Let us turn again to that portion
of scripture that we read in the epistle of Paul to Philemon. Here in Philemon and the first
two verses. Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow Libra, and to our beloved Daphia and Archippus,
our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. Considering in particular then
the opening words, first verse of this epistle, I want to say
something with regards to Paul in his various ministries and
different offices and the various titles that he takes on occasions
to himself. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ,
and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow Libra. It's an interesting epistle because
of the very nature of it. It's such a personal letter,
of course. It's addressed very specifically
to an individual by the name of Philemon, Although there are
others mentioned, as we see in that second verse of here, the
arquebus, and he also refers to the church that gathered together
in the house of Philemon. But it is a personal letter,
and as I'm sure you are well aware, the majority of Paul's
letters, of course, are addressed very specifically to churches. and then besides that we have
those what we call pastoral epistles that he writes to Timothy and
Titus concerning the nature of their ministry amongst those
churches. But the beauty of this epistle
to Philemon is the fact that it is so personal in its very
nature and Paul does reveal something of himself as he writes in this
particular fashion. And first of all we see how he
refers to the situation that he finds himself
in. He's a prisoner. Paul, a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. Again at verse 9 he refers to
that fact For love's sake, he says, I'd rather beseech thee,
being such in one as Paul the age, and now also a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. There are several of the epistles
of Paul that we know as prison epistles. Those to the churches
at Galatia and Ephesus, at Philippi, and also at Colossae. They're
all prison epistles. And furthermore, the second pastoral
epistle that he writes to Timothy is also one of the prison epistles. In fact, he says there in 2 Timothy
1 and verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me his prisoner. but be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God." Now, in what sense
was he a prisoner? What was the cause of his imprisonment? Well, we have the details there
at the end of the Acts of the Apostles. How he was at Jerusalem,
and how he was so hated and despised of the Jews that they were constantly
planning his destruction, his death, They were wanting to make
false accusations repeatedly against him before the Roman
authorities. And because he was a free-born
Roman, as well as being a Jew, what does Paul do? Well, he makes
an appeal to Caesar. There in Acts 25 and verse 10,
then said, Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought
to be judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong,
as thou very well knowest, for if I be an offender or have committed
anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But if there be none
of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver
me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar." And so
it was that he was taken from Jerusalem and he made that long
journey to Rome, having appealed to the Caesar. When we come to
the end of the Acts, in the last chapter there, in chapter 28,
And verse 16, for example, we do learn something of his situation. He's under some form of confinement,
some sort of house arrest. It says, When we came to Rome,
the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard,
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that
kept him. And then, right at the end, in
verse 30 of that last chapter, Paul dwelt two whole years in
his own hired house and received all that came in on two in preaching
the kingdom of God and touching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence no man forbidding him. So he's not in prison as was
the situation at Philippi of course when he had been cast
into the inner prison by the jailer with his feet fast in
the stocks. It was not that sort of an imprisonment
there at Rome. He was confined. He wasn't free
to travel, although he clearly hoped that there might be opportunities
again, as he says at the end of this letter to Philemon. He
wants Philemon to prepare a lodging. I trust, he says, that through
your prayers I shall be given unto you. He expects that he
might have his liberty again, but there's no record of that
ever being the case. And so, in those two years that
he's there in Rome, there are several letters that he writes,
as I say, to different churches and also to individuals such
as Timothy. And here he addresses himself
to Philemon. That then is something of the
context behind the writing of this particular epistle. Paul does refer to himself quite
openly and it seems with some significance as a prisoner. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And there is a sense in which
that is a very honorable thing to be a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Surely all believers should desire
that that might be true of them in a spiritual sense, to be a
prisoner of Jesus Christ. For example, there in 2 Corinthians
10 and verse 5, The Apostle writes, "...casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ." He exhorts there the Corinthians that they should
bring every thought into captivity. Their very thinking should be
in the captivity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord's prisoners
in that sense. The believer is one whose very
thoughts then should be such as he is constantly not so much
thinking for himself but desiring only to think the thoughts of
God after him, his thoughts. brought into captivity to the
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, when Paul writes to
the Ephesians, he reminds them of the importance of their mind
and right thinking. He says there in Ephesians 4.23,
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. In the fall into sin, of
course, every faculty of man has been affected. And the mind
is corrupted. Though that mind needs to be
brought into captivity, that mind needs to be made a prisoner
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus, says Paul to the Philippians. Or to
have that mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, he tells the Corinthians,
we have the mind of Christ, but what is the mind of Christ? What
is that mind? Well, certainly there in Philippians
chapter 2 we discover a certain aspect of what it is to bring
our thoughts into captivity to that mind. It's a humble mind. It's a lowly mind. How does Paul
continue there after making that statement in Philippians 2.5?
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He
goes on to speak quite clearly of the humility of the Lord Jesus. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Oh, he is equal with God. He
is equal with the Father, equal with the Holy Spirit. He's a
person in the blessed Godhead, a person in the Trinity. But
let this mind be in you, Even that humiliation that we see
in Christ, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. All the steps of that
humiliation, he humbles himself to become a man, he humbles himself
as a man, to become obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. That is the mind of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the believer's thoughts are
to be kept in the obedience of the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not only a matter of
the believer as a prisoner of Christ having those right thoughts,
there must also be real affection. What of the man's affections?
Where are they to centre? And again, look at what Paul
says there in Colossians 3, Ye then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on things on the earth, for you are dead, and your life
is hid, he says, with Christ in God. All the believers thought,
but more than he thought, his very affections there to centre
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The love of Christ is there ever
constraining those who are the prisoners of Jesus Christ. The life that they live, they
live by that faith of Christ. I am crucified with Christ, says
Paul. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Here then we see there is a spiritual
significance in the opening words that we have here in the epistle.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, is not just a a prisoner in the
real physical sense, but spiritually, all that he is as a man, all
his thoughts, all his affections, are captive to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And in that is not poor a pattern
to us. He says again to the Corinthians,
be ye followers of me, even as I am a follower of Christ. Are
we those who are contently to be the prisoners of Jesus Christ. But as we think of these different
titles that Paul takes to himself, he doesn't just speak of himself
as a prisoner. Elsewhere, he refers to himself
as a servant. As a servant, in fact, that's
often the way in which he opens those epistles that he addresses
to the different churches. writing there in the opening
chapter of Galatians. In Galatians chapter 1 and verse
10 he says, For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to
please men? For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. He is Christ's servant. He is
not the servant of men. He can only serve men and he
does that repeatedly of course. That's part and parcel of his
very ministry. But how is it that he serves
men? Because he is the servant of Jesus Christ. Again, in the
opening chapter of Romans, and there at verse 9, he says, God
is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his
Son. Oh, he is ever wanting to serve
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, in the opening words
of that Roman Epistle, Paul, he says, a servant of Jesus Christ. Just as here we read Paul a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. So writing to the church at Rome
is Paul a servant. And you know when we have this
word servant, be it there in Galatians 1 verse 10 or in the
opening words of the Roman Epistle, it is really the word for a bond
slave a person who has been bought who is the property of his master
he has been bought his own by his master and that was true
of the Lord Jesus Christ as he says when he writes to
the Galatians here at the end of chapter 2 crucified with Christ
he says he is not his own He belongs to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He must serve the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not only Christ's
prisoner. He's Christ's servant. He's Christ's slave. But then, what does he go on to say
in the opening words of the Roman Epistle? Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, calls to be an apostle. And, of course, that's how we
would normally refer to this man. He is the Apostle Paul.
That's the title that is generally given to him. He's one of those
twelve apostles upon which the very Church of Jesus Christ has
been founded, with Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
the built. All the true Church is built
upon that foundation of the Apostle Jesus Christ himself, the chief
cornerstone. And amongst those apostles is
this man, Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles. And from whence
did he obtain his apostleship? Well, he tells us in Galatians
chapter 1, the opening words, Paul, an apostle, he says, not
of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead. That's where this apostleship
came from. It was not something that was
given to him by any man, but he obtained it from Jesus Christ
and God the Father. It was the outworking of God's
will, God's purpose in his very life. It was what God had ordained.
for him from before the foundation of the world. There in the opening
words of 2nd Corinthians, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, he
says, by the will of God. He is God's appointed apostle
then. And now we see him at times having
to defend his apostleship. There were those in the church
at Corinth who despised him. There were those false teachers
who had crept in and many were questioning the authority of
this man Paul and he has to defend himself and that apostleship
that he had received from the Lord there in the opening words
of 2 Corinthians 9 He defends himself, and then he speaks of
those false teachers, and how sharply he opposes them, and
all that they assume to take to themselves. 2 Corinthians
11, 13, he says, such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, they
were self-made apostles so different to Paul they transformed themselves
they imagined themselves to be apostles but they were no such
thing and you remember how Paul goes into some considerable detail
really as we see him having to defend himself to the Corinthian
church because of these false teachers he says in 2nd Corinthians
11-12 are they Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of
Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I speak as of four. I am more,
in neighbors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in debts off." And he gives that great catalogue
of all that it had cost him to exercise this ministry that he
had received from the Lord. What we can say And they're not
boastful words. He can say quite honestly, in
nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be
nothing. There, in that twelfth chapter
of 2nd Corinthians, where he speaks about God had so much
favoured him, granted him remarkable revelations. And yet, what does he feel himself
to believe? or personally he considers himself
as a nothing, as a zero, as a cipher. And yet, he can speak of being
numbered amongst the very chiefest of all the apostles. He is the
prisoner. He is the servant, the slave. But he is the apostle. And with
others, as we see here, he goes on to speak of himself really
as a labourer, where we would labour in words and in doctrine. As he says to Philemon, Our dearly
beloved and fellow labourer, these men they laboured, and
Paul amongst them, labouring night and day, labouring in the
Word of God, labouring in the doctrine of the Gospel, giving
himself to the ministry of the Word. He speaks of himself also
as a soldier, when he makes reference to these other men. Aphia and
Archippus are fellow soldiers, he says. Wasn't Paul also a good
soldier of Jesus Christ? Was he not one who was fighting
that good fight of faith, laying hold of eternal life? Does he
not go on to speak of all that armour that God has provided
for those who are his true soldiers? There are so many titles that
are given to this man when we consider something of the content
of the epistles. But I want us really to think
of this particular epistle to Philemon and something of the
content of the letter. The subject matter that is being
dealt with, the purpose of Paul's writing to Philemon. As I said at the beginning, it's
such a personal letter. But there's a reason why he is
writing the letter. And it concerns this person called
Onesimus. Onesimus, it seems, had been
converted through the ministry of the Apostle. He writes in verse 10, I beseech
thee for my son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. What does he mean? Well, surely
he's speaking of the fact that this man had been begotten, had
been born again, born of the Spirit of God, and in the gracious
purpose of God, Paul, the prisoner there in Rome, had been instrumental.
in the salvation of this particular man and he is writing to Philemon
because of Philemon's own connection with Onesimus I beseech thee
for my son Onesimus, he says, whom I have begotten in my bonds
which in time past was to thee unprofitable but now profitable
to thee and me How was it that he was in time past so unprofitable
in the association that he had with Philemon? Well, we see that
he was in fact a slave of Onesimus, but he had absconded. As he says in verse 15, perhaps
he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him
forever. not now as a servant, not as
a slave, but above a servant, above a slave, a brother, beloved,
specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh
and in the Lord. Paul is writing this letter then
on behalf of Onesimus, whom he is sending back to his master.
but now the relationship is going to be very different although
he's a bond slave he hasn't obtained his freedom but he's more than a slave he's
a brother he's a Christian brother because he has known the grace
of God by the ministry of the Apostle Paul and what does Paul
go on to say why he will stand as a surety to this man verse
18, if he hath wrung 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. All the various offices that
Paul undertakes as he ministers as an apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You remember when he writes to the Thessalonians he
can speak there of being to them a nursing mother. How he'd nurse
them. Like a kind, compassionate nurse
watching over them. Seeking only their good. More than a nurse, a nursing
mother he says. And here you see, he takes on
this responsibility on the behalf of Onesimus that he will stand
as his shortened. Although the word isn't used,
the language that we have here in verses 18 and 19 clearly speaks
of shortish because of prison. Paul would know something about
suretyship because it is of course a legal term, a judicial term. The surety is responsible to
the court for a certain individual, for a prisoner. The surety is
that person who stands bail for the prisoner. Now, in the Old
Testament In the Old Testament the word that we have as surety
has the idea of exchanging places. The word surety is derived from
a verb that literally means that, to exchange or even to barter. And it certainly could be something
that was costly because the wise man warns of the dangers of suretyship
in Proverbs chapter 6 and there in the opening verses of that
chapter Proverbs 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 If thou be surety for thy friend, and
this is what Paul is wanting and willing to be, a surety for
his friend. And in a sense he has stricken
hands over this. If he has 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."
Or it could certainly be a costly matter because the surety stands,
as it were, in the place of another and becomes responsible for that
particular individual. And again, We have a remarkable
example of it in the Old Testament with the sons of Jacob when there
was the great famine of course and they had to go into Egypt
and there was Joseph whom the brothers had sold into slavery
and they didn't know what had happened as in the good providence
of God Joseph had been exalted to such a position in the court
of the Pharaoh, he was next to the Pharaoh and they go to obtain
corn in the time of famine and they don't recognize their brother
although he recognizes them and he does make provision for them
but he inquires after the family and he establishes that his brother
Benjamin the youngest of Jacob's sons who was not present with
them was still at home with his father but he tells them should
they ever come again he wants them to bring their younger brother
who was his forebrother they shared the same mother he was
a full brother to Joseph was Benjamin and how Joseph desires
to see his younger brother and when they have to return how
reluctant how reluctant Jacob is that they should go because
they make it plain it's pointless going unless they take Benjamin
with them and then Judah steps forward and Judah steps forward
as the surety Genesis 43 and verse 9 I will be surety for
him says Judah of my hand shalt thou require him if I bring him
not to thee and set him before thee then let me bear the blame
forever those are the words of Judah to his father Jacob and
they go and they take Benjamin and Judah repeats those words
to Joseph. He doesn't know that Joseph is
his half-brother and the full brother of Benjamin when he repeats
the words because Joseph wants to retire Benjamin. But there
we see something of what the cost of suretyship was. And I think it's interesting
that there it's Judah. And of course the Lord Jesus
himself comes of the line of Judah. And the Lord Jesus, we know,
is that one who is the great surety. All Christ is the great
surety of his people. Remember the prayer of Job long
ago. In ancient times, when he cries
out to God, Job 17.3, put me in a surety with thine. All he
wants is one to be a surety before God. And now God answers that
prayer in the fullness of the time. God sends forth his son
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. It's the Lord Jesus who is the
surety. Jesus made surety, it says, of
a better covenant. And of course we sang of it in
that lovely hymn of God's. concerning the love of God, and
how suretyship is such an expression. Here we have an expression of
Paul's love for Onesimus, as well as his love for Philemon.
But all the love of God in the suretyship of Christ. We sang
those words in the hymn 579, "'Twas love that moved him to
ordain a surety just and good, and on his heart inscribed the
name of all for whom He stood, nor is the shorty short of love. He loves beyond degree, no less
than love divine could move the Lord to die for me. And all what love the Spirit
chose, when Jesus He reveals to men oppressed with sin and
woes, all their sorrows fails. Oh, the Father sends the surety. Christ is the surety. The Spirit
must reveal that blessed surety to us. Jesus made surety of a
better covenant. But what of the old covenant?
What of the old covenant? The Lord of Gods. What does it
say? Obey my voice indeed and keep
my covenant. There in Exodus 19 and verse
5 as they're being prepared for God to descend upon the mountain
to speak the Ten Commandments, God tells them, this is the covenant,
obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant. The language, the
terms of the old covenant is there, that's the Lord of God.
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law that the
man which doeth those things shall live by them. that's what
the law demands but Christ has come as the surety you see and
Christ has come to stand in that law place of his people and to
answer before God's holy law on behalf of his people and Christ
is the end of the law it says for righteousness to everyone
that believes that's what suretyship means, it's Christ standing in
that very law place and taking on all that responsibility for
his people. As surety, Christ honored the
law by obeying every one of its precepts. He has honored it,
he has magnified it. As he comes into the world, what
does he do? Well, he's the sinless one, even
in his conception of course. That holy thing that shall be
born of thee, says the angel to Mary, shall be called the
Son of God. There's no original sin and then
in life no actual sin. As a surety, he obeys every commandment
perfectly. If a man should keep the whole
law, James says, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all and Christ is guilty of none. holy, harmless, undefiled and
separate from sinners. He honored the law by obeying
all its precepts. But he also magnified it by bearing
the curse of the transgressors. As many as are of the works of
the law, we are told, are under the curse. For curse is every
one that continueth not in all things written in the book of
the law to do them. Oh, what a curse the transgressor
is under. Cursed be the man that obeyeth
not the words of this covenant. That's the language of the Lord
of God, the Old Covenant. Ah, but Christ is sure to have
a better covenant. Christ has 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. And there's the true significance
of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is dying in
the sinner's place. He is the surety and the substitute. He is bearing in his own person
all that wrath of God, all that curse of the broken law that
should be visited upon those who are the transgressors. He
is paying the ransom price that the law demands. And he satisfies
the broken law of God. That's what Christ has done.
And so those who are in Christ, those who are truly trusting
in Christ, those who are believers in the Lord Jesus, they are delivered
from the curse. And they're accounted righteous,
because Christ to them is the end of righteousness. He is their
righteousness. And we think of the language
of dear Augustus, top lady payment, God cannot twice demand, first
at my bleeding, short his hand, and then again at mine. Oh, what
a shorty. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. And
here, in the way in which Paul is conducting himself, we have
some poor reflection, I suppose, of that. Paul would stand, you
see, assuredly, for his brother Onesimus. And he says to Philemon,
If he hath wrong thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine
account. I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand. He's writing
it. I will repay it, he says. Albeit
I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own
self besides. Why, Paul had been instrumental
in good to Philemon, just as he'd been instrumental in good
to Onesimus. Both of them really were those
who had been begotten by the ministry of the Apostle himself. But how the Lord Jesus is here,
you see. We see Christ even in this personal
letter. You might read through the Epistle
to Philemon and think, well it is a nice letter, it's a very
personal letter. It's addressed to a certain individual.
But where is Christ? Well Christ is everywhere. Christ
is in all the scriptures and I say that Christ is here even
in the way in which Paul conducts himself. This man who is the
prisoner of Jesus Christ and the servant, the slave of Jesus
Christ, this man who is also the apostle of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But what does Paul said before
is constantly we see the Lord Jesus and here in the very content
of the letter we see Christ as that one who is the great surety
of his people. Jesus made surety of a better
covenant. It's there in Hebrews 7.22. That
name is given to Christ. It's interesting. It's the only
occurrence in the New Testament. Just that one reference to Christ
as the surety. But it's enough. It's enough. It's the Word of God. and all
that we might be those then who would look to the Lord Jesus
Christ and trust Him as our Saviour, as our Shorter, as our Substitute,
that One who comes and speaks as it were in the language of
Paul, If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that
on mine account, everything put on the account of the Lord Jesus
Christ. and cannot Christ say with Paul
he has written it with his own hand. We have it then inscribed
here in Holy Scripture. Will the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. As we conclude our worship let
us now sing the hymn 148 the Tune Kings College 700 and sixteen. There it is, lovely
hymn on Christ as his people's surety for wretched strangers
such as I. The Saviour left his native sky
and surety would be come. He undertakes the sinners lost
and having paid the utmost cost returns triumphant home. The hymn 148.