, I beseech
thee for my son Onesimus whom I have forgotten in my bonds.
Now Paul just preached. He just stood up and did what
I'm doing right here. Because he said, I'm God's servant. God sent me, not to please men,
but to preach the gospel. That's why Paul was in prison.
Because he preached God. He preached Christ. He preached
the will of God, not the will of man. He preached the sovereign
electing grace of God, not man's choosing. He preached the predestinating
grace of God, not man's directing his own steps. And because of
it, men put him in prison. But he's sitting there right
where God put him. God put him in prison. He put
him there. And he put Onesimus right there
with him. And God, through Paul, taught
Onesimus in the heart. The scripture says, every man
shall be taught of God. All God's children, every one
of his elect, shall be taught of God. And every one of them
is going to be taught through God's preacher. And every one
of them is going to be taught in truth. God said, I speak that
which is right. I speak that which is right.
And every one of them that's going to be taught by God is
therefore going to come to God. They're going to come to the
Father. Unto me, the Lord Jesus Christ said. The Lord said that.
The Lord said that. And through the gospel, the Spirit
of God rebirthed Onesimus. He was born anew. He was born
again. As helpless in the process as
he was the first time. Because he was a son of God,
God sent forth the spirit of his son into his heart. And when
he did, Onesimus started crying out, Abba, Father. Before he'd
been saying, Lord, Lord. Before he'd been saying, oh,
God's my king and I'm his servant. God's my king and I'm his servant.
He'd been bragging and bragging to everybody that listened about
how God was his king and he was his servant. But when God came
into his heart, he began to cry out, Father, Father. Father, Father. And then he really
submitted to his Lord and his King and started serving Him.
Here's the fourth thing we see here. We see a picture of God's
grace in Christ. Look at verse 18. Paul said,
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. I'll pay everything. Put it on mine account. Before
the world ever began, when God elected this people and gave
them to Christ, Christ became a surety. That means he didn't
say what Paul said here. He didn't say if, if he owes
you something and if he wrongs you, God in Christ, Christ's
surety said, put it all on my account. It's not a surety like,
you know, when we go down at cosign and then we say we'll
pay it if the man defaults on the payment, we'll take up the
payments for him. Christ said, He's defaulted before
He ever started. Put it all on my account. I'm
paying the whole thing. That's what a surety is. And
then Christ came forth. Christ came forth and by His
own work on the cross, He substituted Himself in the place of His people. Listen to Isaiah 53.5. Isaiah
53.5. He was wounded for our transgressions. That's substitution. Everybody
he became surety for, he came and he paid their debt. He was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. What do we have
to do with it? What do we do in this whole thing? All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, just like Onesimus. We ran from God. We ran straight
away from him. And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. You know what the good news is?
I am so thrilled. that God has worked grace in
the hearts of you who believe. I'm so thrilled for you because
especially you who just are starting to believe because it's such
a delight and it doesn't ever get old. I've told you this,
I've preached from it before, but I just love the picture of
this. I just love that picture. This is what makes this grace
so delightful. This is what makes this grace
constrain us. You think of Barabbas. There
he is, he's in prison, and this is the end for him. It's over. Barabbas is fixing to die. He's
in jail, and he's on death row, and it's over. It's a done deal.
And he hears, he hears Barabbas, Barabbas, Barabbas. He hears
this crowd yelling, Barabbas, Barabbas, Barabbas. And he listens. Oh, can you hear
the shout crying out in your heart, calling you? Can you hear
that voice calling and yelling and saying, Barabbas, Barabbas,
Barabbas? And the next thing he hears is,
crucify him, crucify him, crucify him. It's over. And here comes that
jailer, and he's rattling those keys, and he's walking. And Barabbas
is sitting there, and he's thinking, please, please stop at the cell
before me. Please stop at the cell before
me. Please stop at the cell before me. And that jailer don't stop. He comes to Barabbas' jail cell. He comes to his cell. And he
sticks the key in the lock, and he unlocks the door. And Barabbas is sitting there,
and it's over. And that jailer says, Barabbas? The governor asked, who should
we crucify? Or who should I let go? And the
people said, Barabbas, Barabbas, Barabbas. And the governor asked, what
do you want me to do with this man, Christ? And they said, crucify
him, crucify him, crucify him. So Barabbas, somebody's taking
your place, and you're free to go. That's substitution. That's what was revealed in the
heart of a sinner. When Christ comes and opens up
the prison door, when He comes and says, I've laid down my life
for you, you're free to go. Oh, you don't have to be talked
into coming out. You don't have to be talked out
of that jail cell. You come out of there. You don't
care if this one on the left side over here and this one on
the right side over here. You don't care if he just opened
up the jail cell and let them all out. All you care about is
I know he's let me out and I'm coming out and I'm coming to
help because he saved me by his grace. And that's where, that's
where Onesimus came. And we see here, Christ ever
living to make intercession. He said, Paul said in verse 17,
If thou count me there a partner, receive him as myself. Christ ever lives. He's in glory. He's in heaven with the Father.
And this is His presence with the Father is continually saying
this. Just His presence with the Father
is continually saying this in intercession for everyone for
whom He died. If I'm one with you, Father,
receive him as myself. Accepted as one with Christ,
as Christ is with the Father, as Christ himself. That's the
intercession that Christ's very presence in the throne room of
God is for every believer. And now here's the fifth thing. This fruit that this grace produces
is what we see all in this letter. The fruit that this grace produces.
Everything we see in Paul, him writing this letter, everything
we see in Philemon, everything we see in Onesimus, is all the
fruit of God's grace given freely through Christ through the Spirit
of God. I want you to see this. The first thing is this. Think
about this. Do you remember Zacchaeus? When the Lord came to Zacchaeus
and he called him and he brought him down. The first thing Zacchaeus
said was, Lord, if I've taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I'll restore him fourfold. You know what God's
grace makes a man? It makes him a Go from being
a foretaker. That's what Onesimus was. He
was before taking. You know what he is now? He's
a foregiver. before he ever has to be asked,
before anything has to be said. He is giving. He wants. This is forgiveness. This is the heart of forgiveness.
He wants, Onesimus wants, his Philemon, this one that he's
robbed, he wants his forgiveness. He wants him to know that he's
repented. He wants him to know how sorry
he is for what he's done. And Onesimus is the one that's,
he's the one that's sitting here saying to Paul, Paul, what do
I do? I robbed Philemon. I took everything
that belonged here. I robbed him. What do I do, Paul? This my brother, this is one
now I see. This is somebody Christ died
for. This one that I now see died
for me. He died for him and I robbed
him. What I do Paul? He'll never forgive
me. He'll never, he'll never receive
me. And Paul says, don't you worry
about it. I'm going to write a letter for
you. I'm going to take care of this for you. That's what God
does in the heart. He takes care of this matter
in the heart of our brethren. And He'll use brethren to do
it. Paul says, I'm going to write a letter for you. Because Paul
loved him and he loved Philemon. And he wanted to see the two
reconciled to each other. Now notice here, Paul commends
Philemon's faith in Christ and his love toward the saints. He
commends him for it. Verse 5, Hearing of thy love
and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all
saints. Verse 7, for we have great joy
and consolation in thy love because of the bowels of the saints are
refreshed by thee, brother. Their hearts are increased by
you because you're so loving and you're so gracious and you're
so faithful. You trust the Lord to provide
all for you. Philemon was a gracious man.
He had experienced this grace and the fruit of the Spirit's
love, it's forgiveness, it's joy, it's righteousness. It's
benevolence. It makes a man a giver, not a
taker. And Philemon was just that sort
of man. But Paul beseeches Philemon, reminding him that all this fruit
that was given him, this grace that was given him, it came from
God. Look at him, verse 4. He says,
I thank my God, making mention of Thee always in my prayers.
And verse 6, middle way through it, acknowledging every good
thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. He's saying, and he's
reminding Philemon of this. And he said, I know Philemon,
every grace you have in you, every fruit of grace you have
in you is in Christ Jesus. It's from him. It's from my God
in Christ Jesus to you. That's why you have it. And so
Paul beseeches Philemon on this one basis for love's sake. for God's love to him in Christ.
That's what he's talking about. And for love towards those for
whom Christ laid down his life. Look at verse 8. Wherefore, though
I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is
convenient, though I might just say, Philemon, this is what you
need to do. This is what you do this, Philemon. He didn't do that. Watch what
he said. Yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee being such
a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I've heard so many people say,
Paul right there, he's saying, because I'm such an old believer
now, you need to do what I tell you to do. You know what Paul's
saying to him? I have transgressed so much against
my brethren. I have all my life transgressed
against my brethren, and I know I know, being the chief of sinners,
I know God's grace will work in you to cause you to forgive
this one for the love of Christ that's been shown to you. I've
known this by experience. I know it by experience. Brethren,
don't force brethren. We don't have to. We didn't have
to be forced. Our motive and the rule by which
we motivate one another is faith and love. That's the rule we're
under. Look at verse 14. He says, but
without thy mind would I do nothing. That thy benefits should not
be, as it were, of necessity. That you're not forced to do
something, but willingly. He's saying, Philemon, I don't
want to force you to do anything. I want you to do this out of
love sake. I want you to do it as the fruit
of God's grace, because you know what God's done for you in Christ.
Now, notice this next thing. Paul commends the fruit of God's
grace in Onesimus. He's talking about Onesimus. He's talking about this boy.
He's something like you ain't never seen now, but he's telling
him All this is by God's grace. Look, verse 10. I beseech thee
for my son Onesimus. He calls him his own son. Look
at verse 11. Which in time past was to thee
unprofitable. He wasn't worth a plug nickel. But now, he's profitable to you
and me. Profitable to both of us. Whom
I have sent again, I've sent him to you. He's on his way to
you. Thou therefore receive him. That
is mine own bowels. Paul said you receive him just
like you'd receive me. He's one with me, Philemon. This one that's coming to you,
he's one with me. You know why? Because they're
one in Christ. They're one. We're members one
of another. We've been joined one to another.
Would you cut off Christ's hand? Would you pluck out Christ's
eye? I'd pluck out my own before I'd pluck out Christ, I hope. We crucify our own flesh before
we crucify our brother, because that's plucking out Christ's
eye. That's taking out his hand, because we're his body. He's
the head. We're his body. Paul said, receive
him as mine own bowels. And now look how much he speaks
of him as being a new man, as trustworthy. He calls him as
trustworthy and useful as Philemon himself. Look at verse 13. He said, whom I should have retained
with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me
in the bonds of the gospel. He says, he's just as profitable
to me, Philemon, as you are. Just as profitable, just as profitable
to me as Timothy is. Just as profitable to me as the
rest of my brethren on the coast. We're one. We're one. Look, verse
14. He says again, But without thy
mind would I do nothing, that thy benefits should not be as
it were of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season. Maybe this is why it all took
place. That thou shouldest receive him forever. And that's why it
all took place. his predestinating grace, not
now as a servant, not receiving back as a servant, don't receive
him back like he left there, but above a servant, a brother
beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto you, both
in the flesh and in the Lord. I want you to hear this. I want
all our new believers to recognize this and hear this. And I'm really
saying it to you, the fathers and mothers that believe, because
that's who Paul was dressed, he was dressed in Philemon, the
elder here amongst them. And Paul tells him this, and
you recognize this. By God's grace, to your parents, who believe. You're much more than you were. You were a son. You were a daughter. And that relationship doesn't
change. Your father is still your father. And your mother
still your mother. But by God's grace. Now, You're not just a son in the
flesh, you're a brother in the Lord.
And you're not just a daughter in the flesh, you're a sister
in the Lord. And your father is not just a
father in the flesh, he's a brother in the Lord. And your mother
is not just a mother in the flesh, She's a sister in the Lord. How
much more? Both in the flesh and in the
Lord. Turn over to Luke 15. Wouldn't
you have loved to have been there whenever Onesipus came back to
Philemon's house? I would have loved to have seen
it. We don't have to guess how it went. You don't have to guess
how it went. Knowing what great love Philemon
had been shown by Christ Himself, and knowing what great grace
he had shown to Onesimus, I know exactly how he received
Him. He received Him just like that father received the prodigal
son that came home to him. Read this in Luke 15.20. The prodigal arose, and he came
to his father. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and
fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him,
Father, I've sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and I'm no more worthy to be
called your son. Oh Philemon, I've sinned against
God. I've sinned against you. I'm
not even worthy to be called to a relation. I'm not even worthy. I don't know how he was kin to
him, but I know he was kin to him. Kin to him in the flesh. I'm not even worthy of that. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and
put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes
on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it,
and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son was dead, but he's born again. He's alive. He was lost, but now he's found. And they began to be merry. That's the fruit God's grace
always produces. He said, Be ye kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. And the Lord said, A new commandment
I give you. A new commandment. This is the
commandment. that you love one another as
I have loved you, that you also love one another. He said, this
is how he said he'd love them. This is how he said he's loved
us. As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. And he says
now, you love one another as I loved you. How'd he do that?
Freely, everlastingly, without end, unchangeably, fully, forever. That's how God
loved the Son, and that's how He's loved us. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples, if you have love one to another. Now that's not
just maybe, that's not just, well hopefully, That is what
God's grace does, because God does it. That's the fruit God
produces. It's amazing grace. Amazing grace. Let's sing that together.