Well, let us turn to God's Word
and we turn again to Colossians chapter 4. In Colossians 4, I'll
read from verse 7 through 8 and 9. As Paul comes into the concluding
part of his epistle to the church at Colossae, he writes, All my
states shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother,
and a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord,
whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye 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, here
at the end of this epistle, Paul begins to mention those who were
associated with him in his ministry and were even there to support
him now whilst he is confined in some way in the imperial city
of Rome and he's addressing the church at the Colossians one
of what we call the prison epistles there was a purpose of course
in the mind of the Lord God that he should be found in such a
state in order that he might write so much of what we have
here in the New Testament the Pauline epistles and especially
the prison epistles Colossians being one of them but as he comes
to conclude his letter he makes mention of these various individuals
who were with him and sends really greetings from these various
people and I said we might profitably consider some of the names that
are mentioned here and so we read in these verses of Tychicus
and Philemon and they're the ones who are the bearers of the
letter that's been addressed to the Colossians and last time
we were considering in particular Tychicus I thought to say something
with regards to his character as Paul speaks of him and certainly
here in verse 7 he refers to him as a beloved brother clearly
he was one who was very dear to the apostle himself he was
not only a brother he was a faithful minister he was not a self-styled
minister he had not put himself into that position But he was
a godsend, minister, doubtless, as was the case, of course, with
the apostle himself. Remember how he writes in the
opening words of the epistle, Paul, he says, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God. And so too with Tychicus. He
was one who was serving by the will of God. And he was a faithful
servant of God, preaching the truth of God's Word. In fact,
as he speaks of him as his beloved brother and a faithful minister,
so also he says he's a fellow servant. And it's a strong word
that he uses there, doulos, which literally means a bondslayer. the bond slave of the Lord Jesus,
the willing laborer in the gospel. Well, we considered something
of Tychicus last time, and I want to try to say something tonight
with regards to his fellow here, Onesimus. With Onesimus, we're
told, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you, one
of you Colossians. That was also a member there
in the church that had been formed at Colossa, the fruit of the
ministry of Paul himself Colossae being there in Asia Minor where
Paul had ministered in his missionary journeys and established a number
of churches well as we come to consider this man tonight we only have mention of him here
and in one other part of the New Testament and that is in
that epistle to Philemon that we were reading for our scripture
reading and so I want us to turn to what he said there in Philemon
because there we are told some detail with regards to this particular
person Onesimus was in fact a sly He was a bond slave and we see
that in what we read in Philemon and verse 10 Paul says to Philemon
I beseech thee for my son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my bonds
which in time past was to the unprofitable but now profitable
to thee and to me whom I have sent again thou therefore receive
him that is mine own boughs he had run away really from his
master he was a slave he had no liberty at all he was much
more than a servant he was in bondage and owned by Philemon
but he had been disobedient and uh... run away from his master
interesting isn't it because so many of those early christian
believers it appears were were bond slaves and yet when we come
to the gospel we see quite clearly that all of those uh... distinctions
that would have been so familiar in uh... the world of the new
testament are all nullified in the Gospel. In fact, writing
there in Colossians, in chapter 3 and verse 11, Paul declares,
where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in
all. And he says something very similar
also in Galatians, in Galatians 3.28, almost an identical statement,
there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. With regards to salvation then,
there are no distinctions at all. regards to salvation of course
we see in Paul's epistles that there is still the distinction
between male and female with regards to offices in the church
and so forth but with regards to the matter of the salvation
that is in Christ Jesus every distinction that ever there was
is now gone salvation is as free to sinners as it is full in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now this man Onesimus, a runaway
slave, had actually been converted and it was the fruit of the Apostle's
own ministry. That's what he says here in verse
10 of Philemon, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have
begotten in my bonds. Even Paul himself was not free. He was a prisoner. As he says at the end of verse
9, he refers to himself as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner. of Jesus Christ. He opens the
epistle by declaring the same truth. Paul a prisoner of Jesus
Christ. He was not free in the sense
that he was confined there in the city of Rome. Now, we know
that he was in reality a free-born Roman citizen and we see that in what's recorded towards the
end of the Acts of the Apostles. In the closing part of the 22nd
chapter there, Acts chapter 22 at verse 24 we read how the chief
captain commanded him, that is Paul, to be brought into the
castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging that
he might know wherefore they cried so against him. The Jews
had plotted against him and they were ready to accuse him. And
here is the chief captain and so They bind the apostle with
thongs, we're told in verse 25. And then Paul said unto the centurion
that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is
a Roman and on condemned? When the centurion heard that,
he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what they doest,
for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came and
said unto him, Tell me, Art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the
chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was reborn. Then straightway they departed
from him, which should have examined him. And the chief captain also
was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he
had bound him. On the morrow, because he would
have known the certainty whereof he was accused of the Jews, he
loosed him from his bands and commanded the chief priests and
all their council to appear and brought Paul down and set him
before them. As I said, the Jews were there,
they were plotting against the Apostle. They hated him, they
were making false accusations against him, and Paul eventually,
as you may recall, appeals to Caesar. He had that right as
a free-born Roman citizen. In Acts 25.11, if I be an offender
or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But, he says, if there be none
of these things whereof they accuse me, no man may deliver
me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. He had that right to make his
appeal to the Emperor. And so, at the end of Acts, of
course, we find him going to Rome. And yet, the amazing thing
here, of course, is although he was a free man by birth, Paul
willingly and lovingly identifies himself with Onesimus and accounts
him as a brother. Although Onesimus was a slave,
here is the apostle, a free man, willingly embracing him as his
brother. And that's how he writes to Philemon,
as he sends Onesimus back to him, verse 16, not now as a servant,
but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially submerged,
but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the
Lord's. In fact, In verse 12, the end
of verse 12, he says, You may have sent again, thou therefore
receive him, that is mine own bowels, or mine own heart, as
it says in the margin. You sent him again, back to him,
receive him, he says, and you're receiving my own heart. Such
is the Apostle's great affection towards this runaway slave. And so In this lovely little
epistle to Philemon we see something more of the real pastoral heart
of the apostle, how he loved these people, who were the fruits
really of his labors in the gospel. And what remarkable love we see
him manifesting towards this man Onesimus. Because if we think
of Onesimus as the slave, What we actually see in the epistle
to Philemon is Paul the Apostle as the surety. He stands as a
surety for Onesimus with regards to anything that he might owe
unto his master Philemon. He says here in verse 18 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.
Albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me, even thine
own self besides. he will stand as surety now clearly
he knew as a prisoner what suretyship would mean it is of course as
you're probably aware a judicial term and the person who stands
surety is responsible for the prisoner answerable to the court
for that prisoner and stands bail for the prisoner and it
can be very costly we know how Solomon, in the book of Proverbs,
several times warns against suretyship because he can be costly. In
chapter 6, My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou
hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, thou art snared with the words
of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
it might prove to be a costly thing we have that lovely example
don't we in the in the book of Genesis concerning Judah who
says he will be surety for his younger brother Benjamin to Jacob
the father when the brethren need to go again into Egypt because
the the corn that they'd obtained the first time they'd gone there
in that time of great famine they'd they'd used all that corn
and here they are, they're in need again, they must go back
to Egypt, but Jacob was aware of what had happened on the first
occasion and he was fearful, he'd already lost his son Joseph,
his brethren had sold him into slavery in Egypt Jacob knew nothing
of what had happened, that it was Joseph that they'd had to
deal with that first time and when they'd come away there
were incidents that troubled them and troubled Jacob and the
man had made it quite clear that if they were to return they would
not see his face they would not be able to obtain any corn except
they brought their younger brother Benjamin with them but they must
go they must go and Genesis 43.9 Judah says, I will be surety
for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee,
then let me bear the blame forever. And this is really the same truth
that we see here with regards to the Apostle and his willingness
to stand surety for Onesimus. Onesimus, if he hath wronged
thee, or loathe thee ought, put that on mine account. I, Paul,
have written it with mine own hand. I will repay it." Suretyship. Interestingly, having made reference
to that incident back in Genesis, the Hebrew, the Hebrew noun for
a surety certainly has the idea of exchange of place. It's from a verb that means literally
to exchange. goes on to have the idea also
of bartering, the thought of someone standing in the place
of another, exchanging places with them. And the word is used
by Job. Job says, Job 17.3, put me in
a surety with thee. That was the great request that
Job makes, there in the Old Testament, asking that God would make provision
of a surety, put me in a surety with thee. And we're told, aren't
we, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption
of sons. There is the answer then to the
prayer of Job when he requests that God send a surety, someone
to stand in his room and in his stake Jesus Jesus made surety of a
better covenant we read in Hebrews 7.22 and interestingly that's
the only use of the word surety in the New Testament, it's Jesus
who is the surety of a better covenant. What of the old covenant? What of the old covenant? The
covenant of works. Well, the language and the terms
of the old covenant require perfect obedience. If a man should keep
the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all. Obey my voice indeed, and keep
my covenant, is what the Lord God says to the children of Israel
there in Exodus 19. Obey my voice indeed, and keep
my covenant, which if a man do, he shall live in them. That is the language of the Old
Covenant, the Old Testament. But we are told, aren't we, how
Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. As they should, he has come and
he is honored and he has magnified that law of God by obeying every
precept and not only obeying every precept, also bearing the
punishment of all its transgressions, satisfying it not only in in
keeping the commandments, but also under the breach of the
commandment. He stood as the surety for his
people and he died as their substitute. Paul says, as many as are of
the works of the Lord are under a curse, for cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. But Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. As I was thinking
about Onesimus and the fact that yes we have his name mentioned
there at the end of Colossians, just that one reference to him,
other than what we find here in the book of Philemon. But
when we come to consider the apostles' relationship with this
slave, and how Paul embraces him as a brother and stands as
a surety for him, I couldn't help but think how the whole
relationship between these two directs us to the Lord Jesus
Christ and his gospel. the freeness, the freeness of
the gospel that all distinctions are nullified it is simply Christ
and the sinner and all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God but Christ ever the sinner's friend Christ the one who came
to stand in the sinner's place took upon him his law position
became the surety of those who were the transgressors and not
only obeyed for them but also made that great sin atoning oblation
when he died upon the cross Onesimus referred to here in Colossians
4.9 the faithful brother and one of you and he's one with
us we're one with him If we are those who are the Lord's, these
are all our brethren and how Onesimus and the Apostle Paul
direct us to consider them, the wonder of our Lord Jesus Christ
and all that he is and all that he has done. May the Lord be
pleased to bless these few simple thoughts this evening. We're
going to sing now John Berridge's great hymn on Shorty's Ship. It's the hymn 148, the tune is
Innsbruck 715. For wretched strangers such as
I, the Saviour left his native sky, and short he would be come. He undertakes for sinners lost,
and having paid the utmost cost, returns triumphant home the hymn
148 the tune 715